"Static Crash"

TRIANGLE NIHILISTA

VEILED U.S. SHOWS

OCTOBER

8th. Baltimore, MD @ Str8 Cavin w/ D.J. Dog Dick, Motiv-A, Marcelle Duswamp

9th. Philadelphia, PA @ Little Bar w/ Extreme Animals

12th. Boston, MA @ Last Rites w/ Xela, Dense Reduction, Amobriax

13th. Northampton, MA @ the Elevens w/ Noise Nomads, RHS & George Myers

14th. Providence, RI @ Operatheque w/ Overpass & Phantom Selector

15th. Easthampton, MA @ the Flywheel w/ Princess Disease, Buddyship & Colin L Orchestra

18th. New Brunswick, NJ @ Court Tavern w/ Human Adult Band

19th. New York, NY @ the Morgan w/ Civilian Device

21st. Philadelphia, PA @ Little Bar (downstairs in secret room) w/ Spread Eagle & DJ NUMUW

HERDS & WORDS: TAPE ONE. SILVOX RECORDINGS FREE DOWNLOAD #1

Herds & Words existed from 2001 until 2004. Based out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Members: Jon Gill, Ryan Smith, Robert Francisco

This is the first incarnation of Herds & Words, as a three piece. Only a few shows were played under this line-up. This recording was the only set that this incarnation played. It was originally released in 2001 as a cassette in an edition of 20.

Download or listen: HERE

BEST SEVEN OF 2009

Another "Best of" list for me. This one I put together very late, very quick and very simply. Sorry if I forgot you. Don't forget to forget about this and all the other completely meaningless subjective nonsense you will ever read from anyone ever:

ADRIAN DE ALFONSO @ Vermell. Manresa, Spain. 12.03

His first show in over 2 years. It took place in a restaurant in a small town in Catalunya called Manresa. I was very surprised. There were about 4 or 5 people there that came to see the show and about 15 to 20 that were there anyway. It started out pretty noisy and then went into a repetitive bluesy sampled bass line with feeback covered vocals and microphone feedback restraintfully manipulated over it.

Y.I.T.B. @ Pavillons Sauvages. Toulouse, France 11.16

Y.I.T.B. @ Molodoi. Strasbourg, France. 11.27

The same first song at both of these shows dominated the room and everyone in it, filling the air, creating a very free & wild atmosphere. In Toulouse, it was the first time that I had ever seen him play live, solo. A slow crushing heavy beat with power-electronic influenced vocals over it and other atmospheric sounds underneath... creating a destructive soundscape. Smoke filled the room, bodies flailed privately, heads gave their necks hangovers, sweat dripped from the walls. In Strasbourg, it was very much the same except for a few very important additions to the crowd. Before the show, a very drunk Arab lady in her mid-40's came up to Yann & I . She was stumbling & mumbling while chugging a beer. During his set, however, she was stomping around the room extending her right arm and "Sieg Heil-ing". At the same time another very well dressed man was on the beer soaked cement floor, on all fours, sticking out his tongue, with his back arched, very dramatically impersonating a reptile. And there was a paralyzed man wiggling to the music in his wheelchair, a very big smile on his face. I had to take a step back & appreciate the music and what it was inspiring in the crowd.

HOLY FAMILY PARISH - LIS cassette - (Razors and Medicine)

FASENUOVA @ Casa Viva. Oporto, Portugal. 11.08

20 people came to the show and sat at one end of the room while Fasenuova played at the other. Their set was great, solely because of their sound. On this tour, Fasenuova sounded like an angry Suicide. Analog drum machines, analog synthesizers, slightly delayed/distorted vocals. A big electronic rhythm pulsating the room and everyone in it. Everyone sat, hypnotized. Each head was slightly, possibly unknowingly, nodding.

@ Cha-Cha-Razzi. Philadelphia, PA. 07.03

A perfectly paced & organized show. Starting at a good point and ending at a good point. Not too long. It ended with someone rightfully losing a tooth. It started with, by far, the best Air Conditioning set I have ever seen. A heavy buzz being slightly manipulated by subtle movements and sometimes not so subtle movements. A rhythmic wall of guitar & bass noise. If only they had played, their set would have been on this list, anyway. Next, Morgan Egg played minimal synthesizer music... setting more of an ambiance. Mark Lord took it slightly up a notch, starting the ascent. A light electronic pulse tapping with broken synth lines resembling somewhat of a melody. Spoken vocals, fingerless leather gloves. M Ax Noi Mach, myself, played last. One of my best sets in a long time. It gave people the oppurtunity to hurt themselves.

MAX EISENBERG / TWIG HARPER Collab. set @ Hexagon. Baltimore, MD 02.27

NOISE NOMADS / URTHQUAKE - split 7" - (Spooky Tree Records)

I can't stop listening to the Urthquake side. True dark ambient, slow moving, mood-setting and creepy... without the "sadness". And as it goes, Noise Nomads, even when relatively poppy are still heavier and more destructive than 98% of anything, ever. Great combination with great artwork.

L O N E T R E E

L O N E          T R E E

Lone Tree was a band from Collinsville, IL just outside of St. Louis. The band approximately existed from 2003 until 2005. All 3 members were in their mid to late 30's, at the time. Rick, pictured above upside-down, married, dad of 2 now, 1 at the time, is a former member of Hatewave. A current member of Skarekrau Radio, also known as "Wiggpaw". Chris, pictured above right side-up, father of one, blues guitarist and liqour store clerk. Sean, not pictured, builder of the bands electro-acoustic instruments.

One of the best bands that I have ever seen live. The first time was in early 2003 while on an M Ax Noi Mach tour. St. Louis. The set started out with a GIANT, rock-venue sized strobe-light blaring. Sean then came out and played a fuzzy free-form buzz. Rick & Chris ran out moments later, naked, covered in mud and growling at the audience. They ran around the room like actual monkey-men primordially imitating each other and the audience, a crazy pre-man look in their eyes. They picked up two long wooden sticks that were plugged into amps. Each had one, that they'd knock on the ground and battle one another with. Rick would occasionally run back to his pile of electronics, changing the settings/sound. 15 minutes of total submergence into psychadelic extreme overload and room-morphing time reduction/travel. The evolution of man learning and hating, human flaws and/or beauties. The whole room felt wide-open and very free. Unlike, other confrontational bands, it felt very violent but unthreatening, less emotional and more natural. At the end, they disappeared as quickly as they came out.

I ended up doing a 4 day mid-west tour with them later that year. Before every set they would sit in a closet, dilapidated stairway or toilet-paper-less bathroom and cover themselves in mud that they had brought from home. They travelled with a big bucket of swampy mud found near Chris' house. The "sticks" were hollowed-out pieces of wood with piano strings that ran inside, from one end to the other. They were hooked up to amps and when bashed made sound. Other antics ensued: toe-sucking, salvia smoking, sleeping on cement floors, life-questioning, burrito eating and puking out of moving cars. 

DISCOGRAPHY:

S/T CD-R - Sound of Tempora (2003)

split CS with M Ax Noi Mach - Breaking World Records (2004)

"Waxer Waner" CD-R - Alamagator (2004)

MORE PICS TAKEN WHILE ON TOUR 1104

BEST OF 2008

This year I was pretty anti-social and in a kind of hibernation. It was a slow year for me in a lot of ways. I only played about 5 solo shows and about 5 Angeldust shows. The least amount of shows I played in a year since probably 1997. Here are two lists. Both are top 5's. The first list is a best of with descriptions. The second list is "notable mentions" with one line reviews. Enjoy. Oh yeah, I still think everyone else's best of list sucks, and their reviews too. Don't ever forget that. In no particular order:

PRO BRO GOLD @ Big Rock Candy Mountain, 110108

This show was next door to my house. I stopped watching after the first 5 bands and went home to respect myself. A few bands later, I thought, "you know what, I think I'll go back over there and check it out again". So I walked over, into the house and down into the dungeoness basement. This guy was playing. It was really dark & he had a spotted strobe light on. Occasionally two red lights, attached to either end of his keyboard, would light up with the music. The music was really heavy blown-out speaker synth bass lines over cheap 80's techno casio beats. It was pretty dark stuff. The guy himself looked like a character straight of a "Tom of Finland" drawing. I felt like I was in some sort of a gay S&M goth club somewhere in Europe. Apparently this wasn't his normal kind of set, though, which is a pretty big bummer. A subtle head-banging/each man in their own zone kind of dance party, the best kind. Heavy rhythms, heavy bass, shitty sound. I was really surprised.

SHARKEE KATZ @ the Basement, 120908

The stand-up comedian that is famous for saying "its alright, let 'em soak in for a while". This was at a really small bar in Northampton, Mass. About 15 to 20 people were sitting all around the bar, which almost made it seemed filled. It was very cold outside. The lights were pretty low and Sharkee paced around the floor while wearing really dark sunglasses, occasionally leaning over and reading his jokes off a piece of paper. He seemed completely at ease, the most natural Sharkee set that I have ever seen. Perfectly timed, perfectly paced.

JIMMY COUSINS @ PIFAS, 120108

If you have ever heard jazz people say "in the pocket", that is exactly where these guys were. Insane. It sounded SO fucking good. The vocals were completely clear and in front. The guitar and bass were at a perfect volume. The drums were set back. The flute/horn player played farther back during most of each song and when his solo came up he stepped right up and into the front where he could be heard. It was very organic, each person was perfectly placed creating maximum live sound mixing. Great musicianship, the forgotten kind. 

VERGRABEN - "Temperance" - CS (NAZOT)

Another phenomenal Nazot tape. Grumbling noise music. Slow, rhythmic, heavy & fluttering. 23 minutes total, 7 songs, all timed nicely. Very easy to listen to. Low bass tones, slow tape sounds, sort-of creepy but not really. 

LIVING IS HARD - "West African Music in Britain 1927-1929" - 2XLP

I bought this at the beginning of the year and only listened to it once, not really liking it. But I wasn't really listening. More recently, maybe 2 or 3 months ago, I popped it on again. It's 2 records and there are about 4 or 5 songs per side. Each song is 2 or 3 guys, the vocals are always the main focus, very rhythmic and very poppy. A bongo or stringed instrument accompanies the vocals during most of the songs. It's very very catchy and very very simple. Very lo-fi but very good quality, perfect for capturing this scene. I listen to this all the time.

FIVE NOTABLE MENTIONS WITH FIVE ONE-LINE REVIEWS:

MIKEY WILD live @ Bobo's on 9th. Philadelphia, PA 012508

"I like my music scary and my girls bush hairy"

NORTHEAST POWER-ELECTRONICS FESTIVAL 

@ Jacquest Cabaret, Boston, MA 0314/1508

"Where's my leather pants? Im looking for Steve so we can dance" 

EMBARKER live @ Adventure Island. Philadelphia, PA 040408

"Like a fine wine, things age and get better with time"

TABOO live @ Scarey St. Baltimore, MD

"Like the Swans, slow, tight and heavy, the cops came and ended it early"

KITES last show @ the ICA. Philadelphia, PA 111208

"Broken bottles, ear-piercing and full throttle... in an art gallery"

3 CELL PHONE PHOTOS OF BANDS

12 NEW UNDERGROUND CASSETTES

Twelve new tapes reviewed by Mr. Francisco

GOD WILLING - "First Adult Day"

Heavy drone noise slowly reverberating, a wavering buzz. When the first side gains in intensity and wavers at a more rapid pace, it takes off. It is dronely paced appropriately. The second side sounds like a guitar cable not plugged into anything beefed up with slow feedback effecting the tone. A slight melody eventually arrives buried underneath the fuzz. Vague black & white cover of what looks like 2 kids playing in a field on their knees.

JOSH HYDEMAN/ANIMAL STEEL

This is a split-tape single. The Josh Hydeman side is called "the Last Man" and stands very well on its own. The song is primarily one bassy synth loop reverberating with slight bi-products layering themselves with a near-rhythm. It's pretty slow and reminiscent of a certain song by Genocide Organ called "Conditio Humana" but with a little less melody and a lot colder. The lyrics are post-apocalyptic ("I killed the last man" are the first words in the song... "the first child of the new world" are the last). They are spoken and heavy with a lot of delay and not very much emotion.

The Animal Steel song howls and for the first 4/5th's rules. "Mouth of God" is very dooming and operatic. Again, a bass synth sound is what you primarily hear. The rhythm on this is a bit more tangible than "the Last Man". Buried effected vocals moving exactly with the rhythm. It's almost gothic but not quite. So, about the last 5th. It sucks; fizzled out noise, sort of like the dirty cum that drips out of a condom if you were to hold it upside down, post-coital. But definitely NOT in a glorifying way, more like the true essence of what kind of a failure that action actually is. Although, the more I listen to it, the more that little cum splatter drips on me, the more I like it.

The cover is cool, as you see above. Even though the girl is tied up, it seems very innocent, maybe due to the color choice & font. Like if it were a personal ad it might say "light playful bondage =)". Feathers not whips. The whole tape is only 10 minutes with approximately a minute of dead-air on each side. This should be on a 7 inch.

HUMAN HANDS - "The Youthful Body..."

This tape is "harsh noise" and actually sounds harsh. This is on the right side of that thin line between harsh sick mind-numbing fuzz and boring drone. The main source sounds like a homemade tone generator. Raw electronics powerfully buzzing. Short & sweet, 10 full-throttle minutes per side. This tape was a great surprise.

NAZOT - first 4 tapes

Marcel Knotek, Reptile Worship, Jason Crumer, Ashrae Fax

These are 4 tapes. They come out in couples, 2 at a time. The first is black, the second white. The third is black, the fourth white. All with the same very simple layout. Extremely attractive. Very mysterious. The whole package is very carefully chosen and planned. Best label around if you ask me. Forgotten Americana.

Here they are in order of release:

Marcel Knotek "East" - Better than mood or ambient music. You could put this on in that's place. Or in the place of "sounds of the ocean". It is a Catholic mass. Marcel is the priest. Subtle lazy beautiful choral singing. Call & response. You can almost hear the patrons shifting in their pew's. 92 minutes total and a GREAT fucking release to set the mood right. Light a candle, some "frankencense and myrrh" incense, put some palms above your bedroom door, write a few cryptic numbers on the doorframe and throw this tape on. Then, if free enough, you will reach true transcendental Catholic bliss.

Reptile Worship "Cocytus" - Mythologically themed. Worshipping the Reptilian race coupled with one of the five rivers that flow to Hades. The first thing to do before listening to this is picture those 2 images. The first side is called "Eyes Frozen Shut" and the second side is called "Complete Immersion". Both sides are pretty good. Glacial bass tones creeping with a subtle, nice sounding guitar distortion. As smooth and cold as ice on your way to the fiery pits. At the second half of the second side you finally reach Hades. Well, not exactly. It's like a picture taken at the making of the movie about Hades... on tape. Good sound.

Jason Crumer "Ruth" - Good solid normal noise. When you want to hear noise music put this on. No droning. Harsh with quick changes.

Ashrae Fax "Static Crash" - Dark & 80's. Drum-machine, synth chords. Strummed reverbed guitar pleasantly sustaining. Atmospheric vocals that sound a bit like nu-age music. I like them best when you can hear the actual words that are being said. I think there are only 3 songs per side, 30 minutes total. The perfect amount of time for this kind of music. This could have been an alternative soundtrack to the movie "the Breakfast Club". This is intensely growing on me. It's very pretty and gentle. Dark 80's New Age Pop.

SNACK ATTACK - "Slowed Heat" - Breaking World Records

This would qualify as easy-listening. A bunch of dancehall classics slowed down and very nicely mixed together. Good to turn on while turning your brain off or while doing something else. Not demanding but a very good listen. Mixed very well. The funny thing is, the beat on the first side that he keeps going back to is "Naa Naa" by Red Rat... which happens to be an instrumental that I have listened to at home over and over again, slowed down. While the first side keeps going back to the same beat, unifying the whole thing, the second side is a bit more all over the place. Some songs are completely panned left or right. A nice selection of beats for a nice easy listen. The end product is either a new genre called "Winter in New England Dub" or some other people might cleverly call it "White Rasta".

JIMMY COUSINS - "the Real Deal"

The Southern Psychadelic Boss. Louisiana Lounge Rock. This is an awesome lo-fi rock tape. Gospel inspired singing, mystic lyrics. The overall sound of "the Real Deal" is reminiscent of the late 70's and early 80's but of course sounds new with really fresh elements and non-traditional song structure. There is a small free-jazz influence. Prank phone calls and conversations lie between and break up some of the songs. "Good Mornin" is one of my favorites. It consists of smoothly solo-ing guitars, a strumming acoustic guitar, a stand-up bass, light percussion, a Rhodes and of course vocals. Cleverly named, its a good song to wake up to. The song "Black Dove DNA" is also a personal favorite that has guitar, flute, buried swirling/airy keyboards and drums. It's pretty mellow. There's SO many hits on here. The only thing that I don't like about this tape is the female back-up singers on 2 of the songs. It would have been great if they were a bit more restrained and not so all over the place. This tape seems pretty long (in a good way) and has a lot to offer. The main thing being that it's a great fucking listen and a small hope for the true music-kind. A lot of modern music lacks content (on all levels, corporate & underground) and this has plenty of it, coming across in the lyrics, chords, produced imagery and song-tone that all work together so well. Great "vibes".

D.J. DOGDICK - "My Swamp" - Alley Piss

It's called "My Swamp" and that's exactly how it sounds; perfectly swampy. Synth loops and tones coming from a homemade synth that sound like a real West Baltimore swamp farting. This swamp creature is lurking behind a rotting stump underneath bubbling algae while gargling piss. Frogs hiding on litter-pads. Gargling water sounds and doomy bass, really good tape quality. It sounds great. Mood music for a wet swamp, judging by the artwork I'm assuming that its wet from piss, not rain. He definitely achieved his vision on this one, judging by how the title and sound go so well together.

Along with the tape, I also received his new comic book, "Piss Bliss Vol. 1". (pictured above) It's a few different comics that are pure disgusting comedy. Trash heaps, a man made out of swarming flies, a jail cell, a psychic homo, a self-portrait or two and some DMT drug influence. I fittingly read this while I was taking a shit and at the funniest part the toilet accidentally/rightfully got clogged. So with this in one hand, I was eye to eye with one of my turds, plunging away. This is a "must have". He definitely has his own private little West Baltimore inspired world, expressed in comics and music for you to enjoy.

KNOX MITCHELL/ANTLER PISS - Green Tapes/Deep Fried

This is a split tape, co-released by "Green Tapes" and "Deep Fried Tapes". Black & white photocopied cover of what looks like Miley Cyrus, outdoors, in a trashed bathtub. It looks like there are skinny, dead autumn trees behind her. Also in the tub is a wheelbarrell. Simple & creative aesthetics. The first side is Knox Mitchell and it's painted green. Seagull noise. Echoes with light droning. It sounds like some kind of a digital synth but I have no idea.

The second side is Antler Piss. It's painted brown and called the "Fried Side". It is very minimal, light sounds. It sounds like a field recording of someone walking through the woods. The occasional windblow or twig snapping. Under it lies the hum of crickets or some other white noise producing insect. Over it lies other subtle sounds, quiet tape loops and light contact mic ruffling, maybe. I'm hoping that he's walking through the woods and toward the girl on the front cover.

TLASILA - "Merley Ressurected" - Heavy Psych

This sounds like a well-educated sound collage. It has a lot of different sounds or "jams" that are cut up and switched between pretty rapidly. It often goes back to previously heard segments or sounds. During most of the tape I felt like the narrator from the "Band of Outsiders" was about to cut in. As if Jean Luc-Goddard was American and had a speech impediment where he couldn't get the words out and just started to forcefully/sporadically burp/yell. Restraint & control, tactful planning. It has a certain mellow and contemplative style that you might find in an old foreign film. Things just happen. But not completely random, as if there is an overseer making sure the whole thing runs smoothly. It definitely has a 3rd party presence. It also has some kind of a continuous non-melody. Very good to listen to, not that demanding, sounds great and is a pleasure. This could be the soundtrack for, but not what those in the car are actually listening to, while on a renegade cross-country drive across America.

9 UNDERGROUND CLASSICS REVIEWED

This was first posted on August 10th, 2008 on the normal "American Rager" blog page.

Reviews of what I deem "Underground Classics". The idea for this came about while digging through boxes and boxes of old tapes and CD's. All of these are underground music. I consider all of these either extreme music or outsider music. All of these are form the Northeast region of the U.S. I consider all of them genuine and original. I'm thinking about bootlegging some but not all. If you ask, I'll make a copy of anything except Squidlaunch or Landed. Good luck getting through it all.

In no particular order:

1 - DAWN CULBERTSON - "The Return of the Evil Pappy Twin"

Dawn Culbertson (1951-2004). Dawn is probably one of the truest outsider musicians that I have ever met. This CD is 10 cover songs that are played on the lute and sung in a monotone voice. The whole CD has a pretty somber feel. The lyrics really take on a new meaning coming from Dawn. She speaks herself through these others' lyrics, spotlighting different themes by accentuating different lines. Certain lines that don't stand out on the originals stand out on her versions. I don't know what her true feelings actually were, but this CD certainly portrayed in how and what she sang and what songs she chose to cover. I don't know about the originals but these songs are about wanting something that you don't have and wanting to be something/someone else, songs about "going without" or being on the outside of things, socially.

But if you didn't know her while she was alive, you might not care about who she was. On that hand, these are pretty interesting stripped-down punk and heavy metal covers. Bare & revealing.

2 - THE FOURX - CS

The Fourx were Ben Jones, Keith Waters & 2 other people. I got this tape in 2001 while on tour. I played a show with them at the Berwick Institute in Boston, Mass. They were 2 drummers and 2 guitarists, maximum riffage out of smallish amps and full-on dread-drum-head banging. The live performance sounded very lo-fi. The small amp, low-end guitar that I saw live came across as much more Led Zeppelin inspired and classic rock nostaligic on the cassette. Again, very warm and riffy with the right amount of hi-end.

The tape was recorded in stereo, one guitarist and one drummer in each speaker, almost completely panned. The funny & great thing about this tape is that it sounds like each duo, either the left-speaker duo or the right-speaker duo, are playing their own song, completely separate from one another. The separate songs/duos meet in your ears and make a very complex and dynamic music. What came across as rock chaos live, came across as very well written, heavy rock songs on the tape. The two duo's battle and weave themselves together in your ears. Right after I heard this I bootlegged about 20 copies.

3 - KITES - untitled first cassette BR05

"There's a chimney fucking the sky, there's smoke ejaculating out of the top." Very simple & innocent. I know he recorded this onto a 4-track, probably in his bedroom or a closet. Now that I think of it, he might've mentioned that it was in a kitchen. Whatever, it sounds like a closet. I know it was a 4-track because while handing this to me he said that he had just received the 4-track for Christmas from his Mother. Most of the songs are lead by a bass or an acoustic guitar. The guitar or bass usually sounds quiet and folky yet pretty jagged. There's a lot of singing with heavily effected vocals, sometimes sped up. There's a lot of lyrics, like the ones mentioned above. Ambient music bridges the songs together, sometimes becoming their own songs. They are sometimes on the heavy, scratchy, noisy, 4-track feedback side, sometimes a bit more lightly & droning. The noisier parts have a casio, digital keyboard to analog tape kind of sound. It's really a sweet fucking listen. The kind of tape that you flip over and over. Recorded onto a 4-track, released on tape. There's a lot of pop sensibilities on this, buried and improved upon. Great hooks.

Before this tape I only knew Chris as the wild singer of "And That's All She Wrote" from when they played a few times with my band, "Assfagut". I think but I am not positive that I traded my first solo tape for this tape, his first solo tape. It's a small, coincidental/parallel world.

4 - SQUIDLAUNCH - "A Cesspool of Ugliness" - 7"

Western Massachusetts free jazz rock band formed in 1992. Man is the Bastard plus freak-out. Slow drums with the bass in front, leading the way and forming slow semi-stoner grooves. Out of nowhere, all of a sudden bursts of blast-type beats. Simple one-string guitar lines. Thrashy, screamed, harsh, slobbery vocals. Bass, guitar & drums, everyone on the floor. The first side has a perfect punk quality. It is very full. At the end of side one there is a lock-groove with someone saying, "pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty" over and over and over again, until time ends. Side two has a little bit of a lower sound quality. I think it may have to do with side one being at 45 rpm's and side two being at 33 rpm's. The vocals sound WAY better on side one, they are at one with the music. All in all, the quality is perfect for a 7" and for capturing their existence.

5 - M AX NOI MACH/NOISE NOMADS - 9-volt split cassette

I know this is my own release - but what the fuck ever. No one else reviews my music, especially no other American (one European does, no Africans). I feel like I should include this review because it is intensely, presently influencing and inspiring me. All the music was made by instruments exclusively powered by 9-volt batteries. This was supposed to be a compilation on Bonescraper Recordings but we were the only 2 that actually recorded 9-volt music.

I recorded my side onto a Fostex R-8 8-track 1/4" reel to reel. I used 2 home-made tone-generators and walkie-talkies for vocals & feedback. The quality and warmth of the found is so FUCKING amazing. I listened to this recently and then went out, searched, found and re-bought the same 8-track again. It made me re-care about what I was recording onto and what kind of sound I was getting recorded. Not just about the written parts and content that was being played. The songs are pretty grimey & rhythmic. Machine music, 9 volts beefed up by sweet analog recording quality.

The Noise Nomads side is sickeningly harsh. If I remember correctly, at this time he was playing with a mic running through 2 distortion pedals. Both distortion pedals were only powered by 9-volts. Unearthly yelling and growling, he'd improvise for about 10 minutes. It's a simple set-up but extremely effective. Really raw, a man standing in the middle of the room growling until his face turns red with points of release where he'd yell and his face would turn white (regular) for a second. A mic in his mouth, his pedals in one hand and his amp in the other. About 30 copies of this were made. I think 10 of those people actually listened to it.

6 -DARREN FINIZIO - "Adventures in Fragmentation Vol. 2+3"

Darren handed me this tape in 2003. He said, "you'd like this, its from 1996 and this one guy put it out but I don't think he every really got it around... I've never seen one." He was asking me to re-put-it-out. I listened to it non-stop, making all the right plans to release it - buying tapes, dubbing them and brainstorming on ideas for the cover. Like time, the idea faded away and got buried underneath projects and/or dust. The next thing I know is that it's 2007 and I'm sitting in my room going through a box of tapes. I came across this and put it on. I didn't shut it off for about 2 weeks, memorizing every word. The title is "Adventures in Fragmentation" and that is exactly what this is. It was recorded onto a 4-track in a bedroom at his parents house. A lot of this is people talking on the radio. He cut up their conversations to make them say what he wanted them to say & then threw in his own, very dark, comments mixed between, subliminally.

"It's the stuff we're made of that creates mass-murderers, unfortunately, I am not one" It goes from that kind of sound collage to him having conversations with himself as two separate personalities, each with a different voice. After some of that, there is an instrumental synthesizer song. More of the collage & then a psychadelic ultra-catchy pop song about being an outsider. All the transitions are very rapid, instantaneous. The birth of his later "identity" bands first appear on this tape: Hoppy the Frog, Dyke, Muscle Factor, Open Minded Men, etc. I still have a few copies of this left & I am planning to sometime in the near future, release volumes 4+5.

7 - SOREN - "The Pirates E.P."

The one thing that I don't like about this is the spoken vocals. Thank god they are sparse & only on one song. It makes this teeter a fine, weird line between early emo and weird free jazz. The cover-art looks like a painting that you would normally find hanging on a wall in a coffee shop. That, combined with the boss distortion not going into the red, falsely good analog sound, creates a pretty endearing effect. What makes this a nice release is remembering what they were like live. I saw them in a basement in Northampton in 1999, which is where I bought the tape. The drummer drummed on a junk-drum-set, full with kegs and random pieces of metal. The guitarist/singer wildly head-banged, his guitar feeding back hi-pitch-like and the sax player practiced a good dose of restraint. They seemed as if they were improvising but would then come together for tight written parts. The instrumental shit on this tap is what rules, the songs where the sax is the lead and carries solid melody lines. "Pirates 2" & "Pirates 1" are both highlights and examples of that. The first few songs on this tape are low-lights, but as soon as "Pirates 2" starts, it REALLY picks up. Side 1 ends with Pirates 2 and Side 2 starts with Pirates 1. A similiar sax line rides a bit smoother on #2 and then later, on #1 it destroys itself. "Ghosts", the last song, is also a highlight, slow-moving and haunting, good for actual "low-lights". If this tape wasn't recorded so perfectly it would sound a lot better. Push the tape into the red, duh. Dark pre-neo-hippy non-intellectual spazz writeen free-jazz. Pretty heavy, too.

8 - LANDED - "Everthing's Happening" - CD

Legendary Providence band. This CD rules. Sick puke non-sense vocals buried and part of the "musical texture". I'm sure that there are words and thoughts in there somewhere. Heavy psycho party-rock music, destroy the room, destroy everything and then light yourself on fire. Very groovy and VERY heavy. 7 tracks, untitled. Songs, semi-written. From start to finish this thing is un-stoppable. Just go buy this, it might actually be findable. I think this CD completely killed warehouse rock for every band that will every try to play it every again.

9 - USAISAMONSTER - "7" - CD-R

Colin & Tom rolled into Palmer, Mass to play a backyard show in a shed. Because of patrons' alcohol & weed consumption, the kid that lived in the house in front of the shed shut down the show. He shut down the show by pointing an amp out of the second story window and yelling into a mic, "everyone has to leave". He then road his bike around the yard yelling the same thing over and over and over again. I guess these were his concentrated efforts in the war on drugs. With the show shut down & myself responsible as the middle man, I found a back-up plan; another youth from Palmer's parents were out of town for the weekend. The whole show followed each other in a train over there. We cleared the living room.

Defecation played first in the kitchen, contact mics on a toy-piano running through effects pedals. After that, Usaisamonster played in the living room. Furniture pushed to the perimeter. At least six cabs formed a wall behind the drummer, 3 wide and 2 tall. Our amps faced theirs, the two drum-sets in the middle. They played one 10 minute long  song that morphed from one riff, turned into complete destruction and then fell into another riff, perfectly. Extremely head-banger friendly. Very free but perfectly joined, only they knew what was coming next & when it was coming. That song is the first song on this CD-R. A lot of the songs on this later appeared on other recordings, re-recorded. But to me, there is nothing like this "tour version". Nothing as fucking raw & heavy. Head-bang, drive your pick-up truck drunk down dark dirt-roads and hop into a lake, naked after having some sick sex and cumming all over a hairy bush. This CD-R and era of USAISAMONSTER fucked rock music and made it psychic, not psychadelic and trippy or wasteful.