F/i & VocoKesh

http://www.myspace.com/fispacerock

Good days for F/i fans, to be sure. Now if somebody would only reissue some of the cassettes...

* - okay, i just looked at this link below. the boy dirt car split is there. the other one i had was *why not now? alan!*, both on RRR

http://www.sixthstation.com/fi/fi2.html

I had that album at some point, and I picked it up at Tower, so I'm sure it must have been reissued at some point once before. Maybe it was on that German label label who put out a few Chrome reissues and the Dead Tech comps. Courier or someone? Anyhow, it's pretty great.

F/i are classic space rawk. When they started hardly anyone (was anyone?) was doing aggressive instrumental psych jams in the US. "Trauma At The Beach" is my personal fave. A buddy of mine just sent me a best of F/i comp, I should post the track listing.

I find it kind of schocking that you can still buy the split LP on RRR - it was hard as hell to find back in the 80s, don't think I've seen a copy since. Out of Space and Out of Time is a good comp, I think I've got that floating around somewhere as well.

Paradise Out Here was released on Human Records, it was indeed a German label but I don't think they had anything to do with Dossier (who put out the Chrome stuff).

Smile! is my favorite Vocokesh album, the 1st one ("Ispepnaibara" or some such) is good also.

"grumbly crunching" is a great Boy Dirt Car description. My favorite one of theirs is easily Winter, which has a good balance of noise vs. menacing atmospherics.

All hail Lexicon Devil! Give them money!

i think both sides have been reissued as bonus tracks on other reissues by both bands. i'm really lazy or i'd go check my cds.

and yeah, it totally rips. I'd say that and Blue Star are my two faves..

"Lexicon Devil has just reissued the absolute last of the F/i rarities, 1989's Paradise Out Here, originally released in a vinyl-only pressing of 300 back in 1989. I think it easily competes w/ 1987's jaw-dropping Why Not Now?... Alan! LP from 1987 as perhaps their finest recorded moment. Swish new packaging, two previously unreleased bonus tracks, please enquire at a record barn near you."

So perhaps it didn't sell too fast and we all have copies of this edition?

Aquarius' description of Paradise Out Here got my attention. They were out of copies at the store when I was there last week, but from what I've heard from dl, might have to order one. How did I miss this band?

Maybe the most anxiously awaited release in Lexicon Devil's comprehensive series of F/i reissues. Paradise Out Here, originally released in 1989, might just be the heaviest, most freaked out, most spaced out of all the F/i records. All it takes is about one minute of opener "From Poppy With Love", an acid fried, ultra freaked out, swirling psychrock blowout to understand why. A chugging scuzzy garage rock riff scratches out a relentless spacey stomp beneath a massive roiling cloud of FX that make Acid Mothers Temple's arsenal look like a broken down collection of Casio distortion boxes and Fisher-Price keyboards. So heavy and so spacey. Monster Magnet, Hawkwind, AMT, Colour Haze, UFOmammut, White Hills, Comets On Fire, the Heads, the Telescopes, Atomic Bitchwax, Loop. If those are the kind of bands that get your blood boiling and your bong bubbling then this record is definitely for you. Extended excursions into the outer reaches of deep deep deep space, where the stars blink and twinkle in dizzyingly psychedelic colors, everywhere you look guitars are all twisted and distorted, thick slabs of rumbling bass plow through reverbed swirls of shimmer, melodies explode and splinter into jagged bits in gloriously incendiary bursts, everything is blurry and swathed in a thick drug rock haze, and everywhere you look huge slabs of blown out wah guitar drift past, like fluffy prismatic clouds, underneath it all, drums pound a never ending rhythm, while being endlessly pelted with synth squiggles and a veritable hail storm of bleeps and bloops and beeps. Woah. This record is so relentless and about as tripped out and psychedelic as a record can get without completely collapsing in on itself. If there was ever a record that made us want to get super high, turn off all the lights, rock the fuck out and drift WAY WAY WAY OUT.... it's this one.

dude if you dont have this: http://www.amazon.com/Space-Mantra-Boy-Dirt-Split/dp/B001KL2WPE

then you need to get it. soon.

I stand by all my comments upthread and would just like to reiterate how great this band was when they were on, which was at least half the time on LP.

Good days for F/i fans, to be sure. Now if somebody would only reissue some of the cassettes...

― sleeve (sleeve), Wednesday, June 21, 2006 6:20 AM (sixteen years ago)

Richard, Brian, Jan, Steve, you guys are just killing me here. You have a Bandcamp page with ONE TRACK and there are literally like a dozen awesome tapes of yours that are abandoned to the $50+ collector scum world of Discogs wantlists. I keep buying them,. yeah, but c'mon help a guy out.

Lmao

see here for all your insanely rare tape uploads

http://www.youtube.com/@1kjosef1

eternally grateful, whoever you are. all of these early tapes are just fantastic.

wow!

I know, I've wanted to hear the full 3384 tape for 35 years!

I guess credit is due to a Lars Kvam for the OG tapes, Lars please accept my eternal gratitude

related, a FB exchange between myself and another person from about a month ago, their comment first.

There’s a label doing a vinyl reissue of “Invisible Men” and “Air.” I wish somebody would rerelease “Zombie.” That one is a cut above.

got any more details?

I do, but I'm just about out the door. Will get back to you later. If I don't, feel free to nudge me on here.

Supposed to be coming out on the Birdman imprint. Exactly when is up in the air, to my knowledge. It’s planned as a 2-LP. “Air” is in a slightly shortened form to fit on side four, but “Invisible Men” is spread out over the other three in its entirety.

fantastic news, thanks. especially since Invisible Men is one of the only ones I don't have!

"Invisible Men" is a good one. Very different for those who are into the "space rock" for which the band is mostly known. I really like "Air," too. I'm a little dismayed that it had to be slightly abbreviated, but I will say that I did the edit for it and I doubt that anyone will ever be able to find the seam. It flows beautifully.

ha I now realize that the person I was talking to above is the same person who uploaded the tapes to YT, thanks Karl

a bunch of AMAZING early Richard Franecki tapes popped up on Hal McGee's Bandcamp:

https://cassetteartclassics.bandcamp.com/album/two-drones
https://cassetteartclassics.bandcamp.com/album/points
https://cassetteartclassics.bandcamp.com/album/zones
https://cassetteartclassics.bandcamp.com/album/test-pattern

Hey, cool!

YESSSSSS

https://richardfranecki.bandcamp.com/album/invisible-men

^^ Birdman reissue of Invisible Men plus the "Air" tape

Pretty great to see! Hoping even more follows.