Album: Supercontinent - "Vaalbara"

Do you sometimes find yourself wondering what would have happened if Isis just kept re-writing The Red Sea and Celestial? Do you wish Pelican riffed harder and didn't get so boring? Do you get tired of finding bands with long build-ups that are good in theory, but don't actually go anywhere?

If you answered yes to any of the above questions, give this a listen. It's certainly nothing groundbreaking, but theres just so much energy and it's so well done that I can't help but enjoy this record. Basically every song has a plethora of huge riffs to get lost in while still retaining a good atmosphere. The production is satisfyingly thick, vocals are sparse but well-placed, and the song-writing is very smooth and well-done. At this point, I can't really ask for much more from a band like this. Definitely for fans of older Isis and Cult of Luna. Give it a shot, there's nothing to lose.

1. Nebula
2. Earthrise
3. Lakes of Iron
4. Cataclysms
5. Rain Gives Rise
6. In Rust
7. The Monolith
8. Impact Winter
9. Epoch

DL: Vaalbara

Demo: 600 School - 1981 Demo

this was one of the bands ben shepherd was in before soundgarden (though he does vocals here)

future nirvana drummer chad channing was also in the band

music-wise...it's your run of the mill thrashy punk rock

and you know you want some run of the mill thrashy punk rock

DL: 1981 demo

Album: Eleven - Thunk

some of you out there may be unfamiliar with this band...and that's a little sad

i had randomly picked up their 1993 SELF-TITLED album after reading a small review in some magazine...i had never heard of them before that...but after buying the album...i hunted down everything i possibly could from the band (which turned out to be only one other album...and i had to special order that from the local music store...this isn't something you'd usually just see on the shelves...which is also sad)

the band is from los angeles...but had their fingers in that whole grunge thing (but really...who didn't back then?)...drummer jack irons left the red hot chili peppers (and i'm not calling them grunge) back in 1988 because of guitarist hillel slovak's heroin overdose...and then joined eleven in 1990...who then quit the band to play in pearl jam in 1995 (he laid down some drum tracks on this album before leaving...soundgarden's matt cameron fills in on 4 songs)...and then somewhere down the line members alain johannes (vocals/guitar) and natasha shneider (vocals/bass/keyboards) backed up chris cornell on his first solo album EUPHORIA MORNING (but if you ask me...his first solo album was DOWN ON THE UPSIDE...that's right...i said it)

alain johannes and natasha shneider later went on to become members of queens of the stone age (though mostly for touring...alain appears on their SONGS FOR THE DEAF/LULLABIES TO PARALYZE/ERA VULGARIS albums...natasha only appears on SONGS FOR THE DEAF)...they also pop up on some DESERT SESSIONS material

but...all of this came to an end on july 2nd,2008 after natasha shneider passed away from cancer...at the eerie time of 11:11am (true story)

that's a good story,grampa

do yourself an awesome favor by downloading this...you won't regret it (and if you do...i'm sure there's plenty of crap for you to listen to on the radio)...and seeing as how i'm a giver...i've also thrown in some b-sides from this album

so...if after listening to this...you become more interested in the band...perhaps i'll post some other albums

DL: thunk

Live: Gruntruck - Live In Bob's Garage

this was a set the band played on a radio show (mentioned above) on KZOK (out of seattle) back in 1992

this is also the only place you can find the song "bullets"

and you should (as a frequenter of this blog) already know who gruntruck are/were...so i'm not going to go into that

1 - tribe
2 - crazy love
3 - bullets

DL: gruntruck@bob's garage

Single: Sub Pop Edition #20 Helios Creed - "Nothing Wrong / The Sky"

I got a request begging me to post this one and didn't have it so I dropped a line to the fantastic Brent (who runs the Helios Creed tribute page) and he (unsurprisingly) had mp3s of this single and was kind enough to share them. (I also got a request for the Das Damien single which I don't have either... anyone?) So what can you expect from this single? Well, like all Helios Creed, expect a lot of mind bending psychedelia, inspiringly wierd guitar sounds and a lot of innovation.

Check out Brent's Helios Creed tribute site here for more information and also get some free PDFs of his amazing psych zine here.

1. Nothing Wrong

2. The Sky

DL: "Nothing Wrong / The Sky Single"

Covers: The Rising of Yog-Sothoth - A Tribute To Thergothon

For those who don't know, Thergothon were a band from Finland who formed in 1990. In their short time as a band, they released a demo (Fhtagn-nagh Yog-Sothoth) and a post-humous full-length (Stream From The Heavens). That was enough to make their mark though. Along with Skepticism, Thergothon are one of the first bands to pioneer metal this slow, this mournful, this mysterious. And despite the absolutely terrible quality of their recorded output, it's impossible to deny the majesty of these songs. There is some other-worldly shit going on.

That's where this compilation comes in. It features bands that were heavily influenced by the gods, each covering one track. As Thergothon didn't have many songs to choose from, there are some double-ups which can be kind of fun in choosing your favorite version. The reason I like this so much is because it's nice to hear these songs have a recording quality with an actual backbone and crunch like they were supposed to. My favorite covers here are done by Asunder, Krohm, Evoken and Mournful Congregation. Check it out.

CD1
1. Asunder – Who Rides the Astral Wings
2. Officium Triste – Crying Blood and Crimson Snow
3. Evoken – Yet the Watchers Guard
4. Imindain – Everlasting
5. Colosseum – The Unknown Kadath in the Cold Waste
6. Mournful Congregation – Elemental
7. Worship – Evoken
8. Umbra Nihil – The Twilight Fade
9. Persistence In Mourning – Dancing In The Realm Of Shades

CD2
1. Nojda – Evoken
2. Otzepenevshiye – The Unknown Kadath in the Cold Waste
3. Krohm – Everlasting
4. Inter Arbores – Who Rides the Astral Wings
5. Astral Sleep – Yet the Watchers Guard
6. Aarni – Verivaikerrus – Hurmehanki
7. Axis Of Advance – Elemental
8. Singultus – The Twilight Fade

DL: The Rising of Yog-Sothoth

Compilation: Sub Pop 5

Someone was giving me crap about not posting this one when I posted the Sub Pop 100, 200 & 300 comps a while back, so here it is - the very first musical release by Sub Pop. This is the legendary Sub Pop 5 cassette which was the first release of theirs not to just be a zine and was also their 5th release... Imagine that. (And before you start asking where the Sub Pop 7 cassette is, I'm posting that one next so don't even worry your pretty little heads about it.)

So listen and enjoy the street cred this may or may not give you when you mention it at parties. (Okay... not parties... dinner with your parents.) (Okay... not dinner with your parents... the AOL chat room.)

1. Just For Money - Visible Targets
2. What's Important - Beakers
3. Reagan Speaks For Himself - Doug Kahn
4. Digital Alarm - Steve Fisk
5. Diary Of You - Cool Rays
6. Debbie - Bruce Pavitt
7. Spy Vs Spy - Pell Mell
8. Job Club - Jungle Nausea
9. Dirty White Lies - Neo Boys
10. It Hurts Me To Remember - Product One
11. Rubber Heads - Nurses
12. It Saw Me - Jad Fair
13. Switzer Boy - The Bohemians
14. Sofa Or A Chair - Vague-leys
15. Sing, Mary, Sing - Sports Of Kinds
16. Men At Work - The Men
17. Get Out Of The Bathroom - Oil Tasters
18. Slaughterhouse - All Night Movies
19. Eat, Sleep A-Go-Go - Get Smart
20. Lifespan - Embarrassment
21. Tronada - Ray Milland + Church Of The Subgenius - Excerpts

DL: "Sub Pop 5"