Afternoon Fix #6 Playlist March 27, 2008

Playlist up late this week! Again, if you like it, buy it. Free Old Maryland Art Punk #2 should be up soon, too.

LCD Soundsystem-“Get Innocuous” Sound of Silver (2007)
Dag Nasty-“Circles” Can I Say (1986)
Dinosaur Jr.-“Little Fury Things” You’re Living All Over Me (1987)
Wire-“Map Ref 41°N 93°W” 154 (1979)
Double Dagger-“[Untitled (Hoo?)]” Live at Hampdenfest (2007)
Audionom-“Kein Bock” Retrospektiv [comp.] (2007)
The Minutemen-“Political Song For Michael Jackson to Sing” Double Nickels on the Dime (1984)
Saetia-“Notres Langues Nous Trompent” [s/t] (1998)
New Order-“Hurt” [b-side b/w “Temptation"] (1982)
Lungfish-“Descender” Talking Songs For Walking (1992)
Mission of Burma-“Peking Spring [live]” The Horrible Truth About Burma (1985)
These New Puritans-“Numerology” Beat Pyramid (2008)
Action Beat-“Maximum Bletchly” [demo] (2007?)
Metal Urbain-“Snuff Movie” Les Hommes Morts Sont Dangereux (1981)
Unwound-“Abstraktions” New Plastic Ideas (1995)
Ramsey Lewis Trio-“How Beautiful Is Spring” Another Voyage (1969)
Mika Miko-“Capricornations” C.Y.S.L.A.B.F. (2006)
A Certain Ratio-“Shack Up” [single] (1980)
The Velvet Underground-“Rock and Roll” Loaded (1970)
Bauhaus-“Endless Summer of the Damned” Go Away White (2008)
The Dismemberment Plan-“The City” Emergency and I (1999)
Navio Forge-“Weaponizing” As We Quietly Burn A Hole Into [mini LP] (1993)

Free Old Maryland Art Punk Part 1: Moss Icon

No show this week due to Easter break, but in lieu of one here's a good blog post. This is a biography of Moss Icon, plus links to some downloads. Next week, part 2 of this Blog series, I'm linking up some material by Reptile House, who featured future Lungfish singer Daniel Higgs. Both Moss Icon and Reptile House, while not as terribly well known as contemporaries like Rites of Spring, are among the most essential groups at that time in terms of establishing underground rock in greater DC and central Maryland. Although I don't usually condone downloading whole records, especially by punk and art rock bands whose music doesn't bring in much money for the musicians, this music is long out of print and very hard to find. However, word on their semi-official Myspace page indicates Moss Icon is reuniting soon, which may see a reissue of the Lyburnum collection at least, and if that occurs I'll delete the link. Either way, I hope I've hooked you up with good music for your Easter holiday!

Moss Icon
(Picture from Myspace.com)

Of these two groups, Moss Icon is by far the more famous, often name checked as an influential emo band. That's something of a dubious distinction in my estimation, but nonetheless they were one of the first post-hardcore groups to break with the relatively traditional songwriting and playing styles that were practiced by the likes of Embrace and the aforementioned Rites of Spring, and move into more progressive territory. The Annapolis group was founded in 1987 by guitarist Tonie Joy and singer Jonathan Vance, along with bassist Monica DiGialleonardo and drummer Mark Laurence. Their sound at that time was based in Black Flag-style hardcore punk as much as it was in the cold angularity of post-punk. Combined with a songwriting approach that bucks traditional verse-chorus-verse structure, very early tracks like "Hate In Me" and "What They Lack" from Moss Icon's 1988 debut 7", officially self-titled but frequently referred to as Hate In Me, are hard-hitting art rock micro-epics. One of their most confrontationally avant-garde tracks, "I'm Back Sleeping Or Fucking Or Something," also saw release on this 7". Best described as a collision of Bauhaus and Black Sabbath on Void's* anarchic plane, "Sleeping" is a harrowing roar of a song detailing the experience of meeting a long lost childhood friend and finding them as a nihilistic, oversexed post-adolescent.

Throughout 1988, Moss Icon recorded much with the intent of releasing a full-length album which was ultimately not released until 1994 as Lyburnum Wit's End Liberation Fly, and even then only available on vinyl. Nonetheless, these sessions at least yielded 1989's Mahpiua Luta 7" ("The Life or This Grape Juice Drink" b/w "Kick The Can"). One of the notable highlights of the session is the title track, which plays something like a post-hardcore response to "Stairway to Heaven," or perhaps more accurately The Doors' "The End." 1990 saw all four members of Moss Icon participate in a project called Breathing Walker with a second guitarist, a percussionist, and a Violinist, though by 1991 the original lineup was back recording under the Moss Icon banner with second guitarist Alex Bardertscher . Their sound from this era, captured on a split LP with Bay Area group Silver Bearing and on the "Memorial" b/w "Moth" 7", is much more lush, bright, melodic and jam-oriented, with "Moth" even evoking classic Rhythm and Blues ballads. The group broke up after these releases. Most of the tracks along with some live recordings from these two releases were compiled on to the It Disappears LP, again vinyl only and released in 1994. Lyburnum Wit's End Liberation Fly and the studio tracks from It Disappears were compiled onto a single CD as simply Lyburnum and released in 1997. Singer Jonathan Vance released an EP of electronica in 2005. Moss Icon reunited for two shows in 2001, and are set to do so again this year, with perhaps even some new music.

Moss Icon-Lyburnum [compilation] (1997) (ZIP file)

Moss Icon-Hate In Me [EP] (1988)
Track 1-"Hate In Me"
Track 2-"What They Lack"
Track 3-"I'm Back Sleeping Or Fucking Or Something" (Same recording with better sound quality found on Lyburnum collection)
Track 4-"Kiss The Girls and Make Them Die" (Low Quality MP3

Moss Icon-"Sioux Day" Superpowers [v/a comp.] (1993)

Free Old Maryland Art Punk Part 2: Reptile House coming next week!

*Void not linked up: couldn't find a decent representation of them in one place. Do check them out, though.

Afternoon Fix #5 Playlist March 14, 2008

The playlist for this week. Again if you like, buy!

One Last Wish-“My Better Half” 1986 (recorded 1986, released 1999)
Videohippos-“Narwhals” Unbeast the Leash (2007)
The Clash-“Spanish Bombs” London Calling (1979)
Moss Icon-“Sioux Day” Superpowers [v/a comp] (1992)
Brian Eno-“Baby’s On Fire” Here Come The Warm Jets (1973)
From Safety To Where-“Clockwork” [s/t] (1999)
The Blood Brothers-“Love Rhymes With Hideous Car Wreck" Crimes (2004)
Black Flag-“My War” [demo] (1982)
The Modern Lovers-“Modern World” The Modern Lovers (1976)
Slint-“Good Morning Captain!” Spiderland (1991)
The Ponys-“Shine” Turn The Lights Out (2007)
Electrelane-“To The East” No Shouts, No Calls (2007)
Gang of Four-“Glass” Entertainment! (1979)
Chino Horde-“Composite” [s/t] (1993)
Field Music-“You’re So Pretty” [s/t] (2005)
Computer Cougar-“Too Much” Rough Notes On High Street (2001)
A Place to Bury Strangers-“To Fix A Gash In Your Head” [s/t] (2007)
Angel Hair-“Witch Hunt Scene From Star Trek” Insect Mortality (1997)
Neu!-“Hallogallo” [s/t] (1972)
Pylon-“Precaution” Gyrate (1980)
Blonde Redhead-“In Particular” Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons (2000)
Les Savy Fav-“Dishonest Don Pt. II” The Cat and the Cobra (1999)
TV On The Radio-“Dumb Animals” [b/w Province] (2007)
The Nation of Ulysses-“Love Is A Bull Market” 13-Point Program to Destroy America (1991)

Quinn S. and the Blackbirds @ The Gopher Hole March 1, 2008

Last Saturday saw a return to the stage of several talented individuals and good friends of mine under the guise of Quinn S. and the Blackbirds. Consisting of guitarist and singer Quinn Struke, drummer Keith Cborowski and guitarist and longtime Struke collaborator Brett Dean, the Blackbirds are the third generation of a group that started as Pykon and continued as Shout It Out when Ciborowski replaced Pykon member Warren Boin on bass.

Watching the set unfold was like watching the narrative of how a rock band comes together. Struke played a few songs hard and fast acoustically, some of which dated back to Shout It Out's tenure. Ciborowski came on and played some lead guitar work a little way through, and finally it was announced that the Blackbirds' portion, the electric portion, of the set had begun. The first few songs were sonic departures from the previous work of this group's members, played very tight and squared off, almost like Wire's more melodic tracks from their late '70s run such as "Outdoor Miner" and "Ex-Lion Tamer" if they were more deliberately developed as pop songs. The crowd started dancing to these which was refreshing to see after many a show filled with static audiences. Struke seemed to love this, and in all my years of seeing him live I don't think I've ever seen a band of his as comfortable with their audience before.

Struke then announced that the last song would be "the first one written as a band," and this was a return to form for Struke, Dean and Ciborowski. As much as I loved the clean punk arrangements of the earlier electric songs, I found this return to form most welcoming. Since Pykon's later days and through Shout It Out, Struke and Dean have been developing a sound which could be described as Replacements-esque power-pop combined with art punk angularity and innovation. However, there has yet to be a solid document of this sound available, and my biggest hope for the Blackbirds musically is that this sound will finally be developed and put out on record. The evening concluded with one-time Pykon drummer Dan Croke joining Struke and Dean on stage for a version of "Out of Focus," a fan favorite from that band. The Blackbirds' future looks bright. (Photo by Elise Zanetti)