visceraudio

DJ SONG ARTIST ALBUM YEAR LABEL
Jeff: “Belong” The Pains of Being Pure at Heart Belong 2011 Slumberland Records
“Heaven’s Gonna Happen Now” The Pains of Being Pure at Heart Belong 2011 Slumberland Records
Jon: “Swim” HurryUp Shotgun HurryUp Shotgun 2011 [unreleased]
“I Am A Tree” Guided By Voices Mag Earwhig! 1997 Matador Records
Jeff: “Echoes Myron” Guided By Voices Bee Thousand 1994 Scat Records
Jon: “Stormstris” Valient Thorr Legend of the World 2006 Volcom Entertainment
“Dead” White Hills White Hills 2010 Thrill Jockey Records
Jeff :”Barton Hollow” The Civil Wars Barton Hollow 2011 Sensibility Records
Evan: “Stereo Situation” TransAm The Surveillance 1998 Thrill Jockey Records
THEME: “Instrumental” [ largely ignored]
Jon: “Here Come The Warm Jets” Brian Eno Here Come The Warm Jets 1973 Island Records
Joe: “Intro” Bad Brains i Against i 1986 SST Records
Evan: “White Trash Heroes” Archers of Loaf White Trash Heroes 1998 Alias Records
Jeff: “Plumbline” Archers of Loaf Icky Mettle 1994 Alias Records
Aaron: “Sploosh” Ozric Tentacles Strangeitude 1991 Dovetail Records
THEME: “2000’s”
Joe “Stopwatch” Scream Complete Control 2011 Sideonedummy Records
“Get free” Scream Complete Control 2011 Sideonedummy Records
Evan: “He War” Cat Power You Are Free 2003 Matador Records
Aaron: “Poem” Taproot Welcome 2002 Atlantic Records
Jeff: “Light Rail Coyote” Sleater-Kinney One Beat 2002 Kill Rock Stars
Jon: “Consoler Of The Lonely” The Raconteurs Consolers of the Lonely 2008 Third Man Records
THEME: “Best Pure Pop”
Jeff: “Waterloo Sunset” The Kinks Something Else by the Kinks 1967 Reprise Records
Joe: “?” The Jackson 5 ? ? ?
Jon: “Chewing Gum” Annie Anniemal 2003 679 Artists
“Aluminum or Glass: The Memo” Negativland Dispepsi 1997 Seeland Records
Evan: “Deeper Into Movies” Yo La Tengo I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One 1997 Matador Records
Aaron: “Sugar, Sugar” Jimmy McGriff Soul Sugar 1971 Capitol Records
THEME: “Sad”
Jon: “Wheats” Mazarin Watch It Happen 2000 Victoria Records
Joe: “13 Angels” Corrosion of Conformity America’s Volume Dealer 2000 Sanctuary Records
Evan: “Wild Horses” The Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers 1971 Rolling Stones Records
Jeff: “The Last Day of Our Aquaintance” Sinead O’Connor I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got 1990 Chrysalis Records
Aaron: “Curtain Calls” the Old 97’s Too Far To Care 1997 Elektra Records
THEME: “Mean”
Joe: “Animal” The Sex Pistols Nevermind the Bollocks: Here’s the Sex Pistols 1977 Virgin Records
Aaron: “Mistadobolina” Del Tha Funky Homosapien Gentlemen 1993 Elektra Records
Jon: “Ugly” The Stranglers Rattus Norvegicus 1977 United Artists records
Evan: “Creepy Jackalope Eye” Supersuckers La Mano Cornuda 1994 Sub Pop Records
Jeff: “When We Two Parted” Afghan Whigs Gentlemen 1993 Elektra Records
Afterword
Jon: “Best Future” Medicine The Mechanical Forces of Love 2003 Wall of Sound Records

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Great labor day visceraudio rocked late into the evening…playlist to follow soon…Greg Dulli and Twilight Singers blew away the GAMH last Saturday with two incredible sets…upcoming shows: CymbalsEatGuitars 10/8 at Bottom of the Hill…or go see rad Boris at lousy Regency Ballroom same night…I choose CEG @ BOTH!

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Indeed, Labor Day weekend is a perfect weekend for visceraudio! Come on over and show your support for Labor! And Music! And Visceraudio! 9:30 start time as usual…a dozen new categories await! Perfect way to finish your night after that Saturday BBQ you are going to somewhere else! Then come to the Garage, and see friends, and hear things you probably never heard before! See you there!

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Nice turnout this past weekend, nice to have John S back in the fold. Topics of discussion through the night included D&D (yes, that’s right, Dungeons & Dragons, and in fact several other role playing games were discussed too!), blogs, recent shows, and studio recording processes, among other things. Playlist below. The new HurryUp Shotgun is incredible: as Evan put it, “I hope these guys are able to quit their day jobs and just make music, because it sure sounds like that’s what they should be doing.” Really a great, great fucking album. My votes for songs of the night have to include at least one HUS track, “Swim” blew me away. Other highlights of the night for me: the Hellacopters song, totally scorching rock and roll; Evan’s brilliant choice of MBV for the female vocals theme – way to have the balls to play something NOT on Loveless!; and John’s early 70’s jam from Dust was awesome: the smart phone research done on the spot confirmed that one of the members of Dust later joined another band, and took the assumed name of…Marky Ramone!

DJ     SONG         ARTIST      ALBUM       YEAR          LABEL

Jon   Failures      Joy Division        Substance 1977-1980   1988(1978)Factory Records

        Ocean In the Way       Dinosaur Jr.        Farm2009Jagjaguwar Records

EvanHorror Business   the Misfits  Beware (EP)1980Plan 9 Records

        Less Than Gravity        Moving Targets   Brave Noise        1993Taang Records

Joe   WiresRed Fang   Murder the Mountains  2011Relapse Records

        Mickey Mouse and the Goodbye Man      Grinderman        Grinderman 2     2010        Mute Records/ANTI-

John S.     Pull Away/So Many Times     Dust  Hard Attack        1972Kama Sutra Records

        Carnival of Sorts (Box Cars)  R.E.M.       Chronic Town (EP)       1982I.R.S. Records

THEME:      “Drums”                                

EvanMonkey     Low   The Great Destroyer    2005SubPop Records

Joe   Bad Houses        Big Black    Rich Man’s Eight Track1992Touch and Go Records

Jon   La Dolly Vita       Smashing Pumpkins     Pisces Iscariot     1994 (1990)   Virgin records (SubPop)

John S.     Hallogallo   Neu!  Neu!  1972Brain Records

THEME:      “U Pick ‘Em”                                  

EvanTape From California    Squirrel Bait       Skag Heaven      1987Homestead Records

John S.     Bonnie & Clyde   Serge Gainsbourg & Brigitte Bardot        Bonnie & Clyde        1968Fontana Records

Jon   Le Ruse     Tapes ‘n Tapes    Walk It Off2008XL Recordings

Joe   Now (Gotta Get Some Action)        Hellacopters       Supershitty To The Max!    1996  Man’s Ruin Records

THEME:      “Female Vox”                                

John S.     Matty Groves      Fairport Convention     Liege & Lief        1969Island Records

EvanFeed Me With Your Kiss        My Bloody Valentine    Isn’t Anything     1988Creation Records

Jon   Will Tomorrow Ever Come     Dancehall Crashers      Honey, I’m Homely      1997        Fontana Records

Joe   Riot Rhythm       Sleigh BellsTreats        2010N.E.E.T. Recordings

THEME:      “Guitar”                                

Joe   Ghost of Ursula   HurryUp Shotgununreleased / untitled    2011N/A

        Birds of Islam     HurryUp Shotgununreleased / untitled    2011N/A

EvanTeenage Riot      Sonic Youth        Daydream Nation        1988Enigma Records

Jon   QuietCinderblock        Quiet1994unreleased

THEME:     “Slow”                              

Joe   Rubber      Yuck  Yuck  2011Fat Possum Records

Jon   I Keep Coming Back    Afghan Whigs      Gentlemen1993Elektra Records

EvanSuperstar-Watcher      Yo La Tengo       Painful       1989Matador Records

        Afterword                             

Jon   The Idea Of You  The New Year     The New Year     2008Touch & Go Records

Joe   Bill From California       HurryUp Shotgununreleased / untitled    2011N/A

        Garbage Destination     HurryUp Shotgununreleased / untitled    2011N/A

        Heavy Detour     Polvosingle2011Merge Records

        Anchoress  Polvosingle2011Merge Records

        Reason      HurryUp Shotgununreleased / untitled    2011N/A

        Watermelon Sugar       HurryUp Shotgununreleased / untitled    2011N/A

        PathsHurryUp Shotgununreleased / untitled    2011N/A

        SwimHurryUp Shotgununreleased / untitled    2011N/A

        Ghost of Ursula   HurryUp Shotgununreleased / untitled    2011N/A

        Gravity      HurryUp Shotgununreleased / untitled    2011N/A

        Little Pieces        HurryUp Shotgununreleased / untitled    2011N/A

        Bill From California       HurryUp Shotgununreleased / untitled    2011N/A

        Return to Heaven        Bad Brains  I Against I  1990SST Records

        Straight To Hell   the Clash    Combat Rock      1982CBS Records

        Slowdance  Mercury     Winter       1999Sign Language Records

        525   Mercury     Winter       1999Sign Language Records

Jon   Superfuzzfine      Big Light    Animals In Bloom        2010Reapandsow Records

        Gifts and the Raft        The Cave Singers        No Witch    2011Jagjaguwar Records

        Bellringer Blues   Grinderman        Grinderman 2     2010Mute Records/ANTI-

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9:30 start time as usual, with a possible preview of Oakland local heroes HurryUp Shotgun’s soon to be released new recording, courtesy of drummer Adam…

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I love guitars. The way they sound, the way they look, the way they feel when strapped onto my body…pretty much everything about guitars. And if they are electric and loud, well all the better! So bliss may be the right word for my mood after seeing two shows two nights in a row both featuring masterful loud electric guitars, distorted, affected, effected, feeding back guitars. By coincidence both shows were at the Independent in SF. By no coincidence I attended each eagerly. Monday was Fucked Up, a hardcore spectacle that I was lucky enough to see from the very front of stage right, directly in front of guitarist (and genius behind the music of the band) Mike Haliechuk, a.k.a “10,000 Marbles”. The details are simple: Orange Rockerverb amp, Gibson Les Paul Studio, a couple a pedals. The results were awesome. It’s not so much that the guy “shreds”, with crazy fast fingering or blistering technical skills. He just sounds great, the riffs are stunning, and every now and then he sort of does in fact shred. Great show with a great energy in the crowd and onstage.

Then the very next night was another, altogether different, guitar experience. Yuck, a twentysomething quartet from England, play a totally tempting blend of grungy, beautiful, heavy, reverb-and-feedback-drenched noise pop. The room was thick medicinal smoke when we walked in 20 minutes after they started (odd showtime had headliners on at 9:30), but still caught several of their best as the set covered almost the entire scope of the self-titled album from Fat Possum Records. Closing the show with the epic “Rubber” was a good representation of why they are so good: drummer with subtle perfect feel (and beats like a machine); hyper-heavy bass strummed chords; and dueling guitar feedback mayhem that I really did not want to end. Add in a vocal track of supreme angst that goes from “should I give in? Should I give in?” to “yes, I give in! Yes, I give in” and slow the drumbeat way down (far slower than the album version), and the resultant sludge is a stunning show closer. So epic no encore was even possible. A quick review of their gear after the lights came up showed both Max Bloom and Daniel Blumberg favor lots of effects pedals, including the MXR Phase 90 (they both had this one), Electro-Harmonix Big Muff, some sort of wah, digital delays, and others by Line6, MXR, Digitech, and others. Daniel’s mahogany finish SG and Max’s yellow Jazzmaster sounded amazing no matter which effects were deployed. There is something intangibly great about this band; a subtlety and simplicity that echoes some of the great indie rock guitar acts of the late 80’s and early 90’s without coming across as derivative.

The show ended so early (10:30!) that we jammed over to Hotel Utah hoping to catch the Fiery Furnaces’ Eleanor Friedberger, doing a solo set to support her new record. Alas, we walked in and the gig had just ended, but it was cool to see Eleanor just hanging out with less than a dozen people in the room, shooting the breeze and having a beer. Nice to see your musical heroes looking so human!

Next on my list: Tapes n Tapes August 26th at (guess) the Independent.

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10 years of promoting pinball as if it were a band leads to…a  freaking killer party at the Stork Club in Oakland! Saturday night (July 23) was a helluva a congrats party thrown by and for Joe, Emmitt, and their cohorts in pinball promotion. As I stood in a vintage 1947 Spartan Manor Trailer (“L’il Juju”, courtesy of Mike Schiess and the Lucky Juju Pinball Art Gallery) playing one of five pinball machines from the 60’s and 70’s, I looked out the window at telegraph Avenue in Oakland and thought to myself, “well this is pretty goddamn cool!” After an hour trying to win a free game on machines like Scuba and Top Card, it was into the club for hot links and then a pile of bands, including: a scaled back Cleve-land (who despite missing key members played and sounded great!); Edge City Ruins featuring ripping guitarist Jules Worsley (formerly of Kwik Way); Moon Eater from Santa Cruz who shredded and won the award for having the most kick-ass equipment (Josh’s Gibson Custom Shop goldtop Firebird was a sight to behold and sounded as good as it looked); Oakland’s own Hurry Up Shotgun, who simply rule and are the best band in the Bay Area right now (sorry Big Light, I love you too); the Rockonigles were next, also without a full-lineup; and Spider Garage closed out the evening. I confess I was distracted during those last two bands (they sounded good peripheraurally), as I was chatting up the guys in Hurry Up Shotgun to find out how to get their new single “Paths”, which was for me one of the highlights of their completely rad and totally manic set. Click here to listen to and/or purchase Hurry Up Shotgun music.

All in all it was a great night, and I even came home with a great flyer from the show, which can now be seen hanging on the wall of the Garage in its rightful place amongst the rest of the rock n roll memorabilia. Emmitt and Joe: Here’s to another ten years of Pinball Mafia Productions!

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Turns out that a two person visceraudio is just as compelling as any other. See below for playlist from July Visceraudio, just me and Ben. There was a distinct element of “play something based on the song the other guy played”. Blind Boys of Alabama cover of “People Get Ready” inspired the sELF cover of Prince’s “Let’s Pretend We’re Married”; Kurt Elling (according to Ben, the only white vocalist working professionally in jazz today!) interpreting Dexter Gordon led to Love Battery’s tribute to Blue Note artists. Couple a themes later and you have yourself a nice tidy visceraudio. Oh, no mention was made of “America’s birthday” or any other such horseshit. Just music, man.

Oh, and I think the formatting capabilities of this blog host (or maybe it is just me?) are getting worse and worse. i keep using the same exact techniques to cut and paste the playlists from my spreadsheets and every time it formats it differently. Unbelievable, the ability to change fonts seems to come and go with no reason whatsoever. Note three different ones on this post…can’t seem to get them to agree…Guess I am more technically / graphically challenged than I thought.  Yet another reason to switch!  Soon I hope…

DJ SONG ARTIST ALBUM YEAR LABEL
Ben People Get Ready     the Blind Boys of Alabama      Higher Ground 2002 Real World Records
The Cross      the Blind Boys of Alabama      Higher Ground 2002 Real World Records
Many Rivers To Cross   the Blind Boys of Alabama    Higher Ground 2002 Real World Records
Jon Gifts and the Raft      the Cave Singers      No Witch  2011 Jagjaguwar Records
Black Leaf      the Cave Singers      No Witch   2011 Jagjaguwar Records
Let’s Pretend We’re Married     sELF     Feels Like Breakin’ Shit     1997 Spongebath Records via Internet
Ben      Resolution      Kurt Elling      Man In The Air   2003 Blue Note Records
Jon    Cool School (Trane of Thought)    Love Battery    Dayglo    1992 Man’s Ruin Records
Ben     Waiting For My Real Life To Begin    Colin Hay    Going Somewhere    2001 Lazy Eye Records
The Setting Sun    Idaho    You Were A Dick    2011 Idaho Music
You Were A Dick    Idaho    You Were A Dick 2011 Idaho Music
Jon    Folios    the New Year    The New Year    2008 Touch & Go Records
The Idea Of You    the New Year    The New Year    2008 Touch & Go Records
THEME: “Political”
Jon     What’s The Point?    Beta Satan    Girls    2008 Crunchy Frog Records
Ben     Mississippi Shore    the Delmore Brothers T   he King & Deluxe Acetate Series: 50 Miles to Travel    2005 [~1950] Ace Records
THEME: “Weird”
Ben      Symphony #19 (Vishnu)    Alan Hovhaness    ???    1966    ???
Jon Stick That Chick And You’ll Feel My Steel Through Your Last Meal      Nurse With Wound    The Fight Is On [Compilation] 1985 L.A.Y.L.A.H. Antirecords

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Okay, no playlist yet, but this week for certain. Saturday July 2 was a simple two-person affair with me and Ben the lone participants. Life and death, the perils and practicality of higher education, and of course sound were all discussed with lovely soundtrack selections. Betcha didn’t know that the lead singer from 80’s Aussies Men at Work is an amazing singer/songwriter with a stunning voice and guitar skills to boot! It’s true. It is also true that Love Battery’s 1992 masterpiece Dayglo sounds as fresh as when it was made. Ripping album, five stars out of five now as then!

Shows of note: Yuck has added a second date at the Independent on July 27. And on the 25th at that same venue, DO NOT miss Fucked Up.  Gosh, that club is becoming more and more like the old Kennel Club it used to be….Thurston Moore is playing GAMH the 26th so you can see Fucked Up, then Thurston, then Yuck for an indie rock Holy Trinity…Archers of Loaf Sept 2&3 at GAMH…

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Better late than never? In theory, but not such a good idea when blogging I suppose. Oh well, three months in or thereabouts, I’m still new at this! See below for playlist from June 4 Visceraudio.

DJ SONG ARTIST ALBUM YEAR LABEL
Jon Running On Nothing Fucked Up David Comes To Life 2011 Matador Records
Recursive Girl Fucked Up David Comes To Life 2011 Matador Records
Evan Take My Bitch Too $hort Getting’ It 1996 Jive Records
Chris Shelter Two The Evens The Evens 2005 Dischord Records
Around The Corner The Evens The Evens 2005 Dischord Records
Ryan Boychucker Rocket From The Crypt [limited edition vinyl picture-disc 7″] 1992 Sympathy For the record Industry
Joe Flying Faces First Step 1970 Warner Bros. Records
Tanning Salon Drunk Horse Tanning Salon/Biblical Proportions 2001 Man’s Ruin Records
THEME: “1960’s”
Evan 1969 the Stooges the Stooges 1969 Elektra Records
Ben Jesus Is A Dying Bedmaker John Fahey America 1971 Takoma Records
Chris Saturday Sun Nick Drake Five Leaves Left 1969 Island Records
Ryan Too Tough To Die the Twilight Singers She Loves You 2004 One Little Indian Records
Joe Got To Get You Into My Life the Beatles Revolver 1966 Parlophone
Jon Find Out Brad Laner Neighbor Singing 2007 Hometapes
THEME: “Controversial” rejected out of hand by Evan…agreed by consensus. New theme: “Acoustic”
Ben ????????? D’Gary ??????????? ?? ????
Joe Black Mountain Side Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin 1969 Atlantic Records
Jon If I Had A Boat Lyle Lovett Pontiac 1987 Curb Records
Chris The Bender Granfaloon Bus Exploded View 2001 Future Farmer Recordings
Evan Mine’s Not A High Horse the Shins Chutes Too Narrow 2003 SubPop Records
Ryan Diane Hüsker Dü Metal Circus 1983 SST Records
THEME: “Psychedelic”
Chris The Opera House The Olivia Tremor Control Music From The Unrealized Film Script, Dusk At Cubist Castle 1996 Flydaddy Records
Joe Look To Your Orb For The Warning Monster Magnet Dopes To Infinity 1994 A & M Records
Evan Let It Ride Dinosaur Jr. Bug 1989 SST Records
Jon Paw Paw Tree The Fiery Furnaces Blueberry Boat 2004 Rough Trade Records
Ryan Wy Say Yeah Swervedriver 7″ single split w/ Sophia 1996 Echostatic / Space Baby records
Ben The Gypsy Zurna Adrian Belew Desire Caught By The Tail 1986 Island Records
Interlude
Ryan Berkeley Heathen Scum Fang Where The Wild Things Are 1983 Boner Records
THEME: “Bass”
Evan Stokasaurus Bison Earthbound 2007 Forest Records
Joe Biscuits For Smut Helmet Betty 1994 Interscope Records
Ryan Hard Left at the End of the Tunnel Tackhead Sound System Tackhead Tape Time 1987 Nettwerk Records???
Chris Chickenshit Good For Cows Good For Cows 2001 Evander Music
Ben Donna Lee Jaco Pastorius Jaco Pastorius 1976 Epic Records
Jon When My Baby Comes Grinderman2 Grinderman 2010 Mute Records/ANTI-

My favorites: For song title alone, but also sonically: “Look To Your Orb for the Warning” by Monster Magnet (“Stokasaurus” by Bison gets a close second for song title honors);  the Evens tunes were rad, thanks Chris for a stellar debut! Dino Jr. always does it for me so a nod to “Let It Ride”; and the Adrian Belew tune brought back profound memories.
Lastly, sorry bout the garbage formatting here, I promise it will improve…someday!

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