Guest
The story of Von Elmo (born Frankie Cavallo in 1954 in Brooklyn) is shrouded in legend. He was certainly an enfant prodige of the drums, active from boyhood in an impressive number of groups: in Funeral Of Art with organist Otto Von Ruggins around 1970, in Pumpo with guitarist Rudolph Grey from 1972 to 1974, in Why You Murder Me as a duo (free improvisation) with Grey alone, in Kongress with Von Ruggins and an Australian magician around 1976 to 1978; finally in Red Transistor, again with Grey, but this time on organ and guitar. From this group came out the single Not Bite/ We're Not Crazy (Forced Exposure) at the height of the new wave boom. Then, in December 1978, Von Lmo (the pseudonym and the band) was born and soon became the main attraction at Max's Kansas City in New York, taking over from the likes of Johnny Thunders, Patty Smith and Talking Heads. It was he who played the last concert before the venue went out of business, on November 27, 1981. That group managed to record an album, also in 1981: Future Language (Strazar, 1981). The posthumous Tranceformer (Munster, 2002) contains both the Future Language album as well as rarities and unreleased material. Their style was described by him as “super space-age heavymetal dance rock.“ The psychedelic component was evident in song-trips such as Crash Landing '88 and Outside Of Time, while This Is Pop and Radio World were aimed at a wider audience. The record was played with manic energy, fulfilling the mission that MC5 and Blue Cheer had sketched out in the 1960s. In parallel, Von Lmo was leading a career as an avant-garde musician, resulting in mile-long jams (even over an hour long) in which only distorted guitars were used at maximum volume. Because of his grumpy temper and drug abuse Von Lmo, however, ostracized himself from the recording world. After that one rehearsal this Sun Ra of rock and roll thus disappeared for several years. Legend has it that in a fit of rage he destroyed all remaining copies of his record and all photographs of the time. During the 1980s, however, his fame grew to the point where he became one of the cult figures of the underground scene. Not only did several musicians (notably the Plasmatics) begin to copy his music and shows, but fanzines dedicated to reconstructing his history sprang up. For the record, similar fate befell Grey, a no less misunderstood genius, whose new single, Implosion '73/ Transformation (New Alliance), a kind of free-jazz for feedback, would not appear until the 1990s. In July 1991, suddenly, the man reappeared in public, not at all changed. His “cosmic“ message had remained the same (“we transmit/ you intercept“), the music was even louder. February 1994 finally saw the release of a new record, Cosmic Interception (Variant), on which some of the then warhorses (recorded in 1979) appeared, beautifully updated to the cyberpunk era (only Cosmic Interception and Inside Shadowland are from 1994). His style has remained a roaring rock and roll sung in its “black“ roar, armored in MC5-worthy excesses and dropped into danceable structures. The title track, with Otto Von Ruggins' pressing staccato keyboards, takes one back to the hellish climates of Suicide, while Juno Saturn's mechanical saxophone phrasing and a haunting rhythmic beat (Bobby Ryan's drums and Craig Coffin's bass) make Radio World a rhythm and blues for robot armies. Even the lesser tracks offer sounds that are as classic as they are delirious: another saxophone ballet and Mike Kross's stratospheric guitar propel the anti-discomusic of Ultraviolet Light; feverish rockabilly and grim heavymetal interpenetrate in the galactic message of Leave Your Body; the magniloquent “symphonic“ atmosphere of Inside Shadowland gives way to a fantasy-horror scenario. Almost all are tracks that could easily go on for hours, being based on the hammering repetition of an elementary pattern. It is logical, then, that the band's anthem, Be Yourself, is dragged along for six minutes by a wild gallop without the slightest variation. Deafening and frenetic, these sabbaths are ravaged by Saturn's pantagruelic style on saxophone, which is a kind of cosmic background wave, by rhythms that are loaded with TNT, by guitar riffs that are palaces of noise. Towering over so much cataclysm is the leader's hoarse, visceral singing, loud enough to crack the walls of his spaceship. Without once taking a breath, the group makes one of the most memorable raids of the 1990s. Source: Tracklist: 1. “Cosmic Interception“ [Red Transistor Radio Mix] 00:00 2. “Radio World“ 03:24 3. “Leave Your Body“ 08:54 4. “Inside Shadowland“ 16:06 5. “Ultraviolet Light“ 21:37 6. “Be Yourself“ 25:51 7. “Shake, Rattle & Roll“ (Bill Haley cover) 31:44 8. “This Is Pop Rock“ 40:19 9. “Cosmic Interception“ [Cosmic Truth Mix] 43:26 10. “Cosmic Interception“ [Cosmic Dance Mix] 49:18
