Keiji Haino & Thurston Moore - Victoriaville 2001.05.18

Keiji Haino & Thurston Moore - Victoriaville 2001.05.18

The two names behind this collaboration stopped me dead in my tracks - Haino and Moore, both extremely prolific and talented experimental guitarist on opposite sides of the Pacific, seem like perfect counterparts for each other. This live bootleg is over an hour of messy wassailing and guitar noise from Thurston and Keiji that builds from slow and dissonant dirges to huge, screaming walls of feedback and Keiji's tortured angular screams punctuating the almost formless noise of the duo.

https://mega.co.nz/#!nQ1lGZSS!Sa88CkfYSXJnmYYlIcpshA80N8oF73z9fu7nxW8weIk

Allo Darlin' - Henry Rollins Don't Dance (2009)

Allo Darlin' - Henry Rollins Don't Dance (2009)

...I can't even. Music can't be this perfect, this sweet and cute, it's the perfect blueprint for other Twee Pop. This is just perfect. There's no other word for it. The music sounds incredibly sweet and summery, from the bouncy horns, "Grease" melody-lifting and jumpy guitar jangle of the title track, to the lovely ukelele ballad of "Heartbeat Chili". Do you know how hard it is to do a cutesy ukelele-led song without sounding like a youtube musician? Very, and this pulls it off flawlessly. And the lyrics are fittingly cute, and Morris' singing is just fantastic. And accented! This was fantastic: I put it on. It finished. I put it on again. It finished. I put it on again. And again. Easily my best musical discovery in ages, and my new favorite EP.

Also the cover art rocks, my new favorite album art for the moment as well.

https://mega.co.nz/#!PZtXECbJ!HQ5B3Ul6DEgf8EXzMcEgBVoghWhj12KGfCZWekUbzMg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQLKSUEUzjA

The Zinnias - Sand Dollar (1986)

The Zinnias - Sand Dollar (1986)

Want to hear Stephin Merritt try his hand at lo-fi noise pop that isn't a rubbish Jesus and Mary Chain rip-off, back when he was great? This is a great insight into Merritt's earlier work pre-The Magnetic Fields, and really shows the jump in terms of songwriting between this and "Distant Plastic Trees". This is still a lovely little release in itself though, especially notable for an earlier version of "Lovers From The Moon". Where did it all go wrong Stephin?

https://mega.co.nz/#!qUciVD4Q!dGPxTwZYjNDWCtNC9Dihg2rGmY0FYVHhoyFUdZPKmrA

Rosa Yemen - Rosa Yemen EP (1978)

Rosa Yemen - Rosa Yemen EP (1978)

On this release from 1978, Lizzy Mercier Descloux recorded this EP with her roommate before going on to be one of the greatest female figurheads of the No Wave moment. This short little platter serves up two sides of noisy, cacophonous and angular post-punk, and is one of the best things to come out of the No Wave scene in my opinion

https://mega.co.nz/#!HJsVRKba!YW_fO3nnBTejt7mRceRmIgW91p1mwBbeqohl1nolsTg

Melt-Banana - MxBx 1998/13000 Miles - At Light Velocity

Melt-Banana - MxBx 1998/13000 Miles - At Light Velocity

Absolutely insane and unhinged noise rock that borders on noisecore at times. Leave it to Japan! On this live release on Zorn's Tzadik, the band sounds almost possessed, conjuring a whole range of alien sounds and going from insane blasts of noise rock to near silence in seconds, like DNA on steroids, and far more musical competency. This more than any other Melt Banana album really highlights the potent chemistry and timing of the group, easily one of the tightest noise rock bands around - the frantic guitar playing that dances around, the driving bass that propels the songs forward at lightning speed, Yasuko's screaming, possessed-sounding vocal performances, - everything comes together perfectly, proving that you don't need Les Rallizes Dénudés of feedback or Albini-esque lyricism dripping with hate, you can still create one of the most abrasive, bizarre and angular rock albums ever.

https://mega.co.nz/#!HJtEhJYZ!Pm_Eo0LCmW_zNu4WJjNBCxqEY7FrLfTRrYXMyHaN0Uo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUhFMEPoao0

Françoise Hardy - La Question (1971)

Françoise Hardy - La Question (1971)

With "La Question", Françoise Hardy, French Pop's brightest star (at least in my eyes) created one of the most effortless beautiful and intimate pop records ever. The spacey, ethereal sounding acoustic guitar accompaniment perfectly suits Hardy's smokey, entrancing voice and the lush string arrangements provide a lovely baroque-pop flair to the songs without abandoning the intimacy and heartfelt nature of this album - this album just sounds beautiful, there's almost no other word for it. Hardy easily ranks up with artists like Nico in terms of proving how flawless and ethereal pop music could be at the hand of great musicians.


https://mega.co.nz/#!rU8gjbDD!YLnQplv7teUTyC3jWgYrNlELMB5pEnrsM0Ic2lBw1X4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VHS1bW-rL8

Bruce Haack - The Electric Lucifer (1970)

Bruce Haack - The Electric Lucifer (1970)

Now this is a bizarre record: A concept opera about religion with crazily modulated vocoder vocals and one composing on a huge array of homemade electronic instruments - this record is truly one of the most "out there" and forward thinking records of its time. The sounds Haack conjures up here are positively otherworldly, bringing to life his maniac vision of a world ruled electricity and spirituality, making a pop record relient entirely on electronic instruments, which was extremely ahead of his time, considering at that point, Kraftwerk were still more of flute-lead rock band than a flawless, fully synthesized future-pop outfit. But even with the novelty of Electric Lucifer aside, this album is still amazing. Despite the antiquated and home-made technology, it barely feels dated at all, in fact, it's far more progressive and experimental than most of the pop that preceded and followed it. Haack's voice soars and bellows as if possessed, preaching to the audience with such heartfelt belief that it's hard not to be engrossed by him and his spiritual journey in the age of technology.


https://mega.co.nz/#!LQU2zCLJ!OR0AOV-PP6bFn9W17v_V_QMhzDwBMFrUlqTRXpU31Lk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pB_075GYKKI