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Dusted Features
Every Friday, Dusted Magazine publishes a series of music-related lists compiled by our favorite artists. This week: Avant-rockers The Psychic Paramount and musician/illustrator Christina Vantzou.
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Listed: The Psychic Paramount + Christina Vantzou
Psychic Paramount
Forged from the falling out of NYC math-noise monoliths Laddio Bolocko (an erstwhile alchemy of Panicsville/Dazzling Killmen itself), as the newly christened The Psychic Paramount, guitarist Drew St. Ivany and bass player Ben Armstrong have totally won the breakup. Their relationship, though, hasn’t exactly been a fertile one. The stellar Gamelan Into the Mink Supernatural came out on No Quarter way back in the summer of ‘05. Before that even, all their union with late-to-the-church drummer Jeff Conaway had yielded was an odds & sods comp and a few live sets from either side of the Pyrenees. Thus, it was with cautious hands and bated breath that we dropped the needle on their newest, II, earlier this month. And as our own Mason Jones was quick to pronounce, “I’ll be surprised if I hear a rock album this year that packs as strong a punch as II.” Looking at some of St. Ivany’s picks here, however, and the next Psychic Paramount record might just surprise us all. Extra punch points for the MacLise shout-out, Drew.
1. Black Sabbath - Sabotage
An easy one that kicks right in with "Hole in the Sky.” The ultimate Sabbath party record.
2. Gunter Schickert - Samtvogel
Possibly the best echo guitar record ever made; either this one or A.R. & Machines - Die Grüne Reise.
3. Nurse With Wound - Merzbild Schwet
Listening to this is a perfect way to get in the mood for just about anything.
4. Institut für Psycho-Hygiene / Rudolf Eb.er - Lieder Zur Anal.ytischen Selbsverkrüppelung
The title pretty much says it all.
5. Kim Duk Soo - Samulnori 2xCD
Samulnori is Korean farmer percussion music which apparently dates back to 300 A.D. Traditionally comprised of four musicians on specific types of gongs and drums, Kim Duk Soo expanded this form for a larger ensemble and that’s what you’ll hear on these amazing discs.
6. Chrome - Half Machine Lip Moves
Back in high school, Ben’s Ford LTD had a piece-of-shit car stereo. I think he was punching it out of frustration and this album got stuck in the cassette deck. We literally tripped on it for weeks. When he finally got the cassette out, the Surfers’ Locust Abortion Technician hence became firmly implanted.
7. The Aesthetics - My Right to Riches
A cool band from New Zealand. Sort of like Chrome but more punk garage.
8. Angus MacLise - Astral Collapse
Ritual music from the elusive and complicated first drummer of the Velvets. This beatnik can teach you how to do it.
9. The OKeh Laughing Record
This record is so magical, it can turn a man into a baby.
10. Flipper - “Sex Bomb” b/w “Brainwash”
Punk storytelling classic.
Christina Vantzou
Christina Vantzou is a Brussels, Belgium based interdisciplinary artist that melds her drawings and prints and animations with her work as a musician. As a co-founder of Kranky recording artists Dead Texan she has explored the perceptions of the reality of time through the use of visual and auditory responses. She has toured with Sparklehorse, done video work for Interpol, and MTV Netherlands and is currently working on a full length solo album titled Timelessness that will be released with videos/animation and a book.
1. Tina Turner - Private Dancer
This was my favorite tape in the early days of childhood and also my first concert. My dad snuck me in for three songs at an 18-and-up venue when I was 6. Tina changed into a different sequined mini-skirt outfit between each song, I was mesmerized. I’ll never forget it
2. Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense
In the car, my mom played this tape on constant rotation with Paul Simon and The Eurythmics, but Talking Heads was more of a constant influence. David Byrne went to MICA (Maryland Institute College of Art) for a while, where I also went to art school, and Talking Heads was played at all the house parties in art school. I still play it from time to time.
3. De La Soul - 3 Feet High and Rising
I listened to this constantly in high school on my Walkman. I’d say the looping and layering of old-school rap has been pretty formative in my own music-making.
4. Sonic Youth - Sonic Youth
I listened to Dirty constantly on my CD player in my bedroom. And I stared at the album artwork by Mike Kelly and memorized all the lyrics. Then I discovered the early Sonic Youth releases as a whole: Goo, Daydream Nation, Sister, EVOL, Bad Moon Rising, Confusion Is Sex, and the gem of all gems, the self-titled release from 1982.
5. Portishead - Dummy
I fell in love with this record. I saw Portishead live and it changed my life.
6. Arvo Part - Alina
I never knew classical piano could be so beautifully spare. If I’d studied piano my whole life, I only wish I would end up playing like this. The record cover is also my favorite color.
7. Sparklehorse - Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain
A selfish listing because I played some shows on the second European leg of the tour that supported this record. The late Mark Linkous has had the single most powerful influence and impact on me of any artist I’ve ever known. He’s a genius and he has a magic, otherworldly force around him that I could sense. There are countless stories to back it up.
8. Daft Punk - TRON: Legacy OST
This record was passed along to me by my friend Zin. I haven’t seen the movie, and I don’t plan to, but the soundtrack makes loading the dishwasher feel like a triumphant journey into the unknown.
9.Stephen Halpern - Crystal Bowl Healing + Tonal Alchemy
I checked out Stephen Halpern after seeing him on the Crystal Vibrations blog about a year ago and it’s a tie between Crystal Bowl Healing and Tonal Alchemy. I am a New Age junkie and I can take the cheesiness of his tracks. OK, minus the pan flute at times, but the golden moments are just that.
10. White Rainbow - New Clouds
The man behind White Rainbow (Adam Forkner) is also the man behind the Crystal Vibrations blog. His latest album, New Clouds, has a track on it called “Tuesday Rollers and Strollers” that is genius.
By Dusted Magazine
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