Talk Talk - Spirit of Eden (1988)

ARTIST`````Talk Talk

ALBUM`````Spirit of Eden

GENRE`````Post Rock, Alternative, Long

YEAR````````1988

A true classic.

Review

Spirit of Eden is a 1988 album by the English band Talk Talk. It was written by Mark Hollis and Tim Friese-Greene, and performed by numerous musicians using a diverse combination of instruments. It is widely regarded as a masterpiece. In 2008, Alan McGee of the Guardian wrote: "Spirit of Eden has not dated; it's remarkable how contemporary it sounds, anticipating post-rock, The Verve and Radiohead. It's the sound of an artist being given the keys to the kingdom and returning with art."

Compare Spirit of Eden with any other previous release in the Talk Talk catalog, and it's almost impossible to believe it's the work of the same band -- exchanging electronics for live, organic sounds and rejecting structure in favor of mood and atmosphere, the album is an unprecedented breakthrough, a musical and emotional catharsis of immense power.

Here is a rather nice article on Wikipedia about the album.

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Psycho Baba - On The Roof of Kedar Lodge (2000)

ARTIST`````Psycho Baba

ALBUM`````On The Roof of Kedar Lodge

GENRE`````Experimental Tribal Psychedelic Japan

YEAR````````2000

Excellent Japanese experimental non-stop fluids.

The project and the album

Psycho-Baba is one of a growing contingent of bands that has been dropping hefty supplies of dynamite on traditional connotations of Japanese music. The group's strength is their innovative mixture of Indian sitars, tablas, drums, and effects. While most Japanese bands are a direct reaction to American culture, Psycho-Baba ventures outside the norm, borrowing largely from the hypnotic trends of Europe and the traditional sounds of Southwest Asia. TabLoveDubLa TabLoveDubLa TabLoveDubLa, their first album, released in 1998 on Japan Overseas, is one drawn out 54-minute track. This monumental piece was noteworthy enough to catch the attention of the paragons of Japanese youth experimentalism, the Boredoms, who they opened for on a 1998 world tour. Originally led by sitar master Mhayow, tablist Ahkio, and drummer Suttgun, the threesome made quite an impression on the Boredoms. For the 2001 release On the Roof of Kedar Lodge, Yoshimi P-We and Atr joined the band, augmenting an already impressive rhythm section.

Making experimental music is easy. Seek out disorganized noise in a relatively new form and you're all set. Making good experimental music, however, is next to impossible. That requires an intuitive sense of breakneck originality that's engaging enough to make an audience take notice. Atr and Yoshimi P-We, dueling drummers for the avant-something troupe the Boredoms, should appreciate this theory as much as anyone. They've slapped together oodles of unlistenable noise albums, and they've also composed sublime, earnest, and ethereal melodies. Psycho-Baba, one of the projects they do to kill time while away from the Boredoms, shows just how wonderful it can be when it all comes together. Led by sitar player Mhayow, the modern experimental tendencies of the Boredoms have been put on the back burner in favor of South Asian harmonies. The ethnic ambiance melds seamlessly with subtle, hypnotic electronic inducements, along with elaborate percussion arrangements that keep it all moving. It's pleasant from start to finish, with moments of near perfection. A great album even for those who might shy away from the Boredoms.

By Kieran McCarthy, Rovi

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Colleen - Everyone Alive Wants Answers (2003)

ARTIST`````Colleen

ALBUM`````Everyone Alive Wants Answers

GENRE`````Indie Post Rock Experimental Electronic

YEAR````````2003

As promised:)

Review

Just when you thought this kind of tangled, floating, ambient wash -- sometimes with guitars, sometimes without -- couldn't get any better than specific parts of Susumu Yokota's Sakura and Grinning Cat, Colleen came along with Everyone Alive Wants Answers. Colleen is actually Cecile Schott, a Parisian who wrenches out cobwebbed melodies that are fully fleshed out as frequently as they are stunted and knotted. Her means aren't all that unique. Barbed glockenspiels, worn music boxes, humming keyboards, happenstance guitar melodies, soft-focus production -- all of that's been done before, right? What makes her stand out is that her songs seem meticulously stitched together while nearing the brink of collapse at the same time, almost all of the time.

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The Mumps - Fatal Charm (1994)

ARTIST`````The Mumps

ALBUM`````Fatal Charm

GENRE`````Campy Glam New York Underground Punk / New Wave

YEAR````````1994

I ain't dead yet - I just had a little nap:)

Biography:

The Mumps were one of the most obscure, but distinctive, New York bands of the late '70s, performing an absurdly theatrical fusion of pop, punk, and glam rock. Led by vocalist Lance Loud, the group's music was an affectionate satire of '70s kitsch culture, predating the similar obsessions of the B-52's by a number of years. The Mumps rocked as hard as the New York Dolls, while writing clever pop hooks that updated trashy garage and bubblegum singles of the '70s. Although they never even earned a large underground following, the group was a favorite of many punk rockers of the era (including the Ramones, Blondie, the New York Dolls, X, Television, the Cramps, Devo, and the Go-Go's), as well as '80s alternative rockers like R.E.M., Game Theory, and Sparks.

Check their shitty website.

About the album/compilation:

Fatal Charm compiles essentially the complete recorded works of the quirky New York band, including the simply wonderful "Crocodile Tears," as well as some equally spirited outtakes and live rehearsals. Though very little of the Mumps' music was released during their five years together as a band, their live shows were legendary, influencing many of the next generation of new wave and alternative rockers; Fatal Charm helps explain why bands continue to namedrop them 20 years later.

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