Agony Shorthand
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Wednesday, July 12, 2006
CAPTAIN BEEFHEART & THE MAGIC BAND : “DOC AT THE RADAR STATION” LP......
At the risk of perceived heresy and the threat of great bodily harm from the unwashed army of Beefheart lunatics out there, I have to say I really don’t dig much of the great man's post-“Lick My Decals Off, Baby” (1970) stuff. Listening to "Doc At The Radar Station" all the way through for the first time just confirms it. Granted, it’s from 1980, and a few folks’ll tell you that the Captain was beyond relevance at that point – but you’ll also get a number of partisans ready to pigpile you for questioning anything outside of "Bluejeans and Moonbeams" (the one no one likes). I heard "Doc" years ago & it really bugged me; all the herky, addled avant-blues of his first 4-5 records was muddled with a sort of by-the-numbers patented "Beefheart" vibe that it was clear to me then (and more so now) that he was caught red-handed milking his own persona for the few remaining folks that cared at the dawn of the eighties. Some of it’s so stupendously, calculatingly daffy and Zappa-like grating (like the godawful “Telephone”) that I can’t even listen all the way through. What’s worse, this or ZOOGZ RIFT? Help me, I can’t choose. Let me state for the record that there's a little good on "Doc" as well, like the thumping opener "Hot Head", for instance, and a lot of the harsh instrumental dissonance, but when it comes to the great Captain a 20% "good" ratio is exceptionally sub-par - particularly when I can listen to "Trout Mask" and "Mirror Man" and "Strictly Personal" back-to-back & want to immediately hear them all again (I haven't actually tried it, but I'm pretty sure it might happen). Wanting to fill in the gaps and get a compleat Beefheart collection, just to say you did it? Hey, it's your money, esse!
At the risk of perceived heresy and the threat of great bodily harm from the unwashed army of Beefheart lunatics out there, I have to say I really don’t dig much of the great man's post-“Lick My Decals Off, Baby” (1970) stuff. Listening to "Doc At The Radar Station" all the way through for the first time just confirms it. Granted, it’s from 1980, and a few folks’ll tell you that the Captain was beyond relevance at that point – but you’ll also get a number of partisans ready to pigpile you for questioning anything outside of "Bluejeans and Moonbeams" (the one no one likes). I heard "Doc" years ago & it really bugged me; all the herky, addled avant-blues of his first 4-5 records was muddled with a sort of by-the-numbers patented "Beefheart" vibe that it was clear to me then (and more so now) that he was caught red-handed milking his own persona for the few remaining folks that cared at the dawn of the eighties. Some of it’s so stupendously, calculatingly daffy and Zappa-like grating (like the godawful “Telephone”) that I can’t even listen all the way through. What’s worse, this or ZOOGZ RIFT? Help me, I can’t choose. Let me state for the record that there's a little good on "Doc" as well, like the thumping opener "Hot Head", for instance, and a lot of the harsh instrumental dissonance, but when it comes to the great Captain a 20% "good" ratio is exceptionally sub-par - particularly when I can listen to "Trout Mask" and "Mirror Man" and "Strictly Personal" back-to-back & want to immediately hear them all again (I haven't actually tried it, but I'm pretty sure it might happen). Wanting to fill in the gaps and get a compleat Beefheart collection, just to say you did it? Hey, it's your money, esse!