June 2011

There’s a part of each month that I really look forward to. It’s not trying to piece together completely unrelated tracks that span the history of rock n’ roll, because that gets can get frustrating from time to time. It’s definitely not sitting in front of a computer muttering curse words for a few hours straight while I try to line up the segues just right, or smooth out the volume levels track by agonizing track. No, really the best part of my month is the time when I sit down, listen to the final product, and finish up the background research to write this blog post (even though most I’m sure just click the link and move onto the thing). There’s something about unearthing that unknown connection between bands, learning a new fact about an old favorite, or even stumbling across a related act (that will inevitably make it on to next month’s mix). Basically, I like nerdy things, and hopefully you do too! Otherwise, I’m sorry for making you read this crap, and here’s your stupid download link:

June 2011 Mix

1. Wet Hair – The Garden Room (In Vogue Spirit, 2011)
   Wet Hair has released a few records to date, but in my opinion you haven’t missed much if you join us at this point. The split from late last year with Naked on the Vague was the first release that piqued my interest, and this LP is leaps and bounds above their prior work. I had trouble choosing between this song and the first track as well, but this one works a little better to ease you in for this month’s journey.


2. City Center – Modern Love (Redeemer, 2011)
   With City Center we continue the theme of bands that are aging well. The first I heard about this act was from a split with Grouper, and further research showed that their earlier work was mostly forgettable electronic tinged lo-fi. So when I saw this record was out on K Records I was a little surprised, until I gave it a spin and found that they learned to embrace their pop leanings.


3. Eat Skull – Stick to the Formula (Wild and Inside, 2009)
   I absolutely love this song. Granted this band definitely has a decent amount of filler in their catalogue, but there are moments of pure pop brilliance straining to cut through the 4-track they most likely used to record. I am still waiting for the follow up LP, or has the moment passed?


4. Crystal Stilts – Through the Floor (In Love with Oblivion, 2011)
   I find this band totally satisfying, mostly because (like myself) they can’t seem to figure out what they want to be from one minute to the next. Starting out as just another lo-fi jangle pop band (can’t complain), their second full-length seems to go back even further than the 90’s, perhaps even all the way back to the 50’s? It’s there in the kick drum and the monotonous keyboards that drive this track, and especially in the vocals, which have exactly the right amount of reverb.


5. Pisces – Motley Mary Ann (A Lovely Sight, 1969)
   This record contains a pile of recordings from ’69, many of which never saw the light of day until 2009 thanks to the Numero Group label. They’re mostly just another band that was lost to the sands of time, another group of people who must have listened to Sgt. Pepper and it just sent shockwaves through their collective brain. Still there are some great tracks on this release, and I have definitely found myself singing this song (with slightly altered lyrics) to my cats, for what that’s worth.


6. The Jimi Hendrix Experience – All Along the Watchtower (Electric Ladyland, 1968)
   I spent a lot of time listening to a live cover of this song by Trad, Gras och Stenar, the hard rockin’ follow up band to Sweden’s Parson Sound. Turns out that at the end of the day, it just couldn’t hold a candle to Hendrix’s version, so that’s how this ended up here.


7. Love – Between Clark and Hilldale (Forever Changes, 1967)
   I’m pretty sure I once got hit on hard by choosing to spin this record on at a public event, by a woman who was almost old enough to be my mother. Needless to say it was one of those situations where you realize what was up long after the moment has passed. In this case that was a good thing, but remember this one for future opportunities all you bachelors out there.


8. Bill Fox – Let in the Sun (Shelter from the Smoke, 1996)
   I warned you this was coming a few months ago when I put a track by the Mice on April’s mix. Bill Fox was the vocalist/guitarist for the Mice, a band who died too soon. Luckily Fox resurfaced almost a decade later to grace the world with two solo LPs, before once again quitting music “for good.” In 2009, he agreed to let Scat repress both of his solo records on vinyl, and decided to start playing live music again. If there is any good in this world, this return to the stage will also bear recorded fruits as well.


9. The Go-Betweens – Bye Bye Pride (Tallulah, 1987)
   Everyone has a different opinion of this band. Many prefer the earlier records, where the recordings are rougher and the sound a little rawer. I can’t agree, and so my favorite records are Tallulah and it’s follow-up, 16 Lovers Lane. I actually prefer 16 Lovers Lane, but this track was what made me fall for them, and as such it will always remain my favorite.


10. Silkworm – Never Met a Man I Didn’t Like (Developer, 1997)
    Sometimes, you really can’t beat having Steve Albini as your recording engineer. I think one of the things I like best about Silkworm is the production, mainly the clarity of the different parts working together, or trying to tear one another apart. Pay attention to the emphasis on the cuss word in this one, I had to stop playing this song over the airwaves because I always manage to miss it.


11. The Frogs – Lord Grunge (Starjob, 1997)
    This remains my favorite recording by The Frogs, because it shows exactly what they are capable of due to the clarity of the production. It’s also the least strange of their records, a mini-rock opera about the rise and fall of a rock star (see if you can guess which one). Delving further into their catalogue is a sometimes rewarding albeit often painful excursion, so don’t say I didn’t warn you.


12. Butthole Surfers – Human Cannonball (Locust Abortion Technician, 1987)
    From one pack of weirdoes and onto the next, am I right? I think this is probably one of the Surfers’ most accessible tracks, and that ain’t saying much. While so many bands employ a dual guitar attack to subdue their audiences, the approach here is a dual drum kit attack, which allows the singularity of the remaining instruments room to breathe and ultimately worm their way into your brain. Which is exactly the way Gibby wants it.


13. The Red Krayola with Art and Language – Portrait of V.I. Lenin in the Style of Jackson Pollock, Part 1 (Kangaroo, 1981)
    And we’re back with another familiar face, this time all the way from mix #1 – Mayo Thompson, the only permanent member of The Red Krayola. His ensemble teamed up with Art and Language for a couple LPs, of which this is by far the strongest. The earlier works are a little rough, while the later stuff gets a little too funky for my tastes. This one balances those both sides out.


14. Gun Club – She’s Like Heroin to Me (Fire of Love, 1981)
    I don’t think there’s much left to write about this band. Their style was impossible to pin down at the time, an amalgam of rockabilly, punk, garage, and whatever else they could fit into 3 minutes. The original formation of the band included Kid Congo Powers on lead guitar, but he left the band prior to recording to join that other band he was in. He returned for ‘84’s The Las Vegas Story, but I really feel by that time the magic was gone.


15. Broken Water – Heart Strings (Peripheral Star, 2011)
    Broken Water spawned from the death of a band called Sisters (from Portland), who put out a decent LP on Parts Unknown in 2007. Their career has been a linear shift from being influenced by Sonic Youth, to being influenced by the Swirlies. Insert comment here regarding either a) never having too much of a good thing or b) wearing your influences on your sleeve.


16. Iceage – Remember (New Brigade, 2011)
    Remember when punk was awesome? It was right around that time in your life where you simultaneously discovered girls and started to repulse them. When you hated your parents, your teachers, and the man all at the same time. Iceage is your former self, but in current times, a bunch of teenage Danes struggling to make sense of this world. That’s what this record is, and that’s why you absolutely need to hear it.


17. Fucked Up – One More Night (David Comes to Life, 2011)
    Now we arrive to the penultimate track, both to this mix and Fucked Up’s new rock opera, David Comes to Life. This record is everything you hoped it could be, and nothing you feared. It is the #1 record of 2011 and I really don’t understand quite how they pulled it off. The record is a metanarrative set in Thatcherite England, which touches on themes of love, working class struggle, and questioning god. On top of that, the production is slick, and they make ample use of all three guitarists almost to a fault. The record is worth multiple listens each week, even with it’s 78 minute run time.


18. Porcelain on Porcelain – Byrdesdale Spa FC (David’s Town, 2011)
    Porcelain on Porcelain is a band from Byrdesdale Spa, UK that was active in the 70’s. If you feel like you just read something regarding that time period but can’t place it, then look above dummy. That’s right, this is actually Fucked Up, who in addition to writing a 78 minute rock opera this year, have released a compilation of fake bands that the characters in David Comes to Life would have listened to. Again, somehow they took this crazy idea and made it work very well, employing a variety of guest vocalist (Danko Jones here) to help with the charade. Someone give this band a fucking award or something already.

Next month: I’ll probably just end up posting David Comes to Life, with all the tracks mixed together. I’m almost serious.