THE GODZ Godz 2 - Original US LP - Psych Prog Proto-Punk Avant Garage Rock ESP

	£		38
	$		50

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** RECORD COLLECTOR **

THE GODZ

Godz 2

Original US LP released on ESP Disk Records in 1967.

ORT-4   DBH   ESPS 1047 A   /   ORT-4   DBH   ESPS 1047 B

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New York city avant/psychedelic pranksters pre-saged punk mayhem in the late 1960s.

Few bands in the annals of rock were stranger than the New York City-based Godz. Recording for the idiosyncratic ESP-DISK label from the mid-'60s until the early '70s, the Godz coughed up some of the strangest, most dissonant, purposely incompetent rock noise ever produced. Part of the Lower East Side scene that produced post-Beat avant-hippie rockers/performance artists the Fugs and the Holy Modal Rounders, as well as beat performers like Allen Ginsberg, the Godz recorded the most extreme music while being secretive about themselves. As the late critic Lester Bangs noted in an essay in Creem in 1971, the Godz "...are a pure test of one of the supreme traditions of rock : the process by which a musical band can evolve from beginnings of almost insulting illiteracy to wind up several albums later romping and stomping deft as champs."

Despite Bangs' essay, there are few, if any, detailed histories about this enigmatic band. What is known is that the Godz consisted of guitarist Jim McCarthy, bassist Larry Kessler, autoharpist Jay Dillon, and drummer Paul Thornton. McCarthy, the ostensible leader of the group, went solo in 1973, but the Godz were pretty much over by that point. As to what happened after they split, McCarthy became a photographer, Kessler is a record dealer, Thornton is an actor, and Dillon is living in the wilds of New Jersey. But none of that is as interesting as the three squalling bits of avant-garde noise/junk they recorded from 1966-1968. Sounding like a prototype for Half Japanese or the Shaggs, the Godz play as if they discovered their instruments ten minutes before the tape started rolling. The singing is intentionally off-key, almost parodic, and the songs...well, they sound more like improvised snippets than actual compositions. And while that may not be your idea of pop music, this works, in large part, due to the absolute glee and unself-consciousness with which they approached their peculiar brand of aural nonsense. You may not want to play this every day, but if your tastes run to the fringes of popular music, missing out on the Godz would be unforgivable.

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Even further out than Contact High with the Godz, Godz Two is at times one of the most deliberately annoying, purposefully incompetent albums ever made. White Light/White Heat has nothing on it, though admittedly the much purer in intent, Philosophy of the World has it beat for sheer cacophony. But it's hard to get one's head around tracks like "Squeek," a nearly five-minute violin solo by Larry Kessler that sounds like what might happen if someone slowly fed a Stradivarius through a crosscut paper shredder, and the bewilderingly random "Riffin'," which sounds like the work of a set of off-their-meds paranoid schizophrenics posing as the Holy Modal Rounders. Other tracks, however, foretell the almost normal pop song direction that the Godz would explore on their next album: "Soon the Moon" and the closing "Permanent Green Light" foreshadow both the streamlined motorik sound of Neu! and other Krautrock-based bands. A hacksawed cover of the Beatles' "You Won't See Me" splits the difference.

Tracks Are :-

Side One

Radar Eyes
Riffin'
Where
New Song
Squeek
Soon The Moon

Side Two

Crusade
You Won't See Me
Travellin' Salesman
Permanent Green Light

Released on 'ESP Disk Records' in 1967

Catalogue No. 1047 M

Disc is in VG+ condition (some surface wear)

Sleeve is in VG condition (18cm split to top, from opening edge)

Please contact me via Ebay Messages with any questions I will try my best to get back to you as quickly as possible.

PAYMENT BY PAYPAL ONLY

IF BUYING MORE THAN ONE ITEM PLEASE WAIT FOR COMBINED INVOICE!!!

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UK POSTAGE RATES FOR 12" RECORDS (LPs & 10"/12" SINGLES):

1 LP £4.15
2 LP £4.15
3 LP £6.50
4 LP £6.50
5 LP £6.50
6 LP £6.50

*********DOUBLES COUNT AS TWO*********

INTERNATIONAL POSTAGE RATES TO EUROPE FOR 12" RECORDS:

1 LP £6.90
2 LP £8.15
3 LP £9.35
4 LP £10.45
5 LP £11.60
6 LP £12.40

INTERNATIONAL POSTAGE RATES TO "WORLD ZONE 1" (USA, CANADA, JAPAN etc ) FOR 12" RECORDS:

1 LP £9.20
2 LP £11.65
3 LP £14.05
4 LP £15.50
5 LP £17.00
6 LP £18.20

INTERNATIONAL POSTAGE RATES TO "WORLD ZONE 2" (AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, SINGAPORE etc)

1 LP £9.90
2 LP £12.35
3 LP £14.80
4 LP £16.45
5 LP £18.25
6 LP £19.70

*********DOUBLES COUNT AS TWO*********

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POSTAGE RATES FOR 7” SINGLES & CDs:

UK: £1.90 – then £0.50 each extra.
EUROPE: £4.95 – then £0.50 each extra.
"WORLD ZONE 1" (USA, CANADA, JAPAN etc ): £6.00 – then £1.00 each extra
"WORLD ZONE 2" ( AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND etc): £6.55 then £1.00 each extra

*********DOUBLES COUNT AS TWO*********

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IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT COMBINED SHIPPING ON ALL 12" RECORDS (LPs / 12" SINGLES etc). PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING CAREFULLY!!!!

We offer combined shipping on vinyl records: our shipping rates are listed above. HOWEVER shipping packages that weigh more than 2kg is VERY expensive. Therefore we can only offer combined shipping up to a maximum of SIX (6) LPs / 12" records. Any extra purchases will be invoiced, packaged and shipped separately.

***Due to the physical logistics of how I can package orders, I will not combine box sets with other items, I will only package them individually***

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COMBINED POSTAGE FOR DIFFERENT FORMATS will be invoiced at my discretion:

While I am happy to combine (for example) one or two 7” singles into one package with 12” records, sometimes it isn’t practical (like if you want me to combine one 12” record with three or more 7” records). I do not think that these combinations can be packaged together safely and securely. Therefore these will be invoiced separately as two packages.

IF YOU ARE UNSURE, please contact me before bidding!

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Sorry but I am no longer willing to carry combined transactions beyond two weeks of auctions (see below).

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PAYMENT

I would appreciate payment within seven days of the auction's end. If you want to bid on more of our auctions ending a week later please inform me. I will wait and issue a combined invoice at the close of the second week's auctions.

However, I am no longer willing to carry combined transactions beyond two weeks and in these cases would appreciate payment promptly after the close of the second week's auctions.

I am sorry to have to introduce these measures – I always try to be patient and allow buyers to bid on extra auctions and / or delay payment. Unfortunately some buyers have been stretching out transactions to unacceptable lengths so I have no option but to limit 'carried over' transactions to two weeks.