Since the store opened a month and change ago, I have found myself back in the center of a listening maelstrom. In addition to listening to albums non-stop while the shop is open, I still find myself putting at least one or two on in my evenings. And on days off, the stream more or less continues. It’s the closest I’ve felt in a long time to Teen Maggie’s obsessive high school music research, and the high of finding something excellent and unfamiliar is as strong as ever. Naturally I’ve found a bunch of new-to-me favorites. Here are some of the highlights.
Jane Siberry - The Walking
I discovered this record in the traditional record store employee manner: looking it up so I could figure out where it’s supposed to be filed. The “art pop” descriptor got to me first, while further comparisons to Laurie Anderson piqued my interest. It seems to have found a newly appreciative audience in the last decade or so, which makes sense about a minute into the first track. The eight tracks are richly composed, full of 80s FM synthesizer flourishes mixed with Philip Glass-esque vocalizations and long, sprawling structures. And sure, there’s a little Kate Bush in this album’s DNA, but there’s also a healthy dose of Robert Ashley too. Siberry channels a lot of things, but the lush vision as a whole is quite singular. Difficult but eminently pleasurable music.
King Crimson - Earthbound
King Crimson’s first live album is a hell of an introduction to the band. The recording is, generously, rough around the edges, sounding less like something ripped off a board and more like a mic set up in the middle of the room. But it’s this utterly blown-out quality that, to me, makes it such a crucial document. Boz Burrell was the band’s vocalist during this era, and he makes his presence known with some positively animalistic vocals, replete with scatting and FX modulations. The opening performance of “21st Century Schizoid Man” is utter violence; the band is in pure lockstep with each other, which makes the extended freakouts all the more electrifying. Fans do not seem to enjoy this album, but to me it’s the closest the band got to something like High Rise or Les Rallizes Denudes, and therefore incredible.
Dave Burrell - Echo
Similarly torrential is Dave Burrell’s Echo, released on the legendary Actuel series. Burrell, known for his work with Pharoah Sanders and Archie Shepp, recorded the album in Paris as something of an ode to the noise of the city. That doesn’t really begin to touch it though; the album’s A-side is among free jazz’s most extreme compositions, and while the B-side is several degrees calmer the entire package is something of a paean to cacophony. It’s also completely beautiful, like shards of blinding sunlight piercing through a tornado. It’s not often you get to experience something so challenging and yet so undeniable.
Matching Mole - Matching Mole
Robert Wyatt (of Soft Machine) formed this adorably named group with members of Caravan and proggers Quiet Sun. The aesthetics were kind of all over the place, but on this 1972 effort the band is in absolute top form, playing a mix of beautiful minimal rock and highly technical fusion. There are moments that seem to precede what is now thought of as Talk Talk’s post-rock period that give way to lengthy Crimson-esque diversions. It’s a lot to absorb, (I’ve primarily been listening via a remastered CD with a wealth of bonus tracks that definitely make it a little more daunting than if it were just the LP) but it’s full of rewards.