September 28, 2012 Playlist

"Zen Arcade" by Hüsker Dü (1984)
CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK
Hüsker Dü  "Zen Arcade"  1984 (USA)
Hüsker Dü was perhaps the most influential of all the bands on the 1980's American indie/punk DIY underground scene.  And the Hüskers were unique for many reasons:  though they quickly rose to prominence on the insular "hardcore" scene, they just as quickly began to challenge the orthodoxies of that scene.  They covered hippie songs by The Byrds and Beatles, and injected their originals with catchy melodies, unusually emotive lyrics and psychedelic production values (forwarding my thesis that eighties "punk" had much more in common with the sixties than the Sex Pistols).  The guitarist was an angry nerd with a buzzcut, the drummer a dope-smoking longhair who played barefoot, and the preppie bassist grew a campy handlebar moustache (my own theory is this may have been a clever reaction to the rumours flying around that "someone in Hüsker Dü is gay" -- as it was revealed after the band broke up, the "obviously gay looking" guy turned out to be the ONLY heterosexual in the band!)  Zen Arcade was the pivotal album that broke the "rules of hardcore" forever and ushered in the golden age of wonderful "post-hardcore" music by the likes of Meat Puppets, Minutemen, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur jr and all the rest.  This is a freakin' double album "rock opera" that ends with a 15 minute instrumental jam!  How not-punk is that?!?!
Here's the Dü around the time this album was recorded in late 1983 (wearing paisley shirts and doing a Donovan number while punk rockers stage dive and mosh?  Groovy!!)  The underground acclaim of Zen Arcade opened new avenues for the band -- no other band from the hardcore scene got to film an hour long TV concert in Europe in 1985 (Hüskers were also the first indie band to sign a deal with a major label in 1986, paving the way for a much more commercially successful band called Nirvana five years later). And here's another classic tune from ZA performed on their final tour:  live in Finland 1987.  Another legendary group from the same era (which also blends "punk" and "psych" styles) is playing in town tonight -- the fabulous Mission Of Burma!
(N) = New Release
Artist Song Album Year (label) Country
Pere Ubu
Final Solution
 		A-side 7" single (Terminal Tower CD compilation)
1976
USA
Mission of Burma
Heart Of Darkness (Pere Ubu - live)
 		The Horrible Truth About Burma
1985
USA
Mission of Burma Part The SeaUnSound (N)2012 (Fire)USA
Mission of Burma Fell -> H20UnSound (N)2012 (Fire)USA
Mission of Burma Add In UnisonUnSound (N)2012 (Fire)USA
 
  
Ty Segall Band Death
 --> I Bought My Eyes		Slaughterhouse (N)2012 (In The Red)USA
Thee Oh Sees
Putrifiers II
Putrifiers II EP (N)2012 (In The Red)USA
Trin-Tran
No Scouts
 		Grows A Rose
2007
USA
The Luck Of Eden Hall
This Is Strange
Alligators Eat Gumdrops (N)2012 (self release)USA
Rosetta West
Deeper Than Magic
Underground Volume 1 (N)2012 (self release)USA
 
  
Hüsker Dü
Whatever
 		Zen Arcade
 CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK
1984
USA
Hüsker Dü
Hare Krsna
 		Zen Arcade
 CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK
1984
USA
Hüsker Dü
Turn On The News
 		Zen Arcade
 CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK
1984
USA
Meat Puppets
Teenager(s)
 		Take It! magazine compilation (Meat Puppets II CD bonus track)
rec. 1982
USA
Sonic Youth
I Dreamed I Dream
 		Sonic Youth
1982
USA
Dinosaur jr
In A Jar
 		You're Living All Over Me
1987
USA
 
  
GlowpeopleMetaphorical
Things... (N)2012 (self release)
UK
Can Oscura Primavera
The Lost Tapes (N - previously unreleased tracks)rec. 1968 (2012 Spoon/Mute)Germany
Nektar
Mundetango
 		Sunday Night At London Roundhouse
1974
UK/Germany
John McLaughlin/Mahavishnu Orchestra
All In The Family
 		Inner Worlds
1976
UK/USA
King Crimson
The Court Of The Crimson King
 		In The Court Of The Crimson King 1969
UK
 
 
Larry Coryell
The Funky Waltz
 		Introducing The Eleventh House
 		1974
USA
Focus
Soft Vanilla / Hard Vanilla
 		Mother Focus
 		1975
Netherlands
The Temptations
Hum Along And Dance
   / Take A Stroll Through Your Mind
 		Psychedelic Shack
 		1970
USA
 
 
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti
Baby
Mature Themes (N)2012 (4AD)USA
Neil Young & Crazy Horse Get A Job (The Silhouettes)Americana (N)2012 (Reprise)Canada/USA
Shonen Knife All You Can EatPop Tune (N)2012 (Good Charamel)Japan
David Byrne & St. Vincent Dinner For TwoLove This Giant (N)2012 (Todo Mundo/4AD)USA
Deerhoof The Trouble With CandyhandsBreakup Song (N)2012 (Polyvinyl)USA
                 
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