Genius 2.5 - Feb Scrap Heap

20 more albums to chew on until April

Happy spring, happy DST to all my non-Arizonan readers. I wanted to write up so many more albums in Genius #2 — so it goes, those extras have ended up here in the glorious scrap heap. There are 20 more albums for your consideration! Also: the most insane DJ set I have ever seen.

Classic YouTube Live Performance

Yoshihide Otomo - Tokyo Experimental Performance Archive Turntable Noise Set

I’ve been on a bit of a Ground Zero kick lately — their de-facto leader Yoshihide Otomo has a solo album at the bottom of this list. I was curious what Yoshihide’s turntable setup is like, so I did a quick youtube search. This set is really something I have never seen before. You think the noise is at its best with the ride cymbal on the turntable, but then when he starts actually spinning records… I gasped.

More album recs

Rock, etc.

Star Card - Freak World EP (Tehralus, 2023)

I really enjoyed this little EP! Microphones-esque meandering melodies with focus on both the sound and form of these songs. Bedroom pop that comes in several flavors of noisy shoegazey sad folk.

Helado Negro - Phasor (4AD, Feb. ‘24)

Nice intimate record. Deceptively busy — lots of instrumentation humming behind Lange’s whispery vocals. Nice winter sounds, perfect for the snowy weather.

Thee Silver Mt Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band - Horses In The Sky (Constellation, 2005)

I never really got past Menuck’s reedy howl of a voice, but I keep coming back to these Mt Zion records. They are great additions to the whole GY!BE oeuvre. “Teddy Roosevelt’s Guns” is a sick, sick song.

Teenage Fanclub - Bandwagonesque (DGC, 1991)

Spin magazine rated this album of the year in 1991 (over Nevermind). Lovely vocal melodies, big stupid guitar solos. This is Scottish Big Star.

ANOHNI - My Back Was A Bridge For You To Cross (Secretly Canadian, 2023)

The stripped down arrangements perfectly frame Anohni’s powerful voice. These songs cut straight through with their immediacy.

Punk, etc.

Scowl - Psychic Dance Routine EP (Flatspot, 2023)

This EP toes a great line between shrieking hardcore & grungy alt-rock, with just enough sugar to balance their usual assault for casual listeners.

Liquid Mike - Paul Bunyan’s Slingshot (self-released, Feb ‘24)

Smart & funny power-pop/pop-punk with references all over the place. Songs I wish I wrote when I was 19. Worth a listen if you like Jeff Rosenstock, midwest emo, etc.

Specials - More Specials (Two-Tone, 1980)

This album has way more in common with some of the Stereolab muzak experiments than it does with Reel Big Fish or whatever. Ska is back baby! Leave me alone.

Omni - Souvenir (Subpop, Feb. ‘24)

Perfect little post-punk album — angular guitars slice through funny, thoughtful lyrics. Everything feels intentional and well-placed.

Times New Viking - The Paisley Reich (Siltbreeze, 2006)

I first heard this album when I was 17 and joyless — I couldn’t hear anything except for the lo-fi recording quality. Returning in 2024, the songs are a blast! Catchy vocals, buzzsaw guitars, that one keyboard sound everyone used in 2006, etc.

Ambient

Ryuichi Sakamoto & Alva Noto - Insen (Raster-Noton, 2005)

Can an ambient album be both anxious and relaxing? On some tracks, Noto’s clicky sub-bass and resampled pianos clash against Sakamoto’s sparse playing — on others, they are perfectly synced up with a full-bodied mix. Wonderful focus music.

Ariel Kalma, Jeremiah Chiu, & Marta Sofia Honer - The Closest Thing To Silence (Int’l Anthem, Feb. ‘24)

You need some blissed out saxophones & modular synths. You need the viola to come in through the mist of beeps and bloops. This is it. Ironically, the album title doesn’t fit that well — this album has a density of melody that pushes the musicality of these ambient compositions.

Jon Hassell - Listening To Pictures (Ndeya, 2018)

Skittering drums & shifting, liquid pads. Fourth world genius Jon Hassell boldly presents his vision of what music can be — he was 80 years old when he made this!!! RIP John, we should strive to do what we can to deserve his vision of the future.

Worldwide/Other [sorry]

Various - La Ola Interior [Spanish Ambient & Acid Exoticism, 1983-1990] (Bongo Joe, 2021)

Diverse collection of different electronic textures & rhythms — loved pretty much all of these pieces, but they don’t all “sit together” that well. Might be better as a jumping off point for the various movements captured in this compilation.

Jaubi - Nafs At Peace (Astigmatic, 2021)

This Pakistani post-rock quartet is wonderfully hypnotic, taking rock/jazz/instrumental hip-hop and blending with expressive instrumentation — reminds me of Tortoise. Great instrumentation, mix of western rock sounds and Pakistani sarangi & tabla.

Molly Lewis - On The Lips (Jagjaguar, Feb. ‘24)

When I tell you that this is a whistling album, I want you to understand that this is an instrumental album where the main instrument is Molly Lewis’ incredible whistling. Is it a great album? Eh, maybe. But the novelty and athleticism of it is worth hearing for yourself at least once.

Harsh sounds

Insect Warfare - World Extermination (Earache, 2007)

Classic modern grindcore album. Night of the living Boss HM-2.

Spectral Voice - Sparagmos (Dark Descent, Feb. ’24)

Doomy & gloomy blackened death metal. Love the varied vocals on this one — growling, howling, spitting, at one point he uses almost a normal voice. Tons of atmosphere, like a thick fog.

The Body & Dis Fig - Orchards of a Futile Heaven (Thrill Jockey, Feb. ‘24)

Wouldn’t be a year that starts with “20” without a new perfect The Body album. This one is steeped in the dark electronic production of their 2014 collab with The Haxan Cloak, I Shall Die Here. Dis Fig’s vocals and production adds a perfect companion to The Body’s crushing style.

Yoshihide Otomo - Cathode (Tzadik, 1999)

Special and unpleasant. Drone freqs at the top of the human hearing range. This one really upset my partner: She thought her ear had exploded. Any of these pieces might have caused me to have lasting hearing damage, not sure yet. Endorsement?

See ya in 2 weeks, happy hunting out there.