+/- BUGSKULL

Here’s a sweet cover of Dope Smokin Son from Gargamelodies..

It’s by Ephrata.. apparently.

Dope Smokin Son

Snakland was originally released on Scratch in 1996 on LP and CD. Due to a screw-up by me the CD was mastered with one channel “out of phase”, so it never sounded as good as it should have. It has always bugged me, so I have corrected the “phase” problem and posted the files here.

Listening back after 16 years, most of the tracks stand up pretty well- Mind Phaser, Bouncer, Exit Wound and others.

01 -Bring the Clowns

02 – Snakland

03 – Long Corridor #8

04 – Mind Phaser

05 – Egg Chamber

06 – From the Skies

07 – Walkin’ Stone

08 – Bouncer

09 – Exit Wound

Extensive review of Hidden Mountain here http://www.shoft.org.uk/2012/02/05/bugskull-hidden-mountain/

…in some aspects reassuringly little has changed. Now focused on the originally Portland, Oregon based but now continent-spanning duo of Sean Byrne (Austin, TX) and Aaron Day (Berlin), there is a refreshing directness which harks right back to those days of cassette releases and home recording. Their basic premise remains intact as Byrne‘s often delicate, heartfelt nearly-folk songs collide with scraps of recovered sound, simmer in tumults of generated noise and are steeped in analogue hiss and crackle..

…The lyrics and the music here both seem to deal throughout with a sense of pent-up natural process, and asserting some sort of understanding on a complicated world. Overall, this is a masterpiece of wonderfully intelligent songwriting, barely controlled noise, and simple but beautiful construction.

Hidden Mountain is available on LP from Underwater Now/ Almost Halloween Time. The covers are meticulously hand drawn by Luigi.

Will be available soon on Cassette from Shrimper and CD/Digital from Scratch Records.

Dave Segal, Alternative Press, August, 1995

What they offer are nothing less than new forms of beauty in song. Phantasies and Senseitions overflows with a microcosmic (un)rock that offers succor to people bored rigid by the formulaic record-collection plundering that most groups call songwriting. Phantasies and Senseitions has the refreshing splendor of naive folk art, that sense of being timeless and utterly natural…Bugskull breathe ingenuity like the rest of us mortals inhale oxygen.

Steve Savoca, CMJ New Music Report, 4/10/95

Portland, Oregon’s lo-fi dreamers arc-weld electronic ambience and indie rock into an airtight container and cast it into a watery grave….The result is lavishly textured, rich with imagery and suffused with sad beauty and maddening isolation.

Kathy Molloy, Snipehunt, Spring 1995

Bugskull are the sleeping giants of Portland, amiable young men who are rather adept at building high-rise soundscrapers of sleepy guitar, whirring electronics and quivery vocals…The violin, spooky organ and assorted reeds, blips and beeps give one the impression of Pink Floyd and Chrome dueling in a submarine. If you thought all the hip Portland scene had to offer was grease monkey rock and its attendant introspective solo careers, get wise to the muzzy psychedelia of Bugskull.

Sweet Portable You, June, 1995

Bugskull is continuing to fashion a kind of honeycomb of their own atmospheric blurgh and this eighteen-tracker has to stand of such big strength as to be called the cornerstone. A real nineties record of ambiguous sway and sinew; a great accomplishment from all my angles.

Bronx Cheer #1

The vinyl output of these Portland fellows has been most impressive…On the race to drone pop heaven you’ve got Stereolab, Bugskull and Flying Saucer Attack and it’s anybody’s guess who’ll end up on top; just don’t do yourself the disservice of missing out on their efforts.

Dave Segal, Alternative Press, July, 1995

Bugskull…create some of the most expansive, distinctive lo-fi music of the 90s… Bugskull are the soul of subtle inventiveness, masters of seduction by sonic understatement.

Amazon Description

Bugskull’s debut album is sonically all over the map, though without annoying “genre hopping.” There are gorgeous reed-accented instrumentals, floating tape loop stun-whispers, space travels, lonely noise, scratchy guitar pop and outright weirdness. It all bears the distinctive Bugskull stamp of gentle dissonance, spacious melodicism and a cushy low end delivered with nary a cliche or heavy hand. People keep saying it’s diverse yet cohesive, and you should believe them.

The first full length CD/LP release by Bugskull, on RoadCone records in 1994.

Intro

Shorty

Opening Theme

Inhuman

Elfin Majic

Recoder

Old Towne

Concave Life

Long Corridor #6

Almost Blue

Seguara

Big Ronnie

Sit On This

Concrete Boots

Olympic

Death Valley ’94

Choosegase

Space

The LP had a different cover:

The Legend of Ross cassette features many great tracks including New Bad Things, Sone, Bugskull, Jupiteria, The Stowaways (Jeff Fucillo’s Dad’s band from the 60′s). I think this was Union Pole’s first release and was in collaboration with the short-lived Ross Records. The Bugskull track is ‘Goodbye Kitty’ and is on the Second side @ ~7:00

 

Minnow is Brendan’s solo project. Drum machine & keyboards warped and distorted.

All you Jarvik VII/Bone Cure lovers can at last get digital copies of the long lost Union Pole release on Union Pole. Jeff Fucillo has been busy posting all of his Union Pole releases.

Sean has a bunch of recent material that was recorded in Berlin in 2010 with Aaron. It’s quite melancholy, but the recording, performance and the songs are pretty amazing.

Posted here is “Wolves”:

Wolves

Any labels interested in releasing this should contact Sean.