9/26/2006

Deleted links

I noticed today that quite a lot of my older download-links have been deleted due to download inactivity. If you missed out on something and want a re-up, just leave a comment which record you're interested in and I'll put it up again as soon as possible.

Ambush Records 12inches

(I know the picture is kinda corny, but it made me smile anyway...)

This one comes from a fellow blogger: muse1453 of Autres Grooves and A Closet Of Curiosities fame kindly hooked me up with the tracks he downloaded from the homepage of DJ Scud's and Aphasic's now defunct breakcore/raggacore label Ambush Records. There's one track missing from Ambush 04 and two tracks from Ambush 08, but other than that this is a complete collection of the first dozen Ambush releases. Since these 12inches are long sold out and the mp3s are no longer available for download, I guess they're somewhat rare by now. I'm a bit lazy today, so instead of a review here are some excerpts of a conversation about Ambush muse and I had at Autres Grooves:

"square dancer:
Usually I'm not that much into breakcore/raggacore etc, but there's something about a lot of that DJ Scud/Panacea/Ambush Rec. related stuff, though I can't really put my finger on it.

muse 1453: What appeals to me about the Ambush label is that most of the tracks are not just hardcore tracks utilizing rapidfire percussion, but how the tracks are created with free-improv and musique concrete influences. That's what makes these tracks listenable for many repeats. Most of the stuff in this genre really gets boring after awhile and are not worth listening to again because a few artists in this area actually attempt to be creative.

square dancer: I think you're pretty right about the peculiar qualities of their releases. Obviously a vast knowledge about different kinds of music went into the making of their tracks. I'd probably add that another factor may be that those people actually seem to be knee-deep into rave, jungle, hiphop, dancehall etc. They're loving this stuff and know it well. Whereas a lot of other breakcore artists (especially from the "artsy" side of the spectrum) merely seem to cannibalize it."

Not each and every track here is up to the same standards of course. To the outside listener some of them are "merely" solid genre stuff, though if you're really into breakcore you will find them pretty outstanding, I guess. But there are more than enough gems to be found that are nothing short of amazing.

Well, enough babble. Below's the tracklist. Click on the picture above and download the whole batch in one file.

Jackal & Hide - Escape From South London (Ambush 01)


In Bed With Hanin 5:26
Post Industrial Funk 3:38 Coldharbour Lane 4:41 The Jackal 4:35

Aphasic & DJ Scud - Welcome to the Warren EP (Ambush 02)


Aphasic & DJ Scud - Justify My Hate 4:28 Aphasic - Comparative Vandalism 5:23 DJ Scud - MTV Generation 5:29 Aphasic & DJ Scud - I Hear a New World

Shizuo - Give Up (Ambush 03)

Moshi-Moshi 4:55 Brain Dead (remix) 3:43 Trouble 3:53 To Shizuo 1:49 Give Up 3:23


Aphasic & DJ Scud - Snipers At Work (Ambush 04)

DJ Scud - Mash the Place Up 4:50 DJ Scud - Scud Missle 4:04 Aphasic - You Only Happen Once 3:14 Aphasic - Despair In the Community 3:44 Aphasic & DJ Scud - Belief is the Enemy

muse1453 said: sorry track 3 "Skatebored" is missing. I couldn't find it on my hard drive. It was mediocre anyway which is possible that I deleted it.

Mwarf - Sex With a Machine (Ambush 05)

Brockbeat 4:21 Fat Boy 6:21 Is It Safe? 7:35 Pillar 4:08

DJ Scud & Christoph Fringeli - Bodysnatcher EP (Ambush 06)


Bodysnatcher 6:27 Ruled By the Mob 3:56 XXX 3:42

Din S.T. - In the Case of... (Ambush 07)


Search 4:44 Classic Case 4:12 About to Go Down 4:31 Stay Calm 4:38 Street Urchin 3:25

DJ Scud & I-Sound - Mortal Clash EP (Ambush 08)

DJ Scud - VIP Pressure 3:50 I-Sound - Sufferers 3:25 I-Sound - Trauma 4:55 I-Sound - Short Sharp Shock (version) 4:20

muse1453 said: sorry there are a couple of tracks by DJ Scud missing; these two files are corrupt and won't play

Aphasic - Bass & Superstructure (Ambush 09)

Anthem For Doomed Youth 3:21 Dirty Face 3:19 Superstructure I 3:22 Bloody Nora 4:00 Superstructure II 2:57

Rich Kid/DJ Scud - untitled 12" (Ambush 10)

Rich Kid - Rude Bimmer 4:03 DJ Scud - Badman Time 3:00 DJ Scud - Put Up Your Lighters 3:57

Slepcy - And Again (Ambush 11)

And Again 6:33 untitled 02 3:46 Form (Play) 3:13

Noize Creator - Deferred Media (Ambush 12)

Per Thousand 2:49 Deferred Media 3:57 Have a Piss 2:43 Broken Bar 5:50 Hate Cops 5:15

9/18/2006

Ennio Morricone - Danger, Diabolik

(Click on the picture to download.)

One of the most fascinating and unique things about Italian pop culture is the popularity of the fumetti neri: crime, mystery or spy comic books in black and white aimed primarily at young adults and characterized by dark atmospheres, a lot of casual violence and twisted (anti-)heroes. One of the most popular fumetti neri-characters is the black clad super criminal Diabolik, a ruthless and totally amoral sociopath. (Oddly, sisters Angela and Luciana Giussani, who created Diabolik in 1962 and wrote the series for over twenty years, look like harmless, slightly spinsterish elementary school teachers).

In 1968 the adventures of the glamorous and stylish super villain were turned into a feature film directed by b-movie auteur Mario Bava. I haven't been able to see the movie yet, but this sounds like a very promising combination. Though he lost it somewhat by the seventies, Bava was one of the most astonishing European directors, especially considering the constraints of the Euro-exploitation movie industry he was working in, and he created at least one true masterpiece of formally radical modernist film making
with his early giallo thriller Sei donne per l'assessino (Blood And Black Lace).

Ennio Morricone's Diabolik soundtrack is a lushly textured, highly enjoyable slice of vintage spy twang with a slightly psychedelic bent and those soft female vocals typical for his work of the time. Not necessarily essential Morricone, but definitely a fun listen and the main theme Deep Deep Down is really quite beguiling. The source for this rip is a sort of semi-legit cd recorded from either the DVD or the Laser Disc of the English dubbed version (hence the dialogue snippets and a few sound effects). Danger, Diabolik was never officially released on lp or cd and the master tapes were allegedly destroyed in a fire years ago.

I can't remember where I got this rip (most likely some torrent download), but whoever the original uploader was - mad props to him/her!

9/03/2006

Torque

This is the heavy heavy monster sound! Relentlessly blaring, layered bass riffs, ear-splitting distortion, disorienting, splintering drums, pounding cyborg warrior-two step stomps - all the indgredients of classic techstep are firmly in place on No U-Turns first label compilation. It wouldn't be long before techstep turned into its own parody, full of clichés and corny angstiness. On this release from 1997 the sound was still fresh though and the trio of Ed Rush, Nico and DJ Trace handled it with malicious, skunked-out imagination. For better or for worse, No U-Turn proved to be hugely influential on the direction d'n'b would take in the following years (and don't even get me started on techstep's ugly children hard step and dark step). But this double-disc is the real deal: dirty, poisonous, corrosive alien-funk.

Disc 1
Disc 2

World Of Twist - Quality Street

(Click on the picture to download.)

I have to admit that I had never heard of World Of Twist prior to the news of ormer frontman Tony Ogden's death about a month ago. But these three post on Simon Reynold's blog peaked my interest and I decided to try and track down the band's only album from 1991. Not only is Mr. Reynolds one of my favourite music writers whose recommandations are usually at least worth checking out. Also, a self-consciously stylized and artificial band with a post-acid house sensibility taking its cues from the baroque end of sixties-psychedelia, Joe Meek, Hawkwind, early Roxy Music, Motown stompers and krautrock - well, sir, that sounds like it's right up my alley!

It would be stretching things a bit to say that Quality Street is a lost masterpiece. Some songs sound rather like a slightly more sophisticated and artsier version of the baggy dance rock of their Manchester contemporaries and that's hardly something to write home about. There really is the occasional dash of greatness to be found here though, most notably on the amazing singles The Storm, Sons Of The Stage and Sweets and their fabulous version of Sly Stone's Life And Death. When they lived up to their promise of a groovy, plastic fantastic glam psychedelia, World Of Twist really were unique. It's a shame that they never released another record and remain so obscure. A second album for Creation Records was never finished as the band fell apart, not least because of massive substance abuse (those were the pill-popping days of rave after all). The details of World Of Twist's short and convoluted band history can be found on their official homepage.

(This is not my rip, by the way, it comes from a friendly slsk user. Sorry, can't remember the name, but thanks a lot!)