PINECONE PEOPLE - Tape - 2001

   Sometimes, the tape is just there and you have no information. You listen to the tape over and over and over, but still wonder if the people listed on the cover actually made the music presented on the  cassette that you hold in your hands. I still don't know. When you're a teenager, music comes around pretty often that blows your mind wide open. As you get older, it still happens but not as often. I sat on a beach once, well into my thirties, and watched people involved with this project play music that truly melted my mind in a way that I hadn't felt in ages. This tape isn't in that realm, but it hints at the possibilities contained within the players presented here....if it's really them.

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Members of ROTTEN LIVING, COUNTY Z and MOTHER OF FIRE.

INTREPID HEARTS - Demo - Tape - 2016

    Recently, a personal mission landed me in Minneapolis for a few days and I arrived with high hopes and too many plans. As someone who desperately needs a vacation, this was a stupid idea and I should've just sat in Powderhorn Park for 4 days straight. Instead, I fruitlessly tried to track down some long lost friends and rope unsuspecting fools into my dumbass ideas. Some old friends had time for porch hangs and others kindly offered up comfy sleeping spaces, but largely I was on my own to try and remember how to relax. I never really did. I walked all over the goddamn city until my legs ached. I saw the PRINCE memorial at 1st Ave N, went to the library, became familiar with the Greyhound station, went to karaoke at the Seward, looked at the old Medusa club, walked out to Extreme Noise, saw a gigantic rideable cock in a sex shop and read for hours in Hard Times.
   Then, I drove across the country with one of my best friends. When I got home, I found this tape in my mailbox and looking at the return address, I realized that I walked by this band's house (or one of them) at least twice in the past week. I could've just picked it up while waltzing by. It also would've been nice to have these songs blasting in my head while walking down the streets that inspired them, but I was happy with the S MPLS weirdo tapes I got instead (more on that in the future).
    I think I only know one member of this band and she (Britt) has appeared a few times on the blog in the bands B ARTHUR and BABE QUEST. Even though the BABE QUEST song "The Wait" can not be trifled with in any capacity, INTREPID HEARTS may be my favorite band that Britt has ever been in. I keep having a lot of thoughts about the songs and everything I think feels like a backhanded compliment, but it's genuine in my head!! Like, this band has cool "hot licks"!! Ya'll listen to metal, right? I truly like POISON (I know that's not metal) and I wanna say that the members of INTREPID HEARTS like POISON. Maybe they like THIN LIZZY. What the fuck ever. I don't know what they like. It's hook filled melodic punk that is truly tight as fuck. The vocals have the perfect amount of bite and rasp. I'm gonna go ahead and compare them to my ex-bandmate/current roommate Ivy (ALLERGIC TO BULLSHIT / MIAMI / BLACK RAINBOW) because Ivy's voice is great and Britt knows that because I once heard her tell Ivy that. There is no cowering in the shadows though because we're all just people doing our thing out there in the world and Britt has been doing her thing for a long time and it shows. This band sounds like they've been doing their thing for a long time too, but this is their first tape, as far as I know. It's a truly great tape. You should write to them and try to get one off of them because it has a lyric sheet and a lot more plastic than an ephemeral download.

DOWNLOAD IT FROM THEM

Thanks to Cobs for mailing me a tape. I'll knock on the door next time.
Oh, the other thing that felt backhanded is that the verse part of the first song sounds like it was ripped off from "The Descent" by BOB MOULD, but there's absolutely nothing wrong with that and I'm sure it was unintentional and, like, Bob Mould doesn't own the rights to those chords or anything. 

HEX - Demo - Tape - 2007

Today's post is brought to you by Erik Ruin, who previously contributed a top ten list to the blog a few years ago. I think this tape is incredible, but wanted a different perspective on it, so I asked Erik for his take. Many, many thanks to the members of HEX for sending over the digital files when my machinery was having issues. 

   Heavy music on non-traditional instruments has a seriously mixed track record. It can tend toward simple novelty- (think APOCALYPTICA or even worse) but it can also lay bare nuanced dynamics and complex compositional structures that are often obscured to those- like me- who have trouble looking beyond the standard genre tropes (wailing guitars,machismo, long hair, etc.). It’s into this latter camp I’d put viola/tuba/drums trio HEX, alongside luminaries like Portland’s DISEMBALLERINA and Providence’s BELLOWS.

  According to violist Jackie Beckey- “Andie, Aaron and I were all hanging out around this time and interested in creating heavy music on nontraditional instruments. I'd been experimenting with this for awhile and was hoping to start a project with someone who shared this vision. Aaron--a fellow classically trained orchy dork punk on tuba--was the obvious choice for a bandmate. We were both interested in creating heavy music influenced by non-western music, such as African drumming. Aaron and I were also into geeking out about poly-rhythms, exploring tonality by amplifying acoustic instruments and using instruments with incredible amounts of sustain to play heavy music.”

   The first and last songs of this tape begin with lengthy tuba drones rich in texture and atmosphere. From there it gets more rocking, with Jackie alternating between heavily reverbed pizzicato plucking (kind of a trademark of hers) and sawing riffs. At times, it reminds me of stoner rock transcendalists like SLEEP or even 70’s Swedes PARSON SOUND (a direction Jackie and Andie would take further with their project MYRRH) but it also breaks out into galloping sections that are not too dissimilar to their Minneapolis contemporaries COUNTY Z (ed. note: there is so much CZ on this blog and you should definitely seek it out) and ROTTEN LIVING. The cover sports paper-cut artwork by “Dragon-face” Dan Nelson, virtually de rigeurin the scene at the time (see also DOGS, THIEVES, DANGER BOY & THE ROAD VULTURES, etcetcetc….)

   HEX was relatively short-lived, beginning and ending in 2007. As far as I know, this is their only recording. They did go on a two-month tour, which Jackie remembers as “the best tour I've ever been on. Luke Holden toured with us the entire way and performed at every show as the hilarious "Body McFartin" human fart machine opening act. Because we kind of didn't fit into any specific musical genre, we played a lot of weird shows--opened up for a D-beat band in Dallas, performed with the art-punk band TEENAGE WAISTBAND in Providence, and performing during an intermission for a psychedelic play in Kansas City.”

    They so impressed my friend Dan Schleifer at their Providence show that he formed his own tuba-drone metal band, the aforementioned BELLOWS (who also ruled and are also sadly broken up)

    All the members of HEX have gone on to do a bunch of stuff– Jackie formed the more melodic yet still driving BRUTE HEART and is now mainly focused on soundtrack work. Tuba player Aaron moved to Pittsburgh where he’s playing in two great bands- tuba with brassy LUNGS FACE FEET  and bass with heavy weirdos COME HOLY SPIRIT(alongside Gina Favano of the much-missed JOHN DENVER'S AIRPLANE). Andie went on to play drums in the brilliant MOTHER OF FIRE, then in a variety of scrappy punk bands and is a brilliant painter.

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COUNTY Z//SHEP AND ME - Split - Tape - 2003?

   If you're familiar with this blog, you're probably familiar with COUNTY Z, because I've given you plenty of opportunities to check them out. SHEP AND ME is also no stranger to this page. As I've said before, COUNTY Z is one of my top 5 all-time favorite bands in the history of music and these two songs don't appear on other things they released. I don't know anything about it, but it's so good to my ears.
  SHEP AND ME is Matthew Himes playing outsider sounds and otherworldly folk that comes out of a world that is his own creation. Everything I've ever heard by him has been nothing short of brilliant. I'm not exactly sure if SHEP AND ME is still an active project, but Matt has been tirelessly releasing analog (and some digital) documents of the outsider world through his label, Lighten Up Sounds. Pick up anything he has available and you're guaranteed to be intrigued.
   This tape was released by Snob House, but I don't have a cover for it. Apparently, there was a surly dog drawn on it, so you can just imagine that for yourself. COUNTY Z broke up and then 2/3's of the band started playing with Matt as ROTTEN LIVING. Then, they broke up and MOTHER OF FIRE started. Then they broke up and the world is a black hole of despair.

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JOSE BOVE - Demo - Tape - 2008

   JOSE BOVE came to the small Midwestern college town that I found myself in and aurally destroyed an art gallery...or so I thought. They might have come there. I was convinced that I attended that show, but the more I search my brain, the more I can't remember being there. It probably happened, but I wasn't there. I know...cool story, dawg.
   JOSE BOVE was (is?) a sonic fuck-pile of a band. They consisted of two drummers facing each other and other people playing noise/generally fucking up the vibe. They're the sound inside your head when you're on a train jetting through a tube underwater after 5 cups of coffee and you want to kill all the screen starers in your immediate vicinity.
   Information on the band is hard to come by. This tape exists and I know they also released a 7" with hand screened covers. Beyond that, I can't help you. You're on your own now.

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   The band is named after a French farmer / activist, who (among many other things) helped to dismantle  a McDonalds in Millau in 1999. I call attention to this act because of the recent near-fetishization of fast food among punks. Some people cry "but I'm broke." Whatever. It's possible to be actually broke (like your pocket hasn't seen money in months) and still not eat that shit. Give me a fucking break. 

COUNTY Z / IMPRACTICAL COCKPIT - Split Cassingle - 2002

  Since the previous entry was so sprawling and featured 100 songs, I decided to keep this one short and sweet. These two bands are two of my absolute favorites of the late 90's and early 00's. They played beautiful and ugly music. It was produced by purely lovable dirtbags. I feel comfortable calling them that because one of the members recently told me "We were such fucking dirtbags." The shitty punk historians of the future won't write about COUNTY Z and IMPRACTICAL COCKPIT in their $100 coffee table art cubes (books won't exist). The noisers who write the history will only make a scant mention of them. That is fine. They probably don't give a fuck. All of these people are still active in art and music, creating work that is incredible and essential.

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I think this tape was created for one of their joint tours. Two songs. Less than two minutes of music.  

COUNTY Z - "Live At The Seward Cafe" - Tape - 2002

    Yesterday, I was hanging out with my friend Ryan in his studio while he showed me all of the new, huge paintings and installations he was working on. He was talking a million miles an hour, so excited to be working on art and learning everything he can about art history and theory. He's getting ready to ship everything out to Minneapolis, where he has a show coming up in November. An old friend, Forrest is helping to build some structures in the gallery, since he has a background in carpentry. Their friend, Naomi bought a house that has a storefront built into the first floor and she's going to host part of his art show there. It was inspiring to see him so wide-eyed and full of life, still figuring out his dreams while flying way under the radar.
   Another thing I found inspiring is that all three of those people have stuck together since they started playing in COUNTY Z almost 15 years ago. COUNTY Z is one of my favorite bands of all time, but that's beside the point, Naomi took me on my first freight train ride. Forrest told me he didn't like the sustain of cymbals so he used brake parts instead. Sometimes I couldn't tell if Ryan was playing with or against the band, but it usually worked.
   Most of this tape was recorded live at the Seward Cafe, which has been collectively ran since 1974 and is one of the best places on this entire earth. If you aren't familiar with COUNTY Z, I would suggest starting with their tape or LP first, Both are brilliant.
   If you're in Minneapolis in November, be sure to check out Ryan's art show. He'll be there daily with tea for you to drink. I might be there too. If you show up, don't talk about this band. Let's talk about his art, the new dreams and all the crackpot visions we hope to see to fruition before this world implodes in the next few years.

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This tape is from the collection of Caroline Paquita

CONSTANT INSULT - Demo - Tape - 2014

    Last night, I was on the train blasting this tape into my earholes as I tried to tune out the rest of the world, so it (the world) wouldn't ruin the only good mood I'd been in for at least 18 hours. I was rushing over to the warehouse show and hoping not to miss the beautiful chaos of SBSM, who were playing first. The train was packed assholes to elbows with people who smelled like a perfume counter in a laundromat, which made me want to barf on their blazers. Instead, I raised both of my arms to hold onto the bar and unleashed my unwashed pits into their nostrils while I turned this tape up even louder. I don't really know what this band is singing about in their theme song because there's no lyric sheet, but I understood it as how all the casual bullshit of this world (wage drudgery, being broke, having to share space with people you'd rather throw into a bottomless pit, etc) adds up into a daily constant insult on your psyche. As the air grew thick with chemicals and the growing number of people backed me into the corner and the dudes stared down my non-gender conforming attire and the train rattled into a rickety tube that shoots right through a body of water, I closed my eyes, turned the tape up all the way and started feeling it pretty hard.
   My good friend, Erin Yanke wrote about my own band one time, "I don't know how to describe music like this anymore, but I know when I like it." This is how I feel about CONSTANT INSULT. They have hooks out the ass. They split the vocals between genders...sometimes alone..sometimes together. They're not reinventing anything at all, but they're doing something that many bands are neglecting to do in these times, which is just write a solid fucking song that will stick in your head for longer than ten minutes. There's a hint of the beauty that makes FROZEN TEENS so undeniably good, because one of those guys is playing guitar and singing. It's not FROZEN TEENS jr though. It's really, really great.
   The train was approaching my stop and I felt like all the oxygen had left the train car. How the fuck was I supposed to get off this train?! As if on cue, the party girl next to me fainted...just flat out onto the floor of the car. Everyone gasped, but also just kept texting...or more, likely, tweeting about it rather than offering any help. I took off my headphones, but quickly saw that she had a supportive crew of ladies with her who sprang into action. The train doors opened and we all yelled "Clear a path!!" Her friends dragged her off and pulled out so many bottles of water that it was mind-boggling. I followed in their wake and made a hasty retreat, flipping the tape over before riding off into the night.

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I don't know how to order this tape, but maybe a band member could let me know in the comments.

Members of ALAS ALAS, FROZEN TEENS (if you like desperate melodic punk and don't own their LP, then I don't understand you), HARD FEELINGS and URANIUM CLUB



   POSTSCRIPT: In addition to THE NEW FLESH, REPLICA and MÜLLTÜTE, I got to see SBSM even though I was almost an hour and a half later than the time listed on the flier. On the train home, it was much less crowded and I enjoyed an adult beverage with my good friend Robert as we laughed about the fucking utter buffoonery of Blag Dahlia. Good night and I'm looking forward to another good one tonight as I attend my 5th punk show this week. See you in the pit (or, truthfully, next ot it) at WHITE WARDS, THE LOWEST FORM, PIG DNA, THE LIGHT and INTERIOR 27.

BABE QUEST - Demo - Tape - 2013

   I wish that US DIY musicians had access to a magical free recording studio where they could take in their crappy, duct taped instruments, bash out their stupidly flawless songs and always have it coming out sounding as good as even the crappiest FASTBACKS EP's. I started thinking this when I had "The Wait" by BABE QUEST cranked up to ten in my room and wishing that I could have it cranked to 20 without even distorting a little bit.
   I think BABE QUEST was produced by a bitterly harsh Minneapolis winter...a winter that I hope to never experience or even begin to understand. These two women bash out hook-filled melodic punk that will be stuck in your head all day. Sometimes, it sounds fast and punk. Other times, it can sound like a lost RUNAWAYS demo. Like all demos, it has some missteps, but if you breeze past this and don't have the chorus from "The Wait" stuck in your head for at least an hour, I don't even know what you're doing here.

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If you can't tell, that's a fabric tape case at the top with "BABE QUEST" written in glitter paint. 

Find BABE QUEST here and encourage them to upload their songs to their Bandcamp page.

Members of RAG RAGE, B ARTHUR, CHIPPER and SNARLAS

BLOODWALL - "I Have Seen The Loc Ness Monster In A Hole Where Two White Walls Collide" - CD-R - 2010

   I posted a tape by BLOODWALL back on Christmas when I was in a really, really bad mood. I feel better now and BLOODWALL still sounds good. I've been working on more and more art stuff in my room lately and I find this it helps if I listen to music that is either fucked up and noisy or just doesn't have any words (or all of that).  BLOODWALL satiates that need for the latter. This release is a little more complicated than the last one I posted, incorporating cello, guitar, drums, bass and more...all played by Graham, who is the one man behind this musical project. I like it a lot. That's all.

DOWWNNNNLOOOADD

Find more by Graham on his Soundcloud page

Get him to produce your own mono lathe-cut record right here.

DISHPIT - Demo - Tape - 2012

   Minneapolis is really different from a lot of other places in the US. Today, their current temperature is 1 degree F. Tonight, it'll be negative 15. I never visit during these times, but when I see some of my friends before or after winter, they're very matter-of-fact. Short, simple answers. Busy, but happy to see you. The kind of psyche that has lived through 25-35 incredibly harsh winters. A lot of my favorite music has come from Minneapolis and most of that music can be very dark and cold. DISHPIT is neither of these things.
    My band played with DISHPIT in a dark, smokey warehouse in Minneapolis a couple of years ago. I was talking to a group of friends out front as the band was kicking into their first song. The friends were tersely discussing whether or not they should leave because they just felt tired and kind of bored. Then, one of them heard DISHPIT and smiled for the first time all night. He said "DISHPIT is playing!" and all of them ran inside. I followed and watched all of them as they danced and smiled more than I had ever seen any of them smile in my life. If you have that kind of effect on that level of detachment, you must be doing something right.
   DISHPIT, plain and simple, plays punk rock with lyrics about hopping trains, crustlords, stealing, shitty jobs and any self-respecting punks's favorite board game, Scrabble. They have some definite influences of 90's pop-punk and early 00's region rock but seen through the eyes of younger traveling punks. Their singer Gary really pulls the whole thing together with his rapid-fire, sort-of bratty approach to melodic punk. It might make your jaded heart sing once more.

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They also put out a 7", which you can order here. Might as well order the "Punks Win" comp too. It's really good. 

BLOODWALL - "Guitar Tape" - 2011

   I had a pretty light-hearted, fun tape lined up for today, but then I thought "fuck it". Fuck your stupid holiday. You see, I haven't celebrated this weird holiday in earnest since I was a teenager and even then I was only in it purely for the gifts. I mean, I just don't understand it. I don't believe in God (or Satan even). Santa is a really weird person that was made up so that you can learn to lose faith in your parents and believe that they're just gonna lie to you about everything for the rest of your life. And how many people got trampled in a Wal-Mart this season? Whatever. Maybe I'm just in a bad mood because this time of year always puts me in a bad mood and my dad is 3000 miles away and currently hooked up to a ventilator as he slowly fades away from this mortal coil. So, I'm gonna be spending the holiday drinking iced coffee (because I live in a godless city that doesn't completely shut down) and hanging out with incredibly depressed senior citizens,because that's what I get paid to do. Hooray.
   I will also be listening to BLOODWALL, which is just my friend Graham playing layers of guitar on this hour long tape. The first side is all acoustic and reminds me a little bit of John Fahey at times if he lived in a cold house in south Minneapolis with a dirt yard. The second side is electric and is both plaintive and meditative. You'll like it or you won't. I truly don't care if you do, but I love it. Live, BLOODWALL sometimes plays behind a wall of amps to the accompaniment of noise, radios tuned between stations and other odds and ends. The results can be truly hypnotic.

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Graham also plays in VISITOR and can put any noise you want on a mono lathe-cut record over at 2208 Records.

If you truly enjoy the holidays or think that making your kid believe in Santa is worthwhile, don't let me ruin your parade. It takes all kinds to make this world interesting.

NO SHIT SHERLOCK - 6 Song Demo - Tape - 2002

   A few years ago, I got into a...errr....heated discussion with an acquaintance of mine about touring. He was convinced that bands shouldn't go on tour until they've released records and have other merch to sell. He said that this proved that the band was more serious about what they were doing and would (somehow) not waste his time at a punk show. Citing a list of "serious" bands who have seriously wasted my time at punk shows over the years, I called bullshit on his idea. I told him that I think bands should go on tour with whatever they want...They could have 4 LP's or just a demo tape (or nothing at all). In my mind, touring can give you perspective on your band and also just take you to places you've never been. Plus, if a band is wasting your time, it's easy to just walk out and do something else. I've walked out on everyone from FORGETTERS to TRAGEDY to ROSA with no regrets. Plus, it's not really your business if a band chooses to go on tour with absolutely nothing to sell (or give away) and at the end of the day, you're going to sleep just the same, so who cares? Also, touring is just this huge privilege anyway...but that's a whooole other discussion....these are the kinds of tangents I get on when writing this at 5 in the morning.....
     This brings us to NO SHIT SHERLOCK, who I saw in a mid-blackout in New Orleans back in 2003. In my hazy memory, they were alternately falling apart and completely ruling at the same time. They were on tour with COUNTY Z and offered nothing more in the way of merch than their shoddily recorded live demo tape and possibly some spray-painted t-shirts. (Our friend, Rana was also on the tour selling haircuts at every show. I offered up three bucks and came out of the show with the sides of my head shaved into steps and a rattail.) The three women in the band played a manic blend of arty, no wave punk employing an accordion, a bass and a floor tom or two. Even though they were probably on stage for a total of 15 minutes and broke up not long after this tour, they've provided more (and better) memories for me than seeing many, many other bands in my life.

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Features members of DOGS and DEUCE BOLDLY. 

CORTEZ THE KILLER - Lost LP - 2008

   Today, there will be no fanfare, art or long-winded stories of all the fun you missed (or caused). I'm very happy and honored to bring you the unreleased LP by Minneapolis' own CORTEZ THE KILLER. They were around for a few years and committed a few songs to tape and vinyl before calling it quits. Will and Ski from this band went on to form the completely unfuckwithable FROZEN TEENS, along with their friend, Wil. If you're a fan of FT, you will not be let down by CORTEZ THE KILLER. Here's Ski to tell you some more....

  "There's an old Chattanooga axiom that pretty much sums up CORTEZ THE KILLER, "The party ain't easy." We started in 2005 as an all Fargoan Minneapolis band, and despite a couple bass player changes, surprisingly stayed true to that. We drank a lot of wine, smoked tons of weed, and managed to write close to twenty songs and tour the country a couple of times in our short years of existence. The keepers were all recorded for this full length, and we had dreams of it being put out on this yadda yadda label and that yadda yadda label, but we barely made it to the final mixes and our physical and mental healths would not permit the band to continue any longer. So our record was never put out (although many people have said they wanted to do it, none actually have) and it always felt like it should. Greg said he'd post it, so here you go. Grab a bottle of Tisdale, smoke a joint, and enjoy!"

Download CORTEZ THE KILLER

When you download this, you'll notice that the track listing runs #6-19. It's supposed to be like that. You're not missing any songs. 

B. ARTHUR - Demo - Tape - 2012

   Before B ARTHUR, there was RAG RAGE. RAG RAGE lived in Columbus, OH and once featured a bass player who's mohawk was so tall that she had to lay down in the car on the way to the show because otherwise, her hair would get all bent up on the ceiling of the car. Here's a picture for reference....

   RAG RAGE had a lineup change (no more hawks), moved to Chattanooga, went on some tours and broke up. Britt (guitar/vocals) decided to move away from Chattanooga and within approximately 10 minutes, she was in a new band and on tour again. The first time I saw them was late last year in a basement in Milwaukee. Honestly, I watched them for about 5 minutes before retiring to a couch in the back because I was tired and felt destroyed. The band made me feel like a grandpa when they invited me out to get wasted at a tiki bar. All I wanted was to go to Eric Apnea's house, eat pizza and pass out watching HOLY SHIT videos (which I did). Luckily, I ran into the band later in a basement in Flagstaff, AZ where we were both equally kinda exhausted but both played a fun show. This time, I watched the band rip it to an appreciative, wild and very drunk basement full of punks. B ARTHUR picks up where RAG RAGE left off, but sounds more confident and honed. Britt's voice sounds like a mixture of Too Fast For Love-era Vince Neil mixed with Kat Bjelland, but informed by the Ivy's and Annie's of our ragged basement punk world. Bass player, Ryan's fingers are just as fuckin' busy as hers and play weirdly fucked up bass lines that would cause Tony Lombardo to lose his shit. Meanwhile, punk MVP of 2012 Mike Wilson holds it down on the drums and consistently raises the bar of what should be expected of DIY punk bands in 2013.
   My tape didn't include an insert or song titles, so that's what ya get....no song titles. Since you asked, my favorite songs are #8 and #10. If you want your own tape, drop Mike a line at timecrusader3000AThotmailDOTcom and see if they have any left.

Download B ARTHUR

VISITOR - "III" - Tape - 2012

   LOOK, IT'S MUSIC!! I know I have been pummeling you all with top ten lists, but as I stated before, I like lists a lot and there's still a few more to come (if people get them to me in time). For now, let's get back to the music. Longtime readers may remember that I posted an earlier VISITOR tape way back in 2011 that had little-to-no info. Other readers may think "I already knew about that band and didn't need your paltry download, fool." Either way, here is another mysterious tape by this down-tuned Minneapolis doom outfit, which was released by Lighten Up Sounds in late 2012. Two drummers and one guitarist play two 15 minute songs that build up from ambient sounds into massive, swelling riffs. No vocals. Perfect for working on stuff in your room, staring into the abyss from a cliff, getting sucked into a vortex, dying a slow death or, uh, getting stoned, I guess.
   Graham plays the guitar, also plays in BLOODWALL and he will cut a mono lathe of your band (or four LP drone project) over at 2208 Records. Jefferson plays the drums and also does stuff with 3 MOONS and THE SPACECHRISTS. Andie plays the other drums. He also spends time in MOTHER OF FIRE, which is a band that I like a whole lot. I would go so far to say that I am obsessed with them at the moment. Enjoy this one.

Download VISITOR

   If you would like to get the actual source recordings rather than my beautiful tape-hissy download, you can head over to Lighten Up's Bandcamp page. The tape quickly went out of print so don't try to order it.

  Also, just to let you know, Mediafire is a slowly sinking ship. I would say that if you ever thought about downloading anything on this site, now is the time to do it before all of the links disappear. I moved over to Zippyshare, which is currently confusing and frustrating. I might change to a different file sharing service again. Or maybe I'll just stop doing this altogether.

QUESTION - Demo - Tape - 2007

   At some point during my time living in Bloomington, I remember going to many punk shows only to walk out after watching 5 minutes of some dude earnestly playing a uke while staring at his shoes or having to sit in the same room with some clown while he just discovered the joys of using a delay pedal through a practice amp. It could be kind of miserable and I wondered why the dirty, loud, fucked up punks didn't come through town (yes, I remembered sometimes that I could set up my own punk shows and did indeed bring those bands to town). At some point, a bunch of Minneapolis bands started coming through town that helped to reinvigorate my interest in booking shows and bringing good music in the place I lived in. Not surprisingly, a lot of those bands shared members...bands like JOSE BOVE,  ASS,  HARLEQUIN and GANGLION. My favorite band to see live out all of them was QUESTION. They played no-bullshit, straight ahead, ragged hardcore and they looked like crazy, loud, fucked up punks. I remember at their show in a Bloomington basement, their singer went on a rant about how religion destroys peoples lives and I thought "Oh that's kinda quaint that someone would still rail on religion at a punk show." Then, I remembered that I still lived in a town where "punks" had told me that they're religious and I realized that it's still vital to talk about the subjects that you find passionate at shows. QUESTION raged away at their 20 minute set and I danced like hell with everyone there. Basement destroyed. Punks happy. Demo tape bought. I biked home with a 10 foot smile across my face.

   I moved to SF and and less than 4 months later, QUESTION played a show at Thrillhouse that caused a handful of norms to completely lose their shit in the best way possible. Since then, I haven't heard anything about them and I assume that they broke up. Listen to this tape and mourn your loss.

Download QUESTION

QUESTION in SF at Thrillhouse. Photo by Brian Dooley.

...and since you didn't ask, I think their song "No Name" is the jam.

DEUCE BOLDLY - Unreleased Recording - Tape - 2005

   I don't have very much information on this short-lived band, even though these people are all good friends. Shortly after I moved to Bloomington, IN, I told the band I would set up a show for them and spent a lot of time convincing them that the town, much to their disbelief, was not a boring-ass wasteland of dumb hippies playing folk-punk in the streets. They were sure that no one would like their band. That is, if anyone showed up to actually see their band. They mostly made the trip to hang out with me and I'm glad they set their standards so low because when the day of the show came, almost no one showed up to see them, even though I plastered the town with fliers.  It might have helped their cause if I mentioned that their rhythm guitarist was the original drummer of a very popular rock band, but that seemed like a cheap ploy.I thought it was more important to mention that the band had members of HELLO SHITTY PEOPLE, NO SHIT SHERLOCK, TOTALLY CHAOS and ALLERGIC TO BULLSHIT. You would also think people would wanna see a punk band with an accordion player. Turns out that most of the punks in Bloomington didn't know or care about those bands, but DEUCE BOLDLY still played their hearts out to the 8 or 9 people in attendance. I promptly took the band back to my tiny apartment, got trashed, got in a drunken argument, ran off into the night and woke up with a ceiling fan bonking me in the head over and over (long story). 

DEUCE BOLDLY somewhere in America with a human mic stand.

   The band recorded these eight songs and they never got released in any form at all. These things happen sometimes. So, here's DEUCE BOLDLY in all of their ramshackle glory. Hopefully the band won't hunt me down for letting you hear this.

Download DEUCE BOLDLY

Updated July 2015

EDIT 12/9/12: Stewart from No Breaks Records dug up the insert for this tape (which I never knew existed). Thanks Stewart!

   This next part has absolutely nothing to do with DEUCE BOLDLY.

   I just got word that Sarah Kirsch has passed away after a long battle with Fanconi Anemia, which is a rare genetic disorder that causes leukemia and other cancers. Many readers will recognize her as Mike Kirsch, who played in such great bands as TORCHES TO ROME, PLEASE INFORM THE CAPTAIN THIS IS A HIJACK, JOHN HENRY WEST, PINHEAD GUNPOWDER, FUEL, BAADER BRAINS, MOTHERCOUNTRY MOTHERFUCKERS, BREAD AND CIRCUITS and many more. I never met her but admired her from afar for years. The bands that speak the loudest about how they play with passion are usually trite and soulless, while the people who actually just play passionate music will literally stop you in your tracks. Sarah Kirsch was in the camp of the latter. I admired her integrity (like, say, quitting your mega-popular pop-punk band because a bandmate puts out a record on a subsidiary of a multinational corporation) and strength in the face of adversity. I appreciate her determination to keep creating new and exciting music rather than resting on the laurels of her past accomplishments. I admired the courage it must have taken to go on tour while coming out as a trans-woman in a hardcore scene that might not be too accepting of people who are just trying to feel at home in their own bodies. I don't want to say too much because, like I said, we never met. My thoughts are with her loved ones on this early morning and any people who are reeling from this great loss to the world. Play music like there's no tomorrow and be sure to tell your friends that you love them. 

Seriously, WTF? So good.

You can find more info about the troubles she was facing here. May she rest in peace.

DIRT YARD - Demo - Cd-R - Demo

   You know how you watch a band sometimes and the members look really intense and scary in this way that makes you not really want to talk to them afterwards? Then, when you actually DO talk to them, you just realize that they were in a remote region of their mind, releasing tension, releasing anger and zoning out completely on the thing that they love to do. The thing about DIRT YARD is that their singer, James always seemed to be in that zone, teetering between the edge of all-consuming anger and a pleasant detachment that makes for an entertaining front-person in a band. The rest of the band backs him up with a chaotic, noisy, straightforward-yet-jerky wall of punk. Angry, defiant, sometimes confusing, moody, dark and fucked. Their song, "Drugs" actually sorta makes me feel like what I think it would feel like to be on drugs (Who knows? I stay away from that stuff.)

Download DIRT YARD

The band also put out a 7", but I have no idea of how to get it now. If you're ever in Minneapolis, I'm sure you can ask someone at the Seward Cafe, Hard Times or Modern Times and they can probably help you out. Stella, the guitarist of this band was also in IMPRACTICAL COCKPIT and now is a proud mother of a beautiful child. Ski, the drummer, is the dad of that child and currently plays drums for FROZEN TEENS. What are James and Peat up to? I haven't the foggiest notion.

COUNTY Z - "Graveyards and Grocery Carts" LP - 2002

   I was already a big fan of COUNTY Z's first tape when this LP came out, but I was not prepared for how this record would impact my life. That tape is really good, but the band seemed like they were at their peak performance when they recorded this. The moody, dark arrangements like "Betsy II" and "End Of The World" became even darker and more ominous. The more upbeat songs like "Liquor Store" and "Hysterical" became incisive, vicious and bitter. I don't know what was going on in the vast, humid, art-strewn warehouse in New Orleans where they recorded this, but they definitely did something right. It still remains one of my top five favorite albums to this day.
  I was lucky enough to see COUNTY Z play in a basement in Bloomington, IN during this period and it was one of the best shows ever. Less than a mile away, helicopters were circling and sports fans were flipping over cars and uprooting trees because their team lost (or won, I don't know or give a fuck) while 50-60 punks were dancing in a basement on the west side of town. Bloomington is usually a pretty "arms crossed" kind of town when it comes to punk shows, but that night, it seemed like the whole room couldn't stop themselves from dancing like crazy. I'll never forget it.

COUNTY Z at the Hi-Ho in New Orleans. 2002

    Naomi plays violin, guitar and sings in the band. She is now playing in MOTHER OF FIRE, which is a little similar to COUNTY Z, but more sprawling and epic. Ryan plays bass. I see him from time to time walking around SF and I always mean to hang out with him more, but I am terrible at hanging out unless it is convenient to me (this is why I am a bad friend). Forrest played the drums and now he is a father. I will always love this band.

COUNTY Z at the Hi-Ho in New Orleans. 2002

Download COUNTY Z LP from Ass Records