Playlist for 5-21-10, featuring Randy Holden's 1970 album "Population II"

Here's a loud one for ya--

I've had this album in my collection for quite a while now, but I figured it'd be something either WIDR's 60's program or 70's program would've gotten into, and I didn't want to do any overlapping. But, it seems like I'm in the clear and this record has apparently never been played on WIDR except by me.

Randy was once a replacement guitarist for the proto-metal band Blue Cheer. At least, he played on one side of their record 'New! Improved!' and then decided they were 'sissy napping music' and started his own, heavier project. Now, if you've heard Blue Cheer, you'll no doubt realize that it would've been hard to craft something heavier than that in the late 60's...but, Holden was nuts.

For his first (and only?) solo album, Randy enlisted a drummer who could play keyboards with his feet so that they could just be a duo. They rented out an opera house or something just to hold all of Randy's massive amp stacks. Holden has said that the tempos of his songs are so slow because of the really intensive song arrangements on the drummer's part.

Here's what some folks have said about his record:

"...What we hear is a little under a half an hour’s worth of Holden’s super-slowed and heavy guitar riffing/wailing/soaring. The pure sludge of it will cause cracks in your ceiling, all the windows of your room, the sky itself and possibly even your brain. It’s almost as though Holden is trying to make his drummer sense his purpose is futile and bolt the studio door to leave him alone to continue his deafening work as it dwarfs everything in its path as guitar solo upon guitar solo reduce Lockheed’s drumming to function more as punched pillows in the background. And Holden’s volcanic eruptions continue as slow as molasses and fiery as lava, spewing forth a barrage to drown out even the caterwauling-ness of his own vocals...not to mention his rhythm and bass guitar tracks." - The Seth Man from Julian Cope's Head Heritage site

"While never attaining his rightful place in the pantheon of heavy rock guitar gods, Randy Holden will always be held in high regard for creating Population II - one of greatest high-volume displays of all time and an all-out monster of an album.

Best known for his brief tenure in Blue Cheer that lasted long enough for him to appear on the second side of their New! Improved! LP, Holden signed an endorsement deal with Sunn amplifiers upon his departure and ordered twenty 200 watt speaker cabinets for use on his debut solo release. And he used them all. At once.

Paired with Chris Lockheed, who handled drums and keyboards simultaneously, Holden took aim at laying down not only the loudest album in recorded history, but the first to successfully bridge the divide between psychedelic rock and heavy metal. The result, a heavily reverbed affair with piles of reverse effects, beautifully controlled feedback and sparse arrangements that allowed plenty of space for the volume to stretch out, was far beyond what Black Sabbath, the Stooges or Led Zeppelin were up to around the same time.

Even more amazing is how for a guitar-centric album, Population II is completely devoid of clichés, superfluous guitar heroics or trite lyrics, yet oddly enough, this slice of heaven received only a limited release on the small Hobbit label and was quickly withdrawn by Holden's management under a veil of secrecy. Thankfully, it has been heavily bootlegged in great fidelity for nearly 40 years. It may not be your thing, but if you allow this one to sink in, you'll get completely lost in it." - user KiDG, rateyourmusic.com

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Here's the playlist for the program:

May 21 - 1:58 AM	Doris Norton	A.D.A. Converter	Personal Computer		No		e/d
May 21 - 1:52 AM	Bob Bell	Necropolis, Part 3	Necropolis		No		e/d
May 21 - 1:46 AM	Rangda	Bull Lord	S/T		No		e/d
May 21 - 1:38 AM	Anal Magic and the Reverend Dwight Frizzell	Family, Birth of Helio and Selene	Beyond the Black Crack		No		e/d
May 21 - 1:34 AM	Axis of Awesome	Four Chords	??	requestical	Yes		e/d
May 21 - 1:24 AM	Randy Holden	Keeper of My Flame	Population II	Bizarro Jerry's whacked-out album of the week	No	Bizarro Jerry	e/d
May 21 - 1:17 AM	Randy Holden	Blue My Mind	Population II	Bizarro Jerry's whacked-out album of the week	No		e/d
May 21 - 1:15 AM	Randy Holden	Fruit and Iceburgs (Conclusion)	Population II	Bizarro Jerry's whacked-out album of the week	No		e/d
May 21 - 1:13 AM	Randy Holden	Between Time	Population II	Bizarro Jerry's whacked-out album of the week	No		e/d
May 21 - 1:08 AM	Randy Holden	Fruit and Iceburgs	Population II	Bizarro Jerry's whacked-out album of the week	No		e/d
May 21 - 1:02 AM	Randy Holden	Guitar Song	Population II	Bizarro Jerry's whacked-out album of the week	No	Bizarro Jerry	e/d
May 21 - 12:54 AM	Jandek	Crazy	The Living End		No		e/d
May 21 - 12:51 AM	Robert Alberg	San Storms	S/T		No		e/d
May 21 - 12:48 AM	Bitter Blood Street Theater	Snake and Cave	Vol. 1		No		e/d
May 21 - 12:45 AM	Doronco Gumo	Umi	Old Punks		No		e/d
May 21 - 12:40 AM	Beautiful Losers	Nobody Knows the Heaven	Nobody Knows the Heaven		No	Bizarro Jerry	e/d
May 21 - 12:29 AM	Gleneil	Cheepy Chappy and Ito	Cruise It		No		e/d
May 21 - 12:15 AM	Hampton Grease Band	Evans	Music to Eat		No		e/d
May 21 - 12:15 AM	Wild Man Fischer	The Rocket Rock	An Evening with Wild Man Fischer		No		e/d
May 21 - 12:13 AM	Sensational	Tearin' it Up	Heavyweighter		No		e/d
May 21 - 12:10 AM	Fred Frith	Come Across	Gravity		No	Bizarro Jerry	e/d
May 21 - 12:05 AM	The Frogs	Get Yourself a Man (If You're a Man)	Made Up Songs 1-61		No		e/d
May 21 - 12:00 AM	V-3	My Neighborhood	Negotiate Nothing		No	Bizarro Jerry	e/d

Tracklist for 'Population II':

1. Guitar Song
2. Fruit and Iceburgs (sic)
3. Between Time
4. Fruit and Iceburgs (Conclusion)
5. Blue My Mind
6. Keeper of My Flame

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