Soundtrack Your Halloween 2009

Tijuana Bibles – Fist of Fury

Perhaps my favourite masked wrestling band, the Bibles were from right here in Toronto until their last show on April 14th, 2007. Not that I am suggesting anything here, but Leather Upper fans might notice a vocal similarity between Craig Daniels and Bibles front man, “The Crippler.” The Tijuana Bibles put out 4 fantastic albums in total, all of them mainly revolving around wrestling, kung-fu, monsters and chicks. Fist of Fury stands out as the Bibles best. One of my happiest Halloween memories is seeing them live at Toronto’s Bovine Sex Club. They are missed. (Trophy Records, 2004)

Enjoy…
http://rapidshare.com/files/300521139/Tijuana_Bibles.rar

Roky Erikson – Evil One

For those of you who don’t know the story of Roky, this is the abridged form. Roky Erikson was in a 60’s psyche-rock band call the 13th Floor Elevators and some say they were destined for greatness. But Erikson took too much LSD and went insane and was locked away in an insane asylum where he was diagnosed a paranoid schizophrenic and given involuntary electro shock treatment. When he came out he thought he was an alien or something and in the 70’s he formed a band called Roky Erikson and the Aliens and started singing about the monsters, the devil etc. There is a good documentary on all this called “You're Gonna Miss Me”. Anyway, he was recently saved from a life of craziness by his brother and is currently on tour again. I recently had the honour of seeing him at Toronto’s Lee’s Palace. (Sympathy for the Record Industry, 2002)

Enjoy…
http://rapidshare.com/files/300505300/Roky_Erickson-_THE_EVIL_ONE.rar

The Mummies – Never Been Caught

It can’t be Halloween without the Mummies. One of the best garage rock revival bands of the 90’s, their raw sound and mad stage antics are the stuff of legends. Never Been Caught is probably their best, with “Sooprize Package for Mr Mineo” being my personal favourite song on this low-fi masterpiece. (Telstar, 1992)


Enjoy…
http://rapidshare.com/files/300532050/the_mummies_-_never_been_caught.rar

John Carpenter – Prince of Darkness

Steven Spielberg, it should be noted, didn’t compose the famous Jaws soundtrack. Nor did Sergio Leone, great though he was, compose the soundtrack for The Good the Bad and The Ugly. And it goes without saying that Stanley Kubrick didn’t compose 2001. John Carpenter, on the other hand, composed and performed the now somewhat famous soundtrack for his classic slasher flick Halloween, as he did for almost every movie he directed. One such movie is Prince of Darkness, a forgotten Carpenter, er, gem, that I had the pleasure of seeing recently on the big screen at Toronto’s Revue Cinema. Like all Carpenter soundtracks, Prince of Darkness is minimalist, synthesizer gold! You can almost taste the foreboding. (AHI Records, 1987)

Enjoy…
http://rapidshare.com/files/300505294/Prince_Of_Darkness-_JOHN_CARPENTER.rar


Count Floyd

Awesome beyond my ability to articulate. (RCA, that’s right RCA, 1982)







Enjoy…
http://rapidshare.com/files/300553101/Count_Floyd.rar

Lover! - No Dreams Please EP

Memphis son now Chicago resident Rich Crook (The Reatards, Lost Sounds, The Knaughty Knights) has a new 6 song EP with distinctly different sound from his previous record, the hard rocking, power pop’n Gathered in a Graveyard.

No Dreams Please continues in the direction Crook carved out last year with a plethora of single releases; a little less punk, a little more glamy, 1970’s style pop rock. You can really hear it in particular on the final track of the EP, Downstairs to Hell, with its cheesy Jethro Tull flute and it’s crescendoing, Zep-odramic guitar wank off, it’s hard not to air guitar along with.

If you are looking to hear the Reatards you best to steer clear of this one; everyone else should defiantly check it out. (Big Legal Mess Records, 2009)

Sample here...
http://rapidshare.com/files/298835792/Lover__-_No_Dreams_Please.rar

Buy here...
http://www.biglegalmessrecords.com/lover.htm
http://www.myspace.com/killdewaynne

King Louie & The Loose Diamonds - Memphis Treet

This is an album from a few years ago by Louisiana born King Louie and the Loose Diamonds. It’s long out of print, but I scored a copy of Memphis Treet on eBay and it came in the mail today. The closest I have ever come to finding religion came when the needle hit the bright blue vinyl of this record.

“King” Louie Bankston is renowned for his regular gig as a one man band, but here he teams up with The Loose Diamonds, an all star line-up that features the legendary Jack Yarber (The Oblivians), Harlan T. Bobo, Adam Woodard (Tennessee Tearjerkers), and Chad Booth (Kajun SS).

The resulting sound is, or so the jacket cover says, a mix of power pop and “Memphis grease.” Indeed, this is dirty, grimy, back ally southern fried rock ’n’ roll guaranteed to bring out the trailer trash that lay dormant in all of us. Particularly awesome is a cover of The Exploding Hearts song “Shattered”, re-imagined here as “Gypsy Switch”. Bankston was in The Exploding Hearts, so I guess he has license to turn that punk classic into a truck stop opus.

I had the pleasure of seeing Loose Diamonds in Memphis recently at Gonerfest and let me tell you, this music was made to hear live while consuming copious amounts of Pabst Blue Ribbon. If you ever have the chance to see King Louie live, or buy one of his records, I suggest you do. And if you don’t like this album, even secretly, just a little, well then there is clearly something wrong with you. (Empty Records, 2007)

Sample here...
http://rapidshare.com/files/298702789/King_Louie___The_Loose_Diamonds.rar

Buy here...
http://www.myspace.com/kinglouieandhisrocknroll

Johnny and The Limelites - And Then We Kissed 7"

I adore this record. The Limelites follow up thier goofy, za-obsessed, no-fi masterpiece “Pizza Party” with another budget rock gem to warm your cockles of your artery clogged heart.

Being from Chicago, the land of the deep dish, The Limelites know that just like their favourate pizza, garage rock is always best when it’s covered in gooey steamy cheese and boy does this record have plenty of that.

The b side’s ultra sappy “Let’s Stay in Tonight” is guaranteed to hit you right square in your nerd G-Spot. It's almost a whole new genre of music, lets call it Ramada Inn Lounge Punk. (Rocket Reducer, 2009)

Sample here...
http://rapidshare.com/files/297288853/Johnny___The_Limelites.rar

Buy here...
http://www.randyrecords.com/
http://www.myspace.com/johnnythelimelites
http://www.myspace.com/rocketreducerrecords

GG King - Drug Zoo 7"

One great Atlanta band dies, another is born. Not that the famed Carbonas are done for good, but with guitarist “Gentleman” Jesse Smith working on his solo stuff, band mates Greg King and the gang have reformed.

Enter GG King. Rising from the ashes of the Carbonas like some vicious punk rock bird of prey, GG King attacks, claws and gnaws the musical landscape with equal parts guile and aggression.

The single’s title track, Drug Zoo, is an instant classic and the b side cover of that old Box Tops chestnut The Letter is sure to be a crowd pleaser. (Rob’s House Records, 2009)

Sample here...
http://rapidshare.com/files/297281866/GG_King.rar

Buy here...
http://www.robshouserecords.com/
http://www.myspace.com/ggkingband

Primitive Hands - Split Mind 7''

Stripped down and dirty, that’s how they do it in Montreal. As proof, check out this sweet single from Primitive Hands, a side project of Brian Hildebrand of the fantastic Demons Claws.

Not much in the way of production values here, just raw, unpolished, quite possibility inebriated bluesy rock and roll.

Vive le Québec libre!
(Tic Tac Totally, 2009)

Sample here...
http://rapidshare.com/files/297273636/Primitive_Hands.rar

Buy here...
http://www.myspace.com/primitivehands
http://www.tictactotally.com/

Max Elliott - The Nature o’ Nature 7"

Now this is Folk music, raw, passionate and half insane. It sounds like something out of the 20’s, sung along railroad tracks, by a fire under a bridge, in the backwoods of American South, on a chain gang or on a picket line.

Max Elliott is a Wisconsin boy, where he also plays in the Psychedelic/Ambient band the Absinthe Minds and he is also the brother of Zola Jesus. To date, he has only one other release, in cassette format, by Jerkwave Tapes, long sold out. However he has a forthcoming tape on Night People.

Along with the single, I have included a few tracks I recorded off myspace. Enjoy. (Sacred Bones Records, 2009)

Sample here...
http://rapidshare.com/files/296094034/Max_Elliott.rar

Buy here...
http://www.sacredbonesrecords.com/
http://www.myspace.com/swollenuranium
http://www.myspace.com/jerkwavetapes
http://www.myspace.com/nightpeoplerecords