Penetration- Moving Targets (1978) MP3 & FLAC

"I looked into the hourglass and watched the grains of sand. I wandered through the latitudes and crossed the strangest lands."

The story of Penetration's brief rise to prominence in 1977 on the back of their brilliant first single and their precipitous fall from grace a year later is the kind of thing that could have only occurred in the context of the U.K. Punk scene of the late-seventies. Inspired by The Sex Pistols (at the time, lead singer Pauline Murray was a member of the "Durham Contingent" of their fan club) and having borrowed their name from a song by Iggy and The Stooges, Penetration embodied the D.I.Y. ethos of the original Punk movement by forming and then becoming a mainstay on the scene practically overnight (their second gig was opening for The Stranglers). In retrospect, their first single, "Don't Dictate," was a stunning achievement for such an inexperienced band, and while it is often considered one of the enduring gems of the original Punk movement, even at this early stage in their development, Penetration's taste for New York Art-Rock à la Patti Smith and their proclivity for displaying musical acuity on their recordings suggested that they might not be a comfortable fit for the slam-dancing crowd. However, it wasn't until the release of their debut album, Moving Targets in 1978 that Penetration began hearing murmurs that they weren't Punk enough. In actuality, the band's second single, "Firing Squad," which preceded the album, had clearly signaled that Penetration was quickly outgrowing the aesthetic austerity of their Punk origins. And while "Stone Heroes" comes closest to echoing the unadorned fury that made "Don't Dictate" a Punk anthem, overall, the album pays very little heed to Punk orthodoxy. For example, on "Vision," a moody, atmospheric number that eventually mutates into a glammed-up rocker, Penetration seem to explore a darker, almost Post-Punk sound before lapsing into conventional hard-rock histrionics. However, on "Silent Community," perhaps the highlight of the album, Murray & co. hit on an intriguing mix of Punk aggression and New Wave atmospherics, creating a sound that is reminiscent of Blondie's work of the same period but with more grit. All questions of musical style aside, what is undeniable about Penetration's debut album are the consistently brilliant vocal performances by Murray, who, though not as self-consciously arty or experimental as Siouxsie Sioux, possessed one of the great (and incredibly under-appreciated) voices of the Punk / Post-Punk era.

Billy Bragg- "Strange Things Happen" (1984) Live on The Tube

I'd have a hard time coming up with a musician I admire more than Billy Bragg. Here he is strapped into his busking gear singing to a bunch of bewildered onlookers. I love the part where he stops momentarily and sings to the girl:

The Pop Group- Y (1979) / How Much Longer Do We Tolerate Mass Murder? (1980) MP3 & FLAC

"No sequence to follow, no fear of tomorrow."

When mentioning the movers and shakers of the early days of Post-Punk, bands such as Gang of Four, Wire, and Siouxsie and The Banshees (for whom the term "Post-Punk" was coined) are usually the first mentioned; however, there were a number of other bands who were just as instrumental in the rise of this innovative and exceedingly influential movement though they ended up with much smaller, and consequently lesser known, discographies. The Pop Group, an ironically-named outfit of Agit-Funk-Punk provocateurs from Bristol, were just such a band. Much like Gang of Four, The Pop Group were interested in ideology critique from a decidedly radical leftist perspective; however, unlike their Leeds-based cousins, theirs is a much more fractured and varied approach, often pushing the discord and abrasiveness to aesthetic extremes while integrating Funk, Dub, Jazz, and Punk influences. On their striking debut, Y, The Pop Group find a perfect balance between political didacticism and sonic adventurousness. For example, on the brilliant "She Is Beyond Good and Evil," lead singer Mark Stewart sounds something like Ian McCulloch channeling Birthday Party-era Nick Cave while fronting The Clash. Drenched in Dub-style reverb that lends the song an increasing sense of claustrophobia, it is one of the most memorable and creepy songs of the early Post-Punk milieu. The remainder of the album is full of unforeseen twists and turns; from the Aladdin Sane-style lounge piano turned upside down and inside out on "Snowgirl" to the cannibalistic Funk of "Don't Call Me Pain," Y makes a strong case for being one of the most demanding and fascinating albums of its era. While The Pop Group's follow-up LP For How Much Longer Do We Tolerate Mass Murder? maintains the Funk-inspired approach of the debut, it is far less experimental in nature; as a result, the lyrics, and thus the political rants, are pushed to the foreground, which actually works to the detriment of the band's purpose. Nevertheless, there are some worthy moments, including "Feed the Hungry," a straight-up Funk song with some deliciously abrasive guitar work. While not as accomplished as some of their more famous contemporaries, The Pop Group were masters of a Punk and Dub influenced brand of Agit-Rock that still retains its chaotic and unconventional qualities to this day.

The Pop Group- "She Is Beyond Good and Evil" Video (1979)

Imagine members of Gang of Four and The Birthday Party doing a dub-reggae album; it might sound something like The Pop Group...

Public Image Ltd.- "Rise" Video (1986)

Not off one of the better P.I.L. albums, but what a fucking great song, well, I could be wrong; I could be right

Gil Scott-Heron- "I'm New Here" Video (2010) -R.I.P.-

Gil Scott-Heron died today. I'm feeling pretty much speechless right now

Gang of Four- Solid Gold (1981) / Another Day, Another Dollar EP (1982) MP3 & FLAC -For sradams777-

"Why work for love if it shows no profit? You'll only earn emotional losses."

On Gang of Four's brilliant debut, Entertainment!, arguably the best record of the original British Post-Punk movement, Andy Gill, John King & co. virtually wrote the book on fusing Punk-inspired iconoclasm with fractured, abrasive and passionate Agit-Pop. However, what made their debut even more distinctive was the subtle undercurrent of Funk percolating beneath all the atonal anarchy and politically-charged lyrics. In other words, Entertainment! somehow managed to be both didactic and danceable. While Gang of Four's follow-up, Solid Gold, continues along the same aesthetic lines, it does so by bringing the Funk influence a little more to the surface, and, in the process, emerges as slightly more polished and even more danceable than its predecessor. But don't let this fool you into thinking the socio-political commentary has been turned down a notch because it hasn't. For example, on "Cheeseburger," a scathing satire of America's emphasis on consumerism over class consciousness, Gill's hiccuping guitar takes a secondary role to the outwardly Funk -inspired rhythm section of Dave Allen and Hugo Burnham, creating a unique sound that would be emulated by countless bands a decade later. On the follow-up Another Day, Another Dollar EP, Gang of Four refines this sound even further with tracks such as "To Hell With Poverty" with its relentless dance groove and viciously humorous lyrics.  While Entertainment! is clearly Gang of Four's masterpiece, Solid Gold is, at times, a more confident and musically varied album, making it nearly as essential.

Gang of Four- "To Hell With Poverty" (1981) Live on Old Grey Whistle Test

Andy Gill has to be one of my favorite guitarists. To hell with poverty indeed!

Gang of Four- Entertainment! (1979) MP3 & FLAC -For reindeer man-

"The past lives on in your front room, the poor still weak, the rich still rule."

Nowhere is the ethos of Post-Punk better summed up than on Gang of Four's iconic debut, Entertainment! Sonically speaking, Andy Gill's razor sharp staccato guitar attack seems out to destroy every conventional assumption about what a lead guitarist can do in the context of a rock song. His is a trebly untampered sound that eschews both cock-rock excess and Punk-Rock minimalism while exploring a dynamically rhythmic approach that remains influential to this day. Lyrically, Entertainment! is subversive through and through, and I mean this in the best possible sense of the term. Always more interested in informing through ideology critique than in converting, Gang of Four reject the nihilistic anti-political stance that had come to be a Punk-Rock cliché by 1979, instead focusing their lyrics on the ideological constructs of late capitalism. For example in "Not Great Men," the band critiques the "personality theory of history," in which historical events and their causes are interpreted through the actions of those in power rather than taking into account the role of the working class as a force for historical change. In "Guns Before Butter," the target is the ideology of nationalism, a topic perhaps even more relevant today than it was in the late seventies, for what better way to describe the mood of post-911 America than the line, "Just keep quiet, no room to doubt"?  Entertainment! stands as the masterpiece of one of the most innovative and uncompromising bands of the rock era, and if you haven't heard this, better now than never.

The Fall- Live at the Witch Trials (1979) Expanded Edition (Bonus Disc) MP3 & FLAC

"He spits in the sky. It falls in his eye, and then he gets to sitting, talking to his kitten."

Misanthropy can be a compelling form of artistic expression when it avoids taking itself too seriously, and nowhere is this more in evidence than on The Fall's sprawling, ironically titled debut, Live at the Witch Trials. Falling somewhere between the aggressive anti-aestheticism of Punk and the dark artiness of Post-Punk (and somehow embodying the best traits of both), while also verging into the experimental excess of Kraut-Rock, The Fall, in their original incarnation, were a shambolic, frightening, convention-flaunting enigma masquerading as a Punk band a year late to the party. All of these elements are clearly on display on one of the album's standout tracks, "Two Steps Back," with its strange, simplistic keyboard part juxtaposed to the ominous atonal guitar tearing through the mix, and then there's Mark E. Smith chant-singing through what sounds like a bored sneer. Also well-worthy of mention is "Music Scene," a funk-based song that anticipates Gang of Four's early eighties material, and features Smith lyrically skewering- you guessed it- the music industry. A deserving target if you ask me. Live at the Witch Trials is not for the faint-of-heart, but if you have even a passing interest in the UK Punk movement of the late seventies, this iconoclastic gem is essential listening.

Fela Kuti & Afrika 70- Zombie (1977) MP3 & FLAC

The father of Afro-Beat and a hugely influential figure worldwide, Fela Kuti attained, as a musician, a level of political notoriety rivaled in the modern era only by Bob Marley. After having spent some time in the U.S. absorbing its Blues, Jazz, Funk, and Soul traditions, Kuti was deported back to Nigeria (for his political affiliations), where he would spend the bulk of the seventies recording his most enduring work. Staunchly defiant of his country's government, which sought, on many occasions, to imprison him, Kuti's music carried an explicit anti-militaristic message that made him a highly visible thorn in the side of the despotic Nigerian government and military. In response to Zombie, widely considered Kuti's crowning achievement, government troops set fire to Kuti's compound, destroyed his recording studio, and threw his mother from a window (she died a short time later). Musically, Zombie is an infectious hybrid of West African musical forms, Jazz, Soul, and Funk all dressed in the raiment of political satire. The title track in particular is an Afro-Beat gem, with Afrika 70 slowly building the funky, hypnotic groove until Kuti's voice springs out of the mix delivering comical commands to the military, while the back-up singers defiantly chant "Zombie!" Zombie stands as a beautiful example of the political power of music, and its primary theme is as timely as ever.

Au Pairs- Stepping Out of Line: The Anthology (2006) MP3 & FLAC

"Playing your game, verging on the humane, I get a little romance, when I get the      chance to."

Similar to Gang of Four both in sharp-witted tone and stark, scratchy danceability, Au Pairs were easily one of the most politically confrontational bands of the Post-Punk era. What really set this band apart, however, was its passionately feminist politics and lead singer Lesley Wood, one of the first openly lesbian musicians of the rock-era, whose vocals were a force to be reckoned with. Au Pairs' debut, Playing with a Different Sex, is their enduring masterpiece, and takes no prisoners in its whip-smart evisceration of bourgeois notions of sexuality and gender. For example, "We're so Cool" is sung from the perspective of a woman trying halfheartedly to convince herself that "things are cool" with her emotionally vacant lover. Here, Wood pours on the irony while the band locks into a groove that sounds something like Post-Punk funk. While Au Pairs' follow-up LP, Sense and Sensuality, isn't as consistently great as their debut, the sound is more textured due to the addition of synths and occasional horns into the mix, and Wood's vocals show more range, almost taking on a smokey soul-like quality at times. As with Gang of Four, some will find the lyrical content too didactic in places, but musically, Post-Punk doesn't get much better than this.

Gang of Four- Peel Sessions Album (1990) MP3 & FLAC

"The past lives on in your front room; the poor still weak, the rich still rule."

Presenting Gang of Four at their scratchy, blunt, and angular best, The Peel Sessions Album, comprised of three separate John Peel sessions spanning the years 1979-1981, has long had the reputation for containing some of the best performances the band ever recorded. Gang of Four virtually defined the Post-Punk ethos- a jagged, acerbic deconstruction of the Punk movement's nihilistic tendencies, and on The Peel Sessions Album, perhaps even more so than on their justly iconic debut, Entertainment!, their "agit-pop" songs are offered up unpolished and positively seething with cerebral sarcasm. Tracks such as "I Found That Essence Rare" and "5.45" exhibit a more frenzied, slightly out of control feel that is largely missing on the studio versions of these songs. For comrades already familiar with Gang of Four's work, this album is a treasure-trove of fine performances by the original lineup. For those unfamiliar with this seminal Post-Punk band, there is no better point of entry.

Wire- Pink Flag (1977) 1995 Japanese Ed. (17 Bonus Tracks) MP3 & FLAC

"His atoms were excited, and he glowed in the dark. The boiling boy was a picture of confusion, but he had the advantage of a cold start heart."

Wire's debut, Pink Flag, is a brilliant reminder of how vibrant and diverse the Punk movement of the late 1970s really was. While this movement is often characterized in terms of bands such as The Ramones and The Sex Pistols, both of whom never strayed far from a bare-bones Garage-Rock template, other bands pursued a more innovative sound by using this template as a foundation to be deconstructed and re-imagined. On Pink Flag, it is clear from the very first song, "Reuters," that Wire is of the latter camp. Taking the Punk ethos several steps further than most of their peers, Wire consistently reject traditional song structure on their debut by stubbornly refusing to deliver the verse/chorus movements and repeated measures that have come to virtually define "Rock" music. While the songs are brief and often abrupt, Wire's minimalist approach allows the album a depth and complexity quite unprecedented in Punk recordings of the period. By turning listener expectations inside out, Wire's debut album not only rejects the tired tropes of mainstream Rock, but also challenges the Punk movement to reject its own assumptions about itself.