Alex G - TRICK (2012)

rad.

(plz dl on bandcamp if u like)

i bet there'll be a new album this year...

Happy Flowers - Oof (1989)

A hilarious bit of punk/noise über-juvenilia.

320

Graeme Jefferies - Messages For The Cakekitchen (1987)

I don't usually do this, but after just one listen I was so enchanted by this album that I felt the need to post it immediately.  Graeme Jefferies is a musician from New Zealand who recorded this album for Flying Nun in 1987, and boy is it good.  Check it.

VBR

Igor Wakhévitch - Logos, Docteur Faust, Hathor, Les Fous D'Or, Nagual, Let's Start (1970-79)

First six studio albums by this underground French Avant-Garde music legend.  If you haven't heard Docteur Faust before, you won't believe your ears.

VBR.1
VBR.2
VBR.3
VBR.4
VBR.5
VBR.6

The Funkees - Point of No Return

Spectacular funk rock album from Nigeria. Readily available on the blogosphere but I'm just posting it in anticipation of the new Funkees comp that will be released by Soundway on April 10 called "Dancing Time: The Best of Eastern Nigeria's Afro-Rock Exponents 1973-1977." Definitely grab a copy if you like this, considering how rare (and therefore expensive) this album is.

192

Slow - Against the Glass (1985)

Amazing ragged rock from Canada.

VBR

Henry Cow – The Road: Volumes 1-5 (2008)

Holy fucking Henry Cow.

VBR.1

VBR.2

VBR.3

VBR.4

VBR.5

VBR.6

Asylum Party - Picture One (1988)

Solid bit of gloomy Post-Punk from '88. I much prefer this to their equally well-known Borderline LP for some reason.

320

The Fix - At the Speed of Twisted Thought (2006)

Fan of old-school hardcore? You need this.

256

Trisomie 21 - Passions Divisées (1984)

If not my favorite coldwave record, definitely in my top two or three. 40 minutes of icy synth dirges.

256

Nirvana 2002 - Disembodied Spirits (1991)

Gloriously loud and powerful death metal w/ cool black metal atmosphere. Check it.

192

Unrest - Imperial f.f.r.r. (1992)

Lesser known indie pop classic from the nineties.

allmusic:

Imperial is Unrest's full-length debut. It fleshes out the pop promise of their early singles, and expands on their pop and experimental background as well. "I Do Believe You Are Blushing," "Cherry Cream On," "Suki," "Isabel," and "June" are still some of the band's best songs, mixing high-energy guitars and subjects like girls and death to infectious effect. A near-perfect album of indie pop.

320

The Ex - Joggers & Smoggers (1989)

allmusic:

The long-standing Dutch anarchist punk group's magnum opus double album in many ways recall the extended collages of the Crass albums, whereby the sessions were not strictly performed by the entire group, but were in fact collections of solo tapes, ad-hoc collaborations, and improvised sketches. There are plenty of full-throttle Ex avant-punk tracks, however, and collaborators include numerous players from the free improvisation world, as well as members of Sonic Youth, who contribute their parts by tape and even apparently via telephone on one piece featuring Kim Gordon. Joggers and Smoggers marks a tuning point in the group's sound; from this point they would embrace more fully the aesthetics and methods of avant-garde jazz, free improvisation, and delicate European folk. Over the four sides, this is an excellent introduction to the labyrinthine world of one of the most inspired and inventive groups in European post punk. Highly recommended release from their expansive catalog, along with their collaborations with Tom Cora and the more strictly avant-rock album Mudbird Shivers, this is among their most focused and courageous work.

320.1
320.2

Bark Psychosis - Hex (1994)

Readily available, but a perennial favorite.  Brooding and gorgeous.

allmusic:

A masterpiece of unrivalled beauty and complexity, Bark Psychosis' Hex channels the experimentation of the group's prior singles into a more controlled setting; a series of atmospheric set pieces, the songs find a common ground between accepted musical formulas and avant innovation -- at first glance, tracks like "Big Shot" and "Eyes & Smiles" appear tightly structured, yet they avoid the dynamics of conventional songcraft like choruses and solos with remarkable dexterity. Similarly, both "The Loom" and "Fingerspit" are too melodic and finely honed to pass as mere ambient soundscapes, leaving the record best ascribed to a force not unlike alchemy -- Hex begins with base musical materials, but transforms them into something mysterious, haunting, and breathtakingly visionary.

320

Ash Ra Tempel - Ash Ra Tempel (1971)

A record that should need no introduction.  Try pairing this with (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xorau81YT20&feature=related), it's pretty awesome.

320

Various Artists - AK-79 (1979)

The famous New Zealand punk comp from '79.

allmusic:

AK79 is probably the best compilation of New Zealand's entries for punk rock and new wave of the late '70s. While most of this material was released on small independent labels like Ripper, Propeller, Flying Nun, and Mushroom and never saw any exposure outside of New Zealand, the quality of the songs and raw energy behind them should appeal to genre specialists and certainly deserves discovery. Included are rarities from the brilliant yet underrated Swingers, Suburban Reptiles, and Toy Love, among others.

320

The Wedding Present - Seamonsters (1991)

allmusic:

Emerging in the wake of the Smiths' demise as the U.K.'s most successful indie pop band during the late '80s, the Wedding Present were founded in Leeds, England, in 1985. Formed from the ashes of the short-lived Lost Pandas, the Weddoes (as they were affectionately dubbed by fans) were essentially the vehicle of singer/songwriter David Gedge, the only constant member throughout the group's tumultuous history.

The group became the darlings of the British press overnight, winning acclaim for their distinct guitar pop frenzy as well as Gedge's idiosyncratic vocal style and wittily lovelorn, conversation-like lyrics.

Steve Albini's production gives Seamonsters a noisy, discordant feel in some spots, but David Gedge's suberb songwriting lies just under the surface. He manipulates his limited vocal range into a rich, wistful voice just about to crack. The Wedding Present work best on this album when Gedge's plaintive love songs explode into a distorted fury, as on "Dalliance."

320 

Chuck Berry - The Great Twenty-Eight (1955-65)

allmusic:

This is the place to start listening to Chuck Berry. The Great Twenty-Eight was a two-LP, single CD compilation that emerged during the early '80s, amid a brief period in which the Chess catalog was in the hands of the Sugar Hill label, a disco-oriented outfit that later lost the catalog to MCA. It has proved to be one of the most enduring of all compilations of Berry's work. Up until the release of this disc, every attempt at a compilation had either been too sketchy (the 1964 Greatest Hits album on Chess) or too demanding for the casual listener (the three Golden Decade double-LP sets), and this was the first set to find a happy medium between convenience and thoroughness. Veteran listeners will love this CD even if they learn little from it, while neophytes will want to play it to death. All of the cuts come from Berry's first nine years in music, including all of the major singles as well as relatively minor hits such as "Come On" (which was more significant in the history of rock & roll in its cover version performed by the Rolling Stones as their debut release). The sound is decent throughout (surprisingly, except for "Come On," which has some considerable noise), although it is considerably outclassed by the most recent round of remasterings. In the decades since its release, there have been more comprehensive collections of Berry's work, but this is the best single disc, if one can overlook the relatively lo-fi digital sound.

320 

The Bats - Daddy's Highway (1987)

One of my all-time favorites.

allmusic:

The Bats' first full album continues the early promise of their EPs and, with only the slightest deviations and changes since, established their sound for just about everything that followed. Scott and company may not be the most willfully experimental of musicians, but when they're on -- more often the case than not -- their lovely, melancholic songs simply hit the spot. Woodward forms the perfect singing partner for Scott, while guest violinist Alastair Galbraith brings his talent to the fore as he has for so many other New Zealand bands. "Treason" makes for a good start to the album, but the real standout on Daddy's Highway is the surging "North by North." Featuring a fantastic Galbraith violin solo, it gives the band the opportunity to show its sometime hidden strengths for more energetic, nervous material. Scott's vocal performance is one of his best, and the quick, on-edge pace seems to get even more so as the song continues. Quieter songs unsurprisingly abound as well, from the understated sweetness of "Sir Queen" to the gentle keyboard-touched "Candidate." "Tragedy" is one of the best in this vein, ending in a disturbing low drone (or at least as much of a drone as the generally quick-length songs by the Bats allow for). Though Daddy's Highway suffers a touch from the same problem that affects all Bats releases -- an increasing sameness, especially towards album's end -- it's still a great full album debut.

320

High Rise - Live (1994)

Ridiculously loud, amphetamine-drenched garage rock...Hell yeah.

allmusic:

High Rise's studio albums Disallow, High Rise II, and Dispersion are all well worth owning, but if you absolutely had to narrow your High Rise purchases down to a single CD, this live album would be the best choice. Unfortunately, the liner notes don't tell listeners what the venue was or give a recording date. But wherever it was recorded, the Japanese trio is especially powerful, especially heavy and especially freewheeling on this disc (which first came out in Japan in 1994 on P.S.F. and was reissued in the U.S. by Squealer in 1999). This isn't to say that High Rise sounds neutered or inhibited in the studio, only that it is even more forceful than usual on live versions of "Mainliner," "Outside Gentiles," and "Sadame" as well as "Door," "Ikon," "Mira," and "Popsicle." In the studio, Asahito Nanjo's vocals have always been placed way down in the mix, and on-stage, they're still purposely overpowered by Munehiro Nirito's very prominent lead guitar. That might sound peculiar to some -- you never heard Robert Plant drowned out by Jimmy Page or David Lee Roth drowned out by Eddie Van Halen -- but oddly enough, it's an effect that works for High Rise. As appealing as High Rise's studio albums are, Live is by far its most essential CD. 

320