Throat Rip and Nails

The pointlessness of it all. Atrocity breeds atrocity. We find ourselves in a grim future. Welcome to caviar!

Tops type of grindcore from California:

Also from California, of course Nails' 2016 3 song EP Obscene Humanity is bad ass:

Civic (Melbourne); Jumpstarted Plowshards (L.A.); Cecyl Ruehlen (Arizona); Rolando Bruno (Buenos Aries); Boss Rush (Birmingham); Tyvek (Detroit)

Melbourne's Civic has a new vinyl release coming out Oct. 20th, New Vietnam & Singles. I listened to it today, it's rock'n'roll, I give it an overall B or so. The best song was "Street Machine Dream," had a cool Iggy Pop vibe. I listened to the song twice today I liked it so much:

"Plowhards Revenge Potion No.4" is a fun punk single from a new Recess Records release, Round Two, by Jumpstarted Plowshards, due out in October. I didn't know it until just now but Jumpstarted Plowshards is Mike Watt (The Minutemen, fIREHOSE) and Todd Congelliere (F.Y.P, Toys That Kill). Maybe like, mention that on the Bandcamp page. I guess you just have to be in the know. This will be their second release.

Here's some interesting new musique concrete frmo Arizona-based artist Cecyl Ruehlen:

This is older, from 2015, but there's a new physical CD for it. Great combo of cumbia and garage-psych:

I haven't heard from Boss Rush in a while, their new 3 songs are, well, boss. It's from a split they're doing with a band called KinZie, I didn't get a chance to listen to KinZie today. Boss Rush are a married couple out of Birmingham. Great rock'n'roll:

Finally, Detroit's Tyvek has a new album due out in November. The first two songs on the album are available, great stuff:

Alright, 4 days, 4 posts in a row! I'm officially in manic terriority, so soon I'll burn out and you won't hear from me on here for 3 months. But, one way or the other I will be doing the Clean Nice Quiet KPISS.FM show -- remember this Saturday I'm going to start doing TWO HOURS every week, from 5 to 7 PM EST. Can't wait!

Rat Motel; Ginger Root; Jay Royale; Bumble B. Boy; Choir Boys; Verminizer; Isaac Watters; Thank; David Wallraf; Salem Trials; Reine des L​é​zards

It's been a little over a month since my last new music round-up, so here we go. And don't forget tomorrow, Saturday 6/24 at 5p EST is Clean Nice Quiet on KPISS.FM, the golden stream. Here's some stuff you might hear on the show:

Rat Motel's full length The Rat Motel is finally out, it's great stuff, I've been playing tracks from it on the show. Here's a killer new single from The Rat Motel, "Dead Man."

Ginger Root's got a new EP up on Bandcamp, plus vinyl. This came out in September 2022 apparently, but Huntingon Beach's finest purveyor of "aggressive elevator soul" didn't upload it to Bandcamp until this week:

Hip-hop fans should take note of Baltimore's Jay Royale's new full length, Criminal Discourse. 2020's The Baltimore Housing Project is a classic as far as I'm concerned, and what I've heard so far from Criminal Discourse does not disappoint:

My buddy Christo from the excellent Echobox music program The Hidden Fruits of Terra turned me on to this Australian/Dutch failed children's entertainer and art-punk musician, Bumble B. Boy. Fun stuff:

For hardcore fans, Choir Boys from Germany have release 30 Years of Choir Boys. Killer blastbeat, plus they got cassette and t-shirts:

Speaking of heavyosity, here's some righteous noise. It's the debut album from Verminizer, a band from somewhere in the USA, and they describe it as "blackened grindy noisy industrial glitch thrash," and that sounds right. It gets my seal of approval:

Recorded live at the Hi-Res Records Studio in LA, here's new video for Isaac Watters' "Coconut in the Street," it's a cool track, and from an EP called Extended Play 002, due out August 30:

Leeds' Thank can do no wrong, as far as I'm concerned:

I've featured Hamburg, Germany's David Wallraf on the blog a lot, he does great noisescape stuff, and he has a new releae on the French tape label Falt. The cassette's already sold out, but you can listen and purchase the digital of course. If you're a fan of avant garde, experimental sound art like I am, you should def check out Wallraf's new release, SANTÉ ET EFFICACITÉ:

Finally, would it be a CNQ round-up without bitchin' new releases from Metal Postcard Records???

Neon Kittens; Salem Trials; Occult Character; Cindytalk; Draudiga; Soup Activists; Abi Ooze; CML; The Wirms; The Legendary Ten Seconds; Fir Cone Children; Night Shop

New real deal, killer diller stuff (of course) from Metal Postcard Records -- new EPs from Neon Kittens and Salem Trials, plus a new full length from Occult Character:

Glasgow's Cindytalk has a new four song CD release you can pre-order on Bandcamp, Subterminal, coming out late this year on label False Walls. The available single, "Where Everything Sparkles and Shines," is 7 and a half minutes of that shit I do like. Atmospheric, eerie instrumental, and happens to be perfect for this time of year, but every day is Halloween for me, so:

Portland, Maine's Draudiga has a new 11 song release out on Bandcamp called Persephone. They call it "Americana Noir" and I dig it:

Great new stuff from Lumpy-related St. Louis acts:

From Memphis, The Wirms are a three piece punk act with a new live release, Live at Lamplighter Lounge, via What's For Breakfast Records. Very up my alley:

The Legendary Ten Seconds, who recently released that killer single "The Torqauy Sandyman," have a new folk rock album release with Jules Jones, here's the single, "They Kept on Marching." Love it:

Fir Cone Children is the project of Alexander Leonard Donat, and the new album, Today There's No Tomorrow, out on Berlin-based label Blackjack Illuminist Records, is a ripper, front to back. Fuzzy noisey psychy dreamy weirdo-pop that vocally, sonically, and spiritually reminds me of Andy Anderson's work in Proto Idiot/Freak Genes, which is high praise indeed because I think Anderson hangs the moon when it comes to who's doing what, rock'n'roll-wise. Here's "Quite Okay with Mondays":

And finally, my man Night Shop has a new track out called "Universal City." As far as I'm concerned, this guy Justin Sullivan can do no wrong. He continues to prove me correct with "Universal City":

The Curleys, Salem Trials, Bigflower, Espuélrico, Al Marantz

Let's see what we got. The new Curleys self-titled 12" is available for streaming and pre-order vinyl/tape on Total Punk's Bandcamp site. It's cool stuff, but give me a break with that "we're not hardcore and we don't care what obscure 80s hardcore band you think we sound like" bullshit. Whether that statement is intended to be ironic or not, it's a drag to act ignorant, and spiteful of your fans. Maybe there's a way to do that ironically that hasn't been overdone, but their blurb doesn't achieve it. And if it's not ironic, it's even more of a snooze. But I suspect it's just a joke that falls flat. At any rate, it's a cool album. Hardcore doofery that sounds like your favorite obscure 80s hardcore band:

The incredibly prolific Salem Trials have yet another new release on Bandcamp, Unified Field Theory, "a collection of unfinished songs recorded during various sessions, between 2021-2022. All overdubs, lyrics and vocals recorded June 2022."

Also prolific Bigflower has a new single, "Contrarian":

I totally missed this Espuélrico single, "Esperando La Muerte," when it came out last year:

Cudighi Records has a new Al Marantz album coming out on the 15th, The Mechanic. The single, "Open Up Your Blinds," is a groovy lo-fi pop tune. I have an old Al Marantz cassette from OSR Tapes that I never got into. Gonna pull that out and give it another play:

A little later tonight, post 10PM CST on July 5th, I might spin some tunes on CNQ Live.

Click here to listen, or click the play button on the embedded player at the top of the blog's desktop version.

A Quick Trip Through 58 Years of People Makin' Music: The Fall, Gene Clark, Clifton Chenier, Todd Rundgren, Julian Cope, Jean Michael Jarre, BLK JKS, Undeath, Mortuary Drape, Accept, Lil Bastards, and the Pastels

Yesterday I added a few new additions to our record collection. Here's what I picked up, as well as some other stuff I've been listening to (and one thing I haven't listened to yet).

The Fall - Slates 10" re-release from 2016. Originally an EP from 1981. I bought this without realizing -- this 2016 re-release doesn't contain the extra Peel sessions tracks that were added on a follow up re-release in 2021. The 2021 release is readily available and for the same amount I bought this one for. I'm ruined! Anyway, it's a great EP, and the linear notes are a typed letter from from former WFMU music director Brian Turner.

Gene Clark - Collector's Series Early L.A. Sessions. This is a remixed and re-released version of Clark's first album with the Godsin Brothers, remixed five years after it's release by Clark and producer Jim Dickson, and re-released on CBS in 1972. The record didn't sell upon original release, so now that country rock was finding more acceptance via bands like Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, and Clark's former band The Byrds, CBS brought Clark in to re-record vocals and remix these songs. Glen Campbell and Leon Russell were on this album, too, along with the Byrd's Clarence White and Van Dyne Parks on keyboard. Anyway I have With the Godsin Brothers so I thought it would be neat to have this as a companion piece. And it does sound different. Also they took out "Elevator Operator" which I thought was a groovy jam but apparently Clark was embarrassed of it.

Clifton Chenier - Bon Ton Roulet! The King of the bayou, Clifton Chenier's 2nd album from 1967, on Arhoolie Records. All of the songs but one were recorded in Houston in '66, except "Ay Ai Ai," recorded in '64. Cool stuff. Zydeco blues. Arhoolie Records started in 1960 and is still around today.

Todd Rundgren's Initiation, from '75, Rundgren's fourth solo album. Rundgren was on an occult kick, so it's got a long proggy jam on the b-side about Theosophical, New-Agey occult stuff. Which, I'm into in theory, but I'm not sure how often I'll be spinning it, which I read on Wikipedia is sorta what Julian Cope said about it:

"When asked if Rundgren had influenced his music, with perceived influences of Initiation on Queen Elizabeth and Rite², Julian Cope responded that he and Thighpaulsandra loved "A Treatise on Cosmic Fire", "but we both bemoaned the fact that it was recorded so long before ambient music had been defined that Todd treated it as an ever-evolving, almost prog-rock piece. We both loved huge elements of that piece but found that we never listened to it. So we tried to build that Todd-like transcendence into our own piece of music [with Queen Elizabeth]."

The first side of Initiation is rockin' tho. Meanwhile, from Discogs:

"(Initiation) is a one of the longest running single disc LPs ever issued (1 hour, 7 minutes and 34 seconds; side B's total time is almost 35½ minutes). However, because of its fragility and reduced dynamic range, the following note was printed on the inner sleeve: "Technical Note: Due to the amount of music on this disc (over one hour), two points must be emphasized. Firstly, if your needle is worn or damaged, it will ruin this disc immediately. Secondly, if the sound does not seem loud enough on your system, try re-recording the music onto tape. By the way, thanks for buying the album" The final suite 'A Treatise On Cosmic Fire' was sped up by half a step to fit the disc with ease, this is why 'Prana' on the 'Real Man' 45RPM 7'' single sounds slower, as that was the speed that was intended to be heard, except all discs and CD reissues play the sped up version used for the original LP. To slow it to the correct speed, using software such as Audacity, reduce the speed by -5 percent."

Here's a 2015 remaster of a track off the first side, the rockin' "The Death of Rock'n'Roll." That's Rick Derringer on bass:

I've also been on a Julian Cope kick. Here's 30 minutes of his ambient project, Queen Elizabeth, mentioned in the Cope quote above:

Continuing with the noodly electronic theme for a moment, I also picked up a copy of Jean Michael Jarre - Equinoxe. From 1978, this is the follow up to Oxygene, which I have, and Jarre's fourth album. I was reading about these two albums under "Critical Reception" on Wikipedia, and apparently critics really didn't like the electronic stuff at the time. I dig it though, and certainly I'm not the only one, so those critics were wrong. Go figure! Here's a video for "Equinoxe 5":

I found a copy of the Secretly Canadian release of BLK JKS Mystery EP with "Lakeside" on it, I dunno if y'all remember that song from 2009? Neat atmospheric, indie/post-alt type of song, very groovy. They're from South Africa. Apparently they had an album out in 2021. They fell off my radar after "Lakeside." The rest of the Mystery EP is as great as "Lakeside" -- spooky, rockin'. There's some pretty wild psych guitar on the track "Mystery."

I had originally went to the record shop to pick up the latest Undeath album, It's Time...To Rise From the Grave, which is killer old school death metal from Rochester, put out by Prosthetic Records. The band really nails it. Here's the video for "Defiled Again." Brutal fun!

But I got home and I had the wrong album -- they gave me Mortuary Drape's latest, Wisdom-Vibration-Repent instead. Mortuary Drape is Italian death metal. I've listened to about half of this now, and it's good - competent, enjoyable:

I took the Mortuary Drape EP back and it turns out someone else who wanted Mortuary Drape got my Undeath album. So instead I picked up a copy of Captain Beefhart and the Magic Band's Strictly Personal, their second album.

This is The Fall doing "Beatle Bones 'N' Smokin' Stones" for a Peel Session in 1996. "Beatle Bones 'N' Smokin' Stones" is from Strictly Personal.

When we were driving to the record shop, the wife and I heard for the first time Accept's "Pandemic," released on Nuclear Blast Records back in 2010. Why wasn't this song playing everywhere the past few years??!?

Though I didn't buy it, we did look up this single when we got home. Wish I would've bought it! Lil Bastards' "Bitch Get A Job," from the halcyon days of 1992. Youtube comments mention this is the earliest work from a producer called Dougie Diamonds -- I'd never heard of him. This 12" put out on Livin' Large Records appears to have been Lil Bastards' only release:

I've also been getting into the Pastels. Here's "Yoga," from 1995's Mobile Safari. There's a video for this, but the only available version I could find was a shitty upload from someone taping MTV2.

Finally, not as poorly recorded but also not exactly hi-fidelity, check out Julian Cope and backing band pretending to do "I Gotta Walk" on Top of the Pops in 1994:

"I know what your father is saying right now...and he's wrong."

Bigflower (Liverpool); Die Geister Beschwören (California); No Monster Club (Ireland); PoT/MaN (Phoenix); Wóma (UK)

Here's some psych, post-punk, power pop and experimental tunes tonight.

CNQ fave Bigflower has a new track out. Quality as always from the psych-leaning post-rock band out of Liverpool:

Die Geister Beschwören is a "Portland/Humboldt psych-folk ensemble," and their new digital six song release, Ghosts, This Is Survival is worth a listen for "mossfolk" aficionados. Good stuff:

No Monster Club is a three piece out of Ireland, and their first album in five years, deadbeat effervescent is due out Feb. 11 from Popical Island/Emotional Response Records. The single, "Save the Circus," is a killer power pop track:

PoT/MaN is post-punk out of Phoenix, also a three piece. This s/t EP is their debut. Achieves post-punk heaviosity, I'm a fan:

England's Hiru Records has a new release, an improvised drone-based album by the artist Wóma called Drán & Ongalnes. Created solely using an experimental, resonating steel instrument called a bow chime, dig it:

New CNQ Mixcloud Program

Hey check it out, I did a little Mixcloud show last night. Cribbing some stuff I've enjoyed listening to on the radio recently (via the Radio Garden app), and some recent and relatively recent CNQ faves from Bandcamp. An hour long, give it a listen -- if it's not hep enough, then you're too cool!

1. Love Hate Passion & War by Armstrong

2. Macho Music by "Blue" Gene Tyranny and Peter Gordon

3. Freak by Shanique Marie

4. Loretta by Ginger Root

5. Okeanos by Succumb

6. Thank The Universe by Thank

7. Kurious Oranj by The Fall

8. Oo Poo Pah Susie by Professor Morrison's Lollipop (Thanks to Suzie Hotrod at WFMU for playing this when I happened to be listening!)

9. Heaven Beat Iowa by Cub Scout Bowling Pins

10. Pop Cabecinha by Sophia Chablau e Uma Enorme Perda de Tempo

11. Lelit Hob (Short Version) by Umm Kulthum

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.

New Punk and Hip-Hop

This is nice: something called In Solidarity out of Arizona has released a comp called Texas Benefit Compilation, available for digital downloand and cassette. They say all proceeds raised from the tape will be donated to ACLU Texas to fight for, protect and ensure safe abortion access. That's good. The comp is good too, ranges from noisey powerviolence and grindcore to noisey weirdo punk, and more:

Abortion on demand and without apology. That's not a heartbeat, it's electrical activity in an embryo, y'all.

Metal fans are way ahead of me on this, but I just discovered Succumb yesterday and their new album XXI achieves total heaviosity. "Punishing" and "unrelenting" came to mind during my first couple of listens to the album's 8 tracks. Order the vinyl thru their Bandcamp page, it's one of the best new things I've heard all year:

Oxford, UK based punk label Richter Scale uploaded a couple of new albums to their Bandcamp page today:

"You Can't See Me" and "Contort" are the first two singles off the Barbituates' upcoming "mini-album" they're going to call Super Callous Fascist Racist Tories Are Atrocious, to be released tomorrow, Sept. 30. "You Can't See Me" is parts The Smiths and parts Echo and the Bunnymen, and I'm a sucker for "bah bah bahs." "Contort" is a little more raw, I'm into both of these songs and I look forward to hearing the rest of the album from this Londonderry band:

Ayeoh is a 2018 graduate of the LA Recording School, per their Bandcamp bio. Self is 13 short tracks of quality downtempo rap and hip-hop production:

Hans Condor (Nashville); Ab Ex (Dallas); Pink Milk (Sweden); Los Microbios (Vermont); Oceanography (Oakland); Women of the Night (Brooklyn); The Gents (Hamburg); Carbon Fields (UK); Naqoy (Budapest)

Nashville's Hans Condor is that now sound, man. I got a sneak peak at their new full length, Breaking and Entering, which you can pre-order ahead of it's November 16th release on their Bandcamp page, and it's a total ripper. Here's the single, "Breaking and Entering," it's a blister-fest:

Ab Ex is the new electronic solo project from Dallas-based musician Jason Hensel. Lost When Waking is 11 instrumental tracks of giallo-inspired darkwave, good stuff, check it out:

Speaking of darkwave, Swedish occult punk outfit Pink Milk have a new track available called "Here Comes The Pain." Atmospheric to the max! Music to lose your virginity by:

Los Microbios is the home-recorded project of Lance Jones, of Vermont. The 15 track Cognitive Thinning is a real lo-fi wonder, with covers of "Child of the Moon" and "Oh Yoko" to boot:

Brooklyn's Women of the Night have a new album available on Bandcamp, Sub Rosa, 14 tracks of bluesy, gritty, Stones 'n' Springsteen inspired rock that genre hops between proto punk, dream pop and psych, and Americana/indie/alt rock. I like story songs and songs about dirt bags, so enjoyed these:

Oceanography is another solo project, this one from Oakland musician Brian Kelly. Thirteen Songs About Driving Nowhere in Alphabetical Order is the album, also in an Americana/indie/alt rock vein, but much poppier than Women of the Night:

The Gents, from Hamburg, have released Multiple Attack on Bandcamp, a 4 track garage punk effort. Fun stuff:

Carbon Fields is another solo instrumentalist, I believe from the UK, and their new 3 song EP/mini-album is called Petrichor. Each song is around 7 minutes, and, per the artist, "combines field recordings with strings, down-tempo beats and an experimental instrument called a bow chime."

Pretty cool -- you can listen and download on the Hiru Recordings Bandcamp page. Hiru's Bandcamp About says: "Hiru Recordings is home to a collective of experimental musicians, noise makers and field recordists. We release new and archival sonic explorations in the fields of electronica and drone music." And as such, Carbon Fields does not disappoint:

Naqoy is a two piece electro-noise-rock outfit from Budapest. Their new Bandcamp release is called Four, and it's four noisey tracks that blend electronics, noise rock, post-punk and drone. The final track, "Fabric," is mesmerizing, and the artwork for the release is cool too:

J. Lynch (UK); Slomo Sapiens (Philidelphia); If So Why (Melbourne); BIB (Omaha); Chastity Belt (Seattle); Acrobat Shonen (Japan); Starflyer 59 (California); Into The Buzzing (Germany)

Moving through August submissions backlog. A lot of music came out last month. I mean, a lot of music comes out every month. It's overwhelming and disappointing I can't seem to get around to listening to more than a tiny percentage of it. That's not because there's too much, or because I don't have the time to listen to more. It's because I'm not dedicated enough. I listen to music as much as the next music nerd -- but I'm certainly guilty of listening to the same stuff over and over as much as any normal classic rock fan stuck in whatever year she graduated high school, or any casual radio listener. I gotta try harder. But, as I've often said, as soon as keeping up with this blog starts to feel like a chore, or a job, I immediately lose interest and it takes me a while to get my blogging momentum up and going again. But y'all don't wanna hear me, y'all just wanna dance:

Holy heck, BIB has a new free download single, "The Healing Room," that I totally missed. I'm a big fan of this band out of Omaha -- noise, psych, hardcore, thrash, all meld into the sonic psychotic breakdown that is every BIB track I've experienced so far. "The Healing Room" continues their streak - truly boss. It's going to be featured on an upcoming Triple B Records release called America's Hardcore Volume 5, a 2 disc set that's already sold out on pre-order.

California's Starflyer 59 has released 'Sunrise,' their 3rd single from the upcoming full length album Vanity, to be released on Velvet Blue Music on 10/15. Great single -- quality alt-rock that any fan of Echo and the Bunnymen ought to be floored by, if you're not hep already:

This 6 track demo from German producer Into The Buzzing is what I'm talking about. Noisy electro, buzzy bass, experimental beats, heck yeh. I haven't heard a Mouse on Mars album in 25 years, but this reminded me of it:

Difficult Art and Music is a new experimental music label based in the UK. Per its press release, the label is "specializing in research-orientated music and art releases...in lavishly designed, limited edition packaging."

Sounds pretty interesting to me. They have three releases out now, here's the latest -- The Tender Appropriation, by J. Lynch. A noise experiment using the cut-up method and recordings of his late grandfather. You can pre-order the cassette on Difficult Art and Music's Bandcamp page. Fascinating:

If So Why have released their debut EP, World Eater, you can buy the cassette on their Bandcamp page. The single, "Indifference is Futile," is a nice blast of noisy, sufficiently aggressive alt-rock. If So Why is from Melbourne:

Philidelphia psych-rockers Slomo Sapiens' new single, "We Could Be Gone," is good stuff. I'm not sure where one goes to purchase this, but you can listen here, and it's streaming too:

SLOMO SAPIENS · We Could Be Gone

Acrobat Shonen is pop punk from Nagoya, Japan. Fun song and video, my critique is it goes on about a minute longer than it should, but that's probably related to my hang-ups about pop-punk. The genre is not my favorite thing in the world, and pop-punk stuff often makes me cringe upon listening. This is a good effort though, from people clearly enjoying themselves -- which matters more than my shitty opinion:

Chastity Belt are out of their "Cool Slut" tees and hoodies already, but they still have a "Cool Slut" beanie for sale, neat merch. I haven't heard a Chasity Belt song in a while. Here's the last thing they released on Bandcamp, from May, 2020:

More to come from August submissions soon.

Corntuth (New York), Starflyer 59 (California), Rick Treffers (Netherlands), and Desborde (Argentina)

Corntuth is an ambient music producer based in Brooklyn. Their new release The Desert Is Paper Thin is 11 instrumentals, over 40 minutes of tunes. I keep meaning to put it on when I'm driving and listen to the whole thing, as it was conceived as a record documenting an imaginary day and night drive through the desert. I've enjoyed the tracks I have listened to -- ambient meets Americana, synth pads and steel pedal. Pretty stuff, and I did order the shirt because the graphic is cool:

There's a Youtube video to accompany the album as well:

A post or two ago I mentioned a label called Velvet Blue Music. This new Starflyer 59 video is a short film for the song, "Life in Bed." Per Velvet Blue Music's PR, "elements of the song are woven into an elongated soundtrack, with the actual album version of the song not entering until the 6:45 mark." The video is pretty haunting, and the song, also haunting, kicks ass. Starflyer 59 has been around since the 1990s, and I'd like to say I knew about them periphially, but I'm not 100% sure that's true. At any rate, here's the longform video for "Life in Bed," written and directed by Hunter Christy, who did the videos for GBV's "Space Gun" and "See My Field," among others:

Here's another righteous Starflyer 59 track, you can get it and "Life in Bed" on separate flexi-discs via the band's Bandcamp page. Fans of Mogwai and Arab Strap will appreciate this. I'm a little embarrassed I'm not familiar with the band, love this and "Life in Bed":

Rick Treffers has a new video for his new single "After I'm Gone," from the recently released album Looking For A Place To Stay. Cool adult-oriented indie-pop from the Netherlands. I love it:

This Desborde demo is raw bad ass power. Argentinian punk to the max. A must listen:

Well, My Friends, I Hope All Is Well With (You & Yours)

Punk from Canada:

Heck yeh, industrial-style synth punk from California:

Some Old Stuff and Some New Stuff

Like maybe you're pretty cool, alright? Like maybe you want to achieve maximum coolness:

The back half of Incesticide is my favorite Nirvana album.

Everything I want in a hardcore split:

New Stuff for Bandcamp Friday: Lo-Fi, Underground Hip-Hop and Rock'n'Roll from Houston, Chicago, California, Chile and Argentina.

Gearing up for Bandcamp Friday, which if you click that link you'll find out it's April 2nd. Let's check out some new sounds:

Valentine Snow is from Houston. "Basket Case" is a short and sweet 3 song EP of keyboard-heavy, bedroom-produced, indie hip-pop:

Wheards is also from Houston. RTS & CULTR is a 12 song digital album, these three songs they've made available from the album are righteous:

VIBRASOUNDS by Olaf-O from Chile. 4 tracks of fun beats and turntablism:

Here's a cool older split available on Dupage County Hardcore, "created to preserve and make available (for free) the wealth of punk, metal and hip-hop related music released in suburban Chicago in the '80s, '90s and early '00s." The only notes on the release say Bleeding Kansas was from California, so one assumes La Mantra De Fhiqria was from Chicagoland. No idea what year this is from, my guess is early oughts:

From Argentina comes the inscruitably named ♏, they have a new single which is ok, but check out their May 2020 release, ✉, which is 10 tracks of excellent alt-rock:

This two song EP also from the same band, or label, maybe, I'm not sure, since they use icons instead of words, released in May, 2020. Whatever they're called, I'm into it, great sound in an alt-rock vein:

A Return 2 Form

So anyway. I've been thinking about the blog and getting back into it. Here's a quick manifesto. I want to:

1. Have fun listening to and writing about new music. I reserve the right to have fun and write about other things as well.

2. Help underground artists reach a handful of cool folks with a discerning ear and a wide range of taste -- and yeh, after 9 years, I'm talking about you, friend-o! Turns out you're cool af.

3. Bandcamp, Youtube, and Soundcloud links are the easiest way for me to share your stuff. If you want me to disseminate your awesome sounds to my extremely limited audience, send me a Bandcamp, Youtube, or Soundclound link.

4. I want to keep up with the blog in a way that it doesn't become a headache for me.

So after kvetching about it for a good two or three years I finally tried my hand at actual music reviews. The end all be all of that experiment was, it made keeping up with the blog feel more like an assignment, or a job, than a fun way to listen and share music I like and my dummy thoughts. And jeeze, all I wanna do is have fun -- doing something actively not fun is just not in my DNA, if I'm not doing it as a transactionary precaution so I don't end up homeless. Thanks Capitalism!

Moving forward, I'll probably get a wild hair to do actual critical reviews every now and then, but mostly I'd rather listen to something, say 'hey that's cool,' share it on the blog with a quick note on where the artists are from and what kinda music it is, why I think it's cool, and move along.

If you contact me and I don't respond or post about your tunes, I hereby apologize.

I'm currently playing Cyberpunk 2077, and really getting into it. In upcoming posts if I rant a little about my leftist politics, or reminisce about some old music video or album I enjoy, don't give me shit about it.

That's all I was doing with CNQ for the longest time anyway. Maybe there is a place for CNQ in the current 2021 music-related blogosphere. Maybe some people like the same stuff I like, and enjoy suggestions.

Since its inception in 2012, CNQ has been ad-free. So there's that.

Syf Records is a DIY label from Poland. The catalog is 9 releases, all noisy lo-fi weird shit. Some of it snythy. I've really been enjoying it, especially this:

Plaguestate is hardcore scream-o stuff from the Bay Area. At first the vocals turned me off, that type of screaming typically is just not my bag, but by the end of this 4 song EP, I was impressed. Recommend a listen:

From Buffalo, NY's Swimming Faith Records, the score to an invisible horror movie Surf punk excellence:

The 12" is still available on Big Neck Records out of Virginia:

Holy mackerel, the Mangfather Bob Katz's new album, "Six Cans of Olives" is an inspriation. Just absolute magic:

The Mangfather Bob Katz · Six Cans of Olives

Finally, don't forget to check out the new Bordellos and Salem Trials from Metal Postcard Records:

New Sounds.

Austinite Mirage512 and his frequent producer Trill Gates have teamed up with a cat named Side Effect; the result is solid conscious rap and a powerful video:

Courtesy I Heart Noise and Boston Hassle:

Cool, weirdo Swedish indie-pop from Shallow Shit Records:

London psych, I like this a lot:

From LA and Recess Records:

A tribute to Spazz from Edinburgh's Mindripper Collective. Per Wikipedia, Spazz was an influential powerviolence band from California during the 90s. I didn't even know powerviolence was a thing in the 1990s, and I lived all of them, more or less. I think I woulda identified this stuff as "crust punk" back then. Anyway, listen to this whole thing if you're into this wild heavy metal/punk hybrid stuff they call grindcore/powerviolence/crust/etc....

The Weaklings: "Star Fucker" (1998)

From 1998, off a self-titled blue vinyl LP put out by Junk Records (who operated out of Cypress, CA, but no longer have a web presence) comes a rockin' Stones cover by this Portland, Oregon band. I bought this at ye old Half-Price Books in Dallas sometime last year. If memory serves I got it for $10.

When I first bought this, I did a little research and found that the lead singer, Bradly Battin, liked to cut himself on stage back in the Weaklings' heyday (see album cover), and, more recently, Battin had been awarded something like "Best Person to Drink With" in some Portland Free Weekly reader's poll. However, I can now find nothing regarding either of those two factoids, and I may be spreading awful lies.

If you're interested, the bass player for this album, one Jeff Larson, has a Myspace page for his project, Lucky Thirteens, which features a little EP of garage punk. Looks like all the trax date from 1996. Kinda cool.

I'd originally posted this one last night but something was messed up with the playback AND I caught the end of the previous song in the track, rookie mistake. So here it is again. I think I did it right this time.

Download: Star Fucker

Gail & The Fudgepackers: "Head In A Bag" (1988)

I wanted in on the sharing of obscure music fun, a la the fine sites listed to your right on this page, but my collection is relatively limited and it is gol'dang hard to find something that hasn't already been shared by these dedicated individuals who maintain the blogs and sites I follow. But finally, I think I have found one song, at least, that's not available on the internet - and I'm pleased that it happens to be one of my current favorites.

It's from 1988's The World's In Shreds: Volume 1: East Bay, a freaky little ditty by Gail & The Fudgepackers, called "Head In A Bag." I came across the 7" at the Half-Priced Books in Dallas. Picked it up for $3 plus tax. All the songs on this compilation are fun stuff, but "Head In A Bag" is my personal favorite.
The vocalist for the Fudgepackers, Pope Paul Pot, keeps a little history of his musical exploits for posterity, and this is what he says about "Head In A Bag":


"1985 "Head in a Bag" A surreal romp into the mind of a madman. Story is that there was this guy going around San Francisco telling people that he had a human head in a bag. When he was found, it turned out to be just a very fake head. It's rumored that the guy now teaches paper machie sculpture at the Crucible in Oakland."

Also from Pope Paul, here's a history of Gail and The Fudgepackers.

7/7/2012 UPDATE! Paul Pot does a Wednesday Open Mic night at the Missouri Lounge in Berkeley, CA. In my ongoing effort to just bother people, I'm going to get in touch with Paul and just see what's up. I'll be sure to share the results on CNQ! 1/12/2012 UPDATE! I never contacted Paul Pot. I wonder what he's up to.



Download: Head In A Bag