TEENBEAT !

Credited solely to musician Henri Tical, the mysterious and lucid Distortions from 1971 is the only known album by Blue Phantom. Henri had also pressed an abstract sound record in the same year for Italian imprint Vedette, but this appears to be his first venture into psychedelic rock. Distortions languished in obscurity for years, until just recently getting a vinyl reissue in 2008. “Diodo” right out of the gate, is a heavy rock gem with proggy tendencies. Forgive the fact that they cribbed the riff from “I Wanna Be Your Dog” to make “Microchaos”, or that “Equilibrium” sounds like an interesting take on “Breathe”. In fact, on the latter, the crying guitar (a la Can’s “Deadlock”) fits in perfectly with the syncopated rhythm and seemingly endless wah-wah’s. “Psycho-nebulous” closes the album, sounding like the soundtrack to a confusing, neverending nightmare. This record is a picture-perfect bad trip from beginning to end.

The same extraordinary madness that infected the best work of Brian Wilson rears its head on the shimmering and melodic Clouds Taste Metallic, a masterful collection which completes the Flaming Lips’ odyssey into the pop stratosphere. The Pet Sounds comparisons are obvious — two of the highlights are titled “This Here Giraffe” and “Christmas at the Zoo” — yet not unfair; like Brian Wilson, Wayne Coyne has refined his unique vision into something both highly personal and powerfully universal. Similarly, while Coyne’s lyrics remain as acid-damaged and inscrutable as ever, his densely constructed songs convey emotional complexities far beyond the scope of their head-case titles (“Psychiatric Explorations of the Fetus With Needles,” “Guy Who Got a Headache and Accidentally Saves the World”); galvanized by equal parts newfound maturity and childlike wonderment, Clouds Taste Metallic is both the Flaming Lips’ most intricate and most irresistible work. (Jason Ankeny, Allmusic)

After a three-year break, Neu! members Klaus Dinger and Michael Rother buried their differences temporarily, and reunited for another go at the “motorik” sound they had developed with their debut in 1971. The strange tension and presentation of Neu! 2 and the emergence of their former band Kraftwerk may have precipitated the reunion, but, whatever the reason, the end result proved worth the time, effort, and bickering it took to crank this one out. One thing that is noticeably different on 75 is the presence of synthesizers and the preference of them, it seems, over Rother’s guitar. “Isi,” which opens the album, features Dinger’s metronymic percussion holding down the 2/4 rhythm and a trademark one-note bassline provided by a piano, but the gorgeous sonic washes and flourishes normally handled by Rother’s guitar-slinging hands are now painted with a synth. “Seeland” offers a return to the six strings with what would in subsequent years become Rother’s ornate “singing” style of playing. Dinger’s rhythmic patterns here are deceptively simple. They create a long, trudging 4/4, syncopated every other line, and punctuated by a small ride cymbal at the end of each phrase as Rother’s guitar provides both cascading single string notes and a shifting, pulsing bassline. It’s a beautiful wasteland, this track; sparse yet full of melodic interplay and layered guitars and keyboards. The last track on side one is “Leb Wohl,” an exercise in white noise, industrial textures, and natural or, “found” sounds, a piano and gorgeous, spare and intricate guitar chords. For side two, Neu! adds Dinger’s brother, Thomas, and Hans Lampe on various percussions to allow Dinger to play guitar, piano, and organ, and to add some bottom end to the band’s sound. The funny thing is they come off sounding more like a melodic punk band on “Hero,” with Dinger’s growling vocals being reminiscent of a young Mick Jagger on steroids. His Keith Richards-style chords stand in stark contrast to Rother’s more lyrical approach. Perhaps this isn’t such a surprise when we consider the Damned’s first album was recorded in 1975. The ten-minute “E-Musick” becomes Neu!’s signature track for this disc, however. With distorted percussion — courtesy of a synth and sequencer, as well as a drum kit put through a phase shifter, Rother’s melodic synth lines are free to roam, wide and far, carrying within them a foreshadowing of his guitar solos a few minutes later. These long screaming lines, reminiscent of Steve Hillage at his best, with Dinger’s wonderful rhythm backing and treatments of the instruments, provides a definitive statement on the Neu! “motorik” sound. This is music not only for traveling, from one place to the next, but also for disappearance into the ether at a steady pace. This may have been Neu!’s final statement — at least in the studio; Dinger issued (without Rother’s permission) an inferior live ‘72 album — but at least they went out on a much higher note than Neu! 2, and in a place where their innovations are still being not only recognized, but utilized. (Allmusic)

Really wigged out Japanese psych band from 1971 that subscribed to the “wall of sound” theory. Featuring a flautist and two saxophonists in addition to the usual drums, organ, guitar, piano and bass, Love Will Make a Better You is a rather mixed bag of music, ranging from bluesy psych to free jazz excursions somewhere between Coltrane and Coleman. This wild use of horns and flute lends a very avant/prog aura to the album, particularly if it is viewed as a psych album. In comparison to the grungy, bluesy psych from Japan in the early ’70s, Love Live Life + One were actually quite experimental. In fact, though they don’t sound like them, I was vaguely reminded of the experimental side of the Soft Machine. The English lyrics are pretty hippie/trippy and aren’t worth writing about other than a rather unique delivery style. (Lisa Sinder, Ezhevika Fields)

Included here as representatives of the early ’70s festival scene, Datetenryu  was an obscure cousin to Communist agitator bands Zuno Keisatsu (Brain Police), Yellow, Les Rallizes Denudés and Murahatchibu. Led by organist Masao Tonari, the band on UNTO [album] played a frantic hogwash of soul-based progressive space rock that inhabited the same territory as The the Soft Machine’s debut- LP period (imagine ‘Why Are We Sleeping?’ or ‘Hope For for Happiness’ by way of ‘21st Century Schizoid Man’). Mainly instrumental, their music is a space trek through endless R&B riffs and classic soul moments, like some ever- unfolding medley. UNTO purports to be what the band members would have chosen had they had the opportunity to release an official debut album at the time, ie: a total barrage of lo-fi progressive garage rock. The 20-minute epic ‘Doromamire (Covered All Over In in Mud)’ is the killer, but really it’s all one insane 47-minute-long rush. Formed in May 1971, at Kyoto Sangyo (‘Industrial’) University, Datetenryu was a right bunch of refusenik longhairs. Masao Tonari set up sideways on to the rest of the band, while drummer Shogo Ueda played, head down, facing away from the stage pointing towards Tonari’s Yamaha organ. Indeed, guitarist Kei Yamashita appears to have been permanently out of proceedings in the same way that Yes’s Pete Banks and the Nice’s Davy O’List were forever being sidelined. Datetenryu’s biggest claim to fame, however, was the presence of bassist/singer Hiroshi Narazaki, who later became Hiroshi Nar and joined Les Rallizes Denudés, thereafter forming his own very excellent band the Niplets, who continue to perform right up to the present time. (Julian Cope, Japrocksampler)

Black Widow may have enjoyed a reasonably long and defiantly varied career. But to anyone who cares, they will be remembered for just one song, “Come to the Sabbat” — not a hit single, but a standout on a cheapo label compilation in the early ’70s, and destined to live on for decades after the band. Naturally, the accompanying Sacrifice album has bounced along in its w ake, first as an increasingly expensive vinyl collectors’ item, more recently as a regular on the CD reissue circuit, and here it comes again, this time bearing more primal Black Widow than you could ever have dreamed of hearing. Ultimate Sacrifice: One opens, naturally, with the original seven-song album. More fascinating, however, is the chance to hear five of the seven (“Way to Power” and “Attack of the Demon” are absent) in their original demo form, where they are revealed, if anything, to be even more dramatic than on the final vinyl. “In Ancient Days” in particular profits from the looseness of the performance, while “Come to the Sabbat” packs a feel of abandonment that makes the familiar version seem quite sedate. Of course, the bonus tracks are really only of interest if you truly worship the original record, and, once past “Come to the Sabbat,” there probably aren’t many people who feel that strongly. But the liners tell the band’s tale well, the remastering is impressive, and if you’re not doing anything next weekend, you might well want to drop by Black Widow’s house. They’ve got somebody visiting, you know. (Allmusic)

Five years after releasing both Snuffbox Immanence and Tune In, Turn On, Free Tibet, Ghost returned with Hypnotic Underworld, and there were some changes in the band. Cellist Hiromichi Sakamoto and percussionist Setsuko Furuya (whose marimba gave those albums such a distinct sound) are gone, replaced by a great young rhythm section of Takuyuki Moriya (bass, conta bass, cello) and Junzo Tateiwa (drums, tabla, percussion). Also, Ghost co-founder Taishi Takizawa continues as producer but rejoins the group as a musician as well (he has served only as producer since the mid-’90s). Of course, Masaki Batoh is still here, along with longtime keyboard player Kazuo Ogino and guitar hero Michio Kurihara. With a brief U.S. tour (October 2002) under its belt, the band really jelled, and with Hypnotic Underworld, Ghost have released their most expansive set yet. The four-part title track starts somewhere near the Heliocentric Worlds, with Takizawa’s sax playing over the sparest of bass figures and percussion as wisps of electronic ether float in and out. This morphs into a fuzzbass-led groove with great soprano sax that leads into a hard rock movement with a choir adding to Batoh’s vocals and an ending so surprising I’ll leave it for the listener. This epic track is followed by a glorious cover of Earth & Fire’s “Hazy Paradise.” The production here is amazing, with harpsichords, Mellotron, and sitar melting into each other and a majestic Kurihara guitar solo at the end. “Kiseichukan Nite” features a very pretty Celtic harp and recorder over a simple bass ostinato and Batoh speaking in Japanese with little washes of electronic treatment creeping in. This album is all over the place stylistically, yet it all sounds like Ghost, even with the electronic treatments and almost prog rock keyboards that hadn’t been present on their prior albums. They turn in a version of Syd Barrett’s “Dominoes” that is so completely personalized as to be virtually unrecognizable. “Piper” is a rocker featuring some blistering guitar work, and “Ganagmanag” is a classic Ghost-style instrumental trance jam, highlighted by Takizawa’s flute and amazing production work. Batoh’s vocals have never been stronger, and Ogino’s various keyboards add a new dimension to the Ghost sound. Kurihara, as mentioned, is brilliant on electric guitar. The sound achieved by Takizawa and the band is a stunning mixture of ancient acoustic, hard electric, and electronic that Jimmy Page should be envious of. Hypnotic Underworld is a new high-water mark from one of rock’s most interesting bands. Highly recommended.

Stereolab was poised for a breakthrough release with Emperor Tomato Ketchup, their fourth full-length album. Not only was their influence becoming apparent throughout alternative rock, but Mars Audiac Quintet and Music for the Amorphous Body Center indicated they were moving closer to distinct pop melodies. The group certainly hasn’t backed away from pop melodies on Emperor Tomato Ketchup, but just as their hooks are becoming catchier, they bring in more avant-garde and experimental influences, as well. Consequently, the album is Stereolab’s most complex, multi-layered record. It lacks the raw, amateurish textures of their early singles, but the music is far more ambitious, melding electronic drones and singsong melodies with string sections, slight hip-hop and dub influences, and scores of interweaving counter melodies. Even when Stereolab appears to be creating a one-chord trance, there is a lot going on beneath the surface. Furthermore, the group’s love for easy listening and pop melodies means that the music never feels cold or inaccessible. In fact, pop singles like “Cybele’s Reverie” and “The Noise of Carpet” help ease listeners into the group’s more experimental tendencies. Because of all its textures, Emperor Tomato Ketchup isn’t as immediately accessible as Mars Audiac Quintet, but it is a rich, rewarding listen.

One of the most ambitious debuts in rock history, Freak Out! was a seminal concept album that somehow foreshadowed both art rock and punk at the same time. Its four LP sides deconstruct rock conventions right and left, eventually pushing into territory inspired by avant-garde classical composers. Yet the album is sequenced in an accessibly logical progression; the first half is dedicated to catchy, satirical pop/rock songs that question assumptions about pop music, setting the tone for the radical new directions of the second half. Opening with the nonconformist call to arms “Hungry Freaks, Daddy,” Freak Out! quickly posits the Mothers of Invention as the antithesis of teen-idol bands, often with sneering mockeries of the teen-romance songs that had long been rock’s commercial stock-in-trade. Despite his genuine emotional alienation and dissatisfaction with pop conventions, though, Frank Zappa was actually a skilled pop composer; even with the raw performances and his stinging guitar work, there’s a subtle sophistication apparent in his unorthodox arrangements and tight, unpredictable melodicism. After returning to social criticism on the first song of the second half, the perceptive Watts riot protest “Trouble Every Day,” Zappa exchanges pop song structure for experiments with musique concrète, amelodic dissonance, shifting time signatures, and studio effects. It’s the first salvo in his career-long project of synthesizing popular and art music, high and low culture; while these pieces can meander, they virtually explode the limits of what can appear on a rock album, and effectively illustrate Freak Out!’s underlying principles: acceptance of differences and free individual expression. Zappa would spend much of his career developing and exploring ideas — both musical and conceptual — first put forth here; while his myriad directions often produced more sophisticated work, Freak Out! contains at least the rudiments of almost everything that followed, and few of Zappa’s records can match its excitement over its own sense of possibility.

The impact of Faust cannot be overstated; their debut album was truly a revolutionary step forward in the progress of “rock music”. It was pressed on clear vinyl, packaged in a clear sleeve, with a clear plastic lyric insert. The black X-ray of a fist on the cover graphically illustrates the hard core music contained in the grooves, an amalgamation of electronics, rock, tape edits, acoustic guitars, musique concrete, and industrial angst. The level of imagination is staggering, the concept is totally unique and it’s fun to listen to as well.

Faust - Miss Fortune (Excerpt)

The first of Rolf-Ulrich Kaiser’s exploitive cosmic space rock albums is also the best, and certainly kicks the seat out of the many jam bands that arose in the ’90s. Unlike most “super groups” who collapse under the weight of their own hubris, the Cosmic Jokers, who were never really a proper group anyway, almost improve upon the sound of their precursors, namely Manuel Göttsching and Klaus Schulze from acid-jam-supreme Ash Ra Tempel, and Jurgen Dollase and Harald Grosskopf from blitzkrieg psychedelic Wallenstein. Structurally, the record is similar to those vintage Ash Ra Tempel albums, with two sidelong suites, the first side representing the peak of the acid freakout and the second side more relaxed, acting as the chill out later in the trip. Thus, the first side, “Galactic Joke,” has more emphasis on Gottsching’s freaked-out guitar, as the music slowly builds to full phased-out fury and then subsides and builds again. The flip side, “Cosmic Joke,” is mellower, though no less improvised as it travels with Schulze’s keyboard washes at the forefront into deepest space on a similarly slow ebb and flow. The effects are laid on much thicker than on a normal Ash Ra effort, especially on this second track, enhancing the sci-fi aspects as the mixing board of Dieter Dierks adds another dimension to the sound. Unlike later Cosmic Jokers records, where vocals were added in, this album is completely instrumental, letting the music stand by itself.

Cosmic Jokers - Galactic Joke (Excerpt)

Torch of the Mystics represents the pinnacle of the first phase of the Sun City Girls. A concise, pinwheeling album that captures the band’s pure commitment to emotional transcendence through music, the 11 songs here fly off into the netherworld of ethnic avant-garage rock with startling clarity. The band had never fully explored the Middle Eastern tones accumulating in their brains as they did on this 1990 masterpiece, nor had they been as clearly and smartly recorded as they are here: guitarist Rick Bishop’s tone slices, drummer Charlie Gocher is wider than he has ever been, and bassist Alan Bishop rumbles with an ominous ferocity. Songs like the pile-driving “Esoterica of Abyssynia” sound like your radio has leapt into a dreamy foreign astral plane of its own volition. “Space Prophet Dogon” is a dance of the seven veils as played by the freaked-out Mothers of Invention, while “Radar 1941” crash-lands in the middle of Egyptian Top 40 as imagined by “Count Five.” Every track contains a shimmering melodic phrase or haunting undertone that the Girls mine like pure manna, and the occasional bursts of delirious chanting still summon goosebumps on the listener’s skin. Every argument made for the greatness of the Sun City Girls has its roots in this platter, and if you have never understood what the fuss is all about or if you ever needed something to convince you of their (deservedly) sterling underground reputation, this is the original testament.

Sun City Girls - Esoterica of Abyssynia