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My Dad Is Dead - The Best Defense
The fifth My Dad Is Dead LP and the second that was doomed to unavailability.
Another Homestead Records release from 1988.
The Best Defense Read more...
Bitch Magnet - Valmead
Given that David Grubbs slid from Bastro into a world of different ideas ... and played with Bitch Magnet and (basically) the backing band for the second track is Codeine ... it made sense to segue into this. I had some conflicted feelings about them at the time and still do to be honest. They had loads of that underground Bastro tornado style but you can hear glimpses of the themes that led to the year that punk broke. Yeah, for me that was when people that I knew were arseholes started to pretend they were really into it and always had been. Inverted snob and proud of it. Don't get me wrong there are some brilliant things within the Magnet canon and I was going to post a few of the things that I bought at the time. In preparing those posts I realised that in 2011, Temporary Residence released a triple CD / LP set that remasters pretty much everything they ever did and includes some unreleased stuff. It's still for sale. I've listened back to it and it sounds pretty immense. As a taster, here's this:
12" released on Glitterhouse Records in 1990.
Valmead Read more...
Bastro and Codeine - A L'ombre De Nous
Apart from the Antlers CD containing live material from 1991 (that you can still pick up from Drag City), this was all she wrote. Really, it marks the transition of David Grubbs from one band to the other and into an area that journos tried to initially pigeonhole as slo-core. The members of Bastro would continue to orbit around each other for years to come in the form of Gastr Del Sol and Tortoise.
7" released on Sub Pop in 1991.
A L'ombre De Nous Read more...
Bastro & My Dad Is Dead - Split
Where one plays the song of the other ...
7" released on Clawfist as part of their singles club in 1991.
Nothing Special / Flesh-Colored House Read more...
Bastro - Sing The Troubled Beast
In an echo of Big Black, Bastro left at the top of their game with Clark Johnson going back to law school. I didn't know it at the time but I sat in anticipation of the next album and it never came ... information was different then. In retrospect, the fact that Brian Paulson handled most of the recording gives a clear light towards the future direction that these people would take and it makes a lot more sense now. Yeah, he was in Man Sized Action and was behind the desk for the Cows and a lot of the better end of the Touch & Go roster (Killdozer, Brick Layer Cake, Arcwelder) but later he was involved in Slint and others trying to slip into that stream ... they were all riding a wave heading in the same direction.
Released on Homestead Records in 1990.
Sing The Troubled Beast Read more...
My Dad Is Dead - Let's Skip The Details
Apparently, this was more or less the work of Mark Edwards with a couple of people making small contributions. 32 years ago I read this really small piece talking about it and went out and bought the vinyl. Just my opinion but maybe the others were contractually tied up and kept anonymous. This is a full band pure and simple. MDID don't tend to get written about much even back then ... if they were from New Zealand we would all be lighting candles on a nightly basis at our home-made shrines. To my mind, this is a masterpiece.
Only released in America in 1988 on Homestead Records and then never available again. Criminal.
Let's Skip The Details Read more...
Culpis - Situation Vacant Columns
Culpis - Situation Vacant Columns Read more...
Steel Pole Bath Tub - The Miracle Of Sound In Motion
"Sorry" if you're not enjoying this latest incursion ... but I'm having a blast (first). Slurred psychedelic overdriven garage noise-rock at it's finest. I've loved these people for a long time but had forgotten how much. I've been playing their releases all day and I'm waiting for the noise abatement notice from the neighbours. Shit happens. I could have started at many points but this is the one that when I took it home, my head fell clean off and it all made perfect sense. Saw them live somewhere between one and three times ... who knows?
Released on Boner Records and Tupelo Recording Company in 1993. Seems like this was only released in America ... I bought it over here in the civilised world so maybe it was an import? It's never been reissued since ... legalities I presume.
The Miracle Of Sound In Motion Read more...
Jun Kawasaki - 左岸右岸 (Left Bank-Right Bank)
Jun Kawasaki - 左岸右岸 (Left Bank-Right Bank) Read more...
God Is My Co-Pilot - Getting Out Of Boring Time Biting Into Boring Pie
I really like angular music that leaves you with little idea where it's going or why. Listening back to 10 X My Age made me go back and listen to this ... another great 10" that I bought at around the same time. It sounds better to me now than it did then. I distinctly remember reading them described as Dutch queer-core and hopefully the author is now not employed in any capacity. Well they are from New Amsterdam so good I named it once and I have never bothered to find out what the sexual preferences of the individual members of this collective are ... because it has absolutely no relevance.
10" released on Quinnah Records in 1993.
Biting Into Boring Pie Read more...
Shoji Hano - Tayhei Nipon
Shoji Hano - Tayhei Nipon Read more...
Trumans Water - 10 X My Age
This is such a gorgeous thing ...
It was released on Elemental in 1993 in a beautiful white marbled 10" vinyl version. I used to stare at it for hours at a time whilst it played on rotation. There was a CD version (with nothing extra) and I might have bought that as well but I can't be bothered to get a ladder out to climb the CD wall.
10 X My Age Read more...
Shoji Hano & Munehiro Narita - Kyoaku No Intention
Shoji Hano & Munehiro Narita - Kyoaku No Intention Read more...
Bastro - Diablo Guapo
A year later, Roland was replaced by an actual drummer ... John McEntire who frankly is a proper legend. He left My Dad Is Dead to join Bastro ffs ... I'm really hoping to pull all of these threads together at the end. Anyway, John (being a human and all that, with arms and legs and other moveable parts) adds a massive propulsive force and a subtle counterpoint to the release ... that has never seen the light of day since. To save you some time, I certainly don't count the half-arsed Drag City CD from 2005 that combined this with the Sing release ... it didn't have all of the tracks included ... apart from kerching, what is the point in that? Yeah, no point at all ... "fun fact" again ... on 'Flesh-Colored House', William Bennett (has no dick) plays the drill (although I think that might be an in-joke, it sounds like guitar string being abused). Just fact ... the drummer on the final track "Shoot Me A Deer" is Britt Walford who was in Squirrel Bait and later Slint. Nobody is credited on the 7" I posted so it seems fair to assume that he was the drummer on that single. There is some marvelous trumpet abuse on Guapo ... no idea if it's the same horn abusers as on the previous example.
Released on Homestead Records in 1989. I bought the LP ... and then the CD ... this is the CD.
Genius. Simple. Read more...
Trumans Water - Spasm Smash XXXOXOX Ox & Ass
I'm not expecting this to work for anybody else but ... the opening track "Aroma Of Gina Arnold" starts off as though Sonic Youth played Pacific Coast Highway and Xpressway to Yr Skull at the same time and that was a normal thing to do ... and then it launches into a different universe if it wasn't there already. I know loads of things and I'm right more than 100% of the time (obviously) so that means I'm pretty sure it was the Spasm Smash tour that I saw them at the Boardwalk in Manchester. I would be astonished if there were more than 30 of us there. Apart from the joy of dancing to Rations whilst being really fucked up (if you understand my nancy reagan) my favourite flashback was when Ely Moyal split a drum stick half way down (I don't even know how you do that) and he threw it into the non-existent crowd. This absolute fucking hero got there before me and bent it just enough to wear it like antennae and danced for the rest of the gig with the clear intent of dislocating every joint in his body.
They are one of the high points of Western civilisation.
I am not worthy of Trumans Water and neither are you.
A double LP released on Elemental Records in 1993 with a CD version two years later. Naturally I bought both of them at the time.
C'mon get in the car, we're gonna kill the California girls. Read more...
Bastro - Rode Hard And Put Up Wet
David Grubbs (guitar) and Clark Johnson (bass) left the melodic hardcore of Squirrel Bait, programmed a drum Machine and really went for it. There are inevitable comparisons to Big Black but this was an entirely different troubled beast. A "fun fact" is that on 'Counterrev: Bhutan' the Bhutanese horn is played (badly) by David Sims (who was also in Scratch Acid, The Jesus Lizard and Rapeman) and Don Moist (yep, the way hap Steve Albini ... who also handled the recording for this release).
Mini-LP released on Homestead Records in 1988 and criminally never to see the light of day again.
Rode Hard And Put Up Wet Read more...
Bastro - Shoot Me A Deer
Bastro should have been the biggest band on the planet. Luckily for them, they walked away from recording Goo and keeping us all waiting for another 12 years before releasing anything reminiscent of the majesty. Joke's aside, they are immense. The B-side was never released anywhere else as far as I know, and was co-written by Mark Robinson (who was in the magnificent Unrest and ran the equally great Teenbeat label ... both of which could not be further away from Bastro).
7" released on Homestead Records in 1989 as a precursor to the second LP.
Shoot Me Read more...
Cows - Chow
There is so much music that was lost when the (then) newly expanded American distribution networks got swamped by charlatans, A&R arseholes and corporate whores who dumped people into a legal netherworld where bands no longer owned their own music and it could never be re-released. There are so many out there whose masterpieces never got past the initial vinyl release and Cows were one of those. Until recently. I was going to post the Cows albums that had effectively disappeared but then realised that Amphetamine Reptile have made them available as $5 CDs over the past couple of years. So, here's the first five 7"s instead.
7" released on Treehouse Records in 1988.
Chow Read more...
Cows - Plowed
This was released as a 7" on Amphetamine Reptile Records in 1992. This is the extended CD ep that includes the spectacularly unhinged "I Love You" ... not that there is much evidence of hinges on the other three tracks.
Plowed Read more...
Cows - Woman Inside
Excellent bovine noise-rock with the B-side being a cover of "Theme From Midnight Cowboy" with a hovering guitar covering the harmonica part.
7" released on Insipid Vinyl in 1992.
Woman Inside Read more...
Cows - Cow Island
The B-side is a less manicured cover of the 1960 Slim Gailliard song. I want the Cows version playing as they push my carcass into the flames. A fitting way to end!
7" released on Amphetamine Reptile Records in 1994.
Cow Island Read more...
Rezniček - Stube
Rezniček - Stube Read more...
More Fiends - Yo Asphalt Head
I bought this 30 years ago on the strength of one of those tiny reviews in Sounds on page 40 something (where all of the weird shit got about 100 words). Whatever I read was good enough for me. I can't tell you what that was because I used to have a stack of Sounds at least 4ft tall. Then suddenly felines decided that I was advanced enough for them to consider me an appropriate human servant. At that point I had no concept of a scratching post. Push and The Kitten Helmet soon taught me what was involved and destroyed the lot. I'm kind of glad about that now because I would have gone back and quoted it in full. Thanks therapist, that was useful.
So what the fuck is going on here? Everything and nothing basically. A collection of people from Philly making weird shit under various pseudonyms (the drummer was in Brutal Truth after this but that is all I know). It won't change your life but it might cheer you up for a short while and then remind you that valley girls are meant to be avoided at all costs.
Provided to me by Anaconda Records in 1990.
metal chair?! Read more...
Bomb - Lucy In The Sky With Desi
Firstly, if you get the Lucille Ball reference then congratulations for still being alive.
As distribution networks began to strengthen In Europe during the late '80s, you started to get things like this... American freakrock bands with a few releases in the US given conveniently curated compilations for the European market. Bomb were a great band from San Francisco who were around between 87 and 90. There was an album in 1992 but this coincided with the time that the corporates realised that there might be money to be made in "shit the weird kids listened to" and started hoovering bands up looking for cows to milk. By this time, Bomb were done and angel-dusted ... a great ride whilst it lasted. Plenty more from them if this tickles your trout ...
I bought the LP released on Tupelo Recording Company in 1990. This is the CD from the same year that has five extra tracks.
the girl that i miss is just me in a dress. sometimes i wish that i had a trans-sister Read more...
Pol - Transomuba
Pol - Transomuba Read more...
God Bullies - Join Satan's Army
I while ago when I was posting some Princess Dragon-Mom / Time Stereo stuff and there was a The Dragon-God project that I assumed was a PDM offshoot. Somebody dropped a comment a couple of days ago clarifying that it was members of PDM and fellow Michigan noise-rock outcasts God Bullies (which once said makes perfect sense ... I've still not heard them though!). At first hearing you will think that I have lost my mind posting such "traditional rawk geetar" ... but then you look at the left hand of Satan on the cover and the cornball but twisted lyrics and the nonsense but perfect backwards sections wishing for a Judas Priest trial ... not convinced?
OK. Let's try again. It includes a cover of Link Wray's Preacher Man (with added televangelist give me your money bullshit), Which Way You Goin' Billy? by The Poppy Family (which featured Terry Jacks ... yeah, the Seasons In The Sun bloke) and turn it into the torch song of a frustrated paedophile stalker. However, the best is third ... a cover of Hot Chocolate's You Sexy Thing? Fucking genius!
I've been thinking of posting loads of 30+ year old weird rock shit that I have that nobody that I ever knew appreciated in any way. I started to wonder how that would go down but then I remembered that this is Bleak Bliss and we never really gave a shit in the first place.
Double 7" released on Amphetamine Reptile Records in 1990.
your country doesn't need you Read more...
Cosmonauts Hail Satan - Crazy Subjugated Astronauts
This appeared briefly last night before I realised that it was the wrong file for this tape. So if you grabbed it yesterday, delete and replace. Satan knows there's enough misinformation out there without me adding to it ... sorry about that.
... and now the end is near! Or is it? First off I don't have the Cosmic Invocation #1 single but this compilation tape also offers the suggestion that there might be even more out there. The inner cover of the tape makes explicit reference to the contents of the tape coming from the Apollo 666 tape and from the "Satan, Yuri and You" tape. A tape? I only know it as a two track 7". The truth might be in the track "Serious Business" that otherwise only appears on the Cape Cannibal compilation and is credited to the "Yuri" tape. So there must be (at least) a "Yuri" tape right? There was also a longer version of this that has four additional tracks by Shaman Brain (yep, no idea but Phil Todd has put his name next to it on Discogs and that makes it true).
So, what the fuck is going on? Is there more Cosmonaut activity out there that we really need to know about?
Whilst you're here, I've also re-upped Cape Cannibal Skull Island Apocalypse, the Hellraiser 7" and the Grunt split.
C60 released on Joukkomurha Tapes in 1993.
i'm crazy for trying, i'm crazy for loving satan Read more...
Marcus Schmickler - Onea Gako
Marcus Schmickler - Onea Gako Read more...
Kontakta - Untitled
Kontakta - Untitled Read more...
Cosmonauts Hail Satan - Mortuary Sorcery
Disconcerting synth squelch leads into a carnival of chaos (that inexplicably reminds me of Alejandro Jodorowsky's Santa Sangre) and then all of them and all of the instruments ever made fall down several flights of stairs. Perfect!
7" released on Suggestion Records in 1996.
Mortuary Sorcery Read more...
Cosmonauts Hail Satan - Bizarre And Tortuous Rituals Of The Primitive World
The reason why holidays are a bad idea followed by Mike Hammertime
7" released on Secret Devil Records in 1995.
you can't touch it Read more...
Cosmonauts Hail Satan - A Beautiful Girl Like You / Mystery Mountain
Stripping the flesh from god in a carnival of lunatics.
7" released on Death By Blowjob in 1995.
i have no further comment your honour Read more...
Cosmonauts Hail Satan - Apollo 666
Darren Wyngarde. Fucking Legend. If this doesn't tickle all of the tassels on your butthole then I seriously can't help you anymore.
A self-released c42 from 1992.
Houston, we have a problem Read more...
Dogliveroil - Presents Postcard Of An English Shithouse
More glorious English filth courtesy of our troupe of heroes: (the confirmed national treasures that are) Phil Todd, Andy Jarvis, Marky Loo Loo and Joincey. The latter pair also ran the exquisitely titled Face Like A Smacked Arse label that Joincey has partly resurrected as a retrospective resource for inhumanity.
CDr released on Tochnit Aleph in 1999.
Total Shithouse Read more...
Goodiepal - EMEGO 211
EMEGO 211 was originally released for free online in 2016 via Wikipedia, of all places. As you may have noticed, Wikipedia tends not to release vinyl records. Goodiepal says that anyone is allowed to put this music out on record as long as they send him and his mother a copy. The files from Wikipedia were labeled as LPs 1 through 14, with LPs 3 and 4 missing because (as he says in his intro) he wanted Mego boss Peter Rehberg to upload those somewhere else. Were those missing sides the "Morendo Morendo" triple LP that Mego did release? That wouldn't make sense, because only two LPs are missing from EMEGO 211, not three. Did Rehberg upload those missing sides... and if so, where?
EMEGO 211 has been removed from Wikipedia (when? why? I don't know!), so I've done a lot of detective work to figure out what all this stuff is (please let me know in the comments whether I got anything wrong, I'm sure that I did), re-tagged everything and am now offering it to you here. Trainspotters and OCD record collector types, proceed at your own risk. Even though the set was released as file, you'll notice vinyl surface noise throughout the set, no doubt added afterwards to make this sound like a record rip.
I've been able to figure out with at least 51% certainty that a few of these albums were actually released on small-edition vinyl LPs with the same catalog number, though none of those seem to be on Mego. Other albums with the EMEGO 211 catalog number seem to have been released separately but they do not appear in this set and don't seem to be on Editions Mego. Other sides might be exclusive to this set, but maybe they aren't. What you get here is lots of talking with abstract ambience (LP 1 "Tilbage Til Havet"), DJ sets (LP 2), live performances (LP 13, "Red Man K's Bedrifter, Live Chapel Hill 2002"... which, interestingly, was released by Mego in 2013 as a 3-sided LP. The catalog number for that one is EMEGO 179. Discogs notes that no digital version of this album exists, and yet here it is), opera (LP 6 "Vintern & vers"), two 20-minute takes on his song "My Robotic Skills Have Failed" by the Spanish group Evol (LP 8), strange lo-fi syntheiszer music (LP 10, "Sun Jammer Baba Jogan") film soundtracks (LP 9) and lots more indescribable nonsense. The 14th LP appears to be a reissue of Goodiepal's very first demo cassette from 1991, which was also reissued as a standalone LP by Alku. Is it really the same music? The track times don't match, so let's go with "maybe".
disc 1 Tilbage Til Havet
disc 2 Søsterhøj Mysteriet & Hessdalen
disc 5
disc 6
disc 7 Slet Dig Selv & Helt Opløst Mand
disc 8 Den Med Sif
disc 9
disc 10
disc 11
disc 12
disc 13 Red Man K's Bedrifter - Goodiepal Live, Chapel Hill 2002
disc 14 Havet
Read more...
Dogliveroil - The Black Art Of Dogliveroil
From Thee Dark Satanic Potteries Of Stoke our intrepid heroes create a shitload of noise ... they were eventually granted refugee status in Leeds proving that even the smallest of improvements is still an improvement in a literally relative way.
CDr released on Betley Welcomes Careful Drivers in 1998 (I think).
Black Arts Read more...
Goodiepal - Collected Works
... Vester's discography is a vast and tangled mess of alternate versions, unofficially remixed corporate jungles, pseudonymous dance music and nigh-impenetrable hacker art. It's also, as you are about to discover for yourself, a lot of fun. He gives some of his music away online, but then takes it back and sometimes re-titles it, changes parts of it, releases pieces in different versions under different titles or releases new music with the title of something previously published. He also builds wind-up mechanical birds that have to be seen to be believed, and even then you might not believe it. His music is sometimes tangentially similar to (and has some conceptual empathy with) folks like DAT Politics, V/Vm and Evol, but sometimes it's not similar to anything else at all. He's truly in his own world. There's more information here, but keep in mind that Vester has been known to make up aspects of his history just to entertain himself. So who knows what about him or his work is true. The intentional confusion and overload is part of the joy of Goodiepal aka Mainpal Inv. aka Gæoudjiparl. Just embrace it.
"Collected Works" first appeared in 2006 as a set of four CDRs released by Vuzkid, a label that was associated with V/Vm. Then it was released online as digital files until Vuzkid went away. And so, here is "Collected Works" one more time. It contains the Narc Beacon album (sometimes called Nag Nag Bacon for reasons only the Goodiepal knows), which was released in 2001 and then reissued a few times by Fonal, Ski-pp, Escho. It's his most accessible album by far, though many of the tracks seem to be unauthorized remixes of jingles for corporations he might have been doing work for at an advertising agency. Vester claims that this is his only actual album, but I'm not sure what he means by that. Disc 2 contains Rare Tracks, ostensibly containing songs from compilations and limited-edition vinyl but there's some misinformation going on. Some of the tracks are not the ones listed in the credits and others might not be Goodiepal at all. Disc 3 is Mort aux Vauches session for Dutch radio with a couple of tracks released on a 5" record, but then (if you try to make sense of his discography at Discogs) he's released so many records with the Mort aux Vauches title, I can't pretend to understand what each one means or how (or if) they relate to the original. The final disc contains some films of Goodiepal in action (you must watch those) plus images and text that may or may not make any sense to you. My suggestion is to soak it all in, do some research about the parts that you find interesting, watch the documentary about him embedded above, and get comfortable with the idea that no matter how much you think you get it, Vetser is messing with you somehow.
disc 1
disc 2
disc 3
disc 4 Read more...
Various - WNF: Tag Team Noise Rumble Spectacular
Now where could you possibly find Richard Youngs & Simon Wickham-Smith sharing the same earspace as Smell & Quim. Erm, yes... how did you guess? Well done.
It's one of those split channel compilations where in one ear you get Macronympha and in the other Schimpfluch-Gruppe, Dogliveroil vs. Incapacitants, Strict vs. The Haters, Expose Your Eyes vs. Prick Decay and stuff like that. It's not likely to change your life but then again what does you metanarrative denying postmodern bastard?
LP released on Stinky Horse Fuck in 1996.
watch us wreck the mike ... psych! Read more...
Crawl Unit - Transhistory - Works 95-99
Crawl Unit - Transhistory - Works 95-99 Read more...
Various - White Trash Motherfuckers
Another nifty little compilation featuring Ascension (which included former Skullflower, Stefan Jaworzyn, Beautiful Penis (why, thank you), Cosmonauts Hail Satan, Derv (a side project of Tony Irving who was in Ascension and Descension), The MikePostMortem (yeah, me neither) and the rather good noise-rockout punishment of Splintered whose extensive membership would never have gotten past social distancing requirements.
The artwork for the release is (obviously) by Savage Pencil and given we have been impressing upon you the importance of actual printed material, my pre-order of the SavX Special Edition came last week. Do yourself a favour and go and buy a book!
CD released on Stefan's Shock label in 1993.
White Trash Motherfuckers Read more...
Issues!
Earlier, I mentioned that we were trying to find alternate ways for people to support Noella and Joe. Obviously nothing will make up for the emotional impact of having to close Issues but even small amounts of cash will help absorb some of the financial impact for them and the people that worked there (not to mention their suppliers).
Apparently, American type people can use an app called Venmo and use your mobile to send money their way [ their Venmo is @issuesshop ], being a non-American type person I'm not familiar with it but you might be. You can also send money via Paypal [ info@issuesshop.com ] but be sure to mark it as a gift and then Paypal don't take a cut and all of your donation will go directly to them.
Also, Misanthropic Agenda have recently reissued Psychic Stress Soundtracks as a Double LP ... distribution in Europe is being handled here so will lessen the shipping costs. I have the original CD released on Antifrost in 2005 and frankly, it's a beautiful piece of work.
As Mrs Inside rightly said recently, if you have ever considered the need to donate money to us then please don't. We don't want your money. We use our own resources doing this because we want to and we enjoy it. Instead, give it to Noella and Joe or think of an artist that you admire and go and buy something directly from them.
We obviously know that the world is ready for the final flush and money is really tight but genuinely any amount will help ... and, don't forget, with every dollar bill you're also sending a little bit of love and respect as well. Read more...
Crawl Unit - Vs. Silence
Crawl Unit - Vs. Silence Read more...
Various - Defaecatio 1
More home-taper bedroom electronics that is just a shitload of fun.
Legend has it that Yamatsuka Eye listened to the first No Unauthorized track and thought "fuck me, I can really make a go of this music malarkey" (for entirely legal reasons, I feel the need to say that I might have just made that up ... maybe). There are people here that you will know like De Fabriek, Big City Orchestra and M.Nomized and some that you have probably heard of such as Tam Quam Tabula Rasa, Mental Anguish and Viktimized Karcass but if you knew about Black Flowers then you beat me ... great track. It's very symbolic of the late 80's but in this case that is a very good thing. A classic tape if you ask me ... oh, sorry, I thought you did.
C90 released on Biotope Art Organization in 1989.
Defecation Read more...
Crawl Unit - Stop Listening
Yet another classic spin, this one released as a CD on Ground Fault in 2000. Please consider donating to Joe to help him offset expenses from having to close his bookshop, Issues, due to the corona virus.
Crawl Unit - Stop Listening Read more...
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