Chuck D sez Bring the Noise

For all you prison enthusiasts out there, the oubliette is the top-of-the-line dungeon. An oubliette has only one escape route, through a trap door in its ceiling.

 

An oubliette is very well constructed from the captor's point of view. With the only entrance & exit being in the ceiling far above where the prisoner stands, escape is pretty much impossible. You may have seen oubliettes depicted in horror movies, that unsuspecting place where the psycho killer keeps his victim(s).

Seth Oubliette is a harsh noisehead artist living in Clyo, Georgia. That might be a dungeon with only one way out, I’m just saying.

Oubliette & Blue Shift – Mock Live Tour cassette, Obelisk Sounds OBE027, 2007.
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(Mock) tour cassette featuring collaborative performances.

Side A –

Untitled 1 - 8

Side B –

Untitled 1 - 6

Gem Of Skin & Oubliette ‎– Gem Of Skin / Oubliette split cassette,
Ford The River ‎– FTR 007, 2007.

Edition of 100, hand numbered.

Side A – Oubliette

Infected Cut

Blue Rupies

A1 recorded in Savannah, GA 2007. A2 recorded in Clyo, GA 2007.

Side B – Gem of Skin

Diamond Jubilee

Coral Snake Milk

B recorded at the Greenhouse, December 2006, Winter Park, FL.

Oubliette – Wrestle Wall Crunch EP, 77industry 77.32, 2009.

Tracklist –

Wrestle Wall Crunch

Keyboard for Dave

Get those fingers outta yo ears,

NØ

Hey...Where You Goin' with that Gun in Your Hand?

Patti Smith – Hey Joe (version) b/w Piss Factory 7”, Sire SAA 740, 1977.
actual cover artwork with file

Side A –

Hey Joe (version)

Side B –

Piss Factory

Piss off,

NØ

You say Lunatic like its a Bad Word

Don't send help! The lunatics have finally taken over the asylum. Don't send help!

Mark Stewart -"The Lunatics Have Taken Over the Asylum" from 2005s Kiss the Future.

Is it the Heat or is it Disco Fever?

 

I think the heat musta melted my brain (what little bit I have left). Somehow dub has disintegrated into disco before my very ears. Eurodisco at that, under the watchful gaze of the musical giant, Giorgio Moroder.

Munich Machine was, for the most part, a moniker for the fairly regular cast of studio musicians on many of Giorgio Moroder's productions: Pete Bellotte; Keith Forsey; Geoff Bastow; Mats Björklund; Dino Solera; & singers Lucy Neale; Gitta Walther (aka Jackie Robinson); & Claudia Schwarz among others. Aside from the three albums released as the Munich Machine, the MM would also be anonymously credited for the accompaniment on a few of Donna Summer's albums, Roberta Kelly's Trouble Maker album & given top billing on the single Moroder produced for his sax player Dino Solera to name a few.

Moroder was often disparaged for the assembly line quality production of his musick. So on the back of A Whiter Shade, the musicians & singers were listed as shop steward, mechanics foreman, shop foremen, apprentices, & secretaries, etc. Moroder explained:

"This, you know, this is just another joke. We know people think this about what we do, so we play up to them. It is the same with the dancing robots on the covers of the first two Munich Machine records.

"All this talk of machines and industry make me laugh. Even if you use synthesizers and sequencers and drum machines, you have to set them up, to choose exactly what you are going to make them do. It is nonsense to say that we make all our music automatically.

"I know for myself how difficult or how easy it was to get a certain sound. Sometimes it's easy, sure, but as often as not it is at least ten times more difficult to get a good synthesizer sound than on an acoustic instrument. And of course we organize things - who does not? We have to be professional about this. There is nothing wrong with this, surely?"

Say what you will, the Munich Machine sound is as instantly recognizable as the Motown sound. The Munich Machine produced a flawless combination of that cool, forward-looking, hypnotic electro pulse coupled with Moroder’s exquisite orchestration & instrumental arrangements. A perfect example would be the second song on the A Whiter Shade of Pale album, the song "It's For You". The combination is evident right from the beginning, starting off with a heavy robotic pulse & spacey synth line, which is quickly augmented by a flute & a gracefully sublime string arrangement. The beautiful juxtaposition between the two elements practically define this track, with the dreamy elegance of those strings both complimenting & contrasting the mechanical synth sounds, making this track both gentle & intense all at once. Chris Bennett's vocals exhibit a similar sort of juxtaposition, alternating between a calculated cool on the verses & an almost pleading intensity on the title refrain with those echoed, multiplied vocal effects..

The Whiter Shade album is probably the last actual Munich Machine album to serve as a showcase for Moroder's backup band. The final Munich Machine album Body Shine moved away from the original music-collective concept of the first two albums to a more conventional 'band' formula. By this point, the band officially consisted of Günter Moll & Stefan Wissnet along with singers Judith Jones & Yolande Howard with all four pictured on the back cover. With Moll & Wissnet also having production credit alongside Moroder, the record has a significantly different sound from the other things Moroder was putting out at the time. 

Munich Machine – Munich Machine, Oasis OASLP 502, 1977.
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Side 1 –

Get on the Funk Train

Side 2 –

Love to love You Baby

Trouble-Maker

Try Me, I Know We Cane Make It

I Wanna Funk with You Tonite

Spring Affair

Love to Love You Baby (reprise)

Munich Machine – A Whiter Shade of Pale, Casablanca Records NBLP 7090, 1978.

Side One –

A Whiter Shade of Pale

It’s for You

It’s All Wrong (but it’s Alright)

Side Two –

La Nuit Blanche

Love Fever

In Love with Love

Munich Machine – Body Shine, Carrere 67.346, 1979.

Side 1 –

Party Light

Fallen Angel

Space Warrior

Side 2 –

Reputation

Easy

Bolectro

Shake yer booty,
NØ

21st Century Dub

 

 

Well, it’s gonna be another scorcher here today so might as well fire things up right nice & early. Full circle, like the sun’s journey around this marble, we’re back to 21^st Century Dub.

How about travelling to the Pacific Rim for our next dose o’ Dub? This isn’t Jonder’s compilation 21^st Century Dub. This was originally released in Japan in 1980. It was a nod to the future of dub.

 

In 1979 during a visit to Japan, Bob Marley met the acclaimed Japanese percussionist Pecker. Pecker, a big fan of reggae, convinced Marley to bring top Japanese musicians (mostly members of The Yellow Magic Orchestra) to Jamaica to mix it up with the cream of Jamaican reggae artists, to jam & play out in informal dub sessions at both Channel One & Tuff Gong Studios. The astounding results were originally released only in Japan on two separate LP's in 1980.

This is the 1987 re-release of those two albums, Pecker Power(Better Days YX7267) & Instant Rasta(YP2501), by Japanese percussionist Pecker (Jah Pelikaho) in conjunction with Jamaican musicians (for full detail, examine the cassette sleeve [included]). It's got a sophisticated Japanese surface with an undercurrent of Jamaican rawness. Pecker enlisted the help of The Wailers & Sly & Robbie among others, recorded at both Channel One & Tuff Gong studios & came up with some quality dub here (of course, at this time, anyone with a few hundred dollars could cut tracks at Channel One or Tuff Gong, & with the quality of musicians that came with the deal...).

Pecker & his Posse – 21^st Century Dub, ROIR A-147 cassette, 1987.
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Side A –

Mystical Cosmic Vibration

Dr. Dr. Humanity

International Orchitis

Pecker Power Pt. 2

Pecker Power Pt. 1

Concrete Jungle

Militant Sniff

Jamming

Side B –

Mystical Electro Harakiri

Beggars Suite Pt. 1

Beggars Suite Pt. 2

Beggars Suite Pt. 3

Dub Jam Rock

Kylyn

Enjoy,

NØ

Into the Echo Chamber at Last

 

To finish off a sunny dubby day, back to the Original…this one mixed by King Tubby himself (except for "An Early Version" mixed by his heir apparent Lloyd 'Prince Jammy' James). These tracks were written by Bunny Lee (except for "Running Over" by Delroy Wilson) with the help of Lee's most successful singer, Johnny Clarke, the aforementioned  ...in the Echo Chamber.

 

The Aggrovators were the house band of producer Bunny Lee at Channel One. The Aggrovators claimed at various time among their alums: Carlton Barrett; Sly Dunbar; Robbie Shakespeare; Aston 'Family Man' Barrett; Valentine 'Tony' Chin; Earl 'Chinna' Smith; Augustus Pablo; Jackie Mittoo; Lennox Brown; Bobby Ellis; & many other greats.

The Aggrovators – Johnny in the Echo Chamber (Dubwise Selection 1975-1976),
Attack ATLP 106, 1989.
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Side A –

A Crabit Version

A Colder Version

Soldering Version

Not Enough Dub

Do Yo Dub Me

Since I Dub

Dub on My Pillow

Side B –

Dub it on Home

Running Over

A Harder Version

Stop the Dubbing

Chiney Man Version

A Ruffer Version

An Early Version

Enjoy,

NØ

After On-u, the Twilight Circus

 

The sun is slipping below the western horizon & a slow cooling is creeping in to bring a modicum of relief from the heat. Good time to heat things up here at NSS...

Other than On-U Sound, Zoviet France, & Muslimgauze, the Legendary Pink Dots is another band that I hold in high regard. In the early 90s, Ryan Moore moved to the Netherlands & became bass player then drummer for LPD from 1992 - 2000.

Moore began as a bassist in the Vancouver, Canada music scene in the early 1980s. He was active in the nexus forged between punk rock & reggae, taking inspiration from the DIY ethic, which led him to begin his own label, M Records. In the late 1980s, Moore became part of the Nettwerk Records stable of artists & musicians where he remained for several years, working with numerous artists including Skinny Puppy's side project, Hilt, pop artists Lava Hay, Single Gun Theory, Sarah McLachlan, & The Final Cut.

In 1991, as mentioned above, he relocated to the Netherlands & became a vital element in the Legendary Pink Dots. The 90s was perhaps the Renaissance of LPD. In addition to a busy schedule of touring & recording with the Legendary Pink Dots, Moore also recorded with Skinny Puppy, on Edward Ka-Spel solo projects, & Tear Garden (with Ka-Spel & cEvin Key of Skinny Puppy). He also worked with the Canadian producer Darryl Neudorf's Miller Block studio collective. At this same musically fertile time (1995) he released the first record in his dub project Twilight Circus (In Dub Vol. 1).

As well as his work as a bass player, Moore toured as a live percussionist with the tribal techno outfit, Exquisite Corpse (ex-Psychick Warriors ov Gaia member Robert Heynen & Debbie Jones’ project), playing at clubs on the 90s UK rave scene. A 1996 world tour as additional live drummer with the Skinny Puppy offshoot Download saw Moore moving into the role of live drummer, a role that he then filled on later tours & albums with the Pink Dots.

Since 2001, Ryan Moore has primarily been active with Twilight Circus Dub Sound System where he has worked with numerous reggae musicians including, Sly Dunbar, Dean Fraser, Big Youth, Gregory Isaacs, Sugar Minott, Chinna Smith, Vin Gordon, & Ansel Collins. Being a Dub fanatic with virtually unlimited access to recording studio equipment has allowed Moore’s knob twisting tendencies to blossom to full Dub Station status. In the studio, multi-instrumentalist Moore plays & mixes all the tracks himself.

Twilight Circus Dub Sound System – Dub Plate Selection Volume Two, M Records LP 180, 1999.
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Side Palm –

Bord Plate

New Rockers

Shaka Version

Trinity

Dance Plate

Side Banana –

Binshaker Dub Plate

Iguana

Kik Plate

Killer Version

Filter 13 (Ultra Dub)

Enjoy,

NØ

Desert Dwellers

After listening to Umberto Echo’s Dub the World, I wanted to dub more of the world. This dub selection moves from the Carib/Afro roots to the Middle East & India for its more world music dub..

Desert Dwellers has its roots in the legendary Moontribe full moon gatherings that took place in southern California & nothern New Mexico. Originally a collaboration forged between Amani Friend (Global Dragon) & DJ Treavor Walton (then known as Amani vs. Teapot), Desert Dwellers has grown to encompass virtually every style of electronic music ranging from full on psy-trance, progressive-tribal house, & glitchy breaks, to world fusion downtempo, ambient, & ethnostep dub. Since its creation, Desert Dwellers has brought several other producers into their mix as collaborative partners, including RaRa Avis, DJ Jonathan Grossman, DJ Kepi, & Craig Kohland of Shaman's Dream Music. They have released many albums since 2006 (about one a year).  This from 2009…

Desert Dwellers – Downtemple Dub : Roots, White Swan Records WS 0089, 2009.
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Tracklist –

Saraswati - Amani Friend & Treavor Walton with Ricardin – oud; Dominic Dean Breaux – bansuri; Jeremy Bleich – bass; Michael Knott – cello; & Yamuna Wali – backing vocals.

Snake Charmer – Amani Friend with Stephan Gill – guitar; Jeremy Bleich – bass; Dominic Dean Breaux – flute; & Pandit Birju Maharaj – backing vocals.

More than Anything – Amani Friend & RaRa Avis with Robert Mirabal – flute; & Madi Sato – backing vocals.

New Generation – Amani Friend & RaRa Avis with Meagan Chandler – backing vocals.

Moonlit Horizons – Amani Friend & RaRa Avis with Ricardin – oud & backing vocals.

Taking Flight - Amani Friend & RaRa Avis with Ricardin – oud & backing vocals.

Trail Of Nomads – Amani Friend, Treavor Walton, & RaRa Avis with Meafan Chandler – backing vocals.

Crossing Beyond – Amani Friend & RaRa Avis with Pandit Birju Maharaj – sitar, flute, & percussion; & Pandit & Yamuna Wali – backing vocals.

Dragon's Mist – Amani Friend & RaRa Avis with Martin St. Pierre – violin; & Sarah West – backing vocals.

The Dub Sutras – Amani Friend with RaRa Avis – electric guitar; Jeremy Bleich – bass; & Craig Kohland – flute.

Sukhavati – Amani Friend with Jeremy Bleich – bass; Gregory Gutin – percussion; & Meagan Chandler – backing vocals.

Enjoy,

NØ

Burroughs Called the Law

 

Jonder also made a compilation called 21^st Century Dub. I listened to that one first because it started out with the song "Well Well Well Dub" by Grace Jones from her 2008 album Hurricane. I really like that tune so I began there.

Let me tell you, there was a surprise to my ears that I’ve got to tell you about & post up a track from here. There was a track called "Prisoner of the Earth". It was a great slab of dub & featured that NSS fave curmudgeon literary genius William S. Burroughs. It was a 2014 release called William S. Burroughs In Dub (conducted by Dub Spencer & Trance Hill) on Echo Beach. 

So…Dub…Burroughs…I had to have it. I got the CD, slapped it in my player, threw on some headphones & punched play. The first song, presented here, is titled "Burroughs Called the Law". A few second in, I was laughing so hard I fell off my chair. Tears were streaming down my face. The Black Dahlia thought I’d finally gone completely 'round the bend. Let me say, it is the most hilariously great song I have heard in quite some time. So I’m asking everyone to…PLEASE!!!...check this sucka out.

Dub Spencer & Trance Hill band are: Markus Meier – guitar; Marcel Stalder – bass; Philipp Greter – keyboard; & Julian Dillier - drums.

 

Philipp Greter was asked who his favorite Dub artists are, & his list was almost a perfect match to mine…all the usual suspects…King Tubby, Lee 'Scratch' Perry, Scientist, et al. He also said one of his favorites today is Umberto Echo (hear the Dub Spencer / Trance Hill song on the following release.)

 

Umberto Echo aka Philipp Winter is a Munich based record producer, sound engineer & dub activist. He has released four dub albums on Enja Records & Echo Beach under the Umberto Echo moniker. Umberto contributed to over 100 albums, engineering &/or producing in a wide range of genres since he started in 1999. His credits include Quadro Nuevo, Jamaram, Dub Inc., Jojo Mayer, Josh Roseman as well as remixes for artists such as Abdullah Ibrahim, Seeed, Gentleman, Steelpulse, & Sly & Robbie. Check this out for a taste of today’s dub sounds.

Umberto Echo – Dub the World, Echo Beach EB074, 2010.
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Tracklist –

Dem Gone Dub – Gentleman

Love Letter Dub – Katchafire

Day by Day Dub – Rastasize (featuring Sly & Robbie)

No More Weapons Dub – Steel Pulse (featuring Damian Marley)

Metissage Dub – Dub Inc.

Rise Up Dub – Oneness (featuring Buju Banton & Naptali

Un Deseo Dub – Cultura Profética

Breaking Codes Dub – Up Bustle Out (featuring Kalaf)

I Doo Voodoo Dub – Dubblestandart (featuring Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry

City Light Dub – Stereo MCs

Aufstehn Dub – Seeed (featuring Cee-Lo Green)

Ye Gou Shan Dub – Jiang Liang

Island Dub – Smoke

Waiting for the Light Dub – The Red Eyes

Galli Dani Dub – Dub Spencer & Trance Hill

Enjoy,

NØ

Wake & Bake Week-End

 

Well, this week-end is predicted to be 104ºF or higher, so I gotta get up early, get things done before I get cooked. Yes, you got it…it’s wake & bake week-end. I’ll be flinging dub all week-end & trying to sort this mess all out.

My last On-U Sound post was a shout out to friend Jonderneath, past master of the incredible Underneathica blog. We had fallen out of touch for a while but have recently reconnected. He is a dedicated Dub Fanatic, the only person I know who digs On-U Sound as much as I. I think we started sharing Dub treasures around the time I hooked him up with Savage Pencil presents Lion vs. Dragon in Dub & he returned the favor with DJ Kentaro’s Crucial Mix Pressure Sounds presents “Tuff Cuts”. When I posted some Little Axe, the deal was sealed.

Here’s a mix that Jonder prepared for our listening pleasure featuring Keith Levene.

I shouldn’t have to say, but for those who've been sleepin’ under a rock, Keith was a founding member of The Clash (he got Joe Strummer from the 101ers to join the group) & Public Image, Ltd.

 

He’s done much since, was a mainstay for years at On-U, so search him out if you like what you hear. 

 

 Keith Levene & friends – Beyond PIL

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Tracklist –

Unlikely Pub – Steel Leg vs The Electric Dread

Nuclear Zulu – New Age Steppers

Deep & Mintyful – Playgroup

Burn Up – Playgroup

Hoggs Might Fly – Playgroup

Bed Bound Saga – Machine Gun Hogg

Devious Woman – Singers & Players

Last Sane Dream – Creation Rebel / New Age Steppers

Chemical Specialist – Creation Rebel / New Age Steppers

Out & About – Dub Syndicate

Quit the Body – The Chicken Granny

Chant – PIL

Go Back – PIL

Lou Reed, pt. 2 – PIL

Stereotype – Mark Stewart

Wish – Cowboys International

Back too Black – Keith Levene

Sound Stage One – Keith Levene

Back on the Block – Jah Wobble & Keith Levene

Letter (Full of Tears) – Mark Stewart

So grab this, enjoy (as I almost always say), & thank Jonder.

NØ

The Wind Did Move

John Michael Dexter 'Dex' Romweber was born in Batesville, Indiana in 1966. His older brother Joe Romweber was the lead singer for UV Prom, while his sister Sara Romweber was a member of Let's Active & a founding member of Snatches of Pink.

 

After moving to Chapel Hill, NC, Dexter began playing with Chris 'Crow’ Smith in the mid-80s, mostly covering material culled from his family's extensive record collection. Dex & Crow called themselves The Flat Duo Jets, named after Gene Vincent's preferred Gretsch Duo Jet guitar. Their music stemmed from a love of 1950s rock-n-roll artists like Vincent, Eddie Cochran, Buddy Holly, Little Richard & many more.

Much has been written about rockabilly roots-rocker Dexter Romweber over the years. Sorting fact from fiction is not easy. He's been called "crazy", "possessed", "frenzied", & "demented" juxtaposed with "authentic", "visionary", "genuine", & "genius".

From the start, Flat Duo Jets shows became legendary for the fierce drumming of Crow & the blazing guitar work of Romweber. After nearly 15 years as a band, Dexter & Crow went separate their ways. Dexter maintains that the primary reason for the split was embezzlement of the band's proceeds on the part of Crow, though Crow disputes this.

Dexter's current band, The Dex Romweber Duo, began as Dexter & drummer Crash LaResh from 1995 to 2007. The original Duo toured extensively, recorded several 7 inch releases, & recorded two full length albums, Chased By Martians & Blues That Defy My Soul. Crash LaResh left the band in 2007. He was replaced by Dexter's sister, Sara. In 2009, the pair released their debut album, titled Ruins of Berlin on Bloodshot Records. The album featured guest appearances from Exene Cervenka of X, Cat Power, Neko Case, & longtime friend Rick Miller of Southern Culture on the Skids.

Here's a special 7" of the Dex Romweber Duo with guest Jack White released on Third Man Records: Dexter Romweber - vocals, guitar, piano, & organ; Jack White - vocals, guitar, bass, & saw; & Sara Romweber – drums & percussion.

 

Dex Romweber Duo with Jack White - The Wind Did Move 7",
Third Man Records TMR009, 2009.

Side A –

The Wind Did Move

Side B –

Last Kind Word Blues

Enjoy,

NØ

More More Mori

More More Ikue Mori.

Here’s another one from a NSS fave, Ikue Mori. Part of Sonic Youth’s Perspectives Musicales series.

Kim Gordon-DJ Olive-Ikue Mori - ミュージカル パ一スペクティブ 2x12",
Sonic Youth Records SYR 5, 2000.
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Side A –

Olive’s Horn

International Spy

Paperbag / Orange Laptop

Side B –

Neu Adult

Stuck on Gum

Fried Mushroom

Side C –

What Do You Want? (Kim)

Lemonade

We Are the Princesses

Side D –

Take Me Back (featuring Yuka Honda)

Take it to the Hit

Enjoy,

NØ

Walk Softly & Carry a Big Stick

 

Dan the OlderMusicGeek left me a comment over on a post from 2007 called I…I…Iowa. I had said I would re-upload two Iowa compilations, then utilized my usual filing system of writing a note on a small slip of paper & then putting the paper…somewhere.

So this weekend I had to find said albums, re-rip them from vinyl, & all the rest that is involved in getting files ready to re-up. Usually I post up stuff I've recently been listening to, so I kinda know if there are any problems, so speaker tuneage is sufficient, but re-ripping, I have to listen closely (headphones) to the albums to hear if there are any problems & try to fix them if possible. It almost turns listening to music into WORK. So I try to have some just FUNTIME! music loaded up to listen to for aural relief. This weekend that auditory salve came from those fun-loving Drag Racing Underground crazies Big Stick.

 

Big Stick were probably the most obscure band that slithered up from the NYC noise-art rock underground in the mid-80s. They were worlds apart both stylistically & sonically from the noise-damage darlings of the junkie punk scene they emerged from: Pussy Galore; White Zombie; Sonic Youth; Swans; or Foetus. Unlike these bands, John Gill & Yanna Trance, who make up Big Stick, were never ones to wear their art-school background on their sleeves. Being big drag-racing fans, the band wallows in white-trash-exotica with their tongues surgically implanted in their cheeks. They perform wearing ridiculous elaborate masks, gaudy plastic jewelry, antlers, & hair extensions made out of colored strips & feathers.

 

John & Yanna brew up their crazed sonic schemes in their very own secret headquarters, explaining little & revealing less. Their sound is a cut & paste mixture of growling swamp rock, noise-rock, teen trash, electro, & hip-hop. Adding to this awkward mix, they seem not to care about sound quality or any sort of proper mixing or rhythmic coherence. Drum machines are not programmed, but played by hand, & all edits & overdubs are done in the most amateurish way possible. Just the formula for sticking it to a four-letter word like WORK, replacing it with the godhead three-chord word FUN!!!

If you don’t like this stuff, too bad for you. This is not a song, this is a THREAT.

Big Stick – Hoochie Koo Time 10”, Blast First BFFP 83, 1991.
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Side A –

Hoochie Koo Time

On the Road Again

Bionca Blast

Side B –

California Dreamin’

Hokey Pokey Girl

A Threat (Drag Racing Underground theme)

Enjoy,

NØ