v/a "Ow, Quit It! Volume 2" double 7 inch (Volvolo Records/1994)

I have made it no secret that my favorite type of music is music that is recorded at home. Some see it as romanticizing but for someone like myself with a background as a publicist and a writer for a variety of music magazines where I every mediocre band was touted as the best thing since sliced bread, music that is recorded at home is simply a breath of fresh air. Music that is personal and just made to simply pass the time or express one's self. No one is selling you anything-well except for a record, or tape or whatever but I think you all know what I mean. And a double 7inch release like Ow, Quit It! Volume 2 is great as it documents a nice cross section of the type of stuff that people were recording during the whole home taping explosion of the 90s. There are great tracks from Lou Barlow's Sentridoh, Portastatic (Mac from Supercbunk's solo project), Tugboat 3001ad (Darren Rademaker of Further/The Tyde),  Soul Junk, O (from Fluf), Back Off Cupids, The Yak, Fellaheen, and Steve Fisk. The sounds captured on these two pieces of vinyl are lo fi bedroom pop, folk, bedroom and experimental stuff. I also must say that regardless of how off sounding the song starts out "I Stopped Singing" may possibly be my favorite Sentridoh song. I'll just shut up so you download the darn thing already.

Ow, Quit It! Volume 2 track listing
1. Tugboat 3001ad "One Planet From Home"
2. Back Off Cupids "Painted Half a Picture"
3.Portastatic "Weighted Raft"
4. Steve Fisk "To Abide in the Flesh Pt. 3"
5. Soul Junk "Matthew 5:13-16"
6. O "Little Lamb"
7. Sentridoh "I Stopped Singing"
8. The Yak "You're Breaking My Fucking Heart"
9. Fellaheen "Mor-X (A Tribute to Darren)"

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v/a "Ghost of a Rollercoaster" 7 inch (Shrimper/1991)

How I miss the days of Shrimper compilations. Shrimper released so many compilations like Ghost of a Rollercoaster that were a revelation of sorts to me growing up getting exposed to all this great homemade music that was all over the map. From lo fi bedroom pop, indie rock, folk, experimental-Shrimper always showcased a wide variety of genres on their compilations, yet there was always a sense of unification in the over all presentation. Well at least to my ears and eyes. This comp crams nine artists all on one 7 inch with something for everyone. There are wonderful tracks from Franklin Bruno and Refrigerator as well probably my favorite Wckr Spgt track as well. There is a really strange Sentridoh tune as well that is nowhere near Lou Barlow's finest hour but for for die hard Barlow fans it certainly provides itself as a interesting curiosity in his discography. If you are not familiar with the legendary Shrimper label, they were/are best known for releasing tons of cassettes throughout the course of the 90s. When people talk about the lo fi home taping explosion of that era this is the label that is primarily responsible for influencing a lot of that. However, through the years they started releasing vinyl as well as cds. Ghost of a Rollercoaster gives a pretty idea of what the Shrimper "sound" was all about.

v/a Ghost of a Rollercoaster track listing
1. Halo "L Wheel"
2. Refrigerator "Map to the Stars"
3. Shoeface "I Hate the Government"
4. Franklin Bruno "Lifetime Seance"
5. Satnam Puppets "Guitar in Room P. 7"
6. Wckr Spgt "Fluffy Cat"
7. Guffey "Creepy"
8. Sentridoh "Me and My Arrow"
9. Jim Bishop "O 5"

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Belt Buckle "Judas Suicide" 7 inch (Sonic Bubblegum/1993)

The band the owned my teenage years was without question Sebadoh.  The aesthetic of the recordings and the artwork were so inspiring, and I would be absolutely lying if didn't outright steal some of those said aesthetics in my own early musical attempts. To put it simply I absolutely idolized Lou Barlow and everything he did whether it was Sebadoh, Sentridoh, Folk Implosion, Deluxx Folk Implosion and this very short lived project that I am sharing today, Belt Buckle. To my knowledge the only thing Belt Buckle ever released was this 4 song 7 inch single on Sonic Bubblegum called Judas Suicide. The band consisted of Lou Barlow on guitar and vocals, Bob Fay (Sebadoh/Deluxx, Unconvinced) on drums, bass and vocals and Eric Matthews on bass, drums and vocals. The 4 songs definitely have some slight Sebadoh-esque qualities to them which is to be expected, but I'd say the songs are a bit slower at times.  I will never tire of these four songs or anything Lou Barlow related I imagine either.

Belt Buckle Judas Suicide track listing
1. Judas Suicide
2. Pocket Skylab Love
3. Mary Hair
4. Girl Who Reads

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