Plastikman - Consumed (1998)

Plastikman - 01 - Contain by elpretentio2

Deep, hypnotic rolling bass. Repetitive, but that's the point: to get lost in a zone of sorts. Definitely dark as a consequence of the low, heavy sound driving it while a sinister, slow build of a synth rides alongside. I'm not sure if it was intended as a concept album, but it certainly works as one. Each track is a relatively minor variation on what i just described.

Plastikman is otherwise known as Richie Hawtin, a minimal techno pioneer and a mainstay of the Detroit techno scene. Being only vaguely familiar with his other work, i can still say that this is one of his weirder, more conceptual projects. It does what most good albums should do: it takes you to a real and substantial place. This one just happens to be an abyss. File under: meditative, impending doom.

Plastikman will be at Coachella the Sunday of that weekend.

ancient chinese secret - caveat empire

This 1999 album is the only release by Ancient Chinese Secret, a group featuring Chris Dodge and his wife Lydia.  I guess Chris Dodge is the dude from a band called Spazz, a powerviolence band from Menlo Park...?  I admit that I know nothing about powerviolence, basically.  If you are in the same boat, perhaps you would like to read this here little definition:
"Powerviolence (sometimes written as power violence), is a raw, dissonant subgenre of hardcore punk. The style is closely related to thrashcore and grindcore. Musically, powerviolence bands focus on speed, brevity, bizarre timing breakdowns, and constant tempo changes. Powerviolence songs are often very short; it is not uncommon for some to last less than 30 seconds. Some groups, particularly Man Is the Bastard, took influence from sludge metal and noise music. Lyrically and conceptually, powerviolence groups were very raw and underproduced, both sonically and in their packaging. Some groups (Man Is the Bastard and Dropdead) took influence from anarcho-punk and crust punk, emphasizing animal rights and anti-militarism. Groups such as Spazz or Charles Bronson, on the other hand, wrote lyrics mocking points of interest for hardcore and metal fans, or even used inside jokes for lyrics, referencing specific people many of their listeners would not know." - last.fm
Got that?  So basically it's like hardcore punk mixed with math rock and noise.  I usually call this "noise rock" but hey why not go with "powerviolence"?  Anyway I'm pretty sure the name is applied more to a particular scene and time period, rather than a broad genre of music.  I'm getting sidetracked.  The point of all of this is, after Chris Dodge was in a very important and influential powerviolence band (or so I'm told), he recorded this album with his wife.  Although the stripped down bass-and-drum sound and pounding style of drumming live up to Dodge's musical roots, the songs on this album are longer and more "melodic" than you might expect.  I say "melodic" because the melodic element is Lydia Dodge's mostly atonal talk-singing, but the slight nod to melody is still significant.  Rounding out the group's sound are some occasional electronic additions, used sparingly but effectively.  While I think "Caveat Empire" could benefit from a stronger vocal performance, its pretty good noise rock and fans of the genre should dig it.

macabre - sinister slaughter (1993)

RIYL: Pungent Stench, Acid Bath

I was lucky enough to pick up this album on cassette at Amoeba on Saturday, and it was easily the find I was most stoked about.  A death metal concept album about serial killers?  It's so obvious, you know someone had to do it.  Lucky for all of us, the band that took that concept and ran with it is Macabre, and they RULE.  The three hillbilly-type fellas surrounded by murderers in the paean to "Sgt Pepper" above, these guys from Chicago crafted metal that is not only nasty and ugly and worthy of the subject material, but also pretty funny, too.  Each song on "Sinister Slaughter" tells the story of a different killer, and may or may not include: crunchy down-tuned shredding, blast beats, children's sing-song melodies, virtuoso acoustic guitar playing, guttural bellowing AND ridiculously high pitched singing (think Beaker from the Muppets), and in the song above, toy piano playing.  If you like "weird" death metal and have a fucked up sense of humor, get this!!!

best of the 1990's: 1996-1999

so here's part two of my big 90's list. comments are always appreciated!

aphex twin - richard d. james (1996)
I hate it when people refer to robert downey jr as RDJ, because every time I'm like "wtf are you talking about, aphex twin isn't in iron man!! what?!?"

read the rest!

burzum - filosofem (1996)
if "transilvanian hunger" isn't the best black metal album ever, then this definitely is. one or the other

daft punk - homework (1996)
who doesn't love daft punk?

harvey milk - my love is higher than your assessment of what my love could be (1996)
their debut album. these guys have never released a bad album, which is totally insane. one of the best metal bands of all time

lethargy - it's hard to write with a little hand (1996)
awesome pre-mastodon math metal

satyricon - nemesis divina (1996)
"mother north" was the song that convinced me that I liked black metal

built to spill - perfect from now on (1997)
one time I was super pissed-off and depressed and walking to my job that I hated, but I didn't have any metal on my ipod. so I listened to this instead, and it hit me really hard. this album bums me out in the best way.

emperor - anthems to the welkin at dusk (1997)
absurdly bombastic black metal

frederik thordenda's special defects - sol niger within (1997)
meshuggah's guitar player goes solo and goes crazy

mogwai - young team (1997)
this band had a big influence on my musical tastes, and are one of the best live shows i've ever seen

strapping young lad - city (1997)
while later albums would improve on SYL's sound, this is still an awesome weirdo industrial metal album

arab strap - philophobia (1998)
drunken, filthy, and kind of pretty in its own way

at the drive-in - in casino out (1998)
an album I can come back to again and again. my favorite at the drive-in album easily

gorguts - obscura (1998)
incredibly strange and technical death metal

autechre - ep7 (1999)
IDM. much more accessible than a lot of their later work

the black heart procession - 2 (1999)
I don't listen to it much anymore, but this album still has a soft spot for me

chessie - overnight (1999)
instrumental rock about trains. "daylight" used to be a favorite

deerhoof - holdy paws (1999)
although my favorite deerhoof releases didn't come out until the 2000's, this is still a great record

dillinger escape plan - calculating infinity (1999)
intensely complex math metal

kool keith - black elvis/lost in space (1999)
kool keith is a weird and awesome dude

the locust - self-titled (1999)
grindcore/hardcore/screamo. this band kind of blew my mind when I first heard them.

manes - under ein blodraud maane (1999)
psychedelic shoegazing black metal

maudlin of the well - my fruit psychobells a seed combustible (1999)
artsy prog-doom

mf doom - operation doomsday (1999)
it's mf doom! what else needs to be said?

mindless self indulgence - tight (1999)
not even the most embarassing thing I was listening to in 1999

mr. bungle - california (1999)
mike patton and mr. bungle sometimes get too wacky for their own good, but this album has some classics on it, including "goodbye sober day", one of the best album-closers ever

ten in the swear jar - my very private map (1999)
pre-xiu xiu weirdness from the peninsula

best of the 1990's: 1990-1995

Alright, so here is my witty rejoinder to Destroy-the-Scene's massive 90's list. Yet unlike DtS, I am not a sadist, so I have divided my list into two more digestible chunks. ALSO unlike certain other writers here, I know the RULES for making these lists, so only one release per artist, and no releases that were already listed by Sean. Let's do this!

death - spiritual healing (1990)
a classic death metal album

read the rest!

london posse - gangster chronicle (1990)
UK hip hop

nocturnus - the key (1990)
definitely the best death metal about time travel

obituary - cause of death (1990)
death metal. I saw a dude wearing a shirt with this on it, wandering up and down the same block of Mission street, like five times over the course of an hour

atheist - unquestionable presence (1991)
my favorite progressive death metal album!

confessor - condemned (1991)
progressive metal with exceptionally over-the-top vocals

hijack - the horns of jericho (1991)
political UK rap

my bloody valentine - loveless (1991)
one of my favorite albums ever! how did this not make your list, Sean?

pestilence - testimony of the ancients (1991)
dutch progressive death metal

von - satanic blood (1991)
the first american black metal, insanely lo-fi and primitive, from SF

big black - pigpile (1992)
I wouldn't normally count live albums in lists like these, but this was my introduction to big black so it gets a spot

dr. dre - the chronic (1992)
honestly I was kind of torn between this and chronic 2001, but I had to go with the original

ice cube - the predator (1992)
ice cube has a number of classic albums, but only one has "it was a good day" on it

ministry - psalm 69 (1992)
NEVER TRUST A JUNKIE

neurosis - souls at zero (1992)
oakland's heaviest

pungent stench - been caught buttering (1992)
disgusting austrian death metal

r.b.l. posse - a lesson to be learned (1992)
maybe the best SF rap album of all time, even just for "bammer weed"

cynic - focus (1993)
jazzy progressive death metal with bizarro vocoder vocals!!

sleep - sleep's holy mountain (1993)
the best sabbath-worship stoner metal album ever

snoop doggy dogg - doggystyle (1993)
if you don't love this, you have no soul

beastie boys - ill communication (1994)
what can I say, I got fond memories

darkthrone - transilvanian hunger (1994)
the best black metal album ever?!?

method man - tical (1994)
kind of uneven, but you can't really go wrong with any of the first-wave of wu-tang releases

slowdive - souvlaki (1994)
second only to MBV in the world of shoegaze, & one of my favorite albums ever

at the gates - slaughter of the soul (1995)
classic melodic death metal, launched the entire Gothenburg scene

dissection - storm of the light's bane (1995)
one of the best melodic death albums ever

dre dog - i hate you with a passion (1995)
classic bay area rap, incredibly dark and violent

E-40 - in a major way (1995)
more classic bay area rap


meshuggah - destroy erase improve (1995)
one of the best technical death metal bands' excellent debut

ol' dirty bastard - return to the 36 chambers (1995)
RIP

today is the day - willpower (1995)
unhinged trashy rock, before today is the day got way metal