Ruth

"Polaroid/Roman/Photo"- 1985

Prophet

Here's an insanely funky electro soul burner out of the San Fran area to liven your Monday woes. This dusty homemade joint is by Prophet, a virtually unknown practitioner of funk, off his album Right On Time which is speculated to have been made around the mid-80s. I picked this up in cyberspace somewhere, but I can't remember where- there's little info about this record besides how ridiculously dope it is. The highlight track is "Right On Time" which can be listened to below. This will tide you over until I drop a couple new mixes this week: the new Crunk Junk Vol. 5 and a Latin funk/garage/psych mix-up.

Devo

Finally after a 20 year hiatus, the De-Evolution is back with their 9th studio album Something For Everybody released yesterday. This is the retail version which is available in stores, while their other experimental "Song Study Version With Fan Favorites" 12 track version is only available on itunes. The two albums differ only by four tracks since there were only 17 to chose from. It's silly to say the least, but I don't really give a shit- whatever they decide to do is fine with me considering it's impossible for Devo to fuck up in my eyes. So I've taken the liberty to include their single "Watch Us Work It" which was released a couple years back that's only available on the itunes version. Now if that wasn't confusing enough for you, the album is little heavier and almost industrial in many aspects- but it's growing on me since yesterday. "Fresh," "Sumthin'," and "Cameo" are my initial highlights, but that's the beauty of Devo- they grow on you like a fungus. So put this in your earholes and let me know what you think...
Don't Shoot(I'm A Man)

Loop

If I had to describe Loop, I would say its the combination of the shoegaze of My Bloody Valentine coupled with the rawness of the Stooges and the spacey psych sounds of Can, Hawkwind, and Spaceman 3. But this still doesn't quite capture the sound of this dark, elusive London band who are still surprisingly under the radar since their first full release Heaven's End in 1987. I give you this album along with their EP Black Sun from '88. The title track on the EP is a great listen, and it also contains a rad cover of Can's "Mother Sky." If you like hypnotic, repetitive riffs with spacey psychedelic overtones- this is the band for you.
Heaven's End
Black Sun

Cabaret Voltaire

Finishing up synth week with an album by Cabaret Voltaire, a post-punk experimental band out of Sheffield, England. This album Red Mecca produced no singles but reached #1 on the UK charts in 1981. This was the band's fourth album, their next album 2x45 went on to be a major influence in the development of industrial music. The band was named after the nightclub in Switzerland which was the center of the Dada art movement in the early 20th century. Here are three feelers off the album, my favorite "Split Second Feeling," the instrumental "Landslide," and "Sly Doubt."

Suicide

Captain obvious suggested I post some foundation synth to round out the theme ending tomorrow. Suicide's 1977 self titled debut album is credited for influencing everyone and their dog, see if it does the same for you. Here is the first two tracks off the album "Ghost Rider" and "Rocket U.S.A." If you already know, it's a nice trip down memory lane.

Glass Candy/Chromatics

Figured I should post some local Portland shit, so for all of you outside Portland that haven't heard these two bands here's a couple tracks from both the Chromatics and Glass Candy. These two sister bands are both on the label Italians Do It Better, the album above is a great comp titled After Dark which is a great introduction to all the bands on the label. The aptly titled After Dark is usually when I play these smooth synthy dance tracks, I apologize to all of you who had to listen to the Chromatics' "Running Up That Hill" over and over again- I couldn't get enough of it last year. This track will seep into your brain for months. Next is "Hands in the Dark" by the Chromatics which is a cover of Dark Day. The two Glass Candy tracks are "Miss Broadway" and "Digital Versicolor."
http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=396c2748091a7bc00c814df2efeadc50ff39554c116393589308cbc0e1e08351

Indian Jewelry

The experimental trio Indian Jewelry out of Houston released We Are the Wild Beast in 2003 under their old moniker NTX + Electric. The album was reissued in 2008 by Tigerbeat6 along with the groups third full release titled "Free Gold" the same year. Indian Jewelry's layered, distorted, droney, and electronic styles had me the first time I heard them, especially with the track "Looking At You" off We Are the Wild Beast. "Free Gold" is a cleaner, more psychedelic album which shows the band's versatility and range. "Pompeii" is a beautiful psych-pop track that captures a truly original sound. The dense textures on both albums keep a melodic flow that gives an unique feel, check out the rest of each album if you like these tracks.

Siouxsie and the Banshees

This Siouxsie and the Banshees album Kaleidoscope released in '80 is in my opinion their best album, even though the band was intertwined in personal conflicts during its production. I won't get into the details because I could really care less, the result was a great album full of brooding crisp synth and psych that is timeless. The track "Red Light" contains rhythmic camera clicks and a continuous heavy synthesizer that bleeds. Since I probably won't post anymore Siouxsie, I'm also throwing in two other great tracks off the album- "Happy House" and "Christine." "Christine" is a great dance track with some psychedelic touches.

Casino Music

The next installment of synth comes out of France by a band called Casino Music. I stumbled across this track when I listened to this weird compilation BIPPP: French Synth Wave 1979-85, a variety of strange mutant disco synth with a hard edge. This track by Casino Music titled "Viol af dis" instantly caught my attention. France has given us Daft Punk and other forms of disco, but it has usually been of the softer and pop variety. This carries a dark, gritty, and robotic edge that is extremely hard to explain- I never knew this shit existed. You could almost say it's French synth-punk, check out the rest of the album if you like this.

Gary Numan

Kevin sent me some synthy Siouxsie and the Banshees which got me thinking about starting a theme today that will last through next week. The posts will consist of my favorite synth sounds of all time, so if you have any tracks containing a nasty synth then send them to me. I've already posted the Silver Apples, so it would only be fitting to post one of my favorite albums The Pleasure Principle by Gary Numan from'79. Many of you have probably heard Gary Numan, but if you haven't you're in for a real treat. Of course the track "Cars" off this album is Numan's biggest hit, but the the rest of the album is insane. Basically just a man and his synthesizer working it out. There is much resemblance between the career of Gary Numan and Devo, who only had one big mainstream hit(Devo's "Whip It") but have an extremely dedicated fan base that recognizes each band's brilliance. It was hard to pick my favorite three tracks off this album, each track is post-able. "Metal," "Airlane," and "M.E." are included here, I won't describe them to save sounding like a d-bag rock journalist. Check them out and see if you like. It was great to hear from you Kevin, thanks for the music and keep sending- I'll post some Siouxsie later in the week.
http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=396c2748091a7bc00c814df2efeadc503c9b9dbd34921f366abe4c29fc26b000

The O'Jays/Hard Queen

Ted tracked down the sample used for Project Pat's "Keep it Hood" I posted last week, it is "Listen to the Clock on the Wall" by Philly's the O'Jays off their album Back Stabbers from '72. The O' Jays have always been hit or miss for me, but I really like this track- it has a smooth harmony and that classic 70's soul feel to it. I'm also throwing in some synth pop that Teddy sent me recently out of Shanghai, Hard Queen's "Holiday." It's a good dance track, I'm sure some of you will like it.

Sniff 'N' the Tears

Here's some midweek fire, one of my guiltiest pleasures-the soft but not to soft new wave of the UK's Sniff 'N' the Tears. This party track "Driver's Seat" contains all the stereotypes of a late 70's early 80's d-bag smooth rock- the cheesy backup singers, the ridiculous guitar solo, and the decadent lyrics. Fickle Heart was released in '78 and went on to achieve decent success in the States. Every once in a while I'll hear "Driver's Seat" on the radio late night, and lose my shit. It's a one hit wonder that's timeless, synths and keyboards over a catchy rhythm guitar that produces something you can't deny you like. I've also thrown in "New Lines on Love" off the album. Hmmm... I wonder what these guys were up to during the making of this album? Check out the album art- pretty tough.

Silver Apples

Anybody who knows me well knows I'm a sucker for synth, I just can't help it. I'm going to switch it up a bit and post the psychedelic, experimental, electronic pioneers Silver Apples. This two man band is basically the foundation of electronic music into the rock genre, they came before the experimental electronic bands of the 70's, such as Kraftwerk and the influential synth duo Suicide. The lead vocalist, Simeon, invented his own instrument from combining two synthesizers which produced unique pulsating rhythms and spaced out drone beeps and buzzes. The notes within their 1968 debut state that the instrument "Simeon" consisted of "...nine audio oscillators and eighty-six manual controls...The lead and rhythm oscillators are played with the hands, elbows and knees and the bass oscillators are played with the feet." Say what? The other member of Silver Apples, Danny Taylor, was mainly a percussionist, but also played a banjo in many of their songs. I've included three of my favorite songs from their brief career, "Lovefingers" off their self titled debut album, which is a great introduction to their style. "Ruby" comes off their second album Contact in '69. The third track comes off their recent comeback renaissance 1998 release Garden, which I had never heard before until the Wyld Chyld hooked me up with the track "I Don't Care What the People Say" on his mad mix playlist. Check it out, and remember the first two songs were produced in '67, way ahead of their time.
http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=396c2748091a7bc00c814df2efeadc5098f4cc400e138748daada8390b259c5f