Kowloon Walled City - Gambling on the Richter Scale (2009)

Here is a doosy of a record. I have mentioned this before, but I have been upping the par on my heavy music dosage and this record definitely fits the bill. Added bonus, they toke their name after a city within a city in China that at one point had the most dense population within a given small space. Look it up, it is rather wacky.

Gamlbing on the Richter Scale is almost as though Neurosis, Unsane, and Helmet had one hell of a baby. This is a low-end, rhythm driven band bent on pummelling you with their music. Super heavy sludge metal drenched in the most precise tones. Added bonus, the vocals, though lacking in production, aren't the usual guttural or shrill scream this music tends to have. Instead going with a raspy yell to accompany the music. Listen to "Diabetic Feet", and try to not have your mind decimated by tones. If you are looking for one band doing this sound right, look no further.

1. Annandale
2. Diabetic Feet
3. Clockwork
4. Sleep Debt
5. Paper Houses
6. Gambling on the Richter Scale
7. Bone Loss
8. More like Shit Factory

Heavy stuff, dude.

Anne - Dream Punx (2011)

I'll be the first to admit that I know very little about shoegaze. Aside from the pinnacle bands of the late 80's/early 90's, most of it is out the window for me. Besides, it seems that these days shoegaze, or even dream pop, has quickly become an over saturated genre, everyone and their brother doing their best to emulate My Bloody Valentine. I could really do without all that posturing or arguing over the merits of the production quality of a given work. I'll just take Ride over any of that.

That being said, I have thrown Anne's aptly titled Dream Punx, into several playlists and have enjoyed most of what I have heard. At this current moment of vegetation I can't necessarily point out what songs I like/dislike, but there are some great songs among the mix. It ranges from deriving MBV's soaring hooks, to Chapterhouse's melodic meandering. Either way, is it the best record in the world, no. But it is a refreshing take on the genre.

Tracks:

1. All Your Time
2. Virginal Plight
3. Thrush
4. Lower Faiths
5. Tarvantovaara
6. Get It How You Live
7. Perfect Teeth
8. Summer Babies
9. Punk Bike

Nothing clever here....

Old Man Gloom - Christmas (2004)

Let it be known, I am the king of procrastination. While further putting of grad school letters of intent, I am trying to breathe some life back into the blog. My loss is your gain. Lately I have found my musical tastes have had a strong influence of heavy music, albeit doom, stoner, and black metal to really heavy hardcore. This probably has something to do with the band that I am, which also prescribes to that cornucopia of genres. It has been rather gratifying, introducing my palate to new bands, such as Bone Awl, Midnight, and revisiting older bands.

One such band would be the veritable supergroup/conglomeration/collective, Old Man Gloom. Not only have Old Man Gloom's members done time in several bigger aggressive bands, but they have this wonderfully mysterious philosophy that surrounds the band. The mysticism only furthers the wonderfully weird music, pushing it into a realm that surpasses the genres in blends.

Christmas was their last studio full length the band recorded, and probably their best. I was sold on this band the first time I heard "Gift", the opening track. It is a sludgy mess of a song that has a weird primeval acoustic/chanting opening. The sonic power emitted from song once the primitive intro explodes into the main part of the song is incredible, pure sonic weight here. And it doesn't let up from there, in between ambient and very creepy interludes are more songs that bend genres and exert their weight on your ears. "Valhalla" is another great track, starting as a heavy hardcore/sludge song only to transform into an instrumental that sounds like it is being played by norse gods. That is seriously the only way I could describe that ending riff.

Old Man Gloom is apparently still a band/institution. Still hell bent on spreading their evil all over the world, though the beast has been silent, aside from reissues, since 2004. If you enjoy any sort of heavy, aggressive music, you will enjoy this record. Spread the gloom.

Tracks:

1. Gift
2. Skullstorm
3. Something for the Mrs.
4. Sleeping with Snakes
5. Lukeness Monster
6. 'Tis Better to Receive
7. Accord-O-Matic
8. The Volcano
9. Close Your Eyes, Roll Back Into Your Head
10. Girth and Greed
11. Sonic Dust
12. Valhalla
13. Christmas Eve parts I, II, & III (alt Version)

This is a gift.

Pedro the Lion was fucking heavy.

Literally and figuratively, folks. Just skip to around 5:20 in this video for a monster of a breakdown. Dude had his tones and sonic weight covered to a T.


In other news, your regular scheduled programming shall be returning very soon. Holidays and getting grad school applications ready has been time tasking, along with work. Soon my friends, soon.

Best of 2011

I have been contemplating this post for quite some time now, and a finite answer still eludes me. While 2011 was a great, great, year for music, it seems to me that there few front runners for albums that were utterly fantastic. Albums that captivate your attention from front to back, the ones that are all killer, no filler. Ones that stay with you for if not the better part of the year, then years to come. I've been looking at other blogs lists, trying to see if there is anything I have missed and I found myself questioning why certain albums were even on such lists. People just seemed to put their faith in mediocrity, but that's fine, it's all opinions here. And I am sure people will think the same of mine. Such is life. Moving on.

Best 5 records of the year, in no particular order:
1. A.A. Bondy - Believers
2. Brain F≠ - Sleep Rough
3. Condominium - Warm Home
4. True Widow - As High As The Highest Heavens And From The Center To The Circumference Of The Earth
5. William Elliott Whitmore - Field Songs
There you have it. The 5 records that I think are perfect from front to back. Bondy and Whitmore have ceased to disappoint me, churning out near perfect records every time. Brain F≠ wrote one of the catchiest and urgent punk records of the year. Where as Condominium punished our ears with their long awaited lp, a truly talented band. And True Widow blew me away with their blend of Shoegaze and Stoner Metal, loud, heavy, and utterly beautiful music.







Honorable Mentions: Owen - Ghost Town, David Bazan - Strange Negotiations, Omegas - Blasts of Luancy, The Men - Leave Home, Scapegoat - S/T, Pygmy Lush - Old Friends, Bonnie Prince Billy - Wolfroy Goes to Town, Weekend Nachos - Worthless, Vacant State - Fill the Void, Tenement - Napalm Dream

Best 7in/Eps of 2011 (no particular order):
1. End of a Year Self Defense Family - Everything the put out in 2011
2. Career Suicide - Cherry Beach
3. The Ropes - S/T
4. Culo - Toxic Vision
5. I can't remember, opps.
Aside from the fact that I forgot what else to throw in this category, overall I would say that I picked up a good handful of great 7in that came out this year, but this is the cream of the crop. EoaY continue to confuse with name/personal/philosophy changes, but they continue to put out incredible music. And a lot of it. Cherry Beach could be counted as a reissue, but it has two new songs on it so I say otherwise. The Repos/Ropes are back a with a bang, only slightly weirder. And Culo, a band I kind of think is annoying, blew me away with Toxic Vision.

Some bands that released damn good demos from 2011:
Bald pig, Beautiful Mother, Last Chaos, Broken Prayer

Best reissues of 2011:
Lucero - That Much Further West, Sebadoh - Bakesale, Citizens Arrest - A Light in the Darkness

Records that I am sure are really great, and could at least be honorable mentions, but I really haven't spent all that time with them because I am lazy. Or they could just suck, but need to at least be notated:
Shoppers - Silver Year, any Thou record that came out this year, Blut Aus Nord - 777 Sect(s), J. Mascis - Several Shades of Why

Best reunion of the of one of the greatest bands in the world, who will continue to amaze the masses:
Guided by Voices, duh. Oh, and Archers of Loaf.

Best album of 2012, because I am so awesome that I can see into the future:
The Boston Strangler - Primitve. Duh.

The Boston Strangler - Primitive (2012?)

I am hopefully going to do one more normal post before I hit up a year's end list, so be prepared. In the meantime, lets do some time traveling to the future. Primitive, I think, comes out 2012, which is a shame because it would be one hell of a way to top off 2011. I am somewhat at a loss of what to say about this album. Really, I just want to let you know that you would be utterly stupid not listen to this record, and then an utter fool to not understand it's greatness.

Primitive comes at a crucial moment for the genre of hardcore in the present. Hardcore can be pretty lackluster, and sometimes the stretches of mediocrity can last too long. I am not saying that contemporary hardcore has no redeeming qualities, there are so many great bands doing great things right now. However, the quality over quantity speaks differently, out of how many bands that play something remotely close to hardcore are good, especially the more "top 40" bands that get notoriety. And so we have The Boston Strangler to remind us that hardcore can be thrilling, that it can separate the substance from the loads of crap.

This album is perfect, front to back. That's my album description. Suck it.

Tracks:

1. Primitive
2. Overdose
3. First Offense
4. Locked Inside
5. Boston Strangler
6. Gonna Make You Pay
7. Disconnect Me
8. Overcrowded
9. Violence Addicts
10. Waste of Time
11. Burglar Breakout

Make like a tree, and get outta here.

Never Healed - S/T (2008)

Realistically, I should be building my personal website, but I am the king of procrastination. And, I realized that are more important matters to attend to. That being, uploading one the best hardcore lp's of the past decade. I'll admit that I felt somewhat abused, rather taken advantage of, when I realized I had not shoved the excellence of Never Healed's S/T record down your throats. Shame on me.

Now, we have already covered the fact that I am a fanboy of a certain family tree of hardcore punk bands stemming from the Northern Cali region. This is not new news. Never Healed, though, were special, a veritable, and underrated, supergroup. A blistering 5 piece whose members had done time in Look Back and Laugh, Yaphet Kotto, Lights Out among many others. Take the influence of those former bands, that being hard as nails hardcore punk, turn it up to 11. Yeah, that awesome.

In all serious, the music is fantastic. Sure, they maybe reinventing the wheel, but the style in which they accomplish that is quite unique. It was heavy, and not in the loud or 90's metalcore way, but in the "whoa, that riff just total dropped an anvil on that old lady" way. Their blend of hardcore was evil sounding, the song "We Are Ruins" is a 42 second lesson in making a hardcore song as hard as a box of nails. So, take this already evil instrumental sound, and then place Casey's vocals over it and you are really taken to a dark place. To say Casey had a unique vocal style, especially in Never Healed, would not be an understatement. Where as most bands of this age were shouting over their band, Casey's vocals took a page from the black metal book. Visceral, shrill screaming about the world ending and the human race being a disease. Pure contempt without sounding trite or redundant, not something many bands can achieve these days. Plus, though I never had the chance to see them, it looks like they threw one hell of a live show (I've attached a video from their first show below, that's right, first show). Enjoy if this is your thing.

Tracks:

1. Forever Never Ends
2. Ruins
3. Lonely Crawls
4. Wind and Smoke
5. Waits to Destroy
6. Where the Crosses Grow
7. We Are Ruins
8. Far We Fall

We are death, we are disease.

A.A. Bondy - Believers (2011)

Now didn't I tell you some sad sack music would be following up my first post back? It wouldn't be a return to form if I didn't post something more along the lines of slow indie rock with folk leanings. I don't intend to mislead, Believers is not a dismal record made by someone with a beard. Nor is it dismal, or outright depressing. But it is a contemplative record, one to sit with as it's sounds wash over you.

Believers is Bondy's third record, one that displays full artistic maturity. American Hearts was a lesson in Americana, soothing folk music derivative of Dylan, Guthrie and others like them. His second record When the Devil's Loose, showed experimentation, still with folk leanings but with songs like "A Slow Parade" and "False River" becoming songs that showcase the electric guitar as they meander their way into your ears. Believers takes that sound he dabbled in and goes head on. The best way to describe this album is to listen with headphones of a sort and literally let the songs and their tones wash over you like waves.

There are moments where the structured song bears a resemblance of the Americana roots where he came from, like "Drmz" and "Surfer King". But for the most part, Bondy is letting the noise carry him through his songs. The ambiance of "Skull and Bones" will leave you with a very haunting feeling. "Highways/Fevers", the middle point of the record, slowly builds tension for the release of "Drmz", the next track. The record may take more of an invested listening to fully understand it, but once that is achieved, it becomes a very rewarding listen. Like all of A.A Bondy's work, one can't say Believers is his best, all his records hold their own merits of greatness. However, the mature sound he as grown into is extremely exciting and only points to more great music in the future.

Tracks:

1. The Heart is Willing
2. Down in the Fire (Lost Sea)
3. Skull & Bones
4. 123 Dupuy Street
5. Surfer King
6. Highway/Fevers
7. Drmz
8. The Twist
9. Rte. 28/Believers
10. Scenes from a Circus

Out of motion, into the sea.

Gauze - Equalizing Distort (1986)

Where has the time gone? It's been half a year since the last update, and boy does time fly. It is time to resuscitate the ole' blog. Time to wear off the shackles of the soothing sounds of classic rock that haunts my mind at work. Time to scoff once more at people's high opinions about their music. Time to, once more, lock my opinions about music back up in my ivory tower. So, are you prepared for more posts about me being a fanboy of certain musicians? Or the wonderful sounds of cult hardcore punk? Or just bad music? Then let's take this journey together.

I need to get my bearings straight in my first post, and the best way to do that is post some classic hardcore punk. Friends who slowly shake their heads at the noise that will be emitting from their speakers need not fear, some slow sad sack music is coming right up to always balance my eclectic blog. First things first, Japanese hardcore, and the almighty Gauze to be specific.

Now I have noticed that an individual into hardcore ages, evolves, in a very distinct way. Granted, this formula doesn't work with everyone, otherwise mosh hardcore would be the way of the buffalo, as they say. But I have noticed it when it comes to people that are into classic hardcore and punk. As one ages, the classics just don't become enough anymore, sure the contemporary sounds can help, but you will always want more. You find yourself down a path to the cult, the sounds of the elite, the taste grows weirder and darker. In this spectrum comes Japanese hardcore, the definitive answer when it comes to cult hardcore punk.

It's relative to many people of many genres. Fans of hardcore turn to cult hardcore, punk and noise, fans of metalcore turn to the Neurosis brand of music (more commonly referred to as "beard metal"). And last, fans of pop punk, well..... they unfortunately still love pop punk, it's just played by older people.

Gauze is one of my favorites of the Japanese brand of hardcore. Fast, abrasive and distinctly classic sounding. Fugu, the vocalist, sounds like he is snarling, foaming at the mouth when singing. The music is a whirlwind of all the influence of USHC at the time and Discharge, only taken to a slightly weirder place. The repetition of the music is key, it beats it's way into your head and the choruses of a song like "Pressing On" don't leave. Distort my friends, distort.

Tracks:

1. Pressing On
2. Crash the Pose
3. Thrash Thrash Thrash
4. 勝手にさらせ
5. Fact and Criminal
6. パッパッパ
7. Absinth Trip
8. Distort Japan
9. 言いなり

Distort.

Braid - Closer to Closed (2011)

Yet another brand new release that I believe needs to be heard. Here we get a thorough lesson in the integrity of the bands of yore reuniting, especially when deciding to release new music. Now for most bands, you can usually deduce the meaning behind reuniting. The capitalization off of nostalgia being one of the main reasons. A cult or classic sound becomes popular to hear again, and thus, the originators of the sound spring back from the dead to steal your money. Sometimes, it's nice to see one of your favorite bands of high school rough it up, but for the most part, it can be embarrassing for all parties involved. Especially with the 90's emo/indie genre. Who wants to see a bunch of very grown men sing about their confused feelings when they went through puberty?

Now when Braid all of a sudden announced they were getting back to together, nonetheless recording new music, I was excited at first. I love the band, and think that many of their records and 7inches still hold up to this day. But, I also began to think, "Newly recorded music? Oh man, this is going to be a trainwreck". Well I am more than pleasantly surprised with this 7in of material that brought the band back together.

These four songs are well past the line of trite nostalgia. Closer to Closed more so seems like four good friends reconvening to deliver the same great music that brought them together in the first place. The opening song, "The Right Time", is the star of the record, with Chris Broach taking reigns of the song. He isn't as angsty as he used to sound, but matured into a wonderful singing voice that I am sure will complement Bob Nanna's swoon. "Universe or Worse" also contains a classic element of that 90's genre, a prolonged closing bridge with the drums being the center piece as the song slowly fades away. I can't tell you how many bands in the current emo revival have tried to pull these elements off and fail miserably, and here is a band that hasn't played together in years showing everyone how it is done right.

My only complaint is that there weren't any songs with both Broach and Nanna singing. That was one of the dynamics I loved about Braid, the duo vocalists. But I am sure Braid will stick around to release more great music, and that one woe will be put to rest. Enjoy.

Tracks:

1. The Right Time
2. Do Over
3. You Are the Reason
4. Universe or Worse

It could never be this good again.

William Elliott Whitmore - Field Songs (2011)

I was somewhat hesitant to post this on the blog, but ultimately, Whitmore's music needs to be heard. A few years ago he released an album, Animals in the Dark, that was the first record to be recorded outside of his trilogy of records that dealt with the feelings of loss and death (Ashes to Dust, Hymns for the Hopeless, Song of the Blackbird). Animals was a maturing of Whitmore's already classic style, incorporating all sorts of instruments along with some very political lyrics. The album was highly praised, and the success received form it was with great reason.

Field Songs is almost a going back to form record, not necessarily rediscovering his roots (he's never lost his footing in that respect), more so a minimal take on his brand of Americana. The record is all conceived around the idea of being one with the land around you, specifically in regards to farming. The political leanings of Animals finds it's way in the record, with a few shots towards factory farming, but songs are mostly about fully embracing yourself with the Earth. To lose one's self in the flow of nature. The album also includes many nature-like interludes, with the sounds of birds chirping and the wind blowing while the songs wind down or start up.

Those who enjoyed the fire and brimstone of Animals in the Dark, shouldn't be wary of Field Songs, Whitmore definitely has more rebellious inclinations that will manifest themselves in later records. However, especially with his growing career, one shouldn't forget what Whitmore is teaching us with Field Songs, taking moments in time to remember where we come from. Please do yourself a favor, if you even remotely enjoy this man's art, go see him when he comes to your town and show him your support.

Tracks:

1. Bury Your Burdens in the Ground
2. Field Song
3. Don't Need It
4. Everything Gets Gone
5. Let's Do Something Impossible
6. Get There From Here
7. We'll Carry On
8. Not Feeling Any Pain

We will be the freest of the free.

The Last Days of Cursed (2009)

Featured today is a short documentary about the last moments of the band Cursed. This was during their fatal 2008 European tour in which everything ended up being stolen from the band and thus, dismantling the band entirely. Colohan described as a "bullet to the head". It really is a travesty that such an intelligent and punishing band was subject to so much bad luck. These series of videos sheds some light on the band's last days through an interview and a series of live recordings spanning their whole career. Cursed was, and still is, a very important band to me and this is something that must be shared to people who felt the same way.

Link to the first video, with four more parts following.

Edit: If you don't have the patience to watch the whole series, at least watch the last one. It is an 12 minute video solely about the song "Friends in the Music Business" and a performance of said song. The explanation about the song in the interview and the diatribe Colohan says before they play the song are more than worth hearing if you are in a DIY band.

Sebadoh - Bakesale (1994)

Let's talk desert island here. No, wait, not desert island. I wand to discuss pure isolation type of stuff. Such as, the rapture has happened and you just happen to be saved amongst the flock and find yourself sitting next to people the likes of Steven Tyler and Axl Rose. Because they are going to be saved, right? Right. So what do you have to keep you sane? Well, I don't know if sane is exactly the right word there, because you are well past the point of return. What small comforts do you have left, but 5 albums. What would you choose?

For me, the answer is always changing, but one thing is for damn sure, Sebadoh's 1994 record, Bakesale, would be there. Many people prefer Bubble and Scrape, or even the barely listenable early recordings Barlow and Co made. Personally, this takes the cake. The breadth of maturity Sebadoh reached when recording this record hits a plateau, that for me, few have been able to reach. A full encompassing sound in which straight influence becomes pure creation. Every single song is delightful. And few songs hit me in the same way that songs like "Mystery Man", "Together or Alone", or "Drama Mine" do. The record is as sublime as it is angsty, as grungy as it is poppy. A damn near perfect statement.

Now, I realize that obviously most people own this record in some form, but it was just recently reissued. Not that I am reliving the record, it is a staple on my ipod and most playlists, but that it was reissued as a deluxe record with a whole albums worth of demos and b-sides, and I personally can't wait to get my hands on it.

Tracks:

1. License to Confuse
2. Careful
3. Magnet's Coil
4. Not a Friend
5. Not too Amused
6. Dreams
7. Skull
8. Got It
9. Shit Soup
10. Give Up
11. Rebound
12. Mystery Man
13. Temptation Time
14. Drama Mine
15. Together or Alone

Very serious note here, Lou blows J out out of the water any day of the week.

Austin Lucas - Collection (2010)

One day I would like to write a thesis on the impact sad songs have on the human psyche. Personally, sad songs resonate with me much more than most other types of a song. We can all relate to someone pouring their soul over a guitar and the tremble in their voice that becomes some sort of emotional reaction. Maybe it's just the human condition. Either way, more sad sack songs are coming your way in the form of Austin Lucas. Whereas the punk gone folk songwriter movement is awash in a sea of mediocrity, Lucas was bred for this genre of music, traditional bluegrass folk. I won't go into detail about what Lucas means to me, just understand Lucas is extremely talented, and shouldn't go unnoticed. This record is a collection of demos that was done before Somebody Loves You, but wasn't unearthed until a year ago. These songs are stripped down to the bones and the imperfections shine through their production. It's these imperfections, especially in his voice, which form that much needed connection between listener and performer. Throw this version of "Go West" on repeat and feel the rumble in his voice.
Tracks:

1. Go West
2. Life I've Got
3. I Know I Know
4. She Did
5. Singing Man
6. Wild Boar
7. To Daddy
8. Oakland Skyline
9. My Momma's Son
10. Sweeter than the Flowers
11. Easy Listening

Life is full of dead ends.
(link borrowed)

Sweet Cobra - Praise (2003)

Some of the fondest memories of my time in the Chicago Hardcore community was the incredibly diverse, sound-wise, the shows were of the early 2000's. A show you could go to and enjoy several different takes on the theme of aggressive music. In which, one could hear the sounds of a youth crew band, heavy hardcore, classic hardcore punk, and so on. These shows were thrilling to me, especially since it was a time in which I first started really exploring the early local community.

One band that always seemed to stick out to me was Sweet Cobra. I swear I have seen this band play more with youth crew hardcore bands than bands of their own ilk. These guys would get up there and pummel right through a set of blistering, sludgy hardcore. The best part was that they were so loud my ears always hurt in my foolish non-ear plug days of my youth. Seeing them play at the DePaul classrooms was always a treat, the context of the show, as well as the fact that the poorly constructed walls were always heavily reverberating due to the massive wall of sound the band carried with them.

Praise was one of my early introductions to hardcore that wasn't of the current flavor, or any of the classic bands of yore. A record that made a coalescence of sounds via bands like Black Flag, Born Against, and Neurosis. The intensity of the record was heightened when the band dabbled in mid-tempo songs, such as "River of Crimson", which was a cathartic moment of tension built up through the first half of the record. And songs like "Upon Torn Knees" rip right through you, fast and groovy, the band showing their excellence.

Unfortunately, the Chicago Hardcore community took a heavy hit when Mat Arluck, guitarist of Sweet Cobra among other bands, passed away in 2009. The band lives on, though it is hard to watch the band while knowing an integral part is missing, and missed. While the bands later albums haven't resonated as well as Praise, I will always value Sweet Cobra among one of the best local bands from Chicago.
Tracks:

1. Upon Torn Knees
2. Ruin
3. Leviathan
4. Content with the Tide
5. Bandicoot
6. River of Crimson
7. Hatchet Wound
8. Mother's Harvest
9. Fear No Father

Rip Mat Arluck.

War All the Time - Raw Attack Demo (2004)

Here is an interesting entry, which was brought to my attention by the Terminal Escape blog, run by the bassist of No Statik/Artimus Pyle/I could go on. It peaked my interests when I saw that it was a supergroup of sorts consisting of people from What Happens Next?, Talk is Poison, Look Back and Laugh, Conquest for Death and more. As a connoisseur of all things punk in that family tree, I knew I would at least somewhat enjoy this, and I definitely do. Aside from learning that they only played three shows, and may have another demo, War All the Time seemed to primarily be a LBAL side project. Sure, the music is similar, fast, raw, classic USHC inspired, albeit less chaos than LBAL, but still very similar. So similar, that it a little research proved an even more beneficial when I found a couple live videos of the band. Down below is a video of a song that if you are familiar with LBAL's output, you will find this interesting. It's a shame this band was so short-lived.

Tracks:

1. Dimonds
2. Admit It
3. Global
4. Yellow Tape
5. Crude
6. War
7. Armageddon

Street Terrorism.

William Elliott Whitmore - The Death Valley Sessions (2003)

Readers beware, this post was stolen from a favorite blog of mine. Legitimate posts huh? Well, being the Whitmore superfan that I am, I had to post this gem. This session was done shortly before his first record, Ashes to Dust, hence most the songs being rather familiar. While living for a brief period in time San Fransisco Whitmore was approached by a friend who wanted him to record some of his sparse folk music on his random plot of land in Death Valley. What became of the session is an introduction to Whitmore's prose, combined with the rustlings and whisperings of the valley. At times the session is as erie as it is cathartic. It is also strange to think of his music outside of the context of Iowa. I have a strong belief that a person's landscape vastly influences their work in whatever medium, and Whitmore is exemplary of this, with his strong association with the Midwest and Iowa. Anyway, go make some moonshine in a tub.

Note: After a little research sparked by this session, it seems there are several sessions out there Whitmore has done throughout his troubadour tenure. If, and when, I find some more, I shall let you know.

Tracks:

1. Introduction
2. Instrumental
3. Does Me No Good
4. Pine Box
5. Lord Only Knows
6. Old Lady Duet
7. From the Cell Door to the Gallows
8. Diggin' My Grave
9. Lift My Jug
10. Old Lady Duet 2
11. Our Paths Will Cross Again
12. Instrumental 2

My road to Hell is surely paved.
(Link borrowed from Heavybootsmusic.tumblr)

Dillinger Four - Vs. God

File under: classics. Here is something to tide you folks over while I get a couple legitimate posts up this evening/tomorrow morning. And what a perfect time to post your favorite Northern land punks? Summer air, veritable walls of humidity, and my favorite, traveler punks. D4 just recently played Chaos in Tejas, and I must say that out of that whole stacked line up I would have extremely excited to see this band again.

Tracks:

1. Who Didn't Kill Bambi?
2. Get Your Study Hall Outta My Recess
   
3. Maximum Piss & Vinegar
4. Last Communion
5. Suckers Intl. Has Gone Public
6. Total Fucking Gone Song
7. Music is None of My Business
8. Define 'Learning Disorder'
9. Let Them Eat Thomas Paine
10. Shiny Things is Good
11. J. Harris
12. Q: How Many Punks Does it Take to Screw in a Lightbulb?
13. Wreck the Fantastic Planet

The devil, ouch.
(link borrowed. I was in a hurry)

Ben Nichols - Last Pale Light in the West (2009)

I apologize for the lack of updates, but alas, I am back and have several posts planned. So now that that is out of the way, lets get on to the good stuff. Lucero has always held a special place as a band for me. Their sound is incredibly versatile, taking southern alt-country and tweaking it through punk rock. What becomes of this is a dichotomy of sound, songs of hope, redemption, loss, and heartbreak. They have a penchant for writing some of the saddest songs this side of the Mississippi, and their meditation on loss is what makes me connect with them. It is sometimes as though, when listening to a song like "When You Decided to Leave", it conjures up the lowest depths of loss in you, and the pain of the song is instantly transferable to one's self. Their last record certainly wasn't their greatest, but it still had some great tracks on it. And they are still up there as one of the best live bands I have ever seen, always willing to give it their all, as you could see from their recent Krazy Fest set.

Ben Nichols, the man behind Lucero, released a solo record back in 2009 entitled, Last Pale Light in the West, a narrative album culling from Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian. A record of what Nichol's is known for, sad and redemptive songs, but this time told through a dismal and gritty tale. Nichol's isn't breaking a new ground, musically, here, but the record is more about his penmanship than deviating from a sound. It's his chance to show us he is one amazing lyricist and writer.

Tracks:

1. The Last Pale Light in the West
2. The Kid
3. Davy Brown
4. Chambers
5. Tobin
6. Toadvine
7. The Judge

We are the last of the true.

*BONUS* I was perusing Ben Nichols on youtube when I came across this track, recorded in Janurary of this year. The uploader doesn't seem to know whether it is a Lucero song or a solo song, but one thing is for sure, Nichol's still hasn't lost it. More sad songs, please.

I'M ON VACATION

In the great North friends, so in the meantime enjoy this.