Saccharine Trust - The Great One is Dead (2001 - 320Kbps)

Since the recent activity geared up here at Digital Meltd0wn, we have been trying out different servers to upload files that hopefully will have a bit of longevity. None of the ones we've tried, Depositfiles, Zippyshare, or FreakShare have been perfect, or even equal to the old days of Mediafire or Rapidshare since the attack perpetrated on Kim Dotcom & MegaUpload. Well, this Saturday, on the one year anniversary of said New Zealand attack, Kim & Company have launched a new Privacy project called Mega. This is the first posting I've done using their new service. Here's hoping...

Saccharine Trust came out of the southern California SST scene that also included bands like Black Flag, SWA, Descendents, October Faction, DC3, Tom Troccoli's Dog & many many more. The band was started by singer Jack Brewer (Jack Brewer Band, Perfect Rat, w/Bazooka, w/Kava) & Joe Baiza (Universal Congress of..., October Faction, Natassya Filippovna, & Unknown Instructors[with Mike Watt & George Hurley of Minutemen fame] in 1980. Original drummer Rob Holzman appeared on their 1981 debut Paganicons but left the band to play in Slovenly & was replaced by drummer Tony Cicero. Many musick luminaries including Kurt Cobain, Buzz Osborne, & Sonic Youth have named Sacchrine Trust as a major influence on their musick. Sonic Youth covered their song "I Am Right" on the SST compilation The Melting Plot.

This CD was only available from Hazelwood Records in Germany & was never released in the US.

Year of Release: 2001
Label: Hazelwood Records
Catalog #: HAZ 015
Genre: Post-hardcore

Tracklist:

1. The Sinister Rain
2. Grotian Phraseology
3. The Sadness of Apollo
4. Legends Die Behind the Wheel, at Least
5. Neruda's Wave
6. Birthing the Ancestors
7. Antecedent Satisfaction
8. This is Wilmington
9. Nocturnal Ballets
10. Reggie's Plateau
11. Untitled No.2 (I Gave Another Dimension the Slip)
12. Ordinary Calvinistic
13. Untitled No.1 (The Creative Fluctuation)
14. The Great One is Dead
15. Water on the Dancefloor
16. Against Faustus
17. Resuscitate the Worm
18. Now that You're Dead

Download: Saccharine Trust - The Great One is Dead
Download Size: 105.1MB
Decryption key for download from Mega in comments

Note: To check out this file, get the decryption key from comments. Go to the link site. Enter the decryption code where asked. Check terms agreement. Download. The only issue is with MEGA. Their site does not work with many browsers as they use HTML5. They recommend Google Chrome & provide a download link. You may have to do this, I know that I did. Zer0_II also hipped me to Comodo Dragon browser that is built on the Chromium platform but with no connection to Google. I tried it on MEGA & it works great. FYI.

Bush Tetras - Rituals 12" EP

In New York in the late '70s & early '80s, the Bush Tetras blazed brightly in the sweaty clubs of the Lower East Side, playing music that was a blend of funk rhythms & dissonant guitar riffs.

Lead guitarist Pat Place had been the original guitarist & one of the founding members of the No Wave band The Contortions. With the Bush Tetras, she continued to pursue some of the musical ideas she had explored in that band, themes of driving rhythm & nihilistic trance...hypnotic, tribal, & dirty. Together with vocalist Cynthia Sley they produced the most distinctive aspects of the Tetras sound. Sley’s half-spoken, half-sung vocals, often repeating simple phrases over & over again, creating a hypnotic monotony similar to Place's guitar rhythms.

The Bush Tetras toured with the Clash & struck up a friendship with Topper Headon that lead to his producing this, the Rituals ep on Stiff Records in 1981.

The Bush Tetras on Rituals were: Cynthia Sley - vocals; Pat Place - guitar; Laura Kennedy - bass; & Dee Pop - drums. Recorded July 1981 at Electric Ladyland Studios, “Funky Version” remixed September 1981 at Marcus Music, London, Produced by Topper Headon.

Year of Release: 1981
Label: Stiff Records TEES 12-07
Genre: No Wave Dance

Tracklist:
Rhythm Side -
Can’t Be Funky
Funky Version

Paranoia Side -
Cowboys in Africa
Rituals

Download: Bush Tetras - Rituals 12“ ep
Download Size: 27.64MB (at 320 Kbps)

Les Maitres - Les Maitres (Cassette Rip) (1983 - 320kbps)

Les Maitres is a French post-punk coldwave band that was active in the early 80s. They have only one release, their self-titled cassette from 1983. A handful of their songs also appeared on numerous compilations as recently as 2006.

Coldwave is a French & Belgian post-punk musick. Early French punk groups like Stinky Toys & Métal Urbain were forerunners to the scene. As the scene grew, it took increasing influence from post-punk, disco, & industrial music. I believe coldwave to contain elements of the icy, luminous, electro art rock of artists like Ultravox, Gary Numan, Bill Nelson, Dalek I, Tuxedomoon, Nash the Slash, & others from the late 70s/early 80s.

Comes with insert with the text of “Justine Ou Les Malheurs De La Vertu” by De Sade. Songs “Théatre”, “I Don't Care”, & “Descente Aux Enfers” are demo tracks. “Le Curé", “Souvenir", “L’Entendez-Vous? (2)", & “Le Diable" were recorded live at Art Beton 12 Feb. 83. “L’Entendez-Vous" (a different version than [2]) was recorded live at Pali Kao 21May 83.

Year of Release: 1983
Label: V.I.S.A. Androidia
Catalog #:: Flux #002
Genre: Coldwave, post-punk

Tracklist:
Side A -
A1. Intro
A2. Le Curé
A3. Théatre
A4. I Don't Care
A5. L'Entendez-Vous?

Side B -
B1. Souvenir
B2. Descente Aux Enfers
B3. L'Entendez-Vous? (2)
B4. Le Diable

Download: Les Maitres - Les Maitres cassette
Download Size: 93.5MB (ripped at 320Kbps from audio cassette)

Learning the 3 Rs: The San Francisco way

RHYTHM

Rhythm Pigs - Rhythm Pigs

After they moved from El Paso, where they formed in 1983, to San Francisco, I used to see the Rhythm Pigs everywhere, they played out all the time. Being ‘the only punk band in El Paso’ & wanting more musickally, they garnered attention nationally by touring heavily & building their musickal chops live on-stage. Great straight-ahead punk rock & Ed Ivey was a really nice guy. This is their first, self-titled lp & then-fledgling Mordam Records second ever release.

Year of Release: 1986
Label: Mordam Records MDR 2
Genre: Punk

Tracklist:
Side 1 -
Conditional Love
Dr. Harley
Break New Ground
Human Drama
Six
Machines are In
Peanuts
Break or We’ll Break Your Face
Side 2 -
Taxi Cab
Searching for Myself
Conscience Song
Electric World
Road Machine

Download: Rhythm Pigs - Rhythm Pigs
Download Size: 84.2MB (ripped from pristine vinyl at 320Kbps)


RESIDENTS

Various Artists - Eyesore: A Stab at The Residents

I just saw The Residents in Santa Cruz (January 23rd at the Rio). As Resident shows always are (my 6th), it was a wonder-filled, entertaining, & thought-provoking event. I could think of nothing else for days. I was going to start this R thang out with these intentionally obscured musickians, even thought about posting up part of the Rio show, but then decided on this winner, but since it's not technically an R, more a V (for Various Artists), it is a Tribute to R(esidents), I posted the Rhythm Pigs first.

This cd features numerous bands doing covers of Residents tunes, a tribute to the Residents, if you can believe it...sounds like an ill-advised idea but actually it is a really excellent release. It gets a bit confusing in places, as some of the tracks are actually different songs running into each other. But it is a tribute the The Residents, so...

The final track, “Benny The Bouncing Bump” is a previously-unreleased live recording of the Residents themselves. & The Rez are on percussion for their cohort, Snakefinger’s take on “Smelly Tongues”.

This collection features reworks & covers by artists who faithfully follow the spirit of Residents' weird wackiness. It's a who's-who cast of underground, indie, & all-around under-appreciated eclectic artists, such as Only a Mother, Thinking Fellers Union Local 282, Snakefinger, Shakin Ray Levis, Splatter Trio, Idiot Flesh, & Amy Denio, as well as better known acts like Cracker & Primus. Fans of the Residents & their genre of irreverent musick should enjoy this entertaining & varied set of loving renditions.

Year of Release: 1996
Label: Vaccination Records VAC006
Genre: Cover songs, avantgarde

Tracklist:
Only a Mother - Mahogany Wood
Unknown Artist (*) - Untitled
Idiot Flesh - Bach is Dead
Heavy Vegetable - Time's Up
Frank Pahl - Everyone Comes to the Freak Show
Borgia Popes - Constantinople
UBZUB (*) - What Could the Matter Be?
Thinking Fellers Union Local #282 - Electrocutioner
Mooseheart Faith - Firefly / Vinegar
Splatter Trio - 6 Things to a Cycle, Pt 1 (Chew Chew Gum)
Amy Denio - Act of Being Polite
UBZUB (*) - N-ER-GEE (Crisis Blues)
Utotem (10a) - Sinister Exaggerator
Greg Roe (10b) - Hell No!
Giant Ant Farm - Eva's Warning
Charming Hostess - Won't You Keep Us Working?
Richie West & Bomb Factory - Voices in the Air
Silica Gel - Shut Up! Shut Up!
Mommyheads - Moisture
Supercollider - Walrus Hunt
UBZUB (*) - Lord it's Lonely
Snakefinger - Smelly Tongues
Fibulator - You Yes Yes Yes You
Dramagold - You Yes Yes Yes You (reprise)
Shakin Ray Levis - Red Rider
Poxy Boggards - Santa Dog
Splatter Trio - 6 Things to a Cycle, Pt 2 (Good Good Coffee)
Big Butter - Their Early Years
Cracker - Blue Rosebuds
Pink Floyd The Barber - Boo Who?
Non Credo - Nice Skinny Sinister Old Man
Lungpigs - Nobody Laughs When They Leave
Eskimo - Happy Home
Primus - Hello Skinny medley
Stan Ridgway & J.E.D. (30a) - Excuse / The Booker Tease
Greg Roe (30b) - Gingerbread Man
The Residents (*) - Benny the Bouncing Bump (live)
Unknown Artist (*) - Untitled

(*) There are several hidden tracks on this disc (at the beginning of 02, tacked on the end of tracks 05, 09, 16, & 30). I have left them as they are on the cd, unseparated (part 1 download) but have also included the split tracks (along with the cover artwork - part 2 download), so do with them as you like (the split tracks are marked A for alternate).

Tracks 10 & 30 actually have two songs indexed within the same track.

"Benny The Bouncing Bump" was recorded live on November 17th, 1991 as part of a one-off performance that is commonly referred to as 'Ty's Freak Show'.

Download: Various Artists - Eyesore: A Stab at The Residents pt 1
Download Size: 183MB (ripped at 320Kbps)

Download: Various Artists - Eyesore: A Stab at The Residents pt 2
Download Size: 38.7MB (ripped at 320Kbps)


ROMEO

Romeo Void - Nvr Say Nvr 12" ep

Romeo Void was a New Wave/post-punk band from San Francisco, California active from 1979 to 1985. They are best known for the song "Never Say Never". The best version of the song is from the four-song 12“ ep released on 415 (San Francisco’s telephone area code) Records. Their popularity was primarily in alternative & college radio. Because of extensive radio play, say ‘Romeo Void’ & the name almost always conjures up the phrase "I might like you better if we slept together" to most people...that unforgettable chorus of their best-known song, 1981's "Never Say Never". But the rest of the lyrics referencing incest, murder, homelessness, & other dark subjects, makes plain that singer/lyricist Debora Iyall has more on her mind than titillation.

The combination of Iyall's powerful vocals & graphic imagery along with the band's blend of Joy Division-style atmospherics & Gang of Four pacing, propelled by Benjamin Bossi's wall-of-sound free jazz saxophone skronking, elevated Romeo Void above their contemporary New Wave acts, proving them to be a strong American post-punk band.

Debora Iyall, a Native American of the Cowlitz tribe was born in rural Washington, was raised in Fresno, CA, then moved to San Francisco in the mid-'70s to attend the San Francisco Art Institute. While there she met fellow students Peter Woods & Jay Derrah, who had formed a pseudo-60s revival band called The Mummers & the Poppers. Iyall became the group's singer & also began incorporating music into her own poetry & performance art projects. Intrigued by the growing San Francisco punk scene, which included fellow Art Institute students like Avengers singer Penelope Houston & members of the Mutants as well as Pearl Harbor & the Explosions, Iyall, sculptor & visual artist Frank Zincavage, Woods, & Derrah formed Romeo Void on Valentine's Day 1979. The name was inspired by a headline on the cover of a local magazine’s Valentine’s issue that read "Romeo Void - Why single women can't get laid in San Francisco." Shortly after the group's formation, original saxophonist Bobby Martin & another local reedsman, Benjamin Bossi, swapped bands, with Martin joining art punk extremists the Offs while Bossi teamed up with Romeo Void.

The revised lineup recorded their debut single, "White Sweater," b/w a cover of Jorgen Ingmann's atmospheric 1961 twang-guitar instrumental hit "Apache," for the new local indie 415 Records in 1980. Before sessions commenced for their first album, 1981's It's a Condition, founding member Derrah left the group & was replaced by ex-Explosions drummer John "Stench" Haines. One of the masterpieces of American post-punk, It's a Condition received rave reviews upon its release. Perhaps even more importantly, Cars leader Ric Ocasek heard the album when a roadie played it on the Cars' tour bus. He invited the group to his Synchro Sound studio in Boston. The result was this Ocasek-produced record, the Never Say Never ep.

Year of Release: 1981
Label: 415 Records 415A-0007
Genre: New Wave, post-punk

Tracklist:
Side one -
Never Say Never
In the Dark
Side two -
Present Tense
Not Safe

Download: Romeo Void - Nvr Say Nvr 12“ ep
Download Size: 45.8MB (ripped from 415 heavy vinyl at 320Kbps)