Grateful Dead - Europe '72
83

Sun and fun with a bottle of rum

Gorguts - Obscura
84

Delicately straddles the line between putrid ugliness and actual listenable music. Manages to sneak in a few memorable licks, like in the chorus of Earthly Love. Great packaging, including song titles, album art and of course music.

GG Allin - Always Was, Is and Always Shall Be
90

Highly underrated. Few punk records are this consistent with such strong pop sensibilities. I'm amazed GG went from this to the degenerate Trash Punk he's known for now.

Guitar tone is disgusting and perfect. Bassist is highly skilled. Sadly, I don't think it's Merle, tho he did serve some time in the band. Drummer's fills are perfect and don't get in the way.

Erkin Koray - Elektronik Türküler
86

Some re-workings of traditional Turkish folk songs, filtered through the lens of three psych rock musicians.

Ridiculously skilled rhythm section. Bassist vaguely resembles someone like James Jamerson and I can't pinpoint anybody similar to the drummer. Erkin may not have been the greatest singer but his passion makes up for any "techinical faults" (I feel bad saying that because he's not a bad singer, per se)

Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
92

Contender for most consistent double album of all time.

Songs you can dance to, hype as fuck.

Depeche Mode - Violator
82

Love, perfection, truth, personal religious figures, silence.

I always found it interesting how electronic musicians could produce tracks like these with a very natural sense of syncopation. As a musician, not having an instrument in my hands to help me express whatever rhythm I feel at the moment is very foreign to me. These guys do what I can't very well.

Devo - Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!
84

Wet n wild. Images of space, robots, de-evolution. Y'know, future stuffs. Prog-pop.

Has a sense of humor.

Dr. John - Gris-Gris
90

Strange mix. The instrumental sounds very natural and atmospheric, as if all the musicians recorded together, but the highly-compressed vocals are pushed WAY UP to the front with zero reverb. Lyrics are often unintelligible and non-sensical, I'm curious to know if the first track was improvised or if he actually planned to go into the studio with that malarkey.

Explores the unique theme of New Orleans magicks. Songs resemble powerful ritualistic incantations instead of pop numbers that could ... read more

Suicide - Suicide
75

Laughably weak drum machine that closely resembles a series of waves crashing into a black abyss of a beach, supposedly sourced from the same Farfisa organ that provides the lead lines and chords. It somehow all fits together rather well to create the unique, creepy atmosphere that Vega uses as the base for his horny and disturbed ramblings.

Sadly, not very consistent. I've never been thrilled by tracks like Cheree or Johnny, though none of the tracks are completely useless. Girl has honestly ... read more

Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft - Alles ist Gut
82

Oppressive. Beats rely on an acoustic drum set and the most evil-sounding sequencer I've yet to hear.
Robert Gorl has a very interesting sense of rhythm that help this stand out from other EBM.
Impassioned vocal delivery.

Fun time for the whole family.

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June Playlist