RENALDO AND THE LOAF

Songs For Swinging Larvae

[Ralph RL 8108]

FRED FRITH

Speechless

[Ralph FF 8106]

MX-80 SOUND

Crowd Control

[Ralph MX 8102]

TUXEDOMOON

Desire

[Ralph TX 8104]

For some unknown reason, I wince when another shipment from 444 Grove St., San Francisco, is lying at the doorstep. Oh no, I think, there goes the weekend. Inevitably, almost supernaturally, I will again be drawn into the netherworld of Ralph ("Buy or Die") Records. I have brought, I will live forever.

Ralph is one of America's most esoteric and different independent labels. This means that they tend towards trend and are out enough to be in (or vice versa). Created sometime in 1974 by the four mysterious anti-musicians collectively known as the Residents, Ralph has since become notorious for nurturing talent that is just a little left of left field. And in the meantime, they've developed a cult anyone would be amazed at, and proud of.

Which brings us to four recent Ralph unleashings of left left field talent. And what did these weakened… uh, weekend ears perceive? Well, let's take 'em as we heard 'em.

1) Renaldo and the Loaf - I wanted to hear this first because I am fascinated with anybody with balls enough to tile an album Songs for Swinging Larvae. Aiming for the Top of the Pops, they're not; and it's a good thing, because this is the WEIRDEST piece of vinyl I've ever heard. So weird, I had to take it off just to get the dog to crawl out from beneath the couch: Featuring, piercing high-pitched vocals that have been processed through tape recorders to sound backwards, and even sideways; grinding pseudo-synthesized guitars and drums with little or no melody; and a sense of rhythm that makes your hips hurt. R & Loaf seem to be reaching six feet beyond their grasp. Too many songs are attempted unsuccessfully, and it comes off sounding like so many radio commercials.

2) Fred Frith - Master Frith (famous for depraved guitar with Henry Cow and Art Bears) once more vibrates our speakers with his unique taste for the bizarre quenched with a keen sense of melody. He does strange things to simple ideas, and what would normally be a nice, docile song, gets expanded and tinkered with to the point of sheer havoc. Especially on the masterpiece, "Carnival on Wall St.", does Frith shine, waxing a tune of blinding complexity and stunning simplicity. This even tops his brilliant Gravity, but gee Fred, I still miss Dagmar's voice.

3) MX-80 Sound -Hey! This is more like it. I still contend that, bar none, MX-80 Sound is the ONLY Heavy Metal Band in the World (take that, Ted). These guys go wild, with crunching AD/DC guitars, snaky rhthyms, and a vocalist who rivals WREK radio's announcers for vacant ennui.

4) Tuxedomoon - Now, a real sleeper. This is the most accessible of my mail order order, which means that the vocals can be understood, (they're sung for that matter); and the songs have fairly conventional structures, with verses, choruses and endings. All in all, a good starting point for the fledgling Ralph collector.

Ralph has a catalogue of about 15 other albums (and the same number of singles) to choose from. Send $1 for a sampler EP to Ralph Records, 444 Grove St., San Francisco, CA 94102.

-J. E. Sumrell