MAX NORDILE

 

God/s this is beautiful. You've heard me talk about Max and his compulsions on these pages over the years, and these comments are no different.......it's that this one hits just right as I type these words. Free jazz mixed with boundary-free experimentation and ambient bliss. (Pharoah) Sanders, (Shane) Embury and (Genesis) P'Orridge embodied in sonic freak skin. There's really nothing like Sir Nordile in the current realm. 

THE VIVID HISTORY OF THE CAPITOL EGGS

NULA

 

It's hard to communicate and/or quantify our connection to this...thing. Yesterday a dude I work with talked about a tour in the '90s when he was stuck in the Lower 48 with The Merchandise while The Band (he was touring with) played a few shows in Canada and he snuck in a CRUDOS show in Boston while he was waiting for them to come back. Then tonight I was listening to Numero Group's Miracle Year record and feeling sorry for myself for never getting to see The Best Band Ever even though I have been lucky enough to see some really fukkn important bands. 

Anyway, NULA are so far outside of the above mentioned realms that it's not even worth discussing. Furious, raging '90s DIY punk from another world - listen to "Žrtve" and "Demokracija" and tell me the shit isn't important....just like CRUDOS and DÜ. Listen to "Anarhija" and tell me punk doesn't rule everything. There you go. That's it. Punk rules. 

POBJEDIMO LAŽ

NINJA HATORRY

 

Full throttle metallic thrashcore from Jakarta.....there's not much analysis required here because 2021's Fase is more akin to a beating than a listening experience. Twenty three exercises in grind mania with a conscious eye towards Y2KThrash - shit sounds like fukkn magic to my ears. It's great from start to finish, but "Youth" into "Me & My Holiday" gives me exactly what I needed this morning. Sometimes, my friends.....faster really is better.

FASE

COLIN LANGENUS

 

One Side: A multi-instrumental freak out captured live in 2007.

Another Side: A collection of improvisations collected by Colin Langenus between 2005 and 2008 and manipulated to create.....this.

SON OF BEETHOVEN // HIGH AS HELL

HIGH AS HELL

OSCAR WILDE

 

Been sitting on this one for a minute because I pledged to read the 1890 novel before I posted the 1980 book-on-tape. But alas.....here's the novel in audio form, perhaps we can all enjoy together. Enjoy the tale of a young and beautiful man who chose to trade his soul for continued youth and beauty while his sins and his years were cast upon a portrait. A bizarre concept (especially considering the time) and Wilde's only novel....I really wish I could share an educated and/or intelligent analysis here, unfortunately I can only say that I recognize its importance. 

THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY
Read By: Peter Egan

REFLECTIONS OF INTERNAL RAIN

 

Y'all remember that melodic metallic European screamo from the 2000s, right? The sensitive side of stadium crust? REFLECTIONS OF INTERNAL RAIN don't have to remember it...because they embodied it. Enjoy your week.

ANSWERS

MATERIAL

 

Pretty sure there are a few MISSION OF BURMA records spinning in their collective minds. WIPERS too. Although, instead of hip-shot comparisons, I should have encouraged you to focus on the guitar, on the earnest vocals straining through a throatful of gravel. Then again, for the second time in a month I'm going to say that this makes me feel like I felt the first time I heard NEON PISS....and that's a high fucking bar. 

MATERIAL

THE CHOSEN ONE

This one is problematic, but here we are listening to some twenty year old Indonesian punk. The title track "Anarchy Sunrise" is perfect melodic punk and there's a very clear '90s East Bay influence (specifically talking Kerplunk and Let's Go! here) on tracks like "Otoritas" and "Someone Gonna Die," while there are punk ska/reggae bits to keep you guessing and give you a breather ("Stereo" is the choice jam) and a brilliant would-be street busking classic called "Government." And then there's one rampant violently homophobic track what the actual fukk kids?! Sigh....this is why it's so hard to have nice things. Anyway....maybe I should have just skipped this one, but also maybe listening out of context and off of the radar can shed a light on how conflicted, conflicting and challenging everything was. And can still be. 

ANARCHY SUNRISE

EVALUATE WHAT YOU TOLERATE

 

At the risk of repeating myself, the early '10s in the Bay Area were truly special time (much like the early '00s if we're being honest). There are bands here who formed the foundation for some truly great gigs (ACRYLICS, MOZART, MASS ARREST), bands I had never heard of before listening to this comp (MARRAIGE + CANCER, REVOLUTION BUMMER, HIGH ANXIETY, WARP), bands I was familiar with but who were outside of my general orbit (SPACE TOILET, PREENING, BUTANNA). Throw in MONSTER SQUAD, STREET EATERS and NOPES, all of whom are still active a decade (plus) later and you have a magical time capsule that is very clearly about so much fucking more than a few killer songs. But speaking of killer songs, DID IS DEAD, FATTYCAKES & THE PUFF PASTRIES and MABS deliver three of the killerest cuts you're going to hear today. 

EVALUATE WHAT YOU TOLERATE VOLUME 2

LIFESAVERS

 

Several years ago a dude gifted me a stack of tapes in Eugene, Oregon. It was more interesting than most random stacks, and he had a story to accompany each one. Do I remember the stories? Nope. But if I recall correctly his gateway genre was contemporary christian alternative rock which was....well, it was a new one for me. I have posted a few of the other tapes previously but this one got half buried in a forgotten box until a couple of weeks ago. If you're looking for a game changer then you should probably move along, but I'll be (gad)damned if this isn't a pleasant late morning listen with a cat lounging in a sliver of sun and a cup of coffee in hand. Think PSYCHEDELIC FURS, MODERN ENGLISH, DRAMARAMA, THE ALARM....you know the drill. Enjoy your coffee, maybe get saved in the process.

A KISS OF LIFE

G.B.H.

 

Maybe this isbn't the time (or place) to discuss GRIEVOUS BODILY HARM and their place in the world of UK punk, and maybe this isn't the time (or place) to talk about how even though 1986's Midnight Madness And Beyond... it kinda sounds like a sellout record (especially in retrospect - listen to "Horror Story" for fuck's sake) but it still fukkn jams. UK82 mingling with early NYHC and MOTÖRHEAD doesn't really seem like a bad thing....does it? Say what you will about Combat (and Combat Core) (and there's plenty to say), but they're the reason HELSTAR, MERCYFUL FATE, AGNOSTIC FRONT, LUDICHRIST, ENGLISH DOGS and other hordes made their way into bargain bins at middle American shopping malls in the '80s, even dragging VENOM and CIRLCE jerks with them. And for that, I think Combat. You want the best G.B.H. record? Go listen to City Babies Attacked By Rats, but I heard this one first thanks to those capitalist commercial record selling motherfuckers. You wanna fukkn slam your way through a (probably) miserable Thursday? Well......here's Midnight Madness (and Beyond....).

MIDNIGHT MADNESS AND BEYOND...

ENFER DORÉAL

 

On 2009's Devotion, French savant Maxime Primault (aka ENFER DORÉAL) both reinvents and confirms the brilliance of drone. Musique Concrete imagined as atmosphere. Simplicity. Patience. The casual tumult of "Amlothi" coming out of the excruciating 13+ minute "Reborn On Assi Ghat." The ability to make the "Rainbow Warrior" sound so incredibly hopeless and beautiful at the same time....this is a special artist. I'm late to the game (this is typically the case) but I am so glad that I have arrived. And now - listen to "Une Respiration D'ombre" in darkness and silence. You'll thank me. 

DEVOTION

KALX

Y'all know the drill with these tapes, but even so....this is a really good one.
Here's life as broadcast on KALX in Berkeley 39 years ago today. 

HERE

Worth noting that life as broadcast on KALX in Berkeley 38 years ago today was posted last year.... 

PARANORMAL

 

The feeling I had when I first pressed play....It was familiar, but I haven't felt it in a long time. It's about feeling immediately connected to a sound, about not knowing what exactly is going to happen next but already knowing that it's perfect. You want to talk about vibes, we're talking about a continuation of the NHFTK ---> NEON PISS pipeline and I swear if PARANORMAL had forged onward they could have achieved such heights. It's so well done I don't even really feel like I need to say anything else....gorgeous, ramshackle, infectious melodic punk. It's mostly spot on, but it's the just-barely-off parts that makes it even better. 

PARANORMAL

DOGGISH BOYS

 
I don't even know what to say here. Just listen, okay? A wild and unhinged spectrum generated hip-hop mix tape orbiting the mind of JEFF DOGG. Chopped and/or Screwed drug addled rap dispatches like you've never even imagined from the Pinhole Family.....the shit sounds weird, the shit is infectious. I feel like this is something Aesop would have created and/or released (which reminds me that I should hit that dude up to say hello). Just listen, okay?

DOGGISH BOYS MIXTAPE

UPRIGHT CITIZENS

 

In the mid-2000s I was on a tour that stopped in Pittsburgh. At Andy's place after the gig, most everyone crashed out while Andy and I nerded out about records and life and shit. I had never heard UPRIGHT CITIZENS so Andy slapped the record on the deck....and everything changed. It's just a perfect record start to finish. Classic DeutschPunk influenced by their North American contemporaries but beyond that, the record is just fukkn good. I was as sad that it had taken me so long to find them as I was excited that I was able to be reinvigorated by the discovery. If you in 2026 is like me in 2006, then you're welcome.  

OPEN EYES, OPEN EARS, A BRAIN TO THINK & A MOUTH TO SPEAK

BONEMAGIC

 

Been wondering what do do with this and what to say about this for (quite) a (long) time, and even though I'm not sure if today is the right day to talk about BONEMAGIC.....here we are. Classic, brilliant '80s industrial worship of the highest order - CLOCK DVA, NITZER EBB and mid-decade Wax Trax! punctuated with complicated dirges like "Unified Violence" and dark ambient missives like "Welcome To Sinew" or the vaguely SKINNY PUPPY-esque "Tales Of Hate & Separation." There is a lot more BONEMAGIC where this came from - more than a dozen releases under this moniker alone (there are other monikers) - but Meat Concrete is a gloriously dark place to start.

MEAT CONCRETE

BAR D WRANGLERS

 
I was on the bus Sunday evening after a pretty miserable day, mindlessly scrolling social media. The Grammys had just ended and the mainstream internet was all abuzz; the surrounding hubbub was a pleasant but temporary distraction from reality, so I scrolled. There were a lot of artists I don't care about and a lot of artists I've never heard of using their moment in front of the microphone to actually speak out and call out some of the bullshit that has consumed so much of the insanity that has clouded the minds of people who give a shit over the last year (or so). It was refreshing and honestly a little surprising. Some highlights....
BILLY EILISH said "No one is illegal on stolen land. Fuck ICE."
SHABOOZY said: "Immigrants built this country. Literally."
ISRAEL HOUGHTON won the award for best Contemporary Christian Album and said: "To those who are hiding in the shadows in America, those who are scared, we are citizens of a kingdom that cannot be shaken and that will not end."
KEHLANI said: "I hope everybody is inspired to join together as a community of artists and speak out against what's going on. Fuck ICE."
BAD BUNNY said: "Before I say thanks to God, I’m gonna say ICE out. We’re not savages, we're not animals, we're not aliens, we are humans and we are Americans."
And then there was TURNSTILE. Apparently the people in this band come from the DIY hardcore/punk scene, but they sound a heavy/alt outfit with a few (admittedly sick) generic 'core riffs and some 311 groove parts...shit lands like a weak ass SNAPCASE rehash to me, but a lot of people I know love them and swear their live shows are good. They are an important band, those people say. They are innovative and they are bringing the spirit if DIY punk and hardcore to mainstream kids and that's a powerful thing, they say. Well, TURNSTILE won the Best Rock Album Grammy and I bet they used that platform to say some shit about the state of things in this country (and this world).....
TURNSTILE said: "The community we found through punk and hardcore music has given us a safe place to swing in the dark and land somewhere beautiful. So to our family, our friends, our partners, our peers and to Baltimore: Thank you. We love you."

Damn, that band is a fukkn waste. If you want to hear what TURNSTILE would sound like if they were good, listen to THIS and lose me with any nonsense about how TURNSTILE are relevant to punk in any way. They are a commercial rock band. Period. Nothing wrong with that, I like plenty of commercial rock bands....just call it what it is and please don't reference punk and hardcore when you talk about them.

Anyway, there's a group of actual die hards from Durango, Colorado called THE BAR D WRANGLERS and they play a mix of classic country and western swing and fuck me if this version of "San Antonio Rose" ain't a straight banger. Throw in the JERRY REED influenced "Parkin' Worries" and standards like "Cool Water" and "Ghost Riders In The Sky" and you've got yourself a bona fide winner. They are Durango's Favorite Family Entertainment Since 1969 for a reason, y'all.

WAY OUT THERE

AYPEROS

 

I often write about things that remind me of other things - about listening to things that make me thing about other times when I listened to other things. That's Nihspra in a nutshell, and I am fucking frothing while I introduce myself to AYPEROS because these sounds are emblematic of one of the best times in (my) punk history. This is mid-'00s stadium crust; PDX SweDe-Beat infused with black metal and CELEST(E) blasts and then just.......fukk man, just listen to the title track here. Please. PLEASE. 

NIHSPRA

XAMPLES

 

What is this.....? This is early '10s LA raw ponx unrealized. This is MANIA and DRAPETOMANIA. This is ADOLESCENTS and SADICOS and also UK82 and Group Sex and all of that shit, because what is this shit really....? It's punk. Shit is fukkn punk. PERIOD. Like seriously, what else do you need. Seems like XAMPLES were ever so slightly on the back end of the SoCal wave that stopped all of the (us) old(er) punks dead in their (our) tracks....but that's just context. Today is really just seems like this tape fukkn rules and the title track will blow your mind.

END OF THE LIE