Member Since: 6/10/2006
Band Website: destijlrecs.com
Band Members:
AVAILABLE NOW:
JU SUK REET MEATE
SOLO 78 / 79
aka
DO UNSEEN HANDS KEEP YOU DUMB?
CD 057
Smegma were formed as a reaction to the band's perceptions of how horrible things were in the 70s. "we moved up to Portland just as the Los Angeles Free Music Society came out of the closet. there was the whole punk scene and a rebirth of things, but when we left, it was the deadest, worst time to be there unless you were into glam." This disgust is relected in the tone of the early classics Pigface Chant, Disco Diarrhea, Flash Cards, etc.
The Crown Jewel, perhaps, of the early Smegma dawn, is this CD, a solo Ju Suk Reet Meate joint, recorded in '78 / '79 and pressed in miniscule quantity in '80, this is a recording that has been largely unavailable outside of certain collector circles. Even there, you better rub yr rabbits foot / save yr pennies. So here 'tis, finally made available in an affordably priced digipak CD with liner notes by Wolf Eyes John Olson and containing unreleased extras, this CD is a stoned blues concrete melange of guitar, tapes , found sounds & voice.
As a member of what many have called the Greatest Band of Our Time, Ju Suk Reet Meate has had an immeasurable influence, shaping the lives / sounds of today's creators of underground culture the globe over, and this CD bears his heft.
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MICHAEL YONKERS - GRIMWOOD CD 056
when considering grimwood, it'd be a mistake to not also give thought to microminature love. recorded in '68 for Sire, MML languished unreleased until the spring of 2002, when we unearthed it swank on wax (later reissued as a subpop CD). called the greatest psych record of the 60s by more than a few, it's no stretch to say that had it materialized, it would've altered the lay of the land. tho for various reasons still unclear, the deal fell apart and the band split.
perhaps this was the first in a seemingly endless series of cruel blows for yonkers. he retreated, and recorded grimwood. as is said all too often about all too many recs, this is intensely private music. while not immediately recognizable as possessing the radical visionary qualities as MML, there is nevertheless a miracle at work. usually there is a distance between singer / song. here the distance is completely revoked. there is an immediate, definite coinciding between yonkers and his grimwood.
yonkers suffered a debilitating back injury in a warehouse accident in '71 when a half-ton of scrap metal fell on him. he had strong allergic reactions to a chemical that was injected into his spinal cord in '73, and he almost gave up the ghost. that caused a serious, life long condition called adhesive arachnoiditis. for awhile he retired from music.
tho recorded in '69, yonkers privately released grimwood in '74, along with 3 other recs: goodby sunball (recorded in '71), michael lee yonkers ('72) and a duo with jim woehrle ('73), borders of my mind. if they sold at all, they sold horribly. there is a photo inside subpop's MML CD of yonkers throwing copies of grimwood up in the air, as they'd seemingly become disposable, as well as a heavy burden to lug around. enterprising rec collectors have had a run on grimwood for some time and it's been impossible to affordably obtain.
so here it is, remastered, digitized and priced for the people..
all tracks BMI / copyright-MRY-2007
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