Tank - Upwards At 66°N

Tank is a one man band from Brest in Brittany, France. Christophe Mevel is his name, and these are a collection of 1998 four track recordings released on English space/psych-rock indie Earworm in 1999. Mr Mevel is obviously influenced by Krautrock, especially Neu, although he goes for the more rocking, motorik end of the Kraut spectrum, eschewing the more ambient/meandering/collage type efforts. Considering these are 4 track recordings, the sound is excellent. The spacy jams generally consist of a propulsive bass line; vintage keys shimmering; Faust-y thrashing guitars; swooping moogs and plenty of backwards loops. A combination of drum machines and live drums are used. A tried and tested formula, it's hard to go wrong if put together with any competence, but Christophe Mevel has a great knack for combining these simple elements in a highly pleasing way, with the ability to get quite beautiful if the urge so takes him. The result is a highly pleasurable listen if you are into all things space rock.

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Biosphere - Shenzhou

I'm going to post some of my favourite albums of the decade in the coming months. I've already posted some: Sinoia Caves & Kopernik, for example.
This 2002 album by celebrated ambient artist Geir Jenssen is a thing of beauty. Constructed primarily from loops of music by Debussy, many sampled from vinyl, this has a real otherworldly feel. The organic woodwind and orchestral parts repeat away, seemingly trapped in some kind of time capsule, competing against the gentle synth backings and cavernous bass rumblings.
Some of these loops were recorded from vinyl, and this only adds to the curious co-mingling of eras - heard to great effect on 'Ancient Campfires'.
This album serves many of the commonly accepted uses for ambient - going to sleep to, putting on in the background etc, as it is soothing and beautiful. But it is just as captivating as any prog album with a million notes. Well, maybe you have to like repetition and minimalism for that to be true, but this album will still serve you as a gorgeous backdrop.

nb. I should have added that Geir Jenssen has recorded quite a few excellent albums as Biosphere, well worth buying: I especially recommend Dropsonde and Patashnik. Not only that, but he has climbed Himalayan peak Cho Oyu without bottled oxygen, which is pretty cool.

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Simply Saucer - Cyborgs Revisited

Fantastic psych fuzz punk from Canada, recorded in 1974/75. Completely out of step with prog and FM pop, and seemingly every other prevailing sound throughout their short career, this band sank into obscurity. A shame, because they had a tremendous sound - one that bordered on deranged: a pummelling rhythm section, psych-surf guitars, and wild use of "recently purchased 'audio generators' and theremin" to quote the liner notes. Add a great vocalist, in the wasted-Lou-Reed style, and a great formula was achieved: and there are cool tunes to match the distorted sonic overload sequences.
As well as the original 9 session tracks are two excellent sides of a 1978 single, and a load of live/demo tracks that don't really add much.

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G.E.N. - Rolleiflex Weltron Time Square

More trippy deep-space electronica from two of my favourite German artists, Khan and Walker, recording as Global Electronic Network. Released in 1994 on Mille Plateaux, and recorded in New York presumably just after Khan had relocated there: I don't know if the title 'Time Square' is intentional or not, as it's pretty apt. I have this on vinyl, and one half is a really nice picture disc with the classic Rolleiflex camera on it; unfortunately the 'Weltron' disc had to make do with a picture of the classic 8 track radio on the label, with coloured vinyl.
Time Square opens the cd, with an epic 15 minute hypnotic track, with great phased ambience swirling around in the background while a host of heavily reverbed analogue synths propel the track, whilst acidic flourishes and weird samples drift in and out. I can imagine these two hunched over their machines, bobbing up and down, twiddling knobs. The same goes for Time Square pt III, which is basically a spacy hypnotic club track; driven by restrained 303 bass and with just enough strange samples panning around to make this successful head music. The two Weltron pieces are short and abstract, where the analogue machines are put through their paces to extract weird and wobbling noises: probably the least diverting pieces.
The two Rolleiflex pieces take up 35 minutes of this album, and show Khan and Walker's creativity to the greatest effect. They are also the most outright trippy tracks on here. Rolleiflex part IV-VIII comes first, fading in the kind of classic Air Liquide/H.E.A.D beat - a shuffling and gentle 808 breakbeat, with bleeping and pulsing acid noises reverberating around, building up a real head-nodding groove. This fades out into some more disturbing and distorted territory, before a pulsing and ominous synth comes in, with what sounds like an acidified warthog trying to sniff your brains through your ear. These sounds hark back to classic German 70s electronica, and are glorious, and very cosmic. The 20 minute Rolleiflex I begins with an off-kilter beat, with some very odd metallic sounds scraping the brain cavity, as the FX units are tweaked. A gentle 303 bass takes over as the beats retreat, and high pitched bleeps usher in a raga like passage, before bubbling and syncopated acid lines come in to finish the track in suitable fashion.
A terrific album of trippy analogue electronica.

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Evolution Control Committee - The Whipped Cream Mixes

Classic mash up action, in which ECC concatenate Herb Alpert and Public Enemy to fantastic effect. Masterfully edited, this inspired combination works like a dream - the key changes/bridges etc in Alpert's E-Z horn jaunts perfectly matching the phrasing of the rapping. Public Enemy should sound a bit silly after this treatment, but the mis-match is such a triumph that they actually sound cool.
Ripped from 7", this is pretty short, so I've included the WAVs and mp3s created by itunes in one folder (36mb), so you can do what you want with them.

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C/Sphere & Mark Gage - Microset Morning

An excellent EP of trippy, far-out techno from 1993. Released on the excellent Telepathic label run by Fred Gianelli. I was going to rip and post Gianelli's own Fox Hunt, which is amazing, but this chap has already posted it on his brilliant blog.
Back to Microset Morning: I have always regarded this as a Mark Gage release. The man responsible for the awesome techno classic Gravitational Arc Of 10. It was only when I came to post this that I realised that it was by C/Sphere, aka Coleman Horn. However, the label states "Produced and edited in Vapourspace by Mark Gage", and this has his signature sounds all over it. Sci-fi bleeps and blips swoop around the mix, while a modulated mid range synth churns out weirdly un-syncopated arpeggios. The bassline is one of those bubbling, clustered, lumpy affairs that doesn't particularly accent the beat. It's similar to a lot of Robert Hood basslines, although in this case it builds up and peaks to quite euphoric and mind altering effect. In addition, the beats are relatively gentle, and this made it a post-club mixing favourite; although it can be quite a challenge if your brain is not all there. Basically there are three fairly similar versions of the same track. It definitely sounds like the machines were left to run, and a bit of editing was done later. The 11 minute 'Drift Com' has the greatest degree of arrangement, and has extra spangly noises to spin your brain out just that little bit more, but they are all great. In addition there is a short, beatless abstract oddity which is fairly nice.
nb #1 - I saw Mark Gage live at the Ministry back in the 90s - he was excellent.
nb #2 - Mr C introduced me to this record, when he was doing a show on Kiss back in the 90s. Many people may think of him as the clown out of The Shamen, but he was an excellent DJ. I'm sure I still have the tape somewhere - it was a great mix. And his label was superb.

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This Heat - Made Available

Compiled from two 1977 Peel sessions, this album shows the full spectrum of This Heat's sound. Most of the second session is comprised of the Kraut-ish tape and improv experiments, which are quiet, tense and faintly disturbing. This session does include a manic version of 'Makeshift Swahili', which would re-surface on their 1980 masterwork 'Deceit'. This version is even more intense, with Charles Hayward sounding particularly mental.
The first session is more substantial, and shows how ahead of their time This Heat really were, completely foreshadowing the whole post/math-rock movement with their weirdly angular riffs, and extended instrumental passages. These are shown to best effect on opener 'Horizontal Hold', and 'Rimp Ramp Romp', which harks back to the heaviness of mid 70s King Crimson without the tightness and control: the sense of impending chaos is what gives the music its impact. For me the highlights are the two vocal tracks. 'Not Waving' is a haunting and bleak song: eerie drones and loops build a backdrop for a strangely affecting song about what seems to be some kind of vaguely existential crisis, punctuated by a lovely repeating woodwind motif. 'The Fall Of Saigon' is a truly brilliant track: sawing guitar drones and industrial percussion introduce another songs with nebulous subject matter. Sung in the two-part harmony that would become something of a trademark sound, the vocal part of this song is one of the most beautiful sequences that This Heat created, but a squalling atonal guitar lead clenches the second half of the track in its grip.

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Circle Jerks - Group Sex

A ridiculously fun way to spend 15 minutes of your life. This 1980 debut is a short blast of snotty attitude, delivered at a speed addled frenetic pace. The crazy drumming threatens to explode out of control at any moment, and Keith Morris' vocal delivery is brilliant. I'm not much of a punk/hardcore fan, but the combination of catchy songs and a great sound keep me listening to this 20 years after I first heard it.

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Skatalites - Ball Of Fire

Totally vital 1997 album by these Jamaican legends. Augmented by the brilliant Jamaican guitarist Ernest Ranglin, these venerable musicians are at the top of their game on Ball Of Fire. They play many of the classics they made famous, although they are in a far longer form here than their original 7" vinyl format. Most tracks feature solos from the horn players as well as Ranglin, bookended in joyful fashion by the classic themes played in unison. This pushes the album into jazz territory, as does the crystal clear recording style, not to mention Lloyd Brevett's use of upright bass. All this serves to breathe glorious new life into what are already great compositions. I'm sure there is dubious providence surrounding who authored these classic tunes, as the producer no doubt garnered a lot of credit in the history of Jamaican music. Anyway, between the late Don Drummond, the rest of the band, Duke Reid and Clement Dodd, they created timeless classics like Occupation, Eastern Standard Time, Latin Goes ska. Actually, every horn arrangement here is magnificent, and when the band come back to playing each one aftere the extended solos, it is never less than joyous.
I saw The Skatalites around 1997 or 1998 - they toured this album around the world, giving lots of lucky people a precious glimpse of a legendary group. The whole band were terrific, and I still maintain that it was one of the best rhythm sections I've seen live. Also I was fortunate to witness Roland Alphonso who sadly died shortly after.
As another fairly rubbish summer peters out (for us in England, anyway), I prescribe this album as an auditory replacement for sunshine.

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Ken Ishii - Garden On The Palm

Debut 1993 album by prolific Japanese techno producer, released on the legendary Belgian label R&S (although this is ripped from the Japanese cd).
This is definitely techno of the abstract persuasion - the title track opens the album with some queasily wobbling bass and weird stabs over an offbeat rhythm; then a warbling computer whistle ushers in some very monged mid-range synths. Definitely one for adventurous DJs back in the day, although it does have a totally serviceable techno beat. I have no idea what the Japanese techno scene was like in 1993, but this album certainly has quite an alien sound to it: none of the snare rolls, bouncing bass lines or pummelling beats that were so common in UK and Euro techno (not that I dislike those things in the slightest). The next track 'Loop' is a superb spaced out synth exporation, with no kick drum, then 'Prodrome' brings back the weird-beard techno in terrific fashion. 'Nil' then ramps it up with the most banging kick drum on the album, with slightly 'Relief'-sounding percussion. The album displays class throughout, and is marvellously produced. Even a housy vocal snippet on 'Popgun' fits in with its odd backdrop: invoking tension and alienation rather than euphoria. I have very ambivalent feelings toward vocal samples in dance music, and could probably ramble about it for ages. Felix Da Housecat used them to really nasty effect on contemporary tracks like 'Pussn Meow' and 'Venom', but I digress. This is all about Ken Ishii and his intricately warped take on 90s techno.

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Moondog - H'art Songs

A 1978 collection of songs by Louis Thomas Hardin. Tuneful and simple, these songs generally consist of piano and voice, but are much more than the sum of their parts. Other than the superficial similarities of a beard and a disability, I can't help comparing the Moondog of this album to Robert Wyatt. They both have a beguiling quaver to their vocals, and share a lot of the sibilant characteristics in their delivery. Also, they share a similar commitment to what I would consider to be the correct things in life: decency, in a word; and a kind of fundamental goodness seems to emanate from their music.
Their are some minor embellishments - a squealing pig helps open the album on the excellent 'Pygmy Pig'. There is also some very minimal percussion - apparently Moondog would play a minimal backbeat on a drum when his more classical pieces were being recorded in the studio. Generally the songs are unadorned, and allowed to stand alone. They occupy a strange and satisfying space between somber and jolly; serious and lighthearted.

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David Tibet & Steven Stapleton - The Sadness Of Things

Aptly titled 1991 album from these two titans of the British post industrial avant garde. This consists of two long pieces which are very minimal. Listeners with a deficit of attention should probably avoid this.
The title track is propelled gently by slow and simple percussion, over a drone created by various woodwind, with occasional interjections of spoken phrases, and assorted echo effected noises. It evokes a Himalayan temple kind of vibe - desolate, but with dark and mysterious recesses, lit by the fading shimmers of softly struck gongs. 'The Grave And Beautiful Name Of Sadness' is a more traditional drone piece, which ebbs and flows with dark waves of sound comprised of chants, strings, synths - who knows what else. It's hard to tell because the overall sound is such an organic whole, and so well executed. This is a haunting piece, although the general texture of the sounds, and throbbing ambience make it quite meditative and relaxing.
Utterly excellent artwork, too, by Steven Stapleton - I wish I had this on vinyl!

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Einstürzende Neubauten - Ende Neu

Superb 1996 album by the German legends of industrial, which takes many of the sounds from the band's past, but deploys them in pursuit of a far more melodic end product. I'm sure there are many Neubauten fans who only prefer the noisy early stuff - I just prefer the later more melodic sound with a broader sound palette.
The first two tracks are a concise summation of their sound in 1996 - the frenetic opener 'Was Ist Ist', with thrashing metallic guitars and Blixa Bargeld's strident vocals, is followed by the lush string-led 'Stella Maris', where Blixa sings a gentle two part harmony with actress Meret Becker.
Throughout the album, the songwriting is excellent, the tunes are great, and there is a palpable sense of the band being absolute masters of their sound. The percussion is superb, as always, as is the use of non-music sounds, such as a pencil writing on paper. There are some propulsive grooves, too, that hark back to their motorik musical ancestors - on 'Installation no1', and most notably the 11 minute epic that is 'NNNAAAMMM' - which is chanted both as spelt - suggesting a car passing on the motorway, as well as being the initials of 'New no new age advanced ambient motor music machine': also chanted throughout. The rhythm of this track is helped along with some kind of chugging machinery to great effect. The title track is probably my favourite: a blend of distorted vocals, industrial percussion, and dramatic, ominous strings.

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Pump Panel - Ego Acid

Banging acid tune from 1994. Fantastic stuff: pounding kick drum, crashing cymbals, and lashings of 303. The 'Floatation Mix' on the B-side is only slightly more laid back, with a trancy arpeggio spacing it out, somewhat.
Also included is the Reconstruction Mix of New Order's Confusion, which is even more banging, pounding, and relentless, at over 10 minutes. The acid is even more full-on and brain mashing, while the vocodered vocal loops add a bit of depth. This beast is an all-time favourite of mine.

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Terminal Cheesecake - Gateau D'Espace

1992 EP of psychedelic industrial dub. A blend of pounding bass and drums, with heavily echoed shouty vocals, some grinding noisy bits, and primitive samples and loops forming a sludgy mass. Primitive is a great word for this band, as is monolithic. There is a kind of bloody mindedness that propels these cavernous grooves. I wish I'd seen this mob live, but I was too busy getting into techno at the time. I'm sure they would have been bowel-quakingly intense. Track titles give you a clue to their influences: 'Oily Bud', 'Herbal Alien Flavour', 'Extra Oily'. If you think they are heading into weed-nerd territory, they reveal the lack of seriousness with 'Blatant Drug Reference' and it's sampled chant of 'Marijuana'. Although they began as more of a noise rock band, I thought they really hit on a good formula with this relentless dub weirdness.
Excellent cover art is by Jim Sawers, who used to work at Tower Records when I did, in a different department. A top bloke - he's actually responsible for me owning the Bill Laswell album I posted a while back, too.

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Cardiacs - On Land And In The Sea

Quite how I have managed to reach the fourth month of a blog without posting this, I don't know. One of my favourite albums ever, and almost certainly the most listened-to.
Cardiacs are an acquired taste, certainly. Their near-obsessive band of fans experience such joy from their music and amazing live shows, that it is undoubtedly easy to lose sight of this, and wonder why they aren't massive. If you do acquite the taste, though, there are unrivalled joys to be had. I think this album is their best, because it is the most psychedelic, with the most amazingly layered and detailed production, yet is still chock full of brilliant tunes. The mix is almost head-spinningly overloaded at times, with tiny little voices and distant exclamations vying with saxophone parps, pots and pans, and fine-tuned kitchen sinks rattling around. All this detail, though, is cleverly orchestrated chaos that never forgets that it is there to embellish the songs, and it never drowns them out. Produced by Tim Smith (vocalist and main songwriter), this full-on style was reined in on subsequent albums (all brilliant) in favour of a more stripped down sound. As usual, the songs veer from snotty, jittering stop-start punkers; to grandiose prog anthems, from one line to the next. The addition of sax player, percussionist and keyboardist to the traditional band line up meant that they could pull this off live, too. I was lucky enough to see them with this line up 20 years ago: although Sarah Smith and William Drake would continue to contribute to albums, the live band would soon slim down, before expanding again in later years.
I forget how many versions of the band I've seen. Living in London has its tedious sides, but being able to see the Cardiacs regularly over the years has been fantastic, and I feel very grateful now.

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Droopy - Northwest Hounded Police

A brilliant episode of the classic cartoon Droopy from 1946. I always used to love Droopy when I was a kid (and it has been a joy to watch them recently): his ultra laid back and understated approach; the casual surrealism; his brilliant voice (Bill Thompson). All these are shown to great effect in this episode. Droopy is Sgt McPoodle, a mountie who is sent to track down an escaped convict. The convict escapes to ever more remote places, and Droopy always turns up. Droopy actually borders on creepy in this one, as the weirdness factor is cranked up.
Thanks to Spazcreations and Surrealmoviez for the original uploads.

Download
.avi format, 100mb

Sinoia Caves - The Enchanter Persuaded

Blissful, beautiful and deeply spaced album by Jeremy Schmidt, keyboardist for the excellent psych/70s/space/prog-rock-influenced Black Mountain. Mr Schmidt has some wicked keyboards, and uses them brilliantly. 35 minutes of this album are taken up by two epic tracks, which are influenced equally by the current drone/space rock scene; and 70s synth masters like Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze. There are definitely similarities to the opening on Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here, which is of course a good thing. In between are a small collection of gorgeous ghostly songs, with touches of vocoder, and shimmering hammond, sounding not too dissimilar to Air, but with more emphasis on the psychedelic elements.
One of my favourite albums of recent years; thanks to Sam for introducing me to this.

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Disrupt - Foundation Bit

Disrupt is a one man digital dubmeister. Some purists are put off by any digital element in dub, but as far as I'm concerned: if it rocks it rocks, like this album does. Jan Gleichman (Mr Disrupt) can create great grooves, and they are embellished superbly with the requisite space invader noises, odd edits, and plenty of echo. On top of this are some great film samples, from Tron (the brilliant 'Blast You To Bits') and Dark Star. The bass is unashamedly digital, but this just means that they shake the room all the more when you turn up the volume. Great spaced out fun.

Disrupt has a 2009 album out, called The Bass Has Left The Building. I fell asleep halfway through listening to it last night, but was thoroughly enjoying it, especially the samples from classic arcade game Berserk. Check out the Jahtari website - they have a flash player where you can listen to the entire catalogue, and the website design is a smart tribute to all things 80s digital.

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Gerhard Potuznik - Florida Optical EP

Superb EP released on Austria's Cheap records in 1994: a great year for all things techno. I played this a lot, so there are a few crackles on this vinyl rip. It begins with the swirling subterranean synths and fuzzy stabs of 'Shine', whose only rhythmic element is some hissing hi-hats. The kick drums appear on 'Make Up Doll', which is a minimal moody stomper. The B-side was what I played to death - particularly 'Gangway'. This is a pretty trippy affair, with strident, acidic moogy lines introducing the tracks, with some sweet, dubbed out stabs counterbalancing them. The percussion keeps building, a thick drone is introduced, and more heavily reverbed keys come in, creating a disorientating effect. Quite intense, and fades out a bit too early in my opinion. The ep is rounded off by a classy and rather lovely little number with elements of early 90s trance, and a bouncy prog-house bassline.

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