Monster Magnet – Forget About Life, I'm High On Dope [Cass] (1989, Cool Beans)

New Jersey native Dave Wyndorf was already a rock & roll veteran by the time he formed Monster Magnet in 1989, having cut his teeth with little-known punk band Shrapnel (also featuring future punk producer Daniel Rey on guitars) in the late '70s before retiring from music altogether. But after teaching himself guitar, Wyndorf began assembling Monster Magnet with a handful of fellow New Jersey natives, vocalist Tim Cronin, guitarist John McBain, bassist Joe Calandra, and drummer Jon Kleiman. Fusing their metal, punk, space rock, and psychedelic influences, the band developed a sludgy, feedback-heavy hard rock sound that helped them stand out from the era's burgeoning retro-rock movement -also counting The Black Crowes, White Zombie, and many others.

 
This is Monster Magnet's very first release only available on cassette, that they released on their own label, Cool Beans, in 1989. Essentially it is a collection of 4 track demos, with several of the songs being re-recorded for later albums. For these recordings, Monster Magnet was a three piece consisting of Dave Wyndorf, John McBain, and Tim Cronin. Their debut owes a huge debt to Hawkwind, psychedelia and drugs. They even cover Hawkwind here ("Brainstorm"). It is a noisy stew of abrasive trippy rock. Some of the vocals are questionable but, altogether, this is quite a journey for psych lovers of all stripes. [SOURCE: RATE YOUR MUSIC]

 

 

Label: Cool Beans – none 

Format: Cassette, Limited Edition 

Country: US 

Released: 1989 

Style: Space Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Stoner Rock, Jam Band, Punk Rock, Noise Rock

 

Tracklist:

A1 Lizard Johnny 6:44 

A2 Black Wawa 3:14 

A3 Eight Ball 5:23 

A4 Brainstorm 5:24 

A5 Freak Shop USA 4:30 

B1 Tab 22:05 

 

Notes: 

This is the track listing and cover art for the second release of the tape, which includes "Freak Shop USA".

This was not on the original edition as it was recorded later for release on a Circuit 7" single. 

 

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Last Few Days – Pure Spirit And Saliva Live [LP] (1986, Dead Man's Curve)

To many the band Last Few Days is just a complete mystery or simply some group who toured with Laibach and then promptly disappeared soon afterwards. This is not particularly surprising for a band that consciously left little mark during their existence. They were a band that deliberately avoided releasing their material and kept a limit on their live performances, they also had a very low profile though it was increased briefly after the Laibach collaborations. Most people attending their concerts had little very idea who they were, simply enticed along by the ambiguous posters or simply a night out. The concerts themselves bizarrely lasting all through the night (with a mixture of music and movies), still going at 7AM and not quite easiest sort music to be listening too either. They made heavy use of megaphones, guitars often played with broken bottles, drum unrelenting and brutal, delivering rather harsh and bewildering but occasionally rhythmic apocalyptic music. The three main members of Last Few Days were Daniel Landin (aka D. Styme), Si Joyce (aka Si Gross) and Keir Wahid (aka K. Warhead and K. Fraser). They were regularly helped out by Fritz Haaman (aka Fritz Catlin) who also performed with Laibach during the joint tour, and occasionally by Sam Mills, both members of 23 Skidoo. Last Few Days returned as a pop outfit in 1990, with a core of Keir and Si. 

 
This album was recorded live throughout Europe during 1983 and 1984. Because of the interest in Last Few Days, they sat down and waded through 100 hours of tape slimming it down to around 24 hours. On a blisteringly hot day in June 1986, K. Warhead and S. Gross from Last Few Days sat in a small box with Dave Henderson, a pile of cassettes, an equalisation unit that no-one understood and a Revox…this is the result.

 

 

Label: Dead Man's Curve – DMC 002 

Format: Vinyl, LP 

Country: UK 

Released: 1986 

Style: Industrial, Experimental 

 

Tracklist:

A1 End It 7:29 

A2 F1 6:21 

A3 Pure Heart 5:59 

B1 Megaphobia 4:39 

B2 VVV 2:38 

B3 Ex 4:13 

B4 Soft And Sweet (Around The World) 7:05 

B5 Oh Lord! 4:08 

 

Notes: 

Tracks A1 and A3 recorded in Maastricht 

Track A2 recorded in Berlin 

Tracks on side B recorded in London

Side A is mono recordings. 

Side B is stereo recordings. 

 

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Kuruki – Action [12''] (1984, Zip Zap Records)

Kuruki was almost a solo project, by Ghent-based musician Gerry D'Haeyer. The single 'Crocodile Tears', printed in 1981, was fun and interesting, a one hit wonder. Then followed three 12" ('Such A Liar', 'Action' and 'Souvenir, Souvenir') and 'Just A Cat' in 1983, which was recorded with Alan Gevaert and Chris Whitley of A Noh Rodeo, and a full-length album in 1984, 'TV Scape'. Gerry D'Haeyer later went on to play drums with blues musician Roland Van Campenhout.

 

 

Label: Zip Zap Records – ZZ 5821 

Format: Vinyl, 12", 45 RPM 

Country: Belgium 

Released: 1984 

Style: Synth-pop, Minimal 

 

Tracklist:

A Action Part I 4:45 

B Action Part II 4:53

 

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Jools Holland And His Millionaires – Jools Holland And His Millionaires [LP] (1982, I.R.S. Records)

 

Expectations were high for Jools Holland's solo career when he first left Squeeze in 1980. Even though Holland was theoretically only a support player in the Difford & Tilbrook-fronted band, his flair for the spotlight was obvious in Squeeze's live shows, as well as on the occasional B-side or album track in which he was featured. Throw in the swinging 'Boogie Woogie 78' EP (Holland's solo debut, made while he was with Squeeze), and it seems that everything was leading up to 'Jools Holland and the Millionaires' being an accomplished and fun full-length debut from the U.K.'s favorite piano-pounding hepcat. Unfortunately, it didn't quite work out that way. For whatever reason, Holland chose to downplay his rock & roll and boogie-woogie strengths for large portions of this record, and instead focused on creating Squeeze-style new wave pop. Not that there's anything wrong with that in theory; the problem is that in actual practice, most of the songs on 'Jools Holland and the Millionaires' lack Squeeze's pop savvy and catchy hooks. (Not to mention musicianship; while the Millionaires' lineup is perfectly adequate, the guitars and drums of Squeeze stalwarts Glenn Tilbrook and Gilson Lavis aren't easily replaced.) Further undermining the already somewhat patchy material is an uncharacteristically thin production job by Glyn Johns; the one track produced by Pete Wingfield, a romp through "Bumble Boogie," absolutely sparkles in comparison to the rest of the record. Overall, while there are a few fun songs and performances dotted throughout the LP (especially "Bumble Boogie," "Dynaflow," and "One More Time"), 'Jools Holland and the Millionaires' ultimately has to be classified as a rather disappointing release that's recommended only to Squeeze and/or Holland completists. Luckily, Holland would rebound from this and go on to create work (both as a solo artist and with a re-formed Squeeze) of a much higher caliber. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]

 

 

Label: I.R.S. Records – SP 70602, I.R.S. Records – 70602 

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo

Country: US 

Released: 1982 

Style: Blues Rock, Pop Rock, Ska, New Wave

 

Tracklist:

A1 Like I Do To You 3:00 

A2 Goodbye World 3:20 

A3 Dynaflow 2:12 

A4 Waiting Game 3:08 

A5 Let Me In 2:58 

A6 Driven To Drunk 4:14 

B1 Bumble Boogie 2:43 

B2 Pineapple Chunk 3:36 

B3 One More Time 2:59 

B4 Much More Hope Than Me 4:00 

B5 When I'm Through 3:20 

B6 Glad You've Gone 3:40 

B7 First Drink Of The Day 3:03 

 

Notes:  

UK version (A&M Records – AMLH 68534 - Released: 1981) does not contain the single "Bumble Boogie". 

 

Other Versions:

Netherlands version (A&M Records – AMLH 68534 - Released: 1981) contains the single "Bumble Boogie"

 

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Intestinal Infestation – Rehearsal [Cass] (1988, Not On Label)

Intestinal Infestation was a short lived side project from Napalm Death and Unseen Terror members Mick Harris (drums) and Shane Embury (Bass) with Mitch Dickinson (vocals, guitar). This tape is a self-released official rehearsal/demo recorded in 1988. Mick Harris is best known as ex-Napalm Death drummer, now producing dark atmospherics. Early bands missing include Martian Brain Squeeze (two demos), Motherfuckers from Mars (with Pete Nash), and Drop Dead (with Shane Embury, Jim Whitely and Andy Whale). Founder of Possible and 416 Records.

 

 

Label: Not On Label – none 

Format: Cassette, Single Sided 

Country: UK 

Released: 1988 

Style: Death Metal, Grindcore 

 

Tracklist:

A1 Untitled 2:21 

A2 Untitled 2:55 

A3 Untitled 2:34 

A4 Untitled 2:19 

 

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Holeist / Illusion Of Safety – Holeist / Illusion Of Safety [LP] (1989, Complacency)

Since 1983, Illusion Of Safety has been the ongoing project of Daniel Burke working alone and with various collaborators. They have released over 20 CDs on labels such as Complacency, Die Stadt, Experimedia, Odd Size, Silent, Soleilmoon, Staalplaat, Tesco, and Waystyx, and played over three hundred concerts in Europe and North America. IOS' work has been called ambient, post-industrial, electro-acoustic, noise, sound collage, improvisation, and power electronics, but they are unwilling to limit their work to any given style or method. The sonic character and affective substance of the music will often shift abruptly within each recording and live performance. Daniel Burke is currently working with conventional instruments, electronic synthesis, computer composition, samples, and highly amplified handled objects. He uses improvised and composed structures containing material that confounds memory and stimulates perception. The resulting music encompasses broken sound, disturbed ambience and unfiltered beauty that collectively evokes an awareness of the ineffable. The work activates modes of perception to facilitate direct access to the psyche, emotions, and the infinite in order to address the necessity of balance and the nature of dichotomy. 

 

Holeist is another Dan Burke's side project, with Eric Lunde and Jeph Jerman. Eric Lunde is an american musician and artist and also a member of Boy Dirt Car. Besides his musical releases and his artwork, he also published a book of poetry and wood-block prints entitled "LLND" (Alamut Records, 1991). 

 

Jeph Jerman began in 1986 recording and performing under the name Hands To. Most of the early soundwork was sampler and tape loop based, though over the course of ten years it evolved into using environmental recordings with very little to no manipulation or electronic processing. In 1996 in Seattle he embarked upon a weekly series of concerts at Anomalous Records which brought him into contact with the city's improvised music community. For the next three years he played with anyone who would have hime. During this time he began giving solo performances using only natural found objects (stones, shells, bones, driftwood, pine cones, etc), as soundmakers, a practice which continues to today. Eventually he stopped using the name Hands To. In 1999, the Animist Orchestra was founded. The AO focuses on making music that hopefully bypasses our individual egos. Most of his previous work could be interpreted as being 'idea-based'. He finds that most of his work nowadays is sound-based. He believes this is due to his growing interest in listening, in what happens when one listens, and his concomitant disinterest in contextualizing sound.

 

Label: Complacency – CPD03002 

Format: Vinyl, LP 

Country: US 

Released: 1989 

Style: Industrial, Experimental, Ambient 

 

Tracklist:

A1 Holeist – Soileth 

A2 Holeist – 'Unsheltered' 

A3 Holeist – Hazur 

A4 Holeist – Stahlmesser 

B1 Illusion Of Safety – 7•9•89 Chicago Laminating 

B2 Illusion Of Safety – 7•17•89 Club Lower Links Chicago 

B3 Illusion Of Safety – 7•22•89 Francis Ford Studio Milwaukee 

 

Notes:

Holeist: Recorded during the Hands To..., Eric Lunde split LP sessions in the comfort of Lunde's living room on equipment provided by Dan Burke. 7-24-89. 4 track with mirage sampler, alesis drum machine.

Illusion Of Safety: Live July 1989. 

 

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Gaunt – Whitey The Man [10''] (1992, Thrill Jockey)

Gaunt was a Punk band formed in Columbus, Ohio, in 1991. The band released five albums before splitting in 1998. The original lineup formed from remnants of short-lived "punkadelic" band Black Juju, and consisted of guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Jerry Wick, bassist Eric Barth (who had also been in Two Hour Trip with the Spurgeon brothers, who would soon form Greenhorn), and drummer Jeff Regensburger (later of The Patsys). Jim Weber (also of the then newly formed New Bomb Turks) soon joined on second guitar only to leave just as quickly, and following his departure guitarist/songwriter Jovan Karcic (Waybald) joined. Barth and Regensburger would also later leave (in 1995) and be replaced by a series of successors including Bret Lewis and Brett Falcon (Space Cookie, Servotron) on bass, and Nick Youngblood (Beano, The Rackets) and Sam Brown (Feversmile, V-3, New Bomb Turks, The Sun, You're So Bossy) on drums. 

 
'Whitey The Man' is a punkish, garage and grunge type album and displays Wick's knack for penning sloppy punk pop. The band was the first signing for the label and their album was only the second release for Thrill Jockey. This EP has 7 songs, lasting about 18 minutes and packs a whallop. "Silly Watches" sums it up "punks dont wear silly watches" and then "Back Off" and "Salvation" sound like Mudhoney. "Whitey" is a pretty good rock instrumental, and the album's best two tracks are the final two ones, which go off to hardcore punk territory, "USA" and "Jim Motherfucker". [SOURCE: RATE YOUR MUSIC]

 

 

Label: Thrill Jockey – THRILL 002 

Format: Vinyl, LP, 10", Album 

Country: US 

Released: 1992 

Style: Garage Rock, Lo-Fi, Punk, Rock & Roll, Indie Rock, Punk Rock

 

Tracklist:

THIS 

A1 Silly Watches 

A2 Back-Off 

A3 Salvation Army 

THAT 

B1 Ignored 

B2 Whitey 

B3 USA 

B4 Jim Motherfucker 

 

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Family Patrol Group – Fear Death By Water [Cass] (1983, Not On Label)

Not much known about Family Patrol Group, although there's a website with a list of gigs performed. Their commitment to power electronics conventions of the time seemed tongue-in-cheek bordering on sarcastic. They clearly figured somewhere in that whole Birmingham noise thing which also bequeathed us Final / Smear Campaign, Con-Dom, Godflesh and so on, assuming that Family Patrol Group were Colin Fisher, Mike Grant, and some dude called Greg. [SOURCE: FERRIC ARCHAEOLOGY] 

 

Label: Not On Label – none 

Format: Cassette 

Country: UK 

Released: 1983 

Style: Industrial, Noise, Experimental, Power Electronics

 

Tracklist:

A Untitled 

B Untitled 

 

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Even Worse – Leaving [7''] (1988, Autonomy Records)

 

Even Worse were a New York City punk band whose ever-changing lineups were consistently anchored by founder and drummer Jack Rabid. Denizens of the city's pre-hardcore scene, Even Worse initially formed in April 1980 in order to open for fellow N.Y.C. punks The Stimulators. Still in their teens, they gigged around Manhattan for their first year before the initial lineup fell apart and Rabid enlisted the personnel who would make the band's first recorded appearance. The 1981-1982 lineup featuring singer Rebecca Korbet, bassist Eric Keil, and guitarist Robert Weeks appeared regularly on the scene and contributed two songs to ROIR's seminal 1982 thrash compilation 'New York Thrash'. The compilation also included Bad Brains, The Undead, Heart Attack, and the Beastie Boys' first recordings. Also with this lineup, Even Worse recorded an entire LP's worth of material that remained unreleased during their brief career but was finally issued on CD in 2002. A new, completely different lineup rose in mid-1982 featuring Steve Waxman and Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore on guitar along with singer Ken Tempkin and bassist Tim Sommer, the latter of whom would soon form experimental group Hugo Largo and become an MTV host. This version of the band recorded a handful of singles, the first of which, 'Mouse or Rat?', wouldn't see release until 1984. Their second single, 'Leaving', was eventually released in 1988, by which time the band had essentially called it quits. In addition to forming the post-punk trio Springhouse, Rabid is known for founding the music magazine "The Big Takeover". [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]

 

 

Label: Autonomy Records – 002, Autonomy Records (7) – AU002 

Format: Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM 

Country: US 

Released: 1988 

Style: Punk, New York Hardcore, Hardcore Punk

 

Tracklist:

A Leaving 2:33 

B One Night Stand 5:30 

 

Notes:

Side A recorded: November 1983, Stirling Sound, Stirling, NJ. Mixed: September 15, 1987, also at Stirling Sound. 

Side B recorded live onto cassette by a Panasonic Stereo Recorder on February 20, 1983 at Great Glindersleeves, New York. 

 

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Dog As Master – An Organized Accident [Cass] (1986, Sound Of Pig)

Hal McGee is an American experimental artist and producer, active since 1981. He is widely considered as one of the most important and seminal members of an early homemade cassettes musical movement in USA. Together with Debbie Jaffe, McGee operated legendary Cause And Effect cassette label and distribution, releasing such artists as Merzbow, Nurse With Wound, Controlled Bleeding, Robert Rich, If, Bwana, Algebra Suicide and others. In the mid 1980s McGee recorded numerous works as a member of Viscera, solo as Dog As Master, and in collaboration with If, Bwana and JABON. Although Hal  McGee speaks highly of this release, most of it went by without much notice. Odd vocal text works and soundscapes between this very first Bwana Dog recording recorded through the mail. [SOURCE: RATE YOUR MUSIC]

 

 

Label: Sound Of Pig – SOP 19 

Format: Cassette, C60 

Country: US 

Released: 1986 

Style: Industrial, Experimental 

 

Tracklist:

A Dog As Master – Perfect And Silent, Plain And Insignificant 

B1 Dog As Master & If, Bwana – Unintentional Laughter 

B2 Dog As Master & If, Bwana – Dead, But He Won't Lie Down 

B3 Dog As Master & If, Bwana – A Sense Of Exhilaration In The Absurd 

B4 Dog As Master & If, Bwana – The Chinese Prestidigitator 

B5 Dog As Master & If, Bwana – Sad Acrobats Remain Impassive 

 

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