Last Exit - Last Exit (1986)

Related:

Sonny Sharrock - Black Woman (1969)

Divination - Ambient Dub Vol. II - Dead Slow (1993)

Arcana - The Last Wave (1995)

Arcana - Arc of the Testimony (1997)

The Blood of Heroes - The Waking Nightmare (2012)

Discordant free jazz-rock madness from an incredible lineup of musicians. Sometimes feels more like no-wave than jazz. Also, just gonna disclose that I've struggled with attention/focus issues for my entire life, and the past week or so has been particularly rough in that regard. And around here, this has taken the form of things getting extra sloppy -- my last two posts were published with spelling errors in their goddamn titles (check the URLs) -- so sorry 'bout that. Onwards and upwards.

Track listing:

1. Discharge

2. Backwater

3. Catch as Catch Can

4. Red Light

5. Enemy Within

6. Crackin

7. Pig Freedom

8. Voice of a Skin Hanger

9. Zulu Butter

The only emperor is the emperor of ice cream

You might also wanna hear:

Musica Transonic - Musica Transonic (1995)

Slobber Pup - Black Aces (2013)

White Zombie - Make Them Die Slowly (1989)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:
White Zombie - Gods on Voodoo Moon (1985) Pig Heaven (1986) Psycho Head Blowout (1986) + God of Thunder (1989)

White Zombie's second full-length, the Bill Laswell-produced Make Them Die Slowly was, as they say, a transitional record. It splits the difference between Soul-Crusher's noise-sludge trash-art and La Sexorcisto's psychedelic groove metal, landing in territory that didn't really make anyone happy -- including White Zombie, who were dissatisfied with it before it even came out. Except for a 13-year-old me, of course, who bought the cassette under the false assumption that it contained the song I'd heard on the radio, then nonetheless listened to it on repeat all summer.

Track listing:
1. Demon Speed
2. Disaster Blaster
3. Murderworld
4. Revenge
5. Acid Flesh
6. Power Hungry
7. Godslayer

Doomsday for all the beautiful people

You might also enjoy:

Fudge Tunnel -
Hate Songs in E Minor (1991)

Therapy? -
Suicide Pact - You First (1999)

Death Cube K - Dreamatorium (1994)

Abstract, anxious, guitar-based soundscapes courtesy of American musician Brian Patrick Carroll, who you might know better as Buckethead. Yup. In fact, Death Cube K is an anagram for Buckethead. I'd always found his image off-putting, to say the least, so I'd never really listened to any of his solo stuff until I stumbled across Dreamatorium at my old job, and fell in love with it before realizing who made it. Produced by Bill Laswell.

Track listing:
1. Land of the Lost
2. Maps of Impossible Worlds
3. Terror by Night
4. Maggot Dream
5. Dark Hood

Disembodied

You should also listen to:

Otomo Yoshihide -
Cathode (1999)

Anthony Pateras -
Chasms (2007)

Divination ‎– Ambient Dub Vol. II - Dead Slow (1993)

Related:
Painkiller - Execution Ground (1994)
Arcana - Last Wave (1995)
Arcana - Arc of Testimony (1997)

Cloudy, spacious electro-dub helmed by Bill Laswell and featuring, among others, Mick Harris. Perhaps a bit outdated, but this sound will never get old for me.

Track listing:
1. Dead Slow
2. Baraka
3. Silent Fields
4. Evil Eye
5. Dream Light
6. Journeys

Seven heavens

Other albums you should hear:

Ingleton Falls -
Absconded (1994)

Porter Ricks -
Biokinetics (1996)

Nicky Skopelitis - Ekstasis (1993)

I don't have time the time or energy to write an adequate description of this striking aural tapestry, helmed by Greek guitarist Nicky Skopelitis and co-produced by Bill Laswell, so I'll just say that it has something to do with acid jazz and world fusion, and it's fucking great.

Track listing:
1. Tarab
2. Meet Your Maker
3. Ghost of a Chance
4. Proud Flesh
5. Sanctuary
6. One Eye Open
7. Heresy
8. Jubilee
9. Witness
10. Telling Time

Spirit spore flash

You should also listen to:

Cos -
Viva Boma (1976)

Alesini & Andreoni -
Marco Polo (1995)

Arcana - The Last Wave (1995)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:
Arcana - Arc of the Testimony (1997)

Anxiety-ridden, masterfully chaotic jazz fusion with elements of free jazz, performed by three music legends. A dissonant wall of guitar courtesy of Derek Bailey, Bill Laswell's thick, oft-distorted bass, and a punchy, hard-hitting drum sound that perfectly compliments the genius of the late, great Tony Williams, with production assistance from one Mr. John Zorn.

Track listing:
1. Broken Circle
2. Cold Blast
3. The Rattle of Bones
4. Pearls and Transformation
5. Tears of Astral Rain
6. Transplant Wasteland

Calling out the blue light

Arcana - Arc of the Testimony (1997)

Second and final album from this short-lived jazz fusion group, who, despite including contributions from Pharoah Sanders, Buckethead, and others, by the time of this recording had been trimmed down to just two official members: Bill Laswell and Tony Williams. Arc of the Testimony is composed of heady, atmospheric fusion, with a few pieces of drifting, nervous, ECM-esque ambience ("Gone Tomorrow", "Calling Out the Blue Light") and is rounded out by a thick, bass-heavy sound -- awesome, nerdy stuff. It also has the honor of representing the last recorded output from the great Tony Williams, who died of a heart attack midway through the album's recording sessions.

Track listing:
1. Gone Tomorrow
2. Illuminator
3. Into the Circle
4. Returning
5. Calling Out the Blue Light
6. Circles of Hell
7. Wheeless on a Dark River
8. The Earth Below

Beyond games

Painkiller - Execution Ground (1994)

The final studio album from the brilliant Painkiller, a trio composed of John Zorn, Bill Laswell, and Mick Harris (of Napalm Death and Scorn). Execution Ground's first disc represents an excellent melding of the freeform jazz-grind that those familiar with their early material might expect, and murky, dissonant dub. The second disc drifts further into the aether with ambient, soundscape-y reinterpretations of two songs from the first. Shrieking saxophone, disjointed drums, inhuman howls, pulsing bass, and samples -- all given a delay- and reverb-heavy dub treatment. Awe-inspiring psychedelic music. This version includes a third disc - a live recording from a show in Osaka - that's more musically in line with their first two records.

Track listing:
-Disc One-
1. Parish of Tama (Ossuary Dub)
2. Morning of Balachaturdasi
3. Pashupatinath
-Disc Two-
1. Pashupatinath Ambient
2. Parish of Tama Ambient
-Disc Three-
1. Gandhamadana
2. Vaidurya
3. Satapitaka
4. Bodkyithangga
5. Black Bile
6. Yellow Bile
7. Blue Bile
8. Crimson Bile
9. Ivory Bile

Guts of a virgin