150

So, this is my 150th post and what a journey it has been.

We have had highs and lows, we have laughed and cried

and I feel we have become all the closer for it.

What a team we make:

Me - witty, handsome, guitar hero and musical know it all.

You - sad, pathetic download monkey with no records of your own.

Lets promise never to fight again and look forward to

the rest of the year.

To celebrate this momentous post - some music from

the Ren & Stimpy show - I found this on the strange and

varied blog Digital Meltd0wn ...... why not Listen or if

you are feeling the futile and pointless existence of life is

too much to bear, try my 47 minute Sub Sonic Symphony -

a multi-tracked piece of music using keyboards, drones

and sound effects which I composed to be played in

tandem to the 1927 Lon Chaney film "The Unknown"

which various "friends" have assured me is impossible

to play to the end without wanting to hurt me.... Try Me!

Maths - Descent (2009)

Maths do a nice line in embittered hardcore

but with a grasp of subtle dynamics that some

of their fellow bands do not have.

Post hardcore with huge tidal waves of

sound, sprawling guitar notes playing in

tandem with the vocals, gradual builds to

climax and mangled tunes combining with

dense song arrangements make this a very

tasty record.

Listen

My Space

Buy

Acid Tiger - Acid Tiger (2010)

When Ben Koller is not drumming for

Coverge, he likes to relax by forming

bands!

First there was the grindcore of United

Nations and now he has put together

Acid Tiger, a band with both feet in

hardcore but who have also jumped

into math timing, fuzzed out riffs, sonic

highs and lows which makes this stand

out from the sub-hardcore-with metal tinge

which seems to be getting very play-by-

numbers at the moment.

Vocals are impassioned but mainly clean

throughout and there is some very impressive

technical musicianship on display here.

Listen

Buy

Bo Diddley - Tales From the Funk Dimension

A collection of songs from '70 - '73.

Before I had this album, the only Bo I

had heard was from the normal sources

- covers by the Stones & JAMC etc made

me dig out the originals but they were

nothing like this.

James Brown rhthym backing tracks

overlaid with wah-wah guitar, psychedelic

lead and laid back sleaze vocals all delivered

with the deep Bo voice.

Download monkeys beware - this is NOT

the full album - just the tracks I selected

to make me jump up & down!

Boogie

Buy

North - What You Were (2008)

Post-metal which is very heavy.

Lots of distortion and deep,

reverberating bass with guttural

howls of despair put this in the

same league as Rosetta or Fall

or Efera.

Pushed for time today - that description

will have to do!

Listen

Band Info

Buy

Saint Vitus - Heavier Than Thou

To be honest, I am only just discovering

the massive family tree of Scott "Wino".

What with Trouble, Obsessed, Pentangle,

St Vitus, Spirit Caravan, Hidden Hand,

Shrinebuilder etc, this is the only Saint

Vitus I have.

It is a compilation and goes through

various band lineups but the important

thing to know is that is is full of massive

songs, combining stoner & doom, twisted

guitar solos and clean vocals.

If there are better St Vitus albums for

me to hear, please let me know.

Listen

Band Info

Buy

The Stooges - Best Rider ever

This has been kicking around for a couple of years and

I just found it in one of my folders. I cannot remember

where I found it - sorry, someone!

It is a 28p page PDF of the Stooges requirements for

setting up a gig and is scathingly excellent.

Give yourself 15 minutes to read this - it's funny, honest!

Read Me

Magic Lantern - Platoon (2010)

This falls into the same bracket as The Wooden Shjips,

Sun Dial, Quest for Fire etc.

Jazzy freak-out organs, screaming wah wah, powered

by masses of fuzz guitar - this is heavy psych of the highest

calibre.

Real authentic sounds as well - no polished studio trickery

or dubious sound effects taken from sample CD's.

The guitar player is fantastic - while I would never be

as stupid to compare anyone to Hendrix, if you think

of people who have channeled that vibe: Santana, Marino

etc, I put him in that bracket.

Listen

Band Info

Buy

Velvet Underground - The Quine Tapes (1969)

This is for ZoSo))) who is a dribbling mad

VU man. This box set has 3 live sets from

3 different venues - a guy called Richard

Quine had the foresight to record them on

his 2 track.

As normal bootlegs go, this is not a sound

board recording but bearing in mind it's from

'69, it's pretty fucking good.

There are the 2 Live VU albums that have the

picture of the girls arse on but I always thought

the sound was thin and sterile.

These have a much warmer sound and the

band seem to be going for it. This comes

across in the songs and performances.

As it is a 3CD set, you will have to dl in

2 hits. Oh yeah, each set ends with a 30 min

Sister Ray!

Link removed by Mediafire - thanks!

Buy

Roxy Music - Guitar Tracks

This is a collection of Roxy Music songs that feature

Phil Manzanera at the front of the track - either

with a strong riff or him letting loose in the solo

department.

Don't like the selection? Do your own one.

Track Listing:

Re-Make Re-Model

Ladytron

Amazona

Strictly Confidential

Editions of You

In Every Dream House

The Bob (Medley)

Grey Lagoons

Mother of Pearl

Out of the Blue

Pyjamarama

All I Want is You

Casanova

The Thrill of it All

Listen

If anyone has live recordings from 72 - 75,

that would be cool.

The Heads - Live at Tilburg (2008)

If you like The Heads you know what to expect - if

not, get some fucked up, fuzz punk-psychedelia,

feedback drenched, glorious slabs of rambling,

almost out of control songs Here.

Buy

Siouxsie & The Banshees - Join Hands (1979)

Forget the cute goth songs of "Christine"

or "Spellbound" - this is ice cold Art

Rock ...... and on that bombshell, come back

in time with me to the mid seventies when

I had never heard of the Velvet Underground.

"What the fuck!!! ..... I do not wanna read

this shit ...... you dumb prick .... just gimmie

the album"

Hold on dear download monkey .... my tale

continues. When I was a teenager, '73-'75

was a golden time for me and music. Heavily

into hard rock and prog, every month brought

a classic album being released by Bowie, Sabbath,

Zepp, Genesis, Cooper, Hawkwind, Yes, Purple etc.

I would buy them on the day of release and play

them over and over in my bedroom, listening

to the songs that the band had written just

for me.

Drift into '76 and I had discovered Lou Reed and

his live album "Rock and Roll Animal" Hey, these

songs were first done by his previous band called

the Velvet Underground.

'77 came and went - I was a punk crazy fool and

fuck yeah, I loved the Velvets ..... and still do ....

but you know what? They were not MY band -

they split up when I was a kid, I had not

discovered them myself ..... but the Banshees

and all the other punk stuff was mine, all mine

I tell you!

When "Join Hands", the 2nd Banshees record

came out, it was my "White Heat, White Light".

It spoke to me in strange tongues, no guitar solos,

no shouting, atonal sax breaks, cold remote lyrics,

14 minute songs, THIS was my V. Underground -

this was the album that lead me to listen to PIL,

Television, Gang of Four, Pere Ubu, Devo etc.

Anyway, what do you care - Listen

Buy

Electric Mud Generator - To The Distain of Polyhymnia (2008)

I found this recently on Angry Chairs

and have been playing it a lot.

It is very much in the vein of

Baroness - heavy stoner with

mad moments of prog but this

also has a folk-rock vibe - think

the rocky end of Jethro Tull

(similar vocals) but going to

a huge, thick sounding attack.

It reminds me of the latest

"Ancestors" album, lots of

heavy tracks but going down

to acoustic guitar, gentle passages,

even a dual male/female chorus.

To sum up my rather confused

review - it is Prog-Stoner, give

it a Listen

Band Info

Buy

Lou Reed - Metal Machine Music (1975)

4 tracks spread out over a double album, this had no

drum or vocals or indeed any songs, just feedback guitar

drones looping over and over, with electronic squalls

of generated tones and noise........ of course it is common

knowledge that track 3 is the best! Are those hints of

tunes buried down in the mix?

This is either:

Lou Reed getting out of his record company contract

and a big fuck you to the hired suits

or

A noise terror experiment in sonics and volume

which 15 years later would influence bands like

The Swans and sonic Youth etc.

You Decide!

Switch Opens (2009)

Swedish hardcore but with a very

psychedelic - punk feel to it.

Melodic vocals go to a roar and the

songs have power but with highs

and lows, dipping into delicate

picked guitar for a moment before

pummeling over the head. Unforced

breakdowns slowly gain in power

to thunderous chorus and climax.

Listen

Band Website

Buy

Year of No Light - Ausserwelt (2010)

Belgium bands follow up to "Nord".

4 tracks of post-metal but without the

angry shouty beardy man on vocals.

It still has continent shifting guitar

chords and earthquake inducing bass

and drums but it almost drifts into

heavy post-rock with delicate guitar

chimes that would fit onto a "Mono" album

and some clean feedback drone motifs

that reminded me of SubArachniod Space.

Very heavy but with dark drifting overtones,

if you ever wanted to dip your toe into the

murky water of post-metal, be brave and

give this a Listen

Band Info

Buy

Grand Funk Railroad - Live (1970)

Grand Funk Railroad took the power trio

sound of Cream and mixed it up with hard

rock and roll roots.

They had a real groove, almost Southern

Rock type thing at times but at heart

this recording remained a vintage slice

of loud primitive rock.

Recorded live, this has no post-production

tricks or overdubs and although at times

can sound a bit messy, the rawness comes

through. Be warned ..... it does contain that

most wasteful of music genres - a drum solo!

Listen

Band Info

Buy

Frank Black - Teenager of the Year (1998)

A double album of greatness, for me, if Frank

Black never made another album, this would

be a fitting tribute to him.

22 tracks of sheer fucking genius. When I

first heard this, around song 8 or 9, I

thought that even if the rest are just

fillers, it would be worth it .... get to

track 18 and they kept on getting better.

No fillers, no weak tracks, I must of

kept this on my CD player for 3 solid

months.

If you are looking for the full bloodied

screaming Black Francis, this is probably

going to let you down but if you have ever

jumped up and down to "Velouria, Dig for

Fire, Wave of Mutilation, Gigantic" etc

or any other Pixie punk/pop song,

give this a Listen

Buy

Indukti - Idmen (2009)

Experimental post-metal from Poland.

This contains twisting/sinewy songs that

constantly change structure but always

for a reason - not just to show how clever

they are.

Vocals go from clean almost trance like

to full out shouting & chanting. Violins

drift in and out with nicely placed trumpet

riffs honking in the background. Rock scales

give way to ethnic folk influences while

the guitar is like Tool crossed with "Red"

King Crimson period sound.

Listen

Band Info

Buy

Hacride - Lazarus (2009)

French heavy progressive music.

Hacride are like a more relaxed Between

the Buried and Me and an energetic Gojira.

The 1st track runs at 15 mins and shows

more invention than a lot of albums by bog

standard, auto-pilot post-metal bands.

Similar in feel to Textures, this seems raw

and natural with great solid songs that

are allowed to progress in the most heavy way.

Listen

Band Info

Buy

Astroqueen - Into Submission (2001)

Swedish Stoner that comes from the more

lively end of the genre - Fu Manchu, Nebula etc.

Thick, heavy end bass holds the riffs together

while the guitar sizzles with insanely

tuneful embellishments.

Strap yourself into your Harley and head

out to the desert with this blasting into

your ears.

I do not actually own a harley .... or indeed

any sort of motorbike and I do not live

anywhere near a desert, so I will jump

on the 77 bus to Clapham Common!

Listen

Band Info

Buy