various artists - Mojo Presents: ok_Computer

Here's the deal, sports fans: I dug through a few boxes in storage last weekend and found a cache of previously unopened Mojo giveaways. So it's going to Mojo Mondays for a while going forward. You're just going to have to...enjoy it?

It's still a free country...sort of.

Anyway, why "ok_Computer"? I was in a local second-hand media store over the weekend, and they had a bunch of copies of the Arthur Russell biography that came out last year. Now that I see what it's retailing for elsewhere, I'm rather compelled to run back and purchase one this week. But Mrs. Mummy clocked me eyeballing the cover and asked me what the deal was. So I told her I was trying to track down more Arthur Russell-related music recently, on account of a couple of his tracks had come up on comps I'd ripped in the past month or so. This is one of those comps. And now I share it with you.

Like all good Mojo comps, this has a solid mix of artists I'm familiar with (Human League, Gary Numan, Tangerine Dream) and folks I've never really encountered in the past (Xela, Severed Heads). But it's all pretty decent, covering subgenres that I typically don't delve into. The common thread is the synthesized sound, which I can dig, because I love artificiality. As for what this all has to do with the third Radiohead LP, I do not know. I lost the issue and kept the CD.

Discogs

Click here to download.

The Stranglers - 10 Track Collectors Album

One of my all-time favorite film openings is from Jonathan Glazer's 2000 debut, "Sexy Beast". Ray Winstone's Gal gallumps around his Spanish pool, his internal dialogue soundtracked to the Stranglers' "Peaches". The scene ends with a boulder crashing into the pool, narrowly missing Gal and setting off one of the best crime films of the 21st century, not to mention the source of myriad "cunts" and "fucks".

This was the first time I remember hearing the Stranglers.

I'd guess that has something to do with their fairly limited exposure in the States, or that their punk releases weren't particularly easy to find over here when I was coming up, or that they started out a pub rock band (a genre I ignored until my mid-30s) that was a bit older and more proficient than their first wave brethren. At any rate, it'd take me a while to get hip to how good their early bass-and-keyboard led sound was, or how progressive and uncompromising they were as a band.

This collection came out in 2006, a giveaway packaged into the August 6th edition of the Mail On Sunday. Released a month ahead of "Suite XVI", it's split evenly between acoustic and live versions of a number of their hits. Second vocalist Paul Roberts does the singing, so don't go into this expecting it to be definitive. For that, I'd suggest picking up Parlophone's 2018 "The Classic Collection" CD reissue series. But as far as free shit goes, this is far better than a sharp kick in the ass.

Discogs

Click here to download.

Fucked Up - Daytrotter Session

So, yeah, if you like boogie rock, or hipster hardcore, or whatever the hell Vice Magazine is calling it today, you'll like this.

I, of course, like it in secret, behind closed doors with headphones on.

...beats the shit out of the Twilight soundtrack...










Fucked Up - Daytrotter Session

RIYL: Gentle Giant, Wall of Voodoo, Amon Duul II (but NOT Amon Duul I)

OnGuard - This Has It's Price And That Price Has Been Paid

So when I initially heard about Red Star Records, and their mission to highlight tough-to-find demos, I thought, "Awesome! I love demos!" Then I promptly forgot about them for six months.

Imagine my surprise as I'm dicking around on punknews.org today and see that Red Star, now called Red Sound Records, has released their second record. And it's from Jay Shevchuk. At some point post-None More Black, but pre-LaGrecia/NMB reunion, Jason sat down and recorded some demo material under the name OnGuard. The verdict? It's pretty damned good, especially for a free record. I hear a lot of 90's singer-songwriter here: a dash of Fiona Apple, some Mike Ness, a little Billy Bragg. OnGuard also recorded "Give My Love to Rose" for the newly-released Johnny Cash tribute, All Aboard. I'll tell you...this is a damn sight better than the last None More Black record I spent money on. And that's a fact.

So, please visit the Red Sound Records website to pick this up...FOR FREE! It's worth your while, and the two minutes it'll take to download everything.










OnGuard - This Has It's Price And That Price Has Been Paid (demos)

RIYL: LaGrecia, free stuff, sad songs and waltzes