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Mike Watt 9 minute treat.

Tony L said:
Pretty much everything prior to Daydream Nation was SST
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The first two albums Sonic Youth and Confusion Is Sex were on Neutral and later licensed and reissued by SST. The Neutral originals are worth a decent whack as you'd expect.

I have the 1987 cassette of Sonic Youth on SST (where side B is the complete LP backwards!) and the 1984 reissue of Confusion is Sex on the German label Zensor.

This is an interesting article on how Sonic Youth courted - and then fell out with - SST.

pitchfork.com

Bad Moon Rising: The Practical Lessons of Sonic Youth

As a recent online kerfuffle indicates, Sonic Youth's biography resists easy ideological classification, and suggests the nature of "indie" does as well.
pitchfork.com pitchfork.com
 
That reminds me I must read that book by TMoore about the 80's/ into early 90's 'post punk' scene etc- my heyday.

Now it's clearer to me then as to why J.Mascis was so focused on wanting to make an album for SST, if the sound quality of recordings was generally revered. He says that was their sole aim as a band. Just to make a record on SST. Then on he said [& I paraphrase] 'we achieved that, so what next? it was all kinda downhill from there'. Maybe he was thrilled as naturally he would be with the resulting masterpiece, musically, being released on his favourite SST label.. but could he also have been dissapointed in the sound quality of the recording-? I've got two copies of it, both identical in SQ.

Capt
 
The Captain said:
Nope. I actually can't stand Husker Du.
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Wait, what??? You can stand one of the best hardcore(-ish) bands ever? :eek: Are you quite sure you're not confusing Hüsker Dü with Mötley Crüe? That would be my guess. Twin umlauts and all that. Easily done.

Here's another Watt treat. A Minutemen classic that works amazingly well with a keyboard.

 
I don't like both husker & motley too. I can't get husker- the name irritates me, the pronunciation of hooska doo even more (so I'm not off to a good start) & I find it musically an utter assault/ barrage without any subtlety at all. And the most incongruous looking chap barking away ontop. Then he's gay, playing uber-straight-macho-hardcore. And then the bassist has the tash.. but he's straight: so now I'm confused. Nothing whatsoever fits to me. It's like a reverse of the pixies, with all the elements, completely & utterly wrong. I'll get me coat.

Capt
 
On the subject of SST it is a confusing label regarding pressings, reissues etc, and Discogs is very much a moving target with all the revisions. As a result of this thread I pulled out my copies of Zen Arcade and DNOTD and yet again the Discogs entries had shifted due to edits and I needed to find a different variant! With some stuff it is really easy, e.g. my fIREHOSE is all 1st issue bought in release, but the Minutemen and Hüsker is mainly early represses as I was a little late to that party. I only discovered this stuff at all once Pink Moon in Liverpool started importing it, so mid to late ‘80s. This is the third time I’ve re-added both DNOTD and Zen Arcade as the entries have changed and are obviously wrong for my copies! One had even shifted itself to a 2008 re-release!

PS For anyone remotely interested I have DNOTD and Zen Arcade, so an ‘86 to ‘89 purchase, which is exactly what I remember. The only US hardcore I was actually quick out the gate on was the Dead Kennedys, so my Fresh Fruit 1st press has no bass at all. I really mean none!
 
The Captain said:
I find it musically an utter assault/ barrage without any subtlety at all
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True of the very early stuff but certainly not of their very melodic later period. Though Mould's guitar tone could always shred your eardrums. Sadly I think did his, as he is famous tinnitus sufferer.

I would have to add that Mould was a relative disappointment after the Huskers and his first two classic solo albums. Workbook was singer-songwriter brilliance. After that and subsequent Black Sheets..., I find it's the case of some good tracks here and there but not great albums, including Sugar. A relative shame, as he was a truly brilliant songwriter at his best.

 
I don’t know if it’s just me getting more into more extreme music, or whether my system is just so much better now than it was in the ‘80s (Naim/Kans) but I find Hüsker Dü a far easier listen now and can hear the pop sensibilities beneath the racket far better. I think it is mainly a ‘me’ thing as I really couldn’t cope with free jazz etc back then. I always struggled a bit with Zen Arcade, as I did with say Trout Mask Replica, but I really enjoy them both now, as I do the more out-there Coltrane etc.
 
Funny how it works. As a teenager I grew up on death metal and proto-grindcore. My entry into jazz was the South Bank Show on John Zorn that features footage of his two drummer Spy Vs Spy band playing Ornette tunes at 100mph. So I've kind of travelled in the other direction and it took me ages to appreciate melodic jazz like Bill Evans and all those great 1950s west coast records.
 
Since we're slightly straying off the Mike Watt topic, if you've never heard it, try out Tar Babies 'No Contest'. SST 169.
 
No-one like Sugar Copperblue? Now that is decent & a successful mix of aggression & melody. I think it's equal to the Mould solo song eg above (which I like, but only once the guitar pulls it's finger out & get's going midway thru).
I've got another coat ready. On me chair look.
 
I never connected with Sugar, Bob Mould’s or Grant Hart’s solo stuff. My (incomplete) Hüsker Dü collection stops with Warehouse Songs And Stories. I’ve had the later stuff pass through, but it hasn’t survived the various collection purges.
 
palasr said:
Since we're slightly straying off the Mike Watt topic, if you've never heard it, try out Tar Babies 'No Contest'. SST 169.
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Hi palasr. I'm listening to it now after your suggestion. Never heard of this lot as you might have expected. Wow quite the funky gibbon this one! (clever Goodies reference- check out the album typeface). Great drumming & guitar. Well well, I wonder if Chili Peppers followed this album.. or were they both doing a similar thing same time, both west coast perhaps?

Capt
 
Tony L said:
I never connected with Sugar, Bob Mould’s or Grant Hart’s solo stuff. My (incomplete) Hüsker Dü collection stops with Warehouse Songs And Stories. I’ve had the later stuff pass through, but it hasn’t survived the various collection purges.
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I can understand that, you having been a dedicated husker du fan- this must have seemed a lightweight commercial pop sellout for you. I much preferred the show I saw to the album (doesn't get played all that much here tbh)- I was amazed by the depth of tone & power, just from a strat.. was my abiding memory. And the gobbing urgh.
 
The Captain said:
No-one like Sugar Copperblue? Now that is decent & a successful mix of aggression & melody. I think it's equal to the Mould solo song eg above (which I like, but only once the guitar pulls it's finger out & get's going midway thru).
I've got another coat ready. On me chair look.
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Fortune Teller is fabulous. Unmistakably and distinctively Mould. I would happily put that on a Best of Bob LP should I ever compile one. The rest is perfectly fine. As said, I find that is the pattern with a lot of Mould's post-Black Sheets output. Some great songs rather than whole great albums.

 
The Captain said:
A real gem I stumbled upon. The young drummer & Watt are stunning. Two Minutemen songs, & two covers, in 9 mins flat.

Although I'll always have antipathy towards any guitarist 'taking D.Boon's place' (just can't help it) & as such fIREHOSE & onward never floated my boat.. this bucks the trend: I think the guitar & vox low in the mix helps me cope.


Capt
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Really glad you posted this. I'd never heard of fIREHOSE until now. That "..Ragin'.." album is great!
First couple of minutes put me in mind of Alice Cooper's 2nd album, but it is clearly on a much more advanced level than that. Only had time to listen once, but really liked what I heard. Will share with friends, but they will probably say..." Yeah, we already know. Where have you been?"
 
Incidentally, the best band linked to that scene who are still going and are currently making their best albums are Oxbow. Deserve to be more widely known. They were very briefly on SST for one album and have roots back to early 80s hardcore as Whipping Boy (supported the SST greats). Plus a spin-off project with Black Flag's bass player.

 
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