with Steve The Hat
This one-time keyboard fiend with The Lonesome Weekends and Sun Zoom Sparx resurfaced after a few years out of the music scene with the September release of his debut album, Extended Play. Check him out at stevethehat.bandcamp.com. /Gregory Beatty
“Garden Of Earthly Delights”
Josephine Foster
This Coming Gladness (2008)
This is my favourite legal narcotic. Much of her work is pretty inscrutable but like the Hieronymus Bosch painting of the same name, this song is something to get wonderfully lost in. A hauntingly operatic voice in an avant-folk setting.
“Journey To Saturn”
Sun Ra & His Intergalactic
Infinity Arkestra Single (1972)
A distorted, funked-up, early ’70s R&B rave-up from a man on par with Duke Ellington. Ostensibly a jazz man, Sun Ra did it all. This single, grungier than most garage bands, showcases both his Afrofuturism and ability to create something experimental and accessible. Blast off!
“Bodysnatchers”
The Florals
Swear I Saw Hell (2016)
Rawk ’n’ roll that hits like a triple mocha espresso followed by a double bourbon with a lipstick soaked cigarette — but I’d say that about any of their songs. The Florals made my b-day at Swampfest in early September. They’ll make your day as well.
“Bird In Hand”
The Upsetters
Return Of The Super Ape (1978)
Lee “Scratch” Perry’s trippy, humid, claustrophobic trance-skank from his Black Ark studio years. A reggae cover of a ’50s Bollywood tune sung in Hindi by Sam Carty, it truly is a bit WTF! Imbibe willingly, however, in this aural equivalent of a bhang lassi, and it will be… upsetting!
“Alice”
Sunn O)))
Monoliths And Dimensions (2009)
A very heavy doom metal band creates a sublime tribute to the grace and grandeur of Alice Coltrane. No discerning music fan should be ignorant of her music, but these 16 minutes are akin to a slow, deep, crimson sunset that is spiritually immersive rather than physically destructive.
“Düsseldorf”
La Düsseldorf
La Düsseldorf (1976)
Krautrock is a disparaging term, but former Neu! member Klaus Dinger adds a pop sensibility to the genre’s motorik beats and experimentation to create art that is playful and re-playable. As Julian Cope says, “intentionally and wilfully amateurish genius”. No need to argue with that!
