Metal Machine Music, remix

now here's something i've been meaning to do for a very long time.

i've been a HUGE fan of this record ever since i first heard it around tenth grade (it may well be my favorite record, if there is such a thing, and of course it inspired the name of this blog), but i always felt like it would be really interesting to slow it down until you could (maybe? hopefully?) identify it as guitar feedback rather than the crazy squalling chipmunk death screeches of glory that it is. recently i read that by slowing it down to 16rpm and listening to either the right channel or left channel independent of the other you could start to make out what's going on, so that's what i did: readjusted the pitch and tempo to roughly 48% of the original and split the tracks into mono files of each channel. unfortunately, that sounded way too slow to me (tho' if you do it without changing th' pitch - just slow the tempo - it does sound pretty great) so i started experimenting with different values, beginning with 75% (seemed appropriate). judging by just kind of an innate sense of how the knocking delay sounds in the left channel of side one "should" sound, i felt like this was too fast so i then tried 70% (still a bit too fast), and then 65% (sounded fucking incredible but something said 'split the difference'), so here ya have it, 67% of the lp tempo. of course keep in mind that i have no idea how much lou sped his multitrack tapes up, if indeed that's what he did - and heck, he could've been messing with the pitch control on the deck the whole time he was recording (…and mixing…and mastering…); this is just something i wanted to hear and i think it sounds fantastic at the same time that it offers insight (well, at least a little) into what the origins of the signals are. this now gives you over three hours of MMM, and taking into account the sad fact that even thurston moore admitted he's never listened to it all the way thru - blasphemy - you can pride yrself on being one of the chosen when you reach the end of this journey!

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THE STORY OF CREATION (VHS, 1992)

hey folks, here's a FIRST fer th' blog, a real, honest-t'-gosh VIDEO TAPE. this silly thing is a remnant of sire's short-lived fascination with the creation label and their (in)ability to make great sacks of loot for 'em over here across th' pond. ya get a few choice vids each from primal scream (at least it has "higher than the sun" on it), my bloody valentine (nothing before "soon", sorry) and ride (criminally missing "like a daydream") and some heartwarming/ridiculous/banal interviews. apart from th' low-level drawbacks listed above, this thing 's a keeper. i mean, i've kept it for 19 years (jeez). lost th' cover tho' (thus th' crummy scan from someazon else).

info

dead link, sorry

Girls Galore 'Weightless'

along with merchandise, girls galore are my favorite band of the past coupla years. i actually broke down and ordered a compact disc (I KNOW) in order to hear their second lp (turns out it's fucking great, and their label sent me a buncha free shit!). anyhow, they've been working on a third record and took a break to remaster their first release, add an extra track, and make it available for free. knock yrselves out!

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Dancing Hoods

before mark linkous was mark he was freddy and before there was sparklehorse there was dancing hoods. he was just th' guitar player in this band tho' and their music bears no resemblance to his later stuff - which is fortunate since after this ep somehow the dancing hoods decided (alongside many of their peers, i must add) to become the del fuegos (or pontiac brothers, or whatever) - but this ep is damned fine, along the lines of what you'd hope for from four dudes trying to make it in the early '80s on the mean streets of nyc, growing up in the midst of luminaries like the feelies and the bush tetras: squeeze-y pop leanings/minimalist beat dance not unlike mid-period fingerprintz/americana closer to let's active than bruce springsteen/&c. "not the only one" even hints at heights bands like the cavedogs (watch these skies!) and odd numbers (ditto!) would commit commercial suicide from in less than a decade's time. my only wish is that these tunes encompassed the flip of an equally great b-side.

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King Louie and the Loose Diamonds

in which king louie musically explains the history and future of all boozy southern rock'n'roll slime-pop in about 40 minutes flat. my favorite record any of these guys have been a part of and that includes those unfuckwithable oblivians lps so you know it's on the stellar side. most of this band is back together with th' addition of one mr. jeff dutton (of action family and barbed wire dolls) as THE FUZZ. includes louie's supreme take on th' lost exploding hearts classic he cowrote, "gypsy switch" (aka "shattered").

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