Oh today ’tis a glorious day. As long-time readers of this blog may remember, I plugged the wrong power supply into my external hard drive a few month ago and totally fried it (complete with magic blue smoke). After much sobbing and attempted suicide attempts, my genius friend was able to fix it and recover all of the lovely music that was trapped on it. So today my music collection went from 20GB to over 120GB. If I wanted to I could rock out non-stop for almost 70 days and not hear the same track twice (although I’d hear a ton of different live recordings of Pearl Jam’s ‘Yellow Ledbetter’). I don’t think I’m going to do that though. In celebration here are some tracks I wanted to post months ago but was unable to as they were on the fried disk. Oh, and if any of you sent me an email asking for a favor…I would check your inbox.

Erasure
Star (Trafalmadore Mix)
Star (7” Version)
Dreamlike State (The 12 Hour Technicolor Mix)
Trafalmadore is not an easy “word” to spell. Turns out it’s a planet in Slaughterhouse 5, ironic considering I posted the soundtrack to that a few days ago. All of these remixes come off the 12” single for ‘Star’, and don’t worry, the ‘Dreamlike State’ mix really isn’t 12 hours long (although how awesome would that be?).

Thomas Dolby
Windpower (Extended Mix)
Flying North (Extended Mix)
More Dolby, this time he’s not accompanied by Joe Walsh, Stevie Wonder, Lea Thompson, George Clinton and an anthropomorphic duck. 20 bucks says some combination of those characters have appeared in someone’s LSD flashback.

Depeche Mode
Strangelove (Maxi-Mix)
Strangelove (Midi-Mix)
Strangelove (Highjack Remix)
FPMIP
The first two Strangelove mixes and ‘FPMIP’ come off of a 12” single that has “Bong 13” on the cover. I swear I used to have that single on CD, I’m highly suspicious of my former pothead roomy, that is something that would be absolutely hysterical to a stoned loser. The Highjack remix is off of a promo single. The Midi-Mix is just that, a midi-recording, and it sounds totally awesome.

Run DMC Featuring Method Man
The Beginning (No Further Delay…)
This was the first single released in promotion of Crown Royal, the record that would be Run DMC’s final album because of the death of Jam Master Jay. Despite being subtitled ‘No Further Delay…’ the album was delayed for over a year after the release of this single, and when it finally did come out this song was nowhere to be found. Strangely, parts of it were taken and sliced into the vastly inferior track “Simmons Incorporated.” The quality of this isn’t the greatest, I got it off of some file-sharing site eons ago.

Sometimes I find a record that makes me happy record stores exist, tonight’s post features songs from that record.

Dobly’s Cube (With Cherry Bomb)
Howard The Duck (Megamix)
Howard The Duck (Album Mix)
Don’t Turn Away

When Howard The Duck crashed into theaters, it left behind it a critical trashing that could be compared to more recent bombs like Gigli and Battlefield Earth. Now, I’ve never seen Gigli, but I can safely say that Howard The Duck is a better film than Battlefield Earth. In fact, Howard The Duck probably wasn’t even the worst movie of 1986. Anyone ever seen Cobra or Soul Man? The movie “won” the award for Worst Picture at The Razzies, once again proving that The Razzies are nothing more but a venue for pathetic little wankers to get together and jerk each other off over the popular kids’ failures.

I loved this movie when I was a kid. I thought Howard was funny, Lea Thompson was cool and the Dark Overlords were creepy. When I got older I was a little scared to watch it again, worried that the rose-colored glasses of nostalgia had given me the impression I enjoyed it more than I actually did. I had already been burned by recent revisits to childhood favorites G.I. Joe: The Movie and any of the Police Academy movies. When I finally did see the movie again I was surprised that I still found it funny and immensely entertaining, and the special effects are still pretty incredible (they were done by ILM after all). And don’t forget that it had a great cast, which included Lea Thompson (with some seriously crimped-out hair), Tim Robbins and Jeffery Jones. Even if you thought the movie was a disaster you have to admit that it was an entertaining and well-financed disaster.

Strangely, the soundtrack of Howard The Duck was packed with some talented artists at the top of their game. Thomas Dolby wrote all of the original songs for the film, with assistance by Lord Funkenstein George Clinton. Joe Walsh of The Eagles plays guitar on the title track, and the harmonica on ‘Don’t Turn Away’ was performed by Stevie Wonder. The three tracks I’m offering tonight were all taken off of the 12” single for the theme song. The ‘Mega Mix’ of the theme song was only released on this 12”, while the other two tracks were available on the film’s soundtrack also. None of them are on CD. I think Lea Thompson (and her hair) sings on all three of these, but I could be wrong. If you want more info on Howard The Duck check out this great site.

Helmet & House Of Pain
Just Another Victim (T-Ray Devil Worship Mix)
Just Another Victim (T-Ray Dead And Stinking Mix)
Just Another Victim (T-Ray Heavy Metal Jazz Mix)
These tracks are remixes of a song from the soundtrack to Judgment Night. Now that movie sucked, but it’s rap/metal collaboration-filled soundtrack wasn’t half bad.

Freddie Gage – Drugs & Youth
Here’s my obligatory 4/20 post. This album is a recording from the early 70s featuring preacher Freddie Gage talking about how evil drugs are. Freddie Gage is kind of a mini-celebrity on the internet because of his unintentionally hilarious album All My Friends Are Dead. This record is a 30 minute speech he gave at a high school in Lafayette, Louisiana sometime in the early 70s. If you want to hear a preacher talk jive to a bunch of kids about straight squares dropping out and turning on to hippie life and getting high off goofballs, this is the record for you. Hear Freddie talk about his friends who turned to heroin and speed after a couple of joints, and how Diane Linkletter jumped out of a window and killed herself because the LSD she took made her think she could fly (not true – actually she killed herself while completely drug free) This is the kind of stuff you stoners should find fucking hilarious while you sit in your mom’s basement and play Dark Ages Of Camelot until 5:00 AM.

I’ve recorded a buttload of music this week. I’ve had a lot of time to catch up on my vinyl pile because I haven’t turned on the TV in two days – I’m sick of the exploitive non-stop coverage. If I ever see Dr. Fuck Phil in person I’m going to beat the shit out of this tragedy-capitalizing ass. What a bald-headed prick. Times like this make me depressed that I’m a Journalism student.

The Housemartins
Caravan Of Love
When I First Met Jesus
These guys were fairly popular in England but most of America never heard of them, and if they have it’s probably because their bass player was Norman Cook AKA Fatboy Slim. These two tracks don’t feature any of Cook’s bass playing, as they are both acapella. ‘Caravan Of Love’ was a hit single in the UK and it’s on The Housemartins’ greatest hits comp Now That’s What I Call Quite Good. ‘When I First Met Jesus’ was the B-side and isn’t as easy to find. It’s also the only Christian rock/acapella single I ever plan on owning.

Blur
Entertain Me (The Live It! Remix)
Yay Blur! This vinyl is awesome. It’s only one track so the B-side has ‘Blur’ etched into it like someone went at it with a set of car keys. I’d scan it but black scratches on a black surface don’t really show up well on a scan. This remix is on a couple singles and the band’s massive anniversary box set. I was thinking about tracking down that set but it has 125 tracks on it and that’s a hell of a lot of Blur.

R.E.M.
The One I Love (Live)
Maps & Legends (Live)
Live tracks from the 12” single for ‘The One I Love.’ I’m depressed enough as it is so I’m just going to move on to slightly more upbeat fare.

Madness
Tomorrow’s Just Another Day (Warped 12” Version)
Tomorrow’s Just Another Day (With Elvis Costello)
Blue Skinned Beast (Warp Mix)
Yesterday’s Men (12” Version)
Yesterday’s Men (Demo)
All I Knew
If I smoked pot I’d totally play ‘Yesterday’s Men’ whilst toasted. These are all taken from different Madness singles, check out the files for the specifics. Some of them are available on box sets and stuff, but none of these tracks were ever on proper albums as far as I can tell. The demo version of ‘Yesterday’s Men’ is really cool, it sounds like it was recorded in a basement on someone’s Casio.

April has struck in full effect. Sigh.

Korn
Make Me Bad (Kornography Mix)
Make Me Bad (Kornography Instrumental)
Make Me Bad (Sickness In Salvation Mix)
Make Me Bad (Sickness In Salvation Instrumental)
Make Me Bad (Sybil Mix)
Let’s get all junior high pissed! Korn’s been a guilty pleasure of mine on and off since their first album came out way back when. I still think their first two records are great and if you’re going to be a misanthropic 13-year-old boy then they are required listening material. They lost me after Life Is Peachy though, although I still like the occasional single. ‘Make Me Bad’ is probably my favorite post-Peachy song by them, and if I’m ever in a fuck-the-world mood I usually put it on. And considering how things have been going recently, these tracks are getting a lot of play on my iPod. These remixes came off a promo single.

KMFDM
Naive (The TKK Remix)
It does not stand of “Kill Mother Fucking Depeche Mode.” That’s about all I know about them though. Wasn’t there a shitty computer game in the late 90s that used a lot of KMFDM iconography? I can’t recall the name of it, although I do seem to remember it really sucking. I do know that the original version of Naive is really hard to find, and that makes me want it – I’m pathetic like that. This remix of ‘Naive’ is off of a split EP they did with My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult, the second half of which is posted below!

My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult
The Days Of Swine & Roses (KMFDM Remix)
A band that’s right up there with Echo & The Bunnymen as one of the best band names ever and another band I’ve never really been that into. I’m starting to dig industrial disco trash rock though, so I might start picking up some of their stuff.

Trans-X
Living On Video (Remix)
I never heard this song before last week and since then I have become unhealthily obsessed with it. This track has to have one of the best synth lines off all time!! If you do a search for this baby on iTunes you get about five million different remixes and covers of it, but none of them seem to be this one which I took off of a Golden Dance-Floor Hits single.

I know I promised that I’d post less zip files, but I also promised that I’d stop drinking pop and run a mile a day. Shit happens.

Music From Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five
Wow, I’m all topical and shit. I’ve actually never seen this movie or read the book. Shaddup, I know it’s like, fucking awesome and stuff, I’m a busy motherfucker so lay off. This soundtrack is almost entirely Glenn Gould playing Bach. Excellent stuff that could probably move even the most ardent hater of classical music (like me).

Rick Wakeman’s Music from The Burning
So The Burning is some mediocre 80s slasher flick. I don’t know how Rick Wakeman was conned into working on this baby. What’s even stranger about it is that the first side is his “variations” on the music from the film, while the B-side is the actual score. I only have the first side here, mainly because the second side was fucked up and scratched to all hell. The killer of The Burning was a disfigured landscaper whose weapon of choice was a large pair of garden shears. I can only assume this is the explanation for the title of track 4, “Shear Terror.” That pun hurts almost as much as a pair of gardening shears to the gonads. A little more interesting trivia on The Burning, it was produced by Harvey Weinstein, and co-written by his brother Bob. Of course these are the two evil bastards that would later form Miramax some years later. The movie also features Jason Alexander’s naked butt. You can read more about the flick here. If you like Wakeman you should dig this stuff.

Got some interesting stuff coming in the next week or so, but I wanted to post some punk/experimental stuff that I’ve been putting off for a while now. If you’re looking for some B-sides and dance mixes come back next time, this stuff really isn’t for you

The Residents
I Left My Heart In San Fransisco
Dumbo The Clown (Who Loved Christmas)
Is He Really Bringing Roses
Time’s Up
These fuckers scare me and always have. This is a band who released an album called Baby Sex and featured said act on the cover. These are the guys who walk around with giant eyeballs on their head, these guys are creepy motherfuckers. And I don’t think I will ever get their music. Somewhere a serial killer is plotting his next murder while listening to ‘Is He Really Bringing Roses’ again and again.

Tuxedomoon
I Left My Heart In San Fransisco
Everything You Want
Waterfront Seat
The final band from the Subterranean Modern compilation. I have no idea what the fuck is going on here. I like ‘Waterfront Seat’, it has a cool ambient-noise feel to it. For me the other tracks are just way too annoying and bizarre – and my idea of soothing music is Negativland.

Regressive Aid – Effects On Exposed People
Post-punk acid-jazz progressive rock jam music. I think that’s the only way I can describe Regressive Aid. This threesome featured guitarist William Tucker, who would go on to work with artists like KMFDM and Ministry. The other two members of the group did stuff with Rollins and various other 80s/90s alternative bands, such as Butthole Surfers and Ween. I guess this album is pretty hard to find and in high demand among those who want it, so I decided to put up the whole thing as a zip file. I’m trying to cut down on the amount of complete albums I put up, but I figured that if you want one track off of this one you probably want them all. I’m kind of digging this, especially ‘Worromot’.

So yeah, my last post was a little…um…vitriolic in nature. Sorry about that, family gatherings and Ohio bring it out in me. I’ve since calmed down and am not really in a punk rock/experimental mood, so I’ll post the rest of that San Fran comp next time. Tonight I have for you a collection of bands you can’t find on Google. Of course, if you found this post by searching for these bands on Google then I’m wrong. But whatever, just be happy I’m whining about my comments tonight!

The The
Perfect
Soup Of Mixed Emotions
Fruit Of The Heart
I’ve Been Waitin’ For Tomorrow (All My Life!!) Special Mix
I had no idea that ‘This Is The Day’ was by The The until I picked up Soul Mining last week. I was also that The The was like NIN in that it’s really just one dude, Matt Johnson. I was equally unaware that throughout The The’s existence Matt Johnson’s recruited Jools Holland and Johnny Marr to contribute to various albums.

Wow. I don’t know shit.

The first three tracks were originally on a bonus EP that came with the first print editions of Soul Mining. Ironically, the remix of ‘I’ve Been Waitin’ For Tomorrow’ was the B-side to ‘This Is The Day’ – so I guess it wasn’t really the day. I think ‘Perfect’ is on the CD release of Soul Mining, but the rest remain pretty hard to find. At least I think that’s the case, I think I’ve made it pretty clear that I don’t know shit about this band.

Talk Talk
Why Is It So Hard? (12” U.S. Remix Extended Version)
Talk Talk (12” Mix Extended Version)
My Foolish Friend (12” Mix Extended Version)
It’s My Life (12” Mix Extended Version)
Dum Dum Girl (12” Remix Extended Version)
Such A Shame (12” U.S. Remix Extended Version)
I know very little about this band too, so anything I say here would just be stuff I read from Wikipedia. Anyways, these tracks are all off of a weird EP that was only released in Canada and Italy (odd combo). The remix of ‘It’s My Life’ is really just a glorified dub mix, but the rest are great. Actually Talk Talk aren’t that hard to Google, but I needed a third band for this post and I don’t have any !!! songs.

X (Australian Band)
Fuckin’ Rockin’
That’s Not Nice
X, the L.A. punk-rock revolutionaries are hard enough to find online, so imagine how hard it is to get any information on this Aussie punk rock group of the same name? In fact, I bought this live LP by accident because I thought it was that other X. Thankfully, it was pretty good. I know next-to-nothing about these guys too, but I bet you don’t know much about them either, so I don’t feel so bad about it.

Alright, I updated the info/rules on my sidebar, move your pupils to the right and please go over them. The next person to make “a couple” requests will face my wrath.

I am Drago. I will break you.

Sorry for the rage I just spent four days in Toledo with my family. That’s enough to make anyone fucking hostile so excuse my aggression. Let’s Rock.

The Big Thing
Reality Bus
3 Reasons
No Junkies
So I’m at the record store and I see this weird record called In The Elbow Room. On the plastic sleeve protecting it someone wrote “Rave 007.” I’m thinking, “score, James Bond techno” and I give it a listen. To my shock it’s some bad-ass indie punk rock. . I found out later that the “Rave 007” designation that album was given represented that it was the seventh release by the now defunct Rave Records. If the flyer included with the record was any indication, this was one bad-ass record label. I scanned it for your pleasure, here’s the front and back.

Chrome
Anti-Fade
I Left My Heart In San Francisco
Meet You In The Subway
Over the next few days I’ll be posting some tracks from an oddball compilation I got called Subterranean Modern that featured some killer late-70s/early-80s bands from San Francisco. Chrome was a really early industrial band from the bay whose underground status has given them a fairly devoted following in the “noise rock” community. While these tracks are tame compared to some of the industrial music coming out now, nothing sounded like them at the time I bet. The song called ‘I Left My Heart In San Fransisco’ has nothing to do with the Tony Bennett tune.

MX-80 Sound
Lady In Pain
I Left My Heart In San Francisco
Possessed
MX-80 Sound was another great San Fran band from the time who are actually still recording and releasing new music, something you can say about very few bands from that scene. MX-80 Sound can best be described as art-rock, kind of like Talking Heads gone metal I guess. Their shit is really noise-heavy and experimental but a bit more accessible than some of the stuff by Chrome. You can get their first two albums on one CD now and I highly recommend it. Just like the Chrome tune, their version of ‘I Left My Heart…” has nothing to do with the original song.

I got two great, very different, albums for you today. I didn’t bother uploading individual files for these because it’s a safe bet that if you like either of these artists you want all the songs. It feels nice to post something other than a remix of a b-side of an import of something for a change.

Nicks & Buckingham – Buckingham Nicks
This 1973 album by the then-romantically involved Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham has never been released on CD. Supposedly Buckingham isn’t very happy with it and since he owns part of it he’s been able to keep it buried for all these years. I don’t know what his deal is, because this is a great record. It’s also the reason that they were asked to join Fleetwood Mac.

Ian Dury – Lord Upminister
A much less-known album but equally hard-to-find, this was Ian Dury’s first album after he left The Blockheads. From what I’ve read about it the critical and popular reaction to the record was less-than-enthusiastic and even Dury eventually disowned much of it in his later years. While it does have a few slow spots the album as a whole holds up pretty well as it also serves as a good example of that whole punk/reggae cross-pollination that was going on at the time. The opener ‘Spasticus (Autisticus)’ is a hell of a tune and the mellow ‘Funky Disco (Pops)’ is another standout. Originally released in 1981 it was briefly re-released on CD ten years later but has been out of print ever since. The only legit CD copy I’ve seen of this one online was going for 200 bucks and I’ve also seen LPs for sale at nearly half that price. Okay, I like this album but it sure as hell ain’t that good. I bought it for four bucks at The Best Record Store In The Universe.