Top BANDCAMPS of 2013.

the only thing more lame than another year-end list is a year end list that starts with "I know I know another year end list" or some variation of that sentiment. you're not clever. you're not funny. no one is buying your insouciance. just share the things you enjoyed without fear of being made fun of by some trollish rabble.

anyway, i did the physical media version of a top 10 list earlier in the month, but i realized a good chunk of stuff i really loved this year i had heard on Bandcamp. out of my own sick need to keep track of shit, i figured i'd attempt to remember some of them. here goes.....

COWARDS - Hoarder

depraved filthcore from the bowels of France.

BEAST AS GOD - s/t

sinister metallic hardcore in the dirty beastly vein of Unruh. never not good.

FACIAL ABUSE - Slightly Uncomfortable 

like the last ten years of Napalm Death taken to deeper extremes.

UBASUTE - Tyranny Garden

supremely caustic and stridently wrenching in the way screamo was before it became "Screamo(tm)".

PURGE. - An Exercise in the Fundamentals of Unorthodoxy

i really can't say enough about this release. it just so much adheres to everything i'd want out of a grind record; heavy, memorable, misanthropic, weird artwork, cool lyrics... Purge. has it all.

SUCKED DRY - Dog Children

deranged metallic hardcore in the anti-tradition of Rorschach and other warped outsiders.

FORCED OPINION - Life in Fear

no-nonsense brutality as only Cleveland can deliver.

CUSTODIAN - Time Folds Upon Itself

one of power electronics' true composers.

AUDITOR - Form Destroyer

deconstructing deconstruction.

INTESTINAL DISGORGE - The Shadows That Stride from World to World

how to describe this? Putrid Pile meets Venetian Snares? guess that'll do.

lazy asshole mix of whatever i found on my computer;

http://www.sendspace.com/file/zqkkh7

Keith Mansfield - Funky Fanfare
Born Without a Face - Teeth Machine
Neanderthal - Neuter
Brooke Candy - I Wanna Fuck Right Now
Ms. 45 soundtrack - Arab v.2
Without You I'm Hunting Them - Dance with me Before I'm Dust
Phyllomedusa - Gephyromantis Silvanus
Mr. Bungle - Everyone I Went to High School With is Dead
Switchyard - Hybrid Moments
Joe Turano - Everybody But You
Thee Nodes - Filthy Gaze
Deathpile - Addicted
Findlay - Greasy Love
Creamface - Girl Power
Michael Holm - theme from Mark of the Devil
Portishead - Cowboys
Antaeus - Here is Punishment
Nuclear Death - Fetal Lament
Wesley Willis - the Vultures Ate My Dead Ass Up
Mark Crozer - Broken Out of Love
Prurient - There Are Still Secrets
Arabrot - End of First Chant I
Tonetta - Pressure Zone
Vio-Lence - Serial Killer
Dragon Sound - Friends

Exeunt Albumnes 2013

1.

BLOODYMINDED - Within the Walls

multiplying layers of crackling density and murderous poetry from the PE touchstone. 

2.

 

TRANSIENT - s/t

swiftly cryptic speedgrind from your new favorite band. 

3.

 

CHURCH WHIP - Psychedelic Nightmare

raw chunks of subterranean rage that bridges modern black-punk with classic Japanese hardcore. 

4.

 

PRIMTIVE MAN – Scorn

suicidal sludge that rules everything around you. 

5.

DEAD IN THE DIRT - the Blind Hole

crust punk awareness filtered through death rock bleakness as presented by dark grindcore. 

6.

SHOCK FRONTIER - Mancuerda Confessions

waking up naked in the eye of Armageddon smolder.

7. 

FULL OF HELL – Rudiments of Mutilation

dark hardcore that not only feels truly dark, but also truly hardcore, with more than liberal dollops of fast black metal and crunchy noise.

8.

GRAVE BABIES – Crusher

casually perverse languid noise rock that peers into the blackest of thought and kinda parties about it. 

9. 

THE KNIFE – Shaking the Habitual

the sounds and visions produced when home invaders break into a house at the peek of an acid party.

10.

PUCE MARY – Success

persistent seduction through meticulously composed dirge.

 

FEAST OF HEROD discography

FEAST OF HEROD is my favorite demo-only band (although Longinus was apparently released as a full-length, i haven't been able to find a copy). they played a perversely decadent form of death metal that hissed and gargled with mind-bending malfeasance. while similar groups are more than content to peddle fourth-tier Immolation riffs and sub-Lovercraftian morbidity in lieu of something truly horrifying, FoH created a not only a soundtrack for, but a document of amoral tortures and sanity-eviscerating hellscapes not seen since the likes of the sonic curators of inhuman depravity in NUCLEAR DEATH or the more literary prurient moments found lurking in Lord Worm era CRYPTOPSY. 

Stereokiller page

there isn't much information on FoH, so i have taken the liberty to upload the 2 demos; 2002's Judas Cradle and 2006's Longinus, here.

tracklist:

the Judas Cradle:

1.	Incarnadine
2.	Anatomy of an Inversion
3.	Habits of Unstable Consequence
4.	Lessons in Depopulation
5.	Vagina Dentata
6.	Desiderata (in profane structure)

Longinus:

1.	For Caliphs We Saw
2.	How Bitter This Servitude in Surrogate Skin
3.	Mouth of Thrush
4.	Writhing as They Do
5.	Bonesetting
6.	Skies of a Thousand Forms
7.	From Whose Ghosts Nothing is Hidden
8.	Lacunae
9.	Fashions in Girlflesh
10.	An Obsession With Knives and a Desire to Return to the Womb
11.	This Process Funeral

THE COMMUNION MINITOUR 2013

11 / 6 - THE COMMUNION / BOROUGHS / FUCKTON / TBA @ JR'S

 The Communion (NYC)/Crushed Velvet/Forced Opinion/Trees @ BARRIO (FREE)

 Black Goat of The Woods, The Communion, Bogrot, Boddicker, TBA @ Albion House

 THE COMMUNION / TRIAC / GENOCIDE PACT / SOKUSHINBUTSU - NOV 10 @ THE CROWN

EYEHATEGOD, Mutilation Rites, The Communion → ticketfly.com

will post the page for Lima OH w/ PIZZA HI-FIVE when it goes up 

Cut Out Bin Conscious ch. 20: Extended "Welcome Back!" said No One Ever edition

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CRIME + THE CITY SOLUTION – the Bride Ship

My second attempt to get back into the swing of this series. I aborted the previous reviews I started writing (based around a Drowningman album and another Jawbreaker release) cause they just felt samey. I realize I’m taking this way more seriously than I should. Anyway, I got burned out after the record store day edition and needed a breather, needed to work on other things (that also go nowhere because hey me), but I had pretty decent haul at Mr. Cheapos yesterday, so I figured I might as well kill some time before band practice later. This is a pretty cool band that I’ve only just recently found out about. Material is strongly in the bleakly romantic mold of Nick Cave’s post-Birthday Party works. Not exactly original, but delivered with such convincing intensity that it never becomes a hollow aping of what came before. So far I like this album a lot more than the previous one Shine, but maybe I was in a crap mood that day and not equipped to deal with the music. The drum sound is immaculate on “Dangling Man”. You know an album is good when you’re five songs in and you’ve already picked four favorite tracks. Or I’m just lazy.  In all seriousness, the whole album is spectacular. I can picture Anatomy of Habit covering “Three/Four”

Favorite Tracks: “the Greater Head”, “Stone”, “the Dangling Man”, “Free World”

MELT BANANA – Cell-Scape

This is one of the only MB albums I never really checked out. I had heard it wasn’t at the same level as Charlie, but few the fuck are. I still also haven’t heard Bambi’s Dilemma. This is the one where they supposedly became more J-Pop sounding, which is kind of a bummer, because the basis of their appeal lied in the blending of the squeaky J-Pop bounciness with car-crash no-wave and skronky speed-grind, creating something no one ever really heard before (I know I know “BOREDOMSCHHHH!!!!”… simmer down, Picky Picardo. We’re all checking out your elitism).  I dunno… it still sounds pretty fucking weird to me. still heavy… and YAKO! Is still everybit the cartoon madwoman (vocally and lyrically). The bass sound is pretty monstrous. It’s definitely different, and maybe more “accessible” than the other records… not as noisy… but I’m willing to bet if you played this for some random square on the street they’d be perplexed and/or annoyed. It’s almost like they made a “gateway” album for the uninitiated; a semi-non-threatening invitation into their basement hangout. You can tell this is when Dave Witte was drumming for them… although they say this is a drum machine. If so, it’s one of the best drum machines I’ve ever heard. I like it of course.

Favorite Tracks: “Shield for your Eyes, A Beast in the Well on your Hand”, “A Dreamer who is too Weak to Face Up To”, “Chain – Shot to have some Fun”, “a Hunter in the Rain to cut the neck up in the present stage”

SCORN – Vae Solis

The Side A line-up of Scum playing sinister industrial metal. I have a special place in my caged muscle knot for metal musicians exploring industrial music (and vice versa) in the early 90s. I hope someone less of a goofy shit than myself writes a book about that particular genre. I got my Godflesh ticket for October right in front of me. Prurient is opening. Really looking forward to that one. Godflesh were fucking awesome at MDF 2012, and I still have never seen Prurient live in person. I think Nails is on it, too, but I knda hope not. They aren’t terrible or anything, just not particularly interesting. A lot of the Southern Lord signees from the last few years have little to no staying power. I dig Acephalix, Black Cobra, and Dead in the Dirt is one of my favorite bands right now, but stuff like Nails, Xibalba, all the other “dark hardcore” stuff that’s neither “dark” or “hardcore” just does little for me. they have their moments I guess, but I dunno… once you hear Kickback’s last 2 records all the weakness of those other types is revealed. I’m probably just too old for it… if I was 16-18 they would probably be my favorite bands. Southern Lord has done some nice reissues (Sleep, Virulence, Winter, Drainland, Poison Idea), so they’re still a pretty solid label. I didn’t think you could ape Swans any harder than Streetcleaner, but Vae Solis is giving it a run for its Holy Money (AHHHH HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA). I love it, though. Communion has just entered into a serious writing phase. Been too long. We played an experimental/PE track a few weeks ago @ ABC No Rio called “Gallstone Seedbed”. Since it was just 3 of us doing it, it was basically a free-form skeleton of an idea that will get fleshed out at some point with further input from Joe. It’s funny writing lyrics for these super-long compositions. Usually I have to trim the lyrics down cause there’s just too much for the time allotted, and one of my big anxieties has always been making sure the music doesn’t become suffocated by the vocals. But with “Gallstone Seedbed” (and the doom track “Graphorrea”) I know have an abundance of space, so much so that I run out of lyrics and wind up either repeating lyrics (hate doing that), attempting to improvise (horrible at that), or screaming movie quotes or other song lyrics by other bands. With “Gallstone” I actually wrote some additional lyrics on the trainride to the city, but when we played I still didn’t have enough, so I ended up screaming some of Hot Fruit’s “Falling off the Grid”. Thankfully we’re still doing mostly short grindsludge stuff. Started work on 2 songs like that; “Homebody”, which is one of the more thrashy songs we’ve ever done, and “Blenorragia”, which until it has drums sounds very black metal. I never know anymore if I should divulge all this “behind the scenes” shit…. I’ve become increasingly paranoid with regards to posts, artwork, etc… I never know if it’s too much information, if it makes us look like amateurs or dorks, if the other guys in the band find it annoying or intrusive… I’ve become increasingly unconscious in what little social awareness I once possessed. I can’t relate to anyone and feel the opposite is also true. I don’t mean to sound needy or desperate, I’m just venting here because I don’t believe in therapy… rather I don’t find that a therapist would be useful to me. therapy is a vague term that can be applied to anything. This right here could be considered therapy I suppose. Isolation’s always been easy for me… well not always, but you know. I’d rather not bother people with this ill-defined horseshit. People got real gripes of their own to worry about. Lets move on before this gets too serious business.    

Favorite Tracks: “Spasm”, “Suck and Eat You”, “Lick Forever Dog”, “Thoughts of Escape”

SWERVEDRIVER – Ejector Seat Reservation   

Well I have sufficiently made myself miserable after that last post. Weeee. But hey, lets talk about Swervedriver. Mezcal Head is one of my favorite 90s albums. I guess they fall into the “power-alt” territory occupied by groups like Paw, the God Machine, Afghan Whigs, Catherine Wheel, Quicksand, Jawbox, etc. yet another sub-sub genres that never really got a proper exploration in the public eye. I know the dudes in Starkweather (DRAMENOP) are big into a lot of this stuff. They’re playing this weekend @ ABC. It’s been like 5 years since I saw a full set from them. we’ve tried to get a Communion / Starkweather bill together, but the fates never would allow it. I guess between their bad luck and our bad luck it’s like what happens when two magnets are facing each other. It’s a shame so much good music from the 90s gets buried and forgotten, lost to the misguided nostalgia of Gen Xers who’d rather rest their laurels on an over-the-hill Soundgarden tour or laugh along to Collective Soul and Live out of faux-ironic detachment than genuinely enjoy some of the period’s unfairly dismissed acts. But hey, who needs to uncover the eroticism of Sybil Vane or validate the impeccable songwriting of Jawbreaker when you can spend $114.00 watching Trent Reznor go through the motions, hobbling through his back catalog with all the intensity of a paperweight, his ideas and intent having long since festered? Anyway, I don’t like this album nearly as much as Mezcal, but its still enjoyably cool stuff. I’ve been writing for a long time. Need a break.

Favorite Tracks: “Bring me the Head of the Fortune Teller”, “I Am Superman”, “Ejector Seat Reservation”, “How Does it Feel to Look Like Candy?”

Cover Song Wish List D/L

 the release of the Melvins covers collection had me thinking about this.

about 5 - 6 years ago i was hanging out w/ Lee and we were talking about the possibility of the Communion doing a cassette of cover songs, making it look like a mix tape. some names we jostled around were NEANDERTHAL, NUCLEAR DEATH, BORN WITHOUT A FACE, some of our friends bands like LEECH IMPLANT (they'll appear in the next volume), and maybe even some noise acts.

whether this will ever happen is anyone's guess, but i thought it'd be fun to start compiling the songs i'd love to have us cover someday into mixes. these were picked cause i can picture them being adapted into our style in a way that doesn't sound contrived or forced.

i can't put thoughts together today. here's the first volume.

Cover Song Wish List vol. 1

01. BORN WITHOUT A FACE - "Teeth Machine"
02. NEANDERTHAL - "Neuter"
03. PORTISHEAD - "Cowboys"
04. MR. BUNGLE - "Everyone I Went to High School With is Dead"
05. ANTAEUS - "Here is Punishment"
06. PRURIENT - "There Are Still Secrets"
07. ARABROT - "End of First Chant I"
08. NUCLEAR DEATH - "Fetal Lament"
09. CREAMFACE - "Girl Power"
10. DEATHPILE - "Addicted"
11. WESLEY WILLIS - "The Vultures Ate My Dead Ass Up"
12. VIO-LENCE - "Serial Killer"

MELVINS - Everybody Loves Sausage track breakdown

so yeah, this is that Melvins album where they cover some songs.

01. "Warhead" by VENOM:

this is already pretty much a Melvins song, so the cover is faithful and rad as fuck. nice hearing Melvins play something memorable, even if they didn't write the track. heads up: i stayed up all night reading a book about WCW's demise (cause i know how to party) so i got maybe 2 1/2 of sleep. not firing on all things that fire. all in all not a bad start to the release.

02: "Best Friend" by QUEEN:

you couldn't pick something a little more left field maybe? kinda dumb in that way nu-Melvins is kinda dumb: something they think is far-out when really it's just lazy and predictable.

03: "Black Betty" by RAM JAM:

now this is more like it. the vocals are dumb, but vocally this has always been a dumb song. the production on this track is cool.

04: "Set it on Fire" by THE SCIENTISTS:

according to the linear notes, this is an early 80s punk band from Australia. first obscure track of the lot. it's pretty good. Marc Arm from Mudhoney does the vocals, so it's got a cool late 80s grunge vibe going.

05: "Station to Station" by DAVID BOWIE:

JG Thirlwell does the vocals on this track. it's long and weird and kinda boring for the most part. i feel like the production is no where near as beefy as it should be. fuck this is a long one. Thrilwell sounds good as usual. Buzzo sounds like he'd rather be napping. the 7:00 min mark is where the songs picks up.

06: "Attitude" by THE KINKS: 

it's so fucking weak how EVERY video on youtube has a fucking ad before it. white people problem of the day. this is a good one. The Kinks had some cool tracks. i always hated "You Really Got Me" (the guitar sound is cool, though) and "Lola", but "I'm Not Like Everybody Else" rules. this song too. and that's all i know. so yeah, i know 4 Kinks songs and i don't like 2 of them. poserrrrrrr. Buzzo sound like he woke up here a little. might be the best track so far.

07: "Female Trouble" by DIVINE:

the song i was looking forward to the most. sounds like Buzzo messed up the lyrics, and they dun goofed by not including the oinking Divine does at the bridge, but it's alright. i dig the lounge vibe, but they should've had some alto sax thrown in. too minimal.

08. "Carpe Diem" by the FUGS:

i only know Fugs by name. the production on this is the epitome of uneven. some songs sound like demos, others are overdone.a little to hippie-ish for my liking.

09. "Timothy Leary Lives" by POP-O-PIES:

2nd obscure punk track. Trevor Dunn sings on this one. has a decent snotty punk voice. a little Epitaph records-y. so it kinda sucks.

10: "In Every Dream Home a Heartache" by ROXY MUSIC:

always loved this song. Jello Biafra does the vocals here, doing a mix of his style with that of Bryan Ferry's. again, they're not doing nearly enough with the music here. just bass and keyboards and vocals. throw some guitar or sound effects in there. another semi-dissapointment. FINALLY at the 3:50 minute mark the band wakes up. i know they think they were building up tension, but really no. if they had gradually added sounds and feedback and such, then there would've been some suspense like the original track has.

11: "Romance" by TALES OF TERROR:

the third and final obscure punk track. like the feedback on this one. would've been cooler if they did more semi-unknown bands like this, dug deeper into off-beat punk, hardcore, metal, and experimental stuff... you know, the shit that ACTUALLY informed their sound, rather than just some shit they thought was cool. that's the Melvins all-over now; no real effort or ideas, just shit that's either painfully obvious or self-consciously  kooky. Buzzo sounds sleepy again.

12: "Art School" by THE JAM:

god damn it i fucking hate the Jam.oh good, fake english accents. eurgh.

13: "Heathen Earth" by THROBBING GRISTLE:

from one of my most hated bands to one of my most celebrated. LOVE this TG record. think it was the first one i ever got. Buzzo does everything here. really took a lot of the bite and menace out of this one. and it's already fucking over???

all in all, pretty weak. haven't bought a Melvins album since Nude with Boots and now i remember why. they just don't care anymore. much like Slayer, they're just churning out product to stave off accusations of being in their "greatest hits" era.

i'll stick with Bullhead from now on.

Cut Out Bin Conscious ch. 19: Extended Record Store Day edition

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NAPALM DEATH / COALESCE – In Tongues we Speak

Don’t know why I always put off picking this up. I love ND, love Coalesce… murp. So I drove up to Looney Tunes for Record Store Day and there was a fucking line to get in to the place. Fucking amateur hour. Luckily it was less crazy @ High Fidelity records. Saw some decent Birthday Party vinyl, but it was a bit pricey for something I probably wouldn’t even play for fear of damaging it. anyway, this is the weird mid-90s period ND sound that’s good only some of the time. Also it’s one of those splits where tracks alternate between the bands. It works here cause the bands sound so different. This is a short one.

Favorite tracks: Napalm Death – “Food Chains”, Coalesce – “Harvest of Maturity”

ARSIS – a Diamond for Disease

I’m not really a huge fan of this band, but I dig this record cause the dude wrote it after his fiancé broke off their engagement, and I’m a sucker for well-written jilted-lover tunes. The title track is this tremendous tech-death tirade that’s bitter without being misogynistic. Last summer I basically wrote enough lyrics for a double album that are coming from a similar headspace. For the last 15 years especially, Women have been and continue to be perhaps my greatest source of fascination and frustration. But you don’t wanna hear about that. Another reason I like this album is that it’s only 3 songs long. It’s also pretty heavy, which a lot of tech-bands lose in the race to out-complicate each other. And it’s on Willowtip, and by now you know the pussy boner I have for that label. I was reading some article about how mehulehds are prone to depression. There’s a crack in the floor from where it got hit by my jaw. Most mehulehds are the whiniest whiners that ever whined. They act all hard and scary whenever you bring up deer-in-a-pen targets like Justin Bieber, but show them some footage of GG Allin eating his feces and they turn into sniveling little bitch boys. Total Proto-Bronies. There’s also an Alice Cooper cover on here. “Roses on White Lace”. That’s pretty sweet. “the Promise of Never”. Awwwwwwww. Did shomebody get der feewingsh huuurwt? I know I did. OHHHH.

Favorite Tracks: “a Diamond for Disease”, “The Promise of Never”.

DANZIG – Thrall/Demonsweatlive

HuhAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!. I’m pretty sure I had a copy of this once, but it’s long gone, so I picked up to fill the hole in my Danzig collection. I have the DVD that has like four versions of the video for “IsCuhminDOW”, each with varying degrees of genital mutilation. Such a cool track. One of my favorites from him. “AHL ON FAR IN THE NEIGH O GLOR”.  I love this period of the Danzig band (93 – 96). Morose comic book S&M goodness. Probably the last time he sounded truly inspired. And yes, I’m even talking about the much maligned Blackacidevil, but more on that in a minute. “the Violet Fire” is pretty mighty, too. I do sort of still find the little fella charming in a way. he’s basically been a moody teenager trapped in a stout, musclebound body for his adulthood. Sort of like a living He-Man action figure. I love that he publishes these goofy comic books filled with tits and demons and murder and foul language, trying so hard to be edgy and “adult” that they become almost adorable. I love that he thinks werewolves are real because he read about them in a book once. I love that he won’t own up to be a white supremacist or separatist. I love that he pretends to be a martial artist. I LOVE the Twin Peaks steel guitars on this version of “Sistinas”.  Oh, and fuck that twat muffin from North Side Kings for milking the whole “I Punched Danzig” thing. Wow, you threw a sloppy punch at a 50 year old man and knocked him down for a second. oh, and you wrote a book about it? you know what Danzig wrote? “Hybrid Moments”. You lose.

Favorite Tracks: “It’s Coming Down”, “Snakes of Christ”, “Am I Demon”, “Sistinas”

DANZIG – Blackacidevil

And here’s the one we all decided to hate. Lately though, I’ve come around to it. maybe my increased appreciation of industrial and electronic music has something to do with that. Maybe it’s because I just like the vibe of this album. He basically wrote his version of a 1990s rivet head sort of album. The lyrics are also some of his darkest… pretty sure most of these songs are about rape and bondage. Most of the stuff on Danzig 4 was about that, too… but your average “rock” fan isn’t picking up on that, cause all they wanna do Is bang their head and yell to the chorus. I respect Danzig for going against his perceived “type” and reconnecting with the spirit of the post-Misfits project Samhain (still my favorite stuff from him). Where Misfits was a jolly b-movie, Samhain was ritualistically bleak . Where Danzig 1-4 were power rock crowd pleasers hinting at something darker, Blackacidevil was a sinisterly confrontational audience hater that makes the listener work for his enjoyment. Keeping in step with the persistent lyrical themes of sadomasochism and eroticized confinement, the music puts you through the paces, forcing you to listen through the shock to find the heart of it all. Even the groups of the time that this record was lumped in with (Ministry, NIN, White Zombie, and their countless clownshoe copycats) either only whisper at such an experience or remain ignorant to such an experience, falling back on MTV friendly sound bites. don't expect anyone to agree with me on this one, but that's alright. I still have a t-shirt of this album, but it is HUGE. It says XL, but really it’s an XXXL. The sleeves go past my elbows. it’s definitely the kind of shirt you’d want your petite one-night stand to wear in the morning. I have a thing for tiny girls with bedhead wearing nothing but giant shirts.

Favorite Tracks: “7^th House”, “See All You Were”, “Hint of her Blood”, “Come to Silver’,

Cut Out Bin Conscious ch. 18

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INTRINSIC ACTION: Sado-Electronics

This is the incomparable Mark Solotroff’s  pre-Bloodyminded industrial death group. There are hints of the harsh PE that would come to define Bloodyminded (or come to be defined by Bloodyminded. Ooooooooh) in the sound, but there’s also a lot of heavy synth sounds reminiscent of Suicide… very rich and sinister. That kind of synth has made something of a comeback in the last few years, even popping up in soundtracks for films both underground (Beyond the Black Rainbow) and aboveground (Drive). That’s my favorite kind of pop music, eerie 80s synth/electronic stuff. “In a Glass Cage” is more free-form almost PE, going full bore where “Male Payment” whispers. Good sense of elevation. Also named after one of the most beautifully sickening films ever made. Right up there with Salo as a film that works as cinema that’s both simultaneously transgressive and alluring. Films like that are so hard to come by. I enjoy all of Solotroff’s projects. One of extreme music’s most fascinating personalities. A total scholar of prurience, who proves that awareness, intelligence, and viciousness need not be mutually exclusive. All his projects seem intertwined in a perverse curiosity, a respectful voyeurism that’s always on the cusp of breaking fourth walls. Love the vocal effects on “Metamorph” and “Libidinal Ramblings”, like you can’t tell if they’re creating the feedback or if the feedback is creating them. I drank Ny-Quil last night / this morning. Can you tell? Solotroff still does Bloodyminded, but the main group he does now is Anatomy of Habit. I don’t even know how to really classify AoH. I guess in the vein of mid-later Swans; emotionally charting guitar-based heavy music… can’t even call it “rock” or “metal”, really. You can get the LP and the EP on one disc now, but the vinyl is definitely worth getting. Love that little bubbling effect at the beginning of “Misguided Thanks”. Love that title, too. Bloodyminded has insane song titles too. Check out Magnetism especially for proof of that. I hate the lack of forethought certain PE groups have in that department. Not just PE, but any other genre too. The only thing I hate more is groups who title songs “Untitled” in a faux-ironic fashion. Fuck you, lazy ass. Come up with a song title. Yeah wonderful, you’re “so above” coming up with lyrics or titles for your songs, cause anyone who cares is a loser or whatever tired ass Gen-XYZ reverse platitude you think makes you appear to be an insouciant renegade. If you really didn’t care, you wouldn’t have bothered putting together a project, recording songs, loading up the gear, and playing in front of an audience, however small, so drop the schlubby not-an-iconoclast iconoclast routine and put the same effort into the aesthetic presentation of your project as you put into the musical performance itself. ESPECIALLY if all you do are vocals. Personally speaking, as someone who has no real musical ability beyond yelling, I wouldn’t have the audacity to not work as hard on the lyrics, titles, mood, tone etc as the musicians do on the music.  Why bother otherwise?          

Favorite Tracks: “In a Glass Cage”, “Libidinal Ramblings”, “Misguided Thanks”, “Shock Pit”

FATE OF ICARUS – Cut Your Throat Before They Do

A criminally overlooked gem from the Golden Age of Willowtip. I wrote earlier in this blog about how much I value Willowtip Records output from 1999 – 2006. so many winners on that roster. They still put out some cool stuff, but I miss the grit and grime of those early 00s projects. I got into all that stuff (CODC, Watchmaker, Kalibas, Harakiri, Commit Suicde, etc) right around the time my first band started to come apart at the seams. I think we all felt alienated from each other, egos onto ourselves. Our drummer wanted music that was more technically challenging, I wanted more weirdness and anxiety, and our guitarist wanted more melody and emotion. We probably could’ve found a balance between all of those, but we were too young and selfish to respect any ideas but our own. I think the music each one of us has done in the ten years since we disbanded represents what we wanted our group to be… so maybe it wouldn’t have worked after all. I think we’re all doing what we want now, so there are no longer hard feelings (at least from my end of it). part of me would actually like to do at least one set with the old gang. I think I have the old lyrics somewhere around, but we did A LOT of covers, too. I think it’d be a fun, one off sort of thing… but it’s not something I’m hard-up for or anything. I know those two (if they’re reading this) are probably laughing at me the same as they did back then, but who knows? Ten years can change you. Meh… I got good things going. So do they I assume. Anyway… this record here. Lee introduced me to this band. I missed out on them when they were around… maybe because the name of the band is very power metal… and I fucking detest power metal. What a miserable form of music. But FoI is really along the lines of the other great Willowtip artists of the time… very reminiscent of CODC and Commit Suicide. Really caustic riffs, a fucking awesome drum sound, and the shriek vs. burp vocal dynamics that I cherish so. They’re not as remembered as the other Willowtip artists, but they probably would’ve been had they come out just 2-3 years later then they did, right when the label really boomed. Allergies are making me feel like fuckbutt today. Think I’ll close up shop for now.

Favorite Tracks: “Annihilate the Assimilationsit” , “the Shepherd’s Tools”, “Bleeding through God’s Eyes”, “234 (Venetian Snares version)”

Record Store Day 4/20/13 Checklist

BARDO POND - Rise Above it All

BOTCH - American Nervosa

BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE - Fist Full of Bees / Food for Clouds

CAVE IN - Until Your Heart Stops

CODEINE - What About the Lonely

DANIEL JOHNSTON - Fun

BRAID - Frame and Canvas

CHELSEA WOLFE / KING DUDE - Sing Songs Together

GZA - Liquid Swords: the Chess Box

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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MARY BEATS JANE – s/t

This is Pete Dolving’s (the Haunted vocalist) first band. the opening riff of “Neighborhood Psycho” alone is better than anything the Haunted ever did. Are the Haunted even around anymore? This is an interesting release, cause it was on Geffen Records in 1994, but it sounds and feels more like an 80s metal record. A lot of Exodus, early Anthrax, Vio-Lence etc. so you know… it kinda rules. The pre-chorus of “This Life” is a bit on the Alice in Chains Dirt side of things… so maybe it’s somewhere between 80s thrash and post glam/pre grunge early 90s arena metal. The first Haunted album was ok. I don’t have a copy of it anymore. I also had a copy of the Haunted Made Me Do It, but all I have left from that is a bumper sticker on one of my cabinets. I remember trying to like it, but that singer they got after Dolving had no personality or presence. I always did like Dolving’s vocals. There’s actually quite a bit of AiC on this, but it’s done the right way. Holy shit what’s with the flute on “Blood and Oil”? got my copy of the Church Whip LP in the mail today. Early contender for my favorite release of the year. Watched this dumb movie called Sushi Girl last night. Been a while since I saw a Tarantino rip-off this blatant and utterly clueless. If the Boondocks Saints was a piss poor aping of piss poor Tarantino apings (Things to do in Denver When You’re Dead, Truth or Consequences NM, 2 Days in the Valley), than Sushi Girl is a piss poor aping of a piss poor aping of piss poor apings. Annoying phony tough asshole characters that have no chemistry or personality. And the guy that was supposed to be the “loose cannon”… oh my god I can’t remember hating something in a movie as much as this goofball. He thinks he’s a biker, but really he’s just a Juggalo with some Sons of Anarchy gear. At least the titular girl was super pretty and looked amazing naked and covered in raw fish.

Favorite Tracks: “Old”, “Grind”, “Wasted”, “Gunshot”

V/A – the Beavis and Butt-Head Experience

Pretty sure my brother had this when it came out in 93. pretty sure everyone my age had this when it came out. I remember watching the premiere of the stupid ass Cher duet video. It’s pretty mental how fast B&B took over. This crude cartoon about mongoloid 15 year olds torturing animals and watching Grim Reaper videos really took the country by storm. We had most of the merch; comics, trading cards, key chains, and I don’t think we ever missed a Moronathon. There are actually some really cool tracks on this release, including one of my favorite Nirvana songs. Although how can you do a B&B comp and not have GWAR on it? “Your butt sucks.” The worst thing about the popularity of the show was every stupid fucking shithead I knew doing awful impressions, no matter if the situation called for it. I think the only thing more annoying was Jim Carrey impressions. I love that Mike Judge casually mocked this cumsacks via Dooley on King of the Hill. Remember when Anthrax was on Married… With Children? Remember the Neurosis shirt on Home Improvement? ISN’T SO COOL WHEN METAL HAPPENS ON THINGS? I would like to see that make a comeback. Pig Destroyer could do a guest spot on Modern Family or something. Megadeth's "99 Ways to Die" was a 5th grade recess favorite. i remember the video had a shirtless kid holding a gun or something. trying to get some of that "Jeremy" mojo, eh Mustaine?

Favorite Tracks: Nirvana – “I Hate Myself and I Want to Die”, “Come to Butthead”, White Zombie – “I Am Hell”, Primus – “Poetry and Prose”