Day 0554 - Atomiser

Big Black "Atomiser" (1985)

I had heard of Big Black (especially their provocatively titled second full-length album "Songs about Fucking") but had never actually heard a note of the music.  I was also very uninformed, in that I had heard of Steve Albini but knew him solely as a producer/engineer.  I didn't realise that he was musician in bands like Big Black and Shellac (he'd also... carrying on his role as provocateur, had a band called Rapeman).

The music here is essentially proto-industrial.  It's just "three men and a drum machine".  The tinny drum machine, aggressive guitars and barked vocals could be seen as an early guidebook for acts like Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson and even early Shihad.  

Day 0434 - Live at the Witch Trials

The Fall "Live at the Witch Trials" (1979)

A British band championed by the late great DJ John Peel.

There's a definite punk feel to the album, but with a broader range of sounds such as spoken word sections, moments of musique concrete and theatricality. I can see why a musical omnivore like Peel would enjoy it.

The rhythm section is tight and pounding with guitars that are sometimes abrasive, sometimes washy and insubstantial, playing over and against the off-kilter organ and with Mark E Smith's frantic Mancunian voice over the top.