1970-1979 WTF - The Hard 'n' Heavy 'n' Loud + Krautrock, Arty, Noisy, Weird, Funky, Punky Shit - Albums Poll! - VOTING THREAD! Closes Mar 8th 11.59 PM UK Time - All ILXORS/LURKERS WELCOME

http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/nme_writers.htm , http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/nme_readers.htm nothing in top 100s from 85 or 93 or the readers top 100

I certainly knew of him in the 90s so maybe his UK rep was non-existent until the 90s/00s reissues?

Lets face it UK music press preferred UK punk bands mostly

I suppose he gets credit now here for being the first punk (though I disagree).

would like to understand the basis of this disagreement tbh

I suppose it's not a flat out disagree, he was certainly a big influence musically and definitely in terms of image. I just think its a stretch to consider any one individual to be the first.

I mean I can see just as much influence in someone like Klaus Dinger of Neu!

well yeah, the concept of a "first punk" is stupid but hell was certainly a forebearer of what became an archetype, from style to attitude to music. always felt bad reading bangs' account of him opening for the clash in '77, getting spit on by dudes who were prolly listening to mud or whatever while he was busy inventing their steez for them back in '74.

at one point I had posted on ILM a zip file with the evolution of "love comes in spurts" with versions by neon boys, television, heartbreakers, and the voidoids. should see if I can dig that up.

that would be cool

Chrome is v good, Idk which one I like more, Alien Soundtracks or Half Machine Lip Moves

― harvester of lols (Drugs A. Money), Sunday, February 24, 2013 7:10 PM (2 days ago)

well the alien soundtracks vs half machine lip moves debate has raged inside my fervid mind for many a moon, mainly in response to the general critical/lolpopular tendency to view HMLM as the jewel of the chrome discog crown as well as its wellworn sacred totem status within the pvd noise/funk/robot scene. but for longer than I care to admit (ok, 25 years, jeezus) I've sided w/ cope when he writes, "If anyone asks you about Chrome, tell 'em ALIEN SOUNDTRACKS nailed it, Dunne'n'Dusted, end of story."

first heard of chrome in '87 when a sound choice reviewer likened my band to them, the description of "a shortwave radio that turned on its listener" was intriguing, and it was pretty cool to have a group I'd never even heard of name-checked as comparison, but I could for love nor money in the pre-interwebs age find any print or vinyl evidence that this band existed at all. a couple years later touch & go did me the solid of reissuing AS + HMLM and I dug in. alien soundtracks clicked immediately and was subsequently lysergically embedded in my endorphin-releasing data banks, while half machine lip moves left me a bit cold, decidedly *not* a bad album but really failed to connect in the same way as its soulswallowing predecessor.

as time went on their rep + notoriety increased and it baffled me why HMLM was more well-regarded, I chalked it up to HMLM being the underground stepping stone, the release that built their rep, the way sister was a major breakthrough for SY while evol contained the real grape that would not be grokked for decades. but I've had to look elsewhere for answers, since it seems that AS *still* plays second fiddle to HMLM even in these hallowed halls, and tho I swore to focus on new listening for this here poll I drug this unholy pair out of mothballs in search of the truth. and it started me thinking about why I prefer a particular album over another, and maybe even why my ballot was skewing in a particular direction.

I do believe in my heart of hearts that there's a certain excitement generated when a band first gets together, and the results of two or more unstoppable forces coming to terms w/ their coexistence and exploring the possibilities contained therein generates incomparable soulsustaining electricity, hearing a band spread its wings and make for the sun for the first time is magic. inevitably folks settle into their routines, and those routines can certainly yield results, I mean the pyramids weren't built by thrillseeking layabouts, and I know the ecstasies of infatuation eventually give way to the reliable austerity of love's duties, but we're talking about the decadent abstractions of music here so gimme the sweet spazzy rush of unencumbered newness over the stately and poised consistency of refined masterworks. it's prolly why I dig paranoid over vol 4, rank sad wings of destiny over british steel, and prefer severe exposure to law of ruins.

AS is chrome's 2nd album by name, but it's the drive-in at the end of the universe where damon edge's paranoid android first met helios creed's always-peaking motormouth who needed two heads just to keep up with ALL THIS STUFF I GOTTA LAY ON YOU LIKE RIGHT NOW MAN except instead of mouths he had a guitar and 37 phase pedals set to stun. the sound on AS is total shitcrap, like they recorded it in yr mom's den while she was under her hooded hair dryer, and it brays and hollers as a result, untamed frequencies jumping out all over the place and even approaching physically unpleasant at times (hello 5:15 of "pygmies in zee dark").

HMLM, while still a heady trip down dark corridors of blurp, is a more refined affair, two years later the band has better control of their sound and instincts, so they plumb deeper but don't wander far afield. rather than assault the listener with a HEY LOOK AT THIS it hangs back and lets *you* come to *it* which I guess makes for a better experience overall for some folks, but my personal preference now and forever is the raw n slobbering gargantua of AS. it drops more hooks than a tripping fisherman to boot.

if you're gonna brave these waters on spotify I recommend searching for the combo half machine lip moves / alien soundtracks version from 1990, it's listed under "compilations" on the chrome page, sounds better than the other versions available there.

dont see a compilations part or the actual 2 in 1 you speak of

the HMLM is however paired with Read Only Memory

US/UK spotify have different stuff

The essence of Alien Soundtracks, brilliant!

Lol at people asking why I thought Hell was underrated when I explicitly spelled it out with hard data!

It didn't make either ILM 70s polls, nor Pitchfork's, nor Rolling Stone, and was only 663 among RYM's 70's albums. It did fare better on Acclaimed music at 170 of 70's, 540 overall.

Hell may have done the ripped shirts all the way back in Neon Boys days, and the punk 'tude, so certainly he's one of the first archetypes.

I think that dbl CD release was the T&G one, the rockville CDs were good too if you can find em

yeah hell was rocking the ripped tees-safety pins-spiked hair combo early on

all this talk about Chrome is reminding me of the Helios Creed vs Keiji Haino poll idea I toyed with a few months back

What do you think of the 1st album (before Helios Creed joined)

its alright-ish, I didn't pay a ton of close attention

Chrome is cool but I find myself coming back more to Creed's solo stuff

really?

That sounds like something Hellhouse would say. I miss him on this thread.

George why exactly do you prefer Helios Creed solo to Chrome?

Crazy Psychedelia (Helios Creed, Butthole Surfers and...?)

George please do that best Helios Creed albums poll

I thought it was conventional wisdom that the uk punks got it all from hell, style-wise at least. Love blank generation regardless. In other news I am definitely one of those scary sparks nuts. Love kimono but couldn't imagine it ending there. If I'd voted in the 80s poll I would have given some points to whomp that sucker for god's sake. Every 8 weeks or so I have to just get DRONK and listen to SPARKS all night

(this is one of those nights)

So bummed that Budgie's Squawk and Frumpy's '2' aren't in the nom list ...

Never liked the Frumpy albums I heard years back (or Jane)

Or Hairy Chapter tbh. They all maybe had a few OK tracks but the albums were generally meh imo. Of course its always possible if I heard them again I could change my mind.

ok D.A.M. spent the evening listening to the Helios Creed albums and I was wondering if you preferred them as they were better produced?

http://static.rateyourmusic.com/lk/f/s/11e11c258adf9c17537aba32b0f9a9cb/4473516.jpg

Finally got my ballot in - thanks for the feelings of separation anxiety, AG, this was like picking children ;-) ...

Very much appreciate all the campaigning and fun posts from all - AG/Fastnbulbous great job in organizing and keeping the thread bong-rippin' fun.
The RYM list suggestions were fun too - thanks to all who posted something like that ...

I'm a little confused/curious about the three Teenage Jesus albums on this list. I thought they never released a studio album and everything they did in the studio was compiled on the single CD Everything? I see that one of these is a live album. What are the other two about? Shut Up and Bleed seems to be a compilation (similar to Everything?).

lol AG I've only heard the first couple and the last one from '11 Galactic Octopi. Let me catch up a little after I do all my 70s listening and I will hold the Helios Creed albums poll, or the Creed vs Haino poll or w/e

btw my favorite HC album is The Last Laugh

So bummed that Budgie's Squawk and Frumpy's '2' aren't in the nom list ...

I was going to nom squawk but then I saw that every album but that one was nommed so I chickened out and thought maybe something was wrong with me for liking that one best.

Thread title for the rollout shd include the disclaimer "(may contain Horses)" imo #topical #lol #humour

Needs a mention of rolling stone in the title to go with the others

also thanks for voting! and dont stop campaigning!

Not sure who 'Paul' is who voted last but I totally approve of yer #1!

http://991.com/NewGallery/The-Groundhogs-Split-61385.jpg
http://open.spotify.com/album/6msxjPbPwh0NXtQJR71JsS

awesome cover, will be giving that one a listen!

V v v close to being my #1

And yes you will all be able to guess my #1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9FI_ZoGFAQ

Not sure who 'Paul' is…

thanks! very excited about my number 1 in the trax poll too - bloody excited (int int)!

Does that mean Mandrill is your #1? Otherwise, I guess Maggot Brain.

xpost

lol

listening to Hall of the Mountain Grail and Warrior on the Edge of Time; atm I'm thinking that I prefer the latter. Loving the heaping helpings of mellotron on both.

I think everyone could guess it
xxp

Magnu is hitting me straight up like a pure Neu!/Amon Duul II amalgamation

Magnu?

I've been re-listening to Groundhogs too. I finally heard Armand Schaubroeck Steals - Ratfucker, good thing I wasn't at work! That baby must have at least 300 f-bombs! Brilliantly disturbing, but not sure the music will keep me coming back. Also checking out his first two, A Lot of People Would Like to See Armand Schaubroeck...Dead! and I Came To Visit But Decided To Stay. The first, a triple album, was supposedly recorded in 1971, but there's confusion as to when it was released, that year or 1975. Same with the second, either 1973, 1974 or 1977. I guess they're self-released on Mirror, and it's not well documented.

I've kind of gone off the rails into lots of bands not nominated, like Fischer-Z, Bill Nelson, Black Randy & the Metro Squad, Chrisma, The Flyin' Spiderz, Tonio K. and Metro. Looks like I'll be ready to finalize my ballot soon!

http://www.headheritage.co.uk/unsung/feature/armand_schaubroeck/