To Scott Wth Love

Brotherly love, that is!  Scott has mentioned more than once that he wanted to do a covers tribute to one of his favorite albums, Forever Changes by the band Love.  I (jonder) don't mean to steal his idea; I just wanted to surprise him.

Some of the artists are well known, but here's a little background on track 9. Matt Brown was in a band called Uncle Green, four young guys who left New Jersey for Athens, GA in the early 80's.  After five albums, they changed the band's name to 3 Lb Thrill.   


The record label decided not to release the band's final album Rycopa (cdbaby.com/Artist/UncleGreen).  Matt Brown made a solo album also went unreleased (mattcbrown.bandcamp.com).  In 2012 he started a group (theme-music.org) for musicians to record and share songs based on a weekly theme.



A duo called Occasionally David did an album length cover of Forever Changes, but it's rare and hard to find. 

There's also a various artists collection of Forever Changes covers called Unloved, and a Love tribute called We're All Normal And We Want Our Freedom.  You can find more Love covers on this blog by searching for the Duke Spirit, the Damned, and the Hellacopters.

FOREVER NEVER CHANGES  

01 A House Is Not A Motel - THE ENTRANCE BAND
02 Alone Again Or - CALEXICO
03 Andmoreagain - ROBYN HITCHCOCK
04 Bummer In The Summer - THE RIVER CITY TANLINES
05 Live And Let Live - THE CHEMISTRY SET
06 Maybe The People Would Be The Times - THE PALE FOUNTAINS
07 Old Man - LA BUENA VIDA
08 The Daily Planet - THE JIGSAW SEEN
09 The Good Humour Man He Sees Everything Like This - MATT BROWN
10 The Red Telephone - FRANKENSTEIN 3000
11 You Set The Scene - BABY LEMONADE

Jonder's latest amazing submission

(scott)-this here is a good one, as though we'd expect anything else from Jonder........really cool collection of
ska-rock cover tunes, NO excuse for you to miss this one, bad-ass from jump.
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I say, "ska punk".  You say, "No thanks."  But THE VALKYRIANS are better than most bands of their genre. 

PUNKROCKSTEADY is their covers album of punk, new wave and post punk classics.  They even got TV Smith from the Adverts to sing with them on Gary Gilmore's Eyes.  Check out the tracklist:

01 Heart Of Glass (Blondie)

02 Career Opportunities (Clash)

03 Breakdown (Buzzcocks)

04 Riot Squad (Cock Sparrer)

05 Mongoloid (Devo)

06 Another Girl, Another Planet (Only Ones)

07 Disorder (Joy Division)

08 Nasty Nasty (999)

09 I Am The Fly (Wire)

10 Astro Zombies (Misfits)

11 Borstal Breakout (Sham 69)

12 Babylon's Burning (Ruts)

13 Gary Gilmore's Eyes (Adverts)

14 Watching The Detectives (Elvis Costello)

BONUS TRACKS:  Dead Kennedys covers by the Valkyrians, Nouvelle Vague and the Dub Kennedys (in Spanish!)   

An amazing Jonder covers project

(Scott)-I love the homemade cover projects people send in more than just about anything.....and this one is
SO appropriate as my baby is leaving for the university of Akron in three weeks!  So a cover version of the best album from Akron's best band is just what the doctor ordered!
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In 1979, KROQ invited listeners to send in Devo covers, and the winners were included on an album called Devotees. 

There have been several Devo tribute albums since then: SpudSuckers, Are We Not Devo? and We Are Not Devo.  The band Claw Hammer covered Devo's debut album in 1991.  And in 2014, the band Deer Tick performed Devo's first album live as "Deervo".  Deer Tick also performed In Utero as Deervana, and nyctaper.com has both the Deervo and Deervana sets.

Tracks 1-11 of my Devo covers collection are in debut LP order, followed by some later Devo songs.  There are some great remakes here, including the band Catherine (with Chris Connelly) turning "Come Back Jonee" into a Bowiesque ballad, and a mashup of Devo's "Gut Feeling" with a monologue by the late great comedian Bill Hicks.   

My personal favorites are Superchunk's razor-sharp "Girl U Want" and the Hex Dispensers' version of "Gates Of Steel".  "The Day Josh Homme Gave Me A Surprise" by Brody Dalle (aka Spinnerette) is also quite good. 

And there's plenty of metal:  Sepultura, Fight Amp, Big Business, Fu Manchu, and Ohio's own Croatan.  If you've never heard the Del Rubio Triplets, they are as cringeworthy as the Shaggs or Mrs. Miller.

If "Whip It" is your only point of reference for Devo, you should grab the first three Devo albums plus Hardcore Devo, all of which Scott posted back in March.  

GROWING SPUDS FOR A LIVING

01 Uncontrollable Urge - Melt-Banana
02 Satisfaction - The Residents

03 Praying Hands - Claw Hammer

04 Space Junk - Deer Tick

05 Mongoloid - Sepultura

06 Jocko Homo - Croatan

07 Too Much Paranoias - Fight Amp

08 Gut Feeling vs. It's Just A Ride - The Death Set

09 Come Back Jonee - Catherine 

10 Sloppy (I Saw My Baby Gettin') - The Ribeye Brothers

11 Shrivel Up - Knife Lust

12 Be Stiff - Big Business

13 Girl U Want - Superchunk

14 Turnaround - Nirvana

15 The Day My Baby Gave Me A Surprise - Spinnerette 

16 Gates of Steel - The Hex Dispensers

17 Blockhead - The Ergs!

18 Freedom of Choice - Fu Manchu

19 That's Pep! - Tortoise and Bonnie Prince Billy

20 Whip It - The Del Rubio Triplets

LINK:  tinyurl.com/h9yhloq                                             

The Tom Collins (the band, not the drink)

I (Jonder) have added labels to the blog, so you can find all of Brian's creations, Cliff's reggae posts, or genres that Big Scott loves -- like psych and stoner rock.  Scott's post on Electric Wizard reminded me that my son loves that band: he says he can listen to them louder than Black Sabbath because Ozzy's voice hurts his ears.

Which in turn reminded me of The Tom Collins.  Just as Electric Wizard is massively indebted to Sabbath, the Tom Collins was like Led Zeppelin without Robert Plant.   No disrespect to Plant:  I grew up on LZ and kept their albums even after I  dumped all my Rush, Styx, and Kansas records (in the days of punk).

The Tom Collins' drummer Kyle Spence plays uncannily like Bonham.  Spence later joined J.Mascis And The Fog.  Singer/guitarist Fran Capitanelli became a sideman for Butch Walker and Gavin DeGraw.  But the trio of Fran, Kyle Spence, and bassist Craig McQuiston IMO rivaled the complex rhythms and riffs of Houses of The Holy and Physical Graffiti... if those records had been made without Robert Plant.  Take a listen (link in comments section) and see if you agree.

The writer James Barber called the Tom Collins a "musical powerhouse that refuses to apologize for an undeniable debt to Led Zeppelin, but it's a cryptic sort of debt that imagines that Jimmy Page was ripping off Television's Marquee Moon when he was making In Through the Out Door. This is a power trio: echoes of Cream ripple through the album, but the Tom Collins is also undeniably Southern, somehow conjuring Tom Petty, R.E.M. and the Allman Brothers all at once."   (You might not hear all that until the last 10 tracks.)

The Tom Collins made their third and best album in 2005, but they never broke out of the Atlanta/Athens circuit. They are one of those underappreciated bands, like many that Scott has shared. Here's a 75 min comp of my favorite Tom Collins songs.  (That's Fran jamming with Brent Hinds and Mastodon on the left.)

Fall Covers and Tributes to Mark E. Smith

My collection of Fall covers and songs about The Fall and leader Mark E. Smith.
Volume I is a re-up with a new link.  Enjoy! -- Jonder.

01 Me and Your Granny on Bongos - Armitage Shanks
02 Hit the North - Frank Sidebottom
03 Totally Wired - Terry Edwards
04 Southern Mark Smith (original) - The Jazz Butcher
05 Mark E. Smith and Brix - Barbara Manning
06 Mark E. Smith - Shrag
07 How He Wrote Elastica Man - Elastica with Mark E. Smith
08 Stalking Mak E. Smith Around NYC - Necropolis
09 I Am Mark E. Smith - Fat White Family
10 The Story of The Fall - Jeffrey Lewis
11 Winter - The Fiery Furnaces
12 Psycho Mafia - Sonic Youth
13 Various Times - Wreck
14 The Classical - Pavement
15 Fiery Jack - The Yummy Fur
16 Totally Wired - Yo La Tengo (live on WFMU)
17 Who Makes the Nazis - Deerhunter (live on BBC Marc Riley)
18 Hip Priest - DUSTdevils


Volume II is new.  Searching For The Now is actually Brix's version of Rebellious Jukebox.  There's a song on the same 12" called Fat Hell (anagram alert!).  I ran it backwards and discovered the chanting was from the Fall song Elves.

01 Southern Mark Smith (Big Return) - The Jazz Butcher
02 Searching For The Now - The Adult Net
03 Elves (lleH taF) - The Adult Net
04 Fat Hell - The Adult Net
05 Jumper Clown - Marc Riley
06 Frank's Indie Medley - Frank Sidebottom
07 Bingo Master's Breakout - Terry Edwards
08 Dice Man - Terry Edwards
09 Container Drivers - Terry Edwards
10 Container Driver - Jack O'Fire
11 Rowche Rumble - Sonic Youth
12 Totally Wired - God Is My Co-Pilot
13 US 80's 90's - Boy Division
14 US 80's 90's - Dymaxion
15 Fiery Jack - S.Y.P.H.
16 Mark E. Smith And Brix - Woog Riots
17 Wings - Creeping Nobodys
18 Psycho Mafia - J Church
19 Dice Man - Cobra Verde
20 Lucifer Over Lancashire - Boyracer
21 Psycho Mafia - Woolen Men
22 Hey M.E.S. - R. Stevie Moore (on John Peel's show)

Totally Wired

Wire made astonishing leaps of invention from their first album (Pink Flag) to the third (154), and the band had become sick of playing its old material.  Wire once hired a cover band called the Ex Lion Tamers to open for them and play the crowd-pleasers.  

On the live "12XU" from Document And Eyewitness, a member of the band addresses the audience's request with angry disdain, and the recording itself is sabotaged by the band when someone (accidentally?) pressed the record button and intoned, "I don't need to go to the Arctic tonight; it's cold."  

Wire split up in 1980, and reformed five years later. Pink Flag was a touchstone for hardcore punk and bands like Mission of Burma and the Minutemen, who were inspired by the new possibilities suggested by Wire's short, fast, lean songs with no guitar solos and very few choruses. 
(12XU toon copyright Jon Kelly Green, jonkellygreen.blogspot.com).

The most frequently covered Wire songs are 12XU, Ex Lion Tamer ("Stay glued to your TV set") and 154's lovely Outdoor Miner (which is about an insect, the serpentine leafminer, which burrows under the "roof" of a leaf). 


"Face worker, a serpentine miner/ The roof falls, an underliner/ Of leaf structure, the whale's vagina..."

All good things must come to an end -- and so must some things that seemed like a good idea but, in retrospect, were perhaps a bit too much.  Like collecting almost 90 covers of one band's music.  But here it is.  Again.  And it's called... 12XUXULT!

SCARS re-up by request

Scars was a Scottish post-punk quartet that debuted in 1979 with an excellent single, "Adult/ery" b/w "Horrorshow".  An EP was followed by an LP (both were titled Author! Author!).  Scars made two John Peel sessions and were getting good press.  The single "All About You" became popular.  The band fired singer Robert King and continued as a trio with guitarist Paul Research singing, but the momentum was lost.  King put out one solo single in 1982.  He later became a professor of ancient languages.  Scars bassist John Mackie played in a few other bands, and he and his brother Paul Research became DJs.  Original drummer Calumn MacKay became an engineer and still plays music.  Scars' second drummer Steve McLaughlin became a music producer who has worked with Tom Petty, Sting and others.

Dave Sez shared some Scars rarities here awhile back, and Mike F. requested a re-up.  I have added tracks from videos posted to Youtube by Scoorieboy (John Mackie) and by Vibracobra23. Look up those Youtube user names:  their channels are full of great stuff! Paul Research wrote a band history at his site, scarsresearch.com.



Fast forward two decades:  interest is renewed in the post-punk of the early 80's, and "Horrorshow" is sampled by the trip hop duo Lemon Jelly on their popular "Shouty Track" in 2004.  Paul Research put out the first and only Scars CD in 2007 (also called Author! Author!)  Copies are now scarce and expensive.



Scars reformed for an Edinburgh concert in 2010, and in 2011 they recorded a BBC Session with Marc Riley (wherein Riley admits to stealing a Scars lyric).  Sadly the partnership with Professor King ended again, and King started a new band called Opium Kitchen.  

Scars is an unsung band from a great era.  Paul Research is underrated as an innovative guitarist, and Robert King's lyrics are well-written and inventive.  Adult/ery and She's Alive are stories in song.  Other tunes (like All About You and Leave Me In The Autumn) lean toward an indiepop sound that was successful for U2, the Bunnymen, etc at the start of the 80's; and I think Scars could have been as popular as their contemporaries if they had stayed together.  Earlier songs like Horrorshow and Your Attention Please are outstanding post-punk: sharp-edged, aggressive and striking in their originality.

Close to the Wire

Jonder's third volume of Wire covers returns to the Japanese tribute album Post Flag (tracks 11-16).   I also got some songs from Soundcloud, southernshelter.com (#22), and sugarmegs (#25). 

I love the way "Fragile Mystery" interpolates the Wipers' song "Mystery"!   The band Meat Wave recently covered "Mystery" too.
Los Sedantes have a lovely album that is free on Bandcamp, with covers of Joy Division's "Heart And Soul", Neil Young's "Harvest Moon" and "Bela Lugosi's Dead":  lossedantes.bandcamp.com

I edited out the "Bobby Moore Is Innocent" half of the Serious Drinking track.  Once again, you can find "Real Cool Time: Feelies Covers, 1977-2011" at doomandgloomfromthetomb.tumblr.com.

01 CALLERS - Heartbeat/ 02 TREMBLING BLUE STARS - Kidney Bingos/ 03 THE GRAYS - Outdoor Miner/ 04 CASPER BRONZE - Fragile Mystery/ 05 pHOAMING EDISON - The 15th/ 06 DR. KLOOT - Strange/ 07 PHRANQ - I Am The Fly/ 08 ROY MONTGOMERY - Used To/ 09 GRASS WIDOW - Mannequin/ 10 BOSS HOG - 12XU/ 11 AND ABOUT HERS - Mr. Suit/ 12 HARUKAZEDOU - 106 Beats That/ 13 FLUID - Straight Line/ 14 TOTSUZEN DANBALL - Ex Lion Tamer/ 15 ACCIDENTS IN TOO LARGE FIELD - Feeling Called Love/ 16 YOLZ IN THE SKY - Pink Flag/ 17 KUSTOMIZED - A Question Of Degree/ 18 FILL SPECTRE - Field Day For The Sundays/ 19 SERIOUS DRINKING - 12XU/ 20 DUSTMITES - Strange/ 21 LOS SEDANTES - The 15th/ 22 CASPER AND THE COOKIES - Dot Dash (live)/ 23 ELEVENTH DREAM DAY - Lowdown (live)/ 24 THE FEELIES - Mannequin (live)/ 25 SALEM 66 - Fragile (live)/ 26 TED LEO - Outdoor Miner (live)/ 27 PHAEDRIDER - Heartbeat

Pay attention... we're Wire!

Jonder again, with an update to a collection of Wire covers that I posted a few months back.  I promised another set, and I actually have FOUR in all.  Here's the second volume, and I'm reposting the first one.  A blog reader named Lewdd sent me a cover of "Mannequin" by the band Track The Curse -- thanks!!!  Another reader recommended the Wire covers by the Feelies, so I've got their take on "Outdoor Miner" today, and their performance of "Mannequin" coming up in Volume 3.  Wire continues as a band to play and record, and this year they released a mini-album called Nocturnal Koreans. 

WIRE COVERS I (repost)

01 BIG BLACK - Heartbeat/ 02 CEREMONY - Pink Flag/ 03 NEW BOMB TURKS - Mr. Suit/ 04 THOUSAND YARD STARE - Strange/ 05 DAG NASTY - 12XU/ 06 HENRIETTA COLLINS - Ex Lion Tamer/ 07 MONUMENT - Dot Dash/ 08 fIREHOSE - Mannequin/ 09 KUSTOMIZED - Surgeon's Girl/ 10 WAX IDOLS - Sand In My Joints/ 11 BAND OF SUSANS - Too Late/ 12 SCRAWL - Reuters/ 13 HEAVY FRIENDS - Mercy/ 14 CHARLES DE GOAL - A Question Of Degree/ 15 VALKYRIANS - I Am The Fly/ 16 KLONHERTZ - Impossible/ 17 HER - Champs/ 18 DYKEHOUSE - Map Ref. 41ºN 93ºW/ 19 MONKS OF DOOM - The 15th/ 20 BLUE AEROPLANES - Outdoor Miner/ 21 LEMONHEADS - Fragile/ 22 NOUVELLE VAGUE - Marooned/ 23 SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS - Used To/ 24 GAZELLE TWIN - Heartbeat

WIRE COVERS II (new post)

01 DIVE - Heartbeat/ 02 FISCHERSPOONER - The 15th/ 03 LIGHTNING SEEDS - Outdoor Miner/ 04 MOOSE - Kidney Bingos/ 05 MY BLOODY VALENTINE - Map Ref. 41°N 93°W/ 06 TRACK THE CURSE - Mannequin/ 07 BAND OF SUSANS - Ahead/ 08 TRASH CAN SCHOOL - I Am The Fly/ 09 GODFLESH - 40 Versions/ 10 THERAPY? - Reuters/ 11 DIE KREUZEN - Pink Flag/ 12 MINOR THREAT - 12XU/ 13 aMINIATURE - A Serious Of Snakes/ 14 YO LA TENGO - Too Late/ 15 THE ANGRY ANGLES - The 15th/ 16 REM - Strange/ 17 LEE RANALDO - Fragile/ 18 THE FEELIES - Outdoor Miner/ 19 THE VACCINES - Mannequin/ 20 LOW - Heartbeat

Part 2 of Jonder's Collection of Iggy Collaborations

(Scott)-Once again this evening, I am planning on posting quite a bit of good stuff for you, my plan of
slacking off once I returned to work didn't quite go anything like that, for a variety of reasons. In the lead off slot ala Rickey Henderson (it's a BASEBALL reference for gawd's sake!) is one of our splendid regulars, following up his previously posted set of Iggy Pop collaborations with this, which spotlights Mr. Osterburg taking on various other genres......things are about to get strange.......
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There is a sophisticated side to Iggy Pop.  He is fond of jazz, and speaks French.  He has recorded readings of William S. Burroughs, Walt Whitman, and Edgar Allen Poe.  He has done voice work for the film Persopolis, an opera about the Manson Family, and the TV show Lil' Bush.   And he has lent his rich baritone to a surprising variety of other artists' songs.

Thanks to my Grow Bored bro Brian for "We Have All The Time In The World",  part of Brian's cool James Bond compilation, which you can still download here:growboredbigscott62.blogspot.com/2016/03/brian-strikes-back-with-james-bond-007.html.

Thanks to left-and-to-the-back.blogspot.com for the Upholstered Eldorados track.  A commenter suggested the Raindogs track, and ihatethe90s.blogspot.com found it for me.  Thank you both!  "Dance Of The Freaks" starts with a verse from a "pimp toast" of the same name, which Iggy repeats mid-song.  If you want to know more about the oral tradition of toasts, here is a link to the book "Get Your Ass in the Water and Swim Like Me":  tinyurl.com/GitchaA. 

I shortened "Nothin But Time", a painfully long Cat Power song from her breakup album, Sun.  She wanted David Bowie to sing on it, and she was clearly going for a "Heroes" vibe, but the Ig got the gig.  

Iggy has also appeared on records by the reunited New York Dolls, Kesha, The Cult, Jemina Pearl, Was Not Was, Joe Jackson, Hole, Bill Laswell, Mogwai, and (of course) David Bowie.  This is my second set of Iggy guest spots.  The first was posted here:  growboredbigscott62.blogspot.com/2016/06/jonders-iggy-collaborations-post.html

IGGY SWINGS:  tinyurl.com/1gSw1ngz

01 Stray Dog (with New Order)

02 Risky (with Ryuichi Sakamoto)

03 We Have All The Time In The World (with David Arnold)

04 I'll Be Seeing You (with Françoise Hardy)

05 La Dernière Pluie (with Emmanuelle Seigner)

06 Initial BB (with Lulu Gainsbourg)

07 La Uva (with Le Butcherettes)

08 Daw da Hiya (with Ofra Haza)

09 My Love Is Bad (with Les Rita Mitsouko)

10 Well, Did You Evah (with Debbie Harry)

11 Evil California (with the Low Note Quintet)

12 In The Deathcar (with Goran Bregovic)

13 I Wanna Talk Like Iggy Pop (by the Upholstered Eldorados)

14 He's Frank (Slight Return) (with The BPA)

15 Punkrocker (Squeak E. Clean Remix) (with Teddybears)

16 Nothin But Time (with Cat Power)

17 Dance Of The Freaks (with the Raindogs)

18 Milk Cow Blues

19 Asshole Rules The Navy (with A Hack And A Hacksaw

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Thanks again to Jonder for another highly imaginative, informative AND entertaining creation......as always, I hope it inspires others to strive for similar creations. Thanks to Jonder, a great contributor!

Jonder's Iggy collaborations post

(scott)-Lots of folks have weighed in on Iggy here, seems on right that blog regular Jonder comes up with an
original concept, a series of collaborations that Mr. Osterburg has done with others, as well as a handfull of covers.....great stuff, this needed to be documented somewhere, personally I've always thought his collaboration with Peaches ("Kick It") was fab, and Black Flag, Buckethead, Boss Martians, and basically everyone here seems like a perfect compliment to Iggy.....keep in mind this is only part ONE (of two) and all thanks to Jonder for this fine piece of work!
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Iggy Pop has collaborated with a surprising range of artists during the past 25 years.  Here are some of his guest appearances, as well as tracks from tribute albums.  I've got another set of Iggy collaborations coming, which will feature Mr. Pop's forays into jazz, blues, electronic and world music.  

Today's set focuses on the rock songs.  They're not all great, but if you're an Iggy fan you gotta hear "Mars Is For Martians" and his wicked version of  "Sookie Sookie".

We Are The Lilies is a project that involved Sergio Dias from the Brazilian group Os Mutantes.  The BPA is another alias for Fatboy Slim, and "Superfrank" is a remix of a Monochrome Set cover ("He's Frank"). 

I combined Iggy's two songs with At The Drive In:  his surrealistic spoken intro to "Enfilade" segues into the blistering "Rolodex Propaganda".  I also shortened "Post Office Buddy" (sorry, Buckethead fans).

IGGY ROCKS:  tinyurl.com/1ggyRox

01 Mars Is For Martians (with the Boss Martians)

02 If I'm In Luck I Might Get Picked Up (Betty Davis cover with the Zig Zags)

03 Kick It (with Peaches)

04 Miniskirt Blues (with the Cramps)

05 Punkrocker (with the Teddybears)

06 Superfrank (BPA remix of Monochrome Set cover)

07 Why? (with We Are The Lilies)

08 Let's Boot And Rally (with Bethany Consentino from Best Coast)

09 Sookie Sookie (Don Covay cover)

10 We're All Gonna Die (with Slash)

11 Fix Me (Black Flag cover)

12 Post Office Buddy (with Buckethead)

13 Enfilade intro/Rolodex Propaganda (with At The Drive-In)

14 Black Sunshine (with White Zombie)

15 Aisha (with Death In Vegas)

16 Supersonic (with the Nymphs)

17 Pain (with Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse)

18 Lonely Boy (Black Keys cover with Ginger Baker)

19 You Better Run (Junior Kimbrough cover with the Stooges)

20 Nobody's City (Jeffrey Lee Pierce cover with Nick Cave)

21 C'mon Everybody (Eddie Cochran cover)

Jonder's Japanese Rock series, part 4

(Scott)-Forgive me for taking a day off from posting on Thursday? I'll still hit well over EIGHTY posts in the merry merry month of May, so I can at least get one day's indulgence, can't I? And of course, I couldn't get anywhere NEAR that number without my wonderful team of contributors, you know the list by now, but I have some guest submissions to lead off the Memorial Day weekend, perhaps a thing or two of my own (I've got one I'm DYING to put up if I can find the CD, just heard it on IPOD today and forgot how fab it was)....

Anyway, let us begin with part 4/4 of Jonder's fantastic Japanese rock series....... just FYI, the very FIRST album I posted on this blog (SO long ago) was "Thee Michelle Gun Elephant"..... so, here is Jonder, telling you about part IV of his latest submission..... MANY thanks to him for these (Links in Comments section)
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Thee Michelle Gun Elephant's name came from a mishearing of the Damned's album title Machine Gun Etiquette (just as Radio Birdman misheard "radio burning up above" -- a Chuck Berry lyric quoted by the Stooges).   

TMGE were Tokyo college kids who started playing in 1991, influenced by punk and garage rock. The great Futoshi Abe (who died in 2009) combined classic Detroit axemen (Ron Asheton, James Williamson, Wayne Kramer and Fred "Sonic" Smith) with influences from surf, spy films, Link Wray, and the Pirates' Mick Green (who made a single with TMGE).  

TMGE vocalist Yusuke Chiba has an incredible raw-throated sound, and sings in a word salad of Japanese and English.   TMGE drummer Kazuyuki Kuhara later played reggae and ska, and Chiba now sings for rock balladeers the Midnight Bankrobbers.

2000's Gear Blues was their breakthrough to a US audience hungry for more Japanese punk/garage bands like Guitar Wolf.  TMGE's attitude was always more serious than Guitar Wolf, despite the elephantine name and song titles like "Satanic Boom Boom Head",  Here are Gear Blues and my favorite, the ominous Rodeo Tandem Beat Specter.  I added a top-notch cover version of "Soda Pressing" by British punks The Boys.  

TMGE broke up in 2003.  Check out the manic brilliance of "God Jazz Time" from their final concert, beautifully filmed for the DVD Burning Motors Go Last Heaven.  They were definitely "big in Japan":  youtu.be/2a67-mvGTQo

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GEAR BLUES-01 West Cabaret Drive/ 02 Smokin Billy/ 03 Satanic Boom Boom Head/ 04 Dog Way/ 05 Free Devil Jam/ 06 Killer Beach/ 07 Brian Down/ 08 Hotel Bronco/ 09 Give the Gallon/ 10 G.W.D/ 11 Ash/ 12 Soul Wrap/13 Boiled Oil/14 Danny Go/15 Jenny

RODEO TANDEM BEAT SPECTER-01  Citroen No Koduku (The Loneliness of the Citroen/ 02 Alligator Night/ 03  Abakarta Sekai (The World Exposed)/ 04 God Jazz Time/ 05  Baby Stardust/ 06 Rita/ 07 Beat Specter  Buchanan/ 08 Turkey/ 09 My Heart With Its Brakes Broken Loose/ 10 Margaret/ 11 Bird Land Cindy/ 12 Beat Specter Garcia/ 13 The Redhead Kelly

Part 3 of Jonder's Japanese rock extravaganza!

(Scott)-This one I am FAIRLY familiar with (though not as familiar as I was with the great Bleach 03),
Boredoms..... they come at the recommendation of Kurt D Cobain, for me that's pretty much enough!
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Boredoms formed in Osaka in 1986.  At the band's mid-90's peak, they were on a US major label, collaborated with Sonic Youth and Ween, and played Lollapalooza at the request of Kurt Cobain.  Boredoms began to explore psychedelia and Krautrock at the end of the 90's.  Vision Creation Newsun consists of nine hypnotic tracks that build and fade, with symbols for song titles (kinda like Hairway To Steven).  There is also a Vision Creation Newsun EP, a box set, and a four volume series of Vision Creation Newsun remix albums called Rebore, featuring UNKLE and other DJ's reconstructing the album.  

The album itself is a showcase for Seiichi Yamamoto's spiraling guitar patterns and the dual drummer rhythms of Yoshimi P-We and Kazuya Nishimura.  Boredoms vocalist Yamatsuka Eye is not overly obtrusive or abrasive here:  he chants and handles turntables, sampler, vocoder, and synthesizer.   

Vision Creation Newsun is far more musically accomplished than the lo-fi sound collages and scatological gibberish of early Boredoms records such as Soul Discharge and Chocolate Synthesizer.  Vision Creation Newsun is a beautiful album that hearkens back to classic psychedelia and motorik while pointing the way toward the new century's massive drum ensemble performances of Boadrum.

Vision Creation Newsun-9 tracks, all untitled

Rebore Volume 0: Vision Recreation 01 7/02 77/03 777/04 7777/05 77777/06 777777/07 7777777/ (gotta love the track titles on this one!)

More Japanese rock from Jonder

(Scott)-this one I know, and it is worth your while..... Used to have this one, actually maybe I still do, but PLEASE don't let the Japanese language scare you away from this one.....really, really, great stuff, AND, I strongly suggest you read the book in the bonus section on the Jap Rock scene, it's really tremendous as well!
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Bleach (known in the US as Bleach 03 or Bleachmobile) is a different kind of trio: they are "Three Girls from Okinawa" as the title of their compilation album describes them.  Bleach sound nothing like High Rise or those three girls from Osaka, Shonen Knife.   Bleach combine spazzy punk, thrash metal breakdowns and funky riffs.  All three members sing, and bassist Miya unleashes some guttural screams worthy of Cannibal Corpse.  You can see the band's virtuosity in these live performances:  youtu.be/pFX0A7jSzTU  and youtu.be/Ibns1U6vg7w

The first Bleach album came out in 2000, and they announced their breakup in 2009 upon the release of their fifth album, Bleachstone.  Their self-titled album came out in Japan in 2003, and was reissued in the US in 2005.  It ends with a hidden track that doesn't begin until 3:00.  

There is a bonus in the comments section for those who are interested in reading a well-researched history of Japan's rock scene in the 1960's and 1970's, written by a famous Drude from Liverpool. 

01 Kuropen Bigaku Tenshi-Chan to Kangaemashita (My Sweet Angel and I)/02 Sun-Dance--Moon-Dance/03 

Canary Teikoku No Gyakushuu (Canary Empire Strikes Back)/04 Chousen (Challenge)/05 Raiko-Kareki Ni Hana Wa Sakanai (Lightning-Flowers Don't Bloom)/06 Nils/07 He (Hips)/08 Howling/09 Arigato Gozaimasu (Thank You Very Much)/10 Taiyou (Sun)/11 Untitled Track

Jonder with fab Japanese rock

(Scott)-As I have pointed out so many times, I am a sucker for non-english language rock, not sure why, I just happen to love it, the music really MUST do the talking when the vocals and lyrics make no sense to me, I guess.....anyway, I was not previously familiar with this EP from High Rise, presented by longtime blog friend Jonder......this will probably be first on my playlist Tuesday morning, but I trust his judgement, and , as I said, the genre is right up my alley......so here ya go, enjoy, and don't be scared off by the Japanese vocals....expand your horizons!

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I'm no expert on Japanese rock, but I have a few records that I dearly love.  As Scott wrote, don't let a language barrier prevent you from enjoying great music.   Gruff Rhys of the Super Furry Animals was once asked if SFA's Welsh language songs could appeal to listeners who don't speak the language, and he replied,  "If I listen to a Nirvana record I don't understand most of their lyrics... I just understand the frustration and the passion in his voice."  

Do words mean much in Japanese songs like "Pinhead Cranberry Dance" (by Thee Michelle Gun Elephant), the Boredoms' "JB Dick and Tin Turner Pussy Badsmell" or "The Head That Controls Both Right and Left Sides Eats Meats and Slobbers Even Today" by Bleach?  No -- let the music do the talking!  Boredoms, Bleach, and TMGE are on the way, but we begin with the universal language of rock:  the almighty guitar riff.

The group High Rise formed in Tokyo in 1982.  They were first called Psychedelic Speed Freaks, which describes their music well.  They took the name High Rise from a J.G. Ballard novel, and they pared down to a power trio for their second album.  The band is most frequently compared to Blue Cheer.  Guitarist Munehiro Narita works that wah-wah pedal!  Bassist Ahahito Nanjo's vocals are kept low in the mix. Hot and tasty riffs are the main course, so grab this platter and dig in.

Disallow is a 1996 EP (reissued in the US in 1999).  Some folks hear a free jazz influence, and High Rise improvised the EP's last track.  They toured America in 2000 and broke up not long afterward.  Look up "Psychedelic Speed Freaks" for some High Rise live videos.