Sunday 30 April 2023

Mad Dub

An hour (more or less) of Mad Professor aka Neil Fraser to dub up your Sunday. 
 
Fourteen collaborations with or dubs for other artists, spanning an incredible four decades and providing a perfect excuse to sit down and chill out. Just like this ring-tailed lemur, that seemed largely indifferent to the agog Clan K standing just a couple of feet away at Wild Place in Bristol a couple of weekends ago.

Sticking with Bristol, the earliest song in this selection is by Restriction from 1983. The band featured Rob Smith (of Smith & Mighty and RSD fame) and came to my attention via the excellent compilations issued by Bristol Archive Records

Another Bristol act who really need no introduction is Massive Attack and, to be honest, I could easily have stuck with a Mad Professor selection just focusing on the many top-notch dubs he's produced for them since the 1990s. I have plumped for a Protection-era version but one which didn't appear on the companion album, instead popping up on a compilation to raise money for the charity Shelter. As an added bonus, it's a dub of Better Things, featuring Tracey Thorn

Sticking with the more obscure is Mad Professor's dubby vocal mix of Chapterhouse's 1991 song Mesmerise. I think it was one of several remixes of early 1990s indie acts commissioned exclusively for the 1999 film Splendor. I bought the soundtrack CD, I've never seen the film.
 
Slick Sixty make their second appearance this week (a Justin Robertson remix appeared in Friday's selection), not bad for an act who only released three singles, two promos and one album in their lifetime. 

Rather more well known but possibly an unexpected choice are Depeche Mode. Slowblow was a B-side to 1997 single It's No Good but Mad Professor's dub remained unreleased until the Depeche Mode Remixes 81···04 in 2004 and even then only as a limited 'rare tracks' download companion available on their official website. 

The selection draws to a close with Mad Professor's inspired partnership with Xan Tyler on one of my favourite albums of 2022, Clarion Call. This is a dub of their version of Townes Van Zandt's 1969 song Be Here To Love Me and available as a bonus track on the digital edition of Clarion Call. Recommended.
 
1) Love Is Stronger Than Pride (Mad Professor Mix): Sade (1992)
2) Life's A Beach (Mad Professor Dub): Django Django (2022)
3) Restriction (Single Version By Restriction & Mad Professor): Restriction (1983)
4) Jamaica (Mad Professor Dub): Van She (2012)
5) Analógica Dub (Remix By Mad Professor): Frente Cumbiero (2010)
6) Dubbing Home: Bob Andy & Mad Professor (1989)
7) Guilt-Edged (Single Version By Tony McDermott & Mad Professor): Champion Doug Veitch & The Igbira Nation (1984)
8) Margo's B&B (Mad Professor's B&B): Slick Sixty (1998)
9) Slowblow (Mad Professor Mix): Depeche Mode (1997)
10) Marijuana Dub: Mad Professor & Prince Fatty ft. Earl Sixteen (2015)
11) Suck Me Up Dub (Remix By Mad Professor): Massive Attack ft. Tracey Thorn (1995)
12) Mesmerise (The Mesmerising Vocal Mix By Mad Professor): Chapterhouse (1998)
13) Free South Africa (Dub) (Remix By Lindel Lewis & Mad Professor): Benjamin Zephaniah (1983)
14) Be Here To Dub Me (Cover of 'Be Here To Love Me' by Townes Van Zandt): Xan Tyler & Mad Professor (2021)

1984: Not The Heart EP: 7
1989: Bob Andy's Dub Book: As Revealed To Mad Professor: 6
1989: Rasta (bonus tracks) (Switzerland CD): 13
1992: Feel No Pain EP: 1
1997: Foundations: Coming Up From The Streets: 11
1998: The Wrestler EP: 8 
1999: Splendor OST: 12
2004: Depeche Mode Remixes 81···04 (Rare Tracks): 9
2010: Frente Cumbiero Meets Mad Professor: 5
2011: The Bristol Reggae Explosion 1978-1983: 3
2013: Modular Presents Modyssey: 4 
2015: Mad Professor Meets Prince Fatty In The Clone Theory: 10
2021: Clarion Call (bonus tracks): 14
2022: Django Django Meets Mad Professor: A Dub Rework: 2

Mad Dub (59:28) (Box) (Mega)

Saturday 29 April 2023

Wave Forms

Back to System 7 aka Steve Hillage, Miquette Giraudy and various other travellers including Nicola Capobianco, Tony Thorpe, Bruno Catala, Adam Wren and Japanese space rock supergroup Rovo.

The first Dubhed selection since the 1991 mixtape I discovered in the attic back in December 2021, this is another half dozen songs, spanning 1992 to 2013 and likely to induce an involuntary rhythmic reaction at various points over the next 46 minutes.
 
1) Space Bird (Liquid Soul Remix By Nicola Capobianco) (2008)
2) Ring Of Fire (Volcaniq Mix By System 7) (1998)
3) 7:7 Expansion (Nutritious Mix By Tony Thorpe) (1992)
4) Hinotori (System 7 2013 Remix): Rovo & System 7 (2013)
5) Manik Shamanik (Album Version By System 7 & Bruno Catala) (2001)
6) Big Sky City (Remix By System 7 & Adam Wren) (1996)

1992: 7:7 Expansion EP: 3
1996: Volume Seventeen: 6
1998: Ring Of Fire EP: 2
2001: Seventh Wave: 5
2008: Space Bird EP: 1
2013: Hinotori EP: 4

Wave Forms (46:52) (Box) (Mega)
You can find my System 7 mixtape from 1991 here

Friday 28 April 2023

Disco Heater

Some disco pogo for punks in pumps to usher in the weekend with this CD-R compilation that I burned for my brother in October 2004.

Guitar-based club tracks with some lovely easter egg samples for the goth, indie and synth-pop lovers out there. I couldn't find the original CD sleeve art for this one, so you get a photo deep within Gough's Cave in Cheddar Gorge, Somerset, which Clan K visited last weekend.

1) Destroy Rock & Roll (Single Version): Mylo (2003)
2) Wordy Rappinghood (Playgroup Dub) (Remix By Trevor Jackson) (Cover of Tom Tom Club): Chicks On Speed (2003)
3) On My Own (Album Version): Ulrich Schnauss ft. Judith Beck (2003)
4) Absolute Affirmation (Tom Middleton's Cosmos Mix): Radio 4 (2004)
5) Rocking Music (Joey Negro Club Edit By Dave Lee): Martin Solveig ft. Jay Sebag & Michael Robinson (2004)
6) Harlot (Thee Glitz Extended Mix By Felix Stallings Jr.): Felix Da Housecat ft. Melistar (2001)
7) What Was Her Name? (Original): Dave Clarke ft. Chicks On Speed (2004)
8) Some Velvet Morning (Disco Heater Dub) (Remix By Two Lone Swordsmen aka Andrew Weatherall & Keith Tenniswood) (Cover of Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood): Primal Scream ft. Kate Moss (2003)
9) For Real (Rollo Mix By Rollo & Sister Bliss): Tricky (1999)
10) The Wrestler (Lionrock's Wrestler) (Remix By Justin Robertson): Slick Sixty (1998)
11) Wrong Number (ISDN Mix By Mark Plati): The Cure (1997)
12) The Golden Path (Ewan Pearson Extended Vocal): The Chemical Brothers ft. The Flaming Lips (2003)

Disco Heater (1:14:48) (Box) (Mega)

...and here are a trio of videos from today's selection, all of which deserve more views that they've received so far on YouTube.


Thursday 27 April 2023

Could I Have Some Mash To Go With This Banger, Please?

Earlier this month Underworld released a new track, And The Colour Red, one of four new songs that they debuted at The Marble Factory in Bristol on 19th March 2023. An edit/official video was released just over a week ago.
 
It's a deceptively simple tune, menacing beat, deep bass and minimal vocals from Karl Hyde. Like the shorter edit and unusually for an Underworld track, the longer version also fades out at the end.

The version that was premiered at the Bristol gig on 19th March - a relatively intimate (1600 capacity) warm up for their show at the Royal Albert Hall for the Teenage Cancer Trust the following night - plays out for an identical duration (5:42) with a rather more sudden fade out/stop. One of those 'wish I was there' moments.

With thanks to @RichardSmith_ZA, whose comment/reaction to the official video on YouTube inspired today's post title.

Wednesday 26 April 2023

Start The Music

I would like to say that Jezebell are back! Back!! BACK!!! In truth, they've never been away, steadily amassing a mightily impressive body of singles and remixes. Five hundred and twenty one days since their debut release in 2021, Jezebell - aka Jesse Fahnestock and Darren Bell - drop new single Trading Places on 27th April. And it's bloody great.

Not merely a single, Trading Places is available as a pair of 3-track EPs, split into Daytime Versions and Nighttime Versions, racking up nearly forty minutes of music. Taken in tracklist order, the journey begins at 11AM, continuing through 3PM, 6PM, 10PM, 2AM, 5AM...and then, if you're like me, back round to 11AM as you'll want to put this on a loop.

11AM is like a perfect soundtrack to a scene in a lost 1990s movie where the protagonist is wandering the streets of the city, not their own, lost but with a sense of urgency and poise. There's a great funky brass sample and loping bassline that suggests they probably have impeccable dress sense too. A cracking start/end to this long day's journey into night and back again.

3PM picks up the brass sample and ups the funk with a guitar riff and 1980s percussion that evokes the spirit of A Certain Ratio's version of Shack Up meeting - and I'm getting obscure here, but I posted it earlier this month so it was in my mind - DJ E FX's San Frandisco Dub of Control by Traci Lords.
 
6PM is a revelation. After a punchy start, insistent beats, keyboard stabs and 1-2-3-4 sample, things really take an interesting turn at the 2:20 mark with Siouxsie Sioux's distinctive vocals kicking in. It's an inspired move and one which takes the music to another level. The longest track on both EPs at a smidge under seven and a half minutes, it feels like it could easily go on for twice as long. However, we're now at the end of EP1 - and daytime - and nighttime beckons.
 
10PM has a tough act to follow and does not hesitate in making a statement of intent. An insistent beat, reminiscent of Slam whilst unmistakably Jezebell - reinforced by a voice proclaiming "You know it's us" a few seconds in - is layered with synth washes and choppy chords. You'll be dancing and swaying to this one, lost in the moment, riding on a wave...ah, these are all cliches, just feel it.

2AM and after a night of excess the second wind - and disorientation - has kicked in. Have you been dancing to the same song all night? No, it's the same yet different. There are lots of 1990s references - at various points, I'm reminded of The Chemical Brothers and Leftfield but the use of samples and percussion couldn't sound more bang on the moment either. This is the shortest of the six versions on offer (only just) though it's enough to give that extra little push to keep this party going into the daylight.

5AM takes another left-turn, revealing that the sampled voice from 10PM is in fact a full vocal, included here in it's entirety. A tik-tok synth line and hot stepping bassline underpin the lyrics which give the song it's title and sample-ready soundbites. And before you know it, it's all over...until 11AM, when it starts all over again. 
 
It's no secret that I'm a big fan of Jezebell's music so I was inclined to like Trading Places before I'd even heard a note of music. That aside, this is a great pair of EPs. Far from taking the easy route of slight variations on a theme, whilst built from the same initial sample source the six versions instead stand on their own as individual tracks and also reward as a whole, a chronological journey from start to end and around again.
 
But all this is just hyperbole. Both EPs are available on Bandcamp and come highly recommended. Buy now!

Tuesday 25 April 2023

Hell Bent For Leather...Russia's Greatest Love Machine

I Start Counting were David Baker and Simon Leonard, a couple of Middlesex University students who started DJing then recording demos together. Daniel Miller was sufficiently impressed to sign them to Mute in 1984, with their debut album My Translucent Hands debuting in 1986.

In July 1988, a month after the release of second album Fused, I Start Counting released their sixth single. In an unusual move, the pair combined the closing track of Side 1, a cover version the theme from 1950s/60s US TV Western, Rawhide, with a deadpan take on a Boney M. song. Thus, Ra! Ra! Rawhide was born. I'm guessing this might have been a crowd-pleasing mix from their DJing days and Mute were prepared to take a punt, releasing the single on 7", 12" and limited edition 12" remix by Mark Moore and Mark McGuire. 
 
There was even an official video, which I'd not seen until researching this post but YouTube happily offered up.
 
I got the 12" single secondhand in the 1990s, probably as a multi-buy, bargain bin job lot, and repeated plays regularly veer between morbid fascination, in-on-the-joke amusement and grimacing at how truly awful it is. If the four-minute version wasn't enough for you, here's the Moscow Chicks Mix by I Start Counting which features on the 12" and throws in the synth riff from Kraftwerk's Radioactivity for good measure.
 
I Start Counting released what proved to be their seventh and final single, Million Headed Monster, in May 1989. David Baker and Simon Leonard recorded new material but subsequently decided that it warranted a rebirth and so in 1990 I Start Counting transformed into Fortran 5. That story is for another post.
 
In September 2021, the duo released two albums of outtakes, demos and early versions of tracks from I Start Counting's 1980s albums, Re-Fused and Ejected. Both are available on Bandcamp, the latter containing an (excuse the pun) raw version of Rawhide.

 
For people of a certain age, the definitive version of Rawhide of appeared in 1980, courtesy of The Blues Brothers:

And if all that has whet your appetite for the original versions, then here's the opening and closing credits of the Rawhide TV series from 1959, sung by Frankie Lane, and featuring a horse-riding cast including a certain Clint Eastwood...
 
...but nothing can match this clip of Boney M. performing Rasputin on Italian variety show La Sberla ("The Slap") in 1978. As scottyunitedboy2925 comments on another YouTube clip of the same song, 
 
"A group of Jamaican performers, founded in Germany, singing in English about a Russian with a Turkish backing track. That probably achieved more cross-country unity in 4 minutes than many diplomats achieve in their entire lifetime."

Frankly jaw-dropping, I feel exhausted just watching Bobby Farrell strut his stuff.

Monday 24 April 2023

This Guitar Kills Metaphor

Astral America by Apollo 440 popped up on my playlist this weekend, a tune I've not heard in a while. I think I'd only seen the video once only release in 1994, so it was over to YouTube to find it.

It's very much a mid-90s beast, full of jump cuts, rotating camera, archive news footage and on-screen soundbite slogans. And so much PVC that the sound of squeaking must have nearly drowned out the music itself.
 
I was an early adopter of Apollo 440 because it featured Noko (aka Norman Fisher-Jones) who had been Howard Devoto's foil in Luxuria a few years previously, a hugely underrated (and sadly commercially unsuccessful) band in my opinion. 
 
Apollo 440 had built up interest with their remixes of Scritti Politti, U2, Banderas, Holly Johnson and EMF and an early run of singles, but without denting the UK charts. Fifth single Astral America was a very clear and direct attempt to do this, with synth parts riffing on West Side Story's America and lyrics ("A God-shaped hole in a God-shaped land", "Blow me away like J.F.K.") that could have been ripped from The Jesus & Mary Chain's songbook. 
 
It worked: Astral America was Apollo 440's first single to crack the UK Top 40 singles chart (for one week, at least) in January 1994, beginning a run of hits throughout the 1990s.
 
The Apollo 440 line-up for this song and video is Noko, Howard Gray, Trevor Gray plus double drums from Simon Hoare and Cliff Hewitt. What a blast.

Sunday 23 April 2023

Sahel Sounds Sunday

On 27th November 2022, I proclaimed "Yes, it's Sahel Sounds Sunday. No, it's not the start of a series."

Unless you're going to hold me to a 148 day gap between posts then I think this is still true, though yes, it is Sunday and yes, it's a long overdue return to a Sahel Sounds selection.
 
Ten songs and just under three quarters of an hour of music culled from the increasing number of compilations and albums that I've been picking up most Bandcamp Fridays. 
 
As ever, an eclectic selection of sounds. According to Iffypedia, "Takamba is a music and dance native to the Songhai and Tuareg peoples of Niger and Mali. It is both a musical composition and a dance [...] The Takamba dance includes graceful and rhythmic movements performed both seated and standing where the shoulders and arms sway with the flow of the music." What more could you want?
 
Well, how about an individual take on Hey Joe, first recorded by The Leaves in 1965 then covered and completely owned by The Jimi Hendrix Experience when released as their debut the following year? You get the impression that Azna De L'Ader's frontperson Mona doesn't know the words but frankly who cares? This is an archival undated live performance from the band, who had been around for over four decades before their first recordings were released in 2016.

2015's compilation Uchronia: Field Recordings From Alternate Realities is another winner. Sadly, none of the musical performances are credited to the artists as there are some intriguing pieces, a couple of which I've featured here. Takamba With Modular Synth, immediately follows on from Mdou Moctar's more 'rock'-based interpretation and then flows into Torodi by Hama, whose opening moments could almost be Brian Auger. 

Whatever you're doing today can only be enhanced by time in the company of these artists and their music.
 
1) Aicha: Bayta Ag Bay (2011)
2) Hey Joe (Cover of The Leaves): Azna De L'Ader (2017)
3) Zinezju Meghdem: Abba Gargando (2010)
4) Agrim Agadez: Etran De L'Aïr (2017)
5) Takamba: Mdou Moctar (2019)
6) Takamba With Modular Synth: unknown artist (2015)
7) Torodi: Hama (2019)
8) Balani Compositions, Rhythm Box: unknown artist (2015)
9) Tinariwen: Group Anmataff (2011)
10) Toumast: Ahmoudou Madassane (2021)
 
2010: Ishilan n-Tenere: 3
2011: Music From Saharan Cellphones: 1, 9
2015: Uchronia: Field Recordings From Alternate Realities: 6, 8
2017: Agrim Agadez: 2, 4
2019: Ilana: The Creator: 5
2019: Sahel Sounds Label Sampler: 7
2021: Sahel Sounds Label Sampler 3: 10
 
Sahel Sounds Sunday (44:32) (Box) (Mega)

Saturday 22 April 2023

Out Here On The Perimeter, Nobody Can Hear You Scream

Celebrating Mark Stewart, 10th August 1960 to 21st April 2023.

I was preparing to put my head down for the night when the news of Mark Stewart's passing popped up on my phone. To say that I'm shocked, saddened and completely gutted is an understatement.

There will be a follow up post, where I try to articulate just why Mark Stewart is such an important figure in my musical education, to Bristol the place of my birth and to the world of music, politics and life in general. I just can't find the words right now.

In the meantime, here are 15 reasons why from the man himself, with The Pop Group, Adrian Sherwood and On-U Sound, Dennis Bovell, Holger Hiller, Primal Scream, Jah Wobble, Keith Levene, Andrew Weatherall, Gary Clail, Daddy G... the list goes on.

Rest in power, Mark, rest in protest.
 
1) She Is Beyond Good And Evil (Single Version): The Pop Group (1979)
2) Baby Bourgeois: Mark Stewart ft. Nicole Bottazzi (2012)
3) Citizen Zombie: The Pop Group (2015)
4) Psychoville (Digitalism Remix): Mark Stewart & Martin Peter (2005)
5) Autonomia (Electro Edit): Mark Stewart ft. Primal Scream (2012)
6) Digital Justice (Dub Remix): Mark Stewart (1996)
7) Home Sweet Home: Adrian Sherwood ft. Mark Stewart (2006)
8) Crazy Dreams And High Ideals: New Age Steppers (1981)
9) Fatal Attraction (Extended Version): Mark Stewart (1990)
10) A Very British Coup (Single Version): Jah Wobble ft. Keith Levene, Richard Dudanski, Mark Stewart, Andrew Weatherall & Youth (2020)
11) All Of My Senses (K.K. Null Mix): Mark Stewart vs Mike Watt vs K.K. Null (2022)
12) Forever Now (Mark Stewart Remixxx): Textbeak ft. Mark Stewart & Janine Rainforth (2021)
13) Television (Remix By Adrian Sherwood, Gary Clail & Mark Stewart): The Beatnigs (1988)
14) Apocalyspe Dub: Mark Stewart ft. Daddy G (2012)
15) We Are All Prostitutes (Crookers Remix): Adam Sky vs. Mark Stewart (2007)

Out Here On The Perimeter, Nobody Can Hear You Scream (1:16:22) (Box) (Mega)

Friday 21 April 2023

Cut The Night

Twelve inches of indie(ish) pop pleasure for the weekend, with a selection of well-known and lesser known songs, spanning the upper and the nether regions of the UK singles chart. 

Troubling the Top 30 with their selected songs back in the day were Echo & The Bunnymen (#30), Gary Numan (#19) and The Beat (#9). Bringing up the rear were Kirsty MacColl (#80) and Win (#63). Having trouble getting the car started were Flesh For Lulu, Paul Haig and INXS, who didn't make the Top 100 and where's the justice in that?
 
As it's Friday, the forty-five minute/C90-friendly rule be damned, here's a full-fat, forty-eight minutes of goodies to usher in the weekend. 

1) Silver (Tidal Wave): Echo & The Bunnymen (1984)
2) Every Little Word (Remix): Flesh For Lulu (1989)
3) Big Blue World (12" Version): Paul Haig (1984)
4) Music For Chameleons (Album Version): Gary Numan (1982)
5) The One Thing (Extended Version): INXS (1983)
6) Hands Off... She's Mine (12" Version): The Beat (1980)
7) Innocence (The Guilt Mix): Kirsty MacColl (1989)
8) Super Popoid Groove (12 Inches For Love God): Win (1987)
 
Cut The Night (48:25) (Box) (Mega)

Thursday 20 April 2023

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

Side 2 of a cassette compilation of singles, B-sides, live cuts and cover versions by The Icicle Works, recorded 24th May 1996.

This selection brings together various 7" and 12" vinyl, cassette singles and compilation tracks circa 1985 to 1990. I'd see Ian McNabb live on stage for the first (and to date only) time at the inaugural Phoenix Festival in 1993 and he was great. I played the Seven Singles Deep compilation regularly but didn't really dip into any of The Icicle Works' albums until well into the 2000s.

The live versions here all came from a concert recording for BBC Merseyside's Streetlife radio show. Seven Horses and Rapids appeared on the Understanding Jane cassingle, whilst the cover of You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet appeared on the Live At The Albert, Lark Lane single shrink wrapped with copies of the 7" vinyl. 
 
By 1990, Chris Layhe and Chris Sharrock had departed and Roy Corkhill, Dave Baldwin and Paul Burgess had joined. The Icicle Works had also been dropped by Beggars Banquet and picked up by Epic. The songs here are culled from CD singles accompanying the major label debut, Permanent Damage. The album wasn't a commercial success, Epic dropped the band and Ian McNabb had gone solo by 1991. 

It's an eclectic selection with a few little gems hidden within. Enjoy!
 
1) Nature's Way (Cover of Spirit) (1986)
2) Melanie Still Hurts (1990)
3) Book Of Reason (1985)
4) Seven Horses (Live @ The Albert, Lark Lane, Liverpool) (1986) 
5) Evangeline (Demo Version) (1987)
6) People Change (1990)
7) You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet (Live @ The Albert, Lark Lane, Liverpool) (Cover of Bachman Turner Overdrive) (1986)
8) Mickey's Blue (1990)
9) Sea Song (Cover of Robert Wyatt) (1986)
10) Waiting In The Wings (1987)
11) Rapids (Live @ The Albert, Lark Lane, Liverpool) (1986)
12) Victoria's Ghost (1990)

1985: The Small Price Of A Bicycle / Vertigo-Sampler (Canadian compilation): 3
1986: Understanding Jane EP: 4, 7, 11
1986: Up Here In The North Of England EP: 1, 9
1987: Evangeline EP: 5, 10
1990: Melanie Still Hurts EP: 2, 8
1990: Permanent Damage: 2
1990: Motorcycle Rider EP: 6, 12

Side Two (45:22) (Box) (Mega)

Wednesday 19 April 2023

Until These Things Get Better

When I posted the Aztec Camera selection yesterday, I had no idea that the debut album High Land, Hard Rain was originally released on 19th April 1983. 

So, what better way to celebrate the 40th anniversary of that release with another Aztec Camera post, featuring performances of two of the album's many highlights?

The first is Lost Outside The Tunnel, live at TVE Studios in Madrid on 18th September 1984. The song was originally the B-side of second single, 1981’s Mattress Of Wire, and the album version nearly made the selection yesterday. Roddy and co. provide a great version here.

The second did make the previous Dubhed selection in 2021 and is my second favourite non-single track from High Land, Hard Rain, after Orchid Girl. The performance of We Could Send Letters is taken from a Channel 4 show called The Switch, circa 1983. 

I have absolutely no recollection whatsoever of this TV show but again it’s a fine rendition, only outperformed by Roddy Frame’s mighty barnet.

Hair raising stuff indeed.



 

Tuesday 18 April 2023

All My Friends Will Make Amends

The first and last Aztec Camera selection to feature here was in September 2021. Having to reload my digital music collection inevitably unearthed the albums I'd uploaded from 1983's High Land, Hard Rain to 1995's Frestonia and taking in the Japan-only compilation Covers & Rare from 1993. Along the way, and courtesy of The Vinyl Villain's championing of all things Roddy Frame, I got to hear the first two Aztec Camera singles on the Postcard label, released in 1981.

Today's selection lifts one song from each Aztec Camera album, plus singles, B-sides and covers. The production may at times plant the music in a specific time, but the songs are timeless, closing with what I think is one of Roddy's finest lyrics and the inspiration for today's post title.

Side One
1) Sister Ann (Album Version) (1993)
2) All I Need Is Everything (Album Version) (1984)
3) Imperfectly (Album Version) (1995)
4) Just Like Gold (Single Version) (1981)
5) Everybody Is Number One (Album Version) (1987)
 
Side Two
1) Birds (Single Version) (1993)
2) Get Outta London (Album Version) (1990)
3) Do I Love You? (Album Version) (Cover of Ronald Graham & Ethel Merman) (1990)
4) Salvation (Single Version) (1990)
5) Mattress Of Wire (Single Version) (1981)
6) Orchid Girl (Album Version) (1983)

1981: Just Like Gold EP: A4
1981: Mattress Of Wire EP: B5
1983: High Land, Hard Rain: B6
1984: Knife: A2
1987: Love: A5
1990: Red Hot + Blue: B3
1990: Stray: B2
1990: The Crying Scene EP: B4
1993: BIrds EP: B1
1993: Dreamland: A1
1995: Frestonia: A3
 
Side One (21:48) (Box) (Mega)
Side Two (22:25) (Box) (Mega)
 
My previous Aztec Camera / Roddy Frame selection, Just Close Your Eyes Again Until These Things Get Better, is available here.

Monday 17 April 2023

Another Alien Attack!

Side 1 of a cassette compilation, recorded 22nd July 1998.

As with Side 1, mostly 1990s indie with a few 1980s and major label releases thrown in for good measure. Matt Johnson appears twice, both with The The and The Gadgets (albeit on guitar and backing vocals only on the latter).

I've seen The Psychedelic Furs, The The, The Boo Radleys, PJ Harvey and Gold Blade live in concert. Gold Blade would have been circa 1996/1997, probably the latter as this was undoubtedly the prompt for buying the Home Turf album. I've long lost the ticket and I can't find any details online, but it must have been a good gig...!
 
There are a couple more inclusions from the Volume CD/book series, this time featuring Ultra Vivid Scene and Madder Rose. I got the first couple but the two here more likely came from Sharks Patrol These Waters, one of two Volume compilations released in the mid-1990s. Likewise, the Pulp song came from cash-in compilation Countdown, collecting their pre-Island label recordings and repackaging it to make it look like a contemporary Pulp release in the style of Different Class.
 
The cassette sleeve artwork has been cut up and pasted from the Captain Star comic strip by the brilliant artist Stephen Appleby. The series originally appeared in NME but I think had transferred to Vox (and in colour) by 1998. Apart from some record sleeve artwork in my collection, notably Nobody's Diary by Yazoo, I haven't really followed their work since and it was difficult to find much info online, apart from their bibliography on Amazon and an enlightening biography ahead of a guest appearance at last year's International Literature Festival in Berlin. Time to catch up with my reading, I think.
 
1) Entertain Me (Album Version): The Psychedelic Furs (1989)
2) Always Crashing In The Same Car (Album Version): David Bowie (1977)
3) Leaves And Sand: The Boo Radleys (1993)
4) Uneasy Listening: The Gadgets (1983)
5) Blue Glow: Pulp (1985)
6) Saddest Song: Gold Blade (1997)
7) Easy (4-Track Demo): PJ Harvey (1992)
8) Rave Down: Swervedriver (1990)
9) Cut Throat (Remix): Ultra Vivid Scene (1993)
10) Roland Navigator: Madder Rose (1994)
11) Bluer Than Midnight: The The (1993)
 
1977: Low: 2
1983: Blue Album: 4
1985: Little Girl (With Blue Eyes) EP: 5
1989: Book Of Days: 1
1990: Rave Down EP: 8
1993: 4-Track Demos: 7
1993: Dusk: 11
1993: Giant Steps: 3
1993: Volume Six: 9
1994: Volume Nine: 10
1997: Hometurf: 6

Side One (46:05) (Box) (Mega)
Side Two here

Sunday 16 April 2023

It's All Happening Here

Rounding off a spectacular week, I belatedly realised that I'd scheduled today's post for 7.30pm rather than 7.30am. Good grief.

Anyway, much later than intended but not too late to soundtrack the end of the weekend, here's a 45-minute selection of tunes that I've enjoyed so far this year. Not quite chilled out, the tempo is still relatively low, with a few dub inflections here and there and vocals dropping in and out.

Fitzroy Avenue by Warriors Of The Dystotheque comes with a slew of excellent remixes, which I've cruelly ignored here. Instead, I've laid Joe Duggan's isolated performance (a bonus track on the digital EP) over the opening minutes of Richard Norris' Spring - Alban Eilir 2 which, in it's original form, runs for a satisfying twenty minutes.
 
Andy Bell aka GLOK recently released a trio of remixes from his superb Pattern Recognition album. All three are very, very good as demonstrated by Sean Johnston and Duncan Gray's dubby rework of That Time Of Night. 
 
Next up is DjClick (born in France, based in Spain) and Masha Natanson (Poland), remixed by Transglobal Underground (based in London but without borders). DjClick's album Violins Against Bombs was released in 2022 and a remix companion came out at the beginning of April, available as a free download via Bandcamp.
 
I've recently enthused about Björk's remix of Shygirl and Más o Menos by Damian O'Neill, so they were a shoo in for this selection. I've gone for Kevin Sharkey's remix of the latter, which ups the Ennio Morricone vibe and mixes in a bit of a Mo' Wax vibe.
 
Emily Breeze is another favourite here. Confessions Of An Ageing Party Girl is a highlight of her current album Rapture. Bristol legends Grant Marshall and Stew Jackson - better known as Daddy G and Robot Club respectively - transform the song whilst losing none of it's narrative thrust.
 
Things come to an end as they must with the aptly titled At The Turning Of The Tide, from another Dubhed regular, 10:40 aka Jesse Fahnestock. 10:40's album Transition Theory has been on regular rotation and I feel just as strongly now as I did when it came out in February. If you haven't bought this album already, then you really should. Right now.
 
As it's another day at the grindstone tomorrow, normal service (and scheduling) will resume.
 
1) Spring - Alban Eilir 2 (Edit): Richard Norris
1.1) Fitzroy Avenue (No Effects Vox): Warriors Of The Dystotheque ft. Joe Duggan 
2) That Time Of Night (Hardway Bros Meet Monkton Uptown Dub): GLOK ft. Shiarra
3) Rusalkas (Transglobal Underground RMX): DjClick & Masha Natanson
4) Woe (I See It From Your Side) (Björk Remix): Shygirl
5) Más o Menos (Kevin Sharkey Remix): Damian O'Neill
6) Confessions Of An Ageing Party Girl (Daddy G vs Robot Club Remix By Grant Marshall & Stew Jackson): Emily Breeze
7) At The Turning Of The Tide: 10:40 ft. Emilia Harmony & Matt Gunn) 
 
It's All Happening Here (44:51) (Box) (Mega)