mx 80 sound

atsonicpark · 11.20.2010, 04:01 PM

Anyone else a huge fan of this amazing band? I first got into them when researching awesome bands from my area (also see: the Beefheart-worshipping art punk pioneers Dancing Cigarettes, the Pere-Ubu-on-acid of Dow Jones and the Industrials, the violent-as-fuck garage crust of Horribly Wrong, the horror organ/clean garage guitar genius of Element X, the Mr.-Bungle-meets-the-Residents-but-CRAZIER Copycat Massacre, the artsy-as-hell Boredoms-ish insanity of Puppy vs Dyslexia -- who also frequently made use of glitches, broken equipment, and loud female vocals... and all sorts of other super-talented, super-odd bands that have passed through the midwest over the past 20 years; let's not forget SHAYE ST. JOHN!...)... also, was always curious about Albini's MX 80 shirt.

Well, there's a good chance MX-80 (sometimes known as MX-80 Sound) was a big inspiration on Shellac, with that trebly deep slashing guitar tone and riffing, unconventional structures, untrained vocals shouting about god knows what (and, just as often, the vocals deteiorate into an indecipherable mumble, which can be just as compelling). But amongst the complex and violent rock-in-opposition antics, there were some really bizarre twists that tied things together (this band WAS signed by the Residents on their label, Ralph, afterall).

The first album I ever heard from them was LIVE AT THE LIBRARY, a concert at the Monroe Public Library in Bloomington, Indiana (a wonderful place!). Not sure how the band was able to play at a library, but last time I was there, there were about 500 people dressed like anime characters. No, it wasn't Halloween. It was actually on a Tuesday, in the afternoon.

It's hard to put my finger on, exactly, what makes this band so compelling and listenable... I think it's how often they turn structure on its head... and throw in unexpected twists... like, they will have a song that goes "hE WAS A MONSTER FROM JAPAN. BUT HE LIVED INSIDE ONE MAN." and then it goes into a smooth jazz saxophone solo; this is 20 seconds into the first song on one of their major label albums (!) when a member of the Counting Crows (!) briefly joined on keyboards.

So, anyway, if you like twisted, complex art-post-punk that makes you scratch your head just as often as it makes you want to rock in a very awkward way, Mx-80 Sound is probably your band.

Genteel Death · 11.20.2010, 04:20 PM

Great band. I found an album of theirs at a market for £20 recently, which replaced the cd of it a friend of mine made me some time ago.

batreleaser · 11.20.2010, 05:02 PM

"Hard Attacks" is on my Itunes, I love it.

noisereductions · 11.20.2010, 06:12 PM

they covered "Halloween theme" right?

11.20.2010, 04:01 PM	#1
atsonicpark invito al cielo Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 28,843	Anyone else a huge fan of this amazing band? I first got into them when researching awesome bands from my area (also see: the Beefheart-worshipping art punk pioneers Dancing Cigarettes, the Pere-Ubu-on-acid of Dow Jones and the Industrials, the violent-as-fuck garage crust of Horribly Wrong, the horror organ/clean garage guitar genius of Element X, the Mr.-Bungle-meets-the-Residents-but-CRAZIER Copycat Massacre, the artsy-as-hell Boredoms-ish insanity of Puppy vs Dyslexia -- who also frequently made use of glitches, broken equipment, and loud female vocals... and all sorts of other super-talented, super-odd bands that have passed through the midwest over the past 20 years; let's not forget SHAYE ST. JOHN!...)... also, was always curious about Albini's MX 80 shirt. Well, there's a good chance MX-80 (sometimes known as MX-80 Sound) was a big inspiration on Shellac, with that trebly deep slashing guitar tone and riffing, unconventional structures, untrained vocals shouting about god knows what (and, just as often, the vocals deteiorate into an indecipherable mumble, which can be just as compelling). But amongst the complex and violent rock-in-opposition antics, there were some really bizarre twists that tied things together (this band WAS signed by the Residents on their label, Ralph, afterall). The first album I ever heard from them was LIVE AT THE LIBRARY, a concert at the Monroe Public Library in Bloomington, Indiana (a wonderful place!). Not sure how the band was able to play at a library, but last time I was there, there were about 500 people dressed like anime characters. No, it wasn't Halloween. It was actually on a Tuesday, in the afternoon. It's hard to put my finger on, exactly, what makes this band so compelling and listenable... I think it's how often they turn structure on its head... and throw in unexpected twists... like, they will have a song that goes "hE WAS A MONSTER FROM JAPAN. BUT HE LIVED INSIDE ONE MAN." and then it goes into a smooth jazz saxophone solo; this is 20 seconds into the first song on one of their major label albums (!) when a member of the Counting Crows (!) briefly joined on keyboards. So, anyway, if you like twisted, complex art-post-punk that makes you scratch your head just as often as it makes you want to rock in a very awkward way, Mx-80 Sound is probably your band. __________________
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11.20.2010, 04:20 PM	#2
Genteel Death invito al cielo Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 8,744	Great band. I found an album of theirs at a market for £20 recently, which replaced the cd of it a friend of mine made me some time ago.
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11.20.2010, 05:02 PM	#3
batreleaser invito al cielo Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: New York, NY Posts: 5,155	"Hard Attacks" is on my Itunes, I love it. __________________ listen to pink reason
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11.20.2010, 06:12 PM	#4
noisereductions invito al cielo Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: New England, USA Posts: 16,210	they covered "Halloween theme" right? __________________ noisereduxinstalled.weebly.com
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