Cool sampler of noisy experimental skronky ultra-hip or soon-to-be-hip electro-punk-noise rock from all over the place. Most of this stuff is previously released, so this is definitely better as an intro for the uninitiated. But there is lots of new names and new noise to discover for thos in search of buried rock treasure. Erase Errata, The Yeay Yeah Yeahs, !!!, Radio 4, Pink Grease, Whitey, Chrome Hoof, Queens Of Noize, Ex-Models, Part Chimp, Bane Overlord, Disastronaut (best name ever?) and lots more!
CD reissue of this 1998 LP only compilation highlighting some of the lesser known bands on Hanson (ie: not Wolf Eyes). Long tracks from:
NAUTICAL ALMANAC -- retarded chicken scratch guitar, damaged casios, screeching sinewaves, instrument buzz, all stacked in a big squrmy, noisy pile.
ISIS AND WEREWOLVES -- Lo-fi carnival soundtrack rock. Feedback and clattery rhythms, wailing guitars and keyboards spit out a fuzzy, skronky Merzbow meets Goblin splatterscape (heavier on the Merzbow).
RON OF JAPAN -- A symphony of demented squeak toys gives way to pounding caveman thud which dissolves into an almost melodic, soothing free-noise drone.
ANDREW WILKES-KRIER -- Ambient clatter, moaning distant drones, and humming low end rumbles, bird sounds and sparse percussive tinkle. Quite a bit different than the stuff he does now under the Andrew W.K. moniker!
THE MINI-SYSTEMS -- Sing-songy electronic melodies under a shifting sea of white noise, amp buzz, gurgle and whir.
THE BEAST PEOPLE -- Noisy chaotic, skree-scape of recording dropouts, static and hiss, growling moster vocals, distant screechs, and warbly slow motion melodies wrapped in white noise.
Itchin' for some totally trashy garage rawk? Look no further! A total labor of love, this compilation record has been in the works since it was recorded back in '89 at the Purple Onion here in SF. The man behind it is Tom Guido, whose entertaining typewritten story of the entire process fills practically every inch of the record's fold-out photocopied sleeve... old snapshots of the shows fill up the rest. Seven obscure live tracks from the infamous Mummies, Gaping Wounds (featuring He Who Cannot Be Named of the Dwarves), Wild Breed, Carnaby Street Lamp Post, Driving Wheels, Pussy Hounds and Vanilla Whores. Ultra raw and super lo-fi with plenty of shrieks and howls. Limited pressing of 777.
The Soul Jazz label just keeps the cool comps comin', this one being another archival '80s collection that just happens to be perfectly in tune with today's trends. The dance music meets punk/new wave genre that all those currently hip NYC (and SF) scenesters are mining. This is the original scene for that kind of stuff, downtown NYC circa 1978-1983. It was a world where slap bass could coexist with machine-gun drumming, angular grooves and angsty vocals. Some are more on the No Wave side of things (Mars, DNA) and others more funk (ESG, Liquid Liquid, Defunkt, Material). This disc's lineup also includes: Konk, The Dance, Lizzy Mercier Descloux, Rahmelzee vs K. Rob (produced by Jean Michel Basquiat!), Bush Tetras, Glenn Branca, The Bloods, Arthur Russell's Dinosaur l, Theoretical Girls, and The Contortions. It's a good mix of total obscurities and can't-miss essentials, packaged with a 30 page booklet full of liner notes and photos. Before you buy another "Electroclash" record, why not spin back 20 years with this? Like those (now missing in action, unfortunately) "Disco Not Disco" comps, this will get you diggin' dancefloor stuff that you might not have otherwise, simply because of how these tracks have been contextualized here, with total boogie-down cuts abutting experiments in academic punk minimalism or deconstructed funk.
The lowdown on this disc is pretty simple: it's a collection of original radio spots for over fifty different classic (and not-so-classic) '70s blaxploitation flicks. Pretty much all of 'em feature a smooth-talking baritone dude talking up the movie's titular hero or heroine backed by snippets of dialogue, machine gun fire, and all kinds of scorching funk/soul soundtrack music. It actually sounds like the same guy doing the voiceover on about 90 percent of these! You get promo clips for the likes of Black Caesar, Trouble Man, J.D.'s Revenge, Truck Turner, Blacula, Dr. Black & Mr. Hyde, Ghetto Freaks, Sheeba Baby, Black Belt Jones, Trick Baby, Slaughter's Big Rip Off, Shaft, Coffy, The Mack, etc., etc.
Rudy Ray Moore's "Human Tornado" rap is certainly a highlight, though all the teasers about mean super-chicks and jive hustlers are pretty entertaining -- for sure they'll get you running to your local video store hoping their blaxploitation section (if they've got one) is well-stocked. Kitschy and way over-the-top. Here are a few examples:
"She's six foot two inches of black beauty. She handles a car like a gun. She handles a gun like a man. And she handles a man like like Cleopatra. Cleopatra Jones!"
"Coffy. The baddest one chick hit squad that ever hit town... Coffy. She's got a body men would die for. And lately, a lot of them have."
"He drives the most expensive car because second best never enters his mind. He'll bet a hundred thousand dollars on the turn of a card because he don't believe in losing. And he's about to take on a small army with TNT -- he means, 'taint nothin' to it. [explosion] There's only one stud who could rip off New York, ruin Rome and stay alive to run a number in Africa. That Superfly dude is back, black, and beautiful."
On cd and vinyl (cool for the djs!).
Bloodshot Records hits you with a double whammy of their anti-death penalty compilation Executioner's Last Songs... Volumes Two and Three! Most of the usual Bloodshot roundup appear here in a variety of combinations -- Sally Timms & Edith Frost, Alejandro Escovedo & Jon Langford with Dave Alvin, Kelly Hogan, Jon Rauhouse, Rico Bell, the Meat Purveyors, but perhaps one of the most expressive and enjoyable of these twenty seven songs is the one by gravelly snarlin' Lu Edmonds called "Gulag Blues". Well worth checking out! Also appearing are American Music Club's Mark Eitzel, Jesus Lizard's David Yow, Old 97s' Rhett Miller, Spinanes' Rebecca Gates, Califone's Tim Rutili and many more! One question though: how many times are we gonna hear "Long Black Veil" covered?
A gorgeous sounding and gorgeously packaged audio record of four separate exhibitions/installations in which the artists used diferent approaches to utilising the space and the manner in which sound affected or was affected by that space. The space in question was a cavernous art gallery in Chemnitz Germany and the event was curated by Raster-Noton head honcho Carsten Nicolai. William Basinski broadcast his gorgeous and gauzy short wave recordings into the space, letting the sounds resonate and reverberate and slowly mutate into new shapes entirely. One of the most gorgeous chunks of drone we've heard and alone, even at nine minutes, makes this well worth picking up. But the other tracks aren't so shabby either. Ronald And Robert Lippock offer up a wispy, ethereal, super minimal lull-scape of gentle tones and shifting textures. Lumen use film projectors to create clicking, beeping rhythms that warble and shift, delicate and unpredictable. And Errorsmith used the sounds of visitors to the installation to create stuttering computer generated sound images. The whole thing finishes off with a strange Kraftwerkian techno workout. Cool.
Yes, this debut album from SF's Vytear does indeed sound rather rubbery. Kooky, thick analog-y bloops and programmed beats bounce about like a barrel of superballs. Melodies bend and spin and frolic madly, closely resembling a Commodore 64 playground run amok. A fun, sputtering 'n' spastic listen.
Two crushing bursts of pummelling, sludgy lo-fi punky metal, with bulldozer riffs, howling snowstorm production, yelped vocals and crushing drumming. Sounds a whole lot like the late great Karp which is NOT a bad thing. And also makes sense as this recording features Scott who used to drum for Karp and who tragically passed away recently.
We just LOVE British experimental eccentric Richard Youngs around here, whether he's making droning noise or plaintive folk or whatever else he gets up to. His last record was even an AQ record of the week! But even we were skeptical about this limited 10". Basically, what you have here is a 1990 live recording of Youngs, in front of a small, but VERY enthusiastic audience, reading 171 used train tickets. That's it. Nothing else. No music. It's not 'processed' or anything. It's a little bit like stand up comedy, without most of the comedy. But it is kind of funny. And actually pretty fun to listen to. Youngs hams it up, poetry-slam style, putting lots of emotion into reading nothing but the names of the various train stops. People shout for their favorites. And he even does a sort of encore, supposedly as a request from an audience member. Not sure about the replayability factor of this one, but it's pretty cool. The vinyl is one sided, the other side is an etching of a train map! So you can follow him along on his travels. ----* ----* Compilations : ----*
