agoraphobic nosebleed - honky reduction

released: 1998
label: relapse records

"this band is like...you know...like...uh...do you remember the band anal cunt? yeah. there was a band named anal cunt. this is what anal cunt would've sounded like if they'd have tightened their sound up a bit. also...a one time guitar player for anal cunt plays in this band. you remember that band pig destroyer that i'd told you about and how awesome their PROWLER IN THE YARD album is? yeah. he plays in this band too. agoraphobic nosebleed. pig destroyer. anal cunt. sounds like a fun time,huh? so...um...come on,gramma! are you gonna buy this for me or what? rub your bunions? you gotcherself a deal." -some kid

DL

melvins - sabbath

released: 2018
label: amphetamine reptile records

hey kids!
it's our friends the melvins!
and they're covering 2 black sabbath jams!
they've also brought in another bass player.
his name is al cisneros.
he also provides some vocals.
this guy could have that IT quality.
he could be going places.
we'll just have to keep an eye on him.

DL

jesus chrüsler supercar - 35 supersonic

released: 2016
label: rodeostar records

and now a lesson in brevity....

do you like entombed's WOLVERINE BLUES album?
do you like motorhead?
do you like zeke?

yes,yes and yes?

DL

v/a - monsters,robots and bug men: a user's guide to the rock hinterland

released: 1996
label: virgin

hinterland: an area lying beyond what is visible or known

what i'm providing you with today is some of those weird times jams,bros. what you should do is strap on a pair of headphones and press play and be taken to the hinterland. yeah. i'm pretty sure there's a starbucks there. they're everywhere. don't know you that already? in houston,tx there are three of them within two minutes of one another. don't you see what's happening? it's after the end of the world. don't you know that yet? you have to adapt. don't let anyone pick up on an sort of difference. you just go in and order yourself an iced caramel cloud macchiato and walk out. don't look nervous. and don't ever EVER refer to a large as a large. it's venti. if you order a large beverage donald sutherland will appear behind the counter and will point at you and make a sound not unlike multiple squealing pigs. and then it's over. you're done. game over,man. game over.

so yeah.

disc 1:
1 - bardo pond - tantric porno
2 - long fin killie - a man ray
3 - god - gold teeth (charles atlas mix)
4 - third eye foundation - sleep
5 - hair & skin trading company - *
6 - fuxa - photon
7 - run on - pretty note
8 - ui - grand piano
9 - bowery electric - slow thrills
10 - brice glace - neither yield nor reap
11 - pram - sea swells and distant squalls
12 - magic hour - chance was
13 - labradford - sedr77

disc 2:
1 - mercury rev - everlasting arm
2 - flying saucer attack - feedback song
3 - jessamine - ordinary sleep
4 - yona-kit - dancing sumo wrestlers
5 - windy and carl - preparation
6 - godflesh - crush my soul (ultramix)
7 - sabalon glitz - the lonesome death of elijah p. woods
8 - stereolab - les yper yper sound
9 - cul de sac - doldrums
10 - roy montgomery - departing the body
11 - u.s. maple - aplomado
12 - space needle - before i lose my style
13 - stars of the lid - goodnight

DL

v/a - in utero: in tribute

released: 2014
label: robotic empire

remember a few years back when everyone was going ape shit over nirvana's NEVERMIND album turning 20 and then everyone and their mother were releasing some sort of a tribute to it? robotic empire did it as well and called it WHATEVER NEVERMIND. but this isn't that (as you've probably already figured out).

when it comes to IN UTERO i find that it's slightly better than NEVERMIND. don't get me wrong. i still dig it. but NEVERMIND doesn't have "milk it" or "scentless apprentice". but on the other hand IN UTERO doesn't have "territorial pissings" or "endless,nameless" or "breed".

ok.
i have a few things to think over.
excuse me.

1 - pygmy lush - serve the servants
2 - circa survive - scentless apprentice
3 - these arms are snakes - heart-shaped box
4 - thursday - rape me
5 - jay reatard - frances farmer will have her revenge on seattle
6 - young widows - dumb
7 - the mean jeans - very ape
8 - thou - milk it
9 - whirr - pennyroyal tea
10 - daughters - radio friendly unit shifter
11 - ceremony - tourette's
12 - black math horseman - all apologies

DL

babes in toyland - intermenstral

released: 2001
label: dressed to kill

truth be told: i miss the 90's girl. y'know. like daria and her friend jane. smart and snarky. good taste in music. someone that'll sit on the couch with you and eat cold pizza while watching M*A*S*H re-runs. someone that-

i'm just going to stop right there.
this isn't some sort of video dating service.
i don't even know what that is.
and i don't know what you've heard but that wasn't me in that video on youtube.
you'd never see me just sitting on a park bench listening to a walkman with a fugazi cassette case and a copy of lenny bruce's HOW TO TALK DIRTY AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE just sitting there on the bench next to me and then be all like "oh! hey! i didn't see you there." as i took the headphones off.
not me.
not this guy.

moving right along.....

you remember the band babes in toyland,yeah?
you know who would listen to babes in toyland?
daria and jane.
ah,the 90's.
the good ol' daze.
did i ever tell you about the time i got drunk and let all of those beavers loose inside of that amish furniture store?
ok.
fine.
you're here for the music.

what i'm presenting you with today is a 3 disc collection of random live stuff and demos and rare songs and such that was released over in the uk.
so yeah.
you can run away now seeing as how you don't have time to hear an awesome and hilarious story about beavers.

here's everything you'll find here: track listing

DL

meat puppets - we don't exist

released: 1994
label: london records

what i've brought to you today,folks,is a single by the meat puppets that was only released in australasia (which isn't a place the band pelican made up,by the way). the difference between this here version and the other version is that there's a live version of "lake of fire" included on it.

so why don't you just jump on into it.
this single.
not the lake of fire.
unless that's your thing.
but before doing all of that you're going to have to sign this piece of paper stating that you're doing it under your own volition.
believe it or not: there is such a thing as too many screaming and crying mothers.

1 - we don't exist (remix)
2 - lake of fire (live)
3 - we don't exist (album version)
4 - el paso city (marty robbins cover)

DL

melvins - the houdini demos

ah,the band's first steps into the mainstream.
though it was more like "mainstream".
yeah.

gather 'round,kids. there's a story a-brewin'!
the year was 1995. i was living with my then girlfriend and her parents. she was still in high school,you see (she was a senior),and apparently seniors in high school still lived at home back then. one day there was a family function that needed to be attended and seeing as how i wasn't family i was to be dropped off somewhere for a few hours (her parents were afraid that i'd take the opportunity to do some snooping whilst i was there alone but the house didn't really hold any secrets. their daughter had given them up. i already knew about the suitcase under the bed). so i was given a $20 bill and dropped off in front of the movie theater where i was to see 12 MONKEYS. that money (or me) didn't even make it inside the front door. as soon as they were around the corner and out of sight i took off to the music store. and to make a not so long story short: i left the store with a cassette copy of HOUDINI. it was yellow. i also bought a soda at a gas station on the walk back to the movie theater. it was a coke.

melvins 1
bruce willis 0

that's a good story,grampa.
where do you keep the cough medicine?
y'know.
the good stuff.

the only songs included on this demo are as follows....

1 - joan of arc
2 - set me straight
3 - sky pup
4 - pearl bomb

DL

unsane: 1988 - 2019

as most of you have probably heard: unsane is no more. chris spencer has chosen to follow another musical path that goes by the name of human impact with 2 ex-members of (the) swans. but the band has split up before and gotten back together (and thus was born the bands: the cutthroats 9 and j.j. paradise players club) so who knows.

i'm not going to go off into my usual storyteller mode because it would just be preaching to the choir. though i'll mention that the first anything i'd heard from unsane (outside of seeing the video for "scrape") was their OCCUPATIONAL HAZARD album. and then there was the time that i'd actually convinced someone that they were a new nu metal band and that they needed to snag up the only unsane album the music store that was in the town i was living in at the time had before someone else did (it was their TOTAL DESTRUCTION album and they knew that it was going to be hardcore because the store's manager had them tape pieces of a brown paper bag over the middle of the front and back cover.)

good times.

so anytime you're out and about and you see a red stain on a cinder block or you're in a waffle house and you're thinking about those hash browns or you're taking that shortcut through the train yard after work and you happen to come across a human body sans head (no. just keep walking. i don't care if he's not going to be finishing that bucket of chicken. just keep walking. people already think you're weird enough as it is. do you want to go through the rest of your life being known as the guy that ate the headless corpse's chicken? i didn't think so.) just think about all of the happy times you've had with unsane.

and now this....




VANDAL-X / STREETSWEEPER
released: 1990
label: sub pop
DL



CONCRETE BED / EL MUNDO
year: 1990
released: glitterhouse records
DL




UNSANE / SLUG
released: 1992
label: pcp entertainment
DL



UNSANE / HINT - ERASE YER HEAD #5
released: 1997
label: pandemonium records
DL



THIS PLAN AUSTRALIAN TOUR SINGLE
released: 2001
label: d.c records
DL




UNSANE / MELVINS: AMPHETAMINE REPTILE RECORDS CAGE MATCH
released: 2012
label: amphetamine reptile records
DL



FIX IT / WRUNG
released: 2017
label: amphetamine reptile records
DL

the postman syndrome - terraforming

released: 2002
label: now or never

have you heard of a band called east of the wall?
have you heard of a band called biclops?
have you heard of a band called day without dawn?
then you've heard of the postman syndrome because they're all essentially the same band.
this is the only album the band released before breaking up (there was an album released back in 2010 called GOD RELIEVE OUR GRIEF: A MASOLEUM OF STILLBORN DEMOS) and forming the above mentioned bands.

if you were to see this album in a store somewhere if could very well have one of those stickers that say "if you enjoy (insert band(s) name(s) here) you'll enjoy the postman syndrome" plastered on it (hopefully it would be placed over the cellophane rather than on the actual packaging. i don't know about you but i fucking hate it when they do that. but that's another rant for another time.)

if you enjoy....
tool
king crimson
dredg
candiria
radiohead
tortoise

DL

black army jacket - demo 1996

released: 1996
label: self-released

good ol' fashioned all american powerviolence.
those were the daze,bro.
you remember that,yeah?
of course you do.
you have storage bins filled with it because your significant other feels as if it takes up too much room so you get to keep it all in that room in the basement and you only get to listen to it when they're gone.
good times.
bins filled with 7" by bands with names like:
agents of satan
capitalist casualties
despise you
fuck on the beach
godstomper
iron lung
lack of interest
man is the bastard
neanderthal
spazz

of course it's all in alphabetical order.
you're not a fucking monster.

and of course you've probably got some black army jacket.
i know you do.
because you're not a fucking monster.
so with all of that being said....

DL

Young Widows - Easy Pain

Label: Temporary Residence Ltd
Year: 2014

I had personally stopped paying attention to Young Widows around the time of this record was released, and then they released this record and I was back in the mix. But then I put it on the back burner, until very recently when I was reminded of just how powerful a record it is.
So I'm placing it on this burner here for you to be reminded.
You can purchase a copy here.
This is the version that had the additional 2 song 7" with the 8 song lp.

DL

butter 08 - butter 08

released: 1996
label: grand royal

if you know anything about what had gotten released on the beastie boys' record label then you should know what this is all about.

you've got 2 parts of cibo matto (yuka honda/miho hatori).
you've got 1 part of the jon spencer blues explosion (russell simins).
you've got 1 part skeleton key (rick lee).
you've got 1 part movie director/music video director/graphic artist (mike mills).*

*=perhaps you've seen some of his work. he directed the movies THUMBSUCKER and BEGINNERS. he's done music videos for blonde redhead ("my impure hair") and jon spencer blues explosion ("2 kindsa love") and pond ("spokes"). he's done album cover art for the beastie boys (ROOT DOWN ep) and sonic youth (WASHING MACHINE) and sleater-kinney (NO CITIES TO LOVE) and the cover to this here album.

my apologies.
you didn't come here for the wikipedia-like spiel.
i just get carried away sometimes.
you think this is bad you should tag along with me to an all you can eat buffet.
then you'll wish i was using just words.
good times.
before you go would you mind handing me my velcro shoes?

DL

dinosaur jr - 7.18.93 - jfk stadium - philadelphia,pa

it's dinosaur jr.
yay!
it's dinosaur jr live.
yay!
it's dinosaur jr live playing the songs that you like.
yay!
it's dinosaur jr live playing the songs that you like as part of lollapalooza.
yay!
can you handle all of that dinosaur jr?
i've heard about you.
i know you can.

1 - little fury things
2 - no bones
3 - freak scene
4 - start choppin'
5 - drawerings
6 - the wagon
7 - out there
8 - thumb
9 - sludgefeast

DL

shiny grey takeover - number three - eugene s. robinson

it's that time,kids. it's SHINY GREY TAKEOVER time! today's episode is brought to you by eugene s. robinson. he shouldn't really need any kind of an introduction but he's getting one anyway. he fronts a band called oxbow. maybe you've heard of them. he was also in a band called whipping boy. he's an author. he's a journalist. he has a podcast (ozy confidential). you can see him on the youtubes (the eugene s. robinson show stomper!). he's a fight aficionado. what more do you want to know? are you writing a fucking book?!
so without further ado let's make mr. robinson* feel at home and enjoy his picks.

*=don't even try any of that simon & garfunkel crap here,kid.

"Willie Nelson: September Song: the thing that rock and roll doesn't do well? Age. I find the process of aging much more monumentally heavy than anything that was driving me during my late 1970's entry into punk rock. And this song, a standard? Jesus H. Christ. Mighty. And terrifying. And heartbreaking. Which is every thing great music  sometimes is and should always be."

"Elvis Presley: I'll Never Let You Go (Little Darlin'): I share Eddie Murphy's love for this man. The lope of this song hints at a future very different than the future he actually had. and in the last 30 seconds when it morphs into some early rockabilly it's a nice dynamic and a nice nod to one of Elvis' least loved hits."






"Scott Walker: Clara: he's dead. Before his time. Breaks my heart. As does this song."

"The Make-Up: We're Having a Baby: now morphed into some version of Chain and the Gang ...I find it curious how anti-success Ian has been but almost every single one of his ideas seems to have some sort of serious genius attached to them. Though it's even more curious how not happy it seems to make him. Doesn't matter ultimately. This sort of Neo-Prince take? Fuck. Love it."

"The Lively Ones: Surf Rider: from the Pulp Fiction soundtrack...isn't it strange how much heat Tarantino is getting these days? It hasn't really taken hold but it's funny to watch him wake up and discover he's somehow part of the establishment. and just another rich, white cat whose bonafides people are perfectly comfortable shitting on. Hipster today, swine tom'w....yeah, we eat our young. But I still like him. And this song. Not the percussive attack of the recently departed Dick Dale but nice So Cal swagger."

Sham 69: Whose Generation: I don't know why the first words I wanted to use when describing this pick were "guilty pleasure" but maybe it's because of how significantly those Hersham boys stumbled in various comeback attempts. Doesn't change the fact that the record this is off, Tell Us the Truth, is a great soundtrack for either getting your head kicked in or kicking someone's head in. And this fairly psychedelic song, as those things go, was a nice zig to that era's typical zag.

"Tricky: Black Coffee: I saw Tricky once. Was so excited when he broke into a Slick Rick cover that I started singing along. Which probably would have been fine if I hadn't been standing in the front row. At first he was pleased that I recognized it but into the second verse he was annoyed and I suddenly realized I was one step removed from that FreeBird guy. I shut my mouth, enjoyed the rest of the show in silence. And shame. Happy though that he didn't kick me to death as it was very clear to me that he was a Muay Thai guy. Means nothing to anyone else but for me as both a singer and a martial artist I really felt I should have known better. But I love Slick Rick so much I couldn't help it."

"The Cadillacs: From This Day On: you don't like Doo-Wop? You're missing one of life's great delights. Not many vocal histrionics but still a way to deliver a love song that doesn't make you feel cheeseball for liking it."


"Judas Priest: Freewheel Burning: I love shit that I cannot do that's done better than I could ever imagine myself doing it. Motorcycles, heat, leather and full-on hysteria. Through in the homosexuality? Hands down one of the best metal songs EVER."






"Afghan Whigs: Brother Woodrow/Closing Prayer: in the past in a curious turn of events and in the midst of an evening of tremendous debauchery a music industry turned to me and apropos of nothing said, "You know OXBOW reminds me a lot of Afghan Whigs." He never mentioned this again and in the clarity of the passing days I was unsure if he had ever said this so I tracked them down and listened. Any band that they use words like "louche" to discuss (Barry Adamson comes to mind) I'm prone to like but I dig these cats. Now this song has no vocals on it but that's why I dig it, though I do also like Dulli: I can sing whatever I want when it's playing and sure as shit...it sounds like OXBOW."

Victory Hands - Bishop

Label: Headphone Treats
Year: 2019

This newest Victory Hands release marks their third record, and first 12", continuing their strange trip into the far corners of the Nixon administration via a mathy monorail of concise post hardcore-ish agitations. We've covered this modus operandi in the two previous write-ups on the band, but it bears repeating so as not to undersell the sheer bizarreness of it all; you see, Victory Hands are releasing records based on a journalist who was on President Nixon's Master List of Political Opponents (capitalized on account of it being an actual document), and mining declassified transcripts of the Nixon Tapes as the sole basis for 100% of the lyrical content.
Absurd, wouldn't you agree?
Generally, when you encounter a novelty act of whatever stripe, they have one shot at making you chuckle. Any output after their debut release is always going to suffer diminishing returns, as the....well...novelty, has worn thin. But you see, Victory Hands is no novelty. They are an actual functioning, creative, band that prioritizes musicality and precision playing first and foremost. It's no joke. Weird? Yeah, it's weird for sure. But this is no gimmick. They prove it by this very record, the strongest to date in an already impeccable discography.
Jim Bishop, for whom we are indebted on the occasion of this record, was best known as an author and biographer, but his syndicated column (that according to his obituary, took on average 35 minutes to write) is what landed him on the wrong side of the Nixon Administration. Victory Hands pay homage to Mr. Bishop with six terse, restless numbers. They at times uncoil as Drive Like Jehu would, at other times they scratch around the murk not unlike Slint, and in moments they convulse like Rodan would, but they remain accessible by way of melodious undercurrents that humanize the prickly instrumentation. They can challenge and prod, but the songs are never unapproachable. Always enjoyable. And isn't that the point? Usually? Even when you're chronicling one of the high water marks of Cold War insanity; the so-called "Kitchen Debate" between (then vice president) Nixon and Nikita Khruschev at the opening American International Exposition in Moscow, July 24th, 1959 whereupon the two statesmen debated communism and capitalism in a model kitchen exhibit (you should look it up...it's fucking nuts), Victory Hands weave the subject matter through a compelling snarl of rock music. Dudes are not amateurs here.

Sidebar: you really do have to hold the actual record in your hands, the craftsmenship of the packaging matches the music perfectly. It's odd, and not straight forward, but it ultimately unfolds into a beautiful document, appointed with impressive detail. Seriously, it's well worth owning a physical copy.

DL

slayer - undisputed attitude (japanese edition)

released: 1996
label: bmg/american recordings

you know slayer.
you like slayer.
some of you even like slayer post SEASONS IN THE ABYSS.
and that's ok because FUCKIN' SLAYER!
what this here thing is is slayer covering some good ol' fashioned hardcore and punk rock.
there's even a few originals thrown into the mix.
so.
with all of that being said.....

1 - disintegration/free money (verbal abuse)
2 - verbal abuse/leeches (verbal abuse)
3 - abolish government/superficial love (t.s.o.l.)
4 - can't stand you (pap smear)*
5 - ddamm (pap smear)*
6 - guilty of being white (minor threat)
7 - i hate you (verbal abuse)
8 - filler/i don't want to hear it (minor threat)
9 - spiritual law (d.i.)
10 - sick boy (g.b.h.)+
11 - mr. freeze (dr. know)
12 - violent pacification (d.r.i.)
13 - memories of tomorrow (suicidal tendencies)+
14 - richard hung himself (d.i.)
15 - i'm gonna be your god (the stooges)
16 - gemini
*=a side project that guitarist jeff hanneman had with dave lombardo and suicidal tendencies' guitarist rock george
+=found only on this version

DL

v/a - clone: play slow,die fast vol. 1&2

released: 2009
label: blind date records

what we have here,ladies and gentlemen,are some doomy and sludgy bands doomin' and sludgin' up some of your favorite classic jams.

and by the looks of ya you don't really seem to mind some doom and sludge.
remember that person you took to prom back in high school?
definitely doomy and sludgy.
yikes.
at least you went to prom.
i spent my prom night in the basement wearing a dress AND a tuxedo drinking nyQuil smoothies and watching FRIENDS.
could i have been any cooler?
probably.
ok.
if you'll excuse me i just made a fresh batch of nyQuil smoothies and FRIENDS is on.
it's the one with the orgy.
good times.

vol. 1:
1 - salome - blueprint (fugazi)
2 - the austrasian goat - mask (bahaus)
3 - atavist - mindless (infest)
4 - coffins - ebony tears (cathedral)
5 - monarch! - a look at tomorrow (discharge)
6 - la cuenta - it's in my blood! (bl'ast)
7 - fistula - dead in a ditch/suit and tie guy intro (d.r.i.)
8 - h.c. minds - black machine (cirith ungol)

vol. 2:
1 - moloch - lightning strikes twice (rorschach)
2 - on pain of death - troops of doom (sepultura)
3 - golden gorilla - absentee debate (unbroken)
4 - aguirre - like weeds (his hero is gone)
5 - loss - the fog (goatlord)
6 - thou - well fed fuck (born against)
7 - shadow of the torturer - judgement of the dead (pagan altar)
8 - hey colossus - institutionalized (suicidal tendencies)

DL

shiny grey takeover - number two - thomas rusnak

welcome to the second edition of the shiny grey takeover.

today's contestant goes by the name thomas rusnak. you've heard of him. you know what he does. you know who he's associated with but i'm going to mention it anyway:

rorschach
kiss it goodbye
playing enemy
poison idea

so without further ado let's make mr. rusnak feel welcome and enjoy his picks.

phantogram - when i'm small

'When I'm Small" was recorded in a remote barn in upstate New York. That is not the same barn that the Insex movies were recorded in, but in the same general area."

beck - asshole

Buried deep on the album "One Foot In The Grave" is the song "Asshole"

helms alee - pinniped

"Pinniped", from the "Sleepwalking Sailors" LP was recorded at Studio Litho. That's two of the best things ever about Seattle together."

scratch acid - flying houses

"It isn't possible to kick more ass than this in three minutes."

KEN mode - batholith

"Bastrolith", because only KEN mode could invoke the ghost of Bastro."




high on fire - fertile green

"Ironically, possibly the only band from the stoner rock genre that doesn’t sound like a lesser version of Sleep."




LCD soundsystem - all my friends

"Best song of 2007? Maybe."

alice donut - roaches in the sink

"Check out the new Alice Donut documentary “Freaks In Love” on Prime."





motorpsycho - ship of fools

"When hardcore goes prog rock and it actually works."




slint - cortez the killer (neil young cover)

"This might be better than the original, which is not something one says lightly of this particular song."