Melvins - live Peel 1991.xx.xx

Melvins
live Peel Session 1991.xx.xx
trt: 24m

unknown gen cassette > AGPtek USB cassette capture > PC via Audacity > mp3

Here we have an uncirculated (as far as I'm aware) Melvins live in-studio Peel (or BBC radio) session circa 1991. This show is on the B-Side of a bootleg cassette I acquired a long time ago. (the a-side & the beginning of the b-side has the Chicago 9-13-1991 sbd show which is already well circulated).

I can only speculate that this live session was recorded around the time of the Tanx 7'' vinyl (aka Tanks).

(none of these live songs are on the Tanx/Tanks vinyl release)

This is a straight-forward cassette to PC rip with no azimuth adjustment or tape hiss reduction.  The general sound of the audio was only slightly chipmunky (just barely noticeable), so I used Audacity to adjust the WAV file tempo by -5% to have it sounding as normal as possible.  Then the file was exported as a 320k mp3, then split w/ an mp3 splitter.

Track listing:

1. Creepy Smell
2. Grinding Process
3. Zodiac
4. Heater Moves & Eyes
5. At a Crawl
6. Oven
7. Leech
8. Raise a Paw
9. Green Honey
10. Ligature (cut-off)

peel

Thud - Life & Death (1992)

Thud were from Washington, DC who formed in 1990...

they've been described as a riffy / doomy / thrashy / metal band with stoner influences

....life & death is a wonderful album, furious, aggressive, personal, shouted, angry, full of powerful guitar riffs ...

Be prepared for a violent assault of great rock and heavy metal, seasoned with a bit of the coldwave atmosphere from those years.

thud - life & death

the bunny foot charm band - stalking the boogieman

Part of the Olympia, WA, indie rock noise sound, Bunny Foot Charm got together in the mid-’90s and signed to Punk in My Vitamins, the label of local heroes Unwound.

Taking cues from such loud, effusive bands as Pavement, Unwound, and even underground Nirvana, John Devoy (guitar, vocals), Kelly Hogan (bass), and Gabe Rutledge (drums) made some noise with its EP in 1996 and 1998.

The group expanded its fuzzy guitar and screaming lyrics on Stalking the Boogieman in 1999.

RIYL: Unwound, Steel Pole Bath Tub, Karp, etc

stalking the bunnyman

organ - apoplexy in six parts

...an extreme avant-garde metal band from Oslo, Norway containing members of the black metal band (V.E.G.A.). The bands only release to date is Apoplexy In Six Parts, a double cd released in 2004. the second disc features nothing but experimental electronic music.... will appeal to fans of Ved Buenes Ende and other post black metal acts.

dark-core black-metal elements over sweet galloping guitars and head nodding riffs. Simply WOW. get it, especially if you dig Alcest, Thränenkind and the likes. Just press play, close your eyes and be prepared to cross over ...

organ - apoplexy in six parts (2cd)

vog - s/t

been described as the halfway point between acid bath & sleep.....

This record is incredibly intense and if it doesn’t put Virginia’s bastard sons Vog on the map then the music world may very well be deaf. Vog hover somewhere in between punk, sludge, stoner rock, noise, psychedelic rock, grind, death and black metal, taking little bits and pieces from each genre and stitching them together into ugly, purely evil jams that can be likened to Acid Bath most directly.

... the vocal performance on this record is all over the map & unrelenting, ranging between intense screams that absolutely rage atop the music with some death growls adding more vitriol and even a bit of clean crooning that sounds great and incredibly ominous especially in the context of the albums' sprawling epics (which) switch tempos up between eerie, suffocating sludge and more punishing metal with clean vocals adding a ton of dementia to the slower parts.

... the rest of the band is on top of their game as well. The riffs just keep coming and they are always changing in speed and style which keeps things busy enough to suit the aptly pummeling rhythm section as the drummer has plenty of chances to go completely nuts on the kit.

... (this record is) all over the place never giving you a chance to compose yourself or figure out what they are going to throw your way next. They bring much faster speeds and in your face vocal assaults which are near grind in their intensity but still draw a certain amount of influence from sludge and punk...

a few of the songs get noisier and freaked out as they keep going .... the pace slows to that of pure, plundering sludge with crazy effects seeping through the layers of sound like patterns coming through the floor on a good trip. In fact this whole record is like being on drugs without actually taking anything ...

The band is incredibly tight w/ an insane vocal performance ...

the album closer finds them bringing a straight-up southern groove to the forefront with some fast metallic punk coming in later for more intensity.

This is damn fine stuff overall and there’s not one track that even drags on this record. If you dig Sludge, Acid Bath , etc., but are looking for something a bit more insane and off the deep end, then definitely check out Vog, they'll be worth your time. .... they take that whole sound and step it up a notch and add so many of their own nuances to it....

vawg - celf tyetold

vancouver - the moment

Debut record from Switzerland's Vancouver featuring members of Unfold, Impure Wilhelmina and Iscariote. This ephemeral musical project plays angry sludgecore beyond all realms of heaviness in the vein of Keelhaul, Knut and Cult of Luna

a good whole album start-to-finish listening experience.....

riyl: cult of luna, neurosis, knut, keelhaul, isis, etc


moment - the vancouver

total shutdown

... splattery jazz-core without macho attitude. Horns and a broken Casio poking up everywhere out of a bass/guit/drums whirlwind. Screaming, oh yes, there is screaming. There is room to throw a rock and sometimes a boulder through the mix. Not a wall of noise- it gets sparse. Songs, definite songs, but played so ferociously that you may think its improv. Awesome moves from all members. Usually things are broken. Band members and audience members alike hit the deck. All in all, terrible fun.

indeed spastic, maniacal, what some would refer to as "rainbow violence cocaine jazz" inspired by Judy Blume and the ill's of modern culture....

Total Shutdown are playing a type of music heard nowhere else. The only band they come close to are the earliest incarnations of the Flying Luttenbachers, back when Weasel Walter first appeared touring with a five- or six-piece unit and playing the dive-bomber jazz metal that freaked everybody out. Total Shutdown are even more insane than those early Luttenbacher formations were ....

somebody described them as Anal Cunt with saxophones ...

this album crackles and hisses with overloaded intent and crazed heavy-noise-punk-metal-jazz. Total Shutdown are well-known in their home town for excessive... well, everything.

totally shut down


another review here:

http://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/1061

disfigured austrian noise-rock

Bug are no small insect, easily crushed and destroyed. Quite the contrary, Bug are a destroyer-beast. A psychotic, destructive, manic killer-hunk of noise-rock. Think of the best names in the noise-rock-alphabet, from A like Arab On Radar to Z like Zeni Geva, Bug is one big-assed entry in that lexicon.

... heavy percussions, distorted guitars, vocals that growl, howl and scream like any beast from the horror-dictionary, and some electronics to boot.

Sludgy noise rock based on a metal layer. The thing that sets this apart from the classic references like Isis or Keelhaul is that Bug is far less polished. Their songs contain the same dark atmosphere as aforementioned bands, but are way more brutal because the harsh and hammering part exists without introducing too much fancy parts.... Bug sound more menacing and disturbing….


...... intense heavy/noise/rock/core somewhere between Zeni Geva, Today is the Day, Unsane

Bug find a lot of heavy words and heavy notes against this game people play on spaceship earth..... they drench it with disgust and distorted guitars, without ever getting boring or fiddling their own knobs too much...

If you were born somewhere in the early to mid Seventies, then you experienced the best noise-rock-years during the most important part of your musical-puberty – then you are going to like this a lot. If not, "klotho" might set your record straight.

riyl: today is the day, unsane, zeni geva, etc.

bug - klotho (2003)

joseph andreoli - wackadoo!

math rock / experimental / indie

released in a limited quantity of 50 is Joseph Andreoli's (of giraffes? giraffes!) new album "Wackadoo!".

The album was written/recorded/mixed in October 2009 during (inter)national album making month....

he plays/sings everything except for a few loops that he "borrowed"........ he also did the artwork

wackadoodledoo !

mir - abandon ship

(from crucial blast):

Haven't heard any new music from Alex Buess (16-17 / Ice / God / Sprawl) in years, so just finding out that he had this new disc from a new project called Mir made my week. Fans of Buess's previous industrial/jazz/improv projects won't be disappointed, and if anything, Mir is one of the more extreme bands that I've heard Buess play in, no small thing if you're familiar with the scorching free-jazz-core of the mighty 16-17.

The music is a kind of super-heavy industrial dirge that appears to take cues from the later Ramleh work, the realms of modern avant-sludge, the crushing dystopian black dub of Godflesh/Painkiller, and just a smattering of noisy punk.

Think Praxis, Painkiller, Lietterspich, even early Swans, but really psychedelic and industrial, a sort of heavy, dark improvised industrial dub, quite different from Buess's other projects, definitely, but with that brutal experimental power that I've come to expect from anything that he's involved in.

abandon mir

fat little bastard - an illustrated history

Fat Little Bastard is a dynamic, eclectic jazz/funk guitar trio who met while studying at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston in the late 90’s. Their sound crosses diverse musical boundaries with a unique rock sensibility. With influences ranging from Hendrix to Raymond Scott to Thelonious Monk, the band's original music is laced with wit and infused with turn-on-a-dime improvisations.

Originally joining forces in a full rock band, the group frequently snuck away to play sessions as a trio. Countless hours were spent jamming, turning grooves over, exploring texture, melody and time signature. What came about was something they thought special and unique. Eventually they began writing with the group in mind.

Various representative influences were brought to the table and a sound was born, a bastard if you will. There is a definite rock foundation, but you’ll also come across signs of jazz, klezmer, country, and the avant.

The CD, “An Illustrated History”, was recorded in late 2002 and has proven to appeal to audiences across many musical genres. Live performances from the Lizard Lounge and Harper’s Ferry in Boston to CBGB’s in New York to the Waiting room in Burlington, VT have racked up many enthusiastic listeners.

historical illustration

protect yourself from jazzy violence

violence jazz - protection

noise / free improvisation / experimental

From the bone-chilling sci-fi intro to the mega-bomb drop second track – and then on. And on. – this record is unrepentant.

The Boston-based group deal a hand of fuck-you filled with the free sounds of Ayler and Roland Kirk ...

... the experimental noise and deathmetal violence of the likes of Lightning Bolt, the Melvins, and early Butthole Surfers.

Violence Jazz leave a trail of fans, spent souls, and broken hearts.

protectionism

deconstructing girth

Enlisting the shredding powers of Mark and Blaine from the infamously epic Swarming Hordes, Dave and Peijman (also drummer with Secret Chiefs 3) the core and principle directors of GIRTH make a triumphant return to METAL!, in this last of their incarnations.

With endlessly morphing riffage to feast on, listeners should take heed of this overwhelmingly energetic itinerary that may feel like you are licking your finger into the nuclear plant’s electrical socket- and keeping it in there for the whole duration of the album! Analytic attempts in this maelstrom of organized chaos is futile, just let the waves of riffs wax and wane over you, purifying any stagnation with restless exploration and unwavering intention.

GIRTH embraces a highly refined metal aesthetic here, transcending math, thrash, death, black, power, classic, and other heavy metal genres arriving at a sonic heaven completely their own. As if stripping away all unnecessary elements in heavy music, GIRTH attempts to expose the essence of power and grandiosity and milk it with a libido who’s thirst overfloweth.

Top-notch production from Seattle’s most in demand and progressive recording team Randall Dunn and Mell Dettmer, makes every detail of this hysteria blissfully audible. Huge drum sounds and rhythms bite your ears so hard they force their way into your conscious, then subconscious, then extra-conscious self. Guitars blaze out from all angles, relentlessly layering harmonies, melodies, and rhythms, painting a maze and puzzle for you to decode through epic-ness.

For those who witnessed this third and final exalted manifestation of GIRTH live in 2006 in Seattle, this is beyond memorabilia.

For those who missed out, listen and weep…. maybe next time you will be awake enough to have your ears to the grindstone.

decongirthstruction

dr. mint - visions & nightmares

spontaneous composition fusing jazz, metal, grunge, trance, avant-garde, impressionist, and free improvisation.

Formed in late 2007, DR. MiNT is dedicated to the process of spontaneous composition – intuitive group improvisation focused on fluid and cohesive musical construction. Visions and Nightmares and Apocalytptica are two such improvisations, and have been indexed for release and radio consideration. These were recorded consecutively on August 26th, 2007, and are uncut, unedited, and unabridged.

Imagine Ornette Coleman, Wadada Leo Smith, Vinny Golia, Godflesh, Jimi Hendrix, Squarepusher, Maurice Ravel, Don Cherry, Nels Cline, Alban Berg, Jackson Pollack, John Zorn, Dave Douglas, Frank Zappa, Mike Patton, Henry Threadgill, Claude Debussy, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Weather Report, Primus, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Pearl Jam, and Karlheinz Stockhausen all rolled up into a fluid discourse of intuitive music-making.

trks 1-7: visions & nightmares
trks 8-15: apocalyptica

riyl: john zorn, frank zappa, weather report, kneebody

sounds & pleasant dreams

wilt - wither

noise / ambient / industrial

Brand new release on Crionic Mind from one of the most interesting sound artists working in the US today. WILT extol the invisible corners of the thirsty earth with this exaltation of decay and reclamation. Best described as Noise Ambient, "Wither" is an aural quagmire of dusky vapors and ivy draped relics, grating erosions and the thorny shadows that rise and fall across dying landscapes.

A wilt recording that takes most of its source material from natural sounds found around James P. Keeler's new (as of 2001) home in the countryside of upstate NY, this is a very dark album with roots in dark-ambient, but a style that frequently pushes out into the noise/power electronics direction. Forceful ambience?

The sound is fluid but textural, billowing and dissipating.... a wave morphs into animal growls. A field of static releases short bursts of these growl-like tones, outlining a jerky, staccato rhythm. From the hard noise to the dripping ambience... (not to mention the eerie transformation of bird wings to military drums)

... this is an album not to be missed. The album is full of fairly short, recognizable loops, fields of static and drone, and interesting experiments that fit a very cohesive vision. Wilt here produces a vibrant environment that has a definite sense of space to it. An experience the whole ride through.

wither away

violence jazz - vd in modern jazz

noise / improvisational / experimental

debut release from this experimental noisy improv outfit, who later changed their name to catholic skin ...

this is not for everyone, but those who can appreciate the above mentioned styles will probably dig it

vd in modern jazz

chewable cyst - no country will escape america

Creepy, industrial, heavy as a ton of bricks, faster than crazy glue. If you hate GW Bush, this is for you.

... insane drum machine grind from members of Deadfood, Fetus Eaters

Seven songs of fluid Industrimetal oddity ...

song description snippets:

... a droning wash of guitars and minimal disembodied vocals interspersed with random blast beats..... a dark intro, before an intense white noise blast, then drifts a little, and a strange theme follows that doesn't really lead anywhere but still sounds good, a little like a more hyper Melvins. ...a rhythm and riff is heard, sludgey and demonic and topped off with oddball, Lard-esque vocals!....

... electro infused piece, featuring scuzzy chugs, Mortician style, with industrial style distorted vocals... strange orchestral keyboards, stabs, weird shouts, then music as if lifted from a British 50's comedy film takes over..... a quirky electro beat beneath the chugging guitars and heavily processed vocals that plays out like a filthier, more irreverent version of Skrew or something along those lines....

spastic, jerky tantrum that mixes dramatic slow beats, with weird electronic beats, frantic screams and a monotone spoken vocal.....

mixes Middle Eastern melody with more whimsical electronic beats, and weaves into it digital Grindcore blasts that stop and start as the rest plays out..... Mr Bungle-isms with death vocals, Egyptian melodies and demented nightmare-ish techno.... a combination of sounds ala The Devils, Send More Paramedics, Brujeria, A.C. and babies having fits to imagine the chaos...

Industrial Metal sort of sound but breaks it up with ambient synth interludes and samples.... moderately more straight forward Grindcore track, that uses some awkward processing on the vocals to kind of double them up...

dirging sludge atmospheres ... a droning more spacious track, loosely akin to the more abstract Godflesh songs.

The production on this is a bit raw, but I think everything comes through alright, and I think gives it more impact than if it was real polished. Definitely not what I was expecting from a band named Chewable Cyst whose first track is called "Cocksmoker." It’s a pretty interesting record, and certainly different than most of what passes over my desk. Probably not for everyone, but enjoyable.

chewable cyst

speedqueen - big leaves on a small tree

avant-garde / experimental

Speedqueen (or SQ, as they would alternately call themselves) were the duo of Joe Tunis and Marc Faris based out of Rochester NY back in the 90's; at their core they were a guitar and drums duo, but they also utilized keyboards, effects, and a lot of noise in their longform jams. Big Leaves On A Small Tree is a much heavier and more varied collection than this bands' other recordings.

song description snippets:

... spastic noise metal riff and busy, percolating drumming locking in on a crushing groove-loop .... skittery improv-drone piece, with strange conversations overheard in the background behind quiet free drumming, scraping guitar noise, amp hum and room ambience..... metallic math workout, sludgy and spastic, somewhere in between Godheadsilo and Melvins with wild howling vocals, eventually breaking down into a cacophony of freeform noise and feedback.

.... going from brutal heaviness to Slint-y math rock workouts to those weird improvised dronescapes and spoken word conversations..... a huge amp drone freakout a la Total or Earth as rumbling loops of guitar distortion tumble into the void surrounded by streaking feedback, and screaming cable noise..... sounds like what Godheadsilo might have sounded like if they had started messing around with avant-garde improvisation and heavy free-drone.

.... a deep dronefield, pure floating heavy tone that sounds like Speedqueen are summoning up clouds of black smoke out of rumbling amplifiers and Tibetan prayer bowls.... like Melvins stomping through a stoned free drone jam. The last half of this track morphs into a massive psychedelic feedback drone jam on par with the more recent stuff from Zaimph, Hototogisu, Skullflower, and Double Leopards.

drone/math rock stuff.... a gorgeous rippling melody propelled by layers of guitar loops, a girl's voice appearing in triplicate panning around from speaker to speaker as a krautrocky drumbeat kicks in and the whole song lurches forward, angelic female singing drifting over the clockwork Circle-like hypno rock jamming.

.... brutal and noisy math-sludge beating, spastic riffing grappling with the pounding drums while gritty, crackling drones hum in the background... krautrock type jam but way heavier than anything they've done before..... a trippy mess of manipulated tape heads and loops of droning guitar chords swimming in pools of shimmering drone that all becomes more and more distorted and loud until it builds into a crushing, grinding roar of Total-esque white light feedback and distortion.

Big Leaves On A Small Tree is just amazing, combining crushing arty math-metal with blasts of heavy free drone, krautrock, and avant-improv soundscaping, a radioactive mix of Godheadsilo, Circle, Melvins, Dead C, Hototogisu, and free improvisation.

big trees small leafs

---

leopold - the wreck of hope

out of Los Angeles, Leopold's "the Wreck Of Hope" CD is ten tracks of bone crushing noise/art rock. Recorded by Alex Newport, Leopold crushes the listener with good noise rock/sludge mayhem which was influenced by such bands as Unsane, The Jesus Lizard, Helmet...

riyl: helmet, melvins, the jesus lizard, the locust

hope wreckers

whitford - whitford whitford

Indie rockers playing the soundtrack for a samurai film

Whitford Whitford is both structured and boundless. These 14 instrumental tracks sooth and scald, offering the listener a dynamic, satisfying ride. Whitford's resonant tones, winding song structures and occasional blasts of colossal guitar noise converge here to deliver an inimitable aural extravaganza.

Features 8-string bass, guitars, saxophone and percussion... and rototoms.

whitford (x2)