Strange music that's good

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I've just been wanting to hear some "outsider" music lately. But only if it's good. Any suggestions?

― Nowell, Thursday, 14 October 2004 20:45 (twenty-one years ago)

Bathtub Shitter's "Lifetime Shitlist."

― Oki Fenoki, Thursday, 14 October 2004 20:47 (twenty-one years ago)

Hi Nowell. Try Mr. Bungle - "Disco Volante" and "California" are both good albums.

― Wooden (Wooden), Thursday, 14 October 2004 20:48 (twenty-one years ago)

any Caroliner album
the godz - II
sun city girls - valentines from matahari
charalambides - joy shapes
axolotl - self-titled

― Helios Creed (orion), Thursday, 14 October 2004 20:49 (twenty-one years ago)

The Clouds - "No You Can't Take Them"

free mp3, look for the 'free track download' link here: http://innova.mu/artist1.asp?skuID=217

― (Jon L), Thursday, 14 October 2004 20:52 (twenty-one years ago)

Magical Power Mako - Super Record

Downloaded this (and listening to it as i write, fwiw) after reading a very short ILM-thread on it. I find it quite amazing. Won't tell more; download, listen, report back! :)

― willem (willem), Thursday, 14 October 2004 20:52 (twenty-one years ago)

Shaggs

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 14 October 2004 20:53 (twenty-one years ago)

Wasn't the Shaggs' music unlistenable?

― Nowell, Thursday, 14 October 2004 20:57 (twenty-one years ago)

No, it's HIGHLY listenable. (I keep hearing "It's Halloween" in my head as Halloween approaches.)

― morris pavilion (samjeff), Thursday, 14 October 2004 20:58 (twenty-one years ago)

But do you like it?

― Nowell, Thursday, 14 October 2004 20:59 (twenty-one years ago)

I second Wooden's Mr. Bungle recommendation -- "Disco Volante" is my favorite.
Tom Waits - "Swordfishtrombones"
Boredoms - "Chocolate Synthesizer"
Capt. Beefheart - I might get an argument, but "Trout Mask Replica".
He's kinda canonical now, so it's easy to forget that Frank Zappa can be very strange and very good. I'd start with "Uncle Meat" and if you like that, then try "We're Only In It for the Money" and "Lumpy Gravy."

― William Crump (Rock Hardy), Thursday, 14 October 2004 21:00 (twenty-one years ago)

Yes, a lot. (It's not even all that "strange," really, in the big picture, but it's definitely "outsider.")

― morris pavilion (samjeff), Thursday, 14 October 2004 21:01 (twenty-one years ago)

royal trux s/t with the gold cover

― duke air, Thursday, 14 October 2004 21:05 (twenty-one years ago)

The Cardiacs are pretty wild. You can download some songs from here

http://www.cardiacs.com/button.html

― everything, Thursday, 14 October 2004 21:05 (twenty-one years ago)

iannis xenakis - persepolis
merzbow - timehunter
wolf eyes - slicer, dread or burned mind
no neck blues band - dutch money
meerk puffy - nung

― Helios Creed (orion), Thursday, 14 October 2004 21:06 (twenty-one years ago)

SHAGGS = best band evah

― Elvis is Dead, Thursday, 14 October 2004 21:09 (twenty-one years ago)

Zebedy Colt. Good luck finding it!

― mottdeterre (mottdeterre), Thursday, 14 October 2004 21:11 (twenty-one years ago)

Also, look for Martes Martes. They sound like Four Tet using only acousctic instruments and casios.

― mottdeterre (mottdeterre), Thursday, 14 October 2004 21:12 (twenty-one years ago)

gandalf the gray - the gray wizard am i
charalambides - union, market square
fursaxa - self-titled

― Helios Creed (orion), Thursday, 14 October 2004 21:15 (twenty-one years ago)

Susanna and the Magic Orchestra, "Lists of Lights and Buoys"

― mottdeterre (mottdeterre), Thursday, 14 October 2004 21:29 (twenty-one years ago)

Sleepytime Gorilla Museum- "Grand Opening And Closing";
Reynols- (goto www.ubu.com ffor mp3's);

for excellent mp3's you must go to

www.paperrad.org
and
www.post-data.org

― stefan tcherepnin, Thursday, 14 October 2004 21:36 (twenty-one years ago)

oh reynols, yeah! i'd recommend their 'pacalirte corban cumanos' album. also i second checking out paperrad and all related thingz (kitez, brinkmangler, noise nomads, dearraindrop.)

― Helios Creed (orion), Thursday, 14 October 2004 21:38 (twenty-one years ago)

"Go Plastic" by Squarepusher.

― Wooden (Wooden), Thursday, 14 October 2004 21:43 (twenty-one years ago)

People should define what they mean by "strange" maybe. Lots of these just seem "noisy" (though not necessarily *bad* at it in all cases). And some try so hard to be strange that they're not strange at all; they're just doing what their chosen genre tells them they *should* do.

I recommend the first two Will to Power albums (about which Frank Kogan once wrote "there is avant-garde, and then there is just plain weird") myself.

― chuck, Thursday, 14 October 2004 21:46 (twenty-one years ago)

I think it's a question of something that's truly "outsider" vs. something that's "avant-garde" (or "arty"). I think of "outsider" stuff (art, music) as lacking a self-awareness/sense of "audience," etc., that purposefully weird stuff has. (Much of the music I like falls in the latter category, so I'm sure not knocking that.)

― morris pavilion (samjeff), Thursday, 14 October 2004 21:54 (twenty-one years ago)

JANDEK! JANDEK! JANDEK!

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Thursday, 14 October 2004 22:21 (twenty-one years ago)

NO! NO! NO!

― mottdeterre (mottdeterre), Thursday, 14 October 2004 22:22 (twenty-one years ago)

If you buy a Jandek album, I'd suggest either Blue Corpse or Foreign Keya.

― Helios Creed (orion), Thursday, 14 October 2004 22:24 (twenty-one years ago)

"Walking the cow" by Daniel Johnston

― A pair of brown eyes, Thursday, 14 October 2004 22:41 (twenty-one years ago)

I've never heard or heard of Jandek except in jokes on ILM. Therefore, I don't believe he actually exists.

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 14 October 2004 22:47 (twenty-one years ago)

Asa Chang & Junray - Jun Ray Song Chang

also checking out some AGF right now, I usually get a bit put off by anything too avant-garde or theoretical/analytical, but this is sounding very nice so far. Try http://www.poemproducer.com/ and see where it leads you :)

I'll also say I heard some Favela music recently which was just fantastic, I think it's like Brazilian electro/booty/mash-up music with a lot of use of latin-y rhythms? There was afaik a brief flutter of interest due to a fatboy slim remix of a Favela song used on a car ad. but that seems to be as far as it got. Still under the radar in the UK? Possibly not everywhere, I'm no expert.

and yeah... I don't think if they are true 'outsider' music either. Just appealingly foreign to me (in the UK). morris pavilion OTM with his thoughts on this.

― i reload too much on ilm (i lurk on ilm), Thursday, 14 October 2004 22:56 (twenty-one years ago)

Lisa Suckdog's Drugs Are Nice, which has just been reissued.

― dlp9001, Thursday, 14 October 2004 22:56 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't think I know that much, but... I love Arthur Doyle/the Blue Humans. Acid Mother's Temple deserves the hype. Joe Meek and Bruce Haack are great. Yma Sumac is an obvious, but she's great. Nogu Svelo can be strange. Recently got the Prefab Messiah's Devolver, and it's pretty awesome.

Some resources:

www.weirdsville.com (internet radio. really good. "From the electronic to the organic, exotic to the narcotic, acid surf, psychedelic lounge, schizo C&W, avant-garde dub, free jazz, and noise skronk...")

http://www.weirdomusic.com/downloads.htm (a greatgreat list of a bunch of downloadable "weird" stuff)

http://users.skynet.be/dada/disq/disq.htm ("a searchable and annotated hyperdiscography of 3865 "exotica" & related CD's and new LP's; no singles. The term exotica is stretched to its limits here")

― babyalive (babyalive), Thursday, 14 October 2004 23:43 (twenty-one years ago)

try the binet-simon test by miranda july

― reo, Friday, 15 October 2004 02:45 (twenty-one years ago)

Best Acid Mother's = La Novia

― Helios Creed (orion), Friday, 15 October 2004 04:14 (twenty-one years ago)

Good points above re outsider vs. avant-garde and so forth.

That said: DNA. And even if Flipper doesn't fit here, I think Nowell should hear them.

― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Friday, 15 October 2004 07:20 (twenty-one years ago)

I recommend the net-based label Comfort Stand - lots of freely downloadable weirdness, at least some of which would fall into the "outsider music" niche.

― Philip Alderman (Phil A), Friday, 15 October 2004 10:54 (twenty-one years ago)

Semantics - great jazz/rock band.

― Rush Rhees (Rush Rhees), Friday, 15 October 2004 14:38 (twenty-one years ago)

györgy ligeti - "le grand macabre"

― you will be shot (you will be shot), Friday, 15 October 2004 15:09 (twenty-one years ago)

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