Polyzylons & RIP Heather Russell

It's already been two months now since Heather Russell of Kansas City passed away at a young age, due to cancer. I wanted to post this as soon as I heard about it, but my ability to be emotionally articulate in print seems to be getting more difficult all the time. So here's what you get.
I knew Heather from the Iowa City music scene in the late 90s, and particularly from Polyzylons, the band she was in with (then boyfriend, later husband) Bill Cave, another friend of mine. I never knew Natalie, the other bandmate, that well.
Polyzylons were a revelation to me. It was the first time I ever felt like I could contribute to the local music scene by turning people on to something they wouldn't otherwise pay attention to. Most of my friends were townie metalheads & wierdos, into noise rock like Pussy Galore, Chrome, and stuff on AmRep, or else far-out chaos like Caroliner & Borbetomagus. Heather, on the other hand, was responsible for turning pretty much everyone in my circle on to Stereolab. I became a fervent Polyzylons promoter, hyping their shows to everyone I knew and playing them a lot on the pirate station I was involved with (ICFR- Iowa City Free Radio). It's probably delusional, but I'd like to think that I helped them gain some momentum in IC, at least. I don't believe they ever played anywhere else.
I think Polyzylons may have gotten together due to everyone working at the local Public Access TV (PATV) station. Musically, it's just incredibly delicate, haunting stuff, seemingly outside of any time frame. It holds up for me now just as much as it did then. In fact, I had melodies from this recording stuck in my head for weeks after pulling it out of storage & hearing it again after so many years.
I burned this straight off the cassette, and may not have the right breaks for each song. In fact, there's 3 or 4 songs that definitely got lumped together in the same track because I didn't want to chance making abrupt cuts. Everything's in the .zip file, link to be found at the bottom of this post. And yes, the furry blue feather in the scan was also included in my cassette. Hope you enjoy it.
-DCat

RIP Heather

ACE IN THE HOLE

Hey! I wanted whoever still pays attention to this blog to know about a side project of RF Nihilon- www.nmbands.com. It mostly focuses on upcoming music events in the ABQ/Santa Fe area, but now also has a page devoted to the latest "Ear to the Underground" compilation, featuring all-local bands that played live on KUNM's Music to Soothe the Savage Beast show.
You may recall the first compilation, posted on this blog many months ago.
There's also a link to download the latest comp. for free, right here: 
 http://www.mediafire.com/?3xfexxd7il63h2t 
The actual page, with all the info & other goodies, is here:
http://nmbands.com/Ear_to_the_Underground
The compilation is called "Ace in the Hole"

Hope you enjoy it!
DCat

W. Texas DIY: Age of Giants & Steven Drew Poeling

These recordings are from video that Brad Ivens shot of DIY shows around 2002-2003.
The first is from Age of Giants, when they were on tour with Fukrot (pre- Roñoso) and playing the Rock'n'Roll Taco in El Paso, Mar. 16, 2002. Age of Giants was: Drake Hardin- gtr, "Big" Scott Williams- vox/trumpet, "Little" Scott Lunson- drums, & Alan George Ledergerber- bass. They were all W. Texas transplants to ABQ, and lived in a house on Buena Vista called (obviously) the Texas House, which also hosted lots of shows. Everybody in that band has continued to do amazing things in the music & art scenes, both in this town and around the world. Age of Giants might've been labeled "screamo" back then, when it wasn't such a bad word. Definitely, there was a lot of At the Drive In influence for these guys, having grown up so close to El Paso. But there was probably a good deal of The Cancer Conspiracy in there as well, and just good ol' DIY hardcore. The vocals are a bit buried, but that's just the way it was live. The sound quality on this is pretty damn good though. Many thanks to Mark Beyer for transferring this audio, and definitely look up other videos of Brad's at http://www.youtube.com/user/brianislands.

Track 2 is from a show at the Texas House on a beautiful summer night, August 10, 2002. Lubbock friends Steven Drew Poeling & partner Melanie Chaffin played a set of simple guitar & drums ditties; charming & whimsical and sublime. We've been trying to get them to come back here ever since.
I understand that this same house is now home to other ABQ musicians and partiers, most notably Adobe Homes. Good on ya kids, but it's always gonna be the Texas house to me. This is one of my best memories of the place.
DCat

Have a soak in the nostalgia bath

 PS- anyone that remembers the song titles or other info for these sets, lemme know or post them in the comments.

Ear to the Underground vol. 1

This is the original "Caterwaul Sessions" compilation put together in 2005, of excerpts from performances by local bands that played live on KUNM's "Music to Soothe the Savage Beast" show, for which I'm an alternating host. (Vol. 2 now availble at http://nmbands.com/Ear_to_the_Underground !!)
Included in this post are scans of the artwork & other inserts, including all the clever things I wrote about each band and the sessions they came from. Oh well. I forgot to include them in the .zip file so you'll just have to look at them here. These were painstakingly handmade and placed into several hundred scavenged jewel cases over the course of about 5 years, which is how long it took to get rid of 1000 discs. Classic beginner's mistake: getting a thousand because the price per disc is so much cheaper, then realizing there's a very limited market for them.

 

other notes to be added as I remember stuff.

Enjoy!

DCat

Dutch Treats: The 'Suck It' Sessions

What to say about John 'Uncle Sloppy' Freeman and the 'Suck It Sessions'...
In Denton, TX circa '96 or '7, there were few greater rock n roll forces than the ubiquitous John Freeman. The roster of bands that he has fronted is immense. We could begin with the art rock supergroup Dooms UK, which was spearheaded with accordion wizard Corn Mo (http://cornmo.com/), who fronts .357 Lover and is a whole other story. The genres of his bands spanned faux-German new wave in Telethön to shock-based motopunk in the group Meat Helmets. The first incarnation of the former found Freeman in a white lab coat presenting songs such as 'There is a Man Made Virus Loose in Sector 9' played on various lo-fi casios. All songs lovingly done in full character, complete with German articulation. Uncle Sloppy also fronted the Meat Helmets, which was a nutzo artpunk outfit where all members (including both bass guitars) delivered mock bone-crushing anthems such as 'Everyone is Going to Die' and 'I Jack Off on You', decked out in motorcycle crash helmets adorned with ground beef.
Which brings us to the Dutch Treats. On any given night of the week in the late 90s you might find John doing some variation of this solo project in any number of the dank Denton venues at the time. He was fucking relentless! He was a one man rock n roll army 'just following orders' from the arena rock show going on in his head. He's the only performer I ever recall to use impromtu vomiting as a riff onstage during a guitar solo. Luckily it was on the short-lived outdoor stage at the Argo, but he came right back to the mike to finish 'The Tree Will Grow, Where the Giant Blew His Load', to receive a standing ovation from all ten of us sitting on the lawn at the time. Anyway, he's still around so I'm going to stop talking about him like he's dead or something. He's a man of many talents - his comics are fucking hilarious and I implore you to browse the list of 1,500 or so bands that he has names for, but has yet to start. Visit http://www.sloppyworld.com/.
The 'Suck It Sessions' features some of John's most fundamental song subjects and seeming obsessions - among these, we find drugs, Little People in their many forms and fashions, hermaphrodite porn and various prurient sex practices, 80's sitcom child (and otherwise short statured) actors, and something else important that I know I'm forgetting. This album also features several entirely gutted and reworked covers by George Michael, Bette Midler, Prince and even Juice Newton. Freeman loves his 80's culture, but I assure you these transmutations are just as powerful, endearing and insulting now as they were back then. Being a musician of prolific output, I believe this album (transferred from a lo-fi cassette) was recorded only in a day, but I could be wrong about that. His music enjoys quivering and sometimes squealing, high pitched, vocal stylings, an open E guitar tuning and really wrong headed humor. For comparison he's the degenerate lo-fi little brother of Geza-X.
-fredricksbrooke

Dutch Treats - sounds disgusting, but is completely delicious.
Bon Apetit!

Public Elected Official

public elected official - "an inscrutable gesture"

I found this CD in the Mystery Media Free(k) Box* a few years ago, and it is still a favorite local find of mine. I looked up p.e.o. on myspace and commented to that effect, and about having played it on the radio a few times. I got an appropriately inscrutable response (“Thank you kindly”), which added to the intrigue. The cover, above, is a color photocopy folded into the CD case.

The sounds are very electronic. It's often hypnotic, occasionally harsh &/or squelchy noise, and packed to the gills at 79:25 TRT. It's likely a one-person endeavor, but any speculation is pointless as the project has an aesthetic that nearly erases affect- there's almost nothing to go on by way of voice, gender, opinion, or even personality. It's a bit cold in that respect, but I like it. The imagery to be found on p.e.o.'s page confirms that vibe:


I recently asked The Official about posting the music on RF Nihilon, and got this response:

There is no copyright on any p.e.o. stuff. It is for anyone who wants it. Use & or abuse as you see fit & many thanks for your respectful inquiries. Good day to you.

And a good day to you!
DCat

* The Free(k) Media Box is a recycled newspaper dispenser in the alley between the 200-blocks of Cornell & Stanford Ave. SE in the UNM area of Albuquerque, chained up to a powerline pole.
This means that the alley containing the Freek Box is PARALLEL to Cornell & Stanford, and can be accessed from Silver or Lead.
Inside, one may find (or leave) a wealth of oddball media- books, zines, outdated computer media, stickers, propaganda, all manner of audio/video formats, flyers for upcoming events or material for your next collage.