Mix #2

Playlist: hxxp://www.megaupload.com/?d=9NKQ35DX

1. The Velvet Underground - I Heard Her Call My Name

As soon as it starts you know that this amphetamine-fueled screechfest isn't your typical Velvet Underground song. When the actual lyrics start, it reverts to a song back in the White Light vein, but then FUCK! Lou Reed feels his mind split open and the guitar goes WILD! The rhythm section drives along as the guitar screams like a wounded animal pumping pain and pleasure into our brain. Then back to more traditional section, even some catchy back-up vocals... MIND SPLIT OPEN OH SHIT NOISE SOLO NOISE SOLO screech screech dddooodoloodoo some slight changes in the rhythm section as the guitar keeps going at it for about two minutes and there you have it. Next on the album is Sister Ray, which is, in its own way, beautiful, and that represents Side B of White Light/White Heat. Where the hell could they go from there? The second half of their second album was basically the most abrasive thing ever to be unleashed unto audiences up to that point. I refuse to listen to their next two albums because there's no way they could possibly top it, and it would just dissapoint.

2. The Mekons - Like Spoons No More / Where Were You

Jagged and fracture guitar line, driving rhythm, Wire-esque refrain... basically what we have in Like Spoons No More are the makings for a perfect post-punk song. And it is. It ranks up there with the best of Wire, The Fall, Gang of Four etc. Short and sweet, it'll give you your fix. Where Were You is only really included as a reference for the next song, but it's still an absolutely amazing song. That you should listen to again and again and love.

3. Boredoms - 7 (Boriginal)

So how does this song relate to Where Were You by The Mekons? Well, it's a cover! That's right, a twenty-one minute cover of a song that's barely two and a half minutes. And by a notorious noise-rock band, no less. So what are you to expect? A twenty-minute punk epic? Hardly. This is deconstructionism at its finest, this is tearing apart a song verse by verse and turning it into a swirling, noisy, and half-insane krautrock opus. Only the Japanese could pull off something this crazy this well.

4. Railroad Jerk - Bang the Drum

Minimalist bass, drum, and guitar, half-spoken vocals, heavy blues and garage influences... No, it's not the White Stripes, it's better. It's Railroad Jerk, and they're not some lame rip-off band this shit was recorded in 95. Seriously, this is a great song that beats anything I've heard from the Stripes though they're probably the easiest point of comparison. Also think: slightly less noisy version of Jon Spencer.

5. The Ex - Enough is Enough

Noisy, dark, harsh, bleak in terms of music and lyrics. In my opinion, it gets really good when the violin kicks in full force. But a great, interesting listen throughout. Typical of The Ex.

6. This Heat - SPQR

If, while you're listening to this, you think to yourself Hmmm... this sounds like something a bunch of British guys would record in an abandoned meat locker with crappy recording tools, I'd accuse you of being a psychic, because you'd be absolutely right. Recorded in 1981, this has to be commended for sounding like nothing else at the time. And I'm having some trouble thinking of anything since to compare this to. The guitar is minimalist to an extreme, switching between strumming the shit out of two chords, and the song is mostly pulled along by the drums and the vocals. And what the hell about the lyrics?

Amo amas amat amamis amatis amant
We are all romans unconscious collective
We are all romans we live to regret it
We are all romans and we know all
About straight roads
Every straight road leads home,
Home to rome
2 + 2 = 4
4 + 4 = 8
We organise via property as power
Slavehood and freedom imperial purple
Pax romana!
Suckled by a she wolf,
We turn against our brother
Bella bella bella bellorum bellis bellis
Veni vidi vici I came I saw I conquered

You tell me what that means, because I have no idea. But it's pretty creepy. I guess those are the kinds of thoughts that go through your head in an abandoned meat locker.

7. Crass - Bata Motel

This is the greatest pissed-off feminist song I've ever heard. I mean, I tend to stay away from pissed off feminist music after I listened to L7, but seriously, this is pretty fucking awesome. The vocal delivery is absolutely delightful, and the screeching guitar and quick drums make this a lot of fun to listen to. And the lyrics are really fucking clever. And usually I don't like clever, because it tends to be stupid. But this is good clever. Seriously. Good shit.

8. AMM - Musette

I'm not really sure where to start with this song. Some might argue that this isn't really music, but then, what the fuck do they know? For me, listening to this is an experience. Because you're not hearing any of the traditional sounds you associate with "music" your mind struggles to find something to latch on to. But you're probably listening to it too closely. If you let it slip into your subconcious, as background noise, I find it becomes a sort of soundscape, forming images and feelings in your mind much less concrete than normal "music." And that's probably one of the more pretentious things I've ever written, but this is pretty pretentious music, so there you go.

9. John Fahey - Blind Joe Death, Pt. 1

Like Nick Drake without the vocals and better. Folk guitar++
It's part one of the album because my download is a recording off LP, and thus is just four tracks each consisting of several songs instead of however many tracks there should be. Sorry.

10. The Red Krayola - Save the House

This was recorded one year before Trout Mask Replica blew minds all over the world (probably not) but it approaches the same level of fucked-up-ness. This is a slightly restrained Beefheart, but just as enjoyable and odd. Listen to it once, and bask in its weird glory. Then listen to it again and pretend the piano is an electric guitar, and the vocals are being yelled. And there's the first punk song ever, congratulations.