Motorhead - Overkill

Well, once again it is New Years Eve. You might be going out, seeing people and friends or you might be staying in by yourself with a bottle of pills and a heart full of despair and loneliness - whatever you choose to do, this is the soundtrack to get you started.

Listen

Leftfield - Leftism

I decided I don't post enough dance music on here, so here is some dance music. Before the genre got bogged down with all these abrasive soundalikes bands such as Leftfield were big hitters on the scene, producing club music that actually sounded good. Now don't get me wrong, I enjoy the likes of Justice and Digitalism as much as the next guy, but compared to guys like Leftfield, The Crystal Method, Fluke, Orbital, Propellerheads et al there's just no substance to it.

Anyway, enough ranting. My dad actually got me into these guys as a youth via this album, so this is me passing on the legacy.

I would have owned the 90s if I wasn't like 10.

The holy of holies

Inevitably there are a few duplicates with other compilations. I wasn't prepared to remove them from mine though haha.

1. Lookin' Out My Back Door - Creedence Clearwater Revival
2. Just Dropped In - The First Edition
3. No Sugar Tonight - The Guess Who
4. Gimme Shelter - The Rolling Stones
5. Ohio - Neil young
6. Don't Know About You - Bardo Pond
7. Snowblind - Black Sabbath
8. Weedmonkey - Weedeater
9. Torquemada '71 - Electric Wizard
10. Since I've Been Loving You - Led Zeppelin
11. Isolation - Joy Division
12. Making The Death Beds - Blessure Grave
13. Prayer To God - Shellac
14. All My Best Friends Are Metalheads - Less Than Jake
15. 13 Monsters - Lightening Bolt
16. Take This Job And Shove It - Dead Kennedys (Johnny Paycheck cover)
17. Smoke And Wine - Hank Williams III
18. Highwayman - The Highwaymen
19. Simple Man - Lynyrd Skynyrd
20. Hell Or High Water - William Elliott Whitmore

Looks like I forgot Tiny Dancer

These are not the greatest songs in the world, these are just a tribute

Cover art is stolen and therefore not representative of nationality of bands appearing on comp.

Much like Tony, I really struggled to streamline my favourite songs into one compilation, and even this is only if you consider 2 hours of music "streamlined". We even have a lot of the same artists, and even a couple of the same songs! I suspect the case will be similar for ZoSo))) too. Also like Tony, despite my efforts to attempt to limit this comp to one track per artist, I found this impossible for a few.

Hell, I even had to ban myself from delving into a few genres before it got out of hand or I would have found myself still sat here, weeks past the deadline, adding to it. Namely, I haven't even considered any electronic music, country, rap, sludge, grind, black metal, soundtracks, classical music or comedy, amongst others - though I can think of representatives from each that I would love to have included.

Anyway, since I don't know how to create my own running order before compressing the folder, the tracks should be listened to in the following sequence for maximum effect:

1) Black Sabbath - Sweet Leaf

2) Led Zeppelin - Babe I'm Gonna Leave You

3) The Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter

4) Lynyrd Skynyrd - Simple Man

5) The Beatles - Norwegian Wood

6) Mr Bungle - Goodbye Sober Day

7) Electric Six - Synthesizer

8) The Stooges - I Wanna Be Your Dog

9) Soundgarden - 4th Of July

10) Sleep - Dragonaut

11) Electric Wizard - Funeralopolis

12) Black Sabbath - Supernaut

13) The Beatles - Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds

14) Tom Waits - Road To Peace

15) Faith No More - Midlife Crisis

16) Poison Idea - Alan's On Fire

17) The Fantomas Melvins Big Band - Night Goat

18) Black Flag - My War

19) Electric Wizard - Return Trip

20) Joy Division - She's Lost Control

21) Primus - Southbound Pachyderm

22) Led Zeppelin - Friends

23) Black Sabbath - Planet Caravan

Nobody will even download this anyway cos everyone already has all of these songs.

Vanilla Fudge - Psychedelic Sundae

ZoSo))) seems to be wearing his hippy psychedelic hat at the moment, so this collection is for him - but be warned, this is not the whole album - because I am a good guy, I have taken off the drippy, sappy love songs and only kept the tracks which contain guitar wailing or full-on keyboard abuse!

Fly your freak flag

Greatest Songs Ever Written (1)

ZoSo))) has asked for a compilation of the Greatest Songs Ever Written but as I started to get my list together, I realised that for me, this would be an almost impossible task. Joy Division & Iggy would have to be at least 4-5 songs each. For me, some of the greatest songs ever, have been in the last couple of years by some hardcore bands but how can I put up Touche Amore songs which might not make room for Led Zepp songs?

My answer was to pick songs from within certain genres - this means my compilation will not be one list 70 songs long and require hours of downloading! These are songs that for me, are the greatest and I expect all other lists to differ from mine. I will defend to the death my choices but bear in mind that every song could change next week depending on my mood!

Here goes:

Classic Rock:

Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath/Sweet Leaf/Fairies Wear Boots

Uriah Heap - Gypsy

Hendrix - Crosstown Traffic/Peace In Mississippi/Machine Gun/Voodoo Child

Led Zepp - Dazed & Confused/Thank You/Kashmir/No Quarter/When The Levee Breaks

Deep Purple - Highway Star

Iron Butterfly - In-A-Gadda-Da-Vidda

Classic Rock Vol 1

Classic Rock Vol 2

Punk:

Sex Pistols - I Wanna Be me/Holidays In The Sun/Submission/EMI

The Clash - Complete Control/Garageland

Damned - New Rose

Dead Kennedys - Holiday In Cambodia

Stranglers - Toiler On The Sea/Dagenham Dave

Banshees - Mirage

Subhumans - Religious Wars

Adverts - One Chord Wonders

The Ruts - It Was Cold/Savage Circle

X-Ray Spex - The Day The World Turned Dayglo

Stiff Little Fingers - Alternative Ulster/Suspect Device

Ramones - Rockaway Beach/We're A Happy Family/Blitzkrieg Bop/53rd & 3rd

Punk Vol 1

Punk Vol2

Punk Godfathers (Year Zero):

The Stooges - Search & Destroy/Gimmie Danger/Raw Power/Down On The Street/TV Eye/1969/No Fun

The MC5 - Kick Out The Jams/Black To Comm/Gotta Keep Movin'

Velvet Underground - White Light, White Heat/I Heard Her Call My Name, Sister Ray

New York Dolls - Frankenstein

13th Floor Elevators - You're Gonna Miss Me

Punk Godfathers

Hardcore:

Black Flag - Rise Above/My War/The Swinging Man/Slip It In/Black Coffee/Loose Nut

Cro-Mags - We Gotta Know

D.R.I. - Mad Man

Bad Brains - Sailin' On

Discharge - Never Again

Husker Du - Something I Learned Today/Turn On The News/New Day Rising

Poison Idea - Plastic Bomb

Refused - Worms Of The Senses

Hardcore

Quite Heavy:

Melvins - Roman Bird Dog/Blood Witch

Electric Wizard - We Hate You/Funeralopolis

Supercontinent - Earthrise/Nebula

Killing Joke - Hosannas From The Basement Of Hell/Pandemonium

The Swans - Half Life

Neurosis - Lost

Quite Heavy

I have run out of time for posting now and doubt that I can put anything else up until the new year but had planned to also include the lists - Post-Hardcore/Noise AmRep/Post-Punk/Misc.

I have no idea what else will appear on these compilations but if you want those other lists, let me know.

Toner Low

My musical diet of grind has finally been usurped in favour of the return of the riff. This album absolutely pulverises. Slow, dirging riffs that sound like they could collapse under their own weight, accompanied by booming drums that sound like they were recorded in R'lyeh.

It probably was recorded in R'lyeh.

When Football only lets you down there is always music

Can't get a coupon up for shit? Listen to some fucking black metal. Specifically Blood Red Fog. I'm sorry Tony but I've bet against your gooners tomorrow. One of us will be listening to this album.

D.R.I. - Dealing With It (1985)

After going into 2 shops with christmas music looping endlessly into my soul, I needed some classic crossover to bring back some sanity and hey, this is too good to keep to myself!

Listen

It's that time again

To celebrate getting very quickly to 50 posts on our new blog we have decided to open up our compilations season again. The theme this time is The Greatest Songs Ever Written. Submit your compilations to us via the email address and all of the best ones will be shared on the blog.

Marco Beltrami & Mastodon - Jonah Hex

Excellent comic > Forgettable film > Excellent soundtrack. That's my summary of Jonah Hex as a franchise.

My summary of Jonah Hex as a six-track soundtrack EP brought to us by Italian composer Marco Beltrami and Mastodon is thus; it is Mastodon's best work since Leviathan. I haven't heard the new album yet but I don't expect it to be as good as this. Seriously download this, you don't need to have seen the film to enjoy it. In fact, you probably just shouldn't see the film.

What sort of subtitle is "Revenge Gets Ugly EP" anyway? Since when was the concept of vengeance a pretty and flowery notion?

Mendetz - Souvenir

I'm not sure if I posted this over at VDO or not but it deserves a place here regardless. 80's sounding electro with some great guitar and bass work. I actually forgot about this until earlier on today. I haven't been listening to a lot of dance music lately. This is absolutely amazing though. Even if you don't like dance I would very much recommend giving it a go.

Here

The Builders And The Butchers - Salvation Is A Deep Dark Well

How best to describe The Builders and the Butchers? Folk? Indie? Americana? All of those things I guess. It's a very unique sound, like a much better Mumford and Sons. Shit Mumford and Sons probably ripped these guys off. I've been listening to this album for a couple of years now and I've never got tired of it. I absolutely love the vocal style. They come from Portland so you know they are good.

Check it out here

Ted Nugent - Double Live Gonzo! (1978)

The man is a total knob but when this album was released, he was a guitar god. Like a lot of his contemporaries, Nugent sometimes struggled to translate his fearsome live sound on studio releases, so when this double live album came out, showing him at his peak, it was a celebration of his scorching solos, controlled feed back and gritty Detroit Rock'n'Roll.

With a set list taken from his early solo albums + some choice cuts from his Amboy Duke days, this is probably all the Nugent you will ever need.

Alriiiiight!

Anal Cunt - Wearing Out Our Welcome

The Anal Cunt album that never was.

Alongside Fuckin' A, these are Seth's final recordings with the band. If I remember correctly, this album and Fuckin' A were to be released together under the blanket title of Wearing Out Our Welcome, with these tracks subtitled as The Same Old Shit. For obvious reasons. This is the Anal Cunt we all know and love; loud, angry, fast and offensive...mind you, Fuckin' A is all of those things too, these songs are just sans cock rock "influence".

Obviously a must for any Putnam fan or collector, it's a pretty decent swansong, shame there just isn't more tracks to it.

R.I.P. Seth, you are missed.

Cynarae - S/T (2011)

I have seen this all over the place today and decided to give it a listen. I have been rewarded with a gigantic slab of aggression that pummels you into submission. Cynarae are described as mixing up hardcore, powerviolence and grindcore but as I have no real idea about the last two genres, my own ramblings will have to suffice.

This is big and brutal - mostly of a thick, intense filthy hardcore that combines Trap Them with Converge to give the songs a massively heavy sound with an unrelenting barrage of sound and fury. If that ain't enough to get you listening, meh!

Listen

They are good guys as well - Free Bandcamp download

Triggerfinger - All This Dancin' Around

Triggerfinger rule. I hadn't heard them before this year's High Voltage festival but I'm glad we decided to check 'em out, they were a highlight of the entire weekend.

They play that Belgian take on classic/stoner rock but they do it better than the majority of their contemporaries. Unfortunately, whilst still energetic and rockin', the record lacks the impact of their live show. So consider this a taster if you will, and if you like it, go see them on tour with Thin Lizzy and Clutch next year, and let them kick your ass with the power of their sexy rock.

Since you didn't stay to watch them live Tony!

East West Blast Test

Request fill for PHiLCORE; EWBT is a project spearheaded by Spazz's Chris Dodge and Dave Witte from every good heavy band ever.

The concept being that messrs Witte and Dodge create music from their respective coasts of the Land of Hope and Glory and trade their material with one another (Witte handling the drums and Dodge doing everything else) and assemble their songs that way. Throw in a bunch of guest appearances from their respective phonebooks and that's how you cook up a tasty grind album.

Like a less gay The Postal Service.

Request fill

Freak out

Freak out some more

Be careful not to go all Syd with all this freak out music

Gorse - Bovine Soul

Gorse come across like an English AmRep band with some heavy stoner thrown in for good measure. There are plenty of heavy riffs and bursts of noise rock to get your teeth into and lurking in the sonic background are some nice psychedelic guitar bursts. Vocals are all very David Yow - no complaints from me on that score - and blend seamlessly with the song arrangements.

The songs are not just one idea, churned out 10 times to make an album but all have a strong riffs or arrangements to give identity to. This has a great thick bass tone and crisp heavy drums to anchor things down, making sure the guitar can wander about with bursts of distortion and fretboard abuse without losing the feel.

Listen

Band info

CombatWoundedVeteran - This Is Not An All Erect, All-Red Neon Body

Grind, punk, hardcore, post hardcore. These are all things you can find in this record. The best way I could describe CombatWoundedVeteran is this - imagine if Fall Of Troy were less melodic, used samples and got through their songs a lot quicker and somehow more fast paced. Like they listened to loads of powerviolence all of the time or something and somehow Goatlord was the vocalist. But they kept the song titles.

It's been a while since I've had this on but I've really been enjoying it lately. Definitely worth checking out of you aren't familiar.

Also comes in Red, Orange and Fuck You.

Slipknot - Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat.

Even if you're too kvlt or elite to enjoy modern Slipknot, you should check this album out if you're into heavy music with an alt rock twist (for example, if you like Mike Patton's work, Mr Bungle 'clone' bands a la Dog Fashion Disco and Tub Ring, or the heavier end of alt rock like some Tom Waits, Primus, Ween, etc.) or anything that's just a bit different.

Before the height of nu metal (when the aforementioned bands were king) a little known Iowan nontet (is that the right word?) by the name of Slipknot self-released a limited run of 1000 copies of this demo album. Obviously since their explosion into the mainstream with their next release, the self-titled 'Slipknot' in 1999 with the lineup everyone knows and loves (or hates), this has become quite a sought after little gem.

As I said, the lineup is a little different, most notably Corey Taylor was not yet in the band, and front vocals were handled by one Anders 'Stupid Stage Name' Colsefni. He doesn't have the raw talent that Taylor does but does have a more abrasive, "angry bald-sounding dude" style, which I know plenty of you may prefer!

Musically this release nods to the bands mentioned previously, but with a more straight up heavy angle. For example, you might listen to album-closer (and hidden track) Dogfish Rising and say "boy howdy this sounds like a more heavier Ween" if your grammar is particularly bad. There's also a bit of Bunglesque genre-hopping on tracks like Do Nothing/Bitchslap, and a jazzy/surfy influence behind tracks like Confessions. Speaking of which, that track contains the best bass work I've ever heard from Paul Gray (RIP), a man who was clearly far better than he let himself get away with in later Slipknot tunes. Downloading the entire album is worth it to hear that bassline alone.

For the record, I do like 'Slipknot' and 'Iowa' (nearly all of the songs from this release were re-worked, some beyond recognition, for those two albums) but find their latest two albums too radio rock for my tastes.

Give old 'Knot a chance.

Psychedelic Guru - Psychedelic Meditations (2010)

After the Earthless post, only an idiot would try to match the incomparable majesty of "Sonic Prayer" but I shall try to at least come close. ZoZo))) wanted riffs at to be at least 22 minutes long - how does 36 minutes sound? Rather than give my own description, here is their blurb off their Bandcamp page:

35 minutes of non-stop psychedelic guitar solos.
Recommended if you like; Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa, John Frusciante, Omar

Rodriguez-Lopez, and LONG guitar solos.

2 different improvised solos play simultaneously, panned left and right.

Unedited and uncut. Light up, sit back, relax, and enjoy the meditation. WARNING: For psychedelic guitar fans ONLY.
If you're not one, then your time will be better spent elsewhere.

Listen

Free download from Bandcamp and other albums

Earthless - Sonic Prayer

Ask and ye shall receive word nerd; here is one of my favourite weirdie beardie avant psych albums.

Two tracks at just over 20 minutes each of thick, drugged out, fuzzed out stoner/space/psychedelic rock from genre titans Earthless. The first track - the unfuckingreal Flower Travellin' Man - you may recognise from Such Hawks Such Hounds.

I love it when a killer riff lasts forever.

Backjumper - Across The Deadline

Band request from Italy.

I am not always in the mood for metal-core but when I am, Backjumper ticks all the right boxes. Mixing up elements of thrash and modern hardcore, the sound is thick and powerful with a good feel of groove and urgency. Lots of lightning fast guitar riffs are on show and the band have masterful technique and skill.

Vocal are delivered with growls or screams and mesh really well with all the instruments. The production is top-notch and pushes every level up to make all the songs sound massive and intense. This would probably appeal to people into The Black Dahlia Murder or possibly 36 Crazyfists.

Listen

Free Download link

Facebook

Pig Destroyer/Miles Davis

Having suddenly been captured by the terrifying beauty of Grind, I wanted to post something but hesitated because I am still exploring various bands and I would hate to put up an album that everyone else more knowledgeable than me hates or will deride as being an awful example.

Looking through the Pig Destroyer releases, I was interested by "Natasha" - a 35 minute track of slow doom, laden with atmospherics, sounding more like Godflesh or early Melvins rather than the grind they are known for. Hearing voices and music in my head constantly might make my mental breakdowns a strain on my life but this time it has worked to my advantage - I could hear that the Miles Davis track "Gondwana" was at the right speed to overdub in places on top of the Pig Destroyer track.

I give you one epic track of grindjazz.

Experimental? ....... Maybe.

Easy listening? ....... I hope not.

Challenge your ears!

Bad Brains - S/T (1982)

This is not what I had planned to post today but when I played it this morning, the urge to drive like an extra from Mad Max and shout a lot took me over.

Classic punk/hardcore from Washington DC which incorporated speed-metal riffs, biting vocals and lyrics, punk-dub rhythms which paved the way for countless other bands and arguably helped to pioneer American hardcore as we know it.

Listen

Shame on you if you need Band Info!

CABROCORDERO - Namastie Qoh

Finally an album from me that isn't grind or punk. Cabrocordero are a 2 piece sludge band from Argentina. We featured their debut record over at VDO and now we have the most recent full length here. They have definitely grown as a band since their last offering. The songs sound much more thought out and are amazingly produced. This probably due to the fact that the man sitting behind this desk is Topo Armetta (Dragonauta, 8 Hands for Kali, Los Natas.) Reminds me of early Big Business and Bison BC. Well worth a listen.

Smoke it

M.E.H - Song Titles Are For Assholes III

Another Song Titles Are For Assholes from one of my favourite grind outfits M.E.H. Probably one of the bands to contribute to us the most over at VDO. Hopefully that won't stop now we've moved house.
As to tempt you in here is the usual genius example lyric "Animal are people too
Well I say Boo fucking Hoo! Cry about the cows some more asshole. And in the meantime give a steak medium rare. FUCK VEGAN GUILT!"

I love steaks and I love this band.

Eat some steaks

Interlard - Gland

We have a new submission from old VDO favourites Interlard.

If you aren't familiar with this group, I would best describe their stuff as harsh noise/power electronics with heavy industrial overtones. And it sounds fucking great, if you're into that sort of thing.

New EP 'Gland' is a 4 track affair, clocking in at 17 and a half minutes. Easily worth your time if you've never checked them out before. Track 2 is even called Piss so I can only assume they derived a little inspiration from myself and ZoSo)))'s own power electronics project ;)

Their sound typically utilises heavy rhythmic percussion, often quite tribal-sounding, providing a tension-building beat beneath an abrasive and constant wall of noise. This EP is no exception. Reminds me of a 'listener-friendly' version of Brutally Analysed from their earlier effort; 'Scrape'.

Get this from Milk Kitten here, give them some money for it if you like, they certainly deserve it.

Sylvester Staline - Gonna Spread Hard Drugs To Your Stupid Kids With The Royalties Generated By This CD

Amazing Powerviolence/fastcore from France. Seen on various splits with some pretty big bands in the genre, Magrugergrind, FUBAR, Joe Pesci and Fuck the Facts to name but a few.
Exactly what you'd expect to hear.

Put your feet in the air
Buy it (it's for a good cause)

Flux Of Pink Indians - The Fucking Cunts Treat Us Like Pricks (1984)

1984 and the UK was in the grip of Thatcher, the war of attrition with the miners and the nation was being drip-fed mind numbing music by Frankie, Duran Duran, Style Council and Nik fucking Kershaw. With 4 sides of feedback and fury, Flux Of Pink Indians - along with the other Crass type bands were providing me with an alternative national anthem.

This is pretty basic stuff as the message was more important than the musicianship but there is still a head aching mix of anarcho punk/thrash with some sparse Fall-type rhythms intermingled with multi-layered snippets of radio/tv/adverts/piano riffs underneath the shouting/yelling and stop-start intros with feedback filling every empty space. Oh yeah, the cover was also banned from every major retailer.

We mean it, maaan!

Band Info

The Locust - Plague Soundscapes

Today's grind classic is The Locust's 'Plague Soundscapes'. Anyone that knows this band (or any of bassist/vocalist Justin Pearson's work for that matter) knows that this is an intense, schizophrenic affair, eschewing rhythmic time signatures in favour of making the songs more interesting. Best in their class these boys.

Eee yous have got some mad song titles lads.

Agoraphobic Nosebleed - PCP Torpedo

Another day, another grind classic. Another from Scott Hull too. ANb are one of the most intense bands on the planet, and this album is no exception. 10 tracks in 10 minutes. If you have a small child, play this album to it - I have it on good authority that the child's face will actually melt.

Also includes the 'ANBRX' disc - remixes of the album from the likes of Drokz, Tailz, Justin Broadrick, Merzbow and plenty others. Not bad - but nowhere near as good as '...Torpedo'.

Melt a small child's face now.

Leviathan - True Traitor, True Whore

Mr Whitehead is angry at his woman. He supposedly gave her a beatdown and raped her with tattoo equipment. I don't know man. Either way it's fueled something beautiful in the form of this album.

Massive conspiracy against all wives
(cheers to LordOvDarkness for the link)

The Afternoon Gentlemen - White Cider Chronicles II, The Joogle Diaries

Always backed these guys over at VDO and I won't be stopping now we've moved. This is a collection of 34 brilliant tracks (my favourite being rusty axe through aaron turners head.) There are also some live versions of some classics on there for you. Wasn't that nice of them? True gentlemen.

Get pissed

Pizza Hi-Five/Infernal Stronghold Split

It's been a while since I've been really impressed by one of these splits. But finally I have been satisfied to the extent of sharing this one with you guys.

First up on the split we have 3 tracks from Philadelphia's own Infernal Stronghold. I would describe them as blackened thrash. Definitely a band I would love to see live.
Next is 8 very quick tracks from the always magnificent grind outfit Pizza Hi-Five.

Not that it's a contest or anything, but Infernal Stronghold really shone on this. Maybe it's because I'd never heard them prior or something.

Melt your face

Psycho - Self Titled 7"

Psycho are one of the original crossover bands. They formed in 1982 in Boston. Sadly they have been majorly overlooked due to bands such as Suicidal Tendencies, Cryptic Slaughter and other big hitters. For me, Psycho do it better than most. It sounds like GG Allin is singing for Slayer.

Unfortunately this is only 4 short songs (one of them being a GG cover, coincidentally) but they are all pretty special.

Legalize Murder
Buy it

Guitar Wolf - Planet of the Wolves (1997)

Fuzz pedals turned up to 10? - oh yes.

Guitars louder than everything else? - of course.

Frenzied, unintelligible vocals which might be Japanese or English? - check.

Dirtier and grittier than most modern garage bands, Guitar Wolf combine the sonics of the MC5, the rock'n'roll of Link Wray and the punk power of early Stooges.

悪妻は百年の不作

Årabrot - Solar Anus (2011)

This was produced by Steve Albini and has all his trademarks - loud, abrasive and live sounding.

Årabrot mix up Jesus Lizard type song structures with Melvins style sludge and then stomp over everything with lashings of hardcore.

The vocals range from throat shredding bellowing to screaming and doomy growls and they sit upon a ferocious rhythm section that pound and crash inside your ears.

The guitars are heavy and distorted and lead the songs with off-kilter riffs that seem on the verge of imploding into sonic chaos but always deliver a tune that makes me want to pick up a knife and start stabbing strangers.

Listen

Buy from their website

Hawk Eyes - New Track

So Hawk Eyes (previously chickenhawk) have put up a new track from their forthcoming EP up for streaming on their bandcamp page. See what you think.

Somebody has been to the recent Melvins gig in Leeds, methinks.

Makoto Kawabata - AMT CD 001

This is from the Acid Mothers Temple Gold Disc series and finds the

AMT leader, Makato Kawabata in solo mode with two long tracks of

improvised guitar explorations.

Lots of drones, multi layered reverb, distortion, feedback and drifting

harmonics. Unlike, say, Merzbow - these tracks are quite tuneful in their

direction and have an ambient feel that really engages.

In the film "2001", there are several long passages with a choir producing

these eerie moans and groans and Kawabata has massed his guitars to sound

like this - in my head anyway! - in fact, this could be a soundtrack to a battered

old hulk of a space freighter, slowly drifting and slowly breaking up as it gets

pulled into a black hole at the end of the universe.

Listen

Tom Waits - Mule Variations

It's no secret that I'm a huge Tom Waits fan, and this record is both critically and personally to me one of his best. Perhaps it's no coincidence that my favourite track; album opener 'Big in Japan', features none other than Primus as the backing band.

This release is arguably his first to demonstrate the somewhat experimental, alt-rock sound that he has stuck with, and consistently improved upon ever since.

I'm not really sure what else to say about it as the man's material speaks for itself. I can't even think of anything funny to say about it.

So I'll shut up while you listen for yourself.

Mr Bungle - California

Mr Bungle's fantastic opus. I'm sure I don't really need to introduce these guys but apparently I'm going to anyway.

Mr Bungle were sort of retroactively brought into the limelight after vocalist Mike Patton got the gig with Faith No More (after FNM guitarist Jim Martin heard Patton's vocal work on the Bungle demos no less). Although throughout their time together, Bungle had a few varying lineups, constant members Trey Spruance (guitar) and Trevor Dunn (bass) are amongst the names you'd probably recognise for their continued work in the alternative/jazz/world music/rock/metal/genre-hopping madness...uh, scene?

Speaking of their genre-hopping ways, this album is a lot less freeform than predecessor Disco Volante, and as such is many peoples' favourite Bungle album. Although the wildly varied influences are still present, they are much more reined in and integrated in the song structures, as opposed to Volante's tendency to erratically switch between them several times in one song. Impressive, but a bit too much for the casual listener, whereas in all honesty, you could probably play this album to your elderly white haired mother. Well, maybe.

The album is titled as such due to some beef with the Red Hot Chili Peppers (whose album Californication came out in 1999, the same year) due to Anthony Kiedis supposedly demanding Bungle be removed from several European festival lineups or he would take his band-shaped ball home back to LA and probably just have sex with some heroin or whatever. Turns out this childish move was due to the fact that he believed Bungle had ripped off the Chilis, despite actually running rings around them in terms of musical ability and composition. Compare your favourite RHCP song to 'Goodbye Sober Day' and try to come up with a valid reason why Patton and co shouldn't have got Kiedis' junkie ass dropped from festival season instead.

Bass solo brodown

Backchat EP (2011)

Band request from the Ukraine.

This is my first request review for Throat but at BIL, I get a fair amount

sent to me and some of them are barely above rehearsal tape quality -

why sent out an average demo - what kind of review do you think you

will get back?

But ...... this is the real deal - pissed off hardcore punk that kicks you in

the nuts and runs off with your beer.

Sounding like Coliseum covering Converge songs with a touch of early

Motorhead, the three songs on this EP are short, sharp shocks of aggression.

The production is massive sounding, the drums in particular have a sound

that a lot more famous bands would kill for.

I just hope these guys get a change to record a full length album someday

because their songs deserve it.

Listen

Free download from Bandcamp

Backchat Blog

Arts - Vault Of Heaven

Mark McCoy of excellent projects such as Ancestors and Charles Bronson has now turned his hand to raw USBM under the guise of Arts. It's a pretty good record. Definitely worth checking out if you're into that sort of thing.

Yes, I am into that sort of thing.
No, I am not into that sort of thing.

Choose wisely.

Allman Brothers Band - Idlewild South

We never had any Allman Brothers on VDO (I think, no way of knowing now) and I think that was a shame. So I'm getting this one in early to make sure. I know this is the more radio friendly second album, but I love it all the same.

Enjoy some classic sounds

Melvins - (a) Senile Animal

We were supposed to be going to see Melvins tonight. But because the driver had double booked to go and see James on the same night (fucking JAMES..."whoah sit down next to me" James, fucking horseshit) we are instead just going to sit huddled, crying over pictures of Dale Crover while Colossus of Destiny plays in it's entirety repeatedly in the background. Probably. Well I know I am.

This is the first album they released with Jared and Coady from Big Business, and in all honesty is probably my favourite Melvins release of all time. As quirky as is traditional for this band, the songs are all still catchy as hell, and the album is pretty much riff after riff after riff. The dual-vocals of Buzz and Jared make for some awesome strained-sounding harmonies, whilst Dale and Coady's double-drumming really adds whole new dimensions to tracks like 'A History of Bad Men' - my favourite of the record. I'd recommend this to newcomers and veterans of Melvins fandom alike.

I'd also recommend fans of fucking James give it a listen and get a clue.

How can we please you?

Everybody loves a good poll. I bet you haven't done one in years. Go on...

Country Joe & The Fish - Electric Music For The Mind And Body

I was turned onto Country Joe McDonald and his musical genius by a friend in a local pub around a year ago. I promptly got the entire back catalogue of Country Joe and the Fish and was taken in. At the time I guess it would have been called Acid Rock by people who had never taken acid before. I'm not saying there was no acid consumption, mind you. What we now know as Psychedelic Rock is exactly this record. None of the folkier stuff that goes along with Mr McDonald, just 11 tracks of Psych/Garage goodness. Well maybe SOME folk. Geez.

Close your eyes, pretend you've just been drafted to 'nam, light up something nice for your lungs and hate the government.

Here