Black Devil - Disco Club

Don't let the Disco tag fool you. This isn't your typical happy-go-lucky type of disco, but rather its dark atmospheric doppleganger. BA one-off collaboration between French producers Bernard Fevre and Jackie Giordano, who credited themselves respectively as Joachim Sherylee and Junior Claristidge Originally released on Italy’s Out label in 1978, Disco Club became slightly infamous in the disco underground despite its extreme scarcity. Don't let the Disco tag fool you though. This isn't your typical happy-go-lucky type of disco, but rather its dark atmospheric electronic doppleganger.

It was made manually in a recording studio in the suburbs of Paris using synths and occasional tape loops and a drummer. No midi or computers. According to an interview given by Bernard Fevre in January 2007, Jacky Giordano only financed the recording sessions. His being credited as co-composer was just a deal for recouping his financial investment.

A copy eventually fell into the hands of the Rephlex label’s PP Roy and soon won the hearts of Richard James and Luke Vibert. Rather than do a straight reissue, Rephlex opted to first release a 12” including four tracks from the original vinyl; after that, they annoyingly trickled out the two other tracks, along with a couple outtakes and a remix from Luke Vibert (under his Kerrier District guise), via 12” and CD single releases that featured different track lists.

Year of Release: 1978
Label: OUT Records
Genre: Disco/Electronic
Bitrate: 192kbps

Track List:
1. H Friend
2. Timing, Forget The Timing
3. One To Choose
4. We Never Fly Away Again
5. Follow Me
6. No Regrets

Download: Black Devil - Disco Club
Download Size: 41MB

Salvador Dali

Kim Salmon and the Surrealists - Hit Me With The Surreal Feel

This album was requested by Browner a while back, and Nathan Nothin was actually the one who supplied this album.

Salmon formed the first lineup of the Surrealists in mid-1987, with Brian Hooper on bass and Tony Pola on drums. He formed the band to record the album Hit Me With The Surreal Feel, using minimalist lo-fi approaches to recording a basic trio: recording the band live with microphones around the studio capturing the entire sound, rather than one instrument per track. The recording and mixing cost was AUD$240 total. The band also played live around Perth in mid-1987. The Surrealists did a few songs by the Scientists (particularly "Shine" from The Human Jukebox) and had a similar sound, in that Salmon remained the leader and primary songwriter, but the feel of the music was notably different: far less tense and confrontative. In 1999, Salmon renamed the band Kim Salmon and the Business.

Year Of Release: 1988
Label: Black Eye Records
Genre: Garage, Lo-Fi
Bitrate: 160kbps

Track List:
1. The Surreal Feel
2. Bad Birth
3. Feel
4. Bellyful of Slugs
5. The Surreal Feel
6. Black Velvet
7. Intense
8. Blue Velvet
9. The Surreal Feel
10. Torture
11. Devil In Disguise
12. The Surreal Feel

Download: Kim Salmon & the Surrealists - Hit Me With The Surreal Feel
Download Size: 35MB

1910 Fruitgum Co. - Indian Giver

Thanks for all your comments guys and gals. It's been fun guest blogging here for the week. I'll leave you with one last little groovin' record. This one is from the legendary 1910 Fruitgum Company. This was one of the great bubblegum bands of the late 60's. As with everything else on Buddah Records, at the time, they played some infectiously catchy tunes and were even part of the Kasenetz-Katz Singing Orchestral Circus, as well. This is a fitting album to end my stint here on since I began with the Tater Totz album on which they did a cover of a song that is on here in its original form, "1, 2, 3 Red Light". Actually, I don't even know why they call this stuff "bubblegum" since some of it is pretty raw and could even pass for biker rock of the time. Anyway, I defy you to not have fun listening to this classic slab of. . . digitally compressed audio, ha! Get out your trip toys and go to the lake or beach or wherever you gotta go to get your groove on and burn this one for the road.

Thanks for having me Zer0 and thanks for listening to all of you!

Track List:
1. Indian Giver
2. No Good Annie
3. I've Got To Have Your Love
4. Good Good Lovin'
5. Candy
6. Special Delivery
7. Game Of Love
8. Let's Make Love
9. Groovy Groovy
10. Sweet Lovin'
11. Cotton Candy Castle
12. 1, 2, 3 Red Light
13. Simon Says
14. Reflections From The Looking Glass

Download: 1910 Fruitgum Co. - Indian Giver

Bad Brains - Rock For Light

I can't tell you how long this cassette stayed in my car at one time. Bad Brains second album, produced by Ric Ocasek, is their most shining moment. This album just boils over with raw energy and talent. A few years back some dumb ass decided to mess with the production when they re-released this on CD. They really did a number on it, muting the amazing lead guitar and generally castrating the album. Luckily, I found this version which was ripped off the original vinyl @ 192kbps so don't worry, this is the one you want to hear. The band goes from rippin' hardcore like "Big Takeover" and "How Low Can A Punk Get?" to soft reggae tunes without missing a beat or making the album feel like it's incoherent. To me, this is one of those albums where it's hard to listen to just one song when you get used to it. If I start playing it, I have to play it until it's finished. H.R. is in his strongest form here, going from unrestrained anger to contemplative and spiritual and back again. It's a shame they don't rock like this anymore but at least we have the records. Anyway, crack open a beer and do some lawn work while you blast this out your window and disturb the neighbors. They'll think it's over when it gets to the soft stuff.

Track List:
1. At The Movies
2. Attitude
3. Banned In D.C.
4. Big Takeover
5. Coptic Times
6. Destroy Babylon
7. F.V.K.
8. How Low Can A Punk Get?
9. I And I Survive
10. Joshua's Song
11. Rally Round Jah Throne
12. Right Brigade
13. Riot Squad
14. Rock For Light

Download: Bad Brains - Rock For Light

Rolling Stones - Exile On Main Street

It's hard to say that The Stones ever had a real peak. They had so many great albums for so long. I offer this one here for your listening pleasure simply because it's not the most popular but still probably in the top three or so, in my opinion. Just a great rock and roll record and recorded during a period when the band was really on a high (creatively as well as physically). Originally it was released as a double album and is kind of a mish mash of stuff recorded over a period of two or three years. The band was deep in their heroin phase by the time a lot of this was going on and they were hanging with the like of William Burroughs and, I think, the Warhol crowd somewhat. At any rate, this is back to back great southern inspired raunchy rock and it deserves to played loud from beginning to end. It's also probably the only classic rock album with the word "turd" in a song title. Also, feel free to indulge in whatever you indulge in (as long as you don't kill yourself in the process) while rockin' out to this one. Follow these simple steps and I assure you'll find out why this is always ranked very high on the list of greatest albums of all time.

Track List:
1. Rocks Off
2. Rip This Joint
3. Shake Your Hips
4. Casino Boogie
5. Tumbling Dice
6. Sweet Virginia
7. Torn And Frayed
8. Sweet Black Angel
9. Loving Cup
10. Happy
11. Turd On The Run
12. Ventilator Blues
13. I Just Want To See His Face
14. Let It Loose
15. All Down The Line
16. Stop Breaking Down
17. Shine A Light
18 Soul Survivor

Download: Rolling Stones - Exile On Main Street

Screamin' Jay Hawkins - At Home With Jay In The Wee Wee Hours

Screamin' Jay Hawkins (1929-2000) was a true original. A former opera singer and boxing champ, he was also one of the innovators of rock and roll who often gets overlooked today. I like to say he was the Little Richard who could kick your ass. "At Home With Jay" is an incredible and intimate live album, obviously recorded in a very small venue, and reveals him as the entertainer that he was. No band, just Jay and a piano with a little singalong help from the crowd. I hadn't heard this in years until the other day and I can't stop listening to it. This is a record that just really makes you feel good and appreciate that kind of talent. To just be able to fucking entertain like that. I mean I would put this in the same category of live album as Sam Cooke's "Live at the Harlem Square Club". Difference is that Sam had a rockin' band to go with his voice on that record. Here Jay has only his piano and his sense of humor. There's actually another great Screamin' Jay live record that I almost posted. It's Jay with The Fuzztones backing him up. I'd recommend that one next to this one.

Anyway, here's another great feel good rock and roll record that strips it on down and gives you only the best of what it's about. Impossible to not tap your little wingtips to! Now "get yourself a fur burger" and download this classic!

Year of Release: 1988
Label: Midnight Records
Bitrate: 320kbps

Track List:
1. Lawd, Lawd, Lawd
2. Hong Kong
3. Downstairs
4. Cherry Pie
5. In Her Room
6. Constipation Blues
7. I Need Your Love
8. Feast Of The Mau Mau
9. Let It Roll
10. Make The Blues Rock/Bite It
11. I Put A Spell On You

Download: Screamin' Jay Hawkins - At Home With Jay In The Wee Wee Hours
Download Size: 84MB

Radio Cramps - The Purple Knif Radio Show

Great for those long commutes to work or drag racing in your hybrid while pretending your girlfriend is Mamie Van Doren and opening your PBR with a switchbladeIt's always been a rock and roll dream of mine to hang with The Cramps at their house with a bottle of wine and just flip through their record collection. Well, after many years of listening to their music I did finally meet Lux and Ivy but, alas, we were in an antique store and not near a record player. Never fear, though, this is as close as one can get to that dream. Just crack open a bottle of your chosen poison and download this little gem of a podcast. It's called the "Purple Knif" (pronounced ka-nif) and it's an obscure radio show hosted by Lux Interior back in the 80's where he takes us on an archaeological dig through the vinyl mines of his home and dusts off some fossils of rock and roll past. Sit back and enjoy an hour of high weirdness from the Pope of Psychobilly as he plays a wide variety of poppin' and cracklin' 7-inch wonders including everything from alien offspring to a jammin' version of "The Addam's Family" theme. In between tunes Lux gives us his own introductions with appropriate delay effects and B-movie samples. Great for those long commutes to work or drag racing in your hybrid while pretending your girlfriend is Mamie Van Doren and opening your PBR with a switchblade. No track list on this one. Not only would it ruin the fun but this is a podcast so it's one long track. Just listen to it straight through and I dare you not to wanna go out and buy a leather jacket and some smelly hair jelly. Stay sick!

Download: Radio Cramps - The Purple Knif Show

A Few New Ideas - Please Comment

Guest Blogger:

Psyche
ZenobiaUpdate: I would like everyone to welcome the first guest blogger here at Digital Meltd0wn. He is a close friend of mine, and introduced me to countless artists that I wouldn't have known about otherwise. In fact I probably wouldn't even be running this blog right now had it not been for him. I'm not a very sentimental person, but I would like to thank you for passing on your musical knowledge to me B. Even though I don't always show it, I appreciate all that you have passed on to me more than you will ever know. Everyone please give a warm welcome to Psyche Zenobia. He will be taking over this blog for the next week. I'm sure that you will enjoy what he has to share with you. If you download anything that he posts, please show your appreciation by leaving a comment. In the meantime I will be busy working on the Digital Meltd0wn Music Blogroll.

I've been playing around with a few new ideas for this blog in my head. When I first started this blog, I claimed that I would be incorporating plans which would make this blog unique. Continuing along that path, I have come up with the following. Please leave a comment and let me know what you think about them.

1. Video of the Week: The 'Video of the Week' addition to the blog seemed like a good idea at first, but I've come to realize that I don't have nearly as much time on my hands as I would like to hunt for worthy videos. So rather than completely cut out the music videos, I'm considering turning it into a monthly affair. This would give me more time to decide which videos I would like to post.

2. Guest Bloggers: I've met many people on the internet who amaze me with their vast knowledge of all things music. Unfortunately many of these people do not run a music blog due to a lack of time, or out of fear of legal troubles. I've been considering allowing a few of these people to "guest blog" for a week so that they can share a small portion of their amazing collections on this blog.

3. Around the World In 180 Days (Or More): This is probably the most ambitious of all the ideas I've been contemplating. I don't want to turn this into a "world music" blog, but I thought it would be a great idea to feature various musicians and bands from around the world. Not only would this give me a opportunity to familiarize myself with cultures from around the world that I know very little about, but it would also allow me to share underrated musicians from all corners of the globe with the visitors of this blog. So I came up with the idea to share one artist/band from each country in the world. By most accounts there are roughly 190 nations in the world at this time. Jules Verne happens to be one of my favorite authors, hence the name of the project. I was considering making this a weekly feature, which would mean that it would take quite some time to finish the project, but it would be well worth it in my opinion. To my knowledge no other blogger has attempted such a thing.

4. Weirdo of the Month: This one is pretty self-explanatory. Basically the idea is to feature a weird musician each month. I know of many eccentric artists, and I'm sure there are countless more that I'm not familiar with. Unfortunately, these weirdos are looked over far too often. I have a fascination with strange people, so I intend to pay proper tribute to these weirdos with the Weirdo of the Month feature.

Once again, I haven't made a permanent decision about any of these yet. As of right now they are simply ideas. I would love to hear your feedback though, so please leave a comment.

The Damned - Music For Pleasure

When I was about fourteen years old most of the other kids at school were drinking their first drink and smoking their first smoke to bands like Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, and Motley Crue. For me, though, it was punk rock. I had fallen in love with the soundtrack to Return of the Living Dead a couple of years earlier and had scrambled to get records by all of the bands that were featured on it. The Cramps, Roky Erickson, TSOL, and most of all The Damned. I had grown up in a household full of classic rock and had gone through the New Wave period collecting singles by any band with a weird hair cut. By the mid-80's, though, I was ready for something new and discovering these bands introduced me to a whole new world of music.

"Music For Pleasure" was the second album by The Damned and, though it was trashed by the critics when it was released, it remains one of their most raw and rockin' albums to date. For any punk band from the first generation it was hard to top their debut album. Although they had eagerly covered the new explosion of sounds in 1977, the press wanted punk rock to be over with by the time all its great bands were on their second releases. Critics were uncomfortable with the movement and just wanted something new. They didn't want to treat these bands as real musicians but flashes in the proverbial pan. Sounds a lot like post-1956, too. Anyway, The Damned were just hitting their stride and wouldn't be put out to pasture just yet (in fact they still rock clubs on a regular basis and their 2001 album "Grave Disorder" sounded like a band twenty years younger).

So, here you go. The second album by the legendary Damned featuring dual guitars and a sound that's like taking their first album and adding some more complexity without losing the edge. Another rockin' summertime kinda treat with songs like "Stretcher Case", "Don't Cry Wolf", and my favorite "Politics" which still rings true for me today. "I don't need no politics to make me dance!"

Year of Release: 1977
Label: Earmark
Genre: Punk
Bitrate: 192kbps

Track List:
1. Problem Child
2. Don't Cry Wolf
3. One Way Love
4. Politics
5. Stretcher Case
6. Idiot Box
7. You Take My Money
8. Alone
9. Your Eyes
10. Creep (You Can't Fool Me)
11. You Know
12. Help
13. Sick Of Being Sick
14. Singalong A Scabies

Download: The Damned - Music For Pleasure
Download Size: 44MB

Tater Totz - Mono Stereo

Mono Stereo is a groovy grab bag of pop culture references and rock and roll history as consumed and spat back onto record by some of the best from West Coast punk's rich sceneAnother great summertime album, the Tater Totz were a side project from McDonald brothers (Redd Kross) and friends. The line-up also included members of White Flag, Frightwig, Shonen Knife, and Pat Smear from The Germs, Foo Fighters, etc. The Tater Totz released three albums, two studio and one live, before fading away. "Mono Stereo" was, in my opinion, the best of the lot and includes some really strange and even beautiful tracks. Conceptually, I think the idea was to pay tribute to The Beatles, Queen, 60's punk, and especially Yoko Ono.
Among the odd covers and conglomerations on this album are a version of "Instant Karma" with Cherie Currie (The Runaways) on lead vocals, a nice little cover of "1, 2, 3 Red Light" by 1910 Fruitgum Company, a re-creation of the epic "Cambridge 1969" (the famous Lennon/Ono show), an incredible composition that mixes "Bohemian Rhapsody" with "Who Has Seen The Wind", and even a couple of Os Mutantes songs thrown in for good measure. In fact, the Os Mutantes songs are just taken straight from their records and are included as bonus tracks. Strange as that may be, I've heard that this represents the first time any of their stuff was released in America.
An all around toe-tappin' album, "Mono Stereo" is a groovy grab bag of pop culture references and rock and roll history as consumed and spat back onto record by some of the best from West Coast punk's rich scene. Enjoy!

Year of Release: 1989
Label: Positive
Genre: Punk, Garage
Bitrate: 320kbps

Track List:
1. Instant Karma
2. Rock On
3. Rain
4. Who Has Seen The Wind/Bohemian Rhapsody
5. Telephone Piece
6. Strawberry Fields Forever
7. Strawberry Fields Forever (reprise)
8. Record Flip
9. 1, 2, 3 Red Light
10. The Luck Of The Irish
11. Sisters, O Sisters
12. The Lovely Linda
13. Shompton In Babylon
14. Why
15. Two Virgins #9
16. Unlisted Telephone Piece
17. Tomorrow Never Knows (Live)
18. Cambridge 1969 (Live)
19. Unlisted Noise Track
20. Os Mutantes - Panis Et Circensis
21. Os Mutantes - O Relogio

Download: Tate Totz - Mono Stereo
Download Size: 93MB

Hey Everybody. . . Have Some Records!

Looks like I'm the first guest blogger here on DM so I'll be floatin' some music your way this week. My usual blogs are Psyche Zenobia, Nitegaunt Media, and Manson Music, as well as the little blog for my band, The Luminaries. I've been invited to take over here for a week so let's get started. We've been having some of the first really nice, sunshine-filled, warm days of the year here so I thought I'd post some records that reflect that. Some good stuff to groove on down the road to with the wind in your hair while sharing a spliff with your significant other or whatever, ha!
Anyway, I'm going to start with an album that I've been playing a lot lately. It's "Stukas Over Disneyland" by The Dickies. This is one of those albums that you cannot feel shitty or down while it's playing. It's just physically impossible. It really feels like a short album, even though it's got eight super-catchy songs. I guess that's got more to do with it's enjoyable quality than anything, though. It goes by fast but it's fun while it lasts (that's probably been said about me, too)! "She's a Hunchback", "Out of Sight Out of Mind", and "Wagon Train" just can't be beat for great fucking pop punk rock & roll. The Dickies were an inspiration to so many bands and one of the pioneers of West Coast punk. In fact, "Pretty Please Me", from this album, was covered by Redd Kross on their "Phaseshifter"record.

Year of Release: 1983
Label: Triple X Records
Genre: Punk, Power Pop, Pop
Bitrate: 320kbps

Track List:
1. Rosemary
2. She's A Hunchback
3. Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind
4. Communication Breakdown
5. Pretty Please Me
6. Wagon Train
7. If Stuart Could Talk
8. Stukas Over Disneyland

Download: The Dickies - Stuka's Over Disneyland
Download Size: 45MB

Blogroll News - 480+ Blogs and Counting

I finally got around to making an official count of all the blogs on the Digital Meltd0wn Music Blogroll To date there are 483 blogs, and that number continues to grow daily. I'm amazed at the amount of people who have been visiting it each day, and also the numerous amount of fellow music bloggers that I have met in the process. Recently I have added several new categories, and I plan to add several more in the coming days. If you know of any good blogs that you feel should be included on the list, please stop by and leave a comment any time. If you haven't visited my blogroll yet, here is the url:

http://music-bloggers.blogspot.com

Thanks for all the support.

Update: Yesterday, Mephisto was gracious enough to list my blogroll on Totally Fuzzy. It was against their policy to list blogs that didn't contain downloads, but they made an exception for me. As a result of being listed on TF my traffic almost doubled. Yesterday I had over 900 unique visitors to the blogroll. Thank you Mephisto and Totally Fuzzy for making an exception and listing my blogroll.

Bob Log III - Trike

It’s raw, it’s rude and it’s very, very raucousI would like to thank Nathan from the Nothin' Sez Somethin' blog for making this available to me. As one-half of the trash-blues duo known as Doo Rag, Bob Log III has helped demystify and deconstruct the basic tenets of electric blues. Harnessing the raw, bristling energy of the genre and amplifying only the raunchiest aspects, Doo Rag made the crash-and-burn attitude of the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion sound like ‘blues night’ at the local ‘jazz bar.’ And even though the concept of a two-man blues band is about as stripped-down as electric blues can get, Log has taken it one step lower: the one-man blues band, playing distorted steel guitar & two acoustic drums (bass, hi-hat) & basic lo/fi digital drums at the same time. On top of that he wears a space helmet and cannonball man overalls, and sings through a telephone receiver.

One night a few years back, when booked in Chicago, Doo Rag percussionist Thermos Malling got sick, leaving Log to play by himself. Making lemonade out of lemons, Log turned his guitar case into a makeshift drum kit and proceeded to eviscerate the blues with his electric guitar. The show was so successful that Log started a one-man blues band. Last year, he released “School Bus,” an LP full of loose footstomps and recklessly sloppy (and fast) guitars.

For the follow-up, Log enlisted two “professional women” to help out with the rhythm secion. Note the word choice: “professional women,” not “female studio musicians.” In other words – those of Bob Log III, actually — “Trike” is an album of “guitar and tit duets.” Both women were paid to smack their breasts to deliver percussive nuances on songs like “Clap Your Tits,” “Booby Trap” and six under-20-seconds “Claps” interludes. Thus, we find Log’s maniacally aggressive slide guitar and two-foot drumming accompanied by the fleshy (and surprisingly on-beat) collision of some undoubtedly large breasts. It’s neither funny nor disgusting. It’s simply the dumbest thing you’ve ever heard in your life. And it’s absolutely wonderful.

After all, just when you thought the Fat Possum label couldn’t get any more cracked, after releasing nasty, ass-out jams by Robert Cage and T-Model Ford, they have further removed themselves from the blues mainstream by releasing what may well be the purest, non-purist blues album in years. After all, there is nothing – nothing – here for fans of Taj Mahal or B.B. King. This is the sound of rockabilly kicked back a dozen or so notches, then mainlined with coffee and whiskey for a week. It’s raw, it’s rude and it’s very, very raucous.

Year of Release: 1999
Label: Fat Possum
Genre: Blues/Experimental
Bitrate: 192kbps

Track List:
1. Showtime
2. Clap Your Tits
3. You Wanna What
4. Six String Kicker
5. Booty Trap #2
6. Daddy Log's Drive In Candy Hoppin' Car Babes
7. Borgnignin
8. Log Dirty Down
9. Ass Computer
10. Bacon
11. Claps
12. Booby Trap #1

Download: Bob Log III - Trike
Download Size: 41MB

Angry Samoans - Back From Samoa

Destructive, mischievous, and politically incorrect are just some of the words to describe L.A.'s Angry Samoans. And with their second album Back From Samoa, they remain to have that inability to care about who's toes they step on; as long as they continue to blast out their aggressions, it's all good. The results are pretty tasteless and without shame with songs like "They Saved Hitler's Cock" and the cuss ridden "Ballad of Jerry Curlan." Then there's the hit-you-from-behind "Lights Out," "Steak Knife," and "You Stupid Jerk," each clocking in under a minute. With this amount of nihilism, "Back From Samoa" can instigate the trouble-maker out of anyone. And give additional credit to the Samoans for being this blunt, PC activists will be screaming for the doors upon hearing this. (Year of Release: 1982)

Track List
1. Gas Chamber
2. Todd Killings
3. Lights Out
4. My Old Man's a Fatso
5. Time Has Come Today Listen
6. They Saved Hitler's Cock
7. Homo-Sexual
8. Steak Knife
9. Haizman's Brain Is Calling
10. Tuna Taco
11. Coffin Case
12. You Stupid Jerk
13. Ballad of Jerry Curlan
14. Not of This Earth

Download: Angry Samoans - Back From Samoa (24.7MB)

Husker Du - Zen Arcade

Husker Du were one of the loudest and most thrashy acts of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Then they decided to move away from pure hard metal thrashy rock into hard rock and pop. This didn't exactly thrill some fans (Bob Mould got booed more than once when he stepped out on stage with an acoustic guitar), but the decision led to this album which arguably remains the band's masterpiece.

First released as a double album in 1984, the music ranges from very heavy thrash rock to delicate piano numbers and almost everything in between. The all acoustic number "Never Talking To You Again" sits between the hard rocking songs "Broken Home, Broken Heart" and the incredible "Chartered Trips". "Monday Will Never be the Same" and "One Step at a Time" contain simple and mellow piano/synth music. "Indecision Time", "I'll Never Forget You", "Beyond the Threshold", and "Pride" all thrash cathartically hard with abrasively screamed lyrics. It sounds like the Husker Du of the past. The creepy "The Tooth Fairy And the Princess" approaches psychedelia with its backward tracks and whispered vocals. Not to mention the sleigh bell-laden "Hare Krishna". "Newest Industry" and "Turn on The News" sound like the Husker Du to come. "Zen Arcade" definitely represented a transition for the band.

On top of all that, it's a concept album (which helps explain why critics like it so much). Supposedly the story revolves around a boy who has left home and finds out that the real world sort of stinks. The album does have a somewhat happy ending, though, despite the less than happy lyrics. "Reoccurring Dreams" signifies that the boy's troubles were all just a dream. So we're rewarded with an amazing 14-minute jam session. Good deal.

Husker Du still get cited as one of the most influential post-punk bands. The Pixies acknowledge their influence. Not only that, their evolution from punk thrash to heavy pop rock opened up the scene at the time to more possibilities. It wasn't too long before alternative and grunge caught on. Some of this can be traced back to Husker Du's explorations. And "Zen Arcade" stands as an example of that influence. Don't forget this one. (Year of Release: 1984)

Track List:
1. Something I Learned Today
2. Broken Home, Broken Heart
3. Never Talking To You Again
4. Chartered Trips
5. Dreams Reoccurring
6. Indecision Time
7. Hare Krsna
8. Beyond The Threshold
9. Pride
10. I'll Never Forget You
11. The Biggest Lie
12. What's Going On
13. Masochism World
14. Standing By The Sea
15. Somewhere
16. One Step At A Time
17. Pink Turns To Blue
18. Newest Industry
19. Monday Will Never Be The Same
20. Whatever
21. The Tooth Fairy And The Princess
22. Turn On The News
23. Reoccurring Dreams

Download: Husker Du - Zen Arcade 85.5MB

The Cramps - Smell Of Female

This live EP, recorded at famed NYC punk venue The Peppermint Lounge, was released in 1983, bridging the lengthy gap between The Cramps' second and third albums. It's a bit of a classic in its own right however. Taking its title from the voiceover prologue to Russ Meyer's cult film 'Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!', 'Smell of Female' includes a cover of the film's hilarious theme song, along with four original songs and a cover of The Count Five's trash-rock hit 'Psychotic Reaction'. The Cramps deliver energetically throughout, and there are no really weak songs. The CD release features three bonus tracks, including the studio cut 'Surfin' Dead', which was used on the soundtrack of 'Return of the Living Dead'. This is the best available document of the live sound of The Cramps in their heyday, and as such is highly recommended. The cover shots of Poison Ivy Rorschach shaking a tail feather are a nice bonus!

Track List:
1. Most Exalted Potentate Of Love
2. You Got Good Taste
3. Call Of The Wighat
4. Faster Pussycat
5. I Ain't Nothin' But A Gorehound
6. Psychotic Reaction
7. Beautiful Gardens
8. She Said
9. Surfin' Dead

Download: The Cramps - Smell Of Female (46.3MB)

Re-Ups

As some of you may have noticed, I have been re-uploading a few of the albums that were down. I'll be working on this during the next couple of days, and I'll resume uploading original material afterwards. I'll try to sneak some original material in between re-ups. If you reported a dead link, be sure to check back here within the next few days for the updated link.

Electric Prunes - Underground

Here's another Electric Prunes album as requested. Underground, the band's second album is something truly unique. The guys did their homework, wrote some classic songs and produced ,what would be, one of the greatest albums of the sixties. There is no one bad track on this underrated masterpiece. The production is fantastic.. great fuzzy guitars, strange organs, beautiful vocals harmonies and some surprising string arrangments. The lyrics are mystical, sometimes childish ("Antique doll", "Wind up toys", "Children of rain"), Freaky( "Dr. Do- Good"), or sentimental ("Big city"). The melodies are great. "The Great Banana Hoax" is simple but arranged as a one long trip. Others has some crazy chords changes (listen to "wind up toys"). Underground is one of the best offerings of the late sixties. This great album still stands the test of time.

Year of Release: 1967
Label: Reprise Records
Genre: Psychedelic
Bitrate: 320kbps

Track List:
1. The Great Banana Hoax
2. Children Of Rain
3. Wind-Up Toys
4. Antique Doll
5. It's Not Fair
6. I Happen To Love You
7. Dr. Do-Good
8. I
9. Hideaway
10. Big City
11. Capt. Glory
12. Long Day's Flight
13. Everybody Knows You're Not In Love
14. You Never Had It Better

Download: Electric Prunes - Underground
File Size: 99.3MB

Gun Club - Fire of Love

The Gun Club's debut is the watermark for all post-punk roots music. This features the late Jeffrey Lee Pierce's swamped-out brand of roiling rock, swaggerific hell-bound blues, and gothic country. With Pierce's wailing high lonesome slide guitar twinned with Ward Dotson's spine-shaking riffs and the solid yet off-the-rails rhythm section of bassist Rob Ritter and drummer Terry Graham, the Gun Club burst out of L.A. in the early '80s with a bone to pick and a mountain to move -- and they accomplished both on their debut album. With awesome, stripped to the frame production by the Flesh Eaters' Chris D., Fire of Love blew away all expectations -- and with good reason. Nobody has heard music like this before or since. Pierce's songs were rooted in his land of Texas. On "Sex Beat," a razor-sharp country one-two shuffle becomes a howling wind as Pierce's wasted, half-sung half-howled vocals relate a tale of voodoo, sex, dope, and death. The song choogles like a freight train coming undone in a twister. Here Black Flag, the Sex Pistols, Son House, and the coughing, hacking rambling ghost of Hank Williams all converge in a reckless mass of seething energy and nearly evil intent. As if the opener weren't enough of a jolt, the Gun Club follow this with a careening version of House's "Preachin the Blues," full of staccato phrasing and blazing slide. But it isn't until the anthemic, opiate-addled country of "She's Like Heroin to Me" and the truly frightening punk-blues of "Ghost on the Highway" that the listener comes to grip with the awesome terror that is the Gun Club. The songs become rock & roll ciphers, erasing themselves as soon as they speak, heading off into the whirlwind of a storm that is so big, so black, and so awful one cannot meditate on anything but its power. Fire of Love may be just what the doctor ordered, but to cure or kill is anybody's guess. (Year of Release: 1981)

Track List:
1. Sex Beat
2. Preaching The Blues
3. Promise Me
4. She's Like Heroin To Me
5. For The Love Of Ivy
6. Fire Spirit
7. Ghost On The Highway
8. Jack On Fire
9. Black Train
10. Cool Drink Of Water
11. Goodbye Johnny

Download Gun Club - Fire of Love (46MB)

The Wipers - Youth of America

A grizzly, furious beast of a 30-minute record, Youth of America saw Greg Sage and his Wipers lengthening some of their material to very unfashionable lengths; many a hardcore punk band of the time could tuck a dozen songs about Reagan and fisticuffs inside the title track alone. Opposed to the compromised Is This Real?, Youth of America was engineered and recorded in-house; Sage's time spent in a professional setup for the debut LP frustrated him, and the fact that he's gained complete control here makes it seem as if a cork has been pulled from a bottle. The shackles are off and the group's own personality hits full bloom. Vocally, Sage sounds like a sleepless outcast loaded on an unhealthy amount of caffeine, fraught with a magnified level of paranoia and angst that needs immediate purging -- often, his life seems to be depending on it. "Youth of America" itself is a nightmare locomotive, a ten-minute chug through a persistent rhythm, screeching/careening/wailing guitars, and jarring psychedelic effects. The remaining five songs, which don't lessen the intensity very much, are solid in their own right and are generally more tuneful than the title track.
(Year of Release: 1981)

Track List:
1. Taking Too Long
2. Can This Be
3. Pushing the Extreme
4. When It's Over
5. No Fair
6. Youth of America

Download: The Wipers - Youth of America (41MB)

Agent Orange - Living In Darkness

Agent Orange (they came from Orange County) weren't punk, weren't metal, and weren't surf revival. Yet they had bleak near-metal outlook and riffage a bit above punk's two chord grind, speed like punk and attitude & angst like punks, and they dug classic surf instrumentals. This is Underground at its best. Agent Orange, for all the bleakness of their lyrics, were much lighter than other bands of the Hardcore Punk scene (that's the genre they were lumped in with, but like I said, they weren't punk). They had a typical dude persona that was covered by the anger of their singer/guitarist Mike Palm's songs.

Living In Darkness was originally an EP (tracks 2-9 on the curent CD). In '92, it was released with new tracks (some of them from the 1979 sessions that earned them their contract). "Bloodstains," with Mike's anger, its simple chaotic riff and the dread-surf solo made it a fine opener. "Everything Turns Grey" is classic punk style stuff with a quick, simple yet effective rapidfire solo by Mike. "No Such Thing" has an awesome metal riff (people need to hear this, its a heavy like Metallica riff), and "America" is classic "Americanan is gay" sentiment. Living In Darkness has three surf instrumentals from the sixties also. All are done with righteous agression and driving force. The songs are "Miserlou" by Dick Dale, "Pipeline" by The Chantays, and "Mr. Moto" by The Bel-Airs. A radio interview is also included. The boys sound like Average Joes on weed. Classic. (Year of Release: 1981)

Track List:
1. Bloodstains (Original Version)
2. Too Young To Die
3. Everything Turns Grey
4. Miserlou
5. The Last Goodbye
6. No Such Thing
7. A Cry For Help In A World Gone Mad
8. Bloodstains (Darkness Version)
9. Living In Darkness
10. Pipeline
11. Breakdown
12. Mr. Moto
13. America
14. Bored Of You
15. El Dorado
16. Interview 1981

Download Agent Orange - Living In Darkness (61.3 MB)

Redd Kross - Born Innocent

Someone on the skafunkrastapunk forum requested this, so here's some more Redd Kross for everyone...

Originally issued in 1982, Born Innocent was the debut full-length release from Redd Kross, a band of suburban L.A. youth fronted by brothers Jeff (guitar, vocals) and Steve McDonald (bass). Aged 18 and 14, respectively, the aspiring punks are aided and abetted here by rhythm guitarist Tracy Lee and drummers Janet Housden and John Stielow as they attack these 16 songs with all the patience of over-stimulated teens and all the subtlety of a slasher flick. The average song length falls below the two-minute mark, during which time Jeff McDonald's whine is rarely coherent above the clamor of his band's brutal rock assault. The punk negation of titles like "Kill Someone You Hate," "Look up at the Bottom," and "Notes and Chords Mean Nothing to Me" couldn't be more appropriate descriptions for this music. "Solid Gold" is a slice of dislocated blues while "St. Lita Ford Blues" disintegrates from a stop-start punk party (complete with jubilant screams) to a raucous three-chord blur. Included for good measure are tributes to both actress Linda Blair ("Linda Blair") and serial killer Charles Manson ("Charlie" and a cover of Manson's own "Cease to Exist"). Though subsequent releases found Redd Kross cleaning up their act, this debut captures them in all their youthful glory; documenting the sound of the McDonalds and company unleashed on an unsuspecting set of guitars, bass, and drums. (Year of Release: 1982)

Track List:
1. Linda Blair
2. White Trash
3. Everyday There's Something New
4. Solid Gold
5. Burn-Out
6. Charlie
7. Tatum O'Tot And The Fried Vegetables
8. St. Lita Ford Blues
9. Self Respect
10. Pseudo-Intellectual
11. Kill Someone You Hate
12. Look On Up At The Bottom
13. Cellulite City
14. I'm Alright
15. Cease To Exist
16. Notes And Chords Mean Nothing To Me

Download: Red Kross - Born Innocent (22.3MB)

Terry - Rojvi LP

I had originally planned on posting some material by contemporary composer Igor Stravinsky, however Sharebee is giving me trouble. Instead I've decided to offer up this obscurity that was posted over at Mutant Sounds. If you haven't had a chance to check out Mutant Sounds be sure to do so. There's plenty of great stuff to be found there.

This loner acid folk-into psych curio came down the collector pike along with a companion piece by Jim Collins And The High Mass (which I'll include with my next batch of posts), both of 'em sans any pertinent info whatsoever. I've yet to find anyone online or elsewhere that seems to have the real scoop on these releases; the timelessly odd nature of their contents rendering a clear "read" on it's cultural context difficult. it might be new material. It might be newly released archival material. Or it might be that a cache of old copies were found and spread through the collector network (Chris Freeman at Fusetron guesses that these date from the early 90's). An uneven but sometimes hair-raising record, the true depths of this album eluded me at first, as the rather prosaic nature of the singer/songwriter structures that initially hem in these tracks suggest little of the creeping weirdity that leaks (and later spills) into his compositions as the album progresses and the plot thickens. "Clown Clouds" and "What A Day" (the two best and longest cuts here...roughly half the album) find introspective acid folk themes thrumming and cycling before being subsumed under gossamer residues of protoplasmic/ placental psychotropic space gloop on the former and resounding organ drones, fore-grounded rhythmic perambulations and electronic treatments swaddling Terry's escalating gruff vocal histrionics on the latter to supremely memorable ends. It's an insular, brooding and sometimes ponderous sound world that Terry engenders here and it's not always one that's 100% inviting, but the hot shit half will send your head spinning nevertheless. - mutantsounds
(Year of Release: Unknown)

Track List:
1. Feel It Coming On
2. Born In A Hole
3. Clown Clouds
4. Watch The Man
5. What A Day
6. Harvest Time
7. Let Me See You Smile

Download: Terry - Rojvi (69MB)

Cosmic Travelers - Live at the Spring Crater Celebration Hawaii

The Cosmic Travelers were a group of veteran studio musicians from Los Angeles that decided to get together to join the seventh major festival that was held over a four-year period in the Diamond Head crater in Oahu, Hawaii. The band, which consisted of Drake Levin (guitar), Jimmy McGhee (guitar), Joel Christie (bass), and Dale "Mule" Layola (drums), cranked out some high-octane psychedelic blues. Live! At The Spring Crater Celebration was recorded originally on April 1st, 1972, during the advent of a major shift to heavy metal with groups like Deep Purple and Black Sabbath. This ultra-rare album was originally released in very limited quantities on the Volcano Label.

This entire recording is live and uncut with the exception of two minutes when the tape was turned over at the original recording. What we would consider today as an archaic method of recording a live gig becomes quite good under the careful eyes and ears of experienced engineers and producers. With the help of technological advancements and Akarma Records' precise care with the remastering process, and the colorful informative packaging, what you get is history given a chance to become reborn and relived.

This was a good album when it was recorded, and it stands as an above average album now due to the previously mentioned enhancements. The last two songs "Soul" and "Soul Reprise" are real kickers. There are only six tracks, but keep in mind the first track "Farther Up The Road," a blues classic, runs for more than nine minutes and Dave Mason's "Look At You Look At Me" for more than ten minutes. So you get more than your share of quantity, quality and consistency on this release.

Year of Release: 1972
Label: Volcano
Genre: Psychedelic/Blues
Bitrate: 128kbps

Track List:
1. Farther Up The Road
2. Move Your Hands
3. Jungle Juice
4. Look At You Look At Me
5. Soul
6. Soul Reprise

Download: Cosmic Travelers - Live at the Spring Crater Celebration Hawaii
File Size: 39MB

Play: Cosmic Travelers - Soul

VA - Ugly Things

This is an outstanding compilation of rare tracks from various Australian garage rock bands. After listening to several highly disappointing comps that I scored a few days ago, I didn't have high hopes for this one. However upon hearing this for the first time, I was very impressed to say the least. This is rare Australian garage rock at it's best, and in the same vein as the Nuggets compilations that I'm sure you are all familiar with. The front, back, and inside covers are included in the rar file, as are the liner notes. The following is an excerpt from the liner notes included with this release:

The first volume of Ugly Things was issued in 1980 and featured these introductory notes: The writing of liner notes for this album is a taste of relative ease. Though we are most desirous of conveying illuminating data and succint facts, there is really not a great deal that can be told about most of the Australian rock groups of the mid-60's in having this album. To be sure, this is not a greatest hits album. Nary a track contained within was ever in sneezing distance of any top 40. Rather, these tracks are the final remnant of a fast surging third-level of Australian beat groups. These are (in most cases) the garage and church hall bands who somehow wrangled a chance to cut a solitary single. When it went nowhere, so did they.

Recording was a much easier and cheaper process in the days before 24 track desks, $100 an hour studios, 'star' producers, and phasers, flangers, noise gates, aural excites and digital delays. In 1965, a record company or a studio could whip a new band in a 2 track studio with a resident engineer, cut a stack of tracks and stick a couple out in a single without expending a great deal of money, effort or concern at all. Chances could be taken. In a commercial sense, most of the chances taken on these artists were failures. In a musical sense, they render the financiers as patrons of the arts. For this is where the howling, seething, fang-bared face of Australian rock is to be found. Music which was executed with scant regard for the dictates of commerciality. Rock for the sake of rock itself, the only truly productive climate.

It seems that the further removed from the source 'beat' rock was, the more primal it emerged. New Zealand's R&B Chants probably represents the white r&b outfield, with the acts on this album skirting the same boundary. Despite Austalia's predilection for 'cover hits', only a fool would deny the existence of a truly unique indigenous antipodean rock sound. Less polished and harmonic that the US & UK strains, it was a gruffer, harsher, more working class handling of the basic rock principles.

So little seems to be known of the hundreds of non-hit Australian recording acts of the 60's, both in and out of the country. Our damned national inferiority complex led us to believe that it was all weak, derivative fluff.. until albums like Nuggets, Pebbles, Psychedelic Unknowns, Boulders, etc. left us smirking at the frankly unimpressive quality of so many tracks deemed as 'classics of their era' in foreign lands. The rock on this album can hold it's head loftily in the company of any non-hit English or American rock.

Year of Release: 1980
Label: Raven
Genre: Garage Rock
Bitrate: 160kbps

Track List:
1. Missing Links - You're Driving Me Insane
2. Atlantics - Come On
3. Machine Gun Kelly's Rejects - I'm Going Back
4. Creatures - Ugly Thing
5. Steve & The Board - Now I'm Older
6. Elois - By My Side
7. Others - Look Through My Window
8. Chants R&B - I'm Your Witchdoctor
9. Pink Finks - Louie Louie
10. Purple Hearts - Just A Little Bit
11. Movement - I Wanna Be Free
12. Modes - Baby Please Don't Go
13. Master's Apprentices - Poor Boy
14. Pleasers - Hurtin' All Over
15. Henchman - That's All I Want
16. Four Strangers - Sad & Lonely
17. The La De Das - How Is The Air Up There
18. Sunsets - I Want Love
19. Blue Stars - Social End Product
20. D-Coys - Bad Times
21. Derek's Accent - Ain't Got No Feeling
22. Blue Beats - She's Coming Home
23. Vince Maloney Sect - No Good Without You
24. Ray Columbus & The Art Collection
25. Lost Souls - This Life Of Mine
26. Black Diamonds - I Want, Need, Love You

Download: VA - Ugly Things
Download Track 17: The La De Das - How Is The Air Up There
Download Size: 76MB