"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.
*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.
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.
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.
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.
