Titanium Exposé back issues

No. 1
The grotesque birth of a zine. Includes interviews with Jim O'Rourke, Will Oldham, David Grubbs, The Mekons, The Frogs, USA, Spiritualized, an article on the Braden King and Laura Moya film "Dutch Harbor," a label profile on Flapping Jet Records, and a few reviews. Typos and grammatical mistakes thrown in free of charge. 32 pages. $3 (Postage Paid in US; $5 world/airmail). 1998-1999. 3000 printed. SOLD OUT!

No. 2
The saga continues. Interviews with the Red Crayola, GoGoGoAirheart, the Black Heart Procession, Ui, Melt~Banana, an article called "Krautrock for Dummies," critical reviews a plenty including featured pieces on Captain Beefheart's Grow Fins box set and Fugazi's Instrument film/soundtrack. Also has really cool looking ads. Originally came with a 7-inch record that featured primarily exclusive material from Physics, the Black Heart Procession, Custom Floor, Upsilon Acrux, Last of the Juanitas, Rafter, the Free*Stars, Soul~Junk, Uum and GoGoGoAirheart. I've only got a few left so please write before ordering to reserve your copy. 52 Pages. $4 (Postage Paid in US; $7 world/airmail). 1999-2000. 2000 printed. SOLD OUT!!!

CUSTOM FLOOR, "My Knot & Knee" ( click HERE to listen)

Garry Davis, who is the only consistent member of Custom Floor (such is like Mark E. Smith for the Fall, Mayo Thompson of the Red Crayola, or Weasel Walter for the Flying Luttenbachers) played a crucial role in helping to procure Flushing the Vault. Not only did he contribute this brilliant, primarily (splintered-channel) vocal track in a riveting ode to minimalism (think of the aesthetics of Tony Conrad or La Monte Young), he also was responsible for the cover art and overall design. Garry has studied design under the tutelage of David Carson at Surfer Magazine in the early '90s before Carson went on to become art director of Raygun and infamously privileged abuser of the "unsolicited" artwork of artists better than he. Earlier on in the '80s, Garry was a professional skateboarder and was sponsored by Tracker Trucks. His major contribution to skateboarding was inventing the "Boneless" maneuver — a trick that me and most of my goofy-footed friends had been doing for years, completely unaware of its origin. In any case, the cover art came into being when I spotted a larger, human-sized markup of the drawing on the wall of my friend Rich Jacobs' house when he was living in Los Angeles. It depicted two nearly intersecting guardrails that are often found on the fringes of a freeway's banked off- and on-ramps. (This worked well with the Custom Floor track since a road cone is featured as one of its instruments). Garry just happened to be at Rich's too so I asked him if it would be possible to use it. He immediately granted permission. Later on we agreed to use a preliminary sketch for the final because it worked better with the planned copy machine production aesthetic. The layout of the halfsheet on the back was done by Garry too with me making minor suggestions such as using initial caps (or at least slightly larger capitol letters at the beginning of each band name (a microscopically subtle touch but there nonetheless). In a way, I almost feel as if I was a silent collaborator on this Custom Floor track, although I'll be the first to refuse any sort of credit. I say this only because, upon first listen, I said something along the lines of "I like the monotony" to Garry and the phonetic title was born, "My Knot & Knee." POSTSCRIPT: Garry is also the publisher of the excellent experimental music fanzine ARCANE CANDY.

UPSILON ACRUX, "45 Seconds" ( click HERE to listen)

You're probably wondering why this track was called "45 Seconds" when it was, in fact, 48 seconds. This conundrum has certainly given me more than a few sleepless nights. Well, as I'm told, the original take was 45 seconds long, and if you don't count the cathartic yell* lasting from second 27 to second 29, they're right on the mark. In any case, this song is extracted from the second (pointless pun intended) Upsilon CD, The Last Pirates of Upsilon (released in 1999 on Devin Sarno's Win Records). There are maybe a handful of versions floating around - released and unreleased - of this track. It was called "I'm Afraid They're Using Robots" on their first album, In the Acrux of the Upsilon King (Accretions). On their latest, Last Train Out, it's called something else. You get the picture. Normally I would shy away from previously released tracks, but just one speedy listen to this prog-ster's delight will get yr goat scrambling to eat cigarettes, smoke lots of ice cream, and become health food faggots.* I used to threaten to yell louder, longer, and way more annoying every time I saw Upsilon play live until they agreed to let me put out a version of this song. I can't believe it actually worked.

SOUL JUNK, "Bottomless Might" ( click HERE to listen)

I believe this track was recorded around the time of the 1955 sessions, but honestly, I'm not really sure how this track came about. They just did it, hassle free, and I thanked God for such a swift 'n' tidy delivery. I doubt that this was even an outtake so much as simply a purely improvised track, captured in a moment of unpredictable freeform meandering. I still haven't been able to decipher much of the vocals, which is fine. I think it would lose its mysterious beauty if it gained a context. Aesthetically, it's definitely a prime cut. Every time I listen to it I can't help but think that Glen Galaxy is singing the words "... radio charts like marching rocks and Chris Woo" at the butt end (and yes, there is a tail end too) of the vocal track. My only prognosis is that it's a reflection of my own hidden craving for attention. Does this make me conceited? Can?t be if I'm asking myself that question, right? Okay fine, I'm solipsistic. Wait, what were we talking about??

GOGOGOAIRHEART, "and the excitement, stop! ... I continue with new needs daily and spending my attention, just to keep up. your daydreams are my work realities, stop! ... now I recognize your direction ... fuck your opinions, ignorant to control, sidestepping ... your fact is fantasy"
( click HERE to listen)

I should have made it clear that they weren't going to get paid by the word but I guess it's too late for that now. Another amazing exclusive track by one of my favorite local bands over the past five years (of course, as far as I'm concerned, ALL of the bands on this comp have earned one of those merit badges). In spite of popular belief, the monologue spewed forth by guitarist Ben White wasn't laid down in the studio. It was recorded at a party where he was telling some girl about a dream he had. It doesn't seem to make much sense and I've kind of resolved that Ben dreams in Dada speak. Frankly, I just like how he stressed three times over how old those people in his dream were.

ÜÜM, "Blood on the Flaypsts" (a.k.a. "Destroy All Paul Lai") ( click HERE to listen)

What originally excited me about this track was that, when played at the intended high volume and intensity, it was supposed to blow out your speakercone. Not in the destructive sense, where you have to glue it back in to its socket. It was more like massaging the spectrum of low-end frequencies to its absolute limits. Oftentimes it has been a catalyst for a person to involuntarily shrug due to a cold chill of wind blown upon his/her back, causing the hairs on his/her neck to stand at attention. Uum looper Travis Ryan, who is also the lead guttural growler/beef jerky abuser in Cattle Decapitation and apocalyptic latin doomsday grim reaper in 5/5/2000, declared the title "Blood on the Flaypsts" to be, well ... meaningless. But its annotated second guise "Destroy All Paul Lai" is sort of tributary mockery of the Nels Cline guitar orchestra Destroy All Nels Cline, only exchanging the name of one haughty Nels Cline fanboy and elated guitarist of Upsilon Acrux who also has a prodigious collection of expensive sneakers made of synthetic, extraplanetary rubber by 3-year-old sweatshop workers in Malaysia. On a more recent note, Uum has featured a Tannerin player at their live shows. For those unfamiliar with the rare instrument, it was invented by San Diego resident Paul Tanner, who is also known for playing the Theremin on the Beach Boys? Pet Sounds ("I Just Wasn't Made for These Times").

RAFTER, "Blue Room, Red Curtain"

( click HERE to listen)

Wasn't there a scene in Twin Peaks that took place in a blue room draped with red curtains and a backwards talking midget? I think so. Well that probably had nothing to do with this song but you wouldn't be out of line comparing the quirky, disoriented agitation of such a scene to the musical aesthetic of Rafter Roberts. I had to rummage through a barrage of sub-Heavy Vegetable recordings before Rafter decided to scrap them all and, out of thin air, he produced this snappy hit, which in my opinion was the best, most concise and original song that Rafter Roberts had written, or at least let other living beings hear. To this day it still reminds me of those compoundedly sped up interlude songs on the Sun City Girls' Midnight Cowboys From Ipanema LP, which I knew that Rafter had not heard (or ever heard OF) at the time, which I found sinfully appealing. Rafter is a fountainhead of talent and has recorded scores of songs under countless guises, but this is the only song outside of a CDR that has been released under his own name. I hope you cherish all 36 seconds of it. Listen frequently and you may find that the best thing about Rafter is that he doesn't need anyone else to be himself. POSTSCRIPT: Not long after this track was released, Rafter joined forces with Glen Galaxy/Galloway of Soul-Junk (see above) and Trumans Water to build a jingle house Singing Serpent. Since both are featured on Flushing the Vault, I'd like to think that this TE project was the catalyst for such a righteous and pivotal joining of forces.

FREE*STARS, "Prison Walls" ( click HERE to listen)

This is a splendid cover of the rarely heard Injections tune, which dates back to the first generation of San Diego punk rock. I don't know what I could say about the FREE*STARS that hasn't already been said by venerable rock scribe David Stampone. As anyone ever involved in anything knows, getting press can make all the difference in the world for a band, and David has been a longtime supporter of the FREE*STARS. It probably hasn't hurt that he's also the band's primary contributor and, umm ... founder. The Free*Stars are still the only band I know that plays Info-core, and their coverage is plentiful. So ... is your concert calendar crying? Slipping behind on anything? Ever have the burning desire to attend a benefit for The Dikembe Mutombo Foundation? And let's not forget about The George G. Glenner Alzheimer's Family Centers (pun intended), for whom they've also been philanthropists. Don't delay, take an altruistic crash course in Stampone-ology. Just write and ask to be put on the FREE*STARS email list. Or better yet, hear a story or two (or three) told by David himself.

LAST OF THE JUANITAS, " " (untitled) ( click HERE to listen)

I swiped this track from their Brangus album with a little persuasion from the promotional department at Flapping Jet. I probably should have insinuated a payola fee first but I liked the Juanitas too much already from seein' 'em play with great bands like the Sort of Quartet (which was the first time I saw them back in 1997) or the Pork Torta (which was the last time I saw them, if my drunken, clouded memory serves me well). Besides it being a beefy record that was produced rather coarsely, Brangus featured honorary guest Rick Froberg of Drive Like Jehu, Pitchfork and now Hot Snakes. I was all oiled up about this until I found out that he didn't play on this track. In spite of it being so acute, it's still hands down my favorite song on the album.

THE BLACK HEART PROCESSION, "Pulsecheck" ( click HERE to listen)

In spite of popular belief, this is actually an aped, instrumental version of "The Old Kind of Summer," only complemented with a righteous violinist (still the sole BHP tune to be officially released with one). I've been milking the title for what seems like ages now and I'm happy to say that I've gotten lots of mileage out of it thanks to Pall. In order to stay within the heart-shaped theme of the band while also nonchalantly denoting that this recording was culled from a soundcheck on KCR Radio , he heart-ily coined it "Pulsecheck." Before this, he wanted to give it the name of the instrument that doctors use to check the pulse of a patient. I offered up the clinical "stethoscope," "bloodpressure" and "E.K.G." but somehow these unromantic titles simply would not do. After wasting precious seconds of time counseling him, we resorted to convenience. But don't look at me, I would've been content with "Heartburn" or "Artichoke Heart."

PHYSICS, "00:00:00" ( click HERE to listen)

This track is so underground that the band refuses to list it in their discography. It may be because this is the last original studio work to be recorded before the band exploded into as many new projects (Aspects of Physics, the Silver Wizard/Wizards of War, Two Guys, Pinback, etc.) as they had come from (Crash Worship, Rice, Heavy Vegetable, Powerdresser, etc., etc.). The title signifies digitized time taken to the hundredth-of-a-second variable. It updates and mocks the stroke of Midnight as portrayed periodically by London's Big Ben timekeeper. The theoretical question here is, after accepting the precision of military time in this equation, what do we call this exact moment? Is it twenty-four-o'clock or is it zero-o'clock? I have no idea but it may explain how drummer Cameron Jones (who did much of the footwork to mobilize this recording) is obsessed with bluesy hair farming metal band Cinderella.


Believe it or not, there was actually a review of this seven-inch on the Fakejazz website.