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- So Much Music, So Little Time -
You know that wonderful album in your collection that always seems to get overlooked when you're putting music on? The one that isn't hidden away, exactly, but nobody else ever mentions it and you almost forget about it until you spot it and remember what a fabulous chunk of noise it is?
Hell, if we knew, we'd all be listening to it, wouldn't we? You have a vague recollection that it only got to about 176 in the charts (and that was on a week when the new Osmonds album came out) and then the bass player went crazy and the singer joined some bizarre religious cult that didn't allow any wordly possessions other than Rolls Royces and bank accounts. But, still, it's actually, now you come to think of it, one of your favourite things. In fact, goddamit, it's brilliant!
How come you never hear it anywhere? Nobody else seems to know it exists.
This is a page dedicated to all the music the rest of the world needs to know about.
We need you to tell us about this little gem in your collection. Please.
Send an e-mail or complete the form at the end of this section.
(If the name at the end of a review appears in cyan, it's a clickable email link to the sender, showing that they're willing to discuss taping.)
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"Die For Allah" - Fearless Iranians From Hell
(Big Takeover 1987) |
Die For Allah
Deathwish
What's The News
Life Inside
Iran
FIFH
Intro
Iranians On Bikes
Simple Life
Chant
Ultraviolence
Theme
Land Of
The Free
Blow Up The Embassy
Iranian Klan
Apocalyptic, fundamentalist, thrash-metal merchants wage holy vinyl-war on the
minions of the Antichrist (Reagan's America, the West, everybody else). Maybe it
was meant to be ironic and they all had a good laugh about it down the kasbah
afterwards, but if Ronnie (The Great Satan) Reagan ever heard these songs he'd
have been very, very afraid. Twelve years later the revolution may have died but the
music lives on forever.
Ross Woodville-Price
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"Still Hangry" - Les Thugs
(Decoy 1989) |
Raining Again
Inside Room
Little Vera's Song
Radical
Square of
Lights(?)
Your Kind Of Freedom
Suspended Time
Birthday(Why Didn't You Come
For My...)
Birds Of Ill Omen
Going Down
Proof that even the French can be cool if they really try. A reviewer at the time of its
release said listening to this record was like being trapped in a small room with a lot
of people playing guitars. He wasn't wrong. The lyrics are a bit iffy and the lead
singer looks like Woody Allen but if you are a fan of Gallic rock (and who isn't?) it
doesn't get much better than this.
Ross Woodville-Price
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"Over" - Peter Hammill
(Charisma Records 1977) |
Crying Wolf
Autumn
Time Heals
Alice (Letting Go)
This Side of the Looking Glass
Betrayed
(On Tuesdays She used to do) Yoga
Lost and Found
"Over" is a brutally-introspective examination of the notion that "pain and love go hand in hand". Songs about the end of relationships, children leaving home, betrayal, regret, anger, helplessness, jealousy - all delineated with frightening honesty. It's rather like sitting next to a stranger at a party only to have them tell you everything that's wrong with their life and, to your astonishment, finding it fascinating. It should be totally unlistenable but it isn't. Instead, it's gripping. Sometimes it sounds gauche and at times it makes you wince, but that's usually with recognition. It's a brave and scary record. It's also, at times, quite beautiful - I defy anyone to listen to "This Side of the Looking Glass" and not shed a tear.
Keith Allison
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"Like a Black Van parked on a Dark Curve..." - Sharks
(Bubblehead Records 1995) |
Perfect Days
Gone to the Dogs
Cry Like a Baby
Wake me when it's Time to Dance
White Man
Jimmy Bell
The First Thing
Die for Love
Can't stop thinking about Me
Blues Rags and Hollers
The Shadow Knows
Sadly-neglected gem from Chris Spedding, Steve Parsons and friends. Passion, excitement, thrills, great guitars, great vocals, great lyrics, great songs. Rock and roll, swamp-laced blues, drama, irony and scattered with great hooks and dynamics. You've probably heard Chris Spedding's guitar and never realised it; you may even have heard his "Motorbikin" album - not that brilliant, actually. All this great guitarist needed were the songs - and here they are. (I've heard that he turned down an offer to join the Stones because he was too busy (Class!).
Keith Allison
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"Late Night Movies, All Night Brainstorms" - Doctors of
Madness
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I would go for Late Night Movies, All Night Brainstorms by the Doctors of
Madness. It contains great music, great lyrics, a singer with blue hair and
the words "This record to be played with the gas full on" on the sleeve.
Who could ask for more (except the record buying public)?
Jeremy Smith
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Snatch Mini album
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Snatch Mini album on Pandemonium Records(NOT on
cd)-SO YOU WILL HAVE TO SEARCH FOR IT!!Judy nylon
+Patti Palladin,who have worked with johnny
Thunders,Eno,Cale etc,on this album you have the
cream of possibilities of what could have been,Never
having recorded a proper album-these demos are like
the Shangri -las on crack meet Siouxsie down a dark
alley,colliding with some noise terrorists!No,it
really is great! GET IT-YOU KNOW IT MAKES SENSE!!
Martyn Mitchell
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"Korowod" - Marek Grechuta & Anawa
(Poland, 1971) |
An absolute gem with influences ranging from absurdist poet Witkiewitcz and writer Bruno Shultz to psychedelic Beatles, free jazz, sound collages, and early 70's British prog/folk. An astounding, haunting record. The opening instrumental should be used by someone to open a live show...play it loud over the PA and then make an entrance...
Philip Kret
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"No Mean City" - Nazareth
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This album is possibly one of the all time greats, it's a fine example the perfect rock album.
The songs range from acoustic ballads to passionate rockers with plenty of scotish sounding
(suprise!!) guitar harmonies and a title track that could easily have been written by god himself.
Nazareth are still touring and releasing albums, but are still largely ignored by the media...shame really
John
http://www.geocities.com/ickle8ngel
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"Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde" - The Byrds
(Columbia
Records,1969) |
This Wheel´s On Fire
Old Blue,
Your Gentle Way of Loving Me
Child of the Universe
Nashville West
Drug Store Truck Drivin´ Man,
King Apathy III,
Candy
Bad Night At The Whiskey
Medley (My Back Pages/B.J.
Blues/Baby What You Want Me To Do)
Although it is not obviously the best Byrds album neither my favourite, I think that it is a good record with great songs that didn´t receive the acknowledgment that it deserved it its day. It has really impresive tunes, such as Dylan´s cover "This Wheel´s On Fire", the country-like Old Blue, and the ironic "Drug Store Truck Drivin´Man" (a great parody of a conservative and purist DJ).
David García-Abad
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"Author! Author!" - The Scars:
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The Scars debuted on the FAST label, early home of Gang of Four and The Human League. A few years
later this debut album arrived.
Sort of early U2 meets "Wild Frontier"-era Adam & the Ants - but the record is innovative, dramatic,
passionate, melodic and - well, cool. Produced by Robert Blamire from Penetration. The Scars went
nowhere and disappeared, a talented band, talented musicians. No one ever mentions them, which I
find a bit unfair.
Staffan Bjrkman
http://home.swipnet.se/staffanbjorkman/
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Fraser & Debolt (with Ian Guenther)
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All This Paradise
Gypsy Solitaire
Them Dance Hall Girls
David's Tune
The Waltze of the Tennis Players
Armstrong Tourest Rest Home
Fraser and DeBolt Theme
Old Man on the Corner
Warmth
Stoney Day
Pure Spring Water
Don't Let Me Down
In 1971 or so, this guy'n'gal folk duet with a fiddler along for the ride put out one of the strangest, most beautiful albums in my rather oversized pile. Possibly my view is shaded by nostalgia for a time when a couple of loopy folkies bayin' at the moon in a convincingly au naturel manner could actually make it on to the radio. (It really did.) Hell, the liner notes describe it as "one of the best pop albums I have ever heard", but this goes back to a time when pop wasn't a specific form of music but just the stuff that wasn't classical. The album came out on Columbia and possibly the clearest indication of why I'm not the CEO of the Sony Corporation is that I would have gotten this to CD right after the '65 - '66 Dylan output.
George Shirley
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"Lorca" - Tim Buckley
(Elektra,1970) |
Lorca
Anonymous Proposition
I Had a Talk With My Woman
Driftin´
Nobody Walkin´
Tim Buckley´s bizarre conception of music appears clearly defined in this album, one of the most overlooked of his discography, by what I know. The title track is a ten minute repetitive mood, which grows in intensity as it goes on. "Anonymous Proposition" has the flavour of a loser in the wilderness of his desperation. "I had a talk with my woman" is, undoubtablely, the gem of the record, being the closest here to a "traditional" pop song. "Driftin´" recaptures the feeling of "Anonymous Proposition" in a more bittersweet way. Finally, "Nobody Walkin´" is the rockiest tune in the record, finishing it in a less dramatic way. In conclusion, if Tim´s aim was to make a homage to the Spanish poet, he really got it.
David García-Abad
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"Miss Happiness" - Walt Mink
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This album was originally released in 1991 or 1992 I believe. I think it was almost a college radio hit, but was quickly over shadowed by their label (Caroline Records in the US) and tourmates Smashing Pumpkins first album, Gish. I maybe be wrong but I think this album was also a Butch Vig production. Don't quote me on that, I don't have the album in front of me.
To say that this album rocks would be an understatement. The ultimate power trio of the 1990s with a devastating guitar sound, Hendrix of the nineties if you will. Songs such as the title track, Showers Down, and the epic finale, Factory, show this band tearing through a history of rock and laying waste to it. Probably their biggest claim to fame nowadays is the drummer, Joey Waronker, went on the play with both Beck and R.E.M. Here he shows a command of polyrythmic rock playing not heard since maybe Stewart Copeland. A must for any fan of guitar based rock/pop.
John Hastings
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"Laughing Academy" - Punishment of Luxury
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Punishment of Luxury,from the north-east of England,recorded Laughing Academy album for United
Artists in 1979 (released on cd by dojo) Musically the best band i ever saw, theatrically and visually stunning, dressed as jesters, devils and mad monks, band included Mallacaballa on guitar, Nevilluxury on guitar, Brian Bond vocals, Liquid Les on drums and bassist Jimi Giro. Tracks were Puppet Life, Funk Me, The
Message, All White Jack, Obsession, Radar
Bug-Metropolis, British Baboon, Excess Bleeding
Heart, and Laughing Academy. Try to track down Laughing
Academy by Punishment of Luxury now.
Dave Reynolds-Hanson
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The Decorators
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The Decorators were a find band from West London who released a couple of albums and a brace of singles in the late 70s early 80s. Influenced by the Velvets, inspired by the Only Ones they are a classic case of a band in the wrong place at the wrong time. I've put a few pages about them together with some MP3s of their early singles.
Martin
http://www.martinblack.com/music/decorators
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"On The Beach" - Neil Young
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Hardly obscure, but worth mentioning because it's the best of an astonishing SIX Neil Young LP's never
issued on CD by Reprise (or anyone else). A few of its tracks are available on the Decade compilation, but nowhere can you find a digitally mastered copy of the original "See the Sky About to Rain", covered by the original Byrds on their reunion album, nor "Motion Pictures" or "Vampire Blues", both of which have turned up as Mercury Rev b-sides.
The real lost
gem, though, is "Revolution Blues", a song based in part on Charles Manson, but which comes chillingly close to describing Timothy McVeigh or one of his ilk. Both the song and the performance are so harrowing that David Crosby asked Young not to release it. If that's not an endorsement, I don't know what is.
Rex Broome
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"Colossal Youth" - Young Marble Giants
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Amazing Electronic power trio from London. Heavily influenced Kurt Cobain of Nirvana and many more.
Re-Issue just came out on Cd, what are you waiting for? GO GET IT!!!!
Ed
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"Dark Adapted Eye" - Danielle Dax
(Sire US 1988)
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Cat House
Big Hollow Man
White Knuckle Ride
When I Was Young
Yummer Yummer Man
Fizzing Human Bomb
Whisting For His Love
Flashback
Inky Bloaters
Brimstone In A Barren Land
Bad Miss 'M'
Touch Piggy's Eyes
House-Cat
Bed Caves
Sleep Has No Property
Hammerheads
Pariah
Where The Flies Are
Funtime
A great compilation of twisted pop gems from the early 80s. Ms Dax wrote/sang/played (nearly) all the
instruments herself, with a very effective combination of dead-on precision and intuitive whimsy. She has a pretty voice that can veer into harshness at a moment's notice. The lyrics are similarly playful, and dark. Her music is a bit unclassified - hard rock/disco/goth/pop/experimental ? - Shriekback might be a possible point of comparison. Highly individual, well-crafted tunes that are catchy as hell.
In 1995 she released a best-of/snips and bits compilation (titled with rueful accuracy) " Comatose Non-Reaction: The Thwarted Pop Career of Danielle Dax" which contains many of the same songs plus some unreleased stuff; - also highly recommended.
One of her albums, 1990's 'Blast The Human Flower' was an attempt at mainstream rock music, (with a cover version of 'Tomorrow Never Knows' that may have sold some copies) I haven't heard it but it's generally regarded by fans as not worth bothering with.
Stephen Wilson
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"In For The Kill" - Budgie
(MCA, 1974)
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In For The Kill
Crash Course In Brain Surgery
Wondering What Everyone Knows
Zoom Club
Hammer And Tongs
Running From My Soul
Living On Your Own
Budgie were a power trio from Cardiff, Wales. Formed in 1968, this band was always the brainchild of bassist/vocalist Burke Shelley, who (with his characteristic spectacles and glass-shattering screams) was an unlikely but highly effective rocker
(an early hero for Geddy Lee, perhaps?). With a startling yet compelling blend of high-colume blues-rock, prog-rock, and proto-metal (spiced in here and there with the odd acoustic number), this band never quite made it out of cult reverence;
indeed, it was only through Metallica's loving renditions of "Breadfan" and "Crash Course In Brain Surgery" that most modern hard-rock aficianados even know Budgie's name. But other notable acts (Iron Maiden, Soundgarden)have taken the nod from their bludgeoning brilliance. One of my alltime favorite bands, even if members of the band themselves can't quite figure out exactly why.
One listen to their fourth album "In For The Kill" might recruit supporters on my side, though. This was the first Budgie album to chart (#40, UK according to Martin C. Strong), and it wasn't the last one, either. Tony Bourge is one of the most criminally underrated British rock guitarists of the 1970s, and if I could wrangle a Gibson SG with both his wild-wind overdriven blues bends and his gentle jazzy touches, I would be a blinding supernova. Peter Boot was perched on Budgie's drumstool only long enough for this one album, alas, but he shows a thrilling Bonhamesque rolling-thunder approach that holds the band down and together and drives them straight on through 'til morning. And besides being one of my
bass heroes, Burke Shelley's lyrics were quite serious in their whimsy, if you can dig it.
The title track is a jolly romp through a funky boogie-metal riff, dramatic wah-wah shots, and a somewhat disorienting bridge that shudders its way
back into a rousing fade-out; lyrical imagery about how the meaning of life is I'm in for the kill;" I'm sure you'll deduce it all. "Crash Course..." is a killer paean to the pressures of impending insanity, and the only early-70s heavy-metal track with the
searing courage to use maraccas to drive the pulse. "Wondering What Everyone Knows" uses Wes Montgomery-style jazz guitar and more hand percussion (bongos, years after the beatniks abandoned them, and djembes, years before the hippies co-opted them) to carry its tale of anxiety and sorrow. "Zoom Club" is one of my top 20 favorite songs of all time, one of
those inevitable calls-to-arms for everyone to band together, and a lovely ten full driving minutes of it, too. "Hammer And Tongs" is Budgie's answer to "Dazed And Confused," although to write them off as Zeppelinesque wannabes will invite doom into your door if you get too close to my clutching twitching fingers. "Running From My Soul" is a carefree 12-bar-blues romp through what was probably Budgie's early garage-band roots, much like how Black Sabbath used to use their school-skipping time in Birmingham in the late 1960s. And "Living On Your Own" closes the album with words to wise on teenage runaways and the seriousness of adult responsibility, all suspended aloft on some of the best riffs you'll never hear on your favorite classic-rock radio stations. Too bad; I think I'll go listen to that song as soon as I've finished typing this...
And the album cover features a hunting falcon perched on its handler's gauntlet in full furious wingspan...not quite the otherwordly Roger Dean classics of their earlier albums, but certainly capturing the band's imagery and hinting at the joyous whirlwind found within.
I mean, what OTHER album could you REALLY need?
Ferdy Belland
http://www.thefeminists.net
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"The For Carnation"
(Touch & Go, 2000)
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hey I would like to add The For Carnation album from 2000 named The For Carnation.
Do you know it?
Tomer Jacobson
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"Guitarchitecture" - Chuck Hammer
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He is the guy that worked with Lou Reed and David Bowie developing an
orchestral approach to Guitar. I heard that he has become one of the
top american televsion composers (as in broadcast) . I remember reading
in an interview that he spent some time talking with Verlaine in the
early days @78 while working with Reed. He played guitar on Bowies"
Scary Monsters LP during the period that Bowie covered Verlaines"
Kingdom Come. I found a few Chuck Hammer soundtrack downloads at this
web site:
http://home.earthlink.net/~avainteract/
Eric
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"Feline" - The Stranglers
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Gorgeous, classy, hip sound. If you're not familiar with the Stranglers, just get this one. And then get the singles collection, 1977-1982
Jenny Bierce
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"Staldfræs" - Kalemaris
(Scanfolk, Denmark, 1974)
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Staldfræseren
Balladen om det kvadrede æg
Aftægt
Rocken's puls
Gi mæ di hånd
Mi nøj travtor
Skotøj og andre ting
Frk. Arm og Dr. Konto
Ringdans
These four Danish guys were the first to both put on make-up and sing in their local dialect from
Jutland. In other words, a glam rock band singing about life on the farm, getting drunk and driving
your new tractor. Even if you understand their dialect (and most Danes don't) it's hard to tell the
words as the singing is buried far down in the rather muddy mix. Still, it's great fun, 'cause they
mean it, maaan. Until Mercyful Fate showed up some years later, this was the hardest rock ever
heard in Denmark, I think...
I remember hearing them being interviewed in Danmark's Radio P3 (The ONLY pop/rock radio
station in Denmark then, owned by the state) at the time of release, and they got quite a lot of
airplay in a couple of weeks. But the album sold nothing, and they were totally forgotten, to the
extent of never being mentioned in any Danish rock encyclopedias, as opposed to numerous other
bands who never even released a single. But then again, Kalemaris weren't from Copenhagen...
I've tried searching them on the net, but all I found was a picture of their album - at some Japanese collector's site!
Hans Bruun
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Titch
There was a woman in Los Angeles who went by the name of "Titch". As far as I know her music
was never released at all (nor did she intend it to be) and only a handful of people have heard it. A
friend of mine who randomly met her one night gave me her (burned) CD. She died around 2000 at
the age of 75??? She was apparently an eccentric heiress type who had been trained in classical
voice, piano and who knows what else and got some home studio/ midi stuff somewhere along the
line. As I understand it, she worked totally in a vacuum. Imagine someone inventing goth all by
herself at the age of 60 when she'd never heard of goth, indie, probably not even punk or the VU. It's
kinda like Cocteau Twins/ Jarboe/ Dead Can Dance/ Danielle Dax/ Kate Bush on acid - but shows
no sign of actually being influenced by any of them. She took her mid-20th century classical
background (and she must have been an A student), did a lot of psychedelics, got a Roland D-50
and a harmonizer and went totally nuts. Basically you either love this or hate it, but I have to say it
is probably the most fully realized home recording I've ever heard. Seems unlikely, but everyone I've
seen fit to play this for has loved it. Truly a lost/ unknown genius.
Ted Scarlett
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"Lover's Lane" - Go-Betweens
Not vague about T.V.'s influence on their sound,
this has to be the most under-appreciated album ever released (sorry Tom).
If you didn't know it was released in 1988 you'd swear it was a lost 60's classic.
Mark Burgess
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"Not Born Beautiful" - The Shock-Headed Peters
All I can recall is that they were the BIGGEST THING IN THE WORLD for about ooh 4.7 seconds in 1984, furious beardy frontman, godforsaken racket, saw them live in Redcar in 1984, or do I imagine all of this? It was a strange time. Never heard the album but wish I could now.
Ian
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"Today" - Galaxie 500
A 3 piece who met in Boston Ma. in the late 80s.
Comprised Dean Wareham. a New Zealander transplanted in the States and Naomi Yang and Damon Krukowski. A smorgasbord of influences ranging from The Young Marble Giants, The Modern Lovers, The Velvet Underground, The Feelies and the Flying Nun discography. A cracking debut album - timeless and one which they could never really follow- up.
Paul
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"Hova lett... " - Bikini
Released in Hungary 1983. Main guy is Feró Nagy who was a star in the hungarian punk scene. This album is so diversed and surprising it makes the head spin, very tight playing, good melodies, very alternative stuff. I have no idea what they are singing about and I do not care. If you like imaginative punk music that goes all over the place u should definately check this album out.
Dr. Gunni
http://this.is/drgunni
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