by Vinyl301 -

Shellac: The Rude Gesture (A Pictorial History)

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Touch & Go 1993.  TG123.  Also Shellac Record #1

Discogs

I don’t really go in for having favourites of anything musical, but Steve Albini is an exception.  His guitar playing is, by a big margin, my favourite, and slightly controversially I think it works better with Shellac than it did with Big Black.  Maybe that was because by then he didn’t have to worry about selling records because of his day job as producer/engineer to the stars.  Certainly I’m convinced that that’s the reason for the  consistent quality of Shellac’s releases – they only put something out when they’ve got something worth listening to.

Steve Albini’s also a vinyl nut, so it’s no coincidence that the band’s first releases were all vinyl only.  He bowed to the inevitable and made all the albums available on CD, but that never happened with the singles, all of which are deleted and never had a digital release of any sort.  If you’ve read some of my rants on here you’ll know that I’m not entirely convinced by the vinyl thing, but Mr Albini is one of the few people whose opinion on the subject I respect…  Certainly most of the vinyl I have bearing his name (which is quite a lot) sounds good.  So it is in a way a bit perverse digitising this material, but I don’t think it loses anything in the process.  Once it’s been through the vinyl reproduction system it has the vinyl sound whether or not you then digitally record it.

So this single, their debut, is as you’d expect a bit of a monster.  The guitar playing is of course amazing and instantly recognisable, but the rest of the band, especially the drummer, Todd Trainer are equally inventive.  It’s chaotic, loud, aggressive, utterly original and yet at the same time beautifully crafted.   They went on to become more experimental than this – these three tracks have something approaching conventional song structures, but they’re twisted out of shape in a way that the band has made its own.  The subject matter hasn’t moved on at all from Big Black – it’s mostly about really hateful men doing really hateful things.  Bleak stuff.  I tried to figure out which is the stand-out track, but every one is a contender.  I can’t make my mind up.

I have to mention the packaging.  It’s a hand assembled, cardboard wraparound sleeve, with the word Shellac printed with what I guess is invisible ink.  There’s a smear of what is supposed to be Shellac (but is actually root beer concentrate) which reveals the print underneath.  The title is stamped on.  My copy doesn’t look much like the image above – they’re all different, but I couldn’t be bothered to scan mine.  Sorry.

I’ll be posting all their other singles here at some point apart from the really rare stuff, none of which I have.  I found a rip of all that I don’t have years ago in reasonable quality called Extraneous Material which a bit of googling might still turn up.

Further listening?  Well their most recent album, Excellent Italian Greyhound is still available, and I think, their best.  Really though, you need all four.  All essential listening.  They occasionally tour – and I have to say that the gigs I’ve been to have been some of the best I’ve ever seen.

by Vinyl301 -

Us: Born In The North

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Wooden 1988.  WOOD 6

Discogs

This single barely sold at all, and is now largely forgotten.  That’s not because of the quality of the music, nor of the performers.  I suspect the problem was than no-one had any idea who “Us” were and Wooden had virtually no distribution.

In effect this single is by A Guy Called Gerald, with Edward Barton on vocals.  It’s from the same period as Voodoo Ray, and I think is almost as good.  Like its better known companion, this is a superb slab of acid house; minimalist and menacing.  Barton’s odd vocals work surprisingly well in this context, as does the sample of the hateful Edwina Currie indulging in a spot of victim blaming.  As you’ll know if you follow this blog, I like politics in music, and this works well on that score.  If you’re familiar with the UK you’ll know of the huge and ever growing gulf between the wealthy south-east and the rest of the country.  Back in 1988 it was bad enough, but it’s grown substantially since then, and it’s good to see musicians expressing their anger about it, and the politicians who seek to perpetuate the divide.

by Vinyl301 -

Trouble Funk: Hard To Beat

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Style Records 1989.  STYRL 001

Discogs

I mourn the decline of regional diversity in music.  It started as soon as recorded music became available and it became possible for lots of people to listen to the same thing.  Radio was another nail in the coffin, and now marketing muscle and cultural imperialism are pushing it ever further.  Diversity still exists though, and this album is a good example of it.

Trouble Funk were part of the Washington Go-Go scene which is a kind of heavy, big-band funk unique to the city.  It didn’t really make it across the pond; I heard them for the first time thanks to a really good track on one of those horrible free 7″ EPs music papers used to give away – obviously part of a failed attempt to market the band internationally.

Don’t be fooled by the cheap artwork on this album.  It may have been low budget, but the music isn’t.  If you have any interest in funk at all, you owe it to yourself to hear this stuff.  I’m told their earlier stuff, before a major label got hold of them is better, but there’s not much wrong with this.  There’s even a pastiche of Kraftwerk’s Trans Europe Express which works far better than it has any right to.

I suspect this album is a compilation, but there’s not much info out there about it.  Four of the tracks are credited to “Big Tony and the TF Crew”, which as far as I can tell is just Trouble Funk.

There seems to be nothing currently available by the band.  I’ve noticed on Discogs that their early vinyl isn’t worth much, so I may explore in more depth.  I’ll post anything I get hold of here at some point.

Update:  I enjoyed listening to this so much I decided to try to find more Trouble Funk.  I succeeded, so there will be more rips here at some point.  While doing a spot of research, I cam across Warr.org which has reviews of most of their output, and they have this to say about Hard To Beat :

“Released only in the UK, a compilation of hard-to-find material. Side One is credited to Big Tony & The T.F. Crew (“Go-Go Lady,” written and produced by Harvey Scales; an edit of “Back Doin’ What We Do Best”) though “Do The Whop” (also trimmed) was originally released as Go-Go Allstarz. Side Two is credited to Trouble Funk, though much of it is from the same Allstarz disc (“Graveyard Boogie / All Aboard”). Also in 1989, Fisher and Reed produced a single for T & A (Tara R. and Asia T.), “Definitely Dope” – it’s an enjoyable blend of go-go and hip hop, but good luck finding a copy (I heard it on MixCloud). (DBW)”

by Vinyl301 -

The Pooh Sticks: Go Go Girl

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Cheree 1989.  CHEREE3F

Discogs

I’m not much into flexis for obvious reasons, but these tracks only appear here, and as flexis go it doesn’t sound too bad.

Go Go Girl is a pretty straight cover of a Marc Bolan song.  Simon E apparently worked for Rough Trade and I guess they didn’t like him.

For me, the Pooh Sticks had rather lost their way at this point.  They’d left behind the joyful wind-ups of their early records, but hadn’t yet turned into a band that could make music which stood up without the humour.  All credit to them for pulling that transformation off, but they hadn’t quite got there in 1989.

by Vinyl301 -

Dub Sex: Time Of Life

Dub Sex

Scam 1989.  SCAM005

Discogs

Dub Sex were a Manchester band who were, I think, unjustly ignored.  This is a fabulous, dark single, oozing with energy and anger.  It’s like a cross between Wire and late period New Fads.  I came across them on a flexi which came with an issue of the excellent Debris magazine, on the strength of which I bought a few bits and pieces by the band.   I know nothing more about them, and there’s precious little on the net, but don’t let that put you off – this should have been huge.

Dub Sex have appeared on this blog before, on the rather fine Edward Not Edward compilation.  There is of course nothing available to buy by the band.

by Vinyl301 -

Gil Scott-Heron: New York Is Killing Me (Ashley Beedle’s Space Blues Rework)

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Modern Artifacts 2012.  MA006

Discogs

The quality of unofficial remixes of classic tracks seems to be going up and up.  Is the technology getting better?  Or their popularity causing DJs to up their game?  I have no idea but this is a particularly good example of the genre which, unusually, got an official release last year.  It now seems to be sold out everywhere, so it’s ripe for a posting here.

The original version, on Gil’s last album I’m New Here is essential listening.  This version adds a welcome layer of menace.  For my money it’s better than the Jamie XX remix of the same track on his LP We’re New Here.

 

by Vinyl301 -

Birdland: Live

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Lazy Recordings 1989.  lazy 16T

Discogs

Back in the 1980s, the economics of music were different.  Going to see bands was pretty cheap, but buying recorded music was expensive.  In those days, touring was a way of drumming up record sales, whereas now it’s reversed and the prices reflect that.  So it was astonishingly generous of Birdland to give this album away at gigs.  OK, it’s one sided and has no cover or tracklisting, but for free, who’s complaining.

The band used to drink in the same pub as me and I found them annoying.  They’d hold court in the corner of the pub with their bleached hair and glamorous looking entourage, while I’d be sitting elsewhere, not looking good, with my mates who were also not looking good.  I must admit that I did quietly rejoice when they fell out of favour as quickly as they arrived.  I really wanted them to be a terrible band, but the problem is, they weren’t, as this live album shows.  They did loud, chaotic punk influenced rock’n’roll, with no quiet songs to show their sensitive side.  That this live album, which I assumed would be quite rare turns out to be close to worthless demonstrates that the uncoolness they acquired so quickly has never gone away, and perhaps that explains why their career was so short.  The performance here is a bit of a shambles, and the sound isn’t great – although there was little audible bass on their studio recordings too, but it captures the energy of a really exciting live band.  Listening to it now after many years it’s actually better than I remember.  This kind of music is timeless, and I’ve long since forgotten how annoying they were in the pub.

I didn’t quite get the tracks divided properly when I ripped this, so one of the files has 2 songs.  I could fix it, but it’s late and I want to go to bed.  Sorry.

by Vinyl301 -

Various Artists: Kick It! The Def Jam Sampler Volume One

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Def Jam Recordings 1987.  KIKIT1

Discogs

I ripped this for the first track, The Beastie Boys’ Rock Hard.  It was an early single which sampled AC/DC’s Back In Black, but unfortunately the Aussie oafs took offence and it was swiftly withdrawn.  As you might imagine I’m not much of an AC/DC fan, although even I have to admit that Back In Black is a bit of a classic.  I don’t think I’ve ever made it all the way through the album though – it gets mighty repetitive.  This track however improves vastly on the original – somehow it has a lot more punch and it really rocks.  Maybe that’s why AC/DC were offended.  Whatever, it’s a difficult track to find these days and has never had a digital release of any sort.

There are a few other decent tracks here.  The best of course is Public Enemy, which is an interesting early track from their first album – before they got political.  The subject matter is really dull (their car), but it’s a hugely entertaining track.  It’s on their first album, Yo! Bum Rush The Show if you want more.  LL Cool J contributes the hilarious I’m Bad which is a bizarre ego driven fantasy about what a bad boy he is.  Like PE, the material might be preposterous, but he delivers it with aplomb.

Much of the rest hasn’t aged too well, but I rather like the simplicity of The Junkyard Band and Original Concept.  Their track, Can You Feel It isn’t the same as the Fingers Inc version I posted earlier, but it gets its name from the same sample from a Jacksons live album.

I’ve re-upped a load of stuff to Mega.  It’s mainly big files, especially the Virgin Ambient compilations.  I’ve never got on very well with Mega – downloads don’t seem to work a lot of the time, and when they do the file gets squireled away somewhere I can’t find it.  Let me know if it works for you – I don’t want to waste any more time uploading old posts if no-one can access them.

by Vinyl301 -

Gary Clail: End Of The Century Party

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On-U Sound 1989.  ON-U LP49

Discogs

I’ve been ripping too much indiepop lately, so here’s a change of mood to the ever reliable dub label, On-U Sound; this time Gary Clail.

This was his second album, easier on the ear than his earlier outings with Tackhead.  Here he collaborates to good effect with On-U labelmates Dub Syndicate (more from them later), Barmy Army and most notably the singer Bim Sherman whose silky voice is enough to stop you in your tracks.

His political fire hasn’t dimmed though – on this album he rails against corporate power (Two Thieves and a Liar, Privatise The Air) and a remarkable anti-meat eating track, Beef.  I’m a vegetarian, but if there’s one thing likely to get me back on the burgers it’s the likes of Morrissey and his absurd preaching.  Here though Clail tells it like it is and leaves the listener to draw conclusions.  I have a better version of this track on a single which I’ll post at some point.

by Vinyl301 -

The Weather Prophets: She Comes From The Rain

R-1289394-1235861058

Elevation Records 1987.  ACID1TX

Discogs

I’ve got a surprisingly long way through this blog without posting any Weather Prophets (apart from a track on the Purple compilation), but Manny reminded me a few days back, so here’s the first of several.

This single, the limited edition version with an extra track no less was from their period away from Creation.  Actually Elevation was a short lived major label run by Alan McGee designed to feed Creation acts into the mainstream with a bit of marketing muscle.  Those ideas usually fail, and Elevation was no exception – the records they put out were somehow cheapened by the marketing, and in any case didn’t attract a new audience but did alienate their existing fan base.  This single might have looked cheap, but musically is pretty decent.

Peter Astor had something of an obsession with songs about rain, hence the title track, but good though that song is, there isn’t really a stand-out here; it all works pretty well.  He even makes a pretty good job of a rather ill advised Leonard Cohen cover (Who By Fire).  It’s classy, classic Creation indiepop.

Further listening?  Cherry red have a good retrospective and a re-issue of one of their Creation albums here.