Needle Time

Cheiron - Land After Life [OS 29 BEL 2015 24-Bit FLAC] Originally recorded between 1981 and 1985, however mostly never released, here is Cheiron - the third project by Dutch synthpop guru Lex Grauwen, this time with chanteuse José van Waveren. If you enjoyed my Frozen Ducks and Tranquil Eyes posts, then this is just for you. If not, then you have no clue as to what you have been missing. The title track appeared on the important Spanish synthwave compilation Pas De Deux in 1985, and Serenity World appeared on a Dutchwave compilation cassette in 1987, everything else is unreleased. Your Life Your Body and Finally Free Four are previously uncovered gems from the genre, so please sit up and pay attention to Cheiron. A1 Land After Life A2 Ping Pong A3 No Trace B1 Serenity World B2 Finally Free Four B3 Your Life Your Body

China Crisis - African & White [INEV 011-12 UK 1982 24-Bit FLAC] Originally released as a 7" on Liverpool indie label Inevitable Records in 1981, Virgin Records were to license the track and eventually China Crisis found considerable success with their craftily constructed, easy going synth pop. There is a tiny skip on B2 but with a little bit of tinkering during the mastering stage, I think it is now hardly noticeable. Enjoy ....especially Red Sails . A1 African And White B1 Red Sails B2 Be Suspicious

Cardiacs - Baby Heart Dirt [TORSO 12120 NLD 1989 24-Bit FLAC] I haven't ripped anything from the Cardiacs for a while, they have an impressive, if difficult repertoire, so here is the Dutch pressing of their manic 1989 twelve inch single Baby Heart Dirt backed with three very short tracks, two of which also appeared on the album,  On Land And In The Sea. A1 Baby Heart Dirt B1 I Hold My Love In My Arms B2 Horse Head B3 The Safety Bowl

Ledernacken And Band - Amok! [SBR 2T UK 1983 24-Bit FLAC] Some noisy Germans for the start of your weekend. Amok! is probably Ledernacken's best known track, however I have always preferred the excellent b-side track Rhythmus Rausch . Judge for yourselves. A1 Amok! A2 Galle B1 Amok! (Extended Version) B2 Rhythmus Rausch

The Dave Howard Singers ‎- Rock On [12 FAA 106 UK 1986 24-Bit FLAC] More electro terror from Dave Howard and Smersh, this time in a studio with JJ Burnell at the production desk. The a-side goes on a bit too long, however Kill The Fatted Whore Back In Labrador strikes a mean groove, and Nothing To Say is rather fab! A1 Rock On B1 Nothing To Say B2 Kill The Fatted Whore Back In Labrador B3 Plastic Horses

U-BahnX ‎- Young Hearts Of Europe [12 EMI 5516 UK 1985 24-Bit FLAC] The only single from Anglo-German none-hit wonders U-BahnX was Young Hearts Of Europe . Formed by British ex-pat John Garland, who was apparently big in the Dusseldorf eighties techno scene, U-BahnX also included John Waddington (ex-Pop Group) and Dick O'Dell as well as a few local back-combed goths. The single itself borrows heavily from New Order's Blue Monday . Another gem courtesy of penguinflight 's boxes of vinyl delights. A1 Young Hearts Of Europe (Valhalla Mega - Mix) B1 Kiss Of Death (Punishment Mega - Mix)

The Cure - Faith [FIX 6 UK 1981 24-Bit FLAC] Faith was the second in The Cure's trilogy of gloomy albums which culminated in the powerful and dark Pornography in 1982. The hit single Primary features and is easily the stand out, although Gallup's bass on Other Voices  makes it a personal fave. This is a complex record, it's overall mood and textured rich layers of sounds hold the listener in a state of melancholic doom! The Cure had moved on from Boys Don't Cry, consequently  Faith is an album which feels very sorry for itself. The UK cassette version came with a bonus album Carnage Visors . I don't have the cassette tape but  do feature a CD rip of this in the archive for completion. A1 The Holy Hour A2 Primary A3 Other Voices A4 All Cats Are Grey B1 The Funeral Party B2 Doubt B3 The Drowning Man B4 Faith

Nasmak - 4our Clicks [PLUREX 2300 NLD 1982 24-Bit FLAC] Behind every great post-punk band is a fabulous bass player and Theo Van Eenbergen is no exception. Whilst his name doesn't spring to mind as easily as Adamson, Lewis, Principle, Hook or Wobble, 4our Clicks is a superb post-punk record driven by his splendidly complex basslines. This album featured on the old blog about a year ago using digital tracks sourced from the band by a huge ESWA contributor in Holland and I am somewhat chuffed to be able to now present them in high resolution 24-bit audio. Nasmak are one of those Benelux experimental post-punk bands who skirted the attention of most in the UK purely because their records were very difficult to track down. Peel played a couple of tracks from their 1980 debut album, and there was a 1982 Peel Session. You just couldn't track down the records in our suburban record stores so tape recordings of Peel shows were all we had. Whereas the early two singles ...

Sammie America's MAM ‎- Sammie America's MAM [1A 058-1270161 NLD 1983 24-Bit FLAC] This is a re-post of a rip for Everything Starts With An A in November 2016. Maybe it was lost somewhere in the translation, but the name Sammie America's MAM would never have the ring of a post-punk synthwave band, more likely a crass American hair rock band. This is a great album verging on dark post-punk and new wave, but leaning ever so slightly towards synthpop - the mix works and the end result is a band who would have had much greater success outside their home Dutch market, possibly on US college radio, had they chosen a different name. Sammie America eventually moved on and they become just plain old MAM.  A1 Pulled To The Earth A2 You're The Other Side A3 Life Is Life A4 Your World Far World A5 Find A Form B1 It Is Not B2 The Stockhausen Sound B3 It's Slipping Away B4 Wat Is Dit.

The Wake - Here Comes Everybody [FACT 130 UK 1985 24-Bit FLAC] To say that I care very much for this album would be an understatement, I for one found the gap between Talk About The Past and this album's release an eternity. The Kid Jensen BBC Radio Session in February 1984 was a delight and hinted at great things to come ...and we had to wait a while. The band were evolving and had previewed many ideas which needed manipulating into an album format. Parts of the magnificent Rise And Shine  and Make You Understand from that session had metamorphosed into the Of The Matter single, however that disappointed me as it had none of the punch of the original track. A live version of an unnamed track which was later to be used as part of Sail Through had all the melancholy dubbiness of Something Outside , plus there was a unique interpretation of Stevie Wonder's Living In The City , heard on another bootleg tape had me champing at the bit for more Wake. Here Comes Everybo...

Royal Family And The Poor - The Project Phase 1 [FACT 95 UK 1984 24-Bit FLAC] ....subtitled  The Temple Of The 13th Tribe I will admit that I just can't get on with all the infatuation of the occult which encompasses and shrouds most of the Michael Anthony Keane fronted Royal Family And The Poor back catelogue. Other bands did it a lot better and with more originality. You need to dig deeper behind the imagery, and if you probe deep enough, it will become clear that Keane is decent songwriter who can put together a decent tune or two. There are one or three gems on this record, the gently soothing  I Love You and The Dawn Song work well, the accomplished synth-pop of  Discipline is full of New Orderesque elements and a fond stand out for me is Power Of Will . Peter Hook produces under the Be Music moniker and can be heard adding vocals to  Radio Egypt  and  Motherland .... and I can only wonder if the same instruments were borrowed for both th...

Royal Family And The Poor - Art On 45 [FAC 43 UK 1982 24-Bit FLAC] Levi Windsor (aka Arthur McDonald) teams up with Donald Johnson and A Certain Ratio to deliver a heavy funk groove on this obscure and much over looked Factory Records twelve inch single. Levi's poetic rant hits close to the bone with its ironic stab to the heart of early eighties Britain, in particular the band's native city of Liverpool, which really was a bit of a dump back then. Levi was to abdicate from the Royal Family shortly afterwards, leaving Mike Keane and his guitar to take up the reins with production help from New Order's Peter Hook on the two dour b-side tracks. A1 Art On 45 B1 Dream B2 Dominion

Kalima - Shine [12" FAC 269 UK 1990 24-Bit FLAC] The sun is shining once more, cue the time to drag out something summery and fresh. Kalima's Feeling Fine album is an annual favourite when summer breaks out. The band finally found their groove when mentors Kerr, Moscrop and Connell moved on to pursue their day jobs and in my opinion it is their finest work. One of the stand-out tracks, Shine was remixed by the band themselves for this Factory 12" with an abundance of added percussion and a slick funky bassline. Here it is in two mixes. BTW, not wanting to be too controversial but John Kirkham could quite possibly be the second best guitarist to ever record for the Factory Records label. A1 Shine On (Vibrazonic Dub Mix) B1 Shine (Concrèt Mix)

Kalima - Whispered Words [12" FAC 147 UK 1986 24-Bit FLAC] The cool sound of Corbieres in circa mid-eighties Manchester. So filled with tobacco smoke you could hardly breathe, let alone get a seat. Manchester's best bar was chic & trendy yet wholly unpretentious. Kalima's Smiling Hour video was filmed here. Did I ever mention it also had the best jukebox in town as well? The bar is still trading and a few years ago there was a nice tribute in the Manchester Evening News. A1 Whispered Words B1 Sugar And Spice B2 In Time

C Cat Trance - Dreams Of Leaving [INK 123 UK 1984 24-Bit FLAC] The debut single from C Cat Trance is brooding dark funk sprinkled with eastern pleasures, all wrapped in a sleeve which gives a huge clue to the direction John Rees Lewis was about to follow after his years with Medium Medium. This is a fresh 2019 rip, after I managed to clip the rip for my original blog post a few years back ...and nobody seemed to notice. A1 Dreams Of Leaving B1 Dangling On A String

The Unknown Cases ‎- Masimba Bele [RTT 126 UK 1983 24-Bit FLAC] A new rip for 2019. The Unknown Cases were an obscure German electronic duo, very similar to DAF. In 1983, they teamed up with Ghanaian percussionist Reebop Kwaku Baah (who sadly passed away before release) and unleashed this mighty afro-kraut-electro dance track on the world. This is the original 1983 Rough Trade twelve inch pressing, not from the multitude of mixes pawned out in an effort to make money all the way into the 90's. Essential! A1 Masimba Bele B1 Oëkikawai

Kabbala - Yen-Nbo-Ose (Rejoice) [RFB 3172 UK 1983 24-Bit FLAC] More Kabbla for the afro-funk lovers everywhere. This was the follow up to Ashewo Ara however it was the superb b-side Yo Yo Dance which I remember went down best at clubs back in the day. These chaps laid down a big band heavy funk beat which crossed over into the UK indie market thanks to a deal with Red Flame Records. A1 Yen-Nbo-Ose (Rejoice) (Extended Dance Mix) B1 Yo Yo Dance

Kabbala - Ashewo Ara [RF 1211 UK 1982 24-Bit FLAC] A little afro-funk to follow on from yesterday's jap-funk masterpiece. They just don't make records like this anymore, and courtesy of a small British independent label to boot. Guaranteed to get even the stiffest of hips moving. Fan-funking-tastic! A1 Ashewo Ara B1 Voltan Dance This is a cleaned up rip using the wav files from my original ESWA blog posting in July 2015

EP-4 - Lingua Franca-1 [WRWTFWW 032 CHE 2018 24-Bit FLAC] Originally released as a vinyl album on Nippon Columbia in 1983. EP-4 was a Japanese collaborative formed by Kaoru Sato, the owner of new wave disco, Club Modern in Kyoto. Initially managing the independent label Skating Pears, Sato formed EP-4 as his 'house band' blending his love for funk, new wave and electro. The result was this debut long player followed by a tranche of hard to find 12" singles, some of which were released in Europe in the mid-eighties. If you grabbed my Colored Music rip a few weeks back, you will know that I am forming an appreciation of obscure Japanese post-punk funk and EP-4 tick all those boxes. This is another extraordinary set, mixing elements of New York disco-wave, 23 Skidoo and A Certain Ratio at their funkiest with Sato's vocal style which reminds me of Mark Stewart in places. If you need to hear something quite special which you may have never heard before...

Carol - Breakdown [WYS-012 BEL 2017 24-Bit FLAC] Originally released on Dirty Dance Records in 1981, here's the limited repress of the classic minimal synth/coldwave single backed with the wonderfully gloomy So Low from Carol, who also fronted Belgian new wave synth-popsters, Rive Gauche. Knob twiddling is courtesy of Mikey Mike who has also appeared on these very pages as Snowy Red . A1 Breakdown B1 So Low

Lavvi Ebbel - Out Of The Blue [LE 0001 BEL 1981 24-Bit FLAC] A1 Out Of The Blue B1 Give Me A Gun Lavvi Ebbel - On The Telephone [VB 656 BEL 1981 24-Bit FLAC] A1 On The Telephone B1 Desire It's time now for some jagged funk-tinged post-punk from Belgium. Lavvi Ebbel were eventually to find popularity with their third single Victoria , however for me it is their first two singles which stand out. Albums were to follow as their sound mellowed ....but these are where it all started. I did feature both of these many years back on the ESWA blog, but these are new 2019 rips on my new deck with a little more attention given to removing pops, clicks and crackle. Enjoy!

Digital Dance ‎- Total Erasement [SR 366 BEL 2014 24-Bit FLAC] Ripped from a black and silver marbled vinyl pressing on Sub Rosa Records, here is more Digital Dance.  Total Erasement is a compilation of demos, live tracks, unreleased studio out-takes and the Treatment single. LTM also released a compilation on compact disc only in 2007, however like most Kraftwerk cover versions, neither of the labels had the resources to pay off the Germans and include Digital Dance's excellent interpretation of  Radio Activity . A1 In My Head A2 No Reason A3 Human Zoo A4 Treatment A5 Kinder Surprise B1 Der Spiegelpaleis B2 Sinking Tanker B3 Back From The Waves B4 Cruelty B5 Three Meanings B6 Total Erasement

Crawling Chaos - The Gas Chair [FACBN 6 BEL 1982 24-Bit FLAC] Ripped from an original Factory Benelux vinyl platter to high resolution weirdness, here is the debut album proper from Doomage Khult and Strangely Perfect, straight out of university and known collectively as Crawling Chaos. These two lads from Northumberland had a short-lived & tempestuous relationship with Tony Wilson and his Factory Records label. After an introduction through a television producer mutual friend, the duo were invited by Wilson to perform at the Zoo Meets Factory Leigh Festival and record a single for Factory, the infamous Sex Machine . The album sessions followed shortly and Factory managed to lose the masters, however the label then palmed the album off to their Benelux off-shoot who promptly remixed it to the band's expense and dropped the album's original working title Gas Clown Chair .   You need to keep an open mind to listen to The Gas Chair , this is a band brough...

Crispy Ambulance - Unsightly & Serene [10" FAC 32 UK 1981 24-Bit FLAC] In possibly the dreariest doom-laden sleeve possible the Crispy Factory debut, Unsightly & Serene kicks off with fabulous chopping Fenders and a ghostly chorus of ' Hear Me... Hear Me! ' If you hadn't heard Crispy Ambulance before you would be mistaken to think they were the dreariest band on the planet, perhaps that was their deliberate intention on this release. Manchester & the Crispies were never as miserable as these images portray, however with hindsight, the label should have released the follow up 12" and LP on Factory Records (UK) rather than the Benelux imprint as it turned out FAC Thirty Two would be the only Crispy Ambulance release on the UK label. A1 Deaf B1 Not What I Expected

X-O-Dus - English Black Boys [12" FAC 11 UK 1980 24-Bit FLAC] Ripped from my original Factory Records 12" pressing with dark grey textured sleeve, crackles and all. A very early Factory Records release, produced by reggae maestro producer Dennis Bovell, though I still do wonder how it would have sounded if Martin Hannett had been allowed to produce this. The flipside See Them A'Come is superb. A dubby reminder of all that was bad about God's Cop : James Anderton, and what the then Greater Manchester Police commissioner stood for (and was allowed to get away with). X-O-Dus, originally named Exodus, were a Manchester roots reggae band with members from Hulme and Moss Side. They initially formed in mid 1975 by Honey, Leddy, Trevor Bell, and shortly after, Dave Reid. They were joined in 1978 by Ricky Jones, Johnny Caton and Gayle Reid. They changed the name to avoid confusion with a London reggae band. Their aim was to give a new, young British sound to re...

Tuxedomoon ‎- Scream With A View [CBOY 4040 BEL 1985 24-Bit FLAC] Here's the European reissue pressing of a self-released 1979 EP of Tuxedomoon's fine early period electronica. Where Interests Lie could easily have been an early Cabs masterpiece. Cramboy Records were a division of important Belgian label Crammed Discs, specifically for Tuxedomoon and they released this EP four times using different pressing plants, this almost mint pressing is the "Foon Mastering" version which manages to screw up the running order a little.... A1 Where Interests Lie A2 Nervous Guy B1 (Special Treatment For The) Family Man B2 Midnite Stroll

Ultravox - Vienna [CHS 2481 UK 1981 24-Bit FLAC] It has always bugged me how flat the vinyl album pressings of Vienna sounded and the remasters should obviously be avoided. I took it upon myself to attempt the best possible rip from my original 7" single and despite just a little crackle, it sounds pretty good. Vienna is only really memorable because it is one of those songs which reminds you of a time and a place, a bit like Gerry Rafferty's Baker Street and Dean Friedman's Lucky Stars it gets annoying stuck in a different era, it's not a particularly good song (a bit over pompous IMHO) yet it is stuck in 1981 and you can remember your world in 1981 just by listening to it. A1 Vienna B1 Passionate Reply

Cabaret Voltaire - 2X45 [ROUGH 42 UK 1982 24-Bit FLAC] Sit ten Cabaret Voltaire fans down in a circle and ask each of them to name their favourite album, and I'll bet you get ten differing answers. Me? ...I sit on the fence holding copies of 2X45 and The Crackdown . The two albums encompass the development of their sound perfectly, from the post-industrial dub and eastern nomadic tribal rhythms of 2X45 to the structured beat electronica of The Crackdown .  Adding a drummer was key to the album. In fact there are two, Nort features on the second record whilst Hula's Alan Fish (Hula were housemates of Mallinder at the time) adds his unique rhythmic style to the first. It is also notable that Eric Random adds guitar and percussion to the second record. This is a marked change in direction for the Cabs, the new sound is fuller and drifts towards that of  experimental acts such as Can in places. Mal's voice is still as distorted & tortured as the earlier record...

Slab! ‎- Music From The Iron Lung [MINK 25 UK 1987 24-Bit FLAC] Music From The Iron Lung is a mini-LP compiling the might Slab!'s first two 12" singles ...a compilation of hard, dirty, noisy and very funky indie-rock.  The mix of electronics, distortion and horns on Mars On Ice sucks you in to the powerful Slab! sound and is a great opener. Oedipus T. Rex is a little more conventional however the consistent layer of feedback and Steven Dray's throaty vocals take Slab! beyond the basic constraints of funk. Stand out is the immense 7 minute, flanged bass, workout Parallax Avenue , which was also their second single. This is a monster of a track and is light years ahead of anything the second wave of industrial bands on the other side of the Atlantic could muster. The closing Yukon fuses industrial noise and brutal funk into a wall of pain, as if early Swans had found the funk. Play loud! A1 Mars On Ice A2 Painting The Forth Bridge A3 Oedipus T. Rex A4...

Screaming Trees - Release [NTV 6 UK 1986 24-Bit FLAC] First of all, anybody looking here for a Pacific Northwestern grungy alt-rock band will be sorely disappointed, here's the debut EP by Sheffield's Screaming Trees. With a borrowed bass line from A Certain Ratio and plenty of screechy & distorted guitars this one should go down well with the massed ranks of blog followers. The band were going to mellow as time moved on introducing dance beats and samples but here is where it all started. Enjoy! A1 Release B1 Incinerator B2 Razors In My Mouth

Wire - Manscape [STUMM 80 UK 1990 24-Bit FLAC] Manscape is very much a tale of two albums. This was the third & final album from the second coming of Wire, which not only marked a significant switch to a more electronic sound, but also there were such marked variations between the vinyl and CD versions that I have always thought of them as two separate albums. It is possible that the band just had too much material for a single vinyl album that they had to leave some off, but I still think there has to be some reason behind the different running orders. I again offer my thanks to penguinflight to be able to rip from his immaculate vinyl copy.  A1 Patterns Of Behaviour A2 Goodbye Ploy A3 Morning Bell A4 Small Black Reptile A5 Torch It B1 Other Moments B2 Sixth Sense B3 What Do You See? B4 Where's The Deputation B5 You Hung Your Lights In The Trees / A Craftsman's Touch Wire - Manscape [CDSTUMM 80 UK 1990 FLAC] Here is the CD versio...

The Jazz Butcher - Southern Mark Smith [GLASS 027 UK 1983 24-Bit FLAC] Another of my old singles which needed re-ripping, the fourth in what may become a never ending series.  Southern Mark Smith was the debut single by Pat Fish and Max Eider, collectively known as The Jazz Butcher. On this single they are augmented by Kevin Haskins from Bauhaus and Rollo from The Woodentops. Kevin's brother David J Haskins was eventually to become a more permanent fixture in the band around the time of The Jazz Butcher masterpiece A Scandal In Bohemia (perhaps that needs a re-rip as well?). You may know the track in its revisited form on A Scandal in Bohemia , however here it is in it's original unadulterated form, quite unique and verging on genius, backed with the manic psychobilly of  Jazz Butcher Meets Count Dracula . .... don't you know they only make pop records out of plastic? A1 Southern Mark Smith B1 Jazz Butcher Meets Count Dracula

Alan Rankine - The Sandman [12" TWI 598 BEL 1986 24-Bit FLAC] Here is the original Les Disques Du Crépuscule twelve inch version of Alan Rankine's debut pop single The Sandman . It is not the greatest of pressings, however you also get three worthy instrumental pieces of the flipside which hint at some planned soundtrack work. The a-side is pure cheesy catchy synth-pop and was eventually re-released as a single on Virgin Records a few years later, but it sadly failed to sell in any number and make any impact in the mainstream, where I think it deserved a place. A1 The Sandman B1 Rumours Of War B2 Rue Traversiere B3 Sunny Lee

Pleasure Ground - Life Of Jade [12 TWI 320 BEL 1984 24-Bit FLAC] A1 Life Of Jade A2 Insane B1 The Girl I Met In Arkansas Pleasure Ground - Wait [12 TWI 360 BEL 1984 24-Bit FLAC] A1 Wait B1 Nursery Room B2 In Another Life When he ceased being an Associate, Alan Rankine began a prolific career as a producer and song writer working with acts such as Paul Haig, Winston Tong and Anna Domino. Before beginning a solo career he was briefly one third of Scottish synthpop trio Pleasure Ground along with Jon Mais and Chris Yates, who released these two 12" singles on Les Disques Du Crépuscule. Both strongly evidence Rankine's love of pop music with a strong ear for a good and catchy pop song.

Sunset Gun - Be Thankful (For What You've Got) [A4556 UK 1984 24-Bit FLAC] Another seven inch single which needed a 24-bit upgrade is Sunset Gun's cover of this soul standard. It's difficult not to mention This Mortal Coil during a A Sunset Gun post (most of you will know what I mean), however this time I am going to pay special attention to the production skills of Alan Rankine, the former Associate also plays guitar on the track. The smoochy b-side really shows off the harmony skills of those two Rutkowski sisters .....something which really came to the fore during their work with This Mortal Coil. Enjoy. A1 Be Thankful For What You've Got B1 Can't Cloud My View

Fantastic Something ‎- The Night We Flew Out The Window [NEG 11 UK 1985 24-Bit FLAC] After a one off single on Cherry Red, brothers Alex & Constantin Veis released this slice of cheerful pre-twee pop on Geoff Travis' Blanco Y Negro label in 1985. There was also an album which I am still trying to track down a decent copy to this day (donations will be gratefully received to the cause). These boys were years ahead of what Sarah Records did years later and strike a similar pose to what Factory artists The Wake were doing in their late-Factory, pre-Sarah years. Enjoy this new 2019 rip folks. A1 The Night We Flew Out The Window B1 Perfect Napoleon

A Sudden Sway - Jane's Third Party [CHANT 1A UK 1980 24-Bit FLAC] I began ripping vinyl back in January 2009 and a compendium of the entire recorded works of Sudden Sway was one of my very first posts as a blogger. Back then I was learning my way and only ripping to mp3 on what was a substandard deck, over the years I have worked hard to hone my skills and am pleased to say that I am now quite competent in the art, choosing that 24-bit/48kHz FLAC was the way to go.  A few of my original works have to be revisited (this is the first of a few I have for you) and Jane's Third Party proved to be one of my biggest challenges. This self released debut by A Sudden Sway is not a great pressing, add to that the glue which joined the two halves of the sleeve also bonded itself to the run ins of the vinyl, becoming audibly evident on both tracks. After a great deal of work and investment, I am confident enough to share this new 24-bit rip with you. Most of the original crack...

The Lines - Cool Snap! [RL 12.005 UK 1980 24-Bit FLAC] A new 2019 rip of  this long lost classic post-punk mini album. Superb guitar pop from London's new wave post-punksters The Lines. Very much a blink and you'll miss them act, The Lines hung around for a few years, managing a couple of albums and tours with The Cure and Alternative TV. Thanks to a friend in Scotland and his box of magical delights. A1 Don't Need Surgery A2 Two Split Seconds A3 False Alarm B1 Back Ground B2 Cool Snap

Wire - A Bell Is A Cup... Until It Is Struck [STUMM 54 UK 1988 24-Bit FLAC] I am sure there is something arty & ironic regarding the horse head & the filing cabinet which adorn the sleeve and the somewhat pretentious album title.   A Bell Is A Cup,  often perceived as their most accessible album... remains a Wire classic. Thank you again to penguinflight for donating his archive to the cause, this is the next of three Wire albums from their second coming. A1 Silk Skin Paws A2 The Finest Drops A3 The Queen Of Ur And The King Of Um A4 Free Falling Divisions A5 It's A Boy B1 Boiling Boy B2 Kidney Bingos B3 Come Back In Two Halves B4 Follow The Locust B5 A Public Place

Colored Music - Colored Music [WRWTFWW 024 CHE 2018 24-Bit FLAC] Originally released as a vinyl album on the Better Days label in 1981, here is the repress of this very rare album of Japanese psychedelic post-punk funk and hybrid electronic disco from genre defying act Colored Music.  I hope that has got your attention! You may never have heard of Colored Music before, however you will need to get to know this, their debut long player. This girl/boy couple Atsuo Fujimoto & Ichiko Hashimoto also worked with YMO which only served to aid them polish their musical chops by blending styles into what is a remarkable record. There is so much to hear here, Colored Music is a total mish-mash of styles, all points steer towards the closing proto-house of Heartbeat , which given that it was recorded in 1981, makes this album even more remarkable. A1 Colored Music A2 Anticipation A3 Ei Sei Raku A4 Sanctuary B1 Too Much Money B2 Love Hallucination ...

Digital Dance - 002 [SRV 446 BEL 2017 24-Bit FLAC] Originally released as a cassette album on Digital Records in 1981, here is that very cassette transferred to vinyl by important Belgian label Sub Rosa Records. These sixteen tracks detail the reformation of the Digital Dance sound from the early experimental jams and demos through to the more structured post-punk funk of Treatment and beyond. Expect lots of guitars laden with effects and monotone beats ...kinda like Rough Trade period Wire meets early Clock DVA, if you get my drift. A1 Der Spiegelpaleis A2 Produced Rhythm A3 A.N.T. A4 5 a.m. A5 Treatment A6 Der Spiegelpaleis B1 Down Dawn B2 Taboo Zone B3 Border B4 Effect 1 B5 Effect 2 B6 Effect 3 B7 The Volt Patrol / Timeless Meeting B8 Ultimate Why B9 Rain B10 Ten For A Side