DNA

DNA (Last Live at CBGB's) [1993]
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A live set from CBGB's of the legendary no wave band with members Arto Lindsay, Tim Wright and Ikue Mori. Their approach was to take the already pared-down ethos of punk rock and strip it even further of ornamentation, including the dismantling of the rockish song structure. The tunes are raw, turbulent, disjointed, and short; many end before the listener begins to have a grasp on them. Lindsay's strangled yelp of a voice is dominant here, his words a steady flow of everyday non-sequiturs. Interestingly, given his direction in ensuing years, he is already occasionally referencing the Portuguese of his Brazilian childhood. His studiedly naïve guitar technique is in full flower by this point, sounding like the bastard child of Derek Bailey. Wright and Mori provide what structural spine there is, the former alluding in several instances to Captain Beefheart bassist Rockette Morton, the latter pounding with joyous abandon. Hearing DNA was a cathartic experience for many musicians in the experimental New York scene of the early '80s looking to combine the power of punk with avant-garde and improvisatory elements; album producer John Zorn cited them as an influence in the creation of his Naked City band, for example. While it's impossible to recreate the atmosphere of the time, this disc goes a long way in demonstrating what the excitement was about. Recommended.
Brian Olewnick

Justine

Suite [1990]
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Three years after Wondeur Brass' LP Simoneda, Reine des Esclaves, the four members of this Montreal all-female avant-rock band regrouped as Justine and released (Suite), a very powerful work. The 15 tracks can be reassembled into a handful of "suites" (for example: "Le Monstre"/"Je Suis Exécrable"/"Le Retour du Monstre"; "Nous En Avons"/"Vous en Avez"; "Ça Me Bat le Coeur"/"L'Intelligence du Coeur"). Tracks segue into each other and are loosely related, but the whole album shows stunning cohesion and gains from being listened to in one sitting. Taking their point of departure from the last Wondeur Brass album, Joane Hétu (alto sax), Diane Labrosse (keyboards), Danielle P. Roger (drums), and Marie Trudeau (bass) deliver a very complex and twisted avant-rock opus. Elements of Henry Cow and Étron Fou Leloublan are still obvious, but the band has a very personal sound, taking up a feminine (feminist?) stance on avant-gardist radicalism. Their interest remains in pop music, though: beats and melodies abound, but are constantly diverted, deconstructed and warped, thanks to far-out vocals, detuned synthesizers, and John Zorn-like saxophone solos. Roger's drums and Trudeau's bass hold everything together. Harpist Zeena Parkins and Japanese singer Tenko guest on one track each. More rock and raw than La Légende de la Pluie and Langages Fantastiques, (Suite) might even appeal to progressive rock fans. All lyrics are in French but translated in English in the booklet.
François Couture

Mars

78+ [1986]
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Originally released in the mid-'80s, and then slightly expanded for its late-'90's resurfacing on Atavistic (thus the "+"), 78+ puts together pretty much everything the band did in the late '70s in one form or another. Then again, there's a bit of after-the-fact tweaking, in that J.G. Thirlwell (aka Foetus) did a fair amount of remixing of the tracks, so until a straightforward version of "No New York" resurfaces properly, this will have to do. For all the complaints at the time of the band's supposed unmusicality, the original 7" single that kicks things off, "3-E/11,000 Volts" is actually pretty dang catchy, the former practically inventing bass-led post-punk without trying, while Sumner Crane's nervous vocals slip between the shuddering, deeply strange percussion. That said, there's plenty in the overall clamor and discordant nature of the band's songs that pretty clearly show where any number of bands, not least Sonic Youth, picked up on what the group was doing and then ran with it as desired. The "No New York" tracks themselves are certainly more in the way of textured and strange noise -- Brian Eno was clearly having a great time being a new kind of studio-based producer, at the least, with the metallic wash and murky mix really finding a missing link between the Velvet Underground and the Jesus and Mary Chain's early industrial strength abuse. On the best number, Crane's snaky bass holds down the center of "Helen Forsdale," while China Burg's lead vocals take a nervous, post-Yoko Ono approach. The live tracks are comparatively clearer in comparison, though the band does their best to capture that sense of compressed, dank chaos just as well on stage as in studio -- the extreme drift and float of "Hairwaves" is particularly haunting. As for the new extras that conclude the reissue, "Scorn" is a quick, clanking, overdriven-treble rant of sorts (not a bad thing, really!), while "N. N. End" is pure bass-stab feedback-howl freakout in excelsis.
by Ned Raggett

Diamanda Galas

The Litanies of Satan [1982]
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Thanks for blog 80sMan And Synth Memories

Diamanda Galas' first album, originally issued as a 45rpm 12" on Y Records in 1982 and subsequently reissued on Mute, heralded the appearance of the most viscerally exciting and extreme vocalist to appear on the new music scene in many a year. Her incredible voice and enormous range, from the subtlest whispers to guttural bellows to impassioned shrieks with everything in between, and her huge sense of drama commanded instant attention. The Litanies of Satan consists of two pieces, the title track based on texts of Baudelaire and Wild Women with Steak-Knives listed as being "for solo scream". The latter is actually a series of vignettes with differing vocal characteristics employed for each section, from piercing banshee wails to quiet, whispered invective. The lyrics appear to relate to the ravings of a particularly vicious madwoman and when Galas yells out, "And I am not talkin' about meatballs, I am talkin' about steak!" the cowering listener feels compelled to rush out and deliver her order. On The Litanies of Satan, she employs electronic effects both to enhance certain qualities of her voice (for example, extending its sibilance) and to overlay multiple lines, creating an unearthly choir of demons. Its evocation of life in Hell is both gripping and, most important, without a trace of the maudlin or superficially gothic. Rather, it is one of the most successful vocal/electronic works produced in its time. It's arguable that Galas never surpassed her first effort in either passion or creativity but The Litanies of Satan is certainly the disc to start one's exploration of her career and an amazing document on its own.

Patti Smith

Horses [1975]
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