Bonjour! We's just got back from a week long trip to Marseilles over in France where I participated in (& won) a mussel eatin competition what's paid the rent & then some. I ate'em w/just about everything you can imagine; white wine, butter, parsley & bacon, vinegar, remulouade, mustard, aioli.....you name it, it went down my gullet. And the weather....you couldn't have asked for nicer, about all's we did was sit by the sea, eat, laugh & drink wine. I could get used to that life. I had a good time on them nude beaches though I didn't dare...you know what.There was lot's of eye candy to oogle, at least for me. MG didn't fare so well. Most of the fella's goin al fresco the day we was there was older & desperate. I didn't pay'em no mind, my eyes was trained on more voluptuous anatomy. At the end of our jaunt MG said she'd just about rather blow Janet Reno than fuck any of them old frogs we'd seen cruisin through the sand. Where does she come up w/this stuff? There was a trip to sample some local cheese, a stop to a foie gras farm-which was so good I could eat it 365 days a year-all in all a fantastic time. And every bit of it financed by me eatin more mussels than anyone in France. Do we live the life or what? But now here I am, back on the dreary ol' East Coast & w/a ton of shit what's waitin on a yay or gay. Never a dull moment, that much is for sure. Here we go;
Television Ghost (or TV Ghost) sent over what they call an 'anti record' that's basically a #rd run of a one-sided test pressing that blend's the primitive energy of the Cramps doin 'Rocket In My Pocket' (think the Hot Club '77 lp version) in the middle of (another) Three Mile Island meltdown. That the track is called 'Atomic Rain' just makes the icin on the cake that much sweeter. A proper 7" on the De Grasi label is either out or imminent. Great stuff, check'em out at; www.myspace.com/televisionghost
2 cd's from the Australian label Spanish Magic have been pullin their fair share of time on the player recently. One's a solo outing entitled 'Lid Domestic Dome Bin' from Naked On The Vague's Matthew Hopkins (here known as Bad Tables) that see's our hero way outside the box, eerily & ably bussing large amounts've murk & urp, not to mention wadin through large vats of oozin rot that's enough to make NOTV sound almost like a Pop band by comparison. The enclosed listenin instruction alone are enough to make you never cook at home again, but rather order a LARGE Chinese pizza for delivery........ not to eat but dissect. Like the sign reads, 'repeat until dead'. I hear ya.
I believe Castings is the label's main brain & on their 'Punk Rock Is Bunk Squawk' it's easy to see why. I don't hear the Wolf Eyes racket that was insinuated to me, it's more like vintage Boy Dirt Car when they decide to role up their sleeves. But then it dips ably into a MEV-like sound pool & there's even harmonic 'n ambient interludes that practically beg for a refill of red in the goat skin. With all the great post, post, post S.P.K. electronic char comin outta the land down under lately, my only wish is that Neil Hill was still alive (& knighted) to bask in the harsh, noisy warmth that he helped to forge. Go to http://www.spanishmagic.org/ for more info.
And while we're (sorta) surfin the Aussie wave's, a fella in Oakland by the name've George Chen knows something about bein one up in the game. Besides the fact he was the 1st person in the bay area to have that Tyvek dbl, he's also responsible for a series of cd's called Zum Audio that now has a 2nd volume. I ain't never heard the 1st one, but you know, I get the idea. Some swat, some bunt, but they's all score. Lot's of familiar movers (John Wiese, Can't, Yellow Swans) & shakers (Silver Daggers, Deerhoof, Axolotl) + them's what not household names. Yet. My fave track is from the Oz rep, Lakes ( Sean Bailey of Paeces), whose cover of the Art Bears 'Song Of Investment Capital' sounds like a Ted Milton croon while racin downhill on a pogo stick. He herks 'n jerks but delivers the goods, all still in solid form. No mess! It's available from; http://www.zumonline.com/
Lakes is in the middle of a US tour as this goes online & if you've seen him, you already know about this new cdr that's bein peddled entitled 'Magic Food'. If not, stay tuned. Either way, your in for a treat. There's great percussive clatter, ecclesisastical organ wheeze, mysterious gnaws & gnarls, basically Lakes speaks in many different tongues-which rhymes w/Youngs-but the haunting cover of the late Gareth Williams 'Generous Moon' (from his rare cassette-only deal released back in '85) ALONE is easily worth the price of admission. If he ain't stoppin through your burg, try invertedcrux@hotmail.com & see what's what.
For those of you what missed the Home Blitz 7"ers 1st time around, not to fret. They's now been digitized via the Gulcher label. Not only do you's get them singles cuts, but also ones from the 'Friends & Family' cassette as well as tunes from the forthcomin lp that's right around the corner. More info at; http://www.gulcher.gemm.com/
or try homeblitz@gmail.com
And speakin of Home Blitz, they's also 1/3rd of this 7" comp called 'The World's Lousy With Ideas (vol 1)' that's lookin to be a contempo Mell Square or somethin. 1 track each from HB, Nothing People & some band called Boys Club whose number 'Gotta Get Right' is sure to be a lost classic within a few years. Supposedly released on a label outta Hawaii, there's no info anywhere's I can see. Email Home Blitz at the above account to see if they's still around. Def. worth the effort.
Slicin Grandpa ponied up w/their newest release, a split 7" between them & Sparkle Girl. Readers of this Blog knows that Slicin Grandpa can do no wrong, so let's focus for a moment on Sparkle Girl's admission. Hmmmm.......I'd say they sound very much like the grizzly mayhem spawned from that rotator blade off that helicopter just moments before/after it loped off Vic Morrow's head while makin that Twilight Zone movie. SG aren't quite so dramatic, eschewin decapitation for a good old fashioned aural vivisection & since it's unlikely they's ever gonna be invited to play halftime at the Super Bowl, the NFL's none the wiser to their gutteral hijinx. Released on the Soccer Mom Ebonics label in a #rd ed. of 500, available at; www.myspace.com/sparklegirlpresents or email SG at; elmn8tr@hotmail.com
A Vancouver label called Sweet Rot's got a couple of 7"ers out there as well. One's a 3 bagger from the seemingly prolific Blank Dogs & not only has he bullseyed the I Braineater style of loner, punk/effects rip, he's now got a matchin city address to boot. Catholic Boys rock it w/a decidedly Dangerhouse approach, the results of which should make every Jay Reatard fan squeal w/fright. Or delight. I guess it depends on how your cuttin up the eightball. Find these at; http://www.s-srecords.com/
As you may've gleaned from the article in the debut edition of Z-Gun magazine (out now!), San Francisco was one of the main cities to bypass the Punk-to-Hardcore formula w/a dazzling array of diverse.......well, Artpunk. If you ain't seen said article in question, well, get a copy! It cuts a broad swath but you will learn somethin, that's for sure. And we all know how Flipper broke the mold by seemin to inexplicably fuse Punk/Art/Industrial into an uncatagorizable & feral racket that is still singular to this day. For what any of us knowed, no one ever gave'em a run for their money. But little by little, it seems Church Police may've been the 'Funhouse' to Flipper's 'Raw Power' when it came to dolin out the plodding, downer-core sludge. Anyone who ever talked to that voice on the other end of the phone at Subterranean/Thermidor way back when & asked about Church Police was told 'tape's exist' & they was 'somewhere' but that's as far as it ever got. If you wrote to the address listed for'em on the MRR 'Not So Quiet' comp, them letters came back stamped 'RTS' & unopened. Then a few yrs back Stomach Ache released some stuff on a 7" from an unknown source & now this ep on Skulltones is out & it's pretty great for backin up everything I just pontificated about. Maybe it's me, but I think these guys was darker than Flipper. Could be cause I don't think they gave a shit-let's face it, 1 track on a H/C comp released 25 yrs ago ain't really the work of careerists-but could be cause I just ain't heard enough of their catalog to be sick of it yet. Church Police bring on the bum-out like Flipper only WISHED they could. When it comes to ruinin the vibe & drainin the fun, these guy's do it w/the elan of early Kilslug & any band that had Bobby Soxx as a member. Not sure how Skulltones got the call to do this, but here's hopin they's up to doin more. http://www.skulltones.com/
Order Z-Gun from; http://www.s-srecords.com/
A release I've been meanin to go on about but somethin always seems to stand in it's way is this lp on Siwa by the Broom Dusters. It's called 'Sound From The Bottom Of The Tokyo Underground' & it pretty much blows out ANYTHING you'd care to mention from the land of the rising sun that's been recorded & released over the past 15 or so yrs. And that goes for all output from Haino, including Fushitsusha. Led by Masami Kawaguchi, this also shatters the glass jaw of them other bands w/his membership, notably Miminokoto & LSD March. Forget about it! This has some of the jagged monster prowess found on that Kousokuya 'Live At Minor' cd slathered w/radioactive blues-infernal fuzz of Liquorball's 'Live In Hitler's Bunker' lp. And the singin belies that maniacal sense of glee that only the Japanese can seem to channel & enunciate. Done in an edition of 315 & housed in the spectacular silkscreen jackets that only Siwa can deliver. Check this out at; http://www.siwarecords.com/
Whew! And that ain't all of it neither. There's plenty more to go on about but I am plumb worn out. Could be the music, might be the jetlag but whatever it is, I'm done for the time bein. And I ain't gonna be around next week neither. Gotta get back to Camp Century for a reunion party. That's sure to be a humdinger. Seems all summer I've been eatin fresh vegetables, poultry, fish & game, it'll be a shock to the system spendin a week up there w/nothin but potted meats & canned goods. But I guess that's why God invented Gin. Be nice to see some old faces too. Anyways, I'll smell ya later!
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