Everyone needs a mix for the summer. Something new. Something to listen to on the way to Northern Michigan for a weekend on a secluded lake. Something to listen to in heavy traffic on the BQE with the sun putting blisters in the eyes. Something to listen to with the windows down as a light rain brushes against your arm on a cool August night.

Cheers to the guy who invented summer.

The Story: (go to the bottom of this post to download or stream)

1. The Boys — “Monotony”
2. Small Faces — “Tin Soldier”
3. Brant Bjork — “Punk Rock Guilt”
4. Toots & The Maytals — “Time Tough”
5. Seam — “Petty Thievery”
6. Halo Benders — “On a Tip”
7. Drive by Truckers — “Marry Me”
8. King Khan and the Shrines — “No Regrets”
9. Humble Pie — “I Don’t Need No Doctor”

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Rorschach’s cover of King Crimson’s 21^st Century Schizoid Man is, in this writer’s opinion, one of the all-time greatest covers in the annals of popular and underground music for the past 40 years. Although other heavy bands have covered this song, (Entombed, Voivod, April Wine?!) no version has the stripped naked immediacy that Rorschach brings to the basement with acetylene torch and coat hanger in hand. Beginning with the authoritative/hilarious sound-bite of the Man lecturing on top of overdriven whine, the twin guitars drop a Mossberg pump and confidently steer the riff like a steam roller over hot asphalt, massive, deliberate and smoldering.

The overall production of the record is what really kills. The guitars are massive, static sails, swamping the sonic real estate in place of horns and keys and screws the buzztone rigging to the deck. When compared to the original song which had some attempts at experimental production (telephone vocals etc.) updated technology raises the violence with Charles Maggio’s distorted vocals sounding as though being screamed through a gag from behind a false panel. The lyrics as a front-runner of intelligence in rock based music still hold massive relevance in painting a dark picture of a megalomaniac and Maggio’s delivery burns the slightly “camp” skin of Greg Lake clean off.

The ending / outro / breakdown itself steers clear of trying to keep up with the jazzy histrionics of the original. This is a smart move not because Rorschach is not talented enough, (they are), but because to mimic the original would pander to it like a hessian in a cover band pining to learn a Stevie Ray Vaughn solo note for note. Instead, Rorschach plows their own path and tracks along without all the fancy dress and self-importance. This provides a brooding, disjointed atmosphere just before the final swing on arguably one of the greatest, heaviest riffs in rock music’s lexicon.

–P. Torque

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The riffs are ripping my chest apart while Dying Fetus go on about being born in Sodom. “This is pure grindcore,” Charlie says. Then he says, “It ain’t how much you write it’s how you say it.”

I’ve got things to say. I want to tell him that. Instead, I look on in awe as he thumbs his way through his hard drive collection showing me, like a true expert, why metal matters. This guy has way too much music. We’re talking every single Sabbath album, not just the good ones. He even has the one with Toni Iommi standing off to the side by his lonesome looking into the wind, thinking “Where the fuck is Ozzy?” And he still had the nerve to call that shite Black Sabbath. “Actually,” Charlie interrupts, “the record label made him do it.”

Charlie also plays some Witchcraft. While listening my mouth drops bits of saliva — it happens the same way when I think about a bowl of wonton soup. Rock versus WonTon soup — that would be a tough battle.

There is something about these guys from Orebro, Sweden that sounds fantastically brilliant in that heavy way that makes you pump your fist in the air with a stoic smile while yelling: “Things don’t always have to be this way.” Each song by Witchcraft is a finely crafted piece of work , and the fact that they are from Sweden and say things like “I can not wake the dead/since they are all ready alive,” makes them extra cool. That little bit came off the shredder, “Wooden Cross” from the band’s 2005 release, Firewood.

But we’re going to check out the tune “Leva” from Witchcraft’s 2007 LP, The Alchemist. In this song, frontman, Magnus Pelander sings every lick in his Sweedish brogue. What he’s saying doesn’t matter so much as the brute power behind his grave tenor. The usual references of Sabbath and Pentagram qualify this tune as straightforward doom metal. But there is something more here that I can’t put my finger through. Perhaps that’s why it’s so damn good. Thanks for the new tunes, Charlie.

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So you come home from work. Take the dog out. Clean the counter. Steam some broccoli and heat up the chicken. You wonder where this headache came from, and then you decide to turn the music up just a half inch louder.The band D.R.I. (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles) have been good pals to my ears for many moons. Their 1985 LP, Dealing with It is a quintessential thrash core album that makes the wimpiest kid in the class feel like he might just be able to beat some ass.

The tune we’re going to check out is called “I’d Rather Be Sleeping”. I imagine there are a few other blokes out there who would claim this classic ripper as their favorite as well. Songs like this were built for the pit: start off with the archetypal 599 mph hardcore bass line, and then bam — drums. Everyone goes crazy, knocking the shit out of Joey Bootboy and Darby Nobody. Arms flailing, fists flying, and then slow it down. Give the cigarette smokers a chance to catch their breath. And just when the coast looks clear — repeat the cycle of madness over again.

Give this beauty a listen — you’ll see what I mean.

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