Friday, September 24, 2010

Bye Bye Turbin - 1980 - Olivenstein 7'' (FRA)

Bye Bye Turbin - 1980 - Olivenstein 7'' (FRA)

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.