It’s not often that you come across an artist who sounds utterly left-field. The Blurst’s debut album Psychic Crosstalk was that kind of experience for us – a writhing collection of tracks that bent and morphed into shapes we’d never heard before, or likely will again.
After chatting to songwriter Liam O’Shea about his record collection, his songwriting proclivities started to make a little more sense. Frankly, we thought he would be a perfect candidate to put forward a list of the 7 strangest albums ever released.
Take it away, Liam.
I love any album that makes me feel like I’m trapped in bizarro world. Here are 7 of the strangest albums from my collection that’ll take you there…
Elvis Presley – Having Fun With Elvis On Stage (1974) [Boxcar / RCA]
Well, well, well…
Edited from various concerts, Having Fun is 38 solid minutes of Elvis warming-up, telling stories, cracking one-liners, and interacting with over-excited fans. There are no songs.
A few moments into side A, Presley responds to a swell of microphone feedback and exclaims “What was that?!”… which pretty much sums up this absurdist masterpiece.
I found this at Revolve Records in Erskineville, which has milk-crates full of old Elvis LPs.
Top Track: N/A (…but I’m amused when Presley says “well” so much that he loses track of himself)
Dokaka – Human Interface (2009) [P-Vine Records [JP] / dualPLOVER [AUS]]
88 hyper-active tracks in 68 minutes created by the most eccentric, and arguably greatest, beatboxer on Earth.
I love how this album breaks the fourth wall a bunch of times. There are victory songs at the 10, 30, Half Time, 40-ish, and 50-minute marks which celebrate you for making it that far.
Top Track: Enc Jingle
Roland Kirk – The Inflated Tear (1968) [Atlantic]
This jazz album isn’t too ‘out there’ musically but throughout his career, Roland Kirk would play up to three different types of saxophones – at the same time!
The title track begins with a flex-a-tone solo and soon transitions as two powerful lungs control a set of ‘foghorns’ singing in harmony on the open seas. Another wild moment is when Kirk vocalises into a flute in the middle of A Laugh For Rory.
Top Track: The Inflated Tear
Matmos – Ultimate Care II (2016) [Thrill Jockey]
Matmos made the album I always wanted from Sonic Youth’s Washing Machine, which was mostly guitars.
This album features a Whirlpool Ultimate Care II on a spin cycle being drummed and electronically post-processed. The end result is range of groovy beats that are both robotic and mystical. I could’ve sworn I heard a thumb piano, but this is not the case… there are no other instruments.
Top Track: N/A (38-minute track)
Pamelia Kurstin – Thinking Out Loud (2007) [Tzadik]
Pamelia Stickney (née Kurstin) is a master of the theremin, my favourite invention.
The cry of a lone oscillator laced in delay comes in from the aether at the beginning of this disc. A couple of jazzy numbers break up the madness but this doesn’t last long as layers of spooky electronics envelope me into distorted cuckoo clock rhythms by the end.
Top Track: Eschschloraque
Boris – Absolutego (1996) [Fangs Anal Satan [JP] / Southern Lord [US]]
The feel of Boris’ debut album can be described by the title of their follow-up: Amplifier Worship.
Absolutego is the thickest sonic sludge ever committed to tape consisting of one hour-long track that builds over time and ultimately collapses into a wall of feedback.
Top Track: N/A (60-minute track)
David Lynch & Alan R. Splet – Eraserhead: Original Soundtrack Recording (1982) [I.R.S. / Sacred Bones]
Half of what enables Eraserhead to whisk me away from reality is the soundtrack. At times when there should be total silence, there’s a bunch of heightened noise and Fats Waller playing pipe organ in the distance…
Top Track: Stompin’ The Bug (Waller)
Catch The Blurst launching his debut album Psychic Crosstalk:
May 24th – The Factory Floor, Marrickville – Details
