History and Geography

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Album Information

Total Tracks: 18   Total Length: 74:57

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Todd Burns

eMusic Contributor

04.22.11
Former and future Ubu members get even weirder.
2006 | Label: Exit Stencil Recordings LLC / CD Baby

Ever wished Pere Ubu sounded just a little bit weirder? Welcome to Home & Garden, the band that Ubu-members Scott Krauss and Tony Maimone formed after they left the group, along with future Ubu guitarist Jim Jones and Jeff Morrison, a guy that had nothing to do with the legendary Cleveland proto-punk act at all.

Magazine is an obvious reference point, what with the group's pedigree and a reliance on synthesizer for its creepy atmosphere. But where Magazine loaded its chilly theatrics into a (relatively) pop format, Home & Garden eschew it altogether, leading to tracks like the meandering and melancholic "Bells of Ever and Never" or the sax-led skronk of "Birthday."

Adding to the oddness, Morrison sounds a little bit like the Doors frontman with whom he shares a surname — if the "American Poet" had absolutely no sense of melody and an even greater penchant for the absurd. Or at least that's where you have to imagine a song like "King Penguin" comes from.

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yeah, pretty good stuff

pete23

I agree with dreebo.. living through the heyday of this stuff, and getting into pere ubu in '78 or so, I feel kind of clueless that I didn't know of this group configuration. I felt compelled to buy this. It's one of those missing pieces to the puzzle of this part of my musical life from then.. it's also refreshing to hear in reaction to the stuff the kids are putting out today... in that it's not retro, it is from then.. when .. some of it works some of it just lies there. I love the band. it's hard for me to get used to his voice. I am a loyalist to David T and his pronounced sound.. I just saw the reposted review of this from the village voice.. on HG's myspace page. It nauseated me how the reviewer had to cross reference everything. But that's what the kids have to do, in order to give anything creedance these days. Why can't something just rock dude? ha ha ha

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Just, WOW.

dreebo

Impossible to talk about without mentioning Pere Ubu, because the core of the band were members (survivors?) of Pere Ubu, but to me this is one better. The music is equally edgy, but less neurotic and far more cinematic. Jeff Morrison's mostly spoken word vocals are excellent and poetic in the best sense of that much abused word. I lived through the 80's "college rock" era and I am floored that I never heard of this. If I had found this in the 1980s it would certainly have stayed on my turntable. As it is I feel fortunate to have a second chance. You have one too; use yours now.

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They Say All Music Guide

As a musical journey, these “post-Pere Ubu” episodes from drummer Scott Krauss and bassist Tony Maimone — both multi-instrumentalists here — and the man who would become a latter-day Pere Ubu guitarist, Jim Jones, are a delicious blend of sound and innovation. Conspicuous in its absence is the Dave Thomas voice from the dark cosmos, replaced by a John Cale-ish drawl from vocalist Jeff Morrison. “Monkey Town” is discordant fun and games while “From the Life of King John” is the lost art of new wave searching for its Sky Saxon roots. For those bored with the elitist and overblown music of Mission of Burma, these soldiers are the real deal on this collection of magic restored and enhanced for the new millennium. The 75 minutes of sound and music here are nonstop relentless entertainment. The 18 tracks are so all over the map that it is hard to get a grasp on what is taking place, which works well for repeated spins — and perhaps the random avant-garde car alarm going off outside your house (if you’re so lucky) while this disc is spinning. “Marco Polo: The City of Kin-Sai” is just one such exploration, taking the Velvet Underground’s riff from “Lady Godiva’s Operation” and bringing it up a notch. On this delightful set of complex minimal music that is inviting and satisfying, Exit Stencil Recordings also includes the How I Spent My Vacation EP and other goodies. History and Geography is a revelation that unveils new secrets every time it is played, the kind of homework high-school teachers ought to seriously consider assigning to their students. – Joe Viglione

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