Every listener has a few – one or two exceptional records which transport them to a metaphysical beyond, or one could say, records that take them to church. One unparalleled example is Glenn Goins calling down the Mothership at Parliament Funkadelic’s performance in Houston in 1976.
But my personal favorite out-of-body musical experience is Spiritualized’s Ladies & Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space. The entire album is a neo-psychedelic gospel noisepop anthem and one of the finest and most cohesive works of the shoegaze genre.
J Spaceman and his band are accompanied by Dr John on the piano and the Hammond B3, as well as the voices of The London Community Gospel Choir. There are touches of hammer dulcimer, autoharp, accordion, string and horn sections, and pedal steel making for one brilliantly-refined heroin-inspired masterpiece.
The 17-minute closing epic, “Cop Shoot Cop” is a monumental performance. The track’s foundation is a simple gospel blues oscillation between two fundamental chords. J’s understated half-spoken vocals usher the listener through a series of verses varying on a primary lyrical theme, each punctuated by twelve bars of distortion pedal punching noise which culminates after the final verse with 6 minutes of an unrelenting eruption of cacophonous clamor. Impressively, the hyperactive electric bass which has been walking up and down scales for the duration of the piece slowly introduces and repeats the root note of the track and guides the performers through the fog machine and wall-of-sound pandemonium back to the familiar gospel structure for a few minutes of meditative peace while Spaceman repeats, “and I will love you… and I will love you…” for the album’s finale.
This is a record best-experienced in your finest pair of circumaural headphones, and bested only by the 3-disc UK Expanded Edition.
Born in ’81, I was just a few years too young for some of the best music of the 80s. This afternoon I dedicated some time to rectifying that issue.
I collected all of the genre-defining albums of the era from RateYourMusic.com and assembled a 175-hour playlist titled Days of the Lords: 1976-1997 comprising 55 artists from the period’s most prominent genres:
Ethereal Wave
New Wave
Dream Pop
Gothic Rock
Shoegaze
Post-Punk
Jangle Pop
& Noise Pop
All the major players are here. Neoclassical darkwave and goth rock mainstays like The Cure, The Church, The Cult, Joy Division, The Smiths, Dead Can Dance and Cocteau Twins. Plus post-punk artists like The Chameleons, Cabaret Voltaire, Chrome, Einstürzende Neubauten, Jesus & Mary Chain, Swervedriver, and Fad Gadget.
All the shoegaze giants made the list, from My Bloody Valentine to Spacemen 3 and Spiritualized, Soda Stereo, The Boo Radleys, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Slowdive, Chapterhouse, Belly, and The Catherine Wheel. I’ve really done my best to assemble all of the artistst discographies that defined their generation’s sound from 1976-1997.
Here’s a preview of the completed list in action. I’ve got a lot of listening to do!
This evening I found myself feeling emotionally and intellectually nostalgic for 1984-1994 ethereal wave / jangle-pop / neo-psychedelia / slowcore / art punk music which I’d only superficially explored in my college days.
This was music I emotionally-associate with the new-found independence and freedom (before the crushing reality of student loan debt sank in.)
As I’m never one to take on a task lightly, I charged full-speed to RYM, building custom charts of heroin-inspired jangle-pop and dreamy drone music of the late eighties and early nineties.
I consider these years sacred, before the industry latched on to the budding “alternative” rock scene and everything went to hell. These are the years before grunge hit full-swing, before megastars like Eddie Vedder, Chris Cornell, and Gavin Rossdale were featured every three songs on every commercial radio station in the US.
The free-form college rock scene was instead dominated by unlikely and reclusive rockers like J Spaceman and Elizabeth Fraser of Cocteau Twins.
Now armed with a roster of essential recordings, I’ll begin compiling the necessary albums for what will fill many evenings with the music from artists such as:
Spacemen 3
Spiritualized
Belly
Cocteau Twins
Curve
Galaxy 500
The Jesus & Mary Chain
Lush
Medicine
My Bloody Valentine
Sisters of Mercy
Slowdive
Sparklehorse
Suicide
The Church
Throwing Muses
…and a score of other essential artists of the dreamy early-alternative and pre-grunge scene.
I also count among these artists American Analog Set for their whisper-core indie music which came after the heyday of the shoegaze genre.
Spacemen 3 so adequately summarized the entire scene – “Taking Drugs To Make Music To Take Drugs To.”
And so it came to pass that my beloved McIntosh C39 pre-amp was not made happy by replacing the volume pot. I’d decided in advance that if that didn’t fix it, I would cut my losses and consider, for the first time in my 30+ years, to explore the possibility of a brand new pre-amp/power amp combo.
My first McIntosh – a MAC 4280.
I am fully aware of the tried-and-true code of the audiophile – quality vintage gear will generally out-perform and out-last newer contemporaries dollar-for-dollar. But after repeatedly battling oxidation, bad resistors, and a few bad volume pots for the better part of three decades, I was ready to consider something new.
The Next Generation: My McIntosh C39
My life-long trusted audio adviser and best-friend tossed a few suggestions my way, namely the emotiva xsp-1, some newer Rotel models, and the most alluring of his suggestions – the Parasound Halo p3. But for the interim, I had a local hi-fi shop tune up my Yamaha CR-840 – the first real amp I ever had. Years ago channel A stopped working, and oxidation built up rending the amp nearly-unusable, but I’d never given it up, as it was a very special gift. Thankfully the shop returned it to me the next day in PERFECT working condition!
I’d forgotten how great it sounded. Please understand – I know it’s not remotely in the same class as some of the finer amps I’ve used, but the warm and familiar tone of this amp transports me back to college and all the memories attached to those years. I completely acknowledge that this nostalgia trip is in no way a measure of the amp’s technical performance. It is of no quantifiable measure an amp comparable to my MACs or, likely, to the Parasound amp. But I will fully-embrace the head-trip it brings and am more than satisfied to use it until the right upgrade comes along.
Next up – Perhaps the Parasound Halo P3
To make the amp-swap official, I chucked the eyesore of a component rack that I’d picked up from a thrift shop. 30-seconds of Craigslist searching produced a nifty 60s record shelf for only a few bucks to serve as both a surface for the amp and as additional record storage. Better still – the funky elderly couple selling it were ridiculously adorable and had mirrored-and-velvet-patterned wallpaper with matching decor all about their home.
Not kidding. This… with mirrored panels.
The shelf has a very “college” feel to accompany the amp, and the space was PERFECT to relocate all my LPs pressed between 1995 and the present. All my favorites are in here – DJ Food, Boards of Canada, Lemon Jelly, DJ Shadow, The Orb, Underworld, Stereolab, Spiritualized, The KLF, St Germain, Bonobo, Aphex Twin, Cinematic Orchestra, Sigur Ros, Pantha Du Prince, Low, Beck, The FLips, with just enough room to sneak in nearly all of Brian Eno and Tom Waits’ albums.
The Nostalgia Corner
This is as good a time as any to resolve to listen to more of my records in 2015 – to enjoy what I have instead of always searching for the next grail.
And there you have it – an objective and meticulous audiophile reduced to a nostalgic dolt by his trust old amp. Think what you will, but I’ll be happy here, spinning some great tunes.
Greetings friends! It’s been a crazy month but I’m finally moved into my new Lair (which you can check out here). I apologize for neglecting the blog but I’m back with the last 25 LPs I’ve picked up.
One of the first people I met at the new apartments is close personal friends with Mark Burgess of the Chameleons, and we went out to the first goth night at a club in town. She turned me on to proto-industrial, post punk and minimal wave music and so I assembled a collection of 319 essential albums from artists like Cabaret Voltaire, the Chameleons, Einstürzende Neubauten, Fad Gadget, Muslimgauze, the Residents, Solid Space, Suicide, Television, The Normal, Throbbing Gristle and others.
As luck would have it, I stumbled upon two NM Chameleons singles at a flea market two days later!
Just before the move, I found a little hole-in-the-wall used record shop which had sprung up in town. I was delighted to find a few LPs I’d had on my list for some time, and I traded a small pile of duplicates and got them all free!
I have his Moog LP and this was a wonderful addition to my library.
St. Elmo’s Fire – filed beside my copy of The Breakfast Club Soundtrack
Best of BBC Themes 2LP (feat. the original Doctor Who Theme)
Jimmy Castor Bunch – Supersound. Funky!
But THIS was the Castor EP I’d been after! “The Bertha Butt Boogie!”
The next two record stores I visited each had a few Miles Davis LPs I had been looking for, and I picked up each for no more than $4 apiece. I am trying to assemble the complete Columbia recordings on vinyl.
The week of the move I visited my old home town to pick up my items from storage and happened upon still another new record shop. I was blown away to find a mint original press of Portishead – Portishead, Tom Waits’ Big Time (one of the few discs I was missing), and, believe it or not, The Black Rider!
This is an absolutely essential Trip Hop / Downtempo disc of the 90s and was a proud addition to my collection.
Here’s the biggest hit from the album, “Only You” performed live in NYC.
I don’t know how I’d gone this long without ordering a copy of Big Time. What a great disc!
I had to pass on the copy of The Black Rider, however as it was stickered at $100 and I needed to pay for the U-Haul that day. Next time, Gadget. Next time.
I received a few Discogs alerts for classic singles I’d always wanted from Underworld (I have over 250 of their releases between vinyl, CD and FLAC.) Not passing up another opportunity I grabbed them both.
The first to arrive was the limited white vinyl edition of “Rez”/”Cowgirl”, two of their best-known songs. This copy was still in its original shrink.
Here is the best-ever live performance of the two tracks, from the Everything Everything Live DVD.
But the real treasure came two days ago – an original first pressing of JBO29 – the first single featuring “Born Slippy.nuxx”.
If the title of this floor-stomping anthem isn’t familiar, you might know it better as “that song from Trainspotting.”
Next I visited my favorite antique market and didn’t hesitate when I found Steve Reich’s Desert Music. I have a huge thing for 20th century minimalism and the next box set I buy will be Philip Glass’ Einstein on the Beach.
I did make it to a record show just before the move and didn’t get a chance to post the one item from my list which I was able to find. I’ve been on a HUGE experimental German music kick and felt like a kid at Christmas when I found Amon Düül II’s Phallus Dei on vinyl.
File under “creepy German psych shit.”
Also in the mail last week was a milestone recording – Nick Drake’s Pink Moon. I had recently purchased a mint pressing from the late 2000s but flipped it for cash to order this elusive pink wax pressing as soon as I saw it post to discogs.
Speaking of colored vinyl I also sold off my mint sealed Spiritualized Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space 2LP and quickly snatched up a copy of the same album on blue vinyl, a Record Store Day release from 2010.
This is my all-time favorite shoegaze record. There is also a fantastic 3CD expanded edition which I highly recommend.
In my recent travels I’ve also been looking for Ken Nordine’s Colors and Word Jazz LPs. So far I’ve only found Son of Word Jazz, but rest assured, I will find the others.
The interest in Ken Nordine was rekindled when I heard his guest vocals on DJ Food’s Kaleidoscope, an early release on Ninja Tune which I couldn’t resist ordering.
Here’s the track feat. Ken Nordine – “Aging Young Rebel.”
Still on the Ninja Tune kick I ordered an original pressing of Cinematic Orchestra’s Remixes LP as well as the pressed-to-order reissue of their greatest album – Motion.
And finally, I received another discogs alert when a seller posted the first two limited edition mint Black Swan drone music LPs for a total of only $15 including shipping! The first, In 8 Movements was limited to 300 copies worldwide, and the second (my favorite) – The Quiet Divide was pressed on red vinyl and limited to 100 copies. What a steal!
If you’re into drone this is some killer music.
Special thanks to The_Dig for kicking me in the butt to get blogging again. So sorry I’ve been gone so long, but thanks for sticking with me!
Early this summer the cable of my Sennheiser PMX 200 headphones became frayed and rendered them unusable. I could have spent $40+ to have the manufacturer service them, or I could save up for an upgrade. The latter was much more appealing so I began to research a suitable replacement that would work well with my set up.
I wanted to find a fold-flat pair of circumaural headphones with a travel case so that I could use them at home and at work. Passive noise attenuation would be a plus, to dampen or drown out the Backstreet Boys playing in the break room. They should also have a thick clothwound or otherwise reinforced detachable cable so that I wouldn’t end up with the same problem I had with the PMX 200s.
Sennheiser PMX 200 – note the thin cable.
I consulted head-fi.org, where one member suggested the Beyerdynamic DT 1350 closed supra-aural monitoring headphones, priced at $300. I had my heart set on a circumaural design for better noise cancellation and reduced sound leakage so I continued looking.
Bowers & Wilkins P5s came highly recommended by the salespeople at Best Buy, but I don’t look to big box stores for pro audio solutions. One of my best friends, with whom I worked for a local home theater specialist provided a personal critique of the P5s. Put simply, he said that they reproduce the sound of a recording “accurately, and do nothing more.” Sound without emotion, if you will.
I finally narrowed my selection to two models: The Sennheiser HD 380 Pro and the Audio Technica ATH-M50. Both are marketed as professional studio monitors. I phoned the eight major retailers in my area and only one had both models available and offered to let me compare the two with my own lossless audio.
Sennheiser HD 380 Pro headphones
Audio Technica ATH M50 headphones
After carefully assembling a playlist of my favorite artists and genres of music, I put the two pairs of headphones to the test.
First and foremost – these two sets are not for bassheads. (But what basshead shops for monitors to begin with?) If you want bass, buy Dre’s Beats and call it a day.
The bass of the 380s is smooth and natural. With a portable media player and no portable amp they sound just fine, but hook them up to a solid home receiver and dial up your EQ and you’ll feel them pulsate against the side of your head. I was perfectly satisfied with the way they handled early house music. The M50s have more pronounced bass, but at a cost. (More on that in a moment.)
A feature of the 380s that instantly gained my favor is the cable. It is 1 meter long coiled and stretches to approximately 3 meters. The end of the cable is threaded to ensure a solid connection with the included 1/4″ gold plated adapter. Best of all – there is a 3.5mm plug on the other end of the cord that snaps into a jack hidden in the left ear cup. All these features preserve the life of the cable. Like all the other parts of the 380s, the cord can be replaced should anything happen to it. The M50 cable is available coiled or straight (the straight model is called the M50s) and also features a threaded adapter. The end of the cable is covered by a spring to prevent fraying, but the detachable feature of the Sennheiser cable won me over.
The detachable cable of the HD 380
After thoroughly testing the Sennheisers I tried on the M50s and instantly noticed the difference. As I stated, the bass is slightly more pronounced in the Audio Technicas but the soundstage is significantly smaller/narrower than on the 380s. Members of head-fi.org have stated that the term “soundstage” was invented by Sennheiser’s marketing department to push a particular model of their headphones, but the term accurately describes what you experience when comparing the two sets.
I particularly noticed the larger and more open soundstage from the Sennheisers when listening to Ladysmith Black Mambazo delicate vocal harmonies. I felt closer to the performers, and the echoes of their voices hung in the air longer than with the M50s. Also, the wall of sound created by J Spaceman and his band Spiritualized backed by a full orchestra and gospel choir had a much bigger impact when listening to the 380s. Finally, the immeasurably faint decay of the notes in any of William Basinski’s recordings, (such as The Disintegration Loops I) were reproduced with greater precision by the Sennheisers than by the ATH-M50s.
Both headphones have rotating, collapsable earcups for easy storage and each come with a travel case. The M50 case is a simple black vinyl drawstring bag, while the Sennheisers come with a hard shell zipper case with a felt inner lining and an embossed Sennheiser logo across the center. This scored several more points for the 380s for both style and function.
The Sennheisers were a clear winner, and I ordered them immediately. The MSRP is $299.95, though you can find them for $187 with shipping from Amazon. I ordered a refurbished like-new pair from a licensed supplier for $79 and they arrived in just a few days.
I’ve also worked out the dimensions for an Easter Island head headphone stand which my girlfriend will sculpt out of clay. Photos to come!
Spent the last week tracking down more outstanding albums.
Underworld’s score for Danny Boyle’s Frankenstein
At first listen I immediately noticed familiar material from experimental sound projects in Underworld’s past.
Seemingly random ambient noises, clangs and echoes, the repeated spoken words, “walk with me” and the word “vision” uttered quietly… all originated from the download-only RiverRun project entitled Lovely Broken Thing. The “vision… come on” sample has also appeared in the song, “Bamboo” which has only been performed live. Underworld has done this often historically, developing song fragments through live performance. Another similar example is a female voice speaking the words, “bad… boy” which appeared in the John Peel performance of “Biro the Leggy” and later found it’s way into the album track, “Scribble.”
Still, other than those traces of familiarity there is little evidence that this is an Underworld recording. Gone are the warm electronic loops and stream of consciousness lyrics of Karl Hyde and Rick Smith. In their place is a dramatic and somewhat ambient soundtrack that perfectly suits the play.
Jerry Goldsmith’s Secret of N.I.M.H soundtrack
The Wikipedia calls Goldsmith “one of the most prominent and prolific film composers of the 20th century.” His catalog includes nearly 200 major motion pictures. The Secret of N.I.M.H. was Don Bluth’s directorial debut (and most agree his greatest work.) The movie pushed the limits of animation and the story was powerful and mature for a children’s film. Paired with Goldsmith’s skillful composition, it is a soundtrack to be remembered.
The version of the album that most commonly surfaces has the cover pictured below.
The more elusive version features the original movie poster cover art (now a highly sought-after collectible.) The first two copies I found were $33 and $40 respectively plus shipping, but after a dedicated and determined search I acquired a near mint copy for $8. A small price to pay for one of the most memorable film scores of my childhood.
The album will be filed beside the score of Bluth’s second film – An American Tail.
As foretold in my previous post the new Low record has been released, and as a special thank-you the band included a free acoustic EP with the album, available only at mom-and-pop record shops.
Low – C’Mon (w ltd. ed. acoustic companion disc)
I also ordered two double LP copies of previous Low albums that I found for a steal from a seller online.
Low – Trust double LP
Low – The Great Destroyer double LP
Low has been defining the slowcore genre for nearly 20 years, and their latest effort, C’Mon does not disappoint. Stand out tracks include “Witches”, “Especially Me” and “Nothing But Heart.” Nels Cline of Wilco joins the band on several tracks as well.
The slow build in “Nothing But Heart” is reminiscent of the album closer “Cop Shoot Cop” from Spiritualized’s Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space. Over 17 minutes long, the song is anchored by a repeated bass line much in the way that the Sparhawk repeats the single-line lyric throughout “…Heart.” Guitars and feedback build until the song is lost in a cacophony of noise. A gospel choir warmly chants beckoning in the song’s conclusion and the familiar bass resurfaces as the feedback dissipates.
The Innerspace Connection 