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2007-06-22T13:17:00.000-04:00

The Cutout Bin Sells Out

2006-12-10T01:18:00.000-05:00

In the spirit of the holiday season (which appears to be spending as much money as possible), The Cutout Bin has set up an Amazon Associates store (see links section to your left). It's essentially about providing an easy way to purchase CDs featured here that are still in print, as well as a few personal recommendations for music related books and DVDs that no connoisseur's collection (you are a connoisseur, right?) would be complete without. They make great gifts, too- it's almost Christmas! Buy, buy, buy!!!!

What do I get out of this, you ask? A princely 4% kickback towards an Amazon gift certificate! I'll be quitting my job in no time!

The Cutout Bin Amazon Store

Kevin Salem update

2006-12-09T23:58:00.000-05:00

Obviously, Kevin Salem heard my plea (see this post) and is responding by planning a pair of new releases for 2007- an "Odds & Sods" type collection called Box Of Words as well as a new studio album. You can read all about it on his spiffy new website- www.kevinsalem.com

Steve Wynn

2006-12-08T23:12:00.000-05:00

I was fortunate enough to see Steve Wynn playing in a small barbecue restaurant last weekend- doubly fortunate to see him in such a small venue, and because he was only playing a pair of oneoff dates, not a full tour. It'd been ten years since Wynn last played in the area, and he didn't disappoint- he and his band blew the walls out of the place, storming through songs running the gamut of his 24 year career.

Steve Wynn is a little beyond the scope of this blog, which mainly concerns itself with hopelessly obscure regional acts, most of whom have long since broken up. Since 1982, Wynn has released something like 17 studio albums with various bands, the most famous of which was the Dream Syndicate. I'm making an exception because of something he said from the stage- he'd run into someone at the show who told him they'd been a big fan of the Dream Syndicate, but didn't know he was still playing. So, I'm harnessing the miniscule power of my little corner of the web to help get the word out.

The Dream Syndicate started in LA in 1982 as a band equally inspired by the Velvet Underground and punk rock. By the time the band split in 1989, the only original members were guitarist/vocalist/main songwriter Wynn and drummer Dennis Duck. The intervening years had seen the band's sound shift from skeletal, psychedelic noir to sweeping guitar rock in the best Crazy Horse tradition. Given that they recorded during the '80s (when it was almost impossible to make a good sounding rock record), the band's recorded legacy is mixed. Their best studio albums are the first (The Days Of Wine & Roses) and the last (Ghost Stories), although the live album Live At Rajis remains the definitive document. At all costs, avoid the horribly overproduced Medicine Show, the good songs from which are presented in significantly better form on Rajis.

I first became aware of the Dream Syndicate during my freshman year of college, when a friend pulled the just-released Ghost Stories out of the rack at the college radio station and informed me that they had opened for REM, and were great (good thing the station didn't have a copy of Medicine Show). After one listen, I had to concur with his analysis.

After the demise of the band, Wynn decided to re-invent himself in singer-songwriter mode, and made a few albums in that style through the early '90s. I'm not a fan of that genre, so I more or less lost track of him. The exception during this period was the band Gutterball, a side project involving Wynn and members of the Long Ryders, the Silos, and House of Freaks. 1993's Gutterball sounds like a bunch of friends jamming on each others songs over a boozy long weekend, which is essentially what it was. 1995's Weasel sounds a bit more professional (at least until the last track), but the casual "guitar band" approach of both records plays to Wynn's strengths. Both CDs are highly recommended.

In 1996, Wynn recorded Melting In The Dark backed by the Boston band Come (in the final document of their original lineup). The result was a whirlwind of noirish guitar rock, a tour de force for both parties. Wynn had successfully returned to loud rock while moving past the legacy of the Dream Syndicate. I saw him on tour for this record with drummer Linda Pitmon, guitarist Rich Gilbert and bassist Armistead Wellford- it was my first time seeing Wynn, and they absolutely blew me away.

This being my blog, I'm going to make a pretty serious detour here and talk about Rich Gilbert. I first saw him with his band the Zulus (featuring future Sugar drummer Malcolm Travis) in the early '90s- it was in a small club with about 20 people, but the Zulus hit the stage like a bomb. Gilbert doesn't play guitar like anyone you've ever seen- he's less about conventional notes and chords, and more about pulling completely new sounds out of the instrument- the only points of reference I can think of are Richard Lloyd mixed with Jimi Hendrix. He's managed to completely reinvent rock guitar playing, and it's a crime he isn't world famous. Sadly, I never got their album (Gilbert specifically mentioned having distribution problems with their label when I talked to him after the show) so I won't be able to feature the Zulus here. Gilbert currently plays with Frank Black and the Catholics, whose first two albums (the self-titled debut and Pistolero)are slices of garage rock well worth owning. OK, sorry- back to Steve Wynn:

1997's impressive Sweetness And Light featured the same band I'd seen the previous year (Pitmon's been playing with Wynn ever since), but by 2001 Gilbert had left and Come guitarist Chris Brokaw joined for Here Come The Miracles, a sprawling 2CD set recorded in Tuscon, AZ. Miracles displays all of Wynn's different styles in a way that makes a coherent whole- melodic pop to garage freakout and everything in between. Thus inspired, Wynn recorded his next two albums (Static Transmission and ...tick...tick...tick) in the same Tuscon studio as part of what he somewhat jokingly refers to as his "desert trilogy". The albums all have a similar feel, but Wynn's writing keeps them from getting samey.

Since 2003, Wynn's live band (the Miracle Three) has consisted of Pitmon, guitarist Jason Victor and bass player Dave DeCastro (who debuted on Miracles two years previously). They play his songs with fire and skill, breathing fresh life into the old Dream Syndicate songs that by now could be just as stale as the Stones playing "Satisfaction" for the 800 billionth time. This far into a fine 24 year career, it seems that Steve Wynn is just now hitting his stride.

Lester Young from Gutterball
Stare It Down from Melting In The Dark
Click here to buy "Melting In The Dark" from Amazon
Sustain from Here Come The Miracles
Bruises from ...tick...tick...tick
Click here to buy "...tick...tick...tick" from Amazon

Wynn was one of the first musicians to grasp the importance of the internet, and his website continues to be one of the best-
Steve Wynn Web

Mother / Menthol

2006-11-24T17:33:00.000-05:00

L-R:
Colin Koteles: Drums
Joel Spencer: Bass, vocals
Balthazar deLey: Vocals, guitar

Hometown: Champaign / Chicago

I don't usually like to deface my belongings with stickers. Therefore, when I do afix one to something I own, it says something about the depths of my approval for the thing represented. Since childhood, I can only remember making the following exceptions to my dislike of stickers-

1. A "Kerry '04" sticker on my car during the '04 campaign season.
2. A Maple Leaf Legacy Project window decal I acquired in Ypres, Belgium that resides on my vehicle still.
3. A Zapruder Point sticker on the inside lid of my work toolkit.
4. A Mother sticker I put on my leather jacket in college.

Mother was formed in 1991 when then Hum bassist deLey decided he wanted to lead his own band and play guitar. They soon began playing around the midwest, and inevitably followed their Champaign brethren (Poster Children, Hum, Honcho Overload, etc) down the mysterious pipeline that connected Champaign and Athens, Ohio where I saw them several times (the night my band opened for Mother and God & Texas ranks as the highlight of my musical "career"). Their music is perhaps best described by deLey in a 1995 interview with Rational Alternative Digital:

"It tends to be a high minded, very loud, mildly pornographic rock that's basically aimed at sort of well-read, literate type people who've been obviously drinking. I think that about spells it out."

They sounded like a sped-up, postpunk ZZ Top and were absolutely flawless live- the first time I saw them, their first song stopped me mid-sentence and I stood captivated throughout the rest of their set. They were able to graft literary, even poetic lyrics onto unironic, unpretentious amped-up boogie rock in a way few others could even conceive of, much less pull off.

They released a crappy sounding 7" before heading to the legendary Ardent studios in Memphis to blast out "Gold Record" in three days before Christmas 1993 (and a single day later for mixing). The results are mixed- the performances are naturally excellent but the sound, especially the drums, suffers from the haste in which the record was made (the guitars sound great, though). For bands on a limited budget, there's always the trade-off of spending more time in a cheap studio, or less time in an expensive one. Mother had gone the budget route for their 7" with less than stellar results (both songs were re-recorded at Ardent for the CD), so it's natural that they'd want to try the other route- this isn't a criticism of the band, just an observation of the perils and pitfalls of indie rock.

Ultimately, "Gold Record" was good enough (along with constant touring) to snag the band a deal with Capitol records. At this point it was discovered that Mother was a common band name, so for legal reasons the group changed their name to Menthol. The self-titled "Menthol" CD came out in 1995, the year the band moved to Chicago. The album finds Menthol refining and expanding on their style- hooky guitar rock with wordy lyrics that demand repeated listenings to begin deciphering. While it lacks some of the bracing immediacy of "Gold Record", "Menthol" makes up for it with improved sound and more diverse arrangements. "Menthol" wasn't just one of the best records of 1995, it's better than most of the records released since.

The group continued to tour extensively, but eventually finished a followup album in 1998. Capitol balked when they heard it, and eventually dropped Menthol. The band spent the next four years fighting to get their record back, and eventually issued a re-recorded version of the album, "Danger: Rock Science!" in 2002 (thanks in large part to Engine Studios manager John Humphrey, formerly of God & Texas- see the "mysterious pipeline" comment above).

In 2003 I came across a copy of the CD, which I didn't even know was out, in a used CD store. It'd been eight years since I'd seen anything about Menthol, and I'd assumed they'd broken up. I was elated- I ran to the register, paid, and immediately ran out to my car and put the disc on. I wasn't even remotely prepared for the sounds that came out of my speakers. I ejected the disc, assuming there'd been a mistake and the wrong CD had been placed in the jewel case. No mistake- Menthol had taken a serious detour.

"Danger: Rock Science!" sounds like Devo or Gary Neuman outtakes- it's absolutely nothing like anything Menthol had done before, and even deLey's singing is unrecognisable. It's almost like a parody of early '80s synth "new wave" music, except that a parody would be funny. The extreme overemphasis on annoying, gimmicky production tricks takes the focus away from the songs, which is usually a sign of deficient songwriting, a malady Menthol had not previously suffered from.

Let me make something clear- I'm not upset at Menthol for changing their style (I've always defended an artist's right to follow their muse, even if I don't like it- something I call the "Neil Young Rule"), I'm pissed off they made an unlistenable sonic abortion out of what could have been another collection of superior rock tunes. Like the synthpop it attempts to recreate, "Danger: Rock Science!" is as valueless and disposable as tinsel- all flash, no substance, so in that respect I suppose they succeeded completely.

Menthol have a website, which doesn't seem to have been updated much in the last year. There is a link to a 2005 Chicago radio broadcast though, which reveals the band playing material from "Danger: Rock Science!" in a manner similar to the Cars- still synth heavy, but not half as annoying as the album. Through this it's possible to tell that there were, in fact, good songs on that album buried under all the trash.

On the broadcast, deLey mentions the band were then (11/05) working on a new EP, and there are mp3s of new material on the website (only one of which seems to work- "Bavarian Girl"), but to my knowledge no further Menthol releases have surfaced. "Bavarian Girl" is ambient, shoegazery pop unlike any of their previous work, but unlike "Danger: Rock Science!" it doesn't drown in bad production cliches- it actually sounds pretty cool. I look forward to hearing any future music from Menthol, whenever and whatever it may be.

Southern Bells
From "Gold Record", 1994
Still in print! Click here to order

U.S.A. Capable
Stress Is Best
From "Menthol", 1995
(out of print)

God And Texas

2006-10-15T20:48:00.000-04:00

Mick Brennan- Drums
John Humphrey- Guitar, Vocal
Chris Farmer- Bass (1990-1992)
Matt Fields- Bass (1992-1994)

Hometown- Athens Ohio (1989-1992), Chicago Illinois (1992-1994)

I first ran across God And Texas in the spring of 1990, playing outdoors one afternoon at some sort of university sponsored event in Athens. They had just self-released a 3 song 7" EP that had been compared to Husker Du and Black Flag, and I was curious to hear them. Unfortunately, the band (at that time with John's brother Pat on bass) seemed to have engaged in some recreational pharmaceuticals and were utterly unable to make anything resembling music- I remember John beating on his guitar and screaming unintelligibly while Mick flailed away at his drumkit (which was falling apart anyway) with utter indifference to what John was doing. Pat struck the occasional note on his bass, but spent most of his time doing interpretive dance and making evil faces at the crowd.

It was amusing, but I left after about 10 minutes. I kept hearing good things about them though, so I picked up the 7" (which I later learned was recorded in the basement of an apartment building on a 4-track)- it was raw and primitive, but underneath the crud you could hear there were actual songs and riffs. 1991's "Industry Standard" LP (this time recorded after hours in a comic book store by Royal Crescent Mob soundman Montie Temple, and with Chris Farmer on bass) showed the band sounding like later Black Flag- a mix of punk and metal that sometimes bogged down in plodding riffage, but contained enough great moments ("Grist For The Mill", "Shit House", "Mood For Self Indulgence") to be worthwhile.

God And Texas toured relentlessly (often accompanied by soundman Lowell Jacobs) and by 1991 had met Chicago producer Brad Wood, who would produce the remainder of God And Texas' output. Trivia: Wood later achieved notoriety for producing and playing on Liz Phair's "Exile In Guyville". "History, Volume One" was a giant leap forward for the band, both sonically and in terms of songwriting and playing. Any past hints of instrumental sloppiness are gone and the songs are succinct. Some of the tracks are lengthy and there are enough layered guitars to sink a battleship, but there isn't a wasted second and the fat has been trimmed. A lean, mean, fire-breathing dragon of an album, easily God And Texas' best (as a bonus, the CD includes the track "1066" and the entire "Industry Standard" album).

Their next album "Criminal Element" was released just before the band relocated to Chicago with bassist Matt Fields. This time they tightened up a little too much, and the end result sounds a bit like prototype math rock ala Helmet. Not a bad record, but the claustrophobic songs wind up grating on my nerves long before the record's over.

For "Double Shot" God And Texas made a radical shift towards... I don't really know what you'd call it. Jazz? Lounge? Whatever it is, "Double Shot" adds a dollop of John Spencer Blues Explosion to the band's hard rock along with sax player Steve Golub. The result is a unique hybrid that goes off in all kinds of unexpected directions, but somehow it all works.

The band broke up in 1994. John played in Cash Money (later Cash Audio), and is now a recording studio manager in Chicago. Matt has played with several Chicago area bands including Those Bastard Souls (a sort of Chicago area supergroup). God And Texas was recently voted "Not Crap" by a margin of 75% in a round of "Crap/Not Crap" on Electrical Audio's messageboard.

Grist For The Mill.mp3 from "Industry Standard", 1991
Join Or Die.mp3 from "History, Volume 1", 1992
Red Room.mp3 from "Double Shot", 1994

Truth Is Where You Find It

2006-09-19T21:30:00.001-04:00

Last night, I turned on the premiere of "Studio 60", a new comedy show. It looked like it might be smart and funny, and it had an interesting cast so I figured what the hell. In the first five minutes, the (obviously Lorne Michaels inspired) character played by Judd Hirsch hijacks his own (obviously SNL inspired) lame sketch comedy show, and announces to a live audience (in an obviously Network inspired rant):

"Ah, it’s not going to be a very good show tonight and I think you should change the channel. Change the channel. Right, right now. Turn off the TV ok?... We’re all being lobotomized by this country’s most influential industry. It’s just throwing in the towel on any endeavor to do anything that doesn’t include the courting of 12 year old boys. Not even the smart 12 year olds, the stupid ones, the idiots. Which there are plenty, thanks in no small measure to this network. So why don’t you just, change the channel, turn off the TV. Do it right now, go ahead... There is a struggle between art and commerce. Well there has always been a struggle between art and commerce. Now, I’m telling you, art is getting its ass kicked... People are having contests to see how much they can be like Donald Trump. We’re eating worms for money. Who wants to screw my sister! Guys are getting killed in a war that’s got theme music and a logo. That remote in your hand is a crack pipe. Oh yea, every once in a while we pretend to be appalled in some way. Pornographers, its not even good pornography, it’s just this side of snuff films. And friends, that’s what’s next because that’s all that’s left. And the two things that make them scared gutless are the FCC and every psycho religious cult that gets positively horny at the very mention at a boycott. These are the people that they’re afraid of. It’s prissy, feckless, off the charts, greed-filled whorehouse of a network. And you are watching this thoroughly unpatriotic..."

It was thrilling. It was inspiring. The character was absolutely right- TV is a wasteland of lame bullshit*. So, I stopped watching and went off to find something productive to do.

*Rescue Me, The Shield, and The Wire excepted

Sorry

2006-09-19T21:19:00.000-04:00

Mojo Magazine: Let's talk about your solo carreer.
Robert Plant: What can I say? Will 'sorry' do?

OK, so I've been really slack about the ol' blog lately. Anyone still bothering to check this, you have my thanks as well as a promise to post new content soon.

Bootlegs

2006-08-09T22:17:00.000-04:00

"Bootleggers roll your tapes, this is gonna be a hot one!"
-Bruce Springsteen, onstage at the Roxy, Los Angeles, 1978

Before we delve into this topic, I want to make perfectly clear that I'm talking about bootlegs, not pirate albums. Pirate albums are unauthorized copies of officially released albums that are sold illegally, while bootlegs are recordings whose release (and even creation) were never sanctioned by the artist or their record company, usually concert recordings. Clinton Heylin sums up the difference in his book "Bootleg (the secret history of the other recording industry)"-

"The distinction between bootlegs and pirate albums should be clear-cut: bootlegs are primarily designed to be collectors' items. They are bought by ultra-keen fans, not those looking for a cut-price alternative to (authorized) product"

No one can (in good conscience anyway) defend record pirates, whose work robs artists of royalty money. Bootlegs are different, though. Boots are like archeology- they fill in the gaps in an artist's history. An artist's officially released studio albums only tell part of the story- it is usually left to bootleggers and tape traders to show how those songs sounded in their live incarnations, and document an artist's live performances. Even officially released "live" albums are usually reworked in the studio, with entire vocal performances and guitar tracks replaced (U2's "Rattle And Hum", Thin Lizzy's "Live And Dangerous", The Stones' "Get Yer Ya-Yas Out!" and Aerosmith's "Live Bootleg" are just a few that come to mind). One live album that was not "fixed" was The Who's "Live At Leeds", for my money the greatest live performance of any artist ever recorded. Still, the original album that came out in 1970 contained only 35 minutes worth of a show that ran over two hours. If you wanted to hear the rest, you had to get the bootleg (at least until 2001, when the complete "Leeds" was finally issued, 31 years after the fact).

Here's another example- I'm a big fan of The Byrds, but from a production standpoint, their post "Sweetheart Of The Rodeo" albums are all pretty poor. There are some great songs and killer musicians on those records, but you'd be hard pressed to tell by hearing them. The first part of this clip is the studio version of "Old Blue" from their 1969 album "Dr. Byrds And Mr. Hyde", the second part is a live version recorded a couple weeks after the album was released. The studio version sounds emasculated, with Clarence White's stinging guitar and Gene Parsons' walloping drums bleached into the background- those elements are in full evidence on the live version. McGuinn's vocal on the studio take is subdued to the point of narcolepsy, while the live recording shows him in command of the song-

Old Blue.mp3

Unreleased studio recordings are fair game for bootleggers as well- the first bootleg of the rock era was 1969's "Great White Wonder", a two-record Bob Dylan collection of early demos and selections from the famous (and then unreleased) "Basement Tapes". REM had an entire album worth of songs that they'd discarded before they ever made a "real" record, but those songs are preserved in demo (and live) form via bootlegs. Record companies whine about losing revenue to bootleggers, but seriously- don't you think anyone who'd buy a record consisting entirely of work-in-progress mixes of "Strawberry Fields Forever" probably owns all the legal Beatles albums already?

The first bootleg I ever bought was Led Zeppelin live in Copenhagen, 1979*. It was in 1986 from a record store in Portland, Maine called "The End Of The Rainbow" which had a rack tucked in back with about 100-200 cassettes, which the owner had dubbed from his vast collection of vinyl boots (this was the '80s- all bootlegs were produced on vinyl back then). At first I didn't know what they were, but in scanning the neatly typed cassette spines I quickly realized I'd stumbled onto the mother lode of live concert tapes. "Copenhagen" came on a TDK SA90 and an SA60 (the TDK SA series were the high end tapes of choice in the '80s), and cost me $15. It was an audience recording, decent sounding at best, but it was my first glimpse into the world of bootlegs- unedited, unsanitized, presented exactly as they'd been performed onstage.

The bootleg industry was completely different in those days. Due to the inherent risks of selling unauthorized records it was rare to find stores that stocked them, so your best bet was record collector conventions and record fairs. You'd troll the isles, looking for the code word "imports" on a sign. You usually couldn't listen to what you were buying either, so it was a crap shoot. I've gotten extremely lucky (A TMQ copy of The Who at the Fillmore East '68) and, well, not so lucky (Pink Floyd Montreal '87- that one taught me the best record covers usually hid the worst sounding recordings). Cassette dubs were sometimes available cheaper, and with the advent of the jambox and walkman, you could actually listen to them before buying. Though they were a necessity, cassettes were looked down on in the bootleg community, and rightfully so. Vinyl was still the hi-fi medium for serious listening, and bootleg purchasers were serious music fans.

Once independent CD pressing plants started appearing in the mid '90s, so did CD bootlegs. This represented a major shift from the vinyl/cassette era. Before CDs, if you wanted to make a production quality copy of a bootleg record, you needed to have the source tapes, or to copy the stamper at the pressing plant (and even THAT was tricky to do correctly). Now, any CD could be used as a master copy for replication. If record companies were freaked out by the possibility of lossless copies of bootlegs endlessly circulating the globe, they were about to be truly unnerved- enter the internet.

Today, you can find thousands of excellent quality copies of live performances and studio outtakes on the web, all free for the downloading. By taking the money out of the equation the emphasis is now squarely where it belongs- on the music. People trade recordings online not for profit, but out of genuine love for music and the desire to hear something new and different from their favorite artists. As I type, there's a guy online sharing a truly enormous amount of complete (or near complete) shows from Led Zeppelin's 1973 tour. It's a labor of love, and bands should be flattered that anyone loves their music so much that they're willing to invest the time and effort into preserving 33 year old concert tapes. Record executives take note- will anyone even remember Jessica Simpson's name 33 years from now?

A lot of modern bands get this, and have at least a "hands off" attitude towards concert taping, so long as no money changes hands. There are currently 181 Drive-By Truckers shows on the Live Music Archive and the band don't seem to be seeing any lost revenue, even with a live concert DVD of their own for sale.

Some of my favorite boots-

Billy Bragg- Jayvaskyala, Finland 12/11/84
The Byrds- Boston Tea Party 2/2/69
Led Zeppelin- Danish TV 3/17/69 (officially released on DVD in 2003)
Pink Floyd- Oakland CA 5/9/77
REM- Tyrone's, Athens GA 1/10/81
REM- Larry's Hideaway, Toronto ON 7/9/83
U2- National Stadium, Dublin 2/26/80
The Who- Complete Live At Leeds, 2/14/70 (officially issued in 2001)

*I know I alluded to this one in the "favorite band" post, and said I got it from a friend's brother- I'd forgotten Copenhagen was the one I bought. Sorry for the continuity gaffe.

13 Engines

2006-08-04T23:19:00.000-04:00

John Critchley- guitar, vocals
Grant Ethier- drums
Jim Hughes- bass
Mike Robbins- guitar

Hometown- Toronto, Ontario

13 Engines began life in the mid-'80s as a York University band called the Ikons. They soon developed a following in the Windsor/Detroit border area, and changed their name as a tribute to the region's car industry before issuing their first proper album in 1987.

They had two albums under their belts by the time I ran into them in the winter of 1990. It was a weeknight at The Union, Athens Ohio's premier rock club. I swear, if there really is a heaven (and I go), it'll be like the Union on a Saturday night. My band was opening, and the crowd was sparse to say the least. Dispirited at the low turnout, we drank heavily before taking the stage- we pretty much always went on drunk, but this was an all-time low even for us. It was easily the worst gig I have ever played, and that version of the band pretty much only played bad gigs. As we slunk offstage, I was accosted by the promoter-

"Hey man, there's no excuse for that shit. Completely fucking unprofessional. So nobody came, big deal. You gotta play for the people who DID."

He was absolutely correct of course, but he screwed it up by continuing-

"Just watch 13 Engines- those guys are pros. It doesn't matter if there's only ONE fucking person here, they're gonna blow the roof off this place."

About half an hour later, 13 Engines took the stage in a drunken stupor that dwarfed ours. Songs started and abruptly halted, others broke down and devolved into lengthy tuning sessions. One of the guys fell over. Finally, the drummer threw his sticks down, got up from his kit, and took the lead vocal mic- "FUCK YOU GUYS!" he shouted at his bandmates, and stormed offstage. Their soundman shrugged, sat down at the kit and counted off a beat which led to a shambolic improvised blues. Eventually, the bass player wandered off as well. The blues jam (now well over 5 minutes long) continued, and soon the drummer reappeared and took over the abandoned bass. He clearly had no idea how to play it. This eventually became a drum/bass jam (soundman on drums, drummer on bass) with both guitarists tuning. Finally, Critchley waved his arm for the disaster to stop. "Ok, uh, sorry about that... we're gonna go tune and we'll be back in a couple minutes".

With that, they all left the stage. As no one was manning the soundboard, no music came on for the impromptu intermission. All 15 or so people in the room looked at each other and wondered if the show was over. It really didn't seem possible for them to continue. About half the people left, leaving my band and a handful of friends (the promoter had long since split). Sure enough though, 15 minutes later the band came back, guitars tuned and everyone in their proper places. I don't know what happened in the dressing room, but they had suddenly regained their ability to play. They were good- I mean, really good. After the first song they all looked at each other, grinning as if to say "we did it!". Everyone left in the audience cheered like hell, too- we were rooting for them, like a sporting event. They played two or three more songs, and nailed them. After that though, it started to go downhill again. They muffed their way through another couple songs, and finally bailed out. All in all, one of the most memorable shows I've ever seen.

The following year 13 Engines signed to SBK records and cut "A Blur To Me Now" with producer David Briggs (the guy who produced most of Neil Young's best work). "Blur" is a solid record that would have done better had the label not been channeling all their effort into Vanilla Ice's sudden success that year. The band released two more albums before breaking up in 1997, and Critchley released a solo album in 2000.

Abandoned.mp3
Hurry.mp3
Another Toss Of The Coin.mp3

From "A Blur To Me Now", 1991

Rude Guru

2006-07-27T09:57:00.000-04:00

One of my Swedish internet pals is a guy named Markbase (Above, dig the SG. Please tell me you weren't playing through that Peavey!). I suppose he really isn't an "internet" pal because I've actually met him (and torn up bars in Goteborg with him), and he's not really Swedish (British/Canadian), but he does live there.

In any event, he was in the Montreal band Rude Guru during the late '80s. One of the guys from the band has set up a website where you can hear some of their music- it certainly seems as if a future member of the Barenaked Ladies was in attendance at their shows, taking notes.

Mark's musings on life, the universe, and the failings of the Swedish government can be read here, and come highly recommended.

Sweetback

2006-07-23T12:27:00.000-04:00

Matt Fields- Bass
Keith Hanlon- Drums
Mike Ogg- Vocals
John Randolph- Guitar

Hometown- Athens, Ohio

Bands in college towns are always trading members, splintering, and forming new bands and this week's group is a case in point. Sweetback formed around 1990 out of the ashes of Z-Bignew, a Chili Peppers-esque white boy funk band from the dorms of Ohio University. To be fair, Columbus' Royal Crescent Mob was pretty big in those parts back then, so the influence may have come from a little closer to home. Sweetback, however, took their cues from '70s rock and punk, a style which had yet to be named "grunge". I saw Sweetback a number of times, and they always put on a good show. Keith was a hell of a drummer, and John had a habit of jumping around and throwing himself into walls when he played.

John was a Telecommunications major at OU specializing in audio production and recorded their demo tape at the T-Com studio, probably as part of a class project. It wasn't a bad little studio, either- '70s style dead main room with a couple of closets and a second control room that could be used for isolation. They even had signal lines run through the ceiling down the hall to the bathroom so you could use it as an echo chamber at night. At the time Sweetback recorded there, the control room featured a Soundcraft Delta console and an Otari 1/2" 8 track deck. In 1992 they "upgraded" to 16 channels of ADAT. Ugh.

The band broke up around 1992 when Matt defected to join God & Texas (more on them later). I think Keith had already split to join Hector (who became Nelson's Orchestraville, later just Orchestraville), and been replaced by Junebug (later of Bargoyle). By 1993 the last I'd heard of John he'd headed up to Alaska to work on a fishing boat, and Mike was bartending at the Union.

Mau Mau.mp3
The Tao Of Toast.mp3
Frans Bike.mp3

Sabbath vs. Zeppelin

2006-07-20T10:35:00.000-04:00

"In reply to the Bill, Ozzy, Tony and Geezer fan who assured us that Mr. Osborne screams "yeah" 102 times on all six Black Sabbath albums (which I have myself) I would like to tell him that Zeppelin are twice as good and that Planty screamed 62 baby or babies, whichever you please, throughout ONE album, namely their first. Sabs OK, Zep rule.

Yours faithfully-
Mike, Perth, Scotland"

from Sounds magazine, 7/31/76

Consonant

2006-07-15T09:55:00.000-04:00

clockwise from top left:

Clint Conley: Guitar, Vocals
Matt Kadane: Drums
Winston Bramen: Bass
Chris Brokaw: Guitar

Hometown: Boston, Mass

By the time Consonant released their first album in 2002, the four members already had lengthy resumes from playing in Boston-based bands over the last 20+ years. Band leader Conley had achieved cult stardom playing bass for indie rock legends Mission Of Burma in the early '80s, but had essentially given up music when Burma split in 1983. Although not as prolific a writer as Burma guitarist Roger Miller, I always liked Conley's songs best- "Peking Spring", "Academy Fight Song", "That's When I Reach For My Revolver", etc. I was understandably stoked to hear that Conley was forming a band of his own with former Come guitarist Chris Brokaw (another favorite of mine- he'll appear here later both solo and with Come).

2002's "Consonant" is a little quieter and more well-mannered than one would expect from someone with Conley's past (the band name refers to the opposite of "dissonant"), but the material is far from sedate. The album bases itself around edgy melodies and fluid guitar playing- the overall effect being a kind of off-kilter guitar pop. Lyrically, Conley enlists the help of poet Holly Anderson (his co-writer for one of my favorite Burma songs, "Mica")- actually setting several of her poems to music. It isn't easy to create melodies for material that was never meant to be sung, although Conley proves adept at making the odd lyrical meters work.

"Love And Affliction" came out the following year and showed a more sure-footed band. The first album had been recorded before Consonant had ever played live, but by now they had gelled into a more cohesive unit. Musically the album is in the same vein as before, but the playing is more aggressive and the overall sound is denser and less tentative.

All four band members have multiple other projects (and Conley keeps his day job as a video producer for public TV), and Consonant seems to have been on the back burner since the release of "Love And Affliction" in 2003. I hope it's a project Conley returns to, because this is no side project ego trip- Consonant is a unique, fully realized band. It also provides an interesting counterpoint to his work with Burma (who have reformed and issued two excellent albums of new material since 2004).

Consonant band website

That Boston Life.mp3
From "Consonant", 2002
Click here to buy "Consonant" from Amazon

Are You Done-.mp3
From "Love & Affliction", 2003
Click here to buy "Love And Afflcition" from Amazon

Favorite band?

2006-07-12T11:10:00.000-04:00

On one of the messageboards I lurk, someone recently posted a question- who is your favorite band? I didn't respond, because the answer would be too long and boring for the folks on a Swedish news site. I did decide to take the question here though, where music geekery is the order of the day. Like everyone, my "favorite band" changes depending on my mood, and my "favorite bands" have evolved over time.

The first band I was really passionate about was Van Halen. This was in 1984, and I was 13 years old. I collected all their albums, proudly hung their posters in my room, and drew the band's winged "VH" logo on every surface I could find. Even today I can appreciate Eddie Van Halen's genius for writing catchy rock riffs, which was really the band's greatest strength, not his vaunted guitar shredding. Once goofball singer David Lee Roth screwed things up for everybody by quitting the band to go solo in 1985, things were never the same. I tried to convince myself I liked the bands' "Van Hagar" incarnation (even seeing them live in 1986- my second concert after Rush), but even at such a young age I knew the magic was gone.

I grew up in Maine, so it was inevitable that as a rock fan I would be drawn into the hoary, hallowed halls of Classic Rock. My main source of indoctrination was WBLM, the biggest AOR station in the state. It was through BLM that I learned all the classics- Zeppelin, Stones, Deep Purple, Floyd, Who, Jethro Tull, etc. After watching the 3/4 reunited Led Zeppelin play Live Aid in 1985 (which in retrospect was an awful gig, and what the fuck was Phil Collins doing there?), I had a new favorite band.

I repeated the ritual of collecting all their albums, even getting a few concert bootlegs from a friend's older brother ("Mudslide" 1970, and Copenhagen 1979). I read Stephen Davis' trashy Zeppelin bio Hammer Of The Gods, which I viewed as a sort of Rosetta Stone to unlock the secrets of Rock. Oh come on, I was 14! Although I listened to other bands, Zeppelin was my favorite. Great songs, great playing, power, mysticism, Zeppelin had it all. Their music inspired me so much I worked all through the summer of 1986 at my father's greenhouse to earn enough money to buy a guitar (I didn't quite earn enough, but Dad gave me the rest- thanks, Dad!). It was a Fender Squire Bullet, which I still own.

By spring 1987, I had discovered that playing guitar was really, really hard. Joe Strummer talked of similar frustration in an interview once, where he described trying to learn a Cream song as a kid- "I got the first bit alright, but then Clapton goes into this solo, and it's like 'weedeeweedeeweedeewee' and I said man, I'll never get this!". Strummer's salvation came via punk rock, mine came in the form of REM. I spent a few weekends painting a house with friends, and one brought a tape of REM's "Murmur" which went into the boombox rotation along with "Houses Of The Holy" and "Hooligans". Over repeated listenings "Murmur" slowly crept into my consciousness, and I began to realize "hey, I can actually play these guitar parts!"

REM would be my introduction to the world of "underground" music. Until then, I thought of rock bands as deities descended from the heavens (usually England) to bring their magical musical gifts to the mortals. REM looked like four regular guys whose songs were still guitar based, but not centered around virtuoso soloing (although I eventually discovered that Mike Mills was a hell of a bass player). REM traded more in melodies and textures than bombastic Rocking Out (something people forget Zeppelin often did, too). I was fascinated. That fall, three school friends and I formed our first band, which we suitably named "The Fringe".

Many bands that form in this fashion pattern themselves on a central influence, and we were no exception- we blatantly ripped off REM at every turn. We covered their songs and unabashedly rewrote their material into our "originals". To counterbalance this extreme REM influence that was obvious even to us, we began to learn covers of other artists- namely ones that REM had done that we learned from bootlegs. We figured we were safe because back then, very few people in Maine had ever even heard of REM. Have no fear, recordings of The Fringe will never stain the pages of the Cutout Bin.

It was during this time that I began to notice an extreme conservatism in the music fans in my area- rock and roll was past tense. It had happened, and my generation had missed it. The gods had come and gone- Zeppelin, The Who and Pink Floyd (this was before the "reunion") had all broken up. Neil Young was making bizarre records no one liked (this was before "Freedom"), the Stones continued to hang around, but everyone knew their spark was gone. There was new music of course, and some of it was deemed listenable (ZZ Top and Whitesnake, for example), but no one would ever again scale the Mount Olympus heights of Rock greatness like the bands of yore.

This attitude pissed me off. I viewed music as a living legacy- from the first chanting cavemen through wandering minstrels, sea shanties, Beethoven, gospel, blues, jazz, Chuck Berry, the Beatles, Led Zeppelin and The Sex Pistols on down to my crappy band banging out REM covers in Steve Williams' basement. I found the attitude of classic rock fans stifling, so as I began to explore the world of "underground" music, I stupidly purged myself of all classic rock except The Who (who I somehow understood to be different in some way) and Pink Floyd (who I just plain liked). In Stalinist fashion, Led Zeppelin were repudiated, their records sold off. It would be several years before I realized I'd been stupid to hold the bands themselves responsible for the attitudes of their fans, and I eventually re-acquired the Zeppelin catalog, which I still listen to occasionally (except for the radio songs- I was burned out on those when I was 16).

By 1988 REM had begun to change, as all artists do, and I wasn't happy with their new direction. I mean, listen to any song off "Murmur", then try listening to crap like "Stand" and tell me they hadn't started to suck. I'd read a review of the Replacements' "Pleased To Meet Me" in Musician magazine, and it sounded cool so I ordered it from the Columbia Record And Tape Club. Usually, buying records based only on reviews is a really bad idea (ask anybody who bought a Royal Court Of China record), but this time it paid off in spades. The Replacements were my idea of the perfect band: don't-give-a-fuck balls-out rock based on well written songs whose lyrics were insightful and showed genuine emotion. They also had an underdog vibe that Paul Westerberg once described as "four geeks who got invited to the cool kids' party and were dumb enough to show up". By the time I left for college in the fall of 1989, the Replacements had eclipsed REM for the title of "favorite band".

I took my bass with me and started a band that was, naturally, based on the Replacements. This time though we didn't cover or steal their songs, we copped their attitude. We became infamous for shambolic shows, stupid antics, and always shooting ourselves in the foot. Four years later the band was still together, although we'd changed names and my friend Jim (guitar/vocals) and I were the only original members. By then we'd managed the task of incorporating influences rather than simply regurgitating them (this band was called Truckasaurus, and will eventually be chronicled here).

In college I sampled a bewildering array of music, much of which is still dear to my heart, some of which is not (I may still have that first Material Issue record, I'm not sure). It was then that the concept of having a "favorite band" sort of lost meaning for me. There was no longer a single band that I loved above all others, but instead a gigantic library of music to choose from, depending on the situation and my mood. For example, if I'm going to be driving long distance I might choose any (or none) of the following-

Bob Dylan- "Blonde On Blonde"
Bruce Springsteen- "The River"
Eleventh Dream Day- "Prairie School Freakout"
Neil Young- "Ragged Glory"
The Buzzcocks- "Singles Going Steady"

One of these might be my "favorite" for a day or two, but after that I'll be on to something different. If I had a gun to my head and was forced to choose a short list of artists I like the most after years of listening, it would probably look like this-

Bevis Frond
The Replacements
The Who
Neil Young

So... who's your favorite band?

The Boy Wonder Jinx

2006-07-09T10:18:00.000-04:00

L-R:
Dan Phillips- Vocals
Todd "Flash" Miller- Drums
Greg Eyman- Bass
Scott Phillips- Keyboards, Backing Vocals

Hometown- Raleigh, NC

The Boy Wonder Jinx began life in the mid '80s as Rotary 10, an REM-inspired high school band in Fairview Park, Ohio which featured Greg, Dan, and Scott with a different drummer. In an odd twist, the band had no guitar player because they couldn't find one who shared their musical tastes. For those who've never tried to start a band, this is unusual because it's usually the guitar players who are a dime a dozen, just check the bulletin board at your local music store.

Anyway, that quirk of fate set the trio's future musical destiny in motion. After releasing four demo length cassettes (each a marked improvement over the last), the group relocated to Ithaca, NY in 1993 while Greg finished his senior year of college. By spring 1994 Greg had graduated, and the band began considering their future.

I had met Scott Phillips during our freshman year at Ohio University in 1989. We bonded immediately over shared musical interests and a general sense of alienation from mainstream college life. Scott transferred to Ithaca College after that year, but we kept in touch. During the late spring of 1993, Rotary 10 came and played a show in Athens, Ohio where I was living and doing sound at the local music bar. Their next shows were in Cincinnati and Mt. Vernon Ohio, and I tagged along and did their sound for those, too. A few weeks later they came back through Ohio to play shows in Cleveland and Louisville, KY- this time I brought along some recording gear I "rented" for peanuts from my friend Robin Peckinpaugh. We were all so broke that we could only afford to buy enough tape to record the six songs they planned on using for their next release- man, I wish I'd had the foresight to spring a little extra to record the whole sets!

By the summer of '94, the band had decided to relocate to Raleigh, North Carolina. I'm still not sure why they picked Raleigh, and I don't think they ever really knew, either. I knew it was time for me to leave Athens, so I called and asked Dan if anybody'd mind if I came with them. He said no, so in September 1994, Rotary 10 and I rolled into Raleigh. As I mentioned before, we were all seriously poor. Dan managed to find a studio apartment he could rent without a security deposit, so he and I moved in there while the other three guys limped home to Cleveland to make enough money to move back to Raleigh. During this time, drummer Chris Solt decided he'd had enough and elected to stay in Cleveland. At the time we called him a big pussy, but in retrospect he was the only one of us with any brains.

Eventually Scott and Greg saved up enough money for a security deposit, they changed the name of the band to Boy Wonder (no "Jinx" yet) and found drummer Matt Schneider. Boy Wonder cut two 7" singles with Matt before he quit in 1996. Later that year, Todd "Flash" Miller joined, and would play on all the group's subsequent work.

We headed to Jerry Kee's Duck Kee Studio in early 1997 to start recording the band's debut CD "Left Handed Smoke Shifter" (I co-engineered with Jerry, who is a great guy- if you're in need of a studio in eastern NC, I highly recommend him). The band name had by now morphed into The Boy Wonder Jinx, after the phenomenal bad luck they encountered at every turn (catastrophic van breakdowns while on tour, practice space and all their equipment flooded in a hurricane, etc). The album was conceived to be a showcase of all their diverse influences, from indie pop to country, loud to soft. It works, although I was still learning the ropes in the studio, and it shows.

The following year's "The Problem With Fun" (much of which was recorded in their basement practice space where I'd cobbled together a small studio) was designed to be a much more straightforward, almost commercial album. It's also short, considering we'd recorded at least three songs that didn't make the album that were superior to some of the songs that made the cut.

In any event, "The Problem With Fun" turned out to be a prophetic statement about the group's state of mind- Dan left the band in 1999 due in large part to his growing disillusionment with the "indie rock lifestyle". Living hand to mouth and only worrying about where your next beer is coming from is fun for a while, but at some point it starts to seem kind of pathetic. Flash left shortly after Dan. Scott and Greg teamed up with drummer Chris Dalton and played a couple of gigs as Boy Wonder Jinx before changing their name to Goner, who still play occasionally and are rumored to be working on a new CD. I lost contact with them years ago, but they seem to have made their own peace with being in a rock band in your 30s but not acting like you're still in your 20s. Dan now plays music under the name Zapruder Point. Both are well worth checking out.

Justin Estes.mp3
From "Left Handed Smoke Shifter", 1997

Hal The Fifth.mp3
"The Problem With Fun" outtake, 1998

Felons.mp3
From "The Problem With Fun", 1998

4th of July

2006-07-02T10:31:00.000-04:00

Well, it's fourth of July weekend- a time to drink a lot of beer, grill out, watch NASCAR, go fishing, etc. It is also the date in 1776 that a bunch of moonbat liberals wrote something called the Declaration of Independence.

I have never been an advocate of blind patriotism- "my country right or wrong" is simply a cop-out to avoid actually thinking about the political issues that affect not only the US, but the world. I think that dissent is healthy, and a necessary part of democracy. There is a frightening trend these days to paint anyone who disagrees with the current US government as "helping the enemy"- a tactic well known to Joseph Stalin and his successors.

I love my country and all the great ideals it was founded for, but I fear our government has strayed awfully far from those ideals. I do believe that the US will eventually get back on track and be the nation our forefathers intended (we always have), but we won't get there by burying our heads in the sand while waving the flag and chanting "USA! USA!"

With that said, here are a few of the jams I'll be kicking out this 7/4:

"American Ruse"- MC5

"Not Proud Of The USA"- The Mice

"4th Of July"- X (not political, just a great song)

"Born In The USA"- Bruce Springsteen
(If, like Ronald Reagan, you think this song is a rah-rah jingo anthem, check the lyrics- Born In The U.S.A.: brucespringsteen.net)

"Back In The USA"- Chuck Berry

"Star Spangled Banner"- Jimi Hendrix

Motorpsycho

2006-07-02T10:29:00.000-04:00

L-R:

Håkon Gebhardt (Drums, left the band in 2005)
Hans "Snah" Ryan (Guitar)
Bent Sæther (Bass/Vocals)

Hometown- Trondheim, Norway

My brother Scott (AKA Mitre) is six years younger than I am. Thus, when we were kids it was up to me to educate him in all things Rock. I may have made a few mistakes along the way, but I was sure I'd schooled him well enough in the basics to give him a good starting point to launch his own musical journey.

A few years ago Scott sent me a CDR of a band I'd never heard of- Motorpsycho. This was the first time he'd hipped ME to a band, and it was great stuff. It was either confirmation that I'd done right by him in his early musical education, or evidence that he'd been able to undo the damage I'd done to him at such an impressionable age, I'm not sure which.

Either way, Motorpsycho rock. Their sound is often described as "prog", but I disagree. They do incorporate a lot of late '60s / early '70s rock influences, ranging from MC5-style adrenaline boogie to Pink Floyd spaciness, but they maintain a postpunk sensibility. Imagine if Sonic Youth were simultaneously more rocking and more experimental, and didn't have their heads lodged up their own asses.

The band formed in Trondheim in 1989, naming themselves after the Russ Meyer flick. They released one album with a different drummer (Kjell Runar "Killer" Jenssen) before Gebhardt joined in 1992. Their early recordings were typical heavy rock/metal sprinkled with noise experiments and tape collages, but by 1993's "Demon Box" the band began to show some actual songwriting ability.

The release of the double CD "Timothy's Monster" in 1994 announced the arrival of Motorpsycho as a creative powerhouse. Sæther was by then actually singing (instead of screaming) his lyrics, which had become thoughtful and intelligent. Although still rocking (and spacing) out, the band had fully incorporated melody into their compositions.

Motorpsycho have built a reputation as an amazing live band, as evidenced by a pair of live albums- one focusing on their hard rock persona, the other featuring their experimental "jazz" side. They have only ever played a handful of shows in the states, though.

The band went on semi-hiatus between 2003 and 2006, releasing only an EP and the country/western goof "International Tussler Society" while playing festivals in the summers. Gebhardt left the band in 2005 to concentrate on his own music (he'd been playing more traditional folk style music for years while still in Motorpsycho). Although they have employed a drummer for live dates, no permanent replacement has been named. Ryan and Sæther played drums on 2006's "Black Hole/Blank Canvas".

"Black Hole/Blank Canvas" represents something of a return to form. While Motorpsycho's last couple of records (2001's "Phanerothyme" and 2002's "It's a Love Cult") were somewhat mellower and included horn sections and strings,
"Black Hole/Blank Canvas" is a full-on psychedelic rock assault.

For more, check out the comprehensive, albeit unofficial fan site (there is no official Motorpsycho site)-

Motorpsycho - You Gotta Hang On To The Trip You're On...

Wearing Yr Smell.mp3
(from "Timothy's Monster", 1994)
Click here to buy "Timothy's Monster" from Amazon

577.mp3
Hey Jane.mp3
(From "Trust Us", 1998)
Click here to buy "Trust Us" from Amazon

With Trixeene Through The Mirror, I Dream With Open Eyes.mp3
(from "Black Hole/Blank Canvas", 2006)
Click here to buy "Black Hole/Blank Canvas" from Amazon

Paul Hanscom Stevens, 1923-2006

2006-06-21T00:56:00.000-04:00

With my mother, 8/5/48

In the early morning of Tuesday June 20, my grandfather Paul Hanscom Stevens died of esophageal cancer. He was in no pain. While we were visiting him Sunday, a nurse came in and asked how he was doing. "Pretty good, believe it or not" was his reply- he was fully aware that he didn't have much time left, but his family was at his side, and that's all that mattered to him. It was his time, and he was ready to go.

Grampie had beaten some long odds- he survived polio, the great depression, Japanese kamakazie pilots, the Korean War, 38 years in a paper mill, and colon cancer (he beat that in 1994). I'm grateful that he hung on long enough for my brother and I to make it to his side to say goodbye.

Don't mourn his passing- celebrate his life. Grampie didn't drink, but the next time you're hoisting a frosty brew, do me a favor- raise your glass and make a toast to Paul Stevens. He was, and continues to be, an inspiration to me.

Prisonshake

2006-05-21T00:56:00.000-04:00

Chris Burgess- Bass
Doug Enkler- Vocals
Robert Griffin- Guitar
Scott Pickering- Drums
Rich Masarik- Drums (on "Roaring Third")

Hometown- Cleveland, OH

In the summer of 1991, I started doing a show on WMPG (the University Of Southern Maine community radio station in Portland, ME) with my friend Brent on Friday nights from 11pm-1:30am. As there wasn't much to do in Portland and we were both too young to drink, we considered this a prime slot. Technically it was Brent's show, but after meeting him at the record store he worked at (the name escapes me, though I remember where it was- at the old Buckdancer's Choice location at the end of Congress Street), he invited me on the show to play some of the obscure records I'd collected in Ohio. He was a guitar player and we tried starting a band, but I was only in Maine on school breaks, so that never really went anywhere.

After about a month, Brent developed appendicitis and I took over the show full time. I rechristened the show "Pirate Radio" in a sly reference to the fact that, while I had radio experience from Ohio and knew how to operate the equipment, I didn't have an FCC license. At the time, I was full of self-righteous indignation that "the man" would try and keep me off the air over a scrap of paper, but the reality was that WMPG could have gotten in a pile of trouble if I'd gotten busted. Oh, I never read PSAs, either. Fortunately, we were in Maine and nobody noticed.

One night I was digging through the stack of new 7" singles that had arrived over the past week (7"s were the medium of choice for indie bands in those days- WMPG would get at least one a day), and came across Prisonshake's "Spoo" EP. The cover (reproduced above) was a parody of Sonic Youth's then current "Goo" album. "Goo" was a blatant commercial bid by the former underground darlings, and most of us hardcore indie rockers at the time considered it "counter-revolutionary". Today, I just say everything SY did after "Daydream Nation" was crap (go ahead, argue me!). Anyway, any band that would smack down the high priests of cool like that was worth a listen. The leadoff track "It's A Ron Kinda World" is an anthemic rocker that blends sharp songwriting with punky energy and don't-give-a-fuck swagger. "Asphalt" is an amped-up blues stomp, and the whole thing concludes with a bewildering live take on the Stones' "The Spider And The Fly". Finally, here was something that stood out from the endless parade of REM clones and undifferentiated Seattle sludge that showed up week after week.

Prisonshake were founded in Cleveland in the late '80s and defined the DIY aesthetic with a complete disregard for convention- they released their own records on Griffin's Scat Records label, self-recorded all their releases except one, and their first non-7" release was a box set ("I'm Really Fucked Now") containing a vinyl LP, CD, cassette and 7" all containing different material. Prisonshake specializes in postpunk guitar music that fully acknowledges both classic rock and arty punk. They don't just blend the two- like Camper Van Beethoven did with Eastern European folk music, the Grateful Dead and Black Flag, Prisonshake refuse to differentiate their influences. When Enkler affects Jaggeresque mannerisms or Griffin rips out a riff that Zeppelin would be proud of in the middle of a breakneck rocker Fugazi wishes they wrote, Prisonshake aren't being ironic. The cover of the "Really Fucked" CD doesn't bear the legend "File Under: Total Ass Kick" for nothing.

By 1992 the rhythm section had split, but Enkler and Griffin decided to see what would happen if they made a full-length album with an outside producer. The resulting "The Roaring Third" reins in the group's excesses a bit, and focuses the attack without losing any of the intensity that makes the band great. After "Third"'s release, Enkler and Griffin moved to St. Louis. A handful of 7"s have leaked out since and they play out occasionally, but the band has been mostly dormant since 1993. A new Prisonshake album has been rumored to be in the works for the last couple of years, but no firm release date has been set.

Its A Ron Kinda World.mp3
7", collected on "I'm Really Fucked Now" 1991
2 Sisters.mp3
Cigarette Day.mp3
From "The Roaring Third", 1993
Click here to buy "The Roaring Third" from Amazon

Kevin Salem

2006-05-13T22:49:00.000-04:00

Score one for serendipity. In 1994, I was trolling Schoolkids Records in Raleigh and came across Kevin Salem's debut solo disc "Soma City". I remembered that Salem had been in Dumptruck, a band I quite liked, so I bought it. After getting home, I discovered my error- Dumptruck had been founded by the songwriting duo of Seth Tiven and Kirk Swan. Swan left after two albums and was replaced by Kevin Salem, who did not write or sing on the one Dumptruck record on which he appeared. I'd mistaken Salem for Swan, but it turned out all for the best.

Salem is a brilliant songwriter who fronts a solidly rocking band on his first two albums- "Soma" and 1996's "Glimmer". I've always felt the epitome of studio technology was reached circa 1975, and producer Niko Bolas (the guy who did Neil Young's "Living With War") dials in a warm '70s analog grit on those two albums that suits the songs to a T. The kick drum sound alone in "Run Run Run" absolutely slays me. "Glimmer" is a little rawer than "Soma", but they both exhibit the same world-weary vocals and rough-and-tumble playing that manages to recall '70s Dylan, Stones and Neil Young while still tipping a hat to the post-punk world with high octane aggression. Salem's band deserves credit for being able to groove, even on the fast stuff- by knowing when to stay a little behind the beat and play it loose without missing a note. It's not easy, but they make it sound like it is. "Glimmer" is another CD I always bring in to the recording studio to measure my own engineering work.

Salem's relationship with his label disintegrated immediately after "Glimmer"'s release, and the band split up as well. It took him five years to issue a followup, and 2001's "Ecstatic" is very different from the first two. Salem's writing is as sharp as ever, but he integrates contemporary influences in ways that don't always work (looping and computer manipulation pop up throughout, "It's Only Life" contains the wildly incongruous contribution of a rapper). By anyone else's standards "Ecstatic" would be a great album, but for an artist of Salem's caliber it's a bit of a letdown. To his credit though, the loss of Bolas (who still mixed three tracks) and his crack band from the first two albums isn't the obstacle one might imagine.

Kevin Salem is also a producer with a lengthy resume, a pursuit he seems to have been pursuing more seriously since he hasn't released any music of his own since "Ecstatic". I hope we haven't heard the last of him.

Run Run Run.mp3
from "Glimmer", 1996

Falter.mp3
from "Soma City", 1994

Kindness.mp3
From "Ectatic", 2001

UPDATE: As of 12/06 Salem has a new (to me, anyway) website, which claims he's planning a 2007 release, as well as re-releasing his three previous albums. Something to look forward to in the new year!

The Cavedogs

2006-05-07T12:11:00.000-04:00

Mark Rivers- Drums
Todd Spahr- Guitar, Vocals
Brian Stevens- Bass, Vocals

Hometown- Boston, MA

I first heard The Cavedogs on MTV's "120 Minutes" in 1990. For those of you fortunate enough to have been spared the agony of "120 Minutes", allow me to explain- back in the days when MTV played things called "music videos", they had a show on Sunday nights from 10 to midnight that featured "alternative" music. This was in the pre-Nirvana era, when hair metal still ruled mainstream music. "120 Minutes" was hosted by an insufferable british wanker named Dave Kendall who really, really liked Manchester rave music like Stone Roses and Inspiral Carpets. Still, every week a couple of cool videos managed to sneak in, like the Pixies brilliant "Veloria" (which aired exactly once), Shane's "Ride Ride Ride", and whatever the current Replacements video was (which in retrospect were all pretty bad, but hey, it was still the Replacements).

Every sunday, my friends and I took over the TV room in somebody's dorm and hung out drinking beer and making fun of Dave and all the ridiculously stupid videos he played (like REM's "Losing My Religion"- I have rarely laughed as hard as I did when I first saw that one). It was like live-action "Mystery Science Theater 3000", we even wrote him hate mail. Still, for all the Depeche Mode and Live videos we sat through, I did get hipped to some cool music- like The Cavedogs. By the time the video for "Tayter Country" was over, I knew I had to check this band out.

The Cavedogs follow one of my favorite sonic templates- bracing guitar rock infused with classic pop hooks. I borrowed a copy of their first album "Joyrides For Shut-Ins" from the campus radio station, but beyond the two singles ("Tayter" and "Leave Me Alone") it didn't do much for me at the time, so I didn't pick it up (I've since re-acquainted myself with "Joyrides" and discovered it's much better than I thought). Two years later, the followup "Soul Martini" came out. I decided to give it a spin and immediately fell in love. "Soul Martini" is a classic power pop album, taking a distinct cue from the late period Beatles. This is often hazardous ground, as most bands that think they have a "Sgt. Pepper" in them, don't (anybody ever heard the Jayhawks' "Smile" disaster?). The Cavedogs did. The kitchen-sink production never steps on the songs or weighs them down- it's a smörgåsbord of loudly rocking baroque pop. As a musician and recording engineer, I use "Soul Martini" as a yardstick for my own work- one I've never come close to reaching. If you ever come across this CD in the used bin, pick it up- you won't be disappointed.

Sadly, the album only garnered mixed reviews and after a halfhearted promotional push from their record company, the debt-ridden Cavedogs put themselves out of their misery in 1992. All three Cavedogs have continued to make music, which you can read about here-
The Cavedogs

Brian Stevens' wry take on his career-
Brian Stevens Bio

Tayter Country.mp3
From "Joyrides For Shut-Ins", 1990.

You re Put Away (Folderol).mp3
From "Soul Martini", 1992

Part Of This.mp3
From the "Rock Takes A Holiday" promo EP, 1992

More Fun With Firearms

2006-05-05T09:23:00.000-04:00

In all fairness to our hapless DEA friend (see "Irony", 4/14/06), he's not the only guy who has a problem handling firearms on the job.

On the surface, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi seems like a badass. As one of the prime movers behind the "insurgency" in Iraq, he's responsible for ordering the deaths of thousands of Iraqi soldiers, police and civilians, as well as a number of US/coalition troops. He personally beheaded American civilian Nick Berg, and broadcast the video to the world.

Though he may be handy with a sword, this video shows al-Zarqawi doesn't know the first thing about automatic weapons. In fact, he looks downright scared of it. How embarassing must that be, to be a bigtime terrorist murderer and not even know how to clear a jammed weapon? Even cooks and file clerks in the US army know that much. Hell, I've never had military training of any kind, and even I know how to clear a jam. Also, he swings the weapon around like a drunken sailor, inadvertantly pointing it at his compatriots. That's what's called "poor weapon handling", and would get your ass in a sling in any competent army in the world. Obviously, al-Zarqawi hasn't spent too much time in the field. He talks a good game about jihad, but when the lead starts flying he's in the rear with the beer, like all good chickenhawks.

As a bonus, make sure you watch the end of the clip, which shows the M249 being handed off to an underling, who promptly grabs it by the hot barrel and burns himself.

Pluck Theatre

2006-05-01T22:00:00.000-04:00

Doug Cowan- Guitar, Vocals
Steve Gerlach- Bass, Vocals
Jeffery Spring- Drums

Hometown- Portland, Maine

In the summer of 1991, I saw Pluck Theatre open for Buffalo Tom at Zootz in Portland, ME. I was underage at the time and Zootz was a 21+ club, so I lied my way in by telling Chris Colburn (BT's bass player) I was a writer for Face, the local music magazine. That way I went into the club with the band, and the doorman didn't check my ID. I had written a couple album reviews for Face, so like all good lies, it had a kernel of truth. I felt kinda bad for the Buffalo Tom guys though- they were really nice to me, and let me interview them and drink their beer like a real reporter.

Anyway, I'd never heard Pluck Theatre before and they didn't really do anything for me, except for having excellent taste in covers- they did the Replacements' "Color Me Impressed". Buffalo Tom were great though- they were doing a warm-up gig before recording "Let Me Come Over", and as much as I love that album, my memory of the show is 10 times better.

The following January, I was driving to my girlfriend's house and listening to WMPG, the University Of Southern Maine campus radio station, which in those days put most other college stations I've ever heard to shame. A song came on I'd never heard before that hooked me immediately- I had no idea who it was. As soon as I got to my girlfriend's place, I ran inside and called WMPG- "what was that you were playing two songs back"? It was "Leonard Cohen's Bones" by Pluck Theatre.

Cowan and Spring had self-released two 7" singles as a duo under the Pluck Theatre name before adding Gerlach in 1991. In January of 1992, they released "Fish Or Cut Bait", an 8-song cassette album. I loved it immediately, proving that I am, in fact, able to change my mind occasionally. It was a perfect soundtrack for the short days and long nights of a cold Maine winter.

"Fish Or Cut Bait" was followed by the "Five Finger Disco" CD in 1993 (released by local record store chain Bad Habits), which unfortunately was somewhat wanting compared to it's predecessor. The songwriting wasn't up to the standard of their previous work, and the CD didn't even sound as good as the cassette. I'm not sure when they broke up, but Pluck Theatre never issued another recording.

Leonard Cohens Bones.mp3

Salutation.mp3

Follow Bliss.mp3

"Leonard Cohen" and "Salutation" are off "Fish Or Cut Bait", "Follow Bliss" comes from "Five Finger Disco" (1993, Bad Habits Music).

Doug Cowan now has a band called Bullyclub-
Bullyclub

You can hear a stream of the mighty WMPG here-
WMPG

The Put-Outs

2006-04-22T11:24:00.000-04:00

John Shafer- Vocals, Guitar
Tim Conder- Bass, Backing Vocals
Rodney Cash- Drums

Hometown- Baltimore

From roughly 1994 through 1998, I tagged along as soundman for Raleigh band Boy Wonder Jinx (they'll be appearing here at some point). They shared bills with a lot of bands, the vast majority of whom totally sucked. There was a point early on when it seemed as if they couldn't play a show without being paired with a hippie jam band. I can only think of two occasions where they were matched (Scrawl and Earwig), and one where they were bested- The Put-Outs.

I have to admit to something of a bias- The Replacements were one of my favorite bands ever, and The Put-Outs emit a strong Hootennany/Let It Be vibe. Having Tommy Stinson produce your record doesn't discourage the comparison. John Shafer even looks like a young Paul Westerberg, and has the same rough, world-weary quality to his voice. The Put-Outs go beyond mere imitation though- Shafer's songs evoke the perfect balance of emotional complexity and balls-out rock that made the best 'Mats stuff so great.

The one and only time I saw them was in 1997, but a few years later I saw "Sing The Hits" in a cutout bin, and I figured it was worth risking $6 that it was the same band. There were reports The Put-Outs were recording a new album in 2003 with Don Coffey producing, but I can't find anything about it, except for a work-in-progress song posted at the Superdrag website.

Off Key.mp3

Longbranch Fadeaway.mp3

Loyal To Mistakes.mp3

From "The Put-Outs Sing The Hits", 1999 JOE records

Shockoe Bottom

2006-04-19T20:54:00.000-04:00

L-R

Dan Ryan- Guitar
Dan Piercy- Vocals
Chris Pyle- Bass
Jon Nanberg- Drums

In 1989 I was a freshman at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. There were a lot of great bands in Athens in the early '90s, and I'll be posting several of them. The first one I encountered was Shockoe Bottom, though they'd been together for at least a year before I saw them. The name comes from the party district of Richmond, VA where DanP and Chris hailed from. Dan's Iggyish vocals (not as obvious on the recordings as it was live) mixed with the band's dexterous post-punk/metal musicianship for a sound I've never heard anything quite like before or since. They often got compared to Jane's Addiction, but to me Shockoe Bottom had a more unique approach than Jane's recycled Zeppelinisms. DanP says he always thought of them as "a pop-centric Jesus Lizard".

They were great live. Jon and Chris hung back and laid the groove down with ruthless efficiency while the Dans went apeshit up front. DanP was a man posessed, reeling menacingly around the stage while ocasionally fucking with the delay pedal he ran his vocals through. DanR played mad scientist- hunched over his guitar one second, flailing on his back like an eplieptic the next. Even when they weren't practicing much (or at all), Shockoe Bottom had enough talent and sheer determination to put across an incendiary (if ragged) performance.

Shockoe Bottom were a classic "coulda been a contendah!" story- Athens had a chronic shortage of practice space (name me a place that doesn't), and they were constantly hamstrung by that. For a while, their sporadic live performances were the only times the band played together at all. Chris' departure in 1992 was effectively the last nail- there was some talk of my replacing him, and my "audition" was at a house party where I couldn't hear DanR's guitar at all. I didn't do so well. We jammed on an Appalachian Death Ride song (I'll get to them later) for what seemed like an hour, and I think that was it for Shockoe Bottom. Chris may have reunited with them for another house party a couple weeks later or it could have been a couple weeks before, I don't remember.

My favorite Shockoe Bottom story happened at the house party that marked Chris' last show with the band, where they played with Chris' new band Big Red Truck. Chris had already announced his departure, it had nothing to do with subsequent events. Shockoe Bottom was pretty popular with the "rock" crowd in Athens, but Big Red Truck was a radical departure that was more "pop" sounding and reflected Chris' new found interest in Christianity. As you can imagine, the crowd at the party was pretty diverse. Shockoe Bottom's crowd looked like your typical early '90s grunge rockers, while Big Red Truck's fans were pretty clean cut and looked a little uncomfortable in a house full of loud drunks.

Anyway, I was hanging out with DanP and his friend Hans in the living room after Shockoe Bottom's set. Dan was a little peeved about the impending demise of his band, and more than a little drunk. While we talked, he was constantly shaking up a can of Old Milwaulkee. He must have shaken that damn thing for 10 minutes straight. Finally, three girls walked in- well dressed, wearing makeup, looking like they'd just stepped out of a trendy restaraunt. Clearly BRT fans. Dan stopped talking in mid-sentence, ran over to them and yelled "ROCK AND ROLL GIRLS, ROCK AND ROOOOOLLLLLLL!!!! AAAIIIGGHHHHHH!!!!!" and proceeded to hose them down with beer. He'd backed them into a corner and there was nothing for them to do except scream as Dan wrung every drop of beer from the can. When he was done, Dan ran out the door screaming like a banshee. Hans and I were doubled over laughing, while the girls stood dripping beer and giving us the evil eye. Chris stood by his amp with a weary look like he'd seen it all before.

Doorway.mp3
Drop.mp3
Swirl.mp3

Hans has a new band (sadly, I don't have any recordings of his band Saturn 5 from Athens), you can check them out here-

10 city run.mp3

Irony

2006-04-14T08:00:00.000-04:00

A DEA agent in Florida giving a lesson in gun safety to a group of children provides a more practical example than he'd planned.

I'm sure most of you have seen a piece of this on the news, but this is the long version. Favorite quote- "I'm the only one in this room professional enough that I know of to carry this Glock 40"... seconds before shooting himself in the foot with it.

It's funny in a way, but it illustrates a very real fact about firearms: a gun doesn't care if you're 50 Cent or James Bond- if you screw up, they will bite you, every time.

Oh, and it also shows that just because someone is a Federal law enforcement agent doesn't mean that they're not also an idiot.

I was never fond of Glocks, myself- give me a Beretta 92 or CZ75 any day.

Fileserver still screwed up, will start posting music again as soon as they fix it...

My Dad is cooler than your Dad

2006-04-11T11:38:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago, my Dad took a trip down to the Mississippi delta to see the roots of the Blues. While there, he went to a series of unbelievably run-down juke joints (some that I'd think twice about going into) and took in some real, no-bullshit blues including convicted murderer T-Model Ford (pictured above). An interviewer once asked Ford how many times he'd been to jail, and he replied "I dunno, how many?" before settling on "pretty much every Saturday for awhile." That'd be enough to give ME the blues.

http://www.homestead.com/ricksaunders/tmodel.html

Technical Difficulties II

2006-04-10T20:44:00.000-04:00

My free fileserver has had the "upload" feature disabled since Saturday morning, so the next entry will have to wait until they get it fixed. Since this is becoming a recurring theme, my solution will be to upload several weeks of music in advance. Sorry for the delay.

April Fools

2006-04-03T20:47:00.000-04:00

Well it's a little late, but here it is anyway.

I work as an A1 (sound tech) for a company that does audio visual support for corporate events. It's like being a roadie for Corporate America but hey, the money's good.

Anyway, sometimes these companies create parodies of popular songs with lyrics about themselves, and play them at sales meetings, training seminars, etc. These two examples were created in the 1980s for a company that owned several restaurant chains. For some unknown reason, an executive for one of these chains loved these songs so much, he thought it'd be a great idea to dust them off 20 years later and play them at a meeting. There were at least 10 of these songs, here are my favorite two. "Ghostbusters" was actually played at the meeting, with the instruction to drop out the volume during the "executive shout-out" section, as none of the executives named in the song were still with the company.

I talked to the guy who produced these gems last week- when I told him I'd played his "Ghostbusters" track at a gig a couple of years ago, he looked at me like I'd just told him I liked to dip my head in boiling oil for fun. "Why?" he asked, "half the people in that room weren't even BORN when 'Ghostbusters' came out!"

Note- "Ghostbusters" cuts out 2/3 of the way through- that's because the tape broke while I was transferring it. I think my cassette deck rebelled. You get all the "best" (if that's really the right word) parts of the song, though.

Super Service Man.mp3
Ghostbusters.mp3

I'm going to have to fix the casette at some point, because there's a techno version of "Rocky Top" on there that you wouldn't believe.

The A.M.

2006-03-24T19:53:00.000-05:00

For my first entry, I will engage in a shocking display of nepotism and post my own band.

Tripp Cox: Guitar
Jason Hooker: Drums
Reid Johnson: Guitar, Vocal
Lobsterman: Bass

Home: Raleigh, NC

The A.M. morphed from a band known as the Pet Rocks which included Reid on guitar, Tripp on bass, and a different drummer. After Hooker and I joined in 2001, it became clear we had a different band.

There have been several interpretations of the name, including the obvious radio and "before noon" references, but also including "The Asshole Motherfuckers" and the view taken by booking agents that the band would only play after midnight. The truth is that when searching for a band name, Tripp and Reid favored calling the band "The Mops". Hooker and I were adamantly opposed, and named our faction "The Anti-Mops"- thus, "A.M." I wish it were a cooler story, but there it is.

These songs were recorded live in our practice space one night, except for the vocals (and dialog clips on "Take Out Your Heart"), which we recorded the next night before mixing. I think Reid and I only killed 6 beers between us during that process, so it went pretty fast. All the songs were written by Reid.

Recorded May 2002

Wastin Time.mp3
Take Out Your Heart.mp3

Eventually the band split up in early 2003, and Reid and Tripp turned their attention to the poppier, much less rocking but much more commercially successful Schooner (see links section). Very much worth your time to check them out.

Begin the begin...

2006-03-24T12:19:00.000-05:00

Hello, and welcome to The Cutout Bin. The concept here is to post mp3s of hopelessly obscure music, using the power of the internet to give it the exposure it has so cruelly been denied. Oh, who am I kidding- the only people who will ever see this are my friends and the band members who stumble across their own names. Anyway, here are the ground rules:

1. If anyone objects to their music being posted here, let me know and I will delete it. Simple as that- no need for a lawyer, you aren't getting my dog anyway.

2. The focus is on obscure music- most never commercially released, or at least no longer in print. I'm not trying to take money out of anyone's pocket.

3. I'm also focusing on bands I either knew personally, or at least saw live.

4. A lot of this stuff is being transferred from cassette, so fidelity will be lacking at times. If this causes undue bother, feel free to pick up a Britney Spears CD and shoot yourself.

5. I will attempt to update with a new band weekly.

6. There will be NO rule #6.

7. There will be exceptions to all these rules at some point, save #1.

Enjoy!