The Great Sounds of 2024 (thus far)
“You are not entitled to your opinion. You are entitled to your informed opinion. No one is entitled to be ignorant.”― Harlan Ellison
‘Tis a roastery atop this mountain home, heating up as the day careers, leaving heat behind after sunset. Just over the Bay, there is fog everywhere…it is coat-wearing weather in San Francisco and I just sit and stare and try not to drool. Alas, with the mid-year comes the heat and with the heat comes a foggy head. But yet, I am gonna try……oh yes I’ll try…to try focus enough to get through this…and engage in a tradition, practiced by many a rag and newsletter, of deep-diving into the best records of the year thus far. It ain’t complete: just today I realized I missed out on the new Six Organs of Admittance record, Time is Glass, for instance…going to need to spend some time with it and report back.
The following are my top 10 fav releases of 2024 thus far, direct from my skewed palette and ear.
One more thing: we do have guest correspondent Courtney Holt, with his LA Scene Report, today as well: if I could hyperlink, it would take you to the bottom of this newsletter. As a preview…he recently came in live contact with some Damneds, some Misfits, some Iggyosity and lived to tell us all about it. I bet he is hot as hell in Los Angeles, dammit. We are frying. We are all frying.
The Best Records from the first half of 2024, in no particular order:
Insurrection by Alan Vega (In The Red): Late-90s Alan Vega recordings that carry the unrelenting power of that era’s Suicide leaning in on the industrial darkness of Coil and Einstürzende Neubauten. It sounds like a classic Mute record…it LOOKS like a classic Mute record…but it is on the best noise rock label of our generation, In The Red Records. Supposedly there is so much unreleased music by the deceased Vega. If it is all like this, Prince has competition for the after-life tape purge.
Walking After Dark by Mountain Movers (Trouble In Mind): I was hipped to this record by a friend who didn’t know I knew of the Mountain Movers. He told me there was a record that sounded like a great new take on the fuzzy, somberness of the of the later Lou Reed period Velvet Underground….or maybe when Big Star did their best Velvet Underground. But not a true ape—they made it their own. I knew the bombastic Mountain Movers…the crunch and pushed guitars hanging on chords forever. But mellow? Quiet groovosity? Oh yeah. This aptly named gem is what a walk after dark looks like in the land of those who move mountains.
Diamond Jubilee by Cindy Lee (Realistik Studios): I love that this kind of weirdness can still exist. These aliens from Canada decided to release their strange, compelling, beautiful home-made-sounding psych record only on their website. It ain’t on streamers, it ain’t on bandcamp…it is on a website. And it is great. It reminds me…purely on a “I have no idea what is coming next” way…of when listening to those first few Ween records, chopped together from some genius channeling Robert Pollard before he traded in his teaching gig for the road. The listener is happily trapped in the chaotic mind of the band…a mind has the ability of creating totally catchy songs and inspired band arrangements amidst the reverb, distortions, and muck.
The Power of the Heart: A Tribute to Lou Reed (Light In The Attic): My friend Bill Bentley knows how to put together a tribute album, a tribute album focused on a band or artist, finding the right old and young current voices to apply their artistry to great songs. He doesn’t create mere compilations, he conjures stand alone classic records that celebrate the artist, and the modern musical world. He did it for the 13th Floor Elevators, he did it for Skip Spence and Doug Sahm, and now he did it for Lou Reed, beautifully. The Power Features the best recording Keith Richards has done in years, I’m Waiting For The Man (video here), a soulful chitlin circuit take on Sally Can’t Dance by the 90-year-old king of the hoochie, Bobby Rush, and a wonderfully inspired Afghan Whigs take on I Love You Suzanne. While those are my album highlights, there are a lot of great artists and recordings on this tribute. Lou lives.
Frustration by The Mystic Tide (Numero Group): Numero Group did a good thing by collecting an album worth of recordings from Long Island’s Mystic Tide, many of which had found their way onto Nuggets and Nuggets-esque garage/psych comps, onto one thick platter. Yeah, it has been done before. But the clarity and power of the modern mastering techniques brings out band’s greatness. Mystery Ship. Oh my. I got turned onto that song from the Cheater Slicks cover of it; it is so very ferocious. In a land where the psych vaults have been pillaged and re-pillaged, Frustration exemplifies that there is still good stuff to be had.
Sleepwalkers by Ekin Fil (Helen Scarsdale Agency): Istanbul’s Ekin Fil creates ambient beauty with oceanic layers of drones and her souring, soulful voice; if Ivo was putting out classic 4AD records today, this record would be its main event. Sleepwalkers is a return-to-form of sorts, from the era in which she released Maps, both on the Helen Scarsdale label, both embracing the long, dreamscapes. My daughter interviewed her a few years back, published in The Signal, where Ekin Fil discusses the dark recesses of her music…her darkness that is not hopeless. Sleepwalkers swells with hope, a hope that melts into the consciousness.
There is a Garden by Beings (No Quarter): Ethan Miller turned me on to this crazy-talented gathering of mind expansive artists featuring Steve Gunn, Jim White, Zoh Amba (the sole member I have not heard of) and Shahzad Ismaily (who I worked with on The Golem Rescored project, and who was in The Visitors). Atmospheric jazz environments that break free with color like exploding volcanos; unclassifiable sweetness for a sour, constricted time. There is a Garden, the title track, is a standout journey that gives the feeling of inspiration and possibilities. Zoh’s vocals fit so nicely with sonic weaving of her friendly Beings. Unexpected goodness with a slight Faust tapes flair.
The Fall’s Sheffield Tape Archive Series (Sheffield Tape Archive): I stumbled upon this treasure one late night surfing session…wondering if there had been any new Fall reissues/releases in recent days, to discover that there had been four Fall live shows released this year digitally, spanning the years 1983-2014, by the Sheffield Tape Archive. The Archive had previously released four other Fall live shows as well as a show by Crass, The Butthole Surfers, No Means No and Eek-A-Mouse. The sound quality varies from show to show, but all of them bear witness to Mark E Smith and crew throwing down their iconic style of rock ‘n’ roll.
Souvenirs by Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru (Mississippi): This album is a revelation: to hear the sweet voice of one of the world’s most sublime pianists. Gebru’s solo piano compositions have been played regularly around the house (especially at sunrise) since first hearing them on Ethiopiques 21 in 2006. Her piano playing made her famous in her home country of Ethiopia. She played for Haile Selassie (I read somewhere that she herself was royalty) and eventually ended up in Jerusalem living in a hut near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the old city. I went to look for her the last time I was there, but just missed her (her friend led me to her house—a simple hut—built as near to the church as possible). Hearing her voice on these tracks, singing as her fingers on the piano have always sung…so intimate, so visceral.
At The Showcase: Live In Chicago, 1976-1977 by Sun Ra (Jazz Detective/Elemental Music): The older I get, the more I need Sun Ra’s music in my space. Space is the place, after all. Grow Older=More Ra. The joyful noise that he and his Arkestra emit is like no other. The chaos and aural planet exploration that these live tracks deliver will scrub your mind and free the spirit. This recording consists of the classic Sun Ra Arkestra band in top form. John Gilmore. Marshall Allen. Danny Thompson. June Tyson. Atakatune. Produced by the great Zev Feldman. A fantastic record.
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There are other records I have really liked this year (shout out to Arooj Aftab and Jessica Pratt), but the ten above are definitely the ones that I have been drawn to (this list excludes records I have worked on, including the fabulous Infinite River record Tabula Rasa). I loved the opening cut to the recent David Nance LP called Mock The Hours as well as Redd Kross’ first LP single Candy Coloured Catastrophe (cannot wait for their long player coming imminently). I am also looking forward to October 25th and the release of Gravel Springs, my band (true) with Luther Dickinson (believe it), coming out on Single Lock Records. More on that soon.
Oh yeah.
The MILLER-ZILLMER FOUNDATION presents The Modular Synthesizer Ensemble
Daniel Miller has had an incredible career as an artist, most notably with his band The Normal and their single Warm Leatherette, and as founder of Mute Records, championing electronic, experimental and other underground musical movements since 1978 (Depeche Mode, Nick Cave, CAN, Throbbing Gristle, and on and on and on). Over the last few years, he co-founded The Miller-Zillmer Foundation which supports arts and art projects that cross cultural barriers with an emphasis on supporting the development of young children as well as preserving Miller’s modular synthesizer collection (which is massive). They just released their annual report, which talks about what they have been focusing on (some of it is a little above my head…or just not told as well as it could be) and showcases the projects they have funded. The Modular Synthesizer Ensemble is a standout, where they (I am certain Miller is a driver on this on) produce performances by children who are both learning about synths while learning how to play together. The link above showcases a performance, begging the question of what the world would look like if all children got their turn twisting electronic tones together, a united modular organizism. I am pretty sure Miller owns one of the synthesizers that Kraftwerk used on the Autobahn record. Crazy to think one of the kids is using it!!! Following the trail of Daniel Miller always leads to incredible music and ideas, the Foundation the latest in his yellow brick r00111001110011d.
Exciting new newsletter: Andria Lisle’s Memphis Music Confidential
Andria Lisle is one of the important music writers to come out of Memphis in the last thirty years. She wrote the book on Memphis (Waking Up in Memphis) and is a huge supporter of the music scene there, past and present, and the neighboring North Mississippi. Running around that area with her is the best. Her newsletter is out-of-the-box awesome. The latest piece on Isaac Hayes: awesome. The interview with Eric Friedl of The Oblivians and Goner Records: awesome. Highly recommended.
Harold Camping predicted that the world would end on May 21, 2011. Remember that news item? What happened to him…after it didn’t end? How does his work compare with the rise of QAnon? What did his work prophesize? How crazy is this world we live in? A great read from Hayden Royster.
Anyone growing up in shadows of the New York No Wave movement knows the work of James Chance. The Contortions. James White and the Blacks. Rock, funk, bombast. For a teenager growing up post-classic-No-Wave mid-80s (I was born too late, in this case), Chance like Glenn Branca and Lydia Lunch were dark shadowy figures, almost fictional characters of a dark and distant Richard Kern film. Then there was the moment in the 1990s when my friend Tim Carr introduced me to Chance at a party (he knew I was a fan) and we ended up taking a taxi together to a John Cale gig. He was so kind, so personable…nothing like I would have expected from a No Wave movement leader. Much has been written about him since he passed a few weeks ago…this article is the best read of them all.
The First Studies of Underwater Acoustics: The 1800s
Fascinating stuff. “…the call “By the mark, twain!” by a leadsman lowering a weighted line on a Mississippi riverboat meant that the water was two (“twain”) fathoms or twelve feet deep and therefore, safe for the boat to pass (The American author, Mark Twain, always maintained that his primary pen name came from his years working on Mississippi riverboats – Twain was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens).”
I'd Love To See You, A Juxtapoz Magazine Story at 30, Part 1
Juxtapoz Magazine as been the greatest champion of the Low Brow art movement as well as many lesser-known cutting edge artists that don’t fit into that movement. It is hard to believe they have been around for 30 years now…and these exhibits they are curating to celebrate their 30th look very cool. Happy 30th Juxtapoz!
The Garden of Delight
By: Lucille Clifton
for some
it is stone
bare smooth
as a buttock
rounding
into the crevasse
of the world
for some
it is extravagant
water mouths wide
washing together
forever for some
it is fire
for some air
and for some
certain only of the syllables
it is the element they
search their lives for
eden
for them
it is a test
LA SCENE REPORT
by Courtney Holt
Recently I ventured out to the No Values Festival in Pamona, a bit east of Los Angeles. Yeah, another festival…but this one, being mostly old punk bands. A day on asphalt with other aging punk fans. Why not?
Personally, I struggle with nostalgia, as I do like what I like but there is such a thing as a creative peak. While I have enjoyed seeing some reunion shows, often when it comes to the newer music they are showcasing, I’m often let down. I have those bands, those records that will be forever my “ones” and in recent years I have shown up to see XX band do their classics, or that one album. I rarely walk away satisfied.
Some outliers from the festival:
The Damned recently made a song about bees that feels to me like it could have been ripped off Strawberries or Black Album (listen here). Fuck if Vanian isn’t the healthiest looking elder in a leather coat and leather gloves I’ve seen in the heat of a mid-day sun in however long I can remember (SIGNAL EDITOR NOTE: The Damned are one of the great bands touring at the moment).
There have been recent Stranglers, TSOL songs I have been in on.
I saw Psych Furs and I stand their first 3 albums. All are solid
I have recently bought tickets to Acid Mothers Temple and Bevis Frond…also Jandek per my last post.
All that said, we are now flipping back to nostalgia and while it is great to have one last shot (or maybe more) at a band to revisit their heyday, I remain as fascinated by new music and those striving for new peaks than living in the past.
Yet to see Danzig, at his puffiest and q-iest (anti vaxx commentary and such): I can’t hate (breeders) tho. He digs animals, so can he be all that bad?
I remember when the Misfits broke up and Danzig was talking about evolving his music to what became that self titled sludge that Rick Rubin loved, seeing him back at his starting place with The Misfits reminded me of how both amazing and shitty the band was in the best possible way. It worked then, it works now. For all the crimson ghost boots I saw along the way that day, a giant sing along of songs of murder and such, well maybe we all needed it.
I find it super weird that when you look at all the divisions in our society around virtually everything, now even punk rock has become politically chaotic in the strangest ways possible. So while I have no way of knowing whether Lee Ving, Mike Ness or Exene questions the shape of the earth, there is a part of me that acknowledges that the core ethos of the movement was about questioning authority. While I never expected to see common sense or science in play here, I guess thats just where we are.
OTHER NOTES:
Jesus Lizard can be loud as fuck from an outdoor b stage. Nice.
Jello Biafra + Agent Orange = wow
Suicidal’s kid bassist = wow
Iggy with Matt Sweeney’s curated band = wow
“We wear the mask that grins and lies,
It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,—
This debt we pay to human guile;
With torn and bleeding hearts we smile”
― Paul Laurence Dunbar
THIS NEWSLETTER IS DEDICATED TO ROB STONE. RIP.
I needed this today. It hit the spot like a fine wine. Thank you. 🙏🏻
Cindy Lee! That is all!