AFS v. 214 ~ feat. The Homosexuals

I was so very excited to bring to you a special tape-delayed broadcast of British DIY/postpunk legends The Homosexuals featuring Bruno Wizard, and it was indeed a treat for all of my terrestrial listeners and live-streamers, but unfortunately, the Freeform KDVS archives did not catch the stream, as they were taken down for maintenance over the weekend, and there was a problem getting the system back online in time for this broadcast. Surely, that means I'm gonna hafta update this post when a future rebroadcast is successfully saved to our archive tree. Watch for that later this week when DJ Simi gives it a twirl. And if things aren't working by then, I suppose we can do it again next week. It really is a delight to hear it.

So, here's what you woulda heard, followed by some notes about this outstanding "reunion" of The Homosexuals...

THEE OH SEES | Meat Step Lively | Help | In the Red *new
SLIM LIMBS | Queen of the Mist | split 7" w/ Beast With a Gun | Murder Slim *new
DUM DUM GIRLS | Long Hair | HoZac Hookup Club 7" | HoZac *new
THE MAYFAIR SET | Desert Fun | Already Warm 7" | Captured Tracks *new
SUNNY & THE SUNSETS | Death Cream | Love and Death 7' | Soft Abuse *new
PUMICE | Twin Neck Double Kick Bum Chin | split 7" w/ Grouper | Soft Abuse *new
ZOLA JESUS | Flesh | Tsar Bomba | Troubleman Unlimited *new
ZOLA JESUS | Past the Blue Brick Stone | Tsar Bomba
ZOLA JESUS | Lady in the Radiator | New Amsterdam CDR | Sacred Bones *new
CHAMPAGNE DIAMOND | Separate Members | split 2xCD w/ The Brilliant Light | K is for Kaleidoscope *new
DAN MELCHIOR | Terrible Shame | Terrible Shame 7" | Dull Knife *new
NOTHING PEOPLE | Another Rattle | Late Night | S-S Records *new
AFCGT | Return to Thundernest | AFCGT | Uzu Audio *new
BIG YOUTH | Dread Locks Dread Festival | 7" | TR Groovemaster 1976
MARK STEWART + THE MAFFIA | The Paranoia of Power | Learning to Cope With Cowardice | Plexus 1983
THE HOMOSEXUALS | Pentecost 2016 | live at KDVS in Studio A, Tue 3/23/09
THE HOMOSEXUALS | Hearts in Exile
THE HOMOSEXUALS | Soft South Africans
THE HOMOSEXUALS | Technique Street
THE HOMOSEXUALS | Vociferous Slam
THE HOMOSEXUALS | Divorce Proceedings from Reality
THE HOMOSEXUALS | Snapshots of Nairobi
THE HOMOSEXUALS | My Night Out
THE HOMOSEXUALS | Astral Glamour
THE HOMOSEXUALS | Neutron Lover
THE HOMOSEXUALS | False Sentiment
THE HOMOSEXUALS | Flying
THE HOMOSEXUALS | Walk Before Imitate
THE HOMOSEXUALS | You're Not Moving the Way You're Supposed to
WOUNDED LION | Silver People | forthcoming LP

This is what I splashed down on the laptop just after seeing The Homosexuals perform in a living room (and nigh on a week later, I still believe every word of this)...

I just saw The Homosexuals tonight in a house in Davis, CA. Just got home from it. It was absolutely outstanding and will surely live on as a forever memory for me, and probably most of the 90-or-so people that crowded into that living room tonight. It was another one of those shows where I turned around and looked and saw kids in their early to mid teens, college-aged kids, and middle-aged record collector nerds all dancing and/or smiling or just looking totally riveted.

It is just Bruno flanked by a band of thirty-somethings who were very capable and knew all the old songs well, and they also excelled at jamming those songs out and keeping things going during a bass amp failure and MASH unit amp revival. Mostly, during those parts, it was spirited monologues that went on some tirade angles and some preachy righteous angles, but even that was undeniably awesome as it was probably greater than any oratory we had witnessed. It was also rhythmic enough to count as music. And even when preachy or pissed, it was poetic and actually very engaging.....not at all like dour or condescending sort of Englishness that bums most of us Yanks out. And he had some moments of great comedic timing and cleverness. His singing voice stayed strong even despite all the oratory.

As for the music, all the old songs sounded new again. Remember those old films from the 50's that were reenactments of great moments in history? "YOU WERE THERE!" This show was like that if it were only authentic.

Making this all the more mindboggling to me is that this was a last-minute show that was thrown together in just a few days to fill a hole in the tour schedule after their Portland show. This was an early-starting house-show. The whole band including the old man had been awake since 6:00 a.m. and drove 10 hours straight through before playing in this sauna-like room. Bruno looks like a corpse, yet he was incredibly sharp and very energetic throughout the 90 minutes they performed. Almost no one left until the music stopped. He finished with an encore of jangly solo songs so as not to invite the cops who miraculously hadn't showed up yet, as they are usually quick to do the moment it strikes 10:00 in Davis. I stayed for about 20 minutes of that and had to pry myself away due to extreme hunger and the feeling of wooziness. Yep....I was no match for the old man tonight.

The dude is the real deal. His band sounds like the real deal.

The Homosexuals on tour gets my highest recommendation.

By the way, since when did Zamfir join Thee Oh Sees? Their brand-new LP--Help--is by and large more of a straightforward rocker and perhaps the most aggressive thing that John Dwyer has unleashed since Yikes, but this panflute solo on "Meat Step Lively" is a well-placed break from that. Can't wait to see 'em bring it at KDVS presents Operation: Restore Maximum Freedom VII this year. More to come about that in coming weeks!

AFS v. 213 ~ feat. The Whines live in Studio A

I'm really pleased and lucky this week to present The Whines live at Freeform KDVS. The Whines piggy-backed Eat Skull's tour down to L.A., and they stopped tonight here for a live set in Studio A, which begins just past the 20-minute mark of this week's podcast. The style of this young Portland band is kinda like the more ruminative moments of The Hunches, thanks to the shimmering sprawls of psych-punk guitar that spiral toward the edges of the incredibly stalwart rhythm section. Interestingly, in the interview which airs just past the 40-minute mark, the guitarist said his style was inspired partly by seeing someone playing a hammer dulcimer. When you hear it, that kinda makes sense! I am quite liking their debut 7", but their live show is a bigger, more satisfying beast, and portends even better things to come, so keep an eye on The Whines. Thanks to Fenris Wulf for engineering the sound and Michael Mastrangelo and Zach Barnes for loaning equipment to make this performance possible!

Download this program within three weeks at this link...
CLICK HERE for 192kbps rate.
or
CLICK HERE for 320kbps rate.

RTFO BANDWAGON | Public Relations Rag | Dums Will Survive | Dull Knife *new
WINGTIP SLOAT | Blessed Nimbus, Churning | Add This to Rhetoric | VHF 2007 (orig 1991)
DAY CREEPER | Day Creeper II | I Fuck the Body Electric CDR | no label 2008
PIZZA SLAYER | Stage Coach | Pizza Slayer CS | no label *new
GUINEA WORMS | C.H.U.D. | I Know Where Will Foster Lives 7" | Columbus Discount *new
* * *
THE WHINES | Down the 2 Tracks | Live in Studio A
THE WHINES | Vacation
THE WHINES | Don't Wreck My High
THE WHINES | Shoot em in the Head
THE WHINES | Indian Homewrecker
THE WHINES | Cut Meat
THE WHINES | Insane OK
* * *
THE MAGNETIX | Mort Clinique | Positively Negative | Born Bad *new
WALKINGSEEDS | Iron Man | Skullfuck | Probe Plus 1987
HONEYMOON KILLERS | Mad Dog | Hung Far Low | Fistpuppet 1991
UNION CARBIDE PRODUCTIONS | In the Air Tonight | In the Air Tonight | Radium 226.05 1987
UNION CARBIDE PRODUCTIONS | Three Mile Eyes
BLOODBIKER | Dead | demo CDR | no label *new
LONG LEGGED WOMAN | Something Is Pressing... | Nobody Knows This Is Nowhere | Pollen Season *new
THE HUNCHES | Street Sweeper | Exit Dreams | In The Red *new
SNAPPER | Dark Sensation | Shotgun Blossom | Avalanche 1990
EL JESUS DE MAGICO | Ancestor Worship | Scalping the Guru | Columbus Discount *new
TEEPEE | Mbiso | Awake 7" | Weird Hug *new
SCRIBBLER | Ocean Floor | My Old Lady 7" | Stumparumper *new
BEYOND THE IMPLODE | Mid Ad Version | This Atmosphere 7" | Siltbreeze *new
EAT SKULL | Oregon Dreaming | Wild & Inside | Siltbreeze *forthcoming
ALASTAIR GALBRAITH/GRAEME JEFFERIES | Bravely Bravely | v/a: Making Losers Happy | Drag City/Xpressway 1992
SANDRA BELL | Subway Nihilism | Dreams of Falling | Xpressway/Turbulence | 1992
NOTHING PEOPLE | Late Night [Syd Barrett] | Late Night | S-S Records *new
PEAKING LIGHTS | Owls Barking | Imaginary Falcons | Night People *new

AFS v. 212 ~ Halcyon Will Survive

If you are in Sacto or Davis, be ready for Friday the 13th for a memorable night of music and pizza-partying at Luigi's Fungarden with Eat Skull, Ganglians, The Whines, and What's Up?. That will surely be another show-of-the-year candidate brought to you by Freeform KDVS and the Sacramento News & Review. Doors are 8:30 and showtime is 9:00 sharp, and fashionably late might be too late 'cos it might sell out judging by the press this one's getting. I've included a couple new songs from the upcoming LP because Eat Skull has let it be no secret that they will be carrying limited-to-100 tour-edition copies of a CDR advance of Wild & Inside, their incredible new album that is coming out next month on Siltbreeze. Have a listen, and you'll see what I'm saying about Rob spreading his wings as a singer and the band achieving moments of real beauty! This is the best LP of 2009 so far.

This wonderfully weird collage work to the right is by ILTH, and it is the cover art for the brand-new 2nd LP--Late Night--by Nothing People on SS Records, just out this week along with the official release of Dan Melchior's epic new double-LP with das Menace. These albums are both so momentous that they surely give 2009 even more momentum to carry on the current halcyon age of futureclassic vinyl. These are both superb thinkingman's rock records to suit a variety of listening circumstances and deep concentration. Along with the best of the Wooden Shjips, Dan's "Blue Tentacles" and the entire Nothing People album are perhaps some of the finest headphone moments in recent memory, as their subtleties reveal themselves upon repeat listens (I'm on consecutive go-around #5 with Late Night as I write this, and it's sounding better and better!). Mr. SS warned me that Late Night was "definitely a lot more mellow" than Anonymous, but that suits my just fine...It might've taken me a while to accede to this kinda record as a kid, but I'm a grown-up now. The title track is an outstanding cover of Syd Barrett's original, and hey, young fellas, take it from me as a grown-up...THIS is thee best version of the song if you wanna make an impression on a mix-tape for a special young lady. Now go buy these!

Download this program within three weeks at either link...
CLICK HERE for 192kbps rate.
(~ 173kB)
or CLICK HERE for 320kbps rate.
(~ 346kB)

RTFO BANDWAGON | Dums Will Survive | Dums Will Survive | Dull Knife *new
GUINEA WORMS | I Know Where Wil Foster Lives | Singles Club 7" | Columbus Discount *new
TYVEK | Pamphlet | Singles Club 7" | Sub Pop *new
ODD CLOUDS | Gum Coup Follicle | v/a: Shiftless Decay | X! Records *new
GARY WAR | Zontag | Zontag 7" | Sacred Bones *new
SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY | Time Is Racing | Time Is Racing 7" | Sacred Bones *new
LOU CHAMPAGNE SYSTEM | Inside Outside | v/a: 2 Hemden 2 Hosen vol 6 7" | Kernkrach *new
SONNENBRANDT | Herz Aus Geld | Gestern | Kernkrach *new
EAT SKULL | Talkin' Bro in the Wall Blues | Wild & Inside | Siltbreeze *forthcoming *request
DAN MELCHIOR UND DAS MENACE | New York Hole | Thankyou Very Much 2xLP | SS Records *new
DAN MELCHIOR UND DAS MENACE | Piledriver Nightmare #2 | Mr. Oblivian 7" | Columbus Discount *new
NOTHING PEOPLE | Stick in the Mud | Late Night | SS Records *new
EAT SKULL | Surfing the Stairs | Wild & Inside *request
EAT SKULL | Leave the Universe | split 7" w/ Ganglians | Dulc-i-Tone *new
VICTOR DIMISICH BAND | Native Waiter | v/a: Xpressway Pile-Up | Xpressway 1990
BLANK DOGS | The Threes | Seconds 12" EP | Captured Tracks *new
DUM DUM GIRLS | Yours Alone | Catholicked 12" EP | Captured Tracks *new
ABSINTHE MINDS | A2 | The Song of Returning Light CS | Not Not Fun *new
BLOOD | trk 3 | Evacuated Materials CDR | Skrot Up *new
JAMES FELLA | Glitched Layers of Leeched Samples | split CS w/ N.213 | Isolated Now Waves *new
JAMES FELLA | Dead Synth Meander
YEAR OF THE LIPS | Signal to Earth | Year of the Lips CDR | no label *new
COLIN NEWMAN | Image | A-Z | Beggar's Banquet 1980
SILENTIST | Witches | Chariot Swing EP | Celestial Gang 2005
SILENTIST | Paralytic | The Tunnel 7" | Zum *new
CURSE OF THE BIRTHMARK | Le Phant | Welcome to the Hard Times...You're Late! | Deleted Art 2005
ACCEPT | Fast as a Shark | Restless and Wild | Portrait 1983
SCHNAUZER | The Things That Get to Me | split 7" w/ 216 | no label 1997
SCHNAUZER | Drug Bust/To Hell and Back | split 7" w/ Hangnail | Hibachi 1998

Did I betray my grown-up ways with those Schnauzer tracks or what? Hey, what can I say. 10-14 years ago, I was a sucker for any sick 'n twisted northeast Ohio metal, sludge, and noisecore...everything from Sloth to Hemdale to Minch and Nutscreamer and the whole Steveggs family tree of bands. Even before I saw Gummo, it was the music of this delightfully degenerate scene that has me thinking that there was something seriously wrong with the water in the Cuyahoga. There have been many times when I've suffered some aggravation that I've imagined the incensed voice of Schnauzer's Jim Teufel yelling "FUUUUCCCKKKK!!!!" (as heard in "Drug Bust/To Hell and Back" upon his discovery of a narky weasel in his grass). Glimpsing into these guy's fantasies of roid rage, methy paranoia, and moral adjectness was quite a thrlling slumtrip of the mind. And now I've discovered that the band's still around(!?!?!) and released a new split just last year. Guess what's on my list to paypal (verb transitive) next!

Anyone sign up Year of the Lips for a vinyl LP yet? Hurry it up! Go re-listen to it again!

Because there is no longer a doubt that they are truly one of the best bands on planet Earth today, I must urge you to see Eat Skull on tour if they come within half a day's drive of you; here you have their merch report and itinerary--straight from the desk of Rob Enbom for the month of March...

OK We're going on tour next week. The first four shows are with the Whines. If you've slept on them, time to wake up.
We will have a couple of tour CD-Rs:

Eat Skull 'Wild and Inside' CD-r

Limited to 100 stamped and numbered copies with alternate art work for you ebay freaks. This is our new album that will see a proper release on Siltbreeze in early April.


Tracklisting:

1. Stick to the Formula
2. Cooking a way to be Happy
3. Heaven's Stranger
4. You're With a Thing
5. Nuke Mecca
6. Who's In Control?
7. Killed By Rooms
8. Happy Submarine
9. Talkin' Bro in the Wall Blues
10. Surfing the Stairs
11. Dawn in the Face
12. Oregon Dreaming

Eat Skull 'EUSTA Kill' CD-r

Also limited to 100 copies numbered and stamped, this is a collection of everything that came out on 7" so far and 5 extra songs recorded during or after the Sick to Death sessions.


Tracklisting:

1. Seeing Things
2. Stuff Reverse
3. Things I Did When I Dyed My Hair
4. Dead Families
5. If I'm Insane
6. No Intelligence
7. You Must Be Bugs
8. Double Wasted
9. Leave the Universe
10. Don't Leave Me on the Speaker
11. Thank You Smoke Breaks
12. Negative World
13. Medication Time
14. Stick to the Formula (UK Club Banger Version)

Both of these CD-rs have been mastered by Tim Stollenwerk who does the Mississippi Records comps that everybody loves so much. He's the shit and they don't sound like shit. We will not be doing mailorder on these, just selling them at shows to help pay the bills.


---------------------------------------------------------

Eat Skull 'We Don't Like Adam Anymore' Tour Dates

WED MARCH 11 - PORTLAND, OR @ Kenton Club w/ Kurt Vile, The Whines, Eternal Tapestry
FRI MARCH 13 - SACRAMENTO, CA @ Luigi's Fun Garden - w/ Ganglians, The Whines, What's Up?
SAT MARCH 14 - SAN FRANCISCO, CA @ OCD w/ The Hospitals, Long Legged Woman, The Whines
SUN MARCH 15 - ECHO PARK, CA @ Echo Curio w/ Lovvers, The Whines, Long Legged Woman
MON MARCH 16 - PHOENIX, AZ @ Rampage Fest @ Trunkspace w/ Abe Vigoda, Wavves, Long Legged Woman and more

****SXSW March 18-21****

MON MARCH 23 - El Paso, TX @ Blackmarket w/ Blank Dogs, Turpentine Brothers, Naked On The Vague, Nobunny
WED MARCH 25 - San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar w/ Blank Dogs, Naked on the Vague + more
THU MARCH 26 - San Francisco, CA @ Eagle Tavern w/ Oh Sees, Grant Hart, Fresh and Onlys
FRI MARCH 27 - West Sacramento, CA @ 300 Room w/ Mayyors, Careerers


:::SXSW Shows:::

WEDNESDAY MARCH 18TH:

Beerland Free Day Show, 21+

Can't Stop The Bleeding. com presents
Endless Boogie (NYC, 5:40pm)
The Homosexuals (London/NYC, 4:50pm)
Turbo Fruits (Nashville, 4pm)
The Young (Austin, 3:05pm)
Eat Skull (Portland, 2:20pm)
Dikes Of Holland (Austin, 1:40pm)
Psychedelic Horseshit (Columbus, 1pm)

WEDNESDAY NIGHT SHOW:

Natrix Natrix House - 3222 John Campbell?s Trail, Austin, Texas 78735 - Tyvek,

XYX, Ratas del Vaticon, Eat Skull, Psychedelic Horseshit, Talk Normal.


THURSDAY DAY SHOW:

"The Medieval Reslayathon"
Thursday March 19th
610 Vermont Rd.

Austin, TX 78702

20 min. sets for locals 30 min.
sets for toursters

1:00 Rat Bastard & Doug Ferguson (members of To Live and Shave in LA)
1:40 Mae Shi (Los Angeles - SAF, 5RC)
2:20 Crime Novels (NY)
2:50 Eat Skull (Portland - Siltbreeze)
3:40 Pillow Queens (ATX)
4:30 Wildildlife (Seattle - Crucial Blast)
5:15 Diagonals (ATX)
5:55 Coathangers (Atlanta - Suicide Squeeze)
6:35 Over the Hill (ATX)
7:25 Fiasco (Brooklyn - Impose)
8:05 Roller (ATX)

then:

Driveway Day Show
5615 Jim Hogg Avenue
Austin, TX 78756

2:00 - Magic Jewels
2:30 - Aids Wolf
3:00 - Snack Truck
3:30 - Purple Rhinestone Eagle
4:00 - Hot Lava
4:30 - Eat Skull
5:00 - Mayyors
5:30 - Bermuda Triangles

THURSDAY NIGHT:

Siltbreeze Showcase
SoHo Lounge
217 E. 6th St.

Austin, Texas 78701

8:00 p.m.
Ratas del Vaticano
8:45 p.m.
Eat Skull
9:30 p.m.
Hank IV
10:15 p.m.
Psychedelic Horseshit
11:00 p.m.
Naked On the Vague
11:45 p.m. U.S.
Girls
12:30 a.m.
Los Llamarada
1:15 a.m.
FNU Ronnies

FRIDAY DAY:

End of an Ear
2209 South 1st Unit C / Austin, TX 78704

1pm - Eat Skull
2pm - Crystal Stilts
3pm - Gary War
4pm - Cursive
5pm - Homosexuals

Then:

FRIDAY MARCH 20
2908 COLE STREET
2PM

2-220 the wiggins
230-3 rtfo bandwagon
310-340 teenage cool kids
350-420 kurt vile
430-5 eat skull
510-540 psychedelic horseshit

SATURDAY DAY:

Sound on Sound Records
106 E.
North Loop
Austin, TX 78751

3-5:30pm

Mayyors
Rusted Shut
Eat Skull
RTFO Bandwagon

The Music Gym Free Day Show
815 E.
6th Street
Victim of Time Presents:
http://www. victimoftime. com/

1:00 - 1:30 Guinea Worms
1:45 - 2:15 Christmas Island
2:30 - 3:00 Woven Bones
3:15 - 3:45 TV Ghost
4:00 - 4:30 Digital Leather
4:45 - 5:15 Intelligence
5:30 - 6:00 Eat Skull
6:15 - 6:45 Psychedelic Horseshit


Woodsist Showcase:
SAT 3/21 @ Ms Bea's (1104 East 6th St @ Medina St)
5pm- 12am


11- WAVVES

10:30- CRYSTAL STILTS

10- WOODS

9:30- EAT SKULL

9- THEE OH SEES

8:30- BLANK DOGS

8- PSYCHEDELIC HORSESHIT

7:30- CAUSE CO MOTION

7- KURT VILE

6:30- CHRISTMAS ISLAND

6- THE FRESH AND ONLYS

5:30- GANGLIANS

5- REAL ESTATE

SATURDAY NIGHT PARTY:
w/ Mayyors, Oh Sees + more
Eat Skull plays at 12:30am

1118 linden, austin, Texas 78701 - free