Delia Derbyshire / Barry Bermange ‎– Inventions For Radio: The Dreams (2014)

Style: Experimental
Format: Vinyl
Label: Psychic Sounds

Tracklist:
A1.   Running
A2.   Land
A3.   Falling
B4.   Sea
B5.   Colour

Notes:
"Dreams" was made in collaboration with Barry Bermange (who originally recorded the narrations). Bermange put together The Dreams (1964), a collage of people describing their dreams, set to a background of electronic sound. Dreams is a collection of spliced/reassembled interviews with people describing their dreams, particularly recurring elements. The program of sounds and voices attempts to represent, in five movements, some sensations of dreaming: running away, falling, landscape, underwater, and colour.

A real treat for Delia's legion of fans here. "Dreams" was originally made in collaboration with Barry Bermange and broadcast on BBC Radio's "Third Programme" on 05-01-1964. Quite what the listening public made of it, I can't imagine, as even today it's a strangely beautiful, but nightmarish proposition, with a slow, spooky atmosphere that immediately made me think of "Carnival of Souls". 

Bermange recorded a selection of typically well-spoken, upper crust sounding members of the English public describing their uncomfortable, claustrophobic dreams, in a calm monotone which hints at the coiled mania beneath. David Lynch would love both the delivery, and the surreal depth of detail here. 

These recordings were then spliced and reassembled, with excellent use of repetition to build tension, with Derbyshire providing suitably nightmarish electronic soundscapes that accentuate the feeling of mounting terror. Those who are fans of her eerie Doctor Who work will feel right at home here, although this is creepier than anything the Beeb would have allowed on their flagship kid's sci-fi show. 

It's riveting stuff, presented in five themed movements. "Falling" is a particular revelation, full of edge of the seat moments, with a deliberately slow pace that racks up the tension to unbearable levels.

Word is unfortunately, that this vinyl release is a bootleg, and that it's sourced from 256k mp3s. It sounds like it may well be, unfortunately; it's certainly not an ideal situation, but given its relatively lo-fi origins, it doesn't suffer too much from this treatment. While I'm loathe to support this sort of venture, it's historical importance, coupled with the unlikeliness of an official release anytime soon (or indeed, ever) make this a no-regrets purchase for me, and should an official release eventuate, a re-buy is a certainty. 

An essential addition to your Radiophonic collection.

Nathan Ford  / The Active Listener 

Coil ‎– Love's Secret Domain (1991)

Style: Techno, Experimental
Format: CD, Vinyl, Cass.
Label:  Wax Trax! Records

Tracklist:
01.   Disco Hospital
02.   Teenage Lightning 1
03.   Things Happen
04.   The Snow
05.   Dark River
06.   Where even The Darkness Is Something To See
07.   Teenage Lightning 2
08.   Windowpane
09.   Further Back And Faster
10.   Titan Arch
11.   Chaostrophy
12.   Lorca Not Orca
13.   Love's Secret Domain

Credits:
Didgeridoo – Cyrung (tracks: 5, 6, 9)
Guitar [Spanish] – Juan Ramirez (tracks: 5, 7, 12)
Producer – Coil, Danny Hyde
Programmed By [Additional], Engineer – Danny Hyde

Coil is possibly the most overlooked electronic act in recent memory. Throughout their whole career they’ve pushed boundaries in so many strange ways, and while not all results were positive they allowed the room to re-distinguish what music could become. In turn, Love’s Secret Domain’s appeal has nothing to do with its dynamic instrumentation or its eclectic styles throughout the songs. The fact that makes this such an interesting album is merely detail. Naturally since this came out during the great electronic revolution they pertained to certain relevant aspects such as rhythmic foundations, but also include an almost scary amount of other influences, such as jazz-fusion, post-gothic, and even some literary citations. The record is meant to be taken almost ironically just by the title Love’s Secret Domain (LSD), but there’s so many other levels of philosophy and ambience that you literally have no idea where the record is going. Now, is this a bad thing, or merely a musical experiment of social/unspoken dialect" 

Just like with any experiment it works both ways. Disco Hospital opens the record with nothing more than a collection of noises on a mixing board, but flows right into Teenage Lightning, Pt. 1, a very…very strange composition of buzzes, bangs, and twangs randomly landing over a consistent rhythm melody. If you weren’t confused enough, Things Happen introduces Annie Anxiety, a stage actor from New York, in a completely dazed yet nonchalant spoken-word performance over a mid-tempo, nightmarish theme that completely alters the tone from the first two tracks. The album loves to take sudden turns like this in order to cover a vast amount of ground in terms of emotions and topics and ideas, which is immediately obvious if you were to compare The Snow, essentially a frigid dance track consisting of what you would expect, as well as a consistency of ever-evolving layers and samples, to Dark River, a very hollow ambient piece, or to Windowpane, a vocal-driven modulation of world music influence.  

From the reference to The Divine Comedy in Titan Arch to the pseudo-philosophy rant about a demented view of love from the title track to the complete circle back to the lightness of Teenage Lighting, Pt. 2, it’s not necessarily apparent whether or not the album is meant to be taken in a linear way. Does the song order deal with a stream-of-consciousness concept of what goes through one’s head when evolving into one who loves or becomes loveless, or even a path where cohesiveness is just too weird to make the concept fit" This isn’t meant for a few listens before you move on to something else, you really have to delve into this record to make your own story of what the purpose is to you because frankly that’s probably why the band made it so vague and out of balance. It wasn’t meant to make sense because the concept they’re tackling doesn’t make sense. Obviously, like previously mentioned, some parts just don’t work in their method, such as Further Back And Faster’s 8-minute trek of percussion tracks or Chaostrophy’s lack of identity, however the soul of the record never cracks into useless convolution of other principles. If you want a record that needs to grow into you, you’ll be hard-pressed to find something anything else as strangely, neurotically, or overwhelmingly ensnaring.

fireaboveicebelow / sputnik music 

Tangents ‎– New Bodies (2018)

Style: Post Rock, Experimental
Format: CD, Vinyl
Label: Temporary Residence Limited

Tracklist:
1.   Lake George
2.   Terracotta
3.   Arteries
4.   Immersion
5.   Gone To Ground
6.   Swells Under Tito
7.   Oort Cloud

Credits:
Peter Hollo - Cello, Effects
Ollie Bown - Arranger, Computers, Producer, Sampling, Synthesizer
Evan Dorrian - Drum Set, Keyboards, Percussion, Voices
Adrian Klumpes - Arranger, Fender Rhodes, Piano, Prepared Piano, Vibraphone
Shoeb Ahmad - Guitar (Bass), Guitar (Electric), Sleigh Bells
Casey Rice - Mastering
Richard Belkner - Engineer, Mixing

At some point during the first three albums by Australian instrumental quintet Tangents, you’re bound to get a bit breathless. Tangents don’t write songs so much as they create little worlds, each one a microcosm teeming with separate but symbiotic ideas, like samples of fertile soil viewed under a microscope. An unorthodox ensemble of keyboards, drums, bells, cello, effects, and electronics, they front-load their pieces with varied sounds: bits of warm folk melody and cold string drone, buoyant trip-hop rhythm and tessellated gamelan percussion. It’s easy to feel buried beneath all these elements or swept away in their inevitable landslide. 

On Tangents’ 2013 debut, I, my breathless moment came early, when drummer Evan Dorrian climbed atop a cello-and-circuits din to dance with his kit; on 2016’s Stateless, it was the rising action of “N-Mission,” when drums and electronics coiled repeatedly around a loping pizzicato cello line, teasing a deliverance that never came. Their fourth and best album, New Bodies, overflows with these sensations—of being overpowered and delighted, of being buoyed up and washed away by Tangents’ seemingly endless ideas. 

Tangents began as a strictly improvisational ensemble, recording their first two records in single sittings. I documents the first time they ever played together. But for Stateless, they elected to edit that spontaneous energy, clipping and rearranging their improvisations into sophisticated, interconnected pieces. On “Oberon,” they summoned the slow, accretive approach of Australian instrumental elders the Necks, while “N-Mission” recalls the way Four Tet uses florid little themes as the anchors for rising rhythms. But the album sometimes came off as too scripted and fastidious, sucking the early improvisational air from the editing room. 

The band takes a similar compositional approach to the seven pieces on New Bodies, but that lost beginners’ energy has returned and even grown. “Immersion” again evokes the Necks, but this time you feel as if you’re in the room with Tangents, lifted in real time as their controlled commotion rises. Serene closer “Oort Cloud” moves like a daydream, with whispering electronics and persistent piano suggesting a minor breeze that rustles the hair on your arms. It is lovely and carefully constructed music that also feels casual and conversational. If you didn’t know these were edits of improvisations, you might assume they were simply remarkable, complicated compositions. 

This emerging seamlessness seems to have made Tangents less self-conscious, too. They’ve started to shed their preference for compositional austerity or coolness. “Swells Under Tito” is the most outwardly joyous and funky tune in their catalog. Ebullient drums and a cello that flits between rubbery bass and restless smears lift a West African guitar line, which flashes like a roadside sign inviting you to an all-night party. The guileless tune suggests a discarded Akron/Family or Dirty Projectors demo, meticulously sculpted by a third party into its final prismatic form. During the back half of “Terracotta,” a tune that initially invokes Four Tet’s repetitive ecstasy, pianist Adrian Lim-Klumpes dips into a trio vamp with Dorrian and cellist Peter Hollo, whose plucking somehow elicits the robustness of an upright bass. The passage sounds like Keith Jarrett righteously commandeering the keys of Medeski Martin & Wood. Tangents never seemed the sort to make Saturday cookout tunes, but they sound spectacular testing the edges of their accessibility. 

Still, the most significant shift on New Bodies—and the mature move that could push Tangents beyond the realm of instrumental esoterica, like their Temporary Residence labelmates Explosions in the Sky—is a nascent emotional resonance. “Gone to Ground” hinges on the group’s technical excellence. A prepared piano rattles around a bleak landscape of distended drones and disjointed beats, alternating with sections where stately progressions sit inside the rhythms’ rests, finding a bona fide groove. But those threads tangle late in the 11-minute odyssey, forming a knot of rumbling bass, anxious percussion, and aching countermelodies. With its push and pull between rest and restlessness, “Gone to Ground” is a sophisticated musical map of ordinary frustration, complete with a requisite this-too-shall-pass comedown. 

Absorbing opener “Lake George” captures the exhaustion that follows a long-cohesive group’s split, without warning, into distinct factions. For the song’s first half, Tangents seem to drift through a reverie, with echoing guitar notes lacing around low cello and steady drums; then, the kinetic Dorrian sprints headlong while the band stands still, dismayed by the sudden departure. As the song fades into what feels like an exhalation, you might be struck by the familiarity of this kind of relationship—a situation that’s contentious to the point of collapse. For years, an emotional narrative like this one would have seemed superfluous for Tangents, a quintet devoted to technical dexterity and clarity. On New Bodies, they allow those sharpened skills to inhabit emerging human forms, a move that speaks as powerfully to the heart as it does to the brain.

Grayson Haver Currin / Pitchfork

The Woodentops ‎– Giant (1986)

Style: Indie Rock
Format: CD, Vinyl, Cass.
Label: Rough Trade

Tracklist:
01.   Get It On
02.   Good Thing
03.   Give It Time
04.   Love Train
05.   Hear Me James
06.   Love Affair With Everyday Livin'
07.   So Good Today
08.   Shout
09.   History
10.   Travelling Man
11.   Last Time
12.   I Want Your Love
13.   Everything Breaks

Credits:
Accordion – Jack Emblow
Bass – Frank De Freitas
Double Bass – Chucho Merchan
Drums – Benny Staples
Guitar – Simon Mawby
Keyboards – Alice Thompson
Marimba – Bob Sargeant
Strings – Danny Shogger
Trumpet – Steve Sidwell
Voice – Alice Thompson, Benny Staples, Frank De Freitas, Rolo McGinty, Simon Mawby
Producer – Bob Sargeant
Engineer – John Gallen

During the two weeks I spent working on my “1987: 20th Year Reunion” piece, I ended up digging up some music from the previous year that I used to listen to. By far my most revelatory rediscovery was The Woodentops’ Giant. I remember having the tape and playing it to death. Eventually the tape was lost, and I never found the CD, until last week, when I ordered it from Deepdiscount. Cherry Red reissued it in 2001 with four bonus tracks. Why they didn’t include all the singles is beyond me, as there isn’t a single Woodentops song from that era not worth hearing. 

Lead by Rolo McGinty, The Woodentops took bits of Suicide, The Talking Heads, XTC , Echo & the Bunnymen and especially the frenetic rhythms of The Feelies, all treated with acoustic folk, twisted with other instrumentation like marimbas, accordian and trumpet. While The Feelies also tackled acoustic guitars on their second album, The Good Earth, The Woodentops still sounded quite different. Their songs had a perfect balance of diverse experimentalism and pop hooks. Morrissey constantly talked them up at the time, which was a brave gesture, considering the strong possibility that Giant more consistently great than The Smiths’ The Queen Is Dead. If it weren’t for Morrissey’s clever lyrics and two untouchable singles from that album, I’d even say Giant crushed it. So why didn’t they become huge? Probably because their magic only lasted through their debut album. They were on Rough Trade, an indie label unable to push a band without help from a string of hit singles like The Smiths had. Columbia did release the album in the U.S., but it didn’t catch on. The 1988 followup, Wooden Foot Cops On The Highway, while actually very good, wasn’t able to measure up to Giant. Thus, Giant slipped through the cracks of canonization and became a lost classic. 

I uploaded the MP3 of the first track, “Get It On,” which gives a sense of the propulsive energy of much of the album, along with “Love Train,” Hear Me James,” “Shout,” and “Travelling Man.” “Good Thing” is wonderfully original love ballad that made it onto several high school era mix tapes. The album gets better and better, peaking with “Last Time” and “Everything Breaks,” two of their most distinct songs. I desperately don’t want it to end, and the four bonus cuts collected from the Well Well Well EP provides some relief. I also downloaded the out of print singles collection (“Steady Steady” is a heavy dirge about terminal cancer, and one of their most atypical, but powerful songs) and their 1987 live album, Hypno Beat Live (where they play three times as fast! Who needs Slayer?) to extend my buzz. Amazingly, they popped up last year announcing a reunion and a tour. We should be so lucky that they come to the U.S.

A.S. Van Dorston / fastndbulbous 

Sudden Sway ‎– 76 Kids Forever (1988)

Style: Indie Rock, Avantgarde, Experimental
Format: CD, Vinyl
Label: Rough Trade

Tracklist:
A1.   The Phoenix Family Protection Plan
A2.   Solo - Store Detective Man
A3.   Barmy Army
A4.   So, You're Alright Then?
A5.   I've Got A Tinnitron Amusement Centre
A6.   Only A Grebo
A7.   Reverend Peter, Bio-Teacher
B1.   Once In Every Weekend
B2.   Trisha Listen
B3.   Ballad Of Brancaster
B4.   Never In Netherton
B5.   76 Kids Forever
B6.   Hush Puppy Yummy

The band was formed in 1980 by Mike McGuire (vocals) and Steve Rolls (Guitar) after disbanding 1st generation punk band The Now. They recruited Pete Jostins (Bass), Shaun Foreman (Guitar & Keyboards) and Colin Meech (Drums), with various others contributing in their early days.[1] They were initially influenced by bands such as A Certain Ratio and Shriekback.[1] Their first releases were two self-financed singles, "Jane's Third Party" and the To You, With Regard EP, in 1980 and 1981 respectively. The latter was sufficiently successful to attract major-label interest from CBS and Virgin Records, but after a further single (Traffic Tax Scheme) on their own 'Chant' label, and with guitarist Simon Childs added as a permanent member, they signed a deal with Warners subsidiary Blanco y Negro, debuting on the label in 1986 with eight versions of the single "Sing Song".[1] After releasing the Spacemate package - a double LP, book, poster, set of cards and instruction manual, packaged together in a soap box container and designed by Jon Wozencroft, the band moved on to indie label Rough Trade Records, where they would stay for the rest of their career. Their fondness for short songs was evident on their first Rough Trade release, a 7-inch EP featuring eight, 1 minute songs and titled "Autumn Cut Back Job Lot Offer", released in early 1987. The following year, they released their second album, '76 Kids Forever, which they described as a "soap opera musical". The band continued for one final effort, 1990's Ko-Opera album, before splitting up with an unreleased album (minus Simon Childs) in the can. 

The band recorded two sessions for John Peel's BBC Radio 1 programme, in 1983 (Let's Evolve, Relationships) and 1984 (A Walk in the Park, Problem-Solving Broadcasts 1-3, T Minus Tranquility), the first released as an EP in 1986.[2] They also made an appearance on Whistle Test, performing "Packet of Vacuum" , "Father I Do" and one other track , plus an appearance on C4 "Night Network" playing "Solo Store Detective Man".

Wikipedia

Dinah Shore ‎– The Dinah Shore Collection: Columbia and RCA Recordings 1942-1948 (1999)

Style: Vocal
Format: CD
Label: Vocalion

Tracklist:
1-01.   On A Bicycle Built For Two
1-02.   Manhattan Serenade
1-03.   You And I
1-04.   Mad About Him
1-05.   You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To
1-06.   Shoo-Fly Pie And Apple Pan Dowdy
1-07.   Coax Me A Little Bit
1-08.   Two Silhouettes
1-09.   The Gypsy
1-10.   Laughing On The Outside
1-11.   I Got Lost In His Arms
1-12.   That Little Dream Got Nowhere
1-13.   All That Glitters Is Not Gold
1-14.   Come Rain Or Come Shine
1-15.   Doin' What Comes Naturally
1-16.   You Keep Coming Back Like A Song
1-17.   I May Be Wrong (But I Think You're Wonderful)
1-18.   You, So It's You!
1-19.   Who'll Buy My Violets?
1-20.   A Rainy Night In Rio
1-21.   You'll Always Be The One I Love
1-22.   Through A Thousand Dreams
1-23.   (I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons
1-24.   The Kerry Dance
1-25.   Dixie
2-01.   The Thrill Is Gone
2-02.   There'll Be Some Changes Made
2-03.   Georgia On My Mind
2-04.   What Can I Say After I Say I'm Sorry
2-05.   Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man
2-06.   They Didn't Believe Me
2-07.   Mama, Do I Gotta?
2-08.   When Am I Gonna Kiss You Good Morning?
2-09.   Ask Anyone Who Knows
2-10.   Poppa Don't Preach To Me
2-11.   Tallahassee
2-12.   Natch!
2-13.   Tea For Two
2-14.   My Romance
2-15.   It's Delovely
2-16.   I'm Yours
2-17.   When A Woman Loves A Man
2-18.   Bill
2-19.   Crying For Joy
2-20.   In A Little Bookshop
2-21.   Love That Boy
2-22.   This Is The Moment
2-23.   Buttons And Bows
2-24.   Little White Lies
2-25.   Always True To You In My Fashion

There were many great female singers around in the 1940's but Dinah Shore was certainly one of the best as well as one of the most successful. This particular compilation begins with five early recordings from 1941 and 1942. The two 1941 tracks mean that the 1942 in the title is incorrect. The remainder of the songs were all recorded in 1946 or 1947 except the final track, which is from 1948.
The music here is of an extremely high quality and the re-mastering does justice to it. One other thing to note is that this is not a greatest hits package. Some hits are included, but if you want to collect Dinah's hits, you can find more of the Columbia hits on 16 most requested songs and its companion 16 most requested songs Encore. As I write this, the best RCA hits collection is the Taragon compilation Essential RCA recordings. I've already reviewed all three of those collections.
Among the Columbia hits included here are Buttons and bows, Shoo fly pie and apple pan dowdy, The gypsy, Doin' what comes naturally, Laughing on the outside, You keep coming back like a song and I love you for sentimental reasons. The Columbia hits omitted from this collection include Dear hearts and gentle people, Baby it's cold outside, Anniversary song, You do and I wish I didn't love you so. All these were huge American hits and it seems odd that they were omitted, but the quality of the other songs here is such that their omission doesn't really matter.
Outstanding performances of classic songs were a trademark of Dinah Shore - just listen to her singing Come rain or come shine, Georgia on my mind, Tea for two, My romance and the closing Always true to you in my fashion. Many of the recordings here are not available anywhere else. In the case of those that are, the standard of re-mastering on this collection makes it particularly desirable. Despite the absence of so many big hits, this collection provides a great introduction to the music of Dinah Shore.

Peter Durward / Amazon 

Hadley Caliman ‎– Hadley Caliman (1971)

Style: Contemporary Jazz, Post Bop, Hard Bop, Modal
Format: CD, Vinyl
Label: Mainstream Records

Tracklist:
A1.   Cigar Eddie
A2.   Comencio
A3.   Little One
B1.   Blues For L.L.
B2.   Kicking On The Inside
B3.   Longing

Credits:
Bass – Bill Douglas
Drums – Clarence Becton
Guitar – John White Jr.
Piano – Larry Vuckovich
Tenor Saxophone, Flute – Hadley Caliman
Producer – Bobby Shad
Liner Notes – Leonard Feather

Santana sideman, saxophonist/flautist Hadley Caliman is one of the great players of West Coast jazz, despite being a relative unknown. A contemporary of Harold Land and Art Farmer, a denizen of the 1950s Central Avenue scene, he didn't make his debut as a leader until this beautiful album from 1971 was issued. 

At this point Caliman had lost a decade to drugs but rediscovered his muse while he was a member of Gerald Wilson's big band in the latter 60s. He then became an in-demand session player, appearing on recordings by Bobby Hutcherson, Julian Priester and most famously on Santana's hit album Caravanserai.  

His debut LP includes the regular group with whom he played live dates in San Francisco. It features six distinctive and reflective numbers which are the very height of early 70s acoustic jazz. Caliman did not record often but when he did he made it count. This is one of the lost gems!

VA ‎– Between Or Beyond The Iron Curtain (2001)

Style: Jazz-Rock, Jazz-Funk, Fusion
Format: CD, Vinyl
Lavel: Crippled Dick Hot Wax!

Tracklist:
01.   Wojciech Karolak - A Day In The City
02.   Gustav Brom And His Orchestra - Bounty
03.   Adam Makowicz - Drinking Song
04.   Mahagon - Divka's Jablky [Dívka S Jablky]
05.   Novi Singers - Tanczace Orzechy / Dancing Nuts
06.   Jazz Celula - Probuzeni [Probuzení]
07.   Big Band Katowice - Sorcery
08.   Martin Kratochvil's Jazz Q - A Dance [Tanec]
09.   Zbigniew Namyslowski Quartet - Mango Boogie
10.   Grupa Organowa Krzysztofa Sadowskiego - Alfa Centaura
11.   Karel Velebný And His SHQ - The Newcomer [Nový Muž]
12.   Impuls - Sextant
13.   Mahagon - Pisecne Presypy [Písečné Přesypy]
14.   Prague Big Band - Helemese / Gee Whiz [Heleme Se]
15.   Laboratorium - Funki Dla Franki
16.   Hubert Katzenbeier Quintett - Quartet

Credits:
Compiled By [Final Track Selection] – Crippled Dick Hot Wax!, Tøni Schifer
Liner Notes [& Introduction] – Daniel Sprenger
Liner Notes [Translated By] – John C. Constable
Mastered By – Bo Kondren, H. P.
Producer – Crippled Dick Hot Wax!, Daniel Sprenger, Tøni Schifer
Producer [Assistant] – Stephan Steigleder

Pere Ubu ‎– 20 Years In A Montana Missile Silo (2017)

Style: Alternative Rock, Avantgarde, Art Rock
Format: CD, Vinyl
Label: Cherry Red

Tracklist:
01.   Monkey Bizness
02.   Funk 49
03.   Prison Of The Senses
04.   Toe To Toe
05.   The Healer
06.   Swampland
07.   Plan From Frag 9
08.   Howl
09.   Red Eye Blues
10.   Walking Again
11.   I Can Still See
12.   Cold Sweat

Credits:
Bass – Michele Temple
Clarinet – Darryl Boon
Drums – Steve Mehlman
Guitar – Gary Siperko, Keith Moliné
Mastered By – Nick Watson
Steel Guitar – Kristof Hahn
Synth, Theremin – Robert Wheeler
Synth – Gagarin
Vocals – Roshi (tracks: 11)
Vocals, Producer – David Thomas
Written-By – Pere Ubu

The fact that Pere Ubu has been flying under the radar for the majority, if not the entirety, of the band's career is at the same time surprising and somewhat expected. Retaining an excellent balance between the sound that defined the late '70s to mid-'80s, in new wave and post-punk, and at the same time layering that foundation with avant-garde augmentations, Pere Ubu is not a very easy band to follow. Aspects of musique concrete and krautrock notions living beside blues and garage rock is a strange mix, no matter how successful Pere Ubu was in nailing the bizarre cocktail. 

Revolving around main man, vocalist David Thomas, the line-up of the band has constantly been changing, but that is not something that has slowed the band's prolific output. Since its inception back in the mid-'70s, Pere Ubu has remained active and is about to release its 16th full-length in 20 Years in a Montana Missile Silo, following the highly bizarre, even by the band's standards, Carnival of Souls. The band's 2014 album was a tour de force of experimental rock, diving headfirst into the avant-garde depths and unearthing a terrifying gem of a record. Tracks like the mysterious “Doctor Faustus” and the colossal “Brother Ray” are some of the most compelling material the band has ever released. 

In that respect 20 Years in a Montana Missile Silo does not share the same dark, exploratory sense of its predecessor. Still elements of that quality exist, as in “Plan From Flag 9”, which is based on samples and minimal instrumentation accommodating a spoken word-like performance by Thomas. Always retaining this off-kilter essence, alongside an almost sadistic view towards structure, as the track reaches the promise of a crescendo that never arrives, Pere Ubu still display this intricacy when it comes to compositions. The mysterious and mesmerizing tonality of “I Can Still See” is another moment of this hypnotic experimentalism, as it slowly puts you under Pere Ubu's spell and drags you in the band's realm. 

The majority of the record, however, focuses on establishing Pere Ubu's vision of its original influences. The manner in which the record kicks things off with “Monkey Bizness” is an astounding example of the act's surf rock mutation. The tone is vibrant, and there is something electrifying about Pere Ubu when the band explores the standard rock form and interprets it through hooking choruses and bombastic verses, as they appear in “Red Eyes Blues” and the '70s rock-influenced “Swampland”. Similar is the scope of the blues influence, in the garage driven “Funk 49” and the typical blues progression of “Howl” and “Walking Again”. All these moments are reinterpreted by Pere Ubu, crafting a psychedelic driven, experimental take on each genre, where the background is altered by projecting avant-garde notions, through the strange synth sounds. That is particularly effective in the album's “power ballad”, the fantastic “The Healer” which through its surreal context brilliantly exposes both the adventurous spirit and the sentimental underbelly of Pere Ubu. 

20 Years in a Montana Missile Silo displays a side of Pere Ubu that is more familiar than Carnival of Souls. Taking a step back, the band manages to tangle all the aspects that make its music so enticing and driven, may it be surf rock riffs and blues rhythms, or experimental sonic manipulation and avant-garde thinking. The short duration of the tracks, about three minutes on average, and the fantastic guitar performances enhance the experience, enriching the various twists and turns Pere Ubu travels.

Spyros Stasis / popMATTERS

Laika ‎– Good Looking Blues (2000)

Style: Trip Hop, Downtempo
Format: CD, Vinyl
Label: Too Pure

Tracklist:
01.   Black Cat Bone
02.   Moccasin
03.   T. Street
04.   Uneasy
05.   Good Looking Blues
06.   Widow's Weed
07.   Glory Cloud
08.   Go Fish
09.   Badtimes
10.   Knowing Too Little

Credits:
Synthesizer, Electric Piano – Guy Fixsen
Trumpet – Matt Barge
Bass – John Frenett
Clarinet – Pete Whyman
Djembe – Lou Ciccotelli
Flute – Louise Elliott
Guitar – Guy Fixsen, Margaret Murphy Fiedler
Vocals – Margaret Murphy Fiedler
Mastered By – Tony Cousins
Mixed By – Guy Fixsen
Producer – Fixsen, Fiedler
Sampler – Guy Fixsen, Margaret Murphy Fiedler
Turntables – Danny Doyle
Written-By, Engineer, Programmed By – Guy Fixsen

To some-- the hip, the jaded-- Laika's third release is likely to seem a bit of a disappointment. And in a way, I guess it is: after the sonic barrage of their first album, its two successors may seem a bit dry. In fact, by some standards, Laika have gone downhill not just since their first album, but since the first 20 seconds of their first album, which were arguably 20 of the most exciting seconds electronic music produced in the 1990s. Consider, for example, the generally shoddy treatment Stereolab has recieved from hipsters regarding their post-Emperor Tomato Ketchup LPs. 

The thing of it is, see, that the phenomenon known as electronic music-- half music and three halves public relations-- has always set itself up as The Future. The Future, of course, is always one step ahead, and this has led to the development of a freakishly malproportioned set of criteria by which electronic music is to be judged: one which values innovation above all other things. Constantly striving to push the envelope (in order to push the product, naturally), electronic music plunges blindly ahead into what so many fawning reviews refer to as "uncharted territory." This is all fine and good, except for one thing: left behind in the neverending move forward lie vast expanses of half, sorta and barely charted territory. 

Few blues singers are criticized for lack of innovation-- they're instead evaluated on their musicianship, songwriting and knowledge of their craft. Meanwhile, electronic music's mainstream has been largely unable to value itself as a tradition to the extent that artists are allowed to explore the nooks and crannies of their own genre. When an album like Good Looking Blues is released-- one that moves towards accessibility-- the general reaction tends towards dismissals of the "I've heard this before" or "Nothing new here" variety. 

Admittedly, Good Looking Blues doesn't seem like much at first-- pretty run-of-the-mill trip-hoppy shit: some loops here, some scratching there, a dash of hip-hop for flavor, shrinkwrap it and call it a day. Certainly, it's nothing like the grinding and irresistible Silver Apples of the Moon. But as bands like Stereolab have proven, a sheen of accessibility can conceal a wealth of texture, and Good Looking Blues more than makes up for its lack of originality with plenty of detail and craft. 

While generally more song-oriented than previous outings, Good Looking Blues is built on a foundation of acid-jazzy, polyrythmic beats-- the kind that just seem to shuffle along until you pay attention to them, at which point they prove to be more layered than Barthes' S/Z. Organic texture is provided throughout by such unhip instruments as the bass clarinet, the trumpet and the flute. Margaret Fiedler's vocals are much further up in the mix than on past releases. This is a welcome thing for the most part, though at points you may wish you could gloss over the lyrics: the opening "Black Cat Bone" in particular, whose stilted rap is basically Blondie's "Rapture" updated for the new millenium. 

Still, Good Looking Blues shows a Laika that has learned from its past mistakes-- they don't get lost in their own loops like they used to-- and willing to stretch out and explore their surroundings. I'd gladly see electronic music lose its innovation if it meant more music like this album's creepily sublime title track or the quiet Reichian beauty of "A Single Word." Of course, the hipsters would never stand for it.

Zach Hooker / Pitchfork