Genius 6.5 - June Scrap Heap
Classic Miles Davis; Album recs for rock, metal/hardcore/noise, jazz, ambient, folk, & more
Another month in the books, it is time to get scrappy and listen to some more tunes.
YouTube Classic
Miles Davis Live at Isle Of Wight Festival (August 1970)
What a band, what a performance, what a sound, what a VIDEO. I revisit this one pretty often — easy to throw on and do just about anything (work, cook, chill with friends, vibe solo, whatever). This is one of the only videos I can find of the Bitches Brew era band and it’s got SO much color on stage. Featuring Chick Corea on electric piano, Keith Jarrett on organ, Gary Bartz on sax, Dave Holland playing bass guitar, Jack DeJohnette ripping up the drums, and Airto Moreira on all the alt-percussion which really ties the whole thing together.
Scrap Heap
Please scroll all the way down this month’s scrap heap, it’s a mess but there are some gems at the bottom. I listened to so much rock music in June that there’s a separate “Classic Rock” section what am I doing with my life.
Rock
Another Michael - Pick Me Up, Flip Me Upside Down (Run For Cover, 2024)
Some really good songwriting and vocal melodies, but something about this didn’t do it for me. Hard to say if it’s just because I was in a bad mood while listening.
Thinking Fellers Union 282 - I Hope It Lands (Communion, 1996)
I’m honestly super unfamiliar with TFU282, but this was really intriguing: kind of like if Guided By Voices were into Deerhoof instead of The Kinks or whatever. A weird collage mix of art-pop, noisy ambient, and damaged rock. Gonna do a deeper dive on this band later this year.
Soulwax - From Deewee (PIAS, 2017)
“I’m into LCD Soundsystem, but less Kermit The Frog voice & also the beats should hit a little harder!” Well, boy do I have a pair of Belgian brothers (and their rotating cast of hard-hitting drummers) to show you.
Dirty Three - Love Changes Everything (Bella Union, Jun ‘24)
Bright and full post-rock album from a 3-headed hydra of a band with Warren Ellis from Nick Cave’s Bad Seeds on violin/bass, Mick Turner on guitar/piano, & Jim White on drums (White’s solo album really grabbed me). The trio deftly works around these open compositions with loops & live playing, creating a moody atmosphere that I plan to return to often.
Classic Rock
NEU! - NEU! (Brain, 1972)
I’m on a tear with these 70s German bands lately. Krautrock from before anybody even knew that it was a genre, absolutely kickass stuff. Washy ambient psychedelic guitars, screaming leads, occasional noise interruptions, huge tempo swings, driving basslines, that classic motorik drum beat. Effortless and virtuosic, undeniably cool.
DEVO - Freedom Of Choice (Warner, 1980)
I can’t believe this album blew up, I can’t believe DEVO were/are a household name. “Freedom of choice is what you’ve got / freedom from choice is what you want.” We are all DEVO.
R.E.M. - Automatic For The People (Warner, 1992)
While I prefer the first couple REM records to their later material, I revisited this one and it has some really wonderful songs. “The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite,” “Nightswimming,” and (of course) “Man On The Moon” are really incredible songs for a band that was already 10 years in and had produced so many megahits.
Loud stuff (metal, hardcore, noise)
Tzompantli - Beating the Drums of Ancestral Force (20 Buck Spin, May ‘24)
Pretty good doomy death metal with cool Aztec imagery & indigenous instrumentation (side project from Xibalba). I might just not really be a doom metal guy, since the faster paced death metal songs & especially the percussion-frenzy of “Tetzaviztli” were my favorite moments.
Couch Slut - My Life As A Woman (self-released 2014)
Really visceral, somewhere between crusty post-hardcore & metallic noise. Lead vocalist Megan Osztrosits really puts everything on the line. This is what I thought Chat Pile would sound like when it was described to me, but this is closer to my preference for what heavy music should be like. Cheers to Allen who rec’d this to me.
Zulu - A New Tomorrow (Flatspot, 2023)
Such a cool mix of brutal hardcore with a collage of jazz and soul. Great message of Black Power as well. If you’re into hardcore and haven’t checked out Zulu, it’s at the top of your list.
Chen Yi - “The” (90% Wasser, 2006)
Electronic experimentation from before there was a language for it
Compiled tapes from the UK commune’s recordings between 1978 and 1982. Truly forward-thinking avant-garde electronic stuff, really interesting and bizarre sonic experiments for fans of stuff like Throbbing Gristle. Not every single one is a hit, but you’re in it for the archive as much as the actual sound. Weird analog drum machine stuff & the vocals sound like they were recorded on a tin-can telephone. John Peel heard this and flipped out, he lost his whole shit.
Jazz
Arooj Aftab - Night Reign (Verve, May ‘24)
ID3 tag calls this a jazz album and, while there is a jazziness to it (Vijay Ayer is featured, there’s a stunningly modern rendition of the old-as-jazz-itself “Autumn Leaves”), this album is way more like just a perfect atmospheric nighttime sound. Upright bass dominates the low end with spare percussion thumping alongside, dark piano chords keep the harmonies. Aftab’s dusky vocals are full and emotional.
Alan Braufman - Infinite Love, Infinite Tears (May ‘24)
Soulful sextet with a giant sound (alto & tenor saxes, drums & additional percussion, upright bass, and vibes). If you’re into the Pharaoh Sanders school of liberatory soulful free jazz or Billy Cobham style full-kit drumming, this is a great new release from an old master who stepped away from music in the 80s and recently returned to offer some new compositions.
Wadada Leo Smith’s Organic - Spiritual Dimensions (Cuneiform, 2009)
This album is technically broken into 2 discs each with distinct bands, this is Disc 2 which I picked out because Nels Cline plays guitar on it & I just love hearing his wacky effect-driven playing. What I didn’t know is that Okkyung Lee plays cello on this thing! The mix of Skuli Sverisson (electric bass) + John Lindberg (upright bass) + Pheeroan akLaff (drums) would be SO cool. What a rhythm section.
Ambient/Electronic
Inoyama Land - Commissions 1977-2000 (Light In The Attic, 2019)
Great compilation from genius new age “environmental ambient" duo Inoyama Land. Their beeping-blooping style of ambient is both naive & worldly. FM synths that are sculpted to perfectly sound like all kinds of things: vibraphones, celestas (celestae?), flutes, chimes, etc. If you like stuff like Hiroshi Yoshimura, then enjoy another hour of that kind of chill vibe.
Loscil - Umbel (self-released, May ‘24)
Decent quiet ambient with some nice tape noise. Not a lot happens, but maybe that’s what you’re looking for?
Sam Prekop & John McEntire - Sons Of (Thrill Jockey, 2022)
Fantastic electronic album from legendary Chicago duo who had previously worked together in jazzy rock outfit The Sea And Cake. Driving drum beats and basslines with incredible synth textures, great for focusing and for relaxing.
Actress - Statik (Smalltown Supersound, May ‘24)
Legendary minimalist electronic music producer produces legendary minimalist electronic music
Matmos - Supreme Balloon (Matador, 2008)
I’ve been working my way through the Matmos discography. I think they live in my neighborhood in Baltimore, I’m keeping an eye out so I can ask them what it was like working with Björk. This album has no sampling or software tricks as far as I can tell — just pure synths & sequencing, with some guest appearances from legends like Terry Riley. Obvious standout track is the 24min title song, but I overall preferred the first half’s poppier sound.
Folk
Joni Mitchell - Clouds (Reprise, 1969)
Of course “Both Sides, Now” is a classic, but “Tin Angel” and “The Gallery” are also wonderful songs. Not all of these are winners, but come on it’s Joni Mitchell and this was only her second release, which is wild.
Joh Chase - Solo (Kill Rock Stars, Apr ‘24)
Nice singer/songwriter work that hits the sweet spot between kinda alt-country, kinda indie, kinda alt-rock. Chase’s voice is a highlight — they really push it to some amazing places. Not every song is a winner, but the good ones are really great. Kinda like a new Haim album but gender-neutral? I should stop writing now.
The Microphones - It Was Hot, We Stayed In The Water (K, 2000)
I listened to this while exhausted on the subway, but I’d never listened to it with headphones before — the way Phil Elverum’s production pulls in really close and uses stereo effects to create an intimate listening experience is really something else. Will probably do a deeper dive on Phil & his projects later this summer, I’m entering my Mount Eerie era.
Phil Ochs - Tape From California (A&M, 1968)
I’d never given a listen to this Phil Ochs album — I’m much more familiar with his output on Elektra records which are all stripped down folk album — but found some of the arrangements here quite charming. Definitely an LA record with all the strings and The 13min burner “When In Rome” might be his best song, really cinematic and well executed.
Other Stuff
Vince Staples - Dark Times (May ‘24)
Always nice to get a new Vince — the album title is accurate, these beats have hard-hitting drums & woozy guitars. His delivery is laid-back, but the bars are incredibly bleak. “Life hard, but I go harder.”
Chari XCX - Brat (Atlantic, Jun ‘24)
It’s exactly as good as everybody is saying — if you haven’t spun this one yet, you should do yourself a favor and get to it.
Haruomi Hosono, Shigeru Suzuki and Tatsuro Yamashita - Pacific (CBS/Sony, 1978)
Perfect Japanese City Pop compilation from the kings.