the lost continent of MU

An unintended side benefit of my, as of yet not really started, record purge/ship/just-an-excuse-to-look-at-all-my-records-individually is that I've found some hidden gems in my own record collection. Which is a little ludicrous, I should know the records in my own collection, but this is a consequence of periods of buying more records than I could consume, mostly listening to exclusively new additions, and my own evolving tastes. OH WELL. (though obv. this makes it harder to get rid of records, because, what if, you know in 3-5 yrs I'll really like that USA-Europe Connection Lp or that Clikitat Ikatowi live Lp on Gravity even though right now my reflection on these lp's is that I bought them after a certain vein or push had already run dry.)

First up for rediscovery - MU's self-titled first album. The story on MU is definitely out there, and I had heard of them from Unterberger's Unknown Legends(once saw him at Amoeba - it kinda freaked me out), the lead dude Merrel Frankhauser following the (one?) CA rock trajectory going from early surfy/garage rock (the Impacts) to byrdsy folk rock (Fapardokly) to psychadelic folk/country rock (HMS Bounty) to bluesy space rock (MU) to a move to Maui embracing a new agey cosmos vibe; all of this w/o any real commercial success. Granted, other than MU's first album, I haven't heard any of these bands/records, so your guess is as good as mine at their quality, though several of them have been rereleased by Sundazed (a good sign).

The first incarnation of MU includes Jeff Cotton on guitar, otherwise known as a member of v2 Cpt. Beefheart bands (post Safe as Milk through Trout Mask - I think...), and he also throws in some bass clarinet.

When I first bought the MU album three, maybe four, years ago I liked first song on the first side "Ain't No Blues" - which despite it's title, Is a blues riffer in a maybe more soulful CA heavy rock sort of way w/ weird proggy digressions, and then I had trouble w/ the rest of the album. Mostly with the songs on the first side that follow "Ain't No Blues." It wasn't wierd enough, or maybe too CA trippy fey in a way that I DID NOT DIG. Golnar was also digging through the Unterberger book around the same time, and I remember making her a mixtape around then that had "ain't no blues" as well as some CAN on it, that sort of fell flat. In a way that I didn't have a grasp of the songs so they just sounded lame when ripped out and placed on a mixtape, where they sounded like the HITS of their respective albums (the CAN sounded boring - a reasonable complaint, and the MU kinda weak and jokey (my POV not theirs) in a way that didn't click into the groove). I suspect I may have focused most of my listening on the first side and only given the 2nd side a couple of cursory listens - filing the Lp away as a footnote on how to trust rock critics ONLY SO FAR.

NOT SO FAST THOUGH, last week I was going through my record collection pulling lp's that were on the fence to keep (fewer than I'd hoped) and pulled the MU lp thinking "if i only kinda liked one song on this record, why should I keep it? for archival sake?" but threw it on the turntable anyway this time STARTING W/ THE SECOND SIDE. And WTF, the first track on the second side is a cosmic jammer. It opens normally enough and then transforms into a cosmic drum track w/ chanting & droney sax (or maybe bass clarinet) & blissed out greatness. The KEY to the LOCK of MU had been found and the rest of the album opened up like a book to my, now, more open ear. I'm sure my recent journeys through jazzy & folky krautrock have only helped in my appreciation of MU, where before it just didn't make sense and I wasn't into it.

Now the question is what if the same thing will happen in the future w/ Cromtech's Gravity 12"? How can I get rid of anything? DAMN.

I tried to find some links to this period MU w/o success. Though I did find this --> FUCK THE DEAD AND ANN COULTER.

addendum...