Welcome to Sucksville: The Mostly Useless Rotting America Podcast (Now with 33% More Less!!)

RA Podcast #005 (The Advantages of micro-vacuum pumping)

snotbox17@gmail.com (Chris) — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 18:20:00 -0700

The Sucksville Allstars - Welcome To Sucksville (Long Version)
Um...well... - C. Reid

The Sirago 17 - Ballrooms Of Mars (Live - Remix)
Recorded live at Shadrach's in Visalia on June 29, 1996. Or second and final official show. Wasn't intended to be, but that's how it worked out. We had rehearsed with a drummer but on the day of the show he decided not to turn up. So we used a borrowed drum machine on a couple songs, and stumbled through the rest as is. Heavily remixed to attempt to make more interesting. Less remixed verion forthcoming on "Ladies And Gentlemen...The Sirago 17" available shortly. - C. Reid

Z-Phantom 4 - Inertia Drive
Man...you might think that I was really into Spacemen 3 at one time. - D. Davis

The Sirago 17 - Goodnight And Goodbye
An experiment in feedback and treated piano over a heartbeat like drum machine pattern. Recorded 6/23/93 at The Bartsch Compound. - C. Reid

The Sucksville Allstars - Hell Hole Shuffle (Uncensored Version)
Er...you see... - C. Reid

RA Podcast #004 (Give your partner the pleasure of a Hammond Organ every night!)

snotbox17@gmail.com (Chris) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:10:00 -0700

The Sirago 17 - Bedspins (Remastered Version) Side 1 - Rough mix of remastered version:
1 - Bedspins (Mustang Version-Remix)
2 - Sedative
3 - Away
4 - How Long?
all songs by C. Reid except 4 by The Furies / arr C. Reid

Originally released on cassette on 29 April 1995
Copied to CD-R in 1999
Remaster begun 5 April 2009

RA Podcast #003 (When your lassie sees our new podcast, she'll be beside herself with excrement!)

snotbox17@gmail.com (Chris) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 21:10:00 -0700

The Hound Dog Blues Revue - Children Of The Grave
And, boy, do they. And some other stuff. And there's flubs and hijinx. - C. Reid

RA Podcast #002 (Shaft enlargement at a fraction of the price)

snotbox17@gmail.com (Chris) — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 13:13:00 -0800

Z-Phantom 4 - Laying Down The Law
... - D. Davis

Inhale - 10.11.90
I recorded the guitar and bass for this around 1993 or so. It was the second or third song I ever "wrote" and was originally intended for the band that Jeff Bellew, Dan Woodward, and I started ("Mean Mr. Mustard" or "The Dave Remus Love Removal Machine") which eventually morphed into Nevergreen (sans Woodward). The lyrics are adapted from a short story I wrote that was a bit darker and certainly more "metal". For instance, aside from namechecking several metal bands and quoting AC/DC lyrics, the original story refers to eternal hellfire rather than "colors". See, told you. While working on the second Inhale CD, I gave the lyrics and music to co-worker Beth Reiland. I envisioned her reciting the words over the music, but she came back with an actual melody and turned this into the first and only Inhale folk song. And now a couple of words about the title: wake up. - V. Hernandez

The Sirago 17 - I Don't Know
A never quite finished instrumental recorded in August of 1994. Open tuned acoustic guitar. I particularly like what's going on with the bass at a few points. This was obviously before I started "learning" how to play, since I'm doing something other than your standard blues scales. I think there's even a seventh in there. Or is that a ninth...? I wish I had finished the lyrics, as I think there's a nice little tune here. - C. Reid

I Am Not The Janitor - Fly
Recorded live at one of our final practices. It's a cover of a Z-Phantom 4 track...which is Dan...so, does that count as a cover if it's his own material? - C. Reid

Swordfish II - Follow (anti-G Remix)
Regarding Follow Remix, I went looking for the original tracks to pick out some of the nuances, but it looks as though it was yet another victim of Western Digital quality control. Have I mentioned that they are motherfuckers? Well, it bears repeating... What I remember was that Doug did most of it and then gave it to me and I added the main sample- an edited version of the Royal Tenenbaums post suicide attempt scene. I had to run the sample through a few filters in an effort to get rid of the two Rolling Stones songs that play underneath the scene which only sort of worked. I also moved some of Doug's samples around slightly and tweaked levels. I like it and I remember taking it to work and playing it for Doug and he liked it too, so there you go. - V. Hernandez

Blind Dog - My Blues
Blind Dog is the lead bottle player in the Hound Dog Blues Revue. This rare archival solo recording was made in October 93 during his brief electric period. I think the guitar was tuned with the A string dropped to G and the E string dropped down to C, but I could be mistaken. It was 15 years ago, after-all. - C. Reid

RA Podcast #001 (in which Doris gets her oats)

snotbox17@gmail.com (Chris) — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 18:30:00 -0800

The Sirago 17 - Bedspins (M3 Demo)
Recorded during the peak of my Brad Laner 4-Track Distortion phase. I really have no idea how some of these sounds were created, as they're not on the individual tracks. I think there was even a 4th verse buried at the end somewhere. I really don't remember. This was later re-recorded more conventionally and included on the Tooth And Nail Records ArtCore Compilation and, in a slightly remixed form, on the No-Fi Records DroneOn Compilation. - C. Reid

Twin Cam Akiko - Look Alive
I don't remember much about this at all. As a matter of fact, this is one of my songs that I didn't have until this here podcast. I vaguely remember Chris and/or Vance asking me to write something for the website, but that's about it. I also remember that the entire thing was done on Fruity Loops - and it was recorded at my old apartment in Clovis, Ca. It's about a robot wanting to be a real person. A SF Pinocchio story. I am incredibly interested in A.I., simulacra, and the fiction of Philip K. Dick, and it seems likely that this song was inspired by things such as these. - D. Davis

I Am Not The Janitor - The Sun Doesn't Seem So Far
Written after reading an interview with Wayne Coyne, of Flaming Lips fame, a huge influence on my own music. He said that he was not mad, nor on drugs, yet. I like the inclusion of the word "yet." Robert Anton Wilson once said that the word "yet" is an important word because it leaves open the possibility of something to happen; it turns a negative into a positive. "I have not found the Chupacabra," becomes "I have not found the Chupacabra, yet!" - D. Davis

Inhale - A Strangely Shining Light
I'm proud of this one. I like the guitar tone, the riffs, and the little ad-libs that lead into the "chorus". The guitar that ends the song was recorded a few days after the main part of the song was completed. After realizing that the song needed that tag on the end, I quickly made up the guitar part, ran through it a couple times, and recorded it then and there. It shows- it's a little bit shaky. The voice is a reading of the short story "Sredni Vashtar" that is shortened, processed, and rearranged to fit somewhat on the drum beats. There was a version of this song that included bass as played by Dan Davis, however, it was lost due to hard drive failure. God bless you Western Digital, you fuckers. - V. Hernandez

The Sirago 17 - Dreams
I decided once that I wanted to record a rainstorm. Years later, I went to use it and discovered I had, in the interim, recorded a guitar solo on another track. I really don't remember, but it's a very soothing number. - C. Reid

Inhale - Crawl, Claw, And Scrape
This track was created by taking my portable recorder and letting the microphone hang near my feet as I walked to a nearby field and proceeded to dig in the ground with a small shovel. Oh what a sight that must have been- good thing I did it under cover of night. At 1:00 in the morning. Nope, nothing odd about that at all... The text near the end is part of something I wrote while living in a lousy apartment in between two batshit crazy neighbors: "I live next door to nothing / I hate my neighbors / sometimes I can feel the crawling / and clawing / and scraping / and the bugs starting to take over." Good times, good times. - V. Hernandez

Fight Song - Rotting America
My brother and I on a Bacardi evening....paying tribute ...plus it makes a really great song title! - J. Kilby