various artists - Particle Theory (A Compendium Of Lightspeed Incursions And Semiotic Weapons From Warner/Reprise)

Ah, yes; the rare place to find Elvis Costello, Boredoms, Sven Väth, and Julee Cruise all in one place.

The Warner family of labels, circa 1993, was a pretty rad assembleage. There was big daddy Warner Bros. Records, who released "The Juliet Papers" that year, a weird concept for 16-year-old me to wrap my brain around. Elvis Costello with a string quartet? Don't worry; I get it now. They'd also put out records from the Flaming Lips and Goo Goo Dolls, which actually got daytime airplay on the one rock station in town. Then there was Ms. Cruise, who, at the time, I wasn't actually aware had worked with David Lynch on the Twin Peaks soundtrack.

Reprise was still flogging Mudhoney's first major label record, put out a Boredoms record in the States, which tickles me to no end, and were still trying to break Babes In Toyland big. Their release slate in 1993 was a bit mixed in quality, but I like how weird a mix it is. You just don't see folks throwing around major label advances on odd shit anymore.

There were also co-releases from Sire, 4AD, Giant, Blanco Y Negro, and American Recordings, all bearing either the WB shield or lower-case R. "Alternative" was a pretty big tent back in 1993, and the majors hadn't had a chance to cock it all up yet. For me and many other future college radio DJs, it was a good time to catch a shotgun's blast worth of genre music and absorb it all, even if you weren't totally into it right away. And, hey, this one could have turned out worse. Candlebox put out a record on Sire in 1993 that sold a metric fuckton and very well could have been represented here. The compilers got it right on this one.

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various artists - Mojo Presents: Step Right Up!

As Mojo issues go, this was a tough one to beat. I can still remember grabbing this off the shelves at Atomic Books, drawn in by an entire CD curated by Tom Waits. Hell yeah! Even if I only knew about half the artists, I'd still be into it. Definitely worth the high dollar import price.

In retrospect, I'm mad I didn't hold onto the other freebie Mojo Presents CD's that I'd encountered in the wild up to that point. It's not like I was short on space, or one of those "let's sell all my CDs once streaming became a thing" people. Yet I cannot for the life of me recall hanging onto any of that crossed my path until this one. I popped it into the CD player in the Civic, rolled down the windows on one of the first nice days of the year, started singing along with Tennessee Ernie Ford and Ray Charles. I threw it on the stereo at home once I arrived there, jaw agape as I heard Gavin Bryars for the first time, and listened to Burroughs recite a song I'd heard sung by Dietrich. When I reached the end, I was greeted by Cliff Edwards, singing a song I'd known since childhood. It all felt like a blanket of song that had always been there, so long as I was willing to wrap myself in it.

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various artists - Stones Throw And Leaving Records Present: Dual Form

A tip from me to you, my dear reader: If'n you have an animal you mind, and you are planning on making a move to a new locale, I would highly recommend either sending your beloved dog/cat/parakeet off to a spa, or queuing up something mellow to soothe the savage beast.

So it was that I ended up putting this on while the missus and I packed away/threw away eight years' accumulated detritus. Madam Mummy wanted to know how I landed on this. I told her, "I trust Stones Throw, and it had Julia Holter on it." Then she asked me how I knew Julia Holter. My response was that I probably discovered her when I confused her with Jenny Holzer.

This one's available digitally through the Stones Throw website. I make no promise that you'll find it as relaxing as I do, but you'll feel good supporting L.A. area artists with a little dosh.

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various artists - Steal This Disc 3

In fact, I did not steal this disc. I paid a dollar ninety-nine for it mere weeks ago.

A quick one, as I prepare for a full-day training session on my Sunday. It's fascinating how the music you're introduced to at an early age shapes your entire listening existence. While I didn't own an exact copy of this in the early 90s, my early CD collection was littered with Ryko releases. The Bowie and Zappa reissue series, Hendrix's Radio One sessions and "Live at Winterland" set, "Hardcore Devo" Vols. 1 & 2, and Mission of Burma's Ace of Hearts output all populated my shelves before I graduated high school. They were mostly appointed in the distinctive green Rykodisc jewel cases, making them stand out that much more amongst the other pieces of my slowly-growing collection.

This one broadens my decidedly-narrow view from junior year. There are a trio of Beatles-adjacent tracks from Ringo, Badfinger, and Paul McCartney's brother. Rykodisc really leaned into world music with the likes of 3 Mustaphas 3 and the Oyster Band. I had no clue Jerry Jeff Walker and Evan Johns had put out records on Ryko until I snagged this; Nils Lofgren was less surprising, as was a Henry Kaiser project.

I don't know if it says more about the priorities of the music industry or the tastes of listeners that you just don't get this sort of awesome shotgunning any more. I suspect it's the former; I know that amongst my own aging group of freaks that we're even more likely to acknowledge that we want to listen to Ornette Coleman, Lack Of Interest, Wendy Carlos, and Barbara Dane, often times one right after the other.

The fold-out cover, exhibited below, is just the cherry on top of a collection that still fucking slaps.

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various artists - Sides 1-4

Allow the cheat on this one; I am not the original ripper. although I have faithfully owned a copy of this for almost as long as it's been out. You can get a download or physical copy here from the very good folks at Skin Graft, and you probably should.

It's time to share my two cents on Steve Albini. So you get two posts in a day.

When this double 7" came out in 1995, I knew Steve Albini mostly from his engineering and his criticism. I was aware he had done a band with a couple guys from Naked Raygun in the 80s, and a band with a pair of fellas from Texas in the early 90s, but THIS was Shellac Number Seven, and my intro to them musically was a cover of Bon Scott-era AC/DC. Which kinda hurt my head, but also I dug in a huge way, even though I never got into AC/DC with the same enthusiasm as a bunch of the dudes I went to high school with. Anyway: cool intro.

But I worked backwards as time moved forward, as Steve's fingerprints continued to leave marks all over my taste. I bought a copy of "The Rich Man's Eight-Track Tape" at the same time I bought "Terraform", all the while discovering his recordings of Pussy Galore, Boss Hog, the goddamned Jesus Lizard. I had heard rumors that Fugazi went out to Chicago to record with Steve, only for his recording of "In On The Kill Taker" to get memory holed in favor of a Don Zientara engineered/Ted Nicely produced record. You knew I spent at least a dozen years trying to pin down a copy before a kind friend finally scored me a 4th generation dub. By the time "1000 Hurts" came out, I was a bona-fide fan, absorbing whatever wit and insight I could find in the pre-internet days from yellowing Forced Exposure reviews, and, in the instances where he'd own up to it, treating an Albini credit on a record as much a Seal of Quality as the Dischord logo or the Impulse! livery.

I discovered he could be a real prick, and sometimes cruel in the service of humor, but who amongst us isn't when we're 19 or 25 or 33, opinionated, sharing our thoughts publicly in a way so easily referenced. But more often than not, he was right. He, like all the best of us, held, demonstrated, and demanded a strong moral compass. He worked hard not to get in the way of other people's art, but, rather, tried to elevate them in the ways he knew how. His life was a great example that you could lead an ethical and intentional life, that you could also acknowledge your previous failures with grace and accountability. There are a few of these influences in my life; I rarely met them, but I appreciate the example they set, one that I strive to follow.

I've been discussing the loss of leaders a lot recently. People around me continually lament the death of those who become our North Stars, our cultural compasses. "Who will fill their shoes?" they ask. I'm sure as shit not going to record a "Magnolia Electric Co." or "24-Hour Revenge Therapy", but I cqn live an ethical life and help raise others up. This world can be shit a lot of the time, but it doesn't have to be that way. Thanks to Steve Albini for reminding me of that every single time his work crossed my path.

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various artists - Mojo Presents: Stooges Jukebox

I have nothing clever or interesting to offer regarding this comp, compiled by Iggy Pop himself and offered up by Mojo back in Twenty Aught Seven. It's just good shit, and I missed a deadliine a couple days ago on account of exhaustion and a binge on Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, so I know I need to bring the good shit.

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various artists - Live At The Knitting Factory, Volume One

I picked this up the other day for the following reasons:

• It was $2, and I already had a $2 CD in my hand. I feel weird spending less than $5.
• The Knitting Factory was, in my adolescence, this magic place where the cutting edge of music played every night.
• I saw Tom Cora played on a couple tracks. Tom Cora made some records with the Ex.

It turned out, this was a pretty good snag. The first of five volumes of live cuts from the NYC venue released by A&M Records, this one captures performances from the winter of '88-'89. I dig it.

Boring-ass cover on the US releases, tho.

Discogs

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James White And The Blacks - Sax Maniac

The older I get, the closer I get drawn to mutant disco.

There's something delightfully weird and, dare I say, special about that scene, so well documented by the likes of ZE Records back in the early 80s. This one didn't come out on ZE; it came out on Chris Stein' Animal Records, alongside Iggy's "Zombie Birdhouse" and the Gun Club's "Miami". A hell of a trio, if you ask me.

So, anyway, it's after midnight, and I have "God Told Me To" streaming on the TV, and Mr. Chance's version of "That Old Black Magic" stuck in my head, and maybe, just maybe, I'm longing for a New York City I only got to see the very tail end of. Fuck it; it's either this, or contort myself.

Discogs

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Matthew Shipp Trio - Circular Temple

As these things typically go nowadays, I've finished work around 2-3 in the morning, and I've had too much caffeine to comfortably go to bed, so I figure, "I'll just kick out a couple hundred words to burn my brain down a bit, then off to bed like a good boy," to do it all over again in 6 hours. But there's something to be said, something stuck in my head, demanding to explode, before the eyes get heavy and the brain quiets down.

I've been picking up the Infinite Zero reissues from the mid-90s wherever I can find them for a decent price. I'm down to only having a dozen left to pick up, and, had I not just spent a bunch of money on today's Vinegar Syndrome flash sale, I'd probably snag a couple more this weekend. My most recent acquisitions are a disc I'm holding for Halloween and this, pianist Matthew Shipp's third record as a bandleader. It's a free jazz take on what makes listening to Thelonious Monk so great, which I suppose is why I like this a lot. I often get lost in the avant garde from this period, but this grabs me in a way that few of Shipp's contemporaries from the late-80s do. Sadly, long out of print...so here it is for your Friday pleasure.

Only super cool kidz will own this on cassette. Duh.

Discogs

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Monks - Black Monk Time

End of the month. Summer's turning towards fall. How about a slapper of an album?

Rather than go on about one of the great garage/proto-punk records of all time (a task undertaken by far more vested and interesting types than myself), let's talk about this specific version. You get the original LP, released on International Polydor in Germany back in 1967, along with the two non-LP singles released alongside "Black Monk Time". There's also an interview with two Monks by Mike Stax from Ugly Things Magazine. Not to mention: it was the first time this was available from a Stateside label. Thanks again, Rollins!

I have a hard time understanding why this isn't steadily in print.

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Flux (Of Pink Indians) - Uncarved Block

Your enthusiasm for the things you love waxes and wanes. I haven't listened to Minor Threat in at least 3 years but their 26 songs remain my favorite hardcore of all time. I believe that Mrs. Ape and I have watched no less than 15 seasons of the various Drag Race shows over the past month. So it goes, too, with the blog.

Let's face it: my desire, after 7-10 hours of steady work on my new, at-home, on-the-computer job, to spend any amount of further time on my personal computer, is minimal. It doesn't mean that I don't like writing, or discovering and sharing my favorites; I'd just rather hang out with the missus and the dog, which doesn't leave much time for this fun little hobby. So if you see less of me here, or the posts are a bit...terse, just take it as I'm ramping down. I scratched the itch that led me to pick this back up a month after I lost my job last year.

The rise of the 45th PotUS led me back into the welcoming arms of the mid-80s anarcho-punk that I fell in love with back in my teens. I never got into the crusty lifestyle (I was really into Fred Perrys and Converse, and liked working), but the music, the deep alternative not just to the mainstream but even the relative selling out of punk culture...well, it was hot. And an aggressive, antisocial response to right wing hegemony spoke to me once again. So I started revisiting my Crass Records singles: not just the namesake band, but K.U.K.L., Dirt, Poison Girls, and the mighty Flux Of Pink Indians.

So it was that sometime last fall, I spent a fiver (plus S&H) and ordered this, FoPI's third and final studio LP. I'd never heard it, it was inexpensive, and I saw Adrian Sherwood was featured on it, so I figured I'd dig it. I did; I DID dig it. It's exactly the sort of "progressive" record I'd imagine you'd make as you grew a bit older, absorbed more influences, met new people you'd want to collaborate with, while still staying true to your core independent spirit. While at 43, I'd still love to make music in a punk style, I cannot imagine making it without it reflecting dub production, Memphis brass, clanging percussion. That's what you get here.

I'll see you the next time I feel the itch.

Discogs

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Nico - Behind The Iron Curtain

I turned this one up at Goodwill over the weekend, and what a find it is. Here's latter-day Nico, backed by Manchester industrial/avant-garde band Faction, two of whom were previously bandmates in Ludus. While the cover says this was recorded in Warsaw, Budapest, and Prague in the fall of 1985, it was actually recorded in Rotterdam on the same tour, supporting Nico's penultimate studio album, "Camera Obscura". Dojo released the full set as a double LP set; a truncated version, which is what I found for a measly $3, came out on CD at the same time via Castle Communications.

I've barely dived into this yet, what with lots of folks doing Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales, and me needing that Region B Blu-ray of "Climax" for $10. But I'll never miss an opportunity to do a Nico imitation, so I'll be jamming this between work calls on Monday. It's the last record of her heroin years, before she got on methadone and disembarked to her final destination of Ibiza. I think it's going to be neat.

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various artists - Keats Rides A Harley

Nothing big going on today, right?

I went out to pick up food, prescriptions, and #0 mailers yesterday, and made a quick lil stop at a thrift store along the way. It's rare that I don't find something cool there, and this visit was no exception. There was a copy of this live U2 fan club release, a copy of the "Stand Alone Complex" soundtrack, and a couple of other things I'll end up putting up for sale online. Not a bad haul for $2 a CD.

But the find...THE FIND...was a reissue of one of those early 80s comps I've heard about for years and years, but never seen in real life until yesterday. "Keats Rides A Harley" originally came out in 1981 on the Urinals' Happy Squid Records. Hell of a lineup for 1981: the Gun Club, the Meat Puppets, Leaving Trains, 100 Flowers, and Toxic Shock (who became Slovenly) all appeared on this comp of SoCal (and one AZ) outsiders. It's not a particularly rare record; in the liner notes for the reissue, it's said that 2,000 12"s were pressed. But I'd never come across the LP or the CD reissue until now.

The reissue came a quarter century later, courtesy of Warning Label in Massachusetts. It was a wide expansion of the original record, with a second cut from each band on the original comp, as well as the first ever reissue of 1980's "The Happy Squid Sampler". This addition is cool for its additional Urinals song, an early iteration of Trotsky Icepick, and this really weird synth cut by Phil Bedel. It is, as one of my British friends would say, "a mad curious sitch". I appreciate its strong weirdo punk vibe; so different from what I'd anticipate hearing if I was handed another punk record from 1981.

This is the part of the blog where I'd tie everything I've just written with what's happening in the world today. All I have to say is, if you're an American and registered to do so, go vote today. Stand in line for a few hours. Tilt at the windmill that is our political system. Do it because it's one of the few choices you still have left. Like Ms. Apple once said, "This world is bullshit." Go with yourself. Be a goddamned oddball and make something happen, even if the results aren't immediate. Who knows? Maybe forty years later, someone will write about the little thing you did that had a real impact. Like a record, like a vote.

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