RECORDS

Rip It Up, Issue 59, 1 June 1982, Page 20

RECORDS

Janis Joplin Farewell Song (CBS) ' ;• At first glance, an album of unreleased Janis Joplin, material seems like the scraping of - the necrophilia, but this is very good indeed. Six of the nine tracks are with Big Brother and the Holding Company, one each with the

Kozmic Blues Band and the Full Tilt Boogie Band, and, best of all, a hurting song called 'One Night Stand' with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Definitely the best. . album Janis never made. KW Smelly Feet Left Odours (Real Tapes) Since parting company with Shoes This High, Smelly Feet has developed his own 'folk music', with his semi-extemporised little toons (or on occasions nontoons). Some are autobiographical snippets, some are tales of mundane events or a thought for • the day. . Some opt for Zen-like

inscrutability and simply are what they are what they are. Among them a few like 'Kenny', 'You're A Person' (although the live version is a bit of a nonevent) have a fragile beauty seldom matched anywhere. Elsewhere Smelly's instrumental and vocal limitations sometimes make the going a bit tougher. It's not likely to make big in-roads into the mass market but for those who have seen and heard enough of Smelly Feet to have acquired the taste, this 60 minute cassette (about 20 songs) is well worth the investment. He's best live though. (For Left Odours by post, send 57.50 to PO Box 6972, Auckland 1.) . D.Mck Shadowfax Lighthearted EP (Jayrem Records) Pop/rock tunes - from littleknown Wellington band Shadowfax. Strong on the synthesisers, it's music of an old-fashioned kind, though certainly not out-dated. Highlight is the breezy title track, eminently suited to radio play. The other tracks are reminiscent of early Genesis, though they still project an original sound. CC Mary Briefcase Jupiter: By Ridge (Old Age

Records) The first record from Auckland's outlet for very alternative music, Old Age Records. They profess a desire to represent 'different' music that major record companies usually shun. Nigelp and Briefcase fit the bill. Using Jupiter as their concept they have attempted to represent alien landscapes with three tracks of varying electronic features. Leisurely and atmospheric. A bit old hat but valient and worth the effort. (6.75 from PO Box 6199, Auckland 1.) Mary Briefcase Whisper, of the Sheba Dawn (Old Age Records) The second album from Mary Briefcase on Old Age Records, the Auckland outlet for . free and spontaneous' music. Whisper of the Sheba Dawn, - despite the poetic pretension of the title, is a step forward from the meanderings of Jupiter Bp Ridge. . The tracks are more structured, shorter and more menacing. A far . cry from innovation or Cabaret Voltaire but progress in evidence.GK

Butterfly's 'ln-a-Gadda-va-Vida':. "It was particularly noteworthy for the admirably precise imitation of a mad Indian, elephant being tortured to death by drunk bwana.” He will be missed. George Kay

'Rod Stewart' Lester Bangs (Sidgwick & Jackson) After subverting the glossy fanbio format with his Blondie volume, Lester Bangs went on to write a similar switchblade job on Rod Stewart. It's worth checking out even if - no, especially if - you can't stomach 1 the strutting turkey-top. Bangs hated Stewart solo but -loved ■ the Faces. The sober and sensible co-authorship of Paul Nelson provides a healthy balance to Bangs' rabid ravings. (Bangs' recent death has lost us an extremely perceptive and funny critic. His jaundiced perceptive on the rock scene will be sorely missed.) PT The Book Of Rock Lists. ' Dave Marsh and Kevin Stein

(Rolling Stone Press) This book will drive you mad, kill your social life and lose you all your friends, as you drive everyone crazy with the appalling amount of musical trivia gathered here. Do you really want to know the wimpiest performers of all time, the 10 worst rock critics, the artists who've . won the most Grammys, the most beautiful record labels, etc, etc? Having bored people stiff with this sort of stuff for years, I naturally love it. Did you know that John Lennon once flew to Hong Kong wearing pyjamas? DC The Beatles Downunder Glen A. Baker (Wild or Woolley, 16 Darghan St, Glebe, NSW 2037) Now that the Beatles' story has been largely done to death in general terms, more specific and specialised volumes are appearing. The most recent is Oz rock historian Glen A. Baker's The Beatles Downunder, : which deals exclusively with the Australian and New Zealand tour in 1964. This book is concise, detailed and fascinating. There's a chapter, about New Zealand (with the help of Phil Gifford) and heaps of titbits and gossip, including a piece about the Beatles' admitted sexual excesses on tour. One of the best Australasian rock books to date. . ’ SG