Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Missing Scientists

I had this record once a long time ago, but I traded it and maybe a Talulah Gosh record for Heavenly Vs. Satan (this was before it was reissued) and maybe something else with my friend Matt Roberts.

I found another copy of this single at some point, I am going to take a guess and say in London.

It is a fun one off single and if you know me you know I love that sort of thing. It is also on Rough Trade, a label I have always had a soft spot in my heart for (probably because they have put out a good record or two over the years).

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, a single by Missing Scientists.

Big City, Bright Lights b/w Discotheque X (Rough Trade)
1. Big City, Bright Lights
2. Discotheque X

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Epic Soundtracks

Epic Soundtracks is a pretty killer punk rock name, if you ask me.

This record sounds nothing like Swell Maps, but don't let that deter you. It is awesome.

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, a single by Epic Soundtracks.

Popular Classical (Rough Trade)
1. Jelly, Babies
2. A 3-Acre Floor
3. Pop In Packets

Monday, April 28, 2008

Mike Wexler

I saw Mike Wexler play exactly once -- at the unamplified barbecue I set up in Prospect Park 3 years ago. He was fantastic!

I purchased this EP from Eat Records a little bit later, and I have always enjoyed it.

I don't really know Mike but he was nice on the phone when I spoke to him about that show so many years ago!

This is the original self released version, and I don't know if it differs at all from the I & Ear reissue, as I didn't feel the need to purchase it twice.

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, a compact disc by Mike Wexler.

Mike Wexler EP (Self)
1. I'd Like To Solve The Puzzle
2. Meridian, Meridian
3. Tropic Of Gemini
4. March Violets
5. Sound The Mirror

Sunday, April 27, 2008

The Jim Yoshii Pile-Up

I believe I purchased this from Aquarius Records sometime in the year 2000. If I had to hazard a guess I would say March, but I could be wrong.

I was friends with Frankie once but I have not spoken to him in many years. Have you? Is he well?

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, one CD EP from The Jim Yoshii Pile-Up.

The Jim Yoshii Pile-Up (Old Prospector)
1. Monotonologue
2. A Man Without Qualities
3. Harmless Hobby Or Bicycle Crash
4. Jay Jay Johnson
5. The Sickly Boy

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Alice Cohen

I met Alice on New Year's Eve 2002 (it was after midnight). I was quite drunk that night but we have been friends ever since.

She has played in a few different bands in the time that I have known her, but I suppose she decided it wasn't worth it anymore and decided to go solo.

She was in a band called The Vels in the mid 1980's that had a video on MTV. When I was an employee there I dubbed it along with an interview that she gave for some underground music show I can't recall the name of from about the same time. She has no recollection of giving the interview.

I used to live down the street from Alice and we would have drinks at Enid's on a somewhat regular basis. At the end of the night we would go to the deli around the corner where I would purchase a sandwich and Alice would purchase a Fudge-O.

She recently released the excellent Sky Flowers which you should do yourself a favor and purchase.

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, a CD by Alice Cohen.

Knives, Snails, And Other Songs (Self)
1. Knives
2. You And The Night
3. Snails
4. Rings Of Saturn
5. What's Holding You Back
6. Morocco
7. I Fell Through The Sky
8. Cycles

Friday, April 25, 2008

Old Time Relijun

I believe I purchased this compact disc when I saw them play with Burning Airlines in London (Burning Airlines were really, really boring). Phil from The Microphones was playing drums and they were really cooking, so to speak. Probably the best time I ever saw them.

I met a dude that night who invited me to see The Buff Medways with him a few nights later at The Boston Arms. I was pretty excited as I had never seen any of Billy Childish's bands before. That night I was introduced to John from Huggy Bear as a "big fan" which sort of embarrassed me despite being true. Graham Coxson was also there but I was not introduced to him (and I was never that much of a Blur fan anyway). For some reason I don't have any Buff Medways records (actually, I think the reason is that there are too many and I am a completist so I figured I was better off not starting the whole Billy Childish thing) despite the fact that they were fantastic that night.

You know what I mean.

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, a compact disc by Old Time Relijun.

Songbook Vol. 1 (Pine Cone Alley)
1. Sabertooth Tyger
2. Mirror
3. Ubu's Theme
4. Baby Dragon
5. Manticore/Lion Tamer
6. The Red Sea Anenomae
7. Everything Is Broken
8. Belly Belly
9. Maggie Charcoal
10. Gaw Gaw
11. Bromios The Boisterous
12. Fig
13. Scorpion Accordian
14. Qiyamat
15. Live Intro
16. Belly Belly (4 Track)
17. Untitled
18. Untitled
19. Sabertooth Tyger (4 Track)
20. Untitled
21. Untitled
22. Untitled
23. Untitled
24. Untitled
25. Untitled

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Birdland

This is not that old Birdland band that has millions of used records available at pretty much any seller of such goods across the world (which I am sure means they were amazing). This is the Birdland that were forced to change their name to Celebration because of that other Birdland.

You see, I always rooted for Lovelife. I felt like they were a band that deserved to do much better than they ever did. My friend Andrew can be counted on to either wear his Lovelife shirt or his Celebration shirt pretty much every time I see him, as he is in the same camp as me.

When Birdland first starting playing out they were amazing. Unbeatable. I have to say that I think they were superior to Celebration, somehow they were better with a drum machine than with a drummer. I don't expect you to agree with me, but you can at least listen to the evidence and decide for yourself (although you probably will not be able to go back in time and see it with your own eyes, unless there have been recent advances in physics that I am unaware of).

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, the Birdland demo.

Demo (Self)
1. Waste Time
2. Lost Souls
3. Tonight
4. Stars Don't
5. Only One
6. Go West
7. Run Away

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Ant

I used to love Hefner. So much so that whilst in London I discovered 2 solo CDs by the drummer and purchased them. I remember listening to them a bunch when I worked as a video editor at Merrill Lynch.

Merrill Lynch was the worst place I ever worked -- I had to be in at 7:00am which means that I had to be up at 5:30am. No matter what time of year it was, the sun was not up yet when I left for work in the morning. I would sit down on my barcalounger and have a cigarette while checking up on the weather, heart racing and hungover. The most sleep I ever got in an evening was 6 hours, and that assumed I went to bed early (which I hardly ever did). I would routinely get 3 or 4 hours of sleep a night and then spend the entire day wishing I was dead. Then I would go home, take a nap, and do it all over again. I was eventually fired because I had a "bad attitude".

You would have a bad attitude too if you went from transcriber to lead editor and were also forced to take on new responsibilities that had nothing to do with your job because several different departments were trying to claim "ownership" of your project. Meanwhile I did not see a single raise. Corporate politics!

I want to mention the fact that Ant has lots of inserts in it and somehow over the years some of the ink from said inserts made its way onto the actual disc (luckily this hasn't noticeably effected the audio). This is one reason why homemade packaging might look nice, but isn't an ideal solution for long term storage. Luckily that is one service this project is providing -- access to archival material that might be lost otherwise. My copy is #18/100, so there aren't very many of these floating around. You have to assume some copies were lost or destroyed, so how many actually remain?

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, 2 CDs by Ant.

Ant (Fabulous Friends)
1. Where Happiness Begins
2. The Queue To Your Heart
3. Your Heart Got Bored



















Cures For Broken Hearts (Fortune & Glory)
1. You've Lost Your Appeal
2. Tongues
3. The Cure For Broken Hearts
4. Fly On Your Wall
5. Spoil

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

The Papercuts

I saw The Papercuts a few times when I resided in the East Bay, but I haven't seen them since. I think Jason is still playing shows and putting out records which I applaud him for, but I haven't really been in touch with him since I left town so I don't really know how that is going. I hope well.

I love this CD. I think you will love it too, although I have been wrong before.

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, a CD by The Papercuts.

Rejoicing Songs (cassingleUSA)
1. Complicating Things
2. Rejoice
3. Gravity
4. Three Hundred Sixty Degress
5. (No) Hiding Place
6. Untitled
7. Mourners
8. Disassertiveness
9. An Unsuccessful Shopping Trip
10. Untitled
11. How d'You Say?
12. Hey Cass
13. Note To Katherine
14. Clothes

Monday, April 21, 2008

Winfred E. Eye

I purchased these CDs because they featured people who were in Antioch Arrow and Cars Get Crushed (as well as Evergreen and Reach Out!). It doesn't particularly sound like those bands, but that doesn't mean you won't enjoy it.

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, 2 discs featuring Winfred E. Eye.

The Day I Lost My Sea Legs (Whaleboy)
1. God Don't Be Hard On Me
2. Steel Bridge
3. Close By The Bay
4. Found Bones (Knots)
5. Greener Pastures
6. Dark Country
















Glasses (Monoton Studio)
1. Where You Belong
2. Keep The Bed Warm
3. Memo To My Son

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Ezekiel Healy

Zeke is a really good guy to hang out with. Really mellow, good conversationalist, avid frisbee player -- pretty much everything you could look for in a dude.

Oh yeah, he is an amazing guitar player too. One of my personal favorites.

He played my 27th birthday party, etc.

I have had the pleasure of performing with him on more than one occasion over the years, and I hope to get to again sometime soon.

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, a CDr by Ezekiel Healy.

Solo Slide Guitar (Self)

Saturday, April 19, 2008

The Need

What a band. I was fortunate enough to see them repeatedly over the years. My favorite set was at Yo-Yo A Go-Go in 1997 (which I have mentioned several times, probably because I got to see so many killer bands there), where they played with Karp and Behead The Prophet, among others. Amazing.

Radio ran a thrift store in Olympia and I picked up a copy of Heavy Metal Parking Lot from her store whilst on that trip. Apparently it was a 3rd generation copy (which is pretty good, considering). It has since gone missing but I have never pined for it as my old roommate Josh used to play it for every single person who walked through the door. Almost nightly I would get home from work to hear strands of it as I was walking up the stairs.

Josh once got arrested on the Berkeley campus for drunkenly lighting something on fire. Kudos! The recording of his call from jail on the answering machine was priceless.

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, several records by The Need.

The Need EP (Kill Rock Stars)
1. Majesty
2. D.P.D.T.
3. Crush (Do You Believe In Vibration?)
4. 96 Needles
5. Crown
6. Kathy Quaalude
















Jacky O'Lantern (Outpunk)
1. Jacky O'Lantern
2. Lamp
3. Pony 4 Honey



















Radio Revolution: A "Critical Nuisance" Live At KZSC (KZSC)
1. Mouthwash Cannonball





















The Need With Joe Preston & DJ Zena (Up)
1. Vaselina
2. Talk Potty




















La Foresta Della Morte (Toyo)
1. Talk Potty





















The Structure Of Scientific Misconceptions (Toyo)
1. Resurrection
2. The Green Manalishi (With The Two-Pronged Crown)

Friday, April 18, 2008

Wikkid

Wikkid were awesome. I saw them on a number of occasions and always enjoyed them.

I loaned Busy my copy of We Got The Neutron Bomb a few years ago whilst drunk and haven't quite figured out how to get it back off her.

I will admit that I heard one of their first practices and it wasn't so good. I am sure plenty of my first practices have been less than stellar too, and I would think that if you play music then you too are in a similar boat.

I am not sure if this was supposed to come out on Troubleman and never did, or if this was their demo, or what. I asked Emily if there were song titles and she said she thought not. Regardless, this deserves to be heard and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Ladies and gentleman, for your listening pleasure, a compact disc from Wikkid.

Wikkid (Self)
1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 5
6. 6
7. 7
8. 8

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Nazti Skinz

I never saw this band because they never played the Eastern Seaboard and I was not on the west coast (why not the Western Seaboard?) whilst they were around.

I did manage to procure this record from Sound & Fury, however.

This was a "supergroup", although not in the sense that it had Sebastian Bach or Ted Nugent in it (although it probably couldn't have hurt).

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, a single by Nazti Skinz.

Sic Semper Tyrannis (Youth Attack)
1. Defending Liberty
2. Boot Lick
3. No Accident
4. Tirade
5. Criminal Crime
6. Race War

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Djin Teeth (Fangs)

I remember that this band was from Portland, OR and friends with Todd. I have a vague memory of sticking my head in their van but that is about the long and the short of it. I believe I was handed this object whilst my head was in the van, but I could be wrong.

I hadn't listened to it in the intervening years so I was surprised to remember that it features an accordion and what sounds like a viola. I could probably read the liner notes but I am going to leave it to my best guess.

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, a compact disc by Djin Teeth (Fangs).

Auntie Eunice's Unmentionables (Self)
1. Last Gas
2. Abandonment Of The Shipyard
3. Sweatin' To The Old Folks
4. Beans Unto Peas
5. Mechanic In Me
6. Bloodbuxum River
7. Mile High Club
8. River Hades
9. Lighthouse Keeper
10. Moyles Rampage
11. MonkeyShines

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Red Eye

Tim Green and Sharon Cheslow have both been in more famous bands, but I have always enjoyed this record.

Sharon and I talked about Epicenter Zone for a while one night, which apparently she helped found!

She was on to bigger and better things by the time I started working there, but she didn't hold that against me. She is a busy lady, it would seem.

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, a single by Red Eye.

Special Delivery To My Heart b/w Reservoir (Decomposition/Dischord)
1. Special Delivery To My Heart
2. Reservoir

Monday, April 14, 2008

Watchers

Michael was friends with my roommate Andrew and would call to talk to him occasionally. As we had met in person before, we became friendly and would chat for a bit if Andrew wasn't around. I saw Watchers play a Halloween show at the Frying Pan (a boat on the Hudson River) with Erase Errata, Oneida, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs and some other bands I think. It was some years ago and I dressed up as an oil tycoon.

I haven't seen them play since then but apparently they still play shows and put out records. Say hello for me if you see them!

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, the Watchers demo.

Demo (Self)
1. Looking For Homes
2. Two Worlds
3. My Cube
4. Taxiland

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Get Hustle

I have seen many different iterations of this band, and enjoyed them all. Mark and I got on particularly well when he was in the band and they slept in our tiny, tiny apartment. I got home from work to discover him sleeping on the couch in our kitchen (we shared a one bedroom, so the only common space was where the cooking would have taken place were either of us at all adept at heating and/or seasoning food). We made fast friends.

I had the pleasure of visiting them in Portland and it was a blast. Valentine is fun to hang out with for many reasons, but one of them is that she always calls me "darling".

Mac is really good at pool, if you happen to enjoy that game. We played a round together at one of my favorite bars in Philadelphia, The Dolphin. If you enjoy cheap beer (or naked ladies on Friday and Saturday nights) I highly recommend it.

Maxamillion (or Ron Anarchy as I originally met him -- I have always had an affection for punk names) and I would always chat about being fellow Leos. You know how we are.

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, 2 tour CDs (the first one got a little soaked in bourbon, which seems appropriate) by Get Hustle.

Live At The Little Fawn (Self)
1. Don Quixote & I
2. Made Of Magic
3. W*S*T*P (Watts Stax The Power)
4. The Family M.C.


















Live At The Little Fawn #2 (Self)
1. Zion Cadillac
2. Alchemical Candyman
3. Turquoise Owl
4. I & I Survive

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Blood Sausage

Huggy Bear has always been one of my favorite bands. As someone who grew up with cassettes rather than LPs, I didn't purchase my first long playing record album until I was teenager -- but it was the Huggy Bear/Bikini Kill split record.

Sometime in the late 1990s (how long ago that seems already!) I learned that people from Huggy Bear also played in a band called Blood Sausage. I tracked down their records and proceeded to file them away for a rainy day.

In the course of doing research for this project, I discovered these records and put them on my turntable for the first time. What joy!

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, Blood Sausage.

Touching You In Ways That Don't Feel Comfortable (Wiija)
1. What Law Am I Breaking Now
2. Fuck You And Your Underground
3. Knockout Drops
4. The Girl Who Kissed His Face Like A Clock


















Dennis Lavant (K)
1. Dennis Lavant
2. Living In A Haunted House
3. Bottom Feeder



















Happy Little Bullshit Boy (Wiija)
1. Footdown
2. Billy Joel
3. Static
4. Dipper
5. Slacker Shanty
6. Fucking A Junky Without A Condom
7. Lalo
8. Have Love Will Travel

Friday, April 11, 2008

Zs

There used to be a band called Zs 40 that I thought were okay. My friend Sam was in it and I thought he was pretty cool, though. They named their band Zs 40 because one of their fathers was nicknamed "Z" and had a bunch of shirts made up for his 40th birthday. Apparently many of these shirts went unclaimed and they figured they could have a bunch of free merchandise if they only chose the right name.

Some time passed and I can only assume they sold all of their shirts as they shortened the name to simply Zs. One night (I would like to say at Free 103) Sam handed me this and suggested that I listen to it.

It is great! I love Zs!

Ladies and gentlemen, for you listening pleasure, a CDr by Zs.

Show Release (Self)
1. Slalom
2. Retrace A Walk
3. Olympics
4. Mimesis

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Brasilia

I love Brasilia and think you should too. I've seen them many times and they are a perennial favorite, even if they haven't played for a while.

Do yourself a favor and purchase A Life Desired, if you dare.

They all joined Mahogany for a while and Connectivity! was the result, far and away that band's best work.

Jeremy recorded my forthcoming album, and has done a wonderful job for plenty of other bands as well. What a guy!

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, a Tour EP by Brasilia.

Demonstrational EP (Unovis)
1. Sublimation
2. The Sum Of My Fiction
3. The Free Bus To Ikea
4. Writing On The Walls
5. Means To An End

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

California Lightening

I first saw them play in San Jose with Sea Scouts. George Chen seemed to sort of know them so we chatted for a little while and realized that we lived pretty close to each other in Oakland.

A month or so goes by and I am in the process of putting together my 21st birthday party. I ask Vue and they can't really do it because one guy lives in Santa Cruz, etc. I also ask Mates of State but they are out of town.

I call George and ask him for his advice. He suggests that I ask that band we saw in San Jose, California Lightening. I agree that they would be a good choice. I call up Bianca and they are psyched!

I have some funny polaroids from that night. Jenny and Bianca look like bandits (or raccoons) as they put black markings of some kind on their faces.

It was a pretty amazing birthday party, all told. I had someone (a friend of a friend) camping in the backyard, people were dancing until 3am, and it was the last time that I wore makeup of any kind. I seemed like a good idea at the time, although not everyone who has examined the evidence is inclined to agree.

Throwing your own 21st birthday party is kind of a pain in the ass. I spent most of my birthday feeling slightly unwell, driving around town running errands. I did start it off with a bang however as we went to the first showing of Detroit Rock City. I still love that movie.

California Lightening didn't really play as much after Erase Errata took off, but I will always remember them fondly as not many bands played my 21st birthday party (two to be exact, but I was in one of them).

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, 1.5 singles by California Lightening.

Summer Record (Sound On Sound)
1. Penitentiary
2. Angel Outfit
3. Just Broke Up



















Four Virgins (City)
1. Basement

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Ferrari Testarossa

This band featured myself, Warren Ng, Sean Neil, and Nadav Havusha. It began one night at The Right Bank, a place on Kent where Todd P used to do a lot of shows. Sean and I were hanging out and discussing the fact that I was moving to Philadelphia soon (an ill advised move all around, but that is neither here nor there). Sean informed me that he was going to host a going away party for me at his residence (502 Warren Street) and that he and I were going to be in a band that played it.

About a week or so before I was scheduled to leave I showed up at Sean's house, having talked my friend Warren into joining us. We played for a while, switching instruments around, when we realized that we needed a singer. Sean suggested Nadav, who played with him in Aa. Nadav was the one in the band that I knew the least, although that has changed over the years.

I saw Nadav the next night and we talked about his possible involvement. He wasn't entirely convinced, but we eventually coerced him into showing up.

The four of us played again and it was great! We needed someone who could sing and play drums, and Nadav could do both.

We practiced again the next day, then recorded this the day after (please note that Sean put the artwork together and while he did an awesome job he is solely responsible for the misspelling of not only Ferrari but Testarossa as well). We took the next day off and then played a show at The Right Bank (fitting) with The Love Of Everything. Apparently I knocked my friend's beer out of her hands and all over her boobs, for which I received no small amount of critical acclaim.

The next night we played the going away party for which we started the band. I wore a three piece suit which I slowly shed as I went from singer to guitar player to drummer. Bobby played with us again but he just put on Misfits records and sang along to them.

The shows were both super fun, and I think we did pretty well with the time we had. Just so you know, there is a Black Flag cover after the end of the last song, Sean really liked the idea of a "hidden track". Apparently after I left for Philadelphia Sean received several telephone calls complimenting him on our work and asking when we were playing again. He informed them that there would be no encores.

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, a compact disc recordable by Ferrari Testarossa.

Ferrari Testarossa EP (Self)
1. I Only Came For The Open Bar
2. Habit
3. She Let Me Touch Her Boob
4. War Fever
5. Lamborghini Countach

Monday, April 7, 2008

The Lookers

I saw The Lookers play at Yo-Yo A Go-Go in 1997. They were great!

I saw Sarah Dougher play solo some time later and was a bit less impressed.

My friends band opened for Cadallaca at Bottom of the Hill one night and we may or may not have been involved in consuming their beers whilst they were playing.

I found this tape at Epicenter one day and decided to purchase it. It is a little weird in that one song cuts off on the end of side one and starts over again on side two. I suppose they were not professionally dubbed.

I took care of this little anomaly so you can listen continuously without being jarred by the tape turning over or something like that.

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, a cassette by The Lookers.

All Dolled Up (Self)
1. Muscle Beach
2. Leaving TX
3. The Office
4. Magpie Side
5. Murphy Bed

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Fast Forward

I picked this record up one day on a whim from Sound & Fury (a record store that I still miss). It was much as described - a fun single that I'd listen to once and then put away.

Some years later though I pulled it out again and it is still a fun single! The other Fast Forward records I have are a bit more harsh than this one, but feel free to enjoy it anyway.

I will say that Le Shok stayed at my tiny apartment in Brooklyn when Cundo (or John, or whatever) was in the band and there were bodies everywhere! I believe we saw them play at ABC No Rio and then got really drunk and then went to see Mike Simonetti DJ at the Knitting Factory and I split my pants on the way.

I went and danced anyway because I wasn't going to go back to Brooklyn to change them and I didn't want it to ruin my night. It was dark in that basement anyway.

I saw Marty (who I mentioned the other day) that night and rubbed my ass on him because it seemed like a good idea at the time. It probably wasn't.

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, 2 songs from Fast Forward.

Co-Worker (Capillary)
1. Co-Worker
2. Pre-Seasonal Man

Saturday, April 5, 2008

The Make-Up

I was at a record store in Simi Valley one day and I started chatting with the dude who worked there about The Nation Of Ulysses. He told me that they had broken up but they were in a new band called The Make-Up. Apparently we forgot to talk about Cupid Car Club, but I got that single soon enough.

I started accruing their singles as they were released. I loved them, although I think I started to become less interested as more albums came out.

I saw The Make-Up twice, once at Bottom of the Hill and once at Tramps right before it closed. Good times!

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, several early singles by The Make-Up.

Blue Is Beautiful b/w Type U Blood (Black Gemini)
1. Blue Is Beautiful
2. Type U Blood




















The Make-Up/The Meta-matics (Black Gemini)
1. Trans-Pleasant Express





















R U A Believer b/w Version (K)
1. R U A Believer
2. Version




















The Make-Up/Slant 6 (Time Bomb)
1. We're Having A Baby
2. This Is...Young Vulgarians




















The Make-Up/The Crainium (Slowdime)
1. I Want Some (Gimme Some)

Friday, April 4, 2008

Calm

Calm is somewhere between Mohinder and Duster, which seems obvious but is true. It sounds like hardcore kids trying to make something more ethereal. I believe that I enjoy those bands more than this one, but that doesn't mean that there are no redeeming qualities.

One of these records was purchased at Amoeba many moons ago, and the other at the occasionally missed Epicenter Zone. Epicenter had a great sticker that said "Open for holidays, closed for riots".

I also spent pretty much every Saturday for 2.5 years working at that store.

I do not miss working at a record store, just so you know.

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, 2 singles by Calm.

Arlington Sunset (Unleaded)
1. Arlington Sunset
2. Wild And Free
3. Sign Crushes Motorist
4. Vacancy
5. (Excerpts From) Rolling Thunder

















Moonraker b/w Scientists & Saboteurs (Needlepoint)
1. Moonraker
2. Scientists & Saboteurs

Thursday, April 3, 2008

The Catholic Church

Over the years Marty and I have become pretty good friends. I first met him when he was playing drums for The Lapse and they performed in my dining room. We did a DJ night together (Bible Study) when he first moved to Brooklyn.

I have always loved the punk name "Marty Violence" (his real last name is Key - although I don't think that is a secret). He told me the origin - one day Sam McPheeters decided that should be his name and it stuck. Awesome.

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, 2 sides of The Catholic Church.

The Catholic Church/Sam McPheeters (Vermiform)
1. Action Reaction





















The Sad Magician Pt. 1 & 2 (Capillary)
1. The Sad Magician Pt. 1 & 2

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Jonathan Fire*Eater

I never paid this band any mind until my buddy Lou Santos came along and made me start listening to them. I was, I must admit, quite surprised by how much I liked them.

Now you can either surprise (or remind) yourself.

Don't feel obligated to, however.

I found the two singles from Wolf Songs For Lambs in London, and the split at the once legendary record store I used to manage (until it was raided by the feds), Midnight Records.

I don't remember where the other record came from. Perhaps it rose from the dead?

I never did see this band, although I have seen and enjoyed The Walkmen on several occasions. I didn't like them much the first few times, but they were great at Barnard that one time some years ago.

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, 3.5 records by Jonathan Fire*Eater.

The Public Hanging Of A Movie Star b/w The Cakewalk Of Crime (PCP)
1. The Public Hanging Of A Movie Star
2. The Cakewalk Of Crime




















Jonathan Fire*Eater/Stiffs, Inc. (Titanic Tours)
1. The City That Never Sleeps





















When The Curtain Calls For You (Deceptive)
1. When The Curtain Calls For You
2. A Night In The Nursery




















These Little Monkeys (Deceptive)
1. These Little Monkeys
2. Tomorrow's News Tonight

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

The Apples

I saw The Apples once, but it was after they changed their name to The Apples In Stereo. I believe I mentioned it before as Duster opened for them. They were somewhat enjoyable, if memory serves me.

Their first record is, in my humble opinion, their best. I think it was reissued on some other thing but who cares? Wouldn't you rather hear it as it was originally released?

I thought so.

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, the debut release from The Apples.

Tidal Wave (Elephant 6)
1. Tidal Wave
2. Motorcar
3. Turncoat Indian
4. Haley
5. Not The Same
6. Stop Along The Way