Viva was Xmal Deutschland's third album, released in 1987.
"Matador" was produced by the Stranglers's Hugh Cornwell and was released as a single in the UK in 1986.
Xmal Deutschland (pronounced: ixmal doytschland) was a musical group
from Hamburg, Germany. Founded in 1980 as an all-girl band, they became
successful outside their native country. Vocalist Anja Huwe was often
compared to contemporaries like Siouxsie Sioux (Siouxsie & the
Banshees).
Bass - Wolfgang Ellerbrock
Guitar - Manuela Rickers
Drums - Peter Bellendir
Keyboards - Fiona Sangster
Vocal
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From the fertile California (San Diego), Night Soil Man was the child of extraordinary singer/multi-instrumentalist Rosebud. I should mention that the rhythm section was held by Mike Kennedy (bs) and Mark Trombino (drms), later responsible for the famous Drive Like Jehu heavy sound. I should also warn you that this record has nothing to do with psychedelia or the so called "west coast" sound. Garden of Delight is a hard and desperate record, with no exits. The band is VERY tight, there is not a single note where it shouldn't be and although the music is hard and heavy, they never cross the line to the metal side. Rosebud does her vocal acrobatics over a non-stop pounding of the drums, thumbing of the bass and screaming of the guitar, singing about countless horrors and sickness and all these in a voice that she definitely knows how to use - she sounds like a trained vocalist-, a voice of tremendous power and expression.
Trained or non-trained Rosebud leads with he
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Heavy guitars in a low flying, a mix of Stranglers and Black Sabbath in an acidic trip, buried, distorted vocals that you can only guess on what are growling about, and also dirty punk rock in the NY Dolls tradition, that's what you gonna hear in this mini (about 20 min.) album, that Mary Shelley Overdrive from Columbia. SC, sent us.
Guitars rule in Hideous Sexy but they're based in an extremely solid rhythm section. This band must caused permanent damages in many kid's ears that show them playing.
As the above were not enough, you get a voodoo version (?) of "Who Do You Love" and a 57" version of "Wasted" the way that Hawkwind would play it.
Mary Shelley Overdrive, besides their sense of humor, have a few releases out. Check them here and on myspace.
Ed Flowers has already gained a place in the (underground) rock mythology: from his early Gizmos days, to the current long-time-running Crawlspace, he delivered the most tripped-out wild rock music while he was influenced by the free jazz gods, like Sun-Ra and Ornette Coleman, and the most outer-space travelling, while he had his feet firmly on his MC5/Stooges roots. For an Eddie-written bio go here, for a complete discography here, where you can buy the band's recent stuff and uch more!
What follows are excerpts from the three most respectable sites when it comes to the 80s (it's also a proof that Eddie Flowers and Crawlspace are a part of the secret rock history).
A bizarre and bizarrely wonderful all over the place collection of Glands mania, Nosejob should come with a warning sticker asking anyone who expects the slightest bit of cohesion to put the disc back unplayed. That's very much a compliment if you're into everything from teenage folkiness to full on chaos, and anyone thinking he or she has the artwork of Barbara Manning sorted out because of her solo and SF Seals work really needs to give this an ear and destroy some perceptions. Snippets of completely different and random performances are plopped down squarely in the middle of songs, edits are sudden and jarring, and things can jump from electrified mayhem to sepulchral spoken word just like that. And the thing is, it's grea
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Trotsky Icepick started out as one of those bands that simply was going to baffle anyone who listened to them. Made up of members formerly in 100 Flowers and The Last, Trotsky Icepick initially started out with the unusual concept of changing the band name upon each release but retaining the album title, Poison Summer. Originally, this album was released under the band name Danny and the Doorknobs on clear vinyl, but was reissued as "Trotsky Icepick Presents Danny and the Doorknobs in Poison Summer". A rather lengthy title, indeed. This album is not to be confused with another Trotsky Icepick album called Poison Summer, which is where the band ap
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The club was an immense pool hall, really, row after row of billiards tables surrounded by bikers and their women, punks trying to look like junkies and junkies like punks, old hippies with beads and bellies, barmaids with them perfect asses. Typical rock'n'roll environment. (from the liner notes)
L.A. ROCK REVIEW (August 26th, 1988, Dirk Hanna) A mighty black disc rises over the eastern Santa Monica Mountains. Instead of warmth it emits a powerful sonic assault and instead of light it shines raw anger tempered with a wry sense of humor. This disc is the mighty "Gimme the Keys" compilation. The colorful cover painting by those twisted old Flaming Lips themselves claim boldly that these are seven driving bands from L
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"I've found my musical Holy Grail. I may never need to hear anything but Devils Wielding Scimitars. The divine intervention kicks in via synchronized drums and guitar before the velvety, elastic, breathy cooings of Suzy Callahan appear to tell her revamped tale...The musicianship is top-notch, but we are dealing with a voice that has the power to haunt. To heal. The power to shoot between your brain and your heart straight towards the heavens." - The Seattle Rocket
The main selling point of the album is Suzy Callahan's ethereal, innocence-with-an-edge voice. "All Music Guide"
Suzy Callahan's voice is a wondrous thing, somehow managing to sound wholesome and deranged at the same time." - Rhythm, UK" .. Suzy Callahan is a joy. In
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Scott Warren Miller, as he appears in Painted Windows, is an outstanding figure in San Francisco/Davis underground/obscure/alternative scene for almost 30 years. He started with Lobster Quadrille (there are no releases by them - but there are existing recordings) and Alternate Learning who released two recordings: ALRN (7"EP, 1979) and Painted Windows (LP, 1981). The line-up was Scott Miller, Joe Becker (later in Thin White Rope, Game Theory and Loud Family), Kern Scott Gallawa, Carolyn O'Rourke, Byl Miller and Eric Landers.Despite the continuus demand from the fans, Scott Miller refuses to let the Alternative Learning records re-released (Scott as most artists wants the audience to focus on his recent work), and, as these were pressed in 1000 copies, they're v
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Early Swell Maps blues sessions? The Fall playing Kinks' songs but they don't
know the lyrics? There's no other album in the entire New
Zealand music so chaotic, so
brilliantly cacophonous and so totally denying any label, music style or genre, like this double album from the Axemen, released by Flying
Nun, in this great label's absolute peak, in
1986.
Flying Nun was so great because, for several
years, would release music
by any, and I mean any, band that Roger Shepherd, Chris Knox and Doug
Hood thought that had something interesting, no matter what musical
style it had. This concept produced some
of the best music of the 80s, not only because the three mentioned
above have an excellent taste, but also beca
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Back in the 80s there was a scene
that blossomed in the Arizona desert. Green
on Red were one the first
and more well-known bands, but they soon left for L.A. Giant Sand,
Naked Prey, Rainer, Woodcocks, Sidewinders, Al Perry & the
Cattle, Black Sun Ensemble, River Roses and many more were
labeled by
the music press as the "desert sound", although there are only three
records that you can actually smell the desert: Meat Puppets'
"Up On
The Sun", Black Sun Ensemble's "Lambent Flame" and
Al Perry and the
Cattle's "Cattle Crossing" - and all three of them have
nothing in
common musically.
The Arizona bands
(mainly from
Tucson) were playing good, old rock'n'roll music, with loud guitars,
high tension and lots of energy. By this I don't mean that the Arizona
scene was just generic rock
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This is the record which introduced the Japanese avant-garde scene to the Western audiences. Fred Frith (the creator and producer of this compilation) was among the very first musicians who visited Japan and had many collaborations with the local artists that today are well-known worldwide: Keiji Haino, Tenko, Chie Mukai, Haco, After Dinner, Mizutama Shobodan. Fred Frith did almost everything in this record: he discovered the music, he gathered the artists, he recorded them, he mixed the recordings and did the production, he took the cover photo, he even made one of the tracks from the remains of the recordings! (the opening "Fake").
As Frith said in the liner notes "A lot of new rock exists in Japan. It may be slavishly i
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Tar Babies - No Contest (1988) Tar Babies - Honey Bubble (1989) Tar Babies - Death Trip (1992)
One of the lesser-known bands on the legendary SST roster, the Tar Babies emerged from Madison, WI, with a distinctive brand of punk-funk that often drew comparisons to their labelmates the Minutemen, as well as the Texas-based Big Boys. Colored with bits of psychedelia, jazz, and avant-noise skronk, their music quickly progressed beyond their roots in hardcore and evolved into a scratchy but danceable, groove-centered hybrid complete with horns and George Clinton-style jamming. The Tar Babies were formed out of the ashes of Madison hardcore punkers Mecht Mensch, who disbanded in 1982. Guitarist/vocalist Bucky Pope, bassist Robin Davies, and drummer Dan Bitney debuted with the 1982 EP Face the Music, issued on local indie Bone Air. By the time of their second release, 1985's Respect Your Nightmares, their funk influenc
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Bonemen of Barumba were a unique punk/gothic punk band from the early 80s. They released three records during their lifetime and played at the 2005 O'Banions reunion, though Mark Panick was the only original member. They also made a video (very rare for the bands of that era) and even made a float and participated in a parade in Villa Park. Though not as popular as many of their early 80s contemporaries, Bonemen of Barumba were well-respected for their unique sound and artistic/visual approach to their music. Bonemen got their start with Mark and Tom, two fans of Super-8 artfilm, decided to form a band after a field trip to New Orleans. Shortly after, they built a Bonemen-themed float out of a 1964 Mercury station-wagon for the Villa Park 4th of July parade. Shortly after the release of the debut LP for Fever, internal tensions within the band forced the breakup. (from punkdatabase.com)
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Live Skull created abrasive no wave music not unlike their 1980s contemporaries Sonic Youth, Swans, Rat At Rat R, The Chameleons, Mars, Teenage Jesus & the Jerks and Band Of Susans. Their music featured angular guitar parts interspersed with bleak, quieter passages, for a haunting overall effect. The lyrical subject matter was usually as pessimistic and harsh as the music itself. Live Skull never achieved mainstream recognition, but retain underground notoriety and share a family tree with other relatively noteworthy groups.
Live Skull formed in New York City in 1983 by the guitar/bandleader tandem of Mark C. and Tom Paine. They were soon joined by drummer James Lo and Marnie Greenholz (Paine's then-girlfriend), on bass guitar. In 1984, a self-titled debut 12" EP saw release on the tiny Massive label. They soon signed with indie label Homestead Records, which released their 1985 debut full-length Bringing Home The Bait. On this LP, vocal dutie
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