Still good after 20 plus years

Modfather can still get a crowd jumpng when he drops this classic.
Nice way to forget it is a shitty Sat Snow Day

Dan Higgs Ancestral Songs

Dan Higgs goes it alone on this disc. No Lungfish. Not quite as cryptic as his Jew's Harp record on Northern Liberties -a Dischord subsidiary, but fear not it makes appearances on this record. This record lives up to its title as the songs have a droning timeless quality that coupled with Higgs's lyrics makes you wonder if they are new songs or ones taken from some pagan forgotten past. Droning and hypnotic in a way that most psych or black metal bands could only wish for. This is what I wished Jandek would have sounded like....or any other performer tagged with the "cryptic loner" tag. Higgs has been crafting and creating his vision for decades going back to Reptile House in Baltimore in the early 80s. His meaning clear to him, but leaving most of us scratching our heads and happily creating our own interpretations. His lyrics like a mirror to reflect back your thoughts-making you own subliminal connection to his words. "The Christ" that keeps creeping up in his lyrics more and more makes me feel like his translating some missing desert gospel he found while walking the streets of Baltimore washed ashore from some sunken ship that never made it home. But it's not some lunatic vibe. Not some raving the "end is coming" character wailing in the streets and that kernel of sanity is what keeps people analyzing his lyrics and statements. Just because you don't understand doesn't mean he is crazy. At times the music is reminiscent of Amps for Christ-another man traveling the solo path of his vision. With no band with him, this is real DIY as he is doing the music,art, and lyrics himself. 6 tracks most over the 5 minute mark.

Chuck Dukowski Sexet Eat My Life

Dukowski is a founding father of the US Hardcore and Indie music world. His work with Black Flag,SWA, Wurm and SST stands as a testimony to his vision and independence. The fact that he is still playing lets you know he's the real deal. The Chuck Dukowski Sextet's new CD "Eat My Life" AKA CD6 rock band plus horns with a female singer. I count 5 people in this sextet. They cover "My War" and "Venus in Furs". It always a little scary when guys push into the jazz/punk/rock unknown and I was nervous putting it on. 13 tracks. It is an interesting mix. Vocals recall early LA art punk. Music keeps it in a mid tempo groove for the most part. It is reminiscent of a lot of earlier SST bands (firehose,sonic youth, etc) but has it's own personality. They even throw in a one minute 34 second porno-funk work out called "atom". Nice wah wah. All the musicians are talented enough to be able to handle the various styles and structures they pick. If you remember the "My Rules" fanzine, I think these folks are saying "No rules" we'll just play what we want. The covers are both good. Not total overhauls, but not cover band rehashes either.
I'd be lying if I said I didn't want this to be a missing Black Flag LP, but it is pretty rad none the less. It would make a good soundtrack for a missing Santa Cruz skate video!

Check them on Myspace and support one of the originals/

Paris Nice Stage 6 Spanish Assualt

Three Spaniards almost upset the overall GC, but despite a great attack Rebellin holds the overall lead. Leon Sanchez gets the win. Discovery went aggressive sending Leiphemer and Danielson in an early break sensing weakness after Gerolstiener had 2 riders abandon. Overall GC looks like this.
1 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner
2 Alberto Contador (Spa) Discovery Channel 0.06
3 Luis León Sánchez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 0.16
4 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) Lampre-Fondital
5 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas
6 Sébastien Joly (Fra) Française Des Jeux
7 Cadel Evans (Aus) Predictor-Lotto
8 David Millar (GBr) Saunier Duval-Prodir
9 Fränk Schleck (Lux) Team CSC
10 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom

Looks like my picks will not be very close to the podium.

At Tirreno-Adriatico, Basso abandoned and Bettini crashed AGAIN! Riccardo Ricco gets his second stage when -an auspicious debut for him and Saunier Duval. My picks for this race are fairing better than my picks for Paris Nice. Voigt, Garzelli, and Brajkovic are all in the top ten around 30 seconds back.

Eccentric Soul 011 Numero Group Strikes Again

Eccentric Soul #011 focuses on Mighty Mike Lenaburg and the Phoenix AZ soul scene. Mainly late 60s and some early 70s. Mike Lenaburg came from England and grew up in Cali and by the time he graduated high school had done more in the record business than most do in their whole lives. Known mainly for Dyke and the Blazers, this comp lets you know there was a lot more soul and funk that never made it out of the Arizona desert.
Michael Liggins is an artist featured on several tracks on here. "Back Loaded" and "Loaded to the Gills" are 2 flute groove funk classics. "Loaded Back" is a monster instrumental from 1969. Ronnie Whitehead has a couple so stomping tracks "out of breath" is some a JB type workout and so is "Cold Feet" which has a killer drum break. But "Beggin You" takes the cake a total on your knees plea from a teenage crooner. Untouchable. Soulstations give you "broadway shing a ling" trying to grab the coat tails for Dyke's big hit. They also drop "Funky Nightclub" and like most "funky anything" songs it is a up beat dancer. The repeated refrain of "nightclub" is oddly reminiscent of the Specials song, but this is not ska track. Both sides of the We the People 45 are included. "Function Underground" is a heavy Funkadelic instrumental with the Sax upfront. "People, Open Your Eyes" is a slower more political song, but with more of a southern soul feel than Funkadelic. The Soul Blenders drop the super catchy "Blending Soul" and "My Girl is a Soul Girl" with the vocal assistance of Lon Rogers. It opens with a nice drum break as well. Small Paul knows "there's gonna be some crying" on this organ driven tale of woe. The novelty track "quarrel" by the Newlyweds was a local hit with it's tale of domestic unrest.
As always the liner notes are top notch and tell the tale of a man that couldn't seem to escape the desert, but managed to create a treasure trove of rare soul. This is a super solid sampling of soul, funk and R&B. Best in the series so far? Perhaps. Definitely shoulder to shoulder with my previous favorite Big Mack comp from this label. Numero Group keeps killing it with these crucial compilations. Couple this disc up with the Bacchus "Soulside of the Street" comp and the Dyke and the Blazer's reissue and you have a pretty good snapshot of AZ funk and soul.

Paris Nice Stage 5

Discovery get 2 stage wins in a row with Popo taking the win today.
Schleck is hanging in at #8, Leiphemer #13, and Mayo 28, but at a 1:39 back
he is pretty much out of the running. 2 mountainous stages remain so
upsets are possible and Rebellin is vulnerable. The mountain stages are shaking up the GC

T-A win goes to Riccardo Ricco with an Astana 2/3 comob of Vino and
Kloden. TA crash curse continues with Basso, Bettini, and Hamilton all
crashing today. Basso is questionable. Hamilton is way back, but suprisingly so is Fabian Canecellar-hopefully he is just building from for April and not sick.

Black Merda and Velvert Turner

Hendrix was a huge influence and when he died he left a lot of people wanting more of his sound. There were plenty of people ready to step up and fill that gap. These are 2 good ones.

Velvert Turner a man who turned out only one album but gave you 2 choices a "rock version" and a "soul" version. The rock record had extra overdubbed guitar solos. Velvert was a friend/acquaintance of Hendrix and he must have studied him closely for whatever time he was around him. It's a guitar/bass/drums trio that sound just like the one Hendrix had. Not necessarily a bad thing, but even when it's good it makes you wonder why you aren't listening to Hendrix himself. As a record nerd footnote here is a tip on how to tell the records apart "... the two versions of the album - the only way you can tell the difference is to look at the matrix numbers. Matrix #16741 is the rock version, sporting an overdubbed second guitar. Matrix #16951 is the soul version and lacks the overdubbed guitar. Both versions are supposedly worth owning." Thanks Bad Cat Records for the info. Radioactive Records did a reissue of the rock version on CD.

Black Merda cam out of Detroit and there hard rocking funk which is often compared to Funkadelic. To me they are clearyl operating more out of Hendrix's bag of tricks that George Clintons. The opening track to the "the folk's from mother's mixer" cd has a total Hendrix groove. "my mistake" is a ballad that mixes a "little wing" type groove with some motowony strings for a nice effect. The whole record was recorded in 1970 and had a kind of slightly depressed post-60s/living tough in the city vibe that makes it stand out. It is a 19 track reissue on Funky Delicacies. This is a good rock record worth tracking down. They also have a new LP of "unreleased" songs on FD. Check it.

Show times for bands

During my 20s, I used to go out and see bands night afteer night. No sleep off to work, snatch a nap, and do it again. Well I love music as much now as I did then, but am hardly ever going out to shows. Why? I cannot stand sitting in a bar til one in the morning. It makes no sense. The general pearl of wisdom I hear is that, bands play until last call to keep people drinking in the bar. Newsflash, people who want to drink will hang and drink regardless. If you started bands at 7 or 8PM and for a typical 3 band show ran it off at 8/9/10PM you would probably get more people out to see the bands. You could have one of the endless stream of serious or ironic DJs rock until last call and guess what? People would stay and drink.

Paris Nice Stage 4

No surprise that the first mountains shook things up at PN. My man Frank Shleck was there with 2K to go, but Contador gets the win for Disco. Rebellin at the head of affairs looking strong and get the leader jersey! Schleck at 42 back, Leiphemer at 50 seconds back, and Mayo 56 seconds back. With some hilly stages to come no one is out, but this is always a close race and it seems unlikely someone not already in the top twenty will win. Millar is still hanging in there.
GC
1 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner 17.40.34
2 Alberto Contador (Spa) Discovery Channel 0.06
3 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) Lampre-Fondital 0.23
4 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas 0.31
5 Sébastien Joly (Fra) Française Des Jeux 0.32
6 Cadel Evans (Aus) Predictor-Lotto 0.35
7 David Millar (GBr) Saunier Duval-Prodir 0.42
8 Fränk Schleck (Lux) Team CSC
9 David López García (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 0.43
10 Samuel Sánchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0.46

Tirreno was a surprise-a breakaway went the distance and Acqua&Sapone rider, Alexander Arekeev gets the win an the race lead.

Before Birdman Aussie garage/punk comp 65-67

Looks like a "back from the grave" comp series from Australia. A lot of Pretty Things/Yardbirds garage stompers. Between Vol 1 and 2 you have 32 tracks so I will only mention the highlights. But if you like 60s garage punk and R&B with an English (excuse me Australian accent) you will enjoy this and you can also get excited to track down Volumes 3 and 4! Track three should sound familiar to Cheater Slicks fans as it is the Moods original version of "rum drunk". Sunset's "I want love" is a good organ and guitar workout, but this first volume was kind of a snooze fest and I didn't rush to put on Vol 2, but when I did I was pleasantly surprised. Vince Maloney open it up with a fuzz guitar gem. "Gypsy Woman" by Allusions is another memorable track. Purple Hearts appear again with a classic "Of hopes,dreams, and tombstones". Don't drop out of school kids is the message! The standout track on side one. "see the way" by the Black Diamonds keeps it rolling. Side 2 opens up fast and furious and keeps it rolling. Chris Hall & the Torquays,In-Sect,Robbie Peters,and Running Jumping Standing Still all deliver up beat rockers with killer guitar sounds.
Vol 2 was good enough that I would roll the dice on 3 and 4 even though none of these songs made me want to rush out and buy a keg and have a party, but they are still some crucial slices of garage punk obscurity. I think the Purple Hearts " of hopes, dreams, and tombstones was the best of the lot.
Not sure where to pick it up maybe Crypt or Get Hip?

Whole Foods Cambridge

There are few places in the city that I hate as much as Whole Foods in Fresh Pond. The self absorbed shit heads that wander and clog the aisles drive me close to tourette's level outbursts whenever I go in there. And I some how always manage to think it won't be bad this time.... but it is. Early morning, late at night, week day, week night, weekend. No relief. It is like wandering onto a Woody Allen movie shoot without a script. It is easy to pick on Cambridge, but almost every pretension and stereotype(and wacky ethnic head wear) that defines Cambridge is fully represented within these four walls.
How hard is to more quickly and with some spacial awareness through a grocery store? Haven't we been doing this since we were kids? Every grocery store has basically the same layout. Get in Get out. But my ultra efficient methods are defeated time and time again by lunatics who park their carts in aisles and stare at peanut butter like they have never fucking seen it before. I could understand the confusion if I had wandered into the rare cheese corner but I am in the cereal and peanut butter aisle. Get serious. I want healthy food, but I am going to either have a stroke or catch a manslaughter charge.
I gottta find another place to get that Koomboocha tea.

versoma life during wartime

The ads (and that stupid advertising flap more cds seem to have lately) tell you this is a supergroup with former members of Anodyne, Lickgoldensky,Hot Cross, and Orchid (and many more depending on where you look), but that is not really telling you much about this record. 6 song ep with a nice vinyl version. Robotic Empire is the label.
It has got a post punk sensibility/simplicity mixed with lifetime of looking for the most aggressive sounds. An overall morose feel that is well executed and not some sappy eyeliner shit. At times it is reminiscent of Plexi (probably not a good reference and they don't seem to be rocking any make up). Maybe a beefier My Bloody Valentine would be a more useful comparison. "Come in Alone" is a super catchy loner anthem. Calling it in the vein of Hammerhead is a big compliment in my book No need to call this metal, screamo, whatever. It is just a kick ass record. It is packing a hell of a punch and at around 20 minutes it is not wasting your time delivering the goods.
Check there myspace and then bum out since they already broke up... what are they from DC?

amy winehouse back to black cd

I think I first heard her track with Ghostface on a mixtape or the radio and thought it as just some Portisheady shit with Ghost doing his thing. But I checked out a 3 song promo floating around and it was real catchy. Then I grabbed the album. She's got a voice, kind of old school but she is singing some wild modern shit. Beats are more hip hop than Portishead. Maybe a slightly dark Wu Tang vibe on some of the tracks (don't bug out there are no swords or kung fu), but if you wondered what would Roberta Flack sing over if she was 20, maybe it would be something like this. All right Roberta is reaching what Lauryn Hill should be singing over instead of playing acoustic. "Tears dry on their own" goes for a more motowny horns and strings approach but the lyrics are still in that Liz Phair diary type mode. She's got a Lindsay Lohan/Bald Brittany Spears anthem "Rehab" very timely. Pitchfork hates her and I agree with parts of the review (the Joss Stone dig), but who cares it's good.
Not only is the record good, but in the grand English tradition she is feuding with and hates Lily Allen-another girl working in this style of music. Gotta love it.

Kenny Burrell God Bless the Child LP

Kenny Burrell 5 tracks from 1971 on CTI. All Star lineup including Ron Carter, Billy Cobham, Freddie Hubbard, Hubert Laws, Ray Barretto, and AIrto Moreiro. I was used to Kenny being kind of overshadowed playing with Jimmy Smith and was curious to see what he would do on his own. "Love is the Answer" is the 2nd track and it's a heavy hitter Starts out slow with a nice groove. The strings and percussion move it along with a nice latin groove and like most rare groove jams it kicks it up over the solos. This is song that I wish went on longer. Up next is "Do what you gotta do" which has a more typical up tempo groove with Hubert Laws on flute. Freddie Hubbard takes a nice solo and the percussion is understated but effective.
The title track is a heavily orhestrated affair that isn't my style. Not bad, but not for me. Side 2 finishes off with "God Bless the Child" which is also a little too sappy for me but I prefer it to the title track.

CTI 6011. Four bucks for 2 great tracks. I would be psyched if it was a 45 and that's not bad for an LP. It's worth it just for "Love is the Answer".

Paris Nice Stage 3

Another last minute attack steals the glory from the sprinters and nets CSC a stage win. No real change in the overall standings or my picks. This weekend should be interesting with the mountains apporoaching.
McEwen gets the 1st stage of Tirreno. Tirreno also marks Tyler Hamilton's first post supsension visit to a Pro-Tour race. Great. He finished 4 minutes back. Tomorrow's stage has a similar profile and should be another one for the sprinters.

Paris Nice Stage Two

A breakaway ruined the sprinters chances and Pellizoti gets the stage and keeps the early season ball rolling for Liquigas who are having a hell of a season. They and Lampre have to be front runners for a Milan San Remo win. Frank Shleck is best placed of my picks 23 seconds back. Leiphemer at 26 and Mayo 52 seconds back. I had predicted a breakaway to define tomorrow's stage and I will stand by that even though the sprinters teams will have to try and do something before the big hills come. Sammy Sanchez at only 15 seconds back could be a threat and can Millar pull it back?
Tirreno-Adriatico starts tomorrow and my heart wants a win for CSC and Jens but it's hard to call. Plenty of Italian heavy hitters are there Pozzatto,Garzelli, Basso, Cioni, etc -but who is looking to improve form and who is hunting for the win? My guess is Garzelli and Cioni would be on the hunt. I am going to throw down a far fetched TA podium of Voigt,Janez Brajkovic, and Garzelli with revenge stages for O'Grady and Bettini. Can't be any worse than my March Madness picks.

For my cycling stories check this link

Gil Evans Orchestra plays Hendrix

Sometimes you see a record and do a double take, like I must have read that wrong. Then you look again and it did say "plays the music of Jimi Hendrix". Gil is rocking the flannel like he is CCR or firehose or something. I figured anyone could make it happen with the ballads(Sting did right?), but Gil goes for it -"Crosstown Traffic","Foxey Lady", and "Voodoo Chile" are all on here. According to the liner notes , Gil was planning on recording with Hendrix a la his collaboration with Miles, but Hendrix had to go and die. Wasn't Hendrix supposed to record with Miles as well before he died? Maybe it was for the best. The slow jams are not bad like "angel" or "castles made of sand" but they stick to a pretty straight forward instrumental take unlike the rockers where they tend to push it in a new direction.
Once I bought it I was nervous that it would be close to muzak, but they hold up well -even tackle the vocals with ahmmm.... gusto on some tracks. John Abercrombie, Keith Loving and Ryo Kawasakis must have been a little nervous about getting the guitar credits on this, but they all hold up OK -no one tries to be Hendrix Jr The horn stabs on "crosstown traffic" are pretty cool so is the trombone solo. Trombone on a Hendrix cover and it isn't Ska? Not bad. The synths are used in a goofy and fun way. The give themselves some room to "freak out" on an 11 minute Foxey Lady, which also benefits from the horn section.
Side 2 opens with a swinging version of "up from the skies" that sounds like on of the more orchestrated Jimmy Smith records minus the organ. "Voodoo Chile" is another good one. There is some kind of vocoder or guy singing through his horn effect that is pretty cool. They finish it off with a nice version of "Gypsy Eyes" that is the funkiest thing on here-has a couple moments thst sound like JB's grunt stuck in. I was surprised that "little wing" wasn't on here. All in all a pretty fun record and something you could always drop on mixtapes.

RCA Records CPL1-0667 1974. For $2.99 this was money well spent.

Yusef Latef Hush'n'Thunder LP

Nice name especially when you see it has a track called "the hump" on it. Atlantic Records 1973. Yusef is a guy I want to like and think I like, but I rarely pick up any of his LPs. This opens up with an Ellington's "Come Sunday" and then drops right into the very funky groove of "the hump". So maybe the title and these 2 tracks are supposed to juxtapose the spiritual and the secular? Maybe I am too deep. Bob Cunningham on Electric Bass make this song. Yusef splits his time between flute and tenor pretty evenly. Monroe "Bones" Constantine gets vocal credit on a couple tracks and why wouldn't you let a dude with a name that nice bust em out on your album? He turns up on Opus PTII which has a more grounded groove than the instrumental free floating Opus PTI. By "turns up" I means bust out some groans and shouts near the end of the tune. Nice work Bones. "This old building" closes out side one and goes from some weird noise/synth squiggles to a down home uptempo gospel vamp. Again no real vocals just claps and shouts and squawking sax. Shouts and claps courtesy of the JC White Singers.

Side 2 opens with a nice groove on "Prayer". Yusef is on the pneumatic flute so watch out. 2 guitarists including Hugh McCracken's second appearance in a WWDIS review. Bones is back with some moans and groans. Up next is "sunset" which has a trippy tv soundtrack feel "Help me Spock, Spock help me" if you know what I mean. About half way through the track a song appears from the haze. It also contains the traditional gospel song "his eye is on the sparrow" which to remind you was James Brown's favorite hymn. JC and his singers are back for this one and it is a straight forward take on the song with some additional sax,piano,and organ. Closing it out is "Destination Paradise". A darker vibe to this one kind of a hippie middle eastern feel with flute, 2 guitars, electric bass, and electric piano. At 3:54 it doesn't have too much time to be creepy or trip out that much and then like most tracks on here it ends before it really goes anywhere.

This is an interesting record. If feels like a rough draft or notes for a record to come later and that unfinished quality make it more memorable. Although the tentative meandering around the songs can grow old quick. Not likely to get pulled out again any time soon. Maybe it was supposed to be soundtrack material? Who knows.

Every Town and Village LP Krishna Rock 8

Every Town and village LP, a collection of songs form the 1972 San Francisco Rathayatra Festival, as well as the 1972 New York Sri Sri Radha-Govinda Temple.
This is an interesting record. Basically a "field recording" of samkirtan and sankirtan. Hansadutta is leading the chants on some tracks(There is another Hansadutta LP to be reviewed here later this week!) 10 tracks. 6 short Samkirtans and 4 longer tracks. The shorter Samkirtan's are all interesting variations on the chant -different tempos and insturments. Excellent cover painting plus photos on back. This is a Golden Avatar Production from the Bhativendanta Book Trust. So another label for an "official" krishna release. Similar to the Hara Krsna Festival LP I reviewed as well. The title of course comes from Lord Caityanya's statement that "In Every Town and Village the chanting of the Holy Name of Krishna shall be heard"

No Core NC Hardcore 82 comp

This is a vinyl repress of the 1982 "no core" comp tape from No Core. Classic North Carolina HC. COC are the biggest name here, but for my money No Labels steal the show. Ferocious guitar sound. 15 Songs from No Labels and 16 from COC. COC is in the Eye for an Eye style maybe a touch sloppier but still killer -more of a Jerry's Kids type sound than the sound the would become known for. "College Town" remains a classic and "no core" is a ultra fast rager. Both these bands were on the amazing "Empty Skulls" comp tape from around this time 82/83. Doesn't sound dated to me. Shit like this and Neon Christ coming out of the South in 82 was pretty fucking rad. It's hard to remember that back in the 80s if you rode a skateboard or looked weird, you could count of getting shit. The good old days. "Chance to Speak" by No Labels is a standout with a kind of Faith sound. It's amazing that even back in 82 with the hardcore scene being practically brand new that their are so many songs about the scene being so stupid.
No Rock Stars get 6 songs and Colcor finish it off with 7 songs. Both offer a killer abrasive sound that wouldn't have been out of place on Touch and Go or Dischord. No Rock Stars appear to be the most competent musicians and bring to mind Scream at times.
Raw Deal Recordings. Not sure where you can pick it up. The Kill from the Heart site has a review that indicates the record is from 2002.

Paris Nice Stage One

Well. Millar wins the prologue and Nazon snatches the stage from Boonen and Bennati. My 3 choices are in 6th-Leiphemer 3 seconds back, 76th Frank Shleck 17 seconds back -maybe I should have picked his brother who is only 12 seconds off the pace, and 134th Iban Mayo 29 seconds back. I don't know if Mayo can get back 26 seconds to Leiphemer. Inconsistent or not, I doubt anyone will let him jump in a breakaway. Tomorrow should be another day for the sprinters with just 3 3rd category climbs. Maybe Boonen get his win?

In other news, DiLuca scored a win for Liquigas at Milan-Torino. Probably to remind the team he is still there as the focus seems to have shifted to Pozzatto.
Valverde gets the overall at Murcia and Jimmy Casper gets the overall at 3 Days of DePanne. Revenge for Unibet who seem to be getting unfairly excluded under this "can't advertise foreign gambling" rule that doesn't seem to apply to the Belgian Lotto squad??? William Frishkorn and Steven Cozza from Team Slipstream finished 6th and 7th which kicks ass for a US squad. Navigators were also in this race.
Tirreno-Adriatico starts up on the 14th and hopefully will be a little safer than last year which was plagued with crashes. This is the time of year when the races really seem to heat up and overlap and give you plenty fo reasons to check the computer.

Death 1985 Rehersal 7"s V1&2 "How We Die"

If I haven't made it clear I was a teenage skatepunk hardcore youth. But in the 80s, it was hard not to have a few favorite metal bands. I wasn't a big Death fan. I heard a song or two but it didn't grab me like Slayer. Now that I am an adult, I look back on the early death metal and cross over scences with rosy glasses and pretty much scoop up whatever I can track down. Luckily there seems to be a never ending supply of limited vinyl releases of early demos and rehearsals. This 2x7" set by Death is a prime example.
8 songs spread over 4 sides. The array of covers got me drooling-=Sodom "burst command til war", Slayer "Black Magic", "Into the Crypt of Rays" by Celtic Frost, "Paranoid" by Sabbath and "Armies of the Dead" by Genocide plus 3 originals.
When you are looking at something pressed from "rehearsal" May 2nd, 1985, you know you are going to trade sound quality for obscurity. The Sodom cover is lost in a layer of noise but the songs start to make them selves clear after that. It helps if you know the original song. All of the covers are done pretty much the same as the original. Definitely a lot of teenage enthusiasm. There was a time when this might have been the only way you could have heard this and as a teenager you knew that even recorded over the phone, this was better than most of the bullshit you saw on MTV or heard on the radio. And if you or your friends band ever made a practice tape that you went crazy listening to, this will be right up your ally.
No label info, but Hells Headbangers has it plus a lot of other lost classics.