Classic Spins with Space Coke's Reno Gooch

Space Coke

In Columbia, SC, you can find an old style, psychedelic riff band called Space Coke. Their latest record, L'Appel du Vide, was a complete and total crushing of the genre.

You should probably get that over here at BANDCAMP if you dig music anyway.

In the meantime, because we all dig music, let's find out what classic records they're into.

1. My favorite kind of album is the concept album. The Wall is my absolute favorite. Beyond the amazing songs, it has spectacular nostalgia for me. 

What's your favorite one and why?I'm gonna say "Joe's Garage." I got the original albums from my dad when I was like 12. So there's the young mind effect there but even looking back it's so intense. 

Read the wikipedia overview section on it and you'll see why I picked it. It starts with, "Zappa described the album as a "stupid little story about how the government is going to do away with music." 

Also check out the link to xenochrony, which is an interesting idea for musicians. Zappa used previously recorded solos pasted onto the new songs. That was before you could just cut and paste so easily.

2. My very first album was Live Evil by Black Sabbath. Since then I've had a strong affinity for the live record, even if they're a bit fake. KISS set the bar with Alive!. Surely, it was fake, but it's got the best concert feel of any one.

Tell me about your favorite live record?I first got Sabbath's "Live Evil" on a cassette in a truck stop. At the time you only had shitty radio stations and a tape deck when road tripping. 

I'd just buy whatever sounded cool in the rotary cassette rack by the register. Usually it turned out to be bad. The Sabbath was so dark and sludgy sounding. (might have been a bad bootleg) I'm going to say Band of Gypsys for my pick. 

One of my favorite bands and an album I've bought many times. I remember being so bummed to find out it was heavily edited and pieced together but at least you can buy the full live sets it was compiled from now. I hate to say that I prefer the condensed edited album but it's so perfect. It's not overdubbed though. 

That always feels like a dupe.

3. There are a great number of records I've turned to for my moods. What do you listen to when you're angry? Sad?

I like classical for angry. Listening to cliche angry music just feels corny to me. For sad I'd go with anything moody. 

Although it's not necessarily sad music to me I like Ornette Coleman for that mood. Happy is the best though because everything is good for that. 

4. One of my friends laughs at me, routinely, for loving the Misfit Toys of albums by major bands. Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed, Carnival of Souls by Kiss, Diabolous En Musica by Slayer, etc. 

What's the strange one that you love?

I'm going to pick Matmos' "Ultimate Care II." It was released in 2016. The only instrument on it is a Whirlpool Ultimate Care washing machine. 

Not only a weird concept album but unique and specific as hell.
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5. It's almost fashionable to release live versions of albums or re-record the old ones. King Diamond is releasing a concert with Abigail front to back. Roger Waters has done The Wall twice. 

Which ones do you have in your collection?

I can't think of any I have so I'll talk about a band playing an album in complete live. We recently opened for Weedeater on their "God Luck and Good Speed" tour where they played the Albini produced album of the same name live. 

That was amazing and they're killer live. I love the idea of bands playing older material in that way. I don't know if they recorded it as a live album but they should.