Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Elastic Jet Mission

By popular demand.

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, Elastic Jet Mission.

Elastic Jet Mission (Slampt)
1. Baby (Golden Starlet)
2. Town Is Weird (I'm Being Good)
3. 1, 2, 3, 4 (Pussycat Trash)
4. Straight Girl (Skinned Teen)
5. Creepfoot (Milky Wimpshake)
6. Rock Song (Lung Leg)
7. Zombie Rockin' (Mad Kenny's All Night Drinker)
8. Terminal Pincer (Delicate Vomit)
9. Bugs Bunny (The Yummy Fur)
10. Hey (Wilfried)
11. Square (Unseen)
12. Popcorn (The Yummy Fur)
13. Rebel Assault (Kenickie)
14. Spidey (Milky Wimpshake)
15. Lanegan's Trumpet (Missy X)
16. Mo's Nightmare (Lung Leg)
17. Slimey Veil (I'm Being Good)
18. Cinema Date (Avocado Baby)
19. Black Blue And Permanent (Unseen)
20. Overture (Pussycat Trash)
21. Dance All Night (Skinned Teen)
22. Boy Scout Club (Golden Starlet)
23. Alien Party Theme (Kid Lemon)

Monday, June 29, 2009

Bright Eyes

I first saw Bright Eyes at Brownies, with The Faint as the backing band.

I feel like several people I knew for various reasons have played in this band over the years.

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, Bright Eyes.

Insound Tour Support 12 (Insound)
1. I Won't Ever Be Happy Again
2. The Joy In Discovery
3. The Joy In Forgetting/The Joy In Acceptance
4. Untitled

Friday, June 26, 2009

Casiotone For The Painfully Alone & Concern

Someday I'll make a record with my brother too.

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, Casiotone For The Painfully Alone & Concern.

Casiotone For The Painfully Alone & Concern (People In A Position To Know)
1. Born In The USA
2. Streets Of Philadelphia

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Camberwell Now

Charles Hayward played in some pretty interesting bands. I can't tell if this music is difficult to listen to or not, as my perception of it is probably not the same as yours.

That being said, this is pretty radical. I think I would describe it as challenging.

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, Camberwell Now.

All's Well (RecRec)
1. Cutty Sark
2. Pearl Divers
3. Spirit Of Dunkirk
4. Resplash
5. Daddy Needs A Throne
6. Working Nights
7. Sitcom
8. Wheat Futures
9. Speculative Fiction
10. Green Lantern
11. The Ghost Trade
12. Greenfingers
13. Mystery Of The Fence
14. Know How
15. Element Unknown

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Smoke And Smoke

If it has members of godheadSilo in it, I will listen to it.

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, Smoke And Smoke.

Love Suffers Long (Frenchkiss)
1. How Did The Cook Get His Finger Stuck In The Dishwasher?
2. Into The Smoke And Smoke
3. Bathrobe Jacket
4. Strike Lightning Strike
5. Teeming With Eyes
6. Throw The Lever
7. Boys, Books, And Kitty Cats
8. Abandon Ship
9. Smoke And Smoke Against The Machine

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

The Dialectic

I was all of 20 years old when I started this band. I became interested in synthesizers, and after some months of research (at the prestigious UC Berkeley Main Library, my employer at the time) I decided to purchase a Sequential Circuits Prophet 600. I also purchased a Big Muff distortion pedal from my friend Rob Pettersen as it seemed like an interesting thing to try with an analog synthesizer.

Soon after my friend Trixie and I started a band together. An unlikely duo, she was 35 years old to my 20. Somewhere along the way we picked up a drummer by the name of Andy, although typical of drummers we found him to be unreliable. He didn't turn up to record vocals for this tape (so I had to write words and melodies on the spot for some songs), and didn't turn up for the last show either.

We played shows with bands like The Rapture, Castiotone for the Painfully Alone, !!!, Out Hud, Mates of State, and Sea Scouts.

 
The roof was raised at The Chat House.

My 21st birthday party.


Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, The Dialectic.



The Dialectic (Pukekos)
1. Rock Vs Soul
2. Nosedive
3. Discoteque, etc.
4. A Pop Song
5. Point Of Use
6. I'm Not Internationally Known, But I'm Known To Rock The Microphone

Monday, June 22, 2009

High Places

"Wow... As I listen to this, the memories all come flooding back into me. Mary and I met through Beau Velasco of the Death Set. She had just played a show with Japanther, whom Beau was a roadie for, and then came to NY to do a bassoon lesson and we all hung out. We became really fast friends, and around New Years 2006, only a couple weeks after meeting, Mary set up a show for me and Matt & Kim in Kalamazoo. We became really stoked on each other's solo projects, which were at that point, both in their infancy. We felt that even though they were seemingly really different, mine being loud maximal dense and obsessively layered, and Mary's being improvisation based, mostly acoustic, minimal and unamplified, that we for sure could make this work. A few months later after basically talking every night to the point falling asleep on the phone, Mary moved to NYC, and we became roommates. The objective was to go on tour together as our two solo bands. We did still plan on starting a band together at some point, but before we got very far along in the process of getting our dual solo tour together, Mary found one of my solo songs on my computer and realized that it fit exactly to one of her songs. Maybe she adjusted some of her vocal phrasing a bit, but it was like a finished song immediately. That song was Sandy Feat. We got really stoked, jumped in headfirst and wrote and recorded 5 more songs in the next couple weeks. I think that the speed in which we worked is pretty apparent in the recordings, but we were still learning a lot. In those weeks, we played our first show in North Adams, MA with Japanther, and it was pretty awkward... we had like a 6 minute set, and a cover of Autobahn by Kraftwerk. As you know, that song is like 27 minutes long. We did about 2 and Mary looked at me and gave me the throat slitting signal and we just stopped, because it basically was a terrible idea. I believe we also each played one of our solo songs with collaboration from the other. Mary played a song called 'The Cat With The Bird On Its Head', about her sister ruling (that song was SOOO good) and I played some weird song about how my boss was a creep, and a miserable human, but I was going to overcome by focusing on being positive. We wanted to do a band we thought was noise music, rooted in punk, but that somehow had a smile on it's face. We wanted to be super loud and weird, but we also wanted to be at emotional odds with all the other loud noisy bands in Brooklyn. I guess being punk, or going against the grain to us meant to try to approach experimental or noise music in a densely shrouded warmer pop based approach, but still being weird and loud. But we still like to break the rules."

--Rob Barber

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, High Places.



High Places Demo (Pukekos)
1. Hello
2. Sandy Feat
3. Shhh... Hide From The Shadow
4. Dream Team
5. Freaked Flight
6. Dudes Incorporated

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Gear Jammer

Continuing from the personal collection of Henry Owings:

"In the history of seven inch punk from the 90's, Tom Hazelmyer is far from obscure. I mean, ferchrissakes, he put out (and performed on) some of the most critically important releases on his own label Amphetamine Reptile. The Thrown Ups, Cows, Hammerhead.... And that's just three examples! You want another three? Tar, Helmet, and Surgery. Want another five? Melvins, Janitor Joe, U-Men, God Bullies and, let's not forget his own band, Halo of Flies. I think there's a few labels that were as prolific and quality-control focused as AmRep (Dangerhouse comes to mind), but few that would rival them through the 90's. So what about Gear Jammer? It was yet another avenue for Tom's ceaseless creative energy in the early 90's. I think Tom does a great job of explaining these two singles in this brief interview I did with him this past week after he recovered from being in a coma. No, I'm not joking. A coma. And as with everything in Tom's prolific life, he laughed that coma off like he did almost everything in his musical career.

Henry: When did Gear Jammer come to fruition? Who was in the band? What was the impetus for doing those songs?

Haze: At first it was just me assisted by Steve Bjorklund on production and drum machine. We recorded the stuff on what equipment he had in his apartment. The impetus was likely as it was during one the half dozen Halo of Flies meltdowns and I wanted to make some tunes despite not having a real band at the time.

Henry: When you say Halo of Flies meltdowns, are we talking just tense discussions in the studio or fistfighting or what?

Haze: Near fistfights maybe, but we're all midwestern guys so there were never discussions, we would just break up a bunch. Mostly it was Anglim quitting, whom I think was going through a rough patch during that period of his life, and I'm not the guy you wanna be around for that (ha-ha). We could never replace him either, we tried but found it was like trying to replace Keith Moon...rather pointless.

Henry: It seems like, at least at the time, that Gear Jammer's first single was considered quite a collector's item. In retrospect, was it all a joke to you?


Haze: Not really a joke, then again I've never taken myself that seriously. At the time it came out was the same time we were trying to get past the hyper limited label thing, and when the first pressing blew out in a couple minutes, we followed it up with an additional 500.


Henry: How long did it take to write and record everything?


Haze: The first single was written while recording it. The second single was recorded over two sessions in the AmRep studio.


Henry: So wait, the first single was done completely in real time? No forethought? No nothing?

Haze: No I had some rough ideas/hooks before we hit record. But it was fleshed out and arranged as we recorded


Henry: Were the two singles recorded at the same time?


Haze: They were were recorded a couple years apart. The second single was an actual band that had released the tunes and played 'em live for the recording.

Henry: Who did you nab to play with you for the second single? And when you say you actually practiced the songs prior to recording, are we talking weeks? Days? Hours?


Haze: I only remember rehearsing the tunes a couple times. I did bass, Bill Hobson on guitar (Killdozer) and Frank Thorpe on Drums (Like Hell) I think I did a few guitar overdubs.

Henry: Are there any other Haze "one off" bands that were recorded but never released?

Haze: There's some unreleased Gear Jammer songs and some Pogo The Clown tracks as well.


Henry: And Gear Jammer never played live, correct?


Haze: That is correct.


Henry: It seemed like there was a definite Pussy Galore influence in the songs. Was that intentional?

Haze: Not intentionally, but I certainly loved Pussy Galore and wouldn't stop it from creeping into the sound.

Henry: Pressing information. The first single had two pressings, right? And the second single was released in what? '93? How many copies?


Haze: Fuck, dude, I dunno!


Henry: Do you think the unreleased Pogo the Clown and Gear Jammer tracks will ever see the light of day?

Haze: Likely not, by the time I find 'em the tapes will likely be kaput. I realize it's irresponsible to ignore the 7 people hanging by a thread for that moment, but I really haven't been that motivated."

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, Gear Jammer.

Two Tons Of Chrome b/w (I Saw You) Video (Amphetamine Reptile)
1. Two Tons Of Chrome
2. (I Saw You) Video




















Horsepower 2000 (Amphetamine Reptile)
1. Lock & Load
2. He Drinks
3. If It Wasn't Me
4. Horsepower 2000

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Spectacular Bird

"Spectacular Bird arose from a songwriting collaboration between myself, Quentin Rowan and Lou Suarez. At its best, the band was a complimentary, if not always closely-harmonious, combination of three developing voices and writing styles. If anyone dug anything about what we were doing, it was probably that. But who knows, if such unfinished songs as 'Pudding Street Market', 'Hold On Honeycomb', and 'Gazebo Junction' were ever recorded, we might have achieved the elusive Fading Yellow sound of our dreams."

Chase those dreams boys.

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, Spectacular Bird.



Where Did The Sunshine Go? (Pukekos)
1. Where Did The Sunshine Go?
2. We Made It Through
3. Emma Lane
4. Anywhere But Only With You

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Aden

The first time I saw Aden was in 1999, during my last spring break as a college student. I came to New York City for a week and stayed in the dorms at Columbia with my friend Alex. What a week it was!

That was the night Kevin Barker and I first met. We chatted about having read each other's film professors as he was a film student at the Art Institute in Chicago and I was a film student at UC Berkeley. I don't miss academia, but I do miss having so much freedom!

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, Aden.

Aden (Fortune 4)
1. Snowy Sidewalks
2. Cause Of Your Tears
3. Would You Have Stayed?
4. When You Left
5. Scooby Doo
6. Still Cross My Mind
7. Don't Act Sad
8. Reverie
9. Plunky
10. City Lights
11. Walking In Circles
12. What Makes You Sad?
13. DC Song









1999 Teenbeat Sampler (Teenbeat)
1. Plunky '99





















2000 Teenbeat Sampler (Teenbeat)
1. Sampler Song





















2001 Teenbeat Sampler (Teenbeat)
1. Smiles And Frowns
2. Matinee Idol




















2002 Teenbeat Sampler (Teenbeat)
1. River's Rising





















2003 Teenbeat Sampler (Teenbeat)
1. Smiles And Frowns

Monday, June 15, 2009

Grass Widow

I saw Grass Widow play three times in 24 hours, no small feat. They were so good the first time that I decided to pick up and go on tour with them the next day, as they had two more shows in New York City. One was at a backyard barbecue in Clinton Hill, the other was in the basement of a candy shop in Little Italy. In between the two shows we went to Veselka for pierogi and to Staten Island via the ferry.



 Letting a little light in on the situation.
 A tender moment.
Hungry for pierogi.
Special binoculars to better see the Statue of Liberty.
Candy.
Underneath the candy.
The Cookie Monster strikes again, etc.


Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, Grass Widow.



Grass Widow CD (Self)
1. To Where
2. Celebrate The Mundane
3. Green Screen
4. Long Walk On The Beach
5. Cut It Off
6. Time Could Bend
7. Yellow Balloons














Rank/Xerox/Grass Widow (Wizard Mountain)
1. Out Of Body Experience
2. Black Hole
3. Thirsty Again
4. Uncertain Memory
5. Rattled Call

Friday, June 12, 2009

Los Fancy Free

I met Carlos the first time I went down to Monterrey, Mexico. I have to say he is one of the coolest cats I've ever come across, with his long hair, his moustache, and his laid back attitude. I can't wait to go hang out with him in Mexico City sometime soon.

I will be telling the tale of my first trip to Monterrey live at Fort Tilden Beach on Sunday afternoon as part of an Acoustic BBQ. If you have never been to Fort Tilden it is far and away the most beautiful beach in New York City, and the Acoustic BBQ is one of the coolest events of the year. The first one was actually a party that I threw to celebrate the first anniversary of Puttin' on the Ritz down by the peninsula in Prospect Park. This being the 5th annual acoustic BBQ (the other three were on Roosevelt Island), it seemed a shame not to play just because Kevin Shea is out of town. I have been trying to figure out what the solo version of Puttin' on the Ritz would be, and I finally realized that it is just me doing standup comedy. So if you are in New York City (or wouldn't mind commuting for the day) please feel free to bring yourself and/or your loved ones down to hang out, the music is going to be fantastic and I really think it will be a day to remember.

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, Los Fancy Free.

Never Greens Vol. 1 (Silicone Carne)
1. The Naive Heat
2. Ja Ja Ja
3. Fear
4. Bona's Psychedelic Breakfast
5. Beatle Suit & Purple Boots
6. Organs Of Swing
7. Eumerica
8. Overture
9. High Society

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Ensemble Economique

Ensemble Economique consists of my buddy Brian Pyle, who also plays in Starving Weirdos and Shaking Hands. We met via email after I posted his music, and we became friends immediately due to us both knowing one Steve Lazar (who in addition to playing in Starving Weirdos has been my friend since 1988).

We met in person in London last year when Puttin' on the Ritz played with Starving Weirdos (this was at the same Deerhunter show that I mentioned earlier). The bond was cemented and we invited each other to stay in our respective homes. I look forward to visiting Arcata for the first time, I've been all over California but there are still many parts of the state I've never seen. Sometimes revisiting your roots isn't such a bad thing.

Brian gave me both of these at that show, and asked me not to post them immediately. I complied, but I can't be expected to wait forever.

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, Ensemble Economique.

At The Foot Of Nameless Roads (Digitalis)
1. At The Foot Of Nameless Roads
2. Mud Banks Shine In Broken Shards
3. Light Reflects As Seagulls Dive
4. In Each Cracked Shell There Is Restless Time
5. In A Weightless Night
6. Your Dream Was Mine
7. Everything Fragmented
8. Fire!














No GPS (Digitalis)
1. Lost In The Woods
2. Lost At Sea
3. Lost On The Bluffs
4. Lost In The Fog
5. Lost In The Jungle
6. Bridge To Eternity
7. Back In The Jungle
8. Mouth Of The River
9. Lost In The Canyons
10. Lost On The Plains

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Traffic Sound

Apparently I have been thinking about our neighbors to the south quite a bit lately. A little psychedelic music never hurt anyone (really).

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, Traffic Sound.

Yellow Sea Years 68-71 (Vampisoul)
1. Lux
2. El Gusano (Alice In Wormland)
3. La Camita
4. You Got To Be Sure!
5. White Deal/Poco/Big Deal
6. Suavecito
7. Chicama Way
8. Those Days Have Gone
9. Solos
10. Survival
11. A Beautiful Day
12. Marabunta
13. Yesterday's Game
14. Sky Pilot
15. Meshkalina
16. What You Need And What You Want
17. Tibet's Suzettes (You Can't Appreciate A Gift From God)
18. Inca Snow

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Total Control

I ask every single person I meet from Australia if they know my favourite Australian television personality, John Safran (do yourself a favor and check out John Safran vs. God or John Safran's Music Jamboree, they are both hilarious). Whilst generally people are familiar with his work or have seen him around, Mikey (who in addition to playing on and releasing this record performs in Eddy Current Suppression Ring and The Ooga Boogas) was the first person to admit that he actually did know him. Not only that, but a few weeks later I received a personal email from John Safran himself with the following photo attached:

 

I love the modern age.

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, Total Control.

Total Control EP (Aarght!)
1. Stare Way
2. Meds
3. Total Control
4. Full Moon

Monday, June 8, 2009

Diet Cola

My buddy Josh is like me in that one project isn't enough to satisfy him. He is pretty busy as he plays in Deerhunter and SIDS, runs the Army of Bad Luck label, and is an all around good guy. I first met him when Puttin' on the Ritz played with Deerhunter at the Llano Estacado (the space that is now called Monster Island Basement); someday I will have to discover the photographs from that evening (and I know they exist). Whiskey was poured down my throat as I was hit in the head with beer cans whilst being wrapped in toilet paper. I'm sure it was a memorable event for all involved (except for myself, the whiskey obliterated most of the specifics from that evening). For the record neither Josh nor his cohorts were responsible for any of the mayhem, but they seemed to be enjoying it nonetheless.

I saw Josh in London this past September as we headlined a show with Deerhunter (we were supposed to play first, but once Bradford discovered that we were playing too he insisted that he wouldn't go on after us). It is always nice to catch up with old friends.

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, Diet Cola.

Diet Cola EP (Army of Bad Luck)
1. Early Learning
2. Wicked Witch Of The Northeast
3. Sick Modern
4. Anything Poisonous

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Cro Magnon

There is some interesting music coming out of some strange places these days. I very much appreciate that fact.

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, Cro Magnon.

Cro Magnon EP (Bruit Direct)
1. Wash
2. A Hole
3. Apple Orchard



















XXperiments (Die Stasi)
1. Groundline

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Unnatural Helpers

I love singles clubs. I am a collector of rare things, and I know a safe bet when I see one.

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, Unnatural Helpers.

Unnatural Helpers (Dirty Knobby)
1. Lights Down Low
2. Gettin' Classy
3. Garbage Time
4. Death Door Knock
5. Mr. Children
6. Becky Is A Bummer
7. Milk Break
8. Con-Monk
9. Operation Dry Pants
10. Ugly Things
11. Seems Sick Now
12. I'm In Crisis
13. Cardboard Swords







Earwax EP (Dirty Knobby)
1. Earwax
2. Don't Tag Me
3. Heavy Sugar
4. Kill. Kill. Kill. NYC
5. Out Of Touch

















Dirty, Dumb & Comical (Sub Pop)
1. Dirty, Dumb & Comical
2. Connecting
3. Break That Horse
4. Easy Way

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Acre

Corey and I met when Gowns were on tour. We made fast friends.

Drone, etc.

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, Acre.

Artifact (Black Horizons)
1. Live At The Corral 11/04/05
2. Live At The Corral 11/03/06

Monday, June 1, 2009

The Anals

The French think much differently than we do. I think it is important to have access to as many different perspectives as possible.

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, The Anals.

Commando Of Love (Sweet Rot)
1. Commando Of Love
2. Wake Up You're Dead