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Barely heard in his lifetime (1961-2002) but hailed as an outsider hero of ur-punksince 2009’s ‘Cosmic Lightning’ compilation, J.T. IV strikes back!
15 unheard-of tracks found on an obscure cassette tape make the schizo split in hismusic - rabid rock & roll fantasy and cold-eyed acoustic introspection - an epic. ‘TheFuture’ is J.T. IV’s mad magnum opus.
The 2009 comp LP, ‘Cosmic Lightning’, cast his tragic silhouette up on the big screenfor all to see: the lost boy, alone in the world, standing before the mic and releasinghis inner star with glee and vengeance, his antisocial visions flying high atop a ragingfunnel of distorted guitars and blunt rhythms. Or couched, childlike, within a heartbreaking billow of acoustic guitars - a schizophrenic split that only magnifies thedisplay of his deep emotions.
‘The Future’ goes even further, excavating fifteen recordings from a previouslyunheard-of cassette entitled ‘The Best Of Johnny Zhivago Retrospective 1979–1993’,and adding four more uncollected tracks from his slim (and impossible to findanyway) discography.
Of these nineteen tracks, eight are covers - and J.T. IV’s picks, from Velvets to Mottthe Hoople, Roxy Music, Lee Hazlewood, The Kinks, Eno and Stephen Sondheim,sharpen our image of the misfit adrift; on the outside looking in, but maybe just a fewsteps away from his goal.
‘The Future’ unfolds like an epic, as both sides of J.T.’s persona - the street-smart,damaged rocker and the heart struck poet of the scene - live on together in the bestperformances of his short career.
Tracklist
Space Baby
I Wish I Was Your Mother
Pictures From the Past
The Loner
The City Never Sleeps at
Night
The Fat Lady of Limbourg
The Future
If There Is Something
Sunday Morning
Jet Lag Time Drag
A Fix of Rock N Roll
Somebody to Love
The Ballad of Oliver North
I Love You
Out of the Blue
Tonight
Caroline Says II
Celluloid Heroes
My Fellow Americans