Featured Selections
This section of The Upper Crust will be dedicated to two releases found within the community.  The first is an "Upper Crust Classic," an album that is essential listening...as far as The Crust is concerned!  The second is "A Newbie But a Goodie," a new Upper Crust release that's destined to become an instant community classic!  Enjoy!

Upper Crust Classic
Blather's Kite - I Broke My Radio

Made available in August 1993, Blather's Kite's debut full-length excursion features the bulk of the group's repertoire.  Consisting of eleven original compositions written and recorded between late 1992 and the summer of 1993, I Broke My Radio captures the band in all its raw glory.  Recorded via 4-track at both the group's studio on South Street and at Roman's Cathedral in Philadelphia, the group still looks back on these recordings as among their favorites.  Ffej recollects: "A lot of the material was actually written and arranged in the studio, though some was worked out ahead of time-older tunes like 'Piece of Rest'-so I was writing many of the drum parts while we were doing the actual takes!"  Like Primus, a major influence on the band, many Blather's Kite songs are heavily bass oriented rather than based on three or four guitar chords and a cheesy riff.  The bass provides melody and, with the drums, a solid groove, while the guitar offers interesting textures, harmony and a broad pallet of rich sounds.  Aside from favorites like 'Sleepin' Soul,' I Broke My Radio also includes the soulful instrumentalism of 'Moonride,' the funk/rap flavor of 'Baggow' and the full throttle attack of heavier grooves like 'Piece of Rest' and 'Fishlips.'

Features: Sleepin' Soul ~ Jesus Disco ~ Moonride ~ Piece of Rest
Also includes:  That's All I Said ~ Fishlips ~ Baggow ~ Roman and the Fatty ~ Solace ~ Father Me ~ Five Hours Ago

Click here for more info on Blather's Kite's I Broke My Radio
Click here for a review of the album.

A Newbie But a Goodie
Planet Ass - Pure Ffej

The latest  Planet Ass venture (Ffej's third) can best be described as a "musical melting pot." Featuring various musical styles including pop, rock, funk, electronic, and instrumental, this new collection of twelve tracks includes a bevy of instrumental cuts, featuring the atmospheric "Cirrostratus," the groovy "Right Side of Jabip," the gorgeous "Dreaming in Silence" and the intense electronic exercise, "'O' Size'".  There there's also the psychedelic pop of "Paper to the Fly," the irresistable, Supergrass-influenced "Can You Feel It?" and the dark urgency of "Treading Water."  The bulk of the music was recorded throughout 2000 at Ffej's own Left Orbit studio in Annville, PA.  Utilizing only minimal equipment, he has incorporated a wonderful balance of experimentalism and instrumentalism into the album, and has achieved a sound that is both inventive and unique.

Features: Paper to the Fly ~ Return ~ Can You Feel It? ~ Dreaming in Silence
Also includes:  "O" Size ~ Cirrostratus ~ Treading Water ~ The Right Side of Jabip ~ m.p.h. (Shak Fu) ~ Halogen ~ Absence of Conversation ~ Scare Your Neighbors

Click here for more info on Pure Ffej or here to sample some tracks
 

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