various artists - Dune (Original Soundtrack Recording)

My therapist's jaw dropped. "You haven't seen 'Dune: Part Two' yet?" All I could say was "nope". I have a great illogical fondness for David Lynch's 1984 dream piece. I like Denis Villenueve and Zendaya and Timothée Chalamet and Hans Zimmer, but I LOVE Lynch and Sean Young and Kyle McLachlan and fuckin' Toto. TOE-TOE, yo! The Porcaro boys play the tunes for intergalactic subterfuge!

Everything about the soundtrack, including the Eno/Eno/Lanois "Prophecy Theme", is feverish and bombastic. I have a difficult time imagining the film with a more conventional soundtrack. Just as much as John Williams' original trilogy scores and James Horner's score for "Aliens", this is a go-to for me for those head down, focus in moments at work. I can't consider giving room to something that might replace it in my brain. Not to mention that the film score/yacht rock Venn diagram has very little overlap, and I think we should appreciate the rare places that the overlap exists.

So here's a Tuesday bonus. Do something heroic or triumphant today. Remember: he who controls the spice, controls the universe!

Discogs

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various artists - International P.E.A.C.E. Benefit Compilation

No, I did not get this when it came out in 1984. I was 6/7 years old. I barely knew what music was, outside of hymns at church and the rare pop 45 that my cousins would play when we were over at their house. So I wasn't running out to the nearest place to buy anti-nukes benefit comps.

Instead, my initial exposure to R Radical's "International P.E.A.C.E. Benefit Compilation", also known as "P.E.A.C.E./WAR", was via the 1997 double CD reissue on New Red Archives. And what an exposure it was! I bought it for Dead Kennedys, Crass, Dicks, and Butthole Surfers. It ended up being my first listen to:

• Articles Of Faith
• Cause For Alarm
• GISM
• B.G.K.
• Septic Death
• Cheetah Chrome Motherfuckers
• Peggio Punx
• Subhumans

...and so many more. Those above are just the ones I sweated finding original pressings for, that I researched ad nauseum, and connected with other fans over. Even though it was a 13-year-old snapshot at that point, this was my introduction to so much international punk & hardcore, which led to even MORE international punk & hardcore, which led to what you have now: a shell of a human being, surrounded by so many goddamned CDs and records and tapes and little else.

But I digress from the self-flagellation. It may not have led to the end of nuclear proliferation, but this is a damned good comp. Just ignore the last five songs appended to the second disc. Curse you, Nicky Garrett, for turning a historical document into a sampler for your label.

Discogs

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"Mississippi" Fred McDowell - Live At The Mayfair Hotel

I'm not sure why exactly it started, but I got it in my head recently that I was going to start collecting all the Infinite Zero Archive releases. For the uninitiated, Infinite Zero was an imprint that operated under American Recordings from 1994 to 1997, serving as a reissue label. The releases were chosen by Henry Rollins and Rick Rubin, a duo who, regardless of how you feel about their own music, have pretty fucking impeccable taste. I mean, if in 1994 you're going to launch with Devo, the Contortions, and Gang Of Four, you're WAY ahead of the curve.

So I've been slowly accumulating what I didn't already own. There are a couple of Alan Vega reissues, adrift in Postal Service limbo. I've had my eye on a copy of "Black Monk Time", not really wanting to drop $12 before Christmas on something for myself. And I snagged this lil 5" slab of aluminum last week, having appeared in a local record store for less than half what I would have paid online.

Fred McDowell was 55 (so the liner notes say) and had been playing the blues for nearly four decades when he was "discovered" and exposed to a greater audience by Alan Lomax in 1959. He was a master of slide guitar, an influence on the Rolling Stones, and a mentor to Bonnie Raitt. It was on his second trip to the UK that "Live At The Mayfair Hotel" was recorded. It's a nasty-ass record, with McDowell playing a biting electric guitar, so much heavier than his earlier Lomax field recordings or his sides for Arhoolie. "Live" had originally been released across two records on the eastern British blues/R&B label Red Lightnin' in the mid-80s, but was remixed and compiled together for the first time here.

I can't speak with any level of scholarship about the blues; I definitely don't have any authority on the subject. But I do know what I like, and I like this. I can hear the roots of Fat Possum on this record, of the Gun Club and the White Stripes. If you come across a copy in the wild, definitely snag it.

And, yeah, as I grab more of the Infinite Zero releases that are out of print. I'll post them up. It's only fair.

Discogs

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various artists - Tropicana '84-'99

Robin and Elaine at the Tropicana, Olympia, WA (from the Tropicana Facebook page)

I have no clue about the origins of this here CD-R I found last year, but it's a winner of rare-ass WA state punk and garage. The Tropicana was an all-ages space in Olympia that only existed for two years, but served as an incubator for bands like Green River, the Melvins, the U-Men, and Beat Happening. The most recognizable name is Tacoma's Girl Trouble, subjects of a wonderful documentary from a few years ago and maker of numerous rackets since 1987. Also appearing are Noxious Fumes, Immoral Roberts, and Young Pioneers, all of whom put out recordings with K. There are four bands rounding out the comp, none of whom put out anything more than demos back in the days. The addition of Wimps, Generic Crib Death, Communicator, and Idle Worship makes this more than just a KBD-style bootleg. This is a really cool time capsule of an embryonic scene that, within a couple of years, would be setting the pace for the rest of the nation.

Discogs

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