DEJA VU by ATARXIA
This comes from the reissue of a synth project from 1975 meant to be played during tarot readings and seances and the like. It is obviously way up my alley. The result is a bonkers synth/prog album that sounds a bit like the score to a long lost hard boiled cult film where somebody like Tom Atkins whips the entire ass of some groovy devil cult. The whole album is very moody and moog-y with little flourishes that probably influenced a lot of folks. I find it sort of ingenious and a blast to listen to. It's fun to sit in my office and answer e-mails while pretending that I am, in fact, an ultra-masculine private detective / professorial occult expert who could at any moment don a tweed jacket and punch a ghost.
I'M A KING BEE by SLIM HARPO
I put together a long-ass playlist for a Call of Cthulhu tabletop game many moons ago, and the process of selecting over 100 swamp blues / big band / spooky jazz / dark cabaret songs for that project really opened my eyes to the fun to be had listening to old recordings. This song is funny, and I really like Slim's nasally deadpan delivery to the overtly sexual lyrics. You can tell that The Cramps really got a lot of their ideas from listening to people like Slim Harpo. I think it's a fun toe-dip into the primordial ooze that birthed rock 'n roll as we know it. The google machine tells me that Slim was never a full time musician and spent most of his time running a trucking company when he wasn't touring and playing music. That's pretty badass. There's always a trucker connection to most of the things that I like.
BLACKEN THE OTHER EYE by STREET SECTS
Industrial Harsh Noise is one of those music things that you can't really talk about without people thinking you're an insufferable asshole. There's a part of me that really rejoices in obscure oddball genres and subcultures because I think that that exploring the human experience by poking through the wild twists and turns that people will take while searching out a unique identity is a fun and worthy activity. There's also a working class redneck nihilist part of me that loathes everything about those ideas and would rather just sip cheap beer and take the easiest artistic roads possible at all times because life is short, cash is dear, and none of this matters. Anyway, I like Industrial Harsh Noise music because it is complicated and busy and it sounds like how I used to feel working on the line around dangerous machines while nodding out on six Xanax, two Oxys, and three hours of sleep. This song in particular sounds like it can't decide whether it is sad or angry so it just makes loud noises hoping that somebody will listen and that is me to the bone.
ETERNAL REST by SIDEWALKS AND SKELETONS, CASHFORGOLD
People call this sort of thing "pastel goth," and I really like that classification. It sounds to me like this is what kids these days who listen to old Portishead tapes and take lots of anti anxiety medication are making. I like the slow, lush narcotized cadence and the layers of noise. For me it evokes images of thick velvet comforters, fake rose petals, fancy drinks in plastic cups, and misplaced glitter. It's kind of grimy, kind of sensual, and really feminine all at once. It's cozy and psychedelic and sometimes you need that kind of thing. I listen to this stuff quite a bit and I almost always find it to be an interesting little corner to sit and nod off in.
DOGMA by KMFDM
Hoo-Boy. KMFDM was a sort-of industrial metal project that was a big deal for many edgy weirdos in the nineties. For the unintiated, one of the Columbine shooters was a big fan and it lead to endless stupidity and recriminations. Those tired discussions aside, KMFDM's biggest sin was writing songs that did not age well. Like going back to look at pictures of yourself as a teenager, it's kind of fun in a sad way to go back and listen to some of these tracks with German dudes who are into synths rapping lyrics like "This is counter culture...this is underground." This is the band that provided the soundtrack to a thousand 1st gen LAN parties. It's not all bad, but it's kind of amusing in hindsight that people found this sort of thing scary. Plus, the dystopia is no longer theoretical. We didn't have it so bad back in '96. Anyway, Dogma is a kind of a spoken word thing about about how shitty and shallow society is. It's a little cringy, but I do enjoy the bit where the girl goes "this is your life, this is your FUCKING LIFE" and she's mad about it. This song usually ends up on my gym mix somewhere.
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