This Heat - "This Heat"

I don't know if I could come up with a better description/review of This Heat's self-titled album (sometimes referred to as the Blue and Yellow record because of it's two-toned cover) than the one I found over at AllMusic, so I'm just gonna copy and paste theirs here.

"This British group could neither be called post-punk nor progressive rock, yet This Heat was one of the most influential groups of the late '70s. They created uncanny experimental rock music that has many similarities in approach to German pioneers such as Can and Faust. Other groundbreaking independent groups such as Henry Cow and Wire may be their only peers, and much later This Heat also became profoundly influential on the '90s genre known as post-rock. Their angular juxtapositions of abrasive guitar, driving rhythms, and noise loops on the opening cut, "Horizontal Hold," preempt much later activity in the electronica and drum'n'bass scenes. The outstanding "24 Track Loop" is based around a circular drum pattern that could have been a late-'90s jungle cut were it not recorded in late-'70s London, long before such strategies were even dreamed of in breakbeat music. This album is a great example of ahead-of-time genius, work that draws on elements of progressive rock, notably "Larks Tongues in Aspic"-era King Crimson for all its abrasive, warped rhythm, as well as Can, Neu!, and Faust's pioneering work — though there is little else that comes close to the unique and distinctive avant rock sound, an entirely new take on the rock format. Their self-titled debut is a radical conglomeration of progressive rock, musique concrète, free improvisation, and even — in a bizarre distillation — aspects of British folk can be heard in Charles Hayward's singing. There are very few records that can be considered truly important, landmark works of art that produce blueprints for an entire genre. In the case of this album, it's clear that this seminal work was integral in shaping the genres of post-punk, avant rock, and post-rock and like all great influential albums it seemed it had to wait two decades before its contents could truly be fathomed. In short, This Heat is essential."

So there you have it. This is a pretty goddamned good record and I highly recommend downloading it and then buying it, because it was reissued (again) fairly recently and isn't particularly difficult to find, nor is it very expensive. Hell, Amazon.com probably has a couple of cheap used copies up at any given moment, try there if you like it.

What'd be nice is if someone would take some initiative and remaster/re-release This Heat's second record, the superb Deceit (huh huh, get it? Deceit by This Heat? That's funny...), which is long out of print and sells for something ridiculous like $150 on any sites that have a copy. In any case, I'll probably put up here for your scrutiny at some point in the near future so don't go throwing that money at some huckster just yet...

Get this damn file!