More Patton Oswalt + Maria Bamford + Doug Stanhope

I've been on a mad Patton Oswalt high recently, even more so than usual. Not sure why.

(mp3) Patton Oswalt - Edgar Allen Poe

And by watching The Comedians Of The Comedy (both the tv show and the movie) I've developed an unhealthy crush on Maria Bamford. I need to make that nutcase mine and only mine.

(mp3) Maria Bamford - Mental makeup
Available on How To Win! (2007)

Oh what the hell, let's throw in some Doug Stanhope while we're at it. Can't hurt.

(mp3) Doug Stanhope - Two-headed baby
Available on Deadbeat Hero (2004)

The Friday MP3 Shuffle #47

The campaign for Lingua's pending world domination continues! The track No Footing is taken from their debut album The Smell Of A Life That Could Have Been. For more Lingua, go here.

Also on offer here is the only good song off of Ihsahn's latest album After, released just a couple of days ago.

(zip) MP3 Shuffle #47 (78 mb)

1. Tool - Reflection (2001)
2. Pantera - Domination (1990)
3. Electric Wizard - Dunwich (2007)
4. Metallica - Holier than thou (1991)
5. Ihsahn - A grave reversed (2010)
6. Entombed - Thou shalt kill (2006)
7. Heaven And Hell - Follow the tears (2009)
8. Mastodon - Thank you for this/We built this come death (live, 2003)
9. Death Breath - Maimed and slaughtered (2007)
10. Lingua - No footing (2006)
11. Opeth - A fair judgement (2002)

Pay for your music, support the artists

Rollins Band & Friends - "Rise Above: 24 Black Flag Songs to Benefit the West Memphis Three" (2002)

The tragic fate of the West Memphis Three surely haven't been missed by anyone, and one dude who was affected by this atrocity of injustice was Henry Rollins who decided to do his best to raise some money for their cause.

So he got his Rollins Band to record two dozen Black Flag songs and invite an impressive line-up of people to do some Black Flag karaoke. These include everyone from Nick Oliveri (Queens of the Stone Age, Mondo Generator), Corey Taylor (Slipknot) and Lemmy (Motörhead) to vintage Black Flag royalty like Kira Roessler, Keith Morris and Chuck Dukowski.

And let's not forget Inger Lorre - I had a massive crush on Inger when I was a kid and hearing her singing on Slip It In only rekindled it. Her band The Nymphs released an utterly brilliant selftitled album in 1991 before breaking up and fading into obscurity. If you haven't heard the album you have a lot to look forward to. Go check it out!

I remember reading about all the guests before the album came out thinking it was too good to be true and while it holds no candle to the originals, this is even better than you'd think. The Rollins Band are on fucking fire, infusing every song with much of the hate and raw energy of the originals, consistently playing them faster than Black Flag did back in the day.

Personal favorites here include I've Had It, with The Mars Volta's Cedric Bixler-Cavala manic vocals, and American Waste starring Neil Fallon. I've heard Fallon bellow out groovy blues rock in Clutch for so long I had forgotten how much venom he has in him. Definitely his best vocal performance in years, and that also goes for Tom Araya who spits more blood in the 53 seconds of Revenge than he has done for the last 20 years in Slayer.

(mp3) Neil Fallon - American waste
(mp3) Cedric Bixler-Cavala - I've had it
(mp3) Nick Oliveri - Jealous again
(mp3) Mike Patton - Six pack
(mp3) Tom Araya - Revenge

Buy the album, support the cause.

And here are the originals. Because why not?

(mp3) Black Flag - I've had it
Taken from Nervous Breakdown (ep, 1978)

(mp3) Black Flag - Jealous again
(mp3) Black Flag - Revenge
Taken from Jealous Again (ep, 1980)

(mp3) Black Flag - Six pack
(mp3) Black Flag - American waste
Taken from Six Pack (ep, 1981)

All available on The First Four Years (compilation, 1983)

Songs That Get My Juices Flowing #72

(mp3) Marduk - Of hells fire
Available on Nightwing (1998)

(mp3) Devin Townsend - The fluke
Available on Terria (2001)

(mp3) Plastic Pride - Cross
Available on Ammunition Spent (2001)

(mp3) Lacuna Coil - No need to explain
Available on S/t (ep, 1998)

(mp3) Porcupine Tree - Fear of a blank planet
Available on Fear Of A Blank Planet (2007)

The Friday MP3 Shuffle #46

I need some help here. Does anyone know who does the ominous spoken word part in Cable's Outside Abilene? I've been looking everywhere but can't seem to find any info on it. Can't find anything in the booklet either. Anyone?

I want to think it's Billy Bob Thornton, but I'm probably way off.

(zip) MP3 Shuffle #46 (62 mb)

1. Baroness - Wailing wintery wind (2007)
2. Torche - Sandstorm (2008)
3. Them Crooked Vultures - Reptiles (2009)
4. Black Sabbath - Wicked world (1970)
5. The Datsuns - Motherfucker from hell (2002)
6. Cathedral - Enter the worms (1993)
7. Turbonegro - Rendezvous with anus (1998)
8. The Bronx - Heart attack American (2003)
9. Converge - You fail me (2004)
10. Cable - Outside Abilene (2009)
11. Soundgarden - Flower (1988)

Pay for your music

Nirvana Interview Disc

This here is a nearly hour long interview with Nirvana most likely done sometime in early 1991, prior to the release of Nevermind when the album still had the working title Sheep. It was released as a cash-in after Cobain's suicide in 1995 by Sound And Media Production, whoever the hell they are. Haven't heard of them before or since.

These types of releases were, and perhaps still are, quite common among suspicious characters who wanted to put out something by a big artists but had no rights to any of their music. What to do? Simple: release an interview!

I must have dozens of these kinds of discs with everyone from Metallica to Kula Shaker, but this is actually quite well made. The audio of the interview itself is quite crap, but included is a 120 page color booklet full of nice photographs and a lengthy band history.

I have absolutely no idea where and when I got this. I probably got it at the record store Mellotronen in Stockholm in the late 90s, but I couldn't be sure.

(mp3) Nirvana interview 1991

Epic Skitsystem fail

Big thanks to Jonas Granvik for making me aware of this debacle.

Skitsystem formed in Gothenburg in 1994 and were perhaps best known internationally for once having Tompa Lindberg (Disfear/At The Gates) behind the mic. No big loss though, since the band made their best album (2006's Stigmata) without him. Although 2001's Enkel Resa Till Rännstenen is quite the ass-ripper as well.

The band parted ways in 2007 after a disastrous gig in Poland, during which everyone but singer/bassist Alex Höglind were so stupendously hammered they could barely make it through a single song. They ended up fighting on stage and storming off into the night. I could've sworn four chords and a d-beat was the one type of music you could play nearly unconscious and no one in the audience would be able to hear the difference.

Regardless of how tragicomical they were after a few bottles of cheap Polish vodka, it was an unfitting end to a great band. However, Skitsystem reunited last year and have gigs booked for 2010.

A very kind soul uploaded a video of the whole Poland gig (all eighteen minutes of it) and boy what a trainwreck it is - like one of those "shreds" videos on YouTube unfolding for real before your eyes.

"You know what 'Skitsystem' means? It means 'shit'! And that's what we are!"

(mp3) Skitsystem - Maktens murar rasar
Available on Profithysteri (1995)

(mp3) Skitsystem - Dödsmaskin
Available on Ondskans Ansikte (1996)

(mp3) Skitsystem - Skrivet i blod, ristat i sten
Available on Grå Värld/Svart Tankar (1999)

(mp3) Skitsystem - Snutstat
Available on Enkel Resa Till Rännstenen (2001)

(mp3) Skitsystem - Apokalypsens svarta änglar
Available on Stigmata (2006)

Mastodon odds & sods

A week ago I posted Mastodon's cover of Metallica's Orion here. It turned out to be very popular, so here's a few more ravishing non-album tracks by those rugged Georgia boys.

My favorite here is definitely Cut You With A Linoleum Knife, entirely thanks to Brann's spot-on King Diamond vocals.

(mp3) Mastodon - Emerald (Thin Lizzy cover) (2002)
(mp3) Mastodon - The bit (Melvins cover) (2002)
(mp3) Mastodon - Cut you with a linoleum knife (2006)

Songs That Get My Juices Flowing #71

(mp3) Khoma - Last call
Available on The Second Wave (2006)

(mp3) Cannibal Corpse - Make them suffer
Available on Kill (2006)

(mp3) Skid Row - Quicksand Jesus
Available on Slave To The Grind (1991)

(mp3) Monster Magnet - Negasonic teenage warhead
Available on Dopes To Infinity (1995)

(mp3) Rammstein - Sonne
Available on Mutter (2001)

The Friday MP3 Shuffle #45

It feels like this blog hasn't quite lived up to its name recently, so before I'll be forced to change the name to "Rock Bastard", "Stoner/Doom/Sludge Bastard" or "Wussy Little Girl With A Frilly Pink Skirt And Ribbons In Her Hair Bastard", I hereby give you one of the heaviest Friday shuffles in quite a while.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

(zip) MP3 Shuffle #45 (69 mb)

1. Murder Squad - Slowly burnt to death (2001)
2. Slayer - Piece by piece (1986)
3. Bloodbath - Bathe in blood (2002)
4. Misery Loves Co. - The only way (1994)
5. Machine Head - Elegy (2003)
6. The Haunted - All against all (2004)
7. Jungle Rot - Strangulation mutilation (2001)
8. Entombed - Bitter loss (1990)
9. Nile - Chapter for transforming into a snake (2000)
10. Sepultura - Lobotomy (1989)
11. Vision of Disorder feat. Phil Anselmo - By the river (1998)
12. Opeth - Karma (1998)

Pay for your music

Mama she taught me well

One of the best releases of 2009 was Puscifer's "C" Is for (Please Insert Sophomoric Genitalia Reference Here) which I didn't include in my rundown of the best music of 2009 for the simple reason that's it's "only" an EP and not a proper album.

Puscifer is as you probably know Maynard Keenan's playhouse where he lives out all the goofyness and experimentation he can't fit into his main band Tool. The first album V Is For Vagina came out in 2007, and Momma Sed quickly became my favorite song on it.

The song has since been released in several different versions, each somehow even better than the last. And last year the ultimate rendition was released in the form of an orgasmic live version on the aforementioned EP.

I'm a big Maynard fan and this live version of Momma Sed is easily one of the best things he's ever done. Probably my 3rd favorite song of his, right after A Perfect Circle's Orestes and Tool's Reflection.

(mp3) Puscifer - Momma sed
Available on V is for Vagina (2007)

(mp3) Puscifer - Momma sed (Tandimonuim mix)
Available on V Is For Viagra - The Remixes (2008)

(mp3) Puscifer - Momma sed "Alive at Club Nokia" (extremely recommended!)
Available on "C" Is for (Please Insert Sophomoric Genitalia Reference Here) (ep, 2009)

O'Brien's Tower

Just so we know where we all stand on this - I'm with Coco all the way, 100%.

(mp3) Kyuss - Conan Troutman
Available on Welcome To Sky Valley (1994)

Getting a well-earned pearl necklace from The Melvins, Part 4

Okay, the last one. All four installments can be found here.

A raging homosexual from Finland requested "more text" in the next Melvins post. So this is all the text you're getting, screw that guy.

Oh, and you also get this video, which is very strange and very amusing.

(zip) Melvins Collection #4 (96 mb)

1. Isabella (1992)
2. Detroit Rock City (Kiss cover, 2008)
3. Queen (1994)
4. Roadbull (1994)
5. Dry drunk (feat. David Yow, 2000)
6. Safety third (feat. Lustmord, 2004)
7. Blood witch (2006)
8. The smiling cobra (2008)
9. Mombius hibachi (1997)
10. Big as a mountain (1989)
11. Forgotten principles (1983)
12. Anal satan (1998)
13. Oven (1989)
14. Boris (1991)
15. Nude with boots (2008)
16. Berthas (1996)
17. Poison (MC5 cover, 1996)
18. Now a limo (1986)
19. The bloat (1996)
20. The fool, the meddling idiot (2002)

Buy all things Melvins @ iTunes.

Treating The Melvins to a rusty trombone, Part 3

A friend of mine once, in a characteristic moment of clarity, described The Melvins' music as "köttig grisrock". God I wish that would translate well into English.

When you're finished download this. here's some more for all ye Melvins starved: click me

(zip) Melvins Collection #3 (95 mb)

1. Sweet Willy Rollbar (1994)
2. Night goat (1993)
3. Captain Pungent (1996)
4. The hawk (2006)
5. Anaconda (1991)
6. I don't know (1983)
7. Chalk people (1994)
8. The talking horse (2006)
9. Lexicon devil (The Germs cover, 1994)
10. Spineless (feat. Skeleton Key & Amanda Ferguson, 2000)
11. In the freaktose the bugs are dying (1997)
12. Ever since my accident (1989)
13. #2 pencil (1986)
14. Hog leg (1991)
15. Set me straight (1993)
16. The ballad of Dwight Frye (1992)
17. Mary Lady Bobby Kins (1999)
18. Ligature (1991)
19. Tipping the lion (1996)
20. Divorce (feat. Tool, 2000)

Buy all things Melvins @ iTunes.

Gently fellating The Melvins, Part 2

The humble worshipping of The Melvins continues with the second part of this four part series.

After I made these four compilations I listened back to them and it struck me how well they work in this new context - as an old mixtape geek who dedicates large parts of his blogs to zipped mixes, these sort of things fascinate me to no end.

You see, I've been a fan of the Melvins for a good fifteen years or so and I'm so used to listening to the songs on the albums in their original context, but listening to them on these mixes was quite a staggering experience. Even for a Melvins nerd like yours truly hearing the songs all mixed up like this somehow makes perfect sense, so I can only imagine how natural it must sounds to you people out there who don't know every single Melvins release like the back of your hand. If you didn't know any better you'd think this is the context in which the songs were intended to be presented.

Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I'm a fucking genius.

It most likely only works because the key components of their sound (the burly vocals and nimble yet beefy guitars of Buzz Osbourne and the authoritative drumming of Dale Crover) have been consistent since day one, but let's pretend it's all thanks to me and my brilliant mind. It's better for my ego that way, it's always in need of a boost.

This mix is a personal favorite out of the four for me, as it has some of my all time favorite Melvins songs, such as Rat Faced Granny, Raise A Paw and of course the sublime Revolve, one of my favorite songs by anyone. In fact, any Melvins songs that begins with the letter R is likely to be just a little bit better than the others. Good rule of thumb there, keep it in mind.

(zip) Melvins Collection #2 (106 mb)

1. Rat faced granny (2006)
2. Black stooges (2002)
3. Civilized worm (2006)
4. Zzzz best (feat. Lustmord, 2004)
5. Teet (1993)
6. Sacrifice (1992)
7. Raise a paw (1989)
8. Billy fish (2008)
9. Dead wipe (1992)
10. Goin' blind (Kiss cover, 1993)
11. Revolve (1994)
12. G.I. Joe (feat. Mike Patton, 2000)
13. Rickets (1994)
14. The kicking machine (2008)
15. Black bock (1996)
16. Amazon (1999)
17. With teeth (1992)
18. At a crawl (1991)
19. You've never been right (2006)
20. Harry Lauder's walking stick tree (1997)

Buy all things Melvins @ iTunes.

Kneeling at the altar of The Melvins, Part 1

This is the first part of four in a little salute to The Melvins, one of my top five favorite bands of all time. Yes, I really have such a list and no, I'm not telling you the other four.

As one of the originators of both grunge and sludge (I would say the sole originators of both, but I'm trying not to be hyperbolic), Aberdeen, WA's favorite sons The Melvins have been raising hell for almost thirty years, kicking ass and blowing minds wherever they go and influencing everyone from Nirvana and Soundgarden to Tool and Mastodon along the way. They've never let their integrity budge even the slightest so it's no wonder Atlantic Records (who signed them during the grunge craze of the early 90's) dropped them after only a couple of albums. They were hoping for the next Nirvana, but only got mean doom, uncompromising punk, ugly metal and strange noise experiments.

It's such a cliche, but the only predictable thing about The Melvins is their unpredictability. They're far too unreliable for a major label and when you buy a new Melvins record you can never know for sure what you're getting.

Their strength is that all their fans (of which they do not have nearly enough) know perfectly well that Melvins can whip out a blasting beast of an album that blows all other rock and metal bands away, and they can do it without even trying that hard. The band is fully aware that the fans know this and takes every chance they get to tease said fans a bit. This is something I have huge respect for, as there are way too many whorish crowdpleasers who give the fans exactly what they want. The Melvins know exactly what the fans want and go out of their way to needle and torture them just to see how much they can put up with. Just to see how much the rubber band will stretch, and just before it snaps they flippantly release a whole album of one epic, flawless song after another without a filler in sight (1993's Houdini or 2006's A Senile Animal) like it's nothing.

Amidst some of the most amazing songs you've ever heard you might get a droning 15 minute song that goes nowhere, goofy covers (Smells Like Teen Spirit with Leif Garrett, I'm looking at you) and ambient interludes. You might get a pure pop song, a 30 second doom track, raging hardcore punk, electronic experiments, songs played backwards, or collaborations with anyone from Lustmord and Jello Biafra to Hank Williams III and Gene Simmons.

Did I mention Shirley Temple's daughter was their bassist? Very odd, but somehow it fits. Their last two albums were done with the rhythm section of Big Business, because they figured the last thing they needed was a second drummer, so therefore they had to get one. Just for the hell of it.

Perhaps they'll cover Kiss or even their own national anthem, or do a split single with a stand-up comedian. You never know. You want a whole album of total nonsense and barely a single proper song? Then 1994's Prick will be your best friend.

These four mixes however consist mostly of straight forward and easy listening material - by the Melvins' standards anyway, we're hardly talking Blink 182 here. So it's not in anyway representative of the band as a whole. I guess I was just in rocking kinda mood when I made them. Had I made them some other day they may have looked completely different.

I'm very pleased with this compilation. Its tracks are culled from a large variety of releases, from many different eras in the band's history and with many different line-ups, but it still works seamlessly as a whole.

And the other three are at least as good, if not better. Hard to believe I know, but just wait and see.

(zip) Melvins Collection #1 (88 mb)

1. The bit (1996)
2. The bloated pope (feat. Lustmord, 2004)
3. Hooch (1993)
4. A history of drunks (2006)
5. Bar-X-the rocking M (1996)
6. Dr. Geek (2002)
7. Communist concubine (2007)
8. Honey bucket (1993)
9. Star spangled banner (2008)
10. Rocket reducer #62 (MC5 cover, 1993)
11. I like porn (1995)
12. It's shoved (1991)
13. Buck Owens (1996)
14. Euthanasia (1991)
15. Hurter (1992)
16. Candy-O (1989)
17. The horn bearer (1999)
18. Little Judas Chongo (2002)
19. Suicide in progress (2008)
20. Shevil (1994)

Buy all things Melvins @ iTunes.

The two dumbest cunts in the world

As mentioned in the previous post, there will a whole lot of Melvins over the next three or four days. As a little warm-up, here's Patton Oswalt's contribution to Chunklet, the split 7" the two did together. A bit of an odd pairing, but there you go. If you wanna hear the Melvins' side of the single, go here.

Patton put out a new album last year by the way, buy it here, it's excellent. He was also flawless in his first dramatic movie role in Big Fan. Go see it.

(mp3) Patton Oswalt - The two dumbest cunts in the world
Available on Chunklet (2006)

The Friday MP3 Shuffle #44

Sorry 'bout the lack of updates this week, but I've been hella busy doing... well, absolutely nothing to be honest.

But now we're back on track. I hope you like The Melvins, because there will be plenty of them around here starting tomorrow. But 'til then, here's your soundtrack for the weekend. You're welcome.

Welsh sludge bruisers Taint round this Friday's mix off in style. I made a post about them a couple of weeks ago, but not nearly enough people have downloaded the songs offered. This must clearly be some sort of mistake on your part, dear reader, as Taint is one of the best bands around. So click here and correct that mistake. Eleven fantastic songs just waiting for you to hear them.

That Taint post even offers a whole live show from the Roadburn festival two years ago and only eight (!) people have downloaded it. I don't care what anybody says, that's just downright criminal.

(zip) MP3 Shuffle #44 (60 mb)

1. Kyuss - Un sandpiper (1994)
2. Big Business - Start your digging (2006)
3. Soundgarden - Drawing flies (1991)
4. Meshuggah - The mouth licking what you've bled (1998)
5. Mastic Scum - Blood for blood (2009)
6. Sick Of It All - Friends like you (1989)
7. Final Exit - Respect (1997)
8. The Hives - Hail hail spit 'n' drool (1997)
9. Monster Magnet - Evil going on (1993)
10. The Murder City Devils - Press gang (2000)
11. The Obsessed - Inner turmoil (1990)
12. Taint - The idol/the memory (2005)

Buy 'em @ Amazon.com.

Songs That Get My Juices Flowing #70

(mp3) The Smashing Pumpkins - Today
Available on Siamese Dream (1993)

(mp3) Faith No More - Kindergarten
Available on Angel Dust (1992)

(mp3) Mastodon - Orion
Available on V/A Remastered - Metallica's Master Of Puppets Revisited (compilation, 2006)

(mp3) Refused - Hook, line & sinker
Available on Songs To Fan The Flames Of Discontent (1996)

(mp3) Tony Iommi feat. Dave Grohl - Goodbye lament
Available on Iommi (2000)

Lingua galore

(photo shamelessly stolen without permission from their MySpace page.)
Lingua is a quartet from Stockholm, currently recording their second album (set for release in 2010). Mark from Reno left a comment saying he like the Lingua song I included the latest Friday mp3 shuffle, so I figured I might as well share some more of this excellent band in case anyone else cares.

The easiest (and by that I mean "laziest") way to describe Lingua would be a cross between Tool (or perhaps A Perfect Circle) and Khoma, and would very likely appeal to fans of any of those bands. Or just fans of good music, hopefully.

They released their debut, the rather oddly titled The Smell Of A Life That Could Have Been, in 2006, an album the band wasn't very happy with. I can't see why, I think it's brilliant. If I ever get around to counting down the best album of 00's it will definitely be on there. The recording of their upcoming second album can be followed here. If the untitled demo on the MySpace page is anything to go by the album will be a fucking beast.

These seven songs are taken from various demos the band did prior to their 2006 debut album. Constant State Of Puttra was also featured on the album.

(mp3) Lingua - Access denied
(mp3) Lingua - Constant state of Puttra (recommended!)
(mp3) Lingua - Ego
(mp3) Lingua - Folder (extremely recommended!)
(mp3) Lingua - Substance (recommended!)
(mp3) Lingua - Three equals one
(mp3) Lingua - Turning

Constant State Of Puttra live in 2006:

What goes around comes around

May Satan devour your black heart, Rush Limbaugh. Nothing less than you deserve, you pillock.

Someone please sneak into the hospital and unplug a couple of cords or a tube or two.

(mp3) Metallica - ...And justice for all
Available on ...And Justice For All (1988)

The Friday MP3 Shuffle #43

So, 2010? Nice. Wow, golly. Go fly a kite, 2009. There's a new boy in town.

OH STREWTH!!! Voles. Dinsdale!

(zip) The Friday MP3 Shuffle #43 (74 mb)

1. Pantera - Use my third arm (1994)
2. Assjack - Cut throat (2009)
3. The Melvins - The hawk (2006)
4. Cathedral - Upon Azrael's wings (2006)
5. Electric Wizard - We live (2004)
6. Candlemass - Droid (1999)
7. Mastodon - Circle of Cysquatch (2006)
8. Kylesa - Unknown awareness (2009)
9. Lingua - Folder (2004)
10. Constants - Those who came before pt. I & II (2009)

Okay, so let's sum up the decade, shall we?

Everyone's doing it, so here we go. This happened:



That's pretty much it.

Well, can you remember anything else?

(mp3) Teddybears STHLM - Let's go (live)
Available on Step On It (ep, 1994)

(mp3) CKY - Flesh into gear
Available on Infiltrate•Destroy•Rebuild (2002)

(mp3) Stiltskin - Inside
Available on The Mind's Eye (1994)