I have the perfect Halloween soundtrack for you: Einstürzende Neubauten’s Strategies Against Architecture 80-83. These guys are the uncrowned kings of noise and experimental music. This early compilation is particularly eerie, and metallic, in the literal sense of the word. Typical “instruments” listed for each song include “hollow metal object”, “metal plates”, “scratching metal”, “air conditioning duct” and so on. What vocals are there, are, how you say… distressed? And check out a few of these Halloween-ready titles: “Tanz Debil (A Dance of Mental Illness)”, “Schmerzen Hören (Listen with Pain)”, “Draußen ist Feindlich (Outside is Hostile).”
Of course, the band expanded beyond this type of music over the years. And they have put on some noteworthy live performances in their time. I have never seen them in person, but I did get to see leader Blixa Bargeld once with Nick Cave.
They have a MySpace page. The two songs there are very pretty, and not at all like what this album is like.
You should read this Wikipedia article about Einstürzende Neubauten. No self-respecting art school student should be without some of their music.
Percussive Oompah (Rudi Bohn and his Band) -- Self-titled
Artist: Percussive Oompah (Rudi Bohn and his Band)
Title: Self-titled
Year: 1962?
Format: Vinyl 12 in.
Rating (1-10): 6
Owner: Tracy
Acquired: Thrift store?
Keeper: Yes
Here’s some more lovin’ from the Oktoberfest oven. I’ve had this record forever and kept it in “various,” but I now realize that the name of the performing group is “Percussive Oompah (Rudi Bohn and his Band).” This one is instrumental. There are some, at the time, contemporary songs like “Mack the Knife” in addition to more traditional stuff like In München steht ein Hofbräuhaus.” It’s all pretty decent and I enjoy it because it just seems so strange to me. But the cover is why I had to have it. Brew in the brass horn makes me happy. And speaking of the cover, do you get the feeling the label really wanted you to know about “Phase 4 Stereo”? Inside the gatefold there’s even a diagram of how it works, along with painfully long explanations about how it was recorded, including the make and model of the microphones!
But wait! There’s more… This stuff always brings up stories of when Mary’s family was stationed in Germany during the late 1970s. Mary laments how in the prime of her childhood she was deprived of some crucial elements of American culture. The top three being Pop Rocks, Bubble Yum, and Charlie’s Angels. They had the American magazines though, so they did know what they were missing. On the other hand, they had a “beerman.” That’s right, a man, who delivers beer, regularly, right to your house. I’m not old enough to have ever seen even a milkman, and something tells beermen never existed in this country. Mary’s dad got to be friends with the beerman. On Saturdays the beerman would bring Mary’s dad beer, my father-in-law would give the beerman a cigar, and they would hang out for a bit, drinking and smoking. Those were the days.
Acquired: 1986 – When she worked at Plan 9 Records in Richmond, VA
Keeper: Yes
The now sound, the wow sound, the psychedelic Goth rock sound of The Damned is back only one year after their biggest hit, Phantasmagoria with Anything. I saw a review at AllMusic bashing this record. The reviewer seemed to have some facts wrong, and I completely disagree with the opinions. Anything is great. It’s a strange mix of the big goth sound, pseudo-classical interludes, and a soulful ’60s rock. At times it sounds like a goth version of The Fleshtones. The title track, “Anything”, opens the album and it’s my favorite.
We have two copies of Anything. My copy is the boring American release, but Mary’s copy is a great looking UK version with a gatefold cover and die-cut pop-up of the band inside. The UK version has a colorfully painted carving on the front with the unpainted version on the liner, and lyrics! The US version just has the unpainted carving on the front… and nothing else. Mary’s copy is pictured below.
Acquired: 1988 – At our store, RIP Records in Norfolk, VA
Keeper: Yes
“The Mercy Seat” is possibly the greatest song by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds. This 12 inch has a “full length” version which seems longer than the one on the LP, and a “video mix” version. There is also “New Day”, a sort of Nick Cave style gospel number. It’s another great one. Nick Cave is my girl’s favorite music artist of all time. It’s probable that we have more records by Nick Cave than any other artist, and if you include The Boys Next Door and Birthday Party it is a certainty.
And speaking of birthday parties, today is Mary’s birthday. So, today’s artist has to be Nick Cave. Like Nick, Mary marches to her own beat. It’s just one of many reasons I’m in love with her. We’ve been together a long time now, and she remains completely punk rock. Don’t change a thing baby!
Various Artists -- German Drinking Songs (Recorded Live in Munich)
Artist: Various Artists
Title: German Drinking Songs (Recorded Live in Munich)
Year: Timeless
Format: Vinyl 12 in.
Rating (1-10): 8
Owner: Tracy
Acquired: At some yard sale I think. Just got lucky.
Keeper: Yes
From the back cover:
“How to enjoy this album —
Pour yourself a stein of beer.
Put the record on the turn table and turn it on.
Sit down in a comfortable chair, take a sip of beer, close your eyes, and visualize this scene.
A small German village snuggled in a valley, surrounded by high snow capped mountains — a large circus tent pitched in the town square, completely encircled by stalls selling trinkets, games, and variations of German goods, sausages, and beer.
The sounds are those of thousands of people laughing, dancing, singing and in the tent are tables upon tables of happy beer drinkers, being served by waitresses dressed in traditional bavarian style, then weaving their way back for a refill — all the while the bands and singers are blaring forth with their intoxicating rhythms in three-quarter time.
For this is the traditional OKTOBERFEST, the most popular of all German Festivals.
Get the picture? — ENJOY.”
LEE PALMER
Take me there now! TAKE ME THERE NOW!
I’m celebrating all month long, maybe longer, at Siglerhaus and I have a couple apropos records that I’m going to share. German Drinking Songs (Recorded Live in Munich) has a number of classics. I love this record, even though everyone else finds it annoying. Maybe that makes me like it more. The good news for you is that there are a few copies on the German eBay. Don’t wait!
These are drinking songs but I have a feeling a couple are about world domination. I don’t Deutsches sprechen so that’s just a guess. This album contains the old classic “In München steht ein Hofbräuhaus” with the catchy chorus line “Eins, zwei… g’suffa!” That translates to something like “One, Two… Cheers.”
I use to work with a guy named Glen Council at a shipyard. Glen was a full-time professional model maker at the yard. I was only a model maker on an occasional, as needed, and sadly, temporary basis. There were only two of us. Glen rode a real chopper, not one of those goofy American Chopper theme bikes, or one of those sissy airbrushed trailer queens. This bike was legit. He also had a tubbed pro-street Camaro, three massive rottweilers, built clocks as a hobby, and played the flute. Yeah, he was that cool. I learned a lot about working with my hands from Glen. He was always cool under pressure.
One day Glen and I decided to call in sick later in the week, and go do something fun. We weren’t able to go the real Oktoberfest in München, but we did go to the Busch Gardens theme park in Williamsburg, VA. “The Old Country.” From the moment we decided to play hooky Glen kept singing “Eins, zwei… g’suffa!” That dude couldn’t wait to get to Das Festhaus at Busch, get some brews, and listen to the live band play “In München steht ein Hofbräuhaus.” We also did the obligatory brewery tour and got our limit of free beer samples. All in all it was an excellent day of not working for the man.
This Youtube video is actually a still, but you can hear “In München steht ein Hofbräuhaus.” This version is not quite as rollicking as the live one on my record.
Neither of us remembers, or will admit, to getting this one. I’m a lover, not a hater. So, I don’t want to sit here and pick on these guys, but I really did not enjoy this record. I did like the first song “Generator” but after that I found it hard to pay attention. It’s “curtains” for Curtains by The Balancing Act.
There’s been more hardcore punk in my life this past week than usual, at least for over 20 years. I got to see, and meet, Double Negative at a show last week. Like many hardcore shows it was at a place not really intended for live music. In this case it was Gourmet Perks, a coffee house just down the street from my place. It was a fun show with a small but enthusiastic crowd of “hardcore” fans.
I also happened to finally see the movie American Hardcore in its entirety this weekend. The film is about the birth and evolution of hardcore punk in the years between 1979 and 1986. I was really involved in that scene and found the movie very interesting. If you weren’t, I’m not sure you would agree. To quote from one interview in the film, “normal people didn’t like this music, and we liked it that way.”
This is definitely a good hardcore album, and to be honest it certainly sounds better than most of the music from the original scene. It’s really on an altogether higher level. My favorite song is probably “Stop Growing.”
Seeing Double Negative live last week and playing the album a lot since then, along with watching American Hardcore has made me think quite a bit about what punk was, and is. Maybe it’s just because I’m older, but I can’t help wondering what is it all about now, this hardcore punk scene? In the movie a couple guys from Flipper make a point of saying “punk is dead, it’s over.” Well, after seeing last week’s show and listening to this record there’s no way I can agree with that. It may not be the D-I-Y music revolution it was decades ago, that can only happen once. But the spirit, attitude and principles of hardcore punk live on with new, younger fans and bands like Double Negative.
I know some folks like to make fun of Adam and the Ants. Considering that their popularity was relatively short-lived, their use of not-of-this-time-appearing costumes, and the annoying frequency with which they sing about themselves or their Ant nation, that is understandable. But this is still interesting music. Most, maybe all, of these songs are just too strange to sound dated. The double drummer set up, tribal chanting vocals, and spaghetti western guitar riffs all make for something that is as original as it is pop. My favorite song is “Killer in the Home”, about the plight of Native Americans. I blame Jeff Arthur for getting me into this.
More info about Adam and the Ants’ Kings of the Wild Frontier.
“1985 – C/Z is born (a year prior to the launching of the Sub Pop label) with the release of the DEEP SIX compilation featuring the first available recordings from Soundgarden, Melvins, and Green River (who later spawned Mother Love Bone & Pearl Jam). The record marked the earliest beginnings of grunge. In time these bands are signed and successful.”
The six bands are: Green River, Malfunkshun, The Melvins, Skin Yard, Soundgarden and U-Men. The most noteworthy descendant band not mentioned above is Mudhoney. Singer Mark Arm was first in Green River. Many would consider this the first significant record from the burgeoning 1980s Seattle scene. Some would call it “grunge”, but I’ve read that many of the bands didn’t like being lumped into a single category.
Wikipedia has a good article about Deep Six where you see the song list and the band rosters. Scan the list and you’ll see a lot familiar names sometimes under less familiar bands. These guys moved around a lot.
I was very excited about this music because it was essentially guitar-based rock that wasn’t, for the most part, stupid mainstream stuff from guys with teased up hair and makeup. I suppose it was punk in its own way, but with better riffs.
There were only 2000 copies of Deep Six made. It’s supposedly collectible, and tonight I saw a copy on eBay for $75.
And so begins my favorite ZZ Top song, “Waitin’ for the Bus.” Growing up I loved hearing it on the radio. All the AOR stations would also play “Jesus Just Left Chicago” right after it. That’s also how the songs are ordered on this best of. It’s hard to believe ZZ Top had a “best of” out in 1977. Also, after non-stop listening to this compilation over the last couple days I’m amazed how funky these cats are, or at least were. There are many other great ones here: “Tush”, “La Grange”, “Heard it on the X” etc. They’re still rocking live shows with these tunes, but their later period work doesn’t really compare.
To my everlasting regret I never have been able to find their records. And I do want records. Whenever I’m in a proper record store I always head right to the Zs, but no soap. At least I scored this one from my friend Bob when he moved West.
I found a great, recent video of ZZ Top playing “Waitin'” and “Jesus” live. Check it out below. Billy Gibbons has such a huge, nasty tone. I read a long time ago that he uses something like an old silver dollar for a pick. Once I started watching these videos I couldn’t stop. After about six I said to myself “you’re spending too much time on music.” I know, that’s crazy talk.
Want to know what it's like to have brain surgery? Well here's the long version of my experience. Complete with pictures and videos! Read all about the Brain Surgery Experience.
