ORCHID SPANGIAFORA - Flee Past's Ape Elf

"Splendid, expanded reissue of this monster album, which most people know from its placement on the NWW List. Stapleton even went so far as to name a track of his (Fashioned to a Device Behind a Tree") after a mis-hearing of one of Flee Past's many memorable lines. The music has its roots in Hampshire Colleges Electronic Music Studio in the early 1970s. While taking a class on electronic composition, Robert Carey was smitten by the potentialities lurking inside piles of reel-to-reel tape. Presented with a stack of such stuff, mostly recorded from television broadcasts, he began an epic stumble into the universe of musique concr_ɬ®te. Carey refashioned banal spoken material into bizarre, hilarious and shockingly musical suites that you could listen to for sheer yucks or revelatory juxtapositions. Influenced by Gysin/Burroughs/Somervilles cut-up techniques, as much as Zappas 1960s editing flair, Carey (rechristened Orchid Spangiafora by some wise-ass music professors) created new savage aural realities that you could almost dance to. The original album was released by Twin/Tone Records in 1979, at the behest of the Suicide Commandos Chris Osgood (who'd been Careys roommate at Hamsphire). It didn't make too much of a splash, but managed to sneak into a lot of important ears nonetheless. And it remains one of the few records that I can put on in the 21st century and still have people ask, "What the hell is that?" Now you can do the same. Edition of 500 copies." - Feeding Tube.