The world is your oyster, but your future's a clam

[elroy!smeagol!earle@csvax.caltech.edu (Greg Earle)]

Alfke keeps poking me with an electronic blunt stick, so, herewith, is

The Thinking Man's Guide To Skinny Puppy And Severed Heads

>he makes them out to be the saviors of industrial music,

Erm, ... no.  In fact I wouldn't call either of them `industrial', in the
sort of sense that I would call Lustmord, Gerechtigheits Liga and Controlled
Bleeding industrial.  What they do is play synth-based musics which on the
whole place one foot in discernable-melodyland and the other foot in wild
psycho-dramaville noize damage.  Both bands skirt the edges of tuneless
noize and accessable melodies, and deftly intertwine the two.  Let's just
say you're not likely to hear them on the RAK of th' Eighties ...
I wouldn't compare them to TG at all, only Skinny Puppy have an element
whose precedent is known (severly mutilated/altered vocal tracks, a la
early Cab Volt).  They are spiritual brethren of Chris and Cosey, perhaps,
in that they all manage to put out tracks that are simultanoeusly dancable
on the one hand, and subversive and musically inventive/interesting on the
other hand.

>the record came out a lot more, um, accessible than I thought it would.
I never said otherwise.  Remember, judge not by one single record (out of
11 records, see below).  It is definitely more `accessible' than their other
efforts, yet does not cross the border into pandering to commercial interests.
Still not K-RAK fodder ...

>(So what are Skinny Puppy like, Greg?)
Like Severed Heads with more prominent drum machine and the aforementioned
CV derived vocals.  Shit, spend some money, find out for yourself ...

[Ian Langley & Michael]
>        We are interested by the amount of talk in the newsgroup about
>the Australian group "Severed Heads". As you have probably guessed from the
>pathname we hail from that 51st state of the union and we actually saw 
>SH at a humble night club in Newcastle (NSW). The audience could have been 
>counted on your fingers and toes.
By now I have accepted this criterion as that denoting a great band
(`audience could have been counted on your fingers and toes').  First time
appearances by great out-of-town bands are often in this category.
Have you guys Down Under seen Scattered Order?  The Moodists?  The Scientists?
Dead Can Dance before they bailed for England? etc. etc.

>By the way what is this "Red Mecca" thing that everyone keeps bagging.
Cabaret Voltaire's 4th LP, released in 1981

By now I'm sure you've all made up your minds about whether you like any
of this shit, so for those that do, here's the ticket:

Severed Heads
------- -----
Blubberknife		Cassette	INK records INK IT-00A	1983
Since The Accident	LP		INK 2		1984
Dead Eyes Opened//Bullett/Mount
			12" EP		INK 122		1984
Goodbye Tonsils/The Ant Can See Legs//I Stand On My Head/Acme Instant
	Dehydrated Boulder Kit
			12" EP		INK 129		1985
City Slab Horror	LP		INK 9		1985
Dead Eyes Opened (Remix 3)/Petrol (Remix 5)//We Have Come To Bless This
	House (Remix 2)/Oscar's Grind/Mambo Fist Miasma
			12" EP		Nettwerk 17NTWK 12	1985
Clifford Darling, Please Don't Live In The Past
			LP		INK 16D		1985
Stretcher EP (Tracks: Halo//Big Blue Is Back/Heat Seeking Susan/New Explosions)
			12" EP		INK 1214	1985
Propellor EP (Tracks: Propellor Two [Rotation Mix]/Propellor Three [Kamikazee
	Mix]//Twenty Deadly Diseases (Terminal Mix)/Harold And Cindy Hospital)
			12" EP		INK 12/22	1986
The Big Bigot		LP		INK 22		1986
Come Visit The Big Bigot		Nettwerk NTL 30003	1986
(Different Cover; substitutes `Twenty Deadly Diseases' for `George The Animal')

	Other Artists You Might Like On INK Records
C Cat Trance, Anne Clark, Scattered Order, The Nightingales

Skinny Puppy
------ -----
Remission		Mini-LP		Nettwerk 12NTWK12	1985
	(Re-released as NTM 6301	1986)
			Cassette	Nettwerk 12NTWKC12	1985
	(Cassette has extra tracks)
Bites			LP		15NTWK		1985
	(Re-released as NTL 30002	1986)
			Cassette	15NTWKC15	1985
	(Cassette has extra tracks)
Dig It/The Choke (Re-grip) 12" EP	NT12-3002	1986	Just released

	Other Nettwerk Artists
Moev, Chris and Cosey, Grapes Of Wrath, Severed Heads

ANyhow, that's the compleat scoop on these two ... remember they're coming
to your area (maybe) this winter ... (Still don't have tour dates yet ...
Nettwerk has left their answering machine in charge of their phone :-)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Alfke again]
>Well, some more new records but little time to write...
>Hula  "1000 Hours"

??? Hate to be a weenie and Pick Nits but I've had this for 8 months !?!?
I would hardly call Hula `industrial' either ("Sheffield's reigning
industrial kings"), nor would I say "Chris and Cosey ... are going downhill"
[do you have `Take Five'?]
Mebbe I'm lame but I think I raved about this way back in January or Feb...
Oh well I guess no one listens to me anyways ..

(It's great though ... and pick up their more-recent 12" while yer at it)

>"Oh no, our legs are touching
> touching on THE BUS"
[Note: This is an Executive Slacks lyric quote] Hardest LP to find in all
of LA is the Slacks' newie `Fire And Ice' ... Looks like maybe 15 copies made
it into the city ... we had to get ours direct from Fundimental Music ...
Those of you on the West Coast (sp., Frisco, LA, SD) may be interested to
know that we are likely to be promoting some Exec Slacks gigs out here ...
tentative timeframe late Nov.-early Dec. (old rabid rock fans never die,
they just become Promoters :-) Possible venues include the BACKDOOR in San
Diego, ROXY or PARK PLAZA HOTEL (where Chris & Cosey played) in LA, and
Who-knows-where in SF ... stay tuned for further details

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

To IED and anybody else that deals with Jukebox Japan ... if you know him
well enough, ask him about bootlegs ... he gets some real tasty ones in
occasionally (a double Sisters Of Mercy `Posession' my most recent from him).


Observation:  Many people like to drink at gigs ... I saw Faith.No.More
last week, and after 2 Double Margarita's my brain & body got disconnected ...
as a result FNM sounded like so much splurgh ... mebbe that's why nobody
really cares about live music (in L.A.) any more, they just get wasted and
it all sounds the same anyway ...

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Unheard Vinyl Dept.

First Prize for Best 4AD Look-alike goes to IN THE NURSERY's latest LP, 
`Twins' ... I dare you to pick up the cover and not think, `23 Envelope' ...
meanwhile the music's a killer, imagine the best of Industrial Noize blended
with some of that 4AD moody atmospherics ... one of my Pix of 86, out now
on Sweatbox (same people who put out that recent Abstract compilation) ...

THE CASSANDRA COMPLEX's `Datakill' (12") sounds like KROQ electro-synth damage
for the first coupla minutes ("Quick, Martha  get the volume dial!") then
suddenly turns into something quite deranged and manic with screaming
guitar and roll-around-the-headphones-wall-of-sound drumbeats ... B sides
are even more interesting ...

Last LP but not least GARGOYLE SOX's newie `Headless Horseman' sees one of
America's most unique bands (all right, Jim-Bob, so I know you think they
`suck' and, yeah,  it ain't `Atomizer', I still like it) exploring new ground.
"America's answer to The Sisterhood" occasionally comes to mind but that
isn't really a good description either ... let's just say they're probably
the most original band from the Detroit area that's going right now, and
thankfully they've nothing to do with the Amurikan Back To The Basics
Guitar Raak movement ... for the adventurous of heart and ear ...
[Take note of this Fidelis Lovecat]


Still waiting for the Death Of The Glam Revival and the Start Of The 1979
Revival ...

Oh yeah -
	Subject line @P. Weller, And Son Music 1979