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Is it Chanukah time already folks?   Feels like we just did this thing eleven months or so ago.  The holiday falls roughly a month earlier this year than it did in '17, in case you were keeping score at home.  Makes no difference, as I intend to spoil you (to the best of my ability) with an eight day barrage of cherished vintage records and extra special bootlegs.  This annual exercise in the elevation of my blood pressure is your potential goldmine. Starting in 2012, I decided to spread the goodies out over the eight nights of Chanukah (check out the preliminary details for 2012 , 2013 , 2014 , 2015 , 2016 and 2017 .  This made sense on a couple of levels.  For one, it gives me a convenient excuse to share several mind-blowing "gifts" instead of just one explosion on Christmas.  Secondly, Chanukah represents personal relevance to me.  We all know you were envious of that boy down the block who had a yarmulke festooned to his head...

Thought I'd post this while it was still relevant to the month.  Boy, from what I was able to scrounge up on this dual-female led Boston troupe I was under the impression they specialized in cold, expressionless dadaist dance music a la Big Black or something.  Yeah, I suppose there's some inherent rigidity to November Group , rhythm-wise if anything, but overall not only is this a lot more breathable than I expected, but outright catchy on repeat spins. Gotta love "Shake it Off" and my favorite, "Pictures of the Homeland." I'm easily picking up on traces of Gang of Four and Pylon, but don't be surprised if your conclusions differ.  This was ripped from a rather dodgy piece of wax, so perhaps a re-rip will be in order if I happen upon a cleaner copy. 01. Shake It Off 02. Flatland 03. Pictures of the Homeland 04. We Dance 05. Popular Front https://www22.zippyshare.com/v/syzU2DhP/file.html  

Originally seeing the light of day in 1995, Amazing Disgrace is the latest in Omnivore's expanded reissue series of the Posies early catalog.  It's gotten the reputation of being a particularly 'difficult' album, if only for the band themselves.  Lacking the comparatively quaint romantic naivety and niceties of their first two installments, Failure and Dear 23, and even to a certain extent the pop braininess infiltrating their breakthrough Frosting on the Beater, Disgrace added more than a modicum of musculature to the mix, albeit not gratuitously.  But how exactly did , that extra oomph and heaviness factor in to the Posies fourth record?  Some speculated that Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow were pressured to compete with the Soundgardens of the world, but if that were the case Bellingham, WA's finest wouldn't have drizzled "Hate Song" and "Song #1" with so much melody one would think their very lives depended on it.  In fact, 'do...

Four eps from four disparate artists, all of which may not be to your liking.  It's been awhile since I've done one of these, but it's back by semi-popular request.  **Please do not reveal artists in comments!** Hear

I was bitten by the Superdrag bug, right around the release of the Señorita 7" in 1994, and I've followed the exploits of frontman Jonathan Davis ever since.  Presently inactive, during their first blush in the '90s, virtually ever Superdrag single and album that came down the pike was something of a revelation, and Knoxville, TN's finest rarely, if ever, turned in a half baked song.  With the advent of the internet, and more specifically message boards, Napster and such I was able to delve even deeper into the nooks and crannies of Davis and Co., and learned of some of the band's extracurricular functions .   One of Davis' moonlighting endeavors was/is Johnny Flame .  This lo-fi alter-ego, if you will, seems to have gestated in the very late '90s, possibly as recently as 2000 or so.  The JF umbrella was predominantly set up as an informal vehicle for Davis to get a myriad of cover songs out of his system.  And that he does on the 25 or so tunes I'm ...

Well, when I did a query on these folks I brought up references to a current act named The Uncalled Four that are unrelated to this one, as well as another combo of the same moniker from the '60s...but alas, nothing relevant to the nearly three decade past Oakland quartet this entry concerns.  I suppose you could usher these fellows in the collegiate power-pop neighborhood (with one of those contingents being more applicable than the other depending on the song).  For the first couple of tunes, the Miracle Legion might be a loose reference point, and the guitars even resemble the Smithereens here and there.  "Set Me Straight" is way more potent, sparking a vibrant flurry of bash 'n pop power chords.  Things conclude on a curious note with the 88-second "Deleted" that juxtapositions from an acoustic ballad to something startlingly more combustible. 01. Bodie 02. Butterfly 03. Set Me Straight 04. Another Half Pint 05. Deleted https://www93.zippyshare.com/v/Fr...

From 1999. **Please do not reveal artist in comments!** Hear

To this day, I'm still trying to get my head wrapped around the term "rough mix."  Does this translate into "unmixed" or "casually mixed," or even "carelessly mixed?"  All I know is that pre-album mixes (or lack thereof) can sound palpably different from the finished product we pluck off the shelves.  In the case of the first Dead Boys album, Young, Loud and Snotty , the seminal punk record in question didn't sound particularly glossy in the first place.  On this incarnation of the LP, the overarching effect is less bass-y, Cheetah Chrome's guitar wails are a tad more prominent, are the background vocals are more discernible...and that's "roughly" (sorry, couldn't resist) the extent of the discrepancies.  I'm not privy to the fact if actual demos exist for YL&S, but I couldn't imagine them sounding to far off the mark from these unfettered takes. Young, Loud and Snotty isn't one of my desert isla...

The Splatcats rarely come up in conversation these days, if ever - even in their misbegotten home turf of Buffalo, NY.  But in their brief reign during the mid' 80s right up to the dawn of the Clinton era, these gents proved to be one of the most reliable and competent combos on the circuit, even generating ripples all the way over in Europe.  Sporting a penchant for ballsy rock with a delightfully punky verve, and even some garagey undercurrents, the band released a trio of remarkably consistent albums between 1986-90, with their debut Sin 73 garnering then the most notoriety.  Their earliest material loosely hovered in the vicinity of contemporaries the Lime Spiders, and by the time their 1990 swan song, Right On! was rolled out (albeit exclusively overseas to the frustration of local fans), the boys took a more linear tact.  This cassette only compendium (not an official release) focuses on the 'Cats latter era, offering a side of then brand new material, while...

It just dawned on me that this disk turned twenty this year.  Sometime in 1998 a friend told me these guys sounded like Lifetime and that I'd love them.  Gladly, she was correct on both of those claims.  They've been a part of my life since, and even though they vastly outdid themselves on subsequent records, I was pretty dazzled with this debut at the time. **Please do not reveal artist in comments!** Hear

As per your relentless requests.  Included is the much requested Aztec Camera compilation with a bonus folder of all tracks that had the pitch corrected. Thanks again to one of our readers who went to the trouble of remedying this! Aztec Camera - Digging Through Those Dustbins V/A - Lessons From Little Hits , Vols 1 , 2 , 3 & 4 The Ocean Blue - s/ t live ( MP3 of FLAC ) & Cerulean live ( MP3 & FLAC )  Material Issue - Eleven Supersonic Hit Explosions Sweet Jesus - discography Airlines - s/t Hollins Ferry - s/t The Square Root of Now - Bent Around Corners ( MP3 & FLAC )  Dils - Live! True Believers - Live - Harder... tape The Proof - It's Safe   Timco - Friction Tape The Othermothers - No Place Like Home ep Outlets - Whole N ew World V/A - Black Brittle Frisbee V/A - Twisted - 7" ep Connections - 7" Pigpen - Tard 7" 27 Various - 7"   Kilkenny Cats - 7" Comet - 7" Bridge Climbers - Full Bag, Don't Ben...

Here's a band that time forgot...but Not Lame didn't.  No, this wasn't a Not Lame Records release, rather a title I procured from their distribution arm of other labels they were thankfully carrying.  This Atlanta era quartet had roots all the way back to an early-70s group, Nod , before rechristening themselves as The Raves in the subsequent decade.  Unabashed power pop was their calling card, rooted in the likes of the Raspberries, but in practice more tangibly resembling Shoes, The Rubinoos, and a variety of their equally obscuro contemporaries on the Titan Records imprint (e.g. the Secrets and Arlis).  A handful of the songs here are culled from The Color of Tears LP, but the bulk of them are unreleased.  I don't have liner notes to refer to, as my copy only came with a b&w tracklist with no credits or background details to speak of.  The Raves were immensely competent and gratifying, and in fact their only shortcoming (if it can even be referred ...

I'll admit it.  Even I've privately referred to Permanent Green Light as "That post- Three O'Clock band."  I didn't have an immediate allegiance to PGL, if only because my intro to the was not through one of their originals, rather a B-52s cover on the Freedom of Choice compilation.  No, in order to really see the Light, I started with the ringleader's ( Michael Quercio ) more renown predecessor band, the aforementioned Three O'Clock.  During their mid/late '80s tenure, TO'C christened the very namesake of the movement they were the quintessential vanguard of - the Paisley Underground .  Alongside local L.A. contemporaries Dream Syndicate, Rain Parade and even pre-stardom Bangles, the Three O'Clock married a forward thinking collegiate rock aesthetic with the more docile affectations of '60s psych-pop.  From a sonic standpoint, this melange wasn't as sub-rosa as I may be leading on, but the subtle nuances these groups exuded wen...

1989 album from trio of downstate New York lads.  Bit of an acquired taste this one. **Please do not reveal artist in comments!** Hear

Surprisingly, the internet doesn't have much to offer on The Delfields despite this album having only been in existence for ten years.  In terms of band-specific details, I can only inform you that these are five NJ cats who seem to have an affinity for Office Space, based on their depiction on the back of the cd case.  Luckily, their album is considerably more enticing.  Ogres is bejeweled in shimmering, lucid indie pop, tuned into the given intelligentsia of the time - Shins, early Rogue Wave and even Outrageous Cherry.  We're served nine concise slices here, and the Delfields don't piddle away a second on anything frivolous or contrived.  Be sure to indulge in the sprite "Fawn Fight" for maximum sustained tingle inducement. 01. A Slippery Slope 02. Honest 03. Francine 04. Short Sleeves 05. Ogres 06. Solvents and Vacuums 07. Our Beds 08. Fawn Fight 09. Highlands https://www22.zippyshare.com/v/Mzc3D5Z3/file.html

Hailing from the not oft spoken locale of Newport News, VA, The Lift weave some intermittent magic across the dozen song (and one stray chord) Nearly Gear!   The album jacket suggests this trio might be of rockabilly stock, but to far greater delight they apply a bevy of advanced maneuvers within our sometimes routine left-of-the-dial environs.  I say intermittent in the respect that the Lift have a tendency to diverge from song to song, resembling a cornucopia of their contemporaries.  The band light the pleasure sensors ablaze on "Plush With Blonde" and "Monetary Means," emanating the stripe of creative juices Matthew Sweet did with his early Buzz of Delight endeavor, and ditto for such oddly alluring combos from Wilfully Obscure's back pages like Cannon Heath Down and Square Root of Now.  Something Fierce comes to mind as well.  When the Lift shift into peak performance, Nearly Gear! resembles some sort of long lost Mitch Easter production credit.  Els...