If you've never heard Mercyful Fate, it's high time we remedied that. It's like Judas Priest doing a horror soundtrack, only a lot more badass than how lame that kinda sounds. The Denner/Shermann guitar duo is among the best in metal, the rhythm section is highly underrated, and King Diamond stands on his own in a vocal capacity. These are fluid, haunting tales of the dark, full of wailing vocal histrionics and distinctive, menacing melody.
I found this awesome bootleg live LP rip from their mid-90s reunion (circa the In The Shadows, I thinkrecord) somewhere in my internet wanderings. Enjoy.
Fallen Angels are a thrash/death metal quintent hailing from Seattle, and began in 2004, well before everyone and their brother rocked Nike Hi-Tops and jean jackets like it was 1986 all over again. Dudes evenly split their influences between the the '80s heyday of Bay Area and the late '80s/early '90s DM scene.
The first time I saw them was at Northwest Deathfest 2006, and was actually the first time I heard Pestilence-- they broke out an absolutely ravaging cover of "Out of the Body." I still say that was one of the most powerful, hit-you-in-the-face live sets I've ever seen; the band attribute it to their immense rage at being moved to the second stage at the last minute after another band paid for their mainstage spot.
Their full-length, "Rise From Ashes," was released a few months ago and absolutely rips. Buy it if you like what you here on this oldschool demo, as some of the songs were re-recorded for the album.
In addition to this blog, I'm now a full-time member of ICDT. Some posts will be on both sites simultaneously; others will not. But anyway, I'm stoked to be onboard. Much thanks to Adam and Trey.
When I started listening to Dinosaur Jr a few years nacl, I felt like they were the band I'd needed in high school. Nerdy and reclusive, but also distorted and huge. Their first few records are like the best parts of Neil Young dipped in large vats of guitar effects. This bootleg from 1989, Blue Note, captures the now-reunited classic lineup in solid form not long before frontman J Masicis first gave bass player Lou Barlow the boot. I can only assume it's a soundboard rip because the band is fucking loud live unto today, yet everything's pretty clear here, even J and Lou's vocals.
It was another late night at the library last November and I decided (as I often do) that sustenance must be acquired. I popped over to the student coffee house to satiate my hunger and found it packed to the gills. Onstage, a man with a smooth, smoky voice recited spoken word poetry and it was so beautifully written and performed and completely hooked me in. His words were an alchemical mixture of humor, wisdom, confidence, questions and the kind of visual imagery that immediately crystallizes in one's mind.
His name is K.o.M.plex, aka Mr. Keep On Movin' and he does his shtick all over the states. He's put out two records, the second of which-- Grown Folks Bizness-- I bought from him immediately. I mentioned my blog and asked if I could maybe post a few songs but he just smiled and said, "man, just post whatever you want and do whatever you want." So here you go. A lot of these cuts have instrumental backing and vocal assists from friends and the whole thing is simply a thoroughly enjoyable listen.
Download Grown Folks Bizness here, and check out his MySpace here.
Cirith Ungol were a Californian metal band heavily influenced by fantasy literature-- they took their name from Shelob the spider's mountain passs from Lord of the Rings and every album cover featured artwork initially used for Michael Moorcock's Elric of Melniboné series. The band was steeped in a sound equal parts '70s hard/psych rock, Black Sabbath, and some forward-thinking ideas of their own. Although their debut record Frost and Fire is frequently hailed as the early-metal bees knee's, I much prefer this demo of theirs from 1979 as it features many of the songs that would eventually end up on the album in much rawer form. Also, the final version of the title track didn't have the trippy synth. There's some great guitar work, and Michael Flint's gnarly basstone really grinds it up. But what will truly make or break this demo for the listener are the wails of Tim Baker. By all accounts, the band were hardly popular back in the day, but Aesop from Squidlair pals Cosmic Hearseput it best-- "The term "cult band" here means that nobody gave a fuck when they were around, people even hated them, but now everyone claims to have been on board since the beginning."
So do yourself and the band some justice and lend your ears.
You guessed'er, Chester. I'm yet another whiteboy who really digs the Wu-Tang Clan.
The first time I actually somewhat heard them was through this mashup mixtape done by the mighty Soul4hire. Dude blended a capellas from classic Wu with French electro master Mr. Oizo (who's actually bringin' the dance a few hours away from me in London as I write). Obviously, it'll never touch the RZA's production, but it's an interesting reassembly of material.
I spent all summer absorbing the masterpiece that is 36 Chambers. When I needed some new shoes not too long ago, I found these for 60 bucks (they feel great). For my recent joint birthday party with my buddy, we covered "Da Mystery of Chessboxin'" with some friends (I did U-God and Inspectah Deck's verses). My buddy Mac just hooked up me up with the following tunes last night-- a boot of an XM Radio special session with Raekwon, GZA, Inspectah Deck, and U-God, back by funk band El Michael's Affair, bustin' classic Wu-bangers. I've only listened to a few of the cuts so far (this isn't my upload), but the version of "Da Mystery" that they do is more than worth the download.
As I'm finally all set up in my dorm in England, it's time to continue things with yet another little-known gem from the Kitsap County area.
The Humanoids were a bunch of Misfits-obsessed kids from Bainbridge Island, Washington, and were of the same generation as the aforementione Maurice's Little Bastards and Pantophobics. But while MLB were bursting at the seams with unstable lineups and Justin Maurer's endless energy and the Pantophobics were just goofing around, the Humanoids were a seemingly rambunctious lot (and at seperate points actually featured MLB's Sean Roach and Maurer on the drum throne). According to their way-outdated Angelfire site, singer Jakes was evidently known for self-mutilation when they played live, took a hatchet to an old bandmates' family's antique furniture, and was accosed of stealing from another ex-bandmates' brother. It was disappointing to hear that bassist Bradd was into some white power/NS digs at one point-- even reading Varg Vikernes' Vargsmal and taking a lot of influence from it.
But I digress-- the Humanoids were no racist band, and their Blood and Guts Demo is four slabs of complete and total lo-fi Misfits worship, complete with the off-key drawl of Jakes' singing. "Burn in Hell" tells of the narrator's stokage to...burn in hell, while "Line'em Up" preaches the death squad-style execution of everyone from "Baggy pants potheads [and] wanker wiggers" to "politicians with their pants at their feet." You can pretty much guess what "World War 3" is about, and "Slasher" details the life of a serial killer. All in all, hardly groundbreaking material, but a fun listen for anyone into horror punk.
Where are they now? I haven't a clue about the entire band save for Bradd, who along with a woman named Carrie runs Blood and Guts Records, a horror/oi/psychobilly label with a metal sublabel.
I gotta say it straight: I wasn't as impressed by Nachmystium's Assassins: Black Meddle, Pt 1 asmost everyone else was. There are some cool moments, to be sure, but a bunch of the gang vocal choruses annoyingly remind me why I so quickly tired of Children of Bodom years ago. Also, the three-part "Seasick" dealy was an interesting concept, but a saxophone? That instrument can either make (see King Crimson's catalogue) or break (see Thin Lizzy's "Dancing in the Moonlight") a song, and while not as drastic as the latter example I think the instrument's inclusion was a lil' much.
But I digress. I'm especially picky about the black metal-influenced stuff I listen to; the "purer" bands of the genre aren't so much my thing because I can't get down with unprovoked hatred. But Nachtmystium's breakthrough 2006 record Instinct: Decay was totally awesome. Just raw enough in the production department, but not without charred melody, memorable riffing and totally trippy guitar sounds. I went right out and bought it as well as the Eulogy IV EP, which if I recall correctly is where the psychedelic sounds first began to seep in. I unfortunately never got to see them live on that tour, but through some searching I acquired a soundboard rip of their Seattle set while touring with Daughters and Pelican in 2006. FLAC converted to WAV converted to MP3. It was unlabeled so I did what I could-- only a few song remain that way. Enjoy, unless you're some kvlt dude who can't get past the fact that they're not bedroom BM anymore.
Void, easily my favorite 80s DC (well, okay, they were from Columbia, MD) hardcore band, were an absolute clusterfuck of sound. John Weiffenbach's screechy delivery flies over a total racket created by the rhythm section of Sean Finnegan and Chris Stover and especially Bubba Dupree's guitar style. Dupree took the noisy tonal standard Greg Ginn established on Damaged and added more angst, heavy metal, and outright sloppiness. Dudes sound like they never played tight even on their best day, and that's the fun of it all.
Highly recommended is their split with the Faith, recently reissued on LP by the one and only Dischord Records. Faith's side can't touch Void's, but is solid nonetheless and features Ian MacKaye's younger brother on bass. The band also had a track featured on Dischord's Flex Your Head comp and released the Condensed Flesh 7"; the latter featured Holocaust content years before Slayer did "Angel of Death."
Bubba Dupree supposedly resides in Seattle, while Sean Finnegan worked on the set of The Wire until his unfortunate death of a heart attack last year.
I've acquired two boots of Void's violent live sets. The first is a bootleg 7" rip of a set from the 9:30 Club in DC in February 1983, and the second is titled "Live?" and has no other information. Both are of solid quality and worth the time of anyone into hardcore punk and/or crossover.
Because of upload malfunction last time, I get the sense the handful who actually read this page never got to acquire Forced Entry's fantastic record As Above, So Below. FE were a killer technical thrash metal trio from Seattle, and I originally did a writeup about them (along with crucial video footage) here.
I first started checking Death out towards the end of high school, when I heard they really advanced from the formula of traditional death metal-- a musical genre I shyed away from at the time-- and added melody, technicality and lyrical depth. So I started with The Sound of Perseverance and more or less worked my way back through the catalog. I can't say I'm as diehard a Death fan as I am Coroner or Opeth or other bands, but I have immense respect for Chuck's advancing the death metal template, his guitar styles and techniques, and the introspection he brought to his songwriting.
Had he not died of complications from a brain tumor, Chuck would have been 41 on December 13, 2008. In his honor, I will spread the awesome via this fantastic crowd bootleg from the Symbolic tour. The Engrish in the title is great...gotta love Japanese fans!
Today I finally turn 21. Most folks my age are all "HELLZ YES, BOOZIN TIME LOL," which is just fine. Me, I'm just happy I can go home to the Seattle area and not worry about an awesome show being 21+.
But anyway, I want to give anyone who reads this damn thing some gifts.
First, some amazingly relaxing atmospheres courtesy of Emancipator. Dude is my age and created this impeccable trip-hop record all in the comfort of his studio apartment. Everything you hear-- save a few vocal guests-- is programmed, built, or played by him. Dude just got this record released in Japan, but not the US and told me last year to "share it with your friends." Sure thing. It's called Soon It Will Be Cold Enough, and you can download it here. Next up, one of my favorite metal boots I have-- the first Celtic Frost show in the USA, circa 1986, on the Tragic Serenades tour for To Mega Therion. Nice and rawly recorded, and you get to hear "Inner Sanctum" before they ever laid it to tape for Into the Pandemonium. I was personally really bummed to hear the Frost had broken up again, but can't say I was surprised. Volatile personalities nonwithstanding, they'll always be in the annals of heaviness...and this live tape sure shows why. Check it out here, and be sure to "UNGH!" along with Tom.
I was poking around the blogosphere last night when I should've been writing a short paper on semiotics. My search terms? The Doughboys, of course! I ran across JimmyButtons' blog post about two live recordings he had up for download in September 2007. My jaw dropped. Bootlegs of the Canuck pop-punk greats DID exist! But then I frowned when I found the MediaFire links were dead.
So I quickly shot Jimmy an email and he, generous dude that he is, re-upped them immediately. Yay internets! Yay Doughboys! Yay portable recording devices!
Both are from 90-91ish-- so most likely the Happy Accidents lineup. I'm listening to the NYC boot right now and it's nothing short of fantastic! Check out the updated blog post with download links here and give Jimmy some hearty thanks! I know I am.
Tonight was a night for relaxing music. I was pleasantly surprised when my boy Quinn stopped by the studio tonight. It gets a little tepid doing a radio show on your own when you can't have witty conversation, y'know? Thanks, buddy.
Atomica- One Day in New York City Etro Anime- Adonis Massive Attack- Inertia Creeps Bobb Trimble- Premonitions- The Fantasy Nick Drake- Place to Be Camel- Song Within a Song Pink Floyd- A Pillow of Winds Ulver- Solitude (originally recorded by Black Sabbath) Only Living Witness- Hank Crane
Welcome to the first part of DF the CH, where I'll be posting free tunes from a local band (most likely defunct) from or around Kitsap County, the area of Washington State I grew up in. I was no music scene figurehead-– just another stoked attendee. A lot of my favorite memories of senior year were at shows on Bainbridge or in Bremerton.
And at most of these was Valley of the Dinosaurs, truly a one-of-a-kind outfit. Four dudes from Bremerton who'd been in a plethora of bands before; their sound was the ultimate rarity: one that was simultaneously unique but wore its influences on its sleeves. Fugazi, Pink Floyd, the Allman Brothers, and At the Drive-In were only a few groups the band cites on their Myspace page.
Jason Clackley and Dustin "Mangina" Mangini were the only two members who stayed in Valley from start to finish. Jason's onstage conviction and hyperactive jumping reminded me of D. Boon, but his voice was 100% reminiscent of bluesy classic rock singers. Call it whatever, but I call it soul- andJason had it in spades. Dustin was and is skinny as can be– but his boney form belied an incredible energy all his own.
The initial rhythym section was undoubtedly the most locked in– Gavin Temeyer on drums and Kevin Trent on bass. Gavin, in contrast with Dustin and Jason, seemed to have a very concentrated idea of power and focus. Kevin, meanwhile, was the master of melodic interplay. His lines would at the very least differ ever so slightly from whatever Dustin and Jason were playing and it would all just work.
This original lineup released a self-titled EP recorded with Tony Reed of famed locals Mos Generator in 2005. Every track holds its own; the mix is warm and clear right from the howling feedback briefly preceding the album's opening. "Truffle Shuffle" shifts from a woah-ohhhh verse into a contemplative section about "truffle shuffl[ing] through the seasons" where Jason warns not to "stray from one emotion." "Hey Sonic! Lay Off the Lightspeed" hits you next like a one-two punch and was a catalyst for circle pits countless times. "Mind in An Icebox" is perhaps the one song of theirs I don't think I ever heard live, but that's a damn shame; its swaying, waning riffs pause to give a bluesy guitar harmony break. "March" packs an urgent verse and a guitar harmonics call-and-response in before Jason belts "I TRY MY BEST TO REALIZE!" prompting a frantic break only to slide into a bluesy soft section and then right back to a frantic peak and then back to the soft again. "Time Until Death" was a tremendous slow-burner with an intense, instantly apparent melancholy never lost, no matter the dynamic shift. The Thin Lizzy part is fantastic.
But what brings me back to every great Valley set I ever saw is "Stop and Go Traffic," the penultimate Jason-ditching-the-mic-and-everyone-piles-up-to-get-it song. The chorus- consisting solely of the lyric "Where do I reside"- was a moment of mass catharsis every time. The speed-along verse was also a great circle pit. In February of senior year, Valley played the Bainbridge Teen Center and the tiny space couldn't contain the madness. Jason broke a string after a song or two, and the band soldered on as a one-guitar ensemble. Kids were zooming around the room, careening into chairs-- my friend Nick even crowd surfed despite the low ceiling. When the band– coaxed by an anxious crowd– played this tune (which at that point they were entirely tired of) at their final Bainbridge show at the Blood Barn in August 2007, Jason ended it collapsed in an exhausted heap on the floor.
You can and should buy the EP on the band's Myspace.
While Kevin Trent was definitely a bass player who knew his role, he eventually left due to a difference of direction. According to Dustin, he "he wanted a more striaghtforward vibe, and Jason and I were trying to be "weirder" and write darker, less catchy stuff." So they brought in Desi, Dustin's younger brother, who was a capable player in his own right but played in much more supportive style suited for the band's subsequent material. VotD Mark II released a sole song on what was initially going to be a split tour 7" but ended up being a 3" mini-CD with Bainbridge's Helen Killers. "Seas of Change was a midway point– a similar catchiness to the first EP's material, but raw and meandering enough to hint at what would come. It was limited to only 50 copies and screened by Nick and Peter from the Helen Killers. Valley of the Dinosaurs- Seas of Change
Gavin eventually quit as well for reasons I can't recall. Eventually good friend Justin Gallego (simultaneously in The Helen Killers and eventually Degania) joined and brought a new energy to the drumkit. Gavin was clean and relatively smooth, but Justin was a fury all his own and he hit hard. Some drummers make funny faces when concentrated, but Justin was one of the few I've seen who look genuinely emotional when playing, showing either an open-mouthed daze or a stoked smile, he enjoyed every second of performing live music.
The addition of Justin made everything huge, dynamic and cathartic about the band that much more so on their second and final self-titled EP, released in the summer of 2007. I don't know how many copies were produced, but by August they were all gone-- Desi was nice enough to give me the digipak case, hand-stenciled by Tony Wolfe.
This EP was undoubtedly in my top records of 2007 and as such I wrote a review of it for my college's newspaper-- only to have it cut at the last minute before publishing by the copy editor. But here tis:
Few songs released in 2007 were more raw, passionate and genuine at once than this Bremerton, WA-based quartet’s final release. Jason Clackley's voice– whether embodying aggravated rasp, classic rock soul or a melodic croon– soars above careening guitars and powerhouse drumming. Opening with a quiet minute of humming amps and softly picked guitars, the EP quickly erupts with “Sun is Dying.” “You wake up in the morning, with the sunshine and deaths/ a hollow absence in a dream.” belts Clackley, “A selfish hopefulness and a mindset/An argument transparent at the seam.” Cathartic in nature and breathtaking in execution, his lyrics’ heartbreaking sincerity clash with the upbeat tones of the instruments beneath, ramming themselves further into your ears without ever even touching contrived depression or the pigeonholing “emo” term so much music gets labeled as in this day and age. When the finale of “How to Die Completely” hits its last minute, the band climbs a mountainous crescendo only to switch to a slow trudge. Emoting every word, Clackley wails “And I woke up/In my heart of despair,” and there’s no doubt he’s telling the truth.
No other band sounds like Valley. Since they support their music being spread, and are unfortunately broken up, I've posted the EP in its entirety online. So long as you have enough of a connection speed, there's quite literally no excuse to avoid downloading it. Record labels today are so prone to putting out a record and proudly stating, "FOR FANS OF" and naming Pantera or some equivalently broadly influential group that gives no indication of how said record will sound. Valley of the Dinosaurs are simply for fans of music.
Where'd they go to? Jason has a fantastic solo project and his music is worth your ears and dinero. He also drums in the folkier Like Claws! and sings in The Flex. Dustin is never in just one band. He plays guitar for Sunset Riders (hardcore punk) and fronts President Kennedy is Assassinated (sludgy and heavy). Justin plays in both Degania and Kalakala when the other members are home from school on break. He also runs Young Summer Records (also see the blog on my bloglist) and is doing great things releasing DIY records for friends' bands. I don't know what the hell Desi, Kevin or Gavin are up to.
Before I delve into sentimental "what the record means to me" waxing and a summary of their career, I want to give a shoutout to mah boy Tony Pence at Celebrated Summer Records. His recommendations never disappoint.
A few months ago I had a jonesin' in me. I'd been playing Husker Du's Warehouse: Songs and Stories record now and again ever since I'd found it on cassette last summer, and couldn't get enough of the Descendents' classic Milo Goes to College. Something inside me was thirsty for punk-based music imbued with melody–and not in the manner of Green Day-Blink-182 crap I'd been subjected to all of middle school.
So I walk into Celebrated Summer one fine Friday and try to explain to Tony the sort of sound I'm looking for. He hardly hesitated before whipping out the Doughboys' second record, 1988's Home Again, on CD and popped it in. It wasn't as intense as the sound I'd wanted to hear, but the conglomeration of the music and the imagery in the jacket completely sold me. In the former department, the lo-fi production grabbed me immediately (in a good way) and everything about the tunes seemed to simply sound honest. In the latter, I opened the sleeve to see pictures of guitarist/lead singer John Kastner doing an insane jump with his Les Paul outstretched. Other guitarist/singer John Cummins was in mid-headbang. Brock Pytel was sweating his ass off on the drums and John Bondhead, crouched with his bass, almost looked like Mike from COC did in the mid-80s. I couldn't help but feel the hair length kinship, even though the dudes' dos were in crusty dreads. To top it all off, they all sang lead in every damn song. Sweet.
I bought Home Again on the spot and I'm still listening to it all the way through these days. Right from the disc's opening seconds, "Buying Time" has you jumping stokedly up and down. There is a whimsical, nonchalant youth about the album that seems to revel in its state of semi-slackerdom. "I don't care/if I never sleep again," sings Kastner on "Never Sleep." "I don't care/if this highway never ends." The record closes with the sole tune Bondhead penned, the ballad "She Doesn't Live There Anymore," a downright charming jam with soft acoustic plucking underneath the usual wash of flanged-as-hell distorted electric guitars. It also features a fantastic simile in the description of the girl Bondhead focuses on: "She had hair just like the wheat in Colorado/and every time we pass those fields I have to wonder/because they're waving there just for me/I can't wait to get back home again and leave."
After purchasing the previous album Whatever (1987) on vinyl and having it mailed home to Seattle (I have no turntable out here at school), I downloaded the album digitally for further investigation. A solid batch of tunes, to be sure. There's certainly more intensity as most of the record melds a blazing hardcore punk sound with the pop that would eventually become more prominent down the line. Amusingly, the video for "You're Related" reminds me of '90s Nickelodeon. Pssst...click here to check the record out.
As of today, I've got their third record, 1990's Happy Accidents, headed my way on purple vinyl. I'm substantially stoked but haven't been able to find it online yet. With that said, if the songs are a tenth as awesome as they are in this live footage from what I believe to be the tour for the same album in Florida circa 1991, color me excited.
Their next full-length, 1993's Crush, marked a change to a predominantly powerpop sound. "Shine" was evidently a Top 40 hit while I was still in preschool. After this record, Cummins was the latest casualty of the band's semi-frequent lineup changes (the rhythm section from Home Again was long gone) and was replaced by Mega City Four's Darren "Wiz" Brown, who unfortunately passed away due to a blood clot in his brain on December 6th, 2006. According to Tony, the record is still good–better, even– than the band's early material. It can be found for a dollar darn near everywhere...so don't be a moron like yours truly and pay $5.50 for it.
At this time the band was signed to A&M. They put out Turn Me On in 1996 and broke up after touring as the opening act for the Offspring. Their La Muejere demo was reissued in 2003, and I've seen a rare live German tour 7" from the Home Again days on eBay. This band is worth your money.
And now, the band/their crew talk about their cocks backstage.
In addition to being a fun creative writing outlet, the Squidlair is a music download blog I do to further one of my favorite activities: sharing and discussing music with people. All sorts of genres covered; if I dig it, you'll likely find it on here. Enjoy, subscribe, tell your friends and at the very least comment on the posts if you like (or hate) what I've put up.
All music posted on this site is linked to for the purpose of encouraging record purchases. All music is either incredibly obscure, a concert bootleg, a demo, or out of print. Not all of it is uploaded by me. If any labels or bands have problems with their material being posted, I will be more than happy to remove the content. If you think you/your band's music could work for a post on here, hit me up! redwoodcephalopod@gmail.com
