The Germs - GI

 
The Germs' only album is one of the best albums ever made.  and i do mean literally, since the invention of the vinyl record, of all the records that have ever been made, this is one of the best.  The Germs were one of the best rock bands in history.  literally, put them up against any rock band from the beginning until today and they hold their own.  The Germs were as good as Led Zeppelin if not better.  every song on this album is like a revelation and it never gets old no matter how many times you hear it.  these are not my opinions, these are FACTS.

mp3s from the MIA compilation

 download

bonus: No God

Nargaroth - Frühling

this is just as amazing as it is ridiculous.

 

[Soundtrackage] Peter Schickele - Silent Running

I have vivid memories of watching Silent Running as a child, of it making me feel awfully sad and teary-eyed. I also vividly remember how moving I thought Joan Baez's songs in the film were.

Listening to the soundtrack now, I could take or leave the Baez songs, but the actual soundtrack itself is wonderful. It reminds me of other '70s-dystopian-y sci-fi film soundtracks, like Fred Myrnow's Soylent Green score, or Jerry Goldsmith's Logan's Run score.

Here are a couple of tracks from Silent Running, plus the complete album, which was rereleased in 1984 but isn't available anymore, it seems.

(Saturn especially is an interesting track - the 'scary violin' part that sets in at about 39 seconds, sounds like doo-wop with screechy Psycho strings..)

Saturn:

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Getting ready:

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Tending to Huey

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the whole Huey, Dewey and Louie

Schoolly D - Original Gangster

Earthless - Jull

these guys just get better and better. who does rock music like this? only Earthless, gods of the heavy jam. they are probably the best band in their genre going right now.

this is off a split 7" they did with Witch last year. look, Witch's song is cute but these guys blow it completely out of the water and into outer space.  i love it and i wish it was an hour long. do yourself a favor and cop the Rhythms From A Cosmic Sky album right away. you won't be disappointed.

Tom gets a call from his step-uncle Mort

Once more with Strychnine

This week's The Fall EP is called Strychnine and the first song on there is another cover of that song of songs, Strychnine. And it's a rather good cover.

The one thing that song missed was Mark E. Smith's magic - specifically the magic that enables him to stick "-AH!" on the end of any word, thus making it completely his own. STRYCHNINAH!


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Music Links: Venom

Venom was just so cute! they were the adorable little puppy of heavy metal: trotting along with an oversized head, bumping into furniture, growling at much larger dogs. do you suppose they ever listened to Motorhead?


Motorhead - Ace Of Spades (1980)


Venom - Heaven's On Fire (1982)

On the DVD extra material of the documentary Metal: A Headbanger's Journey, bassist/singer Lemmy of Motörhead jokingly opines that Venom "fake it" on their instruments, implying that they are not skilled musicians, though later amending the statement somewhat by stating that Venom was "all right". When interviewer Sam Dunn tells Lemmy that he himself was "blown away" by Venom back when he was twelve, Lemmy responds, "Anything will blow you away when you're twelve. A day at the beach will blow you away when you are twelve."

#300: Music Links Special Feature

everyone knows the song Cherry, Cherry written and popularized by Neil Diamond in 1966.

but most people probably do not remember this song by The Move, performed on The Top Of The Pops (not sure of the date but it was performed some time between 1967 - 1971).

The Move was a fantastic band but they certainly did like to borrow elements from other bands and songs. you can tell from the title alone that this is probably their most blatant rip-off. i cannot find info on any official release containing this song, so i assume that it might have been a live-only track (not sure about that though).


Neil Diamond - Cherry, Cherry (1966)



The Move - She's Got The Way To Groove It (circa '67-71)

Roedelius - Hollywood (Zuckerzeit) & Herold

Two tracks from Roedelius' early period, end '70s, early '80s. Electric and organic.

Hollywood (Zuckerzeit):

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Herold:

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The Amps - Empty Glasses (Kim's Basement 4 Track Version)

In the years that the Breeders disappeared, after the relative success of their second album Last Splash, Kim Deal had her own little hobby project, The Amps, which had a more garage-y sound, I guess.

Here's a b-side from the band's only single, Tipp City and it's a demo version of a song that appears in it's full lo-fi brightness on the album, Pacer. This version is better.


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We are as close to you as your telephone

Time for some more classical music. Here we have the Kronos Quartet playing a 10-minute piece by US composer Michael Daugherty, called Sing Sing: J. Edgar Hoover.

It uses tape recordings of J. Edgar Hoover talking about his beloved FBI, plus all kinds of sound effects. The quartet parts are mostly based on Hoover's speech patterns and/or patriotic songs.

It's darkly funny and quite frightening to hear what Hoover comes up with. And then the music is great, I think.


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It's a zombie J. Edgar Hoover. No, really.

The Zombies - This Will Be Our Year

In The Hall Of The Mountain King

"Hey guys, check out what I figured out how to do on my guitar!"

"Oh yeah... That's like that song... That old song."

"Yeah totally. Let's do a cover of it."

"Awesome idea and I greatly admire your Lego guitar."

"Thank you."


The Who - In The Hall Of The Mountain King (1967)



Twentieth Century Zoo - Hall Of The Mountain King (1968)



Melvins - I Don't Know (1983)



Trop Feross - Caverne Du Roi (1986)



Big Brother & The Holding Company - Hall of the Mountain King (1967)



whoops, this post has been done a million times before

The Love Substitutes - Madonna Footage

I've posted about these guys before and here we are again. This is from their second album More songs about hangovers and sailors. It's what happens when you hand a couple of Belgians some guitars. Shit gets real at about 0:30.


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