RecaPitulation: The Aliens, Calvin Johnson, Leeches Of Lore, Oxbow

Electronically enhanced psych-os the Aliens are on the creative-packaging tip we talked about in yesterday’s label profile on Pirates Press Records. The U.K. busybodies - whose sound might resemble Roger Waters’ if he were transfigured into Paul Oakenfold - are stitching together something special for the October 20 re-release of their Luna debut. The Birdman record will actually be located inside a 50-page hardcover book bursting at the seams with poems, drawings, interviews, snaps and more. Topspin will be handling the limited-edition release by the group, which features former members of the Beta Band. …

Dammit, Brooklyn, you’ve outdone us again. From September 10 through October 2, Williamsburg’s Death by Audio will host You Are Here (AKA the Maze), a truly one-of-a-kind event that really does feature bands performing in an actual maze. The structure is supposed to represent the NY underground or something; whatever the case, it’s cool in our book. Participants include Calvin Johnson, Mick Barr, Desolation Wilderness and a slew of other bands - some of whom, unlike the ones we just mentioned, are actually, you know, from the New York underground. Tight-wad music fans should stay away, though: Things like set times, lengths of sets and performance locations are totally up in the air, and will remain so throughout the labyrinthian adventure. …

Baroness‘ Blue Record - the follow-up to 2007’s Red Album, duh - is one of the remaining ‘09 metal albums that we’re dying to hear. And, well, shit, TGIF: The Georgia peaches have served up a preview of the October 13 Relapse release. The six-minute, two-song peek includes “Bullhead’s Psalm” and “The Sweetest Curse,” and is available on the band’s MySpace profile. We know what we’ll be mining over and over again this weekend. …

Mind if some Leeches attach themselves to you for a little bit? Leeches of Lore need your help two-fold. The Albuquerque band - which reminds us at times of a thrashier version of Kylesa - is planning to swing through the West for nine days in October. But there are a few hitches: The falsetto-led duo (well, trio, including supporting bandmember Noah Wolters) don’t know where they’re going to play - or sleep - yet. Maybe taking a note from our recently posted guide to DIY touring, the guys are handling the booking duties themselves and planning to crash on couches. So if you live in any of the following areas and want to give the dudes a boost, hit them up at flyingmidgetrecords@yahoo.com (target itinerary dates in parens): Phoenix/San Diego (10.18); LA/SoCal (10.19); NorCal/south Oregon/Portland (10.22/10.23); Seattle (10.24); Spokane (10.25); Missoula, MT (10.26); and Livingston/Bozeman, MT (10.27). The hazy group’s eponymous debut - which it had previously self-released - was reissued earlier this year via MeteorCity/Flying Midget; “Macrochelys Temminckll” and “I Am the Raptor,” which are on the Leeches’ MySpace profile, were enough to convert us. Plus, judging by some of the other songs, they got a good sense of humor, so they should make for entertaining house guests in one way or another. …

We’re hard-pressed to think of a current band that terrifies us more, on a personal level, than Oxbow. For years, we were on their mailing list, which consisted of alternately sick, hilarious or sick-and-hilarious missives from main man Eugene Robinson. Some of his entries were profanity-laden rants against individuals - with names often openly disclosed - who had wronged him in some way or another. And if you wanted off the list, you had to phone the band directly; an instruction at the bottom of the e-mails read, “If you desire to be relieved of the onus of having to read this monthly paean to the powers of personal persuasion, call us at 650-714-xxxx, and we will tell you we ain’t going to write no more of these fucking things anymore anyway so save your breath.” See, we’re even too nervous to list the whole phone number - if we do, we’ll be peeking out our shades all weekend, terrified of Mr. Robinson coming to our neighborhood to get us. Fortunately we stopped receiving the e-mails in May 2007, so we never had to make such a call. We dare you - like, seriously - to friend these guys on Facebook. Why are we rambling about all this, you’re surely wondering? Well, because: a) We’ve been waiting years for a good excuse to tell that story; and b) There’s actually some Oxbow news to tell you about. The incomparably intimidating San Francisco noise-rock anti-musicians - if you think the Jesus Lizard are confrontational, wait’ll you witness Oxbow - are re-releasing their first album September 15 on the beloved Hydra Head. Fuckfest - which, incredulously, came out all the way back in 1989 - will look a little somethin’ like this:

In our humble opinion, this record is worthy of nomination into Decibel’s Hall of Fame. …

Naughty Behemoth. The Polish band - whose August 11 Metal Blade release, Evangelion, made our list of best-metal-of-’09-so-far - has gotten into some hot water with YouTube. The Maybelline-loving guys seemed content enough with their new video, for the song “Ov Fire and the Void,” which we teased earlier this week. Frontman Nergal said in a recent statement, “We are proud and we are satisfied. This is our life’s work, and we are happy to finally get it out to people. Watch and enjoy!” Here’s the not-so-good news pertaining to said “life’s work”: YouTube has yanked the grisly video. Maybe it had something to do with the part where the demon stuffs bloody feathers down his throat over the splayed-out body of a nude woman. The original version is right here. Or, watch the “safe” version below - even though this take did get YouTube’s OK, it still does stipulate that you should be of age to watch it: