| Orgasm | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Studio album by | |
| Released | 1969 |
| Recorded | 1969 at A1 Sound Studio, New York City |
| Genre | |
| Length | 48:11 |
| Label | ESP-Disk |
| Producer | Austin Grasmere, Brian Elliot |
| 2000 re-release cover | |
 | |
Orgasm (later reissued as Cave Rock) is the only album by the experimental band Cromagnon, released in 1969 by the ESP-Disk record label.
Orgasm was recorded at A-1 Sound Studio in the Upper West Side of New York City in 1969. Phil Spector's Wall of Sound technique, of which producer Brian Elliot was a fan, heavily influenced the album's sound. During recording, band members brought in random people from the street and asked them to contribute to the album. [1]
On the album's conception, band member Sal Salgado recalled:
The original concept of the album was to progress from different decades of music. Like, in '59 Elvis was shaking his pelvis and driving people — well, women — crazy. And adults as well, making them very upset. And then ten years later Hendrix was pouring lighter fluid on his guitar and getting a lot of great distortion out of his Marshall amps. And The Who was breaking up equipment. And then we were trying to carry it on to the next decade. We were going to say, maybe in 1979 there’ll be a group of people on stage that’ll be blowing through reeds of grass while someone is reciting some poetry, and another person is squirting water at a microphone on stage with a hose… [1]
Critics have noted how Orgasm anticipated the rise of noise rock, industrial and no wave genres that came into existence in the following decades. [2] [3] Alex Henderson of AllMusic described the track "Caledonia" as sounding "like it could be a Ministry or Revolting Cocks recording from 1989 rather than a psychedelic recording from 1969." [3]
Another critic, describing the album, said:
Now, when you stick the needle into the groove that is opener, "Caledonia", you'll immediately think you're listening to Einstürzende Neubauten gone black metal, then you'll realize you're WRONG and that there was no reference points such as that available in 1968. [4]
Orgasm was originally released in 1969. The album was released onto CD in 1993 and was re-released three more times, in 2000, 2005 and 2009. [2] Music author Jason Weiss wrote that the album "eventually developed a minor cult following and was hailed as a pioneer in sound collage experiments". [5]
AllMusic's Alex Henderson writes of the album: "Depending on one's point of view, Cave Rock is either a ridiculously self-indulgent artifact of the '60s counterculture or an underground gem that was way ahead of its time – and it's probably a little bit of both." [3] Jennifer Kelly of Dusted Reviews agrees with Henderson, writing "There’s a palpable fog of self-indulgence hanging over the whole enterprise, a sense of weirdness for weirdness’ sake and lack of discipline or structure. Still, there’s no question that Cromagnon achieved something remarkable in its strange concoction of noise, spoken word, folk, electronics and field recordings." [2]
Pitchfork Media ranked the song "Caledonia" at number 163 on its list of "The 200 Greatest Songs of the 1960s". [6]
In 2007, the Japanese band Ghost covered the track "Caledonia" for their album In Stormy Nights . [7]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Caledonia" | 4:21 |
| 2. | "Ritual Feast of the Libido" | 3:26 |
| 3. | "Organic Sundown" | 7:10 |
| 4. | "Fantasy" | 7:19 |
| 5. | "Crow of the Black Tree" | 9:40 |
| 6. | "Genitalia" | 2:45 |
| 7. | "Toth, Scribe I" | 10:38 |
| 8. | "First World of Bronze" | 2:47 |
The following people contributed to Orgasm: [8]
Connecticut Tribe:
Industrial rock is an fusion genre that fuses industrial music and rock music. It initially originated in the 1970s, and drew influence from early experimental and industrial acts such as Cromagnon, Throbbing Gristle, Einstürzende Neubauten and Chrome. Industrial rock became more prominent in the 1980s with the success of artists such as Killing Joke, Swans, and partially Skinny Puppy, and later spawned the offshoot genre known as industrial metal. The genre was made more accessible to mainstream audiences in the 1990s with the aid of acts such as Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson, both of which have released platinum-selling records.
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Mouse and the Traps is the name of an American garage rock band from Tyler, Texas, United States, that released numerous singles between 1965 and 1969, two of which, "A Public Execution" and "Sometimes You Just Can't Win", became large regional hits. The leader of the band, nicknamed "Mouse", was Ronny Weiss. Two of their best known songs, "A Public Execution" and a cover of "Psychotic Reaction", are not actually credited to this band but, respectively, to simply Mouse and Positively 13 O'Clock instead. Their tangled history also included one single that was released anonymously under the name Chris St. John. The band are not to be confused with the girl group Mousie and The Traps who recorded for Toddlin' Town records around the same time.
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Cromagnon was an American experimental music band that was active during the late 1960s. Led by multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriters Austin Grasmere and Brian Elliot, the band's only release was the album Orgasm in 1969, which was later reissued as Cave Rock. They are said to have foreshadowed the rise of noise rock, no wave, industrial and industrial rock. While the band was not commercially notable or successful, Pitchfork Media ranked their song "Caledonia", later covered by the Japanese experimental band Ghost, at number 163 on their list of "The 200 Greatest Songs of the 1960s". Treble includes "Caledonia" in "A History of Industrial Music in 45 Songs"
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