Fueled by the avant-garde sonic ammo of keyboardist/composer Joe Byrd and the haunting vocals of Dorothy Moskowitz, the United States Of America found a way to permanently hardwire space-age electronic music to the heart of rock and roll on their highly desirable, self-titled 1968 debut. Byrd’s kaleidoscopic musical excursions and Gordon Marron’s searing violin orbit around the icy vocals of Moskowitz, who—with a passing resemblance to early Jefferson Airplane belter Signe Anderson—remains the group’s center, steady as a rock. This heady mind-trip has been reissued on Sundazed Records with the participation of both Byrd and M ... Read more »

Playing fast, hardcore punk associated with far left sociopolitical issues has earned the band close association with Jello Biafra and the Dead Kennedys, as well as numerous other US punk bands of the early eighties. The band was also unique in frequently changing their name to a different initialism of MDC with every new record released. Incarnations include Millions of Dead Cops, Multi-Death Corporation, Millions of Dead Children, Millions of Dead Christians, Millions of Damn Christians, Millions of Dead Contractors, Metal Devil Cokes, and Magnus Dominus Corpus.

This powerful album by the late Seattle writer Steven Jesse Bernstein (wikipedia) is one of the most effective and uncompromising spoken word records in the field. Bernstein took his own life in 1991, and this disc acts as both his swan song and a tribute by his collaborators to his poetic talent. These readings were recorded in 1990-91 (many of the pieces appear in his book, "More Noise Please") and were posthumously set to music by producer/composer Steve Fisk. Just prior to Bernstein's death, only one track had been fully finished, but he liked what he heard and agre ... Read more »

Tommy Guerrero's A Little Bit of Something sounds like the former skate punk has been listening to a whole lot of mid-period Beastie Boys albums. It's not the in-your-face rhymes or punk-based aggression that's influenced him, but the group's canny mix of samples and new music that blends influences from all kinds of unexpected, offbeat places. (Tracks like the languid, groovy "Four TRK Samba" also suggest that Guerrero has a full complement of Cornelius albums.) These brief instrumentals -- 15 tracks in 39 minutes! -- ignore the drone and ambient schools of electronica and post-rock in favor of a magpie-like interest in variety and novelty. This makes the songs on the aptly titled A Little Bit of Something wonderfully varied and never tiresome. (The sounds even change within songs, such as the way "So Blue It's Black" starts out as a duet for acoustic gu ... Read more »

Produced by Captain Beefheart himself, Lick My Decals Off, Baby was a further refining and exploration of the musical ideas posited on Trout Mask Replica. As such, the imaginative fervor of Trout Mask is toned down somewhat, but in its place is an increased self-assurance; the tone of Decals is also a bit darker, examining environmental issues in some songs rather than simply concentrating on surreal wordplay. Whatever the differences, the jagged, complex rhythms and guitar interplay continue to amaze. Those wanting to dig deeper after the essential Trout Mask Replica are advised to begin doing so here.

One of the band's earliest recordings, featuring their signature tune "Give It to the Soft Boys", A Can of Bees includes a lot of the zaniness principal member Robyn Hitchcock would become known for in his later work, but the band had not yet jelled and found them still in search of their ultimate sound, an amalgam of new wave and psychedelia. However, the record is essential to any Soft Boys collection, as it demonstrates the band flying in the face of what was happening musically at the time and creating their own unique style. (AMG)

Following up on the post for The Advantage, here is another video game cover band. The Minibosses are quite a bit more popular than the Advantage, but not necessarily better. Same familiar tunes, also played very tight and exact including minute details, but quite a different sound. Where the Advantage sounds like Math-Rock, the Minibosses sound more like a metal band.

1 Castlevania 5:27
2 Ninja Gaiden 4:10
3 Double Dragon 1:09
4 Super Mario Bros. 2 6:15
5 Ikari Warriors 1:56
6 Blaster Master/Contra 6:46
7 Mike Tyson's Punchout 3:32
8 Kid Icarus 1:41
9 Megaman 2 10:08
10 Metroid 6:33