Here is the first of a bunch of playlists I'm going to compile and write about and share because things are really weird right now. There was supposed to be 10 tracks, but I screwed up. Maybe I'll get it right next time.
1. The Scheme – Love Advice At $3.99 Per Minute – Demo (2002?)
The Scheme was a very short-lived project spearheaded by notorious Drowningman frontman Simon Brody in 2002. Featuring other members of Brody’s former band as well as a member of punk stalwarts Lifetime, the group traded in the chaotic hardcore of Drowningman for a more melodic rock oriented sound. Combined with the vocalist’s emotional and heartfelt lyrics (a news bit from 2002 has Brody saying he had just split from his fiancée, something clearly referenced in these songs), The Scheme, if they had lasted, could have carved out a unique sound in the early 2000’s post-hardcore indie rock scene. Interestingly, although The Scheme had signed to Deathwish Records, they split up prior to releasing an album. In an odd turn of events, another Brody led band called Black Tie Knife Fight, itself named after a Drowningman song, apparently replaced The Scheme on the Deathwish contract but also never released an album. Those details, as well the demo recordings which appeared on the internet (I believe actually uploaded by the vocalist himself) go down in the strange, almost inexplicable history of Simon Brody. Here’s my favorite from that demo.
2. Dinosaur Jr. & Del The Funky Homosapien – Missing Link – Judgment Night Soundtrack (1993)
The Judgement Night soundtrack is legendary. While the movie itself isn’t much more than your generic 90’s action film, the music that accompanied it was revolutionary. Someone had the ingenious idea to pair rock and metal bands with rappers years before Nu-Metal took over the world. The experiment produced classic pairings like Slayer and Ice-T, Biohazard and Onyx, and Helmet and House Of Pain, but the real gem is tucked away towards the end of the album. Both Del & Dinosaur Jr were weirdos; the types of artists that really had no reason to achieve any mainstream acknowledgement but in the strangeness of the 90s, they somehow both did. Someone once called J. Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. the first guitar god of indie rock and with his leads on “Missing Link” it’s hard to argue against. When you throw Del’s incredibly original stylings on top, you have all the makings for a classic song.
3. Peter Broderick – With The Notes On Fire – http://www.itstartshear.com (2012)
Peter Broderick is one of those one of a kind artists. From indie folk songs to electronic pop and orchestral compositions, his output spans an enormous breadth of sounds. His album http://www.itstartshear.com was a very forward thinking idea in 2012 - an album that was also a website (he gave up the domain, so don’t bother looking). While you were listening to the tracks you could read the lyrics, credits, notes and stories behind each song with a push of a button; much more in depth and interactive than a normal record. On top of the digital concept, it was also a very ambitious record. Produced by the great Nils Frahm, its music covered almost all facets of the songwriter’s abilities, but “With The Notes On Fire” is one of the most intriguing songs on the album. Arpeggiated guitar chords give way to a driving piano riff soon accompanied by layers of strings and percussion as the mostly instrumental song diverges into a spoken word telling of its creation. It’s a sort of Gonzo-like approach to a song that in many ways shouldn’t work, but it does.
4. St. Thomas – A Nice Bottle Of Wine – I’m Coming Home (2001)
There’s a documentary from 2016 about Thomas Hansen, the artist who played under the nom de plume St. Thomas, called Burn The Place You Hide. It’s beautifully done, but, yeah, it’s pretty sad – he went out tragically, the way a lot of artists tend to. But the story and the music he left are fascinating. Hansen was a mailman in his home country of Norway when, inspired by the music of Elliot Smith and Will Oldham, he decided to quit and take a shot at music. Set back by his own unraveling, St. Thomas never achieved the type of success outside of Norway that he yearned for before overdosing in 2007. I’m Coming Home was St. Thomas’ best shot at international attention with release and distribution in the states, but you can guess how that story goes. It’s a pretty uneven album, really, showing an artist still trying to figure it all out, but it’s certainly not without it’s moments – “A Nice Bottle Of Wine” being one. The slightly detuned banjo and the scrape of the pick across the guitar strings match Hansen’s wavering Neil Young-like whine. It sounds real and honest, not in spite of, but rather because of all its flaws.
5. Oxbow – She’s A Find – The Narcotic Story (2011)
Oxbow are an Art-Rock band with roots in the punk and metal world that never really quite fit into any rigid categorization. The band plays bluesy-jazzy arrangements that teeter on the edge of complete chaos, constantly on the brink of falling apart into anarchic noise. That’s not even factoring in the screeching wails and moans of their unparalleled vocalist Eugene Robinson. The Narcotic Story found Oxbow experimenting more with piano and string accompaniment, giving the album a dark drug-addled fogginess that they worked to perfection in “She’s A Find.” The song peaks with the drums purposely falling out of rhythm with the guitars, swirling around a howling Robinson, and just as everything is about to boil over, it all syncs back up. Controlled mayhem.
6. Wovenhand – To Make A Ring – Consider The Birds (2004)
Wovenhand will be the soundtrack to the, perhaps not-so-distant, post-apocalyptic wasteland. Picture this: A commune tucked away from the ravaged urban centers somewhere in the mountains of Southern Appalachia, hosting a cult-like congregation of survivalists, zealots and freaks, dropping copious amounts of acid and dancing alongside a midnight bonfire in some sort of quasi-pagan ritual. Wovenhand will be there playing Consider The Birds in it’s entirety. It’s country music for the end times.
7. Roky Erickson – Devotional Number One / Ain’t Blues Too Sad / Goodbye Sweet Dreams – True Love Cast Out All Evil (2010)
This is technically three different songs, but the way they flow together on the album is so perfect that there is no way they could be cut up individually. Credit producer Will Sheff for that. Roky Erickson’s story is way too long and crazy to get into here, so we’ll just say it involves lots of LSD, psychiatric wards and electro-shock therapy. See the documentary film You’re Gonna Miss Me for the whole thing. Before all that though, Erickson was the vocalist and guitarist for one of the original Psychedelic Rock bands, 13th Floor Elevators, where he packed the charisma of a big time rock icon. But years of his mental illness and questionable treatment left a shell of that musician. The 80s and 90s were a rough period for his music, but with the help of a handful of younger artists, Erickson returned in the 2000s to play a number of well-received shows and record one last record of original material True Love Cast Out All Evil. Collaborating with the alt-country band Okkervil River, it features old and new material displayed excellently in the opening sequence of these three songs. “Devotional Number One” comes from an undated recording from his stay in a psychiatric hospital accompanied only by a man credited as “Unknown Inmate.” It fades through a wash of noise perfectly into the short but terrific “Aint Blues Too Sad,” before kicking into a full band arrangement on “Goodbye Sweet Dreams.” Erickson’s once tender voice is now a fragile croak as he sings his way through a melancholic reflection on his life. This is what art is all about.
8. Dax Riggs – Didn’t Know Yet What I’d Know When I Was Bleedin’ – We Sing Of Only Blood Or Love (2007)
Dax Riggs was the vocalist of New Orleans Gothic Metal band Acid Bath in the 90s, but when they ended after their bass players untimely death, Riggs moved away from the heavy music arena, shifting more into a blues inspired indie rock sound developed through early projects like Agents Of Oblivion and Deadboy & The Elephantmen. We Sing Of Only Blood Or Love is the first credited solely to him, but features a good amount of accompaniment and production from Matt Sweeny who has worked with the likes of alt-country hero Bonnie “Prince” Billy and somewhat oddly, Billy Corgan’s Zwan. Dax’s music has this dark beauty to it that is hard to explain, and his calm croon is addicting. He is truly one of those unique artists.
9. Efterklang – Supertanker – Altid Sammen (2019)
I wanted to end with something a little less depressing since it got pretty dark there in the middle. I chose Efterklang because not only are they one of my favorite bands, and not only did they release what I believe to be one of the best albums of 2019, but I had bought tickets to go see them in Brooklyn last weekend before all the madness began. The show has since been postponed and will hopefully happen later this year, but still, they are from Denmark and rarely come to the US. I was kind of looking forward to it. Anyway, Altid Sammen is an incredible display of Indie Pop or whatever it might be classified as, and “Supertanker” is my favorite from the album. If you made it this far, you might as well just listen.
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