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2CD
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PP 053CD
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Penultimate Press releases one of the most audacious and unrelenting entries in the entire minimal cannon. A collection of recordings from a true American eccentric maverick pioneer, Sam Esh. Originally available as double-cassette in tiny editions on Mike Rep Hummel's OldAge/NoAge label these are now bound together on a double-CD set which does not interrupt the unrelenting creativity of Mr. Esh. Picture Moondog taking a turn for the far worse morphing into a way further crazed Legendary Stardust Cowboy who eschews any song tradition for an unrelenting hypnotic acoustic hurricane complete with glossolalia vocals. This is raw primitive repetitive street blues, an acoustic freight train barreling through your brain.
"It was Ron House that first steered me to the music of Sam Esh circa 1990. Sammy would bring his self-made cassettes to Usedkids Records and Ron thought it would be something that would interest me, which indeed it did. I had a cassette-only label I started in 1985 called OldAge/NoAge which had just started to garner interest in the outside world thanks to a RARE cassette review in Byron Coley's Underground column for Spin Magazine . . . Sam often sang and played in drug induced states hence this unique lingual hodgepodge streams direct from his altered temporal reality. A large part of it has to do with a tragic event in Sam's life 50+ years ago. He and his wife were in San Francisco during the late '60s and imbibed in most of the indulgences that time and place was known for. They 'took a trip' to a remote area of Baja Mexico, and during an extended acid trip Sam caught dysentery, a bacterial disease that results from contaminated food or water. Being he was in a rural undeveloped area at the time, and under the influence of said drugs Sam very nearly died from lack of proper medical attention, and was severely affected cognitively by this near-death experience. The result of this trauma was a cognitive state that has ever since required medications psychotropic medications that do not mesh well with alcohol which Sam has been on and off for decades. Regardless Sam liked to drink, and when he did he developed something of a 'Jeckyl-Hyde' personality as a result. Sam was never violent or antisocial, but often quite difficult to relate to for most people . . . Through six months of amazing shows (I drummed for the band he recruited to back him up called Hard Black Thing) Sam was quite charismatic on stage. We recorded the Incendiary release 'Sam Esh & Hard Black Thing / Montezuma Baby Duck' released on Siltbreeze Records from '92..." --Mike "Rep" Hummel
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