Hot Stuff

The first time I heard This Heat, I did not know what to make of them. I really thought that this was a joke. This band, was one of the biggest influences of the seventies Post-Punk movement.  It took a lot of convincing of that. I always give something a listen, but this at one point was a stretch for me. I decided one more time to give it a listen. My friend made me a tape copy of the album simply called This Heat. What did it for me is the draw of ideas that started with Can and Faust and from there they added more then that. Their genius was the fact they were ahead of their time. They did things on this album that did not show up in some music circles till the 1990's post rock ideas. Talk about the future, here it was and I did not get it. It took me about three years to understand just one album.

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.(AM) It was more then what is described in allmusic.com, it is something that takes the mind a while to dissect and really truly understand. Its abrasive, warped rhythm, sounding like King Crimson's Larks Tongue in Aspic. The music of the bands I mentioned above and also Neu! make this music in someway essential.

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.(AM) Every genre that I listen to with better intent is on this album. The music here was not yet created yet, but somehow This Heat did create it and the people that I listen too, like me finally figured out what was all the great fuss. For me it was a tougher sell not being a true musician. It was the music geek's pot of gold. The music even sounds like a machine. It might be not so good at first, but in due time it finally hit you on the back of the head like it should. Not much music can do that to me. Modest Mouse did it with lyrics, This Heat does it with it's shear unique and odd ways that really are hard to talk about or describe.

My hearing This Heat for first time happened in a Wire magazine sampler. They gave this wonderful description of how important they were and that they are near as an essential listen as some of the other stuff they talked about. I took a listen to the song in this sampler and I really at first thought it was Wire trying to be funny. When I dived into the article about them I realized where they were coming from. Some of the music I did listen to is really the because of the result of This Heat. The music may be odd and really not the simple, but it maybe the complex that makes the difference. I was so involved in the music or the genre the band I was listening to; I did not know what was the origin of it's beginnings. This Heat was the beginning of all the stuff I needed to hear.

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. (AM)

Don't take Allmusic's word for it. This Heat is very essential. It may take some time to figure out, but the reward will be there for you. I like This Heat and when I first got my own copy, it was liking going down a whole new area of music I never discovered. Take a listen and enjoy! I am sure you will thank me later. Rock on!!