These New Puritans - Field of Reeds (2013)

These New Puritans really had an extraordinary first-3-album arc, moving from post-punk revival to percussive art rock to experimental chamber music with such precision that each of those albums could rightly be considered their best. (The fourth one's really great, too; it just wasn't such a massive shift.)

For me, though, Field of Reeds is an all-out masterpiece. A series of haunting, elusive songs grappling with the (possibly futile) search for meaning, understanding, or connection, against a musical backdrop of piano, woodwinds, horns, strings, synths, and spare percussion. Although there is at least one obvious predecessor -- Mark Hollis -- the mood that this album sets is truly unlike anything else I've heard: always drifting in the liminal space between the beautiful and the sinister without ever fully committing to either one. This sense of constant unease and uncertainty is not for everyone, but at least a few of you are about to discover a new all-timer.

Just want to add this bit from the liner notes regarding the title of the first track, because I love how annoyed they sound: "The opening track originated from a field recording made by Jack Barnett of an amateur singer half-recalling fragments of a song. TNP were unaware of the original song until completion of recording 'The Way I Do' [original title]. Since then the trustees of Bacharach and David's songwriting material have demanded that the title of the half-recalled song be used in place of TNP's title."

Track listing:

1. This Guy's in Love with You

2. Fragment Two

3. The Light in Your Name

4. V (Island Song)

5. Spiral

6. Organ Eternal

7. Nothing Else

8. Dream

9. Field of Reeds

Is there a prayer that just for a moment

real life and dreaming swap places?

Nothing else but this.

You should also listen to:

Rain Tree Crow - Rain Tree Crow (1991)

Gastr del Sol - Camoufleur (1998)

The Dead Science - Bird Bones in the Bughouse (2004)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:
The Dead Science - Submariner (2003)

When I posted the above album, I actually wanted to post this EP because I like it just a little bit more, but I was unable to find either my copy of the CD or a decent rip. But I just found one of the latter, so we're in business. Favorites include the slowcore-ish "Film Strip Collage", which includes the line "garbage truck wants to fuck", and their cover of "Sign Your Name" by (the artist formerly known as) Terence Trent D'arby.

Track listing:

1. Ossuary

2. Gamma Knife

3. Film Strip Collage

4. Cuz She's Me

5. Sign Your Name

We started out as friends

But the thought of you just caves me in

Also listen to:

dEUS - The Ideal Crash (1999)

Honey Is Cool - Early Morning, Are You Working? (1999)

Kliché - Supertanker (1980)

Synth-heavy Danish punk/new wave excellence. First found via the Pære Punk comp -- truly one of the best punk comps in existence -- where Kliché stood out for their more melodic, pop-y sound. What I really love about this band is what I hear as not-so-subtle krautrock influences, which are most pronounced on instrumental intro track "Igen Og Igen" and the endless, euphoric repetition of 10-minute album closer "Masselinjen".

Track listing:

1. Igen Og Igen

2. Havets Ble

3. Hetz

4. Militskvinder

5. Panorama

6. Aldrig Mere

7. Stjernerne I Deres Ojne

8. Bodygaurds

9. Maselinjen

I do what I wanna do

Also listen to:

Edith Nylon - Edith Nylon (1979)

Flowers - Icehouse (1980)

Irmin Schmidt - Musk at Dusk (1987)

Strange, sinister art rock solo outing from Irmin Schmidt, who you know as Can's keyboardist. Queasy, minor-key, island music/soft rock-inspired songs with lurking hints of violence and horror, sung in a quavering, Bowie-esque croon. In fact, Musk at Dusk could be likened to a more fully realized, artistically satisfying take on the canned, vaguely tropical nocturnes of Bowie's Tonight.

Track listing:

1. Cliff Into Silence

2. Love

3. Roll On, Euphrates

4. The Great Escape

5. Villa Wunderbar

6. The Child in History

7. Alcool

Dancing in the limelight

Champagne after midnight

If you like this, try:

Steve Hillage - For to Next (1982)

Obywatel G.C. - Obywatel G.C. (1986)

dEUS - The Ideal Crash (1999)

Dark, claustrophobic Belgian indie rock. Pre-millennium tension of the highest order. Practically every song is a slow-burner in one way or another, built on knotty, interwoven guitars and layered densely with synths, pianos, and cinematic strings that amplify the haunting, druggy, noir lyrical themes. The first time I heard this record was about two weeks into Covid: I had put it on to go for a walk around the neighborhood just to get out of the house -- masked up the entire time, as was the custom -- and ended up completely drawn-in, taking all these weird side streets to prolong the walk and finish the record. "Instant Street" in particular is god-tier.

Track listing:

1. Put the Freaks Up Front

2. Sister Dew

3. One Advice, Space

4. The Magic Hour

5. The Ideal Crash

6. Instant Street

7. Magdalena

8. Everybody's Weird

9. Let's See Who Goes Down First

10. Dream Sequence No. 1

This time I go for Instant Street

This life's a soulless excuse for all abuse and parentheses

The flyspecked windows and the stinking lobbies, they'll remain

All the same, all the same

You should also hear:

Strangelove - Love and Other Demons (1996)

Juno - A Future Lived in Past Tense (2001)

Corpses as Bedmates - Venus Handcuffs (1986)

Lo-fi experimental post-punk/art-goth madness. A weird, clattering, wheezing cacophony that defies expectation and description.

Track listing:

1. Venus Handcuffs

2. Haesibah

3. As Though Through

4. Fur Man

5. Birds Fly Out

6. Dear Dear

7. Gus Black Box

8. Phantom

9. For the Rest of the Day

10. Rest Home

Rainbow acid cuts my hands

And my head goes into the stream

Similar listening:

Ballet Mécanique - The Icecold Waters of the Egocentric Calculation (1981)

Malaria! - Emotion (1982)

Telefilme - Pocket Horror Symphony (1997)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:

Telefilme - Fade In, Fade Out (1995)

By request, here's the second and final album by this truly phenomenal duo. Somewhere between the electronic sounds of the mid 90s, the romantic depression of 80s new wave/pop, and the cluttered aesthetic of a burgeoning indie/post-rock scene, Telefilme struck a magic kind of musical alchemy on two 10/10 albums, then broke up because they were too good for this world.

Track listing:

1. Electric Farm

2. Hi-Fi Ghost

3. Shopping List Blues

4. Da Haus

5. California Punch

6. Jeremy

7. Catastrophe Baby

8. Fahrenheit

9. I Will Follow the Leader

10. Doll-House

11. Peter Pain

12. Ballad of the Droog

Life's like a big supermarket

You should also hear:

Mark Renner - All Walks of This Life (1986)

Jack Frost - Jack Frost (1991)

Steve Hillage - For to Next (1982)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:

Steve Hillage - Green (1978)

Guitarist/psychedelic lifer Steve Hillage's skewed, hypnotic take on synth-y 80s pop rock, colored by his reliably sublime guitar work and spectral, Eno-esque vocals. I've always loved Hillage's first few records, but for some reason, I never really delved further into his discography until last week, when a friend kinda randomly sent this my way, and I immediately fell in love with it. Destined to be one my most listened-to records of the summer.

Track listing:

1. These Uncharted Lands

2. Kamikaze Eyes

3. Alone

4. Anthems for the Blind

5. Bright Future

6. Frame by Frame

7. Waiting

8. Glory

A triumph and a tragedy

You should also hear:

Gary Numan - Warriors (1983) + Strange Charm (1986)

Jan Bang - Frozen Feelings (1989)

Ballet Mécanique - The Icecold Waters of the Egocentric Calculation (1981)

A phenomenal LP of dark, abstract post-punk/art rock from a short-lived Danish outfit that served as the launching pad for the long-lived career of experimental musician Martin Hall. The last track on Side A and the first on side B neatly outline the stylistic breadth of this record: "Theory" is a short blast of moody death-punk, while "Ism" drifts about in an amorphous cloud of disjointed, quasi-tribal drumming, muted violin scrapes, and a choir of moans.

Track listing:

1. An Attempt of Interruption

2. Poem

3. Sweetened

4. Lied

5. Theory

6. Ism

7. Leathern

8. Threads

9. Veins

Can mountains fall by sound of horn?

Was openness like pulse stillborn?

You should also listen to:

Cindytalk - Camouflage Heart (1984)

Dalis Car - The Waking Hour (1984)

Prinzhorn Dance School - Prinzhorn Dance School (2007)

[Pulled the last post for possible NS content. Thanks to commenter Ektah for the info. Probably should have listened to my gut.]

Here's some extremely minimal art punk with politics that I can get behind. It's hard to imagine more simplistic music than this. For instance, musically, most of "Do You Know Your Butcher" consists of a one-note bass riff and a kick drum, broken up here and there by a choked cymbal hit or a three-note guitar melody. From the accents to their spoken/shouted deliver to their political bent to the male-female dynamic, the vocals have always reminded me of early peace punk. It's a personal all-timer, but some might call it "annoying." I had just moved in with new roommates shortly after this came out, and I was listening to this record really loud, and just as "Crash, Crash, Crash" started, I heard my friend/roommate across the hall angrily yelling, "What the FUCK are you listening to?" 

Track listing:

1. Black Bunker

2. Do You Know Your Butcher

3. Worker

4. Don't Talk to Strangers

5. Hamworthy Sports and Leisure Center

6. You Are the Space Invader

7. Eat, Sleep

8. I Do Not Like Change

9. Lawyers Water Jug

10. Realer, Pretender

11. No Books

12. Up! Up! Up!

13. Crackerjack Docker

14. See M Dahlia

15. Crash, Crash, Crash

16. Space in Your Garden

I do not like touch

You, you talk to much

You might also like:

Poison Girls - Hex (1979)

Holy Toy - Panzer and Rabbits (1984)

Jack Frost - Jack Frost (1991)

Related:
Steve Kilbey - The Slow Crack (1987)
Steve Kilbey - Unearthed (1987)
The Church - Priest=Aura (1992)
Steve Kilbey & Russell P. Kilbey - Gilt Trip (1997)
The Church - Hologram of Baal (1998)
The Church - Untitled #23 (2009)

First of two albums from this fruitful collaboration between Steve Kilbey (The Church) and Grant McLennan (The Go-Betweens, who I still haven't really given a good listen). Jangly guitars, drum machines, gauzy synths, and heavy-lidded vocals. Way better than an obscure side project of this nature has any business being.

Track listing:

1. Every Hour God Sends

2. Birdowner (As Seen on T.V.)

3. Civil War Lament

4. Geneva 4 a.m.

5. Trapeze Boy

6. Providence

7. Thought That I Was Over You

8. Theshold

9. Number Eleven

10. Didn't Know Where I Was

11. Even as We Speak

12. Ramble

13. Everything Takes Forever

Every night she brings me here

And I fly around the room

Also listen to:

Martin Newell - Songs for a Fallow Land (1985)

Daniell Dax - Inky Bloaters (1987)

Pierre Bachelet - Pierre Bachelet (1975)

Excellent debut (not counting soundtracks) solo record from Pierre Bachelet. Cinematic, exploratory, romantic, and very horny art rock/chanson -- as you might expect from a prolific composer of scores for French soft porn films.

Track listing:

1. L'Atlantique (Toi, moi et la musique)

2. À longeur de temps

3. Ils y croient tous

4. Avec Satan

5. Hello Darling

6. La connierie

7. L'amour démoniaque

8. V'la le printemps

9. Seulement voilà

10. Petite soeur

11. Tiens salut

Une histoire de fesse qui t'aurait passionn

You might also enjoy:

Brigitte Fontaine - Brigitte Fontaine Est... Folle (1969)

Jerry Berkers - Unterwegs (1972)

Obywatel G.C. - Obywatel G.C. (1986)

A bit of dark Polish art rock/pop. Unsurprisingly, I know very little about Polish pop culture, but the main guy behind Obywatel G.C. -- Grzegorz Ciechowski -- was in a band called Republika, who apparently were a big deal in Poland back in the day. Very 80s production that includes slap bass, bleating sax, wailing (but tasteful) guitar leads, soft synth pads, and more. I'm feeling it.

Track listing:

1. Paryż Moskwa 17.15 (czyli mimowolne podróże kochanków)

2. Tak Długo Czekam (czyli "Ciało")

3. Błagam Nie Odmawiaj (czyli wyroki ferowane z pewną nadzieją)

4. Kaspar Hauser

5. Spoza Lini świata (czyli listy pisane z serca dżungli)

6. Przyznaję Się Do Winy (czyli zeznania miłosne)

7. Moje Modły

I don't remember, I don't recall

I got no memory of anything at all

If you like this, listen to:

Adrian Belew - Lone Rhino (1982)

Gary Numan - Warriors (1983) + Strange Charm (1986)

Richard Barbieri / Tim Bowness - Flame (1994)

Related:

Tim Bowness / Samuel Smiles - World of Bright Futures (1999)

No-Man - Together We're Stranger (2003)

Artful, nocturnal melancholy featuring the vocal stylings of Tim Bowness, who as far as I know hasn't stopped being sad since at least the early 90s. If you had told a 16-year-old me that I'd end up liking the same kind of sleekly produced, middle-aged sad sack music that my dad forced me to listen to in the car on the way to school, I probably would've quoted "Life Sentence" at you and skulked away to smoke cigarettes with my faux-hippie girlfriend and assure myself that I would never, ever be like my dad -- who, it turns out, was right all along.

Track listing:

1. A Night in Heaven

2. Song of Love and Everything Part I and II

3. Brightest Blue

4. Flame

5. Trash Talk

6. Time Flown

7. Torch Dance

8. Feel

See me

Also listen to:

Rain Tree Crow - Rain Tree Crow (1991)

Alesini & Andreoni - Marco Polo (1995)

Pablo's Eye - Pablo's Eye (1989)

First album by this under-appreciated project, a musical collective centered on Brussels-based artist Axel Libeert. Glistening guitars, sharp synths, Marie Mandi's understated, expressive vocals (which often remind me of 90s Joni Mitchell), a bit of viola, and very little percussion of which to speak. Not particularly representative of the group's definitive sound, but a great record nonetheless.

Track listing:

1. The Lord's My Shepherd

2. Mysteries Due To...

3. Winter

4. Burning Passion

5. Possession

6. Helen's Nose

7. A Duel

8. The Salmon Sings

9. Lullabye

We're often close to disaster

If you like this, check out:

Dip in the Pool - Silence (1986)

Nona Hendryx - SkinDiver (1989)

Gastr del Sol - Camoufleur (1998)

Related:

Oval - Systemisch (1994)

Jim O'Rourke - Bad Timing (1997)

Final and IMO best album from this stellar experimental indie/post-rock outfit of David Grubbs and Jim O'Rourke, featuring (on this record) Markus Popp of Oval. Acoustic guitars, horns, strings, understated vocals, keyboards, piano, and electronic textures form a beautiful, elusive sound. As a go-to early morning listen, Camofleur provided the soundtrack to many opening shifts at my old record store job.

Track listing:

1. The Seasons Reverse

2. Blues Subtitled No Sense of Wonder

3. Black Horse

4. Each Dream Is an Example

5. Mouth Canyon

6. A Puff of Dew

7. Bauchredner

Our exquisite replica of eternity

If you like this, check out:

This Kind of Punishment - A Beard of Bees (1984)

The Clean - Unknown Country (1996)

My Brightest Diamond - Bring Me the Workhorse (2006)

Dramatic, epic, neoclassical-infused art rock. Towering, cinematic strings, ghostly guitars, and Shara Nova's elastic, classically-trained vocals. Bring Me the Workhorse explores mortality and mourning via metaphor, story, and direct emotional observation, and it's still (imo) the best MBD. I guess it's more difficult than those of her would-be contemporaries, but I still say this should've been a bigger record.

Track listing:

1. Something of an End

2. Golden Star

3. Gone Away

4. Dragonfly

5. Freak Out

6. We Were Sparkling

7. Disappear

8. The Robin's Jar

9. Magic Rabbit

10. The Good & the Bad Guy

11. Workhorse

I'm afraid to forget you

I am remembering you

You were sparkling

You might also like:

Danielle Dax - Inky Bloaters (1987)

Lisa Germano - Lullaby for Liquid Pig (2002)

Other Colors - Natural Motion (2016)

Sophisticated, hazily anxious Baltimore indie. Been wanting to post this since it first came out, as this band is so fucking slept-on that the fifth search result for "other colors natural motion" is a link to a motion-activated night light for your toilet.

Track listing:
1. Return to Life
2. Natural Motion
3. Livin' the Same
4. Color Me Whatever
5. Awaken the Feeling
6. You Know the One
7. Something Flashy
8. Dream of Mine
9. Is It Over?

Space out and see

You might also enjoy:

Pure X -
Pleasure (2011)

Erik Blood -
Lost in Slow Motion (2016)

The Tear Garden - To Be an Angel Blind, the Crippled Soul Divide (1996)

Related:
The Legendary Pink Dots - Chemical Playschool 1 & 2 (1981)
The Tear Garden - Tired Eyes Slowly Burning (1987)
The Legendary Pink Dots - The Maria Dimension (1991)
Download - Furnace (1995)
Skinny Puppy - Brap (Back & Forth Vol. 3 & 4) (1996)
The Legendary Pink Dots - Plutonium Blonde (2008)
The Legendary Pink Dots - The Gethsemane Option (2013)

My personal favorite Tear Garden record. Written and recorded in the wake of the passing of founding member Dwayne Goettel, To Be an Angel Blind, the Cripple Soul Divide is more subdued and 'organic' than any of the band's previous material, and without a trace of proper industrial to be found.

Track listing:
1. Ascension Day
2. We the People
3. In Search of My Rose
4. Crying from Outside
5. Psycho 9
6. With Wings
7. Judgement Hour
8. New Eden
9. Tasteless
10. Cyberspider
11. Malice Through the Looking Glass
12. Phoenix
13. The Habit

It transforms itself to nothing
I want nothing

Also listen to:

Holy Toy -
Panzer and Rabbits (1984)

Fear of Dolls -
When the Organ Played at Twilight (1999)

Tim Bowness / Samuel Smiles - World of Bright Futures (1999)

Related:
No-Man - Together We're Stranger (2003)

Nocturnal, jazz-tinged melancholy from the eternally downcast Tim Bowness and company. A commenter on a post a while back asked if I could recommend anything in same vein as The Blue Nile, and if they're reading this now: aside from the lack of synths, this might scratch that itch.

Track listing:
World of Bright Futures
1. World of Bright Futures
2. Dreaming of Babylon
3. (Watching) Over Me
4. Sorry Looking Soldier
5. Two Hands
6. Red Eye Removal
7. Something of You
8. Lisa/Ophelia
9. Small
10. Smaller
Live Disc
1. Come to Me
2. Never Lose Control
3. Something of You
4. Sweet Kiss
5. Brightest Blue

They're touching
Touching each other
They push and move
And love each other
They fit together like two hands

More along these lines:

Mark Isham -
Mark Isham (1990)

Rain Tree Crow -
Rain Tree Crow (1991)