Laurie Anderson’s first album in 10 years, the mesmerizing and politically-charged Homeland has been owning my ipod for the past few days. Once again, the electronic music visionary, who reached beyond the avant-garde and into the mainstream with 1980’s Big Science, has created a tour-de-force of modern language, bold social commentary and enigmatic, brooding soundscapes (with the help of some friends like John Zorn and Four Tet). This is a record for NOW and it is as thrilling as it is terrifying.

Watch as Anderson, engineer Mario McNulty and co-producer/husband Lou Reed discuss the album (excerpt from the album’s companion DVD):

Preview the record and purchase it from Nonesuch Records. Also be sure to catch the legendary artist on tour this summer.

Somewhere between genius and madness, between Alice Cooper and Freedom Rock, lies Psychedelic music pioneer Roky Erickson’s 1981 album The Evil One.

The release, consisting of two overlapping albums and often referred to as The Evil One or I Think of Demons, is a horror-rock opus. On first listen and without prior knowledge of the man’s life, one might think that the campy imagery within the lyrics is simply that of fantasy. However, the truth is far more disturbing:

In 1968, while doing a stint at HemisFair, Erickson started speaking nonsense. He was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and sent to a Houston psychiatric hospital, where he involuntarily received electroconvulsive therapy.

The Elevators were vocal proponents of LSD, mescaline (peyote), DMT and marijuana use, and were subject to extra attention from police. In 1969, Erickson was arrested for possession of one marijuana joint in Austin. Facing a ten-year prison term, Erickson pled not guilty by reason of insanity. He was first sent to the Austin State Hospital. After several escapes, he was sent to the Rusk State Hospital for the Criminally Insane, where he was subjected to more electroconvulsive therapy and Thorazine treatments, ultimately remaining in custody until 1972. (via Wikipedia)

Roky Erickson and the Aliens – “I Think of Demons”

.

More after the jump…

Listening to Roky’s haunting vocals on album tracks like this one and others such as “I Walked With A Zombie” and “Night of the Vampire”, within the context of his personal psychosis, makes everything that much more spooky.

Personally, after watching the 2005 documentary You’re Gonna Miss Me, I feel as though it was his time spent institutionalized and given involuntary electro-shock treatment that actually led to his insanity, rather than his acid indulgence. Maybe it was both? Who knows? Nevertheless his schizophrenic behavior worsened over the years and just after this album’s release Roky claimed “that a Martian had inhabited his body” and that “aliens were coming to Earth to harm him, asking a Notary Public to witness an official declaration that he was himself an alien, hoping that this would convince the aliens to leave him alone.”

Depite all of his mental issues, there is a lot to be said for Roky’s other work. The music of The 13th Floor Elevators is awe-inspiring and his latest album with Okkervil River (his first in 15 years) is a beautiful redemption, but nothing that I have heard is as powerful as The Evil One. It’s a truly stunning and classic collection of entertaining songs that act as a window into a darkened mind, one that hears frightening voices so we don’t have to.

The album is out of print, but you can find it floating around online of from these sellers.

Unlike it’s predecessor, C81, only a couple of the bands on C86 (Primal Scream, Wedding Present, Pastels) went on to make somewhat of a name for themselves beyond the British underground. But that, as I am sure you have already guessed, wasn’t the point. The daring quality of the music and the DIY spirit (it sounds like crap, so you know it’s made by real people!) was what mattered. The songs on the tape, which I recently found online, vary in style from punk to jangle-pop to off-kilter funk to slowcore. Through the years, bands that were inspired by the sounds featured on the original cassette, were labeled as “C86.”

So is it any good? Well, from the 22 song collection, I have pulled some highlights which you can download below. It’s a fun listen and definitely cool to hear where bands like The Stone Roses, Slowdive, Manic Street Preachers, and Arctic Monkeys came from…as well as some from the current crop of Lo-Fi bands. It’s also neat to see where Velocity Girl took their name…

The cassette isn’t for sale anywhere as far as I can tell, but I’m sure you can find it floating around online like I did. For more info, check out this article and this article. Also visit the modern day home of all things C86, Indie-MP3.

Primal Scream – Velocity GirlDownload audio file (742mp3_01_velocity_girl.mp3)

Soup Dragons – Pleasantly SurprisedDownload audio file (743mp3_03_pleasantly_surpri.mp3)

The Pstels – Breaking LinesDownload audio file (744mp3_10_breaking_lines.mp3)

Bogshed – Run to the TempleDownload audio file (745mp3_08_run_to_the_temple.mp3)

Shop Assistants – It’s Up To YouDownload audio file (746mp3_12_its_up_to_you.mp3)

Half Man Half Biscuit – I Hate Nerys Hughes (From The Heart)Download audio file (747mp3_15_i_hate_nerys_hugh.mp3)

Stump – BuffaloDownload audio file (748mp3_07_buffalo.mp3)