Flux of Pink Indians - Strive to Survive & Neu Smell (1989)

Unsurprisingly, I've been tripping down musical memory lane. This comp is a real formative punk classic for me that I've somehow managed to miss posting all these years. Strive to Survive... is easily a top 5 anarchopunk album, and Neu Smell is arguably the best Crass Records 7" that isn't by Crass. From an era in which it probably felt, for a second, like punk might actually amount to something resembling a political movement.

(I haven't actually listened to this rip, I'm listening to my physical copies, let me know if the rip sucks.)

Track listing:

Strive to Survive Causing the Least Suffering Possible

1. Song for Them

2. Charity Hilarity

3. Some of Us Scream Some of Us Shout

4. Take Heed

5. T.V. Dinners

6. Tapioca Sunrise

7. Progress

8. They Lie We Die

9. Blinded by Science

10. Myxomatosis

11. Is There Anybody There

12. The Fun Is Over

Neu Smell

13. Sick Butchers

14. Background of Malfunction

15. Poem

16. Tube Disasters

17. Poem End

Build up some speed, don't shut your eyes

Make sure that everyone in the train dies

You don't get no prize, no time to say goodbyes

Just smile everyone, you'll be on TV tonight

That's right

More peace punk that we would listen to in our cars driving around suburban Maryland:

Lost Cherrees - All Part of Growing Up (1984)

Toxic Waste - Belfast (1987)

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)

Twelfth Night - Fact and Fiction (1982)

Weird, dystopian prog rock for creeps. Like early Marillion but with a lower budget and a darker worldview.

Track listing:

1. We Are Sane

2. Human Being

3. This City

4. World Without End

5. Face and Fiction

6. The Poet Sniffs a Flower

7. Creepshow

8. Love Song

If every time we tell a lie, a little fairy dies

They must be building death camps in the garden

You should also hear:

Horrific Child - L'Étrange Mr Whinster (1976)

Planet P Project - Pink World (1984)

Klaus Schulze - Angst (1983)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:

Klaus Schulze - Irrlicht (1972)

Richard Wahnfried - Time Actor (1979)

Michael Shrieve with Kevin Shrieve and Klaus Schulze - Transfer Station Blue (1988)

Klaus Schulze - Shadowlands (2013)

Synth legend Klaus Schulze's excellent soundtrack to the supremely dark Angst, which, hey! You can watch it right now if you fancy a slow-burning portrait of a psychopath on a bad day.

Track listing:

1. Freeze

2. Pain

3. Memory

4. Surrender

5. Beyond

6. Silent Survivor [Bonus]

Some would surely die of fear. They couldn't stand being tortured that way.

Similar listening:

Jay Chattaway - Maniac (1980)

Biosphere - Insomnia (1997)

Social Unrest - Now and Forever (1988)

Melodic CA punk/hardcore that often crosses over into post-punk territory. I bought Now and Forever on cassette when I was a baby punk from some junk shop in Fells Point. I also bought this shitty thrash tape and Lita by Lita Ford on LP, which really impressed the middle-aged butt-rocker dude who stopped me on the sidewalk by pointing at the Lisa Ford record and shouting "now THAT's a woman!" Still hilarious.

Social Unrest/Now and Forever: I honestly wasn't that into it at the time. Too melodic, too melancholic. I like it OK, but between them and Minor Threat, who I was also just getting into at the time, it was no contest. My favorite song by far was "Handcuffs Too Tight", the most straightforward hardcore song on here. So I completely forgot about the band and album until a few months back, when I sold a bunch of old cassettes, noticed this one as I packed it up, and tracked it down on the internet. I like it way more this time around.

Track listing:

1. Katarina Witt

2. Now and Forever

3. I Am the Nation

4. Sexboy

5. Club 4

6. Crisis in Black and White

7. Red Army Drug War

8. Handcuffs Too Tight

9. Sins of Paris

10. Ever Fallen in Love?

11. Highroller Desolation Angels

Thrown in the truck

Beaten to fuck

You'd also like:

Peter and the Test Tube Babies - The Mating Sounds of South American Frogs (1983)

New Model Army - Vengeance (1984)

Kliché - Supertanker (1980)

Synth-heavy Danish punk/new wave excellence. First found via the Pære Punk comp -- truly one of the best punk comps in existence -- where Kliché stood out for their more melodic, pop-y sound. What I really love about this band is what I hear as not-so-subtle krautrock influences, which are most pronounced on instrumental intro track "Igen Og Igen" and the endless, euphoric repetition of 10-minute album closer "Masselinjen".

Track listing:

1. Igen Og Igen

2. Havets Ble

3. Hetz

4. Militskvinder

5. Panorama

6. Aldrig Mere

7. Stjernerne I Deres Ojne

8. Bodygaurds

9. Maselinjen

I do what I wanna do

Also listen to:

Edith Nylon - Edith Nylon (1979)

Flowers - Icehouse (1980)

Steve Khan • Rob Mounsey - Local Color (1987)

Great collaboration between guitarist Steve Khan, who I discovered years ago when I bought his album Arrows based solely on its artwork, and keyboardist/synth-guy Rob Mounsey, who I don't think I've listened to outside of this record. Khan's jazz background certainly shines through, but the dated synths and drum sequencers make Local Color feel predominantly like a new age record.

Track listing:

1. Tafiya

2. The Blue Rose

3. I See a Long Journey

4. Gondolas

5. Intruder

6. The Hunt

7. Mahana

Keep on loving while your love is strong

Keep on loving 'til your love is gone away

Also listen to:

Mark Isham - Vapor Drawings (1983)

Barry Cleveland - Voluntary Dreaming (1990)

Irmin Schmidt - Musk at Dusk (1987)

Strange, sinister art rock solo outing from Irmin Schmidt, who you know as Can's keyboardist. Queasy, minor-key, island music/soft rock-inspired songs with lurking hints of violence and horror, sung in a quavering, Bowie-esque croon. In fact, Musk at Dusk could be likened to a more fully realized, artistically satisfying take on the canned, vaguely tropical nocturnes of Bowie's Tonight.

Track listing:

1. Cliff Into Silence

2. Love

3. Roll On, Euphrates

4. The Great Escape

5. Villa Wunderbar

6. The Child in History

7. Alcool

Dancing in the limelight

Champagne after midnight

If you like this, try:

Steve Hillage - For to Next (1982)

Obywatel G.C. - Obywatel G.C. (1986)

Ralph Towner - Blue Sun (1983)

 

Related:

Oregon - Music of Another Present Era (1972)

Ralph Towner - Diary (1973)

Ralph Towner - Solstice (1974)

Still can't prioritize this blog at the moment, but I wanted to quickly drop some Sunday listening on you. Like Towner's Diary, Blue Sun is a completely solo endeavor, which means that he wrote and performed every piece of it -- guitars, piano, cornet, synthesizers, some light percussion. Very easy on the ears kinda stuff.

Track listing:

1. Blue Sun

2. The Prince and the Sage

3. C.T. Kangaroo

4. Mevlana Etude

5. Wedding of the Streams

6. Shadow Fountain

7. Rumours of Rain

Over and gone

Also listen to:

Terje Rypdal - After the Rain (1976)

Bill Frisell - In Line (1983)

Manfred Schoof - Meditation (1987)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:

Jasper van 't Hof - Eye-Ball (1974)

Manfred Schoof / Rainer Brüninghaus - Shadows & Smiles (1989)

A curious entry in Manfred Schoof's discography. Airy, synth-heavy, mid-tempo grooves and drifting, reverberating trumpet, at times receding into full, new age-y ambience. Meditation definitely veers very close to smooth jazz, especially on the pillow-y "Timecode". Elsewhere, the title track sounds like something that would have lurked on the back half of Moby's Play, and "Robot" pitches a soundtrack for a PG-13 cut of The Terminator. Strange that it was released as a Manfred Schoof solo album as it is quite clearly a collaborative effort with keyboardist Jasper van 't Hof, the only other musician credited.

Track listing:

1. Meditation

2. Clouds

3. Timecode

4. Robot

5. Silence

6. Zen

Speak to me, baby

In the middle of the night

More smooth sailing:

Carlo Maria Cordio - Shadows and Memories (1979)

Jack DeJohnette featuring Lester Bowie - Zebra (1985)

Steve Tibbetts - Exploded View (1986)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:

Steve Tibbetts - Steve Tibbetts (1977) + Yr (1980)

Steve Tibbetts - The Fall of Us All (1994)

Steve Tibbetts & Knut Hamre - Å (1999)

If you've noticed that I've been even less active than usual on here, it's because I'm putting the finishing touches on my degree, and have been buried alive in a digital grave of spreadsheets, financial reports, essays, and zoom meetings. And as I mentioned on last month's post about new shit I've been listening to, I listen pretty much exclusively to Steve Tibbetts while doing school work -- for real, I have a playlist titled "SCHOOL" that's just Tibbetts' discography in chronological order.

However, what's truly extraordinary about this man's music is that not only does it hold up extremely well to both casual and close listening, but I never seem to tire of it, regardless of the countless hours I've spent with it. So here's one of my favorites of his. It's second only to The Fall of Us All in his discography in terms of sheer volume levels and intensity of performance, which means you're in for propulsive tribal percussion, dramatic vocals, and Tibbett's inimitable guitar stylings/feedback manipulation.

(Pro-tip: For even more, check the comments section on the The Fall of Us All post.)

Track listing:

1. Name Everything

2. Another Year

3. A Clear Day and No Memories

4. Your Cat

5. Forget

6. Drawing Down the Moon

7. The X Festival

8. Metal Summer

9. Assembly Field

Mind dust

Somewhat similar listening:

Michael Shrieve & Steve Roach - The Leaving Time (1988)

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

Laughing Clowns - Mr Uddich-Schmuddich Goes to Town (1982)

Related:

The Saints - Prehistoric Sounds (1978)

Laughing Clowns - Ghosts of an Ideal Wife (1985)

Got a request for more Laughing Clowns, and I'll take any reason to listen to this amazing band. Here's their first album. Australian experimental punk/post-punk/whatever-you-wanna-call-it with the added layer of a small but cacophonous horn section.

Track listing:

1. In Front of Your Eyes

2. Come One, Come All

3. Laughter Around the Table

4. A Knife in the Head

5. Theme From 'Mad Flies, Mad Flies'

6. A Song of Joy

7. Mr Uddich-Schmuddich Goes to Town

8. When What You See

This that put-the-kids-to-bed

You should also listen to:

Japan - Adolescent Sex (1978)

Ballet Mécanique - The Icecold Waters of the Egocentric Calculation (1981)

The Swimming Pool Q's - The Swimming Pool Q's (1984)

Sweet, bright jangle pop/alternative from a great band that never quite broke through. My dad loves this band, and earlier today he sent me links to a pair of songs from this record, without caption or comment. He underwent pretty major surgery last month and is still recovering, both physically and emotionally. Neither of us have ever been good at staying in touch with people we care about, but a mutual love for music keeps us in regular contact. Tomorrow I'm gonna send him this Ben Watt video -- he kinda hates Pink Floyd so David Gilmour's presence might initially be off-putting, but the song is very much up his alley. Really wish I could just give him a hug, but listening to the same songs will have to do for now.

Track listing:

1. The Bells Ring

2. Pull Back My Spring

3. Purple Rivers

4. The Knave

5. Some New Highway

6. Just Property

7. Silver Slippers

8. She's Bringing Down the Poison

9. Celestion

10. Sacrificial Altar

A basket full of flowers flowing over the rim

Incandescence in a high school gym

And every single street corner

Will remind me of him

Other stuff my dad got me into:

Jane Siberry - The Walking (1987)

Steve Tibbetts - The Fall of Us All (1994)

Mandy Morton - Sea of Storms (1980)

English folk rock given to prog-ish, synth-y flourishes anchored by a melancholic, fantastical core. A great record that tends to get overshadowed by its also-great predecessor, Magic Lady. "Twisted Sage" makes my Halloween playlist every year. Is "city witch" still a thing? City witches would love this.

Track listing:

1. Maybe One Day

2. After the Storm

3. Black Nights

4. Compline Anthem

5. Victoria by the Window

6. Ghost of Christmas Past

7. Twisted Sage

8. Wake Up the Morning

9. Silas the Silent

10. Land of the Dead

11. Warriors Grave

12. The Sculptor

When I speak, you say I lie

So death come to you all

If you like this, listen to:

Jennifer Warnes - Jennifer (1972)

Anonymous - Inside the Shadow (1977)

José Roberto Bertrami - Blue Wave (1983)

Extremely chill fusion led by Brazilian keyboardist José Roberto Bertrami of Azymuth fame. Makes me feel like I'm on a boat drinking wine.

Track listing:

1. Bye Bye Brasil

2. Chorodô

3. Partido Alto #2

4. Shot on Goal (Perigo de Gol)

5. Blue Wave

6. Parati

7. Sheds and Weeds (Barracos e Arbustos)

Somewhere totally else

Similar vibes:

Arthur Verocai - Arthur Verocai (1972)

Jarosław Śmietana - Talking Guitar (1984)

Jon Bernoff and Marcus Allen - Breathe (1980)

Beautiful, weightless ambient compositions for piano, Rhodes piano, and vibraphone. I'm visiting with my family for Christmas, as always, so I'm not sure that you'll be hearing much from me for at least another week or so, but I'm listening to this while winding down and thought I'd share it with you real quick.

Track listing:

1. Medieval Mist

2. Interlude

3. One Earth

4. Dance on the Wind

5. Travelin' On

6. Space Rendezvous

7. Breathe

Someday comes forever

You should also listen to:

Harold Budd - The Pavilion of Dreams (1978)

Aeoliah - Inner Sanctum (1981)

Lol Coxhill & Morgan Fisher - Slow Music (1980)

Experimental ambient pieces constructed by Morgan Fisher via deconstructing, layering, sampling, and otherwise processing recordings of saxophonist Lol Coxhill. As of writing this, I've been working on a succession of extremely complex projects all day, and while I'm finding Slow Music's scattered, warped sensibility extremely relatable, I just don't have the capacity to put any effort into this post, so the end.

Track listing:

1. Que en paz descanse

2. Flotsam

3. Vase

4. Jetsam

5. Matt Finish

6. Slow Music

7. Pretty Little Girl

Life under the floor

Also listen to:

Asunta - Landscapes (1996)

Akira Rabelais - Spellewauerynsherde (2004)

Centerfold - Man's Ruin (1986)

[Due to Apple's Music app being an unwieldy, glitch-ridden load of shit, and my school term really ramping up here at the end, I am unable and unwilling to spend a lot of time on this dumb blog. So until something gives, I'll be going through my draft archives, looking for posts that I already prepped but, for whatever reason, never posted. Enjoy.]

First and only LP by this weird confluence of commercialism, horniness, and pop chops. Centerfold were a Dutch trio of vocalists/models whose songs dealt primarily in sexual innuendo via a Madonna-esque mix of synthpop and pop rock, and who promoted their first single with a spread in Dutch Playboy and a nude performance on TopPop. So yes, obviously, it's a big, sweaty product of 80s coke culture, and if you, say, commented "God I hate the eighties" on my Dolphin Brothers post, this ain't gonna change your mind. But if you like trashy 80s pop/rock: I swear, Man's Ruin is a non-stop parade of bangers. And there's not a slow jam in the bunch; the closest they come is the shimmering, pulsing "Intimate Climate".

Track listing:

1. Up and Coming

2. Note After Note

3. Dictator

4. Rough

5. Come Get My Love

6. Radar Love

7. Sweetness

8. Dirty Mind

9. Intimate Climate

10. Dancing in Your Arms

She's tight inside, if you know what I mean

She's got places in there no man's ever been

If you like this, check out:

The Flaming Hands - The Flaming Hands (1984)

Teena Marie - Starchild (1984)

Cyrille Verdeaux and Bernard Xolotl - Prophecy (1981)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:

Bernard Xolotl - Return of the Golden Mean (1980)

Excellent collaborative album between new age great Bernard Xolotl and Cyrille Verdeaux, who's best known as the central member of Clearlight. Crystalline guitar-synths, regular ol' synths, and a bit of cello, all intertwined in a beautiful, shimmering expanse of sound. This was supposed to be my lazy, relaxing Sunday post but it was pre-empted due to the news about Mimi Parker.

Track listing:

1. Star Gulls

2. Future Seas

3. Drifting Tides

4. Indian Loop

5. Prophecy

Distant, alone, beneath the platinum stars

You should also hear:

Barry Cleveland - Mythos (1984)

Karl Schaffner & Lothar Grimm - Birds of Passage (1984)

Hal Russell & Mars Williams - EFTSOONS (1984)

Abrasive, sparse free jazz from two American saxophonists/multi-instrumentalists. Between the sax parts often sounding more like guitar feedback than saxophones and the whimsically unsettling atmosphere, much of EFTSOONS plays like a lost Nurse with Wound record.

Track listing:

1. Carnal Concupiscence

2. Is This Virginia?

3. A SYNC/SYNC STAT MUX PROLIXTHUX

4. Odoriferous Flambeaus of the Paranymphs

5. N, SSS, EEE <RETURN>

6. Eftsoons

7. Noise Command: Blast 1

I didn't know anybody, and there was a funny smell

If you like this, listen to:

Anthony Braxton - 3 Compositions of New Jazz (1968)

William Hooker - ... Is Eternal Life (1977)