Aquarius Records: Search Results for Title: Fun At The Funeral

Aquarius Records: Search Results for Title: Fun At The Funeral

search by:

home
staff
audio clips
newest arrivals
about the store
art / photo exhibits
catalog / list archive

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O
P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Other

Records of the Week
Alison's Favorites
Allan's Favorites
Andee's Favorites
Andrew's Favorites
Antaeus's Favorites
Ashley's Favorites
Byram's Favorites
Cameron's Favorites
Christine's Favorites
Cup's Favorites
Frank's Favorites
Irwin's Favorites
Jenny's Favorites
Jim's Favorites
Jon's Favorites
Kerry's Favorites
Lauren's Favorites
Matt's Favorites
Michael's Favorites
Nick's Favorites
Pam's Favorites
Sally's Favorites
Scott's Favorites

IMPORTANT (Please read to avoid confusion):
Some items below may be tagged with a bold, red, all-caps "out of print/unavailable" notice. This does NOT mean that all other items not so tagged are, in fact, in stock -- or for that matter, in print and available, though there's a good chance they are. Some folks get confused on this point, and we can see why, so please read this for further clarification and other important before-you-order information. Unlike some mailorder websites, we don't have an electronic inventory system linked to our site, so you can't be sure of what we actually have or don't have in stock at any given moment without asking us -- please email our mailorder department for availability status -- or better yet, just go ahead and place your order using our shopping cart function and we'll get back to you with the status of each item. If you have general non-mailorder questions, email the store.

album cover JESTERS OF DESTINY Fun At The Funeral (Ektro) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Nobody here except for Andee (who was already a fan!) had ever heard of this band before Circle mainman Jussi Lehtisalo told us he was reissuing their 1986 debut LP on his label Ektro. He also said, "Jesters will blow up the whole world!!!" Those familiar with Ektro's previous releases (discs by the likes of Faust, Circle, Ektroverde, Pharoah Overlord) might expect these Jesters of Destiny to be avantgarde psychedelic space-rock or something like that. Well...this IS psychedelic, and it IS avantgarde. But it's no space rock/jazz/neo kraut stuff at all. Jesters of Destiny were perhaps the very first "alternative metal" band, hailing from the '80s LA scene! They were really a unique band that just never fit into any catgories or made any sense, combining Sunset Strip metal, pop-punk, death rock, alt-rock, new wave keyboards, noise/sample interludes, etc. etc... Like Andee, Jussi had been a fan of this obscure act for years. He considers "Fun At The Funeral" to be "one of the most important heavy rock albums" ever! Being the maniac that he is, he finally tracked down the band members and arranged to do this reissue! Perhaps realizing that the typical Ektro customer might be a bit puzzled, Jussi got Jesters co-founder and bass player Bruce Duff to provide some detailed liner notes about JoD.
Duff: "Diggin' back through my life circa 15 years ago has been an emotionally unnerving experience. The music, the jams, the changing line-ups, the convoluted recording contracts, the hallucinations, the revelations, the girls, the divorce, poverty, doom, despair, joy, the extremely loud amplifiersÉBut that's my business. I will tell you it all began when my friend Ray Violet invited my roommate (drummer and multi-instrumentalist Doktor Stixx) and me (the bass player) to be the rhythm section on a songwriting demo he was organizing along with his buddy Bill Irwin. Ray offered to 'pay' us by allowing us each one song of our choosing produced to our individual satisfaction. I picked a metallic, psychedelic, existentialist war yelp I'd bashed out called 'End of Time.' During the sessions, which culminated on Halloween, 1984 (talk about Doom!), Ray played me the unforgettable riff to a song about a mosh pit dance in which the participants beheaded each other with shovels -- 'Diggin' That Grave.' Together, we finished the tune, and when all of the songs were completed, it was clear that 'Grave' and 'Time' stood alone and apart from the rest. We decided to form a band."
Duff goes on to recount the whole sordid saga of the band and its successes and failures, ins and outs (of the band members -- who included past present and future members of such acts as 45 Grave, The Mentors, and Poison!). Highlights for them included signing to Metal Blade imprint Dimension, after "End of Time" appeared on "Metal Massacre V", and playing shows with the likes of Janes Addiction, Flaming Lips, and the Dickies. Lowlights include, well, uh, signing to Metal Blade imprint Dimension, plus all the stuff you'd expect to befall an '80s LA metal band that didn't "make it".
What's really funny (and not discussed) is how their saga ends with this reissue 15 years later on a strange Finnish art-rock label! From Metal Blade to Ektro!
This disc contains their entire "Fun at the Funeral" debut (seeing release on cd for the first time), plus eight bonus tracks consisting of punkier material recorded for their never-released third album (including "Diggin' That Grave '87", a more Talking Heads-ish take on their impossibly catchy signature tune), a home demo, and a live version of Black Sabbath's "Electric Funeral" (can't get away from graves and funerals with these guys!). Their studio cover of that song appeared on their second, all-covers album "In A Nostalgic Mood", the material from which both Duff and Jussi decided was unfit for reissue -- too bad, we want to hear it! Anyway, their live "EF", Duff says, "shows the kind of heavy metal Ornette Coleman spazz attack the band was capable of live." Dunno about that, but it's a fine way to end the disc nonetheless, summing up the fucked up "gleeful gloom" rock that Jesters of Destiny created.
To wind up, thanks Jussi for reissuing this masterpiece of heavy psychedelic pop metal weirdness! Now it's not just Andee here who's a fan. For my part (Allan speaking) I could listen to "Diggin' That Grave" on auto repeat a hundred times and not get tired of it, it's that great a song. To get that and the rest of the album too, plus all the bonus tracks -- well it's a happy day here at Aquarius!
RealAudio clip: "End of Time"
RealAudio clip: "Crimson Umbrella"
RealAudio clip: "Diggin' That Grave"

album cover JESTERS OF DESTINY Fun At The Funeral ( Dimension Records / Restless) lp 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Holy moly! Somehow we recenly acquired two (only 2!) still shrinkwrapped (though, cut-out) copies of the original Jesters Of Destiny lp, an album that was much later reissued on Circle's Ektro label on cd, though that reissue too has been out of print now for many years.
Nobody here except for Andee (who was already a fan!) had ever heard of this band before Circle mainman Jussi Lehtisalo told us he was reissuing their 1986 debut lp on his label Ektro. He also said, "Jesters will blow up the whole world!!!" Those familiar with Ektro's previous releases (discs by the likes of Faust, Circle, Ektroverde, Pharoah Overlord) might expect these Jesters of Destiny to be avantgarde psychedelic space-rock or something like that. Well...this IS psychedelic, and it IS avantgarde. But it's no space rock/jazz/neo kraut stuff at all. Jesters of Destiny were perhaps the very first "alternative metal" band, hailing from the '80s LA scene! They were really a unique band that just never fit into any catgories or made any sense, combining Sunset Strip metal, pop-punk, death rock, alt-rock, new wave keyboards, noise/sample interludes, etc. etc... Like Andee, Jussi had been a fan of this obscure act for years. He considers Fun At The Funeral to be "one of the most important heavy rock albums" ever! Being the maniac that he is, he finally tracked down the band members and arranged to do this reissue! Perhaps realizing that the typical Ektro customer might be a bit puzzled, Jussi got Jesters co-founder and bass player Bruce Duff to provide some detailed liner notes about JoD.
Duff: "Diggin' back through my life circa 15 years ago has been an emotionally unnerving experience. The music, the jams, the changing line-ups, the convoluted recording contracts, the hallucinations, the revelations, the girls, the divorce, poverty, doom, despair, joy, the extremely loud amplifiersÉBut that's my business. I will tell you it all began when my friend Ray Violet invited my roommate (drummer and multi-instrumentalist Doktor Stixx) and me (the bass player) to be the rhythm section on a songwriting demo he was organizing along with his buddy Bill Irwin. Ray offered to 'pay' us by allowing us each one song of our choosing produced to our individual satisfaction. I picked a metallic, psychedelic, existentialist war yelp I'd bashed out called 'End of Time.' During the sessions, which culminated on Halloween, 1984 (talk about Doom!), Ray played me the unforgettable riff to a song about a mosh pit dance in which the participants beheaded each other with shovels - 'Diggin' That Grave.' Together, we finished the tune, and when all of the songs were completed, it was clear that 'Grave' and 'Time' stood alone and apart from the rest. We decided to form a band."
Duff goes on to recount the whole sordid saga of the band and its successes and failures, ins and outs (of the band members - who included past present and future members of such acts as 45 Grave, The Mentors, and Poison!). Highlights for them included signing to Metal Blade imprint Dimension, after "End of Time" appeared on Metal Massacre V, and playing shows with the likes of Janes Addiction, Flaming Lips, and the Dickies. Lowlights include, well, uh, signing to Metal Blade imprint Dimension, plus all the stuff you'd expect to befall an '80s LA metal band that didn't "make it".
What's really funny (and not discussed) is how their saga ends with this reissue 15 years later on a strange Finnish art-rock label! From Metal Blade to Ektro!
So, that's the story about this fucked up "gleeful gloom" rock band from the Ektro reissue liner notes, and here's the original on vinyl, complete with their "hit" song, "Diggin' That Grave", one we could listen to over and over and over, it's that infectious. A masterpiece of heavy psychedelic pop metal weirdness!

GRANFALOON BUS Good Funeral Weather (Trocadero) cd 10.98
Brand new album from local favorites.

Showing results 1 through 3 of 3.

top of page