Nobunny

Not that it ever went away and maybe until recently I haven't been looking hard enough but the excellent marriage of lo-fi pop and garage seems to be in fine form this year. One case for both these points is the latest from Oakland's (via Touscon, et.al) Nobunny, entitled Love Visions. NB's been tearing at the fringes of scenes for years but it seems that with the popularity of gutter fuzzed punk ala In The Red/Siltbreeze and the rest of the nth wave of garage has brought deserving attention down upon the unshackled bubblegum scratch of Mr. Bunny's catchy as crap new record. Propelled by thrift store drum-machine beats and duct taped couplets of string strangled gutter-pop that'll have you bobbing your and more likely moving your feet; Love Visions is not one to miss out on. The original pressings of the LP were swirled pink vinyl but it seems like those are long gone, pick up one of the standard black if you can. Ltd. 1000.

Download:
[MP3] Nobunny - I Am A Girlfriend
[MP3] Nobunny - Boneyard

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

These things just keep coming and they keep getting better. The third installment in the Jay Reatard singles collection and this one's spiffed up on clear/splattered vinyl!

	Jay Reatard - Always Wanting More b/w You Mean Nothing To Me 7" Each one of these that flies out of the doors leaves me with a greater feeling that this upcoming collection is going to be one of the greatest releases out this year.
Again both sides pumping the more melodic power pop instincts; riding high on synth and chugging strums rather than torn garage punk. Two short tracks, both sharing one side of this one; the first a sneering anti-love song with a classic Reatard chorus. The second is just as lyrically menacing with twirly keys and a pumping rhythm. The full length's not too far away but be sure to pick up the just released collection of singles that In The Red put out; absolutely essential if you missed the pre-Blood Visions singles. Download: [MP3] Jay Reatard - Always Wanting More Support the artist. Buy it HERE

Silver Summit

A concoction of hushed tones and boiled mysticism from this second Brooklyn entry into the ranks at Language of Stone. The duo have storied pasts, most seemingly out of tune with the bewitched folk they produce but their backgrounds in noise, composition and classical melt nicely into the formula that comes out as Silver Summit. The ethereal voice of Sandra Sun-Odeon adds yet another siren to LOS's ranks, her enchanting croon swimming eerily above a din of middle-eastern strings, burnt cedar guitars and watery pianos. And adding nicely to this mix are the heat strangled fingerplucked melodies of Shawn Bolser; running the length of your spine in tandem with Sandra's voice. This marks the first entry of the label into pressing vinyl and apparently if it sells well the others may get that treatment as well, so grab this on wax and encourage LOS to repress the back catalog as well. This is the kind of label that deserves the slow creep of needles in the groove.

Download:
[MP3] Silver Summit - The Door
[MP3] Silver Summit - Water's Edge

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

King Darves

An unexpectedly weathered take on the singer-songwriter/bedroom folk idiom outta the Destijl stables here. King Darves, despite the whisky and smoke cured croon that would beg otherwise, is a young New Jersian (that can't possibly be a word) who filters old soul touches and dare I say a bit of pop through the threadbare assembly of songs that is The Sun Splts For... The Blind Swimmer. The results are actually quite entrancing and dig deeper under your skin with each listen. The key to this seems to be the combination of the rich booming vocals that reach far beyond their years and the patchy beauty of Darves' songwriting. For a guy who has previously released records more steeped in dissonance than charm this record is a delightful surprise that ends up as enjoyably timeless as any long lost Mississippi blues gem.

Download:
[MP3] King Darves - All In My Sleep
[MP3] King Darves - Fishhook

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Endless Boogie

There's been no truer name for a band that I can remember in recent years than that of Endless Boogie. The veteran group has a reputation for playing live shows only when asked, a recording history that's virtually non-existent and a line-up that's littered with industry veterans (though not necessarily on the playing side). Despite this seemingly ragtag resume, Focus Level is just what the band's name promises; pounding, fevered, extended jams that burn with the hot tempered chooglin' soul of Classic Rock. This is a steamroller blowing the thick smoke of Creedence, Stack Waddy, Beefhart, Blues Creation and whatever other burnt embers of the 70's fall in its path.The fire that fuels this monster is all the more intense by the obvious joy that exudes from each note, each shuffling inch of boogie that rains down from the speakers. These are the sounds like a band playing for themselves, forgoing the fickle taste of music's current trappings and flaunting rock in the midst of a town that's long forgotten how to be moved by rock.

Download:
[MP3] Endless Boogie - Jammin' With Top Dollar

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

So as the month of June waxes on it feels like it's time to look back at the albums that spent the most time burning up the turntable here at RSTB headquarters. I've tried to rein it in, so these are the best of the rest from January to June. It's definitely been a good year so far I'd say. Can't wait to hear what the rest of '08 produces.


Celebration, Thomas Function's debut album is one of the most fun releases I've come across this year. Exuberant choruses, a penchant for 70's punk vocal inflections and downright catchiness are all in Thomas Function's corner. Mixing punk spirit with southern jangle-pop and blues into a tight squirming mess that tumbles out of your speakers in unabashed basement fervor.

Download:
[MP3] Thomas Function - Snake In The Grass


Support the artist. Buy it: HERE


Luminarium, the latest full length from Swedish trio Tape has me fully engrossed in its crystalline concoction of electronics and calm purposeful composition. Flecks of dubbed percussion and peacefully strummed guitar fold you into a state of glossy tranquility, but with a wonderful unease just below the surface. This is their best yet.

Download:
[MP3] Tape - Beams

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE



On Two Sides mines the very same nauseous deep space rot that his slew of 7 and 12"s laid down in the past year. Still chock full of drain pipe synths and tin-foil scorched vocals but with that ever-present burble of a catchy melody just brimming under the surface; each second of this album reverberates like tarnished chrome and nerve gas shocked into life by a low current bleed from bare wires. The releases from Blank Dogs just continue to get better and better.

Download:
[MP3] Blank Dogs - Ants

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE



No Age fully live up to the expectations that were set by last year's singles collection, Weirdo Rippers. This album is littered with fuzzed punk odes that fade into oblivion only to come hurtling back with teeth barred. Of all the noise coming out of the L.A. Smell scene these two are most definitely leading the pack.

Download:
[MP3] No Age - Teen Creeps

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE



Striking up a garage beat and burrowing through psych scorched vocals and a rag-tag bit of surf on the fringes, Masters Bedroom chugs on a full tank of propane. Dwyer and co. pump out garage stompers like the shit was made for them and honestly it makes me wonder what took him so damn long. The A.M. crackle of this album deserves to be tossed on and blared out of car speakers long after the drive-in closes but before the sun even thinks about rising.

Download:
[MP3] Thee Oh Sees - Ghost in the Trees

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE



The band's second album, Laulu Laakson Kukista continues on the same track they'd blazed with their debut; an equally varied collection of otherworldly Finnish folkisms and stuttered electronic charm. Looping like lost broadcasts echoed off wayward weather patterns, the album seems bound by neither by time nor sense of genre and yet it plays as seamless as if all this were the pop standard.

Download:
[MP3] Paavoharju - Tyttö Tanssii

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE



Novak's stripped down rock is deeply indebted to a Ramones style simplicity and a crux of New Wave/Power Pop hooks but its all waxed rugged with a sneer of youth. As catchy and energetic a record as you're likely to hear this year; Raised on the Ramones and reflected through Milk 'n' Cookies, its like distilling the sound of seventeen.

Download:
[MP3] Cheap Time - Glitter & Gold

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE



The band's sound is comes straight from the blood-stained garage but every once in a while just dipping their guitars into the ghosts of Metal's past. It's hard to capture the beast that is there live show on record but this'll do the trick in a pinch. This is the sound of sweat boiling under hot lights and its a glorious noise indeed.

Download:
[MP3] Monotonix - No Metal

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE



The enigma that is King Khan has been lurking around for years; and where his work with BBQ is all shuffle and blues, the Shrines bring out the King's true shades of SOUL. This is all the swagger, pomp and bended knee pleading you'll need to hear for the next 3 years. Whatever ghost haunts Khan's soul, it's a damned restless one indeed.

Download:
[MP3] King Khan & The Shrines - Torture

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE



Lindsay and Alexis Powell's voices intertwine and play off one another in that special way that only two members of the same family can achieve. On Come Arrow Come they wind and twist their way through breezy Americana with a touch dark maudlin wistfulness, choral folk that haunts like the ghost of forgotten yesterdays and just a bit of pure carefree pop. A beautiful record befitting of a home on Language of Stone.

Download:
[MP3] Festival - Valentine

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE



Feeling very much like an evening spent sitting in Cabic's living room listening to the kind of songs that can be played over and over; this release is almost autobiographical in nature. This album acts as a true curatorial project, it shows Cabic's personal taste as much as it show's how those tastes are integrated into his songwriting and for the most part he makes each song his own leaving this collection with an uncanny resemblance to an album of Vetiver originals.

Download:
[MP3] Vetiver - Road To Ronderlin

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE



This fuzzed up scrap of plastic rounds up the some of the best of the Alps' limited wax, including The Soft Tour in Rough Form 12", Description of the Harbour 12" and that Strawberry Guillotine 7" plus the b-sides from the Semi-Streets 7". Though once they're compiled into one place they all seem to fold into one another inside waves of hiss and crumble, each release just a lost part of some other one. If you missed out on any of these releases the first time grab this and revel in the Alps' ramshackle glory.

Download:
[MP3] Sic Alps - Blues (with Tremolo and Distortion)

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE



Vertigo of Dawn is everything that his fleeting CD-r output promised, its full of dark, moody woven guitar tracks whose vocals resemble wordless chants more than true expressions; floating above the pluck and din of his music. The line between sinister and holy is definitely blurred through his music and Vertigo is without a doubt the best entry for anyone who hasn't yet been exposed to his craft.

Download:
[MP3] Ilyas Ahmed - Moon Falling

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE



Matched only by Afrirampo in terms of primal energy, Ponytail proceed tearing through the entire album like a furious 8 armed tornado of sound, squalor, hair and teeth. Bolsted on the strength of Siegel's brutal vocalizations, full of guttural growls and wordless squawks the album is both unhinged and propelled like a rocket through your conciousness. Good to see some kids doing it right.

Download:
[MP3] Ponytail - 7 Souls

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE



Often sounding like a Motown track with most of the elements stripped away; their minimalist soul stabs straight for the temple. It's as if they took away everything unnecessary and just kept the raw beating heart of the tracks; threw it on the table and recorded that. Somehow I'd never figured the tribal pulse of Sweden beat this hard.

Download:
[MP3] Wildbirds & Peacedrums - Doubt/Hope

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Matt Bauer

Following up on a woefully under heard EP, Wasps and White Roses, Bauer has more than outdone himself on his latest album. Revolving loosely around the story of a young woman found dead near Matt's home in Kentucky in 1968 but expanding into themes of life and loss; the natural transparency of beauty and humanity's fleeting grasp on the inevitability of death. Wrapped in Bauer's husk dry delivery and aided by his mournful pluck, The Island Moved In The Storm soaks through your consciousness like bourbon; sweet smoke fading into a satisfying burn that moves through every vein. As with his last offerings, the production is kept appropriately stark, though never barren. Again, as with his collaboration with Jolie Holland on the previous EP, Bauer enlists the aid of exceptional performers; with cameos from Mariee Sioux, Alela Diane, Angel Deradoorian (of Dirty Projectors), Elizabeth Dotson-Wesphalen (St. Vincent) and more turning up on The Island. This begins Bauer's reign over the singer songwriter idiom, and I truly hope that with this larger statement he finally draws the attention he deserves.

Download:
[MP3] Matt Bauer - Don't Let Me Out
[MP3] Matt Bauer - Rose and Vine

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Abandon Ship celebrates its transition into vinyl with a release of long lost gems from the camp of Starving Weirdoes. No too shabby if I do say so myself.

	Starving Weirdoes - Absolute Freedom 7" Harkening out of the murky past of Starving Weirdoes, these two tracks bump and scrape and nodules of ephemeral noise from years past. The A-Side whirls the room with clipped ambience scotch taped together
with tape hiss and huffing the glue that holds it together. The B-side flickers and melts like the burnt remains of plastic soldiers in a continual cadence towards sickening doom. A nice pair of unearthed ooze from the Weirdoes. Download: [MP3] Starving Weirdoes - Mt. Josephet Support the artist. Buy it HERE

Robedoor

Robedoor again mine the deepest caves of evil drone murk on their most aptly titled album Endlessly Blazing. This LP on the inimitable and quite honestly near infallible Woodsist imprint culls three more drones from the abyss courtesy of these Not Not Fun head honchos and cakes them with all the blackened soot and creosote that Robedoor usually trade in. Though the band approaches almost a traditional song structure on the album's closer, they don't exactly veer into any such catchy exploits just yet. Even this nugget of form is all pounding sweat and dark ominous treadings and if there was any doubt to the band's devotion to the slow creeping arm of death, one only need listen to the first two tracks; nothing quite says cheerful like a track titled "Reality is a Mausoleum." Doom never treaded such sinister waters as it has in Robedoor's hands. The band can build an atmosphere of post-apocalyptic menace like very few of their peers and that's exactly what I hope for going into any release by the group. This time, as is fitting for a release on Woodist, the band have wrapped things up in a stunning cover from Jeremy Earl; whose work is on par Shawn D. Reed as the best of the underground in terms of psych collage and aesthetic. Pick this one up as soon as possible and let it drain slowly at the edges of your tattered soul.

Download:
[MP3] Robedoor - Fire In The Hole

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Barn Owl

San Francisco's Barn Owl shift into heavier lysergic territory on their latest LP. Their first CD-r captured them in a haze of glossed sunlight but the group goes darker on this vinyl release for the NNF label. Grizzled and shrouded in graying clouds, the band rely more on drones with an underpinning of deep toned fuzz that cuts straight into the collective unconscious. From Our Mouths a Perpetual Light is still riding the desolate canyon vibe but mind you this is a much more sinister canyon than BO last rode through. The foliage is all but shriveled and ominous clouds hang ever present in the skies. The tones are dark and acridly sinister in the best of ways. A dustbowl psych album with a beautiful touch of despair. This band have a lot to offer and this installment into their catalog only proves it further. It seems that the band are ever evolving leaving me eager to see where their high plains sound will wander next. Limited pressing, grab this sucker on white vinyl while you can.

Download:
[MP3] Barn Owl - The White Mountain Filled With Light
[MP3] Barn Owl - The Last Parade

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Grouper

Liz Harris' latest record revives the Type records line up from their hiatus in fine fashion. Peeking forward out of the omnipresent fog that has typically shrouded her work; Harris' voice is gently lifted into the clearing making this her most expressive and emotional album yet. With a title like Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill I'd definitely gone in with dark expectations but it turns out just the opposite is true. This is the lightest and most deliriously dreamy Grouper album yet, and it just so happens that these are all pleasant dreams. With the gentle strums of her guitar and a clearer presence of melody you can really hear the songs that were always hiding in the murk of her previous work. This is probably one of the most gorgeous releases you're bound to hear all year long; achingly sweet, beautifully serene and wholly other. Harris has created the perfect departure from the musty sunlit chambers of her previous work, while still remaining true to the obscured reality she resides in. Absolutely an essential release this year!

Download:
[MP3] Grouper - Heavy Water/ I'd Rather Be Sleeping
[MP3] Grouper - A Cover Over

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Two heavy East Coast bands that both benefited from the producing hands of Warren Schatz and Stephen Schlaks. The producers were known for their work with heavy bands and their marks can be seen all over this pair.

	Yesterday's Children - Yesterday's Children This Connecticut group cut one garage single before they hooked up with the S&S production team. Turning their sound heavier, grittier and more expansive they fleshed out this classic album of beefy
rock tunes that unfortunately had little impact commercially. Rooted in a solid base of blues and aided by the able leads of Reggie Wright this probably could have made more of an impression; though the lack of a truly memorable single may well have also been a problem. Nonetheless the album is a solid rock work out and stands as a testament to the band's power. This has been given the ace reissue treatment by Akarma and is certainly worth it for the packaging as well as the contents. Download: [MP3] Yesterday's Children - Evil Woman [MP3] Yesterday's Children - Sad Born Loser Support the artist. Buy it HERE
	Wilkinson Tri-Cycle - Wilkinson Tri-Cycle Wilkinson Tri-Cycle combined a more melodic approach with flashes of heavy rock. They had the power behind them but were more prone to take excoursions into psychedelic imagery and softer moments
of balladry. Again the touch of Schatz and Schlaks can be heard in the production on this, the band's sole album. Taking their hand at blues classics like "Leaving Trunk", made famous by the great Taj Mahal, they handle them skill but not necessarily ingenuity. The variety of the album works well together, never really rutting into one sound for too long but keeping consistent through the ever-present blues rumble of David Mello's leads. A thoroughly enjoyable listen, though not necessarily a lost classic. Download: [MP3] Wilkinson Tri-Cycle - Leavin Trunk [MP3] Wilkinson Tri-Cycle - Antique Locomotives Support the artist. Buy it HERE

James Jackson Toth

Shedding the last remnants of his Wooden Wand persona, Toth builds further on the vibe he started on James and the Quiet; trading his shack burnt vagabond folk for more traditional songcraft and classic rock echoes. This record is the first that really bleeds through with Toth's Memphis surroundings. Definitely dappled in southern charm; with touches of Tom Petty on a few of the rockers and collaborations with wife Jex making for one of the most natural pairings since Gram Parsons and Emmy Lou. Waiting in Vain benefits from its communal and collaborative vibe. Toth brought in folk veteran and RSTB fave Shade Sartin (Giant Skyflower/Sky High Band) as bassist, featured guitar contributions from Nels Cline, Andy Cabic and John Dietrich, rounded things out with the organic percussion of Otto Hauser (Vetiver) and taped it all under the watchful eye of Steve Fisk. Though some may have a hard time letting Toth leave the banner of psych-folk for these more traditional pastures it should come as no real surprise. The structures and songwriting have always been there under the fuzz, but it's only now that James has let the bittersweet sheen bring them out into the air.

Download:
[MP3] James Jackson Toth - Doreen
[MP3] James Jackson Toth - Midnight Watchman

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Rob's House Records repress the Deehunter side to their excellent split with Hubcap City. Grab one while you can!

	Deerhunter - Grayscale 7" A while back Rob's House issued a split between two lesser known Atlanta Bands, Deerhunter and Hubcap City. Well I suppose we all know how the Deerhunter end of that story played out and now their side of this slab has been
repressed as single track 7" with the Joshua M. Fauver Mix of "Grayscale" etched on both sides of this sucker. This one's a nice pumping DH instrumental (as you may well know by now) but it's nice to have a repress of sorts for those that missed this the first time around. The original sported the shown cover and this new edition (600 pressed) is appropriately a grayed out version of the picture. Just another bump in the road to the excellently awaited release of this year's Microcastle. Download: [MP3] Deerhunter - Grayscale Support the artist. Buy it HERE

Religious Knives

Further excursions into heavy drone syrup from the ever enjoyable Religious Knives. Resin rounds up some OOP vinyl tracks along with a few newbies, including a jam with NNK'er Dave Nuss. Rolling and seething like a ship tossed in a storm, the band move from slow swells of organ fueled dirge to pumping psych fires flecked with kraut-popped percussion. It's hard to judge this as an album with the disparate sources of the original tracks, but no matter what the circumstances the Knives have a fuel for epic organ psych that seeps into your pores like blackened wood smoke. The live tracks definitely showcase the band in their natural habitat, as recordings tend to limit their expansive tendencies. If you missed out on the original issues of these recordings you're definitely gonna want to pick this one up. Hell, its Religious Knives, you're gonna want to pick this one up anyway and check out the live show whenever they roll through your town.

Download:
[MP3] Religious Knives - The Sun
[MP3] Religious Knives - In The Back

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Steve Gunn

A much needed reissue of Gunn's solo CD from Onomato popping up on Abandon Ship. If you're a fan of Steve's work in GHQ then this isn't too far off the mark, though much more acoustic than his work with them. Seated in a stark haze of plucked ambience and swirling with a touch of foreign soil, the disc burns with the heat of the mid-afternoon sun; rightly so, as the recordings were inspired by Gunn's travel's in Morocco. A sense of displacement echoes through Gunn's playing; a feeling of being lost and at the same time serene in losing oneself. As an added bonus the disc features some beautiful vocal contributions from Heidi Diehl of WWVV on the last track. The reissue comes at a perfect time, as he's just prepping a full length for Digitalis, which after reviewing these tidbits comes with high anticipation.

Download:
[MP3] Steve Gunn - Jerone and Jimi Chaplin

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

New mixtape is up to your right. Click on the tab in the navigation and it'll open up in a new window with 18 new tracks for your enjoyment. This month features some gems from Pink Reason, A Frames, Hush Arbors, Vanishing Voice, Efterklang and King Khan & BBQ. Enjoy!

Sun City Girls

If you've neglected the fine work of the Sun City Girls up until now (and I can't imagine why you would have) it's both a good and sadly bad time to get acquainted with the band. Its good because there have been a flood of reissues and recordings dug up out of the woodwork and put into the population for mass consumption. But it's bad because, due to the tragic passing of Charles Goucher, the band will never be at full force live again. Not to spin this in too tragic a light as this release by the Girls culls together some excellent rare material in and around the recording of one of their greatest albums, Torch of the Mystics. The album was originally slated as a double LP with this mostly instrumental material to be sprinkled in among the bits and pieces that make up TOTM. Due to some label difficulties the double album was scrapped and this material made its way out into the world in 7" and compilation trickles. Well, now its all together on You're Never Alone With A Cigarette (Sun City Girls Singles Volume 1). If you're a SCG beginner this isn't a half bad (though not necessarily proper) place to start. The Bishops' strings howl and Goucher pounds heavy as ever. Boundaries are crossed as always but it doesn't trip too heavily into their scuzzed lo-fi or soundscape collage type work. Fans of Sir Richard Bishop's current work could ease into this nicely but then again the Sun City Girls were never about easing into anything lightly. No matter what your level of familiarity, this is a purchase you won't be disappointed with.

Download:
[MP3] Sun City Girls - Souvenirs From Jangare
[MP3] Sun City Girls - The Beauty Of Benghazi

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Two of the most enigmatic band's to emerge from the British Blues revival, these bands had more in common with Captain Beefhart than John Lee Hooker but still their perspectives on the blues were unmatched. Truly reason to celebrate the Brit's obsession with the American form.

	Edgar Broughton Band - Wasa Wasa The Brothers Broughton were integral in their merging of British Blues with an emerging emphasis on hard rock that continued with Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, etc. Though, unlike these contemporaries, the
distinctive yawp of singer Edgar Broughton had cut in the frenzied vein of Beefhart and Zappa but with a political charge that echoed Americans like Country Joe and the Fish and The Fugs. The band went on to more success with later albums, penning a hit on their follow up with "Out Demons Out," but they were never more evisceral or scathing than right here on Wasa Wasa. The reissues include some great unreleased interpretations of old blues numbers like "Messin with the Kid" that balance nicely the band's more political leanings like the notable Anti-Vietnam anthem "American Boy Soldier." This sits nicely in time with offerings from the Pink Faeries and The Deviants as a perfect time in the skewed history of British hard rock, a time before it became mired in prog, or bathed in the tapestries of rock god aesthetics. This is an essential snapshot of time and if you don't own it you'd do well to pick it up soon. Download: [MP3] Edgar Broughton Band - Death of an Electric Citizen [MP3] Edgar Broughton Band - Evil Support the artist. Buy it HERE
	Stack Waddy - Stack Waddy Equally frenzied and also carrying an impassioned howl from singer John Knail, was Manchester's Stack Waddy. The band released this explosive debut with help from John Peel's Dandelion Records. The record is raw and mostly recorded live in
the studio. Pairing a desperate blues rumble with Knail's unconventional vocals, the band developed quite a reputation as a live act. Their penchant for throwing bottles at crowd's added on top of an inability to get some records in to shops with titles like "Bugger Off" led ultimately to their demise but in the long run build their reputation as an incredible band that was cut down too short. If anyone in their time had foresight and tast it was Peel and this record proves just that. A true lost classic that needs to be heard; raw, impassioned and totally above many of the more traditional aspects of tired British Blues imitators. If anyone shared the ideals that American innovators before them treasured, it was Stack Waddy. This is a necessary album in any fan's arsenal. Download: [MP3] Stack Waddy - Bring it to Jerome [MP3] Stack Waddy - Love Story Support the artist. Buy it HERE

Factums

Factums have popped up on some pretty notable labels, hitting up releases for Killshaman, Siltbreeze, Pollymaggoo and now they've wrestled in nicely among the ranks at Sacred Bones. With their dank, rattled take on the skeletal remains of post-punk it's no surprise that they have run-ins/associations/common members with A Frames and The Intelligence. Stark rhythmic jitters and gag muffled vocals fall alongside some strangled guitars and syncopated krautisms. Hypnotic and ritualistic, the band mumble ceremonial birth rites for lost races above static trance-fuzzed communications with the dead. This is a dark record and like most of what I've experienced with Sacred Bones it takes a few listens to really sink in, but once it does, it syncs up with your pulse and spreads like disease through your blood. Packaged in tune with all the other SB full lengths; one sided screen printing that's absolutely beautiful. Grab one of these while you can. Edition of 900 with bonus 7".

Download:
[MP3] Factums - Soundhole
[MP3] Factums - Mushrooms

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Two sides of stripped down blues from Matthew Melton's Snakeflower II. His self-described tag of Biker Psych couldn't hit more on the head. Breathe in the fumes and flip the platter.

	Snake Flower II - Talk About It b/w Running From The Night 7" Thick clouds of exhaust permeate this 7" offering from Melton's Snakeflower II. A super-stripped down howl of blues, this record leaves me eager for more from the cult of the Snakeflower. The A-side's
got all the swagger you could possibly need; hot, lurid swamp rock from the hip. The flip cools down considerably but is by no means cold; a slow burn that creeps up the spine, all late night come down and piles of cigarette ash. The full length is in the works on the same label that spawned this devil (Tic-Tac-Totally) so be on the lookout soon. Download: [MP3] Snakeflower II - Talk About It Support the artist. Buy it HERE

Rudi Arapahoe

Mixing decayed field recordings with lonesome piano and bits of vocal passages; Rudi Arapahoe creates ghostly, melancholic worlds of dream and hallucination. Brining to mind the works of Elegi and Erik Skodvin's works in Svarte Greiner and Deaf Center; Arapahoe's pieces mix spectral tonality with layers of worn sound that creak and scrape through the halls of memory. Overtly tranquil for the most part, though the vocal passages deal with decay and loss; it's more of a lonesome or forlorn way rather than the doom that the aforementioned Skodvin or Elegi can bring out of their soundscapes. Where the pieces become more neo-classical, Arapahoe comes closer to Keith Kenniff's Helios, all crumbling beats and raindrops on piano keys. This is the first I've heard from Arapahoe, or his label Symbolic Interaction but I must say that it show's signs of promise to come.

Download:
[MP3] Rudi Arapahoe - Dionysian Birds
[MP3] Rudi Arapahoe - Lunar Semaphore (excerpt)

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Eat Skull

Wearing their love of New Zealand scuzz pop on their sleeve, Eat Skull are bringing the lowest-fi aesthetics back to the pop song. Somewhere, buried under the layers of gristle, tape hiss and distortion there lie some catchy melodies but half the fun of Eat Skull is digging through the fuzz. With two members of The Hospitals amidst their ranks, its shouldn't be surprising that they've got a knack for the noise though; Rob Enbom and Rod Meyer have been fraying wires long enough to know what they're doing. Putting this experience to good use, the ES crew dredge through the filthiest reaches of strangled blues punk and gutter-strummed anthems. This one's got tinnitus potential to spare so while iPod fodder it is not, crank it at home on your shittiest pair of speakers and let it drive your neighbors crazy.

Download:
[MP3] Eat Skull - Shredders on Fry
[MP3] Eat Skull - Punk Trips

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Alexander Tucker

With each new album he crafts, Alexander Tucker gets better and better. His latest, Portal, again rising out of the ATP ranks, is steeped in sweet fingerpicked bummer psych and resonating drone. His most melodic release, and probably his most fully formed, this takes the tone he set on Furrowed Brow to its logical conclusion. Tucker is at his most beautiful on the aching "Veins To The Sky," which was also released earlier this year as a special 2x7". The rest of the album is equally captivating, pulling his voice out of the murk and floating it on a sea of strings and soft feedback. His soft touch on strings is always counter balanced by a furious squalor of burnt electric underneath tugging at each other like ink black tempests fighting the rising dawn. What emerges isn't chaotic though but a beautiful middle ground flourishes in the struggle. If this title is any indication this is Tucker's leap to the other side, an awakening into another plane of songwriting and honestly I hope he keeps follows the path he's cut. The album is housed in another great cover drawn by Tucker himself, though ATP would do well to release this one on vinyl which they've sorely neglected to do with his last two records. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Download:
[MP3] Alexander Tucker - Veins To The Sky
[MP3] Alexander Tucker - Bell Jars

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More of the best from the dusty shelves of the garage this week. An international mixed bag tackling tracks from Australia, The UK and The US. The Jukebox knows no boundries.

[MP3] The Easybeats - I'll Make You Happy
Another great single from these Brits (by way of Australia), starts with thumping build on the verse then lets it all loose on one of the best garage choruses I've heard in a long time. This is one of the premiere garage party stompers!

[MP3] The Blades of Grass - Leap into the Arms of Love
Somehow The Blades of Grass were able to be derivative of about 5 or 6 bands in the same song and still have it come out a damn catchy pop tune that you can't quite put your finger on. The band didn't really have the staying power (not the most original bunch) but this track is a pretty fun ride all the same.

[MP3] The Poets - Baby Don't You Do It
A driving rocker from these Brits; impassioned leads and some great vocalizations on the chorus, plus some fun guitar tones going on in the background. An all around fun track from a band that made very little impact elsewhere.

[MP3] Jon - Is It Love
A spooky British psych track with great phlanged vocals and superb atmospheric piano all driven by a giant thud of bass. This is definitely one from the vaults but it has a great style and it seems that Jon probably could have made more of an impact.

[MP3] The Force Five - Baby Let Your Hair Down
A sprightly rocker with some great fuzz guitar and a bouncy feel throughout. One member adds some off kilter yips every now and then but somehow it fits. A great loose garage track all around.

Fabulous Diamonds

Fabulous Diamonds bring you post-punk dub from Australia, wrap it around in hypnotic circles and drape it in the chilled honey and steel vocals of members Nisa and Jarrod. Rhythms chug and scrape, echo off the walls in lazy ricochets and float in-between dub-plate synth lines that seethe with the putrid heat of summer. They build on a palette of repetition with wave after wave of woozy rhythm surging the tracks along, each of which remains unnamed and unencumbered by themes. This is music for moonless nights; drunk on restlessness and stung heavy by humidity. The only thing that breaks the sweat here is the occasional blast of skronk fighting the chug like debris caught in current. This has already seen light in their homeland via Australian label Nervous Jerk, but it's just now hitting the states on vinyl courtesy of the ever consistent Siltbreeze.

Download:
[MP3] Fabulous Diamonds - Untitled 2
[MP3] Fabulous Diamonds - Untitled 7

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