Phew is the name of the Japanese punk chanteuse who first came came to notoriety as singer in the band Aunt Sally. These tracks from her 1981 self-titled LP are most notable, however for her backing band: Holger Czukay and Jaki Liebezeit of Can and always brilliant producer Conny Plank. This is some wonderfully austere stuff from a period in which our man Holger could virtually do no wrong. And what a prescient sound this is. Any number of current backward looking bands would give their eye teeth for the vibe and drum/synth groove made by this unlikely combination of middle aged German gents and adorable art-waif.

 
bonus clip : Phew with Aunt Sally in 1979 :

 
Phew @ Mutant Sounds

phew rulz!

I can’t believe I’ve never heard Phew before. What a revelation. Nothing about this seems dated.

There’s some clear Yoko influence going on here.

hey brad, i assume you’re familiar w/ jun togawa?

I picked this up at a record store a few years ago because I saw the Can guys listed on the back.  It’s a great record.  I often put P-adic on mixtapes or slip it into DJ sets.  So awesome to see it on dangerous minds with video links!  Nice job Brad.

Justin : I was not familiar. Just checking some stuff out now and loving it, thanks !!

she’s a trip! i randomly came across her while watching vids on youtube. i found this vid and instantly fell in love

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uxpylXf5fQ

i guess she’s one of jim o’rourke’s favorites

Dang ! that’s amazing. Screaming over the four seasons, haha !
Great noise guitar in there too. The other things I’ve found by her are amazing.  Wild hooks. i’m sure I’m missing out on a ton of stuff not being able to read Japanese.
Will definitely have to put a post on her together soon. Any site you’d like me to link to when thanking you, a last name perhaps ?

Phew can also be heard eerily chanting over dub-industrial creations on a couple of albums by Anton Fier(Feelies, Golden Palominos)titled Dreamspeed (1992) and Blind Light (1994). Other musicians on the albums include Bill Laswell, Bootsy Collins, and Nicky Skopelitis. Don’t know their availability status but I picked them up on a twofer at Amazon maybe five years ago. I play these a lot when i’m driving.