Wrangler Brutes - Zulu (Kill Rock Stars, 2004)...

Boasting members from Born Against, Nazti Skins, and Men’s Recovery Project, Wrangler Brutes wax nostalgic for the west coast thrash/punk of Suicidal Tendencies and The Vandals, all while incorporating some common influences – Aggression and Hell Awaits era Slayer - with some uncommon ones – most notably the angular guitar style of the Magic Band’s Zoot Horn Rollo.
West Coast thrash is a genre defined by its breakneck drumming, throat punishing vocals, and sprinting guitar lines. Wrangler Brutes behave accordingly, adding bits of humor here and there with vocal cameos from ex-Circle Jerk Keith Morris, and Circus Lupus howler Chris Thomson. These moments do little to empower the music, distracting instead from the inventive guitar work - Stewart Voegtlin

HERE

Men's Recovery Project - Frank Talk About Humans (Vinyl Communications, 1994)...

Sam McPheeters' Men's Recovery Project rose like a phantom out of the ashes of the legendary Born Against. Since their inception they have released over ten recordings on a number of different labels including Vermiform and Kill Rock Stars. The Project is epic in scope, tackling issues from Reaganite foreign policy to Naked Sailors; from an album dedicated entirely to the socio-economic realities in the Middle East to an unfathomably diverse 60 track CD; from songs less than ten seconds long, to entire short stories spoken aloud. It would be useless to try and even categorize the band beyond calling it "strange." Comical yet responsible, horrifying yet compelling, McPheeters' altered state of mind is apparent enough...

HERE

OM Live at Jerusalem (Southern Lord, 2008)...

OM went off to Israel and played for 4 hours and this is the result... two tracks that sound like they were recorded on a mobile phone. Last OM release with Chris Haikus on drums.

HERE

Les Rallizes Denudes - Blind Baby Has Its Mothers Eyes (Japanese Rock, 2002)...

Blind Baby Has Its Mothers Eyes is a huge linear album of massive slabs of intoxicating sound, which fly around the room and clog up your ears and hassle your pets as they go about their everyday business. The bass lines are as monolithic as the Rallizes have ever got, and certain places see them drop away in a non-reggae dubby-style that leaves the top end teetering like a tiny boat waiting to be swallowed by a whirlpool. In places, the lead guitar seems even more extravagantly committed to total oblivion than ever, but here Mizutani seems to have intentionally ditched the between rhythms, normally played by hi-hats and chugging guitars, in a desire to bring a post-apocalyptical Waiting For Godot-type featurelessness to his muse. It is a tremendous album - Julian Cope, Head Heritage

HERE

Los Dug Dugs - Smog (1972)...

Fuzzier, harder and heavier than on their self-titled debut, Los Dug Dug's hit their stride with this heavy psych monster. There's more than a touch of MC5 like energy here, but the pop hooks that made their first record sound so dated have largely been replaced. Lots of flute too, which brings an early Jethro Tull vibe into the mix as well. There's a couple of bummer mellow cuts, but on balance this is exactly how heavy/hard rock recorded in '72 should sound like. Get on the Dug tip and check 'em out. Really, a lost gem of the fuzzy, fuzzy early seventies.

HERE

Dagda Mor - The Border Of Light (Functional Organization, 1998)...

Cold Power Electronics from Germany.

HERE

Total - Sky Blue Void (Freek Records, 1994)...

Total was the side project of Skullflower guitarist Matthew Bower, and actually predates his more well-known band (Total sprang into existence in 1982). It was originally the group that evolved out of Pure, with much of the early Skullflower's same lineup; some of them, particularly Alex Binnie and Stefan Jaworzyn, played in Zos Kia as well. Somewhere between 1985-1987 (depending on whose memory you trust best), Total mutated into Skullflower, and Total subsequently became Matthew Bower's solo project. At that point it served as a more "ambient" counterpart to Skullflower's wall-of-noise approach; in recent years, however, the dynamic reversed itself until Total's releases were often considerably noisier and more chaotic than Skullflower's.

HERE

Melvins - Joe Preston E.P. (Boner, 1992)...

Joe Preston (born 1969) is a rock bass guitarist and a former band member of Earth, The Melvins, Men's Recovery Project, The Need and High on Fire. Preston has also played with Sunn O))), and has a solo project called Thrones. Joe Preston learned bass from Alexander Giles. He is currently touring with Harvey Milk. Its rumoured Preston is the only person playing on this recording, apparently the other two members were a hoax?

HERE

Born Against - The Rebel Sound Of Shit And Failure (Kill Rock Stars, 2002)...

A posthumous collection of 24 live, rare, compilation, 7" and 8" tracks. The wit and bile of this nutty New Jersey hardcore band is appropriate for teen hobos and tenured academics alike.

SAM MCPHEETERS TALKING ABOUT THIS RELEASE

HERE

Sam McPheeters' Photostream...

HERE

SAMS BLOG

Darkthrone - Frostland Tapes, 3xcd (Peaceville, 2008)...

The earliest years of the band and the first official release ever to contain all 4 of Darkthrone’s demos in one place. Frostland Tapes also includes a rare live recording from Denmark in 1990 (one of only a handful of live appearances that Darkthrone has ever made) and perhaps most significantly, the previously unreleased version of the infamous 1991 Goatlord rehearsal session. These songs were intended to feature on the proposed second album, before the band changed direction and the tapes were confined to the vaults. Vocals were subsequently added in the mid-nineties, but they are presented here as the recording sounded in 1991.
Personally im stoked on the remastering of the 'Land Of Frost' demo (the first 5 tracks) from 1988 which i think was recorded in 87 when they still called themselves Black Death. On previous copies up to now the sound quality has been so low its really not worth listening to and although some say its not true Norweigian BM i don't give a shit, like Vikernes rubbishing his first Burzum album saying the same thing, fuck knows... sounds great to me.

HERE (DISC 1 & 2)

HERE (DISC 3)

INFO ON THE BAND

Dobri Isak - Mi Placemo Iza Tamnih Naocara (SKC NIS, 1984)...

Yugoslavian Joy Division

HERE

This Heat - Deceit (Rough Trade, 1981; This Is, 2006)...

INFO

HERE

Skullflower - Desire For A Holy War (Utech, 2008)...

First in a new series from the Utech label, a curated collection of releases, each featuring original artwork from artist Stephen Kasner, a hand picked roster that seriously SCREAMS aQ: Aluk Todolo, Final, Skullfower and more!
First up is Skullfower, a brand new disc, which finds Matthew Bower embracing mayhem and chaos. He may have flirted with riffage and space rock for a brief spell, but he is back to creating huge caustic guitarscapes, with Skullfower seemingly a much harsher, noisier, more aggressive take on his Sunroof! project. Where Sunroof! traffics in blissed out ragas and soaring high end ur-drone, Skullfower is creating dense worlds of sound. Psychedelic, textured, layered, but blown out and ultra distorted, it's almost like a guitar orchestra, Bower conducting a symphony of Keiji Haino's, but he's doing this all himself (for the most part) - Aquarius Records

HERE

John Fahey - Yes! Jesus Loves Me (Takoma, 1980)...

Although not necessarily the sort of figure you'd have down as a conventional Christian, John Fahey in fact recorded his debut album Blind Joe Death on consecrated ground, at a church in his native Takoma Park, Maryland. Some twenty-one years later (in 1980) Fahey took on a full album of Christian music and 'guitar hymns', although the cover-mounted sleeve imagery suggests Fahey's grip on the religion was somewhat askew: check out the stags and scythe-bearing skeletons at the foot of the crucifix. Fahey's interpretation of the music collected on this album is often similarly irreverent, reshaping the hymns and traditionals into ragtime or bluegrass formats. Illustrative of this is the flamboyant swing given to the collection's opening song: 'Yes! Jesus Loves Me', from which the collection derives its title. On this album Fahey doesn't just arbitrarily corrupt sacred songs with 'the Devil's music'. Although the reverberating string bends of 'Oh Come, Oh Come Emmanuel' deliver a bluesy twang, other pieces, such as 'Holy, Holy, Holy' are beautifully plucked, sounding extremely comfortable in their straight-laced devotional format. Another magnificent entry in the Fahey catalogue, and one worth getting evangelical over - Boomkat

HERE

VON - Satanic Blood Angel (NWNP, 2003)...

Not only did VON never release an actual album, but they were spurned by the scene at the time for playing sloppy fucked up, super simple and repetitive metal, unlike the technical thrash that was popular at the time. Von took their sound from Hellhammer, Bathory and Venom, playing very simple trance-like riffs, over and over, with barked, super-affected gutteral vocals, and very little melody. Simple and raw and way more Satanic than most bands of the time. This droning grimness would become the blueprint for modern primitve black metal, but at the time, Von were pretty much it. Certainly around these parts(S.F. Bay Area). This disc collects everything, the Satanic Blood demo, the Satanic Angel demo, and a live show at the Stone in San Francisco from 1991. - AQ

HERE

SPAZZ - Sweatin To The Oldies (Slap A Ham, 1997)...

Why not?..

A collection of all the out of print stuff from 93 till 96.

HERE

Harvey Milk - Life...The Best Game In Town (Hydra Head,2008)...

Harvey Milk are celebrating their own renaissance by lauding the virtues of Life…The Best Game In Town. Spearheaded by the alternately burly and angelic vocal stylings of Milk mastermind Creston Spiers, Life… is both tumultuous and grueling, resonating with the glorious slow-motion radiance of Total Dirge Power. In layman’s terms: Yet another classic. Oh, and did we mention that they’ve since been joined by Thrones legend Joe Preston? Well, they totally have - Hydra Head

HERE

Flipper - Sex Bomb Baby! (Infinite Zero, 1995 Re-issue)...

In its prime, San Francisco's Flipper was a magnificent, fascinating entity, playing what might have been typical hardcore music at an unsettlingly slow speed: like a 45 slowed down to sub-LP pace, a flawless impression of a downed-out hardcore band. The harsh music lumbers and creaks, oozing feedback all the way. Sex Bomb Baby! compiles all of Flipper's singles (six sides) and tracks from sampler albums, going as far back as the group's 1979 recorded debut on Subterranean's first release, the SF Underground collection. (This cover is from the first pressing of the l.p. which were individual hand-drawn)

INFO

HERE

GETO BOYS...

Grip It! On That Other Level (Rap-A-Lot,1989)



The Geto Boys (Rap-A-Lot,1990)

INFO

HERE

fIREHOSE - fROM OHIO (SST, 1989)...

fIREHOSE was formed in 1986 after the death of D. Boon brought an end to Minutemen. Watt and Hurley teamed up with the then 22-year-old Crawford, a guitarist and Minutemen fanatic. Crawford was from Ohio, and started the band when he found Watt's phone number in the phone book and called him, saying he wanted to play with Mike and George in California.
In the spring of 1986, Crawford traveled to San Pedro and the band went on from there. The name of the band was taken from a line in a Bob Dylan song, "Subterranean Homesick Blues" : "...Better stay away from those that carry around a fire-hose...".

HERE

v/a Last Kind Words 1926-1953 (Mississippi Records, 2008)...

Mississippi Records compilation of super rare Blues and Gospel 78’s. Tracks by Geechie Wiley,Kid Prince Moore, Robert Petway, Sister O.M Terrell, Lottie Kimbrough, Louis McDaniels, Lulu Jackson, Robert Wilkins, The Anglin Brothers, Blind Willie & Kate McTell, Cannons’ Jug Stompers, Isiah Nettles, and Edward Clayborn.

HERE

Washington Phillips - The Key To The Kingdom (Yazoo, 2005)...

Washington Phillips is one of the most intriguing and delightful figures in American music history. His style is completely unique, both in his warm, plaintive singing and his use of zither(?) for accompaniment. His treatments of early religious material is poignant and expressive and his zither playing backup is absolutely captivating. His complete output of 16 selections is presented here with brand new remastering that heightens all the irresistible characteristics of his performances. Included also are 4 bonus tracks of similarly touching early religious music by Mamie and A.C. Forehand -Yazoo Records

HERE

INFO

ZITHER OR DOLCEOLA?

Avarus - III (HP Cycle, 2003)...

Avarus are a band from Tampere, Finland. They were formed in 2001 by members of The Anaksimandros and Pylon and soon absorbed members of other Finnish bands such as Kiila, Munuaissymposium 1960, Kemialliset Ystävät. Avarus' floating line-up varies between 10 and 20 members. They are considered a key element in the Finnish psych-folk/free-folk scene which emerged in the early 2000s.
Avarus III starts off with a lo-fi, rambling, ramshackle blues jam that mutates into wildly propulsive psych-folk with intensely strummed guitars and far-away flute melodies. And from there on out, Avarus dip their toes into whatever variant of their unique 'sound' that strikes their fancy. From atonal Jandek-ian campfire hippy hoedowns, to wild jams with spastic hand drums and sing-songy melodies plucked out on beat up, out of tune guitars, to wild clattery bursts of percussion splattered haphazardly over a Skullflower-ish skree, to stripped down, jangly hyperactive psychedelic rock to loose ambient soundscapes of whir and buzz and twang, with slithery, sitar-like guitars - AQ

HERE

MAN IS THE BASTARD LIVE AT 924 GILMAN ST, 1997...