Hans Arp, Raoul Hausmann, Kurt Schwitters - "Dada Antidada Merz" (2005)

When I came across it in Amoeba Records in Los Angeles, this compilation of poetry and spoken word pieces from three major contributors to the Dada movement was an offer I simply could not refuse. Although it was far more sparse than I had originally envisioned, I found myself entranced by their warped, brain-twisting take on verbal delivery and the recording medium itself. While I don't speak German or French, the two 'real' languages most often featured/referenced here, that didn't much detract from my experience of the works, which are focused as much on tonality and off-kilter timing as the semantic content to which they apparently correspond. To the these linguistically-naive ears, the result is like some kind of vocal free-jazz, a challenging and intruiging document of some incredibly challenging and intruiging 'artists.' Honestly, written description isn't going to do it here; you just gotta go with it.

Buy it

download here

Electric Wizard - Come My Fanatics... (1996)

The album that took doom metal out of the caverns and into the stratosphere, Electric Wizard's Come My Fanatics is an absolute shit-storm, rumbling through one's bones with enough force in a single riff to induce multiple unplanned trips to the bathroom. If you thought you'd heard an overdriven bass guitar before coming across this album, think again; EW draw from subsonic influences including supernovae, continental drift, and the tortured cries of the imprisoned god Loki to produce a toxic rumble so heavy it will move your subwoofer several feet across the floor. Fusing impossibly fat, smoked-out blues with a Satanic take on the kosmiche style pioneered by bands such as Amon Düül II and Can, Electric Wizard occupy a metalliverse all their own, often copied but never equaled.

For more E-Wiz, including 2000's excellent Dopethrone, check out Anthem of the Space's collection here

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allmusic

Buy it

Try it

Devo - Hardcore Devo Vols. 1 and 2 + Be Stiff EP (1974-77; 1978)

Long before those silly hats and that oh-so-whacky video for 'Whip It,' Devo were one of the most exciting - and bizarre - bands to come out of the first wave of U.S. punk. Comin' straight outta Akron, Ohio to upset freaks and squares alike with their strange combination of 60s sci-fi fetishism and pseudo-corporate advertising, Devo laid down a form of bizarro agit-pop so loaded with irony that it was impossible to tell where the jokes ended and the real message began. While their debut LP "Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!" has been rightfully recognized as an absolute classic, their pre-Warner Bros. material has been more or less neglected by critics, giving the false impression that these Devo boys were some kind of avant-tard flash in the pan whose decent into the banalities of New Wave represent some lack of creative stamina. It is in the name of changing such perceptions that BURNING MINDS presents the entirety of Devo's independent catalog, represented by the two Hardcore Devo 1974-77 volumes and the Be Stiff EP originally released on the band's own Booji Boy label. Most of the songs here consist of 4-track demos, but even in their unpolished form these are some of the coolest, most whacked-out tracks this side of Don Van Vliet (an obvious influence in attitude if not in pure sound). Whether you're an old Devo-tee or a total stranger to the terrifying truths of Devolution, do yourself a favor and grab these yams while they're hot; monkeys might never look the same again.

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Buy Vol. 1 + Vol. 2

Download here and here (or get everything here)

edit: in getting higher-bitrate version of these albums, I lost some versions of songs that I much preferred. Get the superior cut of "Social Fools" here.

Boris and Sunn O))) - Altar: Complete Edition (2006)

A collaboration to end all heaviness, 2006's Altar sees the wedding of two of metal's most hallowed names, American drone/doomers Sunn O))) (for the uninitiated, yes, it's just pronounced 'Sun') and Japanese sludge psychos Boris (who awesomely derive their own name from a song off the Melvins' 1991 album Bullhead). Another exploration in the pseudo-genre of 'power ambient' neologized by Sunn-sters Greg Anderson and Stephen O'Malley, the set here merges the former band's moody doomscapes with the latter's awesome sense of tonality and texture to produce some of the prettiest and most trying heavy music you're ever likely to come across. The 'complete edition' I've put together here includes every track from the Southern Lord and Inoxia Records versions for a whopping nine songs clocking in at over 90 minutes. A record to be listened to at high volumes and in low light.

allmusic

Awesome photos from a live performance of Altar

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Buy here (direct from Southern Lord)

D/l link here

Azul - Blue Demo (2002?)

A BURNING MINDS exclusive, this 5-track demo EP was cut by some friends of mine from high school in the early 2000s. Centered around some absolutely insane sax and guitar interplay, Azul lay down some of the best and hardest jazz/psych I've ever heard, all the more impressive if you consider that most of this material was written when they were 16, and their sound on this recording is full and hearty. Hands-down one of my favorite live acts, Azul went their separate ways after school, occassionally playing reunion shows in their native North Hollywood and the surrounding S.F. Valley. Lead singer and axe-slinger Brandon Intelligator now plays guitar in an NYC indie band called The Restless.

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get it here

Pearls Before Swine - One Nation Underground (1967) + Balaklava (1968)

A tragically underlooked talent that is only now beginning to receive the renown he/they deserve, Tom Rapp and his Pearls Before Swine emerged from the oversaturated 60's folk-rock scene with a strangely timeless surrealist sound unlike any of their contemporaries. Rapp's echo-drenched lisp winds bittersweetly through a maze of styles and tempos here, from old-timey pieces ('Guardian Angel', see below) and faux-raga ('I Shall Not Care') to rousing garage/folk ('Uncle John'), and the moods achieved across these albums are simply too numerous to count. Located somewhere in the same sonic universe as 'Highway 61'-era Dylan and the 13th Floor Elevators, Pearls Before Swine are simply one-of-a-kind, the work of a bona fide rock'n'roll genius (I am tempted to say 'auteur') and a high watermark in the acid-folk tradition. On a personal note, these two albums - which represent the band's work on independent labels - were among the few I had with me on my journeys in India last fall, earning them an especially special place in my rainbow-colored heart.

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get them here

The Trees Community - The Christ Tree Box Set (1975; reissued 2007)

One of the more unique musical statements you're likely to hear in this lifetime, The Christ Tree box is a retrospective collection of Christian acid-folk troubadours The Trees Community, a wandering band of Jesus People who composed haunting, lushen reinterpretations of classic and contemporary hymnals. With more than 80 instruments played by only seven members, The Trees Community explore a compelling space between religious and psychedelic consciousness, mixing hippie communitarianism with Christian agape to produce a powerful alternative to contemporary fundamentalisms. My own discomfort with devotional music aside, this collection ranks among the finest psych-folk I've come across, its lyrical tone serving as icing on an already freaky cake. Check out 'Psalm 42' below, guaranteed to soothe even the most Satanic beast within.

excellent allmusic review

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downloads: disc one - disc two - disc three - disc four