Laibach — Sympathy For The Devil

• Artist: Laibach
• Title: Sympathy For The Devil
• Year: 1988
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 8
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 1988 – Bought it for myself at our store RIP Records in Norfolk, VA.
• Keeper: Yes

I’ve never been un-screwed before, but I think I like it. At least compared to having the plate and screws attached to my previously obliterated clavicle today’s surgical undoing was a breeze. Thanks Keith, for pumping [Clap!] me up

Ja man ja, more Laibach. Do you like it? Or, do you love it? There is no third question. I love Laibach. This “Sympathy For The Devil” EP came out the same year as their most awesome interpretation of The Beatles “Let It Be.” (Their own web site says it came out two years later, but ladies and gentlemen the record I’m holding in my hand right now says otherwise! The Internet is crap.) The “Sympathy” record isn’t quite as impressive if for no other reason than instead of an album’s worth of songs it’s six, very different, versions of this Rolling Stones classic. The hi-hat sound on one of them is the greatest thing ever.

Again, I point to this article about Laibach at Wikipedia. It’s good, they’re good and too strange for you to not know all about them.

King Crimson — Larks’ Tongues in Aspic

• Artist: King Crimson
• Title: Larks’ Tongues in Aspic
• Year: 1973
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 8
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 2006 – A gift from Keith.
• Keeper: Yes

Today is a “K” day. Even though I’m playing 7-inches this time through I decided to go with King Crimson’s LP “Larks’ Tongues in Aspic” because:

1. my good friend Keith just bought this for me on eBay
2. this K-day is also for K-eith, his wife K-erah and their un-alliteratively-named son Max
3. and I get to postpone writing about another Kajagoogoo record

I don’t know much about King Crimson, but this one is Keith’s favorite. I like it too, and was surprised how “progressive”, in a good way, this record was and is. My favorite cuts are the title tracks that bookend the album. After a few minutes of almost ambient noodling the opening track slams you with a metallic riff in 7/8 time signature. I like surprises. Except for the vocals, in some ways this album reminds me a lot of the Gamalon record I’ve already logged here. But Gamalon came along over a decade later.

Did Gorillaz really sample the laugh at the end of “Easy Money”?

Laibach — Let It Be

• Artist: Laibach
• Title: Let It Be
• Year: 1988
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 9
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 1988 – Bought it for myself at our store RIP Records in Norfollk, VA.
• Keeper: Yes

More Laibach! Ja! Ja! Laibach is my all-time favorite Slovenian band. This collection of songs from the Beatles “Let It Be” makes me deeply regret not having all of their music. There’s still time!

The album is titled “Let It Be” but the title track itself is missing. The other songs, in a new order as per Laibach, are all insanely original interpretations. I could go on and on, but someone has already done a great article on the band at Wikipedia. Read more about them.

Tom Waits — Franks Wild Years

Tom Waits -- Franks Wild Years

• Artist: Tom Waits
• Title: Franks Wild Years
• Year: 1987
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 6
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 1987 – Bought when I worked at Mother’s Records in Hampton, VA.
• Keeper: Yes

You would think there would be an apostrophe before the “s” in Franks, but no.

Mary’s favorite music artist is Nick Cave. As we listened to this I was teasing her that Tom Waits is what Nick will sound like when he’s 20 years older. Except this record was made almost 20 years ago, and Tom is only 8 years older than Nick, I checked. And I’m old, but both of these guys are ooooold.

I don’t know why I bought this record. I think at the time I thought he was someone I should know more about, but I still don’t know much about the man or his music. “Franks Wild Years” is the only Tom Waits album I own. Sometimes for fringe music you need a mentor to lead you into it and get you really engaged. I don’t think I’ve ever met that person for Tom Waits.

I do like soundtracks, and this record pretty much is one even if there isn’t a movie to go with it. Of course, he is an important artist, right? So, I guess I should keep the one record I have.

Of Cabbages And Kings — Face

• Artist: Of Cabbages And Kings
• Title: Face
• Year: 1988
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 6
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 1988 – Bought it for myself when we had RIP Records in Norfolk, VA.
• Keeper: Maybe

This is not happy music. OCAK has had its share of stars from the music world underground. Including members of The Swans, Glenn Branca, and drummer Ted Parsons. Ted was the long-time drummer for one of my all-time favorite bands, Prong. I’ll drone on about Prong when we get to those records.

Like I said, it’s not feel-good music. It’s heavy, but not metallic, more primitive with some occassional jazzy “out” playing. That weird album cover looks like the Pixies’ stuff, but I don’t think it’s the same artist. Not sure about keeping it. If you search for them you might find another band with the same name from the ’60s. Try adding the album title.

Negativland — Escape From Noise

• Artist: Negativland
• Title: Escape From Noise
• Year: 1987
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 3
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 1987 – Bought for myself when I worked at Mother’s Records and Tapes in Hampton, VA.
• Keeper: Maybe

For the most part this isn’t music; it’s what I would call audio art. Lots of noise from various gadgets, talking voices, etc. I think in 1987 I was buying pretty much everything the record label SST was putting out. They have a following and maybe knowing that also prompted me to check it out. I would guess that their fans are what people from my planet would call “nerds.”

Noteworthy, and maybe another reason I bought it is the long list of artists who made contributions to Escape From Noise: Jello Biafra, Steve Fisk, Fred Frith, Jerry Garcia, Alexander Hacke (Einstürzende Neubauten), Mickey Hart (Grateful Dead), Mark Mothersbaugh (Devo), The Residents, and others.

I’m committed to playing all these records before I write about them. Mary asked me to please finish playing this one while she took the dog for a walk.

I don’t imagine I’ll ever play this again, but I’m on the fence about keeping it unless I can find someone who wants it. Like I said, they do have fans. And the teenager in me finds that “CAR BOMB” bumper sticker funny. Maybe I’m a nerd too.

Laibach — Opus Dei

• Artist: Laibach
• Title: Opus Dei
• Year: 1987
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 7
• Owner: Mary
• Acquired: 1987 – Mary bought it when she worked at Plan 9 Records in Richmond, VA.
• Keeper: Yes

“Leben Heißt Leben!” And you can’t argue with that!

I had to start playing this one last night to flush that Kajagoogoo out of my head. It worked. These guys are hard to explain, and I’m not sure I even get the whole thing. But I like it. Laibach is probably the weirdest band I know of that has had any commercial success.

Eastern European/Wagnerian/Industrial/Stomp/Electronic/Orchestral/March Rock with the occassional pretty tune thrown in to keep you guessing. That’s the best I can do. It’s worth your time to click one of the search links to read more about them.

Can — Sacrilege

• Artist: Can
• Title: Sacrilege
• Year: 1997
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 5
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 2002 ? – My brother Grayson bequeathed this to me with a bunch of other vinyl.
• Keeper: Maybe

This one poses an alphabetizing challenge. The band is Can, but these are other artists doing remixes. Should it be under “various artists”? Nah.

I don’t know much about Can, but from a little reading I’ve done I wish I did. Very much ahead of their time and timeless at the same… time. Someone described them as a prototypical Radiohead. These remixes, all three records worth, I’m sure sound very little like the originals. On the whole it’s very electronic. If you’re into that you’ll like it. There are a few stunning tracks.

Steve Vai — Passion And Warfare

Steve Vai -- Passion And Warfare

• Artist: Steve Vai
• Title: Passion And Warfare
• Year: 1990
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 6
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 1990 – Bought it for myself at our store RIP Records in Norfolk, VA.
• Keeper: Yes

This isn’t the only Steve Vai record I own, but for some reason it’s the only one I can find. Hmm.

I love being witness greatness, and Vai is certainly a tremendous guitarist. Like most guitar hero albums this isn’t the kind of record you want to play often. The songs serve as vehicles for the guitar showmanship. Unless you’re a guitar hero or wannabe yourself, music is more enjoyable when the solos serve the songs.

That said, Steve Vai’s work is much more about the music than just the intense solos than, say, Joe Satriani. It’s also a lot weirder.

Gamalon — Self-titled

• Artist: Gamalon
• Title: Self-titled
• Year: 1987
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 8
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 1987 – Promo when I was working at Mother’s Records & Tapes in Hampton, VA.
• Keeper: Yes

Just got back from house hunting in Oregon. Oh, yes. I think we’re moving there.

If you’re a guitarist you really should check this out. This is an instrumental jazz/rock or “fusion” album. I’m not usually into that kinda stuff but these guys shred. It’s hard to explain the sound, but once you’ve heard this record it’s even harder to not like it.