Showing posts with label My Existence in the Shrubbery of Phantoms. Show all posts
Showing posts with label My Existence in the Shrubbery of Phantoms. Show all posts

Thursday, December 22, 2022

Nice is Nice

    In keeping with the long standing tradition of releasing archival material, one album at a time, the installment "Nice is Nice" once again shows the Cheese Mites willingness to stylistically confound and amaze. This collection reflects one of the wider expanses of time from their now apparently and obviously prolific career, 1985-2015. This encompasses the tail end of American Snufmeg and, to date, nearly the entirety of the Universal Snufmeg eras.

   Notable are the two songs "My Bag Rock" and "Snufmeg Foam", both of which were dub treated and also included, and along with "Blood Beach" keep the Snufmeg Surf tradition alive. Filling out the toe-tapping enjoyment are Williwill's "The White House is Haunted" and "I Can't Leave You Alone", which thematically borrows heavily from his composition "Del Guidiche" (from "Songs for Fighting and Marching").

   The epic length (18+ minutes!) "Rap Symphony No. One in E Major", originally included on Graffiti Music, is included, and scattered throughout are "Clarity", "Darker Days Ahead", a remake of "My Existence in the Shrubbery of Phantoms", "June Duet", "7 Qs" and "Listen, I'm Talking" (which reprises the "Del Guidiche" motif) all upholding the Cheese Mites tradition in Snufmeg for experimentation and the avant-garde, though with a more accessible flair.


Thursday, April 15, 2021

My Existence in the Shrubbery of Phantoms

   This enigmatic collection of recordings, dated from the late 1980's or early 1990's, became an audio "object of wonder" to the Snufmeg community, and ultimately the world. From intense creative sessions, fueled assuredly by copious influences of snuff and nutmeg, DJ Williwill marshaled the artistic prowess of two lesser-known Snufmeg luminaries: Brian Fripe and the Master Cylinder, in a collaboration of dazzling innovation and mouth-watering brevity. 

   In under seven minutes, the trio weave aural insights of far-away terrains, distant planets and imaginary landscapes. Each tone poem a spectacular post-card. 

   The scarcity of output from either Fripe or the Master Cylinder only contributes to their mysterious and sublime place in the archive of the Snufmeg catalog.