BIG CHIEF

Mack Avenue Skullgame

1993

Platinum Jive
1994

Face
1991

While we listen to Big Chief and remember the good ol' days, let us not forget the side-splitting magazine, Motorbooty, that poked and prodded at the fumbling and fickle music industry of the 90's. If you never got to read a copy of Motorbooty, you still have a chance. Three issues are available from Mark Dancy's site, Illuminado. Dancy has left his mark in graphic arts and you will see his artwork gracing the covers of Big Chief releases as well as posters, stickers and comics and the cover of Soundgarden's Badmotorfinger release.
If you happen to be a veteran of 90's college radio, hilarity will ensue as you read quips and inside jokes about bands, record labels and the dynamic music scene that gave us something to look forward to besides AOL and a 9600 baud modem.

Mack Avenue Skull Game

Tracklist  

1	Skullgame No. 3, Take 3	1:56
2	My Name Is Pimp (Mack's Theme)	4:16
3	Let's Do It Again	1:06
4	One Born Every Minute (Doc's Theme)	5:27
5	Sonica	1:53
6	No Free Love On This Street (Sonica's Theme)	4:44
7	Soul On A Roll	0:50
8	10 Karat Pinky Ring	4:53
9	Have Another Glass Of Brandy, Baby	1:19
10	Gaiety Lounge Punk	0:40
11	Cop Kisser (Mack Fucks Up The Scene At The Freezer)	1:26
12	If I Had A Nickel For Every Dime	6:58
13	Mixed Jive	1:33
14	He Needs To Be Dead/Ten Easy Pieces (The Power Of Ginsu)	2:57
15	Cut To The Chase	2:32
16	Meet The Man Day	1:28
17	O Woman (Mack's Lament)	3:52
18	Skullgame (Reprise)	1:47

Platinum Jive

Tracklist  

1	Lion's Mouth	3:49
2	Takeover Baby	2:29
3	John's Scared	4:25
4	M.D. 20/20	1:53
5	Map Of Your Failure	3:15
6	Bona Fide	3:19
7	Armed Love	5:07
8	Philly Nocturne	0:32
9	Locked Out	3:32
10	All Downhill From Here	3:32
11	The Liquor Talkin'	3:13
12	Sick To My Pants	1:19
13	Your Days Are Numbered	4:15
14	Clown Pimp	0:53
15	Simply Barry	3:13
16	Lot Lizard	14:40

Face

  

 Tracklist  

1	Fresh Vines
2	Drive It Off
3	The Ballad Of Dylan Cohl
4	Desert Jam
5	Honey-Legged
6	500 Reasons
7	Reduced To Tears
8	Who's Gonna Do All That?
9	Lie There And Be Good
10	Wasted On B.C.
11	Fresh Vines (Fresh Flavor Remix)

SILVER SCOOTER The Other Palm Springs 1997

By request

HAYDEN Everything I Long For 1996

by request

Discogs

Hayden Biography

by Peter J. D'Angelo

Toronto's Hayden Desser spent the bulk of two decades creating uniquely affecting music through a combination of rock and folk flourishes, personal sentiments, and a voice that channeled both the falsetto highs of Neil Young and the wavering raspy low tones of Leonard Cohen. The critically acclaimed musician first appeared in the early '90s, armed with only a four-track tape recorder like his heroes in Sebadoh and Pavement. Coupling his unnaturally low range with an extremely detuned guitar, Hayden recorded a self-released cassette, In September, in 1994, and much of the material included evolved into his first official LP, Everything I Long For. Released in 1995 on his own imprint, Hardwood Records, the debut disc was simultaneously beautiful and horrifying, with insights into the humanly mundane as well as more troubling tales that retained an oddly personal edge. A few lucky breaks, including a U.S. tour with Guided by Voices and some MTV airplay, brought Hayden further into the spotlight and generated enough interest for the disc to be reissued by Outpost Recordings, an offshoot of Geffen Records.

Tracklist

1		Bad As They Seem	3:30
2		In September	2:38
3		We Don't Mind	4:35
4		Tragedy	3:56
5		Stem	1:47
6		Skates	7:18
7		I'm To Blame	2:24
8		Assignment In Space With Rip Foster	2:36
9		Driveway	4:20
10		Hardly	4:12
11		You Were Loved	2:47
12		When This Is Over	3:59
13		My Parent's House	4:34
14.1		Lounging	4:26
14.2		(silence)	3:10
14.3		Untitled	4:00

PUBLIC IMAGE LIMITED Cruel EP 1992

Found this Friday at a Goodwill thrift store. Never have seen a copy of this anywhere. It's a UK import "limited edition individually numbered digipak" CD. My copy says on the front of the digipak that the "...booklet includes the wit and wisdom of John Lydon." I suspect that few people didn't even care about a P.I.L. release that was numbered and limited edition when it was released almost 20 years ago. And I doubt most of you are hanging on the edge of your seat waiting for me to pound out some text of Lydon's quotes and thus will be spared his cynical twattery.

1. Cruel
2. Love Hope
3. Rise (live)
4. Home (live)

WALT MINK

Miss Happiness
1992

Bareback Ride

1993

Discogs

Walt Mink Biography by John Bush

The alternative punk-pop group Walt Mink formed in the late '80s at Macalester College in Minnesota, with guitarist/vocalist John Kimbrough, bassist Candice Belanoff, and drummer Joey Waronker taking their name from a favorite psychology professor. Inspired by proto-punkster Jonathan Richman as well as English folky Nick Drake (whose "Pink Moon" the band covered on their first album), Walt Mink debuted in 1990 on a split 7" single (with Gneissmaker) for Skene! Records. After releasing two cassette-only albums -- Listen Little Man and The Poll Riders Win Again!! -- during 1990-1991, Walt Mink got the chance to play at the New Music Seminar in New York, due to their association with Babes in Toyland.

Thanks to positive reviews from the New York show, the band signed to Caroline Records. Their debut album, Miss Happiness, was released in 1992, with production help from Doug Olson. The LP did well in college radio, and Walt Mink toured with the Lemonheads, Soul Asylum, and Mudhoney during the rest of the year. The band self-produced their second album, Bareback Ride, and Caroline released it in 1993. Bareback Ride fared less well than the debut, but the major label Columbia signed Kimbrough, Belanoff, and Waronker anyway. Before Walt Mink could release any material, however, Columbia dropped them. Waronker decided to leave the band -- going on to work with Beck -- and Orestes Morfin (ex-Bitch Magnet) joined in his place. The label seesaw ride continued through 1994-1995, as Atlantic bought their contract and released El Producto in early 1996, but later dropped the trio as well. Morfin left the band soon after. After signing to the Deep Elm label, Walt Mink returned in 1997 with Colossus, but said their goodbyes one year later with a farewell live album. 

Miss Happiness

Tracklist

1	Miss Happiness	3:26
2	Chowdertown	3:02
3	Love You Better	3:56
4	Showers Down	4:09
5	Quiet Time	3:33
6	Pink Moon	3:16
7	Smoothing The Ride	3:10
8	Croton-Harmon (Local)	3:32
9	Twinkle & Shine	3:03
10	Factory	5:51

Bareback Ride

Tracklist

1	Subway	2:18
2	Shine	4:06
3	Zero Day	1:59
4	Disappear	2:49
5	Sunnymede	3:49
6	Frail	3:42
7	Turn	2:31
8	Fragile	3:02
9	What A Day	3:00
10	Tree In Orange	3:32

1000 MONA LISAS

EP
1995

New Disease
1995

by request

Discogs

Artist Biography by John Bush

The lineup for L.A.'s 1000 Mona Lisas coalesced in 1993 around vocalist/guitarist Armando Prado (b. Glendale, CA), bassist Gianni Neiviller (b. Hollywood, CA) and drummer Rocco Bidlovski (b. Brazil); Bidlovski had previously played with the South American band Tokyo before coming to the U.S. The group's California punk/hardcore attitude and style is laced with melodic power-pop on two releases, the Slammin' EP and 1995's debut album New Disease, produced by Geza X (Black Flag, Dead Kennedys). 

The EP

Tracklist 

1	How Would You Know	2:29
2	Green Light	2:41
3	Maybe It's All Forgotten	1:38
4	My Embarrassing Suicide	3:25
5.1	Instilled And Lost	6:57
5.2	You Oughta Know	2:11

New Disease

  

Tracklist 

1	Dog
2	Maybe It's All Forgotten
3	New Disease
4	Girlfriendly
5	Clarke Nova
6	Terranian
7	Vile Of Blue
8	Wet
9	In The Red
10	I'd Rather Die Than Have To Touch You
11	Tom N° 9
12	How Would You Know?
13	What's The Line?
14	Change & Decipher

THE VACANT LOT Wrong 1993

 

 

by request  

 

 

Discogs 

 

 

Tracklist

1		I Know
2		Blue, My Mind
3		Not Me
4		Never Said
5		Believe In
6		Dee Dee Said
7		Do It Tomorrow
8		Remembers Me
9		Like I Really Really Care
10		Wrong Wrong Again
11		Better Now
12		That's All

 

THE WALTONS Lik My Trakter 1994

Discogs

Tracklist

1	Colder Than You
2	Sunshine
3	The Water Well And The Farmer's Hand
4	In The Meantime
5	I Could Care Less
6	Truth And Beauty
7	The Living Room
8	Look At Me
9	The Naked Rain
10	(Don't Let It) Slide
11	A Fine Line

BITCH MAGNET Ben Hur 1990

 

Discogs

 

Bitch Magnet Biography

by Steve Huey

Part of the extended Squirrel Bait family tree, Bitch Magnet was one of two bands that guitarist David Grubbs joined in the wake of his departure. Unlike the other one, Bastro, Grubbs wasn't a charter member of Bitch Magnet, nor was he the leader; that duty fell to bassist/vocalist Sooyoung Park. Much like Bastro, however, Bitch Magnet played a blistering and intellectual brand of post-hardcore punk, which often drew comparisons to Steve Albini's Big Black; they were also grouped with a more direct Squirrel Bait descendant, Slint, albeit more relentless and somewhat less nuanced.

Sooyoung Park founded Bitch Magnet in 1986 while a student at Oberlin College in Ohio, joining with guitarist Jon Fine and drummer Orestes Delatorre (aka Orestes Morfin); despite their Oberlin roots, the trio was actually based in Chapel Hill, NC. Bitch Magnet signed with the indie label Communion and debuted in 1988 with the Star Booty 12" EP, which was produced by Steve Albini himself and earned the band some notice on the underground rock scene. For the follow-up, 1989's full-length Umber, they added second guitarist David Galt (a later CD issue appended Star Booty as well). Galt's place was taken by David Grubbs later in 1989, and Grubbs toured with the group in between commitments with Bastro. Grubbs appeared on the EP Valmead and on Bitch Magnet's final album, Ben Hur, both issued in 1990. After Bitch Magnet's breakup late that year, all four members went on to other projects: Park formed the acclaimed Seam; Grubbs returned to Bastro, which evolved into the seminal Gastr del Sol; Fine played with Vineland and Don Caballero; and Orestes Morfin resurfaced in Walt Mink. In 2011, the band's entire catalog was remastered and reissued by Temporary Residence, and the band -- Park, Fine, and Morfin -- accompanied the release with live dates in Europe, Asia, and during 2012, North America.

Tracklist

1		Dragoon	9:30
2		Valmead	3:34
3		Ducks And Drakes	4:32
4		Mesentery	2:33
5		Lookin' At The Devil	3:37
6		Gator	2:11
7		Spite Y Malice	3:07
8		Crescent	4:40

 

SUBURBAN RHYTHM self titled 1997

(This post is dedicated to T.J.)

Suburban Rhythm is a 17-song obituary for the band of the same name Suburban Rhythm. This compilation is their only CD release, which was produced three years after the band's breakup. It includes three tracks from the Hose demo, the missing song is "Matahari" which the band omitted for various reasons. Four songs from the Almost There 7" EP and nine unreleased songs which were from the aborted LP sessions. The Almost There tracks were taken from these sessions. Five tracks were recorded live at The Black Room in Santa Ana, California.

The artwork features numerous photos, and features liner notes by Tom Dumont guitarist for the band No Doubt. It is currently out of print, and can occasionally be found in bargain bins at record shops, at obscure ska concerts, or online with some effort. - Wikipedia

FRETBLANKET Home Truths from Abroad 1997

by request

Discogs

Tracklist

1	Into The Ocean	3:48
2	Why Can't I Sleep?	3:31
3	Supercool	3:08
4	Killer In A Former Life	3:17
5	Hammer And Tongues	3:55
6	Black Tambourine	3:04
7	The Modern Man	4:08
8	Moneyspin	4:09
9	Accident En Route	4:05
10	Abandon Ship	3:53
11	Green As Green	2:50
12	Me And The Stars	2:21

DYNAMUTT Handbook for Young Scientists 1994

Can't find much about Dyn@mutt on the internets. I really liked this CD and played it a lot on my radio show, especially the song "Crunchtime." As far as I know this was their only full length release on Farrago Records, Houston, Texas. A vinyl compilation called Alles ist Gut! Mixed Fodder Volume One 7 inch EP featured Dyn@mutt, Lozenge, Buddha on the Moon and Tit was also pressed by Farrago Records which was apparently the label's first release.

Discogs 

Tracklist

1	Toss Up	2:17
2	Messianic	3:08
3	Hamster Wheel	3:20
4	Punk Contest	4:11
5	Crunchtime	3:56
6	Breathing	2:57
7	E	2:45
8	Rotten	3:15
9	Intruder	2:54
10	Half-Life	3:19
11	Ambulance Chaser	1:08
12	Simple Machine	3:44
13	Yellow Stick	3:27
14	Runt	1:35