31 October 2012

GLIDE

1995
1996
year unknown
1997
 
Thanks to Sposob Rocks for this big post from an obscure indie rock Australian band.

30 October 2012

HEATMISER Cop and Speeder 1994

biography

[+] by Scott Sepich
The Portland, OR, band Heatmiser was best known for launching the career of singer/songwriter Elliott Smith, but other members of the group went on to have successful music careers long after Heatmiser's demise. Singer/songwriter/guitarist Neil Gust went on to form the pop/rock band No. 2, while bassist Sam Coomes formed the popular indie pop duo Quasi with his then-wife, Sleater-Kinney drummer Janet Weiss. Drummer Tony Lash, who produced some of Heatmiser's material, went on to do production work with a variety of artists, including the Dandy Warhols, Death Cab for Cutie, and the Minders. Heatmiser was well-known in the northwest rock scene of the early '90s, but despite Smith's burgeoning solo career, the band never achieved more than a cult following. Smith shared songwriting duties with fellow guitarist/vocalist Neil Gust, whom he met while both were attending Hampshire College, and their contrasts in styles made Heatmiser's records compelling but incohesive. Gust's songs were typically darker and harsher than Smith's melodic folk-rock contributions. The fact that Heatmiser toiled in relative obscurity during their active years and has remained unknown to the masses despite Smith's popularity is puzzling to say the least. Heatmiser formed in Portland, OR, in 1992, a time in which labels large and small were scarfing up all the unsigned talent they could in hopes of finding the next Nirvana or Pearl Jam. Sub Pop records had signed several decidedly non-grungy Portland bands, such as the Spinanes, Pond, and Hazel, but Heatmiser somehow escaped Sub Pop's grasp. The band released its debut album, Dead Air, on Frontier Records in 1993. A second album, Cop and Speeder, appeared on Frontier in 1994 as did a five-song EP entitled Yellow No. 5. By 1996, Smith had released two critically acclaimed solo albums and it was becoming clear that Heatmiser was not his first priority. The Tony Lash-produced Mic City Sons was released in October of that year by the independent label Caroline. Hailed by critics as the best Heatmiser record yet, Mic City Sons unfortunately was released as the band was in the process of breaking up. Thus, despite all the makings of a breakthrough effort, Heatmiser was grinding to a halt and would never record as a group again. Smith reported in an interview in 1997 that Heatmiser had signed a contract with Virgin, but an album never materialized. The bandmembers have maintained working professional relationships, appearing on each others' various projects in some capacity. Quasi toured with Elliott Smith in 1997, and both Smith and Coomes contributed to Gust's No. 2 album, which was released in 1999.
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27 October 2012

LOVE SPIT LOVE self titled 1994

By request
 

biography

[+] by Jason Ankeny
Love Spit Love marked the second coming of vocalist Richard Butler, previously known for his work as the frontman of post-punk favorites the Psychedelic Furs. In the wake of the Furs' 1991 break-up, Butler relocated from his native Britain to New York City, where in 1992 he teamed with guitarist Richard Fortus to found Love Spit Love, so named in honor of an erotic art exhibit. After enlisting drummer Frank Ferrer, Butler brought in his brother Tim, a fellow Psych Furs member, to assume bass chores on Love Spit Love's eponymously-titled 1994 debut; the album scored a Top 100 single with the shimmering "Am I Wrong," but the group's label, Imago, soon went bankrupt, and apart from a cover of the Smiths' classic "How Soon Is Now?" recorded for the soundtrack of the 1996 film The Craft nothing was heard from the band for several years. After signing to Maverick, Love Spit Love -- now with bassist Chris Wilson replacing Tim Butler -- resurfaced with Trysome Eatone in 1997.
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LUBRICATED GOAT Psychedelicatessen 1990

review

by Skip Jansen
The third album from this Australian noise rock project led by Stuart Gray (aka Stu Spasm) and first for Minneapolis noise label Amphetamine Reptile is no less fierce than the previous two released on Black Eye, still fusing Suicide, Captain Beefheart, and Pere Ubu to sheet-metal guitar noise and depraved lyrical content in the formula of the Black Eye albums but with additional deviations into nightmarish jazz, hip-hop, and lurching industrial noise. "Give Chance a Piece," "New Kind of Animal, and "Spoil the Atmosphere are classic noise rock in the vein of Helios Creed, the Jesus Lizard, and Halo of Flies.

25 October 2012

TOASTED HERETIC Another Day Another Riot 1992

By request

The band was formed in Galway in the mid-1980s and came to national attention with a self-published album, Songs for Swinging Celibates (an allusion to the Frank Sinatra album Songs for Swingin' Lovers), in 1988. With resources tight, the album was recorded on cassette tape via a TASCAM Portastudio in drummer and producer Neil Farrell's home, and distributed only on cassette. Their characteristic style was immediately distinguished by their unorthodox lyrics, the virtuosity of guitarist Declan Collins, and the eccentric showmanship of frontman (and Nenagh native) Julian Gough.

22 October 2012

CRAZY ALICE Bender 1996

by request

Discogs

Tracklist

1 My Hole
2 Only Friend
3 Paranoid
4 Trash Heap
5 Fast
6 Infected
7 Bleed
8 Vodka & Hope
9 Clean
10 Family Curse

20 October 2012

NO MEANS NO In the Fishtank 1996




Tracklist


Would Be Alive 5:55

The River 5:35

Joy 5:18

You're Not One 4:05

Big Dick 4:39

LOW and DIRTY THREE In the Fishtank 7 2001

.


review

[+] by Thom Jurek
In late 1999, the Dutch label KonKurrent invited Minneapolis band Low into an in-house studio to record one of the label's near-legendary In the Fishtank sessions; bands have two days to record between 20-30 minutes of all new material of their choosing. Also touring at the time were Low's pals, the Australian instrumental dynamos the Dirty Three. Low invited them in, and in the same collaborative spirit as another In the Fishtank session involving Tortoise and the Ex, this half-hour session is the document. What is truly amazing about this hookup is how natural these two bands sound playing with one another. Low has been striking out lately, playing different kinds of material while keeping its signature slower-than-slow approach to songwriting. the Dirty Three has taken a more melodic and dynamically restrained tack since their landmark Ocean Songs recording of a few years back. Of the six songs recorded here, none is more successful that the nearly ten-minute cover of Neil Young's "Down By the River." Mick Turner's trademark guitar style opens the work with lots of brush and cymbal work. It's unrecognizable for the first five minutes; it's just an opening shimmering drone with guitar strings wafting in and out of the atmospherics before Low's Mimi begins singing the verse and Alan teams with Turner to entwine guitars. And when Warren Ellis' violins slip into the middle of the stream, the eerie effect is complete, and the trancelike motion of the song takes hold and won't let go until silence takes over. The other five tracks are sensual Low originals full of longing and resplendent minimalism. The D3 hold their place in the Low mix, painting it out over a vaster, more colorful expanse, creating more space in their trademark suffocating mix. Alan and Mimi croon together, singing like lovers rather than as bandmates on "Invitation Day." Mimi's vocal and Turner's guitar playing sound enmeshed on "When I Called Upon Your Seed." Drummer Jim White is also a perfect foil for Low; his off-time washes of brush and muted rimshots split the notion of time in two, making the vocal and the tune's time signature two separate entities in a sea awash with the driftwood of the other instruments. Alan's harmonium and organ and Turner take the tune out with Ellis' haltingly shimmering strings. He opens "Cody," however, with the most lonesome, forlorn fiddle line this side of Hank Williams' "Six More Miles to the Graveyard," though it echoes Fartein Valen more than country music. This is really The D3 with Low lending textural ambience and structural balance. It's full of a haunted, hunted beauty that only The D3 can muster up, and it is enhanced by the addition of Zak Sally's bass playing. The disc closes with "Lordy," featuring Low's Alan (providing banjo accompaniment) and Mimi in a gospel-drenched duet before The D3 kick in full-tilt with sawing violin from Ellis tearing the tune apart from the inside; Turner plays slide and counters him to keep in it in a blues mode as White and Mimi duke it out on the trap kits. Turner's scree ends just as the banjo re-enters and Alan forlornly pleads for his soul to be saved as the track just falls apart before ending properly. This is a studio collaboration that works. It's half an hour of music made from the heart of goodwill and the desire by six musicians to do nothing more than play together to see what happens. What resulted is some of the best material either unit has produced.
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Tracklist  

1 I Hear... Goodnight 3:09
2 Down By The River 9:35
3 Invitation Day 5:03
4 When I Called Upon Your Seed 3:58
5 Cody 4:05
6 Lordy 4:23

WOOL Your Choice Live Series 1995

 

Live CD from Wool recorded around 1995. Decent sound quality.
A vinyl release of this was done with the record being blue marbled vinyl. I never saw any copies of the CD or LP. Must have been a small press run of both.

 

Discogs

 

Tracklist

1 SOS 3:55
2 Kill The Crow 3:19
3 Soundchecksong 2:06
4 Carcrash 3:22
5 Clear My Head 3:27
6 Eden 3:06
7 B-350 7:26
8 Zitty 1:22
9 Blackeye 4:11
10 Coalinga 3:23
11 Superman Is Dead 2:22
12 Medication 4:15
13 Wait 3:39
14 Eff 7:23
15 Sistersong 2:28

 

HUGGY BEAR Her Jazz 7 inch 1993


Discogs


biography

by Jason Ankeny
While groups like Bikini Kill and Bratmobile were leading the riot grrrl charge in America, across the Atlantic, Huggy Bear were spearheading their own revolution, girl-style. A multi-gender unit comprised of vocalist Chris, vocalist/bassist Niki, guitarists Jo and Jon, and drummer Karen -- in addition to their refusal to reveal their full names, they also rejected all requests for interviews and photographs -- the group debuted in late 1991 opening for Heavenly, and soon began recording their first demos. After the British indie Wiiija issued a collection of their demos, Huggy Bear became the subject of a major label bidding war, but the quintet steadfastly rejected all offers to remain with Wiiija -- they did, however, agree to an offer from the Nude label on the condition that the company drop its flagship act, Suede. (Nude declined the offer.) In 1992, Huggy Bear released their debut EP Rubbing the Impossible to Burst, a blistering collection of musical rants and tape pastiches issued in a sleeve adorned with political manifestos. Two similar 7" releases, Kiss Curl for the Kid's Lib Guerrillas and Her Jazz, followed before Huggy Bear teamed with Bikini Kill for a British tour and a joint 12", Our Troubled Youth/Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah, released as the riot grrrl movement was reaching its media fever pitch both in the U.S. and the U.K. In late 1993, Huggy Bear compiled their early material on the collection Taking the Rough with the Smooch before disappearing for a year, resurfacing in late 1994 with a pair of EPs, Long Distance Lovers and Main Squeeze. After finally releasing a proper LP, Weaponry Listens to Love, Huggy Bear disbanded; Niki and Jo later joined Wiiija labelmates the Blood Sausages, Karen signed on with the Phantom Pregnancies, Chris performed with Skinned Teen, and Jon enlisted with I'm Being Good.

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Tracklist

A
Her Jazz
B1
Prayer
B2
Pro No From Now

ADICKDID Dismantle 1993

By request

Adickdid was an all-female punk band started in the early 1990s in Eugene, Oregon, USA, by Kaia Wilson (The Butchies, Team Dresch) Nalini Deedee Cheriel (Juned, The Teenangels, The Hindi Guns) and Sara Shelton Bellum (Bella Low). Their first single “All American Girl” b/w “Columbus” was put out by Imp Records in 1993. They toured along the American West Coast and played on the radio station KXLU in Los Angeles. One of their opening acts was Beck at the Jabberjaw in Los Angeles. They played shows opening for Hole, Fugazi, Heavens to Betsy, Bikini Kill and Lunachicks. 

Tracklist

A1 She's Dangerous
A2 Eye Level
A3 Telephone
A4 Song No. Two
A5 Hey Sister!
A6 Mailbox
B1 Ask Nicely
B2 Stare Right Past Me
B3 Bugs In Nevada
B4 All American Girl
B5 Adickdid
B6 Joe's Stubble

19 October 2012

APPALACHIAN DEATH RIDE Hobo's Codebook 2003

By request

Here's a review of their self titled album from 1996:

review

by Stephen Howell
Galloping rhythms, squelching feedback, three- or four-chord changes per song, and moments that sound like R.E.M. and Pink Floyd under the musical direction of George Jones are all part of this album. A bumbling Southern-type growl leads the track "Willow Garden," which is a trip to Texas without actually having to go there. Highlights such as "Sunrise," with its gurgling bass and drums, sound like a forest filled with amazingly loud electric guitars that are shaking squirrels down from the trees. Other numbers like "St. Anthony" mix banjos and guitars, making you envision indie rock kids square-dancing at a slightly askew hoedown. Tragedy does strike though, as the band comes close to plagiarizing Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World" riff on "Slick." The group also has the tendency to overindulge in its fancies, as displayed on "M.I.B.," where the guitar solo decides to rattle the listener's teeth for over half the track in wild abandonment. With its mixed bag of well-planned compositions and half-baked mental snippets, you're bound to view this release as a glass that's either half full or half empty.