Noise for Zeros

Jubilix / Nitro Burning Funny Cow 7″
Sympathy for the Record Industry, 1991

From where else but Iowa City, Iowa could such a burly ass sludge punk band named Iowa Beef Experience go ripping into early-nineties grunge obscurity? Actually, IBX did have a bit of clout in the pre-Teen Spirit world of grunge, with an interview in Maximum Rock ‘n Roll and an LP released on the London-based Vinyl Solution record label. In 1991 they may well have been the best-known punk band from Iowa, despite the fact that Iowa had, and has always had a pretty healthy little scene. Learn a more about it from previous posts here and here, or from The Secret History of the Cedar Valley wiki site here. Anyway, IBX had a fairly unique take on the pigfuck genre, namely with some of the gnarliest growling vocals you’ll ever hear, and a gut-rumbling guitar sound that can only gurgle up from the deepest depths of the rural midwest. This 45 is their best release, featuring forceful, antagonistic riffs and a floor-rumbling production that some of their other releases lack.

DOWNLOAD

Iowa Beef Experience - “Jubilix”
Iowa Beef Experience - “Nitro Burning Funny Cow”

Mr. Devil CD
Third Gear, 1998

Have a taste for dark, atmospheric, spaced-out trance rock? Then you need to aquaint yourself with the out-of-this-world tunes of Detroit’s Keir McDonald, aka Medusa Cylone. This relatively unheard classic from the late ’90s is essential listening, with a slight krautrock influence, warm analog electronics, and layers of ethereal effects-laden guitar. And where many similar-minded groups tend to get a bit monotonous from setting up a nice repetitive groove, Mr. Devil never gets boring as its songs are masterfully constructed to expand and contract and pull the listener in with an unending palette of pulsating exotic guitar, heavily-processed samples, and other sinister aural oddities. If your iPod is full of tracks from Loop, Hawkwind, Spacemen 3, F/i, Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd, or even the sample-happy urban sonic decay of Illusion of Safety or tense clang of Sonic Youth’s quieter moments, chances are this album will be of interest to you.

DOWNLOAD:

Medusa Cyclone - “The Smith Can”
Medusa Cyclone - “Invisible World”

LINKS:

Medusa Cyclone on MySpace