tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57633672579091184092024-02-18T23:10:02.437-08:00I THINK I HATE MY 45sI have thousands of 7"s. I don't listen to them. It's not a convenient format. And yet I buy them year after year. In order to force myself to play these records, I will review every one that I own.ithinkihatemy45shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04731469673786156299noreply@blogger.comBlogger456125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763367257909118409.post-21983601360951042832013-06-22T15:18:00.003-07:002013-06-22T15:18:34.256-07:00FOR YOUR ENJOYMENT: AM PLAYING RECORDS TO-NITEAt Union Pool in Brooklyn, 9-12. Also: Psychic Ills playing live music.<br />
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HOPE EVERYONE LIKES THE COWSILLS.ithinkihatemy45shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04731469673786156299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763367257909118409.post-89166679612373345012012-01-29T20:49:00.001-08:002012-03-26T12:07:04.330-07:00SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVQdk18DGo9emgkYYdXhIQh4VKh8L5DLb1xkcwoWOMwyGxEg-Q2G3qjooDJxOUGdV3pn9XD2L27UNqp6rT-plqQA0kg8rtH_zuSTIuvaoicgyAMoVfyFBmtjKkGXgJtqX5OABOxiX2oP-Z/s1600/frehley.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVQdk18DGo9emgkYYdXhIQh4VKh8L5DLb1xkcwoWOMwyGxEg-Q2G3qjooDJxOUGdV3pn9XD2L27UNqp6rT-plqQA0kg8rtH_zuSTIuvaoicgyAMoVfyFBmtjKkGXgJtqX5OABOxiX2oP-Z/s1600/frehley.jpeg" /></a></div>I'm back! Back in a review mood! New apartment, new pants, new record player! I have some especially boring 7"s on deck and will start reviewing them as soon as I finish getting 'em all into something resembling alphabetical order. The world certainly wouldn't want me to skip over the likes of a Low Beam or a Low Flying Owls.ithinkihatemy45shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04731469673786156299noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763367257909118409.post-88864626425498312782011-08-13T18:19:00.000-07:002011-08-13T18:22:40.107-07:00Lovesliescrushing - Youreyesimmaculate<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO_Iz76RqQB6GZbFis1xvSOM6DA9ihKZ-eep8zDd6gVwIrD6bDaBZ1BidN3GhDDA02dOiHVjU7sQOjoEAd8SkWN_pMkn6L0zgHew7NiM2Vj7dXH2T6TP5ImkuIsBg3lUKFxy1u644rHYa6/s1600/loveliescrushing45a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" naa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO_Iz76RqQB6GZbFis1xvSOM6DA9ihKZ-eep8zDd6gVwIrD6bDaBZ1BidN3GhDDA02dOiHVjU7sQOjoEAd8SkWN_pMkn6L0zgHew7NiM2Vj7dXH2T6TP5ImkuIsBg3lUKFxy1u644rHYa6/s200/loveliescrushing45a.jpg" width="194" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>(<a href="http://www.projekt.com/">Projekt</a>, 1994)</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">A song apiece from <em>bloweyelashwish</em> and the then-unreleased <em>xuvetyn</em>, on purple vinyl in a limited edition of, uh, 1000. The comparisons are easy here: like My Bloody Valentine and Cocteau Twins, maybe even the less aggressive moments of Flying Saucer Attack, it's all <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQouiG8DiHI">effects-heavy guitar and girl-voice rumble 'n' vroom</a>, though largely avoiding drums and obvious/traditional song structure. Recorded on four-track, too, for maximum sonic bleed and speaker-rattle! A nice package for sure, but this music is actually best heard on CD, as everyone's least-favorite format does at least allow for 80 minutes of nonstop auditory immersion without mood-wrecking breaks to flip the 7" over. And, while we're at it, also VERY recommended is mastermind Scott Cortez's other project, Astrobrite, which retains the oceanic guitars of <a href="http://www.myspace.com/loveliescrushing/">Lovesliescrushing</a> while adding nifty pop elements to the soup. The first album was <a href="http://blvdrecords.com/?p=106">recently reissued</a> on LP by some genius, and the only person smarter than that guy is ME because I went and ordered myself a copy the other night.</span>ithinkihatemy45shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04731469673786156299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763367257909118409.post-2532541446287477432011-08-11T23:21:00.000-07:002011-08-11T23:24:23.147-07:00Los Llamarada - The Very Next Moment<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6fiiG1Ylb3YYZCozY5FWRCyV8QuDwXNWBixelnK_aLjiVJCZHH3EQkek2H0xh8fc3SShFgYoiGo9z4d723peYwQMAnNuJ4pKcEOi-vdr3N_niL5SMME7CPTb4-tSG-hgx5fc-_Jaqnz6a/s1600/losllamarada45a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="193" naa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6fiiG1Ylb3YYZCozY5FWRCyV8QuDwXNWBixelnK_aLjiVJCZHH3EQkek2H0xh8fc3SShFgYoiGo9z4d723peYwQMAnNuJ4pKcEOi-vdr3N_niL5SMME7CPTb4-tSG-hgx5fc-_Jaqnz6a/s200/losllamarada45a.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">(</span><a href="http://s-srecords.com/"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">S-S Records</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">, 2007)</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">RAW! And probably the only Mexican slackfuck 7" in my collection. With its shit-sound abrasiveness and vaguely early-Stooge-ian boneheadedness, I actually prefer this stoned, careening -- yet tight enough -- bloomph over anything on the band's kickin ghettoblast debut LP, <em>The Exploding Now</em>, as it offers both better songwrite and noise-as-texture -- rather than just noise-as-noise -- while still retaining the nifty woo-hoo energy of the alb. And on the B, Brenda Lee's (not Peggy Lee, as credited on the sleeve, dudez) "I'm Sorry" is rendered pleasantly </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsIZRAgnGNA"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">unrecognizable</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> as a buzzing, caterwauling, midtempo clomper, all VU '66 rather than the familiar </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZOj6wRMM4s&feature=fvst"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">she-croon syrup</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">. So that's swell. And very worth having.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I happened to see </span><a href="http://www.myspace.com/losllamarada"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Los Llamarada</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> live around the time of this release... remember them being fun and surprisingly young, and also remember accosting one ill-at-ease member at/to whom I insisted -- probably at length -- that I'd tried my best to get </span><a href="http://www.markprindle.com/"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Prindle</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> out to the show; they'd recently conducted an </span><a href="http://www.dustedmagazine.com/features/704"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">interview wherein they'd fluffed his site</span></a>.<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> I'd failed, though. Could I have tried better, That Guy from the band? Yes, there is no doubt. But still. Don't be mad. Listen to the B-side here and imagine it coming straight from my heart. PLEASE.</span>ithinkihatemy45shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04731469673786156299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763367257909118409.post-45156645919395830702011-08-09T20:47:00.000-07:002011-08-09T20:47:02.515-07:00Bruce Lose - What's Your Name<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNqtI6rI2nEB7g0uZ8fWGtyQsuT6RcuYJwQZXEWisi4vElmbqFdvthQLutUq5dREvPBfJUCatVELfyAkNq8Tpzsn32nZYb4RKAOFX2pArViloN3wooSF87KUYm1JadWmTjyd6YHQeKE1pA/s1600/lose45a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" naa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNqtI6rI2nEB7g0uZ8fWGtyQsuT6RcuYJwQZXEWisi4vElmbqFdvthQLutUq5dREvPBfJUCatVELfyAkNq8Tpzsn32nZYb4RKAOFX2pArViloN3wooSF87KUYm1JadWmTjyd6YHQeKE1pA/s200/lose45a.jpg" width="190" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>(Subterranean, 1983)</strong></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Well gosh, Bruce L</span>oose loses an "O" to become "Bruce Lose", and then goes and LOSES the rest of Flipper while he's at it in order to become his very own solo guy for this one-off single. The cad! Recorded between <em>Generic</em> and <em>Gone Fishin'</em>, it clearly features elements of both albums: you get the repetition of the former and the branch-out experimentalism of the latter. But, unfairly or not, this trebly 7" suffers by comparison in that it misses the messy intensity and beef of even the artiest Flipper material. And while sure, Loose/Lose was off doing his own thing here -- as evidenced by the thin vocals, lack of guitar/bass-roar, and the ticky-tacky drum machine that dominate both sides -- it's tough to deny that, at the end of the day, "thoughtful" rather than "hilariously bludgeoning" inevitably rates unfavorably when put up against BL's parent band, making the single more curio than anything else.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">AND YET.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">...At the same time, I oughta be clear that DUD this is not. Not HARDLY, son! For example: "What's Your Name" is a creepy-crawly, door-scratching nighttime take on standard Flipperisms, and "Waking to Sleep," well, shoot, that's a San Franciscan sludgepunk-whiteguy straight-up perpetrating some hip-hop in 1983! This record won't explode your ear-world (nor does it try to), but it's deserving of at least a cursory play by anyone even mildly curious about Flipper extracurriculars. Fusetron tends to have copies on hand, so those so inclined might as well give some bucks and give some listens. Thoughts?</span>ithinkihatemy45shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04731469673786156299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763367257909118409.post-52952513856920178662011-08-09T18:01:00.000-07:002011-08-09T20:50:32.635-07:00Loop - Torched<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBBzUvwawA66Ba1yjBl7fMdqqzJy0NKk3lex9kAyXsRjK_lm8bgV12xPMfUsRkT_JDDhQlO1IOULGFdevw1z5edMMxGrK2ROJMB8yU0jx17Ev23aeC3giKIeBMZ_3gs-ls48_NiZzgRbHf/s1600/loop45b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBBzUvwawA66Ba1yjBl7fMdqqzJy0NKk3lex9kAyXsRjK_lm8bgV12xPMfUsRkT_JDDhQlO1IOULGFdevw1z5edMMxGrK2ROJMB8yU0jx17Ev23aeC3giKIeBMZ_3gs-ls48_NiZzgRbHf/s200/loop45b.jpg" width="196" /></a></div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">(The Catalogue, 1988)</span></b><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Fuggin' flexidiscs. Cheaply made, super skip-happy, easily destroyed. Thankfully, these flippity-floppity wrecks more often than not avoid the inclusion of exclusive material and have historically appeared packaged as bonus/sampler/</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">gimmick freebies -- the MP3 giveaway of the pre-MP3 era, kinda -- otherwise the very existence of the format would be tough to defend. That said, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="http://heavensend.org/">Loop</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">'s (stuck into Brit magazine </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><i>The Catalogue</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> in late 1988), which falls into the "sampler" category, is hardly worth mentioning, as it's simply the album version of </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onpXVXdn9OQ">"Torched"</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> pressed onto a one-sided disc. Good deal if you're some dink mag-reader in '88 getting exposed to the band for the first time, pretty much pointless for everyone else, both then and now... just pick up the full </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><i>Fade Out</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> album instead. Now, if it's an ESSENTIAL flexi you want, go out and find </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5J-LvMxKvFY">"It's a Gas"</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> by Alfred E. Neuman, and friends and enemies alike will soon know you for the cut-up you truly are as those wonderful sounds issue forth from your speakers.</span>ithinkihatemy45shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04731469673786156299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763367257909118409.post-45112832983750807192011-03-05T16:19:00.001-08:002011-03-05T16:31:16.596-08:00Loop - Spinning<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEBcFyJewF7p9sQf8LjSBjlNrLxvhy4nAA2cVGwTAf9eLl9BBdUz1JPhEmrm5hRCe9au286Sd1jQCcUk53KEbF0TWKrnvYQxKIimHGgf8tYY_W54AAMQmydXUBUCVskqaY3-RqoaO6Q_8S/s1600/loop45a.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 165px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 156px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5580756430880107170" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEBcFyJewF7p9sQf8LjSBjlNrLxvhy4nAA2cVGwTAf9eLl9BBdUz1JPhEmrm5hRCe9au286Sd1jQCcUk53KEbF0TWKrnvYQxKIimHGgf8tYY_W54AAMQmydXUBUCVskqaY3-RqoaO6Q_8S/s200/loop45a.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family:georgia;"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">(Head, 1987)</span><br /></strong><br />I always thought it was silly for a band like <a href="http://www.glassdarkly.com/LOOP-PAGE.html">Loop</a> – invested as it was in drawn-out and oft-metallic hypno-jams – to release 7”s, and apparently those guys agreed with me, since they only ever bothered to push three of the things out onto the market. The first of those, the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKOXEwQCu3g">“Spinning”</a> single, is a good example of said silliness, since it adds a B-side (“Spinning Part Two”) that’s nothing more than an extended instrumental coda… why not just tack that onto the 12” version (which is “Spinning Part One”) and eliminate the fade-out/fade-in that brackets the side-break? Which <em>might</em> be what “Spinning (Spun Out)” on the <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/World-Your-Eyes-Loop/dp/B001RUDUCC/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1299371043&sr=8-7">World in Your Eyes</a></em> singles comp is, but I honestly can’t tell if that’s the case or not; sounds like “Spun Out” might have some additional overdubs. Regardless, it’s a strong piece of Stooges-meet-Spacemen lunkhead-psych, with plenty of nicely-toasted swoops and wiggles in the guitar department. And now that <a href="http://www.roberthampson.com/">Robert Hampson</a> has finally overseen reissues – COMPREHENSIVE and TIDY reissues! – of Loop’s entire catalog (including ALL versions of “Spinning”), there isn’t any excuse for not owning the whole of this sledgehammering gunk… he’s made it easy for you goofs.</span>ithinkihatemy45shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04731469673786156299noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763367257909118409.post-63447837683940124542011-03-04T18:03:00.000-08:002011-03-04T18:44:50.331-08:00Lockgroove - Something To Give<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwMn4-l4fPVhKCPoVz9p67GhtZmaz8bRvkTmhkeOSpI5gAoy7jPx3wwAUb5yOfbVznnfA0Zw_YG2wVtUcKiyy3UOq41avas4KhFMInbFiNgZet4h9sMuU2ITfy7jXjTXzktuEyFFkeINXy/s1600/lockgroove45a.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 165px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 158px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5580414047276722594" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwMn4-l4fPVhKCPoVz9p67GhtZmaz8bRvkTmhkeOSpI5gAoy7jPx3wwAUb5yOfbVznnfA0Zw_YG2wVtUcKiyy3UOq41avas4KhFMInbFiNgZet4h9sMuU2ITfy7jXjTXzktuEyFFkeINXy/s200/lockgroove45a.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family:georgia;"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">(</span><a href="http://www.sharkattackmusic.com/"><span style="font-size:130%;">SharkAttack!</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;">, 2001)<br /></span></strong><br />Released between the <em>Sleeping on the Elephant Fog</em> and <em>Calm Right Down</em> albums, this mighty fine single actually shares more with the noisy Terrastock space-rock of the group’s debut <em>Rewired</em> EP than with the spaced-out (albeit still noise-inflected) pop-/rock-leanings of later days. “Something to Give” has the hazy, bluesy psych-stomp feel of very early Spacemen 3, or perhaps mid-’90s Brian Jonestown Massacre – but with a little more dynamism than either band typically threw out there on a per-song basis – while “Only One Time” makes a more frantic, clear-headed run through similar regions. A final blast of looped clubnoize points the way, I’m guessing, to the <a href="http://ithinkihatemy45s.blogspot.com/2008/06/compass-antonio-rumori.html">Compass</a> splinter act.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/lockgroove">Lockgroove</a> doesn’t seem to exist anymore (breaking up after <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Calm-Right-Down-Lockgroove/dp/B0002ZDWJE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1299291140&sr=8-1"><em>Calm Right Down</em></a>, which includes serious Best Songs Of The 2000s contenders “Payin’ the Price” and “Execution Style”), but folks from that group and brother band <a href="http://ithinkihatemy45s.blogspot.com/search/label/Charlene">Charlene</a> are still a-strummin’ and a-thumpin’ and a-ooh’in’ and a-aah’in’ around the Boston area these days as <a href="http://www.brokenriverprophet.com/home.html">Broken River Prophet</a>, a worthy venture that displays much in the way of sonic connective tissue. See ’em, if leaving the house happens to be your bag! Heck, I did it and it involved a BUS.</span>ithinkihatemy45shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04731469673786156299noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763367257909118409.post-27440258211664345102010-09-15T19:51:00.000-07:002011-03-04T18:19:55.712-08:00DJ Lance Lockarm - Wouldn't It Be Ecstasy<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">(no label, 2005)</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">A bit of a mysterious one. In early 2005, the waning days of the mash-up fad, a handful of these white-label 45s became available for mailorder through <a href="http://www.roughtrade.com/">Rough Trade</a>. Laying the Beach Boys’ vocals for “Wouldn’t it Be Nice” (taken from the </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Pet Sounds Sessions</span></span></i><span style="FONT-STYLE: normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> box) over Spacemen 3’s “Ecstasy Symphony” drone, it doesn’t offer any particularly revelatory/amusing new angles on either song, as the best mash-ups did, but it’s still a creepily hypnotic luv-thingy that works more than well enough. And sure, there’s a little cheating afoot as the song’s creator employs some necessary pitch-shifting here and there on the Spacemen component, but who among us hasn’t sneakily pitch-shifted from time to time?</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-STYLE: normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Don’t answer that.</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-STYLE: normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">On to the aforementioned mystery: There’s a stamp on the label that identifies the disc as <a href="http://www.teenanthems.com/discography.html">“I Will Always Love You Forever” by Sonic Art Crew</a>, but the <a href="http://www.lancelockarm.com/">now-dead website</a> of DJ Lance Lockarm, where the song was called “Wouldn’t it Be Ecstasy,” always appeared to me to be the original source of the track. No idea whether Sonic Art Crew lifted it and then released this bootleg, or if the thing’s just mislabeled. Anyway, I’m officially giving Lance Lockarm the credit until I hear otherwise. Know the deal, you?</span></span></span></p><!--EndFragment-->ithinkihatemy45shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04731469673786156299noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763367257909118409.post-68209306222804431732010-09-11T15:12:00.000-07:002010-09-11T15:18:52.613-07:00LMNOP - Forever Through The Sun<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">(<a href="http://www.lmnop.com/LMNOP.html">LMNOP</a>, 1985)</span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I’ve been reading the infamous <a href="http://www.babysue.com">“Babysue”</a> for many years – their “Legalize Crime” cartoon resides on my fridge – and it’s always a little surprising to jump from the deliberately offensive, world-hating comics and essays of that magazine/site to LMNOP, its creator’s pleasant if off-kilter musical alter-ego. This debut single is a sincere, driving power-pop-athon (faint whiffs of “Dream Police” at times) filled with big guitars, LOUD drums, and some nice vocal harmonies… a seriously good song. These guys must’ve been really young at the time, given the vocals and the fresh-faced band photos on the back of the ’86 </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Elemen Opee Elpee</span></span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, but “Forever Through the Sun” is a full-on winner that many a veteran group of la-la’ers would KILL to record. Impressive biz! So even if I’m far less fond of the more dated B, “Three Colon Oh Oh,” I can safely recommend this disc as both a getter and a keeper – Numero has apparently included the A-side on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Yellow-Pills-Prefill-Numero-004/dp/B0007XS0BQ">one of their comps</a>, but the original is the way to go, as it comes packaged in a 12-page zine signed by the band. Bang for your buck!</span></span></span></p> <!--EndFragment-->ithinkihatemy45shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04731469673786156299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763367257909118409.post-23360924617888908092010-09-09T15:29:00.000-07:002011-03-04T18:56:22.800-08:00Lilys - A Nanny In Manhattan<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguRpK7ysmm-k-g3HdvyCS9LQWBLC2wfQNDKrl_pF6-8TmSdWKrwBGzw2NmMZ4nAzSk7CPnz9g_8iawBr9aSzlHz-fhYahjE9baJqcdnyCcq0CMjADThw41VCDMR06ur1G16u5GYT6aPEN9/s1600/lilys45g.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 165px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 154px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5580424120046949810" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguRpK7ysmm-k-g3HdvyCS9LQWBLC2wfQNDKrl_pF6-8TmSdWKrwBGzw2NmMZ4nAzSk7CPnz9g_8iawBr9aSzlHz-fhYahjE9baJqcdnyCcq0CMjADThw41VCDMR06ur1G16u5GYT6aPEN9/s200/lilys45g.jpg" /></a><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">(Che, 1998)</span></span></b><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">After the pants people got “A Nanny in Manhattan” on the tube, Che decided it oughta get on the stick and put some product in the stores, hence this remixed single, complete with snazzy new sleeve and “as featured in Levi’s TV ad” sticker. Aside from a sonically-richer version of the accompanying LP re-released at the same time, the popularity of “Nanny” also gave the universe an <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2ZXHO-Qan0">insane Lilys lip-synch performance</a> on UK television that should be watched again and again and again. Oh, and there are also a few B-sides in the same vein as </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Better</span></span></i><span style="FONT-STYLE: normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> spread across the formats (here it’s the excellent “The First Half Second”), all of which are on the American </span></span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Services (For the Soon to Be Departed)</span></span></i><span style="FONT-STYLE: normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> EP.</span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-STYLE: normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I know I’ve been using the useless catch-all word “pop” to describe these last few Lilys singles, but I should make clear that this stuff is more gloriously weird than that term might imply: Wrapped up in the catchy melodies and concise track-lengths are unusual and unpredictable song structures, consistently surprising sounds, and oft-impenetrable lyrics. That the band managed to sneak out two albums on major-label subsidiaries (follow-up </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The 3 Way</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> was on Sire) is a nifty feat, and theirs is a discography worth gathering.</span></span></span>ithinkihatemy45shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04731469673786156299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763367257909118409.post-86076700233924567002010-09-09T13:56:00.000-07:002011-03-04T18:57:00.540-08:00Lilys - A Nanny In Manhattan<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHKFn5sY07ayWemiL89ddOx2yeV8tIn6gefbZ2jQzW6yfSKVH8w2VtoDjSbT5_4vpGPDnqOC2bIr65tk9ZlLIhBxFM5BIvZQvFlEF-WhgRW1f_WGX4-Eb_2locB8_WO6L-yzkYTjRcE3lB/s1600/lilys45f.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 164px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 159px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5580422609549927874" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHKFn5sY07ayWemiL89ddOx2yeV8tIn6gefbZ2jQzW6yfSKVH8w2VtoDjSbT5_4vpGPDnqOC2bIr65tk9ZlLIhBxFM5BIvZQvFlEF-WhgRW1f_WGX4-Eb_2locB8_WO6L-yzkYTjRcE3lB/s200/lilys45f.jpg" /></a><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">(Che, 1996)</span></b><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Another hooky slice of slightly-skewed moddery from Lilys, and it deservedly ended up a British hit a few years down the road after Levi’s stuck it in an ad. I wouldn’t say that it’s significantly better than the rest of what the band was recording at the time, but it’s pretty obvious why this one, with its clanking, clattering kickiness, would have wide appeal when given the proper exposure. On the B side, the psychedelic, Eastern drone of “More Than That is Deserved” is an unfinished-sounding drag (rather like one of the lesser songs on </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Their Satanic Majesties Request</span></span></i><span style="FONT-STYLE: normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">) whose addition to the end of the reworked </span></span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Better Can’t Make Your Life Better</span></span></i><span style="FONT-STYLE: normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> as album-closer was a mistake.</span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-STYLE: normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">By the way, I must note that I have a mouse hiding out – or HOLING UP, if you will, HO HO HO – somewhere in my apartment. Not the worst development in the world, as I’m generally sympathetic to my fellow mammals, feeling a certain kinship with them, but I’m very annoyed by this dink’s habit of leaving feces all over my kitchen floor at night. Unless the mouse happens to read this and change his ways immediately, the penalty is gonna be death by neckbreaking. I’m harsh but fair.</span></span></span>ithinkihatemy45shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04731469673786156299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763367257909118409.post-11525498812941526112010-09-04T16:22:00.000-07:002010-09-04T16:38:59.283-07:00Lilys - Which Studies The Past?<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">(</span><a href="http://www.subpop.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Sub Pop</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">, 1996)</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The first Lilys 7” I ever plunked down for, and still top o’ the heap after all these years. Criminal that these two songs, released as a one-off for Sub Pop, aren’t available elsewhere, as they’re easily as good as, heck, not only anything on the stylistically-similar </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Better Can’t Make Your Life Better</span></span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">, but ANYTHING ELSE Lilys ever put out. The smashingly-titled “Welfare Murder Plot” covers a lotta ground in little time, lurching back and forth from slithery croon to chunky garage-pop before ending with a smooth-rockin’ coda. Nothing finer than the ultra-catchy B, though, a tight </span></span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Nuggets</span></span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">-y head-shaker called “Baby’s a Dealer” that might be – yup! – the apex of this phase of the band’s existence. So why in tarnation is it buried on the flip of an obscure 7”?? Mysteries abound in this life of ours! </span></span></span></span></span></p> <!--EndFragment-->ithinkihatemy45shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04731469673786156299noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763367257909118409.post-54362651051962171472010-09-03T12:24:00.000-07:002011-03-04T18:47:50.467-08:00Lilys - Returns Every Morning<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMBcB1dGP5ReR9_vJvDwIR_UzPUIMk6VCut5XLZWP6RujAoie5s-vK4ATjurHcA6Nrz-2q3612R6gdRs1plcDU666COUlyPw335TGtpOm8a76ZDYUo43IqR9nOR-xS_L6woZ0CpzSHxJrl/s1600/lilys45d.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 164px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 158px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5580422001678937154" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMBcB1dGP5ReR9_vJvDwIR_UzPUIMk6VCut5XLZWP6RujAoie5s-vK4ATjurHcA6Nrz-2q3612R6gdRs1plcDU666COUlyPw335TGtpOm8a76ZDYUo43IqR9nOR-xS_L6woZ0CpzSHxJrl/s200/lilys45d.jpg" /></a><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: normal;font-family:Georgia, -webkit-fantasy;" class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, fantasy;"><b><span style="font-size:130%;">(<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, fantasy;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">C</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, fantasy;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">h</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, fantasy;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">e</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, fantasy;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">,</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, fantasy;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, fantasy;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">1</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, fantasy;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">9</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, fantasy;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">9</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, fantasy;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">6)<br /><br /></span></span></span></b></span></span></span></span></b><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: normal;font-family:Georgia, -webkit-fantasy;" class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Yeepers, where’d THIS come from?! </span></span><a href="http://www.myspace.com/thelilys"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Lilys</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> ’96 abruptly says goodbye to gauze-pop and hello to mod-pop, stripping away the layers of dreamy guitars and sighing vocals and going for a sharper, more concise, pill-gulpin’ (yet still semi-psych) sound – the sound of FUN! “Returns Every Morning,” taken from the happy-go-peppy </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Better Can’t Make Your Life Better</span></span></i><span style="FONT-STYLE: normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> album, is a fine representation of the chiming, hazy-summer stomp-pop that Heasley would focus on for the second half of the ’90s, a carefree, kickass – if </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">well-trod – regresso-path</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> that has been shared but never bested by sonic cousins like the </span></span><a href="http://www.myspace.com/asteroid4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Asteroid Number Four</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">, </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Minders"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Minders</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">, and, at times, </span></span><a href="http://www.myspace.com/saturdaylooksgoodtome"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Saturday Looks Good to Me</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">. Zanier still is the </span></span><a href="http://applesinstereo.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Apples in Stereo</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> cover “Touch the Water” – Heasley and Robert Schneider crossed musical piss-streams a few times mid-decade – which turns the Apples’ comparatively flat lo-fi rocker into a full-on bubblegum-garage basher. “Touch the Water” was left off of the initial version of the </span></span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Better…</span></span></i><span style="FONT-STYLE: normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> LP but later included on the 1998 UK re-release, which was remixed and generally re-jiggered after the success of “A Nanny in Manhattan.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">”</span></span></span></span></span></b>ithinkihatemy45shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04731469673786156299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763367257909118409.post-41723791393717993192010-03-30T22:46:00.001-07:002010-09-04T16:32:10.354-07:00Lilys - Tone Bender<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoyPpvsLNcMykjaiqPYo1NSO_xMHnu-04pUf41hNHjclismdMMXqinndR_UaYmkRtGj0hIoe8B8kOS6mC6qrwpD19eW3_1M_Bux_ckF-Fw-UQyvdtW3cFgq1acY6-972xROMTbW6auKHVJ/s1600/lilys45c.jpeg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454671538515696226" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 166px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 161px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoyPpvsLNcMykjaiqPYo1NSO_xMHnu-04pUf41hNHjclismdMMXqinndR_UaYmkRtGj0hIoe8B8kOS6mC6qrwpD19eW3_1M_Bux_ckF-Fw-UQyvdtW3cFgq1acY6-972xROMTbW6auKHVJ/s200/lilys45c.jpeg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:georgia;"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">(<a href="http://www.twee.net/labels/summershine.html">Summershine</a>, 1993)</span></strong></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VBWCFJwmPk">“Tone Bender”</a> gets pulled from <em>In the Presence of Nothing</em>, a song that again offers up the massive, woozy Valentines churn of “February Fourteenth,” this time with a lead guitar that sounds a bit like a much-slowed <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiomcuNlVjk">“Only Shallow.”</a> Another terrific, well-polished A-side. The rarity here is “Eskimo,” and while its relative sunniness is a slight tweak on the gauzy shoegaze formula, the track’s ponderous length eventually makes for a tiresome, impact-free slog. Zzzz.</span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">By the way: The CD version of “Tone Bender,” which adds the two tracks from the debut 7”, holds the piss-me-off honor of being THE record that has most successfully eluded me through the years. In over a decade of searching I’ve never actually seen it in person, and the one time I did buy an affordable copy on eBay, the USPS managed to lose the package. When I finally do obtain it, I’m gonna staple the fuckin thing to my chest.</span>ithinkihatemy45shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04731469673786156299noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763367257909118409.post-58022869670542646342010-03-28T15:46:00.001-07:002010-03-28T15:49:54.369-07:00Lilys - February Fourteenth<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHJ3zatQLHks0ME3GH5XQXm4uLTzbrSqkJfzRRPEzTu0cHyGd4HFPVudsAT91vFlrZaIRScwR7hqQkxWwKaL4mA456ZvS4nb3kKJ5D4BjOFb1X_FyXMV1TpdFVNxSsP1n4fisMPJSqSZ2s/s1600/NOSLEEVEriptorn.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5453820535487725026" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 166px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 160px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHJ3zatQLHks0ME3GH5XQXm4uLTzbrSqkJfzRRPEzTu0cHyGd4HFPVudsAT91vFlrZaIRScwR7hqQkxWwKaL4mA456ZvS4nb3kKJ5D4BjOFb1X_FyXMV1TpdFVNxSsP1n4fisMPJSqSZ2s/s200/NOSLEEVEriptorn.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:georgia;"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">(<a href="http://www.slumberlandrecords.com/">Slumberland</a>, 1991)</span></strong></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Back in VHS days, fun-guy buddyboys Slumberland used to release insanely limited versions of their records in special handmade sleeves. Not sure how many of these they actually did, but I have 7”s of this sort by Lilys, Swirlies, and Black Tambourine (the <a href="http://slumberlandrecords.com/catalog/show/4?page=1&ret=discog">“What Kind of Heaven Do You Want”</a> EP was hand-colored as well, but I think that’s true of the entire run). This Lilys 45, of which 43 – !! – were made, comes in a white sleeve that has a photo pasted to its front and minimal info (band name, track titles, label address) written in purple marker on the back. The vinyl is identical to the standard “February Fourteenth” black-wax single, making the thing strictly collector-dink bait, but I maintain that the unique-artwork idea was – and is! – a fun one that I wouldn’t mind seeing present-day labels revisit. Why not?</span>ithinkihatemy45shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04731469673786156299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763367257909118409.post-50754399369770780882010-03-23T23:12:00.000-07:002010-03-23T23:21:14.401-07:00Lilys - February Fourteenth<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZmJNw-keyUt9bwW_isL4XPOSrKwR4g3cHeDt8-2UQz0lMsFMPrlH3Vzc_x89u4iyHrc2nyw68TUqtM-XlSLTHIFmJkdMjT-m0n5fnFvIVKUYC7H72AnSKIP_WEX66kIWwTjSfxrKPI0W9/s1600-h/lilys45a.jpeg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452081422013928130" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 166px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 164px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZmJNw-keyUt9bwW_isL4XPOSrKwR4g3cHeDt8-2UQz0lMsFMPrlH3Vzc_x89u4iyHrc2nyw68TUqtM-XlSLTHIFmJkdMjT-m0n5fnFvIVKUYC7H72AnSKIP_WEX66kIWwTjSfxrKPI0W9/s200/lilys45a.jpeg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:georgia;"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">(<a href="http://www.slumberlandrecords.com/">Slumberland</a>, 1991)</span></strong></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">The first <a href="http://www.myspace.com/thelilys">Lilys</a> single is about as close an approximation of the uptempo bits on the <em>Isn’t Anything</em>-era MBV EPs as a guy’s gonna find, and in a still-growing sea of limp Shieldsian imitators, quality stuff like this is not to be sneered at. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBSGIiJN7N0">“February Fourteenth”</a> in particular is heavier than the by-then chart-baiting <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnAbBTYci6g">Telescopes</a>, crisper than the early BJM stabs at crudegaze, and more invested in maintaining a Rock undercurrent (see: drums) than even the contemporaneous <a href="http://www.mybloodyvalentine.net/">My Bloody Valentine</a> itself. Best American shoegaze record I’ve ever heard? Yup. Oddly enough, “Threw a Day,” which is absolutely the lesser of these two songs, is available on <em>In the Presence of Nothing</em> (as an unlisted track), while the pummeling A-side appears only here and as a bonus on the impossible-to-find Australian “Tone Bender” CDEP. If Kurt Heasley and/or Slumberland ever feels like fixing that situation, your iPod or Discman or whatever will be much the better for it.</span>ithinkihatemy45shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04731469673786156299noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763367257909118409.post-39983570467778624892010-03-18T22:20:00.001-07:002010-03-18T22:27:03.855-07:00Lil Bunnies - Lil Bunnies<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtbQjpzbo_0ViOYXJyNatP-1Grf6CS7d68RbqO9LJstdc9dtmYp2qioZEOQ2KhHOOFvmZV69eKLBUoQ2IQj2BjiH6oQenXwRu2zis1f-Snxone_8nyC5_HQEhaBLwRu8Y8aVdLCogLTMe4/s1600-h/lilbunnies45a.jpg"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5450212029884124306" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 166px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 162px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtbQjpzbo_0ViOYXJyNatP-1Grf6CS7d68RbqO9LJstdc9dtmYp2qioZEOQ2KhHOOFvmZV69eKLBUoQ2IQj2BjiH6oQenXwRu2zis1f-Snxone_8nyC5_HQEhaBLwRu8Y8aVdLCogLTMe4/s200/lilbunnies45a.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:georgia;"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">(Moo-La-La, 1995)<br /><br /></span></strong>Confrontational </span><a href="http://www.nokilli.com/Lilbunnies/"><span style="font-family:georgia;">bunny-suited assholes</span></a><span style="font-family:georgia;"> from Sacramento who vomit forth rabbit-themed scumpunk disasters that include GG Allin-inspired originals (“Hop, Fight, & Fuck”) and Electric Eels covers (“Bunnies”). Yes, it all sounds like total ghetto-blast shit. And yes, the humor/annoyance factor is boosted by the cheesy air organ that gets pounded sub-Kingsmen style throughout the entire record. But for sheer </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9AAZypgc6Y"><span style="font-family:georgia;">fuck-you purity-of-concept</span></a><span style="font-family:georgia;"> it’s tough to beat these guys… please check out their </span><a href="http://interpunk.com/item.cfm?Item=56664&"><span style="font-family:georgia;">lone LP</span></a><span style="font-family:georgia;"> (released in Italy?!) in order to experience the group’s ultimate expression of contempt/laziness/jokiness at an excruciatingly-long 33rpm. Perversely, it’s a must. GET.</span>ithinkihatemy45shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04731469673786156299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763367257909118409.post-11497201359449166952010-03-13T14:07:00.000-08:002010-03-13T14:15:50.564-08:00Lightning Bolt - Conan<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEY0s289YNLJHVwTlLM9_kfolzlBWGsNVnvjzV-U7iR4B62MqTEvYYu6K_yhzzV3eUvjGZgPiKkPgzyuVnXzTMym1FU1znIrtOYuBeBp1JBJPg4WtvozQ88HZmnwYxDF6jOuukme0qSTuA/s1600-h/lightningbolt45a.jpeg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448244244185982162" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 166px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 163px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEY0s289YNLJHVwTlLM9_kfolzlBWGsNVnvjzV-U7iR4B62MqTEvYYu6K_yhzzV3eUvjGZgPiKkPgzyuVnXzTMym1FU1znIrtOYuBeBp1JBJPg4WtvozQ88HZmnwYxDF6jOuukme0qSTuA/s200/lightningbolt45a.jpeg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:georgia;"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">(<a href="http://www.loadrecords.com/">Load</a>, 2000)<br /></span></strong><br />Remember the Harvard Square Other Music? Good enough store, but it was a pretty crazy proposition from the get-go, what with Twisted Village, Newbury Comics, In Your Ear, CD Spins, HMV, Tower, and the post-Kenmore Planet Records all situated within several blocks of the place. Predictably short-lived, I think it’s now a restaurant hilariously named “OM,” and I heard that the dude who masterminded the whole folly lost his job over it. Anyway, I bought this <a href="http://laserbeast.com/">Lightning Bolt</a> tour single there back in the glory days of 2001 (for $2.99!), and I’ve always held it in rather low regard. I’m of the commonly-held opinion that there’s never been a Lightning Bolt record that comes anywhere close to the greatness of the band’s nutso concerts, and would heartily recommend their <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Lightning-Bolt-Power-Brian-Chippendale/dp/B00006ADFF/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1268518453&sr=8-2">Power of Salad</a></em> live DVD over any of the LPs, since it at least gives you the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LP7NJ6zB-wY">visual component</a>. But this 7”? Thanks to length restrictions, it doesn’t have even the sustained, tightly-wound semi-insanity of the full-lengths, which is a problem when the sound is much like a sloppier, more manic version of some of the heavier Japanese groove-psych groups – Les Rallizes Denudes or Mainliner, say. “Conan” does generate a fair amount of excitement once it explodes into its motorcycle-guitar second half, but that certainly doesn’t justify the huge cash-wheelbarrows you’ll need to dump in order to pick up this rare’un. Unless you’re dumping that cash at MY feet, of course.</span>ithinkihatemy45shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04731469673786156299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763367257909118409.post-27594610838440846682010-03-10T01:02:00.000-08:002010-03-10T01:28:15.343-08:00Lenola - Colonial 509<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjizr9v3W63XpVL7fyd3pQbQzYUiyVm3wMTyYUS90Iufbtl7nJ9yIwMIXMCnIVNnViV2UFNYftE0gPA-mxyWoi8E49-uPG-8g9H9QcJ_N4ra2VKedbfLoUtgAFJiG-Xsl6hyknc2aW3M3sf/s1600-h/lenola45a.jpeg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5446929295644764354" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 166px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 163px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjizr9v3W63XpVL7fyd3pQbQzYUiyVm3wMTyYUS90Iufbtl7nJ9yIwMIXMCnIVNnViV2UFNYftE0gPA-mxyWoi8E49-uPG-8g9H9QcJ_N4ra2VKedbfLoUtgAFJiG-Xsl6hyknc2aW3M3sf/s200/lenola45a.jpeg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:georgia;"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">(<a href="http://tappersize.com/">Tappersize</a>, 1994)</span></strong></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Aw heck. This isn’t my finest night. Because of a mishap involving an unstopped sink and my beloved Mach 3, I had to shave using a horrible plastic razor that I bought a few years ago on vacation as part of a $1.69 twelve-pack from a San Francisco bodega. Making matters worse, said beard-scrape was done in the dark after my bathroom light burnt out and I realized I didn’t have any replacement bulbs (the penlight I held in my left hand was quite a help, though). Now finished, the 99-cent “Men’s Choice” aftershave has hardly soothed my angered skin, and I sit here with a scowl gracing my burning skull.<br /><br />All of that makes my vivid memories of transporting this very single across the country – broke – on a sweltering Greyhound bus (San Diego to Worcester!) rankle considerably less, even while its stomach-churn guitars make me wish I was safely in bed with the booze-bottle closed. Decent work here, though, <a href="http://www.lenola.com/">Lenola </a>guys. This debut release is bendy-note nausea-gaze pedal-box weirdness that stakes out what I suppose is a rough middle ground between Pavement and the <a href="http://www.rcarchives.com/">Swirlies</a>, particularly on the A, with B-side “Greedo” tending towards the latter in its extended instrumental sections. Fairly gifted with melody, better stuff was to come once the band tightened up, “got normal,” and veered into Rev/Hopewell/Home country around the turn of the century (<em>The Electric Tickle</em>, etc.), but this one is certainly worth sniffing out <a href="http://tappersize.com/">on the cheap</a>. An underrated group.</span>ithinkihatemy45shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04731469673786156299noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763367257909118409.post-86407793655098069502010-03-02T23:24:00.000-08:002010-03-02T23:35:23.936-08:00John Lennon - Jealous Guy<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444307194650444914" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 166px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 163px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcjgMuJxP3pIuXBP7Ymgq7VEucPDfh0ZS8vZsQQP7Ilg6jRQPtYx7xKERtOamuu1UxLeOAWmuW10JO7sNZ6CH1x8OzHfcHPJQAbCiW3hqNt4m7GIDaVdOS3w8ueTk76FFmmxo5gqWo5AeW/s200/lennon45v.jpg" border="0" /><span style="font-family:georgia;"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">(Capitol, 1988)</span></strong></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">The <em>Imagine</em> film was one of the earliest image-control projects from the Lennon Estate, and Yoko and co. cannily (but boringly) go the double A-side route with the release of an American “Jealous Guy” single lifted from the soundtrack. Whereas the Europeans had stuck the semi-headscratcher “Going Down on Love” on the B back in the early ’80s, the US gets the far more famous “Give Peace a Chance” for a full-on warm ’n’ fuzzy mini hits package. Hooray and all that, but there could hardly be a less interesting record twenty-plus years after the fact. Any person dumb enough to seek the thing out owns both songs many times over, and there isn’t anything in the artwork or packaging to make it desirable from even a collector-dummy perspective. Owning this does not reflect well on me.</span>ithinkihatemy45shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04731469673786156299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763367257909118409.post-90052056489424726312010-02-28T22:33:00.001-08:002010-02-28T22:43:38.462-08:00John Lennnon - I'm Stepping Out<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1e7bAnH38j7DAXPJ1L1bYTU2V1lXFKZMT0xona1alDJ85RV_RchyphenhyphenIY4j3ab00OM2EzmFrKKy6_ZUN62GKG4pSlg8foo7SSHXmiZ7rRO7qfC6rtOqrPl_B-9tKMM3mAJRjfC9YFKejMY0_/s1600-h/lennon45u.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443550633430222322" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 166px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 162px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1e7bAnH38j7DAXPJ1L1bYTU2V1lXFKZMT0xona1alDJ85RV_RchyphenhyphenIY4j3ab00OM2EzmFrKKy6_ZUN62GKG4pSlg8foo7SSHXmiZ7rRO7qfC6rtOqrPl_B-9tKMM3mAJRjfC9YFKejMY0_/s200/lennon45u.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:georgia;"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">(Polydor, 1984)</span></strong></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Once more to the well! Here’s further doodly-doo from the archives, a partner/sequel of sorts to “Watching the Wheels” where John addresses the big-city bored-dude itch that comes along with his decision to squirrel himself away as a daddy for five years. It’s a stiff straight-rock-combo performance, clearly not intended to be a final take, but it’s strong enough as far as outtakes go (though maybe not worthy of release as a single). Yoko’s alien-croon funk come-on “Sleepless Night” adds little… beyond “Walking on Thin Ice,” the post-<em>Double Fantasy</em> years aren’t her most exciting musical period. Fashion commentary: the cover of this record reminds me once again that our friend John was bizarrely thin back in ’80. What was that about? Was he skiing the Bolivian slopes, wink-wink? HEY, SEARCH ME!</span>ithinkihatemy45shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04731469673786156299noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763367257909118409.post-20151085565849971032010-02-28T21:05:00.000-08:002010-03-10T01:16:42.518-08:00John Lennon - Borrowed Time<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYhmaZOibKXTE9vTwdBAXLPb0EN2BqC4Wpzzvs3KbVmNp5qNGdkMECtDDhTbjRpmC0E8ZiVmFHhJNQix-Mnl__WG3ssY-G-hNZm6XvzFNSq-V5gwGnZKjCfsiLjDAV2ExXtwZiTYZVplk2/s1600-h/lennon45t.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443528323817003650" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 165px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 163px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYhmaZOibKXTE9vTwdBAXLPb0EN2BqC4Wpzzvs3KbVmNp5qNGdkMECtDDhTbjRpmC0E8ZiVmFHhJNQix-Mnl__WG3ssY-G-hNZm6XvzFNSq-V5gwGnZKjCfsiLjDAV2ExXtwZiTYZVplk2/s200/lennon45t.jpg" border="0" /></a><strong><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">(Polydor, 1984)</span></strong><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">I know what you’re wondering: How’s stuff going with my shower? Well let me tells it to you straight by informing one and all that I fixed it my own damned self by bellbottoming down to the local plumbing supply store and simply buying a new shower head, which I then “installed” WITHOUT the recommended thread sealing tape. Problem solved, body cleansed. None more handy than this guy right here, and none more rebellious (re: thread sealing tape). I DO WHAT I WANT.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">And what of John Lennon? Baggy white-dude reggae butter from him here with “Borrowed Time”… it’s a very swell simp-Caribbean groove-thingy that ambles along inoffensively just as it should. His <em>DF</em>/<em>M&H</em> sessions were loose, and this pulls that vibe off as well as anything else on those oft-slight tapes, even if, as a whole, <em>Milk and Honey</em> goes a bit far in the anti-slick direction and, perhaps inevitably, feels at times unfinished and patched together. Uh. So?</span>ithinkihatemy45shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04731469673786156299noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763367257909118409.post-20847372743035091352010-02-22T23:21:00.000-08:002010-02-23T00:23:21.483-08:00John Lennon - Nobody Told Me<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrmsk8n-WQRppnIY33n5oqevsbS4ZBXJp157rjPneJp7dKnb7h_gTqPf3Sq1w9AX-weF3SZb9XSb-jder3Ocog5dKmS8YQGhgBCmzqGunr453uDew6H7QwNNgekXnONs6tsw8yoMsrv4ys/s1600-h/lennon45s.jpeg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441336722437129650" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 166px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 165px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrmsk8n-WQRppnIY33n5oqevsbS4ZBXJp157rjPneJp7dKnb7h_gTqPf3Sq1w9AX-weF3SZb9XSb-jder3Ocog5dKmS8YQGhgBCmzqGunr453uDew6H7QwNNgekXnONs6tsw8yoMsrv4ys/s200/lennon45s.jpeg" border="0" /></a><strong><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">(Polydor, 1983)</span></strong><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">I’m all out of sorts. Not only do I have some weird head-congestion situation that’s rendering me half-deaf and three-quarters off-balance, but my shower is also busted. Water pressure problem? Utility company tomfoolery? Wish I knew. Washing and shampooing in the kitchen sink is a skunk-rotten scene even after a single day. These aggravations have left me grouchy, and I’m sulking around the pad tonight with a grimace, a glare, and both fists a-shaking. What is that that deceased fellow from the Beatles sang in his big posthumous hit? “Nobody told me there’d be days like these!” Darn straight, Johnny! ’Cept he’s doling out a wryly bemused helping of whatchoo-gonna-do bafflement that has little to do – moodwise – with the pissy self-pitython that I’m busy rocking. Still, my anger hasta melt a smidge thanks to the goofy looseness of this simple pop ear-pleaser, a song whose rock-combo lightness of touch is refreshing after the off-putting gloss of <em>Double Fantasy</em>. Continuing the “dialogue” structure of <em>DF</em>, Yoko tacks her jarringly short “O’ Sanity” onto the B, wasting wax that woulda been better grooved with, if not a stronger Ono track, one of the many, many Lennon demos or outtakes from the post-’75 period – thematic whatsis is great and all, but this is just self-indulgent, poor-choice silliness. And that’s FACT, not my judgment-impairing sickness and uncleanliness talking.</span>ithinkihatemy45shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04731469673786156299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763367257909118409.post-10893706165031549712010-02-16T19:34:00.000-08:002010-02-23T00:21:57.433-08:00John Lennon - (Just Like) Starting Over<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2lz7Nhnq8XSi6z4TUMh02N415Kj8iHjLhDtYHXqTJGBjpG9cQejGY_uhwQbePimvG21j1lPht3uUiYyaf1cN4Kyrxf-LFjVZ-CPj6KMuB5m7UgeFwkq8eAUuvbnXMMiChyWgorczVMZe8/s1600-h/lennon45r.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439345407942060338" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 166px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 162px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2lz7Nhnq8XSi6z4TUMh02N415Kj8iHjLhDtYHXqTJGBjpG9cQejGY_uhwQbePimvG21j1lPht3uUiYyaf1cN4Kyrxf-LFjVZ-CPj6KMuB5m7UgeFwkq8eAUuvbnXMMiChyWgorczVMZe8/s200/lennon45r.JPG" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:georgia;"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">(Geffen, 1981)</span></strong></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Just in time for the American hardcore explosion, Geffen fires a doubled-sided NUTTIN BUT HITS 7” – “(Just Like) Starting Over” b/w “Woman”!! – up the ass of a nation that will never and CAN NEVER be the same after the dropping of this INSANE VINYL. These two fuckers were straight BANGERS in Lennon’s life, and things haven’t changed since death came creeping. Yeh, “Starting Over” still makes me feel like I should check on ye olde rockin’ prostate, and “Woman” calls to mind drunken fetal-position sobbing for/about mummy: Talk about maxxing out the Intensity Card after driving your Wildguy Minivan down to the Grocery Store of Madness! Has there ever been a back-2-back KRAZIER party offered by the major-label budget bin? I think I heard a 10cc 45 once that came close, but buddy the answer’s nope!</span>ithinkihatemy45shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04731469673786156299noreply@blogger.com2