SKiN GRAFT News for You's

B A L L P E E N ( ! ) B U L L E T I N S

updated: 11 / 20 / 2002
L A T E gU P D A T E :
ARAB ON RADAR
HAVE SPLIT UP!
Y
We're are saddened to announce that the rumors are true.

The band's statement:
Arab on Radar have officially broken up due to irreconcilable differences. Unfortunately, these differences have compromised the creative process. Arab on Radar has decided to bestow one final gift upon the world with the release of the "Stolen Singles" a collection of 7" and early demos spanning the bands seven year career. The "Stolen Singles" is due to be released in early march of 2003 on the 31G label. Arab on Radar are forever grateful to all of those who have helped us out over the years.

If anyone would like to contact band members individually email address(s) are as follows:
Craig- violentcarcrash@yahoo.com
Eric- mrpottymouth1@yahoo.com
Steve- mattos70@hotmail.com
Jeff- trialofsocrates@yahoo.com

Arab On Radar are survived by
two albums on Skin Graft Records:
"Soak The Saddle" and "Yahweh Or The Highway".

updated: 07 / 01 / 2002

Hi True Believers ( ! )
SKiN GRAFT's Ace Reporter, "Jazzy" Joe Romita here with you! Need I remind you that I'm your inside connection to the goings on at the SKiN GRAFT Record Company? I thought not! So lets get on with our idiosyncratic itinerary - ineptly intended to illuminate your insatiable id (Natch!)~!!!

ITEM! Before I begin my tiresome tirade, I'd like to thank all of Graftdom assembled for the avalanche of get-well gifts following my untimely accident repelling in the East Andes. Suffice to say my leg is nearly good as new and your many tokens brought a good price on ebay. So, thanks in part to your generosity, it won't be long 'til your buddy Jazzy Joe is back where he belongs- blowing that extra bread at the tracks!

~ Enuf with the gratuitous gratitude, on to the hard-sell huckstering of our mellifluous musics!!!

ITEM! ARAB ON RADAR have left Europe a little worse for wear in the wake of their month-long marathon tour of duty. To celebrate their return to the USA, we have two tidbits topping the News Desk that will slap that grin off your loved ones' face and onto yours! At the SGTV page, we proudly present the video for Arab On Radar's chart-flopping "Yahweh Or The Highway" hit, "God Is Dad"! Directed by Chicago's rogue filmmaker Rusty Nails, "God Is Dad" is a Bunuel-inflected slice of life after death that has been making the underground film-fest rounds and receiving airplay some of the more liberal video programs. Suffice to say superman, this one has it all - sex, drugs, despair and flash edits!! No matter what your plug-in preference, you'll find "God Is Dad" available for viewing as a streaming Real Player video and as a Quicktime movie. As a bonus, we're also presenting one of Rusty Nails' earlier works: Santiago vs. Wigface, an action-packed short starring the Revenge-era Flying Luttenbachers' Bill Pisarri! Bill plays the diabolical Wigface, who, by using his evil mind-control device, lures Santiago's girlfriend Cutthroat to a certain death! Can Santiago save the day? Tune in and find out! And for those with money to burn, we are now taking advance orders for the extremely limited Euro-tour split 7" between Arab On Radar and Kid Commando! Here you'll hear Arab On Radar unload the stunning new track "Running For Asthma" while Kid Commando unwind two songs"I'd Make A Great Soup" & "Land In Sight"! SKiN GRAFT is the exclusive US importer of this vivacious vinyl beauty, so to reserve your copy send $6.25 to the address found at the CATALOG page. Orders will be shipped as soon as the singles reach the Chicago office. And yes, for the net-shopaholics out there, we do accept paypal. Folks on the European side of things should forward their inquiries to Joachim at Ideal Recordings. Who sez this isn't SKiN GRAFT age of munificence?!!?

ITEM! No doubt many frequenting these pages fondly recall the semi-annual OOPS! iNDOORS festivals produced by the SKiN GRAFT Entertainment group back in the mid-90's. While those days of of OOPS! Theater theatrics are history (for the time being), Brian "Piles" Peterson has dusted off the world-renowned OOPS! brand name and is burning it in effigy by assembling a massive cross-country tour composed of the core unit of The Locust, Arab On Radar and Lightning Bolt, with a mind blowing roster of special guests appearing on different legs of the tour! OOPS! (the tour) is a cooperative effort bringing together a who's who list of bands dedicated to originating challenging new music. Along with the core touring unit, bands participating in OOPS! include The FLYING LUTTENBACHERS, QUINTRON, ERASE ERRATA, WOLF EYES, ORTHRELM, FLOSSIE & THE UNICORNS, RAH BRAS, CATTLE DECAPITATION, BLOOD BROTHERS, THE GET HUSTLE & MORE! A spiffy exclusive website has been put together specifically for the tour which has show dates, pics of the bands and MP3 samples. To check it out, go to www.oopsthetour.com. Plus, we've put together a special page detailing the torrid history of the original OOPS(!) iNDOORS shows-complete with posters, photos, videos and a exhaustive listing of all the shows dating all the way back to 1994. Go HERE to check it out. Who sez this isn't the SKiN GRAFT age of opportunism?!!?

ITEM! Summer is in full swing & nothin', but nothin' gets the blood pumping like the debut of a new page here at SG.com. So, today I'm holding back the heart-attacks to announce the re-opening of the inimitable SKiN GRAFT CAMPGROUNDS page! After languishing in misuse, the CAMPGROUNDS have returned with more newly pitched tents than you can wiggle a wombat at! Here you'll find a plethora of pupil pleasing extras like the FAN ART GALLERY, the SKiN GRAFT T-SHIRT ARCHIVE, the SG FLYER HUT, the aforementioned OOPS! SHOW ROUND UP, the ASK DR. WEASEL HELP-DESK and a gateway to the always invigorating SKiN GRAFT BULLETIN BOARD CLUB! We'll be adding assorted odds and ends to these pages as time goes on, so keep an eye on ol' Jazzy's News Desk for the latest!

ITEM! The early reviews on the new release from Japan's progressive hardcore heavyweights- RUINS, "1986-1992" are in!

"The opener wastes no time in burning down all bridges to sanity. 'Outburn' is at once the greatest-ever hardcore punk song not to protest anything (or even feature real words in the lyrics), and serves as a public service announcement for ADD awareness. The main riff is as stubbornly assured as anything Bad Brains put to wax, and lest you get bored during its eight seconds, another wild-ass riff is there to take its place, and again and again. "
- from the Dominique Leone's Pitchfork review.

Click HERE to read reviews from The Baltimore City Paper, Aquarius Records and Pitchfork.

If your local retailer doesn't have it yet, kindly give him a swift whack to the head and tell him to get on the ball! For those of you not in the know, Ruins' founding father Tatsuya Yoshida has selected 23 songs from the band's first seven years of duty and painstakingly remixed, remastered and tweaked them for release on SKiN GRAFT! RUINS "1986-1992" clocks in at a jam-packed 75 minutes (& some seconds!) and includes RUINS' debut 7", their cut from the NG II compilation, tracks from the first 12" EP, selections from their debut LP, plus remixed "best of" tracks from the "Stonehenge" and "Burning Stone" LP's. To give you an inkling of the wide range of delights burned onto these shiny disks, we've put up not one, but TWO Free MP3's, awaiting your downloads at the AUDIO page! The tracks on the hot plate are from 1986 ("OUTBURN") and 1992 ("PRAHA IN SPRING") respectively! And don't gouge your eyes out before heading over to the Audio page, SKiN GRAFT's own cartoonist of cacophony Jeff "Detroit Rock 101" Bentle has given it a complete overhaul!

For more info on "1986-1992" check the listing in our mailorder catalog here at the website! Record store and distributor types, we have created a handy PDF file to fill your one-sheet needs right HERE.
~ You'll need the ACROBAT READER to check this out.

ITEM! Reports from the CHEER-ACCIDENT camp state that their upcoming album is gonna be a winner! All of the tracks have been recorded, but the band is still at Steve Albini's dream come true Electrical Audio Studio tinkering around with the mixes to get it just right . This will be the first album to feature "Jovial" Jamie Fillmore who stepped up to the band after the passing of the inimitable Phil Bonnet. We can't slap a release date on it 'til we get the finished tapes in our paws, but hopes are high that you'll be singing the praises of the new Cheer-Accident before Christmas time! In the meantime, you are hereby advised to score the just-released "Variations On A Goddamn Old Man", a sterling collection of home & practice space recordings circa 1995-1999. To order, visit Cheer-Accident at their sparkling new website HERE. And for a nice interview / retrospective on the band check out this piece by Ted Casterline at Etherdrag.com.

ITEM! While you're holding you're breath in anticipation of CHEER-ACCIDENT's next full-length to hit our decks, surely you're also asking what of the SG debut from GORGE TRIO? Our reply? All in good time, buckaroos! But- Jazzy Joe feels your pain and a has quick fix here and now!

The folks at ILBIS dot com stuck a teeny portion of GORGE TRIO's show in Slovenia up on the net for streaming. This particular piece was dubbed a "disjunct hoe-down" by the expert ears lurking in the SG Club! Don't go deaf or you'll miss it!

Pick you poison:
GORGE TRIO / Streaming Real Video
GORGE TRIO / Streaming Real Audio

~ Enjoy, O' Hearty hailers of Rocktitude!

ITEM! Pink And Brown have broken up.
Unfortunately, they did not record their LP before the fall out.
Rock and Roll.

ITEM! After ages of speculation and anticipation, the pride of Montgomery, Alabama, Jeff McLeod, has released the DAZZLING KILLMEN tribute "DIGGING OUT THE SWITCH AGAIN"! This memorial to SKiN GRAFT's original recording artists comes bagged with a card stock sleeve, insert and sticker... and each CD is hand stamped with a custom Reactor symbol logo!!! The package sports a mix of reverent and completely mangled versions from:
1. Fine China Superbone (The Netherlands): "Bone Fragments"
2. The Ed Kemper Trio (Montgomery, AL): "Windshear"
3. El Daetro (College Park, GA): "Painless One"
4. Chris Trull & Danny McClain (St. Louis, MO): "Killing Fever"
5. The Conformists (Belleville, IL): "Torture"
6. The Real Chad (Auckland City, New Zealand): "Reactor"
7. Panicsville featuring Heath Parker (Chicago, IL): "Serpentarium"
8. Rotard (Montgomery, AL): Staring Contest"
9. Gezoleen (Montgomery, AL): "Code Blue"
10. Craw (Cleveland, OH): "My Lacerations"

To order a copy contact Jeff at subversive@mindspring.com. And to read more about DAZZLING KILLMEN, shimmy on over to their BAND page.

Finally - - - - Jazzy Joe will be back lobbing verbal tomatoes next time, but I'd like to can SG's most-hated for a moment and speak for myself.

Over the years of managing SKiN GRAFT, I've had the pleasure of meeting & doing business with a lot of truly exceptional people. Ivica Baricevic (better known as Bara) was one of the best. On May 17th, Bara passed away at the way-too-young age of 30. Bara was the founder of Earwing Records and Booking, and a member of several Croatian bands (Uzrujan, Rujan, Sibir, Random and Hare). Bara not only made a deep impression on myself, but on virtually every SKiN GRAFT band that toured Europe as well. He was always there to help us out by booking bands and selling our records in Zagreb.

He was an inspiration to us all and we deeply miss his friendship.

- Mark Fischer

Andreja, KK Null and Bara
in Zagreb, May 6th, 2002.

updated: 04 / 08 / 2002
ITEM! As you've undoubtedly read in the papers, all of Europe is panting, crouched over and short of breath (lots of excitement is in the air, y'see) - ARAB ON RADAR's EUROPEAN TOUR is STARTING SOON!!! The tour kicks off in the Netherlands on May 28th and will run through the month of June! AOR will be supported by Ideal Recording Artist's Kid Commando and will have a special tour-only split 7" for sale at the shows! Plus Joachim of Ideal will be selling a select number of SKiN GRAFT releases at the gigs! For dates, check the tour page and while you're out here surfin' why don't-cha visit iDEAL at their website, HERE?

PLUS: Please put your hands together for the ARAB ON RADAR PRESSBOT (Version 2.uh-oh) - here to lend promoters a helping hand with an ON-LINE PRESSKIT, Downloadable BAND PHOTOS (for both print and the web), the "Yahweh Or The Highway" Sales ONE-SHEET, an AOR WEB BANNER, and easy access to AOR MP3's! Check it out right HERE! Who sez this isn't the age of SKiN GRAFT sock-it-to-ism?

ITEM! A short while back word leaked out in the SKiN GRAFT Bulletin Board Club that the SG comix crew was beginning work on a NEW issue of SKiN GRAFT COMiX - after a nearly TEN YEAR hiatus!!! While an announcement on the new book remains a ways off, both Rockin' Rob Syers and Mirthful' Mark Fischer each have new comics available for your perusal ~ now-like!!! Is there any mag on the stands that can compare to the mighty ROCTOBER? When it comes to reporting the factoids that everyone else seems to miss, Jake Austen and the rollicking Roctober staff never fail to look under the carpet to give you the skinny. The latest issue, #32, focuses on Hip Hop and includes "Teenage Punkers on Rap!", two pages by Rob Syers detailing the deal on discovering rap as a suburban punk in the '80s. You'll also find articles on The Fat Boys, Jimmy Castor, Blacks in Punk/ New Wave/Hardcore and plenty more. Issues of ROCTOBER can be ordered by visiting their website HERE. Be sure to snoop around, Rob has had comix in just about every other issue over the last few years! Those with longer term memories may recall that we posted the four page "Nine Life Deathwish of Gumballhead The Cat" HERE (as appeared in Roctober #24) and Mark did the cover for Roctober's King Size 25th Anniversary issue, which you can see by clicking HERE.

Meanwhile, Mark Fischer has started contributing comics to the latest big thing to come out of Seattle, MATTE MAGAZINE, a square-bound quarterly arts review founded by Comics Journal employees Anne Elizabeth Moore and Carrie Whitney. Issue number one includes "Staggering Stories" a two page workout starring the Karate Chimp and the Incredible Not-Hulk. Also inside, articles on the largely unreported world of Muslim women filmmakers, a lengthy analysis on whether the current recession can lead to a new DIY renaissance, an interview with Greg Lundren of "Artists For A Work Free America" - and that's just the tip of the proverbial iceberg! Copies can be ordered via Matte's website HERE.

~ ! And ! ~ if your index finger isn't clicked-out yet, special previews of Rob and Mark's spiffy new stories can be accessed by clicking the pics above!!

OX Fanzine #46
Click pic for larger look

ITEM! Lest we forget, on the old side of the world, Mark has scribbled up a cover featuring Hot Satan, Gumballhead The Cat, Serious Brown and The Karate Chimp for Germany's premiere punk mag - OX FANZINE (Give the mini a click for a better look at Mr. Fischer's dynamic doodle)!! Ox's Editor-In-Chief, Joachim Hiller interviewed Mark for the 46th issue. The issue is out now and it's packed with info on SG past, present and future- including pics of SG's latest signee's PINK AND BROWN and GORGE TRIO! If you can read German, you're in for quite a treat. If not, don't feel too bad, Mark barely can either! You are hereby encouraged to visit Ox's website HERE. And, of course, with all of this unabashed plugging for our SG cartoonists goin' down, dare we mention that if you've got a hankerin' for comix done up the SKiN GRAFT way, you should just click on over to the ELECTRONIC COMIX page for 5,268 eyefuls of entertainment?! - Better not!

ITEM! Speaking of GORGE TRIO (as we were just a few run-on sentences ago), our favorite geographically-challenged recording artists are preparing to make those gaps that divide 'em disappear early this May! Multi-instrumentalist Chad Popple will be jetting over from Hamburg Germany, and multi-instrumentalist Ed Rodriguez will be thumbing a ride from Minneapolis, as both head out Californy-way to reunite with their COLOSSAMITE colleague Jammin' John Dieterich (multi-instrumentalist, natch!) to commence recording one of the most eagerly anticipated SKiN GRAFT debuts in the entire history of SKiN GRAFT debuts!!!!!!! AND best of all, the band will be playing a limited number of live shows along the west coast! Word is shows are coming together in San Francisco, Portland, Sacramento, Olympia and maybe even more! Watch the tour page for details as they become available!

For more info on GORGE TRIO and their first two excellent records, get your ass on over to Freeland Records.

ITEM! Though your webmaster has been threatening to do so for quite a while, he really means it this time - the SKiN GRAFT FAN ART GALLERY is nearly ready to open it's doors! If you'd like to have your work showcased in the hallowed virtual halls at the opening reception (by the way, it is BYOB), draw up your interpretation of your favorite SKiN GRAFT cartoon character (or band!) and send an email to mark@skingraftrecords.com for further details. We have over a dozen entries so far, but there's always room for more!

ITEM! Hear that? That's the sound of the economy sucking. Times are tough. From Saskatchewan to Seoul, the populace is pinching their pennies and pasting their purses shut. Of course it's already widely known that SKiN GRAFT entertainment yields the beefiest bang for one's buck, but... Hang onto your Hanes, heroes - We're going one step further! Introducing the SKiN GRAFT CLUB MONTHLY SUPER SPECIAL! Effective immediately, we'll be offering one of our elegant earfuls to members of the SKiN GRAFT CLUB at a dynamite discount! Each month we'll toss a different title up for grabs, ready and able to be mailordered, served straight to your cave! What's the catch? All you've gotta do is join the SKiN GRAFT Bulletin Board Club, then you too will qualify for these stupendous Super Specials! Inside the club, you'll find plenty of people itching to post prophetic prose about SKiN GRAFT issues past and present - and innumerable like-minded subjects. Plainly put, ANYTHING GOES!!! ~AND by becoming a member, you'll be added to our emailing list of luckys! SO there ya go - proof positive that SKiN GRAFT cares (and wants your money -no matter how little it is!) Tell your friends, tell your enemies, tell all of the voices swimming around in your head! To join up, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/skingraftrecords

AND wanna see what SUPER SPECIAL is up for grabs THIS MONTH? Then CLICK HERE, Frantic One!

So til next time SKiN GRAFTiTES remember - "aliquando bonus dormitat Homerus!"

Excelsior!

"JAZZY" JOE ROMITA ( ! )

Click HERE for MORE RECENT NEWS ( ! )