Betty Davis-They Say I'm Different

Yep, she's the former Mrs. Miles Davis. The one responsible for turning him on to Sly & Jimi and in the process leading him toward those classic 70s big sun glasses albums that I cherish ever so much. But don't count her as some arm candy with bad ass hair. Her great soul/funk discs can be downright nasty. Listen to the S & M classic "He Was a Big Freak" and you'll see what I mean. This lady could really belt it out with conviction. I sometimes have fantasies about running an afro pick through her hair, but that's neither here nor there. For seekers of true funk only.

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Brigitte Fontaine-Comme à la Radio

So it's mother's day; started in America right here in West by God Virginia. What a holiday. While I have an amazing mom & grandmother, the day itself doesn't really do it for me like Halloween or even Casimir Pulasky or Pączki day. It's nothing against mothers or anything, it's just that not being one (or even having a vagina for that matter) it just doesn't have that personal connection for me. But nevertheless, I figure today would be a nice day to celebrate fantastic females. And this might one of my all time favorite female fronted albums of all time. Fontaine is just super cool. Even Sonic Youth wanted to be her backing band when she became some old, bald, weirdo. But I prefer this album where she is backed by the Art Ensemble of Chicago. It's jazzy, folky, experimental, and rapturous. If you've dug that Catherine Ribeiro album or any of the other French things I've been posting, then pick this up. Thanks to Ryan for turning me on to this disc.

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Marcel Kanche-Dog Songe

Here's one for when the night is winding down, and your teary eyes are burning so much that it stings to even have them closed. Time to pull this on and slip into the vortex. As I keep saying, the French rule and I'll defend them to the death. And Kanche is obviously of the tradition of Frenchies who produce some of my favorite music. His early 80s works (which you can find over at Mutant Sounds) is far bleak as well, but much more experimental. But I think age suits Kanche just fine, as now the experimentation might have been reduced, but the darkness remains. To sound dumb, I'll just make the easy comparison since it'll be pretty obvious to anyone whose heard this before, but I guess you can say he's the French Leonard Cohen. God, I hate writing shit like that.

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Ersen

Another album for a sunny day. Anatolian psych has been played pretty often at Scanner head quarters as of late. There's just so much good stuff that seemed to be passed over for so many years. And this comp does justice to the great Ersen and his mighty voice. Hip hop kids seem to have been on to these fuzzy/funky/Turkish rock for some time as he's been sampled numerous times. Psych heads seem to have come a little late to the scene though. But now with the reissues of Selda, Mogllar, 3 Hur El, etc (and those are just some of the popular ones) this scene is finally getting its due props. So if you're up for a night of belly dancing alone then tie up your bedlah and blast this shit loud.

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Trevor Mcnamara-Hey Captain

Another warm weather treat that'll please you much in a way that an original (not these new ones, mind you) jell-o pudding pop would. Or maybe it's more like a choco-taco. Not sure about that. But I do know that this is one of my preferred Antipodean psych discs. And that under appreciated scene had some good uns too. McNamara plays all the instruments on this neglected slice of acid folk/fuzz psych goodness. I mean, he's no Todd Rundgren or anything, but still, I always like to hear about a dude who plays it all. And do it right. I'm looking at you depressive black metalers.

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100 Flowers-100 Years of Pulchritude

Nope, this isn't a post on the Chinese political movement of which I know little about. This is instead the collected works of what the Urinals became once they got all post-punky. And it's a perfect day for something like this. Summer has definitely come early this year. The semen smell trees have stopped their offensive odor, I've noticed many a low cut tank top (unfortunately no tube tops), and all the students are packing their shit in to go back to Jersey and start their summer collecting stds. And what a better way to send them off. A song like "I Hate You" somehow seems appropriate.

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Marcel Duchamp-The Entire Musical Works of

Since I'm getting all sophisticated here posting albums by geniuses and all, I figure I should post another disc that some of you snobs might like. So I'm sure the beret wearing lot of you are already familiar with Duchamp's art. The readymades, the kinetic art, all that other stuff. Maybe not so with his music. It's what you'd expect really. Time to light another gauloises, take a sip your absinthe, and savor your pretentiousness. Oh, you're as precious as that fool I saw walking around with a bowler hat and umbrella the other day.

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Meredith Monk-Book of Days

This will probably be the only time I get a chance to post an album by someone who won a MacArthur genius grant. And really, she is a pretty talented lady. She describes herself as "a composer, singer, director/choreographer and creator of new opera, music theater works, films and installations." That's a lot of hats to wear. I can barely keep up with teaching, writing, and tying my shoes. So I'm impressed. As you'd probably guess from someone who's so prolific Monk's work is pretty difficult to describe. So let's see. It's pretty droney and there's some weirdo vocals and, yeah...Just download it.

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Toru Takemitsu-Film Music 4 (Teshigahara Films Soundtracks)

Pittfall, Women of the Dunes, The Face of Another...all fucking classic films. Teshigahara is someone I expect to come up more often in discussions on film, yet he never seems to. Too bad because those three are absolutely essential viewings. And his choice of having Takemitsu soundtrack them was equally brilliant. The music fits so perfectly that I suggest watching the movies first just to experience the interplay of sound & image, then if you like it download this.

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Neil Pye-Neil's Heavy Concept Album

So, a while back I posted the Young Ones related album by proto-Spinal Tap metal comedy group Bad News. Apparently people don't seem to love the Young Ones as much as me. That being the case, this will probably not interest you either as it is basically Neil doing his hippie shit on an album. While there's some weird spoken word stuff and little sketches, there's some pretty interesting covers too (Donovan, Traffic, Pink Floyd, etc). Oh hippies, your dirt burgling/filth hoarding asses still provide so many laughs.

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Ash Castles on the Ghost Coast

This shit will haunt you like that cyclist you once ran off the road one late night whilst coming home. Or that time you went out stalking your ex and saw her having it off with that dude who wears bracelets. But while this gets creepy crawly, there's a muted beauty as well. Lots of droney drones and clanky clanks. I think I even heard a scritchey scritch in their too. So if that's your thing that get on top of this. Also, this might be of interest of a few due to Heather Leigh Murray's involvement (Charalmbides, Scorces, lots of other good shit).

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The Twinkeyz-Aliens in Our Midst

I think I read somewhere that natives of Sacramento sometimes, or maybe it's just Californians, refer to that city as Sac-town. I really hope this was a joke. It's such an unfortunate moniker. Anyways, that's were these loons come from. Okay, time to make a big claim here, but I'll dare. I think that this was one of the best American bands to come out of the late 70s. It's the perfect combination of New Wave, power pop, punk, and rock. Then throw in layers of weirdness. This sounds much more like some contemporary weird punk band currently ripping off the classics. Listen to the title track and I think you'll feel like Guided By Voices were looting this corpse from time to time.

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Simply Saucer-Cyborgs Revisited

Hooray for more cyborg related things. It might be possible to consider this classic as the Canadian doppelganger of Chrome. It's weird and spacey and certainly doesn't sound like much coming out of Hamilton Ontario at the time. Shit, it doesn't sound like much coming out from anywhere at that time. Or this time for that matter. The early tracks are really where the meat of this disc lies. The later recording are of interest, but they lost something along the way. Nevertheless, those early tracks are true rock classics. Maybe the best Canadian band of all time. Well, at least top five or so.

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Pinnacle-Cyborg Assassin

Pretty fucking great cover for a pretty fucking great album. This is another to file in the obscuro heavy rock/hard prog section. Well, maybe not full on cod-piece prog, more hard British 70s rock I suppose, but it has a proggy element to it. As far as I know, this was the only release by these cretins. I guess really it's more proto-metal than anything. But sometimes when I listen to it, it seems proto-everything. Cyborgs are cool. Assassins even cooler. Is it possible to go wrong when the two combine?

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Section 25-Always Now

I never thought I'd come to say this, but as much as I love the early Factory records' sound, this could stand as my favorite album from that deep catalog. It's got that super great Martin Hannett production that made Joy Division such a classic group. And yes, it does sound like J.D. at most times, but there's something that almost seems a little more chaotic here. For example, the static buzz guitars on "Friendly Fires," sound almost Jesus & Mary Chainish. I will say this band took a severe turn toward shitmaking, but this stands as one of the definitive post punk documents. Kinda weird few people talk about it much.

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Steel Mill-Green Eyed God

Seems like people have been digging the prog posts lately, and why not? It's yet to be co-opted by all the cool kids. Maybe their irony knows some limitations. Well, fuck 'em anyways. While most of the prog I've posted has been pretty popular, I thought I'd dig a little deeper for this post. I know that prog heads will already be familiar with this one, but oh well, I can't please everyone. For those not in the know, this is some pretty heavy stuff that has a bluesy influence at times. And while this shit can get pretty loud there's also pretty flute interludes and more plaintive moments as well. Prog haters fuck off. Just wait. In a year or so I'm sure Wakemanesque wizard capes and skin tight tight trousers will be de rigueur with all those kids who are currently wearing those silly scarves. Really, this is my prediction.

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The Koala

Everyone knows that Sir Lord Baltimore's proto-metal classic "Kingdom Come" is an absolute face crusher. However, few discuss Louis Dambra's more psych leaning, yet nonetheless awesome band, The Koala. Not the sun worshipping West Coast hippie psych; instead this has a strong New York proto punk sneer. Of course, since Dambra is involved, the guitar is fucking great. I won't claim to like this more that SLB, but that's not really a fair equation. It's not trying to be the same thing, so why should I have to compare them? I can attest that this is some great psych that's worth a listen, so let's just leave it at that.

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Shadow Ring-City Lights

Shadow Ring...dare I try to describe this band? Dare I eat a peach? I guess this is going to be something that no matter how I describe it, it will definitely sound worse than how it does, if that makes any sense. There's lots of clanking pot-like percussion, detuned string buzz, broken toy pianos, spoken word vocals delivered with a thick British accent, odd ephemera, etc. I guess that's a few of the sounds often associated with Shadow Ring. Yeah, I can see why that wouldn't sound like it would appeal to many, but really this sounds much better than it should. I guess it just proves how smart these fuckers are.

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Halo of Flies-Music for Insect Minds

It seems that lately rock has taken a turn for the wimpy. Sure, I love plenty of fey shit (past posts should make this fairly obvious), and I'm certainly no muscle bound DudeBro, but I still feel that there's a vacant throne previously sat upon by these miscreants. Sure, there's still some bands out there that provide us with some bitter self-loathing rock, but this hate faced masterpiece (collecting all of their 7"s and some comp tracks) distill the misanthropy to its crystalline essence. And "Tired and Cold" has to be one of my all time favorite songs. Get pissed again.

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Brian Eno-Here Come The Warm Jets

For a certain someone who may or may not see this. But happy birthday. See, I didn't forget.

No explanation needed for this classic.

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Ufomammut-Snailking

Has anyone else noticed this frightening trend, or am I alone in finding this horrific? When did this idea of bands (I'm not talking about radio bands, I mean small indie bands) come to believe that selling their songs as ringtones was a acceptable idea. I assume the average age of members in said bands is probably around 17, so maybe an old curmudgeon like myself can provide some sage advice. So listen up kiddies. If you are selling your songs as ringtones, you are not a musician. You are a salesman. Pack in your shit now and get a job at Payless or something. If no one was buying it in the first place, why the fuck would they want your swill exuding from their phone every time some dimwit calls them? Secondly, if you feel like your music is best heard on a phone speaker, then you must already realize your music is shit. I know, you kids didn't grow up with zines and real record stores, so the idea of a cohesive album might seem foreign (7" acceptable format too, natch). So here's an example of how albums work. See, these songs aren't constructed with myspace in mind. These songs function as a unified work, though they may be enjoyed individually as well. Now, mind you, don't take this advice in the wrong direction. If you want to get all arty and shit out some half baked concept, then you're going down the wrong road. You're not that smart. Nearly every time someone wants to get all grandiose it typically (almost always) sucks. If your music is that boring so as to warrant some silly theatrics or harebrained gimmick, then you should construct a funeral pyre out of your instruments then jump atop the flames. The only concept you should have in mind is how to rock. That's it. Oh, and if you have some marketing scheme or business plan, you're not a band but a corporation. You still there children? Sorry, I don't mean hurt your feelings but we old folk are getting a little tired of the same sounding shit that you keep making (hmm...this year it seems to be reverb heavy static pop). What happened to innovation? Okay, that's the end of the rant/lesson. Not much you need to know about this album. It's heavy and spacey and drugged out. It's good.

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The Egyptian Lover-On the Nile

Look at that remarkable hair. No really, look at it for a while. Spend some time savoring its greasy gloriousness and then prepare yourself for the amazing elctro-rap offered to you by this finely quaffed gent. This isn't anything remotely like that bullshit that passes for rap now days. Much more like Kraftwerk than what shit is on the radio right now. My House (On the Nile) is just so great. It is just a song about how awesome his house is. Oh, why aren't there more songs on this subject (please don't mention "Our House" (either version))? I'm still trying to figure out how he first came up with this stage name, and second, how he thought it was a good idea. Hilarious.

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Leon Thomas-The Leon Thomas Album

I first heard about Leon Thomas when I was blown away by his crazy vocalese on a Pharaoh Sanders record. I later read that he was a prime influence on Starsailor-era Tim Buckley. That makes sense. Thomas does some pretty odd things with his voice. Sometimes it sounds like he's doing a weird kind of throat warbling. I dunno...I can't figure out how it's done. And I've tried. I guess you can call this a vocal jazz album if you wish. That seems like a pretty apt label, if you need a label, Mr. Label Lover.

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Matching Mole

Robert Wyatt is surely a deity of some sort. With a voice like a angel and a beard like a wizard, he continues to still make challengingly beautiful music. His work with Soft Machine and solo seem to be where most people go when they're in a Wyatt mood, I'll take Matching Mole. But I'm a fan of Caravan and Hatfield & the North (members included in this band). This album is so great. There's beautiful mellotron heavy tunes like "O Caroline," and then there's also songs like weirdo space jazz of "Instant Pussy" (nice title). This is one of those albums that sounds better every time I listen to it.

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Rosemary Krust-S/T, The First Two Weeks, Slow Light

Let's take a break from the old timey things for a moment, M'kay? There's a duo out of Baltimore that's been making pretty brilliant fuzzed out droney bliss for the past couple of years, and I'm not talking about Beach House. There is a certain similarity between the two bands but this is more distorted and less dreamy. Yet it should get all the hype that B.H. as been getting from all the hipsters (oh, you silly kids). This post collects all there output, barring their latest 7" (available here). And it looks like they have a few tapes coming out somewhat soon. You should be excited about that too.

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