The Marcel Shimmy

 

Like a musical chameleon, Kramer completely shed his pop/indie skin for his next two solo releases, which were both commissioned by John Zorn for his new Tzadik label.

Coming first in 1998 (& featuring the extraordinary contributions of violist Deni Bonet) Let Me Explain Something to You About Art comprises three compositions that take the listener deep into a Proustian world of memory, loss, & longing. A wholly unsentimental meditation on aging & an imaginary soundtrack for the dying, it is quite possibly Kramer's most emotional work; an internal journey that begins in a world we all recognize as our own but ends in a Kubrickian landscape as alien to us as the final scenes of 2001; A Space Odyssey.

John Zorn stated, "Kramer has now come into his own as a composer."

Kramer - Let Me Explain Something to You About Art, Tzadik TZ 7119, 1998.
decryption code in comments

Umberto D
Odds Against Tomorrow
Jupiter & the Infinite

Next are the Greenberg variations.

Enjoy,
NØ

 note: Anyone following these latest ramblings might want to hear The Fugs with Kramer on bass. You can pick up a great one: The Fugs - Songs from a Portable Forest over at Zero G Sound. If you do, tell’em Nathan sent you.

 NØ

Dead Pink Shimmy

 

Kramer's third solo LP (& final part of the trilogy), Songs from the Pink Death, is a dark, deeply introspective look into the subterranean world inhabited by the artist's own inner demons. More atypically, more brutally evocative than either of his previous solo ventures, this features heartbreaking ballads alongside impactful sonic statements defining Kramer's labyrinthian inner landscape. This release is aided immensely by the musical contributions of ex-Galaxie 500 drummer Damon Krukowski & ex-Luna guitarist Sean Eden, each of whom showcase some of their career-best work on this LP.

Kramer - Songs from the Pink Death, Shimmy Disc SHM-502, 1998.
decryption code in comments

The Funny Scene
Buddy Holly Will Never Die
The Opium Wars Have Long Ceased
Don't Come Around
The Parasite Song
The Pink Death Song of Love
It Never Stops Being Absurd
Eddie Called Back on the Carphone
You've Got To Hide Your Love Away
The Hot Dog Song
It's Alright if She Don't Love You Right

Next, let me explain something to you about art.

Enjoy,
NØ

The Secret of Shimmy: 9 - 7 = 2

 

Kramer's big plan was a trilogy of triple-LP's like The Guilt Trip. What followed instead in 1994 was The Secret of Comedy, a conventional length single album. Kramer had set out to make the 2nd part of the triple trilogy, but once he'd completed the two LP sides, he clearly saw that it had an obvious beginning & a concise end.

The Secret Of Comedy is a darkly humorous but essentially "pop" venture laced with Kramer's catchy songs, brimming with lyrical surprises that seem more accessible than on The Guilt Trip. Still, The Secret of Comedy maintains the found-sounds bites & surrealist text manipulations that make all of Kramer's output as an audio artist & producer so other-worldly.

On The Secret of Comedy: Kramer - most instruments; Randy Hudson - guitar; Bill Bacon - drums.

Kramer - The Secret of Comedy, Shimmy Disc SHIMMY-075, 1994.
decryption code in comments

Nine Minus Seven is Two
The Secret of Suicide
Midnight
Strings
The Secret of Philosophy
I Can Watch
Who are You Today?
My Rock'n Roll
The Secret of the Band
Sounds Like?
Wishing Well
Second Coda

Next is songs from the pink death.

Enjoy,
NØ

The Lawsuit Shimmy Begins

 

 

 In 1992 Kramer sold his Noise New York recording studio. He moved just across the Hudson River, where he'd found a house located 10 minutes outside of NYC that was going into foreclosure. Built into the house was a state-of-the-art 24-track recording studio. He dubbed the studio Noise New Jersey.

The first complete recording of Noise New Jersey, The Guilt Trip, is a sprawling behemoth. 36 songs recorded with friend & drummer David Licht along with Kramer's high school chum Randy Hudson. For his first solo effort, Kramer layers on an array of hot-wired psychedelia & ambiance on everything from simple pop song structures to grand instrumental overtures. 

The Guilt Trip was created during an emotionally violent period in Kramer's personal life. He was going through a divorce while handling a lawsuit Anne Magnuson had filed against him & Shimmy Disc. Magnuson sought compensation of $4.5 million, charging Kramer with fraud, breach of contract, & copyright infringement. Kramer hit back, filing a countersuit. The resulting legal imbroglio would last nearly three years.  

The Guilt Trip presented a series of songs that reference his legal troubles, including "Kathleen, I'm Sorry", "Not Guilty'" & '"Won't Get Far Without Me".  Lyrically, Kramer throws revenge, love, devotion, forgiveness, & atonement into the mix. He often refers to it as his "exorcism", insisting that he would not have survived the multiple traumas he was fighting without it. The healing power of Art is a constant theme of this huge piece of work.

Kramer - The Guilt Trip, Shimmy Disc shimmy 055, 1992.
all decryption codes in comments

Disc One -
Ouverture
Stupid Summer
Got What I Deserved
Not Guilty
Wisdom Sits
Stubb's Hallucination
The Drowning Heart
Welcome Home
Swallow Up Jonah
Hello Music
The Murder of God
You Don't Know
The Wall of Sleep
The Guilt Trip
Wait for the Hate
Natasha Disappears
Big of You
My Friend Daniel

Disc Two -
The Maximus Poems
The Seven Seizures
Thank You Music
Kathleen I'm Sorry
God Will See You
I’m Your Fan
The Bosom Friend
I Love You
Next Time, Try Compassion
Charlotte's Brain
Mudd Hutt Four
The Well Hung Jury
Won't Get Far Without Me
Ball Five
She Won't Let Go
I've Seen the End
Coda.

Next I'll let you in on the secret of comedy.

Enjoy,
NØ