IRON LUNG

The quality of this live vid just amazes me...do yourself a favor and watch/listen, then go search for some of their studio stuff, there's plenty around here.

Woody Guthrie - 3 7"s

Took a couple of people on my caseload for their 90 day mental health medication reviews the other day and was sitting in the lobby waiting for their appointments.  The magazine selection was pretty slim, mostly women's homemaking and fashion magazines (I realize that those magazines could be enjoyed by men, but judging by the ads they are made for a certain breed of woman).  The only thing that looked interesting was a Time magazine and that was just because the cover article was about a resurgence in interest in the Shroud of Turin, which I had thought was debunked in the late 80s.  I read that article, it turns out that some believe that the radio carbon dating on the thing was flawed.  Was then leafing through the rest of the magazine, not really paying attention, one my guys (my favorite to spend time with), on top of having developmental disabilities, is very schizophrenic and requires some supervision and plus he just enjoys shooting the shit (in a very random way) with me.  Stumbled upon the above page and realized I was a reading a news magazine from April 12, 1998...hahaha.  Anyway, a very interesting week in music news.  Tommy Lee admitted he was a wife beater, Tammy Winette blood clotted, half of Milli Vanilli ODd and the queen of punk, Wendy O. Williams, blew her brains out.  The second two were total news to me and even Wendy I didn't find out about until years after the event...I was busy drinking a gallon or so of rum a day in 1998.  Sad really, it was a bad year for me and obviously it was a bad year for them. Figured that Antiseen had covered this tune... antiseen - my god can beat up your god Then I just found out, the original done by an outfit outta Florida is well worth a listen... Broken Talent - My God Can Beat Up Your God Just because I buy records, doesn't mean I'm a purist, I do still MP3 hunt (but I usually leave at least a comment of thanx...usually).  Was on the hunt in the wilds of internetdom and stumbled upon some live John Cale bootlegs over at Viva les Bootlegs. I knew of the Velvet Underground connection, but I had never heard Mr. Cale's solo stuff.  Gotta tell you though, maybe it was just the muddy late generation sound of the bootlegs, but for some reason it reminded me of the Grateful Dead made for heroin junkies.  Is it an acquired taste?  Did I miss something?  I don't know...here's the 1st track from CBGBs in '78... John Cale - Dance Of The Seven Veils I've been sitting on these rips for quite a while and figured it was about time for something for the soul, Woody Guthrie. Not too many people are as important to music as he is especially outside of the mainstream, but I imagine this early folk stuff is not up too many people's sleeves.  I just love it, it speaks of a different time but it's still relevant today.  Did a mention of his Ballads of Sacco and Vanzetti a while back that are a must for your collection (I got mine), if not your iPod!  These next two are French releases from the 60s of much older tunes.  I contacted the Woody Guthrie foundation to ask them about these two, but they knew nothing about them and suggested I donate them...hahaha (maybe someday).  I guess that makes them old timey bootlegs, sort of.  As I said before the guy did not believe in copyrights..."“This song is Copyrighted in U.S., under Seal of Copyright # 154085, for a period of 28 years, and anybody caught singin it without our permission, will be mighty good friends of ourn, cause we don’t give a dern. Publish it. Write it. Sing it. Swing to it. Yodel it. We wrote it, that’s all we wanted to do.”  If you haven't listened to Mr. Guthrie before, do so now, educate yourself... John Henry Aint Gonna Be Treated This Way Buffalo Skinners Hard, Aint Hard

 

 

Hey Lolly Lolly Lonesome Day Gipsy Davy More Pretty Girls Than One

 

 

This one I just got the other day, it's a bootleg of sorts too, limited to 300 copies, not sure why I got it since I already have both tunes on vinyl

Buffalo Skinners (same version as above)

Pretty Boy Floyd

Splinter Cell - Will You Be My Friend?

The long awaited Splinter Cell CD arrived in the mail a couple of days ago.  SC are not strangers around here there's little bits and pieces all over the place, here and here, amongst some other random places, but this is their first "official" release.  I'm biased, because two of the three piece are really old friends of mine (one a former band mate), so I don't know how valuable my opinion is.  The bottom line is that I think anyone could would see how good this CD is.  Just the cover alone should tell you this will at least be something interesting.  I had Lil Jimmy (bass) write up a little something, just to get the bands take on this little piece of plastic...

"Splinter Cell is literally the culmination of 30+ years of the punk/rock band experience. No genre slapping or generation gapping. The songs don’t sound like the other songs & whatever. The 3 of us have played with each other in Humboldt County (again)for the past 4 years with Henpecker & Artifacts of Pleasure before becoming Cell Mates. We have played in countless other bands &, again, whatever. This is our now & we don’t know when to quit. Really, what else is there to do at our age. Sean, Jeff, & James welcome your commentary & your friendship. The “Will You Be My Friend?” cd by Splinter Cell(Meth Bog Records #6) is $10 ppd to Paypal; Forbesx4@sbcglobal.net Find us on Facebook & on Myspace. We are very modern & technologically advanced."

I listened to this two times in a row when I first got and couldn't find a weak moment.  Not sure how to describe it, except that it's post rock with it's multiple influences.  There's a groove to their tunes, a snotty punk vibe and tight musicianship.  As Jimmy said, these guys have been at it a long time, heard a lot of shit to get inspiration from and aren't virgins when it comes to the ins and outs of being in band.  This is the most polished I have heard them sound between the live takes and the rough studio stuff (you wouldn't think this had been recorded in a living room).  The mix is perfect, even on my weak computer speakers I can hear the vocals and every instrument, nothing is lost and it's powerful.  I fucking love these guys and kick myself for my own semi-poverty, not being to make a run out to the west coast for a live dose.  A solid group of dudes, lucky to call them friends. Just two samples here for you, I guess my faves, be sure and get the CD from Lil Jimmy at the above address.  WARNING: The chorus on "Rope-A-Dope" is highly infectious and contagious.  It is clinically proven to cause minor insanity and involuntary spasms.  By the time the song is over it will have branded your brain and be played over and over and over again.  You hum it on the toilet, during sex, and when someone is trying to tell you something important.  BEWARE! [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7v1F616ie8&w=560&h=315]

@ the Alibi 02/06/10 [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4diwfuZRTQ&w=420&h=315]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqvSesXD7LY&w=560&h=315]

Dead Kennedys - California Uber Alles 7"

Another talented soul, following the footsteps of his idol, John Belushi...a victim of suicide by addiction.

My son called me a nerd yesterday because I play those "stupid" facebook games (Zombie Lane, Gunshine, Battle Pirates).  He said "why don't you get an XBox, the games on there are so much better", I told him I only had only had enough money to get him an XBox...and being the self sacrificing kind of guy I am, was forced to suffer through the substandard graphics and programing, that I could find for free.  Actually I have a Playstation 2 with a bunch of games that I've mostly mastered, but I like to multi-task on the computer (playing Battle Pirates as I'm typing this).  I think the first video game for your TV was Pong and I had it along with a little black and white TV.  Anybody remember that.  Kinda sad really because I was an only child and the game required two people.  In my early teens it was all about Asteroids, the arcade version, I fuckin owned that game.  Got so good I could play it indefinitely, eight hours was my longest stretch on one game and the only reason I quit was that my hands were hurting.  There was a self serve car wash down the street from the arcade and you could run up and kick the change machine and quarters would fall out.  Easy to get good when you have an unlimited quarter supply.  Then some hesher show me how to "rig" the machine by taping thread to the quarter and running it back and forth over the switch in the coin slot, racking up the credits.  Good times.

Does anyone think I over use the "..."?

For you SPK fans, if you're serious, you probably already know this and I'm just a noob (as the kids these days say), check out the Dokument 1110 boxset...live shit and the singles.  This guy has kindly made it available (the starting bid at Ebay is $175) over at his Shards of Beauty blog.  One of my favorite tunes live... SPK - Contact Was reading on the Humboldt Punk page about a woman named Melissa Medina who did a bit of singing for the Hitch...got me curious. Dropped a line to Jefe to see if he had any mp3s of that collaboration. Sure enough he did have this one and only tune, which may be the best cover of that tune ever and sure enough it's done in that H-E-A-V-Y Hitch way (if you haven't heard of the Hitch before it means you're new here or didn't live live in Humboldt County circa late '90s, early '00s...don't sweat it though there's a shit load if you look around). The Hitch - Come Together Kinda silly that I'm 300 and some odd posts into this thing and I haven't approached the almighty (ridiculously fractured) Dead Kennedys.  Don't really need to chew these guys and spit them out for you, you wouldn't be at a site like this if you hadn't heard of the band.  I first heard this single, their 1st, (although this is the second pressing released that same year) in 1979 on the Rodney on the ROQ show.  Being a kid who was into 70's hard rock and disco I was blown the fuck away (my Mom was listening too and she thought it was "different").  I think the first vinyl I got with them on it was the Rat Music for Rat People comp.  Never got to see the band with Jello (plenty of missed opportunities, that probably involved drinking beer instead), but I did see them in the 90's with Brandon of Dr. Know on vocals (I know no comparison).  I was sloppy drunk anyway and spent most of my time on floor in the pit being trampled.  Have most, if not all, of their albums, a few of their 7"s, and several comp appearances...enjoy this their first.

 

California Uber Alles Man With The Dogs There may be more demos prior to this 7", but the one I know of is what is called "the 1978 Demo, which I think is several demos (well worth your time if you haven't given those a listen)... California Uber Alles Man With The Dogs

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CR2rxRMcTE&w=420&h=315]