Flying Saucer Attack >> And I hardly feel surprised as I look up in the sky

Flying Saucer Attack - "Up In Her Eyes"

(Drag City Records / Domino Records, 1997)

Well, as you may notice, I've decided to stop doing the little embellishments to each song title, but it was exciting while it lasted.  Flying Saucer Attack, named after a terrible late '70s New Wave hit by the Rezillos, was masterminded by a guy named Dave Pearce.  In a current music scene populated with band names like How To Dress Well, Pissed Jeans, I'm From Barcelona, LMFAO, and Pygmy Lush, it's good to know that there used to be bands with names like Flying Saucer Attack, one of the few truly tattoo-worthy band names ever.  Based in the rugged multicultural seaport city of Bristol, famous as the birthplace of trip-hop, Pearce had initial help from Rachel Brook, who was later in ambient slow-poppers Movietone.  FSA released a huge slew of music in the early to mid '90s, but only performed live about a dozen times, probably due to the logistics of recreating all the strange tape loops & noises from the studio recordings.  The maelstrom of ambient feedback and noise seems to be on the verge of overwhelming this song's delicate melody, but the melody stays strong and wins out.  In addition to Pearce's beautifully enunciated vocals, the throbbing bassline is what really puts this song over the top and into an unclassifiable genre.  The weird thing is that, having been reared on Sonic Youth, I didn't even notice all the noise in this song at first, but several years later I realized "Whoa, dude, that's a lot of noise."

All Music Guide said:

"While the more experimental parts of New Lands aren't really Pearce completely trashing his general aesthetic and trying something new, they do show him attempting and often succeeding at introducing further variety to his murky, intriguing field.  Thus, 'Up in Her Eyes' has a very familiar vocal and guitar style, but the obsessive, upfront yet still shadowy percussion -- sounding more like a chugging train engine than anything else -- dominates the track, at least up until its slightly more ambient, free-flowing end... Through it all, the combination of Pearce's tender, dark folk vocals and skybursting guitar provides the central point of the experience, making for some fascinating, entrancing results."

I borrowed this CD, New Lands, from friend Andrew Mister in '99, around the same time I bought FSA's self-titled '93 debut album.  About ten years later I found out that "Up In Her Eyes" was originally released as a free 7" flexidisc in issue 6 of Stop Smiling magazine in 1995.  The album version is a re-recorded one, since its liner notes say "album recorded late 96 / early 97."  I got a huge-ass fold-out glossy promo poster for New Lands on eBay in 2005, surely the biggest promo poster I've ever obtained, and I have hundreds of promo music posters and concert flyers up several art portfolio folders in several closets in multiple area codes.  The cover art of this album is particularly unsettling, yet Zen-inducing.  A page from the CD booklet:

Drag City Records' fall '97 press release:


the long-awaited follow-up to further has been a long time coming -- over two years, to be honest. since that acoustically-tinged offering, the sound of fsa has revolved into metallic pastures...
this new fsa sound steers through the past pop music into the direction of rhythmic loopery. bass anchors the familiar guitar fuzz, edgelessly felt through the wall of sound and giving it a beat where one was only imagined before.
previously only hinted at, this pulse booms forth in a bigger way, although still obscured by clouds.
phase two. the beat is the new thing. previously only hinted at, this pulse booms.


A photo I took of my Philodendron, var. 'Burle Marx,' leaning towards the sunrise on Tuesday at about 7 AM:

This plant variety was named after this guy

Planets with similar climates: Colfax Abbey - "Feel" (1996), My Bloody Valentine - "Several Girls Galore" (1988), Unwound - "Lady Elect" (1996), Plexi - "Dayglo" (1996).


The best old Onion article I've found recently: I'll Thank You Not To Call My Collection Of Sequential-Art Erotica 'Dirty Comics'

Poem Rocket >> I am creating you to be with you

Poem Rocket - "Appeal To The Imagination"

(Atavistic Records, 2000)

This song wastes no time in grabbing one's attention with a simple, Stones-y riff and Michael Peters' unmistakable yelp.  Sandra Gardner contributes a killer bassline and spooky feline vocals, as always.  At about 1:55, the song shifts into high gear, with speed-metal drumming and more emphasis on bass.  At 2:40 the bass just takes over the song, and the guitar briefly disappears at 3:30.

Note: I'll be taking this song down and putting up an edited (shortened) version of it at some point.

Most bands don't understand how important it is to stumble onto a simple lyric and repeat it over and over in an unorthodox way, since people have short attention spans.  "Appeal to the imagination" is an evocative phrase on its own, but the way Peters sings it is jarring and very memorable, since he puts emphasis on syllables that are not expected to be emphasized.  Black Francis / Frank Black was quite good – okay, masterful – at this, which rescued a lot of so-so Pixies songs from lameness and made them into classics.  Ditto for David Byrne.

I have this promo poster

On October 3, 2000, a band called Radiohead released an album called Kid A and a band called Poem Rocket released an album called Psychogeography.  One was full of sterile electronic noodling and lyrics of Caucasian ennui, and one had quirky, catchy, knotty Songs with a capital S (plus, to be fair, plenty of difficult meandering).  Guess which one went on to be voted the best album of the decade by an array of "reputable" music publications?

Undated live photo of Sandra that I found on Tumblr. Anyone know where this is?

This mp3 was given away on eMusic.com and (I think) on Atavistic's website, so it's presumably Poem Rocket's best-known song, and it should've propelled them to godlike indie mafioso status.  It's the song that got me into P.R. in spring of 2003, when I joined eMusic.  (I had read about them in '97/'98 in Alternative Press, and probably in Magnet too, but never actually heard them.)  Hearing this song was one of those "Whoa, where has this band been all my life?" moments.

Amazingly, this song was not released as a single, and there was no video for it.  The only video from the album was for the moody and slow-burning masterpiece "Dirigible":

The album title refers to the study of how urban environments shape the psychological lives of their residents.  I recently snagged a book at a thrift store about this topic called The Image Of The City by Kevin Lynch (M.I.T. Press, 1960).  I have another in a similar vein called Architecture In A Crowded World by Lionel Brett (Schocken Books, 1971).  As a plant geek / grower, I'm more interested in the psychological impact of landscaping than of buildings; for example, I refer to palm trees as "green Prozac."

In addition to the above pic, I found this cool description of Poem Rocket by Melody Maker on Michael Peters' website: "...a band with guitars and more than one idea. If Poem Rocket were English they’d probably be Flying Saucer Attack... a dense sonic fog of apocalyptic drones... dig the atmospherics and the vibes, piano and cello that creep out and back in again like audio leprechauns..."  He also has lots of rare photos of Poem Rocket there.  (Including the black & white one that I bragged about being the first to upload last month... Oops.)  Check out the amazing Abbreviated Poem Rocket Press Kit.  It's by far the greatest .pdf ever.  I was kinda shocked to see my review from Cold Comfort in there amongst all the reviews from "real" publications... It also shows a review of Psychogeography from Pitchfork which I never knew existed.  I dunno why Pitchfork purged it from its archives; presumably to make room for Arcade Fire dating tips or a Kanye West Twitter feud timeline.

In late 2003, Atavistic was taking preorders for Poem Rocket's upcoming 3rd album, and early buyers were promised a free CDEP as a bonus.  So I sent in a check for $18.00 and waited.  A year went by and no album.  Okay, so my favorite band is a bunch of perfectionists, no big deal.  Another year went by, still no album.  Hurricane Katrina had happened and I had to move away from New Orleans, so I wrote a letter to Atavistic asking for my money back, since $18 would go a long way for someone in such a situation.  I still had every intention of buying the album the day it came out, of course.  They never sent my money back or even wrote me back.  This, combined with the fact that they did little to no promotion for the album, left me with some choice words that I wanted to say to them.  I guess I thought they'd be somewhat grateful that I'd done an interview with this particular band (well, with its singer), which would of course help to get the word out about said obscure band, but they treated me like I was nothing.  I guess my $18 was needed for Lydia Lunch's mascara budget or something.  No, I don't think that record labels owe us fans anything; we in fact owe them for financing the recording of albums by bands that aren't very commercially viable.  But, as the bike path signs in Jefferson Parish say, "Courtesy Is Contagious."  If we're all in this battle against lame corporate music (or in my case, against lame indie music), we should look out for one another every once in a while.

Well, I think it's safe to say this is a really mediocre and disjointed post, but at least the song is good.

Mon., Jan. 7: Saw the movie Life Of Pi in "RealD 3D," which was my first-ever 3D movie.  It was quite breathtaking at first, but the effect wears off as the movie goes on.  Then watched as Alabama won a 4th national title for smug cyborg Nick Satan.  Fuming mad all night over this.

Last night: Saw True Widow with D.O.C. (Disciples Of Christ) and Glish at the Spanish Moon in Baton Rouge, in the little upstairs "Green Room."

Planets with similar climates: Bright Channel - "Final Stretch" (2004), Pixies - "River Euphrates" (1988), Orbit - "Come Inside" (1995), Drop Nineteens - "Delaware" (1992), The Black Watch - "Come Inside" (1994), Swervedriver - "Rave Down" (1991), A.C. Temple - "Miss Sky" (1988), Moonshake - "Spaceship Earth" (1992), Catherine Wheel - "Chrome" (1993), Smashing Pumpkins - "Quiet" (1993).

Pteranodon >> Sunburst and snowblind

Pteranodon - "Adrift"

(Flight Approved Records, 2001)

Here's one of the best ambient / drone tracks I've ever heard, and it's even more impressive considering that it was created by "rock" people who were simply on hiatus from rocking out.  It really reflects the coldness and bleak majesty of the Colorado mountains, where I skiied a few times ('93 and '95) and where my uncle Mike and aunt Christy live.  You can even sort of get the sensation of snowblindness, which is when all the light hitting your eyes from the sky and the surface of the snow fries your retinas.

Not to brag, but for a blog that doesn't even focus on ambient music, I think this one has posted some incredible ambient tracks this year, and it feels really good to spotlight an essentially unknown artist like Pteranodon, since I doubt anyone ever has before in the history of internets.  In terms of quality vs. quantity, I doubt many actual ambient blogs have posted better stuff than Blowtorch Baby has.  This field of music has so many mediocre tracks / artists, and so few true gems.  Maybe I should've done a separate ambient blog, but I like combining it in with all the other song-based stuff on here.  "Adrift" is the most densely layered, and therefore the "warmest" or most "womblike," one on the album.  Most of the others are quite minimalistic and downright eerie.  I guess I got into this group in 2003, when I got into Volplane and Bright Channel, since Pteranodon is made up of the core duo of those two bands.  Not long after that, I bought Pteranodon's actual self-titled CD, probably on eBay. It comes in a cool silver gatefold paper case with some flowers on the cover.  At first I thought they were opium poppies, which would be fitting, considering the album's narcotizing effect on the lucky listener; but I think they might just be some kind of thistle or thistle relative.  Other good cuts from this album are "Periodic Rise And Fall" and "Distances."  (The latter might have been named in honor of the Flying Saucer Attack LP of the same name.)  "Adrift" just hits me with more emotional impact than any of the other ones.  As their bio says, "pteranodon is the brainchild of jeff suthers and shannon stein, former members of volplane and bright channel and current members of moonspeed.  in the fall of 2000, after the departure of volplane's drummer, jeff and shannon set out to pursue an ambient musical venture that combined their love of minimalist musical styles with their equal appreciation for maximum volumes. with only one organ and one guitar, pteranodon was designed to be a lush (but gigantic) listening experience, both live and on disc.  their self-titled debut album was released in 2001, with a follow-up appearing in spring 2005."

Inside view of the minimalist gatefold packaging

Click on the "sound" link over here to listen to each album in its entirety.  You can even play one song from each album simultaneously to make your own exciting Pteranoremixes.

Today my sister and I went to the Prospect.2 art festival.  I had gone to Prospect.1 three years ago, which was at least twice as big as this one, but this one was still pretty good.  We went to the Contemporary Arts Center, the Ogden Museum, and the Old U.S. Mint, plus some little new art studio down in the Holy Cross neighborhood.  Duane Pitre (a.k.a. Pilotram), former guitarist of ILYA, had an interesting self-generating ambient sound installation at the CAC.  The Mint was screening William Eggleston's famous and extremely overrated film Stranded In Canton.  We walked up on the levee and petted someone's three-legged dog, saw white pelicans, and saw a guy mooning a friend a few hundred yards away across the canal.  I also took her to American Aquatic Gardens, Harold's Nursery, and Euclid Records.  I bought an awesome picture disc 7" of Simple Minds' "Someone Somewhere In Summertime" at Euclid for only $3 and gave them two David Bowie 8-tracks as thanks for pricing it so low.  In the car we listened to Cleopatra Grip by The Heart Throbs, which I just bought this morning, and then to Pteranodon.  Check out the video for "I Wonder Why" by The Heart Throbs, a song which I would describe as Best Coast meets My Bloody Valentine.
Here's an excerpt from a cool 2-minute video I saw today at either the Ogden or the CAC; I think it was made by someone named Jeff or John, with the last initial G.:

Planets with similar climates: Rapoon - "Hollow Flight" (1997), Plexi - "Bunny" (1996).

Hark, it is a very handy index covering the first 2 years of Blowtorch Baby

Today marks 2 years since the site's first song post. I decided to make an alphabetical list of all of the songs, mainly because I want to peruse such a list, and because the Library Of Congress has been pestering me to do it.  In parentheses is the recording date of the track, and after that is the date it was posted on here, in case you want to go find the original article.  Since joining last.fm and Tumblr last fall, I've been neglecting this site.  I do have a ton of songs to post in the future that will blow some minds, including many by bands in my all-time top 10, so don't worry about this site going anywhere.  I'm already getting a little disillusioned with last.fm & Tumblr.  I'll be randomly disabling song downloads from now on, based on a very complex algorithm, due to the fact that the world has greeted Blowtorch Baby with a collective shrug and because I don't feel all songs should be free forever.  I've been seeing lots of mediocre "here's a free album download link" mp3 blogs getting shut down, so I think my choice to do a site devoted to just offering one great track at a time has been validated.

Aarktica - "Big Year" (2002) 1/6/12

Abecedarians - "Soil" (early version) (~1983-85) 9/19/11

Above The Law - "Freedom Of Speech" (1989) 10/17/11

A.C. Temple - "Chinese Burn" (1988) 3/2/11

American Music Club - "Sick Of Food" (1991) 10/12/11

Amoeba - "Ignoring Gravity" (1997) 11/30/11

Tiffany Anders - "Runnin' From No Place To Nowhere" (1998) 11/29/11

Michael Andrews w/ Miranda July - "When I Call A Name" (2005) 10/16/11

Angry Samoans - "You Stupid Jerk" (1982) 11/23/11

Antipop Consortium - "Your World Is Flat" (1999) 3/31/11

The Aqua Velvets - "Nomad" (1996) 10/8/11

Asylum Party - "Play Alone" (1989) 9/26/12

Autumnfair - "Black Spring" (~1988) 11/10/11

The Autumns - "Boy With The Aluminum Stilts" (1999) 11/25/11

Band Of Susans - "Ice Age" (1990) 7/16/11

Bare Minimum - "Night We Streak, Divine Failure" (1995) 2/27/12

Bare Minimum - "Swim In Anxious Moment" (1997) 3/4/12

Bark Psychosis - "The Loom" (1993) 6/22/11

William Basinski - "The River" (excerpt) (1983) 7/12/11

Bell Hollow - "Storm's End" (2007) 3/11/12

Bethany Curve - "Long Beach" (2001) 11/24/11

The Bevis Frond - "Desperate" (1993) 8/11/12

Biosphere - "The Things I Tell You" (1997) 3/15/12

Black Flag - "Rise Above" (1981) 11/30/11

The Black Watch - "Terrific" (1991) 9/5/11

Bleach - "Burn" (1991) 4/8/11

Bleach - "Hit On Me" (1992) 3/28/11

Bleach - "Shotgun (1991) 7/2/12

Blouse - "Into Black" (2011) 11/4/12

Bongwater - "Free Love Messes Up My Life" (1991) 7/1/11

Bright Channel - "Airborne" (2005) 12/25/11

Bright Channel - "Final Stretch" (2004) 12/22/11

Bright Channel - "Night Eyes" (Demo) (2003) 12/19/11

Brujeria - "Don Quixote Marijuana" (1999) 4/20/11

Catherine Wheel - "Wish" (demo) (~1990-91) 4/30/11

Cerulean - "Here Is Hoping" (2004) 10/24/11

!!! [Chk Chk Chk] - "Intensify" (2000) 4/25/12

Choir Invisible - "The Distance From..." (1981) 11/21/11

Christian Death - "Cavity (Version)" (1981) 10/3/11

Chrome - "Isolation" (1980) 9/9/11

Chug - "Water Torture" (1996) 3/16/11

The Cleaners From Venus - "Follow The Plough" (6/13/11)

Colfax Abbey - "Feel" (1996) 2/17/12

The Comsat Angels - "I Come From The Sun" (1992) 3/4/11

Curious (Yellow) - "Taken By Surprise" (1990) 3/28/11

Cush - "The Touch" (2000) 11/17/11

Das Racist - "Rainbow In The Dark" (2010) 10/3/12

Del The Funky Homosapien - "No Need For Alarm" (1993) 11/28/11

Constance Demby - "The Longing" (1982) 11/26/11

DJ Magic Mike & MC Madness - "Dynamic Duo" (1991) 12/28/11

Doldrums - "Weird Orbits" (1995) 6/17/12

Dome w/ Angela Conway - "Cruel When Complete" (1980) 5/19/12

Drop Nineteens - "Delaware" (1992) 12/31/11

Dub Sex - "Then And Now" (~1987/88) 7/3/12

Duster - "Topical Solution" (1997) 11/30/11

Earwig - "Everything's Just Fine" (1991) 8/26/11

Editors - "Lights" (2005) 12/7/11

The Emerald Down - "Heavier Than Ether, Lighter Than Air" (2001) 8/28/11

The Emerald Down - "Stars" (2002) 2/26/11

[EXITMUSIC: see LAKE]

Faith No More - "Why Do You Bother?" (1985) 10/1/11

FCS North - "1222" (2000) 4/6/11

Felt - "Fortune" (re-recorded version) (1984) 8/7/11

Feverdream - "Never Letting Go" (1995) 5/8/11

Film School - "Pitfalls" (2006) 9/14/11

Film School - "Time To Listen" (2010) 9/16/11

Film School - "Two Kinds" (2007) 9/18/11

Flying Saucer Attack - "Up In Her Eyes (1997) 7/22/11

For Against - "Paperwhites" (1988) 6/27/11

Francis 7 - "Red Roses" (~2003) 2/19/11

The Furious Colour - "Closer" (BBC Session) (1986) 3/6/12

Allen Ginsberg - "Poem Rocket (Be A Star-Screwer)" (1959) 11/28/12

Glide - "Water Falls" (1992) 6/8/11

Hex - "Mercury Towers" (1989) 6/14/11

Honeyburn - "Sister" (1995) 4/15/11

Adina Howard vs. Ride - "FreakRide" (1994 vs. 1992 in 2003) 6/1/11

William Hung - "I Believe I Can Fly" & "Inspirational Thoughts: Perseverance" (2004) 11/13/11

Idaho - "If You Dare" (1995) 9/25/11

Idaho - "You Are There" (1993) 5/13/11

ILYA - "Isola" (2002) 9/13/11

[Insides: see Earwig]

Isotope 217 - "Kryptonite Smokes The Red Line" (1997) 5/1/11

The Joy Circuit - "Run In Circles" (demo) (2004) 10/18/11

The Joy Circuit - "The New Sunrise" (demo) (2004) 7/7/11

The Joy Circuit - "X's" (2004) 11/8/11

[Miranda July: see Michael Andrews w/ Miranda July]

Juned - "Kyuss" (1995) 8/31/11

Junius - "A Word Could Kill Her" (2006) 1/19/12

Juno - "Leave A Clean Camp And A Dead Fire" (1998) 10/8/12

Kill Laura - "Unheeled (1994) 6/18/12

Knapsack - "Decorate The Spine" (1996) 10/29/11

Michael Krassner - "Telegraph Hill" (1996) 8/14/11

Kriedler - "She Woke Up And The World Had Changed" (1998) 7/23/11

Dayna Kurtz - "Beside You" (Live) (1997) 4/18/12

LAKE - "Don't Give Up" (2009) [+ EXITMUSIC - "The Sea" (2011)] 10/31/12

Liberty Horses - "King Of A Rainy Country" (1992) 5/20/11

Lid - "Up" (1992) 2/19/13

Lions & Ghosts - "Wild Garden" (1989) 11/5/11

Long Fin Killie - "Clinch" (1996) 7/13/12

Loquat - "Swingset Chain" (original version) (2001) 9/7/11

Lovers - "Figure 8" (2010) 9/14/12

Love Spirals Downwards - "Sideways Forest" (1996) 10/19/11

Lowercase - "Willing To Follow You Down" (1998) 9/10/11

Lubricated Goat - "New Kind Of Animal" (1990) 8/13/11

Lucid Nation - "Fun" (1999) 10/23/11

Lynnfield Pioneers - "Add It Up" (1997) 5/16/12

The Make-Up - "I Want Some" (1998) 4/16/12

Memoryhouse - "Lately" (2009 & 2011 versions) 8/16/12

Merchandise - "Time" (2012) 11/16/12

[Mercury Rev: see Shady Crady]

Margot Mifflin - "Backlash" (1992) 2/1/12

Maria Minerva - "Luvcool" [a.k.a. "Lovecool"] (2011) 10/16/12

Minutemen - "Anxious Mo-Fo" (1984) 11/27/11

The Moog Cookbook - "The One I Love" (1996) 10/31/11

Moonshake - "Girly Loop" (1993) 2/23/12

Moonshake - "The Taboo" (1996) 7/30/11

My Bloody Valentine - "You Made Me Realise" (1988) 3/17/12

National Skyline - "Ghosts" (2001) 7/5/11

Necropolis Of Love - "Talk" (re-recorded version) (1984) 11/1/11

Negativland - "Methods Of Torture" (1987) 9/6/11

New Math - Invocation (1982) 11/30/11

Nice Strong Arm - "Cloud Machine" (1989) 12/27/11

Will Oldham & Jim O'Rourke - "Ebb's Folly" (1996) 8/14/11

Opal - "Supernova" (1987) 8/1/11

The Orange Peels - "I Don't Mind The Rain" (1996) 9/21/11

[Jim O'Rourke: see Will Oldham & Jim O'Rourke]

Oval - "Shop In Store" (1994) 2/8/12

Mike Patton - "Pajama Party Horror" (1995) 11/7/11

Pharmacy Lounge - "Building A Compound" (1993) 10/11/12

A Place To Bury Strangers - "I Lived My Life To Stand In The Shadow Of Your Heart" (2006 & 2009 versions) 1/26/12

Plexi - "Forest Ranger" (1996) 9/3/11

Plexi - "Peel / He" (1995) 9/1/11

Plexi - "Simple Man" (1994) 9/2/11

Pocahaunted - "Ashes Is White" (2008) 10/21/11

Poem Rocket - "Appeal To The Imagination" (2000) 1/10/13

Poem Rocket - "Flaw" (1994) 12/6/12

Poem Rocket - "Small White Animal" (1994) 12/14/12

The Prime Movers - "Museum" (1984) 9/26/11

Primitive Painters - "Like You" (1991) 10/13/11

Psi Com - "City Of 9 Gates" (1985) 11/19/11

Psi Com - "Ho Ka Hey" (1985) 9/11/11

Psychic Ills - "January Rain" (2005) 1/13/12

Pteranodon - "Adrift" (2001) 12/14/11

Puro Instinct - "Slivers Of You" (2010) 11/9/11

Lee Ranaldo - "Deva, Spain (Fragments)" 2/3/12

Lee Ranaldo w/ Steve Shelley - "Live ∞ #1" (1987) 7/3/11

Billy Reid - "White Chicks And Gang Signs" (2006) 11/13/12

Replikants - "Patty's Trip" (1996) 3/23/11

[Ride: see Adina Howard vs. Ride]

Steve Roach - "Structures From Silence" (1984) 11/15/11

Steve Roach & Robert Rich - "Touch" (1992) 11/29/11

Savage Republic - "Next To Nothing" (1982) 10/14/11

Scala - "Hold Me Down" (1995) 4/23/11

Scenic - "All Fish Go To Heaven" (1996) 2/28/11

School Of Seven Bells - "Windstorm" (2010) 8/28/12

Christian Scott - "Litany Against Fear" (2007) 8/14/11

Screen Of Dreams - "I Can't Remember" (1983) 11/12/11

The Sea And Cake - "Choice Blanket" (1993) 6/22/12

Section 25 - "New Horizon" (1980) 9/16/12

Seefeel - "Come Alive" & "Come Alive (Climactic Phase #1)" (1993) 8/19/11

Shady Crady - "Clamor" (demo) (1988) 5/24/11

Shady Crady - "In Bloom" (demo) (1988) 5/27/11

Sleepers - "Let Me Free" (1980) 2/20/11

Sleepers - "Mirror" (1980) 10/6/11

[Sonic Youth: see Lee Ranaldo]

Soul Whirling Somewhere - "Every Female Werewolf Ever, Listed Alphabetically By Crime" (1997) 8/18/11

The Sound - "Burning Part Of Me" (1985) 4/12/11

Southpacific - "Analogue 9" (1999) 8/25/11

Sovetskoe Foto - "Cellophane Laughter" (1991) 4/12/12

Springhouse - "Enslave Me" (1992) 4/6/12

Starflyer 59 - "Blue Collar Love" (1993) 9/24/11

Starflyer 59 - "The Boulevard" (1996) 10/11/11

St. Johnny - "Go To Sleep (1992) 9/8/12

Karlheinz Stockhausen - "Struktur X" (1959-60) 4/27/11

Suburban Lawns - "Computer Date" (1981) 10/28/11

Swervedriver - "99th Dream" (1996) 3/26/12

Tagging Satellites - "Sun Damage" (2000) 1/30/12

Tamaryn - "Dawning" (2010) 9/29/11

Tape - "Fill In The Blank" (2002) 9/4/11

Telefon Tel Aviv - "My Week Beats Your Year" (2004) 5/13/11

This Heat - "Horizontal Hold" (~1978) 4/28/12

Tomorrowland - "Kepler Planet Harmonies" (1997) 5/16/11

To Rococo Rot - "Prado" (1999) 7/27/11

Tortoise - "Glass Museum" (1995) 2/16/12

Trans Am - "Futureworld" (1998) 5/6/12

Trespassers William - "Love You More" (2002) 11/30/11

Trial Of The Bow - "Inverloch" (1994) 4/2/12

Tristeza - "I Am A Cheetah" (2000) 9/23/11

Twin Sister - "The Other Side Of Your Face" (2010) 12/4/11

Ultracherry Violet - "Post-Wing-And-Prayer" (1994) 5/20/12

The Universal Chrome - "Helium" (2000) 10/23/12

[Unwound: see Replikants]

Venus Beads - "Heaven And Back" (1990) 4/2/11

Venus Beads - "One Way Mirror" (1990) 7/18/12

Volplane - "Lost In Blue" [a.k.a. "I Want This Dream"] (1997) 12/10/11

Warpaint - "Composure" (2010) 10/5/11

The Werefrogs - "Don't Slip Away" (1992) 5/22/11

White Cascade - "Fine As Usual" (2010) 11/22/12

Windy & Carl - "A Dream Of Blue" (1997) 3/11/11

[Wire: see Dome]

Zombi - "Challenger Deep" (2005) 8/25/11

Pic of the often-thought-provoking sign at Metairie Grammar School on Sept. 20, 2012. (See the other side here.)