Continued from Page 4
harmonica) kick it into top honors.
" Run D.M.C. - Raising Hell
(Yrotile). *Tis is quite smi-ply the
best rap record ever. They rock
upon the mike real def, y'all.
- Beastie Boys - Licensed to Ill
(Def Jam). While the Beasties
smack uncomfortably of previous
I
DER
N --
1
"o
I J
Ever split a muffin in nalf
and let your thoughts get lost,
rising in the steam? Try it
with a cup of coffee and it
will magnify ten-fold.
Hello, it's Ramona, the Corner
Market Coffee Lady. Today's
Subject--Coffee Break Eating
Instructions.
v"""" u""adi 3yrv mit eulums,
the Beasties are too funny to hate,
and they rock hard!
" Prince and the Revolution -
Parade (Warner Bros.). The movie
sucked, but the music is terrific,
and Mr. Nelson deserves credit for
his refusal to rehash.
- Snake-Out - Live Pizza
(Wanghead). This Detroit-area mix
of the Cramps and Dick Dale is
done justice by a recording of what
sounds like one hell of a party.
- Hysteric Narcotics - Batteries
Not Included (Raffscallion). From
the Motor City, a band that is
creating tomorrow's "Nuggets" to -
day. Long live the psychedelic
revolution.
- Robyn Hitchcock and the
Egyptians - Element of Light
(Relativity). Robyn Hitchcock's
songs are as good as Alfred
Hitchcock's movies. This one
doesn't have as many bugs as his
last record, but the fish more than
make up for it.
- Velvet Underground - Another
View (Verve). Hints that we have
reached the bottom of the unreleased
Velvets barrel, but the record is still
oodles better than, well, anything
not on this list.
" The Pontiac Brothers - Fiesta
in la Bibliotheca (Frontier). Mix
Jay and the Scorchers with early
Stones and throw in a pinch of
dB's. It tastes terrific.
- Woofing Cookies - Horse Gum
Tortilla Shoes (Midnight). The
Cookies are either really good, or
so unflinchingly lame that they've
elicited a Replacements-type appre -
ciation from me.
" Reissues: The Sun Story
(Rhino) chronicles the real roots of
rock, and there are four more
volumes of Nuggets (Rhino) for
those who want to understand the
'60s sound. Also, check out the
newly re-issued import copies of
Alex Chilton's first two Big Star
Records.
Danny Plotnick
1986 was a good year when it
was 1985: You know, November
and December, when you can't tell
if a record was one of the best of
'85 'cause you only had it for two
weeks and the year ended before the
record could stand the test of time.
The Butthole Surfers' "Moving
to Florida" from their Cream Corn
EP (Touch and Go) is the all time
best dance floor smash hit ever.
Same goes for the Cramps' raunchy
feline stamp "Can Your Pussy Do
the Dog."
All of Green on Red's No Free
Lunch Ep (Mercury) burns like red
hot chili once you get used to the
fact that Dan Stuart sort of messed
things up by sounding a bit too
much like Willie Nelson instead of
Dan Stuart. And finally, from this
batch, Big Black's "Il Duce" 45"
will rock yoursocks off. The band
brings us to real time '86. Their
first full length LP Atomizer
(Homestead) is hands down the best
album of 1986. The only other two
records that I've heard that are
worthy ofbeing labled the best are
the Mekons's The Edge of the
World (Sin Records) and the Three
Johns' Democracy (Abstract). Both
of these can be purchased for
exorbitant prices, but what the hell,
they are the best.
Also worthy of note is
Washington D.C.'s Government
Issue, whose self-titled album (on
Fountain of Youth Records) is
really, really, really good. And on a
smaller scale, Grand Rapids' own
Born Without A Face put out a
hellaciously frightening and gut-
sizzling EP The Unbecoming. The
Hysteric Narcotics' flexidisc "Elec -
tric Children" (available in the
February/March '86 issue of
R.P.M. Magazine) hopefully will
give the band some much deserved
national attention.
Mike Rubin
1986 was more than the title of
another ill-fated NBC News mag -
azine - it was also a fine year for
music, especially loud music, and
preferably fast - the perfect tonic
for my harder-than-horse-to-shake
Jolt addiction. The following
records feature guitars - lots of
guitars. These discs have been
scorching holes in my carpet and
setting my tweeters and woofers
aflame (as well as my neighbors'
tempers) for the last 12 months.
Inflict some damage of your own
by picking up a couple of these
saber-toothed beasts soon. The fast -
er, the better.
" Bad Brains -IAgainst I (SST).
" Beastie Boys - Licensed to Ill
(Def Jam).
- Big Black- Atomizer (Home -
stead).
- Butthole Surfers - Rembrandt
Pussyhorse (Touch and Go).
" Died Pretty - Free Dirt (What
Goes On).
" The Fall - Bend Sinister (Beg -
gar's Banquet).
G Gone - Gone 11, But Never Too
Gone (SST).
" Metallica - Master of Puppets
(Elektra).
- Motorhead - Orgasmatron (Pro -
file).
- Pagans - Buried Alive (Tree -
house). A reissue of their singles.
" Sonic Youth - EVOL (SST).
" Sorry - The Way It Is (Home -
stead).
- Soul Asylum - Made to Be
Broken (Twin Tone).
" Three Johns - Democracy (Ab-
stract).
" Tom Gemp - A Tree is the
Worst Design for a Moose (8-Track
Cassette).
Best EPs:
- Death of Samantha - Laughing
in the Face of a Dead Man (Home -
stead).
" Die Kreuzen - October File
(Touch and Go).
" Janitors - Thunderhead (In
Tape).
- Uzi - Seep Asylum (Home -
stead).
- Wire - Snakedrill (Mute). The
return of the real Fab Four.
Best 45"s:
- Big Black - "I Duce" (Home -
stead), Halo of Flies - "Rubber
Room" (Amphetamine Reptile),
Lime Spiders - "Out of Con -
trol"/"Save My Soul" (Citadel),
Necros - "Tangled Up"/"The Nile
Song" (Gasatanka), and Squirrel
Bait - "Kid Dynamite"/"Slake Train
Coming" (Homestead).
Jeff Stanzler
The Nick Drake box and the
Soweto collections were the two
most striking works, with Drake's
mixture of jagged emotions and
stirring city-scapes, and the
exuberant eclecticims of the Soweto
LP. I listened to a lot of good
country this year. I chose five
country albums, and almost
included Ernest Tubb's Favorites
reissue. Other near misses: Charile
Pickett's Route 33, Sweet Honey
in the Rock's Feel Something
Drawing Me On (Flying Fish), and
Richard Thompson's Daring Adven -
tures (Polygram). So, in no order:
- Randy Travis - Storms of Life
(Warner Bros.).
- Nick Drake - Fruit Tree (Han -
nibal).
" Christmas - In Excelsior Day -
glo (Big Time).
" Various Artists - Indestructible
Beat of Soweto (Shanachie).
" Jimmy Work - Making Believe
(Bear Family).
- Emmylou Harris - Thirteen
(Warner Bros.).
" Ray Price - The Honky-Tonk
Years (Rounder).
- Hank Williams - The First
Recordings (CMF).
" Paul Geremia - My Kinda
Place (Flying Fish).
- David Parry - The Wind that
Tramps the World (Fogarty's
Cove).
Picks of the Music staff
- Big Black - Atomizer (Home -
stead).
- Christmas - In Excelsior Day -
glo (Big Time).
- Nick Drake - Fruit Tree (Han -
nibal).
" Hysteric Narcotics - Batteries
Not Included (Raffscalion).
- R.E.M. - Life's Rich Pageant
(I.R.S.).
" Sonic Youth - EVOL (SST).
" Richard Thompson - Daring
Adventures (Polygram).
And, although not on any of the
above writers' lists, our staff would
like to remind you about Elvis
Costello's Blood and Chocolate
(Epic) and Paul Simon's Graceland
(Warner Bros.).
The opinions of Joe Kraus,
Akim D. Reinhardt, Mark Swartz,
and Joel Tractenberg also con -
tributed to the above list. It was
compiled by Beth Fertig.
M A G A Z I N E
VOLUME 5, NO. 12
UIIhe £ idligtan Uilg
Yes, it's true, some
Ramona lets loose t
formality. The key
Break indulgence ar
followed closely by
You may be asking you
truly near the last dropt
in her mind cup?" No,
she simply knows what
Break a piece of muffin, l
form a Nile while you inhl
buried within. Nibble it.
How long can you wait b
with a speciality coffee fr
Market?
Nibble chase...Nibble chas
Like I always say--If yo
to the Corner Market la
haven't been to market.
Weekdays 7:30am-1
Weekends 12 noon-
times even
the reins of
y words of Coffee
re: "Nibble"
"Chase."
urself--"Is Ramona
of coffee
my friend,
's good.
let the butter
ale the fruits
Tease yoursell.
'ef ore you chase it
lm the Corner
se...Nibble chase...
)u haven't been
tely, Honey, you
12 midnight
7pm
Michigan Union, ground floor
Bring in this ad for 1/2 off 1 cup of coffee
with any muffin order
EXP. 02/01/87
PAGE 12 WEEKEND/JANUARY 16, 1987
PIus: Best of '86 music, film
Interview: Jane Self of U-Cel