
Ray Zinnbrann
Time Tunnel 1983-1988
Illuminated Paths
★★★★ (out of 5 stars)
Ray Brazen is one of Orlando’s preeminent freaks of distinction. By invitation from left-field, Florida-based experimental label Illuminated Paths, he’s compiled this special collection under a hijacked cereal-name moniker that’s part time capsule and all funhouse. The cassette (with digital download) culls Brazen’s ’80s home recordings. Although mostly lo-fi punk, his signature caprice shoots off into folk, noise, metal (“Scream of the Betrayed”) and even rap (“Godz Rap”) like a Roman candle. But Brazen’s intriguingly untameable vision is even more fascinating with visual accompaniment on the DVD, Video Extravaganza (1983-2010), which contains some newer material in music videos and live footage (including a couple performances with R. Stevie Moore) alongside other vignettes. In aggregate, the Time Tunnelaudio-visual package is a vivid, vintage glimpse inside the restlessly creative mind of a true eccentric, and it’s one of the best imaginable primers to weird Orlando.