Heart of Darkness

Ubu hammer party with Pere Ubu's David Thomas putting rock n' roll out of its misery with a quick and decisive blow to the head. Apparently Thomas is banging a sheet of metal during a performance of The Modern Dance circa 1979, but it might as well have been lifted from some lost Val Lewton horror film... I'm listening to selections from the Datapanik In The Year Zero compilation this evening, and I'm currently stuck on the so-called Proto Ubu cut of Heart of Darkness recorded at a rehearsal space in 1975. An extraordinary primordial draft of the 30 Seconds Over Tokyo B-side, if the recording didn't include some introductory chatter from what sounds like earnest young musicians, one might imagine all sorts of sinister connotations, with Tim Wright's darkly hypnotic bass pulsations and Thomas sounding increasingly unhinged as the track unfolds. Incredible stuff. I can't find a direct youtube link, but you can go here and select the track from the index...