Tape-Toons recording with Steve Albini!

So my buddy Andrew from Tape-Toons called me the other night to let me know the band is going to Chicago this August to record their new album with none other than the amazing Steve Albini! They're getting the money together right now by playing some shows and selling their debut, Gravel Love, online via BandCamp. This is big news and if you like what you've heard by them, please support them by either purchasing a download of Gravel Love or, if you're in the area, going to see them at any of these upcoming shows:

7/23/11 Rubber City Noise Center, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio
7/29/11 Stone Tavern, Kent, Ohio

These guys are the real deal and their recording with Albini could be a real game changer, so support 'em now and you can say you heard them first! You can get more info as to their goings on at their Facebook page and get Gravel Love while you're at it. The download is great and only seven dollars, though you really should get a physical copy if you go to one of their shows. The packaging is completely handmade for each individual copy of the album, so every copy is totally unique. Seriously, you'll be sorry if you don't check these guys out soon, they're gonna rock your socks off!




PS - The BandCamp widget thing is a little weird so I wanted to note that you can check out the whole album with it, just click on the little triangle pointing downward next to the song name to choose other songs.

Jimmy Edgar and Schematic for LSD/DSL!

Hey everybody, I'm not going to be around much this week because there was a death in my family, but I will post the lossless version of the Miles Davis box set on Friday at the latest. That said, Rom wanted me to let you all know about a show coming up very soon if you're in the Miami area. Jimmy Edgar will be playing the first LSD/DSL show at EVE on February 20th and so will Rom, Jacque Polynice and eight more, all to kick your ass and have a good time! So if you're in the Miami area you've gotta get down there and check 'em out! All the info you need is on the flyers so grab 'em, bookmark 'em, print 'em, whatever you've gotta do just as long you're there!

David Williams is AWESOME!!!!!

OH MY GOD! Check this out! David Williams was all over the Jungle Brothers' Crazy Wisdom Masters and J.Beez Wit The Remedy and he just posted this track he's working on for a potential JB's reunion! TOTALLY FRICKIN' AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

what is to be done? 3 (jbs 1) by Beautiful Supermachines


Okay, now I've gotta go recover from that heart attack! Track is AWESOME! I'm giddy as a schoolgirl here! David also left some comments in this post so check it out!!!

Tape-Toons - Gravel Love in Kent, Ohio

Late in the summer, I paid a visit to my friend Bobby at KSU. We talked music, video, work, etc. and then I mentioned that, at least at that time, I was considering starting a small record label. He asked me if I was looking for talent and I answered that the label would only handle small reissues. He was a little disappointed but then told me I had to hear this band he had been shooting a video for. We went into one of the computer labs and he punched up the myspace page for the Tape-Toons and proceeded to play their song, Mice In The Walls. It was bluesy in a way similar to the Black Keys but the performance was a lot rawer, and I mean that in every instance of the word. The vocals could have been recorded in a professional studio or on a hand-held recorder, the guitars are beautifully rough as though positioned somewhere between Kurt Cobain and a brain-damaged Jimi Hendrix and the percussion keeps you at attention as it gently moves a little off beat only to come back solid as hell. I was excited to say the least!

I asked to hear more, but what Bobby played me sounded like David Yow from the Jesus Lizard singing alongside unmixed, out-of-sync multitracks from a noise band. I wasn't sure what to make of that other than to say I was intrigued. Turns out something must have been wrong with the computer because that's NOTHING like what Tape-Toons sound like, but it didn't turn me off in the least. I asked him to see if he could get me a copy of their album and a week or two later he brought me a fully packaged and mastered CD. The package was actually created from newspaper with a handwritten track list and a giant stamp imprint on the front with the band's name and that of the CD, Gravel Love. I asked if this has been made specifically for me as it looked so unique, to which he explained the band wanted all of the CDs to be unique unto themselves so they had created the stamp, used different inks for each cover and created each case from newspaper themselves. I was impressed, but then I listened to the CD. It fulfilled on the promise of Mice In The Walls, coming across like a personalized performance from the band in your living room. It's by no means overly produced but rather an accurate representation of their sound, loose and beautifully ragged. Tracks like the heavy rave-up of She Drove A Spike, the slowed-down throwback rock of Rush To The Cemetery with it's insane drumming, the grungy depression of CEO Blues, they all got under my skin like so many heartfelt records have before. And then there is their beautiful cover of Pavement's Grounded. By now, I was reconsidering the whole not signing anyone to the label thing. Of course, shortly thereafter I lost my job and the dreams of a label went up in smoke, for the time being at least, but I knew I had to write about how great these guys are.

The Tape-Toons are Andrew Bittaker on guitar and vocals, Allen Bittaker on bass and Dylan Gomez on drums. Their album, Gravel Love, is available for purchase at their live shows with a digital release soon to be issued, and they also have an EP on iTunes named Blah BlaH which features two songs from Gravel Love and four more not on the album. They've got Facebook and MySpace pages they update frequently and are performing live at the Europe Gyro in Kent, Ohio alongside The Lorax Tree and Shank Bone, so you should get yourself there and let these guys blow you away!

And now, for your listening pleasure, with the blessing of Tape-Toons I've got two tracks from Gravel Love for you to check out. I've already posted Mice In The Walls but Rush To The Cemetery is new to these parts so grab 'em and enjoy! When their album becomes available online I'll be sure to post a link for you to check it out. Now go see them Thursday!

Tape-Toons - Mice In The Walls

Tape-Toons - Rush To The Cemetery

Prince - Computer Blue Versions

So I was listening to of Montreal's Skeletal Lamping this morning and was really enjoying all it's Princely vibes, although I was surprised to find that some people were really disappointed by that album. Apparently it has to do with the synthetic nature of that album's sound, whereas folks are much more into their new record, False Priest, which actually comes out tomorrow. I started listening to that and found it really difficult to get into. It just seems like Barnes is trying way too hard to be weird and Princey, whereas Skeletal Lamping was funky, fun and weird in a way that was really inviting. The guy has talent, that's for sure, and I'm really looking forward to hearing the new Solange Knowles album whenever it drops as he's produced it, but I guess I don't know what to make of False Priest. Maybe it's my whole thing about hating Elf Power. That though is another story for another post.

Listening to Skeletal Lamping really got me thinking about how great Prince is and how I have such a love/hate relationship with him. I love pretty much everything he did from Dirty Mind through The Black Album, I have some serious favorites on Lovesexy through 1992's symbol album and I always found gems throughout his later output up until his last few albums, but I hate who he has become and how he treats his fans. Chuck Klosterman wrote an article about why Billy Joel feels he needs to be cool, but I've always thought it was Prince who thinks he has to be cool. The man is so talented but he's got such issues with just being himself. He also seems to think he's still a tastemaker and that his opinions are taken seriously. Recently he made comments about how the internet is dead, but he's still singing songs about e-mails and online activity. He had a pay website setup for the Lotusflower debacle where he promised all kinds of exclusive content but made very little available. People canceled their accounts only to find they were re-billed regardless. What kind of way is that to treat your fans? And that's not even discussing the quality of the music. All three CDs were retreads of old ideas that still sound fresh in their original forms but are boring as by-the-numbers workouts. The man is crazy! Yet, I still love his old music. There are artists who I can turn away from and ignore easily, but Prince's best works still shine through. I suppose it's as easy as saying that his bad attitude doesn't make his music bad, but it's easy to tie those things together when you feel emotionally battered by such heartless treatments.

Whenever I listen to Prince, I always find myself eventually putting on Computer Blue. I can't stand to watch Purple Rain ever again for any reason other than seeing Appolonia topless or listening to how funny Morris Day is, although the workprint in circulation is interesting for different reasons, but Computer Blue is an example of how good Prince can be. I know I'll be looked at as blasphemous but I can't stand Take Me With U, The Beautiful Ones (it's okay, it's just not great) or Purple Rain the song, for me it's all about the first three songs on side two, Darling Nikki, the long version of Let's Go Crazy, all the b-sides that should have been on the album (Erotic City baby!) and, of course, Computer Blue. Not the album version of Computer Blue though, that edit doesn't begin to show the brilliance at work.

Bootleg tapes of rough and alternate mixes have been in circulation for years and they all show how much time and energy Prince put into this wonderful song that got chopped to death when it was released. Wendy and Lisa continue to talk in their bizarre monotones that freak everyone out, Prince talks about wandering through a hallway named after emotions, a guitar driven interpolation of Father's Song from the movie shows up in the middle, there are solos all over the place, tons of extra lyrics, and Prince creates a feedback masterpiece all over the end of the song that goes on for well over a minute with screams and alien calls. HOLY SHIT IS IT AWESOME! Yet it never came out remotely near how cool it could have been. GODDAMNIT THAT SUCKS! If there was ever a song that should have been issued as an extended version on the a-side of some cooler than cool 12" single, THIS IS IT! But as I mentioned earlier, there are bootlegs around, and that's what I'm gonna give you to sample today, four bootleg versions of Computer Blue. I've attempted to pitch correct them as much as possible so they're all about the correct speed and now you can have your own little 1983 synth/guitar epic overdose too! ARGH! OVERDOSE!


Prince - Computer Blue Versions

01 Computer Blue (Scratch Vocal)
The backing track here is mostly complete but Prince, for whatever reason, felt possessed to record a ridiculously rough vocal where he yells, curses and loses track of everything. Not essential, but fascinating nonetheless.

02 Computer Blue (Rough Mix #1)
This is where things get interesting! Someone found this tape in their collection a few years ago and started circulating it to the joy of Prince fans all over the world. This mix doesn't feature all the elements of the final song and is missing a lot of vocals, but the quality of the recording is amazingly clear and should give all interested a glimpse at the layers in this track. This mix also contains the longest version of the feedback outro with lots of additional noise. Really impressive.

03 Computer Blue (Rough Mix #2)
This one is the holy grail! While the quality of the recording is lacking, this version features just about everything that was made for the song. This is most likely a rough mix, but it's far more complete than the above version and could have been issued as is. This version has the hallway vocals, all kinds of Wendy and Lisa weirdness, the Father's Song, extra lyrics and all kinds of wonderment. I'd have put this first but I wanted this collection to be as close to chronological as possible.

04 Computer Blue (Extended Version)
While this is extended, that's only compared to the album version. This version was apparently considered for release in an alternate master of the Purple Rain album. It contains some extra vocals but is still rather incomplete. This version ends abruptly where the feedback would crossfade into Darling Nikki, which it does, but I wasn't going to bother including a version of that song which bares no noticeable difference from it's album version.


PS - Stole the image from the Beach Life Blog. Thanks!