Needle Time

23 Skidoo - Coup [ILL 2812 UK 1983 24-Bit FLAC] A new 2019 24-bit rip! It has been a slight drip feed of rips and posts this week as I am busy with other stuff. I have also made a significant hardware investment and have installed a new amp which can only improve the quality of my rips going forward. I will be glad to see the back of Marantz! Coup is one of my favourite all-time twelves and this is a rip of my original copy bought back in 1983. It has stood up well to the test of time and sounds even better using the Project Classic SB turntable and moving coil cartridge. Sketch's sublime bass will just ooze from your speakers on one of the finest alternative dance singles ever recorded.  A1 Coup B1 Version (In The Palace)

23 Skidoo - The Gospel Comes To New Guinea [FE 11 UK 1981 24-Bit FLAC] As I was re-ripping Seven Songs , I realised that I had overlooked a 24-bit rip of this massive 12 inch tribalist jam session, backed with the post-punk-funk work out, Last Words . So here is a new 2019 rip of this important single from the post-punk era.. A1 The Gospel Comes To New Guinea B1 Last Words

23 Skidoo - Seven Songs [FM 2008 UK 1982 24-Bit FLAC] I managed to totally screw up my first rip of Seven Songs for ESWA during the summer of 2016. Time now to put that right! Here is the debut long player (marketed as a mini LP) by London tribal  industrial-post-punk-funk experimentalists 23 Skiddo. Most of you should have this album, if not ...why not! A1 Kundalini A2 Vegas El Bandito A3 Mary's Operation A4 Lock Groove B1 New Testament B2 IY B3 Porno Base B4 Quiet Pillage B5 Untitled

Tranquil Eyes - Fact & Fiction [OS 34 BEL 2016 24-Bit FLAC] I have covered Tranquil Eyes and their alter egos Frozen Ducks and Cheiron elsewhere on these pages. Fact & Fiction is a compilation of unreleased demos reworked with newer stuff into an album of more top notch euro-synthwave.  Nearly all these tracks never saw the light of day back in the eighties, after a good listen through, I call only ask myself why these never were released properly at the time, especially Movin' which is another lost gem in my book. A1 Vapour Trails A2 Tell Me What It's All About A3 Coming Down A4 Time Dance A5 Carry On B1 First Time, Last Time B2 Fact & Fiction B3 Movin' B4 Hilife Express B5 Floodlight Needle Time is one year old this week, I really hope you all enjoy how things are done around here.

Fiat Lux - Hired History [821 637-1 EU 1984 24-Bit FLAC] Polydor Records managed to pass off a compilation of selected singles and b-sides by Fiat Lux on the unsuspecting European market as a debut mini album. I recall they did exactly the same thing with The Style Council. Hired History was never properly released in the UK until Cherry Red mullered it  to death as an expanded brick-walled compilation compact disc. Here is that album as it should have sounded, carefully extracted from a good quality 1984 Dutch pressing. The Bill Nelson connections are fairly well known, however Polydor chose Hugh Jones to produce their two most commercial tracks Secrets and Photography which both feature here. I'm sure any similarity to early China Crisis is purely by accident. Blue Emotion sounds a lot like to a lost Paul Haig track to me. Aqua Vitae revitalises the Bill Nelson connection. Enjoy. A1 Secret A2 Photography A3 Blue Emotion B1 Comfortable Life B2 Sleepless N...

Intaferon - GetOutOfLondon [CHS 12 2715 UK 1983 24-Bit FLAC] A1 Getoutoflondon (Intacontinentalballisticmix) B1 Getoutoflondon Intaferon - Steamhammer Sam [CHS 12 2750 UK 1983 24-Bit FLAC] A1 Steamhammer Slam (Long Version) B1 Steamhammer Sam (Short Version) B2 The Continuing Story Of Steamhammer Sam Intaferon's dent on pop history is tiny (just three singles) and they were only every to encroach on the very lower echelons of the British Top 100. As you would expect from anything with Martin Rushent's fingerprints, these are two powerful and catchy synthy poppy numbers but both suffer from overworked remixes adorning the a-sides, an unfortunate mid-eighties phenomenon. Please don't let that put you off. Get Out Of London kicks you out of town in the style of an eighties parody of Subterranean Homesick Blues with some very clever lyrical play. If you ever wanted to know what Brian and Michael covering Test Department sounds like, then I...

O Veux - O Veux [SFT-005 USA 24-Bit FLAC] Continuing my investigation of Belgian wave acts (especially those from the late seventies and early eighties) here is a US released compilation of the studio works of Hasselt band, O Veux. Active between 1981 and 1986, O Veux released no full albums, just a couple of singles and a rare cassette of their very British sounding raw post-punk which became Belgian synthwave as they very quickly diversified. I really like those early tracks, compiled here from Akinai 7 inch EP and the 1983 Belgo-Punk tape,  Allez Crachez . The unreleased 1983 demo tracks reveal a move away from their roots towards synthesizers and slap bass before you get the three later EPs, Just A Slit , Heat Of The Flesh and Gunman's Beat . The a-sides, Heat Of The Flesh and La La Bolivia reveal a more commercial approach with tinges of goth. There is plenty of good stuff here to want you to hear more and I notice that the band's self-released live and...

Blitzzega - Bjorn Eriksson's Highlight Reel [DDR 009 BEL 2019 24-Bit FLAC] Top shelf analogue antics from Antwerp's Bjorn Eriksson, who explores his fascination with the world of porn all over eight works of erotic electronica. Blending Korg, Yamaha and Roland, Eriksson's keyboard artistry sets a back drop to ecstatic euro-porn samples in a sleeve which would have to be sold in a brown paper bag in some territories. Perhaps it could be considered wrong to mention that the first things which spring to mind are those occasional electronic beat tracks from Throbbing Gristle, however the track Nathalie Delcroix ,   which moans and groans along for a full five minutes, standing out the most accessible as it also features the sweet voice of Nathalie Delcroix on vocals.  Enjoy! A1 Virginie Bellefleur A2 Ilona Marchesi A3 Claudia Bianchi A4 Cindy Vandekerkhove B1 Nathalie Delcroix B2 Gretchen Schneider B3 Justine Babineaux B4 Elif KuCuk

Bis - FACT 2002 EP [OSC 004 UK 2002 24-Bit FLAC] A new 2019 24-bit rip using the new deck & set-up. I've kept the levels comfortably below -1db so you can blast this out at your preferred volume with no distortion. The FACT2002 EP was a 4 track limited 12" 33rpm vinyl released as a tribute to Factory Records by Glaswegian techno-pop band, Bis. They covered four of the best known bands on Factory, with thumping techno-disco versions of Love Will Tear Us Apart (Joy Division), Hurt (New Order), Shack Up (A Certain Ratio) and Looking From a Hilltop (Section 25). Of all the tracks the cover of Hurt works best as New Order's early electronic indie dance gets a serious techno work-over. I just can't get into the cover of Shack Up and their version of LWTUA is more like Kraftwerk with Stephen Hawkins guesting on vocals, but it does end nicely with Mandy's untreated backing vocals and some lovely keyboard melodies. A1 Love Will Tear Us Apart ...

Bis ‎– Eurodisco (Dance Mixes) [WIJ 86TR UK 1998 24-Bit FLAC] Nineties indie-pop darlings go all 1983 with Eurodisco in four mixes. The LRD mix is worth the cost of a download as it borrows heavily from everything Vince Clarke ever did, and the original version is quite good, however the other mixes are really dull and deserve nothing more than bargain bin disposal. Enjoy! A1 Eurodisco (Les Rythmes Digitales Remix) A2 Eurodisco (DJ Scissorkicks Remix) B1 Eurodisco (Klute 'Polka' Mix) B2 Eurodisco (Original)

Mind Enhanced Waves - M.E.W. Vol.1 [MEW 001 LUX 2018 24-Bit FLAC] Edoardo Inzolia & Michael Galett are Mind Enhanced Waves , an electronic duo operating out of Luxembourg in the Low Countries. This is their very first album ripped from virgin vinyl into 24-bit high resolution audio.  The duo are tied down in the late seventies with their mix of kraut-electronica, funky guitar and tectonic rhythms. They owe a great deal to John Carpenter film soundtracks, abstract electronics and symphonic rock, cleverly mashed together like some warped disco. Clever stuff! Some of you wanted something new......? A1 Eelectrocardiogram A2 Metal Liquide A3 Logan's Run A4 Cops With Aspirin A5 Visages B1 Virtual Invasion B2 Ohm B3 Iguanator B4 Nothing Is Silence B5 Absolom ......there's a bonus point for those who can name the make and model used for the cover shot.

Thick Pigeon - Too Crazy Cowboys [FACT 85 UK 1984 24-Bit FLAC] One of the most unusual albums ever released by Factory Records was Too Crazy Cowboys by the mysterious Thick Pigeon. Back in 1984, there was no marketing, no internet, no social media, only word of mouth. I recall a good friend and myself scratching our heads studying this sleeve at Rough Trade in Ladbroke Grove back then, confused and strangely tempted.  We had very little money in those days as a student income rarely stretched far enough a packet of cigarettes, however I had already obtained a significant chunk of the Factory catelogue thanks a part-time job in my Manchester days, however London was expensive and vinyl purchases needed to be a little more considerate. Who on earth were Carter + Kim, Gillian + Stephen, Miranda + Karen? We guessed at two of them however the rest were a mystery. It was on Factory Records, it had an unusual cut-out brightly coloured, almost child-like sleeve, we needed ...

Annie Anxiety Bandez - Jackamo [TPLP 4 UK 1987 24-Bit FLAC] Originally slated as an On-U Sound Records release, punk-cabaret's Little Annie joined forces with Adrian Sherwood, Tackhead's Doug Wimbish and African Head Charge's Bonjo Lyabinghi Noah amongst others from the On-U stable for this unusual blend of tribal, dub and punk poetry. Jackamo is the perfect accompaniment to Judy Nylon's Pal Judy album which was recorded with the same production team five years earlier.  A1 As I Lie In Your Arms A2 Bastinado A3 Chasing The Dragon Down Broadway A4 Jackamo B1 Jack Yo Mama B2 One Mourning (For Marvin Gaye) B3 Rise B4 Hier Encore Another ESWA re-post from December 2016. Thanks again to penguinflight

Judy Nylon & Crucial - Pal Judy [ON-U LP 16 UK 1982 24-Bit FLAC] Judy Nylon had a good strong music pedigree following her move to London in the seventies. Her work with Brian Eno is etched deeply into music history, her work with Crucial (the usual On-U Sound rhythm section suspects) and Adrian Sherwood has evaded many an ear. This stuff is timeless and genre defying, it tilts one way and then the next across both sides of the platter. From heavy London eighties dark dubs like Live In A Lift to the early eighties New York punk-funk sound on Sleepless Night and The Dice , poetry from early influences like Jamal and his Last Poets on the funky poetic of Trial By Fire . Room Without A View stands up as one of Sherwood's finest productions, as Nylon's sultry voice hovers over Sherwood's smooth dub soundtrack. And then of course there is Judy's wonderful strip club dub of Jailhouse Rock . Superb. A1 Information Rain A2 Dateline Miami A3 Live In A Lift A4 ...

Warsaw - Reaction [RV-011 AUS 2011 24-Bit FLAC] The earliest known live recording of the band who were to become Joy Division at Middlesborough Rock Garden in September 1977 backed with a few rehearsal sessions from around the same period. All sourced from a dubious vinyl album sold en masse via eBay by an Australian seller in 2011. Distorted and manic, these recordings are infamous due to the three previously unrecorded tracks and the online suggestions of who actually let the tapes leak. .....we all know what happened next. A1 Reaction A2 Inside The Line A3 Leaders Of Men A4 Novelty A5 At A Later Date A6 Tension A7 The Kill B1 Lost B2 Reaction B3 Inside The Line B4 Leaders Of Men B5 Novelty B6 The Kill

Les Panties - Here And Now [F004 BEL 2015 24-Bit FLAC] Lavishly packaged and tastefully mastered to grey vinyl, Here And Now is the only EP by Brussels band, the excellently named Les Panties. If building & brooding post-punk underpinned by magnetic bass hooks is your thing, then look no further. Here And Now came in a very limited edition pressing of 200, my copy is individually numbered in the first ten.  Reviews at the time said, A cold wave group from Brussels in thrall to Eighties postpunk and synthpop, heavy on European noir glamour and Teutonic froideur. With a very 1980-85 visual sense, and using vintage synths and drum machines for authenticity, they're perfect for people who love bands from that golden era. Les Panties released one seven-inch single, a cassette only mini-album and this work of art. Their recordings were compiled by Les Disques du Crépuscule on the compact disc album Cold Science which is where I first heard them in 2016. That C...

Presage - Presage [PSMLP 1 ITA 2019 24-Bit FLAC] Originally released as a vinyl album on For Sale Records in 1984. This is a rip of the 2019 clear vinyl repress. 2019 has been a good year for obscure reissues as new labels dig out much overlooked albums from the seventies and eighties for reissues. I regularly annoy local record store owners with requests to hear snippets of the unusual in case I find something new to catch my interest ...and consequently spend quite a bit of my hard earned dosh in the process. This was one such release and it really is something unusual. Presage only ever released one record in very limited numbers and mixed rock, funk, prog(!) and disco into these nine instrumentals. Imagine a late seventies TV cop show soundtrack and you would be in the right sort of area. All the tracks were written and arranged by Italian composer Gian Piero Reverberi, and performed by five session musicians. Enjoy! A1 Presage A2 Cyborg A3 Blue Mirage A4...

23 Skidoo - Beyond Time [TWI 1223 BEL 2015 24-Bit FLAC] Back in 2012, 23 Skidoo's Alex Turnbull co-directed a ninety minute documentary film about his late father William Turnbull , the British artist. The soundtrack comprised reinterpretations and new pieces by 23 Skidoo.  The musical elements here are very much in the experimental vein, mixing avant-jazz and electronica with their familiar Indonesian gamelan percussion. The stand out is the excellent Calypso  which builds gently as it layers samples of steel drums over pulsing electronics, bass and guitar. Pharoah Sanders guests on Kendang which is one of the three tracks reworked from the bands last self-titled album (nineteen years ago!). This is a vinyl blog, so I am not going to post the DVD documentary included with the album. If you would like a copy of that, please send money to this worthy site . Enjoy A1 Dawning (Version) A2 Ayu (Ambient) A3 Calypso B1 Kendang B2 Contemplation B3 Heli...

23 Skidoo - Ethics [PULP 23 UK 1981 24-Bit FLAC] A 2019 attempt at an upgrade rip using the current set-up. The debut 23 Skidoo single never really stood out from the post-punk era and hence copies have become quite rare. In there earliest form, the band supported Madness on tour, the consequence was that Mark 'Bedders' Bedford produced this single. Let's say this is very much a new wave single and not the post-industrial experimentation we know them for. Listening to this now, over 35 years on, I love it very much. The b-side, the reggae tinged Another Baby's Face is even better, in fact after listening to it again today, I'd say it is superb! A1 Ethics 3:36 B1 Another Babys Face

By Chance - Soul Kitchen [CRAM 5457 BEL 1981 24-Bit FLAC] A new rip for 2019 and a significant 24-bit upgrade.... Here is the one off single by Belgian post-punk "super group" By Chance who comprised Michel Smordynia from The Names, two members of Flouze plus the prolific Marc Hollander who was once a Honeymoon Killer as well as being a significant player in modern Belgian music. Soul Kitchen is a slap bass funk driven new wave cover of The Doors track, whilst Revenge has a dreamy melancholic feel. It would be nice there was more By Chance, however I think this is our lot. A1  Soul Kitchen B1  Revenge

Various - House Of Dolls Issue 19 [HOD 004 UK 1988 24-Bit FLAC] Here is one of three 33rpm seven inch singles given away with the House Of Dolls magazine in the late eighties. The Wedding Present Peel session track will be of interest to many, The Trudy deliver upbeat retro-rock, Goth rockers The Hunters Club clearly owe much to Joy Division, unfortunately The Claytown Troupe rehash U2 and The Alarm ....and become instantly forgettable in the process. Thanks as always to penguinflight. A1 The Wedding Present - Unfaithful A2 The Trudy - Living On A Moon B1 The Hunters Club - Little Sister B2 Claytown Troupe - Real Life

The House Of Love - Destroy The Heart [CRE 057T UK 1988 24-Bit FLAC] The first of a batch of three House Of Love singles brought back to life and re-posted from ESWA days. You could take your pick from any of the first five singles to find The House Of Love at their very best. Here are some of them. For penguinflight . A1 Destroy The Heart B1 Blind B2 Mr. Jo The House Of Love - Never [HOL 112 UK 1989 24-Bit FLAC] Thanks as always to penguin, from whose white label copy I have used here. I have tagged this with the original and proper sleeve rather than the generic Fontana label sleeve it comes in. I recall seeing HOL at the Royal Albert Hall around this time too, in what must have been their biggest ever gig. A1 Never B1 Soft As Fire B2 Safe The House Of Love - I Don't Know Why I Love You [HOLR 212 UK 1989 24-Bit FLAC] There were two versions of this 12" single with either a black sleeve, or a white one and differing track lists, as well a...

Siouxsie & The Banshees - The Peel Sessions [SFPS 012 UK 1987 24-Bit FLAC] Two old ESWA rips get a repost.... First broadcast on December 5th 1977. Courtesy of blog follower penguinflight 's significant archive comes the two sessions released ten years later as part of the invaluable Strange Fruit series. A1  Love In A Void A2  Mirage B1  Metal Postcard B2  Suburban Relapse Siouxsie & The Banshees - The Peel Session (The Second Session) [SFPS 012 UK 1987 24-Bit FLAC] First broadcast on February 23rd 1978. Remarkably both sessions were aired quite some time before any other recordings by the band. A1  Hong Kong Garden A2  Overground B1  Carcass B2  Helter Skelter

Moby - Everything Is Wrong [STUMM 130 UK 1995 24-Bit FLAC] At a time when all dance records began to sound the same, along came Richard Melville Hall and his unique blend of anthemic, euphoric, god-fearing vegan techno. Set aside his monster hit Go! , it took a while for him to break the mainstream ...actually it took a lot of gospel & blues samples and a James Bond theme from memory. I think Moby's problem was that everybody (including himself) took him too seriously and it took an album of thrash-punk to reset everything. Perhaps everything was wrong until then? Everything Is Wrong is the album which precluded that thrash metal-punk album and the mega-seller Play (and all the subsequent hits). It is also my favourite Moby album and it set the tone for my musical listening in the nineties and early noughties. I'm currently reading Moby's first book, Porcelain and it reveals so much about his character, diving into a hedonistic world of dance, drugs and...

Marcel King - Reach For Love [FAC 92 UK 1984 24-Bit FLAC] Reach For Love is one of those dance records which will last in the mind forever. It was never a hit (it should have been huge) but that simple TB-303 bass hook concocted by Bernard Sumner & Donald Johnson underpinning the late Marcel King's sugar-soul voice is a joy to behold. I first ripped this twelve inch single many years ago during a string of Factory Records posts, here is a new 2019 rip in 24-bits - I've gone easy on the mastering volumes so that you can all blare loudly in your own living room discotheques. Enjoy! A1 Reach For Love AA Keep On Dancin

Bim Sherman & Dub Syndicate - Keep You Dancing [ON-U DP10 UK 1983 24-Bit FLAC] As we are on a brief On-U trip, here is the gorgeous voice of Bim Sherman backed by Dub Syndicate on another ten inch On-U Sound disco plate. I ripped this quite a while back but was distracted by other things, so let's get this out there! A1 Keep You Dancing AA Can't Stop Jumping

Mark Stewart ‎- Hysteria [12 MUTE 92 UK 1990 24-Bit FLAC] More classic Mark Stewart back by Sherwood, Wimbish, LeBlanc and McDonald ...what could be better to shatter the calm of your weekend? From an original twelve inch ripped from penguinflight 's archive. A1 Hysteria B1 My Possession B2 Hysteria Dub

Mark Stewart + Maffia - This Is Stranger Than Love [12 MUTE 59 UK 1987 24-Bit FLAC] With more than just a little bit of help from Tackhead, Smith & Mighty and Adrian Sherwood, Mark Stewart gets all sentimental in this twisted dedication to Erik Satie's Trois Gymnopédies in two mixes, backed with what sounds like a cover of Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five's Survival ! Truly excellent stuff! A1 Stranger Than Love B1 Stranger Than Love (Dub) B2 Survival