Joggers and Smoggers explained

Joggers and Smoggers
Type:Double album
Artist:The Ex
Border:yes
Released:1989
Recorded:June 8–25, 1989
Studio:ADM's Koeienverhuurbedrijf (Amsterdam)
Genre:
Length:1:32:14
Label:Fist Puppet Records
Producer:Dolf Planteijdt
Prev Title:Aural Guerilla
Prev Year:1988
Next Title:Treat
Next Year:1990

Joggers and Smoggers is a double album by punk artists The Ex, released in 1989 as a double vinyl record album, and issued as a double CD in 1992. It is the first of the Ex's albums to feature extensive use of improvisation and instruments outside of the standard guitar/bass/drums arrangement of punk rock, as well as great numbers of international guest musicians, most notably New York's Sonic Youth, Glasgow's Dog Faced Hermans, Amsterdam's Instant Composers Pool, as well as numerous folk musicians from a variety of European and Middle Eastern traditions. The album marked a turning point in The Ex's artistry, foreshadowing many collaborations and delvings into avant-garde, experimental, improvisational, folk and world music that the band would mix with their abrasive trademark post-punk sound in the 20 years to come.

Reception

Dean McFarlane of Allmusic called the album the groups's "magnum opus" and it was selected as the sole highlight of The Ex's discography. He wrote that the sessions were similar to "the extended collages of the Crass albums, whereby the sessions were not strictly performed by the entire group, but were in fact collections of solo tapes, ad-hoc collaborations, and improvised sketches. There are plenty of full-throttle Ex avant-punk tracks, however, and collaborators include numerous players from the free improvisation world, as well as members of Sonic Youth, who contribute their parts by tape and even apparently via telephone on one piece featuring Kim Gordon." He wrote that the album "marks a turning point in the group's sound; from this point they would embrace more fully the aesthetics and methods of avant-garde jazz, free improvisation, and delicate European folk. Over the four sides, this is an excellent introduction to the labyrinthine world of one of the most inspired and inventive groups in European post punk." According to Trouser Press, the album "reroutes the music from its usual head-on collision and spotlights a few guests [...] While tracks like "Shopping Street" are brash cacophony, others are far more restrained."[1]

Many reviewers now consider the album to be one of the band's best or as a possible starting point for listeners unfamiliar with the band's discography.[2] [3] [4]

Track listing

  1. "Humm (The Full House Mumble)" - 2:48
  2. "At the Gate" - 3:08
  3. "Pigs and Scales" - 2:34
  4. "Coughing" - 2:05
  5. "Morning Star" - 2:22
  6. "Wall Has Ears" - 1:55
  7. "Invitation to the Dance" - 5:03
  8. "Tightly Stretched" - 2:35
  9. "Ask the Prisoner" - 1:12
  10. "To Be Clear" - 2:06
  11. "Gentlemen" - 2:53
  12. "Make That Call" - 1:47
  13. "The Buzzword Medley" - 5:07
  14. "Shopping Street" - 2:12
  15. "Crackle Engines Vrôp Vrôp" - 6:57
  16. "Greetings from Urbania" - 0:52
  17. "Wired" - 1:13
  18. "Got Everything?" - 2:10
  19. "Waarom Niet" - 1:40
  20. "Courtyard" - 2:14
  21. "Burst! Crack! Split!" - 0:59
  22. "Brickbat" - 2:59
  23. "Hieronymus" - 1:25
  24. "Nosey Parker" - 0:54
  25. "People Who Venture" - 3:54
  26. "Watch the Driver" - 1:52
  27. "Let's Get Sceptical" - 3:50
  28. "Tin Gods" - 2:33
  29. "The State of Freedom" - 5:33
  30. "Provisionally Untitled" - 2:59
  31. "Kachun-K Pschûh" - 3:42
  32. "The Early Bird's Worm" - 3:48
  33. "Catkin" - 1:24
  34. "Upstairs with Picasso" - 3:29

Personnel

Adapted from liner notes:

The Ex

Additional instruments: grill, birdcage, double-bass, "fire extinguisher + hammer", bamboos, piano, electric razor, dobro, spoons, human beatbox, wire, glass, castanets, bow, cracklebox, cowbells, cabasa.

Guest musicians

Notes

Notes and References

  1. Web site: TrouserPress.com :: Ex. www.trouserpress.com.
  2. Web site: CMJ New Music Monthly. 1 December 1998. CMJ Network, Inc.. Google Books.
  3. Web site: Dusted Reviews: Xavier Charles and Terrie Ex - Addis. www.dustedmagazine.com.
  4. Web site: Music Review: The Ex - Catch My Shoe. Tiny Mix Tapes.

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