Hi,
It's that time again.
I'll be away for a couple of weeks, hopefully to return with fresh ideas for new posts.
In the meantime you know the drill: rants, thoughts, suggestions are always welcome.
Take care
31 May 2010
30 May 2010
VARIOUS ARTISTS - Downtown 81
Original recordings 1981
CD Recall Records 2001
CD reissue Recall Records 2007
"Downtown 81 is a feature film starring the legendary American artist Jean Michel Basquiat (1960-1988.) Basquiat was a 19 year old painter, graffiti artist, poet and musician when he played the lead in this film, which vividly depicts the explosive downtown New York art and music scene of 1980-81. Basquiat was an important figure on that scene. He had yet to have his first exhibition. But his paintings and words were part of the city landscape. Today, his paintings hang in museums and important collections around the world and he is internationally recognized as one of the most important artists of the late twentieth century. (...) Basquiat is a natural actor - witty, radiant, the epitome of coolness and artistic exuberance. The cast includes Deborah Harry, and leading bands of the era including Kid Creole and the Coconuts, James White and the Blacks, DNA, Tuxedomoon, The Plastics, and Walter Steding and the Dragon People. Also heard on the soundtrack are rap legend Melle Mel, John Lurie, Lydia Lunch, Suicide, Vincent Gallo, Kenny Burrell and Basquiat’s own band, Gray. Downtown 81 not only captures one of the most interesting and lively artists of the twentieth century as he is poised for fame, but it is a slice of life from one of the most exciting periods in American culture, with the emergence of new wave music, new painting, hip hop and graffiti".
(downtown81.com)
"Legendary painter, graffiti artist, poet and musician Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960–1988) was only 19 years old when he played the lead in Downtown 81, a striking 'lost' film that chronicles the explosive early-1980s Manhattan art and music scene. Completed and theatrically released two decades later, it’s the story of a charismatic artist who attempts to sell a painting amidst the rappers, junkies, strippers, models and art-world matriarchs of a pre-Giuliani Lower East Side. This vividly entertaining slice of life is also a fabulous showcase for the music of Kid Creole and the Coconuts, Tuxedomoon, The Plastics, DNA, The Lounge Lizards, and Basquiat’s own band, Gray. Shot on location, Downtown 81 not only captures one of the most important and provocative artists of the 20th-century as he is poised for worldwide fame, but is also a vivid snapshot of a New York City that no longer exists".
(zeitgeistfilms.com)
"What a fantastic trip down memory lane this is! As its title suggests, Downtown 81 is mostly set in New York's East Village and Lower East Side in the early '80s; the movie follows Jean (played by then-unknown painter Jean-Michel Basquiat) through blasted streets looking like war zones and in clubs pulsing with ear-melting music. The CD careers from post-punk abrasion (DNA's Blonde Redhead and Detached), to proto-electronics (Suicide's Cheree, Plastics' Copy), to Latin- and disco-tinged danceathons that make contemporary would-be funksters sound downright pallid (Kid Creole & the Coconuts with Coati Mundi's K Pasa-Pop I). And then there's James Chance's Sax Maniac, which bring both approaches together in a skronky, funky explosion. The most famous melody here may well be the bass line from Liquid Liquid's Cavern, which was famously sampled on Grandmaster Flash's White Lines. The intensity is often furthered by the fact that some of these are live versions, and the quality level is really high throughout. A great collection for fans of inventive, hard-to-classify music, and a worthy complement to Soul Jazz's New York Noise compilations".
(Elisabeth Vincentelli, amazon.com)
ENJOY
Cavern
CD Recall Records 2001
CD reissue Recall Records 2007
"Downtown 81 is a feature film starring the legendary American artist Jean Michel Basquiat (1960-1988.) Basquiat was a 19 year old painter, graffiti artist, poet and musician when he played the lead in this film, which vividly depicts the explosive downtown New York art and music scene of 1980-81. Basquiat was an important figure on that scene. He had yet to have his first exhibition. But his paintings and words were part of the city landscape. Today, his paintings hang in museums and important collections around the world and he is internationally recognized as one of the most important artists of the late twentieth century. (...) Basquiat is a natural actor - witty, radiant, the epitome of coolness and artistic exuberance. The cast includes Deborah Harry, and leading bands of the era including Kid Creole and the Coconuts, James White and the Blacks, DNA, Tuxedomoon, The Plastics, and Walter Steding and the Dragon People. Also heard on the soundtrack are rap legend Melle Mel, John Lurie, Lydia Lunch, Suicide, Vincent Gallo, Kenny Burrell and Basquiat’s own band, Gray. Downtown 81 not only captures one of the most interesting and lively artists of the twentieth century as he is poised for fame, but it is a slice of life from one of the most exciting periods in American culture, with the emergence of new wave music, new painting, hip hop and graffiti".
(downtown81.com)
"Legendary painter, graffiti artist, poet and musician Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960–1988) was only 19 years old when he played the lead in Downtown 81, a striking 'lost' film that chronicles the explosive early-1980s Manhattan art and music scene. Completed and theatrically released two decades later, it’s the story of a charismatic artist who attempts to sell a painting amidst the rappers, junkies, strippers, models and art-world matriarchs of a pre-Giuliani Lower East Side. This vividly entertaining slice of life is also a fabulous showcase for the music of Kid Creole and the Coconuts, Tuxedomoon, The Plastics, DNA, The Lounge Lizards, and Basquiat’s own band, Gray. Shot on location, Downtown 81 not only captures one of the most important and provocative artists of the 20th-century as he is poised for worldwide fame, but is also a vivid snapshot of a New York City that no longer exists".
(zeitgeistfilms.com)
"What a fantastic trip down memory lane this is! As its title suggests, Downtown 81 is mostly set in New York's East Village and Lower East Side in the early '80s; the movie follows Jean (played by then-unknown painter Jean-Michel Basquiat) through blasted streets looking like war zones and in clubs pulsing with ear-melting music. The CD careers from post-punk abrasion (DNA's Blonde Redhead and Detached), to proto-electronics (Suicide's Cheree, Plastics' Copy), to Latin- and disco-tinged danceathons that make contemporary would-be funksters sound downright pallid (Kid Creole & the Coconuts with Coati Mundi's K Pasa-Pop I). And then there's James Chance's Sax Maniac, which bring both approaches together in a skronky, funky explosion. The most famous melody here may well be the bass line from Liquid Liquid's Cavern, which was famously sampled on Grandmaster Flash's White Lines. The intensity is often furthered by the fact that some of these are live versions, and the quality level is really high throughout. A great collection for fans of inventive, hard-to-classify music, and a worthy complement to Soul Jazz's New York Noise compilations".
(Elisabeth Vincentelli, amazon.com)
ENJOY
Cavern
29 May 2010
Request: THE BATHERS - Sweet Deceit
LP / CD Island Records 1990
"The Bathers are a Scottish Chamber Pop band. Formed in Glasgow in 1985 after the band Friends Again split up, they are essentially the vehicle for singer songwriter Chris Thomson. They have released seven studio albums. Thomson secured a deal with Go! Discs and released the debut album Unusual Places To Die in 1987. The album gained an enthusiastic reception but label politics limited its success. Thomson went back to the drawing board and produced the follow-up Sweet Deceit. The album was released in 1990 by Island and was, again, critically acclaimed. A flirtation with two key members of Lloyd Cole and the Commotions followed in the form of the Bloomsday album Fortuny. The Bathers then signed to the German label Marina and three albums were released - Lagoon Blues (1993), Sunpowder (1995) and Kelvingrove Baby (1997). Thomson enjoyed a good relationship with Marina but felt that a label nearer home would be preferable. The Bathers' sixth album Pandemonia appeared on Wrasse Records in 1999. The label also released Desire Regained in 2001, a compilation of 20 re-recordings of the band's best known work".
(wikipedia.com)
"I'm nineteen and I'm crazy about you. Yes I'm crazy about you. So crazy. If you've heard Chris Thomson sing this song, Desire Regained from this 1990 record, you should have hairs standing on the back of your neck by now. It is certainly worth seeking out if you haven't. If The Blue Nile offer a late night Glasgow train or car journey, The Bathers offer the same tour but in the form of a bracing walk. Thomson's voice, the closest Scotland has come to Tom Waits, later came to distinction on Bloomsday with two of Lloyd Cole's Commotions, but Sweet Deceit is the start of something good (The band continued to record through the 90s on Marina records). Unusual Places to Die, The Bathers' previous album on Go! Discs, is also worth your investigation if you can find it on CD, but Sweet Deceit is where The Bathers started to luxuriate. As well as the stunning Desire Regained, it's difficult to hear The Pursuit of an Orchid, The Honeysuckle Rose or Memory Fever without hearing a singer and songwriter at his evocative best. A wonderful 1990 late night snapshot of the then City of Culture".
(John McKie, The Scotsman)
ENJOY
Desire Regained
"The Bathers are a Scottish Chamber Pop band. Formed in Glasgow in 1985 after the band Friends Again split up, they are essentially the vehicle for singer songwriter Chris Thomson. They have released seven studio albums. Thomson secured a deal with Go! Discs and released the debut album Unusual Places To Die in 1987. The album gained an enthusiastic reception but label politics limited its success. Thomson went back to the drawing board and produced the follow-up Sweet Deceit. The album was released in 1990 by Island and was, again, critically acclaimed. A flirtation with two key members of Lloyd Cole and the Commotions followed in the form of the Bloomsday album Fortuny. The Bathers then signed to the German label Marina and three albums were released - Lagoon Blues (1993), Sunpowder (1995) and Kelvingrove Baby (1997). Thomson enjoyed a good relationship with Marina but felt that a label nearer home would be preferable. The Bathers' sixth album Pandemonia appeared on Wrasse Records in 1999. The label also released Desire Regained in 2001, a compilation of 20 re-recordings of the band's best known work".
(wikipedia.com)
"I'm nineteen and I'm crazy about you. Yes I'm crazy about you. So crazy. If you've heard Chris Thomson sing this song, Desire Regained from this 1990 record, you should have hairs standing on the back of your neck by now. It is certainly worth seeking out if you haven't. If The Blue Nile offer a late night Glasgow train or car journey, The Bathers offer the same tour but in the form of a bracing walk. Thomson's voice, the closest Scotland has come to Tom Waits, later came to distinction on Bloomsday with two of Lloyd Cole's Commotions, but Sweet Deceit is the start of something good (The band continued to record through the 90s on Marina records). Unusual Places to Die, The Bathers' previous album on Go! Discs, is also worth your investigation if you can find it on CD, but Sweet Deceit is where The Bathers started to luxuriate. As well as the stunning Desire Regained, it's difficult to hear The Pursuit of an Orchid, The Honeysuckle Rose or Memory Fever without hearing a singer and songwriter at his evocative best. A wonderful 1990 late night snapshot of the then City of Culture".
(John McKie, The Scotsman)
ENJOY
Desire Regained
28 May 2010
JOSEF K - The Only Fun In Town
LP Postcard Records 1981
CD reissue LTM Recordings 1990 with bonus tracks
"For two brief years at the dawn of the 1980s Josef K gave the Postcard label its sharpest cutting edge. Although outlived - and outsold - by labelmates Orange Juice and Aztec Camera, Josef K's flame burned brightest, while their influence has touched bands as diverse as Propaganda and the Wedding Present. Yet just as interesting are the subsequent solo careers of all four members, which include stints with Orange Juice, Aztec Camera and 4AD outfit the Happy Family. Not to mention the undervalued body of solo work produced by enigmatic frontman Paul Haig".
(James Nice, ltmfreeserve.co.uk)
"A leading light in Scotland's neo-pop revival, Edinburgh's Josef K attempted an uneasy marriage of pop form and psychedelic sensibilities on a string of melancholic singles, all contained on the band's one original album, The Only Fun in Town. Singer Paul Haig is the only member identified by name, and his presence is certainly the strongest here. There is a fragility in Josef K's gentle but foreboding work, produced in darkest wall-of-molasses sound, that suggests an intensity of thought comparable to Joy Division's. (Some of Haig's subsequent solo work sounds a lot like New Order.) But the album - which was first recorded in 1980 (as Sorry for Laughing), scrapped and then redone with largely different material from scratch the following year - never reaches the level of animation found in the singles, and it was neither surprising nor inappropriate when the group broke up shortly after its release. Dank but intriguing".
(Steven Grant / Altricia Gethers, Trouser Press)
"Spiky, insouciant, sardonic, existentially loaded and debonair. And throughout, their melodies remained pop at heart. Now post-punk punk-funk is the current alt rock flavour, the Edinburgh band sound more prescient still; they also cast a shadow on newsworthy Americans from The Rapture to !!! to Erase Errata - and even Joy Divisionesque Interpol. Before then, much C86-era indie rock (Jasmine Minks, June Brides) and even The Soft Boys and Pavement owed something to them".
(Martin Aston, Mojo 2004)
ENJOY
Endless Soul
CD reissue LTM Recordings 1990 with bonus tracks
"For two brief years at the dawn of the 1980s Josef K gave the Postcard label its sharpest cutting edge. Although outlived - and outsold - by labelmates Orange Juice and Aztec Camera, Josef K's flame burned brightest, while their influence has touched bands as diverse as Propaganda and the Wedding Present. Yet just as interesting are the subsequent solo careers of all four members, which include stints with Orange Juice, Aztec Camera and 4AD outfit the Happy Family. Not to mention the undervalued body of solo work produced by enigmatic frontman Paul Haig".
(James Nice, ltmfreeserve.co.uk)
"A leading light in Scotland's neo-pop revival, Edinburgh's Josef K attempted an uneasy marriage of pop form and psychedelic sensibilities on a string of melancholic singles, all contained on the band's one original album, The Only Fun in Town. Singer Paul Haig is the only member identified by name, and his presence is certainly the strongest here. There is a fragility in Josef K's gentle but foreboding work, produced in darkest wall-of-molasses sound, that suggests an intensity of thought comparable to Joy Division's. (Some of Haig's subsequent solo work sounds a lot like New Order.) But the album - which was first recorded in 1980 (as Sorry for Laughing), scrapped and then redone with largely different material from scratch the following year - never reaches the level of animation found in the singles, and it was neither surprising nor inappropriate when the group broke up shortly after its release. Dank but intriguing".
(Steven Grant / Altricia Gethers, Trouser Press)
"Spiky, insouciant, sardonic, existentially loaded and debonair. And throughout, their melodies remained pop at heart. Now post-punk punk-funk is the current alt rock flavour, the Edinburgh band sound more prescient still; they also cast a shadow on newsworthy Americans from The Rapture to !!! to Erase Errata - and even Joy Divisionesque Interpol. Before then, much C86-era indie rock (Jasmine Minks, June Brides) and even The Soft Boys and Pavement owed something to them".
(Martin Aston, Mojo 2004)
ENJOY
Endless Soul
27 May 2010
LIVE SKULL - Dusted
LP Homestead Records 1987
CD reissue Homestead Records 1988 with bonus tracks
"Droning and dragging rusty guitar streaks and deep stormy basslines as dark as bus exhaust, Live Skull combine great grating sheets of guitar shimmer with deliberately monotonous vocals to create swirling intense tunes that you couldn't hum if a loaded gun were aimed at your head. As part of the same New York avant-noisy scene that spawned Sonic Youth, Lydia Lunch and the Swans, Live Skull records come complete with creepy lyrics, circular melodies and nod-out drum beats designed to lull you into their macabre world".
(Andrea 'Enthal/David Sheridan/Ira Robbins, Trouser Press)
"Inspired by the likes of Glenn Branca, Sonic Youth, and the New York no wave movement, Live Skull delivered the kind of relentlessly bleak, abrasive noise rock that made their better-known contemporaries Lydia Lunch and Swans into cult underground figures during the '80s. The band usually favored a ponderous, crushingly loud grind, but tempered their assault with sophisticated, arty arrangements and thick, hypnotic sheets of pulsating white noise. Their subject matter was invariably dark and downcast (some critics said oppressively so), though not as deliberately shocking as some of their even more confrontational peers. Live Skull's earlier output tended to de-emphasize vocals, but the 1987 arrival of vocalist Thalia Zedek gave the band a new spark and focal point; even if their sound was just as uncompromisingly difficult and amelodic as before, most observers heralded this phase as the group's creative prime".
(Steve Huey, All-Music Guide)
"Of the three official albums this New York art rock group produced, Dusted is the less straightforward and most compelling document. Blending the bleak desperation of Joy Division and the seductive complexity of '80s Sonic Youth, their better works were anchored by an exuberant young vocalist, Thalia Zedek, whose later work with Come could righteously claim her the trophy of best American blues singer of the '90s. After the achievements of their peers Sonic Youth and the Swans, Live Skull's name remained more often a footnote in the biographies of the better-known avant-rock groups. Fans of the '80s New York post-punk shouldn't miss out on this highly accomplished album, considered by many to be their best".
(Martin Walters, All-Music Guide)
ENJOY
Back In the Earth
CD reissue Homestead Records 1988 with bonus tracks
"Droning and dragging rusty guitar streaks and deep stormy basslines as dark as bus exhaust, Live Skull combine great grating sheets of guitar shimmer with deliberately monotonous vocals to create swirling intense tunes that you couldn't hum if a loaded gun were aimed at your head. As part of the same New York avant-noisy scene that spawned Sonic Youth, Lydia Lunch and the Swans, Live Skull records come complete with creepy lyrics, circular melodies and nod-out drum beats designed to lull you into their macabre world".
(Andrea 'Enthal/David Sheridan/Ira Robbins, Trouser Press)
"Inspired by the likes of Glenn Branca, Sonic Youth, and the New York no wave movement, Live Skull delivered the kind of relentlessly bleak, abrasive noise rock that made their better-known contemporaries Lydia Lunch and Swans into cult underground figures during the '80s. The band usually favored a ponderous, crushingly loud grind, but tempered their assault with sophisticated, arty arrangements and thick, hypnotic sheets of pulsating white noise. Their subject matter was invariably dark and downcast (some critics said oppressively so), though not as deliberately shocking as some of their even more confrontational peers. Live Skull's earlier output tended to de-emphasize vocals, but the 1987 arrival of vocalist Thalia Zedek gave the band a new spark and focal point; even if their sound was just as uncompromisingly difficult and amelodic as before, most observers heralded this phase as the group's creative prime".
(Steve Huey, All-Music Guide)
"Of the three official albums this New York art rock group produced, Dusted is the less straightforward and most compelling document. Blending the bleak desperation of Joy Division and the seductive complexity of '80s Sonic Youth, their better works were anchored by an exuberant young vocalist, Thalia Zedek, whose later work with Come could righteously claim her the trophy of best American blues singer of the '90s. After the achievements of their peers Sonic Youth and the Swans, Live Skull's name remained more often a footnote in the biographies of the better-known avant-rock groups. Fans of the '80s New York post-punk shouldn't miss out on this highly accomplished album, considered by many to be their best".
(Martin Walters, All-Music Guide)
ENJOY
Back In the Earth
26 May 2010
THE BEAT - I Just Can't Stop It
LP Go-Feet Records 1980
CD reissue I.R.S. Records 1990 with bonus tracks
"Although lumped in with the 2-Tone crowd upon emerging in 1979, the wonderful Beat (billed in America as the English Beat because of the Paul Collins group that was also using the name) released only one single on the label. Although, in retrospect, too divergent for its own good, the inter-racial Birmingham sextet was more versatile and had more vivid impulses than most of its skanking contemporaries. Blasting out of the starting gate with the gripping (and, typically, lyrically oblique) Mirror in the Bathroom, I Just Can't Stop It has its share of ska-influenced upbeats - a delightful rendering of the Motown classic Tears of a Clown (on the US release only) and patois-tinged toasting (Rough Rider) by Ranking Roger - but the band's furious drive and pumping bass (Click Click, Twist & Crawl) relate more to the rock tradition. A recording of Andy Williams' warm-bath ballad Can't Get Used to Losing You is a nice gesture, regardless of the outcome".
(Scott Isler / Ira Robbins, Trouser Press)
ENJOY
Mirror In the Bathroom
CD reissue I.R.S. Records 1990 with bonus tracks
"Although lumped in with the 2-Tone crowd upon emerging in 1979, the wonderful Beat (billed in America as the English Beat because of the Paul Collins group that was also using the name) released only one single on the label. Although, in retrospect, too divergent for its own good, the inter-racial Birmingham sextet was more versatile and had more vivid impulses than most of its skanking contemporaries. Blasting out of the starting gate with the gripping (and, typically, lyrically oblique) Mirror in the Bathroom, I Just Can't Stop It has its share of ska-influenced upbeats - a delightful rendering of the Motown classic Tears of a Clown (on the US release only) and patois-tinged toasting (Rough Rider) by Ranking Roger - but the band's furious drive and pumping bass (Click Click, Twist & Crawl) relate more to the rock tradition. A recording of Andy Williams' warm-bath ballad Can't Get Used to Losing You is a nice gesture, regardless of the outcome".
(Scott Isler / Ira Robbins, Trouser Press)
ENJOY
Mirror In the Bathroom
25 May 2010
FIVE OR SIX - Another Reason + Polar Exposure
7" Cherry Red Records 1981
12" EP Cherry Red Records 1981
"Five or Six were one of many bands who popped up on the post-punk landscape of England in the early 80's, and managed to sneak a few records out before going off to forming Spring Heel Jack in the 90's. The palette from which they worked was pretty similar to a lot of U.K. post-punkers at the time (Wire, Can, Beefheart, etc.) but it was Five or Six's wide-eyed way of mixing the bitter with the sweet such as on You, The Night and The Music that made them stick out from the oh-so-serious young men of the Ian Curtis generation".
(Tony Rettman, Swingset)
"Musically akin to such contemporaries as Wire and This Heat, Five or Six had the distinction of providing the opening track (Portrait) to Cherry Red’s historic Pillows and Prayers compilation (...) After the group disbanded, its members went on to a multifarious range of artistic occupations, such as members of Spring Heel Jack, the Shock Headed Peters, at Factory Records and 4AD Records and in the drama department of the BBC".
(wikipedia.com)
ENJOY
Polar Exposure
12" EP Cherry Red Records 1981
"Five or Six were one of many bands who popped up on the post-punk landscape of England in the early 80's, and managed to sneak a few records out before going off to forming Spring Heel Jack in the 90's. The palette from which they worked was pretty similar to a lot of U.K. post-punkers at the time (Wire, Can, Beefheart, etc.) but it was Five or Six's wide-eyed way of mixing the bitter with the sweet such as on You, The Night and The Music that made them stick out from the oh-so-serious young men of the Ian Curtis generation".
(Tony Rettman, Swingset)
"Musically akin to such contemporaries as Wire and This Heat, Five or Six had the distinction of providing the opening track (Portrait) to Cherry Red’s historic Pillows and Prayers compilation (...) After the group disbanded, its members went on to a multifarious range of artistic occupations, such as members of Spring Heel Jack, the Shock Headed Peters, at Factory Records and 4AD Records and in the drama department of the BBC".
(wikipedia.com)
ENJOY
Polar Exposure
24 May 2010
BARRY ADAMSON - Moss Side Story
LP Mute Records 1989
CD Mute Records 1989 with bonus tracks
"Barry Adamson was born on 1 June 1958 and raised in Moss Side, Manchester, and was bass player in post punk band, Magazine between 1978 and 1982. He then went on to become a founder member of Nick Cave's illustrious Bad Seeds in 1984. Since 1989, with the release of debut album Moss Side Story, Adamson has forged his own highly acclaimed solo career with a series of distinctive and thematically linked soundscape albums".
(discogs.com)
"Barry Adamson's work as a bassist for Magazine and Nick Cave's Bad Seeds gave little indication of the complex, cinematic works he has composed as a solo artist. After leaving the Bad Seeds in 1987, Adamson decided to follow the path of film composers like John Barry, Ennio Morricone, and Bernard Herrmann, whose work had intrigued him since childhood. His first full-length album, 1989's Moss Side Story (he had released one previous EP in 1988), was a tour de force, blending post-punk, industrial, spy guitar, and various classic movie composer quotes into a seamless 54-minute soundtrack to an ominous film noir that didn't exist. (...) Elements of rock, voices from news reports, blood-curdling wordless female vocals (courtesy of experimental/punk diva Diamanda Galás), lounge keyboards, and swirling funereal ambient music are interwoven on this taut and compelling, almost continuous imaginary 'soundtrack'. The result is a sinister and edgy soundscape that's as gripping as any black-and-white thriller".
(Richie Unterberger, All-Music Guide)
ENJOY
Autodestruction
CD Mute Records 1989 with bonus tracks
"Barry Adamson was born on 1 June 1958 and raised in Moss Side, Manchester, and was bass player in post punk band, Magazine between 1978 and 1982. He then went on to become a founder member of Nick Cave's illustrious Bad Seeds in 1984. Since 1989, with the release of debut album Moss Side Story, Adamson has forged his own highly acclaimed solo career with a series of distinctive and thematically linked soundscape albums".
(discogs.com)
"Barry Adamson's work as a bassist for Magazine and Nick Cave's Bad Seeds gave little indication of the complex, cinematic works he has composed as a solo artist. After leaving the Bad Seeds in 1987, Adamson decided to follow the path of film composers like John Barry, Ennio Morricone, and Bernard Herrmann, whose work had intrigued him since childhood. His first full-length album, 1989's Moss Side Story (he had released one previous EP in 1988), was a tour de force, blending post-punk, industrial, spy guitar, and various classic movie composer quotes into a seamless 54-minute soundtrack to an ominous film noir that didn't exist. (...) Elements of rock, voices from news reports, blood-curdling wordless female vocals (courtesy of experimental/punk diva Diamanda Galás), lounge keyboards, and swirling funereal ambient music are interwoven on this taut and compelling, almost continuous imaginary 'soundtrack'. The result is a sinister and edgy soundscape that's as gripping as any black-and-white thriller".
(Richie Unterberger, All-Music Guide)
ENJOY
Autodestruction
23 May 2010
WAH! - The Maverick Years 80-81
Compilation LP Wonderful World of Wah! 1982
CD reissue Castle Music 2001 with bonus tracks
"Wah!, and its number of incarnations, was a vehicle for Liverpool post-punk enigma Pete Wylie. Whether viewed as a prolific genius or as a blowhard lunatic with no quality control, there's no denying that the larger-than-life Wylie was a steamroller of a character who did everything his way to the fullest possible extent. Wylie's recordings might have varied stylistically throughout the years, but they each share the qualities of being loud, proud, and heartfelt. Having cut his teeth in the short-lived bands the Crucial Three, the Mystery Girls, and the Nova Mob, Wylie wisely decided in the late '70s to form an outlet of his own to house his ideas. Having played with other strong-headed types like the Teardrop Explodes' Julian Cope and Echo & the Bunnymen's Ian McCullough, Wylie knew early on that he would have to be the center of things. Under various pseudonyms including Wah! Heat, the Mighty Wah!, Shambeko Say Wah!, Pete Wylie and Wah! The Mongrel, or just plain Wah!, Wylie released nearly 20 singles with the occasional studio LP or collection falling between most breaks in the release schedule.
(...)
The title Maverick Years does prove to make sense within the context of this release, since Pete Wylie had grown restless with then-label Warner Bros' clogged release schedule and higher priorities. So Wylie combined new demos with tweaked versions of older songs and released them on his own Wonderful World of Wah! label. Done without Warner Bros' consent, it obviously upset Wylie's employers and resulted in his imminent disposal from the major label ranks. Most of the new material is stillborn or half-baked at best. The alternate versions are pointless to anyone but a devout fan. One glaring exemption from this rule is the optimistic blast Remember, which would have been a surefire highlight of Nah = Poo. Shambeko is a point of interest for its eerie keyboard structure and isolated chill. Reissued with re-vamped versions of Nah = Poo and A Word to the Wise Guy in 2001, Castle's version adds ten additional tracks that should appeal to diehards. The nine-minute version of The Story of the Blues Pts. 1 & 2 will be welcomed by someone, and a cover of the Three Degrees' Year of Decision hasn't aged well and sounds like a commercial. As with the other 2001 versions, the liner notes contain many photos and commentary by Wylie".
(Andy Kellman, All-Music Guide)
ENJOY
Somesay
CD reissue Castle Music 2001 with bonus tracks
"Wah!, and its number of incarnations, was a vehicle for Liverpool post-punk enigma Pete Wylie. Whether viewed as a prolific genius or as a blowhard lunatic with no quality control, there's no denying that the larger-than-life Wylie was a steamroller of a character who did everything his way to the fullest possible extent. Wylie's recordings might have varied stylistically throughout the years, but they each share the qualities of being loud, proud, and heartfelt. Having cut his teeth in the short-lived bands the Crucial Three, the Mystery Girls, and the Nova Mob, Wylie wisely decided in the late '70s to form an outlet of his own to house his ideas. Having played with other strong-headed types like the Teardrop Explodes' Julian Cope and Echo & the Bunnymen's Ian McCullough, Wylie knew early on that he would have to be the center of things. Under various pseudonyms including Wah! Heat, the Mighty Wah!, Shambeko Say Wah!, Pete Wylie and Wah! The Mongrel, or just plain Wah!, Wylie released nearly 20 singles with the occasional studio LP or collection falling between most breaks in the release schedule.
(...)
The title Maverick Years does prove to make sense within the context of this release, since Pete Wylie had grown restless with then-label Warner Bros' clogged release schedule and higher priorities. So Wylie combined new demos with tweaked versions of older songs and released them on his own Wonderful World of Wah! label. Done without Warner Bros' consent, it obviously upset Wylie's employers and resulted in his imminent disposal from the major label ranks. Most of the new material is stillborn or half-baked at best. The alternate versions are pointless to anyone but a devout fan. One glaring exemption from this rule is the optimistic blast Remember, which would have been a surefire highlight of Nah = Poo. Shambeko is a point of interest for its eerie keyboard structure and isolated chill. Reissued with re-vamped versions of Nah = Poo and A Word to the Wise Guy in 2001, Castle's version adds ten additional tracks that should appeal to diehards. The nine-minute version of The Story of the Blues Pts. 1 & 2 will be welcomed by someone, and a cover of the Three Degrees' Year of Decision hasn't aged well and sounds like a commercial. As with the other 2001 versions, the liner notes contain many photos and commentary by Wylie".
(Andy Kellman, All-Music Guide)
ENJOY
Somesay
22 May 2010
CARDIACS - A Little Man and a House and the Whole World Window
LP Alphabet Business Concern 1988
CD Torso Records 1988 with bonus tracks
"Cardiacs are an English Alternative Rock and Psychedelic Pop band formed in 1977. The band's broad combination of styles is sometimes referred to as Pronk (progressive punk), although group leader Tim Smith prefers the description 'Psychedelic' or simply 'Pop'. Their music is underpinned by Smith's unique singing and songwriting styles, and his poetically cryptic, philosophical and abstract lyrics. Fans and critics have described Cardiacs' sound as complex, varied, intense and entirely unique, with the music magazine Organ commenting that one Cardiacs song contains more ideas than most other musicians' entire careers.
(wikipedia.com)
"Magnificent, ridiculous speed-prog-pomp-metal anthems, impenetrably allusive lyrics, despised by critics and adored by the faithful"
(Mojo Magazine)
ENJOY
Is This the Life
CD Torso Records 1988 with bonus tracks
"Cardiacs are an English Alternative Rock and Psychedelic Pop band formed in 1977. The band's broad combination of styles is sometimes referred to as Pronk (progressive punk), although group leader Tim Smith prefers the description 'Psychedelic' or simply 'Pop'. Their music is underpinned by Smith's unique singing and songwriting styles, and his poetically cryptic, philosophical and abstract lyrics. Fans and critics have described Cardiacs' sound as complex, varied, intense and entirely unique, with the music magazine Organ commenting that one Cardiacs song contains more ideas than most other musicians' entire careers.
(wikipedia.com)
"Magnificent, ridiculous speed-prog-pomp-metal anthems, impenetrably allusive lyrics, despised by critics and adored by the faithful"
(Mojo Magazine)
ENJOY
Is This the Life
21 May 2010
THE FEELIES - Time For a Witness
LP / CD A&M Records 1991
"Of the countless bands to emerge from the New York City underground during the post-punk era, few if any were as unique and influential as The Feelies; nerdy, nervous, and noisy, even decades later their droning, skittering avant-garde pop remains a key touchstone of the American indie music scene".
(Jason Ankeny, All-Music Guide)
"The final Feelies album didn't change much in the way the band operated, but as a conclusion to the band's active days, it makes for a fine coda. Million and Mercer peel out some amazing frazzled solos, the rhythm section knows the virtues of raving it up and keeping the beat steady and flowing, and the ghost of various earlier inspirations plays around without dominating things. If anything, the concluding cover this time around makes for an intriguing difference away from the Velvets - namely, the Stooges, in a gentle rip through Real Cool Time. But even though there's nothing 'new' to report about the Feelies and the members' way of doing things, as a well-played and written collection of low-key rock with non-mainstream aims and goals, Time for a Witness makes for a fine listen".
(Ned Raggett, All-Music Guide)
ENJOY
Invitation
"Of the countless bands to emerge from the New York City underground during the post-punk era, few if any were as unique and influential as The Feelies; nerdy, nervous, and noisy, even decades later their droning, skittering avant-garde pop remains a key touchstone of the American indie music scene".
(Jason Ankeny, All-Music Guide)
"The final Feelies album didn't change much in the way the band operated, but as a conclusion to the band's active days, it makes for a fine coda. Million and Mercer peel out some amazing frazzled solos, the rhythm section knows the virtues of raving it up and keeping the beat steady and flowing, and the ghost of various earlier inspirations plays around without dominating things. If anything, the concluding cover this time around makes for an intriguing difference away from the Velvets - namely, the Stooges, in a gentle rip through Real Cool Time. But even though there's nothing 'new' to report about the Feelies and the members' way of doing things, as a well-played and written collection of low-key rock with non-mainstream aims and goals, Time for a Witness makes for a fine listen".
(Ned Raggett, All-Music Guide)
ENJOY
Invitation
20 May 2010
BOYD RICE AND FRIENDS - Music, Martinis, and Misanthropy
LP / CD New European Recordings 1990
"Rice started creating experimental noise recordings in 1975, drawing on his interest in tape machines and bubblegum pop sung by female vocalists such as Little Peggy March and Ginny Arnel. One of his earliest efforts consisted entirely of a loop of every time Leslie Gore sang the word 'cry'. After initially creating recordings simply for his own listening, he later started to give performances, and eventually make records. His musical project NON grew out of these early experiments; he reportedly selected the name because 'it implies everything and nothing'. (...) Under the name NON, originally with second member Robert Turman, Rice has recorded several seminal noise music albums, and collaborated with experimental music / dark folk artists like Current 93, Death In June and Rose McDowall. Most of his music has been released on the Mute Records label. Rice has also collaborated with Foetus, Tony Wakeford of Sol Invictus and Michael Moynihan of Blood Axis. His later albums have often been explicitly conceptual".
(amazon.com)
"This album is considered a classic, yet defies easy categorization. The music is lilting, hypnotic, and aesthetically quite pleasing to the ear. It features restructurings of works by The Carpenters, Rod McKuen, and Ragnar Redbeard, as well as original vitriolic and humanist pieces and misanthropic tunes by Rice. There is also a plaintive duet of sorts between Rice and McDowall (who would later record an album of suicide songs under the name of Spell) on the traditional murder ballad, Down in the Willow Garden. A great deal of the music was arranged by Douglas P. in collaboration with Rice and Ferbrache. This album was inspired by Jackie Gleason's romantic recordings from the 1950's. The title is a tribute to Gleasons's album, Music, Martinis, and Memories. The liner notes thank Anton LaVey, Rod McKuen, Ragnar Redbeard, Lee Hazlewood, Pat Purdy, Richard and Karen C., The Everly Brothers' Father, Walt Disney, Artie De Gobineau and 'Big' Jim Huberty".
(wikipedia.com)
ENJOY
People
"Rice started creating experimental noise recordings in 1975, drawing on his interest in tape machines and bubblegum pop sung by female vocalists such as Little Peggy March and Ginny Arnel. One of his earliest efforts consisted entirely of a loop of every time Leslie Gore sang the word 'cry'. After initially creating recordings simply for his own listening, he later started to give performances, and eventually make records. His musical project NON grew out of these early experiments; he reportedly selected the name because 'it implies everything and nothing'. (...) Under the name NON, originally with second member Robert Turman, Rice has recorded several seminal noise music albums, and collaborated with experimental music / dark folk artists like Current 93, Death In June and Rose McDowall. Most of his music has been released on the Mute Records label. Rice has also collaborated with Foetus, Tony Wakeford of Sol Invictus and Michael Moynihan of Blood Axis. His later albums have often been explicitly conceptual".
(amazon.com)
"This album is considered a classic, yet defies easy categorization. The music is lilting, hypnotic, and aesthetically quite pleasing to the ear. It features restructurings of works by The Carpenters, Rod McKuen, and Ragnar Redbeard, as well as original vitriolic and humanist pieces and misanthropic tunes by Rice. There is also a plaintive duet of sorts between Rice and McDowall (who would later record an album of suicide songs under the name of Spell) on the traditional murder ballad, Down in the Willow Garden. A great deal of the music was arranged by Douglas P. in collaboration with Rice and Ferbrache. This album was inspired by Jackie Gleason's romantic recordings from the 1950's. The title is a tribute to Gleasons's album, Music, Martinis, and Memories. The liner notes thank Anton LaVey, Rod McKuen, Ragnar Redbeard, Lee Hazlewood, Pat Purdy, Richard and Karen C., The Everly Brothers' Father, Walt Disney, Artie De Gobineau and 'Big' Jim Huberty".
(wikipedia.com)
ENJOY
People
19 May 2010
ED KUEPPER - Rooms of the Magnificent
LP Hot Records 1986
CD reissue Hot Records 1992
"Although deservedly a legend in his native Australia, Ed Kuepper is virtually unknown in North America. What little awareness of him there is resulted from the lanky guitarist's beginnings as a teenager in Brisbane, where he formed the band that would become the Saints in 1973 with singer Chris Bailey and launched an international punk sensation. No genre retrospective is complete without the Saints' classic Kuepper-penned singles: (I'm) Stranded, This Perfect Day and Know Your Product. The group split in 1978 after three brilliant albums (although Bailey again used the name in the '80s) and Kuepper formed the equally uncompromising, eclectic and jazzy Laughing Clowns before going solo in 1986 with the sparse, sprightly Electrical Storm. (...) Rooms of the Magnificent is no departure, but employs deeper production touches and boasts one of Kuepper's best tracks (with his best horn use since Know Your Product), Also Sprach the King of Eurodisco. The guitarist deftly mixes Laughing Clowns' edgy stubbornness and skewered, rhythmic force with more accessible hooks".
(Jack Rabid, Trouser Press)
ENJOY
Also Sprach the King of Euro-Disco
CD reissue Hot Records 1992
"Although deservedly a legend in his native Australia, Ed Kuepper is virtually unknown in North America. What little awareness of him there is resulted from the lanky guitarist's beginnings as a teenager in Brisbane, where he formed the band that would become the Saints in 1973 with singer Chris Bailey and launched an international punk sensation. No genre retrospective is complete without the Saints' classic Kuepper-penned singles: (I'm) Stranded, This Perfect Day and Know Your Product. The group split in 1978 after three brilliant albums (although Bailey again used the name in the '80s) and Kuepper formed the equally uncompromising, eclectic and jazzy Laughing Clowns before going solo in 1986 with the sparse, sprightly Electrical Storm. (...) Rooms of the Magnificent is no departure, but employs deeper production touches and boasts one of Kuepper's best tracks (with his best horn use since Know Your Product), Also Sprach the King of Eurodisco. The guitarist deftly mixes Laughing Clowns' edgy stubbornness and skewered, rhythmic force with more accessible hooks".
(Jack Rabid, Trouser Press)
ENJOY
Also Sprach the King of Euro-Disco
18 May 2010
SWANS - Love Will Tear Us Apart
12" EP Product Inc. 1988
CD EP Product Inc. 1988
"Swans are an influential American post-punk band initially active from 1982 to 1997, led by singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Michael Gira. The band was one of the few groups to emerge from the early 1980s New York No Wave scene and stay intact into the next decade. Formed by Gira in 1982, the Swans employed a shifting lineup of musicians until their dissolution in 1997. Besides Gira, the only other constant members were keyboardist/vocalist/songwriter Jarboe from 1984 to 1997, and semi-constant guitarist Norman Westberg. The band was noted for droning vocals and strange instrumentation. As of January 2010, Michael Gira has begun working on new Swans material".
(wikipedia.com)
"Calling this one of the most distinct and at the same time confusing Swans releases would be putting it mildly. Though there's a clear Joy Division influence on Swans' first EP, the fact that the band would release two separate cover versions, sung by Gira and Jarboe separately, of the English group's justly famous swan song must still have been a surprise upon its appearance. Various editions of the single popped up, ultimately resulting in an overall 12"/CD single release which compiled just about everything. Of the two covers, Jarboe's is the more striking, her deep, mournful vocals beautifully suited to the wracked lyrics, set over a spare arrangement of acoustic guitar and keyboards; Gira's own take isn't bad either, but it's a little more straightforward in comparison (he himself has since dismissed the entire release as one of Swans' worst moments). As for the other tracks, the most noteworthy are Trust Me, a brief but incredibly ambiguous take on love and truthfulness sung with especial wryness by Gira over a tense acoustic/electric arrangement, and a version of the Children of God track New Mind, listed as acoustic but with electric guitar in the background and a general band arrangement helping to fill out the calmer but still gripping take on the song".
(Ned Raggett, All-Music Guide)
ENJOY
Love Will Tear Us Apart
CD EP Product Inc. 1988
"Swans are an influential American post-punk band initially active from 1982 to 1997, led by singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Michael Gira. The band was one of the few groups to emerge from the early 1980s New York No Wave scene and stay intact into the next decade. Formed by Gira in 1982, the Swans employed a shifting lineup of musicians until their dissolution in 1997. Besides Gira, the only other constant members were keyboardist/vocalist/songwriter Jarboe from 1984 to 1997, and semi-constant guitarist Norman Westberg. The band was noted for droning vocals and strange instrumentation. As of January 2010, Michael Gira has begun working on new Swans material".
(wikipedia.com)
"Calling this one of the most distinct and at the same time confusing Swans releases would be putting it mildly. Though there's a clear Joy Division influence on Swans' first EP, the fact that the band would release two separate cover versions, sung by Gira and Jarboe separately, of the English group's justly famous swan song must still have been a surprise upon its appearance. Various editions of the single popped up, ultimately resulting in an overall 12"/CD single release which compiled just about everything. Of the two covers, Jarboe's is the more striking, her deep, mournful vocals beautifully suited to the wracked lyrics, set over a spare arrangement of acoustic guitar and keyboards; Gira's own take isn't bad either, but it's a little more straightforward in comparison (he himself has since dismissed the entire release as one of Swans' worst moments). As for the other tracks, the most noteworthy are Trust Me, a brief but incredibly ambiguous take on love and truthfulness sung with especial wryness by Gira over a tense acoustic/electric arrangement, and a version of the Children of God track New Mind, listed as acoustic but with electric guitar in the background and a general band arrangement helping to fill out the calmer but still gripping take on the song".
(Ned Raggett, All-Music Guide)
ENJOY
Love Will Tear Us Apart
17 May 2010
THE TEAR GARDEN - Tired Eyes Slowly Burning
LP Nettwerk Productions 1987
CD Nettwerk Productions 1987 with bonus tracks
"The roots of The Tear Garden extend back to 1983 when Cevin Key, on the verge of forming Skinny Puppy, struck up a trans-Atlantic correspondence with Edward Ka-Spel, the lead vocalist and driving force behind The Legendary Pink Dots. Three years later, Ka-Spel visited Vancouver for a series of three live performances with Key as sound technician, and during his visit, they recorded The Tear Garden's self-titled debut EP. In 1987, Ka-Spel returned to open for Skinny Puppy on their North American tour, after which the duo retreated to the studio for two weeks to produce the now classic electronic-psychedelic album, Tired Eyes Slowly Burning. It was during these sessions that the project's ranks began to expand, with guest appearances by Key's fellow Puppies Dwayne Goettel and Nivek Ogre. (...) This was the first of Skinny Puppy's ongoing splinter projects, featuring both cEvin Key and Dwayne Goettel teamed up with Edward Ka-Spel of the Legendary Pink Dots... a veritable industrial supergroup. With Key and Goettel handling all of the music and Ka-Spel taking care of the lyrics and vocals, it mixes together to create a dreamy electronic mix that owes something to both Puppy and the Dots, but is nonetheless totally different. Think Pink Floyd on a scary acid trip and you're getting close. You and Me and Rainbows is monolithic at nearly 17 minutes, but it's worth every second".
(brainwashed.com)
"The Tear Garden was formed by Edward Ka-Spel of The Legendary Pink Dots and cEvin Key of Skinny Puppy in 1985, after Key served as sound engineer for Ka-Spel’s Canadian tour. Various other 'guests' from Skinny Puppy and the Pink Dots appear on future albums The band released EPs in 1985 and 1986, combined on 1987’s full length, Tired Eyes Slowly Burning. Their debut was their most electronic and mixed together the psychedelic, experimental, and industrial sounds each band was known for. Later albums veer more into the space rock style of the Pink Dots. Their most recent release from 2002, Eye Spy With My Little Eye, is a collection of out-takes from the mid-80s period".
(discogs.com)
ENJOY
Coma
CD Nettwerk Productions 1987 with bonus tracks
"The roots of The Tear Garden extend back to 1983 when Cevin Key, on the verge of forming Skinny Puppy, struck up a trans-Atlantic correspondence with Edward Ka-Spel, the lead vocalist and driving force behind The Legendary Pink Dots. Three years later, Ka-Spel visited Vancouver for a series of three live performances with Key as sound technician, and during his visit, they recorded The Tear Garden's self-titled debut EP. In 1987, Ka-Spel returned to open for Skinny Puppy on their North American tour, after which the duo retreated to the studio for two weeks to produce the now classic electronic-psychedelic album, Tired Eyes Slowly Burning. It was during these sessions that the project's ranks began to expand, with guest appearances by Key's fellow Puppies Dwayne Goettel and Nivek Ogre. (...) This was the first of Skinny Puppy's ongoing splinter projects, featuring both cEvin Key and Dwayne Goettel teamed up with Edward Ka-Spel of the Legendary Pink Dots... a veritable industrial supergroup. With Key and Goettel handling all of the music and Ka-Spel taking care of the lyrics and vocals, it mixes together to create a dreamy electronic mix that owes something to both Puppy and the Dots, but is nonetheless totally different. Think Pink Floyd on a scary acid trip and you're getting close. You and Me and Rainbows is monolithic at nearly 17 minutes, but it's worth every second".
(brainwashed.com)
"The Tear Garden was formed by Edward Ka-Spel of The Legendary Pink Dots and cEvin Key of Skinny Puppy in 1985, after Key served as sound engineer for Ka-Spel’s Canadian tour. Various other 'guests' from Skinny Puppy and the Pink Dots appear on future albums The band released EPs in 1985 and 1986, combined on 1987’s full length, Tired Eyes Slowly Burning. Their debut was their most electronic and mixed together the psychedelic, experimental, and industrial sounds each band was known for. Later albums veer more into the space rock style of the Pink Dots. Their most recent release from 2002, Eye Spy With My Little Eye, is a collection of out-takes from the mid-80s period".
(discogs.com)
ENJOY
Coma
16 May 2010
VIOLENT FEMMES - The Blind Leading the Naked
LP / CD Slash Records 1986
"The Violent Femmes burst out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin in the early '80s, a remarkably original trio playing acoustic instruments and singing intense, personal songs with remarkable candor and love. Initially resembling a punk version of the Modern Lovers, the Femmes - Gordon Gano (vocals, guitar, songs), Brian Ritchie (bass) and Victor De Lorenzo (drums) - have grown more uncommon over the years, fixing a flexible style that resembles no other band. (...) The Blind Leading the Naked was produced by Talking Head Jerry Harrison with conscious mainstreaming intent. Of course, the Femmes at their most commercial are still pretty radical, although I Held Her in My Arms does sound unnervingly like Bruce Springsteen. As if to prove their orneriness, a vituperative attack on Old Mother Reagan and the similarly anti-authoritarian No Killing demonstrate an undying rebellious spirit. But it's another type of spirit that invests the bluesy Faith and the Stonesy Love & Me Make Three, keeping god in the grooves alongside Marc Bolan, who gets worked over with a misbegotten Headsish version of Children of the Revolution. The Velvet Underground fares better on Good Friend, a Femmes original that uncannily echoes Lou Reed".
(Ira Robbins / J. Poet, Trouser Press)
ENJOY
Good Friend
"The Violent Femmes burst out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin in the early '80s, a remarkably original trio playing acoustic instruments and singing intense, personal songs with remarkable candor and love. Initially resembling a punk version of the Modern Lovers, the Femmes - Gordon Gano (vocals, guitar, songs), Brian Ritchie (bass) and Victor De Lorenzo (drums) - have grown more uncommon over the years, fixing a flexible style that resembles no other band. (...) The Blind Leading the Naked was produced by Talking Head Jerry Harrison with conscious mainstreaming intent. Of course, the Femmes at their most commercial are still pretty radical, although I Held Her in My Arms does sound unnervingly like Bruce Springsteen. As if to prove their orneriness, a vituperative attack on Old Mother Reagan and the similarly anti-authoritarian No Killing demonstrate an undying rebellious spirit. But it's another type of spirit that invests the bluesy Faith and the Stonesy Love & Me Make Three, keeping god in the grooves alongside Marc Bolan, who gets worked over with a misbegotten Headsish version of Children of the Revolution. The Velvet Underground fares better on Good Friend, a Femmes original that uncannily echoes Lou Reed".
(Ira Robbins / J. Poet, Trouser Press)
ENJOY
Good Friend
15 May 2010
PULP - It
LP Fire Records 1983
CD reissue Fire Records 1994
"It is a gentle, mainly acoustic album that gives very few signs to the musical directions Pulp would later pursue. Lacking any hint of synthesizers or dance music, the album occasionally touches on the majestic, theatrical ballads of Scott Walker, as well as the stark, folky song poems of Leonard Cohen. However, at this stage, Jarvis Cocker is hardly the lyrical equivalent of either songwriter, and his singing is endearingly awkward - occasionally he misses notes, and he misses the tune every once in a while. Nevertheless, there are tunes throughout the album, whether it's the light opening single My Lighthouse or the silly, music hall stomp of Love Love. It isn't a great album, but it has an effortless, amateurish charm that makes up for the unformed songs and the band's rudimentary musical skills".
(Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All-Music Guide)
"Pulp proves that old saw about perseverance. It took ages, but singer/auteur Jarvis Cocker grew to become a star, recognized as British pop's most astonishing storyteller and acerbic social commentator, beloved by those with a taste for wit, fashion and panache. But in Pulp's earliest incarnation, it sounds as if Cocker's goal was to be the Edwyn Collins of Sheffield. The eight-song It mini-album is sparse indie rock-folk, all wispy melodies and wimpy vocals, with My Lighthouse (co-written with Simon Hinkler, later of the Mission, and reprised from Pulp's 7-inch debut), being the best".
(Michael Krugman / Seth Bender, Trouser Press)
ENJOY
My Lighthouse
CD reissue Fire Records 1994
"It is a gentle, mainly acoustic album that gives very few signs to the musical directions Pulp would later pursue. Lacking any hint of synthesizers or dance music, the album occasionally touches on the majestic, theatrical ballads of Scott Walker, as well as the stark, folky song poems of Leonard Cohen. However, at this stage, Jarvis Cocker is hardly the lyrical equivalent of either songwriter, and his singing is endearingly awkward - occasionally he misses notes, and he misses the tune every once in a while. Nevertheless, there are tunes throughout the album, whether it's the light opening single My Lighthouse or the silly, music hall stomp of Love Love. It isn't a great album, but it has an effortless, amateurish charm that makes up for the unformed songs and the band's rudimentary musical skills".
(Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All-Music Guide)
"Pulp proves that old saw about perseverance. It took ages, but singer/auteur Jarvis Cocker grew to become a star, recognized as British pop's most astonishing storyteller and acerbic social commentator, beloved by those with a taste for wit, fashion and panache. But in Pulp's earliest incarnation, it sounds as if Cocker's goal was to be the Edwyn Collins of Sheffield. The eight-song It mini-album is sparse indie rock-folk, all wispy melodies and wimpy vocals, with My Lighthouse (co-written with Simon Hinkler, later of the Mission, and reprised from Pulp's 7-inch debut), being the best".
(Michael Krugman / Seth Bender, Trouser Press)
ENJOY
My Lighthouse
14 May 2010
JAMES RAY - The Best of James Ray's Performance & Gangwar
Original recordings Merciful Release 1986-1992
Compilation CD Fifth Column Records 1996
"Already established on the Merciful Release label, James Ray had sung on Andrew Eldritch’s side-project Sisterhood album Gift, a collaboration that added to his reputation. With Karl Harrison of The Performance he released the compilation album A New Kind of Assassin in 1989, characterised by driving rhythms and vistas of sound, overlaid with Ray’s heavy, mesmerising vocals. When this project disbanded Ray formed James Rays Gangwar with Damon Vingoe (bass/keyboards) Travis Earl (guitars) John Bainbridge (guitars). Gangwar are a very strong team, which shares the writing, producing and performing duties. Beginning to gig in late 1989, Melody Maker described hearing them live as 'like discovering sex for the first time'. The band created sounds that cross the decades, consistently offering something new and exciting".
(Valerie Palmer, The Rough Guide To Rock)
"I'm still at odds over whither or not the concept of a gothic electro band with country overtones that James Ray exhibits is successful. On one side, the music is a re-release of two older albums from 1986-89 so the material naturally sounds dated to some extent. On the other is the fact that the music is entirely electronic and five of the tracks were produced in part by Andrew Eldritch of Sisters of Mercy. The majority of the tracks have a distinct southwestern influence as is evident in the track titles and the lyrics. Normally I'd find that a consummate detractor to any music I listen to but since the vocals of James Ray are gothic to the core rather than a country redneck twang it actually adds a great deal of down home atmosphere to the music. However I tend to enjoy a little grit and modern angst in my music and James Ray seems to be lacking in this arena. The music is by no means perky or upbeat but rather morbidly drab. It is totally devoid of any vehement intensity and instead relies on a solid laid back musical approach that works well for the music".
(Sonic Boom)
ENJOY
Mountain Voices
Compilation CD Fifth Column Records 1996
"Already established on the Merciful Release label, James Ray had sung on Andrew Eldritch’s side-project Sisterhood album Gift, a collaboration that added to his reputation. With Karl Harrison of The Performance he released the compilation album A New Kind of Assassin in 1989, characterised by driving rhythms and vistas of sound, overlaid with Ray’s heavy, mesmerising vocals. When this project disbanded Ray formed James Rays Gangwar with Damon Vingoe (bass/keyboards) Travis Earl (guitars) John Bainbridge (guitars). Gangwar are a very strong team, which shares the writing, producing and performing duties. Beginning to gig in late 1989, Melody Maker described hearing them live as 'like discovering sex for the first time'. The band created sounds that cross the decades, consistently offering something new and exciting".
(Valerie Palmer, The Rough Guide To Rock)
"I'm still at odds over whither or not the concept of a gothic electro band with country overtones that James Ray exhibits is successful. On one side, the music is a re-release of two older albums from 1986-89 so the material naturally sounds dated to some extent. On the other is the fact that the music is entirely electronic and five of the tracks were produced in part by Andrew Eldritch of Sisters of Mercy. The majority of the tracks have a distinct southwestern influence as is evident in the track titles and the lyrics. Normally I'd find that a consummate detractor to any music I listen to but since the vocals of James Ray are gothic to the core rather than a country redneck twang it actually adds a great deal of down home atmosphere to the music. However I tend to enjoy a little grit and modern angst in my music and James Ray seems to be lacking in this arena. The music is by no means perky or upbeat but rather morbidly drab. It is totally devoid of any vehement intensity and instead relies on a solid laid back musical approach that works well for the music".
(Sonic Boom)
ENJOY
Mountain Voices
13 May 2010
THE AU PAIRS - Sense & Sensuality
LP Kamera Records 1982
CD reissue RPM Records 1993 with bonus tracks
"On their second album, the Au Pairs were very much in tune with the growth pangs of the punk/new wave scene as a whole in the early '80s. In stripping their music to a funkier, more rhythmic essence, and shifting the focus of their lyrics to the personal rather than the political, they lost some of the direct impact (and critical acclaim) of their debut. Musically, however, things were actually more interesting. The addition of horns and imaginative synthesizers allowed for more satisfying sonic diversity. The words were still confrontational, but more obscure in their intent. Although occasionally political (as in the blunt anti-Reagan screed America), they were far more concerned with questioning sex/relationship roles (as in Sex Without Stress, Intact and Instant Touch). The record didn't get as much attention as their first LP, but it's just as much a touchstone of post-punk".
(Richie Unterberger, All-Music Guide)
ENJOY
Sex Without Stress
CD reissue RPM Records 1993 with bonus tracks
"On their second album, the Au Pairs were very much in tune with the growth pangs of the punk/new wave scene as a whole in the early '80s. In stripping their music to a funkier, more rhythmic essence, and shifting the focus of their lyrics to the personal rather than the political, they lost some of the direct impact (and critical acclaim) of their debut. Musically, however, things were actually more interesting. The addition of horns and imaginative synthesizers allowed for more satisfying sonic diversity. The words were still confrontational, but more obscure in their intent. Although occasionally political (as in the blunt anti-Reagan screed America), they were far more concerned with questioning sex/relationship roles (as in Sex Without Stress, Intact and Instant Touch). The record didn't get as much attention as their first LP, but it's just as much a touchstone of post-punk".
(Richie Unterberger, All-Music Guide)
ENJOY
Sex Without Stress
12 May 2010
SAVAGE REPUBLIC - Tragic Figures
LP Independent Project Records 1982
CD reissue Mobilization Records 2002
"Figures of considerable repute within the Los Angeles post-punk community of the 1980s, Savage Republic grafted tribal percussion, industrial drones, and raga-like guitar lines together to craft an idiosyncratically moody sound with flashes of both desolation and eloquent grandeur. Capable of both harsh dissonance and shimmering textures, the band's guiding force was guitarist Bruce Licher, a founder and constant presence in their shuffling lineups. Alternating between cyclic instrumentals and quasi-industrial assaults with gruff, chanted vocals, their records were unavoidably inconsistent, but most contain some enduring highlights. (...) [Tragic Figures] is really their most atypical full-length studio album, emphasizing harsh, grating vocals and instrumental drones to a greater degree than anything else in their catalog. The throbbing percussion, though, would continue to be an element in everything they did, and quasi-Middle Eastern melodic motifs begin to assert themselves at times. Be aware that this, like all of Savage Republic's work, is not a collection of 'songs' in the conventional rock sense, although many have vocals; it's more like a collection of 'pieces' designed to establish moods and textures. The album is also distinguished by its exotic packaging, lettered entirely in Arabic script. The CD adds seven bonus tracks, including everything from their out-of-print 7" releases from 1983 and 1984".
(Richie Unterberger, All-Music Guide)
ENJOY
Film Noir
CD reissue Mobilization Records 2002
"Figures of considerable repute within the Los Angeles post-punk community of the 1980s, Savage Republic grafted tribal percussion, industrial drones, and raga-like guitar lines together to craft an idiosyncratically moody sound with flashes of both desolation and eloquent grandeur. Capable of both harsh dissonance and shimmering textures, the band's guiding force was guitarist Bruce Licher, a founder and constant presence in their shuffling lineups. Alternating between cyclic instrumentals and quasi-industrial assaults with gruff, chanted vocals, their records were unavoidably inconsistent, but most contain some enduring highlights. (...) [Tragic Figures] is really their most atypical full-length studio album, emphasizing harsh, grating vocals and instrumental drones to a greater degree than anything else in their catalog. The throbbing percussion, though, would continue to be an element in everything they did, and quasi-Middle Eastern melodic motifs begin to assert themselves at times. Be aware that this, like all of Savage Republic's work, is not a collection of 'songs' in the conventional rock sense, although many have vocals; it's more like a collection of 'pieces' designed to establish moods and textures. The album is also distinguished by its exotic packaging, lettered entirely in Arabic script. The CD adds seven bonus tracks, including everything from their out-of-print 7" releases from 1983 and 1984".
(Richie Unterberger, All-Music Guide)
ENJOY
Film Noir
11 May 2010
THE SMITHEREENS - Especially For You
LP Enigma Records 1986
CD reissue Enigma Records 1992 with bonus tracks
"Putting heartfelt conviction into downcast power pop with deep, devoted roots in rock'n'roll history, The Smithereens did something previously unimaginable in the '80s. The New Jersey quartet came out of that wonderful fringe world in which updates of old-school pop notions were understood to have no mainstream commercial appeal (Dwight Twilley and the Raspberries notwithstanding) and proved there was significant sales potential for fan-made music. (...) After signing to Enigma, The Smithereens wound up getting a song (Blood and Roses) on a film soundtrack. The picture was a flop, but the tune garnered airplay and brought The Smithereens national attention. The Don Dixon-produced Especially For You benefited from the exposure and momentum, and wound up a successful chart happening. Fortunately, it's also a wonderful record, an unfancy set of memorable songs - Alone at Midnight, Strangers When We Meet, Time and Time Again - that reflect both DiNizio's sour view of romance and the quartet's sincere fandom for a number of great bands of the '60s - the Beatles, Searchers, Who and Kinks. (Suzanne Vega, with whom DiNizio had worked in an office, guests on In a Lonely Place)".
(Ira Robbins, Trouser Press)
"The Smithereens' superb full-length debut Especially For You marries an unapologetically nostalgic affection for the melodic crunch of the British Invasion era with an equally unapologetic helping of postmodern melancholia. In tandem with Don Dixon's moodily atmospheric production, Pat DiNizio's lovelorn lyrics and world-weary vocals reveal the dark underbelly of his otherwise crisply infectious songs, lending standout tracks like Strangers When We Meet, Behind the Wall of Sleep, and the minor hit Blood and Roses, both a unique flavor and an immediate familiarity".
(Jason Ankeny, All-Music Guide)
ENJOY
Strangers When We Meet
CD reissue Enigma Records 1992 with bonus tracks
"Putting heartfelt conviction into downcast power pop with deep, devoted roots in rock'n'roll history, The Smithereens did something previously unimaginable in the '80s. The New Jersey quartet came out of that wonderful fringe world in which updates of old-school pop notions were understood to have no mainstream commercial appeal (Dwight Twilley and the Raspberries notwithstanding) and proved there was significant sales potential for fan-made music. (...) After signing to Enigma, The Smithereens wound up getting a song (Blood and Roses) on a film soundtrack. The picture was a flop, but the tune garnered airplay and brought The Smithereens national attention. The Don Dixon-produced Especially For You benefited from the exposure and momentum, and wound up a successful chart happening. Fortunately, it's also a wonderful record, an unfancy set of memorable songs - Alone at Midnight, Strangers When We Meet, Time and Time Again - that reflect both DiNizio's sour view of romance and the quartet's sincere fandom for a number of great bands of the '60s - the Beatles, Searchers, Who and Kinks. (Suzanne Vega, with whom DiNizio had worked in an office, guests on In a Lonely Place)".
(Ira Robbins, Trouser Press)
"The Smithereens' superb full-length debut Especially For You marries an unapologetically nostalgic affection for the melodic crunch of the British Invasion era with an equally unapologetic helping of postmodern melancholia. In tandem with Don Dixon's moodily atmospheric production, Pat DiNizio's lovelorn lyrics and world-weary vocals reveal the dark underbelly of his otherwise crisply infectious songs, lending standout tracks like Strangers When We Meet, Behind the Wall of Sleep, and the minor hit Blood and Roses, both a unique flavor and an immediate familiarity".
(Jason Ankeny, All-Music Guide)
ENJOY
Strangers When We Meet
10 May 2010
Request: IKE YARD - 1980-82 Collected
CD compilation Acute Records 2006
"The NYC-based art rock collective Ike Yard emerged during the waning days of the No Wave movement, eventually becoming most noteworthy for being the first American group signed to Factory Records and for the fact that bass player Kenneth Compton reportedly once dated Madonna. (...) Cribbing their name from a record sleeve in A Clockwork Orange, Ike Yard sculpted a doom-laden experimental sound that drew heavily upon first wave Krautrock (particularly Can and Faust) and the post-punk dub maneuvers of PiL and Joy Division. Unlike No Wave's many unschooled or self-taught musicians, however, Ike Yard's Michael Diekmann and Fred Szymanski both had an academic background in music, studying Stockhausen and modern composition at the McColl Studio of Electronic Music at Brown. It's perhaps due to these academic origins, then, that much of Ike Yard's work matches their sinuous, bass-heavy grooves with a rather dry, formalistic precision. This sense of clinical detachment is often accentuated by Stuart Argabright's clipped, semi-spoken vocals, his monochromatic announcements often struggling helplessly to compete against the dark music's forceful technological currents".
(Matthew Murphy, Pitchfork)
Link removed by request
You can get this awesome compilation here
Night After Night
"The NYC-based art rock collective Ike Yard emerged during the waning days of the No Wave movement, eventually becoming most noteworthy for being the first American group signed to Factory Records and for the fact that bass player Kenneth Compton reportedly once dated Madonna. (...) Cribbing their name from a record sleeve in A Clockwork Orange, Ike Yard sculpted a doom-laden experimental sound that drew heavily upon first wave Krautrock (particularly Can and Faust) and the post-punk dub maneuvers of PiL and Joy Division. Unlike No Wave's many unschooled or self-taught musicians, however, Ike Yard's Michael Diekmann and Fred Szymanski both had an academic background in music, studying Stockhausen and modern composition at the McColl Studio of Electronic Music at Brown. It's perhaps due to these academic origins, then, that much of Ike Yard's work matches their sinuous, bass-heavy grooves with a rather dry, formalistic precision. This sense of clinical detachment is often accentuated by Stuart Argabright's clipped, semi-spoken vocals, his monochromatic announcements often struggling helplessly to compete against the dark music's forceful technological currents".
(Matthew Murphy, Pitchfork)
Link removed by request
You can get this awesome compilation here
Night After Night
9 May 2010
THE RAILWAY CHILDREN - The Radio One Evening Show Sessions
Original BBC recordings 1986-1990
Compilation CD Nighttracks 1993
"Consisting of vocalist Gary Newby, Brian Bateman, Guy Keegan, and Stephen Hull, The Railway Children gained a small cult following in their native England in the late '80s. When the members were still teenagers, the group began releasing singles on Factory Records. Recalling the intricate guitar pop of The Smiths, their singles evoked the ringing hooks of '60s British pop and the post-punk pop attitude of the '80s. The band released their debut album, Reunion Wilderness, in 1987; the album led to a contract with Virgin Records. Railway Children's second album, Recurrence (1988), smoothed out the rougher edges of their early independent records, leading to several minor hit singles. Released in 1990, Native Place captured the band in a transitional phase, as they were incorporating dance elements into their sound. In 1992, while working on their fourth album, Dream Arcade, EMI took over their label, Virgin Records. The band left the label and by 1994, Bateman and Hull quit, leaving the band in limbo. Newby continued on, finally completing Dream Arcade in the spring of 1999 with a new lineup".
(Stephen Thomes Erlewine, All-Music Guide)
ENJOY
Big Hands of Freedom
Compilation CD Nighttracks 1993
"Consisting of vocalist Gary Newby, Brian Bateman, Guy Keegan, and Stephen Hull, The Railway Children gained a small cult following in their native England in the late '80s. When the members were still teenagers, the group began releasing singles on Factory Records. Recalling the intricate guitar pop of The Smiths, their singles evoked the ringing hooks of '60s British pop and the post-punk pop attitude of the '80s. The band released their debut album, Reunion Wilderness, in 1987; the album led to a contract with Virgin Records. Railway Children's second album, Recurrence (1988), smoothed out the rougher edges of their early independent records, leading to several minor hit singles. Released in 1990, Native Place captured the band in a transitional phase, as they were incorporating dance elements into their sound. In 1992, while working on their fourth album, Dream Arcade, EMI took over their label, Virgin Records. The band left the label and by 1994, Bateman and Hull quit, leaving the band in limbo. Newby continued on, finally completing Dream Arcade in the spring of 1999 with a new lineup".
(Stephen Thomes Erlewine, All-Music Guide)
ENJOY
Big Hands of Freedom
8 May 2010
Request: PAUL ROLAND - A Cabinet of Curiosities + Happy Families
LP New Rose Records 1987
LP New Rose Records 1988
CD reissue Syborg Music 2009 with bonus tracks
"Cult English recording artist Paul Roland, described as 'the male Kate Bush' by one-time label mate Robyn Hitchcock, has released 10 albums for collectable labels such as Bam Caruso, New Rose and Imaginary in a low-key career that has seen him acclaimed on the continent but criminally ignored in his native England. In England he is better known as a writer of mass market books on mysticism and the occult for major publishers. However, his reputation as a uniquely imaginative and consistently fascinating figure on the psych-pop circuit has substantially increased with each album. Other cult figures such as Robyn Hitchcock, Nick Saloman (Bevis Frond), Nick Nicely, and Andy Ellison (John's Children) have made guest appearances on his albums, several of which are now listed as highly collectable. Since 1979 Paul Roland has been spinning his bizarre tales against an evocative backdrop of rock, psychpop, folk and, occasionally, baroque strings. His most memorable character creations include a crotchety Regency magistrate, various 19th century murderers, a retired executioner, an opium addict, and an entire court of medieval grotesques. But not all his dreams are dark. Among his more whimsical creations are the eccentric characters on the largely acoustic album Happy Families and its prequel A Cabinet of Curiosities".
(syborgmusic.de)
LISTEN
&
ENJOY
Wyndham Hill
Berlin
LP New Rose Records 1988
CD reissue Syborg Music 2009 with bonus tracks
"Cult English recording artist Paul Roland, described as 'the male Kate Bush' by one-time label mate Robyn Hitchcock, has released 10 albums for collectable labels such as Bam Caruso, New Rose and Imaginary in a low-key career that has seen him acclaimed on the continent but criminally ignored in his native England. In England he is better known as a writer of mass market books on mysticism and the occult for major publishers. However, his reputation as a uniquely imaginative and consistently fascinating figure on the psych-pop circuit has substantially increased with each album. Other cult figures such as Robyn Hitchcock, Nick Saloman (Bevis Frond), Nick Nicely, and Andy Ellison (John's Children) have made guest appearances on his albums, several of which are now listed as highly collectable. Since 1979 Paul Roland has been spinning his bizarre tales against an evocative backdrop of rock, psychpop, folk and, occasionally, baroque strings. His most memorable character creations include a crotchety Regency magistrate, various 19th century murderers, a retired executioner, an opium addict, and an entire court of medieval grotesques. But not all his dreams are dark. Among his more whimsical creations are the eccentric characters on the largely acoustic album Happy Families and its prequel A Cabinet of Curiosities".
(syborgmusic.de)
LISTEN
&
ENJOY
Wyndham Hill
Berlin
7 May 2010
PERE UBU - Terminal Tower
Original Recordings 1975-1980
Compilation LP Rough Trade 1985
CD reissue Cooking Vinyl 1998
"Pere Ubu emerged from the urban wastelands of mid-'70s Cleveland to impact the American underground for generations to follow; led by hulking frontman David Thomas, whose absurdist warble and rapturously demented lyrics remained the band's creative focus throughout their long, convoluted career, Ubu's protean art punk sound harnessed self-destructing melodies, scattershot rhythms, and industrial-strength dissonance to capture the angst and chaos of their times with both apocalyptic fervor and surprising humanity".
(Jason Ankenny, All-Music Guide)
"At the outset of their career, Pere Ubu released some of the very first independent-label American punk singles on their own Hearthan (later Hearpen) label, which constitute some of their most celebrated and legendary work. Terminal Tower: An Archival Collection gathers 11 tracks, mostly from the crucial Hearthan/Hearpen period (including the entire Datapanik in the Year Zero EP), plus a couple of later U.K. singles. This music's historical importance is undeniable - not only because of the band's pioneeringly independent status in an area not as celebrated for its punk scene, but also because Pere Ubu was one of the first bands to push their art punk sound into territory later classified as alternative, a testament to their forward-looking approach".
(Steve Huey, All-Music Guide)
ENJOY
Final Solution
Compilation LP Rough Trade 1985
CD reissue Cooking Vinyl 1998
"Pere Ubu emerged from the urban wastelands of mid-'70s Cleveland to impact the American underground for generations to follow; led by hulking frontman David Thomas, whose absurdist warble and rapturously demented lyrics remained the band's creative focus throughout their long, convoluted career, Ubu's protean art punk sound harnessed self-destructing melodies, scattershot rhythms, and industrial-strength dissonance to capture the angst and chaos of their times with both apocalyptic fervor and surprising humanity".
(Jason Ankenny, All-Music Guide)
"At the outset of their career, Pere Ubu released some of the very first independent-label American punk singles on their own Hearthan (later Hearpen) label, which constitute some of their most celebrated and legendary work. Terminal Tower: An Archival Collection gathers 11 tracks, mostly from the crucial Hearthan/Hearpen period (including the entire Datapanik in the Year Zero EP), plus a couple of later U.K. singles. This music's historical importance is undeniable - not only because of the band's pioneeringly independent status in an area not as celebrated for its punk scene, but also because Pere Ubu was one of the first bands to push their art punk sound into territory later classified as alternative, a testament to their forward-looking approach".
(Steve Huey, All-Music Guide)
ENJOY
Final Solution
6 May 2010
THE POETS - The Poets
LP/CD BMG Ariola / RCA 1990
"Rockgroup started in Nyborg, Denmark by Troels Bech and Lars K. Andersen. Under the name Poets of the Signature they contributed to a number of samplers, then changing name to The Poets. Their main albums are in Denmark released under this name, but can be found in foreign releases under artist name The Sealand Poets".
(discogs.com)
ENJOY
Manson
"Rockgroup started in Nyborg, Denmark by Troels Bech and Lars K. Andersen. Under the name Poets of the Signature they contributed to a number of samplers, then changing name to The Poets. Their main albums are in Denmark released under this name, but can be found in foreign releases under artist name The Sealand Poets".
(discogs.com)
ENJOY
Manson
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