Happy Holidays! Medicine - Shot Forth Self Living

Since nothing says Christmas like noise rock, today's MP3s are culled from the debut album of one of my favorite, often overlooked shoegaze bands--Medicine's Shot Forth Self Living.

Often derided as having been a My Bloody Valentine tribute act, I think a thorough listen to Shot Forth reveals something more substantial. Sure, it's pretty obvious that the track "Aruca" owes a pretty heavy debt to MBV's "Soon." And you could even argue that the whole album sounds like the work of a band caught in the damning riptide of hero-worship, destined to drown in a sea of fuzzed-out, blurry guitar textures. "American shoegaze?" you might scoff loudly. "That's a contradiction of terms."

Well, I would contest your argument with two points.

1. The fact is, SFSL is quite good, and although it sounds a lot like MBV, it's important to remember that Medicine developed concurrently with the UK's "Scene That Celebrates Itself";

2. Given Kevin Shields' notoriously lax work ethic, having something that sounds like another album from the undisputed kings (and queens) of early-90's blissrock is pretty awesome.

A bit of background info for those who need it: Brad Laner began playing in bands in his early teens, progressing from one shoddily-named experimental outfit to the next, eventually working up the ranks til he landed himself in one of Savage Republic's many lineups (as a drummer). Through these efforts, Laner eventually met the key players who would form Medicine with him. These parties included vocalist Beth Thompson and drummer Jim Goodall, with the bassist position being occupied by one dude after another throughout the band's history.

Obsessed with the idea of creating his own "sound" but unable to afford effects pedals through which to run his guitar, Laner experimented with a 4-track cassette recorder that he'd previously used to track demos at home. He found that by using the 4-track as an effects processor, he was able to create a particularly unique and harsh distortion sound. This texture lent itself rather well to the vision he had for Medicine, which was to combine sweet pop melodies with blazing, abstract guitar dissonance. With his guitar innovations matched by Thompson's lovely, atmospheric vocals and Goodall's solid, tasteful drum work, Laner and Medicine seemed destined for greatness.

But somewhere along the way, the plans unravelled. It wasn't easy for Medicine to secure a recording contract in America; they had to sign to the British Creation label first, and despite generating a buzz with their first couple of UK singles, the English press mercilessly painted the band as MBV-wannabes almost as quickly as their tour bus pulled up outside the tour's first venue. By the time they finally signed to Def American in the US, Stateside audiences were obsessed with grunge, meaning that Medicine's noisy, abstract pop-rock went unnoticed while interlopers such as Bush scored hit after hit.

Anyway, it's my hope that history's greatest mistakes are someday redressed. Aside from Native Americans being given a little something for their trouble (other than some farming-proof land and a few casinos), and other than a black man getting elected president--oh yeah!--I'd like to see Medicine acknowledged as one of the greatest bands to come out of the shoegaze movement. You can do your part to help by listening to the four tracks posted below and telling your friends about Medicine.

Normally, I encourage everyone to buy a copy of the album; however, it seems as though the manufacturer of the album has ceased production. So I'm still advocating for you to buy a used copy of the CD if you can find it, but I think it'd be even better for you to lobby Def American to reissue a lovely remastered set with bonus tracks (b-sides, acoustic cuts, etc). I've bookmarked American Recordings' website and as soon as Rick Rubin's email address is posted, you can bet I'll send the first of a series of strongly-worded letters.

Medicine - Shot Forth Self Living - 01 - One More.mp3

Medicine - Shot Forth Self Living - 03 - Defective.mp3

Medicine - Shot Forth Self Living - 06 - Sweet Explosion.mp3

Medicine - Shot Forth Self Living - 09 - Christmas Song.mp3

The Bent Moustache - Forst

I saw the Bent Moustache awhile back at Sebadoh's hometown reunion show. They opened for Mr. Barlow and Co., and from the first song I was smitten. Combining volatile influences like the Fall, Gang of Four, dub reggae (seriously), and a hint of Krautrock, this then-3-piece combo blew me away with their nervous energy and angular rhythms.

I know next to nothing about the band, biographically speaking. From what I gather, they're Scottish but they live in Amsterdam. Their lineup has included 2 women and contained as many as 5 and as few as 3 members, though when I saw them, there were three dudes. Evidently, two of the Bent Moustaches started out as Dog Faced Hermans. The rest of the story remains a mystery, and their website doesn't provide much more in the way of elucidation.

Regardless, TBM provides a welcome respite from today's revisionist punk-funk trends by leaning toward the genre's dirtier, grittier history. Vocalist/bassist Ajay sounds like Mark E. Smith, if Mr. Smith changed his angle from "drunk, acerbic and eccentric" to "energetic, chemically happy, and eccentric." This sounds much better coming through your speakers than it does in print, trust me.

When I saw them play live, TBM's guitarist was in fact a tech/roadie who told me after the show he was filling in for the band's usual gunslinger. He didn't clarify if this was a permanent or temporary change, but to my knowledge the gentleman I spoke to didn't play on "Forst," TBM's most recent release. This is something of a shame, because the guy I saw had a wild Andy-Gill-on-steroids style of playing that really pumped the energy levels and kept them elevated throughout the band's set, even when they took a left turn into a freeform dub excursion. Nonetheless, the guitar playing on "Forst" is solid, if a little more restrained-sounding than what I witnessed.

I hope you enjoy the 4 tracks I'm posting, and then visit the band's website. If you like the songs, please consider purchasing the full album from which these tunes are culled. It's a bit hard to track down, with search listings all over the bloody internet that seem to turn up nothing, so be sure to grab it where you find it.

The Bent Moustache - Forst - 01 - Bubblebath.mp3

The Bent Moustache - Forst - 03 - Killa Dub.mp3

The Bent Moustache - Forst - 05 - League Of Mature Jazz Friends.mp3

The Bent Moustache - Forst - 08 - Organ Fascination.mp3

Magazine - The Complete John Peel Sessions

As we all know by now, after after authoring Buzzcocks' 1976 debut Spiral Scratch EP and changing the face of the UK's musical landscape almost single-handedly, singer/guitarist Howard Devoto left the band by the end of that same year to form his next project, Magazine.

Bored with what he perceived as the rapid codification of a genre that, at least initially, was about breaking established rules, Devoto was seeking a forum for greater artistic and musical expression that welded punk's rebellious energy to prog's shifting song structures, and emboldened further by incorporating daring textural experiments and strange, abstract lyrics. Instrumentation in this new band would include driving drum beats, propulsive basslines, icy keyboards, and guitars that alternately buzzed, fizzed, and shattered like glass. Magazine, it seems, set the template for not-prog prog bands like Radiohead.

Personally, the element that drew me deeper into Magazine's twisted little world wasn't Devoto's proto-Thom Yorke bit, although that's a pretty compelling part of the band's overall appeal. No, for me, John McGeoch's ground-breaking guitar playing was the real highlight. Veering back and forth between straightforward, overdriven punk power chords and the fractured, angular, atmospheric style that would become a hallmark of post-punk and new wave, McGeoch blazed an original path and to this day remains undercredited for his contribution to modern rock's 6-string vocabulary.

Anyway, I've decided to cherry-pick four hot tracks from Magazine's new Complete John Peel Sessions release. These live-in-the-studio tunes reveal a side of the band previously hidden by their more studied studio albums--a side marked by shit-hot ensemble playing and an ability to groove in a way that few other bands of their ilk were capable of doing. Witness their mighty cover of Sly and the Family Stone's "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Again)" and try keep in mind that these are pasty, white English boys.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the tunes. Be sure to pick up a copy of this record at Amazon.com, Newbury Comics, or any other fine retailer of quality music.

Magazine - Complete John Peel Sessions - 02 - The Light Pours Out of Me

Magazine - Complete John Peel Sessions - 04 - My Mind Ain't So Open

Magazine - Complete John Peel Sessions - 09 - TV Baby

Magazine - Complete John Peel Sessions - 10 - Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)

Return of the Mack

So it's been a long time since I've posted anything; for awhile, I'd basically given up because there didn't seem to be any evidence that anyone was actually reading this blog.

But in the meantime, I've found some great new stuff that I'd like to share, so I plan to resurrect this site soon. I plan to rennovate and do two things I wasn't doing before:

-Start writing and posting album reviews
-Post links to my original music

Many thanks to those who left comments that didn't redirect to Canadian pharmaceutical sales sites. It was your posts that convinced me to start up again.

Coming next week: MP3s of songs from Magazine's Peel Sessions, The Affectionate Punch by the Associates, a review and tracks from Wire's latest release Object 47, and maybe--just maybe--an original track from yours truly...

A.R.Kane - "69"

Sorry I haven't been posting as much recently. You see, I recently dusted off my ol' iPod after I finally broke down and shelled out for a new cable to get the damn thing charged after a year, and frankly I've been spending far too much time ripping music onto it. We're talking 18.55 gigabytes of pure love, baby.

And in other news related to taking my time away from posting tracks here, I've recently been reading The Autobiography of Malcolm X, which is a damn fine publication. If you haven't read it and you think you know something about the man, drop your assumptions and "received wisdom" and pick up the book. It's easily one of the best personal histories I've ever read, with lessons for people of every age, religion, and race. I'm about 70 pages from the end of the book and it's at the point where each page is presenting me with some kind of epiphany. Heavy.

Speaking of race, today's band was given nicknames like "the black Jesus & Mary Chain" by the British press (despite the fact that one of the two main contributors was very obviously Indian). I kinda can't believe someone could get away with printing that kind of thing anymore, much less 10 to 20 years ago, but it goes to show you that just when you think we as human beings are generally over stupid things like racist tendencies, the English music press will always be willing to slip on a monocle and adopt the condescending imperialist tone that made the British Empire such a problem in the first place.

Anyway, A.R.Kane appear to have released a few albums, but rumor has it this 69 is the best and the rest aren't really worth bothering with. I don't know if that's true, but this record does rock my socks clean off my feet. They appear to have either been heavily influenced by or to have heavily influenced the shoegazers, with pop melodies, dancy rhythms, and glorious noise jostling for your ear's attention. Here for your perusal are the first three tracks from 69; if you like them, you can easily obtain a copy here.

A.R.Kane - 69 - 01 - Crazy Blue
A.R.Kane - 69 - 02 - Suicide Kiss
A.R.Kane - 69 - 03 - Baby Milk Snatcher

The Smiths - Peel Session (05.18.83)

It's been far too long since I've written a blog; since before New Year's, if I'm not mistaken. I suppose I could simply take a look at the date on my last post, but I like to say things like, "if I'm not mistaken." And if I knew, there'd be no chance that I'd be mistaken.

Which brings me to a point--not to get too tangential here, because normally I hate that sort of thing from mp3 bloggers, but don't worry because this does in fact tie in with today's particular selection. The point I'm getting at is that part of my New Year's celebration involved a bit of healthy introspection. This kind of thing can be good or bad, depending on the amount of intoxicants you've imbibed, what your week's been like, whether or not you're currently sleeping with anyone, etc.

Anyway, introspection: one of the things I came to realize about myself is that there's a reason I like certain bands, movies, books, artists, and so on. And that reason can be summed up in one word: potential.

You see, it's dawned on me that I dislike music (and, I guess, art in general) when it's so rough that it's obviously not going anywhere. There's a difference between being obscure because your work is too challenging for most people, and just being too shitty for anyone to want to involve themselves in your work; I've met a lot of bands that fall into the second category but have themselves convinced that they're in the first. Also, I hate bands that started out a bit rough and as time goes on, they've gotten better and better at actually playing their instruments to the point where they've smoothed out all the edges and turned into just another slick, bland radio group.

The thing that these two situations have in common is that both kinds of bands lack potential. The first band isn't going to get any better because they're telling themselves that they're already kickass; the second band isn't going to get any more interesting because they can't get any better and if they do, it's only because they've hired session men who'll help them churn out flawlessly-played renditions of the boring adult contemporary hits they're writing. There's no possibility anymore, and it's come to my attention that I basically worship potential and possibility rather than actual skill or honed refinement.

I tend to lose interest in bands once they've gotten too good at what they do. Take, for instance, Placebo: Loved the first three records, then Sleeping With Ghosts came out and I heard it, enjoyed it for a couple of spins, and then I realized that it was kind of a creative flatline for them. Not that the songs weren't well written, not that the sounds weren't cool, but something was missing. That something is the spark that comes from a hungry band who knows that what they're playing isn't the best song ever written, but if they play it with enough chutzpah, maybe you'll think it is.

Which brings me to today's selection: three live cuts as recorded by the Smiths in John Peel's BBC studio in 1983. They'd just started out and Johnny Marr had yet to discover the joys of multi-tracking guitars. There are none of the famous layers of sound here, just a little three-piece kicking up quite a racket. And not that I ever found the Smiths boring--as good as they ever got, they never lost their edge as such--but I cherish this particular recording as evidence that a band that's just started can beat the ass off any Led Zep album in three tracks or less. Throw in a fourth and fuggeddaboudit! (There would have been a fourth track, Handsome Devil, but Blogger.com's being a bitch at the moment and keeps deleting the link every time I publish the post. Sorry.)

Viva Potential in 07!

The Smiths - Peel Session - 01 - What Difference Does It Make? (05.18.83)
The Smiths - Peel Session - 02 - Miserable Lie (05.18.83)
The Smiths - Peel Session - 03 - Reel Around the Fountain (05.18.83)

Tricky - "Pre-Millennium Tension"

I don't know if it's the holidays that do it to me, or if it's just something that happens with my brain chemistry relating to the time of year. Perhaps it's the New Year encroaching, forcing me to acknowledge my own mortality by taking stock of the deaths of people who held some significance to me over the course of the past 12 months--in 2006, we lost (among others) Syd Barrett, Kirby Puckett, Don Knotts, Gerald Ford, James Brown, Coretta Scott King, Steve Irwin, Peter Boyle, Robert Altman, Bruno Kirby, Arthur Lee, Desmond Dekker, Ali Farka Toure. Or maybe this mood has something to do with having spent another December in the retail industry, observing the celebration of capitalism's birth in a manger.It very likely has something to do with my re-reading Alien Agenda by Jim Marrs. Whatever the case may be, I always seem to come back to certain albums as this mood of impending gloom sets in. One of those records is Tricky's Pre-Millennium Tension.

Trip-hop has been one of my great musical loves since the late 90's, when Tricky left Massive Attack and released his solo debut, Maxinquaye. The acquisition and subsequent enjoyment of that album drove me to look into other works in the genre, and I can say that I've enjoyed most of what I've found. The aforementioned Massive Attack, Portishead, DJ Shadow, et al have all released records I hold very near and dear. I think what I like about the form is that it combines the rhythmic elements I enjoy in hip-hop with the sonic palette and song structure of rock, all at a drugged-out relaxed pace that lets you process things as they happen. Or not--sometimes that hazy sound and lolloping beat can add an air of mystery and heavy weirdness. I like that too.

As far as trip-hop MC's go, though, Tricky is second to none. The guy's been through the ringer in terms of his personal life, and his early work reflects that without seeming to seek out pity. It seems he's all too aware of the dark side of existence and while it drags him down, he's not expressing those sentiments in order to make you think, "Aww, poor guy." Instead, he turns those ideas on their side and cloaks himself in that darkness, manifesting a dread and menace that applies to the global situation at large at any given moment. He's a victim and a killer and he's unrepentant about being either, but he's been driven to it and wishes it didn't have to be that way. Maybe things can change for the better, eventually. On PMT, though, there's no indication that the artist knows any more than the audience does.

Anyway, the production on this album is brilliant. It fractures the usual downbeat rhythms, using off-kilter drum loops and fuzzed-out guitars to create a wall of noise that stretches the tension to the breaking point. This is so much darker than even the darkest, most lugubrious mainstream American hip-hop that I'm both unsurprised and completely surprised that Tricky never caught on with US audiences. Plus that, Martina Topley-Bird's vocals are mesmerizingly pretty, bringing an emotional balance to the pathos and dramatic tragedy of the lyrics.

So here's to an immersion and emergence from dark days. May your New Year's Day festivities be all that you want them to be.

Tricky - Pre-Millennium Tension - 02 - Christiansands

Tricky - Pre-Millennium Tension - 04 - Bad Dream