Exposé Online banner

Exposé Online

Not just outside the box, but denying the existence of boxes.
Covering music from the fringes since 1993.

Reviews

R. Stevie Moore — Games and Groceries (2023 Remaster)
(Bandcamp Think Like a Key TLAK1142, 1978/2023, 2CD / DL)

by Henry Schneider, Published 2024-06-03

Games and Groceries (2023 Remaster) Cover art

The improvement of cassette tape fidelity and the availability of instruments and technology in the late 70s gave rise to the DIY cassette (K7) culture. Musicians in different countries would collaborate by sending cassettes back and forth. One of the more well-known DIYers of lo-fi music is multi-instrumentalist singer/songwriter R. Stevie Moore. Moore is an extremely prolific musician with his Bandcamp discography of well over 400 albums. His 1978 album Games and Groceries is perhaps one of his most popular releases. Now, 45 years later, this album has been lovingly restored by renowned sonic wizard Prof. Stoned. Games and Groceries is a remastered collection of 34 songs, 17 per disc. This double album features some of Moore’s most imaginative and entertaining writing and recording from this period. The diverse music, ranging from sunshine pop to new-wave powerpop, with a fair share of novelty tunes, musique concrète, and disco satire bringing to mind Zappa at his zaniest, the Residents, Syd Barrett, and sometimes even Wire, is quite entertaining. Moore’s tongue-in-cheek deadpan delivery on “The Meeting That Couldn’t Be” is particularly interesting. Moore plays guitars, drums, cheesy cheap keyboards, and sings. And he periodically dabbles with DIY effects trickery, speeding things up, excessive delay and reverb, etc., as well as abruptly changing musical directions in the middle of a song. So, if you are adventurous and wish to sample some of the best of the DIY culture, check out Games and Groceries.

Filed under: Reissues, 2023 releases, 1978 recordings

Related artist(s): R. Stevie Moore

More info
http://rsteviemoore.bandcamp.com/music

 

What's new

These are the most recent changes made to artists, releases, and articles.