BS2000--Simply Mortified
This is some of the funnest stuff I've heard in ages. A collaboration between Amery Smith and Beastie Boy Adam Horowitz (a/k/a King Adrock), BS2000 play fun, danceable music on what sounds like old Casios or toy synths. In certain places, BS2000 is somewhat reminiscent of New Orleans geniuses Quintron, Flossie and the Unicorns, and MC Trachiotomy. While BS2000 doesn't have the special magic those artists have, this is still a great album. Tons of memorable hooks and great songwriting makes Simply Mortified light years away from disposable. Very highly recommended. Grand Royal records has folded, making this out of print, so get it when you can.
Bad Times--Live In Normal, IL 1998
Oh yeah!!! This is the kind of stuff that makes it worth getting up to see another day! No-good-nick supergroup comprised of King Louie (Royal Pendeltons/Persuaders/one man band), Jay Reatard (Reatards/Lost Sounds), and Eric Oblivian (Oblivians) kicking it out in a live show from '98. This is absolutely the most wonderfully unfriendly garage punk rock assault to hit my ears in years! It's so great that trying to pick out highlights would be futile. Suffice to say, this union lives up to everything you'd expect from these guys getting together and then some. Unfortunately, this was a super-limited edition or 35 (long gone at this point), but you can still check out the Bad Times studio LP. It just had to be said that this is perfect--from the fury, to the sloppiness, right down to the headache inducing marker fumes from the primitive CD labeling. This CDr has almost restored my faith in the human race.
Get info directly from GONER
Subversion--Beatin' The S**t Out Of It
Awesome power doom from Germany. This is definitely in the vein of and inspired by Crowbar but Subversion has a slightly more pure doom style than the Louisiana legends. The songwriting is great on this album--very well developed. It's all aided by one of the most brutally enveloping production jobs in recent memory--this is densely heavy stuff. It all adds up to making this a killer album. Go get it.
Score this CD directly from DAREDEVIL
Elvis Presley--The Complete Louisiana Hayride Archives
I try to focus on highlighting good stuff in the reviews I choose to write, but sometimes you've got to talk about the bad stuff so people can protect themselves from it. Straight-up, this 2CD collection of Elvis' Louisiana Hayride performances sucks. That's right--and I'm just as shocked as anyone. First of all, they could've put all the songs from these two CDs onto a single disc. That being said, most of the tracks on here are nearly unlistenable--they're taken from old acetates that didn't clean up very well. When the tracks are listenable, they're great, though--super-raw lo-fi Elvis at his best. Still, the fact remains most of the content of these CDs is a DJ who was somehow involved with the Hayride giving his commentary on everything in a very ineffective and irksome storytelling style. He makes ridiculous statements about the tracks, as well--on one performance calling Scotty Moore's guitar playing "uninspired." I would estimate less than one third of the content over both CDs is actual music. Luckily, I scored this for far less than the original $36 price tag on it. Reading the fine print on the back of the package, these CDs are copy protected--be grateful for it. This thing doesn't need to circulate any further. I guess this collection could be delightful if you really dig goofing on stuff that sucks. Normally, that would work just fine for me but this is offensively bad with not a lot to laugh about. The King is surely spinning in his grave over this fiasco of a collection. Avoid this atrocity like the plague.
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