SOUNDTRACK: NO FORCEFIELD-Lee’s Oriental Massage 415-626-1837 (2000).
I was terribly disappointed with the second No Forcefield album (so why did I get this one? Because I got them both used at the same time for $1 each). And I can’t help but think Id have been so much more disappointed in it had I listened to this one first.
This first record is really quite good. I still have no idea why Ler from Primus is in the band or what he does on this disc (and he’s the reason I learned about the band to begin with), but this disc sounds like a proper album and not just a bunch of undercooked ideas.
This disc is primarily a collection of electronic/scratching tracks. The beginning of the disk has more scratch-heavy pieces (provided by DJ Disk), and as the disc moves along we get slightly longer more instrumental-only dancey tracks. But they’re not really dance tracks either, they’re heavy electronic tracks in the vein of say Prodigy (with no lyrics). They’re quite inventive and they rock pretty hard.
But it must be said, it sounds nothing like Primus. There’s virtually no bass, and no guitars and no vocals. I assume that Brain does all of the electronics and drums, and then there’s a few extra folks helping out. There’s some definitely worthwhile tracks on here (and the samples are all fun…Mister Roger’s Neighborhood music, for example).
This isn’t a genre I know very well, so I don’t know how it compares globally to others. But I do know bad techno music and this isn’t it.
Not bad for $1. And, no I never called the phone number.
[READ: January 26, 2010] “Fjord of Killary”
This is a quick, dark story. It concerns a poet, named Caoimhin, who moves from the city to the West Coast of Ireland. Specifically, he goes there to buy a hotel. The hotel has been extant since the 1600’s and was even written about by Thackeray. Since he is having massive writer’s block, he assumed that this little community on a fjord will give him lots to write about.
But instead, he finds himself very busy tending to the locals (the hotel bar is the real draw) and largely uninspired to write anything.
The actual plot of the story concerns a terrible storm. The raging ocean that is right below the hotel is rising and rising. Caoimhin is rather nervous, but the patrons, all old residents of the area, tell him not to worry. Well, actually they ignore him, (despite all of his lame attempts at conversation making) but the effect is the same.
It’s only when the water actually comes up the porch and under the doors that the people start to really get nervous. (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: NO FORCEFIELD-God is an Excuse (2001).
I was looking up what Larry LaLonde, guitarist for Primus, had been up to while Primus seems to be on hiatus. I hadn’t heard a word from him, so I was surprised to see that he had released two albums with a band called No Forcefield.
SOUNDTRACK: RA RA RIOT-The Rhumb Line (2008).
I have a hard time describing this album. It has a lot of ingredients that don’t make sense individually, yet which work very well. I would almost resort to calling them pretentious rock, but that seems so derogatory. Vampire Weekend falls into this category of highly literate pop too, and 
SOUNDTRACK: WRSU 89.7 FM.
Coming straight out of Rutgers University in New Brunswick (my grad school alma mater), this was the first station that I happened upon while I was scanning the lower numbers on the radio station.
I hadn’t heard of this book, although actually I’m sure I had–but I ignored it. Roy Blount Jr is on 
Such a great name for a greatest hits album. I’m delighted to know that Primus is still fun after all these years. How on earth they were every popular is simply beyond my comprehension.
I Just Read About That... 