Chicken Switch

[Snivlemdotcom]

It didn't bomb. Ipecac actually sold a decent number, especially considering that it wasn't a traditional Melvins release. This might have had something to do with Pitchfork giving it a high rating in their review. Who knows.

The fake leak came out a couple of weeks before the CD was released. I'm still curious about who did that, as those tracks were pretty funny.

Still amusing to me that you could find this block of offensive noise in places like Best Buy and mall stores.

[black stallion]

Everyone should look into sunroof and related (skullflower, hototogisu, etc).

sure,great stuff


i like Chicken Switch btw

[anaconda]

The artwork was fantastic!

[Snivlemdotcom]

thanks.

glad somebody likes it.

[Hot Pants]

interesting trivia!

what was the fake leak exactly? who made it (*oh, I see that this isn't known) and what was on it? is it available to hear anywhere?

still haven't bought this album proper myself.

[LuckMach3]

interesting trivia!

what was the fake leak exactly? who made it (*oh, I see that this isn't known) and what was on it? is it available to hear anywhere?

still haven't bought this album proper myself.

I have the fake version on cd somewhere.  It's pretty funny from what I recall.  At first you can't tell if it's a joke or not but it becomes more apparent as the album goes on.  I remember one professional reviewer actually reviewed the fake leak and gave it a 6 out of 10 with mostly positive remarks.  It was taken down within a week.   

From Mark Prindle (cause I'm having trouble remembering what was on it), "Prior to its release, some clever nellie leaked a FAKE download onto the Internet, featuring things like Melvins riffs mixed with the vocals to "My Milkshake Brings All The Boys To The Yard," a funny reiteration of "Theresa Screams," and Bad Company's album track "Feel Like Makin' Love" in its entirety."

Edit*  I found and relistened to my cd today.  Hahaha, I forgot how ridiculous it is.  My favorite track is the rapping over the live version of Cherub.  Comedy gold!

[Hot Pants]

that's great. thanks luck.

[Dumpster D]

Never heard the fake Leak Stuff, Curious now. 

[the bloat]

The Silky Apple Butter of Youth is such a great track. I love to throw every Melvins song I own onto my ipod and put it on 'random'. If you've ever done this, you may notice that many of the tracks, regardless of era, recording style, singer etc, meld together nicely, but when a song like that comes on, you realize how special it is. A true gem in the Melvins' canon.

[black stallion]

love the John Duncan remix track

[amazonAMAZON]

Of everything I own that says MELVINS, I think I still enjoy this the least, except for maybe the Electric Flower remix disc.

This is a bit sad because there is some great work on this disc. There's also some really, really annoying stuff.

Thinking back to my FIRST LISTEN: So this is mostly garbage distorted noise and super boring droney stuff. I kind of like the one with the skateboard and the rhythmic one with the chromatic descending synthy sound (oh that's Matmos, that's why). Somebody totally didn't get the memo that this was a noise album, and sent in a cheesy hardstyle techno remix, ha! And someone did almost nothing to almost all of Eggnog (turns out it's Lee Ranaldo, aka the George Harrison of Sonic Elderly Youth). I'm sure I heard "Jeff... Thomas" on here again somewhere... flashback to "Shitstorm."

By the THIRD LISTEN: Favorites are probably the more respected, known sound manipulation artists. Merzbow's is amazing -(wow, how many years did I avoid Merzbow because of that awful Maldoror album?) Matmos of course, David Scott Stone is an honorary Melvin, so not surprising he "gets it". John Duncan's is worth looking forward to. Eye from Boredoms makes the skate sounds. On the bad side, there's one that is just annoying gabber or short attention span drum and bass. There's a lot of distorted bullshit. Some lazy guy named He-man did the "All at Once" trick four minutes into "They Must All Be Slaughtered". And who's this Makoto Kawabata (other than a guy with a Japanese name who made a deep cut on a Melvins noise remix record)? Wait I like that one... a lot.

By the FIFTH LISTEN: Most of the record has opened up and revealed itself. I think I've given over to turning it up, which allows you to hear the subtle stuff happening in the low and high registers. Some of it is still annoying, but the album does have a way of pulling hooks out of thin air. I'm bored trying to identify the source of samples, and I'm generally bothered when the sample is too obvious. I prefer when the sound is at least almost unrecognizable. When I Youtubed some of these, it introduced me to more soundscapes and other highlights by these artists, some of which I like much more than their Chicken Switch contributions.

This leads me to my ultimate summary and perhaps my biggest criticism of The Melvins in the last ten years:

When working with collaborators, Buzz (and Dale) seem to shrink away from asserting their taste and talent for editing/arranging. I love The Crybaby, but there are songs that could have stood with some editing or a different mix. Everybody Loves Sausages has some low points (particularly the Jam cover - I much prefer Haze on that disc with "Smash The State" and M*O*F). Hold It In is a great effort, but it just could have been tightened up in a few saggy places. I worry the Cranky Messiah has lost some of his Crank, at least beyond the core bandmates. If there was a Pigs of the Roman Empire with 50% less Lustmord, I'd buy 10 copies tomorrow (no disrespect to the guy; he does great work). Anyway, when you compare these records to the immaculate sequencing and pacing of The Bulls and the Bees EP or Hostile Ambient Takeover, all these collaboration records pale in comparison, and not necessarily for lack of content. On Chicken Switch, this lack of editorial assertion is painfully obvious, even to those of us who really dig the album.

If a version like the attached image came out on vinyl, it might have become one of my favorite recent Melvins releases.

PS: I'm all in for Chicken Switch 2, whatever form it might take. I think the concept is great and the Melvins recorded history has so much untouched source material from which to plunder.




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[meezer]

Hell, if I listened to COD tonight, I'll give this one a spin the next time I find myself alone
(with no kid or old lady). I bought this used for about $9, when the rest of my haul that
day was about a median price of $3 each. It said "Melvins" on it, so had to own it.
I had already bought Queen and Washingmachine Skatetronics on the wife's iTunes
at about the time it came out. Those are still by far my favorites on the album.
I am an old school remix enthusiast, so I can listen to surf like Queen all day.
Release 7 remix albums of the Melvins in that style, I would be ecstatic.
I've read a lot of negative comments from Melvins fans regarding that track.

Cheasy. Disco. Boring. Sellout.

Fine, I'm not losing any sleep over that. To each his own.
It's not a small Melvins World, after all.

I think I'll make this my next Melvins tape project;
Queen
Tipping The Lion*
Revolve*
Lovely Butterfly*
Washingmachine Skatetronics
Electric Flower*
Everything I can stand from the rest of Chicken Switch

Same program on both sides.

*sourced from other projects. Did I miss any?

[amazonAMAZON]

I think I'll make this my next Melvins tape project;
Queen
Tipping The Lion*
Revolve*
Lovely Butterfly*
Washingmachine Skatetronics
Electric Flower*
Everything I can stand from the rest of Chicken Switch

*sourced from other projects. Did I miss any?

Lexicon Devil and Bloated Pope would fit nicely.

[meezer]

I think I'll make this my next Melvins tape project;
Queen
Tipping The Lion*
Revolve*
Lovely Butterfly*
Washingmachine Skatetronics
Electric Flower*
Everything I can stand from the rest of Chicken Switch

*sourced from other projects. Did I miss any?

Lexicon Devil and Bloated Pope would fit nicely.

I agree those are really super awesome tracks,
but what exactly do they have to do with remixes?
When I'm doing a live tape, it's all live, studio is all studio, remix is all remix.
I pulled out a tape I made of the Bessie Boys in '94-Remixes, Live and Bonus Tracks.
It was good, but;
A - I just don't like listening to that stuff all mixed up anymore,
B - I don't know if that works with the Melvins.

Maybe I'll try that next. Their live stuff is like remixes.
Some stuff is just so far from the source.
Tipping The Lion on Sugar Daddy Live comes to mind. I saw them play it in '96.
Buzz and Mark D switched instruments. It was very close to the album version.
The Sugar Daddy version was all hot rodded out. Took me a while to get into it.

[amazonAMAZON]

When I'm doing a live tape, it's all live, studio is all studio, remix is all remix.

I think the warbly 'alt' version of "I'll Finish You Off" from the Isis split might fit there.

How about the stuff the Melvins remixed... Liars, KMFDM, and of course Isis?

Buzz also remixed a Gang of Four track with someone (probably Lustmord, right?). I have that promo CD around here somewhere.

Then maybe the Brothers Collateral track.

"Message Saved" and "Thank You" are pretty much in line with the noise experiments.