Periscope: Another YoYo Compilation

1. Mukilteo Fairies - Bloody Breath
2. Go Sailor - Last Year
3. Excuse 17 - Sevenwhateverteen
4. Fitz of Depression - Piss Butt
5. Love As Laughter - Super Christ
6. Tummy Ache - Purple Violet Squish
7. Raggedy Ann - Orange Juice Star
8. Cub - Flaming Red Bobsled
9. The Crabs - Chubbette
10. Appleseed - High
11. Bloodthirsty Butchers - I Hate You
12. Neutral Milk Hotel - Bucket
13. Long Hind Legs - Dress In My Bed
14. Tattle Tale - Girls Go To Heaven
15. Team Dresch - Fake Fight
16. Copass Grinders - Bakuoni
17. Beck - The World May Loose Its Motion

I had ordered this through the fine folks at the K Records mailorder way back in high school when this 1994 compilation came out, and it's been one of my very favorite comps ever since. I had ordered this for the Beck track (which appears nowhere else), and was turned on to more bands in the active NW mid-90's scene. This comp crosses all genres of indie rock, from the cuddle-core of Cub to the rockin' punk of the late, great Fitz of Depression, to the homocore of the overrated Team Dresch, to the AmRep-style noise rock of Long Hind Legs. The highlights are the beautifully melancholy "Bucket" by Neutral Milk Hotel, the pre-Isis jamming of the Bloodthirsty Butchers and the contribution by the Mukilteo Fairies (who's singer could have been great in a black metal band), "Bloody Breath". I don't know how many scene compilations I've heard that I can't listen to all the way through... Periscope bucks the trend hard, keeping the quality consistent and creating a solid listen. Enjoy.

Summer:
Loaddown

Jabberjaw: Good To the Last Drop

1. Girls Against Boys - Magattraction
2. Unwound - Broken E Strings
3. Hole - Rock Star (Alternate version)
4. Hammerhead - Cleaning Woman
5. Beck - In A Cold Ass Fashion
6. Teenage Fanclub - Total Weirdness
7. Slug - Borax
8. Chokebore - Narrow
9. Mule - Charger
10. Helmet - Turned Out (live)
11. Southern Culture On the Skids - Jabberjammin'
12. Karp - Rocky Mountain Rescue
13. Jawbox - Chump II
14. Surgery - Little Girl
15. Unsane - Blew
16. Seaweed - My Letters
17. Inch - Buzzers and Bells
18. that dog. - Explain
19. further - Rich Kids

A nice time capsule of the mid-ninties quasi-underground rock scene... a little heavy on the noise rock with entries from Unsane, Hammerhead, Helmet and Slug (not the Atmosphere Slug). Beck's "Cold Ass Fashion" is the standout, along with Karp's savage "Rocky Mountain Rescue", maybe the first song I've ever heard making extensive use of a fire bell. This comp came out on Mammoth in 1994 as a benefit for the Jabberjaw showspace/gallery in Los Angeles. I've heard that the space went under a few years ago, but this compilation stands as an artifact of the scene. Nice Coop artwork on the cover, too.

Eh:
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Beck - Loser German CD single

1. Loser (LP version)
2. Totally Confused
3. Corvette Bummer
4. MTV Makes Me Want To Smoke Crack

This single is worth it for "MTV..." alone. This version is different from the one found on the split 7" with Bean on Flipside. The other songs are identical to the versions found on the US CD single. "MTV..." begins as a Beck folk joke, then devolves into a hilarious lounge act parody... good shit.

Bark at the moon:
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Beck - Loser US CD single

1. Loser (LP Version)
2. Corvette Bummer
3. Alcohol
4. Soul Suckin Jerk (Reject)
5. Fume

Another Beck single, another slew of great b-sides. The whiny high-pitched sound in "Corvette Bummer" makes me think about those plastic witches and ghosts people used to hang by their doors on Halloween... I think they made that noise... right? "Alchohol" is one of my very favorite Beck tunes, very mellow, melodic, melancholy. This single contains the superior version of "Soul Suckin Jerk". The beats are dope as fuck, and has a verse not appearing on Mellow Gold. I remember being at a First Avenue dance night (SNDP or something) about ten years ago and hearing "Fume" over the soundsystem... blew my mind for a couple reasons: a) I couldn't believe they were playing a weird Beck b-side, and b) this might be the least danceable Beck song in existence. Comedy...

Sop it up:
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Beck - Beercan single (US)

1. Beercan (LP Version)
2. Got No Mind
3. Asskizz Powergrudge (Payback! '94)
4. Totally Kunfused
5. Spanking Room

The finest single to come from Mellow Gold, this 1994 single has technically 4 unreleased tracks, the fifth, "Spanking Room" actually contains two tracks ("Spanking Room" and what is referred to as "Loser (Muzak)"). "Got No Mind" is an alternate version of "Pay No Mind", which can be found on Mellow Gold. "Totally Kunfused" is the same as "Totally Confused", which appears on the german "Loser" CD single.

Make'em say "Uhhhnngg":
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