tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78023914642303160102024-02-07T03:21:37.091-08:00Minimum Wage of MayhemMetal, Punk and Etc.Justin "Thunder" Lagerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13386379717179604612noreply@blogger.comBlogger146125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802391464230316010.post-52990631932229242192016-01-24T18:14:00.002-08:002016-01-24T18:45:52.781-08:00BEST OF 2015<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Dave Kendall knew what was up in 1989</div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Sentient thing sayer Mr. Shitpeas, speaking on 2015 </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Somehow I left this place dormant since oh, say early 2014. Welp, getting my writing back in action is one of my New Year's Resolutions for '16 so let's get to it. Here's the lot of the music/movies/books I liked in 2015.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />Before I get there though, I should tell you that the first half of 2015 was a very trying and often agonizing time as I had no job until late July and had to continually go to job networking classes (which sometimes REALLY sucked and felt phony as hell - I swear they brought in some dork who was all about going on about mega-memory like Shingy) but eventually in July I finally got a new job which I'm still at - thank gords as rent in the Bay Area is at Emirates levels and lord knows how much the bank gouges from me. Regardless, I was able to keep up somewhat from reviewing at MRR and <a href="http://nofriendszine.com/">No Friends.</a> The latter a new mag/zine venture by my Chicago buddy, Ray who's been in boatloads of bands: AUTONOMY, CHINESE TELEPHONE, SCHLEIM (now: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Trash-Can-1515746371972111/">TRASH CAN</a>), and a gazillion more I'm now forgetting. He's a super rigteous dude who is one of thee best people I'm thankful to have met in the last 2 years.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Anyhow, here's what I loved in 2015 and yep a lot from a <a href="https://youtu.be/UVI8THJNF60">certain wrestlin' obsessed Florida label </a></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"> Walkin' up with my list like</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">1. <a href="http://consequenceofsound.net/2015/10/album-review-killing-joke-pylon/">KILLING JOKE - "Pylon"</a> (Spikefarm/Universal) Hard to believe a big-ass label like Universal would even want <i>anything</i> to do with KILLING JOKE but it's likely the label's partnership Finnish heavy rock/metal label, Spinefarm is a huge part of the deal. That aside, this just proved to me that KILLING JOKE are one of the rarities of bands - to have been this consistently great on so many albums for so many years. Plus, Jaz Coleman is still pissed off at the state of the world as he was in 1980. Moreso, the sound of this album brings forth more of the KJ intensity on "I Am the Virus" and "Dawn of the Hive" to more melodic but still potent-as-hell fare on "New Cold War" and the kinda VOIVOD-ish "Panopticon". </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">2 . <a href="https://lavidaesunmus.bandcamp.com/album/coups-blessures-7">RIXE</a> - "Coups & Blessures" 7" (La Vida Es Un Mus) - Hard as hell sounding Oi! from France. Grated, my knowledge of this style only goes so deep so I have no idea if this is in the same ballpark as RAS or L'INFETRIE SAUVAGE much less CRIMINAL DAMAGE. BUT I can tell you this is action pact and tough as nails. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">3.<a href="https://activeminds1.bandcamp.com/album/new-puppets-same-old-machine"> ACTIVE MINDS – “New Puppets – Same Old Machine”</a> (LOONY TUNES)<br />From my MRR review: Very pissed off UKHC that’s super ON TARGET! Interestingly, I got this a mere two days after the UK elections only to see the doofy, conniving manipulative faces of Cameron, Miliband, and that other knob-end, Farage looking at me from the cover. Musically this is a FUCKING STEAMROLLER of hardcore and metal riffs done all proper. Granted, I don’t know A.M.’s music that well sans an unfortunately abused flexi a college station I used to DJ once had. Loads of sounds I love in the mix: Anthemic punk/HC, NWOBHM riffs - the latter especially on “Economic Migrants” which really reminds me of VENOM! This slags off the hysteria of the Daily Mail, UKIP party, and the lot. The lyrics are like a one paragraph essay followed by very on-point details –all of which is as good or really better than anything you’ll read in The Guardian and certainly explain at lot more than fucking Vox and other click-baiters. I was also very impressed with“1,000 A.P.R.” and how it digs its claws into the payday loan scumbags and the cost of everyday life. This plays off a riff very similar to THIN LIZZY’s “Cold Sweat” which threw me for a curve but what the hell - it works. Whereas, “We’re Still Angry” is a killer, traditional Oi! number. Really impressed with the range of things ACTIVE MINDS can do. Perfect timing for this 7”. I only wish this was played with a related video right after Charlie Brooker’s “Election Wipe” on BBC 4. Otherwise, this is spot bloody on!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">In case you ask me about SUFJAN STE<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">VENS or DRAKE...</span></span></span></span><br />
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</xml><![endif]--><span style="font-size: small;"> 4. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyRdlTcNuw0">ABYSS</a> – “Heretical Anatomy”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(20 Buck Spin)
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<span style="font-size: small;">This is how death metal should be played and really the only
ways I like it now: short, sharp and to the point. Nothing too fancy or
bloated no more appellations needed – just Death Metal in the same way that
REPULSION, RIGHTEOUS PIGS, DEATH STRIKE and MASTER laid it out. Though
musically it’s that plus brings memories of a variety of early 90’s Swedish bands mixed with
even NAPALM DEATH-circa: “Utopia Banished” tone. There’s even a parts of traditional
doom metal in the slower parts – so it isn’t all 1 exact sound/reference point on every turn. These guys totally slayed
when I saw them with <a href="http://permanentruin.bandcamp.com/album/san-jose">PERMANENT RUIN</a>, <a href="https://serpentsofdawn.bandcamp.com/">SERPENTS OF DAWN</a> (sludegoid metal with
some classic rock/metal parts) and <a href="https://xconcretewallsx.bandcamp.com/">CONCRETE WALLS</a> (excellent local HC/power-violence band) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>at The Knockout. These Canadians
know their steel as I found out at same afternoon at The K.O. that David is
also ½ of the tag-team that runs the excellent comic/zine<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Chromium Dioxide” (link) which is TOTALLY
worth aread. ABYSS seem to play for more with hardcore/pounk bands wihich is
really nice to see but they’ve also played with thrash legends RAZOR<a href="http://www.aphoticabyss.blogspot.com/"> http://www.aphoticabyss.blogspot.com/</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small; mso-spacerun: yes;">5. <a href="https://dysneaboys.bandcamp.com/">DYSENA BOYS</a> - "Find Water/"Mind Stories" (self-released) - I reviewed this at MRR sight unseen. When I looked further and I found this is German-American band with the incredible vocals of Jason Honesa from SOCIAL UNREST. The rest of the band are no slouches either and are members of bands I've never heard of "but the resume looks good" level of acumen. Anyhow, this is somewhere between old USHC like AGENT ORANGE and DR. KNOW and even a wee bit of early T.S.O.L. Wowza! </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small; mso-spacerun: yes;">"But what about the REFUSED reunion shows?" </span><br />
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6. <a href="https://hafner.bandcamp.com/">HAFNER - "Boyos</a>" - (self-released) Like I said in MRR: (and yeah, while it's technically a '14 release we didn't get it 'til '15) Slow to mid-paced, often brooding, noise rawk from S.F. In the realm of: UNSANE, JESUS LIZARD, SHELLAC and COWS. Sure, it’s familiar territory but don’t let that stop you for 1 second! HAFNER puts the right notes in the right places and the vocals are just spot on for this kind of racket.</div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">7.<a href="https://vlastapopic.bandcamp.com/">VLASTA POPIĆ</a>– “Kvadrat” - (Moonlee) Sometimes when I ask my local punk scene friends "what band 'x' 'y' and 'z' sound like?" and they tell me: "post-punk", "post punk and yes, "post punk". While I like that style jus' fine there's only so many times you can heard just right. So, here's a band from Republika Czecha who nails it. Plus, they don't make me think "this would be better as just a 7" but on every song is worth your time. Never a bummer moment here.</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;"><b><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto auto; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 115%;"></span></b></span><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: small;">8.<a href="https://midnitesnaxxx.bandcamp.com/album/dont-wake-me-up-7"> MIDNITE SNAXXX </a>- "Don't Wake Me Up"/"Pull Down the Shades" (Total Punk) <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Timeless yet classic punk from the <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Bay Area<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"> with </span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">guitar<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">ist/vocalist </span>Du<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">lcinea</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"> (from LOUDMOUTH<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">S) and now recent-ish bassist Camylle (from B.D.) and the rad <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">drumming from<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"> Sammy. <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">M<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">aybe it's <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">me</span> olde ears but </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Du<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">lcinea</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"> </span>sounds at times British and other<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"> times like she's got a New York ac<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">cent either way it's great <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">p<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">unk with a <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">spot-on sound on both sides. I gotta <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">(finally<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">!) see them live in 2016. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">9.<a href="https://soundcloud.com/houndgawd"> BORN LOOSE</a> - "Blowout" (Hound Gawd!) Totally charged up and fast-as-hell garage rockers from NYC. Reminds me of DIDJITS but even <i>faster</i> and with more wailing guitars + intense screamin'. Or maybe a more raucous DEVIL DOGS? There's also the very relate-able lyrics of "Ain't Coming Tonight" which deals with the indecision about going out then going out and having<i> even more</i> indecision. A rather good rock n' roll resume, too with members of CANDY SNATCHERS, IRON PROSTATE who did the college radio hit, (well at <i>my</i> old college station, anyway) "Bring Me the Head of Jerry Garcia"), HEROIN SHEIKS and GHETTO WAYS. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small; mso-spacerun: yes;">10. <a href="https://deathmanheavymetal.bandcamp.com/releases">DEATHMAN</a> - "3 Track Heavy Metal Tape" (Lockyard) 4 fellers from<span style="font-family: inherit;"> Östersund, Sweden making some of the BEST traditional HM I've heard in a long time. This pairs perfectly with the Svenskmetal classics of HEAVY LOAD and GOTHAM CITY with a hint of more recent-time bands like S.F.'s SLOUGH FEG. I also love how they have a non-doom metal song with the word "doom" in it. "Bells of Doom" instead relies on dual guitar harmonies and soaring vocals instead of some Nth gen. dork playing half-baked doomplod. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small; mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">11. <a href="http://goldenpelicans.bandcamp.com/">GOLDEN PELICANS - "Oldest Ride, Longest Line"</a> (Total Punk) These Florida mofos are STILL knocking me out well into 2015 and now 2016. Why the hell do ya need a Bums N' Hosers reunion at Goatsmella in 2016 when you can watch and listen to a totally killer, real deal, raw n' righteous rock n' roll band like Orlando's GOLDEN PELICANS? (Also, they could probably tell ya a thing or two about OZ legends, ROSE TATTOO). </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">"Actually, IGGY AZAELA's music is under appreciated. As a Slate writer, I..." </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">12.<a href="https://hellsheadbangers.bandcamp.com/album/cadaver-traditions"> DECEASED - "Cadaver Traditions"</a> (Hell's Headbangers) - I'm certain King Fowley & co. are one of the most underrated bands in metal and ALSO the best cover band in metal. Here they take on M.D.C., KROKUS, EXCITER, BAD BRAINS, XENTRIX, N.O.T.A, RAVEN, THE DOORS, PLASMATICS and RUNNING WILD among many others. This also proves why King Fowley is a great, great vocalist who you should pay a lotta attention to. </span></div>
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"MAJOR LAZER'S the best band <i>ever</i>! I saw them at Jocky Dickweed Festival..."<br />
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<b>Older Stuff: </b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">BOWIE (R.I.P.), </span>THE GUNS (CLEVELAND), ACTION SWINGERS, BONNIE ST. CLAIRE, KILLING JOKE, J.A. CEASER, LES RALLIZES DENUDES, MALIGNANT TUMOR, ROXY MUSIC, UK/US/EURO-GLAM (TEARS, WALKERS, GUMBO, IRON VIRGIN, etc,etc,etc), NEW BOMB TURKS, ZAM-ROCK (Witch, Christy Zebby Tembo, etc), Northern Soul in general. Cleveland/Columbus soul/punk/garage rock. </span><br />
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">BUTANNA in Redwood City (top) + VIAL at Burger Boogaloo (below) </span></div>
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<b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Live Shows: </span></b></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Once again I saw fuck all this year but I did love what I DID see so here ya go: </span></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">1. TURBONEGRO/DICKIES/NEGATIVE APPROACH/ REZILLOS/MUFFS/CONFLICT (UK) all at Punk Rock Bowling, Las Vegas, in May</span>
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2. BUTANNA @ Mardi Gras Bar, Redwood City. Daaaag, I try to tell so many people that Redwood used to have a punk/HC/grind/powerviolence/loud-ass music scene and everyone looks surprised. Well, get onto them <a href="http://www.last.fm/music/976">976</a>/<a href="https://youtu.be/eM_WC4_GCOk">SLOBBER</a>/<a href="https://youtu.be/J0vjAB0Fa_g">PLUTOCRACY </a>records, kids! Anyhow, I saw a wee bit of the first band THE MENGZ who I had seen in this dive before and they were rather good, straight up punk whose line up once included local pro wrestler <a href="https://youtu.be/V_7ydUTJh0w">Kaka Meng </a>who SHOULD be also known as one of the main peeps that trained <a href="http://btwrestling.com/davinaroseupdate.html">NXT Women's Champ and HUGE fan fave, Bailey</a>. <br />
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3. SCHLEIM (now TRASHCAN)/VWLS/BUTANNA and THROWING ROCKS at Tulare and 3rd, S.F. Generator Show in June. Holy fuck this was a hella fun show and I even cut a promo for it the week before in Vegas with my buds from T'ROCKS. Plus, I got to MC this thang while channeling my inner Cronos from Venom/Dusty Rhodes/Ric Flair(s). Anyhow, all the bands laid down some killer jams and it was really fun to have each band play twice in a round robin format. Also, there were zero cops trying to break up the gig. Aaand listen here - go see ALL these bands - lest I forget the gawd-like power of San Jose heavy rawkers <a href="https://vwls408.bandcamp.com/">VWLS</a> 'cause they're one of the best fuggin' bands I heard in '15. <br />
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4. JOHN WATERS mc-ing, PANDORAS/MAGNETIX/NIKKI CORVETTE/APACHE//VIAL/GOOCH PALMS/DANCER/AUDACITY/5,6,7,8's, BLACK LIPS and the 3 or so songs I saw of THE MUMMIES all at Burger Boogaloo, July 4 and 5th in Oakland. So many killer music crammed into 2 days and the price was right even though the two stages instead of one (like 2014) took awhile to get used to. Still a good time in watching a lot of great punk/garage/power-pop bands that spanned several generations and some that are are just getting started. Plus, it was great to be in the same place as a legendary director and trash-fiend as John Waters. <br />
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"When you tell me in 2016 'Funeral Doom is totally awesome, dude!''"<br />
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<b>Books and Zines</b><br />
<a href="http://monoskop.org/File:Cope_Julian_Japrocksampler_How_the_Post-war_Japanese_Blew_Their_Minds_on_Rock_n_Roll.pdf"> Japrocksampler - Julian Cope</a> - I HATE the name of this book - would it kill 'em if he just wrote it Japanrocksampler? Sounds like it's half appreciation and half "ironic" WWII propaganda bullshit. Anyhow, Cope does a mostly good job on the history of Japanese psych and the zeitgeist of the '67-'75 or so time. Plus, this clued me into bands like J.A. Ceaser and more info on the excellent yet mysterious<b> </b>Les Rallizes Dénudés along with their strange but true connections to the Japanese Red Army and plane hijackings.<b> </b><br />
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<a href="http://www.motherjones.com/media/2008/11/book-review-al-america">Al' America - Travels Through America's Arab and Islamic Roots</a> - Jonathan Curiel and <a href="http://muslimtide.com/">The Myth of the Muslim Tide: Do Immigratns Threaten the West</a> by Doug Sanders. Both excellent reads and both definitely, seriously good re-examining of what the media and our insane politicians, celebrity atheists, as well as dopey bacon obsessed TCOTs* tell us about Islam vs. what the research shows and people actually living their lives tell us instead. (*TCOT - Top Conservatives on Twitter - usually Dante-like levels of hellish, sad dickweeds really who've likely never met a Muslim much less read more than 2 books on Middle East history). Also, do yourself a favor and read the writing of <a href="http://www.roqchams.com/">Roqayah Chamseddine </a>(Mondoweiss, Al Akhbar English, etc, etc). <br />
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<a href="http://www.king-cat.net/">King Cat</a> – A wonderful but sad tale about the life and passing of a fantastic cat in the author John's life and the trials and tribulations of life and life with kitties.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://40.media.tumblr.com/287487e5b35ba0ceb734630e931ad4b3/tumblr_npl30kGAGZ1rn14ovo1_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://40.media.tumblr.com/287487e5b35ba0ceb734630e931ad4b3/tumblr_npl30kGAGZ1rn14ovo1_500.jpg" height="320" width="226" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://anarkiogkos.tumblr.com/">Oslo City Rockers</a> – DAMN, I've been in long need of an update on the Norsk punk scene and here it is! Thick paper and super-quality photos and interviews with a viking boatload of Oslo, Bergen and elsewhere punk/HC bands. A lot of interesting viewpoints too and disgust with the ultra-rich getting more and disdain for the growing anti-immigrant hysteria and racism in the Norway (and I'd add in Sweden, Denmark & Finland). Kontakt: <a href="mailto:oslocityrockers@gmail.com">oslocityrockers@gmail.com</a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<a href="http://nofriendszine.com/">No Friends</a> - OK, I'm biased here as I'm a reviewer/columnist BUT it's not just my doing - it's the vision that editors/creators Ray and Jim have put forth and the true D.I.Y. spirit without the "insider's club" bullshit of some zines. Jam packed with interviews with comedians, musicians, labels, etc. From the Midwest to the Australia to wherever else. Totally worth your time. And (*toots own horn*) the next ish will have a History of Danish punks, THE BRATS and their eventual overlap into MERCYFUL FATE and more shit about the square circle of course! Extra bonuses: Issue #1 comes with a killer split flexi between LUMPY and THE DUMPERS and AUSMUTEANTS. Issue #2 will be out super soon. So get on it! <br />
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<b>Podcasts: </b><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.streetfightradio.com/" target="_blank">Street Fight Radio</a>: I started listening to this while looking for an anarchist podcast that was just about theory and such (and would likely be hosted by Libertarian dorks or some doofuses from<a href="http://anarchymag.org/"> this tired rag)</a>. Sure enough I stumbled upon this show which covers: partyin', pro wrestling (!), Pantera, regionalism, TV/pop culture aaaand putting what really could be called "practical anarchy" into your everyday life and "not believing in the kayfabe of Republicans and Democrats". To top it off, they're outta one of my all-time fave rock n' roll cities, Columbus, Ohio (see: GAUNT, OBNOX, SCRAWL). Plus, they have talks with others from the worlds of activism and everyday good times on the tweetin' machines and play some interesting tunes at the end.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://thebestshow.net/" target="_blank">The Best Show with Scharpling and Wurster</a> - I got to see these guys live in January last year as part of Sketchfest in S.F. Jon Wurster himself got "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcJ0EdH8To8" target="_blank">Bad Companied"</a> by his pianist/singer John Darnielle. Darnielle later played some originals with Wurster which were uh, very "contemporary John Denver"-y though we did get some pretty good tunes from Bob Mould which marked the only time I've seen him live in any form. Anyhow, Scharpling + Wurster had some real gems in '15 namely this hilarious bit with tribute band booker <a href="http://thebestshow.net/episode/best-show-bests-17-tribute-band-booker-alder-lansingdon-2/" target="_blank">Alder Lansingdon</a>. And if I forgot this one about with <a href="http://thebestshow.libsyn.com/best-show-bests-18-bryce-calls-about-the-grateful-dead" target="_blank">hippy extraordinaire, Bryce</a> you'd lose your collective crotch marbles.<br />
<a href="http://www.mlwradio.com/who-s-who.html" target="_blank"><br /></a>
<a href="http://www.mlwradio.com/who-s-who.html" target="_blank">MLW Radio with Kevin Sullivan and MSL</a> - both of these dudes may both be a wee demented but they are a good, entertaining listen on issues in current-era WWE (Usually it's a WTF? Uh...? or hmm..) and how Sullivan booked a top rated-WCW Monday Nitro program for over a year which they've been reviewing show-by-show. Jim Cornette's still on the network as well and uh..welp some of his shows can be OK (that is when he isn't preaching his goofy atheism and talking to the awful Kenny Bolin). <br />
<br />
<a href="http://2000adthrillcast.podomatic.com/">2000 A.D. Thrillcast</a> - Since I was 17 and listening to shittons of <a href="https://youtu.be/NVvvdM8sjkM">ANTHRAX's "Among the Living" </a>I've been kinda obsess-o about Judge Dredd and the vast universe(s) of the UK's finest comic series, 2000 A.D. which also includes the excellent female hero, Halo Jones, Slaine the Bezerker, D,.R and Quich and so on. All of these I often pour over at S.F.'s excellent Comics Experience before I jam over to MRR to work on my reviews. Now if the Comics Experience kids could just swap out that shitty <a href="https://youtu.be/-YEpBmsF2Eo">00's emo</a> for something more <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAbzbF219gE">moshable</a>...<br />
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<br />
<b>TV/Film:</b><br />
- Peep Show - Season 9 - Still top notch comedy after all these years. Bummer that it came to an end but I hope like mad that Mitchell & Webb do another show soon. <br />
- Mad Max: Fury Road - I've heard the complaint that it's "not truly a Mad Max movie" but I really didn't give a fuck about that - this was a fantastic action movie with a strong feminist undercurrent though there were a few strong female characters in even in "The Road Warrior (1982) so this to me seem to be a continuation in a way of the larger world of this. Plus, there was a connection to Judge Dredd as artist and designer of Dredd comics Brendan McCarthy worked on this while with director George Miller and crew in Namibia.<br />
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- w/Bob and David - The bulk of the cast of "Mr. Show" doing a 1 season run and some hilariously great parody of: Shingy "Digi'taaaal!", rich-ass pop country guys "Banes and Dunfrey" and making crazy and not so crazy resolutions. <br />
- Black Power Mixtape - Incredible documentary from a few years ago that culls some incredible footage of the Black Panthers and related Black Power movements (Malcom X, Angela Davis, George Jackson, etc) from a ton of news coverage the Swedish media did. I had no idea Malcom X went to Sweden and gave speeches there but I believe this was part of his speaking tour that also included the British Parliment.<br />
- Master of None - Aziz Ansari and co's mostly solid comedy/occasional drama that deals with ethnicity, generational divides between Indian and East Asian sons and parents, dating, sex and so on. The thing I didn't get was how the hell did he have a decent-sized apartment in Brooklyn in 2015 when he was just a temp worker? Plus, it was very hard to suspend my disbelief when he went on an entire weekend date with a woman he hasn't seen in ages - to Nashville. Anyway, this also made great use of music with Chicory Tip (covering glam-rock-era Giorgio Moroder), Joy Division, Madlib & MF Doom, Bo Diddley, Jacques Dutronc (who I never heard of 'til this show), etc.<br />
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- BBC Northern Soul docco. Ace stuff on the advent of Northern Soul and how the Brits latched on to not just Motown but loads more soul music from in out of Detroit including Cleveland, Chicago, etc. Still amazes me how much killer music that's made right in the USA that we overlook and Europe totally loves. <br />
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<b>Wrestling and Other Sport</b><br />
<br />
- <a href="http://uproxx.com/prowrestling/the-best-and-worst-of-njpw-wrestle-kingdom-9/" target="_blank">Wrestle Kingdom 9</a> and G1 Climax - New Japan Pro Wrestling - A top to bottom solid card everything was really interesting to watch unlike many of the deadspots that WWE and moreso nowadays WWE has had.A fuckin' hell SHINSUKE NAKAMURA - YEA-OHHHHHH! My dude came out like the KING that he is! (Please don't ruin him WWE, please don't...) The English broadcast was made good with the addition of Good 'ol J.R. and Matt Striker who did a mostly top-notch job in dealing with the cross-cultural issues. G1 Climax also like WK9 was stacked with great matches and works a bit like the NCAA basketball tournament only <a href="http://411mania.com/wrestling/csonkas-final-g1-climax-25-breakdown/">way more complex </a> In all, it also helps you with inter-cultural understanding with the different style of audience (and no it's no always "quiet" as the stereotype supposedly says), the various names, imagery and backstories. New Japan is the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGeMpqGi454" target="_blank">DEATH SIDE</a> to WWE's <a href="https://youtu.be/wHPEqShfl5Q">NOFX.</a> <br />
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- Regardless of the craptastic output of much of the WWE, there were some real ighlights. Namely, Rusev coming into Pants Stadium in Santa Clara at Wrestlemania 31 and Seth Rollins sneakily winning the WWE World Heavyweight Title and thus making their last several champs (sans Block Lesnar) former ROH stars.<br />
- Rollins vs. Cena at Summerslam - John Stewart EVISCERATES Cena! (Only good use of Stewart on TV in like forever). Plus Kevin Owens vs. Cesaro was a pretty solid line up as were the twists and turns in the Lesnar vs. Undertaker headlinematch. Summerslam was made best by watching it on the big screen in the company of several friends that are regulars at S.F.'s excellent punk bar, <a href="http://www.theknockoutsf.com/" target="_blank">The Knockout </a><br />
- US Women's soccer team. I'm not a big "rah-rah America" type but THIS team was so great and waaay better than any US men's soccer team ever and the crazy-good abilities of Abby Wambach, Carli Lloyd. and Alex Morgan made it even better. <br />
- Ohio State winning the National Championship in football. FINALLY a team that's NOT from the goddamn SEC or called Florida State (or even USC). Sure they biffed it this season but at least it was a good run and the one positive Ohio sports story since uh...the Cavs going to the NBA Finals uh, never mind. <br />
- Teams NOT called the SF Giants, Yankees or Red Sox getting in the World Series - even if the wrong team won but then again the Mets owners are a trash fire and next season it's likely that I won't bother with baseball 'til maaaybe mid-September as the season's just too long, too much to pay attention to and statistics I don't care or have the brain power to understand.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">2013 was an odd music year for me primarily for missing loads of live gigs due to money and some other issues. But still I managed to hear a lot of great records, discover quite a few new bands or rediscover bands I hadn't heard in awhile. I also started reviewing for <i>Maximumrocknroll </i>which has been a great way to keep up on things. This year was a really good year for punk/psych and garage rock as well as powerviolence and grind. As for metal...eh, well I liked a few metal records this year, too but a LOT less than most years due to continual burn out from that scene. Anyway, here ya go. </span><br />
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<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>For starters here's my MRR list: </b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
1. VENKMAN – “s/t” EP (Cow Catcher) Well ya know Mean Gene…lemme tell all th’ brothers n' sisters sumthin’! These SF fastcore/power-violence sillies are making a great racket in the vein of SPAZZ and LIFE’S HALT. With “Burritos and Wrestling” they continue long running punk and squared circle tradition. Though I do hope "Throwing Rocks at Cats" is just a joke. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">2. WARM SODA – “Someone For You” (Castle Face) Perfect blend of power-pop, 70’s glam choruses and a slice of punk. “Strange As It Seems” is a fantastic daydream tune. No bummer moments whatsoever.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">3. PERMANENT RUIN – “Mas Alla de Murte” EP (Warthog Speak) Punishing as fuck San Jose powerviolence/grind with really intense vocals.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">4. ABUSE – LP (To Live A Lie) – Crushing grind/powerviolence from North Carolina. No Scions, no masters!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> 5. FULL OF HELL / CALM THE FIRE – split EP (A389) – Raging power-violence/death grind with really cool vocals. The flipside is a tripped out mix of noise rock and hardcore. Can’t go wrong with either.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">6. TERMINUS – “Graveyard of Dreams” CD (Boss Tuneage) - UK anarcho band from 1982-96 who seamlessly merged the sounds of: 80’s death rock, THE DAMNED, ZYGOTE, NWOBHM style guitars and made all of this into a collection of super-catchy punk songs.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">7. PIG DNA – “Controluuufucker” – tape (self-released) – Unhinged G.I.S.M. / Disclose influenced noisy hardcore from Oakland by way of Philly. Love their cryptic oddness of their titles and websites.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">8. QUAALUDES – tape - (self-released) – Rhythmic riot grrl/post-punk sounds from S.F. Excellent live band, too.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> 9. LAS OTRAS – “Devolver El Golpe” 12” (Discos Sense Nom) –Kick-ass and rippin’ punk via España. Heard this at MRR house in-between doing my reviews and just love it. It sucks I didn’t get to see them live, though.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">10. COSMIC PSYCHOS – “Go the Hack” LP (Goner) / NEW BOMB TURKS – “!!Destroy-Oh-Boy!!” LP (Crypt) – Double dropkick of reissues that reiterate how damn great both bands</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">are/were.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>OTHER RECORDS I LOVED IN 2013:</b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">1. DESTRUCTION UNIT - "Deep Trip" (Sacred Bones) <span style="line-height: 115%;">– Incredible psych-punk from Arizona by way of one the
greatest cities in pro wrestling history (<a href="http://youtu.be/J-CDVYT-RWI">Memphis</a>, that is). D.U. has been running for quite awhile now and I even reviewed their 1<sup>st</sup> album in 2004 – <a href="http://zk.stanford.edu/index.php?s=byAlbumKey&n=736534&q=10&action=search&session=">"Self Destruction of a Man</a>" for KZSU. Back then they were a raw garage rock act in
recent years they’ve jammed down a similar path as White Hills only more punked out instead of spaced out. KFJC played "Bumpy Road" a bunch of times and blew me away with its slow twang and fuzz that's one part CRAMPS and another part 13th FLOOR ELEVATORS coupled with the total death rock weirdo vocals 'ala THE BIRTHDAY PARTY or BAUHAUS makes for a unforgettable tune. The rest of the album is filled with more heavy wah-pedal goodness. You WON'T be disappointed. </span></span></span><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">2. TERRY MALTS - "Nobody Realizes This Is Nowhere" (Slumberland) A bit more varied 2nd effort by the S.F. power-pop/punkers. Still rather catchy but admittedly didn't grab me completely like their 1st one did or at least right away but it pays off. The Ramones-y "They're Feeding" is great and has a classic sample from "River's Edge". "Buy Buy Baby" deals with consumerism and mixes poppy punk with a speedy 90's true indie sound (not far from their inspirations, Henry's Dress). Good to hear guitarist Corey sing on this as it adds a new flavor to their sound. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">3. MUDHONEY - "Vanishing Point" (Sub Pop) - I have yet to hear a bummer Mudhoney record and well, this one sure as hell wasn't it. Their timeless guitar tone from Steve Turner and Mark Arm is all over the place. The single and lyrics to the single "I Like it Small" explains the band's philosophy perfectly. "minimal production, low yields, intimate settings..." Also "What To Do With The Neutral" is another one that mixes through provoking lyrics and really good mid-paced playing. This also includes the anthem for Silicon Valley and neo-San Francisco, <a href="http://youtu.be/uYO8kStIx-w">"Douchebags on Parade".</a> I always though that Mudhoney was the best of the Seattle grunge rock bands and this just reiterates my opinion.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
4. WHITE MYSTERY - "Telepathic" (White Mystery) - Fantastic sibiling duo with the ginger hair that flys around when they play. Nothin' fancy - just pure rock n' roll guitar/vocals/drums cranked up without the corporate pandering. (*cough* *cough*, Black Keys)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">5. DAVID LYNCH - "The Big Dream" CD (Sacred Bones) I'm not a Lynch expert
but I have seen most of his movies and all of <i>Twin Peaks</i>. I heard his
first album and while good, odd and interesting it didn't captivate me
like this one did. Here we have lots of moody tunes and Lynch's strange but very
compelling voice. Plus, I really liked his "Ballad of Hollis Brown"
cover which I mostly know from <a href="http://youtu.be/QoNoUw9br5M">Nazareth</a>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">6. NEKROFILTH - "Devil's Breath" (Hell's Headbangers) Cleveland unclean (duh!) freaks don't hold anything back here and once again conjure the raw spirit of 1st wave of death metal and by way of hardcore sound 'ala SLAUGHTER (Canada), REPULSION, and SHEER TERROR. Ugly and uncompromising yet also easy as hell to follow songs and vocal parts.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">7</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">.</span><b><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><span style="line-height: 115%;">F.U. 2 – "Punk Rock" (1-2-3-4 Go!)</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>
</b>– UK “fake punk” by several members of 60’s beat band Dowliners Sect <a href="http://prowrestling.wikia.com/wiki/Job">jobbin’out</a> in the name of punk with a blues infection and doing a fine job of it.
<a href="http://terminal-boredom.com/forums/index.php?topic=25183.0">“Fake punk”</a> proves to be a helluva lot better than <a href="http://youtu.be/YGGl9Q2RvvM">“fake metal”</a> more often than
not. </span></span></span><br />
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<![endif]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">8. ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE - "Doobie Wonderland" (Paralax Sounds) - Unshockingly it sounds like a "normal" Acid Mother's Temple record - trippy, at times silly, free floatin' heavy psych jams and the grooviest tune about Satan you've heard in quite awhile. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">9. CARCASS -"Surgical Steel" (Nuclear Blast) - A newer version of "Heartwork" mixed with "Necroticism..." ? I'm down for this ! I love how the intro "1985" sounds like it easily could've been off a 1985 Omen or Agent Steele record. And hell, when I saw the title I thought of <a href="http://youtu.be/OToNXFQQGs8">this band</a> from "Metal Massacre II. Anyhow, they manage to mix melodic death metal, thrash metal with heavy metal extremely well as they've done for years and really better than anyone else. Huzzah for them to giving back money to their former drummer <a href="http://www.blistering.com/fastpage/fpengine.php/link/1/templateid/7183/tempidx/5/menuid/3">Ken Owen</a>. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: small;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small; line-height: 115%;">10. </span><span style="font-size: small;">RANGER - "Knights of Darkness" (Ektro) Raging steel, proper falsettos and
speed while maintaining melodies and a stron</span>g influences from AGENT
STEEL, "Show No Mercy"-SLAYER and SAVAGE GRACE. Nothing revolutionary but in a way it is when considering they're up against the shitheaps of all this "atmospheric/sludge/blackened/post-/depressive" nonsense. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><br /></b><b> Other Albums - (not all from 2013)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://darkskiesassociation.org/">MOLLY NILSSON </a>- everything! (Dark Skies Association) This Swedish woman's voice is just so perfect - total melancholy, truly heartfelt and totally catchy. All set to a minimalist synths and beats. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://soundcloud.com/orgasmo-sonore">ORGASMO SONORE</a> - "Revisiting Obscure Film Music Vol. 1 & Vol.2" (self-release/Cineploit) - If the names MORRICONE, STELVIO CIRIPANI, GOBLIN and BRUNO NICOALI mean anything to you then you might wanna get your giallo groove on with these cats, dig? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://youtu.be/RSJ77zI1tGU">RODION G.A</a> - "Citadela [The Lost Tapes]" (Strut) Spacey, futurist electronic/prog from Cold War-era Romania.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">RED DONS - "Auslander" 7" (Dirtnap) - I've been really into these guys sound since I first heart them when I reviewed "Death to Idealism" in '07 for<a href="http://zk.stanford.edu/index.php?s=byAlbumKey&n=857280&q=10&action=search&session="> KZSU</a>. Though, unfortunately they've been in the "great bands that I don't catch up enough with" camp. So, I got this 2012 7" that's filled with killer guitar parts and fantastic infectious vocals. In the recent years these guys along with the MARKED MEN er...now <a href="http://dirtnaprecords.bandcamp.com/album/radioactivity-s-t">RADIOACTIVITY </a>are some of the best melodic/poppy punk going right now (and for me granted that's often a short list but...). Hopefully, I'll see these guys live in 2014. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://bewareofthebat.bandcamp.com/">BAT - "Primitive Age" </a>demo (self-released) - If VENOM existed (yes, I know they still exist but...it's more like Cronos and the two Venom-ish guys) in the 21st Century they'd sound like this. Members of MUNICIPAL WASTE and D.R.I. mixing VENOM and metal-era ENGLISH DOGS. Love that "Rule of the Beast" nicks the opening guitar lick from Venom's "Heaven's on Fire" but manages to sound nothing like it after. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.annavonhausswolff.com/">ANNA VON HASSWOLFF</a> - "Ceremony" (Kning Disk) Mostly interesting mix of dark organ tones and minimal, guitar twang. Very soundtrack-sounding but her voice is kinda odd as it reminds me of Kate Bush - who I've never been a big fan of crossed with a bit of Victoria Legrand from Beach House. Also there's occasional bits of funeral doom sounds without the boring-ass growling dude vocals. Need to listen to this one a few more times to let it fully sink in but it's interesting.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">THE CRYPTICS - "Black Lucy" (self-released) UK band doin' a mix of 90's stuff like NEW BOMB TURKS/NY DOLLS mix on "Ghost Riders" and then do a very TANK (as in the NWOBHM one) /DAMNED/ COWS (!) mix in the fantastic "Gold" </span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
</b><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Even more stuff I loved in 2013</b>: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">HAWKWIND, SISTERS OF MERCY, NY DOLLS, MIDDAY VEIL, STEREOLAB, MARTIN DENNY, ULVER. BASS DRUM OF DEATH - who surprised me as I thought they were gonna be some kinda Sleigh Bells type bullshit but were far more Jay Reatard/early Pixies. Also, WHITE HILLS' - "So You Are...As You'll Be" (Thrill Jockey) and SUMMONING's - "Old Morning's Dawn" (Napalm) were both a letdown but just a bit above average. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Live / Other Stuff – I didn’t see a whole lot this year but this stuff rules, ok? </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">1. CYCLOPS / PISS TEST / COURTNEY AND THE CRUSHERS – at Thrillhouse Records</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">2. PIG DNA / MORAL HEX /RAPID LOSS / VIVID SEKT at The Fortress. A solid noisy punk, fast hardcore and anarcho/post-punk bill and a super good D.I.Y. venue with their own bar and patio.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">3. WARM SODA/HELLER KELLER /WHITE MYSTERY/BURNT ONES at 4/20 Psych Fest at Brick and Mortar. Power pop/garage and psych goodness all day and into the night plus free whiskey shots with each beer.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">4. MONTE/STILLSUIT / QUAALUDES / PERMANENT RUIN at House of the Dead Rat. Post-punk, mid-paced punk, angular sounds, grindcore and power-violence on the same bill and every band was great. D.I.Y. shows in San Jose rule! I need to see more shows here – it’s a helluva a good time.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">5. BLACK SABBATH at Shoreline Amphitheater – Yeah, I know it was 3/4ths of Sabbath & Andrew WK was doing a stadium sized DJ set (which my friends & I mercifully missed). but the spirit was certainly there and hell, can’t go wrong with “Into the Void”, “Dirty Women” and “Under the Sun”. Added bonus: I only paid $30 for a ticket that was within 100 yards or so of Tony Iommi.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> 6. SECRET CHIEFS 3 / GOBLIN at The Warfield – 10/20. Secret Chiefs did their usual running between metal, surf, various musics of the world, and Morricone (who’s they did a cover of). My only disappointment (albeit a mild one) was they didn’t play <a href="http://youtu.be/anR7Uq9BI50">“Barakel".</a> Goblin played an incredible set that went through a bunch of their career: “Suspiria”, “Tenabre” and song or two from their 90’s work for Argento. They also played a number of clips from the films they’ve worked on and had a woman dancer to reenact the themes of certain songs. My friend John has a great review <a href="http://moremusic.typepad.com/blog/2013/11/goblin-and-secret-chiefs-3-at-the-warfield-san-francisco-ca-102013.html">here</a>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">7 and 8. (tie): SAVIOURS / WINO at Bottom of the Hill and ANGRY SAMOANS at Thee Parkside – both 1/12 – first show of the year and both on the same night. Saviours reminded me of how fucking good they are – huge guitars and melodies and just totally non-stop rockin’ (to make a generic point). Wino did some nice acoustic numbers and later jammed with the Saviours guys. Later my friends and I went down the street to see Anrgy Samoans rip through a ton of songs in a short time. I got to talk to “Metal” Mike Saunders for a bit about writing for Creem and the origin of the band name. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">9. HOT LUNCH / MUDHONEY at Slim’s 12th April – Hot Lunch did an ace cover of ELP’s “Barbarian” and the rest of their set was killer heavy 70’s jams. I read somewhere that they had connections to the band Men’s Club whose drummer I went to jr. high & high school with but it turned out it was the guitar that was in Men’s Club not the drummer (who oddly looked like Tom from Men’s Club). Mudhoney were stunningl – still after all these years filled with a ton of energy and they a lot of the newer tunes “I’m Now”, “Chardonay” as well as the classics like “In and Out of Grace” – the first song of theirs I ever heard as well as “Touch me I’m Sick” Plus, TWO encores with Fang’s “The Money Will Roll Right In” and Black Flag’s “Fix Me”.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">10. TJUTJUNA / 3 LEAFS / ACID MOTHER'S TEMPLE – 10th May - A great night with my usual partner in-crime Wyatt and 2 of our friends originally from Iran who we had Indian food with that night. Over dinner I was showing them some video of The Iron Sheik because yes, I am part of the <a href="http://squaredcirclepit.blogspot.com/">REAL ROCK n' WRESTLING CONNECTION!.</a> Tjutjuna played some really good rhythmic psych, 3 Leafs were good but maybe a bit too crazy on the droning stuff. Acid Mother’s started a bit slow and built stuff up as usual and didn’t disappoint. Got to see Kawabata chokeslam his guitar a bit, too. The next day I went to Wrestlefest and met Rowdy Roddy Piper, Terry Funk, Bret "The Hitman" Hart & Colt Cabana and walked right next to RVD and Mickie James in the parking lot. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">11. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHgh0NjmUkI">MIDDAY VEIL - "Live on KEXP"</a> - Really good etheral-prog-space rock band from Seattle doing this stuff in the right now. Another current band I really need to see live. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> 12. GREG PROOPS* at S.F. Academy of Science 1/31 and 2/2 at The Punchline. The first show was Proops riffing on all kinds of things: the Super Bowl, how people are walking around with open containers near sea anemones and a lot of other really funny stuff. The second show was for his podcast “Smartest Man in the World” (link) which was also fantastic minus the fact that I didn’t get to ask him a question near the end. Well, there’s always this year’s Sketchfest. OK, it’s not music but he talks about music whether it’s seeing KISS on the day Elvis died, great soul and funk songs and so on.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">1. SAVAGE DAMAGE - Winter 2013 Really solid read outta the island city, Alameda. Chock full of info on punk/garage/power-pop/glam bands of the past and occcasionally the present. Not too info in their pages to where it's overwhelming like say, Ugly Things (who at times go overboard with their obsessions). Current issue has THE AVENGERS, LARRY WALLIS (M<span class="st">OT</span><span class="st">ÖRHEAD</span> - 1st album, PINK FAIRIES, DEVIANTS, NICK LOWE, etc.), THE SAVAGES - Bermudian garage rockers from the mid-60's, and also reviews <i>Murder in the Front Row:</i> "Testament's Alex Skolnick (great memoir for being in such a boring band)" I couldn't agree more. Plus, there's a reviews of recent/reissued stuff and a neat-o crossword.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">2. DYNAMITE HEMORRHAGE - Issue #1 Really well put-together mag from <a href="http://www.hedonistjive.com/">Hedonist Jive</a> blogger Jay Hinnman who's written extensively on punk, post-punk, garage rock, and the like. Although, this isn't only Jay's doing this is also him with contributing writer Erika Elizabeth and whoever's behind the Fuckin' Record Reviews tumblr thingy where they cover old fanzines. This has a lot of stuff I didn't know about and an in-depth interview with Chris D. of THE FLESH EATERS, and others with SALLY SKULL, SEX TIDE, HOUSEHOLD and BONA DISH. The music reviews and book reviews are also really done with a lot of knowledge and intelligence - especially the books on San Francisco history particularly David Talbot's <i>Season of the Witch </i>and how Jay sees that as the generic history with no grey areas (which is likely very true) and Talbot's stupid 60's cliches in overrunning his writing. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">3. ACID DRAGON - Issue #60 - French prog zine in a half-sized format. Hell, even as deep into issue #60 they're still addressing the "prog is/isn't pretentious?" question. More to the matter at hand, I got this for the rather good HAWKWIND cover story and interview with Dave Brock. Along with this there's an interview with QUASAR, and the rest is album and live reviews. It's kinda short and to the point (yeah, how "un-prog" of 'em!). One thing I've found with the prog scene is it's parallel with punk, psych and metal scenes - loads of bands that while they're good not too many people have heard them and this zine is doing just the right thing by exposing them. For every ELP and YES there were tons of bands like ARGOS, FM, HAPPY THE MAN and so on. </span><br />
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Justin "Thunder" Lagerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13386379717179604612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802391464230316010.post-37037133604777408752013-04-26T01:27:00.002-07:002013-08-18T22:29:25.221-07:00Melvins Interview from 1993 Part 1The Melvins were the first band I ever interviewed. This was from two places - first my old zine <i>Marketing Ploy</i> which I mentioned last time. The second source was KSJS - the San Jose State radio station where I was DJ-ing. I actually had an earlier opportunity to interview the Melvins about a year before at Club F/X in San Jose but our then music director sent me on a wild goose chase and I couldn't get into the club during sound check. Then I got so pissed off with the situation that I didn't even go to the show. Pisser that since I would've also seen Steel Pole Bathtub and Victims Family that night - which was a similar bill they did back in Fall of 1990 at UC-Santa Cruz. However, that school's bullshit "students only" policy stopped me from going to that show as well.<br />
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Flash forward to: Santa Clara, CA February 1993 and I'm very much into getting as many Melvins records as I can. Granted, I got burned out on the band around late-1994 (also due to the dickish attitude of then-bassist Mark Detrum who I've heard has cooled down in recent years) when they did another interview with our station with my friend Gary. Anyway, they're still a very talented, original band that's stuck it out for a long time. And at least their stuff doesn't sound like Coldplay! Also, I have to thank them for being so cool to me then and for allowing me to ask a TON of questions! We were all just hanging out back stage after their sound check which was pretty incredible to see and sooooo rock n' roll. Especially to have your own "private show" with them jamming on "Night Goat" and a few other tunes. Here ya go:<br />
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I had to split this up because the formatting was somehow fucking up the order of pages. Also, Photoshop was being an asshole. More uploads of this later...<br />
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<br />Justin "Thunder" Lagerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13386379717179604612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802391464230316010.post-81186093222753302092013-03-29T15:17:00.002-07:002013-03-29T15:27:57.019-07:00Late 90's zine tales & Cathy Ames - inteviewIn 1998, I was attempting to put out a 5th issue of my zine <em>Marketing Ploy</em>. I did a small run of the first 4 issues since they were mostly just for friends. Although, the last issue published issue (Vol. 2/Number 2) got reviewed in <a href="http://www.factsheet5.org/">Factsheet Five </a> and was supposed to be distro-ed by some guy in Colorado but that dude was a total rip-off. The article I wrote in the last issue "Torn Between Two Turnbuckles: Pro Wrestling: Then vs. Now" ended up in The 3rd edition of book <em>The Zine Yearbook.</em> <br />
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My article was alongside some interesting stuff like a <a href="http://burningflags.com/">Glen E. Friedman</a> interview, a new technology in the workplace piece, and Mike Mannix's excellent "Bang your head to this!" (via <em>Alice is an Island</em> zine). His artcile dealt with masculinity and sexuality in the metal scene. A few months after the Zine Yearbook was published I met Mannix and editor of A.I.A.I zine/his friend Robyn. Robyn was also an occasional columnist in <em><a href="http://zinewiki.com/HeartattaCk">Heartattack</a></em> zine - which was the 1st place I knew of that championed for better or worse) the then-underground metal-core and screamo, emo scenes. This was also going on around the time that KZSU was playing a lot of this stuff i.e. - <a href="http://www.fourfa.com/topten/index.html">Lifetime, Hoover, Converge, Cave-In</a> and so on...<br />
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Although I only met Robyn and Mike once the way I met them is unforgettable. We were at Gilman Street and well, I can't actually remember the show lineup maybe that night. Uh, maybe something like Noothgrush/Deadbodieseverywhere and Benümb ? Anyway, I was standing next to Mike, Robyn and a German friend of theirs when I heard: <br />
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Mike: "what do you mean you don't like Accept? <br />
German friend: "Nooo, they're terrible" <br />
Mike: "c'mon dude - Balls to the Wall?!?...Restless and Wild" <br />
Robyn: "Fast as a Shark"<br />
Me: "Excuse me are you talking about Accept?"<br />
Mike: "Yeah..." <br />
(Talk goes into other Accept albums and WTF was with <em>Russian Roulette</em> and the Udo-less <em>Eat the Heat</em>?) <br />
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A few minutes later, Mike was complaining about the in-between band music which was some so-so pop-punk. He was shaking his head in disgust while making sarcastic remarks about said band to Robyn. I asked what band it was and he said <a href="http://youtu.be/m1rVSF-SkR0">"Discount".</a> which just too poppy & saccharine for tonight's hardcore/grind & sludge lineup. I also found out that Mike had a record label called <a href="http://www.discogs.com/label/Ellington+Records">Ellington</a> which released early stuff by Ire (who got airplay on Leia Organa's "From the Darkside" show on KFJC), Converge and Shadows Fall.<br />
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Summer of 1997, I was involved in the West Bay/Peninsula scene from making flyers and attending shows along with sometimes schlepping equipment for my friends "dork-core" band, <a href="http://slobberband.blogspot.com/">Slobber</a>. A number of the Slobber and other punk/metal shows were in the backyard of B Street Music in San Mateo. The backyard fit about 35-40 people and had a little stage set up. The shows ran from Memorial Day to Labor Day weekend. So, with Labor Day being the final one they booked a "mega-show" with 8 bands. <br />
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Made at Jungle Copy in downtown Palo Alto when I was on my lunch from my stupid-ass sales job. <br />
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Breakdown of the bands: <br />
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<u>On Mars</u> - Riot Grrl-ish punk from Redwood City, released a tape and were around for all of a month & a 1/2 ? <br />
<u>Lipids</u> - San Mateo weird Minutemen-ish/almost prog maybe even new wave stuff? <br />
<u>Anti-Core</u> -Demented Dadaist art-noise made by one loon from Jacob Ham and the other from Slobber. <br />
<u>Brick</u> - Heavy AmRep/mid-paced rockin dudes from Fremont who shared members with...<br />
<u>Christian Prohibition</u> - Rapid, sometimes messy power-violence-ish / heavy hardcore mix. I'm not sure if either them or Brick recorded anything. C.P.'s vocalist picked up the Examiner with the headline "Princess Diana dead from carcash" and said in his sarcastic voice: "oh I'm sooo saaad boo fuckin' hoo!" and then went into some song against churches. <br />
<u>R.W.S.</u> - I'm not even sure if these guys had a proper acronym or what but it wasn't Red Wood Sity. They did silly power-violence/death-grind stuff that had titles like "Claire Danes" (this was during her <em>My So Called Life</em>-era) and "My Village was Attack by Vikings" followed by "My Village was Attacked by Emperor". I saw these guys a few times later with Godstomper and with...<br />
<u>Cathy Ames</u> - San Jose kids that were pretty damn ragin'! Fast & gnarly heavy hardcore that REALLY went under the radar. I was lucky to see them on this show as well with Godstomper and RWS a few months later in East San Jose at Musicians Warehouse (another short-lived South Bay D.I.Y. space). Their guitarist Alex was SUPER into Slayer and did a total Clark Kent into Superman transition as before their set we were talking and he was this mellow guy in glasses and an army jacket that was just talking about guitars and his fave metal bands. Then he got on stage and his hair went outward about a foot in each direction and out came the Slayer shirt and onward to headbangin' fury. OK, now here's the interview I did with them. <br />
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<u>UPDATE DEUX</u>: I saw Cathy Ames play for a 3rd time in Fall 1997 with some dull Pantera-ish band called Resin, Godstomper and Noothgrush at the Cactus Club in SJ. I last ran into Alex sometime around 2005 at a High on Fire show in San Jose. He told me that Fenny was in Seattle working at an art gallery. Prior to Cathy Ames bassist Pat was in pretty cool, raw punk band called Charity Case. Alex was in the grind/death band <a href="http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Ragweed/3540296400">Ragweed</a>, and the deathcore-ish before deathcore act, <a href="https://www.myspace.com/sanresina">San Resina</a> - both of whom I saw in 2001 at the Silicon Valley Metal Fest (which actually ran 3-4 years in a row but unfortunately got overloaded with shitty "goregrind" bands). He's currently plays for SJ heshers, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/beerijuana.sj">Beerijuana</a>. </div>
Justin "Thunder" Lagerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13386379717179604612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802391464230316010.post-81379027503876384332013-01-10T23:54:00.003-08:002013-01-11T00:04:59.815-08:00More Favorites from 2012 - Live & otherwiseI spaced on mentioning that Cirith Ungol's <a href="http://www.metalblade.com/us/releases/cirith-ungol-servants-of-chaos/">"Servants of Chaos" </a>3xCD/DVD is ALSO on of my fave re-issues in 2012 as it runs from their trippy space rock via proto-metal of the late 70's-early 80's to their perfect HM songs from the mid-late 80's.<br />
<br />
Anyway, I didn't get out enough this year but here's what saw & loved:<br />
<br />
Voi Vod - Fox Theater, Oakland. Neurosis were good (and Yob was pretty medicore) Voi Vod just RULED!<br />
Iron Maiden - <a href="http://blogs.sfweekly.com/shookdown/2012/08/live_review_8312_iron_maiden_a.php">Shoreline, Mountain Schmoo</a><br />
Ghoul / Slough Feg / Gravehill - Tidal Wave Fest, S.F.<br />
Dancer (SF) / Lenz / Apache / Terry Malts - The Knockout, S.F.<br />
Terry Malts / Apogee Sound Club / Light Brigade / C'est dommage at Thrillhouse Rec's, S.F. - Every band was fantastic and shows at this place are awesome.<br />
The Yes Gos / The Mengs at Mardi Gras, Redwood City - The Yes Go's only had guitar & drums and ripped it up like an early Sub-Pop band. The Mengs did catchy punk without a lot of gloss. Only the second time I've been to a show and talked a LOT about wrestling as all three guys in the Mengs have at one point worked for <a href="http://www.btwrestling.com/events_12.html">BTW in Newark</a>.<br />
Godstomper / Backslider - Some dude's house, S.F. - BBQ & garage grind/powerviolence gig.<br />
Acid Mother's Temple - Bottom of the Hill, S.F.<br />
White Hills - B.o.t.H., S.F.<br />
Warm Soda/King Tuff / (and yet again, Terry Malts) - New Parish, Oakland<br />
Barn Owl /Trans Am / Wooden Shjips - Thrill Jockey Showcase, Independent, S.F.<br />
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Not a gig but a very cool in-store: Erkin Koray at AQ Recs.<br />
<br />
<u>Worst:</u> Every good show I missed - a miles long list including but not limited to: Swans & Codeine.<br />
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<u>Hilariously bad: </u><br />
Liturgy this past at the Thrill Jockey anniversary show. Gabber beats cranked to 11 & some guitars doing uh...something?<br />
<u><br /></u>
<br />
<u>Other Live Events: </u><br />
"The Wrong Dick" - Film Noir parody stage play at The Dark Room, S.F.<br />
"Asteroids" - stage play at The Dark Room, S.F.<br />
Comedy Night at Artist Television Access - Lotsa comedians including <a href="http://www.zumonline.com/">George Chen</a> who I've known for years but haven't seen 'em do comedy and he was quite good. Also, I made some girl laugh by adding on to a joke that one of the comedians said about doing Bay to Breakers and eating chow mein.<br />
<br />
<u>Films & TV: </u><br />
Last Days Here - Bay Area premiere at The Roxie, S.F. Oh Bobby Liebling, whadda crazy life!<br />
Lilyhammer - Funny, crazy and deals with a lot of the culture clash between "old school" New Yorkers and generally polite and cautious Norwegian society.<br />
<a href="http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nordens_herligste">Norges Hergliste</a> - Very cool idea of two brothers from Norway that go round the country finding everything from weird inventors to 50's collector obsessives to base jumpers to uh, some guy that can pull a car with a certain member.<br />
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Peep Show (BBC) - I didn't see every ep of That Mitchell & Webb Look but it seems no matter what these two are doing they're damn funny. The internal dialogues around the office & elsewhere I can REALLY relate to (though not the constant lying). <br />
Classic Album Series: Black Sabbath - Paranoid, Iron Maiden - Number of the Beast, Motorhead - Ace of Spades.<br />
<a href="http://www.vargveumfilm.no/">Varg Venem</a> - NOT a Black Metal thing but instead a fine, dark Norwegian detective show filmed in Bergen.<br />
MST3K & <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/NardwuarServiette">Narduwar interviews</a> - The gifts that keeps on giving.<br />
Arrested Development - OK, I finally "get it" - it <i>is </i>funny and stays consistently good. Simple lines such as Tobias Funke saying "when working in the business of show" always makes me laugh.<br />
<a href="http://www.ifc.com/shows/todd-margaret">The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret</a>- Another David Cross show but why not? For some reason Will Arnett and Bob Odenkirk sound alike when they're raging and irrational but both are genius.<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYLKrDyqZfo">Metal Maniac!</a> - A 2012 Metalsploitation schlok-fest made for about $100 and loads of Manilla Road can't go wrong with that.<br />
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<u>Sports: </u><br />
Pro wrestling in general including the better side of WWE: CM Punk, Daniel Bryan and the indies: Sara Del Rey, Chikara & the like but more on that <a href="http://squaredcirclepit.blogspot.com/">elsewhere soon</a>. The Oakland A's playoff run - they challenged the Tigers a lot more than the Yankees so that's something but I'm about 99.9% sure the team's future in Oakland is doomed. SJSU (American) football getting into a <a href="http://espn.go.com/college-football/rankings">decent ranking</a> - not bad for a commuter school.<br />
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<br />
<u>New places of interest: </u><br />
<a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/gaumenkitzel-berkeley">Gaumenkitzel </a>- There really needs to be more places like this where I can get a proper German pretzel<br />
<a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/gestalt-haus-san-francisco">Gestalt Haus</a> - giant beers & very comfy chairs & couches to sit on.<br />
<a href="http://www.kerouac.com/">The Beat Museum</a> & <a href="http://www.thecjm.org/">Contemporary Jewish Museum</a> - California Dreaming exhibit.<br />
Oakland Museum of California's Exhbit on<br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/ThrillhouseRecords">Thrillhouse Records</a> & <a href="https://www.facebook.com/1234gorecords">1-2-3-4 Go! Records</a> - I love 'em both & wish I could go there every weekend but my wallet hates me.<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ragnarsphotohalla/sets/72157629226235886/">Desert Museum of Palm Desert, CA</a> - mountain goats, hirax (not the band in either case), sand cats, snakes, giraffes, jaguars and more!<br />
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<u>Favorite Books I read: </u><br />
<i>The Time of the Hawklords</i> by Micheal Moorcock & Michael Butterworth (1976) - I typically don't read a lot of fiction these days but this story is a lot of fun. It's a sort of sci-fi story involving the members of Hawkwind at the time and Lemmy (pretty sure he was out of the band at this point but still neat to see him show up in this).<br />
<i>Commando - The Autobiography of Johnny Ramone</i> - 4th book I've read on The Ramones and this one's also interesting to see where Johnny came from, his opinons on song writing, touring and personality clashes, baseball and so on.<br />
<i>Sputnik, Masked Men and Midgets</i> - The Early Days of Memphis Wrestling by Ron Hall<br />
<i>Big Hair and Plastic Grass: A Funky Ride Through Baseball and American in the Swinging 70's</i> by Dan Epstein. Touches on nearly everything that made 70's baseball great. Especially in terms of breaking social and cultural barriers.<br />
<i>Ding Dong Daddy From Dingburg</i> - Bill Griffith - Lots of Zippy the Pinhead and non-Zippy stuff as well.<br />
<i>The Beats - A Graphic History</i> - Harvey Pekar (R.I.P.) & Paul Buhle - shows the complexities of their lives as well as underscores their significance<br />
<i>Crusin' with the Hound </i>- <i>The Life and Times of Fred Toote.</i> <i style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.700000762939453px;">- </i>Spain Rodriguez - Spain was a helluva artist and all-round bad-ass. These are all graphic stories on his & his friends lives in late 50's Buffalo that deals with racism, sex, violence and drinking all with fantastic art. Spain's another great we lost in 2012.<br />
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<u>Zines: </u><br />
<i>Atomic Elbow</i> - Incredible mix of pro wrestling's past & present. More on this in <a href="http://squaredcirclepit.blogspot.com/">the pit</a>.<br />
<i>Chips & Beer</i> - Sometimes I don't get Voetglin's writing but he's passionate about what he & his co-writers love and at times the take downs of hyped artists can be on target. Moreso, the super-detailed articles on Mercyful Fate and King Diamond history, NY Metal and in-depth interviews with Chris Black (Dawnbringer, Pharoah, High Spirits, Superchrist). <br />
<i>Maximum Rocknroll</i> - 'Cause it's still pretty damn good even though I'll only ended up listening to about 5% of the records they review.<br />
<br />
<u>Podcasts (non-wrestling) </u><br />
<i>The Smartest Man in the World</i> with Greg Proops - Always have a lotta love for the Proop Dog. Especially great when he's able to talk a lot about the city and country he's in and not just to 2-3 cheesy jokes about it. Also, lots of talk about the 70's, history, politics, literature, and even an unexpected reference to W.A.S.P's "Fuck Like A Beast" (!)<br />
<i>The Dana Gould Hour</i> - Dana Gould - Like Proops another long-time fave who I discovered originally on Live 105's Alex Bennett Show. Two gems: "It's easier to deal with the voice telling you you're no good if you just think of it said by Little Richard" and: (re: contemporary political debate) "it's professional wrestling with ties".<br />
<i>David Feldman Comedy Podcast</i> - OK, it's not all comedy in fact, lately Feldman's been on a tear with monologues on the NRA, the corrupt policies of Amazon and so on. But more so, Feldman has also covered Hollywood stories of the past (i.e. - the show with the <a href="http://www.powells.com/biblio/1-9781881649731-3">Steve Stollar author of Raised Eyebrows</a>), plus Eddie Pepitone AND TV's Frank Conniff - count me in.<br />
<i>WTF with Marc Maron</i> - the episodes with Colt Cabana (yeah OK that's about wrestling), Bob Zmuda (so's this one, kinda), Nick Lowe, Craig Ferguson, Tony Millionaire, <span style="font-family: inherit;">Coop<span style="font-size: 11px;"> , </span>W. Kamu Bell, and Tom Kenny being baffled about "180 gram LP reissues of Iggy & the Stooges and The Ramones - they're <i>supposed</i> to sound like shit! I <i>need </i>the hiss and pop." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>You Made It Weird</i> with Pete Holmes - I dunno what is about 'ol Petey but he just has this funny and interesting conversations with his friends that just remind me of a friend I would've had in high school. His laugh is hi-larious to me everytime. Can't explain it otherwise. Also, the ep. with <a href="http://www.nerdist.com/2012/07/you-made-it-weird-65-mike-burns/">Mike Burns</a> you'll the meaning of "Double Dew - no ice!" </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Doug Loves Movies</i> - Doug Benson & guests make a bunch of jokes on the cinema of the present and past - one of the best things you can listen to on a road trip. </span><br />
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<br />Justin "Thunder" Lagerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13386379717179604612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802391464230316010.post-72847465981425076152012-12-31T19:08:00.004-08:002012-12-31T21:05:25.626-08:00<br />
<b>Best of 2012</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
2012 was a part good, part crud year for me. Two good friends dying was the biggest thing to deal with. The rest was somewhat manageable but frustrating with too much lack of focus. I was at least able to be employed in 11 out of the 12 months. Also I have a few ideas that I'm planing on stop talking and writing about doing and actually complete them in the upcoming months.<br />
<br />
Re: Music this year - I'm still very much burnt out on the lot of extreme metal.Then there's super praised stuff I just don't have patience for - i.e. Pallbearer's album which would've been better if the songs were shorter. Otherwise, there's a bunch of stuff I managed to listen to in between listening to way too many comedy & wrestling podcasts.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Full-lengths:</b><br />
<br />
<u>Terry Malts</u> - <i>Killing Time</i> (Slumberland) Probably my favorite band of 2012. The first song I heard, "I Do" mixes Naked Raygun type of guitars,and Phil's often Joey Ramone-like voice. Though the Ramones-isms aren't super duper obvious. Instead, Terry Malts are an honest punk/fuzzed out power pop band with lyrics about love and relationships sometimes heartfelt othertimes just cynical and funny ("Waiting Room"). Their cover of Negative Approach's "Can't Tell No One". Other times they write anti-religious tunes "No Sir, I'm Not A Christian". At least one tune reminds me of proper 90's indie rock (i.e. - Seam) on "No Big Deal". Lest I forget their weird-ass video for "Something About You" that does an intro like KISS' "Detroit Rock City" then some WTF-ery 'ala David Lynch. Granted I coulda saw these guys play live about 12 times this year but only saw them 3 regardless they were great every time.<br />
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<u>Antiseen</u> - <i>Falls Count Anywhere: A Collection of Wrestling Songs</i> (Rusty Knuckles) - Yeah, I have these squared circle classics on other albums and singles BUT this also has their cover of the Fabulous Freedbirds (R.I.P., Buddy Jack Roberts and "Bam Bam" Terry Gordy) "Bad Street U.S.A."<br />
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<u>Aura Noir </u>- <i>Out to Die </i>(Indie, Norge) Aura Noir started off doing so-so black/thrash but by about 2008 they streamlined their sound and made everything louder, heavier and gutted the thin 2nd wave black metal stylings with their thrash and focused more on what made their influences so great. Namely: Venom, Bathory, Sodom, Possessed & Morbid Angel (as Apollyon does have those flaming ghoul vocals) and really sometimes taking those influences and pushing it forward is ALL you need!<br />
<br />
<u>Demona</u> - <i>Metal Through The Time </i>(Dying Victims) - Damn good Speed Metal from Montreal via Chile. I wrote about Demona <a href="http://hordesofhesh.blogspot.com/2012/05/newnewish-bands-worth-your-time.html">earlier</a>. Spirialing guitars and thick and catchy but not overblown riffs. Really good vocals from Tanza who also does the leads. Hearing her accent the chorus of "Nightmare" is also really cool. Overall, very good mix of the past sounds while making it something of their own. Also nice to see the title track with guest appearances from a lot of the bands that inspired them (i.e. - the <a href="http://youtu.be/CpkmuimWvvU">REAL Warrant</a>, Sabbat, Wardance, etc).<br />
<br />
<u>Eat the Turnbuckle</u> - <i>Fans Bring the Weapons</i> (Useless Drunk) Nasty, violent & heavy hardcore inspired by the squared circle. Namely, the likes of ECW, CZW and IWA Mid-South. Though they do have a bit of more "big time" influences as well. Speaking of, it starts with a cut up of Mean Gene (Okerlund) from various WWF stuff then goes into a bunch of Death Metal-ish/Heavy harcore tunes as if sung by D-Von Dudley or Brusier Brody himself. These guys won't be playing any Scion-fest (unless they can put their marketing team on a flaming table) nor will the creeps at All Songs Considered promote it on the twitterverse (I hate myself for even writing that). The lot of these guys were from Philly obnoxioids, Bad Luck 13 Riot Extravangaza who's shows at times became riots. Musically this is more in the vein of fellow Philly ragers, Bad Vibes & maybe a hardcore version of Impaled? Bonus for doing a killer cover of Cocknoose's "Invader #1 Must Die" in their live shows.<br />
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<u>Hawkwind </u>- <i>Onward</i> (East World) Double CD of newer stuff and it's great to see Dave Brock (now in his 70's) still doing Hawkwind - sure, it's not gonna be <i>Doremi Fasol Latido</i> ever again but their <i>spirit</i> is definitely intact. 25 studio albums and still next to no bummers. And R.I.P. to <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/huw-lloyd-langton-guitarist-with-spacerock-giants-hawkwind-8406440.html">Huw Lloyd-Langton</a> you will be missed.<br />
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<u>Dawnbringer</u> -<i> Into the Lair of the Sun God </i>(Profound Lore) Chris "Professor" Black has done it again and made an excellent traditional Heavy Metal record and yeah it's a concept record about uh...I dunno but there's loads of great riffs, solos and Black's vocals are clear & passionate in the real sense and the in the same way that makes me love the sound of singers like Mike Scalzi and Bruce Dickinson. Songs are just roman numerals. "II" is very speedy and ripping and the ballad "V" doesn't turn up the suck either - especially with the doomy riff bit at 2:30. Now if they could just play the Bay Area with Slough Feg and Hirax.<br />
<u><br /></u>
<u>Superchrist's </u><i>Holy Shit</i> (Hell's Headbangers) - featuring guitarist Chris Black (and Ian Viper who also plays with Black in High Spirits) was nice and sleazy speedy punk/metal. .<br />
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<u>Metz </u>- <i>s/t</i> (Sub Pop) Sub Pop put out something good and loud this year? Yeah and it doesn't sound like Jesus Lizard (Pissed Jeans are OK & all but really I think I heard enough J.L. soundalikes by 1995 but you could emulate far worse stuff like the shit my co-workers listen to). Really bombastic, shouted out vocals and with loud-ass guitars at nearly every moment. Curious to see what they're like live.<br />
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<u>Lamps</u>- <i>Under the Water Under the Ground</i> (In the Red) - Noise rawk and garage-racket mix that's somewhere between Pussy Galore and a buncha chaos.<br />
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<u>Pins of Light</u> - <i>II </i>(Alternative Tentacles) Rockin' Killing Joke/Hawkwind-gone punk stuff from Oakland with the vocalist from Cross Stitched Eyes. Very not the usual kind stuff in the Bay Area scene and that's makes it all the better. Completely spaced on the fact that Cross Stitched Eyes had an album out, too. But I can assure you that they were incredible when I saw them live in 2010.<br />
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<u>White Hills</u> - <i>Frying on this Rock</i> (Thrill Jockey) Big, heavy psych as usual but his time they pretty much stay on point with the rock stuff and avoid the ambient stuff (which I like just fine). Got to see them for the 3rd year in a row at Bottom of the Hills. Got to meet bassist/vocalist Ego Sensation and drummer, Adam after the show in April. Adam said he was sick of all these other band "white this, white that, White Fence White Denim". Which leads me to...<br />
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<u>White Lung</u> - Sorry (Deranged) Speedy punk from Vancouver, B.C. Very consistent from start to finish. Rather melodic guitars that change things up on each song. Pisser they couldn't make it to S.F. a few weeks back.<br />
<br />
<b>A few runners up:</b><br />
<br />
<u>Pharoah</u> - <i>Bury the Light</i> (Cruz Del Sur) More traditional HM that mixes the likes of Manowar, Priest, Riot and even Rush (on the start of "Year of the Blizzard") but given those influences done with flair and chops instead of generic cheese (see 2000s power metal). Sure it's histronic and over the top. Vocalist reminds me of Eric Adams, Halford and Graham Bonnet all the same time. Obviously this has NOTHING to do with: the blackened/post-/stoner/sludge/deathcore/whateverthefuck<br />
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<u>Hawklords</u> - <i>We Are One </i>(Künstler) This is a different, now reformed version of Hawklords with long 'wind & 'lords bandmate Harvey Bainbridge, Jerry Richards (writer & producer for Hawkwind from the 90's-00's), Adrian Shaw on bass and writer for the <i>Quark, Strangeness & Charm</i> & <i>PXR5</i> albums<span style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">. </span></span>Cool interview that sorts out the details<a href="https://soundcloud.com/steve-swindells/harvey-bainbridge-steve"> here</a>. Only heard two tracks so far but hell, Nik Turner & co. still sound great. The title track has a kind of garage rock feel in the riff only cleaner mixed with Turner's trippy voice & the usual wah-wah guitars & space ritual electronics. Nice thing is the "hello and thanks list" had Dave Brock on it so doesn't seem to be much bad blood in the 'lords vs. 'wind camps.<br />
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<u>Grails</u> - <i>Deep Politics </i>(Temporary Residence) - Still sorting through this one and I like it but needs more time.<br />
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Carlton Melton – <i>Photos Of Photos</i> (Agitated) - The more mellow" side of 'Melton but still pretty damn good. They never fail live.<br />
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<u>White Hills / Farflung </u>– <i>To Find The Secret Door / Fade</i> (Cobraside Distribution) - White Hills here is doing their ambient trip out thing and Farflung doing a killer space rock tune that sure sounds like White Hills (hmm...). <br />
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<b>Singles/EP/demos:</b><br />
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<u>Dancer</u> - <i>s/t </i> 7" (Daggerman) 3 songs of punky power pop and straight up power pop from the Bay Area. Nice and infectious stuff, nuthin' fancy. Funny thing is when I saw them with Terry Malts and Lenz - 3 of the 5 bands on the bill had really tall singers.<br />
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<u>King Tuff</u> - <i>Screaming Skull / Love Potion</i> (Sub Pop) 70's-styled strummy, glam-pop mixed with power pop with some nasly goofball on vocals. Super good, earwormy chorus & chords on the A-side. "Love Potion" has the same guitar tone as Bowie's "Suffergate City" but does and a ton of bright guitar chords on side-B.<br />
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<u>Warm Soda</u> - <i> Reaction / <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>In Another World </i> (Southpaw) - "Reaction" is just purely, perfect power pop with a bit of mid-70s styled punk. Super catchy, great build up, ticking time rhythm and and a lot stuff that takes from early Cheap Trick and maybe even <a href="http://youtu.be/IjoNB0nDxoM">20/20</a>. The flip is quite nice, too though more straight ahead with the guitars getting brighter/louder over time plus some nice drum fills. Helluva live act, too. Weirdly the opening guitar wails to "Reaction" to reminds me of some NWOBHM stuff.<br />
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<u>Apogee Sound Club</u> - <i>Belligerent</i> (Fully Intercoastal) Solid rhythmic punk and never lets up which I dunno reminds me of the Minutemen or a less spastic Victim's Family and maybe Gang of Four (but I've never got into that band). I could be way off on all that but anyway, go see them live & listen to them <a href="http://www.reverbnation.com/apogeesoundclub">here</a>.<br />
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<u>Conquest for Death </u> - <i>One Definition Of Success</i> (Tank Crimes) Super fast hardcore on the A side with a ripper tune in Tagalog ("Mga Agawai"). The B-side has a few more mid-paced tunes including the excellent "Against the Wall" Craigums' solo on "One Definition of Success" is ace. Really good lyrics about sexual assault and homophobia, bullying, and the title track deals with the band's perspective of making music and touring all around the world (not just the usual US/Europe/Japan trips but they've been there a plenty). Still probably the only band that I know of that's played 6 of the 7 continents. Looking forward to their Antarctica tour in 2013 with Tubby and The Tusks - the world's only all-walrus garage rock band. (Actual band may not yet exist).<br />
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<u>Elegy</u> -<i> Cemetary Earth </i>(Shadow of Fear) - For some dumb reason I thought this was gonna be either medicore crust, the 9459th Swedish death metal worship band or both. (Must've of been the old english "E" in the logo and the headstones on back). Instead, Elegy puts more of the rock n' roll and punk into their metalized hardcore. Somewhere around English Dogs, Inepsy, and Broken Bones. It gets better the more you hear it. <br />
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<u>Unholy Two</u> - <i>Cut the Music (I'm the Nightstalker) / Razor </i>(12XU) Menacing noise rock wreck on both sides. "Razor" has more of a "normal", bludgeoning riff mixed with even more feedback but the vocals are purely mental. Haven't heard many bands do this stuff since at least Trance Syndicate label . Also, if you've read my article on <a href="http://theatomicelbow.bigcartel.com/product/the-atomic-elbow-issue-2">Kevin Sullivan in Atomic Elbow wrestling zine</a> (and why WOULDN'T you humanoid?!?) I make the error saying the band is from Australia (but they did put out a release on Oz-land's Negative Guest List) and not Columbus, OH . Bonus for the <a href="http://images.wikia.com/prowrestling/images/e/e1/29_Razor_Ramon_2.jpg">Razor Ramon</a> pic on the B-side label.<br />
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<u>Hellfire</u> - <i>2012 demo </i> Great speed/proper power metal and a bit of NWOBHM from some young guys from Daly City. The band's founder, guitarist Tony Campos is a pro BMX rider (!) Vocalist Alex Orozoco voice has a great range. Overall, the band shows lot of promise. Plus, they do an ace cover of Jaguar's "Axe Crazy" (or at least did on one live clip I saw). Thanks for Aesop at <a href="http://cosmichearse.blogspot.com/2012/09/this-blog-is-not-dead-okay-with-that.html">Cosmic Hearse</a> for letting me know about these guys. Hopefully 2013 will see them release an LP (and maybe my lazy ass will actually see them). Check 'em out <a href="http://www.hellfirerocks.com/about/">here</a><br />
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<b>Reissues:</b><br />
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<u>Astaroth </u>- <i>Satanspiritus / Lady of the Moon</i> 45 (Unseen Forces) Wow! ORIGINAL "occult rock" - no fancy pants site webhype for these guys. Burning proto metal outta Detroit - the A side could be a little long is my only complain. "Lady of the Moon" comes off like a non-bloated take on The Doors on the B-side that doesn't sit around and play the same boring shit, instead it goes off trippy psych tune. "My love is Astaroth it's said /and you shall serve her 'til you're dead/I will see your soul in hell/ and I'll take your life as well" must've ruined a few grooves in late 60's. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YZd0J2Y1QU">Dig it</a>.<br />
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<u>Codeine</u> - <i>When I See the Sun</i> (Numbero Group) This "complete the set" with all three of the albums from the first & greatest "slow-rock" band. 3 LPs in giant packaging, booklets and CD versions of each LP. Not a cure for the bummer moments of life but it helps.<br />
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<u>Black Sabbath</u> - <i>"The Rebel"</i> (Zella) 7" - I dunno if this is 100% legit. Tho' Goner Records had it in their mailorder for $8. So file under "not gonna see THAT everyday", 1 sided but no biggie as this is pre-album from '69 that sees them doing a sort of Beatles-esque (god I hate that phrase) tune with some of their trademarks starting to shine through: Iommi tone and Ozzy's warble-y/not all the clear vocals but it is certain them and it's listening to songs like this that make you forget all the bullshit that's gone on with their recent reunion. Though that said I managed to see it on youpube and they sounded pretty damn good despite Ozzy making part of "Paranoid" sound like he was teaching P.E. class.<br />
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<u>Coloured Balls</u> - <i>Ball Power</i> (Sing Sing) - I discovered these guys via one of those Fenriz mixes (that had their song "Human Being"). From there I've been reading up on them ever since. Aussie hard rock/70's rock stuff with some solid guitar tone & attitude. Lobby Loyde should be in the legions of guitar gods and seriously how many more times does anyone need to be told about Jimmy Page? (pun unintended). Now I wish only that Sing Sing would re-issue their singles on vinyl - especially so I can play <a href="http://youtu.be/w-BMe5TPH1A">"GOD (Guitar Over Drive)"</a>." on my stereo instead of little 'ol computer speakers.<br />
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<u>Razar</u> - <i>"Stamp Out Disco" / "Task Force (Undercover Cops)" </i>- 7" (Sing Sing) I got this with the Coloured Balls LP 'cause the part of 2012 was listening to a lot of Aussie punk/glam, hard rock stuff (Skyhooks, Cosmic Psychos, Slug Guts, etc, etc). This is raw and mean Brisbane punk from '78. If they were from south side Chicago they could've been playing in the outfield during the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpQfCcsqQ0E">disco demolition</a>. The b-side's no slouch either as it sonically & lyrically attacks the cops. The cover of this 7" is also on Bloodstains Across Australia and was on a flyer from some schmo's <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ragnarsphotohalla/5018731143/">last radio show</a>.<br />
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<u>Razor </u>- <i>Armed & Dangerous</i> (War on Music) Nabbed this LP at S.F.'s excellent Thrillhouse Records. The first release from 1984 by these Canadian ragers. A wee bit into the power metal speed style and a little erm less unchained as they were on <i>Evil Invaders</i>. The title track is still a rager despite not going a 100 mph and there's an early version of their classic "Take this Torch". <br />
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<u>Mythra</u> - <i>Death and Destiny</i> (Buried by Time and Dust) Rockin' as fuck NWOBHM from '79 right up there with the equally under the radar Brits, Dark Star. Love the "Warrior of Time" and its use of the very British Status Quo "boogie speed". "Killer" is speed with a ton of guitar harmonies 'ala Diamond Head's "Helpless". Got the regular LP and missed the one that had the poster for the gig they did with Motörhead/Saxon/Girlschool/Saxon/White Spirit/Angel Witch and (*exhale*) Vardis. I guess I'll wait for the super limited "time machine that transports you to that gig" edition<br />
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<u>F.U. 2 </u>- <i>Punk Rock</i> (1-2-3-4 GO!) Punk that was first throught to be the "secret Downliners Sect" album". I haven't heard Downliners Sect but I read they were a blues/R&B act in that goes back to the mid-60's. Therefore, it's <a href="http://terminal-boredom.com/forums/index.php?topic=25183.0">"fake punk</a>" that comes off quite er, punk. Though the Sect connection is "Stars in the Street" is a really nice romper. There's fast bluesy stuff on "Playing My Guitar". "Sniffin' Glue" sounds more keyboard laden and silly like a Stranglers outtake but it's undeniably catchy. Also, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/1234gorecords">1-2-3-4 Go! Records </a>is a store I need to get to WAY more in 2013.<br />
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<u>Pagan Altar </u>- <i>The Time Lord</i> (Shadow Kingdom) I still had Pagan Altar in the "could use some better vocals" column. But on one hand Terry Jones' "slowed down Katon De Pena" voice comes off pretty nice here. (And yes, I love Katon's voice). But I think well, duh, that's part of the charm - you might not always "get it" but it did and does set P.A. apart from the tonnes of doom that came after them.<br />
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<u>Poison Idea</u> - <i>Darby Crash Rides Again</i> (Southern Lord) - Everyone and their dog brings up the USHC generica but weirdly despite their equally if not more intense HC tunes, P.I. seemed to never get the same praise as the Circle Jerks or even later bands like Cro-Mags. Either way, P.I. this has their first release from 1982 and a bunch more stuff from various Portland live shows and some live stuff on KBOO.<br />
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<b>Older stuff I also loved: </b><br />
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Blue Oyster Cult</u> - <i>Secret Treaties</i> (Columbia) I've gone back & forth with BOC and heard so much about their first 3 albums that I hadn't really latched onto tho' one of my first rocker friends Kenny had the 1st album t-shirt back in '80 'round the time he was getting me into them, Nazereth & The Scorps. I often found their stuff from 1976-81 hit and miss - for every 4 solid tunes there were weird fillers. This album has NONE of that. The Meltzer (not his relative, wrestling journo, Dave) lyrics are really interesting and damn catchy especially on "Flaming Telepaths".<br />
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<u>Contr Act</u> - Cyrillic title (translated to <i>Warriors of Rock</i>) (Werewolves) Siberian (Russian) power/speed metal in the fine tradition of Noise Records on some Belrussian label with only 3 other releases. Not much info on this act but they did make some very cool Kai Hansen-era Helloween/early Blind Guardian inspired speed/power metal sung in Russian. Not much on them on the web cept on their<a href="http://www.werewolvesrecords.com/index.html"> label site</a> and a wee bit on <a href="http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Contr_Act/3540340418">Metal Archive</a>s. I got CD for $5 I did at Amoeba. But NWN! has a copy <a href="http://www.nwnprod.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=10545">here</a>. Also listen <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Cp_wLUkVzs">here</a>.<br />
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<u>Dark Heart </u>- <i>Shadows of the Night</i> (Roadrunner) One of those records I was afraid of getting instantly disappointed by via the very Duran Duran looking artwork. Turns out I was way off. Rather solid NWOBHM with some nice "ah-ah-ah-ahhhhhh" backing choruses; riffs. Not far from the likes of 1st album and early singles-era Def Leppard, Dark Star, and Angel Witch.<br />
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<u>Ded Engine</u> -<i> s/t aka: Hot Shot </i>(Pentagram) - 1985 LP debut of what some called the "American Judas Priest" to some but not as slick or obvious as <a href="http://youtu.be/6jlcUxjE-LQ">Malice</a>. Ded Engine was from Detroit and were part of the better side of Michigan metal in the 80's - i.e. Repulsion. "Scream" gets right out of the gate & tears things up sounds closer to Hallow's Eve or Exciter. Weirdly I have no idea why this wasn't include in<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OX-WgELCWF0"> this era's greatest metalsploitation film.</a> (much less any horror flick). Regardless, check this out it's worth your time.<br />
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<u>Mercyful Fate -</u> <i>1st EP</i> (Rave On) - Bought this a second time (first time I trade my friend Steve in high school this EP for something shitty like Reckless something hey I was a dumb 16 yr old). Sure enough I bought this the day before King's favorite holiday. Went back to Amoeba SF where I got this just yesterday and there's 2 copies just sitting there. I have no idea if this is a super sneaky bootleg but all the right details seem to be there. Either way, fuck it - I have their first three on vinyl (<i>Melissa </i>and <i>Don't Break the Oath</i> I bought when "metal was dead" in 1994 for $4 each).<br />
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Justin "Thunder" Lagerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13386379717179604612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802391464230316010.post-88053079435549297742012-12-09T18:00:00.002-08:002012-12-09T20:23:26.432-08:00Gettin' Bratty<br />
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First things first - this blog hasn't bit the dust but I have been working on other things and trying to sort out everyday life junk since last time. But I have a bunch of backlogged posts and ideas for posts one of which is this.<br />
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In punk and metal there's several bands with "Brats" in their name - so I'm gonna sort 'em out for ya.<br />
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Let's start in Denmark with the short-lived but tremendously underrated Brats. These Danish Brats started in 1977 not long after the UK & US punk explosion. Their releases span just 2 years but in this time they moved from raw punk, to a combination of punk & hard rock to heavy metal.<br />
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Their line up originally had just 1 future Mercyful Fate member - Hank Sherman known then under his "nom du punk", Hank De Wank. The rest also had punkoid names: Franz De Zaster on vocals, Mikey Rat on bass and Eddie Haircut on drums. Between the these first two line-ups they released: 1 LP, a split 7" and had an LP worth of material from the early days that thankfully was released in 2008.<br />
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The Brats first official release is 3 tracks on the Dane punk comp. Pære Punk (Pear Punk? not 100% sure about this translation). Their 3 tracks on the comp: "Dreams", "I Do What I Wanna Do" and "Magazine" are all filled with great riffs, raw Ramones-y/Rotten-y vocals and super catchy parts. Much of this proves that punk didn't die after 1978 as it was plenty alive int the rest of Europe and of course continued in the US & UK if you just looked beyond the generic history (i.e, "Sex Pistols break up = punk is dead").<br />
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Other early songs showed up later on several <a href="http://www.discogs.com/artist/Brats/-Appearances/-Compilations">1990s punk compilations </a>such as: 1997's <i>Bloodstains Across Denmark </i>and<i> </i>1998's <i>Springtime In Belsen. </i>Of course being an obscure punk act they show up on Hell, Norway's finest compilation(s): <i>Killed By Death</i> - in this case #007. This KBD comp also features The Cleavers from Portland who I wrote about on <a href="http://squaredcirclepit.blogspot.com/2012/02/playboy-buddy-rose-and-portland-punk.html">my other blog</a>.<br />
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The line up changed in 1980 with Hank playing guitar alongside Michael Denner, (Lars) Monroe on drums (plus the occasional synth and piano) as well as new vocalist Yenz (Leonhardt) on lead vocals.<br />
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The 1980 Brats album is much light years ahead in production and song structure. In part this had to do with being on a major label, CBS. CBS who would also sign fellow Danes,<a href="http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Pretty_Maids/1197"> Pretty Maids</a> several years later. During their time with CBS (which was really the Dutch division which unfortunately didn't expand into the UK or US) - Brats released a <a href="http://www.discogs.com/Brats-Tyrantz-B-Brains-Vivian-Wants-To-Dance/release/857558">split 7"</a> with the short-lived act, Tyrantz. There's at least 3 different versions of that split 7" shown <a href="http://www.mercyfulfate.org/privatecollection/brats/official/vinyl.html">here</a>. The band sold a good amount of record (I dunno the exact number) in France and also got some radio play in The Netherlands. The Dutch CBS also put out the <i>Brats 1980</i> LP. (Collector nerd note: first pressings came with a sticker.)<br />
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The 1980 songs mix the original punk energy with often longer songs - the shortest being the excellent "Punk Fashion" clocking in 1:34. The mellow intro into fast and bombastic riffing of the 2nd track "Tame Me (Insomniac)" has a chord progression that's foreshadows build up on Mercyful Fate's "Come to the Sabbath". The poppier mid-paced "B-Brains" recalls the Damned crossed with the NY Dolls - especially in Yenz's vocals. Other things that reference their Fate-ful future are the church bells in the long, semi-ballad "Complex (Don't Destroy Me)" and the lyric "you are the future/the next decade is yours/there'll be 1000's of maniacs/and they won't find no cure."<br />
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The short-lived and very appropriately named Danish label, Diamond Records released <i>1980 Brats </i>on CD. I luckily was able to score a copy of this around 2002 at Rasputin's in Campbell, CA. Prior to this Brats were a band I knew of and every once awhile you'd see bootleg tapes of theirs at the original Berkeley Rasputin's Records (Telegraph Ave location next to Bank of America) but paying $8-$10 for 1 tape was out of my range then - even if it was filled with killer Denner/Sherman riffage.<br />
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The last Brats line up had new vocalist King Diamond from short-lived hard rockin' proggers, <a href="http://youtu.be/hb6JCAap68M">Black Rose.</a> The band also saw Michael Denner placed by new 6-stringer Carsten Van Der Volsing. They recorded an album-length demo in January 1981 which wound up on bootlegged tapes that got traded around a bit as Mercyful Fate's popularity grew in the early 80's. As for the change to a more metal focus sound Hank said in an interview with <i>Snakepit</i> magazine:<br />
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It was specially my progression into the heavier stuff and of course King's vocals so it was a very natural transition. Also remember IRON MAIDEN and other band started to hit the scene and of course that also inspired us. </blockquote>
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<span style="text-align: start;"><b>More metallic 2nd-era line up</b></span></div>
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<b>King-era Brats or super early Fate (note the cross is right-side up)?</b></div>
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<b>1981 Flyer from Denmark (I wonder if this is the Swedish Overdrive on the bill)</b></div>
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Several of the demo tracks became Fate songs. The neat thing about these changes between Brats and Mercyful Fate is how many different versions there are. In some cases, there's 2 different versions of what later became an album track on <i>Return of the Vampire</i>, <i>Melissa</i> and<i> Don't Break the Oath</i>.<br />
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<b>Brats 1981-era songs and their various "Fate-ful" incarnations:</b></div>
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Some Day = On a Night of Full Moon -> Desecration of Souls</div>
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Death Kiss = Walking Back to Hell - > A Dangerous Meeting</div>
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Love Criminals -> Into the Coven</div>
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Nightriders -&gt ; Curse of the Pharaohs</div>
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Powers of Darkness -> Return of the Vampire. </div>
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Few metal bands aside from Hellhammer had a similar song writing process. For more see/hear Hellhammer's - <i>Demon Entrails</i> of the band's 1983 recordings and the Celtic Frost's - <a href="http://www.discogs.com/Celtic-Frost-Demos-84-85/release/1777830"><i>Demos '84 & '85</i></a>.<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Yenz later showed up in all sorts of bands. First with the chee-zee Geisha.Their song <a href="http://youtu.be/hbbmolEBePE">"Shock Rock School" </a>is a "should been in a B-movie" soundtrack. Other members of Geisha had connections with King Diamond's solo band and Mot</span>ö<span style="font-family: inherit;">rhead as Mickey Dee was once the drummer. Geisha comes</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> off like the Danish version of Helix for what that's worth (3 kroner?). Dumb & slightly rockin' and at least sometimes fun. Later Yenz was in power metallers, Iron Saviour, and goth-cheese meisters, Lacrimosa. </span><br />
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In 1973 Hollywood had the rather good proto-punkers Berlin Brats. Berlin Brats' sound is a rawer mix of the dirtiest side of the Stones and NY Dolls. They were called by Rodney Bingeheimer "The West Coast's first Punk Band". Their song "(I'm) Psychotic" uses a similar call out chorus as The Sonics' <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7Nffq0bOgE">"Strychnine"</a> and the spelled out bit 'ala W.A.S.P.<a href="http://youtu.be/zJ_UzGaQQgc"> "L.O.V.E. Machine".</a><br />
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Their last show was headlining S.F.'s Mabuhay Gardens with the Avengers. Their break up lead to another rather good and also overlooked West Coast punk act, <a href="http://youtu.be/-W2Ao9xzbz4">The Mau-Maus</a>.<br />
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<b>Hollywood Brats - Pretty boys with an ugly rep. </b></div>
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'Round the same time of the Berlin Brats, Tinseltown had the Hollywood Brats who had the incredible "punk as fuck before punk" tune <a href="http://youtu.be/3O_0wyXvTTU">"Sick on You". </a> Hollywood Brats were underground shock-rockers who according to RiffRaff.net:<br />
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were banned for like for puking in the drinks and throwing an ashtray at Bryan Ferry's head</blockquote>
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The (Hollywood) Brats showed nothing but contempt for the audience. Men wanted to fight them. Crowds tried to beat them. </blockquote>
Hollywood Brats' mayhem continued with a load more of <a href="http://www.riffraf.net/2012/07/lost-gems-sick-on-you-by-the-hollywood-brats/">controversy</a> on the local scene. I wonder if their crazy antics would continued had they crossed paths with the Berlin Brats? Or any of these other Bratty bands.<br />
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Over in Detroit there was the glam punk of the Trash Brats. The Trash Brats started in 1986 and ran 'til 2002 (with a few reunion shows in 2010). Trash Brats mixed the catchy chorus of Hanoi Rocks and the riffing of the classics like NY Dolls/The Heartbreakers and at times overlapped with mid-paced pop-punk with actually <a href="http://youtu.be/XkNNYTa9Kms">pretty good results</a>. Weirdly they opened for Kid Rock in one of the bigger venues in Detroit and appeared on a garage rock comp back in '86 under the name <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHv3Y6KlCQ7mnI-H84ecV5v1ox7fOZDsqFNkQYxmYId5XjlDKw-J_rWDWq0WizRK8gO85SIaTxRR4eByxra_4rKrcWdUFNDXv1lZvI64EH3h0RP61u0hlD95ocER8t9C_5cMDXHkJ4USY/s1600/it+came+from+the+garage.jpg">Brat</a>. There's a good interview with at the <a href="http://www2.metrotimes.com/music/story.asp?id=13535">Detroit Metro Times.</a> This one's below is a killer pure punk tune.<br />
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Going back to Denmark and the modern-era we have<a href="http://www.myspace.com/scavengerbrats/"> Scavenger Brats</a> who have a tune of rather rippin' thrash metal that mixes (proper-era) Slayer, Dr. Know, Sacrifice (Canada) and The Accüsed. Scavenger Brats have also been named checked in the <a href="http://www.coloursmove.com/rise-death-of-the-young-wild-new-way-of-danish-fuck-you/">"new wave of whatever the fuck it is"</a> scene in Kopenhavn.<br />
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During coke n' spandex-era Hollywood were the "not quite from Flatbush", Brookyln Brats - Their sound was the bog-standard "American" hard rock/lite metal. Lots of groggy mid-paced tunes with the mechanical echoing drums and really dumb, uninspired choruses - 'ala every KISS record in the 80's. Swimming somewhere between a dull ocean of early 80's KISS, Quiet Riot and Whitesnake. There's a few "almost" moments on <a href="http://youtu.be/MwtuDuDBdm4">"We Live to Rock"</a> but it's way too stuck on the chorus repeating 8000 times.<br />
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<b>What in Hades? Marvel Comics, Tony Danza AND Brookyln Brats!?!? </b></div>
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I used to see this picture disc taking up space at Dublin, CA's The Record Factory between the Bathory and Black n' Blue LPs. The only one who championed these guys was <i>Metal Forces</i>, not-too-metal writer, <a href="http://www.metalforcesmagazine.com/site/demo-review-tuff/">Kelv Hellrazer</a> Regardless of how far he's on the "false-o-meter" - I do admire that Kelv dug deep into the treacherously fluffy, Aqua-netted, tight trousered ditch that was 1980's hair farmer rock and A.O.R. Now more information than you require about <a href="http://liveandotherwise.blogspot.com/search?q=Brats">Brookyln Brats</a>.<br />
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If you <i>still</i> need cheese there's always New York's Battle Brat. Not only were these guys were cursed with an incredibly generic sound that floated somewhere between Icon/Dokken/Keel - they also had some of the worst album covers this side of Nuclear Blast's department of <a href="http://djbrecord.free.fr/nightwish001.jpg">photoshop horrors</a>. That said, they did have some OK speed metal tunes <a href="http://youtu.be/05V7SvR6FNY">early on</a> that come off like a discount Agent Steel.<br />
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Lastly, metal-archives has an entry for a circa: 2004 umlauted Chicago thrash act, <a href="http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/The_Br%C3%A4ts/37839">The Bräts</a>. While on the surface this isn't anything special check their lyric topics: Clones, Blood, Killing, Death, Rocking Out. Now the question is did they ever cover <a href="http://youtu.be/lRFKRHa9ky0">Alice Cooper's "Clones"</a>? </div>
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<b>Endnotes: </b></div>
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1) Denmark's Brats info from the liner notes of <i>1980 Brats</i> CD, <i>The Lost Tapes - Copenhaven 1979</i> LP and <a href="http://shadowkingdomrecords.com/store.php?merch_action=view&merch_id=1294&action=store&PHPSESSID=e8bf2dbeb87ff20896536b9940f20fb0">Snakepit magazine No.14</a> - Hank Sherman interview. I have yet to hear or see anything on the other pre-Mercyful Fate-connected bands like Starchaser and King's other early band, Brainstorm. However, I can't forget the post-Brats/pre-Mercyful Fate band, Danger Zone. Danger Zone was Michael Denner's project after he left Brats. He decided to play with King, Hank, drummer "Old" Nick Smith & Timi "Grabber" Hansen. As the metal-archives entry says: </div>
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Michael Denner, Timi Hansen and (Ol') Nick Smith joined Hank Sherman & King Diamond in their new band Mercyful Fate.The rest is history... </blockquote>
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2) Much more detail about the Brats vs. Mercyful Fate versions can be found in the massive Mercyful Fate/King Diamond article and interview in <a href="http://www.midheaven.com/item/issue-2-by-chips-beer-mag">Chips & Beer magazine #2.</a></div>
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3) <a href="http://www.metal-archives.com/artists/Carsten_Van_der_Volsing/9834">Carsten Van der Volsing</a> - played with Mercyful Fate on their first two demos: March 1981 (where he played bass and guitars), April 1981 and Burning the Cross June 1981 demo). <u><a href="http://www.metal-archives.com/artists/Benny_Petersen/9837">Benny Petersen</a></u> (of early 80's speedsters, Evil who did a killer EP featuring a great advice tune called "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dO4XR_nMGBo">Take Good Care of Your Balls</a>") showed up on demo #3 and "Burning the Cross". We don't hear from 'ol Hank zee Wank again until the first s/t EP in September 1982.<br />
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4) Some of Brats (DK) images from: <a href="http://www.myspace.com/brats1980/photos">http://www.myspace.com/brats1980/photos</a></div>
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5) Berlin Brats info from line notes to their CD, Believe it or Rot (1973-1976) via Rachet Blade Records.<br />
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6) Discogs mixes up the info for the Hollywood Brats & (Danish) Brats on their page for the <a href="http://www.discogs.com/Various-The-Whiplash-Tapes/release/3743074">The Whiplash Tapes comp</a> and links the (Danish) Brats as the artist to "Be A Man".<br />
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7) "American" style production/sound was used as a generic catch all for "making a shitty, super-polished record" usually with a with full of bad ideas U.S.-producer: Michael Wagner's work with Motley Crue and Raven. Or when Krokus went from being a pretty good Swiss heavy rock/metal act (on <i>Headhunter</i>) to doing naff tunes exactly like<a href="http://youtu.be/_RzbaAh8Hb4"> every fluff rocker on the Strip.</a><br />
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8) Metal bands named Brat in it's single form also show up in metal-archives. One of which was from Largo, Florida between 1981-84 and sound like a mix between Armored Saint, early Jag Panzer & GWAR! (Well the occasionally the vocalist & the backing chorus reminds me of them). <a href="http://youtu.be/8a48DNgLJWM">Check 'em out</a>. The second Brat were from Philly and were ex-members the even more generic named <a href="http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Brat/3540273445">The End</a>.<br />
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9) No, I'm<i> not</i> gonna write about Da Brat. She's not exactly underrated. Same goes for the Lower Class Brats.Justin "Thunder" Lagerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13386379717179604612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802391464230316010.post-5769110071478167452012-07-23T20:50:00.000-07:002012-07-23T21:41:06.744-07:00For David B.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">David (left) with my friend and my parent's friend, Jim</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That's Borowy not Bowie</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I’m really hating to find
out about more and more people I care about either people whose music &
art I’ve loved or people I’ve known dying in the last several months. The
latter part of this came up this yesterday afternoon – when I got an e-mail
from my dad about his friend from way back, David who was found dead in Golden
Gate Park on July 8th. The story however, just got into the news via the Bay
Area Reporter.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><a href="http://www.cpanel.ebar.com/news/article.php?sec=news&article=67894"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">http://www.cpanel.ebar.com/news/article.php?sec=news&article=67894</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The tragic way he died mentioned
in this article was in some ways how he lived but that’s not really the person
I knew and and not really the person my family was friends with.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I first met David around
age 12 – he was part of the circle of gay guys my dad would go out drinking
with in S.F. and in Oakland. Their S.F. haunt was Sutter’s Mill on (Sutter
Street in the Financial District not far from where I worked in the mid-2000s).
In Oakland they went to the White Horse (at 66th and Telegraph). Funny thing
was David’s full name sounded a LOT like David Bowie. So, my sister and I at
first joked that our dad was now friends with the Thin White Duke. Turned out
that David had a few Bowie records in his collection as did my sister (she had
recently saw him play at the Day on the Green) so they instantly connected. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b> Darci, Darci!</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">David was from Chicago but
oddly enough talked with a NYC accent. He worked for many years at an ad agency
called Darci. Anytime we would pass a billboard on Highway 80 going on or off
the Bay Bridge he could point out and say “Darci!”. Darci also did radio ads –
namely the one for Oxy zit pads. Those ads were run a lot on David’s favorite
station, KQAK (“The Quake”) which was the “Rock of the 80’s”/new wave spot on
the dial. The other funny thing was he had his own slang or at least used
terms I never heard anyone else say. If he hadn't seen or done something in
awhile it was "I haven't watched that show in days!" which meant
years & years. Or "I haven't had this ice cream in days!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">He was 24 when I first met
him and was balding, which made me think he was more in his mid-30’s. (Then
again I thought that 24 was “hella old” then). From 1982-84 he was a close
friend of my dad’s and eventually got to know my mom pretty well.
Eventually he met my uncle, aunt, cousins and even my crazy grandma
(Oy!). He was there for both my sister and I’s high school graduations,
and he was there when my sister married her first husband.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Familiar Values not "Family Values"</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">During those years that
David and my dad were good friends - my Dad was part of an organization
in the Bay Area called Gay Fathers which was just that - a gay fellers support
group who were dealing with issues of divorce, family, and life in general.
While this sounds very normal nowadays - in the shadow of the iron fist(s) of Reagan
and the religious right it was all too necessary. This group was VERY needed
for kids like my sister & I. The group would meet on Sunday nights in
various churches. You gotta love that about S.F. – even in the era of
thickheaded televampires like Jerry Faldwell - these churches had no
issues with gay organizations. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Another thing about the
Father’s group meetings was how truly nice everyone was, how many friends and
acquaintances my dad had there. (Also, the tons of food was nice). Additionally
the meetings had a group for the real young kids (ages 0-12) and the 12 & up group which my sister & I were in. These youth groups were where we made
several friends. Namely, my friend Zack who I played video games with (at
Oakland’s “Gametown USA”) and watched a lot of football with. Whereas, my
sister was friends with an older, late high school aged guy named Aaron, who
had a bad-ass record collection and also friends with some nice girls from
Foster City – one who was a year younger than me & the other was a year
older than my sister. All of us kids participated in the Gay Freedom Day Parade (now the GLBT Pride Parade) but I had to keep it a secret 'cause I didn't want anyone to know I was in any way associated "with a bunch of faggots!" as the braintrust of Pleasanton would often say. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> <b> Heavy Discussions</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The youth group meetings
were run by a 40-something former New Yorker named Marty. There were some heavy
issues discussed in the group. The main topic was “have you told any of your
friends about your dad?” I let everyone else go before me. I believe my sister
said she was able to tell a few friends and they were OK with it. I think in
part her friends having a positive reaction was due to her being part of the
New Wave and Punk scenes. The fact that those scenes were OK with everyone from
Bowie to Marc Almond of Soft Cell to Gary Floyd of The Dicks* was impressive.
However, in my closed minded group of rocker dudes, I may as well have been in
the Joe McCarthy-era and said my dad’s a friggin’ commie. This was still the
time when I was getting in a lot of fights and I didn’t wanna give those
shitbags at school <i>another</i> reason to
taunt me. Sure this is now ironic ‘cause these dillrods loved Motley Crue,
Judas Priest, and Aerosmith. But long story short, I had to live a
“double-life” when it came to my dad’s post-divorce relations.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Anyway, David was friends
with several people in the father’s group and hung out and partied with a few
of them. Along with my dad (and my uncle’s) friend from way back in high school
– Cliff. Now, David was more on the for lack of a better term, “femme” whereas
Cliff was pretty “butch”. For some silly reason I had a hard time thinking
people like Cliff were actually gay. I think TV and movie stereotypes really
wrecked my brain. But moreso it didn’t help that I played baseball on my street
with this older kid named Jimmy that would get mad and shout “arrgh, you
faggot!” anytime I’d get a good hit. Or equally dumb, he would make a limp
wrist gesture and say “Miracle on Polk Street!” when one of us would hit
a homer. (“Jeez, if they’re really ‘in the know’ how come they don’t say
‘Miracle on Castro Street?!” I would say in my head). Though, overall my dad
had friends that were a wide spectrum of personalities and so on. Among the
many progressions that GLBT Rights movement has made, I have to say I’m VERY
glad the “limp wrist = queer = wrong” nonsense has gone the way of Ollie
North’s career. ("Who"? Exactly!)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>A Yellow House in Alameda </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">David also liked weed a
lot and bought some of the last batch of primo stuff that my uncle was growing
on his property in the Sierra Foothills (the stalks got nearly 5 ft high!).
When my uncle stopped growing “the hoon” (as he called it), David grew his own.
From his Alameda house you could see the pointy leaves not-so-slyly shadowed by
an overlapping fern. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">David’s place was a neat
little yellow stone, 1 bedroom cottage in Alameda – on (or near?) Lincoln –
which was a short trip from my Dad’s place on Broadway Terrace in Oakland. I
really liked the drive over since we went through the futuristic looking Posey
Tunnel which often went well with the synth-based tunes on KQAK. He also lived
near a market called Ralph’s (not the L.A. one) where I’d got on errands buying
bananas and milk for him (presumably while he made either phone calls to guys
he wanted to connect with or something else more “adult” or clandestine? Other times when he was hanging out at my dad's place he wanted me to go down to "'da Oriental rug place and lemme know 'da price of the Persians" I had little clue what he meant - so I just stuck to running food errands for him. For these Alameda-based errands, it's usually get $5 (which usually went into my candy/soda/rock n' roll tape budget). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I
spent several Saturday afternoons at David’s eating food (lots of Sara Lee
cakes and sandwiches), listening to Grace Jones and Kraftwerk records.
I wasn’t much into Ms. Jones' and Kraftwerk was then a "too
weird" - those were some of his fave artists and hell, at<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em>least</em><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>it wasn’t Quiet Riot! As for the Sara Lee cakes he bought at least
3 of every few days yet he seemed to eat these in moderation and never got fat
off of them. Plus, I did a lot of reading (comics, zines and the occasional E.A.
Poe or fantasy novel). I also remember a simple, albeit pretty sleazy looking
print he had up in the living room that was simply titled “Wet”. However, it
was much more suggestive and wasn’t exactly pornographic. This was mixed in
with in with several Patrick Nagel prints and a really neat poster he got when visiting
his mom in Tucson that featured all the hot peppers of the Southwest. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The summer of ’83 we went
to the beach few times. The first trip was the Father’s group’s summer party
thingy on Stinson Beach in Marin County. I hadn’t ventured out that part of the
Bay before (unless I was on a road trip as a wee lad). On the drive over –
David asked me some basic questions – if there were any girls I liked at school
– I said “yes, but I’m too shy to ever really talk to them”. Just the fact that
I had someone else that I could talk to about these things made me feel
comfortable. Plus, we talked about some of the b.s. I was dealing with in
school – being bullied and feeling out of place, etc. David also told me if I
ever get offered weed to “just try it”. I told him, “I dunno – it might mess me
up”. He said – “if you just do a little off a joint it won’t kill you”.
(Granted, I tried it a year later and got into it for the following 2 years.
But I eventually just, uh, “burned out” on it). This was’nt long after the kids
in the Father's group were talking discussing drug experiences: mushrooms, acid
and speed - so the talk about drugs and use of drugs was becoming more common
among people I knew. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDJR2d89aiZIM7yn-_A_4-g2DAXwYfl36-1Oyedgjy3WDnTYqPOUmW8QDWRZCSRi9XBkjVe-3CGdy7p0ngFabiysZTDuvOZPgnSCYJB87zHvFgRJNGg65vQU3tQbdpy0AeNMvODvDgkBDN/s1600/Gay_FathersPic_June83.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDJR2d89aiZIM7yn-_A_4-g2DAXwYfl36-1Oyedgjy3WDnTYqPOUmW8QDWRZCSRi9XBkjVe-3CGdy7p0ngFabiysZTDuvOZPgnSCYJB87zHvFgRJNGg65vQU3tQbdpy0AeNMvODvDgkBDN/s320/Gay_FathersPic_June83.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b>June '83 at the Gay Freedom Day Parade with David, my sister and my dad. Zack (left) and I are on (plastic) horns</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b>Strangeness </b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Sometime around ’85 my dad
wasn’t talking to or seeing much of David – apparently he had been hanging out
with strange men in strange situations. Since A.I.D.S. was really big in the
news then my dad and his friends got tested. Luckily none of them came up
positive. However, David refused to get tested. Prior to that it seemed like he
was just with various guys that were “just a little weird”. His refusal to get
test was really scary – especially knowing that In the around ’87 (when I was
17) asking my dad “hey, what happened to_____” from the Father’s group? 9 times
out of 10 the answer was “he died of A.I.D.S.” Meanwhile, I was feeling uncomfortable
hearing A.I.D.S. jokes from comedians (i.e. Sam Kinison) and metal bands (i.e.
- Metallica's “Master of Puppets” liner notes and the song “<u>A</u>nally <u>I</u>nfected
<u>D</u>eath <u>S</u>entence” from knuckledragging thrash act, M.O.D.). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Also, around this time,
David getting into what my dad called “nose candy”. While I had heard about
drugs in the gay scene such as weed and amyl nitrate (or as I heard them called
“poppers” which sounded like something they’d get out of a vending machine at
Lucky’s). But I never heard much about anyone getting into coke until then. I
associated it with warmed over hippie-era bores like Jefferson Starship and
closer to home - one of my former BMX racer friends who I knew around the time
I met David. I saw him a few more times around age 15 when I suppose he
had been bouncing back & forth with drug issues. Though, he seemed OK a few
years later when I was 16 and didn’t show signs of an addict but my dad and his friends were more privy to these adult matters.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Out in the (Northern) California Sun</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Going back to the trip to
Stinson Beach - when I asked David about how he knew he was gay – he told me
this really interesting story about being attracted to seeing the boys in high
school in the swimming area. His school had a glass bottom swimming area that
was apparently built over one of the hallways. So, he often would go over to
the hallways and check out the guys swimming in their Speedos and Hang Ten
trunks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Later that same summer,
David, my sister and I took a few trips to the Crown Beach on the Bay side of
the Isle of Alameda. The Beach was fun although we more waded in the water than
swam. It was here I discovered the strange jellies – not full-on jellyfish that
were scattered by the thousands along the shores. When I realized they weren’t
poisonous I immediately checked them out and soon enough began throwing them at
my sister and David because that’s what dopey 14 year old boys do. </span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b>The Power of Bea Arthur</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The following summer of
’84 – David was over my dad’s place quite a few times. My dad would make
cheeseburgers like a beefed up (pun intended) version of our favorite junk food
dive in Dublin, CA (Fandango’s). The one time we got to watch TV during dinner
was when David was over and we got to watch his favorite shows: The Jeffersons
and Maude. Regarding the latter show – he David would say of Bea Arthur “Maude
gives great attitude and dishes it out!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The funny thing was
anytime we would watch TV with David, he’d make an “oooh-ooh” sounds anytime
some hot guy was on screen. One time particularly he did this while the Atlanta
Falcons’ lineman Bill Fralic walked to the ring when we were watching battle
royale during Wrestlemania II on Showtime (I was watching for the storylines
and I think he was watching it for the oily dudes).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">In summary, David was one
of those people who come into your life that is simply unforgettable. He was
often a very welcoming presence when times were not good. Certainly he lived a
very complicated but interesting life and I thank him for being such a good
friend to myself and to my family.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">ENDNOTES:</span></strong><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Contrary to what anti-gay obsessive’s would have you think – every
gay guy my sister & I met NEVER did anything weird or creepy to us.
Occasionally I’d hear at the Father’s group someone say to my dad “you have
really good looking kids” or “your son is gonna look really good when he gets
older”. But nothing was ever insinuated and I always felt safe in that
environment. Later in life, it was great to be able to talk with these issues
with my friends who’ weren’t ANYTHING like those dickweeds by my high school
who were always frothing with rage at anything “gay” or “faggy”. Again,
even though I did have to live a “double life” whenever I got the question
“hey, what’s up with your dad – is he meeting any women?” - I do feel like I
gained a lot of experience from people like David and the Father’s Group. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">*= Rather good early 80’s
punk group from S.F. (via Texas) who’s openly gay singer. I’m pretty sure my sister saw them a few times at The Mab. Vocalist Gary Floyd wrote great classic
& sarcastic tunes such as “I Hope You Get Drafted”, “Hate the Police”. In
recent years got back together and played gay bars such as The Eagle and have
had their early records reissued. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>Justin "Thunder" Lagerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13386379717179604612noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802391464230316010.post-39890195628678046542012-05-23T21:28:00.005-07:002012-05-23T22:56:52.388-07:00New/newish bands worth your time<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
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1)<b> <a href="http://www.demonametal.com/">Demona</a></b> - Chile via Montreal 'bangers & speed ragers with really great vocals. Admittedly, I rarely discover newer Metal bands that I'm 100% into on YouTube. YET early this spring I stumbled across their name after checking out a bunch of stuff on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/heavymetaller1978">HeavyMetaller1978</a>'s incredible list of clips of HM/NWOBHM rarities. More on point, Demona are led by Tanza on vocals and guitar. Although, I believe she did all the instruments on her earlier releases. She has a really great guitar tone and lead playing that reaches back to a variety of sounds (hell, some "metal through time" acts I've barely even heard! But definitely check out their site for more info on Poltergeist, Wardance [Germany] and the REAL Warrant). Interestingly, Tanza's a second generation metaller as her father Mauricio "Jackie" was in the Vina del Mar thrash acts <a href="http://http//www.metal-archives.com/bands/Distorsion/118349">Distorsion</a> and D.O.D. The latter band released a demo in 1989. Other than <a href="http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/D.O.D./3540329948">Metal-Archives</a>, information seems to be hard to find on this band.<br />
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Demona's "The Assassin" - conjures up everything from Iron Angel to early Kreator (in the riffs) to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10QdC_xL8II">Sentinel Beast</a> to Destruction in the solos. Yet there's something very punk the way Tanza sings - very raw and straight ahead. Yet there's many wild changes that again conjure everything that's great with '85-'86 Speed Metal. I love how she throws in a very Germanic thrash style emphasis on the end of phrases: "No one knows what's go-ing ONNNN!" Add to this the phonetic parts "Thee Ass-azz-siiin! which makes like an early Metallica slogan of the Young Metal Attack. Lastly they just released their excellent debut LP, <i>Metal Through The Time</i> which you can get from Germany's <a href="http://www.heavy-forces.de/shop/search.php?orderby=position&orderway=desc&search_query=Demona&submit_search=Search">Heavy Forces Records</a>.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/brhkhwDER1E" width="420"></iframe> </div>
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2) <b>Acid Evil</b> - One woman possessed Thrashin' Black Metal Attack from Quito, Ecuador. I had been schooled a bit on Ecuadorian Metal via <a href="http://zk.stanford.edu/index.php?action=viewDJ&seq=selUser&viewuser=5&session=">KZSU DJ Your Imaginary's</a> friend visit there a few years ago. On his trip he scored me a CD-R comp of local Metal/Punk/HC bands from the national museum (erg, I forget the name of the comp and it's likely in the dark catacombs of my collection at the mo', but trust me, it's good!). Acid Evil's recording is pretty raw to the point you can hear her changing chords that are in the mix too often (and weirdly sound like a cat sneeze after awhile) down the neck but that adds to the charm. I would be curious how she would sound with a slightly better recording. That aside, "Baphomets Command" is fierce and challenges me enough to seek out more. The second version of this is a lot clearer (yet still quite raw and uncompromising) If you're dismissing this as "just another Destruction rip off" you're brain's er, cracked. At the 2:35 mark she pulls off the always impressive "fast now faster" bit.<br />
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<span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Their</span><a href="http://www.myspace.com/music/player?sid=80901942&ac=now" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> myspace </a><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> features 2 more songs "Toxic Mind" that has yet another Goblin sample along with a great build up in the chorus and a neat mix of repetition and variation in the riffing."Noctrum Polaris" is feels a bit longer and uses a similar formula as "Toxic Mind" but in the chorus does a "1 riff/pull back" approach. Then they layer a bunch more notes immediately after. You can get the (very limited) split tape between Acid Evil and Demona was available on their site but check their</span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/DemonaSpeed" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> Facebook</a><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> for further updates/availability.</span>
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3) <b>Heavy Cross</b> - Not to be confused with the Georgian <a href="http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Heavy_Cross/3540262356">band of the same name</a> or<a href="http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Heavy_Cross/3540324541#band_tab_discography"> this Black Metal/Punk</a> band. Anyway, THIS Heavy (as in fuckin' traditional/Heavy Metal) Cross will be soon releasing (on 31st of May) their debut 7" on Hells Headbangers. The A-side."Street Wolf" is an fantastic, classic FWOSHM styled number that doesn't come off obvious and clunky like say, <a href="http://youtu.be/HVQisoHbTEo">Priestess</a> or some shit. The flip, "Red Light Woman" is a sleazy (but not stupid)* mix of 70's Alice Cooper, a lost Brats (Denmark) demo and NWOBHM acts like <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReJxwPq-Y6o">Nightime Flyer</a>. Sure these riffs/solos have been done before but it's the spirit of the thing that makes it stand out. Dig it: <a href="http://hellsheadbangers.bandcamp.com/album/street-wolf">http://hellsheadbangers.bandcamp.com/album/street-wolf</a><br />
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* sleazy (but not stupid) = Venom's "Poison", Mercyful Fate's "Nuns Have No Fun", Nasty Savage's "XXX" and "Dungeon of Pleasure". Sleazy AND stupid = Motley Crue, Posin', Steel Panther<br />
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4) <b>Gouge</b> - Yet another upcoming release by Hells Headbanger's. Dirty, filthy Death/Grind with a strong Repulsion/Master/Slaughter (Canada, of course!) influence. Punishing riffs and wild, wailing solos from outta nowhere. Lately, I've not been nutsy about "regressive Death/Grind Metal" but this hits all the right spots and has all the right amount of grit, grime and gnarl. It was hard to find other info on them other than this but go forth or forever pose! <a href="http://hellsheadbangers.bandcamp.com/album/doomed-to-death">http://hellsheadbangers.bandcamp.com/album/doomed-to-death</a><br />
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<br />Justin "Thunder" Lagerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13386379717179604612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802391464230316010.post-79557376077607196702012-03-29T21:50:00.000-07:002012-05-23T22:53:25.584-07:00Coolest/Weirdest Things I’ve Seen At Shows<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1. Sept 8, 2001 - “The Groovemaster” moving through the crowd outside after Creation Is Crucifixion/Kalmex & The Riffmerchants/Critical Art Ensemble show @ AK Press. “Excuse me but can the Groovemaster please get though...the group of us parted like the Red Sea and the Master of all things Groove put on his “jam box” to some killer (and yes, groovy!) jazz-funk! That man is a legend in my mind. He should be the mayor of Oakland - “One City Under A Groove”! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2. A weird wizard looking guy with big Santa Claus-ish bag @ ‘Maiden 1985 AND Ozzy 1986 at the Cow Palace </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">shows – supposedly he was a HUGE acid dealer in the 80’s.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3. Le</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">gions of heshers throwing beer bottles in line during Iron Maiden/Twisted Sister show @ Cow Palace March 21, 1985. The heshers (& I) were behind a steel railing and throwing bottles – attempting to make it into a garbage can that was approx. 30 feet away. After about 40-45 tries one lucky guy sunk the shot with no, “backboard” or anything – just a perfect shot like a Larry Bird 3 pointer. The crowd errupted with a bunch of “Fuck Yeaaaaahs”! and “Wooooos!” The cops stopped it immediately after. Man, just like Dio said it was like broken glass you got caught before you see it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4. David Yow nearly landing on me and a l</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ame ass stage diver falling on me during Therapy’s set when they were opening for Jesus Lizard/Helmet show @ Warfield April ‘93.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5. Earlier at the same show, I was interviewing the band Therapy? And hearing Helmet play BOC’s “Cities Of Flame (With Rock N’ Roll)” during soundcheck. Still regretting not taping that & bootleggin’ it. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">6. Seeing and pushing back into the pit - a mosh-tress - a fully moshable/stage-dive-uponable matress at 924 Gilman circa: 2005 during Vitamin X. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">7. Seeing a giant vat of Capt’n Crunch Crunchberries backstage @ One Step Beyond in Feb ‘93 while interviewing the Melvins </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">8. The band Abstain playing under 1-2 small red lights giving them the look of the insert photos from Celtic Frost's Morbid Tales LP while me & another guy calling out names of pro wrestlers in between every song. 924 Gilman, January 1998</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">9. Some lame guy whining to Buzz from the Melvins near the end of their set @ One Step Beyond. “C’mmmoooonn! King Buzchzzzooo....We-REACH...C’mooonnn! We-Reach!” The curtain closing and then-bassist & known junkie, Lori saying “Stoo-pid!” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">10. Poison Idea’s Jerry A breaking a tooth and cutting off their set. July ‘97 Bottom of the Hill </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">11. Every Slobber show – grass throwing, annoyed college students trying to study outdoors on Friday night, grass throwing, 40 oz. of root beer drinking, clown suits, cardboard John Wayne, rubber corpses, </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">12. Having my ticket nearly melt in my hands while in line for Ratt/Fastway/Mama’s Boys, San Jose Civic, July 1984 </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">13. A guy in a yeti suit moshing to Connoisseur in August 2011 at Gilman</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">14. Ditching my friend Steve’s jam box in the bushes while he & I thought about going to see local fluff rockers Air Raid, Pleasanton Civic Center, March, 1985. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">15. A pool of blood and stale beer oozing on top of a ledge @ the Uptown in Minneapolis, 1993 after the Dumpster Juice show. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">16. Adam Vomit of The Toilet Boys clocking some dopey bro-down with his bass at the Cactus Club, San Jose 1998. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">17. A guy in an Oakland A's lucha libre mask moshing at 924 Gilman St., 2004. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">18. Some idiot turning on the fire prevention sprinklers @ One Step Beyond, Santa Clara, CA 1992 – Melvins show. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">19. Watching cop car after cop car pass by on way back to Disposable Heroes of Hip-Hoprisy show April 1992, San Jose, CA only a day after the LA Riots began </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">20. Being called “Lil Lemmy” after talking to a girl after a High On Fire show in S.F. who had a </span> <span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">Motörhead</span></span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">patch on her jacket. Funny thing is I look nothing like Mr. Kilmeister but whatever, I'll take it as a compliment. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">21. Sleep playing an early version of Jerusalem while they opened for Hawkwind. A friend of mine went out to play 3 games of pool at the start of the song, came back and they were still playing. San Jose, Cactus Club, 1994. </span>Justin "Thunder" Lagerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13386379717179604612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802391464230316010.post-91308140836420797082012-02-12T20:39:00.000-08:002012-02-12T22:26:54.272-08:00Bangin' in Belgium - Shockwave Video Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB3g3efvFQyNOUVycPgdlIFJxBXf8ujpsqwIoYl5TxQBAVSvUKRXgDY1k5vJAURwERxi3MlB5A15VA5Itka1-AuckoWBsHrJQCWoPepGloG0HHgPt-PpmlAXduAvcccqzeogD7dbK_V44/s220/Shockwave+_1__0001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB3g3efvFQyNOUVycPgdlIFJxBXf8ujpsqwIoYl5TxQBAVSvUKRXgDY1k5vJAURwERxi3MlB5A15VA5Itka1-AuckoWBsHrJQCWoPepGloG0HHgPt-PpmlAXduAvcccqzeogD7dbK_V44/s220/Shockwave+_1__0001.jpg" /></a></div>
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NOTE: I wrote up this review initially in 1996 (!) when I rented this vid from Palo Alto's (now MV's) Videoscope. I figured I'd unearth this since it might be of interest to yas.<br />
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Shockwave was a one shot Heavy Metal festival in 1985 put together by the owners of the underground Belgian label, <a href="http://www.music-avenue.net/mausoleum/artists.php">Mausoleum</a> (who used the similar logo as the <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085918/">1983 horror film</a>). The organizers wanted to film the bands live but ran into a connundrum - this is underground Heavy Metal on small indie labels but we could at least get coverage from the Metal <a href="http://www.rockhard.de/uploads/RTEmagicC_metal_maniacs_germany.jpg.jpg">fanzines</a> like <a href="http://www.thelocal.se/blogs/gregelk/files/2010/02/metal_hammer-1984.jpg">Metal Hammer</a> (which was then only available in German), <a href="http://www.mainstreetmallonline.com/fanstuff/members/buhhoe4/listings/aardshock121810.JPG">Aardshok</a> - or better yet, <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7JgZZpH3khPDC_uZ3jKzxnVSDtBhxwQ-ng-V06KDUCQV56bT48W-ZI_5x5pd_THT7N2IgnIUaLz_udHH02LRHsBZPMq5ogyslJnICqtYWh6FmdBVhYUi5ABYF8tIA6vrWELNw1f-lrOwf/s1600/KERRANG-n%C2%BA27-00.jpg">Kerrang</a> or <a href="http://demolishmag.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/scan0005.jpg">Metal Forces</a>. MTV's not going to touch this with a 50 foot pole. So they decided to do it themselves and the results are well...read on. "Shockwave" was also the title of a rather good Beligan band o' Motörbangers called <a href="http://youtu.be/9B6mpM-d58Y">Killer</a>. The cover to Killer's Shockwave" always reminded me of the movie poster of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085780/">The Keep</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://www.vinylrecords.ch/K/KI/Killer-BE/Shock-Waves/killer-shock-waves-35.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="281" src="http://www.vinylrecords.ch/K/KI/Killer-BE/Shock-Waves/killer-shock-waves-35.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisULSpMpM-rYQWj42uG1fBcTjLCsnH5IGS47w2KyDPxsMqqq_jeoSAhSPetqLMR0W4ZFHsm0ptfr1hy01morGEgjBk6bRRjsYbVOmBKrX9vv0L-ibzAv3jhpRn8NaeSNj1V5f3YWXoiMuT/s1600/The_Keep.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisULSpMpM-rYQWj42uG1fBcTjLCsnH5IGS47w2KyDPxsMqqq_jeoSAhSPetqLMR0W4ZFHsm0ptfr1hy01morGEgjBk6bRRjsYbVOmBKrX9vv0L-ibzAv3jhpRn8NaeSNj1V5f3YWXoiMuT/s320/The_Keep.jpg" width="227" /></a></div>
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Since many bands were starting to release videos, the label saw it fit to not just focus on one band (and really didn't Mausoleum have 40+ bands signed by mid-1985?!?) and showcase many a metaller from Belgium, Germany, the UK, and 1 act from the USA.<br />
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Belgium's <a href="http://www.metal-archives.com/albums/Lions_Pride/Breaking_Out/8625">Lion's Pride</a> - have a couple of OK but very standard riffs the vocals are in that mid-range of rough but sort of melodic sound like say, Loudness or a early 80's metal version of the guy from Agony Column. A little bland overall but sometimes interesting. I do remember seening their <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg61y4HaEfzNa99VQH_d8GI0voH-nXLhZU_qT1-PdSwpUHkYe2XGDaRXcngQmkTVwpcbBbAV9CJPQvI78GAHyRVhMYNHwGYkwbM_YusmKCN2D58xuaNVrhzfnoEtjUdfHQINZ3lBwTBViRa/s1600/Lions+Pride+-+Breaking+Out.jpg">LP</a> in the Record Factory in Dublin, CA sitting on the shelf for close to a year. They even put the damn thing on an end cap - thinking "somebody's GOT to buy this..." This isn't from Shockwave but this is from the same-era.<br />
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Polish bangers T.S.A. (T.S.A. stands for "Tajne Stowarzyszenie Abstynentów", which means "Teetotallers Secret Association") are up next. They were the first Polish band to make it outside their counties borders. (Turbo and Wilczy Pająk (aka: Wolf Spider) were only known by a few tape traders. Some goes for Vader who didn't take off 'til 5-6 years later). As of 2010 these guys were still playing shows (or at least some form of them).
Their singer looks like Rudy Schenker of the Scorps. On a similar German metal tip, their 2nd tune on the video "Race Machine Hero" is a nice, tight speedy number that sounds right off of Accept's "Restless & Wild". Even rougher vocals than Udo. oh and, never mind the lame drum machine intro/outros. <br />
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Alaska's 2 songs are really <a href="http://youtu.be/tuJ0Kwphd5I">2 songs<i> too many</i></a>. This is the unholy equation of: Bon Jovi + John Waite (the guy mostly know for that P. Diddy sampled on "Missing You") + Tesla = puuuuke! The only "significance" this band had was Mel Galley, Bernie Marsden and Don Airey played in the early, slightly listenable version of Whitesnake. Although, Airey at least played on much better records with Ozzy and Colosseum II. Regardless of their rock resumes this is pure <a href="http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=22387">pomp rock</a> hell. <br />
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Belgium's own Crossfire laydown a couple of good numbers. The Metallion site puts it aptly: "The band's music is a mix of NWOBHM, Quiet Riot and AC/DC and is nowhere near as thrashy as one would expect...Fans of everything from NWOBHM to boogie metal to Motorhead may find something here, while others may be disappointed by the lack of distinctiveness or creativity." Although supsrisingly they make all of these things work.
Also, they had a song called "Killing A Cop" which granted wasn't as threatening as M.D.C. or Ice-T to "the man" but still - Belgian cops were (and probably still are) dicks to metalheads & punks. <a href="http://www.metallian.com/crossfire.php">As Ali "TheMetalion" </a> writes (again from The Metalion). And yes, they have silly mustaches and spandex but at least they did it then when that was pretty normal. Besides, Mantas' Beligan doppelgänger is on left guitar. (Not sure if which of excellently named 6-stringers this is: Nero Neerinckx or Rudy Van de Sype). This tune may or may not be from "Shockwaves" but it filled with some raw imagery & a rather rippin' tune'. </div>
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Germany's Faithful Breath make some vague hard rock/sometimes Metal sound with this collision of Raven/Accept and Nazereth. All of this is odd since they started in the early 70's as a prog band! Plus, they all wear furs and the vocalist has a generic but nice viking helmet (Note: real vikings DIDN'T wear horned helmets but still they do look pretty rad if you're in a German metal band in the 80's). This isn't from "Shockwave' but it was a great song from them the exudes tough & true 80's power metal. The visuals are super-discount video but I admire bands when they just do these cheap-ass videos with the intent to just have fun and rock out. Who needs some "conceptual video" like Queensryche when you can kick ass on a viking boat made of Legos on a lake? Even the ever fading color of the video gives it that extra charm. How I love my "discount metal". <br />
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McCoy (featuring John McCoy from <a href="http://www.discogs.com/artist/Gillan">Gillan </a>and <a href="http://www.discogs.com/artist/Mammoth+%282%29">Mammoth</a>) are pretty awful. There's no clip of their footage but when you can imagine how half-assed they are with lyrics like ones <a href="http://youtu.be/J7jKtS3NQsE">here</a> (OK, the riffs in here are good but maaaan!). Often their tempos trudge like a turtle on downers then they throw in dull "bluesy" tempos and there was some "biker mama" type in band that just made it weird and lame.<br />
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Next up with "On the Attack" is New York's Blacklace. Maryann Scandiffio's vocals here clumsy sort of like a off the mark Halford. The riffs are OK but the song's overall is a chock-a-block with dull cliches. bit above passable, the riffs are good & tight. Yet the solos and overall structure are pretty generic. Guitarist Carlo Fragnito's Eddie Van Halen-ish hot doggin' on the fretboard is no help either. The next tune this tune's in someway isn't too far from Christian Mistress. Visually there's an excess of stripes, fringe and lace aren't exactly making them standout in Circa: 1984 HM. Although, they do a bit better on the next tune "Call of the Wild" but that's due to their answering the question "What if Krokus circa: <i>Headhunter</i> had a female singer and sorta sounded like a Christian Mistress outtake?" <br />
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Lastly and not live at all is Venom's videos for "Witching Hour" and "Bloodlust". These are more like "performance" videos. Especially considering the massive amount of guitar wailing during "Witching Hour" which show Mantas not even holding his guitar! Still, these are 2 pretty potent versions of two of their early 80's classics. If you want to experience these songs in full - go check out the 1996 reunion show at Dynamo or their '85 "Hell At Hammersmith" video.<br />
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<b>Endnotes</b>: Zoinks! After writing all this I found someone's done an entire blog for this videotape! Let me introduce you to your new friend, <a href="http://shockwaveheavymetal.blogspot.com/">Shockwave Heavy Metal Blogspot</a>. </div>Justin "Thunder" Lagerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13386379717179604612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802391464230316010.post-58301823125444739742012-02-12T19:39:00.000-08:002012-02-12T19:39:28.453-08:00Some old rants against bad music writingAKA: The Metro’s Fails and Bad!<br />
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Flipping through the kitty litter liner alt-weekly Silcon’s Valley Metro in recent weeks has been more than enough to rile my music geek status. Buried among the random articles about random “cool stuff” in the nowheresville ‘burg of Morgan Hill and ads for the ultra lounge pestilence was some music blurbs. Keep in mind the Metro has had a horrible record of supporting good, local music. When Sleep, Neurosis and the Melvins were playing shows they got not next to no coverage. Whereas if one of ex-pro skater Steve Cabellero’s shitty bands had a show at the Cactus Club then there would be at least several paragraphs. (Same went for the equally awful "scene mag" City Revolt). Funny how that one turned out. No one’s ever listed Shovelhead or Soda as an influence.<br />
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Some emo-indie nerd in the August 27th-September 2 edition wrote about the upcoming Metal Masters Tour by referencing nothing abot the music. Here’s the blurb in full <br />
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<a href="http://www.metroactive.com/metro/08.27.08/music-picks-0835.html">http://www.metroactive.com/metro/08.27.08/music-picks-0835.html</a><br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Metal Masters Tour<br />WHILE THE LEGACY of Judas Priest certainly extends beyond Ron Halford's coming out of the closet, the synthesizing punk rocker known as Atom and His Package immortalized the significance of that event in a song called "Hats off to Halford." "When Rob Halford came out of the closet, it may not have been a big thing," sings Package, "Well, today we're one step closer to hearing the metal dudes sing, 'I wanna be, I wanna be a homosexual.'" Join Judas Priest for their "Metal Masters Tour," which also includes Heaven and Hell, Motorhead and Testament.”</blockquote>
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Oh, Halford is gay is old REAL old news but this is still annoying as fuck. “While the legacy...extends beyond coming out of the closet...” then is goes into referencing the not-metal at all 90’s blip on the map, Atom And His Package and even throws in a reference to Sloppy Seconds (by changing the words of their “I Don’t Wanna Be A Homosexual” to “I Wanna”). Oh, yeah never mind Judas Priest helped define Heavy Metal throughout the late 70’s & into the 80’s. Or never mind that they’re playing with Atom’s moment in the indie rock/college radio sun was amusing for a short spell but really does anyone save this Metro writer, go back, listen and talk about how stands the test of time? <br />
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Secondly and equally dumb was this jab at Cheap Trick. <br />
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“Over the years since Perry's departure, Journey has had a slew of temporary lead singers, but in 2007 the group made headlines for choosing Philippines native Arnel Pineda after guitarist Neal Schon saw videos on YouTube of Pineda performing covers of Journey songs. Pineda's spark onstage has reignited Journey's fire, and the group is performing with more dynamism than fans have seen since the Perry years. Sister act Heart and '80s hair band Cheap Trick open. (CY)"</blockquote>
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80s? Hair Band? Seriously? First off all this easily could’ve been fixed with a simple search on AMG, Discogs or even Wikipedia. Cheap Trick’s first album came out in 1977 and they continued making some of the best hard rockin’ power pop of the latter half of that decade. Around 1982 they started sucking with too many “yes men” and guest producers around them (George Martin being one of them).<br />
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If anything Cheap Trick’s "hard rock vs. pop" stuff formula worked for them and only was a curory influence on bubble gum/big hair bands of the 80’s. The only one that took maybe a direct influence from C.T. Was probably fellow Illnoisians (Illinoisers?), Enfu Z’ Nuff. ‘The Trick’s music was featured in a variety of movies that have a cult following: Meatballs, Heavy Metal, and the ultra-awesome “Over The Edge”. Lest, we forget that they did the theme song to the otherwise, crappy sitcom, “That 70’s Show” because they were a band from the 70’s! Cheap Trick wasn’t a friggin’ ‘hair band’. Besides, what “80’s hair band” has ever done a theme song to "The Colbert Report" much less had an official day? <a href="http://www.cheaptrickday.com/">http://www.cheaptrickday.com/</a><br />
<br />Justin "Thunder" Lagerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13386379717179604612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802391464230316010.post-28423110489279950692012-02-02T23:20:00.000-08:002012-02-02T23:22:09.968-08:00Things That Nyogthaeblisz could do at Chaos in Tejas aside from being annoyingly boring<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As you may know noisy, shitty sounding <strike>Mentors rip off </strike>satanic black metallers, Nygothaeblisz have been <a href="http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=290918474277032&id=174007855968095">dropped off the bill</a> from Chaos in Tejas fest. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Were I in the booker's place wouldn't have these idiots on the bill in the first place and instead seek out some far better metal bands i.e. <a href="http://www.sloughfeg.com/cds.htm">Slough Feg</a> or these recent Canadian ragers, </span><a href="http://www.facebook.com/sepulchre666" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Sepulchre</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">. Although...I would have them on</span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"> if</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"> only they could meet the following stipulations: </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">10. Must have at least 1 Weird Al cover in their set</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">9. Admit that Sammy Davis Jr.'s catalog is far more interesting 99.9%* of the bands on their label</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">8. Develop non-ironic, totally die-hard dedication thread on NWN! Forum to Boy George.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">7. Explain what the <a href="http://forums.foreverdoomed.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=7402&start=20">fuck a Burzum is</a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">6. Band plays their songs only with wooden spoons & kazoos while opening for Neil Hamburger.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">5. Change band name to Mothra's Vagina</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">4. Perform musical version of the label info on Danzig's <a href="http://www4.pictures.zimbio.com/bg/Danzigs+fresh+step+TOy-flf77hAl.jpg">fave kitty litter brand</a>. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">3. Band must perform at least one 3 Stooges routine to intro opening song (must be from the Curly-era). </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">2. Band must perform in only the following colors: pink, chartreuse, and neon yellow. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">1. Band must admit their name is pronounced "Toto" after every song. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">( * = Sacrofago had a vinyl re-issue on their label, but otherwise...) </span></span>Justin "Thunder" Lagerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13386379717179604612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802391464230316010.post-54815819203512338232012-01-25T19:56:00.000-08:002012-01-25T23:53:10.956-08:00Planet of the GiallosWFMU's "Beware of the Blog" a ways back unearthed a test reel from Edward G. Robinson. More back story over<a href="http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2009/11/edward-g-monkeyman.html"> here</a>.<br />
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And on a similar cinematic note, here's an intro to giallo movie themes by Giallo Music & Themes 101: <a href="http://attheexpenseofthelistener.blogspot.com/search?q=giallo">http://attheexpenseofthelistener.blogspot.com/search?q=giallo</a><br />
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From the guy in Tampa that does the fantastic <a href="http://doomedmoviethon.com/">Doomed Moviethon</a> blog.Justin "Thunder" Lagerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13386379717179604612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802391464230316010.post-14672381658542513132012-01-15T00:24:00.000-08:002012-01-15T00:56:57.505-08:00Best of 2011<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Intro </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A LOT of what I saw getting on to others lists and hyped (be it in overground or underground circles) was a lot of “pretty good” or “half
good”. Maybe its just time for a change but I’ve stepped away from a lot of the
usual Black/Death/extreme Doom Metal, particularly the majority of new bands. If I never cared much about the glut of “dood, totally amazing nukleargoatfagosludgedeathtwarwankmetal”
acts when I wasn’t too crazy about some of the stuff that influenced in the
first place? (i.e. Incantation, Blasphemy). Basically it was hard to get excited
about it as I had in previous years. Part of this was likely due to the general
boredom & burnt out. Still, there were a few good things here
& there within all the crud. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Also, this was the first year I’ve made a list where I wasn’t
doing a radio show. With that I think its allowed me to listen to things for
longer and appreciate stuff instead of hear the first 10-15 seconds and ignore
it </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">‘cause it didn’t immediately grab me.
Additionally, found a </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">lot</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> of great
releases in other genres.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unlike other years, these are in order of preference. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"><b>1</b>. <b>Of The Wand and the Moon - The Lone Descent</b> (</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px;"><b>Heidrunar Myrkrunar/Audio Globe) </b>Denmark's Kim Larsen (and guests noteably John Murphy of SPK and Knifeladder) keep improving this mix of neo-folk and sullen ballads. However this album should really be heard outside of the usual neo-folk/gothic realm and for what it simply is - a collection of brilliant, very remarkable songs. </span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>2. Amebix – <i>Sonic Mass</i> (Amebix Records/Easy Action)</b>
Yeah, it’s sounds like Amebix and one of their primary influences, Killing
Joke. Don’t come ‘round expecting “Arise Part II” and just take it for what it
is - a challenging record that forces you to hear them in a different setting.
This pays off real well. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>3. White Hills – <i>Hp-1</i> (Thrill Jockey) </b>Heavy
psych/tripped out NYC trio/sometimes quartet released a lot of stuff in 2011
but this was their most consistent and a sign of what they’re capable of doing.
They’re not just slamming down on the wah pedal for all eternity (but they’re
damn good at doing just that, when it’s needed) and can space things out
(literally and figuratively). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>4. Ulver – War of the
Roses (Jester/K-Scope)</b> This took a few spins to get into but it was well
worth it. Melancholic pop and ambience with touches of jazz and classical
minimalism. Wolves evolve as band
leader, Kristoffer “Garm” Rygg said many an album ago and this another fine example.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>5. Midnight – <i>Satanic Royality</i> (Hell’s Headbangers)</b>
Nothin’ too fancy or frilly - just riffs, attitude and diabolic incantations
that invoke Venom, Motorhead and Bulldozer with even more
blood curdling but super catchy vocals. This ain’t trendy or intentionally
anti-trendy – just really down & dirty HM the way the dark lord intended.
Along with Atomizer and Aura Noir, these guys have earned the keys to the 7
gates of hell. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>6. King Dude - Love (Dais</b>) Echo-y, one man neo-folk act from
Seattle (who really surprised me to find out that it was TJ Cowgill of
black/death metallers Book of Black Earth) invoking everything from the very
under the radar <a href="http://www.whiskey-soda.de/story.php?id=26359%C2%A0">Changes </a> to Leonard Cohen to at times even dark
country folk tunes.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>7. AntiSeen – <i>Exploding Barbwire Death Match</i> - 7”
(Green Mist)</b> The gods of the TRUE Rock N’ Wrestlin’ connection continue their
mayhemic ways with this ode to Japanese hardcore action featuring an ode to
Mr.Pogo and Atushusi Onita’s brutal match described in full on title track.
Also, keep on tearin’ it up with “Kill the Scene” a nasty cover of Jeff
Clayton’s brother’s band, Mad Brother Ward and The Screamin’ Street Trash.
They close it out with a cover of Cocknoose’s deadly good squared circle
manifesto – “Invader #1 Must Die”. If you don’t know why they feel spite towards Mr. Gonzales go<a href="http://sportingeye.wordpress.com/2010/01/26/the-murder-of-frank-bruiser-brody-goodish/"> here</a>). Bonus points for performing the title track on Chic-A-Go-Go in front of a
bunch of confused dancing kids & their moms. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>8</b>. </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Zombi – Escape Velocity (Relapse) </b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">OK, so they ditched most of their Goblin influence for waves of Italo-disco & Giorgio Moroder – I’m OK with this as it’s pretty hypnotic streams that at its best remind me of the in-between bits of ads for San Francisco’s Exploratorium circa: 1978 and other related 70’s futurism.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>9. Oneothrix Point
Never</b> – <b>Replica (Software/Mexican
Summer)</b> Electro-trip out ambience on one part. Weird cut ups, loopy warp-age
on the other part. More of the first but the other part is quite interesting. It's far more than a guy on his lap top cutting up Mr. Coffee ads or checking his e-mail in some dull club. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>10. SubRosa - No Help for the Mighty Ones (Profound Lore) - </b>Great mix of Doom Metal, and I dunno...a really moody version of The Pixies as Kim Pack's vocals remind me of another Kim (as in Deal). Curious to hear what their next one's gonna sound like. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>11. Negative Plane – <i>Stained Glass Reflections</i> (Anja
Offensive) </b>One of the few Black Metal releases that really kept my interest
and attention. Lots of unpredictable change ups including a lot of twangy,
almost surf tones along with other sort of early 60’s style twang influenced
guitar, natural bass & drums, grim but expressive vocals instead of a generic,
bored growl. Listen on headphones to get the full experience.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>12. V/A:
Urfaust/Celestial Bloodshed - <i>split 7”</i>
(Terratur Possessions)</b> Urfaust creates more slow, winding warbly darkness
with simple drumming is what you find here another way gone “ohh-aahhhh” chorus
leading down into the dungeons of an evil baron’s castle which “typically
untypical” of Urfaust i.e.- it’s completely worthy. Norge’s Celestial Bloodshed
brings a pretty killer, raw but very loud thrashy Black Metal attack with
roaring vocals & no time for bullshit. Sort of similar of their country
mates Koldbrann. Fuuuck, I wish I bought this now that it goes for $100 on discogs.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Runners Up:</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Sun Araw – Ancient
Romans (Sun Ark)</b> Very interplanetary, melted psych oddities of celestial
organs and spacious dub-drippings drooping down upon the galaxy. Yeah, I dig it
but didn’t hear it ‘til 2012. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Lykke Li – Wounded
Rhymes (Atlantic)</b> – Don’t care what the cool/uncool police say. I like at
least ½ of it. Must be the melancholic Swede in me and there’s plenty of it
here but I wish she’d not drag out choruses such as the one on “Unrequited
Love” or drill in your ears the overused/abused “girl group” thing that everyone &
their dog’s doing now (see “Youth Knows No Pain”). Otherwise, a pretty fine
effort. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Barn Owl</b> –<b> Lost
in the Glare (Thrill Jockey) </b>– This’ll take some more time to get into I think.
For now it seems as if their quiet bits are just too quiet but overall an
interesting mix of slowed down strums, lots of space between notes and psych.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Earth - Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light (Southern Lord)</b> Yep, they're still plenty pastoral and twangy but this was a too samey for an entire album to get into 100%. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Absu – Abzu
(Candlelight)</b> – No question they can play like mad and make some
interesting Black er…”mythological occult Metal”. Yet this time out the songs
just speed by too fast without enough identity or moments long enough to latch
on to. These songs might work well live but not so much on the record. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>N.K.V.D. - Vlast
(Those Opposed)</b> French industrial Black Metal which sounds much more of the
former than the latter. However, they do mix the bombast of both styles quiet
well along with a historical and lyrical focus on (mostly) recent history in
Europe and Russia. Each song is its own chapter on a specific topic, namely the
very Thorns (Norway) sounding “Geheime Staats Polizei” deals with the Gestapo.
Otherwise, the rest of the songs are focused on Milosevic and various members
and events in the Cheneya region (namely Grozny, the Alkhan-Khan operation and
Krasnodar Krai). Lots of promise in this act, hopefully they’ll do more topical
tunes of terror and totalitarianism in the future. However, it might not be
something I’d put on all that much, mind. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Hot Graves – <i>Necros Mixos Sacrifico</i> (Self-released)</b>
– Florida-based Black/Punk Metal meisters of a high order. No
ultra-cult/collector nerdshit here. Just honest & real covers of several of
their influences & inspirations done with their blackened hearts in the
right place. Cover tunes of The <span style="line-height: 115%;">Accu</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">sed<span style="font-size: 11pt;">,</span></span> Midnight, Floor, Roky Erikson, Discharge, Pentagram,
and a Gwar/Cannibal Corpse maggot medley. Nice to hear not only the range of
covers but the range of the talents – especially vocally. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Hell – Human Remains
(Nuclear Blast)</b> – Traditional HM from the UK whose roots go way back to
1982. I can remember reading about their 2<sup>nd</sup> demo in Metal Forces in
’84. Very good, theatrical vocals very catchy chorus but the downside is
there’s far too many intros/interludes for it to work all the way. If they just
gutted that, made a shorter release with the straight up songs it would be in a
higher position.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Condemned 2 Death –
C2D (Nuclear Blast</b>) – Modern hardcore done by a bunch of old schoolers with
an Attitude Adjustment connections. I remember their name appearing on several
mix tapes & denim & leather jackets from my sister’s punker friends
back in the 80’s. They’re back and sounding just OK but a tad too modern
hardcore polish ‘ala much of what’s on Bridge Nine. However, the best part is
that it comes with their first 7”, first EP/LP and demos which in this case are
much better. Interesting to see they were one of the first ever bands signed to
Nuclear Blast. Much rather hear this than the same ‘ol “hardcore hit parade” in
the bars of S.F. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>In Solitude – The World, Flesh, The Devil (Metal Blade) </b>Swedish
Mercyful Fate worship but with quite a bit of interesting riffs and moods of
their own. As good as their songs can be in places they have a tendency to drag
a bit especially in the middle of the album.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Kypck - </b></span><b> <span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">Below</span></span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b> (Yellow House)</b> Finns making melodic
but still quite heavy doom Metal in Russian with a number of historical related
lyrics in Russian. The album title means “beneath or below” very interesting
stuff. More <a href="http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/KYPCK/121477">here</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Prurient – Bermuda
Drain (Hydra Head)</b> Haven’t heard a
noise or noise-related album in a long time that’s actually done something to
captivate my attention. With Domick Fennrow now part of Cold Cave, I’m sure
he’s had to fend off notions that their synth based sound is now overlapping
with his solo works but regardless, this is some trippy electronics. Prob. the
only thing I’ve been able to enjoy on Hydrahead in a long time, too. “A Meal
Can Be Made” is the best Skinny Puppy tune they never wrote. Mind bending,
pulsating electronics. The album ender “Sugar Cane Chapel” sounds as if M83’s
being tortured by left over bits of Whitehouse & Boyd Rice.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Megadeth – Thirteen</b>
– The guitars sound great, but the songs are just floating in nothing-ness for
the most part. Going on Alex Jones’ show just proved Mustaine’s just getting
weirder and weirder and not in the cool Urfaust way. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Nazareth – Big Dogz
(Eagle)</b> – Not their best by far and no Manny Charlton on guitar (but Jimmy
Murrison’s no slouch). However, there’s no question that Dan McCaffetry can
still belt it out and it’s plenty good to see ‘em still around. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Prince Rama – Trust
Now (Paw Tracks) </b>One of the bands I heard a lot on KFJC & WFMU but
they’re half “whoa what’s this crazy, way gone stuff!??!” and half “what's with this wailing shit?” So, it’s a compromise but I just wish it was more of
the first. <b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Satan’s Host – By The
Hands of the Devil (Moribund)</b> – Would’ve liked this much more with it
wasn’t for the drum triggers. Still, Harry “The Tyrant” Conklin is still a
helluva singer. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Volture – Shocking It’s
Prey (Heavy Artillery)</b> Lots of Priest, Priest and more Priest. But instead
of <i>Sin After Sin</i> it’s <i>Ram It Dow</i>n. Not bad but heard it 10,000x before.
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Zodiac Free Arts Club
– Floating World (Permanent Vacation)</b> Greece via Germany early 70’s style tripped
out electronic throbs & blips that’s more a current version of Tangerine
Dream or Vangelis? </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">St. Anger awards for
craptastic levels of achievement:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Botantist</b> - <b>Convolvulus
Althaeoides (Tumult)</b> - By the belly of Horgh – what a bunch of novelty crap masquerading as Black Metal. <b>Morbid Angel</b> -<b>Illud Divinum Insanus
(Season of Mist)</b> – “Radikult” & soulless drums need I saw more? <b>Litgury</b> -<b> Aesthethica (Thrill Jockey) </b>– Really this should have about as much impact on
Black Metal much less Heavy Metal as Stephen Hawking would in a steel cage vs.<a href="http://www.dvd-bluray-reviews.com/big_images/dvd/Choose-Death--Necro-Butcher-Inside-the-Mind-of-Wrestling-Madman-2009.jpg">Necro Butcher</a>. <b>James Ferraro </b>–<b> Far
Side Virtual (Hippos in Tanks)</b> He’s gone of the deep end with his new age
obsession. <b>Metreedica</b> - <b>“Lulu” (Warner Bros)</b> – As
awful the ballads on “Load & Reload” & Lou selling Honda motorcycles in
the 80’s only worse?<b> Fucked Up - David Comes Alive (Matador) - </b>Bruce Springsteen goes "punk rock opera"? Count me out. <b>Venom</b> – <b>Fallen
Angels (Spinefarm) </b>The good: Cronos vocals & bass sound. The bad: the songs
sound he’s singing over 90’s Metallica. Check out “Hammerhead” and “Punk’s Not
Dead” and you’ll know what I mean. It’s not 1000% horrible but no Abandon and
no Mantas = no Venom. (Much less no Cronos, which they already tried &
failed with). </span><span class="apple-style-span"><o:p></o:p></span></div>Justin "Thunder" Lagerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13386379717179604612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802391464230316010.post-7231177642868845042012-01-08T20:07:00.000-08:002012-01-08T23:09:19.913-08:00Best Reissues of 2011 and more<br />
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<b>REISSUES:<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b>1. Evil Blood – </b>Midnight in Sodom – LP (Buried by Time and Dust) I had listened to the fuck out of my MP3s & various youschlub clips of their demos. Furious Heavy/Thrash/Speed Metal from Croatia in the very beginning 1983-85. Honestly in league with “Kill ‘Em All”, the 1<sup>st</sup> Metal Church & Holy Terror. Croatian/ex-Yugo Metal, much less most Eastern Euro Metal from the 80’s doesn’t get enough respect but this COMMANDS IT!</div>
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<b>2. Noothgrush – </b>Erode the Person (Blind Date), 1994 demo (Fuck Yoga). I’ve been following these guys since their 2<sup>nd</sup> demo- these are essential for anyone that likes harsh doom and sludge metal. Lyrically they range from the political, historical to the silly but always very heavy & punishing.</div>
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<b>Satan –</b> Into the Fire/Kiss of Death LP + demo 7” (Buried by Time and Dust) – One other thing I listened to a LOT this year was more NWOBHM. This band always piqued my interest but they were often the case of “oh, I’ll get that next time”. Well, next time turned out to be 2011 but this LP/7” set was defo. worth my $$. Like Sabbath they were blessed with three phenomenal vocalists. In this case we have Trevor Robinson, Ian Swift and later Brian Ross (who didn’t join ‘til after these original demos & 7” were recorded in 1981-82). And really this band’s influence on Metallica and Megadeth has to be discussed more. Listen to “Oppression” from 1981 and you’ll know why.</div>
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<b>3. V/A: Those Shocking Shaking Days </b>(Now Again) Excellent mix of Indonesian soul, funk, psych, prog, pop and hard rock from 1970-78. Great drumming on nearly every tune (what was it about 1970s drumming – seems like nearly everyone had a killer tone & style). Interesting to note that these songs were made during the era of the U.S. backed Surharto dictatorship. The moody prog of Shark Move’s “Evil War” underscores the frustrations of the time. Thankfully that bastard is wormfood and these artists music lives on.</div>
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<b>4. Wolvserpent – </b>Gathering Strengths/Blood Seed (Crucial Blast) – Really nice and long dark ambient with bits of doom. I intitally thought I wasn’t going to be much into this going in but it quickly became more and more entrancing.</div>
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I didn’t get to any of the <b>Death</b> reissues (<i>Human, Individual Thought Patterns, Symbolic, etc). </i>But I already know <i>Human</i> is a killer record and was a killer tour. </div>
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<b>2009-2010 Reissues that ruled but didn't get to 'til now:</b><i> </i><br />
<b>Nazareth's</b> 70's catalogue - especially Loud 'N' Proud (1973), Razamanaz (1973), and Hair of the Dog (1975). Also played my orig. No Mean City LP quite a few times in '11.<br />
<b>Black Sabbath</b> – <b>Master of Reality (deluxe edition) (Universal)</b> OK, OK, this actually came out in 2009 but this is one of the few things the (remaining) majors are doing right. “Weevil Woman ‘71” and the “After Forever” outtakes are worth it alone.
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<b>2011 releases too late for review but
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<b>Rome</b> – Die Æsthetik Der Herrschaftsfreiheit (Trisol) – Wanted to get the original, deluxe 3 CD edition with Jerome Reuter’s 3 books. Though, 2012 holds the promise of these 3 albums released separately<b>. </b></div>
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<b>Sol Invictus</b> - The Cruelest Month (Auerbach/ Prophecy Productions)</div>
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<b>Current 93 </b>– HoneySuckle Æons (Coptic Cat)</div>
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<b>Hammers of Misfortune</b> – 17th Street (Metal Blade)</div>
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<b>Voi Vod</b> – To The Death demos (Alternative Tentacles) – I already know this is great just haven’t heard it in the new remastering.</div>
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<b>Peter Bjärgö - </b>The Architecture of Melancholy (Cyclic Law)</div>
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<b>Saxon</b> – Call to Arms (Militia Guard)</div>
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<b>Vektor</b> - Outer Isolation (Heavy Artillery)</div>
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<b>Dirty Beaches</b> – Badlands (Zoo) – Super generic band name but really great, dark ballads, a bit of Suicide and lonely Americana noir.</div>
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<b>Tokyo Blade</b> – Thousand Men Strong (Fastball Music)</div>
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<b>Lumerians </b>- Transmalinnia (Knitting Factory)</div>
<b style="line-height: 18px;">Wooden Shijps</b><span style="line-height: 18px;"> – West (Thrill Jockey) – Showed more depth and that they’re NOT a 1 trick pony. Excellent live at Frisco Freakout, too.</span><br />
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<b>Deceased</b> – Surreal Overdose (Patac)</div>
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<b>Tim Hecker</b> - Ravedeath 1972 (Kranky)</div>
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<b>Soriah with Ashkelon Sain</b> - Eztica (Projekt)</div>
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<b>Cult of Youth</b> – Cult of Youth (Sacred Bones)</div>
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<b>Anvil </b>– Juggernaut of Justice (The End)</div>
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<b>Hot Graves</b> – Knights in White Phosphorus (Satanik)</div>
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<b>Gates of Slumber</b> - The Wretch (Rise Above/Metal Blade)</div>
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<b>Slug Guts </b>– Town Tied (Sacred Bones)</div>
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<b>Tombs</b> – Path of Totality (Relapse)</div>
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<b>Burzum</b> – Fallen (some dodgy Russians?)</div>
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<b>Vastum</b> – Carnal Law (Profound Lore)</div>
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<b>Necros Christos </b>– Doom of the Occult (Sepulchral Voice)</div>
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<b>Wolves in the Throne Room</b> – Celestial Lineage (Southern Lord)</div>
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<b>Junius</b> - Reports From The Threshold Of Death (Prosthetic)</div>
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<b style="font-weight: bold;">Helrunar –</b> Sol (Lupus Lounge)</div>
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<b>Botantist</b> - Convolvulus Althaeoides (Tumult) - By the rasp of Quorthon! – what a bunch of novelty crap. <b>Morbid Angel</b> -Illud Divinum Insanus (Season of Mist) – “Radikult” + even getting history wrong "since '89?" You formed the band in 1985!<br />
<b>Litgury</b> - Aesthethica (Thrill Jockey) -Really this should have about as much impact on Heavy Metal as Stephen Hawking would in a steel cage vs. <a href="http://youtu.be/exsWhWs_t-Y">Necro Butcher</a>.<br />
<b>James Ferraro </b>– Far Side Virtual (Hippos in Tanks) He’s gone of the deep end with his new age obsession.<br />
<b>Reedallica</b> - Lulu (Warner) – As awful the ballads on “Load & Reload” & <a href="http://youtu.be/iK6y9_0gsEg">Lou selling Honda motorcycle</a>s in the 80’s only worse?<br />
<b> Venom</b> – Fallen Angels (Spinefarm) The good: Cronos vocals & bass sound. The bad: the songs sound he’s singing over 90’s Metallica. Check out “Hammerhead” and “Punk’s Not Dead” and you’ll know what I mean. It’s not 1000% horrible but no Abandon and no Mantas = no Venom. (Much less no Cronos, which they already tried & failed with). </div>Justin "Thunder" Lagerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13386379717179604612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802391464230316010.post-61901586467179706822011-12-19T23:39:00.000-08:002012-01-01T13:24:01.434-08:00Favorite Live Shows of 2011<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This year was a bit different in that I saw far more things outside the usual Heavy Metal scene which while I saw a good bit of, I also got quite burnt out on. Though, I was excited about discovering older bands. (More on that in the Best Records List, coming soon). Also, there was a big lack of hardcore/punk shows. Well, there's another thing I didn't catch up on a lot save <a href="http://maximumrocknroll.com/">MRR</a> and the weekly read through of <a href="http://terminal-boredom.com/forums/index.php?PHPSESSID=df69d841427937d42b83cacc5ddedf67&topic=30712.0">Terminal Boredom</a>. Still, I did see both Saxon and <em style="font-style: normal; line-height: 16px;">Motörhead</em>, along with the triumphant return from Noothgrush. So, here's a bunch of gigs in no order of preference: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>1) </b><em style="font-style: normal; line-height: 16px;"><b>Motörhead/Clutch at The Warfield - February 2nd</b> - Clutch was pretty damn rockin' but more importantly </em><em style="font-style: normal; line-height: 16px;">Motörhead played nearly everything I wanted them to play and I made eye contact with Lemmy & was a mere 20 or so feet away from him! So, can't complain...other than their $40 shirts. </em></span></div>
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<em style="font-style: normal; line-height: 16px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>2)</b> <b>SWANS at The Regency</b> -<b> March 1st</b>. First time I've ever seen a show here, big venue and pretty pricey ticket through the usual ticketbastard but this place worked great for Michael Gira & co. who were one of the heaviest/loudest shows I've ever seen. (Next to Iron Maiden in 1985 & Foetus Inc. in 1991). Plus, it was great to see the first band that really made me explore things outside the Heavy Metal and Hardcore/Punk.</span></em></div>
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<em style="font-style: normal; line-height: 16px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>3)</b> </span></em><em style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: normal; line-height: 16px;"><b>Hans Keller/Spectrum at the Blank Club, April 25th</b>. I recognized one of the </em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Hans Keller feller on keyboards & f/x from a few other shows in SJ in recent years & from Good Karma Vegan cafe. Really neat psych band that’s been going for awhile. Spectrum (featuring Sonic Boom of Spacemen 3) did a bunch of their ol' faves: “Honey”, an fast & fuzzed out version of Spacemen 3's “Revolution”, his own purty 'lil tune: “How Does It Feel” and so on all to a sparse but <i>very</i> enthusiastic crowd. Every once in a blue moon San Jose "gets it" and this night was one of them. </span></div>
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<em style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: normal; line-height: 16px;"><b>4) </b></em><em style="font-style: normal; line-height: 16px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Amber Asylum/Wolvserpent at Thee Parkside</b>, <b>May 17th </b> Amber Asylum never disappoints with their sullen neo-classical sound. This time with just 3 members (Sarah R-B on violin/viola, Leila also from Hammers of Misfortune and Vastum on guitar/keyboard & occasion vocals and founder Kris Force on violin, vocals & samples) they sounded fantastic. Onward to Wolvserpent- this band I intially thought from the stuff I read would be just another doom/drone act. Yet the duo of Blake Green and Brittany McConnell worked in the way someone such as Swans do with "maximal minimalism" and stretched out two-three notes in a hypnotic fashion. Amber Asylum did another great set at The Elbo Room in early November (with a bunch of pretty good Black/Doom Metal bands - Fell Voices, Ash Borer & Lycus) with what looked like dueling violins for a few moments from Sarah & Kris along with some neat visuals from outer & inner space.</span></em></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><b>5) Andre Williams at The Hemlock, June 25th</b>. Heard this ann</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ounced on KFJC a bunch the week before and figured first the guy's an absolute ROCK n' ROLL/SOUL KING on par with James Brown and George Clinton and I'm gonna see 'em for a scant $12 at the friggin' Hemlock! A definite can't miss gig which turned out to be filled with many kinds of greatness - Williams & co possessed pure showmanship and a level of ribaldry on par with Russ Meyer's "Faster Pussycat, Kill! Kill!". Lots of tunes that were lewd but not crude and 100% energy at every turn. The backing back was the pretty swingin' and often twangy openers, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/jailweddings">Jail Weddings</a> from L.A. I also hugely recommend the documentary, </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"> Agile, Mobile, Hostile: A Year With Andre Williams from 2008 which you can view <a href="http://www.hulu.com/watch/135623/agile-mobile-hostile-a-year-with-andre-williams">here</a>. </span></span></div>
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6</b></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><b>)</b> <b>Earth at the Catalyst on July 21</b>. Went down to Santa Cruz with a friend on a whim for this. A beautiful foggy night down the coast that mixed very well with Dylan Carson's languid, twang. Some French-Canadian openers whose name escapes me had a great bass tone but song-wise they were pretty snoozy. Only shitty thing was the way-too loud reggae band upstairs. Ugh. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"><b>7)</b> <b>Dirty Ghosts/White Hills/Carlton Melton at The Rickshaw Stop, Sept. 15th.</b> Dirty Ghosts were "kinda there" with an decent but very uneven 80's new wave/semi-garage rock sound. The vocalist was all over the place tone wise - sometimes she was Pat Benatar other times I dunno what. However, White Hills was a massive wave of thundering psych from the first note to the last. They played a number of tunes from their latest album, the excelled,<i> Hp-1.</i> Namely the album opener, "The Condition of Nothing" took off with a giant roar with all four members in top form. The more straight-ahead "Upon Arrival" had a loads of big riffs and a super-catchy low-end. Guitarist Dave W. looked straight outta Hawkwind (always a good thing) with a red & white shirt & silver (machine?) face paint along with a gold top Les Paul. Bassist Ego Sensation rocked out with a killer clear Dan Armstrong bass which accented her outfit of snazzy red & spangly pants & a shiny silver accented & flared shirt. White Hills really knows how to do own the stage. Carlton Melton did the quite intro into huge middle-end bit that work fantastically and melted some minds including my own. You can catch some of their set <a href="http://youtu.be/hECc1e9GZCY">here</a>. </span><span style="line-height: 16px;">Also had a plenty good time with friends over beers & the 2nd (aka: the last <i>good</i>) Def Leppard LP before the show. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"><b>8)</b> <b>Saxon at The Avalon Sept 30th</b>. A bunch of weird openers but a near packed house even during the early part of the festivities. The first was some young lads (and by that I mean 10 & under) playing classic rock/metal cover tunes. I just hear the last half of their take on AC/DC's "Long Way to the Top" which as much I can do without AC/DC and covers of 'em was quite energetic and done real well, especially considering their ages. The next band was Hatchet who were every shitty thrash </span></span><font-family: -webkit-auto;"="" 16px;="" arial,="" font-style:="" line-height:="" normal;="" sans-serif;="" text-align:="">cliché<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;"> in one band. "C'mon let's start a fuckin' pit" repeat 800 times, etc. Hilarity did ensure though with a very drunk and wobbly Paul Baloff clone on the floor mosh and slowly walking around the floor during their set. Next up a bunch of comically bad prog-metallers that barely played a note I liked. After about a 1/2 hour, Saxon finally got going with a load of great tunes including some new ones that well, sounded like their slower, 2-3 chord rockers. Biff Byford was looking and sounding in good form as was the rest of the band that included classic-era Nigel Glockner on drums (just like on "The Eagle has Landed") and guitarist Paul Quinn on guitar. A few other highlights was the rest of the set and encores: "Crusader", "Strong Arm of the Law", "This Town Knows Who To Rock", "Motorcycle Man", "Denim and Leather", "The Power and the Glory", All sorts made it out to this from teenagers to older dudes like mesellf and even older heshers. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">Yeah, so they didn't do "20,000 Feet" but look at that set list!</span></font-family:></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="text-align: left;">9) Frisco Freakout at Thee Parkside Oct. 8th.</b><span style="text-align: left;"> A great day in general that started with a trip to the incredible <a href="http://www.greenapplebooks.com/">Green Apple</a> Books where I picked up the bio of Dusty "The American Dream" Rhodes & an issue of </span><i style="text-align: left;">Draw! </i><span style="text-align: left;">mag</span><i style="text-align: left;"> </i><span style="text-align: left;">followed by excellent pizza at Pizza Orgasmica. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: left;">Anyhow, the Freakout Fest started a bit rocky with the first so-so band that sounded like someone's embarrassing uncle's garage project that did a private press LP in '72 that should've been kept just that. Also, some shitty DJ just had to play the Dead for 4+ hours in between bands. (Ever heard of Hawkwind? I hear they have a few records around) and the outside DJ put everything on too fucking loud. However, things got going right after the first dud band. Highlights included the un searchable named, Joy (from San Diego) who mixed a bit of fast punky tunes with their sort of 70's psych sound, Outlaw were moody but pretty rockin' - they did a nice version of “In Heaven” from Eraserhead. Z-Trane Electric Band had some good guitar parts that were more in the way of surf and early rock n' roll than psych but it overlapped pretty well. <a href="http://youtu.be/Gc4Y04ToKuQ">Dahga Bloom</a> (right before Melton) mixed up 60's psych and pop but fuzzed it out enough to fall on the latter. To top it off, Harderships (featuring Issah from Earthless + Jefferson + Camilla from Assembled Head in Sunburst Sound) did a good mix of 70's rock and psych that took a 'lil while to sink in but got on fine by the 3rd tune. Carlton Melton start in the warbly melt-down and pick things up with Andy hammer the shit out of the drums through latter part. One of the Earthless folks did guest guitar from the floor. Assembled Head kept the heavy psych going with pop melodies and harmonies all of which transitioned perfectly. Including this <a href="http://youtu.be/pFksRHDkX_U">absolutely perfect</a> number. This fest also gets bonus points for the former BMX racer who looked like </span><a href="http://www.lightmillennium.org/biographies/bmanco_biography.html">Barış Manço</a> who I talked with for several hours & we realized that we might've raced against each other in the early 80's in Fremont. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="text-align: left;">10) Noothgrush/Human Anomaly/Dispirit/C</b><b>onnoisseur</b><b style="text-align: left;"> at 924 Gilman St., Oct. 22nd. </b><span style="text-align: left;"> I missed Agents of Satan and Atriarch as I was out to dinner with the Human Anomaly folks. Co</span>nnoisseur<span style="text-align: left;"> had a moshing yeti and they did a great mix of punk, hardcore, grind and power-violence. Dispirit was interesting but impossible to see amongst the absolute red & black. H.A. confused and amused the usual Gilman crowd with their neat mix of prog and 70’s jazz fusion. Their guitarist, Lance twice played sections that reminded me of Jeff Beck. Noothgrush was as punishing as they were many years prior at Gilman. While I saw Nootgrush them a few months earlier at the Elbo Room (with Winter and 4 too many Swedish Death Metal influenced hardcore bands). They were great then but I think overall this was a much better show - especially with more diverse sounds on the bill. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Honorable mention:</b><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_847977969"> </a><u><a href="http://www.carlakihlstedt.com/carla.html#">Carla Kihlstedt</a> at YBCA</u> in July: I hadn't seen Kilhstedt in Sleeptime Gorilla Museum or Tin Hart Trio much less the bevvy or other performers she's collaborated with. Nor had I ever read</span> <span style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://kirjasto.sci.fi/jlborges.htm">Jorges Luis Borges</a> but this was a night to see/hear something different, even if this might've been a bit over my head. </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, the music was an interesting mix of vocal choruses, jazz, classical and a variety of other things. Afterwards, I met a German girl who in a </span><a href="http://www.belphegor.at/news.htm" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Belphegor</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> shirt who told me she was flying all over the country to see these performances. (She was also planning on seeing Belphegor again in Germany in a few weeks). Crazy that. </span></div>
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pics below in order are: </b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Human Anomaly, Assemble Head in Sunburst Sound, Saxon, Andre Williams, Earth, White Hills, Spectrum, and SWANS</span></div>
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</div>Justin "Thunder" Lagerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13386379717179604612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802391464230316010.post-70779348731856613772011-11-29T22:56:00.000-08:002011-11-29T00:06:38.728-08:00METALSPLOITATION! - (Con't) - What are your Italian zombies doing in my cinema?<div style="text-align: center;">
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Hmm...what's this "Music by Accept? Saxon? Scorps? Motley Crüe? Awesome! Claudio Simonetti? Never heard of 'em. Rick Springfield - ah, whatevah this looks killer!"</div>
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Demons or Demoni (its international title) uses the "movie within a movie" format. While people are being killed in the movie the people are watching and then being they are then killed by demons in the theater. A woman on screen's neck is being cut up while a woman in the theater dares to look only to have her own neck sliced up like a Thanksgiving turkey. In fact, this movie seems to take a liking to ripping necks apart and goughing eyes apart - the latter almost as much as fellow Italian horror director Lucio Fulci. Back to the music, there's an uncredited anthemic metal rager called "Night Danger" by Denmark's pretty good band, Pretty Maids. </div>
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Thus began my obsession with Italian horror and more specifically Dario Argento movies. Although, Demoni isn't considered a "true" Argento movie as it was directed by Lamberto Bava. Regardless this Heavy Metal and Horror connection sent me back to Pleasanton's then godly <a href="http://digilib.gmu.edu:8080/html/1920/2054/viewdetail_id105.1.html">Aspargus Video</a>. My mom's then boyfriend, Bob drove me over there after a trip over to <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikiee/2572407768/">The Record Factory in Dublin.</a> While I asked him dumb questions like "what's a skeptics? I asked him this 'cause I just bought Agent Steel's - <i><a href="http://youtu.be/BOq-ZW6FiOY">Skeptic's Apocalypse</a> </i>LP. I wasn't so sure what they were on about. (I later found out it was some crrrazy UFO/aliens theme). I remember the night I got this video tape from the store and several times I rewound the scene with 'Maiden (one of my fave horror movie scenes ever).
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/t2DdUs1nASw" width="420"></iframe></div>Justin "Thunder" Lagerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13386379717179604612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802391464230316010.post-82375275252908255242011-11-28T21:03:00.000-08:002011-11-28T23:39:25.446-08:00Stoned (Again?)<div style="text-align: left;">
I meant to release this way back in 2008 but it's still relevant to the "weird experience on weed thing". This took place at a party at the great but short lived Stanford party house that KZSU DJ, <a href="http://zk.stanford.edu/newzk/export.php?session=&playlist=19867&format=html">Big Chief</a> once lived at. </div>
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No, it wasn't quite like this but...damn...eating 2 squares of weed cake tonight was fuggin' weird. I hadn't had any weed as in smoking it. Having an interesting, fun time at a KZSU friends b-day party. Talking with friends old and new. The delicious yellow cake filled with the cannibus and before that was the baked potato with the cannibus butter. Oh, so good but oh, so dumb after 4-5 beers. Strangely, the last time I had gotten high off of weed was around 2003 when at a friend's house San Francisco party. My friend's roommate peer pressured me into "burning the green" again -especially since I said (and truthfully) I hadn't had any since June 1986 at the <a href="http://www.wolfgangsvault.com/ozzy-osbourne/poster-art/poster/COW860617.html">Metallica/Ozzy show</a>. That stuff was pretty powerful but I 'spose that's stating the obvious as the permutations of weed have advanced into turbo level now. I was used to the regular strong but not too strong of Reagan-era sensimilla not this harsh stuff they had in S.F. that night. Then again, I've often been a total lightweight.<br />
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My mind's didn't get too warped but things did indeed slow way down yet at the same time I was able to talk and respond well and only rarely missing my train of thought. But jeez, how did it hit me not until close to an 40 minutes-an hour after eating it? I was talking with a friend of mine near the BBQ I suddendly hit me in the back of the head like a rock. I pointed to my friend and said to her "whooaa...hold on! Holy shit, dewd, I'm fuckin' high off that weed cake!" Strangely, the cake even gave me cotton mouth to some degree. Cotton mouth was my least fave side effects from smokin' weed. (Somewhere after the stench of the stuff).<br />
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Anyway, later tonight, after a long "back to normal" stretch" I was listening to Legendary Pink Dots on the way home. A contemporary version of the trippiest of trippest parts of Pink Floyd and something slooowwwww and just wuhh...<br />
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Now excuse me I gotta prepare for dealin' with the real world tomorrow. Saaaad! No more weed be it cake or otherwise for me, thank you.Justin "Thunder" Lagerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13386379717179604612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802391464230316010.post-81787700634968958982011-10-23T21:00:00.000-07:002011-10-23T21:00:04.865-07:00In a race track far, far away...(BMX Obsesso con't)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/2-1B_surgical_droid">Surgical Droid 2-1B</a> from <i>Empire Strikes Back</i> </div>
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reminded me a lot of Clint Miller of Team Kuwahara </div>
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Kuwahara was the top Japanese BMX company that made <a href="http://bmxmuseum.com/bikes/kuwahara/31978">the bike for <i>E.T.</i></a> They along with <a href="http://www.araya-kk.co.jp/rim/">Araya Rims</a> (not made by the guy from Slayer) were the top 2 companies from Japan for BMX equipment. Going back to my last post's Hesh-BMX connection is this image found whilst looking for 80's BMX:<br />
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2nd from right & 2nd from left made the right t-shirt choice. </div>
<br />Justin "Thunder" Lagerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13386379717179604612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802391464230316010.post-83415470632340174092011-10-17T22:41:00.000-07:002011-10-17T22:42:46.487-07:00Team Cliff Burton?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdgN_mPtvqmzfOIMmqivPyFXdnoSzuY3_3a5VZpqVBP8IdVh_hij29c4LRj2RAQOAUnUFqtcXxVBfXH8gXBfpPJG3DdRyQbLxdvJ-SlIC-hc0Nq0fMyMWzKyCJar0lv02ZF4HRqA1GKv9H/s1600-h/img711.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311696524731527938" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdgN_mPtvqmzfOIMmqivPyFXdnoSzuY3_3a5VZpqVBP8IdVh_hij29c4LRj2RAQOAUnUFqtcXxVBfXH8gXBfpPJG3DdRyQbLxdvJ-SlIC-hc0Nq0fMyMWzKyCJar0lv02ZF4HRqA1GKv9H/s400/img711.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 388px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
Snagged from BMX Plus! <a href="http://bmxactiononline.com/index.php?option=com_fireboard&Itemid=26&func=view&id=323&catid=3&limit=10&limitstart=50"> forum</a> and also a reminder of a "full-circle moment" as not only was it sort of recently the anniversary of Cliff's tragic death in <a href="http://haggisbuffet.blogspot.com/2010/09/september-27th.html">September 1986.</a><br />
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Also, two weekends ago I was at the <a href="http://www.friscofreakout.com/">Frisco Freakout Fest</a> and spotted a guy in a BMX Reunion shirt. We talked about old school BMX for quite a while and we realized that we might've actually raced against each other at the <a href="http://bmxmuseum.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=62&p=2">Fremont ABA track</a> (in Jan-March '83).<br />
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Anyway, here's Cliff is holding a copy he just signed of one of the greatest (and most opinionated *) 80's Metal zine, <i>Kick Ass. </i><br />
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* As in editor "Nasty" Bob Muldoney hated King Diamond and Mercyful Fate along with W.A.S.P. The first he called Queen Rhinestone and the latter's singer was deemed Faggy Balless. On the other hand, he did support TONS of killer bands such as Burton-era Metallica, Bathory, Nasty Savage, Overkill. In addition, it was one of the few bigger circulation Metal zines that supported crossover bands (i.e. Broken Bones, C.O.C., etc).Justin "Thunder" Lagerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13386379717179604612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802391464230316010.post-85704990221525964202011-09-18T11:46:00.000-07:002011-09-18T12:14:00.474-07:00Metal RAPsodies<div style="text-align: center;">
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Let's forget the "official-dumb" of rap-rock/rap-meddle from the late 90's-2000s. Instead, let's focus on the earliest crossovers where they didn't make crappy wrestling intros and the like. Most known is RUN-DMC's re-make/collabo with Aerosmith on "Walk This Way". At my high school throughout most of the year they'd have a lunchtime DJ. The DJs would play everything from Run-DMC, Whodini, Prince, Beastie Boys to the tired ass-AC/DC, Aerosmith & Fred Zep songs that all the conservative heshers at the stoner wall loved (that shit was 8 years too late for my friends & me as we were down with Celtic Frost & Mercyful Fate).<br />
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While my own music taste was mostly Hard Rock and Metal - I also was taking in a lot other stuff from other friends. Namely, there was Fred who was in a breakdance crew in 8th grade and schooled me on Egyptian Lover, The Time, LL Cool J, etc. In our junior year art class he was wearing this shirt that said "Throw That 'D" with a duck scratching records on turntables on it. I asked him what that was from and he said from this rap band called 2 Live Crew...I just saw them in Oakland last night". I put going to see a (then unknown) 2 Live Crew in Oakland on par with seeing Baloff era Exodus - you have no idea what kinda mayhem is gonna be unleashed.<br />
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<b>"You might get paid-but your metal ain't real." </b></div>
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Before he was praising many a baby's backs and after his posse was on Broadway, Sir Mixx A Lot was down with Metal Church and did this ace version of the <a href="http://youtu.be/1CGO5imNLPc">Sabs "Iron Man". </a><br />
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<b>"They couldn't kill the beast - along came the onslaught of Scorpions and Priest." </b></div>
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Going back to 1984-85, I saw an ad in Hit Parader from Megaforce Records that advertised (alongside new albums from Exciter, Anthrax and TT Quick) a mysterious artist named <a href="http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Lone_Rager/79461">Lone Rager</a> called "Metal Rap". Lone Rager was Johnny Z., the head of Megaforce along with members of Blue Cheer and <a href="http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/The_Rods/1683">The Rods</a>. Plus the "Children of Steel singers - a chorus of kids from ages 3 months to 10 yrs. old". I knew what the record looked like for <i>years </i>but never heard what is was. It seemed no one even in collector mega nerd circles even knew about this record or at least <i>cared</i> out it. Sure enough my friend <a href="http://moremusic.typepad.com/blog/">Crow </a>found a cheap copy for me at Amoeba one day and I've cherished from that day on.<br />
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Peep the crazy Heavy Metal history and geography lessons in the lyrics - totally fresh any day of the week!<br />
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What OTHER Metal or Rap song has ever repped Blue Cheer, Accept and <a href="http://youtu.be/ziyz5guQNPQ">H-Bomb</a>!...etc, etc!?!?<br />
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Next up is Anthrax who in 1987 did not one but TWO rap tunes. The first and lesser known is their collabo with UTFO called "Lethal". Joey Belladona's voice doesn't come in until 1:46 which is proceeded by some nice riffage by Scott Ian (said riff sounds like it's a left over from Fistful of Metal or the Armed and Dangerous EP). The line from UTFO "devoted to demolish to slay anyone" easily could've been a line by the (one, true) <a href="http://youtu.be/cGhGCEt7BOk">Slaughter</a>. Though, it is REALLY cheesy hearing a then-"true metal" frontman singing "If the girrrl wanna git it oooon....teylll the girrrrl!"<br />
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The second Anthrax-hip hop tune is "I'm The Man" which I can pretty much recite every line of. The song references everything from Sam Kinison to the Fat Boys (note the "yeaaaaah" & the 'lil beatbox bit) to the Mentor's El Duce, and even a tiny clip of Metallica's "Master of Puppets" (@ 1:55). "I'm so bad I should be detention" always cracks me up. I saw them play this tune as their final song when they opened for KISS in 1988 at the SF Civic. Scott Ian had a giant "Not" sign and they jump all over the stage. Totally rad and it sure beat going to school and scooping ice cream for shitty customers at work. My friends and I were planning on doing a lip synched version of "I'm The Man" at the lunch-time talent show (which stupidly didn't let you play live music - it had to be faked) but we couldn't get it together. My plan was to do the totally def UNcensored version.<br />
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A few years later when working the late shift at a beach side liqour store in Aptos, CA - the local college station, KZSC played the Public Enemy-Anthrax collab, "Bring the Noise". While I was burnt out on Thrash Metal I continued to get into various hip-hop bands - especially P.E. The open chords of this grabbed me and the tempo of the song gave me a much need jolt of energy and hence I heeded the words "turn it up!"<br />
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Call the "cool police" - I still love this</div>
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The first college station I heard was KSJS. Along with their usual mix of proto-EBM, punk, goth, etc. was this odd band from Wisconsin, Couch Flambeau. These guys were pretty silly but a lot of fun. More importantly their songs were pretty rockin'. This one is called "Satan's Buddies" and it has a somewhat of hip-hop feel in the beginning which is very remincent of Faith No More's "Epic". They also diss Sonic Youth for making the song "Satan is Boring" which was likely Thurston & co's diss on bands like Possessed and Slayer. Couch Flambeau made weirdo<a href="http://youtu.be/_16U0Uq6yDY"> punky rock n' roll</a> that may that didn't compromise ('ala ideally what much of early hip-hop did).<br />
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Along with Faith No More there were a few other bands that mixed rock and hip-hop such as <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unnGMdOtwH8">MCM and the Monster</a> who got lost in the shuffle between the rise of "thrash-funk"/"punk-funk" (or whatever the hell Limbomaniacs, Fungo Mungo and all that was) and Red Hot Chill Peppers.<br />
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Nerd note: MCM &The Monster once opened for Exodus. Plus, Exodus once played with the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Dutch "party rappers" Urban Dance Squad at Oakland's Henry J. Kaiser Arena in <a href="http://www.songkick.com/concerts/728045-red-hot-chili-peppers-at-henry-j-kaiser-convention-center/images/73226">July 91</a>. This is sort of idea was possibly inspired by bands wanting to reach out to other audiences other weird but interesting tours such as the Sisters of Mercy/Public Enemy/Gang Four (oh, and Warrior Soul) tour of 1991.<br />
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There was also the pretty damn silly Metal MC who, is on the short list of MCs with that part of their name at the end (See: Young MC). These dudes look rather hair-farmerish, so they were more like sucker (metal) MCs.<br />
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<b>The front cover tells you that there's a deranged metal/rap guitarist behind it's own "Tipper sticker" but really it should've just warned you from a lame record company gimmick. </b></div>
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In the 90's there was several pre-Shrimp Basket collabs such the ones from the ill-fated Judgement Night Soundtrack as well as Ice-T's notorious Metal band, Body Count who inspired this classic Congressional jam led by <a href="http://youtu.be/u6lwNyCo7O8">Col. George Taylor. </a> Now, wasn't reading this better than buying a $20<a href="http://www.imosh.com/NOVELTY/pages/A1688.htm"> "Rap Sucks" shirt</a>?<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>Justin "Thunder" Lagerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13386379717179604612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802391464230316010.post-66953297175643895902011-09-11T16:50:00.000-07:002014-09-05T19:05:39.215-07:00As opposed to Bloodbad?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This video is a part live show or live in front of 20+ people rehearsal thing that gives off the odor of a frankensense and myrr scented WAY-off Broadway play about the crucifixion. I mentioned these Seattle-based holy metallers, <a href="http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Bloodgood/1879">Bloodgood</a> earlier in a post on similar minded Jezzo-rockers,<a href="http://hordesofhesh.blogspot.com/search/label/Christian%20Metal"> Stryper.</a> This video is the first time I've ever seen any band use a guy dressed up like Jesus on stage and recreate the scene(s) from 31 (or 32?) A.D. This is an otherwise goofier version of Jesus Christ Superstar (which is pretty goofy unto itself). Though that movie reminds of my former friend,(Danny) in Pleasanton who was a born-again Christian that loved the above mentioned <a href="http://hordesofhesh.blogspot.com/2007/07/7707-national-day-of-stryper.html">bumblebees</a>. Said past friend & I's conversation went like this:<br />
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<b>(Danny):</b> What? You've never seen a movie about the Bible?<br />
<b>(Me): </b>(*Sheepishly*, pun intended) Nope, not yet.<br />
<b>(Danny): </b>Well, you SHOULD!<br />
<b>(Me):</b> Uh, ok like <i>Jesus Christ Superstar</i><br />
<b>(Danny): </b>Noooooo! That's blasphemous (<i>note:</i> in his universe this movie was "blasphemous" but listening to Blue Oyster Cult, Van Halen and his being a racist dick wasn't? Weird.)<br />
<b>(Me)</b>: Oh, I...didn't know that (I only thought "hey it has Jesus in the title - it must be about the Bible and filled with holy stuff).<br />
<b>(Danny): </b>See, you gotta watch <i>The Greatest Story Ever Told</i> and <i>The Ten Commandments.</i><br />
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A few years later via a <a href="http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/1178011/a/Mahvelous!.htm">Billy Crystal record</a>, I found out what a insincere joke <i>The Ten Commandments</i> is - Moses never landed on the Planet of the Apes. Additional viewings of this scene from Mel Brooks always great <i>History of the World Part 1 </i>also underscored that point.<br />
No idea about the latter movie but it sounds a little assholish for them to called it "Greatest Story EVER Told", <i>Tintin in Tibet </i>was a lot more interesting and it didn't confuse or give me nightmares (save the bit about the Yeti).<br />
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had told me told me when I mentioned not seeing ever seeing a movie about The Bible before The thing that makes me uneasy about this is that I actually quite like the vocals mixing Saxon's <a href="http://youtu.be/6Q62pt7Umq4">Biff Byford</a> & a touch of Mike Howe from <a href="http://youtu.be/TLpLYxUM2Gc">Metal Church</a> but while both have done a few <a href="http://youtu.be/L6VH1tAf790">missteps</a> in their <a href="http://youtu.be/fyYNoZwmpz0">career</a>, they never did play high school drama-power ballads like so:</div>
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So, Invisible Oranges can write a bunch of articles about <a href="http://www.invisibleoranges.com/2011/07/metallica-the-first-four-albums-creeping-death/">what mode/key Metallica songs</a> are in but who's ever gonna school you on late-80's Christian drama metal? </div>
Justin "Thunder" Lagerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13386379717179604612noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802391464230316010.post-38905272228378033582011-05-05T00:53:00.000-07:002011-05-05T01:31:27.183-07:00Great Goats Goring on Grass for the Government? Or how my day wentToday was odd but plenty interesting. I had not only a job interview my former hometown of <a href="http://www.mikepare.com/texts/favorite-parties.html">Pleasanton</a>. This is the town that inspired for my old and soon to be sequeled <a href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2395/1548542394_77aaf2b777.jpg">zine</a>, <em><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5310/5689226351_ced5c4f80f_b.jpg">Stoner Wall</a>. </em>Though, today's trip was very Eric B. & Rakim - <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strictly_Business_(album)">Strictly Business</a>. <br />
I had a job interview in Hacienda Business Park, an area I knew all too well. My family and I first knew it as the cow fields that were the background to the Denny's- which along with the 7-11 both on Hopyard Rd. still exists! Said Sevvy was the on that many a weed deal was made and also the place where I first heard Destruction's "Bestial Invasion". Since I got over there early, I went around the block to a section which I didn't recognize. Although other places while refurbished/painted and (over)developed were quickly becoming familiar. I can still take a quick look around the crux of Hopyard and it's environs and say "that's where I got high with Reid, that's the business park where I got drunk with Darren, and that's the concrete where Chad & I spray painted Slayer". The Lucky's store on Hopyard/West Los Positas also remains. This was where my Ozzy/W.A.S.P./Slayer worshipping friend, <a href="http://hordesofhesh.blogspot.com/2010/08/ozzy-ozzy-ozzy.html">Steve</a> worked at for over a decade.<br />
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Anyway, I went around block to kackin' Starbucks (yeah, YOU try to finding something decent in strip-mall overkill at 9am) all in my business clothes as I waited for my tea while some goofy Hot Topic looking Batista kids took orders from a cluster of people including one woman who I wondered if I had went to school with.<br />
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On top of this stale environment we were blasted with the latest Joss Stone/Sheryl Crow/whoever thee fuck makes the rest of this of the wave nauseating MOR tunes that fit perfectly with the "blandness eternal" motto of Starbucks (and CVS, Trader Joe's, and Whole Foods for that matter). Mercifully there was a seat outside and there was only one way I could resolve this problem of "horrible music in a familiar but even worse visual environment than I came from". A simple click the iPod and viola: <br />
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"Screams-dreams!" (Lalonde's guitar says: *Bhew-whip!*) <br />
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(*going over my resume *) "OK, let's tell her that I worked over here, did these responsibilities that fit in with this part. Then I'll tell her this transitions well with that requirement and..."<br />
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(*MEGA PUNISHING RIFF*) <br />
"<a href="http://www.metal-archives.com/albums/Possessed/Seven_Churches/2368">Demons dog domain</a><br />
Keeping me insane<br />
Evil curse my soul<br />
Burning awaaaaaay-ahhhrrr!<br />
...The Exorciiiiisttt!<br />
(*TONS OF DRONING PROTO-BLACK HORNETS NEST GUITARS*) <br />
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Even feeling overly hot (near 90 today in now overcrowded oven known as the Tri-Valley- don't miss that!) and in a not-too comfy tie, dress shirt sitting at an outside table at again the green and white corporate beast - the riffs kicked in, my fist was clenched and as Amebix would say - <a href="http://youtu.be/bwgnKPNkcT4">the power remains</a>! The power from many moons ago - that came from blasting this same album on Steve's Panasonic jam box down the streets of Val Vista that well, <em>possessed</em> us to bark out emulations of Jeff Beccara the rest of the Pinoleian Death Metal kings. But yeah, I'm all business maaaan!<br />
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Oh, gotta go to the interview...<br />
The interview went well - but was weird know that the interview went over every possible detail for my job. Odd considering it's a scant 2 month gig. Since I also had an appointment with the agency that set me up with this company - I had to jam up to their office ever further up to Walnut Creek. Thankfully, Candlemass' "Tales of Creation" and leftover, surprisingly well-done chai tea kept me company. <br />
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Walnut Creek or at least their downtown looks like Palo Alto's downtown on steroids. A clusterfuck of a mall, mixed with tightly packed office spaces, horribly configured parking lots, chocked with traffic on all sides. Along with a bunch of other chainstores/upscale restaurants/bistros with "artistian" fucking everything. <br />
Speaking of chains at least local interesting ones from the past - I spotted a <a href="http://www.caspershotdogs.com/locations.php">Kapser's Hot Dogs</a> around the corner from the office. I didn't bother eating there but 15 year old me would've been there in a flash. 21st century me - didn't think that there would be franknveggiefurters. At the office, I did some generic paper work but the two women I worked with there were really accommodating and down to earth - not drones like so many others. <br />
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Part of me wanted to stop and do more <a href="http://www.mikepare.com/texts/favorite-parties.html">research/archeology</a> for <em>Stoner Wall</em> but I was a little pressed for time and not knowing the area these days, feared the worse for any traffic going south after 3pm. So, I bolted back home took care of a few other job things and ate a bunch of cheese. <br />
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After finishing stuff in one of my online classes (this one was Intro to Tech Writing), I went out for a bike ride at somewhat prog rock length of around 4 miles at <a href="http://baytrail.abag.ca.gov/vtour/map3/access/Btmtnvw/Btmtvw2.htm">Shoreline Park</a>. I found a new detour to the left side of the wooden bridge. This detour looked from the distance a narrow path that twisted and turned towards <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/news/releases/2002/02_14AR.html">NASA and the Air National Guard</a> facilities on one side and a looked like it had a possible path going all the way out to the other side of the bay to Milpitas. Unfortunately, the only the first part is true. The route to Milpitas is cut off by fences but on second thought it makes sense as it's the continuation of the wildlife preserve. The bird population isn't just the usual ducks and seagulls (though they can amuse and interest me as well) but also <a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5027/5689064547_2ed217c611_z.jpg">egrets</a>, non-mallard ducks, terns, red-winged blackbirds, pelicans - who thankfully are the <a href="http://youtu.be/uuUF0Qed4HA">non-boring riff </a> kind.<br />
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I kept wondering "how long does this path go on?!" while some knob-end from Google blazed by me - missing hitting me by a mere 5 inches. Regardless, I rode on looking at some military plane and plane & blimp hangars as well as an RV lot? <br />
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Yep. Top secret, too I'd guess. As said before, I didn't find a path across the bay but shortly after seeing a jack rabbit pass from about 40 ft. away - I spotted something baffling. Goats! Gorging on grass and on government territory near a golf course (where some annoying looking yupster-military mix dudes were playing a few holes. Remember: only miniature golf is REAL!). It looks like NASA or the Air National Guard at Moffett Field had hired them to clear some brush along side the golf course. I'd thought that maybe there was a team of them at one point and the others got laid off due to budget cuts. I dunno - but I do wish I had heard Mercyful Fate once I spotted them. I think it was Burning Saviours "Spread Your Wings" that came on instead - which would of been fine when I was photographing <em><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5066/5689638686_19b6aa0480_z.jpg">birds</a></em>! Smartphone, my ass!<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-size: x-small;">Whoa-holllld the bus!...Is that what I think it is?</span></strong> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5064/5689075223_5a8af57bce_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5064/5689075223_5a8af57bce_z.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5301/5689643336_ef0c7616b9_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="89" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5301/5689643336_ef0c7616b9_z.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-size: x-small;">Goats on government property, even!? Crazy that.</span> </strong></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5101/5689640558_151acc1165_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="161" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5101/5689640558_151acc1165_z.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><strong><span style="font-size: x-small;">The one on the left just caught on to what I'm up to and will be filing a report with the CIA.</span></strong> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">On the way back a live version of Mercyful Fate's "Evil" kept me pedaling around but not until I saw another egret and got a pic of him. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5308/5689650158_5d714672cd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5308/5689650158_5d714672cd.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Also on the Mercyful Fate tip, was spotting a ruined bridge (as in the place you're supposed to wait for the master. Well, that yeah that happens "later on" but <a href="http://www.metal-archives.com/albums/Mercyful_Fate/Don%27t_Break_the_Oath/747">"Come to the Sabbath",</a> already!)<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5108/5689651670_b51cf4039e_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="148" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5108/5689651670_b51cf4039e_z.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Back on the bike and Swans' "Will We Survive" came on in a near triumphant moment of going away from this new founded twisty path and back onto the familiar 2nd bridge area overlooking the reed filled banks of Stevens Creek. Then it was back to "on your left" and "on your right" to the random bikers, walkers & joggers on the path home.Justin "Thunder" Lagerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13386379717179604612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7802391464230316010.post-69311259720770264052011-04-28T17:57:00.000-07:002011-04-28T19:23:22.232-07:00Never mind the Royals - Here's Filthy, Rich and Catflap<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://sharetv.org/images/filthy_rich_and_catflap_uk-show.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="http://sharetv.org/images/filthy_rich_and_catflap_uk-show.jpg" width="333" /></a></div>Oh yeah, those 2 <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/04/22/eveningnews/main20056608.shtml">money draining</a>, <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1380500/Royal-Wedding-coverage-US-media-publishing-twice-UK.html">mass distracting</a>, <a href="http://savvy-student.blogspot.com/2011/04/what-do-royal-wedding-and-financial-aid.html">"what education/economic crisis?"</a> idiots are getting married tomorrow. But fuck all that - here's something REALLY important and worth your time from the UK - <strong>Filthy, Rich and Catflap. </strong>This fine show is from 1986 and features 3 of the 4 stars from the legendary (<em>NOT a term I throw around easily</em>) BBC show "The Young Ones" - Nigel Planner is the stumbling alcoholic showbiz agent "Ralph Filthy", Rik Mayall's the completely mental and egotistical "Ritchie Rich" along with his roommate and often drunk minder - Adrian Edmonson as "Eddie Catflap". <br />
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Instead of the rigors of student life, vampire landlords and Motörhead cameos we have the tales of consistent failure in attempting to break into the entertainment industry. The show maintains some of the same elements that made the "The Young Ones" so classic. Namely, jokes that range from the silly to observations on fame and the media to funny word play. The latter is used mostly by Richie who say "I'm not gonna go to pris(on)", "the crits (critics) will slaughter me!" Similar to The Simpsons it has gags going on in the background. One of which appears in episode five where Richie and Catflap go out to clubs & eateries named "Stringos", "Hippos", and "Lampos" before a final 3am gorging on Papadum-os. <br />
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A lot of the commentaries and jokes are based around British b-level celebrities from the past such as the oft-referenced <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Tarbuck">Jimmy Tarby" Tarbuck</a> who was comparable to maybe Merv Griffin. Also mentioned/referenced are game shows such as "Blankety Blank" and "Celebrity Squares" which were UK parallel shows (not directly related, mind) to America's "Match Game" and "Hollywood Squares".<br />
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One of my favorites is in the game show parodies is Richie's guest appearance on the hilariously titled show <a href="http://youtu.be/G4uuo5SDTSg">"Ooer Sounds A Bit Rude".</a> Unlike the Young Ones' direct parody of a real show <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxA0a5G6ccg">"University Challenge"</a> (from the same titled episode) this twists the game show from a happy, joyful setting to a place focused on shouting directors going off on camera ops (a thing I know a bit about having worked on a TV news programme) along with the general fakeness of the talent which quickly gives way to utter chaos. Another treat is the visuals on the show - the loud 1970s colors in the "Ooer" scene is only a mild exaggeration of the things worn by Charles Nelson Reily on Match Game or Charo on Hollywood Squares. <br />
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Another part of "F, R and C"'s charm is the random bits of slang and language. In one scene Richie is shocked and exclaims "Wot in the name of Satan's Porsche?!" Satan's Porsche woud''ve made a great Butthole Surfers song. A few more of my favorite lines involves a scene with a series of milkman murders. "This is the most milkman shaped stork I've ever seen." Other parts that should give you a few larfs is the lawyer named "Pervy Spurty", and what to do with dead milkman, and why one "little drinky" won't help you sleep. <br />
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<div style="text-align: left;">Along with the entertainment industry, the art world also gets a great send up in the 2nd episode which features the fantastic comedy duo of Steven Fry and Hugh Laurie as Catflap's French patrons. This parody deals brillantly with the whole "what is art?" question and seemingly predicts the forthcoming nonsense of <a href="http://www.stuckism.com/Shark.html"> Damien Hirst</a> and <a href="http://www.fecalface.com/SF/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=332&Itemid=92">Neckface</a>. </div><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/we50nr8kekg" width="425"></iframe><br />
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It would be interesting if the show were on now as it could easily play off the contemporary TV show formats of "reality", unfunny "ironic/post-modern" sitcoms and the entertainment shows that report on other entertainment shows so uh, people can be "entertained" or the talk shows that invite other talk show hosts that go into the never-ending cultural-socio abyss. Now I need to watch a bunch of <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/bottom/">"Bottom"</a> - the next main venture from Mayall and Edmonson from (1991-95). <br />
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Refs:<br />
<a href="http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/537898/">http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/537898/</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.noisetosignal.org/2008/08/filthy-rich-and-catflap">http://www.noisetosignal.org/2008/08/filthy-rich-and-catflap</a>Justin "Thunder" Lagerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13386379717179604612noreply@blogger.com0