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!

Squeamish (Atlanta); Assassun (Berlin); Magna Zero (Los Angeles); Salem Crabs (Leeds/Dallas); Salem Trials (Leeds); Super Hit (Portland)

Alrighty, here's some cool new albums from Bandcamp. I'll be playing stuff from these new albums on my Saturday KPISS.FM show, it's usually 5P Eastern / 2P Pacific, but this Saturday DJ CD Playa of the OOO Show won't be there and has graciously let me sit in on her spot, so I'll be on at 4P Eastern and playing tunes for two full hours, so be sure to tune into that on the Internet over at KPISS.FM or Radio Garden (and apparently there's a KPISS app for you Apple cultists.)

Squemish is punk rock out of Atlanta. Their Bandcamp debut Burn Down Stone Mountain is the good stuff:

ASSASSUN's Chronic Quicksand Depression Morning is the new full length from Blackjack Illuminist Records, out of Germany. I've been featuring a lot of releases from Blackjack Illuminist lately, they're putting out rad sounds regularly. Gothy synth-punk, sehr cool:

Magna Zero is based outta LA. Their new album, The Great Nothing, is sprawling r'n'r in the vein of Jane's:

Metal Postcard Records naturally has three new releases out this week:

Shit Present; Death Valley Girls; The Guilty Pleasures; Löst Folk; Anatomy of the Heads; The Legendary Ten Seconds; Leonard Donat; The Lonely Bell; Neon Kittens; $T33D$_uv_LUV

I am back to fufill my destiny. Also, don't forget to tune in to KPISS.FM the goooolden stream Saturday 3/11 at 4P Eastern, I'll be filling in for DJ CD Playa on the OOO Show, then the CNQ show is back after a two week hiatus at 5p. Will have a couple of premieres from Charity Empressa (featuring members of Starflyer 59 and Father John Misty) and Australia's Vicious Blonde, plus a hunka hunka other cool stuff.

Shit Present's new album, What Still Gets Me, their first release since the excellent 2016 EP Misery+Disaster is due out May 9, and the two singles they have available on Bandcamp are rippers. Only 50 of the 500 LPS they've made are left:

New Death Valley Girls video:

New release from the amazing Syf Records:

Sweden's Löst Folk are at it with 19 seconds of fun:

Anatomy of the Heads are out to pull a G. Gordon Liddy on your mind with a wild new 9 song release out called In the Realm of Allied Barbarians and Tributary Lords:

New CNQ fave The Legendary Ten Seconds has released a comedy song album called The Rejects of Lord Zarquon. Fun stuff:

Berlin's Blackjack Illuminist Records has two new dark ambient releases for dat ass:

A non-Metal Postcard Records Neon Kittens release:

And another new Metal Postcard release, this one from secretive oddball blues lawyers $T33D$_uv_LUV. Imagine Chicago meets the Butthole Surfers ran thru auto-tune. Bizarro World AOR:

Alright, now I only have 30 starred e-mails left before I'm caught up on Bandcamp releases I wanted to check out over the last couple weeks. What a hassle!

Geiger von Müller video for second single from new album "Slide Sonotas I." debuting on CNQ 12/29/2022

I'm pretty behind on sharing Clean Nice Quiet and the Shanno Whamo World KPISS.FM shows, so do click on those links for the archives of both shows in order to enjoy quality radio content (to the max).

This Thursday, 12/29/2022, at midnight U.S. Central Time, CNQ is proud to announce the debut video for "Space Digger #2," Geiger von Müller's second single from his most recent album, Slide Sonotas I. Slide Sonotas I. is an avant garde acoustic implosion of an album, it's been in heavy rotation here at CNQ headquarters since it's release in August. Excited to get to debut the video for the track.

Scrambled Limbs; Earth Mother Fucker; In.Bloom

Scrambled Limbs from Leeds has his first new batch of songs in two years due out soon, called The Late Hour. The single, "Something Stiff," is available on Bandcamp. Very cool bedroom rock:

Killer live noise rock album from Earth Mother Fucker, a five piece from the UK:

In.Bloom is post-hc/screamo from Lithuania. New single is called "There's Room for Hatred," cool stuff:

Multiple Releases from Metal Postcard Records: The Legless Crabs, Salem Trials, Legless Trials; The Bordellos, Super Hit; plus Occult Character, Bigflower; Dave Wallfraf, UFO Över Lappland, and Japmn

June 3, 2012 was my first CNQ post. Not quite the apocalypse the Mayans didn't really predict, just a hobby I've kept up with for a decade now. Pat myself on the back. I had plans earlier in the year to keep up with the blog better, which is always a first of the year goal anyway, but this time I meant it.

But it turns out I didn't. I've been posting occasionally as the mood strikes me and that's fine, it's a hobby and what has kept me doing it for a decade.

I also thought I'd do a nice hour or so of a Mixcloud show for the CNQ ten year anniversary, and maybe that'll happen, I dunno. If I feel like it. I've been doggin' Shadowrun: Dragonfall (The Director's Cut) on Steam the past two days. Killer top-down RPG from 2014. I've never played it before, but I played Shadowrun Returns a while ago. There's Hong Kong as well, but I can't remember if I played that, so I don't think I did.

I finished Shadowrun Returns (I always wanna say I "beat" a game, but this is more a completed, fun task than something I won by being good at it). Anyway, both games have been well written, but Dragonfall especially so. The text is immersive and presented in a way it feels like you're listening to your Game Master. The mechanics are a blast, building your little character to spec is well done, and Dragonfall has just been a hoot since the opening scene. Few games scratch that table-top itch like these Shadowrun games by Harebrained Schemes do. I looked up to see if there's going to be another one, and didn't see any news of a new game, but the trilogy is porting to Switch in 2022. I also read that the IP is owned by Topps. Go figure.

To kick things off, how about a little shameless self-promotion. I'm working on a dumb little video to go with this dumb little song, which is also my best work to date, in my IMO. You can check out the whole Legless Crabs album, "Always Your Boy," over on Metal Postcard's Bandcamp page. It is overall a solid noise-slop effort, in my humble IMHO.

Also from me, a couple of new Occult Character tracks. Electro-slop, as I do. These are all Pay What Thou Wilt, so shell out some cash, wouldya? How else am I gonna afford the payola to get this crud on the radio?

And if that wasn't enough from me, how about this new Legless Trials, also from Metal Postcard. Son of El Borko from The Legless Crabs and Salem Goz from Salem Trials team up again for two new tracks, "X-Tyrant," and "Has An X Feel." I dunno why we're on about X but we are, for sure. That's ol' Salem himself on vox on "X-Tyrant," and Son of El Borko barking "Has An X Feel." Salem does all the music and pixie dust, hence why these sound, ya know, good:

Speaking of Salem Trials, the unstoppable UK duo have a lot of new stuff out -- they're one of the few bands I know more prolific than me, and their stuff is actually listenable, so I don't know how they do it. From just a couple of days ago, here's two new rockers, "Dynamite Truck Parts 2 & 3" and "FEAR is All I Can Do":

And, from Metal Postcard, a new nine song, 30+ minute digtial release, Vegaland. I haven't listened to Vegaland yet, but Andy and Russ don't do anything shitty:

I have listened to another Metal Postcard recent release, The Bordellos' I Hate Pink Floyd Without Syd Barrett, a compilation of previously released Bordellos tunes that further prove they're the band that matters most:

The Bordellos have also recently released Onion King Tapes vol. 8, another batch from back when the band was called Onion King. I'm not sure the time period that woulda been -- sometime in the last twenty years, Dan Shea of the band isn't that old, and was a teenager when he started singing in it -- and I'm not sure he was a part of Onion King. At any rate, great stuff, the Bordellos rule:

Metal Postcard has a bunch of other new releases, putting cool stuff out at a frenetic pace, go check it out. One of those recent releases is Super Hit, the solo project of Kyle Handley, who I think is up Portland way? He wrote a 6 song EP where each song is a song he sang to his departed pup, Baby Jean. I made up songs to sing to my cats when they were alive (I haven't re-upped on a pet since they passed a few years ago), so I can relate. Catchy, sweet, Baby Jean forever!

From the UK, CNQ fave bigflower has a new single released yesterday, "The Pill." Mellow psych:

And from last month, an uptempo track from Ivor, "Harder." Psych goodness as always:

Noise artist Dave Wallraf, from Hamburg, Germany, has a new piece out called Cutting Up Men, I listened to it today, it's like listening to whalesongs in space. Super cool and at times panic-inducing, but I had it up really loud in my earbuds to drown out chatter at work. Loved all 40+ minutes of it. There's a limited edition CD you can order as well. Noise enthusiasts should definitely check out Wallraf:

The new UFO Över Lappland, Spökraketer is killer-diller, real deal psychy krautrock from Sweden. Gotta get the vinyl (or CD, or cassette), put out by Philly's Burnt Toast Vinyl:

I have a ton of chrome tabs open on my phone, stuff to share on here. I'll try and whittle that down with each post. Here's japmn, friend of a friend in Portland. Cool stuff from August 2021:

And the soundtrack to a short film, from December, 2021:

I'm gonna play some Shadowrun: Dragonfall.

New Rock'n'Roll from Bandcamp!

Another reminder to check out the Clean Nice Quiet Etsy shop, got a couple of new paintings up and it'd be cool if you bought one! Meanwhile a lotta submissions to cover and I've got some Cyberpunk 2077 to play and music of my own to record, so let's get this over with.

I started off the last new music post with a new single from Liverpool's Bigflower, so why not do it again? Solid motorik just under the 3 and a half minute mark, dig it:

New San Franciso label Color and Time Tonight's first vinyl release is from Ohio's Wild Wings. Foil Landscape is 4 tracks of killer psych-punk r'n'r, listen below and order the vinyl from CTT here.

Brooklyn solo act Sunk Heaven has a new release on Crass Lips Records called Porous Mirror. Nine rad tracks, a must listen for fans of experimental/industrial noise:

Total Punk Records is an unstoppable force, they've got new Buck Biloxi and Alien Nose Job coming out which I can't wait for. In the meantime, check out this amazing racket from Montreal's Tha Retail Simps, Reverberant Scratch: 9 Shot in tha Dark, due out March 1 and Total Punk's first release of the year. You can listen to three of the tracks already on Bandcamp, and there's videos for "End Times Hip Shaker Pts. 1 & 2" and "Rock and Roll." Described in the TP hype e-mail as equal parts Velvet Underground and Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs; I can't argue.

Speaking of unstoppable labels, Metal Postcard has a number of new releases that all bear repeated listens. First for your consideration is the latest from Brian Bordello, Cardboard Box Beatle, what Brian says is his final acoustic album, and it's probably his best, which is a feat. 11 tracks of heartbreakingly excellent tunes. The words I always use to describe Brian's songs all apply across the 11 song album: raw, honest, amusingly caustic, caustically amusing, and just absolutely beautiful, man. Songs like "Cat Food on the Floor," "Here Comes Eric With His Dead Child Song" and "Salamanda Fruit Fly" are Brian continuing to show us all how it's done. I've been singing "Any Room In Your Life for a Song and Dance Man" in my head all week.

Next up from Metal Postcard, Super Hit is former White Fang guitarist Kyle Handley's solo project, and this 18 track self-titled release is super-solid:

Kyle has another project called The Tyrds and their 8 song release on Metal Postcard is called I Got Shit On My Mind. Fuzzed out!

Salem Trials has a new full length, Foe Fact, and on top of that is releasing a new single every Sunday through February on Metal Postcard. Unstoppable seems to be the secret word for tonight's post, as Andy and Russ from Salem Trials are absolutely unstoppable as well:

Andy Goz from Salem Trials and Son of El Borko from Legless Crabs (who happens to be me) teamed up to release Legless on Main Street, a 9 song effort that features Andy at the top of his game and me just trying to keep up with his undeniable ability to write a bad-ass rock'n'roll song. I like to think of it as the Stones and the Velvet Underground meet Wesley Willis and the Shaggs. It's the best thing I've ever worked on and I'm super proud of it! Here's a track called "Singer" about abusive singer songwriters from the 1970s:

Finally from Metal Postcard, Italy's K. Board & the Skreens have a new EP, 4 tracks of mind-blowing Italian outsider electro-pop. So frickin' good:

Speaking of Legless Crabs, I've been busy with my made-up Naive Noise Rock Collective over on my own Bandcamp pages. Here's three new releases of naive noise rock I've put out. Enjoy at your own risk:

More submissions to come. I got other shit to do now tho. Look out!

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

Kale Ogle and the Light (Arkansas); Armstrong (Wales)

Clean Nice Quiet is going on it's tenth year. Ain't that somethin'. I can't imagine too many readers see the webpage version of the blog anymore, but if you do, you may notice I did some tidying up on the sidebars. Specifically the submissions guidelines, the Noisy Neighbors blogroll, and the Other Cool Sites sidebar. I split the Other Cool Sites up into 3 smaller lists: radio shows, labels and distros, and then misc. cool stuff.

I used to be stupidly proud of the enormous blog roll I had created on the Noisy Neighbors blogroll. I daydreamed it was the biggest collection of amateur music blogs on the web, and hell, maybe at some point it was. And I wanted to use it for my own ends, to keep up with other blogs, comment on them, and maybe build a sense of community with these other folks doing both similar and different versions of what I'm doing here. Doing that was actually how I started CNQ; I enjoyed a number of music blogs at the time and wanted in on the fun. Over the last decade blogs have come and gone, of course. And I've trimmed Noisy Neighbors down previously, removing links to blogs that stopped posting or simply ceased to be. This time I went a step further and took out blogs that either I wasn't very intersted in, or were just sharing download links without context, a few that rudely didn't have CNQ in their own blogrolls (out of spite), etc. So it's still an unwieldy thing but it's trimmed down enough now that I've told myself once again I should use it for my own purposes -- to read other people's blogs, listen and engage more. We'll see.

I did leave a few up in memorium (Crud Crud, The Sunday Experience); and a couple in hopes they come back one day (Movie Ink, Killed By Death Records).

For the Other Cool Sites sidebar, mostly those were sites that didn't have an RSS feed for the blogroll when I first linked to them. A lot of them do have RSS feeds now and are active, so I moved them over to Noisy Neighbors. The radio shows in the new Radio, Radio sidebar are all aces, so you should check them out, and same goes for the labels under Record Labels and Distros.

So yeh, ten years. First post was Sunday June 3, 2012. Nothing special planned for the anniversary, just hope to keep chugging along and doing what I do here. Occassionally I do think about getting back into sharing obscure vinyl on here, but it's not something I'd say you should expect any time soon.

And of course I left up the ever present Doctor Nod Top Tips cassette listen and purchase link. I still have a few of those cassettes left, so go ahead and order one. That album rules and you're missing out if you haven't heard it yet.

Here's a couple of things I found while doing all this housecleaning today. Somehow I completely missed Kale Ogle (of the aforementioned Doctor Nod fame, and whose website can be found over in the also aforementioned Other Cool Sites sidebar) released this 9 song digital album in November 2019, with a backing band. Kale Ogle & The Light:

Armstrong is the solo project of Welsh musician Julian Pitt. His latest 20 track album, Under Blue Skies also came out in 2019, and is available on CD from The Beautiful Music in US and Canada and Country Mile Records in the UK. Pretty, pretty, pretty indie power pop:

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.

This Heel (Sweden); Lappen (Germany); Meph Luciano & CK (Dallas)

Martin Månsson Sjöstrand's This Heel has a new EP called Invisible Space, due out October 16 on Bandcamp. I got to listen to the 6 track EP today and it is This Heel at its lo-fi psych-pop rock'n'roll finest. Sjöstrand keeps getting better and better at what he does. "Cave Boy (Blow The Flower A Kiss)" is from the new album, give it a listen:

Also, all true Sjöstrand fanatics should check out volumes 2 and 3 of his Arkivkollage series. I featured #1 in the series a while back, and since then there's been two more -- each 20 minutes or so of songs from Martin's archives, collaged together into a must listen for purveyors of weirdo lo-fi psych-pop extended freak-outs:

Deutschpunk from Leipzeig:

Hip-hop from Dallas:

This Heel (Sweden); XGRIF0X and Jack Slater (California); 4:44 (Philidelphia)

CNQ favorite This Heel released a new single at the beginning of August, called "Cave Boy (Blow the Flower a Kiss)." Lo-fi Swedish psych-pop, great stuff as always!

California-based one man powerviolence band XGRIFOX has a new split with Oakland's Choke! The Choke! songs are good hardcore, and XGRIFOX is quickly becoming one of my new favorite rock'n'rollers. XGRIFOX takes rock'n'roll, distills it down to its quintessence, fills up a syringe with it, and then injects it with a dirty needle into your soul, man, for real:

I see XGRIFOX has an even more recent release, a split with a Chilean band called Jack Slater.

The Jack Slater side is good:

And again, there is something elemental about XGRIFOX:

Another longtime CNQ fave, 4:44, has released a lot of material on Bandcamp since last I checked in with him. It's in my queue but I haven't listened to any of it, no doubt to my detriment. Here's a song called "The Golden Age of Late Night," from 4:44's latest Bandcamp release, Songs from Cellar Heaven, and it's quality alt-pop, which I've come to expect from the singer-songwriter from Philidelphia. I need to catch up with the rest of his recent releases:

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.

Santa Sprees: Fanfare For Tonsils

I've been thinking all day of the joy I experienced last night, listening to married duo Santa Sprees' tenth and latest album, Fanfare For Tonsils. I wrote this relatively long for CNQ screed while I listened, and was blown away by the 34 track album, which I think is around an hour long, give or take.

Experimental psych and noise with a dedication to a pop sensibility and lyrics that are top form surreal poetry that move from warm and fun to distant and sardonic, and points in between, delivered with a laid back, honest and heartbreaking warble. If you're a fan of the old Elephant Six stuff, or psych-pop in general, you'll want to check this out.

A limited to 100 copies CD edition of Fanfare For Tonsils is available on Santa Sprees' Bandcamp page. Each disc comes in a jewel case with a full colour 8-page booklet written and illustrated by one half of the band, Anthony Dolphin.

I won't post that essay I wrote last night, nobody wants to read me bloviate. Instead I'll shut up so you can listen:

Brian Bordello and The Bordellos; bigflower; Bordello and Clark; Vukovar, and Beauty Stab (UK)

The Bordellos have announced their 4th and penultimate double A-side of the year. I've had the golden opportunity to preview the two tracks. The first song, "All Psychiatrists Are Bastards", is a playful ditty written by the younger Bordello Dan, the velvet-voiced frontman also of Vukovar and Beauty Stab. The song's a hoot, usually you don't hear Dan this playful in his songs. The second A-side, "Will I Ever Be A Man," was written by Dan's pop, Brian, with the Everly Brothers in mind, shortly before Don passed away.

Y'all know I think Brian's a genius of a songsmith, and if "Will I Ever Be a Man" doesn't prove it to you, then you and I just aren't on the same page with it. And that's fine -- but you're wrong. With my own recording projects I always ask myself, "What would Brian Bordello do?" And the answer is always the same: he would make it fucking rad.

All Psychiatrists Are Bastards/Will I Ever Be A Man will be released for download/streaming on Metal Postcard Records August 28th.

Brian has been as busy as ever. Here's another recent release from him and Ivor Perry, who has an amusing story about the time he replaced Johnny Marr in the Smiths. Perry's current project is bigflower, and that's what this release is filed under. It's the first track recorded by Brian, 30 years ago, dug out, dusted off and revisted. A great song:

The long awaited Atlantic Corssing is finally due out September 24, from Think Like A Key Music. Brian and American guitarist Ted Clark have teamed up for a 12 song album that you can pre-order from Think Like A Key's Bandcamp page. I can't wait.

And for the road, some Brian Bordello genius level material you may wanna rub your ears against. First, probably my favorite Bordellos song ever. I think that's Dan singing:

And a killer track from Brian off a recent Dream Society Records comp:

Of course you should check out Vukovar and Beauty Stab if you haven't already:

And here's a boss Ivor Perry bigflower song, "Criminal," released back in June. Recorded on a phone with an acoustic. 100% cool:

I conclude: if you aren't listening to any of the above, then it's like man, you just don't even know what's happening.

O yeh and don't sleep on the Metal Postcard EP Brian and I did together, Heart to Heart. The song "Pig Fucker," and this is really odd but true, is the best song ever recorded:

Soma Crew (York), The Poppermost (Glasgow), Uhylak (Wroclaw, Poland), Bethan (Dallas), The False Positives (Rochester, NY), and Pink Milk (Gotland)

Soma Crew is based out of York and has a new "twin" vinyl release, Out of Darkness/Into Light courtesy Vinyl Eddie Records. The 12 songs are all around 5 minutes, give or take. I haven't listened to the whole thing, but the four or five tracks I listened to are rad. Psych in a Brian Jonestown Massacre vein.

Here's a video for their single, "Mighty Forces:"

Uchylak is from Wroclaw, Poland. Going back to 2019, he has eight albums and eight EPs on Bandcamp, and I love an artist who is so prolific that his friends tell him "I can't keep up with your output." I can relate.

Super-cool instrumental electronic music, the artist says it's "a mix of techno-industrial, ambient, drone and lo fi." This song has a Ministry vibe I love:

The Poppermost is a one-man band from Glasgow with a new album due out on the 30th called Hits To Spare, which will be made available on vinyl and CD in the US courtesy Think Like A Key Music. A Beatles/Bands Influenced By The Beatles-influenced project, "Up Against It" is the B-Side of the first single:

Velvet Blue Music is a label out of Huntington Beach, California, I'm interested in digging into their catalog a little more. There's a number of bands on their Bandcamp page from the DFW and Texas. I love this track from Dallas artist Bethan, whom I've never heard of. An eerie jazz vocal:

I look forward to listening to more of the Velvet Blue Music catalog soon.

Here in the Year of our Lorb 2021, there are so many people making so much music. What a time to be alive. And you'll never listen to it all. It's a wild scene, man.

The False Positives are out of Rochester, NY, and I have been there twice. They've got a really cool record store called The Record Archive that has a bar in it.

This is The False Positive's eighth digital single release since December 2018. Fun lo-fi power pop:

Swedish duo Pink Milk have got to be going places. Gothy shoegaze, reverb to the max -- and what a fun video:

That's half a month's worth of quality submissions right there. I'll try for the other half of July submissions here soon.

A.N.J.A. (Belfast), Bill Horist (Seattle), and Harmonica Lewinski (Rochester, NY)

Been waiting a while to share this. A.N.J.A. is from Belfast and her new fuzzed out single "Monoxide" is boss. 13th Floor Elevators-inspired goodness:

How are you set for a 45 minute long prepared guitar driven dystopian soundscape? Improviser, composer and performer Bill Horist is from Seattle, and his new album, "Tastemaker Epics," is more than likely what you've been waiting for. Available on cassette from Cudighi Records for $7 plus $4 shipping in the US, if avant-garde instrumental weirdness is your bag, you gotta check this out:

Rochester NY spooky surf rockers Harmonica Lewinski have a new Youtube video out, the second installment in their "home video-style diy live sessions," filmed at their rehearsal warehouse in Rochester. Bad ass, inspiring, DIY film-making and music. This only has 162 views and 6 thumbs up. I feel like if this had been released 25 years ago, it would've been on Matador and a must-have video cassette. But, perhaps it will take the world 25 years to catch up to Harmonica Lewinski. My criticism is the lead singer's got a fun voice, and it's pretty buried here, but such is DIY. Take 15 minutes out of your day and make yourself a pleasure on the screen with this fun as hell video:

Thanks and The Bordellos (UK), Shakali (Finland), and Jay Royale (Baltimore): Noise, Lo-Fi, Ambient Psych and Hip-Hop

Thanks is noise rock from Leeds. "Thankology" is a compilation of everything they've released up to this point. Digitital download, CDs, and cassettes are still available. It is so awesome, I can't stop listening it.

I listened to all of this 9 and a half minute long ambient psych piece today on my drive back to work from lunch. Killer diller:

New hip-hop from Baltimore's Jay Royale. Absolutely:

The Bordellos' "Be My Maybe/David Bowie" double A-side courtesy Metal Postcard Records is now available. Prepare to melt:

Roland Bruno (Argentina); Palberta and Sunk Heaven (New York); The Ducks and Salem Trials (UK); Call In Dead and 2Amature (Florida); The Shifters (Australia); Franck Racket (France); and Adam Holtz (Alabama)

Back in 2016, Buenos Aires based Roland Bruno released a 7" single called "Cumbia Reaction." Apparently Switzerland's Voodoo Rhythm will have a new release from Bruno soon. Absolutely rad Latin garage psych:

Is "rhythm" the weirdest word in the English language or what? I find it impossible to correctly spell it the first or second time. It never looks right.

On May 7, at 7PM Central, Palberta is doing a livestream on Bandcamp where they'll play their new album Palberta5000 in its entirety. Ten bucks, and an electro-noise artist called Sunk Heaven will also be playing. I've got my ticket, and got an e-mail from Warf Cat Records today letting me know my Palberta5000 record has shipped. They still have vinyl for sale on Bandcamp:

On May 19, 7PM GMT, Brighton two-piece The Ducks and something called Super Nothing TV will present "The Ducks Will Fxck You," "a live stream set from The Hope & Ruin in Brighton, a collection of sketches and music videos." I'm intrigued:

Also from the UK, prolific CNQ faves Salem Trials have a rad new track on Soundcloud:

SalemTunes · In the Future lies the Past

Released today, DCxPC Live Volume 1 Presents: Call in Dead and 2AMature Live at the Danger Room in Orlando, FL, is the first 45" put out by new punk label DCxPC. Limited to 200 copies, you can get one for $10. The Call in Dead side is a mishmash of hc and pop punk, crust/screamo, metal, and unfortuntely, a little bit of ska ("Summer Camp"), but despite the skanin' in "Summer Camp," it's quality r'n'r. The 2Amature side leans towards pop/surf but has an edge, and the whole live split is a success at capturing the sound and energy of a kinetic punk show. Recommended:

It's quaint to say I miss going to live shows, but I do. I know some folks have already started going back to live events, but I'm not ready for it.

The Shifters - Live In Gaul was recorded live (on an iPhone!) back in 2019, and put out on cassette this year by French label Arvo Disques. The cassette has already sold out, but a repress is on the way. Meanwhile you can listen to the full thing on Bandcamp. Fun, jangly, lo-fi rock'n'roll, and it's nice to hear a crowd having fun:

Also from France, Franck Racket is a grungy two-piece and their 5 song release Dark Ages is available digitally or on CD. I've been on a '90s hard rock kick lately and this release from back in February hits in that spot:

Finally, longtime CNQ fave Adam Holtz has a new song and video he made called "You." Always a pleasure to hear a new song from Adam: