XetasThe Cypher How does one begin to describe Xetas? “Powerful,” that’s how. But also sinister, relentless, and exciting. Xetas came to my attention by pure chance. A chance I love to take with 12XU records. More and more they are becoming my primary source for new music exposure. That goes for you as well, dear reader. Their previous album made such an impression that we were waiting for its follow-up (and maybe the last album ever from the band?) with...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Songs! From The Bathroom Stall? EP by Houston and the Dirty Rats. More than the other things that Songs! From The Bathroom Stall? certainly represents for Houston and the Dirty Rats, the most important rule to keep in mind when listening to the band’s new EP is that it’s unwise to judge a book by its cover. Were one to delve no deeper than just a superficial look or cursory glance,...
BeckHyperspace(photo: turntablelab.com) I owe a lot to Beck. Scratch that, I owe a ton to Beck. I owe him because he taught me what good music should sound like. Jon Spencer once said that good music should sound a little weird and he’s right. As a kid in high school, hearing Odelay for the first time, it was simply too much for my little brain to handle. I felt like I should really do the work and understand the album....
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into Fat Possum’s vinyl reissue of Wild Gift by X. As good as Los Angeles was and as important as that album would ultimately prove to be in the presentation of X, the band’s debut album will ultimately always play a supporting role to the band’s sophomore long-player, Wild Gift. Now, it’s important to note that Wild Gift would not, could not have happened had the groundwork not been laid by Los Angeles,...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Fat Possum reissued pressing of the Los Angeles LP by X. It might not be the first thing that fans think of when they’re looking at punk rock and trying to decode how the genre has evolved, but the fact is that the breed which was borne of Los Angeles in the late Seventies and early Eighties drew from a very deep well of inspiration – arguably a deeper one than...
Dual FormVarious ArtistsStones Throw & Leaving Records Every now and then we get thrown a curveball here at Ground Control and we’re better off for it. We listen to a lot of music, and when an album impresses us out of the blue, we pass the savings onto you, dear reader. Knowing nothing about this Stones Throw/Leaving Records compilation album, we put it onto our weekly rotation and haven’t been able to take it off. This merits and inquiry. Dual...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Hawaii EP 12” reissue by Young Canadians. Punk bands have been called dangerous and have been accused of challenging every establishment with which they come into contact, but the truth is that such claims are often pretty overstated. Really think about it, reader – as rough and tumble as The Ramones, Richard Hell and the Voidoids and Television may have looked, there wasn’t much in the way of content in any...
The Lighthouse SoundtrackMark Korven The shitty thing about the vinyl boom is that a once-expensive hobby just got more expensive. The great thing about it is that we’re getting reissues of all these classics we’ve been wanting but have been unable to find. Also, just about everything is getting pressed on vinyl, and that includes silly stuff like vinyl. There are some releases, however, which are just perfect for the format. This is one of them. Pity the Oscars. It’s...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Never Mind The Bollocks Here’s The Sex Pistols LP by the Sex Pistols. The problematic thing about albums which come to be regarded as “culturally significant” is that, after it has been released and that cultural significance presents itself on a larger scale, everyone whats to get their hands on it and tool around with it in order to put their fingerprints on it and make it their own – in...
Oh SeesFace Stabber I’ve always admitted Thee Oh Sees (now just “Oh Sees”), first for their talent, then for their consistent output of good music, then for their work ethic, then for all three. One never knows what a new year will bring, musically, but one can always count on a new John Dwyer project. Honestly, with such a massive output of stellar material, it’s hard for me to admit that this band and frontman John Dwyer are still a...