Gospel Midgets: Side One, Two

Media: LP
Out of stock

The story of the Gospel Midgets is short but critical; as the first project of what would later become Klang Industries, the gathering of personnel from several Oregon Hill projects turned out to be foreshadowing of creative partnerships that continue to this day. Indeed, Pelt's most famous trio configuration owes something to the Gospel Midgets, a fact acknowledged (or not?) on Pelt's burning/filament/rockets track "Gospel Midget" (allegedly featuring some of the Midgets themselves, although records were lost following the great exodus from Richmond... but enough about Pelt.)

Side One, Two remains the group's only recorded output; plans for a later Side Four, Five were never realized. The 45 minutes of continuous dense drone, guitar squall, persistent drums and abstract turntablism seemed, somehow, not entirely in place among the rock of the mid-1990s; perhaps this is why Bananafish said it's "pulsating like the visions of a delusional baker who thinks spaceships hide inside huge birthday cakes (for tune-ups) - a combination of slap-happy improv, wilted noise, grand drones, and found voices... could be the most cost-effective alternative to shock therapy and will certainly decrease the risk of knives getting smuggled inside eclairs and crullers." The record, like all other Klang releases to follow, came in a hand-made sleeve; this one was silk-screened and letterpressed. Unlike other Klang releases to follow, it featured empty lock grooves at the end of each side; the reason for this is, like much of Gospel Midgets' legacy, blowing in the wind.

Klang No. 1