Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Mudhoney - Something So Clear demo - Reflex Flexi Disk

OK, so it's not quite a 7". I figured I'd get this ripped though. I got this out of a Reflex magazine, they generally did these flexi-disks as an insert. Being into all things Mudhoney, I grabbed this one. Can't say the magazine was memorable in any way, and I'm sure I never bought another one. It was a cool gimmick though.

It's a much rougher cut of the song "Something So Clear" which had come out a few months prior on Mudhoney's best album, "Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge". It's fuzzier, gritter and, well, muddier sounding, though the paper thin vinyl may have something to do with that, too. It's also missing a cool little guitar bit that appeared on the final version.

I admit this one is a bit lame. Taking the easy way out after a long holiday weekend and a long workday. Still, I thought this little flexi-disk thing was worth documenting. Also had an interesting reminder of 1991 over the weekend, so maybe I subconsciously grabbed this because of that. I mail ordered that Mudhoney CD in the summer of 1991 as I had no chance to get to a store. I was working 6, and often 7 full days a week in a tiny restaurant kitchen in Rockport, pulling doubles on the weekends. It was a hot summer, made worse by working within arms' reach of a steam-jacketed kettle, 2 convection ovens and a convection steamer. A 6 burner range was about 5-6' away, too. My particular spot in the kitchen hit 105 regularly. My biggest challenge was not sweating into the food, and I would joke that everything I worked on would be a little extra seasoned on the hot days. At least the other full-time prep cook was great to work with. She disappeared off to school at the end of the summer, while I stayed on to close the place down for the season. I went to a post-Thanksgiving party in Rockport this weekend and she was there, first time I'd seen her since then. It was fun to re-live the horror, and she brought a pie made with the old restaurants' recipe. Minus the sweat, of course.

Some more AmRep by request tomorrow.

A: Something So Clear (demo)

5 comments:

  1. Love this song and love that record. Totally agree: best Mudhoney record. It's loud, rocking, sludgy, and distorted in all the right places. The flexi-disk part makes this cooler.

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  2. I wrote the article that the flexidisc accompanied. It was probably my favorite assignment from that mag. I can't believe it was 20 years ago!

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  3. I remember the magazine pretty well. I got a copy of every issue in exchange for some work I did for them. The Flexidiscs were great, but now all mine are gone. Thanks for posting this.

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