PARIS

'Parting they seemed to tread upon the air, twin roses by the zephyr blown apart, only to meet again more close, and share the inward fragrance of each other's heart.'

- John Keats.

The Beauty of 5: Krautrock Albums

5.

Einsjäger Und Siebenjäger - Popol Vuh (1974).

This record is what i'd imagine Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Mott the Hoople would sound like if they had an impromptu jam session. The band inspired modern day acts such as Yeasayer and Girls in that they were one of the first to use African and South American instrumentation to create soundscapes and noise – a feat which is made even more unusual given the inherent links between Krautrock and electronica. Peculiarly, the band settled on the ethno acoustic path after becoming disenfranchised with their MOOG synthesisers; almost paradoxically returning to acoustic instruments to free their experimental inhibitions. The great Werner Herzog is a Popol Vuh aficionado and the bands music  has become a feature in many of his films.

4.

Neu! 2 - Neu! (1973).

A controversial choice considering everything that could have went wrong with this record did just exactly that. Side 2 is a write off which I won't even try to defend  (Neu! ran out of money and fell out with their label when making the album and so released slightly edited, previous singles for filler). Luckily, the first half is a 30 minute blitzkrieg of manic joy. "Lila Engel" is like the musical equivalent of cocaine and the opener, "Für Immer", is the bands most critically acclaimed track. The previous eponymous title, “Neu”, is considered the bands magnum opus, but this is the record that perfectly encapsulates their desultory genius.

3.

Zuckerzeit - Cluster (1974)

I was led onto this album after hearing Brian Eno namedrop it in interview and was blown away instantly. Aesthetically, Cluster contradicted the Krautrock scene at the time in that they were two completely normal  looking Germans who appeared to eschew the Teutonic cool and experimentalism which had become a by-product of the scene. The albums second track, Caramel, was one of the first tracks to explore stripped back synth pop and would go on to influence 80’s new-wave bands such as the Human League and Soft Cell. Although not usually viewed as a Krautrock necessity, it’s a more accessible album which acts as a nice bridge end to some of the genres more heavier stuff.

2.

Yeti - Amon Düül II (1970).

Amon Düül II were the offsprings of Amon Düül, a political art commune of German freethinkers who formed in the late 60's and were, well, not very good. Amon Düül II were though, and as an overall outfit far more disciplined, picking up live experience with bands such as Tangerine Dream. As a ‘band’ (I use the word loosely considering they were a commune) they were probably too weird for even the Krautrock scene back then, which is indicative of how their material isn't the easiest to 'get'. Although featuring an 18 minute track bearing the album title, the material in Yeti is shorter and more abridged than most of the bands other material. Fascinatingly, the album cover bears the image of and serves as a tribute to ex soundman, Wolfgang Krischke, who passed after overdosing on LSD prior to the albums completion. 

1.

Tago Mago - Can (1971).

Can are the daddies of Krautrock. They are to the genre what Walter Grobius was to architecture or Karl Benz to automobiles, and given Tago Mago is their most out there and extreme record, it had to take the top spot. This record was the first to feature then unknown Japanese busker, Damo Suzuki; an eccentric vagabond who traipsed throughout Europe erroneously strumming his guitar to anyone who would listen. On the lookout for a new frontman after original vocalist Malcolm Mooney’s nervous breakdown, drummer Jaki Liebezeit and bassist Holger Czukay spotted Suzuki outside a Munich café and convinced him to take up the position as singer. The results were like no one could have predicted. This is the coolest album in the history of music. 'Paperhouse' is my favourite opening track ever and is absolutely timeless, with its dense arpeggio of chords suddenly evolving into 'Mushroom' never failing to take the breath away (the congruity of Damo Suzuki's ad-lib vocal with the music is bizarrely gorgeous). Despite little previous experience, Suzuki’s minimalist vocal flutters in and out of the record perfectly and gives off the impression of a sort of proselytism. The albums zenith comes in the form of 16 minute ''Halleluhwah" which is a transcendental piece, written to affect the listener spiritually as much as it does sonically. I struggle to comprehend how this record was made at times, rhythmically it is just relentless and dreadfully complicated to the point it makes my head want to explode, yet at the same time it possesses an endearing accessibility and can take you through just about every emotion.

The Beauty of 5: Japanesse Films

5.

Tokyo Psycho (東京伝説~蠢く街の狂気) - 2004.

Low budget, straight to DVD horror that hardly inspires. The subtitles i had on my copy weren't the best so my opinion may be slightly skewed. Basically about some girl who is pursued by an obsessive mentalist she used to go to high school with who is intent on marrying her. Simple. It's attained a cult following in Japan but I don't really know why I watched this.

4.

In the Realm of the Senses (愛のコリーダ), - 1976.

This films still carries a lot of baggage to the day due to the fact it contains scenes of unsimulated sex, but putting all the controversy that surrounded it to the side, it's actually a really good portrayal of mutual obsession and subsequent jealousy with a stockholm syndrome-y (?) undercurrent. It's rather perplexing watching a movie that is basically hardcore porn, but hey, even if you don't like it, it's an XXX movie for the collection.

3.

Gozu (極道恐怖大劇場　牛頭) - 2003.

Gozu plays out like a Tsutomu Miyazki daydream. The film is downright preposterous to the point i can't actually formulate an opinion on it. Is it horror or surrealist comedy? If guys getting off on soup ladels and weird cow head creatures wearing boys underwear is your thing, then give
it a go. The intro (posted above) to the film is one of the funniest scenes i've ever witnessed. Just don't take it seriously.

2.

Suicide Club (自殺サークル) - 2002.

It's ashame that this movie is such a befuddled, fragmented mess because the synopsis is actually really cool. Adolescent suicide cults start popping up inexplicably across Tokyo with 3 detectives (one of them is played by Ryo Ishibashi who makes an appearance in Audition) left to unravel the mystery. At first it's straightforward enough but the plot develops ridiculously and the ending is a bit of a mess.

1.

Tetsuo: The Iron Man (鉄男) - 1989.

I had already seen this movie before but I was stoked about watching it again. It only lasts for an hour but it's like the movie Lynch and Cronenberg would have created if they collaborated back in the day. It's a cyberpunk film about a world where metal and flesh collide which predictably results in a bit of a furore. It may sound lightweight and rumbustious, but if you look at it closely it kinda gives you an insight into Japan's anxiety towards technology and industrialization.

Xiu Xiu preview new song

Gray Death download.

This is fucking fantastic, a vast improvement on anything that featured on 'Women as Lovers'. I'll be checking out Xiu Xiu again at Sleazy's next month and am now officially looking forward to 'Dear God, I hate Myself'.

*EDIT* - DGIHM leaks. Download.

What will make Pitchfork erupt in 2010?

It's inevitable that someone will fuse shoegaze and dubstep. Dubstep crossovers will be commonplace, actually.

New Clinic album for 2010?

Clinic are, without doubt, one of my favourite bands of the late 90's/early 00's. They signed to Domino in 1999 and have hardly raised their heads above the parapet since despite regular extolments from the likes of Radiohead (who they actually supported on the Kid A tour), Scott Walker and Jarvis Cocker. Drawing a tangible visual influence from the likes of Crime and The Residents, they make derivative and eerie yet danceable music. Their last album, Do it!, came in 2008 and maintained the same high standard as their previous releases. Tentative work on a new album got underway in March 09 and the band have again reiterated their desire to push for a 2010 release. Heres hoping.

*EDIT* - 'Visitations' (my personal favourite) link now added.

Isaac Stern doesn't have to put up with this shit.

Just realised that it's 31 years to the day that Charles Mingus died. Mingus was the first avant-jazz artist i really got into after doing a 'blind buy' in Virgin ('Let My Children Hear Music' was the record) and from there i was subsequently led on to all sorts of artists like Sun Ra, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Ornette Coleman etc. I've been gorging on the genre all day and i've left some of my favourites below for you to download. Enjoy.

The Shape of Jazz to Come (1959) - Ornette Coleman.

Download.

This album was absolutely pivotal to the avant-garde and free-jazz movement. It has no chord structure and stunned critics at the time of it's release. Ornette also precedes the American Apparel merchandising aesthetic with his shirt and sweater look in the album cover.

Blue Train (1957) - John Coltrane.


Download.

Just one of the coolest fucking albums ever. Quite an achievement considering this was Coltrane's first foray into leading and composing on his own. Hard bebop that isn't for the light of heart.

Sketches of Spain (1960) - Miles Davis.

Download.

This is a masterpiece of modern art. 'Kind of Blue' would have been the most obvious Miles Davis album to upload, but I think Sketches of Spain is his most interesting piece. This is the only record in his catalog which critics hesitate to call jazz (it's been classed as 'Third Stream', a genre which synthesises classical music and jazz improv). The track 'Saeta' features one of the most amazing techincal solos of Davis' career.

Nuclear War (1984) - Sun Ra Arkestra.

Download.

Sun Ra recorded over 1000 songs throughout the course of his career and has one of the largest discographys in music, so finding a good place to start with him isn't easy. 'Jazz in Silhouette' is generally regarded as the best entry point to his work, but i don't think there's a record that encapsulates what he was about more than Nuclear War and it's title track in particular. It's fun, irregular and ultimately ridiculous at points, but so was Sun Ra.

Our crusade was so stupid that only an idealist could have thought it up.

The Seventh Seal (1957).

Being a monumental hypochondriac whose beliefs amble somewhere in-between agnosticism and atheism, i was always apprehensive of seeking out Ingmar Bergman's work, fearing the master of bleakness and existentialism would leave me with more questions than answers. 3000 Woody Allen interviews later (Woody being a Bergman aficionado), i'm so glad I did. If the grueling content of his films isn't for you, then at least watch a couple on mute and appreciate their heart-melting cinematography.

Bergman's chef d-oeuvre, The Seventh Seal, is quite simply breathtaking and is actually far more accessible than you might think. I can't really do the film justice on this blog as i've made a point of keeping my entries concise, but it basically deals with a game of chess between a symbolic death figure and a returning knight, where the outcome of the game determines the knights life (the whole thing basically being an allegory with regards to the meaning of life, death and existence). There was a great line that Time magazine's Richard Corliss once came out with when talking about the film - "There were a lot of young people in the '50s who saw Bergman's films — usually it was The Seventh Seal — and were overwhelmed with an almost religious conversion. And the doctrine of this religion was that film was an art." I always liked that, as it shows how affecting the film can be as an aesthetically as well as ideologically.

This is your receipt for your husband... and this is my receipt for your receipt.

Brazil (1985).

I don't think you could ever really get a definitive answer on what the general consensus of Brazil is. Some find it to be a hilarious satire of the bureaucratic system whilst others see it as a terrifying, Orwellian-esque depiction of the future. For me, it falls somewhere in the middle, and is without doubt the greatest British sci fi flick ever written.

"Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy."

- Franz Kafka.