Various - To The Shores Of Lake Placid

Ah, the infamous "To The Shores Of Lake Placid" LP. Catalogue Number Zoo 4.

Wikipedia.

1. Big In Japan - Society For Cutting Up Men
2. Those Naughty Lumps - Iggy Pop's Jacket
3. The Teardrop Explodes - When I Dream
4. Echo And The Bunnymen - Pictures On My Wall
5. Echo And The Bunnymen - Read It In Books
6. Lori And The Chameleons - Lonely Spy
7. The Turqoise Swimming Pools - The Winds
8. Whopper - Kwalo Klobinsky's Lullaby
9. Dalek (I Love You) - A Suicide
10. The Turquoise Swimming Pools - Burst Balloons
11. The Teardrop Explodes - Camera, Camera
12. Big In Japan - Suicide A Go Go
13. Echo And The Bunnymen - Villiers Terrace
14. The Teardrop Explodes - Take A Chance

Features full artwork with added Julian Cope autographs.

Vinyl rip from original LP at 320 Kbps.

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Limited Edition.

This LP is a recent release collecting a load of UK DIY stuff both old and new. It's not always brilliant, but it filled me with a warm glow of nostalgia that this stuff was still getting released. It's pretty authentic too; foldover card cover in a poly bag, hand stamped label and typewritten insert. Brilliant.

It's typically bonkers stuff. There's a mix of lo-fi and very lo-fi, but crucially it all blends together into a fairly seamless whole. There's even a spoken word track!

This is a limited edition of 250 and more info (but not much more) is available from the Savoury Days Blog . Go and give them support - there looks to be a few cool things there.

Again, as this is still available, it's only going to be up on here for a few days.

Link Expired.

Limited Edition.

A Krautrock drone-out future classic.

You need this one in your life. Come back and tell me if I'm wrong.

Brand new and up for two days only.

Link Expired.

Slow Oscillations

Thanks to all for your suggestions. As I'm sticking with Mediafire for now using Chrome for a browser. Issues seem to be definitely relating to a break between Firefox and the redesigned Mediafire upgrade. Onwards.

I've got a few things to post which are new and still available, so I'm only keeping them up for a few days.

First up is this great little single from Steve Moore's Zombi. I've posted some of this stuff up on here before. It's driving synth/prog/italio stuff which always puts a huge smile on my jaded old face. "Slow Oscillations" is one of the better tracks from Zombi's last album "Escape Velocity"). The real joy here though it there is a slightly rougher, but longer demo version on the flip side.

This single is a limited release of 500 copies, which I got from here. There can't be many of these left by now, and it's a lovely package as always from the Static Caravan guys.

Link Expired.

Mind The Gap

Apologies for the lack of activity here. I'm having horrible trouble with Mediafire which since it's "brilliant" refresh doesn't seem to work with Firefox. Or it might be issues with OSX Lion, which is equally "brilliant".

Can anyone recommend another pain free file hosting site?

In the meantime, you could always have a look at my series of photos of 100 Londoners over at Spinster's Rock. At some point early next year, I'm probably going to move this site over there, so, you know, get used to it now, why not?

In other news, I've just taken delivery of the 2010 remastered edition of Mike Oldfield's "Hergest Ridge". It's jaw-droppingly good.

I hope you're all doing OK and gearing up for the festive season. I'm already getting stuck into the mulled wine and have completed the vast majority of my Christmas shopping.

Stay warm and beautiful.

NM

The FLK - We Know Where The Time Goes

This release appeared a few months ago. You know the drill by now:

Released anonymously? Check.
Rumoured to be be The KLF? Check.
Chock full of recognisable KLF tropes? Check.
Sparking internet arguments about the veracity? Check.

In the end, it doesn't really matter does it. It obviously has nothing to do with Drummond/Cauty, but it IS a great record. A kind of sample collage built around folk samples both obscure and renowned.

I'm just happy that this wonderful band still continue to inspire and inform music so long after their retirement.

Go to The FLK site for videos and social stuff.

There's also some left here if you want to get your own copy.

The FLK Burn Liege & Lief from thyme lord on Vimeo.

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The Bombay Royale - Sote Sote Adhi Raat 7"

You're going to like this one.

The Bombay Royale are a Melbourne band dedicated to honouring and reviving the funky, bizarre and mysterious music of vintage Indian cinema. Dusting off near-unheard relics, smashing out Bollywood classics and putting down surfadelic Hindi originals is all in a day’s work. This band brings the sound of the Golden Age of Bollywood back to the future, where it belongs.

The A side is absolutely killer - those synths totally blowing my mind... More please.

The Bombay Royale

Hope Street Recordings

Vinyl rip at 320 from 7" Single.

Download.

Black - Wonderful Life 7"

I've always loved this track.

Colin Vearncombe is much underrated as far as I'm concerned.

This reminds me of attending a house party at an impossibly glamorous friend of a friend who lived in Stoke Newington. Before I moved down to London, I made a brace of exploratory visits, each one convincing me more and more that I had be down there. The land of a gig every night and women and women and women. I'd already bought this record on a trip to see a friend who was doing media studies at Liverpool Poly. I thought this was incredible. "What? You get to study films, and newspapers? And then get a degree?"

On one of my initial visits to London, I attended a Smash Hits party with David Hepworth and Mark Ellen in attendance. There was a "smokers" room I seem to recall, but I was far too young, wide eyed and innocent to participate. I just got pissed on cider and tried to cop off with the girl from Cherry Red records. She was having none of it, unfortunately. I later found out she was going out with Louis Philippe, so I couldn't really compare with that could I?

I'm rambling. Back at the Stoke Newington party, I arrived after a visit to the Virgin Megastore and HMV on Oxford Street. I couldn't fucking believe that there were record shops which stocked EVERYTHING. I bought "Wonderful Life" again on the 12" reissue, as this initial release on Ugly Man Records had pretty much bombed.

Always clued up musically, I felt ahead of the game as I played the twelve to the assembled throng. The gays and women loved it. The men, less so.

I had already fallen in love with London and it was a matter of mere weeks before I boarded the train South to seek out a flat in Battersea, renting a room from a mad woman who played percussion: both in an orchestra and on her CD player. Many's the time I arrived home to the sound of an African drum ensemble.

I have a picture somewhere of me at that party which I should dig out for you. I think you'd like it.

Vinyl rip from the original single release at 320 Kbps. A bit of surface noise, but still worth it.

Wonderful Life.

EDIT: Brilliant update from friend of the blog, Bicksvilla.

"Back in the dim distant student days I used to "borrow" a students Union minibus under the guise of official ENTS Ctte business and earn a bit of extra cash doing bits and pieces for various Liverpool bands. I used to drive Black about and one cold autumn day I was booked by Black's manager at the time (Mike Gaunt) to take the band up to Blackpool for the filming of the Saturday morning kid's TV show on ITV called "It's Wicked" (which was presented by Jake Abrahams - another Scouser who ran a pub round the corner from where I lived at the time), We had to go up on the Friday night as filming was early Saturday morning. We stayed in the Norbreck Castle hotel and I was booked in under the pseudonym Tom Bassey (under which name I got junk mail from said hotel for years!) - the reason for the name was Mike couldn't remember my real name but knew it was something Welsh. Anyway filming was over and we were to head straight back to Liverpool, unfortunately the weather was now awful, gale force winds and driving rain but I had to get back to Liverpool in a hurry, I think we had a gig at the uni that we needed the van for, so I drove back to Liverpool in terrible conditions and most probably way over the speed limit. Colin Vearncombe was lying down in the back of the minibus with a coat over his head, not being able to cope with the speed I was driving in the condidtions. He let it be known that I was never to drive them anywhere ever again. Bit of a big girl's blouse was Colin..."

My favourite bit of detail from that is the name of the TV show, which appears to have been a BBC affair rather than an ITV prog...

DJ Shadow - Preemptive Strike

A gathering of early Shadow tracks, which is worth the price admission for "What Does Your Soul Look Like (Parts 1-4)".

I haven't heard the new album yet. I've resisted so far as I bought the last one and thought it was shit. Any reviews from the Castles Massive?

Download.

Beyond The Wizards Sleeve - West

They saved the best till last. "West" is my favourite BTWS album. Again presented here in a brand new rip with full vinyl porn artwork.

As it's been a good few years, I'm assuming that alas, there will be no more from Team BTWS. Richard continues to make great music in a similar vein as The Time And Space Machine, while Erol Alkan is all across the current club scene. Check out his website for more details.

Vinyl rip at 320 Kbps.

Download.

Beyond The Wizards Sleeve - George

The third album is better than the last, and has the brilliant "Electric Bananas" as the centrepiece.

Red splatter vinyl.

Vinyl rip at 320 Kbps.

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Beyond The Wizards Sleeve - Spring

The second transmission from planet BTWS is great, while perhaps not quite achieving the same levels of trance-en-mentalness as the first album.

Highlights include the psyche-out money shot of "Words" and the horrible hippy tweefest of the John Peel sampling "The Perfumed Garden".

Clear/blue splatter vinyl.

Vinyl rip at 320 Kbps.

Download.

Beyond The Wizards Sleeve - Birth

I've had a request to repost a couple of things by BTWS from a friend of the blog, Marc.

As this stuff is utterly wonderful and has always proved quite popular with "the heads", I thought it might be time for a refresh of their entire oeuvre. So, you know, why the fuck not?

Kicking off with their awesome début, pressed on baby pink vinyl, we have the mighty "Birth".

Setting out their stall for the psychedelic/dance crossover like nobody else before or since, Erol and Richard deliver a MASSIVE hotch-potch of lost psyche gems infused with a thoroughly moderne dancefloor sensibility.

This one is quite difficult to find now, so spark up a jazz cigarette and get on down, pop pickers.

Vinyl rip at 320 Kbps.

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Yachts - Look Back In Love (Not In Anger) 7"

Right. I've got a lot to get through today, so get out of my way. I'm kicking off with this brilliant third single from the wonderful post punkers, Yachts. I wonder what Wikipedia has to say about them?

The group was formed by art students in Liverpool in April 1977 out of an earlier band, known variously as 'Albert Dock' or 'Albert and the Cod Warriors', who had supported the Sex Pistols on one of their infamous early gigs the previous year.

The band originally consisted of Bob Bellis (drums, vocals); John (J.J.) Campbell (vocals); Martin Dempsey (bass guitar, vocals) (later replaced by first Ray "Chopper" Cooper, then Mick Shiner and finally Glyn Havard); Henry Priestman (born Henry Christian Priestman, 21 July 1955, Hull, and brought up in Liverpool) (vocals, keyboards); and Martin Watson (guitar, vocals).

They played their first show (as ‘Yachts’) at Eric's nightclub in Liverpool, supporting Elvis Costello. This led to a recording contract with Stiff Records, where they released one single, the witty and self-referential "Suffice To Say", written by Priestman and Campbell and produced by Will Birch. They also released a novelty single, "Do The Chud", as the Chuddy Nuddies.

With label mates Costello and Nick Lowe, they then joined the newly formed Radar label. On 9 October 1978, a few weeks after releasing "Look Back in Love (Not Anger)", their first single on Radar, the band recorded the first of two sessions at Maida Vale 4 studio, for John Peel at BBC Radio 1. The tracklisting was "Hits", "Yachting Types", "Look Back In Love", and "Then And Now". (The band’s second session was recorded in June 1979).

The band recorded their debut LP in New York with producer Richard Gottehrer. One reviewer raved that “[the Yachts have] got this cool cheesy (sic) keyboard sound with a nice chunky guitar underneath and in addition to being catchy tunes, their songs have hysterically funny lyrics, like "Yachting Type", where the guy's girl runs off with a yachtsman, or "Mantovani's Hits", which hypothesizes a rock and roll world where Elvis records hadn't been hits but Mantovani's had, or "Box 202", where the guy's girl is killed in an airplane crash so he puts out a classified ad to look for a replacement. The others deal with romance in equally oddball ways, but always rocking and always catchy as hell”.

They toured in the U.S. and Europe with Joe Jackson and The Who, and released a second album with producer Martin Rushent. Both albums were released by Polydor in the U.S.

Campbell left the group in 1978, and Dempsey departed in 1980. Dempsey became a member of Pink Military; and Campbell helped to found It's Immaterial. Yachts finally split up in 1981. Priestman, who for a time was a member of both Yachts and Bette Bright & the Illuminations, then went on to join It's Immaterial, Wah! and, most notably, The Christians, more recently working as a producer with Mark Owen and Melanie C.

Beautiful blue vinyl too.

Vinyl rip at 320 Kbps.

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Nest - Body Pilot 10"

Nest are amazing.

Their last album proper, "Retold" was probably my favourite album of 2010. Beautiful, suspended ambient music, but with a true heart of musicality underpinning the floating. The drift of events.

Rain and piano. A throb in your head and a rattle of the windows. Swelling strings ebb and flow. The moon shines brighter for an hour then fades away. You think about your partners; your family; the world. You think about your place in the world. Where you have been and where you are going.

A collaborative project featuring Serein label owner Huw Roberts, based in UK, and Otto A. Totland, one half of the Norwegian Deaf Center. There had to be a Scandinavian in there. The snow, the gales you can feel but can't hear. The isolation.

This recently released 10" fills me with a deep joy. It makes me think that there might be another album on the way. Get the first album here. Let it live with you for a while. I promise you you will return to it, time and again.

As this is a recent release and is still available, this link will only be live for a few days.

Vinyl rip at 320 Kbps.

Download.

Dennis Brown - Equal Rights 12"

Classic old school reggae from much missed Dennis Brown.

This has one of those lovely clip clop beats that runs through the track like a chilled out horse. Dennis's voice is super sweet and the version on the flipside stirs in a bit additional grooviness.

How could you say "no"?

Vinyl rip at 320 Kbps.

Download.

Kate Bush - Running Up That Hill: Heavy Disco Edit.

Reworking of classic Kate Bush track "Running Up That Hill" to bring the disco to the fore. Apparently this has been hanging around for a few years, but has just been repressed in this more sparkly, cleaned up version.

The flipside is a much less interesting funk thing, which isn't really doing it for me, but the wonder of the A side more than makes up for it.

Vinyl rip at 320 Kbps.

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Massive (Attack) - Safe From Harm 12"

From good old Wikipedia:

"Safe from Harm" is the third single from Blue Lines, the 1991 debut from Massive Attack. The bass, guitar, and drums are sampled from the song "Stratus" by Billy Cobham, from his album Spectrum. Additional drums are sampled from "Good Old Music" by Funkadelic. Other samples come from Herbie Hancock's Chameleon. The vocals are sung by Shara Nelson.

The opening track on the wonderful "Blue Lines", this 12"has the extended version on the A side, with the 7' edit and album versions bringing up the rear.

These early Massive Attack singles have lost little of their power to raise the hairs on the back of my neck.

Vinyl rip at 320 Kbps.


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HivernEd 1. 10"

*Silk-screened sleeve. Limited edition of 300 copies* Weird but ace boogie and minimal wave edits from John Talabot and Marc Piñol on Hivern Disc's LTD edition series. They've really dig deep for this one, setting their sights on some truly obscure and pretty much unknown material. Uptown, John Talabot rejigs some kinda cosmic Boogie number called 'Party Girl' with a deadly B-line and a strange falsetto that you won't forget in a hurry, and neither will the dancefloor! Downtown, Marc Piñot takes on the darker, jacking Wave cut 'Wheels', a perfect fusion of stern EBM rhythms, psychotomimetic bleeps and the coolest vocal - sounds something like a leathered-up dominatrix playing casio keys and singing pitch shifted vocals in the private backroom of an Antwerp sex dungeon. Oh, this hits the spot dead on.

Or:

HivernEd, a new series of releases focused on edits of obscure tracks. Songs that we love and that for one reason or other have remained rarely known over the years. Now we want to bring back to life and make them available for the world once again. To unveil the series we have chosen two rather different edits but that equally amaze us.

In one side JT's “Party Girl”, a cosmic boogie burner that revamps a lost NYC underground classic. Mixing parts of the vocal and instrumental version's, JT delivers a dancefloor whirler that should easily find it's way into the “secret weapon compartment” of all the disco-DJ's bags.

The other side is taken by Marc Piñol's incredible “Wheels” edit, a murky and kind of esoteric track that combines odd atmosphere's, down-pitched vocals and a synth- wavey feel to mind-boggling effects. The resulting track sounds like an impos- sible crossing between Hype Williams and some forgotten cold-wave act. The release comes in a 300 copies edition 10” vinyl wrapped in a special silk- screened sleeve designed by Arnau Pi. No digital and no repress with this one.

Vinyl rip at 320 Kbps.

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Miracle - The Visitors EP. 2x12"

Brilliant double 12" remix EP from Steve Moore's latest project.

Fans of mid period Depeche Mode should be all over this. It really is very, very good. This will only be up for a few days.

The EP features a lofty and inspiring selection of names including techno legend The Field with a blissful 10-minute ambient epic, the visionary electronic auteur Fennesz with a slinky, fluttering gem, post-dubstep dame Ikonika with a driving dancefloor frenzy, hotly-tipped San Fran acid-freestyle guru Adeptus with a "slow'n'sensual hip hop mix", and now exclusively only to the vinyl release, a throbbing house remix from cult Norwegian avant-metal titans Ulver, of whom Daniel of course shares ranks. All this as well as the original version and an exclusive inclusion of the airwave scorching radio mix make this an unmissable celebration of a genuine modern synth-pop anthem. Although some of these mixes have surfaced in digital form via sites like Fader, XLR8R, Discobelle and Pitchfork, this will be the only chance to own them in physical form, limited to a strict collectors edition of 500 copies...

If you're new to Miracle's world, here's a recap of their story so far: Steve lives in NYC. Daniel lives in London. It's an ethereal relationship that has now become very real. Between its two halves Miracle share an illustrious resume of legendary bands within the drone, prog and doom spheres, including Sunn0))), Guapo, Ulver and Aethenor (Daniel), and Zombi, Titan and Lovelock (Steve).

But Miracle is more than the sum of its parts. As darkly psychedelic as one might anticipate but closer, by a long way, to pure pop music than the two have ever encountered before. It was never discussed. it just happened. The music of Miracle is an apparition, a leap of faith, an inexplicable birth.

As O'Sullivan whispers in 'The Visitor', "You can't see them because your eyes are adjusting". Dreamy vocal arrangements melt into a myriad of harmony over a driving, tranced-out ascension of arpeggiating synths. Heavy, woozy beats and detailed programming bind their two worlds. It's all brought into even more sparkling dimensions on their debut EP 'Fluid Window' with the addition of Dave Cooley, the master-board-wizard behind the likes of J Dilla and Flying Lotus. Whilst refusing to be timestamped, there is a perpetual forward movement to Miracle recalling elements of minimal techno and 70s kosmische, although O'Sullivan's distinctive croon leans into lush 80s pop territory.

Machine music has never sounded so human.

Vinyl Rip at 320 Kbps.

Download.

EDIT: I missed the first track from the archive. Get it here.

Julian Cope - Live Japan '91

One of the rarer albums in Julian's long and sprawling discography, this excellent live album catches the great man in fine form. His backing band were great around this time and I saw him several times in '91.

From Head Heritage:

Following hot on the heels of The Teardrop Explodes' ZOOLOGY comes Julian Cope's own LIVE JAPAN '91, a sonically superb disc which consolidates Head Heritage's decision to undermine the current slew of mediocre bootleg recordings available, with handsomely packaged alternative releases. This new record is a particularly hot performance from the summer '91 shows, and features Donald Ross Skinner and Rooster Cosby at their best. Head Heritage is currently the sole distributor of this Revell Records release (and will continue to be if everything goes to plan), so check out this concert album by an artist who has all-too-infrequently been caught live on record.

1. Hanging Out And Hung Up On The Line
2. You Think It's Love
3. East Easy Rider
4. Pristeen / Double Vegetation
5. Promised Land
6. Leperskin
7. Yeah Yeah Yeah
8. Bill Drummond Said
9. Beautiful Love
10. Sleeping Gas
11. Sunspots
12. Out Of My Mind On Dope & Speed
13. World Shut Your Mouth

Long deleted and out of print.

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Orbital - III E.P.

Classic early Orbital EP, ehich feaures the first sighting of "Satan" as well as "L.C.1" and the perhaps their defining moment, "Belfast". This version is the 1995 reissue of the "III" EP on FFRR from 1990. This version features a longer edit of "Satan".

Download.

Massive (Attack) - Unfinished Sympathy: Nellee Hooper Remixes 12"

Drew will be furious, but here are the Nellee Hooper remixes of "Unfinished Sympathy" for those that want 'em. I think as an original member of the Wild Bunch, his remixes add something a bit special, although it is difficult to argue with the point that the original mix is pretty much perfect.

Vinyl rip at 320 Kbps.

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The Source - You Got The Love (Eren's Bootleg Mix) 12"

I try and steer away from throwing up anything too obvious on here most of the time. However, I also try and share some of the stuff which occupies my time and keeps me entertained. Those of you who have been around for a while will know that this might include anything from neo-classical drone to the most cheesy pop music. I'm quite proud of that fact.

So, again, I'm pretty sure that most of you will be familiar with this one. Perhaps not in this original Eren's Bootleg Mix form though? This house classic has been remixed and reissued so many times, but nothing has ever come close to the pure genius employed here. I'm not even going to talk about the massive, honking ballache that was the Florence And The Machine cover - the latest in a long line of versions for this song.

I guess we could call this original version one of the first mash-ups, a genre which got way out of hand, but one which I still have a massive fondness for (there you go - I'm being cheesy again). Layering a Frankie Knuckles/Jamie Principal early house track over an unreleased Candi Staton vocal track, but crucially, adding more to mix including the wonderful synth solo, this still works for me on every level. And just listen to that bass pattern.

Full details are here.

Vinyl rip at 320 Kbps.

Download.

Kraftwerk - Robotronik 12"

I'm painfully short of time, but I'm going to try to get a few things up here tonight. I'm starting off with a few classics, the first of which surely needs no introduction.

This is the remixed version of "The Robots" which as far as I can tell is lifted directly from "The Mix" album. This lovely UK 12" dates from 1991 and in addition to the extended remix, features a single and original album mix. Nothing that you haven't heard before, I'm guessing, but still nice to be reminded of how great they were.

I know music nerds do this one-upmanship thing all the time, but this is a true story. I must have been about thirteen and was obsessed by Kraftwerk. I got my older brother to paint the constructivist Kraftwerk logo from the sleeve of "The Man Machine" onto the flap of my canvas school bag. I took so much shit from my peers; "Who the fuck are Kraftwerk, you queer?" Amazingly, however, I was soon ushered into the cooler realms of the the fifth and sixth formers, who were also into the weirder krauty sounds. Although having said that, I seem to remember that Yes and Led Zep got played out in the sixth form common room much more than Can or Neu! Bowie, Lou and Iggy were big too.

There is one fifth form friend who was obviously older than me with whom I am very much still in touch, despite the fact that he now lives in Denmark with his beautiful Dansk wife. The bastard.

Speaking of which, I'm afraid the the magnetic power of attraction that existed between the heads in those distant pre-internet day alas did work it's magic on any girls.

Vinyl rip at 320 Kbps.

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Trust Me

You're going to have to trust me on this one, but the folks who hang around here and like the stuff I like will get a proper buzz out of this one. It's a truly great record.

And there's a fantastic Time & Space Machine remix. Bonus.

Vinyl rip at 320 Kbps.

Link Expired.

Massive (Attack) - Unfinished Sympathy 12"

I have had the most difficult week at work that you could imagine. I am not a unreasonable man, but some self important twat hung up on me yesterday because I had asked him to follow the appropriate process. I was fucking livid. The boss has been off on holiday and under-resourced and over-committed, I battle on. Seriously, these fuckers would not last five minutes out in the real world.



Deep breath.



Nolan needs some Nolan time today, so why not kick back with this utter classic, which surely needs no introduction. The Oakenfold remix is pretty good, but fear not, this EP contains the original and a surprisingly great instrumental version. Real hairs-on-the-neck stuff.



Vinyl rip at 320 Kbps.



Sympathy.

Art Of Noise - Moments in Love 12"

It's hard to keep track of the early ZTT releases as they were routinely released in several different mixes and versions. However, I think that this version of the mighty "Moments In Love" is the second edition, dating from 1985.



This version contains "Moments In Love (Beaten)" on the A side and the even more lush "Love Beat" on the second side, in addition to what seems to be an original mix of "Moments In Love".



Always one of my favourite AON tracks, this still seems to be as out of time as it ever was. I've got the first version somewhere, so will try to dig it out at some point. I might post a few other choice AON twelves if this one goes down well.



Also look out for the imminent re-release of the debut album which has been remastered and expanded.



Vinyl rip at 320 Kbps.



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Split Album

A pretty limited (edn of 600) split between Bitchin Bajas (CAVE's Cooper Crain) and Faceplant (Peaking Lights' Aaron Coyes). The sleeve has a big picture of a massive bud of skunk on each side.

We've got two long tracks from each artist here. The Bitchin Bajas side is a totally soothing affair, with layers of synth drones and arpeggios creating a shimmering voyage into the cosmic ether. The pacing of his work is beautifully gauged and his side is therapeutic stuff.

Flip it and things get a little darker, much more on the glacial trance/techno side of things. In the first track, 'Ride the Ether', there's a repetitive bass hook and a really minimal drum line over which some squelchy, echoey synths carve out swathes of tone alongside a crisper top end synth melody. The second track, 'Dickie Domecon', has a total monged out electro vibe like Herbie Hancock on downers, with dubby swooshes and a repetitive melody. Rhythmically this is the more interesting of the two Faceplant offerings but its thermostat is still set firmly in 'chill' territory.

Vinyl rip at 320 Kbps.

Link Expired.

The Beloved - Your Love Takes Me Higher 12" & Hello 12"

The second and third 12" EPs from the Beloved are a pair of total classics, featuring an array of excellent remixes covering all of the pop and early house bases. I think these stand up really well and still sound very fresh. "Hello" in particular is one of my favourites, with its cheeky but cool lyric.



Go here for a bio and as indicated on the previous post, a whole load of rare downloads.



Vinyl rips at 320 Kbps.



Your Love Takes Me Higher



Hello

Cola Boy - 7 Ways To Love 12"

I've posted the 7" of this before, but here's the 12" in all it's glory.



7 Ways To Love was written by Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs of St Etienne, who hoped the track would be their first step in building a Stock, Aitken & Waterman / Brill Building / Hit Factory style songwriting empire.



Cola Boy was a duo, consisting of Janey Lee Grace and Andrew Midgley. Andrew had worked with Bob and Pete on studio material in their pre-St Etienne days in the late 1980s. Janey had been a backing singer for numerous pop acts, including Wham and Pasty Kensit’s Eighth Wonder, and was a radio broadcaster on LBC.



Sarah Cracknell sang the vocals on the original white label version of 7 Ways. After that initial batch sold out, it was re-recorded with vocals by Sarah’s friend Janey Lee Grace, as Sarah was under contract to another label and was not permitted to sing on non-St Etienne releases.



Janey’s version of 7 Ways is the one that was subsequently picked up and released by Arista Records, but in the meantime the original Sarah version was heavily bootlegged, costing Arista many thousands of sales. A further Cola Boy connection with Sarah was that the duo were managed by Sarah’s mother, who had previously worked with and managed a number of acts, including Wee Papa Girl Rappers.



There was a second Cola Boy single, He Is Cola, which was spectacularly unsuccessful. That fulfilled the two-single deal with Arista, and the contract was not renewed.



With other labels interested in picking them up, Janey was keen to continue working on new Cola Boy material, but Andrew had by then started work on a new project, Blinder, and was writing darker, non-pop dance material.



Cola Boy fell apart in late 1991/early 1992, and Andrew moved North. Blinder enjoyed some limited cult success on the northern England and Scottish rave circuit, before dissolving towards the end of 1993. Andrew subsequently moved into journalism and composing music for television.



Vinyl rip at 320 Kbps.



Download.

Tomas - Mind Song 12"

More early Warp goodness hewn from the vinyl mountain.



This is WAP 10 and hails from Leeds, I do believe. Tomas was one Thomas Sylvanus Stewart, who never released anything else, other than a track on a compilation which precedes this release.



All of those early trademarks of the UK house scene are here in spades on this record; it's classic Warpery. My favourite track is the AA side tune, "Architecture". Six minutes of thudding kick drum and squelch bass with a weird, distorted vocal sample. Brilliant.



Vinyl rip at 320 Kbps.



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Clint Mansell - Moon

Clint Mansell's partnership with Darren Aronofsky has produced some of the finest film music of recent years. He pulls it out of the bag again here for Duncan Jones's wonderful, elegiac sci-fi film, "Moon".

This is a work of quiet power which reminds me (in places) of the quiter moments of the 2001 soundtrack. The recurring theme is lovely and gets thrown into different shapes as the soundtrack progresses.

In common with the film, the beauty of the artwork is something to behold, and although due to the fairly low-key nature of the music vinyl might not be the best medium for the music, the package more than makes up for it. Try and grab one if you can.

Vinyl rip at 320 Kbps.

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Saroos - Yukoma (Populous Remix) 7"

A piano moves us towards weirdly thick, slowed down house grooves. A chunky kick drum pushes its way through stuttering clouds of unusual instrumentation and synthesized drones, giving a weird after-hours neon resonance. Flip over to ‘Outrigger’ though and we’re reframing twisted folk into something dusty and yet crunchy.



A terrific single.



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Live '72

This appears to have sold out, so I'll hang it up here for a few days as a mark of respect for the recently departed Conrad Schnitzler.



This double album (pressed on white vinyl) is a slightly noisy pressing, with a warpy disposition and off-centre labels, but the music contained within those caucasian grooves is the stuff of joy. Recorded in '72, but out of time - this could have been cooked up yesterday.



Lovely Con obituary here.



And go to the Further Records site for more goodies. The Ekoplekz album is a fucking killer.



Vinyl rip at 320 Kbps.



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Remix 12"

Just out of the traps. Won't be here for long.



Vinyl rip at 320Kbps



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The Beloved - The Sun Rising 12"

A true Balearic classic which strangely turned up on as many ambient compilations as it it did banging trance compilations.

It's a beautiful song, which uses the same sample that Orbital used in their equally brilliant track, "Belfast" ("O Euchari" sung by Emily Van Evera).

Presented here is the original UK 12" release which features a brace of excellent remixes.

Vinyl rip at 320 Kbps.

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EDIT: Also have a look here. Many thanks to Dan for the heads up.

Orbital - Chime: The Remixes 12"

Decent remix 12" of the first Orbital single. Rarely heard these days. At least in Bedfordshire.

Vinyl rip at 320 Kbps.

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PWEI - Touched By The Hand Of Cicciolina 12"

I Can't believe I haven't posted this one before, as It's one of my favourite ever records. A masterful example of those early, heady days of the "indie/dance crossover", Pop Will Eat Itself should get a hell of a lot more respect for the role they played in breaking down the barriers between the opposing poles of pale indie and shaking your honky arse.

This is a SUCH a great record. The back story being that the band were trying to start a campaign to get Italian porn princess (and future wife of Jeff Koons, as immortalised in some of his unbelievably arch works), to get a role in the opening ceremony of the Italia '90 World Cup finals. The record came with a postcard which you had to fill in and send to FIFA, which I dutifully did. These days, there would be a faceboook page, no doubt.

PWEI's Clint Mansell is now a successful Hollywood composer, most notably working with Darren Aronofsky. Some of those soundtracks are available in beautiful limited vinyl editions, which I recommend that you buy if you can find them - not only are they terrific musically, they are such lovely artefacts into the bargain.

Anyway, this is a brilliant record. Enjoy.

Vinyl rip at 320 Kbps.

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Annette - Dream 17 12"

There are a couple of remixes here, which as far as I know, have only ever been available on this brilliant, rare 12"

The lead "Dream 17" track is taken from the "North" album I posted yesterday, but the flipside tracks "Nightmare On Dream Street" and "Dream Slumber" are where things really start to take off. These sound incredibly accomplished given the fact that we were back at the dawn of the UK acid sound.

Let me know what you think, trainspotters.

Vinyl rip at 320 Kbps.

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The Grid - A Beat Called Love 12"

The follow up to the Floatation 12" I posted a few days ago, this is another great single from The Grid (which immediately followed the Floatation 12").

The 12" is just OK, but the 7" mix on the flip is great. What seals the deal, however, is the "Progressive" mix of Floatation which comes as the second track on the B side.

Vinyl rip at 320 Kbps.

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Acid Angels - Speed Speed Ecstasy 12"

I might be mis-remembering this, but I'm pretty sure that it was Douglas Hart, ex of the Jesus And Mary Chain who was the prime mover behind Acid Angels. It certainly has some of those dirty rock influences that Primal Scream ran with later in their Magpie-like career.

Whatever, this is another very early UK acid contender, which still sounds great 23 years after the fact. 23 years! Jesus!

Vinyl rip at 320 Kbps.

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Pac Man - Power Pill 12"

And already, I'm going off piste with this one, as strictly speaking, it's more of a breakbeat thing than an acid thing. It's still great, though and is the acceptable face of all those stoopid acid novelty records which were unleashed at the turn of the nineties as sampling technology developed further.

Anyway, for those who don't know, this is Richard D. James AKA The Aphex Twin in one of his many guises. It's early stuff for sure and definitely a bit gimmicky, but as you would expect from RDJ, it's executed very well. The lead track in particular is sounding pretty good to me this evening.

EDIT: New Link Added.

Vinyl rip at 320 Kbps.

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Adonis - Acid Poke 12"

Excellent early acid track from the Chicago pioneer, Adonis. The instrumental on the flipside probably just cuts it over the vocal version on the A side.

Vinyl rip at 320 Kbps.

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The Stateley Homes Of England

A quick plug for my my friend, Billy Milk and his band, The Stately Homes Of England.

They have recently released a lovely new EP which features a star turn from the legendary underground cartoonist, Hunt Emerson. The EP is available in every format that you could wish for, including some very special limited editions featuring unique artwork from Hunt.

It's a lovely, folk tinged thing which should go down a treat for a bit of communal singing around the campfire at the festival of your choice over the coming season.

Sorry, Billy. I should have done this weeks ago.

Go here for full details and ordering information.

North: The Sound Of The Dance Underground

From the sleevenotes:

"It was summer 1986 and clubs in London are rocking to the sounds of East Coast hip hop and Washington Go Go. Meanwhile, dancefloors ´North of Watford´ (especially in Nottingham, Sheffield and Manchester) are crammed with people jacking to a new sound from Chicago called "house", and for two years a north/south divide of a different kind was established.

Summer 1988 reads very differently with whole nation rapidly becoming one jacking zone. Clubs are now overflowing with people trance dancing to a form of music that they once ignored. DJ's who once dismissed house music as hi-energy are now exclusively playing house and a whole new culture is born.

But what of the North? The jacking continues more fervently than ever, the smileys and ecstasy are evident but its not just acid that's being played but all forms of house. And at the centre of it all is Manchester's Haçienda. For almost three years Friday's Nude night has been packed, and this album is a direct result of this Friday madness.

Nude night DJ Mike Pickering is one of three musicians who make T-Coy who have produced some of the tracks on this album as well as contributing two (including their classic and demand début "Carino"). The tracks on this album are honest. The people who made these records are not bandwagon jumping. Sheer enthusiasm for house and weekly visits to the clubs of the north have inspired them to make these records.

From the awesome and hypnotic ´Voodoo Ray´ by "A Guy Called Gerald" to the manic glory of Frequency 9's ´Get On One´, many styles of house are covered here. Witness the sheer delight of ´Dream 17´ by Annette and the tongue in cheek ´Mega Trip´ by "Masters Of Acid". Every track is as diverse as the people who made them. These people have helped establish the northern clubs as the home of house. The northern house continues to grow and be influenced by a number of diverse styles. Like hip hop, the genre is here to stay and will develop. Trends come and go and soon fashion will be dictating a new soundtrack for some clubgoers, but in the North the house scene now resembles the Northern Soul scene in terms of it's dedication and fanaticism. Almost three years ago the North adopted house and "North" sees it coming of age. As long as house music packs the dancefloors with sweaty bodies then the story of "North" will continue....this one will run and run....

Graeme Park (Nottingham)"

Vinyl rip at 320 Kbps.

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