The Dead Science - Bird Bones in the Bughouse (2004)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:
The Dead Science - Submariner (2003)

When I posted the above album, I actually wanted to post this EP because I like it just a little bit more, but I was unable to find either my copy of the CD or a decent rip. But I just found one of the latter, so we're in business. Favorites include the slowcore-ish "Film Strip Collage", which includes the line "garbage truck wants to fuck", and their cover of "Sign Your Name" by (the artist formerly known as) Terence Trent D'arby.

Track listing:

1. Ossuary

2. Gamma Knife

3. Film Strip Collage

4. Cuz She's Me

5. Sign Your Name

We started out as friends

But the thought of you just caves me in

Also listen to:

dEUS - The Ideal Crash (1999)

Honey Is Cool - Early Morning, Are You Working? (1999)

Dreamboat - Dreamboat (2016)

Related:

Ilyas Ahmed - Between Two Skies (2005)

Ilyas Ahmed - Speaking of Shadows (2006)
Golden Retriever - Golden Retriever (2010)

One-off collaboration between two phenomenal Portland artists. The rare collaboration that actually delivers on its implicit promise: Ahmed's spectral desert folk intertwined with Golden Retriever's shimmering synth drone.

Track listing:

1. Aftershock / Face to Face

2. Mirrored Image / Your Sunday Best

What do you think I'd see

If I could walk away from me?

You should also hear:

Charalambides - Market Square (1995)

Yair Elazar Glotman & Mats Erlandsson - Negative Chambers (2017)

Left Behind - No One Goes to Heaven (2019)

Punishing, sludgy metalcore. Groove-heavy, Down-inspired riffs as filtered through beatdown chugga-lugs for husky boys. Sounds like half of them wants to smoke blunts, the other half wants to beat up the first half for polluting their body and minds. But make no mistake: No One Goes to Heaven is no joke. It's a fucking killer album, whether you wanna maximize your gains or sit around wondering where it all went wrong.

Track listing:

1. Hell Rains From Above

2. Eternity of Empty

3. Throwing Stones

4. Peeling Wax

5. Shadow of Fear

6. Staring at the Sun

7. God Calls Out

8. Smoke and Pain

9. Outside the Body

10. The Mirror

11. Prisoner of Mind

12. What Makes Your Hurt

Heaven is a place down in the fucking dirt

You should also hear:

Breach - Venom (1999)

Empire of Rats - Empire of Rats (2013)

Various Artists - Someplace You Cannot See (2024)

This is a mix that I made when I was really, really going through it, probably in late April of last year. Unlike the last mix I posted, this one I really put some time into, piecing it all together into two suite-style, 46-minute sequences in Garageband over the course of a few days. It's pretty depressing, obviously, but I was in desperate need of an outlet, and it's definitely one of the best mixes I've ever made. There's a ton that I could write about why I chose each track on here, but y'all have already heard enough about my grief, so I'll just let you enjoy it however you like.

(To be clear: this is two 46-minute tracks.)

Safely floating away

My lantern dim

With a wick I didn't light

I never even asked for light

Includes songs from:

Michael Stearns - Floating Whispers (1987)

Andy Partridge & Harold Budd - Through the Hill (1994)

David Torn - What Means Solid, Traveller? (1996)

Lullaby for the Working Class - I Never Even Asked for Light (1997)

Songs of Green Pheasant - Songs of Green Pheasant (2005)

Growing - His Return (2005)

Asva - What You Don't Know Is Frontier (2007)

Snowman - Absence (2011)

Joan Bibiloni - Una Vida Llarga I Tranquila (1984)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:

Joan Bibiloni - Silencio Roto (1987)

Folk-infused, synth-y Spanish jazz-funk/lite fusion. My commute to work starts around 6:15-20 in the morning, which means that there are generally not a lot of cars on the road when I leave, and, for most of the year, the sun isn't even up yet. I have a couple of mixes specifically made for this dark, slightly eerie, but laid-back early morning commute, and this record's title track is the first song on one of them. (The next two songs, you ask? "Song for Sharon" by Joni Mitchell, and "Falling to Pieces" by Faith No More. I'm usually at work by the time "Falling to Pieces" fades out.) So take that as my overall assessment of the album. Also, please stick around till the end, things get pretty fucking weird and I wouldn't want you to miss it.

Track listing:

1. El Cumpleaños Se Jaimito

2. Unda Vida Llarga I Tranquila

3. El Aguacito

4. Lailala Lailala

5. Doble Volta

6. Sagitari

7. Jazmin 29

8. Una Vida Llarga I Tranqiula II

OK, Mr. Rich. With your fingers in the asses of the 4-star generals. This is your only chance to hear me, so listen up big. No more kissing toilet bowls. No more fingering the cold tits of bombs. Get out onto the street. There's better things to do. This is the Ralphie the Dog speaking to you. Life can be better than a pile of shit. Don't wipe us out now.

Also listen to:

Ian Carr's Nucleus - Out of the Long Dark (1978)

Steps Ahead - Steps Ahead (1983)