Kendra live in Peterborough, NH — 4.27.07

one more!

Kendra - 'Afro Thunder'at Brilliant Corners Last Show

brilliant indeed.

Kendra at Armadillos - Has Not Rel

moar kendra!

Kendra - 'Pharmacokinetic' at Brilliant Corners Last Show

o

one can only mourn what has past............

kendra "mc fastbike" (2007)

ive been trying to hunt own this record for years! ive finally got it! (thanks jason!)  kendra were two people, danny kamps and kate hanlon, who both hailed from keene, NH. together they formed the mathiest  math rock and the postiest post rock duo on the planet......weird bubbly guitars soaring into echoing passages which in turn dive into sludgy dirges and back to the tweeked out mathiness again......they looked to be fucking dynamite live......both of them would trade instruments and keep the songs going seamlessly, something ive never seen from any other band....... i only wish that i didnt live 800 miles away from them........they also did a showspace called brilliant corners and had many a band pass through.......no less a personality than thurston moore himself touted these two as a band to watch.........i fully and wholeheartedly agree with his assessment..........but unfortunatly, they broke up 4 years ago.........huge fucking bummer because they were doing some truly unique and awesome shit........another record that is a MUST to own........

kendra - mc fastbike

recusant - discography (93-96)

this record is a bit of a curveball compared to most of the stuff i post here........weird, arty spastic female voiced punk with a definate crust mindset..........ultra political lyrics covering feminism/veganism/animal rights/abuses of multinational companies/ect.......wrapped up in one of the most unique sounds ive heard ever...............i think the members of tem eyos ki might have been listening to this band when they started up cause the sound/approach is kinda the same with both bands..........this band was from the UK but moved to france towards the end (im pretty sure thats how it went down anyways)  stonehenge put this out i believe (if im worng, let me know)  excellent, unique band that broke up all too soon........

recusant

this dude is awesome!

http://vimeo.com/couchmode/user3183821/videos/sort:date/15540231



watch the vid!

Water Torture w/ madison (cloud rat) @ the DAAC, 10/5/11

not sure why i didnt post this before! enjoy!

trocar "life on mars/mambo hardcore" (1996)

one of the early releases from this old and obscure kalamazoo band...........i saw these guys twice, once at michiganfest and once at monster island/31g..................these two songs are kinda herky-jerky back n forth rockin with a strong, almost funky DC slant.......excellent musicians they were.......not a sound that i hear nowadays either............well i guess goddard are tryin to bring it back but other than them, no dice..........definately recommended!

life on mars/mambo hardcore

Snowblood - Aubade

Boneblack May 29 1/2

cloud rat/oily menace/wolbachia split (2011)

so i went through some serious mental shit yesterday........im ok right now, so back to the reviews!

here we have a 3 way split  from 3 up and comming bands.......cloud rat/oily menace, both from michigan and known to me for a while now, and wolbachia from winnipeg who i did not know about before hearing this record........anyways cloud rat starts this record off with several song of their patented emotional grind brutality.....somehow not as thick and full sounding as their full length, but still on par with it and amazing overall....ive come to expect excellent work from cloud rat and this is no exception..........the oily menace follows them up with some thick wicked death-grind.....they actually remind me of a rougher, grindier less well produced version of exhumed, gurgly low end vocals n all......lyrics are very political and pro labor...alot like seein red's lyrics........and i love that about this band........excellent music and i hope to see them at some point...........lastly we have wolbachia from canada, who were a revelation for me......off center dischordant grind that dosent sound like anyone else.....maybe dischordance axis meets born against? (that was a shot in the dark) deep-ish  sorta moaned/grunted female vocals that distance this band further from the usual crust-grind milieu that im used to.......i really like what they are doing and i really hope they come out here at some point!  in any case this is an excellent record and highly recommended by this freindly neighborhood blogger.

3 way split

.............

im in the middle of a mental breakdown right now and it might take a while to resolve.........today has been one of the shittiest days ever from an emotional standpoint........hopefully ill feel better by tommorow.........or else i might go on hiatus...........


update: i still wanna die.

daniel striped tiger - capital cities (2007)

this is probably something i should have reviewed much earlier than now.........one of the best records of the past 10 years.........a record that will probably go down as an underrated classic several years from now........jumpy dischordant melodic hardcore in the modern emotive fashion with an almost jazzy feel at times..........one of those bands that i heard alot about, but never seemed to play any shows in my state.......i have had all of their records at one point or another and this one is the pinnacle of their work......amazing from start to finish.......kinda suprised more people arent all over this band......

capital cities.

this isnt a record review or a show review.........

i originally posted this in my tumblr as a sort of response to alot of homophobic/transgender-phobic shit people have been throwing around lately. i thought it was important enough to repost here...i dont generally get into personal stuff or gender/sexual politics in this blog but i occasionally make exceptions........so if you ever wanted to know where i stand on this stuff, well here it is........

my 2 cents...........

it seems like a bunch of people i know are pissed about stupid shit people say or do lately especially when it comes to the gay/lesbian/transgender community, ive decided to put in my 2 cents on the matter…..even when i was a teen and just starting to understand sexuality and all of its intricate facets i never understood why who people chose to love/sleep with could inspire such hatred and fear…….i mean its none of our business in the first place what anyone chooses to do sexually (as long as they arent raping people or fucking children/animals…..then its most certainly time to get involved and put those sick fucks out of commission) in the first place and i always was amazed and horrified that people would take their hatred so far as to kill someone over this…….i operate off of the basic premise of respect. i respect you and treat you as i would like to be treated… sexual preference/race/ect never comes into the equation………i dont see why its so hard for people to operate on the same principles…….my sister is now transgender (well, she wants to be a guy, im not sure what the technical term is for that..this is all still new to me) and at first it startled me and put me out of my comfort zone, but as the time passed and she explained to me why she chose to take the path in life that she was heading down now, i came to see things much clearer…she never felt comfortable being a girl and always thought she should have been born a male…..its something that must have been extremely hard to live with and i think shes been pretty damn brave to be out in the open with me and my mom about this…inside shes the same person ive always known and i think that supporting a person on their new life path and being there as you’ve always been is a much better thing than ostracizing and isolating and attacking someone for their choices and making their life miserable because you dont agree………..my mom has an understanding of what my sister is going through and has a certain comfort level with it, but is still ashamed of her to a degree and will never tell any of my other relatives about my sisters choices…….i would never feel comfortable posting this on facebook as i have many relatives who are anti gay to say the least and i dont feel like wasting energy battling them and fending off their inevitable attacks………to end this rambling barely coherent rant, i think that there needs to be more understanding in general, but it seems like the hate only grows with each passing year…….we all should think about what we say and do and try to be more aware and considerate of all the people around us…….. 

judas iscariot "lost prophets" (recorded 1999? released 2011)

the lost lp from a hugely underrated NYC band finally surfaces...........this might be the best thing the ever recorded too.......really tight, focused drums & bass hardcore with ragged vocals.......sometimes raging, sometimes melodic, always amazing. i was never sure why these guys werent more popular than they were. they played such a unique awesome style that no one has yet replicated since........the lyrics seem to be heavily political, but never on the overbearing side..........nice dudes too....this one makes my top 5 of the year easy (and i have alot of good records that came out this year that are being pushed out of my top 5 by stuff like this) HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

judas iscariot - lost prophets

cloud rat/water torture/dirteyes(sp?)/chumm @DAAC, 10/5/11 (SHOW REVIEW)

so a month on the nose from when i saw the shoppers at bartertown, im back in GR again, this time for cloud rat!  the evening began with a drunk dude asking for beer and stumbling around proclaiming his italian heritage loudly ("HEY, IM SICILIAN YOU GUYS! IS THIS WHERE THE BEER IS AT?") first up was chumm who suprised me by playing really good dual vocalled hardcore/grind....ive seen so many of these bands that they all blur together and it has long since ceased to move me emotionally, but these dudes were proficient..........next up were the dirteyes (still dont know if im spelling that right) im pretty sure they were from buffalo and on tour with water torture....anyways two dudes playing 70s influenced fuzz sludge.....i know there are alot of people who dig this stuff but i unfortunatly cant say im one of 'em.........their set was pretty short and before i knew it water torture was setting up.........another two man bass/drums combo from buffalo, they  were considerably better than dirteyes (at least in my eyes) and played harsher, dirtier grindy sludgy stuff....their last song was the highlight of their set when madison from cloud rat joined them for a thick sludgy number with her vocals obliterating everything in their path.......they did a seige cover, which is always a plus in my book.........didnt get to talk to them unfortunatly but did record half their set........good band ..........after water torture's set came the highlight of my night.......the band/people i specifically came to see/support (although you should see/support all the bands and i did, but cloud rat is just special for me) took the floor...........i remember the first time i crossed paths with cloud rat........i saw that they were playing the same show as black kites/zann last summer............i remember saying out loud "who the hell is cloud rat?" and "what the hell do they play?"............i didnt know what to expect then and i still didnt after i had seen the 'kites and zann rip everyone a new asshole at that show.......i was talking to john from zann when they started setting up, we stopped talking and went up front to check this band that i doubt either of us had ever heard at the time.........from the first chord i was blown away......just a huge pissed off whirlwind of noise with this blond(at the time) girl fucking roaring and running into people......i was hooked.........for some reason i didnt get to talk to them at that show and im still kicking myself for not introducing myself sooner..........anyways i got their lp and the splits and fast forward a year later to find me loudly proclaiming this band as the best in the state.........anyways  they did not dissapoint this time either........ive found that unlike many many grindcore bands who seem to follow eachother down the same musical path, eschewing emotion for gore and sadism and putting out cold robotic recordings full of textbook blastbeats and gargled vocals, cloud rat infuse their brand of grind with real, raw, extremely personal emotions....theres no gore or satanism to be found here, just songs that seem to be intensely personal, not just the lyrics but the music too is where that emotion shines through and it makes their sound all that much more magnificent and amazing..........their set was one of the best things ive seen this year....right up there with the shopper's set from a month before........to top everything off, they are amazing people! madison is so sweet and awesome and rorik is fucking awesome too......i didnt get to talk to adrian but im sure hes an awesome dude too.......also met the drummer of the oily menace/shattered badge who was an amazing awesome dude too, i forgot his name already though =(   brandon, who i think set up the show, deserves mad props too, as does this dude named sock who was another amazing person i met that night.....dude(s), if you have computers or access to computers, get at me! all in all, it was a wonderful show and i cant wait to reconnect with all the new freinds i met down there again..........loved all the little things that happened from talking briefly with a girl with short black hair who reminded me of winona rider, when i was talking to madison (i dont know if we were introduced, but i hope we get to talk again!) to madison hanging out of the drivers side window of their car yelling "KEEP IT GRRIND!" (or something similar to that) at me when i was walking back to my truck....i loved that!  anyways everyone was amazing and i left  with a really good feeling that continues to this day...........my message to cloud rat is, you guys WILL be sleeping on my floor at some point, i will do whatever needs to be done in order for that to happen..........i love each and every one of you guys (and gals) and miss you and hope that its not too long before i get to see you all again soon!

with that i bring you the pictures!

Chumm

Dirteyes

Water Torture

Cloud Rat

im back!

was downstate wedsday for cloud rat.............fucking amazing show, my review will come soon...........like after i upload video/pix/ect



cloud rat will be touring the south in december....if you dont go see them ill personally come down and punch you in the face.

so i have a tumblr now

mindintrusion1978


its much more of a personal nature than this. if you feel like taking a peek into my day to day life, or just read my whiny bullshit, add me if you feel so inclined.

hubris demo (2011)

what we have here is a new band from DC who play fast, dirty, blown out hardcore sorta in the vein of born against........this is a great start and i hope to see this band on tour soon............one of the new bands everyone should be on the lookout for......cant wait for an LP!

hubris demo 2011

black kites/convulsions split lp (2011)

here we have one of the best records to come out this year..........new jersey's black kites square off against rhode island's convulsions in the musical deathmatch of the year.............the black kites side of this split is hands down the best stuff they've recorded so far, chunky varied and raging hardcore that's in and out and over all too soon......amazing stuff from a group of amazing individuals (some of the sweetest dudes in person)  on the other side we have convulsions whose "7 i dug immensely..........this stuff is a little more out there but still brutal and fucked up.......not a band that's afraid to take risks with their sound that's for sure.......ragged metallic hardcore with a sludgy melvins touch.....all in all this is one of the best records to have come out this year. i personally think its edged out of the top spot because the shoppers put out a record that was perfect in every conceivable way........anyways its a necessity if you like modern ugly hardcore with meaningful lyrics and made by great people.........

black kites convulsions split

veloz - slepnir (2011)

another in the long list of new bands that hooked me this year........veloz are from boston and feature ex members of furnace (another great band) and play some raging hardcore with weird mathy riffs...5 songs that fly by, causing chaos and destruction in their own unique way.....havent heard any band that is really even close to the sound these guys create..its just great stuff...just to throw a comparison out there, daniel striped tiger meets capsule meets his hero is gone?....they just toured europe with the resurrectionists and lich (i think) and im guessing they were well recieved........anyways if they can keep this kind of energy up over the long run, i see a bright future ahead...........hopefully they tour the midwest sometime soon!

slepnir

monkey 2 song preview of lp ( 2011???)

this was one of a myriad of bands that took me totally by surprise this year.........hailing from calgary alberta, i still have only the barest of info on this band.........two songs of huge toxic mountains of churning noise..............its sludgy, but not slow and boring, loud and chaotic, but never mindbendingly complex, the vocals are of the requisite harshness and the production is top notch.....i can pick out alot of influences in their sound but theres is never one that rises above the others......in other words they are perfectly balanced between all their influences and have managed to scrape out their own niche in the wider world of hardcore/metal/whathaveyou.......i think these songs are part of a full length that will (has?? as i cant find shit about this band anywhere, i have no idea whats going on with them) be released soon......id love to get my hands/ears on a few more tunes as these two just whet my appetite for more..........awesome start for an awesome band.........

monkey - two song preview

national handbag 1.5 (zine)

(never mind the dirty sock!)

i dont often review zines, if only because its been years since ive gotten any....if anyone feels like sending me some, be my guest and ill gladly review it.    anyways this is meredith of the shoppers' zine (a sweeter person on this planet, i have not met). it mostly deals with  mental illness and is something i can personally identify with as i have aspergers.....most of this issue consists of  freinds of meredith or people she asked to contribute talking about how their mental illnesses tie into their sense of style, its interesting reading, even though ive never been one for fashion or DIY clothing making.......im not sure, but i also think how a person dresses can also tie in with negative body image/poor self esteem, which is something that hits close to home for me........while there are tons of after school specials/books/movies/public service announcements about girls/women and how they can overcome their negative body image, there dosent seem to be any understanding of the same issue effecting men/boys...........when i am in a place with large amounts of people present, i almost always feel like their eyes are boring into me and judging me and i feel so uncomfortable and naked.......i dont walk with my head held high and im always looking at the ground (though that could be explained by my aspergers, im also self aware to a hypersensitive degree much of the time)i always feel like the first thing people notice about me is my chunkiness..."oh, the fat dude whos always got the camera and stands up front during shows".....it just really gets me down sometimes.......anyways its an awesome cut n paste type job not unreminiscent o alot of the zines i read a decade ago and longer.........she seems to have a thing for vintage erotica, as thats heavily present both in this zine and on most of the shoppers records/merch ive seen....which is all good since i share that interest as well ;)  im not currently sure how you could get this zine unless you see them on tour......more than likely you could contact meredith at her email (terminallyblessed@gmail.com) and i bet she'd be happy to send you a copy.....its well worth the read! looking forward to issue 2.........

Puritan - This is Medicine

love the fuck out of this song..........still do............if you saw them and werent on the floor and crying by the end of this song, something was wrong with you.

Royl Space@thunderdome, 9/5/11 (last thunderdome show) PT2

last part of their set

Royl Space@thunderdome 9/5/11 (last thunderdome show) PT1

the first song of royl space's set

shattered badge (i think) @thunderdome 9/5/11 (last thunderdome show)

shattered badge...............god, i hope this is actually them.............im not intimatly familiar with GR local bands as of yet....in any case they playsed a great set

Shoppers @ thunderdome, 9/5/11 (last thunderdome show)

the shoppers set that i recorded monday

show review (shoppers/shattered badge/royl space@ thunderdome(last show) 9/5/11)

let me just say that monday night blew my mind  made the long trip down to grand rapids to see the shoppers, a syracuse band that ive grown to love over the past couple months..i would never have thought that a band id never heard of  a few months ago could touch me in such a profound way........ive been going to shows for 16 years but it wasnt until monday night  that i felt like i truly "belonged".......the shoppers put on an energetic set and rocked the shit out of everyone, but it was how amazing they were in person after the show that really sealed the deal for me and my now unbreakable love of this band the most......meredith  (can i call you meri? hehe) is one of the kindest, sweetest most awesome people ive ever met in my life period, and i dont say that lightly.......just an amazing person that i could talk to for hours......i always feel kinda awkward talking to people for the first time and this was no exception, but it was just so damn easy to talk to her and her bandmates who were amazing as well........i already miss them and hope its not too long before they come back around to play in michigan again.....for me they are that once in a decade band like to dream of autumn or lovesick,  that  effects me so deeply that the time(s) i see them will be etched in my memory forever.....please, dont miss this band, do whatever you have to do to see them, they are that good!


shattered badge played first and played fast grindy hardcore of the kind grand rapids is becomming known for....good stuff and ryan(i think?) is an awesome dude.

royl space played last and played some energetic bouncy pop punkish stuff with some sassy undertones..........i wanna say they reminded me of very early chisel (you know, before they turned into a clone of the jam) but the sound is much more modern.........

all in all this was a hell of a show and sadly, the last at the thunderdome, which was a basement showspace underneath bartertown resteraunt which is a vegan resteraunt (owned by ryan?) that is rapidly making a name for itself.