Reading is FUNdamental!

(via TWBE)

Damn, this looks amazing. If only I was born 15 years earlier…

Mac Campbell of Dangerous Minds writes:

Killing Joke was not a band you watched, it was a band you became a part of. The zone between artist and audience was decimated in one pounding, unrelenting surge of energy and mantric mayhem. The apocalypse and resurrection in one blow to the head. Post-punk mindfuckers AND proto-industrial metal pioneers, Killing Joke approach music like alchemy: it isn’t worth a shit if it doesn’t change something. This video footage of Killing Joke performing at Philly’s legendary punk venue the East Side Club in 1981 is history, plain and simple. Not even the crude technology thru which these signals were recorded could constrain the majikal metal/flesh urgency of KJ.

Crash Course in Science was a Philly band formed in 1979 by art school classmates Dale Feliciello, Mallory Yago and Michael Zodorozny. After releasing a few experimental electronic 7″s through Rough Trade in the UK, the band shifted into full-on synth-pop mode in 1981 with the release of Signals From Pier Thirteen, which has been regarded as “influential to the techno industrial genres and an early inception of what is now known as the ‘electro’ sound. This record is still highly sought after by collectors and fans today.”

“Flying Turns”, which you can stream below, was recently included on the Minimal Wave Tapes Vol. 1 compilation.

Crash Course in Science – “Flying Turns” (1981)

Also, check out this video they made in 1981 for the single “Cardboard Lamb”, which features the band hanging around Philly doing New Wave-y, artsy stuff:

Neu!, the 70s/’80s German duo made up of former Kraftwerk members Klaus Dinger (deceased) and Michael Rother, made proto-punk, proto-trance music for a mechanical, yet gritty utopia. Their 3 albums – Neu!, Neu! 2 and Neu! ‘75 gave birth to the hypnotic “motorik beat” (a simple, repetitive groove that Brian Eno once referred to as one of the most important rhythms of the 20th century.) and influenced countless numbers of indie and electronic musicians.

Their unreleased (officially anyway) 4th album Neu! ‘86, which was plagued by internal politics, is now seeing the light of day thanks to a new, comprehensive Neu! vinyl boxset. Have a listen to one of the album’s more stunning tracks on Pitchfork’s site:

{Stream} Neu! – “Crazy”

More info about the Neu! Mega-Boxset can be found here. And if that’s not awesome enough, you can catch Rother and friends (Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth, Benjamin Curtis of School of Seven Bells and Aaron Mullan of Tall Firs)performing Neu! songs live this summer on a very short tour that includes Philly on 8/8! Check out the dates (including Philly) after the jump.

READ MORE

What would Jim Morrison say?

Find out more about Italy’s The Stupid Set on 7″ From the Underground.

Start your weekend off right with this video clip from ’80s Detroit dance show “The Scene“, featuring songs from Changing Of The Guard, Master C&J, Santos and Freestyle with their classic “It’s Automatic“. You just died and went to rollerskating heaven.

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…

READ MORE

In 1982 German producer Anthony Monn laid down a spacey, disco beat and asked the world “Who Built The Pyramids?” Then someone yelled back “Who gives a shit?!” An awesome song, nonetheless…

{MP3} The Tony Monn Concept – “Who Built The Pyramids?”

Awhile back, when digging around for some Laurie Anderson videos, I stumbled upon this new-wave weirdness by XYNN, one of the early pioneers of music videos. Awesome!

I included the track in my recent mix as well, which you can grab HERE.

Some Yugoslavian minimal synth shit coming at ya, courtesy of the Cold Waves tumblr. The girl in the video is super hot, but is also super into heroin. Don’t judge!

The queen of No Wave, Lydia Lunch, was/is a TRUE badass. Watch as she discusses her thoughts on making money, entertainment and FILTH in 2 on air interviews from back in ‘83. And if you are looking to learn more about the No Wave scene, check out the great documentary Kill Your Idols.

(via DM)

This is a fantastic synth-punk tune from a very little know band. Land of Giants (presumably named after the American Sci-fi TV show) were a Canadian outfit who released just this one single in 1982. Blood-boiling synths and sexy, paranoid female vocals. Who could ask for more?

{MP3} Land of Giants – “Cannibal Dolls”

The band recorded a bunch of demos throughout the first half of the ’80s, which have finally been released after a ton of requests. You can grab that collection here.