Monday, December 19, 2022

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.

 

Sunday, December 18, 2022

A Cheese Mite Floats By

   The nineteen track "A Cheese Mite Floats By" compiles material recorded from 1995-2015, focusing exclusively on the Universal Snufmeg era and paradigm. Leading with "Another Day without You", the mode is set with a "throwback" lo-fi recording of haunting sparseness. Although details are sketchy, rumors indicate the song was recorded during the same session as "Is This Drum and Bass?" and "Five Dog Trail" (found on "A Snufmeg Fantasie in Broken Parts") at the Brooke Lane studios. 
   "Cyclone" is an early entry, from approximately 2012, in the Snufmeg Surf era, along with "Gorilla Me Timbers", captured at the Glen Mills House studio. "Monsta Bass" bass follows; another dance floor hit recorded at Augsburg Central, produced by DJ Williwill, wherein he deftly cuts in the signature motif of "Andalusian Holiday".
   "What Have I Done?" belies the 1995 liner notes start date. The overall style and sound are reminiscent of Lyle Studios sound. 

   "Singer", which provided the bridge for Raw Mommies "Cell Boy", "The Prevailing Mood and Tenor of Contemporary Thinkers" and "Corrugation Motif" all were from the same session at Glen Mills House studios. 

   Although Williwill's meticulous production of "Eight Arms to Hold You" and Johnny B Dub's rawer "My Girlfriend" achieved chart-topping attention, the stand-out hit is "Somewhat Like a Rolling Stone" led by Williwill's signature songwriting gift and production.

   Interspersed are Cheese Mites forays into quintessential avant-garde compositions such as "Clarinet Piano Generator" and "Etude in 6 Parts".


Saturday, December 17, 2022

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.


Friday, December 16, 2022

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.

Sunday, April 18, 2021

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/


Thursday, April 15, 2021

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.


Wednesday, March 31, 2021

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!

Sunday, March 7, 2021

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.