December 8, 2015 Playlist

"Doc At The Radar Station" by Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band (1980)
CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK
Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band "Doc At The Radar Station"  1980 (USA)
Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band always set the pace for "off kilter out-there dada weirdo rock", ever since that day in 1967 when Don Van Vliet had an acid flashback on stage at the Mt. Tamalpais Love-In and promptly walked off the stage in the middle of a song. Prior to that moment, they were a hot up and coming "white blues rock" band from the desert (Antelope Valley, CA), destined to become America's answer to the Rolling Stones, or something. After the Love-In disaster, their lead guitarist (Ry Cooder, later an actual Rolling Stones collaborator) quit the group, and their gig at the Monterrey Pop Festival (launch pad for many sixties icons) was cancelled. Their debut album had indeed been one of the finest "white blues rock" albums of the 1960', but after that the group took a hard left away from anything that could be deemed commercial. The pinnacle was the 1969 delta blues / free jazz / Salvador Dali mash-up Trout Mask Replica, which remains perhaps the most unique and polarizing "masterpiece" in the world of rock albums. By the time Don Van Vliet (aka The Captain) sacked all the original desert musicians and indeed did try to "go commercial" (the two regretably sucky albums of 1974), it was too late. So if they're gonna call you a weirdo anyway, be weird. A new generation of The Magic Band came together in the late 1970's, and released a pair of solid albums before Van Vliet retired. The 1978 one (Shiny Beast) is also a bit polarizing: some say it pales compared to the original 1976 version which went unreleased for decades, lost in Frank Zappa's legal battles with former manager Herb Cohen (also Beefheart's manager at the time), though I have always thought that the released version was a clasic CB&TMB recording. The final "good" Beefheart album is this week's CAOTW, which was the second-to-last (1982's Ice Cream For Crow is not a "good" one). It includes most of the Beast band, and the return of John "Drumbo" French from the 1965-72 classic era, though primarily as a rhythm guitarist and singer rather than drummer. It is a bit of a hodge-podge, including songs recycled from previous unreleased recordings, but if ever there was an old hippy group to benefit from the rising popularity of  "dissonant" sounds in punk and industrial rock in the 1980's, it was this one.
(N) = New Release
 
Artist Song Album Year Country
Public Image Ltd.MemoriesMetal Box (Second Edition)1979UK
Public Image Ltd. I'm Not SatisfiedWhat The World Needs Now... (N)2015 (PiL Official)UK
Koes Barat Poor Clown (Koes Plus)Koes Barat (N)2015 (Sub Pop)USA
Snakefinger I Love Mary (live)Live In Melbourne 1981 (N)1981 (2015 Secret Records)UK
 
 
Fuzz Bringer Of LightFuzz II (N)2015 (In The Red)USA
Alex G Animals
   / Whale		Trick (N)2015 (Lucky Number)USA
Dungen Franks KaktusAllas Sak (N)2015 (Kemado)Sweden
Wilco The Joke ExplainedStar Wars (N)2015 (Anti-)USA
Wand Paintings Are Dead1000 Days (N)2015 (Drag City)USA
   
 
Mark McGuire The Past Presents The FutureBeyond Belief (N)2015 (Dead Oceans)USA
   
 
Captain Beefheart & The Magic BandRun Paint Run RunDoc At The Radar Station
 CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK 		1980
USA
Captain Beefheart & The Magic BandSue EgyptDoc At The Radar Station
 CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK 		1980
USA
Captain Beefheart & His Magic BandVeteran's Day PoppyTrout Mask Replica 1969
USA
Captain Beefheart & The Magic BandBest Batch YetDoc At The Radar Station
 CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK 		1980
USA
Parquet Courts Monastic Living IMonastic Living EP (N)2015 (Rough Trade)USA
Micachu & The Shapes Thinking ItGood Sad Happy Bad (N)2015 (Rough Trade)UK
   
 
Dweezil Zappa Funky 15Via Zammata (N)2015 (Fantom)USA
Speedy Ortiz Dvrk WvrldFoil Deer (N)2015 (Carpark)USA
ZeviousPantocyclusPassing Through The Wall2013
USA
Pentagram Sufferin'Curious Volume (N)2015 (Peaceville)USA
Slayer VicesRepentless (N)2015 (Nuclear Blast)USA
Motorhead Tell Me Who To KillBad Magic (N)2015 (UDR)UK
 
  
Four Tet Morning Side (excerpt)Morning / Evening (N)2015 (Text)UK
Floating Points Argent
   / Thin Air		Elaenia (N)2015 (Pluto)UK
 
  
W-X (Tim Presley from White Fence) Copping In The AfternoonW-X (N)2015 (Castleface)USA
Gnod DesireInfinity Machines (N)2014 (Rocket)UK
Glenn Mercer Third Stone From The Sun (Jimi Hendrix)Incidental Hum (N)2015 (Bar/None)USA
 
  
MV & EE Eloquent Lady --> Dunes --> Keep On Milkin'Alpine Frequency (N)2015 (Child Of Microtones)USA
      
   
   
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