26 March 2008

Soixante - Neuf

This post has been updated 06/07/2015. Read ADDED below:


Nash the Slash, who took his stage name from a murderous butler in a 1926 Laurel & Hardy movie (Do Detectives Think?), is the nom de guerre of singer/songwriter/musician Jeff Plewman. He made his auspicious debut in 1975. He wrote & performed the soundtrack to Un Chien Andalou, a 1929 silent film by Luis Bunuel at Toronto's Roxy Theatre on March 17 - a 15 minute short before the Rolling Stones' feature Gimme Shelter.

He later formed the three-piece progressive-electronic pop group FM with fellow Torontonians Cameron Hawkins & Martin Deller. They spent the better part of a year working on their debut, but BLACK NOISE wasn't released until 1979 when American Passport Records picked it up - over 2 full years after its completion. Despite the album going gold, the Canadian distributor (GRT Records) went broke, so distribution rights went to Capitol. By this point, FM had received nothing. Not until 1995, when FM re-issued the album on CD, did the band make any money from the sale of this record. To this day it sells very well on CD as one of Canada's top progressive-rock recordings, highlighted by the cult classic "Phasors On Stun".

He first donned his trademark body-bandages at a show at Toronto's The Edge - based on the near-disaster at the 3 Mile Island nuclear plant. He came out on the stage covered in green phosphorescent makeup shouting to the crowd "This is what happens!" By this time he had ventured out on his own & formed the independent label Cut-Throat Records. His first solo release was 1978's BEDSIDE COMPANION, a 4-song 12" EP of instrumental electronic music. His live theatrical shows had become infamous in the Toronto area, each based on a theme. Even his choice of instruments is unusual for the pop realm -preferring electric violins & mandolins to guitars.

The following year saw his second solo release - his first full length lp. DREAMS & NIGHTMARES was a collection of instrumental horror stories, destined to become another of Nash's trademarks. It sold over 12,000 copies in the first year - one of the most successful independent releases at that time. He opened up some shows for Devo, Pere Ubu & Elvis Costello, all the while gaining a reputation for his bizarre yet intriguing interpretations of the macabre.

He released a 7 minute twisted cover of Jan & Dean's "Dead Man's Curve" as his first ever single the next year - prior to his first tour of New York. This led to opening slots for the likes of XTC & Gary Numan for their North America tours. That summer he found himself on his most auspicious tour to date, on the same card as The Who in front of his hometown crowd at CNE Stadium. Though he offered to do the gig for free, he would end up being paid $125 - minimum union wage.

His next full album was 1981's DECOMPOSING. It was the first LP playable at any speed. DECOMPOSING gained rave reviews in Playboy magazine & The Village Voice.

1984 marked the unofficial reunion of Slash with FM cohorts Cameron Hawkins and Martin Deller. They collaberated with him on his most commercial record to date - AMERICAN BAND-AGES. A collection of re-workings of rock standards, it featured covers of Grand Funk's "We're An American Band", Joe South's "Hey Joe" and CCR's "Run Through The Jungle". Ironically, tho he'd been a solo artist for the better part of eight years at this point, he was nominated that year for a Juno for best new male vocalist - losing to eventual winner Alfie Zappacosta.

That same year, 1984, saw THE MILLION YEAR PICNIC. It contained some of Nash's greatest songs. "Swing Shift" has always been one of my favorite songs. The violin bridge before the final chorus is a simply sublime Pop Goes the Weasel, & you gotta love: 'Swing shift / soixante-neuf, tie her to a tree with a skipping rope'.


Nash the Slash - The Million Year Picnic, Ralph Records NS-8409, 1984.
all decryption codes in comments

Side 1 -

The Million-Year Picnic
Swing Shift (Soixante-neuf)
Blind Windows / Countervail
Lost Lenore
Side 2 -

Dead Man's Curve
The Chase
Pilgrim's Lament
Life in Loch Ness

Enjoy,


ADDED: 

Jack Bone  recently asked if I could re-upload The Million Year Picnic. I have done so, but while I was at it I decided to post up a few other related items.

First is the Nash’s first band, Toronto, Ontario, Canada’s prog-rockers FM & their first release. After this Nash went on to his evocative solo career...

FM – Black Noise, Passport Records, 1978.

Side One –
Phasors on Stun
One O’Clock Tomorrow
Hours
Journey
Dialing for Dharma

Side Two –
Slaughter in Robot Village
Aldeberan
Black Noise


Then a few other Nash the Slash gems I had lying around…

Nash the Slash – Bedside Companion, Cut-Throat Records CUT-1. 1978.

This Side –
Fever Dream
Masquerade

That Side –
Blind Windows
The Million Year Picnic




Nash the Slash – Dreams & Nightmares, Cut-Throat Records CUT-2, 1979.

Left Side –
Islands
Ylla
The Chase
Un Chien Andalou

Right Side –
Blind Windows / Countervail
Moon Curse
Lost Lenore
‘Til Death Do Us Part




Nash the Slash – Children of the Night, Cut-Throat Records CUT-4, 1980.

Side One –
Wolf
Dead Man’s Curve
Children of the Night
Deep Forest
In a Glass Eye

Side Two –
19th Nervous Breakdown
Swing Shift (Soixante-Neuf)
Metropolis
Dopes on the Water (Smoke on the Water)
Danger Zone

One of the most interesting releases from M. Slash, this instrumental composition is able to be played at any turntable speed (16, 33 1/3, 45, or 78rpms) & still be musically coherent (it was recorded at 45rpms). I’ve included all four speed versions.

Nash the Slash – Decomposing 12” mini-album, Cut-Throat Records CUR-5, 1981.

Side One –
The Calling
Life in Loch Ness

Side Two –
Womble
Pilgrim’s Lament

On May 10, 2014, Nash died at his home in Toronto at age 66, from a suspected heart attack.


RIP,

19 March 2008

Songs For Swinging Lovers

UPDATE: This post was re-uploaded 08/21/2014. Enjoy, NØ.

I researched this one & the information I have is as follows: the Ralph Records RL-8108 is out of print, Do it Records is long out of business, & T.E.C. tones closed in 2001 or so, so I'm posting this ripped from Ralphing vinyl


decryption code in comments

Side One -

Lime Jelly Grass
A Medical Man
Bali Whine
Kimbolton Gnome Song
Frass
N2O (Going Under)
B.P.M.
Spratt's Medium
Honest Joe's Indian Gets the Goat on the Way to the Cowboys' Conga

Side  Two -

Ow! Stew the Red Shoe
Bustle the Burgoo
Is Guava a Donut?
A Sob Story
Hats Off, Gentlemen!
Renaldo's Trip to Venice
Ted's Reverie

bonus tracks (from T.E.C. Tones 1990 CD re-issue)
Melvyn's Repose
Metro Stomp
The Bathroom Song


Renaldo M: guitar, mandolin, bouzouki, drums, flocdrum, glockenspiel, bamboo, diverse percussives, Ted's metal comb, loop to 'A Sob Story' & voice; Ted the Loaf: guitar, clarinet, loops, scalpel wielding, prepared guitar, hacksaw blade, bass on 'Kimbolton Gnome Song', & additional percussion on 'Ow! Stew the Red Shoe'. Recorded at odd times at Sneff's Surgery between Nov. 1979 & Nov. 1980. Mixed at Elephant Studios, London, Nov. 1980. All transmissions realized without use of synthesizers or juvenile hormones. Cover art by Gary Pinter. A Rotcod Production.

This is early Renaldo & the Loaf. Renaldo (Brian Poole) & Ted the Loaf (Dave Janssen) hail from Portsmouth, England. After collaborating for a number of years, it was in 1977 that they discovered a music that excited them, a music with direction in uncertainty, with a strange coherence in ambiguity. Noise experiments seemed to distill into songs, & the recordings on this disc bear witness to the odd events that resulted in Songs for Swinging Larvae, the first full LP to be revealed to the world.

It is true to say that a previous, tape-only album (Renaldo & the Loaf play Struvé & Sneff) did see local, Portsmouth release & it was that tape that ultimately secured them a recording deal with Ralph Records in 1981.

Made by chance & ruled by dice, ...Larvae can guide you through playful music of abandon, laid, hatched & recorded exclusively in a bedroom studio. Pursuing a weird medical/insect fetish, these songs saw the band happily abusing tape machines, plundering the hardware store, honing their scalpels & continuing to revel in the game of making conventional instruments sound synthetic.

Renaldo & the Loaf never had a definable attitude; no great philosophies, no political stance, just a want to think sideways, enjoy themselves & hope some others might enjoy it too. Not afraid to be ridiculous & not afraid of ridicule. So, welcome one & all, feel free to smile at the historic music.

I believe in bugs, do you?
So says Brian Poole!

Enjoy,

Papa's Got a Brand New...Pigbag

UPDATE: This post was re-uploaded 08/31/2013.
Enjoy, NØ.


Pigbag was started by Chris Hamlyn in Cheltenham in late 1980. He recruited multi-instrumentalist Roger Freeman, (an old friend from his hometown Birmingham) along with Chris Lee (trumpet) & James Johnstone (guitar / alto sax). Later Drew "Chip" Carpenter (drums) & Mark Smith (bass), both old school mates of James & former members of his previous band Hardware, were recruited for informal rehearsals. It was at these jam sessions that their first hit was developed, from an idea Hamlyn had before the band was formed.

Simon Underwood, previously of The Pop Group was invited to join, along with his old friend & tenor sax player Ollie Moore. Simon's connections with manager Dick O'Dell landed Pigbag their first gig, supporting The Slits at Bristol's Romeo & Juliets. Based on the crowd's enthusiastic response to a 20 minute performance of their first song, O'Dell invited them to record the track for his label Y Records the very next day.

Their first single, "Papa's Got a Brand New Pigbag", was released in 1981, taking inspiration for the title (if not the music) from James Brown's "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag". The instrumental release quickly became an underground dance hit, selling many thousands of copies & appearing high in the independent charts.

Year - - - - - - - - Title - - - - - - - - - - - - UK Indie Chart Position
May 1981 ----- "Papa's Got A Brand New Pigbag" - - - - - - #2
Nov. 1981 - - - "Sunny Day" - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - #2

This was released as a US 12" -
Sunny Day b/w Papa's Got a Brand New Pigbag & Whoops (Goes My Body!!),
Stiff Records TEES 12-051981.
all decryption codes in comments



Feeling that he had created & lost control of a 'monster' with too many egos to contend with, Hamlyn abandoned the band.

Although never hugely commercially successful, Pigbag left a trail of innovation behind them. Members of the band went on to record with many other bands, with some still active today. The band are now considered an early part of the pop world's rediscovery of jazz. By the end of the decade it had given birth to a new genre: Acid jazz, however, Pigbag remained individual even within the jazz & funk scenes, due to their rough tough mix of jazz, funk & tribal music.



UPDATE: I have re-upped the link to Sunny Day as requested & have added two more releases, 1982s Dr. Heckle & Mr. Jive & 1983s Pigbag (live).

Pigbag - Dr Heckle & Mr Jive, Y Records Y17, 1982.
Sleeve painting by Ralph Petty.

Side A -

Getting Up
Big Bag
Dozo Don
Brian the Snail

Side B -

Wiggling
Brazil Nuts
Orangutango
As it Will Be

BMG Records 74321 789532, re-release CD, 2000.

Plus 4 bonus tracks -

Whoops Goes my Body
Sunny Day (12″ version)
Another Orangutango (remix)
Papa’s Got a Brand New Pigbag (7″ version)

Ram’s Horn Records RHR 3419, Netherlands, 12“ vinyl, 1985.

Plus from NØ hisself - 2 more bonus tracks:

Side A -
Papa’s Got a Brand New Pigbag (Paul Hardcastle’s Electrofunk version)

Side B -
Yet another Papa’s Got a Brand New Pigbag 12“ single



Pigbag - Pigbag (live [mostly]), Y Records YMP 1001, 1983.
Sleeve Design by Mark Harrington

Side A -

Shack Of Scraps (Berlin Latin Quarter – 5th April 1983)
Smiling Faces (Berlin Latin Quarter – 5th April 1983)
Sunny Day (Birmingham Locarno – 17th March 1982)
Papa’s Got A Brand New Pigbag (Hammersmith Palais – 16th March 1982)

Side B -

Jump The Line (remix ) (Jacobs Studio – December 1982)
Global Terrain (Berlin Latin Quarter – 5th April 1983)
End Of Ubud (Munich Alabama Hall – 6th April 1983)
Can’t See For Looking (Tokyo Sun Plaza – July 1982)

Enjoy,

18 March 2008

Soundtracks & Birdsongs

 UPDATE: I posted up side one 08/10/2013. I couldn't find side two so I'll have to dig out the vinyl & re-rip it asap, then I'll post it up too. Meanwhile...Enjoy, NØ

First the Moving Parts had a Mission of Burma, then the Birdsongs began...

The Moving Parts

In the late '70s, The Moving Parts created intensely challenging, offbeat music that few Bostonians heard. Members Roger Miller, Clint Conley & Erik Lindgren later became the core of both MISSION OF BURMA & BIRDSONGS OF THE MESOZOIC. Mandatory music for anyone into early Pere Ubu, Wire or Devo.

Birdsongs of the Mesozoic

Birdsongs Of The Mesozoic began in 1980 as a side project by half of Boston's now legendary Mission Of Burma, Roger Miller & Martin Swope. Miller & Swope joined forces with Rick Scott & Erik Lindgren for what was originally conceived as a recording project only. In 1983, they released a self-titled EP, Birdsongs Of The Mesozoic.

With the demise of Mission Of Burma at about the same time as the EP's release, Birdongs Of The Mesozoic became a full-time band for all members. In 1984 they released another LP, Magnetic Flip, & began extensive touring to support its release. A year later they released another EP, Beat Of The Mesozoic, & again set out on tour.

In 1987, Roger Miller left the group to concentrate on solo projects & was replaced by saxophonist Ken Field.

Soundtracks - Birdsongs of the Mesozoic / Erik Lindgren / Pink Inc., Arf Arf Records AA-020,1987.

side one -

To a Random - Birdsongs of the Mesozoic - 23:17
decryption code in comments

Soundtrack from the film TO A RANDOM by Michael Burlingame. On this recording: Erik Lindgren - synthesizer; Roger Miller - piano; Rick Scott - Farfisa organ; & Martin Swope - guitar. Recorded May 1986. TO A RANDOM: A black & white film by Michael Burlingame, a torpid slapstick which could be described only as a gruesome ballet, a darkly comic tale of a man lost in the gap between thought & action & his reluctant foray into a new archaeology...that of the remains of his own blackened soul. The soundtrack was improvised live in synchronization with the visuals. Michael Burlingame is a award-winning Boston-based independent filmmaker.

Birdsongs' instrumentation is as striking as its music: two keyboards, guitar, & saxophone blend with electronic & acoustic percussion to produce sound "...as meditative as it is physical, as rooted in classical structure & jazz improvisation as it is in rock 'n' roll." (The Boston Globe)

side two -

The Last 68 Million Years Summed Up in Less than 13 Minutes - Erik Lindgren - 12:55

Recorded December 1985, featuring Erik Lingren on synthesizers, rhythm machines, percussion, SFX, & voice. The suite includes selections from the electronic score to "Thomas Jefferson's Orbiting Minstrels & Contraband", a 21-st Century minstrel show which received its world premiere 12 February 1986 at Northern Illinois University. When combined in this particular sequence, an uncanny story line unfolds depicting an aural account of the Cenozoic era. Erik Lindgren produces commercial music for media & operates Sounds Interesting Productions out of Cambridge along with running Arf Arf Records.








Flames in Trains - Pink Inc. - 11:00

Recorded October 1984, Pink Inc. are:
Linda Brown - vocals;
Deb Roth - vocals;
& Erik Lindgren - music.
This soundtrack was commissioned
for a performance by Pink Inc. at
"The Little Train That Could" show
19 October 1984 on Boston's Pier 4.
In this piece, Pink Inc.'s performance
activated a specific sight with moving
sculptural forms. It involves a curious
train collision & an explosion of dancing flames.


Enjoy,

12 March 2008

Friday, The 13th

 

John Sinclair is legendary as the man who guided the rock & revolution MC-5 to early fame, as the leader of the White Panther Party, as the political prisoner in the early days of the War on Drugs whose 1971 release from a 9-1/2-to-10-year sentence for possession of two joints was secured by high-profile supporters like John Lennon & Stevie Wonder. 

But in subsequent years John Sinclair forged a whole new legend as a New Orleans-based preacher of the power of blues & jazz & popular award-winning music programs for WWOZ Radio.

"His love & knowledge of which form the basis of his wonderful spoken-word performances"
          John Strausbaugh, New York Press

This 10" disc features: John Sinclair - verse & recitation; Wayne Kramer (MC-5) - lead guitar; Marion Brown - alto saxophone; & The Blues Scholars: Michael Ray - trumpet & percussion; Richard Theodore - alto saxophone & bass clarinet; Nicholas Santenbach - tenor saxophone; Phil DeVille - electric guitar; "Lucky" Joe Drake - electric bass; & Michael "Lightning Boy" Voelker - drums. Produced by John Sinclair, Keith Keller, Wayne Kramer, & Patrick Boissel. 

 

John Sinclair - Friday, the 13th, Alive Records Alive0010/10, 1995.

Side 1
Friday, The 13th w/ Wayne Kramer
Spiritual w/ Marion Brown

Side 2
Homage to John Coltrane
Blues to Elvin
Some Other Blues
w/The Blues Scholars

ripped from nearly virgin vinyl

Enjoy,

05 March 2008

Here Come the Warm 45s, Pt. III...

UPDATE: This post was re-uploaded 12/22/2013. Enjoy, NØ.

The Detonators were formed in 1979 by Bruce Hartnell & Juan Camacho in Redondo Beach, CA., to participate in the emerging hardcore punk rock scene that was exploding in southern California at the time. Just out of high school, the two life-long friends played various parties & gigs with numerous drummers. Korky Ollerton joined on drums in 1981, & with Hartnell on bass, Camacho on guitar, the band put an advertisement in a L.A. weekly paper,The Recycler, for a vocalist. Mike Mooney was signed on as vocalist & the band began working on material that was to become their first LP, Emergency Broadcast Systems. Released in 1983, the LP allowed the Detonators to gain better gigs, opening for The Dead Kennedys, Discharge, Minor Threat, The Misfits, MDC, The Dicks, 45 Grave, among others in the hardcore scene.
Touring came next, as the band was selling their records on their own label & needed broader exposure. They found that they were addicted to life on the road, which they found much more rewarding than staying in L.A. & waiting for the next decent gig to come along. On their first tour, the band was able to open for the great Portland band The Wipers, on New Year’s Eve 1983 at the 13th Precinct.

Mike Mooney did not make this trip, as he found the intensity of performing too much for his liking. Hartnell took over on the vocals; since he was the songwriter in the band, he was the only one who knew all the lyrics. It was soon decided to keep Hartnell on vocals & as second guitar, & just find a new bass player. Pat Fargher was brought in to play bass, & the band recorded a single, "Yer Child’s War" b/w "Emergency Broadcast Systems", again on their own label, Emergency Broadcast Systems Unlimited. The Detonators decided that they needed a bigger label to put out the next record, as the band had no money of their own to take on such an expenditure; several mechanical breakdowns while touring had depleted their finances.

Hoping to gain backing for touring, recording & to build on their fan base, they settled on National Trust Records in Orange County, & released Just Another Reason in 1985.

It was decided to try to go to Europe, with the intent being to tour with an established English hardcore band. A deal was set up with the Instigators, from Huddersfield, in the English midlands, & the two bands toured the continent & Britain in 1986, along with rant poet Nick Toczek. A U.S. tour followed in the spring of 1987.

At the completion of that tour, Hartnell & Camacho decided that living in Los Angeles wasn’t all that great, & they moved to Eugene, Oregon.

Darren Baker on bass & Carl Fowler on drums were soon recruited & the band continued gigging & recorded Balls to You.

The move to Eugene was beneficial to the band as a decent studio didn’t cost a small fortune per hour like it had in L.A. This allowed the band to put extra effort into ensuring that a decent sounding record would be released.

It was decided to try to do another European tour. The label, Double A Records in Wuppertal, Germany, picked up Balls to You, & a tour was put together with a Canadian band who also had a Double A release, The Problem Children, from Hamilton, Ontario. That tour took place in April-May 1989.

Upon returning, The Detonators released the “Billion Dollar Nazis” 45, & again took off on the road. After another mechanical failure, (this time in –40 degree temperatures) the band decided to stop touring as much. Only two more trips would be made, the last one in 1992, with Seattle’s DC Beggars.

Several more recordings were done, including an unreleased LP, 1,000 Points of Punk. Hartnell decided to open a rock club, John Henry’s, & settled in to handle booking chores. Camacho opened several versions of his restaurant, Sandino’s, a Mexican/punk eatery. Time & money constraints meant the end of touring for The Detonators. The band played sporadic gigs up until 1996 throughout the Pacific Northwest. They recently reformed for a reunion show in Eugene.

The Detonators side - Day to Day/Crime & Punishment/Angry Young Man
Bruce Hartnell - vocals, guitar
Juan Camacho - guitar
Darren Baker - bass
Carl Fowler - drums

recorded at John Eastman's Power Station, engineered by Carl Mueller, produced by The Detonators

The Detonators side - Day to Day/Crime & Punishment/Angry Young Man
all decryption codes in comments


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Econochrist was an influential & highly revered early 90s hardcore band.

Ben, Markley, & Jon formed a band in Little Rock, Arkansas while they were still in junior high, calling themselves Father Asshole. The band was short-lived & only played a few shows, including the Arkansas College anti-apartheid rally. Then, in 1986 the three started a new band called Criminal Mischief. Around this time a scene began to develop in Little Rock. A guy named Robo started putting on hardcore shows at a venue called The Annex. Many of the classic hardcore bands of the era came through & Criminal Mischief, being one of the town's few hardcore bands, got to open most of the shows. Eventually the band's bass player, a wealthy kid named Jason, started to grate on the others so they kicked him out. He was replaced with Andy Christ (real name Andy Branton) & Econochrist was born.

The four clicked immediately, forging a strong & unique sound that would later be copied by countless bands. It was essentially the sound of aggressive, powerful hardcore punk, backed with a nimble, punchy bass line. Andy's western cow punk bass playing merged perfectly with the rest of the band's straight-up hardcore attack. The scene in Little Rock had grown & it centered around Econochrist, who lived in a squat in western Little Rock that was constantly filled with punkers (& complete with a homemade skate ramp).

They played many shows around the Arkansas area as well as in Memphis. They released a demo tape & a 7" EP titled It Runs Deep on Memphis-based Truant Records. In about 1988 the Little Rock scene was waning, so the band decided to pack up & move to the East Bay city of Oakland,CA. The Annex closed down & Little Rock's other premier hardcore band, Trusty, moved as well, to hardcore historical landmark Washington, D.C.

However, in the East Bay scene Econochrist flourished. About this time, Econochrist replaced bass player Andy Christ & they re-recorded their first album with new bass player Jon & changed the cover to feature Jon instead of Andy. This didn't bring Andy down. He subsequently went on to play with bands like Hell's Kitchen & Samiam. Econochrist joined the ranks of the Gilman Street punk scene & became a staple in the area's punk movement. They continued to release records, play shows, & tour the country until 1993, when they decided to split up.

The members of the band have all moved on to other things now: Ben Sizemore is now an elementary school teacher, after spending time counciling street kids at the Haight-Ashbury Free Clinic; Jon is now apparently "married to his dog" & working on new musical projects; & Markley drums for Strychnine, which also features members of fellow East Bay hardcore band Filth.

It has been said of Econochrist, "The thing about these guys was that they lived & breathed hard core punk rock. They lived in shitholes, toured on a shoestring, but most importantly they played kick-ass music." They will be remembered forever by the fans & the many bands they influenced - their signature sweaty, hard-driving punk backed with clear, punchy melodic bass lines developed into the sound of East Bay punk, as played by such luminaries as Jawbreaker, Green Day, & Rancid (whom Econochrist played $2.00 house parties with when they were still a trio with no record).

Mike - bass
Markley - drums
Jon - guitar
Ben - vocals
backup vocals by Econochrist, Fraggle, & Noah

recorded at Sergay's in Berkeley,CA

Econochrist side - Petty Ways/Uncontrolable(sic) Urge

Econochrist / The Detonators split 7", Insurrection Records, 1992.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The following 7" was purchased directly from the band at a Gilman Street show in 1993 shortly before they broke up.

Econochrist - Skewed 7", Ebullition, 1993.

recorded & mixed 30 - 31 May 1993, engineered by Noah Tensionspan, cover art by Neil Grimmer,
typesetting & layout by Markley.



Side A -

Withdrawal
Words Alone

Side B -

Bled Dry
Passed On

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Enigmatic noise rock trio SteelPole BathTub crafted a grungy, droning, offbeat sound from a palette of fuzzed-out bass riffs, blasts of guitar feedback, & tape loops, plus a raft of alternately kitschy & disturbing dialogue samples from vintage TV shows & movies. Additionally, the band had a penchant for deconstructive covers of rock classics, some of which appeared only on 7" singles (like the one featured here). Critics were split on the effectiveness of their often repetitive compositions, with some praising their originality & others bemoaning a lack of consistent songwriting polish. A highly unlikely bet for commercial success, SteelPole BathTub nonetheless managed to score a major-label contract (albeit briefly) during the alternative rock feeding frenzy of the mid-'90s.

SteelPole BathTub was founded in Bozeman, MT, in 1986 by guitarist/vocalist Mike Morasky & bassist/vocalist Dale Flattum. After moving to Seattle, they joined up with drummer Darren Mor-X (born Darren Morey), a veteran of the local early-'80s hardcore band Mr. Epp (which featured future members of Green River & Mudhoney). The trio next relocated once again, this time to San Francisco. SteelPole BathTub landed a deal with the Bay Area indie label Boner, which was also home to the Melvins in their pre-Atlantic days. The band's debut album, Butterfly Love, appeared in 1989, & was followed in 1990 by the Lurch EP (both were later combined on a CD issue). These early releases established the band's fascination with pop-culture references & TV dialogue snippets, & led to several Bay Area side projects: Morasky teamed with Boner label head Tom Flynn in Duh (aka Death's Ugly Head); & the whole group worked with Jello Biafra under the name Tumor Circus. Fans & critics tended to agree that SteelPole BathTub really began to hit their stride on 1991's Tulip & its follow-up, 1993's The Miracle of Sound in Motion.

During the same period, Morasky & Flattum teamed up (under the aliases C.C. Nova & Bumblebee) in an electronics-oriented side project called Milk Cult, which gave their interest in sampling a whole new outlet. 1994 brought a new SteelPole BathTub 10", Some Cocktail Suggestions, which would prove to be their final work for Boner.

Slash Records---at the time a subsidiary of Warner, though they would shortly switch affiliations to London---offered the band a major-label contract, perhaps swayed by similar jumps from SteelPole influenced the Butthole Surfers & labelmates the Melvins. SteelPole BathTub's major-label debut, Scars From Falling Down, was released in 1995. Due to copyright concerns, their trademark dialogue samples had to be held in check, which placed more focus on the band's music itself. In 1996, they set about recording a follow-up, initially hoping to cover the Cars' debut album in its entirety. Slash, unimpressed with the postmodern prank & the demos of new material that accompanied three Cars covers, promptly dropped the band from its roster.

Caught in limbo, SteelPole BathTub gradually drifted into oblivion. The band members remained active, though---in 1997, Milk Cult received a grant from the French government to join an artists' collective in Marseilles, where they recorded an album that would be released in 2000 as Project M-13. Morasky subsequently went to New Zealand as a special effects technician on Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy, while Flattum retired to North Carolina to pursue the visual arts while working for a software company. Flattum (now calling himself Agent Nova) & Mor-X reunited as Novex in 2002, pursuing a style similar to Milk Cult on their debut, Kleptophonica. Meanwhile, SteelPole BathTub finally recovered the rights to their lost major-label follow-up, & issued the material in 2002 on the 0 to 1 label as Unlistenable (the title being a quote from Slash executives' response to the tapes). The group briefly reunited that year to perform at the Beyond the Pale festival.


European Son

Venus in Furs


Enjoy,

02 March 2008

Sick-Sick-Sick...The Number of The Influenza Beast

Reuploaded by request April 2, 2017


This is how I feel.









Greetings from the fog.
Everyone here at Casa Nada has the flu.
My energy level is less than Ø, which is bad for me.
Ripped a CD to placate the salivating hordes.

666 - Aleister Crowley, Dressed To Kill METRO450, 2000.





A 2 CD set including a disc of original "ritual" ambient musick & another disc of original recordings of Crowley pronouncing the first & second Aethyrs (both in Enochian & English) along with many of his poems & writings, plus some interesting songs sung by the Mage himself.

A superb collection for anyone with an interest in the Occult and Thelema.

On the first disc the resonant poetic utterings of The Beast 666 are overlaid with haunting synth tracks & samples of the world of nature that admirably portray, convey, & describe the great ocean of dark chaotic elemental forces. The original dark psych musick was written & performed by one BARN JEHOVI (see Band of Pain??? for more info).



A magician of any background, or allegiance to any order or discipline should welcome
this disc as a means & aid to deep contemplative study & meditation. The symphonies of darkness are part of an other-worldly ethereal voyage.



The second disc constitutes a short assemblage of poems & Enochian invocations that are hard to decipher due to the excessive background hiss. "The only genuine recordings of Aleister Crowley" taken from the wax cylinder recordings of the 1930s. These recordings would have benefited greatly from a dose of studio post-processing & digital filtering.

Nonetheless, the power & use of Crowley's voice as a tool of the ritual magick is clearly demonstrated. If for nothing else, it should serve to connect the serious student of Thelema
with the timeless & ageless word of a Master.

Enjoy,