Deceit (1981)

This Heat was a British group formed in the late 70's by Charles Bullen, Charles Hayward, and Gareth Williams. The band's sound has a tendency to cross different genres, but it is often said to be the "missing link" between progressive rock and post-punk. The band recieved some of it's acclaim after the famous DJ John Peel became a fan.

Deceit was This Heat's second full album. The album was recorded in a former meat pie factory in England. The record was influenced by the band's fear of nuclear war, and it features many politically charged songs.

Track Listing
1. Sleep 2:14
2. Paper Hats 6:02
3. Triumph 2:55
4. S.P.Q.R. 3:28
5. Cenotaph 4:41
6. Shrink Wrap 1:40
7. Radio Prague 2:21
8. Makeshift Swahili 4:04
9. Independence 3:42
10. A New Kind of Water 4:57
11. Hi Baku Shyo 4:03

listennnnnn

Heavier Than a Death in the Family (1973-1977)

Les Rallizes Dénudés will be the second band from Japrocksampler that I will feature on here. Les Rallizes Dénudés were a Japanese psychedelic group. The band started in 1967 and they were always extremely anti-commercial. Interviews with them were usually refused, and they never actually recorded an album in a studio. Because of this, all of Les Rallizes Dénudés' releases were technically bootlegs. The group was also known for their radical politics, and in 1970, original bassist Moriaki Wakabayashi, a member of the Japanese Red Army, helped to hijack a plane to North Korea.

Listening to this band as loudly as you can is like an assault. They sound like the Velvet Underground at their loudest, most strange points, except even more harsh and intense. The band is known for the fantastic guitar sound of Takashi Mizutani. The sound was extremely loud, with a lot of feedback.



I recommend this album, and whatever other releases you can find by them. I hate to sound cliche, but if you're into loud, noisy groups, this band will "change your life."

Track List
1. Strong Out Deeper Than the Night 15:32
2. The Night Collectors 8:32
3. Night of the Assassins 12:07
4. Enter the Mirror 11:45
5. People Can Choose 10:33
6. Ice Fire 16:13

get it

1/2 Gentlemen/Not Beasts (1980)

"Tuning the guitar is kind of a ridiculous notion. If you have to wind the tuning pegs to just a certain place, that implies that every other place would be wrong. But that's absurd. How could it be wrong? It's your guitar and you're the one playing it. It's completely up to you to decide how it should sound." - David Fair, Half Japanese

Half Japanese apparently wanted to start a band so bad, that they never bothered to learn how to properly play their instruments. (Not that this is a bad thing.) At least, that's the impression that I always got from them. Their sound is pretty much the definition of DIY. Their loud, noisiness almost sounds like a punked-up version of the Shaggs. Like the Shaggs, Half Japanese makes up in enthusiasm what they lack in ability.

The group formed in 1975 by brothers Jad and David Fair. Jad Fair is also well known for his solo albums and work with fellow outsider artist Daniel Johnston.



Half Japanese's album 1/2 Gentlemen/Not Beasts features covers of some of their influences such as The Velvet Underground, The Modern Lovers, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan and others. The result is an almost no-wave noise that sounds completely different than the originals. Throughout the record, the band definitely seems like they're having a lot of fun re-making the songs. I recommend the album to fans of noise punk, no wave and noisy lo-fi sounds.

Disc One
1. No Direct Line from my Brain to my Heart 2:00
2. 10th Avenue Freeze Out 1:49
3. Ta Sheri Ta Ta 4:55
4. My Girlfriend Lives Like a Beatnik 1:04
5. Her Parents Came Home 0:58
6. Shhh - Shhh - Shhh 2:12
7. Girls Like That 2:12
8. Rrrrrrrrrrrrr 1:26
9. No More Beatlemania 1:52
10. Tangled Up in Blue 3:44
11. Patti Smith 2:22
12. School of Love 1:07
13. Jodie Foster 2:15
14. Shy Around Girls 1:36
15. Grrrrrrrrrr 2:24
16. Bogue Millionares - Cool Millionares 2:10
17. Tn Tn Tn Tn Ki 3:10
18. I Can't Stand it Anymore 2:23
19. I Love Oriental Girls 1:44
20. Dream Date 1:32
21. Du Du Du - Du Du Du 7:22
22. Ain't Too Proud to Beg 1:10
23. Ann Arbor, MI 0:32
24. I'm Going to the Zoo 1:13
25. Shi Yi Yi 0:58
26. Rave On 1:42
27. I Ta Na Si Na Me Eee 1:02
28. Til Victory 2:16
29. Rip My Shirt to Shreds 0:19
30. I Don't Want to Have Mono No More 1:40
31. She Cracked 1:57
32. Bbbbbbb / Bbbbbbbb 1:36

wooooooooooooooo

Disc Two
1. Funky Broadway Melody 4:12
2. I'm Sorry 1:36
3. T-T-T-T-T-T 6:43
4. The Word I'd Ever Do 0:43
5. Live in Baltimore, MD 20:16
6. Live in Washington, DC 18:16
7. Battle of the Bands 1:59
8. Worst I'd Ever Do 0:42
9. Ann Arbor, Mi 0:53
10. School of Love 1:31
11. Her Parents Came Home 0:56
12. Shy Around Girls 1:10
13. Dream Date 1:42
14. Bogue Millionares - Cool Millionares 3:29
15. Knock on Wood 1:43
16. Top Secret 0:47
17. Guitar Solo 0:41
18. Calling All Girls 1:04

yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay


Half Japanese fansite

Paul Baribeau (2004)

Paul Baribeau is not just my favorite artist of the folk-punk genre, but one of my favorite songwriters in general. After first hearing his self titled release, it quickly became one of my all time favorite albums. The 14 track cd was originally sent to Plan-it-X records as a demo. It was liked so much, that it got released as is. Paul has recorded 3 albums of original material, along with a cover album with Ginger Alford of Bruce Springsteen covers. Paul has also collaborated with artists like Kimya Dawson, Ghost Mice and Matty Pop Chart.



Usually I get pretty bored with folk-punk albums after listening to them for awhile, but I have never gotten sick of Paul's music. His lyrics are really what makes the album what it is, since the music is quite simple. I think after you listen to songs like "Never Get to Know" and "Strawberry" you'll get what I mean.






But I digress... please buy this man's records. All of them are very good, and whether you like folk-punk or not. He writes really wonderful, honest songs that I would recommend to basically anyone.

Track Listing
1. Tablecloth 1:17
2. I Thought I Could Find You 1:32
3. Only Babies Cry 2:41
4. Strawberry 2:22
5. Boys Like Me 2:23
6. I Miss That Band 1:24
7. Brown Brown Brown 1:39
8. Never Get To Know 2:43
9. Jordan 0:30
10. When You Go Back to College 1:56
11. Blue Eyes 2:42
12. The Pier 0:56
13. Help a Kid Out 1:39
14. Things I Don't Do 1:04

try it?
buy it!
myspace

PS: for more good music, check out my friend Max's blog. Good stuff! Shock Mountain

You Think You Really Know Me (1977), Mary Had Brown Hair (2002)

Gary Wilson is an outsider musician famous for his classic album You Think You Really Know Me. Wilson recorded his first album in his parents basement in Endicott, NY. Originally, only 300 copies of the record were pressed. The album is a strange experiment of funk, electronic music and pop. The lyrics on the album deal with obsession and paranoia. Wilson's live performances in the 70's were just as bizarre as the album. Sometimes, the owners of the club would turn out the power to attempt to get him to leave the stage.



Soon after the albums release, Wilson went into exile. Throughout the 80's and 90's, many famous acts such as Beck began to cite Gary Wilson as an important influence on their music, which led to the re-release of his groundbreaking first album. In 2002, Wilson played his first live show in years in New York City. In 2004, Wilson released his second album Mary Had Brown Hair after 27 years without recording any new music.




You Think You Really Know Me
1. Another Time I Could Have Loved You 1:14
2. You Keep on Looking 2:05
3. 6.4 = Make Out 5:01
4. When You Walk Into My Dreams 2:39
5. Loneliness 3:04
6. Cindy 2:50
7. You Were Too Good to Be True 1:59
8. Groovy Girls Make Love at the Beach 4:09
9. I Wanna Lose Control 2:22
10. You Think You Really Know Me 2:06
11. Chromium Bitch 3:26
12. And Then I Kissed Your Lips 2:51

listen

Mary Had Brown Hair
1. A Very Small Town 0:52
2. Linda Wants to Be Alone 2:36
3. Electric Depression 2:29
4. Sodus Point 1:45
5. Debbie, Debbie 3:25
6. The Susquahanna River 2:53
7. Mary Had Brown Hair 3:12
8. Secret Girl 3:12
9. I Know What it's Like to be Alone in a Small Town 2:31
10. Newark Valley 1:49
11. I Want to Meet Your Mother 2:49
12. Gary's in the Park 2:18
13. Mary, Make Me a Wish 0:43
14. Hold Back the Daylight 2:21
15. Our Last Date 1:33
16. Gary Saw Linda Last Night 5:11
17. Shauna Made Me Cry 1:26
18. Sometimes When I'm Sad and Lonely 2:33

listen

Gary's Website

Complete Recordings (1989-1992)

Lately, it seems like I've been hearing a lot of bands popping up that remind me of Black Tambourine. Groups like Vivian Girls and the Pains of Being Pure at Heart seem to take a lot of their sound from the collection of songs by this short lived American noise pop group. The band consisted of vocalist Pam Berry, Archie Moore, Mike Schulman, and Brian Nelson (who later went on to join the indie-pop group Velocity Girl, who I also recommend). The group was signed to Slumberland Records, a label that is also home to many other pioneering indie-pop bands such as Tiger Trap, Boyracer, and 14 Iced Bears.

This album is a bittersweet collection of songs dealing with the usual things.... heartbreak, love, jealousy, etc. My personal favorite on the record is the song "Throw Aggi Off the Bridge", which is about Annabel (Aggi) Wright of the Glasgow group, The Pastels. Pam Berry had a crush on the lead singer of the Pastels (Stephen McRobbie) and believed that Aggi was coming between the two of them.



(Sorry the video isn't the best quality.)

But yeah. If you're a fan of the 80's indie-pop or shoegaze scene, this album is pretty essential.

Track Listing
1. For Ex-Lovers Only 2:41
2. Black Car 3:28
3. Pack You Up 2:22
4. Can't Explain 2:23
5. I Was Wrong 1:32
6. Throw Aggi Off the Bridge 3:31
7. Drown 2:41
8. We Can't Be Friends 1:49
9. By Tomorrow 3:02
10. Pam's Tan 1:18

listenlistenlisten!

Slumberland Records
unofficial myspace

Histoire de Melody Nelson (1971), Cannabis (1970)

Often referred to as the "dirty old man" of pop music, Serge Gainsbourg was without a doubt one of the most important figures in modern French music. Gainsbourg's music is a little hard to classify. He mixed the elements of jazz and popular music quite seamlessly throughout his career. Over the span of his career, he worked with many other famous french musicians such as France Gall and Brigitte Bardot. The thing that he was most known for was the sexual nature of much of his music. His most famous album, Histoire de Melody Nelson (1971) was a concept album about a relationship with a young woman. The cover of the album leads the listener to believe that the character Melody Nelson was a Lolita-esque girl. The cover, as pictured above, features Gainsbourg's wife, Jane Birkin. Gainsbourg often collaborated with Jane Birkin on his albums.

Histoire de Melody Nelson is the first Gainsbourg album I will have available. Though, the album runs quite short, (only 27:57) I think it's quite good, and a great example of Gainsbourg's sound.



The video below is an example of some of Gainsbourg's antics. In this clip, Gainsbourg says to Whitney Houston on live TV that he "wants to fuck her."




The second album that I will have available in this post is Gainsbourg's soundtrack to the 1970 film called Cannabis. Cannabis was a mafia movie in which both Gainsbourg and his wife Jane Birkin starred in. Though I have never actually watched the film, I am a big fan of the soundtrack. The guitar work on the album sounds great, and simply from reading reviews of it, I'm guessing that the music was probably the best thing about film.

I kind of wish I knew more about the picture just for the sake of this post, but since the music is great by itself, I don't think that it's completely necessary. The imdb page for the movie is here, though. Cannabis

Well, that's it for now. Enjoy!

Melody Nelson Track Listing
1. Melody 7:32
2. Ballade de Melody Nelson 2:00
3. Valse de Melody 1:31
4. Ah! Melody 1:47
5. L'hôtel particulier 4:05
6. En Melody 3:25
7. Cargo Culte 7:37

get it!


Cannabis Track Listing
1. Cannabis 2:27
2. Première Blessure 2:25
3. Deuxième Homme 1:10
4. Jane Dans la Nuit 1:24
5. Danger 2:09
6. Chanvre Indien 2:28
7. Avant de Mourir 5:25
8. Arabique 1:31
9. Cannis 2:28
10. I Want to Feel Crazy 1:42
11. Dernière Blessure 1:25
12. Piège 3:11
13. Cannabis-Bis 1:49

get it!