I, Deejay O, declare here and now that I have seen many, many weirdo bands, some of uncertain pedigree and grooming (including one that insisted on setting a piano afire) but truly one of the strangest is the Low Red Center. William F. Buckley, the highbrow maestro of intellectual conservatism, once wrote of the Beatles that they were the “crowned heads of anti-music"...but had he instead heard Low Red Center, he would surely have reconsidered the coronation, and perhaps observed that some human beings are in fact secret locust electric gadget-men on an obscure mission.

GENTLE GIANT-In a Glass House (reissue) Free Hand (reissue)
Genre-(Progressive) Rock

OBLONG BOYS at Le Privilege
by Deejay O

The air was thick with scenesters at Le Privilege as
four bright colored Oblong Boys took to the stage,
dressed to the eights in oddball cardboard hats and
construction paper suits. As they began to emit the
machinic sproings, boings, blips and bloops that are
the trademark of the obscure "zolo" movement, the
initial effect was more wacky high-school novelty band
than arty futurism. Compared to today's bass-heavy
popular music, the utter orthagonality of their treble-y
high-frequency synths made the outfit even more

In 1999 I heard an amazing radio-show on KVRX called the Newwave Zolocoaster, hosted by a character named Captain Quality. The playfulness, artyness, and (at the prog end) dense musical structures of what he called "zolo" had me hooked instantly. It variously featured analog synths from avant-pop, brisk beats and intensity from new-wave, complex composition from progressive rock, and often bizarro vocals with themes of high weirdness.