Laughter, 1/24/2008

Below you will find the play list and zip file for my latest show on WZBC. Popul Vuh has been impressing me for the last couple of weeks and today I stumbled upon Letzte Tage - Letzte Nächte, a fine cut of German pseudo-krautrock from 1976. If you don't know much about Popul Vuh, here's a little information for you: the band was founded in 1970 by Florian Fricke with percussionist Holger Trulzsch and Frank Fiedler. Affenstunde, their first album, explored various kinds of found-sound electronic music as well as ambient and so-called "new age" music. In den Gärten Pharaos continued this kind of exploration, but afterwards Fielder began moving away from electronic keyboards and synthesizers and picked up the traditional black and white keys - Fricke, in the meantime, began using music as a means of exploring various religious themes and in 1972 the band released Hosianna Mantra. Eventually Werner Herzog became familiar with the band and in turn Fricke and company contributed to the soundtracks for several of his films, including Aguirre, The Wrath of God and The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser. Popul Vuh continued releasing music until 2001, when Fricke passed away. The group disbanded shortly thereafter. Wikipedia includes a nice quote from Klaus Schulze, which appeared in the liner notes of the Hosianna Mantra reissue and pinpoints part of what makes Popul Vuh's music so appealing to me:

"Florian was and remains to be an important forerunner of contemporary ethnic and religious music. He chose electronic music and his big Moog to free himself from the restraints of traditional music, but soon discovered that he didn't get a lot out of it and opted for the acoustic path instead. Here, he went on to create a new world, which Werner Herzog loves so much, transforming the thought patterns of electronic music into the language of acoustic ethno music."

There are a couple of Popul Vuh tracks included below that do not appear on the radio show. The first is from their debut album, Affenstunde and a the second is from their excellent 1979 release, Die Nacht der Seele.

Enjoy.

01. The Residents “Infant Tango” from Meet the Residents (2004) on Euro Ralph — originally released 1973

02. Captain Beefheart “Nowadays a Woman Gotta Hit a Man” from Dust Blows Forward (1999) on Warner/Rhino

03. End “Countdown to the End” from The Sounds of Disaster (2004) on Ipecac

04. Nobukazu Takemura “Toybox with Moonshine” from Child & Magic (2002) on Warner Japan

05. Otto Von Schirach “Boombonic Plague” from Chopped Zombie Fungus (2003) on Schematic

06. Bene Gesserit “Existentialisme” from A High, Happy, Perverse and Cynical Cry of Joy (1986) on insane

07. Sonny Sharrock “Many Mansions” from Ask the Ages (1991) on Axiom

08. Paul Schütze “The Mutant Beautific” from New Maps of Hell (1992) on Extreme

09. The Soft Machine “As Long as He Lies Perfectly Still” from Volume 2 (1969) on Big Beat

10. Glenn Branca “Lesson No. 1 for Electric Guitar” from Lesson No.1 (2003) on Acute — originally released 1980

11. Autistic Daughters “Spend It on the Enemy (While It Was Raining)” from Jealousy and Diamond (2004) on Kranky

12. The Tower Recordings “I Didn't Know That Hajji Smoked/ID Can Hear the Magic Spring” from Folkscene (2001) on The Communion Label

13. Popul Vuh “Oh Wie Weit Ist Der Weg Hinauf” from Letzte Tage - Letzte Nächte (1997) on think progressive — originally released 1976

14. A. Wiltzie Vs. Stars of The Lid “I Love You, but I Prefer Trondheim (Parts 1-4)” from Ulver 1993-2003: 1st Decade in the Machines (2003) on Jester

15. Coil “Another Brown World” from Unnatural History II (1995) on Threshold House — song originally released 1989 on Sub Rosa

16. KTL “Estranged” from KTL (2006) on Editions Mego

16. Aleister Crowley “Various” from The Great Beast Speaks (1993) on Disgust 1

17. Current 93 “Black Ships Ate the Sky (Alternative Mix)” from Brainwaves: Disc C (2006) on Brainwashed

18. Sunburned Hand of Man “Buried Pleasure” from Rare Wood (2004) on Spirit of Orr

19. Popul Vuh “Kyrie” from Letzte Tage - Letzte Nächte (1997) on Think Progressive — originally released 1976

Laughter, 1/24/2008, .zip file

Popul Vuh - "Train Through Time" - bonus track from Affenstunde
Popul Vuh - "Wo bist Du, der Du überwunden hast?" - from Die Nacht der Seele