Acid Mothers Sunday vol 9: Mainliner Live 1997

I have been going through a bit of a Mainliner phase since Jasso from the Antarcticans mentioned this awesome video on the AMT message board. The first time I actually encountered AMT was through seeing Mainliner at the Knitting Factory in Manhattan on Feb 2 1997. I was so beyond stoked to see them as Mellow Out was one of my absolute faves of the previous year or so.

The line up was Mainliner, John Zorn and the Ruins if I am not mistaken. The Knitting Factory was kind of a drag that night, as they had chairs filling up the main room and had already banned smoking in that room (luckily the downstairs bar still allowed such things). Anyways Mainliner were pretty damn hot, leveling us, though I do remember thinking they weren't loud enough, alas! We were totally freaked out by the super tall wild haired guitarist who was just wailing away as on the album, but actually flailing and rocking the fuck out. Anyways, after the show, I bought a tape by the guitarist's other band, Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O. and the rest is history.

I think this recording was from a La Musica box set, but I am not entirely sure. I traded for it in the 2000s and it is a pretty decent (soundboard?) recording of the Knitting Factory set from 1997. There is some digital noise in spots, but for the most part a clear recording. Wish there was more guitar, of course, and I do wish they had played longer. To the best of my recollection it was Yoshida Tatsuya from the Ruins on drums with Kawabata Makoto on guitar and Asahito Nanjo on bass and vocals.


Mainliner - Live Feb 2 1997 Knitting Factory NYC

Track List:
1. tuning
2. Tsukisasaru
3. Black Sky part 1
4. Black Sky part 2
5. M
6. Last Day

Billy Corgan joins Yahowa 13 on stage in LA

Ok, the dude has a hate on for Billy, but neat to see that this was documented and such.

From the Swan Fungus blog...

New Boris stuff

A live version of the Smile album.

and...

A new collab with Kurihara called Cloud Chamber

Some pics from their 2005 show at the Church, more here:

Yahowa 13 Dec 2008 West Coast Tour and more...

Just reposting the tour info here:

Yahowa 13 2008 West Coast Tour:

Dec 15:
Nectar Lounge
412 N. 36th St. (Fremont)
Seattle, WA 9810

Dec 16:
Doug Fir Lounge
830 Burnside Street
Portland, OR 97214
503-231-WOOD

Dec 17:
Humboldt Brews
856 10th Street
Arcata, CA 95521
707-826-2739

Dec 18
Slim’s
333 Eleventh Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
415-255-0333

Dec 19
Spaceland
1717 Silver Lake Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90026
323-662-7728

Also here are some news items on the Brothers...

And an older piece from NPR.

As Above, So Below!

Bummer

Bettie Page died.

Live Dr. Dog Video

From Nov 2008 in Amsterdam to the best of my knowledge, a full show I believe. Multi camera shoot with great sound... You can watch it here.

New Mixtapes

Two great new mixtapes from the last few weeks or so:

Clipse - Road To Til the Casket Drops

Lil Wayne - The Drought is Over 6 (bit torrent site)

Sola - Float (Osage Avenue)

Was digging through some CDs and came up with the awesome Sola disc The Bottom and recalled the awes video they did for one of the jams... "Osage Avenue." Rad. Bummed I never saw them.

Seth Kauffman/Floating Action Live Set

The fine folks at Park the Van Records have a full live set from Floating Action available for download on their site. Floating Action is the new name for Seth Kauffman, and he is probably my fave Park the Van artist. Great songwriting, hooky stuff without being sugarygay and some awesomely quirky production. Definitely dig on his studio stuff. Anyways, this live set is pretty well recorded and the songs and playing are top notch...

Flower Travellin' Band NYC Dec 9 2008

So it looks like the originally scheduled Flower Travellin' Band reunion shows scheduled for Nov 22 and 23 did not happen, not sure why exactly, but they are now playing the Knitting Factory in Manhattan on Dec 9, hopefully they will play more dates in the states as it is unlikely I will make it to this one...

Yahowa 13 West Coast Tour Dec 2008

Ok, not trying to turn this into the Yahowa 13 blog or anything, but it has been an exciting few months for fans of Yahowa, Father Yod, The Source Family and so on... And what a great way to finish off 2008! A Yahowa 13 West Coast tour! Dig the dates below... and also, in non-Yahowa news, Dr. Dog and Seth Kauffman were/was fantastic at the Starlight Ballroom last night.

Yahowa 13 2008 West Coast Tour:

Dec 15:
Nectar Lounge
412 N. 36th St. (Fremont)
Seattle, WA 9810

Dec 16:
Doug Fir Lounge
830 Burnside Street
Portland, OR 97214
503-231-WOOD

Dec 17:
Humboldt Brews
856 10th Street
Arcata, CA 95521
707-826-2739

Dec 18
Slim’s
333 Eleventh Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
415-255-0333

Dec 19
Spaceland
1717 Silver Lake Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90026
323-662-7728

So there ya go, West Coast heads... Enjoy! And hey look, I can post some more Yahowa 13 pics from the Knitting Factory in Manhattan from April 8 2008...

Yahowa 13 Interview

Goldmine magazine's blog has an interview with Octavius here. Pretty out there, pretty interesting for sure...

First Snow

Acid Mothers Temple 2009 USA Tour Dates

Here



Fri 04/03/09 Echo Los Angeles CA Sonic Suicide Squad
Sat 04/04/09 Bottom of the Hill San Francisco CA Sonic Suicide Squad
Sun 04/05/09 Holocene Portland OR Sonic Suicide Squad
Mon 04/06/09 Sunset Tavern Seattle WA Sonic Suicide Squad
Tue 04/07/09 Biltmore Cabaret Vancouver BC Sonic Suicide Squad
Fri 04/10/09 7th Street Entry Minneapolis MN Sonic Suicide Squad
Sat 04/11/09 Empty Bottle Chicago IL Sonic Suicide Squad
Sun 04/12/09 Grog Shop Cleveland Heights OH Sonic Suicide Squad
Mon 04/13/09 Magic Stick Detroit MI Sonic Suicide Squad
Tue 04/14/09 El Mocambo Toronto ON Sonic Suicide Squad
Wed 04/15/09 La Sala Rossa Montreal PQ Sonic Suicide Squad
Thu 04/16/09 Middle East Upstairs Cambridge MA Sonic Suicide Squad
Fri 04/17/09 Mercury Lounge New York NY Sonic Suicide Squad
Sat 04/18/09 Johnny Brendas Philadelphia PA Sonic Suicide Squad
Sun 04/19/09 DC9 Washington DC Sonic Suicide Squad
Mon 04/20/09 Ottobar Baltimore MD Sonic Suicide Squad
Tue 04/21/09 Local 506 Chapel Hill NC Sonic Suicide Squad
Wed 04/22/09 The Earl Atlanta GA Sonic Suicide Squad
Thu 04/23/09 Hi-Tone Cafe Memphis TN Sonic Suicide Squad
Fri 04/24/09 Hailey’s Denton TX Sonic Suicide Squad
Sat 04/25/09 Emos Alternative Lounge Austin TX Sonic Suicide Squad
Mon 04/27/09 Plush Tucson AZ Sonic Suicide Squad
Tue 04/28/09 Casbah San Diego CA Sonic Suicide Squad

Ugh... Remaining Dates of Plastic Crimewave Sound Tour Canceled

Plastic Crimewave Sound and Djin and Mondo Drag got stuck at the border going to Canada and their work papers were not in order. Not sure the exact cause at the moment and such, but a massive drag. This leads to the cancellation of the rest of the tour. Huge bummer as the sets I saw were incredible... Damn. At least there was a recording session to document this historic meeting of the psych minds... to be continued...

Plastic Crimewave Sound & Djin Aquarian, La Otracina, Mondo Drag

At the Knitting Factory, NYC... Nov 12 2008...

Headed up to this one with Mike from Prophase. We were both a bit burnt from this same bill minus La Otracina, playing the night before in Philly. Took the train this time around and was also safe in the knowledge that was heading into work late the next day. Unfortunately we got there a bit late and missed openers Khoutek who had put on a nice set of slow boil psych the night before. Tuning into their CDs on the way up revealed some nice Spacemen 3 and/or Floyd tendencies.

We ran in for Mondo Drag and only caught the end of their set, definitely disappointing (that we missed most of their set, I mean), as they were shit hot in Philly; a great blend of Sabbath type heaviness and some really fluid, ultra spacey guitar work. Nice and tight but just enough room for some really out there guitar action. It ain't all mega heavy though, in Philly they played a jam that was so close to the Ghost/Kurihara/Quicksilver thing that I was stressing trying to figure out if it was a cover or not. Anyway it was a great 15 minutes or so we got to see of them. Very impressive and their CD is great, too. And the Quicksilvery jam is on their CD and myspace "Death Rattles." We celebrated them by feasting on an awesome cookie and hoisting Red Stripes. Here are some pics of Mondo Drag from Marvelous in Philly.




La Otracina were great as always, taking over with that swagger and spazz deal. Newish guitar dude Phil is fitting in great and they are like heavy Hawkwind psych at points, but also punk and shit. I swear, my buzzed skull was demanding I yell out for "Walk Together, Rock Together" but luckly I didn't listen. They played the hits "Raze the Sky" and "Fight For The Night" as well as a jam that either was "Kick Out the Jams" or sounded just like it. I was a little dizzy at the point, so sue me. The heavy riffing and the swinging drums and that little bit of evil in with all the good vibes.





We retired for some much needed awes and a smoke break outside. It seems the Knitting Factory is moving to Brooklyn, which is a bummer of course. I saw a lot of great bands there and had lots of good times. Yep.

So this was the moment... Plastic Crimewave Sound with Djin Aquarian of Yahowa 13 as their second guitarist. I actually had to bail before they played their Philly gig, so this was my first exposure to the joined forces of psych goodness, all with that Chicago tie and stuff. Starting off with a cover of the Grateful Dead's "Caution (Do Not Step On Tracks)" (that is slated for release on a Dead covers comp I am putting together), the pretty much took off immediately, spirals and washes of deep guitar goodness mixed perfectly with each other. Steve was taking a more rock/heavy sound going on while Djin's acoustic through a bunch of effects provided such awesome color and background. While it was a super out there cover of one of the Dead's most heavy jams, Djin still gave a new dimension to the PCWS sound. I was definitely swirling myself and getting totally lost in the layers. Mark and Lawrence locked down a nimble (but not light) propulsive rhythm and Djin and Steve just piled on with the guitars. I stumbled around and took some pics and enjoyed more Red Stripe as they tore through some PCWS jams that sounded great with the addition of Djin's way distinctive play. They also played Djin's "Dinosaurs" and some other totally spontaneous jams. Nice long repetitive jams going deeper and deeper into the frontal lobe. Massively psychedelic, totally delivered on my high expectations. After much babble and beers and all that jazz, it was a knocked out train ride/car ride home for me and half day at the work place.











UPDATE: Ugh... PCWS and Mondo Drag got stopped at the Canadian border. Problems with the work papers... Massive bummer and the rest of the tour is canceled at this point... Fuck.

Sorry Mainliner...

... but there is a new greatest video on youtube.

two completely different awesome videos

First up, dig this clip of Harry Kalas doing the final pitch of the 2008 Phils World Series win in Philadelphia. Be sure to keep an eye on Wheels! This makes me tear up, seriously.



And then, thanks to a post from Jasso on the AMT messageboard, an awesome "live" Mainliner perormance on a cable access children's show.

Phillies Win 2008 World Series!!!!

Damn straight! Jaime Moyer! Wooooooo!!!!!!



UPDATE: My pal Clint was at the game! Dig his footage:

New from Prophase...

Sorry for lack of blog action, I blame the Phillies (fingers crossed)... that said, you can totally celebrate the rain delay with these new releases from Prophase Recordings:

Plastic Crimewave Sound- Plastic Crimewave Sound (click here to buy)




Yahowa 13 - Sonic Portation (click here to buy)




And don't forget the upcoming Plastic Crimewave Sound tour, with Djin of Yahowa 13 on second guitar!!!

Haha

Plastic Crimewave Sound & Djin Aquarian 2008 Tour!!

Here are the dates for the Plastic Crimewave Sound & Djin Aquarian (guitarist from Yahowa 13) 2008 tour.

I will add more info, etc. when I get a chance/know more... but seriously, this is gonna be insanely awesome!!!

friday 11/7: cleveland (grog shop)
saturday 11/8: pittsburgh (gooski's)
sunday 11/9: dc (the velvet)
monday 11/10: baltimore (the talking head)
tuesday 11/11: philly (marvelous records)
wednesday 11/12: nyc (knitting factory)
friday 11/14: montreal (salsa)
saturday 11/15: toronto (sneaky d's)
sunday 11/16: detroit (the bohemian)

Dr. Dog- The Ark

My fave song on Fate. Awesome video and Kanye West posted it on his blog under the heading "Beautiful."

GG Allin - Wally's

Thanks to Eric for hipping me to this awesome GG Allin blog. Great download of the one and only time I saw GG, at Wally's in Bethlehem in 1989, a surprisingly good recording. Wish there was video... and I wish the Uptown Bones set was on there too.. Alas! As a bonus, here is a pic of Merle Allin from last year in his pad, dig the groovy serial killer art!

New Yahowa 13 website, sound clip

Well this is extra groovy, there is a new, official, Yahowa 13 website featuring news, photos, sound clips, etc. As you may know, Propahse Music is releasing the first NEW album by Yahowa 13 in 30+ years. That one comes out on Oct 28 2008 on CD with a later, very limited vinyl release (hopefully). You can pre-order the new album, Sonic Portation, here. Also, back on the official Yahowa 13 site they are featuring a sound clip of one of the new jams from Sonic Portation, so check it out and see how much these original members of the Source Family have totally kept it together in the ensuing years! Amazing! Lots more Yahowa 13, Prophase news in the coming weeks!!

Acid Mothers Sunday vol 8

As everyone knows, there are two (main) versions of Acid Mothers Temple these days, Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O. and Acid Mothers Temple & The Cosmic Inferno. The Cosmic Inferno started out playing a darker, heavier version of the Melting Paraiso, but recently have becoming a little more bliss out/freakout. The Cosmic Inferno has recently seen Afrirampo's Pika join their ranks, keeping with the two drummers aspect of the Cosmic Inferno sound. Anyway, the Cosmic Inferno recently finished up a UK & Ireland tour and are planning another one of Europe for November. Where this leaves USA AMT heads is anyone's guess, but hopefully they will bring the Cosmic Inferno/Pika traveling circus to the States soon! The Cosmic Inferno also has two new CDs available, the super fantastic Pink Lady Lemonade ~ You're From Outer Space on Riot Season and a live album on Vivo Records that I just ordered from Eclipse. Eclipse is also stocking a DVD of the Cosmic Inferno with Pika recorded live in Japan.

Here is a jam from the middle of "Pink Lady Lemonade" recorded on Aug 6 2008 at Whelan's in Dublin, Ireland. It is a weird, disco sounding massive riff that gets the full on AMT treatment. This is a lossy mp3 and I recommend you download the whole show from
archive.org., thanks to AMT message board poster NJM for recording and posting this one.

Acid Mothers Temple & The Cosmic Inferno - Do You Like Space Disco? (recorded live Aug 6 2008 Dublin Ireland

So great...

Norm McDonald on the Bob Saget roast. Not sure if this clip works on its own, probably not... but in the context of the whole roast, it was brilliant. Scoundrel! Thanks Videogum.

My fave song today: Damin Eih, ALK and Brother Clark - Thundermice

Ok, I am not even sure how I stumbled upon this one... some sort of related artist to Relatively Clean Rivers or something on Last.fm. Regardless, I had never even heard of Damin Eih, ALK or Brother Clark and their private press album Nevermind from 1973. I don't even know much now, what I did find out I learned from this entry (and comments) on the awesome Garden of Delights blog. The whole album really does have a totally stoned vibe, well recorded, groovy instrumentation; sometimes a little overboard on the harmonies/singer-songwriter vibe, but at its best it really does have something for everybody. The evidence is "Thundermice," my fave track on the album, hell my fave (non Lil Wayne) track in general of the last few days... An almost sub dark America vibe opens the song with the wide open strumming and runs up and down the neck and that spark of harmonics on an acoustic. The deep voiced bummer vocals affect a vaguely English feel (these dudes were from Minnesota it seems) touching on what could be that elusive so-called "acid folk." Calming, but still kinda dark (thunder clouds, yo!) the jam leads into an awesome breakdown around 1:42 when a rudimentary guitar/fuzz solo takes over for about 30 second before the vocals, strums and piano sink back in. Even the harmonies of "thundermice, thundermice, thundermice" after the solo are great. Since the songs bleed into each other, this one cuts off with a few seconds of the next song "Monday Morning Prayer's" mantra of "the world is ridiculous, the worlds is ridiculous, the world is ridiculous" and I swear to god it reminds of Fugazi. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a legit edition (or non legit, even) for purchase on the internet... if anyone finds one, drop a line.

Damin Eih, A.L.K. and Brother Clark - Thundermice (from the LP Nevermind)

Flower Travellin' Band Reform...

Looks like I am a bit behind the times on this one, but the mighty Flower Travellin' Band have reformed and played/will play some shows in Japan. Cool article from the English language Japan Times here. Looks like they are also going to have a new album, We Are Here, coming out in Sept. Crazy.

Photon Band - Stratosphere video

Woo hoo! and Yeah.

The Dead C come to America in October

Awesome! I saw them at Upstairs at Nick's back in, uh... I don't know... 1996? 1997? So exciting that they are coming back. Hooray... Here are the dates:

10-12 Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's
10-13 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
10-16 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
10-19 Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle


And what the hell, why not link to the interview I did with the C's Michael Morley back in 1994. Yay... man, this makes my Thursday.

Acid Mothers Sunday vol 7 (the return of...): Inyogogyo (LA-096)

Ok, so it has been a few months since the last one of these, the one thing I said I would do on a semi regular basis on the blog. You know how it goes. This time around it is not Acid Mother Temple proper, but it is another one of Kawabata's many appearances on a LA Musica release. La Musica was the label run by Asahito Nanjo in the nineties that documented his scene and those around him. Inyogogyo is a duo of Kawabata and Nanjo making some evil sounding drone/scrape 'scapes. According to the (color!) sleeve, this was recorded in 1996, mastered in 1997 and (probably) released in 1998 or 1999. I am not sure what instruments they are creating with, but this isn't insanely far removed from the stuff they did as Toho Sara, though darker, for sure. Creepy and kinda disturbing, not exactly the relaxing meditation grooves of a lot of the more recent solo/drone Kawabata. Bowling clouds of deep rumble bounce of off slow motion free jazz scronk way in the background with a general bad vibe ambiance. Side two is a tad mellower and closer to surface earth, some chimey and effects covered acoustic guitar layers with the melting woooosh for a slightly more recognizable grounding. A totally interesting release in that mud puddle where drone and noise kinda bisect. Here is the La Musica catalog blurb, in typical mystic/carny goof:

096. INYOGOGYO / Wood, fire, earth, metal, water
Secretive “music” group formed by Makoto Kawabata and Asahito Nanjo. Taking as their theme the two contradicting powers that are the origin of all things, they explore the universe, nature and humanity. Studio recordings by a martyred group with a spacey psychedelic sound.

So there you go. Perhaps it is the clash of "contradictiing powers" that lends the heaviness to this one, who knows? Inyogogyo has no other releases listed in the catalog and I only know of this one being a cassette. Martyred group, indeed!


Inyogogyo - Wood, fire, earth, metal, water (LA-096)

Blog Bitez LOLZ II !

I am still kinda new to reading mp3 blogs and I get all excited when I stumble across one from one of my favorite fanzine writers from the 90s (or 80s or 70s). This week I found myself on Jay Hinman's Detailed Twang all breathlessly reading old posts and such. Jay did Super Dope fanzine back in the 90s, always one of the best reads out there. Many happy days spent in my bedrooms at the Punk Haus and the New Wave Condo, sitting in A/C and smoked out, reading and re-reading Super Dope and tracking down the records he wrote about. I must have read his Brainbombs interview like 50 times. Anyways, lots of great posts and mp3s, and yes I know I am insanely late to the party on this kind of stuff, hell this is Jay's second blog, even! I was all excited to see a positive Birds of Maya mention in the midst of Monster Magnet post, awesome!

In non-music, but totally psychedelic, my pal Rusty is writing about his stint at Indian Echo Caverns this week on his blog. IEC was my first job and where I met Rusty. His recollections are pretty spot on and I hope this winds up being a week plus of posts, as it is insanely entertaining and quite good to see some of the stories/characters we have been blabbing about for over 20 years at least getting some historical due. And yeah, that dude Russ really was as insane, if not more, than he sounds like from Rusty's writings. It was a fucked up job and totally something I could never do again (I knew that by the next summer), I am not sure how I did it to begin with, but in a bizarre way it was part of the summer of age 16 that totally molded me (laid, 'cid, smoke, first job/own money, older friends...ok some of that happened summer of 15, but you know...). Anyways, it is totally psychedelic b/c I was doing 'cid back then a lot, but not at the actual caves. More later, perhaps, but definitely check out Rusty's musing on the deal.

Utley F'n Rules

At least today...



Though he should not have apologized, I guess ya gotta do what ya gotta do. But remember, Philly fans boo'd Santa Claus! Ahhhh! Phils still in first place, eat a dick Mets!

Holy Angels - Angel Trip (LA-082)

This is another one of the Nanjo/La Musica cassette tape releases from the late nineties. This is one of my faves; the rich, deep echo'd out psych is just gorgeous. Not really sure what the story behind this is exactly, though Holy Angels do have a few cassettes listed in this La Musica catalog. Angel Trip is listed as catalog number LA-082 and contains two long tracks. The description from the catalog (by Nanjo, translated by Alan Cumming) goes like this:

Space psycedelic group centring around female members. Their third release to feature that heavenly holy sound. While still pursuing the minimal progressive direction evident on their previous release, here they increase the voltage and add a full psychedelic trip-feel. Also features Asahito Nanjo on sitar. Unreleased studio recordings.

And that is about all the info I can dig it. It seems this was issued on vinyl at one point, but I never actually saw it or anything.

Holy Trip Part 1
Electric Flix

New Issue of SALT (#8)

Been meaning to mention this for a bit, but have been sidetracked and such... anyway, the new issue of SALT is out now and has been for a month or so. Kevin McCaighy's zine is one of my all time favorites and a new issue is always a welcome delivery in this house. Full disclosure: I am personal friends with Kevin and have written for SALT in the past.

Totally done like a real deal fanzine; on paper, black & white, music (and film and wrestling and print) coverage, it really is one of the best reads out there. Sure, as a crank, I dig the aesthetics of actually paging through paper whilst being super awesome and listening to the new Endless Boogie (which is pretty massive by the way)... but the printing would be pointless if the writing didn't back it up, of course. Luckily Kevin (who also writes for Rock a Rolla as well as some other pubs, I think?) is one of the best music writers doing it these days. His mix of analytical questions and excited music fan enthusiasm make his interviews dig much deeper than the usual email transcriptions. His reviews actually talk about what the stuff sounds like and his sense of musical history often makes connections between sounds/bands I would have never thought of. I wish this issue had more reviews, though! Plus he pretty much sticks to writing about what he likes (in SALT) and wants people to hear instead of wasting time trashing easy targets like so much internet/indie smart mark dreck. I seem to be praising "genuine enthusiasm" a lot lately, but goddamn it is nice to see/read, what can I say? Plenty of it in issue eight, no doubt.

Interviews with Circle and Xasthur are highlights for sure, especially since it is probably one of the last interview Malefic is gonna give. Some good inside stuff, without being gossipy, etc. A cool journal about Suishou No Fune at SXSW and a funny interview with grind types 7000 Dying Rats. Nice long chat with author John Lister about ECW and pro wrestling in general, always an awesome focus in most issues of SALT. The first 50 copies come with a 3" CD of exclusive music from Hwyl Nofio, who are also interviewed in the mag. Of course the issue is rounded out with some of Kevin's artwork, check out the cover drawing of Diamanda Galas and a full page of RTX.



It looks like Aquarius Records has issue 8 in stock, read their review and try not to buy an issue! Seriously... you can always contact Kevin at kevinmccaighy (at)hotmail(dot)com and buy direct from the source.

Wave That Flag

Happy 4th of July... my eternal goal is to be as fuckin' stoked as overalls guy at 2:30. He is the my fave person in the Dead movie, hell any movie... And screw the air guitarist looking at the camera, what a phony!



OVERALLS UPDATE: He is even more stoked at 3 minutes in. Yes!

La Otracina @ Marvelous July 1 2008

Great set last night from La Otracina in West Philly at Marvelous Records. New guitarist leads to a more rock (but not rockist) sound, though certainly in line with their old deal to me. Pure psychedelic rock meeting that blues boogie jam action as well. Would fit in so good at a Pearls & Brass show... or Stone Age! Heavy riffs meeting spazz drumming and Adam sings now too, so I guess things are more song oriented by definition, but yeah, I dig the heavy-now. I guess they played around 40 minutes with the last jam being an awesome "Kick Out the Jams" style rave up. Fun blabbing with them as well, always dig their genuine enthusiasm and work ethic. Plus new guitarist Phil was down with Turning Point and Misunderstood, crazy small world, yall. And friggin' William Walton and Eric Zimmerman (who has copped my beard and the Jay Laughlin headband from like 2002) were there. Awesome!

Here are some pics. Go see them if you can, psych is not afraid to rock, yo.

Awesome Lil Wayne mixtape

Probably the best mixtape (I have heard), since None Higher. This one came out of left field and is a great mix of Wayne raps and "fresh" beats/blends. Mardi Gras!

La Otracina @ Marvelous Recs West Philly tonight

Ooops, forgot to mention this over the weekend, but the awesome psych trio from Brooklyn, La Otracina are rocking out at Marvelous Records in West Philly tonight, July 1. They are on tour and have a new tour CDr and such to join their full length on Holy Mountain. Should be awesome. Marvelous Records is at 208 S. 40th St. in West Philly. La Otracina start things off at 8PM as far as I can tell. Here is a pic from almost exactly a year ago when they played the Balcony Bar.

Virginville Film Fest 08

The 4th Annual Virginville Film Fest went off without a hitch (at least any that I could see) this past Saturday (June 28) up in the LV... I rolled up solo, gorgeous drive up with knee high corn on either side for a lot of it, hazy summer, but not awful... listening to the new Malkmus, Phish, Lil Wayne and Antiseen. Gorgeous sundown drive with no traffic. Noticed a Vermont plated minivan taking all the same turns as me, when I finally parked, it WAS Charles and Sharon and their basketball team in the making rolling down. Most awesome. Oh yeah, full disclosure, Prophase music was a sponsor of this deal.

The fest is at some farm, screen set up at the bottom of a hill in front of a pond. Things were already up and running when I got there, Mexican food, beer, pottery table and Eric and Beth and Wayne running around/working the tables. I enjoyed a bit of an awes brownie and blabbed with them for a bit before plopping down for the flicks. About 300 folks gathered for this one at the peak, at least to Wayne and I's estimate at the end of the deal. Lots of kids and families, it was more of the mellow arty/hippie wing of the LV weirdos, opposed to the noisy crew from Muscle Beach and such... Met Bart from Sloow Tapes and was under the impression he was an American, so I did a double take when his answer to my "So where you from?" was an accented reply about somewhere near "Antwerp." Was fun to blab with him and such after my Ugly American embarrassment; spread the word about the new We Have Heaven on his label. As the sun went down, my vision got wiggly and the screen started to stretch a little as the darkness behind the screen grew. Add some lightning and fireflys, it was rural psychedelia at its best... The flicks themselves are a bit of a blur as I was almost astral traveling at points, but all were fun and cool to some degree and none were awful. The fear of rain/thunderstorm kept up throughout the evening, but held off for the most part, occasional drops not withstanding.

A great time, really incredible. If I can figure out how to get my pics off of my phone, I will post them. Great to see the crew and so happy to see all of Eric, Beth and Wayne's good vibes and hard work pay off. Seriously, the jam of the summer/your own private Woodstock, whatever you wanna go with it. Only bummer? No Simon flick! Argh! Definitely already making plans for next year and will be bugging everyone to really go and mark their calenders and all that jazz, esp the Byrnsies! So perfect for them! Oh, and keeping with my usual LV deal, yep, I got lost on the way home.

Latarian Milton update

He just rules. FACE!

UPDATE: More!!!

Lil Wayne goes Platinum (maybe?)

So it looks like Tha Carter III is set to go platinum in the first week. Yay. Really, that was just an excuse to post this awesome photoshop courtesy of Jimmy Rollins:




UPDATE: Willie Randolph just got the boot too.

UPDATE II: A milli a milli a milli.

Teenage Jesus & the Jerks @ Knitting Factory NYC 6.13.08

Friday the 13th! Lydia Lunch! Ahh!

We rolled up a little early and met Kurt from Atavistic Records and Ms. Lunch herself. Had some dinner with them at that Spanish joint around the corner and such. Also, no crazy tales of Lydia, she was friendly and awesome and all that, but of course I am quite biased. She did have a strangeish fan stop in and give her flowers and take some pics, it was an odd moment. Luckily I had beer. It must be a drag.

Knitting Factory was absolutely mobbed and insane, totally crowded. Both shows sold out (I was only hitting the early one, alas; with Mike Prophase in tow). Baked goods were consumed and beers were had (along with a roasted pork burrito). Missed any/all opening acts because I was watching Kurt hold court at the merch table and got to see thee most amazing exchange that went something like this:

Youngish Gent in Flipper Shirt: You should press up some of this stuff on vinyl.
Kurt: uh...
Youngish Gent in Flipper Shirt: Vinyl sounds better.
Kurt: Yeah.. and anal is tighter, but sometimes you take what you can get.
Me: Bahhhhhhahaha!!!

The kid took it the right way and we all wondered aloud at Kurt's impeccable analogy and timing. Flipper kid agreed with my buzzed ass that the show was worth it already. Of course, the show was made me for much earlier when I got light one of Lydia's cigarettes.

Teenage Jesus & the Jerks' lineup was Lydia, Thurston Moore on bass and Jim Sclavunos on percussion. Preset some loudmouth tried to start a "hey ho, let's go" chant and it did not catch on. In fact, I think it got booed. My ECW chant at Magnetic Fields in Swathmore went over better. Short, perfect screech noisy burnt set, it was exactly like it was supposed to be in my head. That said, it was fuckin' crowded and as a short guy, in the back (thanks to too much beer and babble, so I know it is my fault), I couldn't see much besides Thurston's mug. Alas, no pics of the show. Sorry dear, Nice Pooperites. Set was probably about 25 minutes long maximum, again perfect. It was odd hearing these songs get cheered for, even though I was clapping as well. Lydia was great at bashing the hecklers, of course. I figure at least 80% of the audience had to have jerked off to her at some point in their lives (if not at the actual show), hell I think I did on d-pe once! After rotating back to the merch table we watched the celebs come and go, the shirts go flyin' off the table and some wonderful hot pants. After that, I collected Mr. Prophase up and we skeedaddled our burnt way back to the Keystone State with magical texts of 20-2 Phillies victory over the Cards.
Here are some photos from the show that I did not take.

Latarian Milton speaks to his fans...

"...and I love you, and I hope you be..." what does he say after that? In Preg? Impressed? Oh, Latarian, we are all impressed.

He really is the best. God bless this lil cherub.

some live Howlin Rain, quick wrap up

Sorry for lack of posting, the job has been a bit of a grind lately. Anyway, here is a link a 3 song live in the studio session from Howlin Rain. Sound is fantastic, as are the jams...

In bummer news, it seems there will be no more shows at Muscle Beach in Allentown. I can't find the blog post at the moment, but the cops shut it down or something. I don't think there was much drama, but a drag nonetheless.

My good pal Rusty has moved his blog to the spot (not to be confused with The Spot). Check him out here.

And don't forget the Virginville Film Fest coming up on June 28 2008. Wooo!

Djin/ Ya Ho Wa 13 interview in Vice

Dig it.


Awesome picture too.

Alas... RIP Albert Hoffmann

And thanks for everything.



Pretty Things - LSD (video)

What the heck, keeping with the themes of the week, here is ACID EATER's version of "LSD" as well. ACID EATER are/is (I can never get that correct) Masonna's fuzz punk psych band, formed out of the remnants of Christina 23 Onna. Killer fuzz organ snarl, bad trip, more beer! Perhaps not what Hoffmann had in mind, but it beats that video of Bonnie Prince Billy on 'shrooms, right?

ACID EATER - LSD (From Virulent Fuzz Punk A.C.I.D.)

Acid Mothers Sunday vol 6 (Tuesday edition)

Back in 2000 when I put out the last print issue of Nice Pooper (issue #23, Illuminati fans!), I included a CDr comp called Sweet, So What's Up For Tonight. There are some fantastic previously unreleased (at the time) songs on it from Major Stars, Rancid Vat, Woodland Fruits, Double Leopards, Mason Jones, Fursaxa and more.

One of the highlights was a song from Acid Mothers Temple & the Melting Paraiso UFO featuring Masonna. I had seen Acid Mothers Temple for the first time in April 1999 at the Khyber whilst flying on some fun gus. I did a confusing interview with them at the time that was printed in issue 23 of Nice Pooper and kept in touch with Kawabata and was so excited to get this exclusive track. "Loveball Feedback" is a monster rock jam that features noise artist Masonna. The track that was submitted was a little too long and I had to fade in after a minute or two to make room on the rest of the CD. The version here is the complete full version that never really made it into circulation. Once I get permission from the artists involved I will try to upload the whole compilation and perhaps some songs from the unreleased comp I was putting together when I thought there might be another print issue of the Pooper.

And here are some pics from when Acid Mothers Temple played Upstage (Upstages?) on 11.11.00 which is when the very limited "11.11.00" edition of the zine and CDr was released (rushed to have something out in time for the show). The zine was issued in a "real" numbered first edition of 150 and then a second (unnumbered) pressing of 50 was released after the first batch sold out.






Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso UFO with Masonna - Loveball Feedback (from the Nice Pooper comp Sweet, So What's Up For Tonight?)

Plastic Crimewave 10 Questions...

... on the Trip Inside This House blog. Good read, for sure.

Here are some Plastic Crimewave Sound pics for the hell of it. These were from June 2007 in Baltimore. Alas, Snoop and Chris were not there. More here.

RIP Kenneth Keith

Sad end for a wacko.

Father Yod and Ya Ho Wa 13 in the NY Times

Groovy, as they say. Some kinda flash/style piece. Not much info on the actual deal, but neat nonetheless. Not sure if it was in the print edition.

Acid Mothers Sunday vol 5

Been a month of Sundays, baa ahahhhahhaa! But yes, here is the fifth installment (I think) of the Acid Mothers Sunday series. This time around I picked another song from the most recent US & Canadian Tour. "Douchebag" is a fast attack, similar in some ways to the improvisation jams that AMT usually start their shows with. The studio version is on Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso UFO's 2007 album Acid Motherly Love and has an almost punkish driving rhythm. While not played regularly on this tour, it did pop up for a little bit during the Philadelphia show, and maybe others? This live version is from the last show of the tour, April 8 2008, at the Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco and features guest vocalist Stoo Odom and some weird noise thing going off, it may be a theremin or just more insane guitar, who friggin' knows?

Anyway, it gets quite a weird rocking work out and is one of the more enjoyable jams of the recordings that have been trickling out from this past tour. This one was recorded by Michaelz. This mp3 is at a lowish bit rate and while listenable, I must recommend you go to the Acid Mothers section of archive.org and get the whole show, lossless. The whole show is great and noisy and raw.

Here are some pics from the Philly show, too.

Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso UFO with Stoo Odom - Douchebag Live @ Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco, CA April 8 2008.

ya ho wa 13 @knitting factory nyc april 8 2008

The Ya Ho Wa 13 show/gathering at the Knitting Factory last night was very awesome. I rolled up to NYC with Prophase Mike behind the wheel, making absolutely incredible time on the NJTP (happy in the knowledge that the Phillies had won against the hated Mets earlier in the day) and hitting Manhattan with plenty of time for a good meal at Darlene, a Mexican/Spanish joint near the Knitting Factory. Cheap, good eats. As we trucked over to the Knitting Factory, we saw Djin Aquarian of Ya Ho Wa 13 and some of the other members heading out. It was great to finally meet Djin face to face after years of emailing with him (and an email interview here). Great vibes right off the bat, his (non ironic) friendly enthusiasm was so great and inspiring. We let him head off to have some dinner while we decided to have more beers. Yay.

The lineup for the show was a bit daunting, as there were 4 bands besides Ya Ho Wa 13 on the bill, but the set up was great, with the lower level bar hosting some of the bands, so there barely a wait between music. That said, I was wondering around and wasn't sure who I was seeing and didn't really see enough to judge any of the opening bands. Plus we met Isis from the Source Family and babbled with her for a bit. We also met Jodi Wille from Process Media, the publishers of the Source Book. It was really fun to meet these folks and gush about how great the book is and the music and on and on.

We did duck in and catch a tiny bit of the No Neck Blues Band. While they do make a mighty racket and such, I can't forget when they played the Balcony Bar like 10 years ago or something and Dan Gill tried to dance with their dancer and then (gently) grabbed the lead dude by that big beard of his and asked "Do you have a beer in there for me??" So yeah, no coming back from that.

A slightly beer buzzed and awes walk to the main room and some weaseling, got us right up front as Ya Ho Wa 13 started tuning up and such. The band for this performance was Djin on guitar and vocals, Sunflower on bass and Octavius on drums. This is the classic lineup that appeared on my fave Higher Key releases like Penetration, Contraction and Expansion. Another person was chalking up the gong on stage and a Father Yod looking fella (rocking a robe and giant leather belt with cel phone) spoke to the audience (quite diverse, hippies, kids, socialites and older folks) and led everyone in the "starman" exercise, one of the rituals of the Source family, detailed in the book. Since I was in the front, I couldn't tell how much of the audience participated, but I did my best keeping up with the band's frenzied breathing and exhaling. Hopefully someone got pics of a Knitting Factory audience so engaged.



The band started a slow spacey jam, smiling and greeting everyone, they seemed excited by the packed house and general anticipation of the room. Djin started out on electric and eventually locked into a groove with Sunflower and Octavius as the unknown fella made a mighty hiss and drone with the gong. He was smashing it over and over as the song peaked. After that he sat by the side of the stage meditating or something and totally grooving on the deal. The improv nature of the set kept things trucking along, not sure how much they rehearse but it seemed very easy for the three of them to lock in with each other.



Djin eventually switched to an acoustic guitar with a ton of effects pedals, a sound that I just love and don't encounter in a live setting enough (Batoh of Ghost on their tour with Magic Hour comes to mind). As far as comparing what Ya Ho Wa 13 from the seventies to 2008, there really wasn't much slickness, it was very easy to imagine these jams issuing forth from the cosmos through the players back in 1974. Not really surprising to anyone who heard Djin's playing on the Happy Hour Band release from a few years ago, his style is still very similar to his seventies sound, a little burnt and a very out there. The ensuing decades have not dampened his intriguing way of playing, thankfully! Drone, noise, metal and regular good old rock were all referenced in his guitar work.



As they band switched from say, first gear to the galactic overdrive, the playing got more frenzied and would rise and fall as they took it where it wanted to go. Some chants were in there as well as a little bit of the riffs from Penetration. I would say they played for around 90 calming-to-intense minutes. All the hype in my brain was sated. After the show we blabbed with Djin and Sunflower and got totally caught up in the good vibes, only to have to climb back in the car and head back to Philly, day jobs and two straight Phillies losses to the Mets. Argh! Still, one night of transcendence (in the Nice Pooper version of such things, anyway) in Manhattan that really recharged the psychic batteries. I wish they had played with the Boredoms, as I think my brain woulda said "see ya" and finally split. And that ain't no shit.