I shit my pants when I saw Day of Niagara at what is now known as End of an Ear records in Austin, which is something I don't do lightly. La Monte Young maintains, shall we say, scrupulous quality control standards over his material, standards so Draconian that I'd almost be willing to bet the value of any L M Y release on the second-hand market that you've more likely been to the moon than you've heard his music. Heck, he's so obscure that even Lou Reed couldn't get his name right! I didn't waste any time snapping it up, which is good, because when Mr. Young got wind that John Cale and Tony Conrad released it, he threatened to sue them so bad they'd be lucky if they kept the fillings in their teeth.
For a while, La Monte Young was the undisputed snooty influence for rock musicians to cite. "Day of Niagara" makes it clear why, dreadful sound notwithstanding (I would've sued them too, La Monte.) I don't think there's much middle ground here: you'll either think it sounds like the Second Coming or the end of the world. Either way, it's the weirdest massage you'll ever get. If you hate sitars or other funny sounding instruments, you can stop here and return to Facebook because you'll really hate what he did with violins. You won't mistakenly call them fiddles, I can tell you that much.
I don't remember why I got rid of my copy, but I suspect it was because I was in arrears on the rent or something else stupid. If I'd hung unto to it, I'd be sitting real, real pretty right now, or at least have paid off my wife's and my student loans with enough change left over for a down payment on a night at Wolfgang Puck's. I'll still never forget how Day of Niagara ripped me a new third eye, and good.
Enjoy or Avoid:
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