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49-536: Red Krayola (originally Red Crayola ) is an American avant rock band from Houston , Texas formed in 1966 by the trio of singer/guitarist Mayo Thompson , drummer Frederick Barthelme , and bassist Steve Cunningham. The group were part of the 1960s Texas psychedelic music scene and were signed to independent record label International Artists , subsequently becoming labelmates with the 13th Floor Elevators . Their confrontational, experimental approach employed noise and free improvisation . The group disbanded in

98-486: A "groundbreaking group in experimental rock", according to Rosenberg, "even further out of step with popular culture than the early recordings of the Mothers of Invention". The band were playing experimental rock in 1965 before other significant countercultural rock scenes had developed, pioneering avant-rock through their integration of minimalist rock and avant-garde ideas. The Beatles' album Sgt. Pepper's inspired

147-400: A 1978 interview, producer Lelan Rogers mentions that the reason the band never released a single was due in part to the controversy surrounding the sentimental lyrics in "War Sucks". Because of this, the album received little to no airplay as most radio stations refused to play the record. In the 2007 book "Eye Mind: Roky Erickson and the 13th Floor Elevators" author Paul Drummond mentions that

196-502: A mockery of the California bands and the hippie culture, and an alternative to it, though of course, being as the audience was made up of hippies, nobody really noticed, and that was okay, too, because all we wanted to do was play the crack-ball stuff, be heard, attack whatever conventions were around, and have a good time doing it." In 1970, Thompson and Barthelme formed a short-lived Houston band called Saddlesore with Cassell Webb;

245-559: A new consideration for experimental rock as commercially viable music. Once the group released their December 1967 film Magical Mystery Tour , author Barry Faulk writes, "pop music and experimental rock were [briefly] synonymous, and the Beatles stood at the apex of a progressive movement in musical capitalism". The musical passage recorded by the Doors in 1968, " Not to Touch the Earth ",

294-730: A period in the early 1980s, performing on their albums The Art of Walking and Song of the Bailing Man , and provided soundtrack music for Derek Jarman . Throughout this time he worked with Geoff Travis , the founder of Rough Trade Records , as a producer for many other seminal experimental and alternative rock acts, including the Fall (1980's Grotesque (After the Gramme) ), the Raincoats , Scritti Politti , Blue Orchids , Cabaret Voltaire , Stiff Little Fingers , Kleenex/LiLiPUT ,

343-508: A rarely acknowledged precursor to punk . After the original pressing for The Parable of Arable Land sold out, promoters were attracted to the band and they were invited to perform in the Berkeley Folk Music Festival where instead of playing songs that they had written before, they generated feedback and drones via a guitar amp. The noise was so severe that band was accused of killing a dog due to sheer volume. In

392-597: A rock concert. According to author Kelly Fisher Lowe, Zappa "set the tone" for experimental rock with the way he incorporated "countertextural aspects ... calling attention to the very recordedness of the album". This was reflected in other contemporary experimental rock LPs, such as the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds and Smile , the Who 's The Who Sell Out (1967) and Tommy (1969), and the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967). The Velvet Underground were

441-508: A studio album of music in collaboration with him, but International Artists demanded possession of the tapes, they were then subsequently lost. The band's second album to see release was 1968's God Bless the Red Krayola and All Who Sail With It which employed new drummer Tommy Smith. Around this time, the band received a cease and desist letter from Binney & Smith , the company which manufactured Crayola crayons, which resulted in

490-412: Is what critic Mick Wall described as "nearly four minutes of avant-rock." As progressive rock developed, experimental rock acquired notoriety alongside art rock . By 1970, most of the musicians which had been at the forefront of experimental rock had incapacitated themselves. From then on, the ideas and work of British artist and former Roxy Music member Brian Eno —which suggested that ideas from

539-430: The post-conceptual visual artist Stephen Prina , German painter Albert Oehlen , George Hurley (formerly of Minutemen and Firehose ), Tom Watson of Slovenly , Sandy Yang, Elisa Randazzo and John McEntire of Tortoise . In 2006, the group issued an album, Introduction , and an EP, Red Gold . In 1995, Drag City re-released 1967's Coconut Hotel , and in 1998 issued The Red Krayola Live 1967 with material from

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588-516: The 'Holy Music' album) as their bassist who in September 1966 joined the band alongside his friend Bonnie Emerson and then later Danny Schact. For a while this was the original lineup of the band: at that point Red Crayola was a cover band playing songs such as " Louie Louie ", " The House of the Rising Sun ", " Eight Miles High " and a fast version of " Hey Joe ". Later, the band got a gig (with

637-468: The 1970s and 1980s read like a roll-call of the avant-garde and experimental artists and musicians of the era. Red Crayola teamed up with Art & Language in 1973, who Thompson described as "the baddest bastards on the block", for three LPs: 1976's Corrected Slogans , 1981's Kangaroo? (also featuring the Raincoats ' Gina Birch , Lora Logic of Essential Logic and Swell Maps ' Epic Soundtracks ) and 1983's Black Snakes . Thompson joined Pere Ubu for

686-422: The 1970s, significant musical crossbreeding took place in tandem with the developments of punk and new wave , DIY experimentation, and electronic music . Funk , jazz-rock , and fusion rhythms also became integrated into experimental rock music. Early 1980s experimental rock groups had few direct precedents for their sound. Later in the decade, avant-rock pursued a psychedelic aesthetic that differed from

735-651: The Angry Arts Festival and Berkeley Folk Music Festival including their live collaboration with John Fahey . In 2007, Drag City released Sighs Trapped by Liars , another collaboration of Red Krayola with Art & Language, followed in 2010 with another, Five American Portraits , which consists of musical portraits of Wile E. Coyote , President George W Bush , President Jimmy Carter , John Wayne , and Ad Reinhardt , with vocals by Gina Birch . In 2016 came Baby and Child Care , recorded in 1984. Avant rock From its inception, rock music

784-732: The Beatles as the most avant-garde [rock] composers of the postwar era". Aside from the Beatles, author Doyle Greene identifies Frank Zappa , the Velvet Underground , Plastic Ono Band , Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band , Pink Floyd , the Soft Machine and Nico as "pioneers of avant-rock". In addition, The Quietus ' Ben Graham described duos the Silver Apples and Suicide as antecedents of avant-rock. Pitchfork cited Red Krayola as being "likely

833-712: The Chills , the Monochrome Set and Primal Scream . The 1990s found Red Krayola with a new audience, who came to the group via musicians associated with Chicago's post-rock scene and in particular the Drag City label, who had joined the band's ever-shifting line-up for a number of releases including the LPs The Red Krayola (1994), Hazel (1996), and Fingerpainting (1999). These were, among others, Jim O'Rourke and David Grubbs of Gastr del Sol ,

882-516: The Fugs , the Monks , Red Krayola , Soft Machine , Pink Floyd and the Beatles began incorporating elements of avant-garde music , sound collage , and poetry in their work. Historian David Simonelli writes that, further to the Beatles' " Tomorrow Never Knows " ( Revolver , 1966), the band's February 1967 double A-side single, pairing " Strawberry Fields Forever " with " Penny Lane ", "establish[ed]

931-846: The Jesus and Mary Chain as "avant-rock icons." According to Paul Hegarty and Martin Halliwell, some 1980s and early 1990s avant-rock acts such as the British musicians David Sylvian and Talk Talk returned to the ideas of progressive rock, which they call " post-progressive ". During the 1990s, a loose movement known as post-rock became the dominant form of experimental rock. In a reaction against traditional rock music formula, post-rock artists combined standard rock instrumentation with electronics and influences from styles such as ambient music , IDM , krautrock, minimalism , and jazz. In 2015, The Quietus ' Bryan Brussee noted uncertainty with

980-608: The Red Crayola had recorded a session in February 1967 for "Dairymaid's Lament" backed with "Free Piece" to be released as a single, they were both songs that would later appear on their sophomore album, the session was produced by Bob Steffek who had a hit on Shazam Records with "Wild Woody"; however, the single was never released. The album Coconut Hotel was recorded in 1967 but rejected by International Artists for its lack of commercial potential. It departed completely from

1029-698: The United States, signing with Drag City and releasing further albums. The Red Krayola have influenced a number of seminal alternative rock artists such as MGMT , Osees , Ty Segall , Primal Scream , and Animal Collective . Galaxie 500 , Spacemen 3 and the Cramps covered their songs. The Red Crayola was formed in Houston, Texas by Mayo Thompson and Frederick Barthelme at the University of St. Thomas in mid-July 1966. Barthelme said Red Crayola

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1078-452: The advancing technology of multitrack recording and mixing boards were more influential to experimental rock than electronic instruments such as the synthesizer , allowing the Beatles and the Beach Boys to become the first crop of non- classically trained musicians to create extended and complex compositions. Drawing from the influence of George Martin , the Beatles' producer, and the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson , music producers after

1127-400: The album "bears precious little resemblance to anything else that appeared at the time; it would take a few decades of post-punk experimentalism before Mayo Thompson's vision would have a truly suitable context". The album garnered a few fans such as Greek composer Manos Hatzidakis and Joseph Byrd of the United States of America . Barthelme later said, "In short, the Red Crayola was both

1176-898: The art world, including those of experimental music and the avant-garde, should be deployed in the context of experimental rock—were a key innovation throughout the decade. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Germany's " krautrock " scene (also referred to as kosmische or elektronische musik) saw bands develop a form of experimental rock that drew on rock sources, such as the Velvet Underground and Frank Zappa, as well as wider avant-garde influences. Groups such as Can , Faust , Neu! , Amon Düül II , Ash Ra Tempel , Kraftwerk , Tangerine Dream , and Popol Vuh merged elements of psychedelic rock with electronic music , funk rhythms, jazz improvisation , and avant-garde and contemporary classical compositions, as well as new electronic instrumentation . The ideas of minimalism and composers such as Stockhausen would be particularly influential. The movement

1225-399: The band changing the spelling of their name to Red Krayola. The album was not as well received as the band's first release as it sold only around 6,000 copies and was dismissed by most critics, so the group later disbanded. Studio demos by the original Red Crayola were released on the 1980 compilation of International Artists rarities: Epitaph for a Legend . Mark Deming of AllMusic wrote that

1274-533: The first wave of 1980s experimental rock groups, including acts such as Material , the Work , This Heat, Ornette Coleman 's Prime Time, James Blood Ulmer , Last Exit , and Massacre , had few direct precedents for their sound. Steve Redhead noted the resuscitation of New York's avant-rock scene, including artists such as Sonic Youth and John Zorn , in the 1980s. According to journalist David Stubbs , "no other major rock group [...] has done as much to try to bridge

1323-477: The full-sounding guitar/bass/drums/vocals rock sound of Red Crayola's first album. The album was not released until 1995. During this period, the band performed concerts in Berkeley, California , and Los Angeles where their music resembled that of Coconut Hotel more than any of their other albums. These performances are captured on Live 1967 . Red Crayola also performed with guitarist John Fahey and recorded

1372-484: The gap between rock and the avant garde" as Sonic Youth, who drew on improvisation and noise as well as the Velvet Underground. In the late 1980s, avant-rock pursued a "frazzled, psychedelia -tinged, 'blissed out'" aesthetic that differed from the self-consciousness and vigilance of earlier post-punk. The UK shoegaze scene was seen by some as a continuation of an experimental rock tradition. Pitchfork described contemporary acts My Bloody Valentine , Spacemen 3 , and

1421-468: The help of Luana Anderson) at Mark Froman's club called Love, their main place to perform. They later garnered notoriety from clubs and venues as they were never booked twice. Later, the band went from a five piece to a trio. They also formed a secondary group of shifting membership of about 50 people called " the Familiar Ugly ", which consisted of active fans who performed with the band on or near

1470-453: The late 1960s, but were resurrected in the late 1970s when Thompson moved to England and found favor in the post-punk scene. Thompson has continued using the name, in its legally altered spelling for performances or releases in the US, for his musical projects since. The group has released recordings on European labels such as Rough Trade and Recommended . In the mid-1990s, Thompson returned to

1519-531: The late 70s, English post-punk group Gang of Four invited the Crayola to open for them due to the band liking their music as well as their shared left-wing political beliefs. Thompson continued to make music, both under his own name and as the Red Crayola (reverting to the original spelling in Europe). The next incarnation of the group was a duo: Thompson and American drummer Jesse Chamberlain. The two recorded

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1568-517: The latter case was that technical skill was getting in the way of, or replacing, significance. — Bill Martin writing in his book Avant Rock (2002) Although experimentation had always existed in rock music, it was not until the late 1960s that new openings were created from the aesthetic intersecting with the social. In 1966, the boundaries between pop music and the avant-garde began to blur as rock albums were conceived and executed as distinct, extended statements. Self-taught rock musicians in

1617-414: The mid-1960s began to view the recording studio as an instrument used to aid the process of composition. When the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds (1966) was released to a four-month chart stay in the British top 10, many British groups responded to the album by making more experimental use of recording studio techniques. In the late 1960s, groups such as the Mothers of Invention , the Velvet Underground ,

1666-425: The middle and late 1960s drew from the work of composers such as John Cage , Karlheinz Stockhausen , and Luciano Berio . Academic Bill Martin writes: "in the case of imitative painters, what came out was almost always merely derivative, whereas in the case of rock music, the result could be quite original, because assimilation, synthesis, and imitation are integral parts of the language of rock." Martin says that

1715-410: The most experimental band of the 1960s". In the opinion of Stuart Rosenberg, the first "noteworthy" experimental rock group was the Mothers of Invention, led by composer Frank Zappa. Greene recognises the group's debut album, Freak Out! , as marking the "emergence of the 'avant-rock' studio album" at a time when Warhol's presentation of the Velvet Underground's shows was redefining the parameters of

1764-468: The power and mystique of a rock vanguard by depriving it of a tradition to react against." Anderson claims that the no wave scene represented "New York's last stylistically cohesive avant-rock movement." The early 1980s would see avant-rock develop significantly following the punk and new wave , DIY experimentation, electronic music, and musical cross-breeding of the previous decade, according to Pitchfork . Dominique Leone of Pitchfork claims that

1813-544: The production methods of dub and disco . During this era, funk , jazz-rock , and fusion rhythms became integrated into experimental rock music. Some groups who were categorized as "post-punk" considered themselves part of an experimental rock trajectory, with This Heat as one of the prominent players. The late 1970s no wave scene consisted of New York experimental rock bands that aimed to break with new wave , and who, according to Village Voice writer Steve Anderson, pursued an abrasive reductionism which "undermined

1862-404: The recording process: "It was done in a slightly more leisurely way, but we recorded all live in stereo, a pair of matched condenser microphones ... There's no plan... The development of it is not in the usual musical way—there's not a melodic development, there's not a rhythmic development, there's not an intensifying of the dynamic strategy or anything." The album contains 36 one second pieces,

1911-409: The second track "Water Pour" consists of a two-minute piece that is played twice, Mayo Thompson said this was in reference to a performance habit of Mozart . Steve Cunningham elaborated on how Coconut Hotel was a natural progression from The Parable of Arable Land in the 2nd issue of Mother: Houston's Rock Magazine (1968):- "It is definitely a natural progression. We feel that we are now doing

1960-645: The self-consciousness and vigilance of earlier post-punk . During the 1990s, a loose movement known as post-rock became the dominant form of experimental rock. As of the 2010s, the term "experimental rock" has fallen to indiscriminate use, with many modern rock bands being categorized under prefixes such as "post-", "kraut-", "psych-", "art-", "prog-", "avant-" and "noise-". In the late 1960s and early 1970s, as Lou Reed put it, there were those were trying to become much better musicians, or much better players of their instruments at any rate, and those who were trying to forget what little they already knew. The presumption in

2009-599: The single "Wives in Orbit" and the album Soldier Talk , with the latter featuring cameos by Lora Logic and members of Pere Ubu , both of which could be seen as musical responses to punk rock. Radar Records reissued Parable of Arable Land in 1978 in the UK, accompanied by a flexi-disc, on which was an up-tempo version of Hurricane Fighter Plane recorded in July 1978, with an apparent punk rock influence as well. His collaborations in

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2058-418: The stage, using unconventional techniques and instruments. The band recorded The Parable of Arable Land which sold around 50,000 copies when it was first released. Pitchfork noted "listeners weren't sure whether the racket was the result of sharp intellectualism, sheer incompetence, or buzzed-out substance abuse." A retrospective review branded the Crayola's "stripped down simplicity and caustic lyrics" as

2107-455: The term "experimental rock", and that "it seems like every rock band today has some kind of post-, kraut-, psych-, or noise- prefixed to their genre." Coconut Hotel Coconut Hotel is an album originally recorded in 1967 by the American avant rock band Red Krayola . The intent was for it to be the band's second album after the release of The Parable of Arable Land , but it

2156-554: The trio released one single on the short-lived label Texas Revolution with "Old Tom Clark" on the A-side and "Pig Ankle Strut" on the B-side. (These songs would later be included on a Red Krayola compilation album released in 2004). Shortly after, the band split up and Thompson left the music business and pursued other projects until 1973 when he moved to England and joined conceptual art collective Art & Language . Upon their return in

2205-476: Was "a name we took as a sort of parody of the clever California band names of that moment, a name that had come to us while trailing down Main Street in my roofless (courtesy of the sculptor Jim Love ) blue Fiat " the name was also a homage to Thompson's mother Hazel's career as an art teacher. After going through an array of players, the band settled on Steve Cunningham (who previously collaborated with Malachi on

2254-491: Was experimental, but it was not until the late 1960s that rock artists began creating extended and complex compositions through advancements in multitrack recording . In 1967, the genre was as commercially viable as pop music , but by 1970, most of its leading players had incapacitated themselves in some form. In Germany, the krautrock subgenre merged elements of improvisation and psychedelic rock with electronic music , avant-garde and contemporary classical pieces. Later in

2303-408: Was partly born out of the student movements of 1968 , as German youth sought a unique countercultural identity and wanted to develop a form of German music that was distinct from the mainstream music of the period. The late 1970s post-punk movement was devised as a break with rock tradition, exploring new possibilities by embracing electronics, noise , jazz and the classical avant-garde, and

2352-425: Was rejected and shelved indefinitely by International Artists . Coconut Hotel would not hit stores till 1995 when it was finally issued by Drag City . In an interview with Ritchie Unterberger , Mayo Thompson said: "The first record did business. IA called me and said, let's have a second album, we need another album. We recorded a second album, Coconut Hotel, which the label didn't like at all, which

2401-720: Was this abstract music, the most extreme version of the logic that we could conceive of at that time, and also answered to our needs. I mean, if people are going to claim that they're making innovations, we felt anybody who makes these claims had better make them in light of what's going on in jazz, and what's going on in R&;B, and places where music is—there's certain kinds of things where experimentation within forms, within closures, are going on." For Coconut Hotel , Mayo Thompson , Steve Cunningham and Frederick Barthelme returned to Andrus studio in Houston. Mayo Thompson commented on

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