Wednesday, November 17, 2010

posts will resume soon!

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Visitors - 1980 - Phantom 12'' (AUD)

Visitors - 1980 - Phantom 12'' (AUD)
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Phantom EP was the first release of Sydney punk group The Visitors. The Phantom EP was an emanation of an afternoons recording session at Palm Studios in Sydney on an 8-track recording system. The studio was booked by producer Charles Fisher for the band to record some demos, but the band set up the recording as if it where a live set and played through what was more or less their live set list. Phantom EP was a collection of what was considered to be the best recordings from the Palm Studio Sessions.
The only overdubs done on the EP were some of the vocal parts vocal parts. The original Phantom EP features guitar parts in the song "Life Spill" which were edited out of later releases, and is a completely different mix to the full-length albums that came later. Soon after the Visitors session, Deniz Tek produced the Lipstick Killers first single at the inexpensive Palms. Thereafter, it became thought of as rather "hip" to record there, and Palms was elevated from obscurity to being the site of many Sydney punk and New Wave recordings in the early '80s.
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source Wikipedia (link)

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Jimmy Norton's Explosion - 1979 - Peel Sessions 30-07-1979 (UK)

Jimmy Norton's Explosion - 1979 - Peel Sessions 30-07-1979 (UK)
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An early incarnation of The Spectres came together after the split of the Rich Kids and consisted of a line up of Glen Matlock, Rich Kids guitarist Steve New, former Tom Robinson Band (TRB) guitarist Danny Kustow, and drummer Budgie who was between spells with The Slits, and Siouxsie & The Banshees. Glen had previously hooked up with Budgie as part of a Bette Bright & The Illuminations tour after the demise of the Rich Kids, and he had met Kustow at a TRB gig some three years before. Kustow bit on a blood capsule during the set which alarmed Glen who thought the band's singer had punched him in the face! The band were tentatively titled 'The Jimmy Norton Explosion'. They recorded a Peel Session which was aired in July 1979 and Glen has since said that this may have featured Mick Ronson (Ronson had produced the Rich Kids album and in the 90's Glen performed at two Ronson tribute gigs as well as dedicating the track 'My Man' to him). Glen contributed three tracks; 'Getting Away With Murder', 'Lazarus' and 'Ambition'. The other track was the Danny Kustow penned 'Lost In A Landslide'. There were also a couple of live performances under the Jimmy Norton moniker
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30/07/1979 - Jimmy Norton's Explosion
TX - 06/08/1979
Producer - Tony Wilson
Engineer - Dave Dade
Studio - Maida Vale 4

TRACKLIST:
01 - Getting Away With Murder
02 - Just Like Lazarus
03 - Ambition
04 - Lost In A Landslide

LINE UP:
Glen Matlock (Bass, Lead Vocals)
Danny Kustow (Guitar, Backing Vocals)
Budgie (Drums)
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source here!

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

V.A. - 1981 - Public Service (US)

V.A. - 1981 - Public Service (US)
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track list:
A1: Red Cross - Cease To Exist
A2: Red Cross - Everyday There's Someone New
A3: Red Cross - Kill Someone You Hate
A4: RF7 - World Of Hate
A5: RF7 - Scientific Race
A6: RF7 - Long Live Their Queen
A7: RF7 - Perfect World
A8: Circle One - G.I. Combat
A9: Circle One - High School Society
B1: Bad Religion - Bad Religion
B2: Bad Religion - Slave
B3: Bad Religion - Drastic Actions
B4: Disability - Battling Against The Police
B5: Disability - White As A Ghost
B6: Disability - Rejection
B7: Circle One - F.O.
B8: Circle One - Destroy Exxon

Monday, October 18, 2010

Shonen Knife - 1983 - Burning Farm (JPY)

Shonen Knife - 1983 - Burning Farm (JPY)
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Burning Farm is the first album by Shonen Knife. It is almost entirely in Japanese, with only "Twist Barbie" on the original release in English. The Japanese 8" vinyl (Zero Records 0-0783) had 8 songs. CD reissue bonus tracks "Parrot Polynesia," "Watchin' Girl" and "Banana Fish" first appeared on the Zero Records compilation LP Aura Music in November 1983.
The other CD bonus songs are either "Watchin' Girl" and "Twist Barbie" live (Oglio Records, USA), or "Ukkari Hachibei" and a cover of The Ramones' "I Wanna Be Sedated" (MCA Victor, Japan).
The album's cover was painted by bassist Michie Nakatani.
There are at least two pressings of the 8 inch record, both have different labels and back covers. One back is black with a live photo, the other is yellow with a posed group photo. Both pressings misspell the third track as "Twist Birbie."
K Records released, in small quantities, Burning Farm on audiocassette in the USA with a different cover and track listing, described below.
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source Wikipedia (link)
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Thursday, October 7, 2010

Moondogs, The - 1979 - She's Nineteen 7'' (UK)

Moondogs, The - 1979 - She's Nineteen 7'' (UK)
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Fantastic powerpop signed to Real Records, a Sire subsidiary. The Moondogs were an excellent band who couldn't quite shake a misguided Undertones comparison and were tragic victims of the curse of Todd Rundgren. They split in november 1981. And yet at one point they had their own TV show on Ulster Television! (OK so lots of crappy bands had shows on ITV)
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Thursday, September 30, 2010

Buldozer - 1977 - Zabranjeno Plakatirati LP (YUG)

Buldozer - 1977 - Zabranjeno Plakatirati LP (YUG)
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BULDOZER was formed in early 1975 in Ljubljana, present Slovenia, when an avant-garde singer/songwriter Marko Brecelj joined the band SEDEM SVETLOBNIH LET ("Seven Light Years") led by guitarist and lead vocalist Boris Bele. Apart from them, the original line-up included keyboardist/composer Borut Èinè, bassist Andrej Veble, lead guitarist Uros Lovsin and drummer Stefan Jez. They released their debut album "Pljuni istini u oèi" in December 1975 to shocking reactions of the public and music business authorities due to its twisted black humor filled with sarcasm, satire and touching "sensitive" issues of drugs or pornography. They also utilized the Zappa-like stage freak-out performances and ridiculed some generally accepted morals of the so-called socialist state of Yugoslavia. The cover sleeve of this album was designed as a magazine sheet (similar to JETHRO TULL's "Thick As A Brick") filled with funny and ridiculous social vignettes and some pornographic cartoons. After the first circulation was sold out, the recording label PGP RTB refused to print more copies. In 1976 they recorded the second album "Zabranjeno plakatirati" but due to their label's policy (the band had to modify their lyrics if they wanted to release the record) it was released only in late 1977, when they joined their hometown label Helidon. In the meantime, the rhythm section changed, so the bassist Vili Bertok and drummer Tone Dimnik participated in studio sessions. Brecelj left the band in 1979 to pursue solo career, while Bele-led BULDOZER embraced then popular punk and new wave aesthetics to gain enormous popularity across ex-Yugoslavia. New members in this period were guitarists Davor Slamnig, Janez Zmazek and drummer Dusan Vran. Highly eclectic studio album "Izlog jeftinih slatkisa", including a radio smash hit "Zene i muskarci", and double live record "Ako ste slobodni veèeras" are among the top-sellers of this era. Still, many of their song lyrics and stage theatricals are full of the local meanings and hard to comprehend outside of the scope of the post-titoist Yugoslavia. Along with his band activity Bele also worked as a chief music editor of Helidon label and succeeded in this period to purchase the copyrights of their debut from PGP RTB, so the reissue came up in 1981 to face very affirmative reviews. Their activity slowly diminished in mid-1980s, after the poor album "Nevino srce". Although they never officially broke-up, their "come-back" album "Noè" was released more than 10 years later, in 1995. BULDOZER was the first domestic rock band to release an album in a compact disc format in former Yugoslavia, not counting international imports - it was a compilation album "Nova vremena" in 1989.

First two albums "Pljuni istini u oèi" and "Zabranjeno plakatirati" are essential for avant-prog listeners who like slightly psychedelic moments with Hammond organ and "acid" guitar solos. Their lyrics and performance are quite anarchic and close to RIO movement. "Izlog jeftinih slatkisa" is a diverse collection of more accessible songs ranging from punk aggressiveness to pure psychedelic moments, while "Noè" presents a refreshed band of the 1990s that is also worth checking out.
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source here!

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Gary Valentine - 2003 - Tomorrow Belongs To You (US)

Gary Valentine - 2003 - Tomorrow Belongs To You (US)
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Gary Lachman, born December 24, 1955 in Bayonne, New Jersey, is an American writer and musician. Lachman is best known to readers of mysticism and the occult, in the numerous articles and books he has published. He is additionally known by his stage name as Gary Valentine Lachman to musical fans as one of the founders, and bassist for the Alternative rock/New Wave band, Blondie.

Gary Valentine was one of the founding members of Blondie, having joined the band as bassist in April 1975 when Fred Smith left to join Television (following Richard Hell's departure). He wrote the music and lyrics to the band's first single, "X-Offender", and popularized the band's sixties-retro look. In 1977 he left the group to form his own band and was replaced by Nigel Harrison, just as Blondie were starting to gain recognition. His song "(I'm Always Touched by Your) Presence, Dear" was a UK top ten hit in 1978, and was subsequently recorded by Tracey Ullman and Annie Lennox. After Blondie, Gary moved to L.A. and in 1978 released a single, "The First One/Tomorrow Belongs to You" on Beat Records. Shortly after this he formed The Know, with Joel Turrisi and Richard d'Andrea who were the first band to play the infamous Madame Wong's Chinese restaurant-turned-new wave venue. (Valentine's claim to this distinction has been verified by several eye-witnesses. After a year and a half Joel left the band and was replaced by drummer John McGarvey . In 1980 The Know released a single "I Like Girls/Dreams" on Planet Records and were the only bi-coastal US "power pop" band, developing large followings in New York and Los Angeles. Failing to secure an album deal, he disbanded the Know and in 1981 played guitar with Iggy Pop. In 1996, after moving to London, he was asked to participate in the Blondie re-union, and in November of that year he recorded one of his songs, "Amor Fati," with Blondie, for their 'come back' album. In 1997 he performed with Blondie at several major festival concerts in the US. Back in London Gary worked with former X-Ray Spex saxophonist Lora Logic. In 1998 he formed Fire Escape with violinist Ruth Jones and performed songs he had written for the Blondie reunion album (they had not been used due to the band ultimately excluding him from the recording process and the reunion tour). They released an EP to little fanfare and went on a permanent hiatus after two years. A compilation of Gary's work in music entitled Tomorrow Belongs to You, was released in 2003 on the UK label Overground Records.

In 2006 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, because of his time with Blondie, although Harry prohibited ex-members from performing with the current line-up at the ceremony.

Lachman moved to London in 1996 and became a full time writer, contributing to The Guardian, Mojo, Times Literary Supplement and other journals. His first book, Turn Off Your Mind: The Mystic Sixties and the Dark Side of the Age of Aquarius, a revisionist history of the 1960s counter culture, appeared in 2001. It was followed in 2002 by New York Rocker: My Life in The Blank Generation, an account of his years on the New York (CBGB) and Los Angeles music scene in the 1970s. In 2003 he produced A Secret History of Consciousness, a study of non-reductive, non-materialist accounts of consciousness, with detailed discussions of Owen Barfield, Julian Jaynes, Jean Gebser, Juri Moskvitin, hypnagogia, and related themes. The Dedalus Book of the Occult: A Dark Muse (2004) charted the influence of the occult on western literature since the Enlightenment. The following years saw several more books, on the related themes of consciousness, the counter culture, and the influence of the occult and esoteric thought on mainstream western culture, including biographies of the Russian philosopher P.D. Ouspensky (2004), the Austrian 'spiritual scientist' Rudolf Steiner (2007), the Swedish religious thinker Emanuel Swedenborg (2006), and the Swiss psychologist Carl Jung (2010). Recent works include a study of writers and suicide, The Dedalus Book of Literary Suicides: Dead Letters(2008), with essays on Walter Benjamin, Yukio Mishima, Hermann Hesse, and others, and a history of occultism and politics, Politics and the Occult: The Right, the Left, and the Radically Unseen (2008), which addresses the theme of fascism and the occult through the work of Julius Evola, Rene Schwaller de Lubicz, Mircea Eliade,and others. He is a regular contributor to the Independent on Sunday, Fortean Times, and other journals in the US and UK, lectures frequently and occasionally broadcasts on the BBC. His work has been compared to Colin Wilson, and has been translated into German, Finnish, Czech, Russian, French, and Norwegian, with Italian and Portuguese editions in preparation.
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source Wikipedia (link)

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Y Cyrff - 1992 - Mae Ddoe Yn Ddoe (UK)

Y Cyrff - 1992 - Mae Ddoe Yn Ddoe (UK)
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Mae Ddoe Yn Ddoe by Y Cyrff is very often regarded as the band's greatest hits collection as it includes tracks that were recorded from 1985 until they split up. It was released on CD and tape on the Ankst label.

Y Cyrff (The Bodies) formed in 1983 at Ysgol Dyffryn Conwy in Llanrwst, Gwynedd. The schoolfriends were bonded by a love of The Clash and a raw enthusiasm. Being school age, a couple of gigs preceded a line-up change that meant Roberts became the de facto frontman.

Under the guidance of their geography teacher, Tony Schiavone, they chose to sing in Welsh. Schiavone stuck by the band and became a booker for among other things, their performances for Cymdeithas Yr Iaith Cymreig (the Welsh language society).

Gigs across North Wales followed, and they met Rhys Mwyn of Yr Anhrefn, who asked them to contribute two tracks to his Cam O'r Tywyllwch compilation. Tic Toc and Lebanon made an appearance on the record, released on Mwyn's own label, Recordiau Anhrefn.

Pum Munud and Yr Haint were released as singles and the Welsh-language TV and radio media began to give the upcoming band exposure.

Accordingly, they began to be in demand for gigs around Wales, including a well-remembered Eisteddfod performance in 1986. With the band's acquiescence and support, Schiavone released a bootleg cassette of studio and live tracks, entitled Dan Y Cownter, which sold out its small run in a short period of time.

Wales' largest independent label, Sain, became involved with Y Cyrff in 1987, releasing the six-track EP Y Testament Newydd. The contribution to Welsh language music that the band made has only recently been reassessed: they appeared on UK-wide music TV programmes The Tube and The Old Grey Whistle Test, became very popular on Welsh media and the gigging circuit.

In 1988 Hughes left to join Anhrefn, with friend Mark Kendall joining just a fortnight before a Polish tour. He settled in and in November of 1988 Y Cyrff supported The Alarm in Colwyn Bay to 1500 people.

The next year brought another Eisteddfod performance and the release of the self-titled Y Cyrff EP on their own DNA label. This release included the well-known Cymru, Lloegr A Llanrwst, which has become something of an anthem in areas of Wales in which the Welsh language has precedence.

Yet another label became their home, this time Ankst in 1989. The single Pethau Achlysurol / Hwyl Fawr Heulwen preceded the live release Awdl O Anobaith which contained live recordings from Warsaw and Cardiff. Ankst helped them continue to stretch out beyond the borders of Wales on the live scene, and released their debut LP in 1991. Llawenydd Heb Ddiwedd was again critically acclaimed, both inside and outside Wales.

1992 brought the end of the band as Y Cyrff, with Mae Ddoe Yn Ddoe (Ankst) their final release. It was an overview of their career, and its popularity with completists means it's now extremely scarce.

The band's split was a new start, especially for Roberts and Jones who formed Catatonia, becoming one of the UK's most successful indie rock bands of the 1990s.

In 2005 Rasal, a division of Sain, released the retrospective box set Atalnod Llawn 1983-92. This was launched with three gigs, one in Cardiff, one in London and one in Llanrwst, recalling arguably their most famous song. The acts Kentucky AFC, Alun Tan Lan, Maharishi, Dan Amor and Jen Jeniro covered Y Cyrff songs and with the fifth anniversary of Barry Cawley's death coinciding, the events were emotional affairs for many.
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source BBC!

Monday, September 20, 2010

Midnite Cruiser - 1977 - Rich Bitch 7'' (UK)

Midnite Cruiser - 1977 - Rich Bitch 7'' (UK)
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Same band as Speed with extra member Rodney. Paul West is AKA Paul Maxwell, later of the Tearjerkers.

Friday, September 17, 2010

Swingers, The - 1980 - One Good Reason 7'' (NZ)

Swingers, The - 1980 - One Good Reason 7'' (NZ)
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The Swingers are one of the great "one-hit-wonder" (or in this case, two-hit wonder) bands of the early eighties. Formed in New Zealand in 1979 by Phil Judd (formerly of Split Enz), Dwayne "Bones" Hillman (currently in Midnight Oil) and Buster Stiggs, their song "One Good Reason" made the Top Twenty in NZ. Developing a sizeable Antipodean following, they hit their peak in 1981 with their number-one hit "Counting The Beat". They disbanded in 1982, after an album, several singles and some personnel changes


The Swingers 
In December 1978 the Suburban Reptiles mutated into a two headed monster, for their final gig, the premiere of David Blythís "Angel Mine" movie (for which they provided the track "Rosie"). One half, a band formed around Billy Planet & Jimmy Joy performed as The Suburban Reptiles, then the other half, with Buster Stiggs, Zero, Bones Hillman and Phil Judd performed, also as The Suburban Reptiles. This second lot, by early 1979, minus Zero, had become The Swingers, and were resident at Liberty Stage in Symonds Street, where they were hugely popular, although more with the Ponsonby/Freemans Bay-villa-renovating crowd than punks. Nevertheless, they released a killer single (their best?) on Ripper, "One Good Reason", contributed 2 tunes to AK79, and did a tour with Split Enz before heading to Australia to count the beat. Of course Bones ended up in Midnight Oil, and has probably made more money than everybody else on this album combined. It couldnít have happened to a nicer guy.

Lineup: Phil Judd (guitar, vocals), Bones Hillman (bass), Buster Stiggs (drums) 
Tracks: A Certain Sound (Judd/Stiggs/Stevens) 
Baby (Judd/Stiggs/Stevens) both recorded at Mascot and produced by Phil Judd. Taken from AK79.
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Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Toy Love - 1980 - Bride of Frankenstein 7'' (NZ)

Toy Love - 1980 - Bride of Frankenstein 7'' (NZ)
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Toy Love was a New Zealand alternative/punk rock band fronted by Chris Knox. Other members were guitarist Alec Bathgate, bass player Paul Kean, drummer Mike Dooley, and keyboard player Jane Walker. The band developed out of the earlier punk band The Enemy in Dunedin, New Zealand, and are often regarded as the progenitors of the Dunedin Sound movement.
Toy Love were together for less than two years (1978–80) and spent a large part of that time in Australia. They released just one (self-titled) album, however the band members were apparently appalled by the mixing of the tracks which took the edge off the band's deliberately raw sound. In April 2005, this album was remastered and released along with a bunch of demos and unreleased tracks as a double CD entitled Cuts.
After Toy Love broke up, Bathgate and Knox remained together as the Tall Dwarfs.
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source Wikipedia (link)

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Friday, September 3, 2010

Clean, The - 1981 - Boodle Boodle Boodle 12'' (NZ)

Clean, The - 1981 - Boodle Boodle Boodle 12'' (NZ)
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Boodle Boodle Boodle is a 12"-EP by New Zealand band The Clean. It is one of the more important releases in the Dunedin Sound genre, released by Flying Nun Records in 1981. The EP reached no. 4 in the New Zealand music charts, despite being listed in the singles chart (New Zealand has never had a separate EP chart), and stayed in the top 20 for nearly six months.
The label's first major success, it was largely responsible for its continued survival and the start of its growth into New Zealand's most important independent label.
Several of the songs off the album became very popular parts of the Clean's repertoire, with "Anything Could Happen" in particular becoming one of their trademark songs.
Chris Knox drew the EP cover, which was based on a promotional photo of the three band members in a bathtub.
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source Wikipedia (link)

Friday, August 27, 2010

Freshies, The - 1980 - My Tape's Gone 7'' (UK)

Freshies, The - 1980 - My Tape's Gone 7'' (UK)
download@multiupload
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Thanks to GraemeSTL, here's the ep with a better and full rip of the "My Tape's Gone" song.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010