FIRST UP! NINE AND A HALF BOOKS IN ALMOST AS MANY WEEKS. THAT WAS HARD WORK / FUN / TOUGH LOVE.
This week - a chance to get back to the real rare vintage. But not before we are sure you have seen and and noted the new, new IDEA books. This is no wishmas list btw - Harley Weir already sold out - and half of those are perilously to never seeing another, or, indeed, their first, Christmas.
KILLER #1. RIGHT BACK IN RE-ACTION WITH THURSTON MOORE'S FANZINE. THE SUPER SCARCE FIRST ISSUE WITH THE FLAMETHROWN FLEXI-DISC INSIDE. LESS THAN 100 COPIES WERE EVER STAPLED TOGETHER. 1982 WITH SWANS, BEASTIE BOYS, MINOR THREAT, LYDIA LUNCH, THICK PIGEON: AND ALL ON A NEWSLETTER YOU CAN LISTEN TO TOO!
Filler killer. The line-up for the first issue of Thurston Moore's fanzine. This was printed in 1982. Moore's own band, Sonic Youth, had their first five-track mini-LP out at that time but this wasn't about that. Killer has Michael Gira of Swans on the cover. Killer was about the scene - about connections made - camaraderie as defined by: mutual trust and friendship among people who spend a lot of time together.
Swans are legend btw. Listen to this live set circa 1982. They had a sound not unlike the bin men reversing their truck into your bedroom.
Killer credits. No such thing as a one man band (unless, perhaps, you are Prince). Lots of collaborators. Neural maps. Kinetic energy.
The skeleton artwork by Michael Gira. And 'all photos by Catherine' means Catherine Ceresole whose photobook appeared in the 2000s here.
This reads so well. The classic 'use your dic to phone' failure and half-remembered interview. Los Beastie Boys were a hardcore band before the Rick Rubin rap reinvention. Their Pollywog Stew EP of 1981 is excellenté!
We are big fans of white-out-of-black art direction. And the black in Killer is the best! This Lydia Lunch double page is doubly good. And because you like clicking links and filling your open-plan office with significant sound - here is Lydia with I Fell In Love With A Ghost (great title) from 1981.
Promises, promised. The free flexi-disc. Freely flambéed too.
Two cuts from Weapon of Peace's forthcoming Safari album. The first track ID has been smoldered away but you can hear Baby When I'm Gone (Dub)here. Not sure it entirely deserved to be burnt (the naive keyboard solo on the non-dub version is cool) but we understand the youthful spirit. And who wasn't a pyromaniac in their teens? The initial appeal of smoking was always the innate urge to set fire to something.
This Flexi-Disc was actually issued with the long forgotten but very cool FlexiPop magazine in the UK. Thurston found a box of them - they were not all Weapon of Peace, apparently.
Thick Pigeon! This page is most welcome, not least because Dog by Thick Pigeon is one of the all time great almost inexplicably brilliant tracks. That one you HAVE to listen to.
Back cover lover. Really, really good composition. Jack Texas was the collective nom de plume of three no wave musician/artists: Rudolph Grey (of Blue Humans), Arto Lindsay (of DNA) and Sumner Crane (of Mars). We sound informed but really, we just know we like the drawing. And that is always enough.
We have one copy of Killer #1. We have been looking for it for so long. And now you can buy it on the white-out-of-black button below.
SUPERBOOKS & AMAZINES. SEXY JACKETS IS BACK! THE PUNK FOTONOVELLA AND LOTS OF VERY GREAT EARLY EIGHTIES YOHJI AND COMME CATALOGUES. PLUS PINHEAD AND PATAGONIA. AND THE SPLATTER MOVIE BOOK (FOR HALLOWEEN).
