T Tauri existed between 1993 and 1999 in two cities, starting out in Colorado and then moving  to L.A.  ‘Infinite Motion’  was recorded before the band split and remained unmixed until 2004.  I was watching the film Moon the other day and this would be an ideal soundtrack for losing your shit in deep space. Imagine Unwound in their bleaker moments mixed with a fuzzed out Godheadsilo dirge and that will put you in mind for some T Tauri. The arrangements are often very dense with two basses being utilised and pained yelping over the top. If you like this then please support and buy this CD for only $3  HERE

 I have been meaning to post some CARS GET CRUSHED for months but this blog runs more like creating a mix CD (or tape, if you wish to travel back in time). In this sense it may take a while until something ‘fits’, I like following a thread. ‘Blue and West’ was the 2nd album by the band, ‘Drag Explosive’ being their first which I finally got my hands on the other week (It will appear here at some point). ’Blue and West’ was apparently to be released on Gravity but then Goldenrod picked up and put it out in 1996. Unwound often crops up in descriptions of CGC but I think that’s because they share similar dynamics and more of a melancholic delivery. They also have a bit of a ’spacey’ element akin to a mellower Clikitat Ikatowi… I dunno, it’s hard to place but very West coast sounding like those Wrenched records bands. It’s a good album and highly recommended to fans of this style:

Ok, updated layout here since this place is now up to 20,000 hits. I figured that was some kind of benchmark and a small change makes the place look a little tidier. Most of the traffic happened in the past year and I’m glad people of the internet can use this as a resource. My intention is simple in that I plan on bringing to light stuff that isn’t already out there on every other swingin’ dick’s page. Seems like Mediafire have been dusting as loads of upload links are now DEAD. I can’t replace everything (at least not quickly) so please leave a comment if you want a specific re-up of anything??? If you don’t ask, then you won’t get it… simple as that. Thank You

OBITS played here earlier this week, it was a excellent set of some great songs. Their playing is solid as fuck. I took my digi-recorder and captured the set, unfortunately there were a few problems with the recording of the main set so… I have decided to post their 4 song encore where they debuted 2 brand new tracks. Sound quality isn’t that great but it’s good enough if you want to check the new shit! Photo by JJ Block. Click image for DL:

 In simple terms this album sounds like a perfect genetic hybrid between Killdozer and Tad with Steve Austin as producer (or mad professor). This sounds either like an awesome noise rock prospect to you or it doesn’t. It’s not bad stuff at all, and reading this from the skatepunk site helped me realise why it came out on Goldenrod:

“More gnarled heaviness from Deerheart—this is their debut full length. Ten “songs” that fit together nicely as an album. Each song centers around precision drumming, which together with a set of great sounding guitar noises creates a background for growly vocals. Fans of Big Black, 16, and other heavy, angry punk will love this. The band is from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and the music fits in well with that industrial background. Sterling, the singer and guitar player, is a great skater who rode for Planet Earth for a few years before turning his attention to music.”

  EDIT: I’d forgotten how much Steve Austin changed band lineups. The Mastodon guys were on ‘In the Eyes of God’ not this one. Unless you are a hardcore fan it’s doubtful you can really tell the two apart… although ‘In the Eyes’ is fair bit faster/tech metal orientated. If I have one regret it was not getting down to London in 1998 to see the TITD, VoiVod, Neurosis billing. I can only begin to imagine how good that would have been. Anyhow, this 7″ was released on Hydra head in 1997 and features an alternate version of  ’The Man who loved to hurt himself’ backed with a sound collage B-side ‘Satan is alive and well’. The A-side is in my opinion a much better version than would appear on ‘Temple of the Morning Star’, there’s less layering & production and the song is played a bit more violently (I’m guessing it’s a demo version). Well that’s just my opinion, see what you think:

  So, it is my birthday tomorrow and that got me thinking about when I was younger & how this was always an opportunity for a record haul. Pretty much 80% of any money I had during my teenage years was blown on records. I still spend a good portion of my cash on music but the internet allowed focus on the things I was really set on. Making a dud purchase in my early days was quite distressing, it always meant a trade in for far less than you’d paid for it a week earlier. I can’t say much other than it taught me a good few lessons in times when buying into the unknown was a risk that could be handsomely rewarded. How times have changed, but that’s just life… who could know that people would end up experiencing music completely via Ipods?

 On to COP SHOOT COP;  ’Suck City’ was a purchase made on my 13th birthday in 1992, I remember the day distinctly because I also bought ‘Songs About Fucking’… ahh fond memories. I’m pretty certain I’d bought ‘Consumer Revolt’ prior to this (an ‘unknown’ purchase) simply because they had two bass players and a good name. They defined what ‘industrial’ was to me at the time along with Godflesh and early Therapy? it was a much harsher avenue than RevCo, NIN, or Sheep on Drugs (hah!). But that was a long time ago, this EP still hold s up and defininitely portrays the abrasive sound of New York back then.. Unsane, Barkmarket, Helmet. They employed the ‘banging on metal shit’ sound which Skeleton Key used later on. There is more info of that period of C$C on this blog page. This was just a short bout of nostalgia which I’m not normally prone to.

 I was just about to post the first two DRUNK TANK 7″s when SGM put the excellent  ‘Radial’ CD up which has those tracks as a bonus. There’s not much information about on this band other than they moved from Chicago to New Jersey? and that most people have heard of them from the godhead Mesomorph Enduros comp. Drunk Tank were Julian Mills (vocals, bass); Alex Barker (guitar); Steven Cerio (drums) and this, their final EP, was released in 1995. The three tracks here still have the splintering bass & general aggro sound with maybe more of a ‘jazzy’ quality… that’s Dazzling Killmen jazz though.

 It must be said I do find myself getting a bit miffed these days when people start shooting off about the great noise rock of the 90’s and fail to mention Season to Risk (S2R). For my money their output was as important and valid as any of the bigger AmRep, Dischord or Touch & Go bands yet they go totally overlooked even with their stint on a major label over the first half of the 90’s. Maybe we put this injustice down to bad timing because this band are if nothing else vastly capable of delivering a unique variant of this sound. They avoided being a clone like many bands signed to majors as part of the Grunge explosion. From their inception S2R had a strong identity and were flagbearers for the ‘Kansas City sound’. Trademarks of this being the complex, yet very forceful drumwork, pummeling low end, abstract poetic lyrics, and guitar lines wavering from dissonance to melody…  S2R were definitely pioneers of a harsher, rhythmically skewed brand of ‘math rock’. Below is some footage I found from 1997 of the band flipping their tour van, I’m guessing that this and more will be on the planned  S2R DVD.

 My personal S2R highlight would be the ‘Men are monkeys, Robots win’ CD, an album that I considered quite hard to fathom when I first heard it. I really liked their first album but about a year ago this third record became my life’s soundtrack for about a month. In that time I let the abrasive layers of confusion, paranoia, nihilism, loathing etc. wash over me. I tapped in and felt greatly rewarded after these multiple listens. It’s coming from such an obscure place that I cannot understand where. S2R have the rare quality of a group mind, there is a singular vision and that is the result of the sum, never the parts.

 The below download is a compiliation I’d collected of all their B-sides, split 7″s & comp tracks. I’m pretty certain everything is included. The collection starts with ‘Oil’ a 7″ B-side from 1992. ‘The End All’  from the Kansas City Misery compilation. ‘Undone’ was the track they played in the Strange Days movie & featured as a very limited split 7″ with Glazed Baby. ‘Beestings and Poison Eggs’ from the split 7″ with Starkweather. This is probably my favourite S2R track & I think it is a perfect representation of the band. They effortlessly contrast the harsh & rhythmic with flow & melody. ‘This Town’ was from a Go-go’s tribute compilation. ‘Ace of Space’ appeared on the split 7″ with Molly McGuire. It sounds like a demo version for ‘The Shattering’ album, it’s a bit slower and not as well rounded but still great. ‘Melt’ is from the Die Kreuzen tribute album and ‘Cotton Bolls’ from the Killdozer tribute album. If you like this stuff then you can buy the first three albums cheaply HERE, or for further information consult the band’s DISCOGRAPHY. I cannot recommend Season to Risk highly enough.

 Expanding upon the SST sound, LEFT INSANE released their only full length ‘Toolbox’ in 1990 on Nemesis records. Produced by Bill Stevenson & Stephen Egerton this band have all the necessary hallmarks to have released records on SST… or at least Cruz. It’s a wonder why Ginn released such turgid solo or Gone recordings when Left Insane do a way better job with far more flair and insight. Here is the recipe for this bands sound: Take the jazzier ‘Weeding Out’ era Black Flag, add some of Blind Idiot God’s avant metal, a touch of Saccharine Trust’s agitation and some Decendents hooks as to keep things focussed. It all sounds heartily appealing to me and maybe you will feel the same… if so don’t pass up, you won’t be disappointed: 

 Now, I think before I begin here I need to apply some personal context… It must’ve been around 1991 when R.a.D magazine had an advert for a subscription to Strange Notes, the offer included a bunch of promotional material for Santa Cruz skateboards etc. like vids, magazines, stickers, t shirts etc. I remember it was a reasonable and affordable price like £20 or something. Videos alone at that time cost upwards of £25 and that was the main source of musical knowledge for enthusiastic youngsters such as myself. Anyhow, on the Strange Notes #3 video soundtrack was a good portion of side two of Plaid Retina’s ‘Pink Eye’ album. With something of a captive audience it was hard to ignore something so underground and in line with our subculture.

 I was considering recently how I ended up with such a taste for the oddball bands & it can most likely be linked back to buying ‘Mind tracing the going down’ (2nd LP) not long after seeing Strange Notes #3. This was the only record that the local independent could order in… it was ‘Pink Eye’ that I was (unknowingly) after but didn’t end up getting that until seeing it at a record fair years later. I recall being massively stoked when I heard those tracks on vinyl (still am). Anyhow,  ’Mind tracing…’ was and still is a very bizarre record… it’s hard to pin down accurately but Plaid Retina are lost somewhere between NoMeansNo, Minutemen, King Crimson, VoiVod, Breadwinner, 1.6 Band & Victims Family only weirder. Eventually I have now digitized all my Plaid Retina singles, something I have always wished to do. The comp tracks I downloaded from David Hayes’ excellent blog but everything else is ripped from their four 7″s. There is a text note in with the zip detailing everything.

The first 7″ was released on Lookout! records in 1988 but was recorded in 86/87, It’s relatively straight ahead D.R.I. style thrashing hardcore with snotty vocals reminiscent of Attitude Adjustment. You can tell even in their formative stages they have the musicianship which allowed them to grow beyond just an imitation. 

The Boxcar 7″ features 4 cover versions on side A (DYS, Misfits, Minutemen, Capitol Punishment) and 4 original tracks on side B. This was released on Musical tragedies in 1990 although I believe the music is from 1988. All these records are discussed in further detail here.

The ‘Rejection’ 7″ shows a definite change in style towards the quirkier more dissonant sound Plaid Retina went on to  master. It straddles the gap between ‘Pink Eye’ and ‘Mind tracing…’ but is not as good as either in my opinion. It’s maybe their most obscure 7″ with 500 pressed in 1990 on Duck Butter records.

‘The Wringer’ 7″ is probably the best representation of the bands sound, every track here is an exercise in precise, rhythm driven prog hardcore. What is especially notable is the level of musicianship each player has reached. The bass playing skips between complex arpeggiated lines and full chords all played fingerstyle. The drumming is especially impressive, proggy time signature shifts played with the force and dexterity of hardcore. The guitar lines almost always juxtapose the bass with discordant trebly tritone chords. The three tracks here were from the unreleased ‘Dead End Mind’ album which I’d highly recommend hearing because it is a high point in both songwriting and production.

‘What I Can’t Have’ EP continues in the ‘prog-core’ vein opening with tight instumental ‘Quite’ which is pure homage to late 80’s VoiVod. The rest of the EP is a bit more abstract and not as direct as previous work but still interesting. It’s a shame the band did not carry on and explore these ideas over further albums.

 Today it seems there’s just no way you could happen upon this band, they have remained in relative obscurity since breaking up in 1996. It’s fair to say they didn’t have a great deal of impact while a functioning band either, although the youtube footage below shows how exceptional their performances were in the early 90’s. Since Plaid Retina’s demise members have featured in other bands: Don (Drummer) plays in Crabnog while Matt (Guitarist) fronts Future Imperfect. I think in many ways Plaid Retina were a precursor to bands such as Dysrhythmia or Keelhaul, or maybe the wacked out Orthrelm/Behold… the Arctopus sound. It’s doubtful they actually influenced these groups directly but it’s safe to say Plaid Retina were a good 10 years ahead of the curve and that’s as a good an epitaph as any for this band. Click for DL: