Brap Allgood's web home - What Brap Allgood likes to listen to (in part)

Perfect
Albums...

(In no
particular
order.)

Brap's recommended listening

I thought I'd create this area to start sharing my opinions on some of the vast array of music available out there. Of course, I have been into electronic music since the mid-80's and most of what I might recommend falls under that basic genre, but certainly not all. Bit by bit, this should turn into quite a reference, especially for the newbies.

Long live the beat, for it is almighty! (Even when really, really quiet....)

My classic favorites

These are the artists who have been happily followed for decades and still make my figurative pant(ie)s wet with a new album.

~ Autechre - Amazon Discogs Myspace: There's noone like Autechre. Some are compared and I say bullshit; there's noone like 'em. I have been listening since their first album and with interest. They have continually bucked definintion and defied even themselves in each new offering.

Let me be clear: I could do this stuff, but never for long. There is a certain controlled madness inherent in their music...I don't know of *anyone* else riding such a razor sharp edge. Noone. Autechre defines the edge, to me.

That said, I warn you that you basically won't get it without multiple listens (beyond the first couple albums, which are the closest to accessiblity they have ever been) and that I know for a fact most are turned off on that first listen alone. Bear with it and the madness turns to genius by the dozenth listen or so.

It's like Squarepusher without the jazz rooting it to something terrestrial...leaving it extremely extra-terrestrial in nature and utterly unique-- often from one listen to the next it will change for me. Realizing that multiple listen thing has turned them all into favorites, but a quickly pointing finger says my favorites are Chiastic Slide, Amber and Tri Repetae++.

I'd feel like I was lying, though, to leave out how much pscilocybins helped me to love Autechre as a much younger man...I have no clue how easy it is to 'get' them without such doors being open within. I also recognize how opening such doors is a personal choice, so you won't get encouragement from me. Nor discouragement. Yep.
~ Biosphere - Amazon Discogs Myspace: Basically one guy, this is about as ambient as ambient gets. The sounds are from an obviously wide variety of sources (to my ears, at least) and portray life in all its wonder. I feel stupid writing that, honestly, but it also feels right. I don't mean the sounds of life you pay attention to...the sounds that go on without attention. To me, that's a pretty nifty effect to capture, never mind even making it musical in nature. :)

Really, this is some of the niftiest stuff around. I have been listening since the very first album (Microgravity-- it's much more 'beat-y' than most of the catalogue...so is Patashnik, which has one of the creepiest songs ever) way back in '91, which I bought on a lark. Weighing in at one of my favorite albums of all time, though, is Cirque, which I am pleased to report has recently been reissued. I think most people prefer Substrata, but I call it my second favorite.

I am behind a bit and need to get his newest when I get a chance. I always look forward to what's next from this guy, even if I don't always fully dig what I get (there's several unmentioned here...). I also do always appreciate what he is doing, whether i like it or not...I am compelled to follow and have for most of 2 decades now. :)
~ Eat Static - Amazon Discogs Myspace: I love these guys. As I used to explain it at The Music Zone way back in the day, it's two guys from another band called Ozric Tentacles (Joie and Merv) that I once saw described as 'Britain's Grateful Dead' in an old Melody Maker or N.M.E. or something. This is not very Dead-like, though...no, no, no.

With an alien theme and some of the bestest, most-alien sounds this side of Roswell, I find them to be tremendous fun. I have been listening since their first single (which I turned a nice penny on last year, truth be told-- singles bore me now) and purchased each album as it came out (which now includes their latest, De-Classified, reviewed a bit above).

For now, let me say that Crash and Burn is about their most accessible and truly one of the funnest, while Science of the Gods has some of the best beats ever...Hanger 18 being the track that always comes to mind when I think of Eat Static. If you don't like upbeat and very synthetic-sounding trance rhythms with bitchin' alien-abduction phenomena samples thrown in for flavor...well then stay the fuck away from this, fer chrissakes! RUN!

Otherwise, shake yer booty. It's fun.
~ Ministry - Amazon Discogs Myspace: Wow...what can I say about Uncle Al that hasn't been said so many better ways? I used to talk to his ex-wife Patty on the phone and dealt with *lots* of people in the industry that know him. I've seen them live 6 (or more) times...hell, I've seen them with some incredible other live acts alongside: Helmet, Sepultura, KMFDM...to name a few off the top of my head.

To be perfectly frank here, I also saw them about as drunk as I have ever seen anyone. Loudest fucking shows ever. I still think they are responsible for my 'weird left-ear thing' (which I won't try to describe).

I just found out that they are releasing their final album this September '07, to be followed by a final world tour in '08. This means I have to actually go see them again. I never thought I'd need/want/getoffmyass to do that. (But we're gonna, huh Manda.) More details found here at the source....

I think Rio Grande Blood is about their best album ever (likely cuz it's politically freshest), but when I get around to a whole page in their honor, I'll point to several others.

Uncle Al is down with death to the lizards, I think.
~ Orbital - Amazon Discogs Myspace: When asked who my favorite band is, I say Orbital. It's an easy answer, considering I have never, ever heard a single song by them that I didn't like. Sure, there's a few mixes I didn't groove to so well, but speaking of album tracks, I love them all. I list them here in this section because I refuse to believe they have broken up; they're too young and so am I. :)

When asked what my absolute favorite album is, I say In Sides without a pause. Given the choice to be on a desert island with only three discs, I guarantee that two of them would be Orbital. (Don't ask me to pick that second or a third without showing me the island, either.)

For those that don't know, the music is mostly instrumental and about as complex as classical ever has been. There is emotion just floating in the sound and they always manage to lift my mood. If you don't like 'techno', try this. If you do like 'techno', try this.

I'll have more to say someday. Lots more.
~ Skinny Puppy - Amazon Discogs Myspace: I've seen them 7 times and own everything (or have and sold it for something special). My name is derived from their culture. I will not be a fanboy about it. I will say they have had incredible influence on the face of music and I have wonderfully enough been witness to this since the 80's. :)

My personal favorite album is VIVISectVI and it likely always will be. I'll have more to say someday in a special fanboy page. Heh.
~ The Orb - Amazon Discogs Myspace: I have a very special relationship with The Orb...not that I know Alex or anything (though I've been close enough to bean him in the head with a bottle), but I have been listening for a long time, through many seasons of life...and they all work. I didn't like The Orb straight off...it took a couple of albums to make my ears slow down that much, but once they did, I was forever changed by this music. FOREVER. Musicians don't forget such changes, I think.

The album that will forever signify the dawn of a new day for me is The Orb's Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld. Maybe someday I'll (ACID) explain that. :) I do know there's lots more to say...but not now.
~ Underworld - Amazon Discogs Myspace: I have literally been listening to Underworld since Underneath the Radar way, way back in the day at The Music Zone, where we just kept getting promos of it from Sire/Warner (who loved us). Problem was, I didn't much like it. :) One of the other employees liked it, though, and kept playing it. Over time, it find of grew on me.

Then one fine day years later, I was at a friend's house and they were saying how much they liked Underworld. I couldn't help giggling a little, but when they played it...well, it certainly was no longer quite the same band-- certainly not the same focus. The music was (and is now) very smooth and spacey over straight up 4x4 beats...but there's just something about the whole thing that makes it work better than others doing similar tunes. Underworld defines a sub-genre (at the least), though I won't try to name it; I hate all the FUCKING subgenres...what other type of music beside 'electronica' gets so many GODDAMN subgenres?!? Not one that I can think of right now.

Anyway, I like every single Underworld album, even that first one above...though only on Tuesdays and after lunch, while working; old habits die hard. When I am choosing, I prefer to listen to two back to back: Second Toughest of the Infants and Beaucoup Fish...though dubnobasswithmyheadman is where I truly started to like them and a classic album in the history of music. I know...I was there.

Modern favorites

These are the artists that I have found moreso this current decade- say since the turn of the century. I still salivate at new releases, though, because there are new releases; the next section deals with the rest.

~ Amon Tobin - Amazon Discogs Myspace: I found Amon one day at a Tower Records in Sacramento and it was not love at first listen; there was a listening station (ew) and the cover of Out From Out Where caught my eye, so I put the (ew) headphones on and gave it a whirl. In 20-40 seconds per track, I was bored. I then spent about an hour trying to find something New to buy for the 3hr drive home (I was on a bead expedition to this place) and my intuition kept screaming at me to just BUY THAT DISC...so I did, as I am wont to follow such impulses.

AM I GLAD I DID! I love Amon's music and hear much of myself in him. In fact, I sometimes enjoy just plugging in and brapping right along with him. The music has such a fluid and organic feel to it...well, I just feel it strongly, I guess.

He's a great act live, too. I saw him once in San Francisco...there will be more to follow, surely. He lost the 'fight' to Skinny Puppy the last time he came through.

Working retail, I grew fond of playing Amon in the stores I worked at and an amazing number of people asked who was playing when I did. It's just that uniquely accessible- well, most of it is...some of the more recent stuff is a bit rougher, but I love it as well.

My favorite Amon Tobin album is hands down Bricolage, which is an older one. It was listed in 'jazz' when I went and ordered his entire back catalogue a week after that 'miraculous' (heh) Tower visit. It is so much more.

I'll have more to say in a special page eventually.
~ Boards of Canada - Amazon Discogs Myspace: I found BoC (always makes me giggle, that) on a lark one day snooping around Amazon. I have never regretted giving them that 'random' chance. I bought Music Has The Right To Children first and it is such a great album. The music is mild and almost irrelevant...meaning, YOU provide the meaning. It's hard to describe something so light in substance, yet so heavy in effect. You will either appreciate it right away or not at all, I think.

I really dig them and all of their albums. Other than the one pointed to above still standing out (cuz it's my first maybe? how sweet), I find them all equally brilliant. I look forward to something new from them coming along maybe soon...it's been a while.
~ Bonobo - Amazon Discogs Myspace: Everyone loves Bonobo. Check out Animal Magic and tell me you don't after a few listens.... Easily one of the most accessible albums I have ever encountered and it is, therefore, real and actual magic in our world. Listen for yourself.
~ Dieselboy - Amazon Discogs Myspace: The ultimate driving music...unless you lack proper control, of course...cuz this will make you drive faster if you don't pay attention. Why? It's fast. Too fast for some, at about 170bpm average. There was a time when it was too fast for me...then I figured out that you just bounce your head to every other beat...at which point you have the speed of rap. (No wonder people mix drum'n'bass and rap, eh?) focussing on only every other beat makes for a wonderfully head-bobbing, hip-swaying good time. There is just so much energy in this music...once I learned to groove on it, I really started to boogie. I use it for task music-- say, for housecleaning (though my favorite for that is this).

Anyway, this is some primo hardcore electro. I have listened to this dude shred just as boldly live as he does on the discs. He's obviously quite talented and I, for one, welcome our new drum'n'bass overlord, Damian. :) The tracks are by other people (mostly friends, I think) and by Damian himself, but the mix is where the magic lies.

I would say my favorite two of his are A Soldier's Story and The 6ixth Session, though I feel remiss not throwing projectHUMAN in there somewhere. Really, I like them all...but I don't drive enough to require more than a few to fill the need for myself anymore. Still buy anything new he releases, though. :)
~ Quantic - Amazon Discogs Myspace: Much like Bonobo above, Quantic appeals to a wide variety of people. When I was working in Big Sur in 2006, I used to play Mishaps Happening all the time and was constantly asked who it was.

There's a very Latin feel to Quantic that is strangely a lot more appealing than such a thing sound slike it might be...to me and some others I have talked this over with. I mean, I live in Salinas- the lettuce bowl of the world. I have heard Latin music most of my life without it leaving much of an impression on me. But I love Quantic with a passion. So do lots and lots of others. Just try Mishaps Happening and if you like it, you might like the others. I do.

I only discovered Quantic by paying attention to what those who liked Bonobo bought on Amazon.... I can't say it's always a good system to do that, but it sure paid off to follow my intuition here. I still need to get at least one of his albums...I have 3 so far, all terrific.
~ Squarepusher - Amazon Discogs Myspace: I admit I stumbled onto Tom Jenkinson a bit late in things (2003, I think), but I have loved him ever since. Now that I think about it, he was the first thing I ever downloaded illegally (Plaid was the second) and I liked it so much I went right out and bought Go Plastic and was impressed enough to go seek out a few more. I like the 5 or 6 I own (in moods), but Hello Everything is hands down one of my favorite albums, period. I eagerly recommend it for anyone who likes electronica and needs something solidly groovy in nifty and unique ways. Or something. IT'S GOOD. Really good.

What is it? Well, take jazz and drum'n'bass and experimental and maybe even some prog-rock and stew it all up together. Then drop a hit of acid, call yourself Tom, grab a bass and make magic with technology...you are now Squarepusher...though I dunno if he needs the acid...just that I might to get to the same places. Of course, I can't play a bass at all, never mind as insanely well as Tom can.

The stuff I grew up on

I was raised in a household where Neil Diamond was king, Carly Simon was queen, and the court was filled with The Eagles and The Mamas and The Papas and other such horrific entities. No, I don't like any of that (okay, The Eagles are kinda cool maybe) or James Taylor or most of Woodstock, either. If you want links, YOU can look them up. :)

Amidst all this sound rubble, I found classical music and some radio to keep me company. I adore Mozart and have for as long as I can remember and then some. When I was a wee pup, Mozart and Beethoven were the shit for me. Didn't like Bach, tho...too busy. Weird, that. I'd buy classical records for a buck each at the drugstore and tried about every composer there was at least once. Some were just plain crap (compared to Mozart, always) to my little ears and I regretted those dollars...but others were fantastic and I found myself assigning them to different modes of day: Handel to go to sleep by, Moart to wake up to, Beethoven for Lego building...you know. :) Little Virgos at play can be so cute....

The radio offered so much noise, I didn't know what to do with most of it. My Grampa listened to the craziest assortment of stations-- from freakin' German Sundays to the standards of, like, the 1930s and 1940s, to good old Italian music from the homeland-- I heard a lot, AND LOUD. On my own, I listened to about every station not playing that music...even some of the many local Spanish stations, though not so much; I could hear the real deal every weekend from the church a half-block away. :)

I remember one night while making my bed...maybe 8 years old or so...as I straightened the first side, something told me to turn the radio on. I did and heard something weird coming out of it. I think it was the song about summer camp by Tom Lehrer, but I know it was the first time I encountered Dr. Demento. My world changed. What really appealed to me about this man's show was that all kinds of music were represented...and I got to laugh while 'learning' these types of music. The variety is what did it for me. I was hooked, every Sunday night.

I remember hours after switching that radio on that night, I was still sitting on the edge of a half-made bed, having sat motionless the entire time. That's the kind of (good) shit that you don't forget...those moments that change your life, and you know it while it happens.

Have a tissue. :)

So then my aunt started dating this guy. They were (are) five years my senior and were fully in high school when he introduced me to Rock...and I mean Rock Proper. I remember clearly the first tape he ever made me. It had The Cars' "The Cars" and Van Halen "I" on it, as well as some B.O.C. and Rush to fill in the time remaining on Side B. This was a godlike experience, life once again changing. I did not hear this kind of music on the radio and my social life did not at all make me aware of it-- certainly my mom never listened to such stuff-- until my aunt started dating that guy, who is now my uncle, all these years later.

So, I now hereby present to you some of my favorites from that era of my life...the stuff I used to listen to...stuff that I quit listening to and moved on from because it was just so very much a part of me that when I started making my own music, these things were so obviously a part of me already that they were better off left behind.

Then I got to work at jobs that played much of this incessantly on the radio for years after, pretty much welding coffin lids in place forever; I am not like many people, in that I will not be revisiting my childhood music for the rest of my life. Nope. I always move on, though to do so means Electronic Music (sampling...) is guaranteed to be the path I follow because it is the only truly evolving music genre...which is accomplished via sampling as the only actual limitation upon source material for musical sounds and structures.

~ Van Halen - Amazon Discogs

As a kid, I was into Van Halen in a big way. Within months of discovering them, I had every album (Diver Down came out right then) and was rocking out with Eddie and his brother daily. I remember joining the Columbia House record club to get all the albums and while waiting for them, going down all atwitter to a Wherehouse and buying Diver Down (which had just been released that week) at the mall where my aunt worked one day. The day before I had purchased my first non-dollar-record, the Heavy Metal soundtrack (after seeing it the night before with auntie)...a momentous weekend indeed. My young life changed (for the better!) and I have never looked back, only forward.

When the record club order did arrive, I played all the records, in order of release, for days and days and days. Eddie shredded and the drums beat terror patterns. I had some BIGASS speakers and a fully analog powerhouse of a system my stepdad brought back from 'Nam and let me use--while they had a stupid all-in-one record player on top of a bureau in the dining room...I got the 'ygly' version of music...whoo hoo!

I rocked, yup.

Though I don't listen to them anymore...and sold the records long, long ago (to buy Depeche Mode, heh), I can still heartily recommend some Van Halen for y'all; I don't need to own it, as it owns part of me now:

Now, I kept buying the records after that for awhile...but it just wasn't the same with Sammy Hagar. I had his records on the side and liked them well enough...even saw him driving his Ferrari around the local countryside at times...but Van Hagar did not do it for me. I finally got to go see them live (my second concert), but David Lee Roth had just quit...and I felt gipped watching Sammy in the rafters of a ridiculously complicated set, wondering why the t-shirts were so goddamn expensive at concerts...and what my (future) uncle was smoking. :)

That nicely shows the time where I fell out of love with Van Halen...and the world fell in love with them, thanks to MTV (and lords knows what else). I should maybe get those first albums again someday...like, when the medium can handle the whole catalog on a little cube or something. :)

The stuff that changed me forever

When I was a teen of about 16, I worked with this crazy guy in a pizza parlor that liked lots of 'weird' music. Most of what he wanted to play in the kitchen was rejected by others (myself included), but he managed to get away with such things as Depeche Mode and The Cure...they were weird, but at least they were obviously 'music' to the rest of us-- I should likely point out that This guy (James) had some of the weirdest hair I have ever know (birdcage, anyone?) on a human, so we were distanced automatically from the start.

So he starts playing all of this crazy music (when we didn't have the local pop on the radio) and we make fun of him and he puts up with it so he doesn't have to listen to pop-- something I can completely relate to nowadays, of course. He plays Black Celebration and The Head on the Door ALL THE TIME and I rib him about it ALL THE TIME. Then, one day, he quits for a better job.

One week later, I realize how much I actually did like Depeche Mode and The Cure. It floors me a bit...almost like a threat to manhood, honestly...it's powerful when you drop beliefs like that: I suddenly, fully realized that we all have our own ears, all music is valid to some, NOTHING is any 'better' than anything else; it's all perspective.

Right then and there, I headed down to The Wherehouse with my weekend pay and bought Black Celebration, which was only a few months old, if you wanna properly date me. :) I went home and realized I knew all the words already and finally allowed myself to SING and truly ENJOY it...which is pretty funny if you know the album I refer to. :) I discovered I loved the electronic sounds and the beats were so much more *precise* and way more diverse than Rock could manage at that time. I was hooked on what was to soon be known as 'alternative' music...back then it was just 'college music' or 'new wave'. By the time Music for the Masses was issued, I had the weird hair, the dark clothes and the records to support it all...I present such things here. Most of them I don't own anymore, but some I do. I still love it all, to varying degrees.

~ Bauhaus - Amazon Discogs Myspace: Mmmm....Bauhaus. What can be said about these old hounds but good?!? NOTHING! That's what. Easily one of my greatest influences. I could talk for hours and hours about them...but what good would that do anyone? Go listen to them!!! It'll speak volumes more than I could. Pick an album, any album. Seriously.

Perpetually under construction...

That's what I have to offer so far. Check back for more updates, as there's quite a lot more to come...though in writing this December of 2007, I can say this section (especially) will nto get much update for awhile; I have a new instrument coming and Winter is more my time for jewelry-making to begin with. HTML can wait until the warmer months.

Peace.