You can download this week's showAT THIS LINK HERE! (archived for 10 weeks)
DAILY VOID // (Surprise Surprise) You've Lost Your Eyes // Surprise Surprise 7" // HoZac *new THE FEELING OF LOVE // The Rape Man // 12 New Tracks CDR // no label *new LOS LLAMARADA // The Blanket Escape // new 7" // Disordered *forthcoming LOS LLAMARADA // Against the Day HUMAN EYE // Rare Little Creature // Rare Little Creature 7" // Disordered *new WICKED AWESOMES // Brain Dumb // Death Cults & Desert Gangs Demo CDR // self-released *new LEADERS // Powervibes // Synthesizer Sketchez & 4-Track Demos CDR // self-released 2007 PUSSY PATROL // Forgive My Past // Gry Moussa 3" CDR // Scatalogical Liberation Front *new SHEARING PINX // Held Under // split cassette w/ Shivers // Isolated Now Waves *new SHEARING PINX // Speaker // Dissenter CDR // Isolated Now Waves *new F.M.G. // Smear Test // split cassette w/ Shearing Pinx // Isolated Now Waves *new F.M.G. // Cold Feet N.213 // Construction // FuckSexYou CDR // Isolated Now Waves *new AEROSOL CONSTELLATIONS // Tab Cabby // split one-sided 12" w/ Born Without Bones // Isolated Now Waves/Thankless *new HENRI CHOPIN // La Plaine des Respirs Vivace Comme il se Doit // La Plaine des Respirs // Tochnit Aleph *new MR. UGLY // CrraAWWPpX // split CDR w/ N.213 // Isolated Now Waves *new HERO WOUTERS // Oidipious // Muziek voor Leven en Dood // Enfant Terrible *new AFTER THE SNOW // Table // Fracture // Enfant Terrible *new ECHO WEST // untitled // v/a: The Perils of Paradise // Elitepop *new ENDE SCHNEAFLIET // Der Blöde Hund // Twistin' on the Tombstones 2xLP // Enfant Terrible 2006 (orig 1981-1983) PUNK SOUL LOVING BILL // Ehrliche Juristen // v/a: Hoera een Hex voor Thuis // Hex Grammofoonplaten *new WOHNRAUMHELDEN // Liebeslied // v/a: Bunte Bezüge // E-Klageto *new THE REBEL // American Beauty // Tarskovski's The Snackrifice 12" EP // Emperor Jones *new PHEROMOANS // Yuppyville // A Few Snippets from Our Chequered Existence CDR // no label *new PHEROMOANS // Open for Business DIAMONDHEAD // The Anchor // Street Leaf CDR // self-released *new CONNCET 9 // Super Wow // Geetu vs Geetu // self-released *new
We are now streaming/archiving at 192 kbps for your optimum enjoyment!
Now for the bad...Just as I was playing The Wrists' cover of a Beex classic, I got a call from listener Doug in San Diego who told me that Christine Gibson, Beex singer and one of the most unique female vocalists of an era, had died just a night ago after battling breast cancer. Crazy coincidence, and such sad news.
You can download this week's showAT THIS LINK HERE! (archived for 10 weeks)
PIERCED ARROWS // In My Brain // In My Brain b/w Caroline 7" // Tombstone *new KAWAGUCHI MASAMI'S NEW ROCK SYNDICATE // Oblivion // v/a: Tokyo Flashback 6 // PSF *new MICHAEL YONKERS & THE BLIND SHAKE // Here's What I'm // Carbohydrates Hydrocarbons // Nero's Neptune 2007 MICHAEL YONKERS & THE BLIND SHAKE // What's Comin' AINOTAMENISHIS // On the Cross // Live' 418 // Holy Mountain *new SAN FRANCISCO WATER COOLER // Down in Dry Creek // self-titled // KDVS Recordings *new OSO EL ROTO // Leche con Chocolate // Mojon Pol Agua // Galerie Pache *new JOHN THILL // You're Dead // Heart of Grime // Shrimper *new SO COW // Guilty of Being Cute // These Truly Are End Times // Covert Bear *new SO COW // Jesus H. Christ/Moon Guen Young FINALLY PUNK // Primary Colors // Primary Colors 7" // Army of Bad Luck *new FINALLY PUNK // Environmentality THE VACANTS // Worthless Trash // Worthless Trash // Beathotelz *new NIGEL SIMPKINS // Oblique Encounters // v/a: Messthetics #102 // Hyped2Death 2006 (orig 1979) NICE FACE // Juju for Jenkem // demo CDR // no label *new BLANK DOGS // Poison Ivy // Two Months 7" // Florida's Dying *new WIZZARD SLEEVE // Mommy's Little Baby // Mommy's Little Baby 7" // HoZac *new NOTHING PEOPLE // In The City // In the City 7" // S-S Records *request *new NOTHING PEOPLE // Army of Ideal // Army of Ideal 7" // HoZac *request *new HUNCHBACK // Werse Houses // Werse Houses 7" // Sacred Bones 2007 HIPSHAKES // You Make Me Malfunction // one-sided 7" // Show & Tell *new GAYE BLADES // Don't Get Married // A Visit to the Home of the Man Who Invented Sexual Intercourse 7" // Rob's House 2007 COCONUT COOLOUTS // Head Full of Stones // Pizza Regret 7" // Seeing Eye *new THE WRISTS // (My Heart Goes) Beat Beat Beat [Beex] // MK Ultra 7" // Rijapov *new WAX MUSEUMS // Stone Henge // Ancient Structures 7" // Kenrock *new WAX MUSEUMS // Catacombs LIVE FAST DIE // Dawn of the VHS // split 7" w/ Golden Error // Mind/No Mind *new GOLDEN ERROR // Left Hand Path // CDR of unmastered EP *forthcoming? THE HYPNOTICS // The Quest // Indoor Fiends // Enigma 1982 *request THE HYPNOTICS // Weird People/Giants Town *request CPC GANGBANGS // The Broken Glass // The Broken Glass picdisc 7" // Seeing Eye *new RED NURSE // Truck Stopper // Demos 2006-2007 CDR // no label *new SLICING GRANDPA // Fuck You // Family Restroom cassette // Strain Theory 2005 KOUNT FISTULA // Florence // Songs from the Big Hair 7" // Scatalogical Liberation Front *new TWO DEAD SLUTS, ONE GOOD FUCK // Blue Line Homicide // self-titled 3" // self-released *new BRIGHAM // The Drug Snugglers // Retardinomicon // Scatalogical Liberation Front *new MOE! STAIANO // Chungking // v/a: Post-Asiatic: Lost War Dream Music // URCKarm *new REFRIGERATOR MOTHERS // Salic Trip // v/a: Post-Asiatic: Lost War Dream Music
It really sucks if you release a record too late into December, or in the case of the Sic Alps, it sucks if your record was way too limited for me to get my mitts on. It turns out that for the blink of an eye during which their Description of the Harbor was available, I was at home with the flu and not checking the internet. So, while I fully expect that it's another outstanding record by them, that one misses my "best of 2007" list.
Top 20 LP's of 2007
Factums "Alien Native" (Siltbreeze) Home Blitz "self-titled" (Gulcher) Hue Blanc's Joyless Ones "Arriere Garde" (S-S) the Intelligence "Deuteronomy" (In the Red) the Lamps "self-titled" (In the Red) Little Claw "Spit and Squalor Swallow the Snow" (Ecstatic Peace) Los Llamarada "The Exploding Now" (S-S) Mudboy "Hungry Ghosts!: These Songs Are Doors" (Not Not Fun) Pink Reason "Cleaning the Mirror" (Siltbreeze) Plants "Double Infinity" (Paradigms) Psychedelic Horseshit "Magic Flowers Droned" (Siltbreeze) Pumice "Pebbles." (Soft Abuse) Sightings "Through the Panama" (Load) Times New Viking "Present the Paisley Reich" (Siltbreeze) Volt "self-titled" (In the Red) Wooden Shjips "self-titled" (Holy Mountain) Yellow Swans "At All Ends" (Load) Michael Yonkers & the Blind Shake "Carbohydrates Hydrocarbons" (Nero's Neptune) v/a "Hoera! Een Hex Voor Thuis!" (Enfant Terrible) v/a "Pisspounder" 3xLP (Deathbomb Arc)
20 Best EP's
Billy Bao "Fuck Separation" 10" (S-S) Blank Dogs "Yellow Mice Sleep" 7" (HoZac) Blank Dogs "The Doorbell Fire" 7" (Sweet Rot) Daily Void "Mass Communication Culture" 7" (Boom Chick) Eat Skull "Seeing Things" 7" (Meds) Electric Bunnies "Eskimo" 7" (Florida's Dying) El Jesus de Magico "Funeral Home Sessions" 7" (Columbus Discount) Factums "See Inside" 7" (Polly Maggoo) Hank IV "Dirty Poncho" 7" (Plastic Idol) Human Eye "Spiders & Their Kin" 7" (Cass) ICK "La Parade des Sans Illusions" 7" (Enfant Terrible) Dan Melchior und das Menace "The Pink Scream" 12" (Shake Appeal) Mutators "Paper Words" 7" (The Broadway to Boundary) Nothing People "In the City" 7" (S-S) QEK Junior "Wohnanhängar" 7" (Kernkrach) Slicing Grandpa "Chaos Midnight" 10" (Strain Theory/Scatalogical Liberation Front) So Cow "Moon Geun Young" 7" (Almost Ready) Talbot Tagora "Cat Face" 7" (self-released) Thomas Function "Relentless Machines" 7" (Tic Tac Totally) Tyvek "Summer Burns" 2x7" (What's Your Rupture?)
Top CDR/cassette ephemera so far
Argumentix "Nightmarcher" cassette (Below PDX) Catatonic Youth "Piss Scene" CDR (Fuck Jazz) Antoine Chessex "Silences: 8 Failed Invocations" CDR (Tanz Procesz) Eat Skull "Tour Tape" (w/ The Wrecks demo on side B) (Palto Flats) Eternal Tapestry "Vibrations/New Dawn" cassette (Not Not Fun) Feeling of Love "12 New Tracks" CDR (self-released) J.P. Herrmann demo CDR (self-released) Leslie Keffer/Inca Ore split cassette (Cherried Out Merch) Leaders "Synthesizer Sketchez & 4 Trak demos" CDR (self-released) Meth Teeth "To My Good Friend" CDR (self-released) Penetration Camp "The Gooder Book" 3xCDR (Backwards) Rainbow Jayne/Stab at God "Well, Actually It´s Not Good to Be Home, Well" split CDR (Below PDX) Soft Shoulder/Shearing Pinx split cassette (Isolated Now Waves) Superstitions "No One Gets Out Alive" cassette (Red Handed) Talbot Tagora "Sleepyheads" cassette (self-released) Tyvek "Fast Metabolism" CDR (self-released) U.S. Girls "Introducing..." CDR (self-released) Yves/Son/Ace "No Taboos" CDR (self-released) v/a "The Fruit Will Rot" vol 3 9x3"CDR (Deathbomb Arc) v/a "World War Zero" 2xCDR comp (Deathbomb Arc)
To DOWNLOAD this show, CLICK THIS LINK HERE... (This will be archived for 10 weeks.)
ABE VIGODA // World Heart // split 7" w/ Mikaela's Fiend // Zum *new MANTLES // Trouble in the Streets // Burden 7" // Dulc-I-Tone *new THE INTELLIGENCE // Block of Ice // Deuteronomy // In The Red *new J.P. HERRMANN // Catch The Mouse // demo CDR // no label *new WINGTIP SLOAT // Yea in the Haystacks // Add This to Rhetoric // VHF *new O VOIDS // Frying Pan // Record On 7" // Lost Space *new WINGTIP SLOAT // Beauty [Tall Dwarfs] HOUSE 1 AND 2 // Peanut Butter and Jelly // Worse Kept Secret in Los Angeles: You Can Buy Heroin on Bonnie Brae Just Off Alvarado cassette // Barf *new AIDS WOLF // Live // Live Dates split 7" w/ Pre // Sin Raft *new DIAMOND HEAD // Street Leaf // Street Leaf CDR // no label *new EVOLUTIONARY JASS BAND // This Is Not the End... // What's Lost // Mississippi *new THEE OREGON ARTIFICIAL LIMB CO. // tracks 4 & 5 // a-w-t-s-i-i-i-d-e CDR-EP // Jet's Idea/Micronizer *new RUST IONICS // Side B // Moving/Pictures // Colour Sounds/Outer Limits/Quodlibet *new WEASEL WALTER // Refraction // Firestorm // ugExplode *new FLYING LUTTENBACHERS // The Serialization of Cruelty // Incarceration by Abstraction // ugExplode *new PROLETARIAN ART THREAT // Operation Enormous // The Long Process of Quitting // Shandi *new TERRORIST OTHER // Get a Life // T.O. CDR // Soundesign *new MIDWIFE // Black Lungs/We Are Heathens // mp3s *forthcoming?? SHEARING PINX // Hate Rider // Ultra Snake // Isolated Now Waves *new SECRET SOCIETY OF THE SONIC SIX // Into the Night // 9:00 7" // Touch of Evil 2005 IMIAFAN & VERONICA V. // Someone Else // v/a: Doppel Hertz 2xLP // Kernkrach *new CHRIS DENERF // Tupperware // v/a: Doppel Hertz 2xLP SCHIZOPHRENIC HOUSEWIVES // Ardia Girls // The Better You Are The More They Fuck You // Rollo Woody *new DAILY VOID // Mechanical Teeth // Mass Communication Culture 7" // Boom Chick *new THE FINKS // The Nomad // Fill 'er Up and Go // Dionysus 1994 THE FEELING OF LOVE // Dad = Eat/Mum = Die // 12 New Tracks CDR // no label *forthcoming??? HIROSHIMA ROCKS AROUND // Geriatric // demo CDR // no label *forthcoming??? BRAINBOMBS // End Up Dead // singles comp 2 // Polly Maggoo 2007 BILLY BAO // Borders of Mass Deception // Fuck Separation 10" // S-S Records *new
This week, you can hear the "Live in Studio A" set of Pink Reason, the remainder of Psychedelic Horseshit's live at KDVS set, and selections from Dan Melchior und Das Menace live at KDVS...plus a slew of new records and unheard demos and a preview of tonight's potentially life-altering event at Delta of Venus.
To DOWNLOAD this show, CLICK THIS LINK HERE... (This will be archived for 10 weeks.)
PRE // Ride Ride Ride [Half Japanese] // Epic Fits // Skin Graft *new PRE // Know Your Teachers XBXRX // In Memory of Our Lives // Sixth in Sixes // Polyvinyl 2006 AIDS WOLF // Put Your Head on a Plate // 4-way split 2x7" // Lovepump United 2006 CELLS // Charles Robert Darwin // self-titled cassette // self-released *new CELLS // Tape-Snake SHEARING PINX // Scanner // Ultra Snake // Isolated Now Waves *new YIKES // Irresponsible // Whoa Comas/Blood Bombs // Kill Shaman *new FRANCIS HAROLD & THE HOLOGRAMS // I See It All // demo CDR // no label *new THE MANS // JC/BC // JC/BC 7" // Boom Chick *new DAILY VOID // Mass Communication Culture // Mass Communication Culture 7" // Boom Chick *new O VOIDS // Record On // Record On 7" // Lost Space *new THE LAMPS // Tim Ford // Tim Ford 7" // Hook or Crook *new DAN MELCHIOR UND DAS MENACE // Please Don't Touch // Live in Studio A, 11/06/07 DAN MELCHIOR UND DAS MENACE // Swamp // Live in Studio A, 11/06/07 WOODEN SHJIPS // Loose Lips // Loose Lips 7" // Sub Pop *new ALIEN SOUNDTRACKS // Mutant Juke Joint // self-titled CDR // Weatherbox *new HERO WOUTERS // Flat 1 // Muziek voor Leven en Dood // Enfant Terrible *new SECRET SOCIETY OF THE SONIC SIX // Locust Daze // Touch of Evil 12" EP // Isolated Incidents *new FACTUMS // Gold Is... // Alien Native // Siltbreeze *new FACTUMS // ...the Best Color PINK REASON // Burnt // Live in Studio A, 11/12/07 PINK REASON // Bloodstains [Agent Orange] // Live in Studio A, 11/12/07 *request PINK REASON // Motherfucker // Live in Studio A, 11/12/07 (feat. sax from Rich (Psychedelic Horseshit)) METH TEETH // I Got Problems // To My Good Friend CDR // self-released *new ELECTRIC BUNNIES // Eskimo // demo CDR // no label *new FEELING OF LOVE // Tong Tattooed // 12 new tracks CDR demo // no label (feat. Seb Normal on drums) *new FEELING OF LOVE // You Rock, You're 17, You Should Kill a 10 Years Old Kid // Young Jesus 7" // self-released 2006 FEELING OF LOVE // Jordan's Rules // Hand Clap Girl 7" // Rococo *new PSYCHEDELIC HORSESHIT // New Wave Hippies // Live in Studio A, 11/12/07 PSYCHEDELIC HORSESHIT // Rather Dull // Live in Studio A, 11/12/07 PSYCHEDELIC HORSESHIT // Both Sides Now Live in Studio A, 11/12/07 DAN MELCHIOR UND DAS MENACE // It's a Poet's Life // Live in Studio A, 11/06/07 MODERN CREATURES // Time to Go // Thick Thick Black 7" // Grotesque Modern *new ROUÉ // Some Future Despair // Totally Fuckin' Totally 10" // self-released *new
Three of my favorite bands are my guests in Studio A this week... Little Claw, Psychedelic Horseshit, and Pink Reason!
To DOWNLOAD the show, CLICK THIS LINK! (This will be archived for 10 weeks; Little Claw begins about 46 minutes into this 2-hour file; Psychedelic Horseshit begins about 95 minutes in...right up to the end. Normal programming resumed, but we caught the end of the set on tape, including a special Pink Reason set, and it will air here next week!)
* the first few minutes of Psychedelic Horseshit's set might sound really quiet, but if that's the case, I'll re-air the whole thing at righteously regulated levels next week!
V3 // Girl in a Room // Negotiate Nothing // Ropeburn 1992 JIM SHEPARD // Face on the Factory Floor // The Songs of Kim Fowley 7" // Anopheles 1996 ALIEN SOUNDTRACKS // Ostrich Farm // self-titled CDR // Weatherbox *new ELECTRIC BUNNIES // This Is the Electric Bunnies Mixtape for Psychedelic Horseshit // Mixtape for Psychedelic Horseshit CDR // no label *new YANKA // Pree-dyote Vah-dah // Steed e Stram // Moroz 1999 OSO EL ROTO // Queso de Pija // Mojon Pol Agua // Galerie Pache *new SHADOW RING // Horse-Meat Cakes // Put the Music in It's Coffin // Siltbreeze 1997 THE REBEL // Civilian Rush // Tarskovski's the Snackrifice 12" EP // Emperor Jones *new DAN MELCHIOR UND DAS MENACE // So Real // Madame Nhu 7" // Plastic Idol *new JOHN OTWAY & WILD WILLY BARRETT // Real Free // self-titled // Extracked 1977 AXEMEN // You Gave Me the Power of the Gangbusters // Derry Legend // Flying Nun 1987 TELEVISION PERSONALITIES // Look Back in Anger // And Don't the Kids Just Love It... // Rough Trade 1981 LITTLE CLAW // Shewolves // Live in Studio A LITTLE CLAW // PST M. VAM. LITTLE CLAW // Race to the Bottom LITTLE CLAW // Basement (Colors) LITTLE CLAW // Polar Bear LITTLE CLAW // Feeding You LITTLE CLAW // Shoplifting Cart EAT SKULL // Survivable Spaces // Tour Tape // Palto Flats *new THE CLEAN // Whatever I Do Is Right // Anthology // Merge 1982 84 NASH // Universal Racing Signal // The Kings of Yeah // Rockathon 1997 84 NASH // Roadtrip to Columbus J.P. HERRMANN // Car Conversation // demo CDR // no label *new NOTHING PEOPLE // A Really Good Time // In the City 7" // S-S Records *new PSYCHEDELIC HORSESHIT // C Song // live in Studio A PSYCHEDELIC HORSESHIT // Echo Rattle PSYCHEDELIC HORSESHIT // New Song PSYCHEDELIC HORSESHIT // Bridge Song PSYCHEDELIC HORSESHIT // Crystals PSYCHEDELIC HORSESHIT // Bad Vibrations PSYCHEDELIC HORSESHIT // Country Punk PSYCHEDELIC HORSESHIT // New Wave Hippies
...& you'll hafta catch these next week along with some Pink Reason songs... [PSYCHEDELIC HORSESHIT // Rather Dull PSYCHEDELIC HORSESHIT // Both Sides Now]
The tastemaker of my teen years and arguably the greatest DJ in KDVS history, Karl Ikola, started his Anopheles label to issue the Live in Studio A performance of Aussie psych-punks Venom P. Stinger, and as sealed copies of this scorcher still linger in Bay Area stores, it is Karl's example of how things don't always go right for fledgling labels. His next record would be a sureshot to sell quickly and become a speculator's record to watch--if not to horde immediately--a 7" tribute to Kim Fowley, Jr. by Columbus, Ohio's legendary misfit and master scuzzsmith, who ascended to the throne of finely fucked yet melodic pop perfection with his band V3 in the 90s.
I remember about 12-13 years ago, the major labels were still mining for that next Seattle (or Athens, Georgia), infiltrating local scenes and signing bands left and right. It even happened in Davis. No A&R rep could ever fully camouflage himself at shows at the 3rd & B Teen Center, where bands like You Are My Little Iodine and Chance the Gardener would take the next step into...well...a modest recording advance for a record that would never be released, or maybe just never promoted. The majors' miners came to Columbus, too. Despite Shepard's ace credentials in bands since the late 70s, his V3 was surely one of the strangest stories of the major label's alterna-rock gold rush of the early- to mid-90s. His story's been buried by a buncha dead weblinks now, so the details have become sketchy again. But how a man could go from the freak genius that (along with Mike Rep) provides the glue from Columbus' past as the Electric Eels refuge after Clevo banishment to the 90s zeitgeist of central and southern Ohio's gnarly indie dregs and proto-weirdpunk, and onto a major label contract and into a morgue so quickly....Let's just say that there's a really good movie there. Bands like our three special guests here keep the torch of Jim Shepard's philosophically unimpeachable contributions to rock & roll and its recording aesthetics alive.
With a name like Alien Soundtracks, surely one expects more than a mere passing resemblance to the godly Chrome. This band from SoCal's Inland Empire fuse the aggressive punk crunch, deft Krauty motoriks, expansive psychedelic flourishes, and cold, clamey electronics much like their inspiration did nearly 30 years ago. I really appreciate how they paid attention to getting such a propulsive drum sound out of a kit that obviously cost all of about $100 at the pawn shop. That's what really struck me about Chrome when I first scored Touch & Go's reissue of Half Machine Lip Moves and Alien Soundtracks...that drum production, so ostentatious about its budgetness, yet still so very destructive. In terms of cheapness, the only thing I could compare it to at the time was the first Cure album, but it was immediately rendered silly novelty by Chrome. And maybe not since the mysterious Doppleganger Squid 7" from 1994, no band has gotten this idea of budget drum domination down pat as much as these guys. The CDR is an interesting mix of electronic ambient tracks and bent spacepunkers so that it almost sounds like a split LP with alternating tracks, yet altogether cohesive enough to keep me from skipping ahead. There is room for improvement, but they're on the right path, moving from the right starting point.
I can guarantee you that unless you get in a car with Psychedelic Horseshit, you're not gonna hear this custom-made intro track to the one and only copy of a mixtape (actually a CDR) by Florida's Electric Bunnies. Now, don't you feel special?
And you might not hear this weird folk-psych from Russia that is phonetically pronounced "Yanka" unless you're hanging out with Kevin from Pink Reason. No doubt you've heard buskers on the street spark more curiosity than the first four minutes of this tune, but the last half of this nine-minute opus is like a whole other song thanks to what Kevin describes as "the greatest keyboard solo ever. If you wanna know what Pink Reason is all about, just listen to this song. That's basically everything I ripped off."
Oso el Roto are Chileans now living in Paris. They've made an extremely limited LP in a mangy DIY gatefold of decaying cardboard bound by brads. Fans of cherry merchandise need not apply. Rather, only fans of the rawest, yet most original take on "bluespunk" with the old-timey twang of the Piedmont tradition should hunt this one down. If the thought of another bluespunk band makes you brace for more pointless schtick from fellas with kneepads for Jon Spencer--or even if you're dead tired of needless rehashes of the Oblivians ideals--this record should be very refreshing for its rhythmic twists and turns, intriguing audio bits, and genuine freakiness. I've not heard much of the wilder side of Pacific coast South American rock from the 60s and 70s, but others more in the know say that this reveals some of its lineage to that music, too. I'm guessing that will make this sound very new and bewildering to most of us.
Continuing with the picks from the members of our three guest bands this week, we revisit the Shadow Ring, and not a moment too soon. This may be my most-played LP in the back-catalog of Siltbreeze, but ten years later, I'm still totally amazed at how compelling such unmusical music can be. Oops, I started it at the wrong speed, but it still sounded no more wrong (or right (I'm still confused about which, but I'm still intrigued)).
To Matt's dismay, now we hear something new from The Rebel, or Ben Wallers of Country Teasers fame/infamy. The new six-song Tarskovski's the Snackrifice EP is another hit from the transgressive master. I'd only call Matt out on it if he was lukewarm about Wallers. I welcome all opinions on Ben Wallers except indifference. Some will feel shortchanged by hearing lyrics cribbed from the narration script of odd main character of American Beauty, but the accent makes the words all new in my imagination, and the music is such a menace on the track. It's as if to say, "I am a walking contradiction. Fuck you if you can't take it." Okay, be who you want to be. You're the only person who needs to be comfortable being you. Hey, if I think about that really hard, surely there's something I can learn from that. D'ya think? I feel a calming come over me now. Ben Wallers is a peacemaker, see?
I missed you guys last week 'cos I was hanging out with Dan Melchior und Das Menace, makers of some of the finest EPs and unreleased LPs of the last few years. I saw Dan play a couple of live shows here in Sacto and Davis, plus live to tape on KDVS, which I promise you will hear on next week's AFS v. 156. This gem of a song you're hearing now is the B-side of the new 7" on Plastic Idol, and it's the weirder of the two songs on this perfect single. Somehow I knew that when a master like Dan and a shrewd exactor like Mario of Plastic Idol got together, the results would be perfect. What I didn't know is that seeing Dan play live would be so awe-inspiring because of his masterful guitarwork. I've been a fan because of the lyrical storytelling, the Englishness of the phrases, and the voice. I never realized until the live shows that the guy is seriously a great guitarist. This Das Menace lineup was also tremendous. A much heavier, more solid rhythm section than I expected. Burly American yin to clever English yang.
Rich of Psychedelic Horseshit is a comedian. Seriously, he performs his stand-up during a day off on the tour, this Thursday in San Francisco. He was a little shy to speak on the air this time, though. Let this John Otway tune be his punchline for the night. The Axemen are one of the lesser-hyped Flying Nun bands for sure. They make this Otway-to-TVP's segueway a pretty sweet coctail surprise, I think.
The Coconut Coolouts are probably the best partyband on the planet today, and I'm happy to present them this week as my special guests on this week's AFS. To DOWNLOAD this program, CLICK HERE (archived for 10 weeks).
Music starts about 7:00 into this 2-hour file. The Coolouts set starts about 24:00 in.
HAMMER DAMAGE // Laugh // v/a: Killed by Death #9 1978 GG ALLIN & THE JABBERS // Don't Talk to Me // Always Was, Is and Always Shall Be // Black & Blue 1980 MR. CURT // I'm Going Blind // Write Down Your Number 7" // Euphoria 1978 CAPTAIN 9's & THE KNICKERBOCKER TRIO // I Ain't Takin' No Bath // Sophie's Tiki Lounge 7" // Heartpunch/Burnt Toast 1991 COCONUT COOLOUTS // Headfull of Stones // Party Time Machine // Haunted Horse/Xeroid *new COCONUT COOLOUTS // Spinaround ~ live in Studio A COCONUT COOLOUTS // Chocolate Money COCONUT COOLOUTS // Pizza Regret COCONUT COOLOUTS // Swim COCONUT COOLOUTS // Twins COCONUT COOLOUTS // Spell It Out, Dummy COCONUT COOLOUTS // I Want to Come Back from the World of LSD MYSTERY GIRLS // Under My Tongue (LSD Is Fun) // Under My Tongue 7" // Kryptonite 2005 TYVEK // This One or That One // Still Sleep 7" // What's Your Rupture? *new SUN CITY GIRLS // Esta Susan en Casa? // Horse Cock Phepner // Placebo 1987 BUTTHOLE SURFERS // Rocket to the Moon // Hairway to Steven // Touch & Go 1988 *request UNNATURAL HELPERS // My Brother's Been Kissing My Girlfriend // v/a: Babyhead // S-S Records 2004 *request TYVEK // Flashing Lights // Fast Metabolism // self-released 2007 *request SOCKEYE // Pave the Earth // Barf on a Globe // Mortville 1999 RESINEATORS // Underage Girl (Get Out!) // Don't _____ With the Fantasy // Siltbreeze 2001 LIL BUNNIES // Carrot Belly Bunny Rock // 1st 7" // Moo-La-La 1995 *request SEA PIGS // Christian TV // Freaktard 7" // Very Small 1993 SCRATCH BONGOWAX // Because I Hate You // Sock It to Me Baby 7" // Scratchtone 1995 PEECOCKS // Pussy Minstrel Show // Pussy Minstrel Show 7" // Arf Arf 1989 BROWNSVILLE STATION // Rockers and Rollers // self-titled // Private Stock 1977 *request DONNY DENIM // Rock 'n' Roll Love Affair // Hey You! 7" // Radio X 1999 *request TIGHT FITS // Bulldozer // Full Frontal Attack 7" // Pure Filth 1995 FE FI FO FUMS // Electrofize Me // Electrofize Me 7" // Boom Boom 2004 THE STATICS // Burgers & Fries // Rat City // Rip Off 1994 DER SUBMARINE RACERS // Space Burrito // Space Burrito 7" // Spin the Bottle *new TRADITIONAL FOOLS // Milk Man // Live at Wizard Mountain cassette // Wizard Mountain Tapes 2007 *request TRADITIONAL FOOLS // Street Surfin' HEAD // Tireshreddin' // Street Level Assault // Evil Clown 1994 *request EVAPORATORS // Stop! Look! Listen! // v/a: Teenage Zit Rock Angst // Nardwuar 1995 THE MANTS // Bow to Your Masters // The Mant from UNCLE 2x7" // Lance Rock 1997 ARMITAGE SHANKS // Punk Tune // I Know What You Need 7" // Hangman's Daughter 1996 ASBESTOS ROCKPYLE // Skinhead Glory // Industrial Religion 7" // Warpt 1984
To DOWNLOAD this program, CLICK HERE (archived for 10 weeks).
Music starts about 6:45 into this 2-hour file.
TYVEK // Frustration Rock // Summer Burns 2X7" // What's Your Rapture? *request *new J CHURCH // Chemicals (live) // v/a: No Idea fanzine #11 // No Idea 1994 BE BAD // (I've Got No) Positive Vibrations // Vision Correction // Divorce *new MAGIK MARKERS // Circle // Boss // Ecstatic Peace *new ALASEHIR // Separate from History // The Philosophy of Living Fire // Siltbreeze *new AINOTAMENISHIS // Theme // Live'418 // Holy Mountain *new SHEARING PINX // 7992-XNIP // Night Calls CDR // Isolated Now Waves 2007 TERRESTRIAL // side B // self-titled cassette // self-released *new JUNIOR MAKHNO // 60.2 Emasculator // The Theatre of the Macabre 7" // Bruit Direct 2007 JUNIOR MAKHNO // Vector Z (feat. the Subzero & DJ Kaissa) ROTER STERN // trk 5 // L'Afrique Revisited 12" ep // Was Soll Das (recorded 1980-2003) MYDOLLS // In Technicolor // In Technicolor 7" // CIA 1981 VISIBLE TARGETS // Mechanical Man // self-titled 12" EP // Park Avenue 1982 OLD TIME RELIJUN // Daemon Meeting // Catharsis In Crisis // K Records *new J.P. HERRMANN // Catch the Mouse // demo CDR // no label *new J.P. HERRMANN // Dead Water Dead Light J.P. HERRMANN // Labyrinthitis TALBOT TAGORA // side B // Sleepy Heads cassette // self-released *new EAT SKULL // Leave the Universe // Tour Tape // Palto Flats *new PSYCHEDELIC HORSESHIT // Rather Dull // Magic Flowers Droned // Siltbreeze *new FRANCIS HAROLD & THE HOLOGRAMS // Mirror of Fear // demo CDR // no label *new BASSHOLES // Hey OJ // Hey OJ b/w Rout 7" // In the Red 1995 HUE BLANC'S JOYLESS ONES // Obliging Macon Midle // Arriere Garde // S-S Records *new THE STOOGES // Dirt // Fun House // Elektra 1970 JOY DIVISION // New Dawn Fades // Unknown Pleasures // Factory 1979 ECHO WEST // title unknown // v/a: The Perils of Paradise 12" EP // Elitepop *new WERMUT // Nicole // v/a: Hoera! Een Hex Voor Thuis! // Hex Grammofoonplaten *new THE ACTOR // Covergirl // Covergirl 10" // Enfant Terrible 2005 (orig 1982) SNAKEFINGER // The Model [Kraftwerk] // Chewing Hides the Sound // Ralph 1979
Three shows happened in Sacto this year where I took a look behind me and saw every single face smiling or laughing simultaneously. One was Tyvek at the DAM House with Cheveu, and the others featured the Coconut Coolouts at Fools Foundation in Sacto and at a superfun wedding in Seattle. Seriously, not a single person was left looking bummed or even expressionless. I’m not sure I’ve seen that happen since a Nar show at the Loft about 11 years ago.
It made me wonder what would happen if both Tyvek and Coconut Coolouts played at the same show? Now we can find out because this week, the bands are touring the West Coast together with the very awesome living legend garagepunk duo, Nice Smile.
Catch them near you...
Tue 10/23 in Vancouver, BC @ Pub 340 w/ Defektors and Master Apes 21+ Wed 10/24 in Seattle, WA @ the Funhouse 21+ Thu 10/25 in Portland, OR @ Dunes 21+ Fri 10/26 in Davis, CA @ Delta of Venus w/ the Bananas all ages Sat 10/27 in Oakland @ Stork Club (Budget Rock VI fest) w/ the Real Kids, the Pets, the Dutchess and the Duke, Harold Ray, Hex Dispensers, Haunted George, and South Bay Surfers (starts at 2:00 p.m.) 21+ Sun 10/28 in San Francisco @ The Hemlock Tavern 21+
Tyvek have made the best 7" (actually double-7") of 2007 so far with "Summer Burns"...you need to get it! Great, catchy and clever songs in the indomitable "messthetic" (British DIY 1977-1980) spirit...think Desperate Bicycles, Swell Maps, and hundreds of awesome unknowns of scruffy/scrappy melodics. People fall in love with this band. http://www.myspace.com/tyvekmusic
Coconut Coolouts are a phalanx of stand-up drummers, guitar, bass, keys, and partyhardy singsongy songs with ex-Charming Snake folks. Banana suits, maybe? Superfun personalities, cheery dispositions, but rocks out like crazy, too. Seriously, this is one of the premier partybands of recent memory. New CD just out! http://www.myspace.com/coconutcoolouts
Nice Smile is a guitar/drum duo featuring Seattle legend Rob Vasquez, formerly of awesome bands like the Night Kings, Chintz Devils, Man-Tee-Mans, Gorls, Nights and Days, etc. Adam Stonehouse of the Hospitals told me that Rob Vasquez was his #1 musical influence. Rob really is a masterful dude with clever, yet primal riffing. Some of the best two-man garage since the "budget-rock" heyday. http://www.myspace.com/nicesmile
And, of course, you all know and love the Bananas, right??!!!
Do you need to see visual proof that this show will rule? Okay...
:TYVEK "Mary Ellen Claims" live @ Passout Records, NYC
TYVEK "Buildings Burning" live @ Passout
TYVEK/CHEVEU tour DVD trailer (see DAM House footage in there!)
COCONUT COOLOUTS "Pizza Taxi" live @ Funhouse in Seattle
To DOWNLOAD this program, CLICK HERE (archived for 10 weeks).
Show starts at minute 4 of this 2-hour file.
Psychedelic Horseshit's Magic Flowers Droned is the album of 2007. Truly the most wild and wonderful lo-fi recording in recent memory...astounding! Wait for it to drop on October 23 or buy it from the band on their November tour. Trust me on this!
THOMAS FUNCTION // Blasphemer's Union // Relentless Machines 7" // Dusty Medical *new BLANK DOGS // Stay Alone // demo recording/mp3 // no label *new PSYCHEDELIC HORSESHIT // New Wave Hippies // Magic Flowers Droned // Siltbreeze *forthcoming PSYCHEDELIC HORSESHIT // Crystals EAT SKULL // Waiting for the Hesitation // Oct 2007 Tour Tape // Palto Flats *new SHAYNE CARTER & PETER JEFFERIES // Spark Off a Wire // Knocked Out or Thereabouts 7" // Flying Nun 1992 PETER JEFFERIES // Come Down Easy [Spacemen 3] // Live to Air 7" // Imperial/What Was Music/Blackbean & Placenta 1997 PETER JEFFERIES/ROBBIE MUIR // Catapult // The Fate of the Human Carbine 7" // Xpressway 1989 THE CURBFEELIERS // Bald Electrician // Viking Praire Schooner 7" // Lather 1995 HEY BUDDY & THE PALS // I Want My Hat // Summer Vacation 2k7 CDR // self-released *new HUE BLANC'S JOYLESS ONES // The Ballad of Soloth Sar // Arriere Garde // S-S Records *new HUE BLANC'S JOYLESS ONES // My Disdain THE WIPERS // Our Past Life // 3 CD Box Set // Zeno 2005 (orig 1982) *request THE WIPERS // No Fair MICHAEL YONKERS w/THE BLIND SHAKE // Here's What I'm // Carbohydrates Hydrocarbons // Nero's Neptune *new LUDLOW // Rohypnol // Gold Paint 7" // self-released *new FESTERING RINYANYONS // I Don't Wanna Know // Flatlander Recluse // Bovine 1995 NIGHT OF PLEASURE // Bitch Pitch // Godard vs. Trufault 7" // Columbus Discount 2007 EL JESUS DE MAGICO // X-mas At Wounded Knee // Funeral Home Sessions 7" // Columbus Discount 2007 LITTLE CLAW // Polar Bear // self-titled // Ecstatic Peace *new DOGBOWL // (Here Comes) The Man With the Plucked Out Eyes // Blue Fur Bosom Girl 7" // Vital Music 1992 NOTHING PEOPLE // In the City // In the City 7" // S-S Records *new WOODEN SHJIPS // Losin' Time // self-titled // Holy Mountain *new YELLOW SWANS // Mass Mirage // At All Ends // Load *new EINSTÜRZENDE NEUBAUTEN // Armenia // Strategies Against Architecture // Mute 1991 (orig 1986) EINSTÜRZENDE NEUBAUTEN // Armenia II (orig 1989) SWORD HEAVEN // Town Hag // Entrance // Load *new SWORD HEAVEN // Tomb Ark // v/a: Pisspounder 3xLP // Deathbomb Arc 2007 16 BITCH PILEUP // trk 1 // Make Like a Fetus and Abort/Make Like an Abortion and Feed Us // self-released 2005 KEVIN SHIELDS // Motor Hands // v/a: Thrash Sabbatical LP+2x7" // Deathbomb Arc *new
AFS v. 152 didn't happen this week because I went on an impromptu vacation to Portland and Seattle on the long weekend. On Saturday night, Fuzzbox Flynn and I saw Coconut Coolouts play at the wedding of a couple crazy (and crazy-in-love) friends, Kimberly and Brian, and it was truly the most fun I've ever had at a wedding. On Sunday night, we made it to a PDX house-show just in time to catch Leslie Keffer administer a self-massage via waves of drone (I saw a little drool beginning to break over her lip), and a nice set by Unicorn Hard-on. Thanks to Calamity Janie for subbing AFS this week. My bones were too tired after the ten-hour drive.
EAT SKULL has been a favorite here on AFS since I received their first demo back in May, but I haven't ingrained his into your brain already, they are the ex-Hospitals/Gang Wizard/etc. band with a jangle-pop heart soaked in scuzz. There's a similarity in spirit to Times New Viking, I think (that could also be because Rob from Eat Skull was in Hole Class with Beth from TNV). Fistpumping singalongs, like an amped-up, gnarly version of The Clean or something. You should've already got the first 7"...Too late? Not if you see this band on tour. And not if Davis and Sacto don't wipe the merch table clean first. I think we might do it. That record's pretty good, but wait 'til you hear the 2nd one on Skulltones. "Dead Families" is a song of the year candidate.
Tues 10/9 in Davis on Freeform KDVS, live in Studio A stream it live: http://www.kdvs.org/ btw 8-10 p.m. Wed 10/10 in Sacto @ 2309 L Street house party w/ MAYYORS (ex-FM Knives/Karate Party/Sexy Prison/Sores/etc.) Thurs 10/11 in SF @ Hemlock Tavern w/ Scout Niblett Fri 10/12 in Oakland @ 21 GRAND w/ Greg Ashley & the Impediments Sat 10/13 in L.A. @ The Scene w/ the Lamps and Sic Alps
Eat Skull has special merch for the tour, including a cassette tape and t-shirt. I've heard the tape which has four exclusive songs which are definitely sweet and very vinyl-worthy. As a bonus, the October 1981 demo cassette of Reno's all-girl HC band The Wrecks is included on the B-side with a xerox of the cover photo, songlist, and liner info. You may have heard The Wrecks screech out "I Like to Shoplift" on the legendary Not So Quiet on the Western Front 2xLP. One other song ("Punk Is an Attitude") was comped by Grand Theft Audio onto the High Road to Obscurity CD about ten years ago. Now you can hear these and all the other songs by this amazing proto-riot grrl band...10 years before Bikini Kill, and arguably as good or better. 95% of riot grrl records don't seem to stand up well a decade later, but had this record been released in that era, it would have become iconic, and we would remember it as a shining example of the movement's music. Do not pass this tape up!
The Eat Skull tape cover is also the same as the t-shirt...an outstanding blend of styles between metalhead math-class dropout doodle and prison tattoo art.
TAD // Glue Machine // Salt Lick // Sub Pop 1990 *request CHURCH POLICE // Robots // 7" // Dolor del Estamago 1996 (orig 1982) *request CHURCH POLICE // Gourmet Cooking // Gilligan's Wings 7" // Skulltones (orig 1982) *new SNAKE APARTMENT // No Raises This Quarter // Paint the Walls // Parts Unknown *new CLOCKCLEANER // New in Town // Babylon Rules // Load *new SIGHTINGS // Through the Panama // Through the Panama // Load *new MOUTHUS // Century of Divides // Saw a Halo // Load *new YELLOW SWANS // Endlessly Making an End of Things // At All Ends // Load *new SWORD HEAVEN // Sights not Long Gone // Entrance // Load *new KITES // Army Corpse/Superman 2 // Hallucination Guillotine/Final Worship // Load *new ICK // title unknown // v/a: The Perils of Paradise 12" EP // Elitepop *new SOLITAIREN EFFEKTEN // Wir Lieben den Tag // self-titled 10" // Enfant Terrible *new TWIST NOIR // Loneliness // self-titled 10" // Kernkrach *new (orig 1985) AFTER THE SNOW // Rich in Thought // Fracture // Enfant Terrible 2006 QEK JUNIOR // 1/0 // Wohnanhänger 7" // Kernkrach 2007 FACTUMS // See Inside // See Inside 7" // Polly Maggoo *new FACTUMS // Inside Out BLANK DOGS // Housefly // Yellow Mice Sleep 7" // HoZac 2007 BLANK DOGS // Leaving the Light On // Diana (The Herald) 12" // Sacred Bones *new SPIDER // Spiderlili // Charlie 7" // HoZac 2006 *request MATTRESS // In Your Pocket // In Your Pocket 7"+CDR // Malt Duck *new TICKLEY FEATHER // Sex Face // split 7" w/ Bermuda Triangles // CNP *new *request TALBOT TAGORA // Sleepy Heads // Sleepy Heads cassette // self-released *new YIKES // Carol Ann // Whoa Comas/Blood Bombs // Kill Shaman *new MICHAEL YONKERS w/ THE BLIND SHAKE // Don't I Get // Carbohydrates Hydrocarbons // Go Johnny Go *new EAT SKULL // Dead Families // Dead Families 7" // Skulltones *forthcoming DAN MELCHIOR UND DAS MENACE // Dog Love // Back in the Village 7" // Disordered/Lo-Fi *new METH TEETH // Bus Rides // To My Good Friend CDR // self-released *new
Los Llamarada were outstanding live at the DAM House in Davis on Saturday, September 15, but they were especially stunning and sublime on this live performance in Studio A at Freeform KDVS the following day. I've included this performance in its entirety on this week's program. It was enhanced by a piano being available. Thanks to Andy Pastalaniec for engineering.
To DOWNLOAD this program, CLICK HERE (archived for 10 weeks).
DER SUBMARINE RACERS // Space Burrito // Space Burrito b/w Skatebored 7" // Spin the Bottle *new DIGGER & THE PUSSYCATS // Timebomb // split 10" w/ the Magnetix // Every Night Is a Saturday Night *new RAXOLA // Kill Your Son // self-titled LP // Radio Heartbeat *new (orig 1978) HUBBLE BUBBLE // I Wanna Die (but not Right Now) // self-titled LP // Radio Heartbeat/Daggerman *new (orig 1978) HUBBLE BUBBLE // Faking // Faking // Radio Heartbeat/Daggerman *new (orig 1979) THE LAMPS // Javelin // self-titled LP // In The Red *new THE INTELLIGENCE // Sailor Dive // Deuteronomy // In The Red *new THE INTELLIGENCE // The Receptionist LEADERS // Crime Passionel // Synthesizer Sketchez & 4-Track Demos // no label *new DAN MELCHIOR UND DAS MENACE // I'm Blue // The Pink Scream EP 12" // Shake Appeal *new DAN MELCHIOR UND DAS MENACE // Hippy! // Elev to Mezz 7" // Daggerman *new D.STOP // Traitement de Choc // Traitement de Choc 7" // Autoprod 1982 DEAD HEAT // Damnée Petite Sophie // Damnée Petite Sophie 7" // ??? 198? TWIST NOIR // Ein Paar Tränen // self-titled 10" // Kernkrach *new (orig 1985) HAIRCUT MOUNTAIN TRANSIT // Winona Rider Voice-Over // v/a: Thrash Sabbatical LP+2x7" // Deathbomb Arc *new SIGHTINGS // Debt Depths // Through the Panama // Load *forthcoming MOUTHUS // Armies Between // Saw a Halo // Load *new *** LOS LLAMARADA // Live in Studio A, Sunday 09/16/2007 (48 mins) *** I Remember the Rest Julia Got Out Never Found the Head The Very Next Moment A Chance to Become Transparent Walk Look Climb The North Is Death I'm Sorry [Peggy Lee] Sometimes Nothing Changes Second One Is Here! WOODEN SHJIPS // Shine Like Suns // self-titled CD + bonus CD // Holy Mountain *new
I remember the first time I heard "Space Burrito" by Der Submarine Racers because it provoked such a fit of hilarity on my part; I'm pretty sure that was the last time that my drink came out through my nose. For all I know, this record and a Reed's Extra Ginger could do more harm to your mucus membranes than a sack of speed. It's been a year since that first listen on MySpace, but now the record's finally here, and the joke is still plenty funny. Just think if Darin had svengalied a budget-rock band led by Gilbert Gottfried instead of The Donnas..that's pretty close to Der Submariners' ballpark (I feel dangerously close to a Dan Quisenbury joke). Trashed-out, ultra-adenoidal, snotty, and fun.
Digger & the Pussycats sounds like it's at least a trio by name, but this Aussie two-man group tears a swath wider than most full-bands with hard-chargin' raw garagesleaze. Their thundering caveman drums and guitar like a killer bee swarm breaks no new ground, but they disturb the familiar soil very vigorously. On the flip, The Magnetix from France dish some cryptic cavestompers with some sweet organ riffs, making this split 10" a sure pleaser. Digger & the Pussycats have come to the States for a long tour which swings west in October.
9/24 NYC @ Fat Baby 9/25 Charlottesville, VA @ Atomic Burrito 9/29 Memphis, TN @ Gonerfest 9/30 Nashville, TN @ Alley Cat Lounge w/ Sweet Velvet 10/2 Chatanooga, TN @ TBA 10/5 Columbus, OH @ Cafe Bourbon Street w/ Grave Blankets 10/6 Lafayette, IN @ Zooleggers w/ the Mans 10/7 Three Rivers, MI @ Paisano's 10/8 Chicago, IL @ TBA 10/10 Omaha, NE @ O’Leavers Pub w/ the Boxed Elders 10/11 Denton, TX @ J & J’s Pizza 10/12 Austin, TX @ Beerland w/ John Schooley vs. John Wesley Coleman + Hex Dispensers + Pumpers 10/16 Tucson, AZ @ Vaudeville 10/17 Las Vegas, NV @ Divebar w/ the Mapes 10/19 Portland, OR @ Tonic Lounge w/ the Flip Tops & Pathogens 10/20 Olympia, WA @ Le Voyeur 10/22 Seattle, WA @ Funhouse w/ Ape City R&B 10/23 Portland, OR @ Ground Kontrol w/ Holy Shit! 10/25 Oakland, CA @ Stork Club, Budget Rock VI Showcase! w/ Husbands, Les Hormones, & the Cormans
...and then off to Korea!?!?! I'm definitely gonna try to catch them at Budget Rock VI.
Belgium had some of the best punk rock in Europe in the late 70s, and their three Bloodstains Across Belgium volumes were among the best of the entire series. Raxola and Hubble Bubble were two of the bands from that particular time and place who made an outstanding album, and now these records have been faithfully and legitimately reissued. The sound is certainly an upgrade from the bootlegs that came out about ten years ago. Hubble Bubble's second album Faking is a bit more of a powerpop record, but there's still a few nuggets for the punks, so you might as well get that, too.
Once again, we hear The Lamps, and if I haven't persuaded you to buy this new LP or CD in the last few weeks, "Javelin" is my new point of attack. Also new from In the Red and finally on AFS this week is Deuteronomy by The Intelligence. Early reports that it was "not as weird" or "cleaner sounding" almost had me worried that I'd be bored with it. How could I have second-guessed the songwriting of Lars Finberg? I'm ashamed of myself. Indeed, these songs all rule as they no less than inch toward pure pop perfection; actually, some of these songs even leap in that direction rather daringly. It's a growing album, too. Five listens in, and I'm especially enjoying it now.
I think I've shown you most of the Leaders' bag o'tricks from their first demo now, so surely all you label bigwigs must be drafting your contract proposals now. Get in early on the sneeringest art/synth/weirdpunk duo since the '78-'83 heyday.
Dan Melchior's never made a bad record, but his last few have been so incredible. My enjoyment and intrigue are ratcheting up to a whole new level even as he becomes seemingly more prolific. The Elev to Mezz and Pink Scream EPs are top-notch, comprising eight of the best examples of songcraft you may hear in 2007, and there's a new EP on Plastic Idol just around the corner. Plans are also coming together for Dan und Das Menace to tour, hitting the west coast in the first week of November. Surely, it's been said too often by lazy reviewers that Dan's music is "like the Country Teasers," and while I'd definitely recommend these records to any Teasers fans, such a one-sentence review is not a fair summation, and it does little to alleviate the confusion that exists about the man's music.
Most recordgeeks became familiar with Dan when the Broke Revue was anointed briefly as an up-and-coming "it" band in NYC, shortly after the time that Dan came to the States from his native England, where he had worked with Billy Childish and related projects such as Holly Golightly. The Revue even opened for much-hyped midmajor stars as Interpol, and my guess is that it looked like too much too soon for cred-conscious scene-honchos to hitch up to the bandwagon. I was skeptical, too. Probably a year or more went by before I learned that the Broke Revue's album on the In the Red was actually really good! And there were a buncha other records that came out around then by Dan which for me got lost in the shuffle, never bought, never heard. I thought I had him pegged as a bluespunker. I respected him for the raggedy edge and a unique singing voice, but I was afraid he was a little too prolific, and I felt late to the party after missing so many records.
Nowadays, Dan's music has become even more diversely influenced, and while it surely seems to share many influences with the Country Teasers, I also get the sense that Dan's got a subscription to the Messthetics series because The Pink Scream and Elev to Mezz sound as if they'd fit right into that (albeit, his music's blues edge is still more palpable than any of those British DIY bands of 1978-1980). There's keys and synths in there in places, even the occasional disco beat, but it's never the least bit cheesy, and like the Teasers' main man Ben Wallers (here's where the comparison does indeed ring very true), Dan's lyrics are enthralling enough to command close attention.
Next up, here's a couple of mysterious synth/wave records from France from the early to mid 80s. These are from Jacque's home stash, so thanks to him for letting us hear them. According to the site linked in the playlist beneath their band name, D.Stop also had this LP...
Anyone got a spare copy? I'm a payer for it...The promise of the single must be investigated! Dead Heat is even weirder, more minimal starkness with near zero melody and absurdly slow and sped up vocals. I can find no information anywhere about them. What does anyone know? Please tell!
Kernkrach just plucked this forgotten nugget of minimal synth/wave from Germany by Twist Noir, and unlike so much industrial music of that era (by 1985, it seemed that over 90% of industrial had become so homogenized that it was split into two camps: dancey EBM and metal-tinged industrial rock), this still sounds pretty fresh. If it's dated at all, it's a shining example of some of the best darkwave from the original heyday. The female vocals are sexy and cool, but not nearly as emotionally detached as most Germans on the cusp or splitting the uprights of EBM. Even the synths and beats are not as unflinching...maybe more like mid-era Tuxedomoon plus more aggression. The packaging is awesome as you should expect from Kernkrach; the 10" cover has spare graphics plus four daggerlike shards from a broken mirror. One shard has fake blood on the tip. Handle this with care.
Truly, Los Llamarada are such a miraculous band, and we feel lucky to have had them visit us ever so briefly. I realize that two of the members probably never want to get back on an airplane again, so unless we west coasters plan on next year's SxSW (which is never conveniently timed for me to take a vacation), we may never see them again. But this I pledge: If they get enough time off next year and fly out again in Summer 2008, I will drive them up and down the West Coast. It's really a shame more folks didn't get to see them.
New from Deathbomb Arc is this Thrash Sabbatical compilation, an imposing space-taker with a 12" and two 7-inches in an overlarge pizza box that's been spraypainted and screened. But I said it's a space-taker and not a space-waster. Within the grooves are some awesome sounds including extreme ends of the spectrum of the "New Noisy L.A." scene, plus three sides of Thurston Moore solo work. There's even a masterpiece of a post-riot grrl punk rock song by Barrabarracuda as heard last week on AFS v. 148 along with an ear-scouring stunner by Kevin Shields with help from Amy Vecchione of Yuma Nora, Gang Wizard, et al. This week, we hear Haircut Mountain Transit, bringing to mind the ferrous static sheetnoise of P16.D4 from two decades back. The pacing is well-done on these discs, so the variety is never too much to bear all at once. I like to think of Thurston's side as audio antacid to calm your stomach from the discombobulation of the whacked and cracked.
Haircut Mountain Transit is part of the ungodly dudecircle of L.A. noise artists collectively known as Men Who Can't Love. I saw them on July 3, 2005, at Food Hole in Portland, and it was like a harshnoise-style reenactment of Lord of the Flies...all neck-yoking moshpit mayhem. The premise behind a Men Who Can't Love show is that they are five or six individual members who each perform solos ranging from 30 seconds to five minutes. They simultaneously set up at once in different corners of the staging area, and the show begins when one member is forced to perform by all the others. It appeared to me that a "go" button was pushed, setting off wildly unstable circuitry, and then the "it" man would struggle to hit his "stop" button while his bandmate adversaries tried to prevent him from reaching it. His solo would continue for as long as everyone could block him from the button. Their mountain of speakers peaked just a few inches from Food Hole's ceiling, so it was quite frightening when the top speaker caught fire. (Yuma Nora played an awesome set right after that, and there was more burning plastic smell about midway through. I'll never forget that show.) Thrash Sabbatical's got a whole side of Men Who Can't Love, and it's essentially like listening to a Men Who Can't Love live show. The variety of sounds from the most extreme harshness (probably Privy Seals) to the most subdued and songlike (Solitary Hunter's folky bit) is very wide.
The new album by Sightings is due to drop just in time for their mid- to late-October tour of the Eastern U.S. and Canada, and through five listens, I'm certain now that this is THEE BEST Sightings album. Load CEO, cook, and bottle-washer Ben described their previous Load effort, Arrived in Gold, as "[dematerializing] any trace of guitar, bass and drums into proton dust floating microns on top of the speaker cone." On Through the Panama, Sightings' metal shavings, scrapings, and outright manglings are just as alien-weird, but they're oddly complimented by the sheeny gloss from Andrew W.K.'s production. This time, your speaker cones are gonna have a botox boost and the lushest, most luxurious moisturizer after they've received their most violent dermabrasion yet. Just as most power-electronics and harsh-noise sounds best with ultra-hifi recording, Sightings, perhaps the most extreme and harsh of the world's rock bands, also sounds great with high production value. This week's track selection is such a strange dichotomy of tonally correct singing (as much sweetness as the band can muster) over an atonal bed of nails and gauntlet of industrial furnace blasts that is more timbrally rich than anything I've heard all year.
The new Mouthus album on Load is a big winner, too! I'll have more to say about it next week.
There was a runaway rumor about Los Llamarada that they were all teenagers. I think it started from Siltblog's review of their SxSW performance, and then I probably did most of the running away with it. Llamarada's singer/keyboardist Sagan surmised that "Maybe he thought we were so young because it was such a dark room." And now that it turns out that they are actually academes who met in psychology class, I think they seem even more mythical.
The following night at the Delta of Venus, the Wooden Shjips capped off "Davis Feats of Strength II" with their strongest performance I've seen to date. Whereas the larger spaces and formal stages they've performed on feel so unlike their practice room, the Shjips said that the cozy Davis café felt more familiar to them than any venue they've played so far. Certainly, I've never seen them look more comfortable and less tentative. Here's some video that Brian Faulkner captured during the show...
THE MAGNETIX // No Feel Pain // split 10" w/ Digger & the Pussycats // Every Night Is a Saturday Night *new MATT K. SHRUGG // All I Do Is Write These Songs // The Weird Shit... CDR // no label *new THE PIZZAS // Hideous Fashion // MySpace mp3 *new UNNATUAL HELPERS // Becky Is a Bummer/Milk Break // self-titled CD // self-released *new METH TEETH // Boring Artifacts // To My Good Friend CDR // self-released *new GHOST ECHOES // So Good, So Fast // demo CDR // no label *new BLANK DOGS // Planets // Diana (The Herald) 12" EP // Sacred Bones *new LOS LLAMARADA // The Very Next Moment // The Very Next Moment 7" // S-S Records *new BLIND SHAKE // Honeytown/Lap Dog // Rizzograph // Learning Curve *new SHAUN FAILURE // Needles // mp3 *new HAMMERHEAD // Zesta // Into the Vortex // Amphetamine Reptile 1994 *request THE NEW FLESH // Dog // Dog 7" // Terra Firma/Human Conduct *new BURMESE // Headmaster // Men // Load 2004 KEVIN SHIELDS // Paved Fury // v/a: Thrash Sabbatical LP+2x7" // Deathbomb Arc *new PRIVY SEALS // Somniloquy // v/a: Thrash Sabbatical LP+2x7" BARRABARRACUDA // Stone Cold Steve Austin at the Cold Stone Creamery // v/a: Thrash Sabbatical LP+2x7" DEATH SENTENCE: PANDA! // Mr. Chip/Mrs. Fancy Lady Friend // Festival of Ghosts 10" // Upset the Rhythm 2007 FOOT VILLAGE // World Fantasy (feat. Weirdo/Begeirdo) // Fuck the Future // Deathbomb Arc 2006 FOOT VILLAGE // Follow Your Heart // v/a: Pisspounder 3xLP // Deathbomb Arc 2007 HEAVY WINGED // A Stretch of Time // We Grow // Not Not Fun 2007 ETERNAL TAPESTRY // Woodland Spirit // Altar of Grass CDR // Solar Commune *new MICHAEL YONKERS // The Answer // Grimwood // De Stijl *new (orig 1969) SUISHOU NO FUNE // In the Moonlight // Writhing Underground Flowers // Lotus Sound *new SHEPHERDS // part 1 // Bush Babies 7" // DNT Records *new U.S. GIRLS // Jungle Jokes // Introducing... CDR // self-released *new OHIOAN // untitled // Ohioan and Adam Gnade CDR // Native Kin *new
Last night on Exodus: the Return Home hosted by DJ Oddy Knocky with special guest DJ Klinger, the Unnatural Helpers played a short, but sweet set live on the air, and now you can hear a whole eight songs of their clever smart-yin/dumb-yang garagepunk. The set begins at about the 67-minute mark of this two-hour program.
Download the mp3 AT THIS LINK within the next 10 weeks, or stream it AT THIS LINK before September 18, 2007.
This is the cover of their new self-titled CD.
We'll be hearing from it tonight on AFS v. 148, as well as catalog highlights from the stars of this weekend's "Davis Feats of Strength" II, including the brand-new 7" by Los Llamarada from S-S.
Here's Oddy Knocky's entire playlist...
DEATH SENTENCE: PANDA! // Yao Yao Tou LOS LLAMARADA // Lies BOYS CLUB // Gotta Get it Right THE COATHANGERS // Parcheezzi TERRIBLE TWOS // Reluctant Love HOME BLITZ // Thin Ice HOME BLITZ // Feeling Cold THE FOXX // Frenchie BLACK MOTH SUPER RAINBOW // Dandelion Gum ALGEBRA MOTHERS // Strawberry Cheesecake ALGEBRA SUICICDE // True Romance at the Worlds Fair ALGEBRA SUICIDE // Please Respect Our Decadence THE UNITS // High Pressure Days BLANK DOGS // She's Violent Tonight ALGEBRA SUICIDE // An Explanation for that Flock of Crows ALGEBRA SUICIDE // Little Dead Bodies MEGAWEAPON // Tranceformers 1 THE 1990s // Arcade Precint
UNNATURAL HELPERS // Live in Studio A
DIRTY PROJECTORS // Gimme Gimme Gimme [Black Flag] MICE PARADE // Swing ANDREW DOUGLAS ROTHBARD // Lucien CAMPER VAN BEETHOVEN // Take the Skinheads Bowling CAMPER VAN BEETHOVEN // Sometimes WICKED HEMLOCKS // To Be Extremist WOMEN & CHILDREN // Born TP YACHT // I Love a Computer DIRTY PROJECTORS // Obscure Wisdom LAS VEGAS CLUB // W.W.M.D? (What Would Moses Do?) WOMEN & CHILDREN // Virginia Creepers CASIOTONE FOR THE PAINFULLY ALONE // International Spy BEAT HAPPENING // I Spy
You've been hearing a lot of Algebra Suicide because poet/vocalist Lydia Tomkiw passed away last week. RIP.
Saturday, Sept 15 @DAM House 503 E Street in Davis (map) 7:00 sharp (ends @ 10!), donate $3-10, all ages Food + Beer + N.A. drinks are FREE...come hungry!
Los Llamarada Monterrey, Mexico's teen sensation of psych/weirdpunk Captain Ahab L.A.'s boffo-funtime ravesploitation rulers Foot Village L.A.'s all-drum HC edutainment for the geographically curious + debut of the Mayyors Sacto/Davis supergroup of ex-FM Knives/Karate Party/Sexy Prison/Gift of Goats/etc.
And finally...
Sunday, Sept 16 @ Delta of Venus 9:00 p.m., $5, all ages
Suishou no Fune Deep psych mindbenders from Japan Wooden Shjips Ur-groovin' SF psych wizardry Numinous Eye SF third-eye stimulators feat. Mason Jones San Francisco Water Cooler Straight outta Fiddletown psych-pop shimmerers
Sometimes you wanna thank your lucky stars for Davis, CA!
And you do know this is all because Freeform KDVS is in this town, right?
As long as DIY bands and artists keep me amazed, I will keep doing radio and extreme-blogging as a tribute to them. In case you are an old classmate looking for me, yes, this is "Rick Ele" here.
If you have material available in any format, please send it to...
KDVS Radio, ATTN: Music Dept, 14 Lower Freeborn Hall, Davis, CA 95616, USA (Please don't send it to my personal ATTN; you can trust KDVS Music Directors to get the good stuff added to the largest and best music library of any radio station this side of the Mississippi! And there are dozens of other really excellent DJs here who will play the good stuff if you send it!)
...wanna get in touch about anything else? rickele(AT)gmail(DOT)com
With a name like Alien Soundtracks, surely one expects more than a mere passing resemblance to the godly Chrome. This band from SoCal's Inland Empire fuse the aggressive punk crunch, deft Krauty motoriks, expansive psychedelic flourishes, and cold, clamey electronics much like their inspiration did nearly 30 years ago. I really appreciate how they paid attention to getting such a propulsive drum sound out of a kit that obviously cost all of about $100 at the pawn shop. That's what really struck me about Chrome when I first scored Touch & Go's reissue of Half Machine Lip Moves and Alien Soundtracks...that drum production, so ostentatious about its budgetness, yet still so very destructive. In terms of cheapness, the only thing I could compare it to at the time was the first Cure album, but it was immediately rendered silly novelty by Chrome. And maybe not since the mysterious Doppleganger Squid 7" from 1994, no band has gotten this idea of budget drum domination down pat as much as these guys. The CDR is an interesting mix of electronic ambient tracks and bent spacepunkers so that it almost sounds like a split LP with alternating tracks, yet altogether cohesive enough to keep me from skipping ahead. There is room for improvement, but they're on the right path, moving from the right starting point.
Oso el Roto are Chileans now living in Paris. They've made an extremely limited LP in a mangy DIY gatefold of decaying cardboard bound by brads. Fans of cherry merchandise need not apply. Rather, only fans of the rawest, yet most original take on "bluespunk" with the old-timey twang of the Piedmont tradition should hunt this one down. If the thought of another bluespunk band makes you brace for more pointless schtick from fellas with kneepads for Jon Spencer--or even if you're dead tired of needless rehashes of the Oblivians ideals--this record should be very refreshing for its rhythmic twists and turns, intriguing audio bits, and genuine freakiness. I've not heard much of the wilder side of Pacific coast South American rock from the 60s and 70s, but others more in the know say that this reveals some of its lineage to that music, too. I'm guessing that will make this sound very new and bewildering to most of us.
I missed you guys last week 'cos I was hanging out with Dan Melchior und Das Menace, makers of some of the finest EPs and unreleased LPs of the last few years. I saw Dan play a couple of live shows here in Sacto and Davis, plus live to tape on KDVS, which I promise you will hear on next week's AFS v. 156. This gem of a song you're hearing now is the B-side of the new 7" on Plastic Idol, and it's the weirder of the two songs on this perfect single. Somehow I knew that when a master like Dan and a shrewd exactor like Mario of Plastic Idol got together, the results would be perfect. What I didn't know is that seeing Dan play live would be so awe-inspiring because of his masterful guitarwork. I've been a fan because of the lyrical storytelling, the Englishness of the phrases, and the voice. I never realized until the live shows that the guy is seriously a great guitarist. This Das Menace lineup was also tremendous. A much heavier, more solid rhythm section than I expected. Burly American yin to clever English yang.
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