Fall music II.

Since blogspot now allows me to see how many people view each post, I can tell which ones are most popular...apparently the one on 'fall music' a couple weeks ago was well-liked, so I'm doing a second installment since fall is basically upon us...

Wipers - 'Over the Edge'

Most definitely my favorite Wipers release. The first three albums are unquestionably some of the greatest punk music ever released. This'un saw main fella Greg Sage basically cutting all the lows out of his recordings in order to make a creepy, tinny sounding album. Don't go into this thinking it's gonna be some fast three-chord bullshit since I called it 'punk....' it's punk in the way that Mission of Burma is 'punk.'

Type O Negative - 'October Rust'

Some people think this band is laughable, but they're fucking stupid. That's not to say they weren't hilarious when they wanted to be. Although this is a pretty serious album (and one of their most depressing), it was conceived as a 'pop-goth metal' project...basically a 'sell-out' album, according to band members. Whatever the case, 'Love You to Death' is one of the all-time highest points (and most melodic) of the doom metal genre.

Circle of Ouroborus - 'Eleven Fingers'

I put these guys on my Incredibly Strange Metal compilation...this album is on a totally different trip. It's not quite black metal, it's not quite post-punk...it kinda sounds like a post-punk band playing black metal, but not in the boring hipster way...The whole thing is lo-fi in a really odd way that's like being sucked into a rainstorm.

Mission of Burma - 'Vs.'

...speaking of post-punk, this classic is a definite 'fall weather' album. Loud, dissonant, melodic and challenging all at once. These guys had the advantage of being in a proto-punk band (the Ann Arbor-based Sproton Layer) so they'd already figured out what they wanted to do by the time independent rock took off. Still rocking out to this day, and putting out decent music.

Deftones - 'White Pony'

If you don't know much about these guys aside from their affiliation with the 'nu-metal' scene, definitely check this one out. More like an amped-up Cure than Korn, the Deftones are one of the only popular metal groups in recent years that really tried something different. I can't say a bad thing about them...even the new album 'Diamond Eyes' is rockin', and 'Adrenaline' is the best so-called 'rap metal' thing out there.

Butthole Surfers - 'Rembrandt Pussyhorse'

Okay, not ALL of this album is great for fall, but it's definitely the Surfers' most 'post-punk' release, and also one of their more melodic. Tracks like 'Whirling Hall of Knives' are hypnotizing without being boring. Modern day 'noise rock' bands could take a cue from classics like this.

Iron Maiden - 'Killers'

Without a doubt my favorite Iron Maiden release. In fact, I can't stand much of their stuff outside of this and the debut LP. Paul Di'Anno was the shit and Bruce Dickinson can suck it. Maybe I only associate this with fall because of Halloween (like Sabbath) but who cares.

Striborg - 'Embittered Darkness'

A few whiffens past, I posted a mixtape that pretty prominently featured some of the metal stuff I was getting into (and subsequently playing on Forte.) I did you all an injustice by not posting this entire album then, so I'm doing it now.

If you aren't too familiar with the black metal genre, it's pretty cool. I got into Burzum in high school, then inevitably saw the 'Until the Light Takes Us' film and started listening to other shit. Hipsters have been kind of ruining it lately (what with 'blackgaze' n' all...c'mon guys...does EVERYTHING need a stupid fucking label? It's basically people who like the idea of metal but still have this stigma of it being lame and shit, so they don't really respect it and try to make it like My Bloody Valentine.) but there's still a lot of interesting shit coming out.

Striborg is apparently all one dude, and he's from Tasmania. I heard he lives in the woods like a hermit, but I'm not sure if that's legit. It might as well be. This, to me, is a really good introduction to black metal...it's not quite as 'evil' or whatever as Beherit...definitely stranger than Burzum, but not sissy or French enough for hipster kids to dig it. Actually, it's kinda scary. This fella sounds much more likely to cut some fuckers up than Varg on record.

The music is pretty lo-fi, which is common in the genre, but it's got this weird, organic, but somewhat hollow feeling...I dunno...I listened to it while walking around in the woods (like you're supposed to) and I was feeling it for about half the record, then got too creeped out and went home.

Tracklist:

1. Protagonist of Misanthropic Virtues
2. Wrapped in a Cocoon out of Harm's Way
3. Race of Apathy
4. In the Eerie Pre-Dawn Silence of the Cold
5. Embittered Darkness
6. Digging a Ditch to Die In

NOTE: The actual CD version of this includes the 'Isle De Morts' EP, which isn't as impressive at all. Really kind of subpar traditional black metal. Sorry if you're a completist, but that's the world of free music sharing. I liked his album 'Perceiving the World with Hate' much better than the 'Isle' EP...more similar to this stuff.

DOWNLOAD

Fall music.

I don't like winter or summer, I pretty much tolerate spring because it's not winter, so the only time of the year I really like is fall. Also, the music that I associate with fall seems to be some of my favorite...to me, that means stuff that's often depressing, but in an 'elegant' and abstract kind of way.

These are the albums I rock pretty hard all season long:

Burzum - 'Filosofem'

Basically the best black metal album of all time, but one that really transcends the genre. The three opening tracks are all it should take to become totally obsessed with black metal like I was. From the lo-fi production to the artful throat-shredding vocals, this album IS a forest losing its leaves.

 The Cure - anything, but specifically 'Faith,' 'Disintegration' and 'Seventeen Seconds.'

There are very few things I don't like about The Cure, but these three albums define autumn to me. Some of their work is only good if I'm in a really bad mood ('Pornography,' 'The Top') and other things I only really play if I'm in a Cure-kinda mood ('Kiss Me x3') but I can listen to these three records all season long.

Funeral - 'Tragedies'

Just look at that goddamn album cover. Slow, long and moody pieces that feature really great (although totally out-of-place) female vocals. Somehow the simple vocal patterns and melodies make these songs feel like they stepped out of the 19th century, even though it's a doom metal album...

Slint - 'Spiderland'

Best listened to at night by yourself. Creepy, abstract, weird, and emotionally muted. I guess these songs are depressing, but it's like a confusing, dream-state depression...cliche I guess, but it's like a David Lynch film. A word that comes to mind is 'secretive.' This is what I would listen to if I was an undercover detective.

Codeine - 'Frigid Stars'

Like 'Spiderland' with everything sucked out of it except the melancholy. This is less artful and more just straight up depressing. Not recommended unless you're feelin' real bad. I always listen to this while driving in the autumn dark with the windows down even if it's cold as fuck.

Echo and the Bunnymen - 'Ocean Rain'

I never got past this album...as soon as I realized none of their other releases really had the full orchestra like this one, I didn't pay too much attention. I'm sure they're good 'n all...just not 'Ocean Rain.' Sure, it's sissy English-guy music, but it's way better than any Oasis or Ride or whatever.

Guided by Voices - 'Bee Thousand'

Okay, this record is pretty good for any season...and I rocked it all summer long, but 'Smothered in Hugs' and 'Tractor Rape Chain' have this vibe that sits best with being way too stoned on a rainy fall morning. Maybe you're too 'grown up' to be in that situation, but I'm not.

Creedence Clearwater Revival - 'Chronicle, Vol. 1'

I also tend to listen to a lot of 'classic' rock in the early days of fall...Creedence is such an earthy, forest-y kinda thing. I always get the feeling these guys wanted to blow up every city and just live in the fuckin' woods. Try listening to their version of 'I Put a Spell on You' and not feel cool.

Black Sabbath - 'Black Sabbath

Maybe it's because of Halloween, but Black Sabbath IS October.

Big Star - '#1 Record'

The ultimate 'back to school' album....it IS 1972 and I AM trying to score a date to the homecoming dance when I hear this record. Usually I listen to side one of this, followed by Chris Bell's solo work. I love Alex Chilton and all he did, but the stuff with Bell has that chilly seasonal vibe...'specially 'Better Save Yourself' and 'I Am the Cosmos.'

Castin' away...

Three more Obscuros for you to pass the time with.

Episode 46 - 12-4-09 THIS IS MY PRIVATE LIFE

Obscuro 12-4-09 This is My Private Life by Bizarrojerry on Mixcloud

Tracklist:

Wicked Lady - Sin City
Eddie Callahan - Where Will We Be Tomorrow
Kenneth Higney - Rock Star
Oliver - Tok Tic
Sound Ceremony - Motor
Bob Bell - Necropolis Pt. 1
Kaplan Brothers - Listen to the Falling Rain
Tommy Jay - Village Idiot
Christopher Montgomery - The Beat in the Jungle
Alien City - Get Away
Virgin Insanity - The Ballad of Clifton T.
JW Farquhar - The Want-Machine Pt. 1
The Afflicted Man - Get Stoned EZY
Roger Rubin and Rotfree Anderson - Masters of Society
YaHoWa 13 - Fire in the Sky
Randy Rice - Mrs. Bitch
Mike Rep and the Quotas - I Resign
Tool Shed - Court Roger
Jandek - You're the Best One
Raven - Raven Mad Jam
Tim Curry - Brontasaurus
Debris - Tricia
Madrigal - B.B.'s Finale
Boots - Up
Arcesia - Reachin'
Y. Bhekhirst - Dalmar

NOTE: If you couldn't glean it from the title, this episode focuses on private press LP's...i.e. independently released stuff before there was an 'independent' scene.

Episode 47 - 12-11-09 BUMMER IN THE WINTER

Obscuro 12-11-09 Bummer in the Winter by Bizarrojerry on Mixcloud

Tracklist:

Jim Shepard - Pull the Switch, Henry
electric eels - Anxiety
Buddy Knox - I Think I'm Gonna Kill Myself
Randy Holden - Fruit and Iceburgs
Jandek - Stopped
Jandek - Cave in On You
The Monks - I Hate You
Armand Schaubroeck Steals - Scene 12: Mental Breakdown in Solitary Confinement, "Fading Out"
Dave Bixby - Drug Song
Former Fetus - After the Rapture
Gary Wilson - Loneliness
This Heat - Makeshift Swahili
Little Stevie McCabe - Life Doesn't Go On
Smoke - Curtains
Edgar Broughton Band - Why Can't Somebody Love Me?
Stephen David Heitkotter - Fly Over the Moon
Terry - Clown Clouds
Mark Melanson - Pieces in the Sand
Paternoster - Blind Children
Tolerance - I Wanna Be a Homicide
Meat Puppets - Aurora Borealis
Jandek - You Painted Your Teeth
Hopkins and Bradley - Final Bow
Michael Yonkers Band - Kill the Enemy
Louis Innis - Suicide
Mike Rep and the Quotas - Nightwalker
Bob Desper - Lonely Man

Episode 48 - 12-18-09 NWW LIST

Obscuro 12-18-09 NWW List by Bizarrojerry on Mixcloud

Tracklist:

Smegma - Half a Billion
This Heat - The Fall of Saigon
Hairy Chapter - It Must Be an Officer's Daughter
The Pop Group - Don't Call Me Plain
Red Krayola - Hurricane Fighter Plane
Debris - One Way Spit
Art Bears - Rats and Monkeys
Magma - Aina
John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band - Well, Well, Well
Deep Freeze Mice - Brain Dead Baby
Night Sun - Plastic Shotgun
Cromagnon - Caledonia
Walter Franco - Piramides
Mahogany Brain - Diamond Voices of Stars
Comus - Song to Comus
Poison Girls - Crisis
Anal Magic and the Reverend Dwight Frizzell - Nocturnal
Dedalus - Brilla
Patrick Vian - Tunnel 4, Red Noise
Companyia Electria Dharma - Euforia
Chrome - You've Been Duplicated
Brainticket - Places of Light
Mars - Puerto Rican Ghost
Hampton Grease Band - Maria
Dies Irae - Lucifer
Residents - Nice Old Man
Harvester - Everybody (Needs Somebody to Love)

NOTE: This is the Nurse With Wound List. It might seem like kind of a pretentious thing...okay, it IS kind of a pretentious thing...basically some arty noise-mongers put a 'mysterious' list of artists in the liner notes of their first album and it's 'unknown' why they did it...I'm gonna go out on a limb and say it's so they could prove how much cooler and knowledgeable of underground music they are than you. Regardless, if you want to hear some challenging things, it's worth checking out. A lot of good post-punk and private-press weirdness is included.

Playlist for 12-11-09, campus closed but Jerry's still rockin' it

Despite tumultuous weather and some spin-0uts in the WIDR parking lot, I presented the public with another excellent edition of Obscuro! this past Thursday night. The show featured a bit more depressing fare than usual, but whatev, right? Of the artists featured, both Jandek and Jim Shepard got more than one play. Cos I'm lazy? Anyhow, get the podcast here, and follow along with the playlist below. IT'S BACKWARDS.

Dec 11 - 1:53 AM	Bob Desper	Lonely Man	New Sounds		No		e/d
Dec 11 - 1:52 AM	Mike Rep and the Quotas	Nightwalker	A Tree Stump Named Desire		No		e/d
Dec 11 - 1:49 AM	Louis Innis	Suicide	45 rpm single		No		e/d
Dec 11 - 1:45 AM	Michael Yonkers Band	Kill the Enemy	Microminiature Love		No	Bizarro Jerry	e/d
Dec 11 - 1:42 AM	Hopkins and Bradley	Final Bow	S/T		No		e/d
Dec 11 - 1:38 AM	Jandek	You Painted Your Teeth	Telegraph Melts		No		e/d
Dec 11 - 1:35 AM	Meat Puppets	Aurora Borealis	Meat Puppets II	requestical	Yes		e/d
Dec 11 - 1:32 AM	Tolerance	I Wanna Be a Homicide	Anonym		No		e/d
Dec 11 - 1:26 AM	Paternoster	Blind Children	S/T		No	Bizarro Jerry	e/d
Dec 11 - 1:25 AM	Tolerance	I Wanna Be a Homicide			No		e/d
Dec 11 - 1:25 AM	Paternoster	Blind Children	S/T		No		e/d
Dec 11 - 1:24 AM	Mark Melanson	Pieces in the Sand	Haunted Hearse		No		e/d
Dec 11 - 1:13 AM	Terry	Clown Clouds	Rojvi		No		e/d
Dec 11 - 12:59 AM	Stephen David Heitkotter	Fly Over the Moon	Heitkotter		No	Bizarro Jerry	e/d
Dec 11 - 12:54 AM	Edgar Broughton Band	Why Can't Somebody Love Me?	Wasa Wasa		No		e/d
Dec 11 - 12:49 AM	Smoke	Curtains	Heaven on a Popsicle Stick		No		e/d
Dec 11 - 12:48 AM	Little Stevie McCabe	Life Doesn't Go On	Sweat it Out		No		e/d
Dec 11 - 12:42 AM	This Heat	Makeshift Swahili	Deceit		No		e/d
Dec 11 - 12:39 AM	Gary Wilson	Loneliness	You Think You Really Know Me		No	Bizarro Jerry	e/d
Dec 11 - 12:36 AM	Former Fetus	After the Rapture	A Rock Opera		No		e/d
Dec 11 - 12:32 AM	Dave Bixby	Drug Song	Ode to Quetzacoatl		No		e/d
Dec 11 - 12:28 AM	Armand Schaubroeck Steals	Scene 12: Mental Breakdown in Solitary Confinement, "Fading Out"	A Lot of People Would Like to See Armand Schaubroeck...DEAD		No		e/d
Dec 11 - 12:22 AM	The Monks	I Hate You	Black Monk Time		No		e/d
Dec 11 - 12:18 AM	Jandek	Cave in on You	Ready for the House		No	Bizarro Jerry	e/d
Dec 11 - 12:15 AM	Jandek	Stopped	Worthless Recluse		No		e/d
Dec 11 - 12:10 AM	Randy Holden	Fruit and Iceburgs (sic)	Population II		No		e/d
Dec 11 - 12:08 AM	Buddy Knox	I Think I'm Gonna Kill Myself	45 rpm single		No		e/d
Dec 11 - 12:03 AM	Electric Eels	Anxiety	The Eyeball of Hell		No		e/d
Dec 11 - 12:01 AM	Jim Shepard	Pull the Switch, Henry	Picking Through the Wreckage With a Stick		No	Bizarro Jerry	e/d

Next week's show will feature cuts from various artists off the Nurse With Wound list, as previously mentioned. See the post before this one for more info. I'll probably load up an album dealing with that theme midway through the week, too.