Album #: 61
Recording Dates: 2000-2002
Release Date: 2006
Catalog: SF
ScratchNotes:
You are a smart person. You can figure out what Leftovers, Vol. 3 is all about…
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One Track Sampler
Track 11 – Miracles (The Sheep Fiends) – Just an everyday proclamation. [Scratch on Sampling Keyboard]
Album #: 60
Recording Dates: 2001-2002
Release Date: 2006
Catalog: SF
ScratchNotes:
As I see over at SheepFiends.com “Leftovers is a CD series of fun tracks that almost got looked over. Enjoy!”. This version covers 2001 & 2002.
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Two Track Sampler
Track 07 – Mannheim Sheeproller Pt. 1 (The Sheep Fiends) – A sort of jaunty, new age Doors inspired track. A somewhat reflective mood for the Sheep Fiends. But then I start slamming on that bass harder. [Scratch on Bass]
Track 09– Trash Rash (The Sheep Fiends) – After a short intro to set the mood, this evolves into a solid rocker. Tense keyboards stab at my hypnotic guitar line; as I holler about something that you can’t really hear well enough. I figure I’ve got a shot subliminally though. [Scratch on Guitar & Vocals]
Album #: 59
Recording Dates: 2005
Release Date: 2006
Catalog: SF
ScratchNotes:
This disc primarily features recordings from 1995 that predate my tenure in the Sheep Fiends. Also included is one track from 2005 that I do play on – but I don’t like the song so we’re going to skip the sample for this release. Really the best thing about all this is the swirling cover.
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No Track Sampler
Album #: 58
Recording Dates: 06/10/2006
Release Date: 2006
Catalog: SF
ScratchNotes:
From the sound of things 2006 was a very abstract year for me. This release suffers from similar mix issues as the April jam CD, but a smaller lineup makes the opportunity for coherence slightly better. Consider this a full length selection of deep cuts.
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Two Track Sampler
Track 06 – Don’t Stick Your Head In a Beehive (The Sheep Fiends) – This is quite ridiculous. Something about squirrels and going to hell. About mice in my garage and bugs on the wall. Oh, and the bologna dog. And yet it sounds nothing like you were expecting. [Scratch on Vocals]
Track 09– Shitzadoodle (The Sheep Fiends) – Is it science? Or is it just fatalism? Regardless, there’s a little of it in all of us. [Scratch on Vocals]
Album #: 57
Recording Dates: 1994
Release Date: 2006
Catalog: SMR23
ScratchNotes:
In the Summer of 1994 the members of the Hidden booked Flat Iron Studios in Chicago to begin work on the follow-up to their “Stop. I’m bleeding.” CD. Once again Chuck U. ran the board but this time not in his own studio. We recorded for several days and mixed down close to 20 songs. We were dubbing cassettes of the master tapes over several days to listen to music on other systems. Somehow the band never got a hold of the master tapes (or even a digital copy of mixdowns) of these sessions and broke up in late 1994.
I worked hard to find the best version available when I began work in 2002 on finally releasing this album. I had four different cassettes that contained most of the recordings so I could identify the best source material (arg…from cassettes) to create the album. There was tape fuzz to deal with; some tapes had little glitches on some songs but not others, plus the songs had never been mastered so a round of equalization was needed.
A dozen songs made the album’s final running order. Looking at it 23 years later (arg…I was 24 when we recorded this!) it’s kind of an odd album – which makes it fit perfectly into this discography!
Below are three tracks that I hope get across the many moods of this record.
Three Track Sampler
Track 03 – Salamander (The Hidden) – Here’s a blast of distorted heft leading into purgatorial torment. From heavy to haunting in a split second the band shows a more complex style than on early recordings, and displays a wide dynamic range on this metallic track. [Scratch on Guitar]
Track 07 – Pink Snow (The Hidden) – Pink Snow was a live favorite and its relentless plodding still captivates all these years later. It’s got a stop-start intro, a slow groove bass, a frightening vocal performance and that simmering buildup to the ending with the bonus drum jam. This is one of the Hidden’s better constructed songs. [Scratch on Guitar]
Track 09 – Suicide King (The Hidden) – Set the manic to 11 as Brian M. unleashes a violent sermon on another dark track. I’m quite fond of how my guitar came out on this recording. [Scratch on Guitar]
Album #: 56
Recording Dates: 04/22/2006
Release Date: 2006
Catalog: SF
ScratchNotes:
Another crazed Rumpus Room gathering from 2006. This is certainly more challenging than many CDs by the band (and that’s saying something) as the mixes for large group performances are pretty disappointing… but art never promised to be pretty…
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Two Track Sampler
Track 01 – Going Backwards (The Sheep Fiends) – The mixes on this CD can get a bit harsh, but sometimes the strangeness of it all works – like the unplanned bass solo freakout this song dissolves into for a minute. [Scratch on Bass]
Track 07– Nature of Insurgency (The Sheep Fiends) – Just Brian M. on improvised rhythm guitar/vocals and myself trying to put the urgency in insurgency on lead guitar. [Scratch on Guitar]
Album #: 55
Recording Dates: 2005
Release Date: 2005
Catalog: SF
ScratchNotes:
For quite a while an acoustic sub-grouping of the Sheep Fiends had been playing Americana standards and the odd cover track. Mark A, Matt C, and Matty formed this nexus of this more traditional style band. I joined in for a few jams at Mark’s apartment that we happened to record (two tracks from which are featured below). This was great time, and created a very distinct vibe from the sounds of the larger more eclectic Sheep Fiends.
Two Track Sampler
Track 03 – St. James Infirmary (The Poker Night String Band) – Mandolin anchors this bouncy track made famous by Louis Armstrong. Rather than the typical straight improvisation of a Sheep Fiends performance we were following some chords. But having never heard the song in my life I think my background electric guitar works on this. [Scratch on Guitar]
Track 16– Just What I Needed (The Poker Night String Band) – Deep in Appalachia one can hear the righteous gospel of our divine Ric Ocasek and his handpicked family The Cars. Presenting a spirited acoustic rendition of this classic rock track. [Scratch on Vocals]
Album #: 54
Recording Dates: 11/15/1998 & 10/16/2005
Release Date: 2005
Catalog: SF
ScratchNotes:
The Rumpus Room became our new home base around this time. This was Brian M’s posh basement gathering spot with wood as far as the eye could see. While this space would see dramatic change a few years later; during this era we only had access to 2-track straight to tape recording – meaning the mixes on these CDs are as varied as the genres are…
This CD also contains a bonus 20 minute guitar freakout from 1998. You can listen to that one over at sheepfiends.com if the mood strikes ya.
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Two Track Sampler
Track 01 – A Friend Like You (The Sheep Fiends) – Some slide guitar over a rumbling shuffle lays the groundwork for Matt C. to speak his mind and take the role of emcee. If you love off-kilter this is another one for you! [Scratch on Guitar]
Track 07– Levi’s Gonna Break (The Sheep Fiends) – Sometimes the Sheep Fiends get topical, such as during this bizarre musical reaction to Hurricane Katrina. Robot voices and a Big Black guitar. Tones from the cosmos. Then it somehow devolves into some dumb blues. Then the singers riff on the theme of natural disasters. So it’s definitely the Sheep Fiends! [Scratch on Vocals]
Album #: 53
Recording Dates: 2005
Release Date: 2005
Catalog: SF
ScratchNotes:
This CD gathers the best from several jams during 2005.
Two Track Sampler
Track 05 – You Are the Zebra (The Sheep Fiends) – Sometimes you have no ideas so you pick a list and run with it. Encephalitis. Insidious. Quartanium. Uvula. Zebra. [Scratch on Bass & Vocals]
Track 06– Sinister Happenings (The Sheep Fiends) – A thumper of a rocker. A real haunting swirler! [Scratch on Guitar]
Album #: 52
Recording Dates: 1995-2004
Release Date: 2004
Catalog: SF
ScratchNotes:
This collection spans the years 1995 through 2004 and features 23 different musicians. Lost sessions from one-time lineups appear along with more common configurations exploring numerous avenues of sound.
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Two Track Sampler
Track 05 – Earth Shake (The Sheep Fiends) – Pulsars set ablaze. Is this some space rock; garage rock, or native chanting? It’s all of them. It’s why we shake. [Scratch on Bass]
Track 21– Sea of Nothing (The Sheep Fiends) – Pre-millennium angst at the state of things (or lack thereof). And Facebook wasn’t even around back then… [Scratch on Guitar]
Album #: 51
Recording Dates: 11/20/2004 & 12/19/2004
Release Date: 2004
Catalog: SF
ScratchNotes:
The Sheep Fiends found a new place to play and some new players right along with it. Brian C. moved into an artsy loft space near the lakefront and I continued my run of not showing up for much of the 2003-2004 era of the Sheep Fiends. Despite my inattention to the band this new combination of musicians is featured on several Sheep Fiend CDs.
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One Track Sampler
Track 12 – Groundhog Mull (The Sheep Fiends) – With such a bizarre blues tale as this closing the album, the title “I’m So Confused” never seemed so appropriate. If you’ve never lived in the suburbs, let me take you there. [Scratch on Vocals]
Album #: 50
Recording Dates: 2001-2004
Release Date: 2005
Catalog: SMR22
ScratchNotes:
By 2001 my musical activities had slowed to a pace that only the Sheep Fiends could fill. There are numerous reasons why this volume that covers four full years is comprised of only live performances. The economy fell apart and my career was in serious jeopardy. My attention moved towards putting together the Skroch 200. I returned to school in pursuit of a Finance Degree. There just seemed to be no time for music; until a phone call or email arrived inviting me to the palace of free thought just off of Bryn Mawr in Chicago.
I showed up for 7 jams in 2001 and 7 jams in 2002 and no jams in 2003 and 3 in 2004. A total of 17 jams in 4 years – that’s 1460 days – a jam once every 85.88 days. This volume of Scratchrock is comprised of 14 songs from 9 of these musical groupings.
The Dentists formed in early 2001 as one of the many failed attempts at creating a “real band” out of Sheep Fiends. DDS ((aka The Dentists)(aka Dave, Doug, Scratch)) kind of learned some originals, but more often just crafted odd takes on a diverse collection of cover tunes like those of Boston and the Monkees found on this disc. After two months or so the Dentists stopped showing up altogether.
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Four Track Sampler
Track 01 – Inside a Room Inside a Cave Inside the Moon (Sheep Fiends) – A favorite of mine from this era. I’m your guide for another improvised cosmic journey backed by a somewhat bluesy performance from the band. Can’t you hear we’re docking soon? [Scratch on Guitar & Vocals]
Track 06 – Russell’s Potion (Sheep Fiends) – Fuzzed out bass and swooping theremin form the soul of this track, with my warbling guitar and a jazzy beat bringing a healthy sense of confusion to the party. [Scratch on Guitar]
Track 09 – Don’t Try (The Dentists) – One of the few original tracks the Dentists worked on during their short stay in the chair. If this song had lyrics, I never saw them! [Scratch on Guitar]
Track 12 – Is That All There Is? (Sheep Fiends) – Brian M. lashes out against the forces of dissatisfaction in this stomping aggro number. A cathartic despair expressing the downside of human interaction. [Scratch on Guitar]
Album #: 49
Recording Dates: 2000-2001
Release Date: 2002
Catalog: SF
ScratchNotes:
Despite a steady stream of CD releases typically sourced from a single Sheep Fiend jam, oddities and side jam tracks began to pile up.
Dave L. determined it was time for a compilation CD of various unreleased tracks from the previous few years. And thus the “Leftovers” series was born!
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One Track Sampler
Track 14 – Happiness (The Sheep Fiends) – Wah-wah drenched electric guitar is where we find our joy. [Scratch on Guitar]
Album #: 48
Recording Dates: 1994-1995
Release Date: 2002
Catalog: SMR21
ScratchNotes:
Years before I became affiliated with the Sheep Fiends the band was joined for a period by Daniel A. Foss, Phd. Dr. Foss was much older than the 20-whatevers that largely populated the band at that time. Dan worked as a sociologist for most of his career, and gained major cred by publishing the book Freak Culture: Life Style and Politics in 1972 – back when the freakiest thing about the Sheep Fiends were their diapers. Daniel Foss did not lead an easy life, suffering a range of family and health crises.
Dan would add commentary about cultures, wars, and the rise and fall of civilizations to instrumental Sheep Fiend jams. Many pure conversations where recorded with Dr. Foss at this time, and Brian C. conducted a full autobiographical interview with Foss that appears here in several segments. I was given the challenge of taking 6 or 8 tapes of raw material and creating an album that captures the experience of Dan Foss. How successful I was in this endeavor is for others to determine, but immersing myself in the world of Foss for a few months was certainly a unique time for me.
Sadly Dan passed away in 2014 – but he lives on in our memories…and on the Internet. He has a Wikipedia entry here. And you can read Dan’s unique take on his days with the Sheep Fiends here.
Three perplexing samples of this release can be accessed below.
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Three Track Sampler
Track 05 – A Drunken Wall (Daniel A. Foss) – Drinking is the topic. And minorities. And New Zealand. [Scratch on Production]
Track 16 – N2O (Sheep Fiends with Daniel A. Foss) – This ridiculously psychedelic sonic cornucopia was presented to me somewhat pre-produced. Some of the effects I added but most of this was recorded in real time…somehow! A bit of rearranging was really all it needed. [Scratch on Production]
Track 22 – The Possibility of Daniel A. Foss (Daniel A. Foss) – Dan ponders those who ponder him. [Scratch on Production]
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Album #: 47
Recording Dates: 2001-2002
Release Date: 2002
Catalog: SMR20
ScratchNotes:
Here is the second of only two releases featuring the Dentists. Looking at the front cover it’s easy to question if it was “released”, but we have it for you here today. Lots of funny or groan-worthy cover songs, many of which performed by just two members of this short lived trio (typically myself and Dave L). Also plenty of rock improvisation – frequently sloppy but always played with authority!
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Three Track Sampler
Track 04 – Where are Two Hursts? (The Dentists) – Just Dave L and I killing some time with our delay pedals. Full disclosure: the Hursts’ never arrived. [Scratch on Vocals and Bass]
Track 07 – Reggae Jam (The Dentists) – Dave’s on guitar and I’m on bass for this tropical exploration. [Scratch on Bass]
Track 08 – Get Back to the Wonderful World (The Dentists) – The Dentists special brand of cover song ridiculousness condensed down into some sort of two minute classic rock outro tribute. Weird! [Scratch on Bass]
Album #: 46
Recording Dates: 08/10/1999
Release Date: 2002
Catalog: SF
ScratchNotes:
Another compilation arising from Brian C’s deep dive into unreleased Sheep Fiends material. This album puts together some very different sounds from several eras but I’m only featured on a few tracks of dark melodrama and one about dinner. The best of these tracks is available below.
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One Track Sampler
Track 01 – Fear is Real (Sheep Fiends) – A brooding and sometimes raging stomper featuring the always engaging improvised lyrics and vocals of Brian M. [Scratch on Casio SK-100]
Album #: 45
Recording Dates: 06/30/2002
Release Date: 2002
Catalog: SF
ScratchNotes:
The members of the Dentists are joined by the Theremin-tacular sounds of a visiting Russell M. This once in a lifetime Sheep Fiends lineup contains screaming lead guitar, drum machines, fuzz bass and vocal samples while Russell brings the UFO down into Section X. A really different and exciting sound on this one, with a halfway decent mix to boot.
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Three Track Sampler
Track 04 – Take the Fifth (Sheep Fiends) – Theremin swoops in and out of your consciousness over crunching bass and guitar riffs, a drum machine, and a loop of the word “what” on of this heavy rock instrumental. [Scratch on Bass]
Track 05 – The Night Time (Sheep Fiends) – An off kilter rhythm playing in 9/8 or something merges with a tasty guitar lick as I extoll the virtues of the darkness and warn you of what I’ve found. [Scratch on Vocals & Sampling Keyboard]
Track 10 – Here Come the Pigs (Sheep Fiends) – Listen carefully for the cowbell. Oink oink oink oink. [Scratch on Guitar]
Album #: 44
Recording Dates: 05/12/2002
Release Date: 2002
Catalog: SF
ScratchNotes:
Scott J. returns to an expanded lineup to record this celebration of the tenth anniversary of the Sheep Fiends. Featuring five different vocalists this album is varied stylistically. Ballads, anthems, hard rock, hard funk, hardadelia…songs about birth, family, work and the end of the world.
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Two Track Sampler
Track 06 – Stay Away (Sheep Fiends) – A booming rhythm sort of anchors this loose and rollicking rocker. [Scratch on Bass]
Track 08 – A Cosmic Unity (Sheep Fiends) – Can’t we all just get along? I mean cosmically? Here is a gripping narrative that questions the questions themselves. Emotive melodic guitars carry you along the laser rays pulsed out by the keyboards being phased through a gravity void. All the while you hold out hope that the essence of the universe will be saved. Believe in it. Trust it. Obey it. [Scratch on Vocals]
