4:44; Yammerer; Salem Trials; Metal Postcard Records; Legless Trials; The Legless Crabs; The Bordellos; Alien Nosejob; Ausmuteants; Thalmus

4:44 is a singer-songwriter one man recording project based out of New Jersey. I feature new 4:44 from time to time, always good stuff. The last post with a 4:44 track was in September (where I erroneously said he was from Philidelphia), but the track I featured has been taken down by the artist on his Bandcamp page. So here's another track from his most recent 21 track Bandcamp digital release, Orchid, released back in September:

Thalmus is also a singer-songwriter solo project, based out of Atlanta, who makes "weird country music," and I love that description. Midnight Country is a digital Bandcamp release "featuring a few originals mixed in with country covers of Sonic Youth, Thundercat, Anita Baker, and Rae Sremmurd." Check out their cover of SY's "Schizophrenia," it's super-cool:

This was submitted back in June and I missed it. Just stumbled on it tonight while ironically trying to figure out how best not to miss stuff like this. Yammerer is from Liverpool. I was 3 seconds in and hooked on this track, "Tell Me What The Ancient Astronauts Believe," and stayed hooked for the full 3 minutes of the song. Killer, urgent post-punk, and what a great song title:

New Salem Trials is bitchin' as always. Post-punk rock duo from Leeds about as prolific as Bob Pollard or Zappa:

I was honored to get to work with Andy from Salem Trials under the moniker Legless Trials, and we're very lucky to have Metal Postcards to promote them for us. Our most recent Metal Postcard release is an EP called Hotwire an Ambulance. The lead track, "Hotwire an Ambulance," has been played on no less than three terrestrial radio stations, and as far as I know, maybe more. Maybe ALL THE STATIONS. That's me on vox, Andy on everything else:

I just looked over at the Metal Postcard Records Bandcamp page and betcha by golly, Salem Trials has another release on it. I told you they were prolific. Synthetic Animals and Other Plastics is an 8 song concept album, here's "Halo of Flies:"

And speaking of prolific Metal Postcard artists, both the Bordellos and the Legless Crabs (who may or may not be my noisy, off key solo project) both have new releases. The Bordellos have a new 2 song double A-side, "Dancing To The Hits/Slow Motion Fade Out," and the Crabs have a new 11 song, 20 minute long album called Tender Karaoke, and I gotta say, it's not the worst thing, if you're into noisy, off key solo projects. The Bordellos release is genius as all fuck tho:

The Bordellos also have a 4 song digital release on their own Bandcamp page, Rock N Roll Is Dead EP. The Bordellos are that band where you tell people how rad they are, and they don't listen, and then some time later they say to you, "hey, have you ever heard of the Bordellos?" And you want to strangle them, despite their well-meaning attempt to turn you on to cool new music. I do that to my wife all the time and it's a wonder she hasn't strangled me to death yet:

Alien Nosejob has new vinyl out, I'll pay for that without having to hear it first because you know it's gonna be rad. But luckily I do get to hear it first on Bandcamp before I inevitably order it. Alien Nosejob is the bedroom project of Jake Robertson from Ausmuteants. Ausmuteants has not put out anything since 2019, but these Alien Nosejob albums have been super cool. I've got the first two on vinyl, will be ordering this as well:

...Present The World In Handcuffs was the last Ausmuteants album, released in the Before Times of 2019. The Bandcamp page still has vinyl available:

All that got us up to is mid-November with new releases and submissions. More later and soon maybe, ya know. I dunno. Go forth and listen to the above! And drink lots of water. I want to play some Skyrim, or maybe Tropico, or some Sims. If I could play all three at once, I still wouldn't be satisfied.

Punk Stuff on Bandcamp

It's coming up on December and I have all these submissions from the last several weeks and I wanna give them all that good and sweet attention they deserve. Plus I got some releases I'm directly connected to I should be promoting on here since I got off of Facebook. But in the meantime it's late and I've had a few and I want to do an old fashioned CNQ Bandcamp dive into new releases, because that's fun to me.

These guys from Akron seem mad at jobs, the scene, and hipsters. Based on the songs I mean -- okey dokey for sure, I like this three song lo-fi EP. Rock'n'roll ain't dead but dreaming:

I love the 1990s:

J. Lansdowne (Atlanta); Headboggle (San Francisco)

Moving forward on October releases. J. Lansdowne is a guitarist from Atlanta and this s/t is his first vinyl release, which you can purchase on his Bandcamp page. Groovy lo-fi psych-blues. Totally rock'n'roll:

Ratskin Records is a collective based out of Oakland. Check out their mission statement:

"Ratskin Records is a collective record label and archival imprint championing decolonial experimental music centered in the Bay Area. We focus on LGBTQ+, Black, Native, POC, and disabled artists who create work that is sonically and politically pushing boundaries toward liberation. We work together to create an alternative to an industry that has historically exploited and devalued artist labor and requires artists to exhaust themselves to fulfill their life’s passion. We see the work of decolonial artists as world-building activism that centers empathy and basic human needs. The crux of our work is centered in engaging the healing power of sound for communities in struggle. Our goal is to pay and provide material resources for artists whose work lies on the margins of mainstream consumption. Our work is multifaceted in that we take multiple avenues to address issues around accountability, accessibility, racism, transphobia, and other systems of oppression. Ratskin is curation centered in its practice and provides resources for artists to create self-determined spaces."

I think that's rad.

Headboggle's Digital Digital Analog is a recent Ratskin release, the artist's first vinyl release on Ratskin. The solo project of Derek Gedalacia, a San Francisco based musician who has been performing under the Headboggle moniker since 2006. Experimental electronica, extremely cool, check it out:

More from Ratskin Records and other October releases to come. In the meantime, don't forget to drink lots of water throughout your day. Your body needs that shit.

Bordello & Clark; Metal Postcard Records

It wouldn't be CNQ catching up after a month of doofing around with other projects and video games without a post featuring Brian Bordello's latest project and/or something new from Metal Postcard Records. So here's a post featuring both.

Back in late August I mentioned Merseyside's Brian Bordello had a long unreleased album he did with U.S guitarist Ted Clark (I think Clark is based out of Ohio) finally due out courtesy Think Like a Key. That album, Atlantic Crossing by Bordello & Clark is finally out, and you can stream, download or purchase the CD on Think Like a Key's Bandcamp page. Long-time readers of CNQ will know I think there's nobody quite as good as Brian Bordello currently alive and making music. Clark's finish on Bordello's initial four track recordings of the dozen tracks compliment Brian's keen ability to craft a lo-fi pop song, with the tape hiss of the four track naturally adding to the ambience. Beautiful guitar songs with Brian's lyrics that are, as always, Lennon-levels of humor and vitriol, often nostalgic and melancholy, and each as enchanting as the last, from beginning to end. These two guys really knock it out of the park with this one. Absolutely one of the best albums of the year:

Hey, is it just me or is this year almost over? It went by faster than last year, feels like. Take care of yourself -- drink lots of water. Sit and breathe.

CNQ's favorite Australian label, Metal Postcard Records, has been as busy as always. The last thing I featured from MP was Leeds post-punk duo Salem Trials' Something Beginning With back in September. One half of the Salem Trials, Andy Goz, has done a team-up similar to Bordello & Clark with Texas' own Son of El Borko, from the Legless Crabs. Together they've release a self-titled EP and, as of today, a full length on MP called What We Did During The Fall. Andy Goz is as talented as all get out. Son of El Borko is me and I gotta say y'all, the week or so it took us to crank out the EP and the album was one of the most fun, challenging and rewarding experiences of my semi-churned life. Andy flexes his post-punk/no wave chops throughout, and I try to be clever and don't know what a key is. For "Holding Pattern," which is one of my favorite songs I've ever written, Andy brought in his friend Jules Lawrence for harmonica for the track, and that harmonica really brings the song home, I think.

Will Feral is an electronic producer who makes scores for invisible movies (actually it's just me and Garageband, but don't tell anybody). Hellweb is an attempt at a score for a cyberpunk horror story. This is the first Will Feral full length for MP:

Also in the electronic vein, MP stalwart Sir Robert Orange Peel has a new album out, and those are always fun, plus Dub Chieftain's Homeworld is a great album, think King Tubby making music for a 16-bit video game:

Rock'n'roll purists will undoubtably enjoy the Aliens album 30 lbs. of Air:

And, for some fun punk:

Metal Postcard Records is an incredible thing to be a part of. The level of talent Sean Hocking attracts and is able to amplify (plus my own bullshit) is a real feat in our current internet stage filled with noise and little signal. Metal Postcard is that signal.

And not to put too fine a point on it: "Pig Fucker," the Brian Bordello & Occult Character song that, many believe, and some even say aloud, is the finest song ever written and recorded, was released on MP, a little over a year ago now. Full disclosure -- I wrote the lyrics to the song, but man does Brian send this into the stratosphere where the best songs ever hang in orbit around us:

Tuff Sunshine (New York); Bunny and the Invalid Singers (Scotland); and Private Hell (Virginia)

Back after another month long break. But before we get to it, a brief grand proclamation that CNQ isn't on Facebook anymore. It was the last social media hold-out for the blog, as I stopped posting on Twitter several years ago and never got into Instagram. So I'll continue to post here on CNQ as time and inclination warrant. There's a "followers" sidebar button over on the bottom right of the web version of the blog. I guess it still works, even though a while back I got a message saying it was going away. You can use that to keep up for when I post, maybe, with your Google account. If not, just check in occasionally, or search for "Clean Nice Quiet" a million times so it shows up in your Google news feed. These are my only suggestions. There may be other ways to get notified when I post, if CNQ is what you're into.

Also, a quick reminder for those interested in submitting their righteous jams to CNQ -- please check out submission guidelines (top sidebar over to the right of the web version). I'll be more inclined to listen to your submission if it is submitted the way I prefer.

Alright, let's do it:

"My Greatest Hits" is a great single off Tuff Sunshine's 8 song digital release Yesterday Suit from label Declared Goods. The album was released back in June, but it's new to me. Tuff Sunshine is a trio from New York, according to their Bandcamp page. The album is low key, catchy, and highly listenable. It's weird to find stuff this good and it's only got 10 supporters on Bandcamp (people who have purchased the album).

Bunny and the Invalid Singers' new album Flight Of The Certainty Kids is out now on Edinburgh label Bearsuit Records. It's already received a lot of solid reviews, and I like it too. Instrumental electronic pop, Tortoise and Dan Deacon would be my touchstone for this. You can purchase this digitally or on CD. Why would you not?

Private Hell is a four-piece punk act out of Richmond, Virginia. Their new 5 song release is called Private Hell, and the last song on the album is called "Private Hell." That's the trifecta, friends. I love it, sludgy thrash punk. You can pre-order a cassette on their Bandcamp page, due out in February from Bat Magick Records:

This album has 47 supporters, which in terms of the stuff I like and feature from Bandcamp, that's a lot. It should be more, but not everybody's as cool and you and me and those 47 cool ass fans.

That's it for the time being. More to come from October submissions and other stuff I've been listening to.