lownotes featured album 5/31/08

[lownotes]

Bongwater was bassist and Shimmy Disc records owner Kramer along with actress Ann Magnuson on vocals. Along with Dave Rick and Dave Licht they made some of the most psychedelic music of the last 20 years. This album runs the gamut from loud discordant psychedelia to tripped out retellings of Magnuson's strange dreams, a style that become their sound later on in their career but was just one aspect of their sound at this point.

Bongwater - Double Bummer



Double Bummer starts off in the loud and discordant style but after a few songs settles into the Magnuson dream mode, which I find to be the most accessible for new listeners. This was one of my most listened to albums back in the day. Interesting and different music, often Sonic Youth-ish in it's noisiness, though at times very beautiful. Interesting and strange spoken word parts or otherwise "odd" vocalizations by Ann Magnuson. RIYL SOnic Youth and psychedelia at the same time. They cover a large number of artists on this release. From Soft Machine to the Monkees to Roky Erickson. They hardly sound like the originals though, Kramer melding them into his own twisted take on music. Not to mention their Mandarin Chinese version of Dazed and Confused. As usual, it's on my SM as "FeaturedAlbum".

Allmusic Bio

Allmusic Review

Beginning an album career with an utterly schizophrenic double album that ran the gamut from reinterpretations of Led Zeppelin songs with Chinese lyrics to such zingily titled rants as "David Bowie Wants Ideas" might not seem like the most sane approach. Then again, Bongwater were one insane group. Kramer and Magnuson's screwy take on art rock á la Henry Cow or early Faust is fairly overwhelming, though perhaps this is the whole point. With the help of Kramer's fellow Shockabilly vet David Licht on drums and King Missile guitarist Dave Rick, not to mention free jazz legend Don Cherry on a cut or two, the duo cranks up the overall weirdness factor, whether quiet or loud, to great effect. One definite carryover from Kramer and Licht's Shockabilly days is a fondness for tweaked reinterpretations of older tunes. Gary Glitter's "Rock and Roll, Pt. 2," Michael Nesmith's "Just May Be the One," and the Beatles' "Love You Too" and "Rain" are among some of the victims, at points rendered unrecognizable. Johnny Cash's "There You Go," however, gets a lovely, straightforward take.

Wikipedia entry

Bongwater - Double Bummer plus (1988 - Shimmy Disc)
Kramer - Bass, Guitar, keyboards
Ann Magnuson - Vocals
with
Dave Rick - Guitars
Dave Licht - Drums

Disc: 1
1. Lesbians Of Russia
2. Frank
3. We Did It Again
4. Homer
5. Joy Ride
6. Decadent Iranian Country Club
7. David Bowie Wants Ideas
8. Rock & Roll Part 2
9. Just May Be The One
10. There You Go
11. Shark
12. Jimmy
13. Crime
14. Pornography
15. Pew
16. Dazed & Chinese
17. Bullaby
18. So Help Me God
19. His Old Look
20. Stone
21. Number

Disc: 2
1. Love You To
2. Reaganation
3. Double Birth
4. Bruce
5. Pool
6. Rain
7. Havana
8. Pentagon
9. Truth
10. Ride My See-Saw
11. Barely Coping
12. Four Sticks
13. U.S.O.
14. His New Look
15. Julia
16. You Don't Love Me Yet
17. The Porpoise Song

[james k. polk]

Good one. I'm going to listen to it tomorrow.

[lownotes]

Good one. I'm going to listen to it tomorrow.

[Keith X]

Bong water stinks. Bong water rocks!

Seriously, another band with some talent, but not something I would want to hear again. I recently read an article that said people favor the music they listened to as kids and young adults. I guess that's true in my case, I seem to be listening to stuff from the '60s to the '80s more than new music lately. This was from late in that timeframe, but not on my playlist.

'notes, appreciate another music lesson. Keep 'em coming, please.

[axolotl]

I found the vinyl (2 LP gatefold) at a thrift store about four years ago. I didn't know a thing about Bongwater. Bought it - sound unheard.

It's a keeper, and not really a double bummer at all. I'll play it when the wife's not around.