Post slowdown

Work is really hectic at the moment +

I seem to be getting quite a lot of takedowns.

My aim was to post every weekday but for

the next couple of weeks I think time will

make them dry up for a while.

Fear not though my faithful download

monkeys, I will return better and stronger

than before ..... or not - depends how

bovvered I feel!

Trampled Underfoot

This is a post for ZoSo)))

This Zepp cd has no cover or info whatsoever.

From the songs and what Plant is saying, it is from the

Physical Graffiti tour in the States somewhere.

On CD 2, they introduce Trampled Underfoot

and that is it! The songs just end - so we have a

set cut short, no info but the music is (of course)

fantastic and really good quality.

CD1:

Rock'n'Roll

Sick Again

Over The Hills and Far Away

In My Time of Dying

The Song Remains The Same

The Rain Song

CD2:

Kashmir

No Quarter

Enjoy

Augury - Fragmentary Evidence (2009)

Technical, progressive metal played at

the highest level.

Lots of heavy, distorted jazzy guitar work

played over very layered, complex and

lengthy songs which have a real epic sweep

to them with brilliant instrumental performances.

This is like the heavy bits from Opeth with

scorching guitar solos all over the shop.

Link removed by request

Band Info

Buy

Souvenir's Young America - The Name Of The Snake (2010)

Killer instrumental from this 3 piece.

Mixing up prog, post-metal and ambient

sounds, this is like a soundtrack to a film

that does not exist.

Layered guitars with drones of distortion

float along with the quieter passages,

intermingled with harmonica, giving

things a space age Ennio Morricone feel.

If you like Pelican, Codes In The Sky etc,

give this a Listen

Band Info

Buy

Deep Purple - Made In Japan (1972)

This is the only Purple album you will

ever need.

Drawing mainly from Machine Head,

these live tracks are played at with a

rawness and intensity that were sometimes

missing from the studio releases.

Classic heavy rock - do I need to say more?

Listen

Buy

Ruiner - Hell is Empty (2009)

Ok, here is some hardcore - some short,

fast and memorable anthems play out

on this album.

Some good intros and slower guitar hooks

make this stand out from the standard

hardcore blueprint. The singer manages

to inject melodic vocal lines that are

catchy but still heavy sounding.

Great, crisp production that will suit

anyone into intelligent heavy punk.

Listen

Band Info

Buy

Jeffrey Lee Pierce - Wildweed (1985)

After the swamp/punk masterpiece "The Las Vegas Story"

by the Gun Club in '84, JL Pierce released his 1st solo

album.

His music had always contained the unique mix of punk/

country and blues but this record had a much more

blues feel to it. The song arrangements seem much

looser giving Pierce a much larger canvas to paint his

guitar solos over - a great guitar player by the way -

and there are some almost wistful/tender moments.

If you have ever liked any Gun Club stuff, give this a

Listen

Band Info

Buy

Shining - Blackjazz (2010)

Head fuck time. Shining play a style of industrial, black

metal and jazz - hey that's why the title is "Blackjazz".

Musically very abrasive with heavy distorted guitars

and vocals with synth interplay. Weird time signatures

flow through the songs but do not let that put you off.

Saxaphones fight with guitar riffs and everything gets

very, very heavy.

The albums ends with a cover version of King Crimson's

"21st Century Schizoid Man" - the original will never sound

the same again. To be honest, it took me a couple of

plays before I started to get into it but it is worth it

if you want something different to listen to.

Link removed by request

Band Info

Buy

Phantom Glue - S/T (2010)

Some fantastic Stoner/Doom/Hardcore on display here -

it is only 27 minutes long but all the tracks flow into a

very solid whole.

They have a High on Fire type sound but with a much

rougher Punk/Hardcore edge and delivery.

Thick crushing stoner riffs fight with brilliant heavy bass

and drums, acrobatic guitar work is laid all over the

place and suitably gruff vocals show these boys playing

at the top of their game 

myspace

Buy

Nirvana - Bleach (1989)

You know the band.

You know the history.

Recorded in 30 hours for $606.17 and

released on the Sub Pop label, this is bleak

and claustrophobic rock, full of feedback

and distortion with chaotic and grimy songs,

lyrically sparse but full of Cobain at his best.

This is the sound of a band without the world

watching them, just some guys laying down

some tracks because they wanted to make a noise.

Smug alert - Me & Dougie saw them at the Astoria

as support for Tad & Mudhoney. They played most

of Bleach with some new stuff from what would be

Nevermind ...... turns out they would become quite big!

Link removed by request.

Buy

Blood of The Sun - In Blood We Rock (2007)

Holy crappola, this rocks like a right bastard!

Drawing upon classic acts such as Purple, Grand Funk,

Mountain, this is one monster of a groove riddled

album that brings those sounds up to date with

an underground fuzz burst of energy and power ....

Think Spiritual Beggars crossed with the faster Nebula

or Fu Manchu tracks with the addition of keyboards

that do not overpower (Hammond type sound), this

just makes me smile and jump up and down.

Listen

Band Info

Lucid Media - ?

Lucid Media seems to have been taken down - anyone know about this?

Another great blog gone.

The Stranglers - Black and White (1978)

The Stranglers - the worlds most overlooked

punk band?

Read any music history and punk started and

ended in the Westway with the Clash + some

help from the Pistols.

Not so - back in '77, to hear any punk stuff played

on the radio apart from Uncle John Peel and the

odd burst on Crapital Radio was a rarity.

The Stranglers had massive hits that got airplay

early on and a lot of people in my school only

got into punk by hearing them and delving

further through this new music.

(Not me - I saw the Damned + Motorhead in '76

at the tender age of 16 which proves how hip I

was and that I probably started the whole punk

movement)!!!!!

"Rattus Norvegicus" and "No More Heros" set the

tone with aggression, Punk Floyd weirdness, fantastic

tunes and one of the most individual voices to vie

with Lydon as "new" style singing.

Black and White, for me anyway, remains their

crowning glory - sinister avante garde lyrics,

post-punk tunes, wailing sax breaks, frenetic

guitar and the best bass sound ever.

Buy

Soul Control - Involution (2007)

Soul Control are described as Hardcore

but I would call this heavy punk.

This album is made up of some eps and

5 new tracks - no idea which is which - there

is an excellent service called Google if you

feel like looking them up!

Rather than generic "angry music", they play

a hybrid of influences which are sometimes

missing from this genre: ie 10 songs which

all sound the same!

Bits of Bad Brains riffs are mixed up with

Fugazi like guitar runs - nice breakdowns

jump into solid mid-tempo grooves, with

lyrics that tend to be self reflective rather

than straight-edge venom - Listen

Buy

UK Decay - For Madmen Only (1981)

Unfairly lumped in with Sex Gang Children and

Christian Death as the 'new' goth movement,

UK Decay were so much more.

Heavy stabbing guitar, thunderous drumming

and strangled vocals which sometimes veered

into almost spoken word, I would say that if

you like Killing Joke, early Ants, the 1st Bauhaus

album, give this a go.

Listen

Band Info

Buy

No Made Sense - The Epillanic Choragi (2009)

Bombastic post-metal which makes my

speakers rumble.

Heavy tracks which are interlinked with

ambient soundscapes giving it a feeling

of depth - the quiet bits are not just there

for show or because "that's how it should

sound like' but giving the album a really

good flow which deserves to be listened

to in one sitting.

If you like Between the Buried and Me,

give this a Listen

myspace

Buy

Heirs - Alchera (2009)

Some nice bleak instrumental post-rock/

metal. Reverb soaked blankets of sound

bring to mind Godflesh/Head of David

and some slower Isis.

Big riffs and the odd industrial clatter

within the low end songs make this a

tasty treat.

Listen

myspace

Buy