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

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.

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)

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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)

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.

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

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.

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