Intrigue

 A few weeks ago Intrigue a compilation by Steven Wilson, known as the founder, songwriter, singer and vocalist of Porcupine Tree, named as Intrigue: Progressive Sounds in UK Alternative Music 1979 - 1989. I owned this box set just because a lot of songs from this decade were very familiar to me. Listening to those songs brought me back to glory days of new music I developed in these days and I am thinking about to start a little series based on the music I rediscovered during the last days.

This Heat - Health And Efficiency

This Heat was an experimental band formed in London in 1976 and filled as another punk band from the beginning. They only released two albums and an EP with the same title. Health and Efficiency is one of their highlights and shows what could be possible when your musical ideas has no limits. Their sound was seminal because they included different influences like krautrock, dub, noise and post punk into their unique sound. Still an underrated band that should have more acclaim to their works.

In Camera - Fatal Day

To be frankly In Camera is a band that I hadn't on the radar until I listened to them on the compilation. This London based post-punk band formed by Andrew Gray who became later a member of The Wolfgang Press, were heavenly inspired by PIL and Joy Division and sadly they were unable to release a full album. File as another underrated and forgotten band.

Have a great weekend people.

Dub Housing

 

A few days ago while I looked for something other I found Dub Housing by Pere Ubu. I almost forgot that I had a CD version from their 1978 album. Formed in Cleveland in the late 70's they created their very own version of rock music. Inspired by punk as a new form of music they added elements of krautrock and free jazz to their cosmos. Seldom heard a darker and dangerous sound like on their first albums. If any music can hurt than theirs. I know this is not the cup of tea for everyone and lots of people would annoy this kind of music but if you are willing to to go to the darkest chapter in punk/new wave influenced music you have to listen to this. A tour de force of experimental sound. On the other side many bands were influenced by them. Once I read that they were the link between Velvet Underground, Captain Beefheart, Soft Machine, Brian Eno and This Heat and I have to say this is true.

Pere Ubu - Codex

Pere Ubu - Dub Housing

Pere Ubu - Ubu Dance Party

A New Kind Of Water

This Heat is one of those forgotten bands from the late 70s/early 80s. They weren't popular at all because their music was everything but easy listening. And it's hard to describe their music. Pitchfork once wrote about them:

This Heat's sound was something like a confrontation of prog, free-jazz and contemporary electronic music (think early Stockhausen, not Kraftwerk). They often get lumped into the post-punk (or even just "punk") camp, for no better reason other than they started at the same time. They certainly sounded as if they were angry about something, and taking a glance at the lyric sheet for this album (and you'd better, as often the vocals seem more musical element than communicative force), they had fairly intense political/social statements to make-- though pinning down their position is often as hard as pinning down their sound. In any case, they were "progressive" in the literal sense of the word, and though they came up with the first wave of punk, they didn't really sound like anyone else of the time (save a few other English radicals like Henry Cow or Art Bears, occasionally).

Sure, some kind of music that may hurt. But didn't the Frank Zappa or Captain Beefheart hurt us as well?