A Robot By The River

a glorious hour of witness

[usgunn]

November 24, 2019

CLICK HERE for the November 24, 2019 playlist

1. Rachel’s - “Frida Kahlo” (1995)

2. Jack Nitzsche - “Lower California” (c. 1972)

3. Leon Lowman - “Morning Song” (c. 1981)

4. Andrew Gold - “Lonely Boy” (1976)

5. Þú og ég - “Villi Og Lúlla” (1979)

6. Thomas Leer - “West End” (1981)

7. Dominique Guiot - “Les Pingouins S'Amusent” (1978)

8. Willie Colón - “Montero” (1968)

9. Out Hud - “Hair Dude, You’re Stepping On My Mystique” (2002)

10. Jungle Brothers - “What ‘U’ Waitin’ ‘4′?” (1989)

11. Jungle Brown - “Keep It Movin’” (2019)

12. Adrian Younge - “Black Noise” (2016)

13. Gloria Ann Taylor - “Love Is A Hurtin’ Thing” (1973)

14. African Head Charge - “Bazaar” (1983)

15. Mac MacCaughan - “Real Darkness” (2015)

16. Bonnie Doon - “I Am Here (I Am Alive)” (2018)

[usgunn]

November 17, 2019

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1. Flamingo Shadow - “All Way Down” (2018)

2. Klaus Johann Grobe - “Out of Reach” (2018)

3. The Hecks - “So 4 Real” (2019)

4. XTC - “The Smartest Monkeys” (1992)

5. Todd Rundgren - “Time Heals” (1981)

6. Qvark - “Mi Alzo” (c. 1983)

7. Gerhard Heinz - “Come and See Hongkong” (c. 1979)

8. Masahiko Sato - “Little Flower” (1975)

9. Felbm - “Monolocale” (2018)

10. Ramona Lisa - “Backwards and Upwards” (2014)

11. Blood Orange - “Best to You” (2016)

12. Doug Carn - “Tropic Sons” (1977)

13. Odyssey - “Our Lives Are Shaped By What We Love” (1972)

14. Matt Sweeney and Bonnie “Prince” Billy - “What Are You?” (2005)

15. Mariah - “Fujiyu Na Nezumi” (1983)

16. Beverly Glenn-Copeland - “Ever New” (1986)

[usgunn]

November 10, 2019

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1. I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness - “According to Plan” (2006)

2. Lansing-Dreiden - “A Line You Can Cross” (2006)

3. Le Orme - “I Salmoni” (1976)

4. Cavern of Anti-Matter - “Liquid Gate” (2016)

5. Kit Sebastian - “Pangea” (2019)

6. Lifetones - “Good Side” (1983)

7. Unknown Mortal Orchestra - “Ministry of Alienation” (2018)

8. Ann Steel / Roberto Cacciapaglia - “My Time” (1979)

9. Sun Airway - “American West” (2010)

10. Little Sister - “You’re The One (Pts. 1 & 2)” (1970)

11. Rahsaan Roland Kirk - “What’s Goin’ On / Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)” (1972)

12. Eko - “ M'Ongele M'Am” (1980)

13. HiM - “Trace Elements” (1999)

14. The Russian Futurists - “Precious Metals” (2003)

15. Go Back Snowball - “Climb” (2002)

16. Leo Svirsky - “Trembling Instants” (2019)

[usgunn]

November 3, 2019

CLICK HERE for the November 3, 2019 playlist

Still too lazy to put together a guide to this week’s list.  All I’ll say is there’s a record number of 2019 releases on here, which was by accident, but hey, I’m happy to stumble into relevancy.

1. Neon Indian - “Slumlord” (2015)

2. Pierre Edouard - “À Mon Âge Déjà Fatigué” (1980)

3. Don Cherry - “I Walk” (1985)

4. Sudan Archives - “Glorious” (2019)

5. Frank Youngwerth - “Whirr (Motorway)” (1992)

6. Melody’s Echo Chamber - “Crystallized” (2013)

7. Get Back Guinozzi! - “Carpet Madness” (2009)

8. Look Blue Go Purple - “Grace” (1986)

9. Omni - “Courtesy Call” (2019)

10. Starship Commander Wooooo Wooooo - “Master Ship” (1981)

11. William Doyle - “Continuum” (2019)

12. Arthur Verocai - “Sylvia” (1972)

13. John Hartford - “I Don’t Love Nobody” (1969)

14. Sandro Perri - “Wrong About the Rain” (2019)

15. Carla Dal Forno - “Took a Long Time” (2019)

[usgunn]

October 27, 2019

CLICK HERE for the October 27, 2019 playlist

Sorry -- spent the weekend meeting our new niece and did not have time to annotate -- just tunes this week.  Dates below for some context.

1. Sloan - “Motor City Maniacs” (1998)

2. Tommy Keene - “Nothing Can Change You” (1989)

3. Pauline Murray and the Invisible Girls - “Thundertunes” (1980)

4. Land of Talk - “Hamburg, Noon” (2010)

5. GoGoGo Airheart - “Mifi” (2002)

6. The Congos - “Children Crying” (1977)

7. Professor Rhythm - “Professor 3” (1991)

8. The Alan Parsons Project - “The Voice” (1977)

9. Armando Sciascia - “Circuito Chiuso” (1970)

10. Azymuth - “Melô Dos Dois Bicudos” (1975)

11. Mulatu Astatke - “Kasalefkut-Hulu” (1972)

12. Noname feat. Phoelix - “Window” (2018)

13. Bô’vel - “Check 4 U” (1996)

14. Laugh Clown Laugh - “Fix the Mix” (c. 1982-1984)

15. Lucio Battisti - “7 Agosto Di Pomeriggio. Fra Le Lamiere Roventi Di Un Cimitero Di Automobili Solo Io, Silenzioso Eppure Straordinariamente Vivo” (1971)

16. Donald Byrd - “Cristo Redentor” (1964)

[usgunn]

October 20, 2019

CLICK HERE for the October 20, 2019 playlist

I’ve been bad about annotating the playlist recently.  It takes a bit of time, which is not something I always have.  But, luckily, this week I managed.

1. Faust - “Jennifer” (1973)

From their fourth record, aptly titled Faust IV.  One of the great German krautrock purveyors.  Maybe their most “pop” moment?  Which, I mean, still isn’t very pop.  

2. Barbara Howard - “I Don’t Want Your Love” (1969)

Forgotten soul singer from Cincinatti, married to long-time Cincinatti civic leader Steve Reece.  This non-album single, along with a contemporaneous album, On the Rise, were recently reissued by Ohio label Colemine Records.

3. Funkadelic - “Standing on the Verge of Getting it On (Single Edit)” (1974)

I’m sure Mr. Clinton needs no introduction.  This is from the album of the same name, probably my favorite all around Funkadelic collection.  Luckily found a single edit so we don’t have to hear him ask someone to pee on him for the first minute of the song...

4. Black Eyes - “Deformative” (2003)

DC post-everything band with two drummers, two bassists, and one wild guitar player.  We saw this band open for Q And Not U at the Caledonia and it was awesome.  They imploded after their second album and that was it.

5. Fog - “Inflatable Ape, Pt. 3” (2007)

Andrew Broder is a Minneapolis dude who has never settled on a genre, which is probably a large part of why no one really knows who he is.  After a couple of murky lo-fi records he landed on Lex Records, an experimental hip-hop subsidiary of Warp Records, but his second record for them was, essentially, an indie-rock record.  This song comes from that album, Ditherer, one of the smartest, quirkiest albums of the early 2000′s.

6. The Mauskovic Dance Band - “Same Heads” (2019)

Wacky, genre-hopping band led by a Dutch drummer.  On Soundway Records.  Recent discovery, but I’m intrigued.

7. Jef Gilson - “Choro in Blue” (c. 1960?)

Gilson was a French jazz pianist, composer, and arranger, and unfortunately there’s not that much out there to read about him.  This song might be from 1960 and might have been featured in Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless?  Or possibly neither of those things are true.

8. Disconnection - “Bali Ha’i (Radio Mix)” (1982)

Weird, no-wavey take on a song from South Pacific.  Like, the Broadway musical.  Targeting a pretty specific market.  This came out on Y Records, the same label that put out the Tesco Bombers track from a few weeks ago.

9. Peggy Gou - “It Makes You Forget (Itgehane) - Edit” (2018)

South Korean-born, Berlin-based DJ and producer.  I first heard about her when she put out a DJ-Kicks mix earlier this year.  Her own catalog is fairly sparse, but this song in particular is a lot of fun.

10. Parsley Sound - “Spring’s Near” (2003)

UK band that released one album, the creatively named Parsley Sounds, and then disappeared.  I had never heard of them until Mac McCaughaun from Superchunk randomly tweeted about them the other day.  Weird, dreamy psych-pop that wouldn’t sound out of place next to Olivia Tremor Control--although this track is a little more electro and instrumental.

11. Tages - “One Day” (1967)

Before her passing in 2011 the legendary Trish Keenan from Broadcast created a mix, Trish’s Mind Bending Motorway Mix, full of obscure 60′s psych tracks that I, for one, had never heard.  Among them was a track by the Swedish band Tages, "You’re Too Incomprehensible.”  This is another track from the same album, Contrast.

12. Robert Lester Folsom - “Biding My Time” (1976)

Folsom was a South Georgia boy who grew up in Adel, Georgia, the county seat of Cook County, halfway between Moultrie and Valdosta.  He managed to get into home recording with a tape deck he bought from Sears, and after several years making home recordings, he made one full length record, Music and Dreams, at Lefevre Studios in Atlanta (which was on Ellsworth Industrial just down from Bone Garden Cantina).  Folsom serendipitously grew up next door in Adel to Don Fleming, who would go on to play guitar in Gumball and produce at least one stone-cold classic (Teenage Fanclub’s Bandwagonesque)--Folsom produced a record for Fleming’s first band, The Stroke Band, at Lefevre in 1978.

13. Eric Matthews - “Fried Out Broken Girl” (1995)

Matthews was (at least at the time) a Boston-based composer, arranger, and songwriter who had made a splash in the band Cardinal with Richard Davies from the Moles.  This is from his first solo album, which came out on Sub Pop as grunge was fading, and featured significant contributions from another 90′s pop auteur, Jason Falkner of Jellyfish and later of Beck’s band.

14. John Foxx - “Europe After the Rain” (1981)

Opening track from Foxx’s second solo album, The Garden.  Foxx previously fronted a pre-fame (or at least, pre-financial success) Ultravox.  His solo records are interesting, dramatic takes on new wave.  He’s most recently been collaborating with some of the Ghost Box Records crew.

15. Turning Shrines - “1/4 Circle Black” (1985)

Primarily the project of Boston-based Fred Giannelli, there must be a story here I don’t know.  This comes from his first EP, produced by Genesis P-Orridge of Throbbing Gristle, but the band otherwise didn’t do much else (they put out one album in 1988, which I randomly found at a record store in Charlotte a few years back, but that album is mostly atonal, strung-together pieces).

16. Julia Holter - “Sea Calls Me Home” (2015)

I feel a bit embarassed that I just don’t really get most of Julia Holter’s work, which is fiercely adventurous and avant-garde, but not exactly in a way that pulls me in.  So it’s more embarassing that my favorite work of hers is her 2015 album Have You In My Wilderness, her most direct set of songs by a country-mile, of which this song is an obvious highlight.

17. The Week That Was - “The Airport Line” (2008)

Well, I managed to get to Week 13 before putting any actual music from Field Music’s Brewis Brothers on the playlist (the Slug song from a couple weeks back, produced by them, doesn’t count).  While on a break between Field Music albums two and three, older brother Peter Brewis put out a record under the name and title The Week That Was, and it remains a highlight of the Brewis’s catalog.  Big, bold music in the vein of Japan or Kate Bush and laden with wonderful string and horn arrangements.  This track is a highlight, with a truly mesmerizing drum beat that I get lost in every time.

[usgunn]

October 13, 2019

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1. The Undertones - “Julie Ocean” (1981)

2. Weekend - “Summerdays” (1982)

3. Suburban Lawns - “Flavor Crystals” (1983)

4. U.S. Girls - “M.A.H.” (2018)

5. The McElroy Bros. - “Why the Rainbow’s Gold is Never Found” (1977)

6. Sir Douglas Quintet - “It Didn’t Even Bring Me Down” (1969)

7. Patterson Twins - “He’s a Loser” (1978)

8. Skull Snaps - “All of a Sudden” (1973)

9. Makaya McCraven - “Inner Flight” (2018)

10. Harmonia - “Veterano” (1974)

11. Common (feat. Laetitia Sadier) - “New Wave” (2002)

12. Caribou - “Home” (2019)

13. Ticonderoga - “Kim & Kelly” (2005)

14. Boas - “Ghetto Pond” (2002)

15. The For Carnation - “A Tribute To” (2000)

16. Karen Dalton - “How Did The Feeling Feel to You” (1969)

[usgunn]

October 6, 2019

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1. Brainiac - “Flash Ram” (1997)

2. Bruce Haack - “Rita” (1975)

3. Stockholm Monsters - “Happy Ever After” (1982)

4. Happy Refugees - “This is Cold” (1984)

5. Slug - “Shake Your Loose Teeth” (2015)

6. Automatic - “Damage” (2019)

7. N0V3L - “Natural” (2019)

8. Man Jumping - “Belle Dux on the Beach” (1984)

9. KORT - “Penetration” (2010)

10. The La’s - “Timeless Melody” (1990)

11. Raphael Saadiq - “Go to Hell” (2011)

12. Aged in Harmony - “You’re a Melody” (c. 1978)

13. Karen Carpenter - “My Body Keeps Changing My Mind” (recorded 1980, released 1996)

14. Flayer - “Wanna Get Back Your Love - Mix 1” (1983)

15. Die Chefs - “Frauenkörper (Kapote Rework)” (1982/2019)

16. Bill Orcutt - “Nearer My God to Thee” (2017)

[usgunn]

September 29, 2019

CLICK HERE for the September 29, 2019 playlist

1. Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - “Sick Bug” (2017)

One of a seemingly endless string of quality indie rock bands that pour out of Melbourne, Australia year after year.  Three vocalists that all kind of sound the same and trade lines seemingly arbitrarily.  They put out a great album last year, but this song comes from an EP that came out a year before.  Saw them at Terminal West last year, and the drummer had to keep playing on his knees between songs to keep the blood flowing for the unrelenting pulse beat.  It was killer.

2. The Dentists - “I’m Not The Devil” (1985)

Band from Medway, Kent that added a 60′s psych flair to a sort of early indie-pop sound.  That’s about all I know.  Reissued a couple of years ago by unstoppable Chicago powerhouse Trouble In Mind records.

3. The Toms - “You Must Have Crossed My Mind” (1979)

The Toms is the solo moniker of Tommy Marolda, a New Jersey recording engineer who I think may have had some sort of Bon Jovi connection at one point.  This is from his first, self-titled record, on which he played all the instruments and allegedly recorded and mixed the entire thing in a single weekend (no easy feat, particularly pre-Pro Tools) on a break from paying work.  Some obvious Beatles worship going on here, but glorious all the same.

4. Emitt Rhodes - “Fresh as a Daisy” (1970)

Speaking of obvious Beatles worship and self-recording... This comes from Emitt Rhodes’ self-titled, second album, which he recorded at home (against union rules at the time!), playing all instruments himself.  This whole album sounds like what I wish a contemporaneous Paul McCartney solo album would have sounded like.

5. Echo & The Bunnymen - “Never Stop (Discoteque)” (1983)

Ian McCulloch is my preferred British post-punk Ian -- sorry Joy Division.  This non-album single is maybe my favorite moment of theirs.  Check out this killer live video too. 

6. Francis Bebey - “The Coffee Cola Song” (1982)

One of my favorite discoveries during my time at WXDU, Francis Bebey spent time in Cameroon, France, and Ghana, writing, teaching and making idiosyncratic pop music.

7. Yamasuki - “Yama Yama” (1971)

At this point I can’t even remember how I got to this.  Two French dudes making their idea of “Eastern” music, sung by a children’s choir who may or may not be singing in actual Japanese?

8. Rexy - “Funky Butt” (1981)

I think if my kids were to write a song, they would probably call it Funky Butt.  Who knows why a grown-ass UK art student decided to name a song that, or to weirdly grunt her way through the song, but here we are.

9. Ruins - “Nice Song” (c. 1982-1984)

Italian experimental synth band that I first heard on one of the Minimal Wave Tapes compilations.  Apparently very tied in with the acadmic/visual art scene in Venice.

10. Craig Leon - “Region of Fleeing Civilians” (1982)

Producer who had a hand in the first albums by the Ramones, Suicide, and Blondie, and on the side made weird synth albums.

11. Denzel Curry (feat. Twelve’len and Goldlink) - “13LACK 13ALLOONS” (2018)

Florida rapper who the internet tells me makes “Soundcloud rap.”  I don’t know what that means, I just like this song.

12. Sampa the Great - “Final Form” (2019)

Another Melbourne-based artist, this Zambia-born artist just put out her first record on Ninja Tune, a label not usually known for hip-hop.  She’s apparently a big deal in Australia but just kind of stepping into the US.

13. Slum Village (feat. Busta Rhymes) - “What It’s All About” (1998)

Legendary producer Jay Dee/J Dilla got his start as one-third of this Detroit-based rap group.  This song features both production and a verse from Dilla, plus, of course, Busta Rhymes.

14. Damon Locks & Black Monument Ensemble - “The Colors That You Bring” (2019)

Damon Locks started his career as the frontman for Chicago’s Trenchmouth, a band which featured a pre-fame Fred Armisen on drums.  He’s now a sound artist in Chicago, and this comes from Where Future Unfolds, a live performance of a band he put together combining live music and samples of Civil Rights-era speeches.

15. Herbie Hancock - “Wiggle Waggle” (1969)

I never knew about this album, Fat Albert Rotunda, until Antarctica Starts Here, a reissue label run by the Superior Viaduct people, put it out last year.  Seems to be an anomaly in his catalog, wedged right at the end of the 60′s between his more traditional recordings and the fusion and experimental period in the 70′s.  It’s probably the most purely fun music he ever made.

16. Allen Toussaint - “What Do You Want the Girl to Do?” (1975)

Sort of ashamed to say I first heard this song when a band called Chesnut Station (a bunch of indie rock nerds from Chicago playing 60′s and 70′s pop and soul covers) closed their album In Your Living Room with it.  Glad I eventually heard the original--haven’t looked back since.

[usgunn]

September 22, 2019

CLICK HERE for the September 22, 2019 playlist

1. Protomartyr - “What The Wall Said” (2014)

I feel like a band this odd could only be from Detroit. Combining fierce and inventive punk rock with unique, almost professorial vocals and oblique storytelling. This song gives a good feel for what this band does well.

2. 23 Skidoo - “Vegas El Bandito” (1982)

Arty, borderline-pretentious post-punk from London, who tried to incorporate all types of experimental and world musics into some form of punk-funk. This is one of their more straightforward tracks.

3. Jean-Jacques Perrey - “Cat In The Night” (1970)

Early synthesizer musician from Paris, who made silly, “futuristic” lounge music that occasionally cohered into something downright gritty and funky, as is the case here. Co-written by Perrey and “Andy Badale,” who would go on to be David Lynch’s go to scorer under his birth name, Angelo Badalamenti.

4. Cloud One - “Spaced Out (7” Edit)” (1977)

This was an underground disco group led by Patrick Adams, who led a string of other disco groups as well. I love the wacky synth lines on here, and the repetitive nature of the song predicts the structure of electronic and house music.

5. Garçons - “Critics” (1979)

Three French guys, originally called Marie et les Garçons until their drummer, Marie Girard, quit the band. They put out music on classic “mutant disco” label Ze Records.

6. Grauzone - “Eisbär” (1980)

This band was from Switzerland (not a hotbed of musical activity to my knowledge) and in 1980 had a hit in Europe with this song. The lyrics translate to: I wish I was a polar bear, then I wouldn’t have to cry anymore. Deep stuff.

7. Au Pairs - “That’s When It’s Worth It” (1982)

Political post-punk band from Birmingham, UK. This song is from their second, less-celebrated album, Sense and Sensuality (which I actually prefer to their first).

8. Guy Garvey - “Belly of the Whale” (2015)

Guy is the lead singer of Elbow, a fantastic and popular UK band that’s barely made a blip in the US. They play what I call “adventurous adult-contemporary” — stoic and stately as British music often can’t help being, but strange and complex in a way US music rarely can be. This is from his only solo album (so far), Courting the Squall, built on a killer bass and drum groove.

9. Yusef Lateef - “The Three Faces of Balal” (1961)

This is from Eastern Sounds, an album where Lateef blended Asian musical scales and ideas into contemporary (at the time) jazz. I’m not sophisticated enough to pick up on it, but I like it just the same. Lateef played with Donald Byrd and Mingus, usually on tenor sax, but here plays a mean flute.

10. Ava Luna - “PRPL” (2014)

Buncha ringers from Brooklyn playing a post-punk/R&B hybrid. They’re usually pretty frantic, but here slow down for a ballad written by Felicia Douglass (one of the band’s three singers/songwriters).

11. Marmoset - “Lost Days For Ways” (2001)

Bloomington, IN minimalist punks, and one of the early bands on Secretly Canadian. They’ve been sporadically active since this album came out in 2001, which is my favorite of their releases.

12. Antena - “Sissexa” (1982)

French (or Belgian, depending on what you read) band led by Isabelle Antena playing a strange, post-punk take on samba and lounge music.

13. Marcos Valle - “Os Ossos do Barão” (1973)

Brazilian dude I ignored for awhile because he’s never mentioned in connection with the Tropicalia movement and that scene’s luminaries like Gal Costa, Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, and Os Mutantes.  But he’s been around since before them (’63 to be exact), and he’s never stopped since then, putting out a record this year.  This song is from one of his sort of beachy 70′s albums, and apparently was the theme song to a Brazilian TV show at some point.

14. Ronald Langestraat - “I’m Ready for Dancing” (1984)

Spacey lounge dude from Amsterdam.  That’s all I know.  Sometimes my explorations take me down some strange paths.

15. Colin Stetson - “Judges” (2011)

Colin Stetson is a madman saxophonist of seemingly infinite breath. This song is just him, allegedly in one take, and the sounds are coming from everywhere: the sax itself, contact mics picking up the clacking of the valves, a throat mic picking up his singing into the instrument while playing it, etc. It all sounds like some weird lo-if techno made by machines, but couldn’t be more organic. Stetson’s now scoring films - he did Hereditary, among others.

16. Jorge Elbrecht feat. Tamaryn - “Words Never Fail to Fail” (2018)

Mr. Elbrecht is one of my favorite music makers of the past, at this point, 15 years or so. His bands Lansing-Dreiden and Violens put out two great records apiece, and after a bit of a break he’s been putting music out under his own name for the past year or so. This comes from his solo album from last year, Here Lies, and is a ballad duet with Tamaryn, whose records Jorge has produced to beautiful effect as well.

[usgunn]

September 15, 2019

CLICK HERE for the September 15, 2019 playlist

1.    The Girls - “Jeffrey I Hear You” (1979)

Soul Jazz Records just put out a compilation of music that was important and influential to artist Keith Haring.  Lots of great early-80′s downtown New York punk/funk/new wave/etc.  This was the first I had heard this song, by a group led by visual artist and Haring pal George Condo.  I’m a sucker for a one-chord song.

2.    The Wake - “Of The Matter” (1985)

This was a Glasgow-based group that put out music on Factory Records, running in the same scene as New Order and the Durutti Column.  Emotional and urgent, with some amazing synth and bass work.   

3.    Canyons - “When I See You Again” (2011)

Canyons were a “production duo” from Perth, Australia--about as close as one can get to the edge of the world.  They put out one album, Keep Your Dreams, which this song comes from, that veered wildly from clattering electronic productions to more pop-inflected songs like this one, sung by former Sniff ‘n’ The Tears (a band I had never heard of previously) frontman Paul Roberts.

4.    Mood Rings - “Pathos Y Lagrimas” (2013)

Mood Rings were a dreamy Atlanta rock band that signed to Mexican Summer records, put out a really interesting album, VPI Harmony (from which this song comes), and then appears to have fizzled out.

5.    Seely - “Soft City” (1997)

Another Atlanta band, from much earlier than Mood Rings.  Started by two former Georgia Tech architecture students--Steven Satterfield (now chef-owner of Miller Union restaurant in Atlanta) and Lori Scacco (now a multi-disciplinary artist in New York).  They were the first American band to sign to legendary UK post-rock label Too Pure, and recorded their second album with John McEntire from Tortoise and the Sea and Cake.  This song comes from their third album, Seconds, which was produced by Scott Herren from Prefuse 73.

6.    Super Numeri - “When The Sun Dials” (2003)

Weirdo Liverpudlians making music that exists somewhere between Miles Davis’s 70′s jazz fusion experiments and krautrock.  They put out a couple of albums on Ninja Tune and then disappeared, with main-man Pop Levi going to make some kind of annoying solo albums and play bass for Ladytron.

7.    Rosinha de Valença - “Asa Branca” (1971)

Just stumbled across this this past week.  A Brazilian guitarist and composer from the 70′s.  Don’t know much else, but was captivated by the guitar playing here and the sort of surprise horns in the middle of the song.

8.    Brittany Howard - “History Repeats” (2019)

So, I don’t know much about the Alabama Shakes, although I did like a few things I heard from their last album, Sound & Color, that made me think they are probably a much different band than I think they are.  But singer Brittany Howard has been putting out a few singles in advance of a solo album coming out soon, and I’ve been really into them.  This song in particular has a weirdo groove to it and doesn’t really go anywhere in the best way possible.

9.    Dutch Uncles - “Combo Box” (2017)

Dutch Uncles are a Manchester band that’s been one of my faves of the past few years.  Their music is REALLY nerdy, which makes sense since it’s supposedly all composed by their bass player, a musical composition student, using computer musical notation software, which the band then learns how to translate to rock band instruments.

10.   Yellow Magic Orchestra - “Taiso” (1981)

Legendary Japanese supergroup, composed of Yukihiro Takahashi, Haruomi Hosono, and Ryuichi Sakamoto.  All three members were well-known in Japan before the band formed, although only Sakamoto is really well-known in the US due to his film-scoring work.  They made eclectic synth-pop, always with an eye towards the pop world.  This song comes from my favorite overall YMO album, Technodelic.

11.    Alan Braxe & Fred Falke - “Penthouse Serenade” (2002)

For a few years in the early 2000′s, French duo Alan Braxe & Fred Falke treated the world to several wonderful dance singles and several more top-tier remixes for other artists.  And then there must’ve been some bad blood, cause it all just stopped.  Unfortunately their true masterpiece, “Rubicon,” is not on Spotify, but I’d put this song up as one of the best of the rest.  Before teaming with Falke, Braxe was briefly part of a group with Daft Punk’s Thomas Bangalter called Stardust.

12.    Lindstrøm & Christabelle - “Baby Can’t Stop” (2009)

I go back and forth on Swedish electronic music guru Hans-Peter Lindstrøm.  But I love the album he made with Swedish vocalist Christabelle, Real Life Is No Cool.  Unfortunately Christabelle has never shown up anywhere else.

13.    Alexander Robotnick - “C’est La Vie (7″ Version)” (1987)

Robotnick is an Italian dance-music producer who’s been kicking around for almost four decades.  I don’t know much about him, and honestly don’t remember how I stumbled upon this song, but I love it and now you are hearing it.

14.   Hintermass - “While Away” (2016)

Hintermass is a collaboration between Tim Felton (former guitar player for Broadcast and Seeland) and Jon Brooks, aka The Advisory Circle--one of Ghost Box Records’ primary artists.  Their music is a winning combo of Felton’s meditative, baritone pop songs and Brooks’s electronic production.

15.    Dennis Wilson - “Time” (1977)

Yes, that Dennis Wilson--Beach Boys Dennis Wilson.  He made one really deep solo record in 1977, Pacific Ocean Blue.  This emotional tune kicks off side two, showcasing Dennis’s ragged vocals over soft rock piano balladry, before kicking into something else entirely...

[usgunn]

September 8, 2019

CLICK HERE for the September 8, 2019 playlist

1.    The Walker Brothers - “My Ship Is Comin’ In” (1965)

It may be a music nerd cliché to love Scott Walker, but...I love Scott Walker.  I’m sure Scott will show up in other forms on later ARBTR playlists, but this week I felt like kicking things off with some quirky, string-laden late 60′s productions, and this early Walker Brothers song felt like a great way to start.  For a primer on Scott, check out the documentary Scott Walker: 30th Century Man, which is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.  A little extra trivia: this song was produced by Ivor Raymonde, father of Cocteau Twins bassist Simon Raymonde.

2.    The Left Banke - “Desiree” (1968)

The Left Banke are best known for their hit “Walk Away Renee,” from their first record in 1967.  That record was primarily written and arranged by keyboardist Michael Brown, who at the time was a mere 17 years old.  Brown parted ways with the band before their second record, The Left Banke Too, was released, but this track is one of the two songs on that album that he wrote and played on, and in my opinion a highlight of a small but dense catalog.  

3.    The Move - “Beautiful Daughter” (1970)

OK, so technically this song was released in February 1970, but...close enough to stick with our late 60′s time period.  A really wonderful string arrangement here, presumably done by singer and songwriter Roy Wood, who would later start ELO with Jeff Lynne.

4.    The Electric Prunes - “The Adoration” (1968)

This song comes from the fourth album credited to The Electric Prunes, Release of an Oath, but is an Electric Prunes record in name only.  The band that recorded “I Had Too Much to Dream Last Night” was gone, and all that was left was producer David Hassinger and composer/arranger extraordinaire David Axelrod, who would go on to compose and produce several amazing, hip, jazzy records under his own name.  I’m a big Axelrod fan and I’m sure he’ll show up on a future playlist, but this early example of his forays into the “rock” world seemed to fit with this week’s opening theme.

5.    The Soundcarriers - “Signal Blue” (2014)

Getting out of the 60′s, but this UK band has had both David Axelrod and Scott Walker referenced by critics as likely musical inspirations, among other hip 60′s and 70′s acts.  This comes from their album Entropicalia, released on the great Ghost Box record label run by Julian House, a graphic designer whose work has graced almost every Broadcast and Stereolab record sleeve, and who similarly does all the design for Ghost Box’s releases.

6.    SAULT - “Don’t Waste My Time” (2019)

Literally know nothing about this band.  Try and Google them -- as of when this playlist was released, you will find virtually nothing.  All I can tell is that the production was done by Inflo, a UK-based producer that appears to have some connection to super-producer Brian Burton, aka Danger Mouse.  Kind of a sassy, ESG feel; just heard this this week and loved it.

7.    Shape of Broad Minds (feat. MF Doom) - “Let’s Go (Space Boogie)” (2007)

Hip-hop project led by prolific producer (and, I think, part-time Atlanta resident?) Jneiro Jarel.  This comes from a record, Craft of the Lost Art, released on Warp Records hip-hop offshoot Lex Records.  And of course, this song features the vocal stylings of rap legend (and, I think, also part-time Atlanta resident?) MF Doom.  Jarel and Doom later did a full-album collaboration, Key to the Kuffs, under the name JJ Doom.  I love the propulsive feel of this song, with a riff that feels like it’s leading somewhere but keeps repeating itself.

8.    George Smallwood - “You Know I Love You” (1980?)

I discovered this song on a compilation put out by the enigmatic DC-based label Peoples Potential Unlimited called Peoples Potential Family Album, compiling tracks the label had reissued on 12-inches.  PPU mainly mines obscure boogie-funk from the DC/Virginia area, from which blind singer-songwriter George Smallwood hailed.  I love the backing vocals on this song, they totally make it for me, along with the demo-like sparseness of the production.

9.    Sandra Wright - “I Come Running Back” (1974)

I’ve already forgotten how I discovered this, but something I saw this week led me to listen to this track, from the album Wounded Woman, recorded in 1974 for Stax subsidiary Truth Records but unreleased until 1989.  I’m glad I did--I instantly fell in love with everything about this song.

10.   Tim Maia - “Brother, Father, Sister and Mother” (1976)

Note the correct song title above - Spotify seems to have mucked it up.  Maia was a funk/soul guy in the 70′s in Brazil who was the subject of Luaka Bop’s compilation World Psychedelic Classics 4: Nobody Can Live Forever - The Existential Soul of Tim Maia, where I discovered this song.

11.    Daphni - “Sizzling (Radio Edit)” (2019)

Daphni is the name under which Caribou mastermind Dan Snaith releases his more dance-oriented material.  This song, released this past summer, is a remix of an obscure 1981 funk track called “Sizzlin Hot” by Paradise.  It cooks.

12.    "Blue” Gene Tyranny - “David Kopay (Portrait)” (1978)

Note the correct song title above.  Tyranny was an avant-garde piano player and composer who dabbled the “rock idiom,” for lack of a better term.  He was briefly in the Stooges, apparently.  This song is adventurous from a compositional perspective but also remarkably funky.  Extra trivia: this song’s namesake, David Kopay, was an NFL running back and the first NFL player to publicly acknowledge he was gay.  In addition to the many things to love about this song, the extended synth drone outro provides a palette cleanser for the set of songs that close the playlist this week.

13.    Will Johnson - “Every Single Day of Late” (2017)

Will Johnson was the leader of the late-great Centro-matic from Denton, TX, one of my all-time favorite bands.  He released a couple of sparse solo records while Centro-matic was active, but since that band folded in 2014 his solo records have incorporated more varied sounds and approaches to songwriting.  This song, from his most recent record Hatteras Night, a Good Luck Charm (although a new one is due this year) opens with a somewhat menacing electric guitar sound and never quite feels settled, adding junkyard percussion and backing vocals with some interesting atonal guitar work in the middle.

14.   Rollerskate Skinny - “Lunasa” (1993)

Really, really weird and fearless 90′s rock band from Dublin, Ireland that featured Jimi Shields, younger brother of Kevin Shields from My Bloody Valentine, on drums and other instruments.  This song really gives you no idea of what the album this comes from (Shoulder Voices, their debut) sounds like--I’m not sure any individual song on the record does.  All over the place in the best way possible.  I felt like the backing-vocal heavy nature of this song went well with the previous song and the next song, even if they otherwise sound like they have nothing to do with each other.

15.    Kelley Polar - “Chrysanthemum” (2007)

Polar was (is?) a Julliard-educated violinist with an affinity for dance music who made two great string-drenched dance records in the early 2000′s and then, as far as I can tell, disappeared.  This song actually barely features strings, and I therefore hesitated to include it, but I love the starkness of this track and the rhythm “breaths” that drive it.

16.    Psychic TV - “The Orchids” (1983)

I’m not a Psychic TV fan, and I don’t get much of what they do.  The band, formed by former Throbbing Gristle members Genesis P-Orridge and Peter “Sleazy” Christopherson, often trafficks in drone and noise music that just doesn’t do anything for me.  But this song is different.  I first heard this song when Califone covered it on their Roots & Crowns album in 2006, and I still love that version.  But the original has a strange naiveté to it, with its lo-fi production and overlapping, cut-and-paste vocals.

[usgunn]

September 1, 2019

CLICK HERE for the September 1, 2019 playlist

1.    Furniture - “Transatlantic Cable” (1983)

I stumbled across this band for the first time this week.  Led by Jim Irvin, who went on to be a British music journalist and also has a co-write credit on a Lana Del Rey song?  Only one EP is on Spotify, but I was so smitten with it I had to lead off with something from it this week.  I’m getting a David Sylvian-vibe.

2.    The Late Bronze Age - “King Greed” (1980)

Spotify credits this song to Col. Bruce Hampton and the Late Bronze Age, but when this record, Outside Looking Out, first came out, they were just the Late Bronze Age.  No offense to my hippie pals out there, but due to his frequent visits to the Georgia Theater back when it was a jam-band haunt I always assumed I would never want to have anything to do with Col. Bruce.  But nobody told me he was in a jazzy new wave band in the early 80′s that sounded like what I always wished Pere Ubu sounded like.

3.    Tesco Bombers - “Break The Ice at Parties” (1982)

London band with but one release, the 7″ from which this song comes, on Y Records, which also put out killer music from Maximum Joy and Shriekback.  I only know this from a compilation,  Cease & Desist: DIY!, put together by JD Twitch of Optimo, the legendary Glaswegian DJ team.

4.    Social Climbers - “Palm Springs” (1981)

NYC-band (by way of Bloomington, IN) who made one self-titled record and disappeared as far as I know, later reissued through the combined power of Drag City and Yoga Records.  Now you know as much as I do.  A lot of the album is more vocal-driven, but this track felt right to kick off a run of instrumental tracks coming up.

5.    Fernando Falcão - “Ladeira dos Inocentes” (1981)

Back to Optimo - they also run a label, Optimo Music, which has picked up a sub-label, Selva Discos, that is putting out some fantastic and forgotten Brazilian music--and that label has just reissued two private-press Fernando Falcão albums.  I first heard Fernando Falcão on the great Outro Tempo compilation a couple of years ago of avant-garde Brazilian music from the 80′s (the Os Mulheres Negras track from a few weeks back came from that compilation).  I don’t know what you call this music.  I like it when you don’t know what to call it.

6.    Ennio Morricone - “Seguita” (1971)

I’m not gonna pretend to know much about Morricone beyond what everyone knows (Italian film composer, did several Sergio Leone movies).  But I always love hearing his music, and I’ve always really liked the Crime and Dissonance compilation (from which this song is taken) of some of his lesser-known work put together by Alan Bishop of Sun City Girls and released on Mike Patton of Faith No More’s Ipecac Records.  This menacing jazz tune is from the movie Gli Occhi Freddi Della Paura, if knowing that sort of thing is important to you.

7.    Sons of Kemet - “My Queen is Harriet Tubman” (2018)

One of several projects of Shabaka Hutchings, a British saxophonist and restless collaborator.  Seems to exist somewhere between jazz and afrobeat, with two drummers pounding out frenetic rhythms.  The album this comes from, Your Queen is a Reptile, was The Wire magazine’s #1 album of 2018.

8.    75 Dollar Bill - “Tetuzi Akiyama” (2019)

75 Dollar Bill started as a guitar and drums duo but have expanded to something much different, playing music that seems steeped in the traditions of some mythical country.  This song is like the blues on acid.

9.    5ive Style - “Pledge Drive” (1999)

5ive Style was a Chicago supergroup (if a supergroup can consist of people no-one has ever heard of): John Herndon (Tortoise, Poster Children) on drums, Leroy Bach (Chicago man-about-town, later in Wilco) on bass, Jeremy Jacobson (one-man-band The Lonesome Organist) on keys, and the inestimable Billy Dolan (later of Heroic Doses) on guitar.  Dolan is one of THE great unsung guitar players of the last, I don’t know, 40 years, and you get a taste of that here.

10.   Orange Juice - “Two Hearts Together (10″ Version)” (1982)

Whether you like this song will determine whether we can be friends.  Not really, but I will die on the Orange Juice hill.  Orange Juice was a Glasgow indie-pop band that most people only care about for their early singles and first-draft of their first album, when they were a scrappy, lo-fi band on Glasgow indie-lable Postcard Records.  But I prefer Orange Juice after they signed to Polydor and became an over-produced also-ran.  This Caribbean-inflected non-album single came between their first and second albums on Polydor, when the band had shed its original guitarist and drummer and added Malcolm Ross on guitar (from Edinburgh’s Josef K) and Zeke Manyika on drums, a Zimbabwe-born multi-talented musician who later recorded with The The and The Style Council, and who in my opinion was a catalyst for the best phase of Orange Juice’s career (but who otherwise seems to be a footnote in most people’s Orange Juice histories--to the extent other people have Orange Juice histories). 

11.    Archer Prewitt - “Gifts of Love” (2002)

Archer Prewitt is best known as the lead guitar player for The Sea and Cake, but made several solo albums of his own in the late 90′s/early 2000′s.  No one would ever accuse The Sea and Cake’s bossa-nova inflected, jazzy post-rock of being “hard,” but Archer’s albums really veered into 70′s soft rock territory, in the best way possible.  There’s a lot to like about this song, but the string-laden outro may be the best part, so good that I’m always disappointed when it fades out so soon.

12.    The Clientele - “Bookshop Casanova” (2007)

The Clientele are a long-time Merge Records band that’s never really caught fire like some others, likely due to their spurts of inactivity and seeming reluctance to tour the U.S. in any meaningful way.  Their catalog is deep at this point, full of poignant moments of beauty and deceptively complex arrangements that invite repeat listens.  This song, though, is probably the closest they ever got at translating what they do into something that might catch a casual listener’s ear at first blush.  

13.    Howard Ivans - “Red Face Boy” (2013)

Howard Ivans is the alter-ego of Ivan Howard, co-leader of another Merge Records band, The Rosebuds.  While The Rosebuds always rooted their genre-experiments in the world of indie-rock, the Howard Ivans persona allows Howard to go full R&B, with wonderful results.  This was one of the first singles put out by Matthew E. White’s Spacebomb Records, and they went all out, with horns arranged by White and strings arranged by Trey Pollard, all cut to tape in Richmond, VA.

14.   BADBADNOTGOOD & Ghostface Killah (ft. MF Doom) - “Ray Gun” (2015)

BADBADNOTGOOD is, as far as I can tell, a bunch of nerds from Canada who play really inventine funk, soul and jazz music, and they made a whole record, Sour Soul, backing Ghostface Killa from Wu-Tang Clan.  I haven’t dived in too deep yet, but really like this song featuring the legendary MF Doom.  Doom and Ghostface have been teasing a collaborative album for years under the name DOOMSTARKS, but so far, nothing.

15.    Baby Huey - “Hard Times” (1971)

Larger than life at 400 lbs. and dead at 26 due to heroin, Baby Huey was not around long enough to make much of a mark.  But he did manage to record one full-length, produced by Curtis Mayfield, from which this song comes (the song was also penned by Mayfield).  There’s an amazing, nearly 10-minute performance of “A Change is Going to Come” on there too, but there wasn’t room this week (I reserve the right to put 10-minute long songs on this playlist, though).

16.    Craig Finn - “Something to Hope For” (2019)

I was never much of a Hold Steady fan -- I appreciated them more than I liked them.  But I feel like frontman Craig Finn is really coming into his own on the solo side of things, and the album he put out this year, I Need a New War, has some great moments, including this earnest, soul-inflected tune.

[usgunn]

August 25, 2019

CLICK HERE for the August 25, 2019 playlist

1.    Jules and the Polar Bears – “Shadows Break” (1978)

Group led by Jules Shear, who went on to write hits for Cyndi Lauper (“All Through the Night”) and The Bangles (“If She Knew What She Wants”).  This is from their first record, Got No Breeding, a fantastic and smart record from start to finish.

2.    Van Duren – “Grow Yourself Up” (1978)

A Memphis dude and Big Star affiliate.  This is from his first album, which is still not available on Spotify, but luckily it’s also on the soundtrack to an upcoming documentary about Mr. Duren, which _is _on Spotify.

3.    Sneaky Feelings – “Someone Else’s Eyes” (1983)

I honestly don’t know much about this band, just that they’re from New Zealand and were on Flying Nun, but to me they sound more like a UK power pop band than any of the other Flying Nun bands of the time.

4.    Felt – “The Day the Rain Came Down” (1985)

The musical project of “Lawrence,” who said he was going to start a band, release 10 albums and 10 singles, and then break up, and did exactly that.  This is from Felt’s fourth album, Ignite the Seven Cannons and Set Sail for the Sun, when the band still featured the beautiful guitar stylings of Maurice Deebank, on full display on this track.  Also, it really does end that abruptly.

5.    The Three O’Clock – “When Lightning Strikes” (1983)

One of the pillars of LA’s “Paisley Underground” scene in the 80’s (which, in my mind, also inclues The Dream Syndicate, Rain Parade, and the Bangles).  Later, serendipitously, signed to Prince’s Paisley Park record label and gave a young Jason Falkner his start.  This is from their first record.

6.    The Boys – “Baby It’s You” (1979)

Included on Titan: It’s All Pop, a compilation put out by the wonderful Numero Group consisting of music released by the Kansas City regional power-pop label Titan in the late 70’s/early 80’s. Kansas City was actually a step up for The Boys, who hailed from the music mecca of Lincoln, Nebraska.

7.    Magazine – “Rhythm of Cruelty (7” Version)” (1979)

Magazine frontman Howard Devoto was a founding member of the Buzzcocks, but left before they ever released an album (he does have a co-songwriting credit on “Orgasm Addict”—nothing to sneeze at).  For some reason his brief Buzzcocks membership is always one of the first things mentioned about him (and I’m clearly part of the problem), but Magazine put out four really great nervy, new-wavey albums of their own.  Bassist Barry Adamson went on to a stint in Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, soundtracking David Lynch films, and other cool stuff.

8.    Gong – “Love is How Y Make It” (1973)

For the most part, I’m not sure I can hang with Gong, who are about as goofy as an art/prog-rock band from the 70’s can get.  But I’ve loved this song ever since Four Tet put it on a mix back in 2006. And it serves as a nice palette cleanser here to move out of the power-pop new wave mode of the first songs into some other territory.

9.    Was (Not Was) – “Wheel Me Out (Long Version” (1980)

Before he was producing 90’s career-renaissance albums for The Rolling Stones and Bonnie Raitt, and before he became president of Blue Note Records, Don Was was making weirdo funk-disco music in Detroit.

10. The B-52’s – “Ain’t it a Shame” (1986)

Was turned onto this wonderful song, from the otherwise little-talked-about 1986 album Bouncing Off the Satellites, by my friend and former bandmate Dr. Nathan DeYonker, who always wanted our band Reading to cover it.  I think Sinead O’Connor covered it at one point—but I’ve never heard it.

11. Nite Jewel – “It Goes Through Your Head” (2011)

The recording project of LA-resident Ramona Gonzalez, whose music to me often captures the emotional essence of late-80’s/early 90’s R&B in a more lo-fi package.  All her albums are great, but this was a one-off single from a few years ago.

12. Donna Summer – “Lucky” (1979)

I picked up a copy of Bad Girls recently on the cheap, and this Moroder-produced synth-pop number from Side Four caught my ear.

13. Shura – “religion (you can lay your hands on me) – edit” (2019)

I know next to nothing about Shura, but I heard this song recently and really dug not only the wonderful melodies and production, but also the disarming innocence of the song’s steamy focus on “kissing.”

14. Richenel – “Perfect Stranger” (1982)

Seems like I saved the songs I know the least about for the end.  Music From Memory, a great Dutch record label that I’ve been following for a couple of years, has put out a couple of EP’s worth of stuff by this guy, a Dutch singer who later put out music on 4AD and some major labels.

15. Rare Silk – “Storm” (1985)

I really know nothing about this band, but I was surprised to find out they were from BOULDER, COLORADO.  Given that, to me, this song sounds like it wasn’t even made on this planet, Boulder makes more sense than a lot of places.  A reissue label I love out of the UK, Be With Records, is putting out a 10” of this song later this year.

[usgunn]

August 18, 2019

CLICK HERE for the August 18, 2019 playlist

1.  Judee Sill - “The Archetypal Man” (1971)

Friends with the CSNY guys and other luminaries back in the day, but never got her due.  Her life was tragic, with stints of drug addiction and imprisonment, but she recorded two devastatingly beautiful albums before fading into obscurity and addiction, dying in 1979.

2.  Jean-Claude Vannier - “Danse des mouches noires gardes du roi” (1972)

Vannier would be legendary in my mind if his only credit was the arrangements on Serge Gainsbourg’s Histoire de Melody Nelson.  But he has a slew of other arranging credits, including on Brigitte Fontaine’s wonderful Brigitte Fontaine Est...Folle.  And then he also made a batshit album under his own name, L’Enfant Assassin Des Mouches, from which this song comes.

3.  The United States of America - “Coming Down” (1968)

Led by two classically trained musicians who wanted to try and play rock music for, I think...political reasons?  Some cool sounds on here for a late 60′s band, including some sick fuzz bass.

4.  Antibalas - “Gold Rush (Radio Edit)” (2017)

NY afrobeat collective that’s been around over 20 years, with connections to the Daptone/Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings world.  Also just found out they played on the song “Uptown Funk,” so...

5.  Black Moth Super Rainbow - “Sun Lips” (2007)

Weird people from Pittsburgh making weird music.  Led by a dude named Tobacco, who between BMSR and his solo records has been really prolific over the last decade, but I think the record this song comes from, Dandelion Gum, was where his decaying-VHS-tape-meets-Vocoder aesthetic worked the best.

6.  Kevin Dunn and the Regiment of Women - “AG” (1981)

Atlanta new-wave dude who produced the original “Rock Lobster” single for the B-52′s and co-produced Pylon’s Gyrate.  This is from his only full-length, The Judgment of Paris, put out on Atlanta’s legendary DB Records.

7.  The Lines - “Blisstability” (1979-ish?)

The Lines were a London-based post-punk band around in the late 70′s and early 80′s.  Acute Records, an early-2000′s label that did God’s work putting out some great forgotten post-punk and avant-garde recordings from the early 80′s, put out a singles and rarities compilation from The Lines called “Memory Span” back in 2008.  This song was only demoed, never released, but it’s my favorite thing by them among a strong catalog.

8.  Clor - “Outlines” (2005)

One of my favorite “one-album wonders” ever, Clor put out a great synth-driven, quirky pop record (the self-tlted Clor) in 2005 and then, as far as I know, disappeared off the face of the Earth.

9.  Metronomy - “The Bay” (2011) 

This British band has been up and down for me, never totally 100% delivering a satisfying album experience, but the album this song comes from, The English Riviera, comes the closest, and I love the production in the chorus.

10.  Machine - “There But For the Grace of God (12″ Version) (1979)

Disco band featuring, and produced by, August Darnell, also of Dr. Buzzard’s Original Savannah Band (who recorded the oft-sampled “Sunshowers”) and Kid Creole and the Coconuts.  He covered a lot of ground across those bands, but he never grooved as hard as this.

11.  Kitty - “Herzog” (c. 1994-1998)

There’s a great record label in Seattle, Medical Records, run by an actual oncologist who went to med school in Texas, that mostly puts out obscure European synth music, but luckily they also took the time to compile and release the otherwise unreleased recordings of this adventurous Austin, TX band.

12.  Martin Newell - “The Jangling Man” (1993)

If you have spoken to me about music in the last five years then I have probably talked your ear off about Cleaners From Venus, a band with which I have developed an unhealthy obsession.  The Cleaners put out a string of lo-fi cassettes throughout the 80′s that rival the quality of Guided By Voices in their prime.  Then in 1993 Newell enlisted XTC’s Andy Partridge (a kindred spirt in terms of qunitessentially British, intelligent, quirky songwriting) to produce a solo album, The Greatest Living Englishman, in comparativle high fidelity.  And if you know how much I also love XTC, then you have probably already guessed that it is my favorite thing ever.  This is just one gem among many.

13.  Working For A Nuclear Free City - “Alphaville” (2010)

A bunch of studio rats from Manchester come together to make sonically adventurous shoegazey pop music...and, as far as I can tell, no one cared.  But the album this song comes from, Jojo Burger Tempest, is a great adventure full of wonderful moments.  In particular, I love the guitar work in the second half of this song.

14.  Disco Inferno - “Second Language” (1994)

The misleadingly-named Disco Inferno pushed the boundaries of how samples could be incorporated into otherwise “rock” music, forming a unique strain of post-rock that I feel like is one of the only threads from the 90′s that no one else really picked up.  This is from a series of five EP’s the band put out just before and just after they released their second album, D.I. Go Pop.  Some more really great guitar work towards the end of this song.  Writing this prompted me to check up on whether the members had done anything after breaking up in 1996 -- and luckily the two main members, Ian Crause and Paul Wilmott, went on to do a few things which are all on Spotify...so more to come there...