I'm admittedly way too smitten with OSEES to provide objective critique of any work this band composes and rips through. When new records are announced from John Dwyer and ever-rotating-Co., I immediately order one. Such was the case with their upcoming new album, A Foul Form , which had a rainbow splatter variant available for a hot second. I wasn't quick enough to grab one of those, but I was able to secure a copy on black. Those are now gone as well. If you're a CD fan, A Foul Form is still available at Castle Face . You can also purchase a digital copy from Bandcamp . Otherwise, looks like you're SOL until represses or misplaced copies surface online. Or, if you want to hand over your hard-earned loot to some opportunistic flipper at Discogs .  "Funeral Solution" is the lead single: throat-grating vocal set to an exuberant garage-stomping bounce. The video is appropriately and visually aggro.  A Foul Form is releasing 8/12. Fucking pumped. Info and links...

Seemed appropriate. Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

S.O.A. First Demo 12/29/80 Dischord Records Released: 3.14 *Genuine shock. **Despite my daughter's reservations, First Demo 12/29/80 is completely worth picking up for any fans of D.C. hardcore and, in my opinion, trumps in many ways the performances in the No Policy EP.   Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

A live tribute to the late and amazing Ron Asheton will be released on DVD April 9th.  Ron Asheton Tribute Concert with Iggy & The Stooges + Special Guests was recorded almost two years ago to the date of the film's release and features Henry Rollins and Radio Birdman 's Deniz Tek as a guest guitarist. All info was provided by MVD Entertainment Group. Ron Asheton Tribute Concert with Iggy & the Stooges + Special Guests   Coming to DVD on April 9 Live concert tribute to brother Ron Asheton featuring the Stooges, Henry Rollins and more! Recorded live at the Michigan Theater, this heartfelt tribute/celebration of Stooge guitarist Ron Asheton's life and music featured Iggy and the Stooges, Henry Rollins, and guest guitarist Deniz Tek (Radio Birdman). Includes a string section on a few Stooges classics! All profits from the sale of the DVD go to the Ron Asheton Foundation which supports animal welfare and music. Gary Graff of BILLBOARD writes: ...

It was announced today that 4AD will be reissuing JunkYard by The Birthday Party on 180g vinyl with the bonus singles Release the Bats/ Blast Off 7" and CD.  This version is being lifted from the 2000 re-master that Henry Rollins produced and issued via 2.13.61/Buddha Records. You can find more info at 4AD and Beggars Banquet . While on the topic of Nick Cave , the fourth round of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds reissues will be on shelves very soon.   Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Henry Rollins turns 51 years old today. When I discovered Henry Rollins, I was a freshman in high school. My version of this time in my life wasn’t full of wide-eyed teenage wonder or endless nights glorifying in my pubescent freedom, chasing the opposite sex while gleefully unattached to job or responsibility. In fact, when any adult told me that high school was the best time of their lives, I didn’t understand how that was possible. I was two years into the public school system, still incredibly insecure and unsure of myself and where I fit. Without getting into too much detail, home really didn’t provide any safety net or sanctuary. I had friends but wasn’t really in a position to see them too often. So, between home and school, which was all there was, I remember feeling very alone. The 1994 concert was performed with Helmet and Les Claypool 's Sausage . Amazing night. Now, every teenager goes through a period of feeling misunderstood. Your parents and other t...

Interesting year for Dinosaur Jr. and the campaign of nostalgia that's been following them.  Yes, Dino singer/guitarist J Mascis released his solo album, Several Shades Of Why , (which was one of the best albums of 2011 as far as I'm concerned), and toured for the release .  But, Mascis has also been touring with Dino, performing the entirety of the band's milestone release, Bug , which found itself back on cassette via Joyful Noise Recordings on top of being reissued alongside 1985's Dinosaur and 1987's You're Living All Over Me on vinyl by the Jagjaguwar label .  All in all, a veritable buffet of formats for Dino fans who will now also be treated to a three-cassette box set from Joyful Noise Recordings.  The initial Bug cassette release, which was limited to 250, sold out very quickly, so this Dinosaur Jr. Cassette Trilogy set is limited to 500, 150 of which will only be available to those attending Dino's upcoming tour of the west coast. Got all ...

It's worth mentioning again that Dinosaur Jr. 's Dinosaur , You're Living All Over Me and Bug will be getting reissued by Jagjaguwar in early October. News of their west coast Bug dates and links come courtesy of the good people at Jagjaguwar. Dinosaur Jr.'s Vinyl Reissues Now Up for Pre-Order Announcing West Coast Bug Tour Dinosaur Jr. by Bob Bayne Over the last 25+ years, Dinosaur Jr. has influenced a countless number of bands, both peers and protégés, by wailing their classic union of melodic bass, seething drums, virtuosic guitar shredding and listless vocal delivery through the iconic Marshall stacks. Jagjaguwar is honored to reissue the band's first three albums on  vinyl ,  Dinosaur,  You’re Living All Over  Me and  Bug, on  October 4th, 2011 . Originally released on the venerable Homestead and SST labels in the 1980’s, the reissues stay true to form and include the cardinal track lists. ...

No Ripcord is continuing its playlist series with the 80s.  I contributed blurbs for "We're Desperate" by X , "Six Pack" by Black Flag and "Rebel Without A Pause" by Public Enemy , though another writer selected "Night of the Living Baseheads," which canceled out my PE entry. To read the article, click here .  Selections are available below. This was my two cents regarding "Rebel Without A Pause:" Public Enemy — "Rebel Without A Pause" “YES! The rhythm/The rebel!” Being mostly unfamiliar with hip-hop when I’d first heard Public Enemy’s “Rebel Without A Pause,” I still consider it to be one of the greatest songs of the genre. Aside from Chuck D ’s commanding presence, the transitions from clicking drum loops/escalating whistle to rock sections during Flavor Flav ’s nonsensical pep rallying were startling to me. I’d just never heard anything like it, nor did I think the relatively limited construct of DJ...

Sunday, February 13th, Henry Rollins turned 50. A hero of my youth, significant in sight, sound and influence, Rollins is essentially responsible for much of my musical upbringing, his aural affront an epiphany to my teenaged ears and on into my early thirties where I still find satisfying brutality in the grooves of Black Flag and Rollins Band . Before The End Of Silence sort of broke Rollins Band out as part of the 90s alterna-cash crop, the band had put out an album called Hard Volume , which is a blues-driven sonic scream that really doesn’t get enough credit. I mean, you wish to hear albums this pure in your lifetime: Rollins’ calamitous outrage awakening your mind’s defenses, the band itself proving their chops with this punk-infused brand of King Crimson -ish progression, blue-rock precision and metallic heft. At some point, I’d like to revisit Hard Volume as it is an under-appreciated chapter in the life of an altogether under-appreciated band. I know I’ve written a ...

Henry Rollins’ 12.4 broadcast of Harmony In My Head coincidentally fell on the 17th anniversary of Frank Zappa’s passing.  Paying tribute, Rollins dedicated more than an hour and a half to Zappa and closed out his show with some songs by St. Vitus.  Their drummer, Armando Acosta, passed away on Thanksgiving.  Overall, not the most upbeat reasoning behind the set lists, but it’s a worthwhile two hours. Listen here , or download here . Henry’s broadcast notes are below. 12-04-10 Fanatics! I am back from Africa. I got off the plane a few hours ago. The first flight from Entebbe, Uganda to Dubai, UAE, via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia was about five hours and the one from Dubai to LA was fifteen and change. I have been here at the office, trying to stay awake so I could finish our show for tonight. Thanks to Thom Storr at Rykodisc for supplying some much needed ingredients. If you notice, Fanatics, tonight is a bit of a concept show. It’s all Zappa, all night. We take thi...

Almost “half-century man” Henry Rollins will be touring for his upcoming 50th day on planet Earth. Speaking dates are being held in Los Angeles and New York with a stop in the middle on the 13th, which he will spend in his hometown of Washington D.C. Tickets are on sale now . My hero turns 50 and in a fit of nostalgia I think of Rollins dedicating a poem to MTV in ‘92 or ‘93.  Artwork by Shepard Fairey Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

I realize that I’m almost a full week late in posting this, but last Saturday’s broadcast of Harmony In My Head, (which if you’re not paying attention is Henry Rollins ’ radio show on KCRW ), was dedicated to the Blue Note catalogue. That’s right: Two hours of straight Blue Note jazz, which included John Coltrane ’s “Blue Train,” Wayne Shorter ’s original rendition of “Footprints” (the other version appearing on Miles Davis ’ necessary Miles Smiles album), and Eric Dolphy ’s “Out To Lunch.” Rollins was apparently tapped for an upcoming series of compilation discs that Blue Note is releasing based on artists’ favorites. Inspired, Rollins brought his selections to the show. You can either access the show at the archive site , or check out the Harmony In My Head at KCRW.com. Here are his show notes : Fanatics! I am writing to you from my small room in Thimphu, Bhutan. I had an interesting afternoon. I watched four bodies get cremated. For almost two hours, monks prayed and then th...

Saturday, July 17th, marked 43 years since John Coltrane ’s life was cut short by liver cancer at the age of 40. Paying tribute to the man who “might be my single favorite musician besides maybe Ian MacKaye or Jimi Hendrix ,” Henry Rollins took the opportunity to devote an entire episode of his Harmony In My Head radio show to Coltrane. The broadcast can be downloaded at the Harmony In My Head archive site , or check it out at KCRW . Via Rollins’ broadcast notes : KCRW BROADCAST #72 07-17-10 Fanatics! Tonight is a very cool show. It’s all Coltrane, all night. On July 17, 1967, John Coltrane, a Jazz giant, passed away at age 40. It would be perhaps a little brighter occasion if this was Coltrane’s birthday. I couldn’t let this opportunity to pay tribute and homage not only to the man and his greatness but to his amazing bands. The Classic Quartet of Elvin Jones on drums, Jimmy Garrison on bass and McCoy Tyner on piano. Also, we are going to listen to Coltrane’s later line up of Jimmy...

Sometimes being a fanboy will drive you pick up albums you'd never otherwise own. I picked up a copy of The Flaming Lips ' long title, The Flaming Lips and Stardeath and White Dwarfs with Henry Rollins and Peaches Doing The Dark Side of the Moon because, well, Henry Rollins ' names was in the title. Plus, knowing the disdain that Rollins has for Pink Floyd , I was curious as to why he'd partake in such a venture, let alone how he'd contribute. Well, turns out Rollins was the one to read the album's original interview snippets, plus deliver the lunatic's laughter in "Brain Damage." Makes sense. Otherwise, Wayne Coyne recruited his nephew Dennis Coyne 's band, Stardeath and White Dwarfs to aid in the Lips' mission, and possibly just to create a project they could to together. Very Frank and Moon Unit . The undertaking of recreating a classic album is a pretentious one at that, so it's important to either make your parody known, ...

I’m not sure how I missed this one. Yesterday afternoon, I was listening to an episode of Henry Rollins ’s Harmony In My Head radio show that had been recorded on August 22nd. In it, Rollins mentioned that Rashied Ali , Coltrane drummer and Philadelphia native, had died on the 12th. As tribute, Rollins played an instrumental excerpt that he had produced with Ali and saxophonist, Charles Gayle , during the sessions for an audio book entitled, Everything . Actually managed to find an excerpt from Rollins’s Everything Everything was my introduction to Rashied Ali, before I’d even laid hands on any John Coltrane album. I would throw on my thick, ear muff JVC headphones before going to bed, and drift off to sleep listening to Rollins speak while Ali and Gayle improv’d in the backdrop, cityscapes and traffic alive behind them if you listened closely enough. And, I really hadn’t been exposed to too much jazz at this point, so the avant/free stuff was beyond me. But, the album made sti...

The first few seconds of static are interrupted for almost ten minutes after you drop the needle. Bassist Kira Roessler fastens the foundation in a series of repeated thumps as drummer, Bill Stevenson, chimes in with warm up percussion before he finds his place, crash symbol spark showers falling on guitarist Greg Ginn, who winds up his six-strings and lets loose a tunnel of mechanic mayhem that you can essentially drown in. What you have is “Your Last Affront,” the first song on Black Flag’s instrumental EP, The Process Of Weeding Out . As far as Black Flag records are concerned, people don't look past Damaged as it is widely considered the band’s milestone. But, speaking as a fan, Black Flag made no album more complex or extreme than The Process Of Weeding Out , its combined energy, inorganic make-up and strangely amateurish experimentalism a troubling and unsettling byproduct of Ginn’s dissatisfaction with scenester-ism. The Process Of Weeding Out was, in all honesty, one...

Black Flag Keith Morris vs. Henry Rollins Boot In The Face (?) Released: 2008 This little tidbit caught me at a very bad time in my pay cycle: a limited-edition Black Flag LP featuring two very early demo reels from the band’s two most prominent singers, Keith Morris and Henry Rollins . This is the type of thing that gets my fanboy woody at its most upright. It sucks getting cockblocked by your bank account. Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Just a couple things I’m pretty excited about. Sic Alps : Last year, I offered a little ink to the wonderful, but under promoted, Sic Alps . Their album, Pleasures & Treasures , offered a very real and raw interpretation of the muddily-amped garage band; an image that has been sort of misrepresented by “garage”-labeled acts like The Strokes or The White Stripes . Very distorted, very loud and VERY close to something as primal as Fun House or White Light/White Heat . At least, this is the case in my often-misinformed opinion. In the spirit of under-financed music of the past, Sic Alps’ Mike Donovan and Matthew Hartman seem to put out records left and right that often go out-of-print very quickly. I managed to procure myself a copy of the Semi-Streets 7,” (a white-label record that so lovingly reeks of yesteryear DIY), but found myself at a loss with the following Description of the Harbor 12” and Strawberry Guillotine 7.” Thankfully, Animal Disguise Records is putting ...