Coil - Live in NYC 08-18-01

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Alejandro Jodorowsky - The Holy Mountain OST (1973

Film plot in summary: A Christlike figure wanders through bizarre, grotesque scenarios filled with religious and sacrilegious imagery. He meets a mystical guide who introduces him to seven wealthy and powerful individuals, each representing a planet in the solar system. These seven, along with the protagonist, the guide and the guide's assistant, divest themselves of their worldly goods and form a group of nine who will seek out the Holy Mountain, in order to displace the gods who live there and become immortal.

If you haven't seen this film then watch it NOW! Afterwards, scope this wacky Chilean score by Jodorowsky himself, along with the inimitable Don Cherry. The album is action-packed with snippets of Tibetan throat singing, other creepy chanting, jazz, classical, authentic acid rock and even some Indian vibes.

The film is a truly bizarre experience but the score stands on its own pretty well.
Man, hallucinogenics and catholicism make for some disturbing and hilarious adventures. "We manufacture hyper-sexed, brown native vampires..."

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Cindytalk - Camouflage Heart ( Midnight Music,1984)

After the demise of Scottish punk / new wave band "The Freeze", David Clancy and Gordon Sharp formed Cindytalk in 1982. This project is something Sharp described as ambidustrial. I know that doesn't really roll off the tongue but it does summarize how he took elements of Editions EG's ambient releases and fused them with the then hip and new industrial sound.

In case you hear some familiar elements to the vocal stylings, guitar and production, that's because it sounds like This Mortal Coil, the 4AD ambient supergroup that Sharp was a part of. In fact, the single "Kangaroo" that Sharp sang on was the big UK indie hit off "It'll End in Tears" which is one of my favorite albums.

This record is raw, nasty, dirgey, mournful and experimental yet somehow retains a punk as fuck feel. Its bloody good, it is.

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Ry Cooder - Paris, Texas OST (Warner Bros., 1984

This film changed my life. Of course, if you were to have extracted the brilliantly painful and moving score, I'm not sure it would have had quite the same impact. Those long takes alongside the minimal dialog would not be nearly as effective without Cooder's solitary and melancholic steel guitar. The A/V is completely synonymous. Its also a real treat to have a song on here sung by Sir Harry Dean Stanton (ok, I added the knighthood moniker but I'm sure you feel me). I've been listening to the cd for years and had forgotten about it for a while until I picked up the cassette at a thrift store a while back. Now I want the vinyl. This is the jewel in the crown of one of the greatest film music composers. Throw this on while sitting outside in the sunshine drinking a cerveza. You have my word you won't be disappointed.

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Mark Fry - Dreaming with Alice (Sunbeam, 1972)

I know what you're thinking, you saw the photo and thought it looked like some member of The Black Crowes and his kid. Well, its not. Its a guy named Mark Fry. He cut one pretty bad ass pastoral psych folk record and that's all you need to know about the man himself.

This is really good stuff. Elements of Donovan, Incredible String Band, Pentangle and the Wicker Man soundtrack give way to some Indian ragga feeling pagan folk vibes. There's even a hint of some weirder Maharishi lovin' Beatles in here. For fans of all that freak folk revival and some Ben Chasny. Again, this is really good stuff.

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Night of the Living Dead - OST (Varese Sarabande, 1968)

I don't think I really need to convince you of anything here.


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Nagamatzu - Sacred Islands of the Mad (Dark Entries, 2011)

I've recently fallen in love with the Dark Entries label. They are re-issuing a ludicrous amount of early 80's synth-based acts that fell through the cracks. Limiting the LP's to 500 hand-numbered copies, they are creating a bit of hysteria. Here is a cassette release that is blowing my mind. By the time of this, their second album, Nagamatzu had moved from Ipswich to London, Stephen Jarvis (SETI, Legion, Terror Against Terror) & Andrew Lagowski (Pure Motorised Instinct, Terraform) were on a distinctive coldwave / post-punk / synthwave tip manifested by hollow-feeling drum machines, cheap synths, minimal guitars and sparsely placed vocals. The name is taken from J.G. Ballard's novel "Atrocity Exhibition" (seems to have been the most influential book of the coldwave scene) and sounds as dystopian as you would imagine.

This is some cold dark music for fans of "Faith" and "Seventeen Seconds". Get the LP fast!

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Nurse With Wound - Soliloquy for Lilith (Idle Hole, 1988)

Stephen Stapleton is one of my music gods. He's one of those artists with an unbelievably prolific output over many years that never really disappoints. Often touted as an industrial artist, much of his dark ambient and drone work seems to fall by the wayside for most. This is his magnum opus. Its quite simply 106 minutes of meditative creepiness. I forget what an impact music like this can make on the psyche. I was just out for a late night stroll through the neighborhood with my dogs while listening to this one, and succeeded in spooking myself a bit. The frequencies in these drones really did a number on me. For those of you a little disillusioned by goth or black / death metal or horror scores, try a bit of the drone. It can cure your desensitized ears and give you the creeps you thought were a lost cause. A big hit if you're a fan of Coil's "Time Machines" record.

"The album was recorded by Steven Stapleton and his wife Diana Rogerson in May 1988. The only sound source was a number of effects units which he had set up to operate in a feedback loop - there was no original input signal being processed, simply the feedback hum generated by plugging the original chain of pedals back into itself. However, when Stapleton went near the pedals he found the sound changed in accordance with his proximity to the various pedals and units. Stapleton told author David Keenan (in the book England's Hidden Reverse) that he had created the album by gently moving his fingers above the various units to create the slow, subtle changes in the sound. As this shouldn't happen, Stapleton has put the album down to an electrical fault of some sort in the studio. This was acknowledged on a later reissue with the credit "our thanks to Electricity for making this recording possible". He remains proud of the album, describing it to Keenan as "fucking brilliant". The album title refers to Stapleton and Rogerson's daughter Lilith who was born that year." -- from Wikipedia

Get pt. 1 here
Get pt. 2 here
Get pt. 3 here

Christopher Robin Waite - The Black Cassette (Mixtape, 2011)

In 1996, I started djing house parties. In 1997, I started djing nightclubs and "raves". By 1999, I was sick of djing for stupid kids that cared more about the speed and mdma than the music. Everything started to slow down...way down. I had done a few gigs in DJ Wally's opium den type lounge in NYC and decided to submerse myself in that whole "illbient" thing. I began mixing with as many mediums as possible. I used turntables, cassette walkmen and cd players, all the while forgetting about beatmatching and no longer worrying about trainwrecking. One night I got really stoned and randomly mixed Nina Simone with Einsturzende Neubauten, Angelo Badalamenti, Prince Jammy and Ligety. It was a magical and life changing experience. The result was mindbending and it struck me to continue this artistic accident into the public sphere. I still do it to this day. Its evolved over the course of a decade but the unique mind altering state that it puts my audience in still exists.

Chris Waite is on my wavelength, only, his mix is completely mature and stunningly thought out and executed. This is a real gem. sit down, relax and enjoy the lobotomy.

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Winter - Into Darkness (Future Shock, 1990)

Quite disturbing, bleak and creepy, this New York Death / Doom Metal band released this highly influential ep that didn't see much success at the time but went on to make an impact on bands like Sunn O)) and Unearthly Trance. They took their name from an Amebix song and didn't produce much more than another mediocre follow up in '94 but this stands the test of time. Into Darkness is slow and crushing. I dare you to disapprove.

This link contains the ep with bonus tracks

R.I.P. Conrad Schnitzler (1937-2011)

Founding member of Kluster and early member of Tangerine Dream, Conrad Schnitzler, has passed away of stomach cancer. He was a powerful force in the history of electronic music. After leaving Kluster in '71, he focused on solo recordings and continued to release over 100 albums including "00/830", finished just days before his death. He also opened the Zodiac Club, which is where Tangerine Dream and Kraftwerk playeed early shows.

He will be terribly missed.

Watch "Auf dem Schwarzen Kanal" Here

Flying Lotus - Thundercat (Mixtape, 2011)

Wow, this is... wow. The man can mix and his selection of cuts by the bad bass player himself, Thundercat, is just...wow. Hip Hop, Jazz, Funk and Soul are well represented here. Chill out, slow down and dig this. Righteous.

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Goblin - Buio Omega OST (Cinevox, 1979)

Are you a young rich orphan who lost your girlfriend to voodoo performed by your jealous housekeeper? Just dig that grave up, clean her out, stuff her, and make her look pretty, ya know, just for old time's sake. Just make sure to wear your headphones so you can rock the original companion soundtrack to a film where this actually happens. Necrophilia Prog? Gross, yes...awesome tunes, yes.

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