Where is the Love For All These Bands from my "N" CD Shelves Who Don't Get Mentioned Nearly Enough on ILM?

Nightmares on Wax: Smoker's Delight was pretty decent triphop at the time it came out, but now sounds incredibly simple and shallow; Carboot Soul was a disappointment even when it came out...

Nomo: I've been trying to pitch a story on them to like three different magazines. Where IS the love?

The Niagara I was referring to is a French band, dancey hard-ish rock with a girl singer, from the early '90s or thereabouts. Same genre as Les Rita Mitsouko and Guetsh Patti or however you spell it, sort of.

Necros -- I saw the Meatmen and the Necros when they were still rigidly hardcore at the old Mudd Club. It was a good show. Both became metal bands.

Nektar -- British band that went from doing acid prog (Tab in the Ocean) to boogie prog (Remember the Future) to Larry Fast-synth laden classic FM rock pap ("Magic is a Child" with a baby Brooke Shields on the cover!) The deluxe Nektar reissues last year was great. The two best are "Remember the Future," a concept album of that I can never get the concept of although it sure sounds good, and "Live at the Roundhouse." "Recycled" is also very good, another concept record about how it's not good to be a litterbug in the galaxy.

Aldo Nova -- fairly big commercial FM success in the Journey/Styx/Night Ranger years using similar formula. Very overproduced pop pomp guitar rock.

Novadriver -- stoner band with a fixation on Hawkwind more than Black Sabbath. Second album, "Deeper High," is the better two which are fair to good, more often the latter.

I believe Noir Desir were feted by Frenchies as humanist politicos who "meant it", the same way the singer "meant it" when he battered his g/f to death no doubt. Dunno how their fanbase reacted to that one, badly I should think. Unless they considered it to be a "crime passionelle". I think he claimed she fell over and hit her head.

Oddly, I liked Carboot Soul when it came out, and still own it. And I bought a used copy of Smoker's Delight on St Marks last month, and it bored the living hell out of me. Doubt "datedness" is the problem, but then I never do; it was probably dull in the first place. Then again, maybe so is Carboot Soul, and I just overrated the thing from the start. I should give it a spin to see if it's worth still keeping.

Anyway, they played Turner Hall in Madison, WI, with Big Black opening. Between sets they blasted the Buzzcocks, whom I'd never heard. (The singer had to explain to me who the Buzzcocks were.) I don't remember anything like fatigues. The singer was wearing a mesh t-shirt, white, I think. He was manic, spazzing out and swinging the mic everywhere. They kind of jammed on "Libido," their jazz tune which goes into a hardcore break. They had this combination of looseness and sudden unity that was exciting. "Potential Rapist"--still one of the great riffs--stayed in my head for about 10 years before I ever tracked down Basement Screams. I took "Managua" as being against the Contra war, not quasi-military, and Jeff to me sounded like a lot of the punk spoken word/rap at the time, not so much commanding as just talking. They were soaked in sweat by the end.

As far as I know, the last person to call me Fuck Eddy was, I swear, Thurston Moore in some red-covered fanzine called *Killer* or something he put out in the late '80s. Nowhere near as creative as the fellow who called me "The Mayor of Asshole City" in a letter to the Voice once back then, after my review of the third Boston album.

As for mustache groomers, Astor Place Barbershop totally gets my vote.

I remember that. Even had a couple issues. It's typeset/font was in magic marker. My ex-wife and I had a little tape label that issued some punk rock stuff and he bought a copy of one of my noise band things, Senseless Hate's "Mechanical Death."

No Trend -- another noise band, maybe from Maryland (?) I had a couple records by them and enjoyed those at the time. Senseless Hate wound up doing a split LP with them and a couple others called "The Gift of Noise," on an imprint of New Rose.

I have the cassette somewhere...it's sorta wierd new jack swing/hip hop hybrid but kinda dirrty...

"Fake Hair Wearin' Bitch" off that w/2 Live Crew is like crazily, hyped up misogyny...they go nuts....

Dudes had really wierd Kid N Play haircuts.

ha! I was there too, wrote about it in Boston Rock.

revive

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUxADCsPV8s