was HW: Live 79, now Cosmic Jokers

[Vince LeGrand]

Hmmm..I own the Tarot box set on vinyl with the cards.  Any guess as to how
much it's worth?

-----Original Message-----
From: Doug Pearson <ceres at SIRIUS.COM>
To: Multiple recipients of list BOC-L <BOC-L at LISTSERV.SPC.EDU>
Date: Wednesday, March 24, 1999 2:24 PM
Subject: Re: was HW: Live 79, now Cosmic Jokers


>On Wed, 24 Mar 1999 10:49:09 -0500, Keith Henderson <henderson.120 at OSU.EDU>
>wrote:
>
>>Doug said...
>>> ... check out Julian Cope's 'Krautrock' book
>>>which is a great starting reference (although it does contain a few
>>>inaccuracies and some very opinionated statements of the YMMV variety).
>>
>>Yeah, some things he says are downright stupid.  But still, a book about
>>Krautrock is better than no book at all.  But then, I'd recommend the fine
>>work done by the Freeman brothers first and foremost.  Their articles from
>>Audion, and their Krautrock encyclopaedia, 'The Crack in the Cosmic Egg.'
>>Wonderful reference.
>
>Yes! That's a great book ... an essential Krautrock reference, and
>certainly more rigorously academic than Cope's book (which in some ways is
>a glossy fanzine in book format).  I still like Julian's book a lot, but I
>have to roll my eyes when he makes statements (which I paraphrase) like
>"'Dance of the Lemmings' is a crappy album" (so it's not as good as 'Yeti'
>- BFD) or "'Amboss' is even better than 'Sister Ray'" (it's great - it's
>amazing - but it's not THAT great).
>
>>>>Got a recommendation for a first Cosmic Jokers CD?
>>
>>There are several.
>>My recommendation for material of this sort would be (especially for
>>Americans) the 2CD "Best of the Private Tapes" - M. Gottsching & Ash Ra
>>Tempel put out by Purple Pyramid a year or so ago.
>
>The 1971/73 recordings from the Private Tapes set are incredible!  If it
>was up to me, I would have put those out as a 2CD set and scrapped the rest
>(it definitely has its moments, but too much of Gottsching's later
>recordings are waaaay to laid back/new agey for me).  The Purple Pyramid
>set is a great bargain compared to the original 6-CD set, though!
>
>>The Cosmic Jokers stuff is only on Spalax (France), and it a touch more
>>costly. (I do like their more rigid/durable digipacks though.)  Of the
three
>>I've heard, I quite liked 'Sci-Fi Party', which wasn't even a true 'Cosmic
>>Jokers' album (if there were any).
>
>All five Cosmic Jokers albums are pretty darn good, and the Spalax imports
>are usually not excessively pricey (I usually see them for around US$18),
>especially when you compare them to imports on, say, Captain Trip!
>
>>>However, the "best" Cosmic Jokers album (IMO) is the Walter
>>>Wegmüller 'Tarot' double album.  Unfortunately, it's only available as a
>>>deluxe box set with a pack of tarot cards (imagine that!) that will set
you
>>>back about US$80 (ouch!).
>>
>>Are you talking vinyl or CD??  I see that Spalax has reissued this (1995)
as
>>a double CD box set...is this what you're talking about?  Presumably, they
>>reproduced the tarot set for this item also?
>
>I'm referring to the 1995 CD reissue.  I cringe to think what an original
>vinyl copy (box set w/cards) would go for.  One of my housemates is of
>Swiss origin and knows quite a bit about art history; when she noticed the
>Tarot cards that came with the CD, she was already familiar with
>Wegmüller's art and was surprised to find out that he had included an album
>with some of his cards!
>
>        -Doug
>         ceres at sirius.com