The Velvet Angels - Acappella Showcase Presents The Velvet Angels

I grabbed this from roommate's friend's computer late last night while drinking gin and tonics with PBR sidecars. Gorgeous, gorgeous a cappella doo wop at its best here. There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of info on this Detroit-transplanted-to-Jersey-group but you can read the All Music Guide write-up here. It confirms what was Danielle telling me about these recordings being made in a hotel room before one of their gigs. This was the perfect music to hear at 2 in the morning after getting buzzed on gin and chain smoking cigarettes. Beautiful.

Sterile Garden - Bind Them

Sterile Garden is the brainchild of my good buddy, Jacob DeRaadt in Fort Collins, CO. This experimental noise/ambient project has changed sounds and approaches many times throughout the last few years I've known him but the effect never ceases to amaze me. Jacob uses anything from contact mic-ing sheet metal to live cassette collages to running 80's drum machines through weird pedals to quarter inch tape loops and more to create a sometimes dissonant and sometimes beautiful atmosphere of grinding mechanical sound. On this recording he uses all tape loops with a little help from Alfred Beattie on violin. I remember when Jacob was recording this at our old band house in Fort Collins and how the sounds wafting up from the basement while I'd be napping would give me some really far out dreams. By and large, this guy is one of the most avant-garde and prolific musicians to come out of the little known Fort Collins cesspool of talent. He also runs a label called Basement Tapes that you can check out here I remember Jacob once telling me that one of the main inspirations for Sterile Garden is that static-y hum that live telephone and electricity wires make when it's really humid or right after rains. Awesome.

Various Artists - Rural Blues: Sacred Tradition 1927-1930

Ben emailed me the conversions of this rare gem a while back and I've been waiting for him to do a little write up on it, but this record is too good to not post. Haven't been able to find much info on this record except that it was released on Herwin and looks to be ultra-rare/expensive. There are a total of 16 tracks here from three different artists: Mother McCollum, Eddie Head and Family, and Edward W. Clayborn, The Guitar Evangelist. These songs definitely have some powerful gospel driving them. Mother McCollum's "Jesus Is My Air-O-Plane" is an awesome declaration of her faith. There's also great versions of "Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!" and "I Shall Not Be Moved" on here. The recording is a bit grainy at times but I imagine that's due partly (or mostly) to the way the original songs sounded when they were put together for this comp. Thanks again to Ben for converting this to the digital realm. If you liked This Old World Is In A Hell of a Fix then you're gonna love this.

Friends Forever - Killball

Friends Forever was a Denver band during the early to mid 2000's that underwent several line-up changes. Notorious for playing shows from INSIDE their van outside of the clubs they were booked at and using full on fireworks and homemade lightshows(see video below), this band completely ruled. They play a particular brand of fun-ass-hell noise rock that drives an 18-wheeler in a demolition derby. Think Lightning Bolt playing new wave, which makes sense since this album was released on LOAD records in 2003. Killball is a concept album. From LOAD's website:

FRIENDS FOREVER'S KILLBALL details an ultra-violent future where games are played to the death. KILLBALL is similar to American football circa 1920-2016, except the players wear no pads and are given PCP to ensure a grizzly game. Each player is equipped with a switchblade and a machete. To be tackled is to be destroyed. Tonight you have been chosen to play KILLBALL. Can you win?