Thursday, October 08, 2015

The infamous 1985 Nirvana demos :: Fecal Matter - Illiteracy will Prevail

Get the tracks here

Torrent mirror

Long thought to no longer exist, the holy grail for Nirvana fans was the 1985 demo tape for a project Kurt Cobain called Fecal Matter. There were a couple of fakes that famously circulated around the internet, but this version is a legitimate recording. There are files out there that have been edited and remastered by amateur engineers, which is mostly what can be found on youtube. So, this version is intended to preserve the initial, unedited leak.

Girlfriends :: Nothing Nice to Say

Boston's Girlfriends have released a four track EP just in time for the holidays. Listen below::

The Whitehaus Family Record Family Record Vol 2 :: Are You In Paradise?

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The Whitehaus Family Record

Whitehaus Family Record Family Record Volume 2: Are You In Paradise?

November 11, 2011

Jamaica Plain's The Whitehaus Family Record have released their second vinyl compilation this month. It features a lot of the Mango Nebula's favorite artist's including Greg Mullen, Gracious Calamity, MANNERS, The Needy Visions, Shai Erlichman, Chris North from The Points North, Shira E. from Tiny Tornadoes, and the Woodrow Wilsons. Buy the MP3s or vinyl here.

Find out about the first Whitehaus Family Record Family Record here.

Boston Hassle Comp

Two of Boston's most active groups for planning and spreading the word about the coolest stuff around the city (namely Bodies of Water Arts and Crafts and Boston Counter Cultural Compass) now have a new affiliation: Boston Hassle. A new compilation has just been released under the name. The thirteen tracks are only available for now as a Playbutton, a wearable MP3 player badge.

Read more about Playbutton here.
Download the comp here.

Stream the comp below the jump:

Quilt :: Debut LP

Quilt

Quilt

November 8th 2011

Mexican Summer

quiltmusic.bandcamp.com

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The Boston (/Brooklyn) Trio make their debut on Mexican Summer. Stream some tracks below:

More Quilt goodness:
Burger Records Cassette
EP - Agents of Play
Deubt Cassette
Live Review 2010
Video Interview

Emperor X :: Western Teleport

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MP3: Emperor X :: "Erica Western Teleport" Emperor X ::
Western Teleport
Bar/None
October 4th 2011
emperorx.net
westernteleport.com

Emperor X is Chad Matheny's one man pop songs with flares of guitar, electronics, and inventive rhythms. He's been playing underground scenes for a decade, since he ditched the physics degree. A lot of the lyrics reflect his previous career path. The Blythe Archives Volumes I & II from 2008 and 2009 feature some of his catchiest and well penned tunes to date.

Along with the album, Emperor X has hidden "nodes" all across the US. In order to "play" you have to first buy the album, which is the easy part. Then you have to find a node, which consists of a translucent purple audio cassette and activate it for exclusive content from the Western Teleport sessions. Matheny did something similar for The Blythe Archives releases. It's a great way to make music more personal, as well as an adventure. Check out westernteleport.com for node locations and discoveries.

Hogstompers :: Demos

MP3: The Hogstompers :: "New Revolution"

The Hogstompers ::
Demos from 2009-2010
Yes.Oui.Si!
myspace.com/thehogstompers

bandcamp.com/album/hogstompers

yesouisispace.com

This group is formed by some of the folks responsible for the art and music space Yes Oui Si in the Fenway area near the MFA. This group and that organization are supporting a lot of the most interesting underground music in Boston right now. The Hogstompers are some pretty simple folk country jams. This collection of mostly live recordings and demos is available for free download over at Boston DIY's bandcamp page here.

Neutral Milk Hotel :: Wild World of Beards Incorporated

walkingwallofwords.com

Get the mix here.

Below the Jump is a mix of Neutral Milk Hotel Rarities. I like to call it "Wild World of Beards Incorporated" (hear: "World of Wild Beards Explanation") or "Sweetness Sings From Every Corner." Some of the live tracks and rarities fill in the gaps to explain the long, long radio silence from the band. There's an interesting little explanation that you can listen in on at the end of the live track for "Everything Is..." on the mix.

Quilt :: Burger Records Tape

Quilt ::
Cowboys in the Void Cassette Tape
March 1st 2011
Burger Records
quiltmusic.bandcamp.com

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A new release from Quilt in the form of a cassette tape came out on Burger Records in California. Although it's a 'cassingle,' it's long enough to be considered an EP. The group just posted the whole thing for download on their bandcamp, which now includes "The Silver Stairs of Ketchikan" and "Children of the Light." The vocals are more in the forefront than any other release and it gives their vivid drone psychedelics a 60's infusion. There's a bunch of bands that last line could put into your head, but their triple harmonies even come to conjure Simon & Garfunkel. A good quote from Jenn Pelly at pellytwins.blogspot.com: "At a moment when so much underground psych is focused on synthesizers and electronic vibes, Quilt’s organic, vocal-heavy psych-rock is uplifting."

The cassingle was recorded with Jesse Gallagher in Cambridge in 2010 and pressed in a run of 300. I checked out Burger Record's website, because it seemed odd for an east coast based band to release something on the other side of the country. The label's got a lot of other great artists that are worth checking out.

For the past couple of years Quilt have been playing lots of shows, touring, and releasing things pretty frequently. Read about Liz Pelly's odyssey with the band on the road to sxsw via the Boston Phoenix. There are tons of live videos and surprises::
Intro
Day 1 - Philly
Day 2 - Fredericksburg
Day 3 - Asheville
Days 4 & 5 - Memphis and Denton

Let's hope that their first full length will be out soon. Rumor has it that Mexican Summer might release something soon, but no official word yet.

The Music Tapes :: Purim's Shadow

The Music Tapes ::
Purim's Shadows (The Dark Tours he World)
June 14th 2011
Merge Records
orbitinghumancircus.com

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Story of their last adventure.

The Music Tapes have released a new digital EP and a Kazoo. If you order the EP from the Merge store, they'll send you a Kazoo, a bonus track called "Hacidem," and a "special something made by Julian," the group's lead. They still use antique recording equipment to capture the bowed banjos, singing saws, harmoniums, and the seven foot tall metronome. The group is getting ready for the release of the twin full lengths that will be The Imaginary Symphony No. 3. The first part, called Mary's Voice, will be out soon. The tour that follows will be eagerly anticipated, because for their last tour they played in bedrooms all across the east coast singing lullabies for people as theu were about to go to sleep. You can read the Mango Nebula article about it here. The last time the mysterious Santa-like magicians were spotted, they were playing saws while people were riding a carousel somewhere near Boston. So whatever they come up with next should be amazing.

If you read the aforementioned article "Remember this Feeling That You're Feeling Right Now," then you may remember Julian's fluffy and contently listening dog, Rudolph. The digital booklet that comes with the album says "dedicated to Rudolph. I'll miss you forever."

This is a nice description from Merge::
"The Music Tapes, to me, is a sort of living dream that illustrates the continual process of how dreams become real. For example, when the 7-Foot-Tall Metronome sprang from my imagination, it was to be The Music Tapes’ primary rhythm instrument, and although it existed only as a drawing in a notebook, imagining it delighted and inspired me. My friends (Scott Spillane, Terry Rowlette, Robbie Cucchiaro, Laura Carter, Eric Harris, and others) saw the drawing and, in a flurry of excited activity, made it real. And thus the real world became different: it had a 7-foot-tall metronome in it.

Many of the basic tenants of The Music Tapes’ world are found on Purim’s Shadows, including the 7-Foot-Tall Metronome which provides the primary rhythm for “A Lightning’s Cheeks.” Also featured are the Orchestral Banjo and the Singing Saws. The Orchestral Banjo is played with a violin bow, producing a sound that I love very much; it’s like having at your command ghostly orchestras from crackly old records. And Saws, of course, sound to me like angels. This recording marks the first time a Singing Saw solo was encouraged (played) by someone other than me on a Music Tapes record: the solo at the end of “Night and Day” is the work of Ian Ludders, a great encourager of Saws, and I am honored to have had him play with us. Robbie Cucchiaro, The Music Tapes’ co-founding member, supplied horns and his signature euphonium. And finally, the most important contributors to this recording, and central to The Music Tapes’ sound, are the Webster Chicago wire recorder, RCA DX44 ribbon mic, and The Music Tapes’ array of antique and modern recording machinery and field recorders.

Without state-of-the-art machinery, The Music Tapes’ recordings would be next to impossible. But, of course, the past is where the future comes from. What often makes something new is not a loyal adherence to the trends and technologies of the moment but rather a loving interaction with the rich inheritance that makes our moment in time the most unique of all. All that has come before us has been left for us to find, dusty and often without any context to distract from its pure magic. It is my happiness to endeavor to make brand-new sorts of things in which all that I love most about the world will have a home, just as my friends meaningfully and lovingly set out to make a 7-foot-tall metronome exist, giving their love and friendship a large, loud wooden form that can march forward in time."

Bright Eyes:: Live Recordings EP

MP3: Bright Eyes :: "Bowl of Oranges"

Bright Eyes :: Live Recordings EP
July 4th 2011
Saddle Creek Records

thisisbrighteyes.com

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Bright Eyes released a live EP compiled from their current tour in support of their latest, The People's Key. It's a limited release, only available through HMV. This live version of "Bowl of Oranges" must've been easy to do for their last tour, considering the pit of synths Conor Oberst was buried in. The lyrics also make a bold change. Instead of "That's why I'm singing 'baby,'" he switches that last word to 'Maria.'
Read the Mango Nebula review of The People's Key here.
Also, check out the star spangled video for "Jejune Stars" below.

Tracklist::
1. Firewall
2. Shell Games
3. Ladder Song
4. Arc Of Time
5. Bowl Of Oranges
6. Lover I Don’t Have To Love

to love and to be loved_

Boy Without God :: God Bless the Hunger

Boy Without God :: God Bless The Hunger
June 21st 2011
Self Released

boywithoutgod.bandcamp.com

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Boy Without God's latest release is indeed hungry. Famishedly sparse like being surprised by a cold shower or getting your tongue stuck to a pole. Yet for all the gutteral atheistic wallows of songwriter Gabrial Burnbaum, there are quite a few feasting moments of vigor and depth. The album was recorded at the Soul Shop, mastered at Soundmirror, and even the jackets were made by Repeat Press for a whole homemade package. Get the album and a whole slew of Boy Without God's back-catalogue at their bandcamp.

Refried Ice Cream :: Witness to the Storm

MP3: Refried Ice Cream :: "Halo"

Refried Ice Cream :: Witness to the Storm
October 2010
Team Love

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refriedicecream.com

Mango Nebula review of The People's Key.

Refried Ice Cream should now be well associated with Bright Eyes, as frontman Danny Brewer contributed the eerie and apocalyptic love espousing spoken word genesis recorrections to The People's Key. And yes, their music is just as odd and interesting. Witness to the Storm is the tenth album out by the father son Texas duo and first release on Team Love, the label started by Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst and Nate Krenkel. Time could be wasted trying to explain the 1970's in dimension X sound or saying that the Roky Erikson inspired style that verges on Jandek greatness, but what describes the band best is a nice little story blurb on the Team Love website that you can read below. The group is quite politically conscious as well, in their lyrics and on their website, which is like a late nineties free webpage creator disaster and is thoroughly entertaining to explore.

"It was 109 degrees on the ground the afternoon we flew into El Paso. I could see the dust rising in angry swarms from the flat restricted zones of Fort Bliss while the murder capital city out the window on the other side of the aisle was like an extremely sick and overweight sister I never had who had grown so obese she could no longer rise from the couch and dip her ankles into the Rio Grande.

I had heard from the boys in the Mystic Valley about a father/son rock band somewhere to the east of El Paso near Tornillo or Fabens. They were outsiders from another time, an old man with a Harley engine for a heart and his son with an apple pipe affixed to his lips. They had a sound that had turned off Interstate 10 somewhere around 1971 and never looked back, crushing the Texas mountain laurel and hollyhock with amphetamine laced VU riffs that drone on ad infinitum in search of buried gold and healing waters. It was under the shade of an almond tree that I finally met Refried Ice Cream.

Denny had injured his back repairing a motorcycle and his son Josh kept reiterating the importance of good health. They sipped ice water and spoke of far away things, of dimensional parasitic races and amputated feet that grew back. They had driven over from their compound that was a bastion of priceless guitar amps and discarded metal detritus, where Janis Joplin’s car and a brand new Imac shared the same plot of dust with a family of hippie lizards and a caldron of extinct moeritherium stew. Like their music, their conversation leapt from the drone of linear time to the heights where the human psyche cracks and the blue-sky floods in, from a simple government plot to control the populace, to an eternal quest for a bottle from god’s private stash.

When our time together was over my faith lay shattered and scattered among the empty beer bottles was a copy of, as Josh described, their latest series of jams, their new album, “Witness To The Storm.” The first song gave me the impression I was pinned to the underside of the engine hood of a flaming red Super Bee. Effects were catching fire and dripping from the cymbals as Denny sang in what I soon realized was his patented style of lazy cool repetitive and repeating six shooter slow draw, and then came Josh with his rants of mind control and poison in the well. After the third song I looked up and took notice that we were on the banks of the Rio Grande. George Bush’s wall was before us hot to the touch and already broken out in rust and decay. A lightening storm danced across the sky horizontally but offered no respite from the heat. Only in this climate, in these times, could music that expressed the both the power of the psychedelic landscape, the paranoia of the dying world and the glory of speed and thirst that comes from years of driving on two lanes under an enemy sun be made.

After El Paso I was never the same. I carry with me now an expression that says to other like minded outsiders and collectors of the strange and sublime, do you see what is on my face, have you heard this sound, do you know what I mean when I ask for it Refried?" -Napo K. July 2010

Vivian Girls :: Share the Joy

Vivian Girls :: "The Other Girls"

Vivian Girls :: Share the Joy ~ Polyvinyl ~ Brooklyn, NY ~ April 11th 2011

The most compelling part of Share the Joy is it's sarcastic and honest female empowerment. As much of a bummer as it is to categorize a band as "girl rock," the group pigeonholes themselves to make a some feminist commentary on "the other girls" and on underground punk traditions. The pinnacle of this is during "Take it As it Comes," which, through the form of an audio sketch, advises the confidence-lacking, cell phone laden, love obsessed (and partially crazed) teen girls within all of us. Stylistically, Vivian Girls champion the genre with commentary such as the blazing guitar solos during their opening track "The Other Girls." It's also worth repeating that rarely ever does a band have such a well appropriated name, especially for this album. Vivian Girls were the creation of outside artist Henry Darger who could quite possibly not tell the difference between boys and girls and whose art was discovered in his recluse's apartment upon his death. The documentary In the Realms of the Unreal is fascinating and worth a watch.

freewebs.com/viviangirls

The Great Valley :: In the Silver Dream

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The Great Valley :: "Ghost Prom"

The Great Valley :: In The Silver Dream ~ Spooky Town Artifacts ~ Jamaica Plain, MA ~ December 15th 2010

In the Silver Dream is the first full length release from halloweencore duo The Great Valley. They're an act that really should be seen to gain a full understanding of what they are. A guitarist and a drummer with one hand clutching a stick and the other pounding on a keyboard, they may appear wearing masks or costumes, some of which they've made themselves. The music follows suit as slightly silly and sloppy, buried in reverb, and very catchy.

thegreatvalley.bandcamp.com

Gracious Calamity :: Carefree Since ´83

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Gracious Calamity :: Carefree Since ´83

Whitehaus Family Record ~ Jamaica Plain, MA ~ March 5th 2011

These two lovely ladies finally get to see the release of their first full length. Kate Lee and Kit Wallach carry songs with their incredibly catchy and beautiful harmonies and surround them with guitar and ukelele. Their sweet words form hymns about things ranging from the holy exaltation of music to bubblegum and shoelaces. The girls are joined by other Whitehaus allstars: flute from Regina Peterson of The Points North, drums and things from Greg Beson of MANNERS, bass from Sam Potrykus of The Needy Visions and Ambitious Tugboat and Lord Jeff, and Shira Erlichman of Tiny Tornadoes.

This record was produced maybe even over a year ago at the Shop in Weymouth, MA by Jerry MacDonald. It was laid down using a vintage console, but once the whole thing had been recorded the console broke, trapping the tracks inside. The gang had to wait several months to find a replacement part. Just like their music, this record is product of patience and hope.

Red the Hauscat, entranced by the album.

graciouscalamity.bandcamp.com

GIRLFRIENDS :: CAVE KIDS B/W EAT AROUND THE BAD PARTS

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Girlfriends :: "Cave Kids" :: (from flophouse session)

Girlfriends :: Cave Kids ~ Black Bell Records ~ Jamaica Plain , MA ~ April 1st 2011

Girlfriends have a new seven inch single Cave Kids b/w Eat Around the Bad Parts. The trio experimented with a touch of hi-fi on their Good to Be True single, but the lowest filth is where they belong and the gang laid this one down perfectly. It's a similar release to last year's Government Seizure vinyl single. "Cave Kids" is the best Boston anthem I've ever heard, capturing the late night drunken mischief of riding bikes, taking the T, crashing playgrounds, climbing trees, breaking into abandoned buildings, and finding the city's hidden treasures. The line "We underachieve and live below our means, and can’t get to sleep 'cos we have oversized dreams" defines such characters perfectly. "Eat Around the Bad Parts" is a darker, faster, and heavier song with a title that's clever as hell. Making political consciousness and economic reform fun, the song even nods to some soviet perestroika (use those search engines kiddies). The last line is: "We’re embittered, thickly settled, where all the pots attack the kettles," making both songs extremely indicative of Boston.
Get this thing on black or green vinyl while you still can.

Here's a live video of "Cave Kids" at Great Scott

girlfriendsband.bandcamp.com
girlfriendstheband.tumblr.com

Manners :: White Wool Fog Repressed

Manners :: "Night + Day"

Manners has just reissued the lovely, lumbering White Wool Fog or The Cave of Light Within on cassette. And the band repped Mango Nebula on their site! Check it out.

Hold the cassette here for just five bucks or download for no bucks.

Read the review here.

Michael, Jordyn, and Greg :: !!!(!) EP

Michael, Jordyn, and Greg :: "Opposite Day"

Michael, Jordyn, and Greg :: "We Can if We Get There"

I love it when friends make really damn good music. This trio makes some noisy sweet pop tunes with a brain, based in some complex jazz stuff. Get it for free at their bandcamp.

http://michaeljordyngreg.bandcamp.com/album/ep

w o o l g a t h e r i n g :: Jamaica Plain Bedroom Demos

w o o l g a t h e r i n g :: "The Indelible Shrinking Gurl"

Hullo Good Souls, I am very proud to announce woolgathering's first ever demo/EP/whatever!!! It is music by yours truly.

It was recorded in my bedroom in Jamaica Plain by me with the help of Liz Pelly on the glockenspiel. When I first heard the word woolgathering, which means daydreaming or lollygagging of lackadaisical, I was immediately struck with an image. Not the one you'd think, of a little kid pulling wool off a fence at a farm. However, for whatever reason I saw this little boy in a striped sweater that was too big for him, gathering firewood out of the snow. However, the last log he picked up somehow sent him floating upwards into the sky and he was left, not so much fearful, but reluctant, apathetic and accepting, wide eyed, to his new anti-gravitational fate. I don't know why.

Build a toy guitar. Get lost in a forest of birch trees. Wear a bed sheet around your neck as a cape. Carry the girl across the river. Wrap yourself in blankets of hot snow. Eat dictionaries. Say what you actually mean. Force it out of your soul like a rocket. Esoterrorists, catharsissies and metaphornication. Hear the words that are not deeds, that are the gaps in people’s lacks. Destroy something to give it meaning. Taste your own tongue. Read the glowming on everyone’s faces. Transcend your Humanity. Become a ball of light.

You can get it by e-mailing mangonebulaproductions@gmail.com or by visitingwoolgathering.bandcamp.com

http://www.myspace.com/turpentinehangover

http://woolgathering.bandcamp.com/

http://www.facebook.com/woolgatheringalicious

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