ALTURNS THIRTY
PAUL FLUM
"
Alturns Thirty"
format:
CD-R
original release date:
June 30, 1995
track listing: RealAudio ***
01. Great Big Hands
02. The Brown Scarf***
03. Marinade
04. Wire Song***
05. The Victrola Idler
06. Greedy Kings & Lost Boats***
07. Super Thin Alien***
08. The River***
09. Ride Across Oklahoma
10. Grille
11. Buffaloes***
12. Perilous***
13. I Want You
14. Here
15. Honest
16. Crooked Piers
17. Mountin' Honey***
18. Stumbelin
19. Culvert Gardenia
20. Gallery
21. Thai Food
22. Fine Things
23. Tobacco Hogshead
24. Astronaut Satellite***
25. Dirt Roads

The CD comes with a color three panel booklet of short stories, and a two panel black and white lyric sheet
PRESS  RELEASE by Kevin Lundahl 072801

Everybody needs a reason.

Alturns Thirty is a collection of songs recorded between 1992-1995. The reason?  “The Artist” needed a birthday present for a Mr. Al Dumas, who would  soon be celebrating his thirtieth birthday.

On that day, June 30, 1995,  the recording was presented to Mr.Dumas - and “The Artist” was put on the map. The earliest recorded projects, as far back as July 1992, are captured here.

These early projects were recorded on a Tascam double speed cassette four – track, borrowed from a Mr.Eric Miller. These projects commenced shortly after an abbreviated recording session, conducted under the watchful guise of a Mr.Snackie Hillman, consisting of the musical trio known as “Helikopter”

One of these tracks, “Thai Food”,  was actually a soundcheck recorded by Mr. Hillman; performing on this track are Mr. Miller, a Mr.Greg Dohler, and of course, “The Artist.”

Another track, “Gallery”, was the first completed solo effort on that four track machine, recorded in the basement of the “Helikopter” ranch…”The Artist” had been binging on a Syd Barrett songbook for days, … and it shows.

In 1993, a cluster of songs were recorded live in The Yellow House, somewhere on Gorsuch Avenue. A Mr.Greg Fromm participated with “The Artist”, completing a half dozen songs there. Theses songs were recorded on a boombox. The pick of the litter, “Here”, was chosen for this collection.

By the summer of 1993, two noteworthy events occurred; The Good: “The Artist” acquired a Fostex cassette four track. The Bad: Greg Dohler, the original drummer for Helikopter, quit the band.

The song, “Mountin’ Honey”, ties both events together.

By 1994, “The Artist” began cranking out songs. Three recordings sessions were recorded at The Hour Haus. The biggest advantage of recording at the Hour Haus, was that “The Artist” could record at high volume levels with no neighbors to bother. The spring session brought us “Grille” and six others. The summer session was extremely raucous(as the weather was hot), with all windows in the facility open, you can hear trains and buses go by. “Great Big Hands”, “Marinade”, and “The River” were recorded here amongst nine songs. The Autumn session was eerily chilly…actually, it was the night before thanksgiving, and there was an early snow coming down. That brought about “Greedy Kings” and “Perilous.”

After thanksgiving, the next session began at 824 Park Avenue. Amazingly, “The Artist” had one of his more prolific nights ever, delivering a dozen songs including “Fine Things”,  all written and recorded  in one evening. “Crooked Piers” was also recorded  that same winter on Park Avenue.

Some of the recordings done in 1994 were passed on to a Mr. Forrest French and a Mr. Adam Cooke. The three gentleman constituted a band, performing selected songs under various band names including “Blinder”, “Silt Flats”, and the eventual “UV-373.”

They recorded a session in the fall of 1994 at Social Services Recording Studio. “I Want You” was chosen for this collection. The rest of the session has been lost.

This early lineup also cooked up some goodies in early 1995, all recorded at The Hour Haus. (“The Brown Scarf”, “Wire Song” , “The Victrola Idler”, “Buffaloes”, “Stumbelin”, “Culvert Gardenia”, “Astronaut Satellite”). These songs were eventually touched up at Social Services recording studio in the Spring of 1995.

There was one more solo project that spring at The Hour Haus. From that came “Super Thin Alien” and “Honest.”

Two more noteworthy events happened that spring: “Helikopter” reunited, and that lineup of UV – 373 ceased. A “Helikopter" outtake, “Tobacco Hogshead”, is included here.



Two more significant recordings complete this collection, done shortly before Al’s birthday. “Ride across Oklahoma” was recorded at 824 Park Avenue. It would later be performed in 1996 by the next lineup of UV –373, which included Colin Seven. “Dirt Roads” has special significance; it concludes the collection and was also the show closer from the original UV 373 lineup. The original version was lost, so this version was hurriedly  re-recorded the day before Mr. Dumas’ Birthday.


-K. L.
near Prince Frederick, MD,  3/93
Mr. Al Dumas and "The Artist"
at The Grand Canyon, 3/92
THE AUDIENCE SPEAKS ...


"I think the Alturns Thirty is great, because it sounds great and I thanks"
                    -Chester Floro, El Cajon, CA

"I am not an unreasonable woman. However, after hearing Alturns Thirty for the first time, I am forced to incessantly beg for more, more, more..."
                    -Tina Delacruz, Action Bounce Magazine

"I heard you were gonna make a new CD. Could I get a copy? My copy of the original sounds real hissy..."
                    -Mike Botts, Spicetown, IN

"I like the 'Wire Song' ... the rest makes me weep ... thats not good"
                    -Ben Friedman, Wallingford, CT

"This thing cuts the crap...luv the seques...just another reason why sargent peppers is overrated, when non-talents like alturns makes quite the polished terd..."
                    -Shane Patterson, Cut and Waste Fanzine

"I'd love alturns thirty more better if it sounded good. I'd like to redo the victrola song so i can hear what he's saying. and the lyrics is hard to read but its cool otherwise"
                    -Jen Soljenyczen, Altoona, PA

   



"Way, way cool creepy pop nightmare/orgasm in the vein of GBV or early Trux without the heroin skronk."
                    -Jaz, Hafnarfjor, Iceland

"I was told I was gonna like it. It's OK, but the sound quality is real iffy.  Its better then some of those endless Centridoh demos, but not quite so pointless..."
                    -Jill Seeley,  Norge, VA

"Astronaut Sattellite is a beautiful piece, and the shining star on this slice-then-splice job. Makes you wonder who builds the woodwork that these alturns guys crawl from..."
                    -Dexter Wallace Everett, Maybe Independent, Vol. XVI