One year anniversary of this blog, so in no particular order, here are my top ten albums. Every track is incredible so it was a challenging task to pick just one to represent the whole in this mix. I knew of Frightened Rabbit for a couple years, and Pedestrian Verse was the first I bought from them. The lyrics and the edgy, fresh take on alternative sound hit me like a ton of bricks. Back in my earl 20s I was lucky enough to grab the double album vinyl of Nino Rojo/Rejoicing in the Hands from Devendra Banhart. I knew him from his earlier outsider folk on Young Gods records, and saw him as part of the Angels of Light in the Brainwashed Eye documentary. These two albums are so closely related I pretty much consider my double vinyl as one extra long album instead of two distinct pieces. I even played one of these songs at my wedding for a dance with my mother.
His Name Is Alive came to my ears via Teletunes on public access TV, where I saw the mesmerizing video directed/animated by the Quay Brothers. Two for one on this find, my life was forever changed. As for HNIA, I bought anything and everything I could ever find from them, including waiting during the wee hours of the morning to get that elusive pre-order email for the Cloud box set. In all their variations of line ups and sound, I never lost my enthusiasm for their music. The Legendary Pink Dots, like HNIA, I've done multiple overviews of their music here. IN this case, the Pink Box was the first exposure I had, and is still nearest to my heart. Yeah, I know its not an album but a compilation, still in the late 90's where it was hard to find their music in local stores, this was my introduction and served as point of reference for all the subsequent albums I purchased in the early days of the internet.
Coil, another life changing discovery in high school. There really isn't anything else quite like Coil, and Love's Secret Domain was my introduction point, having bought the CD from Life By Design in Colorado Springs. My Life with the Thill Kill Kult was playing in Independent Records when I went shopping with my Mom in the mid 90s. She noticed how much I liked it, and knowing how shy I was, she went to the store clerk and secretly bought the store copy for me as a gift. It was so sweet of her, and really highlights what I miss most about my Mom, she always knew I had bizarre taste in music and felt she should indulge me and encourage musical exploration as much as possible. Next up is Meat Beat Manifesto, and this cassette was a permanent fixture in my walkman during study hall for much of my freshmen year. Industrial rap with heavy slathering of noise and fun samples. Every album they released felt like it was 5-10 years ahead of the rest of the electronic music community. I remember driving through the Garden of the Gods with my friend Paul, when NPR played this track by Pelican Daughters. It was so sublime and fit that afternoon so perfectly. This was another special order from Life By Design, and has been one of my most played CDs in the last 30 years. I ended up striking up an email correspondence with Andy Ranzten from this group, and we exchanged some music, I remixed some of the Pelican Daughter's music, and he sent me a few CD-Rs of unreleased material from them and his projects around the same time.
Muslimgauze was a find in the Soleilmoon catalog. I saw how prolific this artist was, and picked Azure Deux based on its description as my entry point. I was not disappointed for my blind effort here. The description matched the music and mood. I know, this is also a compilation, not an album, but for an introduction it covers a lot of ground. Obviously I love this music, I've made more than a dozen overview mixes for them, and will likely make another dozen more as there are so many songs I enjoy that strongly. Lastly is the greatest post-metal band in my opinion, Cult of Luna. I liked their name, and saw references to Neurosis and Isis (the band) so I started with Somewhere Along the Highway. I put the CD on while I was cleaning the house, and somewhere around track 2 or 3 I couldn't stop grinning. This was my kind of metal, and so well executed. The next time I saw my friend Mike, I made sure he knew to check them out, and he too became an avid fan. We saw them play in Denver a couple years later, and that was one of the ten best live shows I've ever seen, especially the lighting.
00:00 Frightened Rabbit - Holy (Pedestrian Verse)
03:31 Devendra Banhart - Little Yellow Spider (Nino Rojo)
07:04 His Name Is Alive - Can't Go Wrong Without You (Mouth By Mouth)
10:12 The Legendary Pink Dots - Close Your Eyes You Can Be A Space Captain (The Legendary Pink Box)
15:35 Coil - Love's Secret Domain (Love's Secret Domain)
19:26 My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult - Confessions of a Knice, Theme (part 1) (Confessions of a Knife)
22:04 Meat Beat Manifesto - Repulsion (Armed Audio Warfare)
25:26 Pelican Daughters - Prettybodywinder (Bliss)
31:00 Muslimgauze - Imal Akel (Azure Deux)
38:41 Cult of Luna - Finland (Somewhere Along the Highway)
photo credit: always sunny meme
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