LPCDreissues: Looking forward to the past

Led by respected avant-garde musician Joseph Byrd, the United States Of America was a seething, fiercely experimental blend of Pink Floyd, John Cage and the Velvet Underground, tempered by the icy yet lovely vocals of Dorothy Moskowitz. Here are two previously unissued versions of works-in-progress, both cut live in the studio by this seminal psychedelic combo that also featured violinist Gordon Marron, bassist Rand Forbes and drummer Craig Woodson. “Hard Coming Love,” raw and rocking here, would become a highlight of the band’s only album. The originally-unissued “Osamu’s Birthday”—whose eerie vocal track was sung phonetically backwards by Moskowitz, then reversed for other-worldly effect—is sung here by Moskowitz... forwards. The effect is still shattering.