Customer Reviews

The Moray Eels Eat the Holy Modal Rounders

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

More than a modest dose of serotonergic nostalgia, the re-appearance of this lost gem is cause for celebration, amongst a decidedly small niched fan base. More successfully than Indian War Whoop, MEEtHMR builds a truely alternative mind set on top of the same kind of old timey music that is suddenly so much in vogue these days. The difference here is the warm, deviant humor that seems to tie the whole thing together.
For those who thought that "If you want to be a bird" sounded a little too strange for the Easy Rider soundtrack, be warned that it is by far the most coherent song on this album. Recommended only for those with a taste for the fringes of 60's zeitgeist. On the other hand, this is damned good stuff.

This wonderful album is as weird as everyone says it is, but it also has some truly lovely moments. "One Will Do for Now" sounds almost like a Renaissance madrigal, and "Dame Fortune" is one of the most haunting, sublime songs I've ever heard, from anyone. That's what makes this album extraordinary: the range from sublime moments like these to the ridiculous, but hugely enjoyable, other songs on this album. "That's artiste to you"!

If You're not prepared before listening this could be a mental schock. The upspeeded combination of amphetamin and LSD makes the music going crazy. This kind of hippie-hallucination shows how sounds from inside a brain can wind up in recorded tracks. How they do it I can't understand. But I love it and realize that even music can be a drug. A healthy one.

First I got, "good taste is timeless" and it was ok, but not as wacky as the album cover promised. A couple years later, I got this one. This is the album I was looking for and immediately understood my dissapointment in "good taste is timeless" The producer of this album started with the name Barry Friedman, and by the end went by Frazier Mohawk. That should give you some inkling of what you are getting into. Although "The STP Song" (actually titled August, 1967) is cut in half, the destruction of the singular song contributes to the overall aesthetic (I don't really think there is a concept here, aside from lets get these guys in the studio before they forget these songs). The brevity facilitates listening to the album straight through, creating a streaming experience instead of a collection of compositions. Even at 29 minutes Meethmr takes it time, from the ethereal nasal voyage of bird song to the frantic panic of getting a F on your report card, this album is a must.

I don't know much about folk music, but a friend turned me onto this album a few years back. Now I do know quite a bit about psychedelic music & man-o-man this is intense stuff here!

The group is called The Holy Modal Rounders and apparently they were getting eaten by The Moray Eels. I think it had something to do with the band changing their name to The Moray Eels, but I could be mistaken. It's probably in the liner notes. Anyway, I know two of these guys were in The Fugs. They kind of sound like the backwoods moonshine drinkin, duji inhalin cousins of The Fugs.

Most of the songs here are more like snippets of songs, and there are no gaps between them. Songs cut each other off and jump suddenly to the next one. The acoustic guitar and fiddle that provide most of the music sound lazy and out of tune, but they're doing some really interesting and creative stuff. Sometimes the voices are slightly (and not so slightlyly) sped up creating an uneasy but funny effect. It's kind of like blacking in and out of a trip. The whole thing lasts about a half hour but it seems much longer (to me) because so much happens.

There's the bird song (most people know it from Easy Rider), dirty revenge on a Take Off artist, a werewolf, a guy losin' half his mind and taking someone else's, the evilest bullfrog stomper in Alabam, etc. All sung by a couple of cartoon characters who sound like they're high as a mofo. One of them is on the verge of losing his voice throughout the record. Like, "we gotta finish before his voice is totally gone!"

One of the strangest albums ever, and one of my favorites. I heard they just released a documentary on these guys. I'll have to check that out.

I love the Holy Modal Rounders....they may be the best in "acid folk", original and playful (all other music can seem pretentious in comparison), but this recording isn't that great, (and surely not in the league of Zappa's WE'RE ONLY IN IT FOR THE MONEY, a Great! 5 star and important composition - satiric, amazingly well produced masterpiece), this is merely a piece of the era, not well produced or very flattering for the Rounders crew.... It is fun and unpretentious (Take-off Artist and The STP songs are okay), but you'd do better sticking with HMR 1&2, HAVE MOICY!, TOO MUCH FUN, or I MAKE A WISH FOR A POTATO - or, for a more in-depth and revealing documentary, the 2007 DVD BOUND TO LOSE.

This album is a very quickly put together album, whilst on a few psychedelic drugs as well. That's probably what is responsible for most of the good things and also a few of the lesser good things about this album :)

It's a fantastic listen, but it loses it's excitement after the first few times, quite quickly.

1st things 1st: (where I'm coming from)

Late 60s rule...In this genre, British pop-psych-folk will satisfy best usually; but among the American contendahs for lasting deserved Immortality, this album/cd tops a connoisseur's list. (I actually booked studio time 4-5 years ago to burn myself a copy from 'the 67 vinyl)

Reasons?

Frazier Mohawk's organic/manic/chancey/unpredictable/trippy yet somehow warm production (see also Spider John/Willie Murphy's 'RunninJumpinStandinStill' and Essra Mohawk's 'Primordial Lovers'-- we're talkin' a master of ATmosphere!); the Stampfel/Weber entheogen-giddy-scary-amphetaminefields of mind-manifested halleluya-wana fun&games as only the tail end of that particular decade magically fostered.

-All this topped with a maximum-length booklet with plenty notes by era expert Unterberger and reminiscences by co-HMR Stampfel, and convenient digital separations of the orig. l.p. cuts which Paul Rothchild (via acidtrip-revelation) demanded the album eschew: the songs did meet & flow unspaced...

...ATmosphere...the vibes bubble and seethe from the grooves... Guest appearance by Sam Shepard... Gifted nutty experimental postBeat City antihippies creating up a studio storm thanks to Elektra's generous pockets... a precious document: they don't-can't seem able to make records like this anymore, O shades of Dr John's 'GrisGris'-- The Holy Modals had their Duji-- living proof Anslinger was dead wrong...

ps:
best title too

This is the quintessential Holy Modal Rounders album. Best known For "The Bird Song" in Easy Rider, listening to this band is like... well, I don't really know. What I can say is that it's kind of like a combination of Jefferson Airplane and The Firesign Theatre (Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers!). It will make you feel a bit like someone put something in your coffee.

and here's the result. this is one of two holy modal rounders releases that are truly over the edge, the other being indian war whoop, and this one blows war whoop out of the water. listening to this makes me think there is a possibility to the long standing myth that late 60's acid rock/psychedelia was worth the vinyl it was burned on. the first thing you'll notice is: peter stampfel, singer of the bird song, REALLY does sing that way. the second is: beneath all the half assed playing lies some good songs. thirdly: these are funny songs that REALLY are funny (see half a mind & take off artist). the one gripe i have is that its all over much too quickly-this is a short album and those who expect their cd's to have 70+ minutes of music might feel a little gyped. but better 30 great minutes than 70 okay minutes, as i always say. survey says: buy this!