steve albini

droppin' science

faith no more for beginners

well...seeing as how it's mike patton's 43rd birthday today...what better reason to resurrect the FOR BEGINNERS series with some faith no more

what can be said about the faith no more that hasn't already been said?

well...for one...they're liars (well...one of them isn't...and that someone would be guitarist jim martin...he was fired via fax back in 1993 and has since taken to growing pumpkins...he even grew one that got to be 1,087lbs)

"oh...we're never getting back together...blah blah blah"

they're troublemakers

they got me yelled at during the one and only school function i'd ever attended...it was back in grade school...i don't really remember what the occasion was...but there i was...just standing in the corner...minding my own business...and the next thing i know..."falling to pieces" comes out of the speakers...now...i don't know about you...but there's just something about that songs that makes a person want to jump around...so i started doing so...there i was...jumping...people looking at me all like "yeah...ok...freak"....when from out of nowhere (see what i did there?) someone started screaming at me...so i turn around and there stood the dj (aka "the special ed teacher")...all fat and red faced on the edge of the stage...telling me to settle down or i'd have to leave

so that's just what i did

good times

but i'm willing to look past all of that

they gave us the ANGEL DUST album

so with that...i give you...

1 - edge of the world
2 - chinese arithmetic
3 - rv
4 - let's lynch the landlord*
5 - the perfect crime
6 - the gentle art of making enemies
7 - as the worm turns (live)
8 - last cup of sorrow
9 - surprise! you're dead!
10 - jizzlobber

*=the dead kennedys cover

DL: faith no more for beginners

bliss blood

bliss blood

or as her parents probably call her...bliss blood

you...the SGM reader...know her as the voice behind the pain teens

but she also had a past with the melvins...new york grind band exit-13...swans vocalist michael gira...

and now...the lady herself will tell her story

SGM: my first exposure to the bliss blood experience came via the radio back in the early part of the 90s...it was the song "sexual anorexia"...that was a point in my life where i was recording songs from off the radio...i was living in iowa and had happened on a pretty kick-ass show that's played all kinds of "alternative" hits and whatnot on sunday nights...but i digress...i recorded that song...and anytime i'd listen to it wearing headphones...it would make me feel slightly uneasy...so...first off...what was the idea behind the song?...is sexual anorexia possible?...and was it meant to make folks uneasy?

BB: It was a guest on a talk show. Scott just recorded the audio and used it because we thought it was funny.

SGM: where do you see the pain teens in the history of texas music?

BB: Post Butthole Surfers.

SGM: seeing as how you're from texas...and were part of that whole "texas thing" back in the mid 1980s to mid 1990s...and you were on the TRANCE SYNDICATE label run by butthole surfers drummer king coffey...do you have any kooky wacky gibby haynes stories?

BB: No, I don't really know Gibby. Although once I was wearing a latex dress to a Buttholes show and we went backstage and Gibby pulled out the top of it and looked down and said "Sweaty."

SGM: and since we're on the subject of kooky wacky texans...do you have any david yow stories?

BB: One he put his finger up my nose. And we used to stay at his house in Chicago on tour.

SGM: after essentially becoming a duo on the 1995 BEAST OF DREAMS album...the pain teens split up....what happened?

BB: We spent 18 weeks on the road in a year and a half, and I was fed up with touring, not being heard onstage, touring with people who seemed to have no priority but getting drunk. I think Beast of Dreams is our best record, back to the original format of the band which was Scott and I recording together and not worrying about playing the music live. We had been living together for 6 years, I had moved out 2 years prior to 1995, it had just wound down and it was over.

SGM: you then moved to new york city and eventually hooked up with the band exit-13 and recorded an album of jazzy lounge odes to the pot called SMOKING SONGS...how did all of that business happen?

BB: Actually I recorded Smoking Songs with them in the summer of 1995, before I moved here. I was friends with Danny Lilker from Exit-13 and I wanted to do a jazz record and they came up with the idea to do a covers record of those songs. Originally I think I was only supposed to do 2 songs, but I pushed it up to 6 or 7. That was when I had just started playing ukulele and I didn't even bring it with me -- I wish I had, I could have played it on the recording, and practiced all week while I sat around listening to the other guys laying down the tracks. I did all my vocal tracks in a few hours.

SGM: you also hooked up with the melvins for a song on their THE CRYBABY album called "the man with the laughing hand is dead"....the title of that song reminds me of the horror movies of the 50s...what exactly did you and buzzo have in mind with that song?

BB: Jim Thirlwell of FOETUS told me he was going to sing a guest vocal on the Crybaby and I told him I wished I could too. He gave me Buzz's phone number and they sent me an 8-minute long track which was like a funeral dirge. I got the idea for making it about Senor Wences because he had just died (he was a famous Spanish ventrioloquist) and did some research on him, rented a video tape with him performing on the Ed Sullivan show (he just happened to be talking about music, ironically) and sampled it, then I added some saw tracks, ukulele, and sitar guitar to it and sang my surrealist lyrics about him. He's the guy who used his hand for a puppet.

SGM: also...you made the melvins sound kinda sexy

BB: That's because I make everything sound sexy.

SGM: you also hooked up with swans vocalist michael gira for his angels of light project...what was that like?...and did he like to sit in dark rooms a lot and sulk?

BB: It was a nice experience but I don't think I'll work with him again. I respect his work.

SGM: you're currently in a band called nightcall with lubricated goat vocalist stu spasm...how did that get started?

BB: No, Nightcall broke up in 2008. Stu called me up and we played together and wrote songs for about a year, played some shows. It was a fun band, and we still have some tunes up on our old Myspace page if anyone's interested in hearing it.

My newest project is a duo with a jazz guitarist named Al Street called EVANESCENT. He has played with the Sweet Divines and Sugarman Three as well as hundreds of jazz musicians in New York. All of our songs are very sensuous and he's a brilliant musician, and my lyrics are very sexual, kind of a continuation of songs like "Indiscreet Jewels" or "Swimming" by the Pain Teens. Sexual songs are something that really turn me on and I don't think enough people write songs like that, it's always about the breakup or falling in love, not sex. You can download all of them for free on our Reverb Nation page.

SGM: a lot of your musical influences seem to run through the 1920s and 30s...do you feel as if you live in the wrong time?

BB: The MOONLIGHTERS (my 1920's jazz band I've been playing in since 1998) and DELTA DREAMBOX (my 1920's blues band I started in 2002) are really cool and I love writing original songs in that style. I found that my voice was much more like the singers from that era than a loud screaming metal band singer like David Yow or something. I enjoy being heard, I'm a great singer, and I love writing original songs in that style. Have you heard my bands?

SGM: why have you not done anything with tom waits yet?

BB: Sometime soon, I hope. I love him!

SGM: are there any bands out there nowadays that tickle your fancy that you'd like to name drop?

BB: Lunarians, who opened for the Butthole Surfers in Brooklyn on New Years' Ever, were awesome.

SGM: well...i do believe that i've taken up more than enough of your time...is there anything you'd like to say to the kids?

BB: Buy my music. I love you.


and yes...as a matter of fact i have checked out some of her other projects

and it's a good way to spend a sunday afternoon with the windows open (though i'd suggest doing this only during warm weather)

and this is the place you can find out all about her new project

Native Nod - Today Puberty, Tomorrow The World

Label: Gern Blandsten
Year: 1995

The song "Back To Mimsey" was a high-water mark for 90's emo as far as I was concerned. It was almost more of a math rock kinda jam than the typical emo being peddled by whatever patch-covered whatever band was headlining the "Castrate Rapists Fest IV" in some suburban West Virginia VFW Hall. Native Nod seems like they had better record collections than, say, Plunger.
One member went on to play with Ted Leo and The Pharmacists, while one of the other members, an actual Leo, went on to The Van Pelt, and The Lapse. Good for them.
This record collects the three 7"s the band released during their short run. I recommend it not only as a relic of the 90's, but as...what's the word for something that's not a relic?

DL

come - near-life experience

released 1996

this was asked about over on the shiny grey facebook awhile back

and seeing as how i'm as timely as a broken watch (at least i'm right twice a day...most times...)

here it be now

and you all know who come were,yeah?

the jesus lizard's mac mcneilly did his thing on part of this album

tortoise's bundy k. brown also did his thing on part of this album

as did rodan's tara jane o'neil

that's gotta be something...right?

DL: near-life experience

lard - the last temptation of reid

released 1990

i am appalled at the fact that it's taken this long for this to make it here

in all honesty...i should be thrown down a flight of stairs wearing a tutu and a skin tight poison t-shirt into the waiting arms of a nude senior citizen (that's how i usually spend my saturday nights...but if someone would like to stop over any other night of the week...i'll make an exception)

i'd like to think that you...the average SGM-er...knows of lard

so i'm not really going to go into the details

but for those that don't know...it's essentially jello biafra fronting ministry

or the dead kennedys releasing an industrial album

either/or

now if you'll excuse me..i'm going to go lube up my stairs and leave my front door unlocked

can god fill teeth?

let's find out

DL: the last temptation of reid

iowa beef experience - personalien

released 1992

you know...believe it or not...there's more to iowa than scary kids wearing (sic) halloween costumes and idiots out wandering around

i was recently digging though the mounds of crap that i have on my computer...and came across this little gem

and then i thought to myself "hey,man...there might be some butthole surfer and cherub and melvins and amphetamine reptile fans out there that might enjoy this...perhaps i'll put it on the blog"

and here it is

DL: personalien

the thrown ups - eat my dump 7"

released 1988

this was the first band signed to amphetamine reptile (well...other than halo of flies)

that's all you really need to know

and now you have to make a decision

go on....do it....

yeah

DL: eat my dump

the jazzus lizard - horn

released 2008

this is a band out of austin,tx

they like jazz and the jesus lizard

simply put...you need this

DL: horn

Cosmic Psychos - Slave To The Crave

Label: Rattlesnake
Year: 1990

It's been a while since we posted any Cosmic Psychos, and for that I apologize. So why not get back into the swing of Cosmic Psychos, with this ripping live show from 1988 in Melbourne? Sounds good to me.
Now, I'm not one to question the Cosmic Psychos scruples, but me thinks there might have been some studio sweetening after the fact on this record. The musicianship is a little too "perfect", especially the vocals, and that leads me to believe that the band might have reworked these numbers a bit after the fact, but in the long run, who cares? I mean, if they want to add a little extra heft to their Stooges-esque barn burners, then who am I to tell them that's cheating? I'm not the person to do that.
You should though. You should tell them.

DL

built to spill - 8.5.06 - lollapalooza - grant park - chicago,il

you know you like dinosaur jr.

and you know you like treepeople

and you know you like caustic resin

and you know you like the halo benders

and you know you like sunny day real estate

and you know you want this because we want you to want this

1 - goin' against your mind
2 - made up dreams
3 - sidewalk
4 - traces
5 - big dipper
6 - good ol' boredom
7 - conventional wisdom
8 - rearrange*
9 - carry the zero

*=the gladiators cover

DL: built to spill @lollapalooza '06

v/a - crunchouse

released 1989

hey! look! it's a compilation! and it has bands that you like on it!

yeah!

1 - tad - behemoth
2 - halo of flies - can't touch her
3 - bastards - neighbor
4 - helios creed - nirbasion annasion
5 - unsane - this town
6 - boss hog - fix me
7 - god bullies - follow the leader
9 - mudhoney - dead love
10 - cows - chasin' darla
11 - surgery - dance
12 - first things first - pal
13 - the thrown ups - thorp,thorp,thorp

DL: crunchouse

Crust - Food Eater

Label: Unreleased
Year: 1997

I guess technically you could say that in 1999 Food Eater was self-released by the band in digital form, but it was recorded in 1997, but Trance Syndicate wasn't interested or able to release it, so the band sat on it. After what they considered a lackluster performance at SXSW in 1997, the band closed up shop, and Food Eater languished further.
In the canon of Crust, this one might skew a little odd as it's focus shifts from trucker hymns, to traditional country numbers, to sludged out thud rock, to Tejano polkas, to heavy metal sci-fi movie themes, it's really here, there, and everywhere (weird). If you like Crust...well...there's a lot of ways I could end that sentence, aren't there?

DL

inappropriate tough guy behaviour - self-titled 12"

released 2009

godheadsilo
v9r9d
gay witch abortion
practically anything released on amphetamine reptile

but from australia

DL: inappropriate tough guy behaviour

Republic Of Freedom Fighters - Republic Of Freedom Fighters

Label: Mountain
Year: 1996

You want to know what sub-sub-genre hasn't aged very well? Mid 90's emo, just as it morphed into mid 90's screamo. You know what I'm talking about, right, the bands that flailed about on the floor, used potato stamps to decorate their paper bag sleeved 7"s, and seemed to populate ever "fest" ever booked from 1995 - 1998. We've previously discussed on this blog before, my predilection for the more "mature" strain of 90's emo, the Car Vs Driver/Boilermaker/Castor/Shiner type stuff, where someone is actually singing a bit, and the music is firmly rooted in Emo mk 1 (i.e. Washington D.C. circa 1987). Well, I also will admit that there were a series of bands who were straddling the chasm between emo and screamo (remember the term "emo violence"...In/Humanity ruled didn't they?) and played a more controlled version of the chaotic screamo, still raw, and apt to fly off the hinges, but less reliant on the quiet/loud dynamic that was ham-fisted into oblivion by lesser bands. Shotmaker were a band that could do it well. Singlefileline was another. Frail was not. See where I'm coming from?
Republic Of Freedom Fighters were good at this style, and having just listened to this record for the first time in...well...let's just say a loooong time, I was surprised at how well it holds up. I doubt you will like it that much if you don't have a soft spot in your heart (your vagina?) for this style already, or you weren't one of those people who chose to suffer through the hellscape that was a three day weekend at Dayton Fest, or More Than Music Fest, or Goleta Fest, or whatever. But, if you survived the 90's hardcore scene intact, and can get down on some anti-The Man lyrics, this one might shake the cobwebs loose for a 30 minutes or so.

DL

fitz of depression - pissbutt/red shoes 7"

released 1992

because you know you have more than enough room for a song called "pissbutt" and an elvis costello cover

DL: pissbutt red shoes

claw hammer - q: are we not men? a: we are not devo!

released 1991

you see...there was once a band called claw hammer

and not only did they like captain beefheart (they took their name from the song "orange claw hammer")...they also liked devo

one day...they felt that just because the band pussy galore covered the rolling stones album EXILE ON MAIN STREET...they should cover the devo album Q: ARE WE NOT MEN? A: WE ARE DEVO! (but they took it up a notch and said that they were not devo)

so that's exactly what you get here

them not being devo...but covering an entire devo album

DL: q:are we not men? a:we are not devo!

the shiny grey chocolate bicycle monotone experience 1.10.11

the audio equivalent to walking in on your parents having sex

with your grandparents

1 - william s. burroughs w/kurt cobain - the "priest" they called him
2 - p - i save cigarette butts (1)
3 - melvins - black bock
4 - beastie boys - egg raid on mojo
5 - cibo matto - know your chicken
6 - butthole surfers - ricky
7 - L7 - shitlist
8 - the afghan whigs - gentlemen
9 - volcano suns - kick out the jams (2)
10 - us maple - sin city (3)
11 - cows - pussy is a monarchy
12 - headcleaner - paranoid
13 - ministry - smothered hope (live) (4)
14 - slint - breadcrumb trail
15 - faith no more - the gentle art of making enemies
16 - cop shoot cop - two at a time
17 - officer may - smoking in a minor
18 - pailhead - i will refuse
19 - king missile - martin scorcese
20 - unwound - dragnalus
21 - hella - brown metal
22 - nirvana - curmudgeon
23 - bliss - lust for tools
24 - daisy chainsaw - you be my friend
25 - whale - pay for me
26 - dinosaur jr. - tarpit (7" version)
27 - godheadsilo - home crap home
28 - star pimp - vegan pussy
29 - dazzling killmen - agitator
30 - crispin hellion glover - clowny clown clown
31 - fishbone - drunk skitzo

1=daniel johnston cover
2=mc5 cover
3=ac/dc cover
4=skinny puppy cover

DL: the shiny grey chocolate bicycle monotone experience 1.10.11

Bukkake Boys - Splendid Thoughts

Label: Vile Minds
Year: 2008

One of the more unfortunately named bands to crawl out from under Atlanta in the last few , but one of the best, if not the best at delivering a caustic hardcore karate chop to the throat. There is no relenting once the band launches into a classic hardcore assault; overdriven, noisy, and aggressive, no "clean" parts, no melody, no taking the foot off the gas petal, just head-down, fist-through-the-wall type pounding.
K-Swiss Lawyer: "Ok, what's 'bu-cake' porno?"
Kenny Powers: "Bukkake you dumb motherfucker, what, have you been livin' in a cave? It's like an old Asian, traditional porno...it's hilarious, I need that shit."

DL

Hawks - Rub (preview)

Label: Trans Ruin
Year: 2011

Thee greatest band in all of Christendom (Atlanta) right now, Hawks, are poised to release their second full length, and the band were nice enough to provide three tracks from the aforementioned album to whet your appetite. Trans Ruin doesn't have a website, but they do have a Myspace page here: Trans Ruin, which you could use to get in touch and order this record.
Musically, Hawks have taken a step forward from their Barnburner lp, building on the tracks from the recent split with Cafe Flesh (also available from Trans Ruin), taking their 90's noise rock sound into a darker, more muscular realm. The songs are a little more open, not necessarily "straight forward" by traditional standards, but where Barnburner was an impenetrable fortress of chaotic hell, Rub appears to open the gates some by fleshing out the vintage Jesus Lizard riffs with some vintage Negative Approach, and the always-in-style Hammerhead thud rock that we all know and love, to allow the listener in a little further to inspect the charred walls of the burnt out hull of a dungeon. They are one of the few bands to successfully amalgamate the best bits of the past 30 years of rock music into one hulking mass of energy.
Music that means to be mean.
Hail Hawks! Onward to Valhalla!

DL

well...kira roesslar (of black flag fame) started the day out with a home invasion

some recording equipment was stolen...as were some televisions

but most importantly...a custom made bass was also taken (the one in the picture)

so she's asking that folks comb through the ebay...or if you live in or near studio city,ca...to keep an eye peeled

but really...who in their right mind would even try to get rid of it?

someone somewhere is sitting in their darkened basement cradling the bass while rocking back and forth and calling it their "precious"

Feederz - Ever Feel Like Killing Your Boss?

Label: Flaming Banker
Year: 1983

One of my favorites from the first wave of hardcore (although maybe this is more "punk" per se, but really...well...doesn't matter), that goes unmentioned in the canon of classic releases. But if you can get into a mix of Minutemen, Dead Kennedys, Subhumans (the Canadians, not the English Subhumans), and The Dickies, then you can get into a mix of Feederz. The first I heard of them was on the "Let Them Eat Jellybeans" compilation with their brilliantly blasphemous jam Jesus Entering From The Rear (which is on this album), and then tracked down a copy of this lp with it's sandpaper cover, meant to damage the surrounding records in your collection, and really liked that the songs were a mix of styles and almost sound like the work of a couple different bands. Not a lot of groups did that kind of thing within the framework of punk/hardcore, so in my book they were groundbreaking (admittedly, "my book" is a pretty short book, more like a pamphlet, or a flyer or something).
Get this to at least hear "Jesus Entering From The Rear", and then stick around to explore the rest of the record. Oh, and by the way, the first track is the worst, so don't let it through you off.

DL

Brain Handle - Smiling 7"

Label: Iron Lung
Year: 2009

Two song 7", both songs called "Smiling" which makes it easy to say what you're favorite song on the record is.
If you're in the mood for classic hardcore not far off from the o.g. NYHC (Reagan Youth and Agnostic Front) bands mixed with a dose of the midwest ones (Effigies and Necros), then you can do much worse than this funky lil platter (first Spazz reference of the year!). It's really straight forward, raw, hardcore in a good way, as there are no gimmicks, no attempts to "further the genre" or whatever, just fast, pissed, grinding hardcore. I like that in a band.
Honestly, in the time you spent reading this post, you could have just listened to the thing, I mean shit, it's only 3:57 long.
Also, this is out of print, but check out all the incredible music that Iron Lung has been releasing the last couple of years, it's an impressive track record.

DL

The Goslings - Occasion

Label: Not Not Fun
Year: 2008

Heavy beyond "heavy", in a slow moving magma flow kind of way. More on the Bardo Pond tip than the Sleep tip. Or, more on the Head Of David tip than the Kyuss tip. Not too far off the Loop tip, but never on the Buzzoven tip. Lots of tips to keep straight, but there's a lot going on in there, and you need to keep your head on a swivel man.
If you enjoy the idea of all instrumentation bleeding into one big mammoth strained sound, then this band is waiting for you to buy them a drink. Something classy though, okay, this isn't one of your cheap, trashy, Pabst girls, this one's a real lady, you know?

DL

butthole surfers - 10.31.84 - vfw hall #18 - kansas city,mo

"the butthole surfers sound like a bunch of crack addicts that would break into my house at night" -mrs. ipecac

just picture that

there you are...waking up in the middle of the night because you have a sudden hankering for a cookie...you know the ones...the ones your gramma bakes...yeah...those...

you roll out of bed and you put on your slippers...and you shuffle down the stairs...but once you reach the kitchen...something just doesn't feel right...but you don't let it bother you because you really want that cookie...so you shrug it off and walk over to the covered plate...oh man...you can taste it before you even put it in your mouth...ohhhhhh...and you take that first bite...and it's just as good as you'd imagined it...but something's missing...oh yeah...you need some milk...so you walk on over to the refrigerator and open the door...

all of a sudden...black shapes start to scurry about...

what?!...this can't be...gibby haynes?!...and he's stealing your toilet paper?!...what the?!...king coffey stealing your coffee maker?! (the more you think about that...you chuckle a little)...paul leary is stealing your cereal?!

and just as suddenly as it began...they all disappear behind your stove

you then turn back around...grab the milk...pour out a glass...eat your cookie...drink the milk...and then shuffle on back upstairs

crack addicts...cockroaches...same thing...they'll all survive the apocalypse

and with that...i give you the butthole surfers

1 - cherub
2 - too parter
3 - tornadoes
4 - dum dum
5 - cowboy bob
6 - hey
7 - mexican caravan
8 - bbq pope
9 - wichita cathedral
10 - the shah sleeps in lee harvey's grave
11 - lady sniff
12 - something
13 - crowd noise
14 - butthole surfer
15 - psychedelic jam
16 - mark say alright
17 - hey

DL: butthole surfers @vfw hall #18

melvins - 6.12.10 - bonnaroo - manchester,tn

look!

it's the first melvins post of the year!

HUZZAH!

1 - intro
2 - sacrifice*
3 - civilized worm
4 - black stooges
5 - pig house
6 - electric flower
7 - band intros
8 - anaconda
9 - black bock
10 - the kicking machine
11 - billy fish
12 - the water glass
13 - evil new war god
14 - AMAZON
15 - the talking horse
16 - let it all be
17 - lovely butterfly

*=flipper cover

DL: melvins @bonnaroo 2010

black fag

released 2010

what better way to start out the shiny grey new year than with this

"and what is this exactly? those two words put together make me feel nervous"

this is what would've happened if instead of going with hank rollins as vocalist...the band turned their sights on the b-52's vocalist fred schneider

and yes...it's a fabulous as it sounds

so take my hand...and let me introduce you to my friend,black fag

DL: black fag