What's On My Micro, Part 2

I'm back on the bus to NYC.  Off for a while, then on again.  Such is the life of a perpetually dissatisfied freelance worker.  The need arose, then, to refresh and revise the playlist on my Micro, resulting in the new inclusions below, though all but one of the artists are not terribly new (I must be at risk of High Luddite status; so few new artists impress me anymore.  With a few notable exceptions, new bands seem to often be just an amalgamation of older, better influences, unworthy of the sum of their parts.)

I also want to retract the statement made in my previous post about certain artists not qualifying as "music for being on the move."  Sooner or later, the complexity of moods triggered by commuting, and the city environment, will require a little Stockhausen or MB.

Apollo - Apollo (1970) - A gutsy Finnish rock act who were very much of their time, formed by members of the popular 60s group Topmost.  The album is evenly split between Beefheart-style screwy blues guitar numbers, and Aphrodite's Child-esque string-soaked prog ballads.  [mp3]  [mp3]

Association P.C. - Erna Morena (Live) (1973) - Pan-European improvisational rock band, with similarities to early Soft Machine.  Noodly psychedelic extrapolations, with some very rewarding emergent themes for the patient listener.  I wish more of their catalog were readily available.  A detailed information page about the band can be found here.  [mp3]

Bladder Flask - One Day I Was So Sad That the Corners of My Mouth Met & Everybody Thought I Was Whistling (1981) - Two sides of mind-warping sound collage created by the Rupenus brothers, aka The New Blockaders (see below).  The Rupenuses were also the masterminds behind the Mixed Band Philanthropist project and LP from 1986.  [mp3]

Haikara - Another great discovery in early 70s Finnish rock, Haikara were more progressive and complex than Apollo (above), with inventive song structures that sometimes incorporated Scandinavian folk themes.  Essential for fans of Arbete och Fritid and Panta Rei.  [mp3]
 

MB (Maurizio Bianchi) - Mectpyo (1980) - An early cassette release from this innovator of extreme, hypnotic noise; the first, in fact, to be released under his own name (he had recorded previously as Sacher-Pelz.)  A brief but detailed bio/discography here.  [mp3]

Metal Urbain - Anarchy In Paris! - US compilation of this late 70's French punk band (roughly '77 to '82).  Their first single, "Paris Maquis," was also the first ever Rough Trade 7" (RT 001). Drum machines and buzzsaw guitars, with similarities to Chrome and 39 Clocks.  [mp3]  [mp3]
 

Quella Vecchia Locanda - Quella Vecchia Locanda (1972) - Ah, Italian prog, you either love it or hate it.  Many of the Italian bands from the 70s embody all the lamented stereotypes of progressive rock:  overblown lyrical concepts, virtuosic soloing, and all-around early-Genesis addiction.  Not so with Quella Vecchia Locanda, who manage to keep things quite interesting, with creative arrangements, varied instrumentation (flute, violin), and more than enough "rock" to keep one grounded.  Here's their page from progarchives.  [mp3]  [mp3]
 

Stockhausen - Kurzwellen - Stockhausen's recordings can have an opaque quality that demands real listening, whereafter the rewards can be great.  The bus ride seemed almost the ideal setting to get into bed with "Kurzwellen," so I ripped my precious vinyl copy (Deutsche Grammophon 1969) to mp3.  The double LP collects two performances of Kurzwellen, one from Radio Bremen (May 1968), the other from the WDR (April 1969), wherein "the players react, while they are actually performing, to completely unforeseeable events which they receive on short-wave radios."  Stockhausen dictated when, how and how often the players would react to these "events."  The resulting sound is not dissimilar from then contemporary ensembles AMM or MEV, though the execution is cleaner and more mannered.  One of the coolest things about the Kurzwellen album is the packaging, placed firmly in rock aesthetics:  the back cover is a wonderful modern art diorama by Mary Bauermeister; the front cover shows the composer and his accompanist friends, surly and unaffected, sitting on some public stairs behind a chained entrance sign.  The shot reminds me of Gered Mankowitz's early Rolling Stones photos.  Buy the official CD direct from the composer here.  [mp3]

The New Blockaders - Simphonie in X Major - LP from 1991.  The Rupenus brothers, Richard & Philip, doing what they do best, making extreme, confrontational noise music alá La Monte Young's "Poem for Tables, Chairs and Benches, etc."  The Rupenus brothers have also recorded in collaboration with Organum, and under the names Bladder Flask (see above) and Alien Brains, among others.  Richard Rupenus was also in Masstishaddhu.  [mp3]

Triode - On N'a Pas Fini D'avoir Tout Vu (France 1971) - Excellent proto-progressive instrumental album with guitars, drums and flute.  Originally released on the legendary Futura label.  Wonderful themes and great playing, recorded with a very live feel.  CD available.  [mp3]  [mp3]

Worms - Pelican Songs (2002) - Finally, some of what Finland has to offer nowadays.  Worms are a heavy guitar band with art-rock leanings, creating long, brutal tracks that leave you wobbly at the end of the horizon. Worthy descendants of This Heat, Pell Mell and bands like Neurosis and The Melvins.  [mp3]

Comments

[annukka]

As a finnish reader of WFMU it was a pleasant suprise to see you have an interest in our music. Based on the bands you mentioned, I'd like to recommend these too: Wigwam, Tasavallan presidentti, Pekka Streng and as a representant of the new progressive generation; Absoluuttinen nollapiste.

[Listener James from Westwood]

Hell, man, you've got a good chunk of a full playlist there. Do a fill-in slot so you can share it live!!

[Listener Colin]

Thanks for sharing!

[poesboes]

Warmest headphonized ears here! Thanks!