A carrot, the Captain once observed, is as close as a rabbit gets to a diamond. Likewise, new Beefheart releases are precious jewels to his legion of fans. Especially buried treasures like this limited-edition live recording from 1978, unearthed by archive imprint Rhino Handmade and available only at the rhinohandmade.com Web site. Taped for radio before an adoring New York throng on his Shiny Beast tour, I'm Going to Do ... is a superbly recorded stereo document of the Captain (aka Don Van Vliet) in all his booglarizing blues and skronking free-jazz glory. Although an inconsistent performer, here Beefheart is at the height of his powers, howling and growling his dada-poetry lyrics as his aptly named Magic Band choogles and honks through a 19-song set of lurching, lumpy rhythms and dissonant, connect-the-dots guitar lines. The set is naturally skewed toward Shiny Beast material like Tropical Hot Dog Night and Harry Irene, but there are more than enough classics (Abba Zaba, Dropout Boogie, Safe As Milk) to make I'm Going to Do ... a 24-carat gem.

Friday, September 29, 2000

Beefheart goes his own way