July 26, 2023 Playlist

Wire "Pink Flag" (1977)
CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK #1
Wire "Pink Flag"  1977 (UK)
This week we have TWO classic albums: for the basic reason that both feature very short songs, which is why they sat on my list of potential CAOTW's for years! Doing both at once means I'll have enough short songs to make up an entire set of music! Also, these two albums are related. The first is the debut by Wire, a long-running UK "punk" band that was sortof post-punk while punk was just beginning - and is still around making new music today with 3/4 of the original members. I think the crucial thing about this album is the way they dispensed with normal song structures - Sex Pistols, The Clash, Stooges, etc. generally maintained the usual verse and chorus structures of pop, repeating things and including guitar solos. Most of the songs on Pink Flag are under 90 seconds, including several that are shorter than 60 seconds. This radical approach to songwriting arguably made them the most (musically) revolutionary of the UK punk bands. The following year, a band from California called Black Flag recorded their debut: a 7-inch "EP" with four incredibly short fast songs totalling just 5 minutes of music (also, it seems obvious the name "Black Flag" was partly inspired by Pink Flag). The American "hardcore" punk movement was on!
Bad Brains "Bad Brains" (1982)
CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK #2
Bad Brains "Bad Brains"  1982 (USA)
Our second classic album this week is perhaps the cornerstone album of American hardcore punk. When it came out, Bad Brains were as fast and loud as any superfastloud hardcore band, but also they were better musicians than any other punk band, BUT ALSO they were Black Rastafarians who mixed reggae songs with their punk! That was the crucial thing: the unlikely idea that "anything goes" with hardcore. Very soon, all sorts of weird "hardcore" bands were popping up: the Americana desert punk of Meat Puppets, the dissonant avant garde art punk of Sonic Youth, and the "ear-bleeding country" and classic rock guitar hero vibes of Dinosaur jr. The debut album Bad Brains also gets superduper authenticity points for sounding like it was recorded on cassette in a basement! Ric Ocasek from The Cars would produce their next album, though it did not help them become more popular! (And did you know Ocasek also produced a classic album by Suicide?)
Finally, may I present the "hardcore" pop group HANABIE from Japan with our "OFFICIAL KOSMIK RADIATION SUMMER JAM OF 2023"!
(N) = New Release
   
Artist Song Album Year Country
The Strawberry AlarmclockSit With The GuruWake Up...It's Tomorrow1968USA
The Moody BluesLegend Of A MindIn Search Of The Lost Chord1968UK
Lemonade Shoelace Do What Makes You HappyDo Whatever Makes You Happy (N)2023 (self released)UK (N. Ireland)
The 3 Clubmen
(with Andy Partridge from XTC) 		AviatrixThe 3 Clubmen EP (N)
2023 (Lighterthief)UK
Osees Submerged BuildingIntercepted Message (N)
2023 (Castle Face)USA
 
 
HANABIE.  ("Chilly Flowers") Kotoshi Koso GAL (Early Summer Version)
("This Is The Year To Be A GAL")		Raise Wa Ijin! (N)  ("Reborn Superstar!")
2023 (Sony)Japan
Lil Uzi Vert The End (with BABYMETAL)Pink Tape (N)
2023 (Atlantic)USA/Japan
Poppy Church Outfitsingle (N)
2023 (Sumerian)USA
Sparks Love StoryThe Girl Is Crying In Her Latte (N)
2023 (Island)USA
Night Beats
 		Osaka (with Ambrose Kenny Smith from King Gizzard)Rajan (N)2023 (Fuzz Club)USA
Charisma.com Cambrian DanceMobstrong EP (N)
2023 (Lastrum)Japan
The Babe Rainbow Loading Quicksilver With PitchforkFresh As A Head Of Lettuce EP (N)
2023 (Eureka)Australia
   
 
Wire12 X UPink Flag
 CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK #1		1977UK
Black FlagSpray PaintDamaged1981USA
Bad BrainsBanned In D.C.Bad Brains
 CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK #2		1982USA
WireEx-Lion TamerPink Flag
 CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK #1		1977UK
Bad BrainsSailin' OnBad Brains
 CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK #2		1982USA
WireLowdownPink Flag
 CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK #1		1977UK
Bad BrainsIBad Brains
 CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK #2		1982USA
WireFrom The NurseryChairs Missing1978UK
Bad BrainsI & I SurviveRock For Light1983USA
   
 
Otoboke BeaverYAKITORI  ("Skewered Chicken")Super Champon2022Japan
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard Dragon
   / Flamethrower		PetroDragonic Apocalypse Or, Dawn Of Eternal Night:
An Annihilation Of Planet Earth And The Beginning Of Merciless Damnation (N)		2023 (KGLW)Australia
Gloin Angry ArboretunSounds From Mothland Vol. II (N - various artists compilation)
2023 (Mothland)Canada
Swans Why Can't I Have What I Want Any Time That I Want?The Beggar (N)
2023 (Young God)USA
Scott McMicken & The Ever-Expanding Ace In The HoleShabang (N)2023 (Anti-)USA
Lukas Nelson & Promise Of The Real OverpassSticks And Stones (N)
2023 (6Ace/Thirty Tigers)USA
   
 
The Free DesignKites Are FunKites Are Fun1967USA
Shuggie OtisIsland LetterInspiration Information1974USA
Throbbing GristleHot On The Heels Of Love20 Jazz Funk Greats1979UK
The BreedersDo You Love Me Now?Last Splash1993USA
StereolabNihilist Assault GroupMars Audiac Quintet1994UK/France
Talking HeadsCrosseyed And Painless (live)The Name Of This Band Is Talking Headsrec. 1980, rel. 1982USA
   
 
Gerry Gibbs Thrasher People Smells Like Teen Spirit (Nirvana)Family (N)
2023 (Whaling City Sound)USA
Gerry Gibbs Thrasher People My Favorite Things (Rodgers & Hammerstein)Family (N)
2023 (Whaling City Sound)USA
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