Dump "Women in Rock" CD (Shrimper/1999)

Wow it has been so long since I made a post which means that I went more than half a year without a computer. Kind of crazy but good I suppose. I have a new lap top and that means I will back at with more postings here This is My Life and You Can Have It, sharing my record collection with all that care to listen. Years later and this music still means so much to me. In fact possibly even more so than ever.

The music of James McNew's bedroom project Dump has been very important to me on so many levels for so many years. While his work with Yo La Tengo has been something I have enjoyed a great deal I would say his forays into home recorded bedroom pop have been far more influential to me on a personal level. For years Dump has been releasing albums, cassettes and singles the capture McNew unearthing such personal and catchy bedroom pop that at times tinkers with more dronier and ambient elements. Women in Rock is a 5 song cdep that was released on the legendary Shrimper and was the follow up release to Dump's wonderful album, A Plea For Tenderness. McNew's ability to start off an album with a super droney tune that sounds like an airplane engine like  "Horrible"and then blast into a gentle pop number like "The Words Get Stuck in My Throat" is something that I admire a great deal. I wish more artists would take such chances. I feel extremely fortunate that twice in the span of six months this year I got see Dump live and I hope I get the opportunity to do so again.

Dump Women in Rock track listing
1. Horrible
2. The Words Get Stuck in My Throat
3. Lucy Grealy
4. Loved
5 A Plea For Dump

Download Here

Moon Socket "It's the End of the Trip" 7 inch (Little Mafia Records/1997)

During their tenure as a band Eric's Trip was quite the prolific band and the same could be said about all of their off shoot side projects at the time and since. In the mid to late 90s under the name Moon Socket, Guitartist/bassist Chris Thompson served up super lo fi, sappy bedroom pop that for the most part sounded like the acoustic tracks found on Eric's Trip releases-go figure! Much like Eric's Trip, the Moon Socket project in the early go around released several cassettes, singles and compilation appearances. From what I can gather the Moon Socket cassettes are even harder to come by than the Eric's Trip tapes, which is a shame but fortunately a lot of those songs have found home elsewhere including the 7 inch which I am sharing with you today. According to the sleeve of It's the End of The Trip, the first four songs are from a cassette from 1992. Something that one certainly be of interest to Eric's Trip fans in general is that a few of the Chris Thompson songs in the Eric's Trip catalog first appeared as Moon Socket songs or even appeared after the fact at times. That list of songs include: "Alone and Annoyed",  "Now A Friend", "Always There", and "Feeling Around". It's the End of the Trip and the full length album Take the Mountain  (also released in 1997) were the last releases from Moon Socket. Thompson now has a new band called Memories Attack. So if you are a fan of lo fi acoustic stuff, Eric's Trip and early Sebadoh/Sentridoh then I think you'll love Moon Socket. And if anyone is interested this is a record that I DO currently carry in my distro.

Moon Socket It's the End of The Trip track listing
1. I Want Now
2. Stupid Shyness
3. Hard Feelings
4. Swing
5. Brand New Friend
6. Clowds

Download Here

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)"

Download Here

Kicking Giant "Halo" cd (Spartadisc Records/1993)

I am actually surprised it has taken me such a long time to share one of my more "rarer" cds on this blog. I have been focusing so much on my vinyl and tapes that I haven't acknowledged the fact that I do have a large amount of obscure cds in my collection. And this cd Halo by the noisy indie/art rock duo Kicking Giant is certainly quite obscure, at least these days. This cd which is packaged like a 45 with a hard plastic sleeve, however the sleeve folds out to be a intricate 3-D structure of sorts with the inserts acting as "stands".  This cd version was released on Spartadisc while a cassette version was released on the band's own Loose Leaf label. Halo is a lengthy effort at that with 22 tracks!!! Remember this was the day of lo fi indie rock excess. Our parents generation had double and triple albums-our generation had Guided By Voices Bee Thousand! A few of the songs on Halo also appears on a few of their self released cassettes, namely Present and Secret Teenage Summer but given the even greater scarcity of those cassettes Halo was and is the only game in town for most folks to hear these tunes. While Kicking Giant's Alien ID on K Records showed off the duo's more noisier side I think it is safe to say that Halo documents the pure indie pop side of the band. The tunes on Halo prove that the song "She's Real" wasn't a indie pop fluke, Kicking Giant were superb pop songwriters. Halo does find the duo delving into more abstract, noisier elements at times but at that heart the album is pure pop. To me Kicking Giant were a perfect amalgamation of all that I loved about the 90s independent music underground. They were indie rock, bedroom pop, riot grrl, art rock, and punk rock all in one.

As a side note if anyone out there in blog land has a rip of the Present cassette please send it my way as it is the only Kicking Giant release that I *know of* that I don't have.  And as I was saying, releases that *I know of* that is reference to something I came across last year. I was looking through old college radio single play lists and I came across one from WCKS Fm from back in 1995. And on their list is a Kicking Giant 7 inch called Monogahella on Generator Records. I have never seen this record or it mentioned elsewhere. I was getting into Kicking Giant in 1994 and was able to snag most of their releases as they were coming out but this single is something that I never heard of until a year ago. So if anyone has information on this record actually existing or even a rip or (gasp!) perhaps a copy to sell drop me a line.

Kicking Giant Halo track listing
1. Satellite
2. Wierd
3. Three
4. Throw
5. Five
6. The Way That You Are
7. Rocket
8. Ruby Red
9. Suck
10. Go Girl (Riot)
11. Rachel's Song
12. Fuck the Rules
13. 13 13 13
14. This Sex
15. Mario
16. If Not You
17. Halo
18. Hi
19. Rocket Dreams
20. Stereo Hi Fi
21. Love Science
22. Come in Colors

Download Here

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"

Download Here

Dump "International Airport" 10 inch (Smells Like Records/1994)

This past Sunday night I made the trek into Brooklyn to see Dump play a show so in spirit of the show today I shall be sharing with you fine followers of this blog a nice long play effort from Dump called International Airport. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised to hear that the lengthy title track of this record was played Sunday evening and yes, it was awesome. Earlier in this space I posted a rare single from Dump but in case you missed it, Dump is the long running solo project of James Mcnew who is better known for his "day job" in Yo La Tengo. Since the early 90s Mcnew has been sporadically recording music on his 4 track in his home and releasing it in various forms over the years. This 10 inch record was released Smells Like Records, the label run by Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley. Dump has been one of the bigger influences on my own bedroom recordings over the years as Mcnew never just settles into one style as he deftly switches back and forth from bedroom pop, ambient, drone, folk, and even what can be described as lo fi new wave or dance music. Fans of the New York City indie rock band Versus should take note as International Airport features a great re-working of their song "Flax". Some of Dump's releases are tough to come by but his full length cd albums A Plea for Tenderness (Brinkman Records) and Grown Ass Man (Shrimper Records) can be found rather easily and most likely on the cheap due to the cd format not being "cool" anymore or whatever the fuck. Both of those albums are probably the best starting off points in the Dump discography so I highly recommend you seek them out.

Dump International Airport 10 inch track listing
1. Words
2. International Airport
3. Flax
4. The Way Love Used to Be
5. Memorial Trauma #1
6. Laurdine

Download HereDownload Here

Refrigerator "Louder Than Goodbye" 7 inch (Squealer Records/1995)

Anytime anyone mentions the word "lo fi" hands down the first thing that should come to mind is Shrimper Records, the label who might've not been a house hold name but for anyone that followed the home recording/tape label explosion of the 90s is well aware that Shrimper was the label that defined that era. And one the bands that is synonymous with Shrimper, Refrigerator- a noisy, yet tuneful lo fi indie rock band that featured Shrimper Records founder Dennis Callaci on guitar and his brother Allen on vocals with a host of other members through the years. Throughout the 90s Refrigerator released several cassettes, singles, cd/lp albums and an inordinate amount of compilation tracks. And their music could be best described as marriage of noisy, disjointed art rock 'ala Half Japanese and Red Krayola mixed with the jangly indie rock, pop goodness of  other Inland Empire bands such as Wckr Spgt, DiskothiQ, Nothing Painted Blue, etc. They were bizarre at times, with the eccentric vocals at the forefront and clanging guitars but damn at the same time you'd find yourself tappin' your toes. While not a being a touring band in many years, Refrigerator continues to write and record music, albeit the music they have done in the last several years has changed considerably. It is a bit closer to folk than lo fi indie rock. Their brand new full length cd on Shrimper, Dangerous was released this spring. The single I am sharing with you today was released on Squealer Records and the tunes I think serve as a good introduction to the band as each song captures some of the things I like best about the band.  I will be sharing more Refrigerator in the coming months and I am excited as they are a band that unfortunately I feel as if time has forgotten.

Refrigerator Louder Than Goodbye track listing
1. Meantime
2. Thinner Than Skin
3. Louder Than Goodbye
4. Housing Fires

Download Here

Edith Presler "Drag" 7 inch (Little Mafia Records/Cactus Gum/1996)

I am so excited to share this gem of a 7 inch with you all today. Influenced by the lo fi home recording explosion of a few years prior from the mid to late 90s Denver based Edith Presler took the ball and ran with as the lo fi bedroom pop trio churned out song after song. They appeared on countless compilations, many of which came out via the cassette format but also were able to release two solo efforts- a full length cassette For the Love of a Texas Cheerleader on the legendary cult tape label Cactus Gum and this 5 song 7 inch called Drag which I am sharing with you today. Edith Presler possessed all of the novice charm that drew so many people to the whole lo fi movement of the 90s. Musically they were a cross between early Pavement and Guided By Voices as well as Silver Jews and even stuff like Crayon.

Back then it felt like bands like this and tape labels were starting up everyday though it wasn't as easy to identify as it is these days with the ease of technology allowing to spread the word in seconds. Back then it took a little bit longer to find out about stuff. And when I first was exposed to the whole 4 track/home recording/tape label culture it blew my mind that kids all over the country where making an awful racket just like I was in my bedroom and putting out on their own tapes, distributing and trading them all over the world. I was first exposed to the world via Lou Barlow and Shrimper Records and from there I found out that really personal, home recorded music that spoke to my interests was being released on a countless number of  tape labels like Cactus Gum, Catsup Plate, Flannel Banjo, Sonic Enemy, Car in Car Disco Product,  Sing Eunuchs!, etc. For me it was a very influential period that sticks with me to this day.

But back to Edith Presler-good luck tracking down the actual releases since most of their songs were released on cassette comps or 7 inches that are long gone. You can still order the Drag 7 inch from Little Mafia  so I implore you to buy the dang thing if you like it. Also I actually have a copy or two still in the Rok Lok distro. And you can actually download the full length cassette For the Love of a Texas Cheerleader at Dial Square Tapes, which is a new-ish private press tape label run by the fine fella who used to do Cactus Gum. Download and enjoy!

Also for more information on some tape labels/bands from the 90s (and even current) I'd highly recommend you check out this site that is pretty much the only resource online for this stuff called I Hear Strange Music. There you can find a complete discography for Edith Presler as well as many of the tape labels I mentioned here.

Edith Presler Drag 7 inch track listing
1. Drag
2. Alcan
3. Seconds
4. For the Love of a Texas Cheerleader
5. Midfall

Download Here