Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Syd Barret- "The Madcap Laughs" (1970)


This is a gem of a record that I have to admit I only recently discovered, at the behest of the ubiquitous Nate "Naters" Stark, who hates punk, but loves eccentrically recorded (wikipedia says...) psych-folk. If you're completely unfamiliar with the history of psychedelia, Syd Barret was Pink Floyd's original songwriter/frontman, before he was unceremoniously kicked out of the band (on the way to a gig, someone said "Should we pick up Syd?", and someone else replied "Let's not bother...") for being completely and totally bat-shit crazy, to the point where he would stand for an entire show not playing, or playing the same chord the entire time, or wandering off and dancing around. He then went on to record this amazing piece of music history, followed by another solo record, before finally becoming a recluse until his death in 2006.

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King Tubby- "Roots Of Dub" (Blue Moon, 1990)



"King Tubby (born Osbourne Ruddock, January 28, 1941 – February 6, 1989) was a Jamaican electronics and sound engineer, known primarily for his influence on the development of dub music in the 1960s and 1970s. Tubby's innovative studio work, which saw him elevate the role of the mixing engineer to a creative fame previously only reserved for composers and musicians, would prove to be highly influential across many genres of popular music. He is often cited as the inventor of the concept of the remix, and so may be seen as a direct antecedent of much dance and electronic music production."

Trust me, you need more dub in your life, and this is as good of an introduction as any. Literally every song on this record has the word "dub" in the title. And if you're still too high after the Crippled Black Phoenix record, this would work well as a continuation.

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Crippled Black Phoenix- "200 Tons Of Bad Luck" (2009)



If I felt like going through the trouble of compiling a top 10 records of 2009, this would definitely be in it, and probably even in the top 3. Wikipedia calls them a "post-rock band from the United Kingdom", though I feel calling this post-rock is quite patronizing to an amazing piece of work that manages to blur the lines of genre's as diverse as doom, folk, indie, pub rock, and yes, even post-rock. Instrumentation is not limited to the guitar/bass/drums standard in pretty much all rock (post or otherwise); banjo, musical saw, accordion, dobro, and cello all find their place in the mix. There's even a mo'fucking Harmonium! If you still need a selling point, this features members of popular rock acts such as Mogwai and Electric Wizard/Iron Monkey (though before you're disappointed, I want to stress that this, while presenting an overall vibe of doom and gloom, is NOT a sludge metal record). This is also probably not the type of thing you want to listen to while actively doing something, at least not on the first listen. My recommendation for this one is, if you want to get the full experience, before you go to bed, pack a bowl, dim the lights, maybe pour a glass of wine, and try and take it all in.


Download Part 1
Download Part 2
Myspace

Friday, November 20, 2009

The Blow- "Paper Television" (K Records, 2006)


From Wikipedia:
"The Blow is the moniker of Portland, Oregon-based musician Mikhaela Yvonne Maricich, who has recorded several albums for K Records. Jona Bechtolt, aka YACHT, was also a member of The Blow from 2004 to 2007.[1]

The music of The Blow is a sparse combination of Khaela's vocals and electronic dance beats.[2] Performances often incorporate short monologues - in fact, Khaela has toured extensively with her longer monologue "Blue Sky Versus Night Sky".[3] Khaela is formerly of the band The Microphones. Before 2002, The Blow went by the names 'Get the Hell Out of the Way of the Volcajavascript:void(0)no' and 'Get the Hell Out of the Way of the Wave'."

This is not the type of stuff that I typically post, but fuck it, I've been really into this album. Basically what you have here is ten (10) tracks of sort of lo-fi 8-bit dance music, with insanely sexy vocals (Brittany Spears=not really sexy, whereas Mikhaela= super super sexy) by the girl who used to play with the Microphones... it doesn't sound like something I would like, either, but trust me on this one... at the very least, it's good to put on if you manage to get a lady (or dude, I'm not trying to be gender specific here) to come home with your sorry ass. The songs are catchy as fuck, and really simple, but at the same time, there's enough going on to keep you interested. C'mon, you can't listen to post-sludge ALL the time.

Myspace
Download

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Flux Of Pink Indians- "The Fucking Cunts Treat Us Like Pricks" - (Spiderleg, 1984))


I was listening to this today while I was out walking dogs, and, not having listened to it all that recently, forgot what a great record it is. I had this awesome diatribe all cooked up, but now I'm stoned (and also exhausted; the Jesus Lizard show at Irving Plaza tonight was absolutely mind-blowing), and I can't really remember what it was. Part of it was something about taking the best parts of Crass, early Chumbawamba, and Einsturzende Neubauten and beating the fuck out of it with a sledgehammer. Their earlier works were far more pedestrian punk affairs (though still solid); their later works (after dropping the "of pink indians" portion of the name) is basically anarchist dance-pop. This is a cacophonous blend of classic peace punk, dancy art punk, and a heaping helping of analog noise. Lyrically, this deals with "violence between men and women, based on the experiences of a band member who had been sexually assaulted"; the cover got them banned from HMV ("an international entertainment retail chain and is the largest of its kind in the United Kingdom and Canada...").

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Sunday, November 1, 2009

CPC Gangbangs- "Mutilation Nation" (Swami Records)


I know very little about this quebecois garage punk band. Wikipedia tells me that this is their only LP, that they feature members of Les Sexareenos and Spaceshits, among others, and that they broke up when one of the members was arrested in the US. They also say that "While faithful to the sound of garage punk, CPC Gangbangs incorporated elements of space rock and thrash metal into their music." I don't know if I entirely agree with that, but this shit kind of rules. It reminds me, at various times, of labelmates Beehive & the Barracudas, Le Shok, and even early Fucked Up. This would be a great record to learn all the words to so you can sit around getting wasted and singing along.



myspace
download

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Lifter Puller "Fiestas and Fiascos" LP


This is LFTR PLLR's 3rd and final album, and the only one not featured on 'Soft Rock', which enough people downloaded that I figured I should up this, too. Classic post-punk/indie rock band from Minneapolis. Featuring half of the Hold Steady. See the "Soft Rock" post for a better description.
download

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Danzig- Self Titled



Well, I never thought I would be able to call myself a Danzig fan. For one thing, I hate the fucking Misfits. I know that in certain circles, this is a sacrilegious (in the bad way) statement, but seriously, they are just too cheesy even for me. Also, Glenn Danzig is pretty much a complete tool.

Despite all of this, I've been borrowing a friends Ipod lately (mine broke when I decided, while drunk, that I could throw it onto a pile of dirty clothes across the room. It made it there, but then it fell off the dirty clothes and made sweet love to the floor.), and this was on there. I said to myself, "Hey... Mother is a pretty rocking song, and that's on here... let's give this a whirl." And if you can get past what a boner Glenn is, and the incredible cheesiness of it all, you find yourself listening to a fucking amazing heavy blues rock album.

download

Sunday, October 18, 2009

xbxrx - "Gop Ist Minee" (2001, 5RC Records)


So sorry I haven't posted lately. I'm sure you don't really care. Anyway, this is the first proper album length release from Oakland via Mobile, AL's (or is it vice versa? I never get that right... what I'm trying to say is that they're from Mobile, and then moved to Oakland... someone let me know if I'm right or wrong.) xbxrx. This is the type of thing that I generally cannot stand in any form... it's very danceable punk stuff with lots of 8-bit sounding synths... they play a lot with bands like Japanther that annoy the fuck out of me... But somehow, they do it just right, and it comes out being a fun yet still really interesting record. If that doesn't sell you at all, it was recorded by Steve Albini. Also, the songs are all untitled, or at least titles were never listed on the original record.

myspace- their newer songs up here are also good, but are much more along the lines of noise rock.

download

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Plow United- Discography



I was going to just post "Narcolepsy", but all 3 albums are only 69 MB, so I said to myself, "Self, why not post them all?". Not really a discography either, just the 3 LPs. What you have here is 3 albums by a band who played melodic hardcore pop punk (if that makes any sense from bumfuck Pennsylvania which none of you will download because it's not atmospheric sludge. I'll say this; I fucking hate pop punk. So when I post a record that I describe as such, you best believe it tears the genre a new asshole. People bitch at me that I haven't posted anything in a while; I don't get why they care. Well, I took the bus home tonight, drunk and alone, and this band (specifically the "Narcolepsy" LP) made it pretty OK. I had to walk the last half mile; I listed to "Anywhere But Here" literally 9 times in a row, and it made sense. Fit my mood perfectly. And that's why, while I sometimes cannot stand pop punk as a genre, sometimes it makes sense and it's hard not to love.

Download

edit- Sorry if this doesn't make sense, I shouldn't post at 4am when I come home drunk.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Bad Blood "Tongue-twisting Toons for Tiny Tots" LP



A first here at BAABL (what a craponym... that's a portmanteau of crappy and acronym), we have a pre-release leak of the new Bad Blood album. "Who the fuck are Bad Blood, and why should I care? Post more sludge metal, pussy!" is probably what's going through your mind right now, and I can't blame you. Bad Blood is ONLY the biggest band in, well... my living room. Eh, yeah, so this is my roommates band's new LP, which is coming out this week on Deadbroke Records, but ignore the fact that I live with them, and also ignore the fact that I used to be in this band (especially considering, at the time, the band played solipsistic (you like how I worked that word in? don't I sound like a real record reviewer now?), uninspired melodic punk rock. I got in a fight with one of the guitarists over some stupid shit and drunkenly quit at 3AM, vowing never, ever play with him again. They got a little better and I sort of regretted quitting. Then they went on a tour and that guitarist quit upon return, anyway, and they started writing really awesome, AmRep/Touch & Go style jams. Then I kind of really regretted quitting, but what can you do? Now, I live with 2/3rds of the band, and drummer Matthew Muscles (who has to walk through my room to get out of his) frequently comes really close to catching me masturbating. Which is great, so I think I got the good end of the deal, anyway. But seriously, this is fucking great. It's slow and kind of bluesy with noisy guitars over a groovy, driving bass and pounding drums. For fans of Killdozer. Don't be a dick, just check it out. They're leaving for tour this week, which means I will be able to pleasure myself in peace, and that you should check out their myspace for dates and check them out when they come to your shitty fucking town.

Download

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Screamo Mega-Post!! (by request)

Ask and ye shall receive. King Lew asked for some good screamo stuff to check out, so here goes...



"Mohinder was a four-piece rock band from Cupertino, California. Despite their brief existence, they were considered an important feature of the California hardcore scene, and helped to define the musical genre now known as screamo. Mohinder songs tended to be short in duration, and are often characterized as being extremely intense and chaotic. Formed in 1993, they released only three 7 inch EPs before breaking up in 1994, all of which have posthumously been compiled onto one CD. Members went on to such bands as Jenny Piccolo, Indian Summer, The Anasazi, Calm, Duster, A-Set, and Makara." (wikipedia)

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"Swing Kids were a hardcore/emo band from San Diego California during the mid 1990s. They were closely involved with and influenced by the forerunners of the San Diego hardcore punk scene of the 1990s.
Their music was characterized by Justin Pearson's spoken/screamed vocals and their melodic/chaotic rhythms and song structures. Swing Kids were influenced by fellow San Diego bands Antioch Arrow and Drive Like Jehu. On a broader scale, their music and lyrics were influenced by post-punk.
Swing Kids carried the San Diego "art hardcore" movement past the initial wave of Gravity Records bands and through to the late 1990s, releasing a 7" EP and split 10" EP along the way. Despite their importance in a relatively small scene, Swing Kids' impact both during their tenure and after their 1997 breakup was global, thanks to many independent Zines and a US/European tour. The sound they pioneered inspired bands such as The Plot To Blow Up The Eiffel Tower, Refused, Orchid, Jerome's Dream and many others." (wikipedia. I'm lazy)
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Early emo band featuring Tonie Joy who later went on to be in Born Against and Universal Order of Armageddon. Crucial hardcore record if you don't have it already.

"The band's identifying characteristics, and those that distinguished them from their contemporaries, included noticeable and abrupt transitions from loud to quiet, Joy's distinct arpeggiated guitar (often undistorted and picked), and Vance's esoteric, sometimes meandering lyrical content. Earlier recordings of the band are reminiscent of early Joy Division, particularly in guitar style, while later songs embodied a less blunt approach, noted by some detractors as making Moss Icon "like Grateful Dead for punks." The band championed, among other issues, the plight of indigenous peoples of the Americas, and opposed the U.S. government's involvement in Nicaragua and Guatemala." (wikipedia)

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"Saetia (pronounced say-sha) was a New York City-based screamo band. Their name originates from a misspelling of the Miles Davis track "Saeta", from his album Sketches of Spain, which, in turn, was named after the saeta, a religious tradition of flamenco music. (This is similar to fellow screamo band Joshua Fit For Battle, whose name was a corruption of the traditional American spiritual song "Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho"; other members of Saetia later formed Off Minor, which is the title of a Thelonious Monk composition.)" (wikipedia)

I used to see Saetia play at ABC No Rio when I was 17 or 18 years old a lot. Back then, I was really punk and only listened to bands with green mohawks and bondage pants, so I didn't really watch them too much. Boy, was I a turd.
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Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Men's Recovery Project- "The Very Best Of..."



Yeah, pretty lazy, I know, just a wikipedia quote and a youtube video, but fuck it. This is a good collection of Men's Recovery Project stuff, and honestly, all you really need. While a great band, there's only so much you can take in one sitting.

"MRP were known for their often extremely short and sometimes theatrical/performance art style sets. Sam McPheeters occasionally dressed as Patrick Henry while playing. The rest of the members sometimes wore masks, ladies lingerie, or children's clothing.(see video below)

The roster for Men's Recovery Project included members from such groups as Wrangler Brutes, The Locust, Melvins, Thrones, Rah Bras, Le Tigre, and Six Finger Satellite."




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Passive Aggressor- Demo



Haven't posted in a while, so sorry. Yeah, like anyone gives a fuck. No one downloads anything except for a few of the metal records, and certainly no one ever comments. Fuck you. Regardless, this is a recent demo from Brooklyn locals Passive Aggressor. Everyone compares them to the Jesus Lizard, but I don't really think they sound like the Jesus Lizard. In fact, whenever someone compares a band to the Jesus Lizard, I know for a fact that they're definitely not going to sound like the Jesus Lizard. Passive A sounds like they LOVE the Jesus Lizard, but nobody sounds like the Jesus Lizard. Except maybe for The Jazzus Lizard. What you do get is 4 songs of well played post-hardcore with those angry/bored at the same time somehow female vocals that the kids are all into these days. Definitely worth checking out.

Download

Saturday, June 27, 2009

This is fucking amazing...

from yahoo news...

Filipino inmates in `Thriller' video stage tribute
AP, Jun 27, 2009 7:40 am PDT

The Filipino inmates who shot to global fame with a YouTube video of their "Thriller" dance swayed and stomped again Saturday in a behind-bars tribute to their idol, Michael Jackson.

After being told of Jackson's death Thursday in Los Angeles, the 1,500 inmates at the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center hit the exercise yard, practicing for nine hours Friday night — and into the wee hours of Saturday morning — for the show. They took breaks only to eat or when it rained, said professional choreographer Gwendolyn Lador, hired by the prison to teach the inmates the dance. (read more)


Thursday, June 25, 2009

KARP- "Suplex"



Up for your consideration is the late, great KARP's second LP, "Suplex". Released on K records in 1995, this is my favorite KARP LP. For those not in the know; Karp existed from 1990 till 1998. Members went on to form Big Business (the best reference point I can think of if you haven't heard the magic that is KARP: Jared Warren's vocals are unmistakable, but KARP is way more of a punk band), The Whip, and Tight Bros from Way Back When. KARP is a little known acronym; Kill All Redneck Pricks.

I'm pet sitting in Boerum Hill, and they have cable, but I'm really sick of watching Law and Order. This episode is about a bounty hunter, though, and that's cool. Also, I saw this insanely racist commercial for Kool Aid last night. I was really stoned, so maybe I imagined this, but it was a black father and son sitting in the woods fishing. All of a sudden, you see the Kool Aid Man and a bottle of Grape Soda with legs running on a log in the lake, until the grape soda falls off the log. All the while, the father and son look on intently. I swear I am not making this up.

Myspace
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Monday, June 22, 2009

Please Inform The Captain This Is a Hijack- both albums


PITCTIAH was the project Mike Kirsch was involved with in 2000-2003. Musically, no where near as poppy as the stuff he did with Pinhead Gunpowder, and not as abrasive as Torches To Rome or Bread & Circuits. There's also this whole weird electronic thing going on, more as intros to songs and as in between song samples, but Kirsch does them all himself, and as far as electronica goes, it's all pretty cool. Mike Kirsch is one of the most interesting guitarists working in the hardcore/punk dialect, and this is some of his best stuff.

I feel bad that I don't have more to say about this. I think as many people read this blog for the angry ranting as they do for music. I'm not too pissed off this week, what can I say?
Myspace (fan site)
Download

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

I Hate Myself- "Ten Songs" & Everything Else


Back when I was young and really punk, I used to go to emo shows sometimes with my punk friends and drink beer in the parking lot and make fun of all the emo kids, because they weren't different just like us. It was pretty stupid. After a long and depressing period where I worked the graveyard shift at Kinko's on Long Island (I was living in midtown Manhattan at the time. It makes no sense, I know), I started dating an emo girl. Even before that though, I loved this record. It is hotly debated whether this band was serious or a joke, but regardless: they had the whole loud/soft/screamy/singy thing down to a science, and out of all the other bands of their ilk, they were the only one to sing about drinking 40's and huffing gas. "10 songs" (they didn't actually title their records; the other ones are called "3 songs", "4 songs", etc.) is their quintessential album. The second download is everything else they ever recorded (besides this one Spoke cover off some comp that isn't all that great anyway), which is just as amazing, but 10 songs is the cr00sh jam. I would ultimately describe this as emo for people who don't like emo.

Myspace
(This is a fan myspace page. I think it's fucking hilarious that whoever made it took the address www.myspace.com/noidearecords and No Idea records had to go with just /noidea. I'm just sayin'...)

Download "10 Songs"
Down everything else

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Teeth Of Lions Rule The Divine "Rampton" LP



I have nothing good to say about anything today. I know, I'm usually kind of pissy, but right now it seems as though forces are conspiring ruin my life. It's not enough that I haven't gotten laid in over a year, I barely make (well, made) enough to pay my rent, and I have to listen to people fucking through the uber-thin walls of my shitty house, but now my livelihood is being decimated. In case you don't know, I'm a dog walker. I hate work, immensely. Dog walking is the only job I've ever had for more than about 2 months that I (usually) enjoy. And with the fucking economy, client after client are losing their jobs, and when you don't have a job, you don't really need (and aren't able to afford) a dog walker. So, I went out today and walked one fucking dog. For $12. Tomorrow is a busy day. I think I have 3. I was supposed to be getting dogs from a fellow dog walker who is retiring, but that now seems all fucked up because the people are babies. I tried to make a new craigslist account so I could top post my ad more, and even craigslist was anally raping me. I needed to verify a different phone number, so I called up my mom and asked if I could have the verification code sent to her phone. She said OK, but somehow, in 2009, my mother still does not know how to receive and read a text message. 25 minutes later, I was almost in tears, but I at least had a new craigslist account. I'm sure no ones going to reply to these ads, either.

The anger and frustration I'm currently feeling can be summed up pretty well with this album. It's not an intense rage, more of a downcast, beaten down by life kind of vibe. TOLRTD is (was?) a "supergroup" of sorts, made up of both members of the band Sunn O)) on bass and guitar, Lee Dorian of Cathedral/Napalm Death on vocals, and Justin Greaves (Iron Monkey, Electric Wizard, Crippled Black Phoenix) on drums, and named after an Earth song. It's 3 songs (one clocking in at 29:26, one at 17:53, and a Killdozer cover that clocks in at a quick seven minutes) of some of the slowest doom ever, from people who helped pioneer the genre. This is their only release.

Fuck, I am so disgusted and apathetic right now that I'm not even going to spell check this shit. Fuck you. Unless you need a dog walker who will take great care of your buddy while you're at work, in which case, lets talk!

download

Monday, June 8, 2009

Acid King "Busse Woods" LP


Here's a classic you may have missed from San Francisco's sorely underrated Acid King. Named after Ricky "The Acid King" Kasso, a teenager growing up in Long Island during the late 70's/early 80's who dropped a few times too many and decided Satan wanted him to kill this kid who stole a bunch of angel dust from him, Acid King have been plodding along since 1993 with little recognition. Incredibly slow, with thick, psych driven riffs, this would be great for a stoned Sunday morn. Also, singer Lori S. is Dale Crover's ex-wife, if you need some kind of "cred" to bother checking this out.

I myself dabbled in acid a few times. The last time was in the early oughts, during my brief tenure living in the shithole known as Pinole, CA. My girlfriend at the time had fucked one of my roommates and decided to move to Chicago. I was pretty bummed about it, and went down to Berkley to look for some of the scumfucks I'd been associating with, the only people in that god-forsaken state at the time who would hang out with my sorry ass. I eventually found this guy named Ferret who I had known (Sort of) from New York. He was really sketchy, but always pretty nice to me. I told him my tale of woe, and he told me to wait where I was. He walked over to this girl and started talking to her and pointing at me. "Oh no", I thought. "He's going to spend his hard-spanged change on getting me the worst prostitute money can buy. This is not what I need right now." He walked back over and told me to open my mouth. I kind of knew where this was going, and knew that THAT wasn't what I needed, either, but said fuck it. It was pretty shitty acid.

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Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Nebula "Atomic Ritual"



Ahh, the beginning of June. The smell of non-board-of-health approved halal kebab cooking on Brooklyn street corners mingling with the stench of my sweaty armpits. Summer will soon be here. Fuck. I hate summer. As I was walking my first dog of the day, I looked in a storefront and my reflection gawked awkwardly back at me. It was only like 80 degrees and I was already dripping with sweat. I thought about summer romance, and how a summer romance would be quite a delight. Then I thought about how it was past the time of year where I'm in the right frame for finding romance of any sort. Where would I take a summer first date? I certainly don't want to have to apologize for dripping perspiration into m'ladys tequila sunrise. And I certainly can't afford to go to one of those classy joints with air conditioning. How I envy those with under-active sweat glands. I often think about how lucky dogs are to pant instead of sweat. Yeah, I guess it would look pretty ridiculous if we were all walking around with our tongues stuck out all the time, gasping for air, but it would be a lot less disgusting.

Yeah, summer kind of sucks, unless you're one of those douche bags with some shitty crust band's patch on your overpriced messenger bag who thinks that Bloomington, IN is a cool place, but hey, you still gotta listen to music in the summer. Today's offering is my favorite album by California's stoner-rock sweethearts, Nebula. Formed from the ashes of Fu Manchu (who didn't actually break up, but I figured I'd just keep that in there anyway), Nebula is a little more rocking and a little less about muscle cars and monster movies. "Atomic Ritual" is probably a much easier listen than a lot of the stuff I post. It's sort of psychedelic, sort of pop, and is the type of thing I would blast out of my top-down LeBaron while cruisin' for chicks. If I had a convertible, or went cruisin' for chicks. It's summer music for people who hate the summer. Best tracks: "So It Goes" (their tribute to Vonnegut), "Electric Synapse", and the titular track. (huh huh, he said tit.)

download part 1
download part 2

"Get In The Van" audiobook



So maybe Greg Ginn says that 90% of this book is bullshit. Maybe he's telling the truth. Maybe he's smoked so much weed he doesn't know what happened. The important thing is, as amazing as the book is, it is amazing tenfold when narrated by Rollins himself.

I've heard the stories about what an asshole he is. A lot of those stories involve people fucking with him because he is Henry Rollins and then acting like he's the one who's a prick for being a dick back. I met him once, after chasing him around the Pratt campus with Bent Outta Shape for an inane photo op, and he seemed quite cordial to me, shaking every one's hand and showing genuine interest in what we thought. Also, he said that he thought Keith Morris was the best singer in Black Flag. I used to agree, but after a while, you realize that Keith Morris was kind of a nerd, their songwriting/musicianship was so behind the curve, and that Hank's intense rage, whether real or contrived, was what it was all about.

Part 1
Part 2

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Lifter Puller "Soft Rock"



I used to hang out with some pretty fucked up people. I guess sometimes I still do. But, they used to be far more fucked up people. Lots of drugs, really bad drugs, and deviant (sometimes just plain wrong) sexcapades. I was once in a band with this guy who told me about the time he tried to have sex with his dog (apparently, it didn't work out; the dog got mad and bit him. Ah, the toils of young love). He was really into GG Allin, and it was kind of disturbing, but back then I didn't really think much of it.

He lived in the basement of his alcoholic sister's house (who claimed to have slept with every one of the Dead Boys except Cheetah, cause "he was the ugly one"), where on one occasion, during a particularly heavy bout of drinking, he took me to this freezer in the basement and told me he wanted to "show me" something. After chipping away at the ice for ten minutes, a plastic garbage bag began to emerge. He ripped it open and I was horrified to see a dead dog grinning at me. "Is that the dog you uhhh... you know." I inquired. "No, this was another dog that died and my sister wanted to give it a 'proper burial', but couldn't afford it. So, she put it in the freezer until she had the money. That was 2 years ago." Uh huh... There really wasn't much to do on Long Island except be fucked up. He left town eventually, and the last time I saw him, he booked a show for my (then) band, and he had just gotten married. He asked if I wanted to see his new gun.

"Soft Rock" is a compilation of pretty much everything Lifter Puller released (with the exception of the "Fiestas & Fiascoes" LP). Over the course of the 40 tracks presented here, Craig Finn (now in the Hold Steady) tells a possibly fictional tale of the criss-crossing lives of numerous fucked up individuals. Whereas the Hold Steady goes for a raucous, anthemic bar-rock assault, this is a far more low-key outing, relying less on catchy choruses and recycled Springsteen riffs than atmospheric synths and solid post-punk indie rock (all recorded back in the 90's, before the whole modern post-punk indie rock revival). The lyrics are pure gold; I've always secretly really wanted to put "Nassau Coliseum" on a mix-tape for someone (IE. a couple of ex-girlfriends), but I just never had the guts.

This is not in chronological order; the best stuff on here is the first set of B-sides/rarities (tracks 1-6) and their second album, "Half Dead & Dynamite" (tracks 7-17). Their first album (self titled, tracks 28-40) is a far less inspired indie rock jaunt, obviously building up to something, but not quite there yet. "The Entertainment and Arts" EP (tracks 22-27) is also great, and contains a much cooler version of "Star Wars Hips" off the first LP.

I had to split this into 3 parts because Mediafire doesn't let you upload anything bigger than 100MB. Download them all and 7zip or whatever should reconstitute it all as one, like adding water to a batch of sea monkeys, and ending up with one big vat of dead sea monkeys.

Download Part 1

Download Part 2

Download Part 3

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Noothgrush "Erode The Person"



I can't do it. I have nothing angry to rant about right now. This record is angry enough that I just don't even feel it's necessary. On paper, this sounds awful (misanthropic nerds playing plodding, distorted songs about Star Wars), but in actuality...hell, fuck it, even on paper, its awesome. Just trust me and download this if you like smoking weed and hate most people.

Download

Hellbender "Footprint of the American Chicken"


After listening to nothing but metal for the past 8 or 9 months, I think I may have finally reconciled my intense hatred of pop-punk with my secret love of really, really good pop-punk. And I'm OK with that.

Also, I went to see Wolves In The Throne Room at Europa last night, and it just pissed me off. I mean, they were good, but I have to say...OK, I am super anal about this stuff, but the drummer was just not up to snuff. I'm not trying to talk shit, all I'm saying is, somebody must LOVE pro-tools. Also, what is it with Black Metal bands and mixing the snare so low that you can't fucking hear it. I mean, like, at all. At one point, the (I think) confused sound person turned the snare mic up to a barely audible level, and the singer yelled at him to turn it down.

Yeah, OK, so I agree, Darkthrones' "Transylvanian Hunger" is an awesome record, and you can't really hear the snare too well on that, but (and you can impale me on an inverted jesus dildo for this if you must), it's not even their best record. Put on one of their later records, after they put a little bit more into the recording process, and lo and behold, the magic of the snare drum appears! It adds life to the song, a sense of forward motion. Even on that Burzum record, where he tried to use the worst mics possible to achieve some ridiculous outsider aesthetic, you can hear the fucking snare. What is it with all these bands who have decent recordings but try to emulate this one horrible quality that comes out when you record something on a hand held tape recorder shoved up your own ass?

Anyway, after they played, my friend Jen from Chicago tried to trick me into going to Lost and Found bar up on Greenpoint Ave. by telling me to meet her at Tommy's Tavern (a slightly less irritating shithole) after I refused to go to L&F, and then texting me after I was already there and telling me to go to L&F. Seriously? No way in hell will I be caught dead in that shit hole. Do I LOOK like I'm into shitty bands who spend all month trying to rip off Dillinger 4 and paying $5 for a glass of watered down Stella? Don't I look more like a guy who could go home, spend $3 at the beer window, get drunk in the backyard and then spend the rest of the night downloading music and jerking off? More importantly, what the fuck does any of this have to do with this pretty awesome pop-punk record by a band from North Carolina who has probably never even sacrificed a virgin?

Uhhh... well, I had to wait for the bus home for a while, and that sucked, and I bet Al Burian hates waiting for the bus, too. And there's a couple of lyrics that mention the bus. Also, once he smoked all of my friend Kevin's weed, and even though Kevin wasn't there, he should have been. So uhhh... stick that in your pipe and smoke it.

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Thursday, May 21, 2009

(Young) Pioneers- "Free the (Young) Pioneers Now!"


I hate folk punk with every ounce of my being. I think it is the absolute worst sub-genre ever to emerge from the cancerous bowels of the punk movement. It is certainly the most embarrassing. I find it hard to align myself with anything that would somehow align itself with Defiance, Ohio (some of them are nice enough folks, but I absolutely cannot stand their music). And apparently, there is a band playing in my living room this weekend that I am strongly confident is a folk punk band. I'll be drinking on the back porch for that one.

It truly amazes me that a band as great as the (Young) Pioneers could be indirectly responsible for possibly the worst genre of music to ever exist (with the exception of nu-metal, and yes, I'm counting ska). There seems to be a lack of (Young) Pioneers stuff on the internet (at least, I could find practically nothing after 10 minutes of searching), so I decided to put this up. You probably have it, anyway. If not, get this. It is really awesome, totally catchy folky punk (not folk punk) without all the hokey trappings of it's modern hellspawn.

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Monday, May 18, 2009

Floor "Self Titled" LP



No Idea Records is, nowadays, kind of a joke amongst people who don't like "beard core", ie. watered down pop hardcore with really, really "gruff vocals", AKA bands who've listened to far too much Hot Water Music. I haven't really paid much attention to their output lately, but for a while, it seems that this was all they put out. But, back in their earlier days at least, they were a really diverse label and put out stuff that was all over the place. Case in point: the Floor self titled LP. If you haven't heard of Floor before, they played on and off from 1992 till 20004, before they broke up for good and formed the much more pop(ular) band Torche. Please don't dismiss this because you think Torche is cheesy. Whereas people refer to Torche as a "pop-doom" hybrid band (when in actuality they're just a poppy hardcore band with some slow songs), this actually lives up to that moniker. I honestly can't think of a single other band that really sounds like this (if you can, please, let me know). It's equal parts melodic pop anthem and crushingly heavy doom. I don't have any wacky stories or angry rants for this one, but according to iTunes, I've listened to this record more than anything else in my whole library. Best jams- "Figured Out" (I try to rip off that snare-crash triplet thing he does whenever possible), "Scimitar", "Downed Star". Just check it out, man.


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Saturday, May 16, 2009

Sir Lord Baltimore- "Kingdom Come"




A few days ago, I was walking a dog that I don't usually walk anymore, and after about 10 minutes I realized that the owner had put Nail Polish on the dog. Good fucking grief, are you serious? I tried to avoid people for the rest of the walk, which wasn't too hard cause it was sort of raining out. I didn't want anyone to see and think that I'm the type of weirdo that puts nail polish on my dog. I mean, there's plenty of valid reasons for people to think I'm weird. Putting nail polish on a dog is not fucking one of them.

A little while later, I was smoking a cigarette before getting on the train. I was standing there with my sweatshirt and umbrella and this wild-eyed man started talking to me. I was wearing headphones, so I missed the first part of what he had to say. I took them off and heard "And when the rapture comes, you're gonna need more than an umbrella and an overcoat, you're gonna need a boat!" and then he scampered away before I could respond. I guess (read: hope) I look kind of evil. I was wearing a shirt that had a mythical skull-hawk-beast on it. But, I didn't get to tell him how I've heard it all before. Just because I am not weak enough to succumb to your bullshit religion, doesn't mean I'm ignorant. Anyway, if you want to interpret the rapture from the bible, next time god comes, it's supposed to be with fire, not a flood. Oh, how I pine for the days when we fed these people to lions.

Sir Lord Baltimore reunited in 2006, and are now apparently a weak-willed Christian band. Sucks to be them. I guess they were never really evil, anyway. However, a 1971 review of "Kingdom Come" (written by "Metal Mike" Saunders of the Angry Samoans!) was the first ever documented use of the term "heavy metal" as a musical descriptor. Wicked. Presented here, for your consideration, is their 1970 debut "Kingdom Come". Crucial jams include "Master Heartache", "Hell Hound", and "Lady Of Fire". A must-hear for fans Blue Cheer, Black Sabbath, and all those other colorful bands.

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The Melvins 25th Anniversary

Saw the Melvins last night at Webster Hall. In case you didn't know, they were performing the "Houdini" record in it's entirety. Sort of.

The show was billed as starting at 6:30, oddly early, but when we got there, we were informed that it wasn't actually going to start till 8. I guess Webster Hall figured maybe people would come in early and spend copious amounts of cash on over-priced swill. Instead, I took a page from my earlier years (OK, who are we kidding, this practice continues today) and we went to the liquor store and got smallish bottles of whiskey, pouring them into cups from the Dunkin' Donuts, and drinking across the street from WH.

The Melvins took the stage at around ten after 8:00. Only it wasn't the Melvins, it was King Buzzo with the original lineup of the band from 1983, and they played about 10 tracks off their 1983 demo (re-released in 2005 on Ipecac as "The Mangled Demos"). Sweet. It certainly wasn't the Melvins of today, but it was cool nonetheless. A lot faster and to the point, it lacked the ass-kicking punch of what you'd expect from the Melvins, but was still decent hardcore punk stuff.

After that, the rest of the band left the stage, and Dale Crover got behind the kit, but uhhh... for some reason, they played the next 6 or 7 (more recent) Melvins songs sans Bass guitar. It sounded OK, but... the Melvins with no Bass? That's like, the Melvins playing the songs too fast... which they proceeded to do when Trevor Dunn (Fantomas) joined them on stage and they started playing songs off of Houdini, finally. OK, so it was only one or two songs, but they sped up "Honey Bucket" to the point that I felt it was ruined. And when a band says it's going to play an album in its entirety, you kind of expect a song by song rendering of said album. They played most (not all) of Houdini, but in a random order that was somewhat misleading compared to how the show was announced. But I'm not trying to dwell on the negative; it was a great show. They rocked out harder for 2 straight hours then most bands around now can for 45 minutes. Dale Crover is a phenomenal drummer, and their live rendition of "Spread Eagle Beagle", a 10 minute drum solo, was far more interesting then expected (though it certainly was no "Moby Dick"). A good time was had by all.

Here's a video of Buzz on that crappy Fox show "Red Eye" from the night before. He looks younger on TV. The host is a real sack of shit.



edit: Also, I think B.D. Wong was on the same 4-Train as me. I kept staring at him trying to figure out for sure. I think I creeped him out.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Best Buddies...

While I generally hate the fact that corporate news programs spend far more time with terrible "life-affirming" puff pieces and scare stories designed to get Americans to spend more money on crap they don't actually need, and this is certainly one of the former, I have to say, this melts my blackened heart like a pile of dog diarrhea melting on the sidewalk in mid July.

Saint Vitus- "Born Too Late"



Brooklyn is a pretty shitty place. Don't get me wrong, I like it OK. But, there's just so many fucking assholes. From the bloated, 45 year old mess of a woman in the vomit-stained and not at all ironically worn "Baby Girl" t-shirt staring at you like you're the freak, to the crack head in the fried food store who get's pissed and acts casually threatening in response to the $.75 you just gave him because he "needs $2.00" and "just got out of Rikers", and can't you just "help him out" because really, I guess $.75 isn't helping a guy out, even though it's seventy five cents more than the 8 other people who didn't even acknowledge his genital wart infested ass gave him, and really, you just want some fucking fried chicken but it's deal with ole genital wart or go get chinese food, and its all I can do not to scream at this fucking huge slice of turd pie at the Chinese food joint who's screaming at the poor little Asian man behind the counter because an eggroll is fifteen cents cheaper down the block (I don't really get what system of logic he's using; mine says to go down the block, but maybe fucktard is on a higher, uh, evolutionary plane than me or something) and uhhh... yeah. So, there's a lot of assholes. Don't even get me started on the teenagers (more on teenagers later) or the crybaby fashion victims that line the gold paved streets of Williamsburg.

I was going somewhere with this... oh. Life in Brooklyn is fun, but it can get kind of heavy, like Saint Vitus's "Born Too Late". Strap on the old headphones and crank this to the point of painful, and it makes it alot easier to say "fuck it" to the fact that the dude standing in front of you on the bus won't get his fucking crotch out of your face, or that it's illegal to decapitate pubescents, even though the seventh graders at the bus stop wouldn't stop pointing and laughing at you

Their S/T record seems to get a more credit, but this is, in my opinion, a far superior album. The lyrics are the perfect combination of the absurd and the right on ("Every time I'm on the street/people laugh and point at me./They talk about my length of hair/and the out of date clothes I wear."). The riffs are fucking crushing. The cover of "Thirst and Miserable" rivals the original. These are the motherfuckers who invented doom metal, at their peak. You should have this, but if you don't just fucking download it.

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Beehive & The Barracudas- "Plastic Soul with the White Apes"



Last night was the first show I've played since the last Ghostwood show on New Year's Eve. It was a mess, but people still danced (which is how it always goes. Drunk people at punk shows will dance to anything, no matter how bad or good it is. I hate it. How are you supposed to know if you're any good or not for real?). I fucked up a bunch of stupid little stuff on the first song, my favorite one, and then I fucked the same stuff up when we played it again as the last song. We only had four, plus a really bad cover of "Sex Bomb" that I later learned was unrecognizable to a good chunk of the audience. I'm the only one in the band that can legally drink, and also the only one that's been playing their instrument for more than a few years (or in the case of half the band, for more time than we've been a band, which is about 3 months). It's sloppy and simple, but there is something to be said about the energy of a band that can't really play but still tries like hell.

That energy is alot harder to capture when you know what you're doing, but it can be done. On "'Plastic Soul' with the White Apes", Beehive & The Barracudas manage to pull it off. I really don't know anything about this band, and can't find much out anywhere. Apparently from a (seemingly) fictional town called Blight, Michigan, one of the few things I know is that this features Gar Wood of Hot Snakes, leading me to believe they're from San Diego. It's got a great, raw garage sound with a hint of soul, and in my opinion, captures the energy mentioned above. And it's great to listen to when you're getting a little stoned, too.

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