SHAKEY BONES

 

I ripped this one in the spring - a tape from Pat's collection that I had every intention of sharing 20 years after it was recorded. But I forgot, and that milestone was back in June. It would have felt weird to post it and say "this recording was twenty years old a few days ago" so it just kinda sat in the to be posted folder languishing. Until today...when this recording is twenty years and three months and one day old. 
I don't care about folk punk or train hopping americana.....until I hear it done right. And then I start thinking about a guy I met in the '90s called Montana Bill who had the outline of the state Montana tattooed on his face. He wasn't from Montana. But you can hear the freedom represented by that anecdote in this live performance broadcast on KZSU on June 1st, 2006 who released three CDrs and then vanished. Listen to "Goin' Down This Road Feelin' Bad" and know you aren't alone when you feel bad. 

LIVE ON PIRATE RADIO

TEMPLES

 

Is there a place for pained, deliberate solo improvisational electronics in your life?

If your answer is yes, then I offer you TEMPLES. 

BESTIAL

HÄNDE

 

Why not continue on a theme, right? Moving from Austria to Poland with a sound more reminiscent of INTERNAL AUTONOMY or UK DECAY filtered through stark Eastern Bloc punk. Decidedly dreary and danceable, with hints of RAKTA creeping into "Parafina" via synths and drums that remind me of watching Natha at the Whistle Stop Bar in San Diego a decade ago....but I digress. demo hände closes with "Koniec" - it's the hardest hitter on the tape; a would-be late '80s dark alt classic with guitar, vocals and synth sharing the spotlight. Sometimes you hear a thing for the first time and it's already in you before the tape stops rolling...that's what happened here. 

demo hände

DRUCK

 

Describing DRUCK makes me feel like an amateur sommelier talking about a bottle of cabernet. You're going to hear hints of MERCURY REV and SPACEMEN 3 floating around a base of Kraut Rock and THE BIRTHDAY PARTY. Notes of '90s Neil Young color the instrumental title track before you let the twelve minute B-side "Sonnenleiche" envelop you with waves of PHARAOH OVERLORD-esque dark synth driven repetition. This is truly a gorgeous release, and I offer it to you with the highest recommendation. 

AAA

JAN GARBAREK

 

I went to see The Hole Truth And Nothing Butt tonight, and it hit fucking hard. It's not just that BUTTHOLE SURFERS are truly a generational band (they are), it's the way the film interacted with the people and observed the was they interacted with one another (or didn't). I was planning to listen to some punk, drink some beers and hang out with my cat when I got home but honestly I feel like skipping the punk and beers and focusing on the cat while I think passion and instability and danger and loss and friendship and love and how close so many come to not quite making it. Smooth Norwegian outsider jazz is good for those nights, and honestly the cat kinda prefers it. 

PLACES

KILLED BY GERD

 

It's Friday, so here's another collection of songs from bands that I had never heard of before I popped Killed By Gerd in the deck for the first time a few weeks ago. Death rock (PELTERAS), new wave/college alt (THE NORTHPALM, MALARIE), driving shoegaze (DENIAL), dreamy twee/indie new wave (CLOSURE), tracks that sound like a bridge between JOY DIVISION and INTERPOL (LELAKIDIVJVNGTANDVK, THE PORNO), angular post punk (MEGATRVTH, HIGHWAY)...you get the general idea. Most of these tracks would be just as at home on a mix of late '80s college rock with DINOSAUR and MBV or a collection anchored by WAX IDOLS and DIIV. According to the sub/title, this is the first volume in a series - where are the others?!?!

KILLED BY GERD VOL #1
A Mixtapes Bootleg Series

DESECRATE A.D. // BABIRUSA

 

Look at the cover and look at the logos....then look at the photos that are placed beneath this text. You fukkn know what you're going to get here and these two Indonesian crossover thrash acts are still going to lay you the fukk out. BABIRUSA hit like VIOLATOR with heavier mosh parts, while DESECRATE A.D. are more like some unearthed, unfinished and unhinged EXODUS demos you didn't know you needed. Both bands have clearly followed the punk ----> metal trajectory, and both bands breathe fresh air into these lungs. 

DESECRATE A.D. // BABIRUSA