Polly Watson is a former entertainment editor for High Times. She currently performs with 1-800-BAND
1
PINOCCHIO, PINOCCHIO (Toxic State)
Eno-tinged NYC art-punk weirdness characterized by janky guitar work and almost operatic vocals—courtesy of West Coast hurricane Mary Jane Dunphe—that is shockingly sophisticated in its naïveté.
2
THIN LIZZY STAMP
Ireland is releasing two one-euro stamps in honor of the (contested) fiftieth anniversary of their hard-rocking native sons, one featuring the cover of the 1979 album Black Rose and the other a portrait of iconic bassist and front man Phil Lynott.
3
NASTIE BAND, NASTIE BAND (Sleeping Giant Glossolalia)
These noisy freaks deliver a terrifying farrago of heavy breathing, the babel of a charnel house, and the shuddering vocals of octogenarian Chris Kachulis, who cut his fangs with pioneering electronic musician Bruce Haack back in the ’60s. Evil, sleazy shit!
4
LITURGY, “GOD OF LOVE” (self-released)
One minute of glowing orchestral exordium from these “transcendental” black metallians, and seven glorious minutes of unrelenting shred, punctuated by the unholy pterodactyl shriek of Hunter Hunt-Hendrix and the incidental uplifting sweep of harp strings.
5
CHRISTINA KUBISCH, “ELECTRICAL WALKS” (New York, August 10–21)
Participants in this project, begun in 2004, wander around a given city wearing headphones attuned to electromagnetic fields and are thus able to hear the varying frequencies of buzz generated by everything from a bank machine to a bagel cart. Regarding the warning to avoid security gates, allow me to quote George Lakoff: “When you negate the frame, you activate the frame.”
6
BLU ANXXIETY (The Glove, New York, December 1, 2018)
The weirdness of Chi Orengo—the King of Nuke York, head exorcist at 1-800-POSSESSED, and leader of Blu Anxxiety—is no act, but his act plays great, as this eyebrowless ghoul howls his dark laments from rostrum or rafters.
7
MURDER IN THE FRONT ROW (Adam Dubin)
Hallelujah, it’s raining thrash! Inspired in part by the fantastic photobook (Bazillion Points, 2012) of the same title capturing the moment when speedmongers like Exodus, Slayer, and Metallica first exploded onto the California underground, Dubin’s film is a visceral document of that scene’s blistering early-’80s heyday. Come for the warp-speed lickery; stay for the sense of community that transcends genre and time.
8
MDOU MOCTAR, ILANA: THE CREATOR (Sahel Sounds)
This album, by an immensely talented Tuareg guitarist who out of necessity built one of his first axes from some wood and the brake cables of a bike, is a long desert dream conjuring cold stars, a burning sun, and the feeling of being on a Homeric journey beneath them—vital to those of us still struggling with the door to the Git’N Go.
9
JULIAN LEAL, JULIAN LEAL (HoZac) and BROWER, BUZZSAWS (Dig!)
HoZac’s rerelease of Julian Leal’s 1985 debut album is loaded with juicy synths, sugary guitars, and Raspberries-level harmonies. Meanwhile, modern-day Brooklyn power-pop outfit Brower offers a smooth Brett Smiley croon, a glammy stomp ’n’ tingle, and two covers of tunes by underheard mid-’70s Zambian fuzz rockers Amanaz.
10
YOUNG TRIBES NYC
Bootlegger cranking out low-budget, hi-kwal tees emblazoned with the logos of long-defunct, little-known bands—Gudon, Rose Tattoo, Jook, Crucifixion. Warning: Shirts may be beige, and designs may inexplicably feature Andy Capp.