PREGNANT NECK DISCOGRAPHY

Pregnant neck are a band SO obscure i couldn't even find a picture of them for the top of this post! Back in the early 90's I used to help and occasionally DJ at a local alternative night in my hometown of Perth, Scotland we were very sparsely attended because we played weird as fuck and noisy stuff and we were in direct competition with another (ahem) "alternative" night across town who were vastly more successful as they played it safe with the indie hits of the day and made sure there was plenty of tunes for the locals to stare at their shuffling feet while hiding behind their lank hair wishing they had a girlfriend! We also mixed up some of those indie hits with the other stuff but we also tried to open peoples minds to the more obscure and weird and noisier things basically if you wanted to hear stuff like Revolting Cocks, Lard, Nomeansno The EX, Minutemen and more you'd hear them at our little night and nowhere else!

So nostalgia trip aside Pregnant Neck's debut EP "Scaffolder Olcer" (Pictured above) was discovered by one of the guys who ran the night and the song "Pie And Mash" with it's Insane bouncing bassline, shredding guitars and refrain of "GOT ANY PIE & MASH LOVE?" became a firm dancefloor favourite!

I had completely forgotten about this band till one of my friends from this era posted up a youtube vid of the very song I mention above "Pie and Mash" on facebook! I was very glad of the reminder and immediately set about looking to see if someone had ever done a CD retrospective or if they had any CD's at all, but it would seem this band were destined to languish in the DEEP obscurity from whence they came. I found they had only done one album an EP and a demo all of which I managed to download from various sources.

The reason I am doing this post is because off the back of my mate posting about this band I discovered a lot of people remembered them from that era and i decided to upload the discography to mediafire for my mates and seeing as it was there and I also like to provide the readers of this blog with the weird wonderful and most obscure of music I figured I'd share the link here with you!

Pregnant Neck, if the name hadn't already alerted you are not for everybody they play that Scratchy guitar, loud heavy bass,unhinged vocals and crazy drumming style of Noisy post punk that was very popular in the early 90's with bands like Stretcheads, Dawson,The EX, Dog Faced Hermans etc but if nothing else the song "Pie & Mash" that instigated this whole post should be listened to, you can find it on youtube here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMt9gmofLJU then decide if you think the rest is worth listening to I for one think this band are great, but for me I was there when this music was around, I saw some of these bands live and it brings back fond memories of a pre-internet time of sharing and discovering new music simply by taking a chance on a cover or a heads up from a friend!

Their discography & existence was brief so there's only one file this contains their debut cassette/demo "Stomach" The 7" EP "Scaffolder Olcer" and their only album "Shenanegan-Esque Rapscalianismz!!" So you now have the chance to dive into a full discography of one of the most obscure bands i have posted on here.

Note: Unfortunately due to the fact that no one seems to give a shit about these old obscure bands these files are vinyl / cassette rips and not of the highest quality but i have done the best i can with them and they are all properly tagged with appropriate cover art (I really struggled to find a picture of their album cover as well!!!) but it's all there in it's scratchy noisy glory so hopefully it will reach a few more people than it ever did back in the 90's!


Pregnant Neck Discography - Mediafire

ENTOMBED - CLANDESTINE LIVE

Entombed 2016 L-R Eddie Aftonfalk, Uffe Cederund, Orvar Säfström, 

Nicke Andersson, Alex Hellid

Some of you may have been to my previous Entombed post (See that HERE ) and it was a mission to do that post and i was gonna just tack this onto that post I figured as it was such a special release it deserved a post of it's own I've linked you to the other Entombed post above so if you're looking for more go there.

Back in 2016 it was announced that 3 of the original members of Entombed enlisting the assistance of Orvar Säfström (Ex Nirvana 2002 ) on bass and Eddie Aftonfalk (Vocalist for Swedish OSDM band Morbus Chron) on vocals, were getting together for a special project, they were going to perform their classic "Clandestine" album in it's entiritey live, but not only that they would be playing this at the famed Malmö Concert Hall in 2 Acts one of the band playing the album in it's entirety and then a full orchestra version with the Malmö Symphony Orchestra!!!

Now with the horrors of previous metal/Orchestral crossovers in mind I'm sure this is an abhorrent thought for many of you ("S&M" anyone??) However there's more to this than you think so read on...

Whilst the Band version of the live performance is a simply RIPPING run through the "Clandestine" album there's the addition of an encore of "Left Hand Path" which is simply flooring and is worth taking the time to download just to hear, however it's the Orchestral act that is of most interest certainly to me at least! I had expected a horrific mash of Entombed's punishing death metal backed with an orchestra trying to punctuate such a brutal sound and if you have heard "Clandestine" you know what I mean! However this is not the case what you actually get is a complete orchestral reinterpretation of the album with Entombed sitting in as part of the orchestra rather than being the main musicians and the orchestral version switches from Eddie Aftonfalk handling the vocals on the band disc to Orvar Säfström for the orchestral. What is interesting about this is it strictly classical music but the occasional punctuation of death metal vocals and the stripping away of the heavy riffs ( Alex, Uffe, Thomas and Nicke only providing guitar, bass and percussion accompaniment within the orchestra and not with their trademark heavy instrument sounds) for me was mindblowing and by far one of the most unique and interesting uses of orchestra within "metal" I have heard to date!

The subsequent results were recorded on both video and audio and released as a lush 3 disc hardbound book package with a poster of the Clandestine artwork redone by original artist Dan Seagrave (see pic below) that was only available to people who had pledged for it through Entombed's official website (kinda like a kickstarter?) so as it wasn't made available as a commercial release and even though it was probably not too difficult to find to download , again, it was a case of I uploaded for a friend and it's a nice addendum to the previous Entombed discography post I had done!

I can't stress enough that I am not a big fan of classical music but for me this is classical interpretation of dark source material and heavy riffs accompanied by the band themselves along with the unusual dynamic of having Death metal vocals punctuate the dynamic as part of an orchestral set might sound like it could be an unholy mess it actually works fantastically, And for me this really works I thoroughly enjoyed listening to it and I have actually listened to the classical disc more than the live band version!!!

I could spend hours detailing the personnel and other information but I have been trying to keep the write ups short so you can get onto the music and who reads these anyway ha ha! so below is your link go give it a listen and see what you think and here's a link to the discogs page so those of you with trainspotting tendencies similar to me can check out all the info.

https://www.discogs.com/Entombed-Clandestine/release/10967406

Here's the Music.

Entombed Clandestine Live 2016 - Mediafire

OBLIVIANS

Ok so I'm gonna admit, despite being a fan for 20 years I don't know a lot about Oblivians I was introduced to them by chance in about 1998 by a good friend of mine from Scotland who came to visit me after I moved to England with a folder full of new music he had discovered (I also got turned on to the amazing early Danko Jones stuff and Jon Spencer Blues Explosion the same day! WHAT A DAY) at that time i had no reference point for their lo-fi garage rock other than to say "WOW these guys sound like The Stooges" however I have become quite a fan of Garage Rock over the last 20 years and now understand that The Stooges may have been the first to play that style but they weren't the last! I have remained a firm fan ever since and to be honest I didn't really feel that knowing a lot about them was more important than just having my ass kicked by their destroying garage rock!

Oblivians formed in 1993 in Memphis Tenessee, 2 of it's members being from the band Compulsive Gamblers and opting for a more raw and stripped down sound than their previous band and all 3 members assuming the surname Oblivian They lasted from 1993 - 1998 and then broke up, They reformed several times in the 00's for reunion shows but ultimately ended up reforming for a new album "Desperation" which for me was not really a return to former glory and had more in common with the more melodic Compulsive Gamblers who had also been reformed in the interim!

There's not a great deal more i can tell you than that if you really thirst for information you can always go and check wikipedia because basically if i continue this write up i will basically be retreading what wiki says anyway but if you are truly too lazy then here's the link to their wiki page....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oblivians

So Onto your links...

I have basically uploaded everything Oblivians did up till 2013 including the reformation album "Desperation" this is not quite a full discography as there has been one 7" released this year that I haven't got yet but as I have said i wasn't that impressed by the reformed Oblivians so I'm in no rush if i get round to it I'll add it to the post. So the album links are self explanatory but here's a breakdown of what is in the links Singles Pt. 1 & Pt. 2

Singles Pt 1.

Never Enough 10"
Best Of Worst of (Unr. Tracks)
On The GO - The First Recordings
Six Of The Best 10"

Singles Pt 2

Blew Their Cool 7"
Call The Shots 7"
Go Pill Popper 7"
Kick Your Ass 7"
Split W/ Two Bo's Maniacs
Strong Come On 7"

Never Enough, Six Of The Best & Kick Your Ass are all taken from the CD "Sympathy Sessions" ripped from my own disc 320KBPS as you'd expect and split into their respective releases with their appropriate cover art, Best Of The Worst of was a compilation of Oblivians tracks from their various releases but on there were 10 previously unreleased tracks so I have trimmed off the album and single tracks and just left you with the unreleased stuff.

So here you go a pretty comprehensive pretty much discography of one of the first and best bands from the 90's Garage scene these guys are raw, lo fi and they simply just destroy if you haven't heard Oblivians before i reccomend the "Soul Food" album it's a great starting place and for me contains the definitive versions of some of their best songs and if you aren't thrashing round the room to opener "Vietnam war Blues" well maybe these guys aren't for you!

Enjoy


Singles Pt.1 - Mediafire

Singles Pt. 2 - Mediafire

Soul Food - Mediafire

Popular Favorites - Mediafire
Desperation - Mediafire

JUSTIN BROADRICK : REMIXES & MORE

Ok folks well LONG time NO POSTS I decided this one needed a serious Updating so I have taken the original post here and edited the text it as I have spent the best part of a whole day finding compiling and sorting what, according to Discogs, is a complete collection of Justin Broadrick's remix work in his various guises! Anyone who follows this blog will no I am nothing if not obsessive so here I present you with a massively expanded version of my original post from 2014....

Justin Broadrick is a man who's career I have followed for a long time from my first hearing of his guitar work on the A side of Napalm Death's "Scum" through the stunning work of Godflesh to his more contemporary projects such as Jesu and Pale Sketcher I've been a fan for a long time, he has been nothing if not prolific with around 20 projects and collaborations over the years not including his own "main" bands but it would seem that his love of restructuring his own music as well as his restructuring others music has largely gone unnoticed.
I decided in 2014 that this was something that needed rectifying and here now in 2017 I figured I wanted the whole story so why not share it with you readers!

So just to be on the safe side i am not going to claim this collection of remixes to be 100% complete but according to my research this is all that i can find any information on and at a mighty 63 tracks, 918 MB and 7 hours of music I think if I've missed anything considering i spent a total of around 8 or 9 hrs researching, downloading, tagging and compiling these in as near as possible chronological order ... well... if you're gonna complain that something unbelievably obscure I have missed  isn't there...well.. I've said this many times before..GO START YOUR OWN DAMN BLOG!!!!

I have omitted most of his remixes of his own work due to the fact that there are in some cases whole albums of his own material remixed, however I've had to pay for a few of the tracks or in rare cases had to buy the physical release to get the JKB mix! And there are some cases where i felt a JKB mix of one of his own projects was worth having in this collection in other cases like the near 30 mins worth that is the 2 remixes of Godflesh's "Crush My Soul" that maybe it was a bit much and the EP's containing those remixes are easy and cheap to find.You will find this a varied and eclectic selection of bands and sounds as I have said I've arranged it in chronological order  from his first steps into remixing, the Biomechanical Mixes for Pantera & Mark Of Cain in the 90's to the latest remix for Mortiis that's only a few weeks old!

The mixes on display here range from epic length to the achingly beautiful and to the crushingly heavy and sometimes all of that in one mix!!! But I've listened to this collection many times and it has never ceased to impress me although many of the bands on here that JKB has remixed may be familiar to readers of this blog (Isis, Killing Joke) some of them are so damned obscure it was a serious mission to source them (Iroha?? Deathless??) but the one thing they have in common is regardless of the source material there's no denying who has constructed the versions presented here. Below is a list of what is in each of the 3 packs they are a hefty size but even with the lamest of internet connections you should be able to download each file in around 10 - 15 mins so you can pick and choose which parts you download if you want to. So here's your track list...

JKBRMXI

1: Pantera : Fucking Hostile (Biomechanical Mix)
2: Pantera : By Demons Be Driven (Biomechanical Mix)
3: The Lemonheads : Style (Godflesh Style)
4: Deathless : Inexstasis (JK Broadrick remix)
5: Godflesh V's Justin Broadrick : Wake (from Hellspawn Comp)
6: Mark Of Cain : You Let Me Down (Biomechanical Mix)
7: Mark Of Cain : Pointman (Unclean Mix)
8: Pigface : Burundi (Overload Mix)
9: David Kristian : Cookies (Justin K. Broadrick Remix)
10: Quoit : Plug 8 (Cylon Remix) (Cylon is a JKB alias)
11: Isis : Celestial (Signal Fills the Void) (Mix By JK Broadrick)
12: Isis : Hym (Justin Broadrick Remix)
13: Pelican : Angel Tears (JK Broadrick Remix)
14: Earth : Harvey (Justin Broadrick)
15: 5ive : Soma Remix By JK Broadrick (Stage 1)
16: 5ive : Soma Remix By JK Broadrick (Stage 1)
17: Agoraphobic Nosebleed : Untitled (Flesh Of Jesu Mix)
18: Knut : H/armless (JK Broadrick)
19: Maninkari : Particpation Mystic (Remix By Jesu)
20: Explosions In The Sky : The Birth And Death Of The Day (Jesu Mix)
21: Genghis Tron : Colony Collapse (Justin K Broadrick Remix)
22: The Pyramids : The Echo Of Something Lovely (Jesu Remix)

JKBRMXII

1: Fog : I Have Been Wronged (Jesu Remix)
2: Lustmord : Dub Awakening (Justin K Broadrick Remix) (From Transmuted)
3: School Of Seven Bells : Face To Face On High Places (Jesu Remix)
4: Constants : Those Who Came Before Pt.I (Justin K Broadrick Remix)
5: Bear In Heaven : Dust Cloud (Justin K. Broadrick Remix)
6: Majeure : Teleforce (Justin K Broadrick Remix)
7: Killing Joke : European Super State (Justin Broadrick Remix)
8: Circle Of Animals : Invisible War (Justin K Broadrick Remix)
9: Blood Of Heroes : Remain (Justin K Broadrick Remix)
10: Iroha : Last Day Of Summer (Jesu Remix)
11: Extra Life : Made Flesh (Justin K. Broadrick Remix)
12: Ceremony : It's Too Late (Justin K Broadrick)
13: My Disco : All I Can Do (Justin K Broadrick's Warmer Remix)
14: My Disco : All I Can Do (Justin K Broadrick's Heavier Remix)
15: Mogwai : George SquareThatcher Death Party (Justin K Broadrick Reshape)
16: Vidna Obmana : Out From The Garden Reminded (Jesu Remix)
17: Challenger : Life In The Paint (Justin K Broadrick Remix)
18: Miracle : Good Love.(Pale Sketcher Remake).
19: Lustmord :Dub Awakening (Justin K Broadrick Remix) (From Other Dub)
20: Cult Of Luna : Vicarious Redemption (Remix By Justin K. Broadrick)
21: Violetshaped : cX310 (JK Flesh Reshape)

JKBRMXIII

1: Empty Flowers : Car Fires (Justin K Broadrick Remix)
2: Dirk Serries : There s A Light In Vein (Justin Broadrick Remix)
3: Endon : Etude For Lynching by Family (Justin K. Broadrick Remix)
4: Pale Horseman : Fork In The Road (Justin K. Broadrick Remix)
5: RA : Paz Podre (JK Flesh Remix)
6: Amantra : Rituals (Justin K Broadrick Remix)
7: Coliseum : White Magic Punks - Sorcerer Remix  (JK.Broadrick Remix)
8: Atlanta Industrial Sector : Immanence (Justin K. Broadrick 'Destroyed Version')
9: Solypsis : Unperfect.(Justin K.Broadrick Reshape)
10: Invertia : The Sidewinding (Justin K Broadrick Remix)
11: La Fin Absolute du Monde : Black Sheep (Justin K. Broadrick Remix)
12: Pelican : The Cliff (Justin Broadrick Remix)
13: AnD : Non Sky Signal Noise (JK Flesh Reshape)
14: Nicholas Godin : Widerstehe Doch Der Sünde  (Justin K. Broadrick Remix)
15: The View Elictrical : Treasures (Justin K Broadrick Remix)
16: Frank Rosaly : Malo III (Justin K Broadrick Remix)
17: The Bug V.s Earth : Dog (feat. JK Flesh)
18: The Bug V.s Earth : Pray (feat. JK Flesh)
19: Drug Honkey : Pool of Failure (JKB Remix)
20: Mortiis : The Great Leap (Godflesh Extended Version)


So there you go a finer collection of his remix work you are unlikely to find

I cannot suggest strongly enough that even if you own some of these that you download ALL 3 parts of the remixes and listen to it as a whole as to my mind as a collection it's a staggering musical journey for even the most casual Jesu, Godflesh, JKB fan especially as I have done this chronologically it's great to see how he progresses from the early mixes of metal bands into more experimental territory Even if you were to put it on in the background whilst doing something I can assure you that much, if not all of this work will still grab your attention. It has all been sourced from the best quality i can find and though not all clocking in at 320kbps there's nothing lower than 192kbps and certainly there is NO lack of quality throughout.For the uninitiated this is probably not the best place to start with JKB's work but if you are a fan of his various musical projects but are unfamiliar with his remix work then this would be a mindblowing experience for you I'm hoping that some of the readers who come across this post will be fans of Justin's work and if not will maybe take my wholehearted recommendation as an indication that this is a post well worth you precious music listening time.

Well that's it for now just leaves me to give you your links I hope some people will come across this and appreciate the work that went into this as I am a big fan of Justin's work and this was a labour of love for my own personal collection and enjoyment and something I have not seen elsewhere on anyone else's blog at least nowhere near as expansive as this collection... ENJOY!

JKBRMXI - Mediafire

JKBRMXII - Mediafire

JKBRMXIII - Mediafire

****UPDATE****

Ok so here we go again after much research and a little friendly help I have compiled a FOURTH volume of this remix series As i said in my updated intro I kept getting people telling me this remix or that version was missing so i went ahead and started compiling them for myself and for sharing with you lucky people. I originally did this series in chronological order as best i could however this 4th volume contains remixes going back to the 90's as well as the most recent remixes (up to September 2017) So this section is entitled "Remixes 2017 & Supplemental" So here's what is in it...

1: These Hidden Hands : Dendera Light (JK Flesh Remix)

2: Isaurian : Hologram (Jesu Remix)

3: Jack Colwell : Beneather (Jesu Remix)

4: Survive : Other (Justin K Broadrick As JK Flesh Remix)

5: Health : Men Today (JK Flesh Remix)

6: Multiple Mono : False Prophet (Pale Sketcher Remix)

7: Final : Inanimate Air (JK Flesh Remix)

8: Vidna Obmana : Out From The Garden Reminded (Final Remix)

9: Controlled Bleeding : Swarm (Justin K Broadrick Remix)

10: JK Flesh : JK Flesh Merges Prurient I

11: JK Flesh : JK Flesh Merges Prurient II

12: The Membranes : 21st Century Man (Godflesh Remix)

13: Cloaks : Rust On Metal (JK Flesh Remix)

14: David Christian : Cookies (Justin K Broadrick Remix)

15: Dirk Serries : There's A Light In Vein (JKB Remix)

16: Invertia : 16 The Sidewinding (Justin K Broadrick Remix)

17: Murder Inc. : Last Of the Biomechanical Urgents  (Justin Broadrick Remix)

18: Necessary Intergalactic Cooperation : Big Smoke Dub (JK Flesh Remix)

19: Necessary Intergalactic Cooperation : Materialismo (Jesu Remix)

20: Necessary Intergalactic Cooperation : Say U Sick (JK Flesh Remix)

21: Necessary : Insist On Racial Name Calling (JK Flesh Remix)

22: Necessary : IORNC (Pale Sketcher Remix)

23: Yakuza : The Blinding (Justin K Broadrick Remix)

24: Submerged : Dead (Feat. Justin Broadrick)

25: School Of Seven Bells : Face To Face On High Places (Jesu Remix Instrumental)

Maybe not as meticulously compiled as the first 3 volumes especially with the 5 N.I.C./Necessary tracks in a row but it's free right?? If that further 2 & A HALF HOURS + of remixes isn't enough I had previously posted The Dirk Serries & Steven Wilson : "The Continuum Recyclings" (More Info HERE ) where Justin Reworks a whole album's worth (around 70 mins) of material from their Continnum Series and also Khost : Needles In The Ground (Deconstructed & Reconstructed By Godflesh) EP (More Info HERE ) where Justin tackles 3 tracks by Khost in Godflesh mode however my original upload I am told had corruptions in the Dirk Serries material making them unplayable so i had removed it but I have downloaded it again and checked and this time the files are corruption free and you will find both discs in there both the Dirk Serries & Steven Wilson Original & The JKB remixes so I have re-upped those as well

So Here's your links i feel there's no need for further blurb if you are a JKB fan you want these if you're not move along nothing to see here

Remixes 2017 & Supplemental - Mediafire

Dirk Serries & Steven Wilson & Khost - Mediafire

I am sure something else will come up having me come back to this post again and again he's certainly a prolific artist but in the meantime enjoy the updates.

(For some reason no matter what I do the new part of this post keeps appearing in red it's not meant to be red but you can read it ok i guess? sorry folks technical difficulties!!!)

SONANCE

Sonance are a band I have been following for a while some of you may remember I already did a post on these guys however since that post they have released a few more records and I thought it was time to do an updated post on them. I decided that I was fairly happy with my original post so instead of doing a whole new post i decided to edit that one and continue as this post is from before the days of shorter write ups more music some of you may find this a bit expansive but i remember a bit of intense listening went into that post so I decided it was worth keeping.... (Note : If you have been to this post before then you can Scroll down to where it says UPDATE in green but if you haven't i would say you should read my write up of their debut album in order to understand what this band sound like) So let's begin

In 2014 I went to the first Temples Festival in Bristol it was a 3 day event and I went for the 2nd day only, which was basically the Post Metal/Crust day it's a long story for another time but I did not enjoy it really, overcrowded etc, I did catch some great sets but not half as many as i wanted to.The Fest started at 1pm and we travelled 3 hrs down the motorway to get there I had a list of bands I wanted to see and check out but this here band were not on my pre-show list that was until i got into the car!!! Our designated driver Mark was playing lots of GREAT music in the car but one particular band he played really grabbed my attention, I asked who they were and he said Sonance! Add another to the list then cos I REALLY liked what I heard on the stereo.

Sonance Hail from Bristol and from what I can gather have been together since around 2011 and released their stunning debut album "Like Ghosts" in 2012 and whilst this debut only has 2 tracks on it however these clock in at a mighty 22 mins and 18 minutes respectively there's no titles given just SIDE A & SIDE B so I assume that maybe these are 2 parts of a whole? They are however quite different.

Side A is an absolute sonic monster, opening with something that sounds like gentle violin it's a mere few seconds before you are crushed by a wall of guitar/noise/drums and vocals which is an intense and punishing assault of the type you'd expect to find on the heaviest of early SWANS or the peaks of songs from "Through Silver/Times Of Grace" era Neurosis, it's almost violent in it's sheer bludgeoning, however it breaks down into gentle strumming with a lighter touch quite quickly before you even realize you just had your head caved in and the record has only been on for about a minute and a half! There's so much to be had from this A side track i could break it down minute by minute but instead of boring you too much i will say that these guys are some very decent musicians with a grasp of dynamics that is often missing from many bands trying to do this post rock/post metal etc type music, there's Crushingly heavy parts tempered with some very well done guitar effects in the quieter moments that are highly reminiscent of Godspeed You Black Emperor and are also a truly beautiful listen. The song has quite a few peaks and troughs but for my money after the aforementioned quieter part the song begins to build again and when the heavy guitars kick back in  they use a brilliantly beautiful riff that is as heavy and overwhelming as well as discordant and just achingly gorgeous! The vocals are also used as almost another instrument varying from quietly whispered to kinda shouted to just downright deep growling and anguished howls! The song ends as it began in a sheer avalanche of bottom end guitar noise and is left to fade out leaving me at least utterly stunned and wondering what the fuck just happened!

Side B is maybe quite unexpected considering the heavier parts of the A Side the majority of the song being built around various layers of guitar sounds,effects and techniques that produce a stunningly nice "drone" which puts me right in mind of someone like Stars Of The Lid. I think, but i couldn't say for definite that there's a bit of guitar bowing going on there as well, this gentle passage is left to fade quietly into what sounds like some field recording/found sounds which i originally thought was the sound of horses but upon repeated listening I'm not sure what it is, But it does add quite an eerie atmosphere to the track,this fades out to almost a silence before the heavy stuff comes in again, and again it's a bit like the first heavy part of the A side where it's almost oppressively heavy but this is again brief and breaks down to more post rock type instrumental passage before building again however they have used a neat little trick where the guitars whilst still heavy and twisted break into a quieter squall of noise and put the vocals to the forefront and the drummer starts pounding the toms like they are building to another crescendo and just as you think fuck this is intense, then all of a sudden it's over BOOM just like that! However it's a FAR from disappointing end to the journey!

Sonance were the big surprise of Temples Festival for me as my group all went into Bristol seeking food as a few of our party were not impressed by the Veggie/vegan caterers pulling out of the event at the last minute and even though I'm not Veggie the foul smelling meat products on sale were not in  the least appealing! However i made everyone fucking swear we would be back to the fest in time to catch Sonance and we were and they played a phenomenal set!

This album though only containing 2 tracks albeit lengthy ones pack more into near 40 mins of music than many bands manage over double albums these guys have obviously done their homework and whilst would most definitely fall into the "heavy" spectrum of music they display a vast array of influences and are not afraid to take ideas that are not always part of this kind of music and run with them, this makes their album a refreshing, surprising and utterly destroying musical journey and I am so glad that Mark played them in the car because otherwise i'd still be blissfully unaware of them and would probably been supping pints in a Bristol pub whilst theses guys played! Also I would never have been here doing this write up and sharing this astounding music with you.

UPDATE

So this "to be updated" post has been languishing in the vault for quite some time and Sonance have had no less than 5 further releases since I decided this post needed updating,and the newest of those was nearly a year ago however I have given you a fairly in depth review of their first album which i feel captures the core elements of their sound not that they have not progressed in the 3 years since the original post but i feel to go as in depth with the rest of their releases would be a bit boring so I'm gonna try to keep the updates here shorter so let's Catch up....

Just after I did this post and published it in 2014 Sonance released their 2nd album "Blackflower" I had intended on updating this post then but as with my usual slackness it fell by the wayside I was initially not as impressed by this album and it took me a while to get into it however the rewards for my perseverance were most definitely worth it.. Opening piece "Blackflower / Belgium" clocks in at a mighty 15 minutes and continues their theme of achingly beautiful and quiet and building to brutally noisy and ugly!!! However this is the only piece on the album that follows this path, of the other 4 tracks 3 are more in the experimental/ambient/drone territory and mostly drumless these are all worthwhile pieces of the whole and there's no doubt it's a great chilled listen albeit a slightly dark one however they return to spectacular noisy form on 4th track "Conical" a dense and intense track which build layers of guitar noise to deadly effect. Ambient/drone type stuff isn't everyone's thing but after the epic opening 15 min track the less heavy pieces are refreshing and are all fairly short (around the 4 min mark) so it's worth your while to check out this stunning album as a whole.

In early 2016 Sonance recorded 10 tracks and released 9 of them over a split album with Torpor and a cassette only album entitled "Blister The Maw" These were later compiled together with a 10th unreleased track as "Split/Blister The Maw" on Third Rex records (You can download this full 10 track album at Third Rex bandcamp HERE or as the separate releases at Sonance's own Bandcamp which i will link below) For me these releases especially when compiled together and listened to as a whole were absolutely astounding Sonance having combined both their more experimental/ambient/drone styles with the dense crushing Post metal sound with absolute authority and showing a marked progression without straying too far from their template. Whilst it is worth going to Sonance Bandcamp and checking out the art and packaging of their Split with Torpor and The "Blister The Maw" tape I strongly suggest you go to the Third Rex Bandcamp link above and get the full 10 track session in one handy package not only at least to my mind anyway does it work better with the 10 tracks as a cohesive album if you Read on and you will see why i recommend downloading the 10 tracks instead of the separate releases....


Rounding off the Sonance Discography to date we Have a series of 2 "Companion" albums entitled "Mirror And Vie" these are most definitely in the experimental/ambient/drone camp but the intention is that these albums as well as being listened to in their own right are also intended to be played simultaneously with their counterparts (The first volume fits to their Like Ghosts/Blackflower albums and the second volume fits to the compilation CD of the Torpor Split/Blister releases hence why i recommended you download the full session above)  in order to add an extra layer of dynamic and drama to what is already fairly dynamic and dramatic music!!! I have listened to both volumes of "Mirror and Vie" on their own I have yet to try playing them simultaneously with their counterparts so i can't say how well or not it works and they make for both a pleasant and often disturbing listen however these definitely fall into full ambient/experimental territory and if that's something you enjoy then i definitely recommend this but if you have the means I would definitely give playing them simultaneously, if you do please feel free to share your results in comments.

I can't stress enough how strikingly good and original this band are there's a huge scene for this kind of music and a lot of bands out there doing this kind of music but to me a vast amount of them just doing the quiet/crushing thing just bore me because there's no surprise or dynamics employed however Sonance are so skilled at both that if they chose to follow either musical path (that is all quiet or all loud) exclusively they would still be head and shoulders above the pack, If you like your music Heavy, considered and intelligent and like to be challenged by music rather than just placated by more homogenized riffs then you need this band in your life!

That's about all i have for your Re: Sonance they have been pretty quiet since last year but then they were pretty quiet after the release of "Like Ghosts" and now look at their impressive catalog!!! Below are links to their various sites and releases ALL of their music over the bandcamp pages is Buy Now/Name Your Price and all except the "Mirror And Vie" albums are available On Vinyl or the appropriate physical format so if you can afford it show them some support by paying a little for the download or buying some physical releases. I have just checked and unfortunately it would appear all the CD versions are sold out but i have linked you to their facebook page perhaps try contacting the band see if they have any spare copies they are nicely packaged and were a very reasonable price when i bought them.

you can find Everything they have released here at their bandcamp page as well as some free live sets too, as i said they are all free or you can pay something if you choose to there are various links with each digital release to where you can get the vinyl versions....

https://sonance.bandcamp.com/

The 10 track collection of their Split/Blister The Maw releases is Free/Pay what you want to download here at Third Rex...

https://3rdirex.bandcamp.com/album/split-blister-the-maw

You can go to their facebook page here...

https://www.facebook.com/sonancenoise

They have a ton of great merch on sale here...

http://sonance.spreadshirt.nl/

Vinyl copies of their stunning debut are still available here...

http://doognad.com/eng/pages/10-like_ghosts

And believe me if i still had a record player this would already be in my collection!

Go enrich your mind with some truly astounding sounds!

VIRULENCE & FU MANCHU

Virulence well first off let's get the obvious stuff out of the way they were a hardcore band who's members went on to form such stoner rock titans as Fu Manchu and Nebula! So Virulence released 2 demos and 1 album the demos were widely circulated on the tape trading circuit but they released their debut album on Alchemy records who were a short lived but phenomal label releasing debut albums by Neurosis and Melvins along with Poison idea's 2nd album as well as this Virulence album. The debut vinyl version only had 8 tracks but the Southern Lord label picked up a couple of the Alchemy records back catalog recently this being one of them which they expanded from 8 tracks to 16 adding the 2 demo's from 1986 and 1988 and adding a bonus demo track from 1985 so seeing as how i have a great quality version from CD and not vinyl it was well in need of sharing and fitted with my other posts beautifully!!

This is a great album both with and without the demo's! This band takes a similar path to labelmates at the time  Neurosis & Melvins Slow to mid paced powerul fucking music and throwing some jammed slower Black Flag style parts in there as well, believe me this is no nod out stuff here some of it may be slow but when it's slow it has that same menace that you feel from any hardcore record at the time that dark nastier side to California! except slow and painful rather than quick and painless! Don't get me wrong there's enough pacey material on this album for the hardcore fans but it's slower twisted stuff that really makes this band unique going back to Black Flag again think of how amazing "Scream" and "Nothing Left Inside" were first time you heard them? well the slower tunes on here have a similar feel to that except with a sharper attack and a little less clumsy bludgeon!!! I can't explain the great and unique sound of this album any better if my blurb hasn't got you interested then do your own research!!! here's your link Virulence : "If This Isn't a Dream 1985 -1989" Expanded and remastered reissue.....

UPDATE

I have since bought the CD so it is now re-upped Ripped from my own CD at 320kbps  also I have ordered it like this....

Tracks 1-8 "If This Isn't  A Dream" Album - Recorded 8/6/88 at Alpha+Omega Studio - San Fransisco, CA.

Track 9 - 1985 Demo -  Recorded Summer 1985 at Public Recordings - Placentia, CA

Tracks 10 - 13 1986 Demo -  Recorded 13/6/86 at Public Recordings - Placentia, CA.

Tracks 14 &15 1988 Demo - Recorded 26/2/1988 at Spot Studio - Santa Ana, CA.

Tracks 16-17 - Live - Recorded 28/12/87 in Irvine, CA.

Tracks 18 - 20 - Live -Recorded 30/9/89 in Berkley, CA.

I felt this way you get the album first then the demo tracks are in chronological order and the live tracks tacked on at the end, again, in chronological order it just works better that way than mixing up the live and demo's in my opinion. Plus if like me and you can't stand bonus live tracks (give us a full set or preferably NOTHING) then at least you can turn off after the demos or delete the live tracks from the end more easily.... GO>>>>>

Virulence (NEW LINK) - Mediafire

Which leads me to my next related release shortly after Virulence split up members went on to form Fu Manchu now they did a comp of their early singles called "Return To Earth 1991 - 1993" however it may interest you to know that it omits their debut EP simply entitled "Fu Manchu" released in 1990 on home of much extreme hardcore and other forms of music Slap A Ham records this EP seems to have never been re-issued or compiled on a comp or anything and i believe it's quite a rarity! however I found a copy on the internet and uploaded it for you! Check out the actual roots of Fu Manchu this is a million miles away from the tuneful sun baked stoner vibes they would ultimaltely become famous for! This kinda carries on where Virulence left off the hardcore vibe is a lot less here and is more like something like early Melvins or the first Sleep album with it's stop start vibes and Black Flag - isms! This is a killer EP and i'm gutted there's only 3 tracks I wish they'd done an album in this style cos they were onto something way more fucking killer here than what they have made their name from! No diss to Fu manchu great band as they are but this EP is just something else! Go see for yourself...

UPDATE

So....Seems Fu Manchu decided this EP was worth reissuing after all and it seems it's a case of careful what you wish for cos I recently discovered that in 2015 This was re-ssued on a 10" with a Bonus song from the same session "Blowtorch" (On At The Dojo Records if you want the vinyl?) & the bandcamp download had a further extra track "Flashin'" from a recording session later in 1990 so not quite the full album I wished for but a 2 track expansion will do! It has been remastered as well for better quality so I have replaced the old vinyl rip link with the new 5 track remastered version for best quality... Enjoy!!!

Fu Manchu 1st EP (2015 remaster plus 2 bonus tracks) - Mediafire

GODSPEED YOU BLACK EMPEROR!

SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM FOR UPDATE

I have wanted to do a post on this band since i started the blog but as i was so concerned with rarities and putting things on here that were hard to find i never did get round to it but under my new blog rules of "Anything Goes!!" here we have it...Godspeed You Black Emperor are an anything up to 12 piece instrumental band revolving round a core of about 5 musicians utilizing guitars, drums, bass, percussion, violin, cello and many more instruments, found sounds and field recordings to create a sound that is stunningly beautiful, sometimes bleak and occasionally terrifying! I have been a fan since their first vinyl album back in 1997.

When I lived in Manchester I was lucky enough to have a local record shop in Withington called Pop Art run by a very friendly Cypriot fella called Nick whose knowledge of the most obscure fringes of music was unsurpassed. He stocked everything from the most obscure dub reggae re-issues to imported Japanese noise CD's with no English text on them whatsoever (A typical Pop Art Conversation with Nick would go like this,"Nick - whats this?" , "I dunno it's in Japanese but it's dead good!" ) and the vibe of the shop was such that anything you wanted to hear was no trouble at all and i used to spend hours in there checking stuff out, shooting the breeze and having endless cups of tea with Nick and listening to lots of crazy music! Anyway.. I had heard a lot of talk about this amazing new band from Canada and i was desperate to hear them but had no way of finding their album as it was very poorly distributed and it's original pressing was a really small number like 1000 copies maybe? but one day browsing the racks in Pop Art I came across the album pictured below it's hand made sleeve with a bleak black and white photo of a water tower along with the burgundy card used for the sleeve the hand embossed logo and no information or clues to it's contents had me intrigued i couldn't read the embossed text so i took it out of the plastic and read "Godspeed You..." (unsurprisingly Nick had just ordered it on a whim) with an excited gasp I handed over my money and practically ran home!

F#A#~ (GYBE Debut album on vinyl)

When i got home and excitedly placed the needle on the record and I have to say on first listen i was a bit disappointed with this album I had heard comparisons to Mogwai and other "post rock" type bands I was into and this was nothing like anything of that genre i had heard what disappointed me was the lack of drums/percussion throughout most of the album, but after repeated listens I began to like it a little more but was still not really convinced, but the story of this album does not end there.. a few months later Kranky records from Chicago one of my favorite labels at the time picked up the album for a beter distributed CD issue the original vinyl version had been taken back to the studio remastered and remixed some parts removed and a whole heap of new music added (To illustrate the difference the vinyl version clocks in at 39 minutes the CD version at 59 minutes) although the majority of the original vinyl version had been retained it had been put together with the new parts in such a way that it gave the album a completely new sound and feel it was at this point i "got it" the CD version of the album just floored me I played it to death for ages and still listen to it repeatedly to this day! (I have uploaded both the vinyl and CD versions so you can draw your own comparisons)

I don't wish to be a cop-out here but in the case of this band this really is music that is like a soundtrack for a lost movie the scope of the songs have a feel of wide open spaces and deserted highways like a road trip through some vast expanses of land such as you'd find in rural America or outback Australia. The Ennio Morricone style guitar work and achingly gorgeous strings entwined with the sparse percussion and various other instruments used to build the songs to bombastic conclusions over the longer pieces, linked together with the use of eerie effects, bowed guitars and general instrumental experimentation to create a sound that just envelops and capitvates you completely whilst it would seem the kind of music you would put on in the background the sheer heart breaking beauty of this music commands your full attention.

I honestly feel that the descriptions above really do cover anything else that i could say that would do this band justice I've been sat here listening to them whilst I type this and I feel that my opinion would be biased because I have a deep love of their music their independent ethos the fact they are a self contained unit and record and release their music themselves and design and (in the early days) HAND MAKE (!) their own releases and operate almost completely outside the music biz but have still managed to gain massive popularity and influence endear them to me a lot and also it's utterly impossible with my limited vocabulary to do the music justice in words. So here's some info you may need to know when downloading and some interesting facts...

The CD of the 1st album "F#A#∞" (Which is musical notation for Fades Into Infinity) contains a hidden track "J.L.H. Outro" which fades in some 20 minutes after the end of the 3rd piece but in my file here i have separated it from the last piece and added it as a separate track as I owned the CD for 6 months before i found out it was even on there (I read a magazine review of a live show and it said the opened with the hidden track from the first album and i thought "HEY! what hidden track?")

The vinyl version of the first album that i have presented here fades into a locked groove on the vinyl at the end of side 2 that repeats until you lift the needle so when i recorded it i let that run for a bit and then faded it out.

1999 EP "Slow Riot For New Zero Kanada" has 2 tracks but clocks in at near 30 minutes parts of both tracks have been used in various TV Programs and documentaries but most famously was used (along with parts of the first album) in apocalyptic "zombie" film "28 Days Later" and in my opinion is some of their finest work.

3rd album "Yanqui U.X.O." was a double album released in 2002 produced by Steve Albini and was the last thing they would release the band being on indefinite hiatus until 2012.

During the hiatus and whilst Godspeed were still going members were involved in various other projects their drummer did an album under the name of 1-Speed Bike where he cuts up and loops his own beats and creates some truly interesting music, various members were also involved in Exhaust a sorta Post Rock Drum'N'Bass type band, Guitarist Efrim Manuel Menuck has done a solo album which is really good but most well known of the projects is Silver Mt. Zion (and the many variations on that name) who have done a staggering 6 albums and 2 EP's if you like the music here i suggest you seek them out! However Godspeed returned in 2012 with a brand new album " Allelujah Don't bend Ascend!" Which after the success and long standing career of Silver Mt. Zion was such an unexpected and welcome return and an album that shows in their 9 year absence that no momentum has been lost and "Allelujah..." Is some of their finest work!

So onto the files I have uploaded the 4 albums and their EP  for you plus their John Peel Session and a split 7" with Fly Pan Am they did for Amazine magazine. what you need to know about these guys is on the first album and second albums that they do not split their music up into individual tracks, on the first album there are 3 movements consisting of individual pieces that all meld together within each movement into a cohesive whole, each movement has a title then several subtitles which is a bit confusing, on second album "Lift Your Skinny Fists..." which is a double vinyl and double CD there are 4 movements. on the 3rd and 4th albums and on the EP there are individual tracks. the John Peel Session is one long track exclusive to that session and on the split 7" obviously there is only one short track. I prefer to just disregard the track list altogether and just listen to the music however should you wish to check it out you'll get the full breakdown for 1st album "F#A#~" HERE and for 2nd album  "Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven" HERE I have put the track from the split 7" in the file with the John Peel Session to save on too many links as it's only a 5 min song. All the Albums and EP are ripped from my own CD's at 320kbps the Peel session and split 7" are from net downloads.

So here you have the near complete discography of one of the most unique, wonderful and utterly enthralling bands to ever grace this planet the influence of Godspeed You Black Emperor cannot be understated their unique style has influenced a whole generation of bands and completely changed the face of post rock music and underground music in general  since they appeared Think I'm overstating? check out bands such as Explosions In The Sky & Canyons Of Static The latter took their name from one of the pieces on Godspeed's "Lift Your Skinny Fists..." album! Also since Godspeed came along SO many bands have started introducing strings fashioned in the Godspeed style in all forms of underground music from crust to rock!

I can't say enough good things about this band if you have not heard them get going and d/l immediately because if this music does not move you you might as well give up your hearing or go watch x factor they are just beyond amazing! ENJOY...

F#A#~ (Vinyl) - Mediafire

F#A#~ (CD) - Mediafire

Slow Riot For New Zero Kanada EP - Mediafire

Lift Your Skinny FistsLike Antennas To Heaven  - Disc 1 - Mediafire

Lift Your Skinny FistsLike Antennas To Heaven  - Disc 2 - Mediafire

Yanqui U.X.O. - Mediafire

Peel Session & Split 7" - Mediafire

Allelujah Don't Bend Ascend - Mediafire

*UPDATE* Just responded to a comment on this post and realised I had Godspeed latest album uploaded to be added to this post so to save me having to write a big blurb about it I decided to just throw the link in here for you guys so that everything is on here so here you go folks Godspeed's 2015 album "Asunder,Sweet And Other Distress" It's a new GYBE! album you don't need me to tell you what it's like obviously it's GREAT! enjoy....

Asunder... - Mediafire

JOY DIVISION

So I haven't done a big discography post for quite a while so I thought this would be a good one.

Joy Division were undoubtedly one of THE most important bands of the 20th century I can't claim to be their longest standing fan but since their music came into my life I have been profoundly effected by it. I came to Joy Division in the late 90's after reading an interview with Neurosis preceding the release of their album "Times Of Grace" in it they listed the bands that were the most important to them in the forming of their band, their sound and the creation of their music and among those were Joy Division. Now I was not completely unaware of them I mean who hasn't heard "Love Will Tear Us Apart" ? But I had always put them down as being music for goths and in the same vein as The Mission or Sisters Of Mercy and left them there, but after the Neurosis piece I decided they bore some investigation and just so happened that I was working in an HMV store at the time and there were a TON of copies of their "Heart And Soul" 4CD boxset on sale dirt cheap (I think I ended up paying about £7 or £8 with my staff discount) so I thought in for a penny might as well get the whole works in one go! I got home put the first CD on and the opening track "Digital" started and my mind was blown that bass line those glacial guitars those rich deep and urgent vocals... I could spend a paragraph or more just describing the beauty of their music but if you're new to this band I will leave you to experience it for your self if you are not then YOU get it....From then on in I was a HUGE fan Subsequently I've done Joy Division covers in bands I have been in and they are most definitely one of my biggest musical influences and one of my favorite bands.

I have resisted doing a post on Joy Division because such a great and tragic story deserves better literary dexterity than I can muster plus their enduring popularity ensures that every inch of their recorded works has been explored to death however I wanted to this post for several reasons not only because they are a great band but also because I just really wanted to a Joy Division post of my own! However let's do a very quick potted history although I find it hard to believe that anyone coming to this blog would be unaware of this band and their story, however, stranger things have happened..

Joy Division began life in the Manchester area as Stiff Kittens briefly, before changing the name to Warsaw then assuming the Joy Division name in 1977, the line up was, from Stiff Kittens through to the end of Joy Division....

Ian Curtis - Vocals (And occasional guitar)
Stephen Morris - Drums & Percussion
Bernard Sumner - Guitar (and occasional keyboards)
Peter Hook - Bass

Warsaw recorded one demo in 1977 and it gets a little confusing here because Joy Division's vinyl debut "An Ideal For Living" EP was actually recorded 6 months before and wasn't released until 2 months after a full album was recorded for  RCA records at Arrow studios Manchester allegedly still under the name Warsaw, however the aborted RCA album never saw release officially except for a selection of tracks on the "Heart And Soul" box set and these RCA/ Arrow sessions have been credited to both Joy Division and Warsaw so for the sake of argument let's say that this RCA recording was the transitional period from Warsaw to Joy Division and leave it there! So Warsaw became Joy Division and in June 1978 self released the aforementioned "An Ideal For Living" EP using money borrowed from Ian & his wife Deborah's joint account for the recording and pressing of the EP (The 7" suffered from atrocious sound quality due to a bad pressing it was subsequently reissued as a 12" with a different sleeve on the insistence of Rob Gretton when he took over as their manager). After a famous incident of Ian confronting celebrity and TV Presenter Tony Wilson at a Factory Club night they made their debut TV appearance on North West Television's "Granada Reports" Wilson then subsequently signed them to his fledgling Factory records label and their first appearance for Factory was 2 tracks on the double 7" label compilation "A Factory Sample" the tracks contributed were "Digital"  and "Glass"


I had to stop myself there I had started to go into a very "dry" history of Joy Division's studio work there. Before i realized what I had started I was 4 paragraphs in! I decided to delete all that as whilst I could have continued with this it was not my intention with this post. There are many meticulously researched and documented Joy Division pages online if you are a bit of a trainspotter like me i recommend this one....

http://www.joydivisiondata.co.uk/joyd_home.html

It is absolutely ruthless in it's pursuit of pure facts and information about Joy Division and is a JD fans dream.There's also a great print version along with some great writings a complete set of lyrics and studio sessions, TV appearances etc contained in the large booklet that comes with the "Heart & Soul" box set, this is where a good portion of the material posted here is sourced from and though not a 100% complete works for the non-obsessive fan this set is everything you need and you can pick it up for a very reasonable price and less than the cost of buying everything separately at most online retailers.

So backing up a bit..Joy Division spent the remainder of their career with Rob Gretton as manager and Tony Wilson's Factory records they released a slew of excellent non album singles and 2 stunning albums "Unknown Pleasures" & "Closer" for the label. However Ian Curtis was diagnosed with severe epilepsy in January 1979 and as well as full Grand Mal seizures was suffering severe side effects  from his epilepsy medication, on the 18th of May 1980 2 months before the release of 2nd album "Closer" and on the eve of Joy Division's first American tour He chose to take his own life by hanging himself in the kitchen of the home he had shared with his estranged wife Deborah.The remaining 3 members of the band decided to carry on under the name New Order whose first single "Ceremony/In A Lonely Place" (1981) were songs originally written and performed as Joy Division, the rest is history.

I am not going to go into the tragedy of such a talented and young guy choosing suicide (Curtis was a mere 23 when he took his own life almost half my age!!) Nor am I going to go into any more history about the brief career of this band I shall let the links and the music within them do the talking. Aside from the website I mentioned if you want to know more about the band I recommend the book "Touching From A Distance" by his wife Deborah Curtis and the 2007 Documentary "Joy Division" which has great in depth interviews and anecdotes and a huge amount of extras from the remaining members and people who were around the band at the time.

So moving swiftly onward I shall now breakdown your links for you as that's what we are here for! Now first off I am not a collector of unofficial live recordings nor am i much into official live recordings but to my knowledge the ones I present here are the officially released ones, that aside I think this is, without sounding too conceited, an aficionado's Joy Division discography i have spent many hours poring over their discography and breaking it down so hopefully the way i have done this and what's presented that maybe the hardcore Joy Division fans won't burn me in the comments :-) I have added pictures of the various Joy Division releases below their artwork was in most cases done by Factorys in house artist Peter Saville and I feel the artwork especially in the case of their 2 albums is an essential part of the package.

So let's begin.....

Warsaw

This link contains the self titled bootleg (although it is not an official release it is available to buy on CD online at some retailers like amazon) This contains the 4 track Warsaw demo and as far as I can tell the full aborted RCA album session I mention above. The demo is fairly decent quality but this is when the band were still being heavily influenced by punk and had not yet formed the unique sound they are known for, The same can be said for the RCA session whilst not as raw and frenetic as the demo it still wears that punk influence squarely on it's shoulders though it was never released as a recording of band still finding their feet it easily stands up against any other punk/post punk album from the era and why it has never been officially released i don't know .All though many of these songs would later materialize as some of the Joy Division classics we know and love these versions are dramatically different. The sound quality of this recording is great and I am glad it has been released officially or not because although there was every chance this album may have been Joy Division's debut album had the RCA deal come to fruition I wonder if their career would have gone to the lofty heights it did or their legacy would be as powerful had it been their debut?

Joy Division

Singles etc.

Ok so first of the JD links I am not going to break down and describe each one here's what's in there....

"A Factory Sample" (Their 2 tracks from the Comp)

"An Ideal For Living" EP

"Genetic Records Demo" (4 of the 5 tracks the version of "Digital" from this session has yet to see release)

"Komakino" Flexi 7" (3 Tracks recorded during the "Closer" sessions and given away as a free flexi)

"Licht Und Blindheit" 7" (Contains both tracks from thew 7" plus a bonus track from the session "Ice Age" so this is the full recording session)

"Love Will Tear Us Apart" (This folder contains the 5 tracks from both sessions from Strawberry and Penine Studios including both versions of "Love Will Tear Us Apart" "She's Lost Control" (12" Version) plus "These Days" and "Sound Of Music")

"Transmission Sessions" (This contains 2 tracks from the first session at Central Sound Studio Manchester plus the 2 tracks from the 7" that were recorded at a 2nd session at Strawberry Studios Stockport The Central Sound Versions of "Transmission" & "Novelty" have never seen release)

"Final Songs" (These are rehearsal versions and the only known recorded versions of  "Ceremony" & "In A Lonely Place" (aside from a live version on the 2nd disc of "Still") performed by Joy Division these were the last songs written by Joy Division and the first recorded by New Order these were released on a 12" backed with the New Order versions for a Record Store Day)

Radio Sessions

This contains Both of their John Peel Sessions plus the 2 live tracks performed on the BBC program "Something Else" (these were all released together on the "Complete BBC Sessions" CD) plus four of the 5 tracks recorded for a Piccadilly Radio (Manchester) session in 1979 "Atrocity Exhibition" from this session has never been released)

Unknown Pleasures (Remastered & Expanded)

So i should not need to describe this album to anyone if you are not aware of this album then it is something you sorely need in your life while the band themselves say Martin Hannet's production gave the album an ambiance and a darkness that was not intended by the band but it's this very production that works hand in hand with their amazing music to give it it's well deserved iconic status and while both their albums are masterful in their own right this one is my personal pick and in my opinion the very definition of the band and their sound.
Some of you may know that in 2008 these albums were given the "Deluxe Edition" treatment remastered and bolstered with a second live disc however I was slightly disappointed as during the "Unknown Pleasures" session 15 tracks were recorded of which the band selected 10 for the album and of the remaining 5 out takes some saw release on the compilation "Still" and then all 5 were added to the "Unknown Pleasures" disc of the "Heart & Soul" box I thought with it being a deluxe edition it would have made sense to add the 5 tracks from the session to the album disc?? but then who would buy "Still" or "Heart & Soul"?? Pretty fuckin crude marketing if you ask me so to remedy this here I present you with the remastered deluxe edition to which I have added the other 5 tracks to the album making it the complete session plus you get a really good decent quality (tho slightly rough and distorted) Live set from the Factory Manchester on the 13 June 1979.

Le Baines Douches

A live offering from Fractured Music Archives though I believe it has band and label approval but i could be wrong, Tracks are selected from 3 shows Paris, Amsterdam And Eindhoven 1979 & 1980 during a European tour this album is much maligned for fans firstly because apparently the sound quality is unsatisfactory and secondly for selecting from 3 shows rather than giving the full live set from the Paris gig (which takes up the majority of the disc 9 tracks from Paris 3 from Amsterdam and 4 from Eindhoven) Whilst the Paris show is the best quality of the 3 the other 2 Dutch shows sounding like well polished audience recordings I find this to be an acceptable live disc though i do think that releasing the full Paris show would have been the best option as the whole concert was recorded for French radio and has (as legend tells) been broadcast in it's entirety on a few occasions so I'm sure a master tape and some bootlegs exist! It's a decent listen and above average live performance and worth having.

Live Preston 28/2/80 

Another live release from Fractured Music Archives and is intended as a companion disc to "Les Baines Douches" falling as it does only a few weeks after the Eindhoven tracks on that album and in my opinion this is a far superior set firstly because this time (as far as my research can tell) you get the full live set and it's a decent raw high energy set from these guys who i guess even though Ian would have been at the height of his illness this would have been Joy Division live at their peak with much live and studio work under their belt! It's a really enjoyable live set and everyone is in fine form (though the intro to "Disorder" is rather sloppy) all in all this as good a live set as you're gonna get.

Closer (Remastered & Expanded)

 Joy Divisions second and final album it's a masterpiece and shows some REAL progression as though they wrote many new and amazing songs on this album there was no real gems left in their back catlog to draw from and after a couple of years touring and honing their craft well I can't tell you how stunning this album is it's something you have to experience for yourself the sheer heights of drama and beauty this album produces over it's 9 tracks is beyond my powers of description.
So technical details.. Here we have the second of 3 Remastered deluxe editions this time I have not added anything myself as i did for "Unknown Pleasures" as though they recorded 12 tracks at this session the three remaining tracks not on the album were released as the "Komakino" flexi and that is presented in it's entirely in the Singles Etc. link.Again expanded with a bonus live disc containing a show from University Of London Union 8/2/80 which falls after the Paris and Dutch shows and precedes the Preston one and again it's as good a live recording as any of these though maybe a little better than the Paris show but not as full on as the Preston disc it is definitely a worthwhile addition with a great set list.

Still (Remastered & Expanded)

The 3rd and so far last expanded edition to be released here we have the compilation "Still" the first of many JD compilations....The studio portion of this album is a little redundant after the other stuff I have included here however I decide that if you like me are used to listening to an album for many years in it's original running order then to slice off 1/3 (of this set anyway) would be sacrilege! This remastered and expanded edition not only includes the Live set that was one half of the original album and what turned out to be Joy Divisions final show (High Hall, Birmingham University 2/5/80 a mere 5 weeks before Ian Curtis suicide) it is expanded with a further live set from The Town Hall, High Wycombe 20/2/80 both these sets are great quality and again worthy additions to the JD fans collection! While the first part of "Still" containing what at the time was unreleased studio material however there is one curiosity on there a live cover of Velvet Underground's "Sister Ray" recorded Live At The Moonlight Club, London 3/4/80 and is definitely worth hearing.
I have broken Still into 3 parts from it's 2 discs Part 1 is the studio stuff plus the live "Sister Ray" part 2 is the Birmingham show Part 3 the High Wycombe show hope that it makes sense to you I have done it this way and when you transfer the files to your choice of media player the album will still run in it's intended original order.

Martin Hannett's Personal Mixes

Well this unofficial (?) release contains some interesting curiosities I have added it here for the curious and the the completist's this is a selection of tracks, samples, alternative versions and mixes of various Joy Division tracks (mainly "The Eternal" and "Decades") apparently these are personal mixes done by Martin Hannett for his own pleasure along with snippets of his recording of the Lift famously sampled on "Unknown Pleasures" snippets of studio dialogue from Hannett and a short interview with Steven Morris and Ian Curtis closing out the disc. It's an interesting set of mixes if they were really done by Hannett it is pretty interesting to hear what he has done with these mixes though obviously the band did not agree, whilst there is a fair amount of guff on here the actual alternative mixes of songs rather than the bit's and pieces in between are definitely great listening I have not been living with their music as long as I'm sure many of you have and even i can see the big difference in these alternate versions and mixes.An enjoyable if not essential addendum to the back catalog.

So that's it that's my entire joy Division collection laid out for you here in what i feel is the best way! I'm sure there will be many who will take issue with how I've done it and yeah a lot of this is just me organizing the mess that is the "Heart And Soul" box set but a lot of it is not! There are a few omissions here obviously the missing tracks from various sessions i have already mentioned and I'm sure there are some obsessives out there sitting on them but in most cases these are just repeats of tracks that have been recorded several times so personally I'm happy with what I have here and i hope in my small way that I have managed to do this band justice, without them the face of alternative music and many other forms of music would be completely different, their influence is felt today and for a band with a mere 3 year career 2 albums and a handful of singles to still be exerting interest and influence some 36 years since they ended is testament to the strength and beauty of the music they created. I'm sure my comments and inbox will light up with many more long term and astute Joy Division obsessives correcting my no doubt many factual errors feel free to go ahead and pick this post apart I full expect it when I'm doing a post on a band held in such high reverence but i like to think that in my heavy handed and clumsy way that my sheer love of this music will be obvious and I have done my best to not cover old ground better covered elsewhere.

I hope some of you find enjoyment from reading this and downloading the music and I hope somewhere along the line this post may reach someone somewhere who have not heard this band and they can have the same profound experience i did upon discovering this band and the surprise that despite popular opinion they weren't actually a goth band after all!

WARSAW

Demo & RCA UNR. LP - Mediafire

JOY DIVISION

Singles Etc. - Mediafire

Radio Sessions - Mediafire

Unknown Pleasures (Remastered & Expanded) - Mediafire

Les Bains Douches (Live Paris & Eindhoven) - Mediafire

Live Preston - Mediafire

Closer (Remastered & Expanded) - Mediafire

Still (Remastered & Expanded) - Mediafire

Martin Hannett's Personal Mixes - Mediafire