This band should need no introduction, but like many of veteran Pacific Northwest pop maestro Scott McCaughey's innumerable musical wings, The Minus Five somehow still lingers in the criminally unsung box. Why, oh why??? Granted, it's not like he's one to trumpet his talents. He just goes about his business of making kickass music with (and for) other folks. An expert pop craftsman, he not only makes his own good music, but also plays a big part in making good music better (case in point, his participation in R.E.M.). But people, come on now, this is McCaughey's seventh Minus Five album! Time to get with the program!! His endearing, perpetually boyish vocals are in top form as are all of the participants' chops. While he'll occasionally delves into mildly gloomy or melancholic sentiments, it's never without a dab of his indelible wit which keep things on their trademark buoyant track. Stellar songwriting, stellar performances, and a stellar cast of beloved familiar faces including a bunch of Wilcos, a Posie, a Decemberist, an R.E.M., a Kelly Hogan, a John Wesley Harding, among many others. What more do you want or need?
On their second album, Minus The Bear bestow upon our ears some refreshing waves of emotive, occasionally mathy, indie rock. Prety darn cool. Unfortunately there's a little something that blemishes full enjoyment this album though, and it's the choice of song titles -- lengthy wackiness that has little or nothing to do with the music and more to do with already tired, ironic self- and pop-culture references. Some examples? "Damn Bugs Whacked Him, Johnny", one of a few nods to the movie Starship Troopers, and "Get Me Naked 2: Electric Boogaloo". Zzzzz. They really should leave the lengthy song title absurdity to the true masters, San Diego's The Locust (check out their latest album for a fresh batch!). That said, fortunately the music more than overshadows these distractions. It's both engaging and interesting. The album includes two (tidied up?) radio edit versions for those with delicate ears.
Okay, we've gotta get one thing out of the way right now... that has got to be one of the worst album titles of all time! Whew, now that that's out of the way...
This is the follow-up to Minus The Bear's Highly Refined Pirates album, a driving, rocking album we quite liked despite the occasional potholes that were their oft too-wacky-wacky irony-laden song titles. HRP was energetic mathy emo boy rock, and we were looking forward to more of the same from this new EP. However, instead it appears they've brought their sound closer to the dancey flavor du jour (The Rapture, Franz Ferdinand, etc) on a bunch of songs. Not necessarily a bad thing if you dig those bands and want more, but quite a surprising (and perhaps dubious) stylistic shift for this particular band.
At the risk of getting a huge amount of grief, we have to be honest and admit we were never all that into the Minutemen. Sure we dug the concept. And the energy. And the politics. And they seemed like super cool guys. And of course they were down with all of our favorite bands of that time, Black Flag, Descendents, Husker Du, Minor Threat, Sonic Youth, the whole SST stable. But their sound, at least at the time, was just a little too funky. Watching this movie though, definitely gives us pause, and had us re-evaluating, and it's suddenly so obvious how much those guys owed to groups like P.I.L., the Pop Group and especially Wire, and now, how much they beat the current wave of new wave post punk revivalists to the punch by 20 years.
As a film, though, We Jam Econo is as much about the time and the scene as it is about the band. Amazing interviews with all our punk rock heroes all grown up, Henry Rollins, Ian MacKaye, Jack Brewer, Dez Cadena, Nels Cline, Kira Roessler, Lee Ranaldo, Raymond Pettibon, Mike Mills, Thurston Moore, David Markey, J Mascis, John Doe, Jello Biafra, Milo Aukerman, Joe Baiza, Chuck Dukowski, Flea, Grant Hart, Greg Norton, Curt Kirkwood, Colin Newman and loads more. But it's pretty much the Mike Watt show, as he drives around in his old beat up Econoline, pointing out all the punk rock historical landmarks that are now Petco's or condos, as he gives an insane rambling account of the Minutemen's convoluted and endlessly fascinating history. There's some amazing live footage and a cool interview with the whole band, and D. Boon does seem like the coolest nicest guy in the world. And the tragedy of his passing really hits home after living vicariously through those years via this film.
Not sure that we necessarily LOVE the Minutemen now, but we do dig them a bit more, and the movie was awesome, and there are for sure a few songs that stuck, and will have us hunting down some Minutemen discs for sure.
Includes tons of amazing footage, and lots of extras, including videos, a set of acoustic covers performed live, uncut interviews, deleted scenes and more. The second disc includes 62 songs from three live performances, at the Starwood in 1980, at the 9:30 club in 1984 and at the Acoustic Blowout in 1985. Also includes a massive booklet packed with photos, notes from the filmmaker, and liner notes from David Rees who does the killer comic Get Your War On!
NTSC. All Region.
Yeay! This record is most definitely Mirah's best release since her brilliant sophomore outing Advisory Committee. While some artists would be better off by employing a less is more philosophy, when it comes to Mirah we think she shines brightest when it's more more more. More lush arrangements, more movements within a song, more experimentation with instrumentation and electronics. Of course she does sound just fine all spare and stripped down, but it's when she gets ambitious and shoots for the stars that her real magic takes form. And with (A)spera that magic is glowing brightly. The opening track "Generosity" might be her most pleasing single since the infectious "Cold Cold Water" and the entire album has a sureness of vision that resonates from start to finish. While we could see this being the kind of record that wins her a new set of fans, it should still very much please those who fell in love with Mirah way back when. Taking inspiration from folkies, twee popsters and indie rock, as well as wide-eyed dreamers (imagine Lois merging musical minds with Bjork and Lisa Germano) Mirah has carved out a sound that is truly her own!
An ambitious sophomore album from Ms Mirah. Thirteen songs that expand on the recent "Cold Cold Water" ep and follow her impressive debut "You Think It's Like This But Really It's Like This". At times lonely and sorrowful, at others uplifting and
Ahoy kids! We've got a Mirah double whammy! It's mighty clear she's been keeping herself knee-deep in music with not only this solo album but also her collaborative efforts with her Black Mountain Project partner Ginger Brooks Takahashi and the Black Cat Orchestra on the Yoyo Records album called To All We Stretch The Open Arm (to be reviewed next time).
On each of her releases, Mirah has consistently (and seemingly effortlessly) crafted wonderful earthy storytellin' pop songs. Yet, on this brand new album she seems even more confident. Her songs are more composed and less ramshackle folksy -- branching out stylistically and expressively with a little more sass in her singing too. There's some absolute homespun beauties here. For instance, the second to last song "Promise" is a spartan, deeply moving piano and voice number. Imaginative indie pop of another time, this would probably sound amazing and not at all out of place coming out all of an old Victrola. Lilting and lovely!
Mirah's contribution to K Records' long-running International Pop Underground Series is a glimpse at what would become a grand cowboy folk-inflected affair... her second full length just-released album "Advisory Committee". It contains twelve tracks in all, four of them actual songs including two versions of the album's lead-off track "Cold Cold Water", two other alternate versions of
**MISSISSIPPI RECORDS ALERT** **MISSISSIPPI RECORDS ALERT** **MISSISSIPPI RECORDS ALERT**
Taking a break from obscure reissues, lost world music artifacts, and unearthed country and folk and blues treasures, Mississippi looks to long time aQ fave Mirah for a brief two song blast of fuzzy, horn flecked reverby sixties girl group sounds. Yep, not what we usually expect from Mirah, but we're loving it. The first clue is the cover photo, which features Mirah in fishnets and knee high boots on an old motorcycle in a grafitti'd alley, and once inside, that's exactly what it sounds like, warm washed out old school 'Leader Of The Pack' style jangle and croon, shuffling rhythms, loads of delay and reverb, soulful horns, plenty of back ground "oooooh's and 'aaaaah's, total Lesley Gore, Supremes worship.
The flipside is another soulful groover, this one more sultry, a woozy sexy after hours sixties soul ballad, Mirah's voice lush and smoky, the horns warm and languid, all wrapped around an irresistible main melody, at once total old school, but somehow re-envisioned as a modern bit of retro garage groove, so good.
While folks like Teegan & Sara and Feist have used a similar yet much more slick aesthetic to achieve big success and relative fame, our hearts will always be with Mirah when it comes to interesting, introspective and bittersweet indie pop/folk. The Old Days Of Feeling compiles lots of hard to find tracks from cassettes, 7"s and other releases as well as a handful of unreleased tracks. Kimya Dawson might have been the lucky one to get the call from Juno filmmakers and become the latest former underground lo-fi rocker to hit the bigtime, but it could have just as easily been Mirah getting that call as her songs are just as honest, endearing, and heart wrenching. With lots of these songs recorded on 4-track with bare bones production it's a great reminder of how strong the core of Mirah's songwriting really is and how her charisma shines whether with an orchestra by her side or alone in her bedroom.
Super sweet pop from the Pacific Northwest, just like you'd expect from K Records. The female singer with the crystal clear voice sounds just like the Nina Persson of the Cardigans. Very pretty!
This album compiles the bountiful fruits of Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn and Ginger Brooks Takahashi's month-long musical stay at a friend's grandmother's home in the small town of Black Mountain, NC. If you enjoyed Mirah's last album, the adventurous indie epic Advisory Commitee, you'll surely take a shine to this home-spun delight. The plucking of a ukelele echoes the plink plonk of raindrops in a washtub. The scrape of a bow across a cello's strings chirps like a cricket's evening song. And the area's natural ambience found its way onto the recordings too - the welcome sound of cicadas and birds crept in around Mirah, Ginger and their friends' keyboards, drums, guitars and voices. Ah, the voices! They ring so strong and clear even when the women are singing ever so softly. As with most everything Ms Mirah lends her hand to, this is a glorious and empowering project. Proceeds from this album are going to The Pentridge Children's Garden (a community garden for children in Philadelphia cared for by volunteers) and the Rock'n'Roll Camp For Girls (it's exactly that! ... a music and art day camp in Portland, OR for girls age 8-18).
Now on LP... Oh how we love Mirah and her dreamy acoustic indie pop! Her recordings are always such a joy -- imbued with a comforting warmth, the feeling of a close knit yet welcoming indie pop community. On Share This Place, Mirah's unmistakable ageless voice has never sounded sweeter as she harmonizes angelically with herself. She clearly works well on her own as well as in collaboration with others. You might recall the recordings that she's done with other likeminded indie folksies such as Ginger and The Black Cat Orchestra. This time she is joined by Spectratone International who are actually a new incarnation of The Black Cat Orchestra. These lovely insect-themed recordings were originally intended to be accompaniment for a collection of filmmaker Britta Johnson's animated works. We can't comment on the films 'cause we haven't had a chance to see them yet, but we can definitely recommend the music! Hushed and gently winding.
Oh how we love Mirah and her dreamy acoustic indie pop! Her recordings are always such a joy -- imbued with a comforting warmth, the feeling of a close knit yet welcoming indie pop community. On Share This Place, Mirah's unmistakable ageless voice has never sounded sweeter as she harmonizes angelically with herself. She clearly works well on her own as well as in collaboration with others. You might recall the recordings that she's done with other likeminded indie folksies such as Ginger and The Black Cat Orchestra. This time she is joined by Spectratone International who are actually a new incarnation of The Black Cat Orchestra. These lovely insect-themed recordings were originally intended to be accompaniment for a collection of filmmaker Britta Johnson's animated works. We can't comment on the films 'cause we haven't had a chance to see them yet, but we can definitely recommend the music! Hushed and gently winding.
Ahoy kids! We've got a Mirah double whammy! It's mighty clear she's been keeping herself knee-deep in music with not only this her collaborative albums with her Black Mountain Project partner Ginger Brooks Takahashi and here with the Black Cat Orchestra, but also her C'mon Miracle solo album (reviewed last list). This woman eats, sleeps, dreams and breathes music.
To All We Stretch The Open Arm is a particularly potent and moving collaboration in that as the folks at YoYo Records describe it "(the songs) were chosen, arranged, and performed... because these times call for such songs. These songs come from places and decades that have seen dissent, passion, and revolution... Simply, this is an album of what would have once been called protest songs."
It wonderfully displays her broad scope of style and delivery. Dramatic and dynamic yet very sensitive and down to earth, Mirah flits and flirts with haunting folk, jaunty old style musicals, and slinky cabaret -- singing in Spanish, Italian and English. For those familiar with her last few of releases, it's no surprise that she does so with ample impressive flair. Seattle's Black Cat Orchestra keep perfect step right along with her for the length of this album. This collection features their versions of songs originally by such artists as Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, and Kurt Weill, as well as her own song "Monument" from her fine last album Advisory Committee. When asked for a Mirah cd preference, we'd definitely lean more towards her most recent three (Advisory Committee, C'mon Miracle and this one), but we'd be hard-pressed to choose just one 'cause they're each quite special unto themselves. Nonetheless, Cup heartily sez "Recommended!"
Surveys show that, like, 25 percent of Icelanders believe in elves. And we're pretty sure the other 75 percent fervently believe in post-rock. Actually, there's probably a lot of overlap there... Here's the first album from Miri, "four guys from the remote east fjords of Iceland" who play a mostly instrumental form of indie pop post-rock, with a knack for pretty melodies amidst their moody mathiness. What we weren't expecting - and what immediately grabbed us - was how the very first track is chock full of dubby attacks, everything suddenly all awesomely echo-effected out. Love that!!
Other interesting production twists exist throughout the album, courtesy of Icelandic electronica artist Curver, who similarly also added a lot of cool glitch to a disc we liked long long ago by metalcore act Minus. And in addition to the electronic studio trickery of Curver, this is graced by guest musicians, among 'em members of Mum and Benni Hemm Hemm, who expand the group's instrumentation to include harmonica, vibraphone, flute, and marimba. Also, we noticed Brooklyn's Scotty Hard (of WordSound fame) namechecked in the credits, we don't know what he had to do with this exactly (since we're not fluent in Icelandic) but were were surprised to see him there, or maybe not, what with that aforementioned dubbiness!!
Sometimes noisy yet sunshiney, mildly mathy yet melodic, often calming but also rhythmically compelling (do Icelandic elves dance to stuff like this?), Miri's Okkar is definitely a contender for post-rock record of the month. Heck, let's declare it post-rock album of the winter (it's not even winter yet, but they're from Iceland so it's appropriate... plus this will keep us warm then, with its bright, mesmeric grooves).
Now here on vinyl too!!!
Finally a Grouper related release that we can actually list and not fear that it will go out of print in two minutes (knock on wood!!).
Mirroring is the collaborative duo of Liz Harris (Grouper) and Jesy Fortino (Tiny Vipers), and this crushworthy duo deliver all the dark and smoldering sonic goods that one would expect from such a dream team. At first listen, one might assume this to be a split release rather than a collaboraton, as the opening track, "Fell Sound" begins in distinct Grouper territory with a muddy slow motion haze and Harris's barely there singing low in the mix. The next song, "Silent From Above" has a more dark folk vibe with acoustic guitar and Fortino's more emotive voice making itself present. But as things progress, the distinctive aspects of each player begin to meld, shift and play off of each other. Harris is given room to come out of her shell a bit more, and Fortino shows more restraint. After awhile, it becomes unclear just who is doing what, but the sound itself is darkly lyrical and contemplative and beautifully mesmerizing.
Rare tracks from this band of punk rock new wave misfits. Active for about three years in the about-to-be-obscenely-fertile Cleveland punk rock scene, the Mirrors formed in 1972 and were broken up by 1975, just as Cleveland was poised to unleash a
Think early punk rock mixed with a little Velvet Underground. Thirteen unreleased tracks and two exclusive tracks!
A killer vinyl sort-of best of from these legendary Cleveland punk rock new wave misfits. The Mirrors were only active for about three years in the mid seventies, in the about-to-be-obscenely-fertile Cleveland punk rock scene, breaking up just as Cleveland was poised to unleash a barrage of snotty punky new wave mayhem on an unsuspecting public in the form of the Dead Boys, Rocket From The Tombs, The Electric Eels, the Pagans, Pere Ubu and more!
Think early punk rock mixed with a little Velvet Underground. Awesome stuff. LIMITED TO 800 COPIES. Maybe sold out already, we have a small handful...
The band name made us think Blue Oyster Cult, but no, this project from the heavyweight duo of Scott Kelley from Neurosis and producer/engineer/sonic guru Sanford Parker (bandmates in sludge supergroup Corrections House) sounds nothing like BoC. Instead, this duo effort is more along the lines of an atmospheric, stripped-down, psych-drone-industrial-noise trip. Dark and dramatic, creepy droney stuff that gets under your skin. Sorta like a ghost of Neurosis, being more haunting than heavy (in a metal sense, though that's not to say it doesn't get heavy noisy). However, one caveat - the vocals on a couple of the tracks don't really do it for us, the "clean singing" we mean, which is less sung here than spoken and sounds a bit forced. But apart from the first track, the album leans towards the instrumental, and vocals, when they appear, are often 'vokills' instead, which work better for us in the context of this slow-build, miasmic music full of late night clankery and distortion-laden drones. It's all malevolently mesmeric & mysterious - majestic too, as per the piano and synthesized horns of the grand finale, "43". Despite the vocals that gave us pause earlier in the record, we ended up really digging this!
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
It's strange how often instead of a proper album, a band's posthumous live/odd-n-ends release often ends up being my favorite (sez Allan), like A Minor Forest's "So, Were They In Some Sort of Fight", This Heat's "Made Available", Devo's "Hardcore Devo Vol. 1",
"Last Clouds" collects a bunch of early and unreleased material from the now-defunct San Francisco space-rock / drone-core ensemble Mirza (which was Glenn Donaldson, Brian Lucas, Steven R. Smith, and Mark Williams). Specifically, the disc includes the four tracks from Mirza's debut 12" inch (orginally released by Autopia in 1996) and seven previously unreleased tracks recorded from 1995-98 -- live improvisations from shows and rehearsals we think.
Glenn (who remains very active in the post-Mirza outfit Thuja, as well as other projects like The Knit Separates, Blithe Sons, Skygreen Leopards, etc.) describes these recordings as sounding like early Skullflower. And it's true that there's a psychedelic density of sound shared by both Mirza and Skullflower, but Mirza was prone to meander where Skullflower's structured moments were much more brutal and unrelenting than these sensitive boys could ever be -- although some of these tracks come mighty close! On these disc, Mirza plays around with various drugged-out psych-rock riffs that get incrementally heavier throughout each track, rhythmically emulating the best Krautrock grooves that doubtless occupied a lot of their listening. Inspired stuff, in all senses. This material will definitely come as a bit of a surprise to those who know Mirza from their more "ambient, bliss-out" styled stuff on the Darla label! Also fans of Thuja's gorgeous drone-jams, or Steven R. Smith's lovely solo releases, may be astonished at how noisy, loud, heavy and rocked-out some of this is, but we're sure they can dig it. More proof that Mirza and their whole extended musical family were/are something for us here in San Francisco to be quite proud of, in the realm of worldclass psychedelic drone improv rock. And look out for the brilliant new Thuja album "Ghost Plants" coming in January on the Emperor Jones label for further confirmation of this fact.
These spooky punks earliest recordings, for the first time available outside of the coffin box set!
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Noisy "no-wave" shenanigans from the "combined talents" of Tom Smith (To Live & Shave in L.A.), Marlon Magas (Lake of Dracula, Couch), AZ (Scissor Girls), Mike Green (Peach of Immortality), and all of the Flying Luttenbachers. Can you stand it?
Not sure how many of you remember Last Of The Juanitas, but they were a super bad ass, noisy and sloppy, wild and heavy post rock / math rock band from San Diego, who were legendary for their raucous live shows, and who put out a handful of awesome records, with a sound falling somewhere between Don Caballero, Drive Like Jesu, the Champs, June Of 44, that sort of thing. they never really got their due, but those records are definitely worth tracking down.
Also notable was their bass player, Lana, who besides being a bass ass bassist, was also pretty much everybody's inde rock crush, ourselves included. But here we are years later, and Miss Lana Rebel is a genuine country music chanteuse. And we're not talking No Depression, or alt country, this is genuine, minor key, twangy, heartbreak country music and it's so good. If there's any justice, everyone who loves Jolie Holland and Patsy Cline and everyone in between, will discover Miss Rebel and shower her with the love and affection that was denied her in Last Of The Juanitas.
Her voice is sweet and soulful, but just appropriately rough and raw, plenty of slippery lap steel, dobro, upright bass, even musical saw, the songs simple and striking, melancholy melodies, plenty of twang, so so so gorgeous. Country music fans, new and old, should definitely check this out.
Beautiful chipboard, silkscreened sleeves, each one stamped, numbered (LIMITED TO 208 COPIES!!) and signed by Miss Rebel herself. Also included is a song book complete with liner notes, lyrics and chords so you can play along.
It was a lot easier to fuck with the mainstream media back in the '80s. Negativland certainly had the most success thanks to the hoax that surrounded the cancellation of their 1988 tour as the band were under scrutiny by Federal agent Dick Jordan for their connection to a murders that took place in Minnesota by a presumed fan. While the crime was true, the idiocy and lackluster fact finding from the national media made Negativland an underground sensation, all of which was exposed on their 1989 album Helter Stupid. The NYC anarcho-industrial outfit Missing Foundation had their fun with CBS in 1988 who ran a ludicrously unchecked expose on the band, aligning their political declarations of classist warfare with Satanism and accusing them of being the root of most every problem in New York (drugs, blight, graffiti, vandalism, and of course those rampant Satanists who were lurking at every corner). Such is a commonplace error in discussing transgressive art - that the work at hand causes social diseases and not as the artist often intends for the work to be a mirror of the conditions that led to social collapse and malaise. It made for a sensational media event for Missing Foundation, whose relative high profile for a noise-junk industrial noise band led them to a publishing deal with Restless in 1990.
Missing Foundation's second outing 1933 was the album that set the stage for that CBS interview. It was released originally on vinyl in 1988 by the gritty scum-noise-punk label Purge/Sound League (later reissued in a campaign by Restless as well), and those Missing Foundation slabs of wax ironically became very collectible records. Where the debut smashed everything to bits and scattered the remnants of noise and rhythm to tape, 1933 was considerably more militant in the junkyard bashing, which provided much more comparisons to Einsturzende Neubauten and Test Dept. The infernally smoldering guitars are still present, but lockstep effectively with the bashed rhythms. "Martyr Of The City" and "Turmoil" entertain an aggro-hardcore / mosh-pit sound to the chugging guitar riffs, explosive drums, and the bullhorn vocals from Peter Missing. It can be very hypnotic, but it's also utterly nihilistic. Elsewhere, the sounds collapse into oil-stained and bum-trash strewn recordings of guttural distortion, indeterminate scraping, and throat mangled yelps that could be the sordid, psychic field recordings of New York's social malaise that festered in the late '80s. The Lower-East side of Manhattan will probably never sound like this ever again.
The logo of the upside-down martini glass that graces the cover of Missing Foundation's debut album was a ubiquitous graffiti tag in New York City during the band's zenith in the late '80s. The tagging of that logo went hand in hand with pre-Occupy movement declarations that "Your House Is Mine," "1988 = 1933," and "The Party Is Over" (the pictogrammatic translation of their logo) on buildings that were once squats or cheap rentals which speculators were looking to flip in the gentrification of Manhattan. Missing Foundation's politics may have anticipated those of the Occupy Movement, but their anarchic strategies were far more hostile, uncompromising and heroically degenerate. So much so that they were actually accused of starting the Tompkins Square Park Riot in August 1988. The band's figurehead Peter Missing had helped organize a demonstration protesting the police crackdown of the homeless through a curfew placed on the park. Missing Foundation was one of several bands that performed during the protest and the intensity of their metal bashing, industrial noise riffage, and sloganeering bullhorn vocals may have agitated the protesters into action; but the riot that took place probably would have happened one way or the other. It's a great urban legend that these squalid industrial art-punks started a riot, but that's not exactly true.
For all of the legends, lies, and myths that surrounded Missing Foundation, their recordings were every bit the sonic assault they were regarded as. The eponymous album from 1987 originally came out on the Purge/Sound League label which also put out albums from Borbetomagus and Rat At Rat R, which actually makes for a pretty good triangulation for Missing Foundation. Their first album emerges out of the whole pig-fuck sound of Live Skull and Pussy Galore with formless clouds of guitar negativity, loping basslines that might be traced to NYC hardcore or maybe across the country to Flipper, and junked metal percussion all tossed into a Bellvue bedlam of the No Wave anti-structures from Mars or even the more oblique moments from No Trend. The album's closing tracks "Waco Waco" and "Perversion" are probably the closest to something which might get confused with song as Missing Foundation wrenches Swans brutalism from their early Filth / Cop period into a hammered guitar / bass / junk plod. The originals of this album were going for a pretty penny on the collector's market, but for the time being Dais has this reissue in print. Bad vibes all around.
One of TWO new rad reissues on this week's New Arrivals list on Jussi from Circle's Ektro label: the other one, a long overdue reissues of the debut lp from legendary eighties NY noise rockers Rat At Rat R, and this one, a collection of everything ever recorded (we think) from this SUPER obscure DC hardcore outfit, who shared some connection (and at least one member) with the late great No Trend. We consider ourselves at least a little bit punk savvy, and we had never heard of these guys. They did get a mention in the American Hardcore book but beyond that they were pretty much a mystery. This cd gathers up their 1983 demo (from which came their sole single) and a handful of unreleased tracks, all recorded by Government Issue's Tom Lyle, and while we were expecting just straight forward blasts of harDCore, which would have been just fine, this is WAY weirder and cooler, and it's easy to see why Jussi dug it enough to release it.
Sure there's plenty of blasting pounding punk rock, but that's only a small part of MFC's sound, they spend much of their time unfurling weird droned out atonal guitars, dense tribal drumming, thick buzzing bass, the vibe almost more gloomy and gothy than punk rock, check out "He And She", which almost sounds like it was accidentally plucked from the Rat At Rat R reissue, the same sort of gloomy noise rock weirdness. Or "Pennies From Hell", which is sort of funky, but still noisy and angular, rife with jagged guitars and a weird heavily effected warbly bassline, or "Penny Dub" which is exactly what it sounds like, an instrumental version of "Pennies From Hell" with the occasional bit of vocal chopped up and delayed and sent careening into the ether. Some of the tracks are dirgey and crusty and slither ominously, others seem to be typical punk blasts, but start out with weird dubbed out drums, and then have strange sing songy vocals, while still other tracks sprawl into dub-punk space jams, and even at its most punk, inevitably the band twist it all up into something seriously and gloriously fucked up.
WAY recommended, includes a fold out poster style insert with extensive liner notes.
Hot on the heels of seminal post-punk band Mission Of Burma's triumphant return to the recorded realm ONoffON, comes this 'best of their Ace Of Hearts era' collection compiled by the band members themselves. If you're a little rusty on what that M.O.B. era was, please allow us to refresh your memory -- 1981's Signals, Calls & Marches, followed the next year by VS. and onward to The Horrible Truth About Burma in 1985. That's right, the good years! The sixteen tracks include two live recordings. Fans undoubtedly already have the aforementioned albums. Heck, their copies are probably worn thin, so they might find this appealing in a 'fave mixtape' sorta way. For the uninitiated, this is a great place to become acquainted with the greatness of M.O.B.
Wow, has it really been over two decades since this band's last studio album? Yes, 'tis true! And it's been almost half a decade since their albums received their very welcome reissues, and two years since their reunion tour. Seminal, cerebral post-punks Mission Of Burma have returned to the recorded domain, putting many newer bands to shame and sounding as fresh and dynamic as when they themselves were in their youth. Much like the recent return of fellow veteran greats Killing Joke, fueled by much fierce, dissonant energy, M.O.B. rise again to do battle after a lengthy absence. Fortunately they haven't done what many other reunited bands make the mistake of doing -- that is, attempt to modernize their sound or keep up with the young pups. Clearly none of that was needed. From the very first song on ONoffON, M.O.B. come tearing out of the gates, and only gets better as the album progresses. Heavy, churning and expressive, the guitars chop and sear, the bass rumbles and boils, the drums propel and punctuate with expert precision. Indeed, the last few songs are arguably the album's best -- also a bit reminiscent of the angular art-punk of NoMeansNo or Wire. Note: The vinyl version contains a bonus song, a cover of The Dils' "Class War"!
Remastered, reissued, and with bonuses.
Remastered, reissued, and with bonuses.
Once post-punk legends Mission Of Burma got their engines all revved back up and running at full throttle (with 2004's potent studio album ONoffON) after about two decades of silence, there was nothing that was gonna shut 'em down. These guys are determined to keep churning out their unmistakable kick ass rock. The Obliterati definitely keeps up the fevered propulsive energy of its predecessor and perhaps ups the ante even further -- The album reconfirms these Bostonians' vitality and once again lays many of their younger counterparts to waste. This is music with heft and wisdom, both lyrically and musically. Seldom is raging so articulate. Listen, learn and love 'em.
NOTE: The first pressing of the cd includes a bonus dvd featuring previously unreleased live footage of the band at Tsongas Arena, Lowell, MA on December 2, 2004!
Unsound is album number 4 in the 'second career' of Boston's muscular art-punk quartet Mission Of Burma, whose first batch of albums and singles from 1979-1983 still stand as some of the greatest and most influential recordings of the American punk movement. Always an adventurous proposition, Mission Of Burma democratically allotted the vocal duties to the three traditional musicians - Clint Conley, Roger Miller, and Peter Prescott - with the original fourth member being the enigmatic Martin Swope, handling tape manipulations and engineering duties. When the band reunited in 2002, Swope declined to participate; and the trio recruited Shellac's Bob Weston to wrangle with tape and sound design for the band. The Weston / Swope factor in Mission Of Burma was something of a secret weapon in how the band shapes their sound. It's not uncommon to hear an asynchronous tape loop grabbing a swarm of feedback here or a propulsive rhythm there that would crash against the anthemic punk melodies. Weston's contributions here (perhaps more than ever before) stand out in the mix, with his bellowing trumpet getting warbled and mangled amongst his tape manipulations; but Unsound thrives on the strangled basslines, angular / spitfire guitars, and start-stop rhythms that have been at the heart of the Mission Of Burma sound. While the band has yet to author another 'hit' like "Academy Fight Song" or "That's When I Reach For My Revolver," they've still got plenty of twists and detours to offer on the art-punk formula. Well worth checking out, especially if you dug the more adventurous moments of Mission of Burma's early career.
Remastered, reissued, and with bonuses.
Mist is the Ohio-centric retro-grade electronics duo featuring John Elliott of Emeralds and Sam Goldberg, who runs the Pizza Night tape label. This is actually the third outing for Mist, as the two have mustered a couple of other cassettes, released earlier this year which disappeared before we even had the chance to grab any. Fortunately, we did manage to snag some of this LP on Amethyst Sunset, which will most likely be around for at least a little while, although it is limited to 500 copies. The Elliott / Goldberg authored electronics here don't veer too much from the Emeralds spaced-out electronics that reflect the best in the realm of late '70s / early '80s progressive electronics (e.g. the more abstracted moments from Kraftwerk and the Eno collaborations with Fripp and Cluster). It's not quite as dark or as melancholy as Emeralds and thus sounds like those sci-fi percolations that fellow knob-twiddler Oneohtrix Point Never and Pulse Emitter have rejuvinated in recent years. Certainly, these are elegant passages of arppegiating analogue electronics and heavily sequenced patterns that intertwine nicely into chiming, sparkling, bubbling zone-tripping.
Hurrah, here's the sophomore self-released album from Mist And Mast, fronted by Mr. Jason Lakis (formerly of The Red Thread and Half Film)! Action At A Distance almost sounds like it was plucked from some secret lost treasure trove of '90s college radio ready indie rock. We say "almost" because the very tastefully embellished and very modern recording production gives its true age away. Still, the strummy electric guitars, slightly elliptical and mathy melodies, and slouchy boyish vocals feel cozily familiar like a well-worn and beloved sweater. Some things are simply untethered to trendiness, and genuine heartfelt earnest indie rock songwriting is one of them! That's why Lou Barlow, Joe Pernice, Rob Crow and Jason Lakis and his crew are still goin' strong. Definitely recommended...
Latest record from this local indie rock combo (number three by our count), fronted by aQ pal Jason Lakis, who back in the day was also the frontman for a couple other aQ fave outfits, the Red Thread and Half Film, and while those bands tended toward the more brooding melancholy slowcore side of the spectrum, Mist And Mast traffic in more of a classic indie rock, a sound that to our ears is totally timeless, although perhaps it's more that the sounds are of a different time, specifically the nineties, an era that old folks like us look back upon wistfully, lamenting the passing of the days when bands like Mist And Mast got the sort of attention they deserved. Cuz holy cow, this record is great, and this band just keep getting better with every release, the songs here more fully realized than ever, deftly crafted and meticulously recorded, the sound lush and layered, rife with subtle impossibly memorable hooks, crazy catchy melodies, all wed to a gorgeous dark and dreamlike jangle, not to mention some awesome guitar harmonies, and Lakis's vocals sound better than ever, this is the sort of classic pop that fans of groups like Built To Spill, the Comas, the Shins, Modest Mouse and all the rest, should be flipping out over. If there's any justice, this will be the record that finally perks up the ears of all the folks who should already be listening to these guys. WAY recommended for anyone into classic pop, indie rock and warm wistful jangle. Stick around for record closer, "Red, Right, Returning", which finds Lakis taking Mist And Mast into some haunting, darkly brooding Earth / Barn Owl / Morricone territory, and it definitely suits them!
Beautifully packaged in handmade digipaks, each one adorned with a different map, and each one hand stamped and silkscreened. Also includes liner notes / lyrics also printed on an old map. Nice!
