I know I’m not alone in saying that seeing The Nation of Ulysses might be one of the best bands of all time.

In the spring of ’91, I was living in Pittsburgh and fiinishing up my MBA at UPitt. I should also add that I was doing a fair bit of running which was immediately halted when I tore all of the ligaments out of my right ankle. So for about a month, on the hilly Pittsburgh streets, I had to maneuver with crutches. Seeing as how I didn’t own a car, I was able to convince my roommate Gary to give me a quick ride over to this small house in Squirrel Hill where NOU were playing. At the time, they didn’t even have their debut single out, but I was still super-excited to see them. Little did I know what I was about to see.

After being dropped off, I sat out on the stoop of the house waiting for the show to start. I think Feral Family, Blunderbuss or Salt Chunk Mary opened. Like something out of a movie, the Ulysses van pulled right up to the front door and the side door opened with Ulysses and Bikini Kill members spilling out onto the sidewalk. The interior of the van looked like a bomb went off.

Making my way down those steep stairs into the basement, I decided it was best if I stood behind one of the small speaker columns to reduce the risk of getting my ankle injured further. A few minutes later, NOU set up and immediately exploded into their set. 17 minutes later, they were done and packing up. During that 17 minutes, I was a mere foot from Steve Kroner and only a few more feet away from Ian Svevonious who was yelling and screaming like his throat was just cut open. Ian was routinely bashing his head into the low ceiling and the rest of the band could best be described as "frenetic". They left the room leveled. Coincidentally, this show also marked the first time I would meet Karl Hendricks and Ian Williams who at the time were in a band together called Sludgehammer but later went on to be in The Karl Hendricks Trio and Don Caballero/Storm & Stress/Battles later. Ian actually gave my crutched ass a ride home, come to think of it.

I was lucky enough to see NOU a few more times (including a hilarious show in York, PA, my hometown) and moved to Georgia shortly before they broke up

photo by Shawn Scallen (www.scallen.com)

Over the years, I’ve become friendly with a number of the guys in the band through their bands since then: The Make*Up, Weird War, Scene Creamers, Ted Leo/Pharmacists and The Fucking Champs.

Ironically enough, Tim Green and the Fucking Champs were here at the house a few days back and I asked him about "The Memphis Demos" which I uncovered in a box of tapes recently.

As Tim recalls, NOU were in Memphis on tour with Bikini Kill in early 1992 to find that the promoter hadn’t actually promoted their show. So the band immediately took to flyering the streets of Memphis. While walking the streets and going into record stores and whatnot, they ran into Primal Scream who were in town recording an album. At their show that night at the Antenna Club, Primal Scream showed up (being 2 of the 5 paying people at the club) and then after the show, invited NOU to come to the studio to record some songs. So the next day, with a slightly irked Bikini Kill in tow, Nation of Ulysses recorded five songs on Primal Scream’s dime in nine hours.

Tape trading being what it was in the early 90’s, I had a first generation copy of this for years and never thought twice about it until Tim was here at the house and thought I’d get the low-down straight from somebody who was there.

Of course, Tim also tells of having to take Primal Scream (or maybe Jesus and Mary Chain, I can’t recollect) to the Piggly Wiggly to get tin foil so they could smoke crack. A Tim Green story is never complete without something bizarre like that happening.

In the next year or so, Ulysses contined to kick out the jams and leave a legacy that many have aped (Refused being a notable example) and never quite nailed. Then again, I’m sure NOU were hastily compared to the MC5 or Fugazi by old farts like me back in the late 80’s, so what do I know?

Still, one of my fondest memories is Tim’s van that pulled up at the house in ’91 continued to be his main form of transpo up until a couple years ago. Tim thinks the van had clocked in over 800,000 miles (he’s unsure, the odometer broke around 500K) and upon trying to donate the van as a historic relic to the Experience Music Project, he was politely turned away after hearing they already had Soundgarden‘s van. Soundgarden? Come on, what about a band whose legacy was actually earned in the van and not some anonymous tour bus? Sadly, Tim just simply sent the van to the junk yard and a piece of rock history is now forever a piece of junk.

The good news is that these 4 tracks remain, although I don’t know of a fifth (even though Tim says there is one).

More goodies forthcoming.

Feel free to make suggestions/requests in the comments section.

The Nation of Ulysses – N-Sub Ulysses (Memphis demo)

The Nation of Ulysses – 50,000 Watts (Memphis demo)

The Nation of Ulysses – Mockingbird, Yeah (Memphis demo)

The Nation of Ulysses – Shakedown (Memphis demo)

This reminded me of the sound guy list that Curt wrote up for issue 13 about ten years ago. This was on a piece of paper tacked to the wall backstage at ATP after I introduced Isis and it was gladly handed to me by the stage manager…..

SEEN ON A FLIGHT CASE SOMEWHERE IN AMERICA

1. Listen to the stage manager and get on stage when he tells you to.

2. No one has time for pop star attitudes.

3. None of the technicians care if you are David Bowie or the milkman.

4. When you act like a jerk, they are completely unimpressed with the infantile display that you might think comes with your dubious status.

5. They were there hours before you arrived, building a stage safely for you to perform on, and will be there hours after you have left taking it down.

6. They should get your salary and you should get theirs.

I really don’t know what else to say, but as great as their albums are, these between song gaps were herculean mood crushers. Certainly an influential and important band, but will never be known that way based on their live shows.

My favorite heckle that I didn’t say:

"I’m so glad I downloaded your albums for free!"

Suggestions?

Ever since the new Chunklet site has gone live, I’ve not gone so long without an update, so I’m going to begin by apologizing for that. Moreover, I’m still kinda fatigued from the last week which saw me fly to London, go to Minehead (over on the Wales-y side of England), back to London, to Amsterdam, back to Southend in England and then to London back to Atlanta. Whew.

Me and Pete on the English shore, Minehead ’07. Photo by Iain H.

Going to All Tomorrow’s Parties is old hat to me and my buddy Pete by now, but it doesn’t eliminate any of the joy I get in going to it. For those who haven’t been, ATP is a festival for those who hate festivals. They appoint a band to curate an entire weekend’s worth of performers and then put the whole shindig on at an English holiday resort. For $300 (or thereabouts) it’s the best deal out there for a weekend of seeing bands and catching up with friends.

This ATP was my first one at the new facility in Minehead. Past ATPs were at Camber which was near Dover and was much smaller and low budget than this new locale. However, all things being equal, Butlins is far better in some ways than Pontin’s in Camber. First off, they’re better chalets. Better food options. Bigger stages. Easier to get around to all three stages. However, with the compliments come a few concerns. The "main stage" (aka The Burger King Stage) is like stepping into a mall where Tiffany is about to perform and with equally horrible sound to boot. The trivia and bingo "activities" during the day seemed a bit of a wash and the room could’ve been better suited as a "chill out" room for people to, I don’t know, watch stupid schlocky movies or maybe even have DJs that weren’t playing "semi-ironic" irony rock as was de rigeur the rest of the weekend.

However, given those mild criticisms, I do really like the new facility even with its perceived flaws. I’m just adapting to it right now is all….

A “good” view of Shellac on the main stage at ATP…

A few things that I’ll always remember about this ATP: Getting to introduce Mogwai and Isis (video courtesy of Iain H.) and squeezing in comments about Baby Madeline along the way, pretend-fellating Tim from Les Savy Fav in the photo pit and then having Syd from Les Savy Fav riding on my shoulders during their last song, selling enough goods to pay for my flight over thanks to Rough Trade, eating kebabs with the guys in Mogwai and their Mogwifes (their term, not mine), eating this crazy, delightful curried chicken cup five times in two days (thank you, Bob Weston!) and then, of course, seeing friends from all over like Kris K, Carrie Weston, Myk Guanci, Joe Plummer, Manish, Phil McM, that endearingly crazy dude from Subtitle, and of course, spending copious amounts of QT with Iain Hinchliffe and Pete.

I’d also like to personally thank Barry, Helen, Karin and everybody else from ATP for making me feel like I mattered at their ridiculously fantastic festival.

Oh, and I’m listening to the new Queens of The Stone Age right now. God damn. What a promising nominee for Best of 2007. And it’s only May!

….and my buddy “Ducky”

What’s better than a band that makes ONE record? One that makes a single, single, perhaps. But in 19&86 the giant industry behemoth Hospital Records unloaded this little nugget of Ohio punk rock history. And as I was taught  in 2nd grade, sharing is caring. So, care the fuck outta’ this one.

ah, black & white 80’s punk cover art, makes me teary

This glorious chap is lead singer Bevo (Ruzsa) who was joined by Karl Meyer, Dan Leonard, and Mr. William Weber – who went onto such lows (that’s a compliment) as to sling guitar for GG Allin as a Murder Junkie.

what

I was going to post the whole thing, but then I decided to have a nice sandwich. (btw…don’t let the gentle intro fool you, this baby rips!)

HUMAN ZOO – July July (1986)

A bit too "outsidery" for my tastes, but I’m sure dopes that follow Pitchfork will looooove it.

Ah, remember the days when people actually decided what music they liked all on their own?

Got some shirts and posters left over from the show in Indio. I found out the hard way that you can’t have merchandise that says "Coachella" on it, so it was all redone to say "Doing Comedy Out In The Desert Somewhere".

Here’s the shirt/poster combo. And here’s the poster by its lonesome.

by Chris Bilheimer

Get it while it’s still here, punk!

also by Chris Bilheimer

By now, you all know the story, and (understandably) it’s the stuff of legend. A Canadian found an acetate of the original mix to the first Velvet Underground album for $0.75 at a sidewalk sale in Brooklyn. The music community shits itself all at once and then, naturally, the gentleman sells the album to the highest bidder on eBay after failing at it once.

But much like how Luke Skywalker wasn’t the only spawn of Darth Vader, there is "another". In this case, the "another" is an acetate that comes from Velvet’s drummer Moe Tucker. I strongly urge you to click around and read about this record that will undoubtedly go down as one of the most overvalued (yet still pretty justifiably valued) albums of our generation. But with that said, I’m not saying that the recordings don’t have merit. Listen for yourself and tell me what you think in the comments section.

God….I hope you can read that type….

Oh, and as with the Kraftwerk post of a couple months ago, I have my good buddy Billy at Shake It Records to thank for this. And the other person he made a copy of this for? None other than former 50 Skidillion Records label owner, Penn Jillette. I’m in good company, right? Right?

From the "This Just In From Brian Turner" department: three additional Velvets boots here.

Velvet Underground with Nico – European Son

Velvet Underground with Nico – I’ll Be Your Mirror

Velvet Underground with Nico – Heroin

Velvet Underground with Nico – Femme Fatale

Velvet Underground with Nico – Venus In Furs

Velvet Underground with Nico – I’m Waiting For The Man

Velvet Underground with Nico – All Tomorrow’s Parties

Or possibly the greatest? I don’t know. You be the judge.

Earlier this year, I decided to put together a locals-only show at Whirlyball Atlanta which, at this point, isn’t necessarily uncharted territory. However, unlike the Black Lips show I did in February, I wanted to ensure that people would actually pack the joint. So what to do?

Whirlyball single front side….

So I came upon the idea of having a single with tracks by all four bands on a seven inch single and the ticket to the show actually as part of the record. Seems easy enough, right? Well, first I had to get four bands I was excited enough to put on vinyl. Second, I needed to make sure their schedules were adequately aligned. Then there’s just the logistics of putting on a show 30 miles from town and not to mention actually getting the record made and in stores in sufficient time.

But hey, you don’t wanna hear me bitch. You just want to know who’s on the record.

Simple enough. Just look up yonder. We’ve got The Selmanaires, Deerhunter, The Carbonas and The Coathangers. Four of Atlanta’s own on one single. I don’t know, has anybody ever done a record where it’s the actual ticket to the show? Perhaps Billy or some other frequent commenter can fill me in.

As for now, the sleeves unexpectedly ran out (I didn’t expect to sell 80 in two days!), people are already scalping on eBay (this guy can fuck off and die), and the show’s still a month away. God, I can hear collector’s panties bunching up from my office as I type this.

My dream is to do another one in the fall around my birthday and oh, I’m sure you’ll notice over on the right that Theo Leo is now performing at Whirlyball in August. Tickets will go on sale soon enough. Be patient.

Jeez, I’m sure it seems like all I do is talk about whirlyball, but in all, I’ve only had three shows there so far and two more scheduled. I guess the special-ness of the whole thing makes it seem like it’s more than it really is.

Oh, and for those that couldn’t attend, I’ll have a few copies of this record left over to sell on the site after the show. Just keep your eyes peeled because, much like the Patton Oswalt/Melvins single from the fall, I don’t expect them to last long…..

Inspired by Henry’s Drunks With Guns post a clicks back and the resulting noise-rock name drop chatter I have decided it’s time to revisit a long forgotten mess from some 17 years ago.

note the price sticker mark, thus only VG++ you dorks.

Vermonster was yet another incarnation of Wayne Rogers of Crystallized Movements, Magic Hour, and more recently, Major Stars…uh, er, "fame"? This LP, "Spirit Of Yma" was the band’s debut from 1990. Side one, that we have here, is basically a 5 minute intro followed by a 19 minute mess of ugliness. It’s a vinyl rip, but no it’s not skipping, that there is "artistic intent". I’ll post side two if enough people gripe/ask. I don’t think this has ever seen a CD release although I could be wrong. Enjoy or don’t, hell I care man. (side 2 now posted, get yer noise on)

Grease Of The Yak / Rainy, Starless Night

The Lions

Black Liquid Slowly Mummifies