uSSSy - Karpet Birch

bandcampfree last.fm dl
Noise-rock with a hella tribal vibe. (src)

This is the greatest thing I have heard in FOR. FUCKING. EVER. uSSSy is a noise rock duo from Moscow, Russia with intense folk and traditional music influences. As far as I can tell, through my amazing researching skills,  they use quite a number of folk instruments to create their sound. Posted on their facebook is evidence of instruments such as the tanbur, a long plucked instrument originating in Persia, as well as the daf drum, also used in Persian music. Check out their tumblr (link below) if you're so inclined, they post almost exclusively old/ancient instruments from Central Asia/the Middle East, which might tell you a little bit about how interesting they are as musicians. So, if you have a good ears, maybe you'll pick up on these sounds and more in the album. Who knows, it's all incredibly cool.

My favorite track is currently the first, "oi tam na gori," but I've been loving every song on here. This isn't the most informative write-up, but the music really speaks for itself. I encourage you all to give to this band whatever you have or are willing to, especially through their bandcamp, as well as partake in their wonderful music-making.

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Iva Bittová & Vladimír Václavek - Bílé Inferno

 1997; 13 tracks  This is something truly unique and truly incredible. A "hybrid of Björk and Yann Tierson" (just to give a certain kind of idea). It will probably become one of your most-played albums.  

Bílé Inferno combines the talents of Czech musicians Iva Bittová, an avant-garde violinist, singer, and composer, and Vladimír Václavek, a singer/songwriter and instrumentalist. They perform an interesting mix of darkwave, contemporary classical, traditional folk, classical classical, and experimental or avant-garde jazz. Bittová has a voice that is at once bell-like and as strong and warm as a thousand suns, singing fascinating fairytale words. All in all, you will not be disappointed with this.

01 Vzpomínka
02 Uspávanka
03 Sirka V Louži
04 Sto Let
05 Kdoule
06 Zelený Víneček
07 Moucha
08 Moře
09 Starý Mlýn
10 Je Tma
11 Churý Churůj
12 Zvon
13 Huljet

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Sun City Girls - Midnight Cowboys from Ipanema

1994; 20 tracks
Here is the Seattle-based experimental collective Sun City Girls technical third album, initially released on cassette in 1986 then reissued on LP in 1994 (and once more for CD in 96). It is essentially an album of covers, although about eleven of the tracks are original, mostly eerie spoken word tracks. A few of the tracks may leave your throat hurting.

Midnight Cowboys from Ipanema is 'what happens when two boys get ahold of a portable cassette recorder with weak batteries.' I haven't listened to nearly enough SCG to give an educated response to this album, so from a plebeian's point of view, I would have to say that this is the most incredible thing I've heard in, perhaps, forever. These may not be completely original songs, but they are completely original renditions and transformations. I have only really heard "Who's that Lady" and "Tell Me Something Good" in their original versions before, but they have definitely undergone amazing mutations to become these warped, otherworldly-classic rock/psychedelic creations.

"Me and Mrs. Jones" is by far my favorite track on here, though. As I mentioned to a friend, it reminds me of basking in the smoke of a seedy Japanese café during the eighties, hearing it performed among a scattering of sunflowers. This album is really just beautiful in every way.

01 I've Done It All
02 Fly By Night (Written-by Geddy Lee, Neil Peart)
03 Achram, Slow That Speed Boat Down
04 Midnight At The Oasis (Written by David Nichtern)
05 Gary Had Sex
06 Sweet City Woman (Written by Rich Dodson)
07 I'm Gonna Die Tomorrow
08 Who's that Lady (Written by Chris Jasper, Ernie Isley, Marvin Isley, O'Kelly Isley, Ronald Isley, Rudolph Isley)
09 Cook Ya Homos
10 Love Train (Written by Gamble & Huff)
11 Caco Demons
12 Malika
13 Radar Love (Written by Barry Hay, George Kooymans)
14 My Sperm
15 Brandy (Written by Elliot Lurie)
16 Canadian Dave
17 Tell Me Something Good (Written by Stevie Wonder)
18 Desperado
19 Me And Mrs. Jones (Written by Cary Gilbert, Gamble & Huff)
20 Ha Ha


we both know that it's wrong

ZGA - Riga

1989; 19 tracks

Abstract industrial from Russia.

"Amplified metal debris."

Fragmented and disjointed.

Abrasive, improvisatory.

Perfect.

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Organ - Apoplexy in Six Parts

2004; 10 tracks

Organ is "an experimental post-metal band from Oslo, Norway containing members of the black metal band (V.E.G.A.). The bands only release to date is Apoplexy In Six Parts." I personally enjoyed it very much, and strangely enough found some very Alcest-like moments among the experimental black metal multifariousness.

Apoplexy in Six Parts
01 Part I
02 Part II
03 Part III
04 Part IV
05 Part V
06 Part VI
Non-Intentional Devices
07-10 Untitled

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Need New Body - U.F.O.

 2003; 23 tracks

This is seriously an amazing album. Repetitively mind-numbing, yet beautiful. Complete randomness... glorified. You might want to call it spazzcore.

Need New Body was an avant-garde/experimental/jazz band from Philadelphia active during the early 00s, and U.F.O. is their second album. Enjoyyy.

you are the pumpkin of my eye

EDIT: "Moondear" is probably my favorite track in the entire universe that is under 2:00. God daammnnn.

Steaming Coils - Breaded

 1991 (Recorded in 1988); 13 tracks This is the third full-length by the L.A. underground project Steaming Coils.

Breaded is an incredible array of songs and styles and atmospheres. It is invariably quirky and fun, but there is a sense of irresistible sophistication and classiness and worldliness that immediately attracted me to their sound. "Hue and Cry Over Pink and Green with Almond Shade of Beige," as you can see from my last mix, is one of my favorite songs in the entire universe and I have been listening to it non-stop for the past 48 hours.

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Slim Twig - Contempt!

2009; 12 tracks

Contempt! is the debut, full-length album from Slim Twig, a self-made exercise in resourcefulness where Slim experimented with whatever he could get his hands on. It leans decidedly towards an innovative pop sound that places sampling and found sound firmly at its core. The result, pairing the artist’s 'switchblade-sharp lyrics' (NOW Magazine) with a rawer, sample-based aesthetic, is unpredictable and highly original. Beyond the attempt to move away from a conventional guitar and drum-based set up, the project is Slim’s reconciliation of his obsession with early 90s New York hip hop and the rockabilly-inflected persona that he has already cultivated. Think of it as ‘Elvis lost in the 36 Chambers’, fighting through lyrics that evoke dark, fragmented images and depraved characters.



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The Residents - Demons Dance Alone + Bonus Disc

2002; 28 tracks


everyone is a resident



Bonus Disc





2002; 16 tracks


Download.

Okay, so, it has to be said... this album seriously makes me swoon. It is utter perfection, any angle you look at it. GOD I FUCKING LOVE DEMONS DANCE ALONE EDFJDGAODFAG.

Anyway, I guess I shouldn't be too lighthearted about it, even if many of these tracks are... well... very cheerful-sounding. This is The Residents' response album to the 9/11 attacks. It is a concept album dealing various emotional effects, such as loss and denial and "three metaphors" signifying something I cannot fathom. Out of the whole of The Residents' discography, which is extensive and I haven't even gotten through it all, these 28 + 16 tracks are full of some of the most touching, comical, absolutely enthralling music. Some tracks are achingly beautiful ("Neediness," "Demons Dance Alone"), others are so hilarious you have to laugh out loud ("Mickey Macaroni," "Make Me Moo"), and then... the ones you just love with all your heart instantly ("Weatherman," "Betty's Body," "Beekeper's Daughter"). So yeah. Try to listen to this album with all of your attention focused on it - imagine the face behind that low, southern-sounding drawl of a voice, and the others dressed as giant suited-up eyeballs of the beyond. If you haven't heard The Residents before, now is a good time to start.

The bonus disc includes 13 early recordings of tracks from Demons Dance Alone, along with 3 previously unreleased tracks.

Le Scrawl - Q

1994; 23 tracks

Le Scrawl is German group of avant-garde musicians founded in 1989 that plays a variety of musical styles. Q is the band's 2nd CD and is full of extremely short tracks (the longest of which being 1:28). One might argue that it goes by so fast that it's difficult to say something really substantial about it, but it still has a lot to offer. Ska, grindcore, noise - very likeable.

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Syzygys - Complete Studio Recordings

2003; 19 tracks

Syzygys is Nishida Hiromi and Shimizu Hitomi, a Japanese avant-garde duo who "play 'microtonal pop music,' specifically just intonation in the form of Harry Partch's 43-tone scale." Not sure what that means exactly, but all the same this music is purely enjoyable and even lovely at times.

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Men's Recovery Project - The Golden Triumph of Naked Hostility

1997; 60 tracks

Men's Recovery Project is an experimental/avant-garde musical group formed in San Francisco, 1993. This record is an assembly of tracks from 72s and one micro-EP put out between 1993 and 1998, during which years the group obviously spent time expressing themselves in dozens of styles. Among this mix of genres is the harsh post-hardcore familiar to early MRP records, as well as a few more synthesized (hardly melodic) tracks. My favorite tracks are the more sciencey, robotic, chaotic, and strange ones, like "Rude Scientist."

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Emmanuelle Parrenin - Maison Rose

1977; 15 tracks

"...'La Maison Rose' ('the pink house') refers to the actual house where Emmanuelle was born and grew up.

Emmanuelle studied ballet from an early age, before she started to study harp. After 2 years in the French Basque province, at the age 17 she discovered a new musical world in Paris, presented by some hurdy-gurdy artists (like the contemporary/traditional folk artist Christian Gour’han who also had worked with G.Yacoub (Malicorne) and the medieval folk artist René Zosso, which inspired her interest for the hurdy-gurdy.

It is a unique album that shows how a series of experiences and backgrounds can lead musically, to inspiration and stimulation (just what the house came to signify for Emmanuelle Parrenin, personally)." - Psychedelicfolk

Just wanted to provide a little introduction to her as a person before you listen to this!

This album, by Emmanuelle Parrenin, is stunning. It is a soft folk masterpiece that incorporates the avant-garde with the ethereal voice of Parrenin, strange and wonderful instruments with the atmosphere of small French villages and sunlit mountainsides. I just got this and I know it will be a favorite of mine.

Download.

Bästard - Radiant, Discharged, Crossed-Off

1996; 10 tracks

Bästard is a French experimental/post-rock group that needs more recognition because this album is really great.

If you like Slint, Three Mile Pilot, or Enablers, make sure you listen to this. Vocals occasionally appear, but this album spends most of it's time experimenting with instrumental post-rock textures. I can't recommend this enough, just give it a shot b/c IT'S REALLY GOOD. ^ Not my description but it works pretty well.

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Thorns - Thorns

2001; 8 tracks (48:11)

Mesmerizing piece of music similar to The Work Which Transforms God. What else can I say? Just listen.

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Blut Aus Nord - The Work Which Transforms God

2003; 12 tracks (51:40)

A must hear infinite times album. Listen in the dark for best results.

777

The United States Of America - The United States Of America

1968; 20 tracks

The cost of one admission is your mind.

Maudlin of the Well

I hate writing descriptions for albums. Just listen to the goddamn thing. It's awesome, I promise.

DOWNLOAD

Klaus Nomi - Klaus Nomi

1981; 10 tracks

This is the debut album of German vocalist and performer Klaus Nomi and it is beyond words. I heard it about 2 years ago but upon revisiting it I think I've fallen in love. It is a new wave/experimental masterpiece that was WAY ahead of it's time, I think.

Link

Arnold Schönberg - Piano Music

Maurizio Pollini is one of my favorite interpretors when it comes to solo piano music. He played Beethoven masterfully; Chopin, he played with a tender sentimentality; Rachmaninoff, Bach, Debussy - all with the deliberate and magnificent skill that comes natural to masters of the art.

Here, he plays Schönberg's complete solo piano music with amazing form. I love these pieces of Modern amazingness and you surely will too.

" The first great pianist to record all of Schoenberg's piano music was Glenn Gould, and if you grew up with Gould's interpretations, then you're in for a shock. In the first place, Pollini actually plays what Schoenberg wrote--Gould freely altered the text in ways that would have driven the composer insane. And then there's the humming--yes, believe it or not, Gould did manage to sing along as he played. Pollini's quieter, less vocal approach conveys much more of what Schoenberg actually wrote, with no sacrifice of expressiveness. And although most of the pieces on this disc are quite short, they are nonetheless important. It was in his piano works that Schoenberg worked out his theories of free atonality and 12-tone composition. So for anyone interested in these critical musical developments, this disc is essential listening. "

Oh yeah... As great of a pianist as he is, I don't recommmend Glenn Gould interpretations of music, he normally adds too much of his own flair to the music and rarely plays pieces as well as, say, Pollini does.

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