In the first of what we anticipate will be a new regular – or at least recurrent – feature on Aural Aggravation, we explore five albums that inspire a band or musician, plus one ‘wildcard’ entry. Here, for this first instalment, we hear from Jonathan Dickin of The Big Them.
Given the nature of The Big Them, focussing on improvisation, noise and repetition, I wanted to put the spotlight on some records that I personally think define repetition in music as something very special.
1: Tony Conrad & Faust – Outside the Dream Syndicate
If we’re talking about transcendence through repetition, there is no recorded audio on earth that achieves that greater than this one. It’s like listening to a bonafide miracle personified as audio. Two of the greatest engines of music, collaborating on a record that exists outside the confines of time and place. Faust on a locked groove rhythm for the entirety of both sides, whilst the masterful Conrad drones his way into your brainstem. This is an essential record as a far as I’m concerned.
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2: Water Damage – In E
And so if that last record was the groundwork for repetition, Water Damage are the evolution. They take that magical formula and dial in layers and volume to create thee thickest slabs of droning noise rock. I was lucky enough to see them in Salford last year and they played a single piece of music for 50 minutes and I’ve never felt more inspired – inspired to stick to one riff for an extended period of time, that is. This particular record is my favourite of theirs, a nod to Terry Riley’s "In C", which closes out with a spectacular cover of Shit & Shine’s ‘Ladybird’. Speaking of which…
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3: Shit & Shine – Jealous of Shit & Shine
Shit & Shine is a very interesting project, and an uncompromising one at that. Intensely prolific and artistically unbounded, Craig Clouse (and collaborators) has pulverised rhythms into the ground, with pneumatic bass tones and guitars that are almost unrecognisably thick with fuzz and distortion. The music sounds like it’s tearing itself apart and yet it’s so groove driven, I find myself completely enraptured – maybe I’m just a glutton for punishment. If you listen to nothing else from this list, please listen to the mammoth ‘Practicing to be a Doctor’ as I can safely say it is one of my all-time favourite pieces of music.
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4: Laddio Bolocko – ’97 – ’99
Rediscovered and released by John Dwyer through his magnificent Castle Face label in 2022, this compilation puts the spotlight on an underappreciated and potentially forgotten gem of noise rock, Laddio Bolocko. Lo-fi, gravely recordings of kraut-laced noise, again driving into the maximum repetition grooves. The track ‘Nurser’ is surely one of the finest examples of noise rock I’ve ever come across and for that track alone, this compilation deserves your time and full attention.
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5: Miles Davis – In a Silent Way
I am a huge jazz fan, though I do find it to be a very difficult genre to navigate, especially when you enter the realms of more Avant Garde and experimental jazz. However, I never once found it difficult to explore Davis’s discography and always return to him, particularly his electric period from ‘68 – ‘75. Whilst I could say that the jam- driven, cacophonous drive of Bitches Brew is more of a direct influence on TBT, In a Silent Way is the record I come back to most. Like all my other picks, it’s repetitious, but more in a way that is likely to lull you into the most dream-laden sleep of your life, floating there on Miles’s gentle melodies, and Joe Zawinul’s soulful electric piano/organ. It’s a truly wonderful record and is remembered for all the right reasons.
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Wild card – Guns N’ Roses – Use Your Illusion II
Just listen to Locomotive. It’s undeniable.
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Big thanks to Jonny for letting us take a glimpse inside his head! The Big Them have a new album, Four Colours, available for preorder on limited vinyl via Buzzhowl Records here:
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