Random Weird Record Reviews

I’ve been taking a deep dive into some weird music lately. I don’t know why. Usually I would share this stuff on Lost Turntable, but since that blog is only for music that is out-of-print (support the musicians you like!) I can’t really do that.

So apropos of nothing, a series of mini-reviews of avant-garde, progressive, leftfeild, new wave, ambient, drone, industrial records that I bought last week. Some are new pressings, all are new to me. And all of them are easily available on iTunes!

Blackouts – Ashra (Manuel Göttsching)

I’d seen Göttsching’s name before and have browsed over his records in the past, but this was the first time I’d picked one up. But I think I’ll be grabbing more in the future, because this album is really special. It’s loop and sequencer based, but it also has strong melodies and hooks on top of all that. Imagine Fripp/Eno but catchy. Really amazing guitar sound on this record, I cannot recommend it enough. If you like Brian Eno, Tangerine Dream or any of the wonky shit I post at Lost Turntable, you’ll probably dig on this.

Flute Power – Lenny Mac Dowell

Speaking of wonky shit, Flute Power! I bought for two reasons. Firstly, my boyfriend plays the flute and he’s always interested to hear the flute used in rock and pop music. Secondly, the keyboardist on this record is Zeus, who I mentioned briefly a few weeks back on Lost Turntable. The flutist providing said flute power is Lenny Mac Dowell. I don’t know all that much about him, but judging from his Discogs page he has quite the discography ranging from rock and jazz to experimental and new age music. This album skirts the line between jazz and rock from time to time, and while some of it is a bit too jazzy for me, its a fun record. And my boyfriend likes it, so mission accomplished in that regard.

Dragon Wings and Wizard Tales – Emerald Web

Flutes. Let’s talk more about them, shall we? This has flutes and synths, together in harmony. And songs about motherfucking dragons. Again, like a lot of the records I picked up recently, it hovers between genres. It’s easy to peg this as a new age record, thanks to its heavy use of flute and gentle melodies, but there’s more to it than that. Is psychedelic ambient a thing? I feel that’s the best descriptor for this one as it’s equal parts calming and trippy. We need more electronic/acoustic hybrid concept albums about dragons, don’t we? Emerald Web put out music throughout the 80s until one half of the duo, Bob Stohl, tragically passed away. Kat Epple still records and releases music solo, and composes music for television as well. Her solo stuff, and much of Emerald Web’s output, is more purely new age, so I don’t know if I’d love it as much as I love this, but I’m willing to give it a shot, as I’ve fallen head over heels with this album so much.

The Mask Of The Imperial Family – Yasuo Sugibayashi

This album doesn’t feature any flutes. At least, I don’t think it does, it’s kind of hard to tell. Originally released in 1981, this album is part industrial, part tape music, part ambient, part noise, and wholly undefinable (Catching a theme here?). Some parts loop and drone on in a hypnotic, beautiful way, only to erode and corrupt into jarring, disconcerting noise. It’s like the album is actively trying its best to disengage and distract you. Music as combat. I never really understood what people said when they meant “challenging music” until right now. Usually this kind of stuff just throws me off, but I keep coming back to this one. Certainly not music to have on during a party or a morning commute, but it’s earned its place in my library that’s for sure.

Divided Alien Playbax 80 – Daevid Allen

I had no idea what this was or who Daevid Allen was when I bought this. Truth be told, I grabbed this almost entirely for the cover (and the fact that it was just five bucks). Something about that image spoke to me. I won’t lie, I frequent vaporwave tumblr from time-to-time, and I thought that the front cover of this record was oddly prescient, the aesthetic of it looked at least 30 years out of place from its 1982 release date. Thankfully, the record is pretty damn good. Like a lot of what I bought recently, it relies heavily on tape loops and sampling, again reminiscent of Brian Eno. But unlike Eno’s soothing drones, this is a dark, menacing record, drenched in feedback and grime. Allen was a member of the highly influential prog act Gong, and apparently this album is composed almost entirely of samples from the his side-project New York Gong and their 1980 album About Time. Also, New York Gong went onto become Material, so this record has Bill Laswell on it by proxy.

My taste for the off-kilter and oddball seems to be growing by the day, so if anyone reading this is interested in more, let me know! I’m certainly going to keep buying this stuff.