ROCKTOBER 2025

Donna Allen - 2nd Song Diary: Atom-ic Citizen of the Dying Empire [Ever/Never] 

Don’t know if you’ve also been a fan of Chronophage for the past seven years or so, but, if not, they’re well worth checking out. (I’ve written about them some HERE). In that span, Chronophage has shifted from SST-ish outsider punk to something else I’ve seen described as peace punk. I’ve never been enamored with punk sub-sub-sub-genre hairsplitting and, contrarily, subscribe to the notion of “punk” being an extensive, infinitely inclusive descriptor of attitude and approach to making music—dating from the present to at least as far back as The Sonics (if not farther). This is a discursive effort to explain that I have no idea what “peace punk” is and have no idea whether Chronophage is or is not it. What I do surmise, having heard 2nd Song Diary: Atom-ic Citizen of the Dying Empire, the second solo release by Chronophage’s Donna Allen, is that Allen was probably a proponent of the band’s shift toward the gentle and more approachable. I mean, there is mandolin on this record, which is only punk in the sense that it’s the least punk instrument you could put on a punk record. 

The hectic cover artwork belies the altogether pleasant sonic footprint of the record. Emblazoned with “Free Palestine!!”, Atom-ic Citizen is not so much ardently political but ardently human, without a snarl in earshot. I’m not the guy you want dissecting and deconstructing lyrics, but Allen’s songs are rife with longing, wonder and curiosity, richly rendered through religious language on nearly every track (and with the admirable bravery to include allusions to fast food chains right alongside it)—illustrating that the personal and the celestial are one and the same.

The aural palette often consists of acoustic guitar, new agey polysynth, occasional pedal steel (always welcome on my stereo!) and in lieu of d-beat you’re more likely to hear one of those wooden frogs you scrape with a stick, peaceful sure... (Though I must note that the lovely synth instrumental “Embrace of the Embassy” features martial snare drum rolls.) Atom-ic Citizen was cleanly recorded by Sasha Stroud; it sounds very “nice”. “Nice” sounding production is admittedly a stumbling block for me at times (give me ragged and tattered any day) but the record’s sincerity is its greatest strength and the virtuous production is the right choice for Allen’s songs.

The album reaches its highest point early on in “Candle-Watching”. The melodic hook (guitar sublimely doubled by a female voice) is properly gorgeous and its brevity leaves you yearning to—please, please, please—just bask in its presence for a few seconds longer. Brevity is a tool Allen uses to great effect throughout. Of the 12 tracks on Atom-ic Citizen, only two reach the three-minute mark (and one hits three minutes exactly on the dot); many songs hover around or below two minutes.

Among other highlights are the grounded buoyancy of “Telescope Heart”, the country-tinged opener “Tip of an Angel’s Wing” replete with glistening pedal steel courtesy of Ed Allen, and the restless, stirring “Spirits in Flight”. The casual fingerpicked folkiness “Of Our Very Own” reminds me of Allen’s first song diary, which I very much enjoyed. (Still in print, nab one!) Though, Allen can jaunt with the best of them, whether the ambling sort (“Naked, Biological, Free”) or with propulsive rigor (“Nightmare of Dawning”). The album ends on a comparatively blah note with the hazy, cluttered instrumental “Flowers Blossom in the Heat of the Moment” but it's no great splotch on the pristine fabric of Atom-ic Citizen of the Dying Empire. 

Eyes and Flys - All the Tigers in Texas [Record Beach] 

All in all, Eyes & Flys head insect Pat Shanahan self-released eight(!) 7”s and one LP between 2019 and 2023. (Yeah, you are correctly remembering there was a global pandemic for a little while there too.) And, well, with a resume like that Shanahan was bound to get hired by some enterprising label out there. He was hired, sure enough. By himself! And he's the best man for the job, at that. That’s right, now Shanahan’s efforts making calls to pressing plants, waiting in line at the Post Office and paying invoices on-time will now be rewarded with the prestige of saying “I run a record label.” The name of that label is Record Beach. I guess moving from the frozen tundra of Buffalo, NY for the sunny docks of Long Beach a few years ago has given ol’ Pat a new lease on life letting him daydream of a paradise where beaches come fully stocked with records. Certainly the kind of beach that I’d want to hang at. 

But how hard is it to transition from DIY maven to Los Angeles (County) record executive? I may never know but Shanahan makes it look easy. When you ascend to upper management they say: delegate, delegate, delegate and Shanahan was paying attention in those seminars, having delegated vocal duties in Eyes & Flys to Dominic Armao (Sweet Harm, Anxiety Spree). It’s a surprisingly seamless transition. Shanahan’s tough, burly shout (he could probably unwittingly cuddle a kitten to death with his muscles) gave the Eyes an identity, but with Armao in front of the mic, the band retains a lot of that same appeal with a little more swagger. Jumping from the speakers like a sly “Ballroom Blitz” re-write, “All the Tigers in Texas” finds Armao letting loose with his swift sneer preventing things from getting too power-pop in the basement, except the dude tinkling on the glockenspiel at the end who missed the memo. “Seabird” fills out the B-side and it slips into my favorite Eyes & Flys mode, that is homespun fuzz-folk. Vocals retain their brawny heft which makes for a lovely juxtaposition with their soft surroundings. Semi-jangling acoustic guitar tries to stay afloat in a sea of trickling static. Rather than using a drum kit to lead the dynamic shifts, blistering overdubbed electric guitar leads the charge to great effect. Reminds me a bit of Chris Heazlewood or when Grifters went full four-track mode (see: “Dead Already”). One of the best E+F tunes yet! 

Rider/Horse - Matted [Ever/Never] 

The first two Rider/Horse LPs were sick slabs of 2020s noise rock and the duo-now-quartet shows no sign of slowing down on their latest LP Matted. Despite the lineup additions (full time bass player and a previously featured-turned-full time pedal steel player, sweet!) there is no radical shift to the Rider/Horse sound. Thick, thumping, Big Black-but-with-a-real-drummer grooves, alienated, needling vocals, and even the opening song is about horses (“Combing the Horse”) just like the first record! If anything maybe they’ve mellowed? I noted that their second record, Feed ‘Em Salt, moved away from treble frequencies and general spikiness (the guitars didn’t feel like sandpaper rubbing against my cheeks anymore!) and doubled down on human-mechanical grooves. The trend continues.

While not particularly cordial in any way, the band doesn’t sound like it might open up your chest with a switchblade anymore. See “Run the Rabbit”, 100% content to just cruise on a killer melody. Maybe it’s the fact that I just typed c-r-u-i-s-e but Girls Against Boys comes to mind (Cruise Yourself naturally). By no means a one-to-one match, but the vaguely threatening aura, the theoretical funk with all blood drained and replaced with motor oil, the background in head-busting noise and hardcore. Maybe all this time Rider/Horse has been the 21st century Girls Against Boys (that doesn’t actually sound like Girls Against Boys), no wonder why I dig ‘em!

Sometimes another instrument takes the lead (guitar provides a potent melodic counterpoint on “Bored by the Infinite” and “Headache Powder” throbs like an overtaxed heart thanks to a relentless distort-o-bass riff) but Matted is about drums first and foremost. The drums often seem to thud and thwack louder than anything else in the mix (see: “Empty Boxes” or any number of other examples). “Overdressed” is ruthless in its groove, so ruthless that it’s immediately followed by one of a scant few stretches without a groove battering down upon you. That might seem like relief initially but it’s not like “Toen (Restored to Glory by the Light)” is a respite; the track ultimately results with the biggest steamrolling you’re apt to receive over the whole album. “Comb the Horse” is sensational. The bass drops this kind of de-choogled choogle, staccato and robotic, the groove’s ghost lurking somewhere within. The new bassist Jared Ashdown is the secret MVP of the album, whether driving a track or gluing it together, he always seems to be doing exactly the right thing at exactly the right time. Matted’s biggest departure is finale “Small Animals” which makes fine use of that pedal steel to cast an unnerving pall across the drumless space. Don’t put it past Rider/Horse to find a new way to make you feel uneasy just as you’re finding your footing. 

Saint Black - Brown Velvet [Semi-Permanent] 

The extent of my Saint Black knowledge is the last couple releases (as reviewed in these pages), are there more than these two releases? Has Saint Black been releasing music for two-plus decades? A simple web search would (probably) answer this question, but I prefer to live in mystery, and I have a feeling the Saint does as well. Some artists are out there “trying to be understood” but Saint Black just seems to be going about his business whether anyone’s paying attention or not. For my money, that’s how artists ought to be living their lives. Communication is overrated!

A couple tracks really lean into Black’s Calvin Johnson doppelganger presence on the mic: “Two Play” is one of my favorite Saint Black tracks to date and the Calvin thing sticks out even more on “Peculiar Dream Logic”. It sounds like Saint Black was listening to the first Halo Benders LP (an AuxOut favorite) on repeat before laying that one down. Plus, Saint Black manages to give even less of a fuck than Calvin. Bravo!

Elsewhere, you get grunge-metal recorded in a shoebox (“Brown Laughter”), unplugged monotone ditties (“Swim Eagle Swim”), a lullaby so drunk it can barely stand (“Father Goose”), not to mention “Cam Jazz” which is actually melodically plucked acoustic guitar. Unquestionably, the most pleasant moment of any Saint Black recording. “O Word” is another great tune. Acoustic guitar, drum samples, an electric guitar lazily feeding back, and Saint Black putting more effort into actually singing since I can remember.

Don’t catch yourself thinking that Saint Black has gone soft though. While “Bi Tiyjr” may not actually be the Scandinavian black metal muck the title might conjure, it is a recording of Saint Black watching childbirth on Youtube while semi-absentmindedly singing a tune. He actually pauses for a bit to watch the video before resuming playing his song. It’s almost like he's in the process of writing the song… hey, wait a second! Is this some Graham Lambkin-y concept recording, ya know, “the birth of a song” or whatever? “Peculiar Dream Logic”, which is naturally a different song from the other song on the album called “Peculiar Dream Logic”, ends on repeated refrain of “It’s a waste of time”. Music is the greatest waste of time we’ve been given, and the mysterious Saint Black knows that better than most…

The Sheaves - Excess Death Cult Time [Moone/Minimum Table Stacks] 

At the end of 2023, I wrote about some of my favorite bargain bin finds of the year. One record I wrote about was Love It to Death and I mentioned that Phoenix, AZ wasn’t ready for the sounds of Alice Cooper which lead to their white flight into the open, blue-collar arms and ears of Detroit. Well, I hope things have changed in the desert over the past 50 years because if The Coops couldn’t make it in Phoenix, these poor Sheaves don’t stand a chance.

The Sheaves do their part, continuing the DIY lineage that we must never allow to die, following in the footsteps of contemporary era practitioners like The Pheromoans and The Shifters (without The Shifters’ cunning pop sense) and I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re buddy-buddy with Famous Mammals either. Sung (in the theoretical sense of the word) with a raspy, requisite “British-ish” accent, The Sheaves Sound is about as authentic as can be made by 21st century historical interpreters. (You’re only truly authentic if you recorded your single in 1980 Scunthorpe or Stoke-on-Trent anyway. I don’t make the rules.)

Like any underground rock lobber worth its salt, The Sheaves press the word “puritan” into servitude. Oddly enough, “Puritans Ignore Them” (and “Mid-English Perversion”) remind me more of the drifting ballads of early Dead C than the UK’s puritanically-preoccupied usual suspects. Elsewhere, “Saturation Induction” features clear Pink Flag bloodlines and “Good Health” indulges in an inappropriate keyboard solo which seems like something Reptile Ranch might’ve done if they walked a kilometer in Sheaves shoes. So rest assured, those UK-import smelling salts were well used. 

“Program Fantasy” sounds like The Sheaves decided to write a song and changed their mind mid-way through, and that should tell you all you need to know. At the end of “Lariat Slung”, singer Eric Mudd’s voice is played backward and you realize it doesn’t actually sound any different than his normally sloshed cadence. As evidence of their canny commercial-mindedness, they save their catchiest number ‘til the last moment with the appropriately titled “Hit Silly”. I get the sense that the bass player showed up to band practice raving about a great new band called Bauhaus, and all The Sheaves collectively cried “let’s try sounding like that!” It worked.

In a win for consumers everywhere, Excess Death Cult Time was later released on vinyl by the intrepid Minimal Table Stacks in addition to the cassette by Phoenix’s own Moone Records in 2022. Choose your own analog adventure! 

Linda Smith - Till Another Time [Slumberland] 

Continuing AuxOut’s occasional mission (okay, digression) to highlight great 90s Slumberland singles that are still in print (see: Beatnik Filmstars), Till Another Time is a three-songer from hometaper Linda Smith. Smith has been in operation since the 80s releasing her music on the likes of Shrimper, Slumberland (obviously) and her own Preference Recordings imprint. In the past several years, Captured Tracks has taken up the mantle reissuing some of her music. I’m no Linda Smith scholar (although that would be a pretty cool thing to be) but I do enjoy this little record.

Recorded in 1993, listening some 22 years later, Smith still easily laps the many modern-day bedroom pop practitioners that have come in her stead. The A-side titled “Till Another Time” is lonely, soothing, and draws blood all at the same time. Some kind of mechanical buzzsaw dream pop overdose, a glimpse of heaven via alternating current. A stunner!

The second side offers two more tracks. “I Just Had To” draws on NZ-esque charm pop with ghostly vocals that would have convinced the 4AD school admissions board to grant Smith entrance with full scholarship. Such loveliness rattling away upon the cheapest drum machine money can buy (if any money was exchanged at all for the junker). "I Just Had To" is my least favorite track and it's still undeniably great! The finale “In This” is an absolute delight. Some kind of Marine Girls joining forces with Dolly Mixture fantasy taking place in the mind of a genius. The earworm guitar lick hooks me every time and then Smith tortures me with a long detour in the middle of the song making me wait ‘til the end to hear it again. Yet I keep coming back for more. There is no earthly reason not to own this. CLASSIC. 

Somerset Meadows - Recycle Your Dreams [Brain Genius] 

Normally when bands opt for a half studio/half live situation, I think it’s a bad idea. I don’t often get hyped about live albums and generally ignore the live half of the record (see: (Untitled) by The Byrds) and petulantly whine about them not putting their energy into another studio effort. Well, Portland quartet Somerset Meadows have gone where no band has gone before: they’ve put out a half studio/half live record where I actually much prefer the live side. Recycle Your Dreams (great title) is pressed on White Powerade-colored vinyl (special Arctic Shatter limited edition?) with Somerset Meadows symmetrically slapping on six songs per side, all but inviting a duel between the recording environments.

The studio side was recorded on “an exploding 8-track tape machine” which implies a much more dangerous or fucked up sounding recording. Without this note, however, the somewhat staid sound of the recording would’ve led me to believe that the tape machine was in perfect working order! It sounds fine and has its moments (the shredding guitar solo of “Just Another Lifetime”, the almost hypnotic rhythm of “Wide Open”, the uptempo pep-in-the-step of “The Waterfall”) but the band instantly gets a shot in the arm when you flip the record over to the live side. “Roll Out!” slashes out of the gate like a classically trained punk, fist-raised, and “All Summers Now” recalls the post-hype live GBV sound, all drum fills, chunk riffs and warbling vocals.

I’m genuinely curious about the spoken introduction to “Spotlight” which is: “This next song is the ninth song on our new album.” (Yes, “Spotlight” is the ninth song on the record.) Causing me to wonder if there was a predetermined concept here to record the first half of the album in the studio and the second half live, all with a pre-sequenced track order? Bold move, if so! The album ends with some of its strongest material. All feature some great guitar work, the rollicking “I’m Going to Break You Down” (my favorite), “I’m So Tall” (cool opening lick) and the closing title track about moving on from one passion to make room for a new passion to enter your life. A worthy message we can all stand to hear once in a while. Now, is there a new opening for Somerset Meadows to dream of making an all-live record? We shall see. 

T.T.T.T. - I Saw You on the Bloody Floor [Record Beach] 

Ah, the rarely employed quadruple consonant acronym band name. Has anyone else been successful with that paradigm aside from C.C.C.C.? Has anyone else even tried? Well, Buffalo’s T.T.T.T. is fearlessly throwing its hat in the ring, and while the title I Saw You on the Bloody Floor would certainly encourage the thought of a C.C.C.C.-style feedback-ridden onslaught, its debut 7” goes down like a spoonful of sugar, comparatively speaking.

The title track volleys between the psych-groove-hypnotism of that initial Wooden Shjips 10” and the Echoplex’d-to-death garage-crush of early Comets on Fire. Favorite moment? The half-hearted, possibly inebriated closing drum fill. A.I. could never pull that off! The first half of “Mountain King Killed My Car” is a little ho-hum but when it shifts to the second act, it gets real badass right quick—I realize it's a carefully plotted bait and switch! A sinister surf bassline kidnaps the song and all the drums and guitar can do is try to keep up.

Despite being slated as the B-side, “On the Sleigh of the Damned” gets its own side to stretch its limbs. The track has a great late 60s strung out deathgroove, maybe a touch like Sex Church but with a far better chance of landing a soundtrack spot in a miniseries about the Manson murders. My favorite of the bunch! The problem here is I don’t know how the hell I’m supposed to pronounced “T.T.T.T.”. Am I really supposed to say “Tee-Tee-Tee-Tee” out loud when guests at my next cocktail party ask me where to find new blasts of burnt out psych squall?? 

V.Vecker - Hololine [Drongo Tapes] 

I know they’re out there (just like the truth) but I must confess I haven’t been keeping tabs on the cosmophonists lately. I was a big Radiant Husk guy back in the day (still am!) and this cassette by V.Vecker recalls that fellow celestial sax voyager. Hololine is split into two pieces “Holo” and “Line” (imagine that), the former being self-recorded and the latter being recorded north of the border by the illustrious Chris Dadge. “Holo” is heavy, dude. I don’t know what V.Vecker’s process is. A live improvisation? Multi-tracked affair? There’s such depth of sound that there must be (at minimum) loops orbiting (whether prepared or improvised) resulting in enough gravity to shift some planets out of alignment. Whether a honk, screech or a bowel-agitating motif, V.Vecker wrangles a range of sounds from the horn in a drifting vacuum of inevitability. (Please don’t run any of those metaphors by an actual physicist.) “Line” is calmer, more melodic; more of an exploring the cosmos full of wonderment type of affair rather than a gradual planetary implosion like the first side. Vecker surfs along amiably until being swallowed up in self-generated feedback and escaping just quickly enough to see what’s on the other side of the wormhole. The two sides resonate well together, sweet and sour, yin and yang. If you’re up for interstellar sax travel, get your ticket. Thumb up from me.

Radiant Husk - Points and Lines [Bezoar Formations]/Sogol - Miniature Orbits [Bezoar Formations]

I really love Matthew Erickson's projects, dude's gotta be one of the more under-appreciated guys going today in my opinion, and this pair of tapes from Radiant Husk (Erickson's solo mainstay) and Sogol which I'm guessing is a one-off project by Erickson as well are two more entries that will continue to spread the gospel of Matthew. Erickson's Bezoar Formations imprint dropped these sometime last year and it looks like the label is gearing up to drop another batch soon.

Side A is christened as "Thermal Beings." It starts with waves of Erickson's signature reeds, which are accompanied by tapes, keys and wave machine on this recording. Erickson also jams it in the killer guitar/sax duo Sudden Oak, but where SO has a rough, evershifting sound, Radiant Husk slowly puts together these gorgeous little miniatures. The project doesn't generally work in the long form but develops a series of episodes through course of a side. Erickson's work here is so deliberate and in tune; he gradually builds these little hills before letting the sea in to erode them away. Then a solitary saxophone will often take the lead once more. Radiant Husk features one of the more unique saxophone voices out there, it's not really jazz and it's not your average basement reedage either. Erickson creates a complex field of sound with it; you could almost dive in. One of my favorite moments happens later on the side where Erickson tries to squeal through the lively swamp of loops he created. The other element at work here that has to be mentioned is the place of rhythm in the project. Rather than just looping sustained blasts of sax over and over (nothing wrong with that FYI) Erickson often creates these gentle, rhythmically complex and highly contagious tapestries.

The second side "Lines 1-7" begins with a single echoing saxophone grunting away in the silence. From the single sax it mushrooms into a sheet of sound before getting stomped out by a deep ominous reed growl. Over a cyclical set of loops Erickson delivers a brief solo before promptly moving into the next section, an almost tribal amalgam. This passage is shortlived as well and segues into a beautiful bit of filtered sax. The tape keeps moving, rapidly hopping from section to section. Quiet nudges of sound shift to cavernous reed squeaks and that's all folks.

I'm pretty sure this Sogol tape is Erickson as well. It's focused on keyboards but it still bears his stamp. Miniature Orbits is a perfect title for this tape as it's a pastiche of beautiful, stand alone miniatures. It's difficult to properly describe but the sections range from a minute or so to seconds long. They tend to be very minimal, some only featuring a few notes. There's some pause button stitchwork in here too, so if you're down with other keyboard/cassette combos out I'm sure you'd climb aboard here with no trouble. Some sections could be the sound track of a UFO hovering over San Francisco, others are more full, new agey and soothing. It's wonderful little tape, each nutshelled idea contributing to the whole.

The second side is much like the first moving between floaters and more grounded minimal bee-boop experiments. There's a rather long passage on the B-side that stumbles through echoing single key plonks, pitter-pattering around, dodging trebly pitch swells.

Pretty much everything with the Bezoar tag will be ace but these two both come highly recommended. It looks like there are still a couple copies of the Rad Husk tape kicking around Bezoar Formations but you'll have to seek the Sogol tape at the distros.

Various Artists - A Fundamental Experiment [No Label]

A Fundamental Experiment is a compilation LP curated by Matt Erickson (Sudden Oak, Radiant Husk, the Bezoar Formations label) as a benefit for his bandmate in guitar/sax duo Sudden Oak who miraculously survived a fall from the roof of a three story building. You can get the full story here, but needless to say it's a good cause and all proceeds from the sale of this record go to it.

As far as the music goes, Erickson has assembled a who's who of the current psych scene along with a few names unknown to me. The record exists entirely of Neil Young covers, though I am not clear on how that came about I will take it. Julian Lynch kicks off with "Sedan Delivery" delivering a shambling, auto-wah'd ditty brimming with filtered vocals and tambourine. Metal Rouge contributes "Helpless" steeped in more fuzz than I almost thought possible. The vocals are obscured to the point of unintelligibility and the lead guitar ripples and scratches in static. The only thing coming through semi-clearly being the lethargic thud and crash of the drums. Good track. Sam Goldberg flips the script and brings a straight-up ambient cover of "Transformer Man" turning the electro/new wave jam into an atmospheric composition. Swanox comes next with "Thrasher." There's a minimal approach here like the Goldberg track except Swanox retains the "songness" of the original with just a voice and a vigorously strummed, fuzzed out guitar. On what has to be my favorite cut of the record, Sun Araw infiltrates "Barstool Blues" with his sleepy eyed hippie-chic for a match made in heaven. Generous helpings of fuzz and wah, great guitar leads, relentlessly mellow conga and fantastically buried falsetto vocals little the track. So, so jammable. I love it.

Side B opens with Stag Hare doing "Cortez the Killer." Layering sheets of echoing guitar on lackadaisical drums and topping it all off with soft, effected vocals, Stag Hare delivers a real nice, almost breezy rendition. Laurentide Ice Sheet, the first of three names unknown to me, changes things up with a relatively faithful cover of "Southern Man." Or at least about as faithful as a synth & drum machine cover can be. Anguished vox and octave-fuzz-laden guitar leads pave the way though. Another one of my favorites here. Trevor Healy brings an acoustic guitar (or perhaps a banjo) along for the ride on "Round and Round" which is the first of the record I think. He keeps with the overall vibe of the record supplying enough reverb to smooth out all of the corners. " Avocet is the last of the new names and their cover of "Expecting to Fly" is pretty darn good. Beginning sparsely with vocals and a lonely thumb piano, the track recalls Larkin Grimm and other such minimal folk artists. Matt Mondanile sheds the Ducktails moniker for his very capable and unadorned cover of "Look Out for My Love." Sticking strictly to voice and acoustic guitar Mondanile really just lets the quality of the song shine through. Very good track, another favorite.

This a good collection of material and the Neil Young aspect of it unites the record in an interesting way. If you like any of the artists involved here (including Neil Young) you should definitely pick up a copy of this seeing as your money would be going to a very worthy cause. Edition of 300 with silk-screened jackets and insert, though apparently Matt is down to less than a hundred copies. Get the record here.

Oh, and check out Sudden Oak too if you haven't, they rule.

Auxiliary Out Radio Programme #59 (3/14/10)

Radiant Husk "Spring Snow" Atolls [Faulkner Tapes forthcoming] (CS)

Boy+Girl "Side A (excerpt)" Dice Cuts [St. Petersburg Institute of Noise 2010] (CS)

Lee Noble “Sick for a Week” Darker Half [Bathetic 2010] (CS)

Fag Cop "I'm Fucking Dead" Complete Shit Vol. 1 [Eat 2008] (7")

Banana Head "In the Tubs" In the Tubs [Goaty Tapes 2009] (CS)

Slasher Risk "Side A (excerpt)" Chillers [Baked Tapes 2010] (CS)

Yellow Swans "Limited Space" Going Places [Type 2010] (CD)

Millions “Static and Distance (excerpt)” Static and Distance [Obsolete Units 2008] (3" CD-r)

The Spits "Live in a Van" IV [Thriftstore/Recess 2009] (LP)

Cetacean Trancefer "Side B (excerpt)" Cetacean Trancefer [Sick Head Tapes 2009] (CS)

Sean McCann "I Waked Up Early One Morning (excerpt)" I Waked Up Early One Morning [DNT 2009] (VHS)

Rambutan "Everything is Water (excerpt)" Split with Chapels [Stunned 2009] (CS)

Dth "I Hope I Can Feel Something Like That One Day" I Hope I Can Feel Something Like That One Day [No Label 2010] (mp3)

Home Blitz "Sliding Decks" Out of Phase [Richie 2009] (LP)

Maths Balance Volumes “Tried to Make a Call” Tried to Make a Call [Bum Tapes 2008] (CS)

Arklight "Boshinstvo Outgrowths/Manifestations of Doubt" The Callow Summit [Faulkner Tapes forthcoming] (CS)

Velvet Chrome "Etude en Psychobilly" Readymades [Hobo Cult 2009] (CD-r)

Basil Poledouris "Rock Shop" Robocop [That's Entertainment! 1987] (LP)

Charlatan "Pyramids" Equinox [House of Sun 2009] (CS)

Night of Pleasure "No Vibrations" Night of Pleasure [Faulkner Tapes forthcoming] (CS)

Josh Burke "Side B (excerpt)" Imagination [Housecraft 2009] (CS)

Hunting Rituals "Spirit Wok (excerpt)" Spirit Wok [Tape Drift 2010] (CD-r)

The Hospitals “Ape Lost” Hairdryer Peace [No Label 2008] (LP)

Monopoly Child and Black Joker "Side A (excerpt)" Star in "Nightlife on Horseback" [Pacific City 2009] (CS)

Sudden Oak - Causeways of the Sun [Bezoar Formations]

Killer cassette released in the summer by Sudden Oak, San Franciscan guitar/sax duo of John Ward and Matt Erickson (Radiant Husk/Bezoar Formations). I’ve been sitting on this hot little number for far too long.
The first of seven pieces goes straight to the heart of murky psych land. Smoky GHQish vibes abound as fuzzy guitar and fuzzy sax blend into the same hazy cloud. The last minute reveals a great, excellently placed, nearly DJ Primo-esque loop adding a lovely rhythmic bob to all the freeforminess that preceded it. The second piece is less droned, even incorporating some straight up psych-rock guitar melodies. I like the way the sax can kind of hide within the track and then pop out with these tense, vibrant bleats pushing the piece into a different realm. The last piece of the side starts with a rather up front high pitched guitar melody before falling back into a dynamic, beautifully astral stream of sounds.
The first piece from the second side brings in drums out of nowhere. I don’t even know if there’s guitar or sax on here, all I’m hearing is drums and fuzz. It’s an awesome rumble though and breaks up the otherwise percussion-less tape nicely. The next track continues the foray into rhythm with a repetitive guitar strum. That strum builds tension which is further heightened by occasional frantic sax work. The ending is pretty great too, with swarms of angry wasp-styled sounds before rolling a cool short sax melody. The side’s third piece plays things a lot more quietly than anything else on the tape; it’s much airier, looser and eases up on the poisonous, fuzzy fog that drenches everything else. The final piece wanders further from the guitar/sax instrumentatio, using a recording of sloshing water.
The tape is still available from Bezoar Formations, I recommend grabbing it along with Radiant Husk’s Beyond the Endless Swale, since it’s still in print and one of my favs from last year. Causeways of the Sun looks great too, as is usual with Bezoar.

Favorites of 2008 (if anyone still gives a shit)

So now that we're into the second month of the new year here is my "best of" list. What a disgrace I am. I had some hindrances but it's still pretty pisspoor journalistic activity. Anyway, for anyone who finds this to be still relevant, I hope you dig this in all its mostly-written-in-December-but-posted-in-February glory...

Last year I was too burnt out (and not a big enough fan of "best of" lists to compensate for it) to make a list, but had I, I probably woulda said the best record of the year would be Kevin Shields' The Death of Patience or The Cherry Blossoms' LP with best track going to the Yellow Swans' side of their split 7inch with The Goslings. For some reason I feel a bit more up to doing one of these things and maybe it'll be lame but I'll never know if I don't try it out. I didn't want to do a hierarchal "Top 20" or anything but the first section are the records that just blew me away the most this year, while the second section is bunch of other great records I listened to a lot. All are worth hearing, and if I hadn't gotten sick of writing this there'd be a shit ton more records listed here.

Gang Wizard God-Time-Man Universal Continuum Calibration Disc (LP) [Green Tape/Lost Treasures of the Underworld/olfactory/Tanzprocesz]
What an album. This thing is a total monstrosity. Each of the three tracks here are brilliant but I can't not listen to this as a whole. It just doesn't feel complete otherwise. I don't know how it happened, but it feels like there some's divine hand guiding all the mayhem here. Whether intentional or not this sounds like the most meticulously constructed record I've heard all year. It's just perfect.


Night of Pleasure Night of Pleasure (7") [Columbus Discount]
So technically this came out last year but I didn't hear it until this year so... I don't give a shit, it is going on this list. This record can't be more than 6 or 7 minutes in total but I listened to these three songs (especially the b-side "Bitch Pitch") possibly more than any of other group of songs this year. I have a huge soft spot for basement scuzz rock and this 7inch is kind of a distillation of what's great about that style. It doesn't hurt that records has HOOKS (note the capitalization). It was still in print last time I checked and super cheap. Strongly recommended.

Blank Dogs Untitled (7") [Daggerman]
Probably could have put any of Blank Dogs output from this year on this list so I'll save some space by just putting my favorite. "In a Web" is an instant classic worth a million plays with it's euphoric detuned central riff and ominous baritone vocals. "They Said" and "Stuck Inside the World" aren't too shabby either. All hail 2008's darkest pop sorcerer.


Mudboy MUDMUX Vol. 1 (7") [DNT]
This 7inch is amazing on all fronts, great artwork, clear blue vinyl and most of all two equally sensational (but different) sides. Mudboy takes on two songs here and remuxes them, still not quite sure what that entails, but the final product is an absolute beauty, whether its the eerie, impossibly groovy jam on the first side or plaintive accordion ballad on backside. Just a phenomal single. When the hell do I get to hear Vol. 2 already??













Ducktails Untitled (7") [Breaking World]/Ducktails/Mudboy Summer of Saucers [DNT]
Maybe more than any other artist this, Ducktails has made waves in the underground and rightly so. These two pieces of the Ducktails saga seem the most essential to my ears. The 7inch features the supergroovy, sunshinin' cosmitropic Ducktails sound with four (or is it three) songs and the tape dials down the rhythmic factor creating a gorgeous 13 minute free floating, adventure through space that moves though a handful of movements concluding with a lonely but still smilin' acoustic guitar.

The Hospitals Hairdryer Peace (LP) [No Label]
I remember reading somewhere an enthusiastic listener calling this album "the best record of the past two years!" Now, I wouldn't go that far but it's probably one of them. Like that Gang Wizard LP this record really feels like an album. There are a couple songs here that are great by themselves ("Animals Act Natural"; "Dream Damage") but the 14 songs here sound their best within the context of the album. Complete with its recurring, national anthemic riff, this album absorbs you into its world; listening is almost like a trek through a noisy jungle. The Hospitals find total sonic synergy in this messy, ragged collision of cacophony and rock songs. I can imagine in the future, having kids and putting this one on the turntable and saying "take a seat, we're going to listen to a great album." It feels like one of those albums you don't forget.

Caldera Lakes Caldera Lakes (CD-r) [Sentient Recognition Archive]
Man oh man, I was not prepared for how good this Caldera Lakes shit is. Obviously, I knew it would be (or at least should be) because Eva Aguila is one of the most consistent artists around but Caldera Lakes (which is Aguila and Brittany Gould of Married in Berdichev) have unlocked a section of the sound spectrum no one new existed. All their releases deliver the same sublime, harsh/soothing beauty but this release in particular I really connected with maybe only because it was the first I heard. Though I will assert that "Tornado" is the finest kernel of sound they have yet produced: a mess of feedback, siren-like vocals and an amazing construction of loops. Whatever release it is, you need Caldera Lakes in your life.

Oneohtrix Point Never Ruined Lives (CS) [Young Tapes]
So when I initially noticed this project I read the name as "Oh-nee-oh-tricks", then "One-oh-tricks" and now I'm pretty sure it's "One-oh-tree" a little like Tweety Bird saying "103". If anyone has information on this matter don't hesitate to get in touch. Regardless of the pronunciation this may be the most stunning, beautiful tape I've heard this year and I'm really kicking myself I didn't jump on this guy's stuff earlier in the year. I respect the approach taken here because it's dreamy but not because it's drenched in reverb or obscured in any way. Instead, a cosmic new age palette is employed to it's fullest extent. The thing is though, even the great stuff from the cosmic new age style still has a quaint cheesiness to it and this tape is so genuine and moving that there is nothing quaint or cheesy about it. It's simply a lovely, brooding, lonely score to an imaginary space age romance. Or so my mind hears it. As soon as it ends, I flip it over and immediately play it again. Space has never sounded so lush.

Black Pus/Foot Village Split (LP) [Deathbomb Arc/DNT]
Brian Chippendale has outdone himself with his side here. Some of it was released awhile back as part of the DBA tape club but I never heard it then so it's all new to me. "Floatzilla" was my election night theme song as I have mentioned before. Relentlessly groovy, relentlessly great. Oozing with positive vibes and posessing your body with dance movements you never thought possible. "The Black Whole" is also brilliant synth only stuff that has a different feel than all other synth jammers I've heard. Synth dudes take note. The flipside contains Foot Village at their most furious and hilarious, worth hearing as well.

Ex-Cocaine/Yellow Swans Split (LP) [Not Not Fun]
I don't know what kinda stuff the DYSwans have in the vault but their side of this LP may as well be their swansong (pun realized but not intended). 15 minutes of hulking majestic blackened beauty. A perfect outro for the one of the greatest bands in history and the best live performers I've ever witnessed. Ex-Cocaine also contributes the best shit they've ever made including an awesome Meat Puppets cover.


Maths Balance Volumes Information is Pain (CS) [Taped Sounds]
Don't know much (read: anything) about these two(?) dudes(?) other then they live somewhere out in Minnesota. This tape, from what I think is the latest carnation of Lieven Marten's Belgian Bread & Animals label, is a potentially addictive substance. An unknowable combo of stewed tapes, guitar blues and slurred vocals--that's my guess anyway. Catchy and creepy; they do their thing like no one else.



Angel Snake/Monopoly Child Star Searchers Split (CS) [New Age Cassettes/Pacific City]
Of the thousands of Ferraro/Clark projects that come out every year, I guess it seems logical some would get lost in the shuffle but it's a bummer this one seemed to be. It's the first instance I've heard of Ferraro on one side and Clark on the other and I think works out great. The first part of Side A is one of my favorite things to come from Ferraro's brain or even the Skaters' collective brain. On the B-side contains the strongest overall Star Searchers release in my opinion; same style as the other releases but just done better for some reason. Typically zonked fold out full-sized paper cover.

Little Women Teeth (LP one-sided) [Gilgongo]
A supreme twenty minute scorcher with plenty of moments of beauty and plenty of anguish emanating from guitar, drums and dueling saxophones. This is virtuosity matched with inspiration. Not much more to say.

Du Hexen Hase Under the Clouds of Sleep (3" CD-r) [No Label]
This little disc is an anomaly to me because it's a pretty long piece at 17ish minutes and relatively little changes throughout its course but it's one of the most listenable, affecting pieces of music I've heard all year. Total bleakness but with an ever present glimmer of hope. If you weren't one of the lucky 47 to score a copy of this, I heard a rumor that it may be reissued as a split LP with Blue Sabbath Black Cheer which would be totally boss. Say your prayers for that.

Bulbs Light Ships (CD) [Freedom to Spend]
Unlike just about everything else that made it onto this favorites of 08 list, this album didn't get on here because I couldn't stop listening to it. I've listened to it a fair amount, sure, but this isn't quite ear candy in the way that most other stuff here is. Don't get the impression I don't like this, cause I do very much, but this is a record I really respect. One that challenges and amazes me every time I pull it out. It contains too many mysteries, and surprises that never fail to surprise, to not hear it. Very much worth the listening investment.

Vapor Gourds Dagger Magic (CS) [Yeay! Cassettes]
This tape has been trapped in my walkman since I got basically. I've always wanted to hear something like this, even trying and failing to create it myself. Lucky for me Vapor Gourds has succeeded. 30 minutes of short beats of all types, though the best are the ones with the hip hop stylee in my opinion. This tape makes me want to record some rhymes over it Grey Album-style (well Grey Album in reverse anyway). The finale is just impeccably classic too. Yeay! did a great job matching the the audio magic with visual magic, 4 or 5 color screenprinted cover and screenprinted tapes in a ghettofab/cartoonish font. Peep it and absorb it.

Radiant Husk Beyond the Endless Swale (CS) [Bezoar Formations]
Dudes, check this tape out. Even the casual reader probably knows how much I love the sax but the thing is it always seems kinda typecast despite being great (like Brian Cox). Enter Matthew Erickson's (Sudden Oak, Anenome Lodge) solo project Radiant Husk. The guy takes a saxophone (along a bit of electronics and keyboards and whatnot) and just paints the sky beautiful, ominous, static-y colors with it. Unique and transcendent and all sorts of synonyms for rad. I guess its kinda noisy and droney and psychedlic but none of those tags seem to capture it. Everytime I roll tape I'm continually amazed. Well worth the meager 5 bucks Bezoar is asking for. Bonus: acid trout collage on the back of the j-card.

Other pieces of the puzzle:
The Skaters Physicalities of the Sensibilites of Ingrediential Strairways (LP) [Eclipse]
Some people seemed to be down on this record, but I dig it. It's another solid platter of the sound only the Skaters can create.




Cheveu Cheveu (LP) [S-S]
Brilliant lo-fi French electro-punk from the sweetly pummeling "Superhero" to the utterly creepy but still kinda beautiful "Happiness"




Girl Talk Feed the Animals (CD) [Illegal Art]
Not the impeccably crafted masterwork that Night Ripper was but still a great pop record. I'm a sucker for this guy's stuff.




Nice Face Can I Fuck It (CS) [Jerkwave]
Don't know anything about this Nice Face guy other than he knows how to write a song. Check "Way it's Gotta Be" for proof. Fuzzed to the nuts (did I just write that?) with more hooks than a pirate ship. (wait did I just write that??) Extra points for putting this gem out on cassette rather than vinyl as most of his contemporaries do.


Nobunny Love Visions (LP) [Bubbledum]
Now that Nobunny has released this LP millions of people can throw away their anti-depressants and just put on "I am a Girlfriend" when they're feeling blue. It is literally impossible for me to listen to that song without getting up and dancing and loving life. The rest of the record is great too which is a total bonus cause it'd be worth having for that song alone.


The Pope Do You Wanna Boogie? (CS) [DNT]
Riotous, feedback stained shit rock. Totally great and so totally necessary to hear it on tape. Supposedly their last release (lame) R.I.P. the Pope







Black Orphan Circuits [UFO Dictator]/Black Orphan Video Kids [Hozac]
Don't know what it is about the midwest but it seems more, often than not, the best songs from this year came from there. "XX Spectrum" and "Video Kids" are utterly fantastic.

Traum Ecke Traum Ecke (CS) [Goaty Tapes]
I think this duo is guitar and keyboard and may have just been a one-off since I haven't seen anything else by them around. The first side is really ambient magic crystal drone stuff and the flip retains the floatiness with a nice subtle groove. Excellent packaging from Goaty as well with bitchingly bright yellow tapes.



Caldera Lakes Caldera Lakes (CS) [905 Tapes; Blackest Rainbow; Deathbomb Arc]
Each of these Caldera Lakes tapes is pretty evenly matched so I'm just putting all three on here. As mentioned before Caldera Lakes just have an amazing sound and any of these tapes will give you glimpse of it. I just happen to be extra nuts about that sound so I picked up every Caldera Lakes release I could find this year and I'm not even one of those completist types. The Blackest Rainbow one features fantastic artwork by Jake Blanchard too.

Kevin Shields/Droughter Split (CS) [Heavy Psych]
Probably most people that read this are aware by now how much I love Eva Aguila's Kevin Shields project so obviously I picked up this tape. To my surprise, and while the KS side is solid, I was really impressed with the B-side. Droughter brings it for 17 straight minutes never letting up and, here's the important part, never getting boring. One of the finest long form noise tracks I've heard this year.












Locrian Burying the Carnival/Exhuming the Carnival (CS) [No Label]/Locrian Rhetoric of Surfaces (CD) [Bloodlust!]
It seems like these guys have been around for a while and some how I missed 'em. Too bad for me. I remember hearing "Burying a Carnival" for the first time and thinking "Shit, how did I not know about these guys". Fantastic blackened noise/drone stuff that's up there with the greats of the genre.

Super Minerals The Piss (CS) [DNT]/Super Minerals The Thaw (CS) [Not Not Fun]
This duo is my personal favorite from the Magic Lantern web. I dig how The Piss sounds like it was recorded in some dank air pocket ten feet below the earth's surface. Never heard drones so dry and moldy before. The Thaw meanwhile has got to be biggest bang for your buck of the year, a c120 of the greatest hits of SM's own private stock.

Tricorn & Queue Tapestry Head Ban [Housecraft]
I'm sucker for a brilliant drone stuff which is why this is on the list. The first
piece, oh man, it's just beautiful as hell.







Do Tell Sewn to the Current [Housecraft]
I'm a sucker for brilliant drone pt. 2... The mastermind behind this 90 minute double cassette somehow manages to keep you floating for its whole duration.







Mincemeat or Tenspeed All Critters (LP) [Big Monies Tapes/Deathbomb Arc/Malleable]
So no computers, samplers, musical instruments... dude, what then??! Somehow this was created without any of those things, and fuck, what an impressive record it is. Gnarly techno-surf shit. Check it out.

Gay Beast Disrobics (LP) [DNT]
Gay Beast was actually supposed to be here on the 31st of Dec but sadly it appears to have fallen through but at least I have this LP to get me through. GB have a great sound visceral, angular and mathematically complex/precise which somehow makes it seem even more raw. Solid album and "Cock" and "Good Government" are two of the finest songs of '08

Lateral Hyetography Some Girlzzz (CS) [Really Coastal]
Not much to say about this cassingle other than it's a wonderfully epic pop number and I can't wait for more.






John Thill The Sluts (CS) [JK Tapes]
I can rarely understand a word this guy is singing when I do it's usually a bit creepy but this tape is the best folk/songwriter release I've heard this year I think. Dude, knows how to write a pretty song and a hilarious review.





Night of Pleasure/Day Creeper Split (7") [No Label]
Great self-released split from Columbus crews, Night of Pleasure and Day Creeper. More great messy NoP stuff is matched the more pop stylings of Day Creeper featuring the especially great bedroom bombast of "My Blue Screen".

Fag Cop Psychic Sickness (7") [Milk N Herpes]
My friend said that Fag Cop is scuzz rock. The more I think about it I'm inclined to agree. All songs are great but "Automatic Kansas" is the best of the gnarly, gnarled bunch. I may have found a reason to go to Kansas.

AFCGT AFCGT (10") [Dirty Knobby]
Local legends A Frames and Climax Golden Twins unite and make history. See them live, they will rattle your brain loose.





I also want to give a special mention to DNT records. I know I didn't hear everything that was released by every label last year but, for my money, DNT put on a better show than anyone else. Every release ranged from good to fucking classic, the artwork was always great etc. etc. and prices are CHEAP. I was impressed to no end and it looks like DNT has plans to top itself next year--look at the upcoming release schedule, it's stacked!