Vinyl Rundown

Hello ladies and gents. I know I promised an entry every two weeks and there’s no excuse for my absence. On the bright side, there’s a whole batch of great records that graced my eardrums in the interim and I’d like to share them with you. Here goes:

12”, LPs

Aaron Dilloway “Concealed” (No Fun, 2007)—I previously expressed my disdain for metal-on-metal industrial scraping records. All too often they end up sounding like the same boring factory with none of the subtle kinks masters of the metal factory genre, like Prurient, insert in their compositions. Since saying announcing this newfound disgust, I fear purchasing a new noise record by an artist I’ve yet to hear. Dilloway is an old standby who constantly creates invigorating albums (at least the ones I hear) and switches up his game. You gotta switch up your game, ya heard, ‘cause bitches catch on to a playa’s stroll right quick. Here Dilloway melds a tape loop snippet into a dark psychedelic mini-masterpiece, stretching it for two sides at various speeds with numerous budding dark wizardry effects.

Jackwater “Things from Inside Your Body” (Black Velvet Fuckre, 2006)—Mother of shit, this is how I always wished a Flying Luttenbackers record sounded. Total noise math assault that is tight and, presumably, calculated but with a loose, improvisational feel. Sounds alternately like a swarm of bees and a savage murder. Savage vocals add to the rhythmic chaos, barking disturbingly painful wordless verses to the beat. Black Velvet Fuckre once again presents a fitting tributary reissue to a band that was ahead of their time. Watch it ignite your player’s needle with skronk rock accelerator.

Caroliner Rainbow Snake-Tailed Wax Walker/WOODPATTY THE CHICKEN CLIMBER Split LP (Bullshit, 2006)–A pair of quixotic, side-long jams from California’s favorite sons of the singing bull. Each piece of psycho psych is a recording for a 7” stretched to 12” form. Sounds a lot like Grux’s Rubber-O Cement noise project with some Smegma-esque tape loop moments to boot. Per usual with Caroliner, the record is available for a low price and hand-made.

Snake Apartment “An Endless Bummer” 12” (Parts Unknown, 2007)—Been waiting for someone to resurrect that ‘90s Amphetamine Reptile/grunge heavy guitar sludge, noise hardcore sound for a while. These Providence-based dudes blast through six tunes with that good ole feedback-soaked wastoid hardcore moxie like their brothers in Landed. Vocalist Brian Ogle displays quite a range; at times sounding like a David Yow on amphetamines and other times sounds like a sex-deprived Tom Smith. Guitarist Ry Cougar adds little accentuations to his lines a la Willie Nelson except Cougar’s notes are dissonance-sodden chunks of anger. “Pigs is Pigs,” a feedback-saturated journey through the depths of Hell, recalls budding, psychotic Jesus Lizard tunes like "The Associate." “Rifless” begins as a slow, crazed tribute Drunks with Guns before melting down into a formless noise-fest complete with a demented rant. Limited to 500 copies. On green marble vinyl!!!

The Fix “At the Speed of Twisted Thought” LP (Touch and Go, 2007) –Not the synth-pop Fixx from the '80s but a Fast vintage Midwest hardcore band. This reissue of a Touch and Go classic presents 20 tunes in about a half-hour, each with a fist-pumping pulse and sing-a-long lyrics. Now, if only they’d reissue the Necros discography in a similar fashion. Comes with a code that allows you to download the album from the Touch and Go Web site so you can burn it to disc and thrash along in your car. Cool gimmick.

Lee Rockey “Lee Rockey Music” (DeStijl, 2007)- This frequent Smegma collaborator created
weirdo sonic collages from a sound installation erected when today’s basement musique concrete composers still shit their diapers. The recording at hand is an exhibition from 1975. One side sounds like a motorcycle being pelted by extra-terrestrial orbs then speaking with the alien leader. A dialogue between reverb-diseased violin, otherworldly sax, plucked bass, bells and whistles sounds like Albert Ayler under the influence of Smegma. Also, an old man talks about quantum physics or something at one point and it feels like an audio recording inside the mind of an intellectual madman under the influence of strong hallucinogens. The other presents a droning noise jam with constant twists and a bottomless well of ideas. Lee died in 2002 but this record ensures his exciting music will live on. Can’t wait for Smegma vet Ju Suk Reet Meate’s “Do Unseen Hands Make You Dumb?” coming later this year on DeStijl.

Singles

Spider “Charlie” “Spiderlili” b/w “Witch Cookie 45 (Hozac, 2007)–Odes to Charles Manson from his extended family of psychedelic synth punk psychos. Lyrics like “Let’s kill the piggies/ and turn into them/war and peace and happiness/’cause Charlie is our friend” with boy/girl vocal harmonies. Disorienting psych-punk like Dead Moon and the Seeds under the influence of . Can’t wait to see what they cook up next.

Qui “Today, Gestation” b/w “Freeze” (Infrasonic, 2007)—David Yow’s emerges from the pits of L.A. after almost a decade of silence. Good to hear him yelping like a maniac and threatening the listener again. A-side sounds like mid-paced, major label period Jesus Lizard. Still, it’s nice to hear Yow up to his old vocal antics. Meanwhile, “Freeze” sounds like Down-era Lizard right down to Duane Denison-aping jazz-hardcore licks and the repeating, blast off chorus of “Why would anyone live here/ Why would anyone live here/ Why would anyone live heeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.” A great preview of what’s to come for this band. The record costs six bucks and only contains two songs, though. Available from those capitalist pigs at Infrasonic. (Btw- For a dollar less, you can purchase Sapat’s fantastic “Halycon Daze” 7”, which rocks waaaayyyy harder.)

Nothing People ”s/t” (S-S Records, 2006)—Since it doesn’t seem likely Richard Hell will release another album in this lifetime, it’s warranted bands emulating his undeniable cool. Nothing People sound like a weirder, harder rocking if slightly less poetic version of the Voidoids. The record’s best tune, “I Can’t Find a Monkey,” is the sound of aliens recalling a Wild West encounter with Billy Childish at a saloon on Mars. Totally infectious rock ‘n roll. From the future, even. Recommended.

Shearing Pinx “s/t” (DNT, 2006)–Crazed no-wave from Canada from a fairly prolific band. The Pinx bounce like a saxophone-less Contortions. This ain’t no picnic, however, as the band delves more in experimental free-rock than danceable art-rock. Two actual tunes and two industrial-noise basement noodlings. A fun little scorcher from over the pond.

Home Blitz “s/t” (self-released, 2006) – I’m probably the last one in the blogosphere to report on Don DiMaggio’s great little bedroom recordings but the dude creates fun little records that deserve the most attention possible. If the Electric Eels went to Princeton and wrote from the clean cut dork point of view instead of the nihilistic dunderhead perspective, their recordings would probably end up sounding like a Home Blitz record. That’s not an insult.

Human Eye “Spiders and their Kin” b/w “Desperate Hands” (Cass, 2007)—I missed this band’s great In The Red full-length debut in 2005 but a friend hipped me to this 45 earlier this year. These guys play fast, fun doom punk like Sabbath as a garage band. Anthemic apocalyptic tunes set to droning back beats with great ‘70s guitar hero breakdowns and quirky keyboard accentuations. Two epic songs that deserve A-side status.

**********RECORD OF THE MONTH***********

Jim Shepard “Plays the songs of Kim Fowley (Anopheles, 1996)—This ones a bit old but you gotta give props to the greats. Jim Shepard recorded good songs like some of us eat lunch. With his Iron Press label, Shepard released many limited-run records showcasing his unique proggy, post-punk meanderings and knack for free-noise excursions. This record finds Jim interpreting songs by has favorite artist: Kim Folwley. Fowley’s tunes are all over the stylistic map. He dabbled in psychedelica, country rock, garage and country. Shepard, in turn, picks five tunes and sends them into the Jim Shepard orbit. Wild psych rock with trash can percussion and trippy manipulated vocals. Basically, its one misunderstood genius paying homage to another misunderstood genius. Someone oughta reissue Jim Shepard’s back catalogue on vinyl complete with original artwork, so the younger generation could get a full view of his genius. This record is still available from Fusetron.

More to come later in the week including an assessment of the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Bad Trips, Jakob Olasson and Hiroshima Rocks Around.

Until then...

I remain,
s. kobak

P.S. If any band wants their album combed over by yours truly, drop me a line at the e-mail address in my profile.