Marc Fagel's Blog: Jittery White Guy Music: The Blog, page 146

The Velvet Underground: The Great Lost Album (1968-1969)

During their brief tenure, the Velvet Underground released 4 proper studio albums, each fantastic in a different way (the experimental, schizophrenic blend of dark chaos and pop on the debut album with Nico; the unleashed sonic frenzy of White Light/White Heat; the gentle beauty of the self-titled third; the bid for a more classic-rock-friendly traditional rock sound on Loaded) (and, no, we're not including the comically mediocre yet not without merit Doug Yule solo album slapped with a Velvet U...

The Nice: The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack (1967)

Digging back into my stash of 60s UK psyche again...

While largely viewed as a brief weigh station for Keith Emerson before putting together ELP, The Nice were actually pretty decent, and their debut with the funny title (cribbed from the band members' last names) is a surprisingly entertaining psychedelic, pre-progressive rock trifle. Yes, Emerson's keyboard bombast is already threatening to edge out the rest of the music, but for the most part the album avoids some of ELP's excesses (which isn'...

Moon Duo: Circles (2012)

West Coast guitarist Ripley Johnson is one of those "hardest working guys in showbiz" types. He's got his main gig with Wooden Shjips, producing droning, psychedelic guitar freak-outs; and, more recently, a couple albums of diametrically opposed yet equally stoner-friendly pastoral, jangly psychedelia as the Rose City Band (whose Summerlong is one of my favorite albums of the year). 

And then there's Moon Duo, featuring Johnson paired up with vocalist/keyboardist Sanae Yamada (which, having relea...

Prince: The Gold Experience (1995)

For those of us who grew up in the '80s, Prince was inescapable. 1999 and Purple Rain were everywhere, all the time; and, to an only slightly lesser extent, Around the World in a Day (particularly "Raspberry Beret") up through '86's "Kiss" single crossed across all genre boundaries, saturating radio and MTV and just life in general. But like (I presume) others of my generation, I lost the Prince thread after the decade passed.

Partly this was due to Prince being party music -- I didn't spend much...

The High Llamas: Hawaii (1996)

A lot of indie rockers worship at the altar of Brian Wilson (not so much the early surf music, but more the experimental musical soundscapes and vocal affectations of Pet Sounds and the once-mythical Smile ). A friend used to share a series of mixtapes he made called Pet Soundalikes, which he'd fill with with like-minded artists like the Wondermints, Linus of Hollywood, etc.). And one of the most reliable players in the field is UK export the High Llamas (largely the project of frontman Sean O'Ha...

The Minus 5: Dear December (2017)

Merry Christmas for those of you who partake. And for those of us who don't, and tend to look to the musical smorgasbord at this time of year with a mix of apprehension and dread, here's the rare Christmas album we can all enjoy.

Yeah, I was talking up The Minus 5 just a few weeks back (and have already slathered plenty of love on frontman Scott McCaughey's other band, the Young Fresh Fellows), but since this was the disc I pulled up this morning to get in some holiday cheer, figured I'd circle b...

The Tyde: Twice (2003)

The Tyde were one of myriad interrelated 90s/00s-era bands in the SoCal cosmic Americana universe based loosely around legendary jangly psyche-country act Beachwood Sparks. After that band broke up, bassist Brent Rademaker joined up with his brother Darren to form the Tyde (along with a few other Sparks refugees), with Darren handling the songwriting and vocals. While not hugely dissimilar aesthetically, the Tyde swap out some of the Sparks' country vibe for a more Beach Boys-friendly gentle sur...

Explosions In The Sky: The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place (2003)

I can't say I'm entirely clear on the whole "post-rock" genre, which seems (depending on whom you ask) to encapsulate pretty much anything that is either instrumental music and/or experimental rock-adjacent music that eschews traditional verse-chorus-verse structures. 

Whatever. I don't listen to a lot of instrumental music apart from Brian Eno's ambient works, but I've developed a real love for Explosions in the Sky, who do a fascinating job of blending ambient music with more chaotic post-punk ...

Kimberley Rew: The Bible Of Bop (1981)

For several years before becoming a long-running solo artist with a number of understated but enjoyable indie pop albums to his name, Kimberley Rew seemed content to be the largely unsung hero of other bands. As guitarist for the Soft Boys, he stood largely in the shadow of Robyn Hitchcock; after Hitchcock went solo, Rew formed the Waves -- later embellished to Katrina & The Waves -- writing ridiculously catchy pop tunes (many of which he also sang on their early indie releases, before passing t...

Radio Birdman: Radios Appear (1977)

Australian punk progenitors Radio Birdman are as essential a part of early punk history as the Ramones, Pistols, Buzzcocks, Clash, Wire, etc., yet outside of music nerd circles they remain largely unknown (at least in the States). Which is a shame, as their 1977 debut is as compelling as the work of their better-known brethren. Though stylistically similar to many of the early punks, with stripped down 3-or-4-chord guitar blasts, raggedly cathartic vocals, and pure feral energy, the Radios also ...