I missed Gap Dream’s self-titled debut when the Fullerton, CA-based Burger Records released it at the beginning of the year. Though the album was written (save for a cover of a 1966 B-side by The Squires) and recorded entirely by Gabriel Fulvimar, he plays live with three others. They just finished up a tour, having stopped in Chicago last Thursday for a show at the Subterranean. A few weeks back they also did a live set on WFMU, playing mostly songs from the album but also “Generator” from the recent “Ali Baba” 7” on Suicide Squeeze. Burger has sold out of Gap Dream, but it’s still available on their Bandcamp, and you should absolutely download it.
[Bandcamp]
[Suicide Squeeze]
La Flavour – “Mandolay”
Track of the Day
La Flavour got its start in Ohio in the late ’60s, playing soul covers for live audiences. Today’s track comes off the group’s only album release, 1980′s Mandolay. “Mandolay” had some success in the clubs, peaking at No. 7 on the Billboard dance/disco charts, and it saw similar success on European charts. Mark Avsec, of Wild Cherry (who joined that group just after their recording of “Play That Funky Music”), wrote and produced the album; in 1983, Avsec released his own version of “Mandolay” under the Art Attack name, which doesn’t really stand up to the original. La Flavour’s second album, recorded under the name Fair Warning, was shelved before it could see release—due to label concerns that the new Van Halen album, titled Fair Warning, might cause confusion among the record-buying public. A potential single from the album, “She Don’t Know Me,” was given to up-and-comers Bon Jovi instead.
La Flavour continued to perform in clubs and showrooms through the ’80s, at one point incorporating a comedy bit with a couple of Muppet-like puppets into their act. But as the group entered the ’90s, work started to dry up. The band’s website notes: “While most didn’t find it offensive hearing comedy delivered by two cute puppets in the ’80s, the 1990′s brought on a whole different attitude toward ‘political correctness’.” Despite lineup changes and retirements, the (now-puppetless) La Flavour continues to play gigs around the Ohio area.
[Discogs]
[Website]
The Hototogisu – “Little Pink Puffs of Smoke”
Track of the Day
The Hototogisu, the Japanese name for the Lesser Cuckoo, comprises Matthew Bower and Marcia Bassett. Bassett’s primary contribution to the band comes in the form of violin; Bower plays guitar and electronics. Both have played in several other bands, including Skullflower, Double Leopards, and many others. Today’s track is taken from the album Cuckoo Cloudland, released on De Stijl Records in 2001. The duo has also released music on Sub Pop, Important Records, and their own label, Heavy Blossom. They have also collaborated a few times with like-minded musicians Burning Star Core.
[Discogs]
[iTunes]
The Family – “Yes”
Track of the Day
Following Morris Day’s departure in 1984, Prince approached the remaining members of The Time and convinced them to form The Family with his then-fiancé Susannah Melvoin (twin sister of Revolution guitarist Wendy Melvoin) and Eric Leeds. “Yes” comes off their self-titled album, put out on Prince’s Paisley Park Records in 1985. Though Prince wrote and performed most of the tracks himself, “Yes” was one of the first collaborations between Prince and Leeds, who would later form Prince’s jazz-fusion project Madhouse. The group released only one single, an extended version of “The Screams of Passion,” and gave only one public performance before disbanding, with singer St. Paul going on to a solo career and the remaining members joining an expanded Revolution. Leeds continued to work with Prince after break-up of The Revolution and released his solo album, Times Squared, on Paisley Park in 1991. The group reunited in 2007 and continues to perform and record under the name fDeluxe.
[Discogs]
[Website]
Michael Rother – “Karussell”
Track of the Day
Michael Rother, probably best known as half of the krautrock band Neu!, has had an expansive career. Rother was in an early incarnation of Kraftwerk, but left in 1971 along with Neu! bandmate Klaus Dinger. After their third release in 1975, Neu! was inactive for a period of time, and Rother put out Flammende Herzen, which features “Karussel,” in 1977. Neu! began recording more material in the ’80s, but none of it was released until 1995, and in the meantime Rother continued to work solo; he also played in the group Harmonia with Cluster‘s Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Mobius (and briefly Brian Eno). Rother has been active throughout the 2000s, too; he joined the Red Hot Chili Peppers for an on-stage jam session in 2007 and collaborated with Sonic Youth’s Steve Shelley in 2010.
