Just What the World Needs: Yet Another MP3 Blog

Happy Holidays! Medicine - Shot Forth Self Living

2008-12-24T08:47:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-22T05:31:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-14T10:35:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-04T05:09:00.000-08:00

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"

2007-02-08T06:44:00.000-08:00

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)

2007-01-19T05:05:00.000-08:00

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"

2006-12-28T05:35:00.000-08:00

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

The Associates - "Sulk"

2006-12-21T03:16:00.000-08:00

Alright, alright. I know what you're probably thinking right now: "The Associates? Man, they were the gayest thing since gay came to Gay Town." And you're more or less correct. Vocalist Billy MacKenzie more or less gave Morrissey, Freddie Mercury, and David Bowie (when he was playing that particular field) a run for their substantial bank accounts. But that's cool, see?

I mean, the thing is, you have to admire the Associates' fearless attitude. Their music may have sounded like a bunch of Judy Garlandesque torch-songs filtered through then-current dance club mores, but it's awfully hard not to get at least a little taken with a band who did things like have their drummer play a kit composed entirely of snare drums, or play a guitar with a water balloon instead of a pick. Sure, they were making pop music--if pop music had originated on another planet.

Admittedly, the production values on this album are a little rough and hard to get used to. I remember the first couple of months that I owned this album, I couldn't get into it simply because I felt like I could barely hear any of it. Gradually, as I read about the making of this album (the record company put the band up in a warehouse which they duly decked out with tons of gear, crazy room decorations, and lots of drugs) it all started to make sense. There's a really ridiculous early 80's haze hanging on this record, and I don't think it has much to do with the reverb unit.

All the same, I really like the best parts of this record and I find it hard not to get carried away by this band getting carried away. Enjoying some of these tunes feels like getting away with something you shouldn't be able to. Not in that typical, "Well dude, I've never told anyone about this before... but I really like the song 'Ice Ice Baby'" way, but in more of a "I wonder if any of my friends, even the actual gay ones, will still talk to me if I put this up on my Myspace profile?" way.

Get yourself a copy here.

http://storeandserve.com/download/652617/Associates_-_Sulk_-_05_-_Nude_Spoons.mp3.html

http://storeandserve.com/download/652622/Associates_-_Sulk_-_08_-_Party_Fears_Two.mp3.html

http://storeandserve.com/download/652623/Associates_-_Sulk_-_09_-_Club_Country.mp3.html

http://storeandserve.com/download/652627/Associates_-_Sulk_-_14_-_And_Then_I_Read_a_Book.mp3.html

Indian Summer - "Science 1994"

2006-12-14T04:12:00.000-08:00

So this marks my first blog in the newer, faster, sleeker format. I hope you enjoy it as much as the older ones.

While the truth is that Indian Summer never titled any of their songs, per se, they did title several of the releases and the liner notes (note?) to Science 1994 is less than clear as to what are album titles and what are single titles. So I've taken the liberty of assiging the three tracks going up today with the titles that seem to directly precede them on the little piece of colored paper included with the band's discography CD.

This band was a group of young fellas from Oakland, California who helped to establish the modern "screamo" sound. Not like "My Chemical Romance are so screamo!" screamo, but like Orchid and Bucket Full of Teeth screamo. You know, the kind that involves actual screaming and not a lot else. Their music is chaotic (and from what I understand, largely improvised), churning and wildly dynamic. Indian Summer really knew how to start with a whisper and build up so loud that they'll take you to the brink and back on just about every song.

What's especially clever about their recorded work is the motif that runs between the tracks--a crackly old Bessie Smith record wails mournfully after each piece ends and the next one starts. Now, I don't know how old these kids were when they recorded this stuff, but I think it's a damned neat thing to do. The use of an old blues record shows the connection from old black music (which the white establishment laregely viewed the same way people nowadays tend to view real screamo--which is to say, a whole lot of noise and whining) with this modern strain of expression. Employing a classic "outsider" record really effectively adds to the sense of alienation and desolation to be found in Indian Summer's own songs. It's a very post-modern idea, but it works; part of why it works is the contrast between the styles, though after a few listens it really is the similarities that stand out.

Anyway, I obviously found out about Indian Summer through fourfa.com, which seems to be the best online guide to the emo genre around. At least, insofar as Andy Radin (the site's proprietor) seems keen on providing lists of bands and their better records. This makes it easier when you're trying to track down and study the better elements within a given genre. I'd always thought emo meant Dashboard Confessional until I heard Drive Like Jehu, and then I had to hear more stuff like that. While I never found anything quite as good, there were a few bands that came close and to me, IS is one of them. You can obtain a copy of Science 1994... well, just about nowhere, anymore. Apparently it was a pretty limited edition run, what with the cover being hand-stamped and all. I bought my copy on eBay from a dude who used to be in the band, he had about 800 of them up for sale but he said after those ran out, that'd be it. They have, however, just recently released a set of live recordings which I will likely obtain and which you should consider getting, too. Word on the street is that it's pretty good stuff.

http://storeandserve.com/download/638285/Indian_Summer_-_Science_1994_-_01_-_Science_Fiction-Digital.wma.html

http://storeandserve.com/download/638290/Indian_Summer_-_Science_1994_-_04_-_Blue_House_%

http://storeandserve.com/download/638294/Indian_Summer_-_Science_1994_-_07_-_Untitled.wma.html

Can - "Radio Waves"

2006-12-10T04:51:00.000-08:00

Your Honor, ladies and gentlemen of the jury...

The defendant in today's trial, a German band by the name of Can, stands accused of being a completely kick-ass band. While I am certain that you will agree and help to convict them, I would like to erase any potential doubts you might have by offering up several pieces of evidence. This should cement Can's "guilty" status in your mind.

At this time, I would like to call your attention to Exhibit A, the opening track on Radio Waves. This particular number is called "Up the Bakerloo." It was recorded live for John Peel's BBC radio show and one need look no further than its 35 minute, 19 second running time to grasp the diabolical minds at work here. Can's singer at the time, one Damo Suzuki, is if not the ringleader than certainly a primary driving force. He vocalizes at great length in English, German, Japanese, and (one suspects) even verbal tones with no literal meaning. This piece of music builds and builds, at points positively seething with creativity as though there were too many ideas in the studio on that day for the band to commit to any of them for too long.

Exhibit B follows later in Radio Waves' running order--witness, if you can without turning away, the glaring brilliance of the track called "Entropy." This particular piece, while it is half as long as "Up the Bakerloo," is still as long as one side of most other bands' albums and it too is full of manic, wild instrumentation and more of Suzuki's meta-linguistics. After hearing the guitar playing of one Michael Karoli on this particular piece, I firmly believe that any remaining jury members who have not yet decided on a verdict will quickly find themselves swayed.

However, if that is not enough evidence, I offer up Exhibits C and D: "Little Star of Bethlehem" and "Shikaku Maru Ten". The former is a piece recorded with Can's original vocalist, Malcolm Mooney; Mooney, it is worth noting, was a tall gentlemen of African-American origin whose delivery could not be more different from the subtle, flowing cascade of Suzuki. Mooney's vocals are much more choppy and rhythmic, and certainly more forceful. "Little Star" represents a live alternate take on a song that was originally featured on the group's aborted debut album Delay 1968. The latter piece, "Shikaku Maru Ten," was a B-side to a single from the Tago Mago album, and is clearly a prelude to the work the group would do on their following record Future Days. Drummer Jaki Leibezeit employs a light, jazzy shuffle and keyboard player Irmin Schmidt's use of steel-drum-like tones clearly predict the direction the band would head in shortly after Tago Mago.

Ladies and gentlemen, what you have before you are six of the most notorious musicians ever to pick up instruments in front of microphones. These men have committed unspeakable crimes against boredom and safe formats, and I recommend that you take action for the rest of society: convict them. If you find them guilty of the charges brought against them, hopefully they will receive the punishment they deserve at the hands of justice--that is to say, a few million people buying this record here and making the surviving members of this band as wealthy as they deserve to be for subjecting us to such... such... such superior musical experimentation.

These men are guilty, and I trust that your verdict will render unto them the fate that they deserve.

I have nothing further, Your Honor.

Cabaret Voltaire - "Red Mecca"

2006-12-07T04:23:00.000-08:00

In honor of the swearing in of Robert Gates as the new defense secretary, I'm posting this record because of its provocative title. The guy says we're losing in Iraq, and implies that we should maybe come up with some kind of time-table for withdrawal--then he gets the job, and makes a speech about how he's gonna whack the hornets' nest of "Islamic fascism" some more. Should be a sweet few years under this guy...

I'm also posting this album because it kicks a whole lot of ass. Opening (and ending) with CV's take on Henry Mancini's "A Touch of Evil" (a theme the composer originally wrote for an Orson Welles picture of the same title), the atmosphere is immediately established: this record is clearly going to be one of those dark, visceral trips into places most people don't like their psyche to go.

While I have no idea what any of these songs are actually about, the overall tone is pretty menacing and pretty well suited to times of doubt and uncertainty. "Sly Doubt", the second track, is one of my favorites, as is the diptych "Red Mask"/"Black Mask". Stephen Mallinder's in top form here, all rambling digitally-effected vocals and low, dread-filled bass.

I wish Cabaret Voltaire had stayed closer to experimental and improv music, based on the results evidenced by this album. Instead they went on to found modern industrial music and to this day, every major metropolitan area still has a club where kids with shitty haircuts/bad dye jobs, eyeliner, and fishnet t-shirts can go and dance with hot young ice queens decked out in tall leather boots and Vast merchandise. Well, thank god for progress--if not for CV's later generic-sounding crap records, we might still be grooving to awesome stuff like Red Mecca!

Aye-aye-aye. So anyway, this is the second-to-last full album I'm planning on posting before I revert to a "two-to-four songs per post" format. The one I plan to put up last (probably on Saturday) is so bitchin' that you won't want to hear anything in its entirety again, because your mind will be so fragmented by processsing the first track alone that you won't be able to handle anything other than three-minute singles anyway.

Tangerine Dream - "Electronic Meditations"

2006-12-03T06:14:00.000-08:00

It's been brought to my attention that three reasons Just Another MP3 Blog might not have an established readership at this point are as follows:

1. There isn't a specific musical focus (i.e. Krautrock, emo-core, post punk, etc.). I tend to jump around a lot, meaning that someone who's way into a certain genre will probably look at a blog with a more consistent approach. Mine would be hit-or-miss to a person like that.

2. I don't follow the format established by other MP3 blogs. Even a cursory glance at Post-Punk Junk, Strange Reaction, or Pop Zeus will reveal that the "standard" method of operating one of these music-sharing forums seems to involve Lester Bangs-esque writing that provides information about the artist and/or work in question, but freely delves into other subjects that the author feels are important at any given moment. (Essentially, it appears that my little history lessons here appear a bit too dry.)

3. It would seem that posting two to four songs from any given record, as opposed to the whole thing, is common practice and I guess that makes sense. I guess it's pretty naive of me to think that if I post the audio files for a full album and thoughtfully include a link to a website where said album can be obtained quite legally, maybe you'll support the artists by purchasing their work... Anyway, not posting just a few songs will prevent Just Another MP3 Blog from appearing on blog search engines such as The Hype Machine, which are good places to pick up random readers.

To make a long story short, there may be some changes made around here in the near future. One of them is that I'll probably start posting fewer tracks from the records I'm profiling. I mean, should the RIAA come knockin' on my digital door, I don't want to come across as a complete asshole--my goal here is in fact to support artists and labels by providing a preview of their products to consumers who might be interested, rather than letting challenging works waste away in obscurity. Obviously some of these artists and labels don't have the means to get their stuff on the radio in these days of legal payola; in my mind, the internet and specifically MP3 blogs are like a modern version of radio where the playing field has been levelled. (And what is radio, really, other than an advertising platform that makes you think it's not an advertising platform? At least I'm honest about what I'm doing here.) In any case, this post may contain the last full record I'll be putting up.

On the other hand, changes that won't happen revolve around the first item on my list: a narrowing of my musical field in order to draw a specific audience. The thing is, as a modern guy living in a modern world which comes closer every day to resembling a William Gibson novel, I enjoy having access to a multitude of music across a wide variety of genres. I enjoy the fact that I can listen to a folk song, then a hip-hop track, followed by a hardcore band's EP, and wrap things up with a German prog-rock record from the late 70s. Some may argue that by refusing to specialize, I may never grow to appreciate the specific pleasures of a particular kind of music--the kinds of details and motifs that only reveal themselves after 20 years of being obsessed with something--but I don't care. I'm content to have a working knowledge of several different musical arenas, even if it means never having the kind of in-depth insight some folks have.

Also, I'll try not to go too far off the deep end in terms of my writing (this post being an obvious exception) the way some other blogs do. Don't get me wrong, some of them are very entertaining and, in fact, informative; however, I'd far rather give you what I know of the facts than too much of my own opinion. My goal is to set the reader up with just enough contextual information that they might be able to appreciate music that would otherwise seem totally strange and abrasive to them. On the other hand, I try to keep the summaries short so that if you skip them, you're not missing much. As Brian Eno once observed, sometimes music is at its best when it comes without context--it seems much more mysterious and interesting that way. It frees us, the audience, from having to absorb the ideas and intentions of the author (which, while they may indeed be the inspirational force behind a creative work, may ultimately reduce the enjoyment to be gleaned from said work).

Alright, now that you're up to speed... Tangerine Dream. My, oh my do they have a healthy work ethic. Edgar Froese probably keeps a list of his band's album titles on a scroll so he can impress visitors by unfurling it and letting it roll across the floor. And let's not kid ourselves here--most of their later work blows pretty hard. Unless you're really into namby-pamby new age gobblediegook and shitty instrumental versions of Hendrix tunes.

However, there are some damn cool records in their discography going right up to 1980's Tangram (which is where, to me, the obvious cracks started appearing). One of these lovelies is their debut album, Electronic Meditation.

The TD lineup on this record features some real heavyweight Krautrock muscle: the aforementioned TD captain Froese, Conrad Schnitzler, and the mighty Klaus Schulze, all of whom need no introduction (and if you think they do, feel free to look here or here).

The title of the album is a bit misleading; it's not quite an electronic record. Rather, like the first couple of Kraftwerk albums, the material leans toward rock with an emphasis on digitally processing signals produced by acoustic and electric instruments. But like other Krautrock albums of the time, there are only five tracks, which tend to be somewhat spacy, lengthy jams. If that's the kind of thing you dig, though, this record should be right up your alley. It's actually pretty accessible in terms of musical content, if you're a little patient.

You can get a copy of Electronic Meditiation Amazon, Newbury Comics, or Half.com, probably at a fairly reasonable price. There are a few "deluxe" remastered editions floating around, and while I'm sure the sound quality is higher, if it's a product that has been put together by Mr. Froese in the last 20 years or so, I'm warning you--stay away from it, or risk death by boredom!

Nirvana - "Wild Tales (Live in Amsterdam, November 1991)"

2006-12-02T06:03:00.000-08:00

So I didn't post Thursday... I know, I know, I've broken your trust. But it's okay, today's file really ought to make up for it. This here's an awesome live recording of Nirvana playing some small-ish place in Amsterdam in 1991. Don't the early 90's feel like another lifetime at this point...?

This is a pretty high-quality recording, sound-wise. I don't know if it was done up for radio or just committed to tape by an ambitious guy behind the boards, but whatever the case may be, the audio here is about as good as you could hope for from a concert bootleg.

Some highlights include a bitchin' rendition of "Aneurysm" and a wild take on "Floyd the Barber". While they were never the kind of band to expand on songs in a live format, choosing instead to provide audiences with close approximations of the music as heard on record, it's downright impressive how close Nirvana could come to sounding like a slightly sped-up version of their discography. The material from Bleach is well represented, but it's when you listen to the stuff from Nevermind--presumably because it was relatively new at this point--that it becomes pretty clear what a solid live band these guys were.

In short, there isn't a bad version or a major mistake on this entire recording. This comes as a surprise only because they were in Amsterdam, of all places. The idea that a band like Nirvana could be set free in the opiate capital of the world and not be a total trainwreck by showtime is a happy surprise, but then again Kurt just lived to confound expectations didn't he?

I'd normally include links to buy the disc, but because the artist in question wouldn't get anything from your purchase this time out, I'm gonna forgo that tradition. (It doesn't help that I can't seem to find the damn thing listed anywhere--perhaps I have a rarity on my hands.) In any case, I hope you enjoy this and if you've only got time to listen to one track, I recommend skipping straight to "Breed" and turning your speakers up about as loud as they'll go. If it doesn't make you want to smash every piece of furniture in your house, I guarantee your money back...

Kinski & Acid Mothers Temple - Split "EP"

2006-11-25T16:09:00.000-08:00

After my last post which featured some sweet-assed Japanese noise-rock, I'm gonna put up something with a similar flavor. Today's file represents something more on the psychedelic, exploratory free-form side of noise--a wonderful collaboration between Kinski (not Japanese) and Acid Mothers Temple (totally Japanese).

This is a cool split. It features just four tracks, most of which are fairly long. Kinski performs the first cut; they were in the driver's seat on the second, which features AMT in a support role; the third puts AMT in control with Kinski providing backup; the last interstellar cosmic explosion is AMT alone. I say "AMT alone" and it sounds like a couple of dudes warbling in a big empty space, instead of the ginormous musical fireball shooting across the universe straight at your brain that it really is.

In any case, you can get a copy here, and if this collection of MP3s doesn't leave your grey matter in too much of a disarrayed state to do so, I recommend that you pick up something else by each of these bands because they both rule on their own.

My Way My Love - "Hypnotic Suggestion: 01"

2006-11-24T13:05:00.000-08:00

I guess the best way to describe Japanese noise-rock power trio My Way My Love is to place them somewhere between the Boredoms and Deerhoof. Or maybe they sound something like what'd happen if Melt Banana replaced their frantic, manic pacing with an alternating sense of playfulness/sense of menace.

My Way My Love is obviously influenced by mid-90's American alt.rock like Sonic Youth and the Jesus Lizard (with a noticable hint of Devo), but the way they approach the proceedings with a seeming lack of attention to traditional musical form makes this record somewhat refreshing. There are few, if any, verse/chorus/verse type of songs to be found here, if indeed there are any songs on display at all. Most of the tracks feel more like pieces of music or art or both, rather than carefully constructed ditties designed to work their way into your brain and bounce around there til you cave and finally buy the damn thing. In fact, a couple of numbers are only a few seconds long, but oddly enough, they're some of the best on the record!

You can get a copy here for a very reasonable price, especially in the used CD section. Enjoy.

Sly and Robbie - "Drum & Bass Strip to the Bone by Howie B"

2006-11-19T05:18:00.000-08:00

So I've been reading a lot about a new genre in the UK that's being called "dubstep". The Wire (in issue 271) ran a short profile of Digital Mystikz, a duo who is currently acting as one of the major exponents of the dubstep sound, which mixes electronic and dance elements with dub's heavy bass and spacy reverb. They're releasing records and hosting club nights for their DMZ label, and it seems to be all the rage in the UK's underground scene. I hopped onto the trusty internet and started searching for some tunes to see what this new beat actually sounds like, and it turns out that for the most part, it's good shit. It strikes me as a weird combination of drum 'n' bass and trip-hop, using the rhythmic complexity of the former at the downbeat pace of the latter.

Partway through the track "Jah Power Dub" by Mala, who with his partner Coki makes up Digital Mystiks, I realized it sounded a little familiar. Conceptually, anyway. Y'see, back in the mists of time, around 1998 or so, reggae legends Sly and Robbie released a record with Scottish trip-hop guru Howie B manning the mixing board. That record was Drum & Bass Strip to the Bone. As every single available review of this record is so keen to point out, it's not a drum 'n' bass record; its title refers to the fact that Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare are (I'm pointing this out for the uninitiated) Jamaica's premiere rhythm section. They've worked on records by just about every reggae legend of the last thirty or forty years, and every white guy with a big enough bank roll to have them flown in has done so at some point in his career. And if you find Grace Jones records at all palatable (sordid confession: I do), you can thank Sly and Robbie.

So anyway, back to D&BSTTB: I've loved this record since it came out, and I always thought it was ahead of its time. Turns out, I couldn't have been more correct. There are moments on this one, say "Fatigue Chic," where it seems Messrs. Dunbar, Shakespeare, and Bernstein are pretty much telling us that this is where electronic music and reggae are going: some kind of weird future where hybridization is the norm and not the exception, where acoustic instruments are blended comfortably alongside electronic, impossible-to-actually build virtual ones.

The record blends classic heavy "riddim"-style playing with ambient textures and squalling electro-noise to great effect. Some people hear this record and think it's boring, but then some people think reggae all sounds exactly the same. And if you haven't heard much of it, I can see why you'd think that. But then again, if I'd grown up in Turkmenistan and moved to America in the 1980s, I doubt I'd have known the difference between Ratt, Poison, Kiss, Judas Priest, and Motley Crue. It's all about context and immersion.

Mr. B brings in a crew of studio musicians to fill out the arrangements, and this brings up my only complaint with the album: there are moments across these tracks where you wish the drums and bass were simply counterbalanced by some floaty, reverberated sound and left standing sparse and spacious. Sometimes more isn't necessarily more, and this is often the case with dub. But it evens out, because a piece like opening cut "Superthruster" just wouldn't be as cool without those little processed guitar bits that come up every few bars.

Listen to this record, love it, buy it. If you'd enjoyed it two years ago and wanted to find more like it, my answer would have been "tough titty because the team that brought you Drum & Bass Strip to the Bone hasn't worked together since that album." However, thanks to Digital Mystikz via DMZ, there's now a wealth of electronic ambient dub just waiting to be discovered. Support this scene!

Iggy Pop - "Heroin Hates You"

2006-11-16T04:32:00.000-08:00

According to my research, opinion among Ig-o-philes is split pretty fiercely over this particular live recording. The sound quality (or strange lack thereof) is obviously a point of contention, and rightly so; the announcer at the beginning tells us it's a live show being recorded/transmitted by KROQ, so it ought to be a soundboard recording. Nonetheless, a strange haze hangs over the proceedings. It's like listening to a concert from just outside a venue with relatively thin walls--which, in this case, happens to be L.A.'s Stardust Ballroom on November 30, 1979.

Another problem is that the CD reissue of this infamous bootleg released by the OPM label (available for purchase at a very reasonable price here) presents an incomplete version of this set. The original vinyl version was spread across 4 LPs, the last side of which included four tracks from a show in Paris on September 23, 1977.

In any case, if you're adventurous of heart/used to listening to live recordings of dubious quality, this is a pretty cool document capturing a really odd band lineup. Behind the Iggster: Glen Matlock, original bassist for the Sex Pistols who got kicked out for being a pretty-boy and just a little too competent at his instrument; Brian James, of the Damned, on guitar; Ivan Kral, who has served as guitarist/keyboard player to not just Iggy but also Patti Smith and John Cale; and lastly, on drums, Klaus Kruger (who I'm pretty sure is only otherwise famous for being a Daredevil villain). In the liner notes, Iggy himself is credited as providing "vocals, flesh."

Good times.

There are some really cool performances here, and in true Iggy fashion, it's all either cathartic rock bombast lacking any subtlty, or restrained musical backdrops perfect for crooning. Witness, of all things, a jazzy, Beat-inspired version of "One For My Baby (And One More For the Road)" (which, I'll grant you, starts as a quiet shuffle but ends with still more unsubtle cathartic rock bombast). There's also a kickass version of the Kinks' "You Really Got Me", and some pretty great between-song banter after "New Values" where Iggy's trying to get some thugs to back off. "You know what, fellas? This stage is fallin' apart... Let's keep going," he says to the band. "I'll tell y'all what, it gets to look a little strange [unintelligible] because there's only these little bits of the stage left." At this point, someone yells something that's now impossible to hear, but it obviously gets Iggy mad. "Oh shut up, you cunt!" he retorts, to applause. "Y'know, my mom and dad taught me not to be nasty, but your cheeks look like a mole or a big fat mouse or sum'n." More applause.

Bon apetit!

Die Kreuzen - "Die Kreuzen"

2006-11-12T05:03:00.000-08:00

If the world was a fair and just place, the following might just have been true:

A) File sharing wouldn't be a problem because everyone who downloaded tracks they enjoyed would immediately run out and buy an album or two by the artist who created the work in question. This, of course, would alleviate tension on both sides of the mixing board.

B) The people elected to run democracies would be more interested in what the general public wants (for better or worse), and less receptive to the cloying hands of wealthy lobbying corporations.

C) Britney and K-Fed would have filed for divorce much sooner, and absolutely no one would have cared.

D) Die Kreuzen (German for "the Crosses") would be as oft-cited an influence on modern bands as, say, Black Flag.

Today's file is DK's first full-length LP, produced by the legendary Corey Rusk and originally released on Touch 'n' Go in 1984. This manic debut is cleverly titled Die Kreuzen. You'll have to pardon my sarcasm there; the thing about this record is, it's very easy to be sarcastic about. The lyrics are borderline stoopid-- the kind of earnest observations comparing groups of jocks and hippies in school to the fragmented wider political spectrum that could only be produced by an angry,white,male teenage mind-- and the music is unsurprisingly fast and furious.

The thing is, it's faster and furiouser than the work of almost any other band of the era, and the vocals are screamed in a way that essentially predicts the future of hardcore/emocore: all articulation of the actual words goes out the window in favor of stark, howled emotion. And this, my friends, is what elevates Die Kreuzen above their station and makes them innovators.

Even with the embarassing lyrics/worldview made painfully clear, DK pushed things further along than Black Flag ever did by playing crazy, chromatic riffs at a remarkable speed, but their musicianship rarely ever faltered. (This is, of course, not to say that being a better guitar player will make you write better songs; but sometimes it helps.) These guys really helped draw up the blueprints for thrash, speed-metal, and hardcore as we know them today. And while I dislike about 90% of the extant records in each of those genres, I'd be lying if I said Die Kreuzen wasn't a compelling thrillride of a record.

So download the file, and then go buy the CD remaster (which, in point of fact, includes their second record October File where DK had the guts to vary up their successful sound quite considerably) either here, here, or here.

Kraftwerk - "Live Early Appearance on Beat Club"

2006-11-11T05:26:00.000-08:00

Alright, I'll start off by apologizing for not posting on Thursday like I said I would; I realize it's bad business to set expectations and then not follow through. However, I'd like to think that today's file will more than make up for my transgression.

Y'see, what we have here is a relatively rare bootleg recording (very high quality) of Kraftwerk playing live on the German TV show Beat Club. "What's so great about that?" you may find yourself wondering. Well, feast your brain on this, my friends: this early lineup of the band features one Michael Rother on guitar, and a certain Mr. Klaus Dinger on drums. These two, FYI, would later go on to find almost-fame as the highly influential Neu!

Is it wrong to use the word "supergroup"? I know, I know: the connotation these days brings to mind Audioslave and Velvet Revolver (which, I have to say, have to be two of the shittiest band names ever committed to a best-seller chart). But don't let that discourage you from downloading this file. This is a Krautrock fan's dream team. It's a lot more rock-oriented than anything Kraftwerk would ever do again, but that said, it's absolutely brilliant. Four tracks of total space-rock one chord madness, with Rother laying down some of the coolest and most ferocious guitar work he's ever recorded. Trust me, these are jams you don't want to miss.

This boot is also apparently the only recorded evidence that this lineup ever existed, and for some reason it gets talked about a lot in the hushed tones reserved for those most sacred of arcane secrets, but it's relatively hard to find.

Whatever the case may be, I hope you all enjoy today's special and if I get ambitious enough, I might post another file up later today to make up for lost time. A double-dooper would be something special, wouldn't it? I'll see what I can do...

Gratitude

2006-11-07T13:20:00.000-08:00

I just want to say thanks to the good folks who've left me comments. What an exciting thing to discover that my efforts are not only not in vain, but actually appreciated! You guys rule. Please spread the love, and feel free to interact via the comments function. That's what this big, crazy web of information is about, after all-- communication.

Alright, now that I'm done spreading my good-times vibes around, I just want to inform you that my posting might get a little sporadic during the run up to Xmas. My job gets a little demanding around this time of year (something I'm sure all you other retail serfs can relate to) but nonetheless, I shall do my best to keep bringing you kickass tunes on a fairly regular basis. My next post will be on Thursday, and it's gonna be pretty awesome so point your browser back here again in the near future.

Thanks again, all!

The Chameleons UK - "The Fan and the Bellows"

2006-11-02T05:29:00.000-08:00

In the history of cash-ins that backfired by actually being good and not selling any copies, The Fan and the Bellows by The Chameleons UK has to be near the top of the pile. Apparently, shortly after the group disbanded (the first time), their label decided to release this collection of singles, B-sides, and demos to recoup some of the money they'd spent on promotional costs. Or possibly cocaine, I don't know. It was the 80's.

A short history: The Chameleons UK were formed in 1981 in the post-punk capital of the world, Manchester, England. Only a town that bitchin' could give the world a band like The Chameleons and have so many other great bands that people barely know their name anymore. Anyway, vocalist and bass player Mark Burgess recruited guitarists Reg Smithies and Dave Fielding from some local bands that had recently broken up, and with the addition of drummer John Lever, the group was off and running.

They did some BBC sessions that built their reputation before recording their first EP with the master of the big 80's drum sound, none other than Mr. Steve Lillywhite. (It's kind of a shame that he doesn't mix records that way anymore; the last U2 album could have had a lot more punch but the "poppy" radio sheen really takes away from the overall vibe.) From this point, they started releasing albums that arguably just got better and better even though they got slicker and slicker, culminating with the release of Strange Times on Geffen Records in 1986. A badical collection of great songs it may have been, but it also proved to be their swan song.

Well, at least until 2000 when the Chameleons reunited and did some acoustic gigs. They also released a record in 2001 but I haven't heard it and I don't think I ever . I have a feeling it's exactly what you can expect from a band that's been dormant for 15 years-- the kind of much-improved musicianship that results in excruciatingly long ballads where entirely too much attention is paid to details like, "I know, I'll try playing an interesting inversion of the chord progression on the third chorus. that ought to spice things up." Mix in a really bad, generic drum machine beat to show that the group is incorporating "modern influences" like "that rap music that the kids all love" and voila!

Actually, I'd like to be proven wrong on this one so if anyone out there knows it's not that bad, let me know.

In any case, if you're into new wave, post-punk, or good ol' fashioned pop rock with some brains, get this file and then go buy some Chameleons UK at Amazon. Remember to add the "UK" to your search field, otherwise you'll get a bunch of listings of stuff by some obscure folk group.

P.S. I recommend checking out a site called Pandora Internet Radio. It's this service that's supposed to recommend new music based on bands you already like. For instance, you type in "Metallica" and a bunch of shitty music starts playing. It's not always very accurate, but I'll tell you this: everything I've heard this morning on the "Neu!" station has knocked my socks clean off.

Honor Role - "Album"

2006-10-29T05:32:00.000-08:00

Don't get me wrong, I think Chunklet is a fine magazine, but I hate to quote or cite it as a point of reference. It makes me feel like some cynical hipper-than-thou turd. This is not to say that everyone who reads or even writes for Chunklet is some tight-jeans-wearing, unwashed-shaggy-haired record store clerk with blotchy skin, but let's be honest for a moment: most of the people involved with the magazine, either directly or indirectly, are exactly that.

Nonetheless, I have found the occasional bit of wisdom in the pages of this periodical, and I'll be the first to admit that they've introduced me to some damn fine music that I would otherwise be completely unaware of. One of the things Chunklet did right was to let some fella on staff make a recommendation to Drive Like Jehu fans (such as m'self): the work of the band Honor Role.

Honor Role began their collective life in Richmond, VA as a fairly standard three-piece hardcore band featuring the guitar/vocal work of one Pen Rollings and the drum stylings of Steve Schick. (While they were not the only two members of the band, the course of history would see more member changes than Spinal Tap, so I'm only going to point out the most important and lasting lineup alterations.) After releasing the It Bled Like a Stuck Pig 7", the band added Steve's brother Bob to the ranks as lyricist and vocalist.

From this point forward, Honor Role's sound really started coming together and the recorded evidence on hand suggests that they really put some work into developing an original sound. Pen Rolling's guitar playing grew increasingly complex, with discordant melodies and the occasional odd time signature creeping into the mix. Bob's lyrics kept the band connected to the hardcore scene but added a legitimate depth to the proceedings, while Steve's drumming seems to have followed the arc of Rollings' musical growth.

The group toured both the east and west coasts and clearly made their mark. Their influence is plainly evident in the work of bands like Fugazi, Drive Like Jehu, Quicksand and any other artists who pushed hardcore to its furthest limits. And by "furthest limits" I don't mean "as fast and heavy as is humanly possible", I mean quite the opposite: they showed kids that you could put together an ambient instrumental piece like "Break the Ice" and remain true to your punk-rock ideals. But they also rocked about as hard as is possible--check out track 11, "Lives of the Saints #135 (Naked Wife)" and tell me it's not the frickin' blueprint for post-hardcore and emo-core.

Anyway, in 1996, after the band had called it quits, Merge Records (which is a completely kick-ass label, I urge you to check out more of their records) released an Honor Role discography, Album. Thus the file you have presented today. It's not an actual discography as I understand it, as there are a few tracks that exist that weren't included here due to space constraints. It's definitely the bulk of their recorded work though, and it's a rad document of a band that laid the groundwork for so much of the indie rock, hardcore and post-hardcore we take for granted today.

So get the file, and then buy the damn CD! (Or record.) After visiting the Merge website, it doesn't appear to be available through them anymore, but surely you can find a copy at Amazon.com or some similar site.

Radiohead - "Boston 96"

2006-10-27T06:10:00.000-07:00

There's a pretty good chance at this point that I'm posting this stuff for the benefit of, well, nobody really. Which makes today's selection particularly appropriate: no band mixes "I don't matter and nothing I do makes any difference to anybody" teenage nihilism with "...therefore I'm gonna do something awesome and maybe slightly obscure, and maybe then I'll discover self-respect as well as peer encouragement!" better than Radiohead.

So this here file is a live recording of Thom Yorke and co. playing a sweet-as-hell gig at the Avalon in Boston, MA. in 1996. (Sshh, it's a bootleg.) You may have seen a CD-R of this show labelled as Boston 96, which is how mine came and how I have helpfully labelled the individual files contained herein.

In any case, this is a pretty good-sounding recording featuring material from Pablo Honey and The Bends, although an early version of "Lucky" pops up in the middle of the set. There's not much more to it than that; have at it!

Colin Newman - "A - Z"

2006-10-26T04:41:00.000-07:00

Hey imaginary gang, hope you're all doing well. If anyone is actually reading these posts and checking out the files, I promise I won't mind if you leave me some feedback... Anyway, today I bring you an artifact from the early 1980's, a solo record by Wire singer/guitarist Colin Newman titled A - Z.

This little gem was recorded with a backing band that featured Wire drummer Robert Gotobed, as well as keyboardist Mike Thorne (who was, incidentally, the producer of Wire's second and third albums Chairs Missing and 154, respectively). Some dude by the name of Desmond Simmons plays bass on this record, but I've no idea who he is or what he did before/after A - Z.

This is a superb collection of songs that fans of Wire will surely appreciate. It's atmospheric yet energetic, with enough obtuse lyrics and strangely processed instruments to keep your head spinning for days. "Warped" might be a good word to apply here. A - Z bears a strong resemblance to Wire's early work in terms of the use of simple, driving rhythms, but it actually feels more developed than, say, 154. The arrangements are a little more full, and while I certainly appreciate Wire's minimalist approach, the pieces on this album have a certain "heavy weightlessness" to them that the band may have been trying to achieve without quite getting there.

For example, "Alone" has the sullen, wistful air of regret that Graham Lewis attempted on 154's opening cut "I Should Have Known Better," but the Newman composition works better in part because it doesn't feel nearly as self-conscious. It works as a pop song as well as it does a piece of art, which is a balance that Wire couldn't always manage (but God bless 'em for trying).

That subtle Brian Eno ambient influence that always seemed to lurk beneath the surface of Wire's quieter moments makes itself a little more prominent, especially during the intro and outro to "Image," which is interesting considering that at some point during his art school career Newman used to hang out with Eno and a couple other artists and talk about ideas, techniques, and processes. There are places on A - Z where Wire bill-sharers Joy Division come to mind, and one has to wonder who was a bigger influence on who.

The 1998 Beggars' Banquet CD reissue thoughtfully included a few bonus tracks that weren't on the original album. They're the last three numbers here, and they're perhaps a little more technologically accomplished but they blend in perfectly with the material that precedes them. "Not Me" sounds like a lost Wire track from sometime between Pink Flag and Chairs Missing, and the chorus ("You didn't touch me...") wouldn't sound out of place on a Radiohead record, making Newman's lasting influence and obvious brilliance clear for all to see.

A - Z is a "should-have-been-classic" album of the era, and I highly recommend listening to it here and then snagging a copy for yourself. I'm pretty sure it's still in print, thought it may be a little hard to track down in your average middle-American record store.

Get this file, dammit!

Th' Faith Healers - "Peel Sessions"

2006-10-23T08:51:00.000-07:00

With one entry featuring a classic shoegaze band, and another about a prime Krautrock band, I figured this would be a good place to show how in the 1990's the two genres started to meet in the middle. Th' Faith Healers (they dropped the 'e' in 'The', claiming they'd given it to Thee Hypnotics) were equally influenced by groups like MBV, with their ear-bleeding volume and noisy squall, and German experimental rock from the likes of Can, Neu!, and Faust, who capitalized on repetitive rhythms and gradually shifting dynamics. In fact, Th' Faith Healers would go on to release a 5-minute-long cover Can's 20-minute-long epic "Mother Sky" on their 1992 album Lido.

Th' Faith Healers were comprised of singer Roxanne Stephens, bass player Ben Hopkins, drummer Joe Dilworth, and guitarist Tom Cullinan. Almost immediately after the release of their first EP, the late, great Mr. John Peel booked them for a session on his show. He liked 'em so much that he asked them back a subsequent four more times, resulting in today's file, Th' Peel Sessions (actually, it's just called Peel Sessions, I added the "Th'" just now because I thought it'd be funny. But I just re-read it and it's not that funny after all).

In any case, these recordings are pretty cool. They showcase a band at different stages in their development, and it's interesting to observe how they go from sounding loud but maybe a little tentative to a full-on rock assault toward the middle, and end with the confidence to cover Nilsson's "Without You" and actually make it palatable. Yep, it's too bad these cats didn't stick around for more than a couple of albums; after listening to this, I do have to wonder what would've come next for them if they'd let their sound evolve more in either a pop or experimental direction (or both, preferrably).

In any case, I recommend picking this one up if you like it 'cause the liner notes are written by the singer, Roxanne (quite short, but cool) and some neat pictures of people at shows lookin' all 90's alternative. Uh, maybe those aren't selling points, exactly. Well, at least get the damn file.

This Heat - "This Heat"

2006-10-21T05:49:00.000-07:00

I don't know if I could come up with a better description/review of This Heat's self-titled album (sometimes referred to as the Blue and Yellow record because of it's two-toned cover) than the one I found over at AllMusic, so I'm just gonna copy and paste theirs here.

"This British group could neither be called post-punk nor progressive rock, yet This Heat was one of the most influential groups of the late '70s. They created uncanny experimental rock music that has many similarities in approach to German pioneers such as Can and Faust. Other groundbreaking independent groups such as Henry Cow and Wire may be their only peers, and much later This Heat also became profoundly influential on the '90s genre known as post-rock. Their angular juxtapositions of abrasive guitar, driving rhythms, and noise loops on the opening cut, "Horizontal Hold," preempt much later activity in the electronica and drum'n'bass scenes. The outstanding "24 Track Loop" is based around a circular drum pattern that could have been a late-'90s jungle cut were it not recorded in late-'70s London, long before such strategies were even dreamed of in breakbeat music. This album is a great example of ahead-of-time genius, work that draws on elements of progressive rock, notably "Larks Tongues in Aspic"-era King Crimson for all its abrasive, warped rhythm, as well as Can, Neu!, and Faust's pioneering work — though there is little else that comes close to the unique and distinctive avant rock sound, an entirely new take on the rock format. Their self-titled debut is a radical conglomeration of progressive rock, musique concrète, free improvisation, and even — in a bizarre distillation — aspects of British folk can be heard in Charles Hayward's singing. There are very few records that can be considered truly important, landmark works of art that produce blueprints for an entire genre. In the case of this album, it's clear that this seminal work was integral in shaping the genres of post-punk, avant rock, and post-rock and like all great influential albums it seemed it had to wait two decades before its contents could truly be fathomed. In short, This Heat is essential."

So there you have it. This is a pretty goddamned good record and I highly recommend downloading it and then buying it, because it was reissued (again) fairly recently and isn't particularly difficult to find, nor is it very expensive. Hell, Amazon.com probably has a couple of cheap used copies up at any given moment, try there if you like it.

What'd be nice is if someone would take some initiative and remaster/re-release This Heat's second record, the superb Deceit (huh huh, get it? Deceit by This Heat? That's funny...), which is long out of print and sells for something ridiculous like $150 on any sites that have a copy. In any case, I'll probably put up here for your scrutiny at some point in the near future so don't go throwing that money at some huckster just yet...

Get this damn file!

The Red Crayola - "The Parable of Arable Land"

2006-10-19T04:21:00.000-07:00

Today's little bit of genius comes courtesy of one Mayo Thompson and his band of merry mayhem-makers (Jesus, is alliteration pedestrian or what?) known as the Red Crayola. Actually, thanks to a lawsuit by the makers of Crayons, they're known as the Red Krayola nowadays. In any case, the file available for download is their debut album, The Parable of Arable Land. If you've never heard this band before, their first record is a good place to start not just for the obvious chronological reasons, but because if this appeals to you you're probably insane enough to want to seek out their later work, most of which isn't nearly as noisy but is oftentimes even more difficult to listen to.

Behind the music: Houston, Texas, 1966. A young guitar player and singer by the name of Mayo Thompson forms the band as a trio, with a view to creating expansive rock music that defies convention at every turn. The group often improvises entire performances, figuring that riding the wave of energy that accompanies the "Eureka!" moment is more valuable than plugging away at a bunch of polished pop tunes. And besides, they can't but half-play their instruments, so remembering who was doing what during which song is difficult at best.

The trio plays a gig at a shopping mall-- of all places for this group's story to really begin, right in the heart of heartland commerce is not what you'd expect; but then again, the Red Crayola would make a career out of turning expectation on its head... Anyhow, they play a gig at a shopping mall, where a rep from International Artists catches a few tunes and figures he'd like to add them to the label's burgeoning roster of Texas psychedelic bands. The logic here went something like this: "Wow! These guys can hardly play their damned instruments and yet they're still attracting and entertaining a crowd. Imagine what'll happen when they actually learn to play! They'll be huge!" The band, however, had other ideas.

The group arrived at the studio with a small mob of people carrying all manner of instrumentation, from kazoos to zylaphones to timbales. A reportoire of songs had been half-prepared, with a view to tightening them up as tape was rolling. In between numbers, the army of followers would provide a bed of noise from which the songs would emerge, giving the whole recording a freakish energy and unique atmosphere.

Sure enough, the plan worked and what you will hear on The Parable of Arable Land is a handful of really great songs, with "free-form freakout" sections providing segues. It should be annoying (and to some people, it probably is), but I'll be damned if it doesn't make me love this record even harder. With should-have-been-classic-songs like "Hurricane Fighter Plane" and "War Sucks", it may be the case that the Red Crayola shot themselves in their collective foot by including the noisy bits. But as the rest of the band's history would demonstrate, band leader Mayo Thompson isn't particularly interested in the workings of the mainstream musical marketplace.

Historical footnote worth mentioning: International Artist labelmates The 13th Floor Elevators' Roky Erickson makes an appearance here. Mostly, he's credited with providing nothing specific, but I've read that he alternately played organ parts as well as the harmonica that appears infrequently.

Get this damn file, and try to keep your head from exploding!

Harmonia - "Musik von Harmonia"

2006-10-15T05:55:00.000-07:00

I know it's still early in the game for me, but I want to keep on top of things and make sure I'm posting files regularly. I'd like to make this a blog that people are stoked about discovering, and hopefully anyone who reads it will feel like it's worth keeping an eye on.

In any case, I'm trying to make today's post a special one-- there's nothing like a horse that comes out of the gate strong, right? First, however, it's important to define my MP3 labeling system. The way it works is:

Artist Name - Album Name - Track Number - Title (and any additional information, such as "Live 02.15.05" goes at the end in parentheses)

It's pretty much that simple. Now on to the good stuff...

Today's batch of files comprises Harmonia's first album, Musik von Harmonia. If you're into Krautrock, boy are you in for a treat with this one. Then again, if you're into Krautrock, I probably don't need to give an intro for this piece because I'm sure you're well aware, but for everybody else, I'd like to give a little edifying information.

Harmonia was a German space-rock group formed by Michael Rother (previously of Neu!) and Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Deiter Moebius (of Cluster). After recording their first pair of albums, the two fellas from Cluster had moved out to a converted farmhouse studio in the countryside town of Frost, seeking a kind of psychological/spiritual sanctuary where they could continue working on their improvisational, technological experiments without disruption. Michael Rother was between Neu! albums, and after a few failed attempts to expand his band's live lineup beyond a duo playing against a tape machine, he needed some down time to collect his thoughts. An invitation to get some R & R and participate in some low-key improvised jams with the Cluster boys was apparently too good an offer to resist, so Rother packed his bags and headed for the farm.

Musik von Harmonia was the result of the trio's messing around. Released in 1974, the record presents a perfect balance between Cluster's spacier experimentation (with a focus on sound, pitch and timbre rather than musical content) and Michael Rother's guitar-and-synth-oriented extended pop workouts. It's worth noting that the experience of making this album must have put some serious juice back into Rother's batteries, because after recording this album and doing some live gigs, he rolled on into the studio with Klaus Dinger and came up with the space-pop monolith that is Neu! 75.

Harmonia's influence on modern music is pretty clear, upon listening to their records. Drum boxes clatter away, recreating simple-yet-effective rhythms with a precision only matched by recent hip-hop production; synthesizers swirl around, forming the bizarre cloudy textures and cool, icy tones that gave birth to post-punk and New Wave; meanwhile, guitars alternately chug on fat chord changes, or reach out with echoing melodic fingers that wrap around your mind and won't let go for days.

No less a titan than Brian Eno himself declared that Harmonia was "the world's most important rock group." As it happens, in 1976 he'd go on to put his money where his mouth was and joined the trio. The quartet rechristened themselves Harmonia 76 for the occasion, but the results of this work didn't see the light of day for twenty years til Ryko released the brilliant Tracks & Traces album (which, and I know I'm in the minority here, I think rivals the quality of anything else the group achieved). Michael Rother went on to enjoy a solo career, while Eno made two more records with Cluster under the factual moniker Cluster & Eno, and... well, I think that's enough for today's history lesson. On to the file.

First Blog! My Bloody Valentine - 4 Rarities

2006-10-14T06:16:00.000-07:00

This is the first post in what will, with any luck, be a long-running series of MP3 blog entries. This is probably a really good time to make clear my intentions and policy on file sharing.

I'll be posting files (or links to files, as it were, because I'm not quite facile enough with HTML to figure out how to embed them in the posts) of music that I'd like to share with other people. It'll probably tend toward the slightly obscure, but every now and again it may take a detour into whatever kinds of things are getting heavy rotation in my headspace at any given moment. You know, kinda like everyone else's MP3 blog.

Anyway, to make a short story quick, I make no claims to the quality of this site or any of the files I make available herein. I also make no claims to own the copyright to anything here, and I would like to make it clear that the reason I'm posting this stuff is either a) because it's rare and/or out of print and I believe it should be available, or b) because I really like the artist(s) in question, and I want you to hear some of their stuff and go wild for it and buy every commercial release available the way that I did.

Feel free to leave comments whenever you like, whether you're a Blogger.com member or not. I like feedback, so I know whether I should keep things as they are/modify my approach/quit altogether. I believe there's a method of emailing me through this site, but if you can't find it, feel free to make requests in the most recent Comments field and I will do my best to fill them. Or not.

Alright, onward and upward...

For my first post, I'd like to start things off with a few rare tracks from one of my favorite bands of all time, My Bloody Valentine. I'm gonna start off with 4 songs for the moment, and probably add a few more in the very near future. (I'm still learning how to do all this stuff, you know.) The tunes in question are...

1. Instrumental A - This track was one side of a 7" released by Creation Records that came free with original vinyl copies of Isn't Anything in the UK. I find it interesting because it's closer to the more intense, Sonic Youth-y style the band started exploring around this time. It's not a far cry from stuff like "You Made Me Realize" and "Feed Me With Your Kiss." A cool, punky riff collides with Kevin Shields' infamous "glide guitar" and the whole thing gets kinda fuzzy/noisy toward the end. http://files.to/get/235088/6658/my_bloody_valentine_-_18_-_instrumental_A.mp3

2. Sugar - One of my favorite MBV tracks of all time, this one was released as a free Flexi-disc promo with some UK music journal called The Catalogue (#67, if that helps you remember it), and later appeared as a B-side on the "Only Shallow" US promo CD. Anyway, a weird galloping, clip-clopping rhythm machine kicks off the proceedings, joined shortly thereafter by a lovely keyboard line and some typically in/out of tune guitar work from Mr. Shields. The vocal melody is nothing short of heart-achingly beautiful. http://files.to/get/235089/49692/My_Bloody_Valentine_-_Sugar.mp3

3. Soon (Andrew Weatherall "Sabres of Paradise" Remix) - I'm not a huge fan of remixes, and the vocal samples that open this cut are a pretty big reason why. For some reason, every producer who wants to add a cool beat to a song always feels the need to add some kind of instantly-dated nonsense that they've imported from the hip-hop or dance music scene, and it almost never works. This remix is no exception, but at around 1:15 this one takes a turn for the better, which is fortunate because the damn thing is 7 and-a-half minutes long. So the beat that gets added here is pretty 90's sounding but don't let that stop you from enjoying the new focus around Belinda Butcher's erotic "ahhh-hahhhh" sighing chorus melody. That shit could melt butter across a crowded room. http://files.to/get/235090/24032/My_Bloody_Valentine_-_Soon__Andrew_Weatherall_Sabres_of_Paradise_Remix_.mp3

4. We Have All the Time in the World - The only track recorded to see a release after MBV signed to Island Records (they really did, it's true!), this neat little slice of orchestral chamber-pop saw the light of day on the label's Peace Together compilation, which hit shelves in 1993. It's quite 60's sounding in terms of production and musical content (Burt Bacharach ought to collect royalties on that string arrangement), and it definately feels like a departure from the band's signature sound. Gone are the noisy beds of droning guitars, replaced instead with some jangly six-string action and mellow keyboard work (harkening back to the band's Ecstacy & Wine era, but much more laid-back). And only someone as rediculously, self-indulgently reclusive as Kevin Shields would have the sheer cojones to call a song "We Have All the Time in the World" and then keep everyone waiting for 40 goddamned years for a new MBV record. Thanks, bud. http://files.to/get/235091/32660/My_Bloody_Valentine_-_We_Have_All_The_Time_In_The_World.mp3

Alright, this concludes my first post. Hope you (whoever you are...) enjoy it. Get these damn files.