Monitor

Monitor

An errant project of suburban Los Angeles art collective World Imitation Productions, Monitor was the sonic outlet of four young artists grappling with their terror and amazement in the convergence of the late 1970s punk scene and Southern Californias consumerist decadence. As with the collectives visual artwork and events, Monitor blends archaic influences with modern technology into one of the eras most curious albums. Eerie synthesizer, menacing guitar leads and morose vocal chants make "In Terrae Interium" an evocative ballad of paranoia. "I Saw Dead Jims Shade" showcases Monitors idiosyncratic vocal interplay in a sinister tale of a stolen hand. When "Hair" required a tempo beyond Monitors instrumental chops, the band appropriated The Meat Puppets to record the track for them. Acquainted at first through mail art, World Imitation found a kindred spirit in DEVO associate Ed Barger, who meticulously recorded this LP in 1980, burying the presence of shrieking cats, closing doors and tape loops deep in the mix. Monitor associated with the original Hollywood punk scene but often met with ambivalence for their incongruity in the face of the movements increasingly codified appearance and sound. Loosely aligned with like-minded pioneers such as Nervous Gender, Human Hands, BPeople and NON, who together constituted the sub-scene known as the Associated Skull Bands, Monitor operated in its own space within a progressive, diverse musical milieu. Few groups so deftly encapsulate the existential dread and delight particular to Southern Californias antiquated culture of artifice.

Price
Genre
Format
LP - 1 disk
Release date
21-03-2013
Label
Item-nr
440349
EAN
0857176003164
Availability
Not in stock
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TRACKS

Disk 1

1. WE GET MESSAGES
2. MOKELE-MBEMBE
3. IN TERRAE INTERIUM
4. HERB LANE THEME 5. AMPHIBIOUS
5. PAVILION
6. PHOSPHOREA
7. HAIR
8. I SAW DEAD JIMS SHADE