The Shamen: Progeny

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One Little Indian 1991.  TPLP32

Discogs

I bought this by mistake quite recently.  I was in Polar Bear records in Brum, and there it was, a Shamen album I don’t have for £1.  It was only when I got home that I realised that it’s actually every version of Move Any Mountain plus a load of samples on a triple LP.  I like the track, but 19 versions?  Actually according to discogs the album is mispressed and one of the mixes is repeated, so if they’re right, there’s only 18 versions.  It finishes with the components of the original tracks because, in the words of the band, “We’re sick of remixing this fucker, so here are the bits, go do it yourself”.   They make for an odd and unexpectedly pleasing listening experience.

You might ask why I bothered ripping the whole thing?  Well taken a side at a time over several months it was fine.  Anyone who managed to make it through this in one sitting deserves a prize.

This is a silly album, but I quite like the OCD nature of it, and I guess if you’re a fan it’s worth having.  Some of the mixes are even quite good, especially the ones without Mr C’s rapping.

Big Black: Songs About Fucking

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Blast First! 1987.  BFFP19

Discogs

More hateful bile from Steve Albini today, but what wonderful bile this is.  No subject is taboo which makes for uncomfortable listening – I’m not going to list them here, you’ll just have to listen out for the nasties yourself.  Musically it’s equally uncomfortable, with an aggressive, almost tinny sound but with monstrous guitar work which is like nothing else.  I’ve said before that I never really liked their drum machine, but on this, their last album, it seems to fit better with the band than it ever had before.

It is amazing that this is unavailable.  Where is the deluxe expanded version and the 180g vinyl re-issue?  I guess Mr Albini isn’t into such things and I can’t imagine he either needs or wants the money.

Tenpole Tudor: Let The Four Winds Blow

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Stiff 1981.  SEEZ42

Discogs

Another surprisingly inspired purchase from my pre-Peel school days, bought on the back of a very entertaining appearance by the band on Top Of The Pops.  The band defied being pigeonholed with this bizarrely eclectic album – punk, rockabilly, music hall, pop, rock etc etc.  They’re usually labelled punk, but that’s only because singer Eddie Tudor-Pole appeared in the Great Rock N Roll Swindle with the Pistols.  Full marks for the strange medieval thing going on, complete with ye olde brylcreme and sunglasses.

This album is really silly but it contains some great moments, especially the ludicrously catchy What You Doing In Bombay.  Play it loud and you’ll end up leaping around the room like Eddie did back in the day.

I bought this in Cyclops records in Brum which Brummies of a certain age will remember.  It was run by the most miserable bloke imaginable, and I have the rare distinction of never being thrown out of the shop like everyone else I knew was, although he maintained a continuous scowl all the time I was in there.  It was an odd shop in what was then a run-down Victorian arcade, but which is now very chi-chi.  It stocked all sorts of weird stuff which was otherwise completely unavailable, assumed deleted, and was cheaper than pretty much everywhere else in town.

Art Phag: Art Phag

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Wanghead (With Lips) 1988.  WH006

Discogs

Art Phag were a kind of deranged Cramps type band from, I think Detroit.  They have a fabulously dirty, primitive sound and a great line in surreal lyrics.  They had a bit of airplay with the first track Golf, which is a somewhat suspect tale of a guy beating his girlfriend up because she touched his golf clubs.  It’s tongue-in-cheek, but still dodgy.  Fortunately the rest of the album is much better, in fact a forgotten classic of what I suppose you could call lo-fi horror swamp rock.

The cover is worth a mention – an old cover turned inside out and hand painted.  Mine doesn’t look much like the image above, but I don’t have a scanner big enough to do album covers.

They did a few more albums, none of which I’ve heard (although they’re apparently not that great) before imploding in a tide of psychological disorders – a bit like the Elevators by the sound of things.

Young Widows/Bonnie “Prince” Billy: Split Series Part 1

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Temporary Residence 2009.  TRR151

Discogs

This is the first in a series of 4 split singles put out by noisenicks Young Widows, most with interesting bands on the B side.  You won’t be surprised to know that I bought this for the B side, and that I don’t have any of the other singles in the series.

The A side is a pleasant enough noisy guitar fest, but I can’t see me buying any more by the band.  The B side is the sort of experimental material Will Oldham sometimes wheels out for these obscure 7″ releases and which are more typical of his very early output.  The lyrics are impenetrable and his voice is multitracked, which is an odd contrast to the sparse acoustic backing.   There are bits of spoken word and some strange falsetto too.  Somehow is all comes together into a satisfying whole for reasons I can’t figure out.  I guess he knows what he’s doing..

Edward Barton: Belly Box Brother Gob

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Wooden Records 1988.  Wood2

Discogs

I’m rather fond of Edward Barton as a songwriter and also as an artist.  He’s featured here before as the writer of the classic It’s A Fine Day by Jane, and because of his self-curated tribute album, Edward Not Edward.  Here he’s in his more challenging guise of performer on a four song EP.  The songwriting is (mostly) as good as ever but these performances are not easy to listen to.

Telephone Box is a bittersweet, whimsical tale of a naive guy who mistakes a peep show for a phone box and falls in love with the stripper within.  Knob Gob is, well, I’m sure you can figure that one out for yourself, but our hero ends up with a broken back as a result of his efforts.  I’m not sure what the point is of I Slap My Belly, but the harrowing last track about his dead brother is very clear.

I think his difficult performances are worth persevering with, but my other half stomped out muttering about yet more shit records when I was playing this.  You’ll probably agree with her, but if you’re up for a challenge you could give it a go.  He’s something of a cult figure these days, so maybe you’ll earn some cool points from having heard this.

Levitation: Nadine

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Ultimate Records 1991.  TOPP003

Discogs

Levitation were Terry Bickers band after leaving the House Of Love.  They were a bit more proggy than I usually go for, but Bickers wonderful guitar playing and some great song writing soon made me forget about that.

This single was their debut, later expanded into the Coppelia EP.  There’s some confusion over which is the A side – it seems to be Nadine, which is daft because Smile is by far the best track.

The band was pretty short lived, at least with Terry Bickers in the line-up, splitting two years later after only one very good album.  He was unstable at the best of times and stormed out unexpectedly at the end of a gig.

Cabaret Voltaire: Eight Crépuscule Tracks

Cabaret Voltaire 8 Crepuscule Tracks

Les Disques Du Crépuscule 1988.  TWI749

Discogs

This is, in my humble opinion, the mighty Cabs best period.  It’s a compilation which gathers together various somewhat random tracks from the early 80s.

It kicks off with the three parts of Sluggin’ Fer Jesus, recorded in the US with the band horrified/enthralled by the insane money grabbing right wing TV evangelists they saw on hotel room TVs.  They take the crazed rantings and superimpose a minimal electronic backing.  Yashar was a Factory single which combines a sample from Outer Limits with oddly eastern sounding electronics.

It’s side 2 which is the highlight for me.  The dark, menacing Invocation might just be my favourite Cabs track, and the album closes with an amazing and unlikely cover of Isaac Hayes’ Theme From Shaft.   That the Cabs should cover a classic funk track is unexpected of course, although their use of rhythm was on occasion quite funky, but this manages to be both very faithful to the original while still retaining the menacing minimal Cabs sound.  The classic guitar work on Hayes original is accurately reproduced electronically – a trick you’d think would be impossible.  The lyrics are entirely unsuited to the Cabs style, but even that they manage to make work.  Truly astonishing.

That Petrol Emotion: It’s A Good Thing

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Demon Records 1986.  D1042

Discogs

That Petrol Emotion had a great line in uplifting guitar based rock and this single is one of their best.   They emerged from the ashes of The Undertones, and my sacreligious opinion is that they were better.  There’s also a political edge as there ought to be from any Irish music from the 80s – the sleeve has a rant about inhuman strip-searches carried out by the British in those days.

The band were however pretty patchy – B sides were never a strong point, but with an A side this good, who cares.  It probably means it’s not worth shelling out for the 12″.

If anyone has a lossless rip of their album Manic Pop Thrill, preferably from the CD I’d be very grateful.  All I had was a cassette made by a friend which went to meet its maker long ago.

Various Artists: Fast N Bulbous

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Imaginary Records 1988.  ILLUSION 002

Discogs

Covering Beefheart tracks is rarely a good idea; they really are best left to the man himself.  However I was young back then and knew no better, I was tempted by the strong line-up and the novelty (then) of the concept.

The album is of course quite a mixed bag.  There are tracks which grate (The Dog Faced Hermans for example) and some which are close copies of the original (XTC – impressive but why bother?).  It works when the material is taken somewhere new – I like  The King Of Luxembourg for being bonkers and the Screaming Dizbusters just play some great noisy rock n roll.

Really though, if you haven’t already done so, get some Beefheart rather than listen to this stuff.  Trout Mask Replica for his weird masterpiece, Safe As Milk for early blues based stuff, and Clear Spot for, well, my favourite.