Baylies Band "Pissing on a Dying Man"

Baylies Band Risibility and Discourse CDR (75 or Less Records, 2007)

OK, perhaps it's cheesy to make a suicidal play on Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский's classic novel, Записки из подполья, but the debut by Baylies Band, Suicide Notes from the Underground, caught my eye in the dollar bin at my second favorite local store several years ago. The album proved to be a cool and bizarre mix of post-punk, noise, and weirdness. Leader Eric Baylies saw me mention listening to them on a message board and sent me copies of their two newest releases: Risibility and Discourse and Fort Thunder Flashback. The former begins with an 18 minute prog rock piece followed by several shorter and noisier punkers, including five versions of "Let's Get Stabbed" and today's jukebox selection. The latter is a mix of free improvisation, radio static, and noise. It's clearly not without reason that Baylies Band were voted Best Category-Defying Act in Providence in 2010! Unfortunately, I lost all my saved e-mails not long after receiving the discs from Mr. Baylies, and was never able to properly thank him. Initial research for this post a few weeks ago led me to the above-mentioned award article and the website for 75 or Less Records, the label that released the CDR albums Eric had sent to me. Baylies Band have released two more CDRs (Man Ray & Vague Knitting and All Clowns No Lions) since the two I was gifted; I ordered copies, of course. The label happened to include a copy Fort Thunder Flashback, as well, so I am instituting the first Lightning Giveaway! The first commenter to request a copy of FTF will win my extra copy! I'll contact said winner, so, please, no address info in the comments.

The PB Army "A Hole in the New Leaf"

The PB Army Spine for the Snapback CD (Sin Klub Entertainment, 2005)

Hey, let's have more coincidences, OK!? This one has nothing to do with me or this blog, however. Mighty Ohio rockers The PB Army (apparently something from a Pabst Blue Ribbon advertising campaign, as opposed to yummy, yummy peanut butter) (can you tell I don't drink?) got sidelined for a while in between their first* and second albums. See, vocalist-lyricist-drummer-super nice guy Keith Bergman got slammed with medical problems that ended up requiring open heart surgery. Yow! So, what's the coincidence this time 'round? Well, today's song opens with the line, "I do not recognize this heart." I asked Keith about it when they came through town in support of the new album, 'cause I was able to actually make out some of the words (hadn't heard the new stuff prior to the show), and I knew he'd had some really serious heart problems. As it turned out, they'd been playing the song live for around a year before he succumbed and went under the knife. O_O Sadly, sometime after the tour, bassist Mahlon left the band. They got a new guy but still slowly disintegrated. Thanks to doing this post, though, I found their Facebook page and they are back and rockin'! YES! *Inebriates Equivocators and Mockers of the Devil Himself

7 or 8 Worm Hearts "Shack of Hate"

7 or 8 Worm Hearts All Writhe cassette (self-released, 1989)

What is it with my blog and bizarre coincidences lately? I was on the phone with my friend James on Sunday, right? And he mentioned that Glenn Jones and his (James's) band had played a show the night before. We got to talking about this and he mentioned that Jones had been in a band with Phil Milstein when James moved to the Boston area in the late 80s, and they'd released a cassette. "I think I have that!" says I. So, I went to the shelf and pulled down my copy of the source of today's song to confirm band membership. "7 or 8 Worm Hearts?" asked I. "That's it!" confirmed James. Why is this a coincidence? Well, I'd already ripped said tape to a wav file for use on this here blogger device; I just hadn't yet picked a song. So, without further ado, I present "Shack of Hate" by 7 or 8 Worm Hearts (not to be confused with the also great song of the same title by White Zombie on their 1987 debut LP, Soul Crusher).

Jim Copp and Ed Brown "The Hen with the Low I.Q."

Jim Copp and Ed Brown Gumdrop Follies LP (Playhouse Records, 1965)

I grew up in northwestern Louisiana, in the 1960s and '70s. Every year, my family would make a four-hour or so trip to Dallas, TX to Neimann Marcus's flagship store's annual Fortnight event. Of course, me being a wee bairn, my favorite place was the amazing toy department. It's been over 30 years since the last time we went, but I still have some of the toys and things purchased on those trips. Sadly, my archaeopteryx, which flew by flapping its rubber band-driven, cellophane wings, is long gone, and my helicopter's rotor blades all eventually broke, as flying high into the sky then crashing to the ground repeatedly was not particularly friendly to plastic. I have some tiny building toys, however, that came in matchboxes (I was obsessed with anything-and-everything miniature), and I have both Jim Copp and Ed Brown records we bought, direct from the men themselves! Both were autographed personally to me, much to my delight! Decades later, internet searches turned up the website for Playhouse Records, and I called the phone number listed. Even as an adult, I was starstruck to be speaking to Jim Copp himself on the phone! Sadly, Mr. Brown had passed away many years before. See, Jim Copp and Ed Brown were the kings of children's records. While most kids records were simple songs and stories, and usually had a moral to convey along with some adult condescension, Jim and Ed's records were hilarious and subversive. The humor was absurdist, adults (both human and anthropomorphous non-human) were portrayed in an often unflattering light, and the stories were rather dark. Today's selection comes from their seventh album, Gumdrop Follies, which is presented as a show, complete with backstage talk and the sounds of the audience. As it's a show, the cover folds out into a stage with proscenium arch. The album also came with several sheets of cardboard characters and scenery, so listeners could perform the record as it played. Below, the Agatha, the mentally challenged hen, and her foollowers act out their tale of stupidity and a brush with death. Yes, I've owned this record for forty plus years, yet I still have all of the scenery, props, and actors! Quite a few of Copp and Brown's albums can now be purchased on CD, but Gumdrop Follies has yet to be reissued in digital format. It is available direct from the label on cassette, however, along with all their other albums, in various formats, and a book of stories by Jim! Here's the order form. You're welcome.

Stalaggh untitled

Stalaggh Stalaggh 7" EP (New Era Productions, 2001)

I think I'll let the insert speak for this one: Stalaggh is a Misanthropik-Nihilistik projekt of leading Individuals from both the Dutch and Belgian Black Metal and Elektro/Ambient scenes, with as prior aim propagating the sonic ideology of human genocide. With among it's members a murder convict and mental-institution patient, STALAGGH is bound to awaken emotions of depression, hate, nihilism, misanthropy and to drag you deeper down into it's pits and voids. :STALAGGH:'s :projekt nihil: was improvised and directly recorded Ina 24 track studio, driving the producer to Insanity. "Never again" were his words... Excessive self-mutilation took place while recording these streams of black emotions, evolving into a 35 minutes piece of Art, which is to be considered the soundtrack to humanities global suicide... We will destroy, we will hate, and we will spread our misanthropic audio-terror until there Is nothing left but scorched earth. ...KILL YOURSELF!!! They followed this lovely little record (today's piece is side A) with three albums of considerably less musical material, Projekt Nihil, Projekt Terrror, Projekt Misanthropia), plus variations on the same, like the remix album Nihilistik Terrror (not dance remixes, mind you). They've now changed their name and sound, to a degree, to Gulaggh and have released one CD, so far, Vorkuta. I quite like it.

Motörhead "Ace of Spades" (The CCN Remix)

Motörhead Ace of Spades CD single (WGAF, 1993)

A bit of fun today. I'm sure to many, a techno remix of a Motörhead song is utter blasphemy, especially when it's their signature tune. Well, too bad! I love this! Two decade tags, btw, as the song is from 1980 while the remix is from 1993.

Sarah Kernochan "Feeding Time at the Zoo"

Sarah Kernochan
House of Pain
LP
(RCA Records, 1974)

The world is chock full o' nuts of weird coincidences. Listener VirginiaM requested the other day that I post some S.K. Thoth. Well, I do have his first CD, so it's a possibility.

So, what's the coincidence, you ask? Well, I already had today's post ready to go save for the write-up. I knew Sarah Kernochan has worked in film (due to research done previously, after I purchased today's song source), so I went to find her entry on IMDb.com and, holy crap, she produced and directed the Academy Award-winning documentary short that Ms. M and I saw several years ago, Thoth, about none other than S.K. Thoth! She also wrote that filthy, sex movie 9½ Weeks, which I've never seen and am therefore able to pre-judge.

I knew none of this when I spied her album House of Pain in the used racks at my favorite local record store a few months ago, however. With that title and cover and price tag ($4, I think), I had to buy it, even though I had no clue who she was. Well, it turned out she was, at the time, a singer/songwriter with a bit of a demented edge. Carole King off her meds and brandishing a meat cleaver, if you will. House of Pain was her first album of two, and it's quite a lot of twisted fun. Now, I must find that second one . . .

NO "12:34"

NO Relax LP (Tsunami Records, 2005)

Not much I can you about this one, sadly. With a name as short as NO, it's rather tough to do research, y'know? I know from the back cover that Jason played drums and sang, while Scott played guitar and sang. I know from seeing them open for Unpersons at a squat that Jason had a red beard and big red afro, whereas Scott had straight, brown hair and played a blue, I think, guitar. I'm pretty sure they were listed on the flyer that night as NO!, though the record front cover shows them as NØ, whereas elsewhere on the cover they are simply NO. They were from Athens, GA, and this was their only release, as far as I am aware. It's on snazzy white vinyl, too. If anyone has further details they can share, that'd be just ducky! The website for the record label is full of dead links, sadly, including the one to info on them. :'-(