Batang Frisco

Batang Frisco (meaning San Francisco kids) is a spiritual journey that begins in San Francisco's center of commerce where cheap magic is practiced and ends at the ocean, where magic is no longer necessary. This trip is a Gurdjieffian-Ouspensky inspired mono-myth that, when completed, will raise our level of consciousness and afford a new and true view of the world.

The songs, performed in a minimal synth style, serve to forward the chronicle. Each song lends its particular color to the story both lyrically and musically.

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I’m going to start by saying that this disc is completely different from anything else recorded in the 1980s (or other decades for that matter): strange surreal soundscapes, tones and chords eliciting higher consciousness, minimal synths creating sunspots in the mind, lyrics mapping out stories hidden in cut up word salad.
I first heard Batang Frisco on a compilation called BART. A friend told me he heard this new band in a dance club in New York City (hard to believe, but true). I bought a copy a few months later and I was bowled over, such a personal power. I now consider myself a soldier in the Batang Army.
The album also has some great artwork on the front side; it reinforces the overall feel with nearly indecipherable glyphs and figures.
So pick it up, it’s awesome. Pick it up.
- Bob Grumman, Editor, Runaway Spoon Press 1982