Nico achieved the perfect synthesis between the futuristic and the archaic with The End, a set of medieval incantations from another dimension ("It Has Not Taken Long"), manic-depressive liturgies for some deserted future land ("Secret Ride"), ectoplasmic tangos ("You Forgot To Answer"), rituals from the ancient priestess ("Innocent And Vain"), funeral music for demons ("Valley Of The Kings"), astral projections through catacombs ("We've Got The Gold").The cover of "The End" (The Doors) is the least successful track here, but still fits well with the images of fallen future empires the album evokes. An intense rendition of "Das Lied Der Deutschen" is an appropriate finale. This trilogy of albums (Marble Index, Desertshore, this one), simply-put, belong among rock music's crowning achievements.
Get it here. Ta Nexd.
DNA pushed the no-wave sound like no other act at the time. The result ("New Fast", "5.30", "Blonde Redhead", "32123") is a bunch of free-funk, in which the guitar, the drums, the bass and the voice (that imitates the bluesmen), indulge in micro improvisations that break the compositional form into razor-sharp pieces. That they are able to get a groove, or provide suspenseful ambience ("New New", "Lying On The Sofa Of Life") amidst the carnage, is an achievement in itself.
Get it here. Ta Nexd.
An astonishing album by the Cabs. Above all this is a tremendous psychedelic record, with "Eastern Mantra" being a crossover between Eastern litany, industrial, acid psychedelia, improvisation, electronics and dance music. All the while "Western Mantra" features an even looser form of psychedelia (Eastern elements abound here as well), assuming the guise of a hypnosis and subsequent delve into the collective subconscious of modern society, as well as an exorcism which reveals it's pagan roots.Get it here. Another contribution by Nexd - thanks.
If the first Comsat Angels album (Waiting For A Miracle) was a fractured take on English new-wave, then Sleep No More features a more unified, condensed and powerful sound, one based on tight performances, claustrophobic ambient atmosphere and acerbic grooves.
The more successful numbers, the ones that focus in the atmospheric vortex of the keyboards ("Sleep No More", "Light Years"), the martial nightmare ("Dark Parade", "Restless"), the rock punch of the post-punk band ("Eye Dance", "Goat Of The West"), are enough to give you goosebumps. Theirs is a music that bridges post-punk, Gregorian chant, martial pace, psychedelia and sonic layering. Get it here.
In this 1998 collaboration between Pansonic and Alan Vega, Pansonic create a desolate soundscape over which Vega chants his incantations. The glitch-noir futuristic disco "Medal", the noise-techno "Incredible Criminals", the factory pulse of "Motor Maniac" and "Sick Sick USA", the frozen cyclone "No Home Kings" (with delirious vocals), the free-form dadaist collage "Outrage for the Frontpage", the thriller-soundtrack of "Endless", the electric radiation of "Desperate Fa Tha Miracle", the homage to the original spirit of Suicide "Red Lights Down", the percussive/ minimalist "Fun In The Wonderland", the suspenseful electro "Baby Lips", the monolithic cardiogram ambience of "Disgrace" etc are more than simple songs; they are a visionary depiction of cyber-neurosis.
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Pete Wylie was unjustly neglected amidst the neo-psychedelic scene of Liverpool, where Ian McCulloch and Julian Cope stole the limelight. Nah=Poo is certainly a splendid album.Check the dark-punk ritual "Wind Up" (similar to Modern Eon), the glacial mixture of power-pop and dark-wave "Otherboys" (with the Wagner-ian synths), the hysterical new-wave "Why D'You Imitate The Cutout" (akin to the XTC), or "Mission Impossible" (akin to a more gothic Teardrop Explodes), occasionally reaching paroxysm levels in it's wall of sound ("Seven Thousand Names"), and sabotaged by discordant sections ("Somesay").Actually, this is a very creative record that surpasses both the debuts of Echo and the Bunnymen and the Teardrop Explodes. It's not often that someone can combine the melodic and the neurotic element so effortlessly.
EDIT: Dead link because of complaints to Rapidshare.
Anne Clark was never really a singer, more of a reciter, albeit a powerful one. That's the case with this 1982 EP, though the music is quite exceptional.We get recitations over synthscapes that are kosmische, symphonic and dreamy ("The Sitting Room"). Actually, this particular formula predates dream-techno by about a decade.Also, there's tormented musique concrete ("Swimming", "The Power Game") which then transforms to moody and robotic ambient-oramas ("An Ordinary Life") and then to transparent requiems ("Shades"). Finally, there's fragile synth-folk ("Short Story"), and futuristic adaptations of traditional dirge-music ("All We Have To Be Thankful For").An excellent EP that languishes in obscurity. Get it here.
