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And So To Bed.......

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Like the String Quartet thing of yesterday, there are a WHOLE BUNCH of these, and if someone wants to
DL all of them, I will put them up, but I'm not going to torture you to that degree......I think I once may have posted the Tool version of "Lullabye Renditions", stumbled on the Nirvana version yesterday, and with Nirvana being one of my ten fave bands of them all, I thought I'd contribute this to any parents of young kiddies out there, who want to raise them RIGHT (I talked a while back about my son listening to Mazzy Star when he was In Utero, fetuses today are just SO MUCH luckier......I seriously WOULD use this for a small child's sleep-time music, and there are more on the Bay, a LOT more in fact......but we'll just stick with Nirvana here......Variety. It's what I strive for, and eccentricity.......hell, I know this won't be for everyone, won't be for most, BUT I really do think if you want to instill a great sense of music in your infant, perhaps in 18 or 20 years you will be thanking BigScott (I'm sure I'll be Dead, but it'll be my legacy!)

LULLABY RENDITIONS OF NIRVANA-01 In Bloom/02 Smells Like Teen Spirit/03 Lithium/04 Something In the Way/05 About a Girl/06 On a Plain/07 Heart shaped Box/08 All Apologies/09 Serve the Servants/10 Come As You Are

Paint It Black Part 2

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No, not another covers project, even I wouldn't do THAT to you.....this comes from Mojo Magazine, their giveaway CD from the current issue......they've had some good ones, but this one is fantastic, with some of the "darker" sounds of the mid 60's, garage-punk scene......a lot of this stuff is rarely comped, including one of my personal very faves, The Bonniwell Music Machine.......but also Red Crayola, The Rationals, Crazy World of Arthur Brown.......all tremendous stuff, along with stuff from the Seeds, the Yardbirds, and more......really not a dog in the bunch to be honest, so enjoy, and thanks to John N for this submission.....I know I have a bunch of other "Mojo Presents" discs around here somewhere, and I really don't think I've ever done a post on them, maybe soon, just thinking aloud, but this really is tremendous, listened to it all today and you will not be a bit disappointed, trust me.

01. The Mickey Finn – Garden of My Mind
02. The Bonniwell Music Machine – Dark White
03. The Silence – Down Down
04. The 13th Floor Elevators – Reverberation (Doubt)
05. The Spencer Davis Group – Morning Sun
06. The Seeds – Sad and Alone
07. The Yardbirds – Still I’m Sad
08. The Pretty Things – The Sun
09. Chris Farlowe – Paint It Black (Soundtrack vers.)
10. The Rationals – Leaving Here
11. Hat and Tie – Finding It Rough
12. Mountain Men – Too Many People Around
13. The Lloyd Alexander Real Estate – Whatcha Gonna Do (When Your Baby Leaves You)
14. The Crazy World of Arthur Brown – Devil’s Grip
15. The Red Crayola – Hurricane Fighter Plane

Jonder Presents Hypnolovewheel (Part 1)

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(Scott)-Leave it to Jonder to continue sending me stuff I've never heard of, which, as I always say is a
WONDERFUL thing....I haven't had a chance to listen to these yet, but I will in the next few days, sounds good to me....for now I'll let him talk you through it though.
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A file sharer named Zuiop recently posted the debut Hypnolovewheel album (Turn! Turn! Burn!), which reminded me of how much I love this New York alternative rock band from the 80s/90s.    

As the critic Byron Coley wrote in Trouser Press, "Hypnolovewheel carry a kinda avant-garage ethos into all sorts of unexpected places. Refusing to be pinned down to any one stylistic board, the group wiggles around through a wide array of psychedelic pop, punk and garage-mush puddles... When they come up with something that's potentially too catchy, Dave Ramirez and Steve Hunking bury it under a small load of six-string noise." That last sentence -- plus a comparison to the Embarrassment -- sold me on the band.

Someone (probably Coley) wrote in Spin, "They've taken 20 years of rock & roll history and broken every riff, drum roll, bassline and melody they could get their hands on, then reassembled the whole schlemiel with all the finess of a 3-year-old building a model airplane.  To Hypnolovewheel, all the world's a playpen and they're the brats who own the place."

Hypnolovewheel released five albums.  The band broke up around 1995.  

Turn! Turn! Burn! (1988) - tinyurl.com/glrz9gz
Candy Mantra (1990) - tinyurl.com/h9us38u
Space Mountain (1991) - tinyurl.com/h4qw284
Angel Food (1992) - tinyurl.com/zff3xzo
Altered States + Peace Of Mind EP (1993) - tinyurl.com/z7enohm

"Wow" music video:  youtu.be/7AaFCtfVojc
"I Dream Of Jeannie" video:  youtu.be/_BnXpVxf54I

Iggy Pop's Early Solo LP's

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I know Iggy has been at it forever, I don't think (not positive) that I've ever heard of anything post-new
values, and I DO know that I don't have any (likely COULD find them on the Bay but I'm not sure of what to expect......anyone with KNOWLEDGE of the post-(original) Stooges Iggy Pop stuff, let me know if it's worth my while), so today I will give you the four albums I DO know, and we'll take it from there.

After the Stooges imploded, Iggy recorded "Kill City" with James Williamson.....it's a rough sounding album, blusier than the previous Stooges classics, and I think in general somewhat underrated.....there are some other sounds on here, other than the standard guitar/bass/drums, there are, at various times, there are some keyboard parts, some sax, etc......if one thinks of this as a great lost Stooges album, one would be amiss, but to think of it as its own piece of work one would be fine.

In 1977 Iggy released "The Idiot", produced by David Bowie whose influence is all over the album. It's a polarizing album, many love it, many hate it......barely hard rocking at all, it does have some charming stuff ("Sister Midnight", "Nightclubbing", "Dum Dum Boys")......I find it to be just OK, but you gotta give the boy a point for trying.

"Lust For Life" was released the same year......Bowie produced again, and I personally find it the best of this cluster of albums.....the title track is so well known nowadays it is used in advertising (if you'd have told me THAT in 1977, I'd have asked the name of your dealer), but it really IS a good song. Better still is the lesser-known "Turn Blue", in particular the "Jesus......this is Iggy" portion of the track.

Finally my senior year in high school he released "New Values"....it's surprisingly good, with frantic tracks "I'm Bored", "Five Foot One", and "Billy Is a Runaway"......there are other good ones here, too, and if your familarity ends with "Lust for Life" or whatever, you may find this the most Stooges-like of this foursome (James Williamson produced).

OK Iggy has released about a zillion albums since, and as I said, I honestly don't recall ever hearing any of them....I checked the Bay, and there are a bunch of them there, but someone tell me which are good and which suck, please, and maybe we'll post a few more and I'll learn something. Until then........

KILL CITY-01 Kill City/02 Sell Your Love/03 Beyond the Law/04 I Got  Nothing/05 Johanna/06 Night
Theme/07 Night Theme (Reprise)/08 Consolation Prizes/09 No Sense of Crime/10 Lucky Monkeys/11 Master Charge

THE IDIOT-01 Sister Midnight/02 Nightclubbing/03 Funtime/04 Baby/05 China Girl/06 Dum Dum Boys/07 Tiny Girls/08 Mass Production

LUST FOR LIFE-01 Lust For Life/02 Sixteen/03 Some Weird Sin/04 The Passenger/05 Tonight/06 Success/07 Turn Blue/08 Neighborhood Threat/09 Fall In Love With Me

NEW VALUES-01 Tell Me a Story/02 New Values/03 Girls/04 I'm Bored/05 Don't Look Down/06 The Endless Sea/07 Five Foot One/08 How Do You Fix a Broken on part/09 Angel/10 Curiosity/11 African Man/12 Billy Is a Runaway

So here ya go.....and if anyone has advice about the many later releases, as I said, I can get them with a click but don't really want to in cases they suck.


Vendetta Red

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From Seattle and perhaps the first band I can recall being called "post grunge", I have but their two major
label releases, they also had a couple of small-label releases and a handfull of  EP's , none of which I have ever heard and cannot find online, and these are a few things I really like to hear if any of you happen to have em.....

"Between the Never and the Now" was released in 2003, pretty good (and well received at the time) alt-rock, especially good lyrical content. "Shatterday" was released as a single and is a highlight, and "Opiate Summer", "Accident Sex", and "Ambulence Chaser" are all excellent songs that for me sounded pretty radio-ready, but don't recall much airplay for them, could be flawed in my memory of that though.

They followed up two years later with "Sisters of the Red Death", which I like even better.....somewhat simpler song structures and still sharp lyrics and vocals from Zachary Davis.....the opening track is called "Vendetta Red Cried Rape on Their Date With Destiny", and it's a winner.....there is a sort of sci-fi-ish /horror concept going on here, I've read about it a few times and really don't want to go into it that much (ie it;s kind of dumb, actually, but that doesn't detract from a damn good batch of tunes.) Besides the fab opening track, other standout songs here are "Joyless Euphoria", "Shiver" and "The Great Castration", and I'm sure I could probably get with the "concept" if I felt it were necessary......still a good album though, medium-hard rocking alt/pop tunes, or, as dumb as the term may sound, "post grunge".......I guess so, but two pretty good (3 star for "Between", 3.5 for "Sisters" ) releases.

BETWEEN THE NEVER AND THE NOW-01 There Only Is/ 02 Stay Home/03 Opiate Summer/ 04 Seconds Away/05 Shatterday/06 Accident Sex/07 Caught You Like a Cold/08 Suicide Party/09 Lipstick Tourniquets/10 Ambulence Chaser/11 Por Vida/12  PS Love the Black

SISTERS OF THE RED DEATH-01 Vendetta Red Cried Rape on Their Date With Destiny/02 The Body and the Blood/03 A Dark Silhouette/04 Shiver/05 In Lieu of Dead Brides/06 Silhouette Serenade/07 The Ballet/08 The Great Castration/09 Gloria/10 Run/11 Coital Improv/12 A Joyless Euphoria


These albums seem to have been forgotten about fairly quickly, I really like both of them a good bit, perhaps you will as well, and if you happen to have any of the earlier stuff, I'd love to hear it, I guess a handful of the tracks on "Between" are re-workings of stuff on one of the small label releases.


The Mickey Finn

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From John N comes a link for a great lost 60's band, I snatched it ONE day before the link was going to
expire, and I'm glad I did.....they were featured on yesterday's "Mojo Presents: Paint It Black" set......I could describe them for you but the attached review does a fine enough job, so let's take the easy way out and go this direction:
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The Mickey Finn traveled in the same circles as The Rolling Stones and The Pretty Things, but despite some very close calls, the band never hit the big time.  Garden of My Mind: The Complete Recordings collects The Mickey Finn’s 1964-1967 Blue Beat, Oriole, Columbia, Polydor and Direction singles along with previously unreleased demo recordings to paint a full portrait of the cult-favorite band.

The story of The Mickey Finn began in the U.K. circa 1962 when guitarist Mickey Waller joined with drummer Richard Brand in The Strangers.  By 1963, Waller and Brand had teamed with bassist John Burkett, vocalist Alan Mark and keyboardist John “Fluff Cooke” as Mickey Finn and The Blue Men.  Under this moniker, the group released a trio of singles, all included here: “Tom Hark” b/w “Please Love Me” on Blue Beat, and “Pills” b/w “Hush Your Mouth” and “Reelin’ and A’ Rockin'” b/w “I Still Want You” on Oriole.  These singles established the band’s “bluebeat” sound and featured choice contributions from friend Jimmy Page – not on guitar, but on harmonica!  Page also joined the band for some onstage gigs.

As 1964 ended, John Burkett departed the group and was replaced by Mick Stannard.  Columbia signed Porgy and Bess showstopper “It Ain’t Necessarily So.”  (Ironically, the character who sings that song in the original musical-folk opera is named Sporting Life!)  The recording is included here along with “God Bless the Child,” as both tracks later saw release on Talmy’s Orbit label.  Two more demos from this period, “Stagger Lee” and “Poverty,” debut on this collection.
the group with its newly-stripped down moniker of Mickey Finn for one single produced by Shel Talmy, “The Sporting Life” b/w “Night Comes Down.”  Both sides were co-written by Talmy, and it’s a possibility that Jimmy Page played guitar on these sessions per Alan Mark in the liner notes.  Talmy recorded other tracks with the band that didn’t see release at the time, including a version of George and Ira Gershwin and DuBose Heyward’s
As The Mickey Finn, the band released its next 45 on Polydor in 1966: a cover of Billy Stewart’s “I Do Love You” b/w Pam Sawyer and Lori Burton’s ballad “If I Had You Baby.”  Mick Stannard was next to leave the group, and he was replaced first by Rod Clark and then by Bernie Jory.  Demos from this transitional period are included here, as is The Mickey Finn’s next (and final) single, for CBS’ Direction label in 1967.  The original song “Garden of My Mind,” written by Finn, Mark and Jory, was backed on 45 by “Time to Start Loving You,” credited to all five members.  Richard Gottehrer (“My Boyfriend’s Back,” “I Want Candy”) produced this single, which should have established the band as a top-flight purveyor of freakbeat/psychedelia.

The Mickey Finn continued to perform and tour through 1968 before its members called it a day, but RPM’s new release shows the group as a potent might-have-been with a small if strong legacy of great music.  Garden of My Mind: The Complete Recordings presents these recordings in non-chronological sequence.  It has been remastered by Simon Murphy and features liner notes by Brian Neavyn based on his interviews with the band members for Ugly Things magazine.

The Mickey Finn, Garden of My Mind: The Complete Recordings 1964-1967 (RPM Retro 972, 2015) 
Pills                                                                                            
I Still Want You
Garden of My Mind
Night Comes Down
Hush Your Mouth
Time to Start Loving You
(It) Ain’t Necessarily So
If I Had You Baby
The Sporting Life
Because I Love You (I Do Love You)                               
Reelin’ and A’Rockin’
Stagger Lee
Poverty
Miss Jane
God Bless the Child
Tom Hark
Please Love Me

Tracks 1 & 5 from Oriole single CB 1927, 1964
Tracks 2 & 11 from Oriole single CB 1940, 1964                       
Tracks 3 & 6 from Direction single 58-3086, 1967
Tracks 4 & 9 from Columbia single DB 7510, 1965
Tracks 7 & 15 rec. 1965, issued on Orbit single, 1995
Tracks 8 & 10 from Polydor single 56719, 1966
Tracks 12-14 previously unissued demos
Tracks 16-17 from Blue Beat single 203, 1964



Zinc Orbie

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This is a fairly rare/fairly bad album of 1980's electronic new wave, some of it (the title track" Ba Bo Baby") as an example, and "Hanging on a Line" are fairly unlistenable.....I post this for the rarity/curosity factors alone. It's a forgotten effort (understandably, I suppose), and little information on them is available online. However, this does contain a handful of tracks that are very good examples of the poppish new wave of 1986, most notably "When In Danger" which was truly a standout of this genre/era, also "Strange Town" and "This World" are respectable.

Took a look around and finally found a list of band members, at least, guitarst Kevin Dever, vocalist /guitarist//bassist Frank mattox, vocalist/keyboardist/guitarist Kent Grey, and drummer Zinc Orbie.

I'd rate this at about 1.5 stars, perhaps 2 ("When In Danger" really IS a good song, and there a couple more, it's just that this is NOT an album that has aged well, despite not being all that good to begin with, but, the point that I try to drive home so often, ALL of this stuff is part of the complicated jigsaw puzzle/spider web that is modern music.

BA BO BABY-01 Ba Bo Baby/02 Take My Breath Away/03 Give Me Your Love/04 Hanging on a Line/05 When In Danger/06 Cover Girl/07 Step Forward/08 Strange Town/09 You've Got the Power/10 This World

It's a fairly uncommon one, at least, and honestly not without reason.


Mind Spiders

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Raise hands, all that know the Mind Spiders, let's see, yeah that's about what I guessed......they have a 2016
release, "Prosthesis", which is included here....as always, I will remove the links if there is ONE single complaint (from anyone that matters, likely NOT you).....but I would hope a good band as obscure as this would want a bit more exposure.

From Texas, The Mind Spiders specialize in a nice blend of 60's garage- punk sounds (think maybe Syndicate of Sound or The Standells) with more recent 00's garage revival type such as the Datsuns or Miracle Workers......the result sounds good to me, why no one I know of (barely) has ever heard of them.

The first release that I can locate here is a 2010 7", which has four really good tunes on it, notaby "Worlds Destroyed", but the four tracks are all pretty spot-on.....I THINK this one may be rare, hard to determine as far in the background as these guys seem to stay.

2011 brought us their first full length, "Mind Spiders", is actually the work of Mark Ryan, who oiverdubbed various tracks to simulate the sound of a "band"......if you didn't know that, it would still sound pretty good, the album DOES work on a particular level, but what was up next........

Next comes "Meltdown", perhaps their coolest
work (I really like them all)....Ryan is a hell of a songwriter, and the two drummer attack works in this context (often it does not).....one of the unknown great albums of the early 00's, 11 songs which pretty much ALL work, if you are a fan of the classic garage sound of Chesterfield Kings, the Inmates, or Miracle Workers, you will really want to hear this if you never have. Not pointing out standout tracks, I think they are all pretty good.

The next disc, "Inhumanistic" is something of a departure, as synths and drum machines are prominent. The music takes on something of a 1980's-ish new wave vibe (think Wall of Voodoo, Suicide perhaps)....still pretty fair, but imo not up to the level of "Meltdown". "Suicide" and "Electric Things" are standouts.

And this brings us to the current album "Prosthesis"......taking the styles of the previous discs and blending them smoothly, we get a new, up to date sound. Again, if there is a complaint from band or label, please let me know and it will be removed at once, but meantime, this is a good album, quite a good one in fact, and I recommend it as highly as the others. Still rich in synths and jagged guitars, but still showcasing an evolving sound, they have cooked up another winner.

MIND SPIDERS 7"-01 Worlds Destroyed/02 Time Sucker/03 Ripped/04 Dirty Secrets

MIND SPIDERS-01 Go!/02 Don't Let Her Go/03
Mind Spiders Theme/04 Read Your Mind/05 Going Away Tonight/06 No Romance/07 One Step Ahead/08 No.3/09 Slippin' and Slidin'/10 Your Soul/11 Neurotic Gold/12 Close the door

MELTDOWN-01 You Are Dead/02 Beat/03 On the Radio/04 More Than You/05 Play You Out/06 Fall In Line/07 Inside Out/08 Skull Eyed/09 Join Us Now/10 Wait For Us/11 Meltdown

INHUMANISTIC-01 Prelude/02 Inside You/03 Suicide/04 They Lie/05 City Stuff/06 Suicide/07 You Are Mine/08 Pictures/09 I Want You/10 The Steady/11 Make Make Make/12 Oblivion

PROSTHESIS-01 Rip It Out/02 No Filter/03 Running/04 Cold/05 Prosthesis/06 Split In Two/07 Nothing Without It/08 Ulcer



Tender Age

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This was submitted to me by John N, really caught my ear.....this is a preview of the Portland band Tender Age's EP "Disappear Here" which is released in preparation for the band's full length.....again, I stress that if there are complaints from band or label, notify me and I will remove at once, but I'd hope that the band/label would appreciated the additional exposure.

Dreamy alt-pop which reminds me somewhat of another Portland Band, The High Violets, who I featured on this very site, lo, these many years prior. The three original tracks are odd, rough-edged shoegaze stuff (unusual that shoegaze stuff like this is in general so squeaky clean)......in addition, there are a couple of WAY out there covers, notably Bobby Darin's "Dream Lover" and Bobby Vinton's I Love How You Love Me", also one of Sonic Youth's "Little Trouble Girl".......

Additionally, and I have no idea to what advantage this is, they also include the "Cassette Version" of the same album with unsplit tracks.....I'm going to include it because it's here, make of it whatever use you shall.

01 Lowers/02 Delirium/03 NO/04 Dream Lover/05 I Love How You Love Me/06 Little Trouble Girl/07 Cassette Side A/08 Cassette Side B

Something different, keep the submissions coming, I love them!

Rare Stooges

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The other day when posting the early Iggy Pop solo albums, I remembered that long ago I had a 45 rpm of a totally slamming song, "Gimme Some Skin".....I have no idea what ever happened to it and asked for assistance in the comment section.....Mr. Dave comes through this time, providing a crispy copy of the EP "I'm Sick of You".

Aside from "Gimme Some Skin", this also includes the awesome title track (believe it or not, I had forgotten completely about this tune), and other stuff like "Tight Pants" and "I Got a Right".....I don't think I've ever owned a copy of this one, actually, so I'm guessing it is fairly hard to obtain.

Thanks a million to Mr. Dave for this one, any Stooges fan will want to have this one on the shelf!

I'M SICK OF YOU-01 I'm Sick of You/02 Tight Pants/03 I Got a Right/04 Johanna/05 Consolation Prizes/06 The Scene of the Crime/07 Gimme Some Skin/08 Jesus Loves the Stooges

Thanks again to Mr.Dave, this is a great submission!

The Wipers

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Portland Oregon, home of all-time greats such as Sleater-Kinney and (possibly the greatest band in the
world) Tender Age also produced The Wipers, whose 1981 release "Youth of America" is a somewhat forgotten classic.

Basically the brainchild of singer/guitarist Greg Sage, The Wipers also consisted of bassist Brad Davidson and drummer Brad Naish. They released a handful of albums besides this one, which I don't happen to have, although I do recall that the follow up "Over The Edge" was quite good as well (anyone?).....

"Youth of America" was the very epitome of what was referred to as "post punk", the experimental nature and complex song structures were unique at the time for punk bands. The fearsome title track clocks in at over ten minutes, but it breezes by and hooks grabs you on the first listen. It would be worth hearing just for that one, but really all the tracks are great......"When It's Over" features some incredible guitar, "Taking Too Long" is a raging punk onslaught......hell it's all great. Take my word for it. Just wonder what happened to my copy of "Over the Edge", but this is the one that REALLY matters.

YOUTH OF AMERICA-01 Taking Too Long/02 Can This Be/03 Pushing the Extreme/04 When It's Over/05 No Fair/06 Youth of America.

Jonder presents Hypnolovewheel Part 2

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Scott-Following up last weeks' profile of Hypnolovewheel, Jonder sheds more light on the band and their
legacy........thanks a million to him for this fab submission!

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After Hypnolovewheel broke up, singer/guitarist Dan Cuddy and drummer Peter Walsh formed a band called The Special Pillow that has released four albums (the latest in 2014).  Dave Ramirez played with the bands King Missile and Dump.  Ramirez and Stephen Hunking have released solo material.  Cuddy and Hunking now play together in a band called the XL Kings.  

The members of Yo La Tengo are big fans of Hypnolovewheel, and the band has reunited for a few shows at YLT's request.  YLT bassist James McNew recorded a cover of "Living On The Moon" for his side project, Dump.  Yo La Tengo covered The Special Pillow's "Automatic Doom" on the 2015 albumStuff Like That There.  

Below is a collection of stray Hypnolovewheel tracks that I've titled Psychohatesquare.  It includes two EP's, two singles, and three compilation tracks.  Hypnolovewheel covers Love, Donovan, George Harrison, and... Adam Ant.   The Sybil EP was a double 7" and each band member had his own side.  "Side Dan" was essentially the debut of The Special Pillow's lineup.  

Also below is a scan of a Hypnolovewheel comic book that came with the Space Mountain LP.  Thanks to spavid from Wilfully Obscure (for sharing the Sybil EP) and to Zuiop (for sharing Turn! Turn! Burn!)   My deep admiration and gratitude goes out to Hypnolovewheel for all the weird and wonderful music they made.

Psychohatesquare:  tinyurl.com/jcs9rux
Hypnolovewheel Comic:  tinyurl.com/gvpw54c

Stephen Hunking:  dedewclaw.bandcamp.com
The Special Pillow:  specialpillow.com 

Elvis (Costello) is Everywhere!

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Let me give you my personal take on Elvis Costello......I think his first three albums were epic, all 5 star
classics period. Now, here is where myself and A LOT of people will part ways on this, I really never liked a damn thing he did after "Armed Forces"....I don't know why, it, to me, is similar to how I felt about several other early 1980's acts.....The Pretenders, Joe Jackson, The Boomtown Rats.....who just took a direction that, for whatever reason, did not get it done for me......Elvis has released a mountain of stuff since, and I know a lot of people out there LOVE it......just not for me.

However, thanks to a sort-of collaboration between myself and John N, I THINK that I have most of his stuff here, many in deluxe editions with bonus tracks......that, and the fact that I personally have at least 20 boots from (what I consider) his golden era (ie first three albums) means that I can put up a fairly comprehensive Costello series......

Read this carefully.....I AM going to post all of them, NOT IN CONSECUTIVE POSTS, however....so, for example, if you are a big fan of say, the album "King of America", I will get to it in time, it's just that I have the attention span of a five year old and will get awfully bored if I try to do them consecutively....this will likely take 5-6 posts, and they will likely come weekly, OK? And I'm not going to diss the guy's post "Armed Forces" stuff....also won't have a lot of commentary on them, but I DO want to put the material out there. And just wait until I get to the bootlegs, they are great-to-spectacular.

For today, allow me to present the first three classic albums, all in deluxe editions with fantastic extra material......first was "My Aim Is True", which was done with the backing band Clover and not the incredible Attractions, but still when it was first released, it was like a wakeup call......the musical world was to now be the playground of Elvis, and of the Pistols, the Clash......as I said before I LOVE all of the first three albums, of them I'd call this the "weakest", however, I would still bestow the coveted five star rating on it. Simply remarkable songs-"Welcome To the Working Week" ("I know it don't thrill ya, I hope it don't kill ya"), the beautiful single "Allison", "Red Shoes" ("I said 'I'm so happy I could die', she said 'drop dead' then left with another guy"), the tour de force "Watching The Detectives". No home should be without one, and with a ful disc of bonus material? Run don't walk......what could be better?

Easy answer: "This Years' Model" (always wondered if The Cars were furious that he swiped such an
obvious title for their album, out about the same time)......simply stated, this is one of mt 20 favorite albums of all. Brilliant from the whispered intro of "No Action" to the final rave up of "Radio Radio" ("I want to bite the hand that feeds me") it's all 100% perfect. The new band, the absolutely amazing Attractions, crank out a unique and glorious piece of work, this would rate at least FOUR stars if there were no lyrics or vocals at all....it's that good. Running down the whole thing would be tantamount to a track listing, DAMN...."The Beat", "This Years Girl" ("Those disco synthesizers, those daily tranquilizers"), "Lip Service". Incredible album, also with a discs worth of bonus tracks.

"Armed Forces" is nearly as good. A conceptual affair with lots of Nazi imagery, ("But you'll never get to make a lampshade out of me" from "Goon Squad", "Two Little Hitlers", "Are you ready for the final solution" from "Chemistry Class") it works brilliantly and sounds every bit as good today as it did at the time of release...."Oliver's Army" may be my favorite Costello tune, unless you ask me again in an hour, and I may give you a different answer. And, yep, this is a deluxe bonus edition as well.

These three albums are as good a trio as anyone ever has released in such a short time span.....now don't jump on me for this, but after "Armed Forces" he lost me.....don't know why, it just didn't work for me anymore....we'll discuss the subsequent albums at the time of posting, but please don't expect anywhere near the level of enthusiasm from me......and it's NOT that I think they are (necessarily) bad albums, it's just that it would be impossible to live up to this level of quality forever.

Thanks to John N for providing this portion of this multi-part post, and, remember, we'll maybe do one of these a week until we are all-Costello'd out.....and again, just WAIT until you hear the fab bootlegs that I will save for last. Cruel huh?

NOTE: The version of "My Aim Is True" presented here is a 2 disc set, however both discs are contained in one link

MY AIM IS TRUE DISC 1-01 Welcome to the Working Week/02 Miracle Man/03 No Dancing/04 Blame it on Cain/05 Allison/06 Sneaky Feelings/07 (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes/08 Less Than Zero/09 Mystery Dance/10 Pay It Back/11 I'm Not Angry/12 Waiting For the End of the World/13 Watching the Detectives

MY AIM IS TRUE DISC 2-01 No Action (Early Version)/02 Living In paradise (Early Version)/03 Radio
Sweetheart/04 Stranger in the House/05 I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself (live)/06 Less Than Zero (Live at the El Mocambo)/07 Imagination (Is a Powerful Deceiver)/08 Mystery Dance (demo)/09 Cheap Reward (demo)/10 Jump Up (demo)/11 Wave a White Flag (demo)/12 Blame It on Cain (demo)/13 Poison Moon (demo)

THIS YEARS MODEL- 01 No Action/02 This Year's Girl/03 The Beat/04 Pump It Up/05 Little Triggers/06 You Belong to Me/07 Hand In Hand/08 (I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea/09 Lip Service/10 Living In Paradise/11 Lipstick Vogue/12 Night Rally/13 Radio, Radio/14 Big Tears/15 Crawling to the USA/16 Running Out of Angels (demo)/17 Green Shirt (demo)/18 Big Boys (demo)

ARMED FORCES-01 Accidents Will Happen/02 Senior Service/03 Oliver's Army/04 Big Boys/05 Green Shirt/06 Party Girl/07 Goon Squad/08 Busy Bodies/09 Sunday's Best/10 Moods For Moderns/11 Chemistry Class/12 Two Little Hitlers/13 (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding/14 My Funny Valentine/15 Tiny Steps/16 Clean Money/17 Talking in the Dark/18 Wednesday Week/19 Accidents Will Happen (Live at Hollywood High)/20 Alison (Live at Hollywood High)/21 Watching the Detectives (Live at Hollywood High)

We'll resume with "Get Happy", also a deluxe edition sometime next week......meantime, if' you've heard only the originals, the bonus material is nearly as good, in particular the live "I Don't Want to Go to Chelsea" from "This Year's Model".

Dear Enemy

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Dear Enemy were a pretty fair new wave/indie pop band from Australia, who were almost unknown in the
US, at least in my observation. The original lineup (ca. 1984) consisted of vocalist Ron Martini, guitarists Chris Langford and Les Barker, pianist Peter Holden, bass player John Joyce, and drummer Ian Morrison....there would be a lineup change or two but basically this is enough information.

They made their name as a live band (used to have a good sounding boot, can't find it at the moment) and released only one proper album, "Ransom Note" in 1984. A veritable stiff in the USA, there are some damn fine new wave/pop gems on it, most notably the really good "Computer One", as well as some other solid tracks in "Kids on the Street" and "The Good Life"......in 2000, "Ransom Note and Beyond" was released, which I think is a comprehensive collection at all of their recorded material, the entire "Ransom Note" album as well as a few random singles, of which, "New Hero" is probably the best known, although, again, stateside, this isn't saying a whole lot.

Fans of the poppish new wave sounds of the mid 1980's, The Romantics, The Shoes, The Records, etc, might enjoy this, an Australian alternative to those sounds......not anywhere near a "classic", but certainly a solid effort and rewarding for fans of the genre/era.

RANSOM NOTE AND BEYOND-01 Computer One/02 The Good Life/03 Talkin to You/04 All Through the Night/05 Kids on the Street/06 On the Line/07 Restless/08 Bit of Your Heart/09 Day to Day/10 New Hero/11 Stay/12 You're Right, You're Right/13 It Was You I Was Looking For/14 Hold On/15 Wild Child/16 Love Flows/17 Looking For Love/18 In the Heat of the Night

Definitely worth a listen.

Brian presents Alice (Cooper) in Coverland

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(Scott)-You know how I love these covers projects, and having attempted to create one or two I know how much of a challenge it is.....both Brian and Jonder are masters of the art, I doubt I will ever become such, but I sure do like them, and they are quite popular with the readers as well......this one covers a lot of the spectrum of the career of the one and only Alice Cooper......when I did a post on the band long ago, my feelings were then what they remain, that it is nearly impossible for someone in 2016 to understand how "shocking" their act was considered, unless you were there. My own grandmother (a long story there on its own) publicly said a prayer for my soul in church after she found I attended one of their shows......anyway, when all the gloss and glitter is stripped away, history declares them to be a fair-to-good hard rock singles band, playing sort of a Stonesy-MC5-ish type style. And, as a singles band, they/he are ripe for a covers project. Like the best in cover projects, this one avoids the carbon copy soundalikes and focuses on DOING SOMETHING with the song. This one is rocking as hell, REALLY some hard ass stuff on here.......and another winner. Thanks to Brian for the work on this one
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As so often happens with these covers comps, sudden inspiration and having a day off of work made me create something. A remark on the Bond Covers post about Alice Cooper's "Man With The Golden Gun" got me listening to my pile of Alice again, and the thought hit me like it usually does: covers!

I want to state right out my opinion on old "Al". I consider myself a well-rounded fan of his music. I recognize the earliest two albums as bizarre psych rock, the albums released by the classic 70's lineup are premium hard rock (Killer especially), and his first few solo albums are intensely structured "rock as theater" records. But.... my gateway to Alice was his late 80's music. That's right: albums like ConstrictorRaise Your Fist And Yell, and the oh so easily dismissed Trash. There were hooks, and they rocked me. And c'mon, I was 12 when the video for "Poison" was released. It meant something....



Anyway, disclaimers aside, this comp rocks! I found more musical variety than I expected. I was just gonna replicate the 70's Greatest Hits album, but found many more covers, including almost all the songs on Killer and Billion Dollar Babies. There's even a few interesting covers of 80's Alice songs. And the players here go beyond the usual metal band suspects you'd expect. The runtime is around 100 mins, like most of my comps end up being, strangely enough.

Anthrax start things of with a cover of "I'm Eighteen", off of their debut album Fistful Of Metal. Next is the great Entombed, who dig into the descending chords of "Black Juju" to deliver a heavy, faithful version. When the dude screams "Wake up!!!", it's metal as hell! Then Sonic Youth cover "Is It My Body?"... Kim Gordon was always meant to coo those lyrics. Man, I'm a fan and I never knew they covered this song! It's a great find.

The Melvins cover of "The Ballad Of Dwight Fry" comes from their awesome 1991 Lysol album. Finnish glam rockers Hanoi Rocks deliver a great live cover of "Under My Wheels". Eighties rockabilly oddball Mojo Nixon does an acoustic version of "Be My Lover"; I like how the desk bell is used as a percussion instrument! Black metallers Impaled Nazarene turn "Halo Of Flies" into an appropriately evil sonic shitstorm. Goth rock band Kathedral (who later evolved into Electric Frankenstein) deliver an awesome cover of "Desperado", maybe my favorite on the whole comp.

Garage rockers The Chesterfield Kings turn "You Drive Me Nervous" into the audio equivalent of a middle finger. Great stuff. Heavy metallers Iced Earth deliver a moodily heavy "Dead Babies". (And hey peeps, go hit up Scott's post of Iced Earth from awhile ago. It took some work, and needs some DLs.) I chose German power metal band Grave Digger for their version of "School's Out". It's just preposterous in its rawking; I love it. Industrial artist Pig warp "Hello Hooray" pretty good. Sounds like KMFDM or Foetus. Not surprising, since the guy was in both groups.

There is an Alice Cooper tribute album called Humanary Stew. It's one of those records where a producer assembles different groups of rock artists. I selected three tracks from it. The first is a version of "Elected", featuring Duff McKagan, Matt Sorum, and Steve Jones. Next is a cover of "No More Mr Nice Guy" with Slash, Mike Inez, Carmine Appice, and with Roger Daltrey on vocals! I think it's pretty damn awesome. And then there's a cover of "Billion Dollar Babies" featuring George Lynch (of Dokken) on guitar and Phil Lewis (of L.A. Guns) on vocals.

Theatrical L.A. metal band Lizzy Borden (who were always influenced by Alice) do a faithful take of "Generation Landslide". Italian horror metal band Death SS are a perfect choice for "I Love The Dead". Fireball Ministry deliver a snarling version of "Muscle Of Love". There are many groups called The Now, and I don't know which one this is, but that's a great cover of "Teenage Lament '74". Flush The Fashion was Alice's ill-advised attempt at New Wave, and long ago The Smashing Pumpkins covered "Clones (We're All)" from it. Prog metal project Warmen perform a great heavy cover of "Man Behind The Mask", Alice's song about Friday The 13th.
Virginia tech metal band Arsis cover "Roses On White Lace" with a nice blackish metal crust. A band called Shining (I don't know which one) tear into "Prince Of Darkness". And to close things out, we've got three covers by three very different ladies. "Only Women Bleed" was a big hit for Alice, and many people have covered it. I chose this gospel-tinged version by none other than eternal Etta James. "How You Gonna See Me Now?" is from Alice's post-booze album From The Inside. I selected this jazz vocal version of the song by Dutch singer Laura Fygi. Not what you'd expect. I wanted to end with a cover of "Poison" - my gateway Alice tune - so I picked this acoustic one by a YouTube singer named Cleo. Give this version a listen... I mean this track could be a hit now, really.




Alice In Coverland

1. Anthrax - I'm Eighteen
2. Entombed - Black Juju
3. Sonic Youth - Is It My Body?
4. The Melvins - Ballad of Dwight Fry
5. Hanoi Rocks - Under My Wheels
6. Mojo Nixon - Be My Lover
7. Impaled Nazarene - Halo Of Flies
8. Kathedral - Desperado
9. The Chesterfield Kings - You Drive Me Nervous
10. Iced Earth - Dead Babies
11. Grave Digger - School's Out
12. Pig - Hello Hooray
13. Duff McKagan, Matt Sorum, Steve Jones - Elected 
14. George Lynch - Billion Dollar Babies
15. Slash, Mike Inez, Carmine Appice, and Roger Daltrey - No More Mr Nice Guy
16. Lizzy Borden - Generation Landslide  
17. Death SS - I Love The Dead
18. Fireball Ministry - Muscle Of Love                                        
19. The Now - Teenage Lament '74
20. Smashing Pumpkins - Clones (We're All)
21. Warmen - He's Back (The Man Behind The Mask)
22. Arsis - Roses On White Lace
23. Shining - Prince Of Darkness
24. Etta James - Only Women Bleed
25. Laura Fygi - How You Gonna See Me Now
26. Cleo - Poison

The bonus link for this post is an album by a duo of 70's FM Radio/Comedy guys. Thanks to Fuji Puzzle Box for originally hosting the files. Funny shit. (Plus, there's an older comedy link that needs some love).

Couple of fine EP's from The Entrance Band

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These were also sent to me by the link machine John N, I was not familiar with them, but these are a pair of
amazing guitar freakout psych jams.......this band is the mastermind of Guy Blakeslee of Baltimore, and this is some fine shit.....LOVE to hear the rest of their work, but for now, these are really great.....there is a LOT of music in the world, I'm always wishing I could hear all of it (at least the good shit), and it's always incredible to find something (once again) that is right up your alley, and was right under your nose.....thanks to John N for turning me onto The Entrance Band, they will certainly be a subject of further research for me, as I simply adore this kind of psychotic guitar jam freakouts.......much love to you brother!

FINE FLOW-01 Fine Flow/02 In the Key of the Sea/03 Hands In the Shape of a Wave (In Loving memory of Yan Burdzinski)/04 Summertime

LATITUDES-01 New Orleans/02 Requim For Juicy/03 Last Kind Words

You WANT these....take me at my word......tomorrow I will begin searching for their "proper' albums, this is GREAT shit here.

Thanks again to John N, and PLEASE everyone please continue to submit the stuff that we need the rest of the world to hear.....it's our DUTY! Except for the band Tender Age, they already have enough listeners and do not wish to gain any more, which is fine.

Mind Mountain

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In a futile attempt to keep up with the mega-links sent to me by John N (NOT a complaint, by any means, I
hope he keeps it up FOREVER), from Liverpool England, ca. 2013,  we have some fine spaced out psych that I was unaware of until this submission (and THAT, in a nutshell, is why I LOVE submissions)...three long, spacey tracks of trippy, spacey psych rock....I do find a list of the personnel, guitarist/keyboardist Joe Hirons, bassist Marc Glayshire, and drummer David Smyth.....this reminds me of some of the classic Krautrock of the mid 1970's, and you guys know I LOVE that stuff....another one that I need to investigate a bit more, BUT, this one worked for me so I'm going to go ahead and put it up.....thoughts, please?

MIND MOUNTAIN-01 Void/02 Singularity/03 Dune

Would welcome any further information on this lads, perhaps my brothers in the UK have the skinny? Even if not, this is a good listen!

Mexican Moustache

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And the link submissions from John N just keep on coming (a GREAT thing)....this time, an LP, and EP, and
a demos set from Mexican Moustache, who are (imo) a fairly hilarious troup, attempting to sound like the Ramones.....actually, it's not too bad if you get past their hilarious attempt to sing in English (QUITE obviously not thier first language).....nonetheless, this is rock n roll, as I've said before, all part of a spiderweb/jigsaw puzzle.....you like 70's punk, the Ramones, stuff from outside the US? take a shot, what have you to lose?

DEMOS FROM TRASHVILLE-01 Ready For Action/02 La Noche Del Cazador/03 Not Your Way/04 Money/05 Rubia Siniestra/06 I'm Sick/07 Mummies (Falling Down the Street)/08 Surfin' In Uranium

MEXICAN MOUSTACHE (EP)-01 Unga Unga/02 Swamp Thing/03 Pobre NinIfa/04 La Noche Del Cazador/05 Rubia Siniestra

MEXICAN MOUSTACHE (LP)-01 Ready For action/02 Adrenalin/03 Not Your Way/04 Useless/05 Karnaphuli/06 Shake It/07 Go Chica Go/08 Pronto Me Odiaras/09 Antes del Alba/10 Santa Muerte/11 El Mirador/12 La Demencia/13 Chica Canibal/14 Rubia Siniestra/15 Depresion/16 El Final


As usual with the submissions of John N, this one I was not familiar with.....found it worth a spin, though, and
I'm always grateful when someone hands off some new sounds to me, that is what we are about here.....see what you think, and please leave a comment if you like/hate this!

Spacin'

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Hey, you know I love my spacey stoner rock, if bands such as Tender Age and Desert Mountain Tribe wish not to be included in my attempts to garner them a larger audience, that's fine, really, there are always going to be 100 more that want the exposure.....as an example, the band Soaria contacted me today, and are sending me some stuff, I love thier single "Electrocutioner" which gets heavy play on XM-Sirius #21, and they UNDERSTAND what we are about here....I am by NO MEANS about (despite the accusations of Tender Age), getting "free shit" for people, rather, I am about EXPOSING good bands.....this blog has a FAIRLY decent following, and if I expose a band to some new audiences, it seems to me that that is a good thing....basically, I am saying that for the most part, start-up bands need me FAR more than I need them, and if they do not wish to be featured here, say the word, you will be dropped like a hot potato, it's not an issue for me.....I just think that said bands need to think about the fact that I had to get their work from SOMEWHERE, ie, it's already OUT THERE.....your gripes with me, while they will be readilly resolved, will do you more harm than they do me for certain. I am IN YOUR CORNER, if you realize this too late, I am truly sorry.

So, off the soapbox......here we go with another good spacey-stoner-rock band, Philadelphia's Spacin'....sorry, not sure who sent this to me, if it wasn't the band themselves (often it is), and there is an issue, blah, blah, I will remove it, but upon first listen, I really enjoyed this 2016 release, entitled "Total Freedom".....guitarist/vocalist Jason Killinger, guitarist Paul Sukeena, bassist Sean Hamilton, and drummer Eva Killinger whip up a fine fuzzed-out stew of spacey stoner rock, this is one you MUST hear, likely one of the best releases of 2016, IMO........again, I don't know the band's attitude toward sharing, if there is an issue of course it will be removed, SO JUMP ON IT QUICK, you want to hear/enjoy this one, it's great!

TOTAL FREEDOM-01 Over Uneasy/02 Kensington Real/03 Human Condition/04 Titchy/05 Stopping Them/06 Bent Into Shape/07 Batfolk/08 US Ruse/09 Total Freedom

A damn fine album here, likely a"top ten" entrance at the end of the year.....check this while you can (in case there is an issue), this one is HIGHLY recommended by moi!

Chatham Rise

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I had never heard of Chatham Rise before this was sent to me, it's really pretty good......played at KXLU studios in LA, this is some pretty fair spacey-ambient stuff.......chack it out, it may merit further investigation on my part, I like it pretty much......all I can say is give it a spin, it's only four tracks, what do ya have to lose?

KXLU IN STUDIO-01 Gone/02 Never/03 Eventide/04 Hollows
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