Happy Easter, Easter People. I’m a Jew but that did not stop me from partaking in some celebratory grillin’ and chillin’ tonight. I had a hot dog, a cheeseburger, and s’mores made with Peeps. I found the “golden egg” during our Easter egg hunt (curated by Ken and Kt), which contained a condom and some lube! I watched the Red Sox beat the Yankees, and I was temporarily joyous, until I realized that the Mets open their season tomorrow. Upon realizing this I suddenly felt very, very sad. Is it pathetic that I’m hoping the team loses their first ten games and everybody in the organization gets fired? Is it possible that the owners will sell the team to people who aren’t completely fucking incompetent? One can only dream. Until then, I’ll root for the Red Sox, because they’re actually good, and their fans hate the Yankees just as much as I do.
Here’s a festive Easter mix tape for you.
RULES for uninitiated noobs: With roughly 100MB of web space, I give birth to a weekly Mix Tape to be deposited on your iPods or Zunes or Kingklangs or whatever the industry is currently pushing on you. Sometimes there will be themes that link all the songs together, other times I’ll just throw songs at a wall (not literally) and see what sticks. Lots of cool Japanese music tonight, sprinkled in with some non-Japanese stuff! Look at some of these 1-2 punches. Xasthur and John Prine! Unrest and A Silver Mt. Zion! Does it get any cooler than that? The goal of this endeavor, as always, is to pique your interest in these artists so you’ll support the artists and buy their albums.
Sunday Mix Tape – Number 181
Far East Meets Fuzz West
01. Nkengas – Anyi Bundi Igbo – Is jungle funk a genre? Is that racist? Whatever, this shit is from West Africa and it’s the jam. So groovy and heavy and rhythmic and great. Lose yourself in it.
02. Speed, Glue And Shinki – You Got Me Floatin’ – Japan’s answer to Hendrix, but maybe even better. Named after the drummer’s propensity for using speed and the bassist’s penchant for sniffing glue. Also one of the rarest records in the world, if you can find the original you will own a seriously valuable item. (Purchase From Amazon.com)
03. Magical Power Mako – Cha Cha – Nurse With Wound list alert! Makoto Kurita is a Japanese psychedelic legend whose miraculous recordings are often compared favorably to bands like Faust. This track was culled from the Magical Power Mako album, released by Polydor in ’73, two years after the self-titled Faust record was released on the same label. Coincidence? Probably. (Purchase From Amazon.com)
04. Twenty-Six – The Coldest Day – From the album This Skin Is Rust, which is an exercise in super-dynamic music, ranging from utter nothingness to harsher-than-harsh, in-the-red noise. Is there such a thing as loner post-rock or loner avant-garde? This album would fit nicely into one of those genres. If not, they’re cool new descriptive words you can use to describe music like this to your friends.
05. Geza X – We Need More Power – The man most commonly associated with Meredith Brooks’ “Bitch” The Dead Kennedys and The Germs actually recorded an album of his own way back in 1992. And it was kind of awesome, even though he was mostly known as a producer! This is one of the records that customers always complain about when we play it at the store. I don’t know why, I think it’s pretty cool. (Purchase From Amazon.com)
06. Xasthur – Victim Of Your Dreams – The undisputed king of ambient black metal (take that Burzum!), this one is off the album Subliminal Genocide, which is the album that helped me finally understand and (gasp!) enjoy the blood-curdling, terrifying howl so often employed by black metal vocalists. It takes a lot to make it all the way through this record from start to finish, but — like an excruciating work-out — you will feel better in the end. (Purchase From Amazon.com)
07. John Prine – Crooked Piece Of Time – I don’t throw around phrases like “better than Dylan” often…no, wait, yes I do. I don’t even like Bob Dylan. John Prine is way better than Bob Dylan. Bruised Orange is his masterpiece. (Purchase From Amazon.com)
08. Wara – Encontrarte – Like cocaine (if I may be so bold as to quote U-God), Wara comes straight from Bolivia. Listen to these groovy bass lines. You will fall in love. I’ll post the full album later this week, maybe.
09. Machinefabriek – Paracetamol – It’s been quite some time since I’ve posted anything from Rutger Zuyderveldt, one of my most-favorite modern experimental/electronic musicians. This is from a somewhat recent compilation (available online through his website) of music recorded between 2001-2004. Great minimalist sleepytime drones and blips and bleeps.
10. Pulse Emitter & Pete Swanson – Untitled (track 2) – If this doesn’t get your eardrums buzzing, I don’t know what will. Sheets of white noise exploding out your speakers, sure to fry every last brain cell you have left. Just awesome.
11. Friction – Pistol – This one sounds a lot like old MP3s my friend Z used to send me. Super fuzzy, upbeat with nonsense syllable singing.
12. Eugene Chadbourne – I’ve Been Everywhere – You’ve probably never heard a version of this song that sounds anything like what Chadbourne does to it. It’s pretty far-out. It’s like “free” country remixed by Negativland. (Purchase From Amazon.com)
13. The Helpful Soul – You Got Me Floatin’ – Garage psychedelic goodness from Japan. The Helpful Soul are kind of like a far east Kinks with sicker guitar solos.
14. Unrest – Over The Life – Here’s what I wrote a few weeks ago when I shared another Unrest tune: “It seems like Imperial F.F.R.R. is the only Unrest album people care about these days. It’s a damned shame, too, because Mark Robinson recorded so much great music. People need to hear more than just that one record. This one is off the 1987 LP Tink Of S.E.. Find it if you can, it’s a classic.”
15. A Silver Mt. Zion – The Triumph Of Our Tired Eyes – I shouldn’t have to explain ASMZ by now to anyone who reads this website. If you don’t know ’em, look ’em up. I don’t want to reduce myself to your level. (Purchase From Amazon.com)
