Tuesday, January 20, 2009

AFS v. 207 ~ Dracula Safari


Just out on Oms-B is a four-way split LP--Post-Alarmist Dracula Safari--of solo projects led by the members of Portland's Alarmist. How I fretted about missing their last ever live show when it was announced at an inopportune time for me to bail from the office. They were one of most outstanding live bands on the planet in the middle part of this decade, and their odd amalgamation of seeming ill-fitting parts (an unlikely duet of male tonally-challenged physical growler with female feline part-time shrieker/part-time delicate meower over a scant backdrop of lithe-sinewy strands of guitar (no bass) and clever jazzpunk drums that were plenty stout enough to hold the entire band together!) blended miraculously, bringing to mind a brasher take on U.S. Maple or Sonic Youth at their most threatening circa Sister. All the members were gregarious and hyper-creative in their individualistic ways, so certainly I shoulda known that from the rubble of Alarmist, many intriguing new bands and projects would spring. Each of the four members' primary solo projects are featured on Dracula Safari: Inca Ore, Argumentix, Ghost to Falco, and Tunnels. Tunnels is Nick Bindeman, who's been the busiest of the four; when Nick's not scorching the psych-swirl ethers in Eternal Tapestry (who are becoming evermore walloping and tremendous), he's been the most interesting thing about the best moments of Jackie-O Motherfucker (and noticeably absent when they've been at their boring-est (Inca Ore has also contributed well to JOMF)). Another little treat on this slab is the B-side intro, a live-radio call-in poetry tribute by fan and friend of the band, Meghan Remy, the lady who's better known to you as U.S. Girls. Not only did these four solo projects and other affiliated bands rise from their ashes, Alarmist inspired many of their friends to become more musically active, including Meghan. In this playlist, I've included other post-Alarmist moments, some of which intersect with U.S. Girls prehistory. Meghan and Nick were all the wallop in Hustler White, another band whose best live moments are forever etched in my memory. I'll give you more of this story down below the playlist; now get to some listening...

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CALIFORNIA RAISINS | Prospectre to the Stars | v/a: split 10" w/ CAVE | Permanent 2008
BRIDEZ | Rolling Stoned | Rolling Stoned 7" | World Famous in SF *new
LOVE TAN | Switch | Miscellaneous Night Feelings | Kill Shaman *new
IDLE TIMES | Get Your Feet Off the Ground | Get Your Feet Off the Ground 7" | Woodsist *new
MEERCAZ | Legend | Meercaz | Gulcher *new
CRUCIFUCKS | When the Top Comes Off | Wisconsin | Alternative Tentacles 1987
CRUCIFUCKS | Annual Report | The Crucifucks | Alternative Tentacles 1984
UNHOLY TWO | Altamont 1969 | Altamont 1969 7" | Columbus Discount *new
ALARMIST | Flight of the Corpse | Evil Works Get Rich or Try Dying Evil Works | Frenetic 2005
M. REMY | Ode to Alarmist | v/a: Post-Alarmist Dracula Safari | Oms-B *new
U.S. GIRLS | So Ladder Strong | Kankakee Memories 7" | Cherry Burger 2008
ME CON | untitled | This Is It CDR | no label 2005
TUNNELS | Case of the Dreamer | v/a: Post-Alarmist Dracula Safari
MALIBU FALCON | untitled | How Is Hell Fact Met? All of Them Witches CDR | no label 2004
MALIBU FALCON | untitled | Boa Constrictor CDR | no label 2004
HUSTLER WHITE | Cosmic Egg Creation | Tour CDR | no label 2005
DEFEKTORS | Doomsday Girl | Secret Trials 7" | Nominal 2008
TWIN CRYSTALS | Children | Twin Crystals | NMR 2008
DECEPTION BAY | All My Future | My Color Flag | Independent Project 1991
NICE STRONG ARM | Date of Birth | Reality Bath | Homestead 1987
MY DAD IS DEAD | Pile It On | The Best Defense | Homestead 1988
TEENAGE PANZERKORPS | Shopping Blitz | Games for Slaves | Siltbreeze *new
DIAGRAM BROTHERS | There is No Shower | v/a: Messthetics #106 | Hyped2Death *new (orig 1980)
CRAWLING CHAOS | Mummy's Tummy | Homunculus Equinox | Boutique 2003 (orig 1981)
THE CRAINIUM | You Pretend that You Depend | A New Music for a New Kitchen | Slowdime 1998
FINALLY PUNK | Coffee, Tea, and Misery | Coffee, Tea, & Misery 7" | M'Lady's *new
MALE BONDING | Lick Him With Fists | split 7" w/ Pens | Paradise Vendors, Inc. *new
TRAFFIC PATTERN | 3-D Vapors | Sight-Gags 3" CDR | Opt Out *new
TRAFFIC PATTERN | Loopholes
MLODRS | A3 | cassette | no label *new
RUSSIAN TSARLAG | Singaloid Bay | Community Death Tube | Night People *new
LITTLE STEVIE McCABE | Drunken Party | Sweat It Out | no label 1986
http://itsmeyou.ytmnd.com/ (Congrats, Rickey Henderson!) w/ DESIGNER | My Favorite Toy | split 7" w/ Bunny Brains | LHG 1996
LOVELY LITTLE GIRLS | Lady Flops Over Crawling Along | Dilapidated Head & Torso Aggregations | no label 2008
DRUID PERFUME | Learning Spanish Like Cuckoo | Druid Perfume | Pigs *new
MUDBOY | side A (excerpt) | Mudboy Beats III: Metal USA CS | no label *new

Before we get to the rest of the post-Alarmist story, I wanna share a link that was brought to my attention by Eric, a TermBo buddy, and the cause of this week's Crucifucks double-shot...
http://www.viceland.com/int/v16n1/htdocs/the-troublemakers-515.php
This is Sam McPheeter's indepth piece about Crucifucks vocalist Doc Dart. It does a great job to help explain the intrigue surrounding this man who was one of--if not THEE--most outstanding lyricists of hardcore punk rock in its 1980s heyday. From Vice magazine, this is an unexpectedly thrilling read!

So, where did we leave off in that post-Alarmist story? It's the point at which this story intersects with U.S. Girls prehistory. Nick gave up drumming for Alarmist and picked up a guitar for Hustler White, and Meghan picked up the drumsticks for the first time ever and clobbered those drums with a deathgrip. Meanwhile, Nick also played with Eva--still a ways off from becoming Inca Ore--who developed her voice in ever more subtle ways during the brief life of Malibu Falcon. There's only two CDRs of live Malibu Falcon performance caught by a distant mic [part of which was released on cassette by Not Not Fun in early 2009], but there's certainly some magic that comes fluttering outta the speakers on the best tracks. I swear that a solid 12" could be distilled from it. Whereas Eva's bewitching performances in Alarmist were equal parts wicked-witch and friendly-witch, and perhaps still brushed with a post-riot-grrl stroke of brattiness, her performance in Malibu Falcon was more abstract and daring, yet definitely more mature. As she developed the confidence to perform on her very own as Inca Ore, I could see how much it inspired Meghan to find her own voice, which began on the early Me Con recordings. Certain moments of This Is It surely hint at the haunting power of U.S. Girls. When Meghan began recording that Introducing... demo CDR which provided the basis for the Siltbreeze LP, she kept Nick closeby to assist in the recording, as he had done with Inca Ore's first recording, the Brute Nature vs. Wild Magic CDR, which later became an LP on Weird Forest Records.

There's some unreleased Me Con stuff that immediately predates U.S. Girls. About an album's worth (recorded by Sam Schauer of ...Worms and Modernstate), it was intended for release on Marriage Records before the band disbanded. In this version of the band, they coalesced into a deep-burrowing groovey psych-rock with a metal-level heaviness provided by a drummer they found who looked like someone you might see cruising your local Guitar Center. I only briefly heard this on a rough-mixed CDR, but it sounded swell. And when I saw them live at a warehouse show on NW Pettygrove in Portland, I was amazed by Megan's no-wavey bass guitar squelching...how it meshed with the hesher's drums and balanced the diffused psychedelic headswirl of the guitar, it was as sinister and relentless as K.K. Null in A.N.P.

Nowadays, Eva and Meghan's solo works are well-chronicled on dozens of blogs and increasingly even the printed page. And Nick's bands are getting more recognition all the time, although I also believe them to be largely misunderstood. A band as overly prolific as JOMF can have that effect; and certainly, hardly anyone has heard the full power of Eternal Tapestry yet. That band became truly intrepid chasers toward thee infinite riff this summer...believe me! Anyone who's of the mind that they make poofy clouds of wizard dust music has 'em all wrong now. The new tape on Night People bears it out on Side A pretty well despite some rather distracting hiss. Here's to hoping they commit a masterpiece to vinyl really soon!

I was already a fan of Nick's Tunnels solo-material when it was patience-testing meditative bowl n' bell harmonics exercises, but recently, the changes I've heard truly command your attention! Tunnels' summer CDR release--In Between Dreams--included fleshed-out songs of psychedelic bliss and a hint of spooky wonder that sounded like a full band, and these tracks from the Dracula Safari LP seem to have been touched by the recent "minimal wave" zeitgeist just a little bit. If these songs had been released together on a 7", fans of the likes of Indian Jewelry, Dead Luke, and Martial Canterel would come clamoring for it. No sign of second-wave try-hard here...This sounds perfectly natural!

In AFS v. 208, we'll check in on the other half of Alarmist, James Squeaky and Eric Crespo.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

AFS v. 206 ~ Everyone's a Winner!


Because awards shows are always a popularity contest and utter sham, I've often dreamt of renting a tuxedo for a week and hitting the road for a week to do an awards ceremony tour. Of course, being the big posi-vibin' softie I am, y'know I'd hate to have any losers. But that's okay...I can still give an award to every band I like if I only make up a highly specialized category for each. See below the playlist for this week AFS Awards Winners...

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NOBUNNY | Give It to Me | Give It to Me 7" | HoZac *new
NODZZZ | Controlled Karaoke | Nodzzz LP | What's Your Rupture? *new
CHARLES ALBRIGHT | I Wanna Hold You | I'm on Drugs 7" | no label *new
CHARLES ALBRIGHT | I'm on Drugs
MATT K. SHRUGG | This World Ain't Gettin' Me High | Mentor to Wall CDR | Guiness Book of World *new
MATT K. SHRUGG | We're So S.O.L. | I'm Gone 7" | Plastic Idol *new
SPIDER | Spiderlili | Spider 12" | Thrift Store *new
LEADERS | Rub You Wrong | Rub You Wrong 7" | Point Wrex *new
MEERCAZ | Manic Mirror | Meercaz | Gulcher *new
THE HUNCHES | Fall Drive | Exit Dreams | In The Red *new
XHOA | We're All Gonna Die | Yap Yap Yap | no label 1987
GHOST ECHOES | Into the Goldmine | demo CDR | no label 2008
TOY KILLERS | The Devil May Be Your Santa Claus | The Unlistenable Years | ugExplode *new (orig 1982)
HIGH CASTLE | We Can't Dance With Jesus | High Castle CDR | no label 2008
BLOODBIKER | No One | demo CDR | no label *new
TOTAL ABUSE | Fucked and Injured | Total Abuse | Deranged *new
SEX/VID | Authority of Scripture | Communal Living | Dom US *new
VIDEO DISEASE | Reanimation | Video Disease 7" | Square Wave *new
VIDEO DISEASE | Typhoid Fever
SLICING GRANDPA | Where's Yr Vinyl, Motherfucker? | Le Hardcore 7" | Strain Theory *new
AUDACITY | Price Check | Power Drowning | Burger *new
PARTY FOWL | Supertroopers | STD's 7" | Goodbye Boozy 2008
TY SEGALL | Booksmarts | Skin 7" | Goodbye Boozy 2008
REACHAROUNDS | Sick to Find | Rocks Off 7" | Certified PR *new
PENS | High in the Cinema | split 7" w/ Male Bonding | Paradise Vendors, Inc. *new
ORANGE COAX | A1 | cassette | no label 2008
HAMSTERS | Clouds of Flies | v/a: Messthetics #106 | Hyped2Death *new (orig 1979)
FARMS IN TROUBLE | Goth vs. Soda | The Gas Station Soundtrack | Activities 2008 *req
GGREEN | Swimsuit Drugs | Hot Streets CS | no label *new
SHARK TOYS | Don't Know | demo CDR | no label *new
DUCK TAILS | Beach Point Pleasant | Beach Point Pleasant 7" | Breaking World *new
YEAR OF THE LIPS | Unlucky Coin | Year of the Lips CDR | no label *new
DEAD LUKE | Mind Control | Dead Luke CS | Sky Fi *new
DEAD LUKE | Skull Pressure
COUSINS OF REGGAE | A Match Made on Meth Ridge | Methridge | Olde English Spelling Bee *new (orig 2005)
WILD GUNMEN | B1 | Harmony Ground Zero CS | White Tapes 2008
CAVE | Butthash | split 10" w/ California Raisins | Permanent 2008
RATAS DEL VATICANO | Olvido | Mocosos Pateticos | Siltbreeze *new

Most preeminent showman in his gray skivvies award goes to...(drum roll, please!)...NOBUNNY!
Most irresistible instantaneously singalongable party band...The Nodzzz!
Most rockin' Sac State philosophy grad that shares a name with the "Eyeball Killer"...Charles Albright!
Most effective Midas Touch in Sacto this side of Woodhouse...Matt K. Shrugg!
The Is-It-an-Infallible-Machine-or-a-Record-Label Award goes to...Plastic Idol!
Most outstandingly vinyl-worthy CD-only release in the last year...Meercaz!
Most exquisite swansong LP and cathartic final show...The Hunches!
Most refreshingly dermabrasive sonic bath at vol. level 10 demo CDR...Ghost Echoes!
"Hey, I had no idea any of you were in this band! (now I know it'll rule" award...High Castle!
Raddest 180° side project from primary band...Bloodbiker! (members of Eternal Tapestry gone scuzz-brawlers)
Most deservingly-hyped and hardest-to-Google true-blue HC...Sex/Vid!
Filthiest scuzz-pummelers currently active...Slicing Grandpa!
Most precocious teens to seemingly spring from a Hollywood '79 punk time capsule...Audacity!
Most ubiquitous "you're-in-this-band-too?" guy who always rules in each 'n every band...Seth Dunham!
Most "so-talented-'n-wylde-that-I-hardly-care-that-'baby'-is-in-every-other-song's-lyrics"...Ty Segall!
Most delightfully enthusiastic sax savant terrorism on cassette...Orange Coax!
Most crucial retrospective compilation series and best liner notes going today...Messthetics!
Most intriguingly personal and honest weird-/psych-/folk- project...GGreen!
Most adorable scruffy little popsongs with guitar and voice only...Shark Toys!
Most outstanding vinyl-worthy demo CDR from the UK in forever...Year of the Lips!
Most effortlessly expressive of so many great diverse influences...Dead Luke! (also, most murderous moment in electro!)
Most underrated label that you should follow very closely from now on...Olde English Spelling Bee!
Most wonderfully whacked and essential let-the-tape-keep-rolling moments since Sweet Kelly...Wild Gunmen!
Deepest burrowing Krauty grooves since way back when...CAVE!
Most menacing, timeless, non-giving-a-fuck punk rock today...Ratas del Vaticano!

Friday, January 09, 2009

AFS v. 205½ ~ Freebasin' Primer


You get an extra hour this week because I pinch hit for DJ Fuzzbox Flynn on tonight's Loves and Disloves program. PLUS!!!, I'm giving you an invitation to listen to a full hour from four of Sacramento's preeminent improvisers and noise-jammers. Go down below this playlist and check out the gnarly set that The Freebasers (with special guest Kevin Corcoran on saxophone (that makes for two ex-Antennas Eruptors in the room!)) threw down live on KDVS immediately afterward. The last ten minutes is especially awesome. That guitar tone is brilliant!

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(84mb file)
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MEDICATION | Fog | Don't Die 7" | HoZac *new
GGREEN | Mouth on Floor | Hot Streets CS | no label *new
BIRD | Blanks | v/a: XXperiments | Die Stasi *new
BATHING DRUID | Do Si Do | Beltane Loofah 7" | Weird Forest *new
JAMES FERRARO | side A excerpt | Multitopia | Olde English Spelling Bee *new
JAMES FERRARO | Evaporating Night Rose | Chameleon Ballet | Olde English Spelling Bee *new
AGENT SIDE GRINDER | There Is a Sound That Always Goes Out | v/a: Festival der Genialen Dissidenten | Enfant Terrible
ACONITE | The Truth About Cable | v/a: Messthetics Greatest Hiss | Hyped2Death *new
HANS GRUSEL'S KRANKENKABINET | Pool of Tears | Blaue Blooded Turen | Resipiscent *new
HANS GRUSEL'S KRANKENKABINET | Who Stole the Tarts?
OUR LOVE WILL DESTROY THE WORLD | Polished Glass Autobahn | Polished Glass Autobahn 7" | Dirty Knobby *new
AFCGT | Lost | AFCGT 10" | Dirty Knobby *new
TEENAGE PANZERKORPS | Human Winter | Games for Slaves | Siltbreeze *new
LOS LLAMARADA | Another Big Come Down | Take the Sky | S-S *new
UNHOLY TWO | Beirut 1983 | Singles Club 7 | Columbus Discount *new
MAINLINER | Mainliner Sonic II | Mainliner Sonic | Charnel Music 1997

Download the live Freebasers set here within two months at either link...
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Tuesday, January 06, 2009

AFS v. 205 ~ Halcyon Year Review Pt. 2


This week, first we hear the latest nugs o' HoZac gold and batch of Intelligence singles (and as always, they don't disappoint!), and then continuing with the rundown of the top things of 2008. I was hoping to reveal my top EPs, cassettes, and demos of 2008 in a nice, concise list here, but I'm still whittling it down. Surely this has been a stellar year for the 7" vinyl, and most of the contenders have appeared in the last couple of playlists. Come back later and have a look...I'll whittle that list down and post it very soon. It's just way too late in the small hours of the A.M....sorry!

Download this program within two months at either link...
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(168mb file)
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(280mb file)

NOBUNNY | Motorhead With Me | Give It to Me 7" | HoZac
FRANCE HAS THE BOMB | Invisible Angle | Invisible Angle 7" | HoZac
NICE FACE | Fubar Over You | Fubar Over You 7" | HoZac
NICE FACE | VVV (Vacant Vortex Vagina) | Can I Fuck It? CS | Jerkwave Tapes
SPIDER | Boozetown | Spider 12" EP | Thrift Store
THE INTELLIGENCE | Shitty World | Fido... 7" | Plastic Idol
THE INTELLIGENCE | Like Like Like Like Like Like Like | Reading and Writing About Partying 7" | Raw Deluxe
THE INTELLIGENCE | What Wine Goes With Eggs? | What Wine Goes With Eggs? 7" | April 77
AMBER ALERTS | Blackhole | split 7" w/ Wizzard Sleeve | Jeth-Row
WAX MUSEUMS | Magnet Part II | Magnet 7" | Fashionable Idiots
LADY DOCTORS | Butler Hospital | v/a: The World's Lousy with Ideas vol 2 7" | Almost Ready
RICHARD H. KIRK | Day of Waiting | Time High Fiction | Doublevision 1983 *request
CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL | Words of Atonement | Alone Together | Sacred Bones *new
ZOLA JESUS | Rester | v/a: XXperiments | Die Stasi
BATHING DRUID | Under My Cloak | Beltane Loofah 7" | Weird Forest
LONG LEGGED WOMAN | Scalpels in the Sky | Something Is Pressing... 7" | Thor's Rubber Hammer
LONG LEGGED WOMAN | When I Was Asleep | Nobody Knows This Is Nowhere CDR | no label
LONG LEGGED WOMAN | Myself Is Not Myself | Drugs Don't Last Forever CDR | no label
FNU RONNIES | Meat | Meat 7" | Richie/Testostertunes
FRANCIS HAROLD & THE HOLOGRAMS | Nowhere | Punk Music 7" | no label
HIROSHIMA ROCKS AROUND | Closed Mouth | Tour CDR | no label
DRUID PERFUME | Feed Em Bugs | Druid Perfume | Pigs *new
MEERCAZ | Troubled Hand | Meercaz | Gulcher *new
MEERCAZ | Fan of a Daze
THE WIGGINS | Feed The Ghost | Feed the Ghost 7" | Dull Knife
PINK REASON | The Lecherous One | split 12" w/ Hue Blanc's Joyless Ones | Florida's Dying
PINK REASON | 3:16 | Singles Club 7" | Columbus Discount
EL JESUS DE MAGICO | Unclean Ghost | Singles Club 7" | Columbus Discount
SANDWITCH | I've Had a Few | Singles Club 7" | Columbus Discount
T.A. LAFFERTY | Take It to the Father | v/a: Harrisburg Players (singles club) 7" | Columbus Discount
GUINEA WORMS | Lost and Found | Lost and Found 7" | Savage
BLACK TIME | Scary People | Double Negative | In The Red
TITMACHINE | I Wanna Be Your Dog [Stooges] | 1st 7" | Meeuw Muzak
SIC ALPS | United [Throbbing Gristle] | United 7" | Important
WOUNDED LION | Pony People | Carol Cloud 7" | S-S