HUM- YOU'D PREFER AN ASTRONAUT

Just some more Hum. Good-ass spaced-out alt-rock. Pumpkins with more of a shoegaze/pink floyd influence!

HERE

IMMORTAL- AT THE HEART OF WINTER

Black Metal, like pretty much every other sub-genre of extreme music, constantly sparks debates about sincerity within the genre. These kinds of debates almost always touch on some set of arbitrary rules about something as significant as songwriting or something as trivial as how the band members are dressed. One common debate I've seen on message boards and in reviews is how much "rawness" (the extent to which the recordings are made to sound intentionally lo-fi) is important to the music being "true" or sincere.

While a lot of classic black metal is very raw in its production, so what? Keeping both feet constantly in the philosophies and practices of the people who inspired you can lead to not only your own artistic stagnation but also increases the likelihood of your music sounding like a poor imitation of those bands. Which is why I'm glad this album exists.

Immortal were one of the first-wave Norwegian Black Metal bands and their early recordings were very raw but album to album the production, not to mention the musicianship and songwriting, took incredible leaps and bounds. This is my favourite of their albums and while this is undeniably a black metal LP in terms of the music, the production makes it sound as crisp and clear as Ride the Lightning! Sadly, Immortal will always be more remembered by hipsters as the band that made ridiculous music videos and wore a ton of makeup and medieval armour... at least people who actually like music for music's sake can enjoy this!


HERE

HUM- DOWNWARD IS HEAVENWARD

Well, what to say about HUM? a cult act if there ever was one. Spacey (but not shoegazy) alt-rock with lyrics about girls and astronomy. When I say "alt-rock" I worry it conjures memories of Pearl Jam or Stone Temple Pilots or something else that sucks but I'm thinking more along the lines of Smashing Pumpkins' heavier songs circa 95! This is very blissful music with the occasional crushing guitar part and feedback-laden lead melody. I feel like by describing it, as I'm trying to do right now, I'm over contextualizing it and not getting to the point. This band is really good and sadly forgotten in comparison to other bands from the era. This is their last album but it's a good starting point!


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SEAM- THE PROBLEM WITH ME

Seam rule. Classic Touch & Go circa 93. Strains of Slint and Bitch Magnet (obviously since Sooyoung Park fronted that band as well) but with a more melodic approach reminiscent of the indie-tinged emo that would soon become all the rage. Very beautiful guitar playing with a nice amount of crunchy parts and big choruses to break up the beautiful monotony. More bands should waste their time trying to rip off bands like this that people have forgotten about instead of trying to rip off the Black Lips, because hey, THAT BAND IS STILL PUTTING OUT RECORDS!!!


HERE

MY DAD IS DEAD- CHOPPING DOWN THE FAMILY TREE

My Dad Is Dead has quickly risen to the top of my non-existent but very important list of bands-that-should-be-a-big-deal-but-no-one-gives-a-hoot-about. Formed by drummer Mark Edwards after the dissolution of his previous outfit, MDID hit the ground running despite the fact that Edwards recorded his first album after only playing guitar and writing songs for about a year. This is about six years after the debut and believe me, you will be in awe of how masterful and tasteful someone can be at their instrument after such a relatively short period of time.

I'm not sure where MDID lies musically. Elements of goth, post-punk and psych-rock are constantly tugging at one another but it's all focused on so perfectly by Edwards' songwriting which is distinctly late 80's/early 90's indie rock. I don't know what it is but I will call it genius and I will call it catchy as hell!

Also I love this lyric:

"Give me a cross... and I will carry it/ Show me a feeling... and I will bury it"

HERE

NO COMMENT- DOWNSIDED

Just some raging powerviolence. fast, slow, heavy, harsh... definitely one of the genre's best records, of which there are many. Sorry for the lack of posts and the lack of depth in the posts. Life still sucks... just now it sucks worse than the last few times I used that as an excuse for a lack of posts.


HERE

BORN AGAINST- NINE PATRIOTIC HYMNS FOR CHILDREN

Last night some of my friends played a joke set as a 'conservative-punk-band' and it reminded me of this album cover... not the album, just the cover. This album is a staple of 90's hardcore. Sludgy bits, distorted bass, almost complete dissonance. Good shit to get mad to. Yeah, it's on other blogs but maybe some people haven't heard it yet!


HERE

OLD POSTS

I've been lazy and since I don't upload any of these albums myself, most of them seem to have been taken down from mediafire. I was just going to discreetly re-up all of them... but the number kept getting bigger and I don't want to sit at my computer all day. So I'm just going to leave this here and let people comment if they want something re-upped that has been taken down.

p.s. google it first! someone else probably uploaded it!

BURNING WITCH- CRIPPLED LUCIFER

This is my candidate for the most brutally-heavy album(s) of all time. I say 'albums' because Crippled Lucifer compiles both of Burning Witch's full-lengths but they both operate on the same plane of soul-destroying doom metal. This is seriously the heaviest doom gets. No groove, riffs that exist solely to build tension that gives you chills, guitars tuned down to almost atonal frequencies and then the vocals. The singer for Burning Witch sounds like Bon Scott possessed by the most evil, fucked up, and anguished demon to ever be banished to the ninth circle. This is not for casual metal fans or people who don't like "sad" music... oh and I believe Steve Albini recorded both albums so yeah, they sound awesome!


HERE

BRAID- FRAME AND CANVAS

This is a really good, poppy emo record. Short songs, no weirdness, good guitar playing. I've loved this record for many years and I just realized that it doesn't get talked about among my circle of 90's-indie-loving-friends so I thought I'd share it.

P.S. sorry for the lack of posts. Live has been one big septic tank of especially smelly and time-eating shit lately...


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CAP'N JAZZ- SCHMAP'N SCHMAZZ (the actual title is 27 words long)

A beautiful Saturday. Coffee in my cup, played an awesome basement show last night, had good talks with old friends and slept in until the early afternoon. The sun is shining through my window, NCAA basketball is on in the background... And I feel optimistic about the future for this brief moment. What this has to do with Cap'n Jazz? Your guess is as good as mine. I sat down at my computer just now and felt like posting something...

This seemed to be the only album that satisfied the feelings running through me at the moment. What is it? Poppy, sloppy, innocent Midwestern emo from 1994. Based on that description you either can't wait to hear this or you've already left... If the weather is nice wherever you may be, put this on your portable-listening device and go for a long walk. It'll make you think about romance, growing up, nostalgia and all those other wonderful, post-adolescent experiences that only seem to have meaning for that brief, amazing period of our lives.

HERE

Wrought: Ironsmile discography

A long search is finally completed because a Russian filesharing website finally translated the "download" button.

 All three 7"s are here PLUS a fantastic split with a country-emo band called the Warsaw Union, who were from Duncan, Vancouver Island. It just might be the only listenable folk-punk recording ever.

A hugely underrated Victoria emo band, one of the last in the first wave that spanned the mid-90's.

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SEBADOH- HARMACY

This is a great album if given the appropriate amount of time. Sebadoh are not well-liked by my friends and they are of the opinion that Lou was better off in Dinosaur Jr. than fronting his own band. Pure nonsense if you ask me. I love Dinosaur Jr. for Mascis' awesome playing and You're Living All Over Me is one of the most perfect albums ever written but everything else is very hit-or-miss and later on Mascis began to write songs that sounded like hazy afterthoughts meant to pay his bills. Sebadoh, in my opinion, is all fire and expression. Unlike Jay, I don't feel like Lou ever stopped trying to be a better writer or rested on his laurels... at least in terms of Sebadoh. Lou never made an album as good as You're Living All Over Me but he did make three albums that are better than any other Dino album.

Out of those three, Harmacy gets the least attention. III is all lo-fi mysticism, hopeless ballads and scrappy-charm. Bakesale is the well-produced, amps-on-11 surprise party. So what is Harmacy? Something in between Bakesale and III. More angst and balladry than Bakesale but far too much rock to sound anything like III. The thing that shines here is Lou's voice, songs and melodies. It's really just a messy pop album hidden under some slacker-tendencies that, much like Sebadoh as a whole, loses out on the acclaim it deserves due to Lou's unfortunate reputation as permanent second-fiddle. If you like rooting for the underdog then maybe give Sebadoh a try!

HERE

MODEST MOUSE DOCUMENTARY '97

If you remember Modest Mouse as an amazingly-promising indie-ROCK band and not the major-label snooze-fest they became, then this is the documentary for you! We can talk all day about this band being a prime example of selling out (because yes, they are!) OR we can remember them for what they were, one of the best bands making music from 94-99.

This documentary follows Isaac around during the recording of The Lonesome Crowded West LP and it's about as candid as you can get. Eating subway in the studio, walking around Olympia, going to a corner store to carefully select a good forty and driving around in the band's van just shooting the breeze. Aside from that you get interviews with Elliott Smith, Doug Martsch and Calvin Johnson (who was producing the aforementioned  LP at Dub Narcotic!) A great snapshot of a band and songwriter at the peak of their creative powers.

HERE

ERIC'S TRIP CBC DOCUMENTARY

This is a wonderful little documentary the CBC did on Eric's Trip in 1993. The bulk of the film is just Rick White and Julie Doiron sitting and talking about the band in a very cute and rambling way (which I eventually found pointless and frustrating)... anyways, lots of amazing footage, good songs, cool interviews, some original versions of well-known songs PLUS a very funny commercial that was left on the tape! Enjoy some great 90's Canadiana. It's only about twenty minutes long


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and...
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BREADWINNER- THE BURNER

This is some weird shit. Not weird in a Sun City Girls or Portal way. Just weird I guess. It sounds like stoned guys with a lot of technical ability who were compelled to create a mix of what was then math-rock and really dissonant thrash... Somehow it comes off as more arty than heavy... it was on Merge when they were doing cool stuff so you know it's at least worth hearing.

HERE

DM3-Dig It the Most

Criminally under-appreciated Australian power pop. At least I think they're underrated. Every Australian I've ever asked about them doesn't seem to remember any of their music. I could be wrong though, they were all under 25. and I've only ever spoken to three Australians.

Regardless, enjoy!

DOWNLOAD





PS: Apparently a band from Bellingham called So Adult covered "1x2x Devastated". That band rules. 90's style indie (college rock?) featuring members of Shook Ones.  Here's one of their music videos

SELECTED AMBIENT WORKS 85-92 - APHEX TWIN

YO, YOU EVER BEEN TO SPACE? I HEARD IT'S SOME INSANE SHIT, I HEARD THAT OLD SPICE LOOKING DUDE RICHARD BRANSON, WHO PROBABLY SMELLS LIKE ZZ TOP'S "ROUGH BOY", IS WORKING ON MAKING SPACE TRAVEL A REALITY, WELL FOR THOSE OF YOU PULLING KANYE WEIGHT THAT IS. ANYWAYS IF THEY EVER MAKE IT AFFORDABLE TO PLEEBS LIKE YOURS TRUELY I WANT TO CALL UP RICHARD .D JAMES' CREEPY ASS MUG AND SOME OF THOSE CHICKS WITH HIS FACE AND PLAY THE SHIT OUT OF THIS WHILE WE CRUISE THROUGH THE ATMOSPHERE. THIS RECORD IS NOT AS ESOTERIC AND WEIRD LIKE SELECTED AMBIENT TRACKS VOL II BUT IF YOU'RE A DUDE WHO LIKES DUDES WHO MAKE INTELLIGENT ELECTRONIC MUSIC THAT ISN'T A GLITCHY IDM NIGHTMARE THEN GET ON BOARD THE MINDFUCK EXPRESS TO CHILLOUT TOWN AND LET ME KNOW HOW THE MOON LOOKS.

XTAL


YO

MOBB DEEP - HELL ON EARTH

AIGHT,

THIS RECORD IS SOME SERIOUS SHIT, BUT WHO THE FUCK IS MOBB DEEP YOU SAY? WHO'S THIS CORNY ASS MOTHERFUCKER TAKING AWAY FROM THE USUAL ONE ON ONE YOU HAVE WITH A DUOTANG FULL OF KANYE PHOTOS? OH THIS DOGG IS REAL? LIKE THE PROBABILITY THIS CAT ROBBED SOME PEOPLE AND THIS BEING TRUTH IS ACTUALLY QUITE HIGH? OR IS IT LIKE SOME CAM'RON 'TRUTHINESS' WHERE THESE CATS, ONE HAVOC AND ONE PRODIGY, WENT TO NYC ART HIGHSCHOOL TOGETHER IN THE LATE 80'S AND BEGAN TO FASHION SOME OF THE EARTHIEST SHIT AROUND. EITHER WAY THIS IS SOME TRUE HELMS DEEP SHIT. FUCK IT, THEY SHOULD HAVE JUST CALLED THEMSELVES THAT, MOTHERFUCKERS AT LEAST SOUND HARDER THAN A URAK-HAI. SARUMAN WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER EQUIPT TO DEAL WITH SOME MOTHERFUCKIN ENTS IF HE HAD THESE TWO TO SMOKE ALL THEM TREES.


SHOOK ONES


YO

Victoria BC emo anthology.

I can't quite put my finger on why I became so interested in Victoria's emo scene in the early-to-mid-90's. I know I learned about one of the major bands, Render Useless, when my boss gave me their discography CD at a show a year ago and I guess I just started compiling music from there.

Unfortunately for Victoria the only pre-2000 punk band from there that really made waves was Dayglo Abortions. Not because of their music, they just put out an a-politically offensive record cover that happened to be seen by the wrong censorship crusader.

Of course some people remember Neos as the fastest hardcore bands of the 80's. They probably weren't, but I digress.

No, Victoria didn't find it's niche in the beer-swilling mess that was non-edge hardcore, but a little later in the 90's. 

Following the release of Shiner's debut tape "Slightly Polished" in 1993, Dave Brown's Slow to Burn records funded every band worth listening to in Victoria. With the arrival of one Chris Iler, a former Torontonian (Who ran a college radio show in 1984 with a future member of Crisis of Faith, who went on to make a killer split 7" with Chokehold!) and his label Fans of Bad Productions, these artists received larger - though still painfully limited - distribution through two compilation albums (Fuck the Commonwealth, and Go!) 

I think that's enough background... Now the songs!

1.  Shiner-Burnt
the first Slow to Burn release. The vocals are derivative of the larger trend in rock n' roll at the time, but an important band, nonetheless.

2. M Blanket-Kid Collision

the first band of Dave Wenger, the most noteworthy participant in the scene at this time. Though most of M Blanket's discography sounds like a really awkward mix of Jawbreaker and Rancid, I think this song is the best hint at Dave's potential.

3. Ache Hour Credo-Smegma
My favorite Dave Wenger project. After M Blanket's dissolution he formed AHC. Because of tension in the group only two songs were officially released on the Fans of Bad Productions compilations. However they were able to record a demo, and it is fantastic. After AHC broke up he started Daddy's Hands, a great post-punk/indie band.

4. Breakwater-Eleven

Basically Republic of Freedom Fighters, but with Dave Wenger instead of Casey Mercer (Yes, Frog Eyes Casey Mercer). Like most of the early bands they only recorded a demo and a few songs for the FOBP comps. However they also released a FANTASTIC split with Closure, from California. This song was their side.

5. Republic of Freedom Fighters-Year of the Rat

What a band! Despite only lasting only a year, they were the only early band who recorded enough material for an LP. Plus a whack of splits.

6. Benchwarmer-Weirdo

Sup-Poppy indie, their 7" "Pud" was a pretty popular release on Slow to Burn. I've included them here because they were the predecessor to...

7. Render Useless-Generation Gap

The group that started it all. This still-influential group has the biggest catalog of them all I think. (Their discography CD has 25 (!!!) songs)  This song is off of their split with Miracle of 86.

8. Gus-Dom Fights Chris

Born Against worship featuring Steve McBean, who sings in Black Mountain! Their other releases were a little more weird. I have one of their tapes, I'll post it as soon as I can rip it. It has a Crucifucks cover on it!

9. Wrought: Ironsmile-Valentines Day

The latest release I could find, though I don't know much about the band itself. They put out one 7" and a split, not on Slow to Burn, though! Possibly a sign that the scene was starting to grow?

DOWNLOAD

The Victoria music scene is by no means dead. It's still small, all inclusive, and churning out great bands every few months. Just listen to bands like Gutless, Watcher, Six Brew Bantha and No Eulogy just to name a few. You can pick up Render Useless' discography CD, Watcher's 7" and a whole whack of other great bands (Damages, Mouse Ear, Deadsure, ect ect...) at Clue 2 records.