Monday, April 30, 2007

Art for Spastics v. 131 (all-UK)


For those of you who have subscribed to the podcast, you won't be hearing this show unless you choose either of these options. The reason being...Z'ev and Sikhara are playing live at Fools Foundation in Sacramento Monday night at 10:00, and I cannot miss my chance to see this show. Thanks to DJ Wesley Dodds for trading showtimes with me to make this possible. Mr. Dodds specializes in music only from the UK for his hour-long specialty show every Sunday night at midnight.

Download special-edition "Art for Spastics" v. 131 at this link (within next 10 weeks)

...or stream it from this link (before May 7, 2007)

GROUNDHOGS // Eccentric Man // Thank Christ for the Bomb // Liberty 1970
HIGH SPEED & THE AFFLICTED MAN // Get Stoned Ezy // Get Stoned Ezy 12" // Rock Toilet 1998 (orig 1982)
DRY RIB // Quail Seed // v/a: Messthetics #102 // Hyped2Death 2006 (orig 1979)
GOD'S GIFT // Discipline // Discipline 7" // New Hormones 1982
GOD'S GIFT // The Hunger of Millions // self-titled 12" EP // New Hormones 1980
Z'EV // Wipe Out // Wipe Out 7" // Fetish 1982
ANNE BEAN & PAUL BURWELL PULP MUSIC // Low Flying Aircraft // Low Flying Aircraft 7" // Poutré Apparente *new (orig 1979)

SLUIK // I Felt a Bit/I Was // Back to Burnsley 7" // Minimal Wave 2006 (orig 1982)
THE WAKE // Patrol // Harmony // Factory 1982
OPPENHEIMER ANALYSIS // Men in White Coats // self-titled 12" EP // Minimal Wave 2005 (orig 1982)
STORM BUGS // Our Main Objective // Up the Middle, Down the Sides // Fusetron 2005 (orig 1978-80)
SHADOW RING // Spin the Animal Dial // Put the Music in It´s Coffin [sic] // Siltbreeze 1997

DATBLYGU // Problem-yw-Bywyd // Welsh DIY & Punk // no label 1983
COLLECTIVE HORIZONTAL // Beach Coma // v/a: Messthetics #101 // Hyped2Death 2006 (orig 1979
COUNTRY TEASERS // Panic Holiday // The Empire Strikes Back // In The Red 2006
LONG BLONDES // Darts // v/a: Imagine the Shapes // What's Your Rupture? *new

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Art for Spastics v. 130

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Download AFS v. 130 (w/in next 10 weeks)

...or stream it (by May 1, 2007).

HANK IV // Dirty Poncho // Dirty Poncho b/w Symptomatic 7" // Plastic Idol *new
THE REMENBERS // Remember // It´s 7" // Plastic Idol *new
FUNCTIONAL BLACKOUTS // Uniform // split CDR w/ KK Rampage // Rampage *new
LEPER PRINT // Coma // 6-song demo CDR // no label *new
ARTIFICIAL LIMBS // Subserviant // 5-song demo CDR // no label *new
ADULT. // I Feel Worse When I´m With You // Why Bother? // Thrill Jockey *new
RHYTHM & NOISE (feat. Z'ev) // Bent Metal Forest // Chasms Accord // Ralph 1985
SWORD HEAVEN // Dust Pneumonia Blues // v/a: Pisspounder 3xLP // Deathbomb Arc *new
BRAINBOMBS // I Need Speed // 2nd Singles Comp CD // Polly Maggoo *new
HAMMERHEAD // Swallow // Into the Vortex // Amphetamine Reptile 1994
HIROSHIMA ROCKS AROUND // Not Right // unreleased tracks CDR // no label *new
BLACK FLAG // Damaged I // Louie Louie 7" // Posh Boy 1981 *request

Z'EV // Wipe Out // Wipe Out 7" // Fetish 1982
FACTRIX // Nancy´s Little Gun // California Babylon // Subterranean 1982 (feat. Z´ev)
HUMAN EYE // Desperate Hands // Spiders & Their Kin 7" // Cass *new
NOTHING PEOPLE // I Can´t Find My Monkey // Problems 7" // Ss recordS 2006
MEERCAZ // Lovesick // Unlust 7" // Point Wrex *new
WOODEN SHJIPS // Dance, California // Dance, California 7" // Sick Thirst 2006
GANG WIZARD // Lemonade Folly // new 7" // DNT *new
COLLECTIF NOX // Chantzado // v/a: Dry Lungs III // Placebo 1987
SIKHARA // Burnt Columns // Bardos States // URCKarm/Radon/Soopa 2006

Z'EV // Where Were You? // v/a: Project 91 // Concrete Productions 1992
POINTLESS ORCHESTRA // Titaneum // Approaching Totality // Pointless/O.D. Discs/Complacency 1998
BLACK EGG // Sticky Tornado Across the Slime Colored Skies // Twin Moons & Braided Face CDR // Haunted Fang 2006
TENT CITY // untitled // split 3" CDR w/ Horse Head // DNT *new
Z'EV // untitled // Live in Köln, October 2005 // no label *new

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Meet the Bands of "Newbie Friendly"

Since some of you have emailed to complain that you can't find the comp (sorry, I shoulda explained better before); others say they wanna know more about who these bands are; here's the deal...

Say I care too much, but we really put a lot of ourselves into Freeform KDVS, the fulltime FM and online radio station that exists for and because of its listeners, who are very often the same-level priorities-backward music-freaks as you and you, and other people here at TB. Punk- and thug-run since 1963, we are probably the best terrestrial-based online listening destination for fans of the new music of extremely wide variety and deep obscurity. Not meaning to brag, but that's the way that it is.

As incentive for you to support us, we give you thank-you gifts or premiums that are worth the money you pledge. As extra incentive for fans of the "weirdpunk," I made this "Newbie Friendly" 78-minute, 24-track CDR compilation of mostly new and some old songs that are either exclusive or exceedingly rare, and that you might not otherwise hear any other way. "Newbie Friendly" is free on top of any other premiums you select.



To view this gift, go to...
http://kdvs.ucdavis.edu/viewother.cfm
...then select "Freebies"...and you'll see it there.

To donate to KDVS online, and select "Newbie Friendly", go to...
http://kdvs.ucdavis.edu/secure/pledgeform.cfm
...fill out form, pledge $25 or more, choose this freebie, and then choose any other valuable dollar-for-dollar premium you like otherwise.

You can also call the fundraiser hotline toll-free: (877) 399-KDVS
or (530) 754-KDVS

THIS WILL BE AVAILABLE THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT, April 22. (For $100, you can get 14 CDR comps handmade by DJs including many of our very best...It's worth it!)

(1) Der Submarine Racers "Cheap Date": Here's a made-to-order blast of blown-out sleaze that's exclusive to this collection. With their prospective label vetoing my proposal to include the outrageous "Space Burrito," the MySpace budget-rock rager of the year, I asked the band to provide me with any music that's not already slated for release on upcoming 7" vinyl. There was no such material, so the band offered to write and record a wholly new song. With gratitude, I replied that my timeline didn't allow for that, so they went right to work and emailed me this .wav file a day later!

(2) Wax Museums "Worm": These young and slovenly slobberers from Denton, Texas, play a preciously authentic brand of Angry Samoans and "Killed by Death" obsession as heard on their two 7-inchers so far. "Worm" is from the B-side of their 2006 debut EP, and this one will burrow its way into your brain like a devious little annelid.

(3) Doppelganger Squid "At War": In 1994, this North Carolina band made one delightfully scuzzy 7" on the obscure Waggletone label. All three songs are clever and great as examples of ultra-budget lo-fi weirdpunk that is made to sound good. Are my ears bad, or does these drums sound like early Chrome? A $200 pawn shop special, played in a style that is skeletal, yet nervously shuffling. Guitars are positively Tapewormian at times! Perhaps these guys were like a more metaphysically minded Sockeye or slightly psych-inflected Kill the Hippies.

(4) Toxic Attitude "War Crimes": I found this seven-song 7" record in a small quantity at Amoeba Records ten years ago, and I was immediately curious because of the campy hand-drawn cover of a mullet-dude guzzling a beer and the monkeylike print of the EP's title, "Stupid Teenage Music." The back cover had a xerox-degraded photo of the band with two of the members in their graduation dress, posing against the fence of the high school baseball field. The "fuck you" list included Violent Apathy and CH. 3. I just knew it had to be good, so I bought them all. What I found in the grooves was better than I expected...total last-brain-cell devastating puerile HC played at the edge of no control, but with a complete disregard for self-consciousness about zero musical talent and not-even-half-baked political rants. The best part is the ridiculous reverb drench effect that the singer uses to drive home certain choice lyrical passages. I'm guessing he controlled it with a foot-switch. When you hear this, you're gonna wonder why this hasn't already been made legendary on many mp3 blogs.

(5) Red Asphalt "Red Asphalt": Here's some highly dynamic synthpunk from a 1979 7" from a mysterious Bay Area band who also appeared on the "Live at Le Disque" 2xLP compilation. I know little else about them, but this sure sounds like the kinda proto-art/tweener-garagepunk that inspires such bands as Functional Blackouts, certain Jay Reatard vehicles, and the A Frames family tree.

(6) Talbot Tagora "Bent Boy Out": Here's the most promising sounds of young DIY Seattle featuring youngbloods who cut their teeth in bands like Mikaela's Fiend and Last Slice of Butter. The kinetic galloping pace and guitar angles of Abe Vigoda are evident here, but so are the raw mp3-maché and hooky melodics of the Intelligence, and while other songs from their self-produced "Volcano Girls" CDR album rock harder than this, "Bent Boy Out" sounds like it also delves into the best bands of the C-86 progeny.

(7) Skarekrau Radio "Kitty Swap": With their cult religion and mythology, SKR are at once kinda offputting freakishness and enrapturing, and sometimes even a great party band, such as on this song from last year's split LP with Jerusalem & the Starbaskets on Apop Records. If you'll pardon more of my lazy this-band-meets-that-band comparos, lemme just say that the obvious equation I hear is Bunny Brains plus Smegma.

(8) ...Worms "Woodfire (Autobahn)": The ellipsis is indeed part of the name of this Portland-via-Pullman quartet of self-described "ADD-riddled grizzled old men" (they're about the same age as me, I'm pretty sure). This song is from their four-song 7" that came out on Marriage Records a couple years back. Crispy Ambulance had a lyric that went "Caught halfway between the unsightly and serene" which sounded like so much proto-goth bullshit, but maybe they were foresaging this oddly compelling band. This one writhes (bass), rants (vocals), pummels (drums), and serenades (guitar) all at the same time, but all so effectively.

(9) Hiroshima Rocks Around "Closed Mouth": From Italy, HRA step on touchstones of AmRep-era pigfuck, hardcore, weirdpunk, and even skirt around jazz sometimes, and bring it all together in their own unique style. The flavor of AmRep is strongest on this particularly stout pounder which rides its insistent riff and deliberative rhythm like a tectonic plate into a subduction zone, and it creates just as much heat.

(10) KK Rampage "The Devil Is Here": What started as a decade-late-for-"Now-Wave" Chicago antics-rock with 20 unfinished tracks qualifying as an official CDR album improved in 2006 to become the most-improved band of the year. Yet somehow I knew from that first CDR I heard that I needed to pay attention and compartmentalize--if not toally shut out--all the haters in message board flamewars accusing these guys of registering fake profile to pose as ultra-fans. I fully believe these complainers were just upset over the band soaking the audience and throwing flour on them at a show during their formative days of antics being way ahead of song ideas. I asked them for permission to cull my favorite from their first fully awesome CDR-EP, but they insisted on sending a brand-new exclusive. It's a good one with a plodding powerful yet sexy rhythm and guitars skronking sideways, and for antics' sake, schitzo vocals swing from helium-rich to histrionic cro-mag.

(11) AIDS Wolf "Bethlehem Embargo Crystal": Montreal MySpace monsters turn out extreme-smack-talking haters and gushing lovers aplenty, and I'm totally on the posi side as this band and my radio show have a mutual love thang. I was hooked from the first listen because the music sounded like so much fun, and completely soaked in sweat. But just when the haters thought they had 'em pegged, the band added new dimensions, growing more psychedelic and rhythmically and stylistically adventurous...sometimes even settling the chaos to dwell in some lushness, as you can hear on this exclusive offering.

(12) Arthrose Aujourd'hui "Slept in Again": Vancouver's chapter of French weirdpunk's Oreille Equitable "Triple Alliance" (including Cheveu, Crack und Ultra Eczema, A.H. Kraken, and others) translates to "Arthritis Today." When the band's psych anesthesia attack locks you into stupefied traction, you may become so crippled as to not even twitch a joint. But lock away the Icy Hot and enjoy the ride. The band is two members of Ladies Night plus a French guy who's soon to return to home. I vote for arthritis today, and for at least a few more prolific months. Do you know that sleazy feeling of waking up past noon for days and days and days, even as you try to break the habit? This song captures that perfectly.

(13) Factums "Split Screen": This Seattle band are a cousin branch on the A Frames family tree with membership directly descending from the Intelligence and Popular Shapes. Their sound is not too unlike a cross between the droll DIY transistor artpunk of Boredom & Terror by the Intelligence and early Bruce Haack proto-electronica, perhaps also spiked with the more experimental edge of the British DIY music of the late 70's and early 80's featured on the Messthetics series. A release on Siltbreeze is slated for later. Dig the raddest, iciest keyboard riff since Head & the Hares covered "Lost."

(14) M.A.L. "Seven Minutes to Midnight": Michael A. Lucas--yes, that Mike Lucas--made a couple albums in the early 80's released under his initials of dark, brooding experimental rock that's something like Factrix with a 60's psych fascination, especially on 1981's Compendium Maleficarum LP, the album which includes this ultra-creepy song about incest sung from the point of view of a perverse father.

(15) Little Claw "Wayward Chief": Probably my favorite new discovery of the last year or so, this Detroit band almost slipped past my radar long enough to sneak their first LP past me, but fortunately I got a hold of the songs due to appear on their second LP, which will be out soon on Ecstatic Peace, and now I just want everyone to be ready for their onslaught of caveman pounding, scrawling psychpunk guitars, and the stunning performance of a female singer with delicate yin and ferocious yang in her voice, and her guitar playing. And sometimes it's all yang and no yin, and that's when Little Claw has the power to crush you.

(16) Drivetrain "Time Is of the Essence": If this sounds even slightly like Dead Moon to you, then you won't be surprised to learn that (a) this guitarist/singer and bassist/singer are a husband/wife tandem, (b) the drummer Louis Sambora was earlier the drummer of Fred and Toody Cole's pre-Dead Moon band, The Rats, (c) according to the record sleeve, when the van needs repairs, the old man would rather fix it himself than hire a mechanic, and (d) the record was released in 1988 on the Coles' own Tombstone Records. And, of course, this song is a great example of simple, honest rock 'n' roll that is essentially timeless!

(17) Superstitions "Hell on My Heels": Last year, I discovered a new world of young teen and early-twenty-something budget-rock appreciators that were--if barely on the edge--part of what we non-Southern-Californians have come to know as "the Smell scene." These guys are still into releasing a bevy of limited CDR and cassette releases, spackled in paint and glitter just like their DIY dayglo noiserock Smell friends, but they worship the Mummies and Trashmen like no one else born between 1975 and 1985, excepting the teenage Donnas. Erupting from the O.C.'s arm of this microscene came Party Fowl, whose ignited surf-trash-thrash showed incredible promise early. Now, Party Fowl's fully awesome, and the first band I'd recommend for a budget-rocker label honcho. Blew me away at the live show! Yet, I was not ready to be bowled over by the so much more mature sound of Seth from Party Fowl's one-man-band project, Superstitions. On his debut cassette, No One Gets Out Alive, I hear the traditional one-man-band set-up played well, like King Louie, but hybridized with another of Seth's fascinations, the Country Teasers. I hear it in the deliberate rhythms, his voice, and maybe even the lyrics...what I can make out anyway. Between this and Junkpile Jimmy, Orange County must be at the forefront of awesome one-man-bands.

(18) God's Gift "No God": From the Buzzcocks' New Hormones label comes something altogether unlike the Buzzcocks in every way except that certain unmistakable Englishness. Around 1979-80, God's Gift made this 12" and a 7" on the label before, I presume, fading into oblivion. Ungooglable, their story remains a mystery to me, but their completely dessicated plodding twangy postpunk is quite the rewarding test of patience, and again, not unlike the Country Teasers.

(19) Dogbite 65 "We're Going to Tassle City": This Portland band was (still is?) a side project of Buck Rothy and Zack from Danava, and formerly Princess Sweepstakes, who became Danava after Zac Nelson moved down here to Sacramento and later started Who's Your Favorite Son, God?, and that's some crucial recent KDVS history that we'll be bragging about for the next decade or two. Buck and Zack made this three-song CDR-EP called "Motorbike Poop" with help from Zac Nelson on raucous, ridiculous background vocals. Musically, this reminds me of something you'd hear on the Nuf Sed or Brinkman labels about 15 years ago...psychedelic weirdpunk taking some cues from Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 and maybe a couple from Caroliner, too. Ramp the progfactor to a stylish medium/high level for that final fugue. Shoulda been a vinyl-bound keeper!

(20) Slicing Grandpa "Fence": Seattle’s supreme slingers of evil lofi dungeon drone drive a hooky bassline. Now, don’t think boring ‘cos I said drone. Writhing, scrawly, and creepy, their scuzzy noise reveals a great sense of humor. Not everyone will appreciate the joke, because of course it’s very twisted and misanthropic. But if you have the heart for black comedy, and especially if you reach again and again for Shadow Ring records when you wanna let the laffs rip, then you oughta get to know Slicing Grandpa…and while you’re getting familiar, also check out the related Kount Fistula, another branch of the Tractor Sex Fatality family tree of bands.

(21) Deathgleaner "Life With Lice": Tons of teens these days dress up in the tight girljeans, eyeliner, and assymetrically screenprinted undersized shirts, and this is the uniform to enjoy some overproduced screamo-goth-metalcore amalgam with a five-word band name that glorifies pain and agony. But not Griffin. This teenaged noise phenom originally from Kansas City but now skating between Portland and Olympia has an incredibly mature handle on just what agony should sound like. I'd say that this particular track (taken from the "PDX Artix 2006 Mix-Tape") compares well with some of the best material by Prurient. The ominous prelude reveals patience far beyond his ADD-riddled generation's normal capacity, and the convulsive derangement of the possessed itch-fest crescendo is just plain scary. You will be scratching at little burrowing phantoms in your beard, yet Griffin's probably too young to grow one! The idea that he may improve with age is perhaps the only thing scarier than this song.

(22) German Shepherds "Booty Jones": If M.A.L.'s incest song wasn't enough to turn your stomach, you might still wanna brace yourself for this song, which I can only assume is an autobiographical song about pedophilia. The voice you hear is that of a man who killed himself awaiting trial for child molestation charges. The prosecution would have been really smart to introduce this song as evidence. The defense could've also used the disorienting synth sounds and gloomy bassline and trembling voice--a'la early Cabaret Voltaire--to build a case for insanity. Truly courageous stuff, even if it's totally repulsive.

(23) N.213 "Revenger": Nic Hughes is best known to most of you as the singer/guitarist of Shearing Pinx and the drummer of Channels 3 & 4, who have been two of the most exciting Vancouver bands of recent years, but he's still got enough time and spark between all that to be in no less than two other bands of high quality, AND also have his solo project, N.213, which is unmistakably Nic for the most aggressive sounding delayed vocals you might ever hear. You hear it in Shearing Pinx, and you hear it on this solo track which was taken from his "SX-79" CDR album on his own ultra-prolific vanity label, Isolated Now Waves. There's a lot of variety among the several N.213 releases, but "SX-79" was very much a dark electro or dark-wave sorta thing, essentially very authentic but with an icy no-wave edge.

(24) Men/Eject "Draw": I've gotten two different stories about who this band was, but they remain a mystery. The sleeve of this 7" from 1980 had no band or label information, but the grooves contain some of the most compelling dystopian bleakness and alien-weird almost formless synthpunk I've ever heard.

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

You Can Still Get "Newbie Friendly"

"Newbie Friendly" took about nine hours to build, and I'd sure love to give them away to music freaks out there. So, if you are a regular listener of "Art for Spastics" on the archive, then I don't blame you for going to bed early tonight. You were planning to catch the archive, right? Okay, well...the "Newbie Friendly" compilation CDR of 24 ultra-rare and outstanding tracks is still available, but you must ask for it by name. The KDVS Fundraiser ends on Sunday night at midnight, but I can only guarantee that the comp will be available by itself as a special add-on bonus premium gift for Tuesday and Wednesday.

Otherwise, you can also donate $100 to KDVS and pick up handmade CDR compilation prizes from all 13 KDVS DJ's who have made their own for the 2007 Fundraiser. That includes Todd Urick of the "Hometown Atrocities" show, Tim Matranga of "Kicksville 29 B.C.," and Megan of "Beyond Chicks & Cars." Those three are always raved about by so many record geeks. My girlfriend Fuzzbox Flynn has a special comp this year, too, which has some really rare Cassette Underground ephemera which has been preserved in all its glory by Robert Bolman. Who the hell is that? Trust me, if you are a fan of Subterranean Records stuff from the early 80's, you will be pleased to find out the answer.

I am inspired by so many DIY bands and artists of rock 'n' roll and noise and all shades in between to do this radio show, go extreme-blogging about them, set up shows in Sacto and Davis, and travel to an average of two live shows per week. It's really all about the bands and the people who like to find out about new bands and hear long lost or never-knew-about bands. And, yes, even the sometimes pathetic people who are just singularly obsessed with records as collectibles. You all inspire me through your courage to deliver the goods, raw and real and as awesome as you can make it. That's why, 13 years since starting here at KDVS, I have resisted burnout, and that's why I work to make all those HTML links so that people will know that even though some of these records and CDs and tapes are limited to 20 spray-painted and glitter-spackled copies, this music is available someway, somehow. And there's over 100 other DJs at KDVS--nearly all experts in some field or another--who are similarly afflicted with this disease, and volunteer their time to spread rarely heard music on the airwaves and over the internet. The time and effort and loving care is worth a lot, we think. So, please donate to keep KDVS alive and well.

Thanks!

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Art for Spastics v. 129 feat. the Flower Vato

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The Flower Vato filled in for me while I was in Oakland at the Lightning Bolt show. Thanks, Larry! He's an outstanding freeform DJ, and if you listen, I'm sure you'll agree, and you'll hardly miss me! I'll be back next Monday night, and you should be ready because the KDVS Fundraiser will be happening. It's an important time for us because most of the money we require for maintaining and improving our service to you is from listener support, and we only ask for it one week per year. As a special thank-you gift for donors of $25 or more on my program, I'll be giving you a CDR packed with some great new music by the likes of Factums, Skarekrau Radio, Wax Museums, Deathgleaner, and many more, and even exclusive songs by AIDS Wolf, KK Rampage, and Der Submarine Racers...plus, I'll be interspersing it with some blasts from the past that fall under the guise of "What if they KBD'd the 90's?" This CDR is in addition to any other regular "premium" gift that you choose. Watch for a reminder about this. Thanks!

Download AFS v. 129 (w/in next 10 weeks)

...or stream it (by April 17, 2007).

REVERB MOTHERFUCKERS // Peaceman // Route 666 // Race Age 1988
LOS LLAMARADA // Je Sois // The Exploding Now // Ss recordS *new

XANADU // Switch the Topic // Blackout in the City EP // Black Hole 1979
AMOR FATI // Will to Live // Will to Live // Flesh 1985
DAVE HOWARD SINGERS // I Am a Bunny // v/a: You Bet We Got Something Against You // Cathexis 1989
LIL BUNNIES // side two // 50 Children's Favorites // Rockin' Bones 1997
BLOOD SLUT // Blood Slut // 7" // T.P.O.S.
GEZA X & THE MOMMYMEN // Practicing Mice // You Goddam Kids // Dionysus 2005 (orig 1981)
THE CIGARETTES // Gimme Cigarette // 7" // Ss 2006 (orig 1978)
THE JOY POPPERS // Bosco the Geek // v/a: All the Paths Lead Nowhere // Galactic Zoo Dossier 1995
FIBULATOR // Levity // Even from Here You Look Big // Electro Motive 1993
JUNGLE NAUSEA // Alternative // 12" mini-LP // Inner Mystique 1982
CIRCLE X // Underworld // Circle X // Dexter´s Cigar 1996 (orig 1979)

SLAUGHTER JOE // Napalm Girl // I'll Follow You Down 12" EP // Creation 1985
THE GOOD MISSIONARIES // The Force Is Blind // Fire from Heaven // Deptford Fun City 1979
THE SWANS // Weakling (live in 1982) // v/a: From the Kitchen Archives vol. 3 // Orange Mountain 2006
SWANIC YOUTH // Swan Jovi // 7" // The Only Label in the World 1987
WALKING SEEDS // Obeying the Law // Skull Fuck // Probe 1987
KARATE PARTY // Pressure // Black Helicopter LP // Ss 2005
JUNKPILE JIMMY // Cheroot // Alberhill // Cartel Ilustre 2006
DRUNKS WITH GUNS // Punched in the Head // first 7" // Cheap Beer 1985
SKULLFLOWER // Satan, My Black Ass... // 7" // Forced Exposure 1992
PENDULUM FLOORS // Sick Kitty // A Kicking Good Time With... // Villa Villakula 1997
GERMAN SHEPHERDS // THC // 7" // S & M 1984
BOB LARSEN vs. DEMONS taped from AM radio early 90´s
ROBERT RENTAL & THE NORMAL // side one // Live West Runton Pavillion 6/03/79 // Rough Trade 1980

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

The "Franco-American Friendship Tour" feat. CHEVEU & TYVEK!

ALERT! Two of the world's best new bands representing France and Detroit are coming to the West Coast in May. That's Cheveu and Tyvek, respectively.

These two bands each released some of my favorite records of 2006. Here's how to hear their sounds...

http://www.myspace.com/cheveu (watch some live video there, too!)
http://cheveunet.free.fr/
http://www.myspace.com/tyvekmusic

These bands are erupting from the deepest darkest corners of artpunk recordgeek blogosphere to bring so much fun to the West Coast in May 2007...

Fri May 4 Los Angeles, CA @ Pehrspace, 325 Glendale Blvd, w/ Abe Vigoda & Anchors for Architects $5 all-ages
Sat May 5 San Diego, CA @ Tower Bar, 4757 University Ave, w/ The Atoms 21+
Sun May 6 (open)
Mon May 7 Mexicali, Mexico @ details forthcoming
Tue May 8 Sacramento, CA @ Fools Foundation, 19th & K Streets, w/ TBA $5 members/$7 non, all-ages
Wed May 9 Chico, CA? w/ Nothing People?
Thurs May 10 Portland, OR @ Slabtown 1033 NW 16th Ave w/ Meercaz & Reptilian Civilian 21+
Sat May 11 Vancouver, BC, Canada @ Pub 340, 340 Cambie St. w/ Arthrose Aujourd'hui
Sat May 12 Seattle, WA @ Funhouse 206 5th Ave N. w/ A Frames, Nice Smile 21+
Sun May 13 Olympia, WA @ Le Voyeur w/ Charming Snakes + 1 TBA
Mon May 14 Seattle, WA @ SS Marie Antoinette, 1235 Westlake, w/ Talbot Tagora & Coconut Coolouts, all-ages
Tue May 15 day off
Wed May 16 Portland, OR @ Artistery 4315 SE Division St. w/ TBA, all-ages
Thurs May 17 Oakland, CA @ 21 Grand, 416 25th St., w/ Battleship & Pets, all-ages
Fri May 18 San Francisco, CA @ Hemlock Tavern, 1131 Polk St., w/ Nice Smile $7 21+
Sat May 19 Davis, CA @ DAM Haus, 503 E Street, w/ Nothing People & Nice Smile, 7:00 food/7:30 music $$DONATE$$ all-ages
Sun May 20 Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo, 1822 W Sunset Blvd, "Part Time Punks" night w/ Glass Candy, Under 21 $8/21+ free before 10:30 & $5 afterwards

Be friends with this tour on MySpace and get updated when news happens...
http://www.myspace.com/cheveutyvek <--watch some movies there!

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

Art for Spastics v. 128

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Download AFS v. 128 (w/in next 10 weeks)

...or stream it (by April 10, 2007).

PLAIN // She Had Pepperonis // Extra No Onions // self-released *new
FOOT VILLAGE feat. CAPTAIN AHAB // 3840 Ticks of Soul // v/a: Pisspounder 3xLP // Deathbomb Arc *new

Aa // Prime Time // v/a: Pisspounder 3xLP
CRADLE OF SMURF // Bachia // self-titled // Tes Fesses *new
MATTRESS // Survive // Who Do You Lust? CDR // Tiny Wolf *new
MATTRESS // Forbidden Fruit // Who Do You Lust? CDR
I JOG & THE TRACKSUITS // Red Box // v/a: Labels Unlimited // Cherry Red 1979
THE MEKONS // Polaroids (I Don´t Own I Only Dote) // Where Were You?: Hens Teeth & Other Lost Fragments of Unpopular Culture Vol. 2 // Quarterstick // 1999 (orig 1981) *request
THE MEKONS // Where Were You? // Where Were You? 7” // Fast Product 1978 *request

TYVEK // Night Time (?) // May 2007 Tour CDR // no label *forthcoming
TALBOT TAGORA // Crimson Blow // Volcano Girls CDR // self-released *new
SHOP ASSISTANTS // Safety Net // Safety Net 12” EP // 53rd & 3rd 1985
CAUSE CO-MOTION! // Which Way Is Up? // Which Way Is Up? 7” // What's Your Rupture? *new
THOMAS FUNCTION // The Insignificants // The Insignificants 7” // Tic Tac Totally *new
TIMES NEW VIKING // Let Your Hair Grow Long // Present The Paisley Reich // Siltbreeze *new

LITTLE CLAW // Wayward Chief // forthcoming LP // no label *new
GANG WIZARD // Phenom Racing Horse // Atlas of Cancer // Deathbomb Arc/Gilgongo/Accidie *new
PENETRATION CAMP // Loss of a Christian Mind // The Gooder Book 3xCDR // Backwards *new
SLICING GRANDPA // Invasion on Bong Island // Mobile Bones/Disposal System CDR // Tanz Procesz *new
GHQ // Live in Seattle // Bored Fortress Singles Club split 7” w/ Ex-Cocaine // Not Not Fun *new

WARMTH // untitled // split 7” w/ Yellow Swans // DNT *new
POCAHAUNTED // title unknown // v/a: Spire Ground, a Bored Fortress Compilation 3” CDR // Not Not Fun *new
BURNING STAR CORE // The Universe Is Designed to Break Your Mind // Blood Lightning 2007 // No Fun Productions *new
KOUNT FISTULA // Naked Lady Forcefield (Take It Off (On)) // Dudeical Visions CDR // Scatalogical Liberation Front *new
LIGHTNING BOLT // Mega Ghost // Hypermagic Mountain // Load 2005 *request

Extra No Onions is a CDR of four junkfood-obsessed songs by Plain, which as far as I understand it, is one prolific man from Seattle named John Laux who is better known for his work in bands such as Tractor Sex Fatality, Slicing Grandpa, and Kount Fistula. Unlike so many other junkfood-junkie bands like the Go Nuts, Sewer Trout, and Public Humiliation, Plain does not pile up punchlines in compounding comical couplets. Plain's brand of boffo is the insidious time-release method of driving the low-brow so far and so low that it comes out at the other end of the low- to high-brow spectrum. If you're smart and at least somewhat sick in the head, you will understand that this is hilarious. Kinda like a quasi-metal Cheer Accident, but even more patiently paced and more deadpan. No address or even a MySpace presence, so good luck hearing more Plain on your own!

Pisspounder gets me thinking about bro-dawg brew-chuggers slammin' the lowest-quality swill, but it's actually a new triple-LP compilation just out on Deathbomb Arc which contains one side each by six bands within a triple gatefold hand-screened and haphazardly painted covers that smell like the acrid froth of decomposition. Come to think of it, it fits all too well with the music. These six intrepid bands blow up genres with aplomb here, and I've probably only given you two of the most accessible moments of the entire collection. "Prime Time" opens up the sprawling Aa (Big A little a) side with oozing synth magma that soon yields to a driving, dynamic onslaught of tribal percussion and insistent exhortations. This might be the best and most inspiring should-be pump-up jock-jam since the Hospitals made "Rich People," and both songs sound like they were recorded in an airline hangar, but make extremely advantageous use of the live room sound. The magma creeps back in for the subtle outro, but the side plays on to become less predictable and more psychedelic. It's music like this that makes me not complacent to enjoy the Liars very much. From the Foot Village side, we basically get an aggressively overhauled Captain Ahab remix of the "Brazil" report from the World Fantasy 10". The exuberant shrieks and screams of the Villagers can barely be heard below the din of what must be dozens of cracked keyboards and stuttering sequencers. Other bands on Pisspounder include Sword Heaven, Rainbow Blanket, Grey Skull, and Dreamhouse, and they all tend to move further toward noise. Great comp that I highly recommend!