The Kickstarter backlash is in full effect among folks I know if my Facebook feed is anything to go on. Apparently there are bands trying to use it to do things that some people don’t think they deserve to do. Maybe I’m missing these things because I make a concerted effort not to pay attention to bands that suck. But it’s a fair question, why exactly does your pissant little band that’s barely even played out of your hometown think it has any business asking people — friends and family for the most part, probably — to fund the luxury of your getting the first thing you’ve ever recorded pressed on vinyl?

My defense has always been that the undeserving bands are much less likely to meet the goal anyway and their project won’t happen and that’s exactly how Kickstarter should work, it’s sort of a crowdsourcing of whether people think you’ve got something good to offer. I’ve contributed to a couple kickstarter campaigns for artists who I knew well of, had been around the block a while, and that I knew kicked ass. One of those campaigns began with the announcement by Dan Butler that he was retiring his musical persona The Bassturd forever. The campaign was to get the final Bassturd album released on CD. I knew that if such a CD were to exist I would want it, so I figured I’d help make its existence happen.

If you’re not familiar with The Bassturd, well I’ve written about him on this site before. He started out as a kid from Belmond, Iowa that took up residence in Iowa City and started making homemade cassette albums of funny off-the-cuff songs accompanying himself on cheap keyboards. Pretty soon he was showing up at house parties with his accordion entertaining partygoers with thoroughly improvised songs on topics suggested by said partygoers. Then he developed a musical style crossbreeding hip-hop with Devo and all sorts of other random shit to his uproarious lyrics, and built a one-man show around these songs, his keyboard, and a dizzying array of Christmas lights. Eventually he was touring his show around the country whenever he could get someone to drive him, releasing an astounding amount of recordings, writing probably thousands of songs, while constantly upgrading his keyboards and lighting over the next several years during which he moved around quite a bit then eventually landed in Austin, Texas where he resides to this day.

But what was to become of Dan’s music when he decided to hang up The Bassturd? Eventually he started letting out news of having formed a band called The Bumping Uglies. And now, wouldn’t you know it, he’s back on Kickstarter looking to get some Bumping Uglies stuff done up on vinyl. So even with a guy like Dan on board, one has to ask, this being yet another Kickstarter band by some new band out of nowhere, and one that’s currently kinda limping along in comparison to how startlingly quick Dan’s last Kickstarter project funded: should you care?

Well they were kind enough to give me a sneak peek of the album, or at least some 14 songs, on Soundcloud and this much I can tell you: if you’ve ever been a Bassturd fan, you have probably wondered to yourself at some point what he would be like with a band. Not necessarily a typical rock band lineup, but you know, a few extra instruments and a couple regular full-time collaborators to bounce shit off of. What would the result be like? The Bumping Uglies definitely answer that question, and it turns out that what you would get is plenty good, and evidences more than enough of Dan’s trademark grandiose synthesizers, and wacked sense of humor, that there is basically no reason for any Bassturd fan not to get behind this venture and get excited about the prospect of it getting an album out.

It’s not simply a carbon copy of what The Bassturd did either, though. Co-lead vocalist Mary has a strong presence in this set of tunes. Dan and Mary complement each other very well vocally, especially when they sing together, such as on “More War, Less Taxes” and the a capella gospel-folk tune “I Will Stand Here My Lord”. Her presence makes for some of the most interesting moments; a bit of toilet humor like “The Poops” might be pretty standard fare for The Bassturd but hearing a female voice engage in it with him gives it an added bit of shock and absurdity. There are fun self-referential or “theme” songs like “Uglier Than You” and “U R Ugly” and the show-closer “Packin’ Up”, a handful of energetic instrumentals, and several really funny concepts like “Brain Shop” and “Shitty Cowboy”. Somebody is playing a ukelele and a mandolin quite a bit too. I kind of wish they’d put more of the tunes up for streaming to give folks more idea what they’d be in for if they get these records, because there’s nary a dull moment in the whole set.

Get in on this thing:

The second episode of Metal Up Your Tap: Des Moines Chapter was this past Friday. It’s a pretty cool event, but it does get me thinking about what defines “metal” these days. The term seems to have gotten looser than it once was. For instance, recently the organizers seemed to be trying to get Fetal Pig to open next month’s episode being headlined by Nachtmystium. I guess Dan wasn’t into the idea. I’d have been up for it, but I’m up for a lot of crazy shit if it has to do with music. Also, by the way, kudos for snagging Nachtmystium.

Anyway there’s no disputing Druids’s doom/sludge metal cred once you hear them. I like that they switch it up with a few fast songs, which makes them more varied than the typical stonery outfit. They had a bassist this time, that was new. But welcome, since it opened things up for Luke to do more guitar solos. Some really good new songs in the set.

On second was The Mighty Acceleratör, from Ottumwa, and this is the second part of my point about the fluidity of the term “metal” these days. Acceleratör play a kind of 70s throwback riff-rock, intentionally exercising little or no Sabbath influence, with songs about drinking beer, ogling women, and driving trucks. I observed that the crowd thinned out slightly for their set, but only slightly, and the people in the place were not just respectful but actually pretty enthusiastic. Accelerator’s brand of hard rock is all fun and no bullshit, but is it metal? Well if metal fans are into it, why not? Certain metalheads will also staunchly proclaim their love of Aerosmith’s Rocks, or Rainbow, after all. Plus, Andy’s guitar tone does sound almost exactly like that on Napalm Death’s From Enslavement To Obliteration — or did, as since the show he’s purchased another amp. He also used to run one of the most extreme grindcore/noisecore labels around and brought along what’s left of his distro to the show. And, The Mighty Acceleratör’s ranks include the drummer of Grand Old Lady and A Well Dressed Man.

Heaving Mass, from Chicago, gave us a solid set of heavy head-nodding midtempo power-trio doom riffage reminiscent of Crowbar and a little bit of Sleep but also with a bit of that southern feel. This was definitely shaping up to be MUYT’s “doom edition.” They also have the flyest looking t-shirts I’ve ever seen offered at a $10 price point, a gorgeous multi-color design, and if you bought one you got their CD free.

Finally, Skin Of Earth was the big surprise to me. I’m told they’re local but had never heard of them before, but heard people tell me things like “last time I saw these guys it was eight years ago.” They brought their own lighting in the form of one low-wattage floor lamp, providing an ambience that transformed the Mews into a basement show. They played epic, crushing instrumentals with lots of apocalyptic atmosphere. I’m kind of a sucker for this type of thing. That whole supposed post-rock/metal hybrid that gets called “post-metal”, I guess, but I got the feeling these guys didn’t set out to start a “post-metal band” so much as they got together and started playing/writing and this is just what came out. Anyway I don’t know what kind of scene these guys play in but I want in on it.

I’m also long overdue to write a little something about the Joe Jack Talcum show. Zach was looking a little worse for the wear many days into a tour plagued with automotive breakdowns and injuries. He did a more rock-focused one-man Coolzey set with a lot of guitar including a couple nice blues-inflected numbers, and brought up a couple of his tourmates for his classic “Old Machine.” Dan B claimed he was tired too but you definitely couldn’t tell it from The Bassturd’s set. The Samuel Locke-Ward Lo-Fi Spectacular featured Jeff Mannix on guitar, Zach on bass (which I have to say, he can really play the hell out of!) and a drum machine.

Christopher The Conquered took the unorthodox route of performing in the Mews’s foyer on an upright piano, accompanied only by Kate Kennedy on saxophone. It was an unusually low-key and intimate performance for a CtC show but went over well with those who were around for it, having a very piano-bar vibe. I was worried however as it seemed like the crowd had thinned out a lot and I really wanted Joe Jack to have a good crowd to play for.

Fortunately, such a crowd appeared. I don’t know if they started filtering in from the DJ set just ending at the Mews’s outdoor “PBR Bar” or what, but suddenly there were a lot of people around rocking out to Joe Jack Talcum And The Powders. The Powders, made up of Sam Locke-Ward on keys, Grace Locke-Ward on drums, and Rachel Feldman on bass, make a darn fine backup band for both Joe Jack’s post-Dead Milkmen tunes and the Dead Milkmen covers sprinkled into the set, some requested by the audience. In response to one showgoer’s shouts for “Nutrition,” the band gave it an off-the-cuff shot having never played it before. If they messed it up any, none of the people shouting along seemed to mind.

After the main JJT/Powders set, Joe Jack stuck around onstage for two solo acoustic encores of requests of Dead Milkmen songs, and seemed to be having a good time. It was overall one of the more fun shows I’ve been to in a while.

The story of The Bassturd, otherwise known as Dan Butler, starts out a bit similar to that of Coolzey: a kid from rural Iowa who began making a name for himself rapping and making music in Iowa City. I believe they make have both been members of the jokester rap crew The Sucka MCs at some point. The most recent chapter is also similar, in that it involves a successful Kickstarter campaign to press up his latest release, The Dark Side Of The Turd. The two are presently tourmates along with Samuel Locke-Ward and Joe Jack Talcum on an aforementioned tour that hits Iowa City at The Blue Moose on June 17 (my birthday, by the way) and Des Moines at Vaudeville Mews on June 18 (if you think I’d miss it, you’re nuts). Copies of this CD will probably be for sale at the merch table.

But while Zach shows little sign of quitting or slowing down soon, Dan made the announcement at least as early as the start of the Kickstarter campaign a few months ago that The Dark Side Of The Turd would be The Bassturd’s final album, and that the tour now newly underway would be The Bassturd’s final tour. Whether this means that he is quitting the music game entirely, or that Dan Butler is merely retiring The Bassturd as a concept, is at this time unknown. Certainly enough people care: the Kickstarter campaign reached its modest $1000 goal with startling quickness, prompting Dan to add additional goodies to the package — including a split 7″ with Joe Jack Talcum to be given to all backers — if a new goal of $2500 was reached. Which it was. Indeed, the premiums were almost outrageous — $15+ backers also received a CD-R of 14 additional songs and a song written especially for them about a topic of their choosing — giving The Bassturd 79 new songs to come up with (I don’t think I’ve written 79 songs in my life). The 29 finished so far are among the already huge amount of material to be found at The Bassturd’s bandcamp page. Certain backers were to receive a complete Bassturd discography in physical formats, of which the majority was released on CD-R — including the series of 20 EPs made from 2005 to 2008, out-of-print material including the The Bangler CD, and possibly such early material as the first Bassturd recording I personally ever heard, Live From Your Mom’s Bedroom, featuring his more famous one-time roommate and friend Wesley Willis on a live recording of “You’re A Fucking Asshole.” Hinting that Dan may in fact planning on giving up music for good, some of the upper-level Kickstarter prizes were items of his musical equipment. But maybe he’s just looking to replace those with some new stuff.

In case it hasn’t become clear already, The Bassturd’s prolificacy is astounding. The 24 albums and EPs on the Bandcamp page probably only constitute about half, if that, of his total output over a history beginning in the mid 1990s. So, how does one explain The Bassturd to anyone who isn’t already familiar? One might reference Atom & His Package or other sonically-rich synth-driven solo artists as Self or Spookey Ruben, but those are just the easy comparisons. The Bassturd is an artist quite unlike any other, a one-man wall of sound seemingly inspired by Devo, Ween, and Zappa, who sometimes raps and sometimes plays accordion, is often uproariously funny, and comes with enough strings of blinking Christmas lights and miscellaneous cheap light-up accessories seemingly acquired at various truck stops and Spencer’s Gifts locations that clubs frequently cut the house lights entirely when he plays. When I first saw The Bassturd, it was around 1998 and he was performing in the basement at an Iowa City house party singing on-the-spot improvised songs with his accordion, working from topic suggestions solicited from the partygoers, keeping the whole room laughing with his quick-thinking wit. In those days he put out some goofy homemade cassette albums, and later expanded his performing setup to include a Casio keyboard festooned with blinking Christmas lights. Lots more house parties and a couple moves later he landed in Austin, where he lives to this day despite often billing himself as “The Bassturd From Las Vegas, Nevada.” The freewheeling spirit of that early house gig still permeates all of his work, even if he only makes songs up on the spot at most once per set.

The Dark Side Of The Turd, like the 2008 limited (75 copies) CD-R release EVOLVE and 2000′s The Bangler CD, leans heavily toward the epic synth-pop element of The Bassturd sound that began to develop in earnest in the late 1990s. A more rap/hip hop styled track, “Fade II Beige,” was slated to be included but had to be left off the CD due to copyright issues, probably stemming from DJ N-Wee’s Pavement-sampling beat; it remains on the Bandcamp version. It’s a bit stylistically out of sync with the rest of the album anyway, but is still a fabulous track, a great populist political rap that serves to remind that The Bassturd can more than hold his own on the mic; if we’re lucky, the live show will feature he and Coolzey rapping together on something. But even without “Fade II Beige,” Dark Side is still a satiating 26 tracks in 68 minutes.

The Dark Side Of The Turd is also The Bassturd’s most overtly socially-conscious album to date, packed with lyrics dissing corporate greed, government corruption, and consumerism, possibly material worked on in connection with his supposed run for the 2012 presidential election that he just sort of stopped mentioning a year or two ago but of which still remains his tendency to refer to his fans as “patriots.” It makes for a few odd moments when the subjects do veer back into classic Bassturd silliness like on “Bean Bag” (a song about why he doesn’t own a bean bag chair even though he wishes he did) and “The Floor” (complete lyrics: “I’m bored / Let’s fuck on the floor / Like we did before”). You might suspect that the reduced emphasis on madcap laughs would make this album a less enjoyable listen than such material as “Bling Ballz” (this really is the “dark side” of the Turd, taking a more pessimistic tone than usual), but Dan’s lyrics, on those tracks that have them, still provide many memorable moments; while on the other hand, the album includes a number of instrumentals and near-instrumentals and many of the vocals are vocodered or heavily effected — on these tracks, it’s the music that gets your attention, detailed electronic compositions full of melodies that are by turns soaring or jumpy, peppered with bitcrushed noises. Perhaps it’s a hint of things to come and Dan Butler intends to orient his activities more as a composer and/or keyboardist. Or maybe that’s just wishful thinking on my part. While it may not make for the ideal introduction for newcomers (I’m not sure if there even is one release that would be), The Dark Side Of The Turd is a damn fine note to go out on.

And the latest awesome DIY musician to jump on the bandcamp bandwagon? Why it’s Austin-via-Iowa-City singer-songwriter-rapper-improviser-keyboardist-presidential-candidate The BassTurd From Las Vegas, Nevada! This is awesome news. So far he has up the first 3 in his 2005-2008 series of 20 EPs, but I’m sure we can expect a lot of rare gems to surface if he manages to stick with what is surely an epic project of uploading his notoriously voluminous discography. Maybe, if we’re super lucky, he’ll digitize some of his old cassette releases, or maybe we’ll finally be able to download Live From Your Mom’s Bedroom.

So, yeah. Played a pretty decent first Distant Trains set to open up the show on a pretty typically sparsely-attended Wednesday night at the Mews. Went over better than I expected. Todd On Acid is definitely a character. S.E.R.F.’s set was a drunken, technically-plagued mess, but a cool sweeaty rock and roll mess, though I’m not sure they themselves appreciated it as such. Part of rock and roll is playing your songs right, but part of rock and roll is also getting a raucous party vibe going, and they definitely succeeded on the latter. Even when they’re off playing-wise, they’re still a really fun bunch of guys to have up on stage, and I think folks really enjoyed it.

The headliner and definite highlight was The Bassturd. I think he’s always had this show-business-parody angle to what he does, but a lot about his show has tightened up to the point of downright professional, his timing seamless, his array of lighting gadgets, a mix of christmas lights and various Spencer’s Gifts/truck-stop-souvenier material, has gotten impressive enough that he did his set with no stage lighting whatsoever, playing keyboard entirely by touch. Hits such as “Fucking U Down” (with amplified accordion, of course), “Dirty Dirty South,” and “Bling Ballz” were in the set along with Devo covers from his tribute CD The Important Sound Of Things Falling Apart. The audience was mostly established fans very familiar with his material, and he was successfully goaded into doing a bit of “David Geffen Is A Pedophile.” Dan was totally on and in his element, and it was a joy to see him play such a solid show and to hang out with him.

Last night’s show came about as the birthday wish of Kim Hutchison, noted artist and wife of Why Make Clocks frontman Dan Hutchison, that he reunite two of his old bands, the goofball punk of Going To Grandma’s and the bloody-minded prog-punk of Fetal Pig, both featuring brother Jeff Hutchison, and the former also including Jeff’s Blutiger Fluss bandmate Jim Duede. Neither band came with their original bassplayers, however; yours truly did the job for Fetal Pig, opening the evening, easily among the most challenging sets of music I’ve learned and played in my life, and following a second set of no-nonsense rock and roll from Squidboy, Why Make Clocks drummer Will Tarbox took up the bass guitar for Going To Grandma’s, his first performance ever on the instrument. I’d expected GTG to be a fun band, what I hadn’t expected was that they would also be so good. Well written songs with lots of vocal interplay and sing-along choruses.

It’s been intense, playing new and old material for the first time. All humid weather and good times with good people. A lot of folks at last night’s gig seem to think we should play these tunes more often. I’m up for it.

I’m gonna do it kind like the solo gigs I been doing since ’08 or so, with drum machine and looper, but playing bass instead of guitar, and playing it loud and slow and sludgy the way Distant Trains rolls. I could maybe use a bandmate though, for future performances. Maybe someone who plays both drums and spaced-out synthesizers.

The show is at Vaudeville Mews here in Des Moines this Wednesday at about 9:30 pm. The Bassturd is the evening’s headlining attraction, and deservedly so; if you have not seen The Bassturd yet, you really should. The man is a songwriting keyboarding rapping improvising accordioning juggernaut of hilarity, absurdity, and awesome. A past collaborator of The Bassturd is also on the bill, Des Moines O.G. songwriter Todd On Acid, and newfangled local psychobilly outfit S.E.R.F.. I’m not quite sure what the order is other than of course The Bassturd goes on last.

I would have posted this bit of news much earlier but shit has been hectic in Centipede Land. I moved from a rented split-foyer in southeast Des Moines to a cheaper and lower-maintenance apartment in West Des Moines and started a new job as a combination Ruby On Rails programmer and server admin and possible development team lead. It’s the kind of job that forces me to learn a bunch of new shit to keep up, which is the kind of job I like. I went to 80/35, which I’ve already written about. I worked out an apartment-friendly headphone-based practice setup for bass + drum machine. I bought a Stylophone, and that kept me kind of busy for a while. I’m reading about four books at one time. In the process of moving, I unloaded a lot of random, bulky, oddball possessions that I didn’t really have much of a use for any more, but I’ve still got a lot to go. Feel free to make me an offer on a Yamaha CP-30 electronic piano or an epic collection of pencil sharpeners, including a ton of those die-cast metal ones that look like old cars and appliances and shit. The collection of Pascal programming books didn’t sell as well as I had hoped, most ended up in the recycle bin. My Atari 2600 and large collection of cartridges and accessories will be going to the International Video Game Hall Of Fame being started in Ottumwa, Iowa, in hopes that they do in fact appreciate the significance of Chase The Chuckwagon.

Anyway I didn’t start Centipede Farm to be a personal blog, in fact I very expressly started it not to be a personal blog, but you know, I’m sure that’s all interesting shit, and it ties in in some ways with my musical projects. Another rad thing I’ve got going on is the Fetal Pig reunion, which also involves a reunion of yet another classic ’90s Des Moines band, Going To Grandma’s. It will also be happening at the Vaudeville Mews, this Friday, along with another classic Des Moines rock band that needs no reunion because they never went away, Squidboy. Learning Fetal Pig songs, which are these crazy complex riff-fests that sound like a cross between The Minutemen and King Crimson, has been an awesome mind-bending experience and one that I hope will influence my writing for Distant Trains. There is talk that since we’re getting the songs down pretty tight we should go down to Luke’s and record an album.

See you Wednesday and Friday
(Now listening: Sleepy Sun – Fever)