Good bad Music for bad, bad Times!

Just received this link from Jeroen and I thought I once again had to make things clear about the pressings of the SIEGE bootleg:

100 copies were made of each color, a handful were on brown wax, 4 testpressings on black. Then Thomas Mölch pressed another 200 copies on yellow wax, with properly printed labels and behind the backs of everyone.

Poor soul who paid so much money for this on ebay. I sent the seller a message and will include it here once (if) I get an answer, because I’m sure he knew it wasn’t true with the 20 copies.

Proceed to the SIEGE post here.

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If I remember correctly from “Lipstick Traces on a Cigarette”, Greil Marcus drew a line from the performances in the legendary «Cabaret Voltaire» (located in Zurich and being visited by me tonight) to the swiss übergirl band KLEENEX. Well, this put aside, 60 years after the short, loud explosion of Dada, KLEENEX indeed played in a league of their own. Check out the two links below for more.
The two songs on this 7″ have got to be heard to believed (again). Incredibly catchy, bubbly, subversive, original. I remember how some of the older buddies of mine at that time used to smoke dope in the small café next to the village’s shabby strip club and one of the very very few young women there had simply smuggled this 7″ into the jukebox: You pressed some cheesy Uriah Heep song and KLEENEX’s “You” would play and we all were happy.
The fantastic cover artwork is by Peter Fischli, of course. Of course.

Check out the first KLEENEX 7″ here.
Here’s what happened to KLEENEX after they had to change the band name to LILIPUT.

You.mp3
Ü.mp3

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I bought this tape in some record store with a air conditioner of the size of a jumbo jet somewhere in Florida in 1986, because of the band name and the cover. When I took it back to the flat of Kam Lee & Rick Rozz (formerly of DEATH, at that time active in MASSACRE) to play it, everybody was having a good time.

I’m afraid I don’t know much about DEAD. This tape sure was one of the highlights in the campaign of the destruction of music by means of traditional rock instruments (which is probably not the same as the “campaign of musical destruction” by LÄRM). I’m pretty sure this fascinate some of this blogs readers. I mean, it does sound evil. The vocals, the vocals. Makes Norwegian Black Metal sound like Janis Joplin. If you can’t sit through this, you’re a fucking wimp. The excessive intro is from “2001″, isn’t it? The good old movie-soundtracks-intro-times, where have they gone? And where is my Necrophagia “Death is Fun” demo?
Please fill us in with more about DEAD, if you know other than what’s easily googlable (and that’s not much, really).

“Recorded in a House”. Priceless.

[Intro separated[.mp3
Azathoth.mp3
Chopper.mp3
Dead.mp3
Mephestopheles.mp3

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Long before Jello Biafra was “too drunk to fuck”, Bon Scott sang about getting carried home by a woman not quite as drunk as himself. She “ain’t no lady but sure got taste in men”. Say no more, say no more.
Need more proof that AC/DC used to blow every band everywhere out of the water when Bon was still among the living? Check out the band’s immortal “Let there be Rock” LP, from which the a-side song “Dog eat Dog” originates. Songs like “Go down” or “Overdose” have never stopped to excite me to filthy, obscene, revolting levels of complete loss of all self-respect.

This monster of a song “Carry me Home” has never been offically re-released and is to be found exclusively on this very hard to find 7″. I heard several bootlegs of this, they all sounded like shit. Something had to be done about this.
The exact story behind this song has yet to be revealed, at least to me. It sounds like an unfinished track, a bit like the material on that “Volts” CD in the “Bonfire” Box, but whereas these tracks there are kinda dull, this rips and roars. Some sources say it comes from the “Powerage”, others from the “Let there be Rock” sessions.
Rarely has Bon been so present in a song like in “Carry me Home”. The lyrical content, the out-of-control joy and lust for life of “Carry me Home” and the general rawness are probably the reason why this remains one of the very few un-re-released original AC/DC recordings (the insane live version of “Dirty deeds done dirt cheap” on some Ooostralia only comp LP comes to mind).
This posting has been inspired by the drunk women of the past month, wine, beer, cigarettes, silliness, headbanging and finally a fine AC/DC homage by Justin.

Dog eat Dog.mp3
Carry me Home.mp3

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«These are the rules:
First you go to school
then you get yourself a wife
and work for the rest of your life.»

To-the-point Hardcore from when this music still had relevance. In your fucking face power and aggression, no kidding around, serious shit. B.G.K. was one of the angriest bands I’ve seen live: The energy level was on top, they ripped through their set with ferocity and passion and never without a bit of self-irony. Hardcore died a rapid and fairly well deserved death in the years of decline in 1986 and overall has been nothing but a ludicrous attempt in history re-enactment ever since. What a pity actually: The late 70s / first half of the 80s had a massive impact on the life of so many, even though the majority followed the quoted “Rules” above. I didn’t and sometimes, with all the doubts and second thoughts that follow like a shadow, I’m happy that I’m not the only one. How bizarre to expect nothing else from life than empty formulas such as happiness, success, wealth, harmony, peace and quiet, be that in marriage, family, job, religion, ideologies or else. Fuck it all, to hell with it!

Thw complete B.G.K. discography has been re-released on Alternative Tentacles. It’s well worth having. The first LP is very much in the same vein as this, a smoker from a to z, but the second LP “Nothing can go worng” is where it’s at, really.
Don’t just download music – support those who made and make culture happen by buying official releases!

Gone mad.mp3
Action Man.mp3
Kids for Cash.mp3
Crime pays.mp3
Rules / White male Dumbiance.mp3
Bite the Hand that feeds.mp3
Follow the Trend.mp3
Untitled.mp3

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I must admit, I feel a bit dumb ripping and posting this, because I’m sure it’s been widely spread, but when I checked Amazon, I saw that it was not physically available anymore. And since two of the great blogs out there recently had their own little share of CIRITH UNGOL’s timeless efforts, I just had to follow up with this one. And guys – it’s on Enigma Records, MODERN WARFARE and such.

CIRITH UNGOL were first exposed on the legendary METAL MASSACRE comp. I will never forget how completely floored I was when I heard “Dead of the Sun” on MM. It was and still is a miracle how a band was able to combine both, aggression and fantasy-metal in such a perfect manner. Of course it’s the screaming tornado vocals of singer Tim Baker that made the difference. This man really had a class of his own.
Aesop from Cosmic Hearse hit the nail right on its head: “The term “cult band” here means that nobody gave a fuck when they were around, people even hated them, but now everyone claims to have been on board since the beginning.” That’s exactly how I remember it. A lot of people from the scenes I knew downright hated CIRITH UNGOL and many of them were NWOBHM fans. It wasn’t so much “Frost & Fire” really, because at least in good ol’Europe this album had been tough to find – it was mainly “King of the Dead”. I remember one particular guy who said it’s a crying shame a band capable of writing such songs would destroy them with a singer like Tim Baker. Man, I never got it. He IS perfect.
“King of the Dead” is a perfect album, absolutely flawless. The quality of the compositions is truely in its own league. Each and every song has that hard to describe aura of hanging in thin air, somewhere between classic rock, avantgarde and traditional Metal. It felt so perfect as a teenager to just spend whole weekends in bed, playing LPS like this up and down and reading all kind of fantasy books (like the incredible “Thomas Covenant” saga or, of course, Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” or the conan books etc. – I’m pretty sure John Scharpen can relate to this ).
The guitar / bass sound on “King of the Dead” has got to be heard to be believed; I don’t know how they managed to make the guitar sound like this, I’ve never heard anything like this – it sounds like the guitar had been recorded in a cement tube. The track on the Metal Massacre comp sounds even more so. And the tone of the lead guitar in the solo parts; this is just plain madness. I could suck up, shoot up, eat up this tone, I would never get tired of it, I would want to have this tone tranformed into a body, flesh and bones, and make love to it. To me, this unique sound experience was always a part of the mystery that lies around CIRITH UNGOL. And then the guitar solos: I know, there are still some dumbos out there who think guitar solos “suck maaaan”, but have they ever listened to what bands like CIRITH UNGOL are capable of pulling off with their instruments? This is not some pretentious pose, it’s just pure art and beauty. If this doesn’t touch you deep within then I can only feel sorry for you.

Here’s a photo of my house door. Spot the CU sticker?

What must be added is that the band members were extremely friendly folks. After “King of the Dead” was released in late 1983, I sent them my usual fan mail (and you can tell by my writing that I’ve never really grown out of the fan-thing, haha) – CIRITH UNGOL responded by sending me a massive package with T-Shirt and loads of stickers, buttons and posters. So I made my own little “King of the Dead” bills out of the stuff and plastered them everywhere, with that “Slushy Brain Production” logo of mine added proudly (well, I was young).
As I said before, not too many people liked CIRITH UNGOL in the first place, one notable exception being the folks in Hellhammer who were just about to create CELTIC FROST in the wake ofthe receiption of “King of the Dead”. Now guess where the “Frost” in the band name comes from? Exactly – the “Frost & Fire” album by CIRITH UNGOL.

This goes out to Dave who had the follow up to this, the often overlooked “One Foot in Hell” LP – and to all the headbangers and rivetheads out there.

Vinyl rip (with really rich and full sound, compared to the mp3 files I just downloaded to compare) of “King of the Dead” as one large .zip file (105 megatons). Greetings to CIRITH UNGOL.

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I heard the call for “more Hardcore” and the “D-Beat Hypothesis” by Stuart (check the comments section in the last post).
DISCHARGE were noise not music, a wise man once said – and that’s what we learn from this bootleg. Good Hardcore always sounds like “noise” to the innocent ear. Bands like DISCHARGE deflorated my ears back in the old days and however despictable the later “crust scene” has gotten, records like “Why” or “Hear nothing” are so massively brutal, it still scares me. What was wrong with these guys? That’s why they fell down  deep and deeper with every release following the first LP: They probably couldn’t take the inferno they had unchained anymore. Would that surprise you?

This bootleg was released by a member of a popular UK HC band ca. twenty years ago. As far as I remember, he had recorded the gig himself back in ‘83 and wanted to commemorate DISCHARGE with the release of this bootleg. I still have some extra copies of this limited edition release somewhere but I can’t find them at the moment.

“And children?” – “And children.”

Side A.mp3
Side B.mp3

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Another scorcher from the NWOBHM. Before the glorious days of internet, SPEED were one of the most obscure outfits you could think of, with this 7″ being so incredibly hard to find, not even the singer knew of its existence.

And the singer was, as you mst likely will know, Bruce Dickinson, former singer of the highly entertaining SAMSON. After Paul Di’Anno was sacked from IRON MAIDEN, Bruce Dickinson took over his job.
So how come this 7″ is (or was) so obscure? In 1997, Bruce explained the background of these takes in an interview:

“That’s [the SPEED songs, Admin] a studio recording from when I was still at college. The original SPEED had already formally disbanded by that time, but Noddy White asked me whether or not I’d come back and sing on this number, which he intended to record with a couple of his mates. So I agreed to help him out, and we even got as far as laying down a second track, a boogie number, the title of which I’ve forgotten [he means "down the Road", Admin]. SPEED were, even back then, a kind of NWOBHM outfit, we played PRIEST and STRANGLERS songs alongside our own material and toured in and around London in the late 70s.”

And the PUNK thing you can definitely hear on “Man on the Street”, a smoking hot Metalpunkpopsmasher of the master league. The boogie number “Down the Road” reveals a lot of Pub Rock charme once it’s halfway through. Road and Street – sounds like this was some sort of a concept mini album about ways and stuff.

It’s unclear how many copies were made of this 7″, but the recording date was 1978 and not 1979 and it was released in 1980, when the whole NWOBHM went off like a pissbag under a bulldozer. Quantities must have been fairly low however. This 7″ was impossible to find, one of the unholiest grails of NWOBHM and it wasn’t until recently that stock copies began to show up on Ebay. Apparently an ex-member has found a box of singles under his bed.

Down the Road.mp3
Man in the Street.mp3

PS: If you have subscribed to Goodbadmusic, you will from now on receive a notification email as soon as a new blog posting has been published. It doesn’t work and I don’t know why.

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Before there was SAVATAGE, there was AVATAR. When in mid 1983, SAVATAGE’s sole album “Sirens” was released and hit the stores, many simply did not not what to think of the music. On one hand, with groups such as SLAYER, METALLICA, HAWAII, EXCITER etc., SAVATAGE sounded kind of dated in comparison. The music was slow, the melodic vocals were very dominantly placed. It was very much on the NWOBHM side of things, yet there was something about it that we used to simply call “american”. I guess what we meant was the clear and sharp sound and a certain technical level that put them ahead of most of what had been swept into the record shops of the early 80s.
The band released this magnificient EP under the old monicker of AVATAR still, before deciding to go on under the banner of SAVATAGE. In 1984, when I originally bought the 7″, it was still available in record shops, so I decided to save some money for it (imports were really expensive at the time, though nothing compared to what you pay for this pearl nowadays, of course). The bands überhit “Sirens” on the 7″ sounds very much like the version on the aforementioned LP, b but it’s a little bit more stripped down. Totally great, if you ask me! And the KRAFTWERK-esque intro to “City beneath the Surface” is such a killer. “The Whip” is weak and the thin guitar sound don’t help on this one. The redone version on “Dungeons are calling” is much better from what I remember.
Recorded at Morrisound Recordings in Tampa, Florida and engineered by Jim Morris whose Death MEtal productions a few years later almost ruined a great genre.

The original pressing of 1000 (25 of which on yellow vinyl) has silver labels. There’s at least one counterfeit of it, which is made with a lot of love for details (it has even the curved top of the sleeve). It can only be told from the original due to the white instead of silver labels. Since I sold my original copy long time ago, I first bought a bootleg on ebay, because it had the curved top and I thought only the original had it. I first did not remember the silver label, but as soon as I found out, I was extremely pissed because the auction description had said it was the original I bought. I was very lucky to find a reasonably priced original pressing with the silver labels two weeks ago. So if anybody wants the counterfeit (which is rare too), drop me a line.

City beneath the Surface.mp3
Sirens.mp3
The Whip.mp3

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Imagine you’re sitting in a luxury loft. Designer furniture all around you. A big, big window. Sun slowly setting. Body parts at your feet. BOHREN & DER CLUB OF GORE deliver the soundtrack to this picture.

There used to be this crazy Hardcore Thrash band from Germany, called CHRONICAL DIARRHOEA, hailing from Mühleim an der Ruhr, one fucking shit hole of a place to live (at least that’s what Georg Kreisler said about the nearby city of Gelsenkirchen). They came out of the blue with their frenzy debut EP. The second EP, “Royal Carnage” was released on my old label and in between was a so-so LP. Then I lost touch with them. Some years ago, I heard they had a new band which was rumored to be totally weird. I didn’t care care. The 90s to me were a musical desert.
A few weeks ago, Thorsten sent me an email, saying how much he digs the blog (especially the Metal stuff) and that he’s the drummer of BOHREN & DER CLUB OF GORE. He wanted to send me the new CD when it’s out and I said, sure, you’re welcome, send it in, I like getting promos.

I didn’t know what to expect, but I certainly didn’t expect this. Cool Jazz, David Lynch-type soundtrack mayhem – I don’t know what else, all amalgamated into something wicked for which I hardly find the right words. All stretched out to the maximum, creating soundscapes, patterns, windows and above all a stifling atmosphere that weighs tons and tons, yet maintains a certain laxness. This laxness (“Lounge-feeling”) is what really makes BOHREN & DER CLUB OF GORE sound minacious and guileful. This is seriously disturbing.

Wonderful. I have found a new fave band! Thanks Thorsten!

The band’s homepage.
The label’s homepage.

The band is currently on tour and will play in Luzern Saturday 15. of November. Be there!

Karin.mp3
Welten.mp3

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