Ultra Vivid Scene: Mercy Seat

Mercy Seat

4AD 1989.  BAD906

Discogs

This single was, I think, the pinnacle of Kurt Ralske’s musical career.  This is a re-recording of the song, the original being on his debut album where it stood head and shoulders above the rest of what was an excellent album.  This much longer version gains most of the extra time from an extended intro which builds to the song itself over around three minutes.  Normally these things are just padding to justify the 12″ format, but here the majesty of the song, both lyrically and musically needs this build-up to really work its magic.  There’s less guitar distortion here than in the original, but more delicate meandering around the melody which gives the track a fragility which suits it.  The mesmerising bass line is still much in evidence though.  Somewhat surprisingly a very young Moby plays guitar on this.

The single includes the album version of the track as a closer and a couple of exclusives, which while completely overshadowed by the title track are well worth hearing.

The Shamen: Progeny

front

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

front

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

front

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

R-427541-1178361104

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

MI0000873390

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

front

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

R-2460111-1322521676

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

front

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.