Alchemy Distillery

My old Humboldt buddy and bandmate, Steve Bohner, musician (WD40, Garden Weasel, Grout, The Hitch, Sad Wings of Destiny, Magnum and most recently Lord Ellis) and owner of Alchemy Construction, is venturing into new territory with his wife Amy, Alchemy Distillery. A distillery specializing in the finest spirits (oh if only I still drank, hahaha). They're doing one of those kickstarter things raising money to get the business off the ground. Watch the vid, they explain it extremely well and at the very least you get to share a moment with two beautiful people. We here at Mustard Relics (which of course is just me) wish them all the happiness and success this world has to offer... https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/boldt/boldt-grain-to-bottle-spirits-by-alchemy-distiller/widget/video.html

Street Sects live

Was recently blown away by and did a review of the Street Sects 7", "This is extreme music from extremely demented minds." Have since been in touch with Leo, one of the movers and shakers of the band, both of us having been losers at one time (I'm sort of a loser of a different sort now, he's a stud though). I don't talk too much recovery here, used to and still sometimes allude to that kind of stuff, but most of the people that come here are normies, drinking's great. I don't go to meetings anymore, but still need to relate on that level every once in a while. You know it's nice meeting people that have shared experiences (of any kind), you can sort of reflect and discuss where you've been and most importantly where you're going. Leo is definitely going places with this Street Sects thing, with the 7", eventual box set and live shows (when you play industrial you gotta prove your moxie and do it in front of an audience). Last weekend, Street Sects played a well received gig in Dallas, you can read about it at THRWD, "Street Sects employed heavy fog, heavy strobe to create an atmosphere of uncertainty and insanity, as lead singer Leo Ashline melted in and out of the fog, appearing randomly inside the crowd, fucking with the audience’s sense of reality." There's some vids up un Youtube now, one of which (just good for the audio, as there's very little to see) you get a live version of one of the tunes off the 7"... Street Sects - Bliss (Live) Another vid up ther of some even more recent tunes, there's something about how Alicia Montgomery captured it that is just perfect for the vibe (wish I had been there)... Live at the Ware Wolf Haus in Dallas, Texas 03/22/14 [video width="1280" height="640" mp4="http://mustard-relics.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Street-Sects-Live-at-WARE_WOLF_HAUS-DallasTX720p_H.264-AAC.mp4"][/video]

Animated Shorts #1

The internet is my link to the outside world and you can find me almost randomly wandering that world frequently (especially when the wife is working the late shift...when she's home we watch movies). I enjoy my self imposed isolation and all the perks of country living, but I also enjoy living vicariously, on a never ending quest to entertain and educate myself. Plus the internet is how I keep in touch with my friends who themselves have landed all over the globe. Youtube has always been a source of enjoyment and learning, mostly listening to music, but so many other paths lead to that site. Lately it's all about watching animated shorts (Youtube is not one of the sites the administrator has blocked at work...Mustard Relics on the other hand, has been blocked). These animated shorts take me back to the college days, going to the Arcata Minor Theatre for their animation festivals. Even back then the shorts were perfect for me and, my need to be immediately and succinctly amused. From the gory to hilarious, the deep to fleeting, these festivals were guaranteed to please. Just by the nature of them being a collection of shorts, if one sucked (which was rare), it would be over quickly and on to the next. These days, by virtue of the internet and Youtube the supply is endless, although you didn't have to suffer through commercials (but a guy's got to make a buck). Anyway, here's two I recently ran across, that were particularly good (I'll see if I can remember to post some of my faves from time to time)... "Sebastian's Voodoo" [video width="640" height="360" mp4="http://mustard-relics.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Sebastians-Voodoo.mp4"][/video] "Mighty Antlers" [video width="640" height="360" mp4="http://mustard-relics.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Mighty-Antlers-от-The-Animation-Workshop.mp4"][/video]

Letterbomb - Demo

How fucking true is that? The only thing that would have made the comic better, is if he had been pushing a wheelbarrow full of records, gotta have some selection. I was trying to explain to someone the other day, how a friend of mine, over 30 years ago, had told me that a wave (analog) represented sound so much more accurately than binary code (digital).  You can really tell the difference in listening and I do prefer vinyl over CDs, but that's just because I'm a nostalgic motherfucker.  Just learned a couple of years ago that 45 rpm is better sounding than 33 rpm...has something to do with the length of the grooves.  I get this audiophile catalog in the mail every so often, they sell all kinds of outrageous stereo equipment and also represses of albums on 2 45 rpm 12"s, none of which I can afford to buy...but a guy can dream. I have missed out on a hell of a lot of raging Humboldt music since leaving there 20 odd years ago, may as well be 200 years ago.  My latest discovery at the hands of Jeff Langdon via Faceplant is a band called Ravens featuring stellar front woman Melissa Medina.  I posted a sampling of her epic vocals when she did a Beatles cover, fronting for The Hitch... The Hitch - Come Together This time around, you get more of a straightforward rock and roll thing, but you know that over the top RnR boogie you can only get straight out of Humboldt. Kind of a stoney, bluesy harmonica infused, garaged vibe...a garage surrounded by redwoods, ferns and banana slugs.  They have a Myspace (but the tunes on there belong to another band with the same name, strange), a bunch of vids on Youtube and I think they were one of the bands featured on the Rural Rock N Roll documentary (essential viewing).  According to Jeffe, "Recorded at the raven's practice space 2004 on south g street in arcata. engineered and mixed by jeff langdon on an adat 8 track recorder. featuring melissa medina on vocals, kevin harp on guitar, mike donahoe on bass, and bandon wayne on drums."  Here it is where Jefe put it at Soundcloud.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUtwd9VtBJI&w=560&h=315]

Yet another Humboldt band I missed, seeking my fame and fortune in the big city, was Letterbomb. I had asked Rob Perkins if he had been in any other bands since Grimace and he turned me onto them. According to their Myspace they were active around 00's, but I don't know anything else except the low down he gave me, "im playing drums morgan on guitar Gregg Mall on bass and Vince signing..we did this in one take..so it has some slop...4 songs one right after the other no stopping. but its pretty much exactly how we sounded live..we were fun to watch and tight ! we had good equipment so our shows sounded good." Actually I do know something about the band, they fucking killed it. For doing this in one take, they didn't miss a beat. Kind of a sped up melodic hardcore thing, with just the slightest of metalic-ness shining through. Think Bad Religion mixed with Suicidal Tendencies, but of course with that Humboldt made rubber stamp of approval. I wouldn't expect anything else from Rob of Grimace or Morgan of One Man Running...I don't remember the other two guys from my being up there.  Listening to the tunes again, just now, it's amazing how fast they are chugging along and still maintaining any semblance of melody.  This is a band that I would have definitely liked to have seen live.  The "hits" in my opinion are "Cycle" and "Reflecions"...

Cycle Don't Hesitate Embrace Reflections

EDIT: The links are dead and I don't talk to Rob anymore, he "unfriended" me on fucking FB, apparently he's kind of an alt-right type person now, so I have no way of getting them back.  Too bad, as these guys really shredded...

Woody Guthrie - Songs To Grow On For Mother And Child 10"

Parenting is probably the toughest job there is and the easiest thing to fail at. Raising a kid is no fucking joke, although parents range from laughable to pathetic. For about half of my son's life I chose the distilled bottle over being anything that resembled a Father. Overall I would rate my performance as a low C. On the plus side the gifts that I did give took the form of a love of the written word and a love for music. That is the bare minimum that I could do, and really for every parent out there, those should be required. They were two of the gifts given to me. This here record features one of my favorite artists (who himself was reputed to be a less than stellar Father) doing original lullabies. It's 1956 and what a parent might cuddle up with their child and sing may have changed, but the sentiment is still there. If you have a little one, play these tunes for them, maybe you can plant a seed... Grass-y Grass Grass Swimm-y Swim Swim Little Sack Of Sugar Rattle My Rattle I Want My Milk Grow Grow Grow 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 Day 2 Day 3 Days Old Wash-y Wash Wash I'll Eat You I'll Drink You Make A Bubble Who's My Pretty Baby Write A Word In case you want to pass these on to someone else and their little one, here's the whole thing...Woody Guthrie - Songs To Grow On For Mother And Child

 

Blackfire - Silence Is A Weapon

Taken from a comic I've been reading for a little bit now, Extinction Parade #5 written by Max Brooks who also wrote World War Z, which was a pretty killer flick. "A verbal placebo for the voluntarily obtuse", that is fucking perfect. A zombie/vampire story with a unique plot and some interesting twists and turns...the artwork by Raulo Caceres captures the brutality of the story perfectly.

My old Bro Alex (shit, we've known each other for 29 years now...damn I'm getting old) turned me onto this band...the epitome of stage presence...raging! [video width="640" height="360" mp4="http://mustard-relics.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Act-12-Black-Fire-Silence-is-a-Weapon.mp4"][/video]

Karjalan Sissit - Viinaa Pittää Juua 7"

Got my first negative comments on one of my reviews yesterday. I suppose any time you open your mouth you run the risk of someone trying to stick shit into it.  Negative or positive, all comments are good and in this cae, for the first time, I was called "press".  As a result, figured it was about time for one of my patented mega-posts, filled with random ramblings, nonsense and whatnot... I'm in love with Sharni Vinson just based on her role in You're Next. It's one of those victims fights back slasher flicks, with admittedly not the best acting and a pretty simple plot, but it does have a couple twists and turns to keep it interesting. I'm easily pleased when it comes to my horror flicks, and really disappointed (butthurt) when they don't meet up with my relaxed criticism. This movie though had one huge thing going for it, she made sure the job was done...nothing worse than a villain getting up after you've knocked him down. Sort of a metaphor for life I think, when we are confronted by it's inevitable wretchedness....eliminate one and on with the next. From the pages of Junk Culture (1997). I don't talk about comics much around here even though in the last couple of years they have made their way back into my life and are part of the minimal stimulation I need. When I was a kid it was all about super heroes and I didn't really know what I was doing. I just got comics randomly, based on the cover or hero, and didn't really follow the story from one issue to the next. I dug my old stuff out a while back to give to my buddy's son and looking through them I did not have one issue that followed another one. They were all in terrible condition too, so another strike against me was that I had no clue that they might be worth something some day, although I know now that very few comics are collectible, most of them lose value the second you take them off the shelf. In college a good friend of mine got me into the Lone Wolf and Cub manga, I really enjoyed the bits and pieces I got of that and it led to some killer viewing with the movies. I have since then collected the entire First Publishing series. It was the Walking Dead that got me into comics this time around (I stay away from super heroes for the most part now). And if you like the series, you must read the comics. As expected those comics are very collectible, but you can find PDFs fairly easily if you just want to read the story. The Kick Ass movies are based on a very good comic as well. Another highly recommended comic that will probably be a movie at some point is the Preacher series. Yet another one to check out is any of the various Crossed series' of comics. I am currently following the Walking Dead, Revival, Black Science, Hinterkind, Drumhellar, Ten Grand, Ballistic, Extinction Parade, Kick Ass 3, Samurai Jack... Expensive when you consider they mostly come out every month and they're $3-4 a pop. If there's no store near you or you're interested in affordable (mostly) back issues check out My Comic Shop. Art work, by my old pal, Finn Pette, artist extraordinaire, Volkswagon-aholic and Vincent Van Gogh fan...

More email silliness from my Gramps. Family Tree of Vincent Van Gogh: His dizzy aunt Verti Gogh The brother who ate prunes Gotta Gogh The brother who worked at a convenience store Stop N Gogh The grandfather from Yugoslavia U Gogh His magician uncle Where-diddy Gogh His Mexican cousin A Mee Gogh The Mexican cousin's American half-brother Gring Gogh The nephew who drove a stage coach Wells-far Gogh The constipated uncle Can't Gogh The ballroom dancing aunt Tang Gogh The bird lover uncle Flamin Gogh The fruit-loving cousin Man Gogh An aunt who taught positive thinking Way-to-Gogh The little bouncy nephew Poe Gogh A sister who loved disco Go Gogh And his niece who travels the country in an RV Winnie Bay Gogh

My Swedish comrade, Björn Hansson of De Anhöriga, et al, hits me up out the blue every once in a while to lay some aural sweetness on me. Check out these live tunes (you heard them here first), including a Clash cover, from the early 80's... De Anhöriga - Career Opportunities De Anhöriga - Tyskland Found a streaming SPK live show out there and am compelled to share. There's other SPK treats to be enjoyed here at MR if you're so inclined. Have been picking up their pre-87 gems whenever I can find them, but I'm a cheapskate so 2nd presses are all I can afford. This is a pretty good set, before they started to make a (unfortunate) change in direction... //www.mixcloud.com/widget/iframe/?feed=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mixcloud.com%2Fhenry-bogarde%2Fspk-live-performance-in-markthalle-hamburg-germany-11-september-1983%2F&embed_type=widget_standard&embed_uuid=8fea7ab6-0731-4dc8-a13d-d6e38d9f7848&hide_tracklist=1&hide_cover=1

SPK - Live performance in Markthalle, Hamburg (Germany) 11 September 1983 by Xxxxxxxxxxx on Mixcloud

...and now to the original point for this post, the meat and potatoes you might say. Following proudly in the footsteps of his distant ancestors like SPK and Dissecting Table, Karjalan Sissit carves his initials deep in the skin of Industrial music. As the contributor at Wikipedia put it, "He combines neoclassical orchestral arrangements with elements of noise, power electronics and dark ambient. Common themes on his records are alcoholism, mental health problems and domestic violence", and he hits you in the head with a fucking brick. There's not a whole lot written about the collaboration that I can find...are they Finnish living in Sweden or vice versa. As far as I can tell they are Peter Bjärgö-Programming, Markus Mikael Pesonen-Vocals, and D.F. Bragman-Bass. According to Discogs they started out sometime around 2001, have several releases and the tunes I have below are from their latest, circa 2013. The one time monumental blog, Industrial Skads, describes them as, "Truly the hardest-hitting Martial Industrial outfit ever. Truly Martial... Truly Industrial..." I think I'll leave it at that and let the music/compositions do the talking. They're fairly well represented with a Myspace (there's a shit ton of tunes there if you look), a Facebook, and a Soundcloud. There's a very early interview at another dead site, Maelstrom Zine and just in case that disappears altogether, you can also read it HERE. No downloads this time, just listening, you should go out and buy this 7" it's a hell of a listen (as you will see...or not). The second tune is the hit in my book...

"Viinaa Pittaa Juua"

"Fuck Work"

"Loppuun Nussittu Avioliitto"

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3h-96yXclwU&w=790&h=444]

Street Sects - The Morning After The Night We Raped Death 7"

I too have been one of those wet brain drunks making a fool of myself at the beach, and I guess really everyplace I went. Hysterical in a sadist kind of way, yet tragic at the same time. Bad Brains - How Low Can A Punk Get

It's a mean world we live in, we're reminded of that constantly. Maybe it's always been that way, dog eat dog.  My own state tried to pass legislation (overwhelmingly passed in the house, but the senate refused to vote on it) against the LGBT population, basically saying it was okay for anyone to refuse them service, including emergency services. All this was under the banner of religious freedom. A bunch of Pharisees running around these days, just as bad as the bomb makers. Everybody worrying about what everybody else is doing.  No happiness, nothing but misery, spreading like a plague.  It makes me want to further isolate myself, as isolated as I am, it would take getting rid of the TV and the computer, and only speaking to people as needed.  I don't even want to share the planet with some people, but that's the kind of attitude that "they" have.  Reason #268 in favor of the extinction of mankind.

Pretty shocking album title and cover, almost too much for me...almost.  But I have an idea of where these guys are coming from and some of it is that they are part of a long line of industrial bands who have a tendency to shock and confront.  The word itself, "rape", is the epitome of ugly without even having to put it in context.  There is a metaphorical meaning though that I think the band is after, and the average person can get that.  I could be wrong, but to me the title means reflecting on how in our own dehumanized state, we have dehumanized death or evil.  That's what it means to me anyway, could be horribly wrong, but what I do know is, that rape is what Street Sects do to your ears. When Leo of the band hit me up, basically all he had to say was, "Street Sects is a new sample/noise/hardcore based duo from Austin, Texas." After a virtual spin, I hit him back, "Fuckin eh, you two really know how to tear shit up, I enjoyed it in the same way a masochist enjoys pain. Good music has been coming out of Austin for as long as I can remember and you guys are proof that the shit is still thriving there." I've listened to these three songs quite a few times now and I would categorize them in the broadest sense as Industrial, but there's this hardcore grind thing going on a la Old Lady Drivers ("Rape Carve Smoke"), especially the screeching vocals and the blistering high speed electronic drumming.  They kind of fall into the category you might find Ministry or Nine Inch Nails in, but this is way deep down underground, it stays away from watered down commercialism that those bands later resembled.  The song structures are cool with these all out attacks taking you to the limit, broken up by thoughtful dirgy parts that give you a minute to take a deep breath.  The compositions have a structure that you can follow, maybe even dance to, sort of an organized chaos, that differs from other bands that label themselves "noise"...where you get just that, noise.  These are much more interesting than that, there's almost a groove.  Leo was a stud and sent me a physical copy for review, and just a heads up, the digital download includes an extra tune.  This DIY masterpiece is worth getting if for nothing else the write up on the insert.  It starts out, "our desire to live?  it was greater that of the street roach perched upon her clit..."  This is extreme music from extremely demented minds, I wouldn't let these guys date my sister...hahaha.  Actually I can relate to Leo at least and have some things in common with him, overcoming the bottle and dope, for one, I wish I could hang with him and pick his brain.  Along with the 7", I got sort of a bio type page... ...this is well worth reading as you get this kind of deep really well written philosophical view on life, along with a back round on the group. I can feel it when he writes, "The moment you lose respect for death is the moment you begin to take your life for granted. We refuse to take out lives for granted." The 7" itself is part of a much bigger project that will eventually be a five 7" box set, which at this point, I fucking know I will be buying. For now, check this duo out at their Facebook and their Bandcamp. My favorite song of the three... "Fate On Her Knees" [audio mp3="http://mustard-relics.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/2.Street-Sects-Fate-On-Her-Knees.mp3"][/audio] May as well give the rest of the tunes a listen too... http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1002582867/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/