Citrus Groove - Hit the Ground/Beautiful Thing 7" (1991, Honeychain)

Here's one of my lengthiest belated follow-ups ever. I posted the closest thing these guys had to an album, the Sunswayed mini-LP all the way back in 2009. I knew there were a couple of singles surrounding that release and the one presented here is their first. Not quite hopping all the way onto the shoegaze caboose, but still several light years from any of the prevailing mainstream trends of their day, Citrus Groove's indie pop aesthetic was organic and bejeweled with oodles of melodic moxie. Recommended for fans of their contemporaries Fudge, and a good dollop of Slumberland Record's early roster.    

A. Hit the Ground
AA. Beautiful Thing

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Ask me again, I’ll tell you the same way...

In 1996, the disk I’m featuring this week was the best thing this side of a new Archers of Loaf album (and we even managed to get one of those too).

**Please do not reveal artist in comments!**

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A note on re-ups/dead links.

Alright, finally time to stare down the elephant in the room.  Roughly 80% to 90% of the download links on this site have EXPIRED.  Some five or more years ago.  My apologies for this. For a good six seven years I've been using Zippyshare as my file hoster. While they've been reliable on a short term basis, several of you have complained about dodging adware and porn links in order to get to what you're really after, the music. In a nutshell, Zippyshare links remain active until a file hasn't been accessed in over thirty days.  For years now I've been playing an endless cat and mouse game of responding to your requests by way of comments that I'm often very tardy in reading. There's such a backlog of dead links and perfectly well intentioned and reasonable requests that I simply don't have time to realistically address. In short, I need a more permanent solution, even if it means going with a paid file hosting option that will retain the links I upload provided I pay an annual or semi-annual fee.

By and large, the out-of-pocket expenditure is not an immediate concern (so long as I'm employed). One option appears to be MediaFire.  Their site claims to guarantee up to 1 TB of file hosting for what seems like a reasonable fee (about USD $50 for the first year), but can anyone attest to how reliable they are with hosting data (i.e. MP3s) that may be copyrighted (even if is completely out of print)?  If you're a fellow blogger who has used MediaFire, have you ever had anything scrubbed from their servers, particularly without warning?  Ideally I wish to make all previous links on Wilfully Obscure active again, provided that the content hasn't been made commercially available since I originally shared the files. I just want to ensure the next file hoster I opt to go with is copacetic with my overarching objective.  Any input would be helpful.  I will try to attend to some of your more recent requests in the near future. Thanks.  

Eternal Triangle - Touch and Let Go (1984, Situation 2)

Bargain bin find here, and a slightly above average one at that. Hailing from the UK and containing a guy from Fischer-Z (Steve Skolnik) the co-ed Eternal Triangle entangled their new romantic pastiche with a dash of this and that, with the finest results yielding themselves on the chilly "Small Town" which smacks of the same austere poise that made the early Comsat Angels such a pleasure. The quartet's ambitions, writ large are commercially ambitious by comparison, and even if the title track, issued as a single, is less than thrilling, E/T compensate with the uptempo, extroverted "I Need You," and "Nothing But a Friend." There's a couple more highlights lurking among these grooves - "Stay With You" and "Only In the Night," but Touch and Let Go ends on a rather inglorious note, with the sappy, naval-gazing soliloquy "It's a Story" playing this affair out. 

01. Touch and Let Go
02. I Need You
03. Small Town
04. Nothing But a Friend
05. Can't Blame Me
06. Stay With You
07. Same Mistakes
08. Only in the Night
09. Won't Work
10. It's a Story

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I’d like for each of the senses I wear behind my sunglass lenses…

The entire discography from one of the Deep South's best kept secrets, spanning 1984-87. One critic described them as "Earth's strangest pop band. Utterly unclassifiable and stunningly possessed."

**Please do not reveal artist in comments!**

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Reviews you can use: Urge Overkill, Rave-Ups and Marshall Crenshaw.

When Urge Overkill parted ways in 1997, due largely in part to a reported falling out between the key nuclei of Nash Kato and Eddie "King" Roese, the band already seemed like something of an afterthought. To mainstream alt-rock fans the band's two minor flashes in the pan, the single "Sister Havana" from their 1993 major label debut Saturation, and a cover of Neil Diamond's "Girl You'll Be a Woman Soon" featured in Quentin Tarantino's iconic Pulp Fiction in 1994 were already in the rear-view.  Not much was heard from them in the new millennium, save for an independently released Kato solo album Debutante in 2000. Urge rekindled the urge once again in 2004 and a reunion ensued minus longtime drummer Blackie Onassis. By this time the band's presence was a shadow of their Clinton-era heyday, and despite dropping a satisfying new album, Rock & Roll Submarine circa 2011 it didn't do much to elevate their profile. Seemingly Kato and Roese took another extended sabbatical. As luck would have it, the boys have fired up the Americruiser with a decade-belated follow-up in the guise of Oui.

If a genteel Neil Diamond cover seemed ironic for a band who once had records minted on Touch & Go, recorded with Steve Albini, and toured with Nirvana, you can imagine the shock value unfurled when Urge Overkill inexplicably place a cover of Wham!'s "Freedom" front and center on their seventh platter. Playing somewhat fast and loose with the arrangement, and even futzing with the melody a tad, they casually rebrand the '80s nugget as their own. Further in, they flex discernible musculature on "Follow My Shadow," "Forgiven" and the Dino Jr-esque "I Been Ready," albeit nothing on Oui outright pumps like the band's punkier forays on Saturation. Then there's the curious character study, "A Prisoner's Dilemma," a tune which ponders none other than Amanda Knox - to catchy effect no less.  The record winds-down on a comparatively sobering note with our protagonists extolling bittersweet hues on "I Can't Stay Glad@U" and "Snow." To draw a parallel to the Stones, Oui is Urge's Steel Wheels or Voodoo Lounge, and given Kato and Roese's intermittent longevity that's not a bad spot to reside in. You can check it out for yourself courtesy of Omnivore. 

Despite coming up with like minded contemporaries Uncle Tupelo and the Long Ryders in the mid-80s (and a little bit beyond), The Rave-Ups have been given short shrift in terms of nostalgia and reverence for the Americana contingent they were part and parcel of.  Why is that you might ask?  Obviously, fame and stature can be difficult if not utterly impossible to quantify, so I dare not make even a feeble attempt. As a quick backgrounder for the uninitiated, The Rave-Ups were an L.A. quartet with frontman Jimmer Podrasky originally having taken root in Pittsburgh. By 1980 an early incarnation of the band was formulated with intentions to pursue a punk rock modus operandi. Fast forward a few years with the line-up being fortified enough to enter the studio to cut a pair of independent records, 1983's Class Tramp ep, and the more renown Town + Country seeing the light of day two years later. By this time the band had matriculated to more mature pastures, with a telltale country inflection apparent amidst a more conventional rock ethos. A few notches removed from genuine "cow-punk" terrain, the band made a go of it in the big leagues releasing two albums, The Book of Your Regrets and Chance issued in 1988 and '90 respectively via Columbia.

Tomorrow, recently released on Omnivore earlier this month, marks the Rave-Ups first return to the studio in over three decades.  It finds the quartet to Podrasky, Terry Wilson, longtime drummer Tim Jimenez and Tommy Blatnik picking up not particularly far removed from when they pressed pause in the early '90s, with a penchant for playing it right down the middle of the country/rock divide. Absent is some of their youthful rancor, but a plentiful quotient of pent up vigor manages to infiltrate the comparatively high strung "So You Wanna Know the Truth?" and the tight, irresistible hoedown "Brigitte Bardot." If Tomorrow is dominated by any particular sonic motif it's the slower, mid-tempo air of "She and He," "Cry," and the pedal-steel soaked title track - none of which are outright remarkable or visionary but undeniably pleasant.  A soundtrack for the hammock on a clear 75° day if there ever was one. The closest Tomorrow comes to offering any sort of anomaly is "Coming After Me," a relaxed excursion into pure guitar pop. Though not wholly representative of the small legacy they carved out for themselves in their original epoch, longtime connoisseurs of the Rave-Ups, not to mention acolytes of modern alt-country will find plenty to feast their ears on here. Tomorrow ironically, is available today here and from the label that brought it to fruition, Omnivore.

Contrary to the title, #447 is actually the second in a series of revamped and reissued albums in Marshall Crenshaw's catalog, specifically the records he cut for the Razor & Tie label during the 1990s. An overhaul of his first album for the label, 1996's Miracle of Science, saw the light of day two years ago on his in-house Shiny-Tone imprint with the original LP presented along with two newly recorded bonus cuts. The same premise follows for the reissue of '99s #447.  You might be asking yourself, what's the relevance of that particular number in the first place?  For all we know it could be a closely guarded secret, or an exercise in sheer randomness. If the latter, that arbitrary logic folds in conveniently with said album, given it's an eclectic patchwork almost to a fault. But what #447 lacks in flow and connective tissue it compensates for in stimulating song-craft. 

Crenshaw hasn't been a straight-up power pop guy since the early '80s, but there are couple of concessions here that point squarely to the reputation he forged on his self-titled debut, and it's follow-up, Field Day. The economically acoustic "Glad Goodbye," and what could be #447's most gratifying number, "Right There in Front of Me" (curiously billed as a demo) skew in the vicinity of his younger self without amounting to deliberate throwbacks. "Tell Me All About It" and "Television Light" adhere to a similar ethos but boast a more relaxed delivery system. A pair of instrumental pieces caught me a bit off guard here, namely the loungy stride of "Eydie's Tune" and the even more appealing "You Said What??" I'd also be remiss if I failed to mention that Crenshaw is aided and abetted by no less than a dozen guest musicians on this record including Brad Jones, Bill Lloyd, and even an ex-pat from the E. Street Band, David Sancious.  As was the case with the recently reissued Miracle of Science, there are two factory fresh recordings appended to #447 proper, the plaintive "Will of the Wind" and "Santa Fe" that don't necessarily enhance the album but fortunately don't detract from it either.  The slightly modified and lovingly reissued #447 is available from Amazon and here if you're seeking the vinyl variant.

Whirling Dervishes - Strange and Wonderful (1992)

Though this Westfield, NJ setup (who recorded this album as a six-piece) is potentially still playing live gigs, their discography ceased in 1994. Furthermore Whirling Dervishes don't seem to channel any particular niche on Strange and Wonderful, their one and only album surrounded by a handful of eps. Still, you're bound to pick up some stray and slight noir touches, and a slick but earnest acumen belying heartfelt, every-man notions. They sounded just about ripe for modern rock radio, with the caveat being that said format was opting for a grungier tact that what these fellows were striving for. Strange... is colored from a strikingly diverse palette, and if I had to sweat it down to one tune that really presses my proverbial buttons, the arrow would land on the ballad-esque "What's Left of My Mind," a tune that maximizes it's money-hook without over emphasizing it.

01. Madison Avenue
02. To Define You
03. Strange and Wonderful
04. The Deadliest Pause
05. Norman
06. Death of the Party
07. Cop
08. Dance For Your Life
09. Death of the Party (R.S.V.P.)
10. What's Left of My Mind
11. Your Little Finger
12. Watch You
13. Madison Avenue (radio edit)

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This winter is lasting forever, at least for tonight...

I just missed the two-decade anniversary of this one.  I didn't suspect this would be a timeless album upon it's release, but low and behold...

**Please do not reveal artist in comments!**

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Crawl Away Machine - s/t ep (1985, CD Presents)

Definitely a good 'un, but as with the situation with scores of other records on this site, another sheer cold case. Released on San Fran's CD Presents (the label that brought us the Avengers classic album) Crawl Away Machine bore a clangy, post-punk veneer with an emphasis clearly on substance over style. A co-ed five-piece (featuring male vox almost exclusively). Vaguely recalling everyone from Comsat Angels to The Fixx, and even a dab of Bauhaus, CAM had the downcast, anglophile thing down pat without resorting to anything trite or calculated to arrive at that destination. Not a bum tune in the bunch with my only complaint being that four weren't nearly enough.

01. Maps of Asia
02. Look Down
03. Americana
04. Pieces

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jade - Syrian Border ep (1990, Merkin)

Yet another record in my collection with an album jacket that's not so reflective of the music housed within. Was expecting indie rock of some stripe (goth maybe?) but instead I was treated to four slices of mid-tempo skate punk. jade, a Maryland foursome don't have squat on the likes of say, Big Drill Car and the Hard-Ons, but they pile on an avalanche of gnarly riffs and ever-so-slight metallic undertones. Despite a deficit in the melody department what they're able to sport on the half-pipe almost works to their advantage on "Blackeyed Susan" with mixed results elsewhere. Contrary to this ep's title, jade hardly strike me as a worldly lot, and a lack of a lyric sheet doesn't help to decode what they're ranting about. It would've been interesting to see what this crew's next move would have been, but aside from a demo tape Syrian Border appears to have been the final word from jade.

01. Over Now
02. Black Eyedsusan
03. Ten Million Times
04. Line

Hear

If only they could see when you touch me I tingle.

Music from 1988-89. The album featured is a tad uneven, but entails some genius moments. Appended to it are nine songs from surrounding singles and compilations that fare even better. Enjoy. 

**Please do not reveal artist in comments!**

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Bad Sneakers - Beat the Meter (1984, Now & Then)

No, I don't know if they named themselves after the Steely Dan tune, but I can assure you that Bad Sneakers don't sound a stitch like Fagen & Becker. With that out of the way, this quartet (ostensibly from Delaware) deliver a solid and a fairly consistent album of radio-friendly power pop, that believe it or not could have competed with the work of contemporaries like Tommy Tutone, early-80s Rick Springfield, and dare I say even Todd Rundgren/Utopia. Despite this album and two surrounding ones, seeing the light of day on a small-time indie imprint, it certainly sounds like the Sneakers had loftier ambitions than playing the local club circuit - and why not with hook-savvy numbers like "Caught in the Act," "Pictures of You," and "Man Overboard" to vouch for? Beat the Meter might have been short of innovation, but the songs certainly compensate for that. I'll have you know the band established a website where you can stream this album and their others, but this rip came from my own copy and naturally, is fully downloadable. 

01. Caught in the Act
02. Ground Zero
03. Man Overboard
04. Blue Light
05. Down to It
06. Invisible Man
07. Pictures of You
08. All I Want to Know
09. Anesthesia (live)
10. Invisible Man II

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The Thought - I Had Too Much to Dream Last Night 12" (1983, Index)

I'll try to get a full length onto this site sometime within the next twelve hours or so, but here's something to tide you over.  Hailing from the Netherlands and having evolved from a power-pop/pub outfit dubbed The Rousers in the early '80s, the band was rechristened The Thought and opted for a new-wavish modus-operandi...but you might not know it from this particular disk, which features a faithful execution of the Electric Prunes' "I Had Too Much to Dream Last Night," rife with a telltale, whirring keyboard line. It's backed with two b-sides that are far less psych-endebted that still manage to buck many of the new romantic trends of their era. 

A good quotient of my record collection still needs to be organized, and is so unwieldy that I'm not certain if I have anything else to offer from this outfit, but if I do I just might be inclined to share the spoils at a later date

A. I Had Too Much to Dream Last Night
B1. There's a Boy (remix)
B2. Am I

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Killed the truth and called the liar.

A two-fer this week. The second and third albums from this New Orleans quartet, issued in 1983 and 1984, respectively. 

**Please do not reveal artist in comments!**

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V/A - Good Music to Avert the Collapse of American Democracy: Ultra condensed version (2020)

I've been toying with the idea of sharing this for what some seems like ages, but in reality it's been closer to a little over a year. In the lead-up to the 2020 general election two compilations, available as paid downloads on Bandcamp were posted in October of that year to benefit Fair Fight, a voting rights organization set up to combat voter suppression in the United States. The very notion an organization with this goal in mind would have seemed utterly preposterous even just twenty years prior, but welcome to the real world homies. Ergo the two volumes in the Good Music to Avert the Collapse of American Democracy, two-off compilation series that featured no less than 117 artists between them. Most of the contributors were of fairly un-renown indie stock (see the complete tracklists here and here), but there were a few household names too, with few limits in terms of genres, albeit nothing too left-field. The one commonality is that about 98% of the participating artists were very much current and active.

The songs contributed were virtually all-non LP material, with demos, covers and live material composing the brunt of each compilation. The draw was not only to raise funds for Fair Fight, but to treat listeners with exclusive material, the vast majority of which remains indigenous to the Avert the Collapse compilations to this day. But there was one HUGE catch. Not so much the price tag, but the limited availability to purchase them - a mere 24 hours in each case. That aspect seemed to be a bit arbitrary and shortsighted, but nonetheless, tens of thousands of dollars in proceeds were raised for the cause. Instead of taking an obvious risk in sharing the entirety of these collections, I've cherry picked 18 songs/artists that seemed most in keeping with the fare I've shared and written about on these pages over the years, just don't expect much in the way of '80s or '90s acts (though there is the occasional exception).  Enjoy.

01. Death Cab for Cutie - The New Year (Live in Seattle, WA 2020)
02. Frankie Cosmos - Another Piece
03. King Tuff - Evergreen (Demo)
04. Matt Berninger - In Between Days (The Cure Cover)
05. Surfer Blood - New Direction
06. Superchunk - Political Song for Michael Jackson to Sing (Minutemen Cover)
07. Bob Mould Band - In A Free Land (Live in Seattle, WA 2019)
08. PUP - Edmonton
09. Thurston Moore - L’Ephemere
10. Guided By Voices - Game Of Pricks (Live from the Teragram Ballroom, LA on 12-31-19)
11. Old 97’s - Southern Girls (Cheap Trick Cover)
12. Nada Surf -  Stories Going ‘Round
13. Wolf Parade - ATA
14. R.E.M. - Begin The Begin (Live in Hampton, VA 1989)
15. Arcade Fire feat. David Byrne -This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody) (live)
16. Real Estate - People’s Parties (Joni Mitchell Cover)
17. Perfume Genius - Jory (Demo)
18. The War On Drugs - Eyes To The Wind (Live)

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I guess it's safe to say it consumes me every day.

From 2000.  Features Ted Leo as guest vocalist on two tracks.

**Please do not reveal artist in comments!**

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Bell Jar 7" ep (1994, eMpTy)

I had encountered this 7" with it's curious and charming looking sleeve multiple times before I finally dove in and claimed it a few years back at a price I couldn't refuse. Bell Jar (alternately spelled Belle Jar on the labels of the wax itself) were an all-female, Seattle trio who happened to buck the more conevntional trends of their era and region, specializing in fuzzy, mid-fi indie rock, not so much on the grunge or riot grrrl tip. Still, these young women were not afraid to get a little abrasive, not to mention insular and even a tad dissonant. Bright and cheery music this certainly is not, occasionally recalling what Sonic Youth were attempting around the same time (check out "Hornet"). They throw a lot of minor chords around, the lyrics are a little underwritten, and guitarist Kellie Wohlrab and bass-wrangler Heather Garden aren't always perfectly in pitch, yet this warts 'n all penchant is what helps this record succeed, generally anyway. It was to be their one and only release, with Garden eventually migrating to the equally obscure Small Stars later in the decade. 

01. Dear Mom
02. Waste
03. Hornet
04. Here

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Groovy Religion - Thin Gypsy Thief (1986, Psyche)

Bearing a sound that's thankfully not emblematic of their moniker, Quebec's Groovy Religion didn't fall into the trappings of their chosen decade.  The primary conundrum with this four-piece was forging something of a definitive identity, not to mention cobbling together enough quality material for an album. Nonetheless I wouldn't go to trouble of sharing Thin Gypsy Thief if I deemed it totally devoid of substance. The band's sparse sonic template lends oodles of breathability and dynamics wherever the needle lands, but only about half of the time do they seem capable of renting out all the empty space. With a general aptitude that suggests post-punk (or at the very least some permeation of "modern rock") GR actually make a solid go of it on the opening "Dark My Girl" with it's sneaky, stealthy verses punctuated with rubbery, fret-less bass fills countering some enticing, melodic guitar salvos. "Beautiful" threatens to bust out into an all-out punky barnburner in that Lords of the New Church sort of way, but doesn't quite build to the apex I was so hoping for.  Then there's the six-minute "Charlie," whose promising first half of which is saturated with clangy, moody chords and William New's ominous vocal parlance...before deflating entirely into a pile of random bass notes and drumbeats. Finally, the boys manage to segue a minute or two of the Animals' "We've Gotta Get Out of This Place" into their own much duller original, "Kitchen Boy." Whatever amount of potential this mini-LP suggested, wouldn't  reveal itself until Groovy Religion's  Tom - A Rock Opera saw the light of day in 1995.

01. Dark My Girl
02. Beautiful
03. Sun Up
04. Diamonds
05. Charlie
06. We've Gotta Get Out of This Place/Kitchen Boy
07. Younger Calls

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I can touch the ceiling with my fingers, but I am stuck under your feet.

My favorite album from 2018, and at the time I would have said the best thing I'd heard in the last five years. It still might be, even though I'm not as reeled in today given the state of the world. Sugar soaked euphoria with an angst-ridden subtext that you might not surmise was even there.  BTW, this band dropped a new LP last week.

**Please do not reveal artist in comments!**

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The Cars - Pre-Elektra promo concert (1977)

Alas, I'm still in the process of digitizing fresh vinyl for this site, but in the meantime I'd like to offer this - an early Cars performance that I may or may not have an exact date for. Per the meta-data of the files, a date of 4/28/77 is rendered, but no location is provided. Ultimately I was unable to confirm the specific date. When I obtained this show it was simply billed as The Cars pre-Elektra Records promo show, so 1977 certainly seems accurate. Our protagonists possess a more meager sonic aplomb than what would follow in just another year, and the crowd they're performing for sounds equally as meager, if not downright sparse.  

Interestingly, it was early enough in the band's tenure for them to reach back to Ben Orr's and Ric Ocasek's preceding band Cap'n Swing for material, specifically the songs "Strawberry Moonlight" and "Lover and a Holiday," both of which slid into the Cars mold fairly comfortably.  Another pleasant wrinkle is the inclusion of a totally unreleased title, "Looking to See You," that with a little modification would have made for a decent album cut on the band's auspicious debut.  If that wasn't enough in the rarity department, they also play "Wake Me Up," an early tune that never made it past the demo stage (originally included on the expanded version of The Cars). Naturally, the crowd is treated to a plethora of soon-to-be Cars standards, not to mention international smash hits.  The setlist quite frankly sells itself, and this tape may even be a soundboard recording. Enjoy

01. Just what I Needed
02. I'm in Touch with Your World
03. Strawberry Moonlight
04. Lover and a Holiday
05. Bye Bye Love
06. Wake Me Up
07. Cool Fool
08. Looking to See You
09. Don't Cha Stop
10. You're All I've Got Tonight

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I know how I rant, I know how I rail...

From 1996. Melancholy, guitar-laden histrionics cloaked in passionate prose and empathetic gestures. In plain English, this band was to die for. 

**Please do not reveal artist in comments!**  

 

The Dickies - We Aren't the World: The ROIR Sessions (1986/1990, ROIR)

No much time for a write-up today, but this one generally speaks for itself.  Since the mid-90s when I finally got the notion to investigating what The Dickies were all about...and as they say I never looked back.  Well, actually I did, considering by then they had recorded the vast majority of their records prior to that, and I was desperate to catch up.  The long and short of it all this L.A. helmed by frontman Leonard Graves-Phillips and guitar-slinger Stan Lee (and accompanied by a revolving door of drummers and bassists) was responsible for some of the finest punk pop this side of the Descendents and Buzzcocks, with an even snarkier m.o. than those two hallowed institutions. 

1986 saw the release of the originally cassette-only Dickies compilation We Aren't the World, released by legendary New York tape label ROIR. It was subsequently reissued on CD four years later, and the picture of the original cassette sleeve is worth looking up, as it's a hell of a lot more sardonic then the cover to your above let.  It commences with the four-song 1977 demo the band shopped to various record labels. A&M bit, and the rest is history.  The bulk of this album consists of live material culled from five separate performances spanning 1978-85. The exact where/when are provided on the tray card in the download folder.  Given the time frame, the sets draw heavily from the band's wonderful first two albums, The Incredible Shrinking Dickies and Dawn of the Dickies. And while nothing can substitute for seeing this band's antics in the flesh, a live Dickies album is nothing less than a cherished memento. The tracklist is below, with songs 5-25 being all live.  I've also recently updated the links to the pair of Dickies Archives fanclub albums I shared awhile back.

01-Hideous (demo)
02-I'm Ok, You're Ok (demo)
03-You Drive Me Ape (You Big Gorilla) (demo)
04-Walk Like an Egg (demo)
05-Paranoid
06-Give it Back
07-Sounds of Silence
08-Got it at the Store
09-Eve of Destruction
10-Rondo in a Major (Midget's Revenge)
11-Infidel Zombie
12-Curb Job
13-Gigantor
14-Nights in White Satin
15-You Drive Me Ape (vers 2)
16-Pretty Please
17-Poodle Party
18-She's a Hunchback
19-She
20-(I'm Stuck in a Pagoda With) Tricia Toyota
21-Manny, Moe, and Jack
22-Fan Mail
23-If Stewart Could Talk
24-Bowling With Bedrock Barney
25-Banana Splits

Hear

Another acute case of slighty underblogging - Best of the Blog mix 2021.

2021. A second year in a row that no one was quite expecting, and one that some of us hadn't preferred how it played out as it did, myself included.  As you've probably noticed I haven't been posting/writing/sharing/provoking on Wilfully Obscure to the extent I once had, say, six or seven years ago, and certainly not as prolifically when I kicked this whole endeavor off in 2007, almost entirely on a whim I might add. 2021's diminished amount of postings wasn't the byproduct of lack of enthusiasm on my part, so much as fatigue, anxiety, life events and a little bit of laziness. To those of you who still visit daily, weekly, occasionally or even rarely, I thank you, and you definitely make the effort worth it. I haven't started 2022 with much of a bang either, but before I delve into the usual onslaught of previously unshared music over the next twelve months, I like to take a peak back and corral what I consider to be some of the highlights from the year just past. 

Once again I find myself pressed for time to offer a track-by-track, blow-by-blow of the twenty some-odd tunes I've curated in this playlist. Nonetheless if you wish to access the files and write-ups of a particular artist everything is archived, and I might be able to post direct links to the original entries later this weekend.  The songs, while somewhat strategically sequenced, aren't necessarily designed to be played in any specific order per se, so it will do you no harm to listen to whatever piques your curiosity in random order.  In keeping with what's become a tradition with these compilations I've tossed in a handful of previously unshared nuggets from artists I haven't covered before, or at least not thoroughly. They are noted with an asterisk. Enjoy, and thanks for checking in.

01. Creatures of Habit - Forever
02. DT and the Shakes - I Found My Disguise
03. Land of the El Caminos - Boxed in a Wind Tunnel
04. Reptile House - Mother Michigan
05. The Slugs - Back to the Playgrounds
06. Brakes - The Way I See It
07. Blue Spots - Two Fools
08. Sicko - 80 Dollars
09. Sugarblast - Believe
10. Lost Loved Ones - I Found You
11. Well! Well! Well! - What Life's About
12. First Man Over - Diamond Mind
13. SFT Boys - As a Matter of Fact
14. Darius and the Magnets - Unusual Girl*
15. F.A.B. - Happy People*
16. Thin King - The New One
17. Choir Invisible - I Walked Away
18. radioblue - instead
19. Plain Characters - Counting Sheep
20. Holiday - John Buffalo
21. This "Blue Piano" - I Before E
22. The Flex - New Wavelength
23. The Farewell Party - 32 Views of Emma
24. NNB - Uruguay 1983*

Hear

You fumble your keys and I throw the latch...

An officially released collection of demos cut in in preparation for a now renown 1993 album. 

**Please do not reveal artist in comments!**

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Dig Circus - Shekkie II: Electric Boogaloo (1993)

"...and Dig Circus is playing on Saturday (thank god)"
                                                      -Ron Hawkins

This past week has amounted to another drought of shares on behalf of yours truly, and unfortunately this has become the rule rather than the rare exception. I'll be posting my annual best of blog compilation for 2021 shortly, but wanted to put this one into the ether in the meantime.

Dig Circus were part and parcel of Toronto's fabled Queen Street West scene, or at least the tail end of it in the early '90s. A few bands from this circuit garnered minor to moderate mainstream renown including Barenaked Ladies and Lowest of the Low, the latter of whom affectionately name-checked Dig Circus in one of their songs. Not dissimilar to the aforementioned, D/C adopted for a fun and somewhat fraternalistic tenor that was sonically rooted in folk-pop sensibilities that for whatever the reason never translated into mass appeal on either side of the border. That's a real shame, because at least a handful of songs on Shekkie II possessed some real staying power, not the least of which the hooky and socially-conscious "Eighteen Indians," and equally as stimulating "Wishing For a Sail," the closest this six-piece ever came to breaching power pop. "The Story from Kate's Bed" comes in a relatively close third, or at least that's what my ears tell me. Despite an overly-prominent bass-line, a cover of the Velvet's "What Goes On" works quite convincingly, while a radical overhaul of the Sex Pistols "God Save the Queen" is an exercise in sheer irony that only a decade like the anything-goes-90s could've served up. As fate would have it, the closest Dig Circus ever came to tasting success occurred several years after their breakup when the Nickelodeon series Caitlin's Way, tapped "Wishing for a Sail" to be the program's theme song. 

01. Eighteen Indians
02. Broken Umbrellas
03. Wishing for a Sail
04. Groove Farm
05. The Story From Kate's Bed
06. Overcome by Love
07. More
08. What Goes On
09. God Save the Queen

Hear