It appears to me that there have been a lot of music posts lately. For those of you who visit this page every day in the hopes of finding a new story detailing how my life has become a downward-spiral complete with embarrassing intoxicated photographs, I guess I have to issue you an apology. Things here at Swan Fungus headquarters have been remarkably quiet lately. In fact, I blame you, valued reader. If even one of you had stepped forward all those times I requested contributing writers through the years, maybe we would have some other insecure whipping boy to laugh at while he (or she) descended into substance abuse. I think I’m most ashamed of 16-year-old Evan in Kansas City. That young fellow has so much time to utterly ruin his life, it would have been perfect and hilarious story fodder. We even share a name! Talk about kismet…
Well, now you’re stuck with boring stories about what’s happening in the news and free music downloads. Speaking of which, I’m offering three out-of-print records for download today. I guess if you wanted to make a pun out of it, you could call today “Seven-Inch Sunday”. Sounds kind-of dirty, though…Oh well!
Boris
A Bao A Qu
MediaFire Download Link (19.33MB)
Track Listing:
01) A Bao A Qu (7″ Version)
02) A Bao A Qu (7″ Version)
This limited-to-524 copies 7″ picture disc includes one track spread across both sides of the record. Side A is the introduction to “A Bao A Qu,” which is an expanded version of the one included on the band’s Soundtrack From Film “Mabuta No Ura”. It has no similarity to the “A Bao A Qu” that appears on The Thing Which Solomon Overlooked. The introduction (Side A) is an extended ambient piece which is both sonorous and searing. Heavily distorted guitar leads spiral through a repetitive, lush, delicately-plucked melody. As it draws to a close, the track becomes more frantic, perfectly setting up the second side of the 7″. Side B fades in with heavy drums and fuzzed-out guitars steadily growing louder and louder. Bassist/guitarist/vocalist Takeshi’s familiar strained voice strives to find ears above the grueling instrumentation. Although Boris has begun shifting between loud/soft numbers more frequently of late, this side of the single will perhaps be more familiar to fans of the group’s early heavy-rock sounds.
Minutemen
Joy
MediaFire Download Link (4.53MB)
Track Listing:
01) Joy
02) Black Sheep
03) More Joy
Only a band like the Minutemen could fit more than just an A-side and a B-side on one seven-inch record. Their EPs and LPs usually last no longer than a minute, and the three tracks on this 1981 New Alliance Records release are no exception to that rule; they last 57 seconds, 72 seconds and 70 seconds respectively. Joy continues the Minutemen tradition of constructing and deconstructing sounds that cull from rock, funk, jazz and punk traditions. No verses and choruses, just short vignettes that are always rapidly moving forward. Released the same year as the band’s first full-length album The Punch Line (18 tracks in 25 minutes?!), this 7″ single sounds equally as unique when placed within the context of what their peers were recording. Fast, fast, fast. If you for some reason don’t know the Minutemen sound, try to imagine what would happen if Wire stopped brooding and started to boogie.
Tarentel
Home Ruckus: Double-Sided Air
MediaFire Download Link (14.48MB)
Track Listing:
01) Side-A
02) Side-B
A few weeks after I moved to Los Angeles there was a small festival held at Echo Curio that featured a large number of experimental bands from across the globe. One of the bands I was most anxious to see was Tarentel; I’d met Jefre Cantu and Jim Redd while gathering information for my book, but had never seen the band live. I described the band’s performance as a “combination of ambient beauty and gnarly, off-kilter beats…capable of catapulting listeners into a fucked-up nether-world.” After their set, Jefre slipped me this 7″ as a “thank you” for buying a handful of albums he released on his Root Strata label. Released on Type Records in 2007, Home Ruckus: Double-Sided Air captures the essence of Tarentel’s current sound. Gorgeous, lush tones, unusual percussive elements, awash in non-guitar-like guitar sounds. It’s like Stars of the Lid installed Chris Corsano on drums. I know this was strictly limited to 500 copies, but I do not know if it is still available. If it is, you need to buy one now.
