Hater - Self titled

Hater was a side-project formed by Soundgarden's Ben Shepherd and Matt Cameron, with former Monster Magnet guitarist John McBain. The band's self titled debut album also featured Devilhead bassist John Waterman and vocalist Brian Wood, brother of the late (and sadly missed) Mother Love Bone/Malfunkshun vocalist Andrew Wood.

Despite featuring Soundgarden personnel, the Hater sound bore little resemblance to Soundgarden, being based around Nuggets approved psychedelic garage rock sound with a liberal dose of humor (shock horror! Seattle band in humor shock!). However, elements of the Hater sound later emerged in Soundgarden's sound.

Opener Mona Bone Jakon is a relaxed mid-tempo romp through the Cat Stevens track, featuring Shepherd's deadpan but alluring vocals. Who Do I Kill? follows a similar vein. Lion and Lamb is a psychedelic instrumental featuring atmospheric mellotron.

Tot Finder, Roadside and Putrid feature Brian Wood on vocals, and perhaps unsurprisingly sound like Malfunkshun outtakes.

Down Undershoe and Blistered are the most Soundgarden-like tracks on the album - Soundgarden of the Down On the Upside future that is, with the former resembling Dusty, and the latter featuring eat-shit bass reminiscent of Ty Cobb.

Circles is a rapid-fire garage punk. Closer Sad McBain, arguably the standout track, is a mid-tempo cruncher featuring psychedelic freakout guitar, with Cameron's lyrics humorously poking fun at McBain ("Sad McBain, sad refrain, sounds the same, should be ashamed!").



Hater - 1993 - Self titled

1. Mona Bone Jakon
2. Who Do I Kill?
3. Tot Finder
4. Lion And Lamb
5. Roadside
6. Down Undershoe
7. Circles
8. Putrid
9. Blistered
10. Sad McBain

FLAC Pt1, Pt2, Pt3
MP3

Soundgarden - Down Under On The Upside

One of the advantages of living in Australia in the 1990s was that we were often privy to material that remained unreleased elsewhere. This material was released in a number of forms:

- Bonus tracks included to encouraged people to buy exorbitantly priced local CDs rather than cheaper imports.

- Tour EPs, such as the Nirvana's  legendary "Hormoaning" - not to be confused with Sonic Youth's  "Whores moaning" , which came out a few years later! As far as I know, "Hormoaning" was only released in Australia and Japan, and although all the tracks later came out on "Incesticide", I felt like I had something special in my hot little hands for 18 months or so!

- Bonus EP versions of previously released CDs that had taken a while to take off, or that were having a second life. This was of course a thinly veiled attempt to fleece more money from suckers (like me) who had already bought the original CD when it came out!

- Tour bonus EP versions of previously released CDs, with a similar motivation as described above.

One of my favourites of the latter, for both the content and the name, was Soundgarden's 1996 Australian tour version of Down on the Upside, retitled Down Under on the Upside (ho ho ho!). This featured a collection of b-sides that at least served to save some of us musical obsessives from having to track down the individual singles, and also compiled the songs onto a single source.

Opening track Jerry Garcia's Finger (b-side of Pretty Noose) is an interesting instrumental soundscape. Karaoke (b-side of Burden in My Hand) starts with a maelstrom of sound, before easing into a laid back slow tempo tune, before the maelstrom returns for the ending. Classic Soundgarden, and IMO better than at least half the tracks on Down on the Upside. Bleed Together (b-side of Burden in My Hand in some countries, later released on A-Sides, and as a single in it's own right) is an up-tempo rocker.

Next comes the demo version of one of my fave Soundgarden songs, Birth Ritual (b-side of My Wave), the song the band contributed to the Singles soundtrack. I am a complete sucker for songs that diverge from the standard rock 4/4 timing (of which Soundgarden had a few of these - Room a thousand years wide, Spoonman), so this 7/4 gem is right up my alley! And the riff - dum da-da-da-da-dum da-da-da-da-dum DA DA! I always wondered why the band didn't put this on an album, but I suspect they felt it was a bit too similar to Jesus Christ Pose.

Next up is the video version of Fell On Black Days (b-side of Fell On Black Days), arguably better than the album version. The last track is the Moby remix of Dusty (b-side of Blow Up the Outside World).



Soundgarden - 1996 - Down Under On The Upside (Australia & New Zealand Tour Edition)

1. Jerry Garcia's Finger
2. Karaoke
3. Bleed Together
4. Birth Ritual (original demo)
5. Fell On Black Days
6. Dusty (Moby remix)

FLAC
MP3

Various Artists - Alternative NRG

Another quick post.....

Unlike some of the other compilations I've posted, I can't say I love this album, but I love the concept - all tracks were recorded live using a solar-powered mobile facility.

Highlights include REM's legendary funk version of Drive, Soundgarden performing the awesome and malevolent New Damage with Brian May, and JC by Sonic Youth.

Also good to see two Aussie bands featured - Yothu Yindi and "The Oils"!

Various Artists - 1994 - Alternative NRG

1. Drive - R.E.M.
2. Ring The Bells - James
3. Until The End Of The World - U2
4. Tell Me The Truth - Midnight Oil
5. Everyday Life Has Become A Health Risk - Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy
6. New Damage - Soundgarden / Brian May
7. New Kind Of Kick - The Jesus And Mary Chain
8. Sing Our Own Song - UB40
9. Cold - Annie Lennox
10. Looking Through Patient Eyes - P.M. Dawn
11. Sweetmeat - Soup Dragons
12. Search And Destroy - EMF
13. Yolngu Boy - Yothu Yindi
14. JC - Sonic Youth
15. Fam Ram - Boo-Yaa Tribe
16. Shitlist - L7

FLAC Pt1, Pt2, Pt3, Pt4, Pt5
MP3

Various Artists - No Alternative

This is probably my favorite compilation album. Yeah, I know that most of the tracks are probably rejects from the artists own albums, and/or experiments that didn't work out, etc. etc., but in my humble opinion the whole package (i.e. concept, songs, artwork, hidden track) is a winner.

So where to start?

Let's start with the hidden, uncredited track - Nirvana's Verse Chorus Verse. A. Classic. I still find it staggering that Kurt could dish out a long line of songs like this (e.g. Dive, Oh The Guilt, Aneurysm, Even in his youth, etc., etc.), which crapped from a great height over what the majority of similar bands were doing, and then have the perversity to leave the songs off Nirvana albums. Or in this case, allow the song to appear uncredited!

Then we have American Music Club and Bob Mould - two artists that, dare I say it, shoulda been huge - performing what I assume are outtakes, yet which eclipse the best songs from most bands.

Plus we have Soundgarden's Show Me, possibly their most under-appreciated song (including by the band themselves), which somehow manages to sound more like The Stones that their version of The Stones' Stray Cat Blues (go figure).

And also Straitjacket Fits' Brittle, and intriguing sounding song from an intriguing sounding band.

And when you thought that was all, there's Pavement's Unseen power of the picket fence. While not in the league of their best material, it's still worth a listen, if only to hear them professing their love for REM!

Hey, lets not forget the Beasties It's the new style, rapped to the backing tape from "Hold it now, hit it" (from memory) - not as good as the original, but again worth a listen.

Honorable mentions also go out to Smashing Pumpkins, Uncle Tupelo and The Breeders.

And the mighty Sonic Youth apparently appear on the cassette version (unfortunately not included here - sigh)! 

1. Superdeformed - Matthew Sweet
2. For All to See - Buffalo Tom
3. Sexual Healing - Soul Asylum
4. Take a Walk - Urge Overkill
5. All Your Jeans Were Too Tight - American Music Club
6. Bitch - The Goo Goo Dolls
7. Unseen Power of the Picket Fence - Pavement
8. Glynis - The Smashing Pumpkins
9. Can't Fight It - Bob Mould
10. Hold On - Sarah McLachlan
11. Show Me - Soundgarden
12. Brittle - Straitjacket Fits
13. Joed Out - Barbara Manning
14. Heavy 33 - The Verlaines
15. Effigy - Uncle Tupelo
16. New Style - Beastie Boys
17. Iris - The Breeders
18. Memorial Song - Patti Smith
19. Verse Chorus Verse - Nirvana

FLAC Pt1, Pt2, Pt3
MP3

Sub Pop 200

Another great Seattle compilation! Features fantastic Green River, Soundgarden and Mudhoney tracks unavailable elsewhere (at least to my knowledge). Worth hearing for Mudhoney's cover of Bette Midler's The Rose alone - one of their finest moments in my humble opinion. Also features arguably Tad's finest moment, Sex God Missy and Nirvana's Spank Thru - interesting, but non-essential.

Not content with appearing with Green River and Mudhoney, Mark Arm also appears with The Thrown Ups!

1. "Sex God Missy" - Tad
2. "Is It Day I'm Seeing?" - The Fluid
3. "Spank Thru" - Nirvana
4. "Come Out Tonight" - Steven J. Bernstein
5. "The Rose" - Mudhoney
6. "Got No Chains" - The Walkabouts
7. "Dead Is Dead" - Terry Lee Hale
8. "Sub Pop Rock City" - Soundgarden
9. "Hangin' Tree" - Green River
10. "Swallow My Pride" - Fastbacks
11. "The Outback" - Blood Circus
12. "Zoo" - Swallow
13. "Underground" - Chemistry Set
14. "Gonna Find a Cave" - Girl Trouble
15. "Split" - The Nights And Days
16. "Big Cigar" - Cat Butt
17. "Pajama Party in a Haunted Hive" - Beat Happening
18. "Love or Confusion" - Screaming Trees
19. "Untitled" - Steve Fisk
20. "You Lost It" - The Thrown Ups

FLAC Pt1, Pt2, Pt3, Pt4, Pt5
MP3

Various Artists - Deep Six

Deep Six was the first compilation to capture the early Seattle scene. It's greatest claim to fame is that it represented Soundgardens first foray into the public consciousness. However, in my opinion the real gems here are the Green River tracks. Yep, we all know who Green River (and Malfunkshun) begat, but in my opinion Green River surpass all their descendants - and dare I say it, shoulda been huge! And unlike the Soundgarden tracks, the Green River tracks are unique to this release, and represent an important step in the band's evolution from the punk/metal of the Come on Down EP to the proto-grunge/groove of the Dry as a bone EP, a style later harnessed to amazing effect of the fantastic Rehab Doll album.

Various Artists - 1986 - Deep Six

1. Green River – 10,000 Things
2. Melvins – Scared
3. Melvins – Blessing the Operation
4. Malfunkshun – With Yo' Heart (Not Yo' Hands)
5. Skin Yard – Throb
6. Soundgarden – Heretic
7. Soundgarden – Tears to Forget
8. Malfunkshun – Stars-N-You
9. Melvins – Grinding Process
10. Melvins – She Waits
11. Skin Yard – The Birds
12. Soundgarden – All Your Lies
13. Green River – Your Own Best Friend
14. The U-Men – They

FLAC
MP3