Kim Fowley may have well invented the swear word, because he elevated scum-sucking perversion to an entirely new level. Anyone familiar with his entries in  Please Kill Me and/or tangentially aware of his involvement with the Runaways and early-70s Sunset Strip arcana is well informed of Fowley’s foul spiritual-Tourette’s epistemology, but this one-off near-hit single is classic Fowley in his unabashed, eternally horny approach to life. And, Fowley’s hamfisted performance here aside, perhaps the best part of the song is the obviously hired (or otherwise coerced) girl singer’s half-assed coo, "ooh animal man, you’re so big… and so rough" that sums up Fowley’s, ahem, penetration into the pop culture schism between Hollywood and the Valley of the late 70’s — N’er the twain shall meet. Punk rock in 1968. Today, it’s called Hot Topic, and at your local mall. Regardless, this song is fucking hilarious on many levels. And, if you’re dying for a current dose of Fowley hipsterism, hop on down to Hollywood on nearly any given night and dig the corporate sponsorship and corporate rock on the ironic DJ decks for hours unlimited. It’s not lame enough that rock shows like the Pringles/Depend Undergarments/Coco-Puffs Summer Fun Jam have become one overly-ballyhooed marketing fest. Now, corporate sponsors are buying up DJ nights at bars, in order to reach young, actively consuming "markets" like yourself. But, the funniest thing is, no contemporary Mayor of Sunset Strip would ever dare touch material like Kim Fowley’s "Animal Man." Which not only proves how entirely dead the concept of "punk" may be, but even its glam-rock precursors, corporate shills they may be, are no match for today’s Chevrolet.

(Download - "Animal Man")

I don’t know much about The Electric Prunes except that they were from Los Angeles in the 60’s, they were on the Nuggets boxset, they made a few descent albums (this one, "Underground" & their "Stockholm 67′ live"), they didn’t write most of their songs (songwriters did), and they had a song on the Easy Rider soundtrack. Speaking of Easy Rider, the documentary on the making of that’s on the DVD of the movie is fucking amazing if you haven’t seen it yet. It talks about how Dennis Hooper was tripping balls on acid the whole time he was trying to direct the movie, how Peter Fonda was banging everyone in sight, how the whole crew was stoned outta their gordes the whole time, & how the scene where Jack Nicholson smokes pot around the campfire was totally unscripted (he was just that baked)… anyways, check it out.

(Download - "I Had To Much To Dream (Last Night)

Plastic Ono Band is John Lennon’s first official and (by far) my favorite solo record. Heck, I listen to this record more than I do any of The Beatles records. If I ever get stranded on a desert island I hope this is one of the records I have with me. This album plays like a self-help record to me. Whenever I’m feeling down, depressed or just unsure about life, I throw on "Plastic Ono Band" and John tells me how it is, that he’s been through the same fucked up shit and that everything’s gonna be alright. And if anyone knows about that shit I’m guessing it’s him, because homeboy had more issues than anyone I know. The Beatles had just broken up and John has just completed what he called ‘Primal Scream’ therapy (hence the reason he’s screaming his brains out on “Well Well Well”) with Dr. Arthur Janov. He used this album to exorcise allot of his demons and basically purge everything there was to purge. This is the unveiling of the "real" John Lennon as he lashes out at the world and lets loose a lot of his pain, which in turn sounds like the punkest folk record I’ve ever heard. Although the whole album is great, these two tracks are my favorites (“Working Class Hero is a close third). "I Found Out" is about his disgust for religion (Christianity – “There ain’t no Jesus gonna come from the Sky” & Krishnas - "Ole Hare Krishna got nothing on you, just keeps you crazy with nothing to do") and an ironic encouragement to say no to drugs (“Don’t let them fool you with dope and cocaine, no one can harm you feel your own pain"). And I love how "Remember" takes what seems to be forever to get to the cheerful bridge of “Don’t feel sorry ’bout the way it’s gone, Don’t you worry ’bout what you’ve done”. Oh and if you buy the cd, ignore the bonus tracks “Do The Oz” and “Power To The People”, they’re total bummers.

(Download - "I Found Out")

(Download - "Remember)

Discovering what you like about the prolific psychheit group Popul Vuh is as much an investment of time, energy and emotion as finding what you appreciate about life itself, but it can be equally as fulfilling. The German "Krautrock" prog-psych-soundtrack-new-age-folk musical cult is a fitting precursor to the lesser, wannabe "outsider" art-folk hipster scene populated by Devendra Banhart, Johanna Newsom, Entrance, Black Mountain, et al. However, put Popul Vuh in context with the regressive, conservative German culture of the early 70’s and its music becomes all the more impressive. This track, "Dort Ist Der Weg" is perhaps a highlight of Popul Vuh’s synergy of Far East and Western folk traditions into a powerful, droning force — one lifted shamelessly by Michael Gira during mid-period SWANS — that embodies the grace and depth of its musical forrays into nether regions of music’s ability to infect the mind AND body. Its name comes from the central text of Mayan culture, and its music is an exploration into repetition, attrition and musical drone that is unsurpassed without aid of extremely debilitating psychedelic drugs and a true interest in exploring our mental netherwords via nervous circuitry. It may sound like intense Enya in the wrong context. So, you might want to sit down with a full album to fully appreciate Popul Vuh. But, anyone familiar with Comus and similar eviscerating psychfolk fuckery will love this and other Popul Vuh songs. Florian Fricke, its main composer wrote several scores for Werner Herzog films, but the oeuvre of Popul Vuh’s collective noises are far more incredible given proper attention in the cozy confines ov your own dreamstates.

(Download - "Dort Ist Der Weg")

The Rok Tots is/was one of the most intimidating drug-laced garage punk-blues bands ever — perhaps second only to Laughing Hyenas in pure junkie desperation that translated into furious guitar chords and angry lyrics. This — the Rok Tots first 7" single, self-recorded and self-released — was at the time of its release in 1983 a monsterous fucker that squashed the wannabe intensity of hardcore punk like a rock dinosaur risen from a primordial swamp. Yes, that same primordial muck that gave rise to what later became known (and quickly co-opted) as "grunge." But, when guitarist/vocalist Jimmy West first put razor to wrist and penned "Suicide Weekend" there was no intent other than harvesting pure dope sick hostility into song. The Rok Tots came like a hurricane from a historic vacuum to reclaim the fury of rock from the milquetoast suburban teens passing off energy for urgency. Its parallel to Dead Moon is striking in West’s fierce DIY home-recording, self-released ethos and diehard grassroots promotion, but the Rok Tots are anything but lo-fi.
  A very well-organized history and overview, as well as streaming audio of several other great songs, is available here. Still going (infrequently) 27 years later without any recognition outside of Denver, the Rok Tots are still the toughest punk rock band in existence, as many touring bands that played the 15th St Tavern would attest upon meeting Jimmy West as their soundman — he knows how to harness power, and does not suffer fools. After all, he’s been "on a suicide weekend, 24 hours a day" for 21 years now, and still hasn’t died. That, my friend, is tough.

(Download - "Suicide Weekend")

Seeing as how Aaron and I are pretty excited about our radio show we just finished, I figured I’d post it here for download as well for those of you who haven’t heard it yet. We’ll be doing new shows every month or so, depending on how busy/lazy we are. Check the radio page for updates. Speaking of, here’s some text I copied and pasted from that page… Welcome to the first installment of "The Buddyhead Show", our very own internet radio program. Buddyhead’s Aaron North and Travis Keller will be your hosts and guides throughout this 2-hour rock n’ roll extravaganza smorgasbord sumpthin-er-other. The show is crammed full of good tunes, an interview with Karen O and Nick Zinner of Yeah Yeah Yeahs, a phone conversation with our Canadian correspondent Nardwuar the Human Serviette, and a drunken exchange with The Captain where he explains the scuffle he was involved in at the Leeds festival in England last year. The interviews were conducted back in late 2004, so that explains the dated questions, but it’s entertaining listening nonetheless. Check back here in the coming months for even more installments of the show. Click the here stream it or here to download it! A big slap on the ass to Ian Rogers for compressing this file so it’s downloadable, seeing as how Aaron doesn’t know jackshit about that crap.

"THE BUDDYHEAD SHOW" #1 play list:
The White Stripes – "Jolene", The Dicks - "Fake Bands" (live), The Birthday Party – "Fears Of Gun", The Stone Roses – "Tell Me", Kaleidoscope – "Kaleidoscope", The Cramps – "New Kind Of Kick", Johnny Cash – "Cocaine Blues" (live), The Gun Club – "She’s Like Heroin To Me", Yeah Yeah Yeahs – "Down Boy", The Wipers - "Is This Real?", Daniel Johnston – "True Love Will Find You In The End", The Jesus And Mary Chain – "Tower Of Song", Ultra Vivid Scene – "Mercy Seat" (12 inch single version), Suicide - "Cheree", Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – "4 +20", The Replacements – "Androgynous",The Stooges – "Down On The Street" (single version), Flipper - "Sacrifice" (live), The Damned - "Stab Your Back", The Jesus Lizard - "Seasick" (live), The Duke Spirit – "Red Weather", Neil Young - "Oh, Lonesome Me", Billy Bragg – "A New England", & Bob Dylan – "Lay Down Your Weary Tune"

 United Mutation was a strange group from Maryland in the early 1980s that never quite fit in, nor caught on during its existence, constantly overshadowed by the omnipresent harDCore Dischord scene. However, despite the obvious influence of the Bad Brains, United Mutation’s songs were primarily psych-damaged weirdness, somewhat akin to Captain Beefheart at hyperspeed. This long lost rarity is one of my favorite songs by the group who only managed to release two seven-inch EPs and a handful of compilation tracks. "Sensations Fix" is a bitter lament on the heroin trend that had rampaged the DC scene at the time, and also relates to the title of the compilation, "Alive & Kicking" (which featured a photo taken by Tomas "Beefeater" Squip of a local scenester shooting up) for which it was recorded. The reverbed sax, wacky guitar riffs and frantic beat sounds like a extremely sped-up outtake from the Stooges "Funhouse." The singer, Mike Brown is credited with inventing the cookie monster vocal delivery, but thankfully he sounds more like HR or Jello Biafra on this track.
  The cover art is from United Mutation’s "Rainbow Person" EP… Sorry, couldn’t locate a scan of the compilation artwork.

(Download - "Sesations Fix")

You should already know that Hot Snakes rule! And yeah you guessed it, these BBC Peel sessions are no exception. Four songs that were recorded live on Oct. 11 2004 and sadly enough were the last session before John Peel’s death. They do "Automatic Midnight", "No Hands", "Braintrust", & "This Mystic Decade". This cd gives me a boner. You can buy it online @ Merch Lackey and pop a boner yourself!

(Download - "No Hands")

This record was produced by Marshall Chess (son of the founder of Chess Records, which was home to such Chicago Blues greats as Willie Dixon, Howlin’ Wolf, Little Walter, Koko Taylor, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, John Lee Hooker, Etta James, & many more) in 1968 as an attempted to sell more records to Muddy’s new and growing cracker audience. A gateway record if you will, to turn a new generation onto the blues. Muddy’s black audience who had made him a star in the 1950’s was pretty indifferent to him by 68′, so Marshall figured they’d try and sell him to "the hippies". Which worked and it sold 200,000 copies (which was descent in those days). Although, "blues purists" hated it and still do today. Marshall paired Muddy with a group of avant garde Hendrix sounding (not influenced cuz this came out at the same time "Electric Ladyland" did) players and they tackled classics like "I Just Want to Make Love to You" and "Hoochie Coochie Man" as well as covered The Stones song "Let’s Spend the Night Together".  The results are said to have inspired Funkadelic (I’ll be posting a song or two from "Maggot Brain" real soon) and many others. If you dig this check out the Martin Scorsese documentary "Godfathers and Sons" which gives you a history of Chess Records, explains the making of "Electric Mud", shows the same players from "Electric Mud" making a new record with Chuck D of Public Enemy, and talks about how Marshall managed The Rolling Stones for seven years & produced my favorite Stone’s record "Exile On Main Street". It’s a good watch. And if you’ve got some cash to throw down (I found it for $30 used) pick up the Chess Boxset, it’s SICK!

(Download - "Mannish Boy")

(Download - "Herbert Harper’s Free Press News")

The only records you’ll find by Sonics’ Rendevouz are the one single ("City Slang") they recorded and a handful of bootleg live recordings. Add this live record to your record shopping list. It’s a pristine recording of their show at the Second Chance in Ann Arbor, Michigan on April 4, 1978. The band features MC5   guitarist Fred "Sonic" Smith on guitar and vocals, Stooges drummer Scott Asheton and two other dudes on bass and guitar. "Sweet Nothing" (the song) is seven minutes and thirty seconds of pure rock bliss. It’ll set your heart on fire plus it seems like it’s never gonna end and when it does you’re gonna wanna play it again. Yes, it’s that fucking good. Don’t be afraid to the hit repeat on this one kids. And it sounds just like you want it to… The Stooges meets MC5. You really can’t beat this shit unless we’re talking Funhouse but then again what beats that… NOTHING!

(Download - "Sweet Nothing")   

Neil Hamburger -  a "comedian" from California has made a name for himself with some pretty bad jokes and an amazing depiction of "the tortured comic"… perfect deadpan and absurdity pushing the levels of what comedy is. This track always makes me laugh because some dude in the audience is really psyched about Metallica and just wants to share it with the world. When not Neil Hamburger, this mysterious lad is responsible for some weird records and releases on Planet Pimp Records.

(Download - "Amry Reserve")

The mid/late-90s screamy noisy post-punk sound that came from the west coast, in paritcular San Diego, that I once dubbed as "spazzcore" in a Lovitt Record’s ad, was one of the last underground musical movements of the pre-internet era. Gravity Records was the head of the pack putting out some amazingly powerful and grating albums. My favorite band they released was Angel Hair from Colorado. They maintined a catchy song structure and powerful spastic energy that was uncontrollable yet refined. They even covered a Bauhaus song on their only LP which is fitting as they share a similar dark-experimentation to their guitar work. This particular track was always my favorite which originally appeared on a split 7" with Fisticuffs Bluff. The lads in this band later went on to form: The VSS, Slaves, and some other bands that Sonny (the singer) has done whose names are not coming to mind as I write this.

(Download Angel Hair - "Lazy Eye")

“Trust” is one of my favorite Elvis Costello records.  I picked this up on LP for 99 cents one day and it quickly became a personal favorite of mine.  I freaked out and told my friends how amazing this record was.  Interestingly enough, none of them (except my bro) seem to like it!  Released in 1981 by Rykodisc, “Trust” was a commercial failure compared to the success of his previous releases, “Get Happy!” “Armed Forces,” “This Years Model,” etc…  Upon its release, “Trust” was Costello’s most ambitious and diverse album.  That may be a reason why it didn’t sell a shit load of copies (the public doesn’t like to challenge themselves, you know), but I think it showcases some of his strongest songwriting, accompanied by very interesting arrangements… a different sound compared to his early releases.  I heard these recording sessions were cocaine fueled, which would explain the ups and downs of the songs on the record.  “New Lace Sleeves” has always been the standout track for me.  I really like how the song seamlessly flows and builds.  The melody and lyrics are really rad too.  On the surface, it kind of seems like its about two strangers waking up next to each other one morning after a night of humping, but I think it’s a bit deeper than that, and has an almost social context behind it, but hey I could be totally off point!  All in all, it’s just a great simple pop song.  Why this isn’t one of Elvis’ most highly regarded album beats me.  Check the bargain bins, you can find this cheap.

(Download- "New Lace Sleeves")
 

The Wipers Box Set is one of the best purchases I’ve ever made. Don’t let the title “box set” scare you away either because you should be able to take this bad boy home for a little over twenty bucks. And with that price you get all three good records (“Is This Real?”, “Youth of America” & “Over the Edge”) plus 20 something bonus tracks of alternate takes and mixes, outtakes and live songs and the Alien Boy EP to boot. Totally underrated and almost virtually unknown, raw but at the same time melodic as fuck, Portland Oregon’s The Wipers never really got the credit they deserve. And that’s not really fair considering they’ve influenced everyone from Nirvana to Hot Snakes to well, anyone with an electric guitar and taste. I figured the title track off the first record was a good place to start.  Keep in mind this is from 1980! Shit rules!

(Download The Wipers - "Is This Real?")

Various Artists – “14 Songs for Greg Sage: Wipers Tribute”
While we’re on the subject of The Wipers, this tribute to Greg Sage (their singer and songwriter) is fucking awesome too. It’s out of print, but if you can find it, grab it. It features Nirvana, Poison Idea, Crackerbash, Nation Of Ulysses, Napalm Beach, M99, Dharma Bums, The Whirlees, Honey, Hazel, Calamity Jane, Saliva Tree, Thurston Moore with Keith Nealy & Hole. I’m not a huge Hole fan or anything, but this is the best song Hole ever put to tape and it was recorded at Jimmy Boyle’s house (who’s a friend of mine) back before Courtney was a gazillionaire who owned 33% of Nirvana LLC, dating A-list actors and she actually cared about music. Listen to the angst, proof that you do have to suffer for your art.

(Download Hole - "Over The Edge")

Yeah Yeah Yeah…. We haven’t been updating the website lately! You think we’re lazy! I know! I know! We got every single one of your whiney little emails. WAH! Well guess what, and I know this is going to be very hard for you to imagine, but we actually have LIVES outside of the internet! You geeks should check it out. But don’t get us wrong, we know reading what we write is about as important to you as breathing air. So with that in mind, we will be trying our hardest to update this place a lot more, so keep coming back for good FREE music. Just make sure you go out and purchase what you like. Now that I got that off my chest and outta the way, onto the music…. The Count Five are my favorite one hit wonder band. Aside from Devo of course (I saw on Vh1 that they are a one hit wonder, don’t get mad at me man). The Very Best Of The Count Five has everything they recorded. It’s such a bummer that this band could only squeeze one album out of themselves, despite what Lester Bangs’ told me (in his post human book "Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung" he fabricates in detail, as Lester was known to do, about the band recording several albums in addition to Psychotic Reaction; "Carburator Dung," "Ancient Lace and Wrought-Iron Railings," "Cartesian Jetstream," and "Snowflakes Falling on International Dateline"). Actually I guess it’s a bigger bummer there is only one good song on that one record. The only other songs worth hearing are their two Who covers ("My Generation" and "Out in the Street") and their swampy original "Pretty Big Mouth". But they never wrote anything half as good as “Psychotic Reaction”. This song almost makes me wanna dance as soon as that freight train harmonica comes in (and I think dancing is for fruitcakes). The Cramps do a pretty good version of it and they add a bit of bite to it. Tom Petty covers it too, but even I can’t listen to his version and I’m a HUGE Tom Petty fan. But anyhoo, if you dig this Count Five shit, do yourself a favor and pick up the ”Nuggets” box set, which includes this and a ton of other garage bands that are comparable like “The Electric Prunes”, “The Standells”, “13th Floor Elevators”, “The Music Machine”, “The Strawberry Alarm Clock” and tons more. Nuggets II ain’t bad either.

(Download - "Psychotic Reaction”)

"Sweet Fuck All" is one of the best come-down records ever and Love & Rockets best record. Drugs are bad, don’t do em kids! It’s a step away from their 80’s sound (which I dig too, “Earth, Sun, Moon” is a good record to pick up as well) and their answer to the 90’s alternative rock loud guitar sound, a lean toward natural tones and is heavily influenced by The Jesus & Mary Chain, My Bloody Valentine and probably even Dinosaur Jr. The best part is he sings in an American accent. And, you can usually find this at most descent record stores in the used section for like $4. On the cover of this record is a burnt guitar, which was torched in a fire that burnt out the inside of Rick Rubin’s castle studio where this was recorded, destroying all the studio equipment, most of the tapes, the band’s gear and almost the band themselves. But you never hear anyone say “the fire almost got Rick Rubin too”, cuz that fatass is barely ever in the studio. Homeboy was most likely safe at home shoveling ice cream in his face at the time. Anyways, the band finished this record themselves and Rick Rubin even sued the band for something or another. Yeah, in short Rick Rubin sucks monkey dong, is a total hack job, and should stick to making rap records. But this record that has his name on it slays. The first three tracks are my favorite, and should be listened to in order with the volume really really loud. Here they are. Headphones are a good idea too.

(Download - “Sweet F.A.”)
(Download - “Judgement Day”)
(Download - “Use Me”)

Mid/Late 90s Washington, DC… A burgeoning underground with house shows to remember at the Kansas Street House, which still stands in Arlington, VA even though it is threatened by the virus of tanning salons popping up on every corner. A show I remember vividly is Les Trois Malheures (that’s French for THE THREE BAD HOURS) who attacked the crowd amongst low lights with a chaotic intensity. This band was fronted by Jonathan Krienik (guitar/vocals) who also is the producer for such records as: Trans Am "Futureworld", Frodus "Conglomerate International", The Apes "Tapestry Mastery", Measles Mumps Rubella, as well as all sorts of other recordings including some remixes for some hipster New York bands. He later went on to form Pines Of Nowhere, who released a record on Level Plane Records. On bass was Ann Jaeger, of Black Cat Club fame, and James Marinelli on drums who played in Samuel in the early 90s. The band was a magical spark in the DC scene during that time period. Frenetic concerts, short songs, sloppiness, and danger. Pulling from a variety of influences and a once-forgotten punk spirit. Last that I know of them is that they opened for Refused and Frodus in Washington, DC to a rather befuddled crowd of hardcore kids who probably would love this band now. Rumor has it they are going to reform this year to reboot the chaos. Enjoy the danger. Also if you see Le Tigre this year, Jonathan is their soundman, go and say "hi".

(Download - "I Am The Greatest")

It was only a matter of time before I posted a song from one of my favorite bands, The Jesus & Mary Chain. But I’m such a geek, I had trouble narrowing it down to only one song (cuz they never wrote a bad one). After much self-debate, I ended up settling on this Bo Diddely cover off their first B-sides comp "Barbed Wire Kisses". This record is full of hits. It’s got their first single (pre-Psychocandy) "Upside Down" (although the flip-side cover of Pink Floyd’s "Vegetable Man" never made it to CD for some reason), The Beach Boy’s "Surfin’ USA", "Everything’s Alright When You’re Down", "Taste Of Cindy (Acoustic)", and "Sidewalking". This song ozzes cool! Turn this shit up to 11 and smoke em if you got em! 

(Download - "Who Do You Love?")

I think Chris Rock is one the funniest people alive right now. I got this "Bigger & Blacker" cd for free at Geffen Records so I figured I should in return post my favorite track off of it for all of you to check out. Although, if you’re gonna throw down some cash for some Chris Rock, I’d say pick up his new DVD called "Never Scared". Shit is super funny and it’s got tons of extra shit they didn’t play on HBO. You can listen to some of it here.   

(Download - "Crazy White Kids)

The story beings with my buddy discovering some weird Swedes in his hometown of Göteborg that started a punk band. A crew of arty and crusty lads that listen to Sepultura and wanted to create something "fast and hard". What came out of their impassioned sessions was something truly magical and rare. An energetic punk record that captures an inspired intensity as well as a clever approach to lyricism - something that I find is rather rare these days. Originally a tiny release on his small label (carcrash records) which during production got licensed to Burning Heart and later to Epitaph in the United States. I ended up writing the one-sheet to their record at the time not knowing that the record would end up on Epitaph, so the err.. tall tales I told in the one-sheet ended up creating some humorous rumors. Keep in mind these Swedish lads never heard of Bad Brains or Black Flag until after this record was released. Definitely a fresh punk rock record that while contemporary, maintains a feeling of something that came out before the hyper-cultural effects of internet explosion.

This was a snippet of what I wrote about them when i first heard ‘em:

"C.AARMÉ…the Swedish militia of punk rock. No, not the fashion punk that seethes from the oily pores of the corporate rock machines of today… this is the real sweaty deal. Destroyed amplifiers, guitars through windows, and blown out vocal chords. A maniacal attack of cataclysmic proportions. Feigning death for their required military service and hiding in the forests of Sweden only to emerge to behead the new garage punk aristocracy. The invasion has begun and no prisoners will be taken."

They never hid in the woods… however, the myriad soul-less and unchallenging slop that is fed to the masses as "punk" should consider running to the woods and feeding themselves to a family of grizzly bears or carnivorous sasquatches.

(Download C.AARMÉ - "Tu Puta Mi Casa")

[Buy their stuff from Insound]