| #25 JUNE 28 2007 (DAY OF THE HEARTS BLOOD)
Goddamn John Bender rules....listening to the I Don't Remember Now album from 1980....like a Midwestern Suicide, sure, but with a distinct 'gentle German' influence tinging through that cold and bitter Clevelandness.... Harvey Pekar fronting Harmonia?? Robert Crumb (greeting card era) fronting Cluster?? On deck are Bender's two followup LPs, Plaster Falling (1981) and Pop Surgery (1983), and no, none of these are originals, strictly .rar..... but the real reason I'm posting is to answer a challenge. In the latest newsletter to the No Doctors mailing list, Elvis DeMorrow claimed that their new LP Origin & Tectonics "has already caused Larry Dolman to stop updating his BLASTITUDE site in sheer awe." Well, it's not the ONLY reason I've stopped, but there's no doubt that the advance copy I've received has left me rather speechless, and at first it was because it sounded so slick. It took 'em awhile to put this thing out (their first release since moving to San Francisco in 2004), and it sounds like they spent that time meticulously learning to be a massive, clean-cut, and undeniably pro-sounding rock and roll juggernaut. They've also learned how to really sing melodies and enunciate their lyrics, and I'll be honest, these were unexpected developments. Remember the non-stop yowling garbage-fi chaos of their last full-length, Hunting Season from 2003? Those blighted and decrepit streets have been completely cleaned up, as if some kind of pro-rock Rudy Giulani took over and redeveloped the neighborhood into a futuristic metallic factory complex that slowly crafts a high-tech and burnished reamalgamation of the history of rock. I'm telling you, sometimes they sound NORMAL on this album, like South by Southwest or Kemado Records normal, until you listen closer and realize that's precisely why they are now weirder than ever. Again, their always bold and wiggy lyrical concepts are now clearer and more pronounced, which can be especially disconcerting on acoustic numbers like the extra-catchy campfire song "For You," which goes "Wishing on a woman / wishin' she would strip / Take me to the ocean / wanna skinny-dip," seriously, and then asks a "fire-breathing lady" [sic] to "smoke me like a peace pipe / If you wanna end the war" [sic!]. But then after each one of these preposterous verses they pull out a sweet instrumental turn-around, driven by guitar filigree and melodic bass, and we are reminded that their motives are utterly sweet and pure. And there are other songs on here that are just plain monumental -- "Invisible Clopes" and especially "AAO" take the tempo and weight of doom metal and apply it to some new style that is just as slow but poppier, proggier, and stranger, driven by CansaFis's 'saxophone army' designs and yet more of those bold lyrical concepts. (Apparently the track sequencing reflects "the path from earth to jewel to love at the circus," and I think I'm almost getting it -- definitely getting the "earth" part because some of these lyrics, like "Yardin" and "Tuning the Sundial," are just plain eco, and around here that's a GOOD thing, OK?) "Lost in the Fog" takes the 1950s balladry that was overtly referenced on "Floating Woman" (from the ERP Saints CD EP, 2004, No Sides Records) and makes something more covert, yearning, and intense out of it, a seriously heartfelt lament for a stupefied leisure society. And that's the key -- even with all the goofin' and yardin' and perceived slickness on display, this is a seriously heartfelt record, which is why I keep listening to it. JUNE 11 2007 (DAY OF THE HEARTS RELEASE) FOUR SUMMER TOURS..... 16 Bitch Pile Up and Warmer Milks, the co-stars of the Blastitude #19 cover, are both starting tours on June 12, La Otracina (great new CD on Holy Mountain) is starting one today, and the mighty Avarus is coming to the States from Finland in a couple weeks: LA OTRACINA Monday 11-Jun Floristree (6th floor H&H building 405 w. franklin st), Baltimore, MD with PLASTIC CRIMEWAVE SOUND, VINCENT BLACK SHADOW, WOMANS WORTH Tuesday 12-Jun Marvelous Record Store (208 S. 40th street), Philadelphia, PA with BURRS, MOUNT FUJI Wednesday 13-Jun Cakeshop (152 Ludlow St) , NYC, NY cake-shop.com/ with CHARALAMBIDES, GHQ, SUGARBEATS Thursday 14-Jun Velvet Lounge (915 U Street), Washington DC with BLOWFLY (seriously!), PLUMS, and more Friday 15-Jun Spazzatorium Galleria (807 Dickinson Ave), Greenville, NC with DD/MM/YY, OICHO KABU, PONIES AND FLOWERS Saturday 16-Jun Secret Squirrel (766 West Broad), Athens, GA with MUGU GUYMEN, 63 CRAYONS, SMOKEDOG Sunday 17-Jun The Whig (1200 main street), Columbia, South Carolina with Jeff South Project Monday 18-Jun TBA Nashville/Murfreesboro, TN with CJ Boyd and more Tuesday 19-Jun Murphy's (1589 Madison Ave), Memphis, TN with TRUE SONS OF THUNDER, and more Wednesday 20-Jun Spooky Action Palace (e-mail venue for location), St. Louis, MO spookyinfo@gmail.com with Ataraxic Ataxia, Sum Of Heroes Thursday 21-Jun Lazer Mansion (133 54th street), Moline, IL with MONDO DRAG, LAZER MOUNTAIN Friday 22-Jun Hideout (1354 W Wabansia), Chicago, IL with PLASTIC CRIMEWAVE SOUND, Matthew Wascovich, DRUIDS OF HUGE Saturday 23-Jun South Union Arts (1352 S. Union), Chicago, IL with Matthew Wascovich/PLASTIC CRIMEWAVE Duo, PLASTIC BONER BAND, FOLK & VIOLENCE Sunday 24-Jun Basement Show (216 E Hillside Drive), Bloomington, IN with RESTING ROOSTER, HOT FIGHTER #1 Monday 25-Jun Skull Lab, (271 W McMicken ) Cinncinnati, OH with Ryan Jewell, and more Tuesday 26-Jun TBA, Columbus, OH with Ryan Jewell, more Wednesday 27-Jun Pat’s In The Flats (2233 West Third), Cleveland, OH with MOOTDAK, 9 YR OLD MUDFLESH, THE FLAT CAN CO. Thursday 28-Jun House Show (114 1/2 Erie Street), Edinboro, PA with DROOPY SEPTUM, TUSK LORD, FOREST DWELLER Friday 29-Jun Garfield Artworks (4931 Penn Ave), Pittsburg, PA with TBA Saturday 30-Jun Test Pattern Gallery (334 Adams Ave), Scranton, PA with THE MARSHMALLOW STAIRCASE, THE ULTRA VIOLET RAYS Sunday 1-Jul Helderberg Palace (96 Sycamore St) Albany, NY with BURNT HILLS Monday 2-Jul Brilliant Corners (163 water street), Keane, New Hampshire with KENDRA, Ian Joseph and The Toys Tuesday 3-Jul Grow Room, Providence, RI with XERXESX, BARNACLED, CINNAMON ANEMONE Wednesday 4-Jul off Thursday 5-Jul Soundfix Records (110 Bedford Ave), Brooklyn, NY in-store performance 16 BITCH PILE UP Tue June 12 ROCHESTER @ A/V SPACE with Pengo, more TBA Wed June 13 TORONTO @ Smiling Buddha Bar w/ Disguises, gastric female reflex and the Flynns. Our first show in canada EVER!!!!!! Thu June 14 MONTREAL @ Au Friendship Cove w/ the TDK C 90 Analogue Summer Ensemble and Hyena Hive (our second show in canada, EVER!!!!!!!) Fri June 15 BROOKLYN @ Glasslands with Monotract, Religious Knives, Alan Licht Sat June 16 NEW BRUNSWICK NJ @THINISU 138 Easton Ave New Brunswick, NJ 08901 w/ deep fried radio static for a new american century, ASPS and Panther Modern Sun June 17 PITTSBURGH @ Belvedere's w/Natura Nasa, Cock Scene Investigator (edgar um, joe roemer) MON June 18 LEXINGTON @ the frowny bear with cadaver in drag and caves Tue June 19 CINCINNATI @ Skullab with Kevin Shields, Tik///Tik, Hentai Lacerator, Jor Dan, DJ Thumper, Evolve Wed June 20 CHICAGO @ ENEMY with burden and magic is kuntmaster Fri June 22 COLUMBUS @ skylab with Sword Heaven, fat worm of error WARMER MILKS 06/12/2007 - LANCASTER, Pennsylvania - KEPPEL BUILDING W/TBA 06/13/2007 - BROOKLYN, New York - SILENT BARN W/ BLUES CONTROL, NONHORSE, PURIRI, WEIRDING MODULE 06/14/2007 - MONTAGUE, Massachusetts - MONTAGUE BOOKMILL W/ MV/EE AND CHARLAMBIDES 06/15/2007 -BOSTON, Massachusetts - TWISTED VILLAGE W/ SUNBURNED 06/16/2007 - BALTIMORE, Maryland - CURRENT W/ HUMAN BELL 06/17/2007 - WASHINGTON DC - WAREHOUSE NEXT DOOR W/ TBA 06/18/2007 - CHARLOTTESVILLE, Virginia - TWISTED BRANCH TEA BAZAAR W/ NED OLDHAM (ANOMOANON) 06/19/2007 - COLUMBUS, Ohio - CAFE BOURBON ST. W/ SWAMP LEATHER, TIME AND TEMPERATURE+TBA 06/20/2007 - CHICAGO, Illinois - S. UNION ARTS W/ TBA 06/21/2007 - LEXINGTON, Kentucky - THE FROWNY BEAR W/ CAVES, WALTER CARSON AND EVERYONE LIVES EVERYONE WINS AVARUS 06-29 Ridgewood/Queens,
NY - Silent Barn 06-30 Philadelphia,
PA - Johnny Brenda's 07-01 Baltimore,
MD - Floristree 07-02 Asheville,
NC - Harvest Records 07-03 Knoxville,
TN - The Pilot Light 07-05 Nashville,
TN - Springwater 07-06 Louisville,
KY - Lisa's Oak Street Lounge 07-07 Cleveland,
OH - Parish Hall 07-08 Chicago,
IL - The Hideout 07-09 Cincinnati,
OH - Skull Lab 07-10 Pittsburgh,
PA - Belvedere's 07-11 Washington,
DC - Velvet Lounge 07-12 Point
Pleasant Beach, NJ - Om Baby Yoga Studio 07-13 North
Adams, MA - Robot Mansion at Mass MoCA 07-14 Providence,
RI - Foo Festival at AS220 - Annual FREE street festival with
20+ JUNE 9 2007 (DAY OF COLUMBA) LIVE
ON WBLSTD (777.666 FM CHICAGO) JUNE 8 2007 (DAY OF GAMMADION)
JUNE 1 2007 (DAY OF THE ROSE)
|
Album
of the month(s) right now is Those Are Pearls That
Were His Eyes, by Charles Cohen and Ed Wilcox,
an edition-of-500 CD release on the 
1990s,
the phenomenally wrecked Bullet In2 Mesmer's Brain!
(
And
speaking of multiple performances layered and separated, crossfaded
with dubwise boldness, that kinda talk reminds me of this new
Excepter double-CD release called Streams
(
Monotract
has put out two albums less than a year apart. First in mid-2006
was the acclaimed Xprmntl Lvrs on Ecstatic Peace, which
I missed completely, but on my stereo right now is Trueno
Oscuro, their early 2007 followup on 
Great
split LP of solo guitar from the Belgium-based 
Wow,
can you believe I once said I was gonna do daily posts? I wish
I could tell you that this summer issue (#25) is going to be the
"Reviews Issue" and that I might even increase updates
to, I don't know, once a week. You never know
-- right now I'm getting myself psyched by listening to the new
Ex-Cocaine album on 
Holy
shit, this Futurians CDR with Mr. Spock on the
cover is fuckin’ great. It’s probably almost a year
old too, but you know sometimes it takes me a while. The first
two or three tracks are just totally tranced-out sci-fi garage
garbage rock -- I think each time they just pushed the button
marked 'retardo dunt loop', turned the knob marked 'tempo' down
until the sound got nice and fuzzy, and then kinda wandered out
of the room for awhile. Eventually they came back with some beers
and started yelling from across the room so it would be a ‘song’.
And it definitely is. In fact, I've been walking around the city
singing these songs all week. Strangers keep hearing me quietly
yelp the phrase "pure green blood" over and
over. You can imagine the looks I get, but it's well worth it.
At least I'm not singing the nutso last track, which sounds like
some boom-box outtake from the Flowers of Romance sessions,
special guest Yoko Ono... Anyway, it's called Spock
Ritual -- great black-on-silver silkscreen design
on this thing too -- kudos to the 
The
I
hardly ever listen to the Double Leopards and I think it's because
they're too good and I'm actually a little afraid. I don't know
if it's the fear that the sound will finally devour and dissolve
my mind completely, or a fear that it will all come crashing down
like a house of cards because after all aren't they mostly just
groaning through pedals? Either way, I really didn't know what
to expect when I warily put on this solo album by founding DL
member Marcia Bassett, recording as Zaimph, but
my first thought after the record started to sink in was, "Man,
no wonder the Double Leopards are so good." These are four
long soft hums of hymnal electricity, "live room recordings"
from 2006, and for each track it's amazing to imagine any mere
room, anywhere, ever sounding like this in real-time.
It's just too mysterious and gorgeous, but yet here it is, in
my room, somehow contained on 180 gram vinyl. It's called
Mirage of the Other, and sure enough,
I'm already a little afraid to listen to it again. Another new
hymnal electric album from the same label (
And
sounding pretty good on the stereo right now is some heavy way-out
free-rock destructo-jam action, lots of blubbering and rampaging
low end with attacking drums. A single 15-minute jam. Blue Humans
vibe, but coming more from the free noise tradition than the free
jazz tradition. If I was in a blindfold test I might even guess
this was 
