SOME STUFF I LIKE AT THE MOMENT
1. Bird Costumes.
Nah, shut up n give it a chance. Something's going on here that I can't quite put me finger on: I like that slightly claustrophobic, darkly descending feel to "Freedom and Weep"...like a psychedelicised version of - *oooof!* - Bauhaus. Late Seventies / early Eighties; not Late Seventies / Eighties. Oppresive 'production', like a thick fug of...something hanging over the recording. Makes me think of "Kill City" for some reason.
"We Go..." is oddly plaintive. A slow spiral. The muggy sound hints at a similar compression of emotion. Reminds me, not so much of depression, but being on some really unpleasantly icky anti-depressants in the late 70s - brain sledgehammered by the very drugs that're supposed to, er, help it.
"Food Hole" - I mean, well, what the fuck - but then...wow.
I like this shit and I don't care who knows.
Live, it's a bit more, well...abstract:
He's from Portland, Oregon. Y'don't say?
2. Manfred Mann's Earth band: "Nightingales & Bombers" LP.
Sits at some interstice of mid-70's Hard/Soft Rock, with some Proggy bits and a few genuinely weird/unexpected sound interluudes; an odd mixture of 'proper', relatively radio-friendly songs, frantic soloing and, uh, "why did Manfred just make that weird synth noise" moments. Ticks quite a few different boxes, yet doesn't feel too diffuse or contrived. I've had this on vinyl for over a year - quite liked it, but now really like it. It's just kinda clicked for me. Maybe it's the weather. Nah: it feels inventive - yet also poppy - in a way that most Modern Indie ain't.
Deeply, terminally unhip, but - really - who cares? Get over it.
3. Conrad Schnitzler. What's not to like about ol' Connie? But, jeez, when's this from - the early 80's? If I hadn't told you that you woulda thunk it's from "Selected Ambient Works VII" or sumthin'. Fool.
Like that, didja, bitch? Didja, huh!!? Well, here's another:
4. Caboladies.
"Aquarium Railroad": LOL. "Careful with that chorus pedal, Eugene."
posted by I am not Kek-w @ 10:04 PM
2 Comments:
i still have a cherished copy of Manfredd Mann's Earth Band's Angel Pavement. I got it when I was about 10 (I had a very influential, very stoned uncle) and it made an impact. As you say, very uncool but I dig it out about once a year and there's a lovely warmth to it all I adore.
I think "warmth" is a really good way of putting it....there's a 'warmth' to the production, the performances and the songs.
The material sounds oddly 'familar' the first time you hear it - but not in a samey / generic way. Very 'English'.
What is it with stoned uncles? Everyone seems to have had one.
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