Favorite bands..that sound awful..

[amorris@home]

Neil Young. I wish more people would cover his songs.

 

[justanalogue]

BTW #2, The Butthole Surfers did a pretty good job sounding awful as well  8) 

Another one of my all time favorites. I don't think either one sounds awful. I want to live in that world. "Creamed Corn from the Socket of Davis" Who loves ya baby.

I realize I should have made clear that 'awful' can be 'very nice' in my book, and especially in the case of De Poepgat Plankzeilers (as they were often called 'back then' on Dutch national radio   )
I've seen them about 3 times and especially the first time was one of the weirdest shows I've seen (and I've seen & see a few).   "I want to live in that world", you say it mighty fine  ;D  

Butthole Surfers, genius madness IMHO.
That double live CD of them is maybe not an audiophile statement but it translates very well what they did on stage.

Willem.

 

[MikoKensington]

The Misfits - Static Age.  Out of tune, tempo all over the place.  But even still, it's not only my favorite misfits record.  It's one of my top 10 favorite albums, overall.

Mr. Bungle's first album.  It sounds great.  The music, however, is very uneasy listening.  It made one of my friends get motion sickness, and we were sitting in my parents' basement.  Haha.  I, for one, find it very enjoyable.

 

[clintrubber]

Nice to see Mr. Bungle being mentioned  8)

Hmm, not sure about their later albums, these might qualify for 'favorite', 'good sounding' & yet still enjoyable uneasy listening.
I just fairly recently found out about one of their albums which I hadn't heard about before, it's the one before Calif., I like that one as well (Disco Volante).

About 'favorite', 'good sounding' & yet still enjoyable uneasy listening, Zorns Naked City would most likely show up in such a thread as well.

 

[craptical]

I recommend Fantomas "Delirium Cordia" if you don´t already own it!

;D

 

[clintrubber]

I recommend Fantomas "Delirium Cordia" if you don´t already own it!

;D

Haha, what's your favourite song on that album ? 

But it's an amazing thing that record, so many tiny little pretty ideas (in between the walls of brutal noise),
they should take a few and make full songs of them.

 

[schmidlin]

Guides By Voices' Bee Thousand album.  (purposely) Crap lo-fi recording.  But some of the best songwriting ever.  My ex hated it, and I like to think that's why she left 

And while you're at it, dig up anything by Big Black.  Nails on a chalk-board/dental drill/stepped on cat guitar tones, and I love it!

Interesting some mentioned Husker Du: I never thought it sounded bad until I read some reviews years later.  Then I got 'em out and behold: junk recording.  Don't care  ;D

 

[Andy Peters]

Van Der Graff!  Vital Live is one of my favorite records that everyone else hates.  The band pours-out their guts, literally.
Wire.  They seeded so much creativity in other bands, but they get no props.  Especially their post-punk period.  But it is rare that anyone else can take them.

I can listen to Wire's Pink Flag, Chairs Missing and 154 on endless repeat. My life changed when a friend said: "You need to listen to this" (meaning Pink Flag). I saw them at Maxwell's in 1987 on the Ideal Copy tour ("Ahead" was the big hit single on the charts with a bullet), and the following year they came back on the A Bell Is A Cup tour and they played what seemed like an endless version of "Drill" which was absolutely cathartic. ("Milling through the grinder, and grinding through the mill, if this is not an exercise, could it be a drill?") And catharsis is what makes for good rock and roll.

Point here is that I don't think they sound awful. But, then again, I actually like rock and roll, unlike the majority of the populace.

-a

 

[Andy Peters]

Hey, Irwin Chusid, that rings a bell, didn't he also compile those three yummy Space Age Pop samplers ?

Irwin's an old pal (errr, sorry) from my Hoboken days. His taste in music is ... eccentric, and that word isn't sufficient.

-a

 

[Andy Peters]

Neil Young. I wish more people would cover his songs.

The Feelies have been covering "Barstool Blues" recently. They've done "Sedan Delivery" and "Cinnamon Girl" in the past.

-a

 

[Andy Peters]

Butthole Surfers, genius madness IMHO.
That double live CD of them is maybe not an audiophile statement but it translates very well what they did on stage.

Does it start fires in your house? Heh heh heh.

-a

PS: The BHS can go fuck themselves over how they treated Corey Rusk and Touch 'n' Go Records.

 

[solderspongebob]

The Pale - saw them early 90's when they did support for del Amitri. Enjoyed them a lot, but felt ashamed to own their album (unlike del Amitri / Justin Currie who were/are awesome, plug plug)  ;D

 

[Script]

Just found this thread. Sorry for resurrecting it. But thanks for recommending some good stuff here.

Didn't know Fantomas but they strike me a little bit as a rip-off of John Zorn (even same military trouser) and Japanese band Ground Zero (e.g. album: Ground Zero). Interestingly, Fantomas formed the same year that Ground Zero disbanded.

If "favourite" means "I like and listen to" and "sounds awful" means "against mainstream", there is a lot of music to name indeed. So could add any form of avantgarde in all genres, including Jazz, Classical music and even Techno.

Meanwhile, most punk-related music is conceived to sound bad, cos punk is about 'attitude' more than anything else.

Apart from that, personally, most commercial stuff recorded in the 1980s struck and still strikes me as sounding bad in that typical 1980s way. And I don't mean the music or the songs themselves. Maybe it's just me but often I find the sound quality to be somewhat brittle and fatiguing to listen to.

 

[The Kid]

Moop and Fingerbang.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jCNYlL7nt0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xfo7elN8k4

 

[Script]

On a technological note:

It probably takes 1970s and 1980s hifi equipment to make a 1980s recording sound good...  ;D

 

[KrIVIUM2323]

Painkiller "burried secrets-guts of a virgin"

A trio with Bill Laswell (bass), John Zorn (saxophone), Mike Harris(drums). The first two are well known the drumer less. He was founding member of Napalm Death and latter muted in industrial and illbient with Scorn, which is one of the most influential sound for post 2000 electronic music.
This is probably the most "difficult" thing i ve ever heard... and i like difficult music!

Sielwolf "metastasen"
One of the best industrial european band ever. Most know Einsturzende Neubauten as one of the great european band in the style but Sielwolf was better in my view...

Download "charlie's family"
One of the numerous side project of Skinny Puppy's musicians. This was initially a movie soundtrack about charles Manson but the movie never was finished...if one of you stand the whole album this is easily understandable why the movie never made it.

 

[Script]

I like the term 'difficult' music.

"Painkiller." Yeah, I have that one too. Pretty unlistenable. Not a favourite of mine though. I think Zorn distanced himself somewhat in the liner notes, didn't he?

'Yo!I killed your God" by Marc Ribot is somewhat similar in unlistenability. Released in Japan, if I remember correctly. Japan has been and still is really strong on this 'noise' thing.

Many if not most experimental musicians go and went through a phase of venturing into noise ( eg Lou Reed 'metal machine music). But as with any other musical style, there is good noise music and bad noise music. Just as there is good free jazz and bad free jazz, or good and bad European-style free improvisation etc etc.

When it comes to avantgarde, free or even noise Jazz, I enjoy Last Exit more. Apart from that maybe Ornette Coleman, who often is deliberately 'annoying' in a good and even humorous way, e.g. 'Virgin Beauty'. I guess, many people would describe this as weird music. Also his Prime Time lineups are highly entertaining free jazz 'pop' music.

Also James Blood Ulmer can be pretty engaging if you like noisy guitar. And, yeah, of course, good old Sonny Sharrock (rip).

All the above is music that can make people get nervous or feel uneasy in one way or the other.

.....
Sielwolf, thanks for that one I didn't know them. A bit like  Art of Noise and Yello !?

BTW, Yello really blew my mind in the 1980s (You gotta say yes to another excess'). Not awful at all, though -- rather highly imaginative and driven by a narrative with an atmosphere a bit like a mix of 'I sing the body Electric' by Weather Report, and anything Godley and Creme.
...
As for punk, 'The Scream' by Siouxie and the Banshees, an album that sounded shockingly eerie and cold as ice back then.

 

[Script]

Truly awful is Florence Foster Jenkins, allegedly the worst opera singer ever. I don't like but listen to occasionally when I feel really 'down'.  She belongs into the 'lacking self-awareness' category. It's so grotesque, she magically always cheers me up

 

[Script]

Technically awful is Korn 'Life is peachy'. However, I think it's one of  few albums where insane amounts of compression and AD converter clipping make sense musically.

 

[KrIVIUM2323]

Japan has been and still is really strong on this 'noise' thing.

Oh yes! Pretty extreme noise scene in there, as they were (are still?) with industrial and experimental stuff... I remmeber seeing some pretty scarying videos from them in the mid 90's. Can't remember the name of bands!

But as with any other musical style, there is good noise music and bad noise music. Just as there is good free jazz and bad free jazz, or good and bad European-style free improvisation etc etc.

Totally agree! The point being where do draw a line between good and bad? Every one is own bad taste...

About the free jazz thing i must say i'm pretty non tolerant about it most of the time.
I almost always feel the music to be too much 'thought' and not 'lived' anymore but that is me.

A bit like  Art of Noise and Yello !?

Well not really! I would say in the same vein as Ministry but without exuberance from Al Jourgensen and a bit more desesperate and sadness until the Metastasen album. Most european industrial bands do share this characters comparing them to american ones i feel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvvDkljUaiI&t=44s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mi_dXvVnbyI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veKITkOUpNQ&t=295s

Last album from Sielwolf "IV" (4) is different, more ambient slow tempo illbient than their previous works. This isn't a surprise when you know it was recorded and produced by Mike Harris when it was at Scorn pinnacle.  The remixes album ("V") is even more "Scorn-esque" with M. Harris doing is 'dub' thingy to them. Both are all time favorite of mine.
They stopped after that one. A new project was released last year but havent had time to listen to it for now.

All that makes me plunge into my oldies and i fund some nice unlistenable or awfull things that once was (or still are) my favorite!

Techno Animal " the brotherhood of the bomb". Kevin Martin and Jk Flesh (Justin Broadrick). One of Godflesh side project.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y35SMUy4o0c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haRzBWSgAzo

The Curse of the Golden Vampire "mass destruction".  Same lineup as the above but with Alec Empire from (DHR) pretty heavy and very difficult!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fo2fFFrMhL4&t=1652s

Older stuff and different style:
Diamanda Galas "Litanies of satan"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBeTXiTZbCc

Esplendor geometrico: "sheikh Aljama"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgzvn_t61es&list=PLOrUyUVuqtSSRsf8fL8KjAqTpkaqHZweV&index=2

Dirk Ivens "DIVE":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odBPSG7rRDM&t=14s

I've got many more but...