Sputtering and Distorted, A Reluctant History of the Butte County Free Music Society

Hardcover book, 140 pages, fully illustrated

Hidden but not forgotten, hinted at through piecemeal reference after the fact, the creative efforts of the members of this West-Coast-centric cadre of art mutants first took shape in the early 1980s in Chico, California, home to a state university infamous for its alcohol-embracing student body. Twenty-five years later, in 2009 to be exact, they released Induced Music Spasticity, a 4xLP boxset of home-made unheard four-track recordings of tape experiments, electronic improv, spoken word, live recordings, punk and psychedelic rock, and general WTF, all of which revealed a thriving artistic community  determined to create an alternate if fleeting reality apart from the vacuous meatballs making national headlines with their scandalous Hellenic buffoonery. That boxset launched the BuFMS label and so intrigued Bruce Russell (of The Dead C / A Handful of Dust) that he wrote a full-page think-piece about it in UK porn magazine The Wire. Since then, there have been 70 releases, plus or minus, a combination of new recordings and original material from the 1980s on the BuFMS imprint as well as on other labels domestic and international (Siltbreeze, Chocolate Monk, What The...?, Coherent States, Training Bra, My Dance The Skull, I Dischi Del Barone, VHF, Very Friendly, Ultra Eczema, Dinzu Artifacts, Independent Woman, Beartown, and Starlight Furniture Co.)

In this hard-cover Encyclopedia Spastica, authored by Fen Addison with S. Glass of Bananafish, the progenitors of all of the above discuss their beginnings and pre-history; more significantly, the book goes into detail about work not represented by Induced Musical Spasticity, of which there’s plenty — film and video; radio shows and radio plays; guerilla theater; stand-up comedy; art installations; literary efforts; collage and poetry zines; television shows; yet more recordings of music and ahem “music." Every page is adorned with at least one or two examples of supporting visuals in the form of unseen flyers and posters; paintings and drawings; newspaper clippings; photos; stills from film, television and video productions; prints; personal correspondence; interview transcriptions; autobiography excerpts — a minute fraction of which has likely ever been seen by anyone not present at or directly associated with its creation. By no means complete or definitive, it is nevertheless an exhaustive, in-depth chronicle of the creative and artistic endeavors of self-motivated freaks and culturally aware weirdos at a time in a place that existed beyond the scrutiny and attention of flat-footed mainstreamers.

“This book excites me in a way that I haven’t experienced or expected in years.” —Johann Ganesh

“It captures the dust devil that was swirling around.” —Steve Marquis

“Am deeply traumatized and sweaty.” —The Viper

“I’ve really got an Abe Lincoln in my crematorium! I’d just gotten my teats frosted (professionally) and now this.” —Worf

“Total brain burner” —Chocolate Monk

“The book credits Larry Crane with a poster I made for Vomit Launch. It’s okay. We’re all gonna die someday.” —John McKinley

“It is pretty swell.” —S-S Records

“Why is it I get the feeling that when I finish this book I will know less about BUFMS than I ever did?” —Ace Farren Ford

“It might not make sense at first. Then it does. Doesn’t.” —Simongarfunkle

“To be honest, this is a ‘just come over book’. Let’s leave it at that.” —Tulip Street Librarian

“A masterful piece of work.” —Bruce Russell

“We’re going to pass for now.” —Stranded

Order it here. If you're in the UK or Europe, here