While debating whether to drop 3 bucks on this mystery I noticed a previous owner's remarks inked into the cover – "Fantastic !!??".  Well, that sealed the deal.  Jaw hit floor as the first track, "Agua Fria" flowed from the stereo…

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Ambient / Electronic composer Tim Clark started his career in the early 1970's composing Moog synthesizer soundtracks for Planetarium shows at the Strasenburgh Planetarium in Rochester, New York.  According to the liner notes on this privately-pressed LP, Clark was the Music Director at the Strasenburgh, and it was his job to assemble complete soundtracks for the various planetarium shows.  This particular work was the soundtrack for an Isaac Asimov short story first published in 1956, which according to the liner notes "takes place in six time settings beginning in 2061 and progressing forward to the moment when entropy has reached the maximum and the Universe is dead."  The soundtrack consists of nine pieces, including the three sampled below.

This Way Out is the most melodic piece on the LP, and according to the liner notes, "is for those who want a tune they can whistle."

Collapse Towards Light: "This Universe ends with electronic sounds which suggest wind heard from inside an echoing bell.  Light suddenly begins again with rumblings, whistles and scintillations of forming stars and galaxies and another Universe is born with the sound of a constant low note."

Toward X-23: "The sound of metallic soaring space provides a sonic movement forward through time.  The stars appear followed by a spaceship taking its inhabitants to a new world."

After finding two Rizzo acetates in some random box at WFMU, a certain psych mafioso told me he believed Rizzo had access to a lathe and was cutting custom oddities throughout the 70s. Whatever the case, Rizzo captures the perfect basemental weirdness permeating the American underground (think Vyto B, Higney, Stone Harbour, Heitkotter et al.) "Time Is Your Answer" starts out fairly pedestrian until the Bixby chords start ringing and Rizzo dives deep into reverberated guitar territory with nasally belching and weird synth effects hovering behind the mess. When the drums kick in, "Honey Road" reaches all kinds of heights (philosophical AOR, creative bellowing, double-down wastoid, etc.) and leads me to believe he would have cut a killer soft-rock LP. There is another acetate I found that I will post later. Mr. Rizzo – who are you?

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Frank Michael Rizzo – Time Is Your Answer

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Frank Michael Rizzo – Honey Road

Once in a generation, a hesher dwarf LP exceeds all expectations and soars to new heights.

"Nothing Short About Me"

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"Ain't Gonna Pay My Ticket"

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These were a series of LP compilations featuring the finalists for the Loxene (shampoo) Golden Disc award (think of it as a all New Zealand version of a Grammy award or Eurovision). As overall listens they are patchy at best but there are some interesting things contained on most of the LPs. The two tracks by Timberjack from 1971 and 1972 did not win but are worth a listen. "Come To The Sabbat" is kind of twisted and if you close your eyes and imagine Adam Sandler singing "Dahli Mohammed" it might bring a smile to your face.

Come To The Sabbat:

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Dahli Mohammed:

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