tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91120041185209305962024-03-29T05:56:52.112+00:00Under The Surface...Dave Ballantynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10962015895260884375noreply@blogger.comBlogger152125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9112004118520930596.post-29735167860812528012022-04-13T13:17:00.000+01:002022-04-13T13:17:02.927+01:00UPDATE #221239076<p>So basically this update is to say I am full of shit! All my promises of 2 posts a week etc. did not come to fruition. There's been nothing for 18 months now, I know!!! There is a very good reason for this. <br /><br />I have plenty of free time to write but unfortunately I live in an area where there is a lot of "Old Money" people, that is, rich old FUCKS with a vested interest in the status quo who do not like CHANGE. So unlike most of the rest of the country we can't get glorious fibre broadband because these rich old FUCKS won't allow the companies to put the infrastructure in. This means no fibre and the internet speed where I live is now SO weak that I have to trail a 30 metre ethernet cable through 2 rooms and a hallway to just get online!!! </p><p>This means that whenever I decide to upload anything it consumes the ENTIRE bandwith available so therefore I can't stream TV or use the internet or even just get wifi on my phone whilst uploading files, now... this is not a problem for me, however I am not the only person who lives in my house ha ha!. The average album takes approx 30 mins to an hour to upload so, for example say that I want to do one of my usual big posts it takes from 3 to 8 or as much as 12 hrs to upload meaning no internet access during that time. This obviously sucks and means the only time I can upload now is when one of us is on nightshift and the other is sleeping which is a fairly rare occurrence these days! <br /><br />I hope you understand this and again apologies for being FULL OF SHIT! But I can Assure you of one thing I promise often that is still true....<br /><br />UNDER THE SURFACE IS NOT DEAD!!!<br /><br />It's just in hibernation till I can figure something out!!</p>Dave Ballantynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10962015895260884375noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9112004118520930596.post-70270191084312017942021-04-27T06:46:00.004+01:002021-05-01T09:02:04.116+01:00HAWKWIND - ATOMHENGE AND ESSENTIALS<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwriNtaoHjln3JnibhiIiN3_oi6njFkDvUipbrdwA0VT7vCQjc4XQvAU0YE9cePNDjT8tT6gArX-PQHOUyNpaTMtHAFVwm2ZBO_n7t9nVeKi7wop0Q3tTcL36MBJzQIvSeXkgZoxtC0VQ/s300/download.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwriNtaoHjln3JnibhiIiN3_oi6njFkDvUipbrdwA0VT7vCQjc4XQvAU0YE9cePNDjT8tT6gArX-PQHOUyNpaTMtHAFVwm2ZBO_n7t9nVeKi7wop0Q3tTcL36MBJzQIvSeXkgZoxtC0VQ/w400-h224/download.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">(Hawkwind At Rockfield Studios Monmouth Wales early 70's)</div><br />I threatened to do this years ago in another post where I defended Hawkwind as one of the most underappreciated bands of psychedelic music. I also think that the whole hippy/space rock/traveler associations related to Hawkwind though endorsed by the band themselves has rendered them a kinda "niche" band though popular enough to subsist on their touring and album sales never quite reaching the heights of popularity to become a true household name, which in my opinion is what they deserve. Having constantly reinvented themselves in new and interesting ways yet never having strayed too far from their core sound Hawkwind for me have remained consistently fantastic for over 50 years and are one of the most unique and inventive bands in the history of rock music.<br /><br /> I have been a fan for near 30 of those 50 years. So how did I get into them? Here's my story, Whilst in my teen years, despite someone in my circle of friends always having a Hawkwind album and having heard "Silver Machine" and "Hassan-I-Sabbah" a million times particularly the latter simply because my pothead friends used to like to play it because of it's refrain of "hashish hashish hashish" I never really took to them lumping them in with the rest of the old man hippy shit! Around 1991/92 my interest in extreme music such as death metal etc began to wane, I also kinda fell in with a new group of friends, who, despite liking great music were not a part of that "extreme" scene. I began to get my mind opened to all sorts of new music and that was the real beginning of the opening of the musical floodgates that got me to where I am today! Enter my old pal "J" he was a few years older than the rest of us and was a kinda hippy!, He not only introduced me to Hawkwind, Ozric Tentacles, Gong,Steve Hillage etc he also gave me an education on cannabis and hallucinogenics! Previously I had just wanted to get wrecked on weed n booze. "J" taught me to use these things more like a sacrament to expand my mind and this tied in with the sounds of space rock changed me forever! Hawkwind have been a firm favourite ever since and they long outlasted my youthful dabblings in drugs!!<p></p><p>So I am not even going to attempt a Hawkwind discography having released a staggering 92 albums (Live and studio) and a further minefield of 102 compilations and that is just under the Hawkwind name alone, when you start looking at side bands, pseudonyms etc it just makes you dizzy I own 24 CD's by them and my digital collection amounts to a staggering 11 GB and I can honestly say I'm only scratching the surface! Couple that with the fact that they have re-recorded old material multiple times it's just insane and makes my head hurt! I think even a true dedicated lifetime HAWFAN would struggle to provide you with a full discography! So what can I give my discerning blog readers that would fit the bill and satisfy me that I was giving you a top quality overview of one of my favourite bands???<br /><br />Back in 2010 Hawkwind hooked up with notorious underground label Cherry Red which I think is still their home to date and started a sub-label called Atomhenge this was to be the ultimate in Hawkwind reissuing, remastering, repackaging and expanding a huge chunk of their classic back catlog covering the years 1975 - 1997. For the Hawkwind fan this was an absolute mind blower. Not only were the albums remastered and sounded great, in most cases they were expanded massively with outtakes, EP's Live shows and all sorts. They also reissued some of their key side projects such as Robert Calvert's 1st solo album , Psychedelic Warriors and Hawklords debut. However it would appear that Hawkwind were unable to or unwilling to purchase the rights to their classic first 4 studio albums and the seminal live double album "Space Ritual" the rights for these belong to EMI and I can't imagine negotiations to procure those could have been easy! However EMI took it upon themselves to reissue/remaster & expand these themselves,, though not quite as exhaustive as the Atomhenge releases they look and sound great and come with some essential bonuses. There is one more small thing I felt I had to add! Seems like for some reason not one of these amazing reissues contains Hawkind's most famous song "Silver Machine" so you will also find below a little file with the original "Silver Machine/Seven By Seven" 7" below taken from the "Of Time And Stars" singles collection.<br /><br /></p><p>This brings me to your links... The original intention behind this post was to bring you the complete (or as near complete as my research can tell me) set of Atomhenge Hawkwind reissues along with the key side projects I mentioned in the last paragraph. However I felt that if I was NOT gonna do a discography the least I could do was give you the Atomhenge albums plus the absolutely essential first 5 albums on EMI too! As it seemed a shame that you'd miss out on the first 7 years of the band. </p><p>I have not as yet talked about the music of Hawkwind they are a band as undefinable as they are great, taking in a plethora of influences over the decades and constantly changing but yet remaining consistently Hawkwind. you are either a fan or not and I doubt that you're likely to come across this post just casually browsing for Hawkwind. I guess this is, selfishly or not, a post for fans. If you are a regular visitor and you really are just curious then maybe start with the double Live album "Space Ritual" or later double Live album "Live Chronicles" whilst vastly different coming some 15 years or so apart and despite being live these were among the first Hawkwind I heard and I definitely think if you want a feel of the band these would be your best place to start. <br /><br />So here's a guide to your links with a brief overview of what's extra on each release. ALL albums are remastered so I won't be mentioning that again. (Note - the list below is in chronological order but the links are not, as I added them as they were done uploading as I have been working on the uploads for weeks as the total size of these files was not far off 5GB and the albums individually took between 1 & 2 hrs each to upload as almost ALL of these are ripped from my own CD's at 320KBPS the ones that are not are also at 320KBPS for best quality I can give)<br /><br /><b><u>EMI REISSUES (ALL REISSUED 2001)</u></b><br /><br /><b style="text-decoration-line: underline;">HAWKWIND</b> (1970) comes with 4 bonus tracks inc 3 from Hawkwind Zoo (Hawkwind's original moniker)<br /><br /><b><u>X - IN SEARCH OF SPACE </u></b>(1971) Includes 3 bonus single tracks<br /><br /><b><u>DOREMI FASOL LATIDO</u></b> (1972) Includes 4 bonus single tracks<br /><br /><b><u>SPACE RITUAL (LIVE)</u></b> (1973) originally double vinyl this version 2 x CD Expanded from it's original 17 tracks to 21 tracks recorded over 2 concerts in London & Liverpool Dec 1972<br /><br /><b><u>HALL OF THE MOUNTAIN GRILL</u></b> (1974) - includes 5 bonus tracks. Single versions and outtakes<br /><br /><b><u><br />ATOMHENGE REISSUES (2010 - PRESENT)</u></b><br /><br /><b><u>WARRIOR ON THE EDGE OF TIME</u> </b>(1975) - 2 x CD. Disc 1 - The original album stereo remaster from original tapes plus 8 bonus outtakes etc Disc 2 - 2013 stereo mix by Steven Wilson plus 5 more bonus live/outtakes/versions<br /><br /><b><u>ASTOUNDING SOUNDS AMAZING MUSIC</u></b> (1976) - Includes 4 bonus outtakes/versions<br /><br /><u><b>QUARK, STRAGENESS AND CHARM</b></u> (1977) 2 x CD - Disc 1 - The original album plus 4 bonus outtakes/versions Disc 2 - Aborted Rockfield studio session for the album plus 3 additional live tracks<br /><br /><b><u>P.R.X. 5</u></b> (1979) - Original album plus 9 bonus tracks outtakes/versions <br /><br /><b><u>LEVITATION</u></b> (1980) - 3 x CD Disc 1 Original album plus 8 bonus tracks inc Hawklords Rockfield studios session 1979 and 2 single tracks and an unreleased version of "Brainstorm" live 1980 Discs 2 & 3 Full live concert from Lewisham Odeon Dec 1980<br /><br /><b><u>LIVE SEVENTY NINE</u></b> (1980) - includes 2 bonus single tracks<br /><br /><b><u>SONIC ATTACK</u></b> (1981) - Disc 1 album Disc 2 bonus tracks includes alternate versions and singles.<br /><b><u><br />CHOOSE YOUR MASQUES</u></b> (1982) - Disc 1 - Album plus 2 alternate mixes/single versions Disc 2 - Previously Unreleased Session Recordings And Alternate Mixes (12 tracks)<br /><br /><b><u>CHURCH OF HAWKWIND</u></b> (1982) - full album plus 5 bonus alternate versions/demos<br /><br /><b><u>"THE CHRONICLE OF THE BLACK SWORD"</u></b> (1985) - Album plus 5 bonus tracks includes the full "Night Of the Hawk - The Earth Ritual" EP and a further B-side<br /><br /><b><u>"LIVE CHRONICLES"</u></b> (1986) - Live on the "Chronicle Of The Black Sword Tour" expanded from a single to a double CD and has an additional 6 tracks and is restored to it's original format with narration sections being separate tracks.<br /><br /><b><u>"THE XENON CODEX"</u></b> (1988) - Original album plus 5 bonus live tracks</p><p><b><u>"SPACE BANDITS" </u></b>(1990) Album plus 2 bonus Live in the studio recordings and a b-side<br /><br /><b><u>"PALACE SPRINGS"</u></b> (1991) - 2 x CD Disc 1 - original album plus 2 Bonus tracks Disc 2 - First time on CD for limited vinyl album "California Brainstorm" full set from the same U.S. tour as "Palace Springs" but with no studio overdubs.</p><p><b><u>"ELECTRIC TEEPEE"</u></b> (1992) - full album remastered no bonuses<br /><br /><b><u>"IT IS THE BUSINESS OF THE FUTURE TO BE DANGEROUS"</u></b> (1993) - 2 x CD Disc 1 - Full album plus bonus Sam Fox version of "Gimme Shelter" Disc 2 - The Remix EP's "The Solstice Remixes" & "Decide Your Future"<br /><br /><b><u>"ALIEN 4"</u></b> (1995) - Album plus 1 bonus track<br /><br /><b><u>"DISTANT HORIZONS"</u></b> (1997) - Full album plus 2 bonus tracks and an alternate take.</p><p><br /><b><u><br />ATOMHENGE REISSUES - KEY SIDE PROJECTS<br /><br />HAWKLORDS - "25 YEARS ON" (1978)</u></b> - Formed after Hawkwind briefly split up in 1977 this is in all essence a Hawkwind album 2 x CD Disc 1 - Album plus 3 bonus tracks Disc 2 - 15 tracks - includes full Sonic Assassins EP Plus a 10 track unreleased studio session.<br /><br /><b><u>PSYCHEDELIC WARRIORS - "WHITE ZONE"</u></b> (1995) Electric Teepee/It Is The Business line up of Hawkwind doing an instrumental electronic/ambient album no bonus tracks<br /><br /><b><u>ROBERT CALVERT - "CAPTAIN LOCKHEED & THE STAR FIGHTERS"</u></b> (1974) album features almost all current and ex members of that era of Hawkwind as backing band includes 3 bonus single versions.<br /><br />That is that then a huge collection of Hawkwind and one of, if not THE biggest post to date! I hope this gives some of you fans some things that you can't get easily as almost all of these Atomhenge reissues are out of print, some can be found for reasonable prices on places like discogs and ebay but some are commanding prices in the £20 - £40 region I've been trying to get the Atomhenge version of "Sonic Attack" for quite some time!!! So Enjoy & Remember <br /><br /></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b><span style="color: #04ff00;">"SPACE IS DEEP" </span></b></u><br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLgdckIFThvwF45duPZBBxm84TFCBbL94-saQ0VMa0SphMpCPUIFaSJoDVXNO0NyNpF2otp8Tg6oPk-IWwO0NL3IGUn73ml3jvJFQ7l5V6tn8FnOlHRvO_6TqDVqncQzhmQuDFV3VwSW4/s1686/hawkd.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1686" data-original-width="1334" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLgdckIFThvwF45duPZBBxm84TFCBbL94-saQ0VMa0SphMpCPUIFaSJoDVXNO0NyNpF2otp8Tg6oPk-IWwO0NL3IGUn73ml3jvJFQ7l5V6tn8FnOlHRvO_6TqDVqncQzhmQuDFV3VwSW4/s320/hawkd.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />EDIT <br /><br />Kind reader Mattack has done a spotify playlist for this post clocking in at nearly 32 hrs!!! He has also done it in chronological order too! Much as I hate spotify I have to accept a lot of people get their music there rather than clunky ol' free downloads! So here you go and thank you mattack! </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4tkCRgN2w5UJNirbjEzqIb?si=df156f05be254d3a"><span style="color: #04ff00;">HAWKWIND ATOMHENGE & ESSENTIALS SPOTIFY PLAYLIST</span></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><u><br /><b><span style="color: #fcff01;">HAWKWIND - EMI/ATOMHENGE EDITIONS</span></b><br /><br /><br /><b>SPACE BANDITS</b></u> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/xdo4w35gsjggkb3/HW_-_SPCEBNDTS.rar/file">Mediafire</a><br /><br /><b><u>CHURCH OF HAWKWIND</u></b> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/6st0pddbeie632s/HW_-_CHRCH.rar/file">Mediafire</a><p></p><p><b><u>THE XENON CODEX</u></b> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/r4osjmoj2qxwr7d/HW_-_TXNN.rar/file">Mediafire</a></p><p><b><u>LIVE '79</u></b> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/h413qx14ekexl2f/HW_-_LV79.rar/file">Mediafire</a></p><p><b><u>THE CHRONICLE OF THE BLACK SWORD</u></b> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/d68hhvm8z9p21cg/HW_-_TCOTBS.rar/file">Mediafire</a></p><p><b><u>ASTOUNDING SOUNDS AMAZING MUSIC</u></b> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/td222qlhtkcsjnh/HW_-_ASTNDG.rar/file">Mediafire</a></p><p><b><u>CHOOSE YOUR MASQUES</u></b> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/u9royz5xdsdpz04/HW_-_CYM.rar/file">Mediafire</a><br /><br /><b><u>LIVE CHRONICLES</u></b> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/x5z1vd25wtg2mm2/HW_-_LVECHRNC.rar/file">Mediafire</a></p><p><b><u>ELECTRIC TEEPEE</u></b> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/onx6vbmux668tvd/HW_-_ELTP.rar/file">Mediafire</a><br /><br /><b><u>ALIEN 4</u></b> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/pysc95vm1pgyszn/HW_-_A4.rar/file">Mediafire</a><br /><br /><b><u>PRX5</u></b> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/6enu04363rz30sh/HW_-PRX5.rar/file">Mediafire</a></p><p><u style="font-weight: bold;">X IN SEARCH OF SPACE</u> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/44iw2u4rw2effqt/HW_-_XISOS.rar/file">Mediafire</a><br /><b><u><br />HALL OF THE MOUNTAIN GRILL</u></b> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/xtedueok5lmqork/HW+-+HOTMG.rar/file">Mediafire</a><br /><br /><b><u>SPACE RITUAL</u></b> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/dr6466lejetzvkp/HW+-+SPCRTL.rar/file" target="_blank">Mediafire</a></p><p><b><u>LEVITATION</u></b> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/kn28aphig32diwk/HW+-+LVTN.rar/file" target="_blank">Mediafire</a><br /><br /><b><u>HAWKWIND</u></b> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/vv7taj0w7pi6vpr/HW+-+HW.rar/file" target="_blank">Mediafire</a></p><p><b><u>DOREMI FASOL LATIDO </u></b> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/xiyzqt9201il1a8/HW+-+DFL.rar/file" target="_blank">Mediafire</a><br /><b><u><br />DISTANT HORIZONS</u></b> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/84im7piarst591l/HW+-+DH.rar/file" target="_blank">Mediafire</a><br /><br /><b><u>SONIC ATTACK</u></b> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/8giwnvkc9g03xwh/HW+-+SNC.rar/file" target="_blank">Mediafire</a></p><p><u style="font-weight: bold;">IT IS THE BUSINESS OF THE FUTURE TO BE DANGEROUS</u> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/vxn0bms3q19tybf/HW_-_BSNSS.rar/file" target="_blank">Mediafire</a></p><p><u style="font-weight: bold;">QUARK STRANGENESS AND CHARM</u> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/x6x0xmjws4giusq/HW_-_QSAC.rar/file">Mediafire</a></p><p><b><u>WARRIOR ON THE EDGE OF TIME</u></b> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/q8w59syj4qwbx2o/HW_-_WOTEOT.rar/file">Mediafire</a></p><p><b><u>PALACE SPRINGS / CALIFORNIA BRAINSTORM</u></b> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/tgoppoztttta0w7/HW_-_PLCSPRNGS.rar/file">Mediafire</a></p><p><u style="font-weight: bold;">SILVER MACHINE 7"</u> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/x034dehugk7yafo/HW_-_SM7.rar/file">Mediafire</a></p><p><b><u><br /></u></b></p><p><b><u><span style="color: #fcff01;">KEY SIDE PROJECTS</span></u></b></p><p><b><u><br />PSYCHEDELIC WARRIORS - WHITE ZONE</u></b> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/mqix39ro5frlz03/HW_-_PW_-_WHTZN.rar/file">Mediafire</a></p><p><u style="font-weight: bold;">HAWKLORDS - "25 YEARS ON"</u> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/7pdzz8plek9ihsv/HWKLKRDS+-+25YRS.rar/file" target="_blank">Mediafire</a></p><p><b><u>ROBERT CALVERT - "CAPTAIN LOCKHEED..."</u></b> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/plglo4seaqm4r9l/RBRTCLVRT_-_CLATSF.rar/file">Mediafire</a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></p>Dave Ballantynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10962015895260884375noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9112004118520930596.post-23935590357433329562021-04-12T09:41:00.000+01:002021-04-12T09:41:09.487+01:00BURNING FLAG - MATADOR REVIEW.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTioMtu2_zwdJu_Kbaw9sjx_oGEDERpoROdlDFlql_kjCWBD4mlm8UpZgoG5i2qhwV2q5LRWVcjm4l-vnsGX8isjGzRuEQgVxpmPVX0uvICA2RqexuHSPHfco0kDEkH_6Bkz97hlbIjcI/s2048/Credit+Johnathan+Foulger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1392" data-original-width="2048" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTioMtu2_zwdJu_Kbaw9sjx_oGEDERpoROdlDFlql_kjCWBD4mlm8UpZgoG5i2qhwV2q5LRWVcjm4l-vnsGX8isjGzRuEQgVxpmPVX0uvICA2RqexuHSPHfco0kDEkH_6Bkz97hlbIjcI/w400-h272/Credit+Johnathan+Foulger.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><u> Burning Flag 2021 L-R Matt - Drums, Mark - Bass, Holly - Vox, Jonesy - Guitar</u></b></span><br /><br /></div><p></p><div>I have taken a huge step back from participating in the punk/HC underground in recent years but one band for whom my passion has never wavered is these guys. Burning Flag have pretty much ruled the UK HC scene for me for the last few years after 2 incredible albums they parted (amicably) with their brilliant singer MD and, for me when you have your sound nailed and fantastic chemistry this could have been a blow most band couldn't recover from.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>This is not the case here Burning Flag are back with a new singer Holly and a new album "Matador" and it's absolutely fuckin blistering!<br /><br />Opening with an innocuous quiet little piece of music the album bursts out of the gate with what is possibly their fastest song to date "Thrown Out" with a ferocity that I haven't felt since dropping the needle on Discharge's "Hear Nothing, See Nothing, Say Nothing" for the first time, it has that same blast-you-into-the-wall effect! The production is outstanding, the guitars are a solid wall of intensity, the bass bubbles through the mix providing a real solid and gnarly bottom end, the drums crack like lightning and Holly is right in the pocket trading off vocals with Jonesy. Top marks go to Holly it can't have been easy to follow a great vocalist like MD fronting a band as well liked as BF but whilst not a million miles from MD's style she brings a sorta punk belligerence to things which is totally her own and fits the new songs perfectly! </div><div><br />It almost feels like Burning Flag have something to prove here coming off the back of losing their singer, a global pandemic and a year that hasn't been easy for anybody let alone bands. This album burns with an intensity that to me shows they have channeled all this into a sound that even in it's less full on thrashier moments like the intense title track "Matador" still exude menace and sheer force! </div><div><br />What I lover about Burning Flag is, it's their wide range of influences gives them their unique sound I hear elements of Guitar Noise, Industrial, Metal, Punk & Hardcore in their sound but they blend this in such a way that you can't mistake this band for anyone else! There's huge riffs aplenty and they are of the kind that makes you want to repeatedly smash your head into the wall with glee! There are no highlights to this album simply because to have highlights there has to be songs that are weaker than the rest and there aren't any! Every song is absolute as good as the one preceding it and the one after but for the sake of the review a few things did stand out like Single "Eat The Rich" a classic Burning Flag riff with it's stop start chuggery it's gonna down a storm when they get back out playing live! And the destroying, discordant VoiVod-esque riffing in "Vendetta" tempered with a SWANS like pounding mid section really blew me away! Good ideas are plentiful here amongst the business as usual Burning Flag Arse Kicking and I found that the whole album kept my attention and engaged me completely! The real surprise here for me was closing track "All The While" clocking in at near double the length of the rest of the album tracks this is one unholy bastardization of Killing Joke at their heaviest Rollins Band at their nastiest before breaking into an extended heavy chuigging riff that would probably make Slayer cry!</div><div><br /></div><div>Summing up Burning Flag have returned with an album building on the strength of 2 great albums to produce an even greater one! Every member of this band is playing like their lives depended on it and it shows! This album does not let up from start to finish whilst there's plenty of variety on offer it's an album so intense in it's delivery you're gonna feel exhausted just sitting listening to it! I honestly don't know where they get their energy from! I stand by what I've been saying for about 7 or more years, these guys are about the best in the scene right now and this album has just stamped all 8 of it's booted feet down on this fact with unwavering authority!</div><div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-size: x-large;"><u>Matador is out on Thursday (14/4/21) </u></b></div><br /><b><u>Download or Buy CD here</u></b> - <a href="https://burningflag.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Bandcamp</a><br /><br /><b><u>Facebook</u></b> - <a href="https://www.facebook.com/burningflagpunk" target="_blank">HERE</a><br /><br /><b><u>Official website for Merch, Info etc</u></b> - <a href="https://burningflagofficial.wixsite.com/burning-flag?fbclid=IwAR3x0dI4XHClQ4EgTa0_c0E2gPaYMIdvUj85Vjt0hTzFQJ6m7nz3b-6HYRM" target="_blank">HERE</a></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFXeXG7wtZToP-S6WT6QsKyJ2gl3ecPjqXgp_S7dsLa92ybI7E1_zd-j1X_3mnXwdgcQTTM7OnTbOW57L9Cx107YvaJZhHALtXXbHvXDOpuV0U-BU0JEzUroFTOFeBXGwTEez_oShXnJo/s2048/cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFXeXG7wtZToP-S6WT6QsKyJ2gl3ecPjqXgp_S7dsLa92ybI7E1_zd-j1X_3mnXwdgcQTTM7OnTbOW57L9Cx107YvaJZhHALtXXbHvXDOpuV0U-BU0JEzUroFTOFeBXGwTEez_oShXnJo/w400-h400/cover.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div></div>Dave Ballantynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10962015895260884375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9112004118520930596.post-41294528982751965582021-03-30T07:21:00.000+01:002021-03-30T07:21:05.464+01:00FRIDGE<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXGenT1DfscsaFf2qUxi8o2XGxk4rzYoUTQptaaEnicJTw630zssrhox-Klja9u-LAreOKqawOMk3J77ACOQ27m0VdSpKB-qxczSUf9MClHfMuO3EBItH56vD9tRZgayz-j90YGgbJnfE/s354/A-30361-1115389803.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="262" data-original-width="354" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXGenT1DfscsaFf2qUxi8o2XGxk4rzYoUTQptaaEnicJTw630zssrhox-Klja9u-LAreOKqawOMk3J77ACOQ27m0VdSpKB-qxczSUf9MClHfMuO3EBItH56vD9tRZgayz-j90YGgbJnfE/w400-h296/A-30361-1115389803.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <br />Fridge were an instrumental post rock band from Manchester who over their 10 year existence put out some great albums and a plethora of EP's though they are one of those bands I feel that geography defeated. Despite Manchester having a reputation for being a hotbed of creativity it seems that Fridge never really reached the status or popularity of their more well known American peers like Tortoise who to a degree they owe a small debt to in their sound. of their 3 members 2 went on to some more recognition Adem Ihan has and continues to release great fragile acoustic albums on Domino records under the name Adem. Sam Jeffers seems to have retired from music altogether from what my research finds however most successful was Kieran Hebden who has gone on to great success as Four Tet (see post <a href="https://utsurface.blogspot.com/2013/02/and-now-for-something-completely_19.html">HERE</a>) taking the sound that Fridge created as a band and adding a more electronic/dance edge to it gathering much critical and general acclaim and continuing to release music to this day.<br /><br />Fridge are what you might call an "obscure" band and with a name like Fridge they hadn't made life easier for themselves as far as finding them on the internet is concerned either! Starting their career on Trevor Jackson's amazing Output records they later moved to the bigger home of Go Beat records (Known for releasing Portishead, Arab Strap and many others) for their "Eph" album to electronic label Text for their final 2 albums. <br /><br />Whilst being fairly consistent in sound Fridge are also quite eclectic and progressive their early releases on Output from 1997 - 1999 are pretty consistent blending live instrumentation with electronics to create a sound that whilst in places owes a small debt to their US Counterparts such as some of the the bands on Thrill Jockey records I really think for the time they were quite unique. It's hard to describe fridge at once gentle and almost ambient at other times brash and noisy. off kilter timings clash with gentle guitar picking and electronic sounds however one thing I can say is that they are a band who will keep your interest a lot of their music is quite chilled out but it has enough about it to not drift into the background and enough variety that they won't bore you! <br /><br />I'm actually struggling a bit here to describe Fridge they are at once eclectic but also consistent as in you can't really mistake them for anyone else but I seem to be repeating myself trying to pin them down. maybe that's my fault for not having enough descriptive terminology so I leave it in your hands reader! I can't seem to find a good article to link you to either even wikipedia has failed me here! So onto your links. They are pretty self explanatory for the most part I have given you their 5 albums Ceefax, Semaphore , Eph, Hapiness and The Sun but Eph is a 2 disc expanded reissue which rounds up the 3 EP's they did around this time on the bonus disc, The "Kinoshita/Terasaka" EP, "Of" Remixes & "Ark" Remixes plus the mighty double CD compilation "Seven's and Twelves" this compiles their EP's "Anglepoised" 12", "Lojen" 7" Their Split 12" With Add N to (X) The 7" & 12" versions of their "Lign" EP and lastly the "Orko" EP I added a bonus track to disc 2 from their split 7" with Portal which pretty much rounds up everything they have done other than a 7" on the Soul Static Sound label which was a collaboration with artist D and is really just pointless electronic burbles over 2 sides I am a diehard fan and even I thought it was crap! If you're feeling curious then I would recommend starting with the "Semaphore" album or maybe the "Sevens and Twelves" compilation but I definitely think wherever you start there's a good chance you will be back for everything else! <br /><br /><br /><u style="font-weight: bold;">CEEFAX</u> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/w9i797rwx6gntzb/FRDG_-_CFFX.rar/file">Mediafire</a><br /><br /><b><u>SEVENS & TWELVES</u></b> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/rccnm0ya6sbzo9i/FRDG+-+SVNS+&+TWLVS.rar/file">Mediafire</a><p></p><p><b><u>SEMAPHORE</u></b> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/d1vkoqyr35j7pao/FRDG+-+SMAPHR.rar/file">Mediafire</a></p><p><b><u>EPH (2 DISC REISSUE)</u></b> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/qtj50u31ws9t57v/FRDG+-+EPH+(REISS).rar/file">Mediafire</a></p><p><b><u>HAPINESS</u></b> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/ty8z8h2aay4zb7m/FRDG+-+HPPNS.rar/file">Mediafire</a></p><p><b><u>THE SUN</u></b> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/7loq9fyw1boiwxw/FRDG+-+TH+SN.rar/file">Mediafire</a></p>Dave Ballantynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10962015895260884375noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9112004118520930596.post-50480323562684633862021-03-26T10:44:00.000+00:002021-03-26T10:44:10.513+00:00SCOTT 4<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJWgO3uWTRKdyafvxInWTrqjhjQYk3GrUnWEgD5-fX4mIdgEWioiD04GNkpgRydFI6PxUPKUEwhaSPOG6NA2mlFLdUNW2FJDL3XDrVgx_ii_Jc0rQvIP5Sj5A-9KAJeVxflJDrvbn8hOQ/s1600/A-321008-1201390963.gif.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="241" data-original-width="367" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJWgO3uWTRKdyafvxInWTrqjhjQYk3GrUnWEgD5-fX4mIdgEWioiD04GNkpgRydFI6PxUPKUEwhaSPOG6NA2mlFLdUNW2FJDL3XDrVgx_ii_Jc0rQvIP5Sj5A-9KAJeVxflJDrvbn8hOQ/s400/A-321008-1201390963.gif.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br /><br />Scott 4 (Named for Scott Walker's 4th album)were an unusual band existing from 1997 till 2002 and then kinda quietly disappearing, they went from obscure indie releases to being signed by Sony doing a brilliant album a few singles went back to the indies then disappeared for a while, re-emerging as The Scott 4 Free Rock Orchestra in 2005 and releasing one album before disappearing again! and I can't find any trace of it's members having done any other musical projects. Allmusic describe Scott 4 as "Electronic cowpunks for their blend of country-blues, hip hop and indie-punk" and that pretty much sums them up!<br /><br />I discovered Scott 4 back in the days before internet was easily available, y'know? The good old days where you would go to record shops, pick things up that looked interesting and maybe talk to the shop assistant about what they were like? I saw their "Elektro Akoustic Und Volksmechanik" Mini album it was presented as a 10" and 7" in a striking black and white sleeve and I thought it looked interesting so I bought it and a week later I went back to the shop for the "Recorded In State" debut album! I followed them through to their last release as Scott 4 and promptly forgot about them ha ha I later replaced my vinyls with CD's which is possibly an indication of them being good otherwise why would I bother?<br /><br />I hadn't listened to them in a long time when I considered them for posting and I am re-listening now while I type this and despite thoroughly enjoying them here I do think maybe being 20 years old in some cases this music sounds kinda dated in places they are a hard band to pin down their sound is lo-fi on the early releases (Your first 2 links Deutsche/Eleckto & Recorded In State) swinging from slightly Beck-esque beats and country vibes to short ambient pieces to beautiful and fragile acoustic tracks there's certainly a lot of variety on offer. What's great about Scott 4 is their music whilst very easy on the ears with catchy songs and great melodies there's an experimental feel which along with some of the titles of their albums makes me think they most definitely have a Krautrock influence too something not mentioned anywhere else in regards to them. This all changed when they signed to Sony their first release was a CDEP featuring a re-rerecording of 2 tracks from their early releases A new shorter version of "Your Kindom To Rust" from their debut album and a staggering 23 minute version of "You Set The Scene" from their "Elektro..." mini album the latter definitely showcasing their free Krautrock approach to playing! However their Sony Debut "Works Project" was a different prospect altogether whilst still sounding like Scott 4 "Works Project" had all the lo-fi scrubbed off for a far more polished and accessible sound. Now normally this would send me running and accusing the band of selling out however this is not the case here this is a fantastic album whilst as I said above it may sound a bit dated being now 20 years old it shows that Scott 4 can write TUNES! there's some supremely memorable and catchy earworms on the album but also they seem to have harnessed their Krautrock influence and blended it into the country/indie sound making for a sorta Jaunty sound not too far off the lighter moments of Faust from their "IV" album. The thing with Scott 4 is whilst most definitely an obscure band and even though they coming from an experimental approach originally they are not a band that are hard to listen to or need deep investment you will either like them instantly or not, it's not a case of sitting chin stroking and thinking hmmm "I see what they may be trying to do there". After leaving or being fired from Sony (I Don't know) They did one further album under the Scott 4 name a collaboration with Magic Car called "European Punks" I am not a fan of this album having taking all the good things I liked about Scott 4 and sacrificing them for a far more smooth and accessible pop edge and I really don't like it myself too much group backing singers and piano ballady soppiness for my tastes I include it here for completions sake only and would probably give it away if I knew anyone who wanted it!<br /><br />So onto your links before I confound you further with my inane waffling! In your first link you have their first 2 mini LP's "Deutsche LP Record" & the aforementioned "Elektro Acoustik Volksmechanik" Separated into their own folders with artwork etc. Second link is their brilliant "Recorded In State" debut LP which might be a good place to start as it falls between the lo-fi feel of the first 2 and the more polished sound of the Major label debut. 3rd link "Works Propject & Your Kingdom To Rust" rounds up all the material from their Major label era I have added 3 extra B-sides to the "Works Project" album from the various singles that were released around the album. The final link is the (IMO) terrible collaboration with Magic car it's nothing like the rest of their material so download at your peril ha ha! All music ripped from my personal collection direct from CD at 320KBPS.<br /><br />This is yet another case of a great band that faded from memory despite major label backing and some fantastic music released here's hoping this post goes some way to maybe a few more people hearing and liking them.<br />
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<b><u>Deutsche LP record & Elektro Acoustik Volksmechanik</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/tpjocgjos1dmts7/SCTT4_-_DTSCHLP_-_LKTRO_AKSTIK.rar/file">Mediafire</a><br /><br /><b><u>Recorded In State</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/j41aaxtukhylkm0/SCTT4_-_RCRDNSTTLP.rar/file">Mediafire</a><br /><br /><b><u>Works Project & Your Kingdom To Rust EP</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/lkhdfx91azya4wm/SCTT4_-_WRKSPRJECT_%2526_YRKNGDMTDST.rar/file">Mediafire</a><br /><br /><b><u>European Punks (With Magic Car)</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/i5igykjtsowhsfr/SCTT4_-_ERPNPNKS.rar/file">Mediafire</a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />Dave Ballantynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10962015895260884375noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9112004118520930596.post-7625119588345661602021-03-26T09:29:00.001+00:002021-03-26T09:29:20.335+00:00JAIL SOLIDARITY & BODYCOP<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq8KBesuaZo7uU__DKEDFr9ezr4uYDOSaI7lWzKZ69XXEvxhw42n3d-JlE5Z4vKeLBQrZ42HdrnxebzqNRSWKqyriYr0DnbQHPwglB6HZEd_efCTM6H_wQ3li1Q50huoEBWXdbNULM_jg/s960/19026_777867318991396_6684863728443341661_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq8KBesuaZo7uU__DKEDFr9ezr4uYDOSaI7lWzKZ69XXEvxhw42n3d-JlE5Z4vKeLBQrZ42HdrnxebzqNRSWKqyriYr0DnbQHPwglB6HZEd_efCTM6H_wQ3li1Q50huoEBWXdbNULM_jg/w513-h384/19026_777867318991396_6684863728443341661_n.jpg" width="513" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Looking at this picture you'd be forgiven for thinking that these guys play some pretty jaunty indie type stuff right? They are a happy looking bunch! However this is definitely not the case here!<br /><br />Based out of Washingthon DC Jail Solidarity play some serious dirgey, hate filled, NOISE! They haven't exactly been a prolific bunch either, between 2013 & 2016 releasing a mere 2 cassette EP's and a 3rd cassette Split with Clean Girls. This is another band I can't give you much information on as there is little to be had on the net it's another case here of me trying to bring you some stuff you may not have heard before by virtue of my trainspotting and net surfing!<br /><br />So onto the music I thought I might have been a bit hard on these guys above calling them "dirgey hate filled noise" but upon re-visiting as i type this I wasn't wrong.The tempos are mostly slow - mid paced the guitars are really put through their paces too, loud sustained crashing chords tempered with noisy thrashing parts, the distorted bass bubbles underneath providing solid bottom end to the sound ! The vocals are both male and female and are definitely in the tortured anguish style not screaming as such I hate screaming vocals but they are definitely angry! The best way I can put this to you is that it has an almost Industrial sound to it but by that I means something like Swans early albums or Big Black at their most experimental and noisy crossed with Flipper at their least humorous! This is not something I can listen to all the time it absolutely dominates the room with it's sound but I have revisited these guys a few times and have loved them every time I have played them!<br /><br />Bodycop are in this post because it was a one off project predating and featuring members of Jail Solidarity It was actually someone posting this one Bodycop release in a facebook group I was in and mentioning early Swans (The name Bodycop is I would say an amalgam of the Swans album titles COP and Body To Body Job To Job) that led me to discover both bands. Whilst not a million miles away from the sound of Jail Solidarity this time with Bodycop the sound is 100% a tribute to early SWANS particularly the "FILTH" album (their debut) it has the same tortured/Anguished feel as Jail Solidarity but has l;ess of a guitar noise feel and more straight ahead Industrial the rhythms are pounding the bass is heavily distorted but has that perfect Industrial klang to it whilst electronic noise whizzes around in the background too and all topped with Lydia Lunch-esque vocals. If you like Early SWANS and can't get enough then these guys are definitely for you! <br /><br />Onto your links in the Jail Solidarity Link is all 3 of their releases the 2 Cassette EP's "Pretty Good Privacy" & "Any Space Whatever" plus their side of the split Cassette with Clean Girls. Bodycop only released one cassette in 2010 but it clocks in at half an hr making it practically an album! all Files are at 320KBPS but I sourced them from the net so they may be cassette rips as the quality isn't pristine but I can't imagine it being any better from any other source due to the noisy nature of the music! <br />Not for the faint hearted these bands but I can imagine there will be a few of you that have enjoyed my other posts who would have hiot download at the mention of early SWANS ha ha! I hope so anyways... ENJOY!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><u>JAIL SOLIDARITY</u></b> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/g0wkyls90dlyzzn/file">Mediafire</a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><u>BODYCOP</u></b> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/h4hpl2c00s4c3bc/file">Mediafire</a></div>Dave Ballantynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10962015895260884375noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9112004118520930596.post-90019722597456526892021-03-25T12:05:00.003+00:002021-03-25T12:06:44.324+00:00SECOND STILL<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH5O8Iv2pjSBSNmKEGDw4AWFlbHDroVBz7ApJoX8XCUA4NiM8hK0oaAeNSPvkadit0Rs1w5GkrV7Q9PLXZWn9CfxuefGrjx6zG3y6K_BZhJ1dwnvRzpLZ_8ZlktJTY4I14nAQpjOvmBog/s550/0009493553_10.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="550" data-original-width="550" height="440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH5O8Iv2pjSBSNmKEGDw4AWFlbHDroVBz7ApJoX8XCUA4NiM8hK0oaAeNSPvkadit0Rs1w5GkrV7Q9PLXZWn9CfxuefGrjx6zG3y6K_BZhJ1dwnvRzpLZ_8ZlktJTY4I14nAQpjOvmBog/w440-h440/0009493553_10.jpg" width="440" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Second Still are a fairly new band to me, I was sitting in the garden with my partner a few months ago and she was playing some music and a song came on and it had what I would describe as a classic Post-punk bassline to it. it really caught my attention as did the glacial guitars and sultry female vocals I asked what it was and it was Second Still "Try Not To Hide" Later I did my usual obsessive Trainspotting thing and now I own both their albums ha ha! <br /><br />Second still hail from Los Angeles California described as Post Punk/Coldwave I don't really know what the latter is because I'm not up to date with the latest genre terms the kids use these days I'm a sorta 2 categories guy GOOD music and BAD Music but I defo agree with the former! They are a 3 piece band Bass, Vocals & Guitar they utilize a drum machine for their rhythm. Normally I'm not that keen on drum machine unless it's used in a pounding way behind Industrial music however in Second Still it works really well because it fit's their 80's -centric sound perfectly!<br /><br />There's not a great deal of info available on these guys they appear to be fairly obscure so I'll give you a brief description of the music. As I said these guys have defo been listening to a lot of 80's goth and post punk there's shades of Siouxsie & The Banshees, Joy Division and the darker end of Synth pop though I don't hear a lot of electronics in their sound it's more of a feel from the effects they use on their instruments (reverb) and they have definitely learned their craft well as I find myself wrapped up in warm nostalgia here and there when certain song parts come on. Whilst I may be making these guys sound very derivative they are not as such, they seem to capture a feel of their influences more than directly taking things from them which is the key to their brilliance for me. Their music whilst quite dark is offset by the really nice vocals falling somehwere between the croon of Siouxsie Sioux and Hope Sandoval of Mazzy Star's warm and beautiful tones. The guitars are effected and have that classic sorta plucked thing combined with big swathes of SHRIIIIING! However what I love most is the bass lines they are just so memorable they really play less like a rhythm instrument and more like an equal to the guitar and make a fantastic counterpoint! What I also like is occasionally the guitars will burst into big chords that remind me of the 80's again but more the bigger rock bands like U2 when they weren't stadium assholes and Simple Minds when they were good or even Big Country? This is again just a feel they sound nothing like any of those bands!<br /><br />These Guys have been around since 2016 and have released 3 EP's and 2 albums and I present them all to you here Their sound is consistent throughout so I don't feel there's a need to go into each individual release. However my personal favourite is their debut self titled album (First link below) so if you're curious I'd start there. I really like this band a lot and they have been regularly played in my musical rotation and i can't see how anyone couldn't enjoy this brilliant sound! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><u><br /><br />SECOND STILL</u></b> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/k7v0nabg97mad2h/file">Mediafire</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><u><br /></u></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><u>VIOLET PHASE</u></b> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/zrqzobfcpobhhod/file">Mediafire</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><u>EARLY FORMS EP</u></b> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/8ynqrrw9tornrny/file">Mediafire</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><u><br /></u></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><u>EQUALS EP</u></b> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/fcrc8tafgldkhc0/file">Mediafire</a><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><u>PART TIME PUNKS SESSION EP</u></b> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/roo2rsmobbaarw1/file">Mediafire</a></div>Dave Ballantynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10962015895260884375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9112004118520930596.post-11007807491290222922021-03-24T11:43:00.002+00:002021-03-24T11:43:53.262+00:00HIDDEN GEMS FROM A FORGOTTEN 70'S<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijjHxJMyeT9Bk9iiAD8hmRImG8hc4QrGpAhfhOqXoQCMP2Dbe6sKtj2pHSB4D3oZ60NqJYbqqdS7lP-dHab7KfS32WeeSmWy-LOA8BldLeW5iVX7-QfJuuikE9oToSQvt_dwUNuSn8TjA/s800/parkhead-76-crowd-6-800.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="517" data-original-width="800" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijjHxJMyeT9Bk9iiAD8hmRImG8hc4QrGpAhfhOqXoQCMP2Dbe6sKtj2pHSB4D3oZ60NqJYbqqdS7lP-dHab7KfS32WeeSmWy-LOA8BldLeW5iVX7-QfJuuikE9oToSQvt_dwUNuSn8TjA/w400-h259/parkhead-76-crowd-6-800.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>As you may know I like to bring you strange and obscure music and these 4 are pretty damn obscure bands and albums! I am a big fan of 70's rock and Krautrock in particular and this has led me to delve deep into the recesses of the net for stuff to check out and I came across these 4 absolute blinders over the course of my searching and figured as, even though they have been reissued numerous times should definitely be given a wider audience!<br /><br />First off I have to be honest I don't know a great deal about any of these bands I either liked the covers of the albums or came to them through random browsing of blogs and liked the description plus as these bands have mostly only done one album and really went nowhere information is sparse. If you want to know more then I guess you can do some digging but I will do my best here but for me it's all about the music! So lets begin.....<br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpgcEdsiiYBVzoCQXMhSHOjqTRQlzdvFT81rOy6EEdv1N-ILfdeK-gGwoS2BUusgb1Og93yVh6MCDYa3Mq1yc4QL6EPkuxv3YA0trlrYySyyPF5l-y5_06uK4PUxAxdyLRlxDPb_taYVw/s500/cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpgcEdsiiYBVzoCQXMhSHOjqTRQlzdvFT81rOy6EEdv1N-ILfdeK-gGwoS2BUusgb1Og93yVh6MCDYa3Mq1yc4QL6EPkuxv3YA0trlrYySyyPF5l-y5_06uK4PUxAxdyLRlxDPb_taYVw/w400-h400/cover.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center; text-decoration-line: underline;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">BLUES CREATION - "DEMON AND ELEVEN CHILDREN"</span></span></u></div><div style="text-align: center; text-decoration-line: underline;"><u><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span></u></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">I had no idea really that Japan had a burgeoning heavy and psychedelic rock scene until someone introduced me to Flower Travellin' band a few years ago (Might do a post on them if anyone likes this post!) This led me to investigate further and discover some real gem, however the pick of the bunch was these guys! So much so I splurged near £20 on an original Japanese copy of this album on CD. Released on the Japanese arm of Columbia records in 1971 this their 3rd album is quite a progression from their debut! You'd be forgiven for thinking this would be some fairly standard blues rock with the name however the cover drew me in and I'm glad it did because this is one of the best heavy rock albums i have heard from the era! This album just absolutely ROCKS! wearing it's Sabbath and Deep Purple influence boldly this takes that sound into the stratosphere Reminding me a lot of the 70's output of Pentagram (see post <a href="https://utsurface.blogspot.com/2013/08/pentagram.html">HERE</a> ) and although they could never have heard them and predates this band the tempo and attack remind me of Death (Detroit) in places as well (See Post on Death <a href="https://utsurface.blogspot.com/2014/06/death-no-not-metal-band.html">HERE</a> ) There is one minor blip where they descend into pure blues boogie territory on 2nd track "Mississippi Mountain Blues" But I guess the clue is in the title! But opener "Atomic Bombs Away" Lives up to it's title bursting out the gate straining at the leash! and third track "Just I was Born" is so blistering it's hard to believe it's 50 years old! Minor niggle about "Mississippi Mountain Blues" aside this is as brilliant a rock album as you will find! Every song bursts with an energy that just leaps out of your speakers and if you were anything like me have you setting your sights on 70's Japan!!!! <br /><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjufiM-9f4NEPkp7YeePyEvTf2_OrBVPwpJtGBjCSjvEQgMDTAdo4WP9VT2KnohYo4zrtf0CcE9JSTwEQtbW6DWqhRYiSA7BateHxMAZg_eoKn5JWJGwMOsHJAZ1qWgzFbc8cAL2OOaVlU/s501/cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="501" height="399" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjufiM-9f4NEPkp7YeePyEvTf2_OrBVPwpJtGBjCSjvEQgMDTAdo4WP9VT2KnohYo4zrtf0CcE9JSTwEQtbW6DWqhRYiSA7BateHxMAZg_eoKn5JWJGwMOsHJAZ1qWgzFbc8cAL2OOaVlU/w400-h399/cover.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><u><span style="font-weight: bold;">T2 - "IT'LL ALL WORK OUT IN BOOMLAND"</span></u></div><div style="text-align: center;"><u><b><br /></b></u></div><div style="text-align: left;">T2 from the UK are a slightly lighter prospect than Blues Creation but no less rocking "It'll All Work Out In Boomland" was their only studio album released in 1970 on Decca records a label I had no idea had released some choice bands associating them more with pop and Rock 'N' Roll! This band definitely lean more towards the Psychedelic and jam style you'd maybe associate with the Californian scene of the time but with a more British take on that sound. There's meandering (in a good way) bass lines and lots of psychedelic wah wah guitar jamming (reminiscent of early Stooges but nowhere near as ferocious!) over the supremely tight rhythm section and boy can these guys play! This album has great dynamics too with the songs building to fantastic peaks along with some absolutely amazing drum work that is loosely played but astoundingly tight and there's grooves aplenty that will definitely have you nodding your head in appreciation! These guys petered out after the debut album though in 1970 it's claimed they played more headline shows at London's famous Marquee club than any other band. Unfortunately tastes change and T2 kinda fell behind when the rock scene began to favour the new Glam Rock and the age of the heavy rock titans began to wane! T2 could not find a home for their music and subsequently called it quits in 1973 they reformed in 1975 and again in 1990 and released a few more albums but I haven't bothered to check them out I'd rather keep the brilliance of this 1970 album intact! (Note the album contains a bonus BBC live in the studio session with 3 blistering renditions of the album tracks)<br /><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9zfNlf624dQGZX9fqdQBHpMq0aLLjZfV57UeYgN-UGXFqtEza6719A9l9nzdHdI_8vzumUlz1xSeY34zXjBomNNMQo3cKcULhs6fZKW7YlKtsgj_mkLkia6ReDiwzwy4yewpDz2k5yvk/s500/cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9zfNlf624dQGZX9fqdQBHpMq0aLLjZfV57UeYgN-UGXFqtEza6719A9l9nzdHdI_8vzumUlz1xSeY34zXjBomNNMQo3cKcULhs6fZKW7YlKtsgj_mkLkia6ReDiwzwy4yewpDz2k5yvk/w400-h400/cover.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: underline;">McCHURCH SOUNDROOM - "DELUSION"</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">I came across McChurch Soundroom on a "Top 20 greatest Krautrock Albums" though being from Switzerland should have surely discounted them from a list about a German scene? but I'm glad it was in there or I'd probably have never found this album! Originally released in 1971 on Pilz records from Germany what first got me interested was the cover (see above) however the cover does kind of mislead as this looks like it'd be some sort of occultish heavy rock right? I can firmly state it is not! This band are a 5 piece and whilst it definitely falls into the "rock" category this is far more leaning to the prog/kraut/psychedelic end of things I wouldn't say it's not heavy it's got plenty of those butt shaking 70's groove riffs and again these guys really wail on their instruments! This album has quite a loose jammed sorta feel and it's maybe a little heavy on the flute freak-outs and the albums longest track at over 9 minutes "Delusions of a drummer" is well.... mainly a drum solo with some other instrument solo's thrown in their. I'm making this sound a bit messy, it's not, the playing is, as with most bands of this era tight, confident and accomplished I mean you can't jam or solo if you're not good right? For me this album reeks of hashish smoke filled rooms, indian rugs, flares and long hair! However it's sassy and cheeky grooves just draw you in and make for an utterly compelling listen! The organ wails, the bass jams, the guitars shred, the flutes freak out and the drums are insane! all topped with a great vocal there's absolutely nothing about this album that I don't enjoy.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfE8K6TJGwa0yWZvaNdTGm411pKXPt3WpeqecBzO9Vfx9jYYueG7AcxsLS9FaFle-dC-0B00xP45mUL8ATF6an32sF5M649xAHVP_esCY09BK4IPQGEO35jcU8VR_XblLkTGfzJ-PVj1s/s511/cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="511" data-original-width="500" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfE8K6TJGwa0yWZvaNdTGm411pKXPt3WpeqecBzO9Vfx9jYYueG7AcxsLS9FaFle-dC-0B00xP45mUL8ATF6an32sF5M649xAHVP_esCY09BK4IPQGEO35jcU8VR_XblLkTGfzJ-PVj1s/w391-h400/cover.jpg" width="391" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b><u>THE HUMAN BEAST - "VOLUME ONE"</u></b></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><div style="text-align: left;">I'm very glad to be able to add these in this post not just because this a great album but I discovered after I bought it they are from my homeland of Scotlland! The Human Beast again released only one album falling victim to the same line up instabilities and changing tastes of the early 70's Hailing from Edinburgh these guys amassed quite a following on their local scene and the gigging circuit of 70's Britain however they never quite managed to capitalize on this and make a "Volume Two" unfortunately. This album was originally released as with T2's debut on Decca records, ploughs a similar furrow to both T2 and Mchurch Soundroom above though less jam out than Mcchurch. Again Confident and accomplished playing here lots of wah wah guitar and bouncing basslines and excellent drumwork. This is easily as good and groovy as any of the other albums I have posted here! Again falling into the Psych/Prog/Heavy rock territory as has been the theme of this post! I feel I've kinda exhausted my 70's euphimisms here and really comparing one obscure band to another probably doesn't help you the reader however I have provided you with free downloads so really what have you got to lose by checking these out?</div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">The 70's is obviously lauded as a great era for rock where bands like Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath ruled the world but for me it's by delving deeper that you find the real gold I mean every member on ever album here were extremely accomplished players and had obviously put some intensive work in both in learning their instruments and honing their tunes by getting out and relentlessly gigging and for me this is the tradgedy! I mean every band can't have global popularity but it just seems such a shame that these 4 bands languish in deep obscurity and seem to get found by the likes of me digging around the net joining dots etc when the work they must have put in to be as good as they were deserves much more attention! The one great thing is there is no shortage of labels out there officially and unofficially keeping these albums in print remastering etc so there must be in some small way a market for this music some 50 years down the line! I guess that's at least some small reward for all their hard work.<br /><br />Here are your links all uploads taken from my own collection (See pic below) directly ripped from CD at 320KBPS all albums are remastered from their original master tapes according to the sleeves.<br /><br />Enjoy!</div><u style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><b><u><br /></u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><u><br /></u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><u>BLUES CREATION</u> - <u>DEMON AND ELEVEN CHILDREN</u></b> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/ed93augre9bwgkg/BLSCRTN-DMN&11CHLDRN.rar/file">Mediafire</a></div></u></div><p><u style="font-weight: bold;"><br />T2</u><span style="font-weight: bold;"> - </span><u style="font-weight: bold;">IT'LL ALL WORK OUT IN BOOMLAND</u> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/lrf8wsk0z2tdvj0/file">Mediafir</a>e</p><div><b><u><br />THE HUMAN BEAST</u> - <u>VOLUME ONE</u></b> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/ktveo0oriq7j9mh/file">Mediafire</a></div><div><br /></div><div><b><u><br />MCCHURCH SOUNDROOM</u> - <u>DELUSION</u></b> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/vuctvwan38odjxg/file">Mediafire</a><br /><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVZkpcBEOb2D4uwnyIFU4o5geP4ScyBRFbAMnUBL34liL3ZRVl55Uz7tuuYcoutCIQySIVSMYvYfnGxxFcGpQ77OUYd_N0Dk47tbMXqVTBNKBXcOT-RDLJ8aSSRdJm3e56nBcuPUgBGRA/s1463/164690078_738378873518600_6069998741807100100_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1266" data-original-width="1463" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVZkpcBEOb2D4uwnyIFU4o5geP4ScyBRFbAMnUBL34liL3ZRVl55Uz7tuuYcoutCIQySIVSMYvYfnGxxFcGpQ77OUYd_N0Dk47tbMXqVTBNKBXcOT-RDLJ8aSSRdJm3e56nBcuPUgBGRA/s320/164690078_738378873518600_6069998741807100100_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div>Dave Ballantynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10962015895260884375noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9112004118520930596.post-65059740067992539302021-02-25T08:09:00.006+00:002021-02-25T09:49:13.189+00:00SYSTEM OF HATE - THERE IS MORE MADNESS HERE REMIXES 2 X CD REVIEW<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikpN45m__CgVX6ii7QuKOfu1sMXfs73w12WPk6KIM8QZkJVmJ0xcpp9_zClqOmduVNlHLmi4F6rB67sg64yTl5IkPJIXe4AbJS6dHx92_alJvEvM3DSHf9mJ23N6fmh8b2ze5xvP1Y8fQ/s2048/cover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikpN45m__CgVX6ii7QuKOfu1sMXfs73w12WPk6KIM8QZkJVmJ0xcpp9_zClqOmduVNlHLmi4F6rB67sg64yTl5IkPJIXe4AbJS6dHx92_alJvEvM3DSHf9mJ23N6fmh8b2ze5xvP1Y8fQ/s320/cover.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br />The remix album can be a minefield often released as a stopgap or a bonus it often becomes a throwaway, a bit of a lark really. However here Barnsley post-punk band System Of Hate present a double CD of remixes which are less remixes and more of an epic reimagining of the entirety of their debut album.<br /><br />This double set clocks in at well over the 2 hour mark and contains 29 tracks so there's certainly a lot on offer, however the versions here are far from boring or self indulgent and I found myself engaged throughout. Whilst there's plenty of variety in the various styles of the remixers what I really liked about this album is whilst each remixer adds their own individual flavour to the tracks none of them stray so far from the original that it becomes unrecognizable or offensive which is something I find irritating about remixes sometimes. Be in no doubt this collection still sounds undeniably like System Of Hate! <br /><br />I have to be honest I am ludicrously underinformed here so most of the names present here are a mystery to me, two that I did know were Irish rockers Therapy? and ex Amebix/Zygote member now solo artist Stig C.Miller. This however doesn't matter to me in fact I'm kinda glad I can listen to this with no expectations or prejudices. So onto the music. And with so much music on offer I don't want to bore you by going in depth on each individual track but let's talk about some highlights. <br /><br />Opening track is a brilliant take on the title track by The.Webb where they have added their own vocal in a sorta anarcho/rap sorta style that put me in mind of early Chumbawamba (pre-sellout) Mat Thorpe's mix of "In The Shadow Of The Cross" was brilliant I loved the way he brought the keyboard sounds to the front and messed with the rhythm a little creating something that reminded me a little of that traveler techno sound the likes of Eat Static were doing back in the 90's though in this case without the repetitive beats. Batboy Slim (great name) does some great stuff with "Tears Of Blood" replacing the live drums with a pulsing 808 type beat and adding a stunning minimal piano motif that really heightens the emotion, bringing the guitars in and out of the mix to punctuate it really well! The Immigrant Brothers POUNDING take of "System of Hate" mixes the drums to punishing effect and loops the vocal in places to provide a fantastic rhythmic feel that really blasts out of the speakers with the driving key stabs right behind it! Brian Featherstone's "Black Fire" takes what was originally a fairly blistering number and turns it into an absolutely MASSIVE dub piece shorn completely of it's guitars and is blissful! Dale Farrow adds a nice 80's sounding brightness to "Rising" which I really liked.The aforementioned Stig C Miller mix of "We Who Walk with God" adds an extra layer of bite to an already ferocious track and. Syd 3.1's take on "Rising" builds so well that by the time it was peaking so was I ha ha!I will be honest with so much on offer there were a couple of things I didn't like for example the Drum and Bass reworking of "Your God is Dead" by Dale Evans for me didn't really work very well and Scott Doonican's take on "There is No Madness Here" was a little bit too jaunty and a bit heavy on its continuous fast piano type motif . but considering the amount of material on offer here a couple of minor blips and they were minor, is no big thing really.<br /><br />I feel like I can't really give you the full feel of the whole thing here because there is so much of it and I would love to talk about each track individually but who's gonna read that essay!!!. This collection is no haphazardly thrown together job, this works really well in it's order as a cohesive album and peaks and troughs just perfectly and I know for sure I will be revisiting this often.<br /><br />This is a fantastic set I was initially dubious about a double set of remixes and imagined sitting here facepalming thinking WHHHHY??? I couldn't have been more wrong the remixing is sensitive to it's source material and as I said each individual remixer adds enough of their own flavour to each track to make it interesting and different but retaining the core sound of System of Hate's originals and not detracting from it but really enhancing key elements and bringing some other elements to the front that maybe were not as apparent on the original which not only makes this lengthy set entirely compelling but is also going to make my next listen to the original album very interesting.<br /><br />You can get this set for£10 from the band (inc UK postage UK) contact Pat at Six67promo@hotmail.com<br /><br />Stream or download it here - <a href="https://systemofhate.bandcamp.com/album/there-is-more-madness-here">https://systemofhate.bandcamp.com/album/there-is-more-madness-here</a><br /><br />The Bands facebook page is here - <a href="https://www.facebook.com/systemofhate">https://www.facebook.com/systemofhate</a><br /><br />System of hate bring you another blinding release and if you ask Pat nicely he might be able to do you a good deal on their incredible debut "Unhallowed Ground" & The original "There Is No Madness Here" I guarantee your satisfaction!<p></p>Dave Ballantynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10962015895260884375noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9112004118520930596.post-35963812721541273322020-08-08T10:04:00.001+01:002020-08-08T10:04:37.441+01:00UPDATE #45812<p> Just a quick note from now on I'm leaving links in their original blue colour and not changing them to red as, sometimes since blogger updated it's format the red doesn't work! Just so you know. Also got a few posts in the pipeline work and life has been crazy hectic of late so my posting has slowed but got a lot of stuff uploaded and drafts done just need a few write ups so expect a few new posts in the coming weeks!<br /><br />Cheers<br /><br />Dave.</p>Dave Ballantynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10962015895260884375noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9112004118520930596.post-19796941849564942812020-08-08T10:00:00.000+01:002020-08-08T10:00:47.877+01:00STARS OF THE LID<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3iwjpYK-NotC2pXmZx09ZdLOqMVKMeuVAaGWpdPYBR0_T8OpUgiQd6IqrIh1JdOVTXogy6El-G_pRbD9ylK_pC6bS2cdW4j0p2tFPR_fiwkZYl6rxmKKwLDpqm6U8rW-SEU8g9iV49rk/s640/9b8a1c6206ac3e9faaf30a45c503472d23517f86.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3iwjpYK-NotC2pXmZx09ZdLOqMVKMeuVAaGWpdPYBR0_T8OpUgiQd6IqrIh1JdOVTXogy6El-G_pRbD9ylK_pC6bS2cdW4j0p2tFPR_fiwkZYl6rxmKKwLDpqm6U8rW-SEU8g9iV49rk/s320/9b8a1c6206ac3e9faaf30a45c503472d23517f86.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;">I have often said that if people make requests if I feel the music is right for the blog I'd honor them so here is the first of two requests I have received recently.<br /><br />Stars Of The Lid hail from Austin TX. USA and it's members Adam Wiltzie & Brian Mcbride have been very active in both this band and other projects since 1993 mostly centered around the Kranky records label out of Chicago, if you don't know Kranky records they pursue an experimental and often ambient vein of what is known as Post Rock having released albums by such heavyweights as Godspeed You Black Emperor! (See Post <a href="https://utsurface.blogspot.com/2016/06/godspeed-you-black-emperor-updated.html">HERE</a>) & Labradford (See Post <a href="https://utsurface.blogspot.com/2020/04/labradford-pan-american-links-done.html">HERE</a>) And Adam Wiltzie actually collaborated with a member of Labradford in Ax Em Klemm (who you will find in the Labradford post linked) So like all good independent labels and bands there is a spirit of cooperation there.<br /><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;">SO... Stars Of The Lid released a plethora of albums over their 12 year career the band dissolving around 2007 and Adam Wiltzie moving on to do A Winged Victory For The Sullen who blend a touch Stars of The Lid's ambiance with traditional classical music. There's not a great deal to discuss as far as Stars of The Lid's sound goes it is minimalist ambient drone for the most part both instrumental and beatless however whilst that may sound quite boring (unless that's your thing) Stars Of The Lid are a stunning listen I'm led to believe, though I can't confirm this, that they generate their sound through the use of mainly guitar and effects pedals/effects trickery (I'm not a musician I don't have the insight to tell you what they use). Their albums and indeed the pieces of music on them tend to be expansive (2 of their albums are triple vinyl/ double CD) but these lengthy pieces vary from darker sounds that evoke a bleaker atmopsphere to sounds so beautiful they literally want to make you weep at their sheer majesty! That all sounds a bit lofty and highbrow but this is stunning music whilst the elements and sounds are sparse and minimal Stars Of The Lid manage to gently fill the room with sound that is all encompassing, if you listen to this on headphones or even a decent stereo you will be surprised at the kind of space and just all enveloping sound they have and it's exactly this ability that makes this band less ambient noodling and utterly compelling. Whilst there's little to work with, Stars Of The Lid manage to craft songs with palpable textures but also that peak and trough so gently you'll find it hard to ignore this gorgeous sound. As I said some of the pieces are long but because of this the tracks are given the ability to lift you up to lofty heights without resorting to volume which is often the method used by bands that work in this genre.<br /><br />This is going to be a short write up Stars Of The Lid are a fairly obscure band and whilst have got progressively better and better with each of their releases have remained consistent in their sound. I feel it's pointless to try and describe them any further than I have above, the key to this band is subtlety there's no immediacy to this music,you will either get or you won't I don't think it's something you can just approach casually, enjoyment of this band requires a little investment of your time if you want an instant hit then this is not the place to find it I can assure you you that if you are prepared to make the investment you will find the rewards are plentiful.<br /><br />Below I have given you their entire discography There's not a lot of explaining needs doing except for "Carte-De-Viste" is a compilation of various unreleased tracks and contains their side of the split 12" with Labradford but if you really want the actual separate release you can find it in the Labradford post linked in the first paragraph in the singles pack. If you are a casual or curious listener and have not heard this band before I recommend their "Tired Sounds Of..." album as a starting point it's easily their most accessible and beautiful sounding album in my opinion. Here's your links please feel free to go and bliss out to one of the most stunningly beautiful bands I have ever heard.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;"><b><u>AVEC</u></b></span><b><u> LAUDENUM</u></b> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/7lm0m1p0kjk40vk/file">Mediafire</a></div><br /><b><u>...AND THEIR REFINEMENT OF THE DECLINE</u></b> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/vf62rryjqz1xnwh/file">Mediafire</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><u>CARTE-DE-VISTE</u></b> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/jrc69a3vlq6wacy/file">Mediafire</a><br /><br /><b><u>GRAVITATIONAL PULL V.S THE DESIRE FOR AN AQUATIC LIFE</u></b> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/27s7gsis9x37p0q/file">Mediafire</a><br /><br /><b><u>PER ASPERA AD ASTRA</u></b> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/bdvwz6cvv1yjdpz/file">Mediafire</a><br /><br /><b><u>THE BALLASTED ORCHESTRA</u></b> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/q7e32zg0c1r5frb/file">Mediafire</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><u>MANOUVERING THE NOCTURNAL HUM EP</u></b> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/ag6nylwpfzmoobx/file">Mediafire</a><br /><b><u><br />THE TIRED SOUNDS OF... </u></b>- <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/f6j2a3wkoencrcy/file">Mediafire</a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div></div>Dave Ballantynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10962015895260884375noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9112004118520930596.post-92208161176820033292020-08-04T08:51:00.003+01:002020-08-08T10:00:58.686+01:00ANJOU<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqf3-yr8vxPCCPmcbHWXErtunOdUe4M25CYwzNZlWBeqcO_puyf8jHTOJkQapsAEDmWXhCkyPKHrhNwLoJc2hXfgGeFsiSBF-Wwx4uQJSKvipTzYkMB5D8nuZB5hFb7y4G_mkJtuG4jJ0/s600/A-4009641-1530227867-1997.jpeg.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqf3-yr8vxPCCPmcbHWXErtunOdUe4M25CYwzNZlWBeqcO_puyf8jHTOJkQapsAEDmWXhCkyPKHrhNwLoJc2hXfgGeFsiSBF-Wwx4uQJSKvipTzYkMB5D8nuZB5hFb7y4G_mkJtuG4jJ0/w400-h266/A-4009641-1530227867-1997.jpeg.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This is the second of the requests I received from a reader and I decided to honor it despite the fact that I am not a big fan of this band it links to other music I have uploaded and I figured I would go ahead and put it up.<br /><br />I downloaded these albums out of curiosity as I was/am a big fan of Labradford (see post <a href="https://utsurface.blogspot.com/2020/04/labradford-pan-american-links-done.html">HERE</a>) however it didn't move me that much I will explain why in a moment but first here is a short band history I have taken from discogs.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b><i>"Anjou saw reunion of Mark Nelson (2) and Robert Donne of Labradford in their first work together since 2001, joined by drummer Steven Hess.</i></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b><i>Anjou released their debut self-titled album on Kranky in 2014. Collectively the members had already made numerous appearances on the label, namely five albums as Labradford, several releases by Nelson as Pan•American (including collabs with Donne and Hess) and a one-off album as Aix Em Klemm by Donne alongside Adam Wiltzie of Stars Of The Lid. Additionally Hess had previously collaborated with Kranky artist Greg Davis on several works.</i></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b><i>For its second album (Epithymía, released in 2017), Anjou is down to the duo of Nelson and Donne."</i></b></div><br />Ok so Anjou are NOT a terrible band I find them quite listenable but when I recently discovered them I was initially excited because I loved Labradford and a reuniting of it's core members was something that for me was an unexpected surprise especially since Mark Nelson had been fairly successful in his career with Pan American. However Labradford had, towards the end of their career, progressed to a sound that was more minimalist and ambient and had little of the dark atmosphere that made Labradford so great and this is where my slight problem with Anjou comes in, whilst they do have a darker atmosphere than later Labradford their sound leans more towards the minimalist/ambient there's simply not enough going on there to keep my interest it is in the same territory as Stars Of The Lid but without the stunning beauty of that sound and for me is less compelling I can certainly listen to Anjou and enjoy it to a degree but it's not something I have listened to a lot and become familiar with like Stars of The Lid and Labradford.<br /><br />Please do not take my personal opinion too much to heart one mans trash is another mans treasure and all that and Anjou are certainly NOT trash. I have given you both albums in one pack their Self Titled debut from 2014 and second album "Epithymia" from 2017 of the 2 I enjoyed the second one more but both albums are in the pack so you can decide for yourself.<br /><br />Again don't let my negativity put you off as i said this is not terrible or bad in any way it's just not as compelling for me as other bands of this style and there's only so much dark ambience a man can take! That being said hope that you enjoy this.<br /><br /><br /><b><u>ANJOU</u></b> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/yge08vovpyb7pvz/file">Mediafire</a></div>Dave Ballantynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10962015895260884375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9112004118520930596.post-54443342273604365962020-07-26T13:17:00.001+01:002020-07-26T13:17:10.598+01:00AARON TURNER BAND HYDRA HEAD <p class="separator" data-blogger-escaped-style="clear: both; text-align: center;" style="clear: both; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><a data-blogger-escaped-style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKFuYOx1O8ogZC-9PXJBs4y1XMFo5drjw6nDg4lLnQSGjhqYmCH8G8BGpv8cc8YcHaJJ8hyphenhyphennfJFXvXWWlh9k7NJZLyBkxJxeY_7YMEZP73vPCxOMzQ8UY_fwd_6qFqIVEWqCFCJnY7UeQ/s1600/isisgotham.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="95" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKFuYOx1O8ogZC-9PXJBs4y1XMFo5drjw6nDg4lLnQSGjhqYmCH8G8BGpv8cc8YcHaJJ8hyphenhyphennfJFXvXWWlh9k7NJZLyBkxJxeY_7YMEZP73vPCxOMzQ8UY_fwd_6qFqIVEWqCFCJnY7UeQ/s1600/isisgotham.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="400" /></a></p><p class="separator" data-blogger-escaped-style="clear: both; text-align: center;" style="clear: both; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><a data-blogger-escaped-style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkX_EcnOOqvryTb48IzJD6Z-g7EWHuNuPkbvW7RgsAjnXqCcaX6cX8M1CKc2a82Fihy0_kkeB6_axbSHatQj9KwvSL1LTrWnVKsJjyF66VIHfrinZI-VL2KAhOIgJIm0tN9iqGEeVY8Zg/s1600/2eff6f91.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkX_EcnOOqvryTb48IzJD6Z-g7EWHuNuPkbvW7RgsAjnXqCcaX6cX8M1CKc2a82Fihy0_kkeB6_axbSHatQj9KwvSL1LTrWnVKsJjyF66VIHfrinZI-VL2KAhOIgJIm0tN9iqGEeVY8Zg/s1600/2eff6f91.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="400" /></a></p><p style="margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px;"><font color="#04ff00">PLEASE NOTE DUE TO THE NAME OF THIS BAND I AM GETTING SOME SERIOUS AND DANGEROUS SPAM IN COMMENTS SO I HAVE RE TITLED IT IN ORDER TO COMBAT THIS THERE WERE OVER 100 SPAM COMMENTS, HOPEFULLY PEOPLE SHOULD STILL BE ABLE TO FIND IT WITHOUT THE BAND NAME. i HAVE ALSO REMOVED THE WORD FROM THE POST AND REPLACED IT BEST I CAN IT MAY MAKE LESS GRAMMATICAL SENSE BUT I HOPE THAT IT ALL MAKES SENSE?<br /><br />CHEERS<br /><br />DAVE</font><br /><br /><br />These are a band that i hope will need little fanfare to the readers of this blog they were along, with Neurosis pretty much responsible for the spawning of entire "Post Metal" scene and one half of the mocking musical descriptive term Neurisis!! Also Guitarist/Vocalist Aaron Turner also ran Hydra Head records and over there 15 year existence were home to some of the most interesting technical/experimental metal music that has ever been released.</p><p style="margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px;">Emerging with their debut demo in 1998 (later tacked on to the CD version of their "Red Sea" EP) they had a career lasting 12 years and released many great records always stunning and always progressing the band forward. If you don't know Isis then best way I can describe them is take Neurosis, Godflesh, Godspeed You Black Emperor and a big pinch of originality mix it all up and there you have these guys! Whilst they are a band that are way more than the sum of their influences you'd be hard pressed to deny hearing elements of the 3 bands I mention in their sound.</p><p style="margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px;">So I could go on for quite some time in typical Dave gushing manner as i have a lot of respect for this band I have been a fan (albeit intermittently i shall explain further on) since picking up their debut album "Celestial" in 2000 however to be honest even though I have long been a fan I know little of interest about them outside of the music they have released so continuing my theme of "shorter write ups and more music" let's move ahead and have a quick look at your links</p><p style="margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px;">Now first off there will is a case of repeated tracks here because it wasn't till i was sorting out the links for this post I realized that the recently released "Temporal" compilation had almost all the tracks from "Sawblade" EP on it however it doesn't have them all and as it's a bit of a rarity I decided to leave it up here for you. So Not getting into big details here as this is the last of the big discographies i had uploaded so lets get to it... <b><u>The 1998 demo</u></b> and the debut <b><u>"Mosquito Control" EP</u></b> are both dense harsh listens sheer walls of multi layered, thick, heavy guitars assault the senses for the most part here and they are incredibly accomplished for a band just starting out however on the last track of "Mosquito Control" "Relocation Swarm" is where you can start to feel more of the Godspeed/Godflesh influences creeping in, next EP <b><u>"The Red Sea"</u></b> continues this theme tempering the Guitar assault with some more dynamic parts paving the way for debut album 2000's <b><u>"Celestial"</u></b> however i feel that of all the material they released this one is the most heavily Godflesh influenced there's still those amazing wall of noise guitar avalanches in there but it's tempered with a more clinical approach and production with sharp industrial riffage and with song titles like "C.F.T. (New Circuitry And Continued Evolution)" and "Collapse And Crush" and the album being broken up by short eerie themed interludes named "Sgnl>01" - "Sgnl>04" well i'm sure you get what I'm saying? This continues throughout the sister EP to "Celestial" <b><u>"SGNL>05"</u></b> and this EP also contains a remix by none other than one Justin Broadrick that along with the split EP with Pig Destroyer featuring their version of Godflesh's "Streetcleaner" should leave you ion no doubt as to what page these guys were on in 2000! (their Version of "Streetcleaner" is on the "Temporal" comp link is below)</p><p style="margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px;">So getting those early releases out the way it's on next albums "Oceanic" and "Panopticon" where we see them develop their sound further and the albums that would definitely make them front runners in the Post metal scene. Whilst they had always been a talented band even in the early days it's here where you start to notice them getting a real grip on dynamics for example the 8 min opening track of <b><u>"Oceanic"</u></b> "The Beginning And the End" takes a full 5 minutes to build up before the trademark guitar avalanche this band are known for kicks in however there's some amazing guitar work and dare i say it? Melodies in those 5 minutes! This is an album full of surprises there's a lot of post/prog rock type experimentation going on throughout the album that works really well along side the crushingly heavy parts to make for a totally compelling album. The sister release to this <b><u>"Oceanic : Remixes"</u></b> was released as a series of 12 inch singles and then compiled on to a double CD with names like James Plotkin, Mike Patton and again Justin Broadrick among some more even out there artists getting their hands on Isis tracks and making something new out of them... well in some cases it works great in others it doesn't I would most definitely file this under "For completists only"! <b><u>"Panopticon"</u></b> sees a further progression of the sound of "Oceanic" however the main things I notice here is that the guitar sound whilst still heavy has a more raw distorted feel to it rather than a thick heavy sound and also Aaron Turner is actually singing in some parts rather than shouting! "Panopticon" is probably one of the albums i listen to the most it's just fantastically done and the dynamics are soaring and as you will hear this has pretty much spawned a whole scene of copyists! next album 2006's <b><u>"In The Absence Of Truth"</u></b> was a real shock to me because if I'm honest I had drifted away from metal for a while between "Celestial" and "Panopticon" so "In The Absence..." was the first thing I had heard by them since "SGNL>05" EP. I was sent this by a friend and liked the nice slipcase packaging etc however having a gap in my knowledge of their progression I had expected an album full of shockingly heavy guitar avalanches and scraped raw brutal vocal attack! Nope! This album though not without it's heavier moments is such a progression even from the last 2 albums that it is staggering! There are some heavier moments but this is most definitely falling into post rock territory not Metal there's stunning build ups beautiful quiet passages and Aaron's vocals are now almost exclusively sung with only the occasional shout to accent heavier parts but if you were expecting super downtuned sludgy guitarwork and screaming then you got nothing coming!! This is one of my favourite albums it's really pleasant listening and the build up to the end of 3rd track "Dulcinea" just makes me want to weep it's just so utterly GENIUS! So final album from these guys 2009's <b><u>"Wavering Radiant"</u></b> I get the feeling that though they may have been comfortable and happy with their more sedate last album that heaviness was still close to these guys hearts and on this album they have pulled together the raw sound of "Panopticon" and blended it with the dynamics and sound of "In The Absence..." and it works beautifully this album is a masterwork and the fact that it was their final album is just saddening because it's a great sound a further progression and although saddening it's a fitting testament to a fantastic body of work spanning 10 years plus! So finally in 2013 they released a compilation of B-sides, unreleased tracks and unreleased remixes,demos and rarities called <b><u>"Temporal"</u></b> it's a mammoth collection clocking in at 9 mins shy of 2 hours! it would not be fair of me to try and break this down as the collection spans their whole career however i will say for even the casual fan this is essential containing some great looks into the process of tracks from the albums with the demos, their covers of Sabbath's "Hand Of Doom" and Godflesh's "Streetcleaner" and both tracks from their split 12" with the Melvins. so along with the rest of your links this pretty much rounds up all the odds and sods all mastered and put together nicely! The only thing missing is their cover of Melvins "Boris" from the "We Reach.." tribute album but perhaps there's another volume in the works??</p><p style="margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px;">So this is in no way a "complete" discography I haven't got any of their live EP's as any followers of the blog will know i'm not a fan of live stuff but apart from maybe one or two bits this is a pretty much complete studio discography. I always felt that tho they had a huge following of their own that being the first of a second wave of post metal (Neurosis obviously get the credit for inventing the style disagree if you must but that's how I see it) I always felt they were kinda saddled with a Neurosis clone tag and nothing could be further from the truth there are a LOT of bands that have a similar sound to them but that is because of their existence not their lack of ideas! they were progressive and unique in their field and it's a shame they are gone because the void has been filled with a ton of bands the majority of which don't have half the ideas or sheer talent and brilliance of this band. One listen to anything from "Oceanic" onward will leave you in no doubt of that.</p><p style="margin: 0px;"><b><u><br /></u></b><b><u><br /></u></b><b><u>Demo 1998</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/download/ocfps4ec9uol1v8/ISDM98.rar"><font color="#ff0000" data-blogger-escaped-style="color: red;">Mediafire</font></a></p><p style="margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px;"><b><u>Mosquito Control EP</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/download/bm1yf70qp4551km/ISMQC.rar"><font color="#ff0000" data-blogger-escaped-style="color: red;">Mediafire</font></a></p><p style="margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px;"><b><u>Sawblade EP</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/download/cyc8zlq82be8uf3/ISSAW.rar"><font color="#ff0000" data-blogger-escaped-style="color: red;">Mediafire</font></a></p><p style="margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px;"><b><u>The Red Sea EP</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/download/eu0v9bj4flxmu54/ISTRS.rar"><font color="#ff0000" data-blogger-escaped-style="color: red;">Mediafire</font></a></p><p style="margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px;"><b><u>Celestial</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/download/9ihmibx2u5mtdni/ISCEL.rar"><font color="#ff0000" data-blogger-escaped-style="color: red;">Mediafire</font></a></p><p style="margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px;"><b><u>SGNL>05 EP</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/download/xnaepv7wb0oid9e/ISS05.rar"><font color="#ff0000" data-blogger-escaped-style="color: red;">Mediafire</font></a></p><p style="margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px;"><b><u>Oceanic</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/download/byumzyzdh4k0e33/ISOCE.rar"><font color="#ff0000" data-blogger-escaped-style="color: red;">Mediafire</font></a></p><p style="margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px;"><b><u>Oceanic: Remixes/Reinterpretations</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/download/xuplk3ukmsdi4xu/ISOCERMX.rar"><font color="#ff0000" data-blogger-escaped-style="color: red;">Mediafire</font></a></p><p style="margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px;"><b><u>Panopticon</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/download/ucik5u4uf5evw87/ISPNCN.rar"><font color="#ff0000" data-blogger-escaped-style="color: red;">Mediafire</font></a></p><p style="margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px;"><b><u>In The Absence Of Truth</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/download/1b25xt3zdv64te6/ISITAOT.rar"><font color="#ff0000" data-blogger-escaped-style="color: red;">Mediafire</font></a></p><p style="margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px;"><b><u>Wavering Radiant</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/download/haxgvzi22oedxh4/ISWR.rar"><font color="#ff0000" data-blogger-escaped-style="color: red;">Mediafire</font></a></p><p style="margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px;"><b><u>Temporal</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/download/i79tb5d5whmle61/ISTMP.rar"><font color="#ff0000" data-blogger-escaped-style="color: red;">Mediafire</font></a></p><p style="margin: 0px;"><br /></p>Dave Ballantynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10962015895260884375noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9112004118520930596.post-4093260258178567732020-06-09T10:56:00.000+01:002020-06-09T11:54:33.356+01:00HELLACOPTERS SINGLES REDUX & MORE<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I hadn't listened to the Hellacopters in ages and decided it was long overdue and I pulled out the files for the singles I uploaded to this very blog, upon listening I discovered that they were fairly average to poor quality and for the most part appeared to be vinyl rips so I decided to have a look and see if the entire lot could be pulled from the hundreds of variations of CD releases the Hellacopters Have out and lo and behold IT WAS POSSIBLE!<br />
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Now I am not gonna go into any blurb here about Hellacopters as you can go to my original post <span style="color: #d52c1f;"><b><a href="https://utsurface.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-hellacopters-singles-1995-2005.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #d52c1f;">HERE</span> </a> </b></span>and read all about the singles etc and I intend on leaving that post up because if you are anything like me you probably are ecstatic about finding all those great 7" singles in handy packs with the covers etc. But I decided to make this a sort of companion piece to that post.<br />
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I am becoming less obsessive about having separate singles and EP's by bands these days, if a band has many EP's I am finding that I generally compile them chronologically into packs for myself rather than spend ages scrolling through a bands discography when, as is the case with the Hellacopters they have 33 Singles! I also noticed when putting this new version together that a LOT of stuff on the singles I originally uploaded were repeats of album tracks (a lot of the singles had an album track as their A side) so I removed any tracks that appear on albums. SO here's what you get.... I painstakingly surfed round every compilation, special edition etc etc and I have managed to pull together all but 3 non album tracks by these guys. I have arranged them in chronological order A & B-sides together into 3 "volumes" all of these are taken from CD at 320KBPS quality anything that was not available on CD was omitted (that amounted to 3 tracks only If you are beyond obsessed with this topic then the missing tracks are available at the original post as low quality vinyl rips).Also in my original post I only covered till 2005 this new version covers from the debut 7" in 1995 to the last one in 2008 and also includes the 6 track "Strikes Like Lightning" EP that is not in the other post.<br />
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So here you have it one file, 3 volumes 71 tracks and a far superior in quality and far less haphazard collection of the complete Non Album Hellacopters tracks complete with custom cover by me (see pic above)<br />
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However as this post is a redux I figured I'd give you a bonus so as well as the new higher quality singles compilations I have added a little bonus Hellacopters "Maida Vale" this folder contains their one and only John Peel Session from 1999 as well as a full Live set from Maida Vale Studios for the John Peel show in 2003! they aren't astounding quality but not unlistenable either.<br />
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Apologies for the short post I made this "Digital" MP3 version of the Hellacopters Singles for myself but as I remember it was a hugely popular post that's why I am leaving the original up but I figured the chance to have these in far superior quality was one you guys should have! ENJOY!<br />
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<b><u>SINGLES COLLECTION VOL I - III</u></b> - <span style="color: #d52c1f;"><a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/g3lwqkxzyk4co88/HLLCPTRS_-_SINGLES_%2528DIGI%2529_2020.rar/file" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;"><b>Mediafire</b></span></a></span><br />
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<b><u>MAIDA VALE</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/qygo99htiqjm54x/HLLCPTRS_-_MDAVLE.rar/file" target="_blank"><span style="color: #d52c1f;"><b>Mediafire</b></span></a>Dave Ballantynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10962015895260884375noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9112004118520930596.post-53292687986265915142020-06-06T19:41:00.001+01:002020-06-06T19:53:18.988+01:00APHEX TWIN - 2020 THE FINAL WORD<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><u>READ ME</u></b> - I decided to upgrade and sort of finalize this post and tidy up the write up a bit and add a few loose ends and get all the Aphex Twin in one handy post! All the links are still valid and I have upgraded the Analord 1-11 series with the recent expanded digital versions the "Other Projects" folder has been upgraded with the full Digital expanded version of the GAK EP and the 2 disc remastered Mike And Rich "Expert Knob Twiddlers"plus a couple of other bits related to the soundcloud playlists! All will become clear if you read this hope you enjoy this expansive post!<br />
(I have highlighted anything that's been updated in <b><span style="color: yellow;">YELLOW</span></b> so if you can be arsed to read just look for the yellow!)<br />
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<b><u>PART 1 - THE DISCOGRAPHY</u></b><br />
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Aphex Twin is an artist that seems to unite everyone, I know many people who live and die for their specific genres of music be it metal,punk,rock,indie etc that can't help but love a bit of Aphex Twin and he inspires slavish devotion from his fans. His back catlog is both vast and confusing. Here is a man who gave away near 3GB of music on soundcloud and claims to be barely scratching the surface of his archives! Richard D. James is a true maverick and I think that along with his stellar music is what makes him appeal to so many people despite creating some of the most angular and "difficult" electronic music around.<br />
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I see no point in going into his long history because it's been done many times before and to be honest while I wouldn't consider myself an expert I think I know enough about him but I think you'd be better off doing your own research I would assume if you're here at this post you are already a fan? I'm simply here to provide some music for you<br />
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So whats on offer then? OK, There's no way to gauge a true Aphex Discography, if you have seen the list of his various pseudonyms and projects it's beyond ridiculous, while the title of this post is APHEX TWIN DISCOGRAPHY no one other than Richard D James knows what the complete Discography is and I have missed out all of his early rave stuff that was done under names such as Power Pill etc as it doesn't really move me and there's a lot of it! Below you will find everything I have by Aphex Twin! here's what's in your first lot of links<br />
<b><br /></b><b><br /></b><b><u>I Care Because You Do</u></b> (2017 reissue 20 tracks)<br />
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<b><u>Syro</u></b><br />
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<b><u>Selected Ambient Works '85 - 92</u></b><br />
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<b><u>Selected Ambient Works II</u> </b>(2017 Reissue which has the fabled "track 19" that was only available on the original cassette and Vinyl versions of "SAW II" reinstated, plus a bonus track) ,<br />
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<b><u>Aphex Twin EP's</u></b> (Contains <b>"Come To Daddy" EP</b> 8 tracks, the <b>"Girl/Boy"</b> EP & All tracks from the various versions of <b>"Windowlicker"</b>)<br />
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<b><u>Caustic Window Discography</u></b> (Contains the original <b>Caustic Window Compilation</b> and also the <b>Unreleased Caustic Window</b> album that was recorded in 1994 and released in 2014 digitally by RDJ)<br />
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<b><u>Polygon Window Discography</u></b> (Contains the <b>"Surfing On Sine Waves" </b>album the <b>"Quoth" </b>EP and the <b>"Portreath Harbour"</b> 12")<br />
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<b><u>AFX : Analord Series</u></b> <b><span style="color: yellow;">UPDATED</span></b> This has been updated to the <b><span style="color: yellow;">EXPANDED DIGITTAL VERSIONS </span></b>(NOT vinyl Rips!!!) there's a LOAD of bonus tracks on these enough for another cpl of EP's! I also stuck in <b>"Chosen Lords"</b> compilation CD as well which features 10 tracks from the series chosen by Aphex Twin all in one handy pack<br />
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<u><b>Peel Sessions 1 & 2</b></u> (1st Session was never officially released second session is available as a download from Warp or on a very limited 12" box set),<br />
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<u><b>Analogue Bubblebath 1- 5</b></u> (Includes all the AB series the Different Vinyl & CD Versions of AB 3 and also the rare Analogue Bubblebath 3.1)<br />
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<b><u>EP's Pt. 1 </u></b>Contains <b>"Donkey Rhubarb"</b>, <b>"Hangable Auto Bulb" 1 & 2,</b> <b>"On"</b> (EP & Remixes EP) & <b>"Ventolin"</b> (EP & Remixes EP).<br />
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<b><u>EP's Pt.2</u></b> Contains Later EP's <b>"Cheetah"</b>, <b>"Computer Controlled Acoustic Instruments"</b> , <b>"MARCHROMT30a edit 2b 96" EP</b> <b>"Orphaned Deejay Selek 2006 - 2008"</b> & <b>"Orphans".</b><br />
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<b><u>Odds & Sods</u></b> is a pack containing some Digital only Aphex Twin releases and other EP's including <b>"2 Remixes by AFX"</b>, <b>"2 Tran 1"</b> <b>"Korg Trax & Tunings For Falling Asleep"</b> <b>"AFX & LFO"</b> Split EP <b>"Modular Trax"</b> & the <b>"Smojphace"</b> EP.<br />
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<b><u>The Tuss - Discography</u></b> Richard James side Project from 2006/7 which Includes The <b>"Confederate Trough"</b> EP <b>"Rushup Edge"</b> album and the <b>"Rushup Edge" 2017 reissue</b> with 7 bonus tracks!!!!<br />
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<b><u>26 Mixes For Cash</u></b> (comp of 26 Aphex Twin remixes)<br />
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<b><u>Drukqs</u></b><br />
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<b><u>Early EP's</u> </b>(<b>"Xylem Tube" EP</b> & <b>"Digeridoo" EP</b>)<br />
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<b><u>Melodies From Mars</u></b> (An unreleased Aphex album from 1995 that was bootlegged heavily)<br />
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<b><u>51:13 Singles Collection</u></b> (Japanese comp of singles feat alternative edits and versions of tracks from "Donkey Rhubard" "On" & "Ventolin")<br />
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<b><u>Richard D. James</u></b> (expanded digital reissue with the "Girl/Boy" EP as bonus tracks)<br />
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<b><u>Other Projects</u></b> <b><span style="color: yellow;">UPDATED</span></b> <b>"Gak" EP</b> (<span style="color: yellow;">EXPANDED DIGITAL VERSION</span>) <b>Mike & Rich "Expert Knob Twiddlers" </b>(<span style="color: yellow;">2 DISC REMASTERED & EXPANDED EDITION</span>) <b>"Mescalinum United" EP</b> and <b>Universal Indicator Discography</b> (<b>"Red"</b> 12" <b>"Blue" </b>12" and <b>"Green"</b> album) I have also moved the links for his recent releases from the Soundcloud playlists page to here so additional extras<br />
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<b><u>Houston, TX 12.17.16 12"</u> (2 Long tracks sold only at this Houston show)</b><br />
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<b><u>London 03.06.17 12"</u> </b>(11 untitled tracks 36 mins more like a mini album sold only at this London show)<br />
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<b style="text-decoration-line: underline;">Aphex Mt. Fuji 2017 Cassette</b> (Crazy soundbyte/noise tape 45 tracks 1 hr in length unpleasant listening sold only at this Mt. Fuji show)<br />
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Some of these Packs are pretty big but if you only want one thing from a pack then sorry I did not want to list every single release separately but you can still get whatever you want by downloading the "packs" and I have utterly crap broadband speed and the biggest of these packs would still only take me around 20 mins to download. I'm sorry for the lack of in depth blurb but how the hell do you go about charting the complex history of an insane genius? His story is filled with rumor, legend and myth Many have tried but I don't think anyone will ever get to the true heart of Aphex Twin and that's fine with me there's not enough mystique in music anymore and I personally like to imagine Richard D. James perpetually locked away in a room buried under a stack of unfathomable knobs and wires continuing to create the most distinctive and appealing electronic music of our time!<br />
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Which leads me nicely to...<br />
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<b><u>PART 2 THE SOUNDCLOUD PLAYLISTS</u></b><br />
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When I said above I liked to imagine Aphex Twin perpetually locked away making music this pretty much illustrates that perfectly<br />
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It's no longer a secret that in 2015 a Soundcloud account was started under the name <b>user48736353001</b> This person claimed to be a friend of Richard D James and claimed to have been making electronic music around the same time that was heavily influenced by Aphex Twin's output and began uploading quite a lot of tracks to Soundcloud eventually it became clear and was finally confirmed that <b>user48736353001</b> was none other than Richard D James himself. The account was closed shortly thereafter and all the archive material gone a further 2 other soundcloud accounts with variations on the user... name were opened and are now all closed.<br />
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Now people who are a fan of Aphex Twin will know that Richard D James has often said he has a VAST archive of unreleased material, it would seem that he has compiled greatly more unreleased material than what has actually been released so he began to upload big chunks of this archive material to soundcloud. Now as this is no well kept secret and I came to this whole Soundcloud thing late however I checked it out and found that the vast amount of stuff on there was too intimidating for me firstly I hate streaming and then I thought what should I listen to first? what will he delete? etc etc so i had a look thought "Pretty cool" and left it at that and kinda forgot about it! Because I was late getting to it there was just too much stuff to go through.<br />
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However a few days ago I was looking for something else and i came across a 2.5GB download entitled "<b>user48736353001 the soundcloud playlists</b>" the user name rung a bell and I realized this was a download of everything that Aphex Twin had uploaded to Soundcloud on that account so I thought why the hell not so I downloaded it and kinda regretted it immediately what I was confronted with was a huge messy playlist with 280 tracks all in one long list however it was numbered 1 - 8 so i took that to be playlists uploaded at different times so I broke it into 8 slightly more manageable chunks retagged it all sorted it out into a more easily digestible format and that's what I present to you here.<br />
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Now I did some research and I will say that these tracks are no secret there are links on several well known internet pages to downloads of this stuff however when i did my research I found most of the links to be dead so I decided I would put up my "version" of these infamous tracks for you readers!<br />
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OK so onto the music firstly these are huge files the smallest being 138mb the largest around 450mb!!! the bitrates vary from 128kbps to 320kbps and the total playing time of all 8 parts is a might 22 hrs the tracks are taken from all eras of Aphex Twin from before he released any music to bang up to date however I have no idea which is which and he hasn't said either but if you are familiar with Aphex Twin then you will know his sound is completely unique and whilst always progressing his music forward he has also remained consistent again it's a case of when you hear Aphex Twin you know it can only BE Aphex Twin and no one else. I cannot claim to have listened to all of this music (yet) but from what I have listened to sounds as good and in some cases better than his released music. Whilst I am sure someone will either officially or unofficially release some sort of box set or something in the mean time i present you with 280 tracks 22 hrs of unreleased Aphex Twin material comprising demos,remixes some live stuff and just general Aphex Twin madness.<br />
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So before your links I want to mention something else Since owning these for a while i have often come across articles relating to these playlists obviously an artist as popular as Aphex dropping a career's worth of music on soundcloud for free has been much discussed! So firstly within the files I found a folder titled <b><span style="color: yellow;">"Selected Ambient Works 1.5"</span></b> This was a playlist uploaded to the soundcloud site by RDJ so whether this was a propsed volume preceding "SAW 2" or an actual project that got shelved who knows so I have uploaded it seperately below. I also came across some chatter about a second volume of Polygon Window's "Surfing On Sinewaves" I cannot find the link where Aphex gives the actual tracklist but I have also tacked on the links below <span style="color: yellow;">"Surfing On Sinewaves 2"</span> This is a playlist uploaded by RDJ to soundcloud for a second volume and it got folded into the massive wealth of other tracks here but I painstakingly assembled this from much research I did. Here's what the man himself said....<br />
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<b style="font-style: italic;"> "list not complete, might add from tracks already on SC or from the archives, I have started a bit to knock the order into shape. or take away tracks if they dont fit, so feel free to omit some. These tracks are mostly from the same era with a few newer and older ones that were on SOSW1. SOSW1 was also a mixture of old ones like polygon window, audax and newer ones like Quoth, so I dont mind mixing it up again a little bit. If you would like to try and order this, it would be very helpful and might end up getting used :) Im currently working on new stuff, so not in the mood to do it. Would love to release this on Warp, all mastered properly, Warp? Wish Rob Mitchell was around to help, RIP Rob, your still very, very missed man!"</b><br />
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So I took this huge prospective tracklist and assembled it as best possible from the playlists retagged and organised and broke it into 3 parts of just over an hour in length. These tracks do work well together as an album that's why I have uploaded it but it is in it's rawest form who knows if it will ever happen or if any of these would end up after the final addition/subtraction proccess<br />
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Below you will find links to the 8 Packs I would suggest downloading them all if you have the space because there are some stunning alternate version/different takes on some of his most well known work as well as a goldmine of unheard stuff and i for one have enjoyed everything I have listened to so far it may seem like an awful lot of music by one artist and I have not listened to it all myself yet but broken down into 6 chunks as I have done here even though they are far from bite size means you can dip in whenever you like rather than try to digest 22 hrs of music in one sitting.<br />
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Aphex Twin whether because of his eccentricities or the sheer originality of his amazing music is by far the most popular IDM/Electronic music artist around and the one who has had the longest career within that genre the albums he has released have all been real masterpieces of the style and the quality of the Vast amount of unreleased material here (and these 207 tracks are apparently a mere glimpse into his archive) shows that there's a good reason why he is that popular.<br />
Here's your links Enjoy......<br />
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<b><u>(Please note there was a TON of artwork for all these playlists there is a folder entitled Artwork that includes all the art plus the above cover (which i used for all 8 parts) plus all the individual pictures for various tracks this folder is included in Playlist 1 OK)</u></b><br />
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Not Included in the artwork are some notes from a Solid Steel Radio Show Mix that was done by DJ Food here it is if you save then open it in a picture viewer you can read some notes about this music by someone who was actually there at the time (The DJ FOOD mix is not enclosed on this post)....<br />
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Also you can find a full breakdown and all the information you could need on these tracks <span style="color: red;"><a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11ouNaaVrNp60Ib34Kp0TO1n1XSc7-9DvfiZ9ZiTiD2c/htmlview?sle=true#" style="color: red;">HERE</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br /><b style="font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><u>Syro</u></b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/b1253hr27w8djk8/APHXSY.rar/file"><span style="color: #d52c1f;">Mediafire</span></a></span><span style="color: #d52c1f;"> </span><br /><a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/ug8v5x4zf11sy4r/APHXTEPS.rar"><span style="color: red;"></span></a><br /><b><u>EP'S</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/ug8v5x4zf11sy4r/APHXTEPS.rar/file"><span style="color: #d52c1f;">Mediafire</span></a><br /><br /><b><u>Ambient Works 85 - 92</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/7vwdo1aq3oo4nig/APHXSAW85.rar"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a><b><u><br /></u></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><b><u>Polygon Window</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/gr9aj2r9gttedpz/PWDISCOG.rar"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a><br /><br /><b><u>I Care Because You Do (Expanded Reissue)</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/52m64azaa564cao/APHXICBYD.rar"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><b><u>Selected Ambient Works II (Expanded Reissue)</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/7ns614sdaf4hp4z/APHXSAWIIEXP.rar"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><b><u>Caustic Window</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/ftzdddbdr2au1s4/CWDISC0G.rar"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a><br /><br /><b><u>Analord EP's 1 - 11 (Expanded Digital Versions) & Chosen Lords CD</u></b> - <span style="color: red;"><a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/t665xny9t943sdo/AT-ANLRDCMPLT%28DIGI%29.rar/file" target="_blank"><span style="color: #d52c1f;">Mediafire</span></a></span><br /><br /><b><u>Peel Sessions 1 & 2</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/gitv844gsiw1rkq/ATPEEL.rar"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><b><u>Analogue Bubblebath 1-5 </u></b>- <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/864zznsdjgo244p/ATANLGBBTH.rar"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a><br /><br /><b><u>EP's Pt. 1</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/437g4tzmj5lh8e5/ATEP%27SPT1.rar"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><u>EP's Pt. 2</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/akvpua8xihr3iv4/ATEP%27SPT2.rar"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a></span><br />
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<b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Odds N Sods</u></b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> - </span><a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/nxoocj5pmj3k3r3/ATODDSNSODS.rar" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /><b><u>The Tuss Discography</u></b> - <span style="color: red;"><a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/07zf5etcdlmp480/ATTUSS.rar" style="color: red;">Mediafire</a><br /><br /><b><u>Early EP's</u></b></span><span style="color: red;"> </span><span style="color: red;">-</span><span style="color: red;"> <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/m9w86uyqi525uad/ATEARLYEPS.rar"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><u>Richard D. James (Expanded Digital Issue)</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/m3eyep4hfbdl1w7/ATRDJ.rar"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a><br /><br /><b><u>Melodies From Mars</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/1itpib4y5yidfp4/ATMFM.rar"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a><br /><br /><b><u>51:13 Singles Collection</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/d9cq6d96k578azc/ATSNGLSCLLTN.rar"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a><br /><br /><b><u>Drukqs</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/e0tbc0osa3reou9/ATDRUKQS.rar"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><u>26 Mixes For Cash</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/jc17svzwp39es8p/AT26MXS.rar"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a><br /><br /><b><u>Other Projects</u></b> - <span style="color: red;"><a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/8dzfo0cnjyau7f9/ATPRJCTS.rar/file" target="_blank"><span style="color: #d52c1f;">Mediafire</span></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><u>Houston, TX 12.17.16 12"</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/a244cvxapr2lz72/ATHOUSTON.rar"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a></span><br />
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<b><u><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">London 03.06.17 12"</span></u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/kukgl6l8g2k1vc2/ATLONDON.rar"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a><br />
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<b><u><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Aphex Mt. Fuji 2017 Cassette</span></u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/36p26zhy763kxlc/ATMT.FUJI.rar"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></a><br />
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<b><u>Soundcloud Playlists Part 1</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/download/4mgsw3og2bkmbnk/ATSCPT1.rar"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a></div>
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<b><u>Soundcloud Playlists </u></b><b><u>Part 2</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/download/aoat5gavget6qvb/ATSCPT2.rar"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a><br />
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<b><u>Soundcloud Playlists </u></b><b><u>Part 3</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/download/qiu1oeiusa9s2dd/ATSCPT3.rar"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a><br />
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<b><u>Soundcloud Playlists </u></b><b><u>Part 4</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/download/xjy9fgboc3jjicu/ATSCPT4.rar"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a><br />
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<b><u>Soundcloud Playlists </u></b><b><u>Part 5</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/download/zzk0spn0rc57edj/ATSCPT5.rar"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a><br />
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<b><u>Soundcloud Playlists </u></b><b><u>Part 6</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/download/eoalwnpco26hiee/ATSCPT6.rar"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a></div>
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<b><u>Soundcloud Playlists </u></b><b><u>Part 7</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/kgec85gshvocxr1/ATSCPT7.rar"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a><br />
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<b><u>Soundcloud Playlists </u><u>Part 8</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/3s8pssdsh383x5h/ATSCPT8.rar"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><u><br />Selected Ambient works 1.5</u></b> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/hjel2fpjli6monc/AT_-_SAW1.5.rar/file"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a><br /><br /><b><u>Surfing On Sine Waves 2</u></b> - <span style="color: #d52c1f;"><a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/vpjia9isepo3avk/AT_-_SRFNGSNWVS_2.rar/file">Mediafire</a></span></span><span style="color: red; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
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Dave Ballantynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10962015895260884375noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9112004118520930596.post-5124389960477136772020-06-06T16:17:00.000+01:002020-06-06T16:17:16.193+01:00SIR LORD BALTIMORE - COMPLETE RECORDINGS<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />It was during a tradition long since forgotten in these days of the internet that I chanced upon these guys... I was reading the "Thanks" sections on the inner of my Pentagram CD's (See post <a href="https://utsurface.blogspot.com/2013/08/pentagram.html"><font color="#b51200">HERE</font></a>)<br />these guys name came up all the time! I dunno what the relationship is maybe they knew each other or maybe Bobby Leibling just loved them? Who knows! But as far as 70's heavy rock goes early Pentagram in the 70's was definitely influenced by these guys.<br /><br />I had downloaded some Sir Lord Baltimore but as their discography has mostly been unauthorized by the band or bootlegged having been pretty much out of print since it's original vinyl release. So this box set was a godsend compiling their 2 albums for Mercury Records the debut "Kingdom Come" (1970) & 2nd Self Titled (1971) albums along with "III Raw" (2006) which I believe is 2 of the band resuming the Ill-Fated attempt at recording a 3rd album in the 70's? Supposedly all have been remastered for this issue and is released for the first time with the bands approval. Thus I present "The Complete Recordings"<br /><br />So who are Sir Lord Baltimore ? They were a serious heavy rock power trio from Buffalo New York existing in the very early 70's. Creem magazine's review of their 2nd album "Kingdom Come" is said to be the first known documented use of the term "Heavy Metal"! All of this has to be taken in context of it's time whilst there were maybe a few HUGE bands from the late 60's early 70's who can be considered as the heaviest of bands around for their time such as Deep Purple, Iron Butterfly, Black Sabbath and of course Led Zeppelin! For those there will always be young hungry bands that want to take that infuence and up it a notch and make some seriously heavy and rocking music that get's overlooked or is just maybe ahead of it's time just slightly. I'm really glad labels and people are delving deeper into the 70's underground and discovering these lost gems (That is indeed how Pentagram came to rise to popularity in recent years). To my ears Sir Lord Baltimore to me sound like a lot of the less heavy/doomy acts around labels like Heavy Psych Sounds & RidingEasy records are putting out along with some bands that have rose to a bit of prominence such as Kadavar, However it's that lovely 70's production that really gives it away that this is from back in the day! So in a nutshell Sir Lord Baltimore have big heavy riffs by the bucket load they groove but there's a definite prog influence too, there's also plenty of fist pumping uptempo rockers in there too, of a speed nipping at Motorhead's heels!! I'm sure if it was 1971 and you were digging Led Zep and Sabbath then something like this would be an utter gem of a discovery. So all in all pretty fucking cool for records 49 & 50 Years old! <br /><br />So below is a link to the boxset ripped directly from my CD's (If you want to pick up this boxset for yourself it comes as a nice package with a booklet/poster & LP replica sleeves in an outer slipcase for a pretty decent £17.99 direct from the label <a href="https://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/sir-lord-baltimore-complete-recordings-1970-2006-3cd-remastered-capacity-wallet-edition/">HERE</a>) But why not try before you buy? I guarantee these guys riffs are so smokin' you'll be back for the buy it link!!!<br />
<br /><b><u><br /></u></b><div><b><u>COMPLETE RECORDINGS</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/z76agb5vlpvc157/SR_LRD_BLTMR_-_CMPLT_RCRDNGS.rar/file"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a><br />
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<br /></div>Dave Ballantynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10962015895260884375noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9112004118520930596.post-10424699969673991672020-05-25T13:16:00.006+01:002020-05-25T13:18:20.133+01:00UPDATE PLEASE READ<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hi readers I have noticed during the long absence before the reeboot that a lot of spam has been turning up in comments I am working to remove it all but it's a LONG laborious job but hopefully it will all be gone soon.</div>
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Secondly I have repeatedly stated this but i shall repeat it again, if you have any problems with passwords for extracting files or corrupt fdiles then please do report corrupt files but... </div>
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<b><u><span style="color: yellow;">THERE IS NO PASSWORD PROTECTION ON ANY OF MY UPLOADS</span></u></b></div>
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I used WINRAR to compress these files into RAR it's one of the best and it is free to download if you can't extract my files when you download or there is some password requested...</div>
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<b><u><span style="color: yellow;">DOWNLOADING WINRAR SHOULD SOLVE THIS!</span></u></b></div>
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Here is the link to where you can download it safe and virus free</div>
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<a href="https://www.win-rar.com/download.html?&L=0"><span style="color: red;">https://www.win-rar.com/download.html?&L=0</span></a></div>
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this is what it looks like on your desktop once installed and what my files should look like when you download them</div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-TpIC5sqDvqT4Zu4zi2DTgQkUqMIHgUv325PAvWPub-X2wn9OnEwITlvAB6YxwVFGIQvIaTGulRzGdmR8RS7TtoMJMw207Uz26_oj9v0Fei0pneBxQk4AGeFcVYTswRbzoHnuitGmc08/s1600/download.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="393" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-TpIC5sqDvqT4Zu4zi2DTgQkUqMIHgUv325PAvWPub-X2wn9OnEwITlvAB6YxwVFGIQvIaTGulRzGdmR8RS7TtoMJMw207Uz26_oj9v0Fei0pneBxQk4AGeFcVYTswRbzoHnuitGmc08/s320/download.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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Hope that solves any problems anyone might have.</div>
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Thanks</div>
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Dave</div>
<br />Dave Ballantynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10962015895260884375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9112004118520930596.post-45498455756002499812020-05-25T12:38:00.000+01:002020-05-25T12:38:15.111+01:00NIRVANA DEMOS AND PEEL SESSIONS 1989 - 1991 <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Yeah I would have never expected Nirvana to turn up on this blog either! I was around for the original explosion of what would later be termed "Grunge" bands from Seattle. Back in the late 80's I used to trade records with a guy from Portland Oregon and when we would send each other packages we would always stick something in that wasn't requested, something new or good that we had come across and thought the other person might like. One package I received from him contained Nirvana's "Bleach" album along with the first couple of Mudhoney singles he said this was a new scene that was coming out of Seattle and maybe I would like these? At the time I was just starting to lose interest in all the Death Metal and brutal hardcore I was listening to at the time and when I put the needle to "Bleach" I was blown away I had never heard anything close to this and I couldn't stop listening to it! Subsequently he furnished me with more records by Tad and Soundgarden but that's another story.<br />
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I just recently finished reading the Kurt Cobain Biography "Heavier Than Heaven" I had originally picked it up because there was supposed to be some good stuff about the other bands from the Seattle scene of the time but there wasn't, however what was interesting was that he detailed many studio sessions Nirvana had done right up to Dave Grohl joining the band and the subsequent mass hysteria of "Nevermind" For example I had no idea that there had been 7 songs recorded during The sessions for their debut 7" "Love Buzz" or 5 songs during the session for the 2 B-side tracks for the "Blew " EP. This really piqued my interest as, while like everyone else I fell under the spell of "Nevermind" (an album i can no longer listen to due to over saturation) I still love the era preceding it when Nirvana were less polished and well, a lot heavier & noisier! SO I spent a morning researching and hunting down various tunes and decided that I'd put them up here.<br />
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I'm not gonna lie, 90% of this stuff is commercially available, but is spread over many compilations and the infamous "With The Lights Out" Box set, but using both the book and an excellent extremely detailed website called Live Nirvana (Find it <a href="https://www.livenirvana.com/sessions/studio.php"><span style="color: red;">HERE</span></a> for detailed Information on everything I present here) I managed to source and order all the demos in their correct order and separated them into files. I stated that 90% of this stuff is readily available there is quite a few tracks that I had to do some serious work to try and find which is why I decided to do this post!<br />
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I feel going into any kind of History about Nirvana is futile there is no stone left unturned or bone left unpicked about this band so I'm gonna get straight to the links here.I'm also gonna give you a link to the page for each session so you can get the detailed information there if you are curious)<br />
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<b><u>1st Demo</u></b> - In 1988 After Nirvana's original drummer Aaron Burckhard left the band they enlisted Dale Crover of the Melvins to fill the drum stool, but whilst he took the position, despite Kurt's pleading he would not leave the Melvins to take the position full time, however he did play on this first demo. 2 of the tracks would subsequently be remixed and appear on the debut album "Bleach" of the remaining 8 tracks 7 have been issued over the "Incesticide" & "With The Lights Out" I have sourced these from there, however the original rawer versions of "Floyd The Barber" & "Paper Cuts" which were remixed for "Bleach" have never been commercially available and the version of "Spank Thru" has also never been released I sourced these from downloads. There is a bit of difference in quality between the released and unreleased tracks but if they were unlistenable as per usual I would not have shared this. (More Info <a href="https://www.livenirvana.com/sessions/studio/january-1988.php"><span style="color: red;">HERE</span></a>)<br />
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<b><u>Love Buzz Sessions/Blew Sessions</u></b> - After Sub Pop agreed they would like to release a single by Nirvana they strongly urged the band to record their version of Shocking Blue's "Love Buzz" Kurt Cobain wanted to put 2 originals on the 7" rather than their debut release be a cover version but conceded to Jonathon Poneman of Sub Pop and they entered the studio for several sessions between June and September 1988 and subsequently recorded 11 tracks 3 versions of "Love Buzz" , 2 Versions of "Big Cheese" as well as 6 further originals Here I present 7 of those tracks as the various takes of "Love Buzz" and "Big Cheese" were unavailable so what you get here is "Love Buzz" & "Big Cheese" The former contains the sound collages that were removed for the album version and a different version of "Big Cheese" from the "Bleach" Version. these are both ripped from the original 7" "Blandest" is taken from the "With The Lights Out" Box set "Spank Thru" was sourced from the Sub Pop 200 compilation the other 3 tracks "Mr Moustache" , "Blew" & "Sifting" were sourced from the internet and are NOT the "Bleach" Versions. <b><u>"Blew" Sessions"</u></b> This was the session where they recorded tracks for the B-sides of the "Blew" 12" "Been A Son" & "Stain" appeared on the B-side of the 12" I sourced these from the CDEP but a further 3 tracks were recorded "Even In His Youth" (not the version that turned up on the B-side of the Teen Spirit Single) as well as an early version of "Polly" And "Token Eastern Song" These 3 Appeared on the "With The Lights Out" Box and were sourced from there. More Info on Love Buzz <a href="http://livenirvana.com/sessions/studio/jun-sep-1988.php"><span style="color: red;">HERE</span></a> and Blew <a href="https://www.livenirvana.com/sessions/studio/september-1989.php"><span style="color: red;">HERE</span></a>)<br />
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<b><u>Smart Studio Sessions</u></b> - This was the last session to feature Chad Channing on drums before Dan Peters of Mudhoney took the seat briefly for "Sliver" and was then unceremoniously booted from the band for Dave Grohl and subsequent Nirvana super stardom. This session was originally meant to be an attempt at recording the second Nirvana album but did not work out, it's a long story you can read about at the link below. of the 8 songs recorded 6 would be re-recorded for "Nevermind" of the other 2 you get another version of "Sappy" and the Velvet Underground cover "Here She Comes Now" which would appear on a split VU tribute 7" with Melvins. This session was released on the bonus disc of the 20th Anniversarry 2 Disc edition of "Nevermind" I separated it here because this is the last (excluding "Sliver" ) session before Nirvana were propelled to stardom and also I prefer these versions of the later far more polished versions that turned up on Nevermind"<br />
(More Info <a href="https://www.livenirvana.com/sessions/studio/april-1990.php"><span style="color: red;">HERE</span></a>)<br />
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<b style="text-decoration-line: underline;">Hard To Believe Kiss Covers Comp Session/Sappy Session/Sliver 7"</b> - I won't go into too much detail as I put these all in one folder due to them being three short sessions. The Kiss covers session was done in Spring 1989 they recorded "Do You Love Me" by kiss as well as 4 takes of "Dive" the final version of "Dive" is the only one completed at this session so here I present you with only these 2 tracks The Kiss cover was sourced from the orioginal compilatioon CD and the demo of "Dive" from the "With The Lights Out" Box Sappy Session - Nirvana excessively dedicated 10 hrs of studio time here to basically record this one song "Sappy" this was taken from the "Sliver Best of the Box" compilation. Lastly we have "Sliver" 7" I have put this in here because at the end of the song "Sliver" on the original 7" had a 40 second phone call to Kurt at the end that was ommited from every other version of the 7" and also because it was the only song recorded at that session and features Dan peters Of Mudhoney on Drums The B-side "Dive" is taken from the Smart Sessions (see below)<br />
Info On Kiss Session <a href="https://www.livenirvana.com/sessions/studio/june-1989.php"><span style="color: red;">HERE</span></a> Sappy Session <a href="https://www.livenirvana.com/sessions/studio/january-1990.php"><span style="color: red;">HERE</span></a> Sliver Session <a href="https://www.livenirvana.com/sessions/studio/july-1990.php"><span style="color: red;">HERE</span></a>)<br />
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<b><u>Peel Sessions</u></b> - I have put this in here simply because I love Peel Sessions and for some reason, of the 3 sessions only tracks from the 2nd 1990 session have ever been released comercially and it seems ridiculous to me that despite the money to be made that these 3 sessions have never been compiled for an album! There are 3 Sessions, one from 1989 featuring Chad Channing on drums, and one from 1990 and one from 1991 these feature Dave Grohl on drums and were just on the cusp of their breakthrough. I have sourced these from various bootlegs and present the best quality versions available I present them here simply because they remain unreleased in their entirety and there are some great versions of songs that would be recorded for albums and b-sides later. (More Info on all 3 Sessions <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/johnpeel/artists/n/nirvana/"><span style="color: red;">HERE</span></a>)<br />
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There you have it, as I said at the beginning I would never have expected to blog a band as huge as Nirvana became but, I think in the wake of their global mass acceptance people tend to forget that between 1988 & 1990 Nirvana were one of the best new underground guitar bands out there and I can tell you, I was around then, they were really only known and loved by people who followed the underground scene, you didn't see them on music video channels or hear them often on radio and you were lucky if you could even find a T-shirt. I can also state unequivocally that they made some fantastic twisted, noisy and heavy music that was utterly compelling and still is to this day! I remember once after being blown away by "Bleach" that someone sent me a tape of a bootleg 7" called "Beauty & Power" that contained 3 songs from their first demo "Downer" "Hairspray Queen" and "If You Must" (all of which came out years later on "Incesticide") I could not believe how twisted and fucked up these songs even compared to "Bleach" Kurt Cobain's vocals were utterly insane and deranged there's little resemblance between these recordings and the band that later became what they were/are and I urge you to look past that massive fame and give these a chance, especially as instead of being haphazardly thrown onto various compilations with no real love or attention to detail, here they are presented as they should have been, together in their right order (I took the running order for the first demo from a picture of Jack Endino's original BASF cassette of the session which is in your folder here) So go blast these out and try to forget what Teen Spirit smells like!<br />
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<b><u>1st Demo </u></b>- <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/ovxs7p079sgb1fl/NRVNA_-_1st_DEMO.rar/file"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a><br />
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<b><u>Love Buzz & Blew Sessions</u></b> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/kxq6iowu1wz41st/NRVNA_-_BLW_-_LVBZZ.rar/file"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a><br />
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<b><u>Smart Studio Session</u></b> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/sxy3sk0u0cha1fr/NRVNA_-_SMRT_STD_SSSNS.rar/file"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a><br />
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<b><u>Kiss Covers/Sappy Sessions & Sliver 7"</u></b> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/xhv5f470dbckxbd/NRVNA_-_SLVR-SPPY-KSS.rar/file"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a><br />
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<b><u>Peel Sessions</u></b> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/v72xwpibb1qq8br/NRVNA_-_PEEL.rar/file"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a><br />
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<br />Dave Ballantynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10962015895260884375noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9112004118520930596.post-45580297784729204572020-05-12T11:02:00.003+01:002020-05-12T11:02:29.497+01:00PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS (who shall be referred to as Pigs x 7 for the rest of this blurb) are a 5 piece band hailing from Newcastle Upon Tyne, I have heard them being described as psychedelic, motorik beats, Noise, Heavy Rock etc etc for my money they are a lot like Henge (see post <a href="https://utsurface.blogspot.com/2020/04/henge.html"><span style="color: red;">HERE</span></a>) one of those bands operating withing the "Heavy Riffs" spectrum of music but without falling into the derivative trap of pilfering Sabbath riffs and crooning vocals from the Kyuss school of rock!<br />
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I came across these guys when they did a split 12" with The Cosmic Dead back in 2013 I was really impressed by their 21 minute epic "The Wizard and the Seven Swines" But the name was ridiculous and I thought maybe they would be one of these bands with weird names that disappear into obscurity as it was a further 4 years before anything was heard of them again. I have no idea what was going on in the interim, touring, writitng? Who knows but since 2017 they have managed an album a year so maybe they were "woodshedding" enough material for the 3 albums? I don't know a great deal about this band I have not followed them avidly I love their music but really there's not a lot of net presence I did some searches for this article and could only find an interview preceding their debut album in 2017 (<a href="https://crackmagazine.net/article/long-reads/commanding-hellfire-pigs-pigs-pigs-pigs-pigs-pigs-pigs/"><span style="color: red;">HERE</span></a>) SO I can't tell you much about them and that's after following the band through their 3 albums since 2016! So instead let's talk about what's on offer here<br />
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First up we have the Split 12" with The Cosmic Dead! This only contains 1 track by each band (I have only given you the Pigs x 7 side here as a post on The Cosmic Dead maybe done in the future) But at a hefty 21 mins Pigs x 7 have packed a near albums worth of material into one track .one of the main motif riffs is so catchy it automatically has my head bobbing like a demented chicken with a huge smile on my face! This track is pure riff heaven keeping the pace mostly at a foot tapping tempo throughout, the drummer provides a great beat and the backbone for this epic, whilst the guitarists stick with a motif that is pure 70's rock meet's Can or NEU! but this is no repetitive cycle while the main riff is ever present the interplay between the 2 guitarists ensures that the song dips and peaks in all the right places but also rocks out enough to keep you interested throughout not only that but there's plenty of parts where they just soar the song into the psychedelic stratosphere but also descending deep into BIG heavy riff territory too that just makes you go UGH where did that come from? Leaving you thoroughly satisfied that this is one hellavu Band!<br />
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In the interim between The split 12" and debut album Pigsx7 released a very limited (50 Copies) cassette featuring the full length 21 minute version of "Psychopomp" (A truncated 16 minute version would appear on debut album "Feed The Rats") I have not long found this out as I say info is lacking on these guys, but upon listening to the 21 minute version of "Psychopomp" I didn't notice a great deal of difference between the 2 versions, except the cassette version is longer! The flipside of the cassette contains a remix by Joseph Curven who like Pigsx7 I can find little info on it's a 16 minute almost ambient take on the song and is kinda interesting but didn't really move me that much.<br />
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Onto the albums, When I bought debut album "Feed The Rats" and put it into media player it says EP I suppose at 3 songs but clocking in at 36 minutes it's a grey area. Opening with the aforementioned shorter (though at 16 minutes not short) version of "Psychopomp" this is a great tune with a bombastic heavy riff and some neat guitar harmonics that pierce the main riff to great effect. What I have noticed about these guys is as they progress the music has become more riff based and less of the psychedelic/kraut touches, which is no bad thing as they are head and shoulders above their contemporaries in this style and make music that is far more compelling than your average doom/stoner type stuff. Their riffs, whilst good and heavy don't follow your typical riff patterns and whilst lessened, that psychedelic edge is still there. You can definitely feel this in second track "Sweet Relief" and again in closing 17 minute epic "Icon"<br />
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I could go in depth on these guys next 2 albums as well but I fear I would be repeating myself. Pigsx7 are a great riff based band their albums have got better and better as they go on, the band have progressed throughout in both songcraft and sound, opting for less extended pieces to more regular lengths of songs and more conventional grooves, they always seem to have this ability to write a tune that immediately gets your head nodding, this is a formula taken to perfection on both 2018's "King Of Cowards" and current album "Viscerals" also they seem to make their sound "bigger" with each successive album where the sounds just really leap out of the speakers with a nice rich fullness but never sacrificing the dirty, grimy sound of those great guitars!<br />
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Below I present their entire discography to date I have packaged the Split 12" with the Cosmic Dead inside the file for debut album "Feed The Rats" below and as an addition after I started this post I found out that the LP version of their "Viscerals" album came with a mail order exclusive 6 Track "Live" CD "Off-Cuts". This is not strictly speaking a live CD, it's a selection of tracks from their albums played live in the studio and contains a run through 1 track from "Feed The Rats" 2 from "Viscerals" and 3 from "King Of Cowards".To be honest though as there's no crowd, no mistakes or feedback or chance occurrences and also as they are pretty consistent in their sound there's not a great deal of difference to these ears between the versions on "Off-Cuts" and the album versions but as it's a hard to find thing I decided I'd put it here so the discography is complete!<br />
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So there you go one of the UK's best and most interesting riff monsters collected! An absolutely stellar band with a ridiculous name and some amazing songs! You should be downloading these already!<br />
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<b><u>PSYCHOPOMP CASSETTE</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/1w2qvk0e7y5l3cr/PIGSx7_-_PSYCHPMP.rar/file"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a><br />
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<b><u>FEED THE RATS + COSMIC DEAD SPLIT</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/aonez6n9bb7m1c2/PIGSx7_-_FDTHRTS%252B.rar/file"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a><br />
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<b><u>KING OF COWARDS</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/u1a60a5n95yfzkg/PIGSx7_-_KNGFCWRDS.rar/file"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a><br />
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<b><u>VISCERALS</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/nztkam0pz5l6d6o/PIGSx7_-_VSCRLS.rar/file"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a><br />
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<b><u>OFF-CUTS</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/4wnwv5iw3dw7err/PIGSx7_-_FFCTS.rar/file"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a><br />
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<br />Dave Ballantynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10962015895260884375noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9112004118520930596.post-16638481849878635422020-05-12T11:02:00.002+01:002020-05-12T11:02:22.331+01:00RELOAD & GLOBAL COMMUNICATION <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Mark Pritchard & Tom Middleton have been responsible for some of the most important electronic music to come out of the UK. Both having been immersed in the dance scene since 1991. Both of these guys together and separately have a mind boggling amount of aliases for their music and swinging from old school electro to drum'n'bass to house music and all points inbetween! You name an electronic genre these guys have done it and have an alias to cover it. Here however I am gonna concentrate on 2 of their best known projects that have meant the most to me, Reload & Global Communication.<br />
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I have often stated my love for early/mid 90's electronic music, at that time I was in a transitional period moving away from the brutal music of my youth and well I guess maturing, I was also smoking a lot of weed and what better music is there to "chill out" with than what was coming out of the then emerging electronic (or "Ambient" as we called it) scene. With no internet you just had to piece together what you could, take chances, join the dots etc. You'd look at a cover and think yeah that looks ambient and take a chance, mistakes were made and. some terrible records were purchased but when you struck gold it was a BIG event one of those was Reload "Auto-Reload Vol.2" 12"<br />
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Back in the early 90's there were a couple of label's that were a guarantee of quality the obvious one being Warp records who were in the middle of their "Artificial Intelligence" series releasing the debut by Autechre and projects by Aphex Twin and Richie Hawtin (Plastikman) among a load of others. The other much smaller operation was a subsidiary of indie giant Creation Records named Infonet. Infonet whilst mainly sticking to more dance orientated tunes did put out a couple of blinding electronica releases one of them being "Auto Reload" Vol.2 by Reload and later their only album "A Collection Of Short Stories" I'm going to be a bit lazy again and give you some discogs blurb....<br />
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"<i><b>Reload was originally a Mark Pritchard solo project. Later Tom Middleton joined Mark on some of his Reload releases, As Tom became more heavily involved on the Reload "A Collection of Short Stories" album, Reload came to mean both Mark Pritchard and Tom Middleton.</b></i><br />
<i><b>All Reload Remixes were done by both Mark and Tom together</b></i>"<br />
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Well not exactly helpful! I find myself in a bind with these posts, whilst I really want to share these electronic goodies with you as it's something I own and listen to a lot of , coming from a mostly traditional "rock format" type background in music (guitar,bass,drums) I really have little idea how to describe this kind of music do I say"ooh it's got some great swooshy bits and a nice clang to it here and there"? Who knows? I have to assume that the reader of these posts is unfamiliar with the music because otherwise I could make comparisons to other artists in this genre. So here goes anyway!<br />
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SO Reload differ greatly from Global Communication in the fact that over the course of a handful of EP's and one album they have a more scattershot beat based sound more compatible to artists like Aphex Twin (See posts <a href="https://utsurface.blogspot.com/2017/10/user18081971-aphex-twin-soundcloud.html"><span style="color: red;">HERE</span></a> & <a href="https://utsurface.blogspot.com/2018/04/aphex-twin-discography-work-in-progress.html"><span style="color: red;">HERE</span></a>) or Gescom (See post <a href="https://utsurface.blogspot.com/2020/03/gescom-discography.html"><span style="color: red;">HERE</span></a>) Their Early 12" EP's have a much more dancefloor orientated sound than later releases verging on abrasive techno and in some cases house music. However around 1993 when as stated above Tom Middleton joined the Reload name things started to become more lush. Reload definitely shade their music in dark and light some pieces are so beautiful with soaring strings and waves they just melt you into your seat and some are quite dark and definitely leave you with a chill up your spine this exactly what I love about this artist!<br />
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So onto your links I have compiled Both Reload's Infonet releases the "Collection Of Short Stories" album and "Auto Reload Vol. 2" EP in one file. Both are taken from my own CD's at 320KBPS and the "Auto Reload" CDEP contains 2 bonus tracks not on the 12" vinyl.<br />
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EP's #1 contains their debut "Reload" EP "Auto Reload" & "Biosphere" EP's the former 2 are what I mentioned earlier about more abrasive techno sounds but the "Biosphere" EP is where you find the band starting to develop the more lush electronica sound I described These 3 EP's were remastered for a vinyl compilation release this file here is taken from a CD promo of this released by the band<br />
EP's #2 contains the "Amenity" EP from 1996 and "Archives" EP from 1997 these are from what I can gather taken from vinyl rips. Also enclosed is a set of remixes done by µ-Ziq that were never used and only released on Mike Paradinas (µ-Ziq) soundcloud page. For me this was as match made in heaven as i have wanted to do a µ-Ziq post but his discography is almost as bad as Aphex Twin!!! These remixes are great and unavailable elsewhere as I think Mike Paradinas took them down from his soundcloud page.<br />
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So there you have a full discography of this great artist all their releases are out of print and I had to pay near £20 to replace my Reload "A Collection Of Short Stories" LP with a CD the vinyl goes for nearer £100 I have saved you a lot of money here!<br />
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This Write up is getting a bit long now and I'm sure confusing as dealing with these multi faceted/endless sub project artists are so I shall try to be brief here!<br />
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Global Communication for a brief shining moment were an artist who really did gain a lot of attention for their debut album I am going to be even lazier again and give you the internet version of events.<br />
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"<i><b>Global Communication was a project begun in 1991 by Mark Pritchard and Tom Middleton. Middleton had previously worked with Aphex Twin (appearing under the name of Schizophrenia on Analogue Bubblebath by AFX); Pritchard was a one-time guitarist and DJ. Following a series of singles and EPs on their own Evolution label, their first proper album together was A Collection of Short Stories under the name Reload in 1993. Soon after this they released the Incidental Harmony / Sublime Creation EP, considered to be their manifesto. In the same year they produced the album 76:14, now widely considered to be a landmark ambient album. Tracks were titled by their duration, with the intention of not wanting to colour the experience of the listener. However, when a track was later issued as a single it was given the more marketable title of "Maiden Voyage".</b></i><br />
<i><b>In 1995 a compilation of their remixes of other artists' work was issued as Remotion, followed in 1998 by the reissue of Pentamerous Metamorphosis - an album of remixes, or "retranslations", of tracks from Chapterhouse's Blood Music dating from 1993 (and previously only available with initial copies of that album).</b></i><br />
<i><b>Later releases by the duo saw them moving away from the ambient template of 76:14 to produce funky house and dance music until they went their separate ways in 1998. Currently they work separately: Middleton under the name of Cosmos; and Pritchard mainly as Trouble Man and Harmonic 33.</b></i><br />
<i><b>In 2005 The Guardian newspaper named 76:14 as "the best ambient album of the nineties," and this was followed by a reissue of the album with a bonus CD of non-album tracks.</b></i>"<br />
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SO that pretty much covers Global Communications for you.In the links below you have the Expanded 2 disc remastered version of their INCREDIBLE debut album "76:14" which as it says above comes with a bonus disc which features most of the non album singles and other tracks which is nearly another albums worth of material in itself and makes this a near discography oif their recorded works.This is ripped from my own CD at 320KBPS I have also given you "Remotion - A Global Communications remixes album" This collection of remixes for artists such as Jon Anderson & Chapterhouse as well as more traditional electronic artists such as Warp 69 & The Grid is just fantastic it really does leave little of the originals and basically to my ears sounds like a further album of Global Communications originals!<br />
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So to wrap all this up your last link is "The Theory Of Evolution" this is a compilation album of Tom Middleton & Mark Pritchard's Evolution records who have released many of the various aliases of these guys it's sorta a mix CD but also a compilation you get full tracks mixed into snippets of others and for me it's a great introduction to these guys works, it does not contain any Global Communications tracks I assume this is probably due to GC being on another label but it is a great listen though far more uptempo and dancefloor orientated than anything else i have presented by these guys here.<br />
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So that's that another electronica post where I have waffled for many paragraphs yet possibly failed utterly to describe the music. For me these posts are archives of a time long gone when electronica/IDM/Ambient music was fresh and new and it's a period very close to my heart and I like to hope that either old middle aged guys like me or young un's looking for some history will come across these posts and find easy to digest chunks of this amazing music! Also the albums contained here are collectable on both vinyl and CD and also out of print not that they would be hard to find but htey are NOT cheap. So here you have it free of charge get in your favourite armchair hit play and melt away!<br />
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<b><u><span style="font-size: large;">RELOAD</span></u></b><br />
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<b><u>A COLLECTION OF SHORT STORIES & AUTORELOAD VOL 2 CDEP</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/18k61rravrktv8t/RLD_-_ACLLCTN_%2526_ATRLDVOL2.rar/file"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a><br />
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<b><u>EP'S #1</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/izcpxzb61osoyct/RLD_-_EP%2527s_%25231.rar/file"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a><br />
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<b><u>EP'S #2</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/rppz9tgfiy6nf3h/RLD_-_EP%2527s_%25232.rar/file"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>GLOBAL COMMUNICATION</u></b></span><br />
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<b><u>76:14 (Remastered 2 Disc Edition)</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/2f2dshansaoub53/GLBLCMMNCTN_-_7614_%2528EXP%2529.rar/file"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a><br />
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<b><u>REMOTION</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/isv3iky70ywsmgy/GLBLCMMNCTN__-_RMTNRMX.rar/file"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a><br />
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<b><u><span style="font-size: large;">EVOLUTION RECORDS</span><br /><br />THEORY OF EVOLUTION COMP</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/dwgfmouvqbl8ltw/THRYOFEVLTN_COMP.rar/file"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a>Dave Ballantynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10962015895260884375noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9112004118520930596.post-86829014237709507282020-04-10T20:12:00.001+01:002020-04-10T20:12:38.988+01:00MASSIVE ATTACK - A CONNOISSEURS SELECTION<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdLTgI_lTzDhsZ-ClV_vpwFdH9EJYFRe6HjbJP2sKs6LQMy-5Xs18aC4HDCT1PIl8txMuua3jW6qeUQ9elFrld5EBNQqDMz1BJZRf05mghWH64fb1epIDjwDEqr9cJqLGhXkzZdQFjxUA/s1600/massive-attack.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="460" data-original-width="830" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdLTgI_lTzDhsZ-ClV_vpwFdH9EJYFRe6HjbJP2sKs6LQMy-5Xs18aC4HDCT1PIl8txMuua3jW6qeUQ9elFrld5EBNQqDMz1BJZRf05mghWH64fb1epIDjwDEqr9cJqLGhXkzZdQFjxUA/s400/massive-attack.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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I have done previous posts on DJ Shadow (<a href="https://utsurface.blogspot.com/2016/02/dj-shadow.html"><span style="color: red;">HERE</span></a>) & Portishead (<a href="https://utsurface.blogspot.com/2014/05/portishead-remixes-gonga.html"><span style="color: red;">HERE</span></a>) so I figured as Massive Attack are one of the big 3 originators of the sound known as "Trip Hop" and also happen to be one of my favourite artists that despite them being a mega band that it was long overdue that I did a post on them!<br />
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When it comes to bands that are popular on a global scale in the sense of "pop" popularity/chart sucess I don't like many, so, when people ask me why I love certain popular bands and artists who have had this kind of success I have had the same mantra for decades and that is tis "Sometimes bands are popular because they are disposable and a current trend forced on you by the media sometimes bands are popular because they are simply REALLY fucking good" Massive Attack fall into the latter category.<br />
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A Little history, Massive Attack have worked hard for their popularity. Evolving out of a Bristol sound system collective named "The Wild Bunch" having immersed themselves in Hip Hop, Dub and Graffitiit culture they coalesced round a core of Robert "3d" Del Naja, Grant "Daddy G" Marshall And Originally Andy "Mushroom" Vowles in the early days they also enlisted Adrian "Tricky Kid" Thaw (Who would later see sucess in his own right as simply Tricky I will be doing a companion post on Tricky soon) This along with contributions from Shara Nelson & Horace Andy are the crew responsible for groundbreaking debut album "Blue Lines" in 1991, pulling together many elements of underground sound system culture they pretty much invented what would later be called "Trip Hop" (a name all the artists tagged with it despise) The Track "Unfinished Sympathy" was a massive hit both in clubs and in living rooms and thus Massive Attack became the hot name on everyone's lips! Massive Attack have continued to have sucess and adversity over the near 30 years since forming core members have come and gone at one point during the era of their "100th Window" album Massive Attack were Robert Del Naja On his own! Peaking with their "Mezannine" album selling 4 million copies in 1998 and containing a hit single " Teardrop" The story of Massive Attack is a long and convoluted one it's really difficult to discern who Massive Attack actually are at times core members as I said have come and gone and other names come and go regularly (Neil Davidge for example who appears to have worked on a lot of Massive Attack material but it's unclear what he actually does!) Massive Attack seemed to have settled nicely into a niche where they can comfortably do what they want, make music or not, it's been 4 years to date since they released any new music and there's no word of any coming I guess we'll know when they are ready!<br />
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I have called this post "A Connoisseurs Selection" this is meant in a slightly tongue in cheek way as there is no point in doing a Massive Attack Discography their music is distributed in huge quantities you can pick up all of their albums now for about £10 for the set so the reason for the name is I have picked a selection of newer things that might not be so easy to find and some bits that I have found that have never been given an official release. So here's what you get<br />
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First up we have something I came across by pure chance and had no idea existed. There is a fantastic Massive Attack site (you will find it here - <a href="https://massiveattack.ie/"><span style="color: red;">massiveattack.ie</span></a>) The person or persons who run this site are absolute Massive Attack obsessives there is so much information on there and so many bootlegs etc that you can download, they are all in FLAC and all of the highest quality, it's one of the first matches when you type in Massive Attack website to google and it's a testament to Massive Attack's spirit they haven't had their lawyers shut it down. I f you want to learn more about Massive Attack then I would strongly suggest you go there they leave no stone unturned. This brings us to our first 2 links I am an absolute FIEND for BBC recordings in particular Peel Sessions so when I found this <u style="font-weight: bold;">BBC Live From Miada Vale Studios 2006</u> I was beyond excited to hear it what you get here is basically the Massive Attack live band playing live in the studio doing some of their best songs there are 7 tracks on this and it's a fantastic listen and the quality is superb I don't know how it was sourced but it sounds phenomenal! What's also great is, exclusive to this download (and from the website itself ) is that after the 7 tracks there's an interview with MA main man 3D .<br />
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Next up is <b><u>"Nocturne Sessions (Disk 3)"</u></b> Now do not panic this is not a random disc lifted from a set here's the story....<br />
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<i><b>"This disc is one of the rarest Massive Attack promo discs in existence. There were only 200 copies produced and each is numbered. This disc was only given out free to the first 200 patrons of the Nocturne club in Bristol on the night of the 12th March 2002. It was the third in the series of such very limited releases from Nocturne to feature exclusive one track mixes from well-known DJ's and musicians from Bristol. This particular one was mixed by 3D"</b></i><br />
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So as you can see it's a series by different DJ's this being the 3rd and the only one related to Massive Attack! It's an absolutely fantastic mix, as it's a continuous DJ mix it is only one file however there is also a text document giving you the tracklist but just in case wherever you are in the world you can't open it here' it is,<br />
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01. Pink Floyd - On The Run<br />
02. Kraftwerk - Musique Non Stop<br />
03. Massive Attack - I Against I<br />
04. Bauhaus - Bela Lugosi's Dead<br />
05. Can - Mushroom<br />
06. The Twinkle Brothers - Jehovia In Dub Majesty (Mix By Jah Shaka And Mad Professor)<br />
07. Vangelis - Blush Response<br />
08. Massive Attack - Risingson (Mad Professor Remix)<br />
09. The Saints - This Perfect Day (Single Version)<br />
10. Radiohead - Meeting In The Aisle<br />
11. Psyche/BFC - Elements<br />
12. This Heat - 24 Track Loop<br />
13. Public Image LTD - Careering<br />
14. Liquid Liquid - Cavern<br />
15. Massive Attack - Inflight Data<br />
16. Vangelis - Tales Of The Future<br />
17. Public Image LTD - Radio 4<br />
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For me this mix perfectly illustrates the diversity of influence on Massive Attack and why their sound is so unique and compelling!<br />
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Let's continue with the commercially available stuff. Firstly we have the <b><u>"Blue Lines" (2012 Mix/Master)</u></b> Basically in 2012 the band decided their debut album needed an overhaul for the new millenium being some 20 years old for this reissue it received a new mix and a new mastering job straight from the original tapes, whilst nothing has been changed drastically the sound is sharp and clean and everything just sparkles with a new energy, listening to this 2012 mix is a bit like washing your car, you knew you loved your car but it looked grubby and you didn't love it as much, then you put it through the car wash and it came out looking beautiful and you remembered how much you loved your car in the first place! It sounds great and include it here in case you are not like me and feel the need to purchase every scrap of Massive Attack.<br />
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Next up <b><u>"Mezzanine" 2019 Deluxe Edition"</u></b> I didn't even know this was coming out I just happened to be on an assignment in the community and the person I was with wanted to go into HMV so as we walked in "Mezzanine" was playing which brought a smile to my face however I did wonder why HMV would be playing it as they only ever play things they are trying to sell, new releases etc. So lo and behold I discovered this new overhaul of "Mezzanine" I personally think the album already sounded perfect but there's no harm in giving it a little clean up and it does sound fantastic however. the bonus disc is a full set of Mad Professor mixes of tracks from "Mezzanine" however, of the 8 mixes presented, most have already been released as B-sides to the many singles from "Mezzanine". There are a couple of new ones and I get the concept of the Album/Dub Version but I would have liked to have seen Mad Professor do an entire new Re-Dub of the whole album but hey what do I know?<br />
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<b><u>Singles 2016</u></b> right well this is the absolute bonus for me, After a few years of silence in the time after their "Heligoland" album, in 2016 Massive Attack released 2 x 12" singles and a four track EP put together they total 8 tracks and pretty much an albums worth of material! Best part is this is a massive return to form for Massive Attack the sounds are fresh and contemporary but it still manages to sound like Massive Attack from the 90's it also features a host of collaborators both old and new including Ghostpoet, Hope Sandoval (Mazzy Star), Roots Manuva, Young Fathers and the biggest surprise of all Tricky See Post HERE) is back providing some vocals on "Take It There" There is the 4 Track "Ritual Spirit" EP The 2 Track "The Spoils" 12" and lastly "Dear Friend" A couple of notes here, in the files you will find "Dear Friend is 2 tracks with the same name they both feature the same vocal but the second track is actually the instrumental of "Take It There" from the Ritual Spirit EP. also note in the middle of "Come Near Me" the song stops and I think it is supposed be the sound of a party where "Unfinished Sympathy" is playing I found this a bit confusing but it appears to be intentional. These are a fantastic set of tracks and certainly have been enough to keep me going for the last 4 years waiting on a new Massive Attack Album.<br />
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OK so onto your last link <b><u>Rarities</u></b> so this is a bit of a misnomer as most of this is easily available however what I have done here is, I have taken the bonus disc of the Massive Attack Best Of "Collected" which features 10 tracks of rarities and I have tacked on some hard to find extras, so aside from the 10 original tracks I have expanded it with another 10 B-sides etc so here's what's extra...<br />
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<b>The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game</b> (From the Batman forever Soundtrack featuring Tracey Thorn of Everything But The Girl), <b>Nature Of Threat </b>(an MP3 Released by Massive Attack themselves from their aborted 2000 studio session for their 4th album), <b> I Against I (Instrumental) </b>from a promo 12", <b>United Snakes </b>(B-Side of Promo 12"/CD of False Flags (UNKLE Remixes). <b>Reflection </b>B-side extra from "Inertia Creeps" CDEP, <b>Aftersun (Feat Dot Alison)</b> appears over the end credits of the movie Danny The Dog/Unleashed but was never put on the soundtrack released as an MP3 by the band. <b style="text-decoration-line: underline;">Superpredators</b> & <b style="text-decoration-line: underline;">Euro Zero Zero</b> (Mezzanine singles B-Sides), <b><u>Home Of The Whale </u></b>(Mix of Hymn Of The Big Wheel from the B-side of their Debut EP), <b><u>Unfinished Sympathy (Instrumental)</u></b> Self explanatory!!! That brings the Rarities file up to a meaty 20 tracks of non album Massive Attack!<br />
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So That's about it, I have made the write up and explanations far longer than I intended to making this a pretty massive (pardon the pun) post, but these guys are worth the effort. I was unsure as to whether to do this post or not due to the fact that there's not a great deal of hard to find stuff by Massive Attack and in general for a band entering their 30th year there's not a great deal of material in general. As I said in the beginning this is A Connoisseurs Selection I'd like to think that there are people who like Massive Attack as a chart/pop/singles/best of band and there is a smaller group who love massive Attack for the innovative fantastic music they make, I fall in to that latter group, and if you do then this post is for you! If you're looking for hits and best of's go to amazon and buy a CD! I hope you guys enjoy this post as much as i enjoyed listening to the music and writing it up!<br />
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<span style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><br /><u><b>BBC LIVE FROM MAIDA VALE</b></u></span> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/2cuhowzmdi4em2c/MSSVATTCK_-_BBC.rar/file"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a><br />
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<b><u>NOCTURNE SESSIONS MIX</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/403sjw14jpxcw06/MSVATTCK_-_NCTRNSSSNS.rar/file"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a><br />
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<b><u>BLUE LINES (2012 MIX/MASTER VERSION)</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/fh9jmctr28d4tt0/MSSVATTCK_-_BLLNS2012.rar/file"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a><br />
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<b><u>MEZZANINE (2019 2 DISC DELUXE EDITION)</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/idnumbey763ngcw/MSSVATTCK_-_MZZNNEDLX.rar/file"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a><br />
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<u style="font-weight: bold;">SINGLES 2016</u> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/ve1kh83i1ftxyif/MSSVATTCK_-_SNGLS2016.rar/file"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a><br />
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<u style="font-weight: bold;">RARITIES</u> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/m855cn5a0nonuvk/MSSVATTCK_-_RRTS.rar/file"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a><br />
<br />Dave Ballantynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10962015895260884375noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9112004118520930596.post-40589367187342820142020-04-10T20:12:00.000+01:002020-04-10T20:12:03.155+01:00THIS HEAT - OUT OF COLD STORAGE<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This Heat are a band I had never heard of till a couple of years ago I was going to a sorta indoor festival because SWANS were headlining and on the bill were a band called This Is Not This Heat my partner who has some far more obscure tastes than me seemed to be quite excited about this and was mentioning Charles Hayward often. Me? I was clueless! So turns out This Is Not This Heat were a version of This Heat featuring original and founder member Charles Hayward, it was a great performance and I enjoyed it thoroughly and had my partner school me up on this band I had never heard of. FFWD a few months and my partner is telling me that she can't listen to This Heat on spotify and it's really pissing her off. I went on one of my geek hunts and found her the complete works boxset "Out of Cold Storage" and this brings us to this post! I think the issue with me was I knew the name but I had mistaken This Heat for someone else ,I thought they were one of those 80's synth pop bands I have no idea who I mistook them for but I'm glad that situation was rectified!<br />
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I can tell you now I love the music of this band but I know very little about them so I'm gonna hand this over to the internet (again!) and then take you through the links<br />
<b><i><br />"In 1976, Charles Hayward of Gong (and Phil Manzanera's Quiet Sun) joined with Charles Bullen and Gareth Williams to form This Heat. Though arising from art-rock and the British school of fusion jazz, This Heat quickly developed into an experimental band largely dependent on tape loops and production tricks. This Heat dissolved in 1982-1983. Charles Bullen went on to solo work and put together his own studio in the late 1980s; he has recently issued a CD under his own name. Charles Hayward decided to keep up public performances and formed The Camberwell Now.</i></b><br />
<b><i>This Heat were an English experimental rock band, formed in early 1976 in Camberwell, London by multi-instrumentalists Charles Bullen (guitar, clarinet, viola, vocals, tapes), Charles Hayward (drums, keyboards, vocals, tapes) and Gareth Williams (keyboard, guitar, bass, vocals, tapes).Originally active from 1976 until 1982, This Heat were active in the ascendancy of British punk rock and post-punk, but stood apart from those scenes due to an experimental, confrontational, and politically charged approach. This Heat's commercial success was limited, and their discography consisted of only two albums and an EP, but in later years the band have been widely considered a link between early 1970s music styles such as krautrock and later experimental genres such as industrial music and post-rock"</i></b><br />
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Ok their wikipedia page has far more information this is just a small paragraph to give you an idea.<br />
So the boxset well This Heat were not hugely prolific they released 3 albums an EP a Live album and a disc of John Peel Sessions and that was all The reason the set is called "Out of Cold Storage" is that This Heat's place of practice was an old abattoir and they used to rehearse and work on music in a huge meat fridge, How this influenced their sound I guess we don't know!<br />
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Describing the music of This Heat is difficult there's no easy definition as This Heat were and still are out on their own musically and have an experimental sound that is challenging upon first listen Combining traditional instrumentation such as guitar bass and drums with tape loops and production technique they go from digestible tracks with a slightly experimental edge to challenging noisier pieces, from gentle vocals to tortured angst. There are elements of Krautrock, Post Punk, Jazz and an Industrial feel with some of the noise and effects they use but because these guys are such talented musicians and can really play it's all held together cohesively, particularly by the absolutely stellar drumming of Charles Hayward. It has a sound of the more experimental end of Post Rock music (Tortoise for example) but predates this genre by a good 25 years!<br />
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I am hoping that as This Heat are unavailable to listen to outside of youtube or actually buying their CD's that this will be a godsend for the people who are curious as well as people who are already fans so failing to describe the band very well my suggestion is to start with the debut self titled album or the cleverly titled "Made Available" Peel Sessions album (clever pun huh seeing as Peel Sessions are for the most part recorded at the BBC's Maida Vale studios) These are probably good entry points but really none of the albums are easy this is is the kind of music that takes investment to a degree repeated listens will unveil sounds and layers that will just leave you scratching your head in a positive sense!<br />
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So onto your links I won't go into detail for each one the box set contains their entire recorded output but here's what's in there it's all remastered for this set and ripped direct from CD at 320kbps<br />
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<b><u>This Heat</u></b> - Debut album from 1979<br />
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<b><u>Repeat</u></b> - Second album 1979/1980<br />
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<b><u>Made Available</u></b> - Both Peel Sessions from 1977<br />
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<b><u>Health And Efficiency EP</u></b> 1980<br />
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<b><u>Deceit</u></b> - Third and final album from 1981<br />
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<b><u>Live 80/81</u></b> - Selection of live performances from 1980 & 1981<br />
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<b><u>Nivelles </u></b>- This was a 1 track CD given free to subscribers to the production of the box set unfortunately we came to it after the fact and did not receive this but this completes the discography and is 1 track recorded in 1981 possibly an outtake from "Deceit"? as it is only one track I have Bundled it with the "Health and Efficiency" EP<br />
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I apologise for my poor description of this band I'm not a journalist or particularly good at English (maybe because I'm Scottish? ha ha) when you have a band as complex and as talented as This Heat and some 40 + years ago were really pushing the envelope musically with a great deal of improvisation employed how the hell do you relate that in words? but if you find this post intriguing it would only take you a cpl minutes to go to youtube to have a listen or 5 mins to download an album from here? I often have found great things by taking a chance so I will leave that decision with you the reader!<br />
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<b><u>THIS HEAT</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/eg77do8b4lmu8nz/THSHT_-_THSHT.rar/file"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a><br />
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<b><u>DECEIT</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/st7cndp3og3zber/THSHT_-_DCT.rar/file"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a><br />
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<b><u>REPEAT</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/5yw8zxwrypru4wh/THSHT_-_RPT.rar/file"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a><br />
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<b><u>MADE AVAILABLE (JOHN PEEL SESSIONS)</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/x4jz45nutxbfruu/THSHT_-_MDAVLBL_%2528JPS%2529.rar/file"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a><br />
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<b><u>LIVE 80/81</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/fyvkcyus2sfuwyq/THSHT_-_LV80-81.rar/file"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a><br />
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<b><u>HEALTH & EFFICIENCY & NIVELLES</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/ns1xwof0peq1wyv/THSHT_-_HLTH%2526EFFCNCY%252BNVLLS.rar/file"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a>Dave Ballantynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10962015895260884375noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9112004118520930596.post-8850667715109426452020-04-09T15:21:00.001+01:002020-04-09T15:29:02.089+01:00PUBLIC IMAGE LIMITED DELUXE<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Do a band fronted by none other than one of the most infamous people in rock history really need much introduction or explanation? I'm gonna assume with his more recent celebrity that everyone knows who John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten) is? I did actually consider not doing this post because the man behind this band has firstly become a complete parody of himself and, more recently, his misguided political outbursts have literally reversed everything he has proclaimed to stand for over his entire career. So before I start on the music let me say I am not a fan anymore and I 100% do not endorse anything to do with the man over the last decade or so his views are his and mines do not in anyway line up with that.<br />
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So with that out the way this post is here to deliver you 2 albums that have been part of my life since I was basically a child and as they have both been given an overhaul I wanted to share them with you and this also means you don't have to shell out what are, and becoming more so, your valuable monies on these expensive though worthwhile reissues.<br />
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After the Sex Pistols broke up in 1978 you could have forgiven John Lydon for continuing to profit from his fame by simply starting another punk band, seeing as how he'd barely been given a chance to enjoy it with his previous band. This was not the case. The history of the bands and the man has been heavily documented in books and online so I will give my take. John Lydon never subscribed to the music of punk, it would seem, from what I have read, that he had far deeper and richer tastes in music than merely the glam of the era that gave birth to punk. Lydon though obviously having an affectation for bands like The Stooges, New York Dolls, Bowie etc he had been immersed in other music that has in recent years been given some credit towards influencing the better of the punk bands to come out of the '76/'77 explosion. Lydon appeared on Tommy Vance's Capital Radio show in Summer 1977 having been invited on there to play a selection of his favourite records, The Sex Pistols management and record label may have seen this as an opportunity for Rotten to promote the Pistols legend by flexing his punk rock credentials He confounded listeners, management & fans alike by being firstly, eloquent and educated on his musical tastes and also by showing his musical influence to be nothing like anyone expected. Selecting records by Can, Reggae Artist Dr Alimantado and other dub and reggae records and expounding on how great and how much of an influence Peter Hammill (ex Van Der Graff Generator) was on him vocally.This basically set out his stall for what would come after the Pistols. Public Image Limited.<br />
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After the spectacular car crash that was the end of the Sex Pistols Lydon did not take much time to lick his wounds enlisting close friends and housemates John Wardle (better known as bottom end bass supremo Jah Wobble), Canadian Ex-Pat Jim Walker on Drums and the amazing Keith Levene on Guitar, who had originally been a founding member of The Clash.to put together new concept & band Public Image Limited. I want to mention now, that whilst nothing other than the combination of Wobble, Lydon & Levene could have made the 2 releases in this post, for me, it is Keith Levene's unique guitar work that makes these 2 albums as important to me as they are and has made their influences endure for 40 years, and also why with a revolving door of members, once Levene's contribution had been lessened and then he left the band in 1983/84 that for the most part I have little inerest in PiL beyond these 2 albums.<br />
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Originally proposed as an umbrella name for a multimedia experience Pil failed to deliver on that front fully, despite numerous attempts and a huge pot of money wasted, but what they did deliver was 2 albums of striking originality and absolutely crucial and influential music. First single "Public Image" had been originally floated by Lydon as a new song for the Sex Pistols if memory serves it was rejected by the band and I can see why this track whilst by far being the closest to "punk" PiL ever released is head and shoulders above punk in innovation with it's chiming guitars and deep dub bass and Lydon's previous sneering vocal now seemingly lifted a few registers higher and more acidic this was something new entirely. it may have been a taster for the forthcoming album but nothing could really prepare the listener for this debut album from PiL."Public Image (First Issue)" was absolutely confounding, firstly to the label and then to the public, expecting Sex Pistols Mk.2 and no doubt fuelled by the single expecting the "Chuck Berry on Speed" rock of the Pistols couldn't have been further off the mark. It was common practice in those days to open your debut album with the "hit" single, PiL defying convention chose to bury it as 5th track and on Side 2 of the album. Instead choosing to open the album with the the staggering 9 minute slow crawl of "Theme" Whilst I came to PiL much later I can't imagine what the average council estate punk must have thought in 1978, punk still a fresh mark on the musical landscape, dropping the needle on this album, this deep resonating bass heavy piece peppered with Levene's fantastic dissonant and chiming guitar and Lydon's shrieks and the refrain of repeatedly wailing "I wish I could DIIIIIE" this was, for the time, highly challenging music with no precedent and little to prepare the average listener. whilst the album isn't without more conventional moments "Theme" immediately let's you know that you can put all your expectations in the bin! Going from a spoken word version (Religion I) to the full band version (Religion II) from "Religion II" to "Attack"the middle 5 tracks of the album whilst being fresh and unlike anything you have ever heard before (at that time) definitely follow a more familiar "rock" structure however album closer "Fodderstompf" (a tune apparently improvised in the studio due to PiL not having enough material for an album) Bookends the album with "Theme" It's twisted disco Dub bass, sparse electro percussion, lack of guitar and Lydon doing his best Monty Python-esque shriek of "We Only Wanted To Be Loved" at just shy of 8 minutes is a challenge, but I personally love it, especially when they make no bones about this, Lydon intoning during the song "We wanted to finish the album with the minimum amount of effort which we are now doing very successfully" well as the man himself once said "ever get the feeling you've been cheated?" I certainly don't . It's impossible to state how utterly leftfield this album was at the time I wasn't there but from what I have read it really did send shockwaves through the industry and was not universally loved by the conventional/casual listener but I can tell you that for me it deserves the critical acclaim it gets in retrospect and it's influence can still be heard now in the sounds of contemporary indie & alternative music many bands having made whole careers of retooling this sound for a new generation.<br />
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You'd think maybe with negligible sales and critics and label alike panning the debut album, Lydon may have thought of making something a little bit more acessible? Obviously not.What he did do was create one of the most challenging and influential albums not only of his career but of music as a whole.Coming along just shy of a year after their debut, 2nd album "Metal Box" was an unprecedented musical landmark in both it's sound and design, not only did it it's first run of , I had thought 10,000 copies but wikipedia says 60,000,come packaged in a metal film canister containing 3 x 12" 45 RPM singles,at no small cost to the band, having to sink £20,000 of their own money into the packaging, the 3 x 12" singles were separated inside by a thin pieces of paper and were not easy to remove from the canister, the idea being that this would cause the records to decay from removing and putting them back in the case some sort of statement on disposability? The reason for the original album to be pressed on 3 x 12" singles was to allow bigger grooves on the vinyl so as to allow for deeper, richer bass tones a tip picked up from the Dub records out of Jamaica that the band worshipped, this was an essential contribution to the sound of the album. Jah wobble's bass on this album for someone who was a comparative amateur underpins the entire album with it's deep dub inflections couple this with the genius guitar work and sound of Levene's guitar Lydon whilst publicly being the "star" of the band and also crucial to the sound for me takes a back seat to the music and whilst this is one of my all time favourite albums as it stands I could easily listen to it as an instrumental.<br />
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I am noticing that this post for a mere 2 albums is delving far too much into biography/music journo territory here I love both these albums particularly "Metal Box" so if I am allowed to continue waffling this will turn into an essay and I know for a fact this album has had it's musical bones picked clean over the 41 years since it's release and by far more qualified people than me so here is a link to wikipedia <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_Box"><span style="color: red;">HERE</span> </a>if you don't know what this album sounds like then this should help.<br />
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So Onto my reasons for posting these easily available albums. Firstly I present them here in their "Deluxe" and "Super Deluxe" editions respectively both sets have been remastered for these reissues and in the case of "Metal Box" expanded massively.<br />
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"Public Image (First issue)" to be honest there's slim pickings it is good to hear this album cleaned up and remastered but as PiL had to improvise an 8 minute track in the studio just to bring the original album to a near acceptable length, welll..... The bonus second disc with this album contains the only real extra music of that era the B-side of the "Public Image" single " The Cowboy Song" for my money this, unlike "Fodderstompf" does fall into throwaway studio fucking around ,with no discernible groove and just being a sheer racket it really does not do PiL's innovation during this era any favours. However what is of interest on the 2nd disc is the hour long BBC Radio 1 interview with John Lydon which I personally really ernjoyed listening to and is an unusual bonus for a deluxe edition treatment. Originally a Japan only release this deluxe edition was later reissued in the US by Light In The Attic records so is now more easily available should you wish to seek one out<br />
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"Metal Box" (Super Deluxe Edition) is another thing all together ranging from £80 to more than twice that in price now it sickens me that this couldn't have been available at a more reasonable price and availability as it is one of my all time favourite albums and the bonuses here are fantastic. At 4 discs there is a lot of material and I'm not going to break it down too much but here's what you get...<br />
(Note - I have broken the set it into 2 parts because it was just too big to put in one file at at 541 MB)<br />
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Disc 1 - The album remastered and sounding amazing<br />
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Disc 2 - ALL the singles, B- Sides their John Peel session "Death Disco" Live on "Top Of The Pops" along with live Tracks from the BBC Old Grey Whistle test show as well as rare comp track "Pied Piper"<br />
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Disc 3 - Contains Monitor Mixes, Rough mixes, Unreleased Instrumental jams, works in progress etc and is a fascinating glimpse into the albums "becoming"<br />
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Disc 4 - Live at The Factory (The Russell Club) Manchester a very high quality live set from a legendary performance at the Factory In July 1979<br />
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This is a definitive reissue for once and is one of a handful of these SUPER Deluxe editions that are worth having.<br />
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So that's that it's impossible to understand the importance of these 2 albums in 2020 whilst their influence and importance has been documented heavily I feel unless you were there at the time (I wasn't myself though i did beg my dad to buy me "Metal Box" in it's original tin cannister at a local record fair in 1983 which he begrudgingly did and I was far too young to "get it" and I absolutely hated it) you can't possibly understand how utterly groundbreaking this band were, Over a period of 2 years this band created some of the most important and challenging music of the latter half of the 20th century I can imagine many of you thinking that's a bit of an overstatement and I guess if you look at someone like Miles Davis it does look like hyperbole, However for someone so very deeply in the public spotlight as John Lydon was, at the time of these albums release, well you have to look at it from that perspective. PiL were no little obscurity that no one ever heard of, despite not being musically popular John Lydon had been headline news in the British media for a full 18 months to 2 years preceding PiL and despite the then "abrasive" nature of The Sex Pistols he was viewed as a "Pop Star" Pil Made at least 3 appearances on Top Of The Pops one of them with "Death Disco" if you have heard that song you will realise how desperate the world was to keep Lydon in the public arena to unleash Death Disco on the most sober and popular music show of the era .When you look at these 2 albums from that perspective well maybe you'll agree with me on their importance in musical history? Lydon may only be good for selling butter, entertaining reality show fans and right wing opinions and his "band" only good for entertaining 50 somethings trying to recapture their glory days of 40 years ago however for on brief shining period in the late 70's he was at the helm on one of the most innovative band sto ever record music for that reason alone I will continue to love the guy well that is at least the John Lydon of the 70's and 80's.<br />
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<b><u>PUBLIC IMAGE (FIRST ISSUE) (DELUXE)</u></b> - <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/3qzy0k5rg28ohhx/Pil_-_FRSTISS_%28DLX%29.rar/file"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a><br />
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<b><u>METAL BOX (SUPER DELUXE) PT. 1</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/3zj9umkzwyk18tb/PiL_-_MTLBOXSPRDLX_PT.1.rar/file"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a><br />
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<b><u>METAL BOX (SUPER DELUXE) PT. 2</u></b> - <span style="color: red;"><a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/nkht8xzzgeu0lda/PiL_-_MTLBOXSPRDLX_PT.2.rar/file"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a></span><br />
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<b><u><br /></u></b><span style="color: red;"><br /><br /></span>Dave Ballantynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10962015895260884375noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9112004118520930596.post-53039984206729143542020-04-09T13:01:00.001+01:002020-04-09T13:01:39.444+01:00UPDATE #27456321 Hi folks <br /> If you have been revisiting my blog over the last 2 or 3 weeks you will see that the posts are coming thick and fast. 27 posts in what 10 or 14 days? Although I did publish 19 posts at once that I had been working on in March and February. <br /><br />There are a few reasons behind this. Firstly due to Corona Virus I am In isolation for a couple of weeks this is up on Weds 15th when I will be returning to work, at this point my free time will be drastically cut, so you can expect a severe slowing down of posting, Though I do intend to try and stick to my promise of "1 Post A Week" but at the moment stuck in the house with little to do and nowhere to go I am using my time wisely so consider this flurry of posts an advance payment!<br /><br />If you have been coming to the blog regularly over it's history, you may see old posts you have seen already starting to appear at the top of the page. This is because I have left the blog that long that some artists have had many releases since their original posting.I want to make it clear that in the past I have added an update to a post at the bottom with a short paragraph and simply tacked the new releases on there.THIS IS NO LONGER THE CASE if an old post appears at the top of the page it has been completely re-written or the roiginal has been edited and rewritten. I have looked back on the blog often and seen posts where I have obviously rushed the write up or simply blogged a band I knew little about, Whilst the latter is still occasionally true, I just wanted you,the reader, to know I'm not copping out or trying to make the blog look more productive by simply adding new music to a post and moving it up the chain to the top, I am investing time and effort in to freshen up the posts and the blog and bring the writing and links up to date until I am satisfied with the quality of the blog.<br /><br />
I also wanted to say that despite heavy editing and tying my hardest to make posts interesting, and, I like to think my enthusiasm for music shows in the writing, sometimes I really do lack the descriptive ability to give you a good idea what a band sounds like and sometimes I feel I fall short and often repeat myself or repeat the same influences, this is simply because, well despite having hugely varied tastes in music, I simply haven't the time to fully ingest everything, take Can And Faust for example, I refer to them and Krautrock often but I really don't have the ability to full digest a prolific era of music (Germany early 70's) to give a more varied view of influences and I like to think everyone who reads the blog known Can and Faust? I do listen to a lot of Krautrock but it's something that I haven't lived with forever the music taste I have now has only really developed in the last 20 or so years so I haven't been listening to Krautrock since the 70's or something, more like barely the turn of this century! Suffice to say the original ethos of this blog is still valid, that nothing I post here is to look cool or appear knowledgeable in obscure music, NO music is posted unless I am really blown away by it, if it's merely a passing interest or just "OK" it doesn't get posted!<br /><br />Right apologies for the lengthy updates hope you all continue to enjoy the blog and keep coming back and discovering new music and interesting things. Any issues with links or any problems comment I'll do my best to fix things quick as I can.<br /><br /><br />Cheers!<br /><br />Dave.Dave Ballantynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10962015895260884375noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9112004118520930596.post-27363780968568224922020-04-09T12:14:00.000+01:002020-04-09T12:15:53.809+01:00FOLLAKZOID<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So in 2015 this was originally a kind of a "sister" post to the one I did on Dead Skeletons (<a href="http://utsurface.blogspot.gr/2014/06/dead-skeletons.html"><span style="color: red;">HERE</span></a>) I mentioned Follakzoid in the Dead Skeletons post as being the "support" band when I saw both of them live, but just to be clear, I was at that gig for BOTH bands it was definitely a double header for me more than a case of support and main act! Hailing from Chile of all places it's not the place that automatically comes to mind when thinking about psychedelic music but hey we live in a linked up global culture now and I have been proved wrong here.<br />
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Follakzoid are a many faceted band, I have heard the tag of "Krautrock" being thrown at them often and to a point I agree, beyond the first album the backbone of their sound is a strong metronomic rhythm exactly the kind of thing that defined those early Berlin bands such as Can and Faust however whilst those bands employed a more minimal approach to a degree Follakzoid definitely are a far more psychedelic prospect at least they started out that way.<br />
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Folakzoid have not been the most prolific of bands having only released a mere 4 albums and 3 EP's up to 2019 which isn't a great deal over 11 years of existence but as I've often said and is the case here it is quality over quantity.Self titled debut album from 2009 is definitely the sound of a band finding their feet, though not without it's psychedelic edge the Krautrock influence isn't apparent here, what is is a sound more akin to guys who have been steeping themselves in the first 2 Stooges albums, Early Velvet Underground and sounds that remind me of UK 80's guitar bands like My Bloody Valentine and Loop.For example the track "El Humo" is a straight up homage to "I Wanna Be Your Dog" stopping just short of being a cover! It's an enjoyable listen but it is raw in both production and sound, and, if you were to listen to their back catlogue in order then this album would not in any way indicate where Follakzoid would go with their sound and for me is more like a demo for a band exploring their influences and learning their craft. 2 years later they had completely changed and it's their self titled 12"/EP that for me is the debut proper for these guys. This is where that metronomic beat and more minimal approach of Krautrock begins to show it's almost like they went away for 2 years steeped themselves in the early 70's Berlin scene and Hawkwind's back catalogue. <br />
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<b><u>INTERLUDE</u></b> - Now whilst many people may Baulk at the mention of Hawkwind and I may well be presuming prejudice here, but let me just state now, I'm a big fan, Hawkwind are for me one of the greatest and most important bands in music history, I know a lot of people are probably jaded by their space rock/Stonehenge/acid hippy reputation but they are by far and away one of the greatest psychedelic rock bands of all time, the only reason I haven't done an extensive post on them here is because their digital discography sits at a hefty 10 GB and I don't even have everything they have done, and, I'm not ruling out that it may happen in the future! So do yourself a favour if you haven't or don't already,go listen to Hawkwind if you want some recommends on where to start,comment!)<br />
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Returning to Follakzoid's 1st EP, with 2 lengthy tracks this EP clocks in at just shy of 20 minutes and really is a good taster for the music to come from Follakzoid. The drum's tick away in the background while the music rises and falls but never rising to ridiculous levels of freakout they really have tempered their sound here with a strong sense of restraint. A motif that would continue to develop over the course of the next 3 albums. "II" their 2nd album is my personal favourite, here they have the minimal Krautrock restraint nailed but take it somewhere altogether more spacey! Whilst the rhythm section holds everything together perfectly, this leaves the guitar to explore more freeform textures and sounds whilst having an almost "jam" like feel to it, It's all locked together in perfect synchronicity by tight and extemely confident playing, the fact that these guys can play and play well as a unit is immediately apparent. Between "II" & "III" Follakzoid released "II Remix" EP This features remixes of "9" & "Trees" by modern psych titans Psychic Ills and Moon Duo respectively and whilst I'm not a fiend for remixes the chosen remixers were a stroke of genius and add their own fantastic touches to these 2 tracks without ruining them.So when I saw Follakzoid back in 2015 they had just released their 3rd album "III" with only 4 tracks and clocking in around the 45 minute mark Follakzoid here have taken their minimal aesthetic to what I thought was it's logical conclusion. While the plucked bass and tight metronomic rhythms still hold the bands sound together and the guitar still takes us out into space, this is not a "cosmic" space like before, this is space in the literal sense.Whilst there had always been an element of this previously here the music, while still being fantastic is far more stripped down than before, the drums have been reduced to an almost pulse beat of hi hat and bass with occasional cymbal punctuation to lift the songs dynamic when needed (I remember remarking when seeing them run through this material live that being Follakzoid's drummer must be a really boring job!!!) .It's exactly this ability to restrain and build songs that engage and have a great dynamic, but yet hewn from the sparsest of elements, that is key to this bands greatness. The effect of this pulsing beat and minimal elements gives this album a feel of being like one 45 minute track that morphs and changes over it's course as the musicians dictate. <br />
This all made sound a bit boring, I can assure you it is not, the bass pulsates with, in places, an almost "funkiness" particularly apparent in the track "Earth" the drums continue to provide a solid beat whilst the guitars meander and build over the course of the songs making for an utterly spellbinding listen. In the interim between "III" and their next album, in 2017 Follaxoid had a session in a London studio to jam 2 of the tracks from "III" with none other than J. Spaceman (he of Spiritualized / Spacemen 3 fame) Whilst it's a great listen and I did notice that there were added elements to the songs and definitely louder peaks, I felt that with songs as minimal as these, there was not a great deal to jam out. Don't get me wrong it's a decent record but to me it doesn't feel enough has been done to radically change these songs to justify the release! I may be wrong but you can judge for yourself.<br />
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As I have been sat here this morning re-doing this post,I decided it was about time I actually owned this fantastic bands CD's. I remember seeing that they had released an album entitled "I" last year I saw this at the time and assumed it was a repackage/remaster of the first album (It's called "I" the preceding albums were called "II" & "III" what else WOULD you think?) But, as I was purchasing the other albums I had a look. The 4 tracks on this album at lengths of 17+ minutes confused me! the debut album had 6 average length tracks on it, NOPE turns out Follakzoid had had a new album out for 8 months and I had ignored it because they confusingly titled it "I" .I have literally had it for less than an hour but as I was in full on blogging mode I have added it to this post to save me having to come back and edit Please bear that in mind when reading on... Just when I thought no more could be stripped away to minimize Follakzoid's sound these guys bring out "I".Here the sound has gone even less, which I thought would have been impossible without reducing the music to beatless drone. but no these guys are certainly masters of understatement. There are 4 long tracks simply titled I - IV and opener "I" has a beat that I'm not entirely sure is a drummer,the hi hat is barely being touched and the bass drum is simply a pulsing vibration underpinning this, however still being referred to as "A band" by their label and there being no mention of anyone leaving then I can only assume there is still a drummer? There has been little progression this is simply because instead of adding more they have put in less, but yet still retaining the sound of predecessor "III. So without repeated listens (which I can tell you this album will get as I really like this band) I can't say much more than if you like "III" then you will like "I" all the elements are still there just presented in a more restrained and quiet fashion.<br />
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Right well I have waffled away here So I shall go now and hand this post over to you the listener. It's astounding for me how compelling that progressively more minimalist this band have become that I still find them engaging, when it comes to this sort of music I am generally more of a fan of the noisy freak out or 60's kitsch of psychedelia, but in this case these guys have melded the template of Krautrock to a spaced out groove that just manages to fill the room, albeit with a very deft and quiet manner. Below is their released discography to date I recommend starting with "II" and working your way forward. Enjoy.<br />
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<b><u>Föllakzoid</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/download/2p30tbvcxc6y5u4/FLX-I.rar"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a><br />
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<b><u>II</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/download/baruduv53c3bwv2/FLX-II.rar"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a><br />
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<b><u>EP</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/download/6qnzy23f6i2jj4b/FLXEP.rar"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a><br />
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<b><u>II RMX EP</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/download/54q2hhlnk1a4428/FLXIIRMX.rar"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a><br />
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<b><u>III</u></b> - <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/uje1ewl3bcabnnv/FLLKZD_-_III.rar/file"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a><br />
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<b><u>LONDON SESSIONS</u></b> - <span style="color: red;"><a href="http://www.mediafire.com/file/n33o8dj8ul58zyc/FLLKZD_-_LNDNSSSNS.rar/file" style="color: red;">Mediafire</a><br /><br /><b><u>I</u></b> -</span><span style="color: red;"> <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/lq9612ljy3t1cqq/FLLKZD_-_I.rar/file"><span style="color: red;">Mediafire</span></a></span>Dave Ballantynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10962015895260884375noreply@blogger.com0