• Al Washi: Epitaph for an Ego

    Some people might already be familiar with this from my previous discussions of it, but there are still heads to be turned and this album is rather ripe for Waxidermic attention. This record cloaks itself in a thick smoke of mystery: no record label or date and it is even kind of unclear who the [...]

  • Appliances – EP

    Oh how I yearn for a DJ night open minded enough to allow me to play this “out”. The sticker on the shrinkwrap declaring “Punk Funk Rap” sounds like a musical miscarriage of Ozzfest side-stage proportions, but upon dropping the needle on side 1 it becomes rapidly clear the actual musical content of the record [...]

  • Lifetones – For A Reason

    1983 solo outing from Charles Bullen, the former guitar player of the always-relevant experimental rock outfit This Heat on his own private Tone of Life imprint, of which this is the sole release. Like other British post-punk contemporaries (Slits, Pop Group, et. all) Bullen immerses himself deep in zoned dub territory on much of this [...]

  • Mofungo – Out of Line

    Part of the often overlooked (and borderline oxymoronical) “second wave” of the New York No-Wave scene (which birthed bands like Sonic Youth and Swans), Monfungo certainly fits in line with many of the pioneers of the movement, though a little more polished (comparatively) with more attention given to song structure. Skronky, danceable, and full of [...]

  • Units – Digital Stimulation

    Duel male/female vocal and synth attack backed by some angular drumwork with the seed of Kraftwerk sewn so deep that it barely even manifests itself. Released in San Francisco circa 1980, this album is a much rawer and down to earth precursor to often painfully overproduced and empty genre of “synth-rock” that would dominate in [...]