Trouble Funk - Live

Here's another record that I can't understand hasn't been reissued again. It's one that I'm forever grateful to Henry Rollins for turning me onto. And it's one that I listen to, front to back, whenever I miss living in the DMV.

The almighty Trouble Funk is who I'd play a stranger who didn't know what go go was. Specifically, I'd give them the live record I share here, originally released as a double, white label LP by the band, then reissued on Infinite Zero in 1995, along with a compilation of their early singles. This scene existed on a parallel track to DCHC, and the best of it is just as rare to find, existing today on crumbling tapes and limited dub plates. It's important to remember that Minor Threat's final show in 1983 was headlined by Trouble Funk (and supported by Big Boys). That's not as weird a concept as one might think; it's two localized scenes, propelled by DIY and alternate performance channels.

If you find yourself travelling this week for the holidays, listen to this one in sequence, and see if it doesn't get your ass moving.

Discogs

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various artists - Sympathetic Sounds Of Detroit

It was Meg White's 50th birthday a few weeks ago, and it reminded me of the first time I heard the White Stripes. And the Dirtbombs. And Clone Defects, Bantam Rooster, the Detroit Cobras.ymp

It was 2001's "Sympathetic Sounds Of Detroit", compiled, produced, recorded, and mixed by Meg's "husband" and bandmate, the former Doc Gillis. If the goal was to put together a humdinger, then consider it a success. Longtime readers can guess which bands I favor here, but there's not a dud in the entire bunch. Even someone like the Von Bondies, who I otherwise never dug, really bring it on "Sound Of Terror".

(It's the Dirtbombs and D.C.'s, for the record.)

Discogs

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various artists - Golden Grouper Vol. 1

The subtitle reads "18 California Bands You Won't See On The Warped Tour!", which is an awfully quaint sentiment twenty years after the fact. I can't imagine anyone born in 2003 involved in music today seeing fulfillment in the grimy DIY world that I lived in. They'd probably think old Uucle Ape has brain worms.

I probably do have brain worms. It has nothing to do with an adolescence spent in basements, garages, and out of the way clubs listening to loud-ass music, tho.

But this comp, from the esteemed and missed GSL, takes a pretty important snapshot of the noisy punk scene in California state circa 2004. When indie sleaze was just starting to fall apart, bands like 400 Blows, Wives, Wires on Fire, and Mannekin Piss were up and touring, making a racket to tens (literally TENS!) of fans across the country. I was one of them.

That time is long gone, y'all, and I don't see it coming back. The circumstances that allowed us to rent out warehouses and storefronts to throw $6 shows for these bands just don't exist any more. I have no doubt that kids today are still finding a path forward; I commend them for it. But I don't envy anyone trying to make or support art today, especially art that is patently anti-commercial. It's a fuckin' drag, every time I think about it.

Discogs

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various artists - Mojo Presents: Love Will Tear You Apart (15 Hand-Picked Tracks Of Hurt, Pain & Despair)

This is my ideal Mojo comp. a mix of old and new, originals and covers, artists I've known for years and folks that are brand new to me. Every song is listenable, with a track like "Marie", performed by Townes van Zandt and Willie Nelson, leaving me wondering how I'm only hearing this for the first time now. Jim Reid of the JAMC covering the Saints was a pleasant surprise. Hearing Jon Auer's "Green Eyes" had me reaching for the first three Posies records, while I never need a reminder to dive back into the catalogs of Nina Simone or Jarvis Cocker.

Yeah, I fucked up the title in the tagging. Please kick this ass of a man.

Discogs

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various artists - Only The Strong MCMXCIII

Considering I've been listening to hardcore for 31 years is warping my brain a little bit. Which may be why I'm willing to consider a release on Victory Records, a label that Mark McCoy once sang "sucks" in an all-timer from Charles Bronson. But this comp, the tenth release on the now-notrious Chicago label, decidedly does not suck. It's led off by Warzone, one of the few bands still live and kicking from the seccond wave of HC.Then it's a pretty great lineup of bands that felt super huge to me when I was 16: Resurrection from New Jersey, Snapcase and Zero Tolerance from Buffalo, L.A.'s Strife, Louisville's Endpoint, and Black Train Jack from NYC.

In a time long before the internet, Warped Tour, or reunion package tours, or even when you could find many punk/HC records at your local record store, this was an audio flier for bands you could actually see play live. You could be that kid on the cover. You could drive to Blacksburg or Charlottesville or even all the way to DC to see someone like Bloodline play. It was the damndest game of telephone: reading zine reviews and fliers and thank you lists and distro pamphlets to discover what was available and currently happening. Resurrection was how I got into Lifetime; Endpoint led me to Slamdek Records; Warzone had me ordering records every three months from Revelation Records, newly relocated from Connecticut to Southern California.

The best part of this? I probably hadn't listened to this since the late 90s when I pulled this out of a box a bit ago. But the music still sounds vital, the lyrics no less strident than they did three decades ago. This still fucking rips.

Discogs

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varioust artists - Blues Masters Vol. 4: Harmonica Classics

Learning things about the blues is fun. For instance, I post this mainly to take the opportunity to note that it's taken more than 30 years to wrap my brain around the fact that "harp" is synonymous with "harmonica". It was on acquiring this that I realized there are at least three different "Sonny Boy Williamsons", all working wihin the milieu. There is only one Howlin' Wolf, and while "I'll Be Around" isn't "Back Door Man" or "Tail Dragger", it's still a pretty great song.

Finally, this is generally my least-favorite volume of "Blues Masters" that I've acquired. Only time and expense will tell if this remains the case, but I guess the presence of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and the Fabulous Thunderbirds knock this down a few points.

Or I'm just jealous I'll never blow the harp the way these wailers do.

Discogs

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various artists - The Groups Of Wrath: Songs Of The Naked City

This one was hanging out on a low shelf, all by its lonesome, when i came across it a few months ago. And the title on the spine gave me doo-wop or jazz noir vibes. So imagine my surprise to discover this was a compilation originally compiled by Marty Thau, owner of Red Star Records and NYC new wave impressiaro. Any look at the emergence of punk and new wave is going to gain my interest; the selections herein grabbed my attention:

• A pair of cuts from the New York Dolls' second LP
• Two Thau-produced Ramones demos from 1975
• The first Blondie single on Private Stock ("X Offender" b/w "In The Sun")
• One of my all-time favorite 45s - Suicide's "Cheree" b/w "I Remember"
• Two contributions each from Bloodless Pharaohs and the Fleshtones, both originally appearing on 1980's "Marty Thau Presents"
• A dynamic duo from Richard Hell & the Voidoids' 1982 LP, "Destiny Street"

There's a good chance that you're like me, and you already own a fair amount of these in their original forms, or as reissues, or part of other compilations. But it's nice to share something like this, with very distinctive curaation, and some Bob Gruen photography on the cover, with someone who hasn't discovered this era yet. I probably would have lost my mind if I had gotten this on cassette in 1991; so many groups I now find influential all gathered in one place, the same year I discovered Sonic Youth and Nirvana and Public Enemy. It's pretty cool to think about, which is why my niece is getting a copy of this in the mail in time for Thanksgiving.

Discogs

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various artists - Main Sounds (15 Tracks Of The Month's Best Music)

I don't typically fuck with Uncut Magazine. And the price I paid for this reflects what I gather is most folks' interest in the content here. One measly cent American, plus a nominal shipping fee, was all it cost. With all apologies to most of the performers herein, there are only a few cuts here worth that copper.

So, who did I like? Those kids in Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever are pretty great, although that wasn't in question before I copped this. Same goes for Sharon Van Etten, whose music I realized I've been casually encountering for a decade and a half. I wasn't familiar with cellist Layla McCalla's background initially, but it's been nice seeking out the catalog of this former member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops. Finally, the Quebecois trio Cola were a nice surprise coming towards the end of the 15 tracks contained herein. They had a real "Tuesday night touring band" vibe coming off their track; with a new record that came out in June, they made my list of Bandcamp Friday pickups for December.

Discogs

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various artists - Macro Dub Infection Volume One

Before I fanboyed out of Lee Perry and King Tubby and Scientist, this was what I thought of when I thought of dub. Less associated in my brain with reggae at that time than as a confluence of many branches of electronic music, I was more familiar with Bill Laswell and Spring Heel Jack at that time. And "Macro Dub Infection Volume One", which I first encounted in the back pages of my buddy's CaseLogic binder, is the key reason why.

I love how broadly defined dub is here. This is a distinctly British endeavor, featuring names like Mad Professor, Laika, 4hero, and the Disciples. The Yanks make a couple of appearances: it's the first time I ever heard Tortoise, and Laswell performs under his illbient Automaton banner. This was also probably the first time I had come across Tricky. "Maxinquaye", "Nearly God", and "Pre-Millenial Tension" were such huge records for me in the late 90s, and this was my first exposure to his genius. There are even surface outliers like COIL and Scorn present, though a dive into their tracks provides the context that, yeah, they belong here.

Released on Virgin in the UK and Caroline in the States, it was nice turning up a copy for $3 at Value Village over the summer and nudging me to really dig back into my mid-90s electronic collection. And apologies for any stray tagging here; I would have gone back and corrected with a fresh upload, but I also downgraded my copy on my hard drive to a 128kbps version and stored the CDs. And most folks I know would trade incomplete tagging for a high sample rate.

Discogs

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various artists - Back To (Old) School

Confession time: I bought this on account of its cover, which reminded me of the alma mater of one Ms. Rory Gilmore. This is the sort of thing her friend Lane Kim would have made as a mix, had she worked in the radio trade in the mid 90s.

Also, there's a lemur theme throughout the liner notes. Bonus.

I vaguely recall seeing Hits Magazine come into my local college radio station. But I was always more of a CMJ reader, so what Hits was hawking generally passed over my head. No so this compilation. Led off by the beloved Superchunk, who apparently spent money on a radio-friendly mix of "Hyper Enough", this is a shockingly good selection of what was being pushed in 1995. Sure, Semesonic and Toad the Wet Sprocket and poe. are all kind of duds to these ears. But Spacehog and Air Miami still rule; the UK contributions mid-CD are all pretty rad, and Knapsack and Deftones highlight the tail end. There's even a cover of "You Oughta Know" by 1000 Mona Lisas that I remember turning up a few times when hearing it on WHFS.

And now the title holds true, as this all makes up the C playlist of oldies radio around the country. We are all slowly rotting bags of flesh, holding tight to memories of misspent youth.

Discogs

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various artists - The Mojo Machine Turns You On 2018.

I think I probably didn't pay more than a couple of bucks for this Mojo "Best Of" from 2018. Unlike other entries in their "free CD with purchase" gimmick, this one doesn't really stand out as something I'd want to write about, or even listen to more than once or twice.

Courtney Barnett and Rolling Blackouts F.C. are the two entries that I own records by. Ezra Furman, I think I often confuse with MC Paul Barman, simply on the basis of names. But I really enjoyed their songs used in "Sex Education", and their cut here is equally excellent. As far as other songs I come back to:

• Goat Girl's "Cracker Drool" is a pretty solid post punk banger
• Khruangbin offers a pretty awesome Thai psych soul-by-way-of-Houston sample that had me track down their newest record on Dean Oceans
• Unknown Mortal Orchestra serve up some Southern Hemisphere indie psych rock that I'd probably hate watching live, but would dig putting on a mix tape at some point

In conclusion, I went in with very few expectations, and was pleasantly surprised.

Discogs

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