Records Blog

Those who felt that Niandra Lades demonstrated most of all that John Frusciante seemed to be going over the edge likely thought their suspicions confirmed when Smile From the Streets You Hold quietly appeared on the Birdman label in 1997. However, it's not so much an album as it is a collection of tracks from all over the place, though absolutely nothing about the packaging or liner notes indicates that. At least one cut, the odd semi-goth "A Fall Through the Ground," was recorded in 1988, while others were finished the year of the record's release. Frusciante later confirmed that in 1997 he was still in the grips of a nasty heroin addiction that he has since kicked, and backhandedly dismissed the release as being done pretty much for drug money.

The first in a long series of about-faces and left turns, Visions of Excess forgoes the noise-funk of the Golden Palominos' debut in favor of more pop-oriented material and staggering lineup of underground luminaries.

I figured I'd upload an album that's somewhat relevant considering our current post-election euphoria. This the Stranglers' most popular album, and while it's faster and more aggressive than their debut album, Rattus Norvegicus, it's hardly punk-rock. It's not even particularly edgy but a fairly poppy affair, mostly because of the new-wavish synth sounds that are plastered all over this record. That doesn't mean it's a poor album, far from it, but a lot of people are disappointed when they first hear it after having seen it mentioned in nearly all "definitive guides" on punk, but that really has more to do with the time and place they came to fame than anything else. What did set them apart from other punk acts of the time were the rather clever and humoresque lyrics, which admittedly sound a bit dated now.

This wasn't supposed to happen. After breaking up in 1983, Mission of Burma spent almost 20 years as the band who went away before they could get stale, run out of ideas, or lose their edge, but they weren't supposed to come back. No one figured them to re-emerge on-stage in 2002 for a series of reunion shows in which they would not only sound as strong as ever (if not stronger), but reaffirm themselves as one of America's great rock bands, an ensemble of uncommon intelligence, imagination, and force. But most startling of all, few could have guessed that Mission of Burma would return to the recording studio and emerge with an album that stands comfortably beside the striking recorded legacy they left behind in their earlier incarnation.

The world will never know just how many potentially great pop albums have been lost to misguided attempts at innovation. Though the implementation of unexpected song structures and ostensibly experimental sounds can make music quite a bit more interesting, it can also render it sterile, flat and emotionless. In many cases, the finest pop songs are those that transcend their form entirely-- songs so instinctually graceful that listening to them feels like a creative act in and of itself. Indeed, the best pop songs are often the most difficult to discuss rationally, those indispensable not for their formal inventiveness but for their ability to tap directly into the intangible realm of human memory and emotion.

Singer-songwriter Bill Santen (aka Birddog) doesn't pull any punches on his third album, A Sweet and Bitter Fancy, which includes guest performances by Elliott Smith and Edith Frost. Elliott Smith plays drums, piano, and bass on "Third and South," a jangly, Beatles-esque lo-fi pop song worthy of Smith's involvement. Edith Frost delivers the backing vocals for "Rattlesnakes," a country-tingled number sure to get you sipping a few beers while you sit and take it all in.

The rest of the album is a cocktail of lo-fi, whispery pop, back porch country, and jangly, layered pop songs, at times intertwining country or southern influences, while other times relying solely on AM radio pop as the inspiration.

On Sung Tongs, their first record distributed by FatCat, the two-man Animal Collective come on like sun-scorched acid eaters gathered around the campfire, strumming and grinning while they weave their material out of cyclical singalongs and tight harmonies. Surprisingly, both for fans as well as new additions, that marks a much more accessible sound for a group that had previously probed the outer limits of prog and psychedelia. (Still, back to basics is the right place for a collective that released three albums in 2003.) Immediately called to mind here are the Holy Modal Rounders and, to a lesser extent, the Incredible String Band.

Drawing together some earlier material and a slew of new songs, Spacemen 3 tied everything together on the brilliant Perfect Prescription, the clear point of departure from tribute to psych inspirations and finding its own unique voice. Planned as a concept album, Perfect Prescription works where so many other similar efforts failed due to the strength of the individual songs, as well as the smart focus of the concept in question -- a vision of a drug trip from inception to its blasted conclusion, highs and lows fully intact. The bookending of the album makes that much clear -- "Take Me to the Other Side" is a brash, exultant charge into the joys of the experience, a sharp, tight performance. "Call the Doctor," meanwhile, is a pretty-but-wounded conclusion, husky singing and a drowsy mood detailing the final collapse. The many highlights in between beginning and end are so striking that the album is practically a best-of in all but name.

Dogbowl is Stephen Tunney and mostly known for being a founding member of King Missile (whom he had left before they got heavy college radio airplay for a couple of novelty songs). That's a bit of a shame, because he's released more albums than King Missile ever did, and they're quite a bit better. Unfortunately for him, few people have ever heard of his solo material, and the majority of those that do only know him as another artist on Kramer's Shimmy Disc label.

Coil’s third album differs greatly from what they did before. Pulling more into an IDM-direction before IDM existed instead of their previous more industrial influenced style. Trying to push the envelope as far as possible. Jhonn Balance actually collapsed after the recording sessions. Unable to remember who he was.

Wonderful album by Minnessota's Cloud Cult, which did extraordinarily well for an independently released album in 2005. Praised by Pitchfork and Pop Matters, it came out of nowhere to become one of the most played albums on college radio. So while this hardly qualifies them for "obscure indie", it's such a brilliant album that I'm not going to hold their relative success against them. Utterly creative from start to finish, Advice from the Hippopotamus just makes you sit up and listen, no matter what you might be doing at the time. Their live shows are also highly recommended, maybe you'll get a good deal on one of the live paintings they create during the show.

Inspired by the UK punk explosion, Mark Astronaut formed the band with a few friends in 1977 and began playing local gigs in their hometown of Welwyn Garden City. By 1979 The Astronauts were regularly appearing at free festivals and gigs in London organised by a hippy collective known as Fuck Off Records and from these began a close friendship with London punk bands Zounds and the Mob. That year the first Astronauts EP was released on local label Bugle Records and musically it reflected the hippie drug culture combined with the energy of punk. 'All Night Party' still sounds like the paranoid nightmare it did back then. The record established the Astronauts on the local gig scene among the non mainstram hippie/punk/biker crowd. Also in 1979 an ep was released under the assumed name of Restricted Hours on the Stevenage Rock Against Racism label.

Aroah goes by the name Irene Tremblay off-stage, and sounds a bit like your typical female troubadors such as Feist or Cat Power, except there's a subtle weirdness about her music. It's so subtle you may not notice it if you're not paying attention, because her airy vocals define the songs for the most part, but if you listen closely you'll be positively surprised about some of the creative elements coming from the backing musicians. At times it sounds a lot like early Speed The Plough. The Last Laugh was her sophomore effort, released two years after her spanish-language debut album No podemos ser amigos, which I may post some time in the future.

The National don't do anything radically different on Boxer, but then again, they don't really need to: their literate, quietly anthemic take on indie rock seemed to have arrived fully formed on their 2001 self-titled debut. Boxer just hones in even more precisely and intimately on the heartfelt territory the band covers, with punchy-yet-polished production and orchestration by the Clogs' Padma Newsome giving these songs an intimacy and widescreen expansiveness that rivals the Arcade Fire.

You can really tell that the Minutemen moved their musical scions in all the right ways with this splendid covers compilation.  33 tracks, and not one band does a disservice to the Minutemen's legacy!  That's usually not the case with covers compilations.  Every band on this compilation channels the heart and politics of our beloved punk heroes perfectly; while also infusing their own brand of sound.

Despite being hatched in the none-too-rock'n'roll environs of Leicester University (and, apparently, containing alumni from Leicester Poly plus Birmingham and Liverpool Unis as well) it's curious as to why Yeah Yeah Noh have so far failed to be awarded the ubercult status of, say, Wire or The Blue Orchids, considering that they produced virtually the only genuinely psychedelic music that wasn't retro (allowing for a few exceptions like Julian, the Television Personalities and the early Mary Chain of course) during that fallow 1984-86 watershed period in the annals of UK post-punk. This compilation, cherry picked by lead singer and lyricist Derek Hammond with assistance from Tim Madgewick, showcases a fine treasure trove of songs that drew little or no public attention outside their home town bar the standard accolades fom the John Peel / NME axis.

Here's another Lou Barlow solo album, and again it's lower than lo-fi. Twenty-three songs with just Lou, his acoustic guitar, and the occasional whistling and subtle keyboard sounds, probably recorded in his bedroom. There are some astonishingly good songs on this, or maybe you should call them song ideas, but whatever you call it it's impossible not to see the genius in some of them. It's all very raw but strikingly personal, without being depressing. There are some fillers but also stand-out songs like Mountain on the Hill and The Devil & The Barbie Doll.

One of the most obscure new wave bands of the 80s, and one of the very best. In fact, putting them in the New Wave category is harsh injustice, as they're far more creative than their peers. Picture a cross of Blondie, This Heat and Devo, and you're still pretty far off from what this sounds like.

Family Fodder released a series of compelling, now collectable singles and albums between 1979 and 1983. Described as 'entertaining idiosyncratic experimentalism' with pop sensibilities, they were best known for indie-chart hits such as 'Debbie Harry', 'Playing Golf (With My Flesh Crawling)' and 'Savoir Faire', More recently, Family Fodder songs have been covered by Zion Train and Unrest, and they've been hailed as 'unsung heroes' in The Wire.

A rather harmless twee pop album by the Ex-Heavenly band Marine Research. It does have its charming moments, and features the excellent song "You and a Girl", which may be the only track on the album that strays from the beaten path. Released in '99 on K Records, it remained their only full release.

The absolutely amazing re-issue of the classic 1973 Blackboard Jungle Dub by Lee "Scratch" Perry and the Upsetters. If you've heard any of the various releases of this album before, forget what you thought you know about it. David Katz managed to pull off the impossible and remastered this album from an original pressing (the master tapes had long been lost), using analog equipment, and carefully giving it new life. The result is absolutely astonishing. AMG's David Jeffries is spot on: