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The Sparrow (LP)
Sam Prekop
Speaking of vibing out...
If that's what you need, then I think you may want to give this a listen. It's a beautiful exploration of sound on Sam's modular synth system.
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Boy (LP)
Harvey Sutherland
Harvey Sutherland stormed onto the scene with his amazing disco/house 12", Brothers, in 2014. His out put has since been a steady trickle of quality singles, something like once a year. In that time he's been gigging and collaborating and we must mention the fact that Harvey was band leader for the one and only Leroy Burgess, the godfather of boogie when Leroy toured Australia. All of these experiences have been building to and informing this collection of tunes in an album format.
This is a funky record. Not necessarily a FUNK record, but it does contain some funky, dance floor monsters. There are cuts here that will satisfy a disco or boogie fan (head straight for Feeling of love ft. Dam-Funk or Time on my side) but there's also some excellent synth pop, memorable AOR moments and even some jazz funk. An excellent listener and dance floor instigator! Highly recommended!
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Wilderness of Mirrors (LP)
The Black Angels
Their first album in five years, "Wilderness of Mirrors," breaks the spell of The Black Angels' silence with their customary Sturm und Drang. The Black Angels heavy psych sound is unmistakable and I will always gladly ask for more of it, even if it's a harbinger for our own doom. Layer upon layer of swirling organ, guitars, fuzz, and samples back provocative lyrics that hold a mirror (a wilderness of mirrors) to the chaos we call home. It's the perfect psychedelic soundtrack for the the apocalypse. It lifts us up while we spiral down.
“Empires falling / It’s history on repeat / Our nations’ pleading from street to bloody street.”
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Islands In The Sky (LP)
Death Valley Girls
I'm pretty sure I've covered each of the Death Valley Girls' albums for Music We Like editions at some point. Let's do it again with their latest, "Islands In the Sky."
I could say that their sound is psych, or post punk, or dark garage rock, but in my heart of hearts, I've always considered them to be mystic rock. Their sound swirls like psych, rocks like punk, quirks like garage, but it also both conjures and transforms. As with their previous album, "Under the Spell of Joy," lyrical themes often start from a negative place of being on the outside of society, then the focus goes inward toward self-discovery. As with ceremonial magick, the outer performative action creates inner personal change. Their music is beguiling in its shifting multitude of layers, ebb and flow of melody, waxing transcendent with each new instrumental addition of sax or organ. This band gets that it's about the journey, the spell, the playing, the song.
“You’re in charge of the perception of your life."
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House Of Psychotic Women: Rarities Collection (BLU)
The writer/programmer/filmmaker Kier-La Janisse, who directed the documentary "Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched" (plus put together the accompanying box set of folk horror films, "All the Haunts Be Ours"), has teamed with Severin Films again to release a box set of four films of feminine delirium and hysteria, all on Blu-ray for the first time. The collection adheres to the overall theme of perceived female sanity, but each film's approach is entirely different.
Strap in for:
1974’s Italio psycho fest "Identikit" (aka "The Driver's Seat"), featuring Elizabeth Taylor.
1986's bizarre Polish vampire flick "I Like Bats."
1975's giallo amnesia-mystery "Footprints."
1972’s "The Other Side of the Underneath," an experimental film by Jane Arden.
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The Dunwich Horror (BLU)
Raise the Old Ones! Arrow Films has released a restored Blu-ray version of Daniel Haller's Lovecraft freakout, "The Dunwich Horror," from the original 35mm negative. Follow a very groovy Dean Stockwell as he tracks down the "Necronomicon" at the local Miskatonic University and proceeds to unravel time and space. Extra occult nerd points for Stockwell's use of Aleister Crowley's Pan gesture.
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The Lady from Shanghai (BLU)
Orson Wells' "The Lady from Shanghai" is one of the greatest, most bizarre, and perhaps most baffling Noir films of 1948. Every viewing yields new angles of understanding to its labyrinthian plot, almost as if we the audience are venturing into the house of mirrors for that last infamous, fateful scene. The latest Kino Lorber Blu-ray features a variety of new commentaries, including tracks from Peter Bogdanovich and Noir City's Eddie Muller!
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Pena Ao Mar (LP)
Carla Boregas
As a member of Rakta São Paulo's genre-bending experimental post-punk outfit, Carla has been exploring sound as a language for years. On Pena ao Mar sonic encounters and situations occur through her manipulation of analog and digital synthesizers, electric bass, field recordings and acoustic sounds.
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Undeclared War
Ringo Lam
Vinegar Syndrome recently restored this Hong Kong 1990 flick on 4k. It's an international espionage action movie that ends up being a mix of buddy cop (acab tho) with Peckinpah inspired violence, and a gritty realism with a sometimes Lethal Weapon feel in its comedy. Lots of bullets and comical awkwardness.
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High Flying Man (LP)
The Berries
Just cannot stop playing this record. Sort of like if you mixed 70's pop and country rock with some jangly guitars. Members of Bugg, Narrowhead, Bite Bite, and Happy Diving.
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S/T (LP)
Poison Ruin
Dungeon dwellers from Philadelphia. Eerie Synth, Mortiis worship, death-rock, punk. Don't judge by these words, just play it and get sucked in!
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Hey Hey, My My (Other)
Neil Young/Devo
Watch this video of the two playing this song together and just be completely blown away. Excerpt from the movie 'Human Highway'.
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Internment Failure (LP)
Koma
Pummeling hardcore. Influence of Swedish/Finnish Hardcore mixed with Bastard.
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This is the Blackout (LP)
Punitive Damage
13 songs in 18 minutes. Hardcore in the same vein as 86 Mentality, Gel, or Mass Arrest.
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It Won't Sell!
The Panik
The Panik from Manchester! New 12" EP version of the original from 1977. Includes a bonus track!
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Punk 45: I'm A Mess! D-I-Y Or Die! Art, Trash & Neon Punk - 45s In The UK 1977-78 (LP)
Various Artists
Includes lots of rare punk from the UK! Art Attacks, Carpettes, and more!
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Punkryonics - Singles & Rare Tracks 1977-1979 (LP)
The Wasps
Excellent compilation with rare tracks by The Wasps!
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Hard + Fast (Book)
Melanie Nissen
Incredible new book from photographer Melanie Nissen! Amazing photographs documenting the Los Angeles punk scene!
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Estrela Acessa (LP)
Sessa
A truly lovely album of Brazilian music by São Paulo based singer & songwriter Sergio Victor Sayeg. He co-founded neo-Tropicalia psych band Garotas Suecas. On this 2nd solo album, he continues to craft delicate, subtle pieces that nod to the intimate early works of Joao Gilberto and Antonio Carlos Jobim. With magical arrangements that feel both simple and complex, a tapestry of gorgeous harmony unfolds, blending samba, bossa nova, jazz, folk, and Tropicalia with some mostly mellow rhythms. Estrela Acesa strongly reminds me of the legendary self-titled 1972 masterpiece by Nelson Angelo & Joyce, another fantastic slice of mellow Brazilian folk that still sounds like little else even 50 years later. Highly recommended, every track is excellent and it’s easily one of my favorite albums from 2022.
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