Savage Republic — Jamahinya

• Artist: Savage Republic
• Title: Jamahinya
• Year: 1988
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 7
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 1988 – Promo at our record store
• Keeper: Maybe

I never did know much about Savage Republic, but Trouser Press can tell you all about the band. This album, Jamahinya, has a great package with a nice gatefold and matte finish. If I remember correctly, most records put out by their record label, Fundamental, back then had great packaging. Savage Republic’s sound is not something I can easily explain. It’s definitely arty, often rhythmic, and the vocals are kinda nerdy. That said, I’ve always liked this record even though I haven’t played it often, and I can’t imagine the vocals sounding any other way.

R.E.M. — Dead Letter Office

• Artist: R.E.M.
• Title: Dead Letter Office
• Year: 1987
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 7
• Owner: ?
• Acquired: ?
• Keeper: Yes

I have another ticket stub that doesn’t really belong with the record of the day. It’s from R.E.M.’s tour to support the 1984 album Reckoning and I should’ve mentioned it when I posted that one. For some reason I did mention the show, with opening act Dream Syndicate, on the Murmur post. I see the ticket is stamped “COMP” so maybe I won tickets on the radio or something.

The thing I remember most is talking to Dream Syndicate guitarist Karl Precoda between bands. I thought they put on a great, and surprisingly hard-rockin’ show, and I made sure to tell him that. He seemed like a pretty cool guy, but he decided to leave the band soon after this tour. At least I know it wasn’t my fault. Another memorable bit was that during R.E.M.’s set the power went out. This was a relatively small place, better-suited to conventions. I remember some minimal amount of light, and that the band carried on in some sort of acoustic mode for a while. I was glad to see they were cool like that, and not some whiny prima donnas.

To the record… Dead Letter Office is a compilation of rarities, outtakes, b-sides and covers. Despite the odds it’s a pretty listenable collection. Peter Buck also wrote some great notes about each song on the liner. Good ol’ Wikipedia has more info about it.

The Leaving Trains — Transportational D. Vices

• Artist: The Leaving Trains
• Title: Transportational D. Vices
• Year: 1989
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 6
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 1989 – At a record store I owned with my brother, RIP Records
• Keeper: Maybe

I have three records by The Leaving Trains and Transportational D. Vices is the newest. Somehow it got to the front of the line, but it terms of favorites it is at the back. Still, it’s a very listenable record, most of the time sounding like they have one foot in the garage, one in a combat boot, and another somewhere in space. It’s three-legged rock that manages to sound familiar and unique. One of my favorites on this one is “Store”, a high speed, rocked out number about going to “the store.” I guess singer Falling James really needed some milk or cigs or something because he sounds like he’s in a hurry to go.

The Fall — Bend Sinister

• Artist: The Fall
• Title: Bend Sinister
• Year: 1986
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 7
• Owner: Mary
• Acquired: ?
• Keeper: Yes

We’re almost done with our trip. And it’ll be good to get back to the mountains because it just got wicked hot and humid in the DC area. Now we’re staying with our friends the Hartzells. Last night we had a great party, with great food, great friends, and a chocolate fountain! For the kids, of course.

The Fall’s Bend Sinister is another arty record from a consistently arty band but there is a big difference from the last record posted. This one has hooks aplenty, it’s much more enjoyable because of it, and you’re likely to start humming along the first time you hear it. To be honest, I only got to play it once before we left and I can’t remember much more about it right now.

Plastilina Mosh — DVD

• Artist: Plastilina Mosh
• Title: DVD
• Year: 2005
• Format: DVD
• Rating (1-10): 10
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 2007 – Amazon.com
• Keeper: Yes

It’s Cinco de Mayo time! Today we celebrate Mexico sticking to the French in 1862, and Plastilina Mosh. We’ve reached the end of my Plastilina Mosh collection. Tonight we have a DVD titled simply, DVD. And the only thing I like better than Plastina Mosh’s music is their music plus video. After seeing a couple PMosh videos on MTV3 I knew I had to get a hold of this. I’ll admit that I haven’t seen the entire thing. There are a bunch of album documentaries and extras. But I have watched all twelve music videos and they are so damn good I give it a rating of 10 just for those.

By now you know I’m a complete fan of their music, and that I think they are geniuses. Their videos just take all of that creativity, fun, funk and hard rocking to another level of entertainment. Every one of these music videos is excellent, and no two are similar. “Mr. P Mosh” borders on being Dali-esque in it’s silliness.

As I understand it, this was released as a companion to the double CD collection, which explains the matching artwork. I love the pic of the guys in tuxedos inside the case. Is it me, or do those heads look pasted on National Enquirer style?

Long live Plastilina Mosh!

Plastilina Mosh — Tasty + b sides

• Artist: Plastilina Mosh
• Title: Tasty + b sides
• Year: 2006
• Format: CD
• Rating (1-10): 9
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 2007 – Amazon.com

Happy Cinco de Mayo eve! The only thing better than a Plastilina Mosh album is a Plastilina Mosh double album. And that’s what we have with Tasty + b sides. It’s considered a “best of” of sorts, but a slight majority of the songs on the two discs weren’t on any of the first three albums. On the Tasty disc there are four brand new songs and those alone make it worth the price. I love all of them, but my favorite of that batch is “Nalguita.” You can check that one out at the PMosh MySpace page. It’s too good for words. And what’s with that song at MySpace called “Babasonicos remix”? That’s not on any album I have! Curses!

The b sides disc curiously has a number of songs from previous albums, but it also has some really heavy stuff. “Quiero Mi Pastilla” is a hyper-speed punk piece, and “Purrum Pum Pum” is a metallic dirge. Who would think a chorus of “Purrum Pum Pum” could sound so heavy? I don’t think it means anything, but it sounds cool. I’m surprised most of these weren’t on the other releases. The All Music Guide has a good review of this collection, and short clips of all the songs, if you want to know more. Tasty + b sides is a great place to start if you’re looking to get some of their music.

As usual, the album artwork and packaging are excellent. The jewel case comes in a cover with sketches of the fellas. The booklet has a bunch of great photos, and the front cover pic of a couple kissing in the park is fantastic. It evokes the same emotions as their music. The inside of the back of the jewel case contains the words “Happy Listening.” That’s as much a description of the music as instruction for using it.

Plastilina Mosh — Hola Chicuelos

• Artist: Plastilina Mosh
• Title: Hola Chicuelos
• Year: 2003
• Format: CD
• Rating (1-10): 9
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 2007 – Secondspin.com

For a long time I was unable to find the Plastilina Mosh albums I was missing. The first one, Auqamosh, can be especially expensive and I’ve seen listed in numerous online stores for $80(?!). For real. I found Hola Chicuelos used at Secondspin. For this one they moved to EMI Latin. All notes are in Spanish.

Hola Chicuelos is another piece of music greatness from the genius duo. Like the first two it’s stylistically all over the place. I think a few songs made it to the Latin charts. “Peligroso Pop” is maybe the most poignant sounding pop song I’ve ever heard. Now, I don’t have any idea what they are saying. The lyrics could be his grocery list but the total sound kills me. “Garret Club” is sort of like a jazz dance number, with real horns and strings. I love that one too. “Te lo juro por Madonna” is a rocked out tune with a great guitar riff. I believe that one was a hit. Another hit was “Enzo.” After “Peligroso Pop” this is my favorite. It’s mid-tempo, uses a lot of megaphone, some quick rapping (Or is that sportscasting? I can’t tell.), and a great sing along, or at least hum along chorus.

The album art is again quality stuff. The pages show Jonaz and Alejandro in their individual hotel rooms and, well, it’s just funny when you flip through it.

Plastilina Mosh — Juan Manuel

• Artist: Plastilina Mosh
• Title: Juan Manuel
• Year: 2000
• Format: CD
• Rating (1-10): 10
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 2000 – Amazon.com

Juan Manuel is the second album by Plastilina Mosh and the first one I bought. It’s named for a good friend of theirs. I stumbled upon it when reading reviews about another Mexican group I was interested at the time, Titan (pronounced tee-tahn). This record is a little less rocked out than their debut but it’s my favorite. With the exception of “Supercombo Electronico” there isn’t much hard rocking here at all. There are some jazzy funk and funky jazz tunes like “Saint Tropez is not Far”, ethereal numbers like “Shampoo”, and plenty of great dance stuff like “Human Disco Ball.” My absolute favorite song is the super-chill, slow tempo, vocoder vocaled “Baretta ’89.” I don’t think I’ve ever heard such a essentially mellow song that is this exciting.

Also included on this “enhanced CD” is a great video for “Human Disco Ball” depicting the “enchanting story of a boy and his pinball machine.” Like I said yesterday, I’ll get back to the videos later. Another music hero of mine, Money Mark, has a production credit on the record. At first I thought his fingerprints were on everything, but it turns he only did three songs. And great album art is not dead! For one funny tidbit look inside the tabs that hold the CD center. I think that face peeking out may be Juan Manuel himself.

The album is bookended by two beautifully strange instrumentals, “Nordic Laser” and “Good Bye Happy Farm.” The latter ends with the sounds of horse hoofs slowly clip-clopping off into the distance. What could be better than that?

Plastilina Mosh — Aquamosh

• Artist: Plastilina Mosh
• Title: Aquamosh
• Year: 1998
• Format: CD
• Rating (1-10): 9
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 2007 – SecondSpin.com
• Keeper: Yes

In celebration of Cinco de Mayo this coming Saturday I’m going to spend the week posting about some Mexican musicians who are my favorite band. And I don’t mean my favorite band from Mexico; I mean favorite band, period. Ladies and gentlemen… Plastilina Mosh!

I would like Beck as much as PMosh if he were twice as energetic and half as moody, and the Beastie Boys as much if they were as consistent. There is a connection there, but they are no imitators. They use Spanish and English, and other languages, in the same songs. They play songs in styles ranging from pure hip hop, rock and roll, punk, disco, lounge, noise, stuff I can’t explain or have never heard before, jazzy Stereolab-sounding things, and more. They appear to have no rules other than making good music. All that from only two guys, Alejandro Rosso and Jonás González.

Plastilina Mosh has had some real commercial success, especially in Latin markets. If you’re lucky you can catch one of their videos on MTV3, or MTV “Tr3�?s.” This is the one MTV that actually plays music videos. Isn’t that what MTV2 was for? Or, for that matter the original MTV? Anyhow, even their videos are great. I’ll get back to that later in the week.

Auqamosh is their debut album, but I didn’t get hip to them until their second release, Juan Manuel. My favorites from this one are the slamming rock hip hop opener “Niño Bomba”, “Afroman”, the hit “Monster Truck.”

Introduce yourself to Mr. P. Mosh.

XTC — Skylarking

XTC -- Skylarking

• Artist: XTC
• Title: Skylarking
• Year: 1986
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 5
• Owner: Mary
• Acquired: Plan 9 Records Richmond, VA
• Keeper: Maybe

Listening to music like XTC’s Skylarking reminds me that I do, in fact, have something in common with Dee Snider. I wanna rock. And this record ain’t taking me there. I’m not saying I only want to listen to crunching guitars and screeching vocals. Good classical rocks, even pop can rock, and funk is always rocking. I don’t think XTC is bad, but rarely does their music meet the need I share with Dee.

This copy of Skylarking is the first edition and doesn’t include the hit “Dear God.” More about this record.