WOTZIT - Demo - Tape - 2016

    Believe or not, sometimes I don't have a story or the reference points or the "members of" list or anything to go on. Every once in a while, I just get a tape that makes me stop what I'm doing and pay attention. This is that tape. Sometimes, I just think "What if Fred Frith played guitar in a punk band?" and this is what I think about. This is the band's second tape. They're from Tokyo.

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Find other stuff by the band here 

IT GETS WEIRDER - Tape - Compilation - 2015

   Olympia, Washington. Love it or hate it. For whatever reason, it's a small town that brings up a lot of different emotions for people, but I've rarely met anyone who feels indifferent about the place. I myself have been on both sides of the wall at different points in my life. Once, I went there for a week just to lay on a couch while it rained.
    It's gotten a lot of attention in the past because of K Records or BIKINI KILL or whatever-the-fuck and now they're maybe getting a lot of attention because of G.L.O.S.S. or K Records or whatever the fuck. I've come around to liking the place again (and I have for years now) but I'm not about to pack my bags and move on up. I think it gets a bad rap, but imagine fighting to live your life in new and interesting ways while being somewhere small enough to see real, actual results. I'm not saying it's easy by any stretch of the imagination. I'm mostly telling you this convoluted shit to bring light to the fact of all of the hard work that my friend Meg and a lot of other hard workers do in Olympia. They helped to open the Interfaith Works Overnight Emergency Shelter, which is a shelter for people living on the streets of Olympia. I can't get into the details of the whole thing because I don't really know them. What I can tell you is that I went to a party at the shelter while a hardcore fest was happening 2 blocks away and all of the interactions I had there were so genuine, real and positive that I had to walk around the corner at least 5 times and just fucking cry. I know it's not like that all the time and I know it's a lot of hard work and I just wanted to point that out. Going back over to the fest felt like a step down, even though I would literally kill someone to relive that CCTV/BIG ZIT/VEXX show again.
   Also, I like eating tater tots at the Reef...a diner downtown that has burned down like 2 or 3 times.

   Oh yeah, there's music here. This tape was compiled by Sadie (G.L.O.S.S./DYKE DRAMA) and Joey (a true genius/madman who is responsible for most of the sick recordings you like from Oly) to showcase the myriad of punk shit coming out of the basements and dives of this small town. I love that this tape is truly all over the map of punk...it's not just hardcore or pop-punk, but those things are there too. I think my favorite discovery from this tape is DEFACEMAN, who I'd never heard before...just true fucked, chaotic, messy, brilliant beauty. I want to hear everything by them now. Other heavy hitters featured here are VEXX, GAG, G.L.O.S.S., BROKEN WATER, CC DUST and NASTI. The entire tape is worth your time though and provides a perfect glimpse at all the new shit going on there...or at least what was happening in 2015. Some of these bands have broken up already. Get into it.

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I don't think this tape is available anymore. 

I took a long break from the blog for many reasons and one of them was archiving makes me feel weird now. That's all I'm gonna say about it, but I'll keep doing it for the time being.
If anyone in the Bay Area wants to give or sell me a functional cassette console, please get in touch. I had 4 break in one week.
Thanks to Alex Turner for digitizing this one. 

MUGWORT - Demo - Tape - 2011

    Mugwort, the plant, is said to further one's psychic abilities, enhance your dreams and repel negative energies. If used in excess, it can prove to be toxic...so toxic that it has been used in herbal abortions. MUGWORT, the band, could probably also enhance your dreams and repel a lot of negative energy in your mind. I can't comment on their psychic energies or fetus-destroying abilities.
   I was at a basement show in Oakland last week where 2/3rd's of MUGWORT were playing in a new band (their name escaped me) that built off of the player's long histories in other bands like SHITSTORM and THE GOOD GOOD...bands that never seemed to fully get the recognition they deserved (whatever the fuck "recognition" means in your mind...they didn't get it), but succeeded in throwing out loads of incredible music and playing shows that will always stick with me.
   MUGWORT enjoyed a brief stint in the Bay Area queer punk scene, playing tons of shows in their SF house near 21st and Capp. I'm sure they played other places too, but I only ever saw them there. Wu banged out insistent lines on their bass while Sara worked around the melodies and just invented her own cool style. Peter drums in a way that is so inspiring to me...somehow effortlessly playing this wild style that is "missed" notes, propulsive cymbals and almost intentionally playing off the rhythms but still holding it all together. They all sing. It's an incredible tape. It's been by my stereo for years now.

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They also have a Bandcamp, but it's missing two songs from the tape. I don't know why.

You can also enjoy some of their songs set to video too. 

Maybe I'll remember the name of that new band so I can go see them more. 

HEX - Demo - Tape - 2007

Today's post is brought to you by Erik Ruin, who previously contributed a top ten list to the blog a few years ago. I think this tape is incredible, but wanted a different perspective on it, so I asked Erik for his take. Many, many thanks to the members of HEX for sending over the digital files when my machinery was having issues. 

   Heavy music on non-traditional instruments has a seriously mixed track record. It can tend toward simple novelty- (think APOCALYPTICA or even worse) but it can also lay bare nuanced dynamics and complex compositional structures that are often obscured to those- like me- who have trouble looking beyond the standard genre tropes (wailing guitars,machismo, long hair, etc.). It’s into this latter camp I’d put viola/tuba/drums trio HEX, alongside luminaries like Portland’s DISEMBALLERINA and Providence’s BELLOWS.

  According to violist Jackie Beckey- “Andie, Aaron and I were all hanging out around this time and interested in creating heavy music on nontraditional instruments. I'd been experimenting with this for awhile and was hoping to start a project with someone who shared this vision. Aaron--a fellow classically trained orchy dork punk on tuba--was the obvious choice for a bandmate. We were both interested in creating heavy music influenced by non-western music, such as African drumming. Aaron and I were also into geeking out about poly-rhythms, exploring tonality by amplifying acoustic instruments and using instruments with incredible amounts of sustain to play heavy music.”

   The first and last songs of this tape begin with lengthy tuba drones rich in texture and atmosphere. From there it gets more rocking, with Jackie alternating between heavily reverbed pizzicato plucking (kind of a trademark of hers) and sawing riffs. At times, it reminds me of stoner rock transcendalists like SLEEP or even 70’s Swedes PARSON SOUND (a direction Jackie and Andie would take further with their project MYRRH) but it also breaks out into galloping sections that are not too dissimilar to their Minneapolis contemporaries COUNTY Z (ed. note: there is so much CZ on this blog and you should definitely seek it out) and ROTTEN LIVING. The cover sports paper-cut artwork by “Dragon-face” Dan Nelson, virtually de rigeurin the scene at the time (see also DOGS, THIEVES, DANGER BOY & THE ROAD VULTURES, etcetcetc….)

   HEX was relatively short-lived, beginning and ending in 2007. As far as I know, this is their only recording. They did go on a two-month tour, which Jackie remembers as “the best tour I've ever been on. Luke Holden toured with us the entire way and performed at every show as the hilarious "Body McFartin" human fart machine opening act. Because we kind of didn't fit into any specific musical genre, we played a lot of weird shows--opened up for a D-beat band in Dallas, performed with the art-punk band TEENAGE WAISTBAND in Providence, and performing during an intermission for a psychedelic play in Kansas City.”

    They so impressed my friend Dan Schleifer at their Providence show that he formed his own tuba-drone metal band, the aforementioned BELLOWS (who also ruled and are also sadly broken up)

    All the members of HEX have gone on to do a bunch of stuff– Jackie formed the more melodic yet still driving BRUTE HEART and is now mainly focused on soundtrack work. Tuba player Aaron moved to Pittsburgh where he’s playing in two great bands- tuba with brassy LUNGS FACE FEET  and bass with heavy weirdos COME HOLY SPIRIT(alongside Gina Favano of the much-missed JOHN DENVER'S AIRPLANE). Andie went on to play drums in the brilliant MOTHER OF FIRE, then in a variety of scrappy punk bands and is a brilliant painter.

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COUNTY Z//SHEP AND ME - Split - Tape - 2003?

   If you're familiar with this blog, you're probably familiar with COUNTY Z, because I've given you plenty of opportunities to check them out. SHEP AND ME is also no stranger to this page. As I've said before, COUNTY Z is one of my top 5 all-time favorite bands in the history of music and these two songs don't appear on other things they released. I don't know anything about it, but it's so good to my ears.
  SHEP AND ME is Matthew Himes playing outsider sounds and otherworldly folk that comes out of a world that is his own creation. Everything I've ever heard by him has been nothing short of brilliant. I'm not exactly sure if SHEP AND ME is still an active project, but Matt has been tirelessly releasing analog (and some digital) documents of the outsider world through his label, Lighten Up Sounds. Pick up anything he has available and you're guaranteed to be intrigued.
   This tape was released by Snob House, but I don't have a cover for it. Apparently, there was a surly dog drawn on it, so you can just imagine that for yourself. COUNTY Z broke up and then 2/3's of the band started playing with Matt as ROTTEN LIVING. Then, they broke up and MOTHER OF FIRE started. Then they broke up and the world is a black hole of despair.

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JOSE BOVE - Demo - Tape - 2008

   JOSE BOVE came to the small Midwestern college town that I found myself in and aurally destroyed an art gallery...or so I thought. They might have come there. I was convinced that I attended that show, but the more I search my brain, the more I can't remember being there. It probably happened, but I wasn't there. I know...cool story, dawg.
   JOSE BOVE was (is?) a sonic fuck-pile of a band. They consisted of two drummers facing each other and other people playing noise/generally fucking up the vibe. They're the sound inside your head when you're on a train jetting through a tube underwater after 5 cups of coffee and you want to kill all the screen starers in your immediate vicinity.
   Information on the band is hard to come by. This tape exists and I know they also released a 7" with hand screened covers. Beyond that, I can't help you. You're on your own now.

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   The band is named after a French farmer / activist, who (among many other things) helped to dismantle  a McDonalds in Millau in 1999. I call attention to this act because of the recent near-fetishization of fast food among punks. Some people cry "but I'm broke." Whatever. It's possible to be actually broke (like your pocket hasn't seen money in months) and still not eat that shit. Give me a fucking break. 

COUNTY Z / IMPRACTICAL COCKPIT - Split Cassingle - 2002

  Since the previous entry was so sprawling and featured 100 songs, I decided to keep this one short and sweet. These two bands are two of my absolute favorites of the late 90's and early 00's. They played beautiful and ugly music. It was produced by purely lovable dirtbags. I feel comfortable calling them that because one of the members recently told me "We were such fucking dirtbags." The shitty punk historians of the future won't write about COUNTY Z and IMPRACTICAL COCKPIT in their $100 coffee table art cubes (books won't exist). The noisers who write the history will only make a scant mention of them. That is fine. They probably don't give a fuck. All of these people are still active in art and music, creating work that is incredible and essential.

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I think this tape was created for one of their joint tours. Two songs. Less than two minutes of music.  

COUNTY Z - "Live At The Seward Cafe" - Tape - 2002

    Yesterday, I was hanging out with my friend Ryan in his studio while he showed me all of the new, huge paintings and installations he was working on. He was talking a million miles an hour, so excited to be working on art and learning everything he can about art history and theory. He's getting ready to ship everything out to Minneapolis, where he has a show coming up in November. An old friend, Forrest is helping to build some structures in the gallery, since he has a background in carpentry. Their friend, Naomi bought a house that has a storefront built into the first floor and she's going to host part of his art show there. It was inspiring to see him so wide-eyed and full of life, still figuring out his dreams while flying way under the radar.
   Another thing I found inspiring is that all three of those people have stuck together since they started playing in COUNTY Z almost 15 years ago. COUNTY Z is one of my favorite bands of all time, but that's beside the point, Naomi took me on my first freight train ride. Forrest told me he didn't like the sustain of cymbals so he used brake parts instead. Sometimes I couldn't tell if Ryan was playing with or against the band, but it usually worked.
   Most of this tape was recorded live at the Seward Cafe, which has been collectively ran since 1974 and is one of the best places on this entire earth. If you aren't familiar with COUNTY Z, I would suggest starting with their tape or LP first, Both are brilliant.
   If you're in Minneapolis in November, be sure to check out Ryan's art show. He'll be there daily with tea for you to drink. I might be there too. If you show up, don't talk about this band. Let's talk about his art, the new dreams and all the crackpot visions we hope to see to fruition before this world implodes in the next few years.

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This tape is from the collection of Caroline Paquita

WET DRAG - "Silhouette Yeah" - Tape - 2014

   WET DRAG is a band I've never seen and I'm not sure if they're even still around. Are either of these things important to you? I doubt it. In the past, I said that this band seems to combine the different aspects of the members' other bands (STILLSUIT, UZI RASH and GRASS WIDOW [a.k.a. Glass Window] is the short list), but now I don't think that's wholly accurate. Is this important either? No. Is this tape good? Fuck yeah. I have nothing else to say.

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NEW HAPPINESS - "Silence" - Tape - 2013

   I got this tape sometime last year without truly realizing the band was from the neighboring city of Oakland. Their location may be the least important thing about this band. Anyway, I listened to their tape, liked it and wanted to see them, but with a little bit of digging, I found that they had already broken up. My fucking loss.
   NEW HAPPINESS plays a dark style of post-punk that is so post that it's maybe not even actually punk. Like, maybe they just decided to start a band after listening to a bunch of SKINNY PUPPY one day. What the fuck do I know? It's a little goth sounding with some crazy metal percussion that sounds like synthesizers sometimes..but is actually just a bunch of metal junk. Sometimes, the vocals are a little too over the top for me, but that's just me. Maybe you like over the top.

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VARIOUS ARTISTS - "Field Recordings From The Edge Of Existence. Vol 2" - Tape - 2013

   When I'm at my job, I rarely let down my guard to reveal details of my personal life to my co-workers because I feel like there's too many facets of it that are confusing or difficult to explain (I want to say that I also work with a lot of wonderful people who "get" me 100%. I have a lot of co-workers). For example, a nurse told me that she routinely spots me all over the city, riding my bike at all hours of the day. She explained, "I feel like I've seen you over 50 times in every corner of San Francisco, but you've never noticed that I'm in the vicinity." As I was coming to the end of a 12 hour overnight shift, I barely looked up from my paperwork and casually said, "I have to put on psychic blinders in this world to block out the constant barrage of bullshit so that I can continue to fool myself into believing that this city can be a beautiful and magical place." As those last words fell from my lips, I started to catch myself and glanced up to see the nurse looking both horrified and confused. I stammered "I'm...I'm sorry I didn't see you. Sometimes my best friends have to grab me to get my attention as I pass them on the sidewalk." It was too late. I revealed a little too much and that nurse gave me a look that simply said "Let's just not talk while I'm here, okay?"
   Sometimes, the blinders are on too much and I even miss the things that I should be looking out for. My friend Vanessa gave me a copy of her zine Asswipe (issue 5), which consisted mostly of interviews with Oakland bands that I had never heard of, even though I go to punk shows in Oakland regularly. I read through the interviews and felt all kinds of emotions. I was intrigued, annoyed, confused, enthralled and enlightened. Never bored. For the first time since living in the Bay Area, I felt completely and utterly out of touch with what was going on in a facet of the Bay Area punk scene. It was awesome. I think some people would take that as a sign to drop out or move on, but I found it to be exciting...like, there's still interesting and productive scenes thriving on the fringes. When I feel like I should take the blinders off, I think that maybe I should keep them on and venture further underground.
   I was handed this tape by Yacob in the backyard of an Oakland punk house and it showcases some of the bands talked about in Asswipe (p.s., one of the better Bay Area zines), as well as some non-local heavy-hitters. Almost everything on the tape was recorded live on a handheld tape recorder by Yacob in the Bay Area, so the sound quality is lo-fi (as hell) but still engaging in a totally fucked way. PATH OF RUIN start off the tape with a wild, noisy, violent stab of no wave and their recording trainwrecks into a live set by the BILL ORCUTT and JACOB HEALE DUO. Orcutt should be no stranger to any fan of noise and outsider sounds. The tape continues on with more harsh, (possibly) challenging recordings by KAREN, EXIT BAG, ETTRICK and more.
   Side 2 begins with a live recording of last year's phenomenal SF performance of SUN RA'S ARKESTRA led by Marshall Allen (I feel embarrassed now that I didn't include this on my year end top ten because it was one of the best, most transcendent musical performances I saw last year, by far) at the Victoria Theater in the Mission District. It's followed up by a free jazz performance by SF SOUND GROUP, who also played the ARKESTRA show. I liked the recording of them on this tape, but, honestly, I was unimpressed by their live presentation and spent their set drinking cheap beer on the corner of 16th and Mission while people-watching. I wish that this tape included the opening performance by HANS GRUSEL'S KRANKENKABINET, but this world is not perfect. The tape closes with the no-wavey improv (?) blanket of BAT MAGICK. Overall, this tape is challenging, interesting and does a phenomenal job of documenting the underside of the Bay Area's noise scene. Blinders on. Head down.

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Tape is not split into tracks...just side A and B, since everything runs together.

File is large. 203 mb.

I think this tape was released in an edition of 25, so it's probably gone. 

If you want to hear more from people involved in these projects, check out Albacore Records

BLOOD TRUCK - Tape - 2004

   In my mind, BLOOD TRUCK was around long enough to make this tape, dub 12 copies of it and go on a short tour with BEASTHEAD. I had the good fortune of seeing both bands play to a tiny but appreciative crowd at a coffeeshop by the tracks in Pensacola, FL.Some of the members lived in the decaying, rotting warehouse called Nowe Miasto in New Orleans, which would be flooded by Hurricane Katrina within a couple of years.
   This eight song tape showcases the ramshackle, falling apart glory that was BLOOD TRUCK. Inspiration by TEENAGE JESUS AND THE JERKS, feminist theory and New Orleans life makes for quite an interesting listening experience. Get fucked.

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Members have also been in WHORE PAINT, THE FOREHEADS, NEW BLOODS, TEENAGE WAISTBAND, MOTHER POPCORN and many more. 

EVERYTHING WENT PINK - Compilation - Tape - 2000

   "Everything Went Pink" is a tape that was released by Dan B back in 2000 that specifically covered the DIY punk scene in Asheville, NC, which was mostly centered around a giant punk house called the Pink House (located at/near 201 Broadway...it's now either a parking lot or condos.) It was kind of a magical time in the history of that town. A whole bunch of freaks happened to converge on the town all at once, from Minneapolis, New Orleans, California, Montreal and even the suburbs of Buncombe County. Some lived in cold-ass houses in Woodfin. Other lived in makeshift shacks out by the freeway (like everyone in MARGARET MOTHER OF THIEVES). Many others, including myself, lived in the Pink House, right in the middle of all the chaos. The house itself was kind of a freak magnet since it was a giant two-story pink place, the door was almost always unlocked, it housed a teeming library and it welcomed just about anyone who walked through the door. The landlord was a member of CRASH WORSHIP and he could often be found smoking weed by the toxic creek in our back yard. I'm pretty sure that, at one point, 17 people were living in the house.
    There was a time when there was almost nowhere for DIY punk bands to play in town, so a bunch of folks from the house decided to clear out piles of the landlord's bikes and crap in the basement to make their own show space. There was a big problem though. Raw sewage and toxic creek water leaked straight into the basement, right into the area where bands would play. No problem...a group of punks (namely Joseph, Big Mike and Ed....possibly Luke too) built a retaining wall / ditch all the way through the basement and bored a hole though the back wall so that water could drain out though ANOTHER drainage ditch into the toxic creek! Thus, the punk club, Oh My! was born. Every time a band played there, the audience ran the risk of falling into the shitty toxic trough and the band ran the risk of getting a huge electrical shock! Still, it was the best place for shows and it's where I saw many life-changing events.

  Most of the songs on this tape were recorded live on a handheld tape recorder at Oh My! Others were recorded at clubs in town, other houses and shacks. Most of the sound quality could be described as "assy", but I respect that the bands worked with what they had, which was almost nothing. Lots of bands on this tape don't have any other recordings. Many do. You can try and differentiate that distinction for yourself. Bands include WAR TORN BABIES, CRAP FACTORY, ASTRID OTO, RAT ATTACK, CHRIST FILTHY DOGS (which I've been wanting to re-use as a band name for years), DEAD THINGS, TRASH NIGHT and more. There's 43 songs in all. Enjoy or don't.

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Did I upload this just to have digital copies of SLATTER HAGS and the final song on the tape? Possibly, but don't tell anybody. 

Tape hiss abounds. Terrible sound quality. Totally beautiful. 

NEGATION - "Weak Artifact" - Tape - 2013

    When my band went on tour in 2012, we didn't put much thought into the fact that people might actually find reasons to pay attention to the completely worthless holiday of Thanksgiving. Luckily, our show on that day took us to New Orleans, which isn't really like any other place in the US, much less the world. I couldn't imagine any punks in that town giving a shit about the holiday.
   Our show landed us at the long-running, dilapidated warehouse at the end of Jane Place: Nowe Miasto. I have a long history with this place and it was the first time I'd been inside of it since it was filled to the rafters with flood waters from Hurricane Katrina. It looked a lot more barren and desperate, but still full of life and young punks and weirdos. It made me instantly comfortable in an area of New Orleans that makes me feel overcome with anxiety (I'm not going into why, but you could probably figure it out with either five seconds of thought or a search on the internet). Just like one of the first times I visited the warehouse, I went into the kitchen (which is now upstairs, rather than on the first floor) to get a cup of coffee. I introduced myself to the people sitting around on the table, talking. They regarded me coldly and made half-grunts that could pass for a greeting. It felt just like old times, but I had doubts that I would be close friends with these people in ten years, like I am with some of the former residents of Nowe Miasto. There was a well dressed, middle-aged man walking around the common space with a laptop, Skyping with someone on the east coast. Times were definitely different up in here.
   Luckily, the show soon rumbled to a start with NEGATION, the only other band besides us. I was already excited to see them, not only because my friend Osa played bass and sang, but also because the guitarist/singer, Benji and I talked about our mutual love of bands like MOTHER OF FIRE and IMPRACTICAL COCKPIT. Their sound is desperate, jarring, angular (yeah, I don't really like that term either...give me something better) and unnerving. That warehouse, in a room that was once completely submerged in water and still smelling of mold, seemed like the perfect place to see Negation. It made me wish that you could take your entire environment on tour and just present your experience to unsuspecting audiences....I mean, without being a millionaire or an asshole.
   The band promised to send me a tape when it was done and they followed through. I like it a lot, even though I like their live show a lot better. It reminds me of those early, sweaty days at Nowe Miasto, but also not stuck in the past. It sounds like doing the best you can with what you have and not paying attention to the rules. I don't know. Why don't you just download it and think about it yourself...

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Or download it from the band here

NEGATION

THE GOOD GOOD - "Giver" - CD-R - 2004

   Like many bands on this blog, I don't know where to start with THE GOOD GOOD. I think I first heard them when I was sitting around all day in my lonely bedroom in Mississippi, trying to find new music through my roommate's record collections. I knew that my band would be playing with them soon, so I figured I would check them out. I liked it but I wasn't sold. We played with them a few days later. The second that their singer Natalja put down her guitar and played an entire song with just a megaphone, I was in. These were my people. (That song was "Hello Friends", included in this download).
   I was also drawn to the rock solid bass playing and the wild, completely unpredictable-yet-still-somehow-solid drumming that sometimes drove the songs into dancey rhythms and sometimes drove it into dark dirges. I don't know how to explain this band and that doesn't even matter....I just know that I loved them when they were around and I miss them so fucking much now that they're gone.
   This four song CD_R gives small hints of what was to follow on their later full length LP. If you don't own their full-length LP, which contains insanely awesome art and even better music, then I feel bad for you....but you can order one here, maybe. If you just want to download it, I guess you can go here.

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Members of BLOODHUFF, CHA CHA CHA, MUGWORT, BOOMFANCY, COBRA KAI and QUERENT. 

NO SHIT SHERLOCK - 6 Song Demo - Tape - 2002

   A few years ago, I got into a...errr....heated discussion with an acquaintance of mine about touring. He was convinced that bands shouldn't go on tour until they've released records and have other merch to sell. He said that this proved that the band was more serious about what they were doing and would (somehow) not waste his time at a punk show. Citing a list of "serious" bands who have seriously wasted my time at punk shows over the years, I called bullshit on his idea. I told him that I think bands should go on tour with whatever they want...They could have 4 LP's or just a demo tape (or nothing at all). In my mind, touring can give you perspective on your band and also just take you to places you've never been. Plus, if a band is wasting your time, it's easy to just walk out and do something else. I've walked out on everyone from FORGETTERS to TRAGEDY to ROSA with no regrets. Plus, it's not really your business if a band chooses to go on tour with absolutely nothing to sell (or give away) and at the end of the day, you're going to sleep just the same, so who cares? Also, touring is just this huge privilege anyway...but that's a whooole other discussion....these are the kinds of tangents I get on when writing this at 5 in the morning.....
     This brings us to NO SHIT SHERLOCK, who I saw in a mid-blackout in New Orleans back in 2003. In my hazy memory, they were alternately falling apart and completely ruling at the same time. They were on tour with COUNTY Z and offered nothing more in the way of merch than their shoddily recorded live demo tape and possibly some spray-painted t-shirts. (Our friend, Rana was also on the tour selling haircuts at every show. I offered up three bucks and came out of the show with the sides of my head shaved into steps and a rattail.) The three women in the band played a manic blend of arty, no wave punk employing an accordion, a bass and a floor tom or two. Even though they were probably on stage for a total of 15 minutes and broke up not long after this tour, they've provided more (and better) memories for me than seeing many, many other bands in my life.

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Features members of DOGS and DEUCE BOLDLY. 

IMPRACTICAL COCKPIT - "Thanks" - Tape - 2006

   As I'm sure I've said before, IMPRACTICAL COCKPIT is one of my favorite bands. Years back, they were getting ready to go on a tour and their drummer, Don broke his leg. Rather than call the whole thing off, Don learned how to use a combination of percussion and electronics, which ultimately sent the band to a new plateau of weirdness. That trajectory took them into a later tour where they would play sprawling hour long sets, employing the use of hand made horns, staticky radios, tape loops, half-broken amps and miscellaneous debris. The results could be hypnotic, challenging, abrasive and cleansing.
   I got a ride down to a show of theirs in Kentucky during this time and was dropped off at the bar hours before they even arrived. At the time of the show (8 hours later), they were the only musical act scheduled to play. They took their time setting up and the clientele of the bar eyed them warily. As they hit their first notes of the night, a huge Midwestern storm started brewing in the neighborhood. The doors to the bar were wide open and sheets of rain started pouring in. I looked at the middle-aged, burly, biker-style bartenders standing there...arms crossed, not batting an eye or making a move to close the doors. About five minutes into IPCP's set, every paying customer in the bar got up and left, deciding to brave the potentially tornado-inducing storm rather than listen to this band. I looked around. I was left alone with the band, the guy who set up the show, my friend Christina (who lived there and actually came to see the band), Stella (IPCP's roadie, who was laughing at the predicament) and the still-stoic and immobile bartenders. The band did not bat an eye and played their full set. It was great and the insane storm added an extra element of dreaminess to the whole thing.
   At the conclusion of their set, there was an awkward silence after our smattering of applause died down. We were then left with these burly dudes at the bar after driving out their entire clientele. I looked over after a heavy silence and one of 'em said "So, do ya'll like SUN RA and BEEFHEART or something?" Tension broken. The guys loved it and were happy to talk to some other weirdos. Drinks were on the house. The other act was the promoter, Kris, doing a "DJ set", which meant that he would put a record on and let the entire thing play. Then, he would flip it and listen to the other side. (I just now realized that I have told this entire story before in an earlier post. Oops. I am now senile).
   On that tour, IPCP had a mailing list and they said that if you signed it, they would send you free stuff. A lot of bands used to say that, but I never got any free stuff from them. At the conclusion of their tour, the band actually did send this tape out to people who signed the list or set up shows for them. It's called "Thanks" and it compiles live sets, field recordings, jams, talks about botox and random sounds. Listening to this reminds of that night and makes me miss their challenging sounds. I think the thing I love most about the band is that they were somehow always a year ahead of me. What that means is that every time a new LP came out (and they have a lot), I would listen to it and think it was pretty good. I wouldn't quite get it and it wouldn't really hit me, but something let me know that I had to hang onto it. Within a year, that record would become indispensable to me. The same thing happened with this tape. It's pretty out there and it's also really, really good.

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There's also a 12" out there called "Thanks II" that is more stuff like this, more field recordings and  moreeeeee weeeirdddddd. 

FLORAL BEEF - Demo - Tape - 2008

   FLORAL BEEF started out with Sean, Emmalee and Jen playing their songs at a new band show in Sean's backyard on a half pipe. Later, they asked Billy to "try out" by getting him to make distressed animal noises and dance around. When he succeeded, they put him on the 2nd drum set.
   Jon Paul recorded this demo on a reel to reel at the 3rd St practice space in San Francisco. The drummers used an old school bell (as a cymbal) that JP had swiped from a school that he squatted.
   Like many bands, FLORAL BEEF went on a tour that destroyed them and strained friendships. Their roadie (Matty B) almost got them in many fights for drugs, unrestrained wildness and matters of religious differences. He was also their "chef", which just meant he poured Tapatio and lime juice into Fritos bags and shook it up.
   Some band members continued to live next door to each other, but barely talked. Jen moved into my house once, but I don't ever think we slept there at the same time. I know I only saw her once. The band got back together a couple of years ago for a reunion show where they took their shirts off, spit beer in each other's mouths, slow danced in the kitchen and tried (and failed) to crush up & snort Horny Goat Weed pills from the corner store. Maybe they even played a tape loop of Ron "Tater Salad" White's comic routine where he talks about getting his dick super-glued to his stomach like they used to...I don't know....I wasn't there....All of this info came from their drummer, Emmalee, not me.

  I only had 2 chances to see FLORAL BEEF and I totally squandered the first one. I believe the band was playing a mere 3 houses away from me, but I was locked up in an attic room alone stressing out and getting depressed. I shared a room with my friend Matt and laid on his bed while he was playing a movie awards show in Hollywood, schmoozing with Deniro and fighting over free Ipods with Jason Bateman. I should've been jumping up and down to FLORAL BEEF, but I was probably reading about total bullshit. If I opened my window, I probably could have heard them. 

  The second time, I raced with a group of bicyclists across SF to the Tenderloin (that's a neighborhood, for out-of-town readers) to try and catch them at their reunion show. We reached the door of the house where they were playing and started blitzing the door guy with questions. "FLORAL BEEF?! HAVE THEY PLAYED YET?!!" The door guy was trying to take our money without answering. "Yeah man, all the bands are great. I'm sure they'll go on soon." Suddenly, Emmalee appeared and said "We already played. It's a shit show." We took out money back and opted to drink on the street instead. Minutes later, a guy from the house walked out and started yelling at us about how we were assholes by drinking out front. We were "blowing up the spot." I looked up at the open window of the house where music was blasting out into the streets. I looked at the guys next to me drinking openly and dealing crack.  I looked at the Friday night hordes also drinking and shouting about nothing. I looked at the whole city going completely ass wild and then glanced back at my friends serenely drinking tall cans on the street. A cop car drove by without a second glance. The guy threatened to call the cops. We laughed and left. 

I've still never seen FLORAL BEEF.

Emmalee wanted me to add this at the last minute: "The most important thing to remember in the telling of FLORAL BEEF is that Jen and I went to the same elementary school (Mark Twain Elementary. Isn;t it weird to name a school after someone's pen name?), but she was in class with my little brother and remembers him being a bad kid."

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Members of FLORAL BEEF also played in DISPLEASURE, DAVID COPPERFUCK, RAW/WAR, SCHLITZ CLAIBORNE and lots more, okay?

I know I didn't say anything about what they sound like and that's okay because you can just download it. It's sometimes simple yet deceptively, brilliantly catchy. Abrasive but tender. Songs like "Void in my Head" and "Tell Me" will be stuck in your head for days. 

MARISSA MAGIC - "Infinity Bums" - Tape - 2012

   Last night, I went to see DavEnd's amazing musical, Fabulous Artistic Guys Get Overtly Traumatized Sometimes and it was outstanding. It took me away from my mostly straight, mostly hetero, somewhat confined punk world and set me adrift in the genderqueer, trans, performance art fabulousness of DavEnd's mind for a couple of short hours. It was smart, funny, thoughtful and poignant. I would go see it again right now if someone handed me a ticket.
   It made me feel really good, but I was soon back out on the streets of SF, among the Saturday night crowds of affluent white people, party dudes and drunk assholes. I rode my bike back to my neighborhood, thinking about how everyday it looks more and more like a place that doesn't make me happy, which is a sharp contrast from how I used to feel. There's more people who look like me around: white, kind of vaguely punk the way most young people do now, riding a nice bike, drinking fancy drinks. It makes people that look like me feel safe. Like they're in a safe place. It makes me feel completely and utterly insane. I don't have enough middle fingers for the hate that flows through me on a daily basis. I don't feel this hate just for the damage that tech people are doing to this community. I feel it for a myriad of reasons, like for the continuation of full time war, the shitty writing in the SF Chronicle, men who protest at abortion clinics, people who hate others for being LGBTQ and organized religion. I wish that I could wrap all of these things into one big bundle, stuff it into a large pinata and destroy it with a bat.
   Anyway, I was thinking about all of this stuff as I biked back to my neighborhood and continued to drive myself into an unreasonable frenzy. An old friend had invited me to the queer goth show at a bar, but I soon found myself alone, hiding in the back of a taqueria, listening to cumbia and reading a book about Mormonism. I politely declined the invitation and just went home. In my room ,I wanted to listen to something that was as fucked up as I felt. I looked through the hardcore tapes, the snarling punk anthems and the noisy dirges, but when my fingers floated to this tape, I knew my search was over.
   Marissa Magic and I don't know each other too well, but I feel like we might share some of the same thoughts about the state of the world. This tape is cathartic, uncomfortable and noisy as fuck. I could name some comparisons but this isn't really my world of punk. In different ways, it makes me think about RUSSIAN TSARLAG and the Sonic Death tape, but only vaguely. There are some wild stabs at drums, a soothing blanket of feedback and layered screams that started to pull me from this awful mood. I dreamed of walking into the karaoke bar where 20-somethings had been post-ironically singing Kenny Loggins songs and just blasting this through their PA. In the right kind of setting, someone would want to beat you up for listening to this kind of music and in my mind, that is how I still want punk/noise to be. I don't want punk to sell cars. I don't want punk to reunite to play shitty fests. I want punk to always come out of weird, dirty places and remain challenging, like this.

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Find more by Marissa here

That's all pretty rambly, but you know what I'm saying, right?

Mormonism is some weird shit.

SWORD OF THE ANCIENT - "Head Of The Tide" - Tape - 2007

   Many of the sounds I put on here are harsh, abrasive, fucked up, angry and defiant...because I like that kind of music. I also like sounds that are beautiful, indescribable, meditative, experimental and noisy. That is where bands like SWORD OF THE ANCIENT come in. But first I have to ask myself, "Are there other bands like SWORD OF THE ANCIENT?" Some of you may remember when I posted their first tape over a year ago. This tape finds the band stripped of one member, moved over 15 states away from their former home of New Orleans, a lot more subdued and a little more lush, but still strange, hypnotic and captivating. Some of the moments on here sound like they could have come straight out of the brains that wrote the first RESIDENTS record. In addition to changing their locale from a harsh, violent city to a beautifully calm seaside village (which sounds evident in their sound), it also sounds like the band switched from coffee to drinking loads of tea between their two tapes. It works. I think this tape sounds best driving across eastern Montana at 4am when everyone else in the car (van, truck, etc) is asleep or at home alone in the dark, but you can do whatever you want. 

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Updated 2013