AFX - Analogue Bubblebath 5 (2005)

In January 2005, Rephlex mailed out black vinyl/binder editions of "Analord 10". Due to problems at the manufacturing/mail out stage, approximately 20 buyers did not receive their package. Rephlex mailed out a second batch in June 2005 to those who had not received their order. This second batch included a free copy of "Analogue Bubblebath 5". This distribution of "Analogue Bubblebath 5" was unannounced.

This is one pretty interesting and rare piece from the AFX catalogue. Richard D. James has been said to produce massive amounts of tracks, only to wind up using a handful to put out an album. Ever since I got into his works I've wondered what all of those other tracks must sound like. I feel like this record is a small glimpse into that abyss of unreleased material.

There are 8 tracks in the version I have, although Discogs.com lists a 9th track "Cuckoo", which can actually be found on Analogue Bubblebath 4. They are all untitled so there's no point for a tracklist.

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DVAR - Oramah Maalhur (2004)

Russian darkwave/lightwave project. There is no information about the members of this group and publicity is extremely limited. Some of the only pieces of information circulating are the one about how the idea for DVAR came to them in a dream, and all of their composition ideas come to them in dreams. Or the one about how the language they sing in is supposedly invented by them (some say it is Enochian). I think the best piece of speculation out there is the one about how this is actually a super-secret side project of Michael Jackson. I don't know how likely it is, but I like to think that it may very well be true. Upon listening, there are certain similarities. On Oramah Maalhur they are are most apparent through the use of layered, magical and dreamlike atmospheres. There are even some keyboard sounds that are extremely similar to some used by Mr. Jackson. However from a non-musical perspective, stange new things seem to be made public about MJ since his death. Since then, everytime I listen to DVAR (specifically this album), my imagination grows more and more with the possibility that certain things having to do with DVAR eventually led to the death of Michael Jackson, be it murder or otherwise. His death coincides with his comeback tour, however I think that he planned on either unveiling DVAR or using it for something that was not in the best interests of those around him. His doctor, who is under a huge amount of suspicion, I believe was just a tool in the implementation of something far greater, a battle between forces both light and dark. Who really was Michael Jackson?

Tracklist:

1. Nahaliroh
2. Akhtariil

3. Ta Matii Yadhan

4. Itlabshaar

5. Raamshar

6. Hinderashim

7. Ah Menahaim

8. Hosermoah

9. Lyarrah

10. Seir K'ham

11. Mi Raamshar

12. Nomenahaim 2

13. Iihot'e'hain

14. Akhtariil 2

15. Nomenahaim

16. Laay Iill

17. Raah Dhar

18. Oramah Maalhur

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Rockwell - Somebody's Watching Me (1984)

Thanks to the recent string of Geico commercials, the title track of this long lost piece of 80s gold has resurfaced once again. A few months before then I managed to track down the entire album, though it was definitely not easy. This album is worth the download just for the fresh as hell drum sounds and super rad synth bass lines. A long time ago, one of my friends put an mp3 of "Somebody's Watching Me" into this shareware program called The Amazing Slow Downer. He stretched it out to a half hour long and it had to be the most creepy sounding shit ever. It's the pipe organs in the background that do it.

Tracklist:

1. Somebody's Watching Me

2. Obscene Phone Caller

3. Taxman

4. Change Your Ways

5. Runaway

6. Wasting Way

7. Knife

8. Foreign Country

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Datashat - BusinessFunk Series (2007)

BusinessFunk. If you want to increase productivity in your workspace, slap this on and watch the steam bellow from the machines. The official definition of BusinessFunk is as follows:

"The term Businesscore or Businessfunk describes a subgenre of Library Music from the early 80s, which is typically electronic in composition, and features bold, dramatic synthesizer melodies conjuring themes of corporate prestige, high technology, or sporting prowess." (Wikipedia)

Datashat (a.k.a. Datassette) cranks out over an hour's worth of these forgotten prog-funk gems in the form of a two part megamix; originally released seperately in 2006 and 2007. If you don't find yourself uncontrollably smiling with glee upon hearing these, then you have a hormone problem. His website can be found here: www.datassette.net. If you enjoy these mixes, there are loads of other tracks available for free download.

Tracklist:

1. BusinessFunk I

2. BusinessFunk II

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*Note: Above artwork is not official album artwork.

Dig - S/T (1993)

Dig is an amazing band that no one remembers except for maybe me and a couple of other people who were seriously submerged in the alternative rock wave of the early 90s. I saw the video for their song "Believe" and promptly went out to pick it up the CD. This is one of those albums that I dubbed to tape and listened to over and over in my big yellow Sony sports walkman on the bus going to school. It has this big thick layered sound that grabs your entire ear space and creates its own lush reverberant atmosphere. The band was a 5 piece; a drummer, bassist and 3 guitarists. On some tracks, one guitarist is making only atmospheric noises with feedback loops and delays. I remember seeing them play "Believe" on the Jon Stewart Show (I am really dating myself now) and the guy held an e-bow to his guitar for the entire duration of the song, just bending it slightly here and there. Underneath all of those guitars, the bassist still manages to make his own space, weaving his own style of melodic lines throughout each song. Vocals were pretty much dominated by one person, although there are some backups here and there. They have that really lazy character to them but still manage to hang high over everything else. It's a very creative take on the sound that was popular at that time, injecting equal influences from rock, psychedelic, surf, ambient with some pop sensibilities thrown in for catchy tunes. It's a shame this band didn't get the promotion they deserved.

Tracklist:

1. Let Me Know

2. I'll Stay High

3. Unlucky Friend

4. Anymore

5. Conversation

6. Believe

7. Feet Don't Touch The Ground

8. Ride The Wave

9. Green Room

10. Tight Brain

11. Fuck You

12. Decide

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P.S. - It seems to be selling on Amazon for a penny. What a slap in the face.

PFFR - Chrome Ghost (2005)

Ok. I don't want to even begin to explain in any sort of review about what this is. All I have to say is that it sounds like a bunch of mentally handicapped 15 year olds with access to things that make noise. Absolutely brilliant. For anyone in the know, you might recognize the last track. Then it will click.

Tracklist:

1. Japoney Apple

2. Uber Cougar

3. Rainy Day

4. Sounds Like A Mexican

5. Let's Make It Tonight

6. Old Theme

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Buy It On iTunes

Ice Cake - S/T (1997)

This was a favorite of mine back in high school. A friend had it and copied it on tape for me, and I played it until there was no flux left on it. Later I managed to find it at a local record/memorabilia shop that happened to be in the home town of this artist. I always loved it because the whole record is pretty much just a guy playing guitar and bass through delays and other various effects, with random samples thrown in for good measure. It's so laid back and simple. Each piece is different from the last while still drawing from the same palate of tones. Ice Cake manages to produce a record that, although short, still holds much musical depth while keeping its minimalistic ambiance. Good luck if you could find a physical copy these days.

Tracklist:

1. That Train Is So Spacy

2. Fountains

3. Reality And You

4. Vertical Pines

5. Pour Vous

6. On Soft Ground I Sleep

7. The Astral Body

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Niels Van Hoorn - Colours (2002)

Niels Van Hoorn (a.k.a. Niels Van Hoornblower) is the horn player for The Legendary Pink Dots. Way before my plunge into the vast LPD discography, I kept hearing the track "Strange Dream" from Mr. Hoorn's solo album on a compilation I recieved in the mail from Soleilmoon Recordings. For a long time I mistakened it for a different track on the disc from the collaboration People Like Us & Kenny G, since there was a sax involved and all. Once I caught on to my mistake, I picked up the full album and it proved to be quite interesting. Solo horn improvisation; recorded, processed and looped in a variety of new combinations and arrangements, mixed with percussion, and sometimes analog synth. It's an experimental ambient record built from a jazz perspective, which makes for a very refreshing listen.

Tracklist:

1. Landscape

2. Indian Dakota

3. Space Horns

4. Desert Walk

5. Traffic Jam

6. Grand Canyon

7. Heritage Part 1 & 2

8. Mist

9. Mellow

10. Strange Dream

11. Klaverland Sunset Jam

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Floor - S/T (2002)

Floor is a sludge band that hailed from Florida. Since they've disbanded, some members have gone on to form Torche, another great metal/sludge oriented band. This album features some of the lowest tunings I've heard come out of that musical era. Floor is great because they manage to surpass the novelty of such low tunings and create very catchy and short songs, only giving in to the urge to JUNT JUNT when necessary. From what I can tell, you will have a pretty hard time tracking this one down in physical form. However I discovered that they have recently made it available on iTunes.

Tracklist:

1. Scimitar

2. Return To Zero

3. Downed Star

4. Iron Girl

5. Night Full Of Kicks

6. Twink

7. Sneech

8. Assassin

9. Kalisti - Song For Eris

10. Ein (Below And Beyond)

11. Figured Out

12. Tales Of Lolita

13. Triangle Song

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Wipers - Is This Real? (1979)

Many of us know the Wipers simply because Nirvana played a mean rendition of their classic "D-7". I got this CD from a friend of mine who I used to be in a Nirvana cover band with back in the mid-90's. Everytime I listen to it, I flash back to that carefree time of loud amps, banged up drums and wreckless behavior (as wreckless as a 15 year old can get). My favorite tracks still have to be "Upfront", "Return Of The Rat" and "Window Shop For Love". Greg Sage was a fixture in the Portland music scene and the Wipers proved to be quite a prolific act. Most of their original records are hard to find, although Is This Real? happened to be re-released by Sub Pop in 1993.

If anyone else has some of their other records, feel free to comment or message me.

Tracklist:

1. Return Of The Rat

2. Mystery

3. Upfront

4. Let's Go Let's Go Away

5. Is This Real?

6. Tragedy

7. Alien Boy

8. D-7

9. Potential Suicide

10. I Don't Know What I Am

11. Window Shop For Love

12. Wait A Minute

13. Image Of Man

14. Telepathic Love

15. Voices In The Rain

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OLD - Formula (1995)

OLD stands for Old Lady Drivers. Originally started in the 80's as a freak out drum machine grind band, their sound has evolved through the years thanks to the innovative guitar processing virtuosity of James Plotkin (Namanax, Phantomsmasher, Solarus) and the vocal strangeness of Alan Dubin. I discovered them from hearing one of their tracks, "Freak Now", which appeared on the soundtrack to the early 90's computer hacker movie Brainscan. It was featured on their album The Musical Dimensions Of Sleestack (which came before this album). However Formula is quite a departure from their signature electronic grind sound. Light, airy guitar-synth work, warm fretless bass and large deep drum machine hits make this one a brighter spacier listen. The odd time signatures keep things interesting, and Alan Dubin's esoteric yet simplistic vocoder-sung lyrics provide a more happy variety of mental psychosis. They definately manage to fall under their own category with this record. It's a shame the project came to a halt around this time. I can only imagine what would've came next in their sonic evolution.

Tracklist:

1. Last Look

2. Break [You]

3. Devolve

4. Underglass

5. Thug

6. Rid

7. Amoeba

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Black Moth Super Rainbow - Dandelion Gum (2007)

Here's a pretty tripped out record. If you went deep into the woods of Pennsylvania, discovered a cult that worships LSD, gave them a bunch of amiga computers, an old beat up drum kit and a vocoder and told them to write a psych record, this is what would come out. The majority of Black Moth Super Rainbow albums have this quality to them, however Dandelion Gum reaches the pinnacle of acid freak-out-ness foreshadowed by its tweaked out cover art. This is easily my favorite record by them. Also be sure to check out their latest album "Eating Me".

Tracklisting:

1. Forever Heavy
2. Jump Into My Mouth And Breathe The Stardust
3. Melt Me
4. Lollipopsichord
5. They Live In The Meadow
6. Sun Lips
7. Rollerdisco
8. Neon Syrup For The Cemetery Sisters
9. The Afternoon Turns Pink
10. When The Sun Grows On Your Tongue
11. Spinning Cotton Candy In A Shack Made Of Shingles
12. Drippy Eye
13. Lost, Picking Flowers In The Woods
14. Caterpillar House
15. Wall Of Gum
16. Untitled Roadside Demo
17. Untitled

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