Monday, November 30, 2009

Fanatics

I've always been impressed with bands that have a dedicated and named following. In many cases it's pure phenomenon, in other cases it's just a pre-planned business move. Here's a short list (off of the top of my head) of bands and the names of their respective followers. Feel free to add to this list by commenting on this post.

The Beatles - Beatlemaniacs
Devo - Devotees
Gary Numan - Numanoids
Grateful Dead - Dead Heads
Insane Clown Posse - Juggalos
Jimmy Buffet - Parrotheads
Kiss - Kiss Army
Morrissey - Moz Heads
Phish - Phish Heads
R.E.M - Disciples
World Inferno Friendship Society - Infernites

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Hunchback - Heart of Gold

Amazing footage of NJ's Hunchback covering one of my favorite Neil Young tunes at a local rock and roll wedding. Note the bride hopping on drums. Video by John Slover.


Monday, November 23, 2009

Return of the Wizard




NOT Gandalf as in the man behind the music in the 1986 Jim Henson film, Labyrinth featuring David Bowie, NOT the late 90's/eary 00's Finnish death metal band, and no relation whatsoever to the lovable wizard from your favorite fantasy thriller, but rather a 1969 Captiol Records American psychedelic flop that has since resurfaced and achieved an incredible cult following.

It was a total failure for a couple of reasons in the late 1960's.

1) It was apparently originally packaged and briefly sold with the incorrect record in the pictured LP sleeve.
2) Capitol basically used the band as an experiment in sales, forcing them to change their name from The Rahgoos to Ganfalf, thus furthering public confusion and increasing the damage done to the band's name and then assumed lack of integrity.

The record is great though. Pleasant psych rock with mild organ jams and really rich lyrics and creative content. It's currently back in print (Sundazed/Capitol) and yes, you need it.

Hang On To A Dream:


Magic From The Past




I just found out that a friend of mine Steve Boltz (currently one of the owners and artists at the wonderful SMITH STREET TATTOO in Carroll Gardens Brooklyn) was a guitarist in KIRK AND THE JERKS - a band featured in the epic 1989 H-Street skate flick Hokus Pokus. The band had three consecutive songs on the video, including one of the catchiest and most memorable of songs featured in the film, "Gun & A Tear". It's pretty great that my friends and I have been unconsciously rocking out to the Jerks songs for as long as we can remember, and it's now even cooler knowing who was actually behind some of the music.


Melodic mid 80's punk is king. Add a garage edge and dare I say "glam" -inspired feel and you have something to work with... amazing.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

We Have Come For The Morning Light



After my pal Dan introduced me to this record, I got to HOSPITAL PRODUCTIONS in NYC as fast as I could to grab up a copy. I found a used, clean copy for a fair price and made her mine.

The cover could catch anyone's eye, especially with the gold foil (shown yellow in this picture) on green, the fact that the record is a gate fold, and the presense of occult imagery found throughout the layout. The record took a good two to three listens before really setting in as a great record, but has since been frequenting my platter. The production is perfect for a sound that appears to have been the (acheived) goal for this recording - Imagine dark folk with black metal and noise roots, and demonic clinks and chants echoing from the underworld. This and more all held together by a tastefully melodic (but sometimes harsh) guitar sound and pleasing and surprisingly listenable vocals. It's creepy, it's twisted, it's everything I hoped it would be.

Put it this way: Donovan is to The Shire as Cult of Youth is to Mordor.

This particular pressing is limited to 500 copies.

Friday, November 13, 2009

Chuck Biscuits

...is alive and well. Just trying to help tip the balance of truth back to the underground music world.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Metal or Not Metal?



Metal. This 1984 Attic Records comp includes tracks by Anvil, Ted Nugent, Killer Dwarfs, Accept, Mercyful Fate, Blotto, Lee Aaron, Saxon, Judas Priest, Quiet Riot, Y&T, and Ozzy Osbourne. I can get into most of these tracks. Thanks to B. Muirhead for the submission.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Weezer Snuggie

I don't love Weezer so much anymore, but I do love this commercial idea. I own a couple Snuggies and they rule. I saw this commercial on TV in the middle of the night the other night. It's pretty hilarious.

There is Thunder in Their Hearts

A good friend of mine who currently lives on the west coast sent me a CD of her new solo project. She claims the songs aren't ready to be unveiled to the public, so instead I'll give you the first song that came to mind (besides songs from highlighted periods for Elizabeth Fraser/Cocteau Twins) when I heard the collection of songs.

Here is Kate Bush with "Running Up That Hill" and as a bonus I included Placebo covering the same Kate Bush cut. (More about my friend soon).






Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Freshness

My good friend Sean, AKA DJ Moustachio (Flavorsavor, Academy Records) made this happen last night. Soooo good! Crank this!

Killer blend of oldschool hip hop and electro

01.Life N Def – Money Beats
02.Mc Tee/Mantronix – Fresh Is The Word
03.Lil Jazzy and Cool Supreme – B Boys Style
04.Cat Stevens – Was Dog A Doughnut
05.Fresh 3 Mc’s – Fresh
06.Gifted 4 – The Arrival
07.T La Rock – Breakdown Dub
08.DJ Watkins &Amp; Crew – Jealousy (Rap) Dub Version
09.Dst – Rock The House In Japan (Version)
10.T La Rock – Breaking Bells
11.Mixmaster Gee – Like This
12.Natasha King – Am-Fm
13.Z-3 Mc’s – Triple Threat
14.Fearless Four – F-4000
15.Phase Two – The Roxy
16.Doctor Rocx and Co. – Do The Roxanne pt. 2
17.Rockmaster Scott &Amp; The Dynamic 3 – It’s Life (Think Twice)
18.Davey DMX – One For The Treble Inst.
19.T-Ski Valley – Cut It Up
20.Duce’s Wild – Gimmick Inst.
21.Rhythm Based Lovers – Calls of Love
22.Cd III – Get Tough (Dub)
23.Cat Claw – Out In The Streets
24.Masterdon Committee – Funkbox Party (Live)
25.Art of Noise – Beat Box
26.Jazzy Jay – Son of Beat Street
27.Eddie D – Cold Cash Money (Dub Mix)
28.Ice T – Cold Wind Madness
29.Masterdon Committee – Funkbox 2
30.Herbie Hancock – RockIt (Short Version)
31.Dominatrix – Dominatrix Sleeps Tonight
32.Grandmixer DsT – Crazy Cuts
33.Stockingcap – Wave Craze (inst.)
34.Webboes – Under The Wear
35.Sparque – Take Some Time
36.Strafe – Set It Off (Remix)
37.Project Future – Ray-Gun-Omics
38.Hi-Fidelity Three – B Boys Breakdance Inst.
39.Paul Hardcastle – Panic
40.Micronawts – Letzmurphacrossdasurf (Dub)
41.Aleem – Release Yourself (Dub)
42.Gaston – Smurfette
43.Newcleus – Jam On It Inst.
44.Afrika Bambaataa – Perfect Beat Bonus Beats II
45.Afrika Bambaataa – Looking For The Perfect Beat
46.Kym – Give Me The Dance (Dance Mix)
47.C Carlos Ward – A New Way (Dub)
48.Beautiful Swimmers – Horizon
49.Jonzun Crew – Pac Jam Inst.
50.Extra T’s – Flash Boogie Inst.
51.Willesden Dodgers – 122 Bpm
52.Tony Paris – Electric Automan (Dub)
53.Luke Vibert – C.O.R.N.

Doolittle Turns 20

For the 20th anniversary of The Pixies Doolittle, the band has offered a free live EP download HERE.

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Hey Hey, My My



It's incredibly overdue, but I finally bought a copy of Neil Young's Trans on vinyl last night. I'm familiar with the record and the mixed reviews it has received over the years (since it's release in 1982) but I figured I would buy it before I talked about it. I gave it a few really good listens last night, and I have come to the conclusion that it is a solid record. I've been a Neil fan since I was a kid; I overheard my father playing Mr. Young's albums throughout my childhood and have since remained intrigued. This particular record still receives a lot of whining from fans because it's a noticeably different concept. Just from the cover art alone, a Philip K. Dick Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep theme or some futuristic equivalent comes to mind.

When you play the record, it starts off with classic Neil Young style twangy rock, but by track two you are introduced to something very different from his arsenal of past recordings. It's the use of a vocoder.

The early days of the vocoder must have been exciting. Hearing Kraftwerk chanting robotic commands to their avant garde electronic sounds wasn't something the world expected at the time, but would soon be somewhat familiar with. The technique would be executed into the 70's and 80's with bands like ELO and Alan Parson's Project jumping on the bandwagon. The 90's would see some hints of a vocoder in popular, dance,electronic, and industrial music, but it wasn't until somewhat recently that the vocoder resurfaced with the public acceptance it received in the late 70's. Popular music and Hip Hop would (and continue to) play out the sounds of the vocoder, sometimes even using it to disguise vocalists who cannot stay in key. Neil Young's Trans did just the opposite. He took the tool and mastered it, the way he mastered his trademark guitar sound. He intentionally hit notes while using the vocoder that sounded better than others - notes he wouldn't normally hit when singing without the filter.

Trans is an incredibly genius creation. There are rumors about reasons for his decision to create the album that range from issues with Geffin to some grandiose comment on the inevitable future of electronic pop music and culture/humanity as a whole. I still think there are two simple reasons this record happened.

1) He claimed his autistic son could connect more closely with his music when using the vocoder

and

2) He was doing an awful lot of hanging with the DEVO boys at the time. Watch Human Highway and you will understand.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

STP LSD USA

Here's a groovy Vincent Collins animation that was backed by The United States Information Society for the 200th birthday of our nation. Get free.

Monday, November 2, 2009

French Synth-Wave 1979/85




Here is an amazing compilation that is now available on vinyl.
It's a random collection of French Synth Pop (or Synth Wave) groups from 1979-1985. Some of the songs are sang in English, some are sang in French, and some are sang in both languages. If you are a fan of foreign pop, minimal synth, new wave, or electro, I would highly recommend finding this one.
The album comes with a booklet that includes a short bio on each group, and a picture of the original record the songs are taken from.

This record is available from Born Bad Records.
Here is a short promotional video for the comp.



Where Pies Go To Die

It was the spring of 1998 when my good friend and I decided to take our interest in the Massachusetts band Piebald to the next level. We had been following them for some time, and we had both found interest in other (mostly hardcore) bands on Hydra Head records, when we found out that Piebald would be playing a show in a local legendary hall at a nearby community college. That same week, my friend found a bunch of satin butterfly collared disco shirts in a box on the side of the road. He coincidentally had an assignment in his graphic design class that required him to screen print an edition of shirts at that time as well. He took the opportunity to print the design found on the patch that came with Piebald's Sometimes Friends Fight 10" release right onto the back of the disco shirts.

Our girlfriends at the time were very good friends as well. There was a senior class trip to Europe the week of the Piebald show and since all four of us were fans of the band, my pal and I did everything we could to rub in the fact that we were going to get to see the band while the girls were in Europe. The girls eventually left the country and my pal and I went on to see the band. Before the show we harassed the band (as we usually did back then) and convinced them to play their entire set in the shirts that my friend printed. They agreed and the show was a great success. Once they were finished playing we cornered them with copies of their "Aftershave" 7". We requested that they wrote something to further our girlfriends' jealousy and they gladly complied. The girls would eventually come home and receive their gifts, along with the story of the night.

A couple of years ago I was doing my rounds at a local record store when I came across a very familiar record. It was an early copy of the same "Aftershave" 7" by Piebald. When I inspected it more closely I was stunned to find that it was the exact record that my friend had gifted his former girl almost a decade ago. It even had her name and personalized message on it. I brought it up to the counter and asked the guy working if he knew anything about the origin of the record. He replied: "Yeah, some girl was in here yesterday. She sold us some records to help her get some money up so she could move to Philly".



Sunday, November 1, 2009

Ministry - All Day [Live 1987 @ Numbers in Houston, Texas]

Very interesting performance of this Halloween A-side favorite. A few years ago this guy tried to tell me that Ministry was formed in the mid sixties and that the group wasn't recognized until the 1980's. I responded: "No way dude. The band formed in early 1981 as a dance/synth pop group. They had nothing to do with the 60's or even the 70's for that matter and furthermore, front man Al Jorgensen turned something like two years old in 1960 - I think he's only like 50 now dude". He responded: "I heard them on the bus to 'Nam. Were you in 'Nam?!?!? I chalked it up as a loss and just changed the subject.

Regardless, please enjoy and Happy Halloween.