Sad Lovers and Giants – The Mirror Test
The Mirror Test (1987)
This one scores pretty high for me. It has its ups and downs, but overall it feels very solid. White Russians and Seven Kinds of Sin are pretty much the two songs that make the rest of the record worth it. Not that I’m saying the other tracks are not good, they’re simply not up to par. Feels like some kind of twisted version of The Chameleons in an alternate universe (one in which we all have mustaches).
They don’t quite “get” the punk in post-punk, maybe, but to me it will always be that. If you want to argue with me your arguments will be completely ignored and edited into pro-dushkin comments much to your dismay. Watch me.
The Fall – Slates
Slates (1981)
The next one on this list is by one of my all time favorites. It’s no other than The Fall. The Fall are more or a surreal experiment than a proper band. Some time in the 1970s, up came Mark E. Smith and decided to start a band. Supposedly, The Fall was named after Albert Camus’ “La Chute” (which I’ve not read yet).
Mark E. Smith has a very simple recording process. First, he picks up a band. People he likes. Then, records a record with them. That is to say, yells at them creatively and dispenses incomprehensible orders such as “play it like a fookin’ snake”, then maybe do a few shows, then kick the members he didn’t like (most of his band).
By kick I actually mean it quite literally. Yeah.
I think I’ll move on to more serious stuff than Mark E. Smith’s punk adventures but I think this is at least noteworthy. In his autobiography (which still, I’ve not read, I admit) Smith writes the following:
I devised this thing called ‘Japanese prison camp’. I’d make [my three sisters] sit in this room under a table with a big cloth over them because the air force might be coming. I’d be the Japanese guard. ‘You can’t go out. You must stay under there,’ I’d tell them. Then I’d shut the door, say I was going to the bridge on the River Kwai, have some pop, go out with my mates and, half an hour before mam and dad came home, I’d return, saying, ‘Japanese prison camp is now over.’ (p. 14)
I guess that’s the type of genius he is?
So about The Fall’s music. The Fall to me will always be a symbol of doing the most with the minimum. The songs are pretty much carried by the bass and can have as little as one single chord (Prole Art Threat). Mark E. Smith’s vocals also shines. Somewhat like Bob Dylan.
Slates on Last.fm
Slates on Amazon
New Order – The John Peel Sessions
The John Peel Sessions (1990)
It wouldn’t be proper post-punk without Joy Division. But isn’t that New Order? Here’s the thing.
A little background information before I start, Joy Division was a post-punk band under the Factory label. Following the death of their lead singer, Ian Curtis, they rebranded themselves as New Order and went more in the direction of electronica, but still remained at least somewhat faithful to post-punk. At least until the 90s. If you haven’t listened to Unknown Pleasures, do so now.
This Peel sessions record is from sessions in dating from January 1981 and June 1982. Movement was released in November 1981. To put that into perspective, the earliest sessions on it are from less than a year following the death of Ian Curtis.
If Movement sounded like something Joy Division would have done, then The Peel Sessions sounds essentially like Joy Division itself.
Another special thing about this record is that it contains the only cover done by New Order that I know of – “Turn the Heater On”. Another fun fact is that they actually got the lyrics wrong.
The John Peel Sessions on Last.fm
That’s all for now. Give these a spin and see how you like them.