feedtime — Shovel

According to Wikipedia Shovel (1986) was feedtime’s most critically acclaimed record, which makes me think I need to go spin it again. I enjoy a little primitive noise rock once in a while, even now that I’m elderly. But this just didn’t do it for me today. There were a couple riffs that held my attention, a few great songs, and some occasional moments where they reminded me of Head of David. Still, I don’t think this one will stay in the collection.

For the concerned grammarians in the house I want to point out that the proper spelling of feedtime is with a lowercase f.

feedtime at Wikipedia

White Zombie — Soul Crusher

The article on Wikipedia about White Zombie lists Soul Crusher (1987) as their first full length record, but there were a few EPs before this. I had one with a black and white cover, but I think I sold it when I had my own record store. I had read about them in Maximum Rock and Roll and decided to buy it when I saw the record at a store in NYC. Even though I knew better I decided to buy another White Zombie record, today’s offering.

This stuff is nothing like the stomping-metal-disco-monster-movie-rock that made the band famous. Their early work is more noise art than metal, although Soul Crusher did begin to introduce something akin to riffs. Still, it can be hard to listen to. I used to enjoy extreme music just because it was extreme, new, different. Nowadays I need something else, or more. The psychedelic album cover might make you think “stoner metal,” but don’t be fooled. This music is closer to Pussy Galore or the most irritating Sonic Youth than Black Sabbath. Rob Straker’s vocals (he wasn’t calling himself Rob Zombie yet) sound like a more angry and annoying version of Mark Arm (Green River, Mudhoney).

I’m not likely to ever play this again, but I might keep it as part of the White Zombie collection.

10,000 Maniacs — In My Tribe

Not my thing, not my thing, not my thing… not my thing. Stop the “Peace Train” now and let me off. That’s actually a cover of a Cat Stevens song, but I think it might have been the biggest hit from this record. I know this isn’t “bad” music I just can’t bring myself to like it. It’s a dirty job, but someone’s gotta do it. OK, maybe no one has to do this, but when I started this blog I committed to playing every record in our collection at least one more time and posting about it. We won’t be keeping this one. Mary doesn’t even know why she got their records in the first place.

10,000 Maniacs’ In My Tribe came out in 1987. I believe I heard Michael Stipe singing on one track.

R.E.M. — (Should We Talk About The Weather) Double Album Interview

The full title of this double album is, as best I can tell, (Should We Talk About The Weather) (Should We Talk About The Government). That’s how it’s written on the spine. It was a special promo for R.E.M.’s 1988 album Green, and was something sent to record stores and radio stations. On the back cover it says “This hour long interview with R.E.M. is divided into four quarter hour segments…” But here’s the downer: instead of the two different platters this copy was packed with two copies of record one. Record one side one is an interview with Peter Buck with a couple songs from Green, and side two, called “part 3” is an interview with Michael Stipe with a couple more songs. What about Mike and Bill? Bogus. It’s somewhat interesting listening to the band talk about their experience to that point. I’m sure fans would love it. If this was a proper set I’d be tempted to keep it, but it isn’t, so I won’t. The purge continues…

Pixies — Gigantic / River Euphrates 12 inch

Pixies. What a great band. I have to say that I don’t listen to their music a lot any more, but there was a time when I couldn’t get enough. This imported 12 inch is from 1988 and has studio versions of “Gigantic” and “River Euphrates” with live tracks of “Vamos” and “Heaven” on the flip. I suppose we’ll keep it, but there are quite a few Pixies records in the collection, some with the same studio cuts.

Most of the artwork on their record sleeves is strange, and in some cases disturbing. I’m not sure what’s going on with this one. I’m sure somewhere there’s an in depth article on this topic. I’ll do more research on the next Pixies post.

More about the Pixies at Wikipedia.
More about “Gigantic”

Jeffrey Lee Pierce — Flamingo

• Artist: Jeffrey Lee Pierce
• Title: Flamingo
• Year: 1985
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 4
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: No idea

Arty doesn’t always equate to interesting and noise is no substitute for real intensity. I was big fan of Gun Club, but this solo EP from Jeffrey Lee Pierce just doesn’t cut it. By the third track Mary mentioned “he’s doing a little bit of everything.” I wish he had focused on music like “Love & Desparation” from the second side instead. That’s a great song, but most of this is annoying noodling around that shouldn’t even qualify as B-side filler.

New Order — Shellshock 12 inch

• Artist: New Order
• Title: Shellshock
• Year: 1986
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 7
• Owner: Mary
• Acquired: 1987? – Plan 9

We seem to have an endless supply of 12 inches. Almost all of them are Mary’s; she’s quite the completist collector. Here is another piece of pop art from New Order. This version of “Shellshock” is almost 10 minutes long. “Original version appears on the original picture soundtrack Pretty in Pink” is printed on the typically minimalist back cover. The flip side has an instrumental version of “Thieves Like Us.” Why do we keep these things? Is my wife leading a secret second life as a DJ for ’80s dance parties?

More data

Masters of Reality — Masters of Reality

• Artist: Masters of Reality
• Title: Masters of Reality
• Year: 1988
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 7
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 1988
• Keeper: Yes

I was thinking this record was on the Delicious Vinyl label, but this is the original release which came out on Rick Rubin’s Def American. Turns out Delicious signed Masters of Reality and re-released their eponymous debut a couple years later. It’s better than I remember. There’s a weird vintage rock and roll vibe, but that’s how it sounded 20 years ago when it was new. It reminds me of Cream with a dash of Queens of The Stone Age. And there are in fact real connections to those bands. Ginger Baker would later play with the group, and singer Chris Goss has a side band with Queens front man Josh Homme.

Delicious Vinyl has one of the coolest logos of all time, but I dig the industrial looking Def American graphic on the liner pictured below.

More about Masters of Reality.

The Leaving Trains — Fuck

• Artist: The Leaving Trains
• Title: Fuck
• Year: 1987
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 6
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 1987 – Promo at Mother’s Records
• Keeper: Maybe

I apologize. And with that out the way let’s talk about the only record I have by The Leaving Trains that I didn’t buy. This one must have been a promo we got when I worked at a chain record store in a shopping mall. You can see from the last pic that the label, SST, ran a display contest. “Win a Plane Trip to a Trains Show.” I guess back in 1987 that would have motivated some folks, but there is no way a chain store in the mall was going cover a wall with record cover reprints, or “flats” as they were called, of an album titled Fuck that just happened to have “FUCK” printed big and bold on the front.

A couple decades later a title like that seems more like a cheap attention-getting gimmick than it did to me at the time. It might work now, but I’m pretty certain this did nothing to help them sell records then. It’s not my favorite of the three LT records I have, but there are some great garage-punk-rock, body-moving songs on this album.

Are The Leaving Trains still making music? I can’t tell.

The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion — Orange

• Artist: The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
• Title: Orange
• Year: 1994
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 9
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 1994 – Maybe Plan 9 in Richmond, VA
• Keeper: Yes

“The Blues is number one. The Blues… is number one.”

Oh man I love this record. I can thank Bob Schick for turning me on to Orange. He told me to listen to the “fast violins” in the extended intro to “Bell Bottoms.” And the violins do indeed make it special. It sounds like an intense orchestral score in lockstep with a minimalist art rock blues trio, complete with some chanting, shouting gang vocals near the end. That’s how the album opens and I can’t imagine it being any better, but my favorite song on the record is the second one, “Ditch.” It has a great guitar hook that makes me want to get down in the ditch with them and start digging.

The band shortened their name to just Blues Explosion a few years ago, but I keep this record under “S.” Jon Spencer’s earlier band Pussy Galore did nothing for me, and to some degree I’m still surprised that the smart-ass vibe of JSBX doesn’t take the steam out of music. But believe me it doesn’t.

Check out some songs from The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion at their MySpace, especially “Bell Bottoms.”