The Rolling Stones Songbook - The Andrew Oldham Orchestra

The Verve . . . a mob I havn’t had any time for since catching them at a half full Clapham Grand many a long year ago.



But learnt something new the other week down Zeitgeist courtesy of Music Lawyer Ailish. I never knew that Unfinished Symphony was a Stones sample.

“This Will Be The Last Time”
“Huh . . .” says I . . . “ how do you get “Da da dah, da da dah from da da da da dah da? . . . ”

Before you could day “Internet enabled”, Merrill Lynch Liam’s IPhone was whipped out, google.co.uk accessed, ADB loses the bet and has to get a round in.

So . . . full story here, bottom line is that The Verve should get a new lawyer.

1 Blue Turns To Grey
2 Satisfaction
3 You Better Move On
4 Time Is On My Side
5 Heart Of Stone
6 As Tears Go By
7 Play With Fire
8 Theme For A Rolling Stone
9 Tell Me
10 Congratulations
11 The Last Time

Lialeh OST - Bernard "Pretty Boy" Purdie @ 320kbps

Personally I organise my music alphabetically by group ignoring any "The"s (so it's 10CC to Zutons rather than Abba to Zappa). The only catagories I do use are "Lounge" and "Porn Film Theme Music".

Have a wild guess where this week's offering goes.

Lialeh ("pink on the inside, black on the outside") is widely recognised as the first black porn film coming out in '74 riding the blacksploitation wave. 

But, and it's an enormous size 20 font in bold "but", the sound-track was written by Bernard
"Pretty" Purdie, arranged by Horace Otts (who composed “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” most famously covered by The Animals) and played by Purdie, Ernest Hayes, Wilbur Bascomb, John Tropea, Norman Pride and Seldon Powell. Bottom line, the then creme de la creme of New York based session musicians. 

You can check out the title track courtesy of You Tube here if you need any more encouragement to d/l this 64mb slice of funky grooviness.

 

Gus Gus - Polydistortion (1997)

This came in the post last week. Been after this album for a while as track 3 is remixed on Northern Exposure 2, it hasn't dissapointed.

One of those "relatively unknown but tracks appear on a load of mix CD" mobs.

This lot were from Iceland, and seem to have comprised of a floating group of artists/actors/film-makers meedja-types with dipthong-heavy, unpronouncable Beowolf-era names (yes, I know Beowolf is Old-English but you know what I mean).

LSG (Oliver Lieb) - Rendezvous In Outer Space

Off to Berlin last weekend. My second favourite city, worked there for a few months in '97 and revist a couple of times a year. (ADB recommend's the Art Otel if you're thinking of going)

For sure it's changed a bit, Storch has been rebranded as Renger Patzsch, Tresor's not where it used to be and the Palast der Republik had finally been demolished . . . 

But some thing's don't, Mutter's still there and I'm pleased to report that the Franken Bar's policy of not allowing you in after midnight unless you're pissed is still rigorously enfored (as is it's casual disregard for Germany's non-smoking laws).

So some Oliver Lieb for you this week, kinda reminds me of how things used to be over there. File under "Trance" but don't let that put you off, a notch more chilled than Sasha & Digweed's Northern Exposure series.

Bird Song Radio RIP.

Now, as some of you may have gathered, ADB lives in Central London ("equidistant betwixt Borough Market and the Tate Modern" in estate-agent speak).

So there's a lot of ambient light (steet lamps, office blocks etc) at night.

Even more so in Summer (twilight starts the wrong side of 04.00) and when there's a full moon and a clear sky (as happened this week).

The upshot of all this is the local avian population gets so confused that we're currently experiencing a three hour dawn chorus ffs.

Where am I going with this? Oh yes . . . 

One of the UK's more eccentric digital radio stations, "Birdsong", a station that, guess what, played a looped recording of the dawn chorus has just been taken off the air.

Cue letters to The Times, questions asked in Parliament, leaders in The Telegraph, howls of protest from Middle-England (ok, exagerating to proove a point here, I think it regularly got 30,000 listeners). 

But, fear not gentle reader, blogosphere to the resue, to paraphrase Rupert Brooke, Birdsong's memory can now live in some corner of a foreign hard-drive that is for ever England.

Visage - Visage

The story goes like this . . . Ultraxox were dropped by Island records after three albums failed to take the worlds by storm (I remember being distinctly unimpressed by the at the Reading Festival in '78 and can never forgive them for being a huge influence on Gary Numan).

After a subsequent self-financed (ie hand-to-mouth) American tour in '79, John Foxx called it a day, and the remaining members (Billy Currie and Robert Simon) started hanging out at "Club For Heroes" ("Heroes" as in the Bowie track) where the resident DJ was was Rusty Egan.

Now, the club's doorman (ie the fascist on the door who doesn't let you in if you're not dressed right) and Egan's flatmate was Steve Strange. Egan had also been the drummer in the Rich Kids (Glen Matlock's post-Pistols group), whose guitarist was one Midge Ure. 

Still with me?

Add this lot to John McGeoch and Dave Formula from Magazine ("Shot By Both sides" is an excellent track but never really got them tbh) , shove them into a studio with some of these new-fangled synthesizer thingies and you end up with the defining moment in Blitz-kid style.

(I didn't have to tell you that Steve Strange was the clown character in Bowies "Ashes To Ashes" video did I?)

The Tubes - White Punks On Dope (Greatest Hits)

Popular in the US long before making a bit of a scene in the UK where they jumped on the punk bandwagon in 77/78 with a pretty outrageous stage act and promptly dissapeared without a trace.

White Punks On Dope (have a google for the Nina Hagen version) and Don't Touch Me There are the biggies imo.

http://rapidshare.com/files/240467992/New_York_Dolls.rar

You know the sabre-toothed squirrel character in the "Ice Age" cartoon films, and his look of panic on his faced when he realises he's lost his acorn?

That's how I felt when I realised I didn't have any New York Dolls on the hard-drive.

(This was also the look on my face when I realised that the on-going construction of the London Bridge Cross-Rail link resulted in the closure of my nearest two off-licences . . . but that's another story)

Anyway, an essential, must-have, hugely influential, proto-punk glam-rock etc etc etc

Note : If this stuff appeals then you should also check out their UK equivilents The Hollywood Brats

The Horrors - Primary Colours + Bonus CD

You know when you go see a toilet-circuit gig (4 groups for £5 down the local boozer) and you see a group that takes it's influences totally out of socio-political context (ELP keyboards/Madness horns/Joy Division vocals all mixed together)?  

Don't get me wrong, I'not saying that's a bad thing  . . . more like they do stuff that I (been going to gigs for over 30 years now) could never conceive of doing . . . but for them it's all lumped together as "musical history" 

Anyway, this lots 2nd album gets it right, and it really pisses me off that a band so young can produce a sound so good.

Made notes while playing Medieval Total War II (succeeded in taking out the French!) . . . 

1) Lush guitars

2) JMYC

3) Echoey vocals (Bauhaus?)

4) Phil Spector

5) Early industrial punk (Fall????)

6) Shoegazing

The bonus CD is very different and is an absolute must-have imo. Very difficult to catagorise, can find nowt about it on t'interweb, best guess is that it's a mix-tape by someone who visits the Castels In Space blog too regularly for there own good (that's a compliment btw).

Primary Colours

Bonus CD

In Search of Sid - BBC Radio Documentary

Musician Jah Wobble discovers the real Sid Vicious, 30 years after the Sex Pistols bassist's death. Jah formed his own opinion of his friend Sid as they grew up together, but has since met other people who knew him that held contrasting impressions of him. Talking to some of these people, Jah reflects on the boy he used to know and re-evaluates the man that he became ....

Caught this when first broadcast and thought at the time "oh . . . this would make a good post", luckily for me (and you) ,  that man of impeccable taste "Snuffbox" posted a recording as a torrent on that source of all BBC radio stuff radioarchive.cc.

Iain M. Banks - The Algebraist - Unabridged Audiobook

This is the one which starts with the sadist-king of the local galaxy space keeping the head of an opponant alive and slowly killing it by allowing its teeth/tusks to grow so long that they curl back over its head and into the back of its skull.

Plus there's lots of giant sentiant islands floating in a gas-giant's atmosphere. 

Sort of. But I've probably missed a lot out

Trust me, that synopsis makes far more sense than Wiki's

A 21 CD rip @ 128 kbps batched up into 7 seperate 200mb downloads . . .  

CD01-03

CD04-06

CD07-09

CD10-12

CD13-15

CD16-18

CD19-21

Sounds Of The Rainforest - Free CD from The Independent on Saturday 24 January

Thrill as a lone Owl Monkey (Aotus Vociferans) hoots from the trees bordering the river, gasp at the unearthly roaring of a distant troop of Red Howler Monkeys (Alouatta Seniculus) reverberates across the canopy of the awakening forest as day breaks to the hooting of Rufous Motmots (Baryphthengus Ruficapillus). 

Quality ambience from the British Library sound archives.

Sasha & Digweed

Renaissance: The Mix Collection (2004 Re-Mastered Edition) [3CD Box set]

Following on from the last post, fast-forward 20 years to the early 90’s. Punk has been and gone, grunge is dying and dance-music is about to hit the UK . . . big-time.

Widely regarded as the best mix-album ever (‘tho I still prefer Northern Exposure myself) this is the 3CD sound that dominated the nations listening conciousness in the mid-90’s.

Three links @ 256kbs, one link per CD

CD1

CD2

CD3

 

Greasy Truckers Party 3CD Reissue - Man, Brinsley Schwartz and Hawkwind

Recorded 13th Feb 1972, this is the 3CD version of the rare 70’s double live album that everyone knew about but, due to it’s original limited edition of only 10,000-odd, no-one actually possessed. 

Wiki/Google for the full story surrounding the gig’s mythical status, d/l this and give it at least one serious listen all the way through.

First up you’ve got Man. Usually lumped in with the jazzier end of the spectrum in those days (cf Gong and Camel), listening to them fresh, they come across as a little too like Yes for my liking, no-one went on to do anything much of note and apparently they’re still around in various incarnations. File under “could have been contenders but then punk came along”.

CD2 is Brinsley Schwartz. Never heard of them? (sigh) . . . right, pay attention at the back there . . . 

These days, “R&B” is used to describe that insipid, ersatz soul bollocks that the likes of Maria Carey, Alicia Keys and Beyonce sell in millions to people who think that Big Brother really is "Reality" Television . 

In the 70’s however, it was synonomous with “Pub Rock”, hard, fast and sweaty rock and roll that stripped music down to its bare essentials. Outta this scene came the likes of Dr Feelgood, Count Bishops and The Hammersmith Gorillas who, in turn, directly influenced the nascent punk scene of the mid-70’s. 

Anyway, Brinsley Schwartz were one of the first Pub Rockers.

The line-up was pretty stable 1970-75 after which Brinsley Schwartz went on to join Ducks Deluxe and then Graham Parker & The Rumour.

The one you prolly have heard of, Nick Lowe, joined up with Dave Edmunds in Rockpile had some still-stands-up-well solo hits (Cruel to Be Kind" and "I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass" ), was Stiff Records in-house producer, married Johnny Cash’s step-daughter Carlene etc etc etc . 

So, bottom line, CD2 contains the earliest of early pub rock bands who pretty much anybody who went on to be in an original punk band was into at the time.

CD3 . . . what can I say. Probably what most of you are here for.

The classic Hawkwind line precursing their “later that year” Space Ritual tour. Silver Machine makes its live debut (it’s this actual track with Lemmy vocal overdubs that became the single) and they encore with the 10 minute extended jam session that later became Brainstorm.

Welcome to the neo-Golden age!

All at 320 kb/s, you'll have to d/l all to unpack ('cos I want you to listen to the whole thing!)
http://rapidshare.com/files/195108261/Greasy_Truckers.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/195136489/Greasy_Truckers.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/195140819/Greasy_Truckers.part3.rar

Los Peyotes : Introducing

Great name, great sound and a great image.

Fuzztone fans in particular should immediately be hitting the download button and grab a slice of this Peruvian/Argentinian garage-punk goodness. 

1. El Corredor Quemado
2. Action
3. El Humo te Hace Mal
4. Vampiro
5. Scream
6. La Malvada Creacion del Dr Illusion
7. El Entierro de los Gatos
8. Psicosis
9. Back Come to Me
10. I Don't Mind
11. Serial Killer
12. Connection
13. No Puedo Hacerte Mia

Chemical Reaction

It's Big Beat Bonanza time at Blade Mansions for you this week. Can't remember where I picked this up but do remember it being £6 circa '97. Looks like a US import from the inner-sleeve  ("WARNING! Toxic UK Big Beat Tracks Included" is plastered on the rather minimally designed inner cover) and although you should have heard the Chem's "Jailbird" and "Open Up" mixes before there's enough obscure stuff to merit a sneaky download imo.

01 Deeper Throat - Mouth Organ (Chemical Brothers Mix)
02 Depth Charge - Shaolin Buddha Finger
03 Dirty Beatniks - Dont Stop
04 Primal Scream - Jailbird (Chemical Brothers Mix)
05 Saint Etienne - Filthy (Monkey Mafia mix)
06 Aphrodite - Aphromoods
07 Sabres Of Paradise - The Tow Truck (Chemical Brothers Mix)

08 Saint Etienne - Like A Motorway (Chekhov Warp Dub)
09 Freakniks - Uncivilized World
10 Leftfield - Open Up (Chemical Brothers Mix)
11 Swordfish -The Get On (Chemical Brothers Mix)
 

Penguin Cafe Orchestra - Penguin Cafe Orchestra

Everyone should have some Penguin Cafe Orchestra on their hard-drive, if you havn't then d/l this now.

These guys were ticking the "cool" box in the '80's and '90's (First album released via Brian Eno's record label? Check. Supported Kraftwerk? Check) with a unique ambient (?) sound that pre-dated Moby by being used on more TV commercials than you could shake a stick at.

This is their eponymous second and generally regarded as best album from 1981.

01 Air à Danser
02 Yodel 1
03 Telephone and Rubber Band
04 Cutting Branches for a Temporary Shelter
05 Pythagoras's Trousers
06 Numbers 1-4
07 Yodel 2
08 Salty Bean Fumble
09 Paul's Dance
10 The Ecstasy of Dancing Fleas
11 Walk Don't Run
12 Flux
13 Simon's Dream
14 Harmonic Necklace
15 Steady State

The Grid - Music For Dancing

I've already posted the remix-tastic Texas Cowboys and Swamp Thing CDS's here, but this 1995 slice of techno goodness came up via my Squeeze Centre's radom play t'other day and reminded me just how good they were.  

01 Floatation (Subsonic Grid Mix)
02 Crystal Clear (456 Mix)
03 Boom! (Freestyle Mix)
04 Figure of 8 (Tribal Trance Mix)
05 Rollercoaster (Nemesis Mix)
06 Texas Cowboy (Ricochet Mix)
07 Swamp Thing (Southern Comfort Mix)
08 Crystal Clear (Frankster Prophet Mix)
09 Figure of 8 (Todd's Master Dub)
10 Diablo (The Devil Rides Out Mix)
11 Rollercoaster (Yellow Submarine Retake)

How Does it Feel - the New Order Story - BBC Radio Music Documentary

First broadcast 1993, John Peel narrates a 2 part BBC radio doc about New Order. This is the sort of pre-interweb thing that deserves wider dissemination.

Note: I found this via torrent on the inestimable radioarchive.cc spoken word site where it was created and upped by Cheops (whom I sincerly hope doesn't mind).

Full Blown Cherry – The Rockabilly Tribute To The Ramones

Should have been a contender, know nothing about them but it works!

This is the original link put up by helkaelinion on the very wonderful warrez-bb.org site who should be congratulated on his astute music taste.

01 Blitzkrieg Bop
02 Rockaway Beach
03 Sheena Is a Punk Rocker
04 Cretin Hop
05 She's the One
06 Judy Is a Punk
07 The KKK Took My Baby Away
08 Teenage Labotomy
09 I Wanna Be Sedated
10. Do You Remember Rock 'N' Roll Radio 
11 Beat on the Brat
12 Bop 'Til You Drop

14 Jan 2009
Stop press and hold the front page!
The following encrypted communication has just been received from one of my spies accross the pond . . .

" . . . Currently some group members work with www.peekaboorevue.com, a burlesque troop from Philadelphia. May be of some interest."

It is indeed AgentX, it is indeed!