Bandcamp Daily Round-Up + Fiction

Check out some recent pieces I wrote —

First off, obligatory apologies for the lack of posts in the past month or so.

I hope my little coterie of paid subscribers ain’t too salty. I really appreciate everyone who has dropped some coin on this enterprise.

Part of the reason that posts have slowed down is that I have been doing some fairly steady feature writing for Bandcamp Daily.

It’s been nice to go long on niche topics that weirdos like me and you care about (I’m putting these word-thoughts in your brain-mouth, deal with it).

Let’s take a stroll down this recent-memory lane:

The first feature I did for BC Daily was this deep dive into the two dudes from ‘90s no wavers COUCH and their further adventures in music, ranging as far as deep cuts from Africa, and, um, Chicago.

COUCH

Then I wrote about the semi-legendary No Wave (capitalized No Wave, the real shit) tape compilation Tape #1. I talked to people like Robert Sietsema, Chris Nelson and Rick Brown. This also covers some of the ground that my book-in-progress We’re Not Crazy, will cover, so I killed all the birds with one little pebble. Well, at least a few of those suckers.

TAPE #1

Then I got to write about one of my favorite bands—The Birthday Party. Original title of this was Figures of Fun: The Sordid History of Bands Who Ripped Off The Birthday Party, but I softened the blow slightly. Got a report from one of my paid subscribers that the first of these bands featured—Inca Babies—got well over a thousand plays and well over a dozen sales from this piece. Huzzah! It’s OK to be a little miffed when you can go down to the pub and buy your mates a pint. Cheers, lads.

I will put a postscript in here that some of the bands that most fit this description, and most wanted to feature, do not have any of their music on Bandcamp, and thus aren’t eligible (Oh’ Dev from Holland being chief among them). Nevertheless, I was able to sneak a mention of Gasrattle in there in an entry on the feral Cat Wax Axe Co., who’s entire 4-song EP is NOT on BC, but two of the songs are, so—ta daaaa—it qualifies. I appreciate that my editor lets me get away with these kind of shenanigans.

THE BIRTHDAY PARTY

The next feature—about personal faves Universal Order of Armageddon—didn’t get as much “play” as I’d hoped, but I was quite satisfied with the finished piece. I talked to the singer and the guitarist, and, while prickly, I was glad to do so. I love this band and hope this new collection lets more people, particularly the weird-ass teenage punks of today, hear their galvanizing tunesmithereens.

UNIVERSAL ORDER of ARMAGEDDON

Finally, Steve Albini died. That was a gut punch for people who actually give a shit about underground music (like you). Between all the hagiogrophies and the accusations from the art-haters (some of which are entirely justified), I made my way into the lion’s den and dropped 5000 words about this goddamn sonofabitch in the days following his death. It went through some editing and popped out about a week and a half after he passed. I could have doubled this length and barely scratched the surface, but I was able to highlight 35 or so releases he worked on, plus double or triple that when you consider the bounty of hyperlinks embedded in the text. No, I didn’t mention Rapeman (who were a powerhouse musically). Yes, it’s a stupid name. Yes, the bass player hates the name. Yes, I’ve been watching Rapeman live shows on YouTube lately.

(Yes, if you buy the Gaunt album, it will all have been worth it.)

Three days after this piece came out, my editor told me it was the most-viewed article on Bandcamp Daily of all time (in only three days!). It was retweeted well over 200 times. Metrics are whatever, but I gotta admit—that made me feel warm and fuzzy for about five minutes. Steve, rest easy and thanks for all the riffs.

STEVE ALBINI

There’s more coming up in the future.

In addition to the above features, I’ve also had a few entries in the monthly Tape Report, and a couple of other shorter things.

One other little thing that I appreciate my editors at BC Daily going with is that they have used all my suggested titles (sometimes I give them a few options) and subheadings. Like, the Albini subtitle has multiple Big Black song references crammed into one line. It’s fun!

And finally, I had this 5000 word short story published on Hobart Pulp.

I’m proud of this story and would love if you read it.

SOME CINDY TALKING

I have more short stories looking for ports at which to dock.

I guess that’s about it for now.

I have designs on new posts, so stay tuned, and thanks for the support.