Sexual Milkshake - (1992) ST LP

Formed in the late 1980s in Harrisonburg, VA, Sexual Milkshake originally consisted of three members: Sexua, Lmil, and Kshake (also known as Greg Allen, Chris Callahan, and Todd/Rusty Massie, respectively). Their musical philosophy could best be summed up in a comment Greg Allen once tossed off: "Tune schmoon, just play!" Too dumb to be called art rock and too smart to be called retarded rock, Sexual Milkshake walked the fine line that separated clever and stupid. The only conventional aspect of this band was the fact that they lived out the alt rock cliché of having a female bassist, a role originally filled by Ame Dread and later by Jill Murphy. After releasing a 7" on the influential Teenbeat label, they went on to release a full-length CD and LP titled Sing Along in Hebrew on the same label. Sexual Milkshake deserves a place in the footnotes of rock & roll history for their extravagant product packaging as much as their twisted musical creations. For example, their lead singer invented what he dubbed the "Gregtar," an unwieldy monstrosity of a guitar that was comprised of two guitar bodies attached to both ends of a guitar neck. Each end contained a separate pickup that could be plugged into a different amplifier. Sexual Milkshake are also noteworthy because their CD and LP are among the most lavishly packaged albums of all time. Sing Along in Hebrew contains a 12-page tabloid-sized booklet, chopsticks, a 3-D poster of the band, 3-D gorilla glasses with a scratch & sniff banana, a '60s-style nudie matchbook, a mermaid drinking glass companion, and -- oh yeah -- the record. After a moderately successful four-year career, the band stopped playing together in 1993. Drummer Chris Callahan co-founded Blast Off Country Style in 1992, and Todd/Rusty Masse formed the Gollypops with fill-in Sexual Milkshake bassist and ex-Blast Off Country Style member Phil Sweeney.

VA - (1995) Punk TV LP

Tracklist
A1 Rail - Josie And The Pussycats    
A2 Themack - Reading Rainbow    
A3 Less Than Jake - Laverne And Shirley    
A4 Hellbender - Zorro    
A5 Christie Front Drive - Mary Tyler Moore Show    
A6 Friction - Happy Days    
A7 The Bowzers - The Monkeys    
B1 Nenna Foundry - Love American Style    
B2 Cap'n Jazz - Beverly Hills 90210    
B3 Horace Pinker - Laverne And Shirley    
B4 Braid - Bosom Buddies    
B5 Lynyrd's Innards - Silver Spoons    
B6 The Larry Brrrds - Fame    
B7 Zoinks! - Greatest American Hero    
C1 Less Than Jake - The Dukes Of Hazzard    
C2 Less Than Jake - The Jeffersons    
C3 Propagandhi - Degrassi Jr. High    
C4 F.Y.P. - Three's Company

Gene Page - (1977) Close Encounters Of The Third Kind 12''

Gene Page recorded several albums, with the 1978 Arista LP Close Encounters being the most successful. The title track, a disco cover of the John Williams theme from the 1977 Steven Spielberg/ Richard Dreyfuss movie, charted at number 30 R&B in early 1978. 

After an encounter with UFO's, a line worker feels undeniably drawn to an isolated area in the wilderness, where something spectacular is about to happen.

Rick Wakeman - (1977) White Rock LP

This was the soundtrack to a motion picture documentary of the same name of the 1976 Innsbruck Winter Olympic Games. It features only Wakeman's huge assortment of keyboards and drummer Tony Fernandez, with a choir on two tracks. It's a fine album with many moods, from the rocking title track to the stately "After the Ball" to the sprightly "Montezuma's Revenge," Wakeman's arrangement of some Hungarian Gypsy music. His piano throughout is exquisite. 

Hermann Kopp, Daktari Lorenz & John Boy Walton - (2015) Nekromantik (Original Expanded 1987 Motion Picture Soundtrack) LP

Nekromantik is known to be frequently controversial, banned in a number of countries, and has become an international cult film over the years due to its transgressive subject matter (including necrophilia) and audacious imagery.
Daktari Lorenz, Hermann Kopp & John Boy Walton make up the holy trio of composers called upon by film maker Jörg Buttgereit. Between the three of them they produced some of the most haunting and beautiful tracks to be paired up with Buttgereit’s controversial on-screen works of art.
The Nekromantik score displays the dynamic ability and range of the composers. It strikes a perfect balance of beauty, horror, joy and dissonance. The score is both minimalistic and hauntingly atmospheric at the core, and yet remarkably complex at the same time. A wide variety of instruments and sound effects are utilized throughout it’s making. Kopp wastes no time displaying his mastery of the violin, which takes center stage, captivating the listener with his powerful, rhythmic, and beautiful solos. He also uses the violin to create some of the strangest tracks on the album, significantly slowing down the rhythm, creating an ominous, off-key droning sound. Kopp is no slouch on the piano either, with a number of beautiful piano interludes that appear throughout the score. In sharp contrast are the tracks which sound as if they are from an old school industrial album. Harsh noise, clanging metal, pounding drums, synthesizers, and various sound effects come together to create a truly dark and desolate picture. The moog synthesizer, also makes a few appearances. This is an amazing collection of music that appeals to a wide variety of people.

Nekromantik

Andrew Liles - (2014) The Maleficent Monster And Other Macabre Stories LP

Massively prolific UK artist, and Nurse With Wound and Current 93 member, Andrew Liles returns to Blackest Rainbow. This new full length LP consists of themes, incidental music, bridging songs, interludes, creaks and groans created as imaginary soundtracks for imaginary horror films. 40 minutes of musical interpretations on a ‘horrific’ theme influenced by such maestros as Donald Rubinstein, John Carpenter, Fabio Frizzi and Ennio Morricone. The tracks cover a vast amount of ground including austere orchestral pieces, voodoo drums, torture porn, possession, cheesy 80′s soundtracks, Giallo, 70′s synths, mellotrons, flutes, piano and much much more.

Andrew Liles - (2014) Wanton Wives, Monstrous Maidens And Wicked Witches LP

Limited to 350 copies, pressed on 180 gram "Rotting Zombie Brains" pink vinyl with red & green splatter.

This is the sister album to ‘THE MALEFICENT MONSTER & OTHER MACABRE STORIES’ and another instalment in the ever expanding MONSTER series of releases.

Side one is an array of faux Giallo soundtracks and music created for imaginary horror films influenced by such maestros as Donald Rubinstein, John Carpenter, Fabio Frizzi and Ennio Morricone. The tracks cover a vast amount of ground including austere orchestral pieces, voodoo drums, torture porn, possession, cheesy 80′s soundtracks, Giallo, 70′s synths and Mellotrons.

The second side of the L.P. is a horror story written by Liles which was translated and narrated in French by Isabelle Magnon. Saxophone comes from Quentin Rollet.

As with ‘THE MALEFICENT MONSTER & OTHER MACABRE STORIES’ the artwork comes from Graham Humphreys (the revered British designer and illustrator responsible for some of the best film posters of the 1980′s including Evil Dead, Nightmare on Elm Street and album covers for The Cramps and The Lords of the New Church).

Emeralds - (2010) Does It Look Like I'm Here? 2xLP

There are all kinds of familiar elements at work on Emeralds' third album, and those elements will be especially familiar to anyone who was listening to avant pop electronic music in the 1970s. The slightly cheesy-sounding keyboard arpeggiations, the waveform generators, the sweet-and-sour analog synth sounds -- these are all basic elements of the earliest synthesized pop (and synthesized classical) music. To say that Emeralds take these elements and make them new would be an exaggeration, but to say that they make them their own would not be. Does It Look Like I'm Here? consists largely of tracks previously issued as a series of 7" vinyl singles but also includes new material recorded exclusively for this CD release; some of it sounds like a more energized Fripp & Eno (notice in particular the uptempo Frippertronics of "Candy Shoppe") and some of it seems a bit too self-consciously dated (consider the rather silly Moogisms of "Genetic"), but there are many moments of pure genius: "Summerdata" is intensely involving despite being largely arrhythmic; "It Doesn't Arrive" sounds like a slow helicopter going by with Brian Eno's Music for Airports playing on its stereo; "Access Granted," the album's final track, is four minutes of pure, pulsing beauty. All of it occupies a slightly uneasy borderland between ambient music and avant-garde experimentation, and all of it is well worth hearing.

Emeralds - (2012) Just To Feel Anything LP

Mark McGuire, John Elliott, and Steve Hauschildt - the talented trio of synthesizerists and guitarscapers collectively known as Emeralds - have taken a break from their own personal, prolific release schedules and other music-related activities like running labels and such, to enter Tangerine Sound Studios in Akron, Ohio and come up with this, their umpteenth (we have no idea really, what with all the limited cassettes and cd-r's as well as cds and lps!) album together, following 2010's Does It Look Like I'm Here?
The instrumental shimmer of Just To Feel Anything carries on from that prior release, Emeralds' mix of motorik beats, majestic ambience, and "glowing guitar workouts" again being expressed in shorter form, more "song-like" compositions. After an opening track, "Before Your Eyes", which begins as a barely audible bliss-scape of subdued synth before building up into militant beats and soaring melodies, this new Emeralds opus keeps the old school drum machine beats going on the bright and energetic "Adrenochrome", which goes from kinda dancey to guitar-oriented by the end of its own epic trajectory. Emeralds are annexing some Zombi/Moore/Majeure territory there, or sounding like something by Trans Am. A sudden shift of mood brings us to "Through & Through", a pensive & romantic sounding piece for guitarÉ But the very next track, "Everything Is Inverted", gets us back to the late-night-driving, early '80s krautronica soundz that make us think Zombi (and Michael Rother). Gorgeous future-retro grooves. Then, "The Loser Keeps America Down", at the start of side two, sees Emeralds embrace their not forgotten, more experimental side, its textural distorted crackle not unlike a burning fire of electronic origin. Following that, eerie Goblin-like tones open up the album's title track, which blossoms into probably our favorite cut here, encompassing all the attractive features of the current Emeralds program. 'Tis shimmering, burbling, propulsive, and ultimately emotionally stirring. The album then comes to a close, bookended by another beautiful bliss-out piece. Nice!

Suicide - (1977) ST LP

Proof that punk was more about attitude than a raw, guitar-driven sound, Suicide's self-titled debut set the duo apart from the rest of the style's self-proclaimed outsiders. Over the course of seven songs, Martin Rev's dense, unnerving electronics -- including a menacing synth bass, a drum machine that sounds like an idling motorcycle, and harshly hypnotic organs -- and Alan Vega's ghostly, Gene Vincent-esque vocals defined the group's sound and provided the blueprints for post-punk, synth pop, and industrial rock in the process. Though those seven songs shared the same stripped-down sonic template, they also show Suicide's surprisingly wide range. The exhilarated, rebellious "Ghost Rider" and "Rocket U.S.A." capture the punk era's thrilling nihilism -- albeit in an icier way than most groups expressed it -- while "Cheree" and "Girl" counter the rest of the album's hard edges with a sensuality that's at once eerie and alluring. And with its retro bassline and simplistic, stylized lyrics, "Johnny" explores Suicide's affinity for '50s melodies and images, as well as their pop leanings. But none of this is adequate preparation for "Frankie Teardrop," one of the duo's definitive moments, and one of the most harrowing songs ever recorded. A ten-minute descent into the soul-crushing existence of a young factory worker, Rev's tense, repetitive rhythms and Vega's deadpan delivery and horrifying, almost inhuman screams make the song more literally and poetically political than the work of bands who wore their radical philosophies on their sleeves.

Suicide - (1981) 1/2 Alive LP

There was an aesthetic revolution implied in the coupling of Alan Vega's reckless rockabilly howling and the hypnotic buzz and drone of Martin Rev's keys, and that revolution in sound birthed (perhaps unwittingly) two primary schools of synthesized rock: wimpy, gutless new wave duos and the painful dissonance of bands like Skinny Puppy, Foetus, and the later Chicago Wax-Trax scene. For better and for worse, Suicide enabled the industrial revolution. Half Alive is an essential reissue of the original ROIR cassette from 1981, compiling extremely rare early demo material and live tracks from 1974-1979. It's a mesmerizing, confrontational listen, and even more importantly – when contextualized in that time period, that harsh and beautiful juxtaposition of futuristic minimalism and anachronistic crooning (imagine Gene Vincent cornered on a mixture of quaaludes and speed), is confounding. Vega's scream is as damn reckless, damn frightening, and as full of abandon as a Stooges live show from the early '70s. Suicide went on to record a handful of indispensable albums before splitting up and reuniting innumerable times. If nothing else, this collection documents the peculiar fury of proto-industrial music prior to its eventual emasculation and/or reconfiguration as the millieu of studio hounds and gothic make-up artists.

Suicide - (1986) Ghost Riders LP

Originally a cassette-only release, this live recording at Walker Arts Center in Minneapolis marked Rev and Vega's tenth anniversary. And while not as deliberately offensive as some of their earlier live gigs (the impossible-to-locate 23 Minutes Over Brussels), this is a compelling, interesting document of their ever-evolving stage show. Not as transcendent as their debut album, but well worth the effort.

LR - (2015) The Fragility Of Happiness LP

LR is another project from Loke Rahbek, also one of the main members from the well-known label Posh Isolation. I will be reviewing his record called “The Fragility Of Happiness”.

The first track starts with very spacious, wood sounding percussion (with much reverb from the space it was recorded in) and upcoming and fading static noise. Later on, a high ranged tone comes in, to be also joined by junk noise. It’s not really messy, but all well controlled actually. The second track, “America Disfigured”, has some soothing soundscapes, but quickly gets darker with very eerie power electronics, mesmerizing drones and cool sounding vocals, followed by screeching, rasp feedback intervals and harsh noise. “The Wife Is The Head Of The Husband As Christ Is The Head Of The Church”, the third track, (has a very long title but is a very short track) has some messing around with objects and a tone dial-like loop. The fourth one, “Olympia Dies Soon”, begins with a monotonous tone, maybe from a guitar. Whispering vocals, object noises and waved, high ranged tones join in later. On the background are some nice low ranged, dark loops going on. It is followed by “The Happening Casued Public Hysteria 1970”, which has a dark and deep wind, distant bass sequencers and frantic percussion. Later on they are followed by factory noises and all kinds of synth noises. A very nice track, with a old school feeling to it. The last track “Sabella”, has a very filthy and lofi sound, maybe a field recording. Mournful guitar tunes set in a very melancholic mood, joined by vocals. The field recording noise and vocals suddenly disappear, and the moodfull tunes are the only ones left to close of this mind shaking record.

I really enjoyed this album. It has everything you want it to have: dark, unsettling moods, rawness and freshness in sound. Listened outdoors, it gives a truly morbid and fascinating look on our society of today.

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Huge fan of this. Between the FFH LP that came out this year and this are some of the best PE/noise to come out in a while. I would also say this is LR's best work too. This isn't as fierce as the newest FFH, Make Them Understand, or as noisy as the new Bizarre Uproar, Perverse Bizarre Humiliation, both albums I strongly recommend, but it's in the middle between them. I'm done explaining but you should buy this. I think it's sold out from Posh Isolation direct but there are probably a few places stateside getting them, don't miss out.