Monster Walks The Winter Lake
(Twin/Tone) Used LP $7.00
Joined by bassist Tony Maimone, synth player Allen Ravenstine, and percussionist David Hild, Thomas delivers, from the perspective of unidentified monster, “a series of reminiscences and contemplations of urban and pastoral life. The song cycle ranges in mood from the extremely spare and angular ‘My Town,’ with its combination of accordion, random-sounding percussion and even more-random-sounding synthesizer, to the vaguely Slavic waltz of ‘What Happened to Me.’ His singing is, as always, a barely mammalian yelp. Humanity can essentially be divided into those who find this stuff completely compelling and those who find it utterly incomprehensible.” 1986 pressing
More Places Forever
(Twin/Tone) Used LP $8.00
Bassist (and old Pere Ubu hand) Tony Maimone and drummer Chris Cutler are “a fearsome rhythm combination that keep the groove rolling on most of these tunes, but nothing deflates a rockish ambience quite as effectively as bassoonist Lindsay Cooper; that’s not to say it isn’t compelling, just that it’s compelling in a very different way from Thomas’s earlier solo work. ‘Whale Head King’ features insect and bird sounds as well as a strange, distant vocal mix and a lyrical reprise of ‘Happy to See You.’ The plodding, slightly creepy ‘New Broom’ sounds like a Halloween song; the multi-tracked bassoon on ‘Enthusiastic’ alternates between polka-inflected chord chomps and klezmer wails. It’s great stuff, but probably of more interest to fans of the Art Bears and Henry Cow than of Pere Ubu.” 1985 pressing