box full of songs: Wilco 1994-1999

Ahh, the joys of self-publishing. I had this really nice, detailed (and lengthy, as usual) post all worked up about what I'd planned as the next featured band here on The PoIT, and this entry here isn't it.

Why?

Because I just wasn't feeling it, man.

I don't want to create any preconceived notions about that band I was going to blog about, so I won't divulge who they are. Just know that some entry, at any given point in the future (but not this band featured today), could be that already-written post about the band that just didn't strike me as post-worthy at the last minute.

However... by no means is this a substitute post, not at all. How could a post featuring one of my absolute all-time favorite acts be a substitute? There are almost zero bands I would suffer a cold Chicago January winter day outdoors, in line with nowhere really to go, all day from 7am until showtime at 8pm (maybe a bit later than 7am but it was definitely before lunchtime), for the chance to see them in a tiny, beloved shithole of a venue, performing as the world's greatest bar band.

Wilco, I did. And I'd do it again.

You know the story by now, or well you should. Smalltown act makes it "big" singing songs of the downtrodden man, carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders yet they're barely old enough to drink. Said band shatters on the precipice of fame, the two principals starting two new acts from the bloody remains. One act is said to be the torchbearer, the act the smart money is on to make it huge. The other act, well, we'll sign 'em too and see what happens, but who are we kidding?

The first act makes a record, the critics are falling all over themselves trying to see who can label it with the most superlatives, the songwriter is heralded as the second coming of, well, something.

The other act makes a record, it sells, but not with waves of tremendous critical acclaim. This other act takes their punches and cedes the first set to the first act.

The first act makes another record and while still really good, it doesn't really advance. More of the same but in different keys, so to speak. The critics love it too, but are a bit more reserved in their praise. Meanwhile, it doesn't sell appreciably more than the debut, in fact it may have sold less.

The other act regroups and recruits a fresh face into the band, a fresh face with amazing talent. With that new talent, they tour and make their second record. This time it's different. The world expects Debut Album Part II, instead the world gets Great Exciting New Beginnings, Part II. This time, it’s the other act the critics are fawning over, outdoing themselves with superlatives. The little band that could. Other band continues to record exciting albums, participates in a stellar project celebrating the words of perhaps the world's greatest folk songwriter, and continues to redefine themselves with every record.

The first act ends up sputtering to a halt, regroups time and time again, but nobody jumps for joy when they put a new record out. Well, not like they do when the other act does.

I'm sure you don't need me to spell it out for you, but of course the smalltown act that shattered on the precipice of fame would be Uncle Tupelo (from Belleville, IL, on the outskirts of St. Louis), the first new act would be Son Volt (led by Jay Farrar), and the other act would be Wilco (led by Jeff Tweedy). Farrar (he of the world-weary outlook, with that voice from the depths of time) was the smart money pick for the two post-Tupelo acts, his Son Volt was expected to become alt.country's Rolling Stones or some such nonsense. Tweedy's bastard stepchildren leftovers Wilco was expected to be entertaining, but not much beyond. So nobody would have predicted it would be Tweedy and Wilco critics rave about today and the music-buying public embraces, with Jay Farrar on the sidelines watching the world pass him by.

What is it about Wilco that is so spectacular? The lineage - the direct point A to point Z progression of their records - explains it all. The sound of Wilco's second record BEING THERE doesn't sound at all like the record that would logically follow the debut A.M. - it's as if we aren't hearing two records that came between them, that explain the giant, majestic leap in songwriting, emotion and rawness from record #1 to record #2. And it doesn't stop there either - each Wilco record is a sea change from the preceding record.

It doesn't hurt matters either that Wilco was involved in the Woody Guthrie archive project with Billy Bragg, where Woody's daughter Nora asked Bragg to set some unseen Woody lyrics to new, contemporary music, and Bragg thought Wilco was the perfect rootsy, post-Woody and post-Dylan act to help bring it all back home. The results speak for themselves - the two MERMAID AVENUE records are among either act's top sellers ever, and breathe new life into the dustblown Woody Guthrie legacy.

We will celebrate the music of Wilco in two parts. Part I will focus on the 1990s, starting with 1994's debut A.M. (and the songs surrounding it), and wrapping with 1999's SUMMERTEETH.

So... we present, in 3 RAR files linked below (as usual, gotta grab all 3 to extract):

PROMISING:
Selected Wilco 1994-1999

01 The TB Is Whipping Me (Wilco & Syd Straw)
02 Promising
03 Box Full of Letters
04 It's Just That Simple
05 Passenger Side
06 Dash 7
07 Blue Eyed Soul
08 Thirteen
09 Misunderstood
10 Far, Far Away
11 Monday
12 Outtasite (Outta Mind)
13 Red-Eyed And Blue
14 I Got You (At The End Of The Century)
15 What's The World Got In Store
16 Hotel Arizona
17 Sunken Treasure
18 Someone Else's Song
19 The Lonely 1
20 California Stars (Wilco & Billy Bragg)
21 At My Window Sad And Lonely (Wilco & Billy Bragg)
22 One By One (Wilco & Billy Bragg)
23 Another Man's Done Gone (Wilco & Billy Bragg)
24 At My Window Sad And Lonely (Jeff Tweedy solo version)
25 She's A Jar
26 A Shot In The Arm
27 I'm Always In Love
28 Via Chicago
29 My Darling
30 In A Future Age
31 Student Loan Stereo

Yes there's a lot of Being There tracks, but it was a double record, and each track I pulled here is essential listening.

Sources:

01 released on the Red Hot and Country benefit CD, 1994
02 is a demo recorded in May 1994, ultimately released in 2002 on the soundtrack to the movie Chelsea Walls
03-07 from the debut LP A.M.
08 written by Alex Chilton (Big Star), recorded and released in 1997
09-19 from the LP Being There, 1997
20-23 from the Wilco / Billy Bragg collaboration Mermaid Avenue (unreleased Woody Guthrie lyrics set to new Wilco / Bragg compositions)
24 was a B-side on the "She Came Along To Me" CD single from the Mermaid Avenue sessions
25-30 from the LP Summerteeth, 1999
31 was a B-side on the "Can't Stand It" CD single from the Summerteeth sessions

Next entry we will focus on Wilco's 21st century efforts. Believe me the story gets even more fascinating from here - they even made a movie about it!

So enjoy. Oh yeah.... you need links don't you ;)

Part I / Part II / Part III (need to grab each one)

boat floating: Our Band Could Be Your Life

No featured band today. Nor any featured genre, or producer, or ...

I've been busy adapting to Vista on this new machine. I have to say audio processing on this dual core machine flies compared to the Pentium III machine I was using before, but the OS is another story in itself. I've at least smacked down UAC, but after 10 days still am lost at times. And I was an expert at WinNT/2000/XP! I administered my own WINS server for chrissakes (if you know about WINS, may god have mercy on your soul). I hear good things about the upcoming Windows 7, here's hoping it makes up for the many faults of Vista.

But that's not why you called.

Many moons ago - er, perhaps a couple years ago - a lil' group I'm a member of had a running theme of "what floats your boat" and shared with the group music that, well, floated one's boat. Your humble blogger, being of the alternative/indierocker sort, decided that rather than post full albums or individual songs, would make compilations based on some arbitrary genre.

Today's is entitled "Our Band Could Be Your Life" - which, if you know your 80's American alternapunkindie history, implies American underground music from the 80's. After all, the title is a line from the Minutemen's classic history-in-a-3-minute-song "History Lesson, Part II". If I were making such a compilation today, I might have some different tracks here and there, but it's fairly representative of the American underground scene back then. Minus the Paisley Underground scene and Black Flag, but SST Records is quite heavily repped here nonetheless. You may also note the complete lack of anything from Chicago (the city, not the artist) - that's because the first boat floating compilation I posted for that group was a collection of songs by Chicago artists. That'll see the light of day here, but I was listening to this particular comp today and decided to blog it.

So enjoy! Download links at the end, as usual, split into 3 RAR files (as usual, you gotta download all of 'em in order to extract the fileset...)

- - - - - - -

01 HÜSKER DÜ / Flip Your Wig
From the 1985 SST LP Flip Your Wig

02 THE FEELIES / On The Roof
From the 1986 Coyote-Twin/Tone LP The Good Earth

03 R.E.M. / These Days
From the 1986 I.R.S. LP Lifes Rich Pageant
From the original vinyl

04 fIREHOSE / Brave Captain
From the 1986 SST LP Ragin', Full-On

05 DESCENDENTS / Silly Girl
From the 1985 SST LP I Don't Want To Grow Up

06 THE REPLACEMENTS / Color Me Impressed
From the 1983 Twin/Tone LP Hootenanny

07 HÜSKER DÜ / Makes No Sense At All
From the 1985 SST LP Flip Your Wig

08 PIXIES / Bone Machine
From the 1988 4AD LP Surfer Rosa

09 MISSION OF BURMA / That's When I Reach For My Revolver
From the 1981 Ace Of Hearts EP Signals, Calls And Marches

10 R.E.M. / Harborcoat
From the 1984 I.R.S. LP Reckoning

11 HÜSKER DÜ / The Girl Who Lives On Heaven Hill
From the 1985 SST LP New Day Rising

12 FUGAZI / Waiting Room
From the 1988 Dischord EP Fugazi

13 THE FEELIES / Slipping (Into Something)
From the 1986 Coyote-Twin/Tone LP The Good Earth

14 THE REPLACEMENTS / Unsatisfied
From the 1984 Twin/Tone LP Let It Be

15 R.E.M. / Kohoutek
From the 1985 I.R.S. LP Fables Of The Reconstruction
From the original vinyl

16 fIREHOSE / Time With You
From the 1989 SST LP fROMOHIO

17 MINUTEMEN / Political Song For Michael Jackson To Sing
From the 1984 SST LP Double Nickels On The Dime

18 THE CONNELLS / Something To Say
From the 1989 TVT LP Fun & Games

19 CAMPER VAN BEETHOVEN / Take The Skinheads Bowling
From the 1985 Independent Project LP Telephone Free Landslide Victory

20 SONIC YOUTH / Expressway To Yr Skull (edit)
From the 1986 SST LP Evol

21 BREAKING CIRCUS / Driving The Dynamite Truck
From the 1986 Twin/Tone compilation Big Hits Of Mid-America Vol. 4

22 THE REPLACEMENTS / Answering Machine
From the 1984 Twin/Tone LP Let It Be

23 MINOR THREAT / Salad Days
From the 1985 Dischord 7" Salad Days

24 R.E.M. / Little America
From the 1984 I.R.S. LP Reckoning

--- cd2 would start here ---

25 THE REPLACEMENTS / Left Of The Dial
From the 1985 Sire LP Tim

26 LEMONHEADS / Mallo Cup
From the 1988 Taang! LP Lick

27 R.E.M. / Driver 8
From the 1985 I.R.S. LP Fables Of The Reconstruction
From the original vinyl

28 THE FEELIES / The Good Earth
From the 1986 Coyote-Twin/Tone LP The Good Earth

29 FUGAZI / Merchandise
From the 1990 Dischord LP Repeater
yes, I cheated - but it was demoed in 1987! ;)

31 PIXIES / Where Is My Mind?
From the 1988 4AD LP Surfer Rosa

32 DINOSAUR JR / Freak Scene
From the 1988 SST LP Bug

33 SONIC YOUTH / Teen Age Riot
From the 1988 Blast First LP Daydream Nation

34 HÜSKER DÜ / Celebrated Summer
From the 1985 SST LP New Day Rising

35 THE FEELIES / When Company Comes
From the 1986 Coyote-Twin/Tone LP The Good Earth

36 fIREHOSE / Understanding
From the 1989 SST LP fROMOHIO

37 R.E.M. / Letter Never Sent
From the 1984 I.R.S. LP Reckoning

38 THE CONNELLS / I Suppose
From the 1987 TVT LP Boylan Heights

39 PIXIES / Gigantic
From the 1988 4AD LP Surfer Rosa

40 GALAXIE 500 / Ceremony
From the 1990 Rough Trade 12" "Blue Thunder"

41 SCRATCH ACID / Mary Had A Little Drug Problem
From the 1986 Touch And Go EP Berserker

42 DESCENDENTS / Suburban Home
From the 1982 New Alliance LP Milo Goes To College

43 THE REPLACEMENTS / Within Your Reach
From the 1983 Twin/Tone LP Hootenanny

44 MINUTEMEN / History Lesson Part II
From the 1984 SST LP Double Nickels On The Dime

45 THE FEELIES / Slow Down
From the 1986 Coyote-Twin/Tone LP The Good Earth

46 R.E.M. / Time After Time - Red Rain - So. Central Rain (medley)
From a live gig 14 Sept. 1987 Muziekcentrum, Utrecht, The Netherlands

- - - - -

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3

rocking the forest: Sebadoh (Lou Barlow edition)

Not feeling so verbose today. Perhaps it's because today's feature is Sebadoh, more specifically, your humble blogger's favorite Sebadoh songs written by Lou Barlow (or, a new generation of electric white boy blues).



That and your humble blogger is busily adapting to a new PC and Vista, having come from XP Pro. Not sure what I think of Vista, at least Home Premium, but that's a topic for another blog, another day....



Famously booted out of Dinosaur Jr in 1989 or so, Lou Barlow made his name with the ultra-low-fi early Sebadoh/Sentridoh recordings (a beaten-up 4-string guitar, and a boombox or 4-track recorder) sometimes made with early songwriting partner Eric Gaffney. Then suddenly his songwriting talents blossomed - or that his talents were subsumed in Dinosaur Jr by J. Mascis's admittedly-stellar songwriting...

Aw, hell. I wish I could write like Lou. He's got pretty much exactly the same vocal range as your humble blogger as well. Emotional songwriting (but not "emo", thank god...), great music, the works.

So... I've compiled my favorite Lou songs from the "main" Sebadoh catalog. Oh, there's hundreds more Sebadoh songs, some written by Lou, but others by Eric Gaffney (noisy noisefests) or Jason Loewenstein (noisy, sometimes mellow), but Lou's the main guy and the best songwriter, by several orders of magnitude. I've done you the favor of separating the wheat from the chaff, so to speak.

And we're not even touching Sentridoh / Loobiecore / Lou solo / Folk Implosion. That would take another 15 blog entries... Can't say the man's not prolific!

And you gotta love these lyrics....

Started back in '83
Started seeing things a differently
And hardcore wasn't doin' it for me no more
Started smoking pot
Thought things sounded better slow
Much slower, heavier
Black magic melody to sink this poseur's soul

VU, Stooges undeniably cool
Took a lesson from that drone rock school
Manipulate musician hack righteous drool
Getting loose with the Pussy Galore
Cracking jokes like a Thurston Moore
Peddle hopping like a Dinosaur, J...

Rock and Roll genius, ride the middle of the road
Milk that sound, blow your load
Soon it's further than you ever said it'd go
Four stars in the Rolling Stone
Oooh sludge rock,
That's hard-ass harsh

Just gimme indie rock!
It's gone big
Come on indie rock
Just give me indie rock

Taking inspiration from Hüsker Dü
It's a new generation
Of electric white boy blues
Come on indie rock
It's gone big
Come on indie rock
Just give me indie rock

Breaking down the barriers
Like Sonic Youth
They got what they wanted
Maybe I could get what I want too
Come on indie rock
It's gone big
Come on indie rock
Just give me indie rock

Time to knock
The hard rock on it's side
Time to knock
The shit right up a storm
Turn to amaze
With the indie sludge
Grunge!
Aaah!

So enjoy! Split into 3 RAR files, links below, as usual you need to download all 3 RAR's in order to extract...

01 The Freed Pig
02 Scars, Four Eyes
03 Brand New Love
04 Gimme Indie Rock
05 Soul and Fire
06 Two Years Two Days
07 Cliche
08 Sacred Attention
09 Homemade
10 Forced Love
11 Think (Let Tomorrow Bee)
12 License To Confuse
13 Magnet's Coil
14 Not A Friend
15 Dreams
16 Skull
17 Give Up
18 Rebound
19 Mystery Man
20 Together Or Alone
21 Rebound (alternate)
22 Social Medicine
23 On Fire (acoustic)
24 Magnet's Coil (acoustic)
25 Rebound (acoustic)
26 On Fire
27 Ocean
28 Willing To Wait
29 Too Pure
30 Perfect Way
31 Open Ended
32 Weird
33 Tree
34 Flame
35 Love Is Stronger
36 Colorblind
37 Thrive
38 Sorry

Grab 'em here!

tracks 1-2 from 1991's Sebadoh III LP
track 3 from 1992's Sebadoh vs Helmet EP
track 4 from 1992's Rocking the Forest EP
tracks 5-11 from 1993's Bubble and Scrape LP
tracks 12-20 from 1994's Bakesale LP
tracks 21-25 from 1995's Rebound EP
tracks 26-31 from 1996's Harmacy LP
tracks 32-38 from 1999's The Sebadoh LP

halcyon days: Alternative Music Night (a mix)

We're going to indulge your humble blogger's memories here and step back to his university days.

In the early 1990s, I DJ'ed at a weekly event on my college campus that we so uniquely called Alternative Music Night.



You see, this was back in the immediate post-Nirvana timeframe, before the alternative became the mainstream (and later became the alternative again).

Besides MTV's 120 Minutes, and the here-today-gone-tomorrow commercial alternative radio stations that sprouted like weeds in Nirvana's jetstream (and often disappeared just as quickly), the outlets for "alternative" music were slim. True alternative, that is.

So an enlightened group of people took over the lounge in my college's student center one night a week and played the cool music. I took over from the founder due to my stellar musical tastes, hehe. We usually drew a fairly decent crowd, no doubt helped by the free beer and great music.

So in memory of those days, and because while cleaning the house I ran across a flyer from one of those long-gone nights, I'm going to feature the idealized playlist from one of these evenings. Of course it's not exact - I didn't keep records of what I played, and I also know there are some tracks that I no longer own (or even remember for that matter) - but on any given Wednesday night during the 1992/1993 and 1993/1994 school years, you were bound to hear these tracks at least once. The only certainties were two tracks that I played every damn night - Fugazi's "Merchandise" and the closer, R.E.M.'s Lou Reed cover "After Hours" as it was a great closer to the evening's festivities.

As I put this together, I realized I have way too much music to fit in one of those timeslots (typically, each night was 2 hours or so). So pretend this is two nights worth. I did attempt to group songs together as I would have during the DJ set, but due to the mists of time obviously it's idealized. Finally, there's no true mixing - I don't have my DJ equipment anymore - so deal with it.

A few observations... You can see where my head was at this era, there are quite a few Wax Trax!-ish tracks (Ministry/1000 Homo DJ's/etc) as well as quite a few ravers. Some of these I no longer own - I've moved on - but thanks to the magic Internets we can enjoy them yet again.

My average set was good enough for me to be recruited to DJ - for pay - at a local club in the city I went to college in, but alas the guy I was to replace begged for his job back (he was fired, I was to replace him) so I didn't get beyond a one-night stand at the club. The club owners had heard thru the grapevine about my DJ sets, and they sent spies to observe.....

N.B. The guy in the flyer above was designed by a pre-fame Liz Phair, as cover art for a friend's band. This would have been 1992 or so...

Onward we go....

Split into six RAR files, you gotta pull all 6 down before you can extract... links at the end. This time I'm also using a different hosting service, I believe you can download simultaneously, and it's hyperspeed compared to rapidshare...

01 1000 HOMO DJ'S Supernaut
02 PUBLIC IMAGE LTD Public Image
03 SUGAR A Good Idea
04 JOY DIVISION Love Will Tear Us Apart
05 NEW ORDER Regret
06 MINISTRY Stigmata
07 PIXIES Bone Machine
08 LUSH Nothing Natural
09 THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN Reverence
10 PIGFACE Suck
11 NEW ORDER Blue Monday
12 R.E.M. Finest Worksong (Lengthy Club Mix)
13 PETER MURPHY Cuts You Up
14 HÜSKER DÜ Makes No Sense At All
15 JANE'S ADDICTION Mountain Song
16 SONIC YOUTH Kool Thing
17 BEASTIE BOYS So What'Cha Want
18 REVOLTING COCKS Beers, Steers & Queers
19 MINISTRY Jesus Built My Hotrod
20 808 STATE Cübik
21 HAPPY MONDAYS Step On
22 BILLY BRAGG Sexuality (London remix)
23 PARIS ANGELS Perfume
24 SAINT ETIENNE Only Love Can Break Your Heart
25 NEW ORDER Ceremony
26 CATHERINE WHEEL Black Metallic
27 CHAPTERHOUSE Pearl
28 RIDE Taste
29 THE BOO RADLEYS Does This Hurt?
30 TEENAGE FANCLUB Star Sign (edit)
31 MY BLOODY VALENTINE Soon
32 THE CHARLATANS The Only One I Know
33 INSPIRAL CARPETS Commercial Reign
34 THE STONE ROSES Fools Gold
35 NEW FAST AUTOMATIC DAFFODILS Big
36 JAMES Sit Down
37 SPIRITUALIZED Run
38 JOY DIVISION Transmission
39 MATTHEW SWEET Girlfriend
40 R.E.M. Superman (edit)
41 ELECTRONIC Get The Message
42 PIXIES Debaser
43 DEAD KENNEDYS Holiday In Cambodia
44 FUGAZI Merchandise
45 DESCENDENTS Silly Girl
46 BUZZCOCKS Ever Fallen In Love?
47 BAUHAUS She's In Parties
48 THE CHAMELEONS Swamp Thing
49 THE CURE A Forest (full version)
50 THE SMITHS How Soon Is Now
51 SECTION 25 Looking From A Hilltop (Megamix)
52 NEW ORDER Temptation
53 WARLOCK PINCHERS Morrissey Rides A Cockhorse
54 MORRISSEY Suedehead
55 JOY DIVISION She's Lost Control
56 FLOWERED UP It's On
57 QUADROPHONIA Quadrophonia
58 FRONT 242 Tragedy > For You <
59 HAPPY MONDAYS WFL (Think about the future)
60 PRIMAL SCREAM Loaded
61 R.E.M. After Hours

part 1 / part 2 / part 3 / part 4 / part 5 / part 6
(100mb per file or thereabouts)

enjoy!

forces at work: the Feelies

In the beginning, there was the Velvet Underground. A few people cheered at the time.

Then, there was Television and the New York No Wave scene in 1975-1978. Throw in the Ramones while you're at it.

Across the river in suburban New Jersey, there were a few people listening. Bored kids, mostly. What do bored kids do? Form bands.

At least those who listened to the Velvets did, that is. There's a school of thought that says (roughly) only 100 people liked the Velvet Underground in the 1970s, but of those 100, 90 of them formed bands.

Enter Haledon, New Jersey's Feelies.



Skitter-rock. Perpetually nervous music. Over-caffeinated guitars strumming along with wildly ecstatic percussion. I don't know how on earth to categorzie the Feelies except some weird amalgamation of those adjectives.

Picked up on a lark by the UK's famed Stiff Records, the Feelies released an album in 1980 (following a 7" on Rough Trade in 1979, "Fa Cé La" b/w "Raised Eyebrows" - same recordings as on the debut LP) and then got lost in the wilderness of suburban New Jersey again. That record, CRAZY RHYTHMS, was loved by every critic who heard it but bought by about 20 people at the time. Kinda like the Velvets... Unlike anything else out at the time, the clattering percussion and surgically clean guitars intertwine, mesh, jangle and twitter away like some deranged version of the Velvets meeting some backwoods jug band.

(Not released in America until 1986, the record finally saw greater commercial availability in 1990 when their then-label A&M re-released it with a bonus track cover of the Rolling Stones' "Paint It, Black" recorded in 1990.)

The Feelies didn't help their exposure (or lack thereof) by their pronounced tendency to only play gigs on holidays. They also dressed like nerds (reference CRAZY RHYTHMS' album cover photo). But what they did do is create unworldly music that only gets better with time. A lot like the Velvets...

The only consistent members of the band were/are guitarists Glenn Mercer (also vocals) and Bill Million (GREAT stage name!). Mercer/Million were the primary songwriters in the early years, with Mercer taking over more of the songwriting after their second LP. On CRAZY RHYTHMS they were joined by Anton Fier on drums, and Keith DeNunzio on bass. Fier later went on to form the critically-acclaimed Golden Palominos.

After the critical success, and commercial failure, of CRAZY RHYTHMS the band went back underground. Record label Stiff stiff-armed the demos for their proposed second LP, and the various Feelies played in random spinoff bands up through 1984 (the Trypes / Yung Wu / the Willies).

Come 1984, Mercer and Million decided to reactivate the Feelies name, and added Brenda Sauter on bass, Stan Demeski on drums, and Dave Weckerman on percussion (all of whom had been involved in those random side projects as well, so it wasn't a complete shock). Gigging a bit more frequently under the Feelies name, the band also found themselves in front of the cameras as the high school band in Jonathan Demme's 1986 film Something Wild (though that appearance on film was credited to the Willies). This expanded lineup eventually recorded the long-delayed second LP THE GOOD EARTH in 1986, with none other than R.E.M.'s Peter Buck behind the console producing.

Buck gave the sessions a much-needed "warmth" injection. Still around are the very dry untreated electric guitars, but the entire record has a more warm feel with gentle acoustics, relaxed harmonies, and just more solid "songy" songwriting than CRAZY RHYTHMS. It's got a really strong pastoral feel, and many consider it to be the band's best release (your humble blogger included). My favorite Feelies tracks are all on this record - from the gentle strums of "The High Road" to the glorious sounds of Mercer's and Million's guitars having sex with each other on "Slipping (Into Something)" to the 12-string freakout "When Company Comes" to the Byrdsian "The Good Earth" to the Citibank-commercial "Slow Down".

Also in 1986, the band released an EP entitled NO ONE KNOWS featuring two GOOD EARTH tracks ("The High Road" and "Slipping (Into Something)"), paired with gonzo covers of the Beatles' "She Said She Said" and Neil Young's "Sedan Delivery". This EP has only been released on vinyl.

1988 saw the band picked up by A&M Records, and the release of their third LP ONLY LIFE. With Glenn Mercer starting to dominate the songwriting, the album has a more pronounced Velvets feel, and is a more considered blend of the skittering CRAZY RHYTHMS sound with the warmth of THE GOOD EARTH. 1991's TIME FOR A WITNESS is a continuation of the same, and was a nice period at the end of the Feelies' sentence with the band calling it a day in 1992.

Fast forward to 2008, when the band announced several reunion gigs (with the late-80s lineup), and the reunion continues into this spring with the band performing at the scheduled R.E.M. Tribute at New York's Carnegie Hall in March.

Sadly all the band's catalog is long out of print. Twin\Tone, distributor of their 1986 releases, sells "custom-burned" CD-Rs of THE GOOD EARTH and NO ONE KNOWS (aren't all CD-Rs "custom burned"?) but Twin\Tone is not known for their reliable accounting to their acts (just ask the Replacements). Word on the street is that CRAZY RHYTHMS and THE GOOD EARTH are going to be reissued this year with bonus tracks, but this has been said the past several years as well and, well, no reissues have turned up. So here's hoping.

In the meantime you can grab all their commercial works here on the blog! What's missing? Some various covers that appeared on various promo releases, and possibly the odd cover that may have been on random compilations.

- - - - - - - - -

the FEELIES
COLLECTED WORKS 1980-1991
(minus compilation/promotional releases)

edit: links removed - all but Time For A Witness are now in print/remastered!


CRAZY RHYTHMS



(1980 Stiff Records)

01 The Boy With The Perpetual Nervousness
02 Fa Cé La
03 Loveless Love
04 Forces At Work
05 Original Love
06 Everybody's Got Something To Hide (Except Me And My Monkey)
07 Moscow Nights
08 Raised Eyebrows
09 Crazy Rhythms
10 Paint It, Black (Rolling Stones, 1990 bonus track)


NO ONE KNOWS E.P.



(1986 Coyote / Twin\Tone Records)

01 The High Road
02 She Said She Said (Beatles)
03 Slipping (Into Something)
04 Sedan Delivery (Neil Young)

n.b. Tracks 01 & 03 are identical to the album versions below.
also, I only have this as mp3 sourced, I've cleaned it up somewhat as it was originally captured from scratchy/noisy vinyl. I hope to find a better version down the road, if I do you'll find it here.


THE GOOD EARTH



(1986 Coyote / Twin\Tone Records)

01 On The Roof
02 The High Road
03 The Last Roundup
04 Slipping (Into Something)
05 When Company Comes
06 Let's Go
07 Two Rooms
08 The Good Earth
09 Tomorrow Today
10 Slow Down

yes, the whole record is a "pick to click"...


ONLY LIFE



(1988 A&M Records)

01 It's Only Life
02 Too Much
03 Deep Fascination
04 Higher Ground
05 The Undertow
06 For Awhile
07 The Final Word
08 Away
09 What Goes On (Lou Reed)


TIME FOR A WITNESS



(1991 A&M Records)

01 Waiting
02 Time For A Witness
03 Sooner Or Later
04 Find A Way
05 Decide
06 Doin' It Again
07 Invitation
08 For Now
09 What She Said
10 Real Cool Time (Iggy/Stooges)


So there we have it. Great, great band, criminally underappreciated today. Spread the word!

temporary relief: LOW

I think we need a breather. Some temporary relief from the blistering postpunk I've featured lately. Something slowed way, way down. Always good to cleanse the palate, they say.



Duluth, Minnesota's legendary "slowcore" (as opposed to hardcore) trio LOW certainly fits the bill. Virtual inventors of the genre (perhaps shared with Codeine, but that's for the nitpickers to argue), Low doesn't write songs as much as songscapes. Low is all about atmosphere, all about the space between the notes being just as important - if not more so - than the notes themselves.

Early in their career (1994-1995) they worked with legendary New York noisenik Kramer (he of Bongwater fame), who produced the band's first two heavily reverb-laden LPs I COULD LIVE IN HOPE and LONG DIVISION - two records which introduced the world to the idea that hey, glacially-paced punk can be just as mind- (and head-) blowing as hardcore. After a third LP, 1997's THE CURTAIN HITS THE CAST, somebody had the genius idea - and I mean that with all due respect - to hook the band up with the original analog purist Steve Albini.

Low and Albini was truly a marriage made in heaven. For a band that trades on the idea of the spaces being as key as the musics, Albini's recording style is absolutely perfect for this band. You can hear the room as much as the music - it feels as if you are RIGHT THERE as much as any recording I've ever heard. You get a real feel of texture, of space, of atmosphere - and it's all without any gimmickry, just a GREAT live room sound at Chicago's Electrical Audio (Albini's own studio) and very strategic microphone placement.

So I present two of the finest sounding records in my collection, 1999's SECRET NAME and 2001's THINGS WE LOST IN THE FIRE. Recorded in Chicago at Albini's Electrical Audio studios, by Steve Albini, these two records sound just frankly incredible. From a sonics perspective, there's headroom (dynamics! No loudness wars here!), clarity, depth. And just as important (it's a music blog after all, not an engineering blog) - from a music perspective, the songs are just wonderful.

Guitarist and co-vocalist Alan Sparhawk, "drummer" and co-vocalist Mimi Parker, and bassist Zak Sally have created here some of the most beautiful songs I have in my collection. You'll just have to hear for yourself - and I can't imagine hearing these recorded any other way, the recording fits the songwriting fits the recording....

As a bonus, I've included some extra tracks from the 3xCD rarities box set A LIFETIME OF TEMPORARY RELIEF that I'm fairly certain were also recorded by Albini (I had the box stolen so don't have the credits, just the actual CDs). Well, all but the final two songs I present here are Albini sessions, that is - the Smiths and Pink Floyd covers aren't Albini recordings, as far as I know. But whatever, they're just utterly spectacular regardless.

So enjoy....

- - - - - - - - - - - -

LOW
the ELECTRICAL AUDIO recordings

featuring

SECRET NAME
THINGS WE LOST IN THE FIRE
(selections from) A LIFETIME OF TEMPORARY RELIEF

edit: Removed link.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

SECRET NAME



(1999 Kranky KRANK035)

01 I Remember
02 Starfire
03 Two-Step
04 Weight of Water
05 Missouri
06 Don't Understand
07 Soon
08 Immune
09 Lion/Lamb
10 Days Of...
11 Will the Night
12 Home


THINGS WE LOST IN THE FIRE



(2001 Kranky KRANK046)

01 Sunflower
02 Whitetail
03 Dinosaur Act
04 Medicine Magazine
05 Laser Beam
06 July
07 Embrace
08 Whore
09 Kind Of Girl
10 Like A Forest
11 Closer
12 (untitled instrumental)
13 In Metal

Some random internet critic:

While Low was playing live on John Peel's BBC radio show in England last year, an emergency back-up system kicked in without warning, momentarily replacing the group with a blast of pre-recorded, insipid pop (possibly All Saints). As Peel later explained, the system goes into operation automatically if there's an extended period of silence resulting, for instance, from the death of the DJ on the air. Those who designed such technology obviously hadn't considered how it might respond to Low, whose pared-down, slowcore aesthetic centers on an artful use of quiet spaces, pauses and decidedly un-rock levels of amplification.
With the assistance of producer Steve Albini, on Things We Lost in the Fire Low crafts another collection of downbeat, achingly stark songs. Threaded with slight, hymnal vocals and striking a delicate balance between dark intensity and ethereal fragility, this new material bears many of the hallmarks of Low's sound as it has defined itself on previous releases. The coordinates here are familiar: The Velvet Underground, Simon and Garfunkel, Galaxie 500, Joy Division, The Cowboy Junkies and Mazzy Star.
But although Low's music remains minimal in its design and beautifully snail-paced, this new release also attests to the continuing evolution of the band's sound. Things We Lost in the Fire picks up where Low's last recording with Albini (1999's Secret Name) left off, progressively expanding on the band's sparse common denominator of bass, drums and guitar. Things finds Low's measured atmospherics and gentle melodies further enhanced by layers of instrumentation — for instance, cello, violin, piano, mellotron and trumpet. Moreover, it finds the band's melancholy and affecting textures coalescing even more into traditional song structures.
The focal point of Low's sound has consistently been the human voice and, on Things We Lost in the Fire, the lulling vocals of spouses Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker again take pride of place, serving as the most engaging instruments in the mix. Throughout this album — most notably on "Sunflower", "Medicine Magazines" and "Kind of Girl" — the couple execute stunning harmonies with an emotive range that belies their quiet simplicity.
"Laser Beam", sung by Parker, is a brief yet superbly haunting lullaby, so down-tempo that it seems just to hang in the air. On the spare "Embrace", her voice captures and translates the melancholy swell of the string arrangement and the building tension of the unrelenting, funereal beat. Similarly compelling is Sparhawk's delicate, almost murmured, singing on the vaguely unsettling "Whitetail", probably the most stripped-down song on the album. With its repetitive arrangement of brushed cymbals, a suggestion of cello and a modicum of guitar and bass, this track displays little linear progression, moving not so much forward as downward to plumb the depths of some intangible menace.
While it's impossible to locate weak points on Things We Lost in the Fire, it's relatively easy to pick the two strongest tracks. "Closer" showcases Low at its lilting, unhurried best, the couple's voices breathtakingly intertwined and subtly cocooned by doleful strings. "Dinosaur Act", on the other hand, evokes a succession of controlled explosions in slow-motion, revealing a harder, distortion-scuffed edge of Low's sound. Here, Sparhawk's disembodied, Neil Young-esque vocals hover over the track's ponderous bass-heavy reaches, to be joined in the pounding crescendos by Bob Weston's trumpet as well as Parker's dulcet harmonies.
On Things We Lost in the Fire, Low proves once again that less is indeed more. Voices are barely raised and the sound is only rarely turned up, yet the band's understated, lingering vocal and instrumental arrangements conjure up textured, dynamic spaces whose emotive resonance speaks volumes.

(selections from)
A LIFETIME OF TEMPORARY RELIEF



(2004 Chairkickers CKM012)

01 Last Breath
02 Old Man Song
03 Try Try Try
04 When You Walked
05 Back Home Again
06 Blowin' In The Wind
07 Open Arms
08 ...I Love
09 Overhead
10 Don't Carry It All
11 Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me
12 Fearless

1-2 extra tracks on the 2xLP vinyl SECRET NAME
9-10 extra tracks on the 2xLP vinyl THINGS WE LOST IN THE FIRE
and yes, track 7 is a Journey cover

postpunk on the prairie: the Jesus Lizard

Man, we're on a roll here with the Chicago postpunk, might as well strike again while the iron is hot - with perhaps the best of 'em all...



Today, I bring you the Jesus Lizard. Only the best live band I've EVER seen, bar none.

Vocalist - and I use that term lightly - David Yow fights his way through each song as if he were choking on booze and razor blades. Oddly enough, he's one hell of a nice guy in person, clearly a case of a stage persona vs reality thing. Bassist David Wm. Sims (who's blog I have linked to on the right) muscles each song forward with some of the best bass playing I've ever heard, guitarist Duane Denison layers each song with sheets/shards of furious - but tasteful - guitars, and drummer Mac McNeilly (the heart and soul of the band) anchors it all down with, again, some of the greatest drumming I've ever heard.

So yeah, they're pretty good.

Formed in Chicago in 1989 from the remnants of Steve Albini's Rapeman project (Sims) and Austin, Texas legendary punk act Scratch Acid (Yow and Sims), the Lizard began relatively inauspiciously with the 3-men-and-a-drum-machine debut EP PURE on Touch and Go. Having taken the drum machine approach as far as it could go, they recruited super drummer man Mac and unleashed the new 4-piece Lizard via a classic 7" single featuring a medley of Chrome songs ("TV as Eyes" and "Abstract Nympho") simply-titled "Chrome", backed with an original track "7 vs. 8".

Then they ran off a series of absolutely fucking stellar/devastating/ridiculously amazing/fantastic records on Touch and Go through 1993, and then began a slow gradual slide into irrelevance after signing to a major label in 1995, ultimately breaking up in 1999 after earlier losing drummer Mac to other projects (he was replaced by former Laughing Hyenas drummer Jim Kimball for the last couple years of the Lizard's life). 1994's DOWN was their final Touch and Go LP before jumping ship, and I don't know if the separation had already begun between tJL/Albini/T&G but it really sounds like the last LP of an era.

More tJL info here, here and here (official Touch and Go page about 'em).

All their Touch and Go output was recorded by the legendary Steve Albini, who, being the indie purist he is, refused to work with them again after they signed to the major label Capitol Records.

The latest news - "latest" being a relative term, of course, when Jesus Lizard news was few and far between until a month ago - is that the Lizard is reuniting with the original lineup (Yow/Denison/Sims/McNeilly) to play a few gigs in the fall. Oh how I'd pull my own Tight 'n Shiny to see those gigs!

Changing it up a bit here, rather than posting entire album(s), I'm going to compile the greatest tJL compilation ever. We're going to flat-out ignore the Capitol Records era, and focus exclusively on their indie years on Touch and Go 1989-1994, and better yet, I'm going to do it chronologically.

Here's a quick Touch and Go-era discography hit, we'll get to our exclusive compilation below....

- - - - -

1989: PURE (EP) T&GLP#43



Blockbuster / Bloody Mary / Rabid Pigs / Starlet / Happy Bunny Goes Fluff-Fluff Along


1990: CHROME (7") T&G#53



Chrome / 7 vs. 8


1990: HEAD (LP) T&GLP#54



One Evening / S.D.B.J. / My Own Urine / If You Had Lips / 7 vs. 8 / Pastoral / Waxeater / Good Thing / Tight 'N Shiny / (None Other Than) Killer McHann


1991: MOUTH BREATHER (7") T&G#66



Mouth Breather / Sunday You Need Love


1991: GOAT (LP) T&GLP#68



Here Comes Dudley / Mouth Breather / Nub / Seasick / Monkey Trick / Karpis / South Mouth / Lady Shoes / Rodeo in Joliet


1992: WHEELCHAIR EPIDEMIC (7") TG087



Wheelchair Epidemic / Dancing Naked Ladies


1992: LIAR (LP) TG100



Boilermaker / Gladiator / The Art of Self Defense / Slave Ship / Puss / Whirl / Rope / Perk / Zachariah / Dancing Naked Ladies


1993: PUSS / OH, THE GUILT (split single with Nirvana) TG083



Puss (the Jesus Lizard) / Oh, The Guilt (Nirvana)


1993: LASH (EP) TG121



Glamorous / Deaf As A Bat / Lady Shoes / Killer McHann / Bloody Mary / Monkey Trick
(tracks 3-6 live)


1993: (FLY) ON (THE WALL) (7") TG128



(Fly) On (The Wall) / White Hole


1994: DOWN (LP) TG131



Fly On The Wall / Mistletoe / Countless Backs Of Sad Losers / Queen For A Day / The Associate / Destroy Before Reading / Low Rider / 50¢ / American BB / Horse / Din / Elegy / The Best Parts

- - - - - - - -

Enough background.....

FOUL
the Jesus Lizard 1990-1994, Compiled
(a Power of Independent Trucking exclusive)

Part I
Part II



01 Blockbuster (live soundboard recording 4 December 1992, 9:30 Club, Washington, DC - far better live than the 3-piece studio version)
02 Chrome
03 One Evening
04 S.D.B.J.
05 My Own Urine
06 If You Had Lips
07 7 vs. 8
08 Waxeater
09 Tight 'N Shiny
10 Then Comes Dudley
11 Mouth Breather
12 Nub
13 Seasick
14 Monkey Trick
15 Wheelchair Epidemic
16 Boilermaker
17 Gladiator
18 Whirl
19 Rope
20 Dancing Naked Ladies
21 Glamorous
22 Destroy Before Reading
23 Low Rider
24 The Best Parts

This compilation just plain rips. If there's enough demand I can post the individual records, but they're all still in print (the albums, that is) on Touch and Go, and there are plans afoot to issue remastered editions (and, from what I've heard, remastered the right way by none other than Shellac's Bob Weston) before the year is out.

postpunk on the prairie: TAR

If you haven't noticed yet... the blog has featured a LOT (relatively speaking!) of albums released in 1993 on Touch and Go Records.

Coincidence?

Perhaps. But your humble blogger - in retrospect - is amazed at the quality and quantity of fine records released that year. It's as strong as a year as I can remember, for indierock releases. I was going to run a list of some of them but I don't want to lose focus... ;)

And being perhaps the greatest ever American indie label, it's no surprise so many quality records - from 1993 or any year since T&G's early 1980s inception - came out on this fine label.

(one of the nifty things about running your own blog is that you're beholden to nothing. Zippo. I declared early on that the blog would have several recurring features such as the "variations on a theme" producers meme, the "5 songs" meme, etc. But there's no rules here, no schedule. Nothing but my wily wiles to guide me. And if I want to post nothing but snippets of Benny Hill jokes, for 30 days straight, by all means I'll do so. So, long story short, if you're waiting for the "variations on a theme" or "5 songs" series to continue, just settle down. There. Feel better? Good. Now pay attention... ;) )



Which brings us to TAR, formed in the teeming metropolis of DeKalb, Illinois (75 miles west of Chicago, thick in the cornfields, home of Northern Illinois University and Cindy Crawford). I don't have a clue how to describe TAR but that they're rhythmically awesome, they're guitarishly amazing, and they were one of Steve Albini's favorite bands ever. I know this because Mr. Albini told me so himself, when I found myself standing next to him at TAR's last-ever gig at the fabled Chicago venue Lounge Ax (RIP...) in November 1995. The gig was pre-announced as their last ever gig, so all the indie/postpunk Chicago luminaries (and, I suspect, others from all around our fine world) were there. It was a stellar gig, opened by Arcwelder, and closed with TAR auctioning off their handmade aluminum guitars from the stage.

Albini is perhaps a tad more qualified than most to assert "favorite band" status on TAR because he recorded the majority of their releases.

TOAST, the band's 1993 Touch and Go LP, is being featured here only because I can't stop listening to it myself. No other real reason - their prior record JACKSON may be better, or it may not - but that I like it and "Barry White" kicks some serious butt.

Believe it or not I even reviewed this record for my college newspaper in 1993 and even more terrifying, I still have a copy of that review, from the paper's September 17, 1993 edition:

TAR sticks to you like... well, tar

By YOUR HUMBLE BLOGGER
Editor-in-Chief

TAR
Toast
Touch and Go Records

Chicago's neo-Nirvanaesque TAR has kept a busy pace this year with three releases: Winter's "Teetering" 7-inch single, April's Clincher EP, and now Toast, their third full-length album. Toast is much in the same vein as their past two LPs, Roundhouse and Jackson: Walled guitars, shouted vocals, brisk drumming, throbbing metallic bass, muddy-yet-clear Steve Albini production. The album's ten tunes show off what makes TAR one of the best neo-grunge groups around.

The first tune, "Altoids, Anyone?" opens the disc with a full-frontal-assault of guitars. Nice, powerful, aggressive music. Aggressive is a good way to describe TAR's sound, actually. If you feel like kicking the shit out of a wall, or smashing your head against a (punk) rock, put on TAR instead and just yell. Works wonders for the mind. Anyway, "Barry White", the next song, has kind of a groove-type thing working for it. Good for shaking your booty to while letting off steam. Same goes for "Quieter Fellow", the next ditty, which isn't really quieter.

The rest of the songs are much in the same vein as the first three, and they are choice. "Mach Song" stands out in my mind, for some reason. The last song, "Theme", is really two songs separated by 12 minutes of total silence, reminiscent of "Endless Nameless" from Nirvana's Nevermind. The second part of "Theme" is quite brilliant, actually, It's about 2 minutes of weird guitar sounds and indecipherable vocals. Pretty cool.

If you want good frustration-releasing music, check out TAR. Especially since Nirvana's taking so long to put out their next one, which I just found out is delayed 'till October.

For the record, that "second part of 'Theme'" that I described above in the review is tracked separately in the download below, as "(untitled hidden track)". So no need to have a 14-minute song on your iPod ;)

enjoy....

- - - - - - - -

TAR
Toast



(1993 Touch and Go TG106CD)

01 Altoids, Anyone?
02 Barry White
03 Quieter Fellow
04 Satritis
05 Clincher
06 Giblets
07 Testor's Choice
08 Standpipe
09 Mach Song
10 Theme
11 (untitled hidden track)

edit: removed link.

postpunk on the prairie: Seam

There once was a time when I wanted to be SEAM.

(Musically, that is.)

Still do, actually.

Something about this longstanding Chicago band captivated me at very first listen, and kept my rapt attention with everything I ended up hearing from them. If I have to pick my top three indierock bands, Seam easily makes the list, and would be in strong competition for the #1 spot.



Led by Bitch Magnet alum Sooyoung Park on vocals/songwriting/guitars - and fleshed out by various different bassists/drummers/second guitarists depending on the album - the band's penchant for huge somber-to-in your face dynamics, Sooyoung's barely-audible vocals, terrific minimalist songwriting, and just stellar guitars, it's truly a shame they never got more recognition.

While I never hope to solve that recognition thing with the 35 readers this blog has, if even one person recognizes this band's utter brilliance, my mission is done.

With every band I was in, and with nearly every song I wrote for a duration some time ago, I wanted to sound like Seam. That's the level of influence these guys had (and still have) on me. But my songwriting skills are nowhere even close to matching up, and I include myself in the inability of any band I've been in to perform them well. So of course I had to live vicariously through just listening instead (though here you can hear an utterly pathetic-yet-still-cool garage cover an old band of mine did of their first LP's track "Shame", with yours truly on bass guitar).

As far as I know Seam is still a going concern, but they've not released an album since 1998's THE PACE IS GLACIAL, and haven't played a gig (as far as I am aware) since 2007. Sooyoung's since relocated to the West Coast, and other band alum are scattered about Chicago either in other bands or doing who knows what.

But to hell with that - featuring here on this very blog are the finest works they've released, the stellar 1993-to-1995 run of an EP and two LPs.

First we feature 1993's KERNEL EP. With a remake of a song initially appearing on their debut LP HEADSPARKS (the aforementioned "Shame") but this time much more subdued than the original (my old band's cover version I linked above is based on the original), a cover of a Breaking Circus track "Driving the Dynamite Truck", again much more subdued/dynamic than the original, and two new tracks "Kernel" and "Sweet Pea", Seam comes roaring out with passion and energy.

Later that same year they blasted everything away - rewrote the book, if you will - with the utterly fucking phenomenal LP THE PROBLEM WITH ME - a landmark record, in my eyes. The first full-length to feature my favorite aspects of the band as mentioned earlier, there's not a duff track in the bunch. Blasting off with "Rafael", slowing the pace a bit with "Road To Madrid", flying off the handle again with a remade "Sweet Pea" (the E Bow guitar here is utterly stellar, that keening sound throughout the track that sounds almost like feedback), building and releasing tension all the way through to the closer "Autopilot" (what a song!) - this album is utterly unstoppable.

Then we segue into 1995's ARE YOU DRIVING ME CRAZY? - a refinement, if you will, of what they perfected with THE PROBLEM WITH ME. It's much the same spectacular sound/songs/dynamics but with added new twists, and a more developed sense of pacing. Had I never heard THE PROBLEM WITH ME this album instead would be tops - but the band had a hard act to follow, and while they didn't top it, they may have matched it with this one.

I've seen Seam quite a few times and each gig was spectacular - I even taped them once. I will upload that gig at some point to the blog.

So enjoy - and as usual, these records are (as far as I know) all still in print on Touch and Go, so for Chrissakes go buy 'em after sampling 'em here!

SEAM
Kernel / The Problem With Me / Are You Driving Me Crazy

- - - - - - -

KERNEL



(1993 Touch and Go TG112CD)

01 Kernel
02 Sweet Pea
03 Shame
04 Driving The Dynamite Truck


THE PROBLEM WITH ME



(1993 Touch and Go TG118CD)

01 Rafael
02 Bunch
03 Road To Madrid
04 Stage 2000
05 Sweet Pea
06 Dust And Turpentine
07 Something's Burning
08 The Wild Cat
09 Autopilot


ARE YOU DRIVING ME CRAZY?



(1995 Touch and Go TG142CD)

01 Berlitz
02 Hey Latasha
03 Port of Charleston
04 Rainy Season
05 Two Is Enough
06 Haole Redux
07 Tuff Luck
08 Broken Bones
09 Sometimes I Forget
10 Petty Thievery

all the above split into two RAR files, need to download both to extract....

edit: removed link.