Introduction
Five Songs, 10/7/2022
Five Songs

Five Songs, 10/7/2022

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Tackhead, "Ticking Time Bomb"

Is industrial funk a thing? There are bits and pieces of Tackhead that remind me of industrial, but it's also very electro-funk. At the time I encountered this, I wasn't sure of the combination, and it sounds incredibly of its time at this point, but I think I might be better inclined towards it today. I dunno, maybe I'll spend some time with the record.

The Aquabats!, "Robot Theme Song"

Yup, that's a robot theme song.

Succumb, "Lilim"

Remember the free jazz from yesterday? See what I mean that this is spiritually connected? Obviously this isn't improvised, it's carefully laid out, but there's nevertheless similarities.

Swans, "Love Will Save You"

White Light From The Mouth of Infinity was a controversial record on its release. At this point, Swans fans who loved the crushing early stuff really had to grapple with the notion that that band was gone. This record couldn't be written off as just a mistaken major-label excursion, and the path started on Children of God had led to an album that was often...pretty. It was thus regarded by these folks as proof that the Swans were toast as a vital creative force (this would not remotely be true).

A re-evaluation of the record would show that it's the album where the Swans did learn to harness their ability to write a gorgeous song. It's a necessary element to the third act of the Swans, where they would come roaring back with the best albums of their career, combining that no-wave crushing power with the compositional skill to make incredible albums. But this isn't just a transitional record, it's one that can stand on its own as a beautiful piece of music.

Alas, you can't really get it these days. Michael Gira took the tracks he liked from the albums of this period and put them together onto a single comp, called Various Failures 1988-1992. The title suggests that Gira thinks this period was a bit of a dead end, and he claims he preserved all the important tunes. I think that's doing White Light in particular a disservice, but he probably knows better than me.

Duckwrth, "Super Bounce"

I'm worn out.

Joshua Buergel
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