Yowie - Cryptooology (2004)

The future of music that will never come to pass. The climax of rock music. This is outsider music for our entire dimension. No band has had this sort of vision since Beefheart marinaded us with tales of Big Joan's anatomy (and what a serenade that is). In fact, go look at any performance of Beefheart right now (or listen to Trout Mask... no, both). Catch a note of the spastic rhythms and atypical.. everything. It's a blues-rock, free-jazz, genre-destroying cacophony caught in a blender. But the reason we cherish Beefheart isn't because he's a gimmick that had the crazy idea of making unpop and somehow we ran with it, it's because somehow beneath the blimps and motherships there is an undeniable structure. A brooding intelligence that guides every misstep into a rightful position. A stealthy constructed masterpiece.

But how dare I compare some obscure midwestern punk band to the some of the greatest minds in rock history? But dear reader, this band is no ordinary band, and for better or worse, you will certainly notice that from the first seconds of this swirling masterpiece. "Spastic spidery-thin guitars blurt and blast against each other over an equally spastic, rhythm-busting drummer." There's my review. That's all I can say without twisting my mind as insanely as they twist music. It's relentless and beautiful. It's a fourth dimensional god appearing once before you for a microsecond. You recognize it, and you sense its beauty, but any question about the encounter invariably ends with an apologetic "I don't know".

But something you can relate it to... take your Hellas and Flying Luttenbachers, then cut their music into brief microsecond sections, and spend an infinite amount of timing piecing the pieces together in a post-deconstructionalist masterpiece, and maybe you'd have a fraction of this 30 minute freakout.

I used to get upset that this is all we've seen from this band, three years removed from a projected sequel, but I've noticed that in the dozens of times I've probably listened to this album I've never heard the same album twice. But it won't stop me from begging for them to return from whatever dimension they hang out in.

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Yo La Tengo - I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One (1997)

At one point named by Pitchfork as 'The best band in the universe' (sorry if that put anyone off), Yo La Tengo are a band than can blend different sounds and styles of music effectively as they please. I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One is a hard album to describe because of its diversity. For Deerhunter fans, here's the Deerhunter of the 90's (and early 00's). For others, here's a unique, interesting rock record.

The album's sound is at times matched by its lyrics. On the dreamy, distant-sounding 'Deeper Into Movies', Kaplan sings "I've been getting messages from outer space; They expire light in the window in the sky; There goes my mind." On the more melancholy, low-tempo songs such as 'Stockholm Syndrome', lyrics like "You're heart is broken, and the doors are open" leave no misunderstanding. Homage to influences is not lost on them aswell, with very intriguing covers of the Beach Boys' 'Little Honda' and Lee Pockriss' 'My Little Corner of the World', as well as hints of Beatles on 'Autumn Sweater' with familiar toned whispers of "In the beginning..."

Thirteen years ago, Yo La Tengo packed 68-minutes of shoegaze and post-punk inspired music into an album and called it I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One. Today, that heart's still beating, because this album is just as unique and strong as it was in 1997. From the short and quiet opener 'Return to Hot Chicken' to the beautiful cover of 'My Little Corner of the World', this album is engaging music right to the end. The high points are 'Sugarcube' and the 10-minute noise clusterfuck 'Spec Bebop'.

Try it (Track 14 fixed)
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Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 - Wormed By Leonard (1988)

Forming music as strange as its genesis, the San Fransisco-based band comprised mostly of Iowans, Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 showcased what is likely a reflection of that cross-American migration with their debut cassette, Wormed By Leonard. What comes through is a charming, very poppy example of the experimental "indie" rock that gained notoriety from, most famously, bands like Sun City Girls.

Which is why it's no surprise that TFUL282 later joined them on the San Francisco-based Amarillo records as well as nationwide tours. On here we get the comparison often. From the intro we're introduced to the mentality that groups them in that brand of post-punk. It's Seven is an abrasive little piece, not really accomplishing much outside of an impression of the members making an album just to put mind to matter.

And that's much like this entire album. One gets a real sense of a band making music for their own enjoyment. Little bits of humor and personality jump in and out of their broken pop hits, which is first highlighted right out of the gate, with the soft sounding and sweetly named, "Hell Rules" (which was included with it's own cheeky art, which is in the sample I'll include).

And that mostly punk attitude is a very attractive aspect of this band, shown with tons of catchy melodies, a nonsense approach to art and living, and a general lack of regard for what they're "expected to play". Not to say it's serious about that, either. Everything about this is tongue-in-cheek to the point that it's a surprise they find time to project their uber-silly lyrics, like in their epic about walking a deceivingly fierce dog, Nipper.

A remarkable aspect of this music I may have just glanced over is how catchy it is. Throwing in "Western" themes (such as Narlus Spectre's very involved "wild west" rhythms) with the California "outsider" music (not to be confused with the Californina Outside Music Association, which isn't too far away musically) they create a sound that is really quite hard to convey. I suppose that I can only say that the melodies are so natural, it's hard to imagine music this original is this original.

You're likely to hear people exclaim that something like Mother of All Saints or Stranger Than The Universe (or any other of their albums) is the band's best work, but I can't agree. I would never say that they don't deserve the title, but there is an atmosphere about this album that is wholly inviting. It's a charming album that is an output of a band playing music, and not necessarily making an album, if that makes sense. Mostly, Wormed seems like their most personal output, although I'd hate to count the other albums off as "manufactured", as they are far from such. TFUL282 could make a collection of Spice Girl covers and never once come off as impersonal and unnatural. They bleed through their music.

Sample

Note: This is the 1995 reissue with 5 extra songs, including the delicious "If I Were In A Shoe" and "Not In The Popply Dimension"

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official site

Jyoji Sawada - Base of Fiction (1994)

Blogs been up for a while, so I figured I'd give a special treat of the greatest album of all time.

To start, it's probably important to consider the "state of Japanese independent music" at the time of release. A huge style was the sort of "neo-zeuhl", rio-influenced kind of music largely championed by bands like Bondage Fruit, Koenjihyakkei, and a number of other greats. Heavy use of classical stringed instruments, largely technical music, operatic vocals, and other outrageous sounds highlight the genre. Along side that we had the "noise rockers": Ruins, Ground Zero, High Rise, etc. Anyone vaguely knowledgeable of the sort of "experimental" movements within Japan will know of this style. Thirdly, "Japanoise". Exhibited by Merzbow and Masonna, this brand of free noise has become largely acknowledged as some very "outside" music. And floating in and out of all of that, we have the avant-garde and generally humorous stylings that seem to be present in anything that comes out of Japan.

Enter Jyoji Sawada, a self taught bassist that builds himself off of classical composition, film soundtracks, and even a fair bit of Brazilian and Indonesian influence. After some experience with jazz improv and some work with Choro Club, he set off to combine his large vocabulary of sounds into wild, avant-garde compositions for a solo career. And as wide as influences are, Jyoji seems to want to condense the entire state of Japanese Independent music with his debut, Base of Fiction.

But for this seemingly defining piece, it isn't really a solo project. Although all is settled with Jyoji's vision, he combines his talents with some of the largest figures of Japanese music, including: Yoshida Tatsuya drumming on several tracks, the incomparable Otomo Yoshihide appears a few times, Seiichi Yamamoto lends his guitar, and the album is produced by the God Mountain head, Hoppy Kamiyama. This is almost more of a collaboration of Japanese music as a whole than it is Jyoji's band, although it's execution should be attributed significantly the the man that composed all but the first track.

That execution, you ask? Brilliant. Sonic insanity from the beginning to the end, with those previously mentioned styles all making appearences in one way or another. Largely dominated by Jyoji's obscure atmosphere, created from a mixture of a chambered string section and an overall menacing figure that looms from the noise and ferocity of his more rockish elements, this album takes us in and out of "reality", which Jyoji himself notes in the title for the 9th track (trans.) "Between strangeness and the reality of daily life" [please inform me if this is incorrect]. Schoenberg-esque, "spechstimme" comes in and out from female vocals, strings shift from dense soundscapes to more technical passages, maybe recalling Glass and his use of arpeggio (as in Einstein on the Beach), sampling is frequent and jarring (Jyoji explores the wide range of electronic expression) and even toy instruments make an appearance as we are left either frustrated or impressed (or both) and most certainly confused by the inner workings of Jyoji Sawada's mind.

To dissect this album is futile. At any given second, there is too much to consider, and at the next moment, you're taken to a completely different realm without warning. It's best to let this album wash over you, let it jerk you back in forth between signature changes, let it turn your mind into putty and watch the abstract figures that form as it splatters on the wall.

Buy.... good luck. Out of print. I was able to get a used copy (for a hefty amount that I will not disclose so easily), but it's a tough find, for sure

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official site | Myspace (The samples of music on here recall his more contemporary classical/ soundtrack styles that he explores on his later albums and film scores. Don't expect to find such warmness on this one)

Swans-My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky (2010)

After a 13 year absence Michael Gira has once again started up his project known as Swans. In the past they have released some of the most unique music out there and some of my personal favorite albums.

This album is defiantly a good start for them especially after having such a long absence in the music scene. While this album is not as great as some of their former work such as The Great Annihilator, White Light From The Mouth Of Infinity, and Body To Body Job To Job. It's still stands up to be one of my favorite albums released so far this year and hopefully is a preview of more to come from this band.

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O.A.D. - Daytona (1995)

Not exactly sure where to even begin with this one. From a number of Japanese musicians, including appearances from the ever-present experimentalists Otomo Yoshihide and Atsushi Tsuyama comes one of the most throughly freaked-out, deservedly experimental packages I've heard. While tipping in between different styles, this album rests upon the backbone of constant electronic wankery, although it is the most distorted backbone one could imagine. Throughout the album, production shifts to and fro, squeals wiggle inbetween frequencies, and harsh fuzz pounds in and out of the foreground, while guitars and saxophones fight to stay within beat. And upon this idea, those instruments throw some wild ideas. While mostly contained within that famous Japanese style of noise rock, they throw in cheeky versions of lounge jazz, a little funk, a little more of just about anything you could think of that would counteract the harshness of their electronics. The end result comes out as a musical equivalent of a creature straight out of David Cronenberg's head.

Not much info out there on this mutant of a music project. However, you could try the label this album released on, as they encourage you to "do an email"

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last.fm | japan improv

The Residents - Duck Stab (1978)

To see the Residents at their most intriguing, one cannot do much better than the Duck Stab/Buster & Glen album. The highlight of the work, "Constantinople", is a droning bit of whimsy whose effect is sufficiently hypnotic as to make you peruse the record for evidence of subliminal backwards masking. As is typical of the work, the entire album is synthesizer-laden, filled with ominously non-sensical lyrics, and a range of parody and homage which includes styles as diverse as 50s Elvis-style rock, the invented musics of Harry Partch, jazz which alternates between pre-bop and Sun Ra and veers into Beefheart-esque territory.

If you have not "bought into" the Residents, this is an excellent start--it's sophisticated and yet very D.I.Y., musically complex and yet arguably as much a product of Shreveport as San Francisco. My only real critique of this album is that it's entirely eerie, but perhaps that's one of the many points.

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Ruinzhatova - Close to the RH Kiki (2003)

One of the most strangely obscure bands of the Japanese underground. By names alone, this should be considered a go-to classic for sure. A joint effort from the twisted minds of Ruins (Yoshida Tatsuya (also appears on: nearly every Japanese underground band that requires drumming) and Sasaki Hisashi (one of Ruins' bassists. The most recent and one of the most noted, for sure)) and Omoide-Hatoba(Seiichi Yamamoto (Boredoms (although probably(?) left after Vision Creation Newsun, claiming they have perfected their sound (I won't pretend to understand Boredoms or their history)), ROVO, Novo Tono) and Atsushi Tsuyama (Acid Mothers Temple))* it must certainly be known that this is no amateur effort. Combining some of the most humorous and technical of the Japanese noise rockists, they create a thrill ride.

And it starts with what should be innocence. The first track is a cover of Kraftwerk's piece, Trans Europe Express, although you would hardly be able to tell. Sure, it starts off with the famous repetition of "Trans Europe Express", but, suddenly, as the last of the chants goes off, there is one final "Express", a clang on the drums and then suddenly you're floating in a maze of drums, buzzing guitars and misaligned rhythms, not at all reminiscent of Kraftwerk's synth pop tune. And this sort of comical experimentation happens throughout. Surely one of the highlights is the plainly named, Sex Machine/Larks Tongue in Aspic pt.II. You could notice the names apart, but the complication comes when the song kicks into gear, with one guitar playing the groovy James Brown hit Sex Machine in your right headphone while the other plays the King Crimson classic Larks Tongue in Aspic pt.II on your left. With only the drums and the noticeable feeling that they stop trying to cover songs as quickly they announce it, to blend the tracks, the creation inbound is so strange, so surreal, it's intoxicating.

They do have their original tracks, however. As only Yoshida/Seiichi/Atsushi can, they create their own esoteric noise rock/improvisational mayhem leaving any sort of logical train derailed. Even if the disc is dominated by what they seem to consider cover tracks (the longest and most traditional is their version of the Yes epic, Close to the Edge), it is absurd to think of this album as anything other than originality in it's most pure essence. Hidden rhythms, Yoshida's traditional linear drumming and gibberish vocals, Seiichi and Atsushi's well known, effect-ridden guitars and Sasaki's sound bass along with their collective penchant for inserting personality and humor into this music creates a sound that plays more like a couple of competent musicians jerking around with what they do naturally rather than a band going out and focusing on what they've practiced for ages. By creating this album which feels so unplanned, so effortless, it creates somewhat of a personal connection with the band. You're peering into what these guys do as a hobby, not a job.

*couple of notes on the members. 1. Sorry to namedrop, but for those familiar, it should relate the sound in a more abstract manner. 2. Some places list Sasaki as the bassist and Atsushi another guitarist, some list Atsushi as a bassist and Sasaki on guitar and some list Atsushi on bass and Sasaki not in the band at all. I'm not sure at all on the complete issue, but I don't think it changes much.

Buy (this is just a link to Yoshida's label. I don't think it's available, but you can double check/contact Yoshida to make sure. Sorry to complicate, if I find something easier it'll be in comments)

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