Exit Clov, Pash and Against Me! in Photos @ Recher Theater

Wow, I have really neglected this thing for a while! Saw Against Me! at the Recher Theater in Towson, Maryland last night. Opening were Exit Clov and Pash. I caught Pash opening for Jukebox The Ghost at the Black Cat a few weeks back, but I had not yet seen Exit Clov. Here's some photos my girlfriend took at the show. Click here for a slideshow.


Exit Clov



Pash



Against Me!

The Goons

I promised I'd post something by The Goons a long time ago but I've just not really ever gotten around to it. The Goons were a punk band from the DC area. Me and a buddy of mine interviewed them once in their van outside of the Metro Cafe in DC (actually I took the photo above that night). They were really cool guys, especially the singer Serge. Very good live show too! There's really not much info to find on them online anymore as their web page is kinda non functioning anymore. They put out a few full lengths, a live album recorded at the Black Cat and a couple of 7" singles, most of which are out of print. The hardest to find of the 7 inches is their first (and best in my opinion) which was released on Torque Records. Torque Records also released records by The Suspects, Lickity Split, Positive State, and Shoutbus. I remember one time they opened for the Offspring at The Black Cat and someone spray painted "The Goons" all over Offspring's tour bus. I don't think Offspring were amused. Needless to say, I didn't stay to see Offspring, they pretty much suck in my opinion. The Goons on the other hand, did not suck.

2 songs from the "Bad Excuse" 7" on Torque Records (out of print):
A1 - Sweet Sow
B2 - Taking Back Your World
2 Songs from their first album "Living In America", purchase here:
01 - Breakdown
02 - Everyday
1 song from their split 7" with The Boils (out of print, I think!?)
A3 - End Of The World

The National in photos

My girlfriend also shot these photos of The National, who were pretty incredible. Also at the 9:30 Club in D.C., the following night of the Editors show. Thanks for the photos sweetie!

Editors in photos

My girlfriend shot these photos of Editors the other night from the balcony at the 9:30 Club in DC. This was the first night of their U.S. tour. Ra Ra Riot and Biffy Clyro supported.

Sorry

Well, I'm really sorry for not posting anything in a while. I've actually been kinda busy and pre-occupied lately. I've seen a few shows recently. Saw the Cribs and White Rabbits at the Black Cat in DC. Kinda a bizarre show as the Black Cat was packed with teenagers, females in sun dresses and flip flops and frat boy types. Admittedly, i haven't been to any shows at the Black Cat in a while, but it was just kinda weird to see a crowd like that there. I felt that the White Rabbits were the highlight of the evening. The Cribs were a little bit of a disappointment. Saw Editors this week who were ok for what they do, but Ra Ra Riot, who opened was much better. Biffy Clyro also played with Editors but I felt they were a little out of place on the bill. I bought Ra Ra Riot's CD and 7". Last night I saw The National at 9:30 Club. It was a really good show and I'm glad I caught it. I guess now is kinda their time and it really shows in their performance. It's a shame I can't see them tonight but I have to work overnight tonight. I'll write more later about this show and maybe put up some photos my girlfriend took at the show.

Date With IKEA

Pavement is not one of my favorite bands. That being said, this is a good song and it made me think of someone tonight.

From Brighten The Corners 4 - Pavement - Date With IKEA

Purchase the album here

Mogwai - 2 Rights Make 1 Wrong

Hovercraft

Continuing a string of noisy posts, the band Hovercraft. Hovercraft is bedtime music for me. Strange possibly because at times they can be completely brutal, but their music goes back and forth between noisy/quiet. Not too far off from another favorite of mine, Mogwai, but at the same time nothing like Mogwai. I've heard Mogwai referred to as space rock before but that moniker would be more fitting for Hovercraft, at least to me. I guess I found out about Hovercraft because of the connection to Pearl Jam and Eddie Vedder originally. I bought both full lengths on vinyl but I don't own either anymore. I used to put it on and just space out going to sleep, before the first side was finished, I was gone usually. In a way it puts me in a sort of trance. It still amazes me the amount of different noises one can get from a guitar. Before Hovercraft the noisiest thing I was into was Sonic Youth, so really this was just more of an extension for me. I never did see them play, oh how great it would be if they'd reform. I haven't seen any live video footage of them anywhere either. Their shows apparently were pretty incredible as they utilized video projectors and played before loops of old stock footage. They would play as silhouettes against a backdrop of video as fitting as the racket they were creating.

Hovercraft discography

Albums
Akathisia - CD/2xLP (Blast First/ Mute, 1997)
Experiment Below - CD/LP (Blast First/ Mute, 1998)

EPs, Singles
"Zero Zero Zero One" - 7" (Repellent, 1995) (recorded 1994)
Hovercraft (a.k.a. Stereo Specific Polymerization) - 10" (Repellent, 1996)
Scanner Remixes - CD EP/ 12" EP (Blast First/Mute, 1997)

Various-artist appearances
"Shutdown Reprise" on A Small Circle of Friends (Germs tribute album) (Grass, 1996)
"Angular Momentum" and Scanner's "De-Orbit Burn Remix" on Newman Passage (Mute, 1997)
"Hymn" (feat. spoken word by Eddie Vedder) on Kerouac - Kicks, Joy, Darkness (Rykodisc, 1997)
"Haloparidol" (short version) on Chicago Cab (a.k.a. Hellcab) soundtrack (Loosegroove [U.S]/ Play It Again Sam [U.K.], 1998)
"Anthropod" on In Transit (split tour CD EP w/ Add N To (X) and Appliance) (Blast First/ Mute, ca. 1999)

Video
"0001" - VHS video single (Repellent, 1995)

The first single set the tone for everything to follow but didn't hint at the brutality of latter releases. The A-side, Zero Zero Zero One, starts off with a simple bassline, one note, repeated over and over with a rolling drum. The guitar kicks in and simple otherworldly plucks de-evolve into a tangle of noise, until it backs off, back to just bass with wiry guitar parts. Slowly the drums come back in and then it sounds as if something was dropped into an air shaft and you hear it tumbling back and forth as gravity propels it downward. The bass builds again and the guitar begins to cycle into a rythmic "tick tock", before trickling out to nothing.

Here's the A-side: A1 - Zero Zero Zero One

The first full length Akathisia went even further, delving into more noise, screeches and sputters veer off into uncharted territory as they float through space. Even the closing track is named De-Orbit Burn, suggesting re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere, but if this is their re-entry, it's not one without turbulence and violent jolts and shudders. Noise so jarring you feel your teeth vibrating in their sockets as if ready to be ejected from your mouth as you careen toward Earth.

Two tracks from Akathisia:
3 - Haloparidol
5 - De-Orbit Burn

The bands final full length, said to be somewhat of a swan song for them was Experiment Below, a fitting name for the sounds contained within the recording. While this album had a song titled Phantom Limb, much like the Shins, the sound was as far from The Shins as you can get. Their sound had evolved and now backed by probably the hardest hitting drumming of all of their recordings, the noise was so thick that you feel like it will suffocate you. As you grasp for your last air, it subsides just long enough for you to regain your breath before commencing it's assault on you. It continues to pummel and restrain throughout the record. By the time the record is over you've just experienced so much noise you feel disoriented and have to regain your bearings. The slower parts relax you though and give you a false sense of security, that the storm is over but it never really quite leaves.

Two tracks from Experiment Below:
1 - Anthropod
3 - Transmitter Down (forward to about 5:38 in Transmitter Down for a full on aural assault)

More Hovercraft Resources
Hovercraft (An extensive Hovercraft fanpage)
Wikipedia
Discogs
Blast First
All Music Guide
Magnog (preceded Hovercraft)

If anyone has any video footage of this band or any other boots besides the OK Hotel boot on the fan page, please contact me, I'd love to work out a trade.

iLiKETRAiNS

When I started thinking about doing a blog, I really didn't think I could post on new stuff, because I always seem to find stuff after it has been out a while and people are already latching onto it. I'm not good at recognizing trends and so I figured I'd leave that to others who are better at it. So I consciously decided to only post older stuff that people maybe forgot about or hadn't heard in a while or maybe even had never heard before. There is a ton of good new music coming out lately though. I don't really remember how I stumbled across these guys, however there's just something about their dark sound I love so much and they are a terrific example of newer bands that aren't getting much representation yet, so I felt compelled to post about them. They are a 5 piece from Leeds, seemingly obsessed with morbidity and failures of mankind with a penchant for history and an absolute talent for storytelling. Each song based around a story of an actual historical individual whose fate is almost surely their untimely death. Much of the air around this band seems to revolve around death. Even their promotional photos were taken in front of a horse drawn carriage carrying a casket draped in the union jack. There they stand dressed to the nines in black, expressionless, top hats in hand. Their sound is so sad, it'll make you want to cry buckets. They've played tons of shows in the UK but only one show to date in the US at SXSW. With any luck, the release of their first proper full length "Elegies To Lessons Learnt" due out October 1st in the UK and October 9th in the US will bring a formal tour. To date they have released a slew of demos, limited pressing 7 inch singles and a mini album titled "Progress Reform" which collects several of the singles into one compact format. All of the singles have long since sold out and are out of print and are not too easy to come by, even second hand. Even their T-shirts are pressed in limited runs and sell out quickly. You can pick up two of their releases from Emusic here. They have posted one of three tracks from their upcoming single "The Deception" on their Myspace page.

Here are two tracks from Progress Reform (Fierce Panda/Beggars Banquet):
1 - Terra Nova
3 - A Rook House For Bobby

The B-Side of the Spencer Perceval CD Single" (Beggars Banquet):
B - I Am Murdered
The A-Side "Spencer Perceval" is told from the perpective of the murderer (John Bellingham) and the B-Side "I Am Murdered" is told from the perspective of Spencer Perceval, giving each a chance to tell their side of the story, of the fateful last moments of his life in 1812.

There is also a fansite dedicated to the band with a lot of good information which can be found here.

You can watch several of their videos on Youtube.

Beggars Banquet
Fierce Panda

Rebar

Rebar. No not the rebar used in concrete construction, the Greensboro, North Carolina band that existed from 1993 until, well, I'm really not sure. Two members of this band (Sanders Trippe and Brent Dunn) went on to play with Andy Cabic in Vetiver. Here is another band you really cannot find much information on these days. They were a 4, sometimes 5 piece. To me, their sound is kinda sludgy and muddy. I liken it to listening to music through water. It also sounds like when a tape reel is slowed down while it's playing. When I ripped their 7" split with The Raymond Brake, I did the Rebar side first. It didn't indicate whether it was 45 or 33. Well it took me two rips because I got about halfway through the first rip and then realized I was at the wrong speed. So then I ripped it at the other speed and I wasn't sure if it was just me, or if it sounded too slow. It was ok though, it is just the way the song is. To me, it still sounds too slow. It's kinda like the first time I heard Low's version of Transmission. It just oddly doesn't sound right. The track gets better at the end when it gets noisy. I usually don't post both sides of a record, to encourage people to seek it out, this thing is way out of print though and there's no telling if it will ever be reprinted... I'm guessing no, so at someone's earlier request, heres the Rebar track from the split:

B1 - Transparent



I did a little searching online and I found a few of their other tracks elsewhere. The MP3's are all the way on the right. One of the MP3's is titled Dos Math Girl, It's really just a different recorded version of Das Math Girl, which is found on the Cognitive Mapping Vol.2 comp. (see further below). Another track is simply tiled The Burn, but I believe it is actually called The Burn That Is On Me, just abbreviated as The Burn. If so, I believe this is one of the songs from the first 7" they put out. As far as I can tell, they only put out two 7 inches, both on Crunchy Record Stuff. It seems they had recorded an albums worth of material but I have not been able to find any information on whether those recordings were ever released. You can also find an MP3 for Das Math Girl from the Cognitive Mapping Vol. 2 comp. here, on the fine Tuba City blog. You can also check out a little bit of info on what's left of their website here. There's also this from another blog here. Anyone with more information on this band is encouraged to comment as information about them on the web is scant.

Sleepyhead, I stand corrected

Sorry for not posting anything in a while. I started a new job recently so I'm getting settled into it. Today's the 4th, so happy 4th. I'll try to post something this evening, if time allows. Anyway, the other day I opened my email to find this:

"Well, I'm Chris O'Rourke, and I thought maybe I should fill you in on what's been happening with Rachael and myself since the 'split' that's not really a split but more like a long hiatus during which we have played very sporadically. Mike Galinsky quit the band just after we finished the basic sessions for The Brighter Shore, though we're still good friends. We soldiered on in NYC for a while with Dan Cuddy of the Special Pillow on bass (ex-Hypnolovewheel), then Rachael and I moved to Boston in 2002, occasionally playing shows with Dan. Believe it or not, we're actually almost finished recording our 5th album, which we've been working on for 7 years or so, with Mike Deming (Pernice Brothers, Beachwood Sparks, Lilys, etc.) Mike Deming has been really into the album and working with him has been fantastic. We've spent a lot of time and effort on the recording, which is really a first for us, as previous recordings have been sort of rushed. Don't worry, that doesn't automatically mean the record's gonna suck. Of course I think it's the best thing we've ever done by far, takes it to the next level, etc, but what musician doesn't think that about their new record? You'll have to decide for yourself when you hear it. The reason we haven't been doing much except recording is that Rachael and I got married, moved to Boston (where are families are from - free babysitting!), and had two kids. Finn is 5 years old and Niamh is 2. We're also both public school teachers, though Racahel was a teacher at Hunter College high School in NYC during the years we were playing a lot in the mid 90's. I started teaching 4th grade two years ago, all part of the master plan to allow us to play music in the summers. We are planning on trying to get our album finished and mixed this summer. Hopefully we can find a new label, and before long we'll be rockin' those small clubs again!

My cousin directed me to your blog and we were thrilled to read the post.

Best,
Chris"

I thought that was pretty cool of him to write. So yeah, I stand corrected, I guess they didn't really break up, just went on a hiatus. I'm definitely looking forward to hearing what they've been working on. I wonder if the exclusion of Michael Galinsky in the band changed their sound any, or just if the sound changed any over time, since it's been so long since they've released anything.

I've purchased a ton of great music lately. I got all 3 Sonic Youth Deluxe Edition's, Video Hippos - Unbeast The Leash, The Long Blondes new one, WZT Hearts - Heat Chief and a ton of other stuff I'm forgetting right now. I've also got an order of about 150 7's, 10's and 12's coming soon from someone I found on Ebay. He had a ton of out of print stuff I wanted so I just bought it all from him in bulk for like $750. As that stuff comes in I'll try to post some of my favorites. Looks like there's some really good shows coming up the rest of the year too. Well more later, maybe.

Sleepyhead... and random other tidbits

Lately, I have been trying to fill the holes in my Sleepyhead collection. Sleepyhead was a 90's indie/lo-fi/noisy/country/folky rock band. A 3 piece consisting of Michael Galinsky (bass), Rachael McNally (vocals and drums), and Chris O'Rourke (vocals and guitar). They were never really that "well known" I suppose, probably mostly overlooked and underappreciated. I kinda feel like they've always been right at the edge of obscurity and they probably are happy with that, not being too well known. It's a shame though as they really deserve much more exposure and notoriety. They existed at a time when indie rock was exciting and fertile and with not as much of a packaged cookie cutter sound. A sound that was much like Sonic Youth at their most out of tune and still melodic but with less artful leanings. Hints of Superchunk and Pavement too, i.e. Slack or Slack Motherfuckers... Slack really should have been it's own genre and Sleepyhead would have been perfect to epitomize the sound of that genre. That's a complement, by the way. The full lengths are fairly easy to come by on Ebay and Amazon. The 7 inches aren't terribly hard to find but none of their stuff is usually found in abundance either. I have two 7 inches left to pick up, one is a tribute to The Clean, a 4 way split I believe, the other is the Slumberland 7" which is still available, by the way. You can purchase it here, it's got a Minor Threat cover on the b-side which you can listen to and download if you follow the link. You can also listen to one track from the Punk Rock City USA 7", not to be confused with the Punk Rock City USA LP, also on Slumberland which can be purchased here. I wish there was alot to point you to about them on the web but unfortunately, there's not too much, save for the stuff to be seen about Michael Galinsky. During his years touring with Sleepyhead he photographed tons of bands and released his photographs in a book titled Scraps. It also comes with a cd with some other amazing, lesser known bands. Last check Amazon had 2 copies for purchase. He also co-directed the movie Half Cocked with Suki Hawley. It has been re-released on DVD with tons of extras and a second movie featuring Come and Stereolab titled Radiation. It was a movie about a fictitious band made up of members of real bands and an especially entertaining glimpse of life on the road. Half Cocked was for many years difficult to find, so the DVD release is really a cool thing for it to be widely available, especially to many people who'd never heard of it before. It serves as a great time capsule for a really incredible period of time in American indie music. You can read more about it, watch some clips, listen to some music, see some really old show flyers and purchase the DVD here. I really haven't heard or seen too much about what the other band members have been up to since the split.

One track from the Play b/w Too Much Fun 7" on Picture Book Artifact (out of print):
A1 - Play

One track from the Fairyboat b/w Thorn 7" also on Picture Book Artifact (out of print):
B1 - Thorn

The B-side of the I Love You The Rain 7" on Homestead (out of print):
B1 - Wet One

Two tracks from the Communist Love Songs full length on Homestead (out of print):
01 - Go West!
06 - I Love You The Rain (I like this version better then the 7" version)

One track from the Brighter Shore on Sealed Fate (out of print):
05 - Poor Baby

Here are two tracks from the Punk Rock City USA LP at Slumberland's page here.

I got some exciting news yesterday I thought I'd share with anyone who cares. The Simple Machines catalog will be available digitally in the near future. I'm especially excited about this as there are a few things I've never owned or picked up, like the first Sea Saw record, so for it to be available digitally will be pretty cool, especially since I sold a good portion of my vinyl full lengths last year. Emusic already has most of the band Scrawls catalog for download here. I downloaded everything Emusic had (the Scrawl stuff that is) a few months back but I really can't wait for the rest of the Simple Machines catalog to be available. The word I got was that it would be most if not all of the full lengths. I was hoping some of the 7 inches (Neopolitan Metropolitan comp., Choke, Tear Jerks) and tapes (Slack, Geek, Hated) would be available but I'm hearing that stuff won't be up, at least yet, if at all. Hopefully some of the out of print stuff will make it up one day. It would be really cool if Teenbeat would add the rest of their catalog too, there's many holes. I did recieve in the mail today the way out of print Suspects Uncle Sam 7". It's available on the Voice Of America re-issue, which I had anyway, but I didn't care, I wanted the vinyl. So I finally have that record, so now I'm happy. As a neat side note, one of my crappy photos I took was in the booklet for the re-issue.

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Dan Deacon and the Video Hippos

The recently released record Spiderman Of The Rings (Carpark) has already been cemented as one of my top five records this year. It's completely infectious. If you don't know, Dan Deacon is like a 1 man Devo meets a 10 year old off his Ritalin with
an Atari in a blender, without the funny hats. His live shows are frenetic. His tools are a Casiotone keyboard, ring modulator, vocoder, multiple effects pedals, mic and voice. He reminds you very much of a mad scientist but much more genius. For a better idea see the video:
Dan Deacon @ Danger Danger West Philly



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Check out his Myspace. Mr. Deacon has no less than 4 releases out. So far I have picked up 2 of them, Spiderman Of The Rings and the Acorn Master EP. I plan on getting the other 2 very, very soon. On purchasing his music, he had this to say, "perhaps, this would be the perfect time for someone (hmmmmm) who freely downloaded and enjoyed any of my albums, to purchase one of these or a track or two?!?!?!? What an idea! THE DIGITAL AGE! Paying for the work of another, not out of obligation but out of guilt. But is guilt not an obligation? Perhaps the purchase would not be made out of guilt but out of desire to become a patron of musical arts! With your bucks I'll buy a sandwich or some new equipment or pay my rent! THE EXCHANGE OF MONEY! THE COMMERCE OF THE ARTS! The question of what is ownership! WIRELESS DIGITAL MONEY! All of this and more in the joint collaboration between merchant and customer! Truly we are in a time of wonder". You can pick them up from a number of different places like Emusic, Itunes or if you want the vinyl get it at Wildfire Wildfire. Carpark has the CD.
Here is 1 track from each:

06 - Breast Cake Penis Sleeve (from Acorn Master EP)
Okie Dokie Live Video (from Spiderman Of The Rings)

Here's an entertaining interview by some bloggers at SXSW Video

Right now he's on tour with Baltimore synth/guitar/drums/video punk outfit, Video Hippos, dates below:


Do make sure to catch them if they come anywhere near you as neither will disappoint. Video Hippos is a duo, Kevin O'Meara (drums, ex-Early Humans, Touhy) and Jim Triplett (guitar) with a little synth, various masks and some video projection. Think Japanther with a projection screen.



They have a 13 track full length out on June 19th on Monitor(CD)/Wildfire Wildfire (LP) called Unbeast The Leash. I can't wait for that shit to come out. Cover looks like this:



They also have a DVD called Scoooge Your Illusion out which you can purchase here for 6 bucks. While you're there check out the 4 demos they have posted on the page. All 4 of the songs are on the new full length. There was also a One Sided 12" out on Rococo, but it's sold out and out of print. I picked mine up on Ebay. I got #9/150. Since it's out of print, hard to come by and probably not going to be re-pressed, here's what it sounds like:

A2 - Dolphins
A4 - Ballet For Dogs
A5 - He/She Likes TV

Here's what it looks like, only not in black and white, imagine pink and navy blue:



Won't you be their friend? Myspace Some of the finished tracks from the new record are on their Myspace for you to listen to while you are there. Here's 3 songs from a set they played earlier this year: Video

It's all proof that Bawlmer will soon rule the world!

Coming up, I guess I will post the Goons, Rebar and Sleepyhead stuff I promised. I'm also looking at maybe posting some Pitchblende, Eric's Trip and I just picked up some very limited Boyracer stuff.

The Most Secret Method

I was lucky enough to see the Most Secret Method a handful of times. The photo I took above was from one of their last shows at Fort Reno in Washington DC. I didn't make it to the very last show, but that's ok because I saw them enough times to know what a great live band they were. I read a Pitchfork review that said they were a poor man's Jawbox. I don't agree with that. Sure there are some similarities in sound, but it's not fair to just pigeonhole them as a Jawbox knockoff. I'm not really going to try and put a label on them, as the one that comes to mind I guess most just find offensive these days. They didn't leave behind an enormous discography, but they did leave behind a great one. One 7", a 10" split with The Capitol City Dusters and 2 full lengths, plus I've seen a few live comps. with tracks on them. I still kick myself for not buying a t-shirt at one of their early shows, but I was pretty broke that night and I had already bought the 7", which in my opinion was the best of their output and I consider it to be an essential part of my collection. The artwork and vinyl are awesome. It's pretty impossible to find copies now, as they didn't press many of them. The family tree is pretty interesting and really gives you a good idea of the sound that would eminate from this band:

Family Tree	© BandToBand.com
The Most Secret Method Beauty Pill Smart Went Crazy Del Cielo Bald Rapunzel Routineers Discount Unitas Lincoln Junction Glendale One Oswego T4 Channels Report Suspicious Activity Kerosene 454

The band was comprised of brothers Marc (guitar) and Ryan (drums) Nelson and bassist Johanna Claasen. All of the artwork on their releases was done by Ryan. He also put out some postcards which are actually just reprints of show flyers he designed which you can see here, although I don't know if they are still available for sale but your best bet would be Dischord. I had alot of the originals of these flyers anyway that I picked up at shows along the way, but I still bought a set of the post cards years ago which I don't plan on ever selling. Ryan also put out a comic book, "Count The Ways" with 2 other artists back in 2000. You may still be able to order copies here.

You can read an article/interview with the band here.
You can also read about them here and here.

Here is the A-Side of the Blue b/w Perfect Plan 7" that was self recorded and released by the band in 1996:

A1 - Blue

This 7" is pretty much impossible to find but here's what it looked like:



I'm also posting the first track on the Split 10" with the Capitol City Dusters on Superbad Records:

A1 - Inch

You can still purchase the 10" here.

Emusic has 1 Most Secret Method track on the Pickle Patch comp., which is a collection of live tracks from various bands, it's the last track on the comp. and can be purchased here. The Most Secret Method's contribution is "Hesitation". The original version of the track can be found on Get Lovely which was released on the now defunct Slowdime Records which was run by Juan Carrera who was in The Warmers. You can purchase Get Lovely here.

Our Success was their final record, also released on Slowdime and can be purchased here.

Since the band broke up in 2002, Ryan has been pretty busy playing in The Dead Teenagers, Beauty Pill, The Routiners and Soccer Team. Dischord also sells the physical copies of records for those that prefer it by the latter 3 bands in their store here.

The Raymond Brake

Rather then writing a bunch about The Raymond Brake, I'll just point you to things that have already been written since I don't really have anything to add that hasn't already been said before.

On the Simple Machines website here.
Two reviews here.
On All Music Guide here.

Found this video doing a google search of Raymond Brake. Apparantly, it was a school project.

the raymond brake-new wave dream



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Here's a track from the out of print split 7" with Rebar on Crunchy Record Stuff A1 - Davliks. I got mine on Ebay.

Here's the A-side of the "New Wave Dream" 7" on Simple Machines A1 - New Wave Dream. Again found this on Ebay. There are a few copies for sale on Gemm, which you can find here.

They also put out a full length on Simple Machines, "Piles Of Dirty Winters". Here's the first track A1 - Phillistine. You can buy a copy from Dischord here.

Andy Cabic is now in Vetiver and has worked with Devendra Banhart.

Early Humans

What can I say about the Early Humans (RLY HMS)? Still one of my favorite bands of all time. I won't try to describe them because I'll never do them justice. I can't remember how many times I saw them, but it was a bunch for sure. Their last show was in a house near Dupont Circle in DC. It was Last Of The Juanitas, Japanther, Black Eyes and Early Humans. I think there was a Gay Pride Parade that day, I seem to remember someone bringing in a string of balloons in the form of the Gay Pride Rainbow during their set and everyone passed it around while they played. Here are 4 photos I took at this show (Link). It was one of the most memorable shows for me ever.

They have a full length CD on Wantage which you can buy here. It's a good deal because you get a free copy of the Split 7" with Stars Of The Dogon when you buy the CD. Two tracks from the CD can be found here.

They played a set on Pat Duncan's show on WFMU back in 2002 which you can listen to here.

The Split 7" with Black Eyes on Planaria is out of print. Good luck on Ebay. I couldn't find anyone that has copies online for sale.

There are still copies of the Split 7" with Kill Yourself available here. The artwork for the 7" has stickers that you can use to customize your cover. This was a split release between Superfi and The Audacious Art Experiment. Here's the second song on the A-Side:
A2 - Early Humans - Were You There (When They Crucified My Movie)?

I also found 4 copies of the one sided 7" (Stop/Over) on CR Records here. This 7" was limited to 300 copies. I have 2 copies of this 7" myself. If you want it and have a trade list email me.

Also on Wantage is the compilation "Wantage USA's 21st Release Hits Omnibus" 2XCD. You can find Early Humans on here, as well as the previously mentioned Japanther and also Touhy, which is the band 2 of the members of Early Humans were in after Early Humans called it a day. That compilation can be purchased here. I need to buy one myself as I haven't done that yet.

Speaking of Touhy, I figured I'd add a track from the demo they put out. I don't know the title of this track, but it is track #8. I saw them live 3 times (I think) and I remember this being one of my favorite songs that they played. I have some live video I shot at Fort Reno and The Talking Head. One day, if I ever get it converted, I'll post some of it. Here's the track:
08 - Touhy - Untitled

Meltdown

It's kinda fuzzy in my mind now because it's been so long ago, but I think I saw the band Meltdown play twice, definitely once. I think the one night I saw them play was the same night they were being recorded by Guy Picciotto at the Black Cat in Washington DC. I don't think too many people really ever caught on to this band but I thought they were great. I'm divorced now but when I went to this show my ex was with me and she said the noise was giving her a headache, I knew I was onto something good at that point. Meltdown was no wavey before no wave was back in style. Years later when I heard Erase Errata for the first time I had flashbacks, I even wondered if some of the members of Meltdown might be in Erase Errata. They weren't but I could definitely hear the similarities. Meltdown wasn't around long but they did leave behind a 7" ("Senior Year Was Best") on Slowdime and a 12" ("The Map") on Archigramophone. I still have a copy of the 7" but I sold the 12" last year. You can still pick up the 7" from Dischord here. According to Archigramophone's website, the 12" is out of print. Members of Meltdown played or went on to play in Et At It, Horses, Metamatics, Crom-Tech, Blood Lines, The All Scars, Legends, Emergency, Gestures and unless someone wants to correct me, I think Raquel Vogl was in The Cranium. You can find more information on the band here. If anyone knows what the members of Meltdown are up to now, I'd love to know.

Here's 2 tracks from the 7":
Meltdown - A1 - Intro
Meltdown - B1 - Alien Autopsy
If you like these two songs, you really should buy the 7" from Dischord. You may be able to find a copy of the 12" on Ebay.

Coming soon, tracks from some out of print gems by The Goons, The Most Secret Method, Raymond Brake and Sleepyhead.