Silver Jews - A Dime Map of the Reef 7" EP

Released on Drag City in 1992, here is D.C. Berman's debut. I seem to recall rumours that this was really Pavement in disguise, due to Steve Malkmus' salient presence throughout. Berman and Malkmus seem to be channeling the ghost of the impossible-to-kill Bob Pollard at times here, and to excellent effect. Lo-fidelity but not lo-quality, I highly recommend this EP. I'm just posting The Walnut Falcon mp3 to whet your appetites, but you can download the whole set of 5 songs via the archive link below.

Side A mp3: Silver Jews - The Walnut Falcon

Download all 5 songs in a zShare archive here.

Shiva Affect - Road Movie 10" EP

Here are two very distinct Shiva Affect songs from the 3-song Road Movie 10" released on UK-based Frog Records in 1994. Road Movie is sultry and sensuous, what with those boy and girl voices slowly intertwining, whereas Pitch Black is, well, mad fucking, complete with a 70s porn-soundtrack-like bridge. Note that this version of Pitch Black differs from the (superior, methinks) 7" version I posted last round. Meek is 6+ minutes of bone-dull and bone-softening sexual abstention that we will abstain from here for virility's sweet sake.

Side A mp3: Shiva Affect - Road Movie
Side B mp3: Shiva Affect - Pitch Black (10" version)

Polvo - All their vinyl-only songs...

I sure enjoy early Polvo. Cor-crane Secret, their otherworldly 1992 album on Merge Records, was my introduction to the band, and it is still my favourite. Their first release, Can I Ride, a double 7" released on Kitchen Puff Records in 1991 was reissued on CD in 1995 by Jesus Christ; it's great too. I used to have both CDs and stupidly I traded them away. I've been able to re-acquire Cor-crane via eMusic, but I'm still scraping by somehow without a copy of Can I Ride. If anyone out there wants to make my tomorrow, please post a link to this album in a comment. My gift to y'all is the complete set of Polvo vinyl-only releases, according to the nice concise Polvo discography found here. Known for playing cheap-ass guitars set to unusual tunings, Polvo have a unique sound that won't appeal to many, but will rock the minority's socks off. Those lucky soles should prepare for bare feet.

Drill 7" released on Rockville/Jettison/Kitchen Puff in 1991.

Side A mp3: Polvo - Vibracobra
Side B mp3: Polvo - The Drill

El Cid split 7" with Erectus Monotone released on Merge Records in 1992.

Side B mp3: Polvo - In the Hand In the Sieve
Side B mp3: Erectus Polvotone - Anything's Fine

Tilebreaker 7" released on Merge Records in 1993.

Side A mp3: Polvo - Tilebreaker
Side B mp3: Polvo - The Chameleon
Side B mp3: Polvo - Tiara Fetish

Polvo's contribution to Why Do You Think They Call It Pop double 10" released on Pop Narcotic in 1993.

Side B mp3: Polvo - Colonial Arms

...And Then I'm Gone split 7" with New Radiant Storm King released on Penny Farthing Records in 1994.

Side B mp3: Polvo - Two Fists
Side B mp3: Polvo - All The Cliches Under Broadway

Friend, why not download all 10 songs in a zShare archive just over here. As a bonus, you'll get the Erectus Monotone and New Radiant Storm King songs too. My meagre bandwidth and I thank you.

Pavement - Perfect Sound Forever 10" EP

Pretty much all the Pavement vinyl I have has now been happily compilated on the deluxe double-CD reissues of Slanted & Enchanted, Crooked Rain Crooked Rain, and Wowee Zowee. If you don't have these albums, don't even talk to me. Pavement's earliest material was compiled on the Westing (By Musket & Sextant) CD which I used to own but stupidly traded in. If any kind soul out there wishes to make my day, please post a link to it in a comment. Westing includes the entire Perfect Sound Forever 10" (Drag City, 1994), which I bought at Sk8 in Winnipeg for $9.99 back in the day. I still own it thankfully and I still love it, though perhaps more for nostalgic reasons than sonic ones. I've included a link to the whole damn thing below the individual mp3s, so if you plan to download all 7 chunklets, please use the zShare link to help me save some bandwidth for another snowy day.

Side A mp3: Pavement - Heckler Spray
Side A mp3: Pavement - From Now On
Side A mp3: Pavement - Angel Carver Blues/Mellow Jazz Docent
Side B mp3: Pavement - Drive-By-Fader
Side B mp3: Pavement - Debris Slide
Side B mp3: Pavement - Home
Side B mp3: Pavement - Krell Vid-User

Get all 7 songs in a zShare archive right over here.

Nipple Hardness Factor #7 - Sammy/Blonde Redhead 7"

More rubric departure of the same ilk. This split 7" came my way in Fall of 1994 with a phun fotocopied quarterly L.A.-based zineful of reviews (Issue #7; $3.50), or is it the other way round? NHF was "a quarterly dedicated to pint size vinyl that makes yer chest 3-D!" and the official rating guide for reviews was as follows: 4 nipples = should buy, 3 nipples = so give it a try, 2 nipples = maybe, buy a pie, 1 nipple = grab a large french frie. Both songs here are good, but Sammy's side makes mine perkier. This was the first issue of the zine to feature a 7" ("Misha Records presents...") and I'm not sure whether it was the only one to have done so.

Side A mp3: Sammy - Irene
Side B mp3: Blonde Redhead - Inside You

Neapolitan Metropolitan 7" Box Set

In lieu of a decent lineup of N-bands to offer you, here are my three favourite songs from Simple Machines' Neapolitan Metropolitan 7" Box Set, released in 1992. The three 7"s correspond to pistachio (Washington bands Bratmobile, Late [David Grohl's secret band], Lilys, Whorl), vanilla (Baltimore bands Tear Jerks, Candy machine Slack, False Face Society), and, erm, pink (Richmond bands Breadwinner, Coral, Burma Jam, Fudge). What's pink ice cream? Strawberry? Sure, let's go with strawberry. The box set came with a consciousness raising booklet about Ben & Jerry's good deeds, as well as those of two activist groups. For the completists in the crowd, I've included a link to the complete box set below. It's a mixed bag, just like an ice cream counter.

Strawberry mp3: Fudge - Montpelier Train Station

Pistachio mp3: Tear Jerks - It's Friday
Vanilla mp3: Bratmobile - She Said

Here is the full track listing for those with sharp eyes:


Here is the link to the complete box set:
Neapolitan Metropolitan 7" Box Set (12 song zShare archive)

Movietone - She Smiled Mandarin Like/Orange Zero 7"

Here we have the debut from the mumbly, lovable Movietone, famous in small circles in their own right, though their recognition appears to rely on band members' affiliations with Flying Saucer Attack and Crescent. Side B appears on their self-titled debut album, but I appreciate the band's decision to leave one song from each 7" uncompiled to egg on eggheaded collectors like me. This was released on Planet Records in 1994.

Side A mp3: Movietone - She Smiled Mandarine Like
Side B mp3: Movietone - Orange Zero

Moon Socket - Moon Socket 7" EP

Chris from Eric's Trip will not go down in history as a lyrical or musical genius, but he probably doesn't care either. And why shouldn't he/we be satisfied with this pleasant, low-fi indie-folk offering released on Sub Pop in 1995?

Side A mp3: Moon Socket - Accept Fear
Side A mp3: Moon Socket - Secondary Pleasure
Side A mp3: Moon Socket - Holding on Four Life [sic]
Side B mp3: Moon Socket - Somebody Else's Love
Side B mp3: Moon Socket - Truth Becomes Lies
Side B mp3: Moon Socket - Always Lose

Medication - Greenhouse 7"

Take the pills. Three Spanish, indie-rockin', sorta shoegazin' pills. This is a pretty good single, especially the sonic youthian style wah-wah + distortion = godhead Side A. Side B is of an attempt at a Spacemen 3 epic, but I don't think Spacemen 3 would have been as apologetic. Released on Acuarela Records in 1993.

Side A mp3: Medication - Greenhouse
Side A mp3: Medication - Guiding Light
Side B mp3: Medication - (Sorry) You Were Right

Lorelei - The Bitter Air 7" EP

I've had two requests for Lorelei, possibly from two different people. That makes Lorelei the most requested band to be featured on this blog. Pip, pip! Capitol, capitol! I'm happy to repeat and extend my previous offering, because this great single, released on Slumberland Records way back in 1991, should be heard by darn near every fan of indie pop.

Side A mp3: Lorelei - The Bitter Air
Side B mp3: Lorelei - Sometimes...
Side B mp3: Lorelei - Everything's Gone Rain

Bonus:


Side A mp3: Lorelei - Burro

Lilys - Which Studies the Past? 7"

You have to respect Kurt Heasley's chameleon-like skill for tasty reinvention. The Lilys started out shoegazing away, and doing a damn fine job of it (In The Presence of Nothing LP), before shifting into a wonderful indie rock band (Eccsame the Photon Band LP, and the A Brief History of Amazing Letdowns EP), before metamorphosing into the wonderful retro-ish indie pop band featured here on a Sub Pop single released in 1996. These great songs apparently have yet to be compiled elsewhere.

Side A mp3: Lilys - Welfare Murder Plot
Side B mp3: Lilys - Baby's A Dealer

Liechtenstein Girl - Circus Exhibit 7"

Holy Moses, what a racket! Five short, sharp, shocking songs stuffed down the throat of a one-sided 7" released on Fluff Records in 1993, at 45 RPM no less. Kinda makes Flying Saucer Attack sound like a tiring walk in a pleasant pastoral park by comparison. If you like noisy Hood, and "difficult music" in general, then this will be your cuppa rosy lea. If not, run away! Run away dammit!

Side A mp3: Liechtenstein Girl - It Helps Me Think
Side A mp3: Liechtenstein Girl - Hitch
Side A mp3: Liechtenstein Girl - Upside Down House
Side A mp3: Liechtenstein Girl - Maunder
Side A mp3: Liechtenstein Girl - Maintenant (Sun City Girls cover)

This record came with two catalogs...one very carefully gridded for UK's Wireless Toothache:



...and one very scribbled for Bellingham Washington's Gritty Kitty:



Funny that two such different distributors both distributed the same Liechtenstein Girl single. I guess it really does take all kinds. Like you, for instance.