Quick update

Well, as you may or may not have noticed there have been no updates in ages. Well, my internet went from “spotty” in my last update to “completely non-functional” now. Not having internet at home is a bit like being transported back to 1997. I feel like I should be preparing for middle school, because that’s the last time (probably) I had no home internet.

However, to soothe the soul of those missing musics, let me do several things:

1. Don’t forget to check out all the glorious blogs on my right-hand side-bar. They are truly great.

2. Here is a mixtape I made earlier this summer:

The mixtape is 3 discs worth of music split into two download files. Unlike the full albums I post on this blog, not all of these songs are out of print or anything… but it’s a mixtape. I cleared the tagging information so that 1. I could sequence the tracks properly and 2. so that the surprise isn’t ruined–I always find music is best appreciated when you don’t have any bias going into it.

There is a theme to the mix–the book of Job from the Bible. Because, why not?

Here is download #1. And here is download #2.

And here is a link to the track listing, so you know what the various songs are. I really recommend NOT viewing the link until after you’ve listened to the mix, but I obviously can’t stop you.

Hopefully things will get sorted out soon and I can get internet back up-and-running so regular posting can resume.

 

Tantrum of the Muse – The Heart Is A Two-Headed Sperm (1998/2010)

Artist: Tantrum of the Muse
Album: The Heart Is A Two-Headed Sperm
Year: 1998 (remaster re-release in 2010)
Label: Takehold Records (remaster self-released)
Genre: Metal Weirdness

Sorry for the long absence. Ever since my move I’ve had very spotty internet and uploading and downloading takes forever. That hasn’t changed, so I can’t guarantee any uptick in updates for right now, but at least I can provide one of the most stellar bandcamp links ever.

Tantrum of the Muse was a short-lived avant-metal act from Lancaster, PA who released two albums on the nationally distributed label Takehold Records. While I can’t think of any band that they particularly sound LIKE, I could see them appealing to fans who like quirky metal/rock along the lines of System of a Down or Mr. Bungle. Tantrum is often fiercer–while mixing in numerous sound clips from old movies and records to kick off tracks.

I’ve been a fan for quite some time, and this album is one of my favorite go-to albums. Nary a mix-tape gets made by me without including a song off of this. This would have been one of the first albums I posted on this blog except they were charging for the Bandcamp download. Well, just the other day they made it a free download. So my blog has had one major hole filled. Thank you Stephen!

(Click above icon for bandcamp download page.)
(And while you’re there, check out their second cd, too, which I’ll probably feature here later.)

 

Paul Leary – The History of Dogs (1991)

Artist: Paul Leary
Album: The History of Dogs
Year: 1991
Label: Caroline Distro
Genre: Alternative Rock
RIYL: The Butthole Surfers, weird rock
Essential Tracks: How Much Longer, The Birds Are Dying, Apollo One, Indians Storm the Government

I’m going to go ahead and guess that most of my readers are astute enough to know that Paul Leary is best known for his guitar playing with The Butthole Surfers. I never actually listened to The Butthole Surfers–their band name just seemed juvenile and like a band I could skip. But after recently discovering this solo gem from Paul Leary on the rather amazing Blog the Jerk I might have to listen to the Surfers at some point.

Highlighting how ridiculously great this album is is as simple as reading the 1-star Amazon.com review for this album by T. Barnes:
“The vocals are terrible, high-pitched, and made my stomach hurt.”
“The songs are weird and very hard to enjoy.”
“This record is an oddball in any collection, but no worth being put into rotation.”

Aka, this album is super-awesome from beginning to end. It’s one of those albums I’m content to put on repeat–and I can’t say that about many albums. Highly recommended for both the weirdos and the alternative rock fans (genres which I don’t usually see much overlap in anymore).

(Click icon for download)
(Actually, judging by the Amazon review I quoted above, it might be foolish of me to expect anything like this if I’d listen to The Butthole Surfers. But I’ll try ’em out sometime anyway.)

 

…Of Dream and Drama – The Forthcoming Kingdom (1998)

Artist: …Of Dream and Drama
Album: The Forthcoming Kingdom
Year: 1998
Label: Self-Released?
Genre: Doom/Death Metal
RIYL: Your growly metal with some nice atmospheric touches
Essential Tracks: Mirage

I’m enjoying this release right now, which is sole justification for me posting it. I have no emotional attachment to it and make no guarantees about anyone else. This isn’t highly original by any stretch of the imagination, but it is solidly performed and the songs flow well. Of course, as a demo release, there are only 4 tracks (one of which is an intro, so you know…), but the band has made the release available for free download. Not much else to say here. Either the doom/death metal sub-genres interest you or they don’t.

(Click icon for the band’s download page. You’ll have to scroll down and it’ll be on the right-hand side of the screen.)

 

Sorry about the lack of updates.

Between moving and a death in the family I haven’t had the time or energy for a new post. I’ll try to pull something together this evening or tomorrow. In the meantime, give the blogs I like on the right-hand column a peek!

 

Stanley Wilson – Pagan Love (1957)

Artist: Stanley Wilson
Album: Pagan Love
Year: 1957
Label: Capitol
Genre: Exotica
RIYL: White men pretending to be knowledgeable about things outside the US.

Thanks to the amazing Flash Strap blog, I have acquired a rather keen appreciation for the Exotica genre. This is one of the gems I scored–I mean, look at that cover! It is so exotic… and sexy… and just everything that makes Exotica so amazing and ridiculous. I mean, Exotica is largely white men in their posh apartments writing songs that they think sound foreign. It isn’t world music because none of it is remotely genuine, no matter how sincerely they state “facts” on the covers.

“One of the most colorful and important facts of Pagan life is the courtship ritual,” starts the text on the back cover. “But while the idea of ritual is common to all primitive societies, pagan love rites run a startling gamut–from the death-defying land diving of New Hebrides through the perilous ballet of the Malayan Pinchak Knife Fight to the innocent witchcraft of Zulu love magic.” At best it is a romanticization of what really happens–coupled with music that has the authenticity of a Hollywood film score. At worst it is complete bollocks–intentional lies to move product.

Regardless, seen with the eyes of 2011 the whole thing seems rather precious. Yet the music is rather engaging and thrilling. Think of it as the musical equivalent to books that take place in the deep jungles–it’s just a fantasy.

(Click icon to download)

 

Quick non-music post…

New header, again. This one will probably stick around for a month or so, but I still need to tweak some issues with it (**cough**blog name too faint as-is), but at least it is a step in the right direction.

 

For those keeping track, here is the Reminded Music header-history up to this point:

1. Generic WordPress option–the whole record player image was pretty good… but I always scoff when I encounter blogs who use one of the (few) image options WordPress offers.

2. Found a Creative Commons image on Flickr of a colorful live-music scene. Actually pretty cool, although the colors seemed a bit out of step of what I (usually) post here. Plus, I was technically supposed to give photo credit–and there is no real place to put a photo credit on a header.

3. The current one. Finally found a decent free image-manipulation program for the Mac (GIMP) and whipped together a collage of album art. It has its problems, but even though it feels like a step down from the last one, at least I put it together.

Hopefully at some point I can really get down to business and craft a worthy header–something that I put together that makes Reminded Music feel less–ragged. Until then, this will suffice.

 

Sleep – Dopesmoker (1996)

Artist: Sleep
Album: Dopesmoker (or Jerusalem)
Year: 1996
Label: Tee Pee Records
Genre: Stoner Metal
RIYL: Black Sabbath, Torche, really long songs

The history on this beast is a mess. So I’m just going to paraphrase Mutant-Sounds (who hipped me to this jam): Sleep took their label signing money, blew it on weed, and recorded one long song whilst high as a kite. And then they submitted it to the label, who said “nuh-uh.” Label wanted to split the one long track into multiple tracks and Sleep said “nuh-uh.” Album gets shelved. HERE is where it gets complicated.

Either:
A) Sleep allows a bootleg edition to be released (image above) and calls it Jerusalem and then years later a label licenses it, splits it into 6 tracks, and then releases it again as Jerusalem with a different cover (google it). Then some other label decides that the public can handle one long track and releases the whole thing as Dopesmoker (cue 3rd album cover).

or
B) Switch around chronological nonsense from above paragraph as needed.

The essential thing to realize is that this has been released multiple times, with multiple covers, album names, and methods of presentation–some of which is in line with the artist’s original vision, and some which aren’t.

::Deep Breath::
::Exhale::

Now, Reminded Music tries to stick to an ethical code on what albums to post. See the right sidebar–>
Reminded Music is kind of making an exception here because:
1) This rip is taken from the bootleg release (see above image)
2) The Dopesmoker release is out of print
3) Thus, the only way to get the music legally is with the Jerusalem album where they split one song into 6 songs.

In my esteemed estimation, this has a higher chance of being taken down than most of my posts, hence the reason I am calling this Dopesmoker in the header and on the upload file. Figure I might curve some otherwise unwanted attention. Plus, the Dopesmoker release is more associated with the single, long song than the Jerusalem release.

Or just skip all of the above tomfoolery and just download the damn album already.

(Click icon for download)

 

Two Prong – Good v. Bad (2010)

Artist: Two Prong
Album: Good v. Bad
Year: 2010
Label: Northern-Spy Records
Genre: Weirdo Indie Rock
RIYL: ramshackle doo-hickery using an indie rock pallet
Essential Tracks: Purple Vapor, The Postman

Look at that album cover. Ain’t it a beaut? Reminds me of the artwork found in old Children’s books. That little elephant reminds me of the Rudyard Kipling creation from his epic story, “The Elephant’s Child.” (Which you should probably read right now, just because). Still, all that would be for naught if the songs sucked. But they don’t.  Indeed, O Best Beloved, Two Prong’s 2010 offering gives us some pretty fabulous fuzzy indie rock with some great ramshackle percussion, and just all-round good ditties.

Now isn’t this a post for you? A full album PLUS a bonus story. Shit, you scored jackpot.

(Click for FreeMusicArchive download page)

 

The Overcoat – The Overcoat (2011)

Artist: The Overcoat
Album: The Overcoat
Year: 2011
Label: self-released?
Genre: Dark, orchestrated indie
RIYL: Richly composed songs that buck cookie-cutter expectations–but not immediately
Essential Tracks: Simple Man, Fantasies, Get Chose

First of all, many thanks to Creep Scanner for the heads-up about this free Bandcamp download. I know nothing about The Overcoat other than the fact that they released their first album this year and you can download it for free. But when music is this darn-tootin’ fabulous, extra information isn’t really needed. This is a dark album, yet sonically the songs are composed in such a way that they both feel upbeat while dragging at the same time. It is a really weird effect. I can’t think of any band that I listen to to really compare The Overcoat to. Occasionally I get a whiff of Pedro the Lion, sometimes Greg Dulli’s band The Twilight Singers… but neither really prepares the listener for what The Overcoat actually does. The best thing to do is go to their bandcamp page and listen to the first track through the chorus.

Perhaps the best part is that The Overcoat isn’t a one-trick-pony. The songs each surprise in their own way, all while maintaining a cohesive sense of togetherness.

(Click icon for Bandcamp download page)