The Red Krayola's Black Snakes and Three Songs On A Trip To the United States are back on planet earth in digital-only format after a sabbatical of years! As the early 80s became the mid-80s, Mayo Thompson guided The Red Krayola with Art & Language into a whimsical third phase reliant on danceable beats and a less didactic approach to the discussion. The title track of Black Snakes along with "Future Pilots," and "Ratman, the Weightwatcher," were classics from this period, while "A Portrait of VI Lenin in the Style of Jackson Pollack" was brought back from the Kangaroo? period, as a proposed "version." Three Songs On A Trip To the United States found The Red Krayola spinning further into their unique alternate-reality format of popular music with three delightful new songs and a live revisiting of several tunes from the time of _Soldier-Talk _along with a soaring version of "Wives In Orbit" and a swinging treatment of A&L's "Ergastulum." Both albums were graced by the presence of pioneering synthesizer specialist Allen Ravenstein, late of Pere Ubu, who added to the general merriment felt by all who sailed with these two gems from the Red Krayola's 1980s. Fans old and new can finally add these critical albums to the catalogs of their 'pods, hoorah!

Oh, and for you audio-files malcontent towards the unavailability of FLAC files for several other Krayola titles, rest assured those problems are resolved -- revisit the Red Krayola band page, here!