SL Records Singles Club

volume two

New Bad Things - I Suck

Dufus - Zaftalong Gubi Guby

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SL Records Singles Club

volume two

singles club. Each month we'll be matching up two track, one track will be a 'lost classic' – a track that is either now out of print or demo that was never released – and the other a brand spanking new track from some up and coming young whippersnapper, both of which we'll make available to download absolutely free. We're casting our net far and wide and all the artists will be new to the SL fold. This month two from across the pond...

New Bad Things - I Suck MP3

This months oldie comes from New Bad Things

New Bad Things formed in that famous haunt of musicians, and the "tenth best Big City Arts Destination in the U.S.",Portland, Oregon. I first came across them when listening to John Peel's show many years ago, and more recently whilst listening to a recording of John Peels Festive Fifty from 1993, where the New Bad Thing's single "I Suck" had been voted into the number 16 spot.

"One of the best, and most sort after and most obscure records of the year. No one new where It came from, and I never managed to track down another copy of the record, although people offered me daft money for the one I've got. I wish I could tell you where to get a copy" said John Peel when he played it in that years Festive 50. Intrigued I began trying to track down the song online, and when I finally found the various band members I thought it was time the track was given a new lease of life. And here's the story in their own words...

"This was one of the first five songs we recorded, and honestly everybody thought it was a throwaway. It was an old song to some of us, dating back to our busking days, and it was just this amorphous jam.

"It was a great busking song, you see a guy in a rolling stones shirt you do a line like 'what's the use of replacing Keith Richard's blood, he's still a heartless bastard.' Guy's probably gonna pay some attention. Now you can work on a.) not getting beat up and b.) getting a dollar out of him.

"We put the song on the b-side of our first single, partly to get it out there and be done with it, and partly because we thought we were the Beatles and the clamour for our "work" would require us releasing every little thing our genius minds created and discarded like so many snotty tissues. Alas, it was just that kind of snotty tissue that came to bite us in the ass as I Suck (not the sensitive, arty A-side) became something of a radio hit in the UK and more importantly John Peel liked it. A lot. So, long story short, (with the long story thrown in for good measure) I Suck is a feisty come-from-behind kind of song, a real "second-half team”, with intensely intense lyrics and a thrilling, throbbing sound that just wants to make you think, you know? Like Fugazi or Steve Miller or something.

"Come for the irony, stay for the love." New Bad Things 2009

Dufus - Zaftalong Gubi Guby MP3

This months new track come from NYC anti-folker and musical pioneer Dufus:

Seth Faergolzia planted the Dufus seed in 1996 when he was given access to a multitrack studio in New York. In 1997, Seth and Grahm Dion collaborated to make Eee*Lai*Font, and that Autumn, Dufus performed their first official show as a band. Since then, Dufus has been in continual flux, exploring every experimental and creative direction, utilizing musicians of a wide variety of backgrounds to build a solid reputation for fresh ideas while Seth offered compositions that stretched the music's boundaries to include all those involved. Over the past 11 years there have been at least 100 members.

The Dufus stage has historically been an open space for exploratory collaboration, often with no less than 15 revelers sharing the stage. Some of these collaborations have included names like Kimya Dawson of the Moldy Peaches, Jeffrey Lewis, and Regina Spektor. Arrangements for special performances have included choir, orchestra, horn section, double quartet, and a noise ensemble. For the band's 10 year anniversary in 2007, Seth assembled a 30 piece band for a performance at SUNY Purchase, NY and his rock opera, "Fun Wearing Underwear," ran for more than 3 months in NYC.

In the year 2000, Seth began inviting "non-musicians" into the band. These "non-musicians" added choir, noise/circuit bending, live video projection/visual art/moving sculpture in a format reminiscent of a 60s "happening" or a Warhol Factory piece. Besides Dufus, Seth has been an active sculptor and painter, clothing designer, displaying work in various galleries (including a special mention in the New York Times for his work in a show featuring Jean-Michel Basquiat), an author of two novels and a father.

Seth and Dufus have recorded and released over 15 albums. In 2003, Dufus signed on with ROIR (Reach Out International Records). Their 3rd album with ROIR is called "In Monstrous Attitude" and features a three piece band comprised of Seth Faergolzia, Anders Griffen and Alex Coronado, mixed and mastered by Kramer, with a 12 page comic style book of artwork by Jeffrey Lewis, and was out in Europe February 23rd. Dufus are touring Europe during March for full dates visit www.dufus.tv

“For those who like Frank Zappa but wish he had been weirder, Dufus plays frantic fever-dream folk slashed through with rock stabs.” The Onion

”Like an encyclopedia of so-called outsider music condensed into a Downtown pagan mystery meeting. As giddy and inventive as it is pissed off, it’s the 21st-century equivalent of the Fugs at their finest.” Richard Gehr - Village Voice, NYC

If you have any problems with the downloads please email us and we'll do our best to sort it out for you