DEAFENING DIVINITIES WITH AURAL AFFINITIES (THE BEGGARS BANQUET COLLECTION) Various Artists 1993

 
Discogs

 

Beggars Banquet compilation (UK version)

 

Tracklist

  1. Radial Spangle - Birthday
  2. Sundial - Star Baby
  3. The Nephilim - Chaocracy
  4. The Hair & Skin Trading Company - On Again Off Again
  5. Mercury Rev - Boys Peel Out
  6. Daniel Ash - Get Out Of Control (Thyroidinal Mix)
  7. Polyphemus - The Sea Map
  8. Carnival Art - Bullet Surprise
  9. Terminal Power Company - Splinterpsyche
10. Love And Rockets - This Heaven
11. Main - Blown (Flight Mix)

INDEPENDENT 20 VOLUME 14 Various Artists 1992

 

Discogs

 

Indie/alternative rock compilation

Tracklist
 
  1. Lush - For Love
  2. Moose - Last Night I Fell Again
  3. Revolver - Don't Ever Leave
  4. Mercury Rev - Car Wash Hair (The Bee's Chasing Me) Full Pull
  5. Throwing Muses - Not Too Soon
  6. Dr. Phibes And The House of Wax Equations - Hazy Lazy Hologram (Edit)
  7. The Sugarcubes - Hit
  8. Catwalk - Damascus
  9. Wonky Alice - Caterpillars
10. Curve - Die Like A Dog
11. The God Machine - Home
12. Silverfish - Jimmy
13. Leatherface - I Want The Moon
14. Midway Still - Wish
15. Gallon Drunk - Some Fools Mess
16. Daisy Chainsaw - Love Your Money
17. Shonen Knife - Space Christmas
18. Captain America - Wow!
19. The Pastels - Thru' Your Heart

GENRECIDE (A COMPILATION VOL. ONE) Various Artists 1993

 

Discogs

 

Compilation from Columbia Records


Tracklist

  1. Ultra Vivid Scene - Blood And Thunder (Remix Edit)
  2. Suede - Metal Mickey
  3. Soul Asylum - Black Gold (Live)
  4. Silverfish - Big Bad Baby Pig Squeal
  5. Ned's Atomic Dustbin - Prostrate
  6. Mercury Rev - Coney Island Cyclone
  7. Brenda Kahn - Mint Juleps And Needles
  8. Gumball - Upsetters Theme Song (Demo)
  9. The Goats - Hip-Hopola
10. Fishbone - Freddie's Dead (Live)
11. fIREHOSE - Blaze (Instrumental)
12. Depth Charge - Bounty Killer (Remix)
13. The Darling Buds - Long Day In The Universe (Remix)
14. Chuck D - Gunslinging Bird Or If Charlie Parker Were A Gunslinger, There'd Be A Whole Lot 
                       Of Dead Copycats
15. The Boo Radleys - Buffalo Bill
16. Daniel Ash - Get Out Of Control (Prostated Mix)
17. Alice In Chains - Right Turn

INDEPENDENT AND ALL STILL TAKING LIBERTIES VOLUME 1 Various Artists 1998

 

Discogs

 

Compilation released by NME New Musical Express magazine

Tracklist

1	Garbage–	Dumb
2	Feeder–	Suffocate
3	Grandaddy–	A.M. 180	3:23
4	Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds–	Red Right Hand
5	Naomi*–	The Dancer	4:51
6	Snapper–	Buddy
7	Mercury Rev–	Tonite It Shows	3:41
8	The Paradise Motel–	Derwent River Star
9	Babybird–	Take Me Back	6:07
10	Cable (2)–	Hexagon Eye	3:54
11	Rialto–	The Underdogs	3:52
12	The Wiseguys–	Search's End
13	Sound 5–	Heavy Transit	3:20
14	The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion–	Attack
15	The Strike Boys–	The Rhyme
16	The Egg–	Number Cruncher (The Porridge Gun Mix)
17	Space (4)–	Disco Dolly

MONSTERS ROBOTS AND BUG MEN A User's Guide To The Rock Hinterland 1996

Discogs

Tracklist  

1-1	–Bardo Pond	Tantric Porno	6:10
1-2	–Long Fin Killie	A Man Ray	3:34
1-3	–God	Gold Teeth (Charles Atlas Mix)	4:27
1-4	–Third Eye Foundation*	Sleep	6:50
1-5	–Hair & Skin Trading Co*	*	2:46
1-6	–Füxa	Photon	3:14
1-7	–Run On	Pretty Note	4:07
1-8	–UI	The Grand Piano	13:55
1-9	–Bowery Electric	Slow Thrills	10:15
1-10	–Brise Glace*	Neither Yield Nor Reap	6:49
1-11	–Pram	Sea Swells And Distant Squalls	6:05
1-12	–Magic Hour	Chance Was	4:56
1-13	–Labradford	SEDR77	4:09
2-1	–Mercury Rev	Everlasting Arm	5:13
2-2	–Flying Saucer Attack	Feedback Song	5:17
2-3	–Jessamine	Ordinary Sleep	3:39
2-4	–Yona-Kit	Dancing Sumo Wrestlers	3:24
2-5	–Windy And Carl*	Preparation	7:12
2-6	–Godflesh	Crush My Soul (Ultramix)	14:11
2-7	–Sabalon Glitz	The Lonesome Death Of Elijah P. Woods	6:22
2-8	–Stereolab	Les Yper-Yper Sound	5:10
2-9	–Cul De Sac	Doldrums	9:20
2-10	–Roy Montgomery	Departing The Body	4:38
2-11	–U.S. Maple	Aplomado	1:52
2-12	–Space Needle	Before I Lose My Style	5:29
2-13	–Stars Of The Lid	Goodnight	6:07

I HATE THE 90s Volume 17

1. MUCHACHA Evelyn Mason
2. THE TRAGICALLY HIP Courage (For Hugh Maclennan)
3. DAISY CHAINSAW I Feel Insane
4. EVERCLEAR Lame
5. REVOLVER Painting Pictures
6. PHONO-COMB Grip 'N' Grin
7. PORTASTATIC Feel Better
8. THE KENT 3 The Duke of Federal Way
9. CAPTAIN CONDOMS Emotionless Honey
10.THE DELTA 72 Rich Girls Like To Steal
11. MERCURY REV Bronx Cheer
12. DEADBOLT Who The Hell Is Mrs. Valdez
13. SPRINGHOUSE Eyesore
14. CALEXICO Glimpse
15. ERECTUS MONOTONE Eat To The Beat
16. THE FOLK IMPLOSION Won't Back Down
17. ANGRY SALAD 99 Red Balloons
18. DRIP TANK Happy Radio
19. NEUTRINO Broked
20. SIANspheric Flow, Ebb & Die
21. THE CUNNINGHAMS Bottle Rockets
22. THE DRAG Quiet Feel
23. THE MERCHANTS OF VENUS Solitary Fighting Man
24. TUGBOAT ANNIE Bird
25. JIM CARROLL Train Surfing

MERCURY REV Boces 1993

Discogs

Artist Biography by Jason Ankeny
From their beginnings as avant-pop pranksters to their evolution into purveyors of rootsy, majestic psych-pop, Mercury Rev weren't so much a band as a long, strange trip. Formed in Buffalo, New York, in the late '80s, the band originally featured vocalist David Baker, vocalist/silver pickup guitarist Jonathan Donahue, guitar shaper/single-exhaust clarinetist Grasshopper (born Sean Mackowiak), rooster-tail bass flutist Suzanne Thorpe, bass explorer Dave Fridmann, and mojo stick drummer Jimy Chambers. The members of the sextet -- always rife with personality conflicts -- interacted with one another infrequently, and their first recordings evolved simply as a means of creating soundtracks for their experimental student films as well as for Howard Nelson's Lite-Brite and Marco Fogg's Sugardaddy Sea.

Encouraged to further their music by academic mentor Tony Conrad -- a minimalist composer and multimedia artist who had performed with John Cale, La Monte Young, and Faust -- the loosely connected aggregate dubbed Mercury Rev (a name whose inspiration was variously attributed to an imaginary Russian ballet dancer, a sharp rise in temperature, or a revved-up auto) began to emerge, and eventually the group recorded a demo onto a reel of 35mm magnetic film. At the same time, Donahue was working as a concert promoter and scheduled a Butthole Surfers gig; after the show, he befriended the support act, Oklahoma's like-minded Flaming Lips, and soon joined the tour as a guitar technician. Ultimately, Donahue -- under the alias "Dingus" -- became the Lips' lead guitarist, and with them recorded 1990's In a Priest Driven Ambulance, an album produced by Fridmann.

With Mercury Rev effectively in limbo and its members scattered across the country, their demo tape somehow made its way to the British offices of the Rough Trade label, which contacted Baker about signing the group. Soon, the band convened to record their debut, Yerself Is Steam, an LP cut at the same time Donahue and Fridmann were also working on the Flaming Lips' major-label bow, Hit to Death in the Future Head. A brilliantly melodic and free-form set highlighted by distorted art pop epics like "Chasing a Bee," "Coney Island Cyclone," and "Frittering," Yerself Is Steam was issued to widespread acclaim in 1991; however, within weeks of the LP's release Rough Trade's American branch declared bankruptcy, aborting any hopes of proper distribution or promotion. Still, a British tour followed, and not without incident; the performances, mounted without any practice sessions, constantly teetered on the brink of disintegration -- set lists were nonexistent, and Baker frequently hopped off the stage (in midsong, no less) to grab a drink. Additionally, the group was reportedly banned from air travel after Donahue attempted to gouge out Grasshopper's eye with a spoon in mid-flight. Following the tour, the members of Mercury Rev again went their separate ways; they found menial jobs, moved in with their parents, or earned money by participating in medical experiments. Finally, Sony signed the group and reissued Yerself Is Steam along with an extra track, the sublime single "Car Wash Hair" (recorded with the aid of Luna's Dean Wareham after Fridmann -- much to his bandmates' dismay -- spent all of their advance money to fund a Bermuda vacation package for his mother).

Amid considerable tension, Mercury Rev set up studio space in a barn to craft their second album; after completing the principal recording sessions, the group collected samples from sites as far-ranging as Times Square and NASA's Cape Canaveral to flesh out the music's dense, prismatic sound. Following the release of the stunning 1993 LP, dubbed Boces for a New York special education program (BOCES), Mercury Rev again toured, even playing the second stage at Lollapalooza; ultimately, the band was kicked off the bill during the festival's Denver stop due to excessive noise -- the electricity to the stage was cut off in mid-performance, and concert security removed their soundman in a headlock. Additionally, an elaborate video for the single "Something for Joey" was shot with the notorious porn star Ron Jeremy, but the clip's suggestive space-age sexcapades and visual double-entendres made mainstream airplay a moot point.
After relations soured to the point where Baker was traveling to gigs apart from his bandmates, he was dismissed from Mercury Rev's ranks; under the name Shady, he returned in 1994 with World, an excellent solo LP recorded with luminaries from the Boo Radleys, Rollerskate Skinny, and St. Johnny. With their newly perfected Tettix Wave Accumulator (patent pending) in tow, the remaining quintet returned to the studio to record 1995's See You on the Other Side, a beautiful, shimmering effort that found the group -- newly freed of Baker's darker impulses -- exploring increasingly diverse stylistic territory with newfound emotional depth. Under the name Harmony Rockets, Mercury Rev also issued 1995's Paralyzed Mind of the Archangel Void, a 40-minute improvisational excursion into ambient noise.

The lovely Deserter's Songs followed in the fall of 1998, and the album's appearance on dozens of best-of lists sparked a renaissance of sorts for Mercury Rev, especially in England. For their next album, they were slated to work with Jack Nitzsche -- famous for his arrangements on many classics of the Phil Spector canon -- until Nitzsche passed away a week before recording began. Expanding on the dramatic blueprint of Deserter's Songs (in a way Nitzsche would surely have been proud of), Mercury Rev released All Is Dream on September 11, 2001. Secret Migration arrived in 2005; reflecting the band's popularity in the U.K., it was released there that winter and in the U.S. that spring. Late 2006/early 2007 was a busy time for the band, with the best-of Essential Mercury Rev: Stillness Breathes 1991-2006, the soundtrack Hello Blackbird, and the mix album Back to Mine all arriving at that time. For 2008's delicate, largely electronic Snowflake Midnight, Mercury Rev moved to Yep Roc; they also released a companion album, Strange Attractor, as a free online download. After a period of change and reflection that saw the band pursuing experimental projects such as performances of Mercury Rev's Cinematic Sound Tettix BrainWave Concerto Experiment at John Zorn's New York City venue The Stone and headlining the 2014 Green Man festival with a performance of Deserter's Songs, the band returned with new music in 2015. The Light in You, a collection of songs Donahue and Grasshopper largely recorded at their Catskills home base with bassist Anthony Molina and engineer Scott Petito, arrived in September of that year.

Tracklist

	Push Me
1	Meth Of A Rockette's Kick	10:28
2	Trickle Down	5:04
3	Bronx Cheer	2:47
4	Boys Peel Out	4:26
5	Downs Are Feminine Balloons	6:25
	Pull Me
6	Something For Joey	4:04
7	Snorry Mouth	10:54
8	Hi-Speed Boats	3:59
9	Continuous Drunks And Blunders	0:47
10	Girlfren	4:39

SHADY World 1994

by request

Discogs

Shady is the post- Mercury Rev project of singer David Baker. The sound of World (Beggars Banquet, 1994) is a hybrid, as if the man was torn between two musical personalities: one being a psychedelic hippie, the other being a country-rock singer-songwriter. The latter half wins the game with Narcotic Candy.

Tracklist  

1	Hey Yeah!	3:59
2	Narcotic Candy	7:25
3	Sugar Sugar Sugar	3:52
4	Prosperous	4:58
5	Rap Soda	3:34
6	Life's Greatest Fool	4:58
7	Soul Of Things To Come	6:37
8	It Sucks Being An Astronaut	3:52
9	Real Ease	6:15
10	Are You Okay?	2:04

HARMONY ROCKETS Paralyzed Mind of the Archangel Void 1998

Thanks to my dear contributor Jenz for this up!

I read on Wikipedia that Harmony Rockets was a side project of Mercury Rev, whom I was very lucky to see at Sluggo's in the late 90's.

Discogs

Tracklist

1

Paralyzed Mind Of The Archangel Void

41:40

MERCURY REV Everlasting Arm EP 1994

Discogs

 

Mercury Rev - Everlasting Arm EP

1. Everlasting Arm (Mercury Rev) [5:27]

2. Deadman (Alan Vega/traditional arrangement by Donahue, Mackowiak) [34:36]

Here's a blurb from the inner sleeve: So it came to pass that Mercury Rev, already working on a track for an upcoming Suicide (former band of Alan Vega's in the 80's) tribute album, suggested a collaboration. Vega offered a reading of "Deadman", a piece he'd written for a book of prose and verse that he was about to publish under Henry Rollins' 2.13.61 imprint. Mercury Rev took "Deadman" home and scored it with a traditional tune borrowed, they claim, from an old Bessie Smith record.