Sunday 21 September 2014

Reynols ‎– "Barbatrulos" (Freedom From ‎– FF069) 2000


Lets get Downs with the kids!?

There's no greater marketing strategy in music than to make a virtue of a disability, ask Stevie Wonder, Beethoven,Suebo and Ray Charles. Then there's Kilburn and the High Roads; a band that was jam-packed full of physical disability! However, it is pretty rare to have any band member to have a genetic learning disability such as Down's Syndrome. Devo did write a song about it once, with the non-pc title of 'Mongoloid'; the hero of which 'brought home the bacon so that no-one knew'!

But,everybody knows by now that Reynols is a trio of Argentinian nutters led by Down's Syndrome-afflicted drummer/vocalist Miguel Tomasin (their name was chosen randomly by a chihuahua walking on a TV remote control unit: Burt Reynolds appeared on the screen – losing the "d" after threats of legal action...allegedly?), whose releases include a "Dematerialized CD" (i.e. an empty box), a recording of 10,000 chickens in a battery farm, and an album of treated tape hiss for Bernhard Günter's trente oiseaux label (“Blank Tapes), not totally original,(check out The New Blockaders' “Epater les Bourgeois” cassette) but very 'Wacky' indeed?

Once nearly arrested in Buenos Aires (on the grounds that they might reflect a negative image of

Argentina) for plugging their axes into pumpkins, the trio caught the attention of the new music media with "Pauline Oliveros in the Arms of Reynols", which brought them an invitation to play a seven-hour Lincoln Center concert with Pauline herself. All of this is well-known, but what about the music?

The "Barbatrulos" album, recorded in 1997 and 1998, sounds like an outsider Glenn Branca on downers, playing free form improvised droning guitar noise,backed by the Prats rhythm section;with a person who grew up, abandoned as a baby,locked in a cupboard on a desert island, singing in a language only he speaks. There are no track titles,because "they went to buy osobuco [sic] to feed (their) chihuahua."..?

I'm half-tempted to learn Spanish, or Gibberish,just to be able to figure out what Tomasin is on about (though I'm not sure it would help much).

There are,hopefully, hundreds, maybe thousands, of people hidden away in garages and bedrooms all over the world making this kind of noise, or something like it.

Whether Reynols' undoubted knack for self-publicity makes their musical output more worthy of attention is debatable, but in today's superficial 'Beauty' 'Sex' and celebrity obsessed world, it's rather comforting to know that these 'wrong' people are out there. And out there they certainly are. Way Out There!

Tracklist:



Alclorse Mogal
A1 Untitled
A2 Untitled
A3 Untitled
A4 Untitled
A5 Untitled
A6 Untitled

Bolomo
B1 Untitled
B2 Untitled
B3 Untitled
B4 Untitled
B5 Untitled
B6 Untitled

DOWN's LOAD this syndrome HERE!
or
alternate DOWNS here!

21 comments:

bill said...

Everything you write is intriguing Mr Z, but you make this one sound absolutely unmissable. Can't wait to listen.

Jonny Zchivago said...

(WARNING) Be careful Bill, this is an acquired taste!

bill said...

I am advised. Will proceed with care. :)

bill said...

Well what a blast. Feeling very refreshed after hearing that. It made we want to shout and scream, even more than usual. I highly recommend it.

Jonny Zchivago said...

ha Ha! you are definitely one of us. It makes me wanna scream too.Primal stuff indeed.

Michael said...

Wow,another promising read. Unfortunately Google tells me that too many people tried downloading in the last hours, so I´d have to wait up to 24 hours to try again?!?!
Wtf?
Thanks anyway,Jonny.

Jonny Zchivago said...

This is a new one on me? I was unaware of a traffic limit on google drive!....I pay the fuckers for this service! Hopefully this is a one off?
Cheers.

Michael said...

This shows on every link I try on your site, even the new Reynold one. There´s something going on (on-on-on-on-on)

Jonny Zchivago said...

this is whats going on....
google does have bandwidth limitations, by which your account is held to certain standards. overage against these limits can cause a temporary suspension of your account, typically no longer than 24 hrs, as per their FAQ. ---> https://support.google.com/a/answer/1071518?hl=en

in short...WANKERS!

Michael said...

Aaaah, wonderful stuff. search them on youtube for strange tv appearences.Thanks, Jonny

Stu said...

I'm going to see a Finnish punk band with learning difficulties in December, accompanied by comedy Oi! heroes Hard Skin. This should be interesting...

Anonymous said...

The site is great lads,no need for the Downs Syndrome puns

Jonny Zchivago said...

Oh Shut Up!Lets all act like it don't exist for fear of offending right on fools like you.

Stu said...

Any Jarrow Elvis records Jonny?

bill said...

I like a pun. There's surely nothing so unmentionable that it can't be the subject of a little gentle wordplay.

Jonny Zchivago said...

Sorry, inexplicably, I have No records by Jarrow Elvis!?

Jonny Zchivago said...

On puns......nothing should be too sacred, or the subject will feel even more excluded from society. "They" prefer to be treated normal. its the PC crowd that cause outsiders to feel even more like outsiders. Just another thing that gets on my tits!

c.w.c.II said...

Right on, Jonny! As a physically disabled (I was born without a left hand and have never had an issue with it, or being in 3 DIY one man bands) "musician" it's very amusing to watch how uncomfortable people get watching a cripple play outsider music…much better than when they treat me like a helpless baby as some sort of PC daily affirmation. I try to avoid the issue so listeners will take my music only for what it is. A true sign of a quality human is when people forget about the missing hand and just see me as a person. Much like the idiots who thought Wesley Willis was being exploited, I bet Reynols got the same shit for doing what made them very happy. Fuck all PC people, they are the enemy of tolerance, humor and good times.

Jonny Zchivago said...

Well thank you C.W.C.II, i am of the school that treats everyone the same and doesn't feel the need to put certain persons in the 'Different camp'. Having said that, I would willingly put the PC crowd in a camp.
I like you blog by the way.
JZ

c.w.c.II said...

Thanks!!! and thank you for this marvelous treasure-trove of the unprofessional! Easily this best blog out there

Anonymous said...

Thank you very much, This one is great!