TIP OF THE TONGUE 30 JANUARY 2012
Kenneth Higney
Attic Demonstration
One Kind Favor OKF-001
LP
£18.99
Deluxe vinyl edition of this legendary private press/real people/outsider music classic: Kenneth Higney was a struggling singer-songwriter when he cut Attic Demonstration in 1976, a demo record of such massive outsider vision that it dropped straight into the void, as well as the deep pockets of a band of committed record collectors. Initially intended as a calling card to help him get his songs covered by other artists, Higney soon branched out into selling the disc as an actual album, placing low key ads in a couple of NY papers and sending out a bunch of review copies. Only Trouser Press took the bait, saluting Attic Demonstration's 'cross between Lou Reed and Neil Young without the aid of melody.' Now officially available on vinyl for the first time, Attic Demonstration is one of the most endearing and intensely human 'real people' discs of all time, boasting Modern Lovers-styled road ballads sung with a Jagger-esque sneer and propelled on pegleg rhythms that would do The Shaggs proud, through meandering tonal wastelands where Higney's eye wateringly unarmoured vocals are supported by minimal chord patterns that progress according to the position of the stars. Hard to work out exactly what he was thinking at the time but this amazing record connects at a wildly personal angle to Jandek circa “Message To The Clerk” and remains one of the most baffling avant garage sides of all time, crossing numb acoustic ballads with psychotic downer moods and nailing outer space guitar to primitive avant garage ugh. Edition of 500 copies, fully remastered, highly recommended!
