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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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