Coptic Light -- Coptic Light

Instrumental explorations from former members of Antioch Arrow, Bitch Magnet and Storm & Stress. Released in 2005. Should appeal to those of you who enjoy Laddio Bolocko, Hella, those instrumental Black Flag albums, etc.

VBR @ 192+ kbps

Claw Hammer -- Claw Hammer

More early '90s nostalgia for me. Claw Hammer always seemed to be opening up for whatever band I really wanted to see back then, so I kinda took them for granted. But this is some solid material here, and probably sounds better today than whatever the headliners were at the time. It's their debut full-length on Sympathy for the Record Industry from 1990. This album is sometimes called F.U.B.A.R., although I have no idea why.

192 kbps

Group Inerane -- Guitars from Agadez (Music of Niger)

So-called "world music" has always been something that sounds better to me in principle than in reality. So much of the supposed music of the world sounds like a slight sprinkling of non-Western elements (instruments, scales, etc.) on top of what is essentially Western pop music (or worse yet, new age-y schmaltz). It mostly bores the pants right off of musical aesthetes such as myself and those of you reading this. But that's not to say that there isn't genuinely great stuff out there.

Enter Sublime Frequencies, a record label founded by members of Sun City Girls. Their mission is to track down and then make available these musical gems from faraway lands untainted by Western sounds or commercial interests. This particular one comes to us from Niger, and while the sound quality is not great, it's nonetheless easy to imagine yourself in the middle of some massive desert gathering with ululating and dancing and Nigeri hooch, whatever form that may take. (If it sounds like I'm describing a rave, fear not -- there are no glow sticks or whistles or ravers to spoil the fun.)

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this one as much as I do.

320 kbps

L. Ron Hubbard -- Space Jazz: The Soundtrack of the Book Battlefield Earth

Jesus holy fuck is this one weird. OK, all people of faith are by definition insane, and all religions are equally wrong -- we can all agree on that. But after hearing this I'm forced to admit that some doctrines are more jaw-droppingly bizarre and further out of touch with reality than others. Here we have a record from Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard that defies description, and if he had sat in his room and recorded it by himself, we could all laugh it off as the work of an isolated madman. But no -- on this one he had help. Semi-respected jazz musicians Chick Corea and Stanley Clarke helped to realize this vision. How these guys were not laughed right out of the metaphorical room, along with John Travolta and Beck and Tom Cruise and all the others, is beyond me. And if you haven't pissed your pants or fallen out of your seat or ejected milk from your nose by track 4, Terl the Security Director, then perhaps you should join them.

P.S. -- "Credit" goes to Losty for turning me on to this.

192 kbps

DeSalvo post deleted

A representative from Rock Action Records requested that I remove the DeSalvo link, so I complied. If there are any other artists or labels out there whose music I've posted and who want the links taken down, just let me know and it will come down right away. I'm trying to help bands get exposure, but if they feel that it's hurting more than it's helping, I respect that. I may disagree, but that's another story.

xoxo

Circle -- Silver

Most of you have probably heard Finland's hypnorock group Circle, but perhaps not this 4-song EP of theirs from 1993. So get to it already.

320 kbps

Deep Turtle -- Satanus Uranus Tetanus

Sorry, I've gotten away from what should always be my main focus: Deep Turtle. Here's another 7'' of theirs, originally released in 1993, then re-released as part of the Rip-Off Dokumento retrospective. 4 songs. You need it.

256 kbps

Dawson -- Terminal Island

Continuing with the late '80s/early '90s Scottish punk theme, here's something from the band Dawson. I believe that this was their swan song, and it's a good one. Much like Stretchheads, these guys play with abandon, and were probably better live, but here in 2009 I guess we'll have to settle for this. It came from Soulseek, and it's the not the greatest rip, so if any of you has something better let me know.

192 kbps