Fluxblog 480: 80 80s LinnDrum pop classics!
Plus new music by Fcukers, Lynks, and O.
This week’s playlist is 80s LINNDRUM POP CLASSICS, a collection of songs that prominently feature either the Linn LM-1, LinnDrum LM-2, or Linn 9000 drum machine. The LinnDrum was so ubiquitous that this playlist is effectively "whoa 80s hits!" thing, but I leaned on the hits because I want you to consider how much of the 80s aesthetic comes down to the use of Linn drum machines. It’s THE definitive sound of the era.
[Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube]
Champagne In My Cornflakes
Fcukers “Homie Don’t Shake”
“Homie Don’t Shake” pulls together a lot of musical signifiers from the “indie sleaze” and “blog house” era – DFA aesthetics, Yeah Yeah Yeahs brattiness and noise, dynamics that would get an army of 20somethings in American Apparel get ready for the floor – but really, anyone can just throw reference points together. The miracle of “Homie Don’t Shake” is that it’s so well built and executed that it’s as good or much better than its inspirations. This is an absolutely ruthless and relentless dance track, brutal and funky and flirty and dirty and weird. I’m curious if Fcukers can do better than this – I suspect they probably can, since I’m picking up a Basement Jaxx level of craft here.
Buy it from Bandcamp.
I Must Be Irresistible
Lynks “New Boyfriend”
“New Boyfriend” effectively sounds like a queer version of LCD Soundsystem, or maybe more generally the classic 00s DFA aesthetic. Much in the same way The Dare’s “Girls” was a revelation for just sounding like “what if LCD was really horny?,” this shift in perspective is enough to make the style sound fresh again. James Murphy’s music may be physical and sensual but it’s never particularly sexual in tone, since his lyrics are almost exclusively focused on exploring his neuroses. Lynks goes light on anxiety but heavy on humor as he tears into a guy who won’t leave him alone. At first it seems more like a general “I’m not interested, fuck off” sentiment, but the plot thickens in the third verse: “I don’t want stay on your sofa because then I’ll stay in your bed and if I stay in your bed we’re definitely gonna have sex…and I don’t want that.” Ah, so there’s the stakes!
Buy it from Bandcamp.
O. “176”
O. are an unusual sort of rock duo – a saxophonist and a drummer playing fairly aggressive mutant instrumental rock music. Sax player Joe Heywood utilizes effects pedals to allow for a wider tonal and textural palette, but even when he’s making his instrument sound more like a guitar or keyboard it’s still peculiar to hear a fuzz guitar sound with a blustery woodwind attack. “176,” the first proper song on their debut, has Heywood alternating between melodic parts that sound like drunk jazz and distorted blasts that emulate the pummeling force of macho alt 90s stuff like, say, Jesus Lizard or Unsane. Tash Keary’s drumming sounds very tight and controlled, at some points sounding more like a DJ cutting up beats than someone at a kit.
Buy it from Bandcamp.
LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS
• If you like this week’s LinnDrum playlist I think you’ll also enjoy the One Song podcast’s recent two-part episode with special guest Jimmy Jam, especially part two in which they break down the stems of songs from Janet Jackson’s Control album and examine Jam’s distinctive drum programming.
• Jerry Koenigsmark wrote a “state of the jam band scene” essay for I Enjoy Music with an emphasis on the ascendence of Goose, the seeming decline of previous “next Phish” bands The Jauntee and Twiddle, and Vampire Weekend’s surprising role as kingmakers in this subculture.
• Jason Koebler at 404 Media has a new story about how scalpers have reverse-engineered how Ticketmaster creates non-transferable tickets, and are now generating and selling them on their own infrastructure.
• Daniel Ralston has launched a new narrative journalism podcast called The True Story of the Fake Zombies. It’s the story of how in 1969 a small music management company hired four young musicians from Texas to impersonate the British psychedelic rock band The Zombies. You can find it on all the major podcast platforms.
• Here’s an archive of cassettes made to be played in K-Mart stores in the 70s through the early 90s. (Thanks Alana!)
Omg the KMart tape collection is incredible