Maher Shalal Hash Baz - L'autre Cap (2007)

While this is hardly anything new or surprising, I do love Maher Shalal Hash Baz. Japanese musician who, if I remember correctly, isn't really trained and works with musicians largely of the same 'unprofessional' ilk. Nonetheless, it makes for some great lo-fi experimental pop music. L'autre Cap is really just my favorite of his albums at the moment, but that changes pretty regularly so all of them are recommended listening to be sure. It is long and has several versions of tracks, don't worry about it, just get some beer in you as I've done and let the absurdly beautiful sounds flow into your ears. Lots of starts and starts the seem out of place, changes of tempo or a lack of tempo altogether, less than harmonic singing, so on and so forth. Really the key to enjoying Maher Shalal Hash Baz is paying attention to the subtleties timing between chaotic and rhythmic sections.

To be had here:
Maher Shalal Hash Baz - L'autre Cap [192 VBR kbps]

The Shaggs - Philosophy of the World (1969)

It is getting late but I wanted to get something up for today. The best thing I could summon is a band I fond re-listen to every several weeks and love to show to friends if I can get them in a situation where they are forced to hear me ramble about music near my computer (my pal Bebop had to suffer the treatment this week). The Shaggs were a real outsider band at one point, though as time has passed they're far less obscure among music nerds and indie kids. Composed of three sister, eventually four, of the Wiggins family from New Hampshire shepherded into music by their father, the Shaggs created some real weird shit. Before they days of the punk ethos of DYI, the girls' dad "encouraged" them to make band and then record an album called Philosophy of the World without any knowledge of songwriting. This album had only an 100 copies ever come to light, though supposedly a thousand were pressed. Now, this music wasn't just misunderstood. For the time it was genuinely ridiculous in the most sincere sense of the word. These girls didn't know how to play their instruments let alone have the wherewithal for rhythm or structure. They don't even sing in harmony well. But this is the appeal of the Shaggs. They're not something that would have happened normally, and it has really made some folks scratch at their heads over the years. How did these sisters forced to make music by a strange father make something so innately enjoyable? The curious and anomalous nature of the sound this untrained group worth hearing for yourself as it as inspired many avant-garde, eccentric and experimental musicians.

To be had here:
The Shaggs - Philosophy of the World [192 kbps]

Tandoori Knights - Curry Up It's the Tandoori Knights (2010)

It took me a minute to track this album down but luckily Teenage Lobotomy had it up on their best of 2010. Tandoori Knights is the latest of King Khan's musical venture, this time teaming up with another Canadian rockabilly musician, Bloodshot Bill. Working together each of them maintain their stripped down sound and theatrical style. Notably more absurd than The King Khan and BBQ Show or Bloodshot's solo work, but a pretty unique idea. For those unfamiliar with King Khan's biography, he is a Canadian of South Asian descent and has spent a good deal of time in Germany. The cultural crossing might have encouraged him in conceiving an Indian themed garage rock/rockabilly band. The played up accent that is employed at times jives remarkably well with the rockabilly delivery. Highly pleasurable if not taken seriously, but what is for reals is how well these guys know how to compose simple garage rock tunes. In the absence of a new King Khan and BBQ Show album, this is pretty fine.

To be had here:
Tandoori Knights - Curry Up It's the Tandoori Knights [224 VBR kbps]

Harmaa Getto - Suomimorsiamen pyhä tie (2009)

This shit is damned spooky. Harmaa Getto is a Finnish electronic rock and hip hop band that features the recently shared musician Joose Keskitalo. I ran across this band when I found his music but put off downloading and listening to it for a bit as I didn't really know what to make of the idea Finnish hip hop. Truth be told, listening to it doesn't really make it any easier to figure out. However, if you're willing to suspend that feeling that something is wildly out of place with the general conceit of this project, you may find it quite enjoyable. There have been crazy mash-upped and blended styles in the past that have done remarkably well like Matisyahu's Jewish reggae/hip hop. I should note that music is pretty disincentive from any references I might make. It really needs to be heard to even being to understand, and the massive eccentricity from song to song makes it even harder to get a bead on. I think Harmaa Getto falls somewhere between novelty and innovation, but certainly the uniqueness alone was enough to provoke my interest

To be had here:
Harmaa Getto - Suomimorsiamen pyhä tie [192 VBR kbps]

Wetdog - Frauhaus! (2009)

This is another band that was wisely (as wise as an algorithm can be) by last.fm. Anyhow, I suppose if it works that is why I keep using the site. While being another all female comprised band, I think that is a minor note but the one that lead me to them probably, through Frankie Rose and the Outs and Trash Kit most likely. They do bear a certain resemblance to both of those groups, but aren't quite the same as either. In fact a band that Wetdog reminds me more of is They Shoot Horses Don't They. The strange, intermittent beats and the slightly distorted, chanting vocals are quite eccentric indeed. At times Frauhaus! summons images of a haunted carnival or a wildly bizarre like that. They make post-punk leaves me not only stracthing my head but thoroughly enthralled.

To be had here:
Wetdog - Frauhaus! [192 VBR kbps]

Paully Moonbeam - Free From (2001)

Couple of weeks ago I asked some friends for recommendations as to what to post as I was feeling especially listless. One of them got a CD from his car of a local musician named Paully Moonbeam, which the mention of incited the laughter of others. They promised me that he wouldn't mind that I posted it, and I just listened to it a felt compelled to do just that. Less of a synthesized idea, the album's title gives a hint that Mr. Moonbeam is making an collection of songs that defy genre more than anything. Free From is an absurdist romp that includes charming instrumental ditties, sketch-like spoken word over music, and all sorts of bizarre. The strangeness of this anti-genre album might cause one to over look that it is a genuinely well done album with some rather catchy songs, including a maddeningly good cover of Dead or Alive's "You Spin Me Round."

Couldn't find the album art, oh well.

To be had here:
Paully Moonbeam - Free Form [320 kbps]