Michael Rother - Sterntaler

From 1978, this is the second solo LP by the Neu guitarist. He is quite clearly revelling in his freedom to be both more expansive, and more tuneful than he generally was in Neu. He has a good ear for melody, and the tunes on this album are very redolent of the period, too. Sometimes the songs veer toward the wistfully epic, especially combined with the driving, post-Kraut rhythms, which almost prefigure the headband-wearing sleeves-on-the-jacket-rolled-up excesses of bombastic 80s rock. However, these tracks always stop way short of cheese, because they are gorgeous, and because the love and enthusiasm of Rother is always shining through. Also it has Jaki Liebezeit on drums, but more importantly, is produced by Krautrock superhero Conny Plank, and therefore sounds lush, luminous and beautiful. What you have, then, is a set of guitar-led intrumentals with glorious melodies over driving, minimal grooves with shimmering, spectral synths, and it is rather wonderful.
I've seen Michael Rother play live with Moebius a couple of times, back in the early 2000s when Moebius was still using lots of analogue synths. They were both excellent gigs, but definitely had moments high on the cheese-ometer as Rother went into guitar hero mode, before reining himself in as the track gradually morphed into some warped analogue noodlings. They seemed to be semi-improvised sets, and hopefully they will team up again in the future.

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Marc Ribot - Asmodeus: Book Of Angels 7

This is Volume 7 in John Zorn's massive Book Of Angels series - a series I have found it pretty impossible to keep up with, what with all the other music in the world. Not to mention the stuff. The others I have heard: Secret Chiefs 3, Zorn with Medeski, Martin and Wood; Bar Kokhba have all been excellent, so it's probably worth checking them all out. Marc Ribot is perhaps most famous for playing with Tom Waits, but on this disc he is eschewing his tasteful embellishments in favour of acid-jazz/rock onslaught, in power trio mode with Trevor Dunn and G. Calvin Weston. The results vary from chugging heavy riffs such as the opening of 'Dagiel', to more free jazz explosions, such as the opener 'Armaros'. Whilst they stay in touch with Zorn's East European/Klezmer themes, they rock them up beautifully, and intersperse wilder, freer passages of group improv and fret burning. I don't mind admitting that I prefer the slightly more structured numbers, and 'Mufgar' and 'Sensenya' are fantastic masterpieces of controlled acid power trio chaos: superb riffs backed up by relentless chugging bass runs and beautifully swinging propulsive drumming.

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Phantomsmasher - Phantomsmasher

Phantomsmasher is the pet project of avant guitar master James Plotkin, who has collaborated with a large and fine array of weird-beard musicians, including harrowing mega-doom merchants Khanate. This album couldn't be further from Khanate's crawling, crushing music: it's often hyper fast, with the beats ranging from metallic blast beats to splattercore drum & bass style, played by grind master extrodinaire Dave Witte. It's severely ADHD, manic and brilliant. Smeared across the top are harshly edited and scratched vocal loops, and Plotkin's spangly clanging guitar and bass - often heavily processed, playing queasily grating riffs, and chords that tremble like metal pylons in an electrical storm. It's pretty harsh, and totally unhinged, but is great fun. Plotkin's level of invention on his instruments, and the crazy range of noises and brilliant editing keep up the interest, although the music can be challenging.

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Weird War - If You Can't Beat 'Em, Bite 'Em

From sublime space-scapes to the futuristic plastic sleaze-freakery of Weird War. This is a concoction that didn't grab me on the first couple of listens, but then its brilliance shone through like a revelation. Much like the grotesque cover - which initially looks dreadful, but then becomes perversely wonderful.
Weird War mainly consist of Ian Svenonius and Michelle Mae, and Royal Trux's Neil Hagerty, and this album is from 2004. It's a pretty unique sound, with elements of The Stooges, swamp rock and acid funk put through a sleaze-blender, topped off with wired-sounding, quasi-deranged vocals from Svenonius (I think) and terrific lyrics. It's driven along usually by tight grooves, and peppered with superb wah riffs and other mutant guitar lines, with some magnificent vocal interplay. On the terrific 'AK47' the fade out grooveathon is perfectly completed with a beautifully vulgar and spangly keyboard riff. Everything makes perfect sense on this album, it's such an inspired combination of sounds that seem casually thrown together but work so perfectly. There are times listening to this album when Weird War seem like a lost political cult/cultural subversive outfit from the 70s, and this is their manifesto.

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Harvey Mandel - Cristo Redentor

Harvey Mandel is a fantastic guitarist who never settled in a band, although his talents would not have been out of place in virtually any rock band of any kind of the late 60s or 70s. This was his debut album from 1968, and is an intrumental psych blues rock bonanza. The opening track, a version of the old gospel blues track 'Wade In The Water' shows off a variety of styles: he comes in with a filthy fuzz tone over a strings and rhythm groove, before switching to a clean tone to demonstrate his trademark liquid style of play, using volume pedals, panning and delay to awesome effect. This is a real guitar-heads album, with some glorious guitar tones, and some ridiculous sustain that out-Santanas Carlos Santana. It's also beautifully recorded, with a crystal clear mix, and is a joy to listen to. There are great string arrangements aplenty, and the layering of Harvey Mandel's guitar lines is genius: the wah stomp of 'Bradley's Barn' has some scintillating backwards guitar over the top as well as some unusual low end dive bomb noises. The gloriously expressive 'You Can't Tell Me' is even better, as sweet phrases flow into and over one another over a great groove. The sound palette is expanded on a few tracks: the title track has a female choir, and sounds like a prog synthesis of Nelson Riddle and Santana. Then 'Before Six' comes on like fuzzed out acid jazz, with some tremendous horn section blasts and Jimmy Smith type organ duelling with the guitar, and the best bass and drum rocking out of the album. Looking at the sleeve notes, this appears to have been recorded all over the place, and the producer credit says "Believed to be produced by Abe Kesh'. It's amazing that there is such a unity of (fantastic) sound, and that the album has such a strong identity.
Harvey Mandel released a few more solo albums in the following years, and the one I've heard are all pretty decent - they toned down the psychedelic elements a bit, and became slightly more jazzy - Feel The Sound, Shangrenade and Baby Batter are all worth checking out. Lastly - check that classic cover! I'm pleased I've also got this on vinyl.
I haven't included the bonus tracks - buy the cd!

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