(Re-up) Haberdasher - Songs on Love Nos. 48602-48608

1997. Slint is gone and they are never (uh, well, probably) coming back. Indie rock musicians, human like any other artist, cannot help but to be influenced by their own contemporaries and idols. Plenty of bands borrowed the syncopated rhythms, tension-release dynamics, and minimal vocal signatures of Spiderland for their own creations. Some became arguably better known in their own time, e.g. Engine Kid, June of 44, A Minor Forest. Others rarely made a splash beyond their own three-day weekend tour radius. (See also: Shale).

I never even heard of Haberdasher until a friend gave me this LP as a gift, i.e. he didn't like it and the used record store around the corner wouldn't take it. His loss was my gain - I got more than my money's worth, anyway.

If you recognize the other bands already namedropped here, you can probably hum a few bars and come pretty close to the sound of this record. Nowadays, Haberdasher are probably best known as the previous band for one of the dudes in Oxes.

feel like a number

Old Men on the Radio - WRCT Pittsburgh July 3, 2011

Time to revive this zombie with a five-hour mega-post.

Sometime in October 1990, at 3 AM on a Wednesday (if I remember correctly), as a sophomore civil engineering student at Carnegie Mellon, I turned on the radio transmitter for WRCT 88.3 FM in Pittsburgh, PA, and began my 17-year love affair with college radio. To put things in perspective, some of the hot new singles at the station were Nirvana's "Sliver/Dive" and Beat Happening's "Red Head Walking/Secret Picnic Spot" on Sub Pop, Superchunk's "Slack Motherfucker/Night Creatures" on Merge, and Jesus Lizard's "Mouthbreather/Sunday You Need Love" on Touch n Go. It was a magical time...

My last regular radio gig was a summertime shift in 2006. My last radio show was sometime in January 2007 over winter break, during what WRCT calls "random schedule." After that I started spending more of my free time on babies, home improvements, and all the other "adult" responsibilities I managed to put off until my mid-30s.

I turned 40 earlier this year. My wife asked me what I wanted to do. I'm not the "guest of honor" type so I refused any ideas for a party - surprise or otherwise. After a few weeks contemplation it struck me - Radio. I wanted to go back on the air with a couple close friends from back in the day. So we did. This is the bumbling result. Five hours of college radio by three guys with musical tastes obviously rooted in the late-80s/early-90s punk and indie scenes.

Thanks to modern technology you can download a zip file containing five 128 bitrate mp3 files covering the whole nerdly affair. WRCT records mp3 archives of every minute of broadcast in 1:10 blocks. The last 10 minutes of each file roughly overlaps the first ten minutes of the following file. To compensate for this in iTunes I set start/end times for each file to approximate continuity from one file to the next. It's not perfect but for me its close enough... and a hell of a lot easier than recording my shows on c90 cassettes back in the old days. Anyway, I don't know if my start/end times are embedded in the mp3 files here, so I noted them in the Comments field of each files' ID3 metadata just in case.

I hope you enjoy listening to this because I sure as hell enjoyed doing it.

Metalhead phone tree

Playlist: Chavez - top pocket man
Minutemen - shit from an old notebook
Come - car
Bailter Space - splat
The Speaking Canaries - life like homes
The Dead C. - This scary nest
Evergreen - petting the beast
Shorty - Hot for Teacher
Big Star - september girls
My Dad Is Dead - cool rain
The Vaselines - son of a gun
The Celibate Rifles - pretty colours
Implodes - song for fucking damon ii (trap door)
Battles - Dominican Fade
salt chunk mary - You Can't Hang
Zombi - Digitalis
Sludgehammer - Dynamite Lady
Devo - Uncontrollable Urge
thomas jefferson slave appartments - cheater's heaven
Gaunt - bored girls
Death of Samantha - geisha girl
Rocket From the Tombs - ain't it fun
Hot Snakes - hatchet job
The Ex - Burnsome
The Wave Pictures - canary wharf
Deerhunter - basement scene
Pavement - Box Elder
the dynamic truths - you take it all
the Warmers - snake charmer
Silkworm - Wet Firecracker
The Hold Steady - Banging Camp
Prisonshake - Crush Me
The Walkmen - The Rat
Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros - Johnny Appleseed
The Librarians - peace & quiet
Registrators - i call your name
The Jam - in the city
The Mono Men - took that thing
Prisonshake - almost always there
Chavez - nailed to the blank spot
Guided By Voices - jar of cardinals
The Testors - time is mine
Kurt Vile - Peeping Tomboy
Subvert Blaze - Fool
Polvo - bombsthatfallfromyoureyes
The Fall - Hip Priest
John Spencer Blues Explosion - Train #1
Beat Happening / Screaming Trees - Polly Pereguinn
Kustomized - the day i had some fun
The Effigies - body bag
Mclusky - to hell with good intentions
Volcano Suns - jak
Claw Hammer - succotash
The Embarrassment - (i'm a) don juan
Pitchblende - A Penny for the Guy
The Gordons - Sometimes
Dead Moon - Johnny's Got a Gun
Dustdevils - Throw the Bottle Full
Tom Waits - Way Down in the Hole
the 1985 - Deepest Blue
Great Plains - Letter to a Fanzine
LCD Soundsystem - Home
Nirvana - On a Plain

Various Artists - Red Hot + Bothered: the indie rock guide to dating

The track list speaks for itself.  These were mostly (entirely?) unreleased or alternate versions of songs by eighteen of 1994's hottest indie rock superstars.  It hearkens back to the day when lo-fi was often a fiscal necessity as much as it was a stylistic choice.  

Obviously, this was an early release in the now long-running series of Red Hot releases benefitting AIDS education, treatment and research.  As far as I can tell, this comp has been out of print for many years.  So, you should not feel guilty about downloading it today.  You are not taking Atripla out of anyone's mouth.  Nevertheless, if you are so inclined, please stop over to the Red Hot web site.  Poke around, learn some, maybe make a donation.

"Sensational Gravity Boy" performed by Freedom Cruise

"Still Flat" performed by Built to Spill + Caustic Resin

"The Mirror Is Gone" performed by Lisa Germano

"Mouthwash" performed by Noise Addict

"Indierockinstrumental" performed by Folk Implosion

"Some Fantasy" performed by The Verlaines

"Little League" performed by Liquorice

"Hazmats *" performed by Babe The Blue Ox

"Mainland China *" performed by Juicy

"The Fontana *" performed by The Sea and Cake

"Sotto Voce" performed by Cradle Robbers

"Rex’s Blues" performed by Jay Farrar + Kelly Willis

"Empty Yard" performed by Grifters

"Miracleland" performed by East River Pipe

"Snail Trail *" performed by Heavenly

"Hopeless *" performed by Future Bible Heroes

"Servicing Man *" performed by Flying Nuns

"Quietly Approaching *" performed by Gastr Del Sol

if we wait for others to remember...

Coral - Altamont in Dub

By popular demand - i.e. one person requested it - here is Coral's second and final LP.  All the remarks I made in my previous post about their first LP basically apply here, too.  The title is more than just a clever turn of phrase, though.  There are reggae-affected bass lines throughout.  You won't confuse this record with The Upsetters, let alone Fugazi, but the intent seems obvious to my ears.

  

Ever since I posted Pillow Talk, I've been listening to these two Coral LPs more in the last few weeks than I have in the last ten years.   As the saying goes, these records have aged very well.  Very well.  With all the chamber pop that passes for "indie rock" these days, it's refreshing to hear some authentically atonal vocals backed by a real Power Trio and put to tape (tape!) with bare boned clarity.

My old friend Doug, currently writing for Dusted and otherwise living the dream in NYC, probably said it best in a Halloween-themed column: 

Schick’s later outing in Coral marks its territory as the most depressive, backbiting, hopeless rock music ever committed to tape, with drops of your own blood. Altamont in Dub was the last release for the stalled Fistpuppet imprint; its title alone should clue you in to what’s in store: a dark, disturbing, intensive reinterpretation of a tragedy. Musically, Altamont is top notch, determinedly metallic, mostly uptempo, and pregnant with deep rhythms, but this is a cursed album that feeds into your insecurities and misgivings, fueling their cold fire but inevitably leaving you assed out once it’s all over. Do you dare find out for yourself?

word.

Tanner - (Germo) Phobic

Lots of good stuff was coming out of San Diego in the early 90s.  Rocket From the Crypt (RIP) got lots of the attention, and deservedly so - you would be hard pressed to find a band more dedicated than RFTC to the absolute entertainment and enjoyment of every fan at their shows.  Of course, one of frontman John Reis' other bands was arguably far more influential.   Indeed, Drive Like Jehu is one of my all time favorites, and undoubtedly inspired a few others.  

One of Jehu's later tour partners were fellow San Diegoans Tanner.  One time ubiquitous indie behemoth Caroline even released their first LP, Ill Gotten Gains.   And if you search the interwebs for a minute or two you should be able to find a copy for yourself.  (If not, let me know.  I'll be happy to upload upon request).  

The follow-up LP (Germo) Phobic was far more difficult to find.  Not just in today's blog- and P2P-driven communities.  I mean that when the CD was hot off the presses you could not find the fucker anywhere.  The label never even serviced my old college station, WRCT - and in those days, EVERYONE serviced WRCT.  I never saw a copy at my local record store, either, and it was not for a lack of looking. The scarcity continues today.  Google doesn't seem to know about any other blog uploads, so I'm just trying to do my part.

Enough with the preamble.  If you like Jehu and similar-minded tight, tense, and intense guitar-driven rock, get to clickin'.

we were the right ones

French Kicks - One Time Bells

In my mind this is an obvious follow up to my previous Natural History post.  More early-oughts NYC indie pop, with their own unique twists.  French kicks were more apt to put some abrasion in their guitar tones.  At the same time, their vocal harmonies could be sweeter and smoother than their gotham contemporaries.  

The reviewer who caught this album at pitchfork invoked Hall & Oates as a referential put-down.  In my book, that's a compliment.  Blue eyed soul never got any smoother or sweeter than that Philly duo's peak run a couple decades ago.  For what it's worth, I think there's a touch of Prince in some of the vocals and songwriting, too.  

we get lost every time

Some Velvet Sidewalk - Whirpool

Some Velvet Sidewalk were contemporaries of Beat Happening in the late 80s/early 90s Pacific Northwest scene.  Not surprisingly, K Records released most of their recordings.  They shared Beat Happening's minimalist approach to rock, but Some Velvet Sidewalk were a bit more... there is no way to candy coat this... talented.  

Even then, it took SVS a couple albums to really get their stride.  Whirlpool is my personal favorite album of theirs.  It was certainly heavier than their earlier releases, but it was also more sprawling in its sound and tighter in its performance.  No doubt this was thanks in large part to production by Steve Fisk.  

If you like slightly atonal, sometimes noisy and droning, occassionally childlike, but ultimately melodic indie rock typical of the early K Records persuasion, check it out.

i blame you

The Most Secret Method - Get Lovely

Where to start?

I suspect that some subscribers to this blog have their own  forgotten favorites, as I do.  Bands who were criminally unknown in their time.  Music so transcendent that I cannot believe I am the first to post it for download in teh blog-o-sphere.

I live in Pittsburgh but I have a few friends in DC.  In my single days that was a no-brainer weekend roadie, with time to spare for post-show Ben's Chili Bowl plus a Saturday afternoon record shopping and billiards spree in Fells Point.  

I first saw The Most Secret Method play in 1999 at the Move Studio in Pittsburgh, a dance studio/indie rock show space in a distressed suburb called Wilkinsburg.   I can't remember for sure who they opened for (I think it was Juno), but I know they made a lasting impression.  I made at least three trips after that to catch them in DC, including their sweltering farewell show at the Black Cat in August 2002.  Every trip would have been a blast regardless, but the Most Secret Method was the reason.

How to describe them?  Take the SG-driven sound of Fugazi, combine it with the post-hardcore pop slant of Jawbox, add the male-female vocal dueling of X, arrange it with the minimalistic economy of the Minutemen, front it with a Broadway-caliber singer, and back it with a fretless bass virtuoso.  If you liked the DC sound of the late 90s but you never head them before, The Most Secret Method are your new favorite band from that scene.

get ready to move

Coral - Pillow Talk

I subscribe to several other like-minded blogs - far more prolific than my own, for the most part.  There was a minor Honor Role sensation over the last few weeks when at least two of you posted the Rictus album (see here and here).  One or two follow up comments mentioned singer Bob Schick's next band Coral.  That reminded me that I've never been able to find a digital copy of Coral's first LP Pillow Talk.  

Apparently, I could not find find mp3s of that album because no one ever bought it.  There is a seemingly endless supply of  "sealed, mint condition" Pillow Talk CDs in virtual cut-out bins all across the interwebs.  I am still gainfully employed, thankfully.  Doing my part to end the recession, I sprung for a frivolous luxury and ordered myself a copy ($5 postpaid!).  

So here you have it.  If you like Bob Schick's vocals (not everyone does), read on.  If you liked the indie-blues arrangements of Come, and if you dig Crazy Horse devotees like J. Mascis, Silkworm and Karl Hendricks, this is very much in the same vein.  If you slept on this record 15 years ago, here is your shot at redemption.

i remember it all so clear

Gear Jammer - Horsepower 2000 7"

Here's a response to a recent post by our like-minded friends at [shiny grey monotone]

This was Hazelmeyer's short-lived post-Halo of Flies band.  They only released two 7" records as far as I know.  Check out the other one here.

i drink, too

Killing Capitalism With Kindness - An Xpressway Records Compilation

The early 90s were apparently a very prolific time for musicians from the land of the long white cloud.  College radio dorks like me dropped the needle on anything from the Flying Nun and Xpressway labels that crossed our path.  Ultimately, Flying Nun got most of the attention, but Xpressway was clearly the more adventurous label.  

Killing Capitalism With Kindness was an Xpressway compilation of artists - some of whom were familiar to international college radio dorks like myself, but many of whom were not - leaning towards the lo-fi, experimental side of kiwi indie rock.  

Every song on this comp was intentionally recorded in "substandard" conditions.  Songs range from hauntingly beautiful to smartly melodic, with fuzz, hum, and tape hiss serving as just another instrument.  The collection was assembled by Peter Jefferies of This Kind of Punishment, who close out the set with the dark and stirring "Reaching an End." 

brought to the ground by the oldest cliché

The 1985 - Nerve 80

Since my friend John commented on my last post, I will respond by taking food out of his mouth.

The 1985 began as visionaries.  In the mid 90s, the most common indie rock touchstones were from the early 70s - a la Neil Young  - and the early 90s - a la Slint.  The early 80s were treated like that kid in middle school who still peed with his pants around his ankles.  A handful of bands, though, dripped with golden inspiration from the likes of PiL, Gang of Four, Devo, MX-80, and Contortions.  Among those prescient tastemakers were Pittsburgh's own The 1985.

The '85 were not mere revivalists.  There was a (most likely) conscious similarity to contemporaries like Nation of Ulysses and Arab on Radar, and a (perhaps more) coincidental sonic kinship with The VSS and Clikitat Ikatowi.  

Nerve 80 was the first of two full length albums from the '85.  I am proud that I contributed to its creation, while also disappointed in my inability to gain them any greater exposure.  Several dozen copies of the CD are likely still in the possession of "John," occasional commenter on this very blog.  If you dig this CD please consider making contact with him for a hardcopy, as well as his more recent musical adventures in ((microwaves)).  

red hot party favor

Gapeseed - Project 64

I used to gobble up stuff like this as fast as people could put it out.  Angular, dissonant rock with equal parts chaos and melody.  Maybe a cross between Sonic Youth and Beefheart.  Polvo was the obvious leader of that pack, but Gapeseed deserves mention as well.  

Legacy?  As I've written before about other records on this blog, web searches turn up only the most rudimentary information about Gapeseed.  For what it's worth, I don't plan to throw this CD into my sell pile anytime soon.  Then again, demand for regionally obscure indie noise-pop is unusually low right now.  

ceci n'es épuisé

Flower - Concrete Sky (1987 - 1990)

I've always had a soft spot for the indie rock happening in NYC in the late 80s.  Sonic Youth of course, but also DustDevils, Nice Strong Arm, Live Skull... that stuff was very popular among the WRCT rock DJs when I started in 1990.  

This is one that slipped under the radar but should not have.  Flower definitely shared some of the sonic dissonance with the aforementioned bands, mixing in a bit of Joy Division's darkness and Mission of Burma's melodic sense.  After Flower, two of these guys went on to form Versus.

Concrete Sky is a compilation of Flower's total recorded output - the Hologram Sky EP and Concrete LP - plus a live track from the compilation NYU's Sorority Sampler.  It's all out of print, originals and reissues, so don't feel guilty.

my nightmares are dreams of angels

Garden Variety - Knocking the Skill Level

Nowadays, of course, you can't say the e-word without conjuring the horrors of asymmetrical haircuts, eyeliner, and really bad music.  However, some of us thirty-somethings can remember a time in the early 90s when the word "emo" did not necessarily mean "teh suck."  

Equally drawing inspiration from Rites of Spring, Jehu, and the wide, wide world of pop punk, the second wave of emo (presuming we all agree that the first wave began and ended in DC - Rites of Spring, Embrace, Gray Matter, et. al.) burned brightly for a few years before Carraba and the Fall Out Boys gave the e-word whole new meaning*.  

Which brings me to Garden Variety, who caught lightning in a bottle with this album.  If, like me, you prefer Frame and Canvas and Yank Crime over Every Night Fireworks and Suicide Invoice, then have a listen.

If you like this record I suggest heading over to Wilfully Obscure and grabbing the New Sweet Breath singles.

P.S. the Garden Variety singer's next band was Radio 4, who similarly practiced "dancepunk" before that genre also became synonymous with "teh suck."

walk out of your chatroom

*crybaby kiddie-punk shit

Baby Astronauts - All the Pancakes You Can Eat

My friend Steve turned me onto this record at WRCT sometime in the early 90s.  He said they were "Minneapolis' Minutemen," which isn't too far off the mark.  To my ears they were also sonic contemporaries of Homestead Records mainstays like The Embarrassment, Salem 66, and Big Dipper.  

The record was pressed in a series of 1000 copies with unique cover artwork.  Each cover was cut from a huge original painting that must have been - if my math is correct, and I like to think that it is - over 1000 square feet in size.  

The attached image here is not my copy, by the way.  I found mine at Jerry's in Pittsburgh somewhere along the way, but it's packed away in a stack of LP boxes at the moment.  This image is blatantly swiped from the blog one base on an overthrow (thanks dude).

Download and enjoy, because unless you look hard you'll probably never find a copy of your own.  There is also a CD version out there, released by Big Money Inc., which includes 14 bonus tracks.  If you happen to have one let me know.  I'd love to hear it.

collector scum click here

The Lot Six - Gwylo

I never would have known about this record at all were it not for my summertime DJ gig at WRCT in 2002.  This was a band who, on this album at least, was willing to experient and mix styles over the course of nine tracks.  Often that's just another recipe for shit sandwiches, but when it works - and it works on Gwylo - it can be awfully satisfying.  

I hear influences like Fugazi and Jehu on dynamic rockers like "This is Entertainment."  "Last Flight of the Spruce Goose" is all Tex-Mex desert shuffle.  "Coincidence Reprise" makes some lo-fi experimental strokes.   "The Tiny Tin" dips into the psychedelic effects toybox.  

into it

Nothing Short of Total War (Part One) - Blast First comp (1989)

Tonight it's a pigfuck compilation double shot.  If you like the TnG comp posted earlier you'll probably love this.  Released in 1989 by the Mute imprint Blast First, Nothing Short of Total War was a who's-who of the indie pigfuck noise rock scene on both sides of the pond. 

Don't let the compilation tag fool you.  This is meant to be played from beginning to end, and you'll understand once you press play.  Don't let the familiar titles fool you, either.  This is not some cheesy label sampler rip-off.  Most of these tracks are live, demo, or alternate takes.  

I guess we shouldn't hold our breath for Part Two, eh?

there's no fucking culture there

(sorry for the rapidshare link... it's a big'n)

God's Favorite Dog - Touch n Go compilation (1986)

It probably goes without saying, but this compilation was the beginning of Touch n Go's salad days.

1. Butthole Surfers: Eindhoven Chicken Masque

2. Killdozer: Sweet Home Alabama

3. Scratch Acid: The Final Kiss

4. Hose: Down By The River

5. Happy Flowers: Colors In The Rain

6. Big Black: Every Man For Himself

7. Big Black: Crack Up

8. Happy Flowers: All I Got Were Clothes For Christmas

9. Hose: How Many More Times

10. Scratch Acid: Holes

11. Killdozer: Sonnet

12. Butthole Surfers: The Legless Eye

pigfuckers, all

Love Cup | Hum | Dis- | Steakdaddy Six - Twelve Inch Records "Single of the Moment" series

The artwork for these singles is as hard to find as the singles themselves nowadays.  I have to admit, I don't own any of 'em myself.  I forget where I stumbled upon these mp3s but I'm glad I did. 

Twelve Inch Records can describe these better than I can:

Lovecup - Tearing Water b/w Juggernaut

Single of the Moment #1 (1992)

Every scene, every era has a great unsung band and Love Cup is that band for Chicago-Urbana in the early 90's. They found a perfect balance between metal and indie rock and influenced my band [Poster Children] and had an even greater influence on Hum. 

Hum - Hello Kitty b/w Roar, I'm a Tiger
Single of the Moment #2 (1992)

Jeff Dimpsey (formerly of Bad Flannel and Poster Children) takes up the bass after Baltie leaves to form Mother and Andy makes his last appearance on guitar and vocals. Recorded in the big city of Chicago with Brad Wood at the soon to be very hip IDFUL. This single moves even closer to the now familiar Hum sound.

Dis - Ed Was Solace b/w Girl Song

Single of the Moment #3 (1992)

Dis was the only 12 Inch band not to hail from the twin cities; they were a trio of Albini familiars hailing from the city of Milwaukee. Their song Ed Was Solace was their entry into the hearts and minds of the Twelve Inch family. Chris Fuller played guitar and sang, Rob Sieracki played bass and sang. Matt Morgan played drums. Recorded with finesse by Steve Albini in his home studio.

Steakdaddy Six - Rubber Pants b/w Play

Single of the Moment #4 (1992)

This single was recorded by Hum drummer Brian St. Pere at his home studio. Two drummers, heavy guitar and wah-wah bass sounds like a recipe for disaster but these guys pulled it off with panache and a sense of humor. They were the figurehead band of Twelve Inch, releasing all of their music on the label.

get 'em