Twitch Party - Live at The Raven Playhouse 5/10/97

(Flyer by Aidan Flax-Clark)

Great show by my first band. When I think of Twitch Party, this is what comes to mind. As far as I'm concerned, this was our peak. We were still getting along (for the most part) and our creativity was really flourishing. Sure, the recording quality here isn't perfect, but for a tape that was recorded from a Hi-8 video, I think it sounds damn good. I'm very proud of this band and what we accomplished. It's hard to believe this happened over 12 years ago!

Aidan Flax-Clark on guitar and backing vocals, Travis Erwin on bass, J.C. Ehle drumming and me as lead vocalist. We were good.

About the songs:
(note: songs that are linked can be downloaded as samples)

01. Intro - 30 seconds of setting up, tuning, etc.

02. Crack - A powerful version of the song that rages beyond the Whiskey recording.

03. Sore - Fuck yeah! Sme slight dropouts - somebody must have walked into my camera...

04. At Peace - This may have been the first time we performed this song live. (At most, it was the second.) You can tell it's not fully formed yet, but it has an energatic immediacy to it. Check out the improvised guitar solo by Aidan!

05. Grey Walls - I wrote this song. Very influenced by Karp and Hammerhead. Unfortunately, this was where I was headed, which was diametrically opposed to where everyone else wanted to go. If not for my ego...

06. Binding Glory - Balls!

07. Beautifully Deformed - A particularly tortured performance of this song.

08. Stench - Sure, it's an L7 rip-off, but it was one of my favorites and we did a great job with it here.

09. Urinal - Boom-cha-boom!

10. Song - Hell yeah!

11. Grassed - Good shit!

12. The Taxidermy of Love - I really like this performance. You can hear some drunks come in at the end of the tuning sequence after the song. They were pretty entertaining.

13. Fit - And the tensions start. We actually played the song pretty well until it fell apart in the end. Then, like an asshole, I had to insist that "I didn't screw up." I did. Sorry Aidan.

14. Halved - Oh yeah!

15. Stretched - Excellent performance of our signature closing track with some beautiful feedback at the beginning. I like to think that THIS was what we were all about.

(Flyer by Aidan Flax-Clark)

Twitch Party
Live at The Raven Playhouse 5/10/09 CS
(n/a)
1997

Download Live at The Raven Playhouse 5/10/09 as a .zip file!

More Twitch Party!

Meet the Exclusivos

Eric - Vocals

Nef - Lead guitar, keyboard

Emmanuel - Rhythm guitar, keyboards

Ralph - Bass

John - Drums

(All photos courtesy Nef.)

Exclusivos - Demos

(Exclusivos live - Photo courtesy Nef)

Back about three years ago, my band, ULTRABASTARD!, was playing at Trash Bar in Brooklyn when we noticed these guys up front who were dancing and going nuts to our songs. I remember looking at them funny, because I wasn't sure if they were mocking us or what, as we'd never had a reaction quite like that from total strangers. Turns out, they genuinely loved us and they were all in a band from the Bronx called The Exclusivos.

I checked them out on MySpace and was completely astounded at the completely original, unique songs I heard. They gave me a CD at a later ULTRABASTARD! show and I couldn't stop listening to it. It was just so DIFFERENT. Here's what I wrote for Under the Volcano #93:

From the sinister concrete jungle of the Bronx comes what is quite possibly the oddest band I've heard since Arab on Radar - The Exclusivos. Combining Captain Beefheart insanity with arrangements reminiscent of early Fall, these five outsiders contort their way through eight songs that syncopate like the Birthday Party and trip out like some of the funkiest West African Psychedelia to actually make it to the States. Top it all off with a singer that delivers his lyrics with the mind-altered, yet controlled, monotone of Can's Malcolm Mooney and you're left wondering whether your're listening to a band or a music therapy session at Bellevue. I sincerely hope (believe) that this rough, raw recording is just an inkling of what will come in the future. To quote their song 'The Ballad of Fred': 'The lightning's always frightening when it comes before the thunder.' This recording is the lightening.

Unfortunately, some inner turmoil tore the band apart shortly before ULTRABASTARD! was set to play our first show with them. There have been some attempts at getting the band back together, but nothing's been solid as of yet.

And so, I'm proud to announce the second "official" MPAE blog release. These songs were recorded on a Fostex multi-tracker between late '05 and early '06, according to guitarist/keyboardist Nef. Download it and leave comments to let the band know you want them back in action!

Exclusivos
Demos MP3
(MPAE)
2009

Tracklist:
(note: songs that are linked can be downloaded as samples)
01. Forces Unknown
02. Drip
03. The Machinist
04. Just a Thought
05. Ballad of Fred
06. Have You
07. Fargunstein
08. Tradition
09. Rage, Hate
10. Sad Ending
11. Changing (My Ways)
12. Untitled (Version 1)
13. Untitled (Version 2)
14. Dead Man's Curve
15. Breaking News
16. The Devils Dogs

Download Demos as a .zip file!

Messier 7 - Songs About Girls Who Never Existed

(Photo of M7 by NASA)

I've been busy writing reviews for The Big Takeover, so I haven't had much time for the blog. Also, some fuckhead stole Sir Ackronomicon's computer, so Pope Goat VII books are on hold for the time being. I haven't posted something of mine lately, so I'd thought I'd get back into the swing of things with this, my Helios Creed-inspired spacerock CD.

Songs About Girls Who Never Existed was one of the first albums I finished after I moved to NY. I was having a really hard time connecting with anybody musically, as I was (and still am) on the ass end of Long Island where people get their cultural relevance from television and radio. I actually had some redneck asshole tell me that the music I like couldn't be any good since he hadn't heard of it. So I holed myself in my apartment, got really drunk and stoned and recorded music on my own.

I'd been a huge Helios Creed fan since I was 14, and I always wanted to do something along those lines. I even bought a bunch of effects pedals to get that spacey sound. Finally, I decided to put together some older tracks of mine, record some new tracks, and have a spacerock "band" of my own.

I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. My dad was even impressed with my guitar playing. Maybe you'll dig it, too.

Best heard under the influence of something or other.

About the songs:
(note: songs that are linked can be downloaded as samples)

01. I Saw You (Crying) - An old song from my solo recordings. Go here for more info.

02. Lady Dragon - Another old song from my solo recordings. Go here for more info.

03. Descent Into Your Mind - This was the first song I recorded after buying my Danelectro phaser pedal. It had been a long night working in the bar (I was a barback) and I was irritated at having to listen to Rush on the satellite radio, so I went home with a few drinks in me, quickly assembled my recording gear and basically improvised this. It's mostly influenced by The Butthole Surfers' "Human Cannonball," especially in the vocals. It's a fun song.

04. Mistress Morphing - The guitar riff was inspired by a song from the cult science fiction animated movie Rock & Rule, where the character, Mok, is summoning a demon in Ohm Town. I believe this was recorded under the influence of opiate pills, hence the pun title.

05. Space Flying - This was centered around a riff I had written for The Gardeners that was really influenced by Neu! and Stereolab. I kept it an instrumental and recorded two guitar tracks. I always liked this one.

06. Xolotl/I Wanna Be Your Dog - "Xolotl" was a song I wrote for Anubis Rising, but I was never happy with the way it came out with them, so I redid it and tacked The Stooges to the end for some reason (probably because I could, and because I wanted to do a cover of "I Wanna Be Your Dog" that didn't try to sound like The Stooges for once). By the way, "Xolotl" means "monster" in Nahuatl, the language of pre-Columbian Mezo-American cultures, i.e. Aztecs.

Messier 7
Songs About Girls Who Never Existed CDR
(MPAE)
2001

Download Songs About Girls Who Never Existed as a .zip file!

World War IX - Brown Bagging It

Gearing up for the next issue of The Big Takeover, so I thought I'd get this up before I'm swamped in review hell.

I had heard about Justin Melkmann through "Crazy" Glenn Wernig of the New York Waste, who suggested we connect because of our mutual love of GG Allin. We exchanged a few emails, but they went nowhere. Finally, I met Justin and his girlfriend (now wife) Trish at "Crazy" Glenn's house-warming party. They were super-cool people and I discovered that Justin also shares my love of Black Flag and old hardcore/punk rock as well. He worships Lou Reed, too!

Naturally, I got into Justin's band, World War IX. Unfortunately, the original singer was kind of a douchbag - one of those "trying-too-hard" types. When he split and Mike joined, it was a godsend - just what the band needed. Here's the review I wrote for BT 64:

"This is a significant release in WWIX’s legacy in that it simultaneously announces the arrival of vocalist Mike and the departure of bassist Annick. If you ask me (and I’m assuming you are since you’re reading this), Mike is a far superior vocalist to Max. His gritty street punk voice works a lot better with the music than Max’s dopey monotone. It’s especially evident when comparing two old favorites of mine that appear here, “Treasure Hunt” and “Employee of the Month,” to their older versions. Really, there is no comparison; these are the definitive versions. WWIX include a CD of the songs with the 7”, which to me is a stroke of business genius and something more bands should do. The brown paper bag cover is a nice touch, too."

Hey, any band that combines Damaged-era Black Flag with GG Allin is A-OK in my book.

The images and music were uploaded with Justin Melkmann's consent. Thank you, Justin!

World War IX
Brown Bagging It 7"/CD
(Red Black & Blue)
2008

Download Brown Bagging It as a .zip file!

Sample Track:

Treasure Hunt

Euronymous

16 years ago today, Oystein Aarseth, aka Euronymous from Mayhem, was brutally stabbed to death by Varg Vikernes, aka Count Grishnackh from Burzum.

I'm a fan of Varg's music, but I find him to be completely detestable as a person. It also really depresses me to think what a talented guitarist and song-writer Euronymous was, how great Mayhem were and how all that was taken away for the sake of Vikernes' ego.

In memory of Euronymous and the True Norwegian Mayhem.







The grave of Euronymous.

RIP.

I Luv Luv Birds - Mysteries of Magnetism

I met Marc Mozga in English class my first year at CSUN. Somehow it came out in our first class that we were both film majors and we both liked David Lynch movies, so we started talking. Turned out, Marc was from the Minnesota Twin Cities and was heavily involved in the music scene there with a band called The Swingtones. Like me, he had a really eclectic taste in music, so we started hanging out. I believe he came with Aidan and I to see Thee Headcoates at Jabberjaw. We saw The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion a couple of times, too, and probably some more bands.

He also really loved The Two Felipes.

After a year or two in LA, Marc had had enough of LA, though he managed to bring The Swingtones around on tour and I hooked him up with a show at The Whiskey-A-Go-Go. I was there with my friend Mark Lovretovich and we sat there really amused by the bands that played before them. There was some really pretentious art-punk band that was trying desperately to be The Fall (and failing miserably) and this ridiculous Motley Crue/Poison-type LA glam band called 88 Crash, who really perplexed us - especially the bald, body-waxed singer who looked like some guy from Century City letting loose onstage. It was completely ridiculous. Finally, The Swingtones took the stage and it was a great show, they were all great guys and we had a lot of fun.

Unfortunately, after Marc got sick of LA and moved back to the Midwest, we lost touch. He sent me a few really odd handmade tapes (to be posted here in the future), but I didn't hear much from him after that. Finally, he found me on MySpace a few years ago, but I'm not good at communicating on MySpace and we lost touch again. Oddly enough, he Googled "The Two Felipes" and found this blog a few months ago, and I haven't lost touch with him yet.

I Luv Luv Birds is his newest project with his girl, Holly Prindle. He plays stuff and she sings. It's indescribably great music. Although it's rooted in dub reggae a la The Mad Professor, there are elements of various modes of electronic music, including Cabaret Voltaire's early industrial, new styles 8-bit and glitch, and some sound collage aesthetics to keep it interesting. This is one bass-heavy, pulsing, psychedelic collection of music.

Ever read William Gibson's Neuromancer? This is the music that I imagine the Rasta space colony listened to.

Mysteries of Magnetism is ILLB's first release. It's mostly instrumental, but Holly comes in on the last track with a haunting vocal that would indicate where they'd go in the future.

I'm very happy to be posting this tape. It's an amazing collection of music.

The images and music were uploaded with Marc Mozga's consent. Thank you, Marc!

I Luv Luv Birds
Mysteries of Magnetism CS
(ILLB)
2005

Download Mysteries of Magnetism as a .zip file!

Sample tracks:

MoM 2

MoM 7

Visit I Luv Luv Birds on MySpace!