RFTC - PAINT AS A FRAGRANCE

I've come to hate music so much.

The pretentiousness of it, the pretentious love of it.
Don't get me wrong, I like lots and lots of music and there's lots of music that's especially relevant to me or means something to me becuzza my memories and where/when the music and I was. I even discover music I've never heard before that rocks my socks off or now and again hear something Completely New! that blows my mind.
Like the first time I heard Sonic Youth's '4 Tunna Brix' Peel session where they did those Fall covers, or this Swedish blackened crust band called Slaktrens who're so frigging great and a fairly new discovery for me or for that matter Emmylou Harris' 'Roses in the Snow' record that does it for me every time and has done so for years and probably will for years to come.

I won't even get started on "world" music.

There is so much good music, really.

And AIDS Wolf broke up, which really does make me a little sad.
I can still remember the first time I heard Chinese Roulette.. holy fuckin' wowzers, man.
Their last record sounded like everything that Sonic Youth was never intent on or possibly even capable of, and on Ma Vie Banale Avant-Garde they gave us the funkiest, scariest, saturday-morning textured jams this side of James Brown and Melt Banana.
I've read Chloe Lum's words on the state of the union; about how fucked it is.. I'm feeling it but I think it pertains to more than just the noisy and noisiest of rock and does extend inta all dat existential/sociopolitic/cultcha shit that's eating away at the lot of us, and you know it is.. it's eat or be eaten, so feed yourselves right and keep the space you have with some room at the table... and all that.

The worlds a mess, it's in our kiss.

I actually still love music a lot, and whole lot at that, and so, I want to share this, and this is probably my favourite Rocket From the Crypt record, out of several favourite Rocket From the Crypt records - Paint as a Fragrance!


Enjoy.

Steel Pole Bath Tub - Venus In Furs 7"

Label: Communion Label
Year: 1991

As the years go on, I seem to circle back around to the Velvet Underground more and more often. Like every couple of months I go through another Velvet Underground "phase", and bother my wife with incessant plays of Loaded and White Light White Heat. I try to explain that the beauty of the band is that they are basically two awesome bands in one; the Lou Reed poppy stuff, and the John Cale art drone. And they are both equally awesome (which version of Velvet Underground do you prefer?)!
So, as I am currently into one of by bimonthly (lunar-based of course) phases, this Steel Pole Bath Tub 7" featuring not one, but two, pretty faithful Velvet Underground covers seems appropriate. Yes?

DL

The Ton-Ups - Kill Me Slow 7"

Label: Mans Ruin

Year: 1997

Twangy garage sleaze from...Brooklyn (admittedly, years before that borough was known for much outside of hip hop and greaseballs)? Also, as long as we're making admissions, the guys in The Ton-Ups had been at it in various dirtball bands since the first half of the 80's, so they were no amateurs. Bands like The Shrubs, The Jack Rubies, aaaaand (here's the connection) Crawlpappy, Barkmarket, and Gin Mill. Oh yeah, and Interpol. Seriously, Interpol.

DL

Subculture - I Heard A Scream

Label: Fartblossom / No Core
Year: 1985

In the midst of some hometown nostalgia-cum-old-band-reunion talk around these parts (the parts in question having originated in Winston-Salem, North Carolina [New Start Posse!] mind you), and that, by default is going to eventually circle back to the O.G. Winston-Salem hardcore band, Subculture. Amidst the Bloodmobiles, and No Labels, and Stillborn Christians, and Ugly Americans, and yes, even Corrosion Of Conformity's, there was our own Subculture.
Mix together the straight ahead hardcore of Minor Threat with the nastiness of Corrosion Of Conformity, maybe Void, thrown in some of the goth-ish elements of early T.S.O.L., and you get Subculture more or less.
While Winston-Salem's biggest musical export, Let's Active, was making alliances with R.E.M, Subculture was making alliances with C.O.C. and making regular trips to Raleigh and Durham to play with the hardcore bands sprouting up there, which eventually would lead to Simon Bob Sinister drawing the cover art, and Reed Mullin producing and singing back-ups (along with Woody Weatherman as well). The band even got out and toured around a couple of times, oddly enough with NOFX, and garnered good reviews, but eventually split after recording a second album that was never released.
They went on to play in other bands, most notably, Kevin Collins singing for Double Negative (some 20 years later!), but also bands like Erectus Monotone, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Days Of, and others.
Fucking essential.
More on Winston-Salem hardcore's second generation to come (I'm sure you can't wait)

*Originally posted 02.01.12
* Re-up'd again...04.29.12

DL

PJ HARVEY - GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL, 1995

PJ friggin' Harvey! To my senses, she's never put out a shit record and for a musical artist who does pretty much exist in the mainstream she's maintained her consistency by continually changing what she does, and continually doing that well, while keeping her craft distinct enough to be recognizable as herself.

Also, working with other great musicians to communicate what she's attempted so far counts for a lot as well; with Rob Ellis and Steve Vaughn as the 'Rid of Me' band they produced a mainstream punk record that in some ways seems even more meaningful than 'Nevermind'. Harvey's take on Dylan's 'Highway '61' is just about as great as Patti Smith owning Van Morrison's 'Gloria' on Horses.

But holy shit, this isn't about 'Rid of Me'; I'm talking about what she did to engage herself next with 'To Bring You My Love'. She took the punk band and built a cabaret theater around it all so as to become "The Voodoo Blues Queen and the Lovely Evil Band"; imagine if the child of Diamanda Galas and Screamin' Jay Hawkins actually incarnated as a woman from the English countryside who Lovvves Captain Beefheart.

For me, 'To Bring You My Love' is my favourite PJ Harvey "era", and this an excellent representation of that.

Enjoy!

PJ Harvey - Like at Glastonbury, 1995

YOWZERS!

David Yow. Looking a 'lil John Lydon up there. Or something.

The name summons images of sweat and screaming, Olympic class crowd-surfing and frontal male nudity; cookie dough and food colouring; LSD and Texas; visceral and biting poetic ruminations on modern life and artfully wrought strings of profane bullshit smeared on everything including the walls; an almost gothic sense of Americana and a sort of good ol' boy urbanity; it's intelligence having coffee and cigarettes with absurdity; maybe even some of the very best things about the USA. Maybe?

Take a good look at the art he's producing these days right here.

The pastiche I present comes from a good few sources and includes most of the official collaborative efforts so far from Mr. Yow and accounted company save for his performance with the Didgits from an independent film and his track with Randy Wilson on the b-side of the Duelin' Firemen split single with the Boredoms.

I've included some live cuts, like Rapeman's live cover of ZZ Tops 'Just Got Paid' where he's present at the mic, howling along with Albini, in the way that he howls, amounting to at that particular point an 'almost' Scratch Acid reunion with Steve Albini on guitar; there's the live Cop Shoot Cop track where he's there singing their 'Money Drunk' on the last song of their set; there's even him singing with Local H on a train-wreck rendition of a Chicago song. Huge fun.

There's even his commentary on Tool's 'Schism', which is fucking gold.

This compilation includes:

00 Wrekmeister Harmonies - Pittsburgh (live)
01 Ventura - It's Raining on One of My Islands
02 Melvins & Yow - Blockbuster (the Jesus Lizard; btw, Sims' sang tJL's version on record.)
03 'Schism' Commentary
04 Ventura - le Petit Chaperon Beige
05 Pigface - The Bushmaster
06 Haze XXL - Infestation of Buffalo
07 Model/Actress - The Nodder
08 Haze XXL - White Boy
09 Geronimo - Facepeeler
10 Scratch Acid - the Greatest Gift (Metal Moo Cow version)
11 Melvins & Yow, Godzik Pink - Dry Drunk
12 Alexander Hacke - All American Happy Hour
13 David Yow - One Dyin' and a Buryin' (live Roger Miller cover)
14 Cop Shoot Cop - Money Drunk (live)
15 Pigface - Bushmaster (remix)
16 Helmet - Custard Pie (Led Zeppelin cover)
17 Local H - 25 or 6 to 4 (live Chicago cover)
18 Melvins & Yow - Smells Like Teen Spirit (live Nirvana cover)
19 Melvins & Yow - Okie From Muskogie (live Merle Haggard cover)
20 Rapeman & Yow - Just Got Paid (live ZZ Top cover)


YOWZERS!

cardinale - 31:13

released 2006

are you a fan of palindromes?

have you ever listened to the song "in-a-gadda-vida" and found yourself wondering what it would sound like if...oh..i don't know...neurosis and pelican combined into one band and put out their own version? (just without the drum and organ solo)

well...

also of note...this is the band's only recorded output...and they're linked to the bands dragbody and employer,employee and sea of thousand (it's ok to pretend that you know who they are)

DL: 31:13

choke their rivers with our dead - 2002 tour demo

i came across these boys and girl from charlotte,nc back in the mp3.com days (remember that site?...when i'd read that it was "going out of business"...man...i treated it as if it were a 12 year old hairless vietnamese boy)

this was a self-released 4 song cd that was handed out whilst the band toured (though i had to send off for one)

and if'n you dig practically anything released on the robotic empire label (namely: city of caterpillar...pageninetynine...stop it!!)

the band broke up back in '03 i do believe...frontwoman cristina is now involved in two blip-blip-bleep-bleep type of bands (sonic death rabbit and wet mango)

as for the rest of the band...*shrugs*

(and if there are any hairless vietnamese boys out there that took some offense to my previously made comment...i do apologize...and to make up for any hard feelings...i've gone ahead and adopted a few of you)

DL: choke their rivers with our dead

Trans Am - Peel Session - 02-22-00

Label: Bootleg
Year: 2000

Three songs, even though four were broadcast. Where's the fourth one? I don't know, why don't you find it and place it at my feet when you do? Fair?
Trans Am are a tenuous proposition, they an easily over-think an idea and run it into the ground, or, they can lock into a groove so potent you want them to keep running on it for days. It might depend on how German you are as to how much you appreciate their style. My last name is "Kiser" by the way...so...sorta German.
On this recording Trans Am have their guitars turned way up, and the drums are set to "bombastic" mode for a good portion of the set, which means an overly rockin' version of their selections. I'm always up for overly rockin', everybody knows that. For real, ask anybody. Ask that guy there, the one right there, he knows.

DL

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