Boyd Rice Presents: Music for Pussycats

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合計収録時間 : 00:00:00
Of all the curious twists and turns of the Non mainman's career, this has to rank as one of the oddest -- a presentation of sly, sexy, and sassy "girl groups" (as the front cover notes) and solo acts from various corners of the '60s and early '70s. His lengthy liner notes spell out what's going on, though, to quote a portion: "For going on 25 years, I've shared these songs with everyone close to me, all the while wishing that everyone interested in this type of music could be exposed to them." Rice isn't kidding when he talks about the sheer obscurity of the acts showcased here. Outside of a one-off Lee Hazlewood-produced group, Honey Ltd., and some solo turns from Priscilla Paris, originally from early Phil Spector ingenues the Paris Sisters -- her "My Window" is a beautifully wracked but lush ballad about loneliness -- all those featured are flat-out unknowns. Rice's taste, however, is on the money -- if this isn't always revelatory, it's more than often damn entertaining. Diane Ray's "Please Don't Talk to the Lifeguard," a jumpy, catchy number about pretending to drown to catch said lifeguard's attention, kicks things off. Other hands-down winners include the ridiculously splashy, melodramatic "The Big Hurt" by Susan Rafey, who gives it all the bravura it deserves, and Honey Ltd.'s insanely, freakishly ironic "The Warrior." Hearing a lovey-dovey dramatic anthem skewering war-mongering with lines like "We must kill more people" ranks up there with Crass' notorious romance-industry demolition "Our Wedding." Fidelity is often sporadic -- everything was mastered from heavily used vinyl -- and while Rice provides some further details about other recordings when he can, that serves more to tantalize rather than inform. That aside, though, Music for Pussycats is a treat and a half. ~ Ned Raggett