Monday, January 17, 2011

Faust "Rien"

 I bought this album in 1995 without a clue who Faust were, just cuz O'Rourke and Keiji Haino were both involved somehow. Was my mind blown? Definitely. Not because I hadn't heard Krautrock before, but that this was a film without visuals. Babies cry, shenais moan, helicopters fly over a satanic cult with a string section and electronics whisper in the shifting fog of sound. This isn't some musique concret term project, this actually drags you through a strange world like a Jodorowsky film. This is easily my favorite Faust album for lifting the veil just enough to remind me its there.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Golem "Orion Awakes"

All the liner note vagueness aside, this album is ominous, intense, and strangely contemporary. Is it possible Tortoise got stoned, jumped into a time machine and pretended to be Can? Sure, but who is this Genius P. Orridge producer? Yes, I spelled that right. So maybe there was room for Throbbing Gristle in that time machine...hey, sure, whatever man. This record builds slowly and uses the drums to frame the repetitive pulses and riffs into a vivid explosion. Man I gotta back to the future and star in Teen Wolf 3!

Exploration of Tony's Records, Pensacola

  Record stores are becoming rare and a good one even rarer. I thought the megalithic Vinyl Fever empire would stand forever but even it has crumbled. Even so I chanced upon small room packed with boxes upon boxes of cheap/used CD's, some DVDs, and some vinyl. After a quick search, 1hr., I found a copy of Lumpy Gravy and 2 Gong albums(Gazeuse! & Expresso 2). Tom got very excited about me finding the Gong albums and began offering related band names/albums...Salamander, Blossom Toes, Porcupine Tree, Atomic Rooster, even Damnation Of Adam Blessing. His descriptions renewed my excitement and reminded me how much is yet to discover. 
  Now wait, why bother talking to anyone since we have the internet? Isn't everything and all of the pertinent info available online? Well maybe, but nothing beats chatting with a fellow traveller about that Can show he saw. By the way, those Gong albums are on the jazzy side( post-pot-head-pixie trilogy )but they kick pretty hard.
-Dutch Uncle Susie