TRUMANS WATER - SPASM SMASH

Trumans Water is an indie-rock band from San Diego, California. Formed in April 1991, members of the unit have included Glen Galloway, Ely Moyal, Andres Malinao, Kevin Cascell, and brothers Kirk Branstetter and Kevin Branstetter. They have released over a dozen full length recordings over their career, wherein they collaborated with notable acts in genre, including Azail Snail, and Thurston Moore.

Background

Influenced by noise-rock acts such as The Boredoms, Sun City Girls and Sonic Youth, they introduced a generation of indie music fans to Beefheartian composition and wild free improvisation. Despite the apparent chaotic quality of their music, however, a large part of Trumans Water's success lies in their dedication to rehearsal.
Other notable personalities who have expressed their adoration for the outfit include Beck, Stereolab and the legendary DJ John Peel, who effectively shot the band to indie stardom in the UK when he unexpectedly played their debut LP, Of Thick Tum, uninterrupted and in its entirety during an edition of his BBC Radio One show.
Brothers Kirk Branstetter and Kevin Branstetter relocated to Portland, Oregon in 1994, sans Galloway and are the only current original members still active in the band. Galloway took on the Glen Galaxy moniker to record as Soul-Junk, an experimental Christian hip-hop outfit. Kevin Branstetter subsequently moved to France in 1995. The two brothers being on different continents for the last several years has curbed their musical output but by no means stopped them. They have managed to put out six albums since the geographical separation.
Trumans Water has recently added bass playerMike (?) after over a decade touring and recording as a three piece (two guitars and drums). A new drummer, John Schier, has been added as well.

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D/L (PART TWO)

Arising from the deepest part of the U.K.'s underground noise-rock scene, Terminal Cheesecake was perhaps best known for their connections to more prominent bands like Skullflower, Godflesh, and A.R. Kane. Similar in many respects to the former two, Terminal Cheesecake offered a spacy, droning brand of neo-psychedelic noise-rock, which also drew from the trance-rock of Loop, early industrial music (particularly Throbbing Gristle, Nurse With Wound, and Chrome), British post-punk, and dub. Much more than their kindred spirits, though, TC played up the drug connections inherent in psychedelia, wrapping their music in a haze of pot smoke and LSD hallucinations; their oddly processed vocals and sheer love of strange noises only underlined the esoteric drug references in many of their titles.

Terminal Cheesecake was founded in London in 1988 by vocalist Gary Boniface, who'd begun his career as a drummer with several rockabilly-revival outfits, then moved on to front the obscure Vibes and Purple Things. He was first joined by guitarist Russell Smith, a tangential member of the A.R. Kane/M/A/R/R/S axis. Accompanied by a virtually anonymous rhythm section, they signed to the fledgling British indie Wiiija and debuted in 1988 with the Bladdersack EP (also the label's first-ever release). Their full-length bow was 1989's Johnny Town-Mouse, which took its title from a Beatrix Potter story. It marked the first appearance of Gordon Watson, a guest guitarist who later joined the band officially. A second LP, V.C.L. (which stood for "Valium Chicken Leg"), appeared later in 1989 and featured a cover of Flipper's "Sex Bomb."

1990's Angels in Pigtails was the band's most fully realized album to date, featuring a stronger rhythm section of Watson on bass and Joe Whitney on drums. It was released on the Pathological label, which also showcased the band on a sampler compilation alongside grindcore acts like Godflesh, Carcass, and Napalm Death, as well as more experimental noisemakers like Coil and God. Russell Smith subsequently left the group, and joined Skullflower in 1992; he also played as a sideman with God from time to time. Watson took over his spot as guitarist, in front of a new rhythm section composed of bassist Steven "Fez" Fesinger and drummer Simon Doling. This core quartet would constitute Terminal Cheesecake for the remainder of their existence, starting with the 1992 album Pearlesque Kings of the Jewmost (for World Serpent). The group next signed with Jackass for 1993's Gateau d'Espace EP, which was followed by the full-length King of All Spaceheads in 1994. This proved to be the group's final album, as they disbanded the following year; Boniface, Watson, and studio engineer Johnno "Poppa" Newman immediately reteamed as Bud Alzir, which pursued a more dub- and techno-inflected direction on their lone eponymous album.

Johnny Town Mouse

Ben Davis - The Hushed Patterns Of Relief

Ben Davis, formerly of punk bands including Sleepytime Trio and Milemarker, has developed into a musician with diverse interests and influences. His solo career evolved from a quiet four-track project into a full band ensemble with over a dozen releases including singles, compilations, two full length CDs, and a new split with Des Ark. Davis has toured the US and Japan and frequently plays on the east coast After a year of performing solo, Lovitt Records released the critically acclaimed The Hushed Patterns of Relief in 2001, which was recorded at Salad Days by Brian McTernan.

Conceived as a stripped-down solo project, Davis' Hushed Patterns was a tightly knit collaboration of Chapel Hill musicians performing sparse pop pieces. Jonathan Fuller from Engine Down came aboard to record the drums and joined a studio band compromised of members of the Comas, The Mayflies USA, and the Poncho Holly Bullfight Party. A new back-up band including members of Fin Fang Foom and Des Ark emerged and toured to support the record. On this album, cello, lap-steel guitar, and piano accentuate the wash of guitars and full vocal melodies detailing recurring motifs that rise and swell throughout the record.

In the meantime, Davis' other band, Bats & Mice, got busier and he returned to writing new songs mainly on the piano in between tours. As a large collection of new songs accrued, he decided to utilize his vastly talented friends and bandmates to the fullest. Two years later, a collaboration between many friends resulted in his second release, Aided & Abetted. Sixteen musicians and six production gurus came from six states during four recording and mixing sessions to contribute to the album. Members from Engine Down, Milemarker, Denali, Zetamale, Des Ark, and Fin Fang Foom, among others, were involved in the performance of this scintillating work. The album underscores a marked maturity evolved since Hushed Patterns and is a calculated mix of melancholy rock and bright, textured pop.

2006 hearkens the release of Davis' collaboration with good friend and fellow Research Triangle resident, Aimee Argote, who performs as Des Ark. The Battle of the Beards, their 12-song joint effort comprising five songs each and two songs together along with a 20-piece orchestra, is a masterful revelation. The slow builds and soft confessionals of the Des Ark tracks play perfect counterpoint to Davis' pulsing songcraft. The split album shows the potential of alliance and the unspoken complements of friendship.

Davis has played with such artists as The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Mates of State, Pinback, Ted Leo, The Rosebuds, and Rainer Maria with critical and popular reviews. He has toured Japan and the United States and performed on the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage in September 2006.

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HAPPY FLOWERS - MY SKIN COVERS MY BODY

The name of the album was taken from a section of a Childcraft book on health, and you probably can't find a better collection of childhood angst, phobias, and concerns. The drums pound and the guitars shriek and squall mercilessly, all while Mr Anus and Mr Horribly Charred Infant scream apologies/warnings/pleas like, "Pleeeeease don't spank me/I'm too big to be spanked!" Occasionally it congeals into something that resembles an actual song, as on "Not Fade Away" or "Jenny Tried to Kiss Me at Recess," but mostly the instrumentation just provides a backing track to these little slices taken from adolescent nightmares. Very disturbed, and a lot of fun...

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Slint - Spiderland

Wow. I can't emphazise enough how good Slint's Spiderland actually is. I know that sounds like overblown fanboy gushing, and it probably is, but hear me out. Released in 1992, Spiderland was forgotten amidst the waves of Seattle grunge, and that's too bad, for this is an incredibly unique work.

This Louisville, Kentucky quartet was once a hardcore punk outfit, though you would never realize it by listening to this album. The guitars are spidery, the tempos slow and methodical, and the vocalist recites muted spoken word in the darkened recesses. The arrangements are somewhat spare and repetitious on first listen, yet there is an underlying mathematical structure to them--the buildups are truly staggering in their power. Overall, the sound is distant, dark, and vaguely unsettling. This album conveys the sound of an overcast and windy autumn night, the leaves rustling in the trees, the fog rolling in. Delicate and meloncholy, yet shadowy and intense at the same time.

Spiderland rewards a patient listener. The songs are extended somewhat, hovering in between five to almost nine minutes. The chiming guitars of the opener Breadcrumb Trail begin the journey, followed by the wonderfully creepy Nosferatu Man, probably the most aggressive track on the album. Don, Aman is a moody piece full of whispered lyrics and strummed guitars that ominously build and build, until a wave of distortion breaks through as if to signify something dramatic and terrible has happened. Washer, the longest track, is a downbeat and poignant song full of yearning and emotionally naked lyrics.

For Dinner.. is an instrumental. While it is not the strongest track on the album, it serves as a breather for the finale Good Morning, Captain, one of the most emotionally intense pieces of music I've ever heard. The way the singer whispers toward the end, "I'm trying to find my way home..I'm sorry, and I miss you," followed by a dramatic crescendo and his cries of "I miss you!"--it leaves a pit in my stomach. Every time. Sounds cliche, I know, but it must be heard to be believed.

Although later post-rock bands such as Tortoise, Godspeed You Black Emperor!, and Explosions In The Sky have attempted to replicate the power of this album, nothing can beat the original. Spiderland is pure emotion set to music, and one of the most powerful records of the '90s. Calling it "essential" is an understatement.

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My Bloody Valentine - You Made Me Realise

'You Made Me Realise' was the circa-'Isn't Anything' LP that made critics stand up and take notice of the brilliant things MBV were up to; it developed some of the stunning guitar sounds that would become the band's trademark, and features tracks which (while more pop-oriented than those of Isn't Anything) are just as innovative. Thankfully, both 'You Made Me Realise' and' Feed Me With Your Kiss' (the band's other Isn't Anything single) aren't as difficult to find as their earlier work -- between the two of them, there's practically an album's worth of work. Each of the five tracks on this EP are worth hearing -- standouts are the incredible title track, "Slow," and "Thorn."

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SILVER SCOOTER - ORLEANS PARISH

Silver Scooter's second full-length album, 1999's Orleans Parish, continues in the style they established with 1997's The Other Palm Springs: catchy, driving indie pop with lyrics alternately sad and hopeful. The drums are restrained and simple, laying a solid foundation on which the guitar and bass build shining melodies. Songs such as "Sleight of Hand" and "Cancer & Wide-Eyed Looks" are both melancholy and catchy, the at times mournful lyrics balanced by the bouncing instrumentation. "Deliver Me Driver" could be a letter from a Silver Scooter fan, the narrator singing, "I love your songs/they're filled with melody and melancholy." This, in fact, is the essence of this Austin band: emotional songs often touching on themes of loss and loneliness, but delivered in such a way that makes these things not seem so bad....

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