Fingerpainting

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"George III"	1:50
2.	"Bad Medicine"	3:30
3.	"A Hybrid Creature of Greed, Ignorance and Powers of Comprehension Plays a Vaulted Drum Kit. The Playing Corresponds Completely to the Event. There Are Entrances and Exits. And There Is Gravitation, Where It Is Needed - Tears for Example"	2:22
4.	"There There Betty Betty"	2:29
5.	"The Greed of a Clarinet That Is Puffy from Crying Gets Tossed in Butter and Spread by Notes. This Process Depresses the Entire Orchestra So Much That It Only Plays Behind a Golden Partition. The Partition Is Decorated With Semi-Precious Attractive Diamonds"	4:41
6.	"Vile Vile Grass"	2:31
7.	"A Sow With an Abbess's Bonnet Is Sitting on Four Rock-Objects and Singing Along With Them. The Song Sounds Like a Cheater, And Is Imprisoned in a Striped Toy Box Because Its Aims Are Not Recognizable. On Top of the Box Is a Head That Could Be Elvis's, If He Had Survived This"	5:48
8.	"Mother"	2:16
9.	"Out of a Trombone That Is Divided Lengthways by a Partition of Gold Sound Seven Violins of Dynamite That Are Cut Sideways into Thin Slices. They Are Played by the Thrown Out Ex-Members of a Very Bad Band and Blown Up"	4:17
10.	"In My Baby's Ruth, Sandy's Drums With David & Shadwell, Filthy Lucre"	15:02

Background

• Rerecordings of some of the band's earliest songs
• Album structure mimicking The Parable of Arable Land
• Concept was Albert Oehlen's idea
• Fingerpointing

Ephemera

Press release

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Press kit

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Personnel

Musicians

David Grubbs, George Hurley, Elisa Randazzo, Albert Oehlen, Stephen Prina, Mayo Thompson, Tom Watson, Sandy Yang

Sampled musicians

Frederick Barthelme, Steve Cunningham, Bobby Henschen

Cover art

Designed by Christopher Williams. There is evidence to suggest the artwork was created by Sandy Yang.

Retrospectives

Mayo Thompson, 1999

The next record is called Finger Painting and it's modelled on Parable. It features new recordings of the rejects from the Parable sessions, and freakouts with today's line-up. It is now something like The Familiar Ugly in that we can have completely terrible stuff happening onstage and still get away with it!

Tom Watson, 1999

The basic song structures were done in an afternoon with me and David [Grubbs] and Mayo [Thompson] playing three guitars, trying to synchronize with rhythm tracks from Albert [Oehlen]. But there are also bits from live performance, little parts he might have asked me to play at a show two years ago, and there's a lot of collage work, using digital tape the way people used to use analog tape. There was a lot of compiling of bits and pieces from different sources, so I have a feeling this record was something Mayo had considered for a long time.

Mayo Thompson, 2010

Fingerpainting and Fingerpointing are based on The Parable of Arable Land, they’re structured in exactly the same way. Freak-out, song, freak-out, song, like that. The material that’s on Fingerpainting is material that we didn’t record for Parable of Arable Land, it’s material that dates from those days. Like ‘There There, Betty Betty,’ that’s a song from that time, and ‘Shadwell’ is something that we recorded together as well. That was when we had stopped playing songs altogether. That’s like the time of Coconut Hotel and the time in Berkeley, when we were playing at the Berkeley Folk Festival, we did that stuff with Fahey. We were playing what we called feedback music, and [Frederick Barthelme and Steve Cunningham] were involved in that. [...] On ‘Shadwell,’ they appear [...] that’s the period piece. And there’s also, that piano player that you hear in the background of ‘Shadwell,’ the last thing that you hear on Fingerpainting—it’s not on Fingerpointing—that’s Bobby Henschen, the piano player I worked with in ’71. Rick [Barthelme] and I worked with him in Houston together. That’s an album that’s made out of material that comes from 40 years ago. It wasn’t 40 at the time, it was made in 1999. And Fingerpointing was O'Rourke’s mix of the same material, which when I first heard it I thought, ‘No, this is not what I had in mind.’ I wanted something that was more actually one-to-one with the first record.

Mayo Thompson, 1999

The alternation isn't quite so coherent, on-and-off. There's only a couple of instances where you get a pure blast from the past, so to speak. The rest of the time you might find--if you cared, or knew, or if it mattered, even--that it's embedded in other kinds of material recorded at other times and other places. All the tunes are vintage material--'Bad Medicine' is a tune that [Steve] Cunningham had when we met him. But the recordings of the songs are all contemporary versions, handled in a certain way. There is obviously a game of alternation being played: This is a song structure, this is another kind of structure--what kind of structure is this?"

Reviews

Aiding & Abetting

June 7, 1999

The usual large conglomeration of fine folks backing up Mayo Thompson (though Jim O'Rourke is on holiday), producing the usual twisted Red Krayola fare.

On this disc, Mayo reaches back and takes some songs of his from yesteryear and gives them a new spin. The sound is much more electronically dominated. I know, that was always there, but it's like the issuance of those old Moebius-Conny Plank-Mayo tapes inspired the guy to dig into that side of things more.

Who knows? I've given up trying to guess anything when it comes to the Red Krayola. Much better to just sit there and let the looniness wash over like a comfy blanket. There is method to the madness, but madness it is. Music for the discerning lunatic. I'm happy to count myself among those folks.

This sounds like a work in progress. all Red Krayola discs do, though, and I can handle that. Just another missal to the warped masses. I'm already craving another hit.

New Times L.A.

June 10, 1999

Franklin Bruno

[...] The Red Krayola's new double positive, Fingerpainting, may surprise (and initially frustrate) fans of the band's guitar-driven, song-centered work on Chicago indie Drag City, which started releasing Thompson's records in 1994--about the time he took a teaching position at Pasadena's Art Center College of Design after two decades in Europe. The first clue that something's up is the record's personnel. The current core participants are all present, but so are founding members Frederick Barthelme and Steve Cunningham, with whom Thompson recorded the band's debut, Parable of Arable Land, back in 1966. Typically, the packaging (and Thompson) are slightly mysterious about who played what--or when. The disc opens with "George III," a minimal guitar piece recorded in England in the '80s, which cross-fades into "Bad Medicine," a mangled blues with bad-trip lyrics ("How can I keep you around in the state you're in?/You're bad medicine, baby") and MIDI rhythms constructed by Albert Oehlen, a German visual artist who's been a Krayola associate since the mid-'80s. After this, there's a burst of clattering improvisation, topped with Art Center colleague Stephen Prina's calm repetition of what Thompson has just sung. Similarly, sometime vocalist Sandy Yang (who came into the fold as an Art Center undergrad) begins wailing the lyrics to "There There Betty Betty" immediately after the "straight" version is finished. And so it goes, song and nonsong interrupting one other for the length of the disc, all with a smudged, gestural quality befitting its title.

In this way, Fingerpainting is consciously modeled after Parable, which alternated acid anthems like "Transparent Radiation" with sprawling "free" tracks performed by the core trio plus the Familiar Ugly, a loose amalgam of Texas hippies who congregated around the band early on. On Fingerpainting, the "open sections," as Thompson now calls them, include unreleased material from the original Barthelme/Cunningham/Thompson era, but the record's running order isn't as simple as old noise/new song.

[...] In a sense, Fingerpainting extends Thompson's collaborative ethos by forcing disparate periods of the band's history into dialogue with one another. It's a challenging piece of work, but a rewarding one: Once you get past their peculiar handling, the songs stick in the head (especially "Vile Vile Grass"), and after a few plays, even the most difficult sections reveal a wealth of structure and detail. It's too restless and irreverent to be termed a "career retrospective," but it is something arguably more worthwhile: an extended inquiry into what it might mean to file three decades in the contested space between popular music and contemporary art under one slightly silly two-word name.

[...] It might be interesting to know that Bobby Henschen was a jazz pianist (still active in Houston) who the band knew in its early days or that his contribution to "Filthy Lucre," which ends the album, dates from the early '70s. But you don't need this information to get the point of superimposing Henschen's florid, expressive piano cadenza and Oehlen's implacable MIDI beat--two utterly incompatible ways of organizing sound--each pointing out the other's limitations. Still, Thompson sometimes speaks of Fingerpainting as if it were a full-dress cover version of Parable of Arable Land.

[...] The differences between the Red Krayola circa 1966 and 1999 may have less to do with the sounds it makes than how it talks about them. On Parable, these open sections were identically titled "Freeform Freakout," a trippy description Thompson seems to regret, but on Fingerpainting, each gets an elaborate title that mocks the possibility of giving a rational account of such abstract music. The funniest, in its entirety, is: "A Sow with an Abbess's Bonnet Is Sitting on Four Rock-Objects and Singing Along with Them. The Song Sounds Like a Cheater, and Is Imprisoned in a Striped Toy Box Because Its Aims Are Not Recognizable. On Top of the Box Is a Head That Could Be Elvis's, If He Had Survived This." Stranger still, the title is actually a useful guide for listening. The cheap-sounding keyboard that runs through the piece could well be compared to "a striped toy box," and the strong backbeat that ends it could, conceivably, have something to do with Elvis. [...] Fingerpainting includes a manifesto of sorts as well, but it's cagier, rather than Cagean, a punning take on the universalist tone of free-jazz liner notes [...]

Drawer B

June 1999

Eric G.

The Red Krayola prides itself on being uncategorizable, and that, in and of itself, is an impressive feat for a band that's evolved through three decades and countless line-up changes. The only original member to sustain all of the band's incarnations, though, is Mayo Thompson, whose predictably unpredictable approach to composition continues to push the envelope of what is or is not "music." Sometimes Thompson's adventures veer into an esoteric land that only noise freaks and pretentious wankers would claim to enjoy, but, I must say, it is never boring.

Fingerpainting is a fairly involved experiment, featuring a slew of musical luminaries (including ex-Squirrel Bait and ex-Gastr Del Sol guitarist David Grubbs), wherein Thompson has dug up some of the band's oldest songs predating the first LP, The Parable Of Arable Land, and had the current line-up record them while mixing tapes of the band's previous incarnations together with it. The result is a fair share stranger than it sounds. Drum machines pound way too loud while the band clinks and clanks its way through a countrified melange of 'songs', explosive noiseburts, and an all around bizarre racket.

The music seems to randomly ebb and flow. The group will fall to pieces at strange intervals, which is disarming when your ear is trained to expect certain cadences and climaxes. The songs are tracked individually but untitled. Thompson's fragile voice nervously shuffles along with the jangly yet distant guitars, bringing the Velvet Underground to mind. This is not the kind of music you can stop and come back to later in the middle; it's almost certainly a one shot deal- you either sit through it all in one listen or you don't bother at all, and depending on your tolerance for badly produced free form freakouts you'll either be consumed or enraged.

Earpiece

Summer 1999

b.wildered

fingerpainting is the brand-spanking newest, and within, the revisitation and revision of the past continues. firstly, the participants credited include frederick barthelme and steve cunningham of the 1967 lineup, as well as folks like david grubbs, tom watson, stephen prina, george hurley and albert oehlen. five more or less songs are interspersed with 1999 versions of the freeform freakout segments delivered by the familiar ugly on the parable of arable land. one of these segments is titled "a sow with an abbess's bonnet is sitting on four rock-objects and singing along with them. the song sounds like a cheater, and is imprisoned in a striped toy box because its aims are not recognizable. on top of the box is a head that could be elvis's, if he had survived this.". the song "vile, vile grass" is an old one, having been released on the (bootleg?) epitaph for a legend international artists label compilation in a different version. there are lots of ringing guitars, bleating analog synths and muffled drum machines, produced in much less clear manner than the past couple of studio the red krayola releases, perhaps due to the mixing of tracks recorded over many years? that is only a guess. also included (with the package i purchased) is a second cd with just one song, "come on down", which is a much cleaner recording, and a rather fetching tune, with very arresting production. upon repeated listening, i perceive a reference to debilitating habits, with mayo wrapping things up by asking, "when are you going to come on down?". but that could just be where i am at.

NY Rock

February 2000

Bill Ribas

An apt title since this offering is as erratic as it is experimental. Imagine a distorted drum machine as the most prominent instrument; throw in some faint vocals, a host of background noises and static, and some jangly guitar reminiscent of the Velvet Underground and you have the Red Krayola's "Fingerpainting." The randomness, the free association/improv is definitely not everyone's cup of tea, but there is something here, and, like a good scotch, it takes a bit getting used to. Mayo Thompson has been the steadfast member of the group since its first release in 1967, and though, at times, this comes off as more of a performance art piece, he knows what he's doing. Even if the audience doesn't.

Pitchfork

Nick Mirov

[...] "Yeah, things were going fine, except there was this one CD I just didn't know how to review-- The Red Krayola's Fingerpainting. Have you heard it?"

[...] This goddamn Red Krayola album." I start pacing around the room anxiously. "I mean, I've reviewed avant crap like this before, but not from Drag City, and certainly not from a band that's ostensibly been around for thirty-odd years and therefore should garner at least some respect!"

"Look, Mirov, I don't want to have to tell you how to do your job, but it's a fucking record review, not rocket science."

"I mean, how the hell am I supposed to be inspired to write about such a bafflingly dull album? Mind you, I've written actual real reviews of Fingerpainting, but they're all as dull as the album itself. What can you expect from 4-track recordings of Mayo Thompson singing and playing the guitar badly on purpose over silly Casio rhythms, which are then pulverized by a bunch of Drag City avant noisemakers? Would you want to read a review that reflected that sort of aimless pretension?"

Ryan rolls his eyes and presses a button on his intercom. "Julie, would you get me security? Mr. Mirov is having another one of his episodes."

"And then! And then, giving tracks titles like 'Out Of A Trombone That Is Divided Lengthways By A Partition Of Gold Sound Seven Violins Of Dynamite That Are Cut Sideways Into Thin Slices. They Are Played By The Thrown Out Ex-Members Of A Very Bad Band And Blown Up', now that's just fucking stupid. But why the hell would Drag City put their name on this? I mean, I could understand the whole U.S. Maple thing, but this? Am I missing something here?" I'm waving my arms around now, as if I'm working up the will to take flight through Ryan's fiftieth-story plate glass window.

"It'll be okay, Nick. You just need to go somewhere and relax for a while. We'll give you something easier to work on, okay? Like the new Ben Harper album, maybe?"

"You understand, right? It's about entertainment. It's about giving the reader something interesting to read. But Fingerpainting has nothing to do with entertainment. Or even art. So what am I supposed to give the reader? Something that has fuck-all to do with the Red Krayola, that's for sure! Seriously, Ryan, wouldn't you rather read about me being a big fucking loser than read about the Red Krayola? Wouldn't you rather read about me getting my heart broken by Janeane Garofalo? Wouldn't you? Isn't that entertainment?"

Links

• Album on Wikipedia
• Album on Discogs