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Ultra Soundtrack
7" Reel

Unreleased
7 ips 1/4" 1/4 track
(one side only)

Surfacing the Summer of 2005 in a eBay auction after 25 years in hiding, Ultra Soundtrack finally provides credence to the story that Alien Soundtracks was originally conceived as a  backing track for dancers at the Mitchell Brother's San Francisco adult theater.

You see, in 1976 the Mitchell's  O'Farrell Theater opened The Ultra Room, the "most outrageous live sex show San Francisco has ever seen."  Chrome rehearsed and sometimes lived in a vacant warehouse owned by the brothers at the time.  Coincidence?

The box is a clam-shell type box (probably the original that the 7" reel of tape came in), spray-painted silver inside and out.  The lettering is "rub-down" transfer type lettering and the image is an original photograph affixed to the cover. 

  1. [unknown] (2:05, partially recorded over*)
  2. [unknown] (4:34, partially recorded over*).
  3. Nova Feedback (5:14)
  4. Slip it to the Android (7:19)
  5. [unknown] (2:53)
  6. Magnetic Dwarf Reptile (8:11)
  7. [unknown] (2:17)

From what I can hear, track 1 was an eerie violin/keyboard drone, similar to a sound that appeared later on Red Exposure.  Track 2, likewise damaged,  is a long drum, guitar, organ and bass jam, reminiscent of tracks on The Visitation. Nova Feedback is pretty much as it was released later, although this version does not have the short intro that appears on the record.  Slip it to the Android is about twice as long, but missing the vocals and some other noises that were added for the Alien Soundtracks release.  Track 4 is an unreleased instrumental with bongos, bass, violin and several different guitar sounds.  This version of Magnetic Dwarf Reptile is a much longer version than appears on Alien Soundtracks.  The intro "wiggly" guitar bit extends for some 2-1/2 minutes replacing the first 1:16 of the released version.  The central section is about twice as long, while the bridge-plucking fade out extends for 3:22.  Track 7 is an acoustic guitar "reprise" with the same timing and similar themes of the third section of Magnetic Dwarf.  Some of this acoustic guitar can be heard within the tail end of the released version.

* Unfortunately, this copy (the only one known to exist) was re-recorded over the first 5 minutes with some folk music, destroying most of the first 2 tracks.  Evidently the erase head was not working correctly on track 3, so some of what was there originally remains.

The tape is 1/4 inch "quarter-track", meaning that tracks 1 & 3 are the stereo pairs of "side 1", and tracks 2 & 4 are for "side 2".   The "flip side" (tracks 2 and 4) of this reel is blank.

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