Is there spring in space?

Okay we're back to the random spacerock this month after a couple exhausting lessons in experimental rock history... no theme this time, no focus, no plot, just a cluster of stars that spun itself off into yet another galaxy in the Spacerock Multiverse! We begin with a bit of epic ridiculosity from the ever-reliable Germans, the lost-to-obscurity Agitation Free and the freak commune known as Amon Duul II (vintage krautrock can always be depended on for some kitsch psychedelia and in these two tracks our intrepid Teutonic explorers head to Eastern outposts), and then off into some Gabriel-era Genesis, who unfortunately are not actually intending to be tongue-in-cheek here, but are still notable in this context. We then delve into some polyrhythmic pandemonium from the early 80s (23 Skidoo) and just last year (Mahjongg), and then transport to some acid-fried Americana from Tobacco (also from last year, spun off from Black Moth Super Rainbow) Religious Knives (also last year), The Gun Club, Green On Red and Red Temple Spirits (all three are originators from the 80s and as such these recordings are poorly mastered, so turn 'em WAY up, especially the Gun Club!). Then we settle into an extended passage through some pastoral psych/folk weirdness, beginning with a track from Black Mountain to commemorate their recent passage through the Bay Area to which I was lucky enough to bear witness - mind blown? check! - culminating in the new single from the almighty Circle's latest album... with vocals in English even (courtesy of one Bruce Duff, former singer for the Jesters of Destiny, an obscure and long-defunct LA prog-metal also-ran)! Will wonders never cease? In there we hear from the very enigmatic Jane, the very French Benoît Pioulard, a pair of tracks from Ulann Khol and Hala Strana, who are basically the same person (Steven Smith from San Francisco's Thuja), a solo guitar workout (in keeping with the two previous tracks) from Charalambides, minus the usual soaring vocals of Christina Carter, and a couple of tasty morsels from freak-folksters Wooden Wand and Akron/Family. Last but not least: settle deep into yer oooohhhhmmm... with the indescribable sounds of the man known as Lichens.

The following tracks should appear in the player below:

Malesch - Agitation Free - Malesch
Deutsch Nepal - Amon Düül II - Wolf City
Riding The Scree - Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway
The Gospel Comes To New Guinea - 23 Skidoo - The Gospel Comes To New Guinea
Rise Rice - Mahjongg - Kontpab
Backwoods Altar - Tobacco - Fucked Up Friends
Downstairs - Religious Knives - The Door
Walking With The Beast - The Gun Club - The Las Vegas Story
Narcolepsy - Green On Red - Gravity Talks
Exorcism / Waiting for The Sun - Red Temple Spirits - Dancing To Restore An Eclipsed Moon
Bastards of Light - Black Mountain - In The Future
Berserker - Jane - Berserker
Ragged Tint - Benoît Pioulard - Temper
Untitled 1 - Ulaan Khol - II
Wood Scree - Hala Strana - These Villages
Pasé el Agora - Charalambides - Our Bed Is Green
I Am the One I Am And He is the Caretaker of My Heart - Wooden Wand & The Vanishing Voice - Buck Dharma
Raising The Sparks - Akron/Family - Akron/Family & Angels Of Light
Connection - Circle - Hollywood
M St R Ng W Tchcr Ft L V Ng N Sp R T - Lichens - Omns

More Legacies and Influences

Okay class, this is another history lesson like last month. Pipe down, pipe down... it's for your own good. A little education goes a long way into understanding space rock. Specifically, the experiMENTAL side of rock music. It's basically what happens when you remove the blues influence and start incorporating esoteric ideas like, dissonance, drone, undertones, overtones, just intonation, atonality, microtonality, harmonics, xenharmonics and a whole lotta other concepts with fancy names that aren't really necessary to for you to know. You'll understand this music when you hear it... you'll KNOW it because you hear it all the time. This kind of music is more in tune with the natural rhythms and melodies of your body's own chemistry than any western blues-derived motif could ever be. It's the music of the cosmos!

Before this begins to sound dry, just listen to the tracks. We start with a relatively rockist number from Rhys Chatham, who has composed songs (or movements) for up to 400 electric guitars, all tuned slightly differently, and created a number of sprawling pieces like this one back in the 70's and 80's. He and his contemporary Glenn Branca, another multi-guitar proponent and "symphony" composer, begat Sonic Youth who incorporated a little punk rock and attitude into the mix, with screwdrivers jammed under the strings of their guitars, unorthodox tunings and a complete lack of cymbals on the drum kit. They're represented here with an aptly-named track from their seminal 1988 classic. The more formal side of this ethos is demonstrated by Steve Reich and Terry Riley, who really are more modern classical composers but have heavily influenced experimental rockers like Stereolab, Spacemen 3 and Brian Eno, whose collaboration with treated guitarist Robert Fripp (from King Crimson) is one the most quintessential non-rocking "rock" experiments of all time. I've thrown in some lesser-known devotees like French-Canadian sonic pranksters Le Fly Pan Am who add the element of recording manipulation (yes those little glitches are intentional), the godfathers of motorik Neu! (who in turn influenced Stereolab), fretboard sorceress Marnie Stern whose own downtown NYC milieu has strong ties to the legacy of their forebears (Branca, Chatham, Sonic Youth et al.), Texas psych duo Charalambides (just guitar and voice) and enigmatic whatchamacallits Glissandro 70 (delayed guitar and electronics). Confused? Just sit back and LISTEN...

The following tracks should appear in the player below:

Die Donnergötter - Rhys Chatham - An Angel Moves Too Fast To See
The Sprawl - Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation
Swimming Pool - Charalambides - Glowing Raw
Partially Sabotaged Distraction Partiellement Sabotée - Le Fly Pan Am - Ceux Qui Inventent N'ont Jamais Vécu
Electric Counterpoint 1 - Steve Reich - Electric Counterpoint
Something - Glissandro 70 - s/t
Shea Stadium - Marnie Stern - This Is It And I Am It And You Are It And So Is That And He Is It And She Is It And It Is It And That Is That
Hallogallo - Neu! - s/t
Analogue Rock - Stereolab - Transient Random Noise Bursts With Announcements
A Rainbow In Curved Air - Terry Riley - A Rainbow In Curved Air
Swastika Girls II - Brian Eno & Robert Fripp - No Pussyfooting
Second Movement (The Horror) - Glenn Branca - Symphony #10
Ecstasy In Slow Motion - Spacemen 3 - Dreamweapon

By the way, I recently felt the need for a little terra firma (it gets lonely up here in the spacerock station) so I beamed myself down to earth, Petaluma specifically, and this is what I saw:

The Classics, Their Legacies & Beyond!

Okay, back to the Space Rock! This one's about EVOLUTION: the evolutionary transitions bands make and the influence they have on other areas of musical evolution. Starting with the modern hipster shoegaze of the Dandy Warhols and the post-krautrocking haze of Psychic Ills, to vintage Loop, sounding like a sum of their influences from Spacemen 3 on down to J&MC, then a track from Main, the stripped-down project into which Loop devolved. Then it's personal fave Grails (Hey Emil!), sounding so much like mid-period Floyd that, well, I just had to back them up with mid-period Floyd, from their stellar soundtrack to the obscure French film 'The Valley (Obscured by Clouds)' that is so freekin' awesome that it stands on its own as one of their greatest albums, albeit one most people haven't heard.

Then we venture deep into the realm of the near-kitsch, the almost-but-not-really tongue-in-cheek world of vintage PROG, and, dare I say, Classic Schlock, with Queen, Hawkwind, BOC, King Crimson and... The James Gang!!! Yes, that's Joe Walsh's first band - remember "Funk #49"?!?!? This track slays, with a dubby Noel Redding-style bassline and spacey delayed slide guitar of a David Gilmour bent. But I'm not spoofing when I say I dearly love all of these bands (especially Queen, whose early material is ridiculously underrated). However, I draw the line at Yes or Rush, so don't even ask. Ech...

Then it gets... WEIRD. From the atonal avant rock of the Velvet underground, to vintage (and very, VERY obscure) Eno, to modern practitioners of WTF?!?!?-rock like Health and Shit & Shine. Then we delve deep into epic, cinematic post rock with Germany's Daturah, and finish up with pure STONED improv from O.G. "Philladelic" maestros Bardo Pond. I "highly" recommend some sort of mood-altering substance for this, one of my most hardcore mindfuck sets, even just a small afternoon or late night toke or two...? You've got two hours... what you do with them is up to YOU.

The following tracks should appear in the player below:

Nietzche - The Dandy Warhols - 13 Tales from Urban Bohemia
I Knew My Name - Psychic Ills - Dins
Straight to Your Heart - Loop - Wold Flow (The Peel Sessions)
Flame Tracer - Main - Hydra-Calm
Acid Rain - Grails - Doomsdayer's Holiday
Mudmen - Pink Floyd - Obscured By Clouds
The Bomber - The James Gang - Rides Again
Psychedelic Warlords - Hawkwind - Psychedelic Warlords
7 Screaming Diz-Busters - Blue Oyster Cult - Tyranny and Mutation
21st Century Schizoid Man - King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King
European Son - The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground & Nico
Juju Space Jazz - Brian Eno - My Squelchy Life
Triceratops - Health - s/t
The Germans Call it A Swimming Head - Shit and Shine - Kuss Mich, Meine Liebe
Shoal - Daturah - s/t
Lomand - Bardo Pond - Selections Vol. 1-4

2008...

...could be looked back on as the Crystal Year, because it was the year we saw fabulous debuts from the Crystal bands: the abrasive underground techno-punk of Crystal Castles, the Phil Spector does kraut-damaged surf-rock of Crystal Stilts, and the ballistic acid-fried proto-psych of Crystal Antlers. However, despite the tastiness of all three acts, only the latter made it into my playlist of the best music of 2008. It was also crystalline in its clarity last year that THINGS MUST CHANGE. Otherwise I'm leavin' this dirtball planet BEHIND, and headed for SPACE! Join me?

This New Year's installment features songs from the very best releases of 2008, and as usual it's the least spacerock, per se, of any set. The motto is, after all, "not ALL spacerock, and not all the time". That said, it's got loads of heavy-deavy, freaky-deaky material for those connoisseurs of such, as well as some diverse and even poppy tracks from fairly well-known and plenty of lesser-known artists. Also, bein' a little less spacerock results in less-lengthy songs so you've got, count 'em, 27 of 'em!

First, a video from THE band of the year:



A snapshot of 2008: we start with Indian Jewelry, of course - their neoprimitive agit-prop shoegaze absolutely SLAYS me. TV On The Radio can seemingly do no wrong, and this album's their most soulful, if least spacey. Icelandic eccentric Mugison continues to refine his unabashed Bolan/Lennon worship. Two "sunny" songs, one from Glasgow's mighty postrockers Mogwai with their best release in a decade and one from Long Beach's acid-punkers Crystal Antlers from their eponymous debut EP (can't wait for a full-length!). Boris put out their most accessible album yet (relatively speaking) with two very different versions in Japan and the US, but both seriously RAWK! LA's prog-punk duo No Age continue to amaze while the Raveonettes offer more of their exquisite gauzy Phil Spector meets Jesus & Mary Chain ditties. The Dears were more concise, hard-edged, and slightly less melodramatic than usual, and Beck (?!?!?) was pretty much par for the course, great-sounding and fun yet slight, but this track's kinda psychedelic - me likey. Deerhunter put out their most cohesive effort yet while Portishead made a comeback bar none - their best record EVER, and one of the top ten albums of the year. M83 sweetened up their analog synth excursions with a nostalgic wistfulness, while Au captured the ecstatic joy of their live collaborative chant-a-longs. Abe Vigoda, Gang Gang Dance and Marnie Stern shared New York City's current obsession with African polyrhythms (and phenomenal guitar playing), while Collections of Colonies of Bees brought transcendence to elaborate and oblique postjazz/rock. Black Mountain return with a fresh-cut slab of their monolithic psych, and White Hills appear with a squall of frenzied acid-kraut, Ulann Khol take us on a fuzzed-out journey through the soul and The Black Angels into a psilocybic pit of hell. Jucifer managed to make a 21-song tribute to Marie Antoinette rock by careening from hardcore punk to sludge metal to acid-tinged balladry, and Nick Cave proved his continued relevance with a textured and varied work worthy of all his past output with elements of both his Birthday Party and Grinderman forays into artpunk angst. Sun City Girls returned with another installment of their spazz-rocking "ethno-forgeries" (to paraphrase Can), their best since Torch of the Mystics, probably because it contains outtakes from those very sessions, the prolific Grails put out two amazing albums and this track is from their very best yet, and Fuck Buttons manage to make utter noise seem beautiful, a catharsis for bright new year. ENJOY!

The following tracks should appear in the player below:

Swans - Indian Jewelry - Free Gold!
Halfway Home - TV on the Radio - Dear Science
Mugiboogie - Mugison - Mugiboogie
The Sun Smells Too Loud - Mogwai - The Hawk Is Howling
Until the Sun Dies - Crystal Antlers - s/t ep
Buzz-In - Boris - Smile (Japanese Version)
Cappo - No Age - Nouns
Hallucinations - The Raveonettes - Lust, Lust, Lust
Disclaimer - The Dears - Missiles
Chemtrails - Beck - Modern Guilt
Nothing Ever Happened - Deerhunter - Microcastle
Silence - Portishead - Third
Highway of Endless Dreams - M83 - Saturdays = Youth
Are Animals - Au - Verbs
Skeleton - Abe Vigoda - Skeleton
First Communion - Gang Gang Dance - Saint Dymphna
Transformer - Marnie Stern - This Is It And I Am It And You Are It And So Is That And He Is It And She Is It And It Is It And That Is That
Flocks I - Collections of Colonies of Bees - Birds
Stormy High - Black Mountain - In The Future
Radiate - White Hills - Heads on Fire
Track 7 - Ulaan Khol - 1
Doves - The Black Angels - Directions to See a Ghost
L'Autrichienne - Jucifer - L'Autrichienne
We Call upon the Author - Nick Cave - Dig Lazarus Dig!
Souvenirs from Jangare - Sun City Girls - You're Never Alone with a Cigarette
Predestination Blues - Grails - Doomsdayer's Holiday
Bright Tomorrow - Fuck Buttons - Street Horrrsing

Ho ho... huh?

Well, we did it! We were such good boys and girls this year that Santa Claus brought us the president we wanted (and in California the trains we wanted!). Hip-hip-freekin'-hooray - it's about time already! In fact I'm so dang happy I'm gonna put on my OWN Santa hat and give you deserving spacerockers not ONE, but TWO full playlists this month!

But wait a minute, it looks like some of you HAVE been misbehaving... and apparently Santa Claus is bringing gay people lumps of coal this year:



I must say I am truly ashamed of 52% of my fellow Californians, who are nothing but hateful BIGOTS, especially the other minorities who've long known identical discrimination but let their churches and their fear guide them instead of their hearts and minds. The rest of us sane, loving people will repeal Prop 8 eventually because you cannot mandate HATE, or discriminate via popular vote, and we'll move on with the evolution of the human species, while the bigots can go the way of the dodo.

Meanwhile, some more thanksgiving:



Now on to the playlists!

Playlist #1 begins with a smirkingly-titled track from contemporary (and half-German) duo Cloudland Canyon, who are in direct lineage with the O.G. krautrockers, Brit practitioners of said art The Early Years, and the inventor of the motorik style himself and founder of Neu!, Michael Rother. We then sidestep into some quintessential space rock with Seattle's Voyager One and one half of Spacemen 3, the inimitable Spectrum (aka Sonic Boom aka Pete Kember), and modern psychedelic with Sacramento's Low Flying Owls and Brooklyn's White Hills. A brief foray into intricate instrumental (post)rock with Souvaris and it's off to exotica with a sitar-drenched Echo & The Bunnymen classic, an homage to Cambodian psych with Dengue Fever, and an abrasive and arty track from Pram in their earlier more experimental phase (before they followed their brethren Stereolab into lighter-weight Space-age Bachelor Pad themes). Continuing we dive into herky-jerky art skronk with the one and only Captain Beefheart, Tom Waits sideman Marc Ribot and the illustrious Mr. Tom Jenkinson, aka drill 'n' bass jazzmonster Squarepusher, before tripping headlong into deep, deep psychedelia with early kraut kollectives Amon Düül and Tangerine Dream, as well as acid-saturated pioneers The Pink Floyd. And we wrap up with British shoegazers Loop and their stellar cover of Can's drone classic "Mother Sky".

But hold on to your hats and glasses folks, we're not done yet! We're only halfway to infinity! The SECOND two hours features some serious head-clobbering from the likes of Mogwai (from their latest and best album in years The Hawk Is Howling), some nightmarish prog-metal from Neurosis, a classic Butthole Surfers nugget, and some transcendent psych from Norway's Serena-Maneesh, Philly's Bardo Pond and San Francisco's Ulaan Khol. After an expansive interlude from old school krautrockers Neu! the mindfuck continues with the nearly unclassifiable acts Growing, Holy Fuck and Neptune until we again sandwich the aforementioned Dengue Fever and Pram together... not that they have anything in common, it just seems to work (see previous playlist). Clattering out of dim basements in Belgium and Austria come dEUS, Ignatz and Pumice before we're bludgeoned between the ears with the "repetition and nonsense" of Shit & Shine before being left battered and bleeding from the ears by the classic acid-kraut trio Ash Ra Tempel.

And THAT, my sugarplum dreamers, should satisfy even the most hardcore spacerockers until we return next year with an installation featuring the very BEST of 2008. Have a great holiday season, and while you're spacing out on the couch with the headphones on, keep an eye out for those devious little elves... Santa's helpers? Or Satan's? You decide.

The following tracks should appear in the player below:

Krautwerk - Cloudland Canyon - Lie In Light
So Far Gone - The Early Years - s/t
Feuerland - Michael Rother - Flammende Herzen
Ocean Grey - Voyager One - After Hours In The After Life
How You Satisfy Me - Spectrum - Soul Kiss (Glide Divine)
Glad To Be Alive - Low Flying Owls - Elixer Vitae
Under Skin Or By Name - White Hills - Glitter Glamour Atrocity
Quit Touching My Ass - Souvaris - A Hat
Heads Will Roll - Echo & The Bunnymen - Porcupine
One Thousand Tears Of A Tarantula - Dengue Fever - Escape From Dragon House
I'm A War - Pram - Gash
Electricity - Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band - Safe As Milk
Digital Handshake - Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog - Party Intellectuals
Planet Gear - Squarepusher - Just A Souvenir
Dem Guten, Schönen, Wahren - Amon Düül II - Phallus Dei
Interstellar Overdrive - Pink Floyd - The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn
Journey Through A Burning Brain - Tangerine Dream - Electronic Meditation
Mother Sky - Loop - Fade Out



And the next player will feature these tracks:

Batcat - Mogwai - The Hawk Is Howling
Water is Not Enough - Neurosis - Given To The Rising
Something - Butthole Surfers - PCPP EP (Live)
Blues Like Beehive II - Serena-Maneesh - S-M Backwards
Yellow Turban - Bardo Pond - Amanita
Untitled #2 - Ulaan Khol - 1
Weissensee - Neu! - s/t
Innit - Growing - All The Way
Super Innuit - Holy Fuck - s/t
Blue Glass - Neptune - Gong Lake
Space Siren - Pram - Telemetric Melodies
Seeing Hands - Dengue Fever - Venus On Earth
Fell Off The Floor, Man - dEUS - In A Bar Under The Sea
Rebound Off The Cliff - Ignatz - s/t
Heavy Punter - Pumice - Quo
The Rabbit Song - Shit & Shine - Cherry
Freak 'n' Roll - Ash Ra Tempel - Join Inn

Get out and VOTE...!!!

...or you'll be lost in SPACE! During the last eight years we have come perilously close to global devastation so unless we WAKE UP we are all FUCKED!!! The only place of refuge will be outer space; in the meantime we can take solace in the bliss of SPACE ROCK! And this month's installment is a heavy one indeed, but as long as it takes you on a journey then I've done my job. I won't say any more about politics except OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA!

On to the playlist: we begin with a couple obscure classic epics, "The Width of A Circle" from David Bowie's lost gem from 1972 The Man Who Sold the World (ask Kurt Cobain about that one... oh, wait), and Patti Smith's "Abyssinia" from her least-known (and my personal favorite) album Radio Ethiopia (1976). Acting as a transition track (and filed under WTF?!?!?) is Clipd Beaks with their dying wish, a great idea if you ask me.

We then venture into a segment exploring many aspects of the motorik genre. First invented by the kraut rock pioneers of the early 70's and further explored by diverse modern practitioners, this style's main feature is a forward-rushing momentum (think Kraftwerk's "Autobahn" et al.): we have Clinic from Liverpool, Vivian Girls from Brooklyn, The Early Years from London, and the veritable originators of motorik, Neu!, featuring members of Kraftwerk and Cluster, culminating with Stereolab's expansive "Jenny Ondioline", from their earlier more experiMENTAL years.

Shocking us out of our reverie is a set of the rockier side of shoegaze with Swervedriver, Loop (indebted to the influential Spacemen 3), Singapore Sling and their primary influence The Jesus & Mary Chain, then going off the deep end with Seattle's Hypatia Lake from their epic concept album (can you guess the theme?), and the inimitable wall-of-sound of My Bloody Valentine (I'm still reeling from their reunion show last month) here showing their punkier side, albeit with a crazy time signature.

We conclude this installment with three lengthy tracks: Brooklyn's Oneida with a portion of their recent magnum opus Preteen Weaponry, little-known vintage krautrockers German Oak, also-rans from 1972, and Montreal's post rock classicists Godspeed You! Black Emperor. These three tracks have in common rather, um... apocalyptic military themes, for some reason.

Whew! Hope you enjoy it, and I'll see you on the other side!



The following tracks should appear in the player below:

The Width of a Circle - David Bowie - The Man Who Sold the World
Abyssinia - Patti Smith - Radio Ethiopia
Smoke Me When I'm Gone - Clipd Beaks - Preyers
Gideon - Clinic - Visitations
Tell the World - Vivian Girls - s/t
All Ones and Zeros - The Early Years - s/t
Lilac Angel - Neu! - Neu! 2
Jenny Ondioline - Stereolab - Transient Random Noise Bursts with Announcements
99th Dream - Swervedriver - 99th Dream
This Is Where You End - Loop - Fade Out
Overdriver - Singapore Sling - The Curse of Singapore Sling
Catchfire - The Jesus & Mary Chain - Honey's Dead
Joseph and the Divine Intervention - Hypatia Lake - ...And We Shall Call Him Joseph
Feed Me with Your Kiss - My Bloody Valentine - Isn't Anything
Preteen Weaponry 2 - Oneida - Preteen Weaponry
Raid Over Dusseldorf - German Oak - s/t
Motherfucker = Redeemer (Part 2) - Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Yanqui U.X.O.

Words cannot express...

...my anticipation of the events occurring this month throughout the US and elsewhere, events of such magnitude as to shake the planet loose from its orbit and launch us all into farflung galaxies, exhilarated by the prospect of the long-awaited reunion of one of the most important bands of all time:



The triumphant return of MY BLOODY VALENTINE!!!!! And of course I will be bearing witness to it - will you? In fact, I've decided to catch this epic moment in history at a venue that I have a lot of history with myself, the fabled Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. Word on the street is the Concourse Exhibition Center, the site of MBV's San Francisco stop, is a horrible venue for live music - all tinny, echoey sound and horrible sightlines. And besides, the Civic in L.A. is a place where I've attended many history-making rock shows, including the first US tour by Public Image Ltd., in their original lineup, with the flamboyant chaos-inducing fire-breathing Butthole Surfers (among others) as their support. It was the hugest mosh pit I've ever experienced, and if I remember correctly this was probably in '82. I know it was in '89 that I first swooned over My Bloody Valentine - and '91 when I caught their first and only US tour at the Hollywood Palladium. They were absolutely DEVASTATING. In all honesty it took me and my musical peers a bit of time to "get" this monumental band, as it often does with most artists with any longevity. This is the band who forever changed the way guitars could sound and how, when you get to the rudiments of it, pop songs could be written. Their music has stood the test of time; there has never been and will never be another band like them. Yes, I will be bringing ear-plugs - this band is LOUD. I'm drivin' down I-5 tomorrow - wish me luck!

And now to the playlist for October:

Opening the set are a couple motorik juggernauts from New Zealand noise trio Grey Daturas and paisley underground also-rans True West, then we revisit two of the finest of Birdman's Records' recent releases, Pittburgh garage-psych monsters Modey Lemon and Spectrum Meets Captain Memphis (busting out a Mudhoney cover!), in slot 3 and 4 just like last month. From there we launch into a segment of shoegaze and droney psychedelia with the usual suspects (SF's Lumerians, LA's Warlocks, the aforementioned MBV, fellow Paisley undergrounders Green On Red and the Rain Parade, and slipping in jangle-psych classicists the Feelies), before things get really weird. And by weird I mean some truly unclassifiable shit: Clipd Beaks, Crystal Antlers, Liars, Snowman...?! What do you call this stuf? Arty, noisy, punky... inspired. I guess the broader definition of space rock will have to do. And of course none of it would have existed without Nick Cave and Co.'s contributions back in the 80s with The Birthday Party. Also hard to classify is German electronic absurdists Mouse on Mars (with their tribute to O.G. krautrockers Amon Duul?), the mighty Polvo whose reunion last month still rings in my ears, and SF avant-folkies Dodos. Another recent reunion occurred between Brian Eno (Roxy Music et al.) and David Byrne (Talking Heads et al.), but since their new collaboration is merely okay I decided to pop in a track from their first meeting, the seminal My Life in the Bush of Ghosts (1981) in case anyone would like to know what they're really capable of. We then make an awkward (but less so than you'd think) transition into neu-metal realms with the slab-tastic Isis, Torche and Russian Circles, then drift off gently with slo-mo troubadours Brightblack Morning Light and an homage to Pink Floyd's Rick Wright and one of his many indelible contributions to space rock.

And it is here we must make tribute to the sad passing of founding member of Pink Floyd, keyboardist Rick Wright. Although further from the limelight than his cohorts David Gilmour and Roger Waters, Wright was indispensable as a composer, arranger, and foil for the much larger egos in the band. He wrote two of the strongest tracks from the undisputed spacerock epic Dark Side of the Moon, "The Great Gig In The Sky" and "Us And Them", as well as contributed to some of the group's most transcendent pieces such as "Atom Heart Mother," "Echoes" and "Shine On You Crazy Diamond." The following video is for my personal favorite Rick Wright song, the overlooked chestnut "Summer '68" (although it's only a fan video without live footage, the sentiment is still there):



The following tracks should appear in the player below:

Beyond and Into the Ultimate - Grey Daturas - Return to Disruption
I'm Not Here - True West - Hollywood Holiday (Revisited)
The Peacock's Eye - Modey Lemon - Season of Sweets
When Tomorrow Hits - Spectrum Meets Captain Memphis - Indian Giver
Corkscrew Trepanation - Lumerians - s/t
So Paranoid - The Warlocks - Heavy Deavy Skull Lover
Only Shallow - My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
Slipping (Into Something) - The Feelies - The Good Earth
The Blue Parade - Green On Red - Gravity Talks
This Can't Be Today - Rain Parade - Emergency Third Rail Power Trip
We Will Bomb You (We Will) - Clipd Beaks - Hoarse Lords
Parting Song for the Torn Sky - Crystal Antlers - s/t
Let's Not Wrestle Mt. Heart Attack - Liars - Drum's Not Dead
Our Mother (She Remembers) - Snowman - The Horse, the Rat & the Swan
The Friend Catcher - The Birthday Party - Hee-Haw
Duul - Mouse On Mars - Varcharz
Thermal Treasure - Polvo - Today's Active Lifestyles
Jodi - The Dodos - Visiter
Regiment - Brian Eno & David Byrne - My Life in the Bush of Ghosts
Not in Rivers, But in Drops - Isis - In the Absence of Truth
Fat Waves - Torche - Meanderthal
Harper Lewis - Russian Circles - Station
True Bright Blossom - Brightblack Morning Light - Ala.Cali.Tucky
Remember a Day - Pink Floyd - A Saucerful of Secrets



PS. Although I'm usually not much for videos (despite the plethora included in this month's post), I thought these were some nifty little nuggets of visual psychedelia to match the tunes (from Portland's enigmatic Au and the file-under-WTF? Ponytail, both featured in last month's playlist). Hope you do too: