USR #5- THE STATON EMBASSY- From My Head to Yours

USR #5: One of my favorite qualities in music is when it defies easy description or classification, and when you try to compare it to something, you draw a complete blank...which happened the first time I heard The Staton Embassy.  That was many years ago and all I'd heard at that point was an EP she made about this shitty place where we both used to work.  A little over a year ago she gave me some more and I knew immediately that I had to release this stuff, it's so good and so strange, yet still accessible, plus a good sense humor never hurts.  It took a while to happen, but in that time she un-earthed close to 20 more minutes of material, more than worth the wait...
Through a smattering of styles and instrumentation, it all seems to have a traditional (not folk) feel, not to mention her wonderful approach to the voice as an instrument, often experimenting with vocal sounds, sometimes playful, and sometimes more serious...you can never tell what the next track will bring.  Throw in a bizarre sense of humor with social satire among several other styles and I guess that if I HAD to compare this to another band, not that they sound the same, but just have the same kind feel or approach, it would have to be the Residents.  Plus being home-recorded, sometimes lo-fi, all DIY, I've also gotta say it has a similar feel to many bands on the Messthetics comps., only done by one Southeastern US lady between 1999-2007. Things can get weird in the South...


Limited to 50 cassettes w/ download code:



and for anyone who was around NC at the beginning of the 2000's and was into post-punk...STATON played keyboards in Piedmont Charisma:
http://wilfullyobscure.blogspot.com/2010/05/singles-going-single-124-piedmont.html

MIX

Drunkenly made a mix of recent and not so recent stuff, no rhyme or reason...25 songs...the computer decides the sequence...

http://www.mediafire.com/download/ezk6savwkp3vj0k/UuhngSchpug+mix.zip

Kaleidoscope Death- RestOfTheDrumTracks/ DeadDrum

USR #5 (Staton Embassy Cassette) is a bit delayed (but not for much longer!), so USR #6 bumps ahead!
The latest from Kaleidoscope Death is almost more like two E.P.s than one album.
KD tends to record drum tracks in bulk due to lack of drum set or rehearsal space, so side one ("RestOfTheDrumTracks") uses the remaining tracks after the Normal Time EP, split with Ivan the Tolerable, and various compilation exclusives.  Go figure the longer and slower ones were saved for last, but this allowed KD to continue on the path of constant experimentation, while staying somewhat the same.
"DeadDrum" is drum-less by default, though a few tracks use percussion from an old keyboard.

30 minute cassette with download code, lyric sheet, and random stuffings
Limited to only 25 copies!

Doug Clark and the Hot Nuts: Panty Raid

Gotta easily be the best band to ever come from Chapel Hill, NC.  As a native North Carolinian I've never understood why that town was supposed to be so cool...cool stuff comes there sometimes, at least.
Instead of bland pretentious indie-rock you get basic pounded out R&B with "risqué" lyrics and jokes, and recorded every album live, in varying stages of undress, for a more party-like atmosphere...a very nice touch. Plus they had their own label, Gross Records.
And yes, it's really dumb, but dumb is always way more fun than smart.
In the early '60's they got a taste of fame touring the southern US college circuit, mostly frat-houses and are said to be the inspiration for Otis Day and the Knights in Animal House.
Dumb raunchy party rock, yep!

(There are no song titles anywhere on the jacket or record, but some guesses are "Let Me Pet Your Pretty Pussy," "Milk the Cow," "The Bearded Clam," etc.  )

Side One:
http://www.mediafire.com/?yjjfdqvmw5v4ba5

Side Two:
http://www.mediafire.com/?4a3ep6xa8y7do52

and a song that's not on this LP:

Le Chômage- ST LP

Seems like most contemporary punk bands feel the need to always go further and further, more extreme than everything that came before, more or less becoming a ridiculous parody of itself.
Few groups can strip away all that bullshit, leaving the primitive anger seething under repeating parts with only a few notes a piece.  This reduction, and knowing how to do it well, is all too rare a trait these days.
Le Chômage does exactly that.  Hailing from one of the most vital punk/experimental/industrial/sinister what-have-you scenes that I've heard in a long time (Strasbourg, France) and containing members of many great bands from La Grande Triple Alliance Internationale de l'Est: Guitar: Nafi (The Dreams, Scorpion Violente, The Anals, AH Kraken, The Funk Police, etc.), Bass/Organ: Seb Normal (The Feeling of Love, Delacave, Prison Beat, The Normals, The Cheeraks, etc.), Drums: Nic Normal (The Normals, The Cheeraks, etc.), and Vocals/Organ: Baron Dimanche (???).  If you're familiar with those bands you may have an idea what kind of great stuff is in store here...and unfortunately, if you look for The Normals online, you're most likely to find the American Christian "alternative rock" band of the same name...
Whether they're playing slower tempo (Hemoragie, Moche), restrained, grinding mid-tempo tracks, set to explode (Dorniek, Traitre, Legionelle),  full punk fury (Knees, 1 Minute) or any combination therein, they all seem to burn with the same sinister energy, leaving the receptive listener feeling good about their bad thoughts.  Pummeling rhythm section, clamoring guitar noise, barked, screamed, or sung vocals seem to encircle the listener like a hungry shark toying with its food...but somehow leaves you feeling like the hungry shark yourself.  
This album is also a great example of raw, gritty, distorted recording done just right.  Everything sounds rough (in a great way), yet still clear...a wonderfully common thread in many bands from Le Grande Triple Alliance.
In case you're curious, their name means "Unemployment."  Fucking great.
Somehow, bands with these odd-sinister qualities played in such a direct way unfortunately go over a lot of people's heads, but punk was never done for the masses, anyways.
It's just great to know there are still people out there making music like this.

Link to listen/buy:

http://grandetripleallianceinternationalest.blogspot.com

and live recordings by many great French bands, including Le Chômage:

http://thisistheendofradio.blogspot.com 

UUHNGREH SCHPUGGENUH'S CONTEMPORARY MUSIC PRIMER- Cassette Compilation

So here it is...my first compilation on 66 minute cassette with 22 songs by 20 bands from 6 countries, plus a fancy pants download code.

The Bands:

The Rebel
The Dreams
Yugoslavian Boys
Whatever Brains
Gummiknuppel
Year of Birds
Secret Message Machine
Made for Chickens by Robots
The Dictaphone
Bismuth
The Staton Embassy
Girl Sweat
Mutant League
Hun Bed
Drag Sounds
Summer Camp Casanova
Het Zwaarden
Lya Lys
External Pernicious Evils
Kaleidoscope Death

Limited to 100 copies and going fast!!!  If you miss out digital copies are unlimited!
Order at:
gboronoise at yahoo dot com
OR
http://uuhngrehschpuggenuh.bandcamp.com/album/contemporary-music-primer