Dig - S/T (1993)

Dig is an amazing band that no one remembers except for maybe me and a couple of other people who were seriously submerged in the alternative rock wave of the early 90s. I saw the video for their song "Believe" and promptly went out to pick it up the CD. This is one of those albums that I dubbed to tape and listened to over and over in my big yellow Sony sports walkman on the bus going to school. It has this big thick layered sound that grabs your entire ear space and creates its own lush reverberant atmosphere. The band was a 5 piece; a drummer, bassist and 3 guitarists. On some tracks, one guitarist is making only atmospheric noises with feedback loops and delays. I remember seeing them play "Believe" on the Jon Stewart Show (I am really dating myself now) and the guy held an e-bow to his guitar for the entire duration of the song, just bending it slightly here and there. Underneath all of those guitars, the bassist still manages to make his own space, weaving his own style of melodic lines throughout each song. Vocals were pretty much dominated by one person, although there are some backups here and there. They have that really lazy character to them but still manage to hang high over everything else. It's a very creative take on the sound that was popular at that time, injecting equal influences from rock, psychedelic, surf, ambient with some pop sensibilities thrown in for catchy tunes. It's a shame this band didn't get the promotion they deserved.

Tracklist:

1. Let Me Know

2. I'll Stay High

3. Unlucky Friend

4. Anymore

5. Conversation

6. Believe

7. Feet Don't Touch The Ground

8. Ride The Wave

9. Green Room

10. Tight Brain

11. Fuck You

12. Decide

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P.S. - It seems to be selling on Amazon for a penny. What a slap in the face.

Ice Cake - S/T (1997)

This was a favorite of mine back in high school. A friend had it and copied it on tape for me, and I played it until there was no flux left on it. Later I managed to find it at a local record/memorabilia shop that happened to be in the home town of this artist. I always loved it because the whole record is pretty much just a guy playing guitar and bass through delays and other various effects, with random samples thrown in for good measure. It's so laid back and simple. Each piece is different from the last while still drawing from the same palate of tones. Ice Cake manages to produce a record that, although short, still holds much musical depth while keeping its minimalistic ambiance. Good luck if you could find a physical copy these days.

Tracklist:

1. That Train Is So Spacy

2. Fountains

3. Reality And You

4. Vertical Pines

5. Pour Vous

6. On Soft Ground I Sleep

7. The Astral Body

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OLD - Formula (1995)

OLD stands for Old Lady Drivers. Originally started in the 80's as a freak out drum machine grind band, their sound has evolved through the years thanks to the innovative guitar processing virtuosity of James Plotkin (Namanax, Phantomsmasher, Solarus) and the vocal strangeness of Alan Dubin. I discovered them from hearing one of their tracks, "Freak Now", which appeared on the soundtrack to the early 90's computer hacker movie Brainscan. It was featured on their album The Musical Dimensions Of Sleestack (which came before this album). However Formula is quite a departure from their signature electronic grind sound. Light, airy guitar-synth work, warm fretless bass and large deep drum machine hits make this one a brighter spacier listen. The odd time signatures keep things interesting, and Alan Dubin's esoteric yet simplistic vocoder-sung lyrics provide a more happy variety of mental psychosis. They definately manage to fall under their own category with this record. It's a shame the project came to a halt around this time. I can only imagine what would've came next in their sonic evolution.

Tracklist:

1. Last Look

2. Break [You]

3. Devolve

4. Underglass

5. Thug

6. Rid

7. Amoeba

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