Deep with the womb of time, a creature thus be born. The seed of life is united with the egg of tyranny. Gestates forth from within the womb of life for three-quarter and nigh a year, the creature thus be born!
For those of you who are unaware, today marks the celebration of my 25th Spirit Journey Formation Anniversary. You can wish my a happy birthday in the comment section below. You can also make a monetary donation to the site if you’re too lazy to send me a real gift in the mail. Furthermore, If you’re in Los Angeles and want to party tonight, shoot me an e-mail. Maybe I’ll invite you to get drunk with your favorite blogger. Then you can blog about it! What a trippy idea…
In other news, it’s Friday. So here’s a top ten completely unrelated to me and my life and my general awesomeness.
The Top Ten Musical Duos Of All Time
Honorable Mention: Om – Stoner rock, loud and fierce as it ought to be. Ian says that when he saw the duo of Chris Hakius and Al Cisneros, the latter played with a bloodied hand for the majority of the set, and continued to slam away at his bass guitar as if possessed. Hakius is widely regarded as one of the best doom/metal drummers, but he has recently left the band, so we’ll see if replacement drummer Emil Amos performs the same ferocity as his predecessor.
10) MV & EE – Matt Valentine and Erika Elder have been producing beautiful and trippy folk music since long before Devendra Banhart, Joanna Newsome, or any of these new “freak folk” dorks had so much as sniffed a psych folk or Tropicália recording to mercilessly plunder for ideas. I wish, I wish that this duo could receive more acclaim than those remora who were late to the feeding frenzy and stuck around to steal scraps from those who came before them. MV & EE are rooted in drones, ragas and earthy Americana. Together they will shroud you in positive energy and drown you in warmth. Sometimes they employ a rotating cast of backing musicians, but when the two are alone together, stunning accomplishments are made.
09) Hella – Although no longer a duo, the pairing of Spencer Seim and Zach Hill was, for a while, one of the most ungodly rock combinations that ever existed. When I first heard The Devil Isn’t Red, I was convinced I was listening to a recording studio filled with schoolchildren who were unleashed and set free amongst various instruments. The more I listened, the more I heard of two technically brilliant musicians who were creating something that I’d never heard before and positively loved. It was as mind-blowing as it was innovative. To watch Zach Hill drum is to watch a pitcher hurl a perfect game is to watch Daniel Day Lewis in My Life Foot. Simply put, he is one of the best at what he does. Hella is not spastic, Hella is virtuosic. Listen to “1-800-Ghost Dance”
08) Boards Of Canada – There was a time when I thought electronic music was entirely comprised of Pet Shop Boys-like, too-gay-to-function club bullshit. And yeah, I guess a lot of it is. After my brief flirtation with The Crystal Method, Boards Of Canada was the first electronic band I ever enjoyed listening to. Combining melancholic synth music with hip-hop beats doesn’t seem like such a revolutionary idea on the surface, but the duo of Michael Sandison and Marcus Eoin truly changed my notions of what electronic music was. There was a perfect sense of space. The tracks were not overflowing with sound, there were simply moments of sun-dappled bliss and cold, mechanical depression. The best part is, they often occurred right on top of one another. Two Scottish dudes…they almost make up for the gaping asshole of that chronically fatigued pussy from Belle & Sebastian. Listen to “Chromakey Dreamcoat”
07) USAISAMONSTER – Tom Hohmann and Colin Langevin (which is the guy with the gross leathery face again?) do shit right. Listen to Tasheyana Compost without feeling like you’re head is being blown out of your ass and you will have achieved something astonishing. Theirs is a sound that will massage your spine up and down, then rip the fucker right out, leaving you a hunched-over pile of mush. I don’t know whether to call it spaced, deeply fried, harsh as malfunctioning mechanics, beautiful as a seizure, or ground into a fine powder. It’s certainly unique. One guy is obsessed with Native American culture and the other is a stoner rock enthusiast. Perhaps unsurprisingly, USAISAMONSTER falls perfectly in the middle. Emphasis on perfectly.
06) Growing – I first witnessed Growing when the duo opened for Comets On Fire at the Bowery Ballroom a few years ago. I remember sitting upstairs, drinking with Ian, watching the excruciatingly loud wall of sound spread across the room from their multiple guitar amplifiers. Both The Soul Of The Rainbow And The Harmony Of Light and The Sky’s Run Into The Sea possess the ability to transport listeners to dark, gorgeous coordinates in outer space. The live show is highlighted by the righty-lefty (Kevin Doria-Joe Denardo) duo using pairs of amplifiers to recreate “true stereo” sound. Growing transcends the whole meandering instrumental “post-rock” moniker and creates something entirely their own, and entirely wonderful. Listen to “Anaheim II”
05) Silver Apples – Silver Apples are number five on this list, and I’ve really only heard one of their albums. Granted, it’s the hugely influential self-titled album, but it’s one album nonetheless. Released in 1968, this really was music that nobody had ever heard before. You could call it the birth of “space rock” if you so desire. The rhythms were based off — at most — one or two chords, so you have to imagine that a group like Faust, Spacemen 3, and even Stereolab might not have existed if it weren’t for this one album. I guess that’s what makes it so fucking awesome.
04) The Complex – If I wasn’t trying to be as objective as possible, The Complex would be number one on this list. The criminally unknown duo of Eric Yaegar and Vince Maysky were experimental innovators who asked listeners to join them on their wild chemical adventures. Their live shows were a mixture of blissed-out sonic smears and driving heavy rhythms. They glimmered, glistened, and then wowed you with hard-rock riffs. The one studio album they recorded is a complete 180 from their live show. A testament to all things chemical, the untitled album (never released) is a horrifying and magical trip through the minds of two people who were not afraid to lose their minds if it would help them to create something great and lasting. In December of 2002, Eric was killed in an automobile accident, and Vince elected to dissolve The Complex. It was a loss that shocked and saddened many, many fans. The untitled CD-r recording, plus a live bootleg or two are the only remaining testaments to the greatness of this duo. Maybe the few of you (Jess, Lindsey, Sam?) who have also known and loved The Complex can add something? Listen to “Always Music In The Air”
03) Stars Of The Lid – When Simon Reynolds first coined the term “post-rock” he was referring to three bands: Tortoise, Labradford, and Stars Of The Lid. This is the band that forced John Peel to say “you may very well think that something has gone wrong with your stereo” upon first hearing one of their tunes. The Texan drone duo have a tendency for being so quiet, you might very well miss it if you’re not paying attention. Phenomenal, shimmering ambiance that is both serene and tenebrous. The melodies are all superb. The guitars, the gritty electronics, somehow Stars Of The Lid have managed to mix the best of John Cale, Tony Conrad and Brian Eno into a distinctive sound all their own. Listen to “Before Top Dead Center”
02) Lightning Bolt – It was a toss up between the next two duos for numbers one and two on the list, and my decision came down purely to the notion of influence. Lightning Bolt have been one of my favorite bands since first Ian introduced me to them many years ago. I will forever be jealous of how he lived in Providence during the band’s peak years. Many of you probably know what Lightning Bolt do, but for those who don’t, they are the duo of Brian Gibson (bass) and Brian Chippendale (drums). They embody the spirit (and maybe musical style) of many Japanese noise rockers like Ruins or Zeni Geva. Chippendale is a frenetic drummer who mouths syllables and words through a microphone (built into a phone receiver) that usually is held inside his mouth. The mic is run through an effects processor to screw with the sound of his voice even more. Gibson plays a cello-tuned bass with a banjo string for a high A. It’s noisy, it’s chaotic, and it’s often stunning. Rent the band’s tour DVD The Power Of Salad, smoke a bowl, and fall in love. Listen to “Captain Caveman”
01) Suicide – Yeah, okay, my fascination started with getting high and listening to the first self-titled Suicide album. But since that night, I have listened and explored the recorded output of Suicide countless times, and I am always convinced that a better, more influential musical duo may never surpass Alan Vega and Martin Rev. Wilson Neate said of their first album that they would be as significant as The Clash, and he was dead on with his assessment. The entire synth pop movement, techno, and industrial movements have Suicide to thank for giving birth to the ideas that would be co-opted and and altered by future generations. Vega’s Elvis-like delivery combined with his shrieks and screams, and Rev’s simplistic, repetitive keyboard “riffs” made every band that ever ripped them off famous. That’s a pretty awesome place to exist in the annals of recorded sound.
