Given the resumés of the members of Githead—guitarist Colin Newman (Wire), bassist Malka Spigel and drummer Max Franken (both Minimal Compact) and guitarist Robin Rimbaud (Scanner)—it’s not surprising the band so effortlessly mixes a pop sensibility with an experimental edge. New album Landing, Githead’s third since forming in 2004, is due out next month on the band’s swim ~ label, and it’s the best thing the quartet has done. Newman and Spigel, who are married, made MAGNET a mix tape of favorite songs.
“Landing” (download):
https://magnetmagazine.com/audio/Landing.mp3
Ulrich Schnauss “On My Own”
In this decade, all the best music is hard to define and pin down. Ulrich Schauss is proclaimed the king of “shoegaze electronica,” whatever that means. For us, it’s warm, organic, wonky, beautiful and bears his own distinctive harmonic signature. Video
Mclusky “To Hell With Good Intentions”
From the sublime to the in-your-face. This is brutal and intelligent. A great blueprint for rock music. We saw them live quite a few times and they could be awesome. Pity they never got on well enough for it to last. Video
LFO “Simon From Sydney”
This album defined techno as music that is both physical and sophisticated and raised the bar in such a way that many are in LFO’s debt. It still sounds fresh today. We have been lucky enough to work with LFO’s Gez Varley with his super minimal G-Man project later in the ’90s. Video
Holy Fuck “Super Inuit”
Simply the best band we’ve seen live this year! They’ve been heralded the second coming of krautrock (although technically they are at least the third. 🙂 Live they are exhilarating: The combination of a great rhythm section completely in synch with the machines is amazing to see, but most of all, they move a dance floor like no other right now. We’ve never seen so many happy faces! Video
Kleenex “Heidi’s Head”
Kleenex made the blueprint for everything a good girl band could be: wilful, naive, sophisticated, inexplicable and very girly. Who knows what the hell they are going on about, but we like it!
Autolux “Audience No. 2”
Sounds like a lot of things we like and combines old and new in a good way that retains something of its own identity. We especially like the verse and the way that it’s really hard to pin down exactly when it’s from. Video
Blonde Redhead “23”
Title track from their last album. This is something we listened to a lot. Kazu’s innocent-sounding vocals and indecipherable lyrics set against all those swooning guitars is just gorgeous. We know they’ve been working on the follow-up, and we can’t wait to hear it! Video
Lesbians On Ecstasy “Tell Me Does She Love The Bass (Remix)”
One of the best band names ever (and totally accurate as far as we know), and this has one of the best basslines ever. Thumping, sweaty, dirty and dead groovy! Video
Bowery Electric “Fear Of Flying”
Bowery Electric had that amazing hypnotic quality that came of combining fantastic sheets of Lawrence’s atmospheric guitar with beats and basslines. Martha’s voice sounds ethereal. Could soundtrack any moving images. Video
Psapp “Leaving In Coffins”
What is so fantastic about Psapp is the way that the music is totally abstract until the voice comes in, then it all makes sense. There is something so haunting about the line “You go and you don’t come back.” Touching and personal. Video
Skream “Stagger”
Dubstep, unashamed and apologetic. Sounds simply awesome played out on a big sound system. You want to be in a sweaty club in Dalston. You have to be dead not to move to this! Video
Aurelie “Divisible By Three”
Made by 17-year-old Frank O’Donnell Smith and vastly more sophisticated than one might expect from one so young. One of the many things we have released on our swim ~ label.
Cluster & Eno “Ho Renomo”
Has the magical quality of something not overworked. Has stylistic links with John Cale & Terry Riley’s “Church Of Anthrax.” A very different sound to one normally associated with 1977. Video
