Wednesday, June 30, 2010

The Baby Sitters


If more people knew Alan Arkin was in a children's music folk band, this CD would be in print and more popular than Lady GaGa.
Not as weird as "Sharon, Lois and Bram" but still highly entertaining, the Baby Sitters incorporated pots and pans and non traditional instruments and sometimes did some mighty strange vocalizing. It makes me wish I was still sucking on my mom's ripe tit. Well, not my mom's, but someone's.

40 pee-boner inducing tracks broken into 2 parts:

Part 1
Part 2 (contains insert scans)

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Serpent Crown


My new favorite bay area band is Serpent Crown who feature an all star cast of miscreants: Dara Santhai (Santhai,Ravana,and local artist extraordinaire), Will Carroll (Old Grandad, Scarecrow, Death Angel, Cutthroats 9) and Dave Dinsmore (Lab, later era Bl’ast!, Unida). Strangely enough Dave — who plays barefoot — had his shoes stolen by our old drummer once when we played with one of his bands.
Serpent Crown are a tasteful blend of black metal, power metal and thrash, with Dara’s singing adding a bit of really cool 45 grave style to it all. At least that’s my take on them — I can’t really keep up with all the sub-genres these days. In any case, it all makes for a pretty rare original sound during an oversaturated time for heavy music. AND it rocks!

DaraBeast

Dr. Bob's Nightmare


I don't know how popular they were in their hometown of Hostile City, Philadelphia, PA but Dr. Bob's Nightmare remain to me the best '90s band that never "made it".
Super catchy in the vein of the Hard-Ons, and grittier than stuff like the Queers or the Parasites, this CD has never collected too much dust over the past 15 years.
After their break-up, they formed the 440s down in Arizona. I know Wendy now lives out here in the Bay Area and still plays music, but if you have any more info on these guys then leave a fucking comment!

Kansas City Bomber

art

Friday, June 25, 2010

Strange Fruit


One of my favorite "Dramedies" is the 1998 film, "Still Crazy". If Spinal Tap wasn't a mockumentary and had more story and heart, it wold be something similar perhaps. Also, Bill Nighy (Pirate Radio, Sean of the Dead, Pirates OTC movies, etc...) is just amazing as the aging lead singer/wanker Ray Simms.
Strange Fruit's music varies from Thin Lizzy meet Bad Company ("All Over The World") to doomy over the top acid rock ("Scream Freedom") but you won't enjoy it nearly as much (or maybe at all) unless you've first seen the film.



Monday, June 14, 2010

My Van Was Stolen!! -and Just found!



I am angry. And sad, but pretty fucking ANGRY. I will post an ANGRY MUSIC comp here tomorrow. But in the meantime, my sweet ride is gone.
I blogged about her here and even made her a mixtape.



*Update! The police found the van. Bayshore area off 3rd st. They snagged my radiator and fucked up some shit getting to it. They also stole both batteries and tore off half my front bumper and pulled out my hood release. I'm insured for damages...but I'm sure the insurance thing will be a big pain to deal with. I may have to pay some $ out of pocket. Bah.


Yiddish Folk Music


I'm getting so sick of all the requests for Yiddish folk music, that I decided to cave in and post some. I got this CD eighteen years ago when I worked at a record shoppe (a quality LaserLight product!) and I've kept it over the years because there's something eerie and depressing to me about this music. I also found it pretty fucking weird. My favorite track is "Ein Mul Ti Ich Si Banaien". I have no idea what it means, but it brings to mind a father who is brooding over what a dissapoinment his son is to him. Though perhaps I am projecting.


If I Were a Rich Man


Friday, June 11, 2010

Game Room Soundtrack


Lately I've been playing a lot of X-Box Game Room. For those who don't know, it's a virtual multi-leveled arcade space where your X-box "Avatar" goes and can purchase classic arcade, Atari 2600 and Intellivision games for three bucks each. Added features are "mascots", 3D replicas of the original arcade cabinets, leaderboards, the ability to record and rewind gameplay, and creating and sending game challenges to your friends. I've been playing M.A.M.E. (a free emulator program) since it came out, but game room is much, much more fun, even with some of its bugs.
Anyways, on a forum I go to "Game Room soundtracks" were discussed, so I thought I'd upload mine. It's mostly old New Wave with some punk and classic metal thrown in. Again nothing obscure, so only download if you feel like listening to this sort of comp or have blisters on your thumbs due to infuriating hours of Gravitar and Space Duel.

Pac Man Fever

JPG of track list

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Glenn Tipton's Flying Hat Band


This is actually half of a post, because instead of ripping the entire split CD bootleg of The Flying Hat Band and Antrobus, I'm only doing the four Tipton tunes. Antrobus are actually Scotland's Iron Claw (for some strange reason) who are AMAZING, but whose CDs are in print and reasonably priced.
As for the flying hat band, their unreleased LP isn't out anywhere so far as I know, but these four songs are available on your finer boots and blogs. Supposedly the record label thought it sounded too much like Sabbath and didn't release it (they were also from Birmingham and had the same management company). Personally, I think they have more in common with Deep Purple and Captain Beyond** but what do I know anyway?

Hallelujah!



**BTW, if anyone knows where Rod Evans lives in San Francisco, let me know. I wanna buy him lunch.

King Tuff


Sometimes I hear a record and think: "GODDAMN, there was a chance I wouldn't have stumbled across this and my life would have been BULLSHIT!" Well, that's a bit how I felt when I heard "King Tuff Was Dead".
King Tuff is Vermont native Kyle Thomas of Witch (and new band Happy Birthday) fame and I first heard his music on Caroline Keddy's KUSF show. It was one of those rare instances where I grabbed a post-it and wrote down the name of the artist and record, because I had to have it. I had heard people mention "King Tuff" once or twice, but I assumed he was some Lee Scratch Perry reggae figure I hadn't heard of.
Finding "Was Dead" in record stores or online — even the second pressing — isn't an easy task. there is a second pressing on eBay as I type but it's going for $19.99 + $5 shipping. Well, 'til something cheaper (like a 3rd pressing) comes along, take a listen here. Also, Happy Birthday just released their first record and it's available from Sub Pop.

It's a Gas-s-s-s

Sunday, June 6, 2010

No Fraud


No Fraud from Venice, Florida have been "keeping it real" playing skate rock/hardcore since the mid-80s. The first EP is a brilliant piece of G.B.H. influenced hardcore, while their debut LP, "Hard to the Core" adds a bit more melody a-la early Dag Nasty. This CD comp has both of those as well as their "Cheezier Than Thou" cassette.
Thanks to my buddy Pete Jay for giving me this here CD ten or so years back - he was also one of many revolving members of No Fraud.

They may be playing a skate park near you, so be on the look out, poseur!

Puszone

Friday, June 4, 2010

Guest Blogger...Iggy Pop?


Iggy Pop wants you to hear this music and who the fuck are you to say no? He was cutting open his chest when you were cutting open your Stretch Armstrong, candyass.
This comp came free with an issue of "Mojo" I picked up (mostly for this comp, though that magazine does have some great features in it from time to time). It's not obscure stuff, but it is a good, solid comp that has already come with me on a road trip or two. It's the kind of CD that everyone in the van can agree on.
The liner notes list ALL 43 of Iggy's musical selections (only 15 made it), so I scanned that in too. Some really great stuff.


A Little Bit O' Soul


Thursday, June 3, 2010

Pussy Galore


What's that you say? The original "Exile on Mainstreet" isn't raw enough for you? Well, no matter - Pussy Galore will make it totally unlistenable!
That is, unless you're the special type who loves the lowest of the lo-fi. Bassholes, Gibson Brothers, '68 Comeback and the like. when I was 18 this stuff said to me that it was perfectly acceptable to release a boom box recording on vinyl. Not just a good sounding boom box recording either. How about a recording at the back of a shitty club you were playing (while drunk and out of tune) with batteries that were dying and annoying beer bottles clinking around? Your record need not have to sound like Boston or Queen or even as quality as the Cramps or Ramones - That's what Jon Spencer and Jeffery Evens tought me. Bless them.
In any case, if you love Exile give this a listen. If you already love Pusy Galore how about revisiting this great tribute to commemorate Exile's anniversary? Eh? Nudge Nudge.

It's Just A Click Away
It's Just A Click Away

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Tar Babies


In an era before The Bellrays and the Dap Kings, the Tar Babies (and the Big Boys) were bringing out the funk!

Three ex members of the Madison, Wisconsin hardcore scene calling themselves the "Tar Babies" and playing funk music must have been pretty daring back in 1982 (depending on what side of the tracks they were performing at I imagine). While their earlier band Mecht Mensch were a pretty great punk band, the Tar Babies were also more than capable at handling complex funk-based tunes. Less jazzy than their SST label mates, Universal Congress Of... and certainly less punk or "alternative" than the rest of the roster, perhaps they were just out of place in the '80s and never got as huge as they should have been (after all, the Chili Peppers didn't get big 'till they "whited" up their sound). If not for the "Savannah Slamma" skate video they were in 21 years ago, I may have never heard of them either.
"No contest" is my favorite, but "Honey Bubble" and "Fried Milk" are classics as well. I got their 4th record on cassette several years ago...but I've actually never played it yet for some reason.

fun fact: their bass player is the drummer of Old Skull's dad!


Husker Dude