Needle Time

Colourbox - Colourbox [CAD 508 / MAD 509 2LP UK 1985 24-Bit FLAC] One of the soundtracks of my youth (and likely many of my friends and peers at the time), Colourbox is a sample laden, multi-genre box of delights to be savoured by everybody. To this day,  Arena (in either version) remains timeless and evocative, the retro sixties kitsch of The Moon Is Blue (b/w You Keep Me Hanging On on the single) is just superb. Who knows what my parents thought as the somewhat orgasmic album version of Punch blew out from my bedroom speakers?  This is an album which works perfectly as the basic ten-track single edition, however the extra record takes it to another level. This actually is the first time I have ripped this copy and following a good, deep clean, it still sounds great.  A1 Sleepwalker A2 Just Give 'Em Whiskey A3 Say You A4 The Moon Is Blue A5 Inside Informer B1 Punch B2 Suspicion B3 Manic B4 You Keep Me Hanging On B5 Arena C1...

Dead Can Dance - Toward The Within [DAD 4015 UK 1994 24-Bit FLAC] Here's the first of two 4AD double albums, both carefully extracted from aging vinyl - Toward The Within has a few blemishes, most of which will now be inaudible, except in just a few of the quiet sections. Following their post-punk period, I found Dead Can Dance to be both creative and pretentious - this live album, recorded during 1993 at The Mayfair Theatre in Santa Monica is a fine example of how good they are live. Originally a video cassette and laser disc, the edited set was eventually a DVD. Gereard and Perry have amazing voices, no better represented live on stage. I was lucky enough to see them on stage during their 2018 tour when they played a similar set dispersed by a few newer tracks. A1 Rakim A2 Persian Love Song A3 Desert Song A4 Yulunga (Spirit Dance) B1 Piece For Solo Flute B2 The Wind That Shakes The Barley B3 I Am Stretched On Your Grave C1 I Can See Now C2 Ameri...

Ian Dury And The Blockheads - Reasons To Be Cheerful (Part Three) [12 BUY 50 UK 1979 24-Bit FLAC] Another old rip which only ever appeared on the ESWA 2.0 forum back in September 2018. Everybody's favourite cockney gives us his interpretation of rhyming rap set to the funkiest of beats.... Summer, Buddy Holly, the working folly Good golly Miss Molly and boats Hammersmith Palais, the Bolshoi Ballet Jump back in the alley and nanny goats 18-wheeler Scammels, Domenecker camels All other mammals plus equal votes Seeing Piccadilly, Fanny Smith and Willy Being rather silly, and porridge oats A bit of grin and bear it, a bit of come and share it You're welcome, we can spare it - yellow socks Too short to be haughty, too nutty to be naughty Going on 40 - no electric shocks The juice of the carrot, the smile of the parrot A little drop of claret - anything that rocks Elvis and Scotty, days when I ain't spotty, Sitting on the potty - curing smallpox Reason...

Heaven 17 ‎– Crushed By The Wheels Of Industry (Part I & II) [VS 628-12 UK 1983 24-Bit FLAC] Easily my favourite H17 track from The Luxury Gap era in three mixes, ripped from penguinflight's original twelve inch single. John Wilson's sublime bass playing makes this one of the funkiest synthpop singles ever. Enjoy! A1 Crushed By The Wheels Of Industry (Parts I & II - Uninterrupted Single Version) A2 Crushed By The Wheels Of Industry (Album Version) B1 Crushed By The Wheels Of Industry (Extended Dance Version)

Moby - The Move EP [12 MUTE 158 UK 1993 24-Bit FLAC] The proudly religious and vegan self-styled champion of euphoric techno was responsible for some cracking singles during his early Mute period. Love him or hate him, the Little Idiot was both prolific and genre defining during the early-mid nineties. His ode to thrash metal Animal Rights remains a big favourite to this day. A1 Move (You Make Me Feel So Good) A2 Morning Dove B1 All That I Need Is To Be Loved B2 Unloved Symphony

Moby - All Visible Objects [IDIOT 80 UK 2020 24-Bit FLAC] The self-proclaimed Little Idiot has only gone and released a double album of searing, euphoric techno. It's time to party like it's 1993 again! In my opinion, All Visible Objects is his best for a good number of years, possibly since Everything Is Wrong - his two books Porcelain and Then It Fell Apart are humorous tales of sex, drugs and stardom and a bloody good read as well. The single, My Only Love is actually a Bryan Ferry cover and Refuge features the voice of Mr. Linton Kwesi Johnson. The other single, Power Is Taken features Malcolm X quotes by D.H. Peligro from Dead Kennedys. I was quite surprised when my local dance music retailer declined to stock this album, instead he directed me to a more mainstream store on the other side of town. You can get your copy here , in the meantime, here is my rip from the black vinyl pressing. A1 Morningside A2 My Only Love A3 Refuge B1 One Last Time...

Música Esporádica ‎- Música Esporádica [MFM 044 NLD 2019 24-Bit FLAC] Originally released on a rare vinyl album on the Grabaciones Accidentales label in Spain during 1985. It's time for this week's ambient selection - Música Esporádica was a one off collaboration between Sozu Saiz's Spanish group La Orquesta de las Nubes and American musicians, Glen Velez & Layne Redmond.  The idea of getting Orquesta De Las Nubes to collaborate with Glen Velez and Layne Redmond arose after the two American musicians visited Spain during a series of seminars on frame drum techniques in 1985. Having met Glen Velez some years before in Madrid whilst Glen was performing with the Steve Reich Ensemble, Suso Saiz and Glen Velez quickly formed a strong friendship over their mutual love of non-Western music and the potentials of repetition within music. The two would play, talk and drinks for many hours in Suso’s studio space whenever Glen was in Madrid. During one such session ...

Blue In Heaven - Across My Heart [IS 199 UK 1984 24-Bit FLAC] Firstly, this is a new 2020 rip - and it still sounds like it was ripped on a cheap hi-fi. It was not, it was produced by Hugh Jones and it suffers from a very flat production. Martin Hannett produced the original version (delays, snares et al) which can be found on the b-side of the rare 12" pressing. Strangely, the second Blue In Heaven single never made it onto an album. I doubt the reasons for this will ever come out but I would guess it has something to do with Hannett. I have no doubts that this could have been a more successful single if the Hannett version had been used. Anybody got an original copy of the 12" or lossless rip to share? (no mp3s please). A1 Across My Heart B1 A Whiter Day

Blue In Heaven - All The God's Men [BIH 1 UK 1985 24-Bit FLAC] One of my most requested re-posts from the ESWA era is the debut album from Blue In Heaven produced by Martin Hannett. As far as I am aware, none of their recordings have been reissued on compact or in a digital format. My original rip was back in February 2012, it was crackly and mastered from vinyl using a cheap turntable and by a ripper who did not really know the tricks of the trade. Let's put that right, this is a new May 2020 rip on a good deck - ripped properly, here's what I said back then.... As Blue in Heaven are an Irish band, I'll give Trouser Press the first say.... "Although this young Irish quartet debuted on 45 with a fiery guitar anthem, Julie Cries , an inappropriate choice of producer (Martin Hannett) for their first album turned them into bass-heavy doom mongers. A remix of the single on All the Gods' Men tells the whole sordid tale. A little light does shine thr...

Cabaret Voltaire - Don't Argue [12R 6157 UK 1987 24-Bit FLAC] Cabaret Voltaire vs. Adrian Sherwood! It's such a pity we had to wait until the EMI years for these two to meet head on. Code was a good album but not a great album, perhaps if these two forces had combined a little bit earlier in their careers they would have churned out something really special. As it stands alone as a single, Don't Argue works well with its mix of pounding beat, samples and stabbing sequencers but this was the first time we got to hear backing singers on a Cabs single ... ..perhaps it seemed like a good idea at the time? A1  Don't Argue (Extended Version) B1  Don't Argue (Hate & Destroy Mix)

Cabaret Voltaire - James Brown [12" CVS4-12 UK 1984 24-Bit FLAC] The Cabs get funky! Here is a crisp rip from one of the penguinflight boxes to seven and a half minutes of funky greatness on their classic James Brown . You will also want to dive in for the splendid Bad Self on the b-side. A1  James Brown B1  Bad Self (Part One)

New Order - Power, Corruption & Lies [FACT 75 UK 1983 24-Bit FLAC] An important, but not flawless, record from an important time in my life which still stands proud in my collection. This is a rip from my original pressing bought in the Newcastle branch of HMV on day of release. I had been sent away from the distractions of Manchester to the city in order to study for exams at the home of relatives. I eagerly spent all of what little money I possessed, I had heard Peel preview  Your Silent Face and Age Of Consent some weeks previously ....I needed to buy this record. My cousin was also studying, he was eager to get me into The Exploited, Crass and Dead Kennedys - I resisted, instead converting him to the new synthpop New Order. Sadly, he succumbed to cancer a few years back, this rip is for his memory, coaxed from a thirty-seven year old (to the month) vinyl record which I was always concerned was pressed on quite flimsy vinyl.  This rip has been a bit of a l...

The Railway Children - Reunion Wilderness [1-90636 USA 1987 24-Bit FLAC] History burns! Before Madchester Mondays, The Railway Children (from Wigan) were Factory Records' great white hopes but in typical Factory-style the label didn't have the means or the where-with-all to make them the success they strived for.  Reunion Wilderness followed the two Factory singles and though very well received failed to sell in any quantity. The band were eventually to sign for Virgin Records and found some chart success. Before then, the UK major licensed Reunion Wilderness for the US market and employed local Manc studio engineer Ged Yeates to polish it up a bit (make it sound more like The Smiths?) and pad it out from the original mini-album into a proper long player. Hence this post is also a tale of two albums and you can now compare the two records. The Factory version is big and booming in sound quality pressed onto thick vinyl, so with only seven tracks at 33rpm it sou...

Abecedarians - Resin [CAROL 1343 USA 1988 24-Bit FLAC] The final act of Abecedarians, ripped from my very near mint copy of the original vinyl album to 24-bit FLAC. Resin is a very different album to all that came before, it is very much a rock album, focusing on the basics - voice, guitar, bass and drums. The new wave nuances are still there, however with a more American alternative rock feel - given that the album sessions were recorded in Los Angeles during the summer of 1987, that is okay - this is still highly credible American alternative rock. Self-produced but mixed with the help of local studio entrepreneur, Jim Cypherd, there is a rawness and space to these tracks which was missing from earlier recordings, but all those rich textures Abecedarians created so well remain in place. Most of you should love this record. A1 Dinner A2 Spaghetti Western A3 Where Whitie Ain't Allowed A4 Wild Flowers Grow From The Trash B1 Press Escape B2 Laugh At Yoursel...

The Royal Family & The Poor - We Love The Moon [FACT 140 UK 1986 24-Bit FLAC] ...subtitled The Project : Phase Two This is a very dark record, unlike everything else on Factory Records, even more than the debut Temple Of The 13th Tribe - which is a pop record by comparison. The opening Visions lures you into a false sense of security as its gentle pop follows on from where the debut left off. Mike Keane was aided and abetted by fellow scouser Ambrose Reynolds (from Pink Industry) and Mother Destruction's Karen Halewood for his second album which delves deeper into Keane's fascination with the occult and other weird shit. White Stains , Pagan Ways and Heartbeat are the other most creative pieces herein, Transparent builds in obscure eastern textures, Sex Goddess is just pure disturbing. It still concerns me to this day why they left the full version of the title track off this album, the short orchestral version is excellent but we were stuck with a crackly ...

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - The Ship Song [12 MUTE 108 UK 1990 24-Bit FLAC] I'd admit that the very first time I heard The Ship Song , I thought it was a cover version of some old trad. or blues song - it is a Cave original and marked (for me) the transition from the angry man of alternative rock to the evocative and influential artist he is regarded as today. A1 The Ship Song B1 The Train Song

Nyam Nyam - The Architect [SIT 37T UK 1985 24-Bit FLAC] Most of this five track 12" was recorded shortly after the Hope Of Heaven album and again released on Situation Two, plus in another lovely 23 Envelope sleeve. The EP takes a similar vein to the album and takes things a little further as the title track owes more to Tom Waits, Nick Cave and Leonard Cohen than the post-punk sound influences on Hope Of Heaven -  Nick Cave was to make a living bashing out this kind of stuff ten years later. The Last Place was a much earlier recording, cut at Cargo Studios in Rochdale in 1982. The Architect is a million miles away from the proto-electro-disco of the Peter Hook produced Factory Records release, but the two stand-out tracks The Last Place (Hope Of Heaven) and the rework of And To Hold make this a worthwhile listen. Nyam Nyam never recorded again, perhaps it was a good thing as it would be difficult to see what direction they could take from there on. If you ev...

Axxess - Novels For The Moons [MR-011 USA 2012 24-Bit FLAC] Originally released as a rare album on Lamborghini Records in the UK during 1983, Axxess was an electronic outfit involving French musician and artist Patrick Mimran. Mimran's day job was CEO of Italian fast-car manufacturer Lamborghini, but unlike many other petrol-heads, he held a passion for creating uptempo electronic music.  Novels For The Moons yearns for influential German electronic bands from the seventies, however holds its own in a field of other French electronic artists (you know that JMJ chap) as it is more upbeat - embracing disco and British industrial electronica, in addition to the afore mentioned Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream influences. This edition was released on yellow vinyl a few years back on Seattle label, Medical Records. A1 When The Lips Fly High A2 Griffin´s Disaster A3 Twilight Ride A4 Xylobones A5 Sad Blue Sand I A6 Owls A7 Traditional Moon Dance A8 Mash...

Paz - Look Inside [PALP 001 UK 1983 24-Bit FLAC] Digging out and tidying up an old rip, here is my 2016 for ESWA of the Paz album, Look Inside . I have fixed the sample rate, re-balanced the channels and removed a good few clicks, so I'd say this is an improvement on an old rip from a very used record. This was bought way back to satisfy my curiosity into British latino-jazz bands, a genre in which Paz excelled. They were a London-based latin jazz ensemble who also featured Brazilian percussionist, Joao Bosco De Oliveira and skirted around the edges of credibility during the mid-eighties London latin jazz revival craze. Likely a little too laid back for the majority of my readership but you never know, one or two may enjoy this. A1 AC/DC A2 Cravo E Canela A3 One Hundred A4 Sunny Day A5 Making Smiles B1 Bags B2 Look Inside B3 Three Blonde Mice B4 Night Bird

Wim Mertens - Educes Me [TWI 808 BEL 1987 24-Bit FLAC] A parallel release licensed also to Factory Records (FACT 190) for the UK at the time. Educes Me by Belgian composer Wim Mertens was likely my first purchase of modern classical music, this purchase was likely to have been because of my desire to own everything on the Factory label. The Factory Classical stuff came much later. This rip is from an original Belgian pressing on Les Disques Du Crépuscule. Whilst the 18 minutes of harp plucking on the title track is enough to educe nausea, this album is very worth a full listen, purely for the magical choral wonder of The Fosse . A1 A Visiting Card A2 The Fosse A3 No Plans No Projects B1 When The Line Grows Thick B2 Usura B3 Educes Me

The Durutti Column - Deux Triangles [FBN 10 BEL 1982 24-Bit FLAC] A new 2020 rip ....just because it seems to fit, plus I wanted to fix some of the issues with my 2017 rip for ESWA.  Vini Reilly puts down his guitar for most of Deux Triangles which is very much a piano-based EP. Many will also note the rare appearance of the Vini Reilly bass line on Zinni . The lengthy b-side remained a challenging rip, mainly due to the way the stylus deals with the some of the frequencies and loudness during the brief out of tune piano stabs. The moving coil cartridge deals with those frequencies much better than my old moving magnet . For friends in Edinburgh. A1 Favourite Painting A2 Zinni B1 Piece For Out Of Tune Grande Piano

Toshifumi Hinata ‎- Broken Belief [MFM 042 NLD 2019 24-Bit FLAC] Broken Belief is a selection of compositions by Japanese musician Toshifumi Hinata, released on a beautifully packaged and wonderfully pressed vinyl album by Dutch label Music From Memory last year. His music eludes a magical ambiance which sits comfortably between the instrumental works of The Durutti Column, modern jazz etchings and Japanese new age music. Hinatsa's releases are well work tracking down, especially some of the beautiful Japanese compact discs - the vinyl pressings can be expensive - thankfully this album represents a fine introduction to his work at a more regular price. A1 Sarah's Crime A2 Midsummer Night A3 新しい遊牧民 (Atarashii Yuhbokumin) A4 異国の女たち (Ikoku No Onna Tachi) B1 Pavement B2 Colored Air B3 光と水 (Hikari To Mizu) B4 蜃気楼 (Shinkiroh) B5 Broken Belief B6 小夜花 (Sayoka)

Dif Juz - Out Of The Trees [MAD 612 UK 1986 24-Bit FLAC] Time for a few things a little more gentler on the ear ....by the time 4AD released Out Of The Trees , Dif Juz had ceased to record and release. This album combines their first two EP singles, Huremics and Vibrating Air , although most of the latter was re-recorded and remixed for this record. Save for a tiny bit of crackle in just a couple of quieter moments, this rip has worked out rather well. Everybody needs Soarn in their lives. Enjoy. A1 Gunet A2 Diselt A3 Soarn A4 Heset B1 Hu B2 Re B3 Mi B4 Cs

Portion Control - Kiss, Kiss (Sex) [VOD 138.2 DEU 2015 24-Bit FLAC] Kiss, Kiss (Sex) was supposed to be a cassette album on Belgian label Grafika Airlines in 1982, the tape was never released and eventually resurfaced as part of a Vinyl-On-Demand Records compilation box set in 2010. I missed out on that rather limited set so picked up the  Progress Report 1982-86 compilation album a few years later.  This compilation is evidence that squeezing half an hour of music onto one side of an album is not a good idea. All of the tracks on the first record have appeared here from their original releases and to be honest the compilation pressing does not sound good. The second record sounds much better, so here it is. Kiss, Kiss (Sex) is accompanied here by tracks from With Mixed Emotion , Surface And Be Seen and Simulate Sensual , backed with a soundboard tape (complete with a few dropouts) from a live gig at Potanus in Amsterdam on April 1st 1984. Enjoy! C1 White Cub...

Portion Control ‎- Psycho-Bod Saves The World [DMC 008 UK 1986 24-Bit FLAC] 2000AD comic fans will immediately recognise John Hinkleton's (aka Deadstock) excellent sleeve work for this 1986 Portion Control album. I have always held mixed feelings about this record, and every time I listen to it I can only think of the awful Sigue Sigue Sputnik. I am sure this wasn't the band's intention but their interpretation of punk electronica has mutated a long way from their best work on the classic Step Forward . The record is full of sci-fi sampling and references to a 2000AD comic world packaged up by the appropriate fine artwork. I suppose on reflection it is a concept album of sorts, and hold that thought when measuring its credibility. Portion Control disappeared shortly after Psycho-Bod 's release - a new album was to feature on the Dead Man's Curve labels chedule but never happened. These tracks were to resurface on the 2006 Archive CD boxed set, but brick w...

Portion Control - Purge [DMC 001 UK 1986 24-Bit FLAC] Portion Control jumped ship from Illuminated Records in 1985 and released their most commercial track, The Great Divide on Rhythm Records that same year. Despite critical acclaim and a tour with Depeche Mode, the single failed to break the band. A new deal followed with the fledgling Dead Man's Curve label formed by Dave Henderson. Their first task was to release remixes of three singles on this splendid twelve inch EP. I can remember many a house party where The Great Divide was played in 1985/6 but I never heard it in a club or on the radio. Very likely Portion Control's most accessible and commercial release. The use of tablas and congas in the mix is inspired. Sounds great even today!These mixes are greatly improved versions of the originals and are well worth the bandwidth of a download. A1 Raise The Pulse A2 Go-Talk B1 The Great Divide B2 Karateka

Portion Control - Raise The Pulse [ILL 2612 UK 1983 24-Bit FLAC] Here are the three very important twelve inch singles released by Portion Control on Illuminated Records between 1983 and 1984, ripped to 24-bit FLAC just a few days ago. I'm not going to labour on about a term I despise, electronic body music, however mindful that this Ilford trio were the missing links between post-industrial electronic music in Britain and it's European counterparts. Whereas DAF and Front 242 had defined European electronic music in the early eighties, Portion Control took their lead from UK acts such as Cabaret Voltaire into new realms which many other bands aspired to later in the decade. Nitzer Ebb were not peers or siblings, they just listened to and took their lead from Portion Control, who never bettered these singles and the accompanying album. If you missed my earlier album rips, you will find Step Forward and I Staggered Mentally among these pages. A1 Raise The Pulse B...

Portion Control - Hit The Pulse [EZ 2 UK 1983 24-Bit FLAC] Hit The Pulse marked Portion Control's move from complex tape loop and electronic experimentation into more accessible, almost danceable electronic grooves. Their next releases were to be on the important Illuminated Records label and reflected a hardening to their sound, however this transitional album deserves to be recognised as one of their best. Chew You To Bits could be considered as the single as it covers most of the 45rpm A-side, however the more Cabs'ish Discord is just as worthy. The B-side plays at 33rpm and works better like an album - these are easily the best tracks, Crash Gain Weight mixes more Cabs with Kraftwerk beats, the industrial Eat Your Heart holds echoes of Neubauten. Ruthless modern day IDM kids would kill for Thrust Angle. The whole thing rounds off with the brooding Abbo Dabbo . A1 Chew You To Bits (Version) 3:50 A2 Discord 5:14 B1 Crash Weight Gain 2:59 B2 Eat Your H...

A Certain Ratio - The Graveyard And The Ballroom [STUMM 406 UK 2017 24-Bit FLAC] Originally released as a cassette only album on Factory Records (FACT 16) in January 1980. My association with this album goes all the way back to the early eighties and a dodgy bootleg version picked up in Manchester's underground market. The original was hard to find back then so I had to make do with a dubbed cassette version for two quid. Since then, I've had an original, the reissue Factory box version and the Creation compact disc. I passed on the Soul Jazz vinyl reissue, so decided that the Mute remastered vinyl edition was necessary in the hope that it would be the best sounding version.  I would suggest that this album has one of the Factory cassettes as its source, at best a band member's taped copy of the original Graveyard session and a copy of Tony Wilson's ropy desk cassette from the Electric Ballroom mixing desk. Those sources would clearly have limited the option...

Thomas Leer - All About You [12 CHERRY 52 UK 1982 24-Bit FLAC] An old favourite from the days when Cherry Red were a proper record label, you be forgiven for thinking our Tom was pitching for a Bond theme song with this sleeve. All About You is probably Leer's most famous track, not because of any chart fame, not because they used it in a movie, not because even your mum likes it, but only for its inclusion on the volume selling Pillows And Prayers . We all got to hear this smoochy AOR-fodder love song, and most of us were probably scared to admit actually liking it at the time. Here's the 12" version ripped cleanly after extensive surgery in it's extended full glory with a b-side which hints that Leer's original recording possible ran to nearly twelve minutes, as it just carries on from where the a-side leaves off. A1 All About You B1 Saving Grace

Solid Space - Space Museum [DE-190 USA 2017 24-Bit FLAC] Originally released as a cassette album on In Phaze Records in 1982. Since the original tape release in 1982, Solid Space’s only studio album Space Museum has become a definitive, widely sought-after example of early eighties minimal synth music, coveted for its cold but exquisitely endearing mix of sci-fi themes with synth-pop, electronic disco, funk and even indie-pop. Blending simple drum machines & synths with acoustic guitar and toy drums whilst also experimenting with samples & loops between tracks, the lyrics deal with space travel and a general sense of dejection. Representing a bubbling spirit within the underground, sharing a label with the likes of Portion Control, Solid Space shaped the future sound of Ilford ....A cult 80s DIY synth classic ...this could well be the best record you hear all day! Here is what the label's blurb has to say.... Solid Space was the British duo of Dan Goldste...

Mathématiques Modernes ‎- Les Visiteurs Du Soir [MO 04LP FRA 2019 24-Bit FLAC] Originally released in France and the UK in 1981 by Celluloid Records for the Dorian label. As soon as you listen to the nutty opener, Paris Tokyo you will realise that Mathématiques Modernes are not your average French synthwave band. Best known for their Disco Rough single, new listeners may also find the smooth Jungle Hurt with it's horn section & strings entertaining. Original copies of this album are really quite rare which makes this 2019 repress all the more desirable, if only the French label More Over Records had paid more attention to their quality control as this remastered vinyl is shoddily pressed - I had to spend a few hours removing unnecessary clicks and pops from a brand new record just out of the wrapping. That aside - prepare to be entertained! A1 Paris Tokyo A2 TV Night A3 A + B = C A4 Jungle Hurt B1 Disco Rough B2 Boy Be My Toy B3 Réponds-Moi B4 At...

Portion Control - Live In Europe [BNIA ONE UK 1988 24-Bit FLAC] Subtitled Spain -  Spain⦁UK⦁Sweden More Portion Control than quality control, here is the 10" vinyl live album from the Ilford technologists released on grey market label Big Noise In Archgate some two years after the group ceased to record. Formed at the height of low-fi cassette culture in the early eighties, Portion Control were important and this album perhaps would not be chosen as the ideal bookend to their career, moreover because the tracks were recorded on what was possibly a Walkman cassette recorder from the back of the hall at gigs in London, not Spain or Sweden....but then again, that's what the cassette culture was really about.  A highlight has to be their heavily Cabs influenced Mass Disorder . Stay tuned for a lot of Portion Control coming your way. A1 Spanish Pre-Amble A2 Under The Skin A3 Rough Justice A4 Refugee A5 Havoc Man B1 Again And Again B2 Death By Venom B3...

Abecedarians - The Other Side Of The Fence [IP 031/032 USA 1990 24-Bit FLAC] This beautifully packaged double 10" album was one of my first lossless rips back in 2011. I produced it then on a crappy turntable with very limited mastering skills, I would therefore say that it is about time I revisited The Other Side Of The Fence . I'll freely admit to not owning much independently released vinyl by American bands, but with great thanks to a good friend in California (a fellow appreciado of good taste), I own a pristine copy of this superb double 10 inch compilation, in fact to say this is a compilation does not do it justice, these twelve 'demo' tracks from between 1983 and 1985 fit perfectly together as an album in its own right. Abecedarians were a SoCal based three piece who supported New Order for a few shows on their 1985 tour. Their sound was very British wave with obvious vocal influences by Modern English and B-Movie. There songs held intricate p...

Hurts - Happiness [MAJREC 031 UK 2010 24-Bit FLAC] Theo Hutchcraft met Adam Anderson on a rowdy Manchester night out in late 2005, where both realised they wanted to be pop stars. They formed Manc indie-synth band Bureau and quickly had a minor local hit After Midnight on their hands. Fast forward to 2009, and Bureau had dwindled from a five piece to the duo of just Hurts.  The pair taunted the music industry with a short run of self-promoted commercial pop tracks only available as independent downloads  - a deal with RCA Records quickly followed and some of those original tracks were polished up for re-release as singles. Happiness was the resultant long player and it was well-received internationally, giving the pair the stardom they had strived hard for.  This is an album of highly catchy and glossily produced commercial synthpop, but still tinged in enough attitude to hold my interest - you may encounter a certain well know Australian pop star adding her ...

Pet Shop Boys - Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots Of Money) [12 RA 6097 UK 1985 24-Bit FLAC] One of the best known singles from the eighties synthpop hit factory, Pet Shop Boys - this is the limited edition Latin Rascals remix ripped from my twelve inch with oversized labels in a plain black sleeve. Many may actually prefer the more stripped back PSB classic, In The Night . A1 Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots Of Money) (Versión Latina) B1 Opportunities (Dub For Money) B2 In The Night

Hard Corps ‎- Je Suis Passée [HARDX 1DJ UK 1985 24-Bit FLAC] Kicking off another week of rips with some tidied up old ESWA posts neatly into one package. Hard Corps were not French, they were actually from Brixton, South London. Hugh Ashton, Robert Doran and Clive Pierce, were introduced to chanteuse Regine Fetet, who although having never sung before, had an enigmatic, fragile, human voice which brought alive the cold, pounding machined music the three British sound engineers were creating. With influences as far and wide as Mozart and Kraftwerk working in unison with a heavily accentuated French vocal, the result was magnificent and unique. A 12" white label containing the hammering rhythmic attack of Dirty and the softer, melodic, Kraftwerkian pulse of Respirer (To Breathe) was circulated around London's dancefloors. Their ill-fated dealings with major label giants Polydor which followed, gave the band a chance to work with a couple of their most most favoure...