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elcome to the Digital Meltd0wn Music Blog. The aim of this blog is to introduce the readers to music that is out of print, commercially unavailable, released under a creative commons license, or with approval by the featured artist. The majority of the music posted here would be considered underground. Don't let that fool you into thinking that the music featured here might be any less enjoyable than that of the mainstream artists you hear on the radio, as this couldn't be further from the truth. Please keep in mind that the majority of the artists that appear on this blog, along with their respective record labels, are not wealthy and need your support. If you enjoy the material that you find here, please support the artists/labels by purchasing their material afterwards. If you are an artist/label that would prefer to have your material removed from this blog, simply leave me a comment, and I would be more than happy to promptly remove the offending post. In addition to running this blog, I also work on a few other projects during my spare time. You can find links to those, as well as a few other important links associated with Digital Meltd0wn in the menu bar above.

Friday, January 25, 2013

Assassins of God - Black Tongue Speaks Vol. I


Assassins of God appeared suddenly out of nowhere, released three albums, & disappeared without really ever causing a great stir. They played the first Lolapalooza & toured Europe often.Of their three discs, Black Tongue Speaks, Vol I is without a doubt their masterpiece. It is characterized by a dark atmosphere on songs like “I am My Disease” & “The Hate Song”, also by restless, hysterical guitar & fantastic bass runs. There are walls of sound & noise that go on to develop into the most beautiful melodies & riffs. It is hard to explain their music & I’ve never heard another band like them. They were occasionally classified as “Jazzcore”. Personally I feel they don’t fit into any category.

The members of AOG: Ken Kearney (guitar & vocals); Ellen Schoenwetter (bass); & Bruce Ducheneaux (drums) are part of the incestuous art/musick scene in San Francisco. Ken Kearney appears with the Mutants on Forensic Report. Lately Ken has been playing more straight ahead jazz backing Tracy Sirota & in his own Ken Kearney Quartet. Ken Kearney early on played in the Atones with Mark Weinstein of MX-80 Sound (& Amoeba Records owner).

MX-80 Sound were one of those bands ahead of their time, influencing bands such as Sonic Youth, the Swans & Live Skull among others. MX-80 played rather dissonant, discordant heavy-rock. Their main influences seem to be Captain Beefheart & the Stooges, yet at times they seem more akin to Pere Ubu, Television, early Siouxsie & the Banshees, sometimes even managing to sound not unlike Joy Division.

Mark Weinstein & Bruce Anderson of MX-80 Sound had a ensemble group Pluto that Ken Kearney played in along with Len Paterson & his wife Ellen Schoenwetter. About Pluto’s The Field Recordings, “There is no way to describe the music & lyrics on this LP. All the world loves a good, healthy search for a lost set of keys…” It's not exactly rock'n'roll & it's not exactly jazz. It's more like something Tom Waits might play while relaxing in the bath after a hard day banging brake drums (Pluto also features Ralph Carney [tenor saxophone, clarinet, trumpet] from the Tom Waits band).

Len & Ellen play in the group Flowtilla (formerly The Len Paterson Trio) formed in 2000. Their driving sound is an eclectic mix of funk, afro, jazz & world tinged grooves. They released their first cd under the name Len Paterson Trio entitled Sunny Cloudy. They have released two more c.d.s as Flowtilla, 2003s Out of the Inside & 2006s Clariphonic.

Drummer Bruce Ducheneaux also has an extreme musickal pedigree. He originally joined the band Bomb after they were dropped by Warner/Reprise & after original drummer Tony Flag quit. This gives him an early connection to Ken Kearney, as Jay Crawford of Bomb was recruited for the band Housecoat Project (circa 1986). Ken played guitar for the Housecoat Project on a west coast tour while Jay was on tour with Bomb. Bruce has drummed with Waycross, Cinnamon Girls, & The Primal Abyss as well as being an integral part of several Gary Floyd (of Dicks, Sister Double Happiness infamy) projects, namely The Gary Floyd Band & Black Kali Ma.

Year of Release: 1991
Label: Bonzen Records (Germany) BONZ 007
Genre: Avant-garde punk or Experimental punk

Tracklist:
Logo Side:
Suitcase Nukes
Long Live the Jihad
I am My Disease
Cowbell Rock
The Hate Song
Virus

This Side:
The Vortex
Inuyxl Turbo - 1
Divinstein
Be Diminished
UFO's
Brontosaurus God
Bruce's Blues
(note: The first two songs on logo side run together. I have included both the run-together & split tracks. Take your pick.)

Download: Assassins of God - Black Tongue Speaks Vol. I
Download Size: 106.97MB (ripped from scratchy vinyl at 320Kbps)

10 comments:

Unknown said...

Dude!

Ken Kearney here,
Who are you and how did you find out all this stuff?

Can't believe any one would know I did a couple tours w/ House Coat Project.

You are one advanced detective!
drop me a line sometime.
(don't put my email on your list though ok?)

k

said...

To KenK,

Dude!

Nathan Nothin' here. I'm just a fan of musick, lived all of my adult life in the Bay Area (until moving to Sacramento several years ago).

Thanks for the comment & if there are errors or things you think should be added, let me know. I do the best I can.

Might be one advanced detective, but don't know how to drop you a line. You can drop me a line at dumpbush@outgun.com if you want. I'll definitely keep your e-mail address private.

Hubert Heathertoes said...

Hubert Napiorski from Poland here. I am so happy that I found this website, I was a huge fan of AOG back in the 90's and attended all their concerts in POland. I still have all their albums on cassettes released by QQRQ productions.
I am so happy that all the guys from AOG are still active musically. all the best to You Kenny, Ellen, Bruce and Three Legged Mule ;-)

Zer0_II said...

I'm trying to catch up on all the albums you posted while I was away. This one seems particularly interesting. Thanks for the introduction.

Anonymous said...

thanks for the assasins of god post i seen these guys in seattle at what was once the ok hotel by the waterfront. i am just curious if you know anything about a band called neuroshima they were from the seattle area and the lead man was a guy named cully ewing i think he has something to do with lighting for the NW rave scene. just curious i cannot find anything on the web but i have a cassette.

Anonymous said...

Cully Ewing is alive and well and lives in Seattle working as a photographer and stone sculptor. There were actually two Neuroshima releases "Neuroshima" and "A paid Political Announcement" They received good reviews and modest airplay on KCMU (now KEXP)Besides Cully, the other key members were Paul Kay and Tamara Stull. Neuroshima morphed into another band called "Suction" which featured Cully on Bass/effects, Eric Amrine on guitar (Color Anxiety) and Steve Wied (Tad)This was a VERY heavy, dark, jazz-ish recording project. Suction played some shows around town and recorded one un-released album (good!)This project spawned the psychedelic lightshow business that lasted for a decade. I worked for virtually every electronic touring act during the 90's. Thanks for your interest, Cully (I'm around)

M said...

AOG is still one of my favourite bands, I just ripped a tape called "on the beach - live in gdynia 09-27-1992" sound is quite good so enjoy!
http://www.wupload.com/file/171590902/OnTheBeach92.rar

Anonymous said...

pl come to Greece on your easter tour, don play only for bored and boring krauts, just annouce on indymedia athens your offs
-fan dildo

Unknown said...

Dude! This is some amazing knowledge. Assassins of God is easily in my top 5 favorite bands. Now if only someonr could post guitar tabs for their songs!

Unknown said...

Hey man could you send me an email? There are some things I'd really love to ask you about if you have the time.

Ozzyfan7012@yahoo.com