Hey! I did it! 365 songs for 365 days, babies! Each one lovingly plucked from the Interwebs for you to enjoy. What you don’t hear is all of the songs I listened to and did NOT post! You see, that’s the time consuming part, and why I am a filter, a subjective valuer of content, a deejay, call it what you will, I am SuperFan, hear me roar. I love music so much, and the mainstream music biz is still in the toilet, reduced to karaoke talent shows. So my little contribution this year was to feature the best undiscovered or under-discovered tracks I could find, from rock to hip-hop and anything else I fancied. There’s even a classic from Chuck Berry in the mix.

And ya know what? It’s been so much fun, I’ve decided l do it again in 2010.

Closing 2009 with a ferocious track with a worthy message from España’s hardcore worshipers of rock, Tokyo Sex Destruction. Happy new year, music lovers!

Tokyo Sex Destruction
“Power to the People” (mp3)
from “The Big Red Box For the Syndicate of Emotions”
(BCore Disc)

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The Marvelous Darlings‘ single “I Dont Wanna Go To The Party” rocks for two minutes and thirty seconds in a rush of pure and I mean PURE punk pop abandon. Very favorable comparison to Ramones, Clash, Cheap Trick and The Knack. Full on power pop angst-bliss! I love it I love it.

The Marvelous Darlings
“I dont wanna go to the party” (mp3)
from “I Don’t Wanna Go To The Party”
(Deranged Records)

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Ah, sweet power pop. Here we have some well crafted guitar chord bashing and vocal hooks that owe as much to Nirvana as to Cheap Trick. Ultimate Fakebook made a lot of noise for a three piece band from Manhattan, Kansas operating during the darkest days of the music industry. Here’s another neglected gem. In 2009 I have found and posted a bunch of ‘em here. Have a surf around, it beats the heck outta the your local corporate poo radio station, I guarantee you that much. But wait, Dorothy, there’s a Manhattan in Kansas? Now we know.

Ultimate Fakebook
“Wrestling Leap Year” (mp3)
from “Open Up and Say Awesome”
(Initial Records)

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Utterly bratty kick-butt garage punk from Be My Doppleganger, outta Evansville, Indiana – a gritty, rockin’ four piece pop punk outfit with an affinity for Cheap Trick and The Descendents. “I Need a Ride” is an outburst of guitars, hormone fueled teen angst, and self deprecating humor. Gr8 fun!

Be My Doppelganger
“I Need a Ride” (mp3)
from “Protect 2: A Benefit for the National Association to Protect Children”
(Geykido Comet Records)

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Excellent, trashy indie rock with a waltz beat from North Carolina’s own Spider Bags. This recording sounds as unpretentious and natural as a few guys bursting into song at a bar, but it’s also meticulously arranged and well performed. I love the talky-singy approach here, and the lyrics are superb. It’s a perfect marriage of professionalism and reckless abandon. And the chorus is glorious.

Spider Bags
“Que viva el rocanroll” (mp3)
from “Goodbye Cruel World, Hello Crueler World”
(Birdman Records)

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There can be little doubt what his Mikeyness is talking about here. Backed by fab cartoon sound effects, a tight roots dancehall groove, and lush, blissful female harmony vocals, the gr8 Mikey Dread kicks some herbal wisdom for four minutes and twenty seconds. Well, actually it’s 3:22 but one does lose track of time, doesn’t one? An impeccably produced track with a lot of joy and humor. Smoke this mp3.

Mikey Dread
“Pound a Weed” (mp3)
from “Life is a Stage”
(Dread at the Controls)

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Here’s a lovely choral rendition of “O Come, All Ye Faithful” by The Choir of Durham Cathedral in Durham, England. A little traditional for me? Well, I am full of surprises. And I hope your holiday is, too! Merry Christmas everyone.

The choir of Durham cathedral
“O Come, All Ye Faithful” (mp3)
from “A Festival of Carols- Music of Christmas from the cathedrals of England”
(Classic Fox Records)

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Merry Xmas, kittins. This isn’t exactly your normal Christmas record, but then, you already have plenty of normal Xmas stuff don’t you? Here’s some holiday cheer Rondo Brothers style, with Motion Man’s unique yule observations. Not safe for grandma’s house, maybe. Enjoy.

Various
“Xmas In My House feat. Motion Man” (mp3)
from “This Is Your Brain On Xmas”
(troublewith2 productions, LLC)

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Methinks the eve of xmas eve calls for a de-stressing, most chillaxing reggae dancehall track. Thankfully, the gr8 Barrington Levy is offering up his hit “Collie Weed” for our enjoyment. A simple and direct song, with a simple and direct message. Pick up “Original Ragga Muffin Part One” for more from this top Jamaican star. Happy holidays =)

Barrington Levy
“Collie Weed” (mp3)
from “Original Ragga Muffin Part One”
(Azra Music Publishing)

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You can tell a lot from a title. Mindless Self Indulgence is a promising artist name, as is “Never Wanted To Dance” an intriguing song title. But it’s not quite what you’d expect, and definitely NotSafeForWork, my dears. Think Nine Inch Nails goes berserk at Tears For Fears’ house. Hyper-lustful decadent aggro alterna-porn. Good fun.

Mindless Self Indulgence
“Never Wanted to Dance” (mp3)
from “If”
(The End Records)

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Lyrics Born – AKA Asia Born, originally Tom Shimura of Berkeley, CA by way of Tokyo, Japan – is part of a wave of innovation in hip-hop which defies clichés and embraces creativity and entertainment over materialism, violent imagery and ridiculous egos. The joyfully defiant “Callin’ Out” couldn’t be more East Bay on a bet, featuring a jazzy disco-funk bed, soaring female vocal choruses, and Borns’ own distinctive street narrative. This is gr8 party music that you can also you can get your think on to. Enjoy.

Lyrics Born
“Callin’ Out” (mp3)
from “Callin’ Out 12″”
(Quannum Projects)

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A punk rock song about a kitteh? A cool dark feline, creepin’ thru the night? A sleek slinky tom on the scene? Well, yeah. Kid Chaos is all about fun, and they don’t like preaching with their punk rock – all of which you can gather from this ridiculous and entertaining tale of adventure and mayhem. Essence o’ 3rd wave “ska” horns, growling guitars and a breakneck Rancid-esque tempo, provide the purrfect romping ground for our rogue hero, “Lee Vee The Cat.” Superfan is all smitten like a kitten.

Kid Chaos
“Lee Vee The Cat” (mp3)
from “Love In The Time Of Scurvy”
(Beatville Records)

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The Mountain Movers hail from New Haven, Connecticut, which is under mountains of snow right now, so I guess they have their work cut out for them. A friend recently described their record “Let’s Open Up the Chest” to me as “hipster church music,” which sounded promising but I wasn’t sure exactly how. Pleasantly surprised I am – what we have here is big, wide open country rock, with shades of Camper Van Beethoven / Cracker as well as a bit of Cake and Mother Hips. Going back further, this actually sounds a lot like The Band.  On the single “When I Die,” a massive Hammond organ grows tornadoes around a miles-deep-in-the-pocket bass and drum groove, with rootsy guitar and piano accompanying sublime, chill vocals like a sunset over calm seas. Quite lovely.

The Mountain Movers
“When I Die” (mp3)
from “Let’s Open Up the Chest”
(Safety Meeting Records)

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One of the gr8est and longest running live reggae acts, Steel Pulse has a sound to match their name. This very unexpected treat comes from “Dub Like An Antelope – Legends of Reggae Celebrate Phish,” and yes, you read that correctly. Toots and the Maytals, Yellowman and other reggae superstars lend their talents to this collection of covers – of songs originally performed by that most revered of jam bands. Huh? No, really Dorothy, and what’s more, it’s good. Pay a visit to the Phish “Farmhouse” with Handsworth’s finest.

Steel Pulse
“Farmhouse” (mp3)
from “Dub Like An Antelope – Legends of Reggae Celebrate Phish”
(Red Hillz Music)

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Not safe for work. Really. I mean it. Now that I said that, you’re all downloading this, I know. Dirt Nasty lives down to his name on this fine little X-rated celebrity tour. What do people do in LA if it isn’t droppin’ names, after all? So here’s the who’s-who list according to Dirt. The rhymes are as clever as they are irreverent. Tight beats and cool organ riffs too. This is hella funny.

Dirt Nasty
“Droppin’ Names” (mp3)
from “Dirt Nasty”
(Shoot to Kill Music, Inc.)

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On the subject of “Fools Want Noise” by Oh My God, I have to start by simply saying, they’re right. These lyrics are brilliant – kind of a “Satisfaction” updated for the Idiocracy. Celebrate the downward spiral into high decibel mindlessness? Or rage against it? Can we do both? This song is loud, fast and brash, but unlike the cultural Twinkie-filler it confronts in horror, this is actually very smart. And it rocks, too. Damn fine work.

Oh My God
“Fools Want Noise” (mp3)
from “Fools Want Noise”
(Split Red)

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This instrumental track from The Uptones “Live!! 924 Gilman” CD is a hi-energy ska punk jazz opus. The album influenced a lot of great bands that followed, and it’s a joy to listen to. This was my Sunday morning dance in the kitchen wake up record for a year! Superfan sez pick it up.

The Uptones
“East of a Western Bay” (mp3)
from “The Uptones Live!!”
(Fun Fun Fun Recordings)
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Now why exactly would LA’s legendary punk band X do a version of “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town,” we wonder. Ah! Because theirs is the coolest take ever conceived of the song. It’s a lot of fun. So whatever holidays you may celebrate, you’ll want to punk out with the greats Exene, John Doe, D.J. Bonebrake and Billy Zoom as they summon pogoing elves, stage diving reindeer, and a corpulent laughing man in red sporting a white mohawk. Be good.

X
“Santa Claus Is Coming To Town” (mp3)
from “MERRY XMAS From X”
(Anko Records)

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What could be better than a classic major key rocksteady pattern, with generous helpings of voodoo trombones, and tasty contemporized ska lyrics? Nothing! The answer is nothing! This is the mutherf@cking sh!t. Now you know how I feel about it. Download and enjoy. Outstanding music, or out standing in rain? The choice is yours. Voodoo Trombone Quartet in full power.

The Voodoo Trombone Quartet
“(Hey You) The Rocksteady Crew” (mp3)
from “The Voodoo Trombone Quartet …Again”
(Freshly Squeezed Music)

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Tight, groovy, and funky as the day is long, this 1978 number by Venus Gang is pure fun. No politics or controversy here,  just a phat, raw beat, and sexy female vocals about stars making love and loving to fly. Imagination takes care of the rest. Disco keyboard and rhythm section work a’la Quincy Jones, meets a dubby clubby vibe that anticipates more contemporary nightclub music, and gives some of today’s producers a bit of schooling, I’d have to say. Delicious track.

Venus Gang
“Love to Fly” (mp3)
from “Galactic Soul”
(Mucho Gusto Records)

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I always find the music of Film School so warm and pleasant. The simplest little progression can sound glorious in the hands of such skilled and sensitive players. This is soothing, medicinal music, however dark and melancholic, and there’s a certain genius to hitting that blend just right. “p.s.” is a big yet understated composition, rendered with a minimal Velvet Underground style rhythm section ethic, exquisite droney guitars, and obsessively well informed keyboard and string parts, all gathered around and tending to a poetic and precarious lyric like doctors and nurses around a mysterious patient. Beautiful work.

Film School
“p.s.” (mp3)
from “Alwaysnever”
(Amazing Grease Records)

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Marijuana has been legal for medicinal purposes here in the state of California since the passing in 1996 of Prop 215, and pot dispensaries and clubs have popped up everywhere in its wake as growers further perfect myriad finely cultivated strains of pungent buds. This is therefor, a good place to live if you have such needs, and as it happens, downtown Oakland near my place of residence is the capital of the pot club world! Along with a number of these specialty pharmacies, there’s even a new college offering “Quality Training for the Cannabis Industry” which takes its name from the neighborhood’s unofficial moniker – Oaksterdam University. “Medicine Man,” a classic reggae rocker by UK’s I-Plant, could be the school’s anthem. So put this mp3 in your pipe and smoke it, all you 420 scholars. Quality product from I-GROW RECORDS.

I-Plant
“Medicine Man” (mp3)
from “Medicine Man / Hard Road to Travel”
(I-GROW RECORDS)

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Shall I post some of the most famous holiday music ever? Sure, I’m feeling it, and after all, there’s a reason this piece is so universally loved. So here is the Overture to Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker Suite,” as performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, under the lively baton of famed Russian conductor Yuri Simonov. The sound quality is glorious, the music as magical as a childhood dream. Click the handy “Need more!” link below, if overwhelmed with spirit, you require the entire piece to fill your home with holiday wonder and cheer. I can think of no better plan.

Yuri Simonov
“The Nutcracker Suite” (mp3)
from “Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker Suite & Swan Lake Suite”
(Russian Music Society)

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Vic Chesnutt’s craft is at such a high level, between lyrics and voice and accompaniment, that listening to his songs one can forget oneself and become entirely transported into the musical picture. “Chain” from his latest album, is a soft cinematic masterpiece, each instrument a character, conversing and dancing ethereally with the protagonist/singer, illuminating a scene far more nuanced and colorful that pop music is expected to be. Perhaps this is why Mr. Chesnutt’s reputation amongst pop stars is so well established – to list his famous admirers would be something of a cliché at this point – while his own fame among the general public is still relatively limited. The quality of this work is so self evident all I can suggest is, download it and have a listen. And if you’re wondering if the rest of the album, and indeed the rest of the output from this artist is as original and beautiful as this, this answer is yeah, it is.

Vic Chesnutt
“Chain” (mp3)
from “At the Cut”
(Constellation)

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SuperFan goin’ all ‘lectronicoid on ya again, with some pure electronic dance music. I was intrigued by the title and stark album artwork here – this is one of those random discoveries, and I’m glad I stopped to check it out, it’s fun stuff. As is often the case in this genre, one must be patient at first. “Piotun” starts with a mere skeleton, and you think, hey, I could do this on a laptop in my sleep, why is this a record? But the piece soon reveals itself, with a magnificent primal synth bass part that could compel a brick to boogie, before atmospheric cinematic gongs and blips complete the trance inducing picture. This kind of thing works so well in a nightclub setting. Or, you know, at home, with friends, pretending your pad is a nightclub. I do it all the time. Why not? Ravers, rave on.

Information Ghetto
“Piotun” (mp3)
from “Secrets – EP”
(3rd Wave Music)

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In the best tradition of modern Americana, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada’s Ox delivers an unhurried, wide as the sky ode to futility. The guitar work here is stellar, shiny and stark, accompanying a delicate lyric that could fall down so easily in one misplaced word, but it never does. Gorgeous harmonies and a full, superb lead vocal, lift this from a simple lament to something far more glorious. I don’t often find myself in the mood these days, for sad country music, but when I do, it has to be this good.

Ox
“Burnout” (mp3)
from “Burnout”
(Weewerk)

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Song titles say a lot. Band names, too. So, if I find a song called “The Faint Smell of Moss” by a band called Dark Meat off an album called “Truce Opium,” I will immediately download it with a certain glee, hoping it lives up to those lovely words! And I wouldn’t waste your time, dears, if it didn’t. But indeed, a fertile scent of nature is invoked, a soothing narcotic bliss induced, through a sexy rhythm faithfully rendered by a band of real live psychedelic noir road animals from Athens, Georgia. It pleases me that such a band as this exists in 2009, sounding as they do, like an early Jefferson Airplane went off its scheduled course, arrived in the Himalayas with flowers in hair and bells on feet and had an orgy. Reverb-y guitars and glorious male-female vocal harmonies are carried aloft by superb rock drumming, an old school “invisible” bass player (one of my favorite kinds) and – stop the presses! – a lead melody played on that most misunderstood and maligned of wind instruments, the Recorder. These people are crazy. Genius work.

Dark Meat
“The Faint Smell of Moss” (mp3)
from “Truce Opium”
(Emergency Umbrella)

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Easily mistaken for a “jam band” at first listen, The Mother Hips are on closer inspection a tight, country flavored rock unit in the tradition of The Band and other 60’s and 70’s masters of song arrangement and organic, live combo playing. Plopped as they were by fate in the early 90’s, the Hips’ sweet guitar serenades and soulful harmonies were in contrast to the flood of Nirvana sound-alikes which came to dominate the airwaves then. Signed to Rick Rubin’s American Records for a while, then back to indie life, these generous and talented musicians remained true to their art through it all, never straying from their vision nor trying for to fit into any style but their own. Commendable, but more importantly, their music is gr8. This single, “One Way Out” is from their most recent album, “Pacific Dust,” and it’s a gem.

The Mother Hips
“One Way Out” (mp3)
from “Pacific Dust”
(Camera Records)

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A band name like that can be the headline of my post, sure, why not? Here is some alterna-pop that is a cut above the noise. Edgy and minutely arranged, “Heart Surgery” by The Aimless Never Miss weds prog rock sensibilities like odd time signatures and angular, syncopated riffs, with a more contemporary emo-ternative lyrical approach. Emoternative? But yes! The guitars and vocals on this track are quite beautiful. The pieces all come together to evoke a unique feeling that is delicious yet hard to describe. Ultimately, that is what original art accomplishes, isn’t it? Lovely work from this Cotati spawned, San Francisco / Oakland based California band.

The Aimless Never Miss
“Heart Surgery” (mp3)
from “Tran EP”
(500 Records)

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It seems Lee “Scratch” Perry’s musical evolution will never stop. Jamaican music innovator number one, Perry has from the early 60’s to the present been a core author of the operating systems for ska, reggae, and dub, spawning myriad sub-genres and altering the perceptions and priorities of generations of fans and musicians world wide. Quite a resume. Now on, like, his ten thousandth LP or something, “madman scratchy” has a new release on the lovely Narnack Records label. This track, a wild riff on Perry’s already wild “Having A Party” which I posted earlier, is closer to a dubby downtempo or house vibe than the Reggae based work he’s most famous for. But the unique voice and mind bending take on life are instantly recognizable as no one else’s. Here’s holiday music of a kind I promise you, you have never heard before. Santa Claus is coming, so catch Scratchy on his short US tour they just announced, and be good!

Lee “Scratch” Perry
“Repentance”
Narnack Records

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Charlie Hunter’s “Home For The Holidays” show at Yoshi’s has become quite the tradition for me in my hometown of Oaksterdam. The event has always been a great success, and this year they’re celebrating its tenth year with a four day run, Dec 18-Dec 20, 2009, featuring special guest Doug Wamble. So to warm up for this fantabulous occasion, I’m posting this bubbly rockin’ jazzy funk track for you’re listening plizeasure. Note the absence of any bass guitar proper, as Charlie manages the top, middle, and bottom of an 8 string slanted fret guitar that was designed for him by fellow Oaklander Ralph Novak. When Hunter gets cooking on that thing, you’ll find yourself looking around the stage asking, where are the rest of the players? A musician, a magician and a mensch, Charlie just keeps getting better with time.

Charlie Hunter
“High Pockets and a Fanny Pack” (mp3)
from “Gentlemen, I Neglected To Inform You You Will Not Be Getting Paid”
(reapandsow, Inc.)

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Ok, I know it’s only December 1st tomorrow, but I’m starting the party early. This redonkulous remix of Dean Martin’s version of Jingle Bells is so wrong, it’s right! Purists flee, this is NOT the original Dean Martin cut, mmkay, let’s just get that out of the way. But it IS his incredibly rich, sonorous and oh-so-male voice uncluttered by effects or digital muck, plopped ever so nicely over a postmodern hip hop-ish holiday cacophony. Can you picture that? I thought not. Have a listen! From “Holiday Lounge – The Christmas Remixes” collection. A keeper for the merrymaking playlist, fo’ shizmus.

Dean Martin
“Jingle Bells” (mp3)
from “Holiday Lounge – The Christmas Remixes”
(Christmas Chill)

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Dj Subverse brought this to my attention last week, and it has worked its colors into my gray matter. A hyper contemporary soundscape featuring a beguiling mix of eastern and western sounds and melodies all tossed about in dub stylee. This mp3 packs a lot of music into two minutes and fifty seconds! Seductive and creepy, soothing and disturbing all at once. Is this what it is like to be haunted? Lovely work.

Rainbow Arabia
“Haunted Hall” (mp3)
from “Kabukimono”
(Manimal Vinyl Records)

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Extra trippy guitar pop from the Sonic Youth side of Husker Dü approximately. Luscious psychedelic vocals and a Devo meets King Crimson arrangement make this worthy of both New Wave and Prog Rock tags. Unusual. Lovely. Strange. Check it out.

Birds & Batteries
“TV Commericals” (mp3)
from “Nature vs. Nature”
(Birds and Batteries)

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One of the cooler regional hits of 1982 was the lo-fi garage punk of “Radio Moscow” by a Southern California band called Kent State (formerly Red Brigade). They played every punk venue on the west coast and then some, adding a twist to American hardcore music that was more Troggs than Sex Pistols. Rodney Bingenheimer played this song heavily on The ROQ, and even made it the lead off track on one of his famed compilation LP’s. The lyrics are such a time capsule – pure cold war angst plus a needed dose of irreverent humor. More yummy goodness from Posh Boy Music.

Kent State
“Radio Moscow” (mp3)
from “The Future Looks Brightest – Rarities and Orphans Volume 1″
(Posh Boy Music)

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What’s this? A blatantly New Age mp3 on yours truly SuperFan’s own site? But yes! We’re coming together, converging if you will, harmonically, mystically, cosmically, on the astral plane for a flying dream and heavenly feast. Whether you celebrate Thanksgiving or Indigenous People’s Day or lament the Turkey-opalypse, here’s some soothing meandering flutes and gamelan bell sounding plunky plunks that pussyfoot around in circles before flopping contentedly in front of the fire for a purr. And remember, if anyone asks you who won Yoga, it was a tie.

Conni St. Pierre
“Midheaven at Midwinter” (mp3)
from “Beyond The Sky: Legends Of The Starry Night”
(Smasheasy)

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And how do we like our emo? Why, with kick ass power pop hooks and punk pop aggression and yearning teen angst on that razor’s edge between bliss and despair, thank you, how else? This song has it all. In fact, “Lukewarm” by New End Original has been one of my faves in this genre since it first popped up on the MP3 Jackpot radar a few years back. The band was a sort of supergroup, composed of refugees from some very loved and respected underground rock bands – namely Onelinedrawing, Far, Chamberlain and Texas Is The Reason. NEO burned hot out of the gate, recording a monster debut album which they had the charming audacity to name after the best selling album of all time.

New End Original
“Lukewarm” (mp3)
from “Thriller”
(Jade Tree)

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I swear if Paul Westerberg were born in the Appalachians instead of Minneapolis, he would have started a hillbilly band and recorded this song. Or I could say, if Bill Monroe were a young New Yorker, he might have done. These are compliments to all parties, if there’s any wondering. Curtis Harvey, at the time of this writing, has a whopping 47 myspace friends for his brand new solo outing, in which he emerges from a respectable run as a multi-instrumentalist with Rex, Pullman and others, to take the leading role. Listen to the beautiful guitar and banjo arrangement, and picture perfect lyrics of the single “Oldertoo,” and I’m sure you’ll agree this was an idea whose time had come. A gr8 new music find, folks, from a brilliant under-discovered artist, on the visionary Fat Cat Records label. Enjoy.

Curtis Harvey
“Oldertoo” (mp3)
from “Box Of Stones”
(Fat Cat Records)

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And what for the interstate drive to the ‘rents house for turkeyopalypse? Big rock, sweeties, big, loud, top-down, preferably decadent glam goth, can we do that? Thank you. Living 80’s zeitgeist Flesh For Lulu has re-recorded some of their classic material, with more modern production values, and created a record which is bound to introduce them to new starry eyed romantics the world over. “Baby Hurricane” is just the kind of thing I love from this band – huge guitar powerchord-scapes remind of Mott the Hoople and T-Rex, as smoky English power pop vocals melt down into a sort of heartbroken lustful bliss. Spectacular.

Flesh For Lulu
“Baby Hurricane” (mp3)
from “Best Of (Re-Recorded)”
(Corporate Risk Products)

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There’s a certain mojo that can happen with filtered bass synths, rather like the sensation of psychedelics settling in your tummy with just a hint of what’s to come. Now, I usually don’t get all Vice Magazine on you, after all this is a family blog (you should see my family) but, this is drug music. Sultry, sexy, mysterious, after hours, slithering velvet goodness. Cinematic dubstep garage fun from Chicago’s J Courage.

J Courage
“Too Deep” (mp3)
from “Too Deep (Juju Remix)”
(Trenchant Dubs)

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Enter at your own risk, “The Lost Album” by 13th Chime on Sacred Bones Records. “Sarah’s Got a Chainsaw” is not so much the bloodbath the title might suggest, but instead a raucous and beautifully recorded note from the grave from this driving goth-esq Texas band. Gr8 80’s flavored reverb’d out vocals bounce around on an urgent guitar bass and drum bed that hints of Joy Division, Gang Of Four and The Cramps. Superb.

13th Chime
“Sarah’s Got A Chainsaw” (mp3)
from “The Lost Album”
(Sacred Bones Records)

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On the avant-garde side of hip-hop we find anticon’s dynamic duo Themselves carving some far out original soundz and spittin’ equally mind bending lyrical flows. “Gangster of Disbelief” is a crazy, brilliant production, featuring urgent yet controlled vocals which hypnotize from the first dubby strains of the intro to the last drop of warm synth-y goodness. Gr8 stuff.

Themselves
“Gangster of Disbelief” (mp3)
from “Crownsdown”
(anticon)

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Why, it seems everyone and their cousin has a reggae band these days. Coming from the jazzy swingy new skool funky side is a band from Wellington City, New zealand called The Black Seeds. Boasting monster horn players, sophisticated arrangements and a scary solid rhythm section, they are not a simple reggae knock off, as they have been proving to a growing international following. “Slingshot” is their latest and gr8est, a powerful single with lyrics that work a karmic angle somewhat reminiscent of Peter Tosh’s “Downpressor Man” or The Heptones’ “Hypocrite.” Nice one.

The Black Seeds
“Slingshot” (mp3)
from “Solid Ground”
(Easy Star Records)

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Soul music legend Eddie Floyd has been singing, recording and touring for something like five decades, and the man shows no sign of letting up today. This classic recording of “Ninety-Nine and a Half” is pure molten gold – just puts a lot of more contemporary records flat to shame, I’m afraid.  Probably best known for “Knock On Wood” – a song he co-wrote with Steve Cropper which was a hit in 1966 and subsequently covered by like a hundred major artists, some of whom also charted with it – Eddie Floyd is a real as real gets. Listen to his voice on this, and then tell me how you feel about the auto-tuned piffle that’s so prevalent these days. This is a gr8 record you should have at the ready, to heat up those cold winter nights.

Eddie Floyd
“Ninety-Nine and a Half” (mp3)
from “Sweet Soul”
(LocoBop)

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Rock is not dead. It is brain dead. The Sons Of Hercules understand the power of not understanding. The subtle genius of retardation. The mastery which flows from lobotomous guitars, beer soaked vocals, and swaggering drum beats. As The Stooges demonstrated in the late 60’s, for a certain kind of rock, dumb is smart. From their “A Different Kind of Ugly” album, I give you, The Sons Of Hercules from San Antonio, Texas, performing “Brain Dead”. Gr8 stupid fun.

The Sons Of Hercules
“Brain Dead” (mp3)
from “A Different Kind of Ugly”
(Saustex Media)

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Pere Ubu is not exactly a household word, but their art has influenced decades of popular and influential acts like the Pixies, Joy Division, REM, Bauhaus and others.  The songs on their new album make up the backbone of a theatrical production, “Bring Me The Head Of Ubu Roi”, that premiered in 2008 at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall. Based on the play “Ubu Roi” which premiered in Paris in 1896 provoking riots, the story is a re-telling of “Macbeth,” as a ruthless satire of the bloated and corrupt state of pre-World War I Europe. The new piece is “Brutal, lacking charm, and without redeeming values, an album for our times,” boasts Pere Ubu’s founder David Thomas, “It is, in fact, the only punk record that’s been made in the last 30 years.” Quite a statement, yet one that a man with his credentials can make, when the music and text is this far outside of the norm. Entertaining, scathing, and very funny work.

Pere Ubu
“Act 2 Scene 1″ (mp3)
from “Bring Me The Head Of Ubu Roi”
(Smog Veil Records)

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Creepcore! Creep-a-billy? I wish I had found this for Halloween! But here ya go, this track rocks. This trio of Scum from Erie (where else?) PA are a tight and fun band, drawing heavily on the sound of The Cramps and surf music. “You Creep Me Out” is, I believe, a love song, of a fashion! So sweet and tender. Creep out.

My 3 Scum
“You Creep Me Out” (mp3)
from “Night Of The Living Scum”
(Smog Veil Records)

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Not that they ever went away, but Los Fabulosos Cadillacs just released their first studio album in ten years, and it is gr8. “Contrabando de Amor” is the lead off single, and it is an undeniable smash. Truly anthemic, joyous, fun, passionate, tight, unpretentious.. let’s see, did I leave anything out? Oh and glorious! K? SuperFan approved, hit it up.

Los Fabulosos Cadillacs
“Contrabando de Amor” (mp3)
from “El Arte de la Elegancia de LFC”
(Nacional Records)

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Southern California’s beloved surf punker pioneers Agent Orange have rocked for over three decades, and they continue to tour and deliver a gr8 live show. This song from their brilliant 1981 album “Living in Darkness”- recently re-released digitally by Posh Boy Music – is a good taste of their innovative guitar work and unique collision of power pop, surf and punk. The lyrics to “Everything Turns to Grey” are brilliant, at once idealistic and resigned. A classic song from a classic LP. Surfs up!

Agent Orange
“Everything Turns to Grey” (mp3)
from “Living in Darkness”
(Posh Boy Music)

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