Anyway, to keep the sanity (MOSTLY) on some otherwise grueling days, we play music. Mike prefers to listen to full albums, start to finish, just as the artists and producers intended. I’ve always been a “mix tape” type of guy, personally, so Mike’s philosophy has taken some getting used to, but I DEFINITELY see the advantage in giving the whole disc a spin now instead of picking tracks here and there. When you jump around, you just might miss stuff.
Because music is so important to us (and as an excuse to share some great tunes) we’ve decided to post our playlists from “The Shop” with notes and anecdotes where appropriate. (Maybe this ain’t your thing. I not, feel free to skip on by.) Without further ado (or adon’t), here’s our most recently played tunes:
25 July 2016
---300,000 V. K. – ALSO SPRACH JOHANN PAUL II [1998] [Mike’s Pick]
(Mike) I have been a fan of Laibach ever since I first became aware of them in the late 80s. I had a strange reaction at first. Their use of symbols seemed to me (at the time) to be inspired by the Germany of the 30s-40s. And that didn't sit well with me. Their music carried me through, and now they are one of my favorite Industrial bands. I bought this c.d. because it was noted as being Laibach even though they called themselves 300,000 V. K. At points it sounds just like a hard ravin' techno piece, but it has great depth, especially at higher volume, and has a sinister and dark edge.
---Electric Light Orchestra – TIME [1981] [Rick’s Pick]
(Rick) Mike introduced me to this album, although to be fair, I did already know “Your Truly, 2095” which is the best song on here, in my opinion. For those of you who are thinking this is just a disco album, NO! It’s got some spacey, disco elements, but it’s also a solid, science-fiction concept album, which runs from rock to psychedelic to lounge to surf and back again---exceptionally well produced, fun, varied, and entertaining. I’ve listened to it a ton over the last few months, and it gets better with every listen.
(Mike) The first time I heard this album was in a high school friend's car. (We were in H.S. at the time.) I think the year was 1982-83. I have always loved sci-fi, and the Twilight Zone, so when I heard the "Prologue-Yours Truly 2099" I was hooked! Love the rest of the album too. I still list it as one of my top 10 albums of all time. It was some staple music that we used for a background to our expansive role playing game. I could go on about it, but I will stop here.
---Enigma – THE SCREEN BEHIND THE MIRROR [1999] [Mike Pick]
(Mike) An ethereal electronic album with some heavy sampling of "Carmina Burana". I hadn't listened to it in years until I brought it to the BARN on my I-Pod. It's very good, and great as a moody beat laden soundtrack for screen printing.
---Pop Will Eat Itself – BOX FRENZY [1987] [Rick Pick]
(Rick) Before coming to the shop, I was most familiar with the 1989 THIS IS THE DAY album by Pop Will Eat Itself, although I loved that one, so it shouldn’t have come as too much of a surprise that I ended up loving this one as well. It’s got a much more indie rock/punk feel than the later album, for sure, and there are a few goofy, puerile, boarder-line raunchy songs on here (such as “Beaver Patrol” and “Inside You”) but after a few listens even these are pretty hum-along-able. It’s fun and funny, has tons of samples that are a hoot to try to identify, and it includes a wacky cover of Sigue Sigue Sputnik’s “Love Missile F1-11.” Great stuff!
---Adam Ant – VIVE LE ROCK [1985] [Rick Pick]
(Rick) I grew up on Adam Ant. I still love Adam Ant. If ever I am down, there’s always Adam Ant.
---Meat Beat Manifesto – ARMED AUDIO WARFARE [1990] [Rick Pick]
(Rick) Such a great album: dance inducing, percussion heavy, funky, scary, noisy. Just excellent. Is it techno or electronic dance music or hip hop or industrial or collage/found sound??? Probably.
(Mike) Well, this was not my first Meat Beat manifesto album. When I listened to it, I could tell that it was older, but still very creative and more ready to experiment. Such wide variations in sound from straight up "Noise" to funky E.B.M. sample-fests. Definitely an album to get your feet moving, and if it doesn't, you might just be in a coma.
---Front Line Assembly – AIRMECH [2012] [Mike Pick]
(Mike) All I know about this album is it was a soundtrack for a video game. I was very pleased upon listening to it. Very electronic, and by that I mean, not very "Industrial". Bill Leeb (I.M.H.O.) is one of those people that hasn't let himself get pigeonholed into any one particular sound.
---ABC – THE LEXICON OF LOVE [1982]
(Rick) Yeah, I’m a “waver.” (That’s what the kids in high school used to call me because of my funny hair.) New wave is my thing, followed oh-so-closely by techno. ABC are about as mainstream of a new wave band as you can get, but that’s okay. They’re still great. Interestingly, I only ever owned a hits CD by this band, but Mike’s got the full album. Turns out, it’s as good as the singles! I play this one a lot.
(Mike) I have been seriously in love with this album ever since I heard it when I bought it on cassette tape back in 1983? A theme album of sorts, it has some great songs on it, and I cannot help but sing along.
26 July 2016
---The Neon Judgement – ARE YOU REAL [1991] [Rick Pick]
(Rick) As a fan of late 80s / early 90s acid-house and British techno-pop (like Happy Mondays and Adamski and Candy Flip and Baby Ford) I was extremely surprised to hear this CD. The Neon Judgement that I knew was more dark and EBM-like, but this is down-right fun. (Not that “Fashion Party” isn’t fun---it is---but it’s DARK…)
---Gary Numan / Tubeway Army – REPLICAS [1979] + THE PLAN [1984] (Two pack) [Rick Pick]
(Rick) Numan… I’ve been a fan since I was 13 or 14 years old, back when my dad handed me a copy of THE PLEASURE PRINCIPLE on cassette. Since then, I’ve picked up anything that Numan has touched, although he’s touched about 38,000 things, and I’ve only picked up about 12 of them. Mike has more. MUCH MUCH more… REPLICAS is brilliant. Haunting, spacey, strange, alien, and futuristic---in a very old, retro sort of way. THE PLAN is from Numan’s punk days, and it’s also good, but with less synth and more geee-tar. There are still some real gems on this album, though.
(Mike) Don't even get me started on Gary Numan.
---Gary Numan – THE PLEASURE PRINCIPLE [1979] [Rick Pick]
(Mike) I said, don't get me started on Numan. ;)
(Rick) One of my top three favorite albums of all time. Untouchable.
---DEFINING TECH (Compilation) [2002] [Mike Pick]
(Rick) I love this one, too! Wish that Electro-Clash would have lasted longer, but it was a fun two weeks!
(Mike) Now that I think about it, what I might REALLY like about it is the fact that it is named "Defining Tech", yet no-where does it call itself "ElectroClash". So, maybe it wasn't trying to "define" anything, aside from exhibiting some of the newest (at the time) techno/electro/dance music.
---Intermix – INTERMIX [1992] [Mutual Pick]
---Intermix – PHAZE TWO [1992] [Mike Pick]
---Intermix – FUTURE PRIMITIVES [1995] [Mike Pick]
(Mike) All three albums are great, and all three are different. The most different one, "FUTURE PRIMATIVES," being somewhere between electro/ambient/world and featuring quite a few "real world" samples. Sounds of jungles, thunder, birds, and voices. Still totally danceable.
27 July 2016
---Devo – SOMETHING FOR EVERYBODY [2010] [Rick Pick]
(Rick) Devo is another band that I’ve loved since I was a kid. I think my mom bought us FREEDOM OF CHOICE on cassette when I was about 11! This album, though, is newish Devo, and believe it or not, it’s fantastic. It’s fun and punchy and ironic, just like old Devo. Again, I’d only heard one song from this album before coming to the shop (“Cameo”), but thanks to Mike’s “play the whole CD” philosophy, I’ve come to enjoy almost every cut.
---Devo – EZ LISTENING [original version was 1981, but I think this version is later…] [Rick Pick]
(Rick) I probably would have hated this when it first came out, but now I love it. It’s weird and funny and almost uncomfortable at times---but it NEEDS to be!
---Der Dritte Raum – WELLENBAD [1996] [Mike Pick]
(Mike) Very techno/trance, yet with an edge enough to stand out. Kind of like a dark Kraftwerk.
---Naked Eyes – BURNING BRIDGES [1983] [Rick Pick]
(Rick) This is another new wave album that I know because of my dad. He handed me this cassette when I was a youngster, and I listened to it for years, then eventually bought it on CD and continue to listen to it to this day. Everyone knows “Promises, Promises” and “Always Something There to Remind Me” and they’re good, but the rest of the disc is also fun, rock-influenced synth-pop. Enjoyable, if you’re into that kind of thing!
(Mike) Well, one of the first cassette tapes I had ever owned, I loved it and played the crap out of it. It seems a little "Soft" and I think people may be surprised that I love it so. It was a very monumental album at that point in my life, and along with E.L.O.'S "TIME", putting it on and hitting play is almost like taking a time machine back to the early 80s.
---Front 242 – OFFICIAL VERSION [1987] [Mike Pick]
(Rick) Another one of my favorite albums of all time. Perfect electro/industrial/EBM/dance…or whatever. However it’s labeled, it’s excellent.
(Mike) I think it was the second FRONT 242 album I ever bought. The first being "Back Catalogue". And when I listened to it, I could tell that it was newer, and their sound had solidified. Definitely a great E.B.M. heavy dance album, chock full of great samples! Can't sit still while this one is on. Screen printing productivity goes up...way up.
---Front 242 – MIXED BY FEAR [1991] [Mike Pick]
(Rick) This is an E.P. based around one of the songs from TYRANNY >FOR YOU<. Dance!
---Severed Heads – GIGAPLUS (GIGAPUS plus HEART OF THE PARTY) [2001 reissue] [Rick Pick]
(Rick) I love Severed Heads, but only owned BULKHEAD (a singles collection) on cassette, so my exposure was limited. Now, thanks to Mike’s extensive collection AND the concert we caught up in Seattle a few months ago, I am MUCH more familiar with the Heads. Excellent, weird, danceable, and complex. I’m almost certain that these people are actually artists who choose to create their collages in audio form (and make people dance to them!) (Mike? You got stuff to add???)
(Mike) Don't get me started on SEVERED HEADS. ;)
And that’s three day’s worth of music from The B.A.R.N. What have YOU been listening to lately? (And what can you say about it that might make me want to listen to it, too???)
---Richard F. Yates & Michael King
P.S.: Here’s a skeletal update finishing out this week’s music from the shop. No time (or energy) for descriptions, though.
28 July 2016
---A Flock of Seagulls – LISTEN [1983] [Rick Pick]
---Fluke – RISOTTO [1997] [Rick Pick]
---Freaky Chakra – BLACKLIGHT FANTASY [1998] [Rick Pick]
---Digital Bloodline – THE EMERGENCE [2012] [Rick Pick]
---The Neon Judgement – HORNY AS HELL [1987] [Rick Pick]
---Vomito Negro – THE NEW DRUG [1991] [Mike Pick]
---Delerium – EUPHORIA (Single) [1997] [Rick Pick]
29 July 2016
---URBAL BEATS 2 (Compilation) [1998] [Mike Pick]
---Photek – MODUS OPERANDI [1997] [Mike Pick]
---VNV Nation – MATTER + FORM [2005] [Mutual Pick]
---Wang Chung – POINTS ON THE CURVE [1983] [Rick Pick]
---Rick Ocasek – BEATITUDE [1982] [Mike Pick]
---The Cars – CANDY-O [1979] [Rick Pick]
---The Cars – THE CARS [1978] [Rick Pick]
---Adam F – COLOURS [1997] [Rick Pick]
