A Scotch enthusiast pointed out a site with a few fellows speaking the names of Scotches out loud.  If you were ever curious how to pronounce that one Scotch, this is your chance.  I’ve put them all together in a single MP3, clocking in at under two minutes.

Scotch Pronunciations [MP3 Download]

Scotches are not spoken in complete alphabetical order.  To play along at home, see the full list of Scotches, after the jump.

Allt a Bhainne

Aberfeldy

Aberlour

Ardmore

Aultmore

Balblair

Balmenach

Brackla

Bowmore

Bruichladdich

Bunnahabhain

Caol Ila

Caperdonich

Cardhu

Clynelish 2

Clynelish

Coleburn

Convalmore

Cragganmore

Craigellachie

Dallas Dhu

Dalmore

Daluaine

Dalwhinnie

Deanston

Dufftown

Edradour

Fettercairn

Glen Albyn

Glen Allachie

Glen Burgie

Glen Cadam

Glen Craig

Glen Deveron

Glen Dronach

Glen Dullan

Glen Elgin

Glen Esk

Glen Farclas

Glen Fiddich

Glen Garioch

Glen Glassaugh

Glen Goyne

Glen Grant

Glen Keith

Glen Kinchie

Glen Livet

Glen Lochy

Glen Lossie

Glen Mhor

Glen Morangie

Glen Moray

Glen Ord

Glen Rothes

Glen Scotia

Glen Spey

Glen Tauchers

Glen Turret

Glen Ugie

Glen Ury

Glen Wyvis

Highland Park

Imperial

Inchgower

Inchmurrin

Jura

Kinclaith

Kininview

Knockando

Knockdhu

Ladyburn

Lagavulin

Laphroaig

Ledaig

Linkwood

Littlemill

Lochnagar

Lochside

Lomond

Longmorn

Longrow

Macallan

Mannochmore

Millburn

Miltonduff

Mortlach

Mosstowie

North Port

Oban

Pittyvaich

Port Ellen

Pulteney

Rosebank

Scapa

Speyburn

Springbank

St Magdalene

Strathisla

Strathmill

Talisker

Tamdhu

Tamnavulin

Teaninich

Tomatin

Tomintoul

Tormore

Tullibardine

Slainte!

So I “managed”/roadied for the now defunct band Big Orange Torpedo in the mid 90′s.  The group cycled through a small list of members but at it’s core were John Webb, James Kline and Phil Balsman (pictured left to right).  The guys attended Perryville High School and their tunes, like the times, roared with angst. Good times.

Well, I dug up an old MiniDisc copy of their first EP Abracadamnit recently and was compelled to transfer it back to the computer for all the world to hear.  Free glorious MP3s and commentary from James and Phil, after the jump.

Abracadamnit by Big Orange Torpedo

1. Abracadamnit
2. Switch
3. Bitter
4. Suicide Tree
5. Psychosis

(The above links are mp3s.  To download, right click and choose “save as”)

James Kline emailed me recently about how their second EP is a mere memory:

The second BOT EP [unofficially titled, Fireball: Code 76], recorded in 1996, is lost to the ages. As far as I know, I had the only copy (on tape) and it was ruined (got ate up in a cassette player.) Had Riverside Recording Studio not gone out of business ten years ago, it may have been possible to get the masters. (It sucks, because it was my favorite of the three EPs.)

James weighed in with some production notes about Abracadamnit:

The Abracadamnit EP was recorded & mixed in 8 hrs. at Riverside Recording Studio in Cape. Why, I’ll never know, but we allowed the guy running the board to add a digital chorus effect to Phil’s bass and reverb to his vocals on every song. To me, it always sounded like shit. It totally ruined the songs (as did the electronic drums.) We could have recorded with a real set of drums, but it would have taken at least an hour to mic all of them, so we went with the electronic ones – which was a huge mistake, because at least five times in every song, when Kyle Flengte (the drummer du jour) would step on the bass drum pedal it would double-trigger. Oh well, it was a learning experience. I think if we’d have done the drums & audio effects correctly, all of the songs (except track 2: Switch) could have sounded like a lot of the stuff being played on the radio (circa 1995.)

Phil notes the recording technology of the mid 90s and comments on some sound elements:

. . . CD-Rs weren’t that common then, and even though it was recorded digitally, process-wise, I think it was actually physically recorded analog, if that makes sense. God it sucked to be doing that kind of shit between one generation of recording and the next. Fuckin’ kids today don’t know how good they got it. The only version of these that I have is an old two-track tape–and I don’t even have anything that plays tapes.

God, my bass was extra farty, the drums were…well, Kyle was trying, and my voice was not done dropping from puberty. Ah, good times.

I didn’t get a chance to contact John or any other members.  Well, there you have it.  BOT RIP.

UPDATE:  James writes in to say, “Abracadamnit is BOT’s 1st EP, not second. The second EP (unofficially titled, Fireball: Code 76) is the one that no longer exists.”  So, I’ve went back and fixed the refering info above.

UPDATE 2:  Further info on Fireball: Code 76 from James Kline:

Back in the day, Phil had a cassette tape of BOT playing live at Jeremiah’s in Cape (Nov. 96). With that said, there is the rare possibility that live versions of the Fireball: Code 76 songs still exist in a “live” form (but the studio EP is gone.)

Fireball songs:

1. Propaganda
2. SuperPal
3. Reach
4. Company
5. Little Fish
6. STFB
7. Nuclear Family Traditions

UPDATE 3:  Fireball: Code 76 Unearthed!  Well, some of it anyway.  Phil found a tape with three of the songs.  Download/listen to them below:

• Propaganda
• Reach
• Nuclear Family Traditions

And if that’s not enough, Jim dug up an additional demo track:

• G.I. (Demo)

Jim had this to say about the demo:

Amazingly, while I was going through all of my old cassette tapes I
found a portion of the song G.I. in demo form. I think we must have
just turned on a tape recorder (in the middle of the room) and hit
record. It’s basically a sonic clusterf**k, but it’s kind of fun
listening to the chaos!

Three more examples of digitally distributed music.

1. Bloc Party.  Looks like you can snag the new album “Intimacy” now, in mp3 form, for $10.  You can also pre-order the CD plus get the mp3s immediately for $20.
2. Girl Talk.  His new(ish) album “Feed the Animals” is available at a Radiohead like price.  From the Illegal Art label web site: “any price grants the download of the entire album as high-quality 320kbps mp3s $5 or more adds the options of FLAC files, plus a one-file seamless mix of the album $10 or more includes all of the above + a packaged CD (when it becomes available)”
3. Weird Al Yankovic.  Slashdot and Weird Al’s Myspace both say he will be releasing songs to iTunes immediately after recording each one with the first cut due October 7th.

Muxtape allows you to make and share mixtapes, only without the tape and in mp3 form.  Create a free account, then upload and arrange up to 12 tracks.  You’ll then have a custom URL to share.  Users can also subscribe to other user’s RSS feeds and become “fans” of muxtapes.