Knix Picks: The Top 20 Albums I Never Get Tired Of

If you're anything like me, you have hundreds of tracks on your iPod to listen to while you work out or otherwise go about your daily business.  In my case, I have a waterproof, ugly bright orange mp3 player, so when I go hiking or snowshoeing and inevitably drop it, it is that much easier to spot.  By the way, if you come across a small blue mp3 player on Great Pond Mountain after the spring thaw, it's mine.  But that one wasn't waterproof, so you can keep it!

Anyway, I digress.  My point is that I recently emptied my mp3 of every single track that was on it.  All 700 or so of them. Because, despite so many choices, I got bored, bored, bored. Granted, I go hiking or snowshoeing for a couple of hours every day and that makes for a lot of listening.  So it was when I was picking tracks to put back on my mp3 that I came up with a brilliant Top 20 list for my blog!
There are a ton of singles that I never tire of.  For instance, Nitzer Ebb's "Murderous," Yaz's "Situation," or Club 8's "Stop Taking My Time" will never get a yawn out of me.  (Trivia moment. Yaz is Yazoo in the UK.) But I was thinking how much harder it is to make a full length album where nearly every track is compelling enough to want to listen to it repeatedly without growing weary.  I've been known to catch a fever for an album, play it to death, put it away and never touch it again.  R.E.M.'s Out of Time is one of those.  "Losing My Religion" was a great track in 1991, but that time is over.  Sorry, R.E.M.
So what are my top picks for albums, new or old, that I decidedly want to hear again and again and again? With much consideration, here it is....

Ascii Disko Ascii Disko - The project of DJ Kat D.D. Rokk, this album includes previously released tracks.  Synthpop and house with Euro flair and Rokk's German cool reserve.  Fabulously danceable!
Autokratz Animal - The first full length album by the British electro duo of David Cox and Russell Crank, the track "Always More" is my personal version of a mood lifter!
Cut Copy Bright Like Neon Love - Australian Cut Copy's debut album was indietronica at its best.  Then a trio and now a group of four, the album combines songwriting capability with club friendly tracks!
Digitalism Idealism - The German DJ duo's 2007 debut album was meant to be a garage band gone electronica.  It works!  (Their DJ-Kicks LP features one of my favorite tracks ever, "83.")
Egotronic Ausflug mit Freunden - A German electro punk band with a decidedly political point of view. I can't speak German, so I don't actually contemplate their lyrics.  I just listen to the music.  Is that bad? Danceable but with an edge!
Gary Numan The Pleasure Principle - This is English musician Gary Numan's debut album after the demise of Tubeway Army.  Numan, along with bands like Kraftwerk, was influential in introducing the use of synthesizers in music.  No guitar was used on the album. "Cars" is the track that most people know in the US, but Numan is no one hit wonder.  The entire album is impeccable and inspired what we now call synthpop.
Gesaffelstein Aleph - This album by French producer Mike Levy (who goes by the moniker Gesaffelstein, which is a combination of the German word for "universal artwork" and Albert Einstein's name) is crazy good!  I was obsessed with the electro industrial sound of "Pursuit" when I first heard the LP.  Right now I'm obsessed with "Destinations," which is one of the few tracks with vocals (spoken by Chloe Raunet) and hot in a completely indescribable way.
House of Blondes Clean Cuts - John Blonde released a different House of Blondes album in 2007, but he considers this album, created with a different band and in a very different style, his debut.  Experimentation with synths and the quality of sound make this the only House of Blonde debut that matters.
Icon of Coil Machines are Us - Electro industrial Scandinavian band Icon of Coil was founded in 1998. They tend towards dark, futureworld themes with wordy lyrics while remaining dance friendly.
Ladytron Velocifero - Ladytron was formed in Liverpool, England in 1999.  They've had a few different sounds since their 2001 debut LP, 604.  Velocifero is a tad darker than some of their previous work and perhaps more slick.  Really, I love all of their work, but this is their go to album for me.
Lightning Dust Fantasy - This album is a style change for the Vancouver duo of Amber Webber and Josh Wells.  The addition of synths and rythym boxes to their already impressive songwriting makes for an album I keep going back to.
Lindstrom & Christabelle Real Life is No Cool - This collaborative effort between Norwegian producer Hans-Peter Lindstrom and singer Christabelle is electro disco at its best.  "Lovesick" is my favorite track on the album.
Naked and Famous Passive Me, Aggressive You - The New Zealand indietronica band's debut album is infectious and features strong songwriting and equally strong vocals by both Alisa Xayalith and Thom Powers.
Nitzer Ebb Industrial Complex - This Chelmsford, England band was formed in 1982 and was doing industrial dance music long before I knew what the term meant.  That Total Age was a college favorite, but this album was considered a comeback for them, and I love a good comeback.
Royksopp Junior - This Norwegian duo used to be responsible for a lot of downbeat trip hop.  Who knew? Because this album is decidedly danceable electro pop.  Guest vocalists pepper the album.  Karin Dreijer of The Knife guests on one of my favorite ever tracks, "This Must Be It."
The Golden Filter Voluspa - This duo sounds decidedly Euro, but they're based in New York.  They combine an electro pop sound with disco elements and great lyrics for a cohesive album of must listen tracks.
Trust Joyland - Joyland just came out, but I was smitten as soon as I heard the second track, "Geryon." What is not to love?  Dark Wave marries pop with brooding lyrics sung in a low baritone.
Tubeway Army with Gary Numan Replicas - Released in 1979, this was the 2nd and final album Tubeway Army made.  Gary Numan went on to an extraordinary solo career.  This "machine" concept album helped to define the post punk era.  Beggars Banquet released reissues of the album with additional material in 1999 and 2008.
Tying Tiffany Peoples Temple - Tying Tiffany is an Italian artist, singer and songwriter who experiments with elements of post punk, electronic and industrial music.  The Peoples Temple (The title of the album refers to the doomed Jim Jones cult.) has a darker, edgier sound than her newly released album Drop.  The track "Show Me What You Got" has her basically screaming the chorus, and I love it!
VNV Nation Empires - This 3rd full length album by the London industrial dance duo is one of their most powerful albums.  Dark, dystopic with lyrics that prophesy the end of the world, Empires carries on a theme I've been attached to since I read George Orwell's "1984."

So there you have it.  My Top 20 albums that I never get tired of. From my list, you can probably discern that I have a taste for electro pop and dance industrial.  And only one US band.  What's up with that?  What albums make the cut for you?  Post on The Knix Mix Facebook page and let me know!

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Danny Blu

I recently had the opportunity to interview artist Danny Blu on The Knix Mix in support of his album "Do Your Worst."  Danny calls his combination of the industrial sound he grew up with and danceable electronic beats "Industrial Pop." He blends the theatrical make up and costumes of glam rock with the intentionally provocative flair of shock rock for an overall effect he describes as musical theater.  Danny Blu, the character, was created in 2010 during the writing stage of the album.  "Big Blue" was a childhood nickname that Danny modified to "Blu" to denote a loss of innocence.  Danny's rallying cry is "Remember to live life without hate or regret and without fear of the Freak within."
In exploring Danny's website and online videos, it is apparent he is multi talented.  In fact, Danny has experience as an actor and attended the NYU Tisch School of The Arts in 2009.  The Danny Blu team includes an artistic director and a creative director in addition to the band and sound director, which serves him well in an era where the Internet makes having a consistent and visually appealing web presence a necessity for music acts.  It also doesn't hurt that most of the actors and dancers in his music videos are beautiful people in various states of undress.  Check out his video for the song "Sebastian" to understand what I mean.
Danny is very visible in the LGBT community and is a strong advocate for LGBT rights.  Danny has also given tremendous support to anti-bullying, a topic that has repeatedly been in the headlines in recent years. High school can be a place where a bullying culture flourishes, and we have seen tragic consequences in the proliferation of school shootings and teen suicides.  There is an increased risk of being the target of bullying for LGBT teens.
Danny describes the track "Set Me on Fire" as an anthem against oppression.  The video for the track is a visually stunning short film that forces viewers to confront the issue of bullying by using religious imagery and theatrics.  "Set Me on Fire" takes the story of the betrayal of Jesus, and the role of Pontius Pilate, who sentenced Jesus to be crucified, as a metaphor for the misfits who are persecuted as outsiders in high school. Danny experienced the ultimate revenge fantasy of the left of center kids by returning to the scene of the actual New Jersey high school he once attended to make the video.  Danny was happy to have gained the support of the school administration in his efforts.
I grew up in homogenized Brewer, Maine; the sister city of Bangor, the second largest city in Maine and hometown of Stephen King.  High school in the late 80's was very much like The Breakfast Club without the kumbaya Hollywood ending.  Groups were separate but not equal, and the jocks and cheerleaders ruled the school with relish.  Teen suicide and school shootings were not yet de rigueur on the evening news and the word "bullying" wasn't on our radar, but misfits (which I was) were not well tolerated and homophobia was prevalent.  In 1984, the year I was 14, Bangor was the scene of a dark moment in history that galvanized the community to begin to take a stand against intolerance.
Charlie Howard was a 23 year old Portsmouth, NH native who was bullied in high school for his sexual orientation.  In 1984 he was living in Bangor and was harassed by three teens as he was walking downtown with a companion.  The teens chased the pair and threw Charlie off the State Street Bridge into the water below, even as he pleaded that he couldn't swim.  He drowned.  The incident didn't have the national attention that the death of Matthew Shepard would have, but in Maine there was a strong reaction. EqualityMaine grew out of the aftermath of the incident.
Things have improved since the time that I was in high school, but there is far more work to be done.  Danny Blu is exactly the kind of unconventional role model that LGBT teens are apt to look to for navigating the angst of self discovery, and he takes the role seriously albeit in a very Danny Blu way.  Danny responds to fans personally, and he recently heard from a teen who credited Danny with being an inspiration in broaching the subject of sexuality with family and friends.  Danny described that exchange as the best Christmas present he could have gotten.
Danny's eleven track debut album "Do Your Worst" was originally released on a smaller scale in 2011 and is in wider release now with a second album, "Saint," planned for a spring 2014 release.  Danny Blu performs in the NYC area frequently and is hoping to plan a tour in Japan.  Check The Factory Blu website frequently for updates.  In the meantime, take a cue from Danny Blu and let your freak flag fly!

The Factory Blu
Danny Blu Facebook
Danny Blu YouTube Channel