Tuesday, December 29, 2009

AFS v. 249 ~ Thee Best of 2009!


Here's a two-hour podcast featuring most of my absolute favorite records of 2009, another fruitful year for outstanding underground rumblings in punk, rock, and outer-zoning tangents (see below for best of '09 lists and AFS Awards winners)...

Download this program within two months at this link...
CLICK HERE for 192kbps rate.
or
CLICK HERE for 320kbps rate.
or
, if you have a slower/20th century connection
STREAM IT HERE by next Monday night!

There was so much for me to be excited about in 2009! See me straight-up fist-pumpin' Jersey Shore-sytle, son???...It was like that all year long!

(Email me if there are any downloading problems, please!)

The Pheromoans | Radical Courrier | Open for Business 7" | Yakisakana
Wounded Lion | Friendly? | Friendly? 7" | In the Red
Silver Shampoo | Dogs | Jethro Skull 7" | What's Your Rupture?
Flight | Flowers | Flowers 7" | Sweet Rot
Vibes | Dead Horses | Psychic 7" | Not Not Fun
Little Claw | Frozen in the Future | Human Taste | Ecstatic Peace/Not Not Fun
Talk Normal | In a Strangeland | Sugarland | Rare Book Room
XYX | Momento Acido Contemporaneo | Momento Acido Contemporaneo 7" | Skulltones
Ratas del Vaticano | Himno al Rock n' Roll | Mocosos Pateticos | Siltbreeze
Audacity | Price Check | Power Drowning | Burger
Happy Burger | Pizza All Around | Pizza All Around 7" | Douche Master
The Magnetix | Real Man | Positively Negative | Born Bad
Cheveu | C'est ca L'amour | Like a Deer in the Headlights 7" | Born Bad
The Intelligence | St. Bartolomeu | Fake Surfers | In the Red
Dan Melchior und Das Menace | The Post Office Line | The Post Office Line 7" | Columbus Discount
Dan Melchior und Das Menace | Smut! | Obscured by Fuzz | Topplers
Dan Melchior und Das Menace | Blue Tentacles | Thankyou Very Much | SS Records
Nothing People | Another Rattle | Late Night | SS Records
Moon Duo | Speed | Killing Time 12" EP | Sacred Bones
Agent Side Grinder | Pulse | Irish Recording Tape | Enfant Terrible
Mattress | Remember | Low Blows | Malt Duck
Impractical Cockpit | Guru's Plume | Facilidad? | Turned Word
Black Pus | Bark of the Tree | Down Down the Drain 7" | Skulltones
Dudu Geva | Pupu Blues | Retrovulva 2003 | Galerie Pache
Druid Perfume | Weird Wally Wigwam | Other Worlds 7" | Italy
High Castle | Scary Things Are Everywhere | You're On Your Own Way 12" | Zum
The Bassholes | Tough Luck Roy | ...and Without a Name | Columbus Discount
Sonny & the Sunsets | Death Cream | Tomorrow Is Alright | Secret Seven/Soft Abuse
Eat Skull | Dawn in the Face | Wild & Inside | Siltbreeze
Meercaz | Defeated at Home | self-titled | Gulcher/Tic Tac Totally
Hunches | Not Invited | Exit Dreams | In the Red
Pink Reason | Watching You Fall | split 7" w/ Electric Bunnies | Die Stasi
Hue Blanc's Joyless Ones | Cry | Cry 7" | Static Wagon

The zeitgeist of reverb-drenched fractured pop by fuzz-loving garage-punks and deep-V-necked trendies kicked into super-saturation mode as the tide of Black Lips and Oh Sees apers and overly self-conscious name-droppers came flooding in like a tsunami wave. Or was that the album Wavvves by the band Wavves? That most hyped indie album of early 2009 was already obsolete by summer due to unsubstantial and utterly forgettable songs. Haters have let that flavor linger to keep hating on it even more, but the shimmery endless-summer psych-pop of my hometown Sacramento's Ganglians issued four records--highlighted by the Monster Headroom album--which are the antidote to the lo-fi pop doldrums. While the Ganglians are part of the "glo-fi" or "hypnagogic pop" movement named by Pitchforkmedia.com, they are emerging from the backlash against this unfortunately-named subgenre because of the strength of their songs, their genuine funloving spirit, and the indubitable fact that amongst all the contemporary bands which critics compare to the Beach Boys, the Ganglians are the best at those vocal harmonies. They criss-crossed the continent playing second billing to Wavves during their first nationwide tour, and now the future's bright for them with a new label for 2010 and a planned European tour in late spring. While their future is bright, they truly became a local treasure when they strengthened a link to our past; one of the true highlights of all the live music I saw in 2009--approximately 400 bands--was the Ganglians' cover debut of "Aliens in Our Midst" by late-70s Sacto legends the Twinkeyz.

The most momentous local record of 2009 was the Deads 12" EP by the Mayyors, and its B-side opener "Clicks" was the most integral full-band achievement following two earlier EPs in 2008. The most tenacious mach-speed motorik drumbeat drives forward a supremely nifty interlocking bass/guitar riff while singer John Pritchard is in his very best and most aggressive form, and that's just describing the first verse! As the band varies from the riff, it becomes even more thrilling as the Chris Woodhouse's arcane guitar synth device is deployed to warp waves of perfectly tuned guitar scree in time with the constantly stout cadence, and as a grand finalé, the rhythm section flourishes with thundering tumbles and divebombing bass slides. Each member is achieving optimal performance simultaneously within a stunningly arranged and peerlessly produced song. The Mayyors remain elusive to most Sacramentans due to limited live local activity and zero web presence. If you would like your noise-rock to be as partyhardy as it is pugnacious, then you should find these Mayyors.

While the Mayyors and Ganglians sound nothing alike, they share many fans here in Sacto and Davis because of their propensity for rocking the same intimate living rooms and basements, and because the ever-expanding definition of "psychedelic rock" actually bridges their music. Indeed, the weird, wild, and far out has crept into every cranny of underground music, and that has brought a wide variety of music closer together, as well as fans. Tastes have become eclectic enough to endure--if not embrace--a four-band bill of glittery pop, thuggish sludge, fancy-free improv-scribble-jazz, and a weirdfolk troubadour from start to end. As the bands influence each other and the fans share it together, you know something important is brewing. Music that is broadly influenced has a tendency to be broadly influential (and vice versa...just think of how the ska-punk of the 90s became an evolutionary dead end). A few bands can blend nearly all of it together on one album, such as Wild & Inside by Eat Skull. The Portland band is best known for a style that cakes punky scuzz around a pure jangle-pop kernel, but on this second effort, they summoned the ghosts of Syd Barrett, Joe Meek, and Bruno Nicolai for some chilling moments of filmesque beauty.

Among the best albums of 2009, many ghosts of psychedelic's past flew into the future over a field of punk, garage, lo-fi pop, and even minimal synth and industrial music. On Low Blows by Mattress, the macabre croony warble of Rex Marshall's posi-self-help lyrics over a bed of downer darkwave sounds like an odd mix on paper, but it flows outta the speakers dazzlingly and seemingly very naturally. Facilidad?, the sixth album by Impractical Cockpit, harkens back to the earliest days of industrial music, but reflects the experience of the last decade and a half of no wave and noiserock damage, the cultural experience of living in pre-Katrina New Orleans, and coping with Katrina's after-effects. Little Claw's third album, Human Taste, brilliantly bridges awesome post-riot-grrl ladypower with primordial ooze of the protopunk era. Talk Normal's Sugarland brings similarly striking ladypower to stridently atonal yet seductive artrock. Purling Hiss burns brightly on his self-titled album with blown-out white-hot guitar crunch and pyroclastic leads. Meercaz achieves the same on his self-titled, but varies the pace with a protopunk stew with a hint of every type of spice. Sonny & the Sunsets revive a fancy for Donovan alternately with Jonathan Richman on their alluring debut, Tomorrow is Alright. On Men Are Talking, the Life Partners playfully dish perplexingly dubious lyrical matter over clever rock with surprising AM-gold flavors. Best of all, the local SS Records label unleashed a stunning double-LP by Dan Melchior und Das Menace and the most enchanting album of dark wonder, Late Night by the upper Sacramento Valley's Nothing People.

Top 20 full-lengths...

Meercaz self-titled
Mattress Low Blows
Hunches Exit Dreams
Purling Hiss self-titled
Talk Normal Sugarland
Eat Skull Wild & Inside
Little Claw Human Taste
Audacity Power Drowning
Nothing People Late Night
Dudu Geva Retrovulva 2003
The Intelligence Fake Surfers
Ganglians Monster Headroom
Impractical Cockpit Facilidad?
The Magnetix Positively Negative
The Life Partners Men Are Talking
The Bassholes ...and Without a Name
Ratas del Vaticano Mocosos Pateticos
Sunny & the Sunsets Tomorrow Is Alright
Dan Melchior und Das Menace Obscured by Fuzz
Dan Melchior und Das Menace Thankyou Very Much

The Anals' Total Anal was the toughest to cut, and I'm still pondering who else to cut to make room for Agent Side Grinder's Irish Recording Tape which I heard for the first time in the last couple of weeks.

Top 20 EPs...

Vibes Psychic 7"
Flight Flowers 7"
Mayyors Deads 12"
FNU Ronnies Golem 12"
Pheromoans Revamper 7"
Red Mass self-titled CDEP
Moon Duo Killing Time 12"
Wounded Lion Friendly? 7"
Puffy Areolas Lutzko Lives 7"
Silver Shampoo Jethro Skull 7"
Druid Perfume Other Worlds 7"
Hue Blanc's Joyless Ones Cry 7"
Happy Burger Pizza All Around 7"
Black Pus Down Down the Drain 7"
Pink Reason/Electric Bunnies split 7"
XYX Momento Acido Contemporaneo 7"
Cheveu Like a Deer in the Headlights 7"
High Castle You're On Your Own Way 12"
Hammer of Hathor Tooth Eeth or Teeth Ooth 12"
Dan Melchior und Das Menace The Post Office Line 7"

Best cassette releases

NoBunny Raw Romance
Butcher Cover self-titled
Michael Stasis self-titled
Warm Climate Edible Houses
Rank/Xerox / Grass Widow split
Crappy Dracula The Lockhorns EP
Absinthe Minds The Song of Returning Light
Tyvek Blunt Instrumental 2: True to the Game

Most outstanding live performances...

Tyvek @ Bomb Shelter House in Davis
The Cysts @ Funcastle in Sacramento
XYX & Rank/Xerox @ Mama Buzz in Oakland
Mayyors & Hunches @ Funcastle in Sacramento
Eternal Tapestry & Ganglians @ The Hub in Sacramento
Coconut Coolouts & Personal & the Pizzas @ DAM House in Davis
Mayyors, Thee Oh Sees, & Eternal Tapestry @ ORMF VII, Plainfield Station in Woodland
Quartet of Davy Bui, Chad Stockdale, Nick Julian, & Kevin Corcoran @ Funcastle
A Burning Bus, Box Elders, Sonic Chicken 4, & Davila 666 @ Gonerfest 6 in Memphis, TN
Traditional Fools, Grass Widow, HPP, Nodzzz, et al @ Wizard Fest, Wizard Mountain in SF
Defektors, Sex Church, & Charles Albright XXXperience @ 300 Room in West Sacramento
Necessary Evils, Box Elders, Wounded Lion, Slippery Slopes, & Wild Thing @ Budget Rock in SF

Art for Spastics Awards '09...

Best Overall Album.... Wild & Inside by Eat Skull
Best EP.... Deads 12" EP by Mayyors
Best brainworm pop hit...."Flowers" by Flight
Best song for headphone listening..."Blue Tentacles" by Dan Melchior
Best cover version..."Late Night" [Syd Barrett] by Nothing People
Best late-night listening album....Late Night by Nothing People
Best festival....Gonerfest 6
Best singles club... Columbus Discount Singles Club, Year One
Best reissue... Something That Would Never Do by Mirrors
Best new local band in Sacto/Davis....GGreen (the full rock band version)
Best new bands on west coast....Rank/Xerox, Sonny & the Sunsets, and The Whines
Best song about pizza (and there were a lot of them!)...."Pizza All Around" by Happy Burger
Best song for cleaning out ears...."Golem Smoke" by FNU Ronnies
Best overall live band....Thee Oh Sees
Best band to hang out with....XYX
Best band to party with....Dadfag
Best new trend in music right now....FUN!
Best trend that I hope gains more momentum in '10...."They're rather like industrial music of late 70s/early 80s"
Best album cover art....Electric Bunnies board-game gatefold
Best drone....???? (Squim didn't make an album this year, as far as I know!)
Best irreverent band name....Juavves
Best song titles for future band names....The Pheromoans
Lifetime achievement award....Michael Yonkers
Most vinyl-worthy cassette....Edible Houses by Warm Climate
Most face-melting psych-rock scorch-fest....Eternal Tapestry
Most humorous between-song banter....Cave
Most sweltering show....Coconut Coolouts @ DAM House in Davis (my fingers got pruney!)
Most physically taxing band (for me literally)....The Hunches @ Funcastle, Sacto
Most surprising "the old guy still rocks" moment....Paul Collins' Beat @ Fire Escape in Citrus Heights
Best energy drink....NOS punch (red top) in blue 24oz canister
Best-value burger overall....Faisal's Halal in Sacramento
Most sinful burger....Back on the Block in Sacramento's "Italian Combo Burger"
Best Mexican food here in Sacto or maybe even anywhere....Lalo's or Toledo's Market
Most ridiculous place to see a show....Loco's Only in Oakland
The band I wish I coulda started....Puffy Areolas



Tuesday, December 22, 2009

AFS v. 248 ~ GGreen Across California!


My special live guest tonight was GGreen, who take the show on the road all over the Golden State next week. Full details below. If you gotta party in L.A. or San Diego on 12/30 or 12/31, get in touch, please! (Email, not MySpace!) California, please meet the best new band to form in Sacramento in 2009! Also, enjoy some more new records and tapes I've gathered from my mailbox. I guess the best-of-2009 retrospective will hafta happen next week...

Download this program within two months at this link...
CLICK HERE for 192kbps rate.
or
CLICK HERE for 320kbps rate.
or
, if you have a slower/20th century connection
STREAM IT HERE by next Monday night!

(Email me if there are any downloading problems, please!)

MAGNETIX | Brain Out/Rib Out | Brain Out/Rib Out 7-inch | Slovenly *new
GG KING | Drug Zoo | Last of the Night Wiggers CS | no label 2009
TORTURED TONGUES | Can't See the Point | Tung Tied CDR | no label *new
VICHY WATER | Crap Culture [GGreen] | self-titled CS | Space Universe *new
VICHY WATER | Affirmation Action | live in Studio A, 10/26/2009
VNC | Harm Guitar | split 7-inch w/ Moore Brothers | Brick Factory *new
GGREEN | Swimsuit Drugs | Live in the KDVS Engineering Room
GGREEN | Society of Shit
GGREEN | I Will Not Withdraw This Statement
VICHY WATER | Sacto, Great Job! | Live in Studio A, 10/26/2009
VICHY WATER | Drunk Jesus
GGREEN | Looks | Live in the KDVS Engineering Room
GGREEN | Crap Culture
GGREEN | Mouth on the Floor
GGREEN | Keys
GGREEN | The Gay 90s
GGREEN | Pool of Blood
GGREEN | Backseat
GGREEN | The Garden
CRAPPY DRACULA | Young Person's Song | The Lockhorns EP CS | Scotch Tapes *new
EL JESUS DE MAGICO | Rapey Guys II | Klip Aught 7" | Columbus Discount *new
REPRESSIVE PROTEINS | Chad at the Danube | Centurion 2xCS Box Set | no label *new
CUDEVASO | Trash Old | Tryin' to Fuck You! CDR | Fater Disks *new
MAYYORS | Clicks | Deads 12" EP | Hurling Man 2009 *request
PYGMY SHREWS | Kill Yourself [Pussy Galore] | Lord Got Busted 7-inch | Fan Death 2009
DAN MELCHIOR | 1000 Times | v/a: Skulls Without Borders 10" | Siltbreeze *new
ELECTRIC BUNNIES | Catfish | Through the Magical Door | Florida's Dying *new
HUE BLANC'S JOYLESS ONES | Smuggler's Choice | Smuggler's Choice 7-inch | Columbus Discount *new
HARD-ONS | Get Away | Dickcheese | Taang! 1988
THE MEANIES | Smack Bottom | 10% Weird | Au Go Go 1994
LES THUGS | Groucho's Theme | Still Hungry, Still Angry | Decoy 1989
LES THUGS | Birthday (Why Didn't You Come for My...)
RANK/XEROX | In a Hole | self-titled 7" | Mongo Bongo *new
VAPID | Take a Walk, Baby | Practically Dead | Nominal *new
13th CHIME | Sarah's Got a Chainsaw | The Lost Album | Sacred Bones *new (orig 1983)
AGENT SIDE GRINDER | Eyes of the Old | Irish Recording Tape | Enfant Terrible *new
BRONZE | One Night in Mexico | One Night in Mexico 7-inch | Hex Grammofoonplaten *new
LE SANG SONG | Hot Reggae | self-titled | Dragnet *new

GGreen CA Tour.....

Sun 12/27 in Oakland @ Fuzzplex
w/ NoBunny, Uzi Rash Group Band, Bare Wires & Hobocop
Mon 12/28 in Oakland @ TBA
w/ Uzi Rash Group Band Oakland, California
Tue 12/29 in San Francisco @ Pissed Off Pete's
w/ NoBunny & Uzi Rash Group Band
Wed, 12/30 in Ventura @ Mai's Cafe
w/ Sea Lions & Catwalk
Thu, 12/31 in Los Angeles??? SoCal???
(help?!?!)
Fri, Jan 1 in San Diego??? SoCal??? Anywhere?
(help?!?!)
Sat, Jan 2 in San Luis Obispo @ 3069 Broad Street
w/ TBA
Sun, Jan 3 in Stockton @ Plea 4 Peace
w/ Satan Wriders, Craft Spells & TBA
Tue, Jan 5 in Sacramento @ The Hub
w/ Brilliant Colors, English Singles, & Uzi Rash Group Band

GGreen's cousin band a recent in-studio guest Vichy Water also saw the release of their new cassette, so look out for more new sounds of young Sacramento! Fans of Teenage Panzerkorps' more dance-accessible moments should enjoy it, I think! Follow the label link above or Paypal $7ppd to dylancraver at gmail dot com....

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

AFS v. 247 ~ Now Certainty Unclaimed


HTML links coming soon, maybe...too busy this week to add more right now...so just enjoy two hours of office-doldrum-relief! Year-end top lists next week!!

Download this program within two months at this link...
CLICK HERE for 192kbps rate.
or
CLICK HERE for 320kbps rate.
or
, if you have a slower/20th century connection
STREAM IT HERE by next Monday night!

(Email me if there are any downloading problems, please!)

VAPID | Do the Earthquake | Practically Dead | Nominal *new
CHARLIE & THE MOONHEARTS | Real Hot Breakers | Real Hot Breakers 7" | Trouble in Mind *new
TY SEGALL | Fuzzy Cat | My Sunshine 7" | Trouble in Mind *new
AUDACITY | Run Kitty Run [Thee Makeout Party] | 2009 Winter Tour EP CS | Burger *new
AUDACITY | Airplane Driver
COCONUT COOLOUTS | Punk House pt 1 | Yeah, Right! 7" | Kenrock *new
JACUZZI BOYS | Planet of the Dreamers | No Seasons | Florida's Dying *new
ELECTRIC BUNNIES | Psychic Lemonade | Through the Magical Door | Florida's Dying *new
SCANTILY CLAD | Mud Dreams | Two CDR | no label *new
MEERCAZ | Troubled Hand | self-titled | Tic Tac Totally *new
RED MASS | I'm on Fire | self-titled EP | Semprini *new
PURLING HISS | Almost Washed My Hair | self-titled | Permanent/Archive *new
MAGIK MARKERS | The Lighter Side of...Hippies | Balf Quarry | Drag City 2009
SIC ALPS | Strepix | v/a: The World's Lousy With Ideas vol 8 | Almost Ready 2009
SIC ALPS | Who Has Time to Protest? | A Long Way Around to a Shortcut | Drag City 2009
ART LESSING | Stupid | The Plastic Couch | Electric Eggplant 2006
SHE | Like a Snake | Outta Reach | Causeway | *new (orig 196_)
PSYCHEDELIC HORSESHIT | Future Possibility Reclaimed | Too Many Hits 2x7" | Columbus Discount *new
OCCULT CHEMISTRY | Occult Chemistry | v/a: Messthetics #107 | Hyped2Death *new
PATTERNS | The Bishop | v/a: Messthetics #107
CARL SIMMONS | The Child Delivers the Stone | Honeysuckle Tendrals | Sacred Bones *new
EXCAVATIONS | side A (excerpt) | self-titled c56 | Stunned *new
EUREKA | Lost in the Funhouse | Big Breath CDR | Stunned *new
WARM CLIMATE | Devine Souffle & the Southern Approach | Edible Homes CS | Stunned 2009
XENO & OAKLANDER | Saracen | Sentinelle | Wierd *new
LED ER EST | Poll Gorm | Poll Gorm 7" | Captured Tracks *new
IMPRACTICAL COCKPIT | Beyond Gourmet | Facilidad? | Turned Word *new
THE WONDER BOYS | I Detta Satan's Rum [Brainbombs] | Den Flygande Varmlanningen 7" | GYLF 2008
TOM KARLSSON | Insektsbokstaverna | Pojknacke | Lystring *new
CIRCUIT RIDER | Chinese | self-titled | no label *new (orig 197_?)
TALK NORMAL | Warrior | Sugarland | Rare Book Room *new

Tuesday, December 08, 2009

AFS v. 246 ~ Around the World in 80 Ways


This week in AFS...

* the debut vinyl from my fave new SF Bay band of '09, Rank/Xerox!
* "Purple Hiss" scrambled my brain before flattening me; 'scuse me while I go lay down!
* Sounds like Impractical Cockpit has crowded somebody outta my year-end top-ten albums list!
* No Balls offer a promising life after Brainbombs for fans of the dearly departed dukes of degeneracy!

Maybe this Purling Hiss album will also make a run for my year-end top-ten list, too...gonna hafta listen non-stop for a day or two and then decide. First
impression = WOW! If you thought Birds of Maya was appealing at all, this side-project eschews all of the parent-band's restraint for a maelstrom of fuzz 'n scuzz that compares very favorably to top dogs of the J-Psych brigade from Les Rallizes Dénudés through the 90s and early aughts such as High Rise, Nishi Nihon, etc. A little bit o' research led me to this sweet lit'l streamable rocker which shows a different side of Purling Hiss...a more contemporary pop style with something of a 70s AM Gold fascination. There's yet another facet revealed on the self-titled album--available in vinyl and CD format--which is a noisy streak that's completely opposed to that easygoing vibe of "Run From the City". This guy's music might just hafta become my new obsession for a while.

Download this program within two months at this link...
CLICK HERE for 192kbps rate.
or
CLICK HERE for 320kbps rate.
or
, if you have a slower/20th century connection
STREAM IT HERE by next Monday night!

(Email me if there are any downloading problems, please!)

RANK/XEROX | Basement Furniture | self-titled 7" | Mongo Bongo *new
RANK/XEROX | Turn to Stone | live on KDVS, 08/17/2009
RONDOS | B-52 Pilot | Destroy the Entertainment | King Kong/Red Wig | 2009 (orig 1980)
TYVEK | Bicycle Fantasy 2 | Blunt Instrumental 2: True to the Game CS | no label *new
SCROTUM POLES | Put an End to It All | Auchmithie Forever | Dulc-i-Tone *new (Orig 1980)
HOBOCOP | Good News | self-titled CDR | no label *new
HERE COMES A BIG BLACK CLOUD | Blackout | LP | Stankhouse *forthcoming
TORTURED TONGUES | Extension Cord | Art of Murder 7" | Lethal Triad *new
THE FEELING OF LOVE | The Way to Suck | Suck/Soul/Porn 12" EP | HBSP-2X *new
WOVEN BONES | Have a Soul | The Minus Touch 12" EP | Zoo Music *new
LOOP | Head On | Heaven's End | Head 1987
T.I.T.S. | Void | Second Base | self-released *new
NO BALLS | Balls | self-titled 7" | Diskad *new
NO BALLS | Subsequent Needs | Come Clean | Release the Bats *new
BUTCHER COVER | Ladyparts | self-titled CS | Military Radio *new
HIROSHIMA ROCKS AROUND | Major Labels Eat Their Shit | split LP w/ Bipolar Bear | Kill Shaman *new
POTATO CHIPS | Never Unintentional | Midwest Tour 2009 CS | no label 2009
SLICING GRANDPA | Double S Bladed Technology | Diaper Down | Scatalogical Liberation Front *new
IMPRACTICAL COCKPIT | Plug Out to Permapasture | Facilidad? | Turned Word *new
EXILES FROM CLOWNTOWN | Mania | v/a: A Range of Greatdividing CS | Greatdividing *new
EL JESUS DE MAGICO | Klip Aught | Klip Aught 7" | Columbus Discount *new
PURLING HISS | Purple Hiss | self-titled | Permanent/Archive *new
PUFFY AREOLAS | El Jita | v/a: Skulls Without Borders 10" | Siltbreeze *new
WAXY TOMB | Don't Slip, Don't Slip | self-titled CDR | no label *new
KIM FOWLEY, JR. | Invasion of the Polaroid People | Son of Frankenstein | Moxie 1981
JP-RAD-ICE | Rite | Combat CDR | Scenery Audio Archive 2004
CHEER-ACCIDENT | Camp O' Physique | Introducing Lemon | Skin Graft 2003
LIFE PARTNERS | Men Are Talking | Men Are Talking | Ride the Snake 2009
SOCKEYE | The Boy w/a Bruised Butt | Barf on a Globe | Mortville/Happy Puppy 2000
WOOLLEN KITS | Tasman | Teenage Love 7" | Periodic Collective *new

Tuesday, December 01, 2009

AFS v. 245 ~ Skull Checkpoint: Please Show Provenance of Riffs



If cynics and haters and Carrie Brownstein say there's nothing original happening in today's music, well...did they ever consider how impossible (or impossibly arbitrary) their standards of originality are? Damn near everything that's been retroactively credited as original was really just a rather unique derivation of influences which had previously never been successfully blended, or were atavistic and overdue for a rebirth. I'm offering several exhibits for you to ponder this week, including a couple songs from the debut cassette by Chicago's Brain Idea (pictured right), two ripe riffs plucked at their peak of perfection by Siltbreeze for inclusion on the superb Skulls Without Borders 10" comp/"sampler", and a pair of killer songs from 2009's best new band of ladypower from leftfield....plus more, as always....ENJOY!

Download this program within two months at this link...
CLICK HERE for 192kbps rate.
or
CLICK HERE for 320kbps rate.
or
, if you have a slower/20th century connection
STREAM IT HERE by next Monday night!

(Email me if there are any downloading problems, please!)

GANGLIANS | Blood on the Sand | Blood on the Sand 7" | Captured Tracks *new
FRESH & ONLYS | Black Coffin | Grey-Eyed Girls | Woodsist *new
FRESH & ONLYS | A Taste of Hunger | split 7" w/ Dan Melchior und Das Menace | Volar *new
HENRY'S DRESS | Target Practice | Bust'em Green | Slumberland 1997
FLIGHT | My Business | self-titled 10" | Kill Shaman *new
BRAIN IDEA | The Heat | self-titled CS | no label *new
BRAIN IDEA | Yaweh with a Straightrazor
THE FALL | Wings | Palace of Swords Reversed | Rough Trade 1987 (orig 1983)
THE FALL | Mansion | This Nation's Saving Grace | Beggars Banquet 1985
JOY DIVISION | Dead Souls | Still | Factory 1981
KURT VILE & THE VIOLATORS | Denial | v/a: Skulls Without Borders 10" | Siltbreeze *new
SIC ALPS | Clarence in Wonderland [Soft Boys] | v/a: Skulls Without Borders 10"
SONNY & THE SUNSETS | Lovin' on an Older Gal | Tomorrow is Alright | Secret Seven/Soft Abuse *new
FUNGI GIRLS | Kowloon Walled City | Seafaring Pyramids | Play Pinball *new
RIDE | Unfamiliar | Vapour Trail EP | Sire 1991
LIGHTNING BOLT | Rain on Lake I'm Swimming in | Earthly Delights | Load *new
LIGHTNING BOLT | S.O.S.
MAYOR DALEY | Choices | Facial Expressions CDR | Rotted Tooth *new
TALK NORMAL | River's Edge | Sugarland | Rare Book Room *new
TALK NORMAL | Warrior | v/a: My Estrogeneration | Not Not Fun *new
TIMELOAD FOWL | Collaboration w/ James Fella | split LP w/ James Fella | Gilgongo *new
SISSY SPACEK | side A (excerpt) | Fortune b/w The Eyes of Men 7" | Gilgongo *new
AIDS WOLF | Dustin' Off the Sphynx | Dustin' Off the Sphynx 7" | Skin Graft *new
POP. 1280 | Bedbugs | Bedbugs 7" | no label *new
CONDOMINIUM | Pupils | Pupils 7" | no label *new
MUDHONEY | Twenty Four | Superfuzz Bigmuff: Deluxe Edition | Sub Pop 2009 (orig 1988)
SURGERY | Feedback | Feedback 7" | AmRep 1990
PUFFY AREOLAS | Lutzko Lives | Lutzko Lives 7" | Columbus Discount *new
PLASTIC CRIMEWAVE SOUND | Shockwave Rider | Shockwave Rider 7" | HoZac *new
MONOSHOCK | Hong Kong | Walk to the Fire | Blackjack 1996

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

AFS v. 244 ~ I'm Eighteen (times two!)


Sorry, I had Alice Cooper on the brain on this birthday (36, if you don't catch my drift). But I dug all the way back to his most delicate pop nugget 'cos last weekend, the fantastic Aerosols from San Francisco dropped a stunning Alice Cooper cover on a living room fulla new fans at their show with Sleepy Beach and G.Green. In honor of our thermostat kicking the heater on for the first time in almost eight months, I've also dished such delights as this rare gem of Swedish rawk and New Order's dubbiest moment. Also, if you're on the west coast, get ready for another facial-melt from Eternal Tapestry. See below for details...

Download this program within two months at this link...
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or
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or
, if you have a slower/20th century connection
STREAM IT HERE by next Monday night!

(Email me if there are any downloading problems, please!)

COCOBEURRE | Ciba Ciba | demo CDR | no label *new arrival
THE GIRLS AT DAWN | It's the Only Time | 12" EP | Captured Tracks *new
CHRISTMAS | Winter | Winter 7" | Endless Latino *new
STIV BATORS | It's Cold Outside [The Choir] | L.A. L.A. 10" | Bomp 1994 (orig 1980)
WELFARE | Turn the Heat on | On a Mission | Rocknroll Blitzkrieg 2000
NEW ORDER | Turn the Heater on [Keith Hudson] | Peel Sessions 12" EP | BBC/Strange Fruit 1986 (orig 1982)
GODS GIFT | No God | Pathology 1979-1984 | Hyped To Death *new (orig 1980)
GHOST FINK | Catacombs | v/a: TCAC vol 1 Oakland CS | The Church & the Commune *new
UZI RASH | High + Free | v/a: TCAC vol 1 Oakland CS
THE BASSHOLES | Swannanoa River, Concl. | ...and Without a Name | Columbus Discount *new
THE BASSHOLES | New Values
NECROPOLIS | No Tongue, No Talking | Love Theme from Necropolis 7" | Columbus Discount *new
MATT K. SHRUGG | Reef Harp | Instant Images CDR | Guiness Book of World Records *new
WHATEVER BRAINS | Saddle Up | Saddle Up 7" | Bull City *new
THE FEELING OF LOVE | What's Your Name? Who's Your Daddy? | 7" | Avant! *new
THE ELKS | Brain Damage | Date Raped/+Elks+ CS | Yellow Goth *new
THE ELKS | Porchlight Remedy
DAN MELCHIOR UND DAS MENACE | Daylight Robbery | split 7" w/ Fresh & Onlys | Volar *new
DAN MELCHIOR'S BROKE REVUE | To Try & Bust | O, Clouds Unfold | Hook or Crook *new
DAN MELCHIOR'S BROKE REVUE | Tide Rolls on
THE RUB-TOUCH PROPELLOR | When Heads Start Falling | I Don't Wanna Suffer, Man | Poe/Slutfish *new
EXPENSIVE SHIT | Dreamcatcher Culture | Powwow With Chopper CS | Not Not Fun *new
ETERNAL TAPESTRY | Brain Drain | The Invisible Landscape | Not Not Fun 2009
DYLAN ETTINGER & THE HEAT | Miami Heat (The Stakeout) | Smokin' 7" | Not Not Fun *new
FRED BIGOT | Extinction | Mono/Stereo | Holy Mountain/Tlön Uqbar *new
WAXY TOMB | Grey Ice Box Gardens | self-titled CDR | no label *new
SCORN | Days Passed | Evanescence | Earache 1994
TROPA MACACA | Canos Serrados | Sensaçao do Principio | Siltbreeze *new
TRETETAM | Pacific Coast Feather | self-titled CDR | Ikuisuus *new
SONNY & THE SUNSETS | Strange Love | Tomorrow is Alright | Secret Seven/Soft Abuse *new
ALICE COOPER | Apple Bush | Pretties for You | Straight 1969
AME SON | Seventh Time Key | Catalyse | BYG 1970
TALK NORMAL | Lemonade | Secret Cog EP 12" | Just for the Hell of It *new
THE AEROSOLS | Last Cup of Tea | 3-song CDR | no label 2008

Eternal Tapestry on tour...

Tue 11/17 in Chico, CA @ The Down Lo
Wed 11/18 in Oakland, CA @ Heco's Palace
w/ Heavy Hills, Pod Blotz, Heco (himself!)
Thu 11/19 in Los Angeles @ L'Keg Gallery
w/ Sun Araw, Pocahaunted, Pearl Harbour
Fri 11/20 in San Francisco @ The Hemlock
w/ Barn Owl, Moon Duo, Real Estate
** Sat 11/21 in Sacramento @ Funcastle (2309 L Street)
w/ Ganglians & G.Green
Sun 11/22 in Arcata, CA @ Steve’s House
w/ Starving Weirdos
Mon 11/25 in Portland, OR @ Abyssal Behemoth (pocket sandwich)
w/ Wet Hair, Pete Swanson, Chrome Wings

** Denotes my official birthday party....I guess someone's gonna mix some NOS coctails and try to trick me into drinking one??!?! Whatever...I'm just excited that three of my favorite bands are playing, and hopefully a buncha friends will come have a power-hang and a mega-dangle. Starts at 8pm, I think. Don't walk on the neighbor's newly seeded lawn or sit on his newly renovated porch, please!



What can I tell you about these other records??? Maybe a lit'l later.....check back....I'll really try to post some reviews this time, okay?

Thanks for listening...I hope you liked some new things!

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

AFS v. 243 ~ For Weird's Sake!


Too tired to write anything right now...sorry! Check back tomorrow, maybe? Just enjoy listening for now! Sorry, garage turkeys...WEIRD is back in November!

Download this program within two months at this link...
CLICK HERE for 192kbps rate.
or
CLICK HERE for 320kbps rate.
or
, if you have a slower/20th century connection
STREAM IT HERE by next Monday night!

(Email me if there are any downloading problems, please!)

RIB CAGES | In Wilderness | Right on or Wrong 7" | Lemon Session *forthcoming
CUDEVASO | Kurwa | Tryin' to Fuck You! CDR | Fater Disks *new
TODDI WELLMAN | Saba | self-titled CDR | Le Temps Qui Seche 2008
TODDI WELLMAN | Nane
BIPOLAR BEAR | Goth Time Rag | Harlem Pripyat | Mexican Summer *new
AIDS WOLF | Old Fashioned Values | Dustin' Off the Sphynx 7" | Skin Graft *new
WIRE | 2 People in a Room | Document and Eyewitness | Rough Trade 1981
PIER | Perplexed Beach Scene | The Bree-Fings vol. 1 CDR | For Noise's Sake *new
REPRESSIVE PROTEINS | Centurion at the Mall | Centurion 2xCS | no label *new
PIER | Playing Shapes | self-titled CDR | Tigerasylum 2008
GOSLINGS + WARMTH | Unleavened | The Heaven of Animals | Archive *new
MOON DUO | Ripples | Killing Time EP | Sacred Bones *new
GALAXIE 500 | Don't Let Our Youth Go to Waste | Today | Rough Trade 1991
GANGLIANS | Make It Up | Blood on the Sand 7" | Captured Tracks *new
SUN MANTRA | Honeymaker | self-titled CDR | no label *new
INDIAN BINGO | Casim Glue Co. | Scatalogical | Independent Project 1989
THEE OH SEES | The Fizz | Dog Poison | Captured Tracks *new
TYVEK | Invisible Girls | Blunt Instrumentals 2: True to the Game CS | no label *new
TYVEK | untitled | Blunt Intrumental EP | Night People *new
PUFFY AREOLAS | Bowel Movement (It's All About) | Lutzko Lives 7" | Columbus Discount *new
LITTLE CLAW | Human Taste (Below the Tide) | Human Taste | Not Not Fun/Ecstatic Peace *new
TALK NORMAL | Grinnin' in Your Face | Secret Cog EP | Just for the Hell of It *new
17 PYGMIES | Lazarus | Jedda by the Sea | Resistance 1984
DOWNY MILDEW | Floorboard | Mincing Steps | Texas Hotel 1988
TURKISH QUEEN | Blood and Gold Dust | Cusp | no label 2003
KRYSMOPOMPAS | Gesa | Gesa 7" | Avant! *new
MATTRESS | Lost & Found | Low Blows | Malt Duck *new
FACTUMS | Solar Wind | Flowers | Sacred Bones *new
INCA ORE | Shine On | Silver Sea Surfer School | Not Not Fun *new
OAXACAN | Ost Zephyr | Immolation CDR | no label 2009

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

AFS v. 242 ~ Vichy Water live on KDVS!


Vichy Water are a Sacto trio that formed this summer. You might remember that I had them on AFS as guests when Ratas del Vaticano visited. They had literally formed about 72 hours before that program, so they didn't really have full-fledged songs then. But lately, they've been wowing Sacto's live-show roll-call (one of whom was so impressed, he's gonna release their first 7" on his Weird Forest label) with some dazzling performances, and I was so struck by how far they'd progressed, I invited them back to the KDVS studios to play their effervescent postpunk for you. If it seems like Sacramento has a ton of bands lately, it's partly because these three people have started more bands this summer than anyone else, and they also flank Andrew in his rock quartet version of G.Green. There's also a Mayyor in there.

This week on AFS...

* Sacto band Vichy Water revisits for a more fully-fledged, fleshier live-in-Studio-A performance!
* Vichy Water interview reveals a fun, earnest band that sometimes shoots sparks!
* HoZac's "Fall 2009 4-Pack" sounds pretty, pretty, pretty good!
* Today's cassette subculture's gnarliest scuzzmongers!

Download this program within two months at this link...
CLICK HERE for 192kbps rate.
or
CLICK HERE for 320kbps rate.
or
, if you have a slower/20th century connection
STREAM IT HERE by next Monday night!

(Email me if there are any downloading problems, please!)

THE NYMPHETS | I See | I See 7" | Signed by Force *new
TYVEK | Robots, Dogs | Blunt Instrumental EP 12" | Night People *new
SILVER SHAMPOO | Dogs | Jethro Skull 7" | What's Your Rupture? 2009
CLUB TANGO | Performance | v/a: Messthetics #107 | Hyped2Death *new (orig 1981)
GOD'S GIFT | Anaesthetic | Pathology 1979-1984 | Hyped2Death *new (orig 1984)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
VICHY WATER
live in Studio A
Affirmation Action
Shattering Spirits
Oh, Diana
Turn It Down
The Samba
Choice Pumps
Sacto, Great Job!
Drunk Jesus
Ass Treatment
Crap Culture (w/ Andrew of G.Green)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THE DEFNICS
| Suicide Trip | v/a: Cleveland Confidential | Terminal 1982
PLASTIC CRIMEWAVE SOUND | Shockwave Rider | Shockwave Rider 7" | HoZac *new
WIZZARD SLEEVE | When I Die [the Pagans] | Make the World Go Away 7" | HoZac *new
SHARP ENDS | Ghosts of Chance | Northern Front 7" | HoZac *new
A CERTAIN RATIO | The Thin Boys | The Old and the New | Factory 1986
FLIGHT | Molly, Don't Fade | self-titled 10" | Kill Shaman *new
CHEVEU | Sacha | Cheveau | Permanent *new
ACCIDENT DU TRAVAIL | Landowski | self-titled 12" EP | Bruit Direct Disques *new
LOW RED CENTER | Sun Outside | self-titled 10" | SS Records *new
TWIN CRYSTALS | Boys Still Pictures | split CS w/ Ultrathin | Campaign for Infinity *new
GAY BEAST | Pressing Hard | Multi-Purpose Anti-Form 7" | Gilgongo *new
KALIBAS | Masticate | Eyes Forever Red 7" | Howling Bull America 2000
HELLHAMMER | The Third of the Storms (Evoked Damnation) | Apocalyptic Raids | Metal Blade 1984
EXTRA SEXES | Gap/Solvent Bone Remorse | Gash Bulb CS | Skrot Up *new
BUTCHER COVER | Embracist | self-titled CS | Military Radio *new
BUTCHER COVER | I'm Anti-Me
ANAL BABES | Punk Rock [David Peel & Death] | Cocaine Swastika 10" | Incognito 1999 *request
THE AXEMEN | Shacked Up in Yr Egypt Tomb | Scary! Part III | Siltbreeze *new (orig 1989)
TIMES NEW VIKING | I Smell Bubblegum | Born Again Revisited | Matador *new
BLACK TAR | Familiar | self-titled CS | no label *new
FACTUMS | Three Sheets Rider | Flowers | Sacred Bones *new
TEEPEE | Satisfied Heart | Morals | Senzei *new
BUCKETS OF BILE | Growing Gone | Outside Mind CS | Speed Tapes *new

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

AFS v. 241 ~ Slippery Slopes & Black Time live on KDVS!


This week on AFS...

* The Slippery Slopes from Florida live in Studio A!
* In the Red recording artists Black Time from England live in Studio A!
* A Fashionable Idiots triple capsule of new releases
* The end of Columbus Discount's singles club year one, and the beginning of year two
* a couple shoulda-been AOR nuggets unearthed from the 70s

Download this program within two months at this link...
CLICK HERE for 192kbps rate.
or
CLICK HERE for 320kbps rate.
or
, if you have a slower/20th century connection
STREAM IT HERE by next Monday night!

(Email me if there are any downloading problems, please!)

MIDDLE AMERICA | Every Night | Every Night 7" | Fashionable Idiots *new
FRESH MEAT | Get to Work | Problem Fixer 7" | Fashionable Idiots *new
HERDS | Winter in the Midwest | self-titled | Fashionable Idiots *new
MAYYORS | Deads | Deads 12" | Hurling Man 2009 *request
ANAL BABES | Flabby Sagging Flesh | Delirium or Diarrhea | Accident 1994
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SLIPPERY SLOPES
live in Studio A
Pizza, I'm Against It
So Tight It Squeaks
Space Paranoids
Sad Tugs
Bikini Binge
No Nerds
Dan Savage
Carburetor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CHEAP TIME
| Wildlife | Handy Man 7" | Douche Master 2008
CHEAP TIME | People Talk | self-titled | In The Red 2008
BUZZER | Teacher's Pet | Teacher's Pet 7" | Tic Tac Totally 2009
XTERMINATORS | Occasional Lay | Microwave Radioation 7" | Radio Active 1979
THE DICTATORS | Faster & Louder | Blood Brothers | Asylum 1978
BROWNSVILLE STATION | Mister Robert | A Night on the Town | Big Tree 1972
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLACK TIME
Live in Studio A
Black Time Theme
Hostile Cosmos
Contract
Fascist Bathroom
Infestation
Asleep at the Wheel
You Make Me
Scary People
Downtown
Mystery Shudder
I'm Not a Young Man Anymore
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
VOM
| I'm in Love with Your Mom | Live at Surf City 7" | White Noise 1978
NITZINGER | Live Better Electrically | Live Better Electrically | 20th Century Fox 1976
PUFFY AREOLAS | Lutzko Lives | Lutzko Lives 7" | Columbus Discount *new
PSYCHEDELIC HORSESHIT | Let Down (and Hangin Around) | Too Many Hits 2x7" | Columbus Discount *new
PSYCHEDELIC HORSESHIT | Sun-Bleached Kool Aid
THE PHEROMOANS | Phantom Darwin | Savoury Days 7" | Savoury Days *new
GOD'S GIFT | People | Pathology 1979-1984 | Hyped2Death *new (orig 1979)
RED MASS | Skank | self-titled | Semprini *forthcoming

2009 was the year of the return of the "singles club", and Columbus Discount's series was the best. Just as Year Two kicks off to an outstanding start with Lutzko Lives by the Puffy Areolas of Toledo, Ohio, Year one ends on a brilliant note! Psychedelic Horseshit's Too Many Hits double-7" is certainly the most consistently satisfying release since their first single--Who Let the Dogs Out?--way back before anyone had a preconceived notion about the band. Seriously....if you think this band's discography is a like a steaming duke with some nice lit'l bits of corn in there, stop picking through the poo of the past and have a listen to this. This is like a heap o' huitlacoche. Naturally gnarly, amply swissed, not overly fucked over...Damn near perfect! Don't know what huitlacoche is? Google it! I want you to appreciate how I went to the next level with my metáfora de maiz. Remember when Sebadoh took a turn towards punk rock on their awesome Siltbreeze single? Well, if they'd never returned from that trip, but took another turn into joyful melody with a nod to the indie-rock gods of southern Ohio's past two decades before diving into the crucial works of The Fugs and David Peel & the Lower East Side, then they might've come out sounding like this.

And Puffy Areolas??? "Lutzko Lives" just absolutely smokes! That is my new pump-up jam! This is the band I most wish I could play in right now.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

AFS v. 240 ~ Sonic Chicken 4 live on KDVS!


Tonight's special guest--Sonic Chicken 4--came all the way from Perpignan in the south of France to tour the USA for more than a month. Of all the bands I saw at the Gonerfest 6 in Memphis a couple weeks back, this band was up there with Box Elders and Davila 666 among the most smile- and laughter-inducing bands of the entire fun-packed festival. So, please download and enjoy one of the most contagiously fun bands on the planet today. Their set begins just past the halfway point of this program...

Also in this week's AFS...

* What is this mysterious Astro Boy(?)/Hamtramck(?) 7" anyway?
* R.I.P. Dickie Peterson of Blue Cheer
* New Sacto pure pop perfection by California Innovations

Download this program within two months at this link...
CLICK HERE for 192kbps rate.
or
CLICK HERE for 320kbps rate.
or
, if you have a slower/20th century connection
STREAM IT HERE by next Monday night!

(Email me if there are any downloading problems, please!)

ASTRO BOY | Rebel Now | Holidays at the Beach | Hamtramck 1994 (??)
WHEN DINOSAURS RULED THE EARTH | Ghost 20 | Art Galleries 7" | no label *new
BATWINGS | Dr. Ohm vs the Exploding Amp | split 7" w/ When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth | Us Two *new
OXFORD CIRCLE | Mind Destruction | Live at the Avalon 1966 | Big Beat 2007
BLUE CHEER | Second Time Around | Vincebus Eruptum | Philips 1968
FUNGI GIRLS | Clouds | Seafaring Pyramids | Play Pinball *new
FUNGI GIRLS | Crystal Roads
THE AXEMEN | The Church of the Loosely Brethren | Scary! | Siltbreeze *new
UZI RASH GROUP BAND | New Clear Winter | Hight and Phree | Freedom School *new
WILD MAN FISCHER | Don't Ever Get Mad at Me | Nothing Scary | Rhino 1984
WILD MAN FISCHER | My Friend Robert
WOUNDED LION | Big Boots [Wild Man Fischer] | Friendly? 7" | In the Red *new
THINKING FELLERS UNION LOCAL 282 | 2x4s | Lovelyville | Matador 1991
FRESH & ONLYS | Laughter is Contagious | Laughter is Contagious 7" | Trouble in Mind *new
KITCHEN'S FLOOR | Failure | Loneliness is a Dirty Mattress | R.I.P. Society *new
KITCHEN'S FLOOR | Sparkles
PIGEON RELIGION | Scorpion Milk | Scorpion Milk 7" | Parts Unknown *new
JACK STANDS | You Suck | Box of Feelings CDR | no label *new
JACK STANDS | Black President
GENERAL INTEREST | Sick of Waiting | Right by the Beach | Ride the Snake *new
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SONIC CHICKEN 4
live in Studio A
Neon Night
Airplane Girl
Margharita
Shadow on the Boat
Sonic Night
Girl 66
Crushed
Only Lose
Shalalalalove
Depuis que j't'ai Rencantre
Right Side of...
Creature in a Picture
Too Much to Drink (Last Night)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BEATERS
| Fishage | Fishage 7" | Volar/Single Screen *new
ANDERS ANGEST | Just Nar Allt ar sa Roligt | v/a: Total-Pop! | no label 2009 (orig 1980)
CONTAINER | Livet Stinker | v/a: Total-Pop! (orig 1980)
CALIFORNIA INNOVATIONS | Love is not a Gun | cassingle | Palace of the Golden Cassette *new
NODZZZ | True to Life | True to Life 7" | What's Your Rupture? *new
ADAM PAYNE | ...if you... | Maybelline Weeks 7" | Malt Duck *new
THE INTELLIGENCE | Becky is a Bummer | split 7" w/ Unnatural Helpers | Dirty Knobby *new

I found this 7" record lying around on a table sleeveless which is by a band called Astro Boy, or is it Hamtramck? Songs were copyrighted in 1994 by Astro Boy and credited in parentheses to Astro Boy. The label is either Hamtramck or the Honeyking Record Co. at 11343 Klinger in Hamtramck, MI 48212. All I know for sure is that it has three songs: "Holidays at the Beach" and "Gong Li" on side A; "Rebel Now" on side B. And it's damn near un-googlable no matter what search I try. This record is plenty good, though? Each settles into its own grudgeful groove. Please enjoy the bristly cave-stomp of the B-side, batting lead-off tonight. It positively reminds me of early Cheater Slicks oompah-damage or Feedtime. If you know the story of this record, please gimme the facts!

A crucial piece of Davis and Sacto Valley music history has passed away. Dickie Peterson of was the bassist and singer of Blue Cheer, the band recognized by many historians for releasing the first album in the history of heavy metal, Vincebus Eruptum, in 1968. Most writers cite Blue Cheer as a San Francisco band, but their history includes a few Davis chapters at the beginning. Here's the story of his passing at age 61 due to liver cancer.

California Innovations is a new band from Sacramento, but hold it...Scott Miller (of Bananas, Nar, Ski Instructors, and English Singles among other rad bands) said this snappy lit'l two-song tape was just the result of one Saturday of screwing around in the basement with buddy Jason (also formerly of Nar, Ski Instructors, and more (see the Sacto Inbred bands database to see how incestuous it is/was)). He said Jason has a ton of songs...some of which are slated for an upcoming tape release under a different band name. Here's to hoping that it's more than the one-off Saturday sesh. Breezy, plucky pop with a brainworming effect...so beware! You might not be able to forget these melodies for a while. Scott sings in his best register (high) on the chipper, yet wise "Father Time" which is incredibly memorable for such a short song of two very short verses and 2.5 chorus refrains including a brilliant giddy finale. Jason's plaintive vocals work a more subtle angle. Both of these pop crooners deploy boyish charm and oodles of wisdom. I reckon that if they mess around in the basement for four or five Saturdays in a row, we might have a perfect pop album for living life to the fullest and cutting all the bullshit. Mini-anthems for aging gracefully? Different ways of saying carpe diem without invoking an over-quoted movie? Practical relationship advice? Seems like that basement might be a budding hit factory.

Tuesday, October 06, 2009

AFS v. 239 ~ People Will Be Talking!


This week in AFS...

* new sarcastic no-brow smart-isms from the Ride the Snake stables!
* hear why you will be talking about Life Partners!
* a double-shot of depression for you donut dippin' swines!
* welcome The Intelligence back to the West Coast!
* extreme submerged-fidelity warning: Processors and Dead Wife redefine lo-fi!

Download this program within two months at this link...
CLICK HERE for 192kbps rate.
or
CLICK HERE for 320kbps rate.
or
, if you have a slower/20th century connection
STREAM IT HERE by next Monday night!

(Email me if there are any downloading problems, please!)

LIFE PARTNERS | Men Are Talking | Men Are Talking | Ride the Snake *new
MICHAEL YONKERS w/ THE BLIND SHAKE | When You're Fallin' | Cold Town/Soft Zodiac | Learning Curve *new
MICHAEL YONKERS w/ THE BLIND SHAKE | The New End
CACAW | Pazuzu | Get a Brain | Permanent 2009
CHEVEU | Kador du Porno | Cheveau | Permanent *new
THE INTELLIGENCE | I Hear Depression | Fake Surfers | In The Red 2009
SUN MANTRA | Pockets Pull (in So Many Ways) | self-titled CDR | no label *new
WICKED AWESOMES | Ghost Beach | Punk Holograms | Psychic Handshake *new
BEATERS | Obamanation | Fishage 7" | Volar/Single Screen *new
GENERAL INTEREST | Cops in Love | Right by the Beach | Ride the Snake *new
ANGST | Pig | self-titled | Happy Squid 1983
HERE COMES A BIG BLACK CLOUD!! | Mission Statement | Party Vietnam 10" | Hovercraft/Stankhouse *new
PROCESSORS | I Can't Get Drunk Without My Glasses | A Lean Night CS | no label *new
PROCESSORS | Buzzkill
SOFT SHOULDER | Mary Ann | Mary Ann 7" | Gilgongo *new
IMPRACTICAL COCKPIT | Corn on the Bayou | split LP w/ Nuclear Family | Friends & Relatives 2002
PIGEON RELIGION | Shootist | Scorpion Milk 7" | Parts Unknown *new
HAMMERHEAD | Zesta | Into the Vortex | Amphetamine Reptile 1994
DEAD WIFE | Choke | Subterranean Megazit CS | Campaign for Infinity *new
SLEETMUTE/NIGHTMUTE | In Adulthood...Black Steel Sick | unreleased LP | no label 2004
SHEARING PINX | Battery Born | Weaponry | Divorce *new
AMON DÜÜL II | Eye Shaking King | Yeti | Liberty 1970
MOON DUO | Speed | Killing Time EP 12" | Sacred Bones *new
ETERNAL TAPESTRY | Cosmic Dream | The Invisible Landscape | Not Not Fun *new
OMON RA | It's Nice to See You Again | split CS w/ Chris d'Eon | Divorce 2009
OMON RA | Brand New Baby
DEAD WESTERN | So Many Signs | Suckle at the Supple Teats of Time | ??? *forthcoming
ÉL-G | Tim et Henri | Tout Ploie | SS Records *new
MUDBOY | Freeze | Music for Any Speed 7" | Disques Lexi *new
ROBERT RENTAL | On Location | Double Heart 7" | Mute 1980
SECTION 25 | Haunted | Charnel Ground 7" | Factory Benelux 1980
FOR AGAINST | Autocrat | Echelons | Independent Project 1986
MANTLES | Don't Lie | self-titled | Siltbreeze *new

The Intelligence were in Europe long enough to establish dual citizenship status in a few different countries earlier this year, but they are back on the West Coast at the end of the week, so get ready to welcome them back. I saw them at Gonerfest with their new guitarist, who really did appear to be stolen from Leon Redbone's band, but he certainly snapped to the songs plenty well. Their latest album--Fake Surfers--is still standing up as one of this year's most brilliant, and the band is surely sharpened by so much constant touring. Be a friend and make them feel welcome on their home stretch, won't you?

Tue, Oct 6 in Denver, CO @ Meadowlark
Wed, Oct 7 in Santa Fe, NM @ Meow Wolf
Thu, Oct 8 in Tucson, AZ @ Club Congress
Fri, Oct 9 in Phoenix, AZ @ Modified Arts
Sat, Oct 10 in El Centro, CA @ Bujwah (Hi, Felipe!)
Sun, Oct 11 in Los Angeles @ The Echo (Part Time Punks Festival)
Mon, Oct 12 in San Diego @ The Casbah
Tue, Oct 13 in Sacramento @ The Hub (w/ Sonic Chicken 4 & Repressive Proteins)
Thu, Oct 15 in Oakland @ House of Nostromos
Fri, Oct 16 in San Francisco @ Elbo Room (w/ Hank IV & Mayyors!)
Sat, Oct 17 in Portland, OR @ that silly Vice/Scion Garage Festival thing

From the most submerged depths of tin-cans-'n-twine fidelity come two of the more exciting cassettes of scrawly/scrabbly ladypower punk bands with no-wavey angles, scathing bile, pointed aggro noise, and hardcore ferocity. Actually, the Processors (from Bakersfield!) might be closer to vinyl-ready fidelity, but their self-released cassette--A Lean Night--might suffer from a little extra murky sound because of the daring artistry of the homespun artwork which involved unscrewing and carefully cracking apart the cassette tape to festoon the inside of the clear cassette plastic with constrasting colors of paint and photos on each side. This pretty much obliterates the dozens of post-Blackbean & Placenta/post-Hanson/American Tapes cassette labels who have wrecked the heads of your home and automotive cassette decks with oodles of oversprayed paint. I imagine that whoever decorated these must have as steady a pair of hands as the most accomplished neurosurgeon! I'm not even 1% kidding...I've spot-checked throughout the entire length of this cassette, and the tape is totally clean, and there's nary one bit o' spackle on the smooth and clear outside of the cassette. It must've been a challenge to keep the tape from unspooling, but the result is a tape that's actually fairly listenable and hints at a band that I'd like to hear without the scads of murk (even though this is apparently on the fancy and ever-rarer Type II cassette!). Side A begins with an instro that's just alright, but the vocal songs are pretty riveting for their furiously corkscrewing guitars, walloping drums, and female vocals which are very effective. With a too-cool-for-school affectation, singer Jeannie expresses such grisly lyrical subject matter as teen abortion, inept parentage, and wretched wasterdom with an odd and eerie level comfort, and an unusually poetic flair for words and metaphors. Musically, it's just a guitar/drum duo, but much like the precocious early recordings of Shearing Pinx (particulary Poison Hands), these Processors seem to have a really well-conceived handle on dynamics, achieving a balance between focused riff-based grooves and sprawl-out scribble-tech interludes. Side B is a sidelong noise-jam which sounds as well-conceived and executed as the work of many of the leaders of the noise genre ghetto. It's certainly listenable all the way through. I think I will love seeing this band live, and I'd surely like to hear what kinda recording they're capable of if even half the effort it took to deconstruct and reconstruct these awesome-looking tapes is directed into making the most effective songs and sounds possible.

Dead Wife are three ladies and a boy drummer from Montréal, Quebec, whose cassette tape suffers from extreme Type I tape noise and low dubbing sound level which make it kinda frustrating to listen to whether the Dolby noise reduction is off or on. But the band still brings enough spirit to translate through the murk enough to land on my list on bands I'd like to hear all-cleaned-up. And I found out what they really sound like on their MySpace page. Forget Loni Love and Gilbert Gottfried, Micheal Ian Black, the Sklar brothers, The Donnas, and all the other snippet-sniping heads in the little pop-up bubbles on shows such as "Best Week Ever" and "World's Dumbest Criminals". The ladies are Dead Wife have something more interesting to say about pop culture clichés. At least, I think they do. "Choke" has got that contemporary reverb drench on the vocals which rate sky-high on the brat meter. Musically, they remind me of Kill the Hippies' early tapes and 7"es, but with little more touch of 80s hardcore, which is a huge compliment. Do you know how much I love Kill the Hippies?

But just when you've had enough girltalk (and if you'll indulge just one more pop-culture reference here today), The Life Partners must be heard. The title song of their new Men Are Talking album is surely deserving of Al Bundy's "bronze dumpster" award. You might remember that I raved about their 2008 7"--AIDS of Spades b/w Teenager in Trouble--which couched the questionable lyrical matter on a pop organ riff that humorously betrayed the bristling hardcore fury of the band and the over-the-top-and-back-again buffoonish vocal delivery which made it all sit right with my emocore-lyric-sheet-reading/riot-grrl-crushin'-on came-of-age-in-the-90's self. Apparently, it bummed a few of you out. But it got us talking, and the conversation continued about such sensitive issues that too many so-called libs feel strongly about, but never really confront or dwell upon (such as race, and what about boys now that girls are kicking their academic butts in primary and secondary schools all across this nation?). Bands like the Life Partners or Country Teasers are kinda like the "All in the Family" of underground music. If you take the lyrics at face value and cry foul and shut yourself away from this band, you can forget about 'em and go back to your safe cocoon, much like the too-easily offended viewers who wrankled at Archie Bunker's paint-peelingest words who failed to appreciate where those words fit in the context of a program that was building a very constructive dialogue. It takes no courage to ignore something that confounds, but the effort to peel away the layers of complication and convolution can be worthwhile, and rather fun in the case of Men Are Talking. What does it say about a band's message when members of an outfit as esteemed and accomplished as Major Stars are waving their pricks and beating their chests over a bed of music steeped in the easy-paced AOR rock balladry of the 70s? This record is so devoid of three-stupid-chords punk convention that it makes Cheer Accident sound like Blitz. It's like E.L.O. played the Elton John songbook with words re-written by Rancid Vat when they were one of the most deceptively clever lyricists in punk rock, and then brought in Bob James to arrange the horn parts 'cos the producer loved the theme of "Taxi" so much. The occasional crunchy riff creeps in, as if by the command of John Nitzinger's svengali strings. If Metal Mike's brain wasn't complete mush by now, he'd love this record for all the wrong reasons. But fortunately, this album's so wrong, it's right! So, you can love it without guilt. You can just tell your immediately disapproving friends that you're conducting research on yourself...exposure therapy to test your true punkness and your sense of righteousness! Maybe it's not really that wrong...The production and vocal delivery screams Homestead Records circa 1989. There's as much musical talent here as any Boston or Journey record, but there's no sheeny gloss of overproduction or overly histrionic singing. There's just that much of a shred of honesty that makes you really wonder about these guys. Basically, if you don't get too indignant about off-color jokes, and you can't peel yourself away when you see those late-night infomercials about hits-of-the-70s compilations, then you owe it to yourself to track this record down!