Various- "Real Slow Radio no.2 - FAST" (2001)

 

Yet another installment of Mat Brinkman's Mish Mash Mush compilations, this time in the themed Real Slow Radio sub-series. The theme of this edition is FAST, so chew some Adderall and strap in for some off-the-wall hyperspeed freak noise hysteria in a mix of styles, from the usual MMMMMM mess of bands you knows and love, bands you've never heard of and bands that barely (if ever) existed. Plenty of exclusive tracks from familiar names on this one, like Lightning Bolt, Kites, Pleasurehorse, Olneyville Sound System, Mudboy, Libythth and Meerk Puffy. Lots of great stuff from more obscure locals (at least in 2001) like Curmudgeon Clique, Bug Sized Mind, Butcherings, and personal favorite Ninja Vs Wrestler.

As you can see, it also came in a sick silkscreened sewn-felt/ultrasuede sleeve. It was much less dirty looking 14 years ago.

MEDIAFIRE DOWNLOAD HEEEREE

Bug Sized Mind- "The Spider and the Fly" CDr (2001)

After two months of silence WE'RE BACK! Swinging back into action with an obscure Providence gem. Bug Sized Mind was (is?) Rich Porter, who went on to form Wizardzz with Brian Gibson of Lightning Bolt (on drums no less), and who has done time in Barkley's Barnyard Critters and Freak Zone (with Mat Brinkman and Leif Goldberg, who were responsible for some of the most chaotic and violent performances I've ever witnessed).
Bug Sized Mind was Rich's most consistent solo project, exploring the deep end of meticulously programmed digital electronics.  Sharp, jerky synthetic rhythms build up into kaleidoscopic masses of interlocking bleeps and squelches, violently jumping back and forth across the stereo field. The harsh panning make this something of a headphone nightmare, unless you're the sort of sick fuck who actually enjoys the sensation of insects buzzing in a mass around your head. The name Bug Sized Mind is especially fitting because this music is among the most overtly insectoid this listener has ever heard. Entomophobes steer clear, because listening to BSM is not unlike being swarmed by thousands of tiny laser-powered robot mosquitoes who've been rudely baseball-batted from their nest.
The only music I've ever played in the house that truly freaked out my dogs.

MEDIAFIRE DOWNLOAD LINK HERE

MORE COMING SOON!!!

I've fallen pretty behind in my updates here. Much more on the way soon, and at a less plodding rate.
Stay tuned!

Various- "5/02 aka Mish Mash Mush Maximum Mega Mix no7" (2002)

Now that the first 3 MMMMMM comps are up I can say fuck-all to proper sequencing and lay down a personal favorite in the series. This one is a straight banger. Exclusive tracks from Lightning Bolt, Pleasurehorse, Munch, Sinking Body, Ninja vs Wrestler, Noise Nomads, Kites, Hs Dom, and the funkiest Meerk Puffy track you've ever goddamn heard. Plenty of other great stuff such as Patootie Lobe from Forcefield, a rare sighting of Brian Chippendale's pre-Black Pus solo jam Lord Sun Son, Stereo Discount Center representatives Stuart Powers and Ferox Head, and plenty more I can't (or won't) identify.
As with most of these, there's no discogs.com entry for this, which I may have to buckle down and fix at some point. Until then you're going to have to settle for the barely-legible tracklisting photo below for an idea of what to expect.

DOWNLOAD THAT SHIT HERE HERE HERE

Various Artists- Mish Mash Mush Maximum Mega Mix Vol. 3 (2000)

After almost a month of silence we're back, completing the initial 3-volume cycle of the Mat Brinkman-curated Mish Mash Maximum Mega Mix.  A bunch more volumes would follow later (and are on their way to CDRchive eventually) but the first three were released together with the same ultra-basic jewel case packaging, rubber-banded or scotch-taped together as a bundle.
This third volume comes packing some solid star power, featuring future noise heavyweights Wolf Eyes (doing a live cover of "Wild Thing"!), Lightning Bolt, Forcefield and Magas, as well as Sinking Body (Neil from Men's Recovery Project), Morph Brinkles (Mr Brinkman himself), {Barkley's} Barnyard Critters (Brian Gibson's ultraviolent cartoon animal band) and a ton more. Bright-eyed synthpop, filthy tape noise, grimy dirge rock and lo-fi folk all intermingle in a gloriously unmastered mess of awesome. And as with the first two volumes, there's plenty of unidentifiably mysterious one-off weirdness to keep you on your toes.

History here, friends. Harken back to a time when any combination of these freaks could have shared a bill together, before underground niche-ism took over and fucked up everybody's good time.

Much more to come, sooner than later this time.

 

MEDIAFIRE DOWNLOAD WHATEVER SOMEWHERE DO IT

various artists- "Mish Mash Mush Maximum Mega Mix vol 2" (2000)

Second volume of Fort Thunder-related compilation curated by Mat Brinkman. Same simple, effective packaging as the first. Same mix of real projects and mysterious one-offs and jokes. Appearances from Landed, Pink and Brown, La Machine, Burmese, buncha Forcefield members, and the classic "Providence Place Mall" by Mr. Pipes.
Come feel the feeling.

MEDIAFIRE DOWNLOAD RIGHT HERE, BABY

Third Death- Thrash Out!!! cdr (2006)

Third fucking Death.
If you lived through this period in Providence history you probably still have two or three of these demos still lurking in your belongings somewhere. No one who attended punk, hardcore or metal shows around this time managed to escape leaving at least one show with a copy of this in their hand. These dudes were unbelievably prolific free-demo distributors, just walking through punk shows with backpacks full of these "Thrash Out!!!" CDRs handing them to anyone willing to take one. I was offered copies multiple times at a single show on at least one occasion. Which, in the end, was great because this shit is gold. Blazing fast, short n sweet blasts about skateboarding and eating pizza.
They released one amazing 7" on Pvd's Culture Void imprint as well as a three-way split with Hulk Out and All Those Opposed on Tor Johnson Records. And then kind of disappeared. I haven't done my research, and don't personally know any of them so I can't say what any of these kids went on to do after. Culture Void maintains Third Death's internet presence with this lil info page here:
http://www.culturevoid.com/ri/thirddeath.html

Seventeen songs in just over ten minutes of tight, fast-as-fuck skate thrash in the classic tradition. Super fucking awesome. GO!!!!

MEDIAFIRE DOWNLOAD HERE

Badman- demo CDR (2005-6?)

 

I'm happy to present something a little different from the noisier stuff I've previously posted. Badman was based out of Providence but members appear to have split time between Pvd, NYC, Boston and Denver. A few years back they were playing out frequently and getting great local press in anticipation of their debut full length slated for release on Providence's Corleone Records. Unfortunately the release date came and went with no album, and the band seemed to have dropped off the face of the earth, though at least one member went on to explore similar-minded ground (albiet instrumental) in the excellent Volcano Kings.
Badman took up in the fine lineage of the Gun Club, later Tom Waits, and most strongly the Bad Seeds and the bluesier moments of the Birthday Party. The vocals have a distinctly Cave-ian croon (in the best possible way) augmented by twanging slide-heavy guitar and a second percussionist banging on trash cans and scrap metal, recorded open and reverb-thick. Excellent songwriting chops, great production (especially for a demo, god damn!) and style for miles. I'm a sucker for a band that wears suits.

This was a 5-song demo CDR they were giving away at shows at the time. Absolutely amazing stuff, far exceeding what one would expect from such modest packaging.

MEDIAFIRE DOWNLOAD ---HERE---

ADDENDUM:

Just found out that they went and deposited a cleaned up version of this demo and what I imagine was supposed to have been their debut album on Bandcamp for all to enjoy. I'm still going ahead and uploading my rip of the CDR, so do whatcha feel. The bandcamp site also states that the group officially disbanded in 2009, so I guess that's the end of that mystery.

https://badmanmusic.bandcamp.com/

Tinsel Teeth- demo CDR (2010)

Some more recent history here with Tinsel Teeth's untitled/self-titled demo CDR from 2010. If you got to see them in their prime you know the deal, and if not you missed out HARD. They recently did an Original Lineup reunion show at Aurora in Providence that brought them right back to their half-naked blood-splattered glory.
I won't go on much about the band itself as there's plenty of readily available press online:

http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archives/2010/11/tinsel_teeth_pl.html
http://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/5822

This was their first demo. Six tracks listed, plus a "hidden" cover of "Negative Creep" by Nirvana. Handwritten track listing on the back and original art by Will from White Mice on the front.
Nasty, filthy shit.

 

MEDIAFIRE DOWNLOAD HERE

Mix Ape- Found In the Street Tape Vol 1 CDR (2004)

The first of many such posts of Mat Brinkman's multi-pseudonymous "Mix Ape" series. This first one was spliced together from "approximately 88 1 ft lengths spliced in no particular order" from "tapes/tape pieces found in Olneyville/Providence streets 199?-2004. 100+ tapes."
There ya go. 13 untitled tracks of precisely that. Heavy on the latin dance, hip hop and children screaming.

MEDIAFIRE DOWNLOAD HERE

various artists- MISH MASH MUSH MAXIMUM MEGA MIX VOL 1 (2000)

For this beautiful Friday the 13th we've got the first volume of the Mish Mash Mush Maximum Mega Mix series curated by Mat Brinkman of Forcefield. The first three came out together out of Fort Thunder in 2000, with extremely minimal packaging in plain jewel cases.
These featured an extremely eclectic mix of styles ranging from field recordings of the old East Side train tunnel, spazzed out noise rock, musique concrete, bedroom electronics, straight up harsh noise, and a liberal dose of one-offs and joke tracks (doo-wop acapella Black Flag cover, anyone?). The lineup is also all over the place and could probably only be fully deciphered by Brinkman himself, with a handful of more etablished names like Mindflayer, 25 Suaves, Libythth, Jeff Hartford (Noise Nomads), a few more obscure acts of the time, as well as a good amount of what I suspect are joke names and pseudonyms (if Bronchitis Brothers isn't some incarnation of Olneyville Sound System I'll eat my shoe.)
This is the first of three in the initial MMMMMM series, with the other two coming soon.
Classic American freak noise history absolutely not to be missed.

Tracklist: (copied from Discogs)

1	–Train Tunnel
2	–Borbid Torpor	Borbid Torpor
3	–Libythth	Fart Thunderwear
4	–Tazer	Once I Was Struck By Lightning
5	–Reptile House	Reptile House
6	–Roentgen	Vineyard Pirates Vs Maximum Harmful
7	–Gang Of Fonzies	Wasted
8	–Dan Bodah & Jeff Hartford	Excerpt From 3 Hours Of...
9	–Larry Marshall	Spontaneous Human Combustion
10	–Bronchitis Brothers	Extra Strength Muscle Rub
11	–Minnows Electric	Burning Plastic Army
12	–Mindflayer	PW11-20-99
13	–Paecom	Entropik Feast
14	–Voknine	Number 2
15	–25 Suaves	Herculeum
16	–Defecation	Undesirable
17	–Ninja	Training Maneuvers

MEDIAFIRE DOWNLOAD LINK HERE

 
(Note: after several tries I was unable to rip track 10 from my copy, so had to include the best rip I could find on Soulseek, which is unfortunately only at 192kbps as opposed to the strict 320 I've been keeping things at. If I find a better copy I'll re-upload the whole thing proper.)

Dave & Steve- demo CDR (2005)

Here's a fun little quickie.
Short-lived instrumental prog-metal duo out of Woonsocket featuring neither a Dave nor a Steve. Soon after they gained a bassist and 2nd guitarist and became Bonestorm, who eventually morphed into Thrillhouse.
The first anybody outside of Woonsocket had heard of them was when they played early in the afternoon at the first Fancy Fest at AS220 in 2005. They slayed the small early crowd enough that it was demanded that they come back and play a better spot later in the evening. The geared back up hours later in a primo time slot in front of a packed room and totally smoked the place.
This is the lil 3-song, 6-minute CDR they were giving away at that show, recorded surprisingly well for a freebie demo. Short n sweet. Fun stuff.

MEDIAFIRE LINK HERE

Unicorn Hard-On - "Unicorn Hard-On no. 3" CDR (2004)

 What can I say about Unicorn Hard-On that hasn't been said already? In the past decade Val Martino has established herself as the reigning queen of rhythmic noise and noisy techno. Val was doing the beat-based noise thing AGES before the current trend of technoise, and was and still is doing it better than 90% of the rest. Her mastery of the Korg Electribe is unequaled.
Technically Val was not living in Providence at the time this particular CDR was made and put out, but being a longtime Providence resident at this point I think it's still a valid local entry.
She has since released tapes, cdrs and vinyl on labels such as Deathbomb Arc, tanzprocesz, I Just Live Here, More Records/Hot Releases, and most recently her full length LP on the eMego offshoot Spectrum Spools.
This is one of her earliest offerings, simply titled "Unicorn Hard-On no.3" which I got from her when she was living in Philadelphia in 2004. The beats are still there, but mostly take a back seat to blown-out, chopped-up vocal samples and squealing delay-pedal abuse. Nine untitled tracks of truly bent freak electronics.

Mediafire download link HERE

Geraldo Made Me Kill- "Free Sex" CDr (1995/2001)

Now we're getting deep.
Henry Dunlevy, the sole consistent member of Geraldo Made Me Kill, has been on the fringes of the fringe scene for 25-odd years now. He's something like a Section 8 Steven Stapleton of Providence, being a dedicated non-musician having brought dozens of folks (myself included) into the fold to collaborate or contribute to GMMK recordings over the years, often without their knowledge (also myself included, haha). Working with found sounds, radio broadcasts, spoken word, cheap synths and electronics, as well as the odd traditional instrumentation, mixed, mashed and manilupated via beat-up tape machines and 4-tracks. Henry had churned out over 15 GMMK albums by the last time I was in frequent contact with him, and I believe hasn't slowed down much in the past 10 years since then.

GMMK is true drug music in every sense. These tracks were all inspired by and about drugs, conceived of, recorded, manipulated and edited, and artwork designed under the influence of drugs.  A history spotted with hospitalization, homelessness, and addiction has contributed to this music remaining as under the radar as it is. At the same time these disparate conditions have unquestionably made it all possible.  Ask anyone who was around the Providence weirdo music scene in the 90s and early 2000s and they'll undoubtedly have stories to tell about the enigmatic character/s responsible for this.

This is one of the classic first-wave releases by the "group", recorded between 1990-95, released on a limited basis on handmade cassette in the following years, and in a cdr edition in 2001. Stylistically all over the place, jumping around from raw sound collage, droning abstract industrial, and damaged experiments with synthwave, funk and even demented reggae. Alternately unsettling, hilarious, creepy, and deeply darkly psychedelic.

Recommended for fans of early Coil and C93, Severed Heads, Negativland, and the Residents' more sinister moments.

MEDIAFIRE LINK HERE

The Lasers - st CDr (2004) + "Nuclei" CDr (2007)

 THE FUCKING LASERS. I have prided myself for over a decade as the number one fan of this band, and listening to their stuff again for the first time in years confirms that my love is still real.

The Lasers were Providence's singular heroes of post-millenial Digital Hardcore, in the classic DHR style, but fully synthetic with not an Amen break or Slayer riff in sight. Short, sharp blasts of sputtering kickdrums and synth squelch backing dual boy-girl screaming vocals. And they could actually write songs. There's a shocking amount of catchiness in these 40-second blasts of shreiking energy and noise.

Mark Marine/Laser went on to play in a ton of other awesome bands, doing vocals in Bermuda (with members of Daughters and Fang Island), playing drums in Bellows and Worms in Women & Cattle, and most recently playing bass in In Heat and ALTARATLA (with Roby Newton of Milemarker on vox).

The first CDR featured the Lasers as a duo with Lauren Furtado, recorded by J Hockenberry at the Box of Knives, and released in 2004. The second, "Nuclei" found the Lasers stripped down to just Mark. It was recorded by Nick Sadler (of Daughters, Fang Island and Bermuda) and originally released in 2007 on CDR. "Nuclei" was rereleased on cassette a few years back by Mickey Zacchili's Price Tapes label.
Unfortunately I only still have the disc itself from "Nuclei", so I've included the insert art for the later cassette release in place of the original art (which will hopefully surface sooner or later for me to include here).

Here we've got both released zipped together for ya for maximum efficiency (and because they're each only 10 minutes long.)

 Mediafire link HERE