cs1@oddjob.UUCP (Cheryl Stewart) (07/26/85)
A FRO ZEN CON CENT RATE
is a band out of New Brunswick, New Jersey. Imagine
electronic Jungle noises with severe echo-box effects
and a talking heads-like beat that is impossible NOT
to dance to. It's electronically psychedelic and weird.
They call it afro zen
because I see the buddah
while getting a perm
I told my hairdresser
cover up these big ears
they stick out anyway
oh well, that's life
The name of this song is afro zen. The dub version is
afro dubzilla. They do really cool things with words
and concatenations of groups of words to make a language
which (with the echo box turned up) could SAY any number
of things -- but when you hear it, you get the idea
they're trying to get across anyway. They have one
album out, those present at the imaginary breakfast.
It's not well produced enough to sound as good as they
sound in person. No amount of production could cause
an album to match the live performance I saw last
Satyrday--they played by the side of a gorge in Ithaca,
New York. My first reccolection of their sound was
getting to this party around 2, and hearing something
I had NEVER heard before -- frozen concentrate warming
up in the great outdoors. You know how Little Feat is
unmistakably Little Feat, and the the Talking Heads are
distinctively Talking Heads? Well take Steve Scales,
Bernie Worell on keyboards, Lowell George lyrics, and
two women doing things with their voices that Adrian
Bellew WISHES he could do with his guitar--then put an
elecric orange border around the edges of every note.
Now you're starting to get the picture.
they call it afro zen
Ok, time to go swimming! So during breaks in the
music, the party, the band, everybody climbed down
into the gorge & really spread out for an hour swim
or so. Then more music.
--