Leonardo Music Journal -- Awesome!!

noboby's ever been able to explain to me why a band as obscure as the Table, who had 2 singles, one on Chiswick, one on Virgin, with one of those tracks appearing on a comp, have such a thorough and lengthy bio on Allmusic Guide, but there it is for your reading pleasure:

A true enigma, the mysterious the Table arrived unexpectedly on the British punk scene in 1977, with their magnificent debut single, "Do the Standing Still." A second and final single, "Sex Cells," was released before the group disappeared for good.

The Table began life back in 1971, under the equally unsuitable moniker Stabbing Jack, the brainchild of two Welsh cartoonists. Russell Young and Tony Barnes shared the vocals, keyboards, guitar, and bass duties, although neither actually owned any of those instruments, a fact that the Cardiff pair proudly proclaimed at every opportunity.

With their own blend of spacy prog-rock, the D.I.Y. outfit gigged around the neighborhood to little attention, although they did play the Windsor Free Festival in 1974. It took punk to shake the duo out of their inertia, at least momentarily. In 1976, Young and Barnes reinvented themselves as Do You Want a Table, with a lineup augmented by guitarist Mickey O'Connor and drummer Len Lewis. By the end of the year, the band had signed a one-off deal with Virgin, and shortened their name simply to the Table. Not surprisingly, Virgin head honcho Richard Branson was unwilling to commit much time or energy to an enterprise which eschewed owning instruments, refused to tour, and loudly announced they weren't a "real" band and had no future in music.

"Do the Standing Still"/"Magical Melons of the Tropics" arrived in the spring of 1977. The perfect dance sensation for punk nihilists, the 45 immediately garnered critical acclaim and a Single of the Week accolade from New Musical Express. Although the group, true to their principles, never toured, they did play occasional, secret gigs, festooning the stage with cartoon graphics. Virgin was under no obligation to push the single, and it's hard to say if the press the band did receive actually worked in their favor or not. Their interviews baffled the most experienced music journalists, and left readers wondering if they really wanted to support a band whose projected debut album threatened to feature the singer reading a shopping list.

Still, there was quite a buzz around them, and if the Table had toured, "Standing Still" might have actually been more than an underground hit. Instead, the group seemed to deliberately sabotage their chances, and while the song would become a staple of punk-era compilations forever, the Table themselves fell off the radar entirely for over a year.

They reappeared without warning in 1978, now as a trio featuring new guitarist Kevin Bannon, on the indie Chiswick label. "Sex Cells"/"The Road of Lyfe" was even more irrepressible than their debut, and just as doomed to chart failure. Again the group refused to tour, they still had no instruments, and now there wasn't even any talk of an album. There wasn't any hope of airplay either, not with a chorus that infectiously insisted, "I'm obsessed with a mad desire for sex with schoolgirls." The single enlivened dancefloors with its irresistible hooks, but would and could go no further.

And neither did the Table. Neither Young nor Barnes was ever heard from in the music world again. And one is left to ponder just what else the pair could have created if they'd been so inclined, and that truly is the enigma of it all.

Do the Standing Still by The Table:

http://s39.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=23EAJ9NRI8QH90LV1DMQLKWDF7

haha

Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, c. Antoni Wit, Naxos Records

the last three minutes are particularly mad

if you're pulled down say five of the above mp3s, it might be good form to chip in one of your own

actually, that goes for all lurkers

you're right, who cares, we just keep posting tunes

i would LOVE to post more music. one of these days i swear i'm gonna get a burner to put my vinyl onto disc. i just need the money. and i want to find one that actually works. every time i give vinyl to someone to burn, the cd i get back either skips or sounds like doodoo.

just found this online -- good wow: http://www.mininova.org/tor/112458

Does anyone have the rest of this album?

this heat - w/ mario boyer diekuuroh

i'll up side 2 (albert marcoeur) later, both are really good despite sound quality

From the liner notes of Quadruped's album "Entering Eldorado": "the sound is dark and cavernous, full of a spatial ambiance that can only be attained by playing in back lane garages during periods of low barometric pressure".

Quadruped -- Flea Sheep

Feel the powa:

Sensational -- Sewin' Up Avenues

http://s53.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=2GI0JNAVKZ3P420HZA1ITF3XOW

this heat - unknown title (live)

http://www.acuterecords.com/v3-check-out_time.mp3

you are now drunk

http://s48.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=1CP4BWV5FM9HX348R8KDVD5CTE

That V3 stuff isn't very early. The Vertical Slit tracks go back to the 70s, but Negotiate Nothing is all early 90s stuff I think, not long before Photograph Burns. In fact on Photograph Burns, 2 of the songs, Adam Twelve and Harry, are re-recorded versions of songs from Negotiate Nothing. Photograph Burns is a great record as well.

http://www.pataphysics-lab.com/ydl/

the PRL's new mp3blog.
m.

John Cage & Lejaren Hiller - HPSCHD

Nonesuch, 1969

Antoinette Vischer, Neupert Bach-model harpsichord (Solo II); Neely Bruce, Hubbard double harpsichord with 17% Eltro time compression (solo VI); David Tudor, Baldwin solid-body electronic harpsichord (Solo I).

http://www.johncage.info/cdlabels/nonesuch71224.html

the piece is written for multiple harpsichords playing simultaneously throughout a huge auditorium while the audience wanders around. The EMF CD just overdubs one person on one harpsichord and mixes everything flat. the original has three performers on three different instruments so you can get a bit more lost in the sound, and mixes Hiller's tape part louder (better).

Six By Seven -- Leave Me Alone

It ressembles what Joy Division's "Heart and Soul" might have sounded like if had they heard G-Man or stuff on the Chain Reaction label.

Robert Wyatt, "Little Red Robin Hood Hit the Road"