June 27, 2018 Playlist

"Double Bummer" by Bongwater (1988)
CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK
Bongwater "Double Bummer"  1988 (USA)
The 1980's are "officially" remembered as a conservative era of cold, soulless corporate rock, but in fact the Reagan era in America had one of the most vibrant musical and cultural underground scenes. Punk rock reached its zenith, heavy metal was reborn, while rap/hiphop was developing from a disco-spinoff into the next great form of American popular music. In 1988, a band would only call itself "Bongwater", referencing decades-old hippies and classic rock, if they wanted to signal how uncool they were (which therefore makes them ironically cool, following the punk/indie/underground inversion principle). They do sixties covers of unlikely tunes by iconic artists like the Beatles and Monkees, but pisstake them into oblivion - are they making fun of hippie rock or harkening back to those halcyon days? I would say literally the former, but spiritually the latter (hippies were the original pisstakers on previous cultural traditions). Their approach and attitude is more art-punk than hippie, and on the whole it makes for some decidedly weird listening (definitely psychedelic, whatever their intention!) The main brains of Bongwater were Ann Magnuson, an actress/writer/performance artist type (she appeared in a few Hollywood films around that time, including the classic Cabin Boy), and Kramer, the record producer who goes by one name and ran the Shimmy Disc record label. The label found its greatest success with the more "refined" silliness of King Missile (a band featuring mostly the same musicians), who had college rock hits with radio-friendly classics like "Jesus Was Way Cool" and "Detachable Penis".
(N) = New Release
   
Artist Song Album Year Country
Alice CooperShoe SalesmanEasy Action1970USA
Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks BrethrenSparkle Hard (N)2018 (Matador)USA
Parquet Courts Mardi Gras BeadsWide Awake! (N)2018 (Rough Trade)USA
Triptides Child Of GodVisitors (N)2018 (Requiem Pour Un Twister)USA
Brief Candles Alarm FatigueRetreater (N)2017 (self release)USA
Wooden Shjips Golden FlowerV (N)2018 (Thrill Jockey)USA
 
 
Melvins I Want To Hold Your Hand (The Beatles)Pinkus Abortion Technician (N)2018 (Ipecac)USA
The Sword Book Of ThothUsed Future (N)2018 (Razor & Tie)USA
Judas Priest Flame ThrowerFirepower (N)2018 (Epic)UK
Graveyard A Sign Of PeacePeace (N)2018 (Nuclear Blast)Sweden
Dr. Octagon Karma SutraMoosebumps: An Exploration Into Modern Day Horripilation (N)2018 (Bulk)USA
Sleep The BotanistThe Sciences (N)2018 (Third Man)USA
   
 
Beach House Dark Spring7 (N)2018 (Sub Pop)USA
Eleanor Friedberger Are We Good?Rebound (N)2018 (French Kiss)USA
Suuns BaselineFelt (N)2018 (Secretly Canadian)Canada (Quebec)
Black Moth Super Rainbow New BreezePanic Blooms (N)2018 (Rad Cult)USA
Unknown Mortal Orchestra Everyone Acts Crazy NowadaysSex & Food (N)2018 (Jagjaguwar)New Zealand
Speedy Ortiz I'm BlessedTwerp Verse (N)2018 (Carpark)USA
   
 
BongwaterJimmyDouble Bummer
 CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK		1988USA
BongwaterPoolDouble Bummer
 CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK		1988USA
BongwaterRain (The Beatles)Double Bummer
 CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK		1988USA
BongwaterSplash 1 (The 13th Floor Elevators)Too Much Sleep1990USA
Butthole SurfersThe O-MenLocust Abortion Technician1987USA
PerhapsVolume One (excerpt)Volume One2012USA
Jon Hassell NdeyaListening To Pictures (Pentimento Volume One) (N)2018 (Ndeya)USA
   
 
SynergySoundcheck Delta 3Games1979USA
Karlheinz StockhausenRegion Three (excerpt)Hymnen1969Germany
   
 
Prince & The RevolutionAmerica (extended version) (excerpt)12" single1985
USA
      
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