Recently, I discovered I had quite a volume of unmarked CD-Rs lying about my personal caverns (closets, that is, not some strange sexual euphemism). Last night, I gripped L-Train’s industrial-strength Sony Walkman (remember those?) and went through 30 or so unnamed CDs. I found some amazing stuff – much of which I will share with you over the next few weeks. A lot of tracks I found were certainly of the older, rare, and/or out of print variety, as I pirated a lot of music from my former college radio station WRFL, where I dwelled for most of my college career. The station pretty much had a “don’t throw anything away” policy since its inception in 1988, so it’s a veritable museum (though certain titles were stolen at some point in the past obviously). This is why you see a new category called “Contraband.” Since the concepts are somewhat similar, entries from Cut-Out Bin Classics and Vinyl Finds have been consolidated into one easy, low-APR category. The MP3 categories, as always, refers to hawt new traxxx (or easier to find music).
The first awesome find in last night’s excursion is the 1992 self-titled album by The Nightblooms. The Nightblooms were, as often is the case, an underappreciated collective from The Netherlands who only released two albums. Shoegazing is certainly the easiest reference point, as the group concealed melodic vocals under massive Big Muff guitar sounds. However, the Nightblooms were not nearly as ethereal as, say, Lush – the group packed a crunchy punch… almost reminiscent of a sped-up stoner metal band. You also hear an amalgamation of fuzz, punk, noise, and twee a la The Vaselines. There’s very little information on the group and I have yet to find any interviews on the intarwebz. If you find something, please send it my way! Otherwise, enjoys these rare gems perfect for warming weather.
For fans of: Lush, The Vaselines, Velocity Girl, Aislers Set
MP3 :::
The Nightblooms – Panicle
The Nightblooms – 59#1
The Nightblooms – Slowly Rising
