Man or Astro-man? - A Spectrum of Infinite Scale (Japanese Bonus Tracks)

Here's two bonus songs from the Japanese version of A Spectrum of Infinite Scale. I found them in that torrent with the vocal version of Philip K. Dick.

From wikipedia: The Japanese version inserts two exclusive tracks, making "Multi-Variational Stimuli of Sub-Turgid Foci Covering Cross Evaluative Techniques for Cognitive Analysis of Hypersignificant Graph Peaks Following Those Intersubjective Modules Having Biodegradable Seepage" track 15.

13. Particles in Acceleration
14. Two Microscopic Creatures Meet, One Devours the Other

Man or Astro-man? - Philip K. Dick in the Pet Section of a Wal-Mart (Vocal Version)

Just found this in some torrent and thought I'd share.

From wikipedia: The back cover (of the Astro Launch EP) states that a secret vocal version of "Philip K. Dick" on cassette can be obtained from Man or Astro-man? for $1.

The quality of this is pretty poor but I think that's how it's supposed to be. There's a short intro from Birdstuff explaining how this is "straight off the 7 inch as I've lost the DAT master" and to remember that "you only paid one dollar." Then the song starts in the background and he sings over it.

"Take a look at the algae meters. It's unethical."

Squid Vicious - At War With the Whale

"Finally, a whole CD from Austin's Squid Vicious. Mostly studio instro tracks, augmented by a few live and vocal cuts. The Squids just keep getting better and better! Original ideas, and no fear of variant style mergers. Vocals here include live takes of Casino Royale, Allison's Off The Wagon, and Brian Setzer's Fishnet Stockings."
- Phil Dirt (Reverb Central)

"Fourteen edgy surf tunes flavored with fuzz, punk, spy, and spaghetti. Plenty of Shadowy Men influence, too. How can you go wrong?"
- Deep Eddy Records

This was posted a long time ago on Ride Your Pony/Twilight Zone. Back before it was shut down and the new blog was started. I haven't seen it posted anywhere since then so here it is.

1. Deep Eddy
2. Hombrecito
3. No, Mr. Bond. I Expect You to SURF!
4. Squid Racer
5. Casino Royale (Live)
6. Egypt Texas
7. Allison's Off the Wagon
8. Backburner
9. Armadillo Races
10. Velvet
11. Bandera!
12. Skankin' Eddy
13. Wade in the Water
14. Fishnet Stockings (Live)

Orgone Accumulators - Good Advice

"It's been a couple of months since the Orgone Accumulators - Wilhelm Reich And Roll EP was presented to the general public and since then the Fifth Neuro Orgone Research Department has been a hive of activity. The research into the alien communications from Sirius has been incredibly successful and we can now announce the publication of the past few months results:-

ORGONE ACCUMULATORS - GOOD ADVICE EP

Four more tracks of sci fi surf techno including a version of Walk Don't Run by The Ventures. As we already know, many of these communications were beamed from the past and The Ventures certainly must have had some knowledge of how to intercept and translate them. We still haven't worked out how Chet Atkins came to be the first person to translate that particular alien communication as there does not seem to be any hint of ESP or suchlike in the rest of his catalogue. If anyone does have any theories please get in touch with us. Walk Don't Run is, of course, a fine piece of advice and it turns out that the other recently translated Sirius communications are also instructions on how to lead a better life - Don't Panic, Keep Calm And Carry On and Never Whistle While You're Pissing. All fantastic pieces of good advice.

The EP can be downloaded from - http://www.mediafire.com/?zroynlzozv5"
- From the band's MySpace page (link)

Brandonio posted their first EP on his blog (link) a few months ago so go over there and download that if you like this.

1. Don't Panic
2. Keep Calm and Carry On
3. Walk Don't Run
4. Never Whistle While You're Pissing

Monster Zoku Onsomb! - Earth Eaters

"The Monsters third full length release is certainly not for genre purists. To create EARTH EATERS, MZO have moved beyond just splicing and dicing samples and mashups, with Miss P. Leisure securing the mic and creating a new sound using the very strangest of vocal effects. They still retain their samplistic roots with plenty of bashment & retrodelic rollers, but add super futuristic basslines, beats which are unrelenting and lyrics about body implants, circuit bending and dancing in the nude to create the sound that is uniquely their own.

Put simply, MZO bring the party to any planet of sound that you happen to inhabit."

This is the earlier version of an album that was posted a couple days ago on EL BLOG DE SHOCK. The tracklist is different and there are three extra songs.

1. Suicide Sine Wave
2. ExterminAPE
3. Drag Stripper
4. Earth Eaters
5. Munket
6. Children of the Atom
7. Scathing Beauty
8. Matterhorn Stab
9. Frankin'stein
10. XYLOPHOBIA
11. Raggiddim
12. LA VIDA ME SONRIE LA HIJA DE PUTA
13. Peace Flowers
14. Team Siouxsie
15. Russian Vodka Party

Just a reminder...

Just wanted to remind you guys that The V.C.s' first LP comes out today. Somebody buy it and send me a copy because I'm broke.

EDIT (07/09/09): Forget about sending me a copy, I just bought it. You should still buy yourself a copy though.

EDIT (07/17/09): In case you still haven't bought this yet, you can now stream the entire album here.

EDIT (08/17/09): Bad news. The band has broken up... again. Read more here.

Press release:

"New wave surf poppers, The V.C.s, release their first new material in 3 years with the launch of their new album, Play It Like You Mean It on Monday 6th July 2009. After reuniting in May of last year, the band has been working on brand new material with the clear intent of showing themselves as they are right now and with the help of producer, John Kettle of Jaraf House Studios, they have managed to deliver an album full to the brim with deliciously catchy pop. “Play” being the operative word, this album shows a band having mouthful-of-sweets-and-cola-jumping-on-a-trampoline kind of fun!

Coming from Manchester & Wigan, UK, The V.C.s have made a name for themselves playing intense surf pop reminiscent of The B-52’s, Pixies and DEVO. Led by lead singer and guitarist, Joe Oxley, the band solidified their sound with the sci-fi synthetics and theremin playing of Matt Buck; the wired punk bass guitar and super soft vocals of Saff Swinscoe and heavy hitting drums of Pete Gray. This sound, coupled with an aesthetic torn from late 70’s British school’s television programming and sci-fi comics, The V.C.s have cut a strong identity for themselves.

With shows planned in July and August, the band will be taking the album to audiences across the UK. With the album released on iTunes, CD and Limited Edition Cassette on Monday 6th July, they’ll be giving a live performance and album playback at Manchester’s Tiger Lounge on Tuesday 7th July."

Spoon's Earlier Projects

These are all the miscellaneous songs I've collected from Spoon's earlier projects. Some of it you might like, some you might not. Whatever. You'll maybe probably definitely like Andy Asteroid though.

Andy Asteroid - surfy space-rock, very Man or Astro-man?-esque
- 60,000 Cycles
- Surfari
- The Xenophobe (live)

Hoomdorm - post-punk, shoegaze, kind of poppy
- Safe Inside (Acoustic)
- The Fall Guy

Spoondorm - "old or brand new Hoomdorm demos/conceptual pieces/live recordings"
- A Drowner Sounding (live)
- Creep (live)
- Frank Sinatora
- Happy Where You're At
- One Less Than One (Old Hag Syndrome)
- Starfrost
- The Fall Guy (Original Version)
- The Underground Greeting Card Company

The Cosby Kid Mysteries - noise
- Cannot I Also Have a Forehead?
- Dusty Chocolate
- I Slipped On My Slippers
- I'll Meet You at the Tastee Freeze!
- Yul is Cool

The Swirlpool - noisy shoegaze
- A Nothing
- Falling Through
- Seasons in the Sun
- Slow Song Number One
- Taken by the Sky
- Takes It's Time
- The Drowner
- When You Sleep

We Miss the Earth - Misc.

Here's some more post-punk/shoegaze goodness from We Miss the Earth.

- Back in the Sun
- Goodbye Horses
- Incentive
- Modern Violence
- Now You Know
- Pulling My Stitches
- Silencer

We Miss the Earth - A New Silent Era

"Meet my new favorite band from Los Angeles. They are called We Miss The Earth and they are forging a new blend of influences that sounds fresh. With a sense of urgency, fragility and introspection their music channels frustration and heartbreak into a tightly wound beast of musical ferociousness while retaining its heart on its sleeve. What's even more amazing than the music is the fact that this band is really just one person in that all the music was written, recorded and performed by one man. His name is Spoon.

Leading this sonic assault with reckless abandon on guitar that ranges from fuzzed out washes of feedback enveloping your eardrum to minimal dissonant & discordant notes floating in the atmosphere he lays down a deadly venom with each and every note that floats through the ether. Combine that with a sometimes disheartened and distressed vocal delivery reminiscent of Jim Reid & Adrian Borland, he drives the songs straight into your head and heart. Not content to rest on his shoegazing laurels He adds just the right amount of atmosphere and eerieness on the Moog Prodigy & Korg MS-10 synths. In fact, hearing his synth playing on this record really reminded me of two things. One was that absolutely nothing beats the warmth and tonality of an analog synth and two was that I wish there were more bands who used synths to flourish their music melodically instead of with just cold sterility. Spoon does just that on this record and it really takes the quality and mood of every track to a whole other level of atmosphere. Lastly, the bass playing on this record is fucking brutal. On every song Spoon just cuts through and smacks you around with precision and force yet perfectly complementing the various highs and lows of every note in each song whether restrained or full on.

This EP is nothing but 8 songs of pure chaos and despair refined into a perfectly executed story of personal angst. With an eerie and anxious mood surrounding the whole record one is really left with a sense of what it feels like to live inside the agitated psyche of anyone who has ever been disaffected with life. Where most bands will end up coming off as "woe is me" whiners, those who have always made great post-punk music have always found a way to express their dissatisfaction with everything that is not right about life without ever coming off like they never wished for something more than this. Essentially that is what makes for the most powerful musical connection between artist and appreciator. With that in mind you will find that We Miss The Earth are right there with you if you have ever been knocked down in the gutter. But beneath that feeling of frustration, they are urging you to stare at the stars - if only before you get knocked down again, as the magic is always in the moments between the monotony."
- Andru Aesthetik, Post-Punk.com

I don't know why this review says 8 songs, there are only 6. Maybe it's a typo or maybe the review is for a different version of the album.

1. Life and Limb
2. Colossus
3. Kill Cupid
4. Voices in the Dryer
5. Reception
6. Cellmate in Heaven

Kill Memory Crash - American Automatic

"Steeped in the shadows of Chicago, Kill Memory Crash follow 2003’s When the Blood Turns Black with their first full-length, American Automatic, ushering in a new era of industrial music with a calculated assault on the post-Warp electronic scene. Each song on American Automatic develops the band’s exploration of the prickly outer edges of human psychology and neurosis, building a formidable musical arsenal.

“Riyout” sets the album’s pace with a blaze of serrated rhythms and a darkly cinematic push. “Never Forget” (the first single) epitomizes the duo’s sound with a storming fusion of programmed and live drums that underscores razor-edged synthesizers and an echoed vocal mantra. At the core of the band’s electronic impetus is “Crash V8” (the second single), an unexpectedly poignant reflection on contemporary social anxiety that could easily rise to become an anthem for the disenfranchised. “Battery” bears the brunt of the group’s rock aesthetic, thick with the schizophrenic twitch of a wracked mind, set to flanging klaxons and fuzzed guitars. Through all this, Kill Memory Crash maintain a versatility within their well-established means, becoming all the more enticing.

The air of mystery about American Automatic is nearly tangible, underpinning the album’s highly relevant focus on the darkness of the modern era. As such an affecting and rejuvenating fusion of rock, electro, and industrial styles, American Automatic will leave an indelible mark not only on the psyche and the dancefloor, but also on the scene from which it was born."
- Ghostly International

1. Riyout
2. American Automatic
3. Crash V8
4. Doorway Nine
5. UTIU
6. The O
7. Never Forget
8. Demento
9. Battery
10. Push