Sabbatical

It's been a crazy couple of months for me. I know not many people read this blog, but hopefully, if you've just come across it or have been here in the past you can still cull some goodies from the meager depths. In the near future, when I get some time, I hope to put some more good shit up. Until then, peace!

Dead C - Hi God People | Split LP

Was going through some older vinyl trying to decide if there's anything else at all I can contribute to the vast world of underground sound on the net. I found this out there, but the link was dead, so here's a good rip for ya'.
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The ghastly churning grey-noise of the Dead C shares physical space with the psych-folk-strum/pluck and aborigine-beat sound of the Hi God People, both creating metaphysical and foreign sounds aimed at those with a desire for exploration and shocks to reality.

Pure underground excellence, and better than watching the U.S. open or living in North Korea. Released in 2006 w/ beautiful hand-screened covers by Dylan Martorell of Hi God People.

Flourish in the improv aether.

City of Churches | Memelust 7"

Named after the town where I grew up (not really, but it easily could be.) Anyway, City of Churches is about as antithetical to church as you can get. Packing 62 songs on a 7" leaves little room for filler, so what you get here is some masterfully executed, pure straight-forward relentless and frenzied speed-prog-grind being played like there's no tomorrow. I hope you can forgive me, because I didn't separate the tracks.

In your face.

Mule | ST LP

On a slight early 90's kick here. . .

I had a friend in high school who dipped Days Of Work chaw and liked MGD. He liked to get drunk and drive backroads tipping cows and shooting road signs with his grandpa's 12 gauge. This was his second favorite album right after Steve Earl's Copperhead Road.

Get you some low down chaw infested dirty ass backwoods wife-beating, cheap beer and whiskey drinking, non-law-abidin' punk rock riffage right here.

Friends of Jesus Lizard or Boss Hog will be especially interested.

Babyland | 1991 EP

The unabashed eclecticism continues. . .

Brian Turner was playing some Babyland on his WFMU show (possibly the best radio show on the net) the other day and I had forgotten how fucked up over the top these dudes were. Techno-thrashfest cum industrial cheese-wad fuckery to the max. Like a rave full of Tesco Vee lookalikes drunk on whiskey and tripping on bad acid while tooling for anus, and then Ogre comes in and kicks all their leather-clad asses. So dumb as hell yet somehow damn good. Motor.Tool.Appliance must be cranked to 10, and you must mosh to it without shame every time you listen to it. If you don't, the cyberpunk Gods will permanantly implant an earworm of Temple of the Dog's Hunger Strike in your brain while your sleeping.

I think this is floating around out there in very low bitrate, but here's a hq vinyl rip for anybody that might be interested. And basically these are the best four tracks on the You Suck Crap album (with the exception of Reality) which is hit or miss on the rest of the tracks.

Sean Mccann | Boomerangutan & Sway Cdr's

Jane Pow, Tar, now Sean McCann. . . yeah, I know, I'm crazy.

McCann runs neck and neck with Prurient for most prolific man in the experimental underground. Much like the aforementioned noise guru, a surprising majority of McCann's work is excellent, and you will be hard pressed to find a release of his that isn't worthy of at least one listen.

McCan took off on his musical journey with Boomerangutan in early 2008, and hasn't slowed down, disseminating his spectral sounds on cassette and Cd-r (15 releases proper by my count) but so far nothing on vinyl. Hopefully that will change soon. While McCann gambles with being overly prolific with this many releases, he's also got the skills and the creative capital in the bank to back him up if the dice don't roll his way from time to time.

Boomerangutan consists of 16 untitled tracks ranging in length from 1:26 to 8:38 long, which is a refreshing change from the 20-30 minute long-players which are so prevalent these days. I'm not trying to decry the lengthy tunes, as many times the form is dictated by the nature of improv explorations. That is, it just takes that long for some pieces to culminate and become fully realized. McCann, however, has a knack for packing his shorter tracks to overflowing with interesting and dynamic sounds, each component carefully crafted and placed as to attain utmost efficiency. The economy of his sound, if you will, leaves nothing to waste.

Boomerangutan begins by introducing us to an abundance of disparate but well mixed sounds that congeal in a murky pool whose depth is somewhat concealed upon initial listens, but clears upon subsequent evaluations. A mashup of apparent found sounds, echoing chants, and tribal drumming, all warbling through tape hiss and a distant shoegazed guitar sheen (ala My Bloody Valentine) create an atmosphere of enchantment which never lulls or dulls.

Space-synth notes fluctuate in between the ever-mutating drones as an undergrowth of sound thickens and spawns colorful blooms of noise, mimicking the collaged cover-art of the release. A metallic hue, subtly evident during Boomerangutan's initial tracks, begins to take over the proceedings, pushing the releases essential rhythms and ubiquitous loops into outer-territories, flirting with pure noise and creating a paradox of musical emotion as the dilatory pace is antagonised by the harsher elements of the overall sound. Eventually this bipolarity drives the inmates insane, and a cacophony of inhuman voices overwhelms all but the endless electronic hum and some steady maraca-like percussion, leaving an unsettling feeling behind.

Throughout its remainder, Boomerangutan fluctuates between airy and reflective drones, desultory experiments with large arrays of obscure instruments, pure pedal and synth din, banjo strumming on ramshackle porches with steel guitar accompaniment, and soulful guitar meanderings, obviously lessening in intensity over time, but never losing its anxiety, an element which serves it well, keeping it alert and focused throughout its 72 minutes. The consistency here never becomes boring, and its creativity never goes over the top. Mccann manages to keep affairs intact and focused while wrangling a panoply of unique sounds out of a multitude of sources. Versatility and vision meet controlled chaos as seen through a kaleidoscope of sound.

I was lucky enough to get a hold of these two early on, and a quick search did not indicate they're available anywhere, so here they are now for your consumption.

Boomerangutan

Sway

Tar | Clincher

Tar, "One of the most underappreciated bands of the 90's." Truer words (as uttered by jspdilla on RYM) have not been said. This album has only 18 ratings at RYM, which is truly amazing, considering how good all of Tar's work was.

Smear some of this all over your ears and call me in the morning.