The Expelled, “A Punk Rock Collection” (Captain Oi, 1999; original recording 1981-4)Street-level punk/HC from Britain’s last wave of riots before this year, the “summer of ‘81” urban uprisings. Expelled stood out for the spooky, melancholic wailing of singer Joanne, the taught powerdrill-throb of their basslines, and a truly desperate, wild, end-of-the-world mood that pervaded their […]
Exposé, “Exposé” (Arista, 1987)Scene-leading Cuban-American “freestyle” dance-pop from the late ‘80s, like prime Kylie or Bananarama with harder beats and more polyrhythms. Bright, beautiful stuff.Try 3, 6, 9
Exposé, “Exposé” (Arista, 1987)Scene-leading Cuban-American “freestyle” dance-pop from the late ‘80s, like prime Kylie or Bananarama with harder beats and more polyrhythms. Bright, beautiful stuff.Try 3, 6, 9
Extreme Noise Terror, “A Holocaust In Your Head” (Head Eruption, 1989)The late ‘80s UK “grindcore” scene took rock’s most brutal subgenres to their ultimate, apocalyptic limit, and what Boltthrower did for metal, Extreme Noise Terror did for hardcore. Wind-tunnel guitar-roar that blows out anything that isn’t nailed down and puts NORAD on alert, drums going […]
Eyeliners, “Confidential” (Sympathy, 1997)Neat little item from Albequerque trio. Fresh-faced, fleet-footed garage-punk so full of yearning, rage and joy it sounds like they invented the form themselves just the other day.
Fabian, “The Very Best Of” (United Artists, 1975; original recordings late 1950s/early 1960s)Any time someone tries to give you that jive about “in the old days, teen idols could actually sing,” remind him/her about Fabian. Compared to him, Bieber, Styles, Jonas et all are Pavarotti and Placido Domingo. And that’s actually Fab’s charm – his […]
Face To Face, “Face To Face” (Epic, 1983)Featuring “10-9-8,” awesome slow, moody, suspenseful girl-at-night new-wave pop.
Curtis Mayfield, “Super Fly” (Buddah, 1972)The most unassumingly luminous and blissed-out of the soul greats shoulders the social burden of harsh urban reality for music with the emotional sweet of his earlier classic work but a new snap of impact, a looming dynamism and cinematic fluidity that make this one of the all-time great soundtracks.Try […]
Curve, “Doppelganger” (Anxious, 1992)Debut album from these shoegaze titans found them honing their sound to razor-sharpness on music that wielded the massive, ravishing sweep of My Bloody Valentine with a Helmet-like machine-tooled attack.Try 1, 3.5/5/12
Curve, “Cuckoo” (Anxious, 1993)Second album from this great shoegaze band was a surprise detour from the all-out assault of its predecessor, into spooky, dislocated soundscapes that entrance, then sting without warning. Even better than the debut.Try 2, 4, 55/5/12