Streaky Jake "Stop Killing Your Time"

Streaky Jake What's Wrong? Nothing. CD (Metal Postcard, 2006)

I found this one in a bargain bin and was intrigued by the artist name, release title, and utterly stark front cover; the back has a rough pencil sketch of, I presume, Jake. A note on the back of the booklet, after the song titles, says, ".. that was the story of jake & mary." Is it autobiographical? I have no idea. The instrumentation is simple: acoustic guitar and the occasional tambourine, probably played by Jake with his foot, but that's just a guess. It sounds like it was recorded by Jake in the middle of a HUGE room, thus adding to the sense of loneliness and despair. I love it. For whatever reason, he now releases music under the name Swoop Swoop. He's released a 7" single and two CDs, but I've not heard any of them, yet.

Richard Leo Johnson "More Than All the Stars in the Sky"

Richard Leo Johnson
The Legend of Vernon McAlister
CD
(Cuneiform Records, 2006)

I was enticed into checking out Richard via a rave review of his first album, Fingertip Ship, in a Wayside Music catalog. They often get music at insanely cheap prices, and I've discovered many excellent artists for small monetary risk. I'm fairly certain Fingertip Ship set me back all of $4.

Erik Hinds "Angel of Death"

Erik Hinds
Reign in Blood
CD
(Solponticello, 2005)

Today, we continue with heavy metal cover songs, specifically acoustic versions of Slayer tunes.

Athens, GA guitarist Erik Hinds, who now goes by the name Killick, plays this badass thing called the H'arpeggione (picture after the jump), built for him in 1999 by master instrument designer and builder Fred Carlson. I've seen (and heard, of course) him play it a number of times, and it's really something to behold.

In 2005, Erik decided to record his own version of Slayer's classic Reign in Blood album, on solo H'arpeggione. Today's track is the leadoff track, Angel of Death. Please, commence headbanging.

The H'arpeggioneMore photos here

Böhm ohne Köb "South of Heaven"

Oh, dear! You must not have a compatible version of flash!

Böhm ohne Köb
South of Heaven
7" EP
(Nur Sch. Rec!, 1990)

Some people are so talented, they probably oughta be thrown in jail. Hans Platzgumer is one of those people, and he sings and plays guitar on this record.

Bic Runga "Bursting Through"

Oh, dear! You must not have a compatible version of flash!

Bic Runga
Bursting Through
CD single
(Columbia, 1996)

I first heard Bic on the compilation CD Live At Helen's. I'd picked it up for the tracks by her fellow Kiwis, David Kilgour and Martin Phillipps, but Bic's song, a version of "Drive," blew me away. A couple years later, I came across a copy of her debut album, Drive, in the new arrivals bin at a local used CD store. I snapped it up and found that I could not stop listening to it. It's probably my favorite album of 1998, in fact.

Circle of Ouroborus "The Judgement Star"

Circle of Ouroborus
Star / Rise
cassette
(Northern Sky Productions, 2006)

Now that ゆらゆら帝国 have called it a day, Circle of Ouroborus just might be my favorite currently extant band. A good deal of their releases are cassettes, and, as of this writing, I have 15 of 'em. Roughly half are cassette-only, such as this one, which was released in a limited edition of 50 unnumbered copies.

Circle of Ouroborus are an interesting bunch. I first heard them on a split CD I bought for the tracks from the Dutch band Urfaust; I ended up liking the CoO stuff more, though. Their music ranges from acoustic, folky material, such as presented here, to post-punk à la Joy Division to raw black metal. Both members, Antti and Rauta, also play in a few other bands. I have several CD's and a tape by Rauta's band Vordr, and I highly recommend them. They come across to me as sort of a black metal Rudimentary Peni.

The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band "Blow That Horn"

The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band
The Gospel Album
CD EP
(Family Owned Records, 2007)

I love bargain bins. Even more, I love free bins! My favorite local record store has both and I discovered the Big Damn Band via the free bin. I found a promo copy of their album Big Damn Nation and thought it looked interesting, I flipped it over and saw it was produced by Paul Mahern, formerly of Indiana hardcore legends the Zero Boys. It went home with me and turned out to be a nifty country-blues sorta kinda thing. Rev. Peyton sings and plays slide guitar (well, dobro), his wife Breezy plays the washboard and their cousin Aaron plays a tiny drumkit 'n' a five gallon bucket.

Tim Buckley "Sing a Song for You"

Tim Buckley
Once I Was
CD
(Strange Fruit, 1999)

Well, hello and welcome to my jukebox! My goal is to have a new song up every day around 9 a.m., Eastern time. We'll see how well that works. ^_^ So, for my first selection, I decided to go with something "song"-related, and this was the first thing that popped into my lil' noggin'.