This Heat >> Mechanical bird of prey, sing for your emperor

This Heat - "Horizontal Hold"

(Piano Records, 1979 [recorded between 1976-78]; issued / reissued by ~7 other labels)

Well, it took me 170-something posts to finally dip into the '70s.  I remember reading an early-'90s interview with Piotr Fijalkowski, singer of the great band Adorable, in which he said that music from before 1980 (he then specified pre-Echo & The Bunnymen) was worthless to him, and for the most part I have to agree.  Most of the songs I've posted on this site simply couldn't have existed pre-1980, yet your typical casual music fan will always aver that the '60s were by far the best decade for music, dude.  I first heard this song on a mix tape made for me by, I kid you not, a girl whom I had lent a Plexi promo poster.  I only knew this girl, Suzy Grimes, online, and for some reason just had to show her this amazing poster.  By 1999 I resorted to threatening legal action if she didn't send it back, so she did, and included a mix tape.  If you don't know what the title of this song means, you've never owned a VCR.  I didn't know what to title this post, since the song is an instrumental, so I chose a strange n' unsettling lyric that popped into my head and seems to fit "Horizontal Hold"'s feel.  It's from The Church's breezy jangle-pop classic "Already Yesterday."

Joy in repetition... All Music Guide gives the LP 4.5 stars and says "Their angular juxtapositions of abrasive guitar, driving rhythms, and noise loops on the opening cut, 'Horizontal Hold,' preempt much later activity in the electronica and drum'n'bass scenes."  Okay, I think we can all agree with that.  The reviewer then goes off into some pretty ludicrous hyperbole, such as "There are very few records that can be considered truly important, landmark works of art that produce blueprints for an entire genre. In the case of this album, it's clear that this seminal work was integral in shaping the genres of post-punk, avant rock, and post-rock and like all great influential albums it seemed it had to wait two decades before its contents could truly be fathomed. In short, This Heat is essential."  Oh.
Trouser Press gives a much more level-headed summary: "This Heat covers two years of the band's history, with both live and studio cuts. They use guitar, clarinet, drums and keyboards, permuted with loops, phasing and overdubs, breaking down patterns into only faintly connected musical moments that include artificial skips and looped end-grooves. Though insolent and withdrawn, the music is adventurous and, in its own peculiar way, engrossing."
The most recent review on rateyourmusic.com at the time I began writing this post consists simply of this sentence: "This album is more revolutionary and significant to the aesthetic evolution of music than the complete works of Stravinsky and Stockhausen combined."  Ohhh.  Well that explains everything.  All in favor of lifetime internet bans for trollers please contact me.

On Thursday I finally started reading The Hunger Games, and I believe it's gonna be too bleak / barbaric for me to finish.  The writing is very succinct and Raymond Carver-esque, so I'm writing this paragraph in RC's style.  I planted my huckleberry tree and the saddest thing happened right when I was crouching down finishing up: A dragonfly that had no abdomen at all landed on a branch a few inches in front of my eyes.  I guess it had been bitten off moments before by a bird or anole.  So it could still fly around, but had no ability to digest food, hence it only had a few minutes or hours to live.  But it sure seemed calm and content on that little branch.  Man, the world sucks.  Also planted a Juniperus chinensis 'Blue Vase.'  I unfortunately missed one of the best live bands of this era, White Hills, at Siberia in New Orleans.  (I saw them at that same club a year ago almost to the day.)  I skipped this show because a fairly lame band called Sleepy Sun was headlining, and another lame one, Dirty Ghosts, was on the bill.

Worst new trend: People vying for the title of longest video on YouTube, e.g. this one.

Current crush: Rebecca Blumhagen of the show The Girl's Guide To Depravity.

Since I have amassed a backlog of great or interesting links, I'll just use this post as a clearinghouse for them:

Criminal probe spotlights tree poisoning to make way for billboards

Why is Tom Cruise such a dick? - "Only five of the characteristics are needed to complete this diagnosis, and Cruise meets all nine."

Man claims attack by mountain lion, saved by bear

Death row chef shares last meal requests on Final 24 Hours

The 10 creepiest things about Zach Morris

What happens in an internet minute?

What would Lincoln say about today's GOP?

Rajon Rondo, magnificent weirdo, makes every tip-off a show

Planets with similar climates: Brise-Glace - "Neither Yield Nor Reap" (1994), Bathyscaphe - "Brise Glace" (2004), Blind Idiot God - "Subterranean Flight" (1987), Glenn Branca - "The Ascension" (1981), Trans Am - "American Kooter" (1995), Simple Minds - "Sound In 70 Cities" (1981), Neu! - "Negativland" (1972), Unwound - "Side Effects Of Being Tired" (1997).

!!! > There's a tension in the air tonight and it ain't imaginary

!!! - "Intensify"

(Gold Standard Laboratories [a.k.a. GSL], 2000)

This is from !!! (pronounced "Chk-Chk-Chk")'s genius debut album.  I downloaded it from eMusic in 2003, then bought the actual CD some years later.  The LP came out on black, clear, and blue vinyl.  It took me 9 years to realize that this lyric name-checks Phil Collins.  They definitely were strongly influenced by those early '80s NYC funk-punk-dance bands (Liquid Liquid, Contortions, Konk, ESG, Theoretical Girls, etc.).  Based on their song titles, it's easy to write this band off, but their jaw-droppingly great musicianship is no joke; the drum and bass interplay on it might be in the top 5 I've ever heard.  In a few decades, this album will be sampled by every wannabe DJ (sorry... "turntablist").  This song's slow, hypnotic guitar part contrasts with the fast drumming to mess with the listener's perception of time / speed.  I think the song goes on a little too long, though.  AllMusic Guide noted that "!!! trash the axiom that says bands influenced by angular post-punk must be populated by dour misanthropes who sport wallet photos of Ian Curtis."

Fun Fact: The last things thanked in the album's liner notes are "Jet Li, sneakers, basketball, Eddie Murphy c. 1982-1987, sausages, our parents..."
Unfun Facts: Original drummer Mikel Gius was killed by a car while riding his bike in 2005.  His replacement, Jerry Fuchs, died in an elevator shaft in 2009.

Keith Haring-ified band pic from CD booklet

You can check out sound samples from !!!'s sister band Out Hud over here.

I finally got to see !!! on Friday, at legendary Tipitina's, inside of which I had not set foot since 2004.  In fact, I had forgotten all about the basketball goal above the mixing board.  !!! were rocking the hell out of it for almost an hour without me recognizing any of their songs, at which point Nic said they were gonna do two more.  They then played the pretty good song "Heart Of Hearts."  Nic said "This is the first time we've played in New Orleans... to more than 20 people."  I was thinking that I'd go the entire show without hearing anything from their first album... Then I heard the bassline and drum part of this last song unfolding, I knew the moment had arrived: They were playing none other than my all-time favorite !!! song, "Intensify."  Dude, I was so pumped.  It was a nearly 10-minute rendition, replete with dual drummers at one point, and a birthday cake being handed to the guitarist onstage near the end.  Probably one of my top 5 most memorable concert moments ever.
The hotly-tipped abstract Seattle rap duo Shabazz Palaces opened, and were the main reason I went.  They seemed kind of underwhelming at first, since it was just two dudes, one of whom was at a laptop computer, and the other of whom was on a primitive drum set.  But when I realized that I should view them more as a trip-hop / downtempo group than as a rap "crew," I started to really dig them.  Think Mezzanine-era Massive Attack with some Last Poets and Antipop Consortium mixed in.  (Local rapper Vocka Redu did an unannounced opening set lasting about 20 minutes; we only saw his last song.)  I got a red Shabazz shirt and my sister got a white !!! tank top.  The logo on it is totally genius in its simplicity: Black Flag's logo with three dots put underneath three of its bars.  (Em and I had seen Digable Planets, one of Shabazz's parent bands, at Voodoo in '05.)  I wore my boombox necklace and got lots of respect for it.
The fun was a bit tempered because Damion's dad had suffered a small stroke that day or the day before, but we are told that he is recovering very well.

Saturday the 21st, Record Store Day:  Went to Skully'z in the rain; got the Civil Wars' RSD live CD EP for my mom for Mother's Day, and a Suzanne Vega best-of CD for myself.  Got a blueberry scone and a smoothie at Community Coffee on Royal.  Then went to Euclid Records and immediately saw... Dayna Kurtz!  (See previous post.)  Amazing... I didn't say anything to her, though, because I figured she might be pretty peeved if some random guy walked up to her and was like "Hey, I just gave away a song of yours for free on the internet."  It turned out there was a big in-store performance about to occur, so I figured she was probably going to be playing.  Alas, she did not.  The bands I did see were Charlie Halloran Experience, Blind Texas Marlin, and Boom Chick.  Boom Chick could be the next White Stripes, and are quite clearly modeled after them.  I ended up staying for several hours, and got some great stuff, incl.: New Order - "Shellshock" (12"), A Tribe Called Quest - "Bonita Applebum" (12"), The Mission - Children (LP), Nicholas Payton - Sonic Trance (CD) (an overt but aurally pleasing ripoff of Bitches Brew-era Miles Davis), Eurythmics - "Here Comes The Rain Again" (picture-disc 7").  Went up the street to Harold's Nursery for a while and got a purple basil plant for no reason.  It was about 20 degrees colder than usual due to a freak cold front.  I skipped the "headlining" band, local punk cretins Die Rotzz.

Yesterday: Went to Clegg's Nursery in Baton Rouge for the first time and got a great native tree that no other stores carry called Styrax americanus (American Snowbell), and a hard-to-find reddish-spined little cactus called Echinocereus rigidissimus var. rubrispinus.

Today: Played basketball at Ezekiel Jackson park in Garyville (G-ville) for the first time.  Planted my Styrax americanus.  Watched what was probably Steve Nash's final game as a Sun; ticked & amazed that the coach only played him for a few seconds in the 4th quarter.

Sorry for talking about so much off-topic stuff recently, but March & April tend to be packed with events around here, and is actually known as "festival season" colloquially in the area.  Summertime is pretty uneventful for me, so you can always look forward to less extraneous details once the weather starts really heating up.  I really don't have much of a life, so please don't ever be fooled into thinking otherwise.  I have kind of a nose for finding cool concerts / events, but the other 95% of my life is just as nondescript as anyone else's.

The New Orleans Bounce - "Campaign to change the name of the Hornets to the New Orleans Bounce."
Not sure I agree with this, but it's a pretty ingenious name, considering what a basketball does, and the name of the most famous strain of NOLA rap music.  I think they need to pilfer the name Voodoo from our struggling arena football team.

Planets with similar climates: Liquid Liquid - "Scraper" (1983), CAN - "Mushroom" (1971) & "Vitamin C" (1972), The Pop Group - "She Is Beyond Good And Evil" (1979), James Chance & The Contortions - "Contort Yourself" [original version] (1979), Gang Of Four - "It Is Not Enough" (1982), ESG - "UFO" (1981), Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Catholic School Girls Rule" (1985), The Prime Movers - "Wind" (1984), Tussle - "Ghost Barber" (2004).

Dayna Kurtz >> Somewhere hearts are pounding

Dayna Kurtz - "Beside You" (Live)

(Deebles Music, 1997 / Kismet Records, 2002)

I bought this CD a few years ago on a whim at a thrift store on Highway 61 (we call it Airline Highway in Louisiana) for $2.  The cover shot of her face was starkly bold, apparently an homage to Joni Mitchell's Blue, and the title, Otherwise Luscious Life, was an obvious nod to the jazz standard "Lush Life."  It turned out to be a live album, with just Dayna accompanying herself on acoustic guitar, though the songs are full-sounding enough that the first few times I listened to it I didn't even realize there was no drummer, bassist, etc.  It was recorded live at Wintertide coffeehouse in Vineyard Haven, MA, on 7/18/97.  So: A solo performer on acoustic guitar, live at a coffeehouse... That doesn't exactly sound very promising as Blowtorch Baby material, but it so is.  This is heavy music.  This is heavier than anything that those pathetic pansies in Slayer, Wolf Eyes, or Converge could ever come up with.   She won the National Academy Of Songwriters’ award for Female Songwriter Of The Year in 1996, 1997, and 1998, while you were sitting around wasting your time listening to Guided By Voices, Stereolab, and Neutral Milk Hotel, respectively.

How great of a line is "Somewhere hearts are pounding"?  So vague, yet every interpretation of it is probably interesting.  DK has a very husky voice, probably quite influenced by Nina Simone; this is one of the few songs that she sings in her high, essentially falsetto, register.  The last name is presumably German, but she looks somewhat Native American.  I like this pic by an unknown photographer:

I recently got a 2004 promo EP of hers called The Beautiful Yesterday Sessions, but I dislike it.  She is playing here for Jazz Fest (the most inaccurately-named festival in the country) in a few weeks, and also has scheduled two little club gigs, so I might go see her.  She even named her 2006 album NOLA (hilariously spelled Nola on most websites) in honor of New Orleans, LouisianA.  I have a feeling she no longer plays any early, melancholic stuff, though.

I nabbed this from the Tumblr of super-negra a few months ago:

And then I just found this new, even more detailed one she had drawn for someone else:

...LOL

I'm missing Chairlift tonight, but will hopefully see them sometime, if only for their songs "Wrong Opinion" and "Cool As A Fire."  One reason I'm not making the hour-long drive to NOLA is that I don't like opening act Nite Jewel.  I do have tickets to this at Tipitina's on Friday, though:

Put your hack into it: Anonymous targets Monsanto

Egyptian cleric: No to Mother's Day

Planets with similar climates: Tracy Chapman - "For You" (1988), Maxwell - "Know These Things: Shouldn't You" (1998), Ani Difranco - "Sorry I Am" (1995), American Music Club - "Last Harbor" (1988), Suzanne Vega - "Small Blue Thing" (1985), Joni Mitchell - "Blue" (1971), Alicia Keys - "Butterflyz" (2001).


Currently eating or drinking: Cabot Seriously Sharp (white) Cheddar; Sunbelle blueberries; Pepperidge Farm Farmhouse oatmeal bread; Samuel Smith Imperial Stout; Rogue Chocolate Stout.

The Make-Up >> I'll throw the first stone you put in my hand

The Make-Up - "I Want Some"

(Giant Claw Records [Australia], 1998 / K Records, 1999)

The once-beehived Michelle Mae proves why she's one of the illest bassists of the century here.  To hear another example of her bass ways, listen to "Type-U Blood," "Don't Step On The Children," and "The Bells."  Despite her ice-queen persona, or perhaps because of it, she was the undisputed indie rock sex symbol of the mid to late '90s, and is now a yoga instructor.  I unfortunately missed a Make-Up gig in New Orleans on Aug. 15, 1997, for reasons which I'd rather not divulge here.  I never liked their name until I realized it has several different meanings: to tell a lie; stuff worn on the face; one's fortitude/character. I can't think of a better song that features handclaps.

I got both of Nation Of Ulysses' albums in the early '00s, but never really connected with them.  NOU and The Make-Up were pretty hit-and-miss, but each had some gems.  This song was released as a single on an Australian micro-indie called Giant Claw in '98, and then on the band's singles / rarities compilation called, fittingly, I Want Some the next year.  I finally bought that CD this past December; Ian said in an interview in horrible local music zine Antigravity that it's going to be reissued this year.

Megan Fox being bothered by a young Daniel Johnston at an airport

Ian & Michelle's more recent band was called the Scene Creamers.  Here's a bumper sticker on a car parked in front of me at the Annunciation Street basketball court last week:

Fri. 13th: Dropped off some plants (Quercus virginiana & Agave desmettiana) at Parkway Partners right before going to French Quarter Fest.  Was given a beautiful Lyonia lucida and Echeveria 'Ruby' as thanks.  That made my day.  I gave away 7 plants/trees this week, so I guess I earned those 2 in return.  Found out the hard way that the FQF now bans bikes, but the nice security lady offered to watch over my bike, so I bought her a Bananas Foster and a fish taco wrap as thanks.  Missed local mad scientist weirdos Consortium Of Genius (C.O.G.) due to getting there late.  Saw Sasha Masakowski (w/ guest Khris Royal on sax on a few songs), brass-rock band Magnetic Ear (covered Nena's "99 Red Balloons" and Nirvana's "In Bloom"), Mynameisjohnmichael (3 songs), Pine Leaf Boys (2 songs), & probably some others.  Was stuned to find the Comsat Angels' album Land on vinyl at Peaches Records for only $5.  I only got here about once a year because they're really overpriced, but I may have to start going more often.  Bought a little silkscreened(?) print by an artist named Jack Wittenbrink at Jackson Square.  Bought School Of Seven Bells' 2nd CD at Skully'z; Scott was shocked when I told him I saw them, since he didn't even know they were coming through on tour.  Went into a little market in the Marigny that just had a sign saying "Market" outside and got some great food.  I coincidentally parked my car literally at the site of the famous Plessy v. Ferguson incident on Press Street.
It was funny when the announcer repeatedly called Sasha Masakowski (Maz-uh-KOW-skee) "Sasha Maskatowski" (Mass-kut-OW-skee), generating much stifled laughter from her and her band.

Sat. 14th: Spring Garden Show at City Park.  Geared up for this one for a long time and was not disappointed. Bought a threatened (that's one step below endangered) species called Litsea aestivalis (Pond-spice).  Also got one each of: Viburnum dentatum, Eryngium yuccifolium, Hydrangea quercifolia, Leptospermum scoparium, Vaccinium darrowii (for my neighbor Don), and Pityopsis graminifolia.  I regret not buying a $6 praying mantis egg case which will supposedly hatch out over 200 babies to eat bugs in one's neighborhood.  Talked to legendary local plant expert & author Dr. Charles Allen for a few minutes.

Today, Mon. 16th: Saw a guy who was clearly driving on drugs go right through two red lights.  His rear lights were intentionally blacked out (totally illegal) in order to look cool, and the whole truck was painted primer gray, a common thing done to a recently-stolen vehicle.  The truck was slightly lowered and had gigantic rims, of course.  The dude was white.  He was talking on a cell phone and weaving through traffic without signaling.  I tailed him for a while and found out where he parked so I could call in to the cops.  I thought it was an apartment complex until I looked and saw a sign saying that it was a drug treatment clinic.  So this little punk was surely on parole and going in for a mandatory drug test; hopefully they busted him and took away his driver's license.  Luckily he didn't kill anyone.  Just had to vent about this, sorry.  Also have to complain about the quality of the Eastbound And Down series finale last night.

The last few days have been pretty great for the Hornets.  They were bought by Tom Benson; they've won four games in a row; David Stern awarded NOLA the 2014 All-Star Game.  The only semi-bad news is that Benson said today that he's gonna change the team's name.

Enjoy this truly mind-blowing series of tweets sent by Jose Canseco the other day, which will be ruminated upon by scholars for decades to come:

Graft punk: Breaking the law to help urban trees bear fruit

Koch brothers, worth $50 billion, sue widow over $16.00 of nonprofit's stock
Related: Online campaign to boycott Koch Industries grows

When tankers tell the truth

Planets with similar climates: Throwing Muses - "Vicky's Box" (1986), Moonshake - "Séance" (1993), !!! - "Intensify" (2000), George McCrae - "I Get Lifted" (1974), Lyn Collins - "Think About It" (1972).

Sovetskoe Foto >> Seeing you breathing is my inspiration

Sovetskoe Foto - "Cellophane Laughter"

(Rebel Rec. / SPV Recordings, 1991)

I don't really know anything about this band, especially what this song title meant.  That really irritates me.  While looking for their music on eBay, I ascertained that their name was taken from an old Soviet photography magazine called... Sovetskoe Foto.  The members of the band, at least on this album, were Georg S. Huber (bass), Walter Sterr (guitars), Stefan Busch (vocals), and Marc Turiaux (drums).  They hailed from Rosenheim, Germany, but recorded this album, The Humidity, in NYC with esteemed noise rock producer Martin Bisi.  I bought this CD on a whim for a dollar at the Tulane Record Raid in March of last year, drawn in by the cover art and song titles.  To read my overly long review of it, go here and look under the username shockofDAYLIGHT.  The song itself starts off funky and sleazy, and would be pretty memorable if it just continued on that way for its duration.  But it undergoes a sudden Helmet-style breakdown and then a speedy tribal part.  Just amazing, breathtaking musical talent, especially the rhythm section (translation: drummer + bassist).  Though the rest of the album doesn't live up to this song, the jarring, Bare Minimum-esque "Necromancer" and the ultra-funky, The Pop Group-esque "Stay Tonight" are noteworthy.

"Seeing you breathing is my inspiration" is a blithely romantic line upon first listen, and later becomes evident as a great pun when you realize what the medical definition of "inspiration," as part of the system known as respiration, means.  Also buried under the instrumental fireworks is the line "Struck my eyes with a thousand lights."  Jim Thirlwell (a.k.a. Foetus) sings guest vox on the feral "Forget".

Fun Fact: Sovetskoe Foto's publicity company was named Art Rock Mgmt.

CDs in my car on March 8th; top one is Secret Life Of Machines by Doldrums.

Friday: Ate at Clancy's with parents, Em & Damion. Met one of D's brothers, who played hoops at (I think) Swarthmore.  I had the best bread pudding of my life for dessert.

Saturday: Went to Mandeville & took my customary stroll through the Northlake Nature Center, which is sort of a Zenlike ritual that I always do when I'm up there.  The flora really is quite different from that of the south shore of the lake.  A big black snake with yellow spots slithered right in front of me, and I, a former aspiring herpetologist, was sadly unable to identify it.  I semi-accidentally took a root pup of one of my all-time favorite tree species, Vaccinium arboreum (Sparkleberry or Tree Huckleberry).  It has some roots so hopefully it will live.  The pup I took in Dec. 2010 died.
Then went to a great plant nursery called Inwood Gardens in Covington.  They had dozens of unlabeled cacti & succulents, so I volunteered to write their Latin names on the sides of their pots.  So I did this off the top of my head (no books) for about half an hour.  Finally one of my useless talents came in handy... The lady working in that greenhouse seemed pretty bemused.  Bought an Agave guiengola, which I never thought I'd see in person, much less be able to buy.  Just look at this motherfucker reclining in a group of them, living the high life while you sit here on your computer.

Tuesday: Went to Baton Rouge to see School Of Seven Bells and EXITMUSIC at the Spanish Moon.  On the way, I stopped at the Blockbuster Video that's going OOB and scored a bunch more obscure foreign (mostly) flicks for $2 each.  Then I hit up FYE and got lots of kewl cheapo used CDs (The Heart Throbs, Hooverphonic, The Railway Children, Secret Machines, Sunny Day Real Estate, King Missile, Heather Duby + Elemental, Teenage Fanclub).  Passed on a Zapp CD due to its lame song titles.  I made it to the essentially empty club just in time, and saw SVIIB's Ben Curtis shooting pool upstairs.  As befitting their Radiohead-based name, EXITMUSIC were not too exciting, kinda dirgey, like Beach House meets Swans or something.  I think I just heard half of the blogosphere pop a boner after hearing that description.  They opened with "Sea," and closed with a great new song, "Sparks Of Light," from their upcoming LP Passage.  Their guitarist played it using a cello bow, Jimmy Page-style.  They were so loud that all kinds of things were rattling throughout the club, and I hence didn't even try to take a video clip of them.  SVIIB came on like a well-oiled machine and delivered a great performance to a crowd of only 40-50 people.  I saw them open for Interpol last April in front of almost 1000 people, so I was crestfallen that they had to headline for so few people.  The club had only put up a few crude flyers, so I mainly blame the club's management.  This time SVIIB had four members, whereas last year it was two, or maybe three.  Anyway, their new LP Ghostory is the one that I predicted would make them Big, but it seems the public is not paying attention, even though Katy Perry(!) is apparently a fan, according to every recent YouTube commenter.  (E.g. "katy perry sent me here XD")  Their setlist: Intro (sampled chanting of "I am here... I am here..."), Iamundernodisguise, Scavenger, Windstorm, Bye Bye Bye, Love Play, White Elephant Coat, Lafaye, The Night, I L U, White Wind, Low Times, My Cabal.  No encore.  No "Babelonia," which was their first song at the NOLA show last year.  Bought a cool white t-shirt afterwards with the "Kiss Them For Me" 7" cover art on it.

The two logo things were flickering lights of varying colors via MIDI; my flash unfortunately negated it.
Not shown: 1.) The entertaining way that the singer shakes her head from side to side after every line. 2.) The guitarist's SVIIB chest tattoo.

Offensive wallpapers

Planets with similar climates: The Pop Group - "Sense Of Purpose" (~1980), Shudder To Think - "Goat" (1992) & "Gang Of $" (1994), Gang Of Four - "Damaged Goods" (1979), Live Skull - "Machete" (1987), Polvo - "Highwire Moves" (1995), Fugazi - "Sieve-Fisted Find" (1990), Tanner - "Hey Jigsaw" (1995).

Springhouse >> Find the bullet, not the gun

Springhouse - "Enslave Me"

(Caroline Records, 1992)

Sick basslines, passionately cryptic vocals ("All makes my heart yearn for a beach where we burn"), jangly-yet-intense guitars (with a roughly-strummed acoustic guitar hidden in the mix too), a minimalist guitar anti-solo, choppy drumming, even some EBow drones... This song has it all.  Even the album title, Postcards From The Arctic, is a champ.  The band was even on one of the most prominent indies of the era, yet they languish in near-total obscurity to this day.

The other essential songs on this album are "Asphalt Angels," "Ghosts," and "Shattering Cold."

Back cover of CD; credited in booklet as "1910 Arctic expedition photograph by 'Unknown'"

Drummer Jack Rabid (presumably a pun on "Jackrabbit") is one of the most bestest dudes in indie / punk music history, having published his influential zine The Big Takeover since the early '80s.  One of the things he did that people like myself will always want to buy him a beer for is to champion the shoegaze / dream pop bands as they were coming out of England and later the U.S. and other places.  He was/is a massive fan of The Chameleons, Catherine Wheel, The Sound, The Comsat Angels, Swervedriver, For Against, Hüsker Dü, Ride, Kitchens Of Distinction, The Wipers, etc.  For example, in 1997, he chose Catherine Wheel's Adam And Eve as album of the year over Radiohead's much-touted OK Computer.  I think that C.W. album is non-amazing, but still, anything that knocks Radiohead down a notch is great by me.  (I believe he also chose C.W's Happy Days as album of the year in '95 over Radiohead's The Bends.)  And I think he was the author of the article that got me into Feverdream in '98 or '99.  And believe me, almost no one else was writing about Feverdream then, or ever.  Jack was in a punk band called Even Worse in the early '80s and named his zine after the famous Bad Brains song, but like I said, he later branched out into lots of other, more mature styles of music.  If you're into the Blowtorch Baby aesthetic of music, you've probably come across an occasional review of his that I've cited from AllMusic Guide or Trouser Press.  About 6-7 years ago I put together a long-ass playlist of songs to burn onto CD-Rs for him, but I figured he had probably already heard most or all of them, so I never followed through with it.

Bassist Larry Heinemann has (or had?) a lucrative side gig with Blue Man Group.  His big, round bass tone was Springhouse's secret weapon.  Mitch Friedland played the guitar and did all the vocals, which is quite a demanding task in a "power trio."

There's a nice Springhouse fansite that summarizes them thusly: "Springhouse is an American band, although you might not guess it from their strong UK influences... Springhouse songs have one foot grounded solidly in early 80s post-punk and one floating in ethereal guitar-swirl heaven. Their earlier material tends to be more driving and energetic, while their later material is more soothing, eerie, and reflective. Power and beauty. That's Springhouse... Sadly, Springhouse disbanded shortly after Postcards was released. They reformed briefly in 1994 in order to open for the American leg of the Mark Burgess And The Sons Of God tour. After the tour, they disbanded again."  They reformed for a new album a few years ago, but I haven't heard it, since I'm not really into "reunion albums."  Some recent reunion albums by Springhouse's peers have been good (For Against) and some have been bad (The Verve).

Speaking of slavery, I mentioned a little while back that the first person in my family emigrated here in 1903, some 38 years after slavery ended in America.  I'm quite proud of that fact & just wanted to point it out in black & white for those of you who skipped the SAT.  I'm also quite self-conscious of the lack of non-white artists on this blog, but I'm trying very hard to fix that.  The problem is that the vast majority of my favorite bands with black members have been on major labels, so I simply can't post them, and I don't know of many, say, Mexican shoegaze bands or Cambodian ambient dudes or Inuit noise rockers.  Oh well, music has no color since it's just an invisible entity.  Carry on...

Time-lapse of ocean currents looks like a living Van Gogh painting

Planets with similar climates: The Chameleons - "Return Of The Roughnecks" (1985), Adorable - "Crash Sight" (1992), The Black Watch - "Come Inside" (1994), The Sound - "Burning Part Of Me" (1984), Catherine Wheel - "Waydown" (1995), Verve - "All In The Mind" (1992), Spy Vs. Spy - "Injustice" (1985), Hüsker Dü - "Don't Want To Know If You Are Lonely" (1986).

Trial Of The Bow >> That's not a knife

Trial Of The Bow - ""Inverloch"

(Release Entertainment, 1994)

This is a pretty ethereal and somewhat menacing track, with a timeless feel that makes its origin hard to pinpoint.  It's a shame that Trial Of The Bow (no idea what the name means) only recorded one EP and one full-length.  This is from the EP, called Ornamentation.  I almost posted the more dynamic "The Two Sacred Tapestries Of Persia" or "From The Mountains Of Tangier", but decided "Inverloch" deserves to be better-known as a chillout classic.  They were from Melbourne, and this EP would make a great soundtrack for one of my favorite Aussie flicks, the existentially violent Walkabout, or for Picnic At Hanging Rock, which I just saw for the first time last month.  The song is named after the seaside town of Inverloch in Victoria, Australia.  This one goes out to ManiacEyeball.

AllMusic Guide says "In addition to the use of the standard guitar/bass/drum setup, the duo also uses several exotic instruments, including the tabla, hammer dulcimer, tamboura, manjira, bansuri flute, and e-bow. Their lengthy, evocative, contemplative drones take cues from several ageless sources, alternating from haunting to soothing."
They actually made an official music video for the song, which I have on one of those Rock Video Monthly VHS tapes.  It's also on YouTube, sadly at only 240p.  The video's director (username: warmcola) said "I made this video waaaay back in 1994, shot on Super VHS and edited together on my Uni's brand spanking new AVID... Great to see it again."

Sept. 1995 VHS; Trial Of The Bow's EP cover is at bottom right

This VHS has videos for some amazing, era-defining songs by Buffalo Tom ("Summer"), Matthew Sweet ("We're The Same"), Better Than Ezra ("In The Blood"), and Faith No More ("Evidence"), and is capped off perfectly by the "Inverloch" vid.  I have a bunch of these RVM VHS tapes but since the advent of YouTube I never watch them.

Well, I was pretty mad about the ridiculously poor sound mix that Swervedriver had inflicted upon them by the Jimmy Fallon show (or I guess by NBC in general) last Monday.  It totally neutered their sound and made them sound muddy and amateurish, whereas in reality nothing could be further from the truth about them.  Maybe their sheer volume simply overloaded the limiters / attenuators and caused the levels to be artificially low?

I found this magazine the next day in someone's trash on the curb, a few minutes before a massive storm came through.  It's a beautiful, Anton Corbijn-esque shot in every way.  I think I'm going to frame the cover, since I'm really into desert plants; the pic is of a group of Joshua trees (Yucca brevifolia), of course.  December '93 was a really rough time for me for several reasons, so this cover helps me reboot my brain when it comes to how I remember that time.

Going back a few weeks...

March 20: Saw Alcest (from France), Deafheaven (from San Francisco), and Whom Do You Work For? (from NOLA) at The Big Top.  It was probably the smallest crowd that Alcest, a hybrid shoegaze-metla band, has played to in years, but they were appreciative.  WDYWF? stole the show, in my mind at least, with their edgy, Slint-y, CAN-y, controlled chaos.  I recommended A.R. Kane's "Green Hazed Daze" to their singer afterwards, and he immediately typed it into his phone as a reminder.  Also bought their new CD-R EP, which comes in several different spray-painted covers.

Flyer showing upcoming shows put on by An Idea Like No Other + a show preview from local zine Antigravity

I snapped a pic even though lots of people were taking better ones up front:

They probably haven't played on a stage this small in many years

March 23: Saw two concerts by Dutch saxophonist Tineke Postma at the Manship Theatre in Baton Rouge.  Esperanza Spalding is no longer her bassist, unfortunately, but it was very good nonetheless.

March 24: The annual spring Record Raid at Tulane.  Got a bunch of stuff I never thought I'd find, such as Band Of Susans' Love Agenda (LP), the influential ambient compilation Ambient 4: Isolationism (2xCD), and other stuff like some Massive Attack, Idaho, Miles Davis, and Breathless.  Talked to this girl Candice who remembered talking to me at a Broken Water show two years ago, and even remembered that I was wearing a James Chance & the Contortions shirt that night.  Wow.  She showed me a Wipers tattoo on her tricep; I think it said "Is this real?"  Bought a New Bloods 7" and a Hell-Kite cassette from her booth, plus she tipped me off to a zine with a semi-nude photo of Broken Water on the back cover, so I of course bought that.  Also met some other really cool people, including a guy who was at a Trans Am show I saw in '99 (see upcoming post on that) and his wife, Kathi.  She was, unbeknownst to me, DJing when I called in to WTUL to ask about a song (which turned to be from Belong's latest album) a few days later, and recognized my voice, so we talked for a few minutes.  I requested something by Seefeel, whom she had never heard of; I told her to pick any song and she ended up choosing "Climactic Phase #3".

March 29: Was driving around in east Baton Rouge near Prairieville and saw a Blockbuster Video that was going out of business, so I hit it hard for a few hours and got some obscure foreign films.

March 31: Went to the annual Dept. of Parks & Parkways plant sale at Dillard.  Got a huckleberry tree, a spicebush, and two little flowering plants.  Talked about lots of obscure plant topics with a DPP employee named Skip; decided to name the huckleberry tree after him because his praise of the species led me to buy it.

This post's title is everyone's favorite line from a certain famous Aussie movie, duh.

130 Simpsons episodes at once

Planets with similar climates: Steve Roach & Robert Rich - "Touch" (1992), Miles Davis - "He Loved Him Madly" (1974), Brian Eno - "Lantern Marsh" (1982), Bark Psychosis - "Pendulum Man" (1993).