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LP
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ZORN 048LP
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2022 repress. Aguirre Records present the first official vinyl reissue of Fifty Foot Hose's Cauldron, originally released on Limelight in 1967. Cauldron is the legendary psychedelic jazzy rock and electronic album by Californian band Fifty Foot Hose. Fifty Foot Hose formed in San Francisco in 1967. Like few other acts of their time, they consciously tried to combine the contemporary sounds of rock with electronic instruments and avant-garde compositional ideas. They were one of the most radical groups of the psychedelic era, and their experimentalism still has the power to shock and surprise even now. What set them apart were the pioneering experiments in electronic music, like the band they are often compared to, The United States of America. Incorporating Theremin, siren, audio generators, and other various electronic effects, as Cork Marcheschi, the band's original bass player, had developed an acute interest in the dadaist/futurist experiments of composers like John Cage and Edgar Varese. David and Nancy Blossom brought both psychedelic and jazz influences to the band. Cauldron, their only album, was released in December 1967, including "Fantasy", "Red The Sign Post", and "God Bless The Child", a Billie Holiday cover. Their sound experiments differentiated them from their contemporaries and most audiences didn't quite know what to make of them. Fifty Foot Hose's music leans more towards White Noise, Silver Apples, and especially United States of America, rather than to flower power movement. After only one album, the proto-cyber psych outfit passed as quickly as they came. Their only mention would be a name-check in Ralph J. Gleason's 1969 book, The Jefferson Airplane And The San Francisco Sound, published over a year after their demise. Ralph J. Gleason wrote: "I don't know if they're immature or premature." History has proven them to be the latter. Today, the original album is very collectable and considered a touchstone of avant-garde rock music. Cork Marcheschi on the record: "The concept was to expand what contemporary popular music was. I thought the avant-garde could have had a home with this new group of listeners but they turned out to be pretty conservative -- intellectually. Drugs were fine -- sex was fine -- stop the wars was good but when challenged with abstract art., they reacted like conservative people look at a Jackson Pollock painting." Cover reconstruction by Jeroen Wille. Remastered by Equus. Includes replica of the original insert. 180 gram vinyl.
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CD
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CT 052
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Live reunion performance from '95 in SF by this legendary group whose debut album from 1967 is one of the all time great strange psychedelic experiences. Founding member Cork Marcheschi (Echolette Audio Generators, microphones, fishphone, squeaky stick, Theremin, Spark Gap, saw blades, bow-wow yo-yo, amplifier, digital delay) grouped together a new band and performed that material for the first time in 27 years. Like just about every other reunion album from the last 15 years, I'd rather not comment, but this could be worse. "They never changed their sound & spirits! Good quality sound."
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