Carlos Di Sarli- King of The Tango

Today's post is a compilation of Tangos from one of the original masters, Carlos Di Sarli.

Di Sarli is widely recognized as an extremely accessible tango artist, presenting all of the basic elements (persistant rhythm, sensual melodies, driving beat) in short, mid-tempo compositions suitable for the beginner milonguero.

While I find most of that "Dancing with The Stars" ballroom shit to be overblown melodrama, I am ceaselessly amazed by a well-executed, classic Argentine tango...the stiff, robotic upper bodies counterplayed by the mind-blowing, interlacing acrobatics of the legs & hips. When the double-time of the milonga is introduced, it looks almost superhuman. If you want to see the Tango in all of its glory, I recommend you rent Robert Duvall's great movie, "Assassination Tango". While it suffers from Duvall's girlfriend's attempts at acting, she can indeed dance up a storm. She peppers a fairly pedestrian story with numerous spicy dance numbers, and Duvall, in an almost fatherly attempt at charity, turns in a fantastic performance as an aged assassin inadvertantly propelled into a midlife crisis.

What is this? I've danced all my life, and I've never seen anything like this...

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=X1ZBVI4B

No Worries

For a while there, I was starting to wonder if I had enough crazy rare shit to keep this blog going for much longer. After taking an inventory of my iTunes library (not to mention the 20+ DVD-Rs of catalogued music lying around my apartment), I can safely say that clandestine666 will be able to continue to supply your psycho/rare/OOP/random music needs for at least six more months. Huzzah! Expect a few new posts this week.

Pungent Stench- Been Caught Buttering

Today’s post is the cassette rip of one of the greatest grindcore bands ever, Pungent Stench.

With a limited understanding of English and a sense of humor that transcends linguistic barriers, Austria’s Pungent Stench pushed the limits of the already-obscene death metal vernacular. With early song titles like “Blood, Pus, and Gastric Juices” and “For God Your Soul, For Me Your Flesh”, these guys made it apparent that they were eagerly abandoning any chance of being taken seriously as artists.

Frankly, this is a refreshing attitude that is all-too-rare in Rock & Roll; one can find a similar approach in the early work of Chuck Schuldiner and his band Death, back when they were a great post-Black Metal death metal band. However, after the “Leprosy” album, I think most death metal aficionados would agree that Death had passed their prime.

This is Pungent Stench’s second album, and arguably their best. The cover “art” is the most blasphemous, obscene, horrendous shit upon which I’ve ever had the misfortune to have laid eyes, and fits perfectly with the diseased, pus-caked music within. If you can understand the lyrics at all (and trust me, the printed lyrics on the inlay card won’t help, as they are printed in an unintelligible, Beavis-esque scrawl) you will be instantly revolted. Bottom line: you would have to be insane to want to hear this abrasive, disgusting, offensive shit.

But all that aside, Pungent Stench were furious riff-mongers, churning out dozens of fantastic Sabbath-y riffs on this album. And the songs, by grindcore standards, are stellar, often containing furious hooks that you might find yourself humming hours later. The lyrics are fucking hilarious, exploring such themes as cannibalism, S&M, mother murder, and mummification with an infectious innocence that only inexperienced ESL-speakers could unearth in the tired, overused English language.

Her asshole was a fouling pit, what a hit!:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=6Z143XIW

Pinetop Perkins- Live Top

A live recording from one of the true living legends of the blues, Pinetop Perkins. This was recorded in 1994 at Bowdoin College in Maine. Pinetop, now 90-something years old, continues to tour, play concerts, and accumulate numerous DUI charges. Rumour has it that he now has to wear a global satellite tracking device on his ankle to prevent him from getting behind the wheel, and his last drunk-driving excursion ended in a collision with a train (!!!). Of course, he's likely swerving his way home as I type, bottle of Early Times in one hand, a 13-year old prostitute in the other. Hey, he wouldn't be a legend if he were repentant, would he?

As a bonus, you also get one of Maine's best blues bands backing up Perkins, The Blue Flames. If you ever find yourself in Central/Southern Maine, try to catch a show from these guys. One of the best blues bands you can find, and all real swell guys.

Another cassette rip, so the sound quality is not the greatest. However, this album is loooong out-of-print, so Perkins fans shouldn't mind a little tape-hiss.

Caledonia, what makes your big head so hard?

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=JC9AHJQT

kidneythieves- trickster

The long-lost debut album from industrial/electronica icons, the kidneythieves. I predict that post-Garbage electronica will be in great demand among the hipsters of the near future, so stock up on albums by Sneaker Pimps, Snake River Conspiracy, and Skindive, y'all. And while you're at it, buy deathgirl.com's album, ya wankers. It's available on iTunes, or from www.cdbaby.com.

The kidneythieves seemingly came out of nowhere, inciting little to no buzz with their debut, "Trickster". However, their next release, "zer0space" would make quite an impact on the industrial/goth crowd that NIN and Garbage had already primed. The vocals of Free Dominguez, confident and all-purpose, make the kidneythieves' music amazingly versatile. One could only hope that Dominguez agrees to provide the vocal tracks on the upcoming Snake Rver Conspiracy album (only, of course, if Toby Torres remains unavailable).

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=EH3WCEEQ

Y Kant Tori Read

As a staunch heterosexual, "swingin' bachelor", it's especially tough to rationalize my adoration of Tori Amos. For some reason, owning an album from Tori Amos is much harder to justify to your friends than owning one from PJ Harvey or Joan Jett.

This album helps a great deal, though. Underneath all of her cryptic, feminist doublespeak, I always suspected Tori was a bit of a tart. It's not so much seeing her in all of her big-haired, boustiared-glory in the cover photo as it is hearing the cheesy 80's synth pop that points to a secret avenue of accessibility with the otherwise enigmatic Ms. Amos. Yes, if you have tattoos, long hair, and a penchant for wearing vinyl pants, you too could be just the sort of "enlightened male life-partner" that Tori (and every other subscriber of "Ms." magazine) is looking for!

Seriously, though, this album fills in an important piece of the puzzle that is Tori Amos. While many songwriters are struggling to figure out how to write a hit a song early in their careers, this album shows that Tori had an almost instinctive feel for it. As anyone who owns "Under The Pink" or "Choirgirl Hotel" knows, it wasn't long before Tori left traditional songwriting in the dust, and started writing insane pieces of pretty noise like "God" or "Raspberry Swirl".

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=KB2S316M