'86 was a good year and show review

[hsu%uicsrd.CSRD.UIUC.EDU@a.cs.uiuc.edu (William Tsun-Yuk Hsu)]

>Really-From: Neil Calton <nbc@vd.rl.ac.uk>
 
>I had long discussions with my friends on this
>subject and we all came to the conclusion that 1986 was fairly dire as
>far as music was concerned (though there were some good movies around).

[List of NME and MM lists deleted]

>Indeed, despite our lack of enthusiasm
>for any of these records none of us could come up with many alternatives
>and certainly nothing that would qualify as a great album. 

Bull. This is more an indication of the conservative and limited musical
tastes of you and your friends than of the state of music in '86. Read
Greg Taylor's retrospective article. Read Jim Hofmann's detailed list.
Read John Hogge's top 19 albums article. *BUY* some of this great music
and blow your mind.

And you don't even have to look very far. That awesome Test Department
album is British. NME etc. have no right to claim they know anything 
about music if they ignore Test Department and the other non-trendy
but original groups who work in England right now.

Now a show review:

JELLO BIAFRA DEFENSE ANTI-CENSORSHIP FUND BENEFIT	
Buckethead/Outnumbered/Didjits at Channing-Murray	2/15/87

Buckethead expanded to a 4-piece, tho there are rumors their fine
drummer is quitting. All covers again, with their awesome version of
Robyn Hitchcock's Sometimes I Wish I Was a Pretty Girl. I wanted a tape
of that but the band screwed up trying to tape off the soundboard and
only got part of the set. Outnumbered (who get gigs in Chicago alot)
are obviously going after the Homestead house-sound, interweaving
bass-guitar lines and vocals with just enough of an edge to be trendy.
Yawn. Didjits were sloppy hardcore. They were much better when they
opened for Big Black. They have an album out but I haven't heard it.

The turnout was fairly small, tho a couple of industrial music fans
surprised me by showing up. The organizers (the coolest high school
people in the midwest, folks) raised about $300.

Bill