What are you listening to now? : Non-metal Edition

Underworld - "Dubnobasswithmyheadman" (1994)

Underworld make the incredible transition from a radio-friendly new wave/synth pop outfit into one of the most influential progressive house/techno artists of all time. An incredibly important release for dance music in general which never gets old..

Some of the synth-wave artists my brother and I have been enjoying during my break so far:

Patrick Russell - YouTuber known for his synthwave covers of rock/metal songs.

Dynatron - Danish synthwave music producer since 2012.

Atomic Rooster - Death Walks Behind You (1970)

Since listening to Oranssi Pazuzu yesterday I immediately went on a Hawkwind trip and have found myself on a backward journey regressing into the 70's.  After some Edgar Broughton Band I ended up settling next on some Atomic Rooster for my old school itch.

Wow, that's an oldie, but goodie!!

And yes, OP sound massively like Hawkwing nowadays don't they.

I got turned onto this earlier this week, some real heavy pre-1970 shit:

Drexciya - "The Quest" (1997)

A double compilation album made up of the best work from this second tier Detroit techno/electro legend.

La Monte Young & Marian Zazeela - "31 VII 69 10:26-10:49 PM / 23 VIII 64 2:50:45-3:11 AM [aka The Black Record]" (1969)

This was the first collaborative project for this experimental US husband & wife team & was one that saw them giving birth to the drone genre in the process. "The Black Record" encapsulates two 20+ minute pieces that require patience & the right mind-set to fully understand. Unfortunately the first of them is 23 minutes of the couple making obscure vocal sounds & I find it to be pretty intolerable however the second piece offers a much darker & more industrial atmosphere that really appeals to me. This is music that's best consumed as background noise or a meditative accompaniment rather than being a primary focal point. It's a more interesting listen that it is an enjoyable one to be honest & I'd only recommend you investigate it as an historical reference point.

3/5

Crocheted Donut Ring - "Two Little Ladies (Azalea & Rhododendron) / Nice" single (1967)

A sweet little 7" single that combines The Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" & "Magical Mystery Tour" era psychedelic pop sound with Brian Eno style ambient. It's actually really good & I'm not sure I've heard an earlier example of legitimate ambient music than the B-side "Nice" which is the highlight here.

4/5

Wardruna - Kvitravn (2021)

Playing copious amounts of Assassin's Creed : Valhalla has put me right in the mood for some of Einar Selvik's output from his day job with Lindy-Fay Hella.  I am fucking obsessed with Wardruna.  They are one of the few bands outside of the metal genre than can generate that same menace and emotion despite using very little of the metal methodology in the process.  I could listen to the title track off here all day and not get bored.  My favourite artist right now by some stretch.

4.5/5

One of my all-time favourite proto-metal tracks:

THis band are so much more than Don't Fear the Fuckin' Reaper!!

Juan Atkins - "20 Years 1985-2005" (2005)

A double best-of compilation album from Detroit's true godfather of techno featuring work from many of his various aliases (Cybotron, Model 500, Infiniti, 3MB, Visions). You can expect a fair bit of electro in the earlier material as he developed his sound. Quite a few big dancefloor tracks for me when I was DJing included here too. For fans of Drexciya, Derrick May & Kevin Saunderson. 

Le Orme - Felona E Sorona (1973)

A rediscovery from a few years back when I was on an italian prog rock kick, listening to Osanna, Premiata Forneria Marconi and this. 

Iced Earth founder Jon Schaffer's arrest and being deemed guilty made me remember this alt-rock band my brother and I used to listen to before my "real" metal interest, in which they ended when their lead singer was arrested and sent to prison for nearly 3 decades for some severely obscene crimes. More info in my reply to this thread: https://metal.academy/forum/9/thread/652?page=1&#topic_6477

Robin Trower - Bridge of Sighs (1974)

One of the greatest blues rock albums ever made.  Haunting and ethereal as well as super soothing also.

Pole - "1-3" compilation (2000)

A brilliant box set of the first three studio albums (1998's "CD 1", 1999's "2" & 2000's "3") from German producer Pole. They all sound very similar so this compilation sounds quite fluent. You can expect to hear 139 minutes of very deep & relaxing glitchy ambient dub techno like only the Germans know how.

Orbital - "Halcyon" CD single (1992)

I pulled this old CD single out of a box in my garage for a few spins while driving around town yesterday & really enjoyed it. The epic & incredibly recognisable title track is obviously one of the more iconic electronic dance music tracks ever recorded & will always be the go-to selection for the last track of the night for club DJs all over the world however it's trancy & melodic atmosphere isn't really my thing. The other four tracks are much techier with the deep tribal feel of "The Naked and the Dub" being the clear highlight & a regular feature in my early 2000's DJ sets. I also really like the more dancefloor friendly "Sunday" which got an occasional play from me too.

For fans of Underworld, Leftfield & Astralasia.

Underworld - "Jumbo" single (1999)

Another old CD single I pulled out from my garage for a few spins. This time it's a three track affair featuring the radio edit of the title track along with remixes from Bob Rives/Francois K & Jedi. As usual it's not the progressive house of the original version that really floats my boat as it's a little too melodic for my taste. I prefer the belter of a techno remix from Bob Rives & Francois K which was a regular feature in my club sets in the early 2000's. The broken-beat Jedi mix is also pretty decent & got a little play time from me as well from memory. You really can't go wrong with 90's Underworld though in all honesty.

Perturbator - Lustful Sacraments (2021)

Been really enjoying Perturbator's newest album since it's a decently big style shift for him. Lot of darker, gothic elements that push him farther away from the slightly cheesy 80's Synthwave style that he's so known for. Most of the vocals sound like they could have come directly from a Gothic Metal record, minus some of the enthusiasm. Managed to write a full review linked below. 

Xephyr's Lustful Sacraments Review

Perturbator - Lustful Sacraments (2021)

Been really enjoying Perturbator's newest album since it's a decently big style shift for him. Lot of darker, gothic elements that push him farther away from the slightly cheesy 80's Synthwave style that he's so known for. Most of the vocals sound like they could have come directly from a Gothic Metal record, minus some of the enthusiasm. Managed to write a full review linked below. 

Xephyr's Lustful Sacraments Review

Well well, another Perturbator fan! Definitely one of my favourite non-metal artists. I have to admit I'm finding the new album to be a little hit and miss, but I'll give it time to grow on me. The Uncanny Valley has been a highly regular listen for me for the past 5 years.

Perturbator - Lustful Sacraments (2021)

Been really enjoying Perturbator's newest album since it's a decently big style shift for him. Lot of darker, gothic elements that push him farther away from the slightly cheesy 80's Synthwave style that he's so known for. Most of the vocals sound like they could have come directly from a Gothic Metal record, minus some of the enthusiasm. Managed to write a full review linked below. 

Xephyr's Lustful Sacraments Review

Well well, another Perturbator fan! Definitely one of my favourite non-metal artists. I have to admit I'm finding the new album to be a little hit and miss, but I'll give it time to grow on me. The Uncanny Valley has been a highly regular listen for me for the past 5 years.

Was mad into his stuff for a while but have drifted away in the past few years.  New Model was my preferred spin at the time.

Underworld - "Pearl's Girl" E.P. (1996)

65 minutes of ridiculously great techno & progressive house highlighted by my all-time favourite Underworld track (i.e. the title track) which was a huge one for me as a techno DJ. I have particularly memories of dropping the full version of "Pearl's Girl" as the second track in an early morning set I played at an extremely messy house party in Bondi to a pack of munted punters back in December 2008. I played two different versions of a more techy & understated track from a Japanese producer (whose name escapes me now) on either side of it & extended the mixes in & out using loops for a long period so that it was kinda like a journey all in itself. I also extended the breakdown to amplify the tension & release. I recorded that set & it went on to gain a little bit of a reputation amongst my fanbase as the hardest set I ever played which was a pretty accurate description to be honest. I didn't have much of a choice though as most of the people in attendance were into hard trance.

Alyrah - "The Twin Flame Portal" E.P. (2020)

The latest effort from one of my ex-girlfriends from my late teenage years. It's really fucking good too as she's always been extraordinarily talented. I'd probably describe ithis five-song E.P. as electronic art-pop similar to classic Bjork only with more of a brooding ethereal edge to it.

Porter Ricks - "Nautical Dub / Port Gentil" (1996)

An old single from the German dub techno movement. Repetitive, trance-inducing & hypnotic stuff with an authentic analogue hiss. It definitely works better as background music & should offer plenty of appeal to fans of Gas, Shinichi Atobe & Deepchord.

Orbital - "The Box" single (1996)

I whacked on this ol' ambient techno/IDM single from Kent, England while playing with the kids this afternoon. I used to listen to it with my best mate in the early hours of the morning while winding down after drug-fueled nights out at dirty underground clubs in the early 2000's.

There are 3 other hard rock/alt-metal/post-grunge bands "not metal enough" to be included in this site that my brother and I used to listen to before I started my "real" metal path. Here they are:

Yep, I've admitted that I used to listen to Nickelback, a rock band that can be considered the metal community's "pineapple pizza".