Saturday, December 27, 2008

C-Rayz Waltz - Ravipops (2003)

While he touches upon the same socially conscious topics labelmate Mr. Lif
[1] does, C-Rayz Walz comes from a refreshingly more personal and humble
angle. Family, home life, and the day-to-day struggle are topics that show up
on /Ravipops/, an album title that represents Walz's status as father to the
newborn Ravi and a new alias for the rapper. A corrupt and oppressive world
has often been a topic for underground rap; seeing it through the less
self-centered eyes of a father is what gives the album its allure and makes
Walz seem all the more genuine. Don't think Walz has bought his Cosby [2]
sweater and clamped down. He boasts, sings the praises of weed, and cusses
all over the album, and his distaste for the status quo is obvious.


[1] http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:jnfqxq9jld0e
[2] http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:0ifrxq95ldhe

The Cool Kids - Bake Sale (2008)

Despite reams of online hype and commercial anticipation, the release of the
Cool Kids' debut EP still radiated sonic excitement, a blast at once sharp,
funny, and intimate. Here, after all, is a triumph of absolute aestheticism.
The name fulfills itself, not just in that these kids do seem pretty cool
(all 16-bit name-drops and shoe talk), but because musically each moment
— each immaculately chosen drum hit, each spare sci-fi sonic
embellishment, each depth-charge punch line — is precision-placed for
maximum efficacy. Which is to say, though the point may be a bit moot,
maximum coolness.

Sunday, December 07, 2008

James White & The Blacks - Off White (1979)

For /Off White/, *James Chance*, a veteran of New York's avant-garde no wave
scene, recast his seminal band *the Contortions* as a parody of a soul band,
albeit one incorporating the rhythms of disco and funk rather than R&B. Thus,
Chance became James White (as a nod to James Brown), the Contortions became
the Blacks, and his music, previously a twisted, experimental brand of
avant-jazz, became a disco/funk/free jazz hybrid. As bizarre as the fusion of
*Albert Ayler* and *Giorgio Moroder* might sound, /Off White/ works primarily
because Chance commits to both sides of the music. The disco rhythms,
especially on /"Almost Black, Pt./

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

VA - Buenos Aires Late (2008)

In lieu of a post card, here's a little musical greeting from my current
place of residence, Buenos Aires. This compilation by Random Records
features the usual suspects of the vibrant electronic tango scene, Gotan
Project, Tanghetto, and Otros Aires, as well as some more unusual remixes.
While electronic tango as a genre has become more accesible over the years
and moved from the clubs to background music in restaurants and clothing
boutiques (similar to the Nouvelle Vague phenomenon), this heavily remixed
compilation has some bite to it and is thoroughly grounded in dub.
Recommended not just for newcomers to the genre, but also those who enjoyed
the early Gotan Project remixes and have been left disappointed by the
watered down releases since.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Mecca Normal - Dovetail (1992)

One of the lesser known albums of the Canadian duo *David Lester* and *Jean
Smith*, but probably my favorite. Lester is at his best here, with artfully
improvised distorted guitar work, accompanied by Smith's trademark voice that
somehow manages to be both harsh and sweet at the same time. There are quite
a few Mecca Normal albums that become boring after a few minutes for the lack
of variety, but this album is short and entertaining. If you have a single
guitar and vocals it's hard to find the sweet spot between too avantgarde and
too folky, but Mecca Normal hit it perfectly.

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Crispy Ambulance - The Plateau Phase (1982)

Originally released by /Factory Records/ in 1982, this 1999 re-issue adds the
1981 two track EP, "Live On A Hot August Night", which incidentally is not
live at all, and the decidedly improvised single "Sexus". This ambitious and
sometimes hypnotic collection of music is one of the finer early 80's
post-punk albums, though it is certainly more difficult to get into than many
of its peers, partially due to the long songs (many of which are
instrumental) and experimentation.  It really takes a couple listens and the
proper mood for the whole album to unfold and start making sense.  It has
been fairly common to compare the music itself to some early *Public Image
Limited*, but Crispy Ambulance was really doing their own thing.  I would
however, classify this along with PiL as "experimental" post-punk, not for
those with a short attention span or narrow-mind.

Buzzcocks - Spiral Scratch EP (1977)

One of the very first UK punk albums, the Buzzcocks' /Spiral Scratch/ is
also one of the best. Four songs in ten minutes, played at full speed and
releasing the full venom of Devoto's sneery vocals onto an unsuspecting
public, their debut EP instantly changed the landscape, influencing countless
other bands in the process. Yes, the Sex Pistols came slightly before them,
but the difference between the two bands is obvious; where the Sex Pistols
were out to shock to draw attention to their political message, the Buzzcocks
channeled that energy into accessible pop songs, arguably inventing the
pop-punk genre which wasn't picked up again until much later, and in a rather
watered down, overproduced fashion.

This EP includes the two Buzzcocks classics, /Breakdown /and /Boredom/, and
is a must for fans of 1977 UK punk. It's a mere 10mb, so unless you already
own this piece of history there's really no excuse not to download this.

Black Randy & The Metrosquad - Pass the Dust, I Think I'm Bowie (1980)

Black Randy and his Metrosquad were a supergroup of the Hollywood punk era:
the line up included members of the *Randoms*, *Eyes *and *the Dils* as well
as one of the other founding partners of *Dangerhouse*, *David Browne*.
Musically, they were nothing like the hard-fast-loud sound of punk- if
anything they were a '60's Soul/*James Brown* style funk/soul band that
played rather fast. They also had echoes of early *Blondie *and *the Who*,
with there tough and tight rock and roll. They were a funny band, a joke band
in the sense that humor was key to understanding what they were about. The
bands' music, with its circus-like Woolsworth *Doors *organ vibe, played the
collective straight man to Black Randy's drunken, buffoonish, drawling,
sneering voice.

Friday, November 21, 2008

John Frusciante - Smile from the Streets You Hold (1997)

Those who felt that Niandra Lades [1] demonstrated most of all that John
Frusciante seemed to be going over the edge likely thought their suspicions
confirmed when /Smile From the Streets You Hold/ quietly appeared on the
Birdman label in 1997. However, it's not so much an album as it is a
collection of tracks from all over the place, though absolutely nothing about
the packaging or liner notes indicates that. At least one cut, the odd
semi-goth "A Fall Through the Ground," was recorded in 1988, while others
were finished the year of the record's release. Frusciante later confirmed
that in 1997 he was still in the grips of a nasty heroin addiction that he
has since kicked, and backhandedly dismissed the release as being done pretty
much for drug money.


[1] http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=2:NIANDRA|LADES

Monday, November 10, 2008

Golden Palominos - Visions of Excess (1985)

The first in a long series of about-faces and left turns, /Visions of Excess/
forgoes the noise-funk of the Golden Palominos' debut in favor of more
pop-oriented material and staggering lineup of underground luminaries.

Saturday, November 08, 2008

The Stranglers - No More Heroes (1977)

I figured I'd upload an album that's somewhat relevant considering our
current post-election euphoria. This the Stranglers' most popular album, and
while it's faster and more aggressive than their debut album, /Rattus
Norvegicus/, it's hardly punk-rock. It's not even particularly edgy but a
fairly poppy affair, mostly because of the new-wavish synth sounds that are
plastered all over this record. That doesn't mean it's a poor album, far from
it, but a lot of people are disappointed when they first hear it after having
seen it mentioned in nearly all "definitive guides" on punk, but that really
has more to do with the time and place they came to fame than anything else.
What did set them apart from other punk acts of the time were the rather
clever and humoresque lyrics, which admittedly sound a bit dated now.

 

Friday, October 24, 2008

Mission of Burma - Onoffon (2004)

This wasn't supposed to happen. After breaking up in 1983, Mission of Burma
spent almost 20 years as the band who went away before they could get stale,
run out of ideas, or lose their edge, but they weren't supposed to come back.
No one figured them to re-emerge on-stage in 2002 for a series of reunion
shows in which they would not only sound as strong as ever (if not stronger),
but reaffirm themselves as one of America's great rock bands, an ensemble of
uncommon intelligence, imagination, and force. But most startling of all, few
could have guessed that Mission of Burma would return to the recording studio
and emerge with an album that stands comfortably beside the striking recorded
legacy they left behind in their earlier incarnation.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Olivia Tremor Control - Dusk at Cubist Castle (1996)

The world will never know just how many potentially great pop albums have
been lost to misguided attempts at innovation. Though the implementation of
unexpected song structures and ostensibly experimental sounds can make music
quite a bit more interesting, it can also render it sterile, flat and
emotionless. In many cases, the finest pop songs are those that transcend
their form entirely-- songs so instinctually graceful that listening to them
feels like a creative act in and of itself. Indeed, the best pop songs are
often the most difficult to discuss rationally, those indispensable not for
their formal inventiveness but for their ability to tap directly into the
intangible realm of human memory and emotion.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Birddog - A Sweet and Bitter Fancy (2001)

Singer-songwriter *Bill Santen* (aka Birddog) doesn't pull any punches on his
third album, /A Sweet and Bitter Fancy/, which includes guest performances by
*Elliott Smith* and *Edith Frost*. Elliott Smith plays drums, piano, and bass
on "Third and South," a jangly, Beatles-esque lo-fi pop song worthy of
Smith's involvement. Edith Frost delivers the backing vocals for
"Rattlesnakes," a country-tingled number sure to get you sipping a few beers
while you sit and take it all in.

The rest of the album is a cocktail of lo-fi, whispery pop, back porch
country, and jangly, layered pop songs, at times intertwining country or
southern influences, while other times relying solely on AM radio pop as the
inspiration.

Animal Collective - Sung Tongs (2004)

On /Sung Tongs/, their first record distributed by /FatCat/, the two-man
*Animal Collective* come on like sun-scorched acid eaters gathered around the
campfire, strumming and grinning while they weave their material out of
cyclical singalongs and tight harmonies. Surprisingly, both for fans as well
as new additions, that marks a much more accessible sound for a group that
had previously probed the outer limits of prog and psychedelia. (Still, back
to basics is the right place for a collective that released three albums in
2003.) Immediately called to mind here are the *Holy Modal Rounders* and, to
a lesser extent, the *Incredible String Band*.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Spacemen 3 - The Perfect Prescription (1987)

Drawing together some earlier material and a slew of new songs, Spacemen 3
tied everything together on the brilliant /Perfect Prescription/, the clear
point of departure from tribute to psych inspirations and finding its own
unique voice. Planned as a concept album, /Perfect Prescription/ works where
so many other similar efforts failed due to the strength of the individual
songs, as well as the smart focus of the concept in question -- a vision of a
drug trip from inception to its blasted conclusion, highs and lows fully
intact. The bookending of the album makes that much clear -- "Take Me to the
Other Side" is a brash, exultant charge into the joys of the experience, a
sharp, tight performance. "Call the Doctor," meanwhile, is a
pretty-but-wounded conclusion, husky singing and a drowsy mood detailing the
final collapse. The many highlights in between beginning and end are so
striking that the album is practically a best-of in all but name.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Dogbowl - Cyclops Nuclear Submarine Captain (1991)

Dogbowl is *Stephen Tunney* and mostly known for being a founding member of
*King Missile* (whom he had left before they got heavy college radio airplay
for a couple of novelty songs). That's a bit of a shame, because he's
released more albums than King Missile ever did, and they're quite a bit
better. Unfortunately for him, few people have ever heard of his solo
material, and the majority of those that do only know him as another artist
on *Kramer*'s /Shimmy Disc/ label.

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Coil - Love's Secret Domain (1992)

Coil’s third album differs greatly from what they did before. Pulling
more into an IDM-direction before IDM existed instead of their previous more
industrial influenced style. Trying to push the envelope as far as possible.
Jhonn Balance actually collapsed after the recording sessions. Unable to
remember who he was.

Cloud Cult - Advice from the Happy Hippopotamus (2005)

Wonderful album by Minnessota's Cloud Cult, which did extraordinarily well
for an independently released album in 2005. Praised by Pitchfork and Pop
Matters, it came out of nowhere to become one of the most played albums on
college radio. So while this hardly qualifies them for "obscure indie", it's
such a brilliant album that I'm not going to hold their relative success
against them. Utterly creative from start to finish, Advice from the
Hippopotamus just makes you sit up and listen, no matter what you might be
doing at the time. Their live shows are also highly recommended, maybe you'll
get a good deal on one of the live paintings they create during the show.

Thursday, October 09, 2008

The Astronauts - Peter Pan Hits The Suburbs (1981)

Inspired by the UK punk explosion, Mark Astronaut formed the band with a few
friends in 1977 and began playing local gigs in their hometown of Welwyn
Garden City. By 1979 *The Astronauts* were regularly appearing at free
festivals and gigs in London organised by a hippy collective known as /Fuck
Off Records/ and from these began a close friendship with London punk bands
*Zounds *and *the Mob*. That year the first Astronauts EP was released on
local label /Bugle Records/ and musically it reflected the hippie drug
culture combined with the energy of punk. '/All Night Party/' still sounds
like the paranoid nightmare it did back then. The record established the
Astronauts on the local gig scene among the non mainstram hippie/punk/biker
crowd. Also in 1979 an ep was released under the assumed name of /Restricted
Hours/ on the /Stevenage Rock Against Racism/ label.

Aroah - The Last Laugh (2004)

*Aroah *goes by the name *Irene Tremblay* off-stage, and sounds a bit like
your typical female troubadors such as *Feist *or *Cat Power*, except there's
a subtle weirdness about her music. It's so subtle you may not notice it if
you're not paying attention, because her airy vocals define the songs for the
most part, but if you listen closely you'll be positively surprised about
some of the creative elements coming from the backing musicians. At times it
sounds a lot like early *Speed The Plough*. /The Last Laugh/ was her
sophomore effort, released two years after her spanish-language debut album
/No podemos ser amigos/, which I may post some time in the future.

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

The National - Boxer (2007)

The National don't do anything radically different on /Boxer/, but then
again, they don't really need to: their literate, quietly anthemic take on
indie rock seemed to have arrived fully formed on their 2001 self-titled
debut. /Boxer/ just hones in even more precisely and intimately on the
heartfelt territory the band covers, with punchy-yet-polished production and
orchestration by the Clogs [1]' Padma Newsome [2] giving these songs an
intimacy and widescreen expansiveness that rivals the Arcade Fire [3].


[1] http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:k9fyxqq0ldte
[2] http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:kbfexqr0ldde
[3] http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:wbfpxqwald0e

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

VA - Our Band Could Be Your Life - a Tribute to D.Boon & the Minutemen (1996)

You can really tell that the *Minutemen *moved their musical scions in all
the right ways with this splendid covers compilation.  33 tracks, and not
one band does a disservice to the Minutemen's legacy!  That's usually not
the case with covers compilations.  Every band on this compilation channels
the heart and politics of our beloved punk heroes perfectly; while also
infusing their own brand of sound.

Monday, October 06, 2008

Yeah Yeah Noh - Leicester Square - The Best Of (2001)

Despite being hatched in the none-too-rock'n'roll environs of Leicester
University (and, apparently, containing alumni from Leicester Poly plus
Birmingham and Liverpool Unis as well) it's curious as to why Yeah Yeah Noh
have so far failed to be awarded the ubercult status of, say, Wire or The
Blue Orchids, considering that they produced virtually the only genuinely
psychedelic music that wasn't retro (allowing for a few exceptions like
Julian, the Television Personalities and the early Mary Chain of course)
during that fallow 1984-86 watershed period in the annals of UK post-punk.
This compilation, cherry picked by lead singer and lyricist Derek Hammond
with assistance from Tim Madgewick, showcases a fine treasure trove of songs
that drew little or no public attention outside their home town bar the
standard accolades fom the John Peel / NME axis.

Saturday, October 04, 2008

Sentridoh - Free Sentridoh Songs from Loobiecore (2002)

Here's another *Lou Barlow* solo album, and again it's lower than lo-fi.
Twenty-three songs with just Lou, his acoustic guitar, and the occasional
whistling and subtle keyboard sounds, probably recorded in his bedroom. There
are some astonishingly good songs on this, or maybe you should call them song
ideas, but whatever you call it it's impossible not to see the genius in some
of them. It's all very raw but strikingly personal, without being depressing.
There are some fillers but also stand-out songs like /Mountain on the Hill/
and /The Devil & The Barbie Doll/.

Family Fodder - Savoir Faire - The Best of Family Fodder (2002)

One of the most obscure new wave bands of the 80s, and one of the very best.
In fact, putting them in the New Wave category is harsh injustice, as they're
far more creative than their peers. Picture a cross of *Blondie*, *This Heat
*and *Devo,* and you're still pretty far off from what this sounds like.

*Family Fodder* released a series of compelling, now collectable singles and
albums between 1979 and 1983. Described as 'entertaining idiosyncratic
experimentalism' with pop sensibilities, they were best known for indie-chart
hits such as 'Debbie Harry', 'Playing Golf (With My Flesh Crawling)' and
'Savoir Faire', More recently, Family Fodder songs have been covered by *Zion
Train* and *Unrest*, and they've been hailed as 'unsung heroes' in The Wire.

Thursday, October 02, 2008

Marine Research - Sounds from the Gulf Stream (1999)

A rather harmless twee pop album by the Ex-*Heavenly* band *Marine Research*.
It does have its charming moments, and features the excellent song /"You and
a Girl"/, which may be the only track on the album that strays from the
beaten path. Released in '99 on K Records, it remained their only full
release.

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

The Upsetters - Upsetters 14 Dub - Blackboard Jungle (2004)

The absolutely amazing re-issue of the classic 1973 /Blackboard Jungle Dub/
by *Lee "Scratch" Perry and the Upsetters*. If you've heard any of the
various releases of this album before, forget what you thought you know about
it. David Katz managed to pull off the impossible and remastered this album
from an original pressing (the master tapes had long been lost), using analog
equipment, and carefully giving it new life. The result is absolutely
astonishing. AMG's David Jeffries is spot on:

RjD2 - Dead Ringer (2002)

His debut LP for Definitive Jux, DJ/producer RJD2's /Dead Ringer/ is a deeply
creative and musically poignant hip-hop record for summer 2002. Creating a
raging underground listenership from a series of 45s and white labels and
being the only non-MC signed to Def Jux, RJD2's talent as a DJ and as
producer, to match beats and lay cult/pop gems over dusty soul tracks, is
paralleled only by people like DJ Shadow [1] and Z-Trip [2].


[1] http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:wnfwxqqgld0e
[2] http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:hpfyxqlhldte

Sunday, September 28, 2008

The Distillers - The Distillers (2000)

If you believe that punk rock started around 1975, the year 2000 would mark
its 25th anniversary. At the end of the 1990s, not many of the early punk
bands were still together -- the Sex Pistols [1], the Clash [2], the Damned
[3], Sham 69 [4], and the Dead Boys [5] had long since broken up. But punk's
influence remained strong; young punk bands were still emerging, and
countless alternative rockers claimed punk as a major influence even if they
weren't punk artists per se.


[1] http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:kifoxqr5ldke
[2] http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:gifqxqw5ldte
[3] http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:difwxqe5ld6e
[4] http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:hifpxqr5ld0e
[5] http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=1:THE|DEAD|BOYS

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Experimental Audio Research - Beyond the Pale (1996)

Recorded in 1992 and promised to appear shortly after /Mesmerised/ [1]'s
release, /Beyond the Pale/ only finally surfaced four years later, on a
completely different label than indicated. Arguably this had something to do
with Kevin Shields [2], who makes his one and only appearance on an E.A.R.
[3] album with the first track, also the title song -- perhaps they had to
remix it to death or something.


[1] http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:wzfyxq8hldfe
[2] http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:wpftxqegldse
[3] http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=1:E.A.R.

Murs - The End of the Beginning (2003)

A ten-year hip-hop veteran, Murs doesn't want to be called an up-and-comer
anymore, and he proves his maturity with one of the most refreshing rap
records in years, an excellent debut for Definitive Jux named /The End of the
Beginning/. Murs has an old-school flow that recalls Ice Cube [1], and unlike
many in underground rap, he's not only got a clever delivery but a lot to
say.


[1] http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:aifrxq95ld6e

Thursday, September 25, 2008

JFA - We Know You Suck: Blatant Localism/Valley of the Yakes (2003)

/We Know You Suck/ compiles J.F.A.'s earliest recordings for the Placebo
label, as well as 12 live and compilation-only tracks. The /Blatant Localism/
[1] EP, so important as an artifact from the initial unification of punk and
skateboarding, appears here in its entirety; it's joined by the /Valley of
the Yakes/ [2] LP, where surf anthems like "Baja" and deceptively simple,
Clash [3]-inspired screeds ("Preppy," "Johnny D.") illustrate the breadth of
J.F.A.'s definitive skatepunk sound. Even if it's plagued by shoddy fidelity,
the live material is nevertheless exciting as it encompasses the band's
youth, aggression, and immediacy.


[1] http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:h9frxqehldhe
[2] http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:j9frxqehldhe
[3] http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:gifqxqw5ldte

7 Seconds - Crew (1984)

This debut long-player from 7 Seconds was released after a series of
seven-inch singles and presents the type of material that made their
reputation as West Coast punk rock figureheads. Recorded several years before
the band ventured off into the uncharted waters of "artistic growth," /The
Crew/ finds the band residing proudly in the blurry confines of all-out
hardcore, with abstract, paste-together riffs for verses and anthemic
sing-along choruses to drive the point home. The sound is thin like it was
recorded in an aluminum tool shed, but the band is tight and clearly
inspired, and Kevin Seconds [1]' vocals are mixed high enough to be easily
discerned (a lyric sheet is included for any words that fall through the
cracks). Subject matter covers classic hardcore concerns like youth power,
friendship, sexism, racism and supporting the scene.


[1] http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:jpfoxqwgld0e

Universal Congress Of - Prosperous and Qualified (1987)

*Joe Baiza*'s Universal Congress Of was one of the first jazz acts to sign on
Hardcore label /SST/, and their breed of furious funk-jazz fit in remarkably
well. /Prosperous and Qualified/ was their second album, and by this time
they' had found their style: garage funk. For a group of punk kids with a
heavy *Ornette Coleman* fixation this sounds pretty funky, danceable and even
melodic, but everyone who has seen them live knows that they were all about
having a good time.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Throbbing Gristle - Throbbing Gristle's Greatest Hits: Entertainment Through Pain (1981)

A compilation of fan favorites and a good intro to a dark, difficult group.
Hamburger Lady has to be one of the most brilliant yet unpleasant pieces of
music ever made. Nothing will ever prepare you for that experience.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Sentridoh - Lou Barlow and his Sentridoh (1994)

Early home-recordings of Sebadoh frontman Lou Barlow under the Sentridoh
moniker. This is very stripped-down lo-fi with just Lou and his guitar. It's
a bit hit and miss, but the hits are good enough to make this a worthwhile
listen.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Nurse with Wound - A Sucked Orange (1989)

A collection of little musical scraps collected over the years by Mr.
Stapleton. Lots of neat of ideas here but they simply don't have the time to
grow and evolve into classic NWW tracks. Still, Stapleton's leftovers are
better than a lot of people's finished work. This record stands on its own as
a collection of sonic dada snippets -- some dark, some hilarious, some
disturbing, and some just plain weird. Titling was half the brilliance ("A
Precise History of Industrial Music"). Great for short attention spans.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Minor Threat - Complete Discography (1989)

/Complete Discography/ compiles Minor Threat's entire body of recordings on a
single compact disc. Hardcore, as a rule, wasn't particularly musically
diverse, but Minor Threat were one of the genre's groundbreaking acts and
their music has held up better than most of their contemporaries. As the de
facto leaders of the Washington, D.C., hardcore scene, the band pioneered the
straight-edge mentality by emphasizing impossibly fast tempos, brief songs,
political lyrics, and a drug- and alcohol-free lifestyle. Besides setting the
precedent for several generations of punk rockers with their music and
ideals, Minor Threat were simply a better band than most hardcore groups.
They had a tight, distinctive sound that wasn't as heavy as their Californian
counterparts and, therefore, were often more bracing and effective.

Eugene Chadbourne - I've Been Everywhere (1988)

This 1988 album, credited to "*Doctor Eugene Chadbourne*," features such gems
as a manic version of *Hank Snow*'s "I've Been Everywhere," a *Buck Owens*
medley, and several strong originals. In addition to the usual answering
machine messages and between-track silliness is Chadbourne's mom's
recollections of Nazi-era Germany, which are interesting but have nothing to
do with the rest of the album, and, in fact, provide a jarring juxtaposition
with the humorous songs. In what must be one of the most fitting
collaborations in Chadbourne's history, the *Legendary Stardust Cowboy*
appears as a guest. /I've Been Everywhere/ is entertaining on many different
levels but very strange. /(AMG)/

Thursday, September 18, 2008

EL-P - High Water (Featuring The Blue Series Continuum) (2004)

El-P's entry into Thirsty Ear's Matthew Shipp [1]-curated /Blue Series/ is a
compelling experiment in genre and sound collision. El-P doesn't rap on this
set, nor does he saturate his mix with a truckload of effects. His
compositions are skeletal frames on which to hang his mixological
architecture of ambitious beats and skeletal samples, creating a tightly
controlled dynamic inside which ambitious music is created. His collaborators
are pianist Shipp [2], bassist William Parker [3], drummer Guillermo E. [4]


[1] http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:j9fixql5ldse
[2] http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:j9fixql5ldse
[3] http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:dpfrxqr5ldfe
[4] http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:09foxq90ldje

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

EL-P - Fantastic Damage (2002)

Of all the boundary-pushing underground hip-hop acts who emerged in the late
'90s, Company Flow [1] was easily among the hardest and least compromising,
spinning highly technical rhymes over buzzing, lo-fi beats with virtually no
concessions to melody or polish. It comes as no surprise that onetime Company
Flow [2] leader El-P's solo debut, /Fantastic Damage/, takes a similar
approach -- yet it's a logical and distinct progression from the sound that
made Company Flow [3] such seminal figures in underground rap. /Fantastic
Damage/ is even more aggressive and confrontational in its approach, and this
time out, El-P himself is solely responsible for the sonic backdrop,
producing the entire record by himself.


[1] http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:dbfyxqthldje
[2] http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:dbfyxqthldje
[3] http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:dbfyxqthldje

G.G. Allin - Always Was, Is, and Always Shall Be (reissue) (1980)

G.G. Allin's debut album is a raging, disturbingly sincere testament to
misogyny; he puts on a virtual clinic demonstrating the word's definition.
Allin views women as mindless instruments of gratification with irritating
desires like interaction. (In "Automatic," he sings "Don't go playing with me
emotionally/Or I will make you bleed internally"). His gender politics are
discussed on nearly every track, which makes the mediocre girl group-style
backing vocals on "Cheri Love Affair" seem all the more out of place. Allin
is backed by a competent band playing Stooges [1]-style riffs, and he himself
is sometimes tuneful; this is enough to make the songs some of his best
musical material. Amazingly enough, the violent hatred, sexual and
psychological degradation, and staggering stupidity only hint at the heights
(or depths) Allin would reach later.


[1] http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:gxfoxqwgldse

Rudy Schwartz Project - Günther packs a stiffy (1995)

The R.S.P. is the nom de disque of Joe Newman, who did most of the writing,
playing and singing on these 20 energetic tracks. One of them is a sly,
touching tribute to Frank Zappa, and fans of the 1970s-era FZ will no doubt
enjoy much of Newman's satiric, sardonic humor -- check out "Yodelin' Satan"
on this CD. But whereas Zappa raised himself on 1950s R&B and avant-garde
classical, Newman is into trash TV, cartoon soundtracks, weird movies,
Yee-Hah cawntry... and *nasty* language; "Enhanced Florence Henderson" is one
of the few cuts I can play on the radio.

Rudy Schwartz Project - Salmon Dave (1993)

One of Rudy's better demo cassettes, finally released now on a glorious
sounding CD. As always features great full color cover art by Roy Tompkins,
and several more songs to be added to the list of Rudy Schwartz's all time
classics, including "I'm No Prude, But Some Things Should Just Be Banned",
"Chick Corea's First Ouija Board" and a 1950's style doo- wop version of the
Police's "Every Breath You Take" that has to be heard to be believed!

The Rudy Schwartz Project - Salmon Dave & Günther packs a stiffy

Two albums compiling early tape-only releases by *Joe Newman*, the wacky
brain behind the *Rudy Schwartz Project*, who keeps mentioning *Frank Zappa*
as often as he can in an apparent attempt to gain exposure by association. Of
course, the only thing he has in common with Zappa is questionable mental
health, but he's managed to receive respect from *Jello Biafra* and *Zoogz
Rift*, so he's doing something right.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

D.I. - Live at a Dive (1993)

With a decade-plus career that roots all the way back before their appearance
in the underground film /Suburbia/, DI [1] have made a landmark in the sound
of Southern California punk to maintain legendary status along with the likes
of Black Flag [2], the Circle Jerks [3], Agent Orange [4] and the Descendants
[5]. And with /Live at the Dive/ these guys can prove that they can still
rock out after over ten years in the business and still compete with the next
generation of whipper snappers -- not doubting that their revolving door
lineup has benefited to their energy.


[1] http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:wxfoxqwsldke
[2] http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:wifixqw5ldse
[3] http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:fifpxqw5ldte
[4] http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:3ifqxqw5ldae
[5] http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:wifoxqlkldde

New Radiant Storm King with Polvo - ...And Then I'm Gone (split single) (1994)

Recorded during sessions for AUGUST REVITAL [1] in Stoughton, Massachusetts
at the *Outpost *by *Tim O'Heir* May, 1994.


[1] http://www.furnacerock.com/html/cd/ar/index.html

Fred Frith - Gravity (1980)

This one of the most important guitar-based, experimental guitar titles from
the avant-guitarist and founding *Henry Cow* member *Fred Frith*. /Gravity/
is the most lighthearted of Frith's solo output, actually. It is Frith's
celebration of dance from all cultures. Perhaps it is the streak of
dance-music appreciation that caused him to collaborate on the musical score
to Sally Potter's /The Tango Lesson/. Percussion is light and largely marked
with handclaps. The guitars sound twangy and bring folk-instrumentation to
mind. Violins and horns add a jubilant feel to the music. Many musicians help
vary the sound of each tracks and some of these guests are from *Samla Mammas
Manna*, *the Muffins*, and *Henry Cow*. /Gravity/ is an entertaining and
multi-cultural pocket folk festival.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Descendents - I Dont Want To Be Bootlegged (2000)

Pretty good quality for a Demo recording.

These songs were taken from the Enjoy sessions, track 4 being the only one that made it on "Red" now called Green. Don't know what the first 3 are called, so neither will you. Enjoy!

Friday, September 05, 2008

Domain working again

The problems appear to have been fixed. You can access the site again at http://whatsthatnoise.org

Attention, domain name problems

http://whatsthatnoise.org is experiencing domain name difficulties. Until this is resolved you can access the site at http://whatsthatnoise.ucoz.com

Friday, August 29, 2008

Pere Ubu - The Story of My Life (1993)


By request, here's another Pere Ubu album from the nineties. Features one of my favorite Ubu songs, "Wasted". This album was released two years after the horrible Worlds In Collision (which AMG for some reason seems to love), and sees David Thomas return to his more creative and playful side. It's still all pretty slick, and especially the annoying echoed drums remind more of stadium rock than art rock. The guitar work by Jim Jones is amazing however, and is stylistically very much in line with early Ubu records.

Overall this is a fairly mediocre Ubu album, which is still too slick for its own good, but it's an important step in the right direction, eventually leading to the return to their roots with 1995's Ray Gun Suitcase. Highlights of this album are the opening track, "Wasted", which starts off like...
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illuminaut Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:27:37 GMT

Saturday, August 23, 2008

The Thermals - Fuckin' A (2004)



The Thermals hail from Portland, and are easily one of my favorite newer bands. Simple and intense punk rock paired with smart, politically charged lyrics, that's just enough in-your-face to keep you dancing wildly, and subtle enough to keep you coming back for repeat listens. Fuckin' A was their second album, and the first to be professionally recorded, without being over-produced. The immediacy of their sound is their biggest strength, and similar to the Pixies they manage to provide a full sound where you can still easily make out all instruments (of which there only are three, plus vocals). Also similar to the Pixies, they have a hot female bass player in Kathy Foster. We'll see if the rest of their career takes a similar path.

Stereo Total - Oh! Ah! (1996)


The first full-length album by German-French electro-mod-chanson band Stereo Total, originally released on cassette in '95, but soon followed by a proper CD release, and again re-released with bonus tracks. Features strange glam-pop covers of 80s disco (Push It!), French chansons, and creative originals (Dactylo Rock being my favorite), mostly sung in German (with a lovely French accent). The title of the album is more of an accident; originally supposed to be untitled, the graphic designer of the cover included some pop-art call-outs, "Oh!" "Ah!", to liven up the design, leading to the eventual adoption as the official album name.

Friday, August 22, 2008

The Dirtbombs - Ultraglide in Black (2001)



Soulpunk from hell! The Dirtbombs cover various lesser known tracks by a bunch of well-known soul shouters (such as Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, and Sly and the Family Stone), and infuse them with as much passion as any of the originals. Detroit garage punk legend Mick Collins of the Gories brought together two drummers and two bass players to accompany him in this project. This is their best album, a raucous fusion of Mo-Town and Garage Rock with an incredible intensity. Their live shows are not to be missed, but if they're not playing in your town soon, this album will do.

Dead Kennedys - Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables (1980)

Not only their first but their signature record.. Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables is a classic in the Punk world. Filled with political and left-wing sound, this record has a lesser production quality then the later albums. Filled with 14 tracks of enjoyable, fun songs...

The Pop Group - We Are All Prostitutes (1998)



This release collects singles and scarce tracks from the Mark Stewart-fronted punk-funk unit, titled after its defining Rough Trade single. At ten tracks and around 36 minutes running time, this certainly leaves you wanting more of the band's agitated post-punk sound, which was the seed of Mark Stewart & the Maffia and Rip Rig & Panic. "We Are All Prostitutes" is one of the vital non-expendable singles from the early-'80s era of neo-dub, punk, and funk as propagated by the Slits, A Certain Ratio, and African Head Charge. The Pop Group remain one of the most looked and underrated and politically charged bands of the era. This is an utterly inspired release, and fans of Public Image Ltd., the Ex, Gang of Four, and Crass should give close attention to the innovations of the Pop Group. (AMG)

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Jad Fair Roundup: 8(!) albums inside



Jad Fair is America's anti-music poster child, the personification of DIY. Both as a member of Half Japanese and with his countless solo albums, he continues to baffle listeners with his unwillingness to conform to any conventions, be they as universal as being able to play an instrument or sing in tune. If you do this once or twice you are simply being ignored, but Fair's tenacity made it impossible to overlook him. Similar to his friend Daniel Johnston, with whom he collaborated on two albums, he's achieved a cult status because his passion for music is simply inspiring.

That is not to say he hasn't progressed - his later albums are far more accessible than his early releases - but that's often due to the fact that he's been collaborating more and more with serious musicians. These collaborations often lack the immediacy of Jad's strictly solo work, and sometimes end up being distinctively average or uninspired, such as the concept album he released with Yo La Tengo where he babbles strange newspaper headlines over canned sound collages sent to him by YLT.

I'm posting 8 of his albums here in one post, because chances are if you're not already a fan you probably find this all very annoying. Instead of chronologically, I'll present them to you in order of accessibility: from the barely listenable to the almost slick:


Jad Fair - The Zombies of Mora-Tau (1980)

Jad's solo debut, the 7-track, 11-minute EP continues in the tradition of very early Half Japanese albums like Half Gentleman/Not Beast, but it's even more noisy and a lot more in-your-face. If it were a bit more structured I'd call this industrial. Play this record the next time your grandmother visits or to annoy your neighbours. It has some great moments on it, and all the songs are short enough to use them as fillers in your next mix-tape.


Jad & David Fair - 26 Monster Songs for Children (1998)
This collaboration with brother David is a concept album featuring pretty much what the title says. There is a monster song for every letter in the alphabet and each song is preceded by a short introduction from a little kid explaining in his own words what the particular monster is about. The songs are rather tedious at times and about as mature as the target audience, but it has its charming moments, especially for people who like monsters (and who doesn't?).


Jad Fair & Daniel Johnston - It's Spooky (1989)
Maybe his most popular album, and it's a cute one. Beautiful songs and stories, delivered in a charmingly inept manner. The rhythms are all over the place, the guitars out of tune, and the vocal duets grate, but in typical Fair and Johnston fashion, this doesn't matter much and instead forces you to pay more attention to the stories and harmonies than the presentation.


Jad Fair & Kramer - Roll Out The Barrel (1988)
A collaboration with Shimmy Disc's Kramer that I have mixed feelings about. It's one of those records that is jam-packed with great ideas, but it somehow doesn't fit all that well together. Kramer is sometimes getting carried away and Jad babbles more than he's singing. There are a bunch of tracks that make up for this because they are downright psychedelic and eerily beautiful.


Jad Fair & R. Stevie Moore - FairMoore (2002)

This collaboration works better than some of the others, probably because both R. Stevie Moore and Jad Fair are so much more similar in their approaches. There's a lot of variety here, samples from all over the place, and no lack of creativity. Musically, this is all over the place, which makes it all the more interesting, but it can be difficult to digest in a single setting.


Jad Fair & Yo La Tengo - Strange But True (1998)
The aforementioned album, that left me as both a Jad Fair and Yo La Tengo fan wondering what could have been. It sounds like a YLT jam session in 22 parts and Jad Fair tells us the stories he thinks should go along with the actual newspaper headlines used in the title. Very random stuff.


Jad Fair - I Like It When You Smile (1992)
So this is what Jad Fair sounds like when too many serious musicians are involved. Dinosaur Jr.'s J Mascis, Shimmy alumni and member of the Velvet Monkeys Don Fleming, and NRBQ's Terry Adams all lend more than one helping hand, and the result is borderlining radio-friendliness. Of course, it wouldn't be a Jad Fair album if he wouldn't throw in some really messy songs, and he doesn't disappoint with the very weird cover of "Sunny Side of the Street" and the avant-gardish "Roadrunner".


Jad Fair & Teenage Fanclub - Words of Wisdom and Hope (2002)
The album that's musically the furthest detached from his early records, this collaboration with Teenage Fanclub is downright smooth. It's basically a Teenage Fanclub album with Jad singing, and even that he does unusually melodic. That being said, it's a nice album with the added bonus effect that you can play this to your indierock friends without them freaking out.

DM & Jemini - Ghetto Pop Life (2003)


Underground Hip Hop fans will enjoy this classic. A collaboration between Jemini (aka Jemini the Gifted One) and DJ/producer, Danger Mouse. This was before the time that many people even knew who Danger Mouse was. Some of his best work to date..

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wre Thu, 21 Aug 2008 20:10:33 GMT

Aesop Rock - Labor Days (2001)

After finding an eager online audience for his dense soundscapes and even more complex rhymes, New York MC Aesop Rock released his most potent combination of words and music on his Def Jux debut. Crammed with references to history and mythology, as well as the usual pop-culture name checks, Aesop's lyrics remain unusually verbose and intelligent here, but he's also able to spin them into compelling stories. The best example is the bittersweet, follow-your-dreams saga of "No Regrets," which chronicles a woman's sacrifices for art from childhood to old age. Besides the wealth of detail, the song doesn't sugarcoat the loneliness of its subject, even as it shows her at ease with her choices. And on "9-5ers Anthem," Aesop -- who still works a day job himself -- allays any concerns about him being a hip-hop elitist, offering a shout out to the blue-collar masses. There are still instances where he gives his listeners simply too much information to process for a pop song ("The Tugboat Complex, Pt. 3"), but, overall, he does his best job yet at balancing smarts and accessibility. Of course, with such a focus on lyrics, it's easy to ignore the beats behind them -- but while the sampled backing is sometimes on the plain side, Labor Days contains some inventive bites from classical music, and more than a few tunes will grow on you, if given the chance. (AMG)

The Rudy Schwartz Project - Salmon Dave (1993) & Günther packs a stiffy (1995)



Two albums compiling early tape-only releases by Joe Newman, the wacky brain behind the Rudy Schwartz Project, who keeps mentioning Frank Zappa as often as he can in an apparent attempt to gain exposure by association. Of course, the only thing he has in common with Zappa is questionable mental health, but he's managed to receive respect from Jello Biafra and Zoogz Rift, so he's doing something right.

If you've never listened to the RSP, these albums are probably not the best place to start. In fact, some of these songs are outright horrible. And if you hate college humor, don't even bother - this is as immature as it gets. His other two albums, Bowling for Appliances (which has gr...
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illuminaut Thu, 21 Aug 2008 15:12:59 GMT

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Circle Jerks - Group Sex (1980)

Keith Morris once described his brief tenure as Black Flag's lead singer by saying, "I was the Tasmanian devil, the court jester; I was the dog on the chain who was let out of the cage." So it made sense that after the beer-swilling frontman decided to move on, he would form a band even less subtle and more obnoxious than Black Flag (who represented punk rock at its most brutal in 1979). Group Sex, the first "album" from Morris' group the Circle Jerks, barrels through 14 songs in just under 16 minutes, and pretty much defined the state of the art in SoCal hardcore, circa 1980: raging minor-chord guitar bashing (courtesy of Greg Hetson, later in Bad Religion), speedy drumming (Lucky Lehrer punctuates his manic four-four stomp with short, frantic rolls whenever possible), and a bassist (Roger Rogerson) trying to keep up with it all while Morris bellows about sex ("I Just Want Some Skank"), drugs ("Wasted"), politics ("Paid Vacation"), the idle rich ("Beverly Hills"), and his own post-teenage rage ("World Up My Ass"). Some of it's funny, some of it seems to be serious, and it's all one not-so-long blast of raging energy. As such things go, it's tight, reasonably well played, the songs kinda sorta have hooks, and Keith Morris is a pretty good frontman, but if you're looking for nuance, you're pretty much out of luck. Then again, if you were looking for nuance in a Circle Jerks album, you've obviously been misinformed as to how this punk rock stuff works.

Chris Knox - Beat (2000)



Released a decade after the recently posted Seizure, Beat doesn't skip a beat in terms of delivering catchy, up-beat pop songs. The Tall Dwarfesque tape loops have been stripped down somewhat since, and replaced with rather minimal drum machine beats. You won't find too many weird sound fx, but a lot of empathic singing. At times, Chris is getting a bit too ambitious with his vocals - he can't really deliver the tonal range he's aiming for - and one is left to wonder if it wouldn't have been better had he resorted to the old Tall Dwarfs recipe of using sound fx to distort the vocals. Don't get me wrong, this is a good album, but it has its strengths in the songwriting rather than the delivery. He also experiments with horn fills in "The Hell of It", and if that sounds painful to you, let me assure you that it kind of works. The highlight of this album is probably the opening track, "It's Love", recently receiving unexpected popularity due to its use in a Heineken commercial. Overall, you can tell that he's lost some of the youthful playfulness and creativity that was so prevalent in earlier albums, but he's evolved in his songwriting, so to me this is a 5 out of 10. Heck, make it 6 for the Heineken song - I can't think of a person more deserving of gaining such exposure for his criminally overlooked body of work.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Alan Vega - Deuce Avenue (1990)



Deuce Avenue is Alan Vega's most under-appreciated album, and has been universally shunned by critics. AMG gives it 1.5 stars and calls it "one of Alan Vega's rare misfires", all the while pointing out that it's the album most similar to the earlier Suicide albums. Which is the key here. No, Martin Rev wasn't part of this, and yes, Alan Vega produced this on his own, but what is truly remarkable about this album is that it just flows. Back are the aggressive synth sounds, gone the rockabilly influences of Alan Vega's solo debut. I've learned to love this album while driving at night - it's futuristic and retro at the same time. Body Bop Jive and Sneaker Gun Fire are fine examples where the use of minimal rhythms, archaic sample sounds and Vega's deadbeat voice form a cinematic backdrop to Vega's rambling. There are some tracks which don't work quite as well, but overall this is a fascinating album. Despite the sinister lyrics there's a sense of humor to be found in the choice of sounds - this just sounds way too dated for a 1990 record to be accidental.

Josef K - Young and Stupid [1990 Reissue]

It would be easy to say that Josef K had better days ahead of them when leader Paul Haig decided to close that chapter in his life because there's simply no telling. Despite that train of thought and despite the reservations of band members and critics over the way the Scottish quartet's limited studio output was recorded, and despite the fact that the band thought they did their best work on stage, there is still no denying that there is some brilliance apparent in their lone studio album and this compilation, Young and Stupid. Three versions of it are floating around, with each successive edition improving on the one that preceded it. It was originally released on vinyl by Supreme in 1987 with twelve songs that mined their singles; though the tracks were selected by the band and the LP was released by their former manager, it didn't exactly fulfill its duty or exhaust the vaults -- vaults that contained substantial recordings that had been out of print for some time. When the label issued the title on CD three years later, it was significantly bolstered with the addition of several tracks: a session recorded for John Peel's BBC program in 1981, another smattering from 7" releases, and some previously unreleased material that included a demo version of "Radio Drill Time." This thankfully brought a full close to the CD issuing of Josef K's studio legacy, as it completed the unfinished job done by the original pressing. (So the CD version of Young and Stupid and The Only Fun in Town/Sorry for Laughing pairing rounds up everything the band made in a studio.) It's also probably worth explaining that a number of songs from the original version are not included on the two versions that followed; those songs -- which could be found on the CD release of The Only Fun in Town/Sorry for Laughing anyway -- were extracted to make room for all the goodies mentioned above. And when LTM reissued the disc in 2002, they remastered the sound to great effect and added a superfluous live rendition of "Adoration" to the end of the second version's running order -- so that's the one to own. The fantastic BBC session is a key inclusion, not only for the fact that it was the last material recorded by the band prior to their breakup. "The Missionary," which was laid down for the session and would later be released as the A-side to a posthumous single (with vocal and instrumental takes on "The Angle" -- a hot tune in its own right that displays their Talking Heads influence more than anything else they released -- as B-sides), is proof positive that the band didn't pack it in because they were running on fumes. A speedy, dexterous number that showcases each member's locked-in precision, it's easily one of the best songs they committed to tape, right up there with the classic "Sorry for Laughing," which is also found here in its single version. The were smart, stylish, and jerky, but they were in every sense a pop band -- and an excellent one at that.

Dead Kennedys - In God We Trust (1981)

The band didn't hold back at all when it came to the follow-up for Fresh Fruit -- if anything, they exploded to a degree never matched by them in later years. Arguably the sheer speed and lack of any subtlety throughout most of this eight-song EP means there's less to talk about in terms of deathless songs and more in the way of sheer breathless anger and rage. The titles say it all: "Nazi Punks Fuck Off," "Religious Vomit," "Hyperactive Child." The sheer hilarity of the band isn't lost, thankfully; "Moral Majority" may rip along as per always, but Biafra's parody of a typical TV preacher at the start is a scream. The real winners come at the end, starting with "We've Got a Bigger Problem Now." A reworking of "California Über Alles," specifically targeted at California governor turned president Ronald Reagan, benefits from an amusing jazz/lounge start and even more righteous, slow-burn bile than before. The group tops it off with a romp through Frankie Laine's "Rawhide," ending everything on a fun, kicking note.

Monday, August 18, 2008

Karate - Unsolved (2000)

With a mixture of jazz-influenced fluidity and nearby noodling, Karate's fourth album delivers dramatic stop/start rock that ebbs and flows and is sparked, at its' best moments, by lost narratives and cutting guitar work. Occasionally it is only the crisp, billowy, unsteady patterns of drummer Gavin McCarthy that remind you that this is not a pop-fusion effort from the late '70s. The unsettling moments and the ever-present tension that make a band like June Of '44 take on the same territory more successfully are replaced by an over-reliance on technical proficiency and shifting time signatures.

Certainly there is some great interplay between the bassist and drummer, resulting in some truly solid rhythms and a pervading sense of anger pops up on "Sever" that attempts to pull the listener in. Throughout the record, Geoff Farina's lyrical asides manage to balance out the pretentious with the tossed-off. Although this release never finds the trio hitting the emotional heights they achieved on their first two albums, Karate and In Place Of Real Insight -- they've managed to expand the breadth of their sound as well as help set the bar a bit higher for musical proficiency in the realm of indie rock.

Rocket From The Tombs - The Day The Earth Met The Rocket From The Tombs (2002)

Rocket From the Tombs, the Cleveland band that featured a pre-Pere Ubu David Thomas and future members of the Dead Boys, has been hailed by numerous serious rock critics as overlooked punk and new wave forefathers. They never entered a recording studio, however, and for the most part their scant body of demos and live tapes have been heard only by serious collectors, though some were available on the 1990 album Life Stinks (itself hard to find now). The Day the Earth Met the Rocket From the Tombs does not issue every tape known to exist by the group, and is not perfect from the standpoints of fidelity and performance. The 74-minute disc does, however, finally make a reasonably comprehensive document of their work widely available for the first time. The first half is devoted to a February 1975 loft rehearsal, and though the sound is on the muddy side, the performances raw, and the songs on which David Thomas sings lead afflicted by some indistinct vocals, it's a quite powerful fusion of hard rock, metal, and art rock that in retrospect can be seen to contain some seeds of American punk. Particularly edgy are an early version of "30 Seconds Over Tokyo" (redone to famous effect by Pere Ubu) and the nearly out-of-control "Life Stinks," though the standout number is the unexpectedly melodic, lyrically desperate "Ain't It Fun." The next seven songs, from one of their final shows in July 1975, boast better (though not outstanding) fidelity, and some of their most innovative compositions ("Final Solution" and "Sonic Reducer"), as well as the arcane Velvet Underground cover "Foggy Notion" (at that time impossible to find even on bootleg). Thomas doesn't sing lead on any of the July 1975 numbers but does on all three of the final selections, taken from a May 1975 show, including the future Dead Boys staple "Down in Flames" (with a downright avant-garde instrumental section) and a cover of "Search & Destroy." There are shortcomings to Rocket From the Tombs: some of the songs leaned too heavily on heavy metal and simple outrage, and for all the notoriety attached to the band because of the Pere Ubu and Dead Boys connections, their best moments were actually the more sensitive reflections on troubled youth by Peter Laughner. And there are some imperfections to the package in that it doesn't include all the known Rocket From the Tombs tapes, the excerpts seemingly selected so as not to repeat any song twice (it's also unfortunate that the loft cover of the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction" fades out almost as soon as it starts). Yet, in all, this is a release of considerable historical importance and definite musical worth, enhanced by lengthy and knowledgeable liner notes.

MF Doom - Operation Doomsday (1999)

Simultaneously hailed as an underground classic and cast aside as poorly produced backpack rap, Operation: Doomsday inaugurated the reign of MF Doom in underground rap from the early to mid-2000s. The pretext for the album is very similar to that of Marvel Comics supervillain Dr. Doom; after MF Doom, then known as Zevlove X, had been devastated by the death of his brother and K.M.D. accomplice, DJ Sub-Roc, in the early '90s, Elektra dropped his group and stopped the release of its second album, Black Bastards, due to its political message and, more specifically, its cover art. Doom was left scarred with a lingering pain that didn't manifest until the late '90s as hip-hop's only masked supervillain on Bobbito Garcia's Fondle 'Em Records. Carrying the weight of the past on his shoulders, Doom opens and closes Operation: Doomsday with frank and sincere lyrics. In between, however, many of the villain's rhymes are rather hard and piercing. On his subsequent material, he developed a more steady and refined delivery, but on this debut, Doom was at his rawest and, lyrically, most dexterous. The out-of-left-field edge of Doom's production -- which features '80s soul and smooth jazz mixed with classic drum breaks -- is indeed abstract at times, but his off-kilter rhymes are palatable and absent any pretentiousness. In fact, the album arguably contains some of the freshest rhymes one might have heard around the time of its release. There are more than enough obscure but fun references (i.e. "quick to whip up a script like Rod Serling" on "Go with the Flow" or "MCs, ya style needs Velamints" on "Dead Bent") and quotable jewels from the "on-the-mike Rain Man" to feed on. Nevertheless, one would be hard-pressed to overlook the low-budget mixing that mars some of the LP's presentation. For the hardcore Doom fans, the recorded-in-the-basement quality is appealing and representative of his persona as the underdog who "came to destroy rap." In contrast, given his contributions to hip-hop during the 2000s, the masked villain offers this explanation on "Doomsday": "Definition: supervillain/A killer who loves children/One who is well-skilled in destruction as well as buildin'." Even though this album is certainly not for everyone, you can easily respect from where the man is coming.

Friday, August 15, 2008

Dead Moon - Thirteen Off My Hook (1990) & Crack In The System (1994)



In December of 2006 an era ended. After 20 years of playing practically the same three songs in hundreds of variations, Fred Cole's Dead Moon called it quits. During this time they've been the poster boys for how a garage band should be like - straightforward, approachable, and fueled with conviction - demonstrating that you can just live your dream as long as you don't give a rat's ass about anything else. As a result they've slowly built a devoted following (mostly in Europe - even mild success deluded them in the States, despite playing every festival they could find in their home state of Oregon), who go as far as tattoing the Dead Moon logo on various body parts.



In this time, Dead Moon played countless gigs, but managed to put out a respectable amount of LPs as well, all on their own Tombstone label, all sounding like they've been recorded in a garage, all originally available on Vinyl only, all of them in MONO (hey!), and most featuring black-and-white album covers that looked like posters of 60s B-movies. If this isn't garage, you tell me what is.

Thirteen Off My Hook is from 1990 and includes my favorite Dead Moon song, D.O.A., while Crack in the System is the overall better album (and doesn't sound as muffled). After their hiatus, Sub Pop compiled a neat box set (letting Fred Cole pick his favorite songs), called Echoes of the Past. It features 49 songs and would be a bit too large to post here, but any Dead Moon fan should own this.

Chris Knox - Seizure (1990)



For the uninitiated, Chris Knox is one half of the Tall Dwarfs, the New-Zealand band who pretty much defined Lo-Fi music in the 80s. Seizure wasn't his first solo album, but you could call it his first "proper" solo album. Where "Songs for cleaning guppies" was a sonic mess, Seizure is a pop gem. It sounds a lot like a Tall Dwarfs album, but is more upbeat and lyrics-centered. The tape loops and odd sound effects are still there, but they don't define the songs as much as they do in Tall Dwarfs albums of that era. This one features his probably best known song, "Not Given Lightly", which climbed the NZ charts and made a lot of people wonder about Knox' sexual orientation for the first time (the track "The Woman Inside of Me" probably contributed to this).


1 The Face of Fashion
2 The Woman Inside of Me
3 Statement of Intent
4 Filling Me
5 Not Given Lightly
6 Break!
7 Uncle Tom's Cabin
8 Wanna!!
9 And I Will Cry
10 Rapist
11 Grand Mal
12 Voyeur
13 Honesty's Not Enough
14 My Dumb Luck
15 Ache

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Bongwater - The Big Sell Out (1991)


What turned out to be Bongwater's last album before the acrimonious end of the personal and professional Magnuson/Kramer partnership was a sellout only in the sense of the slick cover art and presentation, tongues firmly in cheek. Otherwise, the blend of folk, shadowy psych weirdness, and satiric spoken word and lyrical jabs against the state of the world, specifically America, run as rampant as always. Rick was replaced on second guitar by Raymond Hudson, but this made little general difference to Bongwater's overall approach and Kramer's distinct production style. The title track is one of their best, some lovely guitar drones and singing bringing out the weird, gentle melancholy of the song. Magnuson as always has a great time with her inspired monologues. "What's Big in England Now?" has her in sassy Noo Yawk voice talking about everything from pudgy editors at Rolling Stone to Lenny Kravitz talking about mushy peas. "Celebrity Compass" is even sharper, her depiction of a teenager at a Led Zeppelin party wondering, "Which one will take me away to live with him in his castle in England?," at once hilarious and just a little unsettling. Kramer's hero rock guitar in the background makes all the more sense. There are a couple of interesting deviations from the norm: "Free Love Messes Up My Life" keeps the duet singing prominent throughout, but the arrangement and general groove is very '60s/easy listening, some years before the big cult hype for that sound kicked in. "Flop Sweats," meanwhile, transforms Bongwater into a heavy blues/hard rock group, at least up until Magnuson starts talking about a performance artist who has merchandised and licensed her name with frightening efficiency. A lovely cover of Fred Neil's "Everybody's Talking," with additional ruminations from Magnuson, concludes this intriguing album. AMG

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Bongwater - The Power of Pussy (1991)


As much a performance art troupe as a band, Bongwater was the brainchild of guitarist (Mark) Kramer -- chief of the Shimmy-Disc label and a former member of Shockabilly -- and actress Ann Magnuson, best known to mainstream audiences for her role in the ABC sitcom Anything But Love as well as the feature film Making Mr. Right. Kramer and Magnuson first met at her downtown New York nightspot Club 57, where he engineered the sound for her performances with the all-female percussion group Pulsalamma; after forming Bongwater in 1985, the duo enlisted avant-garde guitarist Fred Frith to record their 1987 EP debut Breaking No New Ground, a crazed neo-psychedelic set typified by Magnuson's surreal narratives, often inspired by her dreams about major celebrities and fellow downtown NYC denizens.

Kicking off with the great title track, a slow-chugging anthem with a sharp Magnuson lead and lyric, along with guest vocals from none other than the B-52s' Fred Schneider, Pussy pumps up Magnuson's vicious, intelligent feminism to an even higher level than before. From the barbed "What If..." and "Women Tied Up in Knots" to her incredible spoken word "What Kind of Man Reads Playboy" and more, she's on a very artistic rampage. Style, performance, sass, and rage combine brilliantly throughout. In general, Bongwater, with Licht back on drums in place of Sleep's rhythm boxes, continue as before, incorporating a more creepy sweetness at points. "Great Radio" is a standout, the group performing a slow, drony, and druggy piece with gentle power, while other songs like "I Need a New Tape" mix up the zoned psychedelic hush of past albums once again. Covers again crop up, both quite striking. The Weavers' folk standard "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine" gets a lovely, haunting take, with guest banjo from roots music legend Peter Stampfel, while Dudley Moore's hilariously dismissive "Bedazzled," from the mid-'60s film of the same name, is tailor-made for a crackerjack Magnuson spotlight vocal. Throughout Pussy, pop culture is roasted over a slow fire in a multitude of ways. "Nick Cave Dolls," besides concluding with Magnuson's breathy, delicious whine about wanting one of said items, slips in everything from references to Hollywood and Dorothy Stratten to some of the notorious profane tapes of Buddy Rich abusing his band. The absolute hands-down winner comes right at the end, the lengthy "Folk Song." Tackling everything from wannabe rebels to corporate and political idiocy from the top on down -- not to mention a ripping dissection of then-recent hit-movie Pretty Woman that spares absolutely nobody -- Magnuson is in excelsis throughout. AMG

Alan Vega - self-titled (1981)


Alan Vega used his first solo album to distance himself from the music made by his pioneering synth-punk duo Suicide. Where Suicide deliberately used cheap, loud synthesizers to generate a cold, crude sound, Vega hired a guitarist and made, for all intents and purposes, a rockabilly album. "Lonely" is Vega's homage to "Heartbreak Hotel," and it's as full of yelps and pleading as the original, as Vega does his best Elvis impression. The gorgeous "Ice Drummer" may be Vega's best solo track, a beautiful shiny pop gem. Only "Bye Bye Bayou," a misguided attempt to fuse '50s rock and Vega's extended performance art pieces, falls flat. Still, golden pop moments like "Ice Drummer" are good reminders of why Vega, for all his eccentricities, remains a musician worth caring about. AMG

1 Jukebox Babe 4:49
2 Fireball 3:55
3 Kung Foo Cowboy 3:25
4 Love Cry 4:48
5 Speedway 2:32
6 Ice Drummer 4:26
7 Bye Bye Bayou 8:40
8 Lonely 2:45

Trans Am - Trans Am (1996)


Trans Am is a three-piece band that performs a mix of synth pop and rock music. Their work treads a fine line between spoof and homage, mainly centering on a cerebrally robotic, semi-danceable, minimalistic format, reminiscent of 1980s video game soundtrack music. They are known for constant touring (with bands such as Tortoise, Pan Sonic, The Fucking Champs, The Bronx, Tool, etc.), cryptic album artwork, and continual thematic re-invention. All of their albums have been released on the Chicago-based independent record label, Thrill Jockey.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

The United States of America - self-titled (Reissue) (1968)


Fueled by the avant-garde sonic ammo of keyboardist/composer Joe Byrd and the haunting vocals of Dorothy Moskowitz, the United States Of America found a way to permanently hardwire space-age electronic music to the heart of rock and roll on their highly desirable, self-titled 1968 debut. Byrd’s kaleidoscopic musical excursions and Gordon Marron’s searing violin orbit around the icy vocals of Moskowitz, who—with a passing resemblance to early Jefferson Airplane belter Signe Anderson—remains the group’s center, steady as a rock. This heady mind-trip has been reissued on Sundazed Records with the participation of both Byrd and Moskowitz, sports 10 amazing bonus cuts, comprehensively fascinating liner notes by Byrd, himself, and—newly mastered from the original analog source tapes—has never sounded better.

1. The American Metaphysical Circus
2. Hard Coming Love
3. Cloud Song
4. The Garden Of Earthly Delights
5. I Won’t Leave My Wooden-Wife For You, Sugar
6. Where Is Yesterday
7. Coming Down
8. Love Song For The Dead Ché
9. Stranded In Time
10. The American Way Of Love
BONUS TRACKS
11. Osamu's Birthday *
12. No Love To Give *
13. I Won't Leave My Wooden Wife For You, Sugar [alternate version] *
14. You Can't Ever Come Down *
15. Perry Pier *
16. Tailor Man [demo recording] *
17. Do You Follow Me *
18. The American Metaphysical Circus [Columbia Records audition recording] *
19. Mouse (The Garden Of Earthly Delights) [Columbia Records audition recording] *
20. Heresy (Coming Down) [Columbia Records audition recording] *
*previously unissued

MDC - Millions of Dead Cops (1982)


Playing fast, hardcore punk associated with far left sociopolitical issues has earned the band close association with Jello Biafra and the Dead Kennedys, as well as numerous other US punk bands of the early eighties. The band was also unique in frequently changing their name to a different initialism of MDC with every new record released. Incarnations include Millions of Dead Cops, Multi-Death Corporation, Millions of Dead Children, Millions of Dead Christians, Millions of Damn Christians, Millions of Dead Contractors, Metal Devil Cokes, and Magnus Dominus Corpus.

Steven Jesse Bernstein - Prison (1992)


This powerful album by the late Seattle writer Steven Jesse Bernstein (wikipedia) is one of the most effective and uncompromising spoken word records in the field. Bernstein took his own life in 1991, and this disc acts as both his swan song and a tribute by his collaborators to his poetic talent. These readings were recorded in 1990-91 (many of the pieces appear in his book, "More Noise Please") and were posthumously set to music by producer/composer Steve Fisk. Just prior to Bernstein's death, only one track had been fully finished, but he liked what he heard and agreed for Fisk and Sub Pop to proceed with the project. The result would have made him proud.

His confrontational, scathing voice marches through the door and slaps your face, backed up by dense, lazy, looping beats and samples that rearrange your furniture and hide the TV remote. These tracks demand and deserve your attention. Although he's an underground hero in the Northwest and has been championed by those in the know (William S. Burroughs endorsed him, and "No No Man" was used in the opening montage of Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers), his body of work remains largely unread and unheard by the masses. For more Bernstein audio, an unaccompanied reading of "Come Out Tonight" can be found among the grunge tracks on the Sub-Pop-200 compilation. (RYM, monocle)

Tommy Guerrero - A Little Bit Of Somethin (2000)


Tommy Guerrero's A Little Bit of Something sounds like the former skate punk has been listening to a whole lot of mid-period Beastie Boys albums. It's not the in-your-face rhymes or punk-based aggression that's influenced him, but the group's canny mix of samples and new music that blends influences from all kinds of unexpected, offbeat places. (Tracks like the languid, groovy "Four TRK Samba" also suggest that Guerrero has a full complement of Cornelius albums.) These brief instrumentals -- 15 tracks in 39 minutes! -- ignore the drone and ambient schools of electronica and post-rock in favor of a magpie-like interest in variety and novelty. This makes the songs on the aptly titled A Little Bit of Something wonderfully varied and never tiresome. (The sounds even change within songs, such as the way "So Blue It's Black" starts out as a duet for acoustic guitar and vinyl noise but then eases into mellow, '70s-style fusion.) This is an enchanting, fascinating album.

Captain Beefheart - Lick My Decals Off, Baby (1970)


Produced by Captain Beefheart himself, Lick My Decals Off, Baby was a further refining and exploration of the musical ideas posited on Trout Mask Replica. As such, the imaginative fervor of Trout Mask is toned down somewhat, but in its place is an increased self-assurance; the tone of Decals is also a bit darker, examining environmental issues in some songs rather than simply concentrating on surreal wordplay. Whatever the differences, the jagged, complex rhythms and guitar interplay continue to amaze. Those wanting to dig deeper after the essential Trout Mask Replica are advised to begin doing so here.

The Soft Boys - A Can of Bees (1979)


One of the band's earliest recordings, featuring their signature tune "Give It to the Soft Boys", A Can of Bees includes a lot of the zaniness principal member Robyn Hitchcock would become known for in his later work, but the band had not yet jelled and found them still in search of their ultimate sound, an amalgam of new wave and psychedelia. However, the record is essential to any Soft Boys collection, as it demonstrates the band flying in the face of what was happening musically at the time and creating their own unique style. (AMG)

Monday, August 11, 2008

Minibosses - Brass (2005)


Following up on the post for The Advantage, here is another video game cover band. The Minibosses are quite a bit more popular than the Advantage, but not necessarily better. Same familiar tunes, also played very tight and exact including minute details, but quite a different sound. Where the Advantage sounds like Math-Rock, the Minibosses sound more like a metal band.

1 Castlevania 5:27
2 Ninja Gaiden 4:10
3 Double Dragon 1:09
4 Super Mario Bros. 2 6:15
5 Ikari Warriors 1:56
6 Blaster Master/Contra 6:46
7 Mike Tyson's Punchout 3:32
8 Kid Icarus 1:41
9 Megaman 2 10:08
10 Metroid 6:33

Airport 5 (Robert Pollard) - Tower In The Fountain Of Sparks (2001)



Tower In The Fountain Of Sparks was the first album featuring Robert Pollard and Tobin Sprout in 5 years since Tobin left Guided By Voices after 1996' Under The Bushes, Under The Stars. It's also one of the first famous Pollard "postal rock" collaborations in that the instrumentals were recorded by Sprout at his home in Michigan and then mailed to Pollard who sprinkled the tracks with his trademark melodies and lyrics. Right off the bat the first 2 tracks remind you of their past glories with two of the best choruses they've ever penned. The next two tracks take the album in another direction as Pollard seemingly tries to channel Prince on Subatomic Rain and then swaggers back to the mic for one of his shout along on One More. Don't let these two tracks sway you though (even though you might find yourself in a shower when no one's looking trying to channel Pollard...channeling Prince), as the next two tracks, Mission Experiences and The Cost Of Shipping Cattle take the album in an even different more experimental direction while also acting as a setup for one of the most memorable and glorious returns to form from this duo. The run of Circle Of Trim, War & Wedding, Stifled Man Casino, Up The Nails, Tomorrow You May Rise, and Feathering Clueless will no doubt remind you that these two specimens once recorded albums like Vampire On Titus and Bee Thousand. The album ends with Remain Lodging (At Airport 5) and one of the most memorable singalongs on the album, it's hard to be a drone, in a hive of women.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

The Advantage - Self- and Elf-Titled (2004 & 2006)



Here are the two LPs by Nintendo cover math rockers The Advantage. If you've never heard these you're in a for a treat. The Advantage features members of the band Generic plus Spencer Seim and Carson McWhirter of Hella. Very precise covers of 8-bit classics coming really to life with Seim's drumming. If you've grown up playing the NES these records are a must, otherwise they're still excellent math-rock exercises.

The first album covers more recognizable tunes in a fairly straight-forward fashion, while Elf-Titled takes a few more liberties and has significantly better production quality.

The Advantage (2004):
1. Megaman2 - Flashman
2. Double Dragon 2 - Stage 2
3. Goonies 2
4. Bubble Bobble
5. Bubble Bobble - Shark Skeleton
6. Wizards And Warriors - Intro
7. Bomberman 2
8. Bionic Commando - P.O.W. Camp
9. Super Mario Bros. 2 - Underworld
10. Super Mario Bros. 2 - Overworld
11. Contra-Snowfields
12. Zelda - Fortress
13. Batman 2
14. Megaman 3 - Dr. Wiley Stage
15. Double Dragon 2 (Story, And Boss Music)
16. Castlevania 3 - Epitaph
17. Ninja Gaiden - Mine Shaft
18. Mario 3 - Underworld
19. Blastermaster - Stage 2
20. Ghosts 'N' Goblins - Intro
21. Ghosts 'N' Goblins
22. Castlevania - Stage 3
23. Marbie Madness
24. Metal Gear - Jungle
25. Contra - Boss Music
26. Castlevania 3 - Evergreen

Elf-Titled (2006):
1. Batman - Stage 1
2. Contra - Alien's Lari & Boss Music
3. DOuble Dragon III - Egypt
4. Sucktails - Moon
5. Metroid - Kraid's Laur
6. Air Fortress - Not Fat Iced Caramel Hazlenut Soy Latte With Extra Whipped Cream
7. Bomberman 2 - Wiggy
8. Castlevania - Intro + Stage 1
9. Solar Jetman - Braveheart Level
10. Goonie 2 - Wiseman
11. Double Dragon II - Mission 5
12. Forest Of Death
13. Castlevania III - Boss Music
14. Megaman II - Stage Select + Metal Man
15. Castlevania II - Woods
16. Guardian Legend - Corrider 1
17. Wizards & Warriors - Tree Trunk, Woods, Victory

Saturday, August 09, 2008

The Bartlebees - Urban Folk Legends (1998)


Now that I mentioned them covering Patrik Fitzgerald's Safety pin stuck in my heart (see two posts down), I feel obliged to share this gem. The Bartlebees were basically a German clone of the Television Personalities (and in fact regularly collaborated with Dan Treacy), who (unwillingly, some cynics might say) had a distinct charme with their thick accents, tone-deaf singing, and over-the-top naive lyrics. Nevertheless, they've released some of the finest songs coming out of the Bavarian woods.

The highlight surely is the excellent Patrik Fitzgerald cover (which I had on repeat for a few days), but this record is full of pleasant surprises. Some tracks are in line with their somewhat clumsy earlier records, on others they're playfully experimenting with styles they've never touched before (stereo effects? I thought you guys were garage!). And Then Suddenly even steers into c86/shoegazing territory and manages to sound better than most of the stuff that influenced them.

Easily the most accessible Bartlebees album out there, and a highly recommended starting point for the band. For a more authentic collection of typical Bartlebees songs watch out for the 26-track compilation of early recordings From Paths of Pain to Jewels of Glory, which I'll post sometime in the future.

Friday, August 08, 2008

VA - Without The Beatles (1996)

"Oh dear Prudence!", I hear you say, "Not another Beatles tribute". Yeah, there may be almost as many Beatles tribute albums as Beatles bootlegs and most of them stink more than said bootlegs, but the artist line up on this one justifies a listen or two. Yukio Yung aka Terry Burrows of the Chrysanthemums, Alan Jenkins and the Creams (a member of the Deep Freeze Mice family), DIY icon R. Stevie Moore, Bevis Frond, Martin Newell (of the Cleaners from Venus), Todd Gillingham, and Jet Set frontman Paul Bevoir among others contribute to this carefully crafted JARmusic release with extensive liner notes and exquisite artwork.

So what do you get when you let some of the most obscure musicians loose on the songs of the least obscure band in history? To be honest, the result mimics the career of the Beatles: some outstanding gems amidst a sea of mediocracy. Maybe it's because I had high expectations, but there's a bunch of outright boring pop versions on this album, which do neither the original nor the cover artist justice. Nevertheless, the compilation is worth getting, for the first two tracks alone.

The liner notes are quite funny, and can be read in their entirety at http://www.moorestevie.com/2/wobeatles.html.

01. Yukio Yung + Free as a Bird
02. R. Stevie Moore + Getting Better
03. Gonzo Salvage Company + Can't Buy Me Love
04. Colin's Hermits + I Am the Walrus
05. John A. Roberts + Dear Prudence
06. The Creams + Yesterday
07. Martin Newell + Baby You're a Rich Man
08. The Out-of-Towners + Think for Yourself
09. Bevis Frond + You Never Give Me Your Money
10. Paul Bevoir + Eleanor Rigby
11. Matmosphere + Yer Blues
12. Todd Dillingham + Helter Skelter