To Create A Universe, You Must Taste The Forbidden Fruit

Time for The Sugarcubes, taken from Side 1 of a mixtape I recorded on 14th September 1991. I'm not sure what was originally on Side 2, but it was replaced (or re-compiled) nearly a year later and features Lush. 

 

The Sugarcubes' third and final album, Stick Around For Joy, was released in the summer of 1992, so this selection focuses on the first two albums and accompanying 12" singles. I didn't have the original 12" of Birthday, but the "Christmas" re-release in 1988, featuring new remixes by The Jesus & Mary Chain. Many of the songs featured here would subsequently also be remixed for the 1992 compilation, It's-It. 

Listening to the songs again, it's easy to understand why I loved - and still love - The Sugarcubes so much. They weren't like anything else I'd ever heard before and there was an irreverence and spikiness that I found greatly appealing. Björk is of course an amazing front person, but I really liked Einar Örn's... well, I going to say 'counterpoint', which is not really it at all. He seemed too often derided or dismissed by the music press, which is a bit unfair: The Sugarcubes were what they were because of the dynamic between the two and a key reason why I liked them so much.

The music itself is a joy, with lots of quirky motifs that nod to but never mimic other bands. Whilst they may not have had great commercial success, they showcased the brilliant musical talent emerging from Iceland. As a family, we were lucky enough to visit Iceland in 2016 and the island and it's music have remained a source of wonder and fascination since. And it all started here.

1) Dragon (Icelandic) (1988)

2) Water (Album Version) (1989)

3) Bee (1989)

4) Motorcrash (Album Version) (1988)

5) Cowboy (Single Version) (1988)

6) Pump (Album Version) (1989)

7) Christmas Day (Birthday) (Remix By The Jesus & Mary Chain) (1988)

8) Traitor (Icelandic) (1988)

9) Dream TV (Album Version) (1989)

10) Speed Is The Key (Album Version) (1989)

11) Blue-Eyed Pop (Album Version) (1988)

12) Deus (10" Remix By Derek Birkett & Ray Shulman) (1988)

13) Mama (Album Version) (1988)

14) Somersault Version (Planet) (Remix By Derek Birkett & The Sugarcubes) (1990)

 

1988: Birthday EP: 7

1988: Coldsweat EP: 1, 8

1988: Deus EP: 5, 12

1988: Life's Too Good: 4, 11, 13

1989: Here Today, Tomorrow Next Week!: 2, 3, 6, 9, 10

1990: Planet EP: 14

To Create A Universe, You Must Taste The Forbidden Fruit (47:29)

I'm So Deep In A Cloud I'm Drifting Out

Storm Eunice was fairly gentle with us: a couple of smashed windows and a strip of roofing ripped off of the shed and that was pretty much it. The Saturday morning sky promises a calmer day, and although the wind and rain will be back in force later, hopefully nothing like yesterday.

To capture this moment of serenity, today's selection gathers up some healing and uplifting tunes from the past couple of years. I raved about Jezebell's new one on Monday and Little Dragon's latest EP in January. I subscribed to The Future Sound Of London's digital calendar again this year and include their first offering for 2022. 

 

On the last day of 2021, Dave Allen's new project Uptick released the marvelous Universe, with a typically fantastic remix from 10:40 aka Jesse Fahnestock, bringing Bolton & Stockholm together in a stupendous soundclash. Available as a free download on Soundcloud.

 

Thanks also to blogging legends The Vinyl Villain and Bagging Area for the nods to Mogwai, GCOM (aka Tom Middleton) and Hypernatural (including Cut Copy's Dan Whitford). The selection closes with Mildlife, hailing (like Hypernatural) from Melbourne and bringing some welcome Antipodean sunshine to dispel the stormclouds.

 

1) Drifting Out (Version): Little Dragon ft. Jakob Koranyi & Yo-Yo Ma (2021) 

2) Beyond The Milky Way (Edit): GCOM (2021)

3) Jezebelle Et Moi (Original Widescreen Version) (Cover of Max Berlin's): Jezebell (2022)

4) Opk Machines Trx M2: The Future Sound Of London (2022)

5) Ritchie Sacramento (Other Two Remix By Gillian Gilbert & Stephen Morris): Mogwai (2021)

6) Universe (10:40's Dark Matter Mix By Jesse Fahnestock): Uptick (2021)

7) Stormfront (Album Version): Hypernatural (2022)

8) Automatic (Jono Ma Ascend Mix By Jonathan Marr): Mildlife (2020)

I'm So Deep In A Cloud I'm Drifting Out (51:44)
 

The Mercy Beat

I've still got my copy of The The's stunning Infected: The Movie on VHS tape, but it's been many many years since I've actually been able to play the thing. Legal and licensing entanglements mean that a DVD or digital release is unlikely in the near future, but a lucky few (sadly not including me) did get to see it on the big screen back in 2016 with a 30th anniversary screening at London’s ICA. A short but fascinating documentary about the film was unexpectedly released on The The's official website on Valentine's Day.

I remember seeing the Infected: The Movie's TV premiere on Channel 4 in December 1986. I'd bought Infected (on vinyl, with limited edition 'torture' sleeve) the month before and I became obsessed with the album. Experiencing the videos took the songs - and Infected as a whole - to another level.

 

The album and the film closes with The Mercy Beat, filmed in Iquitos, Peru and La Paz in Bolivia. Directed by Peter ‘Sleazy’ Christopherson, it's an incredible visual imagining of Matt Johnson's lyrics and music, including some tense on-the-fly scenes filmed during a political rally. Johnson later recalled the filming of scenes in the midst of the crowd:

 

"Someone produced a snake which I was grappling with, and I hate snakes. A monkey bit me, and then me and this guy, who I'd only just met, cut each other and we became blood brothers, rubbing blood over each other's face, stuff like that."

 

Whilst filming in the Amazon jungle, Johnson's drug experience was further expanded by an introduction to hallucinogenic concoctions used by the indigenous tribes. This dislocated, out of body experience permeates the entire video album and The Mercy Beat brilliantly captures this. 

In lieu of a re-release, you can currently piece together Infected: The Movie via various sources on YouTube and I'll possibly revisit the entire album in a future post. In the meantime, I'm pulling out the old vinyl - now crackly and in a cat-scratched sleeve - for an airing this weekend. There's a high wind blowing...

 

The Mercy Beat: The The (1986)

 

There's a high wind blowing and the stars are shining bright
Oh what a night, this is gonna be
I think I'll let the world sleep without me
I got one eye open, one eye closed

And my thin body's trembling beneath the bedclothes
My hearts beating against the roof of my mouth

It's almost time to get out of this house

 
I got one hand on the radio, one hand on the wheel
I got my right foot on the floorboard

I'm preparing to kill or be killed

 
There's a high wind blowing and the stars are shining bright

And the rain upon the tarmac

Helps me sail through the traffic lights
I'm heading down to the dock of the bay

To feel the power of the waves
I'm gonna move up close to that wind

And wrestle with the thoughts solitude always brings

You see, I'm stuck between hell and the deep blue sea

And I know that water's sucked under better men than me
I was just another western guy

With desires that couldn't be satisfied 

One day, I asked the angels for inspiration

But the devil bought me a drink

And he's been buying them ever since

 
He's had the liquor on my tongue

Feel like the sea upon the sand
He's had me signing confessions

Feom this shaking hand,
He's had me struggling to hang onto hope

Like a drunken sailor in a tugboat
With a bottle of vodka in my overcoat

And my dog eared bible lost--overboard

 
You see he tricked me into temptation

So I've tricked him into this confrontation
I never said I was the man I appeared to be
Not the flesh wrapped around the bones of necessity
Or the soul on fire, scribbling thoughts for posterity
I'm gonna have little Lucifer, running off to Purgatory

With his tail between his legs
I'm gonna teach him a lesson 

He ain't ever gonna forget

All the vultures & crows are fixing up some tombstones
But they won't be chewing the meat off my bones

 
There's a high wind blowing and the stars are shining bright
Me and him are gonna have a little knife fight

In the bowels of the big city skyline
Oh, this feeling inside runs dark and deep 

Tonight my hearts not thumping 

...A Mercy Beat

 
I was just another western guy
With desires that couldn't be satisfied

 

What a night this is gonna be

The world can sleep without me 

What a night this is gonna be

The world can sleep without me 

What a night this is gonna be

The world can sleep without me  

 

Audrey Is A Little Bit Partial

Side 2 of a mixtape, compiled 8th December 1996, featuring the remixing genius of Andrew Weatherall. Because every day is a good day to listen to Andrew Weatherall, but particularly today.

 

Andrew James Weatherall, 6th April 1963 to 17th February 2020.

 

1) Jam J (Phase 1: Arena Dub) (Remix By Andrew Weatherall, Jagz Kooner & Gary Burns): James vs. The Sabres Of Paradise (1994)

2) 11 Years (Sabres Main Mix 2 By The Sabres Of Paradise): The Wolfgang Press (1995) 

3) Weekender (Audrey Is A Little Bit Partial Mix By The Sabres Of Paradise): Flowered Up (1992)

4) The Chrono Psionic Interface (The Godiva Mix By Andrew Weatherall): A Man Called Adam (1991)

5) Nowhere (Sabres Of Paradise Mix): Therapy? (1994)

 

1991: The Chrono Psionic Interface EP: 4

1992: Weatheralls Weekender EP: 3

1994: Jam J EP: 1

1994: Nowhere EP: 5

1995: Going South EP: 2 

 

Side Two (46:06) (KF) (Mega)

Kinesthesia

Side 1 of a mixtape, compiled in 1998 for my brother and his wife, probably as a Christmas/New Year gift. 

 

The selection is essentially my 'favourites of 1998', with one or two in-year purchases thrown in for good measure. Two of the standout albums for 1998 were Like Weather and Solex vs. The Hitmeister, whilst UNKLE finally delivered their debut as an artist, Psyence Fiction, which had a impressive line-up of guests and almost - but didn't quite - live up to the hype. However, it delivered an outstanding video for Rabbit In Your Headlights and remix by 3D from Massive Attack.

 

Singles-wise, Cornershop's Sleep On The Left Side included a brace of great remixes from Ashley Beedle, plus the none-more-80s retrofit from Les Rythmes Digitales aka Stuart Price, back when he was masquerading as French DJ Jacques Lu Cont. 

 

Opening track To Ulrike M. appeared on a Select magazine promo CD; the single itself featured remixes by Zero 7 and Tosca (aka Richard Dorfmeister & Rupert Huber), which I've still yet to hear. Every time I hear this track I remind myself that I need to track down a copy, then promptly forget. This has been going on for over two decades now.

 

Likewise, the Jungle Brothers remix is another that popped up on a promo CD in 1998, this time Melody Maker, and may well have been the first music I'd heard by Midfield General aka Skint label head Damian Harris. The line-up of remixers for the single is a snapshot of 1998: Stereo MCs, Natural Born Chillers, Da Beatminerz, Hardknox, even The Fugees.

 

A couple of songs were criminally relegated to B-side/EP status, namely Barry Adamson's cinematic cover of Da Juice's 1991 club track Hear The Angels and another track tucked away on the multi-format release of Mansun's Being A Girl. I wasn't a particular fan of Mansun, although I liked the lead track, but I bought one of the two CD singles specifically for Railings, written by and featuring a guest vocal from Howard Devoto. You may not be surprised to read that, in my opinion, it's Mansun's finest song.

 

Today's photo was taken in St. John's Lane, a side street in Gloucester that leads from the main shopping area and in a roundabout way eventually connects to the cathedral and garden, where I'll often spend a lunch break, when I'm working in the city. The main grafitti quotes Martin Luther King from a speech he gave in St. Louis on 22nd March 1964. 

 

You'll have to zoom in to see it, but I was struck by the handwritten note stuck on the boarding to the left of it, which reads (sic) "If you are readin this, you and your vehicle? are being recorded on C.C.T.V." Judging by the hand prints and stains around the notice, this apparently was an irresistible invitation for some. I hope the C.C.T.V. captured their best side...

 

1) To Ulrike M. (Original Mix): Doris Days (1998)

2) Behind The Mask (The Orbital Remix): Yellow Magic Orchestra (1992)

3) Sleep On The Left Side (Paris) (Les Rythmes Digitales' Living By Numbers Mix By Stuart Price): Cornershop (1998)

4) Madam, Your Carriage Awaits: Bentley Rhythm Ace (1998)

5) Hear The Angels (Cover of Da Juice): Barry Adamson (1996)

6) Rabbit In Your Headlights (3D Mix-Reverse Light) (Remix By Robert Del Naja & Neil Davidge): UNKLE (1998)

7) Something: Leila ft. Luca Santucci (1998)

8) Brain (Midfield General Remix By Damian Harris): Jungle Brothers (1997)

9) There's A Solex On The Run: Solex (1998)

10) Railings: Mansun ft. Howard Devoto (1998)

 

1992: Hi-Tech / No Crime: 2

1997: Brain EP: 8 

1998: Being A Girl EP: 10

1998: Can't Get Loose EP: 5

1998: For Your Ears Only: 4 

1998: Like Weather: 7

1998: Rabbit In Your Headlights EP: 6

1998: Sleep On The Left Side EP: 3 

1998: Solex vs. The Hitmeister: 9

1998: To Ulrike M. EP: 1

 

 

Side One (46:14) (Box) (Mega)

More Urban Head Musics

Side 2 of a mixtape, originally recorded 17th May 1998, featuring more Wessex post-ambient therapy musics by Julian Cope, Donald Ross Skinner and Thighpaulsandra aka Timothy Lewis. 

Over two hours of brain-frying sounds, edited down once again to a cassette-friendly 47 minutes. 

U-know!

 

1) In Search Of Ancient Astronomies: Julian Cope & Donald Ross Skinner (1992)

2) Avebury: The Arranged Marriage Of Heaven & Earth: Queen Elizabeth (1994)

3) D-c.o.m.p.o.s.e.r.: Julian Cope (1997)

4) Amethysteria: Julian Cope & Donald Ross Skinner (1992)

5) Temples Of Ker: iii) Rock ‘n’ Roll Station / iv) Kenidjack: Queen Elizabeth (1997)

6) Ambulence: Wessex Post-Ambient Therapy Music 1 aka I Come From Another Planet, Baby: Julian Cope (1996)

 

1 & 4 edited from Rite

2 edited from Queen Elizabeth

3 edited from Rite²

5 edited from QE2: Elizabeth Vagina 

6 edited from I Come From Another Planet, Baby / Ambulence CD single

 

Side Two (47:18) (GD) (M)

Side One here

Jezebelle Et Moi

As it's Valentine's Day, whether in a partnership or going solo, what better way to celebrate than with the "seedy sonics and illicit electronics" of Jezebell aka Jesse Fahnestock and Darren Bell?

 

Following last year's excellent debut single, Thrill Me, this time the duo have re-imagined some Gallic French slo-mo funk from 1978, courtesy of Max Berlin's (that is not a typo). The EP has been on pre-sale for a while and drops in full today, with the original accompanied by three variations: Le Funk, Le Acide and Le Dub. If you enjoyed the aforementioned previous single and their remixes/re-edits on Paisley Dark, then you will not be disappointed. If this is the first you've heard of Jezebell, then you will not be disappointed. Win win.

 

Jesse Fahnestock also found time to release the rather wonderful Iz Um as 10:40 in January. 2022 promises to be another bumper year.

Jezebelle Et Moi: Jezebell (2022)

Elle Et Moi: Max Berlin's (1978)

Iz Um: 10:40 (2022)

Thrill Me: Jezebell (2021)

 

Buy Jezebell and 10:40 music on Bandcamp.

I Get Absolutely No Pleasure From Singing This Song

I was fortunate enough to see Magazine live in concert at the HMV Institute on Digbeth High Street in Birmingham on 8th November 2011. Sadly, by then Barry Adamson had departed again after the reformed band's initial live dates in 2009. However, the experience of seeing Howard Devoto, Dave Formula, John Doyle and (as a fan of Luxuria) Noko performing on stage was incredible. 

 

Despite touring their new (and, as it happens, only post-reformation) album, No Thyself, I hadn't actually bought or listened to it...and I also failed to get a copy from the merch stall on my way home, being so abuzz with the 90 minutes that had just gone by. A night at the notorious but cheap Britannia Hotel in the city centre soon dampened that buzz but, at the time, what a fantastic night.

The set was heavy with songs from No Thyself, which stood well with the other, better known songs. The studio versions sound a bit muted by comparison now, but my memory is that the live versions were more rousing; I recall that Dave Formula in particular seemed to be having a great time on stage.

Inevitably, with only 16 songs there were lots of omissions. 1981's Magic, Murder And The Weather didn't even get a look-in, a little unfairly in my opinion especially in its 30th anniversary year, but then what to leave out to make room?

The prospect of another Magazine concert, let alone new songs, seems even more remote a decade or so on. They came, they performed, they were brilliant, they left. I'm glad I was there to see it.

1) Definitive Gaze (Album Version) (1978)

2) Give Me Everything (Single Version) (1978)

3) Motorcade (Album Version) (1978)

4) Happening In English (2011)

5) The Worst Of Progress… (2011)

6) A Song From Under The Floorboards (Album Version) (1980)

7) Philadelphia (Album Version) (1980)

8) Parade (Album Version) (1978)

9) Hello Mister Curtis (With Apologies) (2011)

10) Rhythm Of Cruelty (Single Version) (1979)

11) Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) (John Peel Session) (1979)

12) Holy Dotage (2011)

13) Permafrost (Album Version) (1979)

14) The Light Pours Out Of Me (Album Version) (1978)

15) Final Analysis Waltz (2011)

16) Shot By Both Sides (Live @ the Russell Club/The Factory, Manchester) (1980)

 

1978: Give Me Everything (7"): 2

1978: Real Life: 1, 3, 8, 14

1979: Rhythm Of Cruelty (7"): 10

1979: Secondhand Daylight: 13

1980: The Correct Use Of Soap: 6, 7

2000: Maybe It's Right To Be Nervous Now: 11

2011: No Thyself: 4, 5. 9, 12, 15

I Get Absolutely No Pleasure From Singing This Song (1:12:08)

Maybe It's Time To Tear It All Apart

I posted about Trentemøller last September, having been switched onto his run of new singles and promise of a new album. Since then, Trentemøller has dropped three further tracks and, to close this week, fifth single Like A Daydream and sixth album Memoria.

Continuing the musical style of the last 12 months, Like A Daydream is like one of the great lost Slowdive singles, whilst the parent album plays like an indie/goth/shoegaze treasure trove of undiscovered gems. This is the first time that Trentemøller has written all the lyrics and vocal melodies and he does a good job, and Lisbet Fritze really brings the songs to life.

I received a digital copy of Andy Bell's new album Flicker yesterday which, on first play, is already a contender for a 2022 highlight (but that's for another post). Trentemøller's Memoria is right up there too and I'm looking forward to immersing myself in the sounds of the album in its entirety this weekend.

 

Like A Daydream

No More Kissing In The Rain

Dead Or Alive

All Too Soon

In The Gloaming

Buy Memoria on Bandcamp

Ich Bin Ein Ausländer

I first became aware of Aki Nawaz via Nation Records, personally one of the most exciting labels to emerge in the 1990s. Little did I know at the time, but he'd featured in my record collection previously as drummer with The Southern Death Cult (who incrementally dropped prefixes to become The Cult, but that's another story).

 

As well as providing a home and creative outlet for artists via Nation Records, Nawaz also performed as rapper Propa-Gandi and has released an immense body of work as Fun-Da-Mental. Nawaz has consequently courted controversy over his political acts, lyrical content and recital of verses from the Qur'an over Fun-Da-Mental's music, as referenced in this 2015 interview with Vice's Jack Dutton.

 

This selection focuses on the 1990s, 12 tracks over 75 minutes, taking in Fun-Da-Mental remixes and remixed, including the collaboration with Pop Will Itself that provides today's post title. Some unsurprising inclusions here, with Transglobal Underground and Indian Ropeman, but hopefully a few unexpected remixes too, such as Hyperhead (Mary Mary's band between Gaye Bikers On Acid and Apollo 440) and especially The Jesus & Mary Chain.  

 

Fun-Da-Mental's last album was 2018's There Shall Be Love. As the Bandcamp release info states, the music "is a soundtrack to "life lived" and "life observed". The Political commentary, although very outspoken and nuanced, is and remains a matter of debate."

 
1) "You Have Become Human Swine" (A Lesson In Love...Listen!!!! Reprise): Fun-Da-Mental (1999)

2) Ja Sha Taan (Karachi Deathcult Mix By Transglobal Underground): Fun-Da-Mental ft. Nawazish Ali Khan (1997)

3) New World Order (Extended Version): Fun-Da-Mental (1994)

4) A Lesson In Love...Listen!!!! (Wisdom Speaks) (Remix By Phluide): Fun-Da-Mental (1999)

5) Ich Bin Ein Ausländer (Fun-Da-Mental 12" Mix): Pop Will Eat Itself ft. Blacka-D, Hot-Dog & Propa-Gandi (1994)

6) Mother India (Spirit Of The Tiger) (Remix By The Moody Boyz aka Tony Thorpe): Fun-Da-Mental (1994)

7) Shri Durga (The Organic Science Mix By Fun-Da-Mental): DJ Cheb I Sabbah ft. Mala Ganguly, Shafqat Ali Khan, Ustad Salamat Ali Khan & Ustad Sharafat Ali Khan (2000)

8) Ja Sha Taan (J&MC Debate With F<D>M Version By The Jesus & Mary Chain): Fun-Da-Mental (1999)

9) This Is Fascism (Exterminate Fascism Before It Gets Your Teddy Bear By Fun-Da-Mental) (Cover of Consolidated): New Fast Automatic Daffodils (1996)

10) Teenage Mind (Fun-de-mental Midi Breakdown Dub): Hyperhead (1992)

11) Mr. Bubbleman (Album Version): Fun-Da-Mental (1994)

12) Demonised Soul (Indian Ropeman Remix By Sanjiv Sen): Fun-Da-Mental (1998)

 

1992: Teenage Mind EP: 10

1994: Ich Bin Ein Ausländer EP: 5 

1994: Mother India EP: 6

1994: Seize The Time / Taking Liberties: 11

1994: Volume Nine: 3 

1996: This Is Fascism: 9

1997: Ja Sha Taan EP: 2, 8 

1998: Demonised Soul EP: 12

1999: Why America Will Go To Hell EP: 1, 4 

2000: Maha Maya: Shri Durga Remixed: 7

Ich Bin Ein Ausländer (1:13:45)