I've run across several good albums lately and thought a few of them would fit right in this thread.
I've been a big fan of Harry Pussy since 1993 when I first bought their "Girl with the Nose Ring" 7". Yes, say it out loud, Harry Pussy.
If you don't know them, it's difficult to describe their brand of art. Known for blaring, screamed, pounding noise, there is more to them than sheer audio assault.
This record is their third and last as a proper band. It's a live recording from 1997. It plays at 45rpm so it's over before you know it, but it still makes you stop and think what kind of mind would come up with this type of sound?
Well, it is Bill Orcutt-guitar and Adris Hoyos-vocals and drum kit. It sounds like a "mono boom box sat on the stage" recording but sometimes the event overshadows the method.
On first listen it may seem like improvisational jazz punk noise but they are tight and deliberate. The alternate tuned guitar makes for a confusing and alienating approach but is matched almost note for note with full on pounding drums and cymbals. Adris introduces most of the songs before they start each one and she is all out of breath. You would be to, pounding the drum kit as hard as she does! They throw in a few cover songs as well including Chrome, Lydia Lunch and Kraftwerk.
Bill Orcutt has come back around in recent years with some incredible acoustic solo guitar records. It's nice to compare the progression of his earlier style to now. Overall, I wouldn't recommend this as a place to start but for me, its a nice hole filler.
The next one is Neil Campbell "SOL POWR"
Very much in the same vein as A Band, Vibracathedral Orchestra, Sunroof!, and a contemporary of all those involved with many late 90's drone bands, Neil Campbell's music reminds me of watching a cuttlefish. It's vibrating, pulsing, writhing in one place and then without warning, boom! an explosion of phosphorescent light before morphing into another pattern. Very much a minimal psych affair that's easy to get lost in. And it's a great lead-in to:
Michael Morley's GATE album "Saturday Night Fever". Morley is one third of the Dead C and has been releasing solo music under the name Gate since 1991. This record came out last year and has been getting much platter time.
From reading the on-line reviews and descriptions by the artist, one would gather that he used the movie soundtrack as the only sample source for the entire album, editing sampled loops and creating neo-disco sound structures. But don't let his shenanigans fool you. Anyone with an ear to the 70's will be able to pull out several samples from artists not associated with the the title.
Be that as it may, it's still a wonderful emersion into Morley's mind and to my ear, his strongest effort since 1998's "The Lavender Head" double Lp.
The spaced out, trippy, lo-fi disco vibe is great and the whole album is strong. His buried, mumbled vocals fit right in and sound like THEY were lifted from the soundtrack.
And did I say it goes well with Sol Powr?
And on to Joshua Burkett's "Gold Cosmos" Lp
This one is more along the lines of the new weird america movement from the late 90's. I bought it because of his association with Vermonster but this sounds more like Six Organs Of Admittance than anything else. Which is good!
In fact, Ben Chasney, Matt Moran, Chris Corsano, Dredd Fool, Matt Valentine and PG Six all contribute to this album to make a wonderful psych folk drone outing that fits right in with any of those artist's records. Delicate guitars, tasteful precussion and vibraphone combined with soft vocals and slow, shifting melodies makes for a very pleasant listen.
Another outsider psych folk band is Charalambides
This being recordings from 1994 and initially released on cassette. "Historic 6th Ward" double LP was issued for the first time on vinyl in 2001, which is what we have here. Charalambides are another...aquired taste. There later recordings can seem very claustrophobic to me but these songs have a much more naive quality to them. Much in the vein of their wonderful "Market Square" LP, it's a mix of 4 track recordings made with electric and acoustic guitars, cheap keyboards, tons of effects and quite vocals. Sometimes heavy, sometimes lilting, sometimes just plain weird. And as I've said before, I like weird!
And speaking of weird,
I've been having a hard time wrapping my mind around this one.
E Jugend "Last Exit Wedding" LP. Seemingly random dual guitar twiddling combined with recordings of distant conversations, short guitar/drum workouts, plus the occasional keyboard noise throw in the mix...
I read on-line this album took four years to make, so I'm guessing the artists intended to make what this sounds like, but why? It almost has a Microstoria meets the Supreme Dicks feel to it that I just can't quit. I want to hear more from these guys before I make my final decision.
And lastly, Tod Dockstader "Luna Park. Traveling Music. Apocalypse" Lp
I don't throw around the term masterpiece often but this is as close as anything else. The only problem is, all his other recordings are of the same caliber. Tod Dockstader can be held in the same high regard as Varese, Stockhausen, Schaeffer, Subotnick, Henry, Maxwell, Oliveros, Reich, Ferrari, Riley and Cage. His contribution to Musique Concrete is vastly underrated. His editing skills unmatched. He would work with reel to reel machines late into the night only quitting to allow the tape hubs to cool down so they could be used the next day. He used old radio broadcast equipment and army surplus gear, anything he could get his hands on that would make a new sound. He did most of this work without any formal training, being self taught.
This particular album (his second) is a good place to start because it's his first stereo recordings.
He takes everyday sounds and records them onto tape and makes the most incredible audio voyages by speeding up, slowing down, panning around, editing them, and filtering them through simple homemade equipment. His later records use the sound of water, early electronic sounds, radio broadcasts, and even orchestra recordings.
This Doxy reissue is a wonderful pressing and really stands out with the quite passages as silent as intended. The sound is rich and full and dementional. Sounds great in surround.
