Down in the Dubs

I've always had a love/hate relationship with Dub music until recently. At first listen I think holy shit this is the most amazing thing i've ever heard. After two more songs i'm thinking: this all sounds exactly the same! Reverb drenched drums, dub dropout, and delayed vocals: mix and repeat. BOOORING.

I kind of wrote the whole genre off a while back until I read England's Dreaming where Jon Savage describes how big of an influence a lot of reggae and dub producers were on the emerging punk movement. Not only in production of the music but in the rebellious nature of the lyrics. I had no idea Lee Perry produced that Clash single... So now i'm down in the Dub, soaking it all in.

The whole history of dub music is interesting and shit Jamaica sounds like an awful place to live then and now if you're poor. Just watch The Harder They Come for a time capsule of what life was like for the early pioneers. Doesn't sound too far off from the modern rap rag to riches mythos except they never got rich! I am utterly fascinated by the moving sound systems used for parties (see above). Thats some Mad Max shit right there.

I kind of see dub as the beginning of rap (deejay toasting), remixing, and a hell of an influence on later electronic music that I cant give two shits about. I'd go so far as to say when punk, krautrock and dub all meet up in the late 1970's modern music as we know it today was born.

Sifting through all the sameness that dub can be, there are some monstrous and just plan crazy ideas within the best recordings that eventual mutated into other wilder forms. Here are some of my favorites.

You gotta start with that wild maniac producer Lee Scratch Perry. This guy made a gazillion records so many in fact i bet he doesn't even remember half of them. I just picked up both his Megaton Dub volumes on wax. You cant go wrong here.

Dr. Alimantado was picked up on the Green Sleeves label when John Lydon said this dude ruled. He totally does. That bass is impossibly deep. For a Doctor you'd think he'd zip up his pants for the record cover.

The Congos Heart of the Congos was produced the fuck out of this world by wild man Lee Scratch Perry. This is the record where I said i never need any other Jamaican music. This is it. I was wrong but still its one amazing record. Phased and delayed: I hope those falsetto vocals don't grate ya!

Augustus Pablo played that wondrous bong like melodica and King -don't smoke weed in my studio -Tubby dubbed him into the stratosphere. King Tubby Meets the Rockers Uptown is one of the most famous dub records and for good reason. Strap on some headphones and you're likely not to return to this earthly realm until the duration of the record.

PRINCE FAAAARRRR I! This guy i'd never heard of until i read about him in England's Dreaming. What was this guy SMOKING? Oh right... Listen to that crazy synth!


Slits on vocals for this one.


Joe Gibbs was a producer and made many many many records. A poor mans Lee Perry? Nope! Dude had his own style.


SO MUCH PHASE!

Keith Hudson


Scientist took dub to a whole new level with Scientist Meets The Space Invaders. So much space! so much room for activities!


Prince Jammy is right up there with Scientist. With that toy synth in the mix, this gets pretty close to Cosmic Jokers territory.


With Dub making tracks more spacious DeeJays would fill the voids with toasting a precursor to rapping. Lone Ranger toasting about his M16


Clint Eastwood & General Saint are basically rapping on this one. If you cant get the fuck down to this one you have no soul.


BONUS VIDEOS

As dub became more controlled the DeeJays took over. Ya got yer Yellow Man here and god damn i love it when Eek A Mouse busts out in Mexican regalia, does his thing and the crowd just goes nuts. What a character.


King Jammy dubbing in the studio

Teeth of the Sea - Master

So you're cruising around a post apocalypse landscape in a hovering mustang with your hybrid hyena/dog companion at your side: what are blasting out of your stereo? Jam the fuck out to Teeth of the Sea's Master. Cyborg prog rock that teeter over into epic-ness with squeaky clean electronics knocking against dirgy bass lines and just enough spaciousness. Is that a god damn trumpet in the mix? Hell yeah. Phillip Glass meets Tron then goes Nine Inch Nails. The soundtrack to you next road trip into a destroyed future.

NEVER JAZZED ABOUT JAZZ, BUT THIS JAZZ AIN'T JAZZ

When I hear anyone talk about Jazz music three things pop into my mind: Bill Cosby, this skit from The Mighty Boosh, and how much I abhor it. The structure, the instruments (get dat trumpet the fuck outa here) turns me off musically immediately . However, my whole mindset about what exactly is jazz music changed this past year after investigating works by Miles Davis, Sun Ra and Herbie Hancock. Check out these offerings of sublime "otherness" by these masters of jazz that took the genre so far out there that ya can't still call it jazz no more, or can you?

Sun Ra, as my boss (a jazz enthusiast) so eloquently put it, was an amazing jazz musician who just so happened to believe that he was from outer space. Sign me up I'm on board! I mean I already love Parliament (clearly influenced by the man, at least visually) for the same thing... here's a couple cuts to get started on your free jazz journey with Sun Ra to the farthest regions of outer space.




Sounds like someone is building a car in the middle of this one, a space car...


Nothing like the sound of a synth gone MAD!



If you dig Sun Ra then you HAVE to watch his SciFi race politics film Space is The Place. Plays like a blaxploitation Holy Mountain directed by the people behind Pee Wee's Play House.


Herbie Hancock has gotta be the one jazz dude I NEVER thought I'd listen to, let alone drop some mulah on one of his records. But damn if that isn't exactly what I did after i heard his masterpiece Sextant. This monster sounds like early Kraftwerk (I'm talking bout the cone records folks) but a hell of a lot funkier and wilder with pling plong electronics all over this mess of a jazz band. When I plunked the needle down on Sextant at la casa, girlfriend became increasingly uncomfortable and said she was in a "Jazz Jungle". Yeah, I feel that too, and I love it!



You can take the Hancock trip one record further with Head Hunters.


After this one my interest in his discography wanes as Herbie goes further into Jazz funk and I'll let The Mighty Boosh tell you bout that ...

The main offender in my preconceived notion of jazz has to be Miles Davis. My introduction to Mr. Davis's music was in the car coming back from Cleveland with my mom after shopping for music 9 years ago. She purchased Bitches Brew and proceeded to torture me with that cantankerous abomination (at least in my mind) of an album all the way back home. Still hate that record even today and what further solidified in my mind that I'd never listen to Miles again was having to listen to a warped record of Evil Live at a store while perusing books. Shit sounded LITERALLY like nails on a chalkboard.
What changed my mind was Julian Cope drooling about these four mid 70's albums, much hated by the jazz world at large. I take heed whatever the arch-dude throws out on his site so I dove deep and can confirm: these albums are OUT THERE man. Mucho wah wah pedal all over these fuckers. Trumpet yer wah wahed. Guitar! Yer wah wahed. Keyboard yer wah wahed to fuck all abandon. Miles took the best from Sly Stone, Payback James Brown, and Jimi Hendrix to make the best kind of freaky out there acid rock funk that no man has approached since!

Dark Magus is an incredible record. The guitar stabs sound like laser beams.


Watch out you'll get lost in Get Up With It's two hour duration. This one comes close to touching on krautrock. The phased guitar reminds me a bit of German Oak no?

Agharta cranks up the acid funk vibe to maximum overload.


Some mental guitar melt downs on Pangaea


So am I forever labeled a jazz lover, shunned by my rock n roll brethren for loving so hard on these albums? Is it "jazz"? I dont know and im not gonna argue or care what you call it, I like mon aim.

Punk N' Prog: Two Genres In Opposition

In the late 1970's Punk and Progressive rock were bitter enemies locked in a war between street attitude musical ineptitude and bloated sci fi lyric circle jerk opuses, so far at the opposite sides of the musical spectrum you'd be hard pressed to find any common ground between the two am I right? Nope. The punx had some prog in their closets whether they liked to admit it or not. The punk/post punk musicians tried so hard to distance themselves from the pompous progressive rock they were rallying against but in reality were clearly influenced by them. Some went so far as to write themselves manifesto's of what they would not do in their music (looking at you Wire) and then did it anyways. When punk came knocking on the record company's door, execs started to either dump progressive rock bands or have them change their style into something more accessible. So herein is a little incite into how punks soaked in that prog rock and the prog soaked in that punk rock. No Krautrock in here, thats a whole other article!

I know two friends who went to see King Crimson back in the day and both said they fell asleep during some 20 minute mellotron solo. Sooooo besides his tendency to cruise into snooze ville Fripp's unique take on progressive rock had a lot of the early punks scratching their heads. All King Crimson records have at least ONE amazing hard rocking masterpiece that scrapes the enamel off yer teeth and have greatly influenced bands like This Heat, Scritti Politti, The Fall, etc. Lets not forget Fripps contributions to Eno's records (especially that white hot lick on Baby's On Fire) that everybody in the pre punk days listened to. But the one awesome record that gets dismissed by long time by KC fans that I think fits right at home next to Metallic KO is EarthBound. The shambolic take on "21st Century Schizoid Man" has that brutish Stooges like ineptitude where the whole thing feels like it could fall apart at any minute but still begrudgingly trugs along.


Van Der Graaf Generator doesn't get enough credit from the punx even though Johnny Rotten and Howard Devoto did a fantastic job of nick'n old Hammill's vocal style pretty good. Heck even Mr Bowie picked up a few things from Hammil's solo output... SHEE-IT do I hear a little Iron Maiden too?  Gawd damn the whole U.K punk "sound" is entirely indebted to this mans vocal pipes.


Need further proof? Look no further than Mister Hammil's solo work. Sex Pistol's blue print right here folks:


Gong, a space rock, prog rock and even jazz rock leaning group hated by punks and non punks alike (The Radio Gnome albums are fantastic doods, especially You, just delete those jazz rock songs off your ipods!)  but man did founder Daevid Allen love the punks. So much so he's got two records informed by the punk movement. One that is super obvious and one more subtly so.

New York Gong is Daevid  trying hard to be punk even donning a black leather jacket. Its a weird uneven album.


Planet Gong's Live Floating Anarchy is the one I adore. Its that sweet spot mix of prog rock played with punk energy. Daevid's sneering like a punk too!


If you dig Planet Gong you should check out Here & Now the backing band behind Daevid Allen who have the punk prog thing down pat. A lil like The Stranglers no?

Hate on Yes all you want but hey wasn't PIL's Keith Levene a big fan of them.... hmmm well I'm not going to go out n out and say that a 1977 Yes album was informed by punk, but I think its entirely feasible that some music executive who spent a lot of money on the band over the years and heard the rally sound of the punk drums thought it might be a good idea to have Yes hone in their sound and push some Chuck Berry guitar riff'n high up in the mix for a single. What came out was "Going For The One." Still progressive rock but you can't not hear that C Berry riff without the context of what was happening in music at the time!


Is Hawkwind too easy for this article? Are they prog? A lot of genres get thrown at Mr. Brock and company including progressive but in all honesty they really are their own thing that had a huge influence on the early punkers. Without "Brainstorm" their would be no Sex Pistols said one Johnny Rotten and hey reformed karaoke Sex Pistols love to cover "Silver Machine"


The Stranglers 70's and early 80s output in 2013 sounds more like a sneering progressive rock band than a "traditional" punk band. Just listen to the keyboard player, and don't give me that pub rock hub bub, there is some serious Rick Wakeman virtuoso playing going here. By the time they recorded The Raven they weren't hiding it anymore just listen to the intro for "Ice".


Another favorite of  J. Rotten and Julian Cope is Magma, a progressive rock band from France. Their music sometimes referred as Zeuhl, is dark, heavy and brooding that sometimes dips into Jazz rock. I love the fuck out of this band and had to include them.


Henry Cow has the reputation amongst punkers for the mere fact that Mark E Smith, tried out for them before he formed The Fall. Luckily for us all he was not admitted!


The Damned, the quintessential U.K. punk band have lasted so long and changed their musical style so many times its difficult for me, someone born way after their peak, to understand that by the time they wanted to record their second album why were the punks in an uproar over the fact that a Pink Floydian was producing their album? I mean who gives a fuck right? But back then Pink Floyd was the enemy and everyone had forgotten about lil old acid casualty Syd Barrette when punk came clanging through, everyone except The Damned who originally wanted him to produce their second LP. Except they got Nick Mason instead who didn't give a flying fuck about them and produced a pretty tame boring record called Music For Pleasure. Womp wahhh.
 

The years between punk and progressive rock are pretty slim and sheesh rock n roll was only 20 some odd years old at the time these two genres clashed. Now in 2013 its ponderous that these guys didnt just join forces and create some far flung punk prog masterpiece but the stigmas held strong then.  Thanks to time the barriers have slowly withered away you can hear common ground between the two. A punk can learn to love prog if he knows where to listen. To conclude, listen to Wire do their best pompous progressive rock impression:

Folk From The Underworld

In the dead of winter these snow queens are keeping me company. The sound of Hades draggin Persephone into the underworld...

A Killer's Dream: Comic

                               
                            

I created this eight page comic collaboration, illustrated by my friend Hazel Santino, the Moebius to my Jodorowsky! It's the first in a series of comics, all based upon dreams that I expanded into surreal, hypnagogic-logic mini-stories ranging from tales of possession, killer fungi psychedelic cult bands, time traveling specters, psychic parties and more! Influenced equally by the works of Colin Wilson, Philip K. Dick, J.G. Ballard, David Lynch, and whatever/whomever else my subconscious filters and spits out in the middle of the night.

"A Killer's Dream" is professionally printed on heavy gloss white stock paper with deeper-than-the-night black ink. For 8 bucks + shipping this beauty can sit pretty between your fingers and you'll be funding the next comic in the series, "The Path Of Sadness." So get on it, internet surfers, because once this limited run is gone... it's GONE!

VENOM P. STINGER

The first time I listened to Venom P. Stinger I kinda hated them. Hardcore punk but it sounds off and weird? Couldnt wrap my head around'em. With a second and third listen i'm diggin on them HARD. A little like Scratch Acid, no? Gotta love that Aussie punk from the 80's!

Best Records of 2012

In no particular order here are the tunes I was smittin with this year. Some wild shit this year. Hold onto your butts!

Kraus - Supreme Commander


GR -  A Reverse Age



 Aluk Todolo -  Occult Rock


Spacin' - Deep Thuds


 Puffy Areolas - 1982 Dishonorable Discharge



Hashbrown - The Walk On

Camera - Radiate!
 

Verma - Exu

Glow Factory



 Lamps - Under The Water Under The Ground
 


AZURAZIA - Original soundtrack Lowering the Mediterranenan, irrigating the Sahara

Best Reissue

Palais Schaumburg



 Noh Mercy





Lost Sounds - Lost Lost    um so no sounds clips anywhere for this one ughhh

Gunter Schickert  - Uberfallig
 


 Can - Lost Tapes



 Bizarros - 1976-1980

Spaghetti Rock: Italian Rock music of the 70's

The fertile grounds of the early 1970's birthed many freaky weird yet interesting styles of rock & roll. Germany had Krautrock (Can,Faust,Neu!), Japan had uhh Jap Rock (Les Rallizes Denudes, J.A.Ceasar, Flower Traveling Band), France had Zeuhl (Magma, Eskaton, Weidorje), but what about Italy? Some pasta eating, gumbas had to be blowing their minds on rock in the most amazing fashion right? RIGHT.

Here's a chunk of similar minded music that represents Italy's own warped take on Rock n Roll in the 1970's pre punk era that ill tag with a semi derogatory name: Spaghetti Rock. I'm not gonna lie, some of these bands veer into the classical style symphonic prog rock with serious flute action, and operatic vocal styles, but don't let that deter you because you'll miss out on atonal synth action, bizarre concept records and ghoulish atmospheres that only the Italians could have whipped up.

LE STELLE DI MARIO SCHIFANO
Velvet Underground worshiping psychedelic raga burnouts. Goes into territory that Thee Oh Sees crawled all over on Carrion Crawler/The Dream, but ya know 40 years early.






FRANCO BATTIATO
I've written about Battiato before on this blog calling him an Italian Eno, but really that comment should be reveresed as Battiato's album Fetus came out before Eno's solo efforts. Batiato's 1970's work is beatiful, haunting, and WAY ahead of the curve.







BANCO DEL MUTUO SOCCORSO
Epic prog rock concept album about Darwin? Fuck yeah! Crazy synth action on this one. Get's downright spooky at times.



IL BALLETTO DI BRONZO
This band's album YS will  make you feel like your running around with Scooby Doo and the gang in some door chase scene escaping some dude in a shitty frankenstein mask. Creepy, atmospheric, wacky and rocks to boot!





GOBLIN
Known for their brilliant scores to Agrento's films, dig deeper and their non soundtrack albums are just as remarkable.



Gotta include this one


LE ORME
The synth work by this band is as miraculous as it is intense. On this track, fingers fly as fast and furious over the keys as any Lost Sound records you got in yer collection.




SENSATIONS FIX
Another band i've rewritten about before on this blog and hey... they got  reissued and some praise from Pitchfork thanks to a compilation of tunes with new mixes. Though im not a fan of these retooled mixes Sensations Fix is worthy enough to investigate all of their original 70's output.

Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me

Kangaroo being one of my favorite songs ever, I wanted to share my girlfriend's, friend/co-worker Amy's film that she in part produced called Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me.

Big Star, such an amazing, fantastic, and haunting band from the 70's that was sadly overlooked in their heyday, were crucial to the development of alternative music in the 90's. This doc looks great and seems to final give Big Star some much needed respect and a coveted spot in the rock n roll history books. I'm jealous that my lady gets to see it tonight!
Watch the trailer below and check out the website for more info including when this film is coming to your hood!

Early Pink Floyd/Syd Barrett

By the time I got to college I had completely written off Pink Floyd as something I was just not into. I love kraut rock, space rock,  psychedelic , and yes I love Progrock, but Pink Floyd? File under bands I just don't get (next to Radiohead). I listened to all the big albums thanks to friends and coworkers who felt it necessary for me to listen to REAL music and it plain bored me.
It really mystified me when I was into the punk thang and read that The Damned wanted Pink Floyd to produce their second album or that, even though Johnny Rotten famously wore the "I Hate Pink Floyd" T-Shirt he was quite fond of early Floyd. What the fuck? Oh right the first album and singles are fucking AMAZING thanks to one psychedelically charged mad man named Syd Barrett. Syd was the driving force behind Pink Floyd's sound, using innovative guitar techniques such as distortion, echo and feedback. Whimsical as all hell and not following anyones rules the man burned out in an acid haze only to be pushed out of the band and live the rest of his life quietly, painting in the English country side. So be forewarned, you may turn into an uber music douche like me and say "I only like early Pink Floyd"



My favorite Syd Barrett penned Pink Floyd song.

Xiu Xiu - Born To Suffer ( I was the assistant director on this!)

Last February I worked as an assistant director on this Xiu Xiu music video and after waiting on the label, its been released to be seen by your eye balls!



Here's a crew picture.

Early Soft Machine

I love early Soft Machine as much as I HATE later Soft Machine. Which is a lot. Look at these freak-y deek-y long hairs play. Ayers bass sound is a wonderful grinding machine, and Wyatts drumming is frenetic as hell. Love love love these dudes. You can hear echoes of this incarnation of the Soft Machine in a lot of post punk bands.

Burial Hex

Clay Ruby's Burial Hex is a dark trip into demonic ambient post-industrial unease. Perfect background music for your next incantation, possession, exorcism, or family fun night around the ouija board. He has a VAST catalog so i'm gonna put up my favorite sonic nuggets below via bandcamp links. (Note. if you're reading in google reader bandcamp doesn't show up,  you're gonna have to actually go to my blog!)

First up is my favorite, the 20 minute "In Psychic Defense" a protection spell in the form of music. Starts with guitars and gentle chimes with Nick Cave-y in The Birthday Party's "Deep in the Woods" vocals. Some wispy ambient drone, then creepy black metal cookie monster deep growling, THEEEEN a goth dance jam. Gonna have to hop on discogs and track down that limited edish vinyl folks.



"The Night" is the most recent release and one of the most accessible. Well orchestrated electronics and monk chants. The companion track "Brighter Than The Day" is a really groovy beats and screams jam.


I love when Ruby remix's his work and Hunger (Burial Hex Nativity Forefeast Remix) is no exception to that devotion. Swirly goth-y moody dance track that feels less for dancing and more for enticing spirits out of their hiding spots. Dat bass just throbs and throbs and throbs.....



Some menacing, brooding tracks off the split he did with Zola Jesus.


Next is Initiations: a dark suffocating fever dream of an album. Analog power electronics rip through your skull as tortured souls scream in the dark. Don't play this at night by yourself, i'm pretty sure you'll go insane, but thats exactly what I do when reading a good book... This is the do or die point, thee line in the sand so to speak, for whether or not you're gonna like this dudes work. It only gets more "out there" after this.



Burial Hex & Ludo Mich feels like a dark cosmic journey into the mind of a tortured schizophrenic. This thing gurgles and spews and twists and grinds. Ooooooo weee this thang will fuck you up!



Check out this video for one of the tracks off of The Book of Delusions which you can yonk the vinyl off of Brave Mysteries.


There are a gazillion more awesome tracks on bandcamp that you are hopefully gonna check out now that I have initiated you into the world of Clay Ruby's Burial Hex.

Monster Rally - Beyond the Sea

Tropical fairies orgasming pixie dust into your ear canals? Bathing in a tub full of bubbling champagne as shooting stars skitter across a vast night sky? You're getting closer to the creamy gooey core of Monster Rally. Some hip hop-like beats in there to keep you afloat before you sink into a tinsel crinkling, ocean of sound. Check it out below friends. Totally free on the band camps!

R.I.P. Ray Bradbury

Another great writer gone. I'm glad his work was celebrated while he was alive.

                   (This is the cover of my copy of Fahrenheit 451. Totally badass)

Check out this video if you haven't already. I used to work with Rachel at The Onion, she's hella funny. A fitting tribute? She got to meet him after this video blew up. Super jealous!

Hashbrown - The Walk On

Hashbrown's got that early Hip Hop-chopped-up soul/funk vinyl collection sound, all samples, complete with radio/tv/film snippets for extra grimy fun. Dude was 16 when he made this. Get those summer vibes going gang. Free off da bandcamps below!

Zacht Automaat

 Zacht Automat's music is beamed in from an impossible future. Taped off A post apocalyptic cabby's radio, the tunes switch back and forth between cosmic musique concrete, far east industrial, retarded Todd Rungren studio meanderings, Chrome sheet metal paranoia, unnerving Jazzrock bass mayhem, and classical on a synth ala Wendy Carlos. Dense yet playful, Zacht Automat has created music thats inviting and fun to swim in, but also drown, out in the cacophonous deep end . Can you dig that? Get your grubby hands on this bands amazing output. You have zero excuses because its all free on their bandcamp page!

Tommi Stumpff

Gotta love this crazy Germ! RIPE for rediscovery. Stumpff made the most amazing, ANGRY electronic music I've ever heard, YEARS ahead of its time. If Fad Gadget had thrown out those lame cabaret influences, took a bunch of speed, and channeled some serious hate they may have gotten close to the genius of Stumpff. Stumpff frequently had Conny Plank engineer his work and you can tell in the arrangements. Don't investigate anything past 1988,  he gets very generic. Go forth and find his compilation Mich Kriegt ihr nicht [Back up 1982-1985)


I cant get over the sheer awesomeness that is "Seltsames Gluck". It's everything I've ever wanted from the meeting place of punk and electronics: aggressive, dissonant, forward thinking, propulsive, volatile and explosive.  Dig that cowboy twanging geeeeeetarrrrrr in thar!



"Mich Kriegt Ihr Nicht" is the soundtrack to a post apocalyptic tribes late night shanking of a poor twisted soul, screams and all.


"Contergan Punk" is Nine inch Nails before NIN, except exceptionally better.


"Ehre und Blut" is WWII trench-frontline drag queen contest musack. 

You need this album to feed your soul the bile it has always craved. Or  maybe you just want to listen to someone yell at you in German with crazy sound effects...

LIFE STINKS!

Hey Ya'll I got a sister blog i've started called LIFE STINKS: Ohio Rock & Roll all about music that came out of Ohio. A continuation of a previous post I did on this blog. No, it doesn't have anything to do with bro-rocksters The Black Keys. I'll be talking about Devo, Pere Ubu, electric eels, mirrors, Clone Records, Rubber City Rebels, and much more! Check it out my friends!