Sheep Squeeze - Dorkcore to the Extreme

Sheep Squeeze, the world's first Dorkcore band, the retarded ancestor of groups like the FELDMANS, Spazz, Living War Room, Lost Ground, Slobber, the Shedwellaz, the Nauscopy Record Label, and many others were mostly known to insiders of the legendary West Bay Hardcore scene during its first wave in the years of 1990-1993. This post aims to change that.

The Wonder Years ...

Sheep Squeeze came out of Redwood City's burgeoning punk scene in the late 80's. The original line up was Dan Lactose (guitar and vocals), Chris Heee (vocals and sweatpants), Brenkt Sheeply (drums and babbling) and Don Juan, Ph.d on bass. After several months of intense preparation which included many rounds of the game known as "Macho Racho", the boys bumbled their way into the infamous House of Faith studio, then housed in the unforgettable record store, CFY. Eagerly watched in the studio by the HLT Productions mastermind called Leech and OXBOW vocalist Eugene Robinson, the "Everything We Touch Turns to Sheep" sessions were put down on analog tapes by the internationally respected producer Bart Thurber.

Those sessions unleashed upon the world the monumental first self-titled 7", on Milking a Dead Cow Records.

Shows with the seminal bands like Unwound, FYP, Dinkus and Amyglada were written in the Akashic Records of dorkcore, hearts were broken and new vistas reached...(and I don't think once they did their parody of the Misfits' "Hate Breeders" aka "Sheep Breeders")

Borbah - The Movie that made us all cry.

Borbah was proof that the unbridled creativity of the Squeezers could manifest into cinematic utopia. This movie was originally a high school musical, prank and assignment. Following the musical direction of the group, this film is catchy but slightly nauseating.

Please adjust volume to max. Features Christ Heee from the FELDMANS, Dan of SPAZZ, Rawb of the Living War Room, Eugene Robinson of OXBOW and the much maligned BUTTER BOY.

"Live Like Your Grandma" in Half Moon Bay.

The songs on this rare videoed performance include : "Steve" ( a tribute to Steve Sanders of 90210), "Rich Punk" ( the lyrics are for the ages) "Vespa Wood" (not a tribute, but Hee on Trumpet), and the classic "Suck My Ass" which prefigured the Nirvana quiet-loud-quiet-loud song structure by years. Because of this "coincidence", they sued Cobain's estate as that was the only way to get to the guy who stole the Sheep's intellectual property right. Legend has it, that they were paid via a debauched night on the town with Courtney Love herself and consequently picked up her VDs.

Beware, the Racuous Return?

Rampant internet rumors have been spreading in early 2009 as to the return of Sheep Squeeze. Most notably, PunkNew.Org had this press release about their potential US tour...

Dateline: REDWOOD CITY - Immortal rockers never die. In fact, they just reunite, no matter what the costs. Sheep Squeeze, the progenitors of a musical movement endearingly known as "DorkCore" have returned, this time with not just 1 drummer, but all 4. Their first release in decades , entitled "Brenkt’s Rent” has already been banned in several states and a tour with Amy Grant has stalled in the planning process.

AS the public awaits the return, EuroTrashUtilityBelt will hold you over with this download, "Lambthology", the lost 39 song semi-discography released on Brenkt's label Nauscopy.

SHEEP LIBERATION!!

ps- more sheep news available on their myspace: http://www.myspace.com/sheepsqueeze

Dystopia - Human = Garbage

Dystopia and their album "Human = Garbage" is one of those classic underground pieces where the content (the destruction of nature, drug wars, the evils of money) continues to become more true, more real, everyday. I will never forget driving up to Gillman St., getting drunk on King Cobra in the parking lot, taking pisses on the old abandoned house down the block, and then ducking when the cops came. Like an eerie silent movie scene, when the mass of figures in black crept into the side door, then you knew the ritual was to begin. Time to hear the call that was Dystopia's stoned crusty doom punk, an invitation to basking in the dionysian glory, the prophetic knowledge, of western capitalism's final collapse.

The following video is from the heyday of 1996, same time period as the flyer above.

"Hands That Mold"

"....build and build and build some more. Industry fucks nature, like some kind of whore."

Accept & Download "Human = Garbage"

BABA YAGA aka Kiss Me, Kill Me

Baba Yaga is a strange mix of Russian folklore, Nazi nightmares, sexy golem attacks and the eurotrash comic art of Guido Crepax. Filmed in 1973, by director/writer Corrado Farnia, the piece mixes in some nods to the revolutionary politics of the day and stars the doe-eyed Isabelle de Fumes as the unattainable photographer Valentina Russolini.

Baba Yaga is set around the lives of jet-setting Italian artists, who like bumping uglies just as much as making soap commercials with racist connotations. Farina shows a real flair for making a surreal dreamlike mix of sex, fantasy and murder. When Valentina and her suitor Arno finally get it on, their conjugal visit becomes a swirl of comic style imagerary, a homage to Crepax's work.

Swinging times, those 70s. And the choice of the track "Open Space" by Piero Umilani, helps to really push things along with a funky vibe.

A bricolage of Crepax's Valentina set to Umilani's music by CosmoCorps2000

Valentina's wanderlust leads her to a "chance" encounter with an old sapphic wench, who calls herself Baba Yaga. Valentina tries to save a lost German Shepard from being run-over, but the dog is actually a bait to trap her in a magic circle of candles on dark night at 3:30 am (note the symbolism). This is also the first point in the film that has an injection of Nazi elements.

Baba bites when she is feeling randy.

Nazi Dream Sequence # 1

the symbolic death march

Baba Yaga gets ahold of some Valentina

Farina/Crepax take some liberties with the Baba Yaga mythology, but they still point to the horrific essence that holds the original fairy tale together; a wicked old woman, who preys on younger nubile women from her power center in an old house (though not one that stands on chicken feet in the Russian forest!). The Dominatrix/Golem mixes a strange brew with the Nazi sexual symbolism and makes you wonder about the source of Baba Yaga's magic.

Baba Yaga is a solid, arty horror flic and definitely recommended.

PS - there is also a great two song demo from a doom band named Baba Yaga, available for free on the quintessential Cosmic Hearse here.

Intelligent, Visionary Horror Movies (v. 1.0) - Pizza SEO

Thirtyseven has put together a solid list of newer horror flicks (and there are some great recommendations in the comments) on his always excellent PizzaSEO. Go over and check it out:

Intelligent, Visionary Horror Movies (v. 1.0)

[Indo] European Protection Mantra for 2009

Things are getting rough out there and even gurus in India know it. During the 24 hour Shivaratri meditation in late February, nada yoga master Sri Swamiji gave this mantra he received from Shiva to protect devotees from economic –and- whatever else collapse in 2009. And like Mola Ram learned, you better not betray Shiva.

If you are a reader of this page, the probability is high that you don’t have an "abhyasa" of good repute. Hell, I don’t. Ergo, I can recommend putting this track on repeat in your media player, relaxing on the faux tiger skin rug with some ganja in the hookah and a delightfully deviant mistress (channeling the title header of the Lazy World of Arthur Ignatowski here), engage in some hardcore tantric sex for 24 hours and see what happens. That’s just how EurotrashUtilityBelt rolls.

Download the Two Tracks Here

As a service to you, I will transliterate/translate the mantra using my extensive knowledge of Sanskrit gained from my travels in the East as an intelligence agent.

OM Eim Hrim Shrim ShivaRama Anagha Dattaya Namaha

OM (the sound of the ajana or brow center – dissolving apparent dualities) - I hail and salute the principle of intelligence/creativity (Eim), the seeing through the illusion of this reality, attracting abundance of all kinds, and call Shiva and Rama's power along with the One without sin.

the best reason to sign up for yoga class

Notes:

You probably guessed it: the only way I could make this post relevant to the theme of the page is to basically say yes, this European, Indo European that is! and of course, pictures of hot chicks always helps.

Thanks to a reader of Eurotrash and LedgerGermane who forwarded this to the office in the spirit of helping out. I need my hookah back now, dude.

PS- It’s good karma to leave a comment.

EuroTrash Utility Belt - World's Slowest Blog?

But how can I compete with the likes of LedgerGermane? That dude posts shit like there is no tomorrow. Coverups, mind control, economy, war, movies, music, politics, and UFOs...yes they are all there. And occasionally, some smut.

One thing is for sure though, things are about to get a whole lot weirder. Hang tight.

Laughly's Alchemy Notebook Project

Occult notebooks are a favorite over here, even when imagined, and Lisa Laughly's work is mesmerizing.

A stylized rune script runs through the piece.

Platonic solids and the Fifth Element.

The secret alchemical notebook of Laughly can be found here and Ninth Wave Designs original page (now defunct?) can be found here.

I am focusing mostly on the trip out factor that these images give off, but if you want to investigate the mind-blowing symbolism of western alchemy, the best place to start is Alchemy & Mysticism

SATAN'S BLOOD aka Escalofrio

SATAN'S BLOOD or ESCALOFRIO is an excellent Spanish EuroTrash Horror flic from 1977. Although many copies exist, the Mondo Macabro version has some outstanding features. The documentary on 20th Century Satanism with Church of Satan priest Gavin Baddeley is worth the price of admission alone!

Opening with a Black Mass done by a look-a-like of Eliphas Levi performing ritual sex on a voluptuous woman, we are in store for a creepy ride. We meet the listless Andy and his expecting wife Annie who thirst for some adventure. Their unconscious dark yearning magnetically leads them to a run-in with some "old friends", Bruno and Mary, who invite the couple to drinks at their house...

And what could go wrong at a house that looks like that? Well, maybe a little Ouija game gone wrong, confessions of infidelity and suicide attempts and there is that exploding painting of Jesus that leads to the rest....

Invitation to a Satanic Orgy

Prepping the Vessel

...

a succubus dream...

just fyi, she's holding a dagger.

not your average round table get-together.


Mary compels you to lust after Satan's Blood

{one final note- the devil-worshiping aspect of Satanism can be viewed as a bourgeois embodiment of the Manichean heresy. Thematically, the naming of the female antagonist as Mary is a definite nod to this ancient Bizzaro world-view. }

Batman's Utility Belt and Childhood Trauma

Preliminaries

Batman is characterized as an elitist (but not Reptilian) human being who to fight crime could only rely on his mind and body to be at its most functional and then blow shit up when nothing else worked. His utility belt provides a template for further consideration. This template is prophetic! Mind you, the future will be constant high-intensity urban warfare. Seeing the madness in Bombay is just the beginning.

And now our story...

Ahem...So, it was one pic of Batman's Utility Belt that kept my pubescent mind occupied for years. The culprit was the pic above and it appeared in DC Comics' "Who's Who Volume II". Hours past by thinking, scheming, about actually being like Batman. Of course, I would need to do pushups, bust out some tights for a costume, and then stuff a sock for the bulge...but the only real "in the field" supplement to his crime fighting are the tools on his belt. The Great Batman Equipment Archive lists damn near every tool the cowl-faced crime fighter carried.

I had to make one. The search began, along with friends, for the perfect utility belt. The saga passed through several stages.

and the trauma...

It became readily apparent after some dramatic instances in public, that wearing a utility belt WAS NOT going to get me laid. These instances have photographic and video evidence that will be posted on EuroTrash UtilityBelt. To verbally preview, I learned that, in general, just wearing a large, bright yellow belt with packs on it just wasn't doing much for my self esteem.

Ah..but it was the mental image of a girl in a utility belt...ready for some dirty crime fighting work, that carried me and my cohorts through a painful adolescence.

The Logic of Utility Belts
We became aware of the double-standard applied to utility belts versus fanny packs. It was a bafflement to us all. Girls seemed ok with fanny packs, but not with utility belts! You know what I'm saying.

A front worn fanny pack creates two instant yet mature observations. One, when you are reaching in there to grab something, you are playing with yourself. Two, if you wear them because you are a muscleman, you are just covering up your whithered nut sack.

Need I say more?

To be continued....

[Did you try to make a utility belt of your own? Come on, you did. What was in it? Leave a comment.]