Maclise, Angus

***Brain Damage in Oklahoma City is the second installment in the Siltbreeze / Quakebasket series of music by poet/mystic/shaman Angus MacLise. Culled from the archives of Mr. Tony Conrad, this volume (covering the years 1967-'70) highlights MacLise's unique and intricate drumming style. Cembalum, bongos, hand drum, barrel congas—all are majestically thumped'n'bumped for maximum orgasmic sensory satisfaction. Comprised of eight tracks, the acme of this collection is the two large ensemble pieces, "Dreamweapon Benefit for the Oklahoma City Police Dept. parts 1 & 2," featuring Angus (barrel conga), Hetty MacLise (tampura), the poet Jackson Maclow (recorders and voice), Henry Flynt (song flute and voice) and Tony Conrad (limp string). These tracks, recorded in May of 1968, are the apex of maximalist loft style psychedelic improvisation. Conrad's illuminating, occasionally hilarious liner notes set up the narrative of this volume and offer a brief glimpse back into the mind-scrambling fracas that was NYC, USA, Earth 1968. Along with more gorgeous, brain-warping Invasion-style sleeve art, included in the CD booklet is a reproduction of the poster for the Dreamweapon Benefit, confirmation in black and white that for four nights in May, 1968, Wooster Street Cinematheque was definitely one witchy place to be. 
o MacLise was the founding percussionist of the Velvet Underground and quit because it was too structured an environment (!)