
It’s an album like
Afreaka! that helps
The "I-Own-Every-Record-You’d-Never-Buy" CD Consumer’s Guide achieve its ultimate goal of unearthing the most obscure musical artifacts from the 1970s. First released in 1970 on Dawn Records, the material on this five-song lp is, as best described by Thom Jurek at www.allmusic.com, “a wild mash of Afro-Latin funk, breakbeats, tripped-out soul, jazz fusion, and psychedelic journeying.” I couldn’t have said it better myself. The album is largely made up of lengthy instrumental passages, a varied collection of driving rhythmic patterns, heavy bass runs and punchy horn breaks. The lyrical content, though limited, reveals subject matter that is just as relevant today as it was back in 1970. Who can’t relate to a “Disillusioned Man” trying to deliver a “Message to Mankind” while envisioning life in “Another Country?” “Hymn to Mother Earth” is another track whose social message holds up well in 2009 (I’m not sure the same can be said for “Fuzz Oriental Blues”). This was the only recorded output from Demon Fuzz, although Dawn also released a three-song maxi-single that featured a cover of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’s “I Put a Spell on You.” This is about as straightforward as the band gets. Everything else is complex, challenging, slightly confusing and ultimately captivating.
Notes: Here is an audio-only YouTube clip of “Another Country” by Demon Fuzz:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkdvgYBrYVU. I
dare you to play all eight minutes plus.
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