* too much best-of-2010 nominee clutter! * catching onto to Tyvek's Nothing Fits, finally! * finally joining the Vex Ruffin & the Lo-Fi Jerkheads bandwagon!
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* Honoring the new NBA season w/ Popular Shapes' 4-part BBall Music suite * Most vinyl-worthy punk tape of 2010: Cruddy * Fabulous Diamonds and Pigeons on the West Coast! * Let's start a petition for Potato Chips not to bite it!
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POPULAR SHAPES | BBall Music 1 | split 7" w/ Kurt | On/On Switch 2004 POPULAR SHAPES | BBall Music 2 | BBall Music 2 & 4 7" | White Denim/Hate the Eighties 2005 POPULAR SHAPES | BBall Music 3 | split 7" w/ Kurt POPULAR SHAPES | BBall Music 4 COLA FREAKS | Mig Mig Mig | Mig Mig Mig 7" | Rob's House *new LAS NURSES | Midnight Lamb | Just So Pretty | Rococo *new PISSED JEANS | L Word | Your Life is Worth 7" | Sub Pop *new RUNNING | Back and Forth/#1 Dad | self-titled | Permanent *new HEIST | Sonic Flames Meat Department | 18 Gears of Hell | Big Fred 1998? HEIST | It's Just a Brain FEŚ PARKER | TMTV | Side Room | Pressupable 2008 THE CHINESE RESTAURANTS | River of Shit | River of Shit 7" | SS Records 2010 POTATO CHIPS | Can't Weight/I'm Led Zeppelin Tonight/Nervous 4 Life (Hoarse Mix) | Looks Like We're About To Bite It, Maybe You Should Bite It Too? 3" CDR | Savoury Days *new RED MASS | The End of the World | Split Brain Experiment 10" | Rococo *new PRIMITIVE TRIBES | Trapped | Some Bouncy Anthems 7" | no label 1994 PRIMITIVE TRIBES | 30 Billion Served | While No One Was Looking 7" | 201 Records 1993 TEMPER TANTRUM | Know-it-All | split 7" w/ Haskel | Wooden Blue 1995 CRUDDY | Slow News Day/Negative World | Negative World CS | no label *new KILL THE HIPPIES | Neon Toilet | Erectospective | Rock 'n' Roll Purgatory 1998 DEFEKTORS | Not the One | v/a: 6 x 2 x 12" | Volar *new CHRISTMAS | Pies | Pies b/w El Colorado 7" | Highfives and Handshakes *new LAURENCE WASSER | Mummy Gelly | Hoochie Cooky Bunny 7" | Plastic Spoons *new BLACK ORPHAN | Metal Leg | Metal Leg 7" | Volar *new FLIGHT | Goodbye Horses [Q. Lazzarus] | The Lead Riders 12" | Zoo Music *new SUBTLE TURNHIPS | Wah Wah Wah | Terd Album | HoZac *new IDLE TIMES | There You Go | self-titled | HoZac *new TEENAGE MOODS | Sugar Band | Sugar Band 7" | Salvaged Productions *new MYELIN SHEATHS | Mutations | Get on Your Nerves | Southpaw *new ETERNAL TAPESTRY | trk 6 | The Net: The Unabomber, LSD, and the Internet CDR | no label *new FABULOUS DIAMONDS | 3 mins, 40 secs | Fabulous Diamonds II | Siltbreeze 2010 PIGEONS | Sand | Virgin Spectacle | Black Dirt 2008 RUTH WHITE | Spleen | Flowers of Evil | Limelight 1969 WAXY TOMB | Grey Ice Box Gardens | self-titled CDR | no label 2009 THROBBING GRISTLE | Hamburger Lady | D.o.A. The Third and Final Report of | Industrial 1979
Please join the petition to convince the Potato Chips not to bite it. Their 3" CDR would make a great vinyl, too. Tonight's featured song by Potato Chips--"Can't Weight/I'm Led Zeppelin Tonight/Nervous 4 Life (Hoarse Mix)"--lives up to its name. Their relentlessness and humor is delightfully similar to The Chinese Restaurants.
Death to John Tesh's "Roundball Roulette"! How long must we hear the same opening theme and bumper music for every NBA telecast. Popular Shapes made at least four songs that are more appropos. MJ don't wanna hear that song no more...look at him!
Corrections Dept.: (1) Teenage Moods are not British. The record label is. But they are from Minnesota. (2) Ruth White's Flowers of Evil came out in 1969, not 1967. I can't keep all these facts under my skull. Nobody pays me to do this, y'know. Next week, maybe I'll be more write-ative. 'Til then, enjoy...and let me know what you like. THANKS!
* Get ready for Warm Climate Cali mini-tour! * Get ready for Grave Babies Cal/Nev mini-tour! * Most vinyl-worthy cassette-only release of 2010: Waste Rig * A different flavor from the forthcoming Sic Alps 2xLP, Napa Asylum
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MEERCAZ | Never Too Late to Learn | Never Too Late to Learn 7" | Sweet Rot *new CHROME | SS Cygni | Alien Soundtracks | Siren 1977 TIMMY ZORGANISM | Left My Heart in Germany | Can and Bottle Return 7" | Bat Shit *new GLEN MEADMORE | Hen Party | Chicken & Biscuits | Amoeba 1987 FACTUMS | Roman Soldier (Remix) | Roman Soldier 12" | Captcha *new GRAVE BABIES | Eating Babies | Death Face CS | Skrot Up 2009 SLEETMUTE NIGHTMUTE | In Adulthood...Black Steel Sick | Night of the Long Knives | Fast Weapons *new CACAW | Die Don't Doh | self-titled | Permanent *new PLUTON | Forgiven not Forgotten | self-titled 12" | Plastic Spoons *new FLIGHT | Ghosts | Ghosts 7" | Plastic Spoons *new JOHN'S CHILDREN | Smashed! Blocked! | Orgasm | Get Back! 1998 (orig 1970) WARM CLIMATE | Blue Metro | Camouflage on the River Wretched CS | Stunned *new WARM CLIMATE | Devine Souffle and the Southern Approach | Edible Homes CS | Stunned 2009 COMUS | Drip Drip | First Utterance | Dawn 1971 T2 | In Circles | It'll All Work Out in Boomland | Decca 1970 BLOODROCK | American Burn | Bloodrock U.S.A. | Capitol 1972 PUFFY AREOLAS | $200 Jeans | Rock n Roll Express 7" | Die Stasi *new PUFFY AREOLAS | Teen Scene Cream WASTE RIG | Stuck in This Shit | Ritual Cleansing: Phase 2010 CS | Pollen Season *new WASTE RIG | Dream Damage/Pass the Keys JANDEK | You Painted Your Teeth | Telegraph Melts | Corwood 1986 SMEGMA | Mutant Baby | v/a: Portland Punk Live at Earth 10-29-79 | Trap 1980 SIC ALPS | Ranger/Rat Happy | Napa Asylum 2xLP | Drag City *forthcoming STRAPPING FIELDHANDS | Woman of Distinction | v/a: Gonerfest 7 Golden Ticket Record 7" | Goner 2010
It's finally dawned on me that this Waste Rig tape is the most vinyl-worthy album-length cassette-only release of 2010 so far. C'mon, somebody...make it happen! Hear three more songs in this earlier AFS podcast. Ex-Long Legged Woman dudes, members of the last Hospitals live unit, and related to CCR Headcleaner, these guys dish some heavily damaged pop that runs the gamut from sweet and catchy to nihilistic, but it all sounds like phases of the same acid trip.
If Sleetmute Nightmute's Night of the Long Knives can finally be issued on vinyl after six years of waiting, I don't think it's too much to ask that such fine examples of the cassette frenzy come out on vinyl, too.
Warm Climate made the most vinyl-worthy (still waiting!) album-length cassette-only release of 2009 in the dazzling Edible Homes. Like Comus meets T. Rex with startling results! See their first shows outside of their rare L.A. performances...
Thu 11/4 in Oakland @ East Nile w/ Dreamcolour, Eternal Tapestry, The Grey, Magic Whistle Fri 11/5 in Sacramento @ The Hub w/ Grave Babies, Build Target Sat 11/6 in Santa Barbara @ Jitters Coffee w/ Watercolor Paintings
And sure...there's plenty for cynics to hate among today's wav(v)es of nü-psych and nü-goth, but the way Grave Babies blends the psych and goth elements totally transcends and unjades. And the reason why is 'cos their hooks and melodies are catchy and their riffs and rhythms really wallop...especially live, when the drums bash louder than the drum machine you hear at the fore on the track featured on this podcast. Fans of Bauhaus, Faith thru Japanese Whispers by The Cure, and early Savage Republic will most likely love Grave Babies, but this band never sounds like mere mimicry. See 'em on their tour...
Fri 11/5 in Sacramento @ The Hub w/ Warm Climate, Build Target Sat 11/6 in Reno, NV @ Holland Project w/ TBA Mon 11/8 in San Diego @ Tin Can w/ TBA Tue 11/9 in San Francisco @ The Independent w/ Weekend, Pains of Being Pure at Heart Wed 11/10 in San Francisco @ The Depot w/ Werr
Hey, any Sacto/Yolo friends....If you show up to that Hub show on Friday, November 5 wearing black lipstick and/or nail polish, I'll pour you a free shot of a special festive liqueur I've been saving for just this kinda occasion. I'm making a special trip to the party store for the little shooter cups. The ritual toast happens before Warm Climate plays...Cin-cin!
* live-at-KDVS session by Sex Church! * sneak-peekin' the forthcoming Sic Alps 2xLP! * a grippa new Troubled in Mind melodic brainworms! * the latest guitar-slaying of Grady Runyan (ex-Monoshock/Liquorball)!
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THE FALL | The Container Drivers | Grotesque (After the Gramme) | Rough Trade 1980 SAVAGE REPUBLIC | Viva la Rock n Roll [ATV] | ΝHΠIAΓΩΓEION - Live In Europe 1988 | Fundamental 1990 PARTY BOYS | Ode on a Grecian Urn | No Aggro | Independent Project 1981 ALARMIST | It's Halloween [the Shaggs] | Under the Covers CS | Public Secret Media 2004 ALARMIST | Ignition | Evil Works Get Rich or Try Dying Evil Works | Frenetic 2004 CRABE | Pénis-Céline | Ero Gaki | Signed by Force *new DE KIFT | Vlijt/Staal op Staal | Yverzucht | Konkurrel 1989 BPEOPLE | Can Can't | self-titled | Faulty Products 1981 THE DEADBEATS | Brainless | Kill the Hippies 7" | Dangerhouse 1978 ROY WOOD'S WIZZARD | Eddy's Rock | Introducing Eddy & the Falcons | United Artists 1974 WOUNDED LION | Pointed Sticks | Pointed Sticks 7" | Trouble in Mind *new THE WRONG WORDS | What Went Wrong? | What Went Wrong? 7" | Trouble in Mind *new THE LIMIÑANAS | Mountain | self-titled | Trouble in Mind *new NICE SMILE | Building | Building 7" | South Director Street *new RED MASS | Nightcrawlers | self-titled | Florida's Dying *new ~~~~~~ live in Studio A, Oct 20, 2010 ~~~~~~~ SEX CHURCH | Not Anymore SEX CHURCH | Old Enough SEX CHURCH | Dead End SEX CHURCH | Let Down SEX CHURCH | Paralyze SEX CHURCH | Mistaken ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SIC ALPS | Trip Train | Napa Asylum 2xLP | Drag City *forthcoming SIC ALPS | The First White Man to Touch California Soil THE BAD TRIPS | End of War | Open | Rocketship *new INTERNATIONAL HELLO | Someone's Coming | self-titled | Holy Mountain *new ART LESSING | Weirdest Places | Lectures 2xLP | KDVS Recordings *new SUN CITY GIRLS | The Imam | Funeral Mariachi | Abduction *new PHANTOM PAYN DAYS | Art is Dead | self-titled | De Stijl *new SAMUEL LOCKE WARD | Church of the Bloated Man | Barely Regal Beagles | no label *new
Due early 2011 from Drag City, the Sic Alps' Napa Asylum will surely please fans and win some more! Tonight, I give you a couple of the fuzziest blasts from the double-LP, but you can also expect to hear the band--now a trio--meander through folk and damaged pop, usually with ease, sometimes with difficulty, but always bearing rewards for the indepth listener. Next week I'll dish you some of the woozier brilliance on these four sides of impending indulgence. My advance CDR was enclosed with a one-sheet which says...
The new SIC ALPS record is "NAPA ASYLUM."
A Brief History of Sic Alps Time:
Matt and Mike met on a boat in NYC in 1996, playing with their bands, Henry's Dress and The Ropers.
Mike started Sic Alps with Adam Stonehouse of The Hospitals in 2004. Matt joined in 2005, stepping in to mix and basically realize the first LP "Pleasures and Treasures."
Noel Von Harmonson joined in 2009. You know - Noel, of Comets on Fire! Noel plays guitars, drums and all kinds of randomness on "Napa Asylum."
Sic Alps always record themselves in the basement. Mike always brings in the song with lyrics and it gets built track by track on an 8 track. A recent exception to the rule is "My My Lai" on "Napa Asylum," written and recorded by Matt. But back to the rule: Matt is always the "engineer" and often the arranger and concept master. The set-up is very minimal - delay pedal, reverb tank, two microphones, $100 preamp and Tascam 8. This has been this way for all the recordings.
2.5 years between records! Where were they? Comp tracks aside, only the Slumberland 7" "L Mansion" and the Magic Markers split (Yik Yak) were released since "U.S. EZ" came out in July of 2008. Sic Alps were releasing a lot of music in the years 2006-2008 and "Napa Asylum" represents for the years when they slowed way down and took a minute to reflect.
Themes of the "Napa Asylum" record include re-incarnation, magic and schizophrenia. Some of the more adventurous writing on the record lyrically speaking: "The First White Man to Touch California" attempts to tie the "discovery" of California to the recent mortgage crisis. "Zeppo Epp" tells parallel tales of leaving a Midwestern home: Zeppo Eppley drives off to never be heard from again while Charlotte Muldeen breaks up with her girlfriend and joins the Navy.
The songs are a fresh assortment of Sic pleasures, echoing half-emptily as the hooks slide into your flesh, animating you in marionette-style to tip-tap your way across the dance-floor. Get your steps in while you can, the songs are as short as they are bitter-sweet. But the one that ends just makes way for the one coming next...
I liked Napa Asylum immediately, but it took a couple more listens to really get under my skin, and now I enjoy it at least as much as the masterful Description of the Harbor which made it onto the short version of my best-of-2008 LPs list. Yes, it's another masterpiece. I'd described Description as the perfect music for a summer heatwave when the A/C's busted and you can only lay on the floor and watch the ceiling fan spin. I actually did this once, and the more warped elliptical Alps riffs made me trip out on how my ceiling fan kinda rocks a little bit on its base so that the fan blades sorta smear into an oval. Napa Asylum's gonna trip me out like that, but even more.
Napa Asylum is great listening on a high-desert drive. The miles from Weed, California, to Tulelake via U.S. 97 north past Dorris and east on CA Hwy 161 blew by almost too quickly with a sage-scented breeze, even as my windshield got smeared with guts of tiny flies as the route cut across Lower Klamath Lake. The peak of Mt. Shasta dominates the view throughout this drive like the shamanistic vibe of Mike Donovan, smiling and shoeless on stage. I become aware of the ice of Shasta's glaciers scouring the mountain whenever Matt Hartman's nervous energy manifests in a sudden jittery drum fill or shrill feedback squall. (Or maybe it's the Modoc warrior spirit!) It all comes together as a soundscape as massive as the northern Siskiyou landscape. Shasta is always there past the horizon, tantalizingly near even as those nearer horizons keep unfolding every mile or two across this unique microcosm of the basin-and-range formations of the inter-mountain West. It's the perfect place for a psychedelic experience, such as listening to Napa Asylum. I still hope to take one more trip up that way before winter takes hold, and then I'll figure out what's Noel's northern Siskiyou metaphor. Maybe it's the way that the land up there's so surprisingly adaptable. Just like adding water to the mineral-rich soil replaces a valley full of bunchgrass and sagebrush with a green carpet of alfalfa sprouts across the southern half of Butte Valley, adding Noel to the Sic Alps equation has produced an outstanding result. From seeing the band live four times this year with Noel, I sense that he's added a steadying effect. The rhythms are more permanent on Napa Asylum, riffs heavier and more impactful. Yet the Cali vibe is still so enduring...on this album, just as it is mere miles from the Oregon border where--amidst secessionist Jefferson-state rednecks--there are hippies stroking crystals aimed at Shasta vortexes, and the sun still shines through about 80% of the time year-round.
If you wanna plan a vacation with this album, hit me up....I'll tell you where to stay and eat up there. Keep in mind the 2nd weekend of October is when the town of Merrill, just across the border in Oregon, hosts their annual potato festival. I already bought a 2011 calendar and circled the dates. You should circle January 25, 2011....that's the date that Napa Asylum hits the street.
* Zac Nelson's home-away-from-homecoming's this weekend * skronktastic sax-damaged scuzzrock * a whole grippa new Permanent titles
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Here's where those samples from the Tretetam track came from!
I remember seeing this commercial on BET all the time nearly 25 years ago, so I was stoked to hear this tonight! All the music was the stuff my mom used to listen to full-blast while cleaning the house when I was a wee lad. Great memories.
Sorry I can't spend more time dishing on these goods this week....Gotta bone up for my Fantasy NBA draft tomorrow!
* Brace yourselves for KDVS presents Feats of Strength - Fall 2010 * Brand-new brilliant weirdness from the Ceramic Hobs! * Catching up w/ Siltbreeze Records * Dan Melchior makes me question my existence...but not his excellence * The brand-new KDVS Recordings joint: Art Lessing 2xLP!
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2nd Feat: Fri 10/15 Sex Church (Canada) (waning) Satan Wriders (Stockton)
3rd Feat: Sat 10/16 Malaikat Dan Singa (feat. Arrington de Dionysio; it's basically kinda like Old Time Relijun interpreting Indonesian pop) Buk Buk Bigups San(s) Kazakgascar
I will be giving a single Wild Flag (ex-Sleater Kinney & Helium/Grass Widow (Wed 11/17, SOLD OUT!) ticket away at each show by staging a free raffle. Every paid attendee at each show will receive a raffle ticket for the drawing at the night's end. When we have a consecutive streak of particularly awesome shows, we like to call that "Feats of Strength". If anyone attends all three shows, they will be entered into a raffle at the Saturday show to win a pair of Wild Flag/Grass Widow tickets plus a sweep of the merch table on Saturday (one copy of each new record by each band, plus the Grass Widow LP), and shall be named winner of "Feats of Strength - Fall 2010". These tickets will be transferable, so even if you purchased Wild Flag tix, you can win 'em, too.
This week in AFS, Fuzzbox Flynn pinch-hit for me, picking the first 45 minutes of music, and then airing the pre-ORMF X fest party recorded live at KDVS, featuring Uzi Rash, The Whines (next-to-last public performance ever), and Wounded Lion. I couldn't possibly host AFS myself this week because I had the honor and privilege to play with Wounded Lion (the FCC has a rule forbidding "plugola", which includes playing your own music). It was like fantasy bandcamp with one of my very favorite bands of the last couple years! While I played the drum parts that Monty Buckles usually plays in Wounded Lion, Monty was in Kansas on Lamps duty. The guitar parts that Monty plays in other songs of the Lion were played by Andrew of G. Green.
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NERVOUS EATERS | Loretta | Eaterville vol. 1 | Penniman 2004 (orig. 1976) DEAD MOON | Parchment Farm | Parchment Farm 7" | Tombstone 1988 THE OBLIVIANS | Jim Cole | Soul Food | Crypt 1995 MC MONKEY & APE W/ ATTITUDE | Human Zoo | Human Zoo 7" | Kryptonite 2004 THE SORES | Learn to Like Eatin' Dirt | 6 Songs of Despair and Frustration | Borox 2005 NECESSARY EVILS | Get It Out of My Brain | The Sicko Inside Me | In The Red 1999 EDDY CURRENT SUPPRESSION RING | Turn Your Page | self-titled | Goner 2006 ROYAL HEADACHE | Eloise | Eloise 7" | R.I.P. Society 2010 PROCEDURE CLUB | Awfully Managed Pigeons | Doomed Forever | Slumberland 2010 SO COW | Shut Eye | Meaningless Friendly | Tic Tac Totally 2010 ========================== Live in Studio A @ KDVS, 10/2/10 ========================== THE WHINES | Straybird THE WHINES | Cut Meat THE WHINES | Vacation THE WHINES | To Be True THE WHINES | this one's not on the album or the 7" THE WHINES | and neither is this one! THE WHINES | yet another new one! THE WHINES | and another!! ========================== Live in Studio A @ KDVS, 10/2/10 ========================== WOUNDED LION | Friendly? WOUNDED LION | Relaxation WOUNDED LION | Sacajawea WOUNDED LION | Pointed Sticks WOUNDED LION | Pony People WOUNDED LION | Monkey WOUNDED LION | Degobah System WOUNDED LION | Walrus WOUNDED LION | Carol Cloud WOUNDED LION | I'm Sad ========================== Live in Studio A @ KDVS, 10/2/10 ========================== UZI RASH | I Know That You Read My Diary... UZI RASH | ...Succubus Staring at Me... UZI RASH | title unknown UZI RASH | Living in a Swamp UZI RASH | I'm a Trashbag UZI RASH | Totally Fired UZI RASH | ...Come Into My Barn...
After the show, the bands and I slayed this epic burger sesh like it was nothing! R.I.P., Whines....You were a very special band for the time you were around. Folks, if you haven't heard their Hell to Play LP on Meds yet, you're missing one of the greatest future-classics of the year. Like a female-fronted Hunches, but more Velvetsy.
Sorry, friends! My nonstop life of career in information for public affairs, booking shows for KDVS Presents, being chief cook 'n bottle-washer for The Hub, criss-crossing Northern California to check out other live shows, trying and evaluating new taquerias, community freeform radio, and these here xxxtreme-blogging exploits finally caught up to me between vacations to Nevada/Idaho/Washington/Oregon and Memphis and a mysterious coughy/congestive late-summer bug that's been going around. Something had to give, and it was the xxxtreme-blogging part. I have enjoyed picking and playing music for you on AFS every week and sharing my top picks, and I will continue to do so now that summer is over and life is getting back to normal (almost).
So, I've been getting around this summer, and the clincher was indeed the grand finalé of the summer music festival season, Gonerfest 7 in Memphis, Tennessee. It was the 2nd consecutive Gonerfest for Melissa and me--we decided we were going to #7 about halfway through day two of #6--and we had a blast again! Gonerfest is a benchmark for multi-day/multi-venue festivals; somehow, the Goner gang manages to run a tight, efficient ship so the order of events flows smoothly and predictably, and yet there's tons of mayhem, revelry, and spontaneity. And the city of Memphis is just a fantastic destination for its history, unique flavors, friendly people, and...well...every necessary element to encourage late-night mayhem, revelry, and spontaneity. Beer and booze flowing 'til 3:00am, perfect late-night weather, cops pre-occupied by the potential of real crime happening elsewhere in the city. It's really a great city to visit. And with stately 2800 square-foot homes such as these in our home price comfort zone, it kinda makes us wonder what it might be like to live there. Could I really trade Sacto tacos, tortas, y burritos for Memphis BBQ? Will my veins explode or collapse first? Kings for Grizzlies? Neither team's making the playoffs yet. But, really...It's certainly become one of our favorite cities.
Gonerfest started a day earlier this year on a Wednesday with Spider Bags. The highlights of this night were Italy's Vermillion Sands and King Louie's Missing Monuments. The Italians overcame TermBo user: Clint's under-his-breath murmuring of barbs such as "I dunno...This seems ridiculously French Canadian to me" to make him oddly quiet by mid-set, by which time they'd won over everyone else with their rollicky jangle-punk with cartoonish lead-guitarist antics, relentless shuffling rhythms, and charming front-lady who I reckon could've won a lotta fans 200 miles east at the Grand Ol' Opry. Maybe Clint didn't know what kinda Vermillion Sands fanboy I am. I've got every record they've made yet. And they didn't disappoint one bit...well...maybe they could've played one slower song to show off the emotional depth of their singer's voice. And speaking of charming...King Louie was a hoot to watch play, and his Missing Monuments hit the mark for the kinda melodic, poppy punk I like. Useless Eaters were dazzling at their best, too, but I think they need to vary their pacing a little bit. They play all-manic all-the-time and can't afford the slightest lapse of concentration on their fretboard action, thereby kinda stunting their stage persona. What a talent they are, though. I walked in too late on Spider Bags and walked out too early--jetlagged, and possibly still in a Gus's Fried Chicken foodcoma--on Msr. Jeffrey Evans, but they sounded pretty good while I was there.
Gus's was great again. I love the spice of their batter, and I can't get over how cheap it is for a place that touts itself as "world famous" and knows it's true. It's listed prominently in most Memphis travel guides and has been on TV many times, so they trap a lotta tourists who are only too ready to be fleeced by opportunistic tourist-oriented businesses. I saved room for pecan pie...pretty good!
Day two started with a hug and kiss from our hostess at Alcenia's, where I had the most delectable breaded pork chops which also blew away my South Sac fave, the "Iowa-style pork chops" at Original Perry's. I'm not sure I'll ever be as satisfied spending $10.09 plus tax and tip at Original Perry's now that I've eaten Alcenia's pork chops. And washed 'em down with what they call "Ghetto-Aid", which is especially-highly-sweetened Kool Aid. I was afraid it'd make my teeth shudder, but it wasn't that sweet, really. Plenty refreshing, though. Green beans and cornbread was just fine, but the bacony black-eyed peas were especially BOMB! Now I feel like I've finally had black-eyed peas the way they were meant to be enjoyed.
"Opening ceremonies" at the Goner Records store kicked off in the outdoor public gazebo next door with a set by Thee Oh Sees which went down sublimely as I felt sweat trickling down my back. That song they've been ending their set with is so splendid, I can't wait to hear it on record with the Woodhouse magic sprinkled on it. It's got a killer groovey riff that rather reminds me of "Crash Course in Brain Surgery" by Budgie...like it was reverse-engineered by removal of that little chug that makes it heavy metal. That will be a great roadtrip record, I reckon. The band was goaded into an encore and ended with an appropos rendition of their epic "Warm Slime" which was the best ever rendition I've heard besides the one they played at KDVS presents Operation: Restore Maximum Freedom XII in June 2009 with Woodhouse on 2nd drumkit (which is, of course, an unfair comparison).
We didn't really have an appetite yet for dinner, but we knew we'd be screwed if we waited 'til after the main event, so we joined some new friends from Canada and Australia for a Soul Fish sesh. This has been a hot new restaurant in the Cooper-Young area since it opened last year, but we beat the rush and only had to wait 10 minutes for a table. I got a Cuban sandwich because it was mentioned as a noteworthy specialty in the best-of-the-city issue of the Memphis Flyer alt-weekly that was current while we were there. It was okay. Nothing to write home about. But everyone else's food looked really great, and they were raving aplenty.
Once again in foodcoma mode, we lumbered over to the Hi-Tone for Thursday's main event featuring Ty Segall, Haunted George, So Cow, Destruction Unit, and Super Wild Horses. The Aussie ladies were pretty good. I think they'll translate a little better to our decidedly less punk crowd at ORMF X fest in the outdoor backyard environment of Plainfield Station. But like I said...I was kinda saddled with foodcoma and sat out most of these sets in the back lot of the Hi-Tone. I'd check in from time to time and catch the show from the way, way back. Ty's energy transmitted all the way to the back. That dude's on a roll right now...He's flanked by a really great band! That drummer seemed kinda tepid the first couple times I saw her play, including at SMMR BMMR 2009 in Portland. She was replaced by a much more determined drummer dude at Gonerfest 6, which up to that point was Ty's best performance I'd seen besides the times I'd seen him playing in bands such as Traditional Fools, Epsilons, and Party Fowl. But now that she's back, she's greatly improved and just nails it so hard. She took as large a leap into rulingdom as I've seen anyone take in so short a time. If you've been believing the hype backlash (which all smacks of silly jealousy now) and sleeping on Ty Segall, you need to get over it 'cos you're missing an outstanding band.
On Friday, we checked out Graceland. I'd seen it when I was 9 back when they had less area roped off and you had a tour guide follow your group around. But despite being pretty expensive and not nearly as interactive as it once was, it was fun, and I'd still recommend it....but only after you check out the Stax Museum. Our visit there last year has still left an impression on me.
We skipped breakfast 'cos headLamp Monty treated us to pork shoulder sandwiches at Payne's Bar-BQ for lunch. The stark ambience of the former mechanic shop was delightful, and so was the pork. Too bad they slap that pork between two of the weakest soft white buns available. These are what you grab as an afterthought when you're late to a company picnic where frugality and quantity counts infinitely more than quality. The fluorescent green-yellow slaw was a trip, though. It's a must-see more than a must-taste.
The daytime event at The Buccaneer was hampered a little bit by some big raindrops, but we ducked inside just in time to catch Eric Davidson reading from his "gunk-punk" memoir, We Never Learn. I'm halfway through that book and dig some of the stories, but I hate a lot of the ridiculous alliteration. I mean...there's like four words starting with "V" in a row somewhere in there. I'd give Mark E. Smith a pass if he did that, but this dude sang for the New Bomb Turks, so I want low-brow if any brow. He did crack some fun jokes at the expense of Little Steven's satellite radio show and the Chesterfield Kings which had me laughing and forgetting about what I've found annoying about the book so far. The Golden Boys were the best band back there, but their vocals were too high in the mix, and the sweet spot for the sound was in the way, way back where you couldn't see anything. Good thing that the backyard at Murphy's is such an excellent spot to see and hear live music, so the next day's afternoon blow-out had plenty of promise.
We'd named our own price on Priceline for our 2½-star hotel, so they stuck us way out near the eastside Memphis 'burb of Bartlett. It was pretty far from all the Gonerfest action and other city-centered attractions, and there wasn't a whole lot closeby. But we did do some exploring of the other easterly 'burbs to the south, which led us to our 2nd BBQ of the day at the Germantown Commissary. Germantown seemed rather upscale...sorta like Roseville and Rocklin 'round our homebase of Sacto. And from the outside, I was thinking this place looked like it might be something of a put-on...like it was a recreation of a rustic outpost in the middle of Tuscanized mini-malls. But no! It was a genuinely historic place, dating back to the early 20th century when it was the general store for the then-tiny hamlet of Germantown. And its BBQ mopped the floor with Payne's...FANTASTIC! I wanted to make an apples-to-apples comparison, so I made it another pork sandwich w/ slaw, beans, and deviled egg. The pork was tenderer, the sauce zingier and more brilliantly complex, and the slaw was the best I'd ever had. It actually tasted like really fresh vegetables much more than drippy mayonnaise. The sandwich wasn't served in some kinda boozhey artisanal bread, but it compared to the buns at Payne's this was like Orowheat versus Rainbo white bread. Melissa's big salad was what the doctor ordered; the proprietary Thousand Island was like none we'd ever tasted, and it was topped with BBQ chicken that was superbly smoky. I saved enough room for the banana pudding, and it completely erased any respect I had for the banana pudding I've been eating at J & J's Fish & Chicken in South Sacramento. This place is worth the drive out...and it's actually not that far, really.
The main event on Friday had many highlights, but the main ones by far for me were the Guinea Worms and the Oblivians. Back in their heyday, I tried to see the Oblivians three times, and was twice thwarted because their van broke down, and once because I wasn't 21 yet and no amount of begging and pleading could get me in the door. Of any band I've tried like hell to see and failed everytime, this is the only time I've seen such a band in reunion form totally deliver on my lofty expectations. Great fucking show! At first, I had the misfortune of being squished into a corner where I couldn't see anything, but it was kinda perfect 'cos for the first 4-5 songs, I was experiencing the Oblivians much like I would have if I was let in the backdoor at that bar when I was underage. It was a privilege just to be there, getting showered with Pabst from the charged crowd that had waited 'til this moment to cut totally loose. Before long, I had a great view and room to move, and I mixed it up with Lutzko who was having such a time that he'd drawn the ire of the only unfun dude in the whole room, that collegiate-looking mosh-cop who was giving beards a bad image.
But the Guinea Worms...WOW...what a pleasure to witness this band! The drumlines and basslines flexed like A Frames at their best, and their angularisms drawled out like the Country Teasers. But hasn't enough has been said about that in other blogs' coverage of the Guinea Worms? It's not until you're actually basking in that sound blaring from the stage so immaculately that you really know this band's uncommon power. And then there's Will Foster of the shirtless, hirsute torso, with such an anachronistic helmet of Dirty Harry hair and a face that looks like Clint Eastwood and Steve Nash had a brother from another mother; and he's mad-dogging the audience with crazy eyes, bulging with every especially emphatic enunciation (eat that, Eric Davidson!) of what are usually lesser-stressed syllables...sometimes even the schwas! He was just as cool and awesome as I'd imagined him, but so much more commanding, charismatic, and weird...even transgressive! Quite possibly my favorite set of the entire festival!
It was a pleasure to see the Strapping Fieldhands, too, but they were not as strange as I thought they'd be, and I was distracted too often by these haters who were standing up front to ensure they'd have a great place to stand for the Oblivians. They must've thought the Fieldhands played for two hours the way they went from tsks and eye-rolling to seething to vocally complaining "THIS SUUUUUCCCKKKKSSSS!!!" and "Does anyone like this shit? I mean...seriously!?!"
On Saturday morning, we rose a little too late to get out the door in time to eat breakfast at the highly recommended Bryant's, but on the previous night's cruising to find an all-night grocer, I'd seen the 24-hour Pancake Shop and remembered that it was just up the street. So, we brunched there on some pancakes, chicken fried steak, and eggs. The wait staff was a real hoot, spinning the folksiest of phrases with the drawliest of drawls, but the food was not so great. Ultra-filling might be the best compliment we could pay it. I'd only recommend this place for middle-of-the-night munchies and afterparty B.A.C. cooldowns.
The Saturday Afternoon Blowout at Murphy's was superb from top to bottom, with The Lamps, Total Control, and Red Mass ruling the indoors (especially Total Control!), and Touch Me Nots the backyard highlight (I got there too late to see the Outdoorsmen). It was too much stimulation following that goopy brunch, so we took a nap back at the hotel and woke just in time to grab a quick bite at Kwik Check (muffaleta is never bad, but I have had slightly better at the Nugget Markets in Davis, Woodland, and Sacto) before catching the Saturday main event most of the way into John Wesley Coleman's set. Girls at Dawn were snooze-worthy, so we ditched 'em for backyard hobnobbing...or trying to, anyway! Our new friend approached Tom Scharpling of The Best Show on WFMU and got rebuffed quite economically as Tom uttered "Don't talk to me" while turning to walk back to the company of some pretty ladies. Oh snap!
Saturday night belonged to UV Race, who overcame a keyboard failure to convert everyone in the room short of Nashville's chapter of Turbojugend who looked stoic or glazed in their pristine jackets festooned so fastidiously like an Eagle Scout's uniform with neat patches as they waited for their far-past-prime heroes' even-further-past-prime labelmates to play. WTF? You gotta be an enemy of all things primal and fun to be so bored when Australia's UV Race are on. I shouldn't have just handed world's-best-saxophone-rock to Druid Perfume last month without mentioning UV Race in the same breath. They are a balanced band (even hormonally) with the shock of a creative dual-guitar attack and surly beats and vocals cushioned by seductive keyboards and sax. Lead-singer Marcus stripped to his skivvies and soaked the front row as he pulled the best dance move of the entire festival with a sorta side-to-side skiing-down-moguls maneuver.
The Saturday afterparty was a house-show featuring Cheap Time and Ty Segall. It didn't even break off 'til 4:00 a.m., and crazier than that was the bowing and bucking hardwood floor in that living room....It must've had about eight inches of travel in the middle! It was like a trampoline, and that's hardly an exaggeration. The mic stands were wobbling so much that the mics were smacking the band members in the mouth as they tried to sing. The show was all fun and friendly, but it seemed rather dangerous as I imagined the entire room fulla partiers crashing through the floor. The same house had hosted an early-evening show the day before for Evil Army, Wild Thing, and Total Control. I can only imagine that show feeling even more dangerous. Cheap Time ruled as usual, and Ty slayed on borrowed equipment despite the lack of fuzz or distortion. It was a real trip hearing Ty's band covering "Paranoid" so cleanly...yet still blistering! Ty said "I think that's the last time we play that" as his band packed into our backseat to return to the Red Roof Inn.
Rising late again to sleep off the extra-late afterparty, we hit up the Blue Plate Cafe on Sunday for brunch. Mine was a blackened catfish with creamy mac 'n cheese and more black-eyed peas, and Melissa got a crab benedict with grits. Pretty decent! We didn't leave overly stuffed, so it was no problem enjoying myself at the Gonerfest closing ceremonies featuring a Ty Segall one-man-band set at the Goner store. Ty ruled again.
We had a couple hours to kill before returning our rental car to the airport, so we drove around the southwest Memphis 'burbs and just kept driving further and further down U.S. Route 51 until we were into Mississippi. A Mexican food cart in a Citgo gas and minimart parking lot got me curious to try a couple tacos. If we're really gonna give anywhere besides California a little bit more thought as a more permanent destination, I gotta find some Mexican food worth coming back to. And while Taqueria Familia Reyes, parked on Church Road W at U.S. 51, was no mindblower for me, I was certain impressed enough. I ordered two tacos al pastor. What I got was grilled pork with no hint of spice...certainly not al pastor...but I soaked it in their spicy red salsa, and it was plenty good!
And that concluded our Gonerfest 7 trip. Thanks to Eric and the Goner gang for making for bringing together so many rad bands. Thanks to Alcenia's and Germantown Commissary for the best meals we had. Thanks to the Fairfield Inn by Marriott on Macon Cove for the clean, comfortable room, friendly and professional staff, and unobtrusive cleaning crew that didn't get started 'til the afternoon. And thanks for the late check-out time. If I had to do it all over again, though, I'd certainly have liked to stay closer to the action. Thanks to whoever had to clean up after the show everynight at the Hi-Tone. That was no enviable task. The place was a disaster every night. Thanks to the bands that ruled, Monty for Payne's lunch (we got you covered for Germantown Commissary if we find ourselves there for #8!), all our friends we met, and the city of Memphis. Five days flies by too fast when you're having that much fun. Thanks also to the photographers and videographers (please get in touch so I can credit you).
It's no five-day bash, but we at KDVS Presents are excited to bring you an all-day outdoor musical funbash this Saturday with our milestone tenth Operation: Restore Maximum Freedom. That's Roman numeral X. We have put together a strong lineup, and I'm especially stoked to guest on drums for Wounded Lion because Monty will be elsewhere with The Lamps. Andrew of G. Green will play the Monty guitar parts, too. This is one of our utmost favorite bands, so we kinda feel like we're going to Fantasy Band Camp!
At historic Plainfield Station (23944 Road 98 Between Woodland and Davis California). Start: 2pm-10pm October 2nd 2010 Cheap Beer and Grill, along with Various Local Art vendors. $10 at the door- $8 Pre-sale ALL AGES
Remember to bring: a blanket for spreading on the lawn your friends 2-3 sensible layers (weather should be good, though...86 hi, still 70 when this gets over with) bathing suit for post-ORMF pool/hot-tub raid across the many apartment complexes of Davis
For you Bay Areans, all you need to enjoy an Indian Summer is to drive the 70-80 miles out here and bring that bathing suit for the pool/hot-tub raid afterpartying. Lodging accommodations are easy enough. You can even AmTrak it to Davis and ride a bike the rest of the way, or AmTrak it, and walk to the free shuttle destinations on campus (~10 blocks).
Driving directions from the Bay...
1. Drive I-80 East toward Sacto 2. As you pass through town of Dixon, get into the right lane 3. Take the Hwy 113 North cut-off toward Woodland 4. ~3 minutes later, exit at Road 29 and turn right at end of exit 5. Turn right at 2nd stop sign onto Road 98...and there it is...easy parking across the street or along Road 98.
* Hari Kari and Hooded live KDVS Studio A sessions * Catch Hari Kari/Hooded on tour * The latest in vinyl-worthy cassettes: Waste Rig and The Memories
Download this program within two months at this link... CLICK HERE for 192kbps rate. or CLICK HERE for 320kbps rate. or, if you have a slower/20th century connection STREAM IT HERE by next Monday night!
(Email me with any downloading problem questions...)
HYGIENE | Fixed Odds Betting Terminal | Things That Dreams Are Made Of 7" | La Vida es un Mus *new THE UV RACE | Society Made Me Selfish | self-titled | Aarght! 2009 BANQUE ALLEMANDE | Keine Regierung | Eins, Zwei | S.S. Records *new BIG BLACK CLOUD | Allergic to Love | Dark Age | Stankhouse *new ART THIEVES | I've Had It | v/a: HoZac Hookup Klub Round One | HoZac *new WHITE BOSS | Darkness/Lightness | self-titled | Perennial *new SONSKULL | Housing | Birth Scene/Rewind EP 12" | Perennial *new HARI KARI | True Wealth | self-titled CDR | no label *new H.P.P. | Suicide/Homicide | self-titled | Perennial | *new ========================== Live in Studio A ========================== HOODED | Int'l Hooded Anthem Pt. 1 HOODED | When Dads Drink HOODED | God's Dick HOODED | My Life's Hard, I Promise HOODED | Megaman/Baseball HOODED | 2 Hunters HOODED | Boyfriend HOODED | Int'l Hooded Anthem Pt. 2 ================================================================ TOPLESS MONGOS | Torture Chamber | self-titled CS | no label *new TOPLESS MONGOS | Theme from Human Centipede BOOM! | Tidal Wave | Old Standard Sessions #1 split 7" w/ White Fang | Hovercraft *new THE MEMORIES | Softly/Blow My Mind | forthcoming CS | Gnar Tapes *new PROCEDURE CLUB | Slut Fossil | Doomed Forever | Slumberland *new EXILES FROM CLOWNTOWN | Around the Corner | Around the Corner 7" | Greatdividing *new DRUID PERFUME | Pointed Hat | Tin Boat to Tuna Town | Bumbo *new WASTE RIG | Follow Yr Dreams | Ritual Cleansing: Phase 2010 CS | Pollen Season *new WASTE RIG | Spirit Storm/Live Like a Laser ========================== Live in Studio A ========================== HARI KARI | Brakes HARI KARI | Bubb's Unborn HARI KARI | Waves HARI KARI | Fried Eggs HARI KARI | Horse Void HARI KARI | Skin My Teeth HARI KARI | Heady Cops HARI KARI | Pesterizer ================================================================ THE INTELLIGENCE | White Corvette | Males | In The Red *new TOTAL CONTROL | Paranoid Video | Paranoid Video 7" | SmartGuy *new LIL B | My Windowsill | Rain in England 2xLP | Weird Forest *new
The first rumblings of weirdo hardcore punk during the 80s heyday came from the likes of Flipper, the Butthole Surfers, The Minutemen, Killdozer, G.I.S.M., and the one or two (perhaps token) oddities on HC comps (e.g., Zurich 1916's "The Children's Song" from the Life Is Ugly, So Why Not Kill Yourself? LP, or "Children Die in Pain" by End Result, as heard on The Master Tape vol 2). The far-out left-fielders of hardcore were so diversely influenced, and therefore became diversely influential, connecting so many stylistic dots on the map of musical genres, and turning over and fertilizing soil from which sprung new scenes and styles, including the likes of The Melvins, No Trend, Nomeansno, I Refuse It!, KTMK, Venom P. Stinger, and so many more. Emo kinda screwed up the continuity of this story--particularly when that whole "screamo" schism happened--and so the HC/thrash revival of the late 90s--professing so much stylistic purity--shaded too far to the right. Not so much politically to the right. But certainly so much that the left field was a seldom-traveled mystery zone. In the post-powerviolence world, most people's concept of a weird hardcore experience was a funny sample between songs or whatever oratory Sam McPheeters was doing dressed like Uncle Sam. As Melt Banana flirted with more electronics and breakbeat elements, the punks lost their boner for them just as Mike Patton's turned into full-on raging. When I saw Soddamn Inssein play, it seemed that only fans of experimental noise and Load Records had enough patience to enjoy it. The few HC kids that were there just wished they had played fast the whole time. Go fast or go home was the HC-kid mantra. So, it would take a while before someone could gather up enough weird hardcore-flavored bands to half-jokingly paint them with the "Mysterious Guy Hardcore" brush. I suppose Fucked Up are still leaders in this category??? They may be providing something of a template for a certain stereotyped sound, but with the definition of "psychedelic" still expanding as it relates to today's underground music, there are certainly many flavors of outer-zoning hardcore that defy such easy categorization, and enough estrogen, too (see Sonskull in particular!).
The Perennial Records label has revealed its homebase of Olympia, Washington, to be a burgeoning source of this kinda finely fucked HC-tangential noise with recent releases from Sonskull, White Boss, and H.P.P. And currently, the H.P.P.-related Hari Kari has hit the road with fellow Olympians Hooded, who I'm hearing now for the first time along with you. They take us on a fantastic journey tonight with uncanny humor, wild theatricality, situational mindgames, blazing guitar sound, and roller-coaster of rhythm changes that succeeds in avoiding frivolity. If you like "Crushed by the Wheels of Industry" by Cheetah Chrome Motherfuckers as much as I do (or perhaps you would if CCM's Into the Void wasn't "over-produced" (those would be your words (not mine)), then you will love Hooded! Hari Kari could've spawned from the time between 80s HC and the rise of college rock, when conveying some emotion wasn't tantamount to "emo" quite yet, and when riffs and rhythms could still churn your guts. One clever self-analysis that the band posited during our concluding interview was "...like Sebadoh on K." Just as I began to wonder which Sebadoh record was released on K Records, the punchline was just around the corner: "K as in ketamine". These bands are on their way to the Bay Area, SoCal, and Arizona next before returning to these parts for a show at The Hub in Sacramento with Mattress and Zig Zags on Tuesday, September 14. Don't miss them if you have the chance to see them. Let 'em crash at your house, too....these guys are a hoot!
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
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