nasty algae
< author: g booker >
It’s been so long since I posted here, I basically forgot how to do it. We’ll make it through. Starting small, I thought I’d mention a few of the re-issues I was fortunate enough to stumble upon in this blog’s hiatus.
It was always one of the great pleasures when Relative Theory was open to dig through the old stuff brought to light by great labels like Light in the Attic, Soul Jazz, and Numero Group. Since the store closed, I’ve mostly fallen out of touch with this stuff, but I managed to find a few new old things.
“Harmonia live 1974″ is an amazing document of a forgotten krautrock supergroup. Harmonia was the two guys in Cluster with a guitarist from Can. Mainly, these are ten minute plus instrumentals that create an amazing musical headspace that chugs along with a steady motorik pace, almost imperceptively changing and shifting. You can hear how these guys were a big influence on Brian Eno, who wildly praised them and sort of joined them for a little while in the mid-70s. A year or two after that, Eno “invented” ambient music, but this proves he didn’t get it from out of nowhere. He got it from Germany.
Pylon was a band I had never heard of. In fact, I snagged a promo just from the name and the fact that DFA Records was putting out their album. I haven’t heard a bad DFA release yet, and I figured maybe Pylon was some raucous modern techno or some EBM vs. Brooklyn unholy entity. Turns out they’re the unsung heroes of Athens, GA in the early 80s, the band everybody loved that never broke through like REM or the B 52s. In any case, DFA’s first time on CD release of “Gyrate Plus” reveals Pylon to be a fierce, rhythmic combo that could easily battle the top UK post-punk outfits like the Pop Group and Gang of Four and wouldn’t be out of place with the NYC No Wave freaks like DNA or ESG. Amazing rock and roll to shake your ass to.
Like I said, I’ve missed alot since the store closed. I’ve heard amazing things about “Brazil 70″, a sort of sequel to the epic “Tropicalia” compilation on Soul Jazz. What about you? Any treasures from the past you want to put some shine on?
