charlie nothing “charlie nothing & dingulator” c32 cassette

• dingulator one (1) (15:45)
  
  
• dingulator one (2) (15:40)

may 2010 release ; incredible tape (a reissue of a 1985 “private” release) of charlie nothing going to town on a selection of his dingulators (pronounced “ding-a-laters”) - “guitars” (loosely) constructed out of american car parts (all metal) & tuned to odd, dissonant intervals :: after a long spoken introduction, charlie gets rolling, pausing for nary a second while shredding out atonal, scrappy guitar jank, miles away from the takoma school w/ which he’s often paired ... his playing is all of the smash-grab variety, absolutely savaging the strings & using the resonant aluminum frame(s) as a percussion instrument ... after a good chunk of solo playing, his vocal cords get a work out, repeatedly uttering the phrase “charlie nothing charlie nothing ... ding a later ding a later” with slight variation (i.e. “kick you with a alligator”) ... the “deer in the headlights” delivery does remind me a lot of contemporary traveler dan higgs ; if you’re un-anointed to the world of mr. nothing, higgs could be a great reference point (only way more “outsider” and with a speck of the experiment-instrument-builder strain) ... highly recommended !!!

de stijl press release...

charlie nothing charlie nothing & dingulator charlie nothing & dingulator was one of the seemingly myriad 80s charlie nothing cassettes and it's inclusion was, in part, intended within a 2cd anthology that we'd planned but the amount of material is too great and the moments therein are too grand to even dream of an edit. although this is fairly late in mr nothing's oeuvre, we can't think of a more fully realized statement regarding the scope of his playing recycled automotive steel guitars and the performing of his big dingulator song sweet (or suite, as it were, a concept of his that implied all songs were but one song) than a reissue of this 1985 manifesto-like piece. what you are about to hear, is dingulation ..

charlie nothing “outside / inside” long playing record

• outside (20:54)
  
  
• inside (11:35)

charlie nothing “the psychedelic saxophone of charlie nothing” long playing record

• the psychedelic saxophone of charlie nothing (18:15)
  
  
• in eternity with brother frederic (14:20)

november 2009 release ; near-exact “repro” of this 1967 takoma sub-label release, centering around 60s capsule-intaker & dingulator inventor/philosopher charlie nothing ... ... accompanied by the occasional bongo-jamming (c/o “brother frederic”) & what sounds like a continuous wash of soft-malleted cymbals (more likely the artifact(s) / “dingulations”of stand-mounted dingulators ; bizarre, hand-crafted guitar-like instruments of charlie’s own devising, built from junked american automobiles, pictured here as played by mid-70s agglomerate “the superfabulous dingulators” :: ... some with up to 21 strings ; playable by fretting, tapping, or by hitting the bodies ala percussion instruments), charlie (né charles martin simon) absolutely blows his guts out in a freewheeling stream of sax improvisations, in spots recalling braxton’s “for alto” but far less informed by jazz modes ... this has long been a cult record, rare as hen’s teeth (even many die-hard takoma completists are w/o a copy) ; so this picture-perfect replica (replete with full-color spray-glue-on covers & accurate repro labels) is a real treat ... highly recommended !!!

no label press release...

charlie nothing was not born. did not die. does not, did not, will not exist. charlie nothing is the artist. charlie nothing the artist is a subdivision of charles martin simon the writer. some writers have no problem doing art. for example, henry miller was somewhat of a painter. charles martin simon, however, could not, can not, will never be able to do art. when his wife the artist died, he inherited her art supplies and so he had to try, but the experience proved futile, painful, and produced a psyche fragmentation, which he, having been reduced to nothing, named charlie nothing. charlie nothing could do art fabulously, did and does. charlie nothing creations span a wide range, the pinnacle being the guitar sculptures made out of american cars called dingulators. dingulators are the ultimate rock and roll art, which makes charlie nothing the ultimate rock and roll artist. fitting for a guy who doesn't exist, although, non-existence may very well be a criterion (based on the total life performances of so many characteristic artists of the genre). charlie nothing instrument sculptures play with unique sound. a photo detail of one of charlie nothing's dingulators appears as the back cover art on the very important and very big fine art book by jake jacobson, hearts & minds, musical instrument makers of america and also as the cover art on the "the western region" section of the book. charlie nothing had many dingalation bands during the 60s, 70s, and 80s. dingulations ranged from very well received (after one performance in l.a., charlie nothing was offered a ton of money to take a tour to viet nam with bob hope to entertain the troops. he declined, figuring he was more likely to get shot than get the money.) to being spat upon by human beings who could not tolerate the disrespect that dingulation represented to the hamster hierarchy of respectable entertainment. charlie nothing has had many art shows in very established galleries which are no longer in existence. one of the first canvases he ever produced was purchased by the san francisco museum of modern art circa 1963, after being featured in a show called new york artists. he has performed in many places and times, including an official and very exclusive concert in the los angeles museum of modern art. he has written many songs which were anthologized in the "big dingulator song book," which is unavailable. he composed and produced records and tapes as far back as the late 60s. one of his lps "the psychedelic saxophone of charlie nothing" was produced and released by tacoma records and achieved an infinitesimal degree of infamy in europe under the category of new jazz, which, of course, it was not. charlie nothing quit performing in the 1980s, believing he had evolved past the entertaining-monkey-jumping-up-and-down-on-the-stage stage. charlie nothing came back to performing in 2004, realizing he was in fact a monkey jumping up and down. charlie nothing characterizes himself as a philosopher/clown.