Anything On Your Mind?
And now we’re in my college years. 1994 was the end of my junior year (which featured some of my hardest coursework) and the start of my senior year (when I was really kind of just trying to hold it together). I was going to a lot of concerts at this point, alone or with friends, and I had a weekly radio show at WRCT. The station had shifted to 24/7 operation while I was in school, and I ended up with the 3AM-7AM show on Tuesday mornings, mostly because nobody else wanted it. Oh, and I also played a lot of garbage, so stashing me at a time nobody was listening made sense to the station director. Whatever, my sleep schedule was bullshit anyway, so it wasn’t that big a deal. It was fun when the occasional sicko would call in and request a song or just yell at me for playing “Clean Sheets” by the Descendents at 5 in the morning or whatever. Mostly, if you were listening to WRCT in the small hours on a weekday, you were pulling an all-nighter, and so having some loud nonsense on to shock you awake provided a valuable service. That’s what I told myself, anyway.
The rules for the station required us to play a couple songs from the new release bin every hour. And they would check the logs to confirm it. When records came in, a staffer was expected to listen to it and write a little guide on an index card to attach to the record. You were supposed to note which songs could only be played in the “safe harbor” (the FCC permitted swearing from 10PM to 6AM, arguably) as well as recommend a couple of tracks. As a result, you could just kind of grab a record while you were on the air and be able to play something good (and not accidentally play something with a bunch of swearing). That was a great way to make sure I engaged with lots of new music, both reviewing records as they came in and pulling stuff out of the new release bin to play during my show. For instance, the first time I ever heard J Church was pulling out the Yellow, Blue and Green EP from the bin and giving it a spin. I fell in love right away.
Beyond the music side of things, I spent a lot of time playing tabletop stuff. Magic: The Gathering was becoming a big thing, the first few following CCGs were coming out, we played a lot of Games Workshop games (in really messy fashion), I had the time to tackle stuff like Titan or Republic of Rome, it was a great time for all that fun stuff. When I think about a carefree college existence, I really am thinking about this year.
My hypothesis is that my immersion into music, through both frequent shows and the station, will result in my having a lot of the top list. Taking a look at the chart, sure enough, I have 16 of these things, a new high water mark. And I probably should have a few of the ones I’m missing.
What Are You Listening To From 1994, Josh?
A sampling of albums that I’m still playing regularly from 1994.
Encendedor, The Dambuilders
The Dambuilders, based in Boston, were a very interesting underground rock band that I didn’t encounter until this record, their first major label release. The most obvious thing that made them different is Joan Wasser’s violin, an instrument that was extremely rare among rock bands (really only Camper von Beethoven comes to mind among their contemporaries). But it’s not just the unusual lineup that made them good, they really knew what they were doing, with excellent songs making very good use of said lineup. This is an excellent record and an unusual one, which is something I prize. I never did track down their earlier releases, and they don’t seem to be on Bandcamp. Time to go see what’s available on Discogs!
Gash, Foetus
There’s no shortage of examples of how bonkers the music industry was in the 90s. We’ve certainly mentioned plenty here, and you can take your pick. The Butthole Surfers had a hit! Multiple people decided things like “yeah, Royal Trux can totally sell a lot of records and definitely won’t just spend all the money on junk” or “the Earache roster can definitely shift units!” The friggin’ Boredoms had a major label release! Warner Bros let the Flaming Lips mic up toilets to see what it would sound like! Nirvana really did a number to everybody’s brains. And drugs, one assumes.
Anyway, among the list of baffling signings has to be Foetus. Sony saw Thirlwell out there making clattering industrial showtunes, looked at Nine Inch Nails, shrugged, and decided to see if they could re-create that magic. They did not. The resulting album does represent a turning point in Foetus’s discography, though. There’s always been plenty of aggression in Thirlwell’s music, and plenty of moments where the arrangements swelled up (like, say, the slow build on “Anything (Viva!)” or the peak of “The Dipsomaniac Kiss”). Where Gash changed the equation is that that size became the norm. Thirlwell seemed to have traded some subtlty for power on the record, and from here forward, his albums were just a little less weird. I still love them, and this is a great set of tunes, but it was a shift in his work.
(This is one of the few Foetus releases not available on his Bandcamp. Sorry!)
Into the Vortex, Hammerhead
I’ve said it before, and I’m saying it now: this is my favorite Amphetamine Reptile Records release. AmRep released a lot of records that I truly love, by virtue of their peak years coinciding with my late teens, so that’s not something I say lightly. There’s a review of Korn’s first album, back in the day, that has always stuck with me. In it, the author explained how much scarier Korn was than the typical blood-and-guts metal band, because they sounded like a bully. Something relatable that could really rattle the listener. It was a very clever observation, even though I don’t think Korn is scary in the slightest. Nor would I describe Hammerhead as scary, but that principle, of the songs here being more visceral does apply. Hammerhead isn’t out there trying to summon demons or anything, they’re just writing songs about how much life is shit. And having the music enforce that. They also know when to take a break from the pounding noise to provide some contrast. It’s just a masterful record in every way, an essential record if you like noise rock. I don’t really put any thought into my favorite records of all time, because I don’t even know how I’d go about ranking hip-hop against rock against metal against soul against jazz against ska. Seems painful. But whatever that hypothetical list is, this album is on it.
More 1994! More!
All right, the people (me) are demanding more from 1994.
God Bless Satan, Mephiskapheles
Wait, come back! Yes, yes, I know. The band is named Mephiskapheles. By all rights, this should be the corniest shit on the planet. Even me, a serious ska sicko, bought this expecting it to be terrible but maybe good for some laughs. But no, this album is a delight. Yes, of course it’s all very tongue-in-cheek, but the musicianship on display is impressive. The horns very much know what they’re doing, there are some lovely solos, the songs have nice variation, it’s all just so good. Listen to how the guitar on “Bad John” steps away from the much more stacatto approach of most ska to create a more lush tune, or listen to that fat horn arrangement on “Hard Times”, or just try and get the opening to “Saba” out of your head. This album really does rule. WARNING: their rendition of “The Bumble Bee Tuna Song” is a genuine cognitohazard.
To The Depths, In Degradation, Infester
I brought up this album when I wrote about Nedgravd, but I think it deserves its own entry here. In 1994, Seattle was of course a musical hotbed, but it wasn’t exactly known as a metal place. It was really known as the place that displaced metal, although that story applies to hair metal and not the underground stuff. Nevertheless, the popular line is that Seattle bands had fused together garage rock, punk, and metal and created grunge. So Infester’s album felt like it came out of nowhere to me. There wasn’t a big scene supporting this (at least that I was aware of), it just emerged, glistening, from whatever basement it had fermented in. This was the only record from these guys, and it just rules.
I’ve mentioned many times that I prefer music that really bears the hallmarks of the people playing it. It’s why I like garage rock (and all its variants so much). Well, this sounds like garage death. It sounds like it was made by people sincerely trying to make the grossest music they could. This very much isn’t for everybody, but if you can just relax and meet it where it lives (a gross swamp filled with rotting buttcheeks), it’s such a good time.
Eyes and Ears, Bim Skala Bim
Yes, more ska, screw you. Bim Skala Bim got under way well before the third wave of ska, making them one of those in-between bands (like the Toasters, the NY Citizens, arguably the Mighty Mighty Bosstones) that helped bridge the gap between waves. Unlike those other bands, who were more 2-tone than anything else, Bim Skala Bim were playing ska pretty much down the line. They have an excellent discography across the board, and it’s hard to pick out a favorite. Sometimes it’s How’s It Goin’ due to the generosity of the tracklist, sometimes it’s Universal for how tight it is, and sometimes it’s this one. Some of that is just pure 1994 nostalgia, of sitting in my dorm room playing pirated Super Nintendo games using the disk drive (!) that my roommates had, playing this record over and over while my friend Miranda and I tried to blow each other up in Bombliss. But it’s a very good record, and as good a place as any to start with them. Expect cheerful ska, played pretty much straight-up.
Five Random Songs
Yes, it’s the “classic” five random songs format. It’s been told before on this blog many times, but basically, on an old forum, people would post the last five songs their shuffle pulled up. I liked it, so I made it into a blog. And now, here we are.
“African Necklace”, Janitor Joe
Yeah, AmRep! This is the sort of record they were just cranking out regularly back in the early 90s. Excellent, tough stuff.
“Living For The City”, Stevie Wonder
One of the highlights of Innervisions, an album basically made up of highlights. Stevie Wonder’s tear in the 70s is basically without peer.
“Mama, I’m Swollen”, Cursive
I was going to say that this was the last Cursive album before a hiatus, but I apparently missed a 2012 release. So I’m just an idiot. Anyway, I thought this album was a step back from Happy Hollow and Ugly Organ.
“Suite II Overture”, Janelle Monáe
The ArchAndroid is an incredibly ambitious album with a hell of a lot going on, and this is the overture that kicks things off. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense in isolation, though.
“Stop The Train”, Bob Marley & the Wailers
Pretty funny to have that overture lead into this, though. I guess I’ll have to count that track alongside Negativland’s “Announcement” as a good gag lead-in. I’ll have to try it in front of some death metal or something.
Josh, What Are You Doing Here?
I’m just writing about music. A structure like this blog helps me get my thoughts out, and it’s a way for me to explore my own music collection through various lenses. My sincere hope is that some folks out there find some new music they love. That’s all I’m up to. Sincere thanks to everybody who sends me feedback, with news that they’ve found a new favorite especially fun for me. There’s no monetization, no metrics, no ads, no promos, no nothing. Just some static web pages, some links, and my scribbling. If you want to support it, just shoot me a note! Thanks for reading.
Some Better Places To Learn About Music
Check these folks out, you’ll learn more for sure. In no particular order: To The Teeth, Wolf’s Week/Plague Rages, The Devil’s Mouth, Burning Ambulance, Lamniformes Cuneiform, Hex Records, See/Saw, Starkweather, Treble Magazine, The Quietus, Stereogum.