where did the instrumental post-rock/math-rock tradition of goofy song names originate

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From Japan’s post-rock-tuned reunion album (which contains more similarly titled instrumentals):

https://youtu.be/BKoTJ56ij4c

Max Florian, Thursday, 7 November 2019 10:31 (four years ago) link

If we are talking origins, Soft Machine Volume Two from 1969 has

"Hibou, Anemone and Bear"
"Thank You Pierrot Lunaire"
"Have You Ever Bean Green?"
"Fire Engine Passing with Bells Clanging"
"Orange Skin Food"
"10:30 Returns to the Bedroom"

(the best titles, "As Long as He Lies Perfectly Still" and "Dedicated to You But You Weren't Listening" don't count as they are not instrumentals)

Think the root of this stuff was perhaps in psychedelia, West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band's 1968 LP "Volume 3: A Child's Guide to Good and Evil" has

"Eighteen Is Over the Hill"
"Our Drummer Always Plays in the Nude"
"A Child of a Few Hours Is Burning to Death"
"Anniversary of World War III"

(although I don't think these are instrumentals)

Think there are probably some goofy jazz titles from the early 60s, but really not an expert on those.

mfktz (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Thursday, 7 November 2019 10:45 (four years ago) link

those WCPAEB songs aren't instrumentals e.g. "A Child of a Few Hours Is Burning to Death" is an anti-war song about napalm being dropped on civilians, albeit a somewhat surreal one ('we should have called suzy and bobby - they love to watch fires!')

Wee Bloabby (NickB), Thursday, 7 November 2019 10:58 (four years ago) link


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