SPACIN' "Sunshine, No Shoes" Vid starring Harmonica Dan !!!!!

for complete news coverage Richie Records // TestosterTunes, check testostertunes.com.

FREE LIVE MUSIC IN PHILADELPHIA THIS SUNDAY

UNEARTHED BIRDS OF MAYA TRACK: "Which Side Are You On?"

Sometime between midnight and last call, the conversation inevitably follows one of two paths. The first possible path includes the embellished recounting of previous drunken evenings. It'll likely be a tale of sloppy heroics performed in the wee hours and the telling will be punctuated with backslapping and slurred speech.

This is a nearly inexhaustible topic, an exercise as fertile with possibility as it is tiresome. Remember that drive home when the passenger-side door kept opening? -Yes. How about when I took a leak with all those Mummers? -Of course I remember that. Did I tell you about the time I smoked weed with Harley? -Oh yeah, let me hear it again. How about when we stumbled into a party full of BULLDOZE fans? -We'll never forget that.

The other, slightly more interesting path, is decidedly barren and the discussion quickly comes to an abrupt halt. Say, let's have another round and talk about Vol. II by BIRDS OF MAYA. -I'll bet that it kicks ass, but I've never heard it. Never heard it? -Nope, nobody's heard it. It's remained unheard since it was recorded all those years ago. Bummer, let's get out of here.

Starting tonight, this conversation suddenly has the ammunition to go a little longer. It may kill as much time as it takes to consume as many as two rounds of beers and a little glass of bourbon. The occasion? After sitting on a dusty shelf in a Kensington basement since its completion in 2006, Vol. II has been rediscovered and the guys are generous enough to share a track titled "Which Side Are You On?". Devoted fans will recognize a particularly wild passage from recent live performances, while careful listeners will note that the bedrock of BIRDS OF MAYA's meat & potatoes hard rock sound was apparent even at this early date. For, as many know, the BIRDS arrived fully formed. They haven't been developing a style, they've been bashing away like three possessed lunatics for the better part of a decade. In the years since making Vol. II, the only difference is that their instruments show the signs of endless beatings and occasional repairs.

****BIRDS OF MAYA will perform live with WATERY LOVE upstairs at KFN in Philadelphia on Sunday, November 11. Doors at 8, no cover, cheap beer, 21+****

WATERY LOVE in NYC, Sat Nov 3

photo by Tiffany Yoon

WATERY LOVE, unprecedented NYC appearance, Saturday November 3rd @ the Cake Shop w/ HOME BLITZ & ICKY BOYFRIENDS

CLASSIC T-SHIRT.. back in stock

It's October and the bats fallen silent in South Philadelphia. It's just like when Richie Records // TestosterTunes first started swinging back in 2005. We can still drop jaws by strutting around in this classic t-shirt. It features the iconic Ashburn logo designed by Hawk Krall.

Prices are for shipping to the USA ONLY. Get in touch for international shipping.

model: Ben Leaphart

SIZES

SMALL MEDIUM LARGE EXTRA LARGE

And for those of you looking to portray the image of an absolutely obsessed Richie Records completist/fringe lunatic.. be sure to add an authentic KOOZI to your shopping cart. Holds can & bottles of beer snugly, & it could probably be used for other beverages as well.

1 or 2?

1 BEER KOOZI $4.00 USD 2 BEER KOOZIS $6.00 USD

HOME BLITZ, BLUES CONTROL, & PURLING HISS live dates in Aus, NZ, & USA

Two of the Atlantic Seaboard's finest cultural exports are en route to the wild continent of Australia & the lovely isle of New Zealand. Meanwhile, Dizzy's fretboard heroics are on display in the regular ol' United States with PURLING HISS. Do make every effort to see em' all.


HOME BLITZ

Brisbane – Wed Oct 3 – Black Bear Lodge with Kitchen’s Floor + Matyr Privates
Geelong – Thurs Oct 4 – The Nash with Woollen Kits + Austmuteants
Melbourne – Fri Oct 4 – Liberty Social with Blues Control + Woollen Kits + Rule of Thirds
Sydney – Tues Oct 9 – The Square with Raw Prawn + Drum Drum



BLUES CONTROL

9/29/12 @The Croatian Wickham Sports Club Newcastle, Australia Sound Summit Festival
10/4/12 @The Gasometer Melbourne, Australia
10/5/12 @Liberty Social Melbourne, Australia w/ Home Blitz
10/6/12 @Snake Pit Auckland, New Zealand
10/7/12 @The Darkroom  Christchurch, New Zealand
10/9/12 @Russian Frost Farmers Wellington, New Zealand
10/10/12 @Black Bear Lodge Brisbane, Australia
10/11/12 @Pica Bar Perth, Australia
10/12/12 @The Square Sydney, Australia

PURLING HISS


9/25/12 - TOLEDO, OH @ MICKEY FINN'S
9/27/12-DETROIT, MI @ ST. ANDREW'S HALL  W/ DINOSAUR JR.
9/28/12-CINCINATTI, OH @ MIDPOINT MUSIC FESTIVAL  W/ DINOSAUR JR.
9/29/12-CHAMPAIGN, IL @ PYGMALION MUSIC FESTIVAL   W/ DINOSAUR JR.
9/30/12-ST. LOUIS, MO @ OFF BROADWAY W/ R. STEVIE MOORE                
10/1/12-BLOOMINGTON, IN @ THE REAM W/ SLEEPING BAG
10/2/12- INDIANAPOLIS, IN @ ADAM'S PIZZA W/ PSYSIC FEEL
10/4/12-CHICAGO, IL @ SUBTERRANEAN  W/ WOODS
10/5/12-MADISON, WI @ DER RATHSKELLER AT MEMORIAL UNION W/ WOODS
10/6/12-ST. PAUL , MN @ TURF CLUB W/ WOODS
10/7/12-IOWA CITY, IA @ THE MILL W/ WOODS
10/9/12-COLUMBUS, OH @ BOURBON ST. W/ WORN FLINTS
10/10/12-PITTSBURGH, PA @ BRILLOBOX W/ FRIZZ & DAN GETKIN

OTHER FALL DATES:
11/2/12-BOSTON, MA @ BOSTON HASSLE FESTIVAL
11/3/12-BROOKLYN, NY @ MUSIC HALL OF WILLIAMSBURG W/ WOODS & WIDOW'S PEAK
11/9/12- BALTIMORE @ METRO GALLERLY
11/15/12-PHILADELPHIA PA @ JOHNNY BRENDA'S W/ CAVE

READY TO HOWL on compact disc!!! Hand-held beer coolers!!!

Available now on compact disc... BIRDS OF MAYA's landmark 2xlp Ready to Howl, wrestled down and improbably tamed to a small digital disc... excellent driving music, essential for any twisted nighttime caper... "thee ultimate party record"...  includes tracks from the out-of-print BIRDS OF MAYA w/ HARMONICA DAN tour-single... available worldwide from Agitated Records... available in the US for $13ppd to testostertunes@gmail.com... flashback over here... and here... and here.

CLASSIC REWIND:

DRINK IN STYLE:

And in an effort to keep beer cold, we present... Richie Records // TestosterTunes Beer Koozis!!! Essential for any barbecue, picnic, or hangout, these little buggers are gray in color and handsome in design. They hold bottles & cans with equal proficiency & they'll inspire envy in poorly equipped drinkers. Get one for $4ppd (or two for $6) by paypal to testostertunes@gmail.com.

HOME BLITZ DATES

HOME BLITZ continues to be one of the finest, classiest, & tuneful rock bands in the Mid-Atlantic. That fact should surprise nobody. Here's a lively vid from their latest offering, a 12" EP called Frozen Track. Buy it here: http://www.mexicansummer.com/shop/home-blitz-frozen-track/

Make plans to catch 'em live at a city near you.


Aug 3 – Providence, RI – Local 121 – with the Universes and Darik Santos
Aug 4 – Boston, MA – PA’s Lounge – with Guilty Party, Ben Shapes, Courters
Aug 5 – Buffalo, NY – The Vault – with Girls of Porn, Big Black Cloud, Sami & The Gapers, Water
Aug 6 – Chicago, IL – The Burlington – with Tyler Jon Tyler
Aug 7 – Pittsburgh, PA – The Shop – with Fogged Out, John & The JokeAug 8 – Columbus, OH – Double Happiness – with Outer Spacist, Pink Reason
Aug 9 – Bloomington, IN – The Bishop – with The Tsunamis, Bloody Mess
Aug 10 – Nashville, TN – Noa Noa
Aug 11 – Charlotte, NC – Yauhaus
Aug 12 – Baltimore, MD – Pearl Harbor – with Big Christ, Crimson Wave, Foul Swoops

KENSINGTON PICNIC

Important Afternoon. Free outdoor event w/ BIRDS OF MAYA, MEG BAIRD, BLUES CONTROL, WATERY LOVE, & so much more...

THE SUMMER OF LOVE

NEIL BURKE'S ART UNVEILING

BLUES CONTROL "Valley Tangents" Rec Release in Philadelphia!!!!!!

BLUES CONTROL
BIRDS OF MAYA
SLOW TONGUED BEAUTY


FRIDAY JUNE 22
8:30 PM
@ PhilaMOCA

Meg Baird performs!!!!!!!!

6/7/12 Largo @ The Coronet Los Angeles CA w/ Kurt Vile (solo) & Michael Chapman
6/8/12 Pappy & Harriet's Pioneertown CA w/ Kurt Vile (solo) & Michael Chapman
6/21/12 Union Transfer Philadelphia PA w/ Sharon Van Etten

Two Photos -- HOMOSTUPIDS & WATERY LOVE

HOMOSTUPIDS in the basement at Horrible Fest

WATERY LOVE at Lake Erie

WATERY LOVE this weekend in Cleveland & Pittsburgh

Sat May 12 @ Now That's Class! for Horrible Fest in Cleveland w/ Homostupids, Liquor Store & more
Sun May 13 @ Gooski's in Pittsburgh w/ Slices & Tres

An unprompted endorsement

From behind the counter at the Philadelphia Record Exchange, Siltbreeze's Thomas J. Lax cannot contain his enthusiasm.

PURLING HISS HITS THE ROAD

W/ WILCO
5/10/12     FAYETTEVILLE, AR       ARKANSAS MUSIC PAVILION
5/11/12     BIRMINGHAM, AL         SLOSS FURNACE
5/12/12     JACKSON, MS              THALIA MARA HALL
5/14/12     TAMPA, FL                  STRAZ CENTER FOR PERFORMING ARTS
5/15/12     MIAMI BEACH, FL        THE FILLMORE MIAMI BEACH
5/16/12     ST. AUGUSTINE, FL      ST. AUGUSTINE AMPHITHEATRE
5/19/12     MEMPHIS, TN              MUD ISLAND AMPHITHEATRE

6/23/12   BROOKLYN, NY      285 KENT (W/ BLUES CONTROL http://tinyurl.com/ck4f4hu )

W/ THE YOUNG
6/24/12   RICHMOND, VA       STRANGE MATTER
6/25/12   WASHINGTON, DC   BLACK CAT
6/26/12   PHILADELPHIA, PA   JOHNNY BRENDA'S
6/27/12   NEW YORK, NY        THE MERCURY LOUNGE
6/28/12   HOBOKEN, NJ          MAXWELL'S
6/30/12   NEW HAVEN, CT      INTERCAMBIO
7/1/12     PROVIDENCE, RI     ARMAGEDDON SHOP
7/2/12     CAMBRIDGE, MA     PLOUGH & STARS

DEEP THUDS & VENGEANCE, MAN : SOLD OUT

The new records from SPACIN' & KING BLOOD are sold out. If ya already ordered em, don't fret. You'll be receiving em soon. If you haven't ordered em, look to a trusted mailorder distributor, a discerning record shop, and/or the iTunes store.
Those fans in the Philadelphia are can see SPACIN' in action at the Deep Thuds Record Release show at Kung Fu Necktie on Sunday May 13. Be there.

Free Live Music: WATERY LOVE & WILLIE LANE

Sat. April 21
9PM
@ BORDERLINE RECORDS
525 W. Girard Ave
in Philadelphia
BYO

WATERY LOVE spring dates

Sat April 21 (early show) @ the Barbary w/ Ceremony & Salvation
Sat April 21 (late show, no cover) @ Borderline Records (525 W Girard Ave) w/ Willie Lane

Sat May 12 @ Now That's Class! for Horrible Fest in Cleveland w/ Homostupids, Liquor Store & more
Sun May 13 @ Gooski's in Pittsburgh w/ Trees & Zuma

d/l three WATERY LOVE singles here: http://wtrns.fr/fj--1OT-O6NRhw

SPACIN' 'Deep Thuds' & KING BLOOD 'Vengeance, Man'

SPACIN'
Deep Thuds
RR//TT#32

Debut LP from SPACIN', the newly formed Philadelphia act that's bringing together kick-flippers, arm-wrestlers, and hackey-sackers in head-nodding, beer swilling unity. Inhales the same fumes that fuel the Velvets workout at the gymnasium, the Stooges sleazy-fuzz with Asheton on guitar, and the groovy zen of Nigeria '70.



320 copies

SOLD OUT

Prices
$16ppd to US
$18ppd to Can/Mex
$25ppd to World


ships Tuesday April 17

KING BLOOD
Vengeance, Man
RR//TT#33

Second offering from KING BLOOD & it's a motherfucker. Throbbing, claustrophobic, triumphant, room shaking, and chiming electric guitar worship. The type of record that'll lodge into your head & reduce your mind to a luminous toxic jelly. Enters the static void alongside Earth, Skullflower, & Les Rallizes Denudes.



320 copies


SOLD OUT

Prices

$16ppd to US

$18ppd to Can/Mex

$25ppd to World

Ships Tuesday April 24

Prices for both (ships Tuesday April 24)

$26 to US

$30 to Can/Mex

$44 to World


All funds paypal'able to TestosterTunes @ Gmail . com

Taco Leg in Adelaide & Melbourne this weekend

Be there.

Three brief items

Here's some news to go alongside a gruesome image:

Old pal Tony Rettman has revived his 200lb Underground web presence. Sure, this is the type of reading that's better suited to stapled half-sheets while you're perched on the porcelain throne. But it's free this way, so cheer up.

And free music kicks ass, so have a look at soundcloud.com/testostertunes. Have a listen and a download, on me. These tracks have been painstakingly chosen and sequenced to produce the perfect workout mix for your portable music device. That is, if your routine requires more than a mere fifteen pushups at a go.

Midwest, mark your calendars. WATERY LOVE will perform at Horrible Fest in Cleveland on Sat May 12 & at Gooski's in Pittsburgh on Sunday May 13.

Boogie Witch @ Borderline Records

BOOGIE WITCH is a big-thumping rock act fronted by "Harmonica" Dan Baucer, a legendary rocker who was born for the stage but condemned to the Philadelphia Record Exchange. He's known for leading the charge while slingers who could be his sons (and grandsons) quaff wiz & chew pep pills in an attempt to keep up with him.

*editor's note: There is no time listed on this flyer, but a reliable source says the band goes on at 9pm.

Spring 2012 Music Preview: SPACIN' & KING BLOOD

'Sunshine, No Shoes' by SPACIN' from Deep Thuds



'Dead Meat' by KING BLOOD from Vengeance, Man


King Blood: "Dead Meet" from king blood on Vimeo.

NEW FNU... Saddle Up

FNU RONNIES first crawled out of the muck during the cold winter of 2006. I think that they used an apostrophe at the time and spelled it F'NU. At any rate, I've never received a straight answer as to the meaning of the moniker. The closest I've gotten to the truth has to do with a run-in with John Law and the name "Ronnie" being scrawled into the arrest book beside the phrase "Full Name Unknown". Maybe that's true. Who the hell knows?
An unlikely trio if I've ever seen one, they were brought together by manual labor & an interest in cold beer & late nights. One was a rather accomplished guitarist, another had a bass clef tattoo, and the other had just acquired a drum kit. I had trekked out to see an early version of the band at a miserable backyard party, but the first time anybody saw 'em as FNU Ronnies-- with Mike "Greaser" Reaser on bass --, they were set up on the floor of a basement dive in Center City. Now closed down to make room for an old-timey cocktail joint for the type of person who likes to purchase both drinks and atmosphere from a barkeep with a waxed stache, it was then the type of place drown yourself in dim lighting with shots of bourbon and big cans of beer. Most patrons wore dark glasses to obscure darting eyes. The night in question was hosted by a third tier gossip columnist in one of the local rags. The guys in the band, each a hustler of a different shade, had for some reason desired this platform and improbably gotten it. I imagine it was negotiated over the hushed exchange of illicit substances and in coded slang.
It was freezing cold that night. Windy and Icy. A Monday night, if I remember correctly. The room could hold about a dozen people comfortably. I had to hunch down to keep my head from the ceiling. There couldn't have been more than six of us, but the drums and amps and all that were spread over most of the floor. We were all corralled against the wall waiting for something to happen while amps buzzed and and the drummer smacked his snare and cymbals and made adjustment. The bass player tuned up and stood rigid & patiently. Jim's amp, a hefty combo job, sat on the floor, and he just turned it up and up and up until the parking garage across the street erupted in a chorus of car alarms. Piercing reverb & delay from both sides. Then they got going.
I'm sure it all started with guitar, as the other guys looked to Jim for direction. The drummer first struggled to keep up & then cocked his head to hear what was happening. There was a lotta reverb on that guitar, really filled the room and probably the apartments upstairs. Had the sound of a bad-time Tromo spy movie. There was probably a microphone, but the puny PA was as ineffective as the warning on a pack of smokes. Jim shouted into it a few times. It was knocked over, picked up a few times, and eventually abandoned all together. Jim and Kyle exchanged tense looks and gritted their teeth. Reaser, ever the straight man, kept his back straight and his glasses on his nose and let his instrument display his enthusiasm. On a tiled floor, Street Kyle's drums crawled away with each beat. He chased them between beats, and eventually he was in front of the other guys. I don't remember if the electric shorted out or if the guitar amp started spewing smoke or if the bartender unplugged them or if an intra-band shouting match broke out. Maybe they just ran out of songs. Either way, the set ended. If it had gone on any longer, Kyle would have been playing outside on the sidewalk.

FNU RONNIES' long-anticipated album, called Saddle Up, is available now from Load Records.

Saddle Up is for those who have asked "Jello was always tinkering around with other acts; why couldn't East Bay Ray link up with Chrome or the Buttholes? Or at least Crust?"

Thursday Feb 9 in Philadelphia

M. Baird, 2012

Ray Pettibon in Ewing, NJ

Raymond Pettibon. You don't need to be some goofy patron of the arts to appreciate that guy's work. You just need to be a normal, red-blooded Black Flag & SST Records fan. You know, the type of fellow who can recite all those radio commercials at the end of Everything Went Black, appreciate all the sour notes in a Ginn solo, and who will argue 'til last call that no, Rollins did not ruin Flag and yes, those later records do kick ass. And like Ginn & a litigious trigger-finger, Flag & the art of Pettibon will always go hand in hand. The bars, the little puppet on My War, the ill-fated cop in the Police Story illustration: this is the stuff that decorates the lockers & living rooms of creeps who pace around at midnight & struggle to discover a third way to blast a concept.

But this blog entry is no history lesson. There's an exhibit titled Raymond Pettibon: Early Drawings & it's hanging on three white walls at the College of New Jersey. It's got images of surfers, self-obsessed big-league hitters, locomotives, introspective tight-rope walkers, a few sexually-charged 60s teenagers, a drawing that can be a none other than little brother Greg (or the other sky-high guitarist, Dez), a Vavoom or two & a film from 2004 titled Repeater Pencil. Much of it looks brand-new to these eyes. Weirdos & misfits from up & down the East Coast are already clogging Route 31 and creepy-crawling the campus. As the saying goes, you guys would be fools to miss it.

Here are some photos, taken without the benefit of flash photography.

Promotional Image:

useful info: http://tcnjartgallery.pages.tcnj.edu/2012/01/17/raymond-pettibon-early-drawings-5/ 

WATERY LOVE, Thursday Feb 9 in Philadelphia

Doors @ 8pm

@ Johnny Brendas

2011: RY WHARTON

A year or two ago, a disparate cadre of weirdos was intrigued by a fuzzy, overblown blast of meditative skree on a self-released record titled Eyewash Silver (quickly repressed by the fanatics at Permanent Records). That thing took up a lot of time on the turntables of certain low-key maniacs. It was made by an act called KING BLOOD, and it seemed to come out of just about nowhere. The truth is that it came from somewhere & it turns out that the guy at the knobs is no stranger after all. Ry Wharton has been dipping his paws into the little snow globe of bastardized rock music for a long time now. Some readers may know him from the bands Snake Apartment or Showers. Some of those same readers might be familiar with his flirtations as impresario with the singles-only label Skulltones or the Twonicorn cassette label.


Vengeance, Man by King Blood will be released in 2012 on Richie Records // TestosterTunes.



things that made 2011 better:
- david gatten's 'texts of light' retrospective
- andy stott- we stay together 2lp
- negative plane- stained glass revelations 2lp
- date palms- honey devash lp
- mikael cronin- s/t lp
- peaking lights- '936' lp
- kourosh yaghmei 3lp
- ragnar kjartansson's 'song' at the carnegie in pittsburgh
- both tim hacker lps
- manilla road- live after midnight lp
- zomes- earth grid
- bruce mcclure performances
- john maus's addictive 'we must become pitiless censors of ourselves' lp
- kraus- a journey through the first dimension with kraus 7"
- all of the reissues on the crypt
- getting hitched

2011: JOHN SHARKEY III

Next up to glance back at 2011 is a fellow most readers will recognize. He answers to Sharko, but he signs his checks John Sharkey III. Over the past few years, we’ve witnessed his transformation from an internationally recognized crowd-baiting, ostentatious son-of-a-bitch with a flying-V into something much worse. He’s now the type of killjoy who spends social gatherings on his feet, staring at the television and yelling about the events of whatever contest happens to be airing. 
Didja see that!? My little sister could make that play!!
No need to slum it at a stinky rock club. If you want to catch a whiff of his wit these days, all you’ve got to do is tune in to sports talk radio. On the Philadelphia airwaves, he’s a frequent caller & he’s got an awful lot to say about the local pros.

1. The works of LeSean McCoy.
2. Jimmy Rollins re-signing with our Philadelphia Phillies for 3 (4) more years.
3. Iris DeMent performing live at the Arden Gild Hall, Jan 28th.
4. The NBA lock out ending.
5. Side A of the Watery Love single on Siltbreeze Records.
6. The burdens of home-ownership.
7. Having to leave the country under 2 times.
8. Gillian Welch performing live at The Philadelphia Spaghetti Warehouse, Oct 20th.
9. The Adjustment Bureau.
10. My first born son delivering a bare-fisted pummeling to a Circle of Hope* cult member at the tender age of 17 months. Good work, 4.

*editor's note The Circle of Hope is a religious congregation comprised of young people, many of whom outfit themselves at second hand shops and wear beards. One might notice them sipping lattes at quirky coffee shops during the day or quaffing pints of craft beer after sundown as they swim with the secular eccentrics, just as the fish swims in the sea. 

2011: ANDREW MURRAY

Andrew Murray, Perth's Most Erudite & Handsome Fellow four years running, took a few sips of Polish Hot Chocolate, served in the traditional manner while on walkabout in the city of Kraków, & rattled off an economical best-of list for the year 2011. There is much to admire in plain talk, plainly stated & plain to see.

Top 5 movies-
1. Bridesmaids
2. Our Idiot Brother
3. Crazy Stupid Love
4. Contagion
5. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows pt 2

Top 5 Records-
1. Total Control-Henge Beat
2. UV Race- HOMO
3. Rank/Xerox- Rank/Xerox
4. Woollen Kits- Maths
5. Hounds of Hate-No Redemption

West Coast Eagles player of the year-
1. Josh Kennedy

2011: MAX MILGRAM

And here's a thrilling guided tour through the emotional ups & downs of 2011 as experienced by Max Milgram:


At first I listed the Phillies on here in a pretty optimistic tone.  While it's a shame that a record-making season had to fizzle out in such a pathetic fashion, the end is ultimately all that matters.    So fuck them.  That last series was terrible.  Better luck in 2012.
1.   All the fine releases on Richie Records//Testostertunes.  Every single one of them display countless charms and musical integrity (and one even has an ex- member of Integrity).
2. Watery Love- Two Thrills 7".  Yeah, the songs "rock", for better or for worse, but what really seperates this one from the pack is the keen understanding and breadth of feeling it conveys.  Adult topics  dealt with empathy.
3.   Getting real into cooking poultry.  Always considered chicken to be the least exciting thing to eat but 2011 found me getting a real hang on getting a great balance of sharp and crispy skin with moist meat.  Roasted chicken, duck confit, thanksgiving turkey, crusted thighs with peanut noodles,  fried, whatever.
4.  Any get-together at the Killinger house is always a fantastic evening filled with good cheer and happy friends.  Wether it's Megajam Booze Band practice or just an impromptu hang, the place exudes positivity and hospitality.  On two occasions I watched Jason deliberately spill a huge bucket of bottle caps.  While that was no fun for anyone, it still seemed right in the context of the evening.  Thank you to Jason, Eva, Uriah, Ada, and Tichy.
5.  The one-two punch of Watery Love's "Die With Dignity" and "Two Thrills" 7"s.  Too  "real"to be contained on one 7".  The length of the songs and the physical limitations of the format also contributed.
6.  Watery Love "Die With Dignity" 7".  Some might argue that there's too many songs but every  last one of 'em is a stone cold killer.  I'd say that's a problem most bands wish they could have!
7.  Finally getting with the digital age.  First I started to use these things called "emoticons" with my text messages.  Then I joined www.twitter.com after a 2 month internal and external debate.  Now I'm on www.facebook.com and being utterly demolished by everyone who I play Scrabble with.
8.  Tony and Danielle Rettman as houseguests.  Spent a couple of drunk record-listening and turkey-talking nights with this dynamic duo on their Philly visits this year.  But the best thing is that in the morning, they're OUTTA HERE!  No coffee drinking or brunch eating for these guys!   I really appreciate the speed of departure so as to avoid weird questions like "Why are you sleeping with my underwear?"
9.  Watery Love "Two Thrills" 7".  Has anyone noticed the guitar action on this puppy???!!!  Wow!

2011: STEVEN PEFFER

As promised, here is a list of bright spots from 2011. First installment comes courtesy of Cleveland’s Steven Peffer, a fellow who needs no introduction to faithful readers of this web presence.

Peffer, in green (stock photo)

Forma S/T LP ( Spectrum Spools )
Love this album. Listening to it as I type this.

Watery Love 7" ( Siltbreeze )
How did this happen? They cover a real lousy L. Reed stinker and just blow it outta the toilet. A very listenable adult punk music record from a band who honestly can be quite unlistenable.

Milk Music Beyond Living 12" ( Perennial )
Lots of guitar fuzz on this one. So much better for my ears than most of those long hair hippie dippy directionless guitar-heavy bands that have been taking over.

Brain Idea Cosmos Factory 12" ( Mexican Summer )
Spectacular release. Very pleasant. Not pretentious. Sorta reminds me of The Clean and 3rd album Meat Puppets. Doesn't sound like those bands. Just reminds me of them. Great record.

Hauschka Salon Des Amateurs LP ( Fatcat )
Somewhere there is a wonderful and beautiful Chinese lady filmmaker. She is filming a playground built for adorable little furry cats. This is its soundtrack.

Ranil Ranil's Jungle Party LP ( Masstropicas )
Collected recordings from some Peruvian guitar playing insaniac.

Iron Curtain Desertion 1982-1988 2xLP ( Pylon )
Dark Cold Minimal with lyrics!

His Electro Blue Voice Worm / Wolf 12" ( Holidays )
This band absolutely destroys. Great band. A truly wonderful band. Nice wide open 12" for the boys to spread their wings and crash into the goddamn mountain. Wonderful shit.

Total Control Henge Beat ( Iron Lung )
Awful artwork and wasteful-deluxe packaging. But it's what's in the grooves that counts right? Easy listening and occasionally abrasive synthetic jam-on music. Sometimes I can understand the lyrics and that is when I stop listening. These ladies have the world in palm of their hands. What will they do with our world?

Iceage New Brigade LP ( What's Your Rupture? )
Saw these lady boys live in concert this year and wanted to see them get folded up and stuffed into the closet. The album does rock the house. A very good album. I walked down the street and paid 15 dollars for this album. Listen to it all the time by myself. Can't believe I own a record on this whack label.

Gaunt Whitey The Man 10" ( Thrill Jockey )
My least favorite format. Splendid record. Every time I was somewhere this year and saw this gem, I would make he record player play the record. I do not own this record. I would love to own this record. Great shit.

Broken Water Peripheral Star 12" ( Perennial )
The gay 90s are back. They are fighting for headphone time inside my ear buds. Maybe this is lesbian music? That is just fine with me. Just like my boy Howard, I love lesbians.   

Keep On Jammin' !!!

Up Next, 2011 highlights from some other interesting person.