ROCK • A • RAMA

ROCK • A • RAMA

U.X.A.—Illusions Of Grandeur (Posh Boy):: Like the Nuns, U.X.A. are a great zenithof-punk band outta foggy/shmoggy California, more or less (singer De De Troit's name testifies to the potent origins she's continued to draw on, even after being coughed up in fantastic L.A.). and again like the Nuns, the record industry reajly shoulda spent some money on releasing U.X.A. long before now, instead of pouring all those big bucks into 'correcting' Juice Newton's overbite. Anyway, a proud indie label came thru with U.X.A. for us, so help yourself to these speedy, clashing, incredibly angry '77-style punks, complete with the shrill De De Troit vocals that make U.X.A. sound like nouveau-Dead Boys with a sex-changed Stiv Bators (which he may be if he keeps hanging around with Divine) at the helm. Except that U.X.A. are even more morbidly compulsive about clawing away the entrails of their bitterly Catholic souls, lyrically speaking. Not for the faint-eared. R.R.\

STEVE SWALLOW-Home (music to poems by Robert Creeley) (ECM):: Jazz/ poetry collaborations are the stuff of Roger Corman parodies—cool Paul Horn-like flute flutters waft in the background while a fraudulent beatnik intones 'All is art/the rest is graham crackers'—and real life fusions have been only slightly less amusing. But this is different. Creeley's wispy poems are sung by Sheila Jordan and often take up only a few bars ('Christchurch' in toto is 'You didn't think you/could do it but you did/you didn't do it/but you did') of the songs that Swallow has crafted around them. So whatever you think of Creeley's poetry you get long stretches of superior jazz, highlighted by Steve Kuhn's obsessive piano solos and juicier than usual tenor playing by Dave Leibman...and not a graham cracker in sight. R.C.W.

YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA—BGM ((A&M):: How Kraftwerk's re-emergence will affect their Japanese counterparts' chances for success in Aiperica remains to be seen. Certainly, both YMO and the big K deal in danceable rhythms, minimal melodies and synthesized sound, but there are enough differences in tone colors, vocal styles and senses of humor to make their separate identities easily discernible. Highlights here include the bizarre 'Rap Phenoma' ('We all talk too much/We all think too much') and the way these guys make transistors belch—in time, no less. YMO create electro-intestinal music. Remember, you read it here first. M.D.

BILLY SQUIER-Don't Say No (Capitol):: Seems this Squier guy had an LP out last year called A Trick Of The Tape. Seems he also was in a band called Piper, or something. Well, this is the first time I've laid ears on 'im and—surprise— he gets at least a full 60 percent on the old Crunge-O-Meter. Mack, the guy who produces albums like a ten-ton truck, shared the production chores on this one, throwing in several of the tricks which (made The Game go mega-metal. 'The Stroke' is pure Queen all the way (and the best managerial song since 'Death On Two Legs"), while 'Too Daze Gone' and 'What Do You Want From Me?' offer Plant

This month's Rock-a-ramas were written by Richard Riegel. Richard C. Walls,

1 Michael Davis and Jeffrey Morgan.

vocals and Paged Graffiti guitar sound-a-likes on each, respectively. The potential here for an upcoming 85 to 90 percent rating by 1983 is staggering. And the Crunge-O-Meter don't lie, folks. J.M.

DAVE GRUSIN—Mountain Dance (Arista) :: This is music to void-out to. Gr.usin's main claims to fame, aside from being a competent jazz pianist and pop arranger, are his various movie and TV scores which include ones for The Champ, Goodbye Girl, Maude, Good Times, Baretta—and this album sound somewhat like a poppish soundtrack. Not something you'd wanna listen to too closely, but 'groovy' background music for something or other... maybe cleaning your pipe collection or putting your green stamps in their books...it's hard to say. Attractive pop with r'n'b and light jazz overtones, i.e., moods for airheads. R.C.W.

DEVO —Live (Warner Brothers EP):: Wherein the Pot Heads come up with a nifty, low price,

six-track six-pak of fun. It's everything a live LP/EP should be: a whole lotta good times and a longing to be there in the front row when it was recorded. If you lose interest in them after their debut disc, this just might be the one to usher you back into the fold. If it isn't, let me know where to send the flowers, OK? J.M.

RED CRAYOLA WITH ART AND LANGUAGE —Kangaroo? (Rough Trade):: Hoo Hah! This is what a political rock 'n' roll record should be: informative, challenging, hilarious, thought-provoking and utterly bonkers. The newest Ubuman, Mayo Thompson, has been flying the RC banner off and on since the late 60's but never with such an all-obscurro cast. Contributors include Lora Logic, Epic Soundtracks from avant-garage band Swell Maps, and Thompson's fellow Ubuman Allen Ravenstine who pulls his sounds out of the twilight zone as usual; I don't know which I prefer: the machine noises on 'The Tractor Driver' or the gunshots from 'If She Loves You.' Big word fans will thrill to the polysyllabic proliferation here but for me, the way Thompson warbles mock-melodramatically, 'If you think culture's revolution/Stick it up your arse,' is worth, the price of admission all by itself. Wotta record. M.D.