Best of 2010

Here's a no brainer:
Best album of 2010........Backsliders an apostates will burn EP, by The Austerity Program, YEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!


And oh yes, you got to see the promo vid too:
The coolest trio on earth.

SUN RA un mondo eliocentrico

Sun Ra, un mondo eliocentrico, LRS, 04/2002, musica jazz

1. Fate In A Pleasant Mood
2. Hocus Pocus
3. Dawn
4. Second Star To The Right
5. Discipline 27
6. A Quiet Place In The Universe
7. Space Is The Place - We Travel The Spaceways / Second Stop Is Jupiter / Outer Spaceways Incorporated
8. Yeah Man
9. String Singhs - Discipline 27 / I'll Wait For You

Oh my god! If there was something stranger than Sun Ra, Then humanity should be alarmed a bit '.
Nothing is in perpetual motion like this album And I fear that the Earth will never again be graced by something like that.
Sun Ra was a eccentric screwball who came from Saturn, played a clavinet (A keyboard instrument played by archetypal), field feeding on piles of garbage from George Lucas, dressed as ancient Egyptian, was a fire-eater in his shows, because you do not fucking believe how pure a angel, attended the Rotary Club of Grosseto and often went to dinner at Bill Gates. Sorry, the last two are not true, but Sun Ra himself was a absurd liar ...
This is free-jazz stage more experimental, Using instruments never heard before then to create a'Only to plot music as in its intentions, something alien and at the same time spiritual. Sun RaAmong other things, was also a musician a invented the day music cosmic.
Using electric keyboards under a years after their appearance, Sun Ra quickly pushed the new technology to the extreme limit.
Surprise, intrigue and terror, then, and the fact that Sun Ra believed to have met these extraterrestrial people is really the most normal thing in the middle of everything.
And, among other things, was also a musician ..

Well, I still prefer his rendition of Pink Elephants on Parade, a revorking of an old Disney tune appearing on Stay Awake compilation. He could do all sorts of things in an unique way.
Watch out for a standout track „Dawn“ recorded live in Egypt with some local allstar musitians. This is a real order of the songs and their correct titles. Forget mp3 tags since they are splendidly wrong. This cd is long time out of print and thus I hereby am correcting this injustice.

Ole Lukkøye

Ole Lukkøye are part of the Russian underground. The band was formed by Boris Bardash and Andrej Lavrinenko in St. Petersburg in 1989. With the release of their second album "Toomze", the band showed the high ambition they aspired to: It's a concoction of British ArtRock, musical influences from all parts of the former Soviet Union and elements of ambient and trance which makes this music so intriguing. The group fuses traditional Russian styles (for example that of the Tuva-region in southern Siberia) with current western rhythms and sounds. The result, a dark and shamanistic psychedelic trance rock with much percussion and many acoustic instruments, opens a door between east and west. Ole Lukkøye knew the early albums of Faust, which found their way into the Russian music scene and acquired a cult following there. Thus the contact was established and after a meeting, the two parties agreed that Ole Lukkøye's fourth album Crystal Crow Bar was to be produced at Faust's studios in the spring of 2000.

Band's website

Ne Zhdali!

Gloriously wild, shamelessly blending elements of punk, Rock in Opposition, and traditional party music from Russian and Jewish extractions. Exit the mathematical instrumental compositions; these songs scream, shout, and laugh. They tap into the Ex's energy but pair it to the craziness of Palinckx and the Stick Men to cover up the sweet-and-sour feelings of a country freed from communist oppression but unable to fulfill aspirations. The horn section (Vadim Veeremaa and Oleg Davidovitch) plays intentionally out of tune; the rhythm section (Ilya Komarov and Vitaly Redchits) grooves through complex beats and sudden left turns, making them sound logical, almost inevitable. On top of it all, Soybelman sings his songs of surreal love in Russian and occasional Hebrew. Sounds like Melt Banana an Naked City covering beloved Soviet popular songs but in a wild & joyous mood.
Saw them play live twice and both concerts were damn good. I remember that guitar had an amp "Dinamit" (dynamite), of course made in USSR. It did not sound like that you know...

here are a few nice soviet guitars... but I wasn't able to find a picture of the amp anywhere. Anybody?

Rapeman live Stockholm 1988

This is the best Albini fronted band ever. Full-stop.
Better than Big Black, better than Shellac, and better
than Scratch Acid. On a par with Jesus Lizard.
Final show of their only European tour, with lot of
interruptions, edited out but not entirely. They had some
problems with PA that night so first song is missing since they
started again when the right channel "occurred".
just listen to them play...their guts out.

Psychic TV: my personal favourites...

Psychic TV were signed to WEA Records and subsequently CBS based on the infamy of Throbbing Gristle. Their first albums Force The Hand Of Chance and Dreams Less Sweet featured high production values, catchy pop songs written by Fergusson (with barbershop quartet vocals arranged by Andrew Pearson), and sound experiments primarily created by Peter Christopherson and Geff Rushton, a.k.a. John Balance. How about that lineup, ha?
Towards the end of this period Fergusson/P-Orridge completed their third proper studio album Allegory and Self: Thee Starlit Mire. It was at this point that Genesis became interested in acid house and techno. Alex Fergusson left and was replaced with techno artist Fred Gianelli.
In 92 Genesis got into rough wheather thanks to a fabricated accusation of satanic abuse, he exiled to California where he got introduced to Larry Thrasher, co-founder of the experimental noise band Thessalonians. This began a new period with Psychic TV returning to its psychedelic pop roots with Thrasher co-producing the critically acclaimed Trip/Reset.Sadly though it didn't last long.
So you might say that I prefer pop to techno? Guilty as charged.

Hafler Trio

Hafler Trio (or H30, for short) is a project of Andrew McKenzie, who explores various sonic phenomena through his records. Another issue that the project explores is a blurred line between the fact and the faction and various ways of mass manipulation – initially the band claimed that Dr. Edward Moolenbeek was its founder, but he turned out to be a fictitious person. Initially, Hafler Trio included Moolenbeek, McKenzie and Chris Watson from Cabaret Voltaire, but eventually McKenzie became a center of the project.
Hafler Trio debuted in 1984 with “Bang! An Open Letter”, which was supposed to demonstrate that the band was a part of ROBOL, a research organization and worked on issues related to perception with Dr. Robert Spirgeon (all of which, of course, were also fictional).
All Music Guide pointed out that “Bang!” contains different types of material, including harsh ambient music, which H30 would explore in depth later, as well as looped and layered news and radio broadcasts. AMG concluded that “The album’s overall effect is a spectrum of recognition, from overt to subliminal, and the relative brevity of the tracks makes for an overall disorientation, requiring more active listening than the group’s later works.”
I bought this because this is the first project Chris Watson was engaged into after leaving Cabaret Voltaire. It is on the border where music ceases to exist in its original form. There is no melody just sound collages that sometimes have a rhythmic pattern because they are being constantly repeated. I would categorize this as "not quite music but not quite not music"
Latter day singles Wolf Sheep Cabbage - Episode 1 from 2004, Right Here Where You Are Sitting Now from 1996, are ambient, drone, cloudscape sound textures. I have ripped these off vinyl but it is perfect cd music. When put on a repeat it works better, because one listen is not enough.

kings of dub

My favourite dub albums here on display.

Dub combo is a compilation of dub tracks from several Israel Vibration albums. It is the most laid back and the most classical dub of all albums here. Trans-cending.

Drums of defiance is more of a modern album, sort of trip hop meets dub meets african music. The feeling of this album is just great.

Twilight Circus Sound System is the most out-there dub into-infinity album of the three here on display. Chrome of dub. Deep groovy and reverberating into-space album. An endless chain of dub. Did I also mention hand made cover? I did not? No, I did.

best of 2009

Well, it's Jarvis Cocker and his Further Complications. It's way more exciting a record than anything bearing name Pulp. Plus it has signature Albini sound and signature Cocker wit and humor.
Not surpassed by anyone last year. Let's complicate some more this year Jarvis. Don't you get soft on me!

Cabaret Voltaire - Outer Limits

The Outer Limits is another 1976 demo tape that came to the surface and made it to the Brainwashed CV discography.

Tracklist

A1		Capsules	7:29
A2		Is That Me (Finding Someone At The Door Again?)	4:48
A3		The Single	3:30
A4		Ooraseal	4:22
A5		Loves In Vein	4:30
A6		Dream Sequence 1	2:56
B1		Dream Sequence 2	3:42
B2		Do The Snake	5:59
B3		A Sunday Night In Biot	3:26
B4		She Loves You	8:44

My copy is two songs shorter than the one described on Brainvashed. It lacks Stolen from Spectra and Bedtime Stories.
Sound quality is... well this is a demo. Some of the songs appear on Methodology 1, and some on 1974-1976 album. Some versions do differ but only in length (they were edited because of the tape limitations, see they made these demos on c-60 cassette so they trimmed a song or two to fit on a cassette side.) Other versions seem to have different pitch. Again it is possible that the equipment they used to duplicate these tapes had different speed. But that only makes it all a bit more interesting does it not.
I like their early stuff. The sounds they produced back then show a great deal of creativity because it was not easy back then to create such sounds on equipment they had those days. I think highly of this period. Almost religious about it...

Companyia Electrica Dharma

Companyia Electrica Dharma is a long lived Catalan jazz ethnic rock combo. They have been around for more than 30 years with their first album dating as far as 1975. I've become acquainted with their work through two very different albums from 2000's. First one: Sonada! from 2000 and Llibre Vermell from 2002. Saw them play live 2003 promoting the latter. While Sonada is more upbeat and more Mediterranean and an overall cheerful album, Llibre Vermell is a medieval Mediterranean goth-like album. It's dark and it's all about creating a certain atmosphere, executed first rate . It only goes to prove that these are seasoned musicians each one a master of his own instrument. I was quite excited upon first hearing this record because I have never heard anything like it. The emphasis on their Catalan background is predominant but they also create a feel similar to some neo folk artists such as Death in June or later day Current 93 + The Ape of Naples era Coil.
The bottom line is, I really like this album.

Bill Laswell City of Light

I bought this mainly because it has some interesting names on the front cover, mainly Coil to be frank, but it apparently is not the track worth buying this cd for. Trilok Gurtu and Tetsu Inoue have done a finer job here. All in all this is a Bill Laswell record. It has his signature sound written all over it and I find it to be a pleasurable listen allthough it is not your every day music you know. It is much more in vein of an other Laswell record which I enjoy very much: Hashisheen : The End Of Law
it also has Hakim Bey on it but it features vocals of Sussan Deyhim, and I'm a big, no, I'm a huge fan of her work.

try city of light first

then buy

Santa's Little Helper

Shock Therapy was born from the distorted life of Itchy.
born May 30th 1964 - died Nov. 5th 2008
Unusual circumstances shape unusual artists! so also in the
case of the 80's Elektropunk icon Gregory John Mc Cormick,
better known under the artist
name "Itchy" (set on Iggy Pop!).

In the tender age of 8 years, his dad put him into a
locked mental clinic, because Itchy was out of norm!
and he only sat there and watched the
people so strangly observe-calmly.
For Itchy, one of the personal Highlights in his career,
is his late friendship with Charles Bukowski. For his song genius
of the crowd Itchy took thesame named lyrics of Bukowski,
and his publisher in america demanded 5000 $
for the unallowed use of other artists thoughts.
After a telephone call between Bukowski and Itchy,
Bukowski visited Itchy and gave him hispermission to use the
text free of charge.


then, some poetry by Itchy himself:

santa claus is sick
last night he drank too much
its his goddamned nagging wife
mrs. claus is a muther-humpin bitch

santa claus is sick
last night he scr*** a dirty old who**
too f****d up to wear a rubber
now theres a pus***g shanker on his d***

so this christmas itchy is coming
hes gonna s**t on your living room floor
instead of leaving a cheap plastic toy

When I played this song to my wife she said that it
sounded too scary for her taste.
Itchy is no fake, he's the real sh**. You either are
what you claim to be or you are not nor will you ever be.
I myself really like the amount of rage incorporated
into a some sort of mid eastern chant
which closes the first song of the set "The Golden Calf".
This is where I think he that he really means it.
It is a voice of a genuine rage.
He was for real.
Sleep tight, Itchy.


Gimme that cristmass present right now

Fusnota: Nedavno sam čitao knjigu Allice Miller - Drama Djetinjstva koja mi je
otvorila oči na nšto što dugo godina nisam mogao uprijeti prstom: u djetinjstvu
nam se događaju stvari (najčešće ružne) koje nam "serviraju roditelji" a mi
provodimo cijeli život brfaneći ih, trudimo se živjeti život kakav bi oni htjeli
da mi živimo, ili živimo točno onako kako oni ne bi htjeli, kako bilo, sve se vrti
oko njih ali mi to nismo svjesni.
Itchy je bio ljut na svoje roditelje a mrzio je svijet. Njegov bijes je palucao
po svemu oko njega ali nije bio usmjeren ka onima koji su ga stvorili takvog kakav
je bio. Njegov bijes nije bio fokusiran i pročišćavajući nego više sila prirode,
bez kontrole.
Sinead O' Connor je, čini mi se, imala taj moment katarze u
"Fire on Babylon", nakon toga je uslijedilo čuveno kidanje slike Pape, a sada 10-ak
godina nakon toga doznajemo otkuda taj bijes. Ona je vjerovatno bila i sama svjedokom
molestiranja djece pod okriljem crkve i krenula u svoj "boj". No najprije je
kanalizirala svoj bijes i obračunala se s majkom. Nakon toga je krenula dalje.
Sad kad je vidim ovako bucmastu i smirenu, mislim da i nije baš tako luda kako su
je prikazivali u medijima. Borila se za sebe.
Santa Claus kod Itchy-a možda predstavlja oca ali nisam psiholog,
možda su Santa Claus i njegova žena iz pjesme svi naši očevi i majke...

Skin Yard

Toxic Shock TXLP-15, vinyl issue Spring '88, CD issue spring '92 with two bonus tracks. Was preceded by the single "Stranger/This Lonely Place" (Toxic Shock TX-009). CD also issued in Germany on Musical Tragedies MT-139. 200 copies of the vinyl were purple. The second pressing of the vinyl had the blue and red colors on the cover reversed, just for the hell of it. Recorded by Jack Endino at Reciprocal on the mighty Otari MX-5050 half-inch 8-track. Has been called their best album; definitely their most abrasive.

There is an obvious lack of an outstanding drummer that made all the difference between the first eponymous, and this album. I'm not saying that Scott McCullum is not a good drummer, only that in comparison to Matt Cameron... well they are not in the same league. I find that there is slightly more filler on this one than on the first album, and I haven't heard any of the subsequent albums.
I always heard a strong Bowie influence in their music, especially in Ben McMillan's voice, which is a sort of a compliment I guess. I would rate it 3 out of 5. Not bad album at all. Good for listening in a car.

Mailorder: $15.00 postpaid inside the U.S. through Paypal (this is a bit more than the other CDs, but this one is also the most rare and hard-to-find of their CDs)
try: toxic shock

Silverfish

Cockeye is a collection of some early ep's by the Silverfish often described as british Butthole Surfers fronted by a woman. Lesley Rankine, later went on to form excellent Ruby, but that was a whole different type of music. This was originally released on Wiija records in UK, but in US it was out on Touch & go. I think it describes what Silverfish were all about. Noisy, nasty, weird, funny, aggressive, energetic. Made to be played really loud.

try:
The eye of the cock
buy:
amazon

Mojo Nixon for free on Amazon!

dig dis!

Complete Mojo for free on Amazon but only for a limited period of time. If you don't mind leaving your name & adress & pretty much everything else.
It works only if you are an US citizen, the rest of us get something like this:

We are sorry...

We could not process your order. The sale of MP3 Downloads is currently available only to US customers located in the 48 contiguous states, Alaska, Hawaii, and the District of Columbia.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you.

Well, you have been warned. I have been burned.

If you don't got Mojo Nixon/ Then your store could use some fixin. (Dead Milkmen)

I had Unlimited Everything on a cassette and wore it out. My personal favorites were Elvis is Everywhere, Burn Your Money, Amsterdam Dogshit Blues and Stuffin' Martha's Muffin.
Nowdays I think of him as one of the greatest names in economics. His songs aimed against banks and money are true philosophical jewels of modern economic theory and hold a timeless value.

I Hate Banks
by Mojo Nixon and Skid Roper

I hate banks...
I just can't stand 'em.
Gimme a shovel & man I'll plant 'em.
Six feet under thats where they belong...
I hate banks is the name of this song.
I think I'll rob myself one or two...
Yeah I hate banks, yeah, how 'bout you?

Well...lend me a nickel & lend me a dime,
repossess my house any old time.
Financial institutions think they're so high faluting...
Just a bunch of fruits in three piece suits,
trying to steal all my loot.
Things are smelling pretty rank,
We must be near a stinking bank.
Smells worse than Rockefellars feet,
Wall Street can eat my meat.

Yeah throw the moneylenders out of the temple;
I hate banks its just that simple.
Royal Crown Palm Ade Tin,
is a the best thing to keep your money in.
Mason jar is okay too,
if you see a bank well you know what to do.

Now, lemme tell you people something...
The only banks I like, well, I like Ernie Banks alright.
And I like the banks of the Mississippi River...
Yeah, and I like banks of fender twin reverb...
Electric guitar amplifiers behind me, raging on the stages...

Well,when I walk in they treat me like a dog;
want to hit them in the head with a doo-doo log.
Republicans, one and all...
Their talleywhackers are mighty small.
Stealing from the poor gonna give to the rich...
Wanna make the bank president twitch in a ditch.

Yeah, see that teller with the blue hair,
giving me the evil-eye stare.
Won't cash my check don't like my ID...
got the security guard after me.
If I was E. F. Sloane,
I'd say the Dow Jones can suck my bone.
Yeah.

Everybody say the three magic words!
I want you to help me say the words!
I want you to repeat after me!
I HATE BANKS!
Can't stand 'em!
I HATE BANKS!
Don't Like 'em!
I HATE BANKS!
Bunch of Foo-Foo's!
I HATE BANKS!
Contrary like a big zit!

I hate banks...
I just can't stand 'em.
Gimme a shovel & man I'll plant 'em.
Six feet under thats where they belong...
I hate banks is the name of this song.
I think I'll rob myself one or two...
Yeah I hate banks, yeah, how 'bout you?

Now lemme tell you something...
I'm not real fond of the PHONE COMPANY either!
You know?
Yeah, and I don't like the cable TV company.
You know why I don't like the cable TV company?
Cause they just be sucking that stuff right out the sky!
THEY don't have to pay nuttin for it!
I just get me one of them bootleg cable boxes,
and get me one of them climb the pole and stick the thing in...
I ain't gonna pay for it!
NOOOOO!!!!"

Leaving Trains and the "F" word album

If you want to know more about the band I suggest you go to allmusic, and read all the blah blah about who was where and when in the band etc...
It's utterly boring and informative.
When I first heard this band, it was this albums' closer: What the president meant to say. I thought it was as much fun as Giant Sand's Swerwe. In fact, I thought there was Howe Gelb on board, but no it was Falling James Moreland all the way. For years I thought they were an offshoot for Gelb's punk leanings if he ever had any, but you know, there was no internet those days and I had no access to any of the fanzines and stuff, and I got the whole picture when I finally bought this cd few years later. It's an utter fun.
Personal picks: Violent Sex, What Cissy Said, Twenty-Seven Days .
Edit: couple of years later I learned that they actually did work together, Fallin James sang lead vocal on the song Doors from Love Songs album: http://www.deezer.com/track/346352011

Well I guess I wasn't crazy after all!

buy: SST RECORDS
P.O. Box 1
Lawndale, CA 90260

Rhythm Pigs - El Paso

The all career high for this versatile and complex hc punk group. This is what rock sounds like when technically skilled hardcore musicians get together to play some more laid back stuff. Not that all of the songs are laid back and rock-ish. They put on a fine racket somwhere towards the middle with a medley of 3 ultrafast songs + a funny no 12 Mr. Rhinocerous just to remind you where they came from. But where they came to is the real deal. Starting with Spun and Exploded guitar intro, and getting stellar on Model T Ford, Rhythym Pigs shine as brightly as never before or after. Listen to this record and you will ask yourself how come these guys never made it big? They surely were good enough.

link:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/6oewr2

Available to buy via Konkkurel label in Netherlands who reissued their entire output on 3 cd's.

David Thomas & Foreigners

Release Notes:
Bay City is an album of reinvented roots-- part salty melancholic blues, part wounded sultry jazz and part jangling swamp rock. Bay City - tales from Philip Marlowe's lost nights in a town affluent and self-contented on the surface, rife with corruption and nepotism just underneath. Blood on the face of the moon. Bones buried in the hills. Double indemnity and dark visions.

On the other side of every desert is... Bay City.

David Thomas and foreigners started life at a concert staged in the middle of the Gefion fountain, in the rain, in Copenhagen in 1996. Jørgen Teller enlisted Mr Thomas along with 2 other Danish musicians, P. O. Jørgens and Per Buhl Acs. The collaboration, recorded on a farm in Denmark between 1996 and 1999, promised a hard-edged reappraisal of American music, the lingua franca of a planet drifting into strangeness. Contrary to all logic, it is a startlingly specific cultural folkwork.

Founder and lead vocalist of legendary out-rock band Pere Ubu, David Thomas has been re-writing the rules of popular music for over 25 years. Formed in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1975, Pere Ubu developed a sound which combined traditional rock elements with an array of sounds, synthesizers and of course, Thomas's unmistakable vocals. The band's first release was in 1978, titled The Modern Dance, and since then they have put out a consistent stream of fascinating, highly original albums, the latest being Pennsylvania (1998).

David Thomas, while playing a major role in Pere Ubu's development, has always explored implausible creative configurations, and seemingly arbitrary production methods. His first solo release The Sound of the Sand appeared in 1981 and has been followed by a further 9 releases. Thomas's musical/creative aesthetic is as broad ranging as it is, paradoxically, specific - underscored by an almost visionary awareness of our cultural situation. Indeed his tireless inquiries into the nature of social relations, folk traditions and contemporary culture have led him up some unlikely creative paths, soda stops along Highway 61 to the banks of the Yenisei River. Musically, Thomas's work takes in a range of influences, sometimes bluesy, rocky, folky and downright experimental, but always conceived in a unique way.

"One more David Thomas recording, one would think, only to once again end up open mouthed in front of the loudspeakers." - Rolf Jager, Intro

"Fractured, bent, steamy, lyrically gruff and introspective--kind of in the Tom Waits/Capt. Beefheart/Col. Bruce Hampton (Ret.)/Shockabilly-Chadbourne vein...you'll just have to check it out for yourself...it left me slightly crippled when it was all over." - jennyt, Tom Waits Bulletin Board

I would add that this, to me, is a perfect "room" record. It sounds like they are in a room with you because of the sound and it sure releases a different feel to your listening experience. Your room transforms into a dark and dirty hotel room somewhere in the US, it is dark and the rain is falling. Totally noir.

try:bay city

buy: amazon

Kepone by Kepone

I remember when this album came out, a friend of mine said: noise rock is dead, Kepone made a better album than Jesus Lizard (Down).
I thought it was a little overblown a statement then, and still think the same now. I'm not saying that Kepone is not a great album but it is still not in the same league. It is as good as, for example, Shot by Jesus Lizard, and that was the last album Jesus Lizard has released that I had bought, times changed and yes, it was the end of an era for me.
"Kepone" suffers a little in production department, since they sounded so much better live. I saw them play while they were touring promoting this album and the album never came close to the sheer power of their live show. It was produced by Bob Weston, and it sounds a bit muddier than what I prefer. Still, no producer can kill the quality of these songs. It is noise gospel what was introduced on this album. The song Leave Your Bones is a perfect example, and it is very similar to the acoustic Now I Truly Understand from the first Mule album.
In fact, there is so much more that these two bands have in common: they created a modern sound using their roots by updating blues/gospel with energy, and putting their hearts into powerful execution of the songs. This to me is the new take on the roots of american music. They made their past sound so fresh and exciting and gave new meaning to traditional influence in modern rock. And yes, the song sound spiritual I kid you not.
As for the rest of the tracks, they never stop to rock. As I said earlier, production stands in the way of getting it right, but listening to it really loud does help a bit.


Buy: http://www.amazon.com/Kepone/dp/B0000037OG
Try: http://www.sendspace.com/file/1z434q