Sheep Fiends – Magick Cabbage

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Updated: January 22, 2015

Album #: 43

Recording Dates: 04/28/2002

Release Date: 2002

Catalog: SF

ScratchNotes:

This very abstractionist Sheep Fiend jam was recorded on April 28th, 2002 by a snappy seven man combo in Chicago. Listen below for more!!!

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Two Track Sampler

Track 01 – Magick Cabbage (Sheep Fiends) – Spine warping tones meet a dense whirling synthesizer amid an army of guitars on this aggressively played instrumental.  [Scratch on Guitar]

Track 06 – Heissen Pfeffern (Sheep Fiends) – Matt Cramer and I trade vocal duties over the bizarre electronic music erupting around us. Jalapeno! Habanero!  [Scratch on Sampling Keyboard Vocals]

Sheep Fiends – Rock

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Updated: July 7, 2014

Album #: 42

Recording Dates: 1998-1999

Release Date: 2001

Catalog: SF

ScratchNotes:

As should be obvious, this Sheep Fiend release from the “genre six pack” features more rock oriented tracks – including a freshly unearthed recording from my very first Sheep Fiend jam.

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Two Track Sampler

Track 02 – Fifth Birthday (Sheep Fiends) – Not the most mind blowing improvisation, but this was recorded at my very first Sheep Fiends get together on November 15th, 1998. And there’s no denying this one is ROCK!  [Scratch on Guitar]

Track 12 – Pix (Sheep Fiends) – Another instrumental from the largely experimental and keyboard heavy 1999 sessions. Swirling electronic rock is the order of the day.  [Scratch on Casio SK-100]

Sheep Fiends – Electronic

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Updated: July 7, 2014

Album #: 41

Recording Dates: 1999

Release Date: 2001

Catalog: SF

ScratchNotes:

In 2001 Brian C. put together a nice six disc compilation of the Sheep Fiends first eight years or so of recordings; delineated by breaking the songs into specific genres. In addition to utilizing songs from previous Sheep Fiend albums these CDs also included some unreleased material. Both new tracks I appear on from “Electronic” were recorded during the Spring of 1999.

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Two Track Sampler

Track 02 – Waves (Sheep Fiends) – It’s just so swirling…and wet sounding. Like waves!  [Scratch on Keyboards]

Track 10 – Victory Riot (Sheep Fiends) – This rather harrowing journey into fear and madness was recorded on my Walkman live at Section X. Crazy man, crazy.  [Scratch on Sampling Keyboard]

Sheep Fiends – Take Me Down

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Updated: July 7, 2014

Album #: 40

Recording Dates: 11/18/2001

Release Date: 2001

Catalog: SF

ScratchNotes:

A dark undertone permeates this album. Several tracks offer up very raw lyrics about a disintegrating relationship, and even my interstellar dance epic ultimately results in suffocation and emptiness. The addition of Scott J. to the fairly steady lineup of this era adds a visceral edge to the music itself.

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Three Track Sampler

Track 07 – Disco on Saturn [part one] and also Disco on Saturn [part two] (Sheep Fiends) – Have you ever pondered what will happen to civilization when our planet is finally absorbed into a black hole? Yeah, me too. Here’s a song about it in two parts…  [Scratch on Vocals]

Track 13 – Easy to Hate You (Sheep Fiends) – They say time heals all wounds. This song reminds us that time can also create the terrible wounds that need healing.  [Scratch on Guitar]

Track 14 – Introducing the Impatients (Sheep Fiends) – As so often happens, the first few seconds of sound check suddenly launch into the first jam of the day. Great for musicians eager to play if often detrimental to the quality of the final recording. Luckily in this case the initial mix is clear and powerful.  [Scratch on Bass]

Sheep Fiends – People Are Nice

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Updated: July 4, 2014

Album #: 39

Recording Dates: 10/14/2001

Release Date: 2001

Catalog: SF

ScratchNotes:

Lyrically a strong album for this era, People Are Nice is brought down by some very loud (and often contrasting) flute playing. In today’s world of multitrack that would be pushed way down in the mix, but in 2001 you got what you got. This was our first jam after 9/11 and some improvised vocals tackled the subject – from the sins of an amped up media to my changing perception of the sky. And time. You can’t change time.

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Three Track Sampler

Track 04 – Linear Phenomenon (Sheep Fiends) – And I quote: “We don’t want to think of time as a linear phenomenon because that puts the focus on the fact that we can never go back – clean up our mess. Every moment is ticking towards our deaths because time is a linear phenomenon.” Whoa. Heavy.  [Scratch on Vocals and Bass]

Track 08 – Planes of Death (Sheep Fiends) – My reflections on the world one month after 9/11 – over a hypnotic bass line and some scratchy shrieking guitars.  [Scratch on Vocals and Bass]

Track 11 – The Egg Yolk (Sheep Fiends) – Let’s change the mood a bit. It’s time to generate lists of tasty vittles.  [Scratch on Bass]

Sheep Fiends – Rock Tonic

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Updated: July 4, 2014

Album #: 38

Recording Dates: 09/09/2001

Release Date: 2001

Catalog: SF

ScratchNotes:

An uneven affair in my estimation (read as: I don’t care for this one much); “Rock Tonic” continues the rapid pace of releases during a jam packed 2001. Guitar-fueled and slightly out of tune…

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One Track Sampler

Track 07 – Exploding Tyres (Sheep Fiends) – A lackluster mix and my opinions on SUV tire explosions…just two days before 9/11.  [Scratch on Vocals and Bass]

Sheep Fiends – Future Primitive

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Updated: July 4, 2014

Album #: 37

Recording Dates: 06/10/2001

Release Date: 2001

Catalog: SF

ScratchNotes:

A noisy guitar focused affair from the summer of ’01. Inspiration comes from 80’s supergroup Asia filtered through the peyote-glazed eyes of The Doors. Or so it would seem.

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Two Track Sampler

Track 07 – Sometimes (Sheep Fiends) – A bouncing bass and slicing keyboards propel this upbeat jam.  [Scratch on Vocals and Bass]

Track 11 – Future Primitive (Sheep Fiends) – Some progged out jazzy weirdness for a blazing June afternoon. The heat was hot and the expression expansive on this experimental warp-out.  [Scratch on Guitar]

Sheep Fiends – Rust Never Sheeps

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Updated: July 4, 2014

Album #: 36

Recording Dates: 03/25/2001

Release Date: 2001

Catalog: SF

ScratchNotes:

One of my top picks for early 2000’s era Sheep Fiends. Opening with the fantastic “Inside a Room Inside a Cave Inside the Moon” (music to be posted with Scratchrock XIV), this disc just features strong and inspired performances all around. I rage against the government and Burger King when not manning a bass or guitar on several soothing instrumentals.

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Three Track Sampler

Track 02 – Just One Orbit Away (Sheep Fiends) – I lead the charge on this smart and funky instrumental.  [Scratch on Guitar]

Track 03 – Death of a Taxpayer (Sheep Fiends) – During this period of my life I was allowing right-wing talk radio to fill me with pointless rage. Well, maybe not so pointless as we have this audio diatribe as evidence of its effect upon me! Also this is possibly the fastest song ever captured on tape by the Fiends.  [Scratch on Vocals]

Track 06 – Frivolous Return (Sheep Fiends) – So mellow – just the right mood to kick back after a long day of auditing the populace.  [Scratch on Bass]

Sheep Fiends – Murder the Classics

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Updated: July 4, 2014

Album #: 35

Recording Dates: 2000-2001

Release Date: 2001

Catalog: SF

ScratchNotes:

While the Sheep Fiends were born of a desire to create the sounds of the moment, sometimes that creativity would lag and cover songs would be recorded. Rarely faithful to their originals, the Fiends always ended up with something quite unique…if often challenging to listen to. Generally one or two members may know how to play the song, and the rest hop aboard for the ride with no rehearsal or planning whatsoever. The resulting collection is very hit or miss for me – but the album cover from Dave L. is quite sweet!

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One Track Sampler

Track 16 – Pressure Drop (Sheep Fiends) – The Sheep Fiends tackle a reggae classic – you’ve been warned!  [Scratch on Bass]

Sheep Fiends – Churn of the Century

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Updated: July 4, 2014

Album #: 34

Recording Dates: 01/21/2001

Release Date: 2001

Catalog: SF

ScratchNotes:

This album captures a rather noisy and chaotic jam from January 2001.

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One Track Sampler

Track 06 – Bananas Foster Avenue (Sheep Fiends) – Now with extra delay pedal on top – this week only!  [Scratch on Guitar]

The Dentists (DDS) – The First Six Weeks of School

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Updated: July 4, 2014

Album #: 33

Recording Dates: 2001

Release Date: 2001

Catalog: SMR19

ScratchNotes:

The Dentists (aka DDS) were a Sheep Fiends offshoot project that lasted just a few months. This is the first of two collections based on recordings of DDS rehearsals. The band apparently specialized in ridiculous cover songs but also managed to work out a few originals. File Under: Not Very Serious.

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Three Track Sampler

Track 03 – Diane (The Dentists) – Certainly the most straight forward cover song on the album, the Dentists tackle a Husker Du classic that I’d never even heard at the time we recorded this.  [Scratch on Guitar]

Track 08 – Dougsong (The Dentists) – This is an original by DDS – still in development but that’s about as far as we got with anything…  [Scratch on Bass and Keyboard]

Track 08 – Born to be Wild (The Dentists) – Just because I don’t know how to play “Born to be Wild” doesn’t mean I’m not going to play “Born to be Wild”!  [Scratch on Vocals and Guitar]

Scratchrock Volume XIII

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Updated: July 4, 2014

Album #: 32

Recording Dates: 1999 – 2000

Release Date: 2001

Catalog: SMR18

ScratchNotes:

Recording with the Sheep Fiends increasingly made up the bulk of my musical output as my free time turned to other endeavours.  A sick fascination with the stock market ensued, and an emotional obsession was fostered by way of the rise and collapse of Wall Street.  I must forever live with the knowledge that at an April 2000 Sheep Fiend jam, I warned through song that “The Nasdaq is gonna crash” – while in real life I kept my tech stocks and took a beating.

My former role as multi-instrumentalist in the Sheep Fiends became mutated, as I slowly transformed into one of the main vocal presences in the band. My unique improvisational take on reality and what should be done about it meshed well with the more folk and hippie elements typical of the Fiends lyrics. A few of the band members began making edited CDs of our rehearsals, and the Sheep Fiends’ archiving ritual was stepped up a level.

I purchased a digital 8-track recorder which saw little use – “Vikings (part 3)” and “The Skyway” being the only recorded output to date.  I also played around with sample manipulation using my PC, and participated in a few left field collaborations.

Anisa and I kept quite busy during this period, our primary activities being the creation of the “Vortex of Skrochocracy” website, and making preparations to buy a house and finally ditch the dirty city…

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Five Track Sampler

Track 02 – The Rising Price of Gasoline (Sheep Fiends) – Behold my autobiographical rage at the concept of having to pay 20 bucks for a tank of gas. Those were the days my friend…  [Scratch on Vocals]

Track 03 – The Wind Cries Howard (MX Skroch and Dave L.) – The Howard Stern show occupies Jimi Hendrix in this indigestion-fraught reinterpretation that I don’t…really…understand. But I was happy to lay down the bass track for this jam and think it’s an amusing one-off track.  [Scratch on Bass]

Track 08 – The Skyway (MX Skroch) – Sadly, a rare example of my solo work during this period. The Sheep Fiends were fairly active and my projects with Suneel were underway so my personal output was scarce. But I really like the few tracks I did knock out; including this rocking tribute to the tollway lifestyle.  [Scratch on All Instruments]

Track 13 – The Madness (MX Skroch) – Just samples and effects. Despite a slightly rough final production I think this track sounds just as cool today as it did a decade ago.  [Scratch on Sample Collection & Manipulation]

Track 17 – Unhappyman (MX Skroch and Suneel Viktor) – I pour my freshly plucked sample collection all over Suneel’s synthy grooves to satisfying effect. He thought there was no way he could lose… [Scratch on Sample Collection & Manipulation]

From the Vault: Field Recordings 1991-1994

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Updated: December 29, 2023

Album #: 31

Recording Dates: 1991-1994

Release Date: 2000

Catalog: SMR17

ScratchNotes:

Recording equipment and techniques change dramatically every few years. Sometimes you need to dig out the long forgotten gear and see just what you recorded. The “From the Vault” series gathers these leftover oddities into one place. Much of this collection was recorded on a microcassette player – in a tour van, in my basement, and even a recording of a phone call. Add in a few sample experiments using other artists’ music and you have the stranger side of my early 1990’s compositions.

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Two Track Sampler

Track 01 – Abubica – Joe and I play Zonk. We record it. Early 1990s.  [Scratch on Talking]

Track 02  – Freerange Eruption – A crappy Vesta Fire 4-track recorder and a Van Halen record.  [Scratch on Concept & Execution]

Sheep Fiends – Cast

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Updated: July 4, 2014

Album #: 30

Recording Dates: 2000

Release Date: 2000

Catalog: SF

ScratchNotes:

Summarizing the last three jams of the first year of the next millennium, Cast tackles critical issues affecting us all like baseball, contentious presidential elections, and irresponsible parenting. Respect to Dave L. for showing up to the jams with a broken arm.

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Two Track Sampler

Track 11 – Skool Daze (Sheep Fiends) – A sparse 60s groove with a slathering of guitar histrionics on top.  [Scratch on Guitar]

Track 14 – Frankie Jo (was a hotrodmama) (Sheep Fiends) – Some women behave like ladies…and then there’s Frankie Jo.  [Scratch on Vocals]

Sheep Fiends – Labor Day 2000

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Updated: July 4, 2014

Album #: 29

Recording Dates: 09/03/2000

Release Date: 2000

Catalog: SF

ScratchNotes:

Everyone who plays regularly with the Sheep Fiends has preferences in the types of music performed (improv, covers, the occasional Sheep Fiend composition), the length of the performances (30 minute jam or 4 minute song?) and other attributes. One of the critical pieces for me is the number of musicians present at a jam. I’ve found that tracks played by 4-6 Sheep Fiends often come out quite well. The Labor Day 2000 jam attracted an astounding 14 players…which made for an exciting live event but (to me) a rather garbled recording. Not one of my favorite Sheep Fiend albums, but definitely a jam for the SF record books!

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One Track Sampler

Track 13 – I Don’t Want What You Got (Sheep Fiends) – Holy Fucking Shit Man!  [Scratch on Sampling Keyboard]

Sheep Fiends – June 2000

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Updated: July 4, 2014

Album #: 28

Recording Dates: 06/25/2000

Release Date: 2000

Catalog: SF

ScratchNotes:

A solid recording of a wide ranging jam from a classic line up. Personal favorite “The Rising Price of Gasoline” will be featured as a sample track for the upcoming Scratchrock XIII post.

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Two Track Sampler

Track 05 – Thang (Sheep Fiends) – Light and breezy, somewhat jazzy – this little three piece jam with Dave L. and Doug H. remains one of my favorite improv tracks from the early 2000s period.  [Scratch on Guitar]

Track 09  – Get Up and Dance (Sheep Fiends) – I provide backup vocals with help from my Casio SK-100. Add six AA batteries to the human mind and this is what you get…  [Scratch on Sampling Keyboard]

Scratchrock: An Abridged Testimonial (2CD set)

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Updated: July 3, 2014

Album #: 27

Recording Dates: 1986-1999

Release Date: 2000

Catalog: SMR16

ScratchNotes:

What you are holding is a testimony. It is a memory. It is an egocentric creation prepared especially for your indulgence.

Eleven incarnations,

Forty-three manifestations,

Fourteen years of praise.

Twelve compact discs capture the complete tale in words, song, and imagery. You are in possession of a musical Cliffs Notes. Not so much “greatest hits” as “unique sounds” and “interesting experiences”. I don’t sing very well, so do not bother pointing it out – I am aware. Recordings range from defective boombox to 16 track studio (they each have special qualities). Some tracks were rehearsed to death, others are improvisation. Some lyrics are heartfelt expression, and others are just plain goofy. Let’s just call it a collection of frequencies to bounce off your eardrums in your spare time.

This all began in 1986. My first instrument was the $99 guitar/amp combo from Service Merchandise. I moved on to the Flying V. Then there was the anarchic battle of the bands appearance with the No-Name Band, and the Modulated Casio vs. Acoustic Guitar duels with Brian P. Shortly thereafter came the on again/off again power trio called the Raging Bellybuttons. Brain Plug followed. Solo work was recorded and then I joined IMF. We broke up and came back from the grave as the Hidden. More experimental pieces were actualized; and brief encounters with Redneck Exorcist (not featured on this collection), the Unnamed Band, and the future Mrs. Skroch materialized. Finally, the current projects – improvisational sounds with the Sheep Fiends and the beats with Suneel.

What else can we say? Take a listen. Repeat. Don’t give up too soon, a testimony is a subtly multilayered beast. Give in to it.

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No Track Sampler

Please refer to the individual volumes of Scratchrock for audio samples of this material.

Sheep Fiends – THE 3 FIENDS

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Updated: July 4, 2014

Album #: 26

Recording Dates: 05/21/2000

Release Date: 2000

Catalog: SF

ScratchNotes:

One Fiend, Two Fiends, Three Fiends, Four…no… just 3 FIENDS! This rare assemblage of a three piece ensemble is far from uniformly successful, but does offer some very unique moments and approaches to sound (and a classic Sheep Fiends album cover!).

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Three Track Sampler

Track 03 – Big Ant in the Middle of the Night (Sheep Fiends) – One of the few tracks featuring vocals on this CD, “Big Ant” exposes secret late night Pringles-induced thoughts of terror in my horrifying Chicago apartment.  [Scratch on Vocals and Bass]

Track 07  – The Human Mouth (Sheep Fiends) – All sounds recorded live, but some afterjam looping and effects are also on tap here. A bit of Musique Concrete for the senses.  [Scratch on Guitar]

Track 11 – Revenge of the Phantom (Sheep Fiends) – It’s just damn funny – my pathetic drum playing can’t obscure that!  [Scratch on Drums]