2001-06-11 - 7:46 p.m.

Collecting Music

By nature I'm a pack rat. I love to collect things. But unlike rats, I also like to organize things. I do this at work and home.

I used to collect Star Wars figures and cards, but now that I'm tied down to a desk during the day I've started a massive CD collection (well just about 2 years ago).

In that past week my collection has grown and I love talking music with people. I love sharing my music even more (this is why I make mix CDs for friends ... I love nothing better than for a friend to say they like what I gave them).

Order Listed Is Random

FeindFlug :: s/t - I was told by a German club friend and DJ that the name means "Enemy Airplane". The inside jacket of their first album has American B-17 Bombers inside. The music is described as being similar to :Wumpscut:'s Mesner Tracks, but I just like to call it harsh militaristic beat driven music. Very war like. Highly recommended to anybody who is into Industrial Dance music.

the Machine in the Garden :: Underworld - OK a friend introduced me to tMitG and they are really great. I met them and they presently live in Austin Texas and release under Middle Pillar. This album is apparently old, and the first press from a label called Deus ex Musica. I'm guessing it is their own label as they originally started as undergrads in Boulder, CO. Tracks range from gothic, deathrock, to EBM in the style of 80s Front 242. Look for this album.

Aghast View :: Nitrovisceral - from 1994, and I grabbed this one used because they have some of the best remixes of my favorite Industrial acts. In particular :Wumpscut:'s Music for a Slaughtering Tribe's Default is better via Aghast View than at Rudy's hands. I also like their remix of Decoded Feedback's "Relic". They get noise, and nitrovisceral is, but it suffers from CookieMonster voice. Gawd I am sick and tired of bad vocalists. First, more women need to get involved in producing industrial stuff. Second, the men you think they are muppets need to explore their voices more. OK, I couldn't do what they do and I'm talking about something from over 6 years ago. I think they are from Brasil. Cool.

Laibach :: Opus Dei - OK, many people have probably had this forever. I don't know why, but I really like this album and it is pre-1990. Their remix of Queen's One Vision is incredibly funny, and yet I like it better than the original. I like how it isn't just the beat dominated music that EBM and Industrial Dance have gravitated towards. The lead singer actually has a great voice.

Soil and Eclipse :: Necromancy - stop what you are doing and get this COP release. OK, now this is somebody who can sing and does so extremely well! I think electro / industrial / EBMster / gothic (any flavour) of folks will all agree this is great. It isn't overpowering, in fact I don't consider it high energy. But it is just a wonderful listen.

Dead Can Dance :: Into the Labyrinth - Ha, many of you have had this forever. Personally I've heard most of it, in fact my friend Bane had it when it was first released. I don't care for Lisa Gerrard that much, but Brendan Perry just rocks!

Suicide Commando :: Stored Images - Again another group that has fantastic remixes of other people's stuff (in particular I love what they did to Hocico's "Spit As An Offense"). This is again older (can you tell that I've been getting used CDs lately?) and doesn't compare with their "Mindstrip". I'm still thinking about this one, but I'm glad I bought it. But I also tire of EBM groups that go too far into the death and military thing. Aghast View had this problem far worse, but I'm still trying to decide if Stored Images is music or message. I don't need the same message of "Military is bad" that tons of Western European music puts out. Oh, I agree with that view, but I fear that industrial / EBM music forgets that many people (espeically Americans) aren't the brightest bulbs in the box. :(

Pulse Legion :: Evolve - This was a cheapie ... in fact the folks at Rasputin's have been mispricing many full length industrial / gothic CDs for a few months now. I think the end of the dot.com industry here in the Bay Area has sent many gearheads / rivetheads to burn copies and give up on their backcatalogues. OK, I bought this because a guy who performed with them and is now a part of Imperative Reaction is the son of the local SACTO goth club owner. I've also heard their stuff on the radio (gotta love college radio shows) and it is pretty much standard fair EBM. Nothing to write home about, but I like it. In fact, Soil and Eclipse worked with them on one track and they worked with them on Necromancy. :) Figures, both are COP releases, but I like tracing connections between sounds, it is part of being a music slut.

L'ame Immortelle :: Dann Habe Ich Umsonst Gelebt - OK, to most people Siechtum is Thomas Rainer's side project but I like it a bit more than L'ame Immortelle. That plug in, I still don't understand why they don't get more club play. It has a fluid sound that is electro-gothic, though I'd almost use it as fetish music if I had the chance. ;) Got this one for a steal too ... hehehe, I love bargin hunting on stuff.

the Church :: Hindsight - a B-sides collection, some I had, others I didn't. I like the Church, but this album is just OK. But it is becoming harder to find and I finally decided I'd just get one of all of their releases. A true collector I am, mmm hhhmmm.

Siouxsie and the Banshees :: Peepshow - OK a friend has been telling me to pick this up for a long time. Finally did, not because I didn't listen to her. I just have waited about 15 months to find it used!

the Fixx :: One Thing Leads to Another - This is my guilty 80s pleasure. Too bad, I like 80s pop music. It really is a large factor where today's sythnpop (including stuff that is sythnpop but pretends to be EBM like Apop or Icon of Coil ... sythnpop is good, no reason to not admitting you like it). This purchase was actually for a secret project that I'll talk about next week. *snicker*

OK, so this is just what I managed to dig up over the past month (plus a few others). I like music. Don't know why, but I promise I won't always write about it. I personally can't talk to people who talk about nothing else but music for long. They are fun to talk to, but I need more in common than that. But that said, music is important to me and being able to talk to somebody whom shares my love of music is always very important to me.

Night!

-=-

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