we here at the shiny grey monotone would like to welcome our new neighbor

ladies and gentleman...we present you...colostomy grab-bag

and he'd like to show you some of his wares...both tupper and others

but we should warn you...when he brings out the mcfeely...well...that's truly when the party starts

and we know what you're thinking: how can you warn us about a party?...aren't parties supposed to be fun and exciting?...a thing filled with pinatas and beverages and snacks and smiles from ear to ear?

well...you can choose to live behind that cloak of denial...or you can just accept the fact that before this party is over...you'll come to on the floor of a room covered in plastic with a poster of a unicorn on the wall...and instead of not knowing why that bucket of crisco is hanging in the corner...be fully aware that it was there to only assist...assist in what you may be asking yourself...well...seeing as how you've already signed that non-disclosure agreement...we can go no further

and don't forget to bring the kids...there's a petting zoo...the irony being that we're not allowed within 100 feet of one...what to do what to do?

so...please join us in welcoming our special neighbor...he'll fill you with so much metal...you know that you'll never make it past airport security

there's robotussin and m&ms in the back...enjoy

there's a difference between "waking up" and "coming to"

Colossamite - Economy Of Motion

Year: 1998

Label: Skin Graft

Here's the sole full length release by Minneapolis (by way of Wisconsin) band Colossamite, which was known at the time as "ex-Dazzling Killmen" because they featured vocalist/guitarist Nick Sakes of that band. And while Dazzling Killmen might be a pretty good reference point to start comparisons (Zenigeva might be another), it really doesn't do much to justice to the three guitar, no distortion sound this band were proponents of. There is no bass here. None. Zip. Zero. There are those three, count 'em, three guitars I mentioned a second ago playing as loudly and cleanly as possible. There are thundering drums, and shouted vocals, but no bass, and three motherfucking guitars going at once. Sans distortion pedals. Did I mention that? Yes? Well, shit man, think about that for a second, based on your arrival at this blog, I can only assume you like it thick and heavy (that's what she said), and now you're being confronted by this anomaly. This three axed, lurching, shifting, spasming, crawling monster that fore goes the use of modern guitar tactics in lieu of a troublingly loud, sharp blast. 

If you think you got the cajones, then give it a whirl, but don't say I didn't warn you. There is no bass, and no distortion on this record. There, now I can proceed with a clear conscious.

DL

v/a - a small group of friends: a germs tribute

released in 1996

some folks doing their best germs impersonations

did you know: belinda carlisle (the go-gos) was the band's second drummer? (playing under the name "dottie danger")...though she never got to play with them live because she caught "the kissing disease"...she then went on to start the go-gos (and they were originally called the misfits...could you picture her singing "mommy?...can i go out and KILL TONIGHT"...adorable....)

1 - nofx - forming
2 - free kitten - sex boy
3 - melvins - lexicon devil
4 - the holez - circle one*
5 - d generation - no god
6 - j mascis/mike watt - what we do is secret
7 - ruined eye - land of treason
8 - the posies - richie dagger's crime
9 - o-matic - strange noises
10 - white flag - manimal
11 - that dog. - we must bleed
12 - flea - media blitz
13 - sator - the other newest one
14 - wrens - let's pretend
15 - matthew sweet - dragon lady
16 - gumball - caught in my eye
17 - meat puppets - not all right
18 - puzzled panthers - now i hear the laughter
19 - L7 - lion's share
20 - monkeywrench - shutdown**

*=pat smear with hole

**=after the song there's about a minute of silence...and then the band hovercraft (an instrumental trio that at one time had pearl jams' eddie vedder playing drums...he was married to the band's bass player beth liebling for six years...though together for sixteen) stretches out the previously played "shutdown" to sixteen minutes...and then followed by a short spoken word piece by poet drew blood

http://www.mediafire.com/?miy9aibv99j

fight amp - hungry for nothing

released 2008

some bands have no qualms in letting it be known that they wear their unsane/steve albini/amphetamine reptile heart on their sleeves

some of the bands aren't so good (you know who you are)...some of the bands nail it

this band is of the latter category

the band formerly known as fight amputation...these four new jersey-ites punish their instruments as if they'd caught them breaking into their house at 2:00am

think the jesus lizard rhythm section playing the melvins in a basement in a house in the town that "kerosene" built

confused?

i'll put the musical thesaurus away

http://www.mediafire.com/?m44jiimz2n2

Bastro - Rode Hard And Put Up Wet ep

Year: 1998

Label: Homestead

James Joyce carries with him a mysterious and terrible sway over my psyche, and his biddings are my only will. If he requests more Bastro, I have but no other recourse than to immediately post more Bastro. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven!

So here you are, the first Bastro release, an ep recorded as a duo, utilizing the teutonic services of a drum machine (oh, by the way, Big Black called...) and practicing the ebb and flow of early math rock. Like I said in the previous post, this band started out much more raw, aggresive, and clearly in awe of Big Black.

Back to James Joyce for a moment. If you have any interest in the history of contemporary music in Atlanta (i.e. late 80's and forward) check out his blog, chances are there are some bands on there that you either new from a house show in your old college town, or had no idea were from Atlanta.

http://beyondfailure.blogspot.com/

* Link fixed 11.24.09

DL

Bastro - Sing The Troubled Beast

Year: 1990

Label: Homestead

Everything everyone ever says about Bastro goes something like this; "David Grubs...post Squirrel Bait...Washington D.C....Bitch Magnet...pre Gastr Del Sol...drummer for Tortoise and Sea and Cake...math rock". So that's pretty much it. You know what you need to know in order to make an informed decision as to whether or not you will pilfer this download. Goodnight and god bless.

I will say this one other thing before I leave you to the music. Bastro started as one type of band (an extension of the mathmatical pounding practiced by Squirrel Bait [who also offered up Slint as it's other offspring]) and ended as something else entirely (the more restrained and dynamic melancholy of the future Gastr Del Sol), and this record was the transition between the two. Yeah, it's still a "math rock" record, but as the album progresses you begin to hear a wider palette of sounds, and dare I say, melody. Drag City repackaged his album with it's predecessor Bastro Diablo Guapo on one cd a few years ago, but that first album was more abrasive and more...how do you say..."Chicago" in it's approach, so I think presenting Sing The Troubled Beast on it's own merits is more interesting.  

DL

we here at shiny grey monotone would like to take this opportunity to say "thanks" and "we're glad you like the product" and "you look very pretty today. would you like to attend the box social with us?"

we'll continue bringing you the stuff...if you continue to have useless space on your hard drive that you feel the need to cram things into

and for those of you that could care less for such things...we'll be sending a one david yow over to your house/apartment/parent's basement...and he's going to show you what being tight and shiny is all about

once again...thank you for your patronage

oh...and before we go...we'd like to point out thay we're branching out into the blogosphere once again...be on the look out for the colostomy grab-bag...the link is over to the right (no no...the other way)...postings there will be appearing soon...but for now...we've prepared a few things for you all to watch....so go on...take a peek

thank you for reading

there's kool-aid and cheese on the card table in the back

enjoy

lunachicks - pretty ugly

released in 1997

my brown eye's blue from so much lovin'....

these four new yawk ladies starting pushing out a ramones/MC5-ish punk rock mash in 1987

thurston moore and kim gordon were in the audience for their first show and got them signed to the england based blast first records

led by future model theo kogan...these ladies had no problem mixing their feminism with potty humor with songs about transexuals ("mr. lady")...the death of a pet ("the day squid's gerbil died")...failed relationships ("don't want you")...pms ("@#%")...and donuts ("mmm donuts")

during their time together...they released six albums (this being their fourth)...they've been on hiatus since 2000...but reunited for two shows in '02 and '04

http://www.mediafire.com/?jwhxdn1wmle

house of large sizes - self-titled

released in 2002

this husband and wife team (singer/guitar player dave deibler and bass player/back up singer barb schlif are married)...along with various drummers out of cedar falls,ia started playing together back in 1986 while in college...making a pixies/flaming lips type noise

i lived in iowa back in the early 90's...and i remember seeing them play on some local tv station's news show...and i remember being struck by how thick the bass sounded...and that they were too good to be from iowa...i mean...all iowa had was idiots out wandering around...but what did i know?

during their fifteen years together...they released eight albums


http://www.mediafire.com/?qlj2eklteqj

v/a - some ep

released in 1986

don't really know all that much about this...i came across it looking up stuff on the band the bar-b-que killers

it's made up of four bands from athens,ga...and from what i've read...it didn't get much exposure outside of there

athens was seattle before seattle was seattle

1 - bar-b-que killers - chester drawers
2 - mercyland - amerigod
3 - time toy - window sill
4 - eat america - hands of murmansk

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