A companion to the compilation
This CD Is Condemned
,
Fragments of Broken Probes
is an all-encompassing roundup of the myriad nooks and crannies that have punctuated
Mick Farren
's career since he launched
the Deviants
in 1966. It is also one of the most essential releases in his entire catalog. The sleeve notation merely describes the contents as "alternative recordings, outtakes, remixes and live recordings." Closer examination, however, reveals a treasure trove of hard-to-find singles and compilation cuts: disheveled versions of
"Play With Fire"
and
"To Know Him Is to Love Him"
cut for the New York-based
Ork
label in 1976,
"Screwed Up"
"Outrageous Contagious"
from an EP recorded for
Stiff
in 1978, live versions of
"Half Price Drinks"
"I Want to Be Called Loretta,"
and so on. There's also, at long last, a chance to rediscover what remains of perhaps the archetypal
Farren
performance, his own hyper-speed rendition of
"Lost Johnny,"
a psilocybic sci-fi nightmare co-written with
Lemmy
and already recorded by both
Hawkwind
Motorhead
, but never...ever...sounding like this. Vocals scream, guitars keen, and rhythms race by with
speed metal
density; though the performance pre-dated
punk
with barely minutes to spare,
's claim to godfatherhood could have no better witness. The earliest tracks date from the dog days of
in 1968-1969;
sound collages
, interludes, and a clutch of recent recordings take the story up to 1996 and the group's reinvention as aural terrorists for a new generation. But time neither dulls nor detracts from the consistent excellence of the material, and the often scarifying relevance of
's worldview. As both a performer and a writer, he was often described as being ahead of his time. With a fiery breath that still smells fresh,
Fragments
shows listeners just how far ahead he really was. ~ Dave Thompson