Dig Deep: Collegiate Neophonic Orchestra of Southern California – Neophonic – Capitol Custom Press (1970)

Collegiate Neophonic Orchestra of Southern California – Neophonic Funk
Collegiate Neophonic Orchestra of Southern California – Orange Grease
Collegiate Neophonic Orchestra of Southern California – Tribute To A Poltergeist

Ran into this over at Atomic during a break from grading earlier in the month. Hadn’t heard anything about this group and I’m generally not big on buying college band/orchestra records, but the cover art, odd band member photos (yes that Sax player is naked with a little gold star for his naughty bits) and the descriptions of the songs inside swayed me to give it a shot. When you have tracks titled “Neophonic Funk” and “Orange Grease” you think there’s a really solid chance for some big band funk, and the Neophonic boys do not disappoint. This band was made up of a gang of Musicians from local area Community Colleges and Cal-States, and while there aren’t any notable names that I could tell, they play with great verve. The aforementioned “Neophonic Funk” is a long piece in three parts, with some fuzz guitar, funky drums and way-out improvising towards the end. Once “Orange Grease” gets started it’s a pretty standard funky tune, with a solid clean drum break. “Tribute To A Poltergeist” has some breaktastic horns and I love the interesting tempo changes and sudden bursts of avant-garde skronking. I’ve never seen a “private press” like this, where the album seems to have been cut by Capitol Records, but as a “Custom Press” instead of on any legit label. No matter, the Neophonic boys found a way to get this pressed and thankfully I had the good sense to pick up to share with you.

Cheers,

Michael