skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Here's a nifty little compilation from the late 90's (1999 I believe) which I recently came across in the CD shelf. Very hard to find things on that shelf as it's a total mess.... lots of 'Sleeve only' cd's which must be shuffled through like a deck of cards. Annoying as hell but after dusting this thing off it's good to hear it after all these years. Well worth the effort. A compilation put together by the Roger Wright Centre (needle exchange / outreach centre) to create awareness of their activities. It's good to donate your music for a cause I guess & hey, free advertising! Can't beat free press. Among others featured were my own band 'The Black Panthers' with one of our early efforts at recording. I didn't know we were even involved with this project until it came out & i was handed a copy.
Such were the days (back before everything was on Facebook within 12 seconds) where you'd have to wait to find out what was actually going on from either the local gossip pages in some local zine, or a phone call on the now much maligned 'landline'.
There's some real oddities in here. Barnard's Star really shines for me (pun fully intended). Fabulously imaginative sonic noise soundscapes which immediately bury themselves in the frontal lobes. Well, mine anyway. Losta other goodies. I may as well include a track list here so you know what's on the Comp. Definitely worthy of a listen & a catalogue number for your NZ oddities collection.
01. Glisten - The Centre Will Hold
02. All Tied Up Now - Michael J Hex
03. 7am - Anastasia Strapon
04. Mesa Drive - Lost Found Sound
05. 4 Score - Paul Kean
06. Yo Holmes get off the stage! - High Tone Destroyers
07. Stray Cat Blues - Matt Alien
08. Evil - Squirm
09. Untitled - Barnard's Star
10. Deep Down - Black Panthers
11. Get Outa Town - Thee Strapons
12 Forbidden Planet - Ritchie Venus
Download Here!
Yet another ancient goody out of the tape box....
Prosthetic Heads were a local ChCh (NZ) hardcore band back in the mid- late 90's. This tape hails from 1997. It is, as I understand it, the only thing they ever released. A very tight sounding band so they'd obviously done their homework before they recorded this.
Recorded at Nightshift studios, it's a really good recording and a sweet mix.
For lovers of Minor Threat, Fugazi, Bad Brains type of hardcore punk mixed up with a grunge element if you like. I think I can hear 'Green River' in there somewhere.....and probably Danzig era Misfits. You get the idea, thrashy, anthemic choruses, short songs. It's probably grunge inspired punk thrash pop.....? Who knows, if you like punk rock, you'll probably dig it. If you like Mariah Carey, then fuck off.
There's also a back yard, garage rock, home brew influence on these guys. The local sound is not lost on me. I know it and they have it. The fact that they reference Speights Ale on the inner sleeve gives them 10 points in my book for a start.
The full cassette cover is quite large and has a lot of details on it so I've uploaded it with the music so you won't miss out on anything.
Thrash out & be a Lout.....
Prosthetic Heads
Hey Suckers, here be the mighty and whitey 'Whitey Hiss' cassette. It sure is Whitey and Hissy and Dirgy and raw as Demerara sugar.
Pure Molasses man.
A project of Mikey Hex who was best known for his band 'Squirm', Mike had other things on the go too. This was one of his babies & also released on his own fledgling Label 'Noseflute' (which also put out the second Squirm album by the way). Four songs are presented here on one side of a C60 generic cassette. If you read the fine print on the artwork (supplied with download) it suggests you should make a compilation with the blank space. Generous to the end Mike.
I'm assuming Mike gave me this cassette too at some point or other. We used to rehearse at Hex Central (his abode & Venue in downtown ChCh) as did a few others like Ape Management etc. It was a rockin' place & Mike was the purveyor of thee rockin' site.
Many a band owe him big time for looking after them. He was always enthused & always positive about the future. My favourite memory of him is sitting in His Lordships Hotel (downtown ChCh) one night when there had been numerous fights at the bar (one guy was unconscious on the floor for a while... ) and Mike, myself and some others at the table came up with some anti-fighting sing-along which we would kick off as soon as another fight erupted. Hilarious drunken revelry.
Sadly Mike passed away back in 2004 so this is a homage to the guy. Cheers Mike. You were a good bloke. Sadly missed by many. May you find some fish in heaven! ( some may know the reference :)
Whitey Hiss Cassette (1994)
