11 Nov 2013

How minimal can you get? #67

Bubonic Plague / Geneva Jacuzzi

Bubonic Plague – Dracula


‪Geneva Jacuzzi – Do I Sad?
Watch the unofficial version here.

Punk aversion Pt. III

Dead Kennedys Bedtime For Democracy LP (Alternative Tentacles, 1986)

Dead Kennedys ‎– Chickenshit Conformist

Time To Think Where The Hell Is Andrew? 7" (Thinking Time Records, 1992)

Time To Think – A Bunch Of Cults

Teenage PhDs Teenage PhDs 7" (Erectile, 1980)

Teenage PhDs – Punk Rock Is Dead
More info here.

By the way, is it just me or these guys ripped off The Fall's “Various Times intro?

5 Nov 2013

How minimal can you get? #66

Big Black
“Big Black is a one-man band; Albini wrote the songs, sang/shouted the vocals, and played all the instruments (guitar, bass and a little organ), save a few yells and atonal sax blasts contributed by friends. He also recorded and mixed the disc, designed the cover, and came up with a bizarre variety of inserts – fishhooks, scary photographs, locks of Will Tizard's hair, etc, for the first 1,500 copies. Total cost: $1,870 and a case of beer for a friend who provided a four-track recorder. Albini picked up the tab using his college financial aid money. Jim Cress (Matter #1, January 1983)

“If a record takes more than a week to make, somebody's fucking up. Steve Albini

Big Black Lungs EP (Ruthless Records, 1982)

Big Black – Steelworker

How minimal can you get? #65

Tune-Yards

Tune-Yards – Real Live Flesh (4AD Sessions)

How minimal can you get? #64

Voice Farm  
Voice Farm is a San Francisco based techno-folk duo consisting of vocalist / composer Charly Brown and sound designer Myke Reilly. Voice Farm began its musical journey around 1980. Founding members Charly Brown and Gary Miles performed in San Francisco at The Mabuhay Gardens and The Deaf Club. Patrick Miller of Minimal Man was a brief member of Voice Farm at this time. After performing twice with Patrick at The Fab Mab Gary & Charly realized it was not to be. Patrick did not believe in rehearsing or learning a 'song' per se. At any rate it was way more fun to see him live than to perform with him.Official site

Human Hands, Nervous Gender, Voice Farm @ the Hong Kong Cafe, Chinatown, Los Angeles, CA 1980
The first Voice Farm performances were way outside of the then current trend of nihilistic punk bands with guitars. Charly and I always agreed on one thing. Stark minimalism and modernism with a subversive undertone throughout. Bauhaus inspired dancers dressed as downtown executives provided a syncronized backdrop for our live shows. The audiences were split on us as we defied the punky nihilsm of the era with our new brand of modernist art house pop. By the early 80's we had attracted a large cult following and we were being approched by nightclubs, managers, labels etc.Myke Reilly 

Voice Farm (Gary Miles, Myke Reilly, Charly Brown)
This is where it all started. In a basement room lined with egg cartons, two synthesizers, a broken Farfisa organ and a beat box. Voice Farm’s first single came in a variety of handmade silkscreened covers. Red, yellow and blue. Former band-mate graphic artist Gary Miles worked his magic on these.Official site

Voice Farm Sleep/Mödern Things 7" (Optional Records, 1981)

Voice Farm – Sleep
Listen to the 7" here.

More info here.

How minimal can you get? #63

Quite Ridiculous Nonsense
This excellent EP comes shrouded in the sort of mystery that can cause mild bouts of arrhythmia in serious collectors. The Montreal band (?) was the brainchild of one Daniel Foley, who after all these years seems to have eluded the great algorithmists at Google. And like many of those bands that probably fed Foley's obtuse post-punk visions, the four songs here are definitely 'ideal to get rid of your unwanted visitors', as the liner notes so ominously warn us. The most obvious reference point has to be West Yorkshire's equally obscure heroes the Distributors, whose quirky, robotic base riffs and detached vocal wouldn't seem so out of place next to Foley's riveting 'General Attitude' on side one. Over on the flip, the industrial 'Identity Crisis' sounds like an outtake from Cabaret Voltaire's Rough Trade years, while the curious noodling on 'Boredom' shows that Foley might have had a chance meeting on a turntable with Nurse with Wound's early catalogue. A mint copy of this went for 160 bucks in 2012, while the band's follow-up 1986 cassette Poor Work has fetched a healthy 78 dollars, so good luck getting your hands on one of these. Michael Panontin

Most ace industrial wank of that rare late 70's variety. Wildly entertaining experiments in four track flatulence and transistor radio static. Johan Kugelberg

Quite Ridiculous Nonsense A Failure… EP (1984)

Quite Ridiculous Nonsense – General Attitude
Listen to the whole EP here.