Disc of the day
The Meters - The Meters
Kings of Nawlins "fonk" go it alone. Cue incurable itch in sacroiliac.
Features Disc of the day
Public Image Limited
Metal Box
(Virgin, 1979)
Post-Pistols, Rotten and pals bring blank stare dub-death-disco.
For the Holiday fortnight, every Disc Of The Day will be a “winter warmer”, revelling in sonic/existential chill or offering fireside comfort.
As the board of EMI, TV-booting lorry drivers and Mirror journalists knew, in the seventies John Lydon and the Sex Pistols were a threat to the very fabric of society. Now, with eyebrow-raising developments like this, their power as Wreckers Of Civilisation may have ebbed somewhat. This isn’t the case, though, with PiL’s totemic Metal Box, which showed Lydon plumbing freezing new depths, cut off from all human warmth in the drug-disordered company of Year Zero-minded former Clash guitarist Keith Levene and low frequency bassist Jah Wobble. Contained on three 12” singles housed in a film canister was some of the strangest dance music ever, evoking frigid nihilism yet sounding angrily alive. The songs were constructed from jams; Levene’s nerve-scraping guitar playing and Wobble’s speaker-busting dubular basslines, plus the tense contributions of a variety of drummers and Rotten wailing his psychoses, make for a powerful chemistry. In ten-minute opener Albatross the singer declares independence from what went before (“Still the spirit of ’68” – this was Hawkwind/Can fan Lydon talking), while on the fearsome skank Swan Lake (aka Death Disco) he sings to his terminally ill mother. This formation of the group would end the following year (Wobble and Levene would both take PiL tapes and release them themselves). But cold and unyielding Metal Box – arguably the sonic equivalent of this - remains a challenge and an enigma to be savoured.
Ian Harrison
Posted by Danny_Eccleston at 6:00 AM GMT 26/12/2008
Further Listening
Public Image Ltd. – First Issue (Virgin, 1978)
Joy Division – Unknown Pleasures (Factory, 1979)
Can – Tago Mago (UA, 1971)
Previous Disc of the day
-
The Meters - The Meters
Kings of Nawlins "fonk" go it alone. Cue incurable itch in sacroiliac.
6:00 AM GMT 06/11/2009
-
Blur - Blur
Sun sets on Damon Albarn's Little England. "Look inside America," he urges. "She's alright."
6:00 AM GMT 05/11/2009
-
The Congos - Heart Of The Congos
Roots reggae's Lee Perry-produced Pet Sounds!
6:00 AM GMT 04/11/2009
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disc of the day!? this is the disc of the century! i can honestly say that i would take a bullet for this piece o' wax! the single greatest record to ever be released in the history of magnetically recorded music period!!!!!
Posted by HarryScary of DECAY OF THE ANGEL at 8:41 AM GMT 26/12/2008 Report Abuse
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it's magnificent. butter adverts, i'm a celebrity etc., he can do whatever he wants because he will always have this on his resume
Posted by showbizwhines at 10:11 PM GMT 26/12/2008 Report Abuse
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i think i want to hear more about this HarryScary and Decay of the Angel! this guy knows what he's talkin' about.RE: HarryScary of DECAY OF THE ANGEL
Posted by John Frusciante at 12:26 PM GMT 27/12/2008 Report Abuse
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Absolute Masterpiece.
One of the most influential records of all-time.
Posted by Anonymous at 11:42 AM GMT 30/12/2008 Report Abuse
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Absolute Masterpiece.
One of the most influential records of all-time.
Posted by M.A.Melo at 11:42 AM GMT 30/12/2008 Report Abuse
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