Spooky - Found Sound (1996)

Well, this band isn't so "uncelebrated" since that song aired on MTV, and their first album seems to be a classic of the progressive house style. But I couldn't find many reviews of Spooky's second album Found Sound, and even less download links, so I guess it has its place here. I can't really put a name on their music, so I will just say idm/electronica, because it is experimental electronic music from the 90s, and it is not meant to be dance music. Actually it is way more experimental than their famous first album Gargantuan (also a very good album), and bears the distinct characteristic of having many "metallic" sounds. As I heard another blogger says it before, this album is "a cross between industrial dance and a plumber at work".

Band : Spooky

Album : Found Sound

Country : UK

Year : 1996

Discogs

MP3 (CBR 320) : MediaFire

Various - Who? What? Why? When? Where? (1984)

This time, instead of some band's album, I present a compilation album. Who? What? Why? When? Where? was the 4th LP released on Mortarhate, the famous anarcho-punk label founded by the members of Conflict. A few classic anarcho-punk bands are present on this compilation : Conflict (of course), Anthrax (the UK one), Icons Of Filth,... But there are also and foremost many good but obscure bands of the era, and they don't play only anarcho-punk, some of them deviate toward post punk and other realms. For instance, Vex reminds me of early Killing Joke, while Know The Drill sounds like U2 "I Will Follow" or Skeletal Family "Promised Land", and Toxic Shock is just plain weird with its saxophone and female vocals. The full tracklist is available on Discogs. So what is interesting with this compilation in my opinion is the diversity of the music it offers.

Compilation : Who? What? Why? When? Where?

Country : UK

Year : 1984

Discogs

MP3 (CBR 320) : MediaFire

Wildplanet - Blueprint (1993)

Blueprint by Wildplanet was the 11th full-length album released by the famous Warp Records label. Since many early Warp releases are now considered to be seminal material in the development of the idm/electronica sound, it is surprising that this particular album from 1993 isn't more well known. Well, it is probably because the music of Wildplanet bears little resemblance to the likes of Aphex Twin and Autechre, being instead classic acid techno, a bit generic to be honest, but still quite good if you like the style. It is the same for many of early Warp releases that are house/techno instead of idm/electronica : while everybody knows about Aphex Twin, only few people heard of Tuff Little Unit, Eternal, Tricky Disco, Kid Unknown, and so on, although some of these were interesting.

Band : Wildplanet

Album : Blueprint

Country : UK

Year : 1993

Discogs

MP3 (CBR 320) : MediaFire

Lack Of Knowledge - The Grey CD (1984)

Lack Of Knowledge was a mid 80s post punk band which remained largely unknown for most of their career. As a band, it is sort of a UFO because aesthetically, all the usual anarcho-punk clichés are there : lyrics dealing with anti-war thematics and environmentalism, a "no compromise" attitude, DIY ethic, and they even released a 7" on Crass Records. But when you listen to their music, instead of punk agression in the vein of bands like Crass or Conflict, you are actually welcomed with dark, eerie, melodic post punk goth music reminiscent of Joy Division and UK Decay. And it is quite good, actually their 7" contains some of my favorite songs in the genre. In a sense, this band reminds me of early Chumbawamba, not because of the music of course, but because of the sheer contrast between their aesthetic and their music.

This post on another blog is worth reading if you want to know more about the story behind this band.

Most of their material used to be difficult (or expensive) to find until CD reissues came about in the 2000s. What I'm offering here is The Grey CD, which include their 1984 Sirens Are Back album on Corpus Christii (a Crass Records sublabel) and the 1983 Grey 7" on Crass Records (from which is taken the Youtube song).

Band : Lack Of Knowledge

Album : The Grey CD

Country : UK

Year : 1984 (originally)

Discogs

MP3 (CBR 320) : MediaFire