Snakefinger, Greener Postures (side A)

1980's Greener Postures is a bit less overwhelming than Snakefinger's debut Chewing Hides the Sound, but it's still a weird, cool record. His guitar playing continues to cross avant-strangeness with classic rock progressions, and the Residents' backing gives a surprisingly new-wave context to the album. The songwriting is a bit uneven, but the highlights like "The Man in the Dark Sedan" stand out, and other songs like "Jungle Princess" are surprising and cool. These songs also have some overt vocal melodies, and Snakefinger isn't quite a natural lead vocalist when he delivers them. The cover art uses memorable pinks and greens (before it was preppy). The album tries to sound bigger than it achieves, and ends up sounding a bit clumsy and odd (though not bad).

Thinking Fellers Union Local 282, The Funeral Pudding (12" EP)

1994's The Funeral Pudding feels like an in-between EP for the band, but it's really long enough to be a full-length. This EP captures the Thinking Fellers' transition between the full-on splattery mess of Mother of All Saints and the song-heavy Strangers from the Universe. (Admonishing the Bishops, from roughly the same time, includes all songs.) The songs on The Funeral Pudding are a bit more "rock" and less melodic than those on Admonishing the Bishops or Strangers from the Universe, and some of their soundtrack instrumental side comes through too. The splatter is mostly rock-oriented improv, far less diverse and crazy than on Mother of All Saints. The Funeral Pudding ranges from raw to lo-fi in sound quality, and the cover paintings look cool.

David Kilgour, First Steps and False Alarms (side A)

The most primitive of David Kilgour's solo albums is this collection of lo-fi home recordings. Some of these songs ended up on his "proper" early solo albums, while others are only available here as sketches. The sound quality is raw and uneven, some tracks even have audible tape hiss (these sketches predate the prevalence of affordable digital systems). David's singing, guitar playing, and songwriting really come through, even in his sketches, and despite the primitivism, the sounds really flatter the music. The simple black-on-white silkscreen and hand-numbered edition of 1000 (did people really sell that many albums like this in 1995?!) reflect the record's era.

The Soft Boys, A Can of Bees (CD)

My CD of A Can of Bees, a 1990 pressing on Two Crabs, confuses me. A bit of Internet research tells me that there were several different sequences of the album on vinyl. The CD definitely does not resemble the sequence of my vinyl copy (also on Two Crabs, strangely), plus it's not a particularly good sounding master (the treble is really weak). 1979's A Can of Bees is more meandering and less focused than the Soft Boys' canonical Underwater Moonlight, from a year later, and all of the confusion with sequences does not help it achieve focus. With that said, the album contains some great songs, including the classic "Human Music", that display how powerful the band would quickly become. The silly cover art can only be purposeful.

Low, Canada (CD single)

Trust is something of a transitional Low record, with a distinct break in songwriting style but not yet the stylized production of their more recent albums. The "Canada" CD single is even further from the syntactically modern production techniques, as the two non-album tracks are even more organic in their mix style than most of Trust. "Shots & Ladders" is a highlight of Trust, and an easy one to miss as it's buried at the album's end. The sparser and less-produced alternate here is a nice reminder of the song's interesting construction. "Fearless" is of course a Pink Floyd classic, and as it's built around mellow acoustic guitar and vocals, it plays to Low's strengths perfectly as a choice in cover. Tom Herbers's cover photo is nice, and the personal style of the liner notes (printed on the CD) is a nice touch.

Califone, Roomsound (CD)

By 2001, Califone had been stripped down to Ben and Tim as core members, with few hints that the band would grow back again into a stable quartet. The remarkable coherence of Roomsound reflects their tight musical bond from so many years of collaboration. While it has neither the remarkable abstract percussive sections of Quicksand/Cradlesnakes nor the mature songwriting voice of Funeral Singers, Roomsound has a distinctive power and subtle but very memorable melodies. It features the ultra-present sound that has become a distinctive feature of Califone's albums, which has lasted through multiple changes in recording environments, and impressive hand-folded packaging.

David Kilgour, A Feather in the Engine (CD)

David Kilgour's solo albums usually feature a fairly straightforward rock rhythm section. 2001's A Feather in the Engine includes a rhythm section in places, but balances the more rock-oriented songs with some more stripped down arrangements. A few of the tracks are melodic but loose instrumentals, which are closer to the Clean's recent albums than most of David's solo work. "Today is Gonna Be Mine" is the album's highlight, with multiple themes running in an unusual but effective counterpoint. Apart from David's excellent handwriting, the cover design gives little hint of the charms inside.

Sun City Girls, Valentines from Matahari (side A)

On this 1993 LP, Sun City Girls display little of their obsession with the world's indigenous musics and little of their dark sense of humor. Valentines from Matahari includes some of their most aggressive "rock" music, with an almost metal-like volume and energy peeking through at times. The riffs rarely repeat or use any grounding structure—the pieces evolve more organically over time. Perhaps the catchiest moment is in "Way Over the Rainbow", where a bit of the Harold Arlen tune sneaks in and sneaks back out. The austere packaging is instantly recognizable, and the incredibly primitive recording and mastering is equally iconic of this phase of Sun City Girls' oeuvre.

Thuja, Thuja... (side A)

2008's Thuja... starts out sounding a bit like Pelt, with layers of dark, heavy, and generally unamplified drones. It gradually resolves into a more typical Jeweled Antler Collective affair, with the drones gradually evolving into sparser acoustic layering. Seemingly everyone from Jeweled Antler shows up here, along with a few guests: 8 players in all. The recording and mastering are pretty primitive and lo-fi, without some of the exaggerated brightness of other albums from this crew, and the abstract cover painting is appropriate and tasteful.

Image Publique S.A., Paris au Printemps (side A)

The faux-French packaging is silly, but 1980's Paris au Printemps is a fine live Public Image Ltd. album. The sound quality is solid for a live album, though the vocals are a bit loud and the guitar a bit quiet (obviously, the bass sounds inferior to Metal Box, though not bad). The performances are strong, loose, and charismatic, and "Careering" ("Precipitamment") came out particularly great. The applause is barely audible, and the cover painting has little to do with the music inside.

Alice Cooper, Pretties for You (side A)

The sense of humor was already obvious on Alice Cooper's 1969 debut Pretties for You, but the darkness was barely present. The aggressive parts sound more like glam than metal, though neither genre really existed in 1969, and some parts are very psychedelic. Pretties for You is primitive and almost lo-fi, without a hint of the polish that would later appear. The musicianship is consistently great, and "Levity Ball" is now famous for a bass-line that the Flaming Lips borrowed years later. The cover art, with a painting of a woman's exposed panties, is sufficiently distasteful that my copy came with a small sticker covering the panties.

Alastair Galbraith, Mirrorwork (side A)

When I think of Alastair Galbraith's work, I think of the dynamic qualities of Morse, where occasionally his electric guitar playing can hint at heaviness. 1998's Mirrorwork is more consistently delicate, with more focus on acoustic instruments and particularly fragile vocals. Galbraith's cover paintings are as beautiful and introspective as the music, and his primitive recording techniques continue to flatter his songwriting and performances.

brise-glace, when in Vanitas... (side A)

brise-glace was a strange and short-lived combination of personalities in Chicago in 1994, and when in Vanitas... reflects the group's diversity. When Cheer-Accident's Thymme Jones plays his awkward drums, he can certainly be dominant, and some of the overt tape collage is obviously Jim O'Rourke. What's crazy about the album is that the four personalities sort of rotate through the foreground. The results seem like Henry Cow as updated through a more post-punk lens, with the rapid shifts and varied styles. The heavy riffs and drumming certainly would not be at home on Unrest. Steve Albini engineered, and some of his drum mic technique is recognizable. The front cover is even more confusing and impenetrable than the album.