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.
