Submit to your higher power.

I'm really, really proud to be from New Jersey. Sure, it's a state that's the butt of countless jokes, but it's also a place that's been home to countless amazing bands, Rorschach being one of them. For those unfamiliar with these guys, they were a band from 1989 to 1993 who proved to be hugely influential. Early on, their sound was fast and more reminiscent of traditional hardcore, and they went on to slow down the tempos and inject more sludge and dissonance to their sound, something that heavily influenced bands like Converge and Coalesce. Most people I've talked to love the later Rorschach stuff (the Protestant LP and other releases from that era) - and rightfully so, it rules. But personally I favour the earlier stuff (Remain Sedate, Needlepack etc) - there's a frantic energy to it that I just love.

With that in mind, you can tell why I dig this 1990 performance the band did on WFMU. The screams are more over the top and the songs are played faster, to the point where you think they're just gonna fucking collapse from exhaustion, Charles Maggio (vocals) in particular. In between songs and his laboured breathing he blurts out the ordering info for what was then their upcoming debut LP, Remain Sedate. There's a hunger in his voice as if he's saying to himself, "if enough people buy this thing we can afford to eat." Keep in mind too that this was done in a radio studio; there isn't a crowd there cheering them on, they were probably playing to one or two people sitting in front of mics and manning the soundboard. Still, they go through their material with an energy and urgency that most bands couldn't even touch in a traditional live setting.

I wouldn't suggest this as a good introduction to the band - get the discography CD, Autopsy, first if you haven't already. Chances are if you like the first half of that disc, this will blow your mind.

Don't mind the low bitrate - it was recorded off the radio so it's more than adequate.

Set List: Lightning Strikes Twice - Skin Culture - In the Year of Our Lord - Seconds in Hell (early title) - Laryngitis - Impressions - Pavlov's Dogs - No One Dies Alone - Clenching - So it Goes - Oppress

Rorschach - Live in December, 1990 on WFMU (128 MP3)

you do not get to keep your silence.

Muir is a project written and performed by Max Buchanan.

I remember listening to his stuff for the first time via a random MySpace add back when the project went under the name The Weather Council, and I liked what I heard, but it didn't quite prepare me for seeing and hearing it live. By the time that happened, he was going under the name Piers and putting a guitar tuned to B going through tons of pedals spread in a half-circle in front of him. Swiveling back and forth on a drummer's stool, he'd control and mutate his sounds while layering them until it became an assault of noise. Don't let that confuse you, though - I don't mean Sonic Youth noise or Merzbow noise or whatever you'd first expect upon reading a description like that. Instead he layers beautiful guitar lines on top of one another until it's all hitting you with beauty and heaviness all at once. It's very easy music to get lost in.

Max has two releases out there now, one under the name Piers (a split with local hardcore/screamo band The King of Red Lions, still available in stores and through the bands) and a tape limited to six physical copies.

Now playing as Muir, Max has introduced more sound samples and keyboard to his sound, adding more to an already promising mixture of sounds. If you live in the Brisbane area and have yet to see him play, do yourself a favour and change that as soon as possible. If you live elsewhere, well I guess you're shit out of luck. Either way, download this rip of his limited tape release and enjoy.

Muir - I am a Person I am Breathing (192 MP3)

Death to False Metal

Wow, what a way to kick off a music blog, huh?

It’s been two months of complete silence since I wrote here last, and I figured if I’m going to make people wait that long, I better come back with a bang. Something big, something awesome. I’ll let you be the judge of that, but personally I think I’ve have done a good job making up for lost time.

This entry is about Deadguy. Don’t know who they are? If not, shame on you. Deadguy were a short-lived metallic hardcore band from New Brunswick, New Jersey – members played in or are currently playing with bands like Lifetime, Rorschach, Human Remains, Doc Hopper, Kiss it Goodbye, Playing Enemy and others. They’re another band that I consider disgustingly underrated. Not only is their output some of my favourite music, but it’s easy to see the massive impact they’ve had on their genre whilst for some reason remaining obscure and ultimately forgotten by the majority of the people/genre that owes them so much.

For a few years now I’ve maintained a Deadguy tribute/resource page on MySpace, and I’ve been contacted by countless fans, members/ex-members of bands they played with and even some of the boys themselves, and it’s been a fun thing putting all the Deadguy-related stuff I could find or was sent in one place. The page doesn’t get much attention these days due to my studies and trying to focus more on my own band than one that’s been broken up for almost fifteen years but the love is still there, and being the caring person that I am I’d like to share it with you.

Work Ethic (192)
A compilation of Deadguy’s first two 7” records – White Meat and Work Ethic. Tim’s scream is still somewhat unformed, the performances aren’t as explosive as they’d become later on, but it’s still better than any music I’ve made or will ever make. There are some tagging errors in this but fuck you, it’s free.

Fixation on a Coworker (V0-VBR)
Deadguy’s sole full-length album. This is their masterwork, a record about being pissed off for pissed off people – a recipe for success if I’ve ever heard one. Great songs, interesting artwork (buy it if you can find it), this is a complete package and one of the most influential and well-aging discs of 90’s hardcore.

Screamin’ with the Deadguy Quintet (192)
After the band parted ways with two of their members who then moved to Seattle and formed Kiss it Goodbye, the band had a bit of a line-up shuffle and introduced some new players. This is their final studio release and it’s a bit different from their earlier work – more overt Today is the Day influence (it helps that Steve Austin produced the EP, too) and more weird time signatures/riffs. Regardless of the style shift, it still holds up as a great record.

I Know Your Tragedy (192)
Deadguy’s live album, recorded with the Screamin’-era lineup. I’m not really a fan of this one; hearing the older songs played by the final line-up just doesn’t sound right to me, but for the sake of putting all the stuff in one place I’ve made it available here.

Decibel Magazine ran an awesome feature on Deadguy’s Fixation album and added it to their Hall of Fame. I’ve scanned the story at 300 dpi and you can download it here.

So, was that worth the wait?

Another blog... why?

Yeah, I know - there's already enough blogs out there and here I am, throwing more rats onto the plague ship that is already overrun with vermin and body piles that obscure the work done by qualified and genuinely talented writers. I am now officially part of the problem that has come to be now that anyone can make one of these things, and I acknowledge that it's a terrible thing to do.

This will end up as a music blog of some description. I'll put up some music, review shows, and try to entertain with some witty banter.

I'm pretty sick of music blogs that don't tell you the bitrates of their rips, so I'll do just the opposite whenever I put something up for grabs. If it's one of my rips it'll be done in EAC/LAME V0, which is the ultimate variable bitrate for .mp3 files, preserving maximum quality while taking up less disc space. Trust me, your ears (and your hard drive/mp3 player) will thank me.

Ah what the hell, I might as well provide a sample.

Milemarker - Satanic Versus (V0-VBR)

The name of this blog comes from a Milemarker song, so it makes sense to start here. These guys are originally from North Carolina, USA and then moved to Chicago when they got tired of crowds asking for Skynyrd songs. Made up of ex-members of Sleepytime Trio and Maximillian Colby, they have a pretty unique sound; originally they sounded like video game music but then they progressed into a more fleshed-out outfit. Imagine Fugazi in an alternate reality where Russia won the Cold War and add a keyboard  to the mix and you're getting somewhere. They're criminally underrated in my opinion.

Satanic Versus is a strange record; half of it was recorded with and produced by the legendary Steve Albini, while the other half the band did themselves. It's split between new tracks and re-recordings of old songs, most notably of which is this EP's version of "New Lexicon," which was originally done with minimalist electronics, while here it's Albini-aided full band bombast.

If you like it, check out Frigid Forms Sell, Anaesthetic, and possibly Future Isms for some of their more electronic stuff. These guys are one of my favourite bands and I'd kill to see them again - with Roby Newton back in tow, of course.

So yeah, here's to yet another music blog.