Red Eye Santa

Well, 'spect its about that time.  The Holidays (suck it Palin) are upon us, and the world's ears tune into the mighty Mountain to help 'em through the nonsense.  We're here for you.  Daily Posting from now 'til Shane MacGowan's birthday on December 25th!

Did we mention "daily posting"???  Yes we did. 

This may be our last go-around, so we'll try to make it a little extra special. 

Gonna break out long-standing rule, and post some stuff we've posted before.  Lots of classics worth revisiting, and we've been doing this so long, that, well, why the hell not???  Fear not, there will be plenty of "new" tunes to slurp yr eggnog to. 

As ever, feel free to snoop around the archives and make a request.  We'll try to accommodate everyone!

And remember, if ya don't like what ya hear today, stick around.  No day is the same, no style or genre is sacrosanct.  We'll be changing it up daily.

Enough of the intro, let's hop in the sleigh!

Kicking things off is the mighty Untamed Youth, with a hot rod hootenanny, that happens to be one of our top 5 xmas tunes ever!    Television City follow up with a Yuletide ode to punk icon Johnny Thunders, who could be our Santa any day of the year.  Who else could save Christmas, indeed?

Dick Smith knows exactly how Santa gets through such a rough night.  And The Davenports throw down what may actually be our theme over the past 9 years of doing this.  No really. 

Santa's bag is hanging low!


The Untamed Youth: Santa's Gonna Shut 'Em Down (mp3)

Television City: The Night Johnny Thunders Saved Christmas (mp3)

Dick Smith: Red-Eyed Santa (mp3)

The Davenports: Whore For the Holidays (mp3)

Please support your favorite charity this Holiday season!

Motel Mirrors

Well...the Holidays (yeah, suck it Palin) are coming up...and regular readers will know what's coming up very soon...so stay tuned.

Got a couple of folks we wanna cover before things get completely insane, so we've got a special Thanksgiving post for ya today and a couple of other posts going forward that we'll mix in with the Holiday madness. 

Forward then...

It's no secret our great love of John Paul Keith.  And he's got a new rekkid out, Memphis Circa 3AM,  that we'll be talking about a little later, and, yeah, it's fucking great.  But you knew that, right?

But, for now, we wanna focus on another record Mr. Keith put out this year.  It's called Motel Mirrors, and it features duets with the amazing Ms. Amy LaVere. 

Some posit that the proper "duet" record is dead, with too many one-song, 10-line "collaborations" and not enough meat.  Motel Mirrors is the perfect prescription for that kind of thinking.

The record is too short, only 7 songs, it's an EP.  That would be our only criticism.  We wanted more.  Much more.  But perhaps that's a good thing.  Always leave your audience hungry.  And hungry we are.  It's a stunner, perfect in it's brevity and astonishing in scope. 

Amy LaVere has a voice that will break your heart, partly because she demands you love her, shy and demure one moment.  And partly because she aint takin' no shit from ya, cool and detached when demanded.  It's a great weapon, sultry and detached, warm and inviting, sometimes all in one line.  And it plays perfectly to John Paul Keith's classic vocal style, a southern twang and Holly hiccup.   We haven't heard such a perfect pairing since George and Tammy, Prine and DeMent, Dolly and Porter.  Their voices entangle into a classic combo of kiss-off and love.

Every track on this EP is perfect, and we can't pick a favorite.  It kicks off with a rager, "Meet Me on the Corner",  a distilled boom chicka tale reminiscent of"Dark End of the Street", but with much more sass (on both parts), taking the meme into a realm that invites both sides, rather than machismo.  "Your Tender Loving Care" continues the theme, with Keith and LeVere trading barbs like guilty lovers clinging.

"Dearest" continues, with lovely pedal steel, island groove, a longing reminiscent of "Love is Strange", yearning and beautiful.  That may be our favorite track...until..."Suddenly You" kicks in, and we believe in Romeo and Juliet, without the weird suicide thing,  Jangly honky-tonk geetar framing the pop of circumstance.

"As Far As I'm Concerned", "The Best Mistake I'd Ever Make Again", and "That Makes Two of Us" round out the rekkid with perfect banter, and vocal play, each poking the expected, yet framed in Country tropes.  Almost subversive, but so perfectly framed by fiddle and pedal, and deep mountain arrangement that we revel in the 1950's innocence and awakening, swelled into the expected and fueled by the modern.

A modern re-telling, then, and Ms. LeVere and Mr. Keith throw down the gauntlet to our expected and take it to another level.  It's the best "duet" record you're gonna hear, going back 30 years. 

Easily one of our best rekkids of the year. 

Amy LaVere has a new record coming out shortly.  We're eagerly waiting for it.

Rock like the end of the world!!!

Amy LaVere and John Paul Keith: Dearest (mp3)

Please support your independent artists!!! 

Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

Don't forget to vote in the poll over to yr left!  You can select as many choices as you want!

Now, it's all about The Greatest Song Ever Written (at least for today)!!!

We're mad crazy about the gospel song.  No, not the contemporary lifeless "chorus" crap, or the egregious southern barbershop-harmony swill.  We're talking about the soulful, shout to the heavens, sin'n'salvation, tambourine shakin', church-organ drenched hallelujahs, sweaty and hollerin' stuff.  Hell, we should add that to our regular series.  Anybody want a regular Gospel post?

Amongst all of the classic Gospel recordings ("Didn't It Rain", "Oh Happy Day", and way too many more to name check), "I'm Going To Live the Life I Sing About In My Song" may be our very favorite. 

The very essence of the Saturday sinner and Sunday saint ("I can't go to church and shout all day Sunday/Go out and get drunk and raise sand all day Monday"), and made famous by Mahalia Jackson, it's a surging bit of testify, brothers and sisters!  And it demands a bit of one-room church, warped piano plunking or salvation soaked organ roll.  A holy roller rhythm and a bit of shoutin'!  A sanctified bit of tent revival, bibles raised and booty down. 

We got the classic by Mahalia, of course.  And, as a bonus, the greatest rock 'n' roll band in 'Merica. The Oblivians, joined by the mighty Mr. Quintron on filthy organ, give it their greasy tabernacle spin!  So, truly, the sinners and the saint. 

The Greatest Song Ever Written (at least for today), indeed.  'Nuff said!

Be saint by day and a devil undercover!

Mahalia Jackson: I'm Going to Live the Life I Sing About In My Song (mp3)

Oblivians (with Mr. Quintron): Live The Life (mp3)

Please support yr local, independent salvation peddlers, snake oil merchants, tent revivalists, and gospel glad-handers! 

Paper Moon

There's a special place in the world for the "burnt desert" song...a world of sneaky rattlesnakes and echoed canyon noir, songs of traveling and dust, the cactus dry yet alive, the kicking vintage truck transporting all manner of bad behavior and innocence freighted belief.  Where the laws of men  inhabit the expected, and the pistol could jam with sand and the Mariachi band is playing not for profit but for survival.  The outpost is an empty tank away, the beer is on ice, melting, and the lizards are scrambling, hissing and flared.  Step into the sepia-toned light, then, with bleached bones and death rattle and cosmic, red-hued hum..Georgiana Starlington.

Not a person, but a band.  The darkest twilight criss-crossed lightning across the plains, finding the patter of a windstorm on vagabond tin-roof porch, beat beat beat the rhythm of safety and danger, lone yet part of the mythology of the West. 

Georgiana Starlington is made up of  husband and wife Jack and Julie Hines (also of the mighty K-Holes), along with Daniel Sheerin on  drums and percussion , Andy Curtin on pedal steel, and Vashti Windish on singing saw. Their record, Paper Moon (out on Hozac),  occupies the space inbetween the raindrops.  The curdled muddy footsteps of bad deeds and the sinister sway of hardboiled regret.  Jack and Julie trade vocals, occasionally as cow-noir duets, his voice a bourbon ramble, hers a gauzy gingham chanteuse, and surround themselves with hazy blanched rhythms and sound.  A rumbled sand-surf guitar line, lonesome desperate pedal steel, the keening of a singing saw, midnight church harmonica.  All hymns of hazy, steepled mesas. 

Tracks like "Hard Grave",  "The Great Divide", "Dry As A Bone", and "Days Like Heaven" shimmer like pale desert nights. "Moonlight" the saddest pedal-driven cowboy lament,  campfire and crickets. And "Gust" is perfect, a rough-hewn diamond, sparkling darkly.

An essential album for anyone visiting these here sites, and easily one our best records of the year.


From Paper Moon LP (ripped from vinyl, natch):

Georgiana Starlington: Dry As A Bone (mp3)


From The Paper Moon Demos (free on Bandcamp)

Georgiana Starlington: Johnny Come Listen (mp3)


Please support yr local, independent labels, record stores, and bands.  Support independent music.  Go see shows.  Buy a record or a t-shirt or a koozie.  Whatever it takes!

Rocket To The Moon

 Space is the place, as our buddy from Saturn, Sun Ra, used to say.

And that's today's theme in our ongoing series, Essential Comps Everybody Should Own!  (or something like that, we're still tweaking what we're gonna call it).

Buffalo Bop  has been a force of nature in comps for a good while now.  They're loosely associated with/helpfully distributed by, the essential Bear Family Records. Buffalo Bop comps usually have a theme: Drinking, Juvenile Delinquency, Trains, Hot Rods, Rockabilly, Jungle, etc.  All the things that the Mountain loves. Many of the songs are from public domain or from regional record labels of the 1950's and 1960's.  All of their comps are highly recommended by us!

One of the more interesting of their comps is Rockin' Orbit, a collection of Country-Billy space-themed tunes informed by Cold War, nuclear fallout shelters, comic books, and the search for the "other" in the grand spinning diorama above us.  There's some cheesy stuff, and lots of "count-downs" in many of the songs (kinda charming in a way-back-when way), but when the Country and Rockabilly kick in, it's killer stuff! Kickin', hollerin' cows on the moon space-billy goodness!

Take a time travel to distant worlds, then, a rollickin' hillbilly take on the space race, greasy rocket fuel and juiced-up dreams of mysterious night skies and escape! 

Rockin' Orbit is...wait for it...Outta this World!!!! It's a Country-Billy travel into outer space!

 Eddie Cletro: Flying Saucer Boogie (mp3)

Jackie Lowell: Rocket Trip (mp3)

Fabulous Imperials: Moon Beat (mp3)


Support yr local artists.  To the moon and back!

Growling At The Moon

Hey ho, here we go!

Got a poll over to yr left.  Going forward, to help us post more regular-like 'n' shit, we're gonna set up a series of themed-posts.  Some y'all will recognize.  Others are new.  Let your voice be heard!!  You can vote in multiple categories.

Now that that little bit o'business is over...

There's a great fest coming up...The 2nd Annual Chicago Guitar Box Festival ...and man, it's a good 'un!  (featuring The Ten Foot Polecats, Johnny Lowebow, White Trash Blues Revival, the mighty Lou Shields, and Tony Manno, amongst others...). Hopefully we'll see y'all there in November (plenty of time to book yr flight).

One of the great artists playing at the fest is Lone Wolf OMB.  And he's our cover artist for this post...

We have a great love for one man (woman) bands....it's got a bit of history...Abner Jay, George Coleman, Molly Gene, Bob Log III, Hasil Adkins, Husky Burnette, Baby Ruth, and, well..check this link (we're still working through it ourselves).  What makes them great, besides the killer tunes, is the unique personality infused into the performance.  While the records are great, the real joy is seein' 'em live (those that haven't passed, that is).   We're due for a length piece on One "Person" Bands, and the inherent meme thereof shortly (but asking for a longer piece). For now, let's concentrate on one...

LoneWolf OMB plays some seriously nasty groove, tearing off shreds of geetar rhythmn'swelter, lowdown drivin' blooze punk coutry pickup truck travelin'!  Mr. Lone Wolf hollers and harmonica-izes the ends of the earth, kicking out sleaze and swampy grit-down alligator chomping...follow, brothers and sisters. to the end of the ocean-washed shore.

A voice, stomped and filtered through the finest Florida tar, look and see the Man, regaling the disintegrating concrete, fluid and distilled, bad whiskey in delirium tremens....you didn't know the dance you made, but it was the ends of the earth..thus, is Lone Wolf OMB.  

Rawk!


Lone Wolf OMB: I'm o' Take You On Out, Baby (mp3)

Lone Wolf OMB: Masked Marvel (mp3)

As always...please support yr local artists...see a show, buy some merch...that's how these folks make their money.  Music aint free...these folks are workin' and workin' hard for pennies.  Ya like what ya hear?   Thank the bands by helpin' 'em make a living. 

Beat Fury!

Here we go.

Another new feature:  Essential Comps Everyone Should Own!  Great compilation albums essential for every hi-fi!  Let's see how long this one lasts!!!

Our first entry is the mighty comp "Beat Jazz-Pictures From the Gone World", on Pesky Serpent Records.   

Dig that swing, daddy-o, cuz this a mighty slab o' bongo-beatin', be-bop swingin' down'n'dirty finger poppin' groove and rhythm rebellion, featuring such luminaries as Jack Kerouac, Slim Gaillard, Kenneth Rexroth, Moondog, Sun Ra, Coleman Hawkins, and Bob Dorough. 

It's a beat-noir masterpiece of funky jazz, Autumnal groove, caffeinated word-bop and SEX, SEX, SEX!!!  Perfect for every party, when the mood gets down and the mellow vibe is needed, slap this fucker on and watch the berets go flyin' as the kids get their freak on! Ya think you've got a mad pad now?  Its' about to get even madder!

"Beat Jazz-Pictures From the Gone World" can be found all over the world-wide web (even available on the inferior CD version...we, of course, recommend the vinyl)....Check it out, now, you beatnik funk soul brothers and sisters!

Perhaps our favorite "comp" of all time.

The following is ripped from our vinyl copy.  

Roy Glenn: Big High Song For Somebody (mp3)

Ellie Glenn and the 7 Beat Sulks: Let's Make It (mp3)

Please support yr local, independent chin-bearded bongo-beatin' beatnik. 

Six Pack

Hey Now!  Rock'n'Roll raconteurs!  Where y'all been?  Got the holy rollin' spirit deep down, Amen!  Sabbatical over, let's kick off with a new installment of the world famous Big Rock Candy Mountain 6 Pack Series! 

6 tunes, ripped from vinyl, that are sure to move yr feet and save yr sinnin' soul!  Goin' heavy on the sleaze this time, with some salvation worked in, so gird yr loins in yr special, sanctified undepants, we're goin' on trip from Heaven to Hell!

Jerry Jaye kicks us off with a proper, down home honky tonk bootstomper of a life live in the bottle (and drivin', of course, not that we condone that behaviour, of course).  Follow that up with a Voodoo Rhythm two-fer, the good lord willin'.  A couple of tracks, unearthed grubs from the dirtiest Bloooze'n' Jaysis dirt, to rattle yr bones and shake yr sinner hips, courtesy of The Gospel Pimps and the mighty, mighty, mighty Reverend Beat Man. 

If y'all can survive that....take it down to Texas for a little more boozin', courtesy of the seminal Jon Wayne!

Gotta wipe the sleaze of yr chin after all that?  Well, get truly sanctified by Reverend Douglas Bell and the Stage Cruisers, and a low-down gospel rave-up to send the Holy Spirit wingin' yr way (and he's comin' on missile, so watch out!).

And, finally, after all our indulgence, a cautionary tale, from our old pal, and fave rave Country artist, Hank Snow.   And what would life be like without ol' Hank?  Not good.  Not good at all. 

Enjoy!  Buy rekkids!  All songs ripped from our library of vinyl!  Rock'n'Roll daddy-O!




Jerry Jaye: Drinkin' My Way Back Home (mp3)

Gospel Pimps: Oh When the Pimps (mp3)

Reverend Beat Man: It's A Beat Man's World (mp3)

Jon Wayne: Texas Wine (mp3)

Reverend Douglas Bell and the Stage Cruisers: Nuclear Blast (mp3)

Hank Snow: The Face on the Barroom Floor (mp3)

All songs are from vinyl, which is how god intended it.  Support yr local, independent rekkid store!

I'll Be Willin', To Be Movin

Awwwwwright!!!!!!!!  Finally, the culmination of 2012, the Top 10 of the Big Rock Candy Mountain Best Records of the Year, busting out yr eardrums!  The finest rekkids, made to make you fuck, fight and forget!  Kick it kids, the righteous religion of rock'n'roll lives and breathes, killing yr speakers and screw that pussy indie or Top 40 shit.  Preachin' and prayin', put a cape on us (can we get a witness?!),  and rise up to holler more!

Take the mic, Mr. Scratch!

The Big Rock Candy Mountain Best Records of 2012, Part The Final!

10. Barry Brusseau: The Royal Violent Birds LP

Another deep Autumn record by Mr. Brusseau (who we wrote about here), like red and orange leaves falling all about, droned and sad.  A monumental record, from a supremely talented, independent and idiosyncratic artist.  More on Mr. Brusseau and his fledgling label coming up soon.


Barry Brusseau: Plymouth Fury (car ride) (mp3)

9. Owen Mays and the 80 Proof Boys: Nobody Love You When You're Down 

Boozed-up, bad-livin' honky tonk glory, like the good lord intended.  Mr. Mays is our next post, so we'll have more say then. Gird yr pansy "alt-country" loins, kids, this is the real deal.


Owen Mays and the 80 Proof Boys: 80 Proof Nights (mp3)

8. Outer Minds: Outer Minds LP/ Behind the Mirror LP

Two mighty psych-scuzz platters from Chicago's finest, space is the place with rockets burning stars into oblivion, droned jangled chanted swirly cream universe, free yr mind and explode a million times the Sun.

Outer Minds: Kings and Thrones (mp3)

Outer Minds: Look Behind the Mirror (mp3)

7. Reverend Frost: Bloody Tomahawks 7"/ Every Goddam Thing To Hell LP

Perennial Mountain fave Reverend Frost gives us a proper album and a hell of a 7".   Rickety, creaky, jesus on a bender trash galore, Tom Waits meets the Cramps in a rumble, knives pulled, there's gonna blood on the moon tonight, and the horror movie in yr mind is a living thing, greasy and jumpin' jive.  The Devil's on yr tail, the road is winding, with only one headlight and the breaks are out, the darkest canyon below, belching fire, and who's yr savior?


Reverend Frost: Every Goddam Thing to Hell (mp3)

6. catl: Soon All This Will Be Gone

 What we said in our review:

A trashy glory of of an album, full of strange back road ramble, bruised, bloody, and anglin' for a fight.  Nasty, filthy gutter blues, ready to move yr ass and shoot you busted and broken into the night... This is a band, and a record, that wants you to fuck, drink, and get got-damn lowdown... blown-out tire, voodoo-kissed, burn the white-trash porch down ravers, all organ-drenched, harmonica blistered, geetar-fucked, rhythmic groovers, hollerin' and scuzzed, bleeding sweat and kerosene, white lightning and mad dog cocktail. Main man catl his very own self rakes the unholy coals of hell with his mud-stained voice a prophet.

 

catl: He'll Make A Way (mp3)

5. Dynamite Pussy Club: Church of Yeah!

Holy fuckin' shit!!!!  Revved to the red rawk'n'roll, busted speaker trash gospel sleaze, testifyin' the apocalypse, booze broads and hollerin' sanctified  gut bucket tear this motherfuckin' roof down.  Nothin' was nastier this year, big fuzz wailing soulpunkgarage destruction.  We're out of breath listenin' to this holy mess of rawk scuzz!


Dynamite Pussy Club: Testify! (mp3)

4. Ian Hunter and the Rant Band: When I'm President

This was a year when critics rushed to praise a few oldsters who made less than exciting records.  Springsteen showed he was a better keynote speaker than his newest bland record (which Rolling Stone named "best record, showing how out of touch they are) would prove.  Dylan officially went off the deep end, and not in an interesting way, despite what folks will tell you, and gave us a tiresome rehash (and possibly theft) of tropes we've heard over and over.   Neil Young released an un-listenable  2-disc set of tedious hippie jams, looking backwards.   The Rolling Stones just looked stupid and their new single was a by-the-numbers turd.  Good lord, can anyone over 60 (other than Tom Waits) make an interesting record?

Well, yes, yes they can.

Ian Hunter (you might know him from Mott the Hoople...you know...the classic "All The Young Dudes") is yr man!  Wait, come back!

Still urgent, still full of glam situation, horns and plinking shack-styled piano, Hunter knows what moves the spirit, and boogie-fried southern growl, swing a bar band round the rosy,  man just wants to rawk and fuck the introspection, it's all about the big sound and the end of the night where yr dancing with yr guy or gal and yr not gonna get fucked over with irony.  The gravel voice, the rock'n'roll, the silent sweeper while you clutch the one you love over the big sound.  Nobody else came close.

Ian Hunter and the Rant Band: Comfortable (Flyin' Scotsman)

3. James Hand: Mighty Lonesome Man

Honky Tonk.  Country music the way you remembered, stripped of Nashville nonsense.  The mightiest man, with pedal steel and fiddles and the loneliest whistle.  James Hand, whom we have been in love with for years,  solidifies his place in the pantheon of Hank, Merle, Lefty, George, and Waylon.  They're of a piece, and James Hand carries the tradition. 

No pretenses, no nod to "alt", no compromise.

What James Hand does is transcend the expected, delivering a set of pure country gold, lonesome desert, deep-hearted and purely old-school (not a bad thing). 

Put yr boots on the hardwood floor, raving up sawdust and dirt, swing yr partner and dance and cry and drink and dance some more. 


James Hand: Now Not Later (mp3)

2. Neneh Cherry and the Thing: The Cherry Thing

The most unexpected of records, a jazz "thing", from the daughter of a legend (that would be "Don"), best known for a 90's hit.  But, good gravy, transforming how we think about music, and the stuffy preclusions taken.

Deep Soul, punk cover, layered and defiant, furry and sex groove,  a helium balloon voice slinking in and out over transcendental soundsoundsound, oh yes.

Sun Ra backing Billie Holiday, when you dream, deep dream the constellation lighting up the walls around yr lonely bed.   Wake and feel the tremor of the earth, the moon shining just for you, and you alone, the sound of all yr hopes laid bare, and be, and be, and be.....

Neneh Cherry and the Thing: Dream Baby Dream (mp3)

1. Daddy Long Legs: Evil Eye On You LP


Rock and Roll was informed by the Blues.  With that, we give a tip o'the hat to Nick Tosches and Greil Marcus.   And where does that leave us?  A crossroads, as it were, between the holy Southern jukejoint and the New York transposing, a posture on both ends, a fight between the sacred and the profane.  Where white boys, now, mimic and flagellate on a created altar, the battle of Ghost World's "Blues Hammer" and Fat Possum's crate-digging attempt at revival, complete with hip-hop re-workings of  the assumed standard, standing in stark contrast to tradition, whatever that is.

A little over a year ago, we attended Norton Record's big anniversary fest in Brooklyn.  It was a great festival.  On the last night of the fest, a band came on early, and we missed the first half of the set.  What we saw of the remaining set blew our minds, and put that band on our radar....what records could we buy from them, this insane band that was suddenly our favorite band in the world?   Well, nothing, really, other than an A-Side on Norton's famous Rolling Stones tribute series (they did "Cocksucker Blues"....a great choice).  So, we bided our time, listened to other great records, pushed this band into the recesses of our mind, figgering well...at some point they'll release a record, and it 'll probably be pretty nifty. 

We had no idea.  No idea at all. 

What Daddy Long Legs unleashed upon these cynical ears was nothing short of masterwork.  A shot in the dark of the deep trembling heart of rock'n'roll, all desperation and harmonica short-fuse mess-around, blowing yr ears, yr speakers, yr very rhythmic pulse, whoopin' and stompin' from the get-go, going deep down into yr soul and pulling you into frenzy, wailing the chug a chug and chug a lug, spilled beer on the barroom floor while you kick and shimmy the slide on down to Satan's very personal lounge, the sound of the damned and the sound of the "we don't give a fuck", because the shack is open 24-7 and we're gonna grind and fuck the latest morning and the deepest night, blow, baby, blow, the train is haulin' and we're in the caboose, the back end of respected society, hootin' it up to the end of the line.

Yeah, it's 3 white boys from Nooo Yawk.  And, yeah, they kick yr ass from every direction.  Full throttle, nuthin' you heard this year comes even close!

Best Record Of The Year!

Daddy Long Legs: Shackin' Up (mp3) 


Hey, support the artists and the labels!  Donate to the mighty Norton Records, who got fucked by Hurricane Sandy!  A world without Norton Records is no world we wanna live in!

Drivin' Every Kind of Rig That's Ever Been Made

Day 4 of our Big Rock Candy Best Records of 2012!  Things are gettin' serious, all y'all!  Heaven and Hell only know what might fall into the TOP TEN, based on the killer rekkids we've got for ya today!  Can you handle the excitement?  It's all about the Rawk, baby, so kick back, pop a top, Country fans be warned (we'll make ya happy soon), and ramp yr rocking chair up a few speeds, we're rollin'...!

Big Rock Candy Mountain Best Records of 2012, Part 4!

20. Wild Billy Childish and the Spartan Dreggs: Dreggradation LP/ Coastal Command LP

Billy Childish again.  Of course.  2 LP's released simultaneously, both bearing Childish's inimitable stamp of punk garage fury (with a hint of mod-era Who, mayhaps?), this time  full of very English inside-jokes, mythology, and philosophy.  You feel smarter, while still pogoing and banging your head against the brick wall of society.

Spartan Dreggs: Radio Dreggs (mp3)

19. John Wesley Coleman III: Trans Am Summer Blues/ Last Donkey Show LP

One of America's finest songwriters, sleazed backroads country laments, noisome bar band ravers, delicate meandering, big giant handclappin' rawk, lo-fi scuzz transistor, a spilled map mess of everything great in the world.

John Wesley Coleman III: Saturday Night (mp3)

John Wesley Coleman III: Hangin' Around (mp3)

18. Heart Attack Alley: Living in Hell LP

Trashy deepdown blues, green-furred harmonica destruction, vampy swamp-noir vocals, the riverboat on the Mississippi listing dangerously floods-a comin'.

Heart Attack Alley: Don't Waste My Time (mp3)

17. Diamond Rugs: Diamond Rugs

End of the night, last band on earth lookin' for a beer and a lay, racing vintage jalopy horns and pedal steel glory.


Diamond Rugs: Hightail (mp3)

16. The Coup: Sorry To Bother You

Best protest record of the year, yr mind and yr loins on fire, deeply funky, shimmer and shake the end times with the party in full swing Boots Riley yr emcee, floorboards stomped and the downfall of western civilization is a hootenanny, "Magic Clap" the best song you've heard all year.


The Coup: Magic Clap (mp3)

15. Natural Child: Hard In Heaven/ For the Love of the Game

Dirty, dirty rawk'n'roll, snotty like it should be, a little Ian Hunter a little Replacements a little boogie the shack down, crude 70's geetar girls girls girls summer cruising pumping out yr Trans Am.

Natural Child: 8 AM Blues (mp3)

14. Liminanas: Crystal Anis

Fizzy droned summer pop like Stereolab meets Nico meets Ye Ye meets Lee Nancy Serge and Jane, sweet and very sour, delicate and sharp, endless starry night, willow tree aflame with fireflies.

The Liminanas: Salvation (mp3)

13. 10 Cent Fuck Flicks: 8 Songs About Drugs and Sex

Completely fucked up scuzzsleaze songs about, well...fucking and drugs, not subtle but devil may care in short bursts of wicked raunch,  filthy low-bottom rawk inspired in jizz-soaked beer-stained urgency, more alive in lowest-common denominator you want this like yr latest fix.

 10 Cent Fuck Flicks: Chew You Up (mp3)

12. Left Lane Cruiser and James Leg: Painkillers


The mighty and right Rev. James Leg teams up with god's favorite band,  Left Lane Cruiser, for a grooved out, righteous, dirt road workout, filthy and primal, jesus on the lp runout blessing his children on the tribal satan hallelujah fury, fire on the mountain scorched earth below!


Left Lane Cruiser and James Leg: Ramblin' On My Mind (mp3)

11. Chicken Diamond: II

What we said earlier this year:

"Haulin' devil-boogie junk in an Ed Roth jalopy,straight outta France, this is a record that burns, deep hellfire blues and gasoline vapor trail.  Chicken Diamond, his very unrighteous self, kicking voodoo sleaze across a dirty horizon,  howling and gnashing for your soul, blurred bluespunk, one man prophet, the pedal goes down and it's straight to the cliff of damnation, jeering the whole way. "

Chicken Diamond: Country Song (mp3) 

Seriously, support the artists!  Fuck the man!  Corporate rock sucks!