Friday, 17 October 2008
Taylor (Brand Abrasive Sound Structure) - S/T (1997)
This band could give Technician a run for their money for the most "Shellacish" sounding band ever! I have no idea what the Hell their name means. Sorry no album artwork.
Crain - Heater (1994)
Louisville's Crain were active when the small southern town was going through sort of a musical renaissance. There was so much good music coming out of Louisville in the early 90's and Crain sometimes get overlooked in that scene. They kind of remind me of a more raw Guzzard and would maybe fit in well with most of the Discord Records roster. Crain's other album Speed was reissued a few years ago by Temporary Residence Records but Heater was not for some reason. I think it's every bit as good as Speed if not better.
Cherubs - Icing (1992) (By Request)
Cherubs overlooked first album which I think is just as good as their magnum opus "Heroin Man"
Thursday, 16 October 2008
Tad & Pussy Galore - Damaged Split Single (1989)
Pussy Galore & Tad both did covers of Black Flag's Damaged I & II. I actually prefer these versions to the originals myself. This single was released as part of the Sub Pop Singles Of The Month Club which they just started up again recently. What a brilliant idea that was. The first couple of years of those singles in particular were great. Who knew at the time that a $5 a month subscription would put out the most collectible record of the decade.
Cherubs - Short Of Popular (1996)
Austin's Cherubs pretty much defined noise-rock. Just nasty, ugly, filthy, pounding, extreme music. Short Of Popular is a collection of singles, b-sides and compilation tracks.
Coachwhips - Bangers Vs. Fuckers (2003)
Coachwhips are a garage rock band out of San Fransisco. Really stripped down and raw with distorted vocals. Featuring members of Pink And Brown. For fans of Doo Rag and Thee Headcoats.
Wednesday, 15 October 2008
Disappearer - S/T (2006) & Winter Sessions (2008)
Disappearer is a post-metal band from Boston. Their first EP is completely instrumental and with Winter Sessions they added vocals. Generally speaking, I've never been much of a fan of singing in the majority of metal bands. The whole grunt/growl/screaming sound of most metal bands just isn't my thing and can often ruin otherwise cool songs a lot of times. A good example is the band North who were a great instrumental band that added vocals to their last album and just completely ruined it for me. I thought the same thing about Winter Sessions at first, but has since grown on me. Now I feel the vocals really keep it from sounding like every other post-metal band out there. For fans of Pelican and Isis.
Monday, 13 October 2008
John Paul Jones - Zooma (1999)
So how do you use the word "underrated" when you are talking about a member of one of the biggest rock bands of all time? Well if that's possible it would definitely best describe John Paul Jones. Is he really the first guy that comes to mind when someone mentions Led Zeppelin? Usually not, which is too bad because the guy has done it all. Not only is he a fantastic bass and keyboard player but he's also a recording engineer and a film score composer. What I really love about Zooma is that he's evolving as a musician and not just trying to relive the past. Jimmy Page would be perfectly happy just playing Led Zeppelin songs the rest of his life which is fine and I guess that's what the majority of people want anyways. Although Zooma is something completely different. It's a lot more aggressive than what you would expect from a old man. Much of the album has more in common with noise-rock than classic rock. In fact it even features a guest guitar solo by Butthole Surfers' Paul Leary on the title track. It also has some jazzy bass (Drums n' Bass), and string orchestra (Snake Eyes) as well. Zooma really has a little bit of everything. I think this album proves that it's not a fluke that he's had the career that he's had.
Sunday, 12 October 2008
June Of 44 - The Anatomy Of Sharks (1996)
This EP came to mind while I was posting The Crownhate Ruin link (see below) because it features the only song (Seemingly Endless Steamer) that bass player Fred Erskine ever sang for the band. It also has Sharks & Sailors which might be JO44's best song ever. JO44 is probably most well known as Jeff Mueller's (Rodan, Shipping News) band but also featured Sean Meadows (Lungfish) and their amazing drummer Doug Scharin (Codiene, Rex). This EP is a must for any math-rock fan.
The Crownhate Ruin - Until The Eagle Grins (1996)
The Crownhate Ruin was short-lived follow up band of Hoover members Fred Erskine and Joe McRedmond. They pretty much sound like Hoover in a lot of ways, maybe with angrier shouted vocals. They're kind of a mix between hardcore punk and math-rock. For fans of any band on Discord Records.
Friday, 10 October 2008
The Birthday Party - The Bad Seed (1982) & Mutiny! (1983)
Maybe everyone reading this blog already has this but I think it's time I posted what I consider and old "classic." The last two Birthday Party EP's are not only what I consider the best of the band's records but also the best of Nick Cave's entire career which now spans about 30 years. Now this is just a opinion, but these EP's along with the first Bad Seeds' album is really Nick Cave in his prime. These EP's have their most brutal songs (Swampland) and their most beautiful songs (Jennifers Veil, Wide World). I can't think of a album that I've had for this long that I still listen to on a fairly regular basis. I've also included a cool clip of the Mutiny recording sessions.
Mule - S/T (1993) & If I Don't Six (1994) (By Request)
I already posted some Mule a few weeks back and these two albums would make up the rest of their discography. The first album was requested but I figured I'd throw in their last album as well. I feel they just got better in that short period of time especially in terms of the guitar playing. Just a really great underrated band. Once again this is a Touch & Go (well Quarterstick actually, but same difference) release so download it quick before it's gone.
Thursday, 9 October 2008
Distorted Pony - Instant Winner (1994)
L.A.'s Distorted Pony were the first band to sign the Trance Syndicate label that weren't from the label's hometown of Austin, TX. Trance Syndicate was like the Amphetamine Reptile Records of the South basically. DP were a noise-rock band which had a little bit of an industrial feel to it at times. This was their last and in my opinion best release.
High Dependency Unit - Momento Mori EP (2000)
High Dependency Unit was a band that I saw open for Shellac many years ago in Madison, Wisconsin of all places. It was the New Zealand band's first and so far only U.S. tour and their performance "almost" upstaged Shellacs set. And that's saying something. Momento Mori was the EP I bought from the band that night and is still my favorite release of theirs. I guess they have that noise-rock thing going for them but kind of mixed with post-rock and shoegaze as well. The song Amino has always reminded me of Sting singing with U2's the Edge playing guitar. But please don't let that description scare you away, it really is a great record.
Wednesday, 8 October 2008
Mainliner - Mellow Out (1996)
Mainliner was a early band of Acid Mothers Temple guitar player Kawabata Makoto. Mainliner is much more raw and chaotic than AMT. The tweaked out, frantic guitar playing on Mellow Out had to have shredded his fingers to bloody stumps after the recording of this album. I've never seen so much irony in a album title before.
Acid Mothers Temple And The Cosmic Inferno - Starless And Bible Black Sabbath (2006)
I've always been a big fan of Acid Mothers Temple. They have a super energetic live show and really are the current "Kings of Japanese Psychedelia." Their only problem is they really put out too damn many records. They seem to have like 10 releases a year which makes it really hard to just let one of their albums sink in. There are so many of them it gets really hard to distinguish one album from the next. Starless And Bible Black Sabbath isn't really much different from the rest I suppose. Although there's just something about it that keeps me coming back to it in their gigantic sea of a discography. It has this sleazy groove to it's 35 minute repeated riff that just takes me to another place...
Tuesday, 7 October 2008
Gate - Lounge (1995)
Gate is Michael Morley of The Dead C's solo project. It's even more loosely structured noise than most Dead C albums if you can imagine that. So if freeform improvised feedback is your thing, this is for you. If it's not, this may annoy the crap out of you.
Milkmine - Braille (1994) (By Request)
Braille is the only LP released by Cincinnati's Milkmine. I honestly don't know a whole lot about this band. They seemed to be fairly obscure back when they were together and even more so after all of these years later. I listened to it this morning for the first time in years and it's really a great album. So thanks to Ted D. for making the request because I totally forgot about this record. For fans of Unsane and Slug.
Monday, 6 October 2008
My Disco - Cancer (2006)
They sound exactly as you would expect a band named after a Big Black song would sound like. Which isn't a bad thing at all.
Sunday, 5 October 2008
Megazilla - Please, Please, Sorry, Thank You (2008)
The other Australian Cattle God band playing that night was Megazilla from Columbia, Missouri. Another 2 piece although their volume could put most 5 piece bands to shame. Similar to Big Business or Godheadsilo.
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