01 Kitty Even Foxier (29 Oct 80)
02 Skate (11:34) (23 Oct 80)
03 Viod (16:42) (27 Oct 80)
04 Master Gee (Story of Them) (14:52) (26 Oct 80)
05 Kitty Even Foxier (Splice) (11:52) (26 Oct 80 / 25 Oct 80)
06 Turn Back to the Bible (16:25) (26 Oct 80)

Carol Levy: Guitar / Bass / Farfisa
Tom Smith: Edit Loops / Drum Kit / Turntable Motor
Michael Stipe: Farfisa / Percussion

Recorded in the basement of the Cobb Institute, Athens, Georgia, USA, 23-29 Oct 1980.

Composed and performed by Nest (adj.), which followed Pre-Cave, which followed Prepared Party, and which by 1981 had become Boat Of. With no remaining changes of name.

Nest (adj.), strengthened with the addition of Mike Green (bass guitar) and Mary Rockwell (turntable), debuted a version of the set hinted at by these recordings at Athens' 40 Watt on October 30th, 1980. We had quite a decent crowd, perhaps 90, most of whom were likely expecting something less outre for the local cultural moment than spartan telegraphy occasionally piercing edit loops fashioned from our own rehearsal tapes and fragments from Giorgio Moroder's "From Here to Eternity." We took full advantage, pups that we were, of the club's not terribly weak PA, and were rewarded with a stream of attendees repositioning themselves on the sidewalk below.

I forgot to record the show. Oy.

One learns a lot from the strata of relative failure. Nest (adj.) was shambolic, but its ideas were far ahead of the grubby dance-rock pack and that's the way it went.

These recordings represent our labors up to a point in time when my natural flair for hormonal drift and agita peeled me away from the Cobb Institute basement toward fervid, chaotic domesticity. On my return in February, Nest (adj.) performed for a second and final time at a Valentine's Day party, with the addition of Limbo District's Craig Woodall, if memory serves, minus MR and MS. Alas, pressing the record button on my boombox once again slipped my mind. Fug.

Three months later, Boat Of made its live debut at Athens' 40 Watt. Carol Levy, Mike Green, and myself, with our friend Thomas Abdu running the board.

- Tom Smith, May 1, 2020

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I can hardly believe these recordings are a few rotations shy of forty. Nest (adj.) was named by the brilliant Mike Green, he of Fans / Her Hair Jelly / Prepared Party / Pre-Cave / Boat Of / Peach of Immortality / Miss High Heel notoriety, and populated by the late and ever-lovely Carol Levy, a certain Michael Stipe (I know, I know) and yours truly. We recorded in an earthen cellar at the Cobb Institute in Athens, GA long, long ago, and six of our compositions are now available for your edification. We plied a five-month trade in edit loops, electronic backdrops and low-end feedback, sutured with Carol's guitar and faint but effective organ. The mad rehearsal scrum was precipitated by an onrushing live debut (October 30th) at Athens' 40 Watt Club; we were joined there by Monsieur Green and Mary Rockwell, my girlfriend at that most polished and spectacular of times. (It was well attended but probably a bit too fucking much for the audience.) We performed a second and final show the following year at a Valentines Day fete, but by April of 1981 we'd become Boat Of, and no further name changes were considered. That's all I can tell you, constable. We sounded like no one and that's pretty much the way it's remained.

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Its inherent non-canonical sneering aside, it's obviously nascent; it never came into fruition. It's awkward and bumptious, and would likely have taken a few more months to perfect. Only three hours of rehearsal recordings exist. I hope you can see past the faults and locate the foul seed of intent within - the idea was to wed a disorienting subtext (the amplified motor sounds and wobbly tape manipulations) to a sputtering narrative (the Farfisa fills and Carol's rhythm guitar scrapes) anchored by motorik, albeit a taped variety. It kind of came together at the 40 Watt gig, but most attendees likely thought they'd be getting an "Athens" variant, something punchy and danceable. You could move your ass to the loop pieces, I suppose, if you were fucked up enough, but it was definitely not local canon.

- TS, via socmed