Double Decker Records , located in Allentown about 40-45 minutes from my place of residence, is a store I normally go to when in pilgrimage mode, which is to say any visit is going to be an expensive, albeit fruitful, one. I met up with a good friend and proceeded to comb through the stacks for a couple of hours, leaving the store with an uncomfortable and somewhat heavy 12" x 12" brick nestled beneath my arm. I'm slowly working my way through these. Here are the first two:  feedtime Cooper-S Released: 1988 Rough Trade Partially integral to the development of sounds specific to the pacific northwest, or just Mudhoney's sound in general, feedtime of Syndney, Australia is muck-borne blues punk. Hyper slop'd and urgent,  Cooper-S , which was originally released in 1988 via the now-defunct Australian label  Aberrant Records , is a covers album that boasts some gravelly interpretations of "Fun Fun Fun" by The Beach Boys, three Rolling Stones tracks (my favori...

Big Walnuts Yonder : "Sponge Bath" (via Us-Them Group/Sargent House/ Sterogum /Soundcloud) Chuck Berry : "Big Boys" (via Big Mouth Publicity/YouTube) HOTT MT : "At Night in China Town" (via Tell All Your Friends PR/YouTube) Jaimie Branch : "Theme 002" (via Clandestine Media/ International Anthem Recording Co. /YouTube) Kikagaku Moyo : "In A Coil" (via Tell All Your Friends PR/ Wonderland. /Soundcloud) Ghost Bath : "Ambrosial" (via Earsplit PR/ Nuclear Blast /YouTube) Laetitia Sadier Source Ensemble : "Galactic Emergence" (via mutante/Drag City/YouTube) Obituary : "Ten Thousand Ways to Die" (via Relapse Records /YouTube) Benjamin Muñoz : "Melle" (via XLR8R / Push & Run /Soundcloud) Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

The Indie Rock: Then & Now of bands: Big Walnuts Yonder brings together Mike Watt ( Minutemen , fIREHOSE ), Nels Cline ( Wilco ), Greg Saunier ( Deerhoof ), and Nick Reinhart ( Tera Melos ), combining over thirty years of fringe-based rock n' roll lineage.  The group's first single, "Raise the Drawbridges?," captures well the distinct musical sensibility of each member, from Watt's unmistakable low-end harmonic to Saunier's thunderous snare, synthesizing their respective personalities into an energized and very fun two-minutes and twenty seconds.  The song premiered over at Consequence of Sound .  The cover illustration is from the able hand and characteristically dark mind of Raymond Pettibon .     Big Walnuts Yonder's self-titled debut is scheduled to release on May 5th via the reliably awesome Sargent House label.  You can listen to "Raise the Drawbridges?" with the Soundcloud link below.  All info and links were provided by U...

I hope you all have a very safe and comforting New Year's.  See you all in 2017 and thanks, as always, for your continued support. Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Tera Melos : "Sunburn" (via Us-Them Group/YouTube) TV On The Radio : "Happy Idiot" (via TV On The Radio/YouTube) Sinoia Caves : "Forever Dilating Eye" (via Jagjaguwar/YouTube) Obake : "M" (via Rarely Unable/Soundcloud) il sogno del marinaio : "Skinny Cat" (via Howlin' Wuelf Media/YouTube) Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehea d

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: ...

The Hand to Man Band is Mike Watt ( Minutemen , fIREHOSE ), John Dieterich ( Deerhoof ), Tim Barnes ( Silver Jews ) and Thollem McDonas .  Their new album, You Are Always On Our Minds , was released May 22nd via Post-Consumer Records .  A video for the song, "The Down Moveables," is available to disturb and confound.  Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

A couple weeks ago, I touched upon the upcoming fIREHOSE reunion and their supporting tour.  A few days ago, I received word of a new compilation of fIREHOSE material being released called, "lowFLOWs:" The Columbia Anthology ('91 - '93) . All info and tour dates come courtesy of Howlin' Wuelf Media. Once again, Philadelphia is out of the running.   Influential three-piece band fIREHOSE will reunite in April for their first tour dates together since 1994, an historic rock event that will be celebrated with the release of their first major collection ever, "lowFLOWs": the Columbia anthology ('91 - '93) . Chronicling the final three-year arc of bassist mike watt , singer/guitarist Ed Crawford , and drummer George Hurley , this 2-CD, 45-track package weighs in with the two original fIREHOSE albums on Columbia Records (1991's Flyin' the Flannel and 1993's Mr. Machinery Operator ) plus 44 minutes (15 tracks) of out-of-print a...

If you haven't heard, bassist Mike Watt and drummer George Hurley 's post- Minutemen project, fIREHOSE , are back to being a thing .  Experimental art rock trio, Tera Melos , who've managed to gain quite a bit of clout after a successful run of albums ( Patagonian Rats in 2010/11, Zoo Weather EP and the 51+ minute single-song release, Echo On The Hills Of Knebworth ) and concert dates in 2011, (including kudos from touring mate, Marnie Stern ), will be on the road alongside fIREHOSE for a few left coast dates.  Nothing on the east coast, though.  Why would anyone on the east coast want to see fIREHOSE play?  Absurd.  Fuckers. Watt appeared on the Tera Melos track, "Manar The Magic.  All info, links and tour dates come courtesy of Us/Them Group. Tera Melos announce tour dates with reunited fIREHOSE "Once in a rare while an album comes along that's so fresh and ingenious it redefines what's possible in a field of music. It's been some time sin...

spielgusher s/t Clenchedwrench/Org Music Released: 1.17.12 Legendary ex- Minuteman Mike Watt has had his name attached to four albums in two years, (if I’m not mistaken or missing anything): the jazz-quartet debut of Floored By Four , his own third punk opera, Hyphenated-Man , dos ’ latest album with Kira Roessler and now the spoken word/art rock mutation, spielgusher , aided by the witticisms and prosaic vocal spew of rock critic, Richard Meltzer . If “econo” truly is the yardstick by which Watt continues to create music, this term doesn’t seem to apply to the man’s prolificacy. The spielgusher concept was apparently born late in the Minutemen’s run, Watt and singer/guitarist D. Boon both Meltzer enthusiasts. Meltzer proposed the collaboration and sent along lyrics, or “spiels,” and even planned to add saxophone music. But, as the story unfortunately went, D. Boon passed away and the Minutemen ceased to be. The project was put on hold indefinitely. Watt revisited the idea ...

Dos Dos y Dos Clenchedwrench/Org Music Released: 7.12.11 Mike Watt has said Dos is his " longest running band ." Begun in 1985, Dos, the dueling bass jam outs of ex- Minutemen Watt and ex- Black Flag bassist, Kira Roessler , has just released their fourth album, Dos y Dos . After both were no longer playing with their respective bands, (Kira was axed; Minutemen were dissolved once Watt's co-conspirator and best friend D. Boon had passed away), Dos served as a way to keep Watt interested in playing music, his will to continue in that vein having more or less faded once the Minutemen were no more.  Bass only, occasional singing: That's it.  Kira was attending Yale while she and Watt exchanged ideas via post-office four track tapes of bass rhythms, the music reworked and tweaked as each tape was passed back and forth.  The band's first album, simply titled Dos , was released in 1986 through an SST Records imprint, New Alliance Records, which was actuall...

I’ve been scouring YouTube and other avenues so I can hear what’s going on with The Book Of Knots , who are a supergroup comprised of members from Sleepytime Gorilla Museum , Skeleton Key and Pere Ubu . Missing out on 2/3 of their By Sea, By Land, By Air trilogy, I received word this morning about the release of part three, Garden of the Fainting Stars . I’ve found no advance singles so far, but the album is slated to release June 14th, so hopefully something will surface before then. The list of collaborators this band has worked with is an interesting, eclectic and relatively obscure. They’ve featured (now and previously) Tom Waits , Kathleen Brennan , Mike Watt , Mike Patton , Blixa Bargeld and Trey Spruance . Information and links are courtesy of Speakeasy PR: THE BOOK OF KNOTS TO RELEASE GARDEN OF FAINTING STARS JUNE 14 VIA IPECAC RECORDINGS GUEST MUSICIANS INCLUDE BLIXA BARGELD, MIKE WATT AND MIKE PATTON SAN FRANCISCO, May 9, 2011 – The Books of Knots, the...

From the Hoot Page.  This photo was taken in 2002. For those of you that may be getting tired of seeing the name Mike Watt appear on this site in regards to one thing ( Floored By Four ) or another ( Hyphenated-Man ), here’s something else to annoy you. Watt and ex- Black Flag bassist, Kira Roessler , have been performing together for a number of years as Dos . Their forth album, Dos y Dos , will be out on Watt’s Clenchedwrench label on 6.7.11. In the meantime, more details regarding Dos can be found at Watt’s exhaustively detailed Hoot Page . _________________________________________________________ Velvet Monkeys 1982 release, Everything Is Right , will be reissued via producer Don Fleming ’s Instant Mayhem label. The album will be out 6.7.11. The below information is via Howlin’ Wuelf Media: This reissue of the Velvet Monkeys debut 1982 release, Everything is Right , features Don Fleming (later of Gumball and producer of Sonic Youth , Teenage Fanclub , S...

Mike Watt Hyphenated-Man Clenchedwrench Released: 3.1.11 “Be brave, Watt. Stop never reflectin.’ A lesson ain’t ever ‘less than.’ A lesson never lessens.” — Mike Watt , “Pinned-To-The-Table-Man” “What could be romantic to Mike Watt?” — Minutemen , “One Reporter’s Opinion” The declaration “we jam econo” left Mike Watt ’s mouth in some old archival footage of a Minutemen interview, the sign off when the interviewer prompted the band for last words. His statement became the basis for the title of the 2005 documentary, We Jam Econo: The Story of the Minutemen , a tell-all account of the band’s influence, philosophy and impact. The idea of economy was essential to the band’s make-up and to their very survival because, after all, when you’re making your own rules with no big label backing to fund your activities, recording or touring, you make the most out of very little. “Jamming Econo” was not only a lifestyle, but the impetus behind the band’s music as well. D. Boon ’s ab...

Mike Watt ’s Hyphenated-Man is just about released. Artist Norton Wisdom , decided to film himself illustrating each of the album’s thirty song titles, which are based upon characters as specifically named as “Beak-Holding-Letter-Man” and “Boot-Wearing-Fish Man.” The video is rather hypnotic. Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead