Wipers, Over the Edge (side A)

1983's Over the Edge is as powerful as its reputation would suggest.  Some of the subtle diversity is more surprising.  Some songs, like the openers "Over the Edge" and "Doom Town" rely purely on power.  The guitars and vocals are harsh, bright and in-your-face, and the band plays with abandon.  By the end of side A, "Romeo" has softened, just a bit—the less-menacing vocals recall Lou Reed's narrative style, the guitars sound a bit less harsh, and the pace has even dropped slightly.  No matter the style, the Wipers' delivery is impressively consistent, and the impact never drops.  The sound's harshness is far more listenable than the digital harshness of so many of today's lo-fi recordings.  The cover is simple and iconic, with the surprising color choice of pink drawing attention and leaping out.

Thinking Fellers Union Local 282, Admonishing the Bishops (10" EP)

1993's Admonishing the Bishops is the Thinking Fellers most consistently extroverted rock release.  Where the group often includes weird asides and sound collages between songs, this 10" features only four somewhat-conventional songs.  The songs still capture much of the Fellers' weirdness, with deadpan vocals, strangely-processed guitars, and many structural surprises in what first appear to be pop songs.  While the band often grew frustrated with the challenging of capturing their incredibly dynamic arrangements on record, the guitars here nicely leap out of the mix as the songs build.  And the recordings are an interesting balance of studio clarity with some primitive sounds, especially in the vocals.  The 10" format provides a perfect length to encapsulate one side of the group's multi-faceted personality and approach.

The Fall, Live at the Witch Trials (side A)

I find it impressive that with the Fall's 1979 debut Live at the Witch Trials, the group had already established so much of its lasting identity.  While Marc Riley only played bass on the first album before moving to guitar and then leaving the group, his pulsing, repetitive basslines foreshadowed those of his successors.  Smith's dead-pan, semi-narrative vocal style has changed little in the 30+ years since the group's debut.  Drummer Karl Burns also left after Witch Trials, but returned in 1982 to double drum on the Fall's most beloved albums, and his drumming here also provides an obvious foundation for the group's future style.  Only Martin Bramah's scratchy, no wave-y guitar style would not last—future albums feature more tonal and less textural playing.  While Fall albums always sound purposely lo-fi, weird, and primitive, the mixes of Live at the Witch Trials rank among their worst, with drums especially sounding compressed and lifeless.  The red packaging of my domestic copy looks worse than the UK original, and, while I like "Various Times", I also miss having "Mother-Sister!".

Ethiopian, Everything Crash (side A)

Leonard Dillon was half of the vocal reggae duo Ethiopians.  5 years after Steven Taylor's death, he made his first solo record as Ethiopian, 1980's Everything Crash, working with Coxsone Dodd from Studio One.  I'm not so familiar with Ethiopians, but their music from what I have heard seems to have been a bit higher energy.  The tempos on Everything Crash are a bit slower, and the feel of the album is darker.  Dillon's amazing singing shines in this setting, with a series of beautiful vocal takes.  Many songs are melodic and memorable, including at least one recut of Ethiopians' "Everything Crash".  The opener "When Will be the End" also particularly stands out.  The sound of the record is present with punchy dub bass, but the midrange feels a bit weak and does not flatter Dillon's beautiful voice.  The stylized cover design stretches the Studio One style into a slightly darker terrain.

Parasites of the Western World, Parasites of the Western World (side A)

The Parasites of the Western World's self-titled 1978 debut obviously dates from a time when small-town US bands borrowed from a huge range of influences without a hint of self-consciousness.  Parts of this album have the aggressiveness of Chrome, with heavily distorted guitars, shout-y vocals, and driving beats.  Other songs sound like instrumental versions of 70s AM synth-pop.  This extreme juxtaposition reminds me a bit of Gary Wilson, though the album also seems to presage Bobb Trimble's more seamless assimilation of radio-friendly and jarring ideas.  The recording is generally competent, though it's hard to guess how the record was made—no credits indicate whether the group recorded themselves or went to a studio.  The 2010 reissue's mastering leaves the songs sounding extremely different from one another, which is likely true to the original creation, if it's also somewhat jarring to experience.  The packaging comes with nice posters and inserts.

Ty Segall & White Fence, Hair (side A)

White Fence's 2010 self-titled debut impressed me enough that I've continued to follow his work.  Hair, which is my first exposure to Ty Segall, still captures Tim Presley's songwriting and arranging talent, but it lacks some of the ambition that made the debut special.  Presley's songwriting voice is obvious here—references to the psychedelic 60s are filtered through a more contemporary lo-fi aesthetic.  Where artists like Brother JT or Strapping Fieldhands emphasized their outsider, record-collector personae, Presley and Segall ooze fashion and slickness.  Hair loses the broad palette and range of ideas that made White Fence special—the weaker points even sound alike and interchangeable.  Some songs combine a slack aesthetic with a keen attention to detail that makes them special, but at other times the slacker persona grows overwhelming, as if they rushed to finish the album and get on tour.  The packaging captures the record's personality perfectly, to a point where it feels obsessively stylized.  The lo-fi sound quality has charms, but in some ways it can also sound bad—a professional mastering job did nothing to tame the out-of-control treble.

M.L.A. 'Blek', Blek (side A)

1981's Blek features an interesting line-up with 3 brass players plus Fred Van Hove's piano.  All four have excellent facial hair in the back cover photo.  The most surprising thing about Blek is that it still dates from an era when Radu Malfatti played audible notes on the trombone and not just pointillistic, minimal textures.  The improvisations here are incredibly diverse—each short track has a coherent idea and palette.  At its least interesting times, Blek sounds like a lot of other improv records from this era, with an emphasis on call-and-response.  Other parts sound very contemporary, with van Hove creating textures inside the piano that pull the music far from tonal references.  The piano is recorded with more space and less presence than the horns—it almost sounds like it's on a different record.  The understated cover drawing is both beautiful and appropriate.