2013 Permanent Records Hand-Screened Fold-Over-Sleeve Special Edition!
Permanent Records' 27th label Release AT A NICE PRICE!
When we first officially re-issued the (self-released / Ignorant Gore) debut King Blood LP, "Eyewash Silver" in 2011, the entire pressing, to our dismay, was delivered to our doorstep minorly warped. A re-repress was immediately ordered up and thankfully arrived flat(er) and went on to become what we issued in 2011. Flash-forward two years to 2013, King Blood has a hot shit new single on White Denim following the twice-pressed 2012 behemoth "Vengeance, Man" LP on the lovable Richie Records, not to mention copies of our long out-of-print "Eyewash Silver" repress selling on the reg for $20+ in the aftermarket (and even furthermore not mention the OG IG copies easily moving at $60+!). Well, here we are, we spun a bunch of the lightly warped copies from the initial repress and it turns out they play through just fine! We had a bunch of fold-over sleeves sleeves hand-screened by our good pal Kyle (Rotted Tooth man himself) with the "Eyewash Silver" artwork, stamped the center labels in a new color, and voilà, we're once again bringing you King Blood's "Eyewash Silver" at an unbeatable price of TEN BONES in exchange for a little wax warpage that does not affect play.
For the uninitiated check out what we had to say about the amazing "Eyewash Silver" upon our issue of the repress:
In late 2010 a record came out of nowhere and blew our minds. That record was "Eyewash Silver" by King Blood. Unfortunately, it was issued in a limited edition of 100 copies and it disappeared faster than a fugitive at a busted up coke party. We initially discovered the record through a very enticing review that Doug Mosurock over at Still Single / Dusted wrote and our minds were blown when we received the records and realized that there was absolutely no hyperbole or exaggeration in Doug's review. For your reference, here's said review:
"Little anonymous fuzz guitar rudiment blowdown from ex-Snake Apartment guitarist Ryland Wharton (also the man behind the excellent Skulltones and Twonicorn labels). As King Blood, he lays down eight instrumental four-trackers rendered over a three-year period, nothing but guitar, bass and cymbal to keep time, and in that space the artist gets real, with simple themes repeated in a noisy, low-rent, yet meditative space. For as thick as these vibes get, the music itself is not necessarily aggressive, which is why these big, billowing songs sound gentle and bluesy and introspective, even in the overblown treatment most of them receive. Early Wooden Shjips or the Purling Hiss LP (and above all, Les Rallizes Denudes) would be good signposts for this album, but without the obvious psych moves like wah-solos and acid burn motifs, or the heavy drumming to keep time; King Blood wants to get you down by volume, and in that it is a drifting, uncompromising, diffuse and very loud success. 100 copies for this world, in paste-on sleeves – a few contain a silkscreened design on Stonehenge paper that was allegedly runoff from a gallery exhibition held earlier this summer. Those are signed and numbered as well. (availability? ask the angels…)"
Sounds exciting, right? Yeah, well it lives up to the review, and then some. "Eyewash Silver" is an incredible, dumbed-down, shit-fi, riff-drenched instrumental psych record that will KILL fans of Wooden Shjips / Les Rallizes Denudes (and all the rest of those touchstone bands mentioned in the review - Doug knows his shit). In fact, the same folks will be kicking themselves HARD if they don't grab one of these while they still have the (second) [third] chance.
The discerning White Denim label pumps out the latest by PermRex vet King Blood! We're always jazzed to hear new King Blood material, so without further ado we'll let the White Denim honchos fill you in on this 'un:
Under the King Blood moniker, Ry Wharton creates raw and ragged guitar music. He pulls influence from classic rock, heavy metal, blues, NWOBHM, stoner rock and thrash, pretty much any form of riff-oriented guitar music, and strips it down until only the rusted shell remains. His songs are minimalist, sunburnt meditations on hard n' heavy riffing - just imagine the Dead C trying on Judas Priest's wardrobe and you're halfway there. On 'Where Is He', King Blood take notable influence from one of the greatest rock groups ever to exist - we'll let you figure out who."
King Blood's stark, reverbed, cryptic and distorted guitar passages are like the ultimate soundtrack to urban decay and suburban dread. Here we have two quaint re-workings of a couple of G 'n' R classics, yep you read that correctly, stripped down to just the essence of the original riffs. It's like hearing someone listening to G'n'R in the next room and then trying to transpose the riffs through the muffled walls. Anywho, this shiz is R-A-W as phuc and seriously some of the skuzziest tones we've heard in awhile.
This sordid single is limited to 298 copies and is sure to bring you to your sha-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na knees!!!! Deliriously Recommended.
YESSSSSSSS! We are stoked beyond belief for this new Bitchin Bajas record! Considering P-Rex gave BB their first vinyl release (remember that Moon Duo / Bajas split 7" from 2010? We sure do!) it should come as no surprise that we are massive fans of the blissed out drones Cooper and Co. have been wading in - "Bitchitronics" is their Drag City debut, so pop a quaalude and tune in to their wavelength for a minute:
"BITCHIN BAJAS are back, baby! Their new album Bitchitronics, is ready with the quickness we expect from the Chi-based duo—which is funny, since their area of expertise and mastery is in the area of synthetic ephemeral sonic languidity known more instinctively, inclusively (and let’s face it, irresponsibly) as drone music. Since their first appearance way back in 2010, Bitchin Bajas approach has been simple—unfold tones via synth and keyboard, allowing micro-frequencies to press against each other in a way that pleases the ear, the mind and the soul. In keeping with the (unspoken, unacknowledged by the band) concept of catching air with tape, Bitchitronics is the first Bitchin Bajas record made as a trio, blending the blowing of flute into the mix of electric keys and posthuman tones and loops of tape atop other loops of tape, with the final result coming to us with all the ebbing and flowing of a breeze—wind on wind, even! Let the power of Bitchitronics fall over you; another green world of music made Baja fresh by the wandering ears and care-filled creations and re-creations of Bitchin Bajas."
Not content with the more driving, motorik (and Cave-sounding) right turn they took on the recent (and now sold out) "Krausened" EP on Permanent, "Bitchitronics" finds Cooper with guitar in hand and laying out some heavy Robert Fripp-riffage (Fripp-age?) The trio has never sounded more confident, assuredly laying out synth drones accompanied by guitar, strings, woodwinds and more - there's definitely NO PUSSYFOOTING going on here! (Eh? Eh?) But in all seriousness, this may be Bitchin Bajas most fully-realized recording and without a doubt their most satisfying as a whole. Kudos boys. Props to the cover art for paying homage to the RCA Victrola "New Music" LP jackets too - very apropos! (No surprise), but "Bitchitronics" comes unequivocally recommended - destined for Top Ten of 2013 status for sure!
HELL YES! Five Four-O Records just reissued the much sought after / long outta print cult fave LP "The Room Isn't Big Enough" from the legendary Ohio rock supergroup Ego Summit. Just look at who's involved in this album and immediately you'll be off running to the shop to grab a copy: Ron House, Mike Rep, Tommy Jay, Jim Shepard and Don Howland!!!!! Seriously don't read any further, unless you really need convincing, which we bet you won't:
"I can almost remember the day that Rep sent me the first issue of this LP. Taking it out of the package I glommed the title, looked at who was participating and snorted appreciatively. Ego Summit – perfect! Don Howland, Jim Shepard, Ron House, Tommy Jay and Michael Hummel were all guys whose impact on the world of music (as it is known) was questionable, but all of them were well-known at the sub-underground level, and it was damn certain they all felt like kings! Between them they had created sounds and records that were legendary and influential, but the fact that they were all bums dedicated to living in Columbus, Ohio made the reality of their impact something that was hard to appreciate if you lived further away than Dayton (home of GBV). But as the years peeled away, oddball record collectors (and perhaps, even, the women who love them) have come to appreciate the insane form-moves this cabal of record collectors was up to. By the time of this release, they’d been putting out records for years, with bands as diverse as Gibson Bros, Bassholes, Vertical Slit, V-3, Great Plains, Mike Rep and the Quota, True Believers (OH), and in various solo incarnations of one form or another. Each had evolved a dinstinctive sound, redolent of every goddamn record he’d ever heard – from Ramblin’ Thomas to the Twinkeyz to Armand Schaubroeck Steals to Destroy All Monsters, and they were ready to roll it all out. Ego Summit functions like a download of everything they’ve ever really loved, from the VU’s Live ’69 to Quicksilver’s cover of Buffy Ste. Marie’s “Codine”, all piled up in a beautifully loose garage band jumble. I’m never sure whether my fave track is Ron House’s “Rise Sherry” (with its lazy approximation of the original Contortions’ slide guitar/bass dualism), Jim Shepard’s abosultely blown talling-blues, “We Got It All” (the best experiment in the form since the Minutemen’s “History Lesson Part Two”), or Don Howland’s “Wife Blues” (a track that makes every motion by Spencer’s Blues Explosion extraneous), but the whole goddamn thing is great. A totally superior listen, by a bunch of clowns who were their own best fans. And knew why. Now you do too. --Byron Coley"
Ego Summit is one helluva ramshackle basement jam session from some our favorite musicians of all time. Whether it's the lo-fi gutbucket blues of Don Howland's (Bassholes, Gibson Bros) songs, or the irrevenant outsider punk of Ron House (Great Plains, Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments), or Jim Shepard's (V3, Vertical Slits) trebly anthems or the Mike Rep and Tommy Jay doing just what they do best (you know what we mean), Ego Summit is a head rush of pure rock n roll with killer songwriting that's coated in a fine layer of analog reverb just how we like it. "The Room Isn't Big Enough" has been nearly impossible to find since it's initial release in '97, so the fact we can spin this one over and over again in the shop makes us more than content. Don't miss out on this chance to own one of the most essential LPs of underground rock, Ohio based or otherwise. SUPER RECOMMENDED!!!!!!!!!
MISSISSIPPI RECORDS ALERT!
Woah! Just WOAH! We are STOKED on the latest from Mississippi, we URGE YOU to READ ON:
"Unbelievably great psychedelic garage rock from 1966 - 1968. Up there with the Thirteenth Floor Elevators, Love and the Seeds in quality but with an outsider edge to it. Tough as nails deep heavy group who never got the exposure they deserved back in the day. A few songs leaked out on vinyl on psych comps (Optical Sound, Love at a Psychedelic Velocity and Reading Your Will) but the rest has not been on vinyl until now. Beautiful singer/songwriter ballads and frantic rockers sit side by side creating a truly great lost classic of the 1960's. We couldn't be happier with this record. Easily one of the best Mississippi releases ever. Comes with liner notes and a bonus 7". Old school "tip on" cover with gold ink imprint on it. Co - release with our friends in Europe - the great Moi J'Connais."
"Quality"? Yes. Toss Trashmen, Sonics, and Wanda Jackson into the afore-mentioned mix. "Outsider Edge"? Yep. We got your Psychopaths, Adrian Lloyd, and Brad Long."Tough as nails deep heavy group who never got the exposure they deserved back in the day"? You betchya. Check Los Saicos, Question Mark and the Mysterians, The Outsiders, Count Five, and if it isn't too much of a stretch, Music Machine. "Love At A Psychedelic Velocity" is love at first sight. HUMAN EXPRESSION IS RECOMMENDED!
Out of FUCKING print since 2010 and rescued from the greedy grips of collectors by Ty Segall and now reissued on his God? Records imprint - heed the words of God?:
"Restoring a lost gem to the crown of WHITE FENCE, God? is bringing the first, self-titled, White Fence album back to the vanguard. White Fence originally came out on San Francisco’s Make a Mess label; the CD is currently in print on Woodsist. TIM PRESLEY’s been building a White Fence he can be proud of since back in 2010; his fourth trip to the other side of the fence just dropped and new pop music horizons continue to shimmer invitingly in all the music that he makes. If you walked into the party when the second album was playing or even the new one, those’re probably a great place to start too. But this first record is a REALLY good place to start. Tim’s a veteran of a few bands before White Fence, like DARKER MY LOVE, and he’s made records with TY SEGALL and THE STRANGE BOYS too, but his own thing is very special, as you may know—a foolproof and ever-morphing approach to writing songs by bringing the freshness of lysergic ‘60s visions into the present day. This pressing returns White Fence to the LP shelf for the first time since the Saladin daze of 2010, when too few copies were made and they all went away. Now it is back, with all the bells and whistles intact (insert! stickers!) that made it such fun to ride in once upon a time not so long or so recently ago, either. It’s a perfectly balanced two-sided journey—and with “Be Right Too,” the best is saved for last, a melody that will haunt and linger in a righteous way. Leaving us to feel that this is what pop songs were meant to be. They were!"
White Fence's debut has deservedly grown in stature as their popularity has increased over the years - what started out as a side project from his former band Darker My Love has blossomed into Tim Presley's musical tour de force! This debut came and went right as White Fence took wings, so many fans may have never even heard this one as it was meant to be heard - ON VINYL. What's great about the self-titled debut is the sound of a man with nothing to prove - the songs fade in and out of focus and when the hooks sink in, they sink in DEEP. From lo-fi, 4-track tape collage weirdness, to full-on Syd Barret-cum-Mark E. Smith pop ditties, "White Fence" never fails to impress - a classic album and one of the better one from recent history... good to see you old friend. God? commands you to buy this! RECOMMENDED... HARD.
Castle Face Record is reaching back to its early days of warehouse parties for its latest release, La Machine's album "Phases And Repetition" and here with the a proper intro is label head honcho, John Dwyer, himself :
“The year was 1996 (a guess really), when I had LA MACHINE play in our Olneyville warehouse space. It was the first time I danced in front of other people. (I was later told I was really good). I think maybe it was the first time I can recall where I stood in front of something I would consider modern psychedelic music. Not a rehash of some ghost from the past but something new to me. We had a plethora of hardcore, improv, and noise bands in New England... but this... this was something different. It was churning and it had a haunting floor-scraping ass on it. It had hints of nausea and a cyclic simplicity that to this day I still love and listen to often. Loudly, stoned, driving through the desert, laughing. They played and my friends skated the quarter pipe my flat mate had built...it was my first successful party and I thank La Machine for it. RICK PELLTIER and JOHN LOPER have compiled these tunes for us to release post-mortem, but who knows...maybe they will come back to haunt a warehouse near you...OoOoOoOH. Every song reminds me of when I was younger, stronger, and faster. But now I know enough to realize how lucky I actually was to have this stuff around me. And now you can too. Enjoy.”—John Dwyer (4.30.13). Lovingly remastered from the original cassette with new original art by WILLIAM KEIHN."
La Machine is Providence, Rhode Island's secret no longer. Born in the same scene as Pink and Brown, Lightning Bolt and various other Load Records noise bands, La Machine shed some of the abrasiveness of their peers to instead focus on gettin' way out and psychedelic. "Phases And Repetition" channels the more lysergic moments of early Chrome as well as the stripped down bass and drum percussiveness of PiL and the noisy electro of Suicide. La Machine's mix of psych, dub and noise into one bass heavy mesmerizing groove will get you hooked from track one, especially those into Throbbing Gristle, Psyclones, Silver Apples, Factrix and/or Neu. For all of us that didn't see the duo live at some loft show back in the late 90s, this is our chance get transfixed by La Machine. TOTALLY RECOMMENDED!!!!!!!!!!
It's been a while since we saw a full-length from Native Cats - 2011's "Process Praise" to be exact, but 2013 finds all of us sitting pretty on this brand-new 12-incher from this Aussie duo on the ever-reliable RIP Society and Ride The Snake Records - read on:
"Since 2007, Julian Teakle and Peter Escott have been operating musically from their home city of Hobart, Tasmania, under the name of the Native Cats; if not “working together” as such, then at least each asking the other’s permission before adding something to a song, and generally moving towards a roughly common goal. Now, with the release of their third album, DALLAS, the Native Cats’ grand plan is becoming clear: big shifts within a very small space. The band’s job description remains the same as it has always been Teakle plays bass, Escott sings and operates only the most user friendly electronics, and all the pieces are cryptically aligned in sympathy with your complicated troubles or steady anxiety but thanks to some adventurous songwriting, a criminally underrated Nintendo synthesiser, and a recent inspiring tour of noted musical hotspot the United States of America, DALLAS is a unique and unusual beast.
Even the structure is something of a puzzle. The album begins with its vulnerable emotional core, “Pane e Acqua”, in which all is silent but Teakle’s cold, weary bass line and Escott’s introspective tale of a lifelong teetotaller trying to get to grips with his hard living musical heroes. What follows is the sound of a makeshift electric fence being built around the exposed heart, courtesy of the synths, beats and noises of the Korg DS 10, a Nintendo DS cartridge that has been the tiny centrepiece of the Native Cats’ compact live show for several years but has not reached its full potential on record until now. It slices dissonant noise across the disorienting instrumental “Hit”, draws pulsing neon lines around the deep, dark torpedo of “I Remember Everyone”, adds Kraftwerk esque chimes to the lonesome disco stomp of live favourite “Cavalier”, and generates a gravelly beat and a piercing siren on “Scratch Act”.
If side 1 is the Native Cats building and improving upon their signature sound, side 2 is their journey into surprising and unfamiliar territory. “C of O” is the most complex piece they have recorded yet, a mountain range of downbeat, elegiac pop that builds steadily, comes to a crashing halt, then roars triumphantly back to life with bittersweet blasts of melodica and heavenly backing vocals (courtesy of Claire Jansen and Emma Jane Cunningham of fellow Hobart band Catsuit). Conversely, “Mohawk-Motif” is the Native Cats at their most experimental and unstructured, recorded on the first and only take at producer Anthony Rochester’s studio in Rokeby, an unrelenting 11minute bombardment merging the thrillingly imprecise repetition of early ’80s Fall with the abrasive electronic exploration of late ’70s Suicide. It’s precisely the sort of hazardous move that typically exists solely to be vetoed, but with both band members still imbued with the kind of imagined invincibility that only a reasonably successful American tour and a stand-‐out appearance at Gonerfest 9 in Memphis can provide, and both labels (Ride the Snake Records in the United States, R.I.P. Society Records in Australia) looking to maintain their reputation for cultivating and supporting weird ideas, the magnificent hypnotic epic primitive electro noise jam stays.
The Native Cats may have started out as something of a lo-‐fi minimalist muck-‐about, but with DALLAS they are deep into something powerful and strange, something nobody knew they wanted until it was standing right in front of them, holding a bass and a portable video game console, sending the inner world to the outer world."
REALLY fucking great album - and a lot different than we remember these cats sounding! Electronic-laced downer pop in the vein of Talk Talk or (early) New Order, mixed with some newer future-forward leaning vibes emanating from the Aussie underground we're all so enamored of these days like Total Control, Superstar, Angel Eyes or Blank Realm! These Cats have carved their own niche though, laying out blankets of sparse, Casio-based rhythms and synths accompanied by bass guitar and voice sounding like the 8-bit snake-charmer versions of Young Marble Giants or P.I.L. (particularly by the time you get to the 12-minute album-closer "Mohawk Motif") Includes a download too! Another winner for RIP Society and Ride The Snake respectively that comes with our HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION! Grip this one TIGHT!
1999/2000's Skin Graft Records released 3rd album by Providence, RI's no-wave terrorists Arab On Radar is nothing short of breathtaking. Blazing by in under 20 minutes, the Weasel Walter produced "Soak The Saddle" is a caustic, high energy, throat-slitting, pants shitting paranoia filled gonzo aural assault of unprecedented annihilation. Buzzbomb no-wave bangers like an icepick to the eardrum ignite and explode with barely a breath in between as shrill angular freakoid noise punk sonics will be soundtracking your nightmares for weeks on end. Arab On Radar's art-damaged lunatic fringe noise rock utilizes repeato bass riffs, pummeling drum assaults and snarling atonal guitar scree to instantly unnerve even the most adventurous listeners. A spazzoid brain splitting hyper activity tornado of terrifying clatter is what you get on this long overdue repress of one of the turn of the century's defining records. We've been gobbling this gunk down since back in the day and now we invite you all to join in the delinquency! Supremely Recommended.
Anticon Records has the eerie backstory on their latest release here:
"Three years ago, Baths dropped his startlingly beautiful debut, Cerulean, blurring the line between post-modern pop and the LA beat scene with devastating emotional clarity. Its tone was as celestial as its album title, taken from a shade of blue typically used to describe the sky. Cerulean earned year-end “Best Of” recognition from Pitchfork and The Onion’s AV Club and established Chatsworth-raised Will Wiesenfeld as one of the finest young composers (and falsettos) in Los Angeles. His sophomore album Obsidian finds him emerging as one of the most complete artists of his generation. As one might expect, the name hints at darker overtones. The mood is shimmering and pitch-black; the lovely blood flow has turned into lava.Following the success of Cerulean, Wiesenfeld spent much of the next year touring to progressively larger audiences. He also released an ethereal ambient project under the Goetic moniker. When he returned home in July of 2011 to record his sophomore effort, he was bedridden for months with an E. Coli bacterial infection, barely able to digest solid food and bereft of creative energy. Obsidian understandably has these scars etched into its imprint—see opener “Worsening,” subsequent cuts include “Ossuary,” “No Past Lives” and “Earth Death.” While the mood is often bleak, it’s never bloated. “Miasma Sky” balances being “swallowed alive by the sky” with a gorgeous piano groove and levitative croon that could detonate a disco club night. Suffused with heavenly choirs, head-nodding percussion, sexually charged lyrics, and wry humor, Obsidian is unusually cohesive work combining universal questions with personal pain."
Bath's nocturnal video-game glitch-y cold wave body movers are finely crafted dance-y tomes of inner mind musings. Will Wiesenfeld's lilting falsetto vocals float overtop of bleak sheets of rain and bubbling electronic rhythms layered with dread and re-birth. "Obsidian" is a sleek, late nite pulser filled from start to finish with darkness and ennui that is as haunted by death as it is life affirming and restorative. Recommended.
LIMITED TO 500 IN MANILA ENVELOPE PACKAGING!
We got a special delivery from the Columbus Dsicount folks here with the latest from the Bassholes; get the scoop below:
"A lot of bands mellow with age. It's so prevalent among punk bands, that it's become pretty much a joke. Nervous initiates, the world over, when trying to appear cool or in-the-know, have fallen back on this "rule" for at least a couple decades now. The claim, "Eh, I like their early stuff" has wafted through the air of a million shitty parties, insoluble in a cloud of beer stink, in a hundred different languages. I digress. Point is, in the case of the bassholes, this is patently fucking false. The Bassholes, eschewing the trope above, seem to change with the world at large, getting stranger and meaner, as the environment dictates. A two-headed monster, evolving in the fallout, into a mutant beast screeching and echoing the cacophony of western life in the year after the world was supposed to end. It's been 13 years since their debut and the bassholes are definitely weirder and more dangerous than ever (their music's pretty strange, too - har, har, har). Greener pastures of the post-Bush years are revealed to be just more scorched earth, and our two-headed monster gets ready to trudge thru the radioactive swamps of the tomorrow. Better wear some boots..."
Buckeye blues punk legends the Bassholes have been churnin' out lo-fi bown to oblivion punk lunacy for well over a decade and their latest ups the intensity whilst simultaneously decimating fidelity. This beast comes housed in a manila enevelope complete with voided postage stamps ready for a speedy delivery direct to your turntable. Crack this package immediately and dive in to the deep pools of distortion, reverb and echo that these primal punk dirges are drenchend in. These Columbus/Asheville oddballs are keepin' shiz dirty with real deal sonic punishment. Seriously Recommended.
Genius and Brutality. Taste and Power. The Torn Light Records has all the gnarly details behind this brain damage inducing slab of misanthropy:
"Mid tempo to sludgy noise rock from Chicago, IL. Rectal Hygienics take their time stomping through 7 tracks of nihilistic, perverse and noise ladened rock. FFO: Rusted Shut, Brainbombs, Twin Stumps and the like.
Featuring ex and current boys of Socially Retarded, Sea of Shit, Hate Basement, Machismo, Abuse Patterns, CSTVT and SHARPTOOTH.
LP comes housed in a screen printed jacket with a fold out poster/lyric sheet. 300 copies one time pressing on black vinyl."
Hell Yeah! Chicago's Rectal Hygienics unleash a platter of punishment in the vein of Twin Stumps, Rusted Shut and Brainbombs as stated above and you know we love us some attitude filled negative noise rock. Rectal Hygienics are not here to play nice, as waves of feedback and flopping guttural bass riffs and pummeling drum patterns are held at bay by a barking bile filled growl spewing all things unpleasant to say the least. Originally released as a mega-limited cassette, the RH duders have finally got this on vinyl just in time to never leave your turntable. This is sure to piss off your neighbors as it is meant to played at the highest of volumes. Viciously Recommended.
LIMITED RED WAX EDTION OF 100!!!!!!!
Obnox continues his sonic reign of terror with "Corrupt Free Enterprise", a double lp wallop out via 12XU Records -
"BIM THOMAS is a lucky bastard. Upon settling in Columbus-by-God-Ohio in the early '90s, he found himself neck-deep in a killer music scene, and soon ended up as the Ringo for the legendary blues-punk power duo THE BASSHOLES (ask the Black Keys who their influences were and that name will spring up, that's a promise). Drifting northward to Cleveland as the sun rose on the 21st Century, Thomas landed in the drum throne for spastic post-punk upstarts THIS MOMENT IN BLACK HISTORY, who even after ten years and a membership diaspora STILL rule the CLEpunk roost, while simultaneously keeping the pulse for other revered CLE outfits like THE DEATHERS and PUFFY AREOLAS. But now, with midlife on the horizon, when most ragers at least start to slow down if not skid to a halt, Thomas is revealing previously unseen musical gifts that far transcend the metronome. With his band OBNOX, of which he is the sole member (with heavy friends when he's feeling like some company), Thomas has shown himself to be a songwriter of astonishing depth, injecting punk with the soul and balladry it too often lacks. Having become a stay-at-home dad, Thomas began messing around with a guitar, teaching himself how to play and write songs, and damn, he really TOOK to it. 2011 debut, I'm Bleeding Now, was one of that year's finest albums, and sold out so quickly a reissue was necessary only a year later. His new release, the double-LP Corrupt Free Enterprise, is his 8th in only three years, and his strongest by miles. Featuring 17 scuzz-fi splatter gospel anthems-12 originals and 5 covers, including Tom Waits' theme from The Wire-that run the gamut from nasty punk flameouts to ardent slow-burners, CFE spans four sides, each of which plays as an E.P. in its own right. Thomas has never shied away from bold statements, but CFE is his boldest and most ambitious yet."-Ron Kretsch. Packaged in gatefold sleeves with download."
AMEN!!!!!! Lamont "Bim" Thomas is gonna save rock n roll even if it kills him and on his latest, "Corrupt Free Enterprise" he pulls out all the stops! It's full of the blown out, soul scorching rock n roll jams we've come to expect from the former Basshole and current Puffy Areolas drummer/noise monger / guitar strangler extraordinaire. Picking right up where he left off on his "Canabible, Ohio", "Smoke Woody Haze" and "A Ragin' In The Sun" EPs, as well as his Permanent Records lp "Rojo", Obnox has concocted his no-fi punk blasted opus, refracting all of pop history into his own unique demented in-the-red, fuzzed up way--from garage to gospel, and from hiphop to r&b, topped off with some badass covers!!!! There's probably not much need for convincing you to grab this one, but even if you've never dove head first into an Obnox lp, this one is surely the perfect introduction. M****F**** RECOMMENDED!!!!!! Did we mention we have the limited red wax edition?!?!?!
ORIGINALS HAVE FETCHED UP TO $50!
Just when the reissue game couldn't get any more top notch, Superior Vaiduct took that notch and moved it up even higher. We'll let them fill in the particulars on the Suicide vocalist's debut solo offering:
"In 1980, shortly after Suicide’s second full-length, Martin Rev released his first solo album on preeminent No Wave label Infidelity (Lust/Unlust). Uninhibited by the trappings of a collaborator, Rev was freed to explore his most experimental and pop leanings with dirty synths, dark melodies and dreamlike textures, and produced a masterpiece of modern alienation that captures a uniquely New York landscape. Echoing other electronic forerunners such as Silver Apples and Kraftwerk, and foreshadowing the work of Aphex Twin and Air, Rev’s solo outing rests firmly in the lineage of unnerving sounds from the furthest fringe of maladjustment."
Perhaps most interesting here is that Martin Rev, one of leftfield music's most iconic voices, doesn't sing at all on this record. The absence of vocals is not a lack, however, and the music is perhaps stronger here than on either of the two Suicide records. With full creative authority Martin Rev creates a slightly more optimistic (or in the very least, LESS pessimistic) vision of life in early '80s New York than what he provides with Suicide. The comparison to Aphex Twin is certainly apt, as this album predates the slew of IDM and ambient techno records that would pour out in the mid-'90s and express a similar isolated vision of the future. With originals not coming up cheap nor often, this reissue is a must and comes SUPERIORLY RECOMMENDED!
A-side is Temptations' classic "Ain't Too Proud To Beg" w/ R&B tearjerker "Cry" written by Churchill Kohlman on the flip!
Both cuts have been givin the blues rock makeover (think Janis Joplin w/ Big Brother and the Holding Company), complete with fuzzed out guitar solos, hyped up tempos, chest thumping rhythms and Lynn Carey's full bodied commanding vocals. The sizzling A-side of this single is perfect for house rockin' DJ sets and the B-side "Cry" is a perfect crooner for summertime sunsets and heart melting come downs.
This hellion had a crazy ass life! Get more delicious details from Wikipedia below:
"Lynn Carey is an American singer, songwriter, model, and actress best known as the lead vocalist in the band Mama Lion.
Lynn credits her father with introducing her to the world of jazz music and foreign film. Through him, she also met many of the legendary Hollywood stars. Harpo Marx was the first to notice her singing talent as a child and suggest she could turn pro. Her nextdoor neighbours were ventriloquist/comedian Edgar Bergen and his wife Frances and daughter Candice. At 16, she had the pleasure of sitting at John Coltrane's feet while he performed, and later became friends with pianist Dorothy Donegan, for whom she opened in a series of Los Angeles gigs in the 1980s. Among other memorable encounters, she has drunk with Judy Garland, gone on a date with Jerry Lewis, and narrowly escaped being one of the victims of the Tate-La Bianca murders, when her then boyfriend Jay Sebring invited her to Sharon Tate's house, and because of her intuition, Lynn declined. Her performances have been praised by Frank Zappa, Don Rickles, members of Monty Python and other celebrities, and she was once kidnapped by John Bonham of Led Zeppelin, from whom she escaped after quick thinking and some judo moves."
GET READY FOR A DOUBLE SHOT OF ROWDY TEXAS ROCK N ROLL!!! Fort Worth's Longshots are busting out of the gate with their debut 7 inch on Pau Wau Records, and if yer into high octane bluesy garage rock like the Night Marchers, Cab 20, Hellacopters and the Obits, these guys have yer next fix more than covered. Just ask anyone who saw them play the LA shop recently. WAY RECOMMENDED!!!!
DEAD STOCK ALERT! PRIVATE PRESS SYNTH RARITY FROM 1984!
We recently discovered a used copy of this LP and we dug it so much we tried to track down some originals from the artist himself. Unfortunately, he has no vinyl, but he does have a few tapes so we went for it! "Silhouette" is filled with funky background synth jams that are hot to trot! We've patched together what sparse information is available on the internet about this guy, take a gander:
Andrew Gordon played the following instruments on this record: "Oberhein OB 8 Synthesizer
Oberheim DSX Sequencer
Oberheim DX Drum Machine
Yamaha DX 7 Synthesizer
Produced by Andrew Gordon along with
Guthrie Thomas with Prinny Guerrero & recorded
at Total Access Studios in Redondo Beach, California with Davis and Michael Lardi engineering." - Discogs
"Andrew Gordon is an accomplished composer, producer and arranger with experience that has enabled him to create music for TV shows, film, theater and commercials. The track ‘Walking The Lonely Streets’ from his synthesizer solo album ‘Silhouette’ was used for a number of years as background music for the soap opera ‘General Hospital’ after a TV supervision picked up his record in Pasadena, CA" - A.D.G. Productions
While we (or maybe a select few) have a soft spot for cheeseball '80s film music and Silhouette has its share, there are also moments outside of "Walking The Lonely Streets" that groove hard and would fit perfectly in a DJ set of rare boogie. Privately pressed and created entirely by Gordon, this album screams "Buy me now and thank Perm later!" You heard the voice in your head, snag this!
Get ready for yer next dance party with High Functioning Flesh's self titled, self released tape. Chock full of dark pulsating electro punk informed by Berlin, Depeche Mode and New Order and cheaper than a six pack, "High Fucntioning Flesh" is guaranteed to get people moving wherever you take yer boombox. SERIOUSLY RECOMMENDED!
You need a blast of hardcore synth punk in yer life right now? Dudes, Mynx has got you covered. This is the LA band's first release and man oh man are they starting off with a bang!!! Imagine putting the Screamers in a blender with Brainbombs. Yes, definitely that unhinged and killer. Grab "Vivid" while you can. FUCKING RECOMMENDED!!!!
Trashy loud synth punk from LA? Yes please!!! Mynx rockets a brutal set of noisy hardcore screamers equal parts Crazy Spirit and Lost Sounds on their second tape release. Which of course means it's right up our alley and HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!!!!!!!! Make yer tape player happy!!!!!!
