MXBX 1998: 13,000 Miles at Light Velocity, impressively enough, is a live recording of
Melt-Banana, one of Japan's finest noise/prog underground bands -- anyone impressed with studio recordings of the group's scratchy, frantic rock will no doubt be bowled over with the way this sounds in a more direct and organic setting. With a pace and energy that rivals kings of the genre like the
Happy Family,
Melt-Banana tear through most of the best tracks on their album releases -- selections like "It's in the Pillcase" and "Disposable Weathercock" even seem to sound better than they did on
Scratch or Stitch. Most notable is a cover of "Surfing U.S.A.," and if you're familiar with
Melt-Banana, you can probably imagine how wonderful such a thing would be.