Not to be confused with a fully fledged and diverse Big Electric Playlist from days long gone by, November’s edition is best described as half an effort. Makes sense, since I opted to break from the blog for an unspecified period of time. Yet, here I am, continuing to squeak out posts with minimal effort.
Such as it is (as it is in this post’s title), this latest collection really amounts to a lot of vintage material from years gone by, particularly from a handful of bands that I managed to catch live on-stage last month and beyond.
Bauhaus, as well as spinoffs Tone on Tail and Love & Rockets, are the big focus, since it’s their 40th anniversary, and they recently completed a trio of reunion shows the likes of which we’ve always dreamed of – that is, if you’re fan. The Tones on Tails/Love and Rockets inclusions are courtesy of a flashback show from Poptone, which is a side project from guitarist/vocalist Daniel Ash and drummer Kevin Haskins, both of whom are in all three acts. A few years ago, they resurrected some of their post Bauhaus work for a series of retrospective shows, so I included this on the blog as an excuse to promote the current reunion.
Runners up include longtime avant-pop experimental outfit Stereolab and post-rock instrumentalists Explosions in the Sky. The former Brits also reunited this year for a welcomed series of live dates. It would seem these gals and guys might be around for a little longer past this current stint of touring performances, with the potential for new material as well. The latter Texans were celebrating their 20th anniversary this year, with a tour of catalogue favs geared towards slightly more intimate venues.
There’s also a couple of extra gems intermixed in the list from Aussie psych outfit Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, Japanese dream-pop artists Luby Sparks, and a nifty little prog rock effort from L.A.’s own Wand, titled “Scarecrow,” which caught my ear when they performed it during their opening set for Stereolab back in Oct.
I originally intended this selection to be far more robust. And I had big, big plans. But other life shit kind of got in the way, so I had to take a step back. I’ll probably ramp up again sometime in the next few months. I’d certainly like to get back to exploring gobs of new material on the blog. I just need to sort some stuff out first. So for now, things will continue at a more relaxed pace. But they will continue …
Here’s the November edition of the Big Electric Playlist. Enjoy!
