20 August 2017

TOMMY KEENE Ten Years After 1996

by request


Artist Biography by

Hailing from Bethesda, Maryland, Tommy Keene is a guitarist and singer/songwriter who plays and writes melodic guitar-based pop/rock. As a child, Keene played classical piano before picking up guitar and drums. He spent his teenage years drumming in a rock trio called Blue Steel, whose original guitar player, Mike Lofgren, was the younger brother of Nils Lofgren. Consequently, Keene's first notable gig was when Blue Steel opened for Lofgren's band Grin. In 1977, while attending the University of Maryland, Keene switched to guitar and formed the short-lived band the Rage with songwriter Richard X. Heyman. During this period, Keene left the Rage to join a popular Washington, D.C. rock band called the Razz, who opened for such notable acts as the Ramones, Devo, and Patti Smith. It was in the Razz that Keene met bass player Ted Nicely, who would work with him throughout the '80s.

Strange Alliance
After the Razz, Keene embarked on a European tour as a sideman for new wave singer Suzanne Fellini before co-founding a band called Pieces in New York. Unhappy with the music, Keene decided to form his own group with Nicely and drummer Doug Tull (also from the Razz), plus a guitar player named Michael Colburn, who was soon replaced by Billy Connelly. Using Keene's name, they released Strange Alliance on their own Avenue label in 1982, before being picked up by the Dolphin label out of North Carolina. Keene recorded two EPs there before being signed to Geffen, which released two full albums, Songs from the Film and Based on Happy Times, as well as Run Now, a six-song EP of previously recorded material, before dropping Keene from its roster.
Sleeping on a Roller Coaster
With a new backup band that included bassist/vocalist Brad Quinn and drummer John Richardson, Keene inked a deal with Matador in the early '90s, recording the EP Sleeping on a Roller Coaster and a full-length album entitled Ten Years After in 1996. In 1993, Alias released The Real Underground, a retrospective of Keene's career that included a wealth of unreleased tracks and out of print material from the '80s. In addition to recording and touring behind his records, Keene spent some of the '90s as a guitarist for hire, on the road with both Velvet Crush and Paul Westerberg. In 1998, he released a new studio album, Isolation Party. Four years later, he hooked up with his longtime rhythm section of John Richardson and Brad Quinn, Wilco's Jay Bennett, singer/songwriter Adam Schmitt, and ex-Gin Blossoms frontman Robin Wilson to issue The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down in June. In 2004, he switched lineups and released Drowning, and two years later, his tenth solo record, Crashing the Ether, came out on Eleven Thirty Records. In the Late Bright followed in 2009 on Second Motion. The following year saw the release of the double-disc career-spanning compilation Tommy Keene You Hear Me: A Retrospective 1983-2009. In 2011, Keene returned with the studio album Behind the Parade. Two years later, he released a collection of covers called Excitement at Your Feet, which he then followed in 2015 with the all-original Laugh in the Dark.

Tracklist  

1 Going Out Again 2:19
2 Turning On Blue 4:16
3 Today And Tomorrow 4:29
4 Your Heart Beats Alone 4:03
5 If You're Getting Married Tonight 2:21
6 On The Runway 2:55
7 We Started Over Again 3:14
8 Silent Town 4:02
9 Good Thing Going 2:54
10 Compromise 3:03
11 You Can't Wait For Time 2:11
12 Before The Light Go Down 3:57


MOCKINGBIRDS self titled 1999

by request
 

Artist Biography by

The power-pop band the Mockingbirds comprised singer Mark Fuqua, guitarist Max Butler, bassist Paul Babiak and drummer Les James. Their self-titled, self-released debut LP initially appeared in 1996; though the subject of much critical acclaim, it quickly went out of print, but was reissued by the Not Lame label in 1999.

Tracklist

1 Hey, Tristessa
2 Baby, You're A Star
3 Angels And Helicopters
4 Porno Star
5 Alfred Hitchcock
6 Submarine
7 Outlaw Song
8 Michael
9 On The Patio
10 Moovy
11 Automatic Girl

Bonus Tracks
12 Dream City Sunshine
13 Freeride
14 Frank Mills


18 August 2017

MUFFLON 5 6:am Mantra 1994

by request
 
Thanks to Angelo
 
 Swedish power pop band


Tracklist

1 Waverer
2 Little Cycles
3 Cracker
4 Stars
5 Outlines
6 Golden
7 Life Map
8 6:am Mantra
9 Mirror Of Venus
10 Time Out
11 Among Friends
12 Out Of The Mud
13 Klaudias Song

JFKFC J.F.K.F.C. (year unknown)

by request
 
 Thanks to Angelo

I think this was: An Atlanta metal supergroup featuring members of other notably named bands like Necropolis, Dick Delicious and the Tasty Testicles, and Artemis Pyledriver
 


Tracklist
 
1. Last Temptation of Christ and Me
2. Domestic Violence Starts at Home
3. I Found Happiness in a Doomsday Cult
4. Not Enough Ways to Say I Hate You
5. Misanthropic
6. El Jeffe de la Medellin
7. Mantra
8. Dopesick
9. P.C.P. & Me
10. Kentucky Fried Humans
11. There's Something in My God Module

16 August 2017

NAKED TRUTH Green With Rage 1991

by request


Tracklist

1 Pan African Alive 2:39
2 King In My Home (Lovejoy) 3:05
3 Here Lies America 3:09
4 Downtown 2:19
5 Blood Flows 6:02
6 Harem Scarem! 2:40

15 August 2017

PRO-PAIN Contents Under Pressure 1996


Discogs



Artist Biography by


Foul Taste of Freedom
Based in New York, Pro-Pain is an alternative metal band that blends the aggressiveness of hardcore punk with the technical precision of speed metal. The band released their debut album, Foul Taste of Freedom, in 1992. The record was well received within metal circles, and over the next five years, the group slowly built up a dedicated following across America and Europe.
The Truth Hurts
Truth Hurts, the group's second album, appeared in 1994 and was followed two years later by Contents Under Pressure. The band's eponymous fourth album was released in January 1998, followed shortly afterwards by Act of God in 1999 and Round Six in 2000. After two years without a record, the albums started coming hot and fast again with Shreds of Dignity in 2002, Fistful of Hate in 2004, and Prophets of Doom in 2005. Their tenth album, aptly titled Age of Tyranny: The Tenth Crusade, appeared in 2007, and was quickly followed by 2008's No End in Sight. Things began to slow down (relatively speaking), with Absolute Power, the band's twelfth album, released in 2010, followed by another two year gap until 2012's Straight to the Dome. Their fourteenth album, The Final Revolution, arrived in 2014.

Tracklist  

1 Crush 3:11
2 Shine 3:55
3 State Of Mind 4:15
4 Gunya Down 4:36
5 The Mercy Killings 3:26
6 Contents Under Pressure 3:22
7 Against The Grain 4:10
8 Box City 3:22
9 Odd Man Out 3:54
10 Political Suicide 3:35

14 August 2017

A.R. KANE New Clear Child 1994

by request

Artist Biography by

Arguably the most criminally under-recognized band of their era, the British duo A.R. Kane anticipated virtually all of the key musical breakthroughs of the 1990s a decade before the fact, with the roots of everything from shoegazing to trip-hop to ambient dub -- even those of post-rock -- lying in their dreamy, oceanic sound. Formed in London in 1986, A.R. Kane were essentially the partnership of Alex Ayuli and Rudi Tambala; hailed in the press as "the black Jesus and Mary Chain" upon debuting the following year on One Little Indian with the single "When You're Sad," they moved to 4AD later in 1987 to release the follow-up EP Lollita, an impressively eclectic blend of gorgeous dream pop bliss and nightmarish squalls of feedback produced by the Cocteau Twins' Robin Guthrie.
While at 4AD, label chief Ivo Watts-Russell suggested that Ayuli and Tambala team with roster mates Martyn and Steven Young of Colourbox, champion mixer Chris "C.J." Mackintosh, and London DJ Dave Dorrell to record a single fusing the rhythms and beats of classic soul recordings with state-of-the-art electronics and production. Dubbing the collaboration M/A/R/R/S, the resulting single, "Pump Up the Volume" -- a breakthrough effort heralding sampling's gradual absorption from hip-hop into dance music and ultimately the pop mainstream -- soon topped the British charts, the first 4AD release ever to accomplish the feat. Plans for a M/A/R/R/S follow-up never materialized, however, and A.R. Kane again picked up stakes, moving on to Rough Trade to begin work on their much-anticipated full-length debut.

"i"
The resulting album, 1988's 69, fulfilled all the promise of A.R. Kane's earlier work and more; cosmic yet funky, its liquid grooves immersed in waves of ecstatic noise, the record's mastery of atmosphere and mood -- in tandem with its nearly formless songs -- establish it as a clear antecedent not only of the nascent shoegazer sound but also much of the underground dance music to emerge in the years to follow. The duo's double-LP follow-up, 1989's i, was even more impressive in its scope, breathlessly veering from melodic dance-pop to eerie drone-rock to epic dub mosaics. And then...nothing: only three years later did the next A.R. Kane LP, Americana -- a handful of new tracks combined with past highlights -- appear on the Luaka Bop label. By the time of a proper follow-up, 1994's New Clear Child, the moment had clearly passed. 

Tracklist

1 Deep Blue Breath 4:58
2 Grace 3:25
3 Tiny Little Drop Of Perfumed Time 3:34
4 Surf 2:36
5 Motel Gather 4:31
6 Honey Be (For Stella) 3:33
7 Cool As Moons 3:44
8 Snow White's World 4:53
9 Pearl 4:36
10 Sea Like A Child 3:09

13 August 2017

THE SUPERJESUS Eight Step Rail EP 1996

by request
 

Tracklist

1 Ground 3:42
2 Shut My Eyes 3:28
3 I'm Stained 4:40
4 Glazed 4:28
5 Strips Of You 4:34

12 August 2017

PAIL SAINT Noise Bucket 1996

by request
 
 Here's some experimental noise. If you can listen to the entire album, I commend you.


Tracklist

1 No Song 12:03
2 Been Kept 2:56
3 Waited So Long 6:02
4 No Time 4:44
5 Remember 5:38
6 No 5:31
7 Progress 6:51
8 Untitled 3:24

10 August 2017

THIS PICTURE A Violent Impression 1991

by request
 
 

Artist Biography by


When the British band This Picture debuted on U.S. modern rock stations in 1991 with "Naked Rain," request lines smoked with listeners asking for the latest song from U2. Like Tuesday Blue and Cactus World News, This Picture aimed for U2's epic sound. However, U2 released Achtung Baby just when "Naked Rain" was climbing the alternative charts, and it destroyed the need for clones of the Irish superstars. Nevertheless, the poetic lyrics and driving hooks of "Naked Rain" gave modern rock radio a final gust of '80s new wave-inspired guitar pop right before Nirvana and the Seattle brigade made everything loud and fuzzy. Featuring Symon Bye (vocals), Robert Forrester (guitar), Austen Rowley (bass), and Duncan Forrester (drums), This Picture formed in Bath, England. The group's first album, A Violent Impression, appeared in 1991. Although "Naked Rain" was a hit on alternative stations, it didn't dent the mainstream charts. By the time another track, the exhilarating "Breathe Deeply Now," was being promoted to modern rock radio, the format was too steeped in grunge to care. A Violent Impression ended up in the cutout bins and This Picture was dropped from play lists once programmers started targeting younger listeners in the early '90s. The band recorded another full-length, City of Sin, in 1994 and then vanished from the scene. 

Tracklist

1 Naked Rain 3:41
2 All I Believe In 3:23
3 The Great Tree 4:09
4 Step Up 3:41
5 Death's Sweet Religion 6:27
6 Breathe Deeply Now 3:13
7 A Violent Impression 5:00
8 Still Life 4:45
9 5:30 AM 4:14
10 As Deep As This One 3:30
11 And I You 3:09

09 August 2017

LISA LOEB Firecracker 1997

by request

Artist Biography by


Reality Bites
If she had never made another record, Lisa Loeb would still go down in the record books as the first unsigned artist to top the American charts, as her meteoric single "Stay" -- from the soundtrack to 1994's Reality Bites -- spent three weeks at number one soon after the film's release. Born in Dallas, Loeb studied piano as a child but later switched to guitar. At Brown University, she studied music theory and played as a duo with her roommate, Elizabeth Mitchell (who went on to garner indie accolades with the band Ida). After college, Loeb attended Boston's Berklee School of Music for one semester, but then formed a full band in 1990, which she christened (in tribute to J.D. Salinger) Nine Stories and rounded out with Tim Bright on guitar, Jonathan Feinberg on drums, and Joe Quigley on bass.  


 Tracklist 

1 I Do 3:41
2 Falling In Love 4:07
3 Truthfully 2:58
4 Let's Forget About It 2:45
5 How 3:49
6 Furious Rose 3:23
7 Wishing Heart 2:53
8 Dance With The Angels 3:38
9 Jake 3:03
10 This 3:28
11 Split Second 2:37
12 Firecracker 5:43



06 August 2017

EUGENIUS Mary Queen of Scots 1994






Discogs


Tracklist

1 Pebble/Shoe 3:23
2 On The Breeze 3:15
3 Blue Above The Rooftops 3:00
4 The Moon's A Balloon 4:53
5 Mary Queen Of Scots 4:59
6 Easter Bunny 5:27
7 Let's Hibernate 3:40
8 Friendly High 4:48
9 River Clyde Song 3:10
10 Tongue Rock 2:38
11 Home Sick 4:34
12 Fake Digit 4:17
13 Love, Bread And Beers 3:07