Extra Glenns - 'Infidelity' (Harriet)

Oh, to yearn for times past. Harriet Records! The innocence of this all - John Darnielle and Franklin Bruno coming together for three perfect songs, as perfect as anything else Darnielle penned at this fertile time. 'Infidelity' is elegant in its minimalism, capturing that wobbly experience just perfectly with the classic chorus 'I let my hand rest a minute on your stomach / like there was nothing to it'. 'Going to Lubbock' is the sleeper, but Bruno's arrangements, backup vocals and second guitar bring a mild arpeggiated complexity to the chorus that hadn't yet been seen in any Mountain Goats materials of the time. And then the flip - the glorious 'Malevolent Cityscape X', which sounds like an outtake of something from the Peter Jefferies/Alastair Galbraith scene, with it's backwards, sinewy electric guitar line ripping over the verses. It all comes clear for the passionate, practically shouted chorus. It's one of the most perfect few minutes of music Darnielle ever has laid to vinyl (or tape or plastic); it's erupting, wild and yet still recognisable, even iconic. In 1993 nothing could stop this. By repeating the word 'perfect', can I make it clear enough how much I love this record?

Joe Colley/Mike Shiflet - 'Meaning' (Gameboy)

Not a collaboration, but a split; Colley gets the A-matrix with 'Intentional Accidents for Microphone', a track with sounds as contradictory as its title.  Static and hum are the main tools, presumably being built from unadorned microphone (+ mixer + amplification, I'd guess) and it's incredibly composed, with long slow passages of almost-nothing that rev into static roars, only to be cut out by either mute-button inline editing or some post-processing.  My bet is on the former. It's an approach to electronic minimalism that sounds really indicative of the era (2004) but I don't mean that to be diminishing.  On the other side, Ohio noisenik Mike Shiflet starts '4 a.m. with Chris and Dan' in an ecstatic manner, and the emphasis is on the static.  This track is from a live radio performance on WFMU so it naturally sounds less controlled and tense than the Colley track.  There's a repeating thump, like a turntable that's finished, stylus bumping the run-out groove, and it adds a chilling momentum underneath the horizontal colours of the oscillations that stay constant throughout.  Both sides of this record are careful, even restrained; yet I wouldn't say delicate.  Both sides end in locked-grooves (of course!) but Shiflet's has a sudden menace that gives this a fond farewell.

Baby 63 - 'Quiver' b/w 'Shark Watch Maker' (S-S)

The treasure trove of early 80s obscurities, reissues from some punk tidal wave, is a gift that keeps on giving. Here, Soriano of S-S records brings two songs from the Baby 63 tape to vinyl. 'Quiver' sounds like a Ralph Records outtakes with weird, warbled grinding and tape flutter (probably just an artifact from the original source, though it sounds great) buried deep in each channel. The song changes gears a few times and resonates in air also occupied by fans of Tuxedomoon, though with a darker, more amateurish Very Good records vibe. Yet there's something Beefheartian about the singing, or maybe post-Beefheartian (the antecedent to Stump, perhaps?). 'Shark Watch Maker' is a very repetitive dark grind that has it's moaning industralism cut by some strained vocals, which pull against the guitars. I like when songs are layered with heavy minimal guitars and synths, yet the drum track is someone hitting an empty Tupperware container (or something similar household and 'small'). The liner notes explain the story of Baby 63, which was almost entirely one woman named Karen Fletcher. It took 21 years for these two songs to see vinyl and I can only wonder about the rest of her output.

The 1985 (Monoton Studio)

Source: Got it in 2001, maybe at a record release show? It's hazy, those days....

Fast-forward a few years, after the '85 have gone on a few tours, put out a few full-lengths, and had a membership change. This release, possibly their final one, is a real re-invention: there's something European about them now. I mean, Monoton is a German label, so maybe a direction change was part of the contract. New (though not so new by 2001) drummer A.E. Paterra plays the electronic drum kit, no doubt easier to travel with, and the whole process takes on a more "mature" sound. On side 1, Joe Vernet, Jr. is still yelping like his toenails are being pulled out, but it has a, I dunno, sophistication previously unheard. There's a weird guitar comedown at the end of 'The Long Weekend' which is strangely pretty. Then, side 2 - the total departure - the slow, pulsing electro-pop of '(Even) More', featuring electric piano and delicately sung vocals! Have the '85 abandoned their roots? Or just signaled at the tensions re:direction that potentially led to their disbanding? I doubt anyone actually heard this 7" so I suppose that no one was really asking.