Dan Melchior - Red Nylon Valance 7" [2011]

Another groovy single from the great French label SDZ Records, this one by the prolific English singer-songwriter Dan Melchior. This is way different than the Drosofile 7" I posted from SDZ a coupla weeks ago; while that release had a dreary, sickened, post-industrial decay sort of sound, this is '60s-indebted psych-pop. It's probably lazy writing for me to say this sounds like Syd Barrett, but what else could I reliably compare it to? And it's not like Syd is bad to be compared with, right? Anyway, this came out at the tail end of 2011, so it's still quite new.

The a-side has been stuck in my head for a while now. It's a song any head can relate to, seemingly about getting lost on the wrong side of the astral train tracks ("I lost my balance and the echoes started dancing down the hall ... I don't like it here at all"). If you like Piper at the Gates of Dawn ... okay, I'll try and stop it with the Syd Barrett references. But seriously, this song is great. Check out the video:

The b-side is a liberally psyched-out blues sort of a tune, with a couple of acoustic guitar tracks picking away at your (and Dan's) sanity before the synth comes blaring in. The lyrics are about getting bit by a dog and contracting rabies(?) Anyway it's got it's own subdued freakishness, and I like it nearly as much as the a-side. And what do you know, there is a (recently-released) video for this song as well:

Dan Melchior has been in the game for longer than most people in the garage-psych field, and it's totally apparent in the craft he shows in these recordings, from the melodies to the choices of instruments to their timing in the songs. Get into this already!

Buy the Red Nylon Valance 7" on SDZ
Listen to/download it [cheap!]

Jeff Beck - Truth [1968]

Happy Venereal Day, everyone, hope none of you got dumped today (that'd be too cliché, wouldn't it?). This is an album that should keep your spirits high regardless of your circumstances.

A lot of people who are (ostensibly) into music don't take Rod Stewart seriously -- and given the embarrassing body of work he produced over the lifetime of the average 35-year-old, why would anyone? Because: the guy was involved in some hot shit in the '60s and early '70s (don't believe me? listen to his first three solo albums and his stuff with the Faces, you ignoramus), including this record. The dude was a pop singer; blues rock is what was popular in the late '60s, so that's what he did -- just like he did shitty disco in the '70s when that was on the radio.

Other 'reputable' personnel onboard here: Jeff Beck on guitar (before his offshoot into self-indulgent fusion wankery) and Ron Wood, most famously of the Rolling Stones on bass. The drummer on here is Mick Waller, probably the least well-known guy in the group, but if you must know, he played in the Faces and on those aforementioned Rod Stewart records.

Anyway, the music: there is a significantly large group of people in the world who will tell you this is the best rock album ever recorded. Jimi Hendrix was into it. This album is great if you like the whole Yardbirds/early Zeppelin thing. 'Shapes of Things' was a Y'birds tune, but this version is better. 'Beck's Bolero' is the closest they get to psychedelic stuff on this album, and while it's not crazily so by anyone's standards, it is still an awesome sort of song. Most of the rest is blues stuff I doubt they wrote, played real well for a bunch of honkies. There is a take of 'You Shook Me' on here, much shorter (better?) than the one on Led Zeppelin I.

Compared to some of the stuff I post on this site, Truth is a lot less 'out there.' But it plays so damn well, and is one of my favorite records ever. I don't know how else to convey its greatness. And it's better than hearing 'Stairway to Heaven' for the quadrillionth fucking time. Ask your dad, kids.

I dunno, this'll probably get DCMA'd pretty quick, but I just wanted to write about it. Get it if you can.

Buy Truth on vinyl [not at all rare, so it's cheap!]
Get it on CD [still pretty cheap!]
I ain't superstitious, but a black cat crossed my trail

Bedphones - The Exchange CS [2011]

This tremendously ear-pleasing cassette came out on SSF Tapes (+tumblr blogspot) about eight months ago. It's sofa-king good. Bedphones is a one-man avant-pop project from the periphery of Chicagoland (namely, Crystal Lake, Illinois). The sound is pretty eclectic, with acoustic guitars, 'lectric beats, ethereal vocals, mandolins, and keyboard-ish stuff coming together to make a really comfy grey-day listen. (Not that it sounds 'grey' or bland, mind you, but rather it is something to keep your mind awake on that sort of day -- and we get plenty of those during Midwestern winters/springs/autumns). I've been spinning this pretty frequently since I got it in the mail, and it's one of those albums that just kind of feels good to listen to. Relaxing, engaging, and original. I can't speak from experience, but this tape would probably go great with opiates (*not endorsing the use of opiates).

Bedphones will have a new release in the near future, also on SSF, so keep your eyes/ears/nose/tongue/skin/kinesthetic sensors open!

I should also take a second to once again plug the SSF Tapes label, where you can find cheap-as-free tape releases by Acidic Tree, Gunther, and WEYE. In addition to that, there are a bunch of great zines there that are worth buying/trading for and reading/passing around to all your friends. Get into it or pose, dawg.

Buy a tape, or get a free FLAC copy
wet my lips to dissolve her lysergic kiss

Pere Ubu - Final Solution 7" [1976]

I actually have not yet dug deep into the Pere Ubu corpus (nothing past 1980), but it should go without saying that everything I have heard by this post-punk-before-punk band has been gold. This early single of theirs is no exception. This is in many ways a perfect 7", channeling punk, garage, glam, and the all the alienation needed to make destructive outsider music. I feel like I hear new stuff in 'Final Solution' each time I hear it. The b-side is a sonic mirror image of the a-side, real upbeat and electric, in a way that makes me think of Wire. I could go on, but shouldn't you be downloading this  classic single already?

Anyone interested should also check out the Creep Scanner post on Rocket From the Tombs, the Cleveland group which begat both Pere Ubu and the Dead Boys.

Buy an original and piss off collectors by actually playing it
Seems I'm a victim of natural selection

STOP ACTA

Today (or yesterday in Europe), hundreds of thousands of people are raising their voices in protest of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), a draconian, corporatist treaty that needs only six more countries to ratify it before it goes into action. This treaty would be a huge blow to the internet community, especially music-related sites like my humble space here. You probably already know about the internet shitstorm that blocked/delayed SOPA and PIPA in the United States. That was a good start, but we are still in the position of having to push this oppression much farther uphill before anybody is safe.

ACTA opposes the interests of the vast majority of people on this planet, both in the developed world -- where the main impact would be on free communication and sharing of information -- and in developing countries -- where generic medicine would be considered "illegal counterfeit," deemed so by the pharmaceutical industry who would rather sell HIV medicine to poor Africans at cruelly high markup. This is one of the kinds of laws that affects everyone. It's been in development for at least four years, but the SOPA/PIPA debacle has drawn more attention to it in recent weeks. The powers that be have tried very hard to keep the public out of the discussion:

Both the Bush administration and the Obama administration had rejected requests to make the text of ACTA public, with the White House saying that disclosure would cause "damage to the national security."[101] In 2009, Knowledge Ecology International filed a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) request in the United States, but their entire request was denied. The Office of the United States Trade Representative's Freedom of Information office stated the request was withheld for being material "properly classified in the interest of national security."[102] US Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT)and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) penned a letter on 23 November 2009, asking the United States Trade Representative to make the text of the ACTA public.[103] According to Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR): “There are questions of constitutional authority surrounding whether the administration can enter into this agreement without Congress’s approval ... Either way, when international accords, like ACTA, are conceived and constructed under a cloak of secrecy, it is hard to argue that they represent the broad interests of the general public. The controversy over ACTA should surprise no one.”[3]

ACTA is dangerously anti-democratic. We all have to do our part to fight it. The MPAA, RIAA, pharmaceutical companies, Monsanto, and other "evil" powers who already run our lives with too much control, will always want more from you. They will continue to take more from you if you do not stop them.

"So what am I supposed to do?" you ask. Currently, the front line of this battle is in Europe. A French organization called La Quadrature du Net has a lot of useful resources, such as this ACTA dossier, an analysis of the treaty, and some ideas on how to fight it.

I'll soon return to your regularly scheduled programming.

The Janitors - Worker Drone Queen EP [2012]

I was hipped to these Swedes by the always classy Ongakubaka blog, and they have kindly asked that their EP be put up here as well. I'm only too happy to oblige. The Janitors are from Stockholm, and they play a sinister, churning sort of psychedelic music they call 'evil shoegaze boogie woogie,' or alternately, Stökpsych (I was calling it psvensk psych in my head, their names sound much cooler). These jams aren't particularly groundbreaking conceptually, but they lay down the groove so well that that could hardly matter less. This is a band with a very well-developed sense of craft for this type of music. The bass is so simple and so good, and the feedback assaults are ecstatic. I've been listening to this EP repeatedly, the riffs have stayed firmly implanted in my brain, and I don't want them to leave.

You can download this EP at the Janitors' soundcloud, where you can also hear their equally good Sick State EP. The downloads are offered as high-quality wav files, which is awesome, but I posted an mp3 link for those of you with more limited disk space/ipods. Worker Drone Queen will be coming out on wax soon, so get ready to order some before they run out!

Janitors website
Do it again

Drosofile - Mal [2011]

This is another submission, this time from a label all the way over in Paris! I know very little about the punk stuff going on in France (though I do dig this band The Anals, check them out). This single has a relentless sort of rhythm and austere melodies that evoke the death march of the daily commute, to a job you hate, for a boss you want to kill. I don't know French but the lyrics that are in English are appropriately dreary. Both songs play up the "dirge jam" aesthetic. I dig this a lot.

Check out the video for the a-side:

The folks at Permanent Records in Chicago said it better than I can:

The folks over at SDZ have pressed up a little gem of a single here in the form of Drosofile's first single. These two cuts sound like the result of habitually smoking weed outta coke cans and we can't get enough. Seriously, two songs of Drosofile is simply, not enough – but it’s all we got so here’s to hoping these duders are following this up soon with a full length. If you dig tasty guitar licks and primal drum thuds mixed with air raid siren keyboards and misanthropic French bellowing and are a fan of the Anals, DAF, Colour Buk or any of the La Grande Triple Alliance Internationale De L'est collective's projects than you should probably pick this one up pronto.

I won't post a mediafire link for this one, since it's streamable on the SDZ bandcamp (there's a jam of a 7"  from Dan Melchior and a sweet 20-song comp tape, plus more! -- browse it all). Both the digital purchase and vinyl are very reasonably priced, so buy it if you like it. The timing is good, what with the euro being so shite: the digital purchase of Mal comes out to less than three bucks. So get it now while it's cheaper for you. Besides that, the vinyl's being offered at a sale rate.

Thanks again to Nick at SDZ for bringing this stuff to my attention.

Streaming/digital download
Get a physical copy

Pink Reason - Stork Club, Oakland CA [2007]

Here's a quick set from Pink Reason for ya. I just found this from a google search today, and I don't know where it came from [edit: it's from here], but it's four songs from the reigning king of damaged, self-loathing drug-punk. Includes his cover of Agent Orange's 'Bloodstains,' as well as a "coffehouse version" of the song 'Going Home,' which was featured on one of those World's Lousy with Ideas compilations.

I made up the cover art on GIMP so if you think it sucks that's why ('coz I made it, not 'coz of GIMP). If you liked Shit in the Garden, download this, why don't you?

Shortly after I posted this, the cool fellow over at Drug Punk posted an interview with Kevin from Pink Reason about what he's been up to recently. Check it out!

My train is losing steam

Jay Reatard - Night of Broken Glass [2007]

Here is a sweet little EP by the late great Jimmy Lee Lindsey Jr, aka Jay Reatard. The title track is a freakout ostensibly about the Kristallnacht (heavy shit, man), followed by a bubblegum synth-garage tune in a transition that is disorienting to say the least. The third song, 'All Over Again,' continues in a similar vein, and Jay shows how good he was at such twisted pop. The EP closes with 'Feeling Blank Again,' which is more or less classic Reatard nervous angularity. This record is a great way to spend eight and a half minutes of your life.

This came out on In the Red Records but I can't find a link to order it from them.

Buy it, if you're a collector snob and want to pay $50 for 4 songs
It was the first, but it's not the last

Cülo - Life Is Vile ... and So Are We [2011]

It's the last day of January, the sun is down, and it's 55 degrees (Fahrenheit) outside in central Illinois. Climate change or not (yeah go ahead, deny it, you AGW-denier --or person who understands that unseasonably warm local temperatures are not necessarily representative of a larger global tren-- oh shit, a digression within a digression), it's fucking hot outside. Maybe it's my Midwestern brain requiring me to wear layers in winter regardless of actual temperature, but I've been sweating more than necessary over the past few days. So here's something to get you steppin' and sweatin', too.

Life Is Vile... compiles a bunch of tapes, demos, 7''s, etc. by this venerable Chicago punk institution. Basically a First Four Years equivalent, and -- dare I say it? -- just as essential. Twenty-five songs in just under twenty-six minutes. If you're into Cülo you probably have this record already, or at least many of the songs on it. (By the way, if a Latin dude ever asks you if you're "into culo," make sure you understand the context of the question before answering).

To give a rough idea for the uninitiated, they sound like the Ramones on PCP (uncreative analogy, sue me). Watch this set by them, from a gig I really wish I'd gone to. [Also available by the same uploader from the same gig are sets by Skrapyard, Hoax, Crazy Spirit]

Buy Life Is Vile... on Deranged Records

All my friends want to die

Witch In Her Tomb - S/t Cassette EP [2012]

And now for something completely different. Another friend of mine made this. I don't know anything about metal, and doubly so for black metal. Usually I just find it irritating. The blast-beat hi-hat in black metal tends to sound tinny as hell and makes it hard to hear anything else. Well, not here. This is some pretty hi-fidelity shit, and it is oh so good. In an attempt to get in the right mindset, I sat in my closet with the lights off, headphones on, and let myself be pulled into the abyss. Witch In Her Tomb manage to sound melodic without sacrificing any rawness. There are no song titles, just Satori-style (or perhaps Fushitsusha-style, if you prefer) Roman numerals, and the tape works as a single continuous piece. Still, my favorite songs are probably the two at the end, "V" and "VI" (the last minute or so makes for one of the best-sounding feedback workouts I've heard in a while). This is black metal for people who dig hardcore punk -- the vocals sound a bit like Raw Nerve at times. Very much worth checking out, even if you'd normally stay away from this kind of fare.

The first run of 25 tapes sold out pretty quick, but I hear they'll be making some more. This is on Crippled Sound Records out of Urbana, Illinois. A digital copy can be downloaded for free at their bandcamp site (below).

Buy Witch In Her Tomb on Crippled Sound [currently sold out, check back soon]
Everyone's insane and I'm my only hope

BBR - Definitions EP [2012]

Here's something a friend gave me. Undulating, lush electronic sound-forms flowing over beats that resemble a comfy couch in my mind's eye. I don't know a whole hell of a lot about electronic music outside of krautrock stuff, but I certainly know that much of what I hear at parties is pretty shite. This, though - this is something I could dance to without even having to be drunk. There is quite a little bit going on in these recordings, but as far as influences go, I'll give it to you straight from the horse's mouth:

My background hasn't always been electronic music, and I never really played an instrument when I was younger, so now that I'm officially "into" making electronic stuff, I feel like I'm constantly catching up with bands I should have known about and genres I need to get "schooled" in. Getting that out of the way, I'd say the things I'm most interested in are acts from the Los Angeles beat-scene, like Shigeto, or Tokimonsta, and the new wave of UK electronic music, sometimes referred to as post-dubstep, or future garage, like Mount Kimbie, SBTRKT, Sepalcure and some others. Star Slinger and Clams Casino are hip-hop producers that are pretty inspiring as well, one for his danceable, Soul/RnB infused beats, and the other for his really atmospheric, cinematic kind of tracks. It's strange because the hip-hop scene is one area where EDM producers could really make an impact and help evolve the culture, and a few have, as I just mentioned. I've actually been in contact with an MC named Vulkan the Krusader, and he's used one of my tracks, Cali-Dome as the single on his newest mixtape, so trying to break into working with people like that is something I have in mind for the future too. I tried to make the EP have elements of all those things, and it worked out somewhat, but I'm still narrowing down my sound and wondering what direction I'll take things next. The only thing I don't want to do is become known for doing one thing and following some kind of fad.

For many of you, dear readers, dubstep (or post-dubstep) is probably a dirty word. But take heed, this isn't some capricious pseudo-electronic bullshit. This music connotes to me a sense of wonder at all that is new and good in the world, like viewing the stars for the first time. Have a listen and get into it, man:

Listen to/Buy Definitions on BBR's bandcamp [name your price]
Hear more BBR on soundcloud

Steve Bjorklund: Strike Under + Breaking Circus [1981~1989]

Live at Tut's, Chicago, ca. 1981

Here is some Chicago punk history for you. Steve Bjorklund formed Strike Under in 1980 after the end of his first band, which was apparently a garagey, protopunk sort of group called the Rabbits. Strike Under consisted of Steve, his brother Chris (later of the Effigies), Pierre Kedzy (later of Naked Raygun), and Bob Furem, who later played in Da. Their first show was at Northeastern University, and through 1980 and 1981 they played the usual places such as Tut's and Oz.

Their only proper release was 1981's Immediate Action 12" EP, which is notable for being the first record from Wax Trax, back before it was a powerhouse of industrial music. The songs are melodic without sounding too polished. Is this the so-called 'Chicago Sound?' I dunno, but it's pretty clear to me that the songs 'Sunday Night Disorientation' and 'Elephant's Graveyard' make this EP worth having. Long out of print. You can read a great Coolest Retard review of this record, as well as a review of Da's Dark Rooms 7'' and a Strike Under interview, in the Dementlieu Punk Archive.

a pretty stacked night, this one

Strike Under also had two songs on the 1980 Busted at Oz live comp, which I will probably post eventually. Also, in 2010 there was a sort-of reunion of Strike Under, as part of the Busted at Oz reunion shows. Vic Bondi from Articles of Faith was one of the dudes in the 'Strike Under covers band,' as it was called. The performance was taped and can be acquired at this wonderful blog.

After Strike Under broke up, Steve kept at it, forming Breaking Circus in 1983. Their first gig was at the Cubby Bear, back when they would regularly book punk bands. They released The Very Long Fuse EP in 1985, and Steve Albini designed the cover art. It's very much an '80s record, sort of like post-punk plus folk plus drum machine (later, when the band relocated to Minneapolis, the drummer's spot was taken by Todd Trainer, who you probably know as the drummer for Albini's Shellac). Famously includes '(Knife in the) Marathon,' which is one of the catchiest songs ever. I defy you not to get it stuck in your head.

For the hell of it, I also put up a single that Mr. Bjorklund did in the late '80s, after the demise of Breaking Circus. It was put out under the band's name, but appears to be only Steve and a drum machine. The A-side is a very bare take on Naked Raygun's 'Home of the Brave,' and the other is a UK Subs song, again quite transformed by Bjorklund's arrangement. I'm pretty certain it's out of print.

Tomorrow morning I just will not get up [1981]
An unidentified third-world athlete was wrestled to the ground by security [1985]
Jeanie walks out on the home of the brave [1989]

This Heat - Made Available: Peel Sessions [1977]

This album is a good introduction to This Heat, if you haven't heard Deceit already (which I recommend seeking out). Made Available consists of two 1977 BBC sessions done with the incomparable John Peel, who dug the band's bridging of krautrock sonics, world musics (before that term was pillaged of all meaning), tape magics, pioneering electronics, 'truly' jagged rhythms, and subversive politics. These guys were way ahead of their time, as evinced by the body of work they had produced by the year of 1977, when most people were making a bigger deal about 'White Riot' (which, much as I like it, sounds like 'classic rock' compared to this).

The standout songs on here are 'Horizontal Hold' (superior to the version on their first LP, in my opinion), 'The Fall of Saigon,' and the early version of 'Makeshift Swahili,' which would be laid down again on the aforementioned Deceit.

I dunno, this music is all over the place. It is the ultimate '77 punk record insofar as it sounds so unique. But enough of my incoherent babbling, try it out yourself.

Buy the 2006 UK CD/LP edition on discogs
Buy the 1996 UK CD edition on discogs
Buy Made Available on Amazon
We ate the TV

Barn Owl - Lost in the Glare [2011]

Here's one from 2011 that I have just recently starting getting into. This album was the perfect soundtrack to my night drive up the length of Indiana: dark, brooding, a bit creepy (a particularly manic and noisy passage started up right as I was passing through a field of wind turbines -- which, in the darkness, appear as devilish rows of pulsing red orbs -- scary stuff), simultaneously cosmic and earthen. Barn Owl's foreboding, finger-picked intertwining guitars ride on the drifting keyboards in a manner reminiscent of Ash Ra Tempel, and especially Manuel Göttsching's solo stuff. It's drone-y but hardly unexciting; on the contrary, in the right setting this album is positively cerebral. Your assessment of the album art is in this case a pretty good indicator of  how you will feel about the music. Barn Owl have put out a slew of albums and EPs since 2007 or so, and what portion of their work I've heard has been consistently good. Highly recommended.

Buy Lost in the Glare on Thrill Jockey
The darkest night since 1683