Portal "Portal" cd-r (self released/2002)

Back in January I posted the sophomore effort from Portal, Lost in The Translation and I was pleasantly surprised to hear from folks how much they liked it or were looking for it for years, lost their copy or whatever.  So without further delay I happy to finally share the debut release from Portal. For those who missed that first post, Portal was a experimental home recording project by Contra/Church of the Rowdy guitarist Stephe Cooper. In these home experiments Cooper employed various genres-prog rock, art rock, kraut rock, midi/electronic music, ambient and even lo fi garage punk. I think Lost in The Translation is a much more calculated, though out work thus to my ears being a bit more enjoyable than the debut, however this disc is certainly enjoyable and firmly lays the groundwork of what was to come. Honestly, it is a shame that Cooper only released two Portal cds because both are so damn good. This debut cd-r features a Jane's Addiction cover.

Portal track listing
1. Frogball
2. A Call to Arms in Defense of Mother Earth
3. Shifting
4. Dry Lake
5. Summertime Rolls

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Everyone Loves OTMOP right? Want another demo track?

Seriously, everyone loves On the Might of Princes right? I don't listen to the albums nearly as much as I used to be even just a thought or mention of the band's name fills my head with so many thoughts and emotions. Who I was and where I was in my life when I discovered this band and how fortunate I felt to see a band this incredible from the beginning to the very end and even into reunions. But most importantly I am transported to a time and place in Long Island DIY that is long gone. And while there are great bands, great venues, and great people today doing stuff on Long Island for me on a personal level nothing feels like it used to back then. And I guess this flier that I am posting here today is a perfect example of what I am talking about. My buddy Steve booked a show at the Local 7 space to raise money so our mutual friend and someone who had given so much of himself to the Long Island DIY community, Jon Contra could be able to have his soon relocated from Florida back to Long Island. Specifics don't matter but what matters is that the Long Island DIY community came out in droves to have music lead to having a very positive effect in the outcome in someone's life away from the bands, basements, zines and potlucks. Sometimes we wrap ourselves up so much in the music, the ideas, the friendships, etc that we forget about the real world and it was awesome to see everyone come together to help a friend. It was such an honor to be playing this show which for me a I really felt was one of the high marks of the Long Island DIY community. In addition to On the Might of Princes, Contra reuniting, Regarding I, Latterman, The Backup Plan, and my band Yes Sensei, Scent of Human History played. This was a night that I will always remember not only for the great music but for the great reason that the show happened and how it was able to help.

For some audio content I have decided to upload a demo version of the On the Might of Princes song "Water vs The Anchor" that appeared on the Creep Records CD compilation The Last Stake Has Been Driven. It was recorded at The Creep House but it is a completely different recording than the version that appears on Where You Are and Where You Want to Be. I imagine when asking fans what is the song that best defines On the Might of Princes, and some will say "For Meg" and others, like myself will say "Water vs The Anchor". I say that because it is the song that hooked you in right away long before the album closer even came through your speakers. Everything about "Water vs The Anchor" is perfect as it showcases all the different musical genres that the band was primarily influenced by and it had great lyrics that were absolutely anthemic in nature. So check out this earlier version as I am not sure how circulated this comp that it appeared on was.

Download ON THE MIGHT OF PRINCES "Water vs The Anchor (Demo)"

Portal "Lost in the Translation" cd-r (self released/2002)

It is a snowy night here on Long Island so I figured I'd do a late night (well late for this guy) upload. This offering is rather off beat but to me it really exemplifies what I love about the music that people make in their bedrooms. Being free from whatever scene aesthetics that may dominate people's attitudes to create and express themselves; music of this kind that doesn't really exist beyond the bedroom really excites me because it is completely uninhibited and it does whatever it wants to. Especially in the case of Portal to me it is documentation of a brilliant, creative musician exploring a myriad of ideas in his own unique way which is the complete opposite of what the musician is generally known for. Portal was the home recording side project of Contra guitarist Stephe Cooper. While Contra was known for furiously fast pissed off hardcore punk that relied on politically charged lyrics and a generally bare bones attack musically speaking; Portal was a project that explored prog/math rock, lsynth/midi music, kraut rock and even lo fi hardcore punk. Imagine taking the Mahavishnu Orchestra and cross it with Sonic Youh, Black Flag, Kraftwerk, Battles and Bjork's more experimental work and that should give you a rough idea. Cooper self released two Portal cd-rs both packaged in a DVD case. The first was a self titled 5 song ep and the second release which is posted here is the full length effort Lost in the Translation.

Publish Post

Lost in the Translation contains 13 tracks of tunes the run the gamut of genres explored and most of simply defies explanation. There are electronic bleeps and beeps that remind me of video game music but moments later you can get hit a with blast of guitar feedback only to be wrapped in a bordering psychedelic, jammy guitar freak out or even a frantic sound collage. Then there are surprise forays into a brand of lo fi hardcore punk that sounds like 5th generation bootleg Rorschach recording not too mention the Inside Out and Cave In covers that appear on the recording. Portal is not for everyone but for those that can brave the journey it is certainly a worthwhile trip to take

In addition to Portal and the aforementioned Contra, Cooper was also in the hardcore band Church of the Rowdy (with members of On the Might of Princes and Porcelain Decay) and later on he went on to be in two projects that were similar in scope to what Portal was doing but outside of the bedroom by way of B-Camel and the more lo fi basement art pop of Squeaky Bandits.

Lost in the Translation track listing:
1.The Printer Song
2. Hi Jonathon, How Are You? What's Up?
3. Minor Details
4. Queen Pineapple
5. (Excersion 1) Gina Opium
6. Validation
7. The Splitting of Our Species
8. (Excursion 2) Disappearance of the Spoons
9. All Around Me
10. No Spirtual Surrender *(Inside Out cover)
11. The End of Our Rope *(Cave In cover)
12. In the Land of Grey and Pink
13. Untitled

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Small Arms Dealer "The Hot Knives EP" cd-r (self released/2004)

First off, sorry for the lack of posts lately I have been busy with work and label stuff but fret not I shall try and get back up to speed with at least 2-3 posts a week. Anyhow here we go with today's post...

Small Arms Dealer's debut release, their titled demo The Hot Knives EP!!! In what was as close to a "all star band" as you can get Small Arms Dealer featured ex- members of Explosivo!, The Devil Himself, A Boy Called Spite, The Howards, Contra, On the Might of Princes and Fellow Project; Small Arms Dealer came onto the scene I believe in 2004 and played explosive indie/pop punk with dual guitar attack and  great vocals and lyrics which seems to be a staple of all the projects that Lubrano/Beaker are involved with. The songs in all of their projects but especially Small Arms Dealer are insanely catchy but not in a vapid manner at all, in some ways it is pretty damn smart as there is plenty of note happy guitar work that generally isn't associated with pop punk. There is a real sense of driving energy about all of the songs yet that intensity never sacrifices the pure hook in each every one of their songs. And this formula continued on their subsequent follow up full lengths A Single Unifying Theory and The Patron Saint of Disappointment which were released on Deep Elm Records.

Two summers ago Small Arms Dealer played their last shows with a afternoon show at the Dead Broke House and a evening finale at Mr Beery's-regrettably I wasn't able to make it as I was attending to my dog who had fallen ill. I have to say, honestly, a knot gets tighter in my stomach when anyone mentions either show saying how amazing it was because I can only imagine. I would've love to sing along with those songs one more time.

Members of the Small Arms Dealer went on to various projects with Lubrano and Beaker once again teaming up again in Wax Phantom who have a ep out on Dead Broke Records. Additionally, Lubrano teamed up with Phil Douglas (Latterman, Solidarity Pact), whom played drums with Small Arms Dealer the last couple of years, to start Iron Chic who thus far have released a demo, 7 inch and full length album on Dead Broke Records/86'd Records. Lou Fontana now plays guitar in Fellow Project. Steve Andolpho watches New Jersey Devils hockey while original drummer Adam Kuhn still likes snakes.

The cool thing about The Hot Knives EP is that out of ep's five songs only two were re-recorded for later releases. Personally, I prefer when bands don't re-record material so for the nerd in me that is a reason I wanted to share this ep with everyone-also because it fucking rules. Additionally, I should add that Small Arms Dealer recorded a few songs before they broke up but I don't believe they were ever released or shared. At some point do hope they do because those tunes were aces. And knowing my luck here is the part where inevitably someone will tell me that those songs were released as a last show exclusive or something...


Small Arms Dealer The Hot Knives EP track listing
1. "Tonight...On a Very Special Episode"
2. "The Hot Knives Technique"
3. "Scumbagsville, CT"
4. "Robotic Man of the Future (Mini Robot 100%)"
5. "Who?...Me?"

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