Space Negroes
Wadya Want
About Space Negroes
The Space Negroes (also spelled Space Negros, the definite article is optional) started out in the late 1970s in Boston as a 4-piece avantgarde band. It consisted of two future members of Mission of Burma, alongside keyboardist/producer Erik Lindgren, a future member of Birdsongs of the Mesozoic and founder of the labels Arf! Arf! and Sounds Interesting. The 7-inch "Maximum Contrast From Moment To Moment" (1979) features the original line up and contains six offbeat offerings of experimental synth'n'tape tricks. That same year, the original Space Negros fell apart; Go Commercial (shades of The Residents), another 7-inch with eight songs, is actually a Lindgren solo record. His upbeat pop songs — sort of a synth-happy R. Stevie Moore — are witty and sophisticated. The B-side includes a cover of the Yardbirds' "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago." The 1980 rendition of that classic took a Kraftwerkian electro-pop approach; the record's 1984 reissue replaced it with a heavy metal guitar version. Have a Lousy Xmas (1981) offers a topical foursome of laughable ill cheer originals (e.g., "Jingle Hell") played by Lindgren with Space Negro alumnus Roger Miller and others. The windily titled album 1987 "Do Generic Ethnic Muzak Versions Of All Your Favorite Underground Punk/Psychedelic Songs Of The Sixties", recorded between 1981 and 1985 with a large number of instrumental contributors, consists entirely of exotically idiomatic (raga, bluegrass, Balkan, etc.) easy-listening instrumental interpretations of songs originally popularized by such venerable musical organizations as The Seeds, The Who, Easybeats, Balloon Farm, Smoke, 13th Floor Elevators, Hotlegs and Tomorrow. Not as conceptually explosive as the Residents perhaps, but delightful.
Taken from Last.fm
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