The Cramps "A Date with Elvis" (1986)

A LATE MIDNIGHT DATE

Lux Interior, the awesomely ghoulish frontman for sleazed-up heroes The Cramps, died today in Glendale, California, as the Daily Swarm reports and an official statement confirms. He suffered from a heart condition. ...

• I'm the king of the jungle. They call me tiger man. I'm gonna do the bird. If I can, if I can. My bird can do the dog. If your pussy can? (Can your Pussy do the Dog)

• After Psychedelic Jungle, the Cramps experienced personnel and record label difficulties; they would not release another studio album until this one, four years later.

• Thanks to Poison Ivy's raw, slithering guitar rhythms and throbbing bass, a majority of this album's tracks are much more heavily inspired by 1960's surf pop than those of any other record that followed. In the midst of the crashing waves, sandcastles and tanned bikini girls, Lux Interior belts out playful narrative lyrics that juxtapose catchy chorus hooks with tongue-in-cheek sexual fantasies.

• And of course "A Date with Elvis" has plenty of cult classics. In both "People Ain't No Good" and "What's Inside a Girl," Lux vocally impersonates the late King of Rock & Roll, shimmering his hips in rhinestone bell-bottoms. "Kizmiaz" (one of the few duets between Lux and Ivy) beautifully paints a picture of the ultimate dream vacation, all the while repeating a chorus with its cute and naughty pun. "Cornfed Dames" perfectly provides the setting of life on the farm, with Lux milking cows and riding a tractor. He may as well have performed this track while hosting a square dance contest! Also note how this song's sleazy lyrics envision a group of buxom blondes scantily clad in barnyard plaid! "Chicken," another silly hillbilly track, features Ivy plucking her guiter strings, unleashing the feverish clucking sounds of a hen!

• There are numerous sly references in the verses to high and low cultural icons, including "Shake it one time for me" (a line from Jerry Lee Lewis' "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On"), "I'll be dancing through the flames/Like a devil in disguise" (a nod to the Elvis Presley hit), and "Now there's more things in Tennessee/Than is dreamed of in your philosophy" (a paraphrase of a line from Shakespeare's Hamlet). Most of the songs here are in various rockabilly-derived styles featuring either garage rock fuzz or Duane Eddy twanging guitar from Poison Ivy. Vocalist Lux Interior is in excellent form here, exhibiting a fair bit of variety within his usual 1950s-derived approach.

Track-List in the Comments

Even more info about The Cramps

Mojo Nixon "Otis" (1991)

GET MY MOJO WORKIN'

• I would listen to this while drivin' my little green S-truck on my way home from work. This is chock-full of memories.

• So I always loved the first cut, "Destroy All Lawyers". When I decided to find the album again in my garage (lost for about five years) it was 'Wanna see em explode in every zip code' that egged me on. "Wanna Race Bigfoot Trucks" is basically a song about a racing-obsessed dude that got his high school diploma at age 24. Very good lyrics, and very valid considering the NASCAR fan stereotype. "Ain't High Falutin". 'Don't like me the way I am/Go suck some Spam!' Words to live by. Includes cracks at Depeche Mode. "Shane's Dentist" is the simplest song on the album and the most effective. Sounds like the burnouts up at Charlie's before the auto show. And he got a point when it comes to Shane MacGowan's teeth! "Rabies Baby" is the standard song about a 'teenage virgin waitress' who turn into a werewolf. The first side ends with "Put A Sex Mo-Sheen In The White House". How did Mojo knew that Bill Clinton would fuck up?

• Side Two starts with "Star Spangled Mojo", the Mojo Nixon version of the national anthem. Some people remember Jimi Hendrix doing the national anthem, but I remember Mojo Nixon's total braying vocals butchering it. "You Can Dress Em Up But You Can't Take Em Out" is probably one of my favorite songs on the whole thing. 'Got one pair of pants that are alive, been wearin that shirt since nineteen sixty-five... Fartin in restaraunts, burpin in the movies/Ain't took a bath since people said groovy'. Basically talks about the people you just can't take out anywear cuz they don't act right. "Don Henley Must Die" made Mojo Nixon a bit famous in the States. I actually love the Eagles. "Perry Mason Of Love" is, well, a tribute to the great detective of the 60's. One of the albums low points, but enjoyable enough. "Took Out The Trash And Never Came Back", complete with taking out the trash sound effects, is a master work. The lyrics are wonderfully crafted. 'Like a flamin baton that's ready to twirl, like George Bush on acid singin the Duke Of Earl...' "Gonna Be A New World" finishes off the side and album, giving new hope to those of us that write songs with the word 'gonna' or 'wanna' in the title. And lyrics apply again because George W Bush is in the White House.

• Piercing, biting delivery. Funny, cowpunk, psychobilly album. You'll laugh just about as much as you listen. Widely appealing music that strikes a good chord with everybody.

Track-List in the Comments

More info about Mojo Nixon

Mojo Retrospective "Elvis is Everywhere" here

Country Dick Montana "The Devil Lied To Me"

THE CALIFORNIA KID

• Country Dick Montana (born Daniel McLain May 17, 1955 in Carmel, California) was a musician best known as a member of the Beat Farmers.

• In 1995 Montana suffered a heart attack and died during a Beat Farmers concert in British Columbia, Canada. The death of the Beat Farmers' spiritual leader Country Dick Montana barely registered a blip on the rock & roll radar, but, personally, I feel a substantial loss.

• Country Dick was superprivate; he didn't reveal much of himself. When he got sick the first time, he didn't tell anybody! He had picked a doctor out of the phonebook because he had the word "bar" in his name. And that is Country Dick in a fuckin' nutshell, right there.

• Country Dick performed these kinda rock 'n' roll-crazy weddings where people wanted to have a crazy person marry 'em in a nontraditional, screw-you kind of way. One of these weddings, I think it was in Arizona, [the couple] got married in a bar, then went back to their house. They wanted Country Dick to continue partyin' and drinkin' with them [so he did]. Well, the groom eventually passes out-and the bride is there on her wedding night unserviced. Who steps up to the plate? Country Dick Montana. And the groom didn't care! It was kinda like having the King fuck your wife, you know?

• What Country Dick really inspired people to do was to let loose, to not try to sell out right away and have a pop hit. To be wild, crazy and free. Which is what rock 'n' roll is about. Rock 'n' roll is selling two things. The first thing is "I don't give a fuck." The second thing is "fuck you." And it's really a variation of all of that. There's three kinds of songs in the world: There's drinkin' songs, fuckin' songs and killin' songs. Country Dick was expert at all three."

• The Devil Lied To Me, recorded shortly before his death, is a fiery collection of roots rock, balls-out country, and hilarious snippets from Country Dick's twisted subconscious. I laughed my headphones off during "Trendy Shitbag," stomped my feet tingly during his spirited cover of "Green Door," and wiped away a tear during the surprisingly tender "I Wanted You To Know." Everything you were curious to know about the man named Country Dick Montana is right here, with the musical support of friends like Mojo Nixon, Dave Alvin, Rosie Flores, and John Doe acting as the kind of hot-sauced eulogy the man would have loved.

• Vaya con Dios, hombre

Track-List in the Comments

More Info about Country Dick Montana

Soon Back for more..but in the meantime

• Sorry for not posting at the moment. Been busy for a while. Here is a great video for you. Chill out with some stuff about life and death and the whole eternity. Wow, sounds like a dude from the 60's! But the video is a great piece of art. Check it out.

"Lost Again" at You Tube

• See you with more music in February.

Sincerly Peter The TimeBandiT

C-60's Christmas Present !

REPOST

FROM ALL OF US TO ALL OF YOU

• It's been a nice month for all fans of christmas-music. I'm not that big a fan, but I realised that a christmas-song doesn't have to be like "Silent Night" or "White Christmas". So I started to collect the alternative versions of a christmas-song.

• And for all of you that want to have them on one album, here is our christmas-present from us tou you. C-60's Alternative Xmas - The Album. With cover-art for printing as well. 20 songs (There wasn't enough time for 24) about Christmas without the white snow and the jolly Santa. From Plan 9 to Smashing Pumpkins, from Mojo Nixon to Lone Justice and of course the real weird ones from Little Suzannah and Paddy Roberts. Classics from Wall of Voodoo and Eels. There should be time enough to be jolly when you listen to this lot. So have yourself a Merry Little Xmas, and a happy new year as well.

Track-List in the Comments

C-60 Art Work for Outprint

Songs one by one - our Xmas archive

The Rave-Ups "Chance" (1990)

RAZOR-SHARP WIT AND SUPERB STORY-TELLING

• To keep this short and sweet: It's a damm shame that The Rave-Ups didn't "make it." Each one of their three albums ("Town & Country" and "Book of your Regrets" are the other two) have enough gems to garner more than enough popular acclaim. But, that's life, and "Chance" represents their final effort to crack through the ice into absolute omnipresence.

• "Chance" should have done the trick, what with songs like "Best That I Can't," "For the Loser," and "She Says (Come Around)," all of which rock, roll, and feature razor-sharp wit and superb story-telling. "Watching Out for Jesus," features great harmonies and a ripping lead guitar. "Smile," well, if you have a kid, the song might well become a staple on those compilations.

• Yes, once again, a great band I heard originally on college radio. In 1990 when I heard them on commercial radio I was surprised but happy to hear them again. I am going to pile on and say - this is great. It has some great guitar bite here and there - it has soft reflective moments - it has catchy tunes and great choruses.

• All I can say is that it is just a pleasure to listen to this record. "Tallest Tree" is one of my favorites and I will always be in debt to Jimmer Podrasky because it helped my new born dughter to relax and fall asleep. Trust me, that's a compliment! Buy it where ever you manage to find it.

Track-List in the Comments

More info about The Rave-Ups

MixTape Vol. 7 - Progressivism

A NICE LOG OF PROG

• Prog Rock! Just the word makes some people nervous. Long haired nerds with lots of instruments and money, making music for themself down in some dark basement. But on the other hand, whats wrong with that picture! Prog Rock have always been the ugly stepbrother of Rock, but some of the biggest selling album in the world have been pure prog-rock. "Dark Side of the Moon" to just namedrop one.

• A true Prog Rock song got to be longer than five minutes and have several themes included in one song. Here are some of my biggest favourites from the genre. Since every song is nearly ten minutes and one that is 23 minutes, this Mix Tape just include six songs. But what a bunch of great songs! Enjoy!!

Track-List:

01 Eloy - Astral entrance-Master of sensation (9:09) 02 Arena - A crack in the ice (7:24) 03 Genesis - Mad Man Moon (7:35) 04 Marillion - Script for a Jester's Tear (8:39) 05 Porcupine Tree - Radioactive Toy (10:00) 06 Pink Floyd - Echoes (23:32)

Total Time: 66:23

The Weather Prophets "Odds & Ends - A Retrospective" (1991)

ONE OF THE GREAT LOST ONES

• The Weather Prophets were one of the least heralded bands to record for Creation in the '80s, maybe because they jumped to the short-lived Creation-fed/Warner Bros.-financed Elevation imprint, or maybe because they didn't overflow with flash like the Primals or mess with heads like My Bloody Valentine. They just played their straightforward indie pop songs with a minimum of fuss and left the scene, doomed to be forgotten and undervalued.

• Chief songwriter/vocalist Pete Astor wrote and played at a same level as Lloyd Cole and Edwyn Collins, the band was proficient but not inventive, and they had a few hits but no smashes — just the kind of band that is due for a second look through the rose-colored microscope of nostalgia. "Odds & Ends - A Retrospective" is a 20-track collection of their finest singles and album tracks that gives indie poppers a chance to do some rediscovery.

• The tunes still sounds fresh and uncluttered. The best of the bunch, like "Almost Prayed," "Always the Light," "You're My Ambulance," "In My Room," and "Your Heartbeat Breathes the Life into Me," are simple songs with a big heart and a clever knack for turning a phrase. Astor has a wonderfully conversational voice, occasionally capable of breaking your heart, as on the acoustic "She Comes from the Rain."

• If you missed out on them the first time, you should take a chance on them. If you like smart, hooky guitar pop, you won't be disappointed. If you were there at the time and have forgotten just how good the Weather Prophets were, shame on you. As penance, you need to get this disc and remember.

Track-List in the Comments

More info about The Weather Prophets

Tanita Tikaram "Ancient Heart" (1988)

A TIKARAM TWIST

• At a time when British angst-ridden female singer-songwriters were as rare as elephants at the North Pole, Tanita Tikaram was almost guaranteed success simply as a result of her singularity. But, even so, if it wasn't for the baritone vocal and strangely esoteric single "Twist In My Sobriety", I'm sure this would have passed unnoticed. Which would have been a shame.

• Although not without faults Ancient Heart is a strong collection of songs from the, then, nineteen year old Tikaram. Of especial note are "Valentine Heart" and "Preyed Upon" which, although incredibly depressing, depict a maturity in both lyrics and melody which completely belie her age. However, within that statement lies the reason for my vacillation. She has a tendency to write like an English Lit. student whose itchy trigger finger is constantly grabbing for a thesaurus. Then there's her voice which swings wildly from sultry and sexy to flat and atonal the latter of which adds to the leaden and gloomy feel of some of her songs. In fact even the supposed upbeat numbers - "Good Tradition", "World Outside Your Window", "Sighing Innocents" - are sang as though she's sitting in a dentist's chair.

• Nowadays Tanita Tikaram and "Ancient Heart" would just be dismissed as yet another female singer songwriter airing their dirty linen in public. The mining of an individual's deepest, darkest thoughts and fears is so common they have to have something remarkable to rise above the masses. I'm sure Tikarem could have done this but she wouldn't have the luxury of being the only kid on the block and, given her lack of success after "Ancient Heart", I fear she would have had difficulty coping with the competition.

• An excellent album of its type and, for those who like this sort of stuff, one which should be checked out.

Track-List in the Comments

More info about Tanita Tikaram

MixTape Vol. 6 - Heavenly Pop Hits

POP FOR THE BRAIN

• About time for another MixTape, and this time it's all about Popmusic. Pop in it's purest form, not just aimed at the top 20 charts, but pop for pop's sake. And if you are unsure, here is a pop definition!

• Pop music is an ample and imprecise category of modern music not defined by artistic considerations but by its potential audience or prospective market. Pop is music composed with deliberate intent to appeal to the majority of its contemporaries.

• So enjoy the pop side of C-60. A MixTape with some of our personal favourites over the years. A Life in Pop - so to speak.

• Enjoy!

Track-List:

01. The Chills - Heavenly Pop Hit (3:28) 02. R.E.M. - Pop Song 89 (3:05) 03. Crowded House - World Where You Live (3:05) 04. The Adventures - Broken Land (5:08) 05. Band of Horses - No One's Gonna Love You (3:38) 06. They Might Be Giants - Birdhouse in Your Soul (3:20) 07. The Blue Nile - The Downtown Lights (6:31) 08. Talking Heads - Stay Up Late (3:42) 09. XTC - The Meeting Place (3:14) 10. The Bangles - Going Down To Liverpool (3:39) 11. Fruit Bats - When U Love Somebody (4:26) 12. Josh Rouse - It's The Nighttime (4:00) 13. Prefab Sprout - When Love Breaks Down (4:06) 14. ABC - The Look of Love (Part 1) (3:30)15. Double - The Captain Of Her Heart (4:34) 16. Gin Blossoms - Not Only Numb (3:03) 17. Fiction Factory - Feels Like Heaven (3:33)

Gang Of Four "Solid Gold" (1981)

THE GANG OF RYTHM

• Deeper bass, expanded palate of topics, funky jagged bass and post-punk guitar edged up even further than the debut - what's not to like? And yet, it loses some of the manic energy of Entertainment! in replacing it with those things and a sparseness that I find very fitting backing such grim manifestos as the opener "Paralysed" - and that energy is still here in the terrific "If I Could Keep it For Myself" and a couple others. But I get why people don't get it, even if I think it's every bit as compelling as the debut.

• And the killer openers are matched by two killer closers - "A Hole in the Wallet" and "He'd Send in the Army" (reprised from the "Yellow EP" in superior fashion, as is "Outside the Trains Don't Run on Time") both draw explicit parallels between patriarchy and war, suggesting that the links between a male power drive to subjugate women and the military-industrial complex is pretty obvious.

• I don't know how deeply that theory holds, but it's a notion I'm certainly willing to entertain and hear more about and it sounds plausible enough to me. I also wish it were something they'd explored further in their music before the band started to fray around the edges. As with the debut, the lyrics are mostly leftist sloganeering designed to prompt a response and thinking on the listener's part more than they're intended to provide an analysis of any real depth. But it's the prompting to thought, the call to action that's what intrigues me.

• I don't believe that pop art like this can literally change the world - but if it inspires action then it's done its job. And this has done it for me, pushing a message I feel along with music I feel even deeper. Only "In the Ditch" doesn't knock me out when I listen back these days, and even there the music carries it. An excellent sophomore effort.

Track-List in the Comments

Some more info about Gang Of Four

Gang Of Four "Entertainment!" (1979)

NOT EXACTLY DAMAGED GOODS

• Taking their name from Maoists Communists figures, Gang of Four is composed of Dave Allen on bass, Hugo Burnham on drums, Andy Gill on guitar, and vocalist Jon King blending Marxists ideologies while mixing a rather sarcastic view of Western culture. Gang of Four's unison is one in which solidarity truly strikes gold, for their pop sensibilities became something avant, and this is the dance, funk excitement post-punk now provokes.

• On Entertainment! Jon King's melodic outbursts would end up sounding overbearing if it were artless; however, their whole disgust with indulgences, capitalism, and the politics regarding sex, society and one's own worth is undoubtably revolutionary for post-punk and fitting as it is in the spirit of their time. The opening track "Ether" is King's melodrama of deception as he sings, "Dirt behind the daydream," with Gill's erratic guitar and Burnham's more structured, funk drumming. "Not Great Men" is in competition with The Pop Group, with Allen's role being extremely prominent, in fact, Allen takes lead of many songs on Entertainment! ("Damaged Goods," "I Found That Essence Rare," "Contract," and "5-45").

• While Allen and Burnham tend of be in consonant structure (with "Return The Gift" as their dance song), Gill's presence is much more raw sounding, as his guitar rejects the conventions of solos or even constant rhythm for strange guitar yelps à la Glenn Branca or anything on Trout Mask Replica.

• In "At Home He's A Tourist," Gill plays on pauses while engaging in a melodic structure similarly to "I Found That Essence Rare." Gill's most impressive playing (in regards to style, though at times "At Home He's A Tourist" feels rather superior) is on "Anthrax" as it reaches something of a deep gradual drone, almost psychedelic and certainly amazing. As the former gives Entertainment! most of its sound, it is Jon King who gives the album its theorization.

• "Natural's Not In It," "Damaged Goods," "Contract," and "Anthrax" all deal with society and the way it reveres pleasure. None of them are love songs, as one views relationships as "a contract in our mutual interest," another detaches oneself from subjectivity ("Sometimes I'm thinking that I love you/ But I know it's only lust"), and one even questions free will in regards to love ("We all have good intentions/ But all with strings attached"). King continues to attack production possibilities and disregards national loyalism on "Guns Before Butter," speaks of dishonest politicians on "I Found That Essence Rare," and "At Home He's A Tourist" he sings about the conflicts society brings upon itself.

• He's at his best on "5-45" as he proclaims, "How can I sit and eat my tea with all that blood flowing from the television," and continues to shout, "Guerilla war struggle is a new entertainment!" What is so brilliant about this track is, aside from their critical view of social classes, is how they knowingly add themselves to the indulgent entertainment they so strongly dislike. This is not some sort of intellectual suicide as it is a realization that does not make them question what they've done.

• Through his expressions, King goes from austere, with Gill being an echo or expansion, to such intensity, almost resembling a sort of rapture. With the post-punk revival movement, Entertainment! is quite possibly the most borrowed from album, and even with such an extensive blueprint for many bands to derive from, nothing ever sounds as striking as this record.

Track-List in the Comments

More info about Gang of Four

MixTape Vol. 5 - A Tribute To Wild Safari

LET'S TAKE A SAFARI TRIP

• I been a big fan of some blogs for a long time now, and I think it's time to do some pay-back. The next months, some of the new MixTape will be like a tribute to my favourite-blogs so watch out Twilight Zone & Outdoor Miner! The music and style will reflect the choice of songs, of course. Let's start of with the first tribute.

• Wild Safari is a music-blog that is quite dedicated to Roots, Country and Americana. Well, that was what I thought, but there are many genres reflected at Wild Safari. Anyway, you will nearly always find lots of artists that is not well known tothe big audience. This autum I have discovered so many talented bands and artists at Wild Safari.

• And here's a MixTape based on the music I have found. If you like Singer/Songwriters, Roots, Americana, Indie Pop, Country, Folk, Blues & Alternative Rock, check out Wild Safari and this MixTape. This is for your great work, Willy 99!

Take a Safari Trip

Song-Listing:

01. Douglas Greer - Damn sure gone (3:37) 02. Revival - Dizzy (2:57) 03. Hem - Not California (4:13) 04. Mary Gauthier - Between The Daylight And The Dark (4:15) 05. Rod Picott - Sinner's prayer (3:42) 06. The Elected - Did Me Good (4:10) 07. Jason Eady - A Conversation With Mr. Williams (4:52) 08. Adrian Kosky - Hair In A Can (4:37) 09. Willard Grant Conspiracy - Ballad of a thin man (6:08) 10. Frank Carillo - With Her Pajamas On (3:15) 11. The Hideaways - Cavalry (3:53) 12. Roddy Hart/Kris Kristfferson - Home (Feat. Kris Kristofferson) (5:08) 13. Josh Rouse - Sweetie (4:50) 14. Cross Canadian Ragweed - Dead Man (4:48) 15. Johnathan Rice - Further North (4:15)

MixTape Vol. 4 - Famous Blue Rainsongs

THE GREAT STORYTELLERS

• I have always been fascinated by a song that also tells a story. So it is time to collect some of my biggest favourites among the many great storytellers. Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Neil Young, Townes Van Zandt and Randy Newman is obvious choices, and so is Bruce Springsteen. His "Point Blank", the highlight from "The River", is one of the saddest song I ever heard. Springsteen is in a way represented with two song, but the other one is performed by the man in black himself, the one and only Johnny Cash. His version of "Highway Patrolman" originaly on "Nebraska" is one hell of a coverversion. And this song also was the reason Sean Penn directed his debutfilm "Indian Runner". That's a story for you!

• I could go on an on about this collection, but I let the music speak. Find yourself a quiet spot, put on your headphones and listen to the stories.

Track-List:

01. Townes Van Zandt - A Song For (3:00) 02. Tom Waits - Town With No Cheer (4:28) 03. Bruce Springsteen - Point Blank (6:06) 04. Stan Ridgway - My Rose Marie (A Soldier's Tale) (6:06) 05. New Model Army - Green and Grey (5:47) 06. Randy Newman - Rednecks (3:10) 07. Willie Nile - Vagabond Moon (4:05) 08. Neil Young - Ambulance Blues (8:56) 09. Johnny Cash - Highway Patrolman (5:22) 10. Beat Farmers - Hollywood Hills (4:29) 11. Leonard Cohen - Famous Blue Raincoat (5:09) 12. Bob Dylan - One More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below) (3:46)

New Model Army "Impurity" (1990)

UNPOLISHED AND POLITICAL

• New Model Army is one of the finest bands to emerge from the English post punk scene. Similar in tone to melodic punk acts like The Men They Couldn't Hang or late Clash, the band mixed the lyrical sophistication of folk with the angry energy of punk. The band was also the inspiration for the like-minded Levelers. Known for their unrelenting sonic attack and their strident politics, NMA are also masters of the acoustic ballad.

• This album is one of the strongest, a superb follow up to the excellent "Thunder & Consolation". The album roars out of the gate with the excellent, angry `Get Me Out' and closes with the equally fine `Vanity'. Also notable are `Whirlwind', `Purity' and the thoughtful acoustic `Bury The Hatchet'. The album is an excellent addition to any collection, although if you're unfamiliar, any NMA album will delight.

• Facts of Life: The New Model Army became the best known of the various Parliamentarian armies in the English Civil War. It comprised professional soldiers led by trained generals, unlike other military forces of the era, which tended to have aristocratic leaders with no guarantee of military training. Apart from their military successes, the New Model Army troops also became famous for their Puritan religious zeal and support for the "Good Old Cause".

Track-List in the Comments

Some more info about New Model Army

New Model Army "Thunder and Consolation" (1989)

A LANDMARK

• The band was named after the English revolutionary army of Oliver Cromwell. Led by guitarist / vocalist, Justin Sullivan (who performed briefly under the name 'Slade The Leveller' in the early 1980s), the group has an extremely loyal, global, multi-generational cult following called The Family. The band has also collaborated with electric violinist Ed Alleyne-Johnson, who worked with them on their Top 40 single "Vagabonds", and their albums Thunder & Consolation (1989) and Impurity (1990), as well as touring extensively with them for five years. New Model Army frequently tour with more than five band members.

• Thunder and Consolation was released in 1989 and is the fourth studio album of British rock band New Model Army. The album stands as a landmark in the New Model Army-catalogue, being their most successful album to date and reaching #20 in the UK albums chart. It also saw the band gaining new musical grounds as they adopted a more folky sound with the assistance of violinist Ed Alleyne-Johnson. It was produced by Tom Dowd and the band and also featured the works of guitarist Chris McLaughlin. This was also the last album on which Jason Harris would play bass. He was subsequently replaced by Nelson on the band's next studio album, Impurity (1990).

• The title of the album was taken from 17th century British Quaker, Edward Burrough, whose collected works, which were posthumously released in 1663, were entitled The Memorable Works of a Son of Thunder and Consolation.

Track-list in the Comments

More Info about New Model Army

New Model Army "The Ghost of Cain" (1986)

NO REST FOR CAINS ARMY

• It was still the 1980s. It was still the era of Maggie Thatcher, Ronnie Reagan and the other clowns that would have starred in a Team America: World Police of that decade. NMA were still highly political and very, very angry.

• "Ghost.." is a logical step forward and different from "No Rest For The Wicked". While the skill of the rhythm section, led by the late Robert Heaton, is still the driving force, the vocals are more prominently produced and the sound is overall more clearer and hard-rockish. Of course the real power is in the lyrics. It's not about making a statement, it's about expressing gut reactions to the state of the individual and the world as a whole. This is what NMA always did best. Here they do it at their most intense.

• The best known tracks from this album are "The Hunt" and "51st State" (quite uncharacteristic of the band in its three-chord simplicity), which are not the album's highlights. Digging deeper you find songs like "Poison Street" and "Love Songs", which still deservedly figure on their live sets. This album contains some of the finest punk anthems written and, I unashamedly confess, has been on my playlist for almost 20 years now. If you dig stuff like The Fall and Killing Joke, you should try this one out.

Track-List in the Coments

More Info about New Model Army

New Model Army "No Rest for The Wicked" (1985)

THE WICKED ARMY

• "No Rest For The Wicked" is the third album release of British rock band New Model Army. According to the sleeve it is in fact a compilation, but it is generally regarded as a studio album and is therefore counted as the band's second studio album, "Vengeance - The Independent Story" (1984) being their first. It also marks the band's first release on major record label EMI. It was released in 1985, and was to become the last album of founding member, Stuart Morrow. The album reached #22 in the UK albums chart.

• A key element on its cover is a quotation from the Magna Carta, "To no man will we sell, or deny, or delay right or justice".

• They eventually broke through to a wider audience with "No Rest...", which peaked at number 28 on the UK singles chart in 1985 - a position they were never to beat in an impressive run of 12 UK chart singles between 1985 and 1991. With often inflammatory lyrics, the band have never compromised their beliefs for commercial gain.

• Because of an increased recording budget, New Model Army were able to explore a more experimental, though no less impassioned, musical direction. You can hear punchy pogo drums and bass of punk and the atmospheric guitars of an early U2 or Alarm. But always in the background -- in the songwriting, for certain, but also in the occasional harmonica and acoustic guitar -- was the specter of American and English folk music. It was when Sullivan (NMA's primary consistency) embraced that folk passion, with fiddles and more unabashed traditional-song influences in his songwriting, that the band came into its own. It's then that the heart-on-sleeve everyday anthems became something more, something particular to NMA and not necessarily for the average new waver.

• This is one of the defining albums of the 1980s for me. New Model Army have their own unique style - caustic bass lines over thumping drum beats, tuneful guitar riffs and some very intelligent lyrics delivered in a style that grabs you by the throat and doesn't let go until the songs are over!

Track-List in the Comments

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The Jet Black Berries "Desperate Fires" (1986)

MODIFIED BERRIES

• Produced with likable simplicity and directness, Desperate Fires is a taut album of western-leaning rock-pop that hardly resembles the group's early work, but makes a convincing case for the validity of this new direction. Patrick's voice suits the material; unassuming songs like "Kid Alaska," "The Flesh Element" and the rockabilly "Sweet Revenge" pack a wicked kick. (From Trousers Press)

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The Jet Black Berries "Sundown on Venus" (1984)

DARK SCI FI VISIONS AND THE MYTH OF THE WEST

• Cowpunk for those who aren’t in the know, is exactly what it sounds like, country style songs played with the energy, humor and basic rock and roll chops of punk. Often times, as with The Jet Black Berries, it was tagged as part of the so-called Paisley Underground Psych Revival of the 80’s. The Jet Black Berries were heavier, sonically speaking, on the psych and punk side of the equation.

• Recorded in 2 days in August of 1984 Sundown on Venus is dark, moody and slightly droning, especially on the second side, but it never drags. ’Bad Hombrekicks‘ off the record with blast of hard rock only to melt into the poppy fun of ‘Macumba Love’ and through the title track, then onto the most obviously space westerny song ‘Masked Astronaut’. The last track on side one, a cover of Rockabilly legend Ersel Hickey’s ‘Bluebirds’, which outside of Rockabilly circles is know for having been covered by Ritchie Valens and The Beach Boys.

• Side two is more challenging and rewarding of a listen. It starts with the Burroughs/Kilgore Trout feeling ‘Noon in Cairo’, which is my favorite track on the album and a lost 80’s psych gem. The rest of side two is dark and maybe a little deeper lyrically than side one. ‘Ring of Steel’ makes me think of the film stage coach for some reason, and ‘Johnsonville’ of John Wayne’s last film The Shootist. The album ends with another cover, this time of ‘Shakin All Over’, originally by Brits Johnny Kidd and the Pirates.

• The Jet Black Berries’ Sundown on Venus didn’t make many waves in the underground and as many people don’t know of the band, let alone the album, so obviously they didn’t do much in any commercial arena. Two more albums followed: Desperate Fires and Animal Necessity before the band called it a day.

• Sundown on Venus isn’t perfect, but its vision and ambition are unlike any album I have ever run across. I like to play it every once and awhile just to remind myself that there is an intersection for all the stuff that I like, punk rock, dark Sci Fi visions and the myth of the west. The album was never released on CD and is of course out of print, but copies of the LP and cassette are still out there, in the discount bins and flea markets of the world.

(Reviewed by Eric Reanimator)

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More info about The Jet Black Berries

A New Blog from The Makers of C-60

Please check out our new project. Always wanted to do a Cover-Blog, and now we just started one. Lots of great Cover-Versions and stories behind the songs. The first postings including Echo & The Bunnymen, The Cure, Depeche Mode and Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five to mention a few. You will also find a death-metal band from Belarus doing a version of Depeche Mode "Never let me down again", a nice greyhaired lady from London doing hip hop, some very relaxed versions of "Just Like Heaven" and lots more. Check it out!

Cover Mode

Josef K "The Only Fun in Town" (1981)

THE SOUND OF `81

• Musically, like a cross between Magazine, XTC, Joy Division and Television; Josef K were gone as soon as they had arrived. Just one album was released.

• Josef K amazed me with a very personal and powerful noise. Nobody played guitars that way and the production was pretty dirt. Noise is the word, a real post punk experience that can be heard nowadays with a certain surprise. Songs like "Crazy to exist" or "Sorry for laughing", or the dark "It's kinda funny", are an unforgettable reminder of the best era of pop music.

• The angular and nervous sound has been ripped off by many a band (like Interpol and Bloc Party). The lyrics are also a misanthrope's dream. Incredibly catchy, humorous, and slightly depressing noise-pop. Yet another group that went undiscovered by the masses for years until someone got sick of listening to that same Joy Division record again and again and found this record, unplayed, in the back of their closet and reappraised it. A gem of an album for sure.

• The album shines a frenzied beacon on post-punk. Several bands have built and improved on Josef K's trailblazing post punk sound but the Kafka namechecking Edinburgh dudes are still a rather fun listen in this day and age.

• The sound of `81

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More info about Josef K

The Beat Farmers "The Pursuit of Happiness" (1987)

MR.C AND THE FARMERS

• During their early years on MCA/Curb, the Beat Farmers always seemed slightly out of place. It was almost as if they couldn't decide if they wanted to be the hell-raising roots rockers of their indie debut, "Tales of the New West", or more commercially-acceptable mainstream heartland rockers, like the John Cougar Mellencamps and Bob Segers of the world.

• "The Pursuit of Happiness" splits the difference, kicking over the traces much more than Seger or Mellencamp ever did, but balancing the war whoop of drummer/singer Country Dick Montana with the more pop-oriented gloss of new songwriter/guitarist Joey Harris. Montana steals the spotlight whenever he opens his mouth.

• Don't let some of their more humorous tunes fool you, these guys are serious musicians and can play with the best of them. Along with my favorite Farmer's tune "God is Here Tonight", a tale of a wandering looney who's in touch with the big fella on a personal level, there are two great covers. The first is by Tom Waits and the second a classic from the man in black, Johnny Cash. After you listen to this record you'll believe it was Country Dick and not Mr. C who actually taught those weepin' willows how to cry.

• Second guitarist/vocalist Buddy Blue was replaced by Joey Harris, who had sung on the group's two previous albums. Harris proves to be a more than competent singer and guitarist, and also shares lead vocals with Jerry Raney on some songs. "Ridin'" is one of the finer songs on the record, fitting in easily with the band's country-rock, bar-room style. An excellent Paul Kamanski original titled "Hollywood Hills" opens the album, and it's one of the finest tracks the group ever recorded.

• The lone buffalo on the cover is intent on finding his own happiness despite the nasty clouds overhead. I can't endorse these guys and their own brand of music enough. Sadly, Country Dick has left the building, but at least we've got his legacy on vinyl to comfort us. Sleep well Dick...

Track-List in the Comments

Some more info on The Beat Farmers

More BEAT FARMERS on C-60:

Tales of the New West (1985)

Van Go (1986)

Happy Boy: A Retrospective (1997)

MixTape Vol. 3 - "The Garage Years"

IN THE GARAGE

• Garage rock is a raw form of rock and roll that was first popular in the United States and Canada from about 1963 to 1967. During the 1960s, it was not recognized as a separate music genre and had no specific name. In the early 1970s, some rock critics retroactively labelled it as punk rock. However, the music style was later referred to as garage rock or '60s Punk to avoid confusion with the music of late-1970s punk rock bands such as the Sex Pistols and The Clash.

• The garage rock revival is a musical phenomenon largely influenced by the original garage rock of the 1960s. Its earliest roots can be traced to the early 1970s, following the release of Nuggets in 1972 and continues to this day through the Western World as modern youngsters continue to pay tribute to a vanished golden age of rock and roll that was 1960s garage rock. Proto punk bands of the early '70s such as The Stooges and The New York Dolls were arguably garage rock revivalists. Iggy Pop had been in a mid-sixties, Detroit garage band, The Iguanas, who released a version of Bo Diddley's "Mona" in 1966 and recorded many other songs that fit within the genre.

• In the 1980s, another garage rock revival saw a number of bands earnestly trying to replicate the sound, style, and look of the '60s garage bands (see The Chesterfield Kings, The Fuzztones, The Milkshakes, and The Cynics as examples of this); this trend coincided with a similar surf rock revival, and both styles fed in into the alternative rock movement and future grunge music explosion, which some say was partially inspired by garage rock from Seattle like The Sonics and The Wailers, but was largely unknown by fans outside the immediate circles of the bands themselves.

• Here are some of my garage-highlights, from Link Wray to The Mono Men. If I have to pick a top three, it has to be Cramps "Garbage Man", Tav Falcos "Bad Motorcycle" and The Sonics "Walkin' The Dog". And of course the all time favourite "Rumble" by Link Wray. After all he is the king of Garage!

Track-List:

• 01. The Sonics - Walkin' The Dog 02. The Cramps - Garbage Man 03. Juliette & The Licks - Smash & Grab 04. Strap ons - Psycho ghost trucker 05. The Makers - Sharp leather walkin shoes 06. Cosmic Psychos - Lead Me Astray 07. Spacemen 3 - Mary Anne 08. The Funseekers - I'm dancing as fast as I can 09. Count Five - Psychotic Reaction 10. Lime Spiders - Beyond The Fringe 11. Bangtwister - Rave-Up 12. Dukes of Hamburg - Green eyed woman 13. Tav Falco's Panther Burns - She's a Bad Motorcycle 14. The Prime Movers - (Can't Stand) The Way You Move 15. The Fuzztones - Strychnine 16. The Hard-Ons - Bye Bye Girl 17. Frenzal Rhomb - I Love Fucking Up 18. The Mono Men - Slammer 19. The Scientists - Atom Bomb Baby 20. Pink Slip Daddy - Elvis Zombie 21. Link Wray - Rumble

The Rainmakers "The Rainmakers" (1986)

DISCOVER THE MAGIC OF THE MAKERS OF RAIN

• This one will blow you away. Every song is powerful, cathcy, poetic. This band should have sold millions. They would have been a perfect touring counterpart to bands like R.E.M., U2, the Jayhawks. One of my all-time favorite record.
• The frontman was charismatic and theatrical, totally commanding your attention. The music was nothing like I had ever heard before. Feeling nostalgic and familiar yet new and exciting.
• I can't believe these guys are still somewhat underground. It's very rootsy and unpolished by todays standards but that only adds to it's appeal.

• Some major issues are tackled in some of the songs but generally it's just a feel good album. Put it on when the sky is clear, the sun is shining, and you're heading out on the road to anywhere.
• Intelligent, electric, explosive, and humorous - simultaneously. The Rainmakers literally changed my life when I was 16 years old and altered my outlook towards music. It made me realize how good music can be and still not get radio play.
• Discover the magic.

More RAINMAKERS on C-60 here

Tornado (1987)

Flirting With The Universe (1994)

Skin (1996)

Track-list in the Comments

More info about The Rainmakers

Buy The Rainmakers albums here

Mix-Tape Vol. 2 "Diamonds and Rust: The Covers"

THE COVER STORY

• Here are some great cover-versions for you. Some strange, some hilarious, some better than the original and a few plain stupid. Senor Coconut does one great longue-version of "Smoke on the Water" and Richard Cheese shows really bad taste on "Sunday Bloody Sunday". The SPace Lady does one really strange version of "Major Tom" and Meat Puppets "Everybody Hurts" is just plain weird.

• But some of the songs are really kilers as well. Listen to Judas Priests version of "Diamond & Rust" the Joan Baez classic, and my personal favourite at the moment have to be Nouvelle Vagues "Too Drunk to Fuck", a kind of late night Jazzversion of Dead Kennedys punkclassic.

Track-List: 1. Flaming Lips - Seven Nation Army (2:51) 2. Senor Coconut - Smoke on the Water (3:30) 3. Tad Morose - Knowing Me, Knowing You (3:26) 4. James Last - Fireball (1:46) 5. The String Quartet - Boys don't cry (3:55) 6. Richard Cheese - Sunday Bloody Sunday (2:37) 7. Gladys Knight & The Pips - Let It Be (3:33) 8. Björk Gudmundsdottir - Alfur Ut Ur Hol (3:15) 9. Pee Wee Herman - Surfin Bird (2:38) 10. Nouvelle Vague - Too Drunk To Fuck (2:12) 11. The Space Lady - Major Tom (5:05) 12. Miss Tammy Faye Starlite And The Angels Of Mercy - Surrender (4:23) 13. Groovie Ghoulies - Funny Funny (2:18) 14. Shonen Knife - Top Of The World (3:56)15. Robyn Hitchcock - Kung Fu Fighting (Studio) (3:25) 16. Meat Puppets - Everybody Hurts (4:23) 17. Brooke Brown - Proud Mary (4:29) 18. Teddy and Darrel - These Boots Are Made For Walking (2:25) 19. Mark Savage - Do You Think I'm Sexy (3:00) 20. Judas Priest - Diamonds and Rust (3:27)

MixTape Vol. 1 "The Singers and Their Songs"

A SONG AND A MIC AND DAMN GOOD MELODY

• Here are some really good stuff for everyone who likes singers/songwriters. A few well known name and a lot of unknown artists you really should get to know. My favourites at the moment got to be Mary Gauthier and Frank Carillo.

TRACK-LIST:

01. Townes Van Zandt - For The Sake Of The Song (4:45)

02. John Prine - Sam Stone (4:15)

03. Jackson Browne - Sing My Songs To Me (3:25)

04. Sam Baker - Orphan (3:21)

05. Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Nomadic Revery (All Around) (3:58)

06. Ane Brun - The Fight Song (4:30)

07. Cat Power - Yesterday Is Here (3:34)

08. Kasey Chambers - Hard Road (3:59)

09. Lloyd Cole - Morning Is Broken (5:19)

10. Al Deloner - The Dead End Of Me (5:13)

11. Nick Drake - Northern Sky (3:45)

12. Steve Earle - Down The Road (2:46)

13. Mary Gauthier - Drag Queen In Limousines (5:42)

14. Frank Carillo - With Her Pajamas On (3:15)

15. Jackie Greene - Love Song; 200 am (5:05)

16. Jeffrey Foucault - Americans in Corduroys (4:49)

The Rain Parade "Emergency Third Rail Power Trip" (1983)

THE PSYCHEDELIC SOUNDS OF A PARADE

• Probably the most authentic, in terms of sound and feeling, of all the psychedelia revival groups of the early 80's. Along with bands such as the Lyres, The Three O'Clock, Green on Red (in their early days), and a handful of others, Rain Parade set out to recapture the heyday of psychedelic garage-rock and sunshine pop of the 60's. They were certainly more successful in that with this album than most of the other bands.

• The bands ability to craft complex, yet catchy pop songs, is exemplified on such tracks as "Talking in my Sleep", "I Look Around", "Look at Merri", and "Broken Horse". Honestly, other than "Look Both Ways" (which doesn't quite fit into the album), there isn't much weakness at all.

• I couldn't put this down after buying it new.....I wish these guys had released this back in the late 60's where it belongs. The Rain Parade aren't a pop psychedelic band, they are more of a psychedelic album oriented band. No short bursts of bubblegum here.....the songs are mellow and drawn out to achieve a more psychedelic mood instead of a quick shot of pop. Definitely a favorite from the resurgence of psychedelic bands from the early 80's.

THANKS TO MAX

Track-List in the Comments

More info about Rain Parade

The Rain Parade "Explosions in the Glass Palace" (1984)

THE PARADE IS ABOUT TO EXPLODE

• Being one of Paisley Underground's leading lights (and one of the movement's most staunchly retro units) the Rain Parade followed up their debut in style with the EP "Explosions in the Glass Palace", 21 minutes of ringing, effects laden guitars swirling around semi buried vocals in an alucinogenic fashion. The biggest highlight is predictably the live staple "No Easy Way Down" where the band embarks on a droning journey of darkly ear catching layers of sound, being ocasionally brought back to Earth for a memorable chorus.

• A Rickenbacker guitar can make even a mediocre song sound good. In the case of the Rain Parade, their use of Rickenbackers made great songs greater. But I hesitate to agree completely with those who compare Rain Parade to the Byrds. It's an expedient born of the Rickenbacker 12-string. It's not that there aren't parallels, but the comparison doesn't tell the whole story.

• Some writers suggested that if the Rain Parade were around today they'd be stars. I'm not so sure, though I certainly appreciate the sentiment. They had talent, integrity, and a sense of musical history: all of which seem to be the kiss of death in this age of predigested, re-regurgitated yuck that the mama bird record companies force down our throats.

• In addition to the aforementioned influences, I'd like to think that the Rain Parade also took some inspiration from those teenage jam bands that would occasionally appear in the background at parties on My Three Sons or other '60s TV shows. There's a sense of appreciation on this album of trying to find that groove that was obviously not created by the band on TV, but by some unknown, unseen musicians who were told to play something groovy for the teenage viewers, but not to trip out too far. On the show, you see teenagers wearing penny loafers and hair-cuts that were like the Beatles' if they'd been Republicans, probably dancing the Watusi or the Jerk.

• In retrospect, it all looks so silly, but there's a groove in the music, narrow though it is, that bands like the Rain Parade, Three O'Clock, and the Dream Syndicate tapped into.

Track-List in the Comments

Some more info about Rain Parade

Danny & Dusty "The Lost Weekend" (1985)

LONG GREEN DREAM

• Danny & Dusty wasn't actually a duo, but a supergroup of sorts comprised of players from groups associated with L.A.'s paisley underground. Danny & Dusty consisted of Dan Stuart of Green on Red and the Dream Syndicate's Steve Wynn — along with members of their bands — plus Sid Griffin, Stephen McCarthy, and Tom Stevens from the Long Ryders and nailed a near perfect country rock album.

• The gathering of friends recorded one album in February 1985 over the course of a single, notoriously booze-soaked weekend. Appropriately, the effort was titled Lost Weekend. It would assume legendary status among the followers of the paisley underground, though certainly many of the players here are from more of a roots rock, country-punk bent.

• There's a hint of punk-influenced aggression in the playing that thankfully keeps this project miles away from any Eagles comparisons, and, most importantly of all, "Song For the Dreamers" and "Baby, We All Gotta Go Down" are the sort of anthemic underdog tunes you'll be singing along with before the second chorus hits.

• Most of the cuts are played for a laugh, or at least a smirk (most notably "The Word Is Out" and "Song for the Dreamers"), but "Miracle Mile" and "Down to the Bone" prove that the darker sides of Stuart and Wynn's musical personas could still cut through the boozy haze, and "Send Me a Postcard" is a lovably wobbly buddy number that makes the guys sound like a post-modern Waylon and Willie. For the most part, The Lost Weekend is studiedly non-serious, but for sheer entertainment value it's stood the test of time better than some of Steve Wynn and Dan Stuart's official product from the period; it's wiry roots rock that's low on pretension and high on good times. Or cheap beer.

• If this album were to be released today, fans of alt.country/no depression/roots-rock would be falling over themselves hailing "The Lost Weekend" as a classic. And let there be no doubt, this one is a real classic, that's a dead certainty!

Track-List in the Comments

More info about Danny & Dusty

Steve Wynn (of Dream Syndicate) "Fluorescent" (1993)

DARK STRUMMED ACOUSTIC

• With the Dream Syndicate, Steve Wynn laid Lou Reed-like vocals atop tunes recalling Crazy Horse. Recording as Danny and Dusty (with Green on Red's Dan Stuart), Wynn softened somewhat. On this, his third solo bid, he's singing neofolk alongside John Wesley Harding and Victoria Williams.

• Stripping down suits his songwriting: "That's Why I Wear Black" sounds almost like a rediscovered Woody Guthrie tune, and "Wedding Bells" seems a country standard. But along with the mandolins, brushed snares and strummed acoustics, there's something subversive going on. Wynn's fatalistic lyrics darken the tone, making his story songs tales of our exhausted times.

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More info about Steve Wynn

Th Cramps "Stay Sick" (1990)

GOD DAMN CRAMPS

• After recruiting bass player Candy Del Mar, thus allowing Poison Ivy to get back to her guitar playing full time, the Cramps recorded their fourth studio album, STAY SICK. This record continues the tradition of Lux Interior's hysterically (in both senses) juvenile, and decidedly non-PC obsession with women (at least as far as they are presented in the most B-movie sense imaginable)--he even appears, along with drummer Nick Knox, in full drag on the cover art.

• Standouts include a sort-of-faithful cover of Carl Perkins "Her Love Rubbed Off", which appears in both studio and live versions, and a pair of propulsive rockers, "All Women are Bad"--with pounding drums and Interior spouting some amusing Biblical references in his patented jerking vocal style--and "Journey tothe Centre of a Girl"--a sort of companion to A Date With Elvis's "What's Inside a Girl", with Ivy's heavily-echoed guitar leading the way.

• Other highlights include a scorching, if somewhat bizarrely chosen, cover of the blues standard "Shortnin' Bread", the straight-ahead (as far as the Cramps canbe straight-ahead) rockabilly of "Daisys Up Your Butterfly", and the distorted, surf homage "Saddle Up a Buzz Buzz". "Stay Sick" is a solid entry into the Cramps canon.

• The biggest surprise is the atypically soaring vocal on the better-than-average song "Journey to the Center of a Girl." This album is not terrible by any means, and it's essential listen. In a nutshell, "Stay Sick" is much better than what the critics raved about 18 years ago.

Track-List in the Comments

Some more info about The Cramps

The Dream Syndicate "The Days of Wine and Roses" (1982)

WITHIN A DREAM

• Dream Syndicate was an alternative rock band from Los Angeles, California active from 1981 to 1989. The band was associated with the Paisley Underground music movement.

• At the core of every musical, at the center of what becomes mainstream, is the element of inspiration, of genius and vision ... such was the talent of The Dream Syndicate, fronted by Steve Wynn [on vocals and guitar], and Karl Precoda [on guitar] Dennis Duck [on drums] and Kendra Smith [vocals and bass] ... though through changes, for a variety of personal reasons, the group eventually formed with Steve Wynn, Dennis Duck, and new members Paul Cutler [on guitar] and Mark Walton [on bass].

• The core of their genius was first alluded to with the choice of the band’s name “The Dream Syndicate,” which was a reference to an early experimental New York band know as Theater Of Eternal Music, which included John Cale .

• So, with these lofty visions and aspirations, they set out to created a sound based on a solid structure rooted in the advent garde, which relied on extended feedback and floating improvisations ... all of which could be traced back to the footprints left by Quicksilver Messenger Service, Television and picked up right were The Velvet Underground had left off. But again, the public is strange sometimes, beyond all reason, and missed yet another chance to be in on the ground floor of this amazing talent. Dream Syndicate slip through their fingers, just as they had done with The Velvet Underground more then fifteen years before. Make no mistake about it, this again was the future of rock n’ roll ... we are now left with a body of music to be pondered over, and fans wondering why this group had been so over looked. The “ponder” part will take years and will bring pleasure to all who have the insight to dive into these waters ... the “Why was this group so over looked?” is just too silly a question to ask, because the same people who ask it, are the same people who dismissed The Dream Syndicated from the beginning.

• As with The Velvet Underground, The Dream Syndicate relied on fuzz, and feedback, along with driving melodies and rhythms that carry one so far away there is no hope of ever returning. The music so soaked and steeped in the personal experiences of the lives of its creators, who paint in more detail then imaginable ... yet overlaying all of this, is the sense of believability, simply because something this amazing must simply be true. “Halloween” will haunt you for the rest of your life, “The Days Of Wine And Roses” is relentless, to the point of challenging even Neil Young, and “When You Smile” is so bitter sweet you will feel your heart beating in your chest ... going on all night regarding each song will do no good ... cueing up this album and being swept away will say it all.

• The lyrics are sincere and powerful. The drums kick in right where they should, a bit to the left, then tone down to allow the imaginative guitar work to step back in. This album could very well be just one piece of music, it's that good. It's a dark record with tinges of X, and The Swans' “Burning World” Whenever I play this record I ask myself why it's been so long since I played it, then I realize it was only yesterday.

• Don’t expect to come back from this as the same person. Period.

Track-List in the Comments

More Info about The Dream Syndicate

The Gun Club "The Las Vegas Story" (1984)

JEFFREY, THE PHILOSOPHER VAGABOND

• The Las Vegas Story represented Jeffrey Lee Pierce's full transition from wild shaman, able to conjure primeval spirits and primal instincts, to philosopher vagabond exiled on an alien and hostile world.

• No longer do we encounter the rabid exorcisms of the first two albums (even on dynamic cuts such as "The Stranger in Our Town"), but rather pensive and depressed blues 'n' roll elegies (such as the plangent "Moonlight Motel" and "Give Up The Sun"). The presence of Kid Congo Powers and Dave Alvin also provides for some excellent guitar playing.

• A perfectly balanced album of blues/country alt rock, another classic released by the Gun Club, featuring the beautiful vocals of the late Jeffrey Lee Pierce.

• Jeffery Lee Pierce and the Gun Club knew the world of small town madness and big city craziness. It's excellent Americana blues that will haunt you. This is rock at it's purest and finest, not contaminated by commercialism nor airbrushed production.

Track-List in the Comments

Even more info about The Gun Club

The Gun Club "Miami" (1982)

LIKE A GENTLE BARRAGE OF SHARPNEL

• "Miami" for me is The Gun Clubs peak, but that's not to detract from the fact that 'Fire Of Love' was a groundbreaking, venomous and punchy raw smack-in-the-face of an album.

• The album sees Jeffrey Lee Pierce's wailing, off-kilter and fabulously out of tune vocals at their very best. The album, although somewhat more restrained and measured than the monster that they unleashed with 'Fire', contains some cracking material: Brother and Sister, Run Through The Jungle (C.C.R.-cover), Devil In The Woods, Watermelon Man and Mother Of Earth just to scratch the surface. It doesn't have the bollocks of Fire Of Love, but hey, it has wonderfully crafted darkly textured songs steeped in 'voodoo' - just get both albums and Las Vegas Story while you're at it.

• Lee Pierce is fascinating. Camp, fat, androgynous (was the guy apeing Debbie Harry for awhile?), charismatic and at times near-psychotic. In interviews, he's either stoned, pissed, miserable or nervously laughing, but always appearing to be genuine.

• His singing voice used to irritate me because it was off-key, but once you tune-in (or rather tune-out) you quickly get to recognise the brilliance in the delivery - the passion, intonation and tone (sometimes reminiscent of Jim Morrison). The off-key style becomes something to marvel at - I mean it sounds deliberate and what's more it matches the instrumentation and song style superbly - what a genius! And don't you just love the way he chucks that confirming and confident 'yeh' in at the end of the chorus in Brother & Sister - I'm hooked.

• He also sounds deliciously haunted in 'Mother Of Earth', a song which comes across like a gritty cinematic Western soundtrack. Elsewhere, Pierce's howls and tortured screams liberally blast through the songs like a gentle barrage of shrapnel.

• .......and just a word about the bassist, Patricia Morrison...... just how tall is that woman? - does her stage appearance involve stilts by any chance? - seriously dwarfing the rest of the band on stage and with seriously vamped-out big big hair and goth looks - seeing this band on stage is like looking at the Munsters or Addams Family.

• "Miami" - Worth every penny and more!

Track-list in the Comments

Some more info about The Gun Club

The Gun Club "Fire of Love" (1981)

GUSTO, SEX, BLACK MAGIC & HEROIN

• Psychotic punk blues hillbilly stomp hybrid from Jeffrey Lee Pierce & company. Soundtrack to alcoholic frenzy. Can be funny, cathartic, and disturbing depending on your mood. But no denying that this rocks BIG time.

• It's pretty easy to hear the connection to The Cramps as the music is sort of a cool post-punk rockabilly hybrid sound. Vocally I thought it reminded me of somewhere between Violent Femmes and Jon Spencer Blues Explosion (both of whom came after The Gun Club of course) as the lyrics are sort of sarcastically talk/sung in a fabulous way. It's fun because it's lively and a bit well a bit psychotic in a really good way and truly this sounds as fresh today as I'm sure it did in 1981.

• I love their usage of slide guitar, it's really effectively blended in and it gives them a unique appeal that I rarely hear from this style of band. Also the musicianship here is pretty darned super, and usually when one looks at a band which borders on punk it's not always the case either. The songs are also quite awesome, full of energy and gusto and sex, black magic and heroin. Even though the album has a really cohesive sound it never comes close to being boring or repetitive.

• There is lust behind this music. It makes you want to get up and dance but not in a pleasant way, whip out the air guitar and screech a solo. Preaching the Blues will annoy you with its grating intro about 5 times before you proclaim it genius. "You ain't never had them, I don't believe you will." That's your blues/punk lyric for the day.

• I'm not going to go track by track but just know "She's Like Heroin to Me" shines above the others as does "Fire Spirit" and "Ghost on the Highway". If the devil could make music this would be it, but it seems as though God has given his consent and made this music not only dangerous, but glorious and beautiful at the same time.

• Don't let the fact that every middle aged rock critic keeps namedropping them put you off - The Gun Club really are very, very good (though it might take a few listens before it sinks in) and "The Fire Of Love" shows them at their best.

Track-List in the Comments

More info about The Gun Club

Eleventh Dream Day "Beet" (1989)

EDD GOING MAJOR

• This, EDD's second album and first for major A&M, is their most entertaining. You can feel their excitement at being on a big label with a "name" indie-rock producer (Gary Waliek), and they made it to the majors after only one album, their great "Prairie School Freakout".

• This does not sound drastically different; no power ballads or poser proto-emo manifestos. No aping of REM or the rootsier bands emerging at the end of the 80s, pre-grunge. Yet, as shown in Janet Beveridge Bean's country-tinged vocals, the richer mix that distinguished EDD from its now-forgotten peers on what used to be college radio remains their trademark. This is probably, along with their next LPs "Lived to Tell" and "El Moodio", their most accessible disc.

• Arguably a bit lighter and less world-weary at least in some of its tunes, this album sounds not exactly relaxed but ready for action. The band works well together, reminding me of what they must have sounded like live. The ambiance of a bar band on a tiny stage blasting away carries somehow into the songs here. It sprawls a bit less, and punches more, than some of their later, more diffuse (if lovelier!) recordings.

• When I hear "Burn Down the Mars Hotel" today for the umpteenth time, I still chuckle. "No more dancing bears." The songs here swagger with a sly wink, and they present themselves a bit larger than life. They remind me of boasts from a barstool habitue. EDD captures this piss-n-vinegar strut and the false bravado behind the pose deftly, and the songs here assert themselves with all the vigor of a revved-up Camaro back of the bar ready to roar off down the neon-dimmed highway. It's that mood that permeates Beet.

• The fact that Eleventh Dream Day remains nothing more than a minor footnote in indie rock history is nothing short of a travesty. "Beet" is a masterpiece and "Between Here and There" may be one of the top 5 songs of the 80's or 90's for that matter. This is rock-n-roll, not hype!

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Eleventh Dream Day "Prairie School Freakout" (1988)

LIKE A CRUISE THROUGH THE PRAIRIE

• Eleventh Dream Day tried to make a record as close to their fiery live show as possible and it worked.One of the best albums from 1988 in my book."Watching The Candles Burn","Coercion", "Among The Pines","Death Of Albert C Sampson",and "Tarantula"(the best track that has a Duane Allman meets Neil Young guitar solo)are my fave songs.

• Take all of your favorite guitar-oriented bands--a smattering of Neil Young/Crazy Horse, Television-styled rave-ups. Add enough punk edge and touches of country grit to create music that sounds timeless, yet energized and thoroughly modern. Add some lyrics that make you think. I gave away my first copy, so that an old friend would not be without it. I wore out my second vinyl copy--now I have a new digital one to get me through the ages.

• I love this one. It has a very, very special atmosphere - melancholy, muggy, emotional with a very particular songwriting. Hard to discribe... it's just like a cruise through the prairie heading for the sunset...

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The Auteurs "New Wave" (1993)

GOD BLESS THE BOURGEOISIE!

• In the early Nineties, hundreds of artsy guitar bands from the UK were ripping off the Smiths and Bowie at a newfound high, so I'm not surprised more people still haven't heard of them. The Auteurs are so underrated, so I'll take the role of overrating them, no one else is.

• On the perfect pop song "Idiot Brother," glammy singer Luke Haines' voice is as down as damp flowers in the rain, yet that amaaaazing guitar riff soars at nearly six minutes with pitch-perfect existence. That song makes a good impression on everyone I've shown it to. The fact that the song wasn't released as a single was one of the great musical tragedies of 1993, a year unfortunately dominated by Suede. Unlike that band, the Auteurs were smart not to confuse style with substance; New Wave has a remarkable passion for a truly great rock song. Not many rock auteurs, indie or otherwise, can pull off such rockers with vocal poetry on the side.

• It still surprises me that a subgenre as small and detailed as neo-glam could not be traced to a particular album of origin, here. With that microcosm of a genre comes some major props to Morrissey, someone whose first band is tucked into the fabric of their jangly acoustic guitars. Atop that, they had excess sexy guitars dug up from the best Bowie tunes. There's now a lot to compare it to - except this isn't "All the Young Dudes," i.e. you will not acquire diarrhea from blasting the album as much as I had. And it's just SO much more inviting. I almost love the album for how a song like "Show Girl" suddenly stops and turns, with a humorously sad story to follow. Haines is a singer who can cry at all the bad things, you're a listener who can also laugh at them in return. His voice usually has an unsavory edge to the songs, which usually have wry connotations: "I was walking around your house/ In the middle of the night/ Home medicine erotica, is your prescription right?"

• When I first saw the album title, I thought it was going to be a nostalgia gambit, which I can't blame them for, especially for a band that shares a common idol with all the other "era" bands. The Auteurs refuse to be pidgeonholed, with sinister lyrics that make indie pop such a Bill Murray-ish thing.

• If there's a concept to it, it's about the blissful heights and catastrophic lows of stardom. The best concept albums are the ones that go right over people's heads, where nothing immediately calls upon an introduction nor closure. It's just that the glittery melodies peaked through on my first few listens, and I was sucked into it, that I hardly noticed.

• Every song is ornamented like a christmas tree, each one full of quirky, social observations of British life. That may or may not explain why the "Junk Shop Clothes"-referenced Lenny Bruce is wrapped in Rudolf Valentino's pastel-hued turban on the cover. Again, New Wave is a portrait of the star and the wannabe star: A growing child star is "Starstruck" over a girl he could have once had, and this could've been the one. Some other bands documented middle and upper class collisions in a similar way but only afterwards, as if the Auteurs were setting up elaborate blueprints for hip Britpop bands to come.

• Still, Britpop's resume just got cooler, and so did my perception of all them Brits. God bless the bourgeoisie!

Luke Haines Baader Meinhof Concept Album

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C-60's Halloween Party "Alone in the Dark" (2008)

C-60's HALLOWEEN PARTY-RECORD

• Halloween (or Hallowe’en) is an international holiday celebrated on October 31. Halloween activities include trick-or-treating, ghost tours, bonfires, costume parties, visiting haunted attractions, carving jack-o'-lanterns, reading scary stories, and watching horror movies. Irish immigrants carried versions of the tradition to North America in the nineteenth century. Other western countries embraced the holiday in the late twentieth century. Halloween is celebrated in several countries of the Western world, most commonly in the United States, Canada, Ireland, Puerto Rico, Japan, New Zealand, United Kingdom, and at times in parts of Australia.

• Well, bet you knew that! If you're going to celebrate halloween, you got to have the right music. Therefor, we decided here at C-60 to make up an excelent halloween album. Here you will find classics like Bauhaus "Bela Lugosi's Dead" - one scary song, and fun stuff like The Fleshtones "Screamin' Skull". Alice Copper of course, with the classic "I Love the Dead" and my personal favourite Plan 9 with "Dealin with the Dead". So have the candy ready, blow out the lights, forget about life for a while and listen to the sound of terror from C-60's Halloween-party record.

The Track-list

01. The Dream Syndicate - Halloween (6:10) 02. Pearl Harbour - Alone in the Dark (2:25) 03. Misfits - Scream (2:33) 04. Bauhaus - Bela Lugosi's Dead (9:37) 05. Dead Moon - Graveyard (2:31) 06. Gun - Race With The Devil (3:37) 07. Bernard Herrmann - Suite from Psycho (6:33) 08. The Cramps - Goo Goo Muck (3:06) 09. The Hitmen - Bwana Devil (3:50) 10. Ray Daytona & Googoobombos - Spider in my Head (3:06) 11. The Black Lips - Freak out (1:43) 12. The Fleshtones - Screamin' skull (3:14) 13. The Mormones - Swamp Evil (2:12) 14. Alice Cooper - I Love the Dead (5:07) 15. John Carpenter - Halloween (Main Title) (2:55) 16. Tav Falco's Panther Burns - Vampire From Havana (2:47) 17. Gore Gore Girls - Where Evil Grows (2:49) 18. Plan 9 - Dealing With The Dead (6:02) 19. The Fuzztones - Living Sickness (3:20) 20. Wall Of Voodoo - Granma's House (1:20)

The Mercy Seat "The Mercy Seat" (1987)

THE MERCY FEMMES

• On the face of it, this is a punk band fronted by Violent Femmes' Gordon Gano doing covers of traditional gospel songs -- and it would be easy to write this album off as being such. The initial surprise of hearing "Let Me Ride" with a fast punk two-beat behind it can be jarring, not to mention the seemingly incompatible couplings of Von Hepinstall's husky alto voice and Gano's whiny, nasally voice in a call-and-response gospel rave-up.

• But given a listen for the group as it is and not a Gordon Gano side project -- and hearing these songs as songs in their own right and not gospel covers -- this is an excellent record. Truly, the whole band is amazing and shines with virtuosity. Bassist Patrice Moran features very prominently here, and her lines really help to preserve the gospel tone of the record. Gano and drummer Fernando Menendez push the music much more into the Dead Kennedys or Butthole Surfers end of the spectrum. Singer/bombshell Zena Von Heppinstall is the major creative force here, penning four of the songs and carrying the music with her fabulous voice.

• Highlights are "Don't Forget About Me," the bluesy "He Said," and the "Let the Church Roll On/I Won't Be Back" medley. The final cut on the record is a surprising Spanish-sounding number called "Mother Talking," which sounds more like a Violent Femmes (3 era) tune than anything else here.

(Reviwed by Mark W. B. Allender)

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Giant Sand "Chore of Enchantment" (2000)

A DESERT ELEGY

"Being way too tall for any self regulation/I'd invite the devil in and his entire nation/What in tarnation?"

• So asks frontman Howe Gelb in "Raw," one of the seemingly countless American Beauties he's created in the service of examing yourself, lacerating yourself and laughing at yourself whilst whistling by the old graveyard. (Helpful hint: the devil and his nation are the guests that never leave.)

• By turns funky, psychedelic and folksy, "Chore of Enchantment" touches so many emotional rails over the course of its languorous sojourn that you can't quite tell what's jolting you.

• It's truths are harsh, humorous, ironic and frighteningly on target, from gum drop stains revealing an absent heart on "Astonished" to a drunken binge that reconnects lost nights with fearful days on "Way to end the day." When Gelb whisper-croaks, "Reinventing the unending day/in high isolation," you feel his protagonist's buzz of happy futility.

• Sure, think Tom Waits. Think Yo La Tengo. Think Lou Reed. Hell, think Leonard Cohen or Neil Young (circa "On the Beach.")if you want. When you think of Calexico and Lambchop you shouldn`t forget this great album of the band that served for the basics.

• Think all of them, then throw it all away, because Giant Sand practically reinvents pop minimalism. Just let the beauty, sadness and mystery of "Chore" envelop you. (I'm not much for serendipity, but how else do you attribute the nearly coincidental arrival of "Chore of Enchantment" with the Mekon's equally forlorn but illuminating "Journey to the End of Night"?)

• Gelb and his crew have endowed us with something special and something stunning -- spiritual desolation has rarely sounded so lush and so damn true to the heart.

• A career highpoint. As someone pointed out it's music inspired by the desert - not surprising since the band hail from Tuscon, AZ - but there's a lot of different kinds of styles mixed together here. It's quite a mysterious album with some weird lyrics.

• Something of a classic. Atmospheric and deeply felt in tribute to his lost friend and collaborator. A desert elegy.

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Giant Sand "Center of the Universe" (1992)

HEAVY SAND

• A great Giant Sand record. This was the first one I ever heard from them and made me an instant fan.

• Probably their "heaviest" album. Not to say there isn't a couple of country flavored acoustic numbers included. But Howe and gang crank up most of the songs to "11" on this album.

• From the "duct tape guitar solo" on "Pathfinder", to the distorted vocals by Victoria Williams at the beginning and end of "Center Of The Universe", to the electronic altering of Howe's voice on a few lines in "Loretta And The Insect World" (up and down within a few words several times), to using the "Psyho Sisters" (Susan Cowsill and Vicki Peterson) for backing on about half the songs, to the Dylan/Neutral Milk Hotel feel of "Stuck", the songs on this entire CD do not have a weak moment.

• Great playing, songwriting, inventiveness, holds your interest throughout upon first listen and for years to come. Never has grown old no matter how many times I've played it.

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Giant Sand "The Love Songs" (1988)

THE LOVE OF SAND

• This is one of Giant Sand's very best work (only rivaled by the sublime Chore Of Enchantment) and a hard album to find (it took me a year of searching to locate a copy). The Love Songs makes me think that if they'd joined forces with Green On Red, they would have been Gods of alt.country. Grit and savage swing with too much musical texture to take in all in one listening.

• It is bizarre, running rampant and filled with memorable hooks. The extra tracks on the Homestead CD only sweeten the deal, special mention going to the insane, personalized, TV-exploding take on "Is That All There Is?" and a bizarre riff-heavy drum-programmed cover of "Get Ready".

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Giant Sand "Storm" (1987)

DIRGY AMERICANA

• I bought this album on the strength of the three songs from it that are included on the Giant Songs compilation - "Uneven Light of Day", "Bigger Than That" and "Big Rock", all of which are steady uptempo blues rockers. The album didn't disappoint: it's an assortment of blues-tinged country rock songs with consistently high-quality songwriting throughout.

• The guitar-playing is solid, and together with Howe Gelb's singing style, which occasionally sounds slightly like Jeffrey Lee Pierce, evokes The Gun Club more often than once; luckily Gelb can lie back just as well as he can dive in, so this never gets too serious or even morbid in the Gun Club way. If Jon Spencer didn't take himself so seriously, he might sound a bit like this, I guess. Giant Sand/Howe Gelb create a cool blend of breezy americana, dirgy americana, and sweet americana; just listen to their cover of The Band's "The Weight".

• If you're into The Gun Club, The Schramms or similar artists, you should give this one a try.

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Richard Wright "Wet Dream" (1978)

IN MEMORY OF ONE GREAT MAN

• Pink Floyd keyboard player and founder member Richard Wright has died aged 65 from cancer.

• David Gilmour said: "He was such a lovely, gentle, genuine man and will be missed terribly by so many who loved him."

• Writing on his website, he added: "And that's a lot of people. Did he not get the loudest, longest round of applause at the end of every show in 2006?"

• Wright's spokesman said in a statement: "The family of Richard Wright, founder member of Pink Floyd, announce with great sadness that Richard died today after a short struggle with cancer."

• "The family have asked that their privacy is respected at this difficult time."

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• Most importantly: do NOT let the title scare you! It's the only double-entendre on the entire album. What you'll find instead is an introspective journey into the world of Richard Wright in 1978. As the control of bassist Roger Waters over Pink Floyd became stronger and stronger, Mr. Wright decided to record a solo album upon which he was free to do what he wished. Much different from the harsh, accusatory tone that Pink Floyd's music was now taking on (after Animals), Wet Dream is based more on a light sort of jazz styling. At first, it may seem to have nothing in common with Pink Floyd's work. Mr. Wright's work is not often at the forefront of the band, but rather a subtle undercurrent artfully designed to support the other band members' contributions. However, compare tracks such as "Funky Deux" to the latter parts of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", and it suddenly becomes quite clear how similar Wet Dream actually is to Pink Floyd.

• In a way, I suppose the title is quite ironic...this is actually some of the most thoroughly sensual music I have ever heard. By "sensual", I mean the amazing way in which it calls upon the five senses as one listens to the music. Many of the songs have a sailing theme, and as you listen--you are THERE. You can almost feel the boat rock underneath you, the wind through your hair, even smell the salt of the ocean as you listen to superb instrumentals such as "Mediterranean C", "Cat Cruise", and "Waves". Others are sensually evocative in a different way; catchy tunes like "Drop in from the Top" and "Funky Deux" will make just about anyone want to get on their feet and dance, or at least tap out the rhythm on their desk!

• The lyrics are mostly written by Mr. Wright himself. They may seem simplistic in light of Pink Floyd's lyrics (which were often written by bassist Roger Waters), and Mr. Wright seems in retrospect to be a bit embarrassed of it. However--he should NOT be. Perhaps it's even the simplicity in and of itself that makes them come across as so heartfelt. You can almost envision him as he writes them. You can really hear how weary he is of the conflicts he's having to deal with at the time, and how much he wishes for escape. He envisions his time spent sailing; the enthusiasm in his voice in "Holiday" as he sings, "Sail on--there's no other way I'd rather be!" is absolutely infectious. Conversely, in the last song upon which he sings--"Pink's Song"--the sadness and resignation brought me to tears..."Give me time so I can breathe--give me time to be at ease." It seems like an eerie foreshadowing of his temporary departure from the Floyd following The Wall tour. Perhaps these aren't the lyrics to Dark Side of the Moon...but I think it doesn't matter. The effect works, making for a wonderful glimpse into the heart one of Pink Floyd's most underrated members.

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Einstürzende Neubauten "½ Mensch" (1985)

METALLIC OVERLOAD

• Einstürzende Neubauten is generally regarded as being a very inaccessible group, and although the heavily percussive, machine-like instrumentation on this album make it easy to see why, Halber Mensch is actually much more simple to come to terms with than the band’s reputation would suggest.

• Blixa Bargeld had joined the Birthday Party, then the Bad Seeds, after Einstürzende Neubauten released their previous album Zeichnungen des Patienten O. T., and at times this does bear similarities to the Bad Seeds material from that time, and tracks like “Sehnsucht (Zitternd)” wouldn’t have been too out of place if sung by Nick Cave. However, the tracks here are much more industrial than the Bad Seeds material, with the metallic percussion that Neubauten are infamous for, present for most of the album.

• The exception to the rule is the opening title track, which is a cappella, with a massed choir of voices chanting “Halber Mensch” over and over, sounding as emotionless and inhumane as the other tracks, whilst various other groups of voices drop in and out of the track, chanting fervently in German. It’s a unique track, and an unexpected start to the album, and it’s one of the highlights of the album.

• The other highlights are “Yü-Gung (Fütter mein Ego)” and “Z.N.S.” which are the most accessible tracks here, both being reasonably danceable and conventional. These tracks clearly were an influence on Skinny Puppy, bearing a close resemblance to their early work in terms of the rhythm and vocals. The other highlight is “Seele brennt” which builds up from a drum roll and whispered vocals into a cacophony of chaos, then falls back to the drum roll before again building up for an atmospheric conclusion.

• There are a couple of tracks here that aren’t as impressive or as memorable as the rest, with both “Trinklied” and “Letztes Biest (am Himmel)” failing to make any impression on the listener, the latter also allowing the album to end on a poor note. However, these tracks don’t really affect the quality of the album, as their combined length is under six minutes.

• Overall, this is a very interesting and surprisingly accessible album from Einstürzende Neubauten that has no truly unlistenable tracks, and none that feel like failed experiments. Halber Mensch should appeal to fans of industrial and experimental music, and fans of the Bad Seeds should also find much to like.

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Einstürzende Neubauten "Kollaps" (1981)

THE REVELATION OF MODERN MUSIC

• In the annals of the great "track 1, side 1, album 1" tracks of our times, "Tanz Debil" must be kicking around somewhere near the top. Its structured, frenetic clatterings give it a tremendous energy and power, there's nothing like a bit of sheet-metal bashing to give the ears a sensory overload. Well, that is, until Blixa's vocals and guitar drown that out with a manic ferocity. I guess the only way they could follow such a track would be with the power-tool intro to "Steh auf Berlin", though my favourite moments of that track involve the broken record player.

• However, they may have shot themselves in the foot slightly, opening their debut album with two such strong, aggressive tracks. "Negativ Nein" with it's water splashes and dribbles can't really compete, even when Blixa's screaming interrupts the calm. The impact and dynamic is lost a touch, and it sounds somewhat amateurish, certainly some kind of filler, which you don't expect to get on debut releases. Not that Neubauten were all about the noise and attack, sometimes they are at their most effective when they lose the violence. "U-Haft Muzak" being a case in point, practically a dark ambient track, with a slow dull thudding giving the track as much sinister energy as the opening tracks managed with their furious clatterings. Sure, there's a bit of electricity flying around in the background, provided by guitar and some kind of power tool on metal, but it's subtly handled, believe it or not.

• I guess the only thing keeping this album from being an absolute classic, is the fact that they themselves weren't really sure what they were capable of. Neubauten, at this point, were surely more on the "lets try this and see what happens" side of the avant-garde, rather than the thoughtfully planned side. With their next album, I believe those two sides met perfectly. With this album, it's merely a remarkable starting point, for one of modern music's genuine originals.

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Dumptruck "For The Country" (1987)

A FORGOTTEN TREASURE

• Extremely good alternative jangle rock. Every song is layered with guitars. It is sort of like fusing a little Velvet Underground, a little Dream Syndicate and whole lot of Byrds. Far more refined with many more hooks than their first two efforts due to the band's compositions being solely taken over by Seth Tiven.

• The first two songs, "Island" and "50 Miles" are a strong beginning. Likewise for the two closing "Wire" and "Barking up the Wrong Tree". There is one song that is so slow and beautiful "Dead Weight", that lift the album even higher. This sounds like an 80s-era R.E.M. album recorded after they had listened to a lot of early Byrds' stuff. Perfect harmonies and jangling guitars from this underrated band. So it sounds pretty good.

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Dwight Twilley "Twilley /Jungle/ Wild Dogs" (1979/1984/1986)

THREE FROM ONE

• As one of the premier innovators of the “power pop” sound, Dwight Twilley's place in rock history is assured.

• He fronted the Dwight Twilley Band, a legendary trio from Tulsa , which scored a deal in 1974 with Shelter Records and had a major hit with the very first record they recorded professionally, “I'm On Fire,” in the summer of 1975. The band went on to record a brilliant first album, Sincerely , which was released in 1976. Sincerely has since come to be regarded as one of the best American albums of the Seventies. A second album, Twilley Don't Mind , was recorded with a more basic live feel to it, and released on Arista in the fall of 1977. Disenchanted with their failure to sustain the commercial success they deserved, the group disbanded in 1978.

• Twilley went on to record a solo album for Arista, Twilley , and proved conclusively that he could do it all himself -- songwriting, arranging, guitars, and piano. After several years of legal strife while continuing to record, he got out of his Arista contract and Scuba Divers was released on EMI in early 1982. Twilley had another hit with a re-recorded version of “Somebody To Love” (originally a minor hit single for him in 1979). During the year, he appeared frequently on the fledgling MTV channel, and was the subject of one of the very first MTV live concerts in July 1982.

• In 1984, Twilley released the hit album, Jungle , which included the smash single, “Girls” (with a cameo by long-time friend Tom Petty). With a funny, Porky's -inspired video, the song was in heavy rotation on MTV for six months. A second single, “Little Bit Of Love” also hit, and the third single “Why You Wanna Break My Heart” was included in a cover version on the platinum-selling Wayne's World soundtrack several years later.

• After several years touring extensively in support of the hit album, Twilley was convinced to leave EMI and sign with a new company, where he recorded a new album, Wild Dogs . Two weeks before its release, he woke up to find the head of the company on network television as a key figure in a big payola scandal .

DWIGHT TWILLEY "Twilley" (1979)

DWIGHT TWILLEY "Jungle" (1984)

DWIGHT TWILLEY "Wild Dogs" (1986)

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