• Myspace
• Official Site

@ Wikipedia:

Xiu Xiu is an experimental indie band originally from and currently based in Oakland, California, with time often spent in Seattle, Washington. The band is the brainchild of singer-songwriter Jamie Stewart, who has been its only constant member since its inception. His current bandmates are cousin, Caralee McElroy and percussionist Ches Smith. Xiu Xiu are also, on occasion, joined by Cory McCulloch, who has also produced several of their albums. Past members include Lauren Andrews, Yvonne Chen, Sam Mickens and Jherek Bischoff. Some, including McCulloch, have played in previous bands with Stewart, notably Ten in the Swear Jar and IBOPA. The band’s name is taken from the 1998 Chinese film Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl.

@ allmusic:

Taking their name from the 1998 Chinese film Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl, post-punk throwbacks Xiu Xiu were formed in San Jose, CA, by Cory McCullough, Yvonne Chen (publisher of the indie zine Zum), Lauren Andrews, and Jamie Stewart. Before forming Xiu Xiu, McCullough and Stewart played in the band Ten in the Swear Jar. Prior to the 2002 release of their first full-length album, Knife Play (released on vinyl through Absolutely Kosher and on disc through 5RC/Kill Rock Stars), the band made appearances on numerous compilations. Shortly after Knife Play’s release, Springman released a 10″ collaboration between Xiu Xiu and Deerhoof. Vocalist Stewart has earned comparisons to the Cure’s Robert Smith, while the band itself has been likened to just about any angular guitar band from the late ’70s and early ’80s without any blindingly obvious sources of inspiration. In 2002, the band issued the Chapel of the Chimes EP. The following year, A Promise and the limited-edition, mostly acoustic Fag Patrol EP arrived, and early 2004 saw the release of their most accessible work to date, Fabulous Muscles. Xiu Xiu kept busy in 2005 with the full-length La Forêt and a split single with Devendra Banhart. The group’s fifth album, The Air Force, which was produced by Greg Saunier, arrived in fall 2006; an EP of covers, Tu Mi Piaci, was also released that year. 2008’s Women as Lovers managed to be some of Xiu Xiu’s catchiest and most abrasive work, and featured Michael Gira on a cover of “Under Pressure.”

xiu xiu - chapel of the chimes (2002)

01. i am the center of your world
02. jennifer lopez (the sweet science version)
03. ten-thousand-times-a-minute
04. king earth, king earth
05. ceremony

DOWNLOAD @ MEDIAFIRE (25.17 MB)

xiu xiu - knife play (2002)

01. don diasco
02. i broke up (sj)
03. luber
04. hives hives
05. dr. troll
06. over over
07. anne dong
08. suha
09. poe poe
10. homonculus
11. tonite and today (what chu’ talkin’ about)

DOWNLOAD @ MEDIAFIRE (39.35 MB)

xiu xiu - a promise (2003)

01. sad pony guerrilla girl
02. apistat commander
03. walnut house
04. 20,000 deaths for eidelyn gonzales, 20,000 deaths for jamie peterson
05. pink city
06. sad redux-o-grapher
07. blacks
08. brooklyn dodgers
09. fast car
10. ian curtis wishlist

DOWNLOAD @ MEDIAFIRE (35.44 MB)

xiu xiu - fag patrol (2003)

01. helsabot
02. king earth, king earth
03. 20,000 deaths for eidelyn gonzales, 20,000 deaths for jamie peterson
04. dr. troll
05. jennifer lopez
06. brooklyn dodgers
07. asleep
08. i broke up
09. nieces pieces

DOWNLOAD @ MEDIAFIRE (30.56 MB )

xiu xiu - fabulous muscles (2004)

01. crank heart
02. i luv the valley oh!
03. bunny gamer (b)
04. little panda mcelroy (b)
05. support our troops oh! (black angels oh!)
06. fabulous muscles (mama black widow version)
07. brian the vampire
08. nieces pieces (boat knife version)
09. clowne towne
10. mike

DOWNLOAD @ MEDIAFIRE (34.25 MB)

• Myspace
• Official Site

@ Wikipedia:

Gastr del Sol was a Chicago band consisting, for most of their career, of David Grubbs and Jim O’Rourke. Between 1993 and 1998 they put out seven records ranging in genre from post-rock (the scene they were most associated with) to musique concrète.

@ allmusic:

Gastr del Sol was the most prominent vehicle of indie-rock stalwart David Grubbs, a former member of Squirrel Bait, Slint, and Bastro. With Gastr del Sol, the Louisville, KY-born vocalist/guitarist/pianist’s evolution from conventional rock music into more intricate and sophisticated tone patterns became complete; debuting with the 1993 EP The Serpentine Similar, the group — a shifting aggregate of talents which initially inclued bassist Bundy K. Brown and drummer John McEntire — began exploring their new approach, taking off from often improvisational performances to embark on highly idiosyncratic sonic adventures. With the single “20 Songs Less,” guitarist, composer, and tape manipulator Jim O’Rourke signed on, and following the departure of Brown, and with the decreased involvement of McEntire, Gastr del Sol became a kind of catchall tag for Grubbs and O’Rourke’s many eclectic projects; the acoustic Crookt, Crackt, or Fly followed in 1994, as did the EP Mirror Repair. With 1995’s The Harp Factory on Lake Street, Grubbs and O’Rourke composed a single 17-minute orchestral piece, while with 1996’s Upgrade and Afterlife they returned to more more traditional dynamics to create their most beautiful and intriguing work to date. O’Rourke left Gastr del Sol in 1997, shortly after completing work on Camoufleur, which was released in Janurary 1998.

gastr del sol - the serpentine similar (1993)

01. a watery kentucky
02. easy company
03. a jar of fat
04. ursus arctos wonderfilis
05. eye street
06. for soren mueller
07. serpentine orbit
08. even the odd orbit

DOWNLOAD @ MEDIAFIRE (57.09 MB)

gastr del sol - twenty songs less (1993)

01. twenty songs less (1)
02. twenty songs less (2)

DOWNLOAD @ MEDIAFIRE (6.17 MB)

gastr del sol - crookt, crackt, or fly (1994)

01. wedding in the park
02. work from smoke
03. parenthetically
04. every five miles
05. thos.dudley ah! old must dye
06. is that a rifle when it rains?
07. the c in cake
08. the wrong soundings

DOWNLOAD @ MEDIAFIRE (62.12 MB)

gastr del sol - mirror repair (1994)

01. photographed yawning
02. eight corners
03. dictionary of handwriting
04. why sleep
05. mirror repair

DOWNLOAD @ MEDIAFIRE (19.07 MB)

gastr del sol - the harp factory on lake street (1995)

01. the harp factory on lake street

DOWNLOAD @ MEDIAFIRE (19.91 MB)

gastr del sol & tony conrad - the japanese room at la pagode (1995)

01. the japanese room at la pagode [gastr del sol]
02. may [tony conrad]
03. ten years alive on the infinite plain (#1) [tony conrad]
04. ten years alive on the infinite plain (#2) [tony conrad]

DOWNLOAD @ MEDIAFIRE (16.72 MB)

gastr del sol - upgrade & afterlife (1996)

01. our exquisite replica of “eternity”
02. rebecca sylvester
03. the sea incertain
04. hello spiral
05. the relay
06. crappie tactics
07. dry bones in the valley (i saw the light come shining ’round and ’round)

DOWNLOAD @ MEDIAFIRE (67.17 MB)

gastr del sol - camoufleur (1996)

01. the seasons reverse
02. blues subtitled no sense of wonder
03. black horse
04. each dream is an example
05. mouth canyon
06. a puff of dew
07. bauchredner

DOWNLOAD @ MEDIAFIRE (55.79 MB)

@ allmusic:

The Nihilist Spasm Band — the world’s longest-running noise ensemble — is sure tribute-worthy, but how do you cover noise improvisations? You don’t. Instead you imitate, derive, or simply do your best to live up to the NSB’s nihilist ideals. Most of all, you cling to Bill Exley’s no-nonsense poems, the only element giving the group’s tunes the aspect of songs (and warranting the recurrence of song titles). No Tribute was produced by Sunship Records in collaboration with three other small American noise labels. The roster of contributing artists is international, uneven, and impressive. Names you may have previously encountered include sound collagist V/Vm, Miami-based experimenter Carlos Giffoni, South-American weirdos Reynols, stage demons Cock E.S.P. and Wolf Eyes, plus regular NSB supporters and collaborators like Alan Licht, Jason Bellchamber, and Hijokaidan, who gets the honor of delivering the closing anthem, “No Canada.” Anything goes on this compilation, from laptop mayhem to basement rehearsal tapes. Highlights include the toys instrumentation in Wrong’s “Unlikely,” the close-to-home rendition of “It’s Not My Fault” by Pengo, and a surprising contribution from saxophonist Jacopo Andreini (of the Italian avant-rock group Bz Bz Ueu) going crazy with a reading of “Forget” in French s’il-vous-plaît. In the course of these 24 tracks, the ethos of the NSB gets fragmented beyond belief — and most are louder and noisier than anything the group ever recorded. Fans will have fun with all the winks and mistreatment. Others may have a hard time figuring out what the band is really about. Hopefully, they’ll get curious enough to seek out their albums.

various artists - no tribute: music of the nihilist spasm band (2003)

01. we are not the nihilist spasm band [baku]
02. the filter song [u can unlearn guitar]
03. i have nothing to say [the pin vs. bellchamber]
04. destroy the nations [unconditional loathing]
05. forget [jacopo andreini]
06. meateater [winter carousel]
07. united nations [roughage]
08. kiss the duck [v/vm]
09. an appeal to reason [dapper]
10. shinkansen [madame chao]
11. what about me? [alan licht]
12. la mama lament [smell & quim]
13. stupidity [inca eyeball]
14. dog face man [carlos giffoni]
15. indecision of the night [reynols]
16. enough is enough [cock e.s.p.]
17. jeg er en skikkelig bra fyr (i’m a real nice fellow) [del]
18. it’s not my fault [pengo]
19. noise picking [glands of external secretion]
20. gazetteer of newfoundland [panicsville]
21. no bananafish [wolf eyes]
22. unlikely [wrong]
23. this is a test [newton]
24. no canada [hijokaidan]

DOWNLOAD @ MEDIAFIRE (64.5 MB)

• Myspace
• Official Website

Nihilist Spasm Band - Meateater

@ Wikipedia:

The Nihilist Spasm Band (NSB) is a London, Ontario-based noise band. The band was formed in 1965 by Hugh McIntyre, John Clement, John Boyle, Bill Exley, Murray Favro, Archie Leitch, Art Pratten, and Greg Curnoe. Leitch has since retired, Curnoe was killed in a bicycle accident in 1992, and McIntyre died of heart failure in 2004. The band members are mostly local artists, none is a trained musician.

The term spasm band refers to a band that uses homemade instruments. Indeed, most of the NSB’s instruments are modifications of other instruments, or wholly invented by the members. In addition to the homemade instruments, members are encouraged to improvise. The range of the improvisation is such that instruments are not tuned to each other, tempi and time signatures are lacking, and the members push the ranges of their already homemade instruments by engaging in constant innovation.

@ allmusic:

The Nihilist Spasm Band is a unique experimental collective generally known as “the first noise band”. Formed in 1965 in London, Ontario, the Canadian group has since improvised on a number of instruments, including homemade creations such as the violin created by bandmember Art Pratten, the “Pratt-a-various”. Bandmembers include Pratten (who also plays “water-pipe”), Bill Exley (spoken word), Murray Favro (guitar), John Clement (guitar and drums), John Boyle (drums and kazoo), and Hugh McIntyre (bass). Their first concert took place in early 1966 and their debut recording, No Record, followed two years later. Another decade passed before their next album, Vol. 2, was released, but despite their sporadic recording, the band remained busy with live performances. For over 30 years, NSB has performed every Monday night at a gallery in their hometown. They have also performed at N.Y.C.’s Knitting Factory, the FIMAV music festival in Quebec and other creative music festivals, and toured Japan in 1997. Many of the Nihilist Spasm Band albums have been reissued on the Japanese label Alchemy Records by fan and noise artist Jojo Hiroshige (of Hijokaidan). Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore is also counted among NSB’s big fans. In March 1998, the band threw the first No Music Festival, featuring improvisers from Japan, Toronto, N.Y.C., Chicago, and more. Box sets of each No Music Festival have been issued on Canada’s independent label Entartete Kunst.

nihilist spasm band - no record (1968)

01. destroy the nations
02. when in london sleep at the york hotel
03. the byron bog
04. dog face man
05. oh brian dibb
06. destroy the nations again

DOWNLOAD @ MEDIAFIRE (68.49 MB)

nihilist spasm band - vol. 2 (1979)

01. no canada
02. stupidity
03. dum-de-dum
04. elsinore

DOWNLOAD @ MEDIAFIRE (36.94 MB)

nihilist spasm band - 1984 (1984)

01. march 20 1984
02. are you ok bill? july 30 1984
03. june 5 1984
04. sept 10 1984
05. oct 16 1984

DOWNLOAD @ MEDIAFIRE (94.23 MB)

nihilist spasm band - 7x~x=x (1985)

01. this is a test
02. an appeal to reason
03. enough is enough
04. fretful
05. stop and think shit heads
06. sinister
07. no canada

DOWNLOAD @ MEDIAFIRE (73.24 MB)

nihilist spasm band - what about me (1992)

01. hesitation
02. what about me
03. indecision of the night
04. function
05. wish
06. grumbling
07. hijokaidan warp
08. breathing
09. i have nothing to say
10. dance/slow

DOWNLOAD @ MEDIAFIRE (30.28 MB) [pt. 1]

DOWNLOAD @ MEDIAFIRE (70.64 MB) [pt. 2]

nihilist spasm band - live in japan (1997)

01. introduction/no canada
02. indecision of the night
03. stupidity
04. shinkansen
05. murray
06. la mama lament
07. better than nothing
08. here not here
09. hesitation

DOWNLOAD @ MEDIAFIRE (67.93 MB)

nihilist spasm band - every monday night (1999)

01. mother canada
02. i dreamt i was living in paradise
03. forget
04. it’s not my fault
05. i’m a real nice fellow
06. the filter song
07. gazetteer of newfoundland
08. however but
09. slow dance

DOWNLOAD @ MEDIAFIRE (87.81 MB)

nihilist spasm band & cock. e.s.p. - split (2000)

01. what about me (live u.s. debut) [nihilist spasm band]
02. canada doesn’t like us [cock e.s.p.]

DOWNLOAD @ MEDIAFIRE (5.06 MB)

nihilist spasm band feat. joe mcphee - no borders [stage] (2001)

01. nihilist party lights
02. duet
03. united nations
04. going too far
05. poughkeepsie
06. why try
07. acrostics
08. trio
09. victor

DOWNLOAD @ MEDIAFIRE (80.98 MB)

nihilist spasm band feat. joe mcphee - no borders [studio] (2001)

01. do it my way
02. boing
03. meateater
04. unlikely
05. mature consideration
06. stridor
07. helpless
08. road kill
09. duet again

DOWNLOAD @ MEDIAFIRE (84.42 MB)

• Myspace

@ Wikipedia:

Storm & Stress is an American indie rock trio. This noise/experimental rock band that takes its name from the German literary movement Sturm und Drang.

Members are:

• Ian Williams - electric guitar and vocals (also member of Battles and ex-member of Don Caballero)
• Kevin Shea - drums (also member of People (Band), Talibam!, Sexy Thoughts, Puttin’ On The Ritz, Coptic Light, Moppa Elliott’s Mostly Other People Do The Killing and about 15 other bands)
• Erich Emm - bass (also member of Don Caballero and Good Morning)

@ Touch and Go / Quarterstick Records:

Storm & Stress is of course an historical reference to the German literary movement, Sturm and Drang. Ours is more of a modern day version, where the characters still yearn for revolt, but unfortunately cannot. We would like to feel, but have no feelings left. It’s about an impossible situation: the ridiculousness of another era in our new skin (the wigs hurt), the improperness of pop artifice mixed with legitimate attempts at being serious, and then all of the attendant problems, i.e. teenage aspirations tripped up by music that teenagers probably don’t want to listen to, rock without a beat, etc.

storm & stress - self titled (1997)

01. we write threnodies, we write with explosions
02. today is totally crashing and stunned in bright lights
03. dance ’til record skips like passengers shift on take off
04. micah gaugh sings all is all
05. guitar cabinet stack way high is freedom or gravity gives us rhythm
06. piles of blinkers slip for new years
07. orange cone made no noise

DOWNLOAD @ MEDIAFIRE (52.63 MB)

storm & stress - under thunder and fluorescent lights (2000)

01. the sky’s the ground, the bombs are plants, and we’re the sun, love
02. an address that was to skip ahead of the gallop of its own sperm and eggs and wait for itself in the future
03. meet me in the space they stare at leaving their seat during a show
04. it takes a million years to become diamonds so let’s just burn like coal until the sky’s black
05. the 1st, our lady of burning thorns
06. o, when my lady comes
07. the 2nd, perpetuate the beautiful
08. and third and youngest, unnamed
09. forever, like anti-oxidants (listen to the sound our cells make)

DOWNLOAD @ MEDIAFIRE (35.01 MB)