Justified Ancients Of Mu Mu

 

In the late 80's a new kind of music came over from England. A sound that was really new and exciting. Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty both companions of the British independent scene surprised us with a mix of rap-influenced heavy sound and using various samples in their songs. Both used different names for their bands like Justified Ancients of Mu Mu or The Timelords but they got their place in history as The KLF. Without The KLF German techno band Scooter wouldn't exist and it is a pleasure listening to songs filled with great ideas after a longer time.

The KLF - Last Train To Trancentral (Live from lost continent)

The KLF - America What Time Is Love

The KLF -  It's Grim Up North

Mindrockers

 

From time to time I poke in my record collection for something undefined and suddenly I see a record I didn't remember that I owned it. This happened at last when I came to my compilation collection and I found an album called Mindrockers. It was the first album of a series from 13 albums featuring lost nuggets from the 60's garage/pre-punk/psychedelia released on a Line Records, a German label specialized on obscure re-releases. Most of the bands on this compilation came from California and were massive influenced by the first British wave that spilled over the Atlantic ocean. Most of the bands I've never heard before or after except The Seeds and I must admit that it was great fun listening to those forgotten bands again after decades. This was the time when most of the bands made songs not much longer than two minutes and therefore it is fantastic that they managed it to condense their ideas in this short time. 

Fenwyck - Mindrocker

Chosen Few - Nothing But Me

Mark & The Escorts - Get Your Baby

The Fire Escape - Love Special Delivery

The Seeds - A Thousand Shadows

One More Forgotten Band

 

In 1986 New Zealand's Flying Nun was the record label that introduced me to many great and now forgotten bands with their label compilation Tuatara. A band that didn't managed to be featured on this compilation were Able Tasmans. They borrowed their name from Dutch explorer Abel Tasman and released also in 1986 their first and superb debut A Cuppa Tea And A Lie Down. I really loved their sophisticated and superb arrangements between loud guitar music and pop elements. Largely acoustic sound added with keyboards and corrosive guitars. For me it is a timeless album filled with sweet, crafty and intelligent guitar pop songs that stand in a row with The Woodentops, Belle & Sebastian or Yo La Tengo.

Able Tasmans - What Was That Thing

Able Tasmans - Evil Barbeque

Able Tasmans - Little Hearts

Able Tasmans - Rainbow

Monday's Long Song

 

In 1983 Tony Carey, the former keyboard player of Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, released Why Me one of the earliest synth based rock songs from Germany with his Planet P Project. Why Me is a synthetic product of course but this combination of reggae influenced reggae rock syncopation with synth-lade rock, catchy new wave hooks and a heavy guitar in the back made it as a timeless piece of music that is almost forgotten. The following decades he became a well respected session musician by artists that are famous in Germany but not worth to be named at this place.

Planet P - Why Me (Extended Mix)

Misery

 

International Music, a German band from Essen, was featured at this place for several times. Now their new album Ententanz was finally released and arrived yesterday. I had high expectations on this album not only because their first debut was on heavy rotation at my place a few years ago. As they played the best psychedelic pop on their first album now they moved ahead citing early 80's guitar pop and psychedelic sounds to add a Bowie-riff at some place. As always the lyrics are a kind of Dadaism and dreamy but this doesn't matter. For me it is an album I can get lost for one hour to find almost every musical quotation on this album. 

Zion's Blood

 

It seems like the spring arrived finally at my place. The trees bloom, the flowers grow on the meadows and the temperature is rising even the nights are pretty cold. But this doesn't matter much because we're not allowed to leave our home after 10 pm. So the re-work of The Upsetter's first album Super Ape will be re-released as Super Ape Returns To Conquer is a perfect soundtrack for a walk in the country. Lee Perry's work at the control with dub and horns were a giant step for reggae at all.

Post Punk Electronic

 

Another compilation came to my ears a few days ago. Do You Have the Force? It sprawls the years from 1978 to 1982 after punk broke and a few artists are ready to create alternative electronic sounds. Based on the ideas of punk and that everything could be possible bands like Suicide in NYC or Flying Lizards in Britain created a new kind of sound. Instead of guitars and drums they were focused on electronic equipments and prepared the floor for the the upcoming club sounds. It made fun listening to this long gone songs again.

Suicide - Mr. Ray

The Flying Lizards - Steam Away

New to me was The Sea of Wires, a DIY-synthesizer duo from Coventry and as far as I know they released their songs only on cassettes. It is a dark krautrock inspired sound and too good not to give them a listen.

No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith

 

Following yesterday's post it is a short step from Hawkwind to Motörhead. The link is Ian 'Lemmy' Kilmister who played bass in both bands. Motörhead are pure Rock 'n' Roll and not another kind of hard rock. There were times when every year in December Motörhead came too Stuttgart to play their annual gig. Me and a couple of friends joined them from time to time even if it wasn't the kind of music we usual listened too. But their concerts were pure fun and gave us all classic Rock 'n' Roll could give: fast songs played with verve and very loud. When ever I was in the mood for music like this I come back to their first live recording from 1981 No Sleep 'Till Hammersmith. It is a their powerful legacy and maybe the best live album in this genre - not only because it is filled with their classic songs played in a high class way.

Motörhead - Ace Of Spades

Motörhead - Overkill

Motörhead - Motörhead

Monday's Long Song

 

Last week Swiss Adam made a great post about Robert Calvert and Hawkwind that made me pick up an old record by Hawkwind that I almost forgot over the years. In Search Of Space was their second album and for me the essence of the band and an album that combined krautrock elements with spaced out hard rock. Probably the originals could handle their instruments better but the members of Hawkwind didn't give a damn about this maybe because they didn't have any ambition to be rock stars and rather using drugs and booze. Lester Bangs once described this album as monotone jammings with hypnotic rhythms and solo unravelling off into space. The synthesizers warble, woof and scream and gurgle like barfing computers, the drums pound, and the singers chant unknown tongue rebobs. There is nothing more to add. 

Hawkwind - You Shouldn't Do That

The White Tiger

 

During the last weekend I watched the movie The White Tiger on Netflix because you can't go out for a walk the whole day in times where everything is closed except supermarkets. I didn't had great expectations than two hours of entertainment but what I got was a great film showing life in India. A lot of protagonists showed in the movie I saw in the same way when I traveled through this country. The story of an ambitious Indian driver using his wit and cunning to escape from poverty and rise to the top is simple and many times told in different ways is not new but seldom made as a portrait of a corrupt and crooked country. It is great to see how the main figure in this plot got out of the trap of poverty. It is a movie I can recommend and here are some songs featured in this film,

 

Subtle As A Flying Mallet

According to yesterdays post I grabbed out an old copy of Dave Edmund's second album Subtle As A Flying Mallet the second solo album by Welsh lad Dave Edmunds from 1975 after his band Love Sculpture dissolved. Inspired by the sound of Phil Spector he moved with this album from the classic blues-rock patterns to his interpretation of classic wall of sound songs. On the other side there were a few live tracks where he used the members of Brinsley Schwarz as his band (after he produced one of their albums). With this early recordings he was linked with the pub-rock scene in the mid 70's. This record sounds so out-of-time and at the same time contemporary if it is new to you or you didn't listen to for decades. 

Dave Edmunds - Born To Be With You

Dave Edmunds - No Money Down

Dave Edmunds - Leave My Woman Alone

Wall Of Sound

 

Over the weekend I found an old sampler in my record collection while searching for something else. It was a compilation of  female singer or groups mostly from the early 60's. Since many years I didn't listen to The Ronettes, The Crystals or Ike and Tina Turner and I have to admit that their songs still has a great attraction to me. The man that created this sound was the last year deceased Phil Spector because he thought the sound of the original recordings were too thin. He placed more microphones in the studio to record the songs and afterwords he overdubbed the recordings. At least you couldn't identify any instrument exactly. But anyway this wall of sound is characteristic for his producing in the early 60's. Many other in history tried to copy this sound but most of them failed. A nice trip back to where great pop/soul songs were made.

The Ronettes - Be My Baby

The Crystals - Da Doo Run Run

Ike and Tina Turner - River Deep Mountain High

Monday's Long Song

 

Ride guitarist Andy Bell released the first EP from his planed trilogy of solo EP's. It started with The Indica Galler EP and features five remixes by Martin Jenkins' Pye Corner Audio extended with his GLOK re-edit of Indica. I really enjoyed these remixes and it seems like Bell couldn't do anything wrong these days. It is a remix Andrew Weatherall would be proud of and a perfect start into a new working week.

Blue Lines

 

This week 30 years ago Massive Attack released their debut album Blue Lines, an album that prepared the floor for trip hop and the so named Bristol sound. For me it was a manifestation how today's club sound should sound like. Formed by members of Bristol party collective Wild Bunch they created a never heard before mixture of electronic music, dub, reggae, hip hop and 70's soul mostly in a downtempo mood. I recommended this record to many people that year but less could see the beauty in the vocals by Shara Nelson, Tony Bryan and Horace Andy. Blue Lines accompanied me during the last decades and even Mezzanine might be better I will always come back to their superb debut.

Massive Attack -  Five Man Army

Massive Attack - Safe From Harm

Massive Attack - Be Thankful For What You've Got

No Hope For A Sexual Revolution

 

With the huge amount of releases it is impossible to get all the best and new. It is all the more beautiful if I discover a good song several years after its release. This happened when I got the news that Höga Nord Records re-released High Boys' World Dumbination EP from 2017 the recent days. High Boys is the project by Jean-Louis Hutha and Joachim Nordwall and both sharing a massive fondness to early techno acid and try to integrate fragments of kraut psych into their sound. I have to admit that this song has this kind of hypnotic groove that I can't enough in it's way for a moment. 

Much More Than Retro Folk Rock

Primrose Green by Ryley Walker was one of the best albums from 2015. Not only because I saw him live at these days I really liked him because he came across the same cosmic folk vein as Tim Buckley or John Martyn. Now he is back with his latest album Course In Faible recorded and produced in his hometown Chicago by John McEntire a former member of Tortoise and The Sea and Cake. This album is stamped by Walker's own unique voice and combines his eclectic influences like Nick Drake, John Martyn and Bert Jansch with a massive touch of prog-rock. It is not the album you can listen to every day but if you find the time to get into this record you might find the beauty in it. I guess this will be an overlooked highlight and someday a classic.

Lost Steps

 

In the late 70's a lot of punk bands turned into reggae and experimented with dub and and other effects. One of the most influenced producer of this kind of music was Adrian Sherwood. He released on his On-U Sound-label the most significant records in this genre. The main were the New Age Steppers, a dub collective of former members of The Slits, PIL, The Pop Group and The Raincoats. They only released a few records but their influence was immense. I was surprised when I heard about the release of a new album by New Age Steppers until I found out that was only a compilation of lost tracks or versions that was only released as added versions of their albums for the Japanese market. And it is a gift that this songs and versions was released now on this fantastic compilation Avant Gardening. And it is great to listen to a long lost Peel-session when the missed Ari Up is on vocals.

New Hype On Tuesday

 

A year ago Dry Cleaning released two EP's featured here and I was fascinated by their combination of post-punk sound combined with the spoken words by Florence Shaw. Now they released their debut album and you can hear their names dropped in almost every music magazine as the next big thing. What it isn't. It is nothing more or less an album with some great songs on it pointing musically to the end of the 70's and early 80's. The sound is heavily inspired by Gang of Four, Young Marble Giants and wire. A dominant bass rules the songs and nervous guitars makes them outstanding from many other releases these days. What makes them also different to others are the vocals by Shaw. She's not singing, just speaking about everything and mostly incoherent for me. It is a cool sound but the longer I listen to it, the more it repeats and nothing new happens. If they'd chosen to make another EP it could have been one of the best in this year so far.  

Monday's Long Song

 

Almost one year ago the first album by Autoelia was released by Demian Castellanos and Tom Relleen. I missed their debut and got aware by recommendation from a friend. Autoelia, as originally coined by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, describes a process by which someone has a purpose in, rather than outside of themselves. Those who are autotelic depend less on external rewards for their satisfaction, being driven instead simply by purpose or curiosity. Their project was started as an opportunity to play more freely, with less of the process, consideration and production we both associated with our main projects. And that is what you can hear on this record - a free form of kosmische music based on the floor Cluster, early Spacemen 3 and a modern Brian Eno prepared. It is a 13 minute journey into space. Seems like another overlooked band.

Island Of Desolation

 

International Music is a German band from Essen and featured on this place for several times. Why? Because I think they are probably one of the best German acts today. I like their music where JAMC meets Can and F.S.K. and thick net from laconicism, melancholy, psychedelia and post- punk in whom one gets caught with pleasure. A few days ago they announced the release of their second album with the first single Insel der Verlassenheit a typical song with great guitars, a steady rhythm and cryptic lyrics as they used to have. After all a song with a great hook and perfect for a good start into Eastern Sunday.

Lagos Calling

I am not a fan of the so called world music genre and certainly not a fan of arty music. Not because I don't like this genres but mostly I miss the main thing in music - soul. But sometimes I am surprised that there is music I can agree with. This happened when I listened to the latest album by Emeka Ogboh, an Nigeria born and now living in Berlin artist and former art student working with the urban sounds of his hometown Lagos. Ogboh works with the sounds, voices, songs, shouts, screams, noise of a city. He also composes songs and public speeches, which he incorporates into experimental musical pieces and sound installations. I really like this kind of musical experience that reminds me at Pantha Du Prince another electronic artist from Berlin. Lekki Ajah Freeway combines the sound of the city with motorik grooves. A sound experience I didn't expected. 

Diabolique

 

It is April and a quarter of the year lies behind us. And also days that are ruled by the pandemic that last now more than one year. Since a long time I knew that only vaccine will relief our life. Not that it will be like it was before but in a way that might come close to it. The most that worried me during the last months was not the social distance we should have - it was the new about corrupt politicians making their own profit on delivering vaccine to the health organisations (that our government isn't able to make a strategic plan for a people's vaccination is a thing I sadly accepted since a longer time). The good thing is that I found more time to listen to music - especially the ones I didn't played much during the last months.

One of those is Diabolique, the 2019 release by L Èpée, a collaboration between The Liminanas and Anton Newcombe from Brian Jonestown Massacre. You can name their sound underground psychedelic pop and it is true when you listen to the beautiful and soft voices of Emmanuelle Seigner and Marie Liminina that switches from French to English and back. The sound is psychedelic and heavy influenced of late 60's American psychedelic bands with their echoing guitars and trippy phasing keyboards. What this record makes outstanding is that L Épée found their very own sound and wrote and arranged a lot of songs that will stand the test of time.

L Épée - Dreams

L Épée - Ghost Rider

L Épée - La Brigade des maléfices

s and beautifully balanced instrumental arrangements which seem to grow and evolve as the songs play out. The tones are retro, french vintage tones with a variety of well played and arranged instruments. The songs build and change, sometimes guitars drenched in reverb raw and exposed with super cool attitude take the front melody while at other times layers of arranged instruments create an textured and beautiful sound.