An absolutely brilliant monologue by Phil Alvin of the Blasters running down the history of record labels in America.

Just got back from Mexico. I’ll get something fun up on the site here shortly. I promise.

Now, I’d be lying if I didn’t already think that The Jesus Lizard were one of the best (if not thee best) live bands of the 90’s. So yes, I’ve already seen five of the reunion gigs, so you could say I’m mildly gaytarded for them. And you know what? I’m fine with that.

I was able to convince my pal Adam to fly out from Chicago and meet me in San Diego to see what is, without a doubt, the smallest venue that the Lizard are playing on these reunion dates. I mean, the Casbah? It’s teeny! Like what? 250 on a good day? So yes, it was a no-brainer that I went.

I ran into the legendary (and very enigmatic) Greg Webb whose video makes up the lion’s share on the Harvey Milk "Anthem" DVD. Got to see Model/Actress (featuring Juan from Brainiac) who opened the gig, but really, I mean, it was The Lizard’s night.

Full throttle. That’s all I can say. The staff at the Casbah did a superior job of keeping the douchenozzles who were randomly clobbering people in the head to a minimum. How they can do that in such a small club is beyond me. Yow walked on the ceiling (which I hadn’t seen since Baltimore ’92), lost his mic and had the crowd sing "Puss" and bounced his microphone off the heads of everybody in the front row during the encore.

But yeah, click on the video I’ve attached for the first song to see how insane it was. Then again, the video this guy shot was mostly worthless but still fun to watch merely from an "I was there" kind of angle.

Adam and I stayed with Pall Jenkins from Black Heart Procession and I was able to buy a piece of art directly from the man the next morning which was a pleasant score from the trip! And man, Pall was en fuego the night of the Casbah gig. Hilarious, but totally en fuego.

The next day was much more hurried for me as I dropped Adam off at the San Diego airport and then made my way up the 5 to LA. That was where it went shitty. It took ages to get into LA, but I immediately went to the Hydrahead offices to visit with Mr. Thompson who runs the label and then went to their record emporium called Vacation in Los Feliz. If you’ve not been to Vacation and you live in LA, you really should go. Totally dug it. Went to the killer taqueria across the street from Vacation and then immediately went to the Fonda Theater. Ran into Tom Zaluckyj from Tar within minutes of arriving and then met long-time colleage Jason Pettigrew for the first time face-to-face.

I wasn’t comparing notes, but it seemed like the Lizard’s set was almost identical to the Casbah gig (a very minor disappointment) but still absolutely fantastic. I had to drive back to San Diego after the gig, so I just started drinking coffee the second I got on the 5 and got to the hotel around 4 (7EST!).

So I recorded both gigs, but really, the San Diego gig is so much more fun thanks to the small room that I thought I’d include it here. Click here and enjoy.

OH! And I’m off to Mexico for vacation with the wife for the rest of the week. Be sure to check out some of the crazy stuff I’m selling this week on eBay.

So BJ at the absolutely fantastic Pukekos blog has given me a platform (yet again) to wax rhapsodic about criminally forgotten music from my younger days in Pennsylvania. Or at least it seems right NOW it’s all about Pennsylvania.

Slag were a band that pre-dated Mike Banfield’s days in Don Caballero and was a 4-piece in State College for a couple years. I mean, Mike had dreads, so of COURSE it was college!

Anyway, they released one single, were on one comp and then "poof!" just disappeared. Then again, we got the mighty Don Cab afterwards so who’s to complain, right?

Anyway, go check the rather exhaustive entry out, and if it floats your boat, let me know. I sometimes feel that these sorta things are more for myself than anybody out on the internet, but positive reinforcement always helps.

Also check out the video!

Yeah, I know. Holy fucking shit.

This, of course, is another entry in the now legendary "Chris Thomson Tape Dump of 2009" which just happened to show up in my mail box one day last month. Obviously I’ve been a massive fan of Chris’s work for over 20 years now and to get a rare glimpse into what he was doing after Circus Lupus and before Monorchid’s first full length is a fucking TRIP!

cPat Graham, 1997

All that I know about this demo is that it’s from 1996 and predates versions of these songs on singles and the first full length. Early vocal takes. Some lyrics that don’t match up. Just a great listen altogether. Oh, and completely with the permission of the band to those that are pissing all over these otherwise great finds.

Monorchid at Jabberjaw, LA cBen Clark

Regrettably, this is the only Monorchid tape that’s worth hearing from the box. There’s a boombox recording of them performing at the Black Cat in ’97, but I really am sparing you. It’s unlistenable.

Oh! And the only track I didn’t include on this posting is an alternate take of "Poison Test" which, if you email me, I’d be happy to send you. I can only post a max of ten items on the site, so sue me that I only give you TEN PREVIOUSLY UNHEARD MONORCHID DEMOS instead of eleven, you thankless bastards!

"The Monorchid should be credited with totally revitalizing the weak and diseased DC music community, and as we pull ourselves to the top of the heap we are going to bring every other DC band with us and that’s a promise."

Sincerely, The Monorchid (1997)

at CMU, Pittsburgh cDrew McDermott

Monorchid – Poison Test (’96 demo)

Monorchid – Who Put Out the Fire (’96 demo)

Monorchid – Midget Housing (’96 demo)

Monorchid – Distortion (’96 demo)

Monorchid – Dead Signal (’96 demo)

Monorchid – Curse Of The Potty Trained Children (’96 demo)

Monorchid – Controversial Trousers (’96 demo)

Monorchid – Chompers (’96 demo)

Monorchid – Bitch Test (’96 demo)

Monorchid – Babies (’96 demo)

So the smoke has settled from 14 boxes coming in the front door and so now I can actually let the cat out of the bag. For at least the next few months, I’ll be selling approximately 1,500 records for Corey Rusk.

Check ’em out here.

The “boxes” of “stuff” (labradoodles sold separately)

Just to nip gossip in the bud, Corey’s selling these records thru me because he simply doesn’t have the time and he knows that I’m an eBay seller with a lot of experience. Additionally, he’s not doing this for any other reason than to free up space because, well, he’s moving from the T&G building and will not have a warehouse to just leave these nuggets to collect dust. Here’s the boiler plate provenance that’s included with each listing:

"My friend Corey Rusk, who runs Touch and Go Records, has been cleaning out his storage space and has realized that he really doesn’t have any more room for the all doubles and triples of many of the rare records in his collection.  He’s busy running Touch and Go and doesn’t have the time to deal with selling his extras… but they do need to go.  So he asked me to help him sell them off.  And of course, as a long time friend of Corey and and fan of Touch and Go Records (along with being a 10+ year eBay seller with a perfect feedback rating of 1600+), I jumped at the chance.  So that is the origin of  the record in this auction."

There’s absolutely ZERO shortage of incredible records in these boxes. Tons of hardcore, postpunk and noise rarities. Oh, and test pressings and rare editions of Touch & Go releases, too. As a fan of Corey’s last 25 years of work, it’s a true pleasure to sift through everything. Now the work can begin.

Click here and shop away. Oh, and feel free to pass this along. These auctions aren’t s’posed to be a secret. I’ll be posting new items every Sunday unless I’m out of town.

So it’s 5:30 in the morning and I can’t sleep because I have two labradoodles pinning my feet. I’m too much of a pushover to tell them to get on the floor. So how do I make up for this shortcoming in my slumber? Post a prank call!

This is a pretty self explanatory one, but one that only recently has been uncovered. It’s Albini and the guys from Nirvana pretending to be Madonna’s manager trying to get Evan Dando on the phone with Madonna for five minutes. Go and do your laundry and then come back and continue listening to Dando on hold. It just keeps going.

I’m sure Evan Dando is a nice guy (then again, I doubt it), but man, you talk about a guy that had everything presented to him on a gilded silver plate and blew it in the early 90’s, well, he sure did.

I also uncovered a particularly entertaining diary-esque rant that Kathleen Hanna wrote about Dando as well. Worth a quick read.

Enjoy!

ADDENDUM: To those that discredit that this recording IS NOT Dando, behold. (Big ups to Sowley for this.)

Albini/Nirvana – Evan Dando/Madonna prank call

Straight from this abortion’s press release:
Legendary drummer Tommy Lee of rock band MÖTLEY CRÜE is one of three judges chosen to pick the best corporate rock band in the upcoming Fortune Battle of the Corporate Bands presented by NAMM, the trade association of the international music products industry, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. Lee will be joined by noted musician and author Jeff Carlisi and Making Music magazine editor-in-chief Antoinette Follett as judges at the ninth annual event, taking place on Saturday, October 3, 2009, at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.

The first music competition of its kind, the battle provides amateur, company-sponsored bands with the opportunity to step out of the conference room and celebrate their passion for making music. Eight qualifying bands from across the U.S. will take the stage at the Rock Hall, with the chance to earn the title of best corporate band.

This took 4 minutes, tops.

It’s not bad enough that a bunch of six figure suits get to rob the world blind, they also get their very own "music contest" because inside every overfed, country club, blue-blood, white boy, is a rock god who thinks they juuust missed their big chance. How great that Tommy Lee (professional hepatitis carrier and the world’s worst life guard) gets to crown the king in a collection of mega-stiffs in one, big, orgasmic, commercial, handjob. And no, this is NOT a joke. Included, on this year’s roster, is a vid of "Manage This" (get it?!) who may or may not win this year? I’ve seen the 4th quarter spreadsheet projections and let me say, ROCK IS DEAD. Thanks guys. Go back to Hawaiian shirt Friday.

Okay, now it’s time for take two of the great "Thomson Tape Haul of ’09".

This time it’s Minor Threat at Irving Plaza in New York, 1982. This isn’t necessarily a rare recording, but this version is pretty low generation and not hissy or garbly like other ones I’ve seen on line.

There’s absolutely nothing I need to say about Minor Threat, but I do feel that the in-between chatter from Ian to a clearly belligerent crowd is quite entertaining. I mean, come on, he was what? Nineteen? Maybe twenty?

Enjoy. I’m thinking between Getaway Car (Mike Fellows (ROS), Kim Thompson (CCC, D72) and Guy Picciotto (Fugazi)) and some Monorchid demos next.

Minor Threat – Irving Plaza pt 1

Minor Threat – Irving Plaza pt 2

It’s hard to believe that 2002 was seven freakin’ years ago, but I clearly remember an entire summer of driving around the South just BLASTING the self titled album by Floor. As a fan of their singles up to that point, I knew what to expect from their first full length, but man, I didn’t know how much they improved.

In a nutshell, I’ve always said that Floor album was a perfectly psychedelic My Bloody Valentine/Black Sabbath hybrid with 10 times the hooks. Listen to "Kallisti" and "Lolita" if you don’t believe me. And I’m listening to the album now as I’m typing this up, and I still think I’m pretty right.

Floor at the EARL (’03?)

Floor crumbled away in 2004, but I was fortunate enough to see them a number of times (often in a room of 10 or 20 people) and was always blown away.  Always. Towards the end of the band, they’d play songs that’d become the early material for Steve Brooks’s next band, Torche.

Fortunately, Torche hasn’t fallen upon the same level of under-appreciation. And because the songs are just so, well, um, perfect, there’s a reason that Torche often does entire strings of Floor songs during their set. Just absolutely brilliant.

The mightily ambitious nutballs at Robotic Empire are doing what any label that just damns to the torpedoes would do in 2009: release a box set by Floor!

Below and Beyond is a box set worthy of Floor’s mighty influence. Ten 12" records, a 7" EP, eight CDs, a 32 page book and a freakin’ t-shirt in a cloth bound box! Good christ, I’m gonna have to move some stuff around when it arrives just so it has the room!

There’s only 300 or so being made and as a friend and fan of the band, I’m going to push this impending masterpiece on the readers of this site. Furthermore, in typical Chunklet fashion, we’re giving you some bonuses! Below you’ll find downloads of two songs from the box. Yes, you’re welcome. And you have Robotic Empire to thank.

Also, just because I’d love more people to hear them, I’m including a link to download two entire shows by the band. One in Philly and one at the Caledonia in Athens back in ’03. Their overly dense sound is truly majestic live, but can be hard to replicate in a live recording, but these do the job pretty well.

Enjoy. And seriously, go pre-order the box set. It’s worth it. Trust me.

Do a quick inventory of that. $250? A STEAL!

Floor – Xtian

Floor – The Pulse

…but it’s somewhat fitting that this is a Dan Deacon fan.

Any random college radio schlub (circa ’89, myself included) could’ve trampled this entire crowd with a very stern glare. Fact.

God, I miss the days when the underground was more intense than the crap on mainstream radio.