Jungle Rot · George Brigman

Jungle Rot - George Brigman [1975]

I think I bought the Jungle Rot cd reissue cd in the 00s mainly because of this photo accompanying the review which caught my eye in a magazine. It pictured three young burnout dudes hanging out in an abandoned house in nowheresville USA during the mid 70s. 

If someone told you this opening title track was a Chrome demo from 1977 you'd believe them, with its fantastic acid fried fuzz guitars and snarling vocals. 

Most of the rest of the LP doesn't really follow this style. There's a couple of tunes in a similar vein but the rest is more low key, comprising throwback 60s garage, some blues and stoner psych noodling with hints of of Velvets circa 3rd LP, The Stooges, Blue Cheer, probably The Groundhogs... anyway, an eclectic curio it definitely is.

It's Misery - George Brigman [1975]

It's the creepy stoner fuzz jamz that this teenage three piece from Baltimore excel in though.

Modern Eon - Fiction Tales

[1981]

One of the great post-154 albums. If you like your post-punk nice and gloomy yet sometimes uplifting, the incredibly dreamy Fiction Tales LP is for you. Along with Alex Johnson's inventive idiosyncratic vocal style & melodies we get serious post-punk drummage, classic goth bass lines and an array stellar dreamlike guitar textures. Chuck in weird atmospheric sound fx, a bit of piano, synth waves and some sax on a coupla tracks and that's your lot. While similar smaller bands of the era, Chameleons, The Sound, Sad Lovers & Giants etc. now have huge cult followings this Liverpudlian group still seem to get overlooked surprisingly.   

Laura Branigan - Self Control

80s, 80s, 80s! 

More tunes about adult concerns with darkly glamorous themes. 

"I'm living in the forest of a dream"

When being sexy was all about hair in your eyes and wearing an off the shoulder oversized jumper sans pants.

Shonky dancing alert! The daggy Branigan shenanigans begin at the 1.48 minute mark.

I totally forgot this song existed, I don't reckon I've heard it since 1984. . . This tune is way better than I recall. The state of the art 80s pop production is fucking sensational. It's synth-y, it's funky, it's disco, it's rock... it's 1984 baby.

*Things I didn't know in 1984: 

Self Control had Harold Faltermeyer on the synth. 

The video was directed by William Friedkin. 

Laura Branigan had no Italian heritage whatsoever which is surprising... we probably all assumed she was half Italian as she did a whole bunch of covers of Italian pop songs including this one.  

Don Henley - The Boys Of Summer

Still love this... probably still the best song of the 80s since I bought the 7" in 1985. 

Your Love · The Outfield

[1986]

Your Love is like the Monopoly man's monocle. Did it even exist in the 80s? I don't recall this band at all. Not on any music video shows or in music magazines or in the record shops during the 80s. This song was not a hit here in Australia or any soundtracks that I I know. The Mrs who grew up in Wales was a Smash Hits reader, TOTP viewer and all round pop music fan also does not recall the song. Yet when I heard it the other day I sang along like I'd known it all my life. So I'm guessing it's just been played on radio since the 80s. Maybe it's just so generic that I could just predict the lyrics and where the melody would go. Who knows? 

Anyway this is a great little power pop tune that was a big hit in America and Europe. Interestingly Your Love became a gold record in the UK despite the fact it only ever made it to number 83 on the British charts. It's all rather mysterious. It's a non existent monocle of a song. 

"You can put these songs on while you're driving or play them at a high school dance. They makes you feel good." Said the Outfield dudes who were surprisingly from the East End in London and not heartland America. The only English band from the 80s that were so uncool they looked like they were either from Canadia or Australia. When wearing a singlet with a matching mullet in your film clip was heroic.

They outdid The Cars, Foreigner, Mr Mister and Bryan Adams at their own game and created THE anthem of the era. I'm pretty sure the world agrees with over a billion plays of Your Love on spotify and 800 million views on youtube of the music video. 

Sniff 'n' The Tears - Driver's Seat

[1978]

One of the coolest songs ever.

The appeal of this tune is pretty mysterious. I mean when this song comes on the radio you go "Fuck yeah!" but just what is it? What even is the genre? Who cares I suppose... it's a vibe... it's one of a kind... it's all about restraint and what it ain't which makes the keyboard and guitar flourishes so much more, that constant nerve-y beat, the blip of the synth and these hidden little hooks all permeating the tune, insidiously add to the pop magic of Sniff 'n' The Tears' Drivers Seat.

Rewind!  

Young Turks · Rod Stewart

[1981]

Check out this supreme synthetic synth-y production. Production duties by none-other than Rodney himself. Not only that but Mark Knopfler is on guitar here! People talk about great tunes like Boys Of Summer but maybe this is the true national anthem of hypnagogic pop. 

 

When being a teenage mum with a pierced eared boyfriend who drove a pickup like a lunatic was heroic. Live the dream kids!

"They held each other tight as they drove on through the night they were so excited. 

We got just one shot of life, let's take it while we're still not afraid. 

Because life is so brief and time is a thief when you're undecided. 

And like a fistful of sand, it can slip right through your hands."

Osé - Computer Funk

(1983)

Strange electro jam written by James McCauley of Maggotron (in)fame from the previous post. How is this not an out and out stone cold cult classic of electro? This sort of bassline is maybe pretty unusual, is it? The same style perhaps not really being used again until the 90s with Drexciya as well as some hip-hop and drum and bass tunes, am I wrong? Wait for the 5.49 moment when it goes intergalactic then dissipates. 

Hey all you pac mans it's party time!

Maggotron - Computer Pop

Maggotron - Computer Pop (1984)

Here we go with the electro jamz once again... a whole lotta funky fun including on trend vocoder vocals and scratching. It's the Future and you're in it!

More On Movies... The Return Part VI

House On Straw Hill aka Trauma aka Exposé (1976)

Mostly notable for being on the video nasty list and for featuring Linda Hayden, the controversial star of Baby Love (1969) and Blood On Satan's Claw (1971). Rural horror with much onanism, deranged sex, violence, sexual violence, bad acting and a terrible script. Along with the splendid rural depiction of 70s Britain the other saving grace here is the top hauntological score from Steve Gray, this guy apparently played piano on soundtracks by John Barry, Lalo Schifrin, Henry Mancini, Jerry Goldsmith amongst many others.  

Cherry Falls (2000)

A 90s teen slasher with Twin Peaks vibes directed by the dude who did Romper Stomper. This gets insane and insanely hilarious by the end. Much maligned at the time but for post-Scream irony teen slashers it isn't that bad. Perhaps it was a bit of a hack gimmick to make the victims virgins instead of the usual punishment of promiscuity but that was a red herring anyway. The main star is the troubled now dead Brittany Murphy and she appears to be off her face on drugs in every scene and this definitely wasn't part of her character's mo. A lot going on here, this movie is a bit of a mess, like three unfinished films in one. A real curio of the era. Future cult movie if it isn't already one.

Live & Let Die (1973)

It's hard not to like Roger Moore as this incredibly fun Jim Bond in 1973. This one's all about the magnet watch unzipping the dress of the incredibly cute Solitaire (Jane Seymour), the insane virtuosic speed boat/car chase and the brilliant alligators as stepping stones sequence. There are elements of blaxsploitation and hick-sploitation amongst the usual Bond action, super villains and of course underground bunkers. Peak 20th century pop culture. 

The Black Windmill (1974)

A Don Siegel movie that maybe not everybody's seen. It's definitely not top tier Siegel, this ain't no Dirty Harry or Charley Varrick. Worth a watch if you're a Michael Caine or Donald Pleasance fanatic though. MI6 agent Major Tarrant's (Michael Caine) son is kidnapped and held for ransom. Will he get his boy back alive or die trying?  The best thing here is the cinematography of 70s Britain and Roy Budd's excellent brooding score. Be warned Michael Caine ditches his cool 60s black rims for a pair of what would become known as classic serial killer glasses. I'm a fan of both spectacle designs so it doesn't bother me but some may be triggered by this fashion choice.

The Ipcress File (1965)

Now we're talking... a proper cold war spy thriller depicting a rather drab and incompetent British bureaucratic intelligence agency. This is dingy-London and these spies are not really all that swinging. The recalcitrant cockney Harry Palmer (Michael Caine) might be just what this ineffectual department needs to solve the case of the missing scientist Dr Radcliffe. More importantly can the form guide checking Palmer's skills at plunging a coffee and cracking an egg help snare him the foxy bird (Sue Loyd) at the office? 

 

The Mummy (1959)

The tomb of Egyptian Princess Ananka is opened by some British archeologists. Soon those involved end up murdered by Kharis, a very muddy mummy, the revived boyfriend of the princess. He's a wee bit upset that her tomb was desecrated. Indestructible monsters are compelling viewing even if they're kinda ludicrous and Christopher Lee brings a particular gravitas to the role in his brief portrayal here. Surprisingly atmospheric and melancholy. 

Get Carter (1971)  

Jack Carter (Michael Caine) infiltrates the seedy gangster underbelly of early 70s Newcastle to get revenge for his brother's death. He chucks Alf from Coronation Street off a high rise building. Grime-y, gritty and grim. 

The Steel Trap (1952)

A boring bloke who works in a bank decides the mundane life is no longer for him. He plans to take a million bucks from the bank vault and head to Brazil. Excellent nail biting stuff.

The Loophole (1981)

An unemployed American architect in England finds himself unwittingly applying for the job of masterminding a bank vault robbery. They end up using the storm water drain as the access point to the bank. What could go wrong? Good lil' heist movie starring Martin Sheen, Albert Finney, Johnathon Pryce, Susannah York...

Curse Of Frankenstein (1957)

Baron Frankenstein goes to deadly lengths to assemble a monstrous creation from an array of body parts. Curse Of Frankenstein was the beginning of a new gothic strain of British cinema, Hammer Horror, now for the first time in glorious Eastman colour starring the immaculate Peter Cushing and the imposing Christopher Lee. All the sickly science and murderous mayhem is supremely entertaining stuff. Historic.

The Revenge Of Frankenstein (1958)

Spoiler alert Baron Frankenstein didn't actually meet his demise by guillotine at the end of the previous year's movie. Here he reinvents himself as Dr Stein so that he can once again play the mad scientist and create another monster. Uh oh... things start going awry again. Can Stein get away with with his depraved ethics and monstrous human experiments or will the authorities finally catch up with him. Peter Cushing personifies Stein with aplomb. I think if you're an aspiring thespian the go to role model would still be Peter Cushing. He's just impeccable in everything he does, his mannerisms, inflections, restraint etc. He's the best.