.​.​. and in the constellation Cheese Mite

   The mood is set at with "Overheard Discussion at a Cocktail Party, Part 1", and that mood is Snufmeg. This collection contains all the requisite elements for a Cheese Mites experience, and if you're a fan (and who wouldn't be?) then prepare to enjoy.

   After the drinks are served, the light banter fades and the lovely acoustic "It Can't Be Helped" breezes us in. It wouldn't be Cheese Mites without some good old Snufmeg cannibalization, and it happens with "Rockin'" which first emerged credited to Top o' the Mornin', on the "Graffiti Music" release, produced by Williwill. He remains at the controls for the haunting "A Different Lime Coloured Planet (w/Vocals)" followed by the smash hit "Vaguely Beatlesque."

   "Mutual Attraction", absorbed from Alternateen, makes another appearance, enshrining itself as a bone fide Snufmeg staple, in the tradition of "Vomit Your Senses", and "Pros Jam with Pros". A switch back to Williwill with the near Snufmeg Klassikal (oftentimes referred to as Cheese Mites Classical) style "Discovering the Hideout." Snufmeg Surf returns with the beautiful "Surfer's Breakup."

   True Snufmeg avant-gardeism is showcased with "March of the Flesh-Eating Ghouls" followed by the "The Dancing Bears' Theme", fully absorbed from the DBs. Snufmeg Klassikal takes a more deliberate turn with Johnny B Dub flexing the baton with "Etude in 3/4." The back and forth between Johnny and Williwill continues with the latter's "Is Rockabilly a Form of Microaggression?" in an experimental mood. We never do seem to get an answer to that age-old question!

   "Umbrella Man" mellows out the vibe, only to be shaken back to the Snufmeg Klassikal edge of "Spontaneous Boredom" with Williwill's characteristic production. The blurring of lines between classic Snufmeg avant-ism and Klassikal is further illustrated in "Cartooning", but takes an overt turn to the drawing-room crowd with "Aetood."

   The abrupt tonal change of the blistering "8 Pound Maul" shakes the listener from any notion that safe listening is how the album approaches it's end. A retreat to melancholy flows in with "Lost Surf." To close out the 40+ minute excursion, "It Can't Be Helped" returns with an instrumental version, in a style befitting a Vegas show!

Nice is Nice

    In keeping with the long standing tradition of releasing archival material, one album at a time, the installment "Nice is Nice" once again shows the Cheese Mites willingness to stylistically confound and amaze. This collection reflects one of the wider expanses of time from their now apparently and obviously prolific career, 1985-2015. This encompasses the tail end of American Snufmeg and, to date, nearly the entirety of the Universal Snufmeg eras.

   Notable are the two songs "My Bag Rock" and "Snufmeg Foam", both of which were dub treated and also included, and along with "Blood Beach" keep the Snufmeg Surf tradition alive. Filling out the toe-tapping enjoyment are Williwill's "The White House is Haunted" and "I Can't Leave You Alone", which thematically borrows heavily from his composition "Del Guidiche" (from "Songs for Fighting and Marching").

   The epic length (18+ minutes!) "Rap Symphony No. One in E Major", originally included on Graffiti Music, is included, and scattered throughout are "Clarity", "Darker Days Ahead", a remake of "My Existence in the Shrubbery of Phantoms", "June Duet", "7 Qs" and "Listen, I'm Talking" (which reprises the "Del Guidiche" motif) all upholding the Cheese Mites tradition in Snufmeg for experimentation and the avant-garde, though with a more accessible flair.

Raw Mommies

    It seems reasonable to devote this one post to the Raw Mommies above all other artists and entities, either directly or indirectly, in matters of Snufmeg. Officially begun during 1991, the Raw Mommies grew from several intersections of all the members, but from the perspective of Snufmeg, the collaboration between Johnny B Dub, Hinkney Gruesome and Scott. The (thankfully) brief career of DG&H solidified the relationship between Scott and Johnny, eventually slicing in Keith (Scott's brother) and fellow childhood friends Billy and Kevin.

   The career of the Mommies began with the release of "Raw Mommies" in 1993, although some sources dispute that placing it in '92 or even 1991. Regardless, the quickly developed into a somewhat regular combo in the New York City music scene during that era up to 1995-7. Before their eventual disbanding, Johnny had left, returned and left again, for undisclosed differences. Inertia seemed to be the only hindrance to further success, as the band couldn't seem to find traction for their seemingly niche style, playing to audiences rarely greater than 30 people, often to fewer than five.

   In 2013, the circumstances were presented to perform once again, and so did, to a crowd several times larger than all other performances combined! An oddity still due to the limit exposure of the one single album released on tape decades earlier. Although, excited by the event with discussion to capitalize on the perceived acceptance, no further forward motion was made.

Raw Mommies on Bandcamp

Raw Mommies Blog

Butterfly

    The Cheese Mites' album "Butterfly," released in 2016, is yet another in the ongoing list of productions which is comprised of archival material from the earliest "Universal Snufmeg" era (1989) to the very near present (2015). To date, it is one of the strongest collections in the post EIS era. Though not without experimentation and classic Snufmeg weirdness, the song craft in some instances is criminally overlooked by the public at large.

   To emphasize the song writing, however, will miss the Cheese Mites doing what they do best - confound. From the opening track to Williwill's brilliant "Color of Love" and "Mystery Girl", the Mites reveal that their compositional flair isn't merely accidental, as they were critiqued of earlier, but solidly building in deftness song by song. Willwill's production on both tunes reveals a mastery of both spatial appreciation and tasteful arrangement. "Mystery Girl"'s closing coda is reminiscent replication of the classic "Psychedelic Journey" updated but not demeaned by modern methodology.

   "A Nice Little Tea Room" and "Let's Have a Party Tonite" have been cannibalized into the Cheese Mites program, as referenced in other posts, but were originally credited to DJ Williwill on the 1986 (perhaps?) "Graffiti Music" compilation.

   Likewise, though originally attributed to the Dancing Bears, "Distinctive Sound", "Cricket" and "Anti-Shaving Protest Song" all bear unmistakable signature of classic Cheese Mites/Snufmeg fingerprints. Similarly, "Bop for the El" and "A Nice Home in the Country" were first presented as by the quickly and justifiably immolated Files Davis Quartet. Only "Que", "Black Sand Rock", "The Attic" and "Whirlwind" were penned under the flag of the Cheese Mites, with the second and last being recent additions to the Snufmeg Surf variety.

One Squirt

   Another diverse compendium from the Cheese Mites!

   One Squirt opens with a Snufmeg Surf instrumental, "The Epoxy Generation", which explores the surf mode which has been a relatively common style throughout the Cheese Mites' career. This was first explicitly explored in "Ridin' the Waves", also found in this collection. However, as any long-term fan of the 'Mites is aware, pigeonholing them as "surf" simply misses the wide extent of stylistic journeys to which they, and Snufmeg in a larger sense, are known. It is precisely that adept multiplicity of modes which signifies the spirit of Snufmeg.

   To that point, found here also are the avant-garde examinations such as the cleverly-named "Avant Garde Adventure", "Interlude" and "Carlisle", intermixed with the pop classic "Psychedelic Journey" and instrumentals like "Mist" and "Machine Eleven".
   Recorded at least two of the classic Snufmeg recording haunts, the Glen Mills House & Augsburg Central Studios from the mid-1990's through 2015.

 

The Little Engine

    In the same manner that the Raw Mommies were only tangentially Snufmeg, Johnny B Dub's outside "project" (with Flip, who made an appearance with the Cheese Mites on "I Can Read About Any Book That Someone Gives Me") The Little Engine earned a place in the Snufmeg pantheon with this eponymously titled album from the late 1990's.

   Following the rise and fall of the Raw Mommies, Johnny B Dub continued with a more conventional musical approach, leading the Little Engine's songwriting credits with Snufmeg classics like "Far Away", "Pros Jam with Pros", "Smile, Baby, Smile", "Andalusian Holiday" and "Clarinet". Flip's contributions ("The Elixir" and "You've Given Up on Love") comfortably rounded out the collection. Guitar and voice were provided by the songwriters accordingly, confidently backed up on drums by the mysterious Z!

   Alas, the Little Engine enjoyed a brief career (under two years) with few performances captured. Sadder, still, whereas the Raw Mommies enjoyed a 2013 reunion, certain legal impediments have precluded Flip from enjoying a similar experience.

More on "Cultural Influences"

    By all accounts, the leveling critique that Snufmeg in general, and the Cheese Mites in particular lacked "cultural influences" would have been an arrow of existential ruination to those of lesser ability. However, the opposite proved true, as exemplified by the collection known as "The Sweet 17" by DJ Johnny B Dub.

   Operating in solo capacity from the Cheese Mites, DJ Johnny B Dub compiled original compositions and one unique interpretation of an iconic example of "classic rock" in Snufmeg style. Completed in the early 2000's, Johnny elaborated upon the stylistic adventure of the earlier compilation "Persuasion".

   The track list begins with the puzzling and curiously titled, "KDS". Often found off-putting, listeners who lack the requisite sense of adventure dismiss the entire collection based on this enigmatic compositional lead. Intended as an intentional object of deception into a world of atonal randomness, the title is code for "Kraftwerk Drum Solo", a joke lost on the casual listener. With that in mind, one is prepared for what follows in the technological foundation for the intersection of Snufmeg and the world of electronic dance music. Snufmeg triumphs in ways unimagined by the multitude of the blind wanderers of the EDM genre.

   DJ Johnny B Dub departs from the initial prank to deftly execute 15 more exquisitely crafted dance smashes, including the pounding "Down for the Day", an eight-minute orgasm of megged out butt-shaking ecstasy. The collection closes with a prank of classical Snugmegian form, the brief "Bye-ee", which ends before the ears have time to comprehend what has happened.

   By no means the end or even definitive collection of Snufmeg's championing of "cultural influences" (one can not overlook the typical mode of Snufmeg style as found in MCST & DJWW aka Snufmeg Kru), "The Sweet 17" displays the deft and brilliance expected from the Snufmeg family.

Snufmeg Radio is Here!

    Now you can enjoy a randomized selection of the Cheese Mites, DJ Williwill and more of the Snufmeg family of artists, 24 hours a day, with the occasional live program, online at -

https://zeno.fm/radio/snufmeg/

and, here - 

https://zeno.fm/radio/raw-mommies-radio/

My Existence in the Shrubbery of Phantoms

   This enigmatic collection of recordings, dated from the late 1980's or early 1990's, became an audio "object of wonder" to the Snufmeg community, and ultimately the world. From intense creative sessions, fueled assuredly by copious influences of snuff and nutmeg, DJ Williwill marshaled the artistic prowess of two lesser-known Snufmeg luminaries: Brian Fripe and the Master Cylinder, in a collaboration of dazzling innovation and mouth-watering brevity. 

   In under seven minutes, the trio weave aural insights of far-away terrains, distant planets and imaginary landscapes. Each tone poem a spectacular post-card. 

   The scarcity of output from either Fripe or the Master Cylinder only contributes to their mysterious and sublime place in the archive of the Snufmeg catalog.

DJ Lunar Canine - Dance SIngle

    In what can only be considered a business coup on a colossal, global scale, Williwill arranged for the release of the DJ Lunar Canine two song, 12 inch single consisting of a remix of the Cheese Mites' song "(She's My All Night) Penis Garage" and the original "The New Dance Music Craze."

   The remix of the Cheese Mite's classic is given faithful Snufmeg treatment. Most of the original recording is intact, until the point of tension in comprehending what is at play. A sudden change of course is established and the material is discarded for a juxtaposition against literal descriptions of Satanism (culled from radio personality, Dave Emory), as implied in the song, with canted beats and treatment in inimitable Snufmeg style.

   The B-side, "The New Dance Music Craze, takes the applied Snufmeg philosophy just as far afield. A pounding, thudding beat establishes the introduction, which over the course of the track morphs into stark and jarring stabs , evoking the suffocating isolation of modern times.

   Guaranteed to clear the dance floor of all but the most dedicated at your next celebration!

Rights and "Free" Music

   Recently, Snufmeg revoked access to songs on the FMA. 

   "We didn't want to seem mean, heartless or uncaring to those who enjoy rights-free access to Snufmeg music, but things are simply too chaotic for us," Phynqafis said. "We are, as you say, a boutique operation. We make art for the ears, which suit primarily our own aesthetic. If others enjoy it, we certainly do not want to stand in anyone's way. Our issue comes down to aligning all of our content under one manageable mode of care."

   It should be noted, he seemed under the more extreme effects typical of a heavy binge of Snuff and Nutmeg ingestion. A new Cheese Mites release is anticipated soon.

Doug B

The early days of the post-1985 "Universal Snufmeg" era saw an expanse in the names of collaborators in the Snufmeg experience. From approximately 1990, Johnny B Dub briefly worked with Doug B to produce the "Charity" EP. An accomplished songwriter and musician, Doug contributed three songs for treatment in Snufmeg style, as exemplified in this collection. Recorded over several sessions, Doug's gifted creativity proved to be flexible enough for the forward/retro exploration which was becoming ever more developed in the growth of the Snufmeg environment.

Experiment in Stupidity (Part 2)

   As with all focal points in history, those in artistic endeavors also invite debates. The inclusion of the "back four" songs in any Cheese Mites compilation referred to as "Experiment in Stupidity" arouses vehement and heated exchange. The songs "The Bad Fish," "We Two Three," "The Big Ocean," and "A Pond of Our Own," all from a session with Edmund as special guest on percussion and vocals from 1981, have been at the center of many discussions amongst Snufmeg aficionados. Nonetheless, they have been included in, at the very least, the online version of "Experiment in Stupidity" (see link at Sources).
   Their inclusion was carefully considered on the merits of the first song (number 6, on EiS). "The Bad Fish," though instrumental, is significant for several reasons. The quasi-polyrthmic interplay of the guitar work of Johnny B Dub and Williwill eschews the noise and abandon of the "true four" ("Love", "Sex", "War" and "Music") and investigates a cerebral approach to the Mites creativity at this early stage. Likewise, Edmund's drumming performs as accent rather than traditional time-keeping. However, the choice for naming the song "The Bad Fish" invites the listener to explore the Cheese Mites in non-musical revelation.
   From this time period, Johnny and Williwill had been assembling an ensemble for limited venture called The Bad Fish. More theater than music, this group was to provide the more accessible face of Snufmeg creativity. The perilously short-lived ensemble consisted of Johnny performing as "Electric Bass," Williwill as "Timmy Sardine," and collaborators Joe L, as "Marine Boy" and Edmund as "Fish Sticks." Tensions quickly surfaced. From the mundane complaints of Joe L at having to be called "Marine Boy" (though he did finish he duties), to Edmund's inability to accept variance of creative modes - a defining characteristic of Snufmeg in general and the Cheese Mites in particular - the enterprise was doomed. Beegs provided last minute rescue to Edmund's ousting as "Fish Sticks 2," though also to great complaint. The entire episode eluded capture for posterity, and nowhere in the song "The Bad Fish" is any of this alluded to, as it preceded the above incidents, it serves as a cosmic foretelling in musical form.

Experiment in Stupidity (Part 1)

   The exact date of this debut compilation is hotly disputed amongst the faithful in Snufmeg. Ambitious chroniclers place it in 1979. Those with a more conservative view of events date it no later than 1981. Regardless of the precise date, this collection marked the beginning of the "American" era of the Cheese Mites, lasting until 1985.
  The true collection, in cassette format, consisted of the songs: "Love", "Sex", "War" and "Music". These were created all within the same session. A later, modified collection included "Hey, Saul". The collection assembled for the Bandcamp website consists of the first four songs, the first official Cheese Mites recording of "Vomit Your Senses", and the regrettably low fidelity recordings, even by Snufmeg standards, of four more songs by the Cheese Mites with special guest Edmund (aka Fish Sticks), on percussion and voice.
   It is upon the "true four," however, that Experiment in Stupidity earns it's merit. "Love" is a primal, reverb-soaked voice and drums assault with few comparatives in the Snufmeg canon. The lyrics are cloaked in effect, shrieked and croaked. Few words are comprehensible, save fleeting descriptions of decay and misery, when finally Johnny B Dub screams "And where is love?" One hardly gets the impression he is serious in his quest; not that he is mocking it, more like he has just given up. Propelling the song to it's merciful end at 1:33, Williwill pounds a jerky, untimed beat, accenting occasionally with a moan of mockery.
   The ambience continues to drip with reverb, echoes and noise. A more subdued vocal performance follows with "Sex", although no sensual sensitivity caresses the ears of the listener. Echoed guitar, spastic drumming and squeals of feedback, the apparent hallmarks of EiS, complete the arrangement. The lyrics are a juvenile stab at a psuedo-poetic stream of veiled sexual innuendos, outright offensive imagery and a childish, backwards view of intimacy. Though free of obscenity, the redeeming value found here is that it was a cathartic exercise on a topic the participants had little to no business in examining.
   Suddenly, the tone shifts. The quasi-martial introduction to "War" oozes in mockery. An apparent musical sense was adopted for this song, although shortly after establishing on one theme, another is selected. The lyrics are, again, virtually undecipherable, yet, there sounds as if there is an urgency underlying the vocalization. Then, for no apparent reason, the song ends softly, with a jazz inflection.
   The fourth song, ironically titled "Music", is an epic length (17:25) excursion with guitars, drums, feedback squeals, tape loops, echoes, and reverb. For all of the "experimentation" and dissonance, "Music" never truly repels or alienates the listener, so long as one puts aside an expectation of traditional harmony and melody - of which there is none. There is a continues sense that something is going to happen, a quarter hour of foreplay.
   Departing from the "true four" of the EiS collection, but continuing as directed by digital compilations, is the Snufmeg standard "Vomit Your Senses."  Although, often erroneously credited as a Cheese Mites original, this song found its first iteration on the "Live at the Lyle Garage" collection by Sin from 1978. As often was the case for the Cheese Mites, restatement and repurposing became a mode of creation, and it was first established with this cover of VYS. Where the Sin original intended to establish a rock type song with traditional style and credibility, though falling well short, the Mites version built upon the mode of the EiS true-four with noise and chaos, and paired it with (questionably) traditional song structure. The inclusion of VYS in this early collection broadens the scope of what the Cheese Mites were to later venture into. From a free/noise structureless base, they now pointed to standard song form.
   The final four (the back-four) songs of the digitized collection were originally from an unnamed compilation. Culled from a session with special guest Edmund, these incredibly poorly recorded songs showed the Mites in a less frantic mood. There was still a loose, free-form manner. The pretense of poly-rhythms make the continuing thread throughout "The Bad Fish," "We Two Three," "The Big Ocean," and "A Pond of Our Own."
   This will be continued in the next installment.

Sources:
https://thecheesemites.bandcamp.com/album/experiment-in-stupidity