by Vinyl301 -

Various Artists: Isolationism

Various Artists - Isolationism

Virgin Ambient 1994.  AMBT4

Discogs

This is another installment of Virgin’s groundbreaking Ambient series.  This one was so influential that it spawned a whole new genre, or at least gave it a name.  Like the previous albums I’ve posted from this series, it was compiled by Kevin Martin and, as far as I can tell, features all exclusive tracks.  Isolationism is ambient music, but with a dark, threatening edge, and this album contains all the most important musicians in that area.   Like most of the albums in this series, it’s carefully compiled to function as a coherent whole, while the quality of individual tracks is high.  These aren’t discarded tit bits left from other projects, even from the big names; Aphex Twin’s contribution is as good as anything he’s done.

 

by Vinyl301 -

Steve Martland: Steve Martland

R-391010-1348738070-2074

Factory 1989. FACD266

Discogs

I noticed this morning that the composer Steve Martland died last week aged 53 of a heart attack which saddened me.  His first album is unavailable, so I thought I’d post it as a belated tribute.

It was released as part of a short lived Factory project to release classical music, aiming to appeal to a new audience.  I wanted to hate it, after all, what the hell did Tony Wilson know about classical music?  Fancy packaging and marketing with no substance I thought.  It turns out I was only partly wrong.  I don’t think Wilson did know much about classical music, and often the inane sleeve notes emphasised the point.  He even managed to spell Erik Satie wrong on the cover of one.  However, knowledgable or not, he certainly had an ear for it, and the series, which I eventually ended up buying most of for buttons second hand was consistently good.

I’m not sure Wilson really succeeded in bringing this music to a new audience – they didn’t sell well, but it kind of worked with me.  I was already receptive to this stuff, but not knowledgeable enough to know what to buy – this series gave me a reason to jump in.

The style of the release was new, at least for the genre, with Martland looking like a cross between a gay pinup (don’t know whether he actually was gay) and a guitarist from an Indie band.  It made a change from the usual dour looking classical releases, but whether it helped sell them I’m less sure.  It may well have put off more people than it attracted.

This CD isn’t a particularly easy listen, but it is worth the effort, especially Babi Yar, the piece he’s perhaps best known for.  It’s loud and discordant but has an energy which draws you in.  Although it’s played by an orchestra, to me it has more in common with the far reaches of jazz.  Whatever, it makes for a worthwhile listen, although it’s hopeless as background sound.  Listen to it properly or don’t bother.

RIP Steve.

by Vinyl301 -

Felt: The Final Resting Of The Ark

Folder

Creation 1987.  CRE048T

Discogs

This is an absolutely beautiful single, one of the highlights of the band’s time on Creation.  It was the ninth of the ten they released as part of Lawrence’s vision of ten albums and ten singles in ten years, and like several of his other releases is very short; five tracks clocking in at less than ten minutes.  In a way, it’s even shorter than it seems because three of the tracks are instrumental ditties, leaving only two for real songs, but what songs they are; delicate masterpieces both. The three short instrumentals were produced by the Cocteau Twins’ Robin Guthrie; his influence is very obvious. I’m not sure anyone would have paid attention to these tracks were they not by Felt, but I really like them. It’s a side to his work which is often criticised which I think is unfair, but it’s true that at first listen they are a bit like acoustic wallpaper. Their worth becomes more obvious the more you listen to them.

The title track has appeared here before, and is currently available on several Felt compilations, e.g. Absolute Classic Masterpieces Vol II and Goldmine Trash.

by Vinyl301 -

Elliott Smith: Baby Britain (Remix)

baby

Dreamworks Records 1999. PRO-CD-5142

Discogs

I really should be bored of this sort of music by now, but Elliott Smith still hits the spot.  Apart from the great songs, I just get the sense that he really means it which is what sets him apart, and actually, what has drawn me to much of the music I like.

I came to Elliott Smith very late – in fact the first album I bought was his last (From A Basement On A Hill), as I recall after reading about his suicide in 2003.  My nerdy completeist tendencies quickly kicked in and I soon had everything, at least everything that was widely available.  All that stuff is still available, but I do have this rare promo single, which is a remixed version of Baby Britain, the original being on the XO album.  It’s not radically different to the album version, but it’s a great song.  If you like it, you’re on safe territory with any of his albums, although I’ve never really taken to his posthumous collection of oddments, New Moon.  I’d go for Roman Candle or Figure 8.

by Vinyl301 -

That Petrol Emotion: Big Decision

Folder

Polydor 1987.  TREX1

Discogs

That Petrol Emotion rose from the ashes of the mighty Undertones, but had little in common with them.  They were darkly political with a killer line in rock guitar riffs.  This was their major label debut (I’ll post their indie singles another time) and almost grazed the charts – although it deserved to be massive.  The extended version on the A side has the sort of pointless embellishments major labels thought the punters were looking for, but the 7″ version on the B side doesn’t bother with that and concentrates on what makes Big Decision a great track (apart from a very short and very silly rap as the track ends).

I don’t usually buy vinyl from this era – if I didn’t get it back in the day I don’t bother, but I was in the excellent Power Records in Bilbao a couple of weeks back and it caught my eye.  I’m mighty glad I bought it, but the 7″ would have been better I think.

by Vinyl301 -

Robert Lloyd and the New Four Seasons: Nothing Matters (In Tape 12″ Version)

Folder

In Tape 1988.  ITTI059

Discogs

This is the second and last Robert Lloyd In Tape 12″; the first one is here.

It has a lot in common with Something Nice.  It’s long but doesn’t outstay its welcome, it’s a great song performed with an infectious energy and no-one bought it.  The first B side is a rather odd variant on Bach’s Tocatta and Fugue (!) but when it launches straight into  Mr Superior, normal service is resumed.  Why he sings it as Mr Soupy Rear isn’t clear though.

According to Discogs I also have his entire output on Virgin, so I’ll post that at some point too.

by Vinyl301 -

Various Artists: The Devil’s Jukebox

R-679122-1205112695

Blast First! 1989. BFDJ 1 – 10

Discogs

Ripping this boxed set of 10 7″ singles was a job for a rainy day, and since it rained yesterday, it got done at last.  It’s a compilation from the heyday of Paul Smith’s consistently excellent Blast First! label, containing mostly exclusive tracks from bands which are too important to ignore.  Detailed info is hard to come by, but there’s only one track here (by Sun Ra) which I know is definately available elsewhere.  To add to the confusion, this also came out on CD, cassette and LP as Nothing Short Of Total War with a different tracklisting on each format.

Sonic Youth are at their chaotic best, mixing the fairly conventional rock sound they perfected on Daydream Nation with the more experimental material they were better known for back then.  They also appear as their bizarre Ciccone Youth alter ego.  For me though, Steve Albini’s contributions; 2 tracks as Big Black and another as, well, I can’t bring myself to type it, are the highlight here.  There’s an electrifying version of Kerosene, a truly depressing track about small town nihilism and a surprisingly laid back take on He’s A Whore.  Dutch Courage by the unmentionable band is a shockingly badly recorded live version, but oddly, all the better for it.  Big Stick contribute a version of their classic Drag Racing, which frankly is the only thing they did really worth hearing. UT, the all women New York noise monsters are here with a re-recording of Evangelist, the stand-out from their In Gut’s House album which I’ll post another time.  Dinosaur Jr. are reliable as always, and there’s a suitably unhinged live version of a track from Locust Abortion Technician by the Butthole Surfers, slightly ruined by being way too long to fit on a 7″.

Blast First! was known as a noise label, and so this boxed set is predictably noisy.  There was more to Paul Smith than that though, and like Alan McGee over at Creation, he used the label as a platform for his own musical interests.  That side of him appears on disc 9, which has a rare 60s recording from Sun Ra paired with a Glenn Branca piece from his orchestra of electric guitars project.

As you might imagine, the box is a bit inconsistent in places, but overall the quality of the music is remarkably high.  The essential tracks more than make up for the filler; this was a compilation the label made a real effort with, and it shows.

by Vinyl301 -

Barmy Army: The English Disease

Folder

On U Sound 1989. On-U LP48

Discogs

An odd album for me to own because my disinterest in football is total.   I’ve always been a sucker though for anything on On-U, and I like the idea of a thousands-strong male voice choir.

In case you didn’t know, this is the On-U crew with their usual dubbed out genius, accompanied by recordings of football chants which wander in and out of the mix.  Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t, but it’s worth it for when it does…

It’s a curious mix of piss-take (donkeys playing football on the cover) and homage – these guys are clearly fans.  It’s about much more than just the game – it’s about how it fits with the English psyche.  I didn’t spot any reference to the hideous racism oozing off the terraces in those days which seems an odd omission, but then I’m hardly in a position to make any sort of comment about football culture.

Side two is a bit crackly in places I’m afraid, but it’s perfectly listenable.

by Vinyl301 -

The Durutti Column: Bonus Live (From Four Factory Records)

R-2032716-1273855859

Kooky 2009. Kookydisc 027/4

Discogs (This link is for the whole box, but only disc 4 is presented here.)

This is the remaining bonus disc from the Kooky Boxed set as requested by Charles.  The other one is here.

This is, as you’ve probably figured out, a collection of live tracks from the same period as the four factory albums were recorded, taken from three very different gigs.  The first, Glasgow 1982 is classic Durutti – no great surprises.  The second, LSE 1984 is very different and includes keyboards, a brass section and a violin, in step with the studio recordings he made around that time.  The final gig, the Zap Club Brighton, also from 1984 is similarly embellished, but has a more recognisably Durutti sound.

If you want to know which tracks were recorded at which gig, look at the tagging info which comes with the files. It’s in “properties”.

There will be more Durutti Column to come when I’ve figured out which of my huge pile of their albums is currently out of print.

As before, if you enjoy this, head over to his web site and buy something. Vini could use the cash, and you’ll enjoy the music.

by Vinyl301 -

The Very Things: Motortown

Folder

One Little Indian 1987. TPLP6.

Discogs

The Very Things described themselves as Dadaists, which I guess they were but it’s not a helpful guide to what they sounded like.  The problem is that they didn’t really sound like anyone else.  There’s a Cramps style interest in 1950s b movie sci-fi kitcsh, a bit of music hall, some motown (as the name of this mini album suggests) and some mid 80s indie guitar.  That all sounds like a bit of a car crash, but they made some fine records, this being one of them.

They must also be the best thing ever to come out of Redditch, a godforsaken new town just outside Birmingham, which maybe inspired the motortown thing.  An alien landing there could be forgiven for thinking it’s populated by cars and the weird two legged creatures are some sort of parasite they have to endure.