Chuck Biscuits DEAD..... This is really heavy shit

"Drummer Chuck Biscuits, who played with Danzig and Black Flag , has died of throat cancer at the age of 44.

Information is scarce, but an email from a family member confirmed to a music blog that Biscuits succumbed to the disease on October 24th.

“In response to the inquires, thank you for all the support,” an anonymous family member wrote in an e-mail sent this morning. “Chuck did not survive his battle with throat cancer. He passed surrounded by his family on 10/24/09.”

Biscuits also worked with the Circle Jerks and Run DMC during his career, and is rumored to have been a consideration as a drummer for Nirvana before Dave Grohl was selected."

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Chuck Biscuits was the original Danzig drummer and i was lucky enough to see him live twice in my lifetime.. Chuck was also in Black Flag & The Circle Jerks ; Two of the most important U.S Hardcore bands ever.. (well in Black Flag's case - THE most important hardcore band)

A bloody sad day....

Eating my words.... What We All Come To Need

As I've grown older it's become too easy and quick to dismiss music that I "think" I just wouldn't like. Its a trait of being an older person with a "know-it-all attitude". I should really learn to remember what got me into music in the first place was to keep an open mind and be ready to embrace ANYTHING good.

Yesterday was a good example..
Quite frankly i'm really bored of post rock and have been for a few years. Too much structure and simply not enough substance.
Anyway i was surprised to see Southern Lord records signing instrumental rockers Pelican. In fact i know quite a few eyebrows were raised amongst people i know..

Lauren , a friend of mine that works at Southern/ SRD told me how good the Pelican album was when i last saw her. The whole fact that Pelican signed to SL and Lauren's recommendation (whom I trust) made me intrigued as to how this album would be any different.
I kindly had a copy of the album sent to me and i gotta say Ive been totally blown away with their latest offering "WHAT WE ALL COME TO NEED"
I can honestly say PELICAN havent really impressed me for a number of years and they seem to go round and round in circles churning out what i consider to be "not bad" albums - but really - releasing albums , for albums sake. This record however seems totally organic and is a record i've REALLY enjoyed listening to rather than putting up with in the back ground.

Most of all i think it shows how much of a great A&R man Greg Anderson is. (Southern Lord owner and 50% of Sunn 0))) )
Yet again Southern Lord show why they are still leading the way as an independent label. An inspired move that i hope put the doubters and old fucks like me in our place..

1990 - we were fucking shite...

SACRED LOVE

Picture the scene. November 1989 - i'm a young 17 year old kid with matted / dreadlocked / messy hair down to the middle of my back.. I was doing a numpty business course at Bath College. The Weather is bitterly cold.. I'm walking round Bath with a "Matsui (dixon's own brand of equipment) Tape Walkman". The tape i'm playing is BAD BRAINS - QUICKNESS. I have no other tapes in my bag.. Just the one. Its not like nowadays where i walk round with 100's of albums compressed onto my ipod.. I simply have the one tape - on repeat.

I finish whatever lesson i was attending and get the train back home to Bristol. I'm beyond excited as I'm going to the Bristol Bierkeller to see NYC Hardcore legends BAD BRAINS for the first time.

I meet up with two of my best friends, and fellow band mates (The Inept) - Tony "Gussy" Garland & Rich "Whacker" Donson. We do the pre-gig ritual and go to Burger King where we eat the only vegetarian option the BK Spicy Bean Burger, then go to Mad Harry's Arcade to the right of the Bierkeller to play on some games and waste money gambling on the shit fruit machines. We que up at outside the venue and its going right round the corner and up the hill to Castle Green. These were the fucking days - no question. The Hardcore scene in Bristol was amazing ; In one week you could see at least 3 American bands.
The atmosphere is building and the sense of anticipation is growing. Its getting later and colder - the doors still haven't opened. It gets to 10pm and still no sign of getting into venue and warmth.. People are wondering whats happening, Are the band even here yet ? Is the show still happening? Around 10.30 the doors finally happen and we all pile in through the door's to that familiar smell of stale cider, beer and cigarettes. I love it.
I rush straight to the merch stand and hand over my £7 or £8 on a bright yellow Bad Brains Quickness Tour shirt. I was a skinny teenager but the rule still was you had to have XL shirts.. don't ask me why coz i don't know to this day.

So it gets to 11 and there is NO support band.. Back then you could at least expect 3 support bands , especially at a Hardcore show. All the bands gear was on stage and the reggae was pumping out over the p.a system.. People smoking weed everywhere.. Security couldn't give two shits.
11.30 comes and the lights go down. For the next hour what can only be described as sheer brutal aggression, both visually and musically from 4 Rastafarian's is lapped up by the 700 odd punks / metaller's / hc kids.

HR the Bad Brains charismatic frontman is struggling by the end of the set and doesn't appear for the encore.. I notice a St Johns Ambulance guy going through the crowd and backstage.. My first thoughts are that someone has injured themselves stagediving.

After the show (at least 1.30am now) we go outside to get a ride home and see an Ambulance with the lights flashing.. There's rumors going round that HR (frontman) has been taken seriously ill and has to go to hospital.

Fast forward a few days, im in Clifton in Bristol at "Gargeland Records".. The best Record shop EVER open in Bristol. Run by one guy "Graeme Garageland" - a total Hardcore / Punk enthusiast.. I would somedays go into his shop at midday with 10 Silk Cut snouts and leave at 5pm with no fags, no money BUT a bag full of vinyl and a head full of tales about bands, gigs and events before my time. I loved it so much... I would listen and soak up everything i was told..

Anyway we get talking about the Bad Brains gig and how amazing it was. I ask him about the Ambulance and say how come HR never sang the encore? Graeme's face drops and looks at me .. he says "have you not heard what happened"? I shake my head and get ready for the impending story.....

Apparently in NYC the Bad Brains hung out with a lot of the homeless guys to help them out a bit. HR was with a crew of homeless dudes from a shelter - and a van pulls up to help the down-n-outs with some food. I believe its called a "Soup Kitchen" in the U.S
So anyway HR is hanging with these guys and helps the "charitable" guy who's brought the soup over to his friends.. HR apparently has some of this soup as well...
The next day HR is really fucking sick and has to go to hospital where a lot of these guys from the shelter are also. The police are littered around the hospital asking everyone questions..
NOW... this may be a complete URBAN MYTH but the story goes that the guy that made and brought the soup - had killed is wife , chopped her up and put her in the Soup and served it up to everyone.. The next day Bad Brains had to fly to Europe and HR still hadnt made a full recovery despite having his stomach pumped.. As a result he was still sick at the show in Bristol and thats why the doors didn't open til late and he didn't play the encore..

Ironically for HR and the Bad Brains, what must have been one of their worst gigs ; For me and 699 odd others in Bristol that night it was life changing.. I would say in my top 3 gigs of all time..

andrew hartwell - salesman of the year...

Late at night - working doing accounts and getting ready for the misery that is gonna be the Beak> box set mail out tomorrow with Geoff and Billy...
I had a break and went to my friend Andrew's website... www.aurora-b.com
Ive know Andrew and his girl friend Juliet (fixed gear riding legend) for a few years now - and they are total characters. They've both hooked me up with so much / so many people over the past couple of years its insane....
Anyway - Aurora Borealis is known for its great reviews in its webshop (& bare in mind they're actually trying to sell product from the shop). The decriptions make absolutely hillarious reading.. here's a couple of my faves...
STRIBORG
'The Foreboding Silence' CD
Genre: ambient/black metal
This ones from 2008. I could quote from reviews about "pummeling an empty bucket with a wooden spoon" and the usual forests and dissonant outsider BM sounds from Tasmania, but I won't. However you slice it, this is some of the most fucked up, deranged 'music' you are ever likely to hear. The man is possessed to just keep creating album after album, unhindered by any kind of concern for rhythm, tuning, audio fidelity or indeed anything other than his bleak and frosty vision. I once was listening to Prurient's 'Black Vase' on the bus when I suddenly thought 'what the fuck am I doing? This is painful'. Striborg causes similar questions when I listen to him. I'm intrigued in the same way as fatal diseases are interesting. "It's not the pinnacle of musicianship or inventiveness, but if that's a worry you're completely missing the point...allow yourself to be carried away to this colorless wasteland.". I keep trying to get carried away, I really do.

STRIBORG
'In the heart of the rainforest/Misanthropic Isolation' CD
Genre: ambient/black metal
"Here comes Displeased Records with another set of re-released STRIBORG recordings, and not a single pair of jeans are soiled in excitement. This compilation was originally released back in 2003, and consists of the "In The Heart Of The Rainforest" demo from 2000 and the "Misanthropic Isolation" demo from as far back as 1998. In other words, this is a re-release of a re-release, nice." AND its back in stock!!
Some of the keyboards sound like there's a brass band practicing in the next room, but then it may actually be guitars.


FUCKING AMAZING

POWER VIOLENCE - i need this in my life

UNDERRATED

So deceiving
Never lose that feeling
So revealing
Never lose that feeling
So far reaching
Never lose that feeling
So deceiving
Never lose that feeling
Past believing
Never lose that feeling
So revealing
Never lose that feeling

no pixies / no cassettes

My favorite format for purchasing music over the years has to be the HUMBLE cassette. I know most people laugh at this, but I SIMPLY laugh at the people laughing for not seeing the beauty I see in the TAPE.

I have tons of tapes at home ranging from major label signings Jane's Addiction, Primus, and Danzig in the early 90's, to underground home made noise tapes by people like Aaron Dilloway , Hair Police and Wolf Eyes. My pride and joy has to be my PRURIENT & BURNING STAR CORE 10 tape box set called "Ghosts of Niagra" limited to 100 copies.

As much as i LOVE cassettes, later on today i will be going to SHOP 14 Truman Brewery (just off Brick Lane in London) where my friends Jules and Monique work.. Monique has managed to get a copy of the latest SAN FRAN FG bike film ironically called "NO CASSETTES" .

I'm gonna be borrowing it off her with a view to screen it at the next "NO GEARS" bike night if i can get a license on it... I've already watched the 7 min sample film. Check it out http://vimeo.com/6236027 looks amazing..

I'd kill to goto San Fran and ride my bike over there in the beautiful dry weather.

Later this evening a lot of my old friends from Bristol and both my sisters are going to Brixton Academy to see the PIXIES... I like the Pixies but never really loved them and always preferred bands like Dinosaur Jr and Lemonheads from the same era.

Anyway people seem to worship the ground they walk on and good on the Pixies for earning a few nuggets after all this time.. I however wont be in Brixton tonite but will be in the South Bank Centre (Queen Elizabeth Hall) to see one of the greatest EVER bands from Norway. The mighty ULVER make their UK debut tonight after being around for 20 years.. ULVER (Norwegian for Wolves) were one of the original Black Metal bands that inspired literally 100's of bands from all over the world.

Ulver haven't made Black Metal for years and are now an experimental band that concentrate on Ethereal drones, Electronica and Film Soundtracks & Scores. My friend Daniel who's also in Guapo and Aethenor has joined Ulver for all the live shows and he's managed to get me a free ticket so i'm extremely lucky as i believe the show sold out months ago..

check out this interview with Garm from ULVER http://www.metalkult.com/videos/ulver-the-metalkult-interview/

Hair Cuts with Kadi / Riding and Painting with 45rpm / Careless FUCKING drivers.

At 10am this morning i met my good friends Matt & Kadi.
Kadi got the chance to see what not many people do.. "Me without a hat on.."
She cut my hair and did a good job although i did constantly tell her "you cant polish a turd". Obviously that wasnt a dig at her "snipping skillz" she's the best in the south west if not THE WORLD.. believe..!!
After much haggling over money, AKA whether she was going to accept any at all from me.. (there was a ten minute stand off),
Me and Matt went down to get paint from a shop in stokes croft - and stopped off at our favourite Bike shop in Bristol - Overburys in St Paul's.. Its been there since 1900. Its run by a serious mechanic who knows everything and everyone connected with high performance bikes.. Matt and I drooled over the catalogs he's just brought back from Italy - and nearly put deposits down on a new bike each.. Unfortunately lack of scroatage prevented this.
Andrew (the mechanic) is teaching me a few nerdy things like how to tighten a rear sprocket & lock-ring . He's a real decent guy. Im hooking up with him in London at the Earls Court bike fair in London over the next day or so if i have time from my work related commitments..
So after this Matt and i had an amazing ride around St Pauls and Easton on our way to Geoff's studio. Matt has only been riding fixed gear for 3 weeks and i'm SERIOUSLY impressed. He's gonna be one of those bastards that will be 'out doing' me within days - i can feel it in my (withered) bones.
Once we got to the studio it was full-on WORK WORK WORK.. I got on with my usual ritual of emails / phone calls / swearing / texting / grumbling.. Matt just got straight into the stencil and spraying of 400 BEAK> box sets..
After a long day doing this - we rode back to Matts for a drink and it was concluded it was a good day....
UNFORTUNATELY HOWEVER my day didnt finish there... On my way home at the roundabout between Arley Hill and Redland road, Some ABSOLUTE CUNT IN A CAR knocked me off my bike, and then sped off... I was okay on first inspection - however im bruised badly and cut my hand, elbow, hip, knee, foot. My rear wheel is buckled and my handle bars are bent out of shape.. Im getting SICK TO THE BACK TEETH of car drivers who show absolutely NO regard to anyone else and drive like they're in some invincible bubble... I hope whomever it was that did that to me gets home tonite to discover their house is flooded or something to that effect.. Its a disgrace that they couldnt even be fucked to stop and see if i was okay... TOTAL BULLSHIT...
Anyway i wont be taking my bike up to London now so that means it will be plenty of walking and the filthy stinking tube.. Swine Flu running through the underground like a water through a pipe.
Anyway enough bleating - im looking forward to getting out of Bristol for a couple of days...

MILES IN THE SKY

Vinatge MISFITS / GLENN DANZIG pics...

check these out.. i especially love the one of Glenn and Henry Rollins.. KILLER

JUSTIN K BROADRICK / INSOMNIA

I suffer from lack of sleep most nights.. I tend to fall asleep around 1am in front of the TV, then wake up around 4.30/5ish.. I can never get back to sleep - so by 8am I've normally been up for at least 3 hours and it feels like its midday.
Anyway this morning i put on my Ipod and listened to some GODFLESH from the late 80's / early 90's. Anyone that knows me - knows that "THAT" time period was the golden age of Music to me. I listened to the self titled album, Streetcleaner , Slavestate, Cold World, and Pure all back to back whilst catching up on some emails and work stuff.. I got bored and frustrated doing that and started to read old interviews with Justin Broadrick from the band on-line. Whether or not you're a fan of GODFLESH, Justin seriously deserves some kind of "life-time tribute award" to underground music. The man is NOT ONLY one of the nicest guys i have ever worked with in 21 years of being in this godforsaken industry. He's also got so many amazing stories to tell and has experienced more than anyone else ive EVER met. This is a man that got offered and turned down chances to be in DANZIG & FAITH NO MORE + single handedly turned a generation of narrow-minded hardcore & metal kids to discover Electronica / Industrial music. In fact if there's one Auto Biography i would like to read it would be Justin's. It's a shame it will probably never happen though as he's not in any way a Trumpet Blower..