The best things of last year.

So, here's a new experiment. Here are soundcloud streams of my Best-O'-2011 mixes!

Best of 2011 disc one by le furxing vizard

Disc one:

1) Memory Map - Serpent Wings
2) the Go! Team - Buy Nothing Day
3) Wild Flag - Future Crimes
4) The Pains of Being Pure At Heart - Belong
5) Torche - Exit Flagger
6) Boris - Party Boy (Japan vinyl mix)
7) Beastie Boys - Say It
8) Death Grips - Thru the Walls
9) Mogwai - Rano Pano
10) Northless - Clandestine Abuse
11) Black Skies - Technologicon
12) Joensuu 1685 - Lost Highway
13) Low - Majesty/Magic
14) Richard Buckner - Hindsight
15) St. Vincent - Strange Mercy (live 4ad session)
16) Haunted Heads - This Will Hurt Your Bones


Best of 2011 disc two by The Fucking Wizard


Disc two:

1) Helms Alee - Revel
2) the Blind Shake - O' Rider
3) Obits - Killer
4) Police Teeth - Summertime Bruise
5) Chris Connelly - the Modern Swine
6) Disappears - Hive Mind
7) Absolutely - Possible Pod Bot
8) Spelling Bee - Tectonic Breath (live at Klas Restaurant)
9) Parts and Labor - A Thousand Roads
10) the Soft Moon - Dead Love
11) A.A. Bondy - the Twist
12) implodes - Meadowlands
13) Tammar - Heavy Tonight
14) True Widow - NH
15) Jesu - Brave New World
16) //orangenoise - I Know Everything
17) Crooked Fingers - Heavy Hours
18) Tom Waits - Pay Me


No ranking given or implied. Liner notes and downloadable version if/when I get my ass around to it. 2011 was a bogus year, but the music was fantastic.

I've come to the conclusion that my guts have shit for brains.

It's a love/hate relationship, mine and High Fidelity. The book and the movie, not the audiophilic concept.

I actually read the book first, back in the photo lab days, when I was picking anything off the library shelves that seemed halfway interesting. I remember the announcement of John Cusack as the star right about when I finished it, and thought it was a fine choice. I liked the book a lot, but everything I enjoyed about it was in the movie, so let's just talk about that.



Honestly, is this a romantic comedy for dudes? Nerd-dudes? It's actually not romantic very much, and somehow that's what makes it romantic. Rob and Laura's (hey, wait...like the Petries?) relationship stops with a fairly low amount of drama, and resumes with even less, and even that last, Natasha-Gregson-Wagner shaped curveball is dealt with in a terribly rational way, at least for the movies. It's not "self-aware," in a post-modern hipster kind of way, but it knows itself, and its foibles. That's something I've always found attractive in people, too, and it's comforting to see it in High Fidelity. Because I can see myself in it.

Or, maybe, it's that I want to see myself in it. Obviously, I share some of the qualities and obsessions: as I write this, I'm surrounded by music, books about music, and hard drives full of the stuff. I come home, sit down, and a record goes on. Then another. Or iTunes goes on shuffle. It's always meant the world to me, and it's the easiest art to share. Sure, you can lend someone a book, but you won't want to wait there while they read it. No two people will look at a painting and see the same thing. Movies are closer, but music allows for a nearly instant shared experience, under endless circumstances. I've felt it at shows with a thousand other people, when Fugazi broke into "Waiting Room." And I've felt it right here, when someone I hadn't really met until that night played me a beautiful song I'd never heard, and we closed our eyes and listened.

But I've never owned a record store. Never even worked at one, although I always wanted to. So did a bunch of other nerds, so there never seemed to be an opening. I've never run a record label, and I wanted to do that, too. Until I realized I actually could, if I had enough money I could commit to losing, if I had to. So I suppose that one's still on the table. I've had DJ gigs for years, on and off (although I've never "spun," thank you very much,) but I've never had a pretty stranger ask what I was playing. I never had to desire to create something, really, it was part and parcel with being in a band. That's what I wanted, was to play music with people, and I've been able to do that for a lot of years. Past that, I work a job I'm fairly ambivalent about, so I can pay rent, play music, and buy records. And I do make a damned good mixtape, if I say so myself.




I make lists, but not incessant top fives. Hell, I don't usually like to rank anything. I don't call up exes and ask them where I went wrong. I don't stutter and mumble anything like I used to, and I don't yell and push my opinion on everybody that crosses my path. But I'm in there, somewhere. It helps that the movie is visually a love letter to two things that mean a lot to me: record stores and Chicago. I can't put myself in completely, though, because the message I get out of it is one I can't agree with.



Part of it is in Laura's dialogue, in one of the six or seven scenes where she's taking stuff out of the apartment:

All I'm saying is, you have to allow for things to happen to people, but most of all to yourself.

I think I allow for things to happen, although it can be tough. It's easy to get complacent, when things are...satisfactory. Not even good, necessarily, but not at all bad. But the movie itself subjugates that message by the end, because all that happens is that the characters either face changes that don't matter, or nothing actually changes.




Dick gets a girlfriend. That doesn't seem to change anything. Barry sings the hell out of some Marvin Gaye. He'll probably show up at Championship Vinyl the next day, just like any other. And Rob and Laura have settled for each other. The key here is another bit of dialogue, Rob's this time:

I'm tired of the fantasy, because it doesn't really exist. And there are never really any surprises, and it never really[...]delivers. And I'm tired of it. And I'm tired of everything else for that matter. But I don't ever seem to get tired of you, so...

He's tired of trying, even. He's settled. And she's tired, too, so she took him back. She's settled. I'm not ready to settle yet.

I understand. I have a craving for stability that I can't ever seem to fill, a combination of homesickness and restlessness. So I look for new experiences where I can find them, most of which comes in the form of new music. And I hope to be able to recognize the changes, when they come. But I'm not really looking to be Rob, or Dick or Barry. I just want to be the best me. The happiest me, the comfortable me. I hope that I can find that. But even that probably won't stop me from buying records. And if I'm lucky, maybe someday I can clock an insufferable asshole with an old phone.

Cordelia's Dad.

Uh...oh. Hi. So, yeah, it's been a few months since I've written anything here. It wasn't intentional, mind. And it's not like I haven't written anything at all...but let's just say that lack of free time and depression don't make for very good productivity. The ideas were in the back of my head, though, building up. And sometimes it's the smallest thing that can poke a hole in the wall. Like a band that I dearly love putting all their albums up on Bandcamp, and then me thinking to myself "I wonder what will happen to that DBC EP they did, or that one acoustic seven inch that was in their discography that I could never find..." And then going to eBay, searching for the band, and seeing that suddenly that very same 45 is for sale, at a very reasonable rate...

My mother is not an impulse shopper. But when she hears something she likes, she knows it. She knew it that day. It was probably a Saturday, and we'd driven out to Rochester. I wanted to go to my favorite record store, Broadway Records. While I browsed, Mom prowled the aisles of the nearby antique store, looking for who knows what. She came to rouse me from my record-shopping fugue, and heard the store PA. "What is this that's playing?" she asked the clerk. "It's Cordelia's Dad," came the reply. I walked away with something awesome, maybe a Shellac 7", maybe the Jesus Lizard/Nirvana split. Can't remember. Mom walked away with Comet, the third album by Cordelia's Dad. Funny how that record has meant as much to me as anything else I found there.

I was a teenager then, and didn't know a lot about traditional music. I was pretty much a rocker, and maybe a bit of a jazzer. This was a whole different thing. Largely American traditional tunes, from the Appalachians, and presumably traceable back to English and European folk songs...et cetera. But there's more. The music, and Tim Eriksen's voice, spoke straight to me. The tunes were simple, easy to sing, and CLEAR, transparent music. It's like Louis Armstrong said, "All music is folk music." There's much to be said for complicated music, mind you. I'm continually fascinated by songs that I can't figure out. How, for example, did someone sit down and write "X-French Tee Shirt?" Or "The Anvil Will Fall?" No idea. But these songs. Anyone could have written them, anyone could sing them.

I was able to find more Cordelia's Dad albums during college. Their earlier two records sounded like the last, electric track on "Comet." They tried to separate the electric and acoustic sides of the band, eventually, but could never really do it. Their 20th anniversary double live album is split evenly between the two. And the electric disc gets pretty violent.

They recorded an acoustic EP, though, before their second record. It had one song, "Sweet William," that was to appear on their next album, how can I sleep? and three others, recorded mostly on June 2, 1992.



It's a lovely record, but it's not a starting point. Go poke around on their Bandcamp page first. Start with the live version of "Idumea." It illustrates a lot of what I like about Cordelia's Dad. After that, come on back and get this.

4Songs

Now, with that done, the flood will hopefully begin. Let's start with requested re-uploads:
Enon singles: http://www.mediafire.com/?b0xxvteyzulx3b3
Enon live in Green Bay: http://www.mediafire.com/?n1ve7a8n3a1fl0p
Supernova singles and live: http://www.mediafire.com/?mkvptsxu0sdg11x

Stay tuned, y'all.

Lewis Largent had to host when no one else would do it.

When I was a young man, I read Frank Zappa's book, The Real Frank Zappa Book, a number of times. Endless amount of times. I've honestly got most of the thing memorized. It led me down some interesting paths, and introduced an important concept to me: What Is Art? Zappa's theory, via John Cage, was that Art is whatever you say it is. You've just got to put the frame around it, so you can tell it apart from the real world. Doesn't matter what it is itself, whether it's good or bad, anything. If you say it's art, it's Art. An important, freeing concept. Is it empirically true? Nah, probably not. But the idea is important.

In the book, Zappa also presents a fear/idea of Death By Nostalgia. He feared that the cycles of nostalgia, seemingly ever shorter, would eventually slim down to nothing, so that humanity could not take a step without feeling nostalgic for the previous one. Well, luckily enough I suppose, things haven't gotten that bad. Luckily, in fact, because WE ARE GOING TO INDULGE IN SOME SERIOUS NOSTALGIA RIGHT ABOUT NOW.

The year was 1995, and the possibilities were endless. I was 17, and my dreams hadn't been crushed yet. Plus, I didn't have to pay rent. And the music was THE BEST EVER.

Okay, not really. There is, and always has been and will be, good music. But 1995 was a good time for it! Indie was in the mainstream, the waters had yet to reject the oil. And there was a show on Sunday nights, on MTV, called 120 Minutes. It had been around for a while, sure. But one summer, most of the network headed to Florida (or California, or something, who knows) for Spring Break. And 120 Minutes, the weirdo kids who stayed back in New York, had the studio all to themselves. So they spent the summer inviting bands over to play on the show.

Back in 1995, I used to tape almost EVERYTHING. I paid attention, kept lots of blank VHS around, and recorded, knowing that the future me would like to see this shit. And sure enough, I was right. I particularly kept an eye out for the live compilation episodes of 120 Minutes, wherein they'd broadcast performances from a bunch of bands they'd have in the studio. They did it at least twice in 1995, and I had the tape rolling.

It's kind of mindboggling to look back now, and realize there's nothing on TV that really covers this kind of ground, nor how wide. Here you'll find the good (Hum! Radiohead! Shudder To Think!) and the bad (Oasis! Sugar Ray! Goo Goo Dolls!) and the completely forgotten (Complusion? Seed? Love Spit Love?) in a solid cross-section of what was going on aboveground and under. And the good stuff here is SO GOOD. I once had the Spearhead song stuck in my head for a solid week and a half, and never got tired of it. I stole the opening bass riff from the Lush song for a song on our first album, and still have never been called on it. I can see my tastes forming, somewhere in here.

These are mp3 files, from DVD, transferred from VHS. They don't sound pristine, but you can deal with it. They just get a little crackly during the quiet songs (doesn't matter too much, apart from the Tori Amos song.)

First:
1) Weezer - the Sweater Song
2) Bob Mould w/ Lou Barlow - Believe What You're Saying
3) the Jesus and Mary Chain w/ Hope Sandoval - Sometimes Always
4) Iggy Pop - Untouchable
5) Bad Religion - Stranger than Fiction
6) L7 - Stuck Here Again
7) Love Spit Love - Am I Wrong
8) Compulsion - Delivery
9) They Might Be Giants - Snail Shell
10) the Cramps - Ultra Twist
11) Victoria Williams - Crazy Mary
12) Cracker - Get Off This
13) Blur - Parklife
14) Liz Phair - Supernova
15) Sunny Day Real Estate - Seven
16) Grant Lee Buffalo - Mockingbirds
17) Spearhead - People in the Middle
18) Lush - Hypocrite
19) Helmet - Biscuits For Smut
20) MC 900 Ft. Jesus - If I Only Had A Brain
21) Seed - Rapture
22) Luna - California All the Way
23) Oasis - Supersonic

Here.

Second:

1) Radiohead - Just
2) Toadies - Possum Kingdom
3) Hum - Stars
4) Blind Melon - Galaxie
5) Bush - Come Down
6) Babes in Toyland - Sweet '69
7) the Verve - On Your Own
8) Goo Goo Dolls - Burnin' Up
9) Veruca Salt - Seether
10) Catherine Wheel - Judy Staring at the Sun
11) Alanis Morrisette - Hand in my Pocket
12) Shudder To Think - X French Tee Shirt
13) Better Than Ezra - In the Blood
14) the Charlatans - Just Lookin'
15) Buffalo Tom - Summer
16) Sugar Ray - Mean Machine
17) Tori Amos - Horses
18) Jill Sobule - I Kissed A Girl
19) Smoking Popes - Need You Around
20) Morphine - Honey White
21) Luscious Jackson - Here

No, here.

Yes, I do have video of these, if you really want it. But trust me, they look pretty crappy. Fifteen years on VHS will do that.

A Moon Mooned Moon by Moonmoon.

I don't actually have a ton of super-rare records. The ones I have are generally the kind that aren't expensive, because nobody would particularly want them anyway. Except weirdos like me.

Beck's early discography is rather tangled. Apparently, part of his signing deal with DGC was that he could release other, less commercial records on indie labels. A bunch of these, along with Mellow Gold, appeared in 1994: Stereopathetic Soul Manure, One Foot in the Grave, and a little weirdo ten-inch called A Western Harvest Field by Moonlight. Or, as the spine had it, A Western Harvest Moon by Moonlight. Rather.



It's a handy little sampler of everything Beck got up to at that time, looking back: acoustic country blues, wacky cassette manipulations, auto-recording on microcassette, collaborations with various Haden sisters. The record itself is just a terrible, shitty pressing. It crackled and popped the second I put it on the turntable, and never stopped. But it was entertaining enough to a teenaged me, and it's definitely an early exposure that led me down the road to Skip James and Charlie Patton.





The internet was pretty primitive at that point, and I didn't learn until much later that I'd confused side one and side two. I still feel like my order works better, though, starting with the two acoustic numbers, then tossing you headlong into the experimental stuff (like the "normal," or at least not slowed-down, version of "Feel Like A Piece of Shit") until forcing you to get up and take the needle off the locked groove. "Totally Confused" (which made numerous appearances on other Beck records) is a great side two opener, staying vaguely more song-oriented ("Gettin' Home" is a quality tune, "Mayonnaise Salad" is less so, even at a stretch) until the final "WHOA YEAH" to close it all out.




Fingerpaint Records made about 7000 of these things in total, which is pretty scant for a Beck record of any sort. The first 3000 came with a fingerpainting, made either by Beck or one of his pals, at the record release party. And sure enough, that's the version I picked up at Broadway Records in Rochester, probably sometime in 1995. Looks like I could maybe get a couple hundred for it these days, but meh. I'm happier having the thing. Apparently, the 2000-copy CD pressing of Golden Feelings I got is going for a pretty penny, too. Things to keep in mind if I come up against the wall, I suppose.

Here's a rip from my vinyl. Enjoy the low fidelity of it all. It's a good listen.

He's not a real doctor.

So, part of the idea around here is to branch away from just indie rock mp3s. Or just mp3s. Or just music, even. This post is mp3s, but it is not music. It's a big part of why I wanted to go into radio. It's a big influence on my humor and how I see the world. It's Dr. Science.


Duck's Breath Mystery Theatre were a comedy team that went from Iowa to San Francisco, and ended up enjoying various levels of fame. Some of you who are old enough will recall a character on MTV called Randee of the Redwoods. That guy? He's Jim Turner, one of the Duck's Breath members.




One of the other guys in the troupe was Dan Coffey. He created a character called Dr. Science, who, like Coffey, is not a real doctor, but does have a master's degree. Dr. Science's, naturally, is in science. Coffey's, as I recall vaguely from a newspaper article in the Des Moines Register when I was a teenager, had something to do with radio. (note: upon further research, it's actually in playwriting. You can get a master's in playwriting? Who knew?)

When I was young, radio was magic to me. I lived in a quite small town in Iowa. We had one radio station. I can't remember the call letters, but it's not there anymore. The staff there were actually pretty nice, and tolerant of young me. I even got to come up and be on the air once, just because I was REALLY EXCITED about radio. It seemed like paradise. It was the job for me. I got to college and found out a lot more about radio: you, the on-air personality, don't get to pick the records. You have no job security, and you get paid like shit. Oh well. But there was creativity out there, on college and public stations. And on NPR.

I also grew up a hardcore NPR and Wisconsin Public Radio nerd. "Whad'ya Know" every fuckin' weekend, you bet. Tom Clark every morning, Jean Feraca and Larry Meiller. Oh yes. And let's not forget about Talk of the Nation's Science Friday, where I first encountered Dr. Science.

Dan Coffey plays Dr. Science as a complete know-it-all. Literally, this man has an answer, a SCIENTIFIC ANSWER, for any question. He did, and for all I know still does, a daily 90 second spot which airs on various NPR stations. None around here. But two of the three things I'm putting up today are compilations of these spots.



It was important to me, among other reasons, because it was specific nerd humor. It was science-based, but complete absurdity. Could I someday be that kind of character? No way, nowhere near smart enough. But I could maybe do the voice...

These days, information on Dr. Science is scant at best. His official website is perennially down, replaced by a promise of a revamped site that never comes. But all his references on Wikipedia seem to be present tense ones. There is hope for us all, as long as Dr. Science is there.



I've got three things in this here zip file. One is the long-form cassette which I got from my mom, "I Know More Than You Do!" It's 60 minutes of the quick radio spots, and 30 minutes of radio play. Pretty good. Another is a tape I have merely labeled "Dr. Science," with no further information. It seems to come from a higher-fidelity source, and mostly regards technology of the late 90's. A pretty endearing time capsule, and funny all the same. Finally, there is an hour of Science Friday from September 2nd, 1994, in which Dr. Science takes calls and provides on-the-spot answers.

"That's right."

Hello? Is this Value Vision? I wanna order the Nativity scene!

Most people who hadn't otherwise heard of Supernova these days probably don't know of them as more than a footnote. They'd been fairly inactive, but still existent, when a bunch of "rock stars" on a reality show decided they'd use the name for their band, despite their previous knowledge of these tinfoil-and-Oreo obsessed Cynotians. Luckily, this spurred the original Supernova back into existence. But back in the mid-nineties, they'd merely been one of the finest pop-punk bands around.



Were they gimmicky? You bet your ass. The schtick was that these three fellas from Costa Mesa, CA were actually aliens, from a planet called Cynot 3. Their sun exploded, and they found themselves on Earth, where they schemed ways to obtain the world's supply of aluminum foil. But this was really all circumstantial to their songs, two minute catchy bombs of melody and nerdery. Their lyrical concerns revolved around vitamins, math, superheroes, cookies, Mentos, cops, hippies, and, of course, Supernova. Oh, and they had geometric shapes cut into their hair. How they ended up on Amphetamine Reptile, I'll never know.



But sure enough, on AmRep they were, and in 1995 they made Ages 3 and Up, their first LP. Concurrent with this album, they filmed a "children's show for adults" pilot entitled "Last in Space: A Show for Kids?" Apparently this was big enough of a deal that they actually had a release show for the VHS tape at the Concert Cafe in Green Bay, where apparently everyone just came and watched the thing, and could buy their own copies. I'm pretty sure that's where my friend Kory got his, and that's how I saw it in '97 or so. Thirteen years later, I found a brand new copy on Amazon, and finally got to see it again. It was still silly.




Presented here is an .avi file, which oughta be Divx compatible, of the tape. I can provide an .iso file if anyone wants it, but it really doesn't look better than this.

http://www.mediafire.com/?84ta9xmw8cz2adw
http://www.mediafire.com/?2t6c82fipvebkko
http://www.mediafire.com/?kb245gjyooy81bg
http://www.mediafire.com/?6q3afatprvtsogn
http://www.mediafire.com/?m0pyld1wuvk5g7l

Make sure to download all five parts before you try to unzip the thing.





Your bonus content for this post is my compilation of all the Supernova singles. Well, nearly all. The "Diga Queso!" EP isn't here, because I haven't managed to find a copy yet. But the rest of the singles, and the live 10", and some comp stuff, AND a couple songs from the videotape, are here. Some of these apparently got re-released on a CD called "Pop as a Weapon" a few years ago, but I'm not going to remove those, because I put this damned CD together a decade ago and I don't want to change it now. Besides, they failed to actually include the song "Pop as a Weapon," Supernova's finest 49 seconds.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/ixgwe3





No idea what's up with Supernova these days. I guess Dave had quit for a while, came back, and then Jodey quit. So they got a guy from the Aquabats to play guitar, and naturally appeared on Yo Gabba Gabba! via that connection. Their wikipedia page makes a lot of references to 2007-8, and their official page went poof. Anyone got any info?

Enon: the other, theoretical singles comp.

Yeah, I get productive when I've got days off from work. Who knew?

Ask anyone (in my band): Brainiac were the promise of the future WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY being the best band on earth. Sadly, I never got to see them. But I heard the records, the bootlegs, and the legends. And I loved it.

John Schmersal was the guitarist. There were plans, presumably. Tours with Beck, major label courting, all that. But Timmy Taylor died before all that could come to fruition. John retreated to a repurposed Masonic Temple somewhere in Kentucky, and made some music to deal with life. One of these was a moody, mysterious album released under the pseudonym of John Stuart Mill. A few other songs started appearing on singles, under the moniker of Enon.

Soon enough, Enon would become a full band, and a spectacular one at that. They'd put out four albums of music that was as wacky as, yet more mainstream than Brainiac ever was. And they'd put out a bunch of singles, too.

The singles are what we're concentrating on today. Enon compiled a number of singles and unreleased songs in 2005, on an album called Lost Marbles & Exploded Evidence. As good as that record is, as many classic tunes were left off. Here are some of them:


The first two Enon singles are of a piece with the John Stuart Mill material: murky, moody, and beautiful, speaking to loss and confusion. "Fly South" made it to the comp, but the rest didn't, which is a shame. "The List of Short Demands" sets up a lilting melody that it tries to scupper with a static-laden keyboard solo. "Motor Cross" is a swoony, Mellotron-filled ballad. "Burning the Bread" hovers on the brink of frightening, until it interpolates a chorus or two of "Keep on the Sunny Side." Well, of course.



Later pressings of Believo! came with a bonus 7" featuring songs from the earliest days of the band. Fools like me that bought it on its first pressing didn't get the single. I complained to Toko about this when we played with them in Combined Locks, WI. She said "That is unfortunate." Later, back at our house, she asked me if she could have one of my Stewart's Grape Sodas. Naturally, I gave her one. The two early outtakes are very playful, particularly "Suz EQ." Love the upward bends at the end. Another early song, "Pollen Lane," showed up on the b-side of Enon's Sub Pop singles club contribution.


A few of the songs from the self-titled 7" made it onto the comp, but one of the best ones, "Believe or Deny," was left behind. The rest of the songs that didn't make it are sort of disposable, but good all the same.


Also playing at that Combined Locks show was Bloodthirsty Lovers. Mightily impressive band, particularly the drummer. He was playing live breakbeats, and using both ends of a drumstick to hit the hi-hat. That tour resulted in a split single, and Enon's side, "Because of You," is a lovely little march.

I don't have all the songs that Enon put up on their website, but there are a few. How did a song as excellent as "Out of Phase" not get on a record? Who knows. There are also a number of comp songs in the folder. Most of 'em are just okay, but the covers of "Sex Beat" and "New York's All Right if You Like Saxophones" can't be beat.


Finally, we arrive at 2007. A label in the Czech Republic puts out a single of two new songs, "Little Ghost" (of JonBenet) and "Swab the Deck." John told me that he was essentially the US distributor for the single, so I suppose it's a good thing I got it from him at a show in Chicago.

Note: you will not find the single "Listen While You Talk" in this folder. I don't think it's very good.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/kayt4a

Oh, and just one more thing:
Back in 1999, Enon was heading out on their first tour. Toko wasn't even in the lineup yet, and Believo! wasn't out. It was a short tour, just a week or two. One of the stops was Green Bay, which was always a great place for Brainiac. We (and that was my old band, the Pop Machine) got to open this show. Sometimes, being the one band that sounds like you in the area really helps out. Here's a board tape of Enon's set. One of the songs never got re-recorded, or at least released. The rest ended up on singles and the first album. I think I gave my original CD of this to John, many years ago.

We've gotten to play with Enon a bunch of times since then, and they've always been inscrutable, hilarious, and wonderful. Here's hoping they get back to work soon.

the Delta 72.

The first and only time I saw the Delta 72, they were touring on their second album, The Soul of a New Machine. Inbetween tracks on that album were bits of other, untitled instrumentals. Turns out they were parts of jam sessions recorded before the album. Tapes, hand-dubbed by the band (mine is taped over a copy of "This is Acid Jazz") were available at the show, and I picked one up. It sounds like all their other recordings of the time, which is to say, a damn swingin' sweet mix of soul and punk, all sweaty. Intros and outros sometimes cut off without warning; that's how they were on the tape.

Bonus inclusion: a recording of the Delta 72 playing between Cash Money and Brainiac, at the C-Haus in Beloit, WI on April 18, 1997. The Brainiac set can be found at the wonderful BRAINIAC Live Archive Project, but I don't think DJ taped the Cash Money set.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/dnj43y

More D72 goodies can be found here, at a site maintained by Ben Azzara, the band's original drummer.

An alternate Superunknown analog rip.

I don't know if you've noticed, but many of my posts here are reactions. Something I've read, something I've seen online, causes me to put up content as a response. I'd view this as something of a detriment if these posts didn't get about the same reaction as the ones I generate on my own.

So! One of the trends in mp3 blogging these days has been vinyl rips. I couldn't be happier! Dudes (and I'm only assuming they're all dudes, but come on) with super-good equipment, posting high-quality versions of direct-from-vinyl music. You might not think it matters, the end steps being digital and all, but it can and it does. PBTHAL's rips of the Big Star albums, for example, have a little...sparkle, or something, that's better than any CD of them I've heard. And sometimes, the best of intentions have an interesting effect.

Friedalive has been posting some interesting and unexpected things, and a couple weeks ago a rip of Soundgarden's Superunknown appeared. For the longest time, I'd only ever owned that record on vinyl, and I'd listened to it many a time. So I downloaded it, burned a CD, and took a listen. What a great job they'd done with the rip! Exactly how I remembered it. Still sounded like complete butt.

Now, make no mistake: the blame does not lie with Friedalive for this butt-ness. I'm not entirely sure where it lies. Is David Collins, the mastering engineer, to blame? Difficult to say. The CD and cassette share none of the terrible qualities of the vinyl: the lack of bass, the cluttered overall picture, the static-laden transients. Regardless of where the finger points, the problem is the sound. It is bad. It could be better. In fact, my favorite version, the best sounding, as far as I'm concerned? The cassette.


You see, my friends and I, we have this DJ night. It started as a joke, really; Sean and I were remarking on the fact that we'd both saved all our cassettes from our high school years. "We should do a DJ set with just tapes!" one of us said. And the joke stuck around until there was a wonderful local bar that would let us do such a thing. It was a grand time, and it became a monthly affair. So, in order to keep things fresh (for me, if no one else) I scouted around for new tapes on a regular basis, including things I'd otherwise owned for years. And this here copy of Superunknown? It sounds great.

I think so, at any rate. You can judge for yourself.

If this sort of thing interests you, please let me know. I'm up for doing more of these, and will also gladly take suggestions (and donations!)