The first - and by far the best - installment of the long-running King Size Dub series is dedicated to British and British/Jamaican productions. At 27 tracks on two discs, it's quite a varied collection of amazingly high quality. Actually the only dull moments are two rather clumsy attempts at a fusion of dub and house by Got To Move and Zion Train. Highlights include tracks by the On-U posse (two each by Dub Syndicate and Revolutionary Dub Warriors and three Bim Sherman collaborations), Iration Steppas and The Disciples. I've hardly been keeping up with UK dub for almost ten years now, but I'm told that these tracks from the early and mid nineties catch the scene at its last creative peak. Could be true, given that most of the handful of newer tracks I've heard were quite by-the-numbers.
Listening to those two discs for the first time in years, what struck me was how dark, claustrophobic, cold and sometimes almost brutal a lot of it sounds in comparison to classic Jamaican dub. Often cluttered with eerie sound effects, the sonic space is incredibly dense and - especially on the steppers style tunes with their typical relentless four-to-the-floor drums - the beats and bass lines often come down with a brute, forceful ultra-heaviness. (Btw, these are all compliments in my book.) At times there's also a kind of haunted sadness contrasting quite effectively with the powerful rhythms. There's a unique quality to this sound that you don't even get from the bleakest and most militant Keith Hudson tracks or Lee Perry at his craziest and most paranoid. Actually, I'd say that a close comparison would be the best of current dubstep productions (i.e. the stuff that doesn't just sound like drum'n'bass played at the wrong speed).
Of course the use of digital equipment partly explains the difference between Jamaican and UK productions. But maybe the bleak vibe of UK dub owes as much to the fact that the tunes were recorded and/or mixed in the monochrome grey of English cities. To my ears this music sounds very urbane and even borderline-dystopian at times. Its eerieness and slightly creepy sense of alienation reminds me more of a band like Joy Division than any Jamaican dub. I don't know too much about the UK dub scene, but I think that maybe this similiarity in feel to a certain strain of post-punk has more to do with a specific sense of place rather than just some personal ties to punk and post-punk (Adrian Sherwood and some of the On-U Sound posse, Small Axe who evolved out of sub-Clash band The Ruts...). Dread music straight outta the grey heart of Babylon...
The classic Helios Creed/Damon Edge-led version of Chrome is one of the most hilariously cartoonish bands ever (and I mean that as a compliment): the most obvious and sensationalist aspects of Hawkwind, The Stooges, sixties psych-garage, punk rock and early industrial thrown in a blender to create a kind of pulp trashy, totally over the top pseudo-sci fi punk psychedelia. If Roger Corman had hired Kim Fowley to record a punk/industrial/acid rock-exploitation soundtrack for a Mad Max-rip off about a bunch of acid-fried, mutant fighting, post-apocalyptic motorcycle warriors, it would probably have sounded similiar to this.Compared to Alien Soundtracks or Half Machine Lip Moves, 3rd from the Sun is definitely a more conventional rock record. But I'd say that it's also a lot more cohesive and less uneven. Also, though many of their fans obviously love the lo-fi production of early Chrome, I always felt that the tinny, muffled sound seriously impaired their music. So it's nice that 3rd from the Sun sounds relatively full-bodied and punchy. Of all the Chrome records I've heard so far, this is the one were they almost live up to their promise of a wild ride through a seedy, surreal, psycho-delic rock'n'roll phantasmagoria.
Back in the day I had a bit of a crush on Bilinda Butcher. Still think that the combination of bedroom eyes and breathy, barely-there vocals is quite something...
For the ancient Greeks and Romans a genius was a kind of benevolent, but somewhat capricious daemon responsible for artistic or philosophical inspiration. Which means that a human being cannot be a genius, he or she can only be possessed by one. And unfortunately this daemon comes and goes at his own whim. Maybe this explains how Kevin Shields, a second-rate indie rocker, managed to come up with two of the greatest lps ever - and then completely lost it again.
All that said, I can't even begin to say how much I love Isn't Anything and Loveless. But I never got hold of the four eps from My Bloody Valentine's heyday while they were still widely available. About a year ago, a friend hooked me up with rips he downloaded from various sources and, boy, I sure did miss something! So, thanks to my man Martin and the internet, here's Feed Me With Your Kiss, You Made Me Realise, Tremolo, Glider and the promo single Only Shallow. Bitrate varies, but nothing's under 192 kbps. This really is essential listening!
Pluramon is essentially the project of Markus Schmickler. This is his second album and it's a far cry from the My Bloody Valentine/Ride/Slowdive inspired sound of his last record Dreams Top Rock, a collaboration with Julee Cruise (she of Twin Peaks fame). Like on his debut Pickup Canyon, Schmickler teamed up with a group of collaborators, most notably Mouse On Mars/Microstoria-member Jan St. Werner and Jaki Liebezeit, to record some loosely structured jams, using everything from glockenspiel to analogue and digital electronics to tapes. Schmickler then edited, remixed and sound processed the recordings and came up with this sublime and immensely listenable album. Mostly propulsed by Liebezeit's sturdy grooves, Render Bandits' hypnotic, circular melodies and thick layers of electronic ambience culminate in a kind of trippy nocturnal psychedelia with an elegant, cinematic sweep. (The cover has to be one of the ulgiest in the history of recorded music though.)
Jan Jelinek is taking his cues from the micro house sound of labels like Kompakt, Force Tracks or Playhouse - especially its more ambient-leanings strains - as well as from the clicks & cuts and glitch techno approaches pioneered by the likes of Oval, Pole and Vladislav Delay and there's also more than a shade of Basic Channel/Chain Reaction/~scape-like dubbiness. It's a case of innovation through adaptation: Jelinek doesn't so much invent a new musical vocabulary. Rather, he combines his influences in a highly idiosyncratic fashion and distills a distinct and fascinating sound from them.
In a way, Jelinek's releases as Gramm are halfway between his more abstract output under his real name and his relatively dancefloor friendly work as Farben. Personal Rock - Jelinek's first full length album - is tranquil, gentle and melancholy. It's full of skippy, fluttering micro rhythms composed of tiny glitches, clicks and static, the basslines are deep and droning, but house is constantly and explicitly present - not so much through four-to-the-floor beats, but more through the structures of hooks and riffs or typical filter effects. But it's a weirdly spectral and ghostly presence. Personal Rock mirrors the feeling of the rave-comedown: it's like coming home from a club just before it starts to dawn, the rush of dancefloor euphoria slowly ebbing to become a fading, yet still present memory, and you can still feel the basslines and the thumping beats pulsing through your body.
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.
(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 5:26Post Industrial Funk 3:38Coldharbour Lane 4:41The Jackal 4:35 Aphasic & DJ Scud - Welcome to the Warren EP (Ambush 02)
Aphasic & DJ Scud - Justify My Hate 4:28Aphasic - Comparative Vandalism 5:23DJ Scud - MTV Generation 5:29Aphasic & DJ Scud - I Hear a New World
Shizuo - Give Up (Ambush 03)
Moshi-Moshi 4:55Brain Dead (remix) 3:43Trouble 3:53To Shizuo 1:49Give Up 3:23 Aphasic & DJ Scud - Snipers At Work (Ambush 04)
DJ Scud - Mash the Place Up 4:50DJ Scud - Scud Missle 4:04Aphasic - You Only Happen Once 3:14Aphasic - Despair In the Community 3:44Aphasic & 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 4:21Fat Boy 6:21Is It Safe? 7:35Pillar 4:08 DJ Scud & Christoph Fringeli - Bodysnatcher EP (Ambush 06)
Bodysnatcher 6:27Ruled By the Mob 3:56XXX 3:42
Din S.T. - In the Case of... (Ambush 07)
Search 4:44Classic Case 4:12About to Go Down 4:31Stay Calm 4:38Street Urchin 3:25
DJ Scud & I-Sound - Mortal Clash EP (Ambush 08)
DJ Scud - VIP Pressure 3:50I-Sound - Sufferers 3:25I-Sound - Trauma 4:55I-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 3:21Dirty Face 3:19Superstructure I 3:22Bloody Nora 4:00Superstructure II 2:57
Rich Kid/DJ Scud - untitled 12" (Ambush 10)
Rich Kid - Rude Bimmer 4:03DJ Scud - Badman Time 3:00DJ Scud - Put Up Your Lighters 3:57 Slepcy - And Again (Ambush 11)
And Again 6:33untitled 02 3:46Form (Play) 3:13
Noize Creator - Deferred Media (Ambush 12)
Per Thousand 2:49Deferred Media 3:57Have a Piss 2:43Broken Bar 5:50Hate Cops 5:15
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!
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 thesethreepost 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!)
Have to give the linkbar its long due overhaul in the next couple of days. Until then, here are some relatively newish blogs that I heartily recommend:
On Spreading The Word man like Crybo posts some of his fine and eclectic dj-mixes. Among other things there's a superb Basic Channel-mix, a sweet selection of old skool rave and techno (ah, nostalgia!) and what must be the awesomest wedding party-mix tape ever (just check that tracklist)! Also, be sure to get his classy unmixed compilation of Detroit style techno!
The 12inch record is still the most important medium for dance music. But unless you're a dj, promoter or journalist (or are in the fortunate position to have lots of money to spend on records), it's not that easy to keep up with the latest releases. Emusic World has a lot of recent vinyl rips, including Dominik Eulberg, Joey Beltram, Oliver Huntemann, Ellen Allien & Apparat and some releases on Richie Hawtin's label M_nus. Check out those Alter Ego remixes, they're amazing!
Power, Corruption & Lies is dedicated to out-of-print rave classics, which I think is a wonderful idea. Updates seem to be quite sporadic, but the selection so far is pretty good. Download that first Hardfloor album if you want to know what can be achieved with some Roland TB 303s.
Judging from the number of downloads of my grime and dubstep shares, I'd say that those genres are not exactly that most popular on the sharity blogosphere. Anyway, there's a Russian blog called Grime.ru (sic) keeping all the grime headz and dubsteppas happy with lots of mixtapes and 12inch rips.
What a gorgeous record! It's much calmer than the first Fripp/Eno-collaboration No Pussyfooting, in fact it sounds much more eno-ish than fripp-ish to my ears. One track, Wind On Wind, is actually Eno solo and an basically a condensed version of the title track of Discreet Music (as son of icongneato kindly pointed out in the comments). The overall mood is languid and meditative, dissonance is for the most part kept to a minimum until the final 30 minute track An Index Of Metals. But even there the noise and guitar distortions have a rather calming and blissful effect.
Another BitTorrent find, so thanks a ton to the original uploader calling him/herself (?) resistir!
The last part in my series of Detroit techno posts for the time being: Galaxy 2 Galaxy is the alias "Mad Mike" Banks uses when he finds himself in the mood for some lush cosmic grooves. This eponymous ep is an early Underground Resistance-release from 1993. Arguably more house than techno, these eight tracks represent the more ethereal side of Underground Resistance, completely forsaking the in your face-aggressivness the group and label are often associated with. Titles like Hi-Tech Jazz, Journey Of The Dragons, Star Sailing or Deep Space 9 (A Brother Runs This Ship) already give it away: this is a sublime piece of black sf, heavily inspired by the spaced out, trippy side of seventies electric jazz , fusion and jazz funk. Think Alice Coltrane's most medidative albums, some of Herbie Hancock's early seventies output, electric Miles at his most relaxed, very early Weather Report, Roy Ayers or Donald Byrd.
To my knowledge, this classic is currently not available. It was ripped from vinyl (thanks a lot to the original uploader, by the way!) and there's a bit of static to be heard at the beginning of each track, but to my ears the sound quality is very good. There's a full tracklist and some additional info right here on Discogs.
This three cd-box was released to celebrate the tenth anniverary of the legendary Berlin based label and (now defunct) club Tresor in 2002. Classics and exclusive tracks by the likes of Jeff Mills, Robert Hood, Maurizio, Drexciya, Blake Baxter, 3MB (aka Maurizio/Moritz von Owald and Thomas Fehlmann), Eddie Flashin' Fowlkes and Juan Atkins showcasing the label's trademark sound of slightly sinister machine funk noir. Go here for more information and a full tracklist.
After listening to Vangelis' Blade Runner album for the first time a couple of weeks ago, I developed a bit of an obsession for the music of Ridley Scott's sci-fi classic. As you probably know, the original soundtrack never gained an official release. For reasons much speculated over Vangelis obviously refused to participate in a soundtrack album back in 1982. So what saw the light of day after the film's opening were de facto-cover versions of some themes from the soundtrack: A bunch of studio musos were hired to record orchestral arrangements of Vangelis' electronic music. The result is a kind of James Last-ization of the wonderful original score and should be avoided by all means.
Finally, Vangelis released a Blade Runner album in 1994, twelve years after the movie. This isn't a soundtrack album, but rather a concept album based on the film. Like Vangelis said in interviews, the record consists of music that was composed during his work on the Blade Runner score. So what you get is music from the film that's for the most part edited and/or has new intros and endings attached to it. There's also four tracks which where obviously intended for the soundtack and ultimately not used. Some of the tracks also have snippets of dialogue at the beginning, none of which correspond with the placement of the music in the actual movie. It's a great record, sort of Vangelis' personal evocation of the film, but a far shot from being any kind of soundtrack album.
All this information was new to me and I decided to track down some of the bootlegs on the net which actually proved to be quite easy. So here is my Blade Runner-mega post with two versions of the soundtrack (the best ones available from what I've heard) and one very special goodie.
First up, there's the Gongo Edition, purportedly a Romanian bootleg. It also contains the short cue Ladd Company Logo by John Williams, composed when Vangelis' involvement in the score wasn't sure, and Bicycle Riders (Harps Of The Ancient Temple) by Gail Laughton. It's a music-only version, so there's no dialogue or ambience, and I guess it's your best choice if you want the main themes without most of the reprises and incidental music.
The second version is the two disc ESPER Edition, generally considered to be the definite representation of the score. It contains virtually the complete underscore including incidental music and various reprises. Occasionally, there's also some ambience and dialogue from the film, though in contrast to the official Vangelis release it actually matches with the underscore. I think both versions have their merits: while I personally find that the shorter Gongo Edition works better as an album of music per se, the ESPER bootleg is a unique and hauntingly beautiful evocation of the film. So get them both, after all they're for free!
Los Angeles, November 2019 was also produced by the people who did the ESPER edition. It's actually not another bootleg version of the soundtrack. Instead, it uses ambience and sound effects from the film (and, according to some sources, also from the Blade Runner video game) along with some of the music low in the mix to recreate the atmosphere of Blade Runner's world. It's a kind of aural travelogue through the film's near future L.A., a somnambulic drift through a seedy, bustling, rain soaked moloch of a city. To give you an idea, think of a brooding, nocturnal urbane counterpart to KLF's Chill Out album. Btw, all the tracks segue into each other, so if you want to burn this to cd you should do so without pauses.
All three bootlegs are bit torrent downloads, so once again big up the original uploaders!
Here's a slice of trippy dub psychedelia with sharply accentuated, heavily treated drum sounds, incredibly deep bass lines and keyboards, guitars, sound effects and the occasional vocals hazily sliding in and out of the mix. Released in 1983, this second album by avant dub collective Dub Syndicate still stands as a prime example of early On U-Sound productions and a testament to the genius of both producer Adrian Sherwood and Dub Syndicate's head honcho Style Scott, also drummer for Jamaica's finest session band Roots Radics. And it's also the perfect soundtrack for the glaring sunlight and the dizzying heat weighing down on Vienna at the moment.
This is a record I truly cherish. Though easily on par with other hiphop records released at the time, like De La Soul Is Dead, Black Sheep's A Wolf in Sheeps Clothing, A Tribe Called Quest's The Low End Theory or Step In The Arena by Gang Starr, it seems to me that it's virtually unknown outside of hiphop circles. Full of sonic trickery and inventivness, it is also proof that Large Professor is one of the great hiphop producers. The intricate layers of samples combined with a raw funkyness make Breaking Atoms a sheer pleasure to listen to. Take my word for it, after the first few bars your head will be a-boppin' and your feet a-stompin'! Also, I bought this cd in July 1992 in New York, so it brings back fond memories of three weeks spent in a very hot and humid city, with a daily routine of sleeping until noon, hanging around until evening and staying up all night.
Disc 1 Disc 2
