Several Canterbury Scene Prog albums

Austin and I were talking the other night, and I figured I might as well do this post, seeing as it's one of my favorite prog scenes.

The Canterbury scene sprung up in Canterbury, Kent, England in the early 70's, and isn't so much a style as a collective sort of thing. That's not to say that there aren't similarities between the groups involved: they're all very British. They're also some of the greatest psychedelic and progressive acts of the 1970's, so it's nothing to scoff at.

Soft Machine- Third[1970]
Soft machine were the fusion branch of the Canterbury scene, but the jazz influence is more free-jazz than cool jazz. Squealing saxes and shredding axes abound. Facelift has an awesome 5-minute intro, by the way.
http://www.mediafire.com/?mmmqkzn2jyz

Caravan- In the Land of Grey and Pink[1971]
Hugely varied album. Includes a goofy boy-meets-girl song about golf, an 8-minute minstrel's tale, an irritatingly catchy love song, a lightly psychedelic jaunt, then a 23-minute epic. A very pleasant album, overall.
http://www.mediafire.com/?jbavoaier4d

 Arzachel-Arzachel[1969]
aka Uriel, aka Egg. This is the lone release by what could be considered a Canterbury supergroup, despite coming before much of the other groups in the scene.  Very psychedelic, great rhythm section, ranges from ethereal psych-hymns to hard rock. Garden of Earthly Delights might be my favorite song from the entire scene. Organ heavy(in a good way), in case you're not into that.
http://www.mediafire.com/?ytnbmxizznn

Gong- Flying Teapot[1971]
This group is way out there. The spaciest group of the Canterbury scene, there are a lot of things about Gong that might put you off. Odd vocals, loads of instruments and overlapping tracks- it gets a little dense. It really falls into some great grooves, though. Give it a thorough listen, and I doubt you'll be disappointed.
http://www.mediafire.com/?kziwun4j2gj

Midsummer's Night Funk

Just a couple of quick albums, both great for just about any time during the summer. Both are instrumental, so they're perfect background music for a barbecue, bonfire, smoke sesh, dag break, dick time, etc.

Eddy Senay- Hot Thang[1972]
Funky instrumental soul, or soulful instrumental funk? I'm not sure, I'm white. It's great though. Loads of fuzz, wah, and organ.
http://www.mediafire.com/?itju0nwyz32

 Dave Hamilton- Detroit City Grooves[2005]
Contains tracks from the 60's to the present. All fantastic soul/funk jams, focused mostly on guitar. Lots of vibraphone/xylophone, also.
http://rapidshare.com/files/172781209/Dave_Hamilton_1.zip
http://rapidshare.com/files/172778921/Dave_Hamilton_2.zip
Sorry about the rapidshare on Dave Hamilton, I know it sucks. Please enjoy, though. Happy summer.

Jandek- Interstellar Discussion[1984]

Jandek's music is as enigmatic and more-than-vaguely creepy as the man who makes it. Though guesses have been made as to his identity, none have been confirmed, and any record sales or contact are made through a man who refers to himself as "a representative of Corwood Industries". Intrigued by this weird folk-*hero* sort of lore, I decided to go through Jandek's entire catalog chronologically, and it's already become sort of an obsession.

On this, his tenth release, Jandek uses more varied instrumentation, mostly his freakishly distorted and rattling electric guitar (played in his own "black key" tuning), pounding drums, and shrieking harmonica. Jandek's voice itself could also be considered an instrument. It never quite hits the right notes (not that you can tell which ones he's going for) and it's got a tribal sort of whelping intonation to it. This strange little ensemble cobbles together some of the most atonal and creeped-out things ever. I say things, because I can't come up with an apt descriptor for most of these tracks.

The lyrics are just beyond what a normal human mind could create. Think of every single person you know- none of them could generate the sort of thoughts that come out in Jandek's lyrics. Sometimes a lunatic, sometimes a loser, there are a lot of different moods present here, but none of them fall on the sunny side of things. The two lines that make up "Starless"(I must say what I say/Listen-- what I say) really set the mood for the whole experience, an experience that I'd expect to be somewhat similar to being kidnapped and forced to listen to a maniac's shocking memories. Everything's in present-tense, and it's either directed at "you" or "I". Sometimes he throws a phone number in there- who knows?(547-3668). If you read the lyrics, they're a little bit weird, if simple. Jandek's delivery, however, turns them inside out with yowls, groans, and barks.

This is the man who epitomized outsider music. He's the ultimate outsider, somehow making public appearances without revealing anything but his face. I don't think anyone else can play like this, because this twisting vision doesn't exist for anyone else. Even if you just have this on in the background, there will be lines and sections that jump out at you. A burst of noise, a line that you need to hear in context(there might not be any)- you'll find yourself going back to try and understand it a little bit better, not that there's much there for you to understand.

Syzygys- Complete Studio Recordings[2003]

I'm in the middle of packing for the fireside jamboree and a marathon Jandek session right now, so I'll just do a short one about an interesting album that I don't know much about.

Syzygys is one of the longest words in the English language without a single standard vowel. Huh. It's also a Japanese female duo who play fun little pop songs based in Harry Partch's microtonal scale. They're a part of Tzadik's New Japan series, which consistently releases some of the best and weirdest Japan has to offer. This album has a very whimsical feel to it, and while there are vocals, the instrumentals are by and large my favorite part.

Stylistically, this album is all over the place, ranging from faux-Middle-eastern dirges to carnival-esque ditties, there are a lot of unexpected turns. I guarantee that this sounds like nothing else you've heard, but it won't be one of those albums that you only listen to because it's weird. I already find myself coming back to it just for fun.

Ruins post for Austin

This will be a post of a smattering of Ruins and Ruins-associated acts, with a brief description of each album.
-<3 Dan

Ruins- 1986-1992
I'm including this in lieu of their first five or so albums. This is a compilation of their early works, and the material here spans three different bassists. Much of this is closer to punk than their later works, but it's still like nothing else.
http://www.mediafire.com/?ulsil969v6gtb

Ruins- Hyderomastgroningem[1995]
This is where things got weird(er). A shift toward long-form songs, but still maintaining some of the punk trappings of their earlier works.  This is probably the best combination of accessibility and content.
http://www.mediafire.com/?xm3zy2ohdot

Ruins- Vrresto[1998]
A bit more abstract than Hyderomastgroningem, there aren't really rhythms to speak of. Instead, the songs are extended, nonrepeating exercises in controlled chaos. Includes some random passages of non-drum, non-bass instruments such as vibraphone and violin.
http://www.mediafire.com/?6jjzecwoedn

 Ruins- Symphonica[1998]
On this release, Yoshida enlists the help of a pianist/keyboardist, as well as two female singers. Includes remakes of several tracks that should be familiar from 1986-1992. A very interesting listen, and a bridge into the more operatic phase of Ruins albums.
http://www.mediafire.com/?ztyvi2rozez

 Ruins- Pallaschtom[2000]
Hard and fast seems to be the operating principle here. Tatsuya Yoshida and Sasaki Hisashi are masters of their prospective instruments, and Pallaschtom is a collection of relatively short tracks showcasing their incredible synergy. Also of note is the trio of medleys at the end- "Classical Music Medley", "Hard Rock Medley", and "Progressive Rock Medley". They're like a light-speed tour through decades of great music.
http://www.mediafire.com/?zumiojne5mj

Ruins- Mandala 2000: Live at the Kichijoji Mandala II[2000]
This goes to show that Ruins is able to pull of all of that recorded insanity in a live setting. It also contains loads of improvisations, so it's almost like an entirely new album.
http://www.mediafire.com/?z2r1cazzjuo

 Ruins- Tzomborgha[2002]
Sadly, the last proper Ruins album. It's impossible to tell where this one is going. Each track is an organic and highly technical piece, not so much composed as developed. Also contains "Black Sabbath Medley" and "Mahavishnu Orchestra Medley"- Both are amazing. Do not start here, by any means.
http://www.mediafire.com/?4wgyhfzmejf

 Derek & The Ruins- Saisoro[1995]
Collaboration between Derek Bailey and Ruins. Somewhat like a sparser version of Hyderomastgroningem, though there are plenty of dense and heavy freakouts here and there.
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=URW3Q0IC

RonRuins- Ketsunoana[1998]
Ruins collaboration with Ron Anderson of The Molecules. Sounds like Ruins with a guitar. Not that that's a bad thing.
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=O0E4X8UM

 Haino Keiji/ Yoshida Tatsuya- Uhrfasudhasdd[2008]
A maniac on guitar, a genius on drums, and loads of tape fuckery. It's crazy and loud, but actually pretty fun, and almost catchy in some parts.
http://www.mediafire.com/?zjzmnmofymd

 Satoko Fujii & Tatsuya Yoshida- Erans[2004]
This is a personal favorite of mine. It's Yoshida and pianist Satoko Fujii, and it's a great combination. The piano is smooth, but unpredictable, bringing the whole album to a sort of extremely avant-garde free-jazz.
http://www.mediafire.com/?zmhmzzjz1ji

 Koenjihyakkei- Angherr Shisspa[2005]
I'm only including one Koenjihyakkei album on here because I've already done a lot of albums. I'd recommend looking into them if you like later Ruins, though. I'd say Symphonica is the closest approximation in the Ruins discography.
http://www.mediafire.com/?jitmfaaqznw

 Okay, that's it. There's still loads out there, but this covers most of the bases in terms of stages of evolution and collaborations. Enjoy, there's a lot to work through here.

Naked City- Leng Tch'e[1992]

Leng Tch'e, or the "slow slicing" was a particularly gruesome form of Chinese torture, also known as "death by 1000 cuts". The victim was slowly sliced to pieces, and sometimes given opium to prolong the duration of the torture, which upon imperial request, could last up to three days.

The namesake isn't lost here, as Naked City takes their Grindcore-meets-free-jazz(and god knows what else) style into a distinctly sludgy direction(think Melvins circa Lysol). It's long, slow, and terrifying. The single track here begins with washes of chittering feedback, which, over the course of the first four minutes, slowly build into huge, crashing waves of distorted, writhing bass. The drums join in, sounding almost tribal and ritualistic, swinging between backbeats and extended fills to fill the huge, dark void of this album.

The barbaric riffage continues until about 15 minutes in, when a recognizable beat emerges, and Yamataka Eye(of Boredoms fame) starts shrieking. On early Boredoms releases, Eye's spastic, gibbering vocals lent to the cartoon-gone-weird aesthetics, but here, they complement the instrumentals in such a way that you can really pick up on the whole "torture" aesthetic. From there out, it just gets more and more miserable(that's a good thing). Eye consistently comes up with horrifying new screams, barks, and whimpers, and Zorn himself conjures up some equally devilish sax squeals.

The band constantly shifts from frenzied faster sections(reminiscent of "traditional" Naked City) and slow, crushing sections. Usually, it's just the drums that speed up, and the mountains of bass and distortion keep their glacial pace behind them. The last two minutes or so switch back into the droning feedback from the beginning, but have an oddly positive tinge to them, like most of Earth's "Phase 3". It's sort of an "I may be dead and shredded, but at least it's over" feeling. This is an amazing release from Naked City, and a very interesting look at the nexus of sludge and drone. You should also read more about the torture itself. It was only officially abolished in 1905.