November 20, 2011 7:18 pm
ND-016- Mental Rat - Spacetrip http://www.mediafire.com/?ony06a5wifptse8Back in 1998, my first band, a snotty punk group named the Catatonics, had come to an end and I had begun making bizarre experimental and noise music in a band with 8 friends that we named Whimsical Fetus. In High School, I was making huge strides to grab more and more outsider music, weird sounds, and other music that pushed the boundaries of sound in general. From tracking down records announced in short run zines to making out-of-town trips to decent record stores and grabbing anything that had an interesting cover, I busted my ass to discover, digest, and dissect everything that the music world, past and current, had to give me.Sometimes, however, things just fall in your lap. An aging hippie friend of my mother’s came to visit her for a few weeks over the summer. He was adamant about his ability to just “lay back and watch the grass grow” and during his stay with us, I more than once saw him literally doing this with all of the awe of a child. He told me that he used to make music on cassettes for a number of years and that he had heard I played.He handed me a cassette tape of two recordings from 1994. Recordings that probably had never left the dirty sack that carried most of his belongings from the moment it was transferred over from whatever cheap 4-track it had been recorded on. He asked me if I wanted to listen to it, but insisted that it was his only copy, so I needed to be extra careful with it.I was and, to do him a favor, I also transferred the audio of the cassette over to the computer, cleaned it up some, and burned it onto a CDR so he could pop it into the crusty disc man he usually had tucked into his poncho. A few days later and he was hoofing it again to go and camp in woods until another old friend would let him stay in their home for a few days.I never saw the hippie dude again and in the times I remember to ask my mom about him, she usually has no clue where he is or if he still is at all. A true rambling, traveling man, living off the land.Though I didn’t say it at the time, I kept a burned copy of the albums for myself. This, “Spacetrip” is the first of two recordings from 1994 and, though a hippie down to the dirt caked feet, long pot stained hair, and strong stench of patchouli and musk, the actually music on his tapes were pretty far removed aesthetically.Cheap keyboards and drum machines mixed with airy, childlike vocals and observations that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Tinklers’ album, if they were more new wave influenced.With the current interest in cassette culture, weirdo pop, and cheap, lo-fi recordings making their way through the “hip underground”, I figured it was time to give Mental Rat his moment to shine. ND-016- Mental Rat - Spacetrip1. Ultimate Gardeners2. Yesterday3. Like Before4. Grains of Sand5. Coming Up6. Major7. Church Is Dead8. Love Child9. Zeta Cancri10. Spacetrip11. Dueling Harps12. Return13. Done & Said 

ND-016- Mental Rat - Spacetrip

http://www.mediafire.com/?ony06a5wifptse8

Back in 1998, my first band, a snotty punk group named the Catatonics, had come to an end and I had begun making bizarre experimental and noise music in a band with 8 friends that we named Whimsical Fetus. In High School, I was making huge strides to grab more and more outsider music, weird sounds, and other music that pushed the boundaries of sound in general. From tracking down records announced in short run zines to making out-of-town trips to decent record stores and grabbing anything that had an interesting cover, I busted my ass to discover, digest, and dissect everything that the music world, past and current, had to give me.

Sometimes, however, things just fall in your lap. An aging hippie friend of my mother’s came to visit her for a few weeks over the summer. He was adamant about his ability to just “lay back and watch the grass grow” and during his stay with us, I more than once saw him literally doing this with all of the awe of a child. He told me that he used to make music on cassettes for a number of years and that he had heard I played.

He handed me a cassette tape of two recordings from 1994. Recordings that probably had never left the dirty sack that carried most of his belongings from the moment it was transferred over from whatever cheap 4-track it had been recorded on. He asked me if I wanted to listen to it, but insisted that it was his only copy, so I needed to be extra careful with it.

I was and, to do him a favor, I also transferred the audio of the cassette over to the computer, cleaned it up some, and burned it onto a CDR so he could pop it into the crusty disc man he usually had tucked into his poncho. A few days later and he was hoofing it again to go and camp in woods until another old friend would let him stay in their home for a few days.

I never saw the hippie dude again and in the times I remember to ask my mom about him, she usually has no clue where he is or if he still is at all. A true rambling, traveling man, living off the land.

Though I didn’t say it at the time, I kept a burned copy of the albums for myself. This, “Spacetrip” is the first of two recordings from 1994 and, though a hippie down to the dirt caked feet, long pot stained hair, and strong stench of patchouli and musk, the actually music on his tapes were pretty far removed aesthetically.

Cheap keyboards and drum machines mixed with airy, childlike vocals and observations that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Tinklers’ album, if they were more new wave influenced.

With the current interest in cassette culture, weirdo pop, and cheap, lo-fi recordings making their way through the “hip underground”, I figured it was time to give Mental Rat his moment to shine.

 ND-016- Mental Rat - Spacetrip
1. Ultimate Gardeners
2. Yesterday
3. Like Before
4. Grains of Sand
5. Coming Up
6. Major
7. Church Is Dead
8. Love Child
9. Zeta Cancri
10. Spacetrip
11. Dueling Harps
12. Return
13. Done & Said 

November 1, 2011 6:31 pm
A little update of sorts.Coming Next Week, after a short delay, the new NRIII release “Solus Patior” Professional CD-R.At the end of the month the above album, “EP Collections” by Muscle Boys will be release via Professional CD-R as well. This is collection of the first two Muscle Boys EPs from 2009 and 2010 respectively.Sometime between these two physical releases you’ll find a new free downloadable album from Mental Rat, an early 1990s obscurity from the waning days of cassette culture.Additionally, in the next few months we will be redesigning the Website as well as working towards creating a stronger presence on SoundCloud to make it even easier to download and stream any of our downloadable releases.Thanks for sticking with us.

A little update of sorts.

Coming Next Week, after a short delay, the new NRIII release “Solus Patior” Professional CD-R.

At the end of the month the above album, “EP Collections” by Muscle Boys will be release via Professional CD-R as well. This is collection of the first two Muscle Boys EPs from 2009 and 2010 respectively.

Sometime between these two physical releases you’ll find a new free downloadable album from Mental Rat, an early 1990s obscurity from the waning days of cassette culture.

Additionally, in the next few months we will be redesigning the Website as well as working towards creating a stronger presence on SoundCloud to make it even easier to download and stream any of our downloadable releases.

Thanks for sticking with us.

September 28, 2011 4:49 pm
NRIII - The PVR EPs. The first physical release from Neon Doom Records is a compilation of the first two limited-edition NRIII demo tapes, originally released by Primal Vomit Records. NRIII’s first album released through Primal Vomit Records is a collection of filth scrapped from the festering barrel of the human psyche. An arrogant id rant expressing the darkest thoughts that cross the minds of our capitalist, power starved society. This stripped down blackened crust/noise is not for the sensitive, but perfect for fans of Bone Awl or WOLD. A huge step up both lyrically and musically, “$”, is 20 minutes of low-end blackened noise terror that weighs heavily on your body, mind, and soul. Each of these five tracks explores how our consumerist, egotistic, and petty world crumbles us all into shells not fit to be the scum under the boots that are trampling us. The PVR EP is currently only available through the Neon Doom CreateSpace Website for $12 at https://www.createspace.com/1963075.

NRIII - The PVR EPs.

The first physical release from Neon Doom Records is a compilation of the first two limited-edition NRIII demo tapes, originally released by Primal Vomit Records.

NRIII’s first album released through Primal Vomit Records is a collection of filth scrapped from the festering barrel of the human psyche. An arrogant id rant expressing the darkest thoughts that cross the minds of our capitalist, power starved society. This stripped down blackened crust/noise is not for the sensitive, but perfect for fans of Bone Awl or WOLD.

A huge step up both lyrically and musically, “$”, is 20 minutes of low-end blackened noise terror that weighs heavily on your body, mind, and soul. Each of these five tracks explores how our consumerist, egotistic, and petty world crumbles us all into shells not fit to be the scum under the boots that are trampling us.

The PVR EP is currently only available through the Neon Doom CreateSpace Website for $12 at https://www.createspace.com/1963075.