CD Hot Records 1995 "A brisk Australian chamber pop group with echoes of Frenchman Serge Gainsbourg as well as Leonard Cohen and post-punk, the Apartments were formed early in the '80s by frontman and guitarist Peter Milton-Walsh, though the band's unhectic release schedule resulted in only three albums during their first dozen years. The Evening Visits... was released in the Apartments' home country in 1985, and though it did only moderately well there, the album became a cult classic in France. Seven years after the debut, Drift followed with similar exposure, causing a French label to sign the group for third album A Life Full of Farewells. After re-releasing the first two LPs, plus Fête Foraine (which featured acoustic renditions of previous songs), the Apartments even gained American release on Twin/Tone Records. Their fourth proper album, Apart, was released in 2000". (John Bush, All-Music Guide) "Simply put, Peter Milton Walsh is a great songwriter. While the first two Apartments albums (The Evening Visits, Drift) show this in abundance, it's here on the third where he simply outdoes himself. A song cycle regarding the dissolution of Walsh's increasingly middle-aged life, Farewells begins with the ultra-catchy Things You'll Keep, works through the complicated games of love (The Failure of Love is A Brick Wall) and sweeps through to a sad finale where he remembers his father as an absent dad and dedicated worker sent out to pasture by the world he embraced (All the Time in the World). All in less time than it takes to fix a flat". (Rob O'Connor, amazon.com) ENJOY
LP Illuminated Records 1984 CD reissue Fire records 2002 "For some people - even those who didn't live through it - one crucial cultural era or another remains paramount, the fountainhead to which all subsequent existence must pay tribute. London singer/guitarist Daniel Treacy evidently considers the pop-art/mod '60s all there is to life; via the Television Personalities - the eccentric, haphazard group that has lobbed his brilliant salvos of vulnerable, adenoidal, damaged genius into the pop world for three decades now - Treacy has fashioned himself the voice of a long-lost young generation. While he draws heavily on mid-'60s pop and psychedelia (to the point of covering songs by the Creation on They Could Have Been Bigger Than the Beatles and in concert), Treacy doesn't seek to re-create a sound so much as honor a culture. A tender, detached, often wounded romantic with a mighty knowledge of his stylistic forebears, Treacy writes and sings with even more Britishness than Ray Davies. (...) Treacy formed the band with schoolmate Edward Ball (also the man of the Times, to which he became singly loyal in the early '80s) and Joe Foster (later of Slaughter Joe) as a haphazard and amateurish band whose records offer no slick musicianship but loads of brilliantly adapted pop-art weirdness. They started out wide-eyed and Jonathan Richman-like but evolved into (and beyond) rambling, jagged space noise and various stripes of time-warped psychedelia. (...) The Painted Word lists a four-man lineup and actually features a group photo (albeit a dark, fuzzy one) on the front cover. Musically, the TVPs have drifted off into spare, droning psychedelia and ultra-restrained rock that's hauntingly beautiful, like the most delicate moments of the Velvet Underground. While less resonantly topical than before (save for Back to Vietnam), the all-original songs effectively convey a melancholic sense of futility, even when superficially addressing relatively jolly topics. Highlighted by Stop and Smell the Roses and the heartbreaking romantic yearning of Someone to Share My Life With, The Painted Word is surprisingly serious and altogether excellent". (Ira Robbins, Trouser Press) ENJOY
LP Korova Records 1985 CD reissue Korova Records / WEA Japan 1997 with (lots of) bonus tracks "From the ominous shadows of Goth suddenly appeared two young girls in polka-dot dresses, flaming red lipstick, and hair ribbons. Looking like the brides of Robert Smith, Strawberry Switchblade made a brief splash on the U.K. charts and then abruptly vanished in the mid '80s, leaving their fans with a handful of collectible singles and one LP of deceptively sweet-sounding dance pop. Rose McDowall would later appear on countless experimental and industrial releases by Psychic TV, Coil, Current 93 and Death in June, among others". (discogs.com)
"The songs on Strawberry Switchblade bloom melodically, cheekily, childishly and rampant on the pulsating field of a complex beat instrumentation, whereby melancholy ballads in orotund pop clothing (with strings and oboes) alternate with quicker dance numbers (in the style of their hit Since Yesterday). The singing stems from the tradition of the beat-girl groups (Shangri-Las), charged with a shot of pop shock à la B 52s. Light pop music for a nightly stroll over fragrant asphalt, in May!" (Musik Express Sounds) ENJOY
2xLP Midnight Music 1988 CD Midnight Music 1988 "Cindytalk was the alias of one-man band Gordon Sharp, a Scottish performer who first emerged in 1981 as the Freeze, recording a John Peel session under that name. More prominent was his appearance on This Mortal Coil's 1983 debut EP, Song for the Siren; he also contibuted vocals to the project's 1984 full-length It'll End in Tears. At about the same time Sharp began working as Cindytalk, a solo vehicle aided by a variety of studio musicians. After debuting with the dark industrial effort Camouflage Heart, Cindytalk fell silent for a number of years, finally resurfacing in 1988 with the ambient In This World". (Jason Ankenny, All-Music Guide) "[In This World], two albums of the same name released simultaneously, featuring cover art by Kathy Patterson. The first of the albums, a broken and noisy affair, the second, an album of creaky ambience featuring Sharp's improvised piano experiments. In This World also featured an uncredited collaboration with feminist punk writer Kathy Acker (Janey's Love)". (wikipedia.com) "In This World is the magnum opus from hyper-obscure post-punk industrialists Cindytalk. The album, four years in the making and only the second of the band's career, was originally released in 1988 (...). Though it has a pronounced experimental vibe marked by freeform industrial noise, waves of ambient synth, and the occasional eerie string passage, In This Wold is at its core an abrasive industrial goth album that looks to Joy Division and the Birthday party for inspiration, but points directly to Marilyn Manson in its goolish aesthetic and bombastic metallic din. Literary listeners should take note of the guest appearance by experimental author Kathy Acker on Janey's Love". (cduniverse.com) ENJOY
Original recordings 1983-1986 Compilation CD Still Music 1993 "1000 Mexicans were one of the most innovative and creative independent bands of the 1980s, combining quality pop songwriting and rhythmic and harmonic richness with their unique touches of experimentalism and eccentricity. Described by one journalist as 'the musical equivalent of the 70s Dutch team with their total football', the trio of Julian Griffin, Michael Harding and Andrew Hobday exchanged vocal and instrumental duties at the drop of a sombrero, 'mixing melody and mayhem in equal measure'. Their first single The Art of Love provoked Melody Maker reviewer Adam Sweeting to enthuse 'The way things are going it won't be long before 1000 Mexicans are the best band in the world'. They went on to release 4 more singles including the classic The Last Pop Song and Under Construction, a hit in Spain and Portugal, as well as the LP Dance like Ammunition. Despite success in Europe and consistent critical acclaim, they never found favour with the UK record industry who appeared confused by their singular brand of humour and sometimes anarchic live shows. The 'hi-flying Burrito Brothers' eventually found themselves in a tangle of bad management and publishing agreements that strangled their creative momentum and finally their will to live". (1000mexicans.co.uk) "Leaving the synthetic deadwood of automised rhythm at the door, 1000 Mexicans' beat is less confined to their feet, spread out more evenly to the head and heart. There's a touch of the avant-garde about 1000 Mexicans that neatly sidesteps the need to force their awaiting audience to dance or stagger them into intellectualised submission without descending into the inferno of corporate paranoia and wicked stitch-ups of 23 Skidoo and Cabaret Voltaire. (...) It's your party and you can dance if you want to". (Martin Aston, Melody Maker) ENJOY
LP / CD 4AD records 1992 "Kurt Ralske's Ultra Vivid Scene drenches a listener with charged psychedelic folk-rock on Rev. Jangling, wailing guitars, deep basslines, and shuffling drums transport a listener to Ralske's passionate dreamy realm. Evoking heady, dark imagery in his lyrics, Ralske thankfully varies his pace and tone throughout the album. One doesn't know whether to expect a screaming guitar solo or dreamy female background vocals at any given moment. It's quite a feat that Ralske is able to stretch his catchy hooks and melodies into songs that hover and go well past the five-minute mark. That Ralske also maintains a somewhat dour vocal style, but still manages to hold a listener's rapt attention, expresses that fine songwriting and arrangements are on display. Equally successful whether it's pumping out Dark Side of the Moon-era Pink Floyd-inspired atmosphere or neo-psychedelia reminiscent of World Party, Rev is loaded with compelling songs. Sounding born of the Rolling Stones, in their vibe-heaviest mode, Rev exudes timeless tunes. Rev shows dream pop at its symbolic, aggressive zenith". (Tim DiGravina, All-Music Guide) "1992's Rev was a different entity to its carefully-honed predecessors. Recording as part of a three-piece rock band, Kurt kicked out the jams on a series of lengthy tracks dominated by his searing guitar leads. Despite what seemed like a promising new direction, Rev proved to be the final Ultra Vivid Scene album. Kurt subsequently concentrated on production, before returning with a new project, Cathars, in 1999. Ultra Vivid Scene's final release was the Blood And Thunder EP, featuring a single remix of the title song (drastically shortened from it's 10 minute running time on the Rev album) and three other tracks, including a superb rendition of John Cale's Winter Song". (4ad.com) ENJOY
Original BBC recordings 1981-1983 Compilation CD Strange Fruit 2003 "The Associates' sound mixed post-punk modernism (the iceburn spires of Rankine's guitar) and the more postmodern traits of the New Pop. In the Associates case that meant flashbacks to the stylized romance of bygone forms - inter-war torch songs, post-war musicals, Sinatra-style crooners, Scott Walker's orchestrated solo albums. MacKenzie's towering vocals conjured an era when the malady of love was expressed in epic proportions, when singer luxuriated in grief". (Simon Reynolds, Rip It Up and Start Again) "Poor Billy MacKenzie: he was ever a round peg in a very square world. How many diminutive singers from Dundee with a multi-octave range and a penchant for whippet breeding can you name? Plus many would argue that, coupled with multi-instrumentalist Alan Rankine, his blend of disco, Low/Heroes-era Bowie, Frank Sinatra and Krautrock is very much an acquired taste. Unfortunately the world never got the chance to catch up with this maverick as he took his own life in 1997. Yet this album at least gives us a chance to see why his voice was at once his blessing and his curse. By the time the first sessions on this disc were recorded, the original partnership of Mackenzie and Rankine was hitting its zenith. The first batch comes mainly from their masterpiece Sulk and displays exactly what made this pairing both exhilarating and frustrating. A re-titled track Me Myself And The Tragic Story (originally called Arrogance Gave Him Up) demonstrates Rankine's canny way with a melody while still retaining a frantic arrangement that is vertiginous. Most of the gems from this period will have you worrying that the drummer is about to fall over himself. The most exhilarating example must be It's Better This Way where Billy's multi-tracked whoops and hollers echo Rankine's gloriously risqué guitar lines. By the second visit to wonderful Radio One (as was) the partnership was fraying at the edges. Mackenzie's love of all things dance-oriented was pushing him away from the legendary excess-fuelled experimentation that had left their previous three albums sounding like pop produced in an alternate universe. His adaptation of Love Hangover (featuring Martha Ladly of Muffins fame) errs on the side of campness rather than plain old weirdness, and THAT voice is now intruding instead of intriguing. There is, however, a far lovelier early interpretation of Waiting For The Love Boat that outstrips its frantic final version. By 1983 MacKenzie had parted with Rankine and with new partner Howard Hughes was setting his cod-surreal lyrics in a far less challenging musical landscape. This was still no ordinary band, however. Hughes' piano on Breakfast is swoonsome while Billy's delivery on God Bless The Child is half Mel Torme, half Orson Welles. Despite a couple of absolutely classic singles this outfit were always destined to be too left-field for mass-consumption. But listening to the oddball irreverence applied to these radio sessions reminds one that true innovators very rarely fit in. Remarkable and utterly unique". (Chris Jones, bbc.co.uk) ENJOY
Original BBC recordings 1984-1985 Compilation CD Strange Fruit 2003 "Recorded and aired during 1984 and 1985, the second volume of Strange Fruit's complete restoration of the Associates' BBC sessions, Radio One Sessions, Vol. 2, isn't quite as thrilling as the first. Those familiar with the difference between the Alan Rankine era and the post-Rankine era of the group need little explanation. Though Billy Mackenzie carried on making respectable records with a talented group behind him, none of the material at any point threatened to rival what was accomplished with The Affectionate Punch, Fourth Drawer Down, and Sulk - three very different records that continue to sound like no one else's. Still, the trips to the BBC documented here feature some alternate versions that followers won't want to live without". (Andy Kellman, All-Music Guide) ENJOY
LP Cocteau Records 1986 CD reissue Cocteau Records / Enigma Records 1989 with slightly different tracklist "Cocteau Records was an independent label started by Bill Nelson and his former manager Mark Rye in 1980. Named after Jean Cocteau, the famous French artist, philosopher, filmmaker, etc etc..., the label released numerous recordings during the 1980's, most of which were Bill Nelson solo releases. It was also the launching pad for A Flock of Seagulls, whose first single Bill produced and released on his label. The strength of that record led to their signing by Jive Records and video infamousy for their hit song I Ran (So Far Away), which was played to death on MTV in America. Other artists who recorded for Cocteau were Yukihiro Takahashi, Man Jumping, To Heaven A Jet, Last Man In Europe, Fiat Lux, and a number of Nelson vehicles such as Jobson/Nelson, Revox Cadets, Scala, and Bill Nelson's Orchestra Arcana. US indie label Enigma eventually picked up Cocteau for distribution in the United States in 1986. This deal lasted until around 1989-90 when Enigma went bankrupt thanks to the label's 'bread and butter' act, Poison, disintegrating in a cloud of drugs, booze, and too much hair spray. After Rye resigned as Bill's manager in late 1990 the releases stopped and Cocteau Records was eventually 'struck from the register' in 1994". (billnelson.com) ENJOY
LP New Rose Records / Chameleon Records 1985 CD reissue Rhino Records 1995 with (lots of) bonus tracks "Grounded in the timeless twin aesthetics of pop art and power pop, Dramarama was nevertheless a star-crossed combo, out of synch with both the mainstream rock audience and the music business throughout its career. Formed in the basement of a collectors' record shop in Wayne, New Jersey, at the turn of the '80s, the band applied the brash energy of '70s punk and glitter-rock to the glamorous propulsion and romantic irony of David Bowie and the Velvet Underground. With the exception of the 1985 track Anything, Anything (I'll Give You), a modern-rock radio fave in LA for years, Dramarama never escaped the critical-acclaim ghetto. But it is a tribute to a potent sound and enthusiastic vision that Dramarama still sounds as fresh and sharp now as when it first emerged during the corporate-rock bloat of the mid-'80s. (...) Produced by bassist Chris Carter and singer/songwriter John Easdale, Cinéma Vérité is an album of drawn-out vintage. Five tracks originally appeared on the Comedy EP, issued in 1984 on the band's own Questionmark label. One of those five numbers, a beautiful-loser's reading of the Velvets' Femme Fatale, had first surfaced on Dramarama's '83 independent debut single. The other six songs were recorded after the French label New Rose commissioned a full-length album. For all its mixed parentage, though, Cinéma Vérité is an assured statement of refined style and desperate purpose. While Easdale's burnt-heart romanticism in songs like Some Crazy Dame and Questions? suggest Jonathan Richman by way of Raymond Chandler, the Britpop gleam and Jersey bar-band crackle in the guitars of Peter Wood and Mark Englert (aka Mr. E Boy) evoke the power-chord thrills of Mott the Hoople and the New York Dolls. And in Anything, Anything (I'll Give You), Dramarama bottle that contagious tension with car-radio finesse. (David Fricke, Trouser Press) ENJOY
Compilation CD Some Bizarre 2005 "Historical rare recording made between 1978 and 1982 by the now legendary 80’s electro pop group Soft Cell. Originally, vocalist Marc Almond and synth player Dave Ball teamed to compose music for theatrical productions and, as Soft Cell, their live performances continued to draw heavily on the pair's background in drama and the visual arts. A self-financed EP titled Mutant Moments brought the duo to the attention of Some Bizzare label head Stevo, who enlisted Daniel Miller to produce their underground hit single Memorabilia the following year. This was the launch pad for the band to rise to international notoriety in their short and successful career". (somebizarre.com) “I remember there was a little makeshift studio tucked away in the corner of Leeds Polytechnic Fine Arts department, the 'studio' basically consisted of two Revox B77 quarter inch reel to reel tape machines, a funny old Tandberg reel to reel machine and a six channel line mixer. I had a Korg DV800 duophonic synth (my first one), a couple of stylophones and eventually aquired a very basic drum machine. I used this set up to make weird little tunes up for reasons known only to myself (i.e. no reason). It was probably 1978 when Marc Almond, a fellow student, happened to be walking by and heard these funny electronic bleeps and came into the studio to listen and asked if I would do some sounds for his performance art shows, which I did. A year went by and we had started writing our idea of 'pop songs' which we performed live at the Fine Art Xmas party. Before we knew it we had turned our 'art pop' into 'pop art' or maybe the other way round". (Dave Ball 2005) ENJOY
LP Midnight Music 1985 CD reissue Midnight Music 1990 with bonus tracks "The Snake Corps came together in 1984 following the break-up of Sad Lovers & Giants (SL&G) the previous year. Aiming for a harder-edged sound, core members Tristan Garel-Funk and Nigel Pollard advertised in the Melody Maker for the necessary musicians. After many auditions they settled on Marc Lewis and Liam McGuinness on vocals and bass respectively. This original incarnation set about establishing its own sound - recording demos of songs later to appear on the band’s albums as well as a video of Look East for Eden at Kingston Poly where Marc was a student. After some initial success building a local following and reconnecting with many of the fans of SL&G, Nigel left the band and was replaced by Jon Greville from the extreme hardcore three-piece Rudimentary Peni. This line up went into record the first album: Flesh on Flesh, released on Midnight Music. Tours in Europe helped to build and consolidate the band's following, but at home the story was one of press and radio indifference". (snakecorps.com) ENJOY
LP Leprosy Records 1984 CD reissue Leprosy Records 1991 "Industrial innovators Death in June emerged in 1980 from the remnants of the punk unit Crisis, reuniting singer/multi-instrumentalist Douglas Pearce and bassist Tony Wakeford; drummer Patrick Leagas completed the original lineup, which made its live debut late the following year with an opening slot for the Birthday Party. The 12-inch Heaven Street soon followed, and in 1983 Death in June issued their first full-length effort, The Guilty Have No Pride; from the outset, the group was criticized for its adoption of fascist imagery, and charges of Nazism dogged Pearce throughout his career". (Jason Ankeny, All-Music Guide) "By 1984, angry punksters Crisis had miraculously transformed into Death in June - gone were the leftist ideas and in came black uniforms adorned by the totenkopf. Still, the band didn't really sound like Nazi drummerboys at a Nurenberg rally. Burial is a weird record that bears a notable punk feel, clearly signifying what the band members practiced some years before. The actual studio tracks are but five, the rest of the album consisting of live recordings. Opener Death of the West still serves as one of the neofolk evergreens: a simple but emotional anti-capitalist anthem composed in classic Death in June fashion, concentrating on strumming acoustic guitar and vocals exclusively. Fields, Nirvana and Black Radio all possess a definite '80s sound, meaning they're unmistakably post-punk and have strong new wave leanings. Sons of Europe delivers more pathos: martial drumming, trumpets blowing and atonal singing - it is probably the strangest track of the album. The live section, recorded somewhere in London in late 1983, is predictably psychedelic and somewhat chaotic. Even more than the studio material, the live recordings deliver a mix of proto-industrial, psychedelic rock and punk-influenced wave sound that is impenetrably esoteric and avant-garde". (chroniclesofchaos.com) ENJOY
LP A&M Records 1985 CD reissue Prima Records 1996 with bonus track "Danny & Dusty wasn't actually a duo, but a supergroup of sorts comprised of players from groups associated with L.A.'s paisley underground. Danny & Dusty consisted of Dan Stuart of Green on Red and the Dream Syndicate's Steve Wynn - along with members of their bands - plus Sid Griffin, Stephen McCarthy, and Tom Stevens from the Long Ryders. The gathering of friends recorded one album in February 1985 over the course of a single, notoriously booze-soaked weekend. Appropriately, the effort was titled Lost Weekend. It would assume legendary status among the followers of the paisley underground, though certainly many of the players here are from more of a roots rock, country-punk bent. The sleeve notes hail the effort as an amalgam of 'friendship, fear, drunkenness, death, and elusive salvation', a fair enough assessment of the loose, boozy set. The LP consisted of seven Stuart/Wynn compositions, plus a cover of Bob Dylan's Knockin' on Heaven's Door, and the sound varied from country-pop to blazing barroom rock". (Erik Hage, All-Music Guide) "For years, legend had it that this Paisley Underground supersession - starring Dan Stuart from Green on Red and Steve Wynn from the Dream Syndicate, with three-quarters of the Long Ryders joining members of the two above-mentioned groups as the backing band - was recorded in a mere three days over a long weekend in 1985. In his liner notes to the 1996 CD reissue, Wynn sets the record straight: actually, the basic tracks were cut in a single beer-fueled recording session (lasting a whopping 36 hours), with the guys calling it quits on Saturday night in order to give themselves Sunday to recover". (Mark Deming, All-Music Guide) ENJOY
LP Lively Art / New Rose Records 1989 CD Lively Art 1989 / New Rose Records with bonus tracks "Noticed in 1988 by the English label Valotte records, the band Collection d'Arnell-Andréa, reduced at this time to the founder nucleus (Chloé St Liphard & Jean-Christophe d’Arnell), records the 4 tracks of its first 12” entitled Autumn's Breath for Anton's Death. This record, unobtainable today, presents a musical atmosphere particularly deep and bewitching, that at once appealed to both sides of the Channel. Coming out in 1989, Un Automne à Loroy, real funeral oration, coloured by the Autumn, in which stands out Chloé’s wonderful voice and the long sob of the cello, has a warm welcome from the press, in France and abroad. The music of Collection d'Arnell-Andréa is original because it realizes the perfect assimilation of instruments a priori antinomic: on a background of a minimum and metronomic rhythm composer, blend, the bass guitar, the cello, the simply or symphonic layers of the keyboards, and at least the voice, real instrument too. As for the lyrics, they have certain similarities to symbolism Poetry, arousing pictures of quiescent residences, pond under snow and old memories, lost in the foggy mornings of the bygone days". (cdaa.free.fr)
"This music is both impassioned and ravishing. Entrance me to the end of love". (Melody Maker) ENJOY
LP/CD Uni Records / MCA Records 1989 "The Burning World (1989), [was] Swans' first and only major label album. Released on Uni/MCA Records, the record was produced by Bill Laswell and expanded the acoustic palette introduced on Greed and Children of God. For this album, the core line-up of Gira, Jarboe and Westberg was augmented by session musicians, and the distinctive heavy guitar element of their earlier work was toned down significantly in favor of folk and world music elements. Though Swans would later explore more acoustic music with similar moods, Gira has stated that, while he admires much of Laswell's work, his efforts with Swans were simply a mismatch". (Wikipedia)
"Perhaps the best Leonard Cohen record he never made, The Burning World benefits a great deal from the world-music instrumentation and structural abilities Laswell brings to it. The arrangements are uniformly strong, the gentler sounds don't strike one as a compromise and the cover of Blind Faith's Can't Find My Way Home is both apt and surprising. A nice one that's almost as haunting as it wants to be. (Trouser Press)
"Dangerous and priceless, The Burning World flames from a tinder of crashing hearts, lost minds, and unexpected mercy...The inevitable tides of rhythm, the hypnotic drone of the voice, leave you with the marvelous and sick sensation that you are staring fascinated at a beautiful slice in your own wrist...only by passing through so many frames of darkness could Swans approach pure light". (Spin Magazine) ENJOY
10" LP Reception Records 1988 CD reissue Fresh Ear Records 2000 with bonus tracks (originally released as Ukrainski Vistupi V Johna Peela) "Between 1986 and 1989, the Wedding Present (labelled incorrectly by the British press as heir apparent to the Smiths) periodically went into the BBC studio of John Peel and recorded traditional Ukrainian folk songs. Eventually, three members of the Wedding Present would branch off to form the Ukrainians and record some inspired covers of songs by the Smiths. This CD is a collection of the Peel sessions, so the music is credited to the Wedding Present and, indeed, Wedding Present frontman David Gedge has a large role, playing guitar and providing background vocals. But these songs aren't really features for guitars and traditional instruments. Instead, mandolins, bayans, bubons, skripkas, and other exotic instruments dominate the mix. The music, comprised of traditional Ukrainian folk tunes, works best as a fun diversion. The general tone is festive and celebratory; the songs would not seem out of place at a wedding or some other party where funky dancing is the rule of the day". (Tim DiGravina, All-Music Guide) ENJOY
LP L'Invitation Au Suicide 1984 CD reissue Contempo Records 1987 with bonus tracks (this early reissue retitled A Catastrophe Ballet with Rhapsody of Youth and Rain) "The founding fathers of American goth rock, Christian Death took a relentlessly confrontational stand against organized religion and conventional morality, with an appetite for provocation that made Marilyn Manson look like Stryper. Regardless of who was leading or performing in the group, Christian Death set themselves up to shock, both in their cover art and their lyrics, which wallowed in blasphemy, morbidity, drug use, and sexual perversity. (...) Their music also relied on slow, doomy, effects-laden guitar riffs and ambient horror-soundtrack synths, and their theatrical performances were strongly influenced by British glam rockers like David Bowie and Roxy Music, as well as industrial provocateurs Throbbing Gristle. The latter was especially true of the band's first incarnation, led by vocalist and founder Rozz Williams, who masterminded much of what many critics consider their best work. (...) Catastrophe Ballet finds Christian Death at its early peak, both focused on and committed to the music. The subject matter revolves around the subversive juxtaposition of the religious and the erotic, while the arrangements utilize minor-key metal guitar riffs and eerie synth backings". (Steve Huey, All-Music Guide) ENJOY
LP Side Effects Records 1986 CD reissue The Grey Area of Mute Records 1992 with bonus track "At the core of the group was the idea of madness-as-truth and schizophrenic-as-seer. Founder Graeme Revell drew inspiration from his experiences as a nurse in an Australian mental hospital and his parallel studies of Art Brut, anti-psychiatry (Foucault, Guattari, etc), and poststructuralist theory. At various points in the group’s career SPK has stood for Surgical Penis Klinik, System Planning Korporation, SoliPsiK, and SePpuKU, but in the beginning it came from Socialistisches Patienten Kollektiv: a bunch of German loony-bin inmates who emulated the Baader-Meinhof and started their own terrorist group, rallying to the slogan ‘Kill Kill Kill For Inner Peace and Mental Health’. Along with the interest in un-sane states of consciousness, another crucial influence was Revell’s precocious reading (long before it was translated into English) of Jacques Attali’s seminal treatise Noise. As you might expect, SPK’s discography encompasses a fair amount of banging and screaming, augmented with guitar feedback and tortured synths. Hard going at first (Information Overload Unit, 1980), it gets progressively more listenable and interesting across Leichenschrei (1982), Dekompositions (1983) and Auto-Da-Fe (1983) as elements of structure, atmosphere, and even electro-influenced danceability creep in. SPK then pulled their own conform-to-deform move, signing to a major label and attempting a metal-bashing/electropop crossover sound on 1983’s risible Metal Dance and Machine Age Voodoo (1984)". (Simon Reynolds, Rip It Up and Start Again)
"SPK are never ones to be bound by expectation or formula. Their history is littered with fleeting glimpses of drastic environments and inquisitive moves. Their moves have fluctuated from the inpenetrable, discordant Leichenzchrei of 1981 to the cohesive, industrial dance power of 1984's Machine Age Voodoo. And now, not content to wallow in the praise and scepticism of transient souls, they move in their own sweet time to more challenging roles. Zamia Lehmanni (Songs of Byzantine Flowers) is a world away from the pop impregnated force of Machine Age Voodoo. Its overall spirit is bathed in a classical mysticism conjured from the sounds and instruments of New Guinea and Indonesia. These textural pieces are occasionally accompanied by choral chants that add a haunting air. Their restraint belies an inner strenght that sends shivers down your vulnerability. SPK make music of conviction. They aren't in the business of parody. They immerse themselves fully in their new guise, and what emerges is a mutated slant on ancient values as the true spirit of the Orient finds itself accommodating Western idiosyncracies and glimpses of their industrial past appear to form a majestic panorama. SPK have developed an image that makes it easy for people to dismiss them as indulgent antagonists, but it's only through their exploratory ventures that those less brave have followed a smoother ride. For those who endeavour to seek out SPK and persevere, the rewards can be satisfying and durable. Zamia Lehmanni is rich in colour and imagery. It'll sooth the aches and pains of perverted realism and leave you cleansed and fresh". (Kevin Murphy, Sounds) ENJOY
LP Rough Trade Records 1986 CD Rough Trade Records 1986 with bonus track "In this era of retro-rock, revivals and ripoffs, it's not easy to find truly innovative pop music. That's what makes this quintet from Peckham so special - they literally defy categorization. Led by the exuberant Rolo McGinty, the Woodentops employ only the barest of essentials - vocals, keyboards, acoustic guitars, bass and rudimentary drums. (...) The Woodentops' long-awaited debut album proved to be more than worth the wait. Giant is a bright handful of pop gems hallmarked with the band's special sound. They've filled out musically with the addition of trumpet, marimba, strings and accordion, and the songs are more structured. But that in no way detracts from their originality. You're not likely to hear more innovative pop than Hear Me James, Love Affair with Everyday Livin' or Travelling Man. An incredible first album". (Altricia Gethers,Trouser Press) ENJOY
Original recordings 1978-1982 Compilation CD Cherry Red Records 1994 reissued 2008 "Thomas Leer is one of the architects of the electronic revolution of the late 70s, when a cluster of artists on independent labels augmented the DIY metric of punk with newly available synthesizers. Part of that generic instrument’s appeal, of course, was that it gave a voice to those who had previously lacked either the social wherewithal or the instinct to work in a band setting – instead a whole new generation of bedroom mavericks stepped forward, empowered and unshackled by technological advances. Leer, alongside Robert Rental, Daniel Miller (The Normal), Fad Gadget and others, emerged to mine a seam of music that was perpetually challenging but also emotionally resonant". (Alex Ogg) "Thomas Leer was the original one-man bedroom band, his pioneering 1978 own-label underground hit Private Plane prefiguring many subsequent developments in synth-pop. Featuring Leer’s haunting, uncertain vocal - recorded quietly, so as not to wake his girlfriend in their bedsit! - crooning over a minimal bass pulse and discreet whines and washes of primitive Wasp synthesiser, it retains its peculiar lo-fi magic three decades on. The rest of this compilation reveals a talent maturing perhaps a little too rapidly for his own good: the spiky, angular guitar and squelchy synth of Dry Land show Leer making tentative incursions into avant-jazz territory. Soul Gypsy, meanwhile, features electronic-soul innovations only now being taken up by the likes of Jamie Lidell. A true original, well worth reassessment". (Andy Gill, The Independent 2008 review) ENJOY
LP / CD Virgin Records 1989 "Guitarist/singer/songwriter Bob Mould was initially a member of Hüsker Dü, one of the most influential American bands of the '80s. Hüsker Dü was a post-hardcore punk band that helped define the sound and ideals of alternative rock. After Hüsker Dü broke up, Mould signed a solo contract with Virgin Records in 1988. The following year, he released his first solo album, Workbook, which represented a major shift in sonic direction. (...) Like all of Mould's work, it's an intensely introspective record, finding him purging demons left over from the dissolution of Hüsker Dü. Instead of relying on raging guitars, Mould explores a wide variety of styles, from pure pop (See a Little Light) to reflective folk laced with cellos. It's an astonishing array of styles, and the songs are among Mould's finest. (...) A stunning work of individuality, marrying a distinctive body of songs with an original musical vision. Occasionally, the production is a little too pristine, but the power of the songs cannot be diminished". (Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All-Music Guide) ENJOY
LP / CD WEA Records 1989 "Ian McCulloch's first solo LP represents his most accomplished work since the 1984 Echo and the Bunnymen masterpiece Ocean Rain; haunted by the recent deaths of the singer's father as well as Bunnymen drummer Pete DeFreitas, Candleland is a poignant yet ultimately triumphant album which probes not only themes of loss but also rebirth. Atmospherically produced by Ray Shulman, tracks like The Flickering Wall and Proud To Fall tread familiar musical territory, yet are delivered with a renewed sense of purpose; McCulloch's expressive vocals and impassioned lyrics recall past glories, but also tap newfound reserves of maturity and introspection. Equally compelling are the record's more unexpected departures, which include the waltz-like I Know You Well, the New Order-esque Faith and Healing, and the glistening title track, a fairytale music box with backing vocals courtesy of the Cocteau Twins' Elizabeth Fraser. A stunning and unexpected return to form". (Jason Ankeny, All-Music Guide) ENJOY
LP Beggars Banquet 1987 CD Beggars Banquet 1987 with bonus tracks "The Icicle Works were an English alternative rock band of the 1980s. Named after the 1960 short story The Day the Icicle Works Closed by science fiction author Frederik Pohl, The Icicle Works joined Liverpool's early 1980s 'neo-psychedelia' wave, which also propelled Echo & the Bunnymen and The Teardrop Explodes to stardom". (Wikipedia)
"The Ian Broudie-produced Defeat Your Enemy brought out the band's varying influences in different ways, resulting in a varied record touching on everything from funk to folk. But as successful as earlier works? Yes and no. Unquestionably, the band's knack for big, uplifting but not hollow performances was still in fine flower, as the smash single Understanding Jane showed. A quick, fierce rocker with an instantly catchy pop vibe and a brilliant chorus, it's a '50s tearjerker filtered through the Ramones with fantastic results. Another winner is the opening cut, Evangeline, with a lovely chorus consisting of overdubbed vocals from the band and guest singer Alison Limerick and a quick, Motown-touched rhythm supporting McNabb's powerful singing. Then there's Up Here in the North of England, a slow, string-touched waltz winningly sung while bitterly ripping into the political state of the nation line for line. McNabb's vocals throughout the album are deeper than before, but still with the same general sense of control and projection; if anything, he was doing a better David Bowie croon than Bowie himself could do at the time. However, elsewhere the elements are in place but the performance isn't quite there. Part of this can be laid at Broudie's feet as well as the various mixers on the record, who bring things to a too commercially ready punch and sheen". (Ned Raggett, All-Music Guide) ENJOY
LP / CD Red Rhino Records 1987 "Jeffrey Lee Pierce, for all intents and purposes, was the Gun Club. From his days as a peroxided, Debbie Harry-fixated Los Angeles teen-punk, through a lengthy era when he seemed convinced he could channel the spirit of Robert Johnson, to a more recent probe of the seedier side of continental balladry, Pierce - who died of a cerebral blood clot in Utah at the end of March 1996 - always presented a highly individual, albeit sometimes dazed'n'confused, vision of a soul in torment". (Jim Green / David Sprague,Trouser Press) "The Gun Club collapsed within a year of the release of 1984's The Las Vegas Story, so more than a few fans were surprised in 1987 when Jeffrey Lee Pierce and Kid Congo Powers returned with a new version of the band, featuring Romi Mori (Pierce's significant other) on bass and Nick Sanderson (ex-Clock DVA) on drums. Even more startling was that the group's comeback album, Mother Juno, was produced by Robin Guthrie of the Cocteau Twins, who would hardly have seemed a likely choice to channel the Gun Club's fiery blues-punk assault onto vinyl. But against the odds, Mother Juno turned out to be one of the band's best albums; the hard rock overtones of The Las Vegas Story were replaced by a more direct, streamlined sound that suggested Miami without the twangy undertow, and while Bill Bailey and Thunderhead proved this band could rock as hard as they ever had before, Pierce's songs were also venturing into new musical territory, as evidenced by the slow, slinky R&B of Yellow Eyes, the atmospheric carnival-pop of The Breaking Hands, and the contemplative Port of Souls. And as a vocalist, Pierce's trademark just-off-pitch style had gained no small amount of nuance in the six years since Fire of Love, and whether he's shouting the blues or crooning sadly, Pierce shows he'd moved into a whole new class as a singer". (Mark Deming, All-Music Guide) ENJOY
All music is posted just for the benefit of a better understanding of what has become known as new wave, post-punk et al. If someone (artist, label) feels that a particular link should be removed, please do let me know. It's that simple. For the rest of you: enjoy and if you like the music buy the records!
