Craig Berry

From gridlore...

Go to the Wikipedia home page and click random article. That is your band's name.
Click random article again; that is your album name.
Click random article 15 more times; those are the tracks on your album.

I'm doing just five tracks; the bands I like do long songs. :)



Band: Louisiana Baptist Convention

The band actually has nothing to do with Louisiana or Baptists. The name was chosen during a drug-fueled three day party, and was a screamingly funny in-joke for some reason that nobody in the band can remember -- or will admit to remembering, perhaps. From their third album on, the band name was abbreviated as LBC, which is how most fans know them.

Album: Liburnians

After the commercial success of their second album, "Jam and Jelly", the band entered a more experimental phase, borrowing from progressive and jazz influences and exploring psychedlic lyrics. Their third and fourth albums, "Liburnians" and "Sun Dial", resulted. "Liburnians" was intended to be a concept album about the the warring tribes of the eastern Adriatic and their eventual subjugation by the Romans. Vocalist/guitarist Reg Snowden, the band's main creative force, lost interest in that project with only two songs completed. Heavily modified fragments of those songs were combined on this album with band members' solo projects, brief instrumental interludes, and a long psychedelic piece which became their signature show-closer.

Tracks

1. Mautino State Fish and Wildlife Area

An instrumental fanfare, backed by the sound of birds and rushing water. This was often played over the PA system to open their live performances.

2. Colin Wilson

A haunting guitar-and-flute intro leads into a restrained but powerful ode to the well-known British occultist, a hero of bassist Steve Sandler. The bass riff on this track became a favorite of garage bands everywhere.

3. Astronomy

A moody synth-driven piece written by keyboardist Derek Alton, featuring Snowden chanting a hymn to the goddess Anzotica in Croatian.

4. Southwest Approaches

A bizarre fusion of norteño and modern jazz influences, described by one critic as answering the question "What if Stravinsky wrote mariachi music?"

5. HTV

The longest song ever recorded by LBC, filling most of side two of the album. Much of it consists of hypnotic ambient sounds created by Alton, though it is punctuated by a blistering solo in 11/8 time by drummer Sam Gillepsie. After that solo, the music gains focus and momentum, building to a cacophonous crescendo which resolves into a sustained pure synthesizer chord, then fades away into the sound of rushing wind. At the very end a woman's voice can just barely be heard, but the words are too soft and distorted to make out. Snowden confirmed in a 1997 Rolling Stone interview that this was his then-girlfriend, actress Alice Marquette, saying "I suppose that's it, then."

The title "HTV" has never been explained; band members seem to enjoy letting fans guess at its meaning, dropping enigmatic clues now and then during interviews. On their fifth album, the song "Lords of the Air" contains the phrase "heroic trance velocity", which is either the answer, an intentional misdirection, or a coincidence, depending on which theory you choose to believe.