Brian's got some Captain Beefheart

February 28, 2016, 11:48 am

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(Scott)-I was tempted to break out my great sounding vinyl rip of "Trout Mask Replica", but I don't want to
deflect from the focus Brian is trying to give to some of the Captain's lesser-known works from another era, so we'll hold off on that for a while......I listened to parts of these yesterday to refamiliarize myself with them (gotta admit A LONG time since I've heard these), and I will say I agree with Brian's evaluation of them by about 95% or so.......
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After all the big conceptual things lately (and the stuff that's about to come down the pike), I want a small post here to point out two awesome albums by The Captain for you guys. 

If you hear people talk about Beefheart, usually they mention either the early years (Trout Mask, Lick My Decals, Safe As Milk) or the later stuff (Doc At the Radar Station). If his 70's stuff is mentioned, it's never in the same awed breath as the earlier Magic Band material. And that's too bad.

Unconditionally Guaranteed is widely regarded as Beefheart's 70's low point, and I can't say that I disagree. But this album that came right before, Bluejeans and Moonbeams, gets lumped in with the awful stuff, and I don't think it's deserved. For example, if you were to read the Allmusic review of this album it's an outright dismissal of it, saying how the band is a bunch of "out of their league" studio musicians.

All you have to do is hear the funky blues stomp of "Party Of Special Things To Do" to know they're wrong. It's one of the best Beefheart songs ever! It's followed by an emotionally wracked version of J.J. Cale's "Same Old Blues Again". "Pompadour Swamp" is another great groove. "Captain's Holiday" is a great harmonica showcase for Beefheart, and "Rock N Roll's Evil Doll" is funky as hell! This album also contains one thing you can't find anywhere else is CB's discography: emotional directness. Just listen to the prettiness of the ballads "Observatory Crest" or "Further Than We've Gone"...they're amazing, and even accessible. And while I admit the title track gets a little prog-y, it's a simple and beautiful song. This album definitely deserves a harder look.

                                                                                               

Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller) is regarded as CB's return to more strange music. I've never really cared about the "lost" or "original" versions of this album. For me, the Shiny Beast version is the one I first heard and have always loved. I've owned the "unreleased" version of this material (Dust Sucker), and it sounds like shit.

But this album jams in that strange way only Beefheart can. "Floppy Boot Stomp", "Ice Rose", "Harry Irene"... it is a return to form. And then there's the CB-meets-Miami-Disco oddness of "Tropical Hot Dog Night", surely a Beefheart classic. "When I See Mommy I Feel Like A Mummy" has a great skittering groove, too. The whole album is a bizarre masterpiece from the Captain. I mean, what is "Apes Ma"?

Enjoy both of these. I find Beefheart's 70's stuff fascinating in how he adapted his stuff to the changing music. Both albums are in one file. The bonus link for this post is.... well, I'll just say "Buckweat"...

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So.....who's for some THROBBING GRISTLE?

March 1, 2016, 12:45 pm

≫ Next: Assemble Head In Sunburst Sound from John N

≪ Previous: Brian's got some Captain Beefheart

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Busting my ass to get as much Throbbing Gristle posted in the month of February as humanely possible (why
is that significant? It isn't, just for the hell of it.....by the way this ISN'T the last one, there will be yet another)......from the vaults of LoFi Larry, here is yet another handful of Gristle releases, these covering the era of roughly 1997-2004.......once again, thanks to everyone who has contributed to this effort, and if there is any MORE of this stuff hiding out there, try to get it to me now, and I'll get it up because I have a feeling that after I complete this effort, I may not wish to hear much of these gentlemen for a bit......
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1997
-Kreeme Horn

01 Careless Idle Chatter/02 Merely Nodding/03 Raw Mode of Life/04 Rumour and Dishonour/05 Ugliness is a Form of Genius

http://www37.zippyshare.com/v/FXByyOPC/file.html
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1998
-Dimensia In Excelsis

01 Dimensia/02 Scorched Earth/03 Tangible/04 Carnality/05 Marriage Carriage/06 Still Walking/07
Slam/08 Principia  Disciplina/09 Forbidden

http://www37.zippyshare.com/v/joX9RpbF/file.html
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2002                                                                                     
-TG24 1 Hour Sample, Promo

01 Untitled/02 Untitled






http://www37.zippyshare.com/v/cDOABK5h/file.html
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2004
-The Astoria, London 2004

01 Vatican (Sorry Nicholas)/02 Persuasion/03 Live Ray/04 Convincing People/05 Almost Like This/06 Splitting Sky/07 Army of Something/08 Hamburger Lady/09 How Do You Deal?/10 What a Day/11 Discipline

http://www37.zippyshare.com/v/VR5x9PjQ/file.html
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2004
-Mutant TG

01 Persuasion (Motor Remix)/02 Hot on the Heels of Love              
(Carl Craig Re-Version)
/03 What a Day (Hedonastik Remix/04 United 
(Two Lone Swordsmen Remix Vocal Version)/05 Hamburger Lady 
(Carter Tutti Remix)/06 Hot on the Heels of Love (Ratcliffe Remix)
/07 Still Walking (Carl Craig Re-Vision)/08 Hot on the Heels of Love 
(Carter Tutti Remix)


http://www37.zippyshare.com/v/1GRU1vlC/file.html
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2004
-The Taste Of TG

01 Industrial Introduction/02 Distant Dreams Part 2/03 Persuasion USA/04 Something Came Over Me/05 Dead on Arrival/06 Hot on the Heels of Love/07 We Hate You Little Girls/08 United/09 Cabaret Voltaire (Live At Industrial Training College Wakefield, 7/1/78)/10 Exotic Functions/11 Zyklon B Zombie/12 Walkabout/13 Hamburger Lady/14 His Arm Was Her Leg (Live at the Factory, Manchester 5/18/79-Edit)


















http://www37.zippyshare.com/v/RWVF3oq3/file.html
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2004
-TG Now










01 X-Ray/02 Splitting Sky/03 Almost Like This/04
How Do You Deal?






http://www37.zippyshare.com/v/NBTjqLrz/file.html

Assemble Head In Sunburst Sound from John N

March 1, 2016, 1:09 pm

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(Scott): John N contributes some other great links and posts for the first time here, on a band with which I was unfamiliar but found to be most enjoyable. One of the most strangely named bands which I can recall, check out his review of these albums below and see if you agree, I found them to be quite good, and of course thanks as always to John N......if it means anything, I agree with him that the 2012 release "Manzanita" is the best effort.

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San Francisco’s Assemble Head in Sunburst Sound, which recorded from 2007 to 2012, are squarely rooted in 1960s and 1970s psychedelic scuzzy jam rock with a modern guitar-blast bent.  And what a sweet gooey consistency this stuff is.  Light your spliff and get ready for lift off.

Their second album, 2007’s “Ekranoplan,” comes blasting out of the rocket launcher, organ and guitar spiraling helter skelter en route to the stars that lie on the fringe of a grunge galaxy.  The album continues its trajectory to include 60s-influenced rock’n’blues psychedelia (think Iron Butterfly goes rockabilly prog with Pink Floyd’s ‘Lucifer Sam’) in its second song, then seeps its way into a song that sounds as though a Turkish musician is sitting in Haight-Ashbury enamored with Jorma Kaukonen with its Jefferson Airplane-esque spiraling guitar swirls.  One of the album highlights, at least to these ears. The shrooms kick in while elements of Black Sabbath jamming with Blue Cheer assail your brain, in preamble to a terrific concoction of classic-meets-current rock.  What happens next is a mind-swelling Hendrix riff that shapeshifts into a beloved Jack Bruce-Eric Clapton scrunch.  Lots of instrumental prowess to consume in a short spurt, this, but put on your beads and bell bottoms, because we’re just getting started!

2009’s “When Sweet Sleep Returned” continues the Haight-Ashbury vibe – the Heads are still in deep intergalactic space, and are the better for it while blending still more early Floyd elements.  One of the new touches is that they’ve decided to have the guitars ingest steroids, adding more to their delicious soup. Other new touches include boy-girl vocals in a desert panorama while swaying with the shaman and shoegazey swathes of maelstrom guitar.  If anything is to be “noted” as different from its predecessor, then it’s that the soup is less murky, though only refined palates may taste the difference. The Heads learned their craft well, culling the best elements of heady listens to Grateful Dead, Blue Cheer, Crazy Horse, Hawkwind, Creedence, and others, to churn out their own recipe of California psych.  Wait, is that Sabbath?  It’s a fine stew, indeed.

My personal favorite of the bunch, 2012’s “Manzanita," is another one-two punch of psychedelic power choogle and lunar outpost chillout.  I don’t want to get too detailed, as this special slice should be fully chewed by each listener.  Songs are even MORE fully formed, complete with touches of farfisa and flute. Folky tinges akin to the Allman Brothers and Grateful Dead and classic rock elements akin to Steve Winwood and Traffic, Cream, and Hendrix, and again, there's even a pinch of Black Sabbath that awaits you.  It’s an amalgam of crunchy garage rock, blues, and R’n’B, like a gumbo of potent California psychedelic pop rock brimming and bubbling over with feeling, fuzz, soul, sunshine melancholy, feral ferocity, and hook-laden mystery.  It’s guitar psychedelia done in the 2010s that is at once pastoral, menacing, leaden, and ethereal.  It rawks!  If my CD was vinyl, the grooves would be gone.

Have a field day trying to figure out which influence is where while you rejoice in the atmospheres, textures, and musicianship that are infused in this splendid band’s records.

The Busboys

March 2, 2016, 7:17 pm

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I've been looking for this gem for quite a while, had a vinyl copy many years ago and, to be honest, wasn't even sure I've ever seen it on CD.......thanks to John N, I finally got a link for 1980's The Busboys "Minimum Wage Rock n Roll"........loved it back then, still a wonderful album today.......this band came along a got bit before Living Color (in the small genre of African American hard rock), and, I think, FAR superior.......

The Busboys were Brian ONeal on keyboards/vocals, Kevin Oneal on bass/vocals, Mike Jones on keyboards/vocals, Steve Felix on drums, singer Gus Louderman, and guitar-whiz Vic Johnson.....good, cracking hard rock n roll, great songs, great humorous non-politically correct lyrics.......loved this album and really glad to hear it once again!

This is a winner and has always been kind of hard to locate, so thanks to John N for the hookup! Not going into a lot of detail here, this album is a must-hear early 1980's forgotten classic! You want to hear this if you haven't!

MINIMUM WAGE ROCK N ROLL-01 Dr. Doctor/02 Minimum Wage/03 Did You See Me?/04 There Goes the Neighborhood/05 Johnny Soul'd Out/06 KKK/07 Anggie/08 D-Day/09 Tell the Coach/10 We Stand United/11 Respect

Again, I can't emphasize enough what a great album this is.........you REALLY want this one if you are uninitiated........

Brian presents Apocalypse Now

March 2, 2016, 8:51 pm

≫ Next: Some EELS, by request, Part 1

≪ Previous: The Busboys

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(Scott)-Not gonna say much about this one, Brian does a fine job of summing it up........just wanted to say
that it IS a favorite film of mine, coming from a film buff, that's saying a LITTLE bit at least (although I disagree with Brian that this trumps "The Godfather", but it IS close)........check this out, I haven't heard this OST in years but I do recall it being badass.
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Apocalypse Now. One of the greatest films of all time, a hallucinatory war story, and still Francis Ford Coppolla's greatest work (sorry, Godfather fans). I've loved it since I first saw it as a teenager. I think every kid should have to watch it once they hit their teens. No movie is like this, and many have attempted to reach it's level in the years since 1979. And the movie's soundtrack is an intensely layered masterpiece, using many different sources... and pretty much creating 5.1 sound in the process.

First up is the two disc 1979 release. And this is the actual soundtrack: including songs, music cues, narration,
and conversations. I've always thought this is really evocative even as just audio. Hearing Martin Sheen's narration or Robert Duvall's speeches; it's really cool. Spent a lot of time as a teen smoking pot and listening to "Do Lung Bridge" too many times. This is a cool one. It also contains that original uncensored master of "The End", when Morrison gets into his "fuck, fuck, fuck yeah" ending.

To coincide with the release of the Redux version of the movie in 2001, a CD was put out, comprising all the synthesizer music used in the original film. If you've ever watched the behind the scenes stuff on the DVD, you'll see how this whole thing was put together by several "synthesists", transposing music written by Carmine Coppola, which underscored a good chunk of the film, especially helicopter and river shots. If you like expansive 70's electronic albums - like Tomita or Vangelis - definitely check this one out.

To make a more native score to the film, Francis Ford Coppolla enlisted the help of Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart. While I'm not a Deadhead, I've always appreciated him as a percussionist. And he gathered a huge array of native percussion instruments, and several great players, to create this primal score, mainly intended for the latter part of the film. While not all of it was used in Apocalypse, this is an interesting sonic journey on it's own.

Enjoy this. I've been procrastinating with this post for awhile, and I'm glad to have it up. The bonus link for this post is my two favorite albums by a guitar-slinging comedian. Just check out "Craig" and "Beelz", and keep an ear out for Jay Mohr playing Christopher Walken.

Some EELS, by request, Part 1

March 3, 2016, 12:22 am

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A longtime lurker/friend of the blog, Blake, recently requested some EELS.....I was somewhat familiar with
them, at least with their early 90's material, but once I got into researching them a little bit, I was genuinely stunned by how much material is out there.....EELS (also known as Eels and eels) are/were basically multi-instrumentalist/singer/Elliot Smith-style songwriter Mark Oliver Everett, who performs under the name "E"......truly I have found SO MUCH material that this thing is going to take THREE posts to get to everything, I found a TON of EP's, singles, E's non-EELS work and side projects......this post we'll get the "official" studio releases covered, and then (in the next week or so) we'll get to the other stuff.....if you are new to this band, start here, if you're a fan, likely you have all of these (I had the first few) but the other stuff to come in Parts 2/3 will be a Godsend to you!

OK, let's start with the first "official" EELS release, 1996's "Beautiful Freak".....it's a pretty fair effort, I enjoyed it when it came out, Elliot Smith/Nick Drake-style depression-pop, the best known/best tracks (imo)are "Susan's House" and "Novocaine For the Soul"......it's a good album, but not nearly up to the standard of the next release.

After the release of "Beautiful Freak", E went through more personal tragedy/distress than any human deserves....I won't go into it here, you can look it all up if interested. The thing is, as sometimes happens, the tortured state that his soul had to be in at the time resulted in a fantastic album, "Electro Shock Blues"......a bleak, depressed, chilling record (not unlike maybe a good bit of Elliot Smith's work"), this one is a classic...."Going to Your Funeral" and "Cancer For the Cure" are standouts, but this is an album that needs to be heard in its entirety, great disc.

2000 brought us "Daisies of the Galaxy". It is airier and more upbeat than "Electo", (it would be hard not to
be), it's decent but no classic in the mode of its predecessor. "Grace Kelly Blues" and "It's a Motherfucker" are good tunes, and there are more.

"Souljacker", EELS 2001 release, was, I think, where I lost track of the band.......no reason really, I just did......this is also a very good album, a little more rocking than the earlier ones, and one I would recommend....."Dog Faced Boy" and the two part title track are standouts.

From here on, these albums were really not familiar to me until the request for this post and my researching it, for teh most part, I have heard the remaining material exactly once, and in the last week or so at that.....the next release was "Shootenanny!", which, on first listen really doesn't impress me that much, "Saturday Morning" is a pretty good track, and I'd NEVER render an opinion on an album after only one listen, so I'll give it a couple of more listens before passing final judgement.

In 2005, EELS released the sprawling 2 disc "Blinking Lights and Other Revelations"........it's massive, 33 tracks, and there truly is some good stuff here, although it might take some searching to get to. I'm certain there is some concept at work here, but I have yet to sort it out. Suffice to say, if you've enjoyed the other stuff, you may wish to venture here, personally, I think it might have been a really good single disc release.

Begining in 2009, EELS released a series of three albums, issued as a conceptual trilogy. The first was "Hombre Lobo", followed by "End Times" and "Tomorrow Morning".....believe it or not, I listened to all three in the last week or so, and while they do have their moments, I obviously haven't had the chance to break down the conceptual thing. I will say that, without question, the more bleak, sad, empty-feeling songs had returned.......by now you know if this is a band for you or not. If so, likely, these will be for you.

The most recent release (I think) is 2013's "Wonderful, Glorious", presented here in all its glory in 2-disc
deluxe edition. Again, I've listened to it once.....can't render MUCH of an opinion, but here it is, if this stuff has appealed to you thusfar.

OK, that's it for part 1.....look for the next couple of parts in the next week or so. There is a LOT of material to cover, if you are a fan of the band, likely you already have all the stuff from part 1, but the upcoming rarities and stuff will thrill you. If you are new to them, it'll all be of interest, and wait until you see (you especially, Blake!) how MUCH stuff I uncoverd!

BEAUTIFUL FREAK-01 Novocaine For the Soul/02 Susan's House/03 Rags to Rags/04 Beautiful Freak/05 Not Ready Yet/06 My Beloved Monster/07 Flower/08 Guest List/09 Mental/10 Spunky/11 Your Lucky Day In Hell/12 manchild/13 Novocaine For the Soul/14 Manchester Girl/15 My Beloved Mad Monster party/16 Flower

ELECTRO SHOCK BLUES-01 Elizabeth on the Bathroom Floor/02 Going to Your Funeral Part 1/03 Cancer For the Cure/04 My Descent Into Madness/05 3 Speed/06 Hospital Food/07 Electro Shock Blues/08 Efils' God/09 Going To Your Funeral Part 2/10 Last Stop: This Town/11 Baby Gebius/12 Climbing to the Moon/13 Ant Farm/14 Dead of Winter/15 The Medication is Wearing Off/16 PS You Rock My World

DAISIES OF THE GALAXY-01 Grace Kelly Blues/02 Packing Blankets/03 The Sound of Fear/04 I Like Birds/05 Daisies of the Galaxy/06 Flyswatter/07 It's a Motherfucker/08 Estate Sale/09 Tiger in My tank/10 A Daisy Through Concrete/11 Jeannie's Diary/12 Wooden Nickles/13 Something Is Sacred/14 Selective Memory/15 Mr E's Beautiful Blues

SOULJACKER-01 Dog Faced Boy/02 That's Not Really Funny/03 Fresh Feeling/04 Woman Driving, Man Sleeping/05 Souljacker Part 1/06 Friendly Ghost/07 Teenage Witch/08 Bus Stop Boxer/09 Jungle Telegraph/10 World of Shit/11 Souljacker Part 2/13 What is This Note?

SHOOTENANNY!-01 All in a Days Work/02 Saturday Morning/03 The Good Old Days/04 Love of the
Loveless/05 Dirty Girl/06 Agony/07 Rock Hard Times/08 Restraining Order Blues/09 Lone Wolf/10 Wrong About Bobby/11 Numbered Days/12 Fashion Awards/13 Somebody Loves You

BLINKING LIGHTS AND OTHER REVELATIONS DISC 1-01 Theme From Blinking Lights/02 From Which I Came/A Magic World/03 Son of a Bitch/04 Blinking Lights (For Me)/05 Trouble With Dreams/06 Marie Floating Over the Backyard/07 Suicide Life/08 In the yard, behind the Church/09 Railroad Man/10 The Other Shoe/11 Last Time We Spoke/12 Mother Mary/13 Going Fetal/14 Understanding Salesmen/15 Theme For a Pretty Girl That Makes You Believe God Exists/16 Checkout Blues/17 Blinking Lights (for You)

BLINKING LIGHTS AND OTHER REVELATIONS DISC 2-01 Dust of Ages/02 Old Shit/New Shit/03 Bride of Theme From Blinking Lights/04 Hey Man (Now You're Really Living)/05 I'm Going to Stop Pretending That I Didn't break Your Heart/06 To Lick Your Boots/07 If You See Natalie/08 Sweet Li'l Thing/09 Dusk: A Peach in the Orchard/10 Whatever Happened to Soy Bomb/11 Ugly Love/12 God's Silence/13 Losing Streak/14 Last Days of My Bitter Heart/15 The Stars Shine in the Sky Tonight/16 Things the Grandchildren Should Know

HOMBRE LOBO-01 Prizefighter/02 The Look you Give That Guy/03 Lilac Breeze/04 In My Dreams/05 Tremendous Dynamite/06 The Longing/07 Fresh Blood/08 What's a Fella Gotta Do/09 My Timing Is Off/10 All the Beautiful Things/11 Beginner's Luck/12 Ordinary Man

END TIMES-01 The Beginning/02 Gone Man/03 In My Younger Days/04 Mansions of los Feliz/05 A line in the Dirt/06 End Times/07 Apple Trees/08 Paradise Blues/09 Nowadays/10 Unhinged/11 High and Lonesome/12 I Need a Mother/13 Little Bird/14 On My Feet/15 And Now For the End Times/Some Friend/16 Walking Cloud/17 $200 tattoo/18 The Man Who Didn't Know He'd Lost his Mind

TOMORROW MORNING-01 In Gratitude For a magnificent Day/02 I'm a Hummingbird/03 The
Morning/04 Baby Loves Me/05 Spectacular Girl/06 What I Have To Offer/07 This Is Where It Gets Good/08 After the Earthquake/09 Oh So lovely/10 The man/11 Looking Up/12 That's Not her Way/13 I like the Way This is Going/14 Mystery of Life

TOMORROW MORNING (BONUS EP)-01 Swimming Lesson/02 St. Elizabeth Story/03 Let's Ruin Julie's Birthday/04 For You

WONDERFUL GLORIOUS DISC 1-01 Bombs Away/02 Kinda Fuzzy/03 Accident Prone/04 Peach Blossom/05 On the Ropes/06 The Turnaround/07 New Alphabet/08 Stick Together/09 True Original/10 Open my Present/11 You're My Friend/12 I Am Building a Shrine/13 Wonderful Glorious

WONDERFUL GLORIOUS DISC 2-01 Hold Onto Your Hat/02 Your Mama Warned You/03 I'm Your Brave Little Soldier/04 There's Something Strange/05 happy hour (We're Gonna Rock)/06 That's not Really Funny (live)/07 In My Dreams (live)/08 Prizefighter (live)/09 Looking Up (Live)/10 What I Have to Offer (live)/11 I Like the Way This Is Going (live)/12 Spectacular Girl (Live)/13  Summer In the City (live)

Stay tuned for the rest of this massive swarm, sometime in the next week or so......for now, let me know what you think of these, it's been a learning experience for me.

Some Requested EELS Part 2

March 3, 2016, 3:46 pm

≫ Next: Obscure 80's Post Punk, Experimental,Art Rock

≪ Previous: Some EELS, by request, Part 1

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Back again with the second (of three) parts of the massive EELS collection.....again until I received the
request (from Blake), these albums were for the most part unfamiliar to me......thusly, I've heard them only once (at most) and really can't shed a lot of light on them......I think today we'll put up a batch of live recordings, and when we get to Part 3 we will wrap it up with a slew of singles, EP's, side projects, and more. Look for it in the next week or so.....so as for Part 2.......

From 2001 comes "Oh What a Beautiful Morning"......listened to this one yesterday, pretty good live stuff (differing venues) from the "Daisies of the Galaxy" tour, I found the version here of "Susan's House" to be quite good, a lot of this is acoustic stuff, and, as an aside, some of these shows were from opening for Fiona Apple, which I never knew EELS did until now, but thinking about it, a pretty fair match for each other.

Another multi-venue, multi date effort was "Electro Shock Blues Show".....as I mentioned in Part 1, I have long been a fan of the studio effort of the same name, and find this live effort of tunes from that era to be quite good as well, although not as intense as the original.....still, many of my fave EELS tunes are here, and always good to hear stuff like "Cancer For the Cure" and "Going to Your Funeral" again in different versions.

"EELS With Strings: Live at Town Hall" is an interesting 2006  release, recorded in 2005 in NYC. What makes it interesting is it takes some older and more familiar EELS tunes and stands them on their heads with some outstanding orchestration. Maybe not for everyone but I liked it on first listen. Nice cover of Johnny Rivers'"Poor Side of Town" also.

Another good effort is "Live and In Person! London 2006".......so what can we say? Again, good covers of some classic, vintage era EELS tunes and a version of "I Put a Spell On You" among other stuff......again, I don't know how many HARD CORE EELS fans we have but if there are alot I'm sure they'll be wanting to hear this one as well........

OK, "only" four albums in this one, Part 3, whenever I get to it, will be a good bit bulkier.......and that's where we'll get to the rarities and stuff. For now, enjoy the live EELS stuff.

OH WHAT A BEAUTIFUL MORNING-01 Feeling Good/02 Overture/03 Oh What a Beautiful
Morning/04 Abortion in the Sky/05 It's a Motherfucker/06 Fucker/07 Ant Farm/08 Climbing to the Moon/09 Grace Kelly Blues/10 Daisies of the Galaxy/11 Flyswatter/12 Vice President Fruitley/13 Hot and Cold/14 Mr E's Beautiful Blues/15 Not Ready Yet/16 Susan's House/17 Something Is Sacred

ELECTRO SHOCK BLUES SHOW-01 Cancer For the Cure/02 Fingertips part III/03 Going To Your Funeral part 1/04 Efil's God/05 Souljacker Part 1/06 My Beloved Monster/07 Novocaine For the Soul/08 Not Ready Yet/09 Last Stop: This Town/10 Everything's Gonna Be Cool This Christmas/11 Flower/12 Dead of Winter/13 Electro-Shock Blues/14 The Medication Is Wearing Off/15 Climbing to the Moon/My Beloved Monster/My Girl

EELS WITH STRINGS-01 Blinking Lights (For Me)/02 Bride of Theme From Blinking Lights/03 Bus Stop Boxer/04 Dirty Girl/05 Trouble With Dreams/06 The Only Thing I Care About/07 My Beloved Monster/08 Pretty Ballerina/09 It's a Motherfucker/10 Flyswatter/11 Novocaine For the Soul/12 Girl From the North Country/13 Railroad Man/14 I Like Birds/15 If You See Natalie/16 Poor Side of Town/17 Spunky/18 I'm Going to Stop Pretending That I Didn't Break Your Heart/19 Suicide Life/20 Losing Streak/21 Hey Man (Now You're Really Living/22 Things the Grandchildren Should Know

LIVE AND IN PERSON-01 Old Shit/New Shit/02 Rock Show/03 Crazy Love (Crazy Music)/04 Eyes Down/05 Jesus Gonna Be Here/06 My Beloved Monster/07 A Magic World/08 Not Ready Yet/09 Dog Faced Boy10 /Souljacker Part 1/11 I Put a Spell on You/12 That's Life/13 I Like Birds/14 Mr E's beautiful Blues

Obscure 80's Post Punk, Experimental,Art Rock

March 3, 2016, 4:45 pm

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When they say "Obscure" they mean it in this case. I tripped over this snooping around the Bay the other
day, I've given it a listen and there is virtually NOTHING I was familiar with, previously.....information is sketchy, but apparently this two volume set is a homemade/DIY project that someone generously created......I guess most were taken from singles or EP's, it's far from the typical 1980's fare (ie NOT synth-pop type stuff in general).....I'm not prepared to go into a lot of detail, but those of you whom are like myself and are suckers for any collection of "obscure" ANYTHING, you know you want this......some, I'm sure, will take a pass on it, and that's great as well......just thought it was worth sharing with you folks in case it sounds interesting, I think you will be pleasantly surprised should you try this one out.

VOLUME 1-01 Last Four (4) Digits - Fast Friends/ 02 02 Kevin Dunn & The Regiment Of Women - Oktyabrina/03 Manic Leisure - Miro/04 Vertical Motion - You've Lost The Thread/05 Surplus Stock - Take It/06 Delmontes - Don't Cry Your Tears/07 Touch Tones - Sorry We're Passe /08 IQ Zero - Crazy Dolls /09 Von Beat - Of Course I Care /10 The Point Fives - Next Time/11 Take It -Trends and Relations/12 F-Systems - People /13 The Cubs - A Dance To Forget /14 Kate Fagan - Waiting For The Crisis /15 Westside Lockers - Song for America /16 Motifs - Cameras

VOLUME 2-01 Home Service - Wake-up!/02 Michael's Toy - Cry Now It's Over/03 Last Four (4) Digits - Another Sex Crime/04 The Mothmen - Does It Matter Irene/05 The Vincent Units - Carnival Song
06 Observers Observing Observables - Watch Out For The Other Guy/07 Someone and The Somebodies - Newvo/08 The Colors Out Of Time - Dancing With Joy/09 Three Times A Day - Storm/10 Treatment Room - Awayday/11 Those Hellicopters - Southcoast Towns/12 Cry Shark - One Phone Call/13 Disturbed Furniture - Information/14 People In Stores - Metaphor/15 Science Patrol - Bandit Ducks From Outer Space/16 Limbo Race - Small Talking

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Cop Shoot Cop

March 4, 2016, 11:00 am

≫ Next: Some Live James Brown for the weekend compliments of Brian

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I always thought Cop Shoot Cop would have been great no matter what, because they had one of the best
band names of them all (hint: it had nothing to do with police, it has to do with heroin addiction, think about it if it doesn't hit you immediately), but they were great anyway, some unique and numbing noise rock from the early/mid 1990's.

Cop Shoot Cop were, at first, bassist/vocalist Tod A, David Ouimet on sampler/keyboards, and Phil Puelo on drums......their first release, the EP "Headkick Facsimile", is a noisy, grating, wonderful mess, SORT OF along the lines of Big Black but not really THAT close, pretty "different" as rock without guitars tends to be.

Before the release of the first full length, the band added a second bassist, Jack Natz, and a second sampler, Jim Coleman....I don't know about you, but  personally can't think of any other 2-bass, 2-sampler,  no guitar bands, ever,ever.... Anyway, the first album "Consumer Revolt", is a great one, sort of a precursor to Nine Inch Nails or Chemlab a few years ahead of them.....great noisy/semi "industrial" rock, check "Smash Retro!", or "Disconnected 666", or damn near anything else......reminds me of a cross between maybe Chemlab and A Place To Bury Strangers, except without the guitars, I guess this is pretty unique actually.

1991 saw the release of the somewhat similar "White Noise", another
snarling hornets nest of, well, white noise.....if you liked the first (better) one, likely you'll like this one......really, the same goes for the 9excellent) EP "Suck City", as well as 1993's "Ask Questions Later".

The band added a guitarist/trumpet (!) player before recording 1994's "Release".....while the two-bass attack is still in place, the addition of guitar kind of ruined it for me personally.....I've always liked those no-guitar bands (Mommy and Daddy, Black Diamond Heavies, etc) and the addition of guitar moved Cop Shoot Cop closer to the "mainstream" of rock.......obviously, though, the addition of some trumpet made sure that they still maintained a fairly individual sound......I will say, however, that I never really cared a lot for this one (it's NOT bad though).

Got one more EP before wrapping this one up, 1995's "Any Day Now, released before they called it a day. This is a band that is kind of hard to take, love them or hate them (I always loved this shit because it annoys people who don't appreciate it so damn much)........try in small doses if unfamiliar, start with "Consumer Revolt" and procede.

I think I'll probably be away from the computer for a couple days, I hope the multiple posts of yesterday and today keeps ya busy. Likely talk to ya on Sunday......enjoy this stuff for now.

HEADKICK FACSIMILE-01 Shine On Elizabeth/02 Mistake/03Smash Retro!/04 Triumphal Theme/05 Lie/06 Fire In the Hole/07 Robert Tilton Handjob

CONSUMER REVOLT-01 Low.Com.Denom./02 She's Like a Shot/03 Waiting For the Punchline/04
Disconnected 666/05 Smash Retro!/06 Burn Your Bridges/07 Consume/08 Fire In the Hole/09 Pity the Bastard/10 Down Come the Mickey/11 Hurt Me Baby/12 System Test/13 Eggs For Rib

WHITE NOISE-01 Discount Rebellion/02 Traitor/Martyr/03 Coldest Day of the Year/04 Feel Good/05 Relief/06 Empires Collapse/07 Corporate Protopop/08 Heads I Win, Tails You Lose/09 Chameleon Man/10 Where's the Money/11 If Tomorrow Ever Comes/12 Hung Around

SUCK CITY-01 Nowhere/02 Days Will Pass/03 We Shall Be Changed/04 Suck City (Here We Come)

ASK QUESTIONS LATER-01 Surprise Surprise/02 Room
429/03 Nowhere/04 Migration/05 Cut to the Chase/06 $10 Bill/07 Seattle/08 Furnace/09 Israeli Dig/10 Cause and Effect/11 Got No Soul/12 Everybody Loves You When (When You're Dead)/13 All The Clocks are Broken/14 Untitled

RELEASE-01 Interference/02 It Only Hurts When I Breathe/03 Last Legs/04 Two at a time/05 Slackjaw/06 Lullaby/07 Any Day Now/08 Swimming In Circles/09 Turning Inside Out/10 Ambulance Song/11 Suckerpunch/12 The Divorce/13 Mooney-Drunk

ANY DAY NOW-01 Any Day Now/02 New God/03 The Queen of Shinbone Alley/04 Transmission

Some Live James Brown for the weekend compliments of Brian

March 4, 2016, 11:28 am

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≪ Previous: Cop Shoot Cop

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(SCOTT)-often I am fairly in the dark on the non-rock stuff people submit to me (which of course I love,
because it gives me the chance to learn something, however, my wife, BigCarla66, has LONG been a fan of The Hardest Working man In Show Biz, Mr. James Brown....I enjoy his stuff as well, down to having a fab vinyl copy of the great "Live at the Apollo"......my wife will be thrilled with this post, I don't think she has ALL of these, so great thing there, and for everyone else, this is some good stuff, in particular I always REALLY liked that "Live at the Apollo" set.........thanks to Brian for another killer submission, you guys will like this one!
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It is heartening to see so many people download The Original Disco Man from my Disco post awhile ago. Some good tracks on that, huh? And a lot of people regard that as one of J.B.'s low points! Screw critics, I say...

Anyway, listening to that album inspired me - how about some live James Brown? He released several of the greatest live albums ever made, and many are here here. This post covers his peak years, from 1963 to 1971, during which he changed black popular music at least twice: from Rhythm & Blues into Soul, and then on into what became Funk music.

And his band was killer!!! Really, the tightest band in the land, and they could turn on a dime! Members went on to be influences on their own, like Maceo Parker and the one and only Bootsy Collins. And Brown himself was a hell of a bandleader, rivaling people from the Swing days like Cab Calloway or Duke Ellington when it came to having a well-tuned machine up on stage. 

I won't walk you through each album, since it would quickly become redundant. The Famous Flames, the band featured on Live At The Apollo 1 and 2, was a fiery soul machine. By the time they got to Sex Machine in 1969, the group was transitioning into The J.B.'s. Admittedly, Sex Machine is a mixture of real live tracks and studio tracks (with canned applause), but that doesn't mean it's any less awesome!

Revolution Of The Mind: Live At The Apollo Vol. 3 is the summation of this live era, where the band could deliver both lightning fast snippets of songs, as well as twisting, extended jam versions. And J.B. still had the audience in the palm of his hand...

A recording that only just came to light in the last 10 years or so, Love Power Peace: Live At The Olympia, Paris 1971 is also an essential live album of The Godfather's. Recorded a few months before Revolution Of The Mind, it's the only recording of the original J.B.'s in concert (for example, Bootsy was gone by ROTM). And in comparison to it's somewhat tinnier-sounding siblings, it is a full-throated, dynamic sounding live album! According to the liner notes, the gig got so jumping that a French woman got onstage and started stripping. That beats Ellington at Newport, I think...

Good stuff here. And not to take away from Brown's studio albums, but the live shows just smoked! The bonus link for the post is two albums by one of the best black comedians from back in the day. It fits well with all this 70's soul and funk, I think.

Jon Der's cool "Tribute to The Fall"

March 5, 2016, 4:08 pm

≫ Next: What this blog needs? A bit of Throbbing Gristle!

≪ Previous: Some Live James Brown for the weekend compliments of Brian

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(Scott)-That Jon Der is one creative individual, I give him that.......following up Brian's recent Fall mega-
post, here comes another great friend of the blog with a PERFECT follow up......he describes it in good detail here, but I had a long drive yesterday/today and listened to a lot of this, WAY cool, and I know from Brian's post there are a LOT of Fall fans out there, so check this one out.....
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The Fall formed in 1976, and is now in its 40th year.  There are more than 30 official studio albums (plus countless bootlegs, compilations, and live albums).  The group has been the subject of eight books (one of which tracks down some of the 60 former Fall members).  The only constant in The Fall throughout the past four decades is singer and songwriter Mark E. Smith.

So where does one begin?  Brian shared ten excellent Fall albums here.  The 2004 compilation 50,000 Fall Fans Can't Be Wrong is another great place to start (although it could be expanded with a third disc to cover the decade since its release).   Here's my own compilation of essential Fall songs, presented in reverse chronological order.  Some (like "Auto Chip") have been edited for length.  "Bury" is a non-LP single version. "Blindness" is a non-CD vinyl version.  "I Want You" is a personal favorite that is actually performed by the Inspiral Carpets with Mark E. Smith on vocals (one of his many guest appearances with other artists).

I couldn't resist sharing some Fall covers and songs about The Fall.  There is a 2 CD compilation called "Perverted By Mark E." that features versions of Fall songs as well as original songs about The Fall and its leader.  Jeffery Lewis' history of the band is the only song here from that comp.  Sonic Youth recorded a session for John Peel (who was a massive Fall fan), which was released as an EP called 4 Tunna Brix.  Pavement paid tribute during another Peel Session, and Deerhunter performed a Fall song during a session for BBC DJ Marc Riley.  Riley was one of the first of many to be kicked out of The Fall by the mercurial Mark E. Smith.  

If you're curious about the wonderful and frightening world of Fall history, here's a timeline of the group's membership:  http://bit.ly/1RqQjor  If you're even curiouser, visit thefall.org, an exhaustive fansite with discography, lyrics, and news.  It was once the official Fall website, but I think Smith fired them too.

FALLBACK:                                                                                     

01  Auto Chip 2014 (edit)

02  Bury 2 + 4

03  Higgle-dy Piggle-dy

04  Blindness

05  Theme From Sparta FC

06  Cyber Insekt

07  Touch Sensitive

08  I Want You

09  Behind The Counter

10  Free Range

11  Black Monk Theme

12  Bombast

13  2 x 4

14  I Feel Voxish

15  The Classical

16  Kicker Conspiracy

17  Lie Dream Of A Casino Soul

18  Totally Wired

19  Container Drivers (Peel Session)

20  Totale's Turns (excerpt)

FALL COVERS AND TRIBUTES:                                                                                       

01  Me And Yer Granny On Bongos - The Armitage Shanks

02  Hit The North - Frank Sidebottom

03  Totally Wired - Terry Edwards

04  Southern Mark Smith - The Jazz Butcher

05  Mark E. Smith and Brix - Barbara Manning

06  Mark E. Smith - Shrag

07  How He Wrote Elastica Man - Elastica (with Mark E. Smith)

08  Stalking Mark E. Smith Around NYC - Necropolis

09  I Am Mark E. Smith - Fat White Family

10  The Story Of The Fall - Jeffrey Lewis

11  Winter - The Fiery Furnaces

12  Various Times - Wreck

13  Psycho Mafia - Sonic Youth

14  The Classical - Pavement

15  Fiery Jack - The Yummy Fur

16  Totally Wired - Yo La Tengo

17  Who Makes The Nazis - Deerhunter

18  Hip Priest - DUSTdevils

FALLBACK:  https://mega.nz/#!nIhnzDbC!BaZ9ECP-QeKn-LsIK846cZFnHN7I5Y73KI8KgIPRwHo

FALL COVERS AND TRIBUTES:  https://mega.nz/#!7dRRTZTR!MmRaapf23BjKyVaIeXUSVg2nGCTrN7r8iMxuyLPllGk

 

What this blog needs? A bit of Throbbing Gristle!

March 5, 2016, 5:03 pm

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I think this is the last of 'em, unless someone sends me another 50 or 100                              

albums, which I have no doubt at all exist. This will do it for the extremely generous submission from LoFi Larry, which covers roughly the era of 2005-more or less present, unless there are more recent releases (wouldn't doubt that either).....when I began this thing I was just going to post the 3 or 4 albums I had and forget it, but it kind of took off with a few people, and the DL numbers on these have been good and consistent so it appears that some are grabbing them as soon as they go up.....good, say I, and again, I thinks this is the last of it, but you never can tell with this bunch.

Special thanks to everyone (Brian, Rob, LoFi, sorry if I forgot someone) who submitted stuff for this project and helped to make it so epic, WAY more so than I ever would have anticipated......THANKS so much!

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2005

-Untitled 3” CD

01 What a Day/PA Destroyer

http://www37.zippyshare.com/v/0KOSYzC6/file.html

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2007
-Part Two - The Endless Knot

01 Vow of Silence/02 Rabbit Snare/03 Separated (Chris Carter Solo)/

04 Almost a Kiss/05 Greasy Spoon/06 Lyre Liar/07 Above the Below (Cosey Fanni Tutti solo)

/08 Endless Not/09 The Worm Waits Its Turn (Genesis P-Orridge solo)/

10 After the Fall (Peter Christopherson solo)                                            

http://www37.zippyshare.com/v/57SrySak/file.html

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2008

-Thirty-Second Annual Report

01 Industrial Introduction/02 Slug Bait/03 Slug Bait/04 Slug Bait/

05 Maggot Death/06 Maggot Death/07 Maggot Death/

08 After Cease to Exist/09 Zyklon B Zombie                                                 

                                                                                                                       

http://www37.zippyshare.com/v/stbbLNT1/file.html

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2009
-The Third Mind Movements

01 The man From Nowhere/02 Premature/03 Secluded/

04 Perception Is the Only Reality/05 Not That I Am/06 The Third Mind

 (First Movement)/07 The Third Mind (Second Movement)/08 The Third Mind 

(Third Movement)

                                                                                          

http://www37.zippyshare.com/v/mlw3uwxo/file.html
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2010
-Live At Casa De Musica, Portugal 2010                                        

01 X Pad/02 X Vox

http://www37.zippyshare.com/v/12NsnWbe/file.html

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2012
-Desertshore/Final Report

DESERTSHORE-01 Janitor of Lunacy/02 Abschied/

03 The Falconer/04 Afraid/05 All That Is My Own/06 

07 Mutterlein/08 Le Petit Chevalier/09 My Only Child/

10 Desertshores

THE FINAL REPORT-01 Statis/02 EHS/03 Breach/04 Um Dum Dom/

05 What He Said/06 In Accord/07 Gordian Knot

Emerge To Space Jazz/08 The End

http://www37.zippyshare.com/v/wZ2Rz5jY/file.html

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Thanks for all the help I get, and thanks to EVERYONE who reads, shares, contributes, posts, criticizes, sends death threats, etc, here!

Aorta

March 8, 2016, 5:13 pm

≫ Next: A Treasury of Shel Silverstein

≪ Previous: What this blog needs? A bit of Throbbing Gristle!

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Wrapping it up for today with some of that great hard rocking psych from that great underappreciated scene
of the late, great early 70's......I swear there was more great hard rock albums that NO ONE HEARD created in that 5 year or so period (1968-73 roughly) than any in rock history......many are JUST NOW figuring out how great this stuff all is, it was years ahead of it's time for certain, just as, (I predict) the great stoner rock bands of the modern era (say Alabama Thunderpussy, Orange Goblin, Spiritual Beggars and probably 100 others won't be appreciated for their greatness until after I am long departed).

Aorta was from Chicago, forming earlier in the 1960's, the crew that put out this pair of albums was roughly bassist Bobby Jones, singer Jim Donlinger, guitarist/multi instrumentalist Jim Nyeholt, and drummer Billy Herman. They were the actual performers of "Max Frost and the Trooper's" great "Shape of things  to come which appeared in the movie "Wild in the Streets" and is comped on a great many 60's collections, not here though.

The first album "Aorta", is a bitch, a swirling blend of fuzz guitar with soul/jazz/folk elements all screaming to come through. I think it's a near-classic, don't know how many would agree with me, but so it is.  "Strange" and "Ode to Missy Mxyzosptlk" were the singles, but nearly every track here is worth your time....interseted to hear from folks who have not heard this before......ahead of it's time? I certainly think so.

The follow up, Aorta 2, is not nearly as great as the debut......more country-leaning and spiritually-themed, i find it quite a disapointing follow-up to the debut. it's here, though, should you want a quick documentary on the rise and fall of a band that had at least ONE great one in them.

Let me know what you think......regular readers know that records of this era/style are my truest passion......I don't steer ya wrong, I hope, the first is "must hear", the second is a curiosity....procede with caution!

AORTA-01 Main Vein/02 Heart attack/03 What's In My Mind's Eye/04 Magic bed/05 Main Vein II/06 Sleep Tight/07 Catalyptic/08 Main Vein III/09 Sprinkle Road to Cork Street/10 Ode to Missy Mxyzospltk/11 Strange/12 A Thousand Thoughts/13 Thoughts and Feelings/Main Vein IV

AORTA 2-01 01 Willie Jean/02 Little Bonnie/03 Blythe Spirit/04 Beg For His Forgiveness/05 Egypt/06 His Faith in Man/07 Devil, Maggot,and Son/08 Sandcastles/09 Pickin Blues/10 Fallin Behind

Good stuff here, in particular the debut.....you guys know this stuff is one of my passions (late 60's/early 70's fairly obscure hard psych), and I have tons more to share with you.....just let me know if this is stuff everyone else wants to hear, or is it just a personal kinda thang? I want this site, as I've said before, to be known for NOTHING if not variety of GREAT stuff from different sources (thanks to my GREAT team of helpers), but if I go too far on some genre or something, please let me know, WHAT YOU GUYS WANT is what I want to give ya! Love to all!

A Treasury of Shel Silverstein

March 8, 2016, 5:41 pm

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≪ Previous: Aorta

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This is another one of Brian's genius/ecclectic creations, 100% great stuff here....as is my error, I had a bunch more stuff to send to him to flesh this out and i DIDN'T, thus likely there will be a part 2......so, for now, enjoy this stuff, and look forward to the second half (sometime down the road), which will have some FAB stuff as well......thanks as always to the forever-hardworking Brian, as he tries (harder than I do even) to get unique, thought provoking material posted here and he does a SPECTACULAR job.....really, without my helpers/guests, this blog would be a shallow imitation of some of the other well-established ones, but my TEAM makes sure that one every occasion, we at least TRY to keep it fresh, and Brian is KEY to that.....Enjoy Shel, hopefully there will be an excellent part 2 submission in the future sometime.

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Boy, are you guys getting a gift with this one! This stuff is fairly rare on blogs from what I can tell. And at least three of these can't be found anywhere else! (Hopefully that doesn't mean this gets sniped)

Shel Silverstein can be different things to people. Some may know him from being a songwriter in the 60's and 70's, penning songs for other artists - most notably "A Boy Named Sue", which became a hit for Johnny Cash. He also wrote the classic "Cover Of The Rolling Stone" for Dr. Hook. To others of us who grew up in the 70's and 80's (and maybe later for some), he was the writer and artist of the classic children's books Where The Sidewalk Ends, A Light In The Attic, and The Giving Tree. I know I've had his loopy poems in my head since I was little.

It's only in the last few years that I've gotten into his music, and I've found a lot to love. While technically you could call much of his stuff solo folk music, it's that in name only. It isn't someone standing there singing Woody Guthrie tunes with their heart on their sleeve. The first thing you'll notice is the force of his personality: he shouts, wails, garbles, gasps, and shrieks. I don't think I've heard someone else who's so present in front of a microphone. The guy's energy was boundless.

                                                                                                                                                   

The first album presented here, I'm So Good I Don't Have To Brag, was recorded live by Chess Records in 1965. It's an intimate, funny affair, with some good between song banter with the audience. The songs are great, too: "Modern Talk", "The Ugliest Man In Town", "Lemmebesomethin'". Also keep an ear out for blues legend Little Walter playing on a few tracks.

Drain My Brain - from '66 - is a more full band rock and roll album, but is no less raucous and fun. "Floobie Doobie Doo", "Hoodoo Voodoo Lady", the title track...it's all great stuff, especially the simple and beautiful "Rings Of Grass". If hippies hadn't been so scene-conscious, they would've flocked to this guy.

Boy Named Sue & His Other Country Songs contains the famous title track, as well as one of my favorites, "Dirty At San Quentin the following year.
Ol' Me". It is a more country affair than his other albums, but the genre fits him well. You can see why Johnny Cash took notice of "Sue" by the time he recorded 

Freakin' At The Freaker's Ball is classic. A really fun batch of tunes: "I Got Stoned and I Missed It", "Stacy Brown Got Two", "Don't Give A Dose To The One You Love Most", "Polly In A Porny", the title track... great stuff. If you've never heard this one, give yourself a smack and get to it!

The center of Shel's legacy - whether it be music or books - is of course Where The Sidewalk Ends. And this was the first music of his I'd ever heard. And needless to say, he brings the book to life. He is, in a word, unhinged on this recording. Somehow he seamlessly combines menace and whimsy. To quote a review of him I've read, "he experiments with inflections like a junkie whose fix is the human personality". Do I need to say anything more?

His last album from 1985, A Light In The Attic, is yet another great collection of songs and poems from one of his beloved books. Took me a long time to hunt down this one!

The last one here I'm gonna talk about out of sequence because it's so distinctive and rare. In between Boy Named Sue and Freaker's Ball, Shel recorded this acetate, which came to be called Fuck 'Em. Information on it is sketchy - all I could find is what's on the Discogs page. The disc was auctioned away years ago - never released - but somehow the album ended up on the great and mysterious Song365. It is incomplete - Discogs says 21 tracks, but there's only 14 here. But what is here is gold! "Dope" and "Fuck 'Em" are two of the best songs ever put to tape. Other funny ones, too. Definitely check this one out... I don't think you'll find it anywhere else. Scott couldn't even find it on Pirate Bay. Even a lot of Silverstein fans don't know of it's existence. If someone somehow has a more complete file, please let me know!

 The bonus link for this post is the first album by one of my favorite comics, who OD'ed over a decade ago. I miss Mitch... he was really unique. More people should know about him.

Jonder presents the Figgs

March 9, 2016, 1:29 pm

≫ Next: Good Spanish prog-metal-Avalanch

≪ Previous: A Treasury of Shel Silverstein

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I must confess ignorance of the Figgs, however, I respect Jonder's judgement that I WILL be familiar with
them in the next few hours....sounds like yet another winner whipped up by regular guest/contributor Jonder! Many thanks!
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The Figgs are my favorite rock band in the Northern Hemisphere.  (You Am I rules Down Under.)  The Figgs' 1994 debut, Low-Fi At Society High, is a joyride of whip-smart songs with the energy and attitude of early Elvis Costello and Joe Jackson (think "Got The Time", not "Stepping Out").  If you see Low-Fi At Society High in the discount bin, grab it!   

After two major setbacks (being dropped by a major label, and losing guitarist Guy Lyons), the Figgs made one of their strongest albums, 2000's Sucking In Stereo.   The Figgs have thrived as a trio with two prolific songwriters: guitarist Mike Gent and bassist Pete Donnelly.  Mike and Pete have done a number of solo records and side projects.  The Figgs also played and recorded as Graham Parker's backing band for over a decade.  Figgs drummer Pete Hayes also writes and sings: his "Je T'Adore" was used in a Lexus ad.  

To celebrate their 25th year, the Figgs compiled 1000 People Grinning, a 25 song anthology.  It's another essential purchase.  The blog Wilfully Obscure recently gathered up all of the Figgs singles and songs from tribute albums (see below).  There's a new Figgs record coming in May 2016, and you can hear three of the new songs at soundcloud.com/thefiggs. 

I urge you to go to a Figgs show and buy their records at thefiggs.net.  They are a hard working band and deserve your support.  To spread the word, I put together some favorites that aren't on the anthology (plus a few solo songs), starting with their 2015 album and going back to Ginger, their first cassette release from 1992. 

Jonder's Figgs Favorites:  http://tinyurl.com/jondurl

Wilfully Obscure's Figgs singles:  www80.zippyshare.com/v/tXsRuF4Q/file.html

Figgs fansite:  aminorobsession.weebly.com

01 Wealthy Women/ 02 Chased/ 03 Dorado/ 04 The Only One/ 05 The Central Stumble/ 06 Paper Knives/ 07 City Loft Home/ 08 Longing For You/ 09 I Brought Kicks/ 10 Gone To Seed/ 11 Sit And Shake/ 12 If I Lose My Heart/ 13 The Big Mistake/ 14 Three Times A Riff/ 15 The Daylight Strong/ 16 Rushing All The Time/ 17 Dance Lesson/ 18 Wait On Your Shoulders/ 19 Excuse The Lame Excuse/ 20 Take Everything/ 21 Another View/ 22 FTMU/ 23 Powder King/ 24 Cherry Blow Pop/ 25 Slow Down/ 26 Floored/ 27 Harrison St/ 28 I Got The Drums

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Good Spanish prog-metal-Avalanch

March 9, 2016, 5:28 pm

≫ Next: By request, EELS part 3, and OUT!

≪ Previous: Jonder presents the Figgs

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Formed in Spain in the early 1990's and with a nice edgy hard/metal prog sound to them, Avalanch suffer  I already know, which is not all that much. Lets see how much we can piece together.
from the same fate, stateside, that so many non-English speaking bands do, they are virtually unheard of. However, this is a pretty good selection of their stuff, although I am pretty sure not their entire catalogue....a bit hard to get info on them, other than what

The first album (there were an earlier EP or 2 butI don't have) hit in 1997, "La Lama Eterna" and, at this point the band consisted of vocalist Juan Lozano, bassist Francisco Fidalgo, Drummer Fernando Arias, flute player (I don't know how to spell the "correct term" for it. Fuck you.) Fernando Arias, and guitar-whiz/multi instrumental/resident musical genius Alberto Riaondo, who would be the band's focal point throughout their run. The album is fair-to-good, somewhat Tull-tinged metal with fine Spanish language vocals (yes, as always, I'm a sucker for foreign language rock vocals, I know many Yanks don't share my enthusiasm)...
Rocks out (and "progs-out") pretty good, the title track, "El Despertar" and the 12-minute "Avalanch" are good ones and I'd give this a solid 3-star rating. "Eternal Flame" is the English language version of this album, I listened once so I could attempt to learn a bit lyrically, but the English vocals just don't get it for me. If any of you prefer this, the English version, please inform me, it'd be interesting.

My favorite release is 1999's "Llanto De Un Heroe"......as far as I know they did not release an English version of this one, this a more complex, instrumentally/musically issue than before, and I think new vocalist Victor Garcia is maybe a small improvement.......this album sounds like it wants to be a "classic", and hell, maybe in Spain it is considered one.....of just always like this one, nice trippy/spacy, far less metallic......I just really do like this one.

"Dias de Gloria" is a good sounding live recording, in which the band shows in no uncertain terms that then
can crank the amps up.......an fine and unknown live metal release from 2000. "El Angel Caido", from 2001 is about as good as "Llanto", returning to the earlier, more power rock sound and still keeping the cool proggy touches.....listening this second as I type this to the metal throbber "Corazon Negro" as I type this, sounds perfectly good (I must point out the very good hard rock drumming on these albums, don't think I noticed it as much first time round back in the early 00's.

Changing course again in a more sometimes almost folk/prog, but still hard rocking (this band showed excellent growth along the way, some NEVER learn about the concept) was "Los Poetas han muerto"......still plenty of Riaondo's guitar antics and Garcia's vocal theatrics to keep it interesting to me.......not as good as "Llanto" or "La Lama", but if you've liked this up to now, this is certainly not disgrace. Perfectly good album. There is also (not sure if a "bonus disc" or seperate release" entitled "Los Petas no han muerto", a live set recorded in Madrid, again showing off these boys's considerable live rock n roll chops.

The next LP the guys delievered was 2004's "las Ruinades del eden", focusing back more on the band's hard-rock/metal side, lots of riffing and soloing and yelling, sounds perfectly respectable to me......."Juego Cruel" and "Lucero" are standouts, maybe, but this is another good effort from this criminally underappreciated rock band.

"Mother Earth" was another attempt to find a US audience with an English language version of "Los Poetas han muerto".....deosn't work for me, at all, and if the oppurtunity to hear these amigos take on U2's "Where the Streets have No Name", HERE is your big chance!

IN 2005, they released "El Hijo Prodigo", another quite good collection of guitar-driven riff rocking......perhaps it's my prejudice in favor of non-English vocals at time, but what exactly was these guys low point? Pretty good consistent hard rock career, better, than, say, Rush IMO.....(think that might start something? Darn wouldn't that be a shame)....."Papel Roto", -"Semilia Rencor", and "Le Cara Oculta De la Luna" stand out to me as perfectly serviceable hard rock tunes for an old hard rock guy like me.

"Un Paso Mias" is a good enough best of, with a few bonus tracks tacked on to keep it interesting.....perhaps if you are not such a fan of non-English rock as I am, you may wish to start here.....this is good stuff here, a career that was a much better run, musically, than a lot of other bands get......the remind me, not in sound (obviously) but in just comparing the careers, somewhat, of Skyclad, folk/prog laced metal tunes that don't ever forget the metal.......-Skyckad of course always had brilliant lyrics, and I don't know about them here as I also prefer NOT to translate lyrics I can't get, but they sure SOUND good, and I bet more than one of you out there consider this something of a "find".......I hope so.

LA LLAMA ETERNA-01 La Llama Eterna/02 El Mudno Perdido/03 El Despertar/04 Vicio Letal/05 Esclavo de la ira/06 Avalon, la Morada del ray/07 Excalibur/08 Sigue Asi/09 Rainbow Warrior/10 Juego Cruel/11 La Taberna/12 Avalanch/13 El Cierre De la Taberna

ETERNAL FLAME-01 Eternal Flame/02 The Lost World/03 Awake/04 Lethal Vice/05 Slave of the Anger/06 Avalon, the King's Abode/07 Excalibur/08 Following/09 Rainbow Warrior/10 Cruel Game/11 The Tavern/12 Avalanch/13 Closing the tavern

LLANTO DE UN HEROE-01 Intro/02 Toruqumada/03 Por me Libertad/04 Pelayo/05 Vientos del sur/06 Polvo, Sudor y Sangre/07 Cid/08 Dias de Gloria?/09 No Pidas Que Crea En Ti/10 Cambaral/11 Aqui Estare/12 Llanto de un heroe

DIAS DE GLORIA-01 Intro/02 Torqumada/03 Por mi Libertad/04 El Despertar/05 Vicio letal/06 Vienos del Sur/07 Excalibur/08 Pelayo/09 I Want Out/10 Epilogo/11 Save Me

EL ANGEL CADO-01 Hacia la Luz/02 Tierra De Nadie/03 El Angel Caido/04 Xana/05 La Buena Nueva/06 Levantate Y Anda/07 Alam En Pena/08 Corazon Negro/09 Delirious de Grandeza/10 Antojo de un Dios/11 El Septimo Dia/12 las Ruinas Del Eden (Act 1)/13 Las Ruinas Del Eden (Act 2)/14 Las Ruinas Del Eden (Act 3)/15 Santa barbara

LOS POETAS HAN MUERTO-01 Lucero/02 Cien veces/03 Nino/04 Jamas/05 Alborado/06 El viejo Torreon/07 Del Cielo a la tierra/08 Los Poetas han Muerto/09 Madre Tierra/10 Ecos de vida

LOS PUETOS NO HAN MUERTO-01 Cien veces/02 Nono/03 jamas/04 El viejo Torreon/05 Interludio/06 Vientos del Sur/07 Lucero

LAS RUINADES DEL EDEN-01 Juego Cruel/02 Delirious de Grandeza/03 Xana/04 Lucero/05 Vientos del Sur/06 El Angel Ciado/07 El Viejo Torrieon/08 Corazon Negro/09 Pelayo/10 Leavantate y Anda/11 Antojo  de un Dios/12 Cambaral/13 Las Ruinades Del Eden

MOTHER EARTH-01 Lucero/02 One Hundred Times/03 Come To My Arms/04 No more Damage/05 Dawn/06 Old Fortress/07 Heaven and earth/08 Echos of a Life/09 Where the Streets Have No name

EL HIJO PRODIGO-01 Alas de Cristal/02 Semilla de Rencor/03 Aun Respiro/04 La Cara Oculta de la Luna/05 Tu Fuego En Mi/06 Papel Roto/07 mar de Lagrimas/08 Un paso mas/09 Lagrimas  Megras/10 El Hijo Prodigo

UN PASO MAS-01 Agora Non/02 Alas de Cristal/03 Nino/04 Antojo de un Dios/05 Delirios de Grandiza (Acoustic)/06 mar de lagrimas/07 Xana/08 Juego Cruel/09 Lucero/10 Cambaral (acoustic)/11 No more Damage/12 Where the Streets Have No name/13 El Principe feliz

So what do you think? I continue to try and deliver shit of the most varied nature, many don't know this troup, and they are BAD ASS, for fans of metal, prog rock, non-English language rock, etc......this is a bunch of good shit here, don't let it go by and notify me three years from now asking me to re-up them......

By request, EELS part 3, and OUT!

March 10, 2016, 1:39 pm

≫ Next: Brian's got a Nina Simone Trio

≪ Previous: Good Spanish prog-metal-Avalanch

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If you've been paying attention for the last few weeks, you'll know that friend of the blog Blake requested
some EELS.....well, I knew I had SOME (2 or 4 albums), but I had no idea of the mountain of material (good stuff too mostly) that was available.....so I decided to make this comprehensive, the first part covering the studio releases, the second taking on live stuff, and now, and this is especially for EELS true mega-fans, singles, EP's rarities and more.......I have by no means listened to all of this stuff yet (anxious to though), so critique will be limited.....however, just reading the descriptions should let you know if you want these or not.....thanks to Blake for the original request, I know I learned a BUNCH about EELS I'd not known before!

OK, we are gonna start off with three pre-EELS EP's done as "solo" efforts from E. We have three such EP's, "Bad Dude in Love" (1985), "A Man Called E" (1992), and "Not For Airplay" (1995), also a full length pre-EELS full length by E entitled "Broken Toy Shop" (1993)......I have only carpet-bomb listened to these, what I've heard I do like, and NO QUESTION anyone can hear the seeds of what would be EELS' later, more defined work here.

The CD "Souljacker" (2001) came with a pair of singles (I am told sometimes sold in the same package, sometimes not), each containing four tracks.....maybe a bit of overlap, but completists will love them. The singles titles are "22 Miles of hard Road" and "Rotten World Blues", see below for track lists.

OK, never heard this one, not sure I want to, some sort of E side project entitled (wait for it) "I Am the
Messiah" credited to "MC Honky"......this is from 2002, as I said, I'm gonna pass until someone recommends it to me, hey, it's here if you want it.

E also released a non-EELS soundtrack album, "Levity" (2003), I carpet bombed this one a bit too and it sounded pretty good as well......again, recommendations? Hatreds? Another one I never even knew existed.

Perhaps the true gem here (ask a rabid EELS fan) might be "Useless Trinkets", a 2 disc set jammed with rarities, B-sides, all sorts of odds and ends.....likely something even the biggest "true EELS believer" may be unfamilar with unless they already have this.

Finally, for the dabblers, this may be what you've been wanting....."Meet the EELS is a fairly straight forward "Best of" set, a lot of the tracks (the ones I WAS familiar with) from the earlier LP's are here, a nice collection if this is the one stop shopping you are looking for.

This has been a challenge, trying to do something comprehensive on
a band with which I was only about 1/3 familiar........I learned a lot about E/EELS, and I anxious to hear the rest of this stuff......STILL reminds me a lot of Elliott Smith (as I think I said, there is a MEGA-Smith post coming at some point, and him I AM familar with) or Nick Drake, especially songwriting wise, and those are certainly not put downs......Blake, this is for you buddy, if you happen to have anything to share with the rest of the blogger world, don't hesitate!

BAD DUDE IN LOVE-01 Everybody's Tryin' To Bum Me Out/02 Gotta Get Out Tonight/03 History Baby/04 Too busy Thinking About My Baby/05 Eunice/06 I Just Wanna Be With You/07 Bad Dude In Love/08 The Girl In My Neighborhood/09 Burning Love/10 Aint Braggin/11 I Can't Get Next To You

A MAN CALLED E-01 Hello Cruel Worald/02 Fitting In With the Misfits/03 Are You & Me Gonna Happen/04 Looking Out the Window With a Blue Hat On/05 Nowheresville/06 Symphony For Toy Piano In G Minor/07 Mockingbird Franklin/08 I've Been Kicked Around/09 Pray/10 E's Tune/11 You'll Be the Scarecrow

BROKEN TOY SHOP-01 Shine It All On/02 Standing at the Gate/03 The Only Thing I Care About/04 Manchester Girl/05 LA River/06 A Most Unpleasant Man/07 Mass/08 Tomorrow I'll Be Nine/09 The Day I Wrote You Off/10 Someone to Break the Spell/11 She Loves a Puppet/12 My Old Raincoat/13 Permanent Broken Heart/14 Eight Lives Left

NOT FOR AIRPLAY-01 Shine It All On/02 LA River/03 Tomorrow I'll Be Nine/04 Everything's Gonna Be Cool This Christmas

22 MILES OF HARD ROAD-01 I Write the B-Sides/02 Hidden Track/03 Jehovah's Witness/04 Mr E's Beautiful Remix (Butch n Joey Remix)

ROTTEN WORLD BLUES-01 I Write the B-Sides/02 Hidden Track/03 Jehovah's Witness/04 Rotten World Blues

I AM THE MESSIAH (MC HONKY)-01 Sonnet No. 3 (Like a Duck) (Sir Rock-a-Lot and Sir Whacks
a-Lot)-/02 Hung Up (Sir Rock-a-Lot and Sir Whacks a-Lot)/03 The Object (Sir Rock-A -Lot and Playboy Gigolo Bandit)/04 A Good Day to Be You (Sir Rock-a-Lot and Sir Whacks a-Lot)/05 Baby Elephant Rock-A-Bye (Wally Gagel and Sir-Rock-A-Lot)/06 What a Bringdown (Sir Rock-a-Lot and Playboy Gigolo Bandit)/07 Only a Rose Pt. 1 (Rudolf Friml and Brian Hooker)/08 My Bad Seed (Sir Rock-a-Lot and Playboy Gigolo Bandit/09 The Devil Went Down to Silverlake (Gagel and Sir Rock-a-Lot)/10 Soft Velvety 'Fer (L'il Fer, Sir Rock-a-Lot, and Sir Whacks-a-Lot)/11 The Baby That Was You (Sir Rock-a-Lot and Sir Whacks a-Lot)/12 3 Turntables and 2 Microphones (Sir Rock-a-Lot and Sir Whacks a-Lot)/13 Only a Rose Pt. II (Friml and Hooker)

LEVITY SOUNDTRACK-01 What I Remember Most/02 Skywriting/03 Running the Bath/04 Gravity/05 Haunted Piano #1/06 In Manual's Room/07 Taking a Bath in Rust/08 Flashback Rules/09 Post-flashback Blues/10 Lonesome Subway/11 Haunted Organ #1/12 Sofia Writing In the Sky/13 To Adel Easley/Trouble in the Alley/14 Manual's Got a Train to Catch

USELESS TRINKETS DISC 1-01 Novocaine for the Soul (Live From Hell)/02 Fucker/03 My Beloved Monster (Live from Tenessee)/04 Dog's Life/05 Susan's Apartment/06 Manchester Girl (Live on the BBC)/07 Flower (Live BBC)/08 My Beloved Mad Monster Party (Live BBC)/09 Animal/10 Stepmother/11 Everything's Gonna Be Cool This Christmas/12 Your Lucky Day In Hell (Michael Simpson Remix)/13 Altar Boy/14 Novocaine For the Soul (Moog Cookbook remix)/15 If I Was Your Girlfriend/16 Bad News/17 Funeral Parlor/18 Hospital Food (Live BBC)/19 Open the Door (BBC)/20 Birdgirl on a Cell Phone/21 Vice President Fruitley/22 My Beloved Monstrosity/23 The Dark End of the Street (Live)/24 The Cheater's Guide to Your Heart (Live)/25 Useless Trinkets

USELESS TRINKETS DISC 2-01 Mr E's Beautiful Remix/02 Souljacker part 1 (alternate Version)/03
Dog Faced Boy (Alternate Version)/04 Jennifer Eccles/05 Rotten World Blues/06 Can't Help Falling In Love/07 Christmas Is Going to the Dogs/08 Mighty Fine Blues/09 Eyes Down/10 Skywriting/11 Taking a bath In Rust/12 Estranged Friends/13 Her/14 Waltz of the Naked Clowns/15 I Like Birds (live)/16 Sad Foot Sign/17 Living Life/18 The Bright Side/19 After the Operation/20 Jelly Dancers/21 I Could Never take the Place of Your man (Live Town Hall)/22 Mr. E's Beautiful Blues (Live at Town Hall)/23 I Want to Protect You/24 I Put a Spell On You (Live)/25 Saw a UFO

MEET THE EELS: ESSENTIAL EELS-01 Novocaine For the Soul/02 Susan's House/03 My Beloved Monster/04 Your Lucky Day In Hell/05 3 Speed/06 Last Stop: This Town/07 Climbing to the Moon/08 Flyswatter/09 I Like Birds/10 Mr E's Beautiful Blues/11 It's a Motherfucker/12 Souljacker Part I/13 That's Not Really Funny/14 Fresh Feeling/15 Get Ur Freak On/16 Saturday Morning/17 Love of the Loveless/18 Dirty Girl (Live at Town Hall)/19 I Need Some Sleep/20 Hey Man (Now You're Really Living)/21 I'm Going to Stop Pretending That I Didn't Break Your Heart/22 Trouble With Dreams/23 Railroad Man (Edit)/24 Losing Streak

So there ya go, 3 parts, God knows how many albums and tunes, I hope there is something here for everyone, hardcore fans and novices alike.....I enjoyed doing this one, as I learned alot and look forward to hearing those I haven't gotten to yet!

Brian's got a Nina Simone Trio

March 10, 2016, 2:04 pm

≫ Next: Chelsea Punk Singles Collection

≪ Previous: By request, EELS part 3, and OUT!

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(SCOTT)-In our continued effort to keep thing here both interesting and varied, here is Brian's latest
submission, and as usual it's completely unexpected, unique, and of the utmost interest.

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Anybody remember Point Of No Return, that corny American remake of La Femme Nikita? Saw it in high school, don't remember a thing about it, except the fact that Bridget Fonda's character loved Nina Simone. That little factoid somehow led to me becoming a Nina fan myself a few years later. The same reason why Thelonious Monk's appearance on the Se7en soundtrack caused me to become a jazz nut. Life is weird, huh?

I recently saw a trailer for a movie coming out this year about Nina, starring Zoe Saldana (Guardians Of The Galaxy, Star Trek). I understand there's some controversy about such a pretty, light-skinned actress playing a woman who looked so unconventional and unquestionably black. Still, I'm interested to see it - anything that raises public knowledge of Nina is a good thing - and figured I'd get the word and some music of Nina's out beforehand....

                                        

The woman was mercurial, unclassifiable, and very unique.  Her music was jazz, but also touched on folk, blues, and soul, all the time bearing the stamp of her distinctive vocals. There's something androgynous about that voice. And I don't mean that in a funny way; I think it's the central fascinating aspect of her sound. No one, except for maybe Cassandra Wilson, has had a voice like that in contemporary music.

I'm giving you 3 albums: The Amazing Nina Simone (1959), Nina With Strings (1965), and Nina Simone Sings The Blues (1966). Amazing was her second album, and contains "Blue Prelude" and "That's Him Over There", the two songs that bewitched me years ago. Strings actually is a hodgepodge with some added strings, but I still like it. It's contains the rhythmically driving "Blackbird" as well as the stomping "Chain Gang (The Work Song)", which she also plays piano on. BTW, this album is an unsequenced file, so you'll have to number the tracks. Sorry.

Sings The Blues is a great album, too. While no one will confuse Nina with Etta James, she acquits herself well. I particularly like "Backlash Blues" and the really funky "Buck". It also contains her second recording of "House Of The Rising Sun", which is done at a much faster tempo than her stark version off of At The Village Gate. The lady was one of a kind. Hopefully I plant a seed of fandom in some of you. Her voice has gotten me through many hard times. 

The bonus link for this post is an album by an old black comic most of you probably haven't heard of. Funny stuff, though. Really rare, and ripped from warm, slightly crackly vinyl. 

Chelsea Punk Singles Collection

March 10, 2016, 6:23 pm

≫ Next: Heron Oblivion

≪ Previous: Brian's got a Nina Simone Trio

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I had another fab modern day psych post from John N all ready to go BUT had a technical difficulty or
two....look for ittomorrow, trust me it is BAD FUCKING ASS.......so, while we wait for that, why not go back to (one of) my default positions, ie, PUNK ROCK SINGLES, dog, this time from the great Chelsea!

This is the extent of my personal collection from Chelsea, and it is quite good.....the time/place are right (England, mid 70's), and the requisite "angry young man" stuff is here with no problem.....here are ALL thier singles, A & B sides, which kick like all good punk of the era and while great, also place you in a wonderfuly dated time/place.......great stuff, you'll love it. Trying to keep the variety out there for ya, if there is something else you'd prefer, LET US KNOW, we want to be varied, we want to be unique, and we mostly WANT TO GIVE YOU WHAT YOU WANT!........I wouldn't have even put this one up tonight had I not had a (small) issue or two with John N's latest psych masterpiece......likely Friday for that one....but for now check this out, I love it, and if you know the stuff I like, by now, this will be for you as well!

CHELSEA PUNK SINGLES COLLECTION-01 Right To Work/02 The Loner/03 High Rise Living/04 No Admission/05 Urban kids/06 No Flowers/07 No One's Coming Outside/08 What Would You Do/09 I'm On Fire/10 Look at the Outside/11 Don't Get Me Wrong/12 No Escape/13 Decide/14 Rockin Horse/15 Years Away/16 Freemans/17 ID Parade/18 How Do You know/19 Evacuate/20 New Era/21 War Across the Nation/22 Stand out/23 Last Drink

If you are familiar, you know how great this is......if not, enjoy the new experience!

Heron Oblivion

March 11, 2016, 1:46 pm

≫ Next: Rubber City Rebels

≪ Previous: Chelsea Punk Singles Collection

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(Scott)-this is yet another fab submission from John N, I gave it a bit of a listen today and it is right up MY
alley, at least......this is some fab modern-day psych, you'll love this one trust me.......John N is not about to steer any of us wrong, so check this and enjoy how bad ass it is...this is a new (2016) recording, but I'm THINKING the band will appreciate the exposure......if anyone objects let me know, but I found this to be a great listen, and I think you may as well! (Review written by Randy Reynolds)--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you think Meg Baird (Espers) paired up

with former Comets on Fire dudes, Ethan Miller and Noel Von Harmonson in a West Coast psych band sounds solid, you my friend, are right! Throw in guitaristCharlie Saufley (Assembled Head in Sunburst Sound) and you’ve got some truly wild heat called Heron Oblivion.

On their debut, Heron Oblivion, Meg Baird miraculously channels the spirit of Sandy Denny, Grace Slick, and Djong Yun behind the kit while Noel, Charlie and Ethan set fire to flames all around her. “Beneath Fields”BEGINS this scorching LP with some chilling psych that is pushed and pulled along by Baird’s stunning vocal melody. “Oriar” is a blessed and burned re-imagining of Fairport Convention’s Unhalfbricking,FINDING Baird blissfully leading the listener past the wreckage left behind by the band.

“Rama” is a sprawling 10+ minute jam with an indispensible chorus and plenty of room for the band to get in the ditch. Miller shines on “Faro,” holding down the low end with command while Harmonson and Saufley reach toward solar freedom. “Seventeen Landscapes”SWEEPSacross several Psych sub-genres before settling into a Dino Valenti dirge that just won’t quit.

Given the band’s pedigree, it is no surprise that Heron Oblivion is so damned wonderful. Meg Baird is the guiding light, providing sanctuary for Miller, Saufley and Harmonson to freely maneuver and take a few leaps toward the fringe. With Heron Oblivion, Baird and Co. have created a Neo-Psych classic and one of the bestRECORDS of 2016.

past the wreckage left behind by the ba