Sat In The Passenger Seat, Having An Out Of Body Experience

A selection of long songs for Sunday, designed to transport you...well, take your pick from Mars or Dorset and all points in between, or just head straight out of this galaxy and see what else is out there.

 

The shortest song in this selection clocks in at a few seconds under twelve minutes, the longest contribution edges over fourteen and a half. Too many beats between them all to be considered pure ambient music perhaps, but they all have enough going on to stimulate the senses.

First stop, Japan and a couple of electronic music legends. Magic Dome by Yoshihiro Sawasaki was (I think) his debut release, first appearing on the flip of the Neocrystal 12" single, then the album Perfumed Garden, both in 1994. 

Soft Ballet was formed by Ryoichi Endo, Ken Morioka and Maki Fujii in 1986, though my introduction to them was via their remix albums featuring Western artists such as LFO, Jah Wobble, Orbital, Fluke and Global Communication. The third and final in the series reworked 1995 album Form, by which time Soft Ballet had split, although they reunited for a couple of albums in the early 2000s. 

Speaking of Global Communication, Tom Middleton resurrected the GCOM alias in 2021 for a 20-track magnum opus E2-XO. Most of them are pretty short, several clocking in at a minute or less, until you get to the album closer, Beyond The Milky Way. Just ride the stellar wave and drift into the unknown.

 

The Orb and Youth transformed ambient music in the late 80s/early 90s, whether separately or together. I've plumped for the latter, with a remix of Spanish Castles In Space, one of my favourite songs by The Orb, in any incarnation. Alex Paterson and Martin Glover have continued to work together, not least last year's Orb album, Prism.

 

Back down to Earth now, more specifically Wimborne in Dorset. Al Stewart grew up there and Robert Fripp was born in Wimborne Minster, so you know the vibes are good.  MLO were/are Jon Tye and Peter Smith; Jon continues to push the ambient envelope, as one half of Seahawks.

 

Matt Gunn is the new kid on the block, relatively speaking, with a clutch of great releases on the Paisley Dark and Electric Wardrobe labels. Matt's first album Mostly Fiction is a good jumping on point, though his EPs also come recommended.

 

Youth is back for the finale, with an end of the millennium reworking of psychedelic rockers Gong. I first discovered Steve Hillage as the credited producer on the 12" single of Sweat In Bullet by Simple Minds, later as a founder of System 7, so my journey back to Gong was full of detours and diversions, but I eventually got there. A bit like this compilation, if you will.

 

1) Magic Dome (Full Length Version): 澤崎吉広 (Yoshihiro Sawasaki) (1994)

2) No One Lives On Mars (Even Longer) (Remixed By Carl Craig): Soft Ballet (1995)

3) Beyond The Milky Way (Full Length Version): GCOM (2021)

4) Spanish Castles In Space (Extended Youth Mix By Martin Glover): The Orb (1991)

5) Wimborne (Spacetime Continuum Mix By Jonah Sharp): MLO (1994)

6) Space Drohne I & II (Album Version): Matt Gunn (2023)

7) A Sprinkling Of Clouds (Full Length Edit By Youth aka Martin Glover): Gong (1999)

 

1991: Aubrey Mixes: The Ultraworld Excursions: 4

1994: Perfumed Garden: 1

1994: Wimborne Revisited EP: 5

1995: Forms: Remix For Ordinary People: 2

1999: You Remixed: 7

2021: E2-XO: 3 

2023: Mostly Fiction: 6

Sat In The Passenger Seat, Having An Out Of Body Experience (1:30:02) (KF) (Mega)

Definitely His Final & Most Fabulous Creation

Side 2 of a mixtape compiled for me by my brother, circa 1995.

For a mid-90s compilation, like Side 1 before it, this selection focuses quite heavily on the tail end of the 80s, with the rest made up of tracks that were already a couple of years old. All essential tracks though, in this blogger's humble opinion.

M|A|R|R|S start things off with what is still one of the finest four minutes of chop and edit sampladelic music ever. Incredible at the time, incredible now to believe that this is 36 years old. Still sounding fresh after all these years.

Ché aka Alex Johnson was completely new to me when I first heard this cassette but will have been included as a club classic from the days before I started going clubbing with my brother and also because I was really getting into Adrian Sherwood, who produced and remixed this song. I've managed to track down other versions of this song since but this remains the definitive version for me.

I loved System 7 from the first time I borrowed my brother's handful of 12" singles and the Ultraworld Colony Mix of Mia is simply spectacular. The Orb's Alex Paterson was 'mix consultant' on this and it shows, lots of trademark Orbient sounds complementing Steve Hillage and Miquette Giraudy's sonic palette. Producer Nigel Butler also gets a co-writing credit on this one.

For a brief period in the 1980s, Psychic TV went about as pop as they could and ever would, exploring the 1960s in a way that no Levis advert-endorsed reissue or cover version was at the time. None of it really troubled the charts but it was spectacular, including Godstar, their homage to Brian Jones, and a surprisingly faithful cover of The Beach Boys' Good Vibrations which makes every second of it's 7-minute 12" version count. 

The Chrono Psionic Interface is a much-loved song by A Man Called Adam, even more so with Andrew Weatherall at the controls. The Godiva Mix is the one that seems to pop up on t'internet the most though I also love the more conventional, radio friendly mix included here, not least because it features Sally Rodgers' vocals in full.

I might be in a minority here but I think that, as Jesus Loves You, Boy George produced some of the finest music of his career and it still holds up really well. Massive Attack's bass-heavy, sample-laden remix of One On One is just brilliant, up there with their rework of Neneh Cherry's Manchild.

The selection - and the compilation - ends with Fluke, who I adored...and still do. They didn't seem to attract the same level of credit and respect that, say, Orbital and Underworld got, The Chemical Brothers and Fatboy Slim later, and certainly not the stellar commercial success that any of these achieved, which always seemed hugely unjust to me. So many classic singles and remixes throughout the 1990s, though it doesn't get much better than their Make Mine A 99 remix of Groovy Feeling. Thirty years later, still a masterclass in making huge, euphoric dance music.

Damn, is it really on Tuesday? Suddenly feels like a Friday. Oh well, only one thing for it... (presses 'repeat')

1) Pump Up The Volume (7" Version): M|A|R|R|S (1987)

2) Be My (Powerstation) (Bloodsucker Mix By Adrian Sherwood, Ché & Fats Comet): Ché (1986)

3) Mia (Ultraworld Colony Mix By Steve Hillage, Nigel Butler & Alex Paterson): System 7 (1991)

4) Good Vibrations (Kundalini Mix By Phil Harding) (Cover of The Beach Boys): Psychic TV (1986)

5) The Chrono Psionic Interface (Spaced Out Mix By Andrew Weatherall): A Man Called Adam (1991)

6) One On One (Massive Attack Mix): Jesus Loves You (1990)

7) Groovy Feeling (Make Mine A 99): Fluke (1993)

 

Side Two (45:57) (Box) (Mega)

Side One here

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

In Wob We Trust

Jah Wobble today, or at least songs that he has either remixed or been a guest on. He's been on my mind (and playlists) a lot recently, in part due to the excellent In Dub compilation that I purchased just after Christmas. 

I've a couple of mix CDs that I did for my friend Dave in 2004 as a companion piece to the (also excellent) I Could Have Been A Contender anthology, so I've avoided using any tracks that appeared there. Even so, you get an eclectic, unusual and one or two downright bizarre selections, all featuring that unmistakable Wobble bass.

In 1997, record label Mute decided to invite a number of artists to remix Can's back catalogue, including Brian Eno, Sonic Youth, A Guy Called Gerald, Pete Shelley, U.N.K.L.E. and Bruce Gilbert, as well as usual suspects The Orb and System 7. The Secret Knowledge Mix closes the Sacrilege remix album, Kris Needs drafting in Jah Wobble to add his loping bass magic, to great effect.

I was reminded of En-Tact, without a doubt my favourite album by The Shamen, in a post by The Vinyl Villain last week. I'm talking here about the original UK CD issue, rather than the good-but-not-as-good En-Tact USA that superseded the original a year later. In part, this because the former includes the full length version of Evil Is Even, a 13+ rumbling monster of a track, featuring a sonic duel between Darren Millhouse on didgeridoo and Jah Wobble on bass. The winner? The listener.

 

If Love City Groove sound vaguely familiar, but you can't quite place them (or too embarrassed to admit it), they represented the UK in the 1995 Eurovision Song Contest. With the hindsight of a quarter of a century, finishing tenth was a relative success. The single also did well in the UK, reaching #7 and shifting over 200,000 copies, although this proved to be their one and only hit. There were 7 mixes in all, mostly by the band, and there's no obvious reason why Jah Wobble was approached. However, he transforms the rather cheesy original into an 11-minute beauty. Another bit of trivia: rapper Q-Tee aka Tatiana Mais (who featured with Saint Etienne in Friday's post) has a songwriting credit. She was originally approached to provide a rap for the song, but on the record this was subsequently picked up by incoming band member Yinka Charles aka MC Reason. Yinka also performed as The Voice Of Reason, collaborating with Paul Haig on his 1991 single Flight X (as featured by The Vinyl Villain in 2019).

Holly Valance will of course be forever remembered by many as Felicity 'Flick' Scully in legendary Aussie soap Neighbours from 1999 to 2002. Like Kylie Minogue before her, Holly left to pursue the pop star dream. Unlike Kylie, she had released her second and final album by 2003. Kiss Kiss was her debut single, reaching #1 in it's first week and spending 8 weeks in the Top 20. Again, Jah Wobble is an unusual choice of remixer alongside the more obvious Stargate and Agent Sumo, and it's unlikely that the rush of Wobble completists contributed in any way to the chart position. However, it's a good remix and - on this promo only version, you get relatively little Valance and plenty of Wobble, so again it's a win-win.

I know very little about Evil Eye, other than than it appears on a USA compilation, Ambient Extractions, Vol. 2, that I picked up secondhand in a record shop (probably Replay in Bristol) in the late 1990s. It's worth tracking down, including No Man, His Name Is Alive, Steve Jansen & Richard Barbieri and Boymerang. Divination is another collaborative project/alias for Bill Laswell. The compilation includes an edit of a 1993 track, featuring Jeff Bova (Material) and Mick Harris (Napalm Death, Scorn) as well as The Wob.

I know next to nothing about Madredeus, having discovered them via the 1997 Worlds Collide: Global Remixes compilation. They are one of Portugual's most successful bands apparently and are still a going concern.

Closing the compilation, Jah Wobble has collaborated with The Orb on many, many songs over the years, and Blue Room remains a highwater mark. Rather than go for the 40-minute original, I've opted for the rarer Blue Lamp Mix by The Orb, taken from the various artists album Taking Liberties, released as a protest against The Criminal Justice And Public Order Act 1994. No prizes which political party was in government when this was introduced. 

 

More Wob to follow in the not-too-distant future...

1) Oh Yeah (Secret Knowledge Mix By Kris Needs & Henry Cullen): Can ft. Jah Wobble (1997) 

2) Evil Is Even (Album Version): The Shamen ft. Jah Wobble (1990)

3) Love City Groove (Seek Understanding Beyond Immediate Perception Mix Long Version By Jah Wobble): Love City Groove (1995)

4) Kiss Kiss (Jah Wobble Remix) (Promo Full Length Version): Holly Valance (2002)

5) Evil Eye (Edit By Bill Laswell): Divination ft. Jah Wobble, Jeff Bova & Mick Harris (1993)

6) Pregão (Moçárabe Mix By Jah Wobble): Madredeus (1997)

7) Blue Room (Blue Lamp Mix): The Orb ft. Jah Wobble & Steve Hillage (1994)

1990: En-Tact: 2 

1994: Taking Liberties: 7

1995: Love City Groove EP: 3

1996: Ambient Extractions, Vol. 2: 5

1997: Sacrilege: 1

1997: Worlds Collide Global Remixes: 6

2002: Kiss Kiss EP (promo CD): 4

In Wob We Trust (1:13:43) (KF) (Mega)

There Could Never Be A Time More Vital To This Earth

I had no idea who Steve Hillage was before System 7. I had very little interest in prog rock or it's subsequent pretenders to the crown. The closest I came being my school friend Phil, who lent me his Marillion albums and singles. I don't think I ever need to listen to 18 minute B-side Grendel ever again...

 

But I digress. Steve Hillage and Miquette Giraudy formed System 7 as a response to the late 1980s emerging dance music movement, collaborating with Alex Paterson/The Orb on 1990 debut single Sunburst. Collaboration was key from the start and other fellow travellers in those early recordings included Youth (Killing Joke), Paul Oakenfold, Thrash (aka Kris Weston), Derrick May, Steve Waddington (The Beloved), Nigel Butler (subsequently of Hysterix & theaudience) and vocal performers Aniff Cousins (Chapter + The Verse), Monday Michiru and Zoë, to name a few.

 

My brother had been buying loads of 12" singles whilst I'd been away travelling during 1990/91 and had Habibi and Freedom Fighters, which were my entry point to System 7. I've followed them intermittently since and they're still going strong. Hillage was entering his 40s when System 7 formed and turned 70 this August. Proof if needed that you're never too old to create music for the head and the feet, even if my body audibly creaks a lot more when I move...

 

I was going through some boxes in the attic last week and came across this C90 cassette that I recorded in September 1992, compiling my brother's 12" singles on one side and a cut-down version of The Shamen's En-Tact CD on the other. We'd found ourselves both living back at home with our parents: he'd just finished a degree; I'd gone back to college to do A-Levels, after dropping out six months in the first time around. I guess we were both looking for some kind of escape.

 

1) Habibi (Another World Mix By Robin Hancock & Hein Hoven) (ft. Olu Rowe)

2) Mia (Ultraworld Colony Mix By Steve Hillage, Nigel Butler & Alex Paterson)

3) Freedom Fighters (Praying By The Sea Mix By Robin Hancock) (ft. Aniff Cousins, Monday Michiru & Zoë)

4) Miracle (Orb Remix By Alex Paterson & Thrash) (Full Length)

5) Habibi (The Camel Mix By Miquette Giraudy & Andy Falconer) 

6) Depth Disco (Extended Mix By Steve Hillage & Tyrrell)

 

1991: MIracle EP: 2, 4

1991: Habibi EP: 1

1991: Freedom Fighters EP: 3, 6 

1993: Feed Your Head: 5

 

Note: 

Track 4 was originally the 5:35 edit found on the 12" of Habibi. The full length version here is from the Miracle CD single and also on the USA version of System 7's debut album, confusingly titled 777 by 777.

 

Track 5 was originally the Tex Mix, found on the limited edition clear vinyl 12" of Habibi. I don't have my own copy of this so I've swapped it for a completely different mix, which also more or less retains the running time of my original cassette.

There Could Never Be A Time More Vital To This Earth (46:27) (Box) (Mega)

Modern Dance

Saturday's memories of cheap 'n' cheerful compilations reminded me of another K-Tel album that was an attempt to capture the New Romantic and electronic pop sounds that were capturing the imagination of the record buying public. Released in December 1981, Modern Dance is still a great listen, forty years on. As well as Top 10 hits from The Human League, Visage, O.M.D. and Landscape, the inclusion of Japan, Fashion and Heaven 17 is also bang on. The only misfire is the inclusion of The News, who seem to have released three singles, none of which came anywhere close to troubling the UK charts. The song feels like it belongs on a 1970s compilation and is strangely out of time. The rip on this collection also sounds like it's running too fast, but that might be my memory playing tricks.

 

In typical fashion (excuse the pun), the original album has 9 tracks squeezed on each side of vinyl, with early fades, edits and tight sequencing. For this post, I've slightly re-imagined Modern Dance as a double vinyl set, splitting the original Side Two in half and including some full length and extended versions, to allow the songs to breathe.

 

Side Three (22:24)

1) Fade To Grey (Dance Mix): Visage (1981)

2) Einstein A Go-Go (12" Mix): Landscape (1981)

3) Move On (Audio Extra) (Remix By Zeus B. Held): Fashion (1981)

4) Visions Of China (Album Version): Japan (1981)

 

Side Four (23:23)

5) A World Without Love (Single Version): The News (1981)

6) Love Song (Album Version): Simple Minds (1981)

7) Play To Win (B.E.F. Disco Mix): Heaven 17 (1981)

8) Enola Gay (Album Version): O.M.D. (1980)

9) Open Your Heart (Album Version): The Human League (1981)

Side Three (22:24)

Side Four (23:23)

 

The original TV commercial for the album is available on You Tube, with a voiceover from (I think) Radio 1 DJ Peter Powell.