Podcast for 5.6.11 - The Creation Singles

Today's podcast focuses on singles released by Creation Records. Lots of great stuff here from bands who may not have gotten as much notoriety as "first tier" Creation bands.

5-6-11 - Creation Records by Decrepit Tapess

After conducting an informal poll via Twitter people have commented that they would like to have future podcasts with commentary rather than just being straight music. Following this podcast I will make a point to include between track commentary from myself (and possibly others) on future podcasts.

Coming next week: Robert Pollard: The Post-GBV Years

Podcast for 5.1.2011 - Siltbreeze Records

Decrepit Tapes returns with a 90 minute podcast trip down memory lane with the classic songs of Siltbreeze Records

5.1.11 Episode - Siltbreeze Records by decrepittapes

Robedoor - Pacific Drift 7" (2010)

Way too much is made these days of looking back, memory, social network fantasias. What a bummer, cause reality s a bad experience and 2012 is on deck; we deserve whatever we get. Evolve or erode, dudes. LA visigoths Robedoor slip into another sinkhole of voidist shadow-rock with Pacific Drift, three new tracks recorded across the last greylight winter. The A side stirs into a jazzy apocalypto depression with flute-keys and an overdriven OM groove that spirals in a web of distortion before drifting out to sea/silence. The flip finds a pair of deeply mutated RBDR genetic codes, one a mantric death-punk protest song cloaked in smoke and speed, the other a 3 AM slow-motion soul implosion set to upright piano, descending bass, tear garden guitar, and acid rain. The coast is a ghost, the city seethes.

Smog - A Hit 7" (1993)

The closest thing to a lo-fi national anthem you're ever likely to hear, Bill Callahan succinctly distills the sum totality of the home-recording aesthetic into one side of a 7" single with "A Hit." Singing, "It's not gonna be a hit, so why bother with it?/Just lay it down and forget about it," he captures both the limitless creative freedom and severely limited commercial prospects that shape the fortunes of the four-track recluse. Complete with trudging, crunchy melody suggesting a T. Rex B-side played back through a blown amp, like the very best of Callahan's songs it's both hilarious and heartbreaking, universal and self-obsessed all at the same time. The flip, "Wine-Stained Lips," only suffers by comparison, but judged on its own terms it's a lovely, if fractured, acoustic meditation on that most elusive of moments -- the night before.

-Jason Ankeny, All Music

Pavement - Stray Slack (1994)

Pavement's most famous bootleg that is considered by many to be just as essential as their official releases. Featuring live tracks from their 2 night December stand at the Brixton Academy in 1992 as well as select tracks from their Reading Festival appearance that same year. This bootleg features two tracks that never made it on to an album or deluxe re-issue (Teenage Piss Party & Black Walls) as well as some tracks that were rarely played live. An essential document of Pavement's best era.

The Mountain Goats - Sweden (1996)

This is classic Mountain Goats: songs about broken (or soon to be broken) relationships, food, and flora rendered in vivid detail and recorded straight to boom box. Atop characteristically ragged and percussive guitar playing, John Darnielle works wonders of condensation, creating lively, complex characters in less than three minutes. Despite the flag on the cover and hilarious liner notes about the "Swede conspiracy," this isn't a concept album about the homeland of Ace of Base and ABBA, nor are there any covers of those two Darnielle favorites. There is, however, perhaps the best cover of Steely Dan's "FM" imaginable. No Alpha songs here either, but two more in the "Going to" series -- "Going to Queens" and "Going to Bolivia" -- and the outstanding "Tahitian Ambrosia Maker," which is something of a mix between Gilligan's Island and Heart of Darkness (beginning, "We were real hungry, half dead, when you broke out a half a loaf of sourdough bread, and in the tropical air the scent rose like a spirit"), make Sweden among the best of the early releases from the Mountain Goats. Zopilote Machine is maybe more consistent, but 1995's Sweden sets a high-water mark not surpassed until The Coroner's Gambit in 2000.

-Jason Nickey, All Music

Flying Saucer Attack - In Search of Spaces (1996)

An unusual and striking document of the FSA live experience, In Search of Spaces consists of instrumental snippets from a series of shows in the early '90s with a rotating lineup, including Matt Elliott of Third Eye Foundation. The number of shows FSA has ever done is nearly nil to begin with, and no live line-up was ever quite the same. Corpus Hermeticum/A Handful of Dust mainman Bruce Russell then edited and wove everything together, creating a single-track CD that runs for 50 minutes. In Search of Spaces definitely rewards the patient as a result, but those willing to take the plunge will be well-rewarded. Given the general FSA recording approach of home-taping and anti-gloss, the crumbling and murky results aren't too far off from the band's studio releases (indeed, the liner notes claim the recordings come from audience tapes rather than soundboard streams). If there's little or none of the sudden crispness that makes songs like "In the Light of Time" so striking, the moody, post-psychedelic reach of the performances more than makes up for it. As there's no way to tell when or how anything was done, making judgments on the basis of improved abilities over the time or the like is impossible -- In Search of Spaces needs to be taken at face value. Elliott's contributions likely result in the occasional drums, but Pearce's unearthly guitar howls and shattering, abrasive yet lovely feedback arcs take understandable pride of place. Singling out particular moments to concentrate on can take some patience, but there's a lengthy jam starting around ten minutes in with a low, rumbling rhythm providing the background for some wonderful guitar craziness from Pearce and others.

-Ned Raggett, All Music

Various Artists - This Is Boston, Not LA (1982)

For many punk rock enthusiasts, Boston isn't the first city that comes to mind when thinking of American cities that boasted a strong punk scene in the late '70s and early '80s. While Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco were famous for their punk scenes, Boston's punk scene didn't enjoy nearly as much publicity. But make no mistake: Boston was a punk hotbed back then, and Modern Method Records tried to spread the word with this obscure but excellent compilation. Released in 1982, This Is Boston, Not L.A. spotlights seven Boston punk bands of the late '70s and early '80s: Jerry's Kids, Gang Green, the F.U.'s, the Freeze, the Proletariat, Decadence, and the Groinoids. While the Proletariat -- a very political band with Marxist/socialist leanings -- is heavily influenced by British punk, most of the other bands have more in common with L.A. residents like Black Flag and the Circle Jerks. But whoever their influences are, all of these bands have very substantial, hard-hitting lyrics -- the subject matter ranges from alcoholism on the Freeze's "It's Only Alcohol" and war on Gang Green's "Kill a Commie" to the excesses of slam dancing on Decadence's "Slam." This Is Boston, Not L.A. isn't the last word on Boston's late '70s/early '80s punk scene, but it paints an impressive picture of the Beantown punks who were active during that era.

RIP Captain Beefheart aka Don Glen Vliet 1941-2010

New Blog Coming 1/11/11

After nearly 5 years (2 w/ Kiwi Tapes + 3 with this blog) I think I have reached the point where I can say that the "full album" download blog concept has run it's course and it's time for something new. My goal has always been to provide rabid music fans with an outlet to find interesting music that may have otherwise gone unheard or unappreciated. Looking back I think it would be fair to criticize me for often doing things that were not in the best interest of the artist and moving forward I would like to operate with the creators in mind first and foremost. Without the artists we do not have any of this great music to enjoy and as a music fans we need to keep our sense of entitlement when it comes to freebies in check.

Details on the new blog will be coming soon. Regular posting will continue on this blog up until the end date.