Dün - Eros (1981)

Q: Was France teeming with awesome prog rock bands thirty years ago?

A: Outside of Christian Vander and his band Magma, here's the best one I've ever heard, Dün's Eros.

A true hidden gem in the avant-prog school of Zeuhl; incorporating elements of jazz fusion, odd time signatures, a penchant for all things Zappa, this is a can't miss for progressive rock fans...

Dün - Eros (1981; self-released)

This Heat - Deceit (1981)

First time I ever heard this record, I was really high. Like insanely paranoid and high. Needless to say, this album terrified the shit out of me. I vowed to never listen to it again.

I listened to it again years later, totally stone sober; I finally understood what it was This Heat was trying to do- completely deconstruct the layers of what can be considered a "song" and break it down to its basest, most common denominator: noise. Pure, awesome unadulterated noise (and its relative constituent parts). It's probably the most avant-garde and experimental of the whole early-'80s "post-punk" scene; that's probably why I love it so.

I hope you give it a chance to terrify the shit out of you too...

This Heat - Deceit (1981; Rough Trade Records)
-link opens to YouTube-

Univers Zéro - Heresie (1979)

Univers Zéro are an instrumental Belgian band known for playing dark music heavily influenced by 20th century chamber music. The band was formed in 1974 by drummer Daniel Denis. For a time they were part of a musical movement called Rock in Opposition (RIO) which strove to create dense challenging music, a direct contrast to the disco and punk rock being produced in the late 1970s. Obvious early influences were Bartók and Stravinsky however the band also cited less well known composers such as Albert Huybrechts, who was also Belgian.

Their early albums were almost entirely acoustic but with later releases their sound became more electric. In 1977 they released their first album 1313 on which the members played with a heavy rock and roll approach despite the fact that the instrumentation was largely acoustic. This is mostly due to the use of drums. Two years later the album Heresie proved to be even darker. Several reviews have cited it as the darkest album ever recorded.

- from Wikipedia

Univers Zéro - Heresie (1979; Cuneiform Records)

Fred Frith - Gravity (1981)

A friend of mine turned me on to Henry Cow a few months ago; I was immediately hooked. While doing some reading on them (as I do whenever I find a band I connect with, I have to instantly know everything about them; locations, times, most importantly band members and their backgrounds).

Thus enters Fred Frith- guitarist extraordinaire. After Henry Cow's first record, Frith recorded an album called Guitar Solos, at the time considered a landmark album because of his use of prepared guitars, the method in which items (screwdrivers in the case of Sonic Youth's Lee Ranaldo) are placed between the fretboard and strings. Frith would basically throw a capo on the guitar while adding a bridge at some random spot, in effect giving him two guitars in one. He then placed alligator clips all over the frets, making an infinite number of possibilities and sounds.

Here on Gravity, Frith's first record since Henry Cow broke up, he crafts a fully realized record, utilizing the Swedish band Samla Mammas Manna and American band The Muffins as his backing bands. What I hear is a wonderful pastiche, incorporating every type of music/rhythm/instruments/technology available at the time. Called an "avant-garde dance album" because it actually swings at the same time it confounds the listener; it's a must have for any music collector that considers themselves on this side of "weird". Local notes: Frith now resides here in Oakland and teaches music composition over at Mills College.

This version has some bonus tracks, as it's the re-issued version from 1991...

Fred Frith - Gravity (1980; Ralph Records)