Smash Music #3

Okay, so I just have to admit to myself that after a couple years, I'm not going to sit down and finish the layout for Smash Music #3. However, all the text is finished, so I'm just going to start putting it up here in sections for the people that care to read it.

Here's the introduction:

It took me well over a year to finish this issue up, unquestionably because of a sloth that I couldn’t get out of for most of that time. This has led to a couple of things which you’ll probably notice in here. First, some of the interviews are outdated as fuck. I can only apologize profusely to the people involved that I didn’t get this done and out to them sooner. Second, since the interviews were spread out over a long period of time, I failed to notice that I was asking people the same set of questions over and over again. Apparently, I’m so interested in how things have evolved over twenty years, what people think of recording techniques, and what people’s opinions of musical evolution are that I’ve hardly asked anything else. Even looking at previous issues, I repeatedly asked these same types of questions. It makes sense as a reflection of my interests, which this zine is, and also people provide some great responses, so fuck it; that’s how it goes.

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I find it interesting to be able to draw straight lines of influence from one band to another. It can both be enjoyable to draw connections between things that are musically similar but existed in radically different parts of the world at the same time, and also to track how the movements of an individual can help spark something in a place they pass through.

Quite by accident, I came across a band from Melbourne, Australia named I Spit on Your Gravy. What’s notable about them – to me – is ‘Violent Fluff’, one of two songs they contributed to the compilation ‘Eat Your Head’, released by No Master’s Voice in 1984. Probably most of the track is improvised, beginning with: “This one’s called…Stink Fist! Aawandkawanaaa! And this one’s called Joy Destruction Suck [?]! Arrarraruwarrsah! And this one’s called Bloodshot…haha…Testes”, et al. There’s a one-second song in there too, aptly titled ‘One-Second Song’, before an Unhindered by Talent-type composed song seems to break out, and then the track returns to the bursts of noise. Given the location and date, it makes me wonder how familiar Seven Minutes of Nausea was with ‘Violent Fluff’ before they began the following year.

Since I mentioned Sore Throat above, I should also apologize for having said that their first demo came out in 1985 last issue, when it was, in fact, recorded in 1987 (an error I could have easily avoided by just checking liner notes on my records). Katz Seki also pointed out that I failed to mention Brigada do Odio’s side of their split LP with Olho Seco, which was also released in ’85. Also that year produced the Rapt tracks from their split with Final Blast, the incredible demos used on the recent Occult / Agathocles 7”, and I’m sure many of you could give me a schooling on other shit from the time that I’m unaware of or have neglected to mention. Please do.

Katz also added to the ops-psf discography I printed, informing me that his Humanexterminationproject also had a split tape with the afore-mentioned band. ops-psf also has an internet presence now, and I’ve learned that these cassette releases were also not included:

ops-psf / Depresy Mouse / Pissed Cunt
ops-psf / Noiseabundos / Gusano de Choklo / Raticda
v/a Sosiski vol. 2
v/a Noizart 2
v/a Brutally Morbid Growth vol. 2
ops-psf will also have a discography CD coming out soon, in addition to some new recordings, including a split 7” with Minch, it seems.