I'll be away for a week or so; as usual feel free to leave some feedback: thoughts, suggestions, requests.
Take care.
29 March 2010
28 March 2010
THE SUN AND THE MOON - The Sun and the Moon
LP / CD Geffen Records 1988
"After The Chameleons split up in the summer of '87, [Mark] Burgess and drummer John Lever joined with a pair of guitarists to form a new quartet, The Sun and the Moon, which debuted in mid-'88 with an eponymous album that sounds a lot like The Chameleons. Burgess evinces even more imploring emotionality than in the past, and it's a very solid LP, if no challenge to The Chameleons' general brilliance (inventive guitarists Dave Fielding and Reg Smithies are greatly missed). The Sun and the Moon followed that record with the much-improved Alive;Not Dead EP, which sounds like a new group rather than a second-rate Chameleons. More acoustic and dreamy, three of the four songs are gently soothing, and almost submerge Burgess' sophisticated melodies. A raucous, madcap bluster through Alice Cooper's Elected (peppered with speeches from The Prisoner and updated anti-Tory lyrics) closes out the record. Despite this promising relaunch, The Sun and the Moon fell apart in April '89".
(Ira Robbins & Jack Rabid, Trouser Press)
ENJOY
A Matter of Conscience
"After The Chameleons split up in the summer of '87, [Mark] Burgess and drummer John Lever joined with a pair of guitarists to form a new quartet, The Sun and the Moon, which debuted in mid-'88 with an eponymous album that sounds a lot like The Chameleons. Burgess evinces even more imploring emotionality than in the past, and it's a very solid LP, if no challenge to The Chameleons' general brilliance (inventive guitarists Dave Fielding and Reg Smithies are greatly missed). The Sun and the Moon followed that record with the much-improved Alive;Not Dead EP, which sounds like a new group rather than a second-rate Chameleons. More acoustic and dreamy, three of the four songs are gently soothing, and almost submerge Burgess' sophisticated melodies. A raucous, madcap bluster through Alice Cooper's Elected (peppered with speeches from The Prisoner and updated anti-Tory lyrics) closes out the record. Despite this promising relaunch, The Sun and the Moon fell apart in April '89".
(Ira Robbins & Jack Rabid, Trouser Press)
ENJOY
A Matter of Conscience
27 March 2010
WIRE - Document and Eyewitness
LP + 12" EP Rough Trade Records 1981
CD reissue The Grey Area of Mute 1991 with bonus tracks
"Document and Eyewitness is a live album by the post-punk band Wire. It marked the end of the first period of Wire's activity and the end of their association with EMI. The Notre Dame Hall show records Wire after the tour to support 154, tired of playing the same old songs and continually moving forward. Of the seven songs, three were never recorded by Wire and the rest were captured as B-sides and other ephemeral recordings. The Electric Ballroom show documents a band revelling in their (artistic) freedom, creating a surreal and challenging show that not only included almost all new material, but also a Dadaist cabaret including a moving 6'x12' sheet behind which the band performed, assorted headdresses and props, and an MC, Wire's manager Mick Collins, who tried to keep control of proceedings. The show was performed before a restive punk crowd who were little appeased by a version of 12XU (edited down to a 15 second fragment for this release) and reacted with a thrown bottle during the unnamed instrumental.
The recording was made on an eight track tape recorder that was set up incorrectly, resulting in a distorted two track mix. The live version of Heartbeat was recorded in Montreux in March 1979 when Wire supported Roxy Music. The original vinyl release was a double with the Notre Dame Hall and Montreux tracks on one record and the Electric Ballroom tracks on the other. Our Swimmer and Midnight Bahnhof Cafe were originally released on Rough Trade as a 7" single (RT79) and are bonus tracks on Mute's CD reissue".
(Wikipedia)
"By 1980 Wire's contract with EMI had broken down and the band decided to 'challenge' the audience at what was to be their final gig in five years. What ensued was a set of chaotic, partially improvised pieces alongside rather dubious performance art. Although it's quite interesting to read about this part of Wire's history, it's not quite the same thing to actually listen to it. The Electric Ballroom set borders on the shambolic and the audio recording is close to bootleg quality. At times it's like being witness to a musical car crash - engaging, but perhaps not for the right reasons".
(Craig Grannell, wireviews.com)
ENJOY
Our Swimmer
CD reissue The Grey Area of Mute 1991 with bonus tracks
"Document and Eyewitness is a live album by the post-punk band Wire. It marked the end of the first period of Wire's activity and the end of their association with EMI. The Notre Dame Hall show records Wire after the tour to support 154, tired of playing the same old songs and continually moving forward. Of the seven songs, three were never recorded by Wire and the rest were captured as B-sides and other ephemeral recordings. The Electric Ballroom show documents a band revelling in their (artistic) freedom, creating a surreal and challenging show that not only included almost all new material, but also a Dadaist cabaret including a moving 6'x12' sheet behind which the band performed, assorted headdresses and props, and an MC, Wire's manager Mick Collins, who tried to keep control of proceedings. The show was performed before a restive punk crowd who were little appeased by a version of 12XU (edited down to a 15 second fragment for this release) and reacted with a thrown bottle during the unnamed instrumental.
The recording was made on an eight track tape recorder that was set up incorrectly, resulting in a distorted two track mix. The live version of Heartbeat was recorded in Montreux in March 1979 when Wire supported Roxy Music. The original vinyl release was a double with the Notre Dame Hall and Montreux tracks on one record and the Electric Ballroom tracks on the other. Our Swimmer and Midnight Bahnhof Cafe were originally released on Rough Trade as a 7" single (RT79) and are bonus tracks on Mute's CD reissue".
(Wikipedia)
"By 1980 Wire's contract with EMI had broken down and the band decided to 'challenge' the audience at what was to be their final gig in five years. What ensued was a set of chaotic, partially improvised pieces alongside rather dubious performance art. Although it's quite interesting to read about this part of Wire's history, it's not quite the same thing to actually listen to it. The Electric Ballroom set borders on the shambolic and the audio recording is close to bootleg quality. At times it's like being witness to a musical car crash - engaging, but perhaps not for the right reasons".
(Craig Grannell, wireviews.com)
ENJOY
Our Swimmer
26 March 2010
JAD FAIR & KRAMER - Roll Out the Barrel
LP / CD Shimmy Disc 1988
CD Shimmy Disc Europe 1989 with bonus tracks
"To call Jad's non-solo/non-band efforts 'collaborations' would be misleading. He simply proceeds, blinders on, to do his thing while his partner du jour scurries to keep up. For his part, Kramer contributes plenty of atmosphere but little needed direction to Roll Out the Barrel. Its 24 tracks take in steep peaks and deep valleys, with many of the former coming in the form of condensed covers like a rendition of Subterranean Homesick Blues as B-movie jungle hunt score".
(Steven Grant / Ira Robbins / David Sprague, Trouser Press)
"This is a satisfying pairing of Half Japanese mainstay Jad Fair and New York City scenester Mark Kramer. Kramer's musical settings take Jad into new terrain, but like a polite and eager tourist, Jad takes it all in with enthusiasm and wide-eyed wonder. If It's Okay is a stately, near-chamber music piece wherein the music dresses up Jad's usual romanticism in matching sonorities. Penn Jillette (of Penn & Teller) shows up to sing on two songs, most notably Bob Dylan's Subterranean Homesick Blues. The version is at once unexpected and perfectly natural - very subterranean, very homesick, and very blue. The set as a whole is the furthest Jad has ever been from punkish abandon (not Kramer's forte), but this very musical meeting ground makes Roll Out the Barrel one of Jad's best - albeit atypical - releases".
(promotional review)
ENJOY
Bird of Prey
CD Shimmy Disc Europe 1989 with bonus tracks
"To call Jad's non-solo/non-band efforts 'collaborations' would be misleading. He simply proceeds, blinders on, to do his thing while his partner du jour scurries to keep up. For his part, Kramer contributes plenty of atmosphere but little needed direction to Roll Out the Barrel. Its 24 tracks take in steep peaks and deep valleys, with many of the former coming in the form of condensed covers like a rendition of Subterranean Homesick Blues as B-movie jungle hunt score".
(Steven Grant / Ira Robbins / David Sprague, Trouser Press)
"This is a satisfying pairing of Half Japanese mainstay Jad Fair and New York City scenester Mark Kramer. Kramer's musical settings take Jad into new terrain, but like a polite and eager tourist, Jad takes it all in with enthusiasm and wide-eyed wonder. If It's Okay is a stately, near-chamber music piece wherein the music dresses up Jad's usual romanticism in matching sonorities. Penn Jillette (of Penn & Teller) shows up to sing on two songs, most notably Bob Dylan's Subterranean Homesick Blues. The version is at once unexpected and perfectly natural - very subterranean, very homesick, and very blue. The set as a whole is the furthest Jad has ever been from punkish abandon (not Kramer's forte), but this very musical meeting ground makes Roll Out the Barrel one of Jad's best - albeit atypical - releases".
(promotional review)
ENJOY
Bird of Prey
25 March 2010
THROBBING GRISTLE - Greatest Hits: Entertainment Through Pain
Original recordings 1977-1980
Compilation LP Rough Trade 1980
CD reissue The Grey Area of Mute 1990
"Abrasive, aggressive, and antagonistic, Britain's Throbbing Gristle pioneered industrial music; exploring death, mutilation, fascism, and degradation amid a thunderous cacophony of mechanical noise, tape loops, extremist anti-melodies, and bludgeoning beats, the group's cultural terrorism - the 'wreckers of civilization', one tabloid called them - raised the stakes of artistic confrontation to new heights, combating all notions of commerciality and good taste with a maniacal fervor".
(Jason Ankeny, All-Music Guide)
"Subtitled Entertainment Through Pain, 1980's Greatest Hits is only half-ironic. While it's true that the group only once troubled any sort of chart, with 1978's subversive underground synth-throb hit United, this is nonetheless an accurate representation of the group's best studio work. Largely drawn from singles like Adrenalin and Subhuman as well as the band's two most accessible (a highly subjective term) albums, D.O.A. and 20 Jazz Funk Greats, Greatest Hits is the foursome's most direct, and therefore effective, work. Although reissued by Mute in a less-censorious era, this edition retains one oddity from the original: Slug Bait, the lyrics of which are fashioned from the confessions of sex murderers, is rendered backwards, as Tiab Guls. That it's at least as potent in this guise is a remarkable feat. This is easily the best starting point for the Gristle novice, and frankly, the timid might want to end here as well".
(promotional notes)
ENJOY
United
Compilation LP Rough Trade 1980
CD reissue The Grey Area of Mute 1990
"Abrasive, aggressive, and antagonistic, Britain's Throbbing Gristle pioneered industrial music; exploring death, mutilation, fascism, and degradation amid a thunderous cacophony of mechanical noise, tape loops, extremist anti-melodies, and bludgeoning beats, the group's cultural terrorism - the 'wreckers of civilization', one tabloid called them - raised the stakes of artistic confrontation to new heights, combating all notions of commerciality and good taste with a maniacal fervor".
(Jason Ankeny, All-Music Guide)
"Subtitled Entertainment Through Pain, 1980's Greatest Hits is only half-ironic. While it's true that the group only once troubled any sort of chart, with 1978's subversive underground synth-throb hit United, this is nonetheless an accurate representation of the group's best studio work. Largely drawn from singles like Adrenalin and Subhuman as well as the band's two most accessible (a highly subjective term) albums, D.O.A. and 20 Jazz Funk Greats, Greatest Hits is the foursome's most direct, and therefore effective, work. Although reissued by Mute in a less-censorious era, this edition retains one oddity from the original: Slug Bait, the lyrics of which are fashioned from the confessions of sex murderers, is rendered backwards, as Tiab Guls. That it's at least as potent in this guise is a remarkable feat. This is easily the best starting point for the Gristle novice, and frankly, the timid might want to end here as well".
(promotional notes)
ENJOY
United
24 March 2010
PETER ASTOR - Submarine
LP / CD Creation Records 1990
"Peter Astor, as a prime mover in The Loft and The Weather Prophets, was one of the major figures in the formative days of Indie guitar music and the cabal of eccentrics around Creation Records. As a solo artist, he not only continued in this vein, but his thoughtful lyrics and intimate performance style endeared him not only to the chill out tendencies of the rave cohorts, but to the European audience. And so it was that one of the finest Gentlemen Adventurers of Rock'n'Roll was taken to the bosom of the French: 'Big in Europe, troubadour schtick... Les Inrocks support, deification - really! I was in a typically gallic great men supplement that came with the magazine... the prerequisite being that you had to smoke and, uh, be in some way great - you know, me, Serge, Leonard & Nick. Many travels around the European continent , note book in one hand, the other superglued to my forehead, palm outwards...the muse following...'"
(cherryred.co.uk/revola)
ENJOY
Walk Into the Wind
"Peter Astor, as a prime mover in The Loft and The Weather Prophets, was one of the major figures in the formative days of Indie guitar music and the cabal of eccentrics around Creation Records. As a solo artist, he not only continued in this vein, but his thoughtful lyrics and intimate performance style endeared him not only to the chill out tendencies of the rave cohorts, but to the European audience. And so it was that one of the finest Gentlemen Adventurers of Rock'n'Roll was taken to the bosom of the French: 'Big in Europe, troubadour schtick... Les Inrocks support, deification - really! I was in a typically gallic great men supplement that came with the magazine... the prerequisite being that you had to smoke and, uh, be in some way great - you know, me, Serge, Leonard & Nick. Many travels around the European continent , note book in one hand, the other superglued to my forehead, palm outwards...the muse following...'"
(cherryred.co.uk/revola)
ENJOY
Walk Into the Wind
23 March 2010
THE FUTURE / THE HUMAN LEAGUE - The Golden Hour of the Future
Original recordings 1977-1979
Compilation CD Black Melody 2002
Remastered CD reissue Black Melody 2008
"Synth pop's first international superstars, The Human League were among the earliest and most innovative bands to break into the pop mainstream on a wave of synthesizers and electronic rhythms, their marriage of infectious melodies and state-of-the-art technology proving enormously influential on countless acts following in their wake. The group was formed in Sheffield, England, in 1977 by synth players Martyn Ware and Ian Marsh, who'd previously teamed as the duo Dead Daughters; following a brief tenure as The Future, they rechristened themselves The Human League after enlisting vocalist Philip Oakey. The trio soon recorded a demo, and played their first live dates; they soon tapped Adrian Wright as their 'Director of Visuals', and his slide shows quickly became a key component of their performances".
(Jason Ankeny, All-Music Guide)
“'We grew up with the sound of machinery', synth player Martyn Ware remember in the notes to this compilation of songs recoreded as early as 1977, when The Human League pompously called themselves The Future. Growing up in Sheffield, England, a depressed steel town, turned them into technology-obsessed synth tweakers, Ware suggests. Scorning rock instruments ('There are no guitars or drums played on this record'), their early material features ramshackle assemblages of bleeps, zaps, television sound bites and dispassionate vocal blurts. On the excellent Dance Like A Star and a disturbing instrumental of the Four Tops I’ll Be There, pulsing disco grids uplift the electronic noodling. 'We’re the Human League, and we’re much cleverer than you', singer Phil Oakey announces. Not so fast, synth boy".
(Jonah Weiner, Blender Magazine)
ENJOY
Dance Like a Star
Compilation CD Black Melody 2002
Remastered CD reissue Black Melody 2008
"Synth pop's first international superstars, The Human League were among the earliest and most innovative bands to break into the pop mainstream on a wave of synthesizers and electronic rhythms, their marriage of infectious melodies and state-of-the-art technology proving enormously influential on countless acts following in their wake. The group was formed in Sheffield, England, in 1977 by synth players Martyn Ware and Ian Marsh, who'd previously teamed as the duo Dead Daughters; following a brief tenure as The Future, they rechristened themselves The Human League after enlisting vocalist Philip Oakey. The trio soon recorded a demo, and played their first live dates; they soon tapped Adrian Wright as their 'Director of Visuals', and his slide shows quickly became a key component of their performances".
(Jason Ankeny, All-Music Guide)
“'We grew up with the sound of machinery', synth player Martyn Ware remember in the notes to this compilation of songs recoreded as early as 1977, when The Human League pompously called themselves The Future. Growing up in Sheffield, England, a depressed steel town, turned them into technology-obsessed synth tweakers, Ware suggests. Scorning rock instruments ('There are no guitars or drums played on this record'), their early material features ramshackle assemblages of bleeps, zaps, television sound bites and dispassionate vocal blurts. On the excellent Dance Like A Star and a disturbing instrumental of the Four Tops I’ll Be There, pulsing disco grids uplift the electronic noodling. 'We’re the Human League, and we’re much cleverer than you', singer Phil Oakey announces. Not so fast, synth boy".
(Jonah Weiner, Blender Magazine)
ENJOY
Dance Like a Star
22 March 2010
ANDY SUMMERS & ROBERT FRIPP - I Advance Masked
LP A&M Records 1982
CD reissue A&M Records 1992
"While Andy Summers is best known as the guitarist of The Police, he has since forged a successful and acclaimed solo career with new age-influenced contemporary instrumental music that, like his work with Sting and company, draws on his love for jazz and his fascination with creating instrumental textures. (...) Summers first stepped out on his own in 1982, teaming with King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp on the jazz and Eastern tinged I Advance Masked. It was followed in 1984 with Bewitched, another Summers/Fripp collaboration, around the same time The Police officially disbanded".
(Steve Huey, All-Music Guide)
"Many a guitar fan would have predicted that a summit between legendary guitarists Andy Summers (The Police) and Robert Fripp (King Crimson) would result in a guitar solofest. But the music on their first collaboration together, I Advance Masked, stresses guitar textures and moods over indulgent soloing. Although the recording sessions weren't entirely enjoyable for Summers (who was experiencing marital problems at the time), some very beautiful music can be found on the resulting album. The music for the track Girl on a Swing does an excellent job of conveying the song's title in one's mind, and the duo's guitars weave wonderful polyrhythmic guitar lines throughout China - Yellow Leader. The Truth of Skies is an atmospheric piece, created by a wash of keyboard sounds and guitar dissonance, while New Marimba would have sounded right at home on an early-'80s King Crimson album. I Advance Masked has a dreamlike quality to it, and is definitely not typical rock music. It's highly recommended to fans of these two great and original guitarists".
(Greg Prato, All-Music Guide)
ENJOY
New Marimba
CD reissue A&M Records 1992
"While Andy Summers is best known as the guitarist of The Police, he has since forged a successful and acclaimed solo career with new age-influenced contemporary instrumental music that, like his work with Sting and company, draws on his love for jazz and his fascination with creating instrumental textures. (...) Summers first stepped out on his own in 1982, teaming with King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp on the jazz and Eastern tinged I Advance Masked. It was followed in 1984 with Bewitched, another Summers/Fripp collaboration, around the same time The Police officially disbanded".
(Steve Huey, All-Music Guide)
"Many a guitar fan would have predicted that a summit between legendary guitarists Andy Summers (The Police) and Robert Fripp (King Crimson) would result in a guitar solofest. But the music on their first collaboration together, I Advance Masked, stresses guitar textures and moods over indulgent soloing. Although the recording sessions weren't entirely enjoyable for Summers (who was experiencing marital problems at the time), some very beautiful music can be found on the resulting album. The music for the track Girl on a Swing does an excellent job of conveying the song's title in one's mind, and the duo's guitars weave wonderful polyrhythmic guitar lines throughout China - Yellow Leader. The Truth of Skies is an atmospheric piece, created by a wash of keyboard sounds and guitar dissonance, while New Marimba would have sounded right at home on an early-'80s King Crimson album. I Advance Masked has a dreamlike quality to it, and is definitely not typical rock music. It's highly recommended to fans of these two great and original guitarists".
(Greg Prato, All-Music Guide)
ENJOY
New Marimba
KLARK KENT - Kollected Works
Original recordings 1978-1980
Compilation CD IRS / A&M Records 1995
"Frustrated by seeing Sting take over and become the star of what had been his band, it's understandable that Stewart Copeland would want to create an alter ego that wrote and performed an entire album without the meddling of others. The resemblance to the Police is startling, and if nothing else this album made clear the extent of Copeland's contribution to the Police sound. But Copeland's vocals are, as always, a taste that few people have ever acquired".
(Paul Collins, All-Music Guide)
"Former Police drummer Stewart Copeland claims to play all the instruments on this set of bouncy, quirky pop songs, and there is a distinct sonic resemblance to his old band. The songs themselves are mostly novelty numbers, enjoyable for their content the first time you hear them, and for the sheer quality of the musicianship and production when the surprise wears off. The snotty Don't Care and the punk ska Too Cool to Calypso both are very successful as comedy numbers, but have plenty of musical weight behind them. Excesses could have even been a lost Police track, a creepy cautionary tale about vaguely realizing that you've developed some very self-destructive habits. The instrumental tracks are surprisingly good as well, and it's surprising that Copeland used an alias for much of this material - it's so good that most artists would be proud to be associated with it. There are touches of the trademark Copeland musical eccentricity, such as the kazoos that fade out Theme for a Kinetic Ritual and the hammering drums on the bizarre sci-fi cowboy epic Stay Ready, but most of the material on Kollected Works is inventive new wave pop of the highest order".
(Richard Foss, All-Music Guide)
ENJOY
Don't Care
Compilation CD IRS / A&M Records 1995
"Frustrated by seeing Sting take over and become the star of what had been his band, it's understandable that Stewart Copeland would want to create an alter ego that wrote and performed an entire album without the meddling of others. The resemblance to the Police is startling, and if nothing else this album made clear the extent of Copeland's contribution to the Police sound. But Copeland's vocals are, as always, a taste that few people have ever acquired".
(Paul Collins, All-Music Guide)
"Former Police drummer Stewart Copeland claims to play all the instruments on this set of bouncy, quirky pop songs, and there is a distinct sonic resemblance to his old band. The songs themselves are mostly novelty numbers, enjoyable for their content the first time you hear them, and for the sheer quality of the musicianship and production when the surprise wears off. The snotty Don't Care and the punk ska Too Cool to Calypso both are very successful as comedy numbers, but have plenty of musical weight behind them. Excesses could have even been a lost Police track, a creepy cautionary tale about vaguely realizing that you've developed some very self-destructive habits. The instrumental tracks are surprisingly good as well, and it's surprising that Copeland used an alias for much of this material - it's so good that most artists would be proud to be associated with it. There are touches of the trademark Copeland musical eccentricity, such as the kazoos that fade out Theme for a Kinetic Ritual and the hammering drums on the bizarre sci-fi cowboy epic Stay Ready, but most of the material on Kollected Works is inventive new wave pop of the highest order".
(Richard Foss, All-Music Guide)
ENJOY
Don't Care
21 March 2010
THE REVOLUTIONARY ARMY OF THE INFANT JESUS - The Gift of Tears + Mirror
LP Probe Plus 1987
CD Probe Plus 1991
2xCD reissue Apocalyptic Vision 1994 with bonus tracks
Incredible. What can I say? It's Celtic, it's folky. It's experimental. It's tribal-percussive. It has beautiful child-like female vocals harmonized with male vocals. Spoken words. Madrigals. Gregorian chants. Insane distorted guitar. Samples of people speaking Russian, French and German. A very sophisticated CD of music that is certainly experimental, keeping in tradition with the principles of some of the early industrial artists. One of the most unique bands in the world. Influences include Dead Can Dance, and the films of Luis Buneal and Andrei Tarkovsky. (...) The music is dreamy. Very cool. More of the same from the first release, but better. Immaculate! More female vocals, some heavy industrial beats mixed in with flutes, acoustic guitar and samples. More samples of Russian, French, and German. A little shortwave radio thrown in for good measure, plus some guitar feedback. A spacey jazz tune on here, reminds me of Twin Peaks if it was set in the 60's on the French Riviera. Incredible chant piece on here, a prayer recorded live. A very elegant, very dark, yet very spiritual and majestic CD.
(Josh Pyle)
LISTEN
&
ENJOY
Shadowlands
CD Probe Plus 1991
2xCD reissue Apocalyptic Vision 1994 with bonus tracks
Incredible. What can I say? It's Celtic, it's folky. It's experimental. It's tribal-percussive. It has beautiful child-like female vocals harmonized with male vocals. Spoken words. Madrigals. Gregorian chants. Insane distorted guitar. Samples of people speaking Russian, French and German. A very sophisticated CD of music that is certainly experimental, keeping in tradition with the principles of some of the early industrial artists. One of the most unique bands in the world. Influences include Dead Can Dance, and the films of Luis Buneal and Andrei Tarkovsky. (...) The music is dreamy. Very cool. More of the same from the first release, but better. Immaculate! More female vocals, some heavy industrial beats mixed in with flutes, acoustic guitar and samples. More samples of Russian, French, and German. A little shortwave radio thrown in for good measure, plus some guitar feedback. A spacey jazz tune on here, reminds me of Twin Peaks if it was set in the 60's on the French Riviera. Incredible chant piece on here, a prayer recorded live. A very elegant, very dark, yet very spiritual and majestic CD.
(Josh Pyle)
LISTEN
&
ENJOY
Shadowlands
20 March 2010
ORANGE JUICE - Ostrich Churchyard
Original recordings Postcard Records 1980-1981
CD Postcard Records 1992
"In 1980, indiepop as we have come to know it did not exist yet. Someone had to invent it, and a strong case can be made that Orange Juice did just that. Self-glossed as 'the Sound Of Young Scotland' as printed on the hand-folded sleeves of those early Postcard singles and inspired by the DIY ethos of punk, yet weaned on classic pop of all sorts—from the Byrds to the Velvet Underground to Chic and Motown—Edwyn Collins & Co. threw it all together and made it work: pop art imagery, funk and soul music, classic balladry, a decidedly romantic lyrical bent, a slight absurdist streak, an almost willful ignorance to learn to play properly, and an undeniable sense of energy and enthusiasm for their craft. They were rough around the edges and weren’t afraid to miss some notes; yet unlike their post-punk contemporaries, they strove toward classic pop. Led by the enigmatic Collins, whose distinctive voice was half-Bing Crosby and half-Mrs. Miller, the band invented campy romantic pop years before Morrissey and Marr perfected it. They were truly original in every sense of the word. (...) Ostrich Churchyard captures the band in LP mode and running the gamut from the tear-jerking In A Nutshell to the uplifting Byrdsian jangle of Dying Day to the discofied Satellite City and even a seasonal take on Vic Godard’s Holiday Hymn. Orange Juice had it all, and it is all on display here".
(stylusmagazine.com)
ENJOY
Falling and Laughing
CD Postcard Records 1992
"In 1980, indiepop as we have come to know it did not exist yet. Someone had to invent it, and a strong case can be made that Orange Juice did just that. Self-glossed as 'the Sound Of Young Scotland' as printed on the hand-folded sleeves of those early Postcard singles and inspired by the DIY ethos of punk, yet weaned on classic pop of all sorts—from the Byrds to the Velvet Underground to Chic and Motown—Edwyn Collins & Co. threw it all together and made it work: pop art imagery, funk and soul music, classic balladry, a decidedly romantic lyrical bent, a slight absurdist streak, an almost willful ignorance to learn to play properly, and an undeniable sense of energy and enthusiasm for their craft. They were rough around the edges and weren’t afraid to miss some notes; yet unlike their post-punk contemporaries, they strove toward classic pop. Led by the enigmatic Collins, whose distinctive voice was half-Bing Crosby and half-Mrs. Miller, the band invented campy romantic pop years before Morrissey and Marr perfected it. They were truly original in every sense of the word. (...) Ostrich Churchyard captures the band in LP mode and running the gamut from the tear-jerking In A Nutshell to the uplifting Byrdsian jangle of Dying Day to the discofied Satellite City and even a seasonal take on Vic Godard’s Holiday Hymn. Orange Juice had it all, and it is all on display here".
(stylusmagazine.com)
ENJOY
Falling and Laughing
19 March 2010
LUXURIA - Unanswerable Lust
LP / CD Beggars Banquet 1988
"Luxuria was a duo consisting of former Buzzcocks and Magazine singer/songwriter Howard Devoto and Noko. Devoto began working with the Liverpool musician a few years after the release of his solo album, Jerky Versions of the Dream. The duo eventually released two albums on Beggars Banquet, which ranged from sparse acoustic accompaniment to involved dance beats. Unanswerable Lust was released in 1988 to lukewarm reception, followed two years later by the improved Beast Box".
(Andy Kellman, All Music Guide)
"Weirdness is a powerful lure. It seems human curiosity cannot help but be drawn to the strange - be it intriguing, unsettling or just plain odd. Howard Devoto, one gets the impression, is well aware of this, having wrapped an entire career around the concept of artful subversion. From the early punk playground of the Buzzcocks' Spiral Scratch EP to the nervy, fraught sounds of Magazine, Devoto has consistently delivered doses of the beguilingly bizarre. The Luxuria project (just a couple of paces shy of an 'art happening') found him paired up with enigmatic multi-instrumentalist Noko, a man who was occasionally heard to exclaim things like 'I live in sin and artifice with a diamond-encrusted cat and a small collection of religious icons in a council flat on the Isle of Dogs'. It was that sort of partnership. Pretentious? Well, perhaps just a little".
(Peter Parrish, eMusic.com)
ENJOY
Redneck
"Luxuria was a duo consisting of former Buzzcocks and Magazine singer/songwriter Howard Devoto and Noko. Devoto began working with the Liverpool musician a few years after the release of his solo album, Jerky Versions of the Dream. The duo eventually released two albums on Beggars Banquet, which ranged from sparse acoustic accompaniment to involved dance beats. Unanswerable Lust was released in 1988 to lukewarm reception, followed two years later by the improved Beast Box".
(Andy Kellman, All Music Guide)
"Weirdness is a powerful lure. It seems human curiosity cannot help but be drawn to the strange - be it intriguing, unsettling or just plain odd. Howard Devoto, one gets the impression, is well aware of this, having wrapped an entire career around the concept of artful subversion. From the early punk playground of the Buzzcocks' Spiral Scratch EP to the nervy, fraught sounds of Magazine, Devoto has consistently delivered doses of the beguilingly bizarre. The Luxuria project (just a couple of paces shy of an 'art happening') found him paired up with enigmatic multi-instrumentalist Noko, a man who was occasionally heard to exclaim things like 'I live in sin and artifice with a diamond-encrusted cat and a small collection of religious icons in a council flat on the Isle of Dogs'. It was that sort of partnership. Pretentious? Well, perhaps just a little".
(Peter Parrish, eMusic.com)
ENJOY
Redneck
18 March 2010
THE RUBINOOS - The Rubinoos
LP Beserkley Records 1977
CD reissue Beserkley Records 1987
"For a brief moment, the Rubinoos seemed to be the last hope for pure pop music, carrying on the tradition of the Raspberries with an engaging blend of innocent bubblegum and power pop".
(Chris Woodstra, All-Music Guide)
"This little gem is a celebration of pop music. There's no other way to describe this record. Catchy tunes with a touch of tongue-in-cheek, mixed with exuberance and joy make this record as much fun as when it was first released".
(Jim Worbois, All-Music Guide)
ENJOY
I Think We're Alone Now
CD reissue Beserkley Records 1987
"For a brief moment, the Rubinoos seemed to be the last hope for pure pop music, carrying on the tradition of the Raspberries with an engaging blend of innocent bubblegum and power pop".
(Chris Woodstra, All-Music Guide)
"This little gem is a celebration of pop music. There's no other way to describe this record. Catchy tunes with a touch of tongue-in-cheek, mixed with exuberance and joy make this record as much fun as when it was first released".
(Jim Worbois, All-Music Guide)
ENJOY
I Think We're Alone Now
17 March 2010
PIETER NOOTEN & MICHAEL BROOK - Sleeps with the Fishes
LP / CD 4AD Records 1987
"By late 1987, Pieter Nooten had left Clan Of Xymox, but Ivo continued to be intrigued by the tapes Pieter would send him. He suggested a team-up with guitarist/producer Michael Brook, who had been working with Brian Eno as well as recording for Eno's Opal label. The result was a quiet album of fragile songs and dreamlike soundscapes entitled Sleeps With The Fishes".
(4ad.com)
“Pieter Nooten’s Sleeps With The Fishes is adept at taking what should be morose music and converts it into something resplendent. And it maintains that sad, beautiful sensation throughout its length. Not too many albums have such a perfectly-realized mood and atmosphere, one that draws you into its haunting world and stays with you long after the last song ends. But Sleeps With The Fishes is just such an album. And though some of its content delves into the Goth and ambient genres, it easily avoids the former's self-indulgent melodramatics and the latter's vacuousness.”
(Opus.com)
ENJOY
Clouds
"By late 1987, Pieter Nooten had left Clan Of Xymox, but Ivo continued to be intrigued by the tapes Pieter would send him. He suggested a team-up with guitarist/producer Michael Brook, who had been working with Brian Eno as well as recording for Eno's Opal label. The result was a quiet album of fragile songs and dreamlike soundscapes entitled Sleeps With The Fishes".
(4ad.com)
“Pieter Nooten’s Sleeps With The Fishes is adept at taking what should be morose music and converts it into something resplendent. And it maintains that sad, beautiful sensation throughout its length. Not too many albums have such a perfectly-realized mood and atmosphere, one that draws you into its haunting world and stays with you long after the last song ends. But Sleeps With The Fishes is just such an album. And though some of its content delves into the Goth and ambient genres, it easily avoids the former's self-indulgent melodramatics and the latter's vacuousness.”
(Opus.com)
ENJOY
Clouds
16 March 2010
Request: ABLE TASMANS - Hey Spinner!
LP / CD Flying Nun 1990
"In New Zealand, where bands routinely break up, trade members and then form anew in order to requalify for state-sponsored funding grants, the Able Tasmans managed to stay the course for over a decade. The group - whose moniker is a pun based on the name of 17th-century Dutch explorer Abel Tasman, who discovered New Zealand - was able to maintain most of its original lineup from the mid-'80s through the mid-'90s, all the while peddling a unique brand of guitar/keyboard pop of consistently high quality. The Tasmans' early output, most of it quite good, is available on the CD version of A Cuppa Tea and a Lie Down, which also includes the band's debut EP, The Tired Sun, and a few items from assorted compilations. The group really came into its own, however, with Hey Spinner!, one of the finest records ever to emerge from New Zealand. The band's signature sound defined by the interplay between Peter Keen's soaring, angelic voice and Leslie Jonkers' keyboards is used to its fullest effect. Despite some adornments that would sink less talented outfits (like the occasional use of a cello or clarinet and the periodic Victorian flourishes in Jonkers' playing), the intelligent scope of the lyrics and the expertly sculpted songcraft make this a major pleasure from start to finish".
(Paul Lukas, Trouser Press)
ENJOY
Angry Martyr
"In New Zealand, where bands routinely break up, trade members and then form anew in order to requalify for state-sponsored funding grants, the Able Tasmans managed to stay the course for over a decade. The group - whose moniker is a pun based on the name of 17th-century Dutch explorer Abel Tasman, who discovered New Zealand - was able to maintain most of its original lineup from the mid-'80s through the mid-'90s, all the while peddling a unique brand of guitar/keyboard pop of consistently high quality. The Tasmans' early output, most of it quite good, is available on the CD version of A Cuppa Tea and a Lie Down, which also includes the band's debut EP, The Tired Sun, and a few items from assorted compilations. The group really came into its own, however, with Hey Spinner!, one of the finest records ever to emerge from New Zealand. The band's signature sound defined by the interplay between Peter Keen's soaring, angelic voice and Leslie Jonkers' keyboards is used to its fullest effect. Despite some adornments that would sink less talented outfits (like the occasional use of a cello or clarinet and the periodic Victorian flourishes in Jonkers' playing), the intelligent scope of the lyrics and the expertly sculpted songcraft make this a major pleasure from start to finish".
(Paul Lukas, Trouser Press)
ENJOY
Angry Martyr
15 March 2010
DEAD CAN DANCE - Garden of the Arcane Delights
12" EP 4AD Records 1984
I'm still awestruck after attending last night's Brendan Perry gig, so here it is: a personal favourite to underline the occasion...
ENJOY
In Power We Entrust the Love Advocated
I'm still awestruck after attending last night's Brendan Perry gig, so here it is: a personal favourite to underline the occasion...
ENJOY
In Power We Entrust the Love Advocated
14 March 2010
BRITISH ELECTRIC FOUNDATION - Music of Quality and Distinction, Volume 1
LP Virgin Records 1982
CD reissue Ten Records 1991
"Music of Quality and Distinction, B.E.F.'s first venture into pop experimentation, brings in a number of interesting people (including Tina Turner, Gary Glitter, Sandie Shaw and Paul Jones) to perform cover versions of well-known and not-so-well-known oldies, from These Boots Are Made for Walking and Wichita Lineman to David Bowie's The Secret Life of Arabia and Lou Reed's Perfect Day. Older songs hold up better under this treatment than new ones but, overall, choices of singers and musicians are on the mark. Despite any social implications (or lack thereof), a good time".
(Steven Grant, Trouser Press)
ENJOY
The Secret Life of Arabia
CD reissue Ten Records 1991
"Music of Quality and Distinction, B.E.F.'s first venture into pop experimentation, brings in a number of interesting people (including Tina Turner, Gary Glitter, Sandie Shaw and Paul Jones) to perform cover versions of well-known and not-so-well-known oldies, from These Boots Are Made for Walking and Wichita Lineman to David Bowie's The Secret Life of Arabia and Lou Reed's Perfect Day. Older songs hold up better under this treatment than new ones but, overall, choices of singers and musicians are on the mark. Despite any social implications (or lack thereof), a good time".
(Steven Grant, Trouser Press)
ENJOY
The Secret Life of Arabia
BRITISH ELECTRIC FOUNDATION - Music For Stowaways
Cassette Virgin Records 1981
Limited edition of 10.000 copies
"In search of more meaningful dance music, Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh abandoned the about-to-be-enormous Human League in 1980 to form the more experimental (musically and structurally) British Electric Foundation. The core members - Marsh, Ware and singer Glenn Gregory - also work as Heaven 17, a 'division' of B.E.F. Confused? While Heaven 17 is geared for dance funk'n'soul, the short-lived B.E.F. pursued conceptual one-offs with a variety of people, like the TV dance troupe Hot Gossip. Music for Stowaways - released only on cassette - consists of moody instrumentals, ranging from funk-rock to icy Germanic synth-garde to electro-bop and sound experiments. Much of it was reissued on the seven-track Music for Listening To".
(Steven Grant, Trouser Press)
"The production arm of early synth-popsters Heaven 17 and occasionally a recording entity in its own right, B.E.F. (or British Electric Foundation) was formed by Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh just after their exit from the original lineup of the Human League. Ware and Marsh had formed the Human League in 1977 as a completely electronic synthesizer band. (...) Late in 1980 however, both Ware and Marsh left the band over disagreements about its musical direction. Eager to avoid repeating the mistakes they felt the Human League were making (and would continue to make), the pair incorporated British Electric Foundation as a production team instead of a band. (...) One of the few synth-pop records of the era - instrumental or otherwise - that attempted to develop the universe of possibilities inherent in the form, [Music for Stowaways] spans percussion-heavy sequencer trance, free-floating ambience and minimalist proto-techno as well as more recognizable synth-funk (notably, the original version of Heaven 17's Groove Thang). It's not even a matter of sounding dated; [Music for Stowaways] sounds decades ahead of its time and could easily be taken for music produced 20 years later".
(John Bush, All-Music Guide)
ENJOY
Wipe the Board Clean
Limited edition of 10.000 copies
"In search of more meaningful dance music, Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh abandoned the about-to-be-enormous Human League in 1980 to form the more experimental (musically and structurally) British Electric Foundation. The core members - Marsh, Ware and singer Glenn Gregory - also work as Heaven 17, a 'division' of B.E.F. Confused? While Heaven 17 is geared for dance funk'n'soul, the short-lived B.E.F. pursued conceptual one-offs with a variety of people, like the TV dance troupe Hot Gossip. Music for Stowaways - released only on cassette - consists of moody instrumentals, ranging from funk-rock to icy Germanic synth-garde to electro-bop and sound experiments. Much of it was reissued on the seven-track Music for Listening To".
(Steven Grant, Trouser Press)
"The production arm of early synth-popsters Heaven 17 and occasionally a recording entity in its own right, B.E.F. (or British Electric Foundation) was formed by Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh just after their exit from the original lineup of the Human League. Ware and Marsh had formed the Human League in 1977 as a completely electronic synthesizer band. (...) Late in 1980 however, both Ware and Marsh left the band over disagreements about its musical direction. Eager to avoid repeating the mistakes they felt the Human League were making (and would continue to make), the pair incorporated British Electric Foundation as a production team instead of a band. (...) One of the few synth-pop records of the era - instrumental or otherwise - that attempted to develop the universe of possibilities inherent in the form, [Music for Stowaways] spans percussion-heavy sequencer trance, free-floating ambience and minimalist proto-techno as well as more recognizable synth-funk (notably, the original version of Heaven 17's Groove Thang). It's not even a matter of sounding dated; [Music for Stowaways] sounds decades ahead of its time and could easily be taken for music produced 20 years later".
(John Bush, All-Music Guide)
ENJOY
Wipe the Board Clean
13 March 2010
Request: CHRIS STAMEY - Wonderful Life
Original recordings 1982-1984
Compilation CD East Side Digital 1992
"Chris Stamey's Wonderful Life is a rejigged combination of the singer/guitarist's first two solo releases, recorded as he was leaving the dB's in 1982 and 1983. Released in 1992 alongside similarly reworked versions of the output of his early band Sneakers and mid-'80s holiday tribute Christmas Time, the CD rather drastically remixes two key tracks, Never Enters My Mind and the scathing Face of the Crowd. The new versions aren't necessarily worse, but they'll be a shock to those familiar with the original It's a Wonderful Life release on DB Records. The combination of that album and the four-song Instant Excitement EP on this disc shows how remarkably prolific Stamey was during this 18 months (during which, don't forget, he also wrote and recorded most of the classic second dB's album, Repercussion). Coming directly after the avant pop experimentation and dark, brooding lyrics of It's a Wonderful Life, the comparatively sunny songs on Instant Excitement, especially the Mike Nesmith-like Excitement and the winsome When We're Alone, sound that much cheerier. The disc ends with a previously unreleased demo, Something Came Over Me, and two outstanding re-recordings of songs from It's a Wonderful Life, a ghostly extended version of Winter of Love and a divine acoustic guitar and violin reading of the title track, which were previously available only on an Albion Records 12" single released in 1984".
(Stewart Mason, All-Music Guide)
ENJOY
Never Enters My Mind
Compilation CD East Side Digital 1992
"Chris Stamey's Wonderful Life is a rejigged combination of the singer/guitarist's first two solo releases, recorded as he was leaving the dB's in 1982 and 1983. Released in 1992 alongside similarly reworked versions of the output of his early band Sneakers and mid-'80s holiday tribute Christmas Time, the CD rather drastically remixes two key tracks, Never Enters My Mind and the scathing Face of the Crowd. The new versions aren't necessarily worse, but they'll be a shock to those familiar with the original It's a Wonderful Life release on DB Records. The combination of that album and the four-song Instant Excitement EP on this disc shows how remarkably prolific Stamey was during this 18 months (during which, don't forget, he also wrote and recorded most of the classic second dB's album, Repercussion). Coming directly after the avant pop experimentation and dark, brooding lyrics of It's a Wonderful Life, the comparatively sunny songs on Instant Excitement, especially the Mike Nesmith-like Excitement and the winsome When We're Alone, sound that much cheerier. The disc ends with a previously unreleased demo, Something Came Over Me, and two outstanding re-recordings of songs from It's a Wonderful Life, a ghostly extended version of Winter of Love and a divine acoustic guitar and violin reading of the title track, which were previously available only on an Albion Records 12" single released in 1984".
(Stewart Mason, All-Music Guide)
ENJOY
Never Enters My Mind
12 March 2010
THE ARYAN AQUARIANS - Meet Their Waterloo
LP L.A.Y.L.A.H. Antirecords 1987
CD reissue Durtro Jnana 1997
Included in the "Current 93 Presents..." series
"It was, unfortunately, the worst album I had ever been involved in, though I still enjoy the breathy melancholy of Niki's My Secret Gardener, and the camp foolishness of The Aryan Aquarians' Theme Song. I do console myself with the fact that I only sang on two songs, and mumbled on one other. The album's only redeeming feature was that, during it's recording, HÖH and I decided to do an album together, which would result in Island. But, for all those who are tempted to buy it at an extortionate price from a record dealer, You can hear for a low price a reason not to. For those who have already bought it on vinyl, all I can say is... Sorry!"
~ David Tibet, far from Waterloo, and never to return there July 18 1997
(cd reissue booklet notes)
ENJOY
Cry Cry Cry
CD reissue Durtro Jnana 1997
Included in the "Current 93 Presents..." series
"It was, unfortunately, the worst album I had ever been involved in, though I still enjoy the breathy melancholy of Niki's My Secret Gardener, and the camp foolishness of The Aryan Aquarians' Theme Song. I do console myself with the fact that I only sang on two songs, and mumbled on one other. The album's only redeeming feature was that, during it's recording, HÖH and I decided to do an album together, which would result in Island. But, for all those who are tempted to buy it at an extortionate price from a record dealer, You can hear for a low price a reason not to. For those who have already bought it on vinyl, all I can say is... Sorry!"
~ David Tibet, far from Waterloo, and never to return there July 18 1997
(cd reissue booklet notes)
ENJOY
Cry Cry Cry
11 March 2010
KING MISSILE - Mystical Shit + Fluting on the Hump
LP Shimmy Disc 1987
LP Shimmy Disc 1990
CD Shimmy Disc Europe 1990
CD reissue Instinct Records 2004
"Essentially a vehicle for the musings of John S. Hall, King Missile merged off-kilter spoken word monologues with eclectic, mildly psychedelic rock & roll. Hall's dry, absurdist sense of humor colored much of the group's output, blurring the lines between comedy, Beat poetry, narrative prose, and simple rock lyrics. Yet in spite of their focus on Hall's literary bent and all its New York artiness, King Missile was most definitely a band, and relied on music to play a much more than perfunctory role in their overall effect. The band initially won a following on college radio with several albums for producer Kramer's eccentric Shimmy-Disc label, while surviving a major lineup overhaul. (...) With Kramer contributing musical assistance on bass and other instruments, King Missile's early sound was somewhat akin to the Velvet Underground, with elements of '60s folk-rock and psychedelia".
(Steve Huey, All-Music Guide)
"In the mid-1980s, John S. Hall would get up on NYC anti-folk stages (centered at the East Village's Sidewalk Café), and spout his wonderful poetic nonsense about fish betting on horseracing, driving cheesecake trucks, and way-cool saviors baking delicious cakes, in his inimitable wry, deadpan, ironic voice. By the end of the decade, he had hooked up with guitarist Dogbowl and built up a band whose cobbled-together, gleefully directionless, lower-than-lo-fi sound paired deliciously with its frontman's wandering stories. King Missile caught the eye of avant-garde producer Kramer, signed to his Shimmydisc, and released three bizarre records that built immense college buzz about the band. Mystical Shit / Fluting on the Hump gathers together the top songs from the act's Shimmydisc recordings, including the now-standards hinted at in the first sentence. The highest peak is the irreverent Take Stuff From Work, which ends on a classic note: 'I'm getting paid to write songs about stuff I stole from them. Life is good'. This ultimately sums up the spirit of the irascible Hall (and to an extent King Missile): for all his angst, he's clearly having fun".
(reissue press release 2004)
ENJOY
Take Stuff From Work
Jesus Was Way Cool
LP Shimmy Disc 1990
CD Shimmy Disc Europe 1990
CD reissue Instinct Records 2004
"Essentially a vehicle for the musings of John S. Hall, King Missile merged off-kilter spoken word monologues with eclectic, mildly psychedelic rock & roll. Hall's dry, absurdist sense of humor colored much of the group's output, blurring the lines between comedy, Beat poetry, narrative prose, and simple rock lyrics. Yet in spite of their focus on Hall's literary bent and all its New York artiness, King Missile was most definitely a band, and relied on music to play a much more than perfunctory role in their overall effect. The band initially won a following on college radio with several albums for producer Kramer's eccentric Shimmy-Disc label, while surviving a major lineup overhaul. (...) With Kramer contributing musical assistance on bass and other instruments, King Missile's early sound was somewhat akin to the Velvet Underground, with elements of '60s folk-rock and psychedelia".
(Steve Huey, All-Music Guide)
"In the mid-1980s, John S. Hall would get up on NYC anti-folk stages (centered at the East Village's Sidewalk Café), and spout his wonderful poetic nonsense about fish betting on horseracing, driving cheesecake trucks, and way-cool saviors baking delicious cakes, in his inimitable wry, deadpan, ironic voice. By the end of the decade, he had hooked up with guitarist Dogbowl and built up a band whose cobbled-together, gleefully directionless, lower-than-lo-fi sound paired deliciously with its frontman's wandering stories. King Missile caught the eye of avant-garde producer Kramer, signed to his Shimmydisc, and released three bizarre records that built immense college buzz about the band. Mystical Shit / Fluting on the Hump gathers together the top songs from the act's Shimmydisc recordings, including the now-standards hinted at in the first sentence. The highest peak is the irreverent Take Stuff From Work, which ends on a classic note: 'I'm getting paid to write songs about stuff I stole from them. Life is good'. This ultimately sums up the spirit of the irascible Hall (and to an extent King Missile): for all his angst, he's clearly having fun".
(reissue press release 2004)
ENJOY
Take Stuff From Work
Jesus Was Way Cool
10 March 2010
P'O - Whilst Climbing Thieves Vie For Attention
LP Court Records 1983
CD reissue WMO 1998 with bonus tracks
"Originally formed with the intention of being a live band, P'o hastily recorded this album when Peter Price announced plans to emigrate. The impulsive nature of this decision is evident in many of the tracks, which often seem partially improvised. (...) The bulk of this collection is very listenable but too many tracks rely on mangling a pop riff and playing ethnic drumming over it. Some of the ambient tracks are reminiscent of Leer & Rental's The Bridge and the screwed up pop numbers will be familiar to owners of Alone on Penguin Island. If you're a fan of either of those productions or Dome you'll find this a worthy purchase. The album's vague pop leaning (at least in the fact that there's no out and out abstraction) may also tempt more conventional listeners to another side of the 'greater Wire' story".
(Craig Grannell, wireviews.com)
ENJOY
Crystal Streams
CD reissue WMO 1998 with bonus tracks
"Originally formed with the intention of being a live band, P'o hastily recorded this album when Peter Price announced plans to emigrate. The impulsive nature of this decision is evident in many of the tracks, which often seem partially improvised. (...) The bulk of this collection is very listenable but too many tracks rely on mangling a pop riff and playing ethnic drumming over it. Some of the ambient tracks are reminiscent of Leer & Rental's The Bridge and the screwed up pop numbers will be familiar to owners of Alone on Penguin Island. If you're a fan of either of those productions or Dome you'll find this a worthy purchase. The album's vague pop leaning (at least in the fact that there's no out and out abstraction) may also tempt more conventional listeners to another side of the 'greater Wire' story".
(Craig Grannell, wireviews.com)
ENJOY
Crystal Streams
9 March 2010
SNAPPER - Shotgun Blossom
LP / CD Avalanche Records 1990
CD reissue Flying Nun Records 1992
"Led by Clean and Chills alumnus Peter Gutteridge, Snapper roared out of the late 80s Flying Nun scene and dazzled with their dark, droning sound. Their dense, motorik sound owed as much to Suicide and Krautrock as The Velvet Underground, dominated by distorted organs that buzzed like angry hornets and a throbbing drum pulse".
(slumberlandrecords.com)
"The tag that Snapper often got in retrospect was that they were the Stereolab before Stereolab, though that only captures part of what made them and the Shotgun Blossom album such a great listen. Certainly in an uncanny way the group musically found the feedback/organ drone/motorik drive combination that Stereolab had as an early calling card (the fact that the second song is called Can is also a fairly clear tip of the hat to a past inspiration). The fact that the glammy stomp of What Are You Thinking predates Stereolab's Transona 5 by four years is even more striking in retrospect. (...) The tension between overdrive and restraint on many levels recurs throughout Shotgun Blossom after being established with a bang on the opening Pop Your Top. The soaring, meditative guitar lines cutting through the mayhem on Hot Sun is a prime example, as is the full-on space/motorik combination Emmanuelle. The swagger on songs like Telepod Fly suggests even older rock roots — the squeal/shout at the end of certain lines is a kick. When the band tries something different here and there, so established is the sonic template in general that the results are downright surprising, thus the sweet semi-Byrds jangle of Dead Pictures (immediately followed by Snapper and the Ocean, which blends that with the usual sound in a perfect combination)".
(Ned Raggett, All-Music Guide)
ENJOY
Snapper and the Ocean
CD reissue Flying Nun Records 1992
"Led by Clean and Chills alumnus Peter Gutteridge, Snapper roared out of the late 80s Flying Nun scene and dazzled with their dark, droning sound. Their dense, motorik sound owed as much to Suicide and Krautrock as The Velvet Underground, dominated by distorted organs that buzzed like angry hornets and a throbbing drum pulse".
(slumberlandrecords.com)
"The tag that Snapper often got in retrospect was that they were the Stereolab before Stereolab, though that only captures part of what made them and the Shotgun Blossom album such a great listen. Certainly in an uncanny way the group musically found the feedback/organ drone/motorik drive combination that Stereolab had as an early calling card (the fact that the second song is called Can is also a fairly clear tip of the hat to a past inspiration). The fact that the glammy stomp of What Are You Thinking predates Stereolab's Transona 5 by four years is even more striking in retrospect. (...) The tension between overdrive and restraint on many levels recurs throughout Shotgun Blossom after being established with a bang on the opening Pop Your Top. The soaring, meditative guitar lines cutting through the mayhem on Hot Sun is a prime example, as is the full-on space/motorik combination Emmanuelle. The swagger on songs like Telepod Fly suggests even older rock roots — the squeal/shout at the end of certain lines is a kick. When the band tries something different here and there, so established is the sonic template in general that the results are downright surprising, thus the sweet semi-Byrds jangle of Dead Pictures (immediately followed by Snapper and the Ocean, which blends that with the usual sound in a perfect combination)".
(Ned Raggett, All-Music Guide)
ENJOY
Snapper and the Ocean
8 March 2010
EASTERHOUSE - Contenders
LP Rough Trade 1986
CD Rough Trade 1986 with bonus tracks
Japanese pressing
"Easterhouse's original incarnation - a Manchester quintet led by argumentative brothers Andy (vocals/lyrics) and Ivor (guitar) Perry - turned strident leftist rhetoric into bracing, cathartic music before predictably imploding over ideological conflicts. The band's demise was a shame, since Easterhouse seemed well on its way towards perfecting a brand of explicitly political rock that compromised neither music nor message. (...) Contenders, Easterhouse's abortive shot at US success, almost makes good on the band's lofty goals. Their lyrical concerns are compelling and clear without falling prey to sloganeering or anthem-mongering. The music is both melodic and muscular, lending authority to Andy's regret-tinged broadsides. Songs like Out on Your Own, To Live Like This and Cargo of Souls vilify various institutions (including England's Labour Party) without losing sight of the human cost of governmental oppression".
(Scott Schinder, Trouser Press)
"A stridently political band that came up in the mid-'80s and failed to follow through on high expectations, Easterhouse's early sound wasn't unlike a cross between the Chameleons and the Smiths. Early on, they won the vocal adoration of the latter group's Morrissey, who no doubt found the left-wing leanings and roaring sound - featuring blaring, reverb-drenched guitars - a powerful combination. However, the members weren't so closely knit, and by the time the group released its second and much different album, only one original member remained".
(Andy Kellman, All-Music Guide)
"Formed in Manchester by the Perry Brothers in the mid-80's they first came to prominence after being championed by Morrisey. They signed to Rough Trade Records and the singles Whistling In The Dark and Inspiration were both Top 5 independent chart hits. The singles were both convincing accommodations between music and politics, the band being deeply affected by the betrayal of the working class by the labour Movement. Their debut album Contenders was well received by press and public alike and reached No. 3 in the Indie charts in July '86".
(Cherry Red Records)
ENJOY
Estates
CD Rough Trade 1986 with bonus tracks
Japanese pressing
"Easterhouse's original incarnation - a Manchester quintet led by argumentative brothers Andy (vocals/lyrics) and Ivor (guitar) Perry - turned strident leftist rhetoric into bracing, cathartic music before predictably imploding over ideological conflicts. The band's demise was a shame, since Easterhouse seemed well on its way towards perfecting a brand of explicitly political rock that compromised neither music nor message. (...) Contenders, Easterhouse's abortive shot at US success, almost makes good on the band's lofty goals. Their lyrical concerns are compelling and clear without falling prey to sloganeering or anthem-mongering. The music is both melodic and muscular, lending authority to Andy's regret-tinged broadsides. Songs like Out on Your Own, To Live Like This and Cargo of Souls vilify various institutions (including England's Labour Party) without losing sight of the human cost of governmental oppression".
(Scott Schinder, Trouser Press)
"A stridently political band that came up in the mid-'80s and failed to follow through on high expectations, Easterhouse's early sound wasn't unlike a cross between the Chameleons and the Smiths. Early on, they won the vocal adoration of the latter group's Morrissey, who no doubt found the left-wing leanings and roaring sound - featuring blaring, reverb-drenched guitars - a powerful combination. However, the members weren't so closely knit, and by the time the group released its second and much different album, only one original member remained".
(Andy Kellman, All-Music Guide)
"Formed in Manchester by the Perry Brothers in the mid-80's they first came to prominence after being championed by Morrisey. They signed to Rough Trade Records and the singles Whistling In The Dark and Inspiration were both Top 5 independent chart hits. The singles were both convincing accommodations between music and politics, the band being deeply affected by the betrayal of the working class by the labour Movement. Their debut album Contenders was well received by press and public alike and reached No. 3 in the Indie charts in July '86".
(Cherry Red Records)
ENJOY
Estates
7 March 2010
VARIOUS ARTISTS - Des Jeunes Gens Mödernes
Compilation CD 2008 Naïve 2008
"Between the late 70s and mid-80s, in the wake of the punk wave and in parallel to other types of music like disco, funk, ska and reggae, a prolific and chaotic music scene began to develop in France, combining the energy of rock and the nihilism of punk with electronic experimentation.
The period was not, on the whole, one of optimism and joy, played out as it was against a background of economic crisis and the cold war. The tendency was rather towards disillusion, accompanied by a clear-sighted recognition that a stalemate between the generations would be unavoidable in the short term.
Paradoxically, as it would appear, a kind of hope and frenzied vitality could also be detected during these years. Both were fed by a sort of modernist utopia, which was sometimes wilfully ironic. This was largely based on a certain fascination with technical progress and, by extension, on a belief, tinged with mistrust, in the infinite perspectives that the new technologies now seemed to offer.
A whole section of France’s youth found itself confronted by the contradictions of the times it was living in: young people were torn between the sensation of living on the edge of an abyss and hope for the dawning of a new world; they were deprived of tangible ideological landmarks but resistant to the posthippy utopias of the previous generation. In search of an identity, they recognised themselves in the dark lyrics, the cold synthetic music and the laid-back attitude of the new groups bursting up all over the country, as much in the provinces as in Paris.
With the benefit of thirty years’ hindsight, the project Des Jeunes Gens Mödernes (featuring an exhibition, a book and an audio compilation produced in conjunction with Naïve, as well as a documentary) reactivates this post-punk / novo diskö / French new & cold wave scene, by means of selected works, personal testimonies and documented records. One of the project’s ambitions is to highlight a cross-section of the specific creative diversity of this scene: it does so by engaging with the music it produced, but also with the aesthetics, the attitudes, and the recurring problems that developed in parallel, looking particularly at its relationship to the modern world. So, first and foremost, it is about recreating the atmosphere and spirit of the time through what was most characteristic about it (and sometimes what partook of caricature), rather than making an exhaustive list of what was produced during those years in the style that concerns us".
(myspace.com/desjeunesgensmodernes)
LISTEN
&
ENJOY
Il Ne Dira Pas
Romance
"Between the late 70s and mid-80s, in the wake of the punk wave and in parallel to other types of music like disco, funk, ska and reggae, a prolific and chaotic music scene began to develop in France, combining the energy of rock and the nihilism of punk with electronic experimentation.
The period was not, on the whole, one of optimism and joy, played out as it was against a background of economic crisis and the cold war. The tendency was rather towards disillusion, accompanied by a clear-sighted recognition that a stalemate between the generations would be unavoidable in the short term.
Paradoxically, as it would appear, a kind of hope and frenzied vitality could also be detected during these years. Both were fed by a sort of modernist utopia, which was sometimes wilfully ironic. This was largely based on a certain fascination with technical progress and, by extension, on a belief, tinged with mistrust, in the infinite perspectives that the new technologies now seemed to offer.
A whole section of France’s youth found itself confronted by the contradictions of the times it was living in: young people were torn between the sensation of living on the edge of an abyss and hope for the dawning of a new world; they were deprived of tangible ideological landmarks but resistant to the posthippy utopias of the previous generation. In search of an identity, they recognised themselves in the dark lyrics, the cold synthetic music and the laid-back attitude of the new groups bursting up all over the country, as much in the provinces as in Paris.
With the benefit of thirty years’ hindsight, the project Des Jeunes Gens Mödernes (featuring an exhibition, a book and an audio compilation produced in conjunction with Naïve, as well as a documentary) reactivates this post-punk / novo diskö / French new & cold wave scene, by means of selected works, personal testimonies and documented records. One of the project’s ambitions is to highlight a cross-section of the specific creative diversity of this scene: it does so by engaging with the music it produced, but also with the aesthetics, the attitudes, and the recurring problems that developed in parallel, looking particularly at its relationship to the modern world. So, first and foremost, it is about recreating the atmosphere and spirit of the time through what was most characteristic about it (and sometimes what partook of caricature), rather than making an exhaustive list of what was produced during those years in the style that concerns us".
(myspace.com/desjeunesgensmodernes)
LISTEN
&
ENJOY
Il Ne Dira Pas
Romance
6 March 2010
MARC AND THE MAMBAS - Torment & Toreros
LP Some Bizarre 1983
CD reissue Some Bizarre 1997
"Before he properly started a solo career, Almond formed Marc & the Mambas, a loose congregation that featured Matt Johnson of The The and Annie Hogan. Untitled (1982), the group's first album, featured covers of Lou Reed, Syd Barrett, and Jacques Brel; throughout his career, Almond would cover the songs of Brel, which he had learned from the records of Scott Walker. Like Walker, Almond used Brel's heavily orchestrated compositions and social ruminations as a starting point, both musically and lyrically — Almond added a self-conscious element of camp with his Euro-disco and occasionally sleazy lyrics. Torment & Toreros (1983), Marc & the Mambas' second album, explored this path in more detail than Untitled, only to an orchestral background. After its release, the group broke up".
(Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All-Music Guide)
"Marc and the Mambas forever can be considered the blueprint for Marc Almond's solo career. As Soft Cell developed into an excellent mix of pop and electronic 'dark' dance music, Marc and the Mambas picked up there - but more and more got rid of the dance beat. While their first album still was searching for its own voice - with a mix of ballads with and without dance beats, Torment and Toreros was an incredible mix of Vaudeville, French chanson, goth sensibility, guitar noise, piano, string sections and a singing hero that went mad during the course of this album. Marc Almond later noted ironically, this album was an attempted suicide put on vinyl, and in a way it was. However, looking back at it almost 25 years later, it still goes strong, since there was never anything like that before and after".
(myspace.com/marcandthemambas)
LISTEN
&
ENJOY
First Time
CD reissue Some Bizarre 1997
"Before he properly started a solo career, Almond formed Marc & the Mambas, a loose congregation that featured Matt Johnson of The The and Annie Hogan. Untitled (1982), the group's first album, featured covers of Lou Reed, Syd Barrett, and Jacques Brel; throughout his career, Almond would cover the songs of Brel, which he had learned from the records of Scott Walker. Like Walker, Almond used Brel's heavily orchestrated compositions and social ruminations as a starting point, both musically and lyrically — Almond added a self-conscious element of camp with his Euro-disco and occasionally sleazy lyrics. Torment & Toreros (1983), Marc & the Mambas' second album, explored this path in more detail than Untitled, only to an orchestral background. After its release, the group broke up".
(Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All-Music Guide)
"Marc and the Mambas forever can be considered the blueprint for Marc Almond's solo career. As Soft Cell developed into an excellent mix of pop and electronic 'dark' dance music, Marc and the Mambas picked up there - but more and more got rid of the dance beat. While their first album still was searching for its own voice - with a mix of ballads with and without dance beats, Torment and Toreros was an incredible mix of Vaudeville, French chanson, goth sensibility, guitar noise, piano, string sections and a singing hero that went mad during the course of this album. Marc Almond later noted ironically, this album was an attempted suicide put on vinyl, and in a way it was. However, looking back at it almost 25 years later, it still goes strong, since there was never anything like that before and after".
(myspace.com/marcandthemambas)
LISTEN
&
ENJOY
First Time
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