Chrome: C or D?

Save yourself, especially your ears the trouble. It's no good without Creed. The Chrome Box is a bargan

Alien Soundtracks
Read only memory
Half machine lip moves
Red exposure (maybe their most accessible?)
Blood on the moon
Inworlds
Chronicles 1&2
A few tracks on subterr. modern

I dont find he 3rd from the sun alb very interesting....

My favourite Chrome rel is probably the read only memory mini lp.

3rd from the Sun, the vocals start to bug at this point and it's not as fucked as earlier, but yeah, the guitars & the basic sound still miles ahead.

Chrome Box out of print, but Anthology 1979-1983 is still in print and has all the tracks from the Subterranean Modern compilation... Half Machine / Alien Soundtracks still the one place to start though. they're much more than just a cult band, their time's still to come

In 1976, Damon Edge and Gary Spain formed Chrome in San Francisco. According to the Encyclopedia of Popular Music, the line-up for the recording of The Visitation consisted of John Lambdin (vocals, guitar, bass), Gary Spain (vocals, guitar, bass), Mike Low (guitar, synthesizer, bass) and Damon Edge (guitar,synthesizer, drums). John was the only one with any "experience" having performed with the Flower Travellin' Band, an early '70s Japanese psychedelic group.

After recording Visitation, Mike Low left and auditions were held to fill the void. Chrome did not like H at first since he showed up to the audition dressed in some kind of pirate outfit. After jamming for some time (hours-weeks?) it was clear to Damon that H was "the one" and he then convinced the other band members.

Helios added something to the group that was missing, and the albums that poured out over the next several years all have a similar "Chrome" sound to them.

John Lambdin disapeared after Alien Soundtracks. It was during this period that Chrome really only consisted of Damon and Helios. Gary Spain was only credited on two of the songs on their next release, Half Machine Lip Moves. In fact, John L. Cyborg, a psuedonym for the drum machine, was created to make it look like there were others in the band.

The recording sessions for Blood on the Moon and 3rd From the Sun included brothers John and Hillary Stench, who had just ended their stint with Pearl Harbor and the Explosions which split up in late '80.

In 1981 a group of Italian fans urged Chrome to come to Italy and perform live. They must have made quite an offer, since Chrome had never performed live for an audience before. After a single practice gig in San Francisco at the Mabuhay Gardens, the show at the Palasport in Bologne on July 20th was the second and last Chrome concert. At least for a while. [ Correction: The Italian show was first, followed by the San Francisco show on August 21st. ]

Apparently, Damon and Helios slowly became estranged over the issue of touring. Helios wanted to go out and do live shows while Damon did not. San Francisco's Chrome came to a grinding halt when Damon moved to Berlin with his girlfriend(?) Fabienne Shine.

While in Europe, Damon released some albums under his own name, and also formed a new Chrome lineup. Damon apparently acquired the legal rights to the Chrome name and recordings. He re-released some of Chrome's earlier recordings, while producing additional material with his new band. The sound of Damon's Berliner Chrome was quite different from the original San Francisco incarnation. Two "live" albums were released durring this time, although it is disputed whether the material was really recorded live.

Meanwhile, Helios Creed formed his own band back in San Francisco. He lived in a modified school bus which was often seen parked on the streets bordering Golden Gate Park. H and his band toured endlessly world wide and had a diverse following (some of whom knew nothing of Chrome). HC hit the college charts and jumped genres between punk-metal-thrash and phych.

Damon Edge died in Los Angeles the summer of 1995 at an early age. The official cause of death was heart failure. Apparently distraught over his break up with Fabiene Shine, Damon had become an obese shut-in, drinking heavily. He lay dead in his apartment for almost a month before being discovered.

Tommy met him once or twice and had few phone conversations. After Damon died, Tommy purchased a bunch of his music equipment from Damon's sister, including his Moog Liberation with the last "real" Chrome set list still taped to the back.

Shortly after Damon's death, Helios decided that he wanted to restore Chrome to it's San Francisco roots. H contacted John and Hillary to do some new recordings as Chrome. The results were released in September '96 on the 3rd Seed from the Bud single.

Meanwhile, in the Spring of 1996, Tommy L. Cyborg (Hawkwind, Farflung) and Nova Cain recorded a song modeled after the original Chrome sound and sent it to Helios on DAT. Helios liked it. He added some vocals and perhaps a bit else, and the song later appeared as Fudge Bunny on Tidal Forces.

Nova Explains: "I of course was always a huge fan, my involvement basically came from my association w/ Tommy. I
had put out records by Farflung and we became good friends and discovered we were both huge Chrome fans. Tommy was friends w/ Helios, he got Helios to play guitar on the Nik Turner Space Ritual tour, when Helios wanted to do Chrome again he called Tommy, Tommy asked if I could come and played Helios this song we had recorded together. Helios liked it, said sure, we went and recorded. That song incidently is Fudge Bunny."

Tommy and Nova did some additional recording around Thanksgiving of '96. Asked if the material for Retro and Tidal were recorded at the same time, Nova responds:

"More or less, in fact if you listen really closely you can hear some of the same elements in both recordings.You see, when Tommy and I went the first time, H didn't really want to jam together and he had 5 or 6 songs nearly done. So Tommy and I did overdubs on them and then recorded 3 10 minute improv pieces. These sort of became songs on both albums."

December 1997: Buz Deadwax, former guitarist of the bands Seed and Smartyr (which included Aleph Kali on drums and Rodney Horihata on bass) was looking for a gig. He tells this story after meeting up with Galaxy Chamber:

"We didn't jive, but they mentioned that they knew H and that he was looking for a drummer for Chrome. I referred them to Aleph, who called H, who asked Aleph if he knew any bass players and Aleph called me and we freaked out for a while."

"Aleph, Rodney and I are all gigantic Chrome/Creed fans and own close to everything. Just for the fun of it, Rodney and I once lugged a ton of our own equipment to Gillman Street to do sound and vocal effects for a Creed show. At one point between songs, H starting saying something to the audience. We had fucked with the sound so much that he sounded like a mumbling obese dwarf on helium falling down a pit filled with roofing tar. I killed the effects so you could hear what he was saying and he looked up at me and said, "Hey man! Waderya doin?!" so I put the juice back on and he was happy again. I learned my lesson."

"Anyway, after the downers and coffee took hold, Aleph and I started to rehearse ALL the Chrome material (well the GOOD stuff, anyway) since H didn't tell us what songs he wanted to do. So in 4 rehearsals we learned everything and went up to Guernville where we found out we learned everything in the wrong key! NO, Chrome did not "tune down" or mess with the speed of the tapes (except where obvious). We had to talk him into doing "Subway" and a few others but the set came together pretty easily with lots of old stuff."

"H told us that he really wanted to "set the record straight" and regain Chrome's reputation from Damon. The breakup was apparently really bad and I think that neither one ever really got over it. Damon was the introvert-agoraphobic and Helios is the extrovert-claustrophobic so it was doomed to die at some point."

"H, Aleph and I practiced on weekends for a month or so. Tommy and Nova came up from LA and we played for one weekend with the whole band! We then left for the tour."

The tour ran through 19 American cities in March and April 1998. For details see the tour info section and Buz's report from the road.

In Decemer 1998, H contacted the touring group to try to get another record together and possibly another tour. Unfortunately, Buz had prior commitments and could not participate. Rodney Horihata was called in and rehearsed/recorded 13[!] new songs with Aleph. What became of those songs I do not know.

In early 2000 Helios got the itch to tour again and a short tour of the west coast was haphazardly planned and executed. There was little promotion compared to the previous tour and the turnout was poor at all the shows except for San Francisco. Most of the band members ended up subsidizing the tour out of their own pocket.

To be continued...

From the 'official' chrome site:
http://www.staticwhitesound.com/chrome/history.htm

Was looking through my rekkids at the weekend and pulled out the sleeve for Half Machine. Love the way they've created that strange vision of the future with so little resources. Had never really noticed that gangster movie going on in that shot before.

Any of those Creed solo recs any good?

John was the only one with any "experience" having performed with the Flower Travellin' Band, an early '70s Japanese psychedelic group.

whaaaaaa...?!

let's hear some LOVE for "the visitation," come on!

Surprised to see no contributions from NYC so far - Alex has just got to love this lot, hasn't he?

wow. what were you listening to at the time?

but the deal was settled on 'alien soundtracks', total cassette pause cut-up garage faust, about four minutes into 'pygmies in zee dark' where the song hollows out and suddenly it flips into this mutant lurch with a burning braindead guitar riff, and then that's followed up _instantly_ with 'slip it to the android'... it's just fuck yeah

at the time i was probably listening to...parliament? cab.vol?

throwing 'slip it to the android' on your mix CD

Anyway, Half Machine Lip Moves & Alien Soundtracks totally classic. 3rd from the Sun isn't quite up there but I've enjoyed it so far.

Maybe I'll go look for Helios Creed stuff on Slsk later, never heard any.

this is based solely on half machine lip moves/alien sdtrks. is this 3rd from the sun album worth it?

http://www.villagevoice.com/music/0032,tracker_writer.inc,16664,.html

Hey, I used to own that Skin Yard debut on C/Z! It was during that brief post-Bleach/pre-Nevermind period when I bought just about ANYTHING Sub Pop-related. But I didn't play the Skin Yard much and eventually sold it. Then I found the CD used and reacquired it, only to find that the instrumental cut (my favourite) was now minus the saxophone track - WTF?!

Oh, and CLASSIC, obviously! Alien Soundtracks/Half Machine Lip Moves is truly fucked up.

Or, did I misunderstand? ;)

ILM patrons may be interested to know that David Tibet wants your Chrome rarities NOW - see the Durtro site for details.

ugh. wish i could just post my whim of the day on a website and have people send me cds and lps by the ton.

hahahaha. i first heard helios thru the amrep label, and the record i owned had singing along the lines of the above description. had a very "wtf?" vibe to it.

The first disc (best of) starts out with five great cuts from HMLM, but they are edited terribly. They add "Danger Zone" from the 12" single (1981); "Isolation" from Red Exposure; "The Need" and "Brain Scan" from Blood on the Moon; "Shadows of a Thousand Years" and "Future Ghosts" from 3rd from the Sun; plus "Gehenna Lion" and the great single "Anorexic Sacrifice".

As far as The Visitation, I am still fond of the phaser-drenched instrumental waltz, "Nova Feedback". But Alien Soundtracks was a HUGE step forward... or s'ways.

If you were listening to Cabaret Voltaire back then, you could have put "Nag Nag Nag" on a mix tape with Half Machine Lip Moves!

I think the songs on the Visitation were initially recorded as a porno movie soundtrack (no joke!)

since i'd spent so much time revisiting chrome, i decided to go back and catch up with helios creed. not everything, as he's put out a ton of stuff over the past quarter century, but at least through the mid 90s. basically his subterranean and amrep albums, most of which i heard at the time of their release, along with a few associated stray tracks.

sadly, it turns out i don't like creed much as a solo artist. he's obviously a gifted guitar player with some strange ideas, but his compositional palette is extremely limited. he's more a jammer than a songwriter. as a result, the musical character of his output is strongly dependent on band chemistry and editorial oversight. when he's working with people who simply follow his lead, he invariably falls into a plodding, overextended, space-noise rut. since he changes bands every year or two (sometimes for every recording session), the quality of his solo work is terribly inconsistent.

1990's boxing the clown is the only helios creed solo album i really love. for one thing, it's concise. many of the songs run only two or three minutes, while most of his other releases are larded with bland riffs stretched out to epic lengths. what's more, the riffs here are genuinely catchy, you get a memorable chorus every once in a while, and the production is fantastic. it's heavy and cavernous but not at all muffled, with clear instrumental separation and lots of detail. it's also the best band creed's ever had, a power trio featuring super-genius ex-scratch acid drummer rey washam and bassist mark duran, who'd been working on and off with creed for at least five years. washam all but steals the show. his drumming is brilliant, frequently the "lead" instrument, and since he co-produced the album (with creed and jonathan burnside), it's tempting to give him at least some credit for its remarkable sound and refreshing brevity. one of the best least-remembered noise rock albums of the era.

beyond that, while there are a handful of songs i enjoy scattered among creed's many solo releases, i haven't yet found any other albums i enjoy all the way through. "the warming" is a decent single from '91. the amrep albums that followed boxing the clown, lactating purple and kiss the brain, are often fondly mentioned by fans, and the latter does feature some kickass (and surprisingly suitable) slap bass from paul kirk, but i only like odd moments here and there. for instance, i love "flying through the either", an uncharacteristically lovely pillow of bright guitars and cloudy synths that shows up early on lactating purple. kiss the brain is a better album, overall, but the only real keepers, afaic, are "mountain mystery", a wierd tale of alien visitation in the sticks (driven by crazy slap bass), and "legs", a hilariously depraved take on the theme made famous by ZZ top ("smell the leather, taste the whip, feel your master start to drip").

the less said about the version of chrome he cobbled together in the late 90s, after the passing of damon edge, the better.

X-Rated Fairytales is a great Helios solo album, I dunno I have only listened to a handful of Creed's solo albums. I probably have a longer space-noise tolerance level than most

yeah, i've tried a number of times with both x-rated fairy tales and superior catholic finger. can't get there, though i do get a chuckle out of the nasal, pervy-weirdo voice he adopts on the title track of the latter (and elsewhere, e.g. "legs").

i dig the noise, the weirdness and especially the guitar mangling, but something about the sense of tune (or jam or whatever) just leaves me cold. maybe it's the songwriting, such as it is, and maybe it's the group chemistry, i can't really say. everytime a track starts up, i'll think, "this sounds GREAT!" ...but a minute or two later, i'm bored and wanting to skip to the next one. same response i have to red exposure and blood on the moon, btw. maybe i'm too much a slave to pop hooks, i dunno. i'm not saying they're bad records, just that i don't grok.

i get the same feeling with helios creed, some sounds are pretty good but it seems like he's working with a limited songwriting palette. you can hear the same i don't know, parts (wish I knew more about songwriting to explain) as the later Chrome stuff and throughout his catalog. the repetitive ideas make it hard to get into. maybe it was the creed/edge combo that made it all work.

Helios Creed is doing a Kickstarter-type campaign to put out some unreleased Chrome tracks from the classic '79 to '80 period.

http://vimeo.com/53466596

Half Machine from the Sun, The Lost Chrome Tracks from '79-'80

Damon Edge & I made these ‘Lost Chrome Tracks’ during recording sessions for Half Machine Lip Moves & Red Exposure. We had so much material, good tracks went unused. I didn’t even realize the tapes were lost (and sold) due to an unpaid bill! I forgot about them until they were played for me recently, some 30 years later, but listening to the work I was brought right back in time where we had left off. I remembered for instance that I felt ‘Something Rhythmic’ was a special track, maybe even a hit. I guess it wasn’t time to complete these tracks then, because now is their time.

I’m turning to you my fans & asking for your help so I can buy back the material, finish it the way it was meant & then release it to you! We’ve assembled a mind blowing array of art, music & more for this campaign. The ‘Mythology of Helios Creed & Chrome’ modeled illustration poster is incredible, as is the 1980 photograph of Damon & I. So please check out our pledges & do what you can! Purchasing a pledge entitles you to a download of The Lost Chrome Tracks release, plus you’ll have access to exclusive posts, videos & updates here. So come hang out with us on Pledge Music.

I’ve created new music for close to 40 years now. This ‘Lost Chrome Tracks’ release & a new Chrome album I’ve been recording this year, will be my 37th & 38th albums. If we surpass our goals for The Lost Chrome Tracks, I will use pledges towards my rerelease project, the goal of which is to make my entire recorded catalog available. Please also know that a portion of your pledges will be donated to Sweet Relief Musician’s Fund. For pledges made outside of the US international shipping is added to your pricing.

Thank you, Helios Creed

http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/chrome

finally dipped my toes into damon edge's solo chrome. nothing remotely close to helios/edge era, but this song's kinda cool:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qo9IW-aTz6g

changed my mind about creed, kiss to the brain's pretty damn good. def satisfies my need for fracked out alien rock.

i thought no one liked post-helios chrome?

love neds review of the live album

oops i forgot the link http://www.allmusic.com/album/live-in-germany-mw0000898384

I don't like much post-Helios Chrome but there's a decent track or two among the skronk-less minefield.

can't get enough of this band, even 13 years on from discovering them. wish more people made music like 'em.

soooo Half Machine From The Sun is out now!

http://www.popmatters.com/review/173372-chrome-half-machine-from-the-sun-the-lost-chrome-tapes-79-80/

Great! Only about seven months late, with nothing shipped to those of us who had pre-ordered it through pledge music.com.

OK I am one and a half tracks in and this is amazing.

I finally got my CD today (even though I had the digital files some time ago).

The shit that Damon and Helios left on the cutting room floor a quarter century ago sounds more vibrant and relevant than most contemporary releases.

yep

track five, still amazing

where is Milton, he needs to hear this

this is excellent and all on youtube for anyone curious.

this might be my AOTY

have played it a few times since I got a copy. sound is exactly halfway between the 70's rock of The Visitation and the complete acid meltdown of Alien Soundtracks. nowhere as weird or finessed as the latter just yet, so you can see why these got left behind -- plays through a little more like an archive than an album, but track by track these are definitely not outtakes

cd packaging is AUTHENTIC

hmm I was getting serious hits of Red Exposure on my first listen, but there were some pretty weird diversions and I only got to track 6 or so

re CD packaging, I shook my head with a mixture of admiration and horror

and yes these are missing the freaky chaos tape splicing vibe, but everything has THAT SOUND, drums sound amazing on this

My appreciation of Chrome really does come down to THAT SOUND.

awesome stuff, especially THAT SOUND - such an awesome track

fuck you

"he shit that Damon and Helios left on the cutting room floor a quarter century ago sounds more vibrant and relevant than most contemporary releases."

sad but true

humorless
xpost?

that came off as mocking, not a joke - apologies if I misread you

have you heard this? do you have any further input or are you just gonna start another poll?

i think i'll start another poll

likes the sincere apology though

Has anyone seen the current tour? I'm going tomorrow, might pick up the lost album at the gig, they also have a new one out called Feel It Like A Scientist - anyone heard that yet?

why aren't they playing SF?

Got the album but not yet given an ear. The cover art feels more Helios twenty years back than Chrome but hey.

why aren't they playing SF?

Because no-one asked them to, I assume.

Yeah, I have the album too but haven't worked up the nerve to play it. I haven't really cared about much of anything Chrome- or Creed-related since Lactating Purple.

Has anyone seen the current tour? I'm going tomorrow, might pick up the lost album at the gig, they also have a new one out called Feel It Like A Scientist - anyone heard that yet?

They were absolutely bloody deadly at Primavera last month, one of the highlights of the weekend by miles

New album's pretty good. It helps to keep the original Chrome out of mind when listening to this, that sound's never going to be made again. I think it fits better next to stuff like Gary War, and I'm always open for more weirdo sounds.

Always classic, more evil than anything black metal's managed to come up with so far

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LI1NgmdGg4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9tX6bKI0WQ

this song kicks ass. wish more bands went down this territory. i mean, with the whole "lol occult" trend over the past few years, i don't see how bands wouldn't want to cop this shit. alas, there's only one Chrome.

Does anyone know why if I open Chrome and a pair of tabs, then check Task Manager, there are half a dozen instances of it running?

Hah oh wrong thread.

"Dozen Tabs Running" was a Helios Creed b-side, not Chrome, IIRC.

LOL tabs and Chrome seem to belong together.

was gonna say

Apologies for consumerist query, but has anyone seen/heard Cleopatra's 7LP Chrome Box reissue from last year? I haven't been able to dig up any information beyond what the label says about it.

Chrome US tour from mid-May to mid-June.

http://scontent.fphl2-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/30531552_10160536427735227_7728194264991006720_n.jpg?_nc_cat=0&oh=30584895122caff4353caaaff2eeecc0&oe=5B29588C

Barring hell or high water, I shall be at the Philly date.

this band is good

Just remembered I was going to look up a Chrome thread and mention that the Stench brothers played with Jorma Kaukonen in his late 70s solo band which I only found out from reading his memoir.
Haven't heard what they sound like with him yet though.

I want to know more about the circumstances of John Lambdin playing with Flower Travellin' Band before Chrome (see top of thread). I love that there's a connection.