State of the Union

While Bush gloats about Alito's confirmation, his "success" in Iraq and his wonderful new Medicare Prescription Plan in a State of the Union address designed to improve his 40% approval rating, let us not forget the men, women and children who have lost and are losing their lives and those of their loved ones every day in his conquest to spread Democracy in the Middle East.

George Bush - Sunday Bloody Sunday
(Courtesy of Rx @ The Party Party)

Lazy

(This post is for you, Billy)

Along with the aforementioned Sistern, Wolverton Brothers and Afghan Whigs, Lazy were one of the pillars of the early 90's Cincinnati scene. While Sistern gave us the shoegaze, The Wolvertons freaked out, and the Whigs tried to steal your girlfriends, Lazy cranked up the fuzz and jangle. They mixed equal parts of the Wedding Present, Cramps and Heavenly and created simple yet catchy songs. They signed a 5 album deal with Roadrunner Records, but were dropped after their second album failed to get the push it deserved. Although both albums were great in their own right, the band's pinnacle was by far the Revolutions Per Minute vinyl-only 10" released between them. I wish I had a way to convert vinyl to digital here, because I'd post the whole thing - including their spot-on version of Cupid Car Club's Grape Juice Plus. (If anyone has it digitized, please contact me!). But since I don't, here are few songs from both albums and a couple of compilation tracks released right before they split.

From Some Assembly Required:
St. Christopher
Crush
Radio Heart

From The Lazy Music Group:
Favorite Song
Get It Right
Cherry Smash

From Cincinnati Music Vol. III (Deary Me Records):
Jet Black

From Rejected Art...A Compilation of Unity:
What U Want

Updates & stuff

I recently registered for an EZArchive account to host some of my own files. If you want to download any of the tunes, please right click and save. Likewise, if you want to link to any of the music I have up, please post a link to the page the music is on and not directly to the links. If you drop in to visit, talk to me. Leave me a comment or something, tell me what you think of the music.

Thanks for stopping by. Now, listen to Moose.

Moose

Moose's Sonny & Sam was released in 1991 at the same time as Ride's Nowhere and My Bloody Valentine's Loveless, Lush's Gala, and Slowdive's Just for a Day. Although it may be the lesser known of the lot, it deserves just as much attention and respect.

Popmatters had an excellent piece in 2003 on Moose, Sonny & Sam and their legacy.

Although I love them all, here are my 3 favorite tracks from Sonny & Sam:

Moose - Last Night I Fell Again
Moose - This River Never Will Run Dry
Moose - Jack

Neil Young

Watch the trailer for Neil Young: Heart of Gold

Neil Young - Cowgirl in the Sand
Neil Young - Hey Hey, My My
Neil Young - Southern Man
Neil Young - Heart of Gold

MBV Rareities

My Bloody Valentine were one of the greatest, most influential bands of the 90's. Period.

Here are some rare compilation tracks and a 1998 Peel Session.

My Bloody Valentine - We Have All the Time in the World from Peace Together

My Bloody Valentine - Instrumental A Rare 1988 7"
My Bloody Valentine - Instrumental B Rare 1988 7"

My Bloody Valentine - Map Ref 41N 93W from Whore: Tribute to WIRE
My Bloody Valentine - Sugar Free flexi with British magazine The Catalogue #67 (1989)

My Bloody Valentine - Peel Sessions 10.5.98 (.zip)

My Bloody Valentine - Coral Sea from Patti Smith's Meltdown, June 22, 2005 featuring Patti Smith, Kevin Shields and Chan Marshall

Afghan Whigs Update

Under The Radar has a preview of upcoming projects from Greg Dulli. On tap are an Afghan Whigs retrospective on Rhino, with a working title of The Unbreakable Afghan Whigs. There's no release date set. Also without a release date is Dulli's collaboration with Mark Lanegan called The Gutter Twins. "There are nods to the Everly Brothers. There are nods to Simon and Garfunkel. There are nods to the Stooges and Primal Scream too."

The new Twilight Singers album, Powder Burns, is nearly completed and should be out around April. "It's the most thematically and sonically different record I've ever made."

Pick up the latest issue of Under the Radar or read the full article at Summerskiss.



In related news, Whigs bassist John Curley is busy in Cincinnati working at Ultrasuede Studios and with his band The Staggering Statistics. They released one album and are wrapping up a second. Visit their website for sample downloads of all of the first album.



Whigs guitar player Rick McCullum has his band MoonMaan. As far as I know they are still together, but their website hasn't been updated in a year or so.

Moon Maan - Light of the Moon
Moon Maan - Chain Your Soul
Moon Maan - Feed the Methman




Original drummer Steve Earle has just put together a new band called Earle Grey. Earle's put down the sticks and picked up the guitar and microphone. There are four fresh, smoking hot new songs available on his MySpace page. Fans of the revved up earlier Whigs sound will not be disappointed.

Finally, I was cruising around some blogs last night and found these two little gems from Big Top Halloween at Strange Reaction:

The Afghan Whigs - Scream
The Afghan Whigs - Back O' the Line

Girls Against Boys

I was working on this post the other day, to go along with the Brainiac post, but I got sidetracked and forgot to post it. So, here it is.



They're not from Dayton, but Girls Aainst Boys' Eli Janney produced much of Brainiac's output.

From Cruise Yourself:
Kill the Saxplayer

From House of GVSB:
Super-Fire
Disco Six Six Six
Click Click

From You Can't Fight What You Can't See:
Kicking The Lights
Basstation

Swearing at Motorists

Swearing at Motorists is the brainchild of Dayton, Ohio native Dave Doughman. The band got their start in Dayton and are currently recording for Indiana-based Secretly Canadian (Antony and the Johnsons, Jens Lekman, The Earlies). Doughman's low-register vocals and crunchy, fuzzy pop fall somewhere between Idaho and Mark Kozelek/Sun Kill Moon. Doughman recently relocated to Berlin and has developed a following in Germany, Italy and the surrounding area. He'll be back stateside touring with The Hold Steady in February.

Northern Line
Lost Your Wig
This Flag Signals Goodbye
Telford to North Main
I'll Only Sleep
Flying Pizza
Talking Pictures

Brainiac

In the early 90's Brainiac were another band from Dayton Ohio on the verge of making it big. They took cues from past (Devo and Robert Moog), the present (The Jesus Lizard and Girls Against Boys) and mixed it up with a slick sense of fashion to come up with the sound of the future. The band worked their way up from a small independent label to Touch and Go Records. They were about to sign a major label contract in 1997 when, after playing a rawcus home town show, singer Tim Taylor was involved in a firely car crash that claimed his life. Tragically, the future never came.

From Hissing Prigs In Static Couture:
Vincent Come On Down
Nothing Ever Changes
1 AM A CRACK3D MACH1N3
Pussyfootin'

From Electro-Shock For President:
Flash Ram
Fresh New Eyes

From Internationale:
Go Freaks Go

Shawen Acres

Two more songs from the forthcoming debut from Shawen Acres, Life As A Long Night, have been posted at their website. (photo courtesy of Phil Lacefield)

"Listen to this record or go ahead, stay in the dark. You will not meet its kind soon in the record stores of America. Tightly wound guitars shift abruptly through sharp-angled chords, pinned in place by a frenetic but never sloppy rhythm section. Cognates include everything you, personally, hold dear, and lots more, too. Some of the words rhyme! Melody simmers melodically underneath the melodic chunks of tuneful tuneage. No idea what Nate is singing about, but it sure sounds pretty or angry or dolorous or melancholy or, yes, religious. The soundtrack to a thousand bleak winter nights, redeemed by shards of occasional light and love. Aurora Borealis? You bet! As an added bonus, on the song “Run From The Day”: monkey noises. Written By: James Greer Author: Guided By Voices: A Brief History (Grove Press, 2005) and Artificial Light: A Novel (Akashic Books, 2006) Los Angeles, CA October 2005"

Monsterland

Monsterland were one of my favorite bands of the early 90's. More punk than shoegaze, less avante garde than Sonic Youth, and just the right amount of distortion and harmony. The band released several singles, e.p.'s and compillation tracks before recording their one and only full length, Destroy What You Love. After the band split, singer/bassist Thom Monahan joined The Pernice Brothers and has recorded just about everything Joe Pernice is involved in, as well as releases from The Silver Jews, Lily's and New Radiant Storm King among others. I've searched the 'net for more information, but the only place that seems to have anything decent complied into one place is this RedEye profile of Monahan from 2003 and this fansite, which has several tracks available for download. All of their stuff is long out of print, so if you like what you hear, head over to eBay and purchase some stuff for next to nothing.

The Wolverton Brothers

The Wolverton Brothers are another band from Cincinnati that deserve way more attention than they've been given over the last 15 years. They were born and raised in the same scene that gave us the Afghan Whigs. They released a 7" early on in the original Sub Pop singles club and several more scattered throughout the 90's. Early on they were primarily a guitar/bass/drum outfit with a little twang, but over the years they have become much more open and experimental with their sound. They'll kick out some straight up rock and roll (think of a less offensive Jesus Lizard) or slow it down to a near-dub pace all while mixing bird whistles, obscure record samples, trumpets, electronic samples, and various other musical effects into the mix. At an in-studio session at WVXU around 1994 they used a wooden slide whistle for the first time live. The next time I saw them was about a year ago opening for the Twilight Singers at the Southgate House and they used an old cheap component turntable to mix in crackly vinyl sound effects. They never cease to amaze me.

From Sucking Hind Tit (1990):
Could've Had A Life

From Liarman (1993):
Vampyre
Max Gomez Love
Xanadu

Sample two minute clips of all of 2004's A Better Place

If you like what you hear, go to their web site and order directly form the band. There are instructions on the main page. Or, you can order it from CD Baby. They'll thank you for it.

Sistern

Cincinnati's Sistern have been kicking around in obscurity for nearly 10 years. Why they've never been able to go further is beyond me. Since I first saw them at Sudsy Malone's and heard their Make a Move b/w 5 Foot 9 seven inch (released on Cincy indie label MonoCat 7) in the early 90's, they've been one of those bands that have always been in the back of my head to keep an eye out for, but hardly anything has come. They've released numerous singles and individual songs on compllations and only one self-released full length, Glaisemalaise, in 2002. They've got a new MySpace page that has a 2005 demo, so hopefully something new is on the horizon.

Here's a blurb from Cincinnati City Beat from 2002:

"Glazemalaise is a lysergic guitar album, loaded with lush textures and augmented by fluttering guest vocals (courtesy of Fairmount Girl Dana Hamblen), the occasional keyboard and sturdy, anchoring rhythmic support. Girton's distant vocals waft over the layering with whispering melodies and, guitar-wise, he experiments with unique sounds, creating potent, swirling soundscapes. But all the six-string glaze wouldn't mean much if the songs weren't there. Thankfully, Girton has a way with melody, as songs like "Americanvience" and "Prescence Sound" exhibit. Like My Bloody Valentine, The Dandy Warhols or the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Sistern successfully bridges the gap between addictive melodicism and an expansive, smoky-cool framework."

Sistern - No Rules Again
Sistern - pps
Sistern - shocked

Frigital Records

I was mildly suprised the other day when I opened my e-mail box and found a couple of songs from the Hypermodernity Club and Crix Crax Crux, with a little note that they will have new releases in February on Frigital Records.


The first song from the Hypermodernity Club's Praxis vs. Poiesis, Our Friend in Baghdad, is an ode to, well, their friend and bandmate who is currently serving in Iraq. It's a percusion-less, softly strummed acoustic track that reminds me of Macha, with a droning mandolin (or other similarly stringed instrument) in the background. There are a few other tracks on their MySpace page that are well worth checking out if you like Love & Rockets or The Jesus & Mary Chain.


crix crax crux's Radio On and Moth will be on the upcoming album, Mountainears. Radio On reminds me of Flame-era Sebadoh and Spoon. The chorus has even got handclaps. You can't go wrong with handclaps.

These and other records are available from Frigital for six bucks. You can't beat that, either.

the Hypermodernity Club - Our Friend in Baghdad

Crix Crax Crux - Radio On
Crix Crax Crux - Moth

Whysall Lane

Whysall Lane began as a solo/side project for Richard Baluyut of New York's Versus. Now that Versus is on indefinate hiatus, he's moved to San Francisco and finished recording a full album as Whysall Lane with Mikel Delgado and ex-Jawbreaker Adam Pfahler supporting him. You can sample several tracks on their MySpace page and 30 second samples of all of the tracks at the Midhaven Mailorder site, where the album's also available for pre-order.

Whysall Lane - The Way Back



If you're not familiar with Versus or any of it's offshoots, well, let me catch you up. Versus mainly feature Richard Baluyut singing and playing guitar, Fontaine Toups singing and playing bass and James Baluyut providing additional guitar while Patrick Ramos and Ed Baluyut split drum duty. They released numerous albums, EP's and singles from 1993's Let's Electrify to 2000's Hurrah. They are pretty much a guitar-driven band, with an equal mix of jangle, noise and sweet boy/girl vocals.

Versus
Yeah You from Secret Swingers
Deseret from The Stars Are Insane
Reveille from the Ear of the Dragon compillation
Crashing the Afterglow from the Afterglow EP


With Versus on hiatus, James Baluyut formed a project of his own called +/- with Ed Baluyut backing him on drums. For the first +/- record Self-Titled Long-Playing Debut Album, James moved away from the louder guitar sound of Versus and towards a softer, acoustic/electronic mix. To tour the album he put together a full band, which brought the louder guitars back into the mix by default. That line-up recorded the second album, You Are Here. Their 3rd album Let's Build a Fire was released in Japan on Dec. 14th by &Records. So far, there's no word on a U.S. release, but there are streaming samples on the &Records website.

+/-
Ventriloquist
Trapped Under Ice Floes (redux)


Fontaine Toups released a solo album of her own in 2004 where she took her sound from Versus and added a bit more pop. She also made up half of Containe with Connie Lovatt, who herself made up one half of The Pacific Ocean with Ed Baluyut.


The Fontaine Toups - Who Told You


Containe - Tired Eyes


A few streaming audio tracks from The Pacific Ocean can be found at this fansite.