V/A - Shiny Grey Monotone Radio - Show 16

Label: n/a
Year: 2016

Has it really been almost a year since you've been granted privileged access into the dark recesses of my soul via the most exalted (by me) digital mixtape series ever? Really? Dang.
Sorry. That one's on me.
But look, to make it up to you, I present yet another volume of 200% guaranteed 5 star, Zagat rated authentic rock music experience. Carefully...wait for it...CURATED by yours truly for maximum potency. And when something is curated, that's essentially French for "impeccable tastes administered by overbearing ego", which you just can't put a price on. Try to...nobody would dare monetize this dispensation. I'm talking motherfucking gold, motherfucking frankincense, AND motherfucking myrrh. All that shit! Good enough for 'Lil Baby Jesus, sure as shit good enough for ya'lls crusty butts. No offense. My diabetes must be acting up. Got me all discombobulated and ornery. Pretty sure the doctor's gonna amputate my right foot, which is enough to get most man's dander up. It's the dander talking.
Please enjoy the compilation, and leave me to my misery.

The bands:
Hot Snakes
Tar
Bitch Magnet
The Austerity Program
Dead Meat
Snailboy
Shorty
Throat
Ligament
Kurt
Willard
White Shit
Rocket Fuel Is The Key
Volt
Slug
Germbox

DL

Kill Life w/ Dwid - Snake Kills Entire Family 7"

Label: Magic Bullet
Year: 2012

How was your day today? Good? Productive?
I'm glad.
My day was more stressful than it needed to be, and I lasted longer than it should (not trying to get all into space/time continuum shit...I know that 24 hours is 24 hours...). So, on my way home from work I wanted somebody to yell into my ear at a high volume over top of some noisy, crusty hardcore.
You know's real good at yelling? Dwid. Dwid is really good at it. So, he did. He yelled in my ear for all of four minutes or so. Whatever the length of these three dark, weird, blisters.
The band may or may not be members of Integrity (besides Dwid), Pulling Teeth, Magrudergrind, Fucked Up, Leaf Hound and Throwing Up.

DL

Fugazi - Live Athens, GA, 40 Watt - 02-19-93

Label: bootleg
Year: 1993

Brief history lesson: a few months ago I posted the sister show to this one, the show from the preceding evening in 1993. You may find that here.
Less brief history lesson: this show, and the accompanying one, were real game changers to me...which is important to you...probably. They demonstrated a band emerging from what I (and it appears, only I) considered a lull in their career, with such ferocity and controlled chaos that I was left to reconsider my previous opinions of what a band "can" and "could" do, if given the time and space to do so. In an era of awkward post-hardcore missteps by lots of bands, Fugazi managed to build on one of the strongest legacies in all of underground music, and challenge their listeners to evolve with them or risk missing out on some really, really good shit. It was a "eye opener" if you catch my drift. And I pride myself on some fairly heavy duty tunnel vision...so, I need a good eye opener every now and then. I should have never doubted Fugazi, that one's on me, but I did and it took a pair of performances so drum tight and invigorating that I would never make that mistake again.

I was just asked at work, "Gray, what's your favorite Fugazi record?" (literally...that question was literally asked of me on Thursday of last week...as luckily I work with a guy who happens to share a lot of my own impeccable musical tastes...seriously), to which I answered without flinching, "In On The Killtaker, no diggity". Which is my honest answer (no diggity), and that's because of the show linked in this very post. Fugazi lit a fucking fire under me those two nights, and I'll never forget them...or the burrito I had before the show, which also may have contributed to the fire


DL - part 1
DL - part 2

The High Confessions - Turning Lead Into Gold With The High Confessions

Label: Relapse
Year: 2010

Relapse gets points for this one, a departure from their standard fare, a post-punk death rock drive across three decades of underground music passing milestones of noise, drone, industrial, and general post rock art damage along the way. Which, upon checking the roster of creatively restless personnel on this album maybe shouldn't be too great a surprise.
Steve Shelley - Sonic Youth, Crucifucks, Two Dollar Guitar, Ciccone Youth, Lee Ranaldo and The Dust, Wylde Ratttz, and Dim Stars (among millions more)
Chris Connelly - Ministry, Revolting Cocks, Pigface, Acid Horse, Murder Inc., The Bells, The Damage Manual (also among millions more)
Sanford Parker - Minsk, Buried At Sea, Nachtmystium, Twilight, Corrections House, Circle Of Animals, Behold! The Living Corpse (again, among millions more)
Jeremy Lemos - White/Light, White/Lichens, and Acteurs
Dallas Thomas - Pelican, Asschapel, and The Swan King

Essential mental sprawl.

DL

Raw Radar War - On A Field Of White 7"

Label: Chainsaw Safety
Year: 2011

Alternately released as the 'Defend Freedom' 7" (maybe a year earlier?), this eight minutes of blistered crust sludge comes creeping up from the depths and proceeds to Entomb you into a puddle of black-n-roll foam.
Most well known as wheel in the Jonah Jenkins freight train, this band stands as a monument to the forefathers of D-beat burl. It's satisfies on a very particular level. A very loud, very direct, level.
Up the irons...up them straight to hell!

DL

Iceburn - Hephaestus

Label: Revelation
Year: 1993

Ambition on ambition on ambition. Iceburn decides to follow up their alienating debut lp with a concept record split into four sections across 28 songs based on the Greek god of fire. Why not? I mean, the hoodie-and-cut off camo pants crowd were now completely confused by the band, and nobody outside of that small hardcore circle had ever even heard of them. So, what's to lose? Why not go full prog/jazz/sludge?
Turns out that Iceburn would actually go further down the rabbit hole, further flummoxing those who were still following their weird trajectory. Not that folks don't need to be flummoxed on occasion...I think they (we) should.
Heavy and crazed the way Craw were heavy and crazed.
Members from, or went on to, Rival Schools, Institute, Eagle Twin, Ascend, How To Kill, and Insight.

DL

Killdozer - God Hears The Pleas Of The Innocent

Label: Touch And Go
Year: 1995

The ultimate in backwoods burl chic. Slowly macheteing their way through a briar patch of  redneck fantasy with psychotic intent and stale cigarette breath. Going for a sort of "if the cannibal family from Texas Chainsaw Massacre started a musical revue, this could very well have been the house band" type of feel.
I would say that "they don't make 'em like this anymore", but I'm not real certain they made too much of 'em before Killdozer. Ugly music for ugly people.

DL