C Average - C Average

Year: 1998

Label: Kill Rock Stars

Well, that Karp post down below got my dander up to post some C Average, so thar she blows.

In the incestuous Pacific Northwest music scene of the 1990's, C Average were a duo (occasionally a trio when assisted by Joe Preston, or backing Eddie Vedder(?!)) dedicated to the mission of returning rocknroll to nerds. Let fantasy reign supreme! This record is riddled with orcs, warlocks, wizards, and trolls, a veritable treasure trove of Dungeons and Dragons ribaldry. And the counterpoint to all this geekdom? How about some sludgy cum epic metal? Mostly instrumental, rife with technical prowess, and owing much to the Blue Cheers and Black Sabbaths of the world, this record avoids the tongue and cheek "irony" of a band like Fucking Champs. C Average aren't trying to pull one over on you, as much as they're trying to pull you in. Join them in their tree fort (no girls allowed...duh) and listen to old ZZ Top, Sonics, Pink Floyd, and hell, why not the Queen "Flash Gordon" soundtrack? 

If you like Karp, Big Business, Melvins, Rush, obscure 70's heavy prog, and acne, peep this. And if you like this record, let me know and I'll get their other album up here too.

DL

KARP - Self Titled

Year: 1997
I have not posted here in a good while.

Anyway...this is KARP's final, and my favorite, of all their releases. KARP has been remarked (very stupidly in my opinion) as a 'metal band that even indie rockers can love'. Fuck that. KARP was not metal. They were a noisy cacophonous bundle of confusion, humility, and pure-fucking-exuberance. Song after song is an orgy of cochleatic-grinding that continues to pummel you across your skull long after the record ends. 'KARP' is an ear-raping experience you will never forget, nor never WANT to forget. You will cherish the moment you had with the band...reminisce fondly on Scott Jernigan (drums) breathing heavily over you as Jared Warren (bass, vox) holds you down by the midsection and Chris Smith (gits, vox) penetrates balls deep into your cerebral cortex. Your wounds have healed...but the emotional trauma has stamped itself upon your soul.

KARP is really good! Heavily influenced by the Melvins! It's like a grungy Big Business or somethin!

KARP - Self Titled

Metroschifter - Capsule

Year: 1994

Label: Conversion / Slamdek

Remember this band? I had almost forgotten about them until I happened upon this cd in an old binder of stuff I never listen to anymore. Too bad really, because this was a cool record, I probably should have kept up with this band a little closer. They were the brainchild of K. Scott Richter who was a linchpin in the fertile Louisville hardcore/punk scene of the early nineties, and wanted to do a band that emulated the math rock lineage of his hometown (Rodan, Crain, etc.) , and marry it with the still not maligned emo hardcore of the other side of Louisville...mainly Endpoint. 

For their first record, Richter wrote demos and mailed them out to drummer Mario Rubalcaba, and bassist Patrick McClimans. They had the album for sale before it was even recorded, and booked their first tour before they had ever been in a room before. But that was the diy spirit back then...fuck it, it'll work out somehow. And oddly enough, this is a very cohesive album, you would  never have guessed the circumstances under which it was recorded (had I not just told I suppose).

Here's a list of bands that are represented by the members of Metroschifter; Rachels, Sunspring, 411, Thingy, Black Heart Procession, Hot Snakes, Rocket From The Crypt, Clikatat Ikatowi, Earthless, Endpoint, and Falling Forward. Later incarnations of the band had members of; Coliseum, National Acrobat, Black Cross, and Shipping News. Point is, there's some real talent in this band, and in the songwriting. 

Sonically, it's late 80's math rock as filtered through early 90's hardcore. You'll probably like that. One unfortunate sidebar, for some reason they decided to break the 15 tracks up into 99 parts, which still plays seamlessly, it just just seems kinda retarded. Hey man, diy. Also, this is the Conversion Records re-release with a couple extra tracks not on the vinyl pressing.

DL

Mount Shasta - Put The Creep On

Year: 1994

Label: Skin Graft

There's a pretty decent chance you already own this record, and for good reason. Because if you were alive and operating within the confines of heavy music in the early 1990's, almost everything Skin Graft Records was putting out got snatched up. 

Two members of this band had just relocated from Atlanta to Chicago once they disbanded their Georgian band Dirt (who's discography has been posted over at Beyond Failure, and should most definitely be picked up), and quickly got to work as Mount Shasta. They hooked up with the fairly new Skin Graft Records who were making a name for themselves with lavish packaging and impeccable taste. The band did what all noiseniks of the time did, they booked studio time with Steve Albini, and out popped this little doozy (they did have a 7" before this album). Rumbling, tumbling, gnashing of teeth music. A perennial favorite of mine.

If you missed it the first time around, or maybe your vinyl copy is scratched, do rekindle your love affair with Mount Shasta.

Sorry about the run-on sentences, the poor grammar, and general lack of cohesion on this post...there's a good chance I am/was drunk when it was written.

DL

Last Of The Juanitas - In The Dirt

Year: 2005

Label: Wantage USA

More knotted, tangled, dense uber music from the Juanitas. If you dug the sludgy math rock of the Hawaii album posted earlier, then you'll be fine with this one too. In fact, the production on this one is better giving an air of colossal crushing to the record. The songs twist and turn on a dime, but always remain intense...and heavy. Not Floor heavy, more like Unsane heavy. In fact, I think this one sounds pretty much like Unsane covering Drive Like Jehu. 

A sidebar, and something I neglected to mention in their last post, but the guitarist of Last Of The Juanitas used to play in Shiny Beast who were from my home state of North Cacka, and released an awesome split lp with the equally cool Regraped from Chapel Hill. Regraped played my house in Athens, Georgia, but I never got to see Shiny Beast. If I ever figure out, or show the imitative to hook my turntable up to my computer I'll post that split.

Also, listen to track 7, "Human Cannonball" and tell me it doesn't sound like the Mondo Generator song "Another Tension Head".

DL

Void - Potion For Bad Dreams

Year: 1983

Label: unreleased

You can thank the James Joyce archives for this one, cause I had never heard of it until very recently, much less heard it.

The story is, the band recorded this album for Touch And Go as the follow up to the split lp with Faith record, but after it's completion they were unhappy for whatever reasons, and blocked it's release. My hunch is that they were trying to follow some other first wave hardcore bands into their "mature" stage (i.e. allowing metal to creep in) and weren't happy with the results. Remember, at this time Black Flag was bumming people out with extended dirge jams, DRI was embracing metallic thrash, and bands like DYS and Gang Green were going full-on arena metal. The hardcore landscape was changing, and people were starting to think about "careers", thus ending the short blast of the original hardcore epoch. 

Void are still raw and manic, but they've slowed the tempo, crammed in more guitar solos, and begun to morph into a Corrosion Of Conformity clone (but not as good...of course, you have to understand that being from North Carolina means COC are basically a hair behind Black Flag in the "greatest band of all time" competition continually racking my every waking moment...fuck they're good).

I'm not just posting this as a historic relic, I genuinely think it's good, definitely different than the harDCore version of the band from a couple years prior, but still worth a listen.

DL  

Cows - Daddy Has A Tail

Year: 1989

Label: Amphetamine Reptile

By request...more Cows weirdness. The opposite of easy listening. Ugly music for ugly people.

This record comes in chronological order after Taint Pluribus Taint Unum posted yesterday, so I suppose you could begin charting their "progression"...from what to what I can't say. They never let up, even when they play slow, it's still chaotic and fucked.

Enjoy.

DL

Fluid - Roadmouth

Year: 1989

Label: Glitterhouse / SubPop

What you got here is your European version of the Roadmouth record which is only different from the domestic SubPop version in that it contains one extra song (from their Punch and Judy album) for some reason. Weird.

Did you know that The Fluid were the first non-Seattle band to be signed to Subpop? That's pretty good for a band for the rock megalopolis of Denver. Did you also know this record was recorded Jack Endino? Also, not a bad stat for the Rocky Mountain rockers. Did you also know that when you release your album around the same time Nirvana releases "Bleach" nobody is going to pay much attention it? Of course by "everybody", I mean "everybody" who was buying Nirvana records in 1989. Those people were all, "Fluid who?". Then the band would come to their local college town and lay waste. Full on, bar band, grunge, loud ass waste, with more wah wah pedal then you were probably expecting. This band slayed live, they were really good, the songs were big and catchy, but still kinda sludgy and gnarly (I guess that was what made "grunge" grungy huh?), and they were loud as fuck. I used to have one of their shirts, the one with the Ford logo, and the back said "Volume is job one". No shit.

This is as close to cock rock as you're allowed to get and still pull it off.

DL 

Cows - Taint Pluribus Taint Unum

Year: 1987

Label: Treehouse

Thar she blows, the debut record by Cows, the record that launched a bizzaro band on a bizarro journey. They injected a warped since of humor into some seriously distorted noise rock. They came across as somewhat "backwoods" in their approach, as the music was certainly blues based, it also had hints of country. Also, lead singer Shannon Selburg's antics onstage ended to upstage the bands music (at least in the early days) and also lend an air of "redneck retard" to the festivities. The one time I saw them was in 1992 in Athens, Georgia, and he was wearing a blow-up doll...like, the whole doll. It was really hard to get a boner over this nude doll when every so often a dudes parts would pop out. Of course, it's really hard to get a boner to Cows music anyway. This is not "sexin" music. In fact, I defy you to make sweet sweet love to your old woman/old man with this as the soundtrack. Unless you're repertoire involves such lines as "it puts the lotion in the basket", I doubt you'll be getting much action so long as this jam is blasting.

If you don't know this band, try Butthole Surfers + Mudhoney. 

DL

Chokebore - Black Black

Year: 1999

Label: Punk In My Vitamins

Quick, name one musical export from Hawaii, that's not Don Ho. 

Dude, that's sooooo easy, it's Chokebore. I also would have excepted their previous moniker, Dana Lynn. 

If you skated in the late eighties you may have known of Chokebore as Johnee Kop's band, the guy more famous for his cryptically perverted paint pen on grip tape ramblings than his actual skating. I mean seriously, how was that dude even pro? Granted he was on the Vision team the same time as Ken Park, who made a career out of invert variations, so it seems like almost anyone in a pair of Jimmy'Z clamdiggers and a Maui and Sons muscle shirt could ride for those buffoons, put dang.

Alright, so anyway, Black Black is Chokebore's kinda "comeback" album. They started off on Amphetamine Reptile, and progressively got less wild and more introspective and somber. The constant though has always been the vocals. If you ever have heard Chokebore, you'll never confuse them for another band. No other vocalist sounds like Troy Bruno Balthazar. His words are strung out, slightly distorted, and in a pitch that's hard to describe. Sometimes it's a mumbling drone, other times it's a soaring bird (did I really just say that?). On this record the music is pretty subdued, but on occasion they bring the rock, it's got a little bit of a later Unwound feel (and by the by, Vern Rumsey of Unwound runs the record label Punk In My Vitamins), not that they sound like Unwound, but it just has some of that steez. It also reminds me some of Bluebird (who I should post something by...note to self).

DL  

El Buzzard - El Buzzard

Year: 2004

Label: self released

I've posted another record by this band earlier on this blog, and I had this one cued up and ready to go a long time ago, but forgot to get it up here. Sorry about that. Not that you knew I was going to get it up here...but...well, you get my drift.

If you liked the aforementioned "Gringa" record then you'll like this one too. It was their first album, and it leaned a little heavier to the faster, more unhinged side of their songwriting prowess. Later in their "career" they slowed things down, started fucking with odd (anti)production techniques, and coated the punk with a creeping sludge. This version is kinda of a noise rock via west coast power violence attack. Whatever you describe it as, these motherfuckers were going for it, and the results were pretty alright by me.

DL 

A Quick Note About Dead Links

It seems that Touch And Go Records has someone on staff who's job it is to scour the interwebs for unlawful uses of their products. That's their prerogative, and you can't blame them for trying to make some scratch off the records the are putting out, no matter how unlikely that anyone is still ordering the first Mule album. What are you going to do?

That being said when a Touch And Go release is posted here, just know that it ain't gonna last forever, so if you want it, grab it, and when it's gone it's gone. 

crispin hellion glover - big problem does not equal the solution. the solution = let it be

released in 1989

someone laced george mcfly's milk

and then sat him in a room where nothing but the residents and king missile were piped in through speakers

48 hours later...they let him out and put him in a recording studio

and this is what happened....

http://www.mediafire.com/?bmm8bumijyh

fucked up - epics in minutes

released in 2004

"dear...christmas is coming up soon...what do you want?"
"um..there's this band...and i want their album"
"and what is this band called,dear?"
"um..i'm afraid to say their name"
"come on now...if you don't give me a name...i don't know what to tell santa"
"ok...um...tell santa it's fucked up"

*silence*

"go to your room...you just wait until your father gets home"
"oh maaaaaaan"

punk rock.

these 5 canadians take you back to a time when punk was something to be afraid of...and it wasn't dressed up in safety pins and neon mohawks

vocalist damian abraham (aka "pink eyes") has one of the angriest voices in hardcore...and if you've ever seen him...you wouldn't want to meet him in a dark bathroom...and could very well be the basis for the misfits song "horror business"

the band is notorious for releasing nothing but singles (they've only released three full lengths)...and because of them...there is no more moshing allowed on mtv live in canada (they've played the show twice...the first time resulted in over $2,000 in damages)

so if you liked the murder-suicide pact album...and you can appreciate the finer aspects of baiting skinheads in the front row...you'll be sure to enjoy this

and now...you can just ask for socks and underwear for christmas

http://www.mediafire.com/?z00ydm3f1ws

and now...the reason the mosh is no longer allowed in the mtv live studio...
inside:

outside:

Trans Am - The Red Line

Year: 2000

Label: Thrill Jockey

I had almost forgotten about this band, which is odd because I went through a "Trans Am phase" about 1997 when I really liked them and kept up with their activities, then around the time of this record I had my fill of their epic sci-fi rock stylings, making this my final Trans Am acquisition.  The band didn't make the jump from the record collection to the Ipod, hence them falling out of favor...out of sight out of mind don't you know?

Recently I was flipping through an old book of cds and came across the Trans Am honey hole, and rekindled the flame. It's truly great music that appeals to a wide variety of moods and name checks a wide survey of musical mileposts. You go from the drawn out prog glory of Hawkwind through the exotic polyrhythms of Can, past the fantasy space rock of Gong, to the Teutonic krautrock of Kraftwerk. More modern references might be Brainiac, Add N To X, Oneida...I don't know, shit that's repetitive, driving, spacey, all at once. 

DL 

murder-suicide pact - self-titled

released in 1998

this is a repost...and if you didn't get it the first time around...do it...DO IT NOW!

and the reason for this reposting is because i just read some news that's kind of sad (well...to me anyway)...you see...i lived in florida for a little over a year at the beginning of this very decade...i lived in a town called brandon (it's about 20 miles out of tampa)...and right down the street from me there was this record store called sound idea...and anytime me and the then girlfriend ever had a spare dollar...we'd be on our way to the store...and we'd always leave with either a zine...a few buttons/patches...or some vinyl...and there were always some kick ass all ages shows getting put on the tiny back room (some of which i even called off work for...i mean...it's not like the dishes wouldn't get washed)...and the guy who stood behind the counter was pretty awesome...his name is bob suren...he's also the singer for this very band (and founder of burrito records)

and now it's all ending...sound idea is closing it's doors tomorrow (on the 18th)...after 15 years of service it's all coming to an end...all because of a shitty economy...so if you live anywhere remotely near brandon...do yourself a favor and get in there...snag up some stuff...maybe attend the very last show (8:00pm that very evening)...and as lame as it sounds...be a part of history

as for the music...if you dig black flag and the like...i'm thinking you know what to do...

http://www.mediafire.com/?nz1b9nmvzl2

the jesus lizard - 8.23.92 - max's on broadway - baltimore,md

if you're like me...the closest you've ever gotten to seeing the jesus lizard live are the times that you're home alone...and you pop a cd into the stereo...and you take off your shirt and slightly suck in your gut...and start to drunkenly stumble around the living room...and just before you can slur the worlds "then comes dudley" into your microcombphone...the person you co-habitate with comes into the room and all she can mutter out is "um...i forgot the grocery list" as she quietly backs out of the room...and then knowing that you'll have to try and convince her that you have a drinking problem that doesn't actually exist...it's the only way she'll (or anybody for that matter) be able to understand it

unless you've actually gotten to see them up close and personal (sometimes too up close and personal)...and to that i say "damn you"...and i'll shake my fist in the air

and from what i've read...trying to describe a jesus lizard concert is like trying to describe the effects of a drug to someone that's never used it...which if that were the case...i'd scour every back alley i could find looking for this drug...and perhaps there would be some shady goings on in random handicapped stalls in random bus stations

"sometimes i'm several things...tonight i'm only two things...number one: i'm too tired...number two: i'm too fuckin' sober...everybody taste my taint"

1 - mouth breather
2 - killer mchann
3 - gladiator
4 - nub
5 - karpis
6 - lady shoes
7 - whirl
8 - zachariah
9 - dancing naked ladies
10 - if you had lips
11 - wheelchair epidemic
12 - puss
13 - boilermaker
14 - chrome intro
15 - monkey trick
16 - seasick
17 - blockbuster
19 - then comes dudley

http://www.mediafire.com/?sa1yhyegv0n

coming to nbc daytime...the tight and the shiny (check your local listings)

i'm sitting here listening to the song "stranglehold" by the ted nugent...and i began to wonder what it would've been like if the jesus lizard had covered this song...and i came up with this assumption: IT WOULD'VE BEEN KICK ASS

i mean...who wouldn't want to hear david yow scream the words "if your house gets in my way baby/you know i'll burn it down"

and now...i'm going to address this "tight and shiny" business...now most of you got it...and some of you just stood there scratching your heads and wondering if it could be something that you'd be able to do at a birthday party

fellow blogger "the worried well" took a stab at the meaning by saying that it was a reference to a pair of pissed jeans...and fellow blogger "yansmd" came up with the act that jesus lizard frontman david yow would do on stage while the band played the song "tight n' shiny" from the head album (he also had something called "the hairy tangerine" that he liked to do as well...and you can just let your imagination wander on that one)

and the correct answer is: well...both of them could be correct...but it was referencing the david yow act

apparently mr. "phantom foetus" didn't like my using of that term in the little blurb that i'd written for the pissed jeans album that i'd posted back on the 4th of this month (hope for men...and i suggest that you check it out if you haven't already)...all i was merely trying to convey was the fact that the band did in fact remind me A LOT of the jesus lizard...so i threw the now infamous words in there to allude to that fact (and if you watched the pissed jeans video that i'd added to the post...you'd get that)...and the more i thought about it...perhaps he's a member of the band and he doesn't like the fact that his band probably gets the jesus lizard thing all the time...and to that i say: "sir..as long as your band continues playing the type of music it plays...there's just going to be no escaping the stale beer smelling shadow that david yow and the boys throw...so continue to embrace it...and it in turn will embrace you...like a priest in his secret "confessional" "

so...i hope this somewhat cleared everything up amongst everyone...and if you're still wondering if the act would be something appropriate for a birthday party...my answer to you would be: yes...of course it is

and now i'll provide for you a few videos...and you can make the call

exhibit 1: the night the alcohol decided to fight back

exhibit 2: the other guys

Big'N - Cutthroat

Year: 1994

Label: Gasoline Boost

With this post, I'm cleaning all the Big'N I got out of my closet. I might of held of posting this one for a little while longer, but the Big'N + Oxes split seemed like a pretty popular item, so I figured I'd strike while the proverbial iron was still hot.

This record was their first full length, and for my money it's their best. At this point they were still very much a big, burly monster with all the hallmarks of a Midwestern noise rock band, The bass leads the charge on most songs, the drums are booming, the guitar is a fuzzy mess, and the vocals growl their way atop the whole oddly syncopated mess. It's really the epitome of early 90's noise rock, it fires on all cylinders, and will not disappoint fans of this blog's fare. 

Oh, and did I mention it's shiny and tight? Cause it's the shiniest tightest shit I've ever posted. Or maybe I meant to say "posed".

God Bless

DL

sour...bitter...everyone seems to agree that i don't taste very nice

"Long time reader. First time fuck you.

You're a fucking poser. Please reference "tight & shiny" again, just so we know how hardcore (or whatever you wanna call it) you really are.

Shame on me for believing in a creator. How horrid and deserving of degradation I am. Why didn't I read your blog earlier? I would've had it all figured out by now, and could've taken my head out of the oven long ago. I am not worthy of listening to such music. I cannot possibly earn the patch.

You just leapt onto a supremacy pile that most of this music tries to expose. It isn't one way or another. Its the other or

And since I'm writing, I can no longer ignore the fucking shit-in-the-can-OBVIOUS analogies, references, descriptions, and so-on. The fact that you run a "blog" detailing these releases belies the fact that they weren't ever made for (what is now) "blog" consumption.

And now, you are forgotten."

we finally got our first piece of e-hate...compliments of a one "phantom foetus" (i went to check out his blog...but it didn't exist...which leads me to think that he created one just so he can be mr. the ultimate keyboard warrior...and if that be the case...we're honored..or honoured in some places)

now...we've never claimed to be musical "supremacists" (though we are a few other adjectives...which i'm pretty sure that you have your own that you'd like to use)...and didn't think we were coming off as so...all we're trying to do is provide a musical alternative to what's going on nowadays...and yes...we're aware of the many other blogs in this same format...but i have to tell you...if i weren't already part of this very blog...and i just randomly came across it...my nipples would get hard...both of them

and i was considering not posting this...but as soon as i'd read it...it was already there...i don't know...there's just a part of me that's not able to let sleeping dogs lie...i have to kick it...and then anally rape it's mother while pouring sugar in it's gas tank (and i know what you're thinking.."dogs can't drive stupid head"...it's called an a-n-a-l-o-g-y)

so...mr. foetus...if you'd like to continue with your jock sticking their finger in your mashed potatoes and asking you if you were going to eat that waaaaay back in high school anger towards us...please continue doing so...we'll enjoy being your mr. t punching bag

and we'll tell you what...we'll keep on keepin' on being the barry/david cross-like blog that folks have come to know and love

now...are you looking for "i just called to say i love you"?

Godheadsilo - Share The Fantasy

Year: 1998

Label: SubPop

By request, may I present the last gasp from the sorely underrated Godheadsilo. If you know the band, and I will assume most of you do, then...well, enough said, right?

If you don't know the band, I suppose I could tell you that it's a bass and drum duo from Olympia, Washington via Fargo, North Dakota who played some of the loudest, dirtiest, white noise metal ever. In the history of the world. Like, since dinosaurs. For example, a triceratops farts, and that's totally heavy, and gnarly in a prehistoric way, but then fast forward a couple million years (unless you're a Creationist, and in that case please turn of your computer immediately, proceed towards the nearest oven, turn it on, and stick your head inside) when Mike Kunka and Dan Haugh piece together a gigantic kick drum, a wall of speaker cabinets, and a library of distortion pedals to belch out their own Paleozoic ooze, and I think they win. Dude, your grand children's, grand children's, grandchildren will be driving hover cars that run on decomposed Godheadsilo fossils (because, you know, petroleum kinda comes from dinosaur bones, and I made that T-Rex fart reference a minute ago...and...am I drunk?)

DL 

V/A - You've Got Your Orders - volume 1

Year:

Label: Chrome Peeler

The story behind this compilation is thus: a guy named Jason Ziemniak has the idea to write titles for as-yet-unwritten songs, he then contacts the folks who make up the basis of his record collection, sends them that title and requests that they write a song based on that title.

The results are a mixed bag of drone, noise, folk, rock, metal, punk...just sort of "whatever". It's an interesting concept to say the least, and there was a Volume 2, but I never got it.

The list of contributors is:

House Of Low Culture (aka the dude from Isis)

Neil Fallon (aka dude from Clutch)

Nels Cline (aka the dude from Geraldine Fibbers)

Erik Larson (aka the dude from Alabama Thunder Pussy)

Bluebird

Harry Seitz

Chronicles Of Lemur Mutilation

Mark Arm (aka the dude from Mudhoney)

Betty's Trash

Twink (aka the dude from The Pink Fairies...from before you were born)

Jebediah Parish

Godstomper

Weasel Walter (aka the dude from Flying Luttenbachers)

Chris Crude

Bliss Blood (aka the dudette from Pain Teens)

Hella

Mike Gent (aka the dude from The Figgs)

Badagadget

Mike Watt, Thurston Moore, Thalia Ferriera (aka the dudes who contribute to everything)

Beehive & The Barracudas

Johnette Napalitano (aka the dudette from Concrete Blonde)

IDX1274

DL

beastie boys - paul's boutique

released in 1989

the boys left the frat party and started hanging out at the record store on this album

when it was released...the record company thought of it as a commercial failure...expecting more of the previous kegger of an album...but showing that record companies don't know squat about music...it quickly gained cult status...and became known as the band's "magnum opus"

at the time...no one was really doing this type of music...something that would later get tagged "indie hip hop"...and from this album on...they carried on in this direction...and even apologizing for the first album's misogynistic tone (though "paul revere" is still the jamz)

sometimes hard-boiled, sometimes runny. It comes from a chicken, not a bunny, dummy!

http://www.mediafire.com/?zjwmbdzqoj3

singles - ost

released in 1992

my name is dick
and you know...you can touch me

1 - alice in chains - would?
2 - pearl jam - breath
3 - chris cornell - seasons
4 - paul westerberg - dyslexic heart
5 - the lovemongers - the battle of evermore*
6 - mother love bone - chloe dancer/crown of thorns
7 - soundgarden - birth ritual
8 - pearl jam - state of love and trust
9 - mudhoney - overblown
10 - paul westerberg - waiting for somebody
11 - jimi hendrix - may this be love
12 - screaming trees - nearly lost you
13 - the smashing pumpkins - drown

*=ann and nancy wilson of the band heart (wife and sister in law of director cameron crowe)

http://www.mediafire.com/?zqwgjta14tl

Killing Joke - Killing Joke

Year: 1980

Label: EG

Killing Joke existing on that slippery slope of post punk that leads down into the ditch of industrial, which ultimately empties into the sea of dance music. Generally speaking, the further along you go, the worse off you'll be, and that certainly has seemed the case with these guys. 

This is their first album, and it represents something new and exciting at the end of the first wave of punk, a combination of proto-industrial, primitive rock, and a smattering of metal. This was the template that late 80's industrial music was built upon, but at this point Killing Joke was one of the few bands trafficking this formula. If you like the Pigface stuff that's been posted here, or maybe some Godflesh/Jesu than this one will be up your alley. I mean, shit, Metallica liked this record enough to cover "The Wait" on their Garage Days ep, so that's gotta be good for something right? 

Not long after releasing their second record, the members of the band decamped from London to Iceland to "survive the apocalypse" under the influence of Aleister Crowley, and then inexplicably started watering down their music with ridiculous dance beats and synth tracks almost ruining the legacy of their back catalog. Then, in 2002, the band reformed after a hiatus, and released another record called "Killing Joke", which was a return to form, and the inclusion of Dave Grohl on drums (who was whoring himself out to just about anyone at that time) raised the interest of younger fans. 

If you like this record and want the new version of this record, let me know.

DL

v/a - cracks in the sidewalk

released in 1980

this was a 12" that was put out on new alliance records (a label started by minutemen members d. boon and mike watt along with martin tamburovich..who sang in a band called the reactionaries which later became the minutemen after he left the band)

it was fashioned after the SST label...and after the 1985 death of d. boon...greg ginn bought the label from mike watt and martin tamburovich...and turned it into a jazz/spoken-word/instrumental label

this was the label's first release
with obligatory raymond pettibon cover art

1 - minutemen - 9:30 may 2
2 - black flag - clocked in
3 - saccharine trust - hearts and barbarians
4 - kindled imagination - cowboy and indian scene
5 - artless entanglements - how's the blood taste? pt.2
6 - sharp corners - me too

http://www.mediafire.com/?0j4cygzue9i

tumor circus - self-titled

released in 1991

best described as the dead kennedys putting out a melvins album

or i could've went the lame route and said this is jello biafra taking a steel pole bath in a king snake roost (and aren't you glad i didn't?)

this was a collaboration that went down with jello biafra...king snake roost guitarist charles tonay...and the band steel pole bathtub

this is all of their recorded material

and as shown with multiple other bands...there's always room for jello (that's right...i went there...and it was nice)

http://www.sendspace.com/file/jn1m2c

Mule - Mule

Year: 1993

Label: Quarterstick

By request, but also in my cue of things to post, so the synchronicity was just too perfect.

If you grabbed the Mule post from earlier, you got their second album, which is really good, but for my money, this one is really great. 

For starters, on this, their debut, they have the rhythm section of the Laughing Hyenas backing up P-Bone, nee P.W. Long nee Preston Cleveland, creating a bluesy bluster that's all southern gothic and Detroit dirty. I remember being in school when a dude from Michigan was trying to turn me on to this record as "friends from back home". For the first few listens, I was actually offended that this band was trying so hard to sound Southern (as a proud gentleman of the Confederacy myself), right down to the affectation on the vocals. Well, turns out vocalist P-Bone is (if you believe the hype) from Tennessee, which, I suppose, counts as the South. Once I got that fact, I was able to truly enjoy this record. All the loud, gritty, ugly, blues-soaked nastiness of it.

Trivia: John Brannon of Negative Approach/Laughing Hyenas was in the earliest version of this band, and Preston Cleveland is a blood relative on Mr. Brannon.

* Re-up'd 10.08.09

DL

coming to a bar mitzvah near you...

after much deliberation...i've decided to post these here
i think you all can handle it

what we have here are tributes to both the misfits and the bad brains...without whom there would may have not been hardcore or "horror punk" (notice that i said "may not have been"...it could've still happened..we'll never know...they just beat everyone else to it)

the bad brains tribute is the hardest of the two (well...except for that moby business)..with a who's who of metal/hardcore from the 90's

and the misfits tribute is made up of mostly fat wreck chords-ish punk mixing it up with the hardcore

so come and let your inner HR and tiny elvis out to play

violent world: a tribute to the misfits (released in 1997)
http://www.mediafire.com/?dbozm1ggybn

1 - snapcase - she
2 - pennywise - astro zombies
3 - shades apart - 20 eyes
4 - tanner - tv casualties
5 - therapy? - where eagles dare
6 - prong - london dungeon
7 - 108 - death comes ripping
8 - bouncing souls - mommy,can i go out and kill tonight
9 - goldfinger - ghouls night out
10 - deadguy - horror business
11 - sick of it all - all hell breaks loose
12 - nofx - last caress
13 - earth crisis - earth a.d.
14 - farside - return on the fly

never give in: a tribute to bad brains (released in 1999...german version)
http://www.mediafire.com/?v4zzgwwmmxw

1 - sailin' on - moby
2 - ignite - pay to cum
3 - skinlab - the messengers
4 - vision of disorder - soulcraft
5 - snapcase - I
6 - entombed - yout' juice
7 - rykers - attitude
8 - 16 - right brigade
9 - sepultura - gene machine/don't bother me
10 - adamantium - re-ignition
11 - downset - supertouch/shitfit
12 - haste - no conditions
13 - will haven - the regulator
14 - turmoil - coptic times
15 - boy sets fire - I against I
16 - shai hulud - fearless vampire killers
17 - s.f.a. - banned in dc
18 - breakdown - the regulator
19 - cave in - i love i jah

Killdozer - Uncompromising War On Art Under The Dictatorhip Of The Proletariat

Year: 1994

Label: Touch And Go

This little red gem comes from mid to late period Killdozer, a time when their fascination with communist rhetoric and imagery mirrored my own fascination with all things Marx (fuck off, I was in college, so not only was I a card carrying member of the RCP, but also experimenting with vegetarianism and lesbianism). Not only does the band pay lip service to tenants of socialist ideology via gruff, burly, thud-rock, but they also manage the most heart wrenching song of recent memory in the ode, "Knuckles The Dog (Who Helps People)". That's a double threat y'all.

This is the cd version which contains the Burl ep, originally released in 1986. It is less Leninist, and more backwoods stomp (Tad Doyle was taking copious notes no doubt), but nonetheless, I assume it champions the overthrow of the bourgeoisie. Just a hunch.

DL

Unwound - A Single History: 1991-1997

Year: 1999

Label: Kill Rock Stars

Here's a band I find myself coming back to over and over again. The music never gets old because they never bought into what was in fashion at the time, they were constantly taking elements of punk, indie rock, noise, space rock, and even free jazz and molding them into new and exciting combinations. What is presented here is a chronological survey of their singles, compilation tracks, and some demo material. 

But you knew that huh? I mean, you're here, at this blog, so I would assume you are familiar or at least aware of this band. Seems they are far more popular now than they were when they existed. I caught them in Atlanta a couple of times around the New Plastic Ideas and The Future Of What eras and there wasn't a full house either times. And these weren't big houses. So I don't know, maybe you haven't ever listened to Unwound, maybe I'm being presumptuous. Well alright then, let me try and describe this band...I've honestly never really thought about it, so I'm winging it here folks. My best shot would be; take the push and pull of the early 90s Dischord sound (Fugazi, Circus Lupus, Nation Of Ulysses), mix in some of the frantic emo skuzz of the Vermiform punk style (Born Against, Moss Icon, The Great Unraveling), a dose of the spare syncopation characteristic of the late 80's math rock crew (Bitch Magnet, Slint, Bastro), and dunk the whole mess into the murky pop of the mid period SubPop label (Nirvana, Screaming Trees, Seaweed). It's pretty much a combination of the best music produced in the past two decades distilled down by one of the best bands of the past two decades. 

If you don't have this, please get it. You need it. It is important to your growth as a human.

DL

rollins band - the end of silence: hammer of the rok godz

released in 1992

this was a promo released to radio stations to promote the band's major label debut (the end of silence)

it consists of some covers...some live stuff...some of hank's spoken word stuff...AND a jam with the butthole surfers

http://www.mediafire.com/?vc37v9oeyzz

my life with the thrill kill kult - confessions of a knife

released in 1990

ah...the heyday of wax trax!

home to whatever al jourgensen managed to crap out in the late 80's...front 242...kmfdm...the young gods...sister machine gun...

this was the only mlwttkk album that i could actually stand to listen to all the way through...they soon turned all "leather sex disco schticky" (sticky?)

this album managed to mix the early brit pop sassiness of early ministry and mixed it with the mind is a terrible thing to taste (so maybe...this could be their version of the land of rape and honey)

does everything have something to do with ministry?
yes.

http://www.mediafire.com/?mfsqveym0nm

melvins - 9.29.97 - baltimore,md

this was an in store they did at the very place pictured above

1 - interstellar overdrive (pink floyd cover)
2 - honey bucket (acoustic)
3 - mombius hibachi
4 - june bug
5 - sky pup
6 - i like porn
7 - living after midnight (judas priest cover)
8 - black bock
9 - nasty dogs & funky kings (zz top cover)
10 - amazing grace
11 - andy griffith theme

http://www.mediafire.com/?4nok10t0myx

tortoise - rhythms,resolutions & clusters

released in 1995

this is their first album getting remixed...done by both band members and by some producers with names like steve albini (come on now...)...jim o'rourke (sonic youth/gastr de sol/wilco)... and brad wood (liz phair/veruca salt/hum)

so if you like the slint...the sonic youth...and the like...you know what to do

http://www.mediafire.com/?10jvxjbizwt

Big'N + Oxes - Split ep

Year: 2000

Label: Box Factory

You guys can all thank James Joyce of Beyond Failure blog fame for this one, as he provided me with the digital copy of this elusive record. It's a real doozy too.

Big'N have the first three tracks, and they're more of that Chicago deep dish noise rock, throbbing, repetitive bass, high gain minimal guitar lines, and muffled, distorted vocals. The type of music that relies as much on the spaces between notes to build tension as it does the actual release of tension once the note is delivered. It's 75% abrasive attacks, and 25% soothing lulls, all recorded with that super dry, drum-centric Steve Albini aesthetic. If you liked the Big'N previously posted, you'll dig this one. 

Oxes get all art/noise/punk on that ass, and when they're done it leaves a mark. The proceedings get much faster, messier, and piercing. Time signatures are thrown around with little regard for dance-abilty, vocals are delivered in sharp blasts, and the music rides on an ebullient wave of chaos. There are parts that can be traced back to their Baltimore brethren Universal Order Of Armageddon, the noisier parts of UOA...if they didn't have a bass player...and performed atop large black boxes...and tried to bum out the audience.

Essential release.

DL

Fixed

Fixed the Polvo link down there. 

faith no more - live at the brixton academy

released in 1991

the band's only official live album (it wasn't released here in the states)

it's pretty much the entire the real thing album played live (though sadly lacking in some "surprise! you're dead!")

come and hear mike patton before he started all that whole orca whale imitating prince business

1 - falling to pieces
2 - the real thing
3 - epic
4 - war pigs
5 - from out of nowhere
6 - we care a lot
7 - zombie eaters
8 - edge or the world
9 - the grade*
10 - the cowboy song*

*=two studio tracks from the real thing sessions

http://www.sendspace.com/file/rw5gsh

pachinko - who shaved pachinko? 5"/el diablo en senorita 7"

these wisconsin-ites played something very much akin to the jesus lizard and shorty (and yes...i'm aware that's sort of redundant) mixed with some black flag and some cherubs

so this will get the "if you're a fan of anything else on this blog...snag this up" stamp of approval

you don't touch me baby...
i'm from hollywood baby...
i'm not some stupid hick livin' in squalor...

who shaved pachinko? 5" (released in 1995)
http://www.mediafire.com/?vuxd3rg4ocj

el diablo en senorita 7" (released in 1996)
http://www.mediafire.com/?io0txqymgfi

Polvo - Exploded Drawing

Year: 1996

Label: Touch And Go

There was a magical time when my beloved home state of North Carolina was the center of the indie rock world, and Chapel Hill was cranking out hit after hit (on a relative scale of course...by "hit" I mean, dudes in horn rimmed glasses got all hot and bothered). Polvo was right there in the thick of it, and like their contemporaries Superchunk and Archers Of Loaf, they immersed their pop songs deep into an art damaged stew of feedback and odd tunings. But unlike most of their contemporaries, they put more emphasis on the art damaged part, and less on the pop part, the result bummed out some of the ladies around, but damn, those dudes in the horn rimmed glasses, they just went crazy.

This is their third record, recorded by Bob Weston, and containing (in my opinion anyway) their strongest material. If you liked any of the previous Bastro, Squirrel Bait, or Slint posts, then scoop this one up.

DL

the red scare - strangers die everyday

released in 2001

what these kids from knoxville,tn did was mix equal parts of fugazi (maybe due the fact that don zientara produced this album) with equal parts of pageninetynine

and now i'll throw some more band names at you:

unwound...kerosene 454...joan of arc...cap'n jazz...milemarker

make up your mind?
good
enjoy
wash your hands

http://www.mediafire.com/?hvsmbfj9vtp

pigface - welcome to mexico...asshole

released in 1992

the band's first live album

and beefcake the mighty (guitarist for gwar)...trent reznor...en esch (drummer for kmfdm)...black francis (vocalist for the pixies)...becky wreck (drummer for the lunachicks)...jeff ward (drummer for nine inch nails...ministry...revco...lard...this was one of the last albums that he played on...he committed suicide in 1993)...and david yow (duh) among others stop by to lend hands

1 - the love serenade (i hate you?)
2 - blood and sand
3 - peaking too early
4 - little sisters
5 - twice removed
6 - beneath my feet
7 - point blank
8 - stowaway
9 - suck
10 - weightless
11 - t.f.w.o.
12 - lash/herb/taxi
13 - tapeworm
14 - the breakfast conspiracy

http://www.mediafire.com/?mjmfjxzzztm

pissed jeans - hope for men

released in 2007

to be honest with you...when i'd first heard this band...i really wasn't all the impressed...someone on a messageboard has posted a link to their first full length (2005's shallow)...saying it was the best album they'd heard in awhile...blah blah blah...and being the biased kinda guy that i am...i gave it a download...gave it a quick listen...and didn't look at it again...

flash forward to a few days ago: i was listening to some random online radio station...not really paying all that much attention to it...and i got up and left the room...i was thirsty...i needed a beverage...and half way back i heard this sound coming from out of the computer's speakers...and the player wasn't telling me the name of the band...and i thought "could it be? have they gotten back together?! OH MAN! BONERS!"...the song was called "i've still got you (ice cream)" (and i'm going to remain vague on the band that i was thinking got back together...i want to see if you're up to speed on your shiny grey monotone-ness)...anyway...back to my story...so i went to youtube to see if there was a video for said song...and there it was...pissed jeans had made their way back into my life once again...but this time around they've managed to keep their tight and shiny presence in my ears

i've heard this described as rollins era black flag...sabbath-esque...flipper-esque...the list could go on and on...and it would all be correct

but once you listen...you'll know where the band's allegiance lies

so if you like your reptile on amphetamines...this be for you

http://www.mediafire.com/?jphjruyap7r

on their stained sleeves...

fugazi - 12.18.99 - 40 watt club - athens,ga

(the picture isn't actually at the 40 watt...not really sure where it is)

but it pretty much captured fugazi at their best...which was live

and they never worked with a set list

seriously?
more fugazi..so soon?
yes.

1 - margin walker
2 - place position
3 - styrofoam/public witness program
4 - stacks
5 - recap modotti
6 - f/d
7 - furniture
8 - floating boy
9 - the argument
10 - give me the cure
11 - song #1
12 - arpeggiator
13 - oh
14 - closed captioned
15 - runaway return
16 - intro 2
17 - five corporations
18 - turnover
19 - bed for the scraping
20 - break
21 - forensic scene
22 - pink frosty
23 - target
24 - kyeo
25 - crowd
26 - song #5
27 - great cop
28 - do you like me
29 - sweet and low

http://www.mediafire.com/?n4z9di4k1n0

arpeggiator - 4.4.02 - louisville,ky

ice cream eating motherfucker....

fugazi: vietnamese slang for domestic situation

i'm going to be lame for a few moments
this is my love letter to fugazi

because...you see...if it weren't for this band...i would've more than likely never been lead out of metal land...i would've surrendered my life to having a beer gut and getting excited when some bar band covered slayer...and this very blog that you've been visiting probably wouldn't be here right now...actually...if it weren't for a friend of mine's girlfriend i would've never discovered fugazi...this was back in 1993...i was living in iowa...and said friend was a roomate...his name was james...his girlfriend's name amanda...she was a punk rock girl...had the armpit hair and everything...and at the time i had never been exposed to anything or anyone like that...i was intrigued...i was smitten...at first i was afraid to talk to her...crippling shyness does that to a person...so when i was finally able to move past "so..um..hi" phase...we would have some good talks...and one day i just randomly asked her to loan me a tape...any tape of her choosing...she left and came back with this cassette that had someone standing on their head on the cover..."fugazi eh?" i asked her...she told me to trust her...and i did...so i took the tape...and at first i couldn't get into it...for some reason my double bass sensibilities wouldn't let me...but then i wasn't able to get the basslines out of my head...and then it was the drumming...and then i was hooked...so...needless to say...musically...everything changed for me...i could wear my spiked arm bracelet (i've never actually owned such a thing...but a man can dream...right?) AND hang out in the "indie" part of the record store...and because of that...no one likes venturing into music stores with me

so...i guess that i should dedicate this post to amanda...wherever she is...and for all i know she's driving two kids around in a minivan nowadays...and the only thing tying her to her past is that small anarchy tattoo on her ankle

and now...i present to you...the fugazi discography...and as you can see by the picture...ian really wants you to have it

but dammit ian!
indefinite hiatus?!
this is for those that don't know...but need to find out

state of the union: d.c. benefit compilation (released in 1989)
fugazi only had one song on this album...but i figured that i'd give the rest of it to you as an added bonus...i'm a giver

1 - scream - ameri-dub
2 - ignition - anger means
3 - soulside - name in mind
4 - broken siren - no you cannot go
5 - christ on a crutch - off target
6 - king face - dirty wings
7 - rain - worlds at war
8 - 3 - swann street
9 - marginal man - stones of a wall
10 - one last wish - burning in the undertow*
11 - fugazi - in defense of humans
12 - thorns - responsibility
13 - fire party - pilate
14 - fidelity jones - blood stone burn
15 - red emma - candle
16 - shudder to think - let it ring

*=this was the band that guy picciotto and brendan canty were in before fugazi

http://www.mediafire.com/?z1q5ju3gbmy

13 songs (released in 1989: this is a compilation of the self-titled and the margin walker eps)

http://www.mediafire.com/?egtmovmeg3n

repeater +3 songs (released in 1990: also includes the 3 songs 7")

http://www.mediafire.com/?13j5y5xtigc

steady diet of nothing (released in 1991)

http://www.mediafire.com/?jxtniwmym4h

in on the kill taker (released in 1993)

http://www.mediafire.com/?lnvyg4fymbm

red medicine (released in 1995)

http://www.mediafire.com/?tvx2nyyslm1

end hits (released in 1998)

http://www.mediafire.com/?4mj2yintpdm

instrument soundtrack (released in 1999: made up mostly of unreleased songs..demos..and studio outtakes)

http://www.mediafire.com/?cilm2mcugte

the argument (released in 2001)

http://www.mediafire.com/?xpxol3dmgmm

furniture +2 ep (released in 2001)

http://www.mediafire.com/?2gbaum3j90m