Matthew Reid Gauker

Two songs from my cousin Matt who died last week.

When I was 14, Matt gave me a copy of "Loaded" by the Velvet Underground. I'd never heard anything so good. He changed my life.

The Terrascope Reviews The Rrreverberationsss!!!

For many years I've been an avid reader of The Ptolemaic Terrascope, a zine (now online) dedicated to psychedelic music both old and new. So I'm very excited to read this review of The Rrreverberationsss in their August Rumbles column:

The self-titled disk of freeform psychedelic jams by The Rrreverberationsss is an EP of four tracks recorded live in classic drums, bass and wailing guitars mode. The playing is great, the band noisy and freaked out, the atmosphere strong. The first cut 'Black Friday Gas Chamber' is short and heavy, while the second, 'Nothing Ever Felt So Real,' is a little slower with dual guitars and trippy vocals, ending in a kind of lurching hyper-jam. 'Green Fuzz,' a brief third track of stoner proportions, interjects itself before 'Heavy Snow,' the closing eleven minute cut of slow, dense jamming. A band with potential for sure, with hints of Hawkwind, Litmus and Astra in the mix.

Sioux City Blues

This one's for you, Bob

Just learned that my friend Bob Isleman died last week. I had many good times in Chicago with Bob. He was a huge jazz fan with immense knowledge of jazz from the early 20th century. He turned me on to King Oliver, Mugsy Spanier, Mezz Mezzrow, and his alltime idol Sidney Bechet.