Vertical Slit - Under A Blood Red Lava Lamp


Jim Shepard inaugurated his insular experimentation back in the late '70s with Vertical Slit, a free-ranging, amorphously constructed band that laid out its lattices of scree around the leader's extraordinary guitar constructions. You can hear bits of MC5er Fred "Sonic" Smith, Sonny Sharrock and Can's Michael Karoli in Shepard's alternately piercing and massaging use of feedback, while his lyrics coat everything in sight with overlapping bile and black humor. An array of cassette releases and micro-pressed records — in editions ranging from 100 (Slit and Pre-Slit) to a whopping 300 (The Live EP).

Under A Blood Red Lava Lamp is a live album that captures Vertical Slit in their early period in a show from 1980. While the recording quality is not the best, you can definitely get a sense of the intensity and the quality of material from this band.

2 comments:

decrepittapes said...

http://www.sendspace.com/file/7p5kkc

Hive Mind Holy Shroud said...

back in the 90's i had the good fortune to meet Jim(through Mike rep no less) we had a brief but wonderful friendship. I worked with him on his last release(motorcycle movie, as well as "pimpin' in the 90's") he also was the recorder and producer of an albums worth of material of a group I was in during that time(my uncle wayne). Unfortunatly while i was on tour with lisa carver's SUCKDOG, Jim took his own life. I was a young young man at this point and time, and Jim in his life as well as his death had a profound inpact on me. So thanks your sight as brought back alot of memories.
Davey Highben
AS*US
(thealteredstatesoftheunitedsnakes)
www.myspace.com/unitedsnakes
highben.blogspot.com

www.myspace.com/myunclewayne