the Chrysanthemums 'Little Flecks of Foam Around Barking' (1988)

The finest psych-pop/double-concept LP to come out of 80's underground Britain, and certainly the best album ever made in Leicester. Crucially, the Chrysanthemums were a collaborative effort between two great unknowns: Terry Burrows (better known as Yukio Yung) and Alan Jenkins (he of Deep Freeze Mice and Cordelia Records); our beloved R. Stevie Moore is in there somewhere too - in fact it's the spirit of deadbroke musical ambition and penpal tape exchanges that glues it all together. That and the ever-amusing absurditastic lyricks.
Alan Jenkins' weirdness and deadpan noo wave non-sequiturs are here in spades; and channeled through Yung's reliable pop know-how and eclecticism (his fascination with Japan and Germany has resulted in some top releases, some of which you'll find @ MutantSounds) give us the magnum opus from these sadly anonymous heroes.
The only way it could possibly be any more perfect is if we got to hear Jenkins' befuddled croak, and you, as a music lover, are now obliged to blog search Deep Freeze Mice and have a good old nibble.

It's probably worth mentioning that in a brief GesichtBuch photo comments box exchange I had with Burrows (really), he expressed his dissatisfaction with the mastering of the album. And whilst it could certainly do with more range and punch, I think you will be too busy having your brain cells rearranged by the CD rip presented here to give a toss. A dearly beloved album in my collection, enjoy or die!

I II

More info here, including transcript of R. Stevie Moore's top notch sleevenotes...
... And here an inadequate video I made for 'He's Had His Bears'.

Jello Biafra 'High Priest of Harmful Matter' (1989)

Ex-Dead Kennedys frontman's second spoken word album, recorded (presumably) during his speaking tour of US universities. He's an articulate and rousing speaker, with important messages to impart - if Chomsky's stoic mutter sends you to sleep then look no further. It's a 20 year old album, so there are one or two dated cultural refs at the beginning; but the broader issues he raises will be all too familiar to the more switched-on younger listener. Some prescient, statistically-supported predictions are made that would later unfold, with consequences that endure to the present day...

3 tracks: one of 10 minutes, two more @ 45 minutes each.
Even if progressive politics and the real dirt don't 'appeal' to you, I'd highly recommend hearing this for the meat of it: Biafra's summary of censorship in America. He details the madness of Tipper Gore's PMRC (you'll never look at Al the same again) and the ensuing 'obscenity trial' brought against Dead Kennedys and the Alternative Tentacles label for the Frankenchrist album cover... In the pre-web era the breadth and depth of Biafra's research is quite remarkable - you actually believe what he's saying and, lo and behold, a cursory Google search will confirm. He's great at voices too and there are bittersweet laughs to be found amidst the tales of persecution and corruption.
Anyone who's familiar with Frank Zappa's anti-censorship efforts, testimony against the PMRC and this video in particular will find 'High Priest...' both fascinating and terrifying. I II

Black Flag 'Who's Got the 10½?' (1985)

Purpose

Roll call:
Greg Ginn - Mahavishnu improv-punk, dissonant garrote strings
Henry Rollins - Banshee razor throat, vox of conscience
Kira Roessler - Bump buh bum bu bump buh, (see album title)
Anthony Martinez (RIP B. Stevenson) - machine gun allfiller/timekiller

One of me favourite albums (and a live one at that!) period, been meaning to share it f'some time. Ripped from CD (how quaint!). Rollins didn't write any of these songs, but he is on form here, spitting fire and making every lyric his own - if you know the guy you'll know that they might as well have been.
I can't think of any other bands who provoked this white-knuckle rapture of tight-wound, late-night sobriety and damning isolation. It's violent catharsis. A band where the guitarist plays lead and rhythm simultaneously!
True, the post-Damaged era of Sabbath/free jazz-inspired sludgecore yielded some seminal albums that would essentially be responsible for the grunge movement (as I and the 'key players' see it) and an anti-scene vision/work ethic that goes above and beyond the narrow strictures of 'punk' of early 80's west coast US; BUUUT one might argue that the muddy/downright awful/yet-to-be-remastered (come on Ginn, ya c*nt!) production on most of those albums never truly represented the explosive/implosive experience of LIVE Black Flag.

1984's live effort, their only truly inconsequential record, was an example of just about everything going pear-shaped as a recording and as a poorly-mixed slab o' Flag.
Black Flag lived on the road, they played anywhere anytime and, by all accounts, always delivered. A performance band, then. See the Youchoobs for prüf. They developed their sound on the road and through the cassettes played on the van's tape deck. In this van Ginn wrote his lyrics, which set up camp behind Rollins' increasingly misanthropic and punishing thousand-yard stare. They saw The Shit all over and they called it, that's the young man's duty.

And since the Flag were a band that worked more live than in any other medium, thank ___ they left us with a perfect snapshot of their final peak; before the as-yet unexplained animosity of Greg Ginn towards Rollins could sever an already frayed and exhausted relationship. Personally I suspect it was a clash between Ginn's psychotropic use (hear it in the music, the 70's influence) and Rollins' heart-of-stone sober focus. Ginn's music after Flag was, unsurprisingly, mainly jazz fusion guitar jams.

But here on 10½ we gots all the innovations of 80s Flag: the fucked-up time signatures, the anti-solos, fronted by a caged animal, ever-lengthening hair... and the ability to conjure a leaden heart in three chords like no other band on earth. These were never your average L.A. punk wasters. As for more contemporaneous influences they were in good company on Ginn's SST with post-punk expansionists Minutemen, Meat Puppets... you can hear the soundemolitions of their beloved Einstürzende Neubauten in here too.
The extensive setlist is not slim on the old anthemiklassix either - there's the customary freakout stoner jam (what better way to stick it to the skinheads?) and medley, you'll love it if you have ears and any small measure of righteous anger.
I could write endlessly about this record, its relevance to me personally, its meaning to other musicians and how BF were one of the few that 'rose above' (hurrrr) the surrounding pond life-smegma of La-La Swamp. Are you sick of the swamp and its revolting fumes? You aren't the only one. Join yourself!

Steel Pulse 'True Democracy' (1982)

My posts have been getting a bit oppressive lately, so here's something more buoyant and conscious. This record gives me butterflies and flashbacks to amazing sex that never happened. Here are ze opening and concluding paragraphs of my little brother's exhaustive review; 'True Democracy' made #5 in his 'top 100 albums' list back in April:

''I always find it hard to review reggae with sounding like some raddish who has no idea what he's on about but, nevertheless, I'll do my best to do this album justice - officially my favourite reggae album of all time. While I could just as easily call their 1978 debut, Handsworth Revolution, a classic (it is the album that got me into reggae music and all), Steel Pulse's fourth album here stands for me as the pinnacle of Birmingham reggae (don't even get me started on that joke of a band called UB40). To put this album into a bit of context, with their aforementioned debut, Steel Pulse had caused a few ripples in the music industry and had gained a sizeable cult following, and had even supported Bob Marley and Burning Spear on tour. They'd become known for using much more of a polished studio sound than their roots reggae contemporaries, as well as peddling very politically-motivated, anti-apartheid songs (it doesn't take much of an imagination to think what they'd be on about for a song called Ku Klux Klan for example). As yet, though, mainstream success had eluded them. In hiring legendary producer Karl Pitterson (who had albums such as Bob Marley's Exodus and Peter Tosh's Legalize It under his belt, as well as Steel Pulse's first two albums), the band attempted to find a more mainstream sound as well as, in lead singer David Hinds' words, "your earth-man style and your militant style". It's the best way to sum this album up in a stylistic sense. From the bare bones of the instantly-recognisable reggae backbone, True Democracy employs an eclectic mix of upbeat dance rhythms, political and social commentary and a state-of-the-art feel that sets it apart from the sound of contemporary Jamaican reggae of the day. It's mainstream yet militant, preaching yet unpretentious, and one of the absolute essentials on top of that.''

''Whereas their earlier work is just as meritable, True Democracy sees Karl Pitterson's production creating a much fuller and uptempo sound and, therefore, a much more accessible one. Such is the reason if I had to recommend one classic reggae album to someone who's never heard any good reggae before, I'd go with this album. Another reason it's impossible to hate this album is because, while softening their approach in order to gain a more mainstream audience, Steel Pulse still explore the deeply evocative, militant and thought-provoking lyrical matters of social and political commentary, with Hinds incorporating some unusual subjects into his lyrics. As well as all this, Pitterson's splendid production allows each band member (particularly percussionist Phonso Martin) to really stand up and make themselves heard. All these factors are the building blocks to a classic reggae album, and one I couldn't give enough praise. Brilliant album. If you've ever thought about getting into reggae but aren't sure where to turn, I recommend this.''

Grait kwollitty, 320, with some extra tracks, 12'' versions for pardeez if you have them.

Deathspell Omega 'Si Monumentum Requires, Circumspice' (2004)

What's that? Black metal is a silly genre and about as far removed from 'frightening' as I could post on All Hallows' Eve?
Well slap on your best over-ear heddfones because you've clearly not heard what France's most innovative extreme metal group have to offer. This breaks the Norwegian monopoly on a fading, self-parody of a sub-genre.

I never thought I'd truly enjoy a black metal album in my lifetime, but y'know what? I was wrong. First there's the guitar work, a lot of characteristically high-end, dissonant stuff with murky lo-fi production that just sounds otherworldly and hellish - about as far removed as you can get from thrash-derived cliche, with its own kind of beauty.

Then the mixing and 'ambience' of the album holds everything together and drowns out any potentially embarassing secular rambling. Strangely enough, the end product really is unsettling; primarily because it doesn't summon the image of greasy-haired misanthropes in smelly leather trenchcoats so much as it does demons eating babies. Deathspell channel Hades in ways that speed metal has never attempted before: atmospheric sampling, reverse guitar, various unidentifiable tics and sound degradation effects (à la Burial) and a Wall of Sound so devastating it would flatten the business district of Manhattan in a Roland Emmerich movie. In fact the wall of sound is literally a wall insomuch as they seem to have flattened the onslaught, ironed out the spikes that normally make various extreme metal subgenres difficult to endure for long periods - the album washes over you like an oil slick (stopping to punch you in the head a few thousand times on the way).

Speed is by no means the order of the day (although of course there are blast beats aplenty) but neither do Deathspell lapse into the tacky keyboards and melody of many contemporaries... This is punishing stuff for the uninitiated - and the overpowering delivery from the fringes of sonic reason and (shockhorror) lack of guitar solos is, I think, what earns Si Monumentum Requires, Circumspice its acclaim and reputation as a 'scary' album. It's a bona fide 'Reign In Blood' for the 21st century, and equally suited to clearing every last muthafucka out the room.

It's also great to study to. Or maybe that's just me...
I meant what I said about over-ear phones btw - you'll miss a lot of the subtleties otherwise. Youtube samples fail to capture this.

satan's all about the free will and junk

Themed Mix: Marshmallow in Space

Originally posted to my Tumblr, Neon Sigh, Marshmallow in Space
reflects a particular feeling I get from certain tracks / track combinations that is both dreamlike and cosmic, both warm and cool, and also bittersweet. It wasn’t my initial intention, but the mix also kind of ended up being like a soundtrack to a movie that doesn’t exist, and sorta (well, really) about love, which when I realized where it was going I just ran with it. I hope you hear some things on here you haven’t heard before, and feel like you’re drifting along on a cozy marshmallow amongst the stars!


Various Artists - Marshmallow in Space
——Tracklisting——
1. Broadcast - “Until Then”
2. Depeche Mode - “Never Let Me Down Again”
3. Dead Can Dance - “Wild in the Woods”
4. Tones on Tail - “Lions”
5. Suicide - “Touch Me”
6. Chromatics - “Mask”
7. The Glove - “Mouth to Mouth [Landray Vocal Mix]”
8. My Bloody Valentine - “Lose My Breath”
9. Strawberry Switchblade - “Deep Water”
10. Cocteau Twins - “The Itchy Glowbo Blow”
11. Goldfrapp - “Lovely Head”
12. Sad Lovers and Giants - “Your Skin and Mine”
13. Lush - “Love at First Sight”
14. The Jesus and Mary Chain - Nine Million Rainy Days
15. Spectrum - “Then I Just Drifted Away”

Better Than the Beatles #234: Cardiacs

^1984

30-year-old (and counting) cult institution from my old hometown of Kingston Upon Thames, brought to you by the ALPHABET BUSINESS CONCERN.

Despite the fact that Tim Smith (the brains of the operation) has always vehemently rejected the 'progressive' label (he prefers simply 'pop' or 'psychedelic') it is a reasonable point to raise: in Cardiacs' music there is a fondness for unusual chord progressions, chord modulation, and compressing the equivalent of a prog epic into 4 minutes or less... All with the energy of a '77 band. Cardiacs also opened for Marillion in the 80s, apparently Fish was heartbroken when the fans did not take to them...
It's natural that an amateur such as myself who can't write for toffee should always seek to pigeonhole a sound for n00bs, but the Cardiacs are infamous for being one of those idiosyncratic oddities who sound remarkably similar to nobody except Cardiacs. The only comparisons I can come up with are the more anarchic, ambitious New Wavers like XTC and Split Enz (particularly the latter's early years), mixed with the avant-rock of Henry Cow... Infact they straddle all types of 'progness' whenever they feel like it, perhaps playing symphonic Yes-ness one minute and unhinged Gentle Giant sing-songs the next. That's the remarkable quality of this band, there are seemingly no limits. But you can always relying on the delivery being OTT to the point of ridiculousness and bewilderingly melodic - you know that this is Tim Smith's idea of how pop music should be.
They are also obscenely tight live. Unfortunately Smith suffered, erm, a cardiac arrest in 2008, and it's unlikely you or I will ever experience a 'religious' Cardiacs performance.

I think this is as clear-cut a case of love 'em or hate 'em as you will ever encounter on this blog... Unacknowledged genius or bad acid trip in a fairground? Or are they just trying too hard? I don't think so personally, plus buried in the lyrical abstractions are some statements somewhere I am sure of it, which keeps me listening.
Presented here is 'Sing To God', a 1995 double album which will leave you laughing hysterically, then slack-jawed in disbelief as each track reaches new heights of structural insanity and musical prodigiousness. And then the injustice of it all hits you, that by this time the 'classic' Cardiacs line-up had shrunk to a quartet, and they actually somehow played this shit onstage, constantly, to comparatively tiny audiences of loyal fruitcakes. It's just not fair. God bless Cardiacs.
This is from the album, easily the most insane piece of music I have heard in a long time