Ryuichi Sakamoto - Sweet Revenge - 1994

I bought this one when I was hot on Electronica, in it's early years.  The record store had filed it in their special Electronica or Techno section, and I was immediately taken by the cover.  I knew nothing of Ryuichi or YMO.  I just thought it was another artist out to make his name.  Little did I know at the time, his name was already made.

There are a lot of good tracks on here, but I am always ALWAYS drawn to 7 Seconds.  Stone cold classic.  No real b-sides, and only enough room for a couple of mixes.  But, definitely one worth having.

As for yesterday... (and today, unfortunately) I snapped when a minor problem was the last straw.  If you aren't interested in my personal problems, then skip the green and go straight to the bottom.

When you're a kid, you always think that you're going to grow up and find this great job that you are going to excel at, and everyone is going to be impressed and rely on you and you will totally love what you are doing, so much that it won't even feel like work.

Right.

I was President of Future Business Leaders of America in High School.  I was in advanced and gifted classes all through K-12.  I majored in advertising and graphic design.  I went to a national competition for graphic design....

And here I sit, with no college degree, selling janitorial supplies over the phone, shuffling delivery tickets and managing a 200.00 cash drawer.  And, I might just lose my job, because I may or may not have made someone mad.  I am tired of getting shit on by half-wits that I know I'm mentally superior to.  I'm not being egotistical, it's just a fact.  

I have worked myself through 3 different jobs in the past 9 years, only to lose them all.  And they were all shitty jobs to begin with.  I've burdened myself with two cars, a large house that I can't afford (even when my wife had a job we were just barely making ends meet) a rental property that is draining what little money we have left, and my wife still can't find a job.  And, now I hear rumors that I may have pissed someone off at work, and I might lose my job over it.  I hate the fucking job, with a passion, but, I can't afford to lose it, especially not now.  How many of you know how miserable that is?  Probably a lot, I know.

On top of that, I do have ADD, which I try to make light of, but coupled with being a manic depressive, and having several other issues from my childhood that have fucked me in the head, it only makes things worse.  It's funny, no matter what anyone ANYONE says about how great I am or what potential I have, my self-esteem is for shit.  My self-loathing is fucking palpable.

I also think the seasonal change alters my moods as well.  Not the one where winter makes you depressed and sad, but the one like today, when I walked out on my front porch and it's 70 degrees out and the sun is shining in a cloudless sky, and I instantly feel like cutting my own throat.

Thank god for medication.  It's about the only thing that holds me together, along with a steady diet of prayer, hoping that someone up there is listening.  I also have been to a shrink before.  I went to him weekly for 3 years straight, and, at times I feel more messed up than before I started.

This was just the straw that broke the camel's back. I'll admit, I'm not the most stable person out there, but, I'm not fucking crazy, alright?  I haven't completely lost it.  Just working through a very very bad patch....

I just thought I owed you all some sort of explanation, also because it's still plaguing me.  And that's not even the problems that occurred several weeks ago, this is just from the last couple days.

SO THERE YOU HAVE IT!  Hope you enjoy the music...

Ryuichi Sakamoto - Sweet Revenge - 1994

Outer Rhythm - A Compilation

I can tell by the number of page views, and the lack of comments, that this week isn't quite as popular as I thought it would be.  I'm sorry.  Just hold on, only two more days after tonight, & I promise Sunday night will be worth it, for realz.

This was another label that I really liked, and I think it was their logo that initially drew me to them.  What a cool head!  I love it!  But, unlike Warp, not all of their tracks were great, starting off.  So, I picked and chose some of my favorites and dropped them on two discs.  There's a lot of fun stuff on there, including the Joey Beltram mix of Dominator, a big hit from back then.

Again, a custom cover using only the head logo primarily.  The background was a graphic pulled from the web. 

See you tomorrow night for some more....

Disc One        Disc Two

RaC - The 12-Inch Singles - 1992-1994

I wrote about the history on the back of the sleeve I made for these guys.  They didn't have much if anything for graphics for any of their singles, so I created my own, and tried to keep it in the style of the early 90s Techno albums.

Richard and Chris were an awesome duo who released quite a few singles on the Nucleus and Warp labels.  When I was actively collecting vinyl in the 90s, I had three of these singles, and really took a liking to their style.  But, as I've said in previous posts, when my interest in that early 90s stuff started to wane, I ended up selling them all in a large stack of vinyl that I had taken to a record store in the late 90s.  Back then, though, I was moving around a lot, so hauling close to 8000 comic books, 600-700 action figures, 400 novels - hardcover & paperback, 3000 CDs and close to 800 records became quite a chore.  Hobbies can sometimes be a burden.  SO, I sold them off.  (funny now that I talk about it, I have close to 80,000 comics, 25,000 albums and 3-4000 novels all on 3 external hard drives.  My, how things change!)

Now, I never had all of their stuff, just those 3 singles.  So, while compiling their material from Nucleus and Warp, I've found a lot of stuff I'd never even heard before now.  As I listened to it while making the cover, and as I listen to it now, I'm sure that I will get a lot of airplay out of it.  It brings back some great memories, and is very digestible even now.  THIS was the style of Techno that I really enjoyed back then.  Minimal vocals, lots of beats, and a real lack of that Soul/Hip Hop/R&B sound that a lot of the Techno had back then.  I can't stand the Techno that has all that stuff.  Drives me nuts.

Again, as I collected these singles together for one disc, I came across a lot of material I'd never heard before.  And not just from RAC, but from a lot of other Techno outfits as well.  I'll probably be making more of these artist comps in the future, if you guys like them.  And if you don't, well, I might just make them anyway because they're a lot of fun to put together.

I hope you like this as much as I do...

RaC - The 12-Inch Singles - 1992-1994

 

Blur - Parklife II -1994

Absolutely cheated.  That's how I felt.  I was a junior in college, struggling to keep up with my studies while working 35 hours a week to make rent and pay for school.  I sacrificed 12 bucks to get a new album that I knew I couldn't afford.  I purchased Parklife, and put it in my CD player when I got back to my apartment.  Boys & Girls blared out of my speakers, and I sat in abject horror, not knowing what had happened to the Blur I knew only from their Leisure album.  This was not There's No Other Way.  This was annoying and twangy and it really pissed me off that the one album I chose to purchase, out of everything else I could have spent my money on, had been this one.  I listened to it twice, and finally sold it back to the used CD store for something else.

Then, Great Escape came out...  Wow.  Then their self-titled... Even better.  Then 13.  FINE!  I get it!  They're fucking awesome, alright?! 

I eventually went back, years later, and repurchased the album to become more acquainted with it.  Honestly, it is a great album, with a lot of great material.  Some of my favorites include This Is a Low, Parklife, End of A Century, and a couple others.  And, their PSB remix of Girls & Boys is spectacular.

My ONLY qualm with these guys is their song Red Necks.  I feel that it is very prejudice and stereo-typical, and condescending.  In today's PC environment, I would say it is borderline on bullying of sorts.  I'm sure they wouldn't want me to sing a song about Brits with ugly teeth, or homosexuals or anything like that.  I am always told and I have always felt that I should accept everyone, regardless of race, religion, orientation, etc.  It's just that society has seemed to find it acceptable to make fun of Christian, white, American males, and then chastising us if we say anything about it.  I find it disgusting. 

Regardless, the track is on this "Disc Two".  I weeded out the redundant demos and radio sessions, as they are unnecessary overall.  Also, no live tracks.  My front cover looks alright, but I hate how the back cover turned out.  Half tempted to scan the original back cover, take out the album tracks and put the new tracks in their place. 

Hope you all like....

Blur - Parklife II -1994

 a little note for future reference...

Old School Techno Rave Week starts on December 12th.  Mark your calendars!

Stone Roses - Second Coming - 1994

Having gotten into the Stone Roses too late to appreciate their debut and rise to fame, I eagerly anticipated their release of Second Coming.  We all know that Second Coming was a long time coming, so by the time this hit the shelves, the craze was through the roof.  I prepared myself to me amazed....

Meh.

I thought my dreams had come true while I listened to Breaking Into Heaven for the first time.  And, by all rights, it's a spectacular song, one of their best.  But, as the album progressed, I began to wonder why I had even gotten so excited.  Yes, the songs are better than a lot of other songs by a lot of other artists, and this album still ranks up there in one of the best Brit Rock albums.  But, I would probably put it in the 120s or 130s in ranking.  I expected way more than I got.

Yes, I still collected all the singles and all the b-sides, and I know this album inside and out.  But, when I think of the best of the Stone Roses, hardly anything comes from this album.  Sorry, guys.

But, if you are a Ian Brown/Stone Roses completist, you have to have it.  I even have those shitty albums by John Squire, too....

Stone Roses - Second Coming - 1994

Lush - Split - 1994

The second full-length album by the band, and the best one of the bunch.  I was in college and being indoctrinated by the hippie liberal pigs that passed as professors.  My wife, who was then my girlfriend, had been dating for about a year and a half, and we were constantly immersed in music, as if that was the only reason for living.  Well, almost the only reason, I was also addicted to comic books at the time, so if I wasn't at a record store, it was a comic store. 

So, one day, I'm standing in Cosmic Comics, my store of choice at the time, and I'm browsing the new release section, listening to this album.  I had turned it off while I was there, as I had been chatting with the counter clerk about comics.  This guy comes in as I'm off down the racks, and starts chatting with the clerk as well.  He brings up this album about it's high points and low points and that when he gets the money he was going to buy it.  Mind you, he had about 30.00 worth of comics in his hand, but not enough money to go down and purchase the CD.  I walk over and asked what he was talking about, and he mentions this album.  I pull out my CD Walkman and ask him "You mean this album?"  Instantly he was my best friend.  We chatted and chatted, and he eventually got around to asking if he could borrow the disc to listen to and tape.  Hesitantly, I said yes.  I have problems saying no to people, and I am too trustworthy.  He promised he'd only have it for a day or two, and that he would return it to the comic store and I could pick it up from the clerk.  I thought, what's the harm?

That was the last time I ever saw that CD.  4 months later, I had to repurchase the disc, and I never saw that guy or my disc in the comic store ever again.  The clerk said he had seen the guy a couple times since, but never mentioned the disc let alone return it to him.  That was the last time I ever loaned a CD to anyone.  Ever.

Now, I sit here and hand out music freely, which I am in no position to do.  I sorta feel like a hypocrite.  Pun intended.

Lush - Split - 1994

Listening Pool - Self-titled Debut - 1994

When OMD split, I was heartbroken.  Dreaming had been a swan song of mine from Chicago, and I couldn't think of the eighties without them.  I know the name OMD put 3 more albums out after Dreaming, but we all know it wasn't the same.

You would think that three of the players from OMD would be enough to make a tight and comfortable synthpop album that would be comparable to anything they did in the eighties.  But, as McCluskey proved he couldn't handle it on his own with the OMD moniker, Humphreys and the rest of the boys proved they couldn't swing it without McCluskey.  It was the combination of McCluskey and Humphreys together that made OMD great.  It's too bad it took them almost 20 years to figure that out and try again.

As a one off, stand alone, without any foreknowledge of the members, one might think this was a modest pop album from the late eighties or early nineties, and they wouldn't mind it.  But, given the history of the members, it should have been so much better.

Here are all the tracks, and most of the mixes.  I completely redid the cover, using a new still life painting, and redoing the background and font.  The only legitimate Listening Pool media is the pic of them and the music.

Give it a try, you may like it better than I did.

Listening Pool - Self-titled Debut - 1994

Lightning Seeds - Jollification - 1994

Yes, I have been a Broudie fan since his first album.  What's fun about being a Broudie fan and a Lightning Seeds fan is that none of his stuff is ever released domestically in the United States.  So, back before the internet and the Amazons and the Discogs and Youtubes, you had to go out and hunt to find the material.  You'd pour through music magazines at the book store hoping to see release notes (and praying you could remember them.)  You'd have to become buddies with the record store employees so they would special order stuff, and hold back stuff, and keep an eye open for stuff and let you know if they heard any news.  And that's what it would take.  Not just with Lightning Seeds, but with a lot of groups that I was fond of.  That was the fun.

Now, there's no such thing as not being able to find it.  Discogs has 187 copies of anything you want starting at 13 cents each.  What fun is that?  I can get an entire musical library with demos, b-sides and remixes from groups in about 10 or 15 minutes, depending on where you look and who it is. 

But, I digress.  This album was a great one to hunt down all the material from.  Obviously I only put two of the mixes on here, but I could've put more, as they had some good ones.  Ian Broudie is a pop-hook master, and it's a pleasure to listen to anything he has written.  Take a moment and sample this dude, it's pretty good (and very 90s)

Lightning Seeds - Jollification - 1994

Erasure - I Say, I Say, I Say - 1994

I have to say, that when this album came out, I was a little disappointed.  Erasure had just come off two spectacular albums, Wild and Chorus, so my expectations were very very high.  This album came out amidst a glut of College Rock and Grunge, along with Britrock and Techno.  So, you've got these guys stuck somewhere out in left field.  I'm glad that they didn't bow to peer pressure and change their sound just to fit in with the grunge/industrial scene, like Depeche Mode did with SoF&D, they stayed true to who they were, and created some well-crafted tunes.  Unfortunately, you could definitely tell by now that the 80s were long gone.

I really did like the album art on this one.  It fit the sound, and every piece was unique despite being almost identical.  When I found the Christmas one, though, a couple years back, I knew I had my remix disc cover, which is what you have here.

Disc one is the album flush with b-sides right down the middle.  All-time favorite b-side is Truly, Madly, Deeply, while my favorite album track is all through the years.

Disc Two is the best of the mixes... well best according to me.  They all fit together, though, and sound really good.  I love the Beatmasters work here and with the Shamen.

Hope you enjoy.

I Say I Say I Say

So the Story Goes - The Remix Disc

Morrissey - Vauxhall & Maladjusted

So, if I was starting this blog posting my FAVORITE albums by my favorite artists, I probably wouldn't be posting these two, for Morrissey.  I've always had a special place in my heart for Bona Drag, since it first came out.  But, since it's been "remastered" "remixed" "re-released with bonus tracks", I haven't been able to go through the album again and rearrange it.  As you all know, Bona Drag was a collection of Morrissey's singles up to that point, with b-sides and all.  Well, lovely, that's right up my alley!  Now, though, there are a bunch of new tracks that I'm still not familiar enough with to make a final track order.

BUT, when these two were remastered, there wasn't much new that I didn't already have, so they were both easily completed.

Two very solid, yet easily forgettable Morrissey albums.  Don't get me wrong, I love them both, but there's nothing on these two that really make the stand out.

Of course, Vauxhall & I is Morrissey's American alternative break out album, released just when alternative music became mainstream in the US.  The More You Ignore Me became the alternative radio go-to for Morrissey, sandwiched right in between Matthew Sweet's "Baby We're the Same" and Spin Doctors "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong".  So, you can see how this album can easily be sullied simply by association with the music it was surrounded with....

Maladjusted was another story, though.  When this album came out, I was troubleshooting Boston Market restaurants in Des Moines and Ames Iowa.  We were seeing a shrinking of record labels.  Alternative music in the US was dying slowly whilke the music scene becoming more and more saturated with boy bands, "Electronica", R&B and "Industrial Metal".  A brief look at the remaining big alternative acts sees an aging population of artists beginning to reveal that they may have maxed out their creativity.  New Order had broken up, Depeche Mode had become an industrial band, Cure had one decent song off of their Mood Swings album, and even that was a pop hook giveaway.  Underworld was big, Chemical Brothers was bigger, Orbital was freeking HUGE, and Prodigy was, well, they were trying too. 

Anyway, Maladjusted appeared without any fanfare, and was rumored to be Morrissey's last.  It had a harder, rawer edge than most of his other material, and it seemed as if it would be a fitting exit.  My wife and I got together with another couple that we enjoyed doing things with, let's say their names were "Tim and Robin".  Anyway, we got together with Tim and Robin to go to Lawrence Kansas to see Morrissey play at this little venue there in college town.  It was open seating (actually standing), and only accommodated 500-700 people TOPS.  We weren't right up in front, but we were close enough to see Morrissey sweat.  And it was a GOOD THING.  Anyway, we were just getting into the groove, when he wraps it up.  We look at each other, and we were like "Is this intermission?" Only 45-50 minutes.  Not even an hour.  I mean, there wasn't even an encore! Yeah, we heard "Shoplifters of the World", and Interesting Drug, but you'd think he'd play for more than that!  We go outside and wait by his bus, with the rest of the crowd.  Someone shouts a distraction, and suddenly I see his head duck into the bus door and he was gone. 

Since that time, I've seen plenty of live performances online or whatnot, but that was my only "live" live performance.  Meh, maybe I was a little disappointed, but I DID get to see him.  And, that's all that matters.

Morrissey - Vauxhall & I - 1994

Morrissey - Maladjusted - 1997