https://www.high-endrolex.com/18

Raging Slab Release Sisterslab and the Boogie Coalition: Vol. 1 LP

Posted in Whathaveyou on December 10th, 2020 by JJ Koczan

Issued in memory of and tribute to Raging Slab‘s Elyse Steinman, who passed away in 2017 after a long fight with lung cancer, the new Raging Slab LP, Sisterslab and the Boogie Coalition: Vol. 1, is a collection of covers that appears on Joyful Noise Recordings as part of a vinyl series in this case curated by Dale Crover of the Melvins, whose new solo release is out on the same label and who also drums here. I saw the post about the album in the middle of the night last night and most of the copies have already sold — the ones through Raging Slab‘s own Bandcamp and Dale Crover‘s are gone — but perhaps you can chase one down if you continue to dig. Either way, it’s worth hearing, so I wanted to at least post the stream and info, wrenching as it may be. The digital version is $8, and, frankly, you could do much, much worse for the money.

Here you go:

raging slab sisterslab and the boogie coalition vol 1

RAGING SLAB – Sisterslab and the Boogie Coalition: Vol. 1

RIP Elyse Steinman; Jan 9, 1961 – March 30, 2017
Joyful Noise “White Label Series” Dec 2020 Release

It was on an August afternoon when my wife, Elyse Steinman learned she had stage 3B lung cancer. She had been experiencing intense upper back pain for months that couldn’t be explained by any physical stress or activity, and after several months of her doctor treating it as a back/spine issue, it was suggested that she get a CAT scan which revealed a golfball sized tumor in her right lung that was pressing on her aorta and another smaller mass in her left lung, A subsequent biopsy showed the growth as malignant and, with that news, so began a daily series of doctors appointments, scans, scans, scans, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, surgical procedures, lung drainings, (scans, scans, scans) and countless other indignities that could only serve to prolong her life as a “cure” was very very unlikely.

The ?rst thing Elyse said to me after learning her diagnosis was; “No more fucking cooking or cleaning!”

The second thing she said was; “I want to do some recording”

As bucket lists go, this was relatively easy…we had shared housework duties anyhow, (although I think Elyse preferred her cooking to mine so she tended to cook more often) and our band, Raging Slab had maintained a “home studio” since the early 90’s.

And so began our new routine, chemo appointments three days a week and radiation in between, We’d get home, eat and then go in the studio and Elyse would sing until she couldn’t. Elyse was a slide guitarist as well, but because her cancer had spread to her bones, she was unable to play or even hold a guitar without excruciating pain. Singing, however was as she put it; “ The only thing that makes the pain stop.”

So I made sure Elyse sang as much as she wanted to. Because she received radiation in her chest, and because the radiation literally burned her esophagus and vocal chords, her voice would change tone and timbre by the day, and because I didn’t know how long she was going to be with us I tended to roll tape and not erase anything, her chemo made her quite ill sometimes and there are vocal takes of her throwing up mid-song, or having a coughing ?t so bad I can be heard dialing an ambulance, as well as many MANY takes that end in crying and/or screaming…most sessions ended up with 30 or more full or partial vocal takes. Elyse lived for another 3 1/2 years, beating all expectations, and during which time we were able to record 25 songs in total. Having these songs released on vinyl would would have been a dream come true for a record collector like Elyse, my most sincere thanks to Dale Crover and Joyful Noise for making this LP possible.

All the songs are covers, All of them chosen by Elyse. And ALL of the singing made her pain stop for a little while. Please, sing along.

—Gregory Strzempka, Nov 5, 2020

Raging Slab are:
VOCALS — Elyse Steinman
GUITARS, BANJO, SITAR — Gregory Strzempka
BASS — Alec Morton
DRUMS — Dale Crover
Background Vocals — Dale Crover, Toshi Kasai
Slide Guitars — Gregory Strzempka, Michael Barron
Lap Steel — Michael “Sleeves” McMahon

Recorded and Mixed by Gregory Strzempka at Slabbey Road, Indianola WA
Drum Tracks Recorded by Toshi Kasai at Sound of Sirens, Los Angeles, CA
Mastered by Kramer
Cover Painting by Stephan White

https://www.facebook.com/RAGING.SLABBAGE
https://ragingslab.bandcamp.com/
http://ragingslab.com/
https://www.facebook.com/joyfulnoiserecordings
https://instagram.com/joyfulnoiserecs
https://www.joyfulnoiserecordings.com/

Raging Slab, Sisterslab and the Boogie Coalition Vol. 1 (2020)

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Big Business Announce UK & European Tour Dates

Posted in Whathaveyou on February 2nd, 2017 by JJ Koczan

big business

A full European tour from Los Angeles two-piece Big Business hasn’t necessarily been unexpected. They were announced back in December as taking part in Roadburn 2017 (info here) in the Netherlands, and other dates have been trickling out along the way, but it’s good to see it’s all actually happening around a pretty significant month-long run that finds them supporting last year’s Command Your Weather album, which was released by Joyful Noise. They’ll start off in the UK and be joined by Whores for the duration, playing two sets at Droneburg Festival the weekend before the aforementioned Roadburn and making their way west toward Iberia before looping back to finish in Paris, from whence they’ll no doubt catch a flight at Charles de Gaulle off to their next adventure.

And by adventure, I probably mean tour. Dudes tour a lot. That’s my big insight on Big Business. Thanks for reading The Obelisk.

The PR wire has dates and details:

big business euro tour dates

BIG BUSINESS COMMAND YOUR WEATHER TOUR DATES

Following the release of Command Your Weather (July, Joyful Noise) last year, bass-drum rascals, Big Business have announced tour dates with special guests Whores. Full dates below…

BIG BUSINESS COMMAND YOUR WEATHER EUROPEAN TOUR 2017
SPECIAL GUEST: WHORES
31.03. UK Bristol The Fleece
01.04. UK Leeds Brudenell Social Club
02.04. UK Manchester Star And Garter
03.04. UK Glasgow Audio
04.04. UK Birmingham Mama Roux’s
05.04. UK London Underworld
06.04. Be Antwerp Trix
07.04. FR Lyon Le Periscope
08.04. IT Torino Spazio 211
09.04. IT Milano Magnolia
10.04. AT Wien Arena
11.04. CZ Prague 007
13.04. DE Berlin Droneberg Festival
14.04. DE Hamburg Droneburg Festival
15.04. DE Dresden Beatpol
16.04. DE Köln Underground
17.04. DE München Feierwerk
18.04. CH Lausanne Le Romandie
21.04. NL Tilburg Roadburn Festival
22.04. FR Nantes Le Ferailleur
23.04. FR Bordeaux Void
24.04. ES San Sebastian Dabadaba
25.04. PT Lisbon Sabotage Club
26.04. ES Madrid Boite Live!
27.04. ES Barcelona Rocksound
28.04. FR Montpellier Black Sheep
29.04. FR Orleans L’Astrolabe
30.04. FR Paris Le Glazart

Fans will already know Jared Warren and Coady Willis are the masters of fusing torrentially heavy sonics and rumbling bellows with an undeniable groove that forever dazzles listeners and spectators alike. The pair demonstrate that the distorted low-end can be fun and joyous without compromising on the exceedingly behemoth and frantic riffs that oozes out.

Recorded in Joshua Tree, CA, Command Your Weather sees Big Business return to its original line-up of Jared Warren and Coady Willis. Recorded by Dave Curran of Unsane/Pigs (who has worked on Big Business’ previous output), the album was co-released via the band’s own label Gold Metal Records alongside Joyful Noise Recordings.

Founded in 2003 in Seattle, WA. Big Business has spent the last 13 years touring the world and making records including the full-lengths Head for the Shallow (2005), Here Come the Waterworks (2007), Mind the Drift (2009) and 2013’s Battlefields Forever – the first full-length LP they released on their Gold Metal Records label, with the former all released via Hydra Head. In 2006 Jared and Coady joined forces with the Melvins, whereby they have been an integral part of the family and an autonomous two-unit band ever since. In recent years, the duo have also toured extensively alongside Mastodon and Clutch.

https://www.facebook.com/bigbigbiz/
http://bigbigbusiness.bandcamp.com/
http://www.joyfulnoiserecordings.com/collections/big-business

Big Business, Command Your Weather (2016)

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Goblin Cock, Necronomodonkeykongimicon: Misanthropic Conjurations

Posted in Reviews on September 23rd, 2016 by JJ Koczan

12 Jacket (3mm Spine) [GDOB-30H3-007}

In 2015, Rob Crow quit music. In 2016, he’s put out two records, both with full bands. The first of them was You’re Doomed. Be Nice., which came out in March on Temporary Residence Ltd. under the banner of Rob Crow’s Gloomy Place, and the second is a return from the long-absent Goblin Cock, a third album, given the title Necronomodonkeykongimicon and issued via Joyful Noise Recordings.

Crow, who here is clad in a robe going by Lord Phallus and is probably best known in indie circles for his work with Pinback but has had a hand in a wide variety of outfits over the years including his own solo work and the delightfully bizarre Optiganally Yours, may not be much for retiring, but that can only be good news for any fan of quality songcraft. He’s proven time and again to be the kind of writer who can make a hook out of just about anything.

It’s been nearly eight years since the last time Goblin Cock had anything out — their second album, early 2009’s Come with Me if You Want to Live (discussed here), still gets periodic revisits — and it would seem that in light of what has no doubt been a tumultuous year-plus for Crow, that the perfect vehicle for giving the universe a big ol’ middle finger was already right at his disposal.

That, ultimately, would seem to be the impetus for Goblin Cock as a whole — there are levels on which they seem to be fuckall incarnate — but across their now-three albums beginning with 2005’s Bagged and Boarded, they’ve never been lazy either in songwriting or performance, and as the 13 tracks/36 minutes of Necronomodonkeykongimicon demonstrate, that continues to very much be the case more than a decade later. Hell, even naming the record clearly took effort on some level.

While the overall quality underlying the structures of the material is consistent, that’s not necessarily to say nothing has changed in Goblin Cock over the course of the last eight years. Necronomodonkeykongimicon actually speaks most of all to what was Crow‘s intention when he first put it together: to make a metal record. I wouldn’t say either Bagged and Boarded or Come with Me if You Want to Live were overly metal in their execution, though both were excellent heavy and/or stoner rock.

This time, while one might say the same of the mega-catchy “Flumed,” “Your Watch” or opener “Something Haunted,” the entire outing hits with a harder edge, marked out by copious gallop and double-kick bass in cuts like the chug-happy “Montrossor” and “Island, Island,” or “The Undeer” and “The Dorse,” while still retaining variety in its presentation that comes out more with repeat listens. Only slower and more spacious closer “Buck” reaches past the four-minute mark, so the songs are quick one into the next, and whether it’s the forward-thrust intensity of “Youth Pastoral” or the more swinging “Your Watch.”

goblin-cock

Whatever tempo they’re using at any given point, whatever the lyrics — “Something Haunted” boasts the lines “Fuck shit and fuckin’ fuck you” — the songs offset the kind of toss-off, joke-ish nature of the band through their sheer memorability. That’s always been the thing about Goblin Cock, and while Crow and company — whoever that company might be, if anyone — are very clearly having a good time in these tracks, they’re by no means screwing around when it comes to presentation. The band is tight, the songs are tight, the performances are spot on. A telling moment is when Crow holds a note vocally across multiple measures for so long in “Flumed” that it becomes comical. Yeah, you have to laugh at it, but that doesn’t mean it’s not also really impressive.

And is Necronomodonkeykongimicon more metal than Goblin Cock were before? Probably. But by the end of the record, after the ups and downs in mood of “Stewpot’s Package,” “Bothered,” “World is Moving” and the two instrumentals, “Youth Pastoral” and the aforementioned “The Dorse” — both of which are perfectly placed to provide the tracklist with a shift in vibe without sacrificing momentum — it really doesn’t matter anymore. Or maybe it does, but the thing worth emphasizing about Goblin Cock‘s brand of metal is that it seems to be put together with zero preconceptions about what “being metal” means, or otherwise it’s actively working against them.

Crow has a long history of experimenting around pop forms, and maybe it’s fair to see Goblin Cock as a genre-based extension of those impulses, but if it was just an exercise in toying with sound, I’m not sure Necronomodonkeykongimicon would work as well as it does. It’s less narrative than was Come with Me if You Want to Live, the lyrics feel more personal — there’s no song about Billy Jack, for example — as though the closer of that record, “Trying to Get Along with Humans,” became a point at which “Something Haunted” could pick up after so much time passed.

When the drums on “Buck” have thudded out and the song has pushed out its last proggy keyboard line, I think the album in its entirety can only be said to benefit from Crow‘s background as a “metal outsider.” He has fewer restrictions. He brazenly takes the material where he wants it to go or is otherwise willing to let it go there on its own, and these songs are hammered out in a way that metal, as known by pitiful mortals, is often simply too indulgent either in its technicality or its chestbeating aggression to engage. Lord Phallus, it seems, knows no such boundaries.

Goblin Cock, Necronomodonkeykongimicon (2016)

Goblin Cock on Thee Facebooks

Goblin Cock on Bandcamp

Lord Phallus on Twitter

Rob Crow on Bandcamp

Goblin Cock at Joyful Noise Recordings

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Dale Crover Releases Skins Limited Edition 12-Sided Five-Minute LP

Posted in Whathaveyou on September 2nd, 2016 by JJ Koczan

Okay, collector types. Feast your hungry eyes on this. Bound to be so rare it’s ridiculous and I can only imagine the silliness of the prices it will fetch on the secondary market. It’s Dale Crover from the Melvins, with 12 solo tracks all of which are under a minute long, split up into six separate records pressed to both sides of a single LP, hand-pressed to clear vinyl. Even Joyful Noise Recordings, which helmed the project, seems to admit that the technology involved produced a pretty rough sound, but let’s face it, if you’re buying this thing, you’re not buying it because you’re gonna slap it on your turntable and play it until the needle digs through to the other side. You’re buying it to take pictures and brag on social media that you got one of the 127 copies in existence. And I honestly don’t think I could fault you for that, given how gorgeous it actually looks and the clear passion that has gone into making it.

For sale at $100 a pop, they’re already gone.

From the PR wire:

dale crover skins-700

Dale Crover (the Melvins) Releasing 12-Sided Record ‘Skins’ via Joyful Noise Recordings

Watch Instructional Video (on how to play “the most impractical record of all time”)

Dale Crover, best known as the drummer of the Melvins, teamed up with Joyful Noise Recordings to create a 12-sided record called Skins. The first release of its kind, the unique art object was hand made by lathe virtuoso Mike Dixon and is limited to 127 signed copies. Each record features six spindle holes, which correspond to twelve short songs written by Crover (six on side A and six on side B.) Joyful Noise created an instructional video demonstrating how to access each track.

This unique format required Crover to work within a highly constraining framework, creating individual pieces of music that almost mimic haikus. Each piece is less than 30 seconds in length, and these distinct works ultimately became the seed for Crover’s upcoming full-length album, slated for release in 2017.

Because each record was individually cut using 1940s technology (on a 1942 Presto 6N record lathe), these are lo-fi, mono records that will not possess the same fidelity as a modern record. Each of the 127 copies available required more than an hour of work to produce. See below for additional notes on playing the record.

Turntable Setup: Lathe-cut records have more shallow grooves than pressed records, which can make them difficult to play. Adjustments to your standard turntable setup may be required. If the only turntable you own is a Crosley, do not buy this record. Not only will it not play on your setup, but you’ll likely damage the record in the process. Due to the multi-spindle-hole design, we cannot guarantee that this record will be playable on all turntables.

A note about the price: Yes, it would be totally insane to pay $100 for 5 minutes of audio. But music is not all you are buying here. This is one of the most unique records ever made in the history of music. Each of the 127 copies required over an hour of work to make, not to mention the countless hours that were put into the design, composition and recording. If you cannot afford this art object, feel free to wait for Dale’s full-length. But to those who can, you can comfort yourself with the knowledge that in the not-too-distant future, this record will be sold on eBay for a far more obscene amount of money.

TRACK LISTING
01. Slide On Up (0:27)
02. The Short Con (0:26)
03. Our Supreme Leader (0:16)
04. String Bean (0:32)
05. Why Not? (0:11)
06. Prismo (0:15)
07. Trick Dirt (0:29)
08. Chicken Ala King (0:30)
09. Vulnavia (0:30)
10. None No More (0:31)
11. Horse Pills (0:30)
12. Just Walk Around (0:29)

https://www.joyfulnoiserecordings.com/products/skins
https://www.facebook.com/joyfulnoiserecordings

How to Listen to Dale Crover’s Skins

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Goblin Cock to Release Necronomidonkeykongimicon Sept. 2

Posted in Whathaveyou on July 7th, 2016 by JJ Koczan

goblin cock

Fuck yes. You should know that I’m not putting this post together at work, and that’s because we’re talking about Goblin Cock. The intermittent doom rock project of Rob Crow (Pinback, scores of others) will release its third album, Necronomidonkeykongimicon, via Joyful Noise on Sept. 2. The title? Righteous. The streaming song “Something Haunted?” Righteous. The album? Can’t fucking wait.

I mean that. Goblin Cock are obviously a goof on a lot of levels, but songwriting has never been one of them. The band’s last record, Come with Me if You Want to Live (discussed here), came out in 2009, and I still have the mp3s on my phone and the CD on my shelf. They toured for that album (review here) and they’ll tour for Necronomidonkeykongimicon as well, for those lucky enough to know to show up.

Which, by the time September gets here, should include you.

From the PR wire:

goblin cock necronomidonkeykongimicon

Goblin Cock Announces New LP Necronomidonkeykongimicon, Out September 2nd via Joyful Noise

Stream “Something Haunted”, Fall US Tour Dates Announced

Goblin Cock has announced a new LP, Necronomidonkeykongimicon, out September 2nd via Joyful Noise Recordings. A protest album that the band describes as “a crushingly brutal Dear John letter to society,” it’s currently available for pre-order.

For a first taste of the album, you can stream opener “Something Haunted” via Soundcloud.

Goblin Cock is a band from beyond time, beyond space, beyond our naive concept of dimension in metal. Since before our pathetic “god” had supposedly “created” us and our kind, Lord Phallus was hunkered in a cybertimeship/fun dungeon, skating the layers of what was considered “true metal” in all societies and in all generations. Eventually, His Majesty realized that he really didn’t care and launched a full-scale war against bland metal with emphasis on ACTUALLY HAVING A GOOD TIME!

2005’s Bagged and Boarded was the first assault on our laughable five senses (Lord Phallus and his kind have 32), followed by 2009’s sonically intense Come With Me if You Want to Live. The band’s upcoming release — their most concise album to date — invokes the spirit of Pure Fun while appeasing their love of Doomed Art.

Necronomidonkeykongimicon is an auditory tome of such importance that it needs to be experienced before the Secret Bastards find a way to marginalize it out of existence forever.

Goblin Cock will tour the US this fall in support of the new record — see below for a list of upcoming shows.

Goblin Cock on Tour:
9/14: Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar
9/15: El Paso, TX @ Bowie Feathers
9/16: Dallas, TX @ Gas Monkey Bar n Grill
9/17: Austin, TX @ The Mohawk
9/18: Houston, TX @ Rudyards
9/20: Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade – Purgatory
9/21: Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle – Backroom
9/22: Richmond, VA @ Strange Matter
9/23: Washington, DC @ DC9
9/24: Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts – Black Box
9/25: Brooklyn, NY @ Knitting Factory
9/27: Providence, RI @ The Parlour
9/28: Allston, MA @ Great Scott
9/29: Syracuse, NY @ Funk N Waffles
9/30: Ann Arbor, MI @ Blind Pig
10/1: Indianapolis, IN @ The Hi-Fi
10/2: Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle
10/3: Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry
10/6: Spokane, WA @ The Observatory
10/7: Seattle, WA @ El Corazon – Funhouse
10/8: Portland, OR @ Ash Street Saloon
10/10: San Francisco, CA @ Social Hall SF
10/11: Los Angeles, CA @ Echoplex
10/14: San Diego, CA @ Casbah

Track Listing:
1. Something Haunted
2. Montrossor
3. Stewpot’s Package
4. Youth Pastoral
5. Flumed
6. Bothered
7. Your Watch
8. The Undeer
9. Struth
10. The Dorse
11. World Is Moving
12. Island, Island
13. Buck

https://www.facebook.com/GoblinCock/
https://robcrow.bandcamp.com/
http://www.joyfulnoiserecordings.com/products/necronomidonkeykongimicon

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Big Business Announce New Album Command Your Weather Due July 8

Posted in Whathaveyou on May 18th, 2016 by JJ Koczan

big business

Big news from Big Business. The L.A.-based outfit have stripped back to the original duo of drummer/vocalist Coady Willis and bassist/vocalist Jared Warren and will release their new album, Command Your Weather, on July 8 through Joyful Noise Recordings. You might recall Big Business‘ last long-player, 2013’s Battlefields Forever, had them working with guitarist/vocalist Scott Martin, and they also released a digital single called True Gold last March, both songs from which — “Blacker Holes” and “Diagnostic Front” — will be featured on Command Your Weather.

In addition to those, Big Business are also streaming the new single “Father’s Day” in advance of the new album’s release. Oh, and there’s also the matter of a long, long list of tour dates in the LP announcement below. Big Business as usual in that department:

big business command your weather

Big Business Announces New LP Command Your Weather, Out 7/8 via Joyful Noise & Gold Metal Records

Big Business has announced the release of its fifth studio album, Command Your Weather, due out July 8th as a co-release between Joyful Noise Recordings and the band’s own Gold Metal Records. It’s currently available for pre-order on all formats, including gold colored vinyl and a limited VIP edition on clear & gold vinyl.

Command Your Weather sees Big Business return to its original two-man lineup of Jared Warren on bass & Coady Willis on drums (both are current members of the Melvins, and Willis is an original member of The Murder City Devils and plays in the all-drumming project Hew Time with Dale Crover and Joe Plummer.) They describe the upcoming release as “an album about the struggle for dominance of will over the power and unpredictability of nature…or just a really great rock record.”

BIG BUSINESS
COMMAND YOUR WEATHER
1. Last Legs
2. Regulars
3. Father’s Day
4. Blacker Holes
5. Popular Demand
6. Own Throats
7. Send Help
8. Diagnostic Front
9. Horses

Big Business will tour in support of their new album this summer — see below for upcoming dates.

Big Business Summer Tour 2016
June 18 – Joshua Tree- Yucca Man Shakedown
June 20 – Las Vegas – Backstage Bar & Billiards
June 21 – Salt Lake City – Urban Lounge
June 22 – Boise – Neurolux
June 24 – Bellingham, WA – The Shakedown
June 25 – Portland, OR – B Side Anniversary
June 26 – Seattle, WA – The Crocodile
June 28 -Billings, MT- Pub Station
June 30 – Fargo, ND – The Aquarium
July 1 – Minneapolis, MN – The Triple Rock (D4th of July weekend)
July 2 – Chicago, IL – Beat Kitchen
July 3 – Ferndale, MI – The Loving Touch
July 4 – Toronto, ON – Velvet Underground
July 5 – Rochester, NY – The Bug Jar
July 6 – Brooklyn, NY – St. Vitus
July 7 – New York, NY – Mercury Lounge
July 8 – Philadelphia, PA – Underground Arts
July 9 – Cleveland, OH – Grog Shop
July 10 – Pittsburgh, PA – Club Cafe
July 12 – Nashville, TN – The Basement East
July 13 – Atlanta, GA – Aisle 5
July 14 – Birmingham, AL – Saturn
July 15 – Gainesville, FL – High Dive
July 16 – Tallahassee, FL – Sidebar Theater
July 17 – New Orleans, LA – Gasa Gasa
July 19 – San Antonio, TX – Paper Tiger
July 20 – Austin, TX – Barracuda
July 21 – Dallas, TX – Gas Monkey
July 23 – El Paso, TX – Lowbrow Palace
July 24 – Phoenix, AZ – The Rebel Lounge
July 25 – San Diego, CA – Casbah
July 28 – Santa Barbara, CA – Velvet Jones
July 29 – Los Angeles – Bootleg Theater – Bar Stage
July 30 – San Francisco, CA – Bottom of the Hill

http://www.joyfulnoiserecordings.com/products/big-business-command-your-weather
https://www.facebook.com/bigbigbiz/
https://twitter.com/bigbigbiz
http://bigbigbusiness.bandcamp.com/
http://bigbigbusiness.com/

Big Business, “Father’s Day”

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