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Listed: Liminanas + Timmy Vulgar

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Dusted Features

Every Friday, Dusted Magazine publishes a series of music-related lists compiled by our favorite artists. This week: French garage band Liminanas and Detroit guitar freak Timmy Vulgar.



Listed: Liminanas + Timmy Vulgar


Liminanas

A little older and a lot more French than most of the bands that make up the rosters of Trouble in Mind and Hozac, the Liminanas offer an exquisitely tasteful blend of “pop” sounds from the past half-century. Together less than two years, the trio make it all seem so easy when casually tossing off 1960-psych fuzz, yé- yé pop stomp (they are, of course, French), or melancholy girl-group charm. The band released a single each on the aforementioned labels, and released its debut full-length on Trouble in Mind this year as well. In this week’s Listed, the Liminanas give Dusted readers a lesson in rock ’n’ roll savoir-faire.

1. The Stooges - Funhouse
You can destroy a bar playing “Loose” or “Down on the Street” super loud at 2 a.m. This has been my favorite record ever since I was 11 years old.

2. V/A - Wizz
This is a French comp series made by the Parisian label Born Bad. It compiles the best weird French music from the 1960s. It’s fabulous, full of fuzz, mad lyrics, and crazy yé- yé. A must have, the sound is great, dig it.

3. Serge Gainsbourg - Histoire de Melody Nelson
A Gainsbourg masterpiece. Great lyrics and bass player. It’s a strange story. If you dig this one you have to try L’homme à Tete de Choux and Anna too.

4. The Seeds - The Seeds
We were listening to The Seeds all day long the summer we fell in love together, 2000 years ago. The Seeds are unique, with a crude sound and a really strange groove.

5. Pascal Comelade - A Freak Serenade
Pascal Comelade is a Catalan’s musician. His music mixes a lot of influences, Italian western, tango, valse, The Cramps and Gene Vincent played by pianos, chip synth, toys, mini guitars. Lot of melancholia, sadness here. The music is beautiful. I’ve met Pascal Comelade, recording guitars one day on A Freak Serenade. I learned how to approach music in total freedom without the traditional band way of doing things.

6. V/A - Back From the Grave 2
Drives us mad, particularly They Prefer Blondes by The Banshees. Tim Warren, the Crypt Records boss, is one of our heroes, and this was the first 1960s garage record I bought, at 13 or 14 years old.

7. The B-52’s - The B-52’s
A total killer, this LP really rules. La super classe! Absolutley great guitars. Like The Ramones, The B-52’s invented a unique sound.

8. V/A - New Mexico Punk From The Sixties
A series of garage punk 1960s 7"s compiled in the ’80s/’90s on this French label. The sound is bad but the artwork and track listing kill.

9. Ronnie Bird - Le Style Anglais
During the yé- yé era in France, Ronnie bird recorded some of the best and wildest freakbeat/mod tracks of that period. Some beautiful ballads, too. You have to listen to "SOS Mademoiselle" or "Chante (I Can Only Give You Everything)." Le Style Anglais is an excellent comp made by the famous French newspaper Liberation.

10. John Barry - The Persuaders
A "best of" with all the classic John Barry tracks. The “Persuaders Theme” is so great, with a subtle kind sadness that is really dark. Love it. Same feelings with the fabulous “Midnight Cowboy.” Maybe I’ll choose this one for my funeral.

11. Johnny Cash - American IV, The Man Comes Around
One of the saddest and deepest records we have. Just wanted to put it on the list, love him so much.


Timmy Vulgar

Detroit’s punk-rock mad scientist Timmy Vulgar has been doing his damage for over a decade, first in glam-tinged wrecking balls the Clone Defects, followed by sci-fi monsters Human Eye, and more recently as a solo artist via Timmy’s Organism. Regardless of the moniker, however, Vulgar’s calling-card remains a bizarro combination of no-nonsense, punch-in-the-gut punk and what can often sound like field recordings picked up on the more rough-and-tumble paths traveled by Outer Spaceways Inc. This singular approach earned Vulgar a fellowship in 2010 from Detroit’s Kresge Arts Foundation. His Rise of the Green Gorilla was released on Sacred Bones in October. Vulgar tells us what gets him going, sonically speaking, in this week’s Listed.

1. Alice Cooper - Killer
Fourth album by the king of shock rock. The vocals are perfect, guitar tones are uniquely savage! Drumming power and bass playing lead by one of my all time favorites, Dennis Dunaway! That dude and John Entwistle rule! I have to tell you Alice Cooper’s first four albums are masterpieces in the history of rock ’n’ roll. Non-stop power! Amazing song writing. They looked crazy for the time. The stage show was always perfect I imagine. Alice is the king of punk. A non-stop rock ’n’ roll hero.

2. David Bowie - Man Who Sold the World
Oh yes, the humanoid of space-glam. The queen of glam-roq. The princess of punk. The wizard of glitter. David Bowie! I have a lot of favorites by Bowie, but this is his only truly heavy guitar album. But the first thing I noticed about this record is Tony Vicsonti’s bass playing, it’s all over the place, but keeping it in the tradition of rock ’n’ roll. Mick Ronson’s guitar sound has always been a huge inspiration. Every song on this record flows together better than any other Bowie records.

3. Chrome - Half Machine Lip Moves
I used to skip school and smoke weed with my friends in my Dodge Omni with a store-bought cassette tape of Half Machine Lip Moves / Alien Soundtracks, the second and third albums by these space punks. I was 17 when I first heard this. My older brother handed me a beer, his girlfriend handed me a pipe, and he threw this record on and it changed my life. Insane tape loops. Meat-eating guitar sound. Snarley tough vocals. Those are just the punk-sounding songs on the record. Then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, astro-jungle music. They would’ve been a great headliner for the Jabba the Hut band on Return of the Jedi. In Germany they have saurkraut. In San Francisco they have tacos. I think this is taco-rock?

4. The Damned - Damned, Damned, Damned
This is the greatest English punk album of all time. Rat Scabies is the Keith Moon of punk even though Keith Moon was punk. The drumming on this record is often imitated but never duplicated -- believe me, we’ve tried. This one you have to turn up full blast every time you listen to it. You should see my copy, it’s pretty tattered and beer stained. There’s even cake all over the band’s head and faces.

5. Guitar Wolf - Missile Me
I’m really interested in guitar sounds. Since I first heard the New Bomb Turks’ "Destroy Oh Boy" or Black Flag’s "Jealous Again," I’ve been intrigued by certain guitar tones. Guitar Wolf has its own, and I love it. Sloppy spicy sushi rock. Their live show and guitar tone is like snorting Wasabi and slammin’ Saki. What’s up, B!!!!!!!!!!!! Just listen to the fourth song on this album, "Can Nana Fever"!!!!!

6. Blue Cheer - Vincebus Eruptum
This is another record that created a turn in the road on my musical journey. It wasn’t a super sharp turn, but instead of sitting here in Japan, I decided to head west to San Francisco with spiders in my hair. I got this record for my 23rd birthday from a friend of mine that moved from Monterey, Calif. to Detroit. I’ve heard heavy guitar rock bands before this and I always wanted to get into that kinda stuff. When I finally had this album in my guitar-fiddlin’ sausage fingers, this was definitely the gateway drug. Thanks, Jennifer, you lost kid!

7. V/A - FEEL LUCKY PUNK?!!

    "Greetings, Collector Scum! And welcome to the world of SNOTTY, OBNOXIOUS, TWO-CHORD PUNK ROCK! This here album contains 22 fine examples o’ straight-ahead, hard-hitting, loud-fast-stupid ’77-’78 rarities from AUSTRALIA, the U.S,, and even one from a crew o’ Swiss alpine yodelers! No speed metal guitar virtuosos, no dischordian "awareness" -- just plain ol’ violent simple "sexist hate mongering PUNK-ROCK, recorded while Henry Rollins was "rocking" to Kansas."

That’s what it says on the back of this LP, released in 1991 on Gonzo Hate Binge Records. Dig it or die!!!

8. Modulo 1000 - Não Fale Com Paredes
This Brazilian psych/prog guitar-heavy, fuzzed-out freak band released this in 1971. It so ahead of its time and there still is nothing like it. Every time I listen to this record, I hear new things. When I first had a copy of this record on a CD-R, I brought it to Nai Sammon’s (PIRANHAS, EPILEPTIX) house. He popped it in the CD player, put it at full volume with everyone on shrooms. Hahaha!! It just blew our minds! While we were listening, Nai told me it sounded like Human Eye! What a nice compliment! Our second album hadn’t even been recorded yet! And that’s before I wrote the song "Slop Culture," which was very inspired by this record. So finally this year I found a reissue LP of this record on eBay. It was well worth the $40!

9. Ariel Pinks Haunted Graffiti - The Doldrums
This is ambient music with melody, presence, catchy charm, original soundscapes, mouth beats, great lyrics, cool song ideas, new ideas! This record never ever gets old to me. This is perfect driving music. Ya know driving! Cool mood music. The bass playing is really inspiring. Love this record. It gets No. 1 album of the 2000’s from me. Wish I could get a vinyl copy.

10. Faust - So Far
Faust is my favorite German group of all-time. They played every style of "Kraut" Rock with ease and unpretentiousness. They are a wonderful example of early ’70s German psychedelic musik. If someone hadn’t ever heard "Kraut" Rock, I would play them this record.

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