UzJD on WFMU

Live Uz Jsme Doma...the best of Czech! Since when did Miroslav turn into the blonde Gallagher?...and speaking of Gallagher, any updates on that melon crackin' son of a bitch?

Root - The Temple In The Underworld

I can think of no better album to cap off Czech Madness Month than Root's magnificent 3rd full-length from '92. This is where the band really started branching out of black metal into more classical metal territory. Big Boss crooned as never before...Blackosh slowed things down, sometimes into doom (I don't think a song like Aposiopesis happens without the influence of a band like Citron)...and perhaps most significant was the addition of a crackerjack young drummer name of Rene "Evil" Kostelnak, the drummer from Blackosh's incredibly powerful death/black/atmospheric side project Crux. Evil added such creativity to this squad of visionaries that he just pushed them over the edge into sublime waters. This may not be as complete an album as The Book or Black Seal...but the band were perfecting their craft by that point...here they are still young and hungry, biting at the chain. Hell, Big Boss still had hair!!
P.S. I've included the bonus song Prohibition in this link...one of the most kick-ass Root songs ever!!

The Temple In The Underworld

Už Jsme Doma - Uprostřed Slov

Although I've only recently gotten into these guys, they have quickly become one of my all-time favorite bands. 1990's Uprostred Slov perfectly displays their mastery of Gypsy-avant-pronk-RIO-inflected Wagnerian-ska!!

Uprostred Slov

Tudor - Demos

More old idiosyncratic Czech thrash in the vein of Drakar. A bit more Root-like in their demeanor but still poppy in an excellent and utterly confusing way. Take a song like Plast for instance, these guys must have been high as a kite when they recorded it!  Who thinks to sing that way? Completely lo-fi and 'bout as earnest as you can get, these demos from ’90 and ’91 encapsulate the weirdness that is Czechslovakian metal.

Zombie & Skeletor

Death Axe - Demo '85

What happens when a bunch of 12 year old Danish kids get together buy a 4 track and press record?
The answer, of course, is absolute maniacal mayhem and brilliance!!
I must admit that I have listened to this primitive little curiosity waaaayyy too many times, enough so that these songs have sunk into my consciousness.... I will catch myself humming "Night of the Slayers" on the subway and singing "Dark Eyes" in the shower. You better be careful, or this might happen to you too. Where the fuck were these kidz' parents anyway?

Dark Eyes

Primordial - The Gathering Wilderness

Time to get your green on folks. Once a year we celebrate the Emerald Isle, and Primordial are about as Irish as a sauced leprechaun, and play some pretty good epic style naturalist pagan metal to boot.

Word of advice...if you're gonna kiss something green today, make sure you've had a few Irish carbombs beforehand...

Get "Jig"-gy with it

Genesis - Invisible Touch

My words cannot describe how kickass this album is, so I defer to the synopsis the indomitable Pat Bateman gives during these charming scenes from American Psycho....I couldn't agree more with his points....except for Huey Lewis...ewwww.

Invisible Touch

Bull Moose Jackson - Bad Man Jackson

If you like your music raunchy and accompanied by a dirty, honkin' sax, then BMJ is the man for you.  How can you not like a guy that comes up with songs like Moose on the Loose...Nosey Joe...Sneaky Pete...I Want A Bow Legged Woman...Big Fat Mammas Are Back In Style Again...and Big Ten Inch Record (later covered by Aerosmith).  Raw and Ribald R&B!

Bad Man Jackson

Circle of Ouroborus/Crooked Necks - Ruins of Resurrection

Circle of Ouroborus have always been a wonderfully occult group of psychedelic enthusiasts, but it might be Crooked Necks (who I had never heard of before this release) who steal the split.  The Neckers melodic sense and use of clean git jangle brings to mind a black metalized version of Brit post-punkers Comsat Angels. Just try Poisoning the Seed or Nothing Was Ever There on for size and tell me I'm wrong.  Totally solid.

COO/Crooked Neck

Puerto Rico Flowers - 4

Death-rock.  Kinda hipster-ish, but I can't stop listening.  Let's Make Friends is the choice cut.

4

Fleetwood Mac - Tango In The Night

I'm not really sure why this band is ridiculed as much as they are... South Park rips on Stevie Nicks, SNL has a recurring skit where Lindsay Buckingham gets the perpetual shaft.  They don't deserve it, not one bit.  Fact is, Tango In The Night is a fiendishly great album.  The late '80s caught the Mac riding the glam rock coke wave into darker more gothic waters, and they were all the better for it.  Songs like Isn't It Midnight and Little Lies seethe with an emotional density heavier than leaded gold.  I've always thought that these songs possess certain qualities that would make for bizarrely fun heavy metal covers, especially in a black metal or doom context.  Thats a million dollar idea right there....  I got hooked on Tango In The Night when I was just a young'n, my pops played it constantly.  On the tapedeck in the van, on the record player at home... We would always sing along to "sweet little lies" and of course the incredibly ace chorus to Family Man.  Great memories and great tunes.   So, while I may label this a guilty pleasure,  it is still a pleasure pure and simple.  I guess thats called growing up Mr. Fleetwood.

Tango In The Night

Necrocock - Praktiky Pohrebnich Ustavu

This guy is a real piece of work, but I love him. Hell, I love all the members of Master's Hammer and their various side projects and offshoots... Fanta Storm, Marcel Valenta, even that creepy guy with the hitler moustache. Out of all of them, Necrocock has probably made out the best with his eponymous band and Kaviar Kavalier. To call this guy sleazy would be a gross gross understatement, but he can write some damn catchy, atmospheric goth rock. Although truth be told I'd rather be listening to Master's Hammer, which come to think of it would be a fantastic slogan to put on a t-shirt or bumper sticker. In fact I'm gonna go ahead and trademark that right

Now