Needle Time

  Echo & The Bunnymen - Ocean Rain [KODE 8 UK 1984 24-Bit FLAC] Competently self-produced (with a bit of help from Gil Norton) and recorded in Paris & Liverpool, Ocean Rain was the most successful Bunnymen long player.  The Killing Moon stands the test of time as the band's finest commercial moment, despite the songs dark and fatal mood. Silver and Seven Seas were the other hits, with the latter suffering from one of the band's worst moments - the video. If you are seeking a less commercial highlight, then you need look no further than the jagged, jerky psychedelia of the magnificent Thorn Of Crowns . A1 Silver A2 Nocturnal Me A3 Crystal Days A4 The Yo Yo Man A5 Thorn Of Crowns B1 The Killing Moon B2 Seven Seas B3 My Kingdom B4 Ocean Rain

  Act - Laughter, Tears And Rage [ZQLP 1 UK 1988 24-Bit FLAC] Here is an old rip from the days of Everything Starts With An A... last posted six years ago. I've cleaned things up a bit and rebalanced the channels in iZotope. The former Mrs Paul Morley (Claudia Brücken) and one of my favourite British solo artists, Thomas Leer united for this one album/multiple single synthpop project for Morley's ZTT label. The former Propoganda chanteuse had left the German technopop specialists when they jumped ship from ZTT. Leer had been searching for some commercial success since his independent days on Cherry Red and an aborted major label deal with Arista, however Act failed to reach much further beyond hardcore ZTT followers and this album is therefore confined to the memories of those who prefer their synthpop sophisticated and glitzy. A1 Absolutely Immune A2 Chance A3 Laughter A4 I Can't Escape From You A5 Short Story A6 Under The Nights Of Germany B1 Gestures B2 ...

  坂本龍一 (Ryuichi Sakamoto) ‎– 音楽図鑑 ( Ongaku Zukan)  [MHJL 137 JPN 2020 24-Bit FLAC] Originally released on the School Records label in Japan (MIL-1001) in 1984 and then recompiled for Virgin Records', 10 Records label as  Illustrated Musical Encyclopedia by Ryuichi Sakamoto for the UK market in 1986 (DIX 34). Another recut of classic Japanese chill/lounge/AOR/electronica on the Great Tracks label, once again mastered by Bernie Grundman. There are a few differences between the original Japanese release and it's European cousin, however I would doubt either ever sounded as good as this. Sakamoto explores his full musical repertoire on 音楽図鑑, which translates as Musical Encyclopedia . This was his fifth solo album, aided and abetted by the usual technically skilled musicians, his creative talents come to the fore, especially on masterpieces like Self Portrait and Tibetan Dance. A1 Tibetan Dance A2 Etude A3 Paradise Lost A4 Self Portrait B1 旅の極北 B2 M.A.Y...

  The Durutti Column - Domo Arigato v2.0 (Live In Japan) [FBN 52 BEL 2017 24-Bit FLAC] If you were a keen Factory collector back in the mid-eighties, then it is likely that FACD 144 was amongst your first compact disc purchases - you may not even have owned the appropriate laser guided technology at the time on which to play this album!  The original Factory CD was recorded digitally by Tony Wilson & Nippon Columbia on the 25th April 1985, with the help of a rented mobile recording studio. This new vinyl version is restored from the original analogue soundboard tapes, so unless they had extra mikes in the enthusiastic Gotanda Kan’i Hoken Hall, Tokyo audience, I'd say the crowd noises were dubbed in. The original track running order is also resorted, however Blind Elevator Girl is left off, I assume for space reasons. Expect mostly a greatest hits set interspersed with Without Mercy era compositions. As a bonus, the double vinyl set also includes a repressing of the Japane...

  Clock DVA - Advantage [SETH 006 DEU 1989 24-Bit FLAC] I will admit to have given up on the hints of a Clock DVA reissue campaign, rumoured to be coming via Mute Records. Originally released in 1983 on Polydor Records, Advantage is Clock DVA's most accessible long player, tarnished a little by band disagreements - Adi Newton failed to turn up for the sessions to record the follow-up - this album is a journey from post-punk to dark avantgarde jazz and stands out as a personal favourite from it's era. Newton allowed German label, Interfisch to remaster the album by Joachim Hinsch in Hamburg for this limited distribution reissue in 1989 via Newton's Reserved Anterior label. The original Polydor pressing is flimsy in comparison to this robust mint condition German pressing, Hinsch's remastering work adds punch and clarity to the original recording, missing on the first pressing.  My rip of the 1983 UK pressing is here . For Beautiful Losers everywhere.... A1 Tor...

  T akeshi Inomata & Sound Limited - Sounds Of Sound Ltd. [HMJY-124 JPN 2018 24-Bit FLAC] Originally released on Columbia Records Japan in 1970, here is the rare Japanese repressing of the inspirational drummer's first album. A blend of jazz, big-band, funk and acid, the original album broke ground in the jap-jazz scene with it's crossovers of style - I'm sure I can hear The Beatles' Hey Jude in there somewhere. If you ever need to hear what makes modern Japanese vinyl pressings stand out so far from our dodgy European pressings, this is the album. Oh, and yes the first track is supposed to end so suddenly.  I am off dealing with other stuff until the end of the month, so this will be my last post for a bit. Back soon with some more wonders from my shelves of vinyl. And possibly more like this..... A1 Theme～Mustache A2 Tak's Tune A3 Joint B1 Monster B2 Lullaby For Yuh B3 Scotland Scene B4 Theme

 Hiroshi Yoshimura - Green [LITA 192 USA 2020 24-Bit FLAC] What else but a 3am rip, a cure perhaps for insomnia? Japanese ambient master, Hiroshi Yoshimura's gorgeous  Green got it's first ever reissue in 2020, courtesy of US label, Light In The Attic. Or is that light in the ripping room? Yoshimura was at the forefront in Japanese environmental music enveloping atmospherics into his commissions for galleries, museums and other public spaces. The album pivots around the simple, yet delightful title track which opens side two. The CD versions of this release featured additional atmospherics in the mix, however this black vinyl edition of the repress is from the unadulterated masters for the original 1986 release. A1 Creek A2 Feel A3 Sheep A4 Sleep B1 Green B2 Feet B3 Street B4 Teevee

  Incredible Expanding Mindfuck - I.E.M. [CHR 001 UK 1996 24-Bit FLAC] A new rip of old personal favourite for 2021. Last ripped for ESWA in August 2012 - I just wanted to hear how good it sounds on a better rig! From a rare vinyl LP (only 500 copies ever pressed) multi-instrumentalist I.E.M. (you must all know who he is by now) blends noise, atmospherics, experimentation, space rock and krautrock into four very different pieces of music.  This is a tribute to the great krautrock artists such as Can and Neu! who were the key exponents behind experimental music from the mid-sixties and well into the seventies. These influences penetrated also in industrial and post-punk music. Between 1996 and 2001, the three albums by I.E.M. were to reach just a tiny audience. So here is the first, pounding drums and driving basslines on The Gospel According To.. mix it with samples, film dialogues and spaced-out guitar solos. ..Emma Peel is a cosmic journey from Stockhausen through to gala...

  The Mothmen - One Black Dot [RIDE 9 UK 1982 24-Bit FLAC] I've reworked, cleaned and rebalanced the original files from my February 2015 rip of One Black Dot for this post. I think it is a good improvement on my original work. Don't expect the same dubby experimentation as the first album, One Black Dot is much tidier and more organised, if anything dangerously close to commercial. One Black Dot is a an art-pop/rock album very much aimed at a bigger market than their first - I can draw comparisons to Talking Heads and bits of Wire. The cracking single Temptation is pure pop-synthdisco (and it works), Wadada was also a single but much too clever for the mainstream. I quite like the last track, Thank You I Like It , which begins in a bluesy groove but finishes up with some nice wavey synth and loads of effects.  A1 Wadada A2 Temptation A3 One More Weapon A4 Lets Talk About It A5 No Rest B1 One Black Dot B2 Weekend B3 House And Car B4 Home Sweet Home B5 ...

  The Mothmen - Pay Attention! [ON-U LP 2 UK 1981 24-Bit FLAC] A new rip from one of my favourite, and most obscure album on Adrian Sherwood's On-U Sound label. I am sure, but open to be corrected, that this was the only On-U Sound release not to feature Adrian Sherwood in any shape or form. The original four piece Mothmen formed from the ashes of the original Durutti Column, who contributed two dub-punk tracks to the A Factory Sample double 7" single pack. The delicate Vini Reilly struggled by on his own (with a little help from Martin Hannett) whereas the remainder became Mothmen. The line-up comprised Tony Bowers, Dave Rowbotham, Chris Joyce and Bob Harding - most of whom were were also involved in C.P. Lee's infamous manc-pub-rocksters Alberto Y Lost Trios Paranoias. This record defies classification or comparison, and most certainly is unlike anything else on On-U Sound. History isn't clear on how The Mothmen ended up as one of the first releases on Sherwood...

  Echo And The Bunnymen - Heaven Up Here [KODE 3 UK 1981 24-Bit FLAC] In the past, I've ripped most of the important Bunnymen singles however never any of their albums. The albums are a mixed bunch; from the pseudo-psyche post-punk of the first two, the difficult third Porcupine , the significantly popular Ocean Rain and then it seems they lost their way. Heaven Up Here was the band's second and to me, it represents the Bunnymen at their very best - without pressure for a hit, it also featured the very fine A Promise single. This was the band at the peak of their cult status - a year before The Back Of Love  broke Ian McCulloch's nipples in the charts via Top Of The Pops. I need to deal with stuff away from blogging for a while, so today's posts will be my last before a break from Needle Time. Keep your eyes peeled for random posts throughout the day.... A1 Show Of Strength A2 With A Hip A3 Over The Wall A4 It Was A Pleasure A5 A Promise B1 Heaven Up Here ...

  Ultramarine - Every Man And Woman Is A Star [RTRADLP 715 UK 2014 24-Bit FLAC] Ask me to identify one nineties electronic album which stands out from the decade's dope filled haze and every time I will point you towards  Every Man And Woman Is A Star . I bought the compact disc first time around, however was pleased when Rough Trade reworked & expanded the vinyl edition with the addition of the band's John Peel radio session from April 1992. Essex boys Ian Cooper and Paul Hammond began their musical careers as part of post-punk funksters, A Primary Industry initially inspired by long-standing schoolboy crushes on the white funk of A Certain Ratio, 23 Skidoo and Cabaret Voltaire. The band morphed into Ultramarine whose early releases were issued on the seminal Brussels-based label Les Disques du Crépuscule and shortly afterwards by Brainiak Records, a label closely affiliated to The Brain club (an early purveyor of regular house music nights in Soho, London). Their debut ...

  Various Artists - From Brussels With Love [TWI 008 BEL 2020 24-Bit FLAC] The fortieth anniversary repress of this important compilation was very well received last year. I have had a few versions pass through my hands over the years and I've always chosen to overlook the cassette version. This is the black & white vinyl version pressed at Optical Media, which like many modern vinyl remasters suffers from a bit of noise. The source masters may not have been in the highest fidelity, however the label have represented the original well enough, despite the limitations of the chosen pressing quality. This album will always be best known for the Kevin Hewick & New Order track, however there are one or two other gems hidden amongst the arty meanderings within. I have always wanted to hear more from Repetition whose anglo-belg post-punk deserved greater recognition, we lost Harold Budd recently and his gentle piano is always so calming when everybody else seems to be losing the ...

  Far Out ‎– 日本人 [EPS 008LP AUT 2019 24-Bit FLAC] Originally released as a very rare vinyl album on the Denon label in Japan in 1973 (CD-5047), everything since on vinyl has been a bootleg, until now. Austrian fuzz-heads, Everland managed to secure access to the original master tapes for this 2019 repress of Jap-Psyche.  The packaging around this release is superb, replicating the original inner gatefold booklet-bound sleeve in heavy, heavy grade card, as well as a duplicated pamphlet of lyrics and band photographs. This four piece lay down some heavy, heavy shit, clearly smoking the same stuff as early Floyd and the original Amon Düül. Be aware indie fans, this record contains flute and sitar. Far Out were eventually to become Far East Family band and release another four albums between 1975 and 1977. I've left the levels as is, so there should be plenty of space for your preferred volume adjustment. A1 Too Many People B1 日本人

  Kate Bush - Hounds Of Love [KAB 1 UK 1985 24-Bit FLAC] No, you are not seeing things, I really have ripped a KaBush album. This original pressing of the UK edition was in penguinflight 's boxes of vinyl and I own up to ignoring it for a few years.  My memories of KaBush go right back as a lad in the seventies, when I was baffled by my father's interest in her when he would sit transfixed to the buxom songstress on Top Of The Pops. He was never much of a music lover, more an academic who regularly humoured mum's love of Cliff Richard - it was much later when I realised his true interest. This record is not that bad, honestly, as KaBush gets all all conceptual and complicated in her own unique way for her self-produced fifth album. The a-side fits in a bunch of hit singles, however is most notable to me for Killing Joke's Youth's industrious bass on The Big Sky . The b-side is really one conceptual piece, The Ninth Wave , with the clever Watching You Without Me  and...

  Paul Haig - The Warp Of Pure Fun [TWI 669 BEL 1985 24-Bit FLAC] What better to follow a Paul Haig album, than another Paul Haig album. Despite Island Records' best attempts, even they could not get a hit from The Only Truth , despite the well promoted collaboration with Dojo & BeMusic - I may have covered my theory behind it's failure in another Paul Haig post. Island then gave up with Haig so it was up to Les Disques Du Crépuscule and their UK subsidiary, Operation Afterglow to release the subsequent album. Here is my rip of the Belgian pressing. This album is laden with should-have-been-a-hits, Big Blue World did very little, so also Haig's best & catchiest work, Heaven Help You Know . The original single version of The Only Truth is squeezed in, then the reflective Love Eternal followed in 1986. I like this album a lot, the opening over dramatic Silent Motion and One Lifetime Away reveal Haig in a darker mood, Sense Of Fun could have been a New Order tra...

  Paul Haig - Rhythm Of Life [25SI-212 JPN 1984 24-Bit FLAC] When Josef K split, and after a brief period of bedroom recordings, Paul Haig signed with Les Disques Du Crépuscule for Europe, licensed to Island Records in the UK, who in turn subbed him to Polystar in Japan. This is the superior Polystar pressing of Haig's debut album - made in Japan, complete with tucked in obi sheet insert. Recorded with keyboard whizz, Bernie Worrell and the slightly less whizzy Tom Bailey (then a Thompson Twin), this excellent synthpop album spawned a number of singles, none of which broke the Scotsman commercially, despite the love & acclaim of the music press and being nominated haircut of the year during 1983. This pressing knocks the socks off my Island Records version. A1 Heaven Sent A2 Never Give Up (Party, Party) A3 Adoration A4 Stolen Love A5 Don't Rush In B1 Blue For You B2 In The World B3 Justice B4 Work Together

  Masami Kawahara & The Exotic Sounds ‎- Ecstasy [CR69041 JPN 2020 24-Bit FLAC] Originally released on Columbia Records in Japan (YS-10077-J) in 1970 and presented here from a 2020 repress in glorious high definition for your listening pleasure. Play this record loudly and your neighbours will know that you have the very best lockdown parties. Satisfying the national demand for Japanese lounge-porn, if the term ever existed, percussionist Masami Kawahara unleashed this album on an unsuspecting and very different world back in 1970 - bootlegged heavily, it has finally been given an official reissue, mastered from his original tapes. There are likely lots of records out there of a similar vein, however none of them reached the critical peaks of Kawahara's nipponic mix of slaps & slurps, latino rhythms, panting and moaning, psychedelic lounge erotica and porno-jazz, all wrapped inside a carefully positioned obi. File in a brown paper wrapper and position on the top shelf. A1...

  Yellow Magic Orchestra - Yellow Magic Orchestra [MHJL 53 JPN 2018 24-Bit FLAC] It was only a matter of time before I got around to Yellow Magic Orchestra. Likely the most important musical trio to emerge from Japan, here is their debut album courtesy of the splendid Great Tracks reissue series from Sony Japan, remastered (properly) onto black vinyl by Bob Ludwig to mark the album's fortieth anniversary. Haruomi Hosono, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Yukihiro Takahashi have become musical icons since, as they gained recognition as key influencers (now, there is an over-used term these days) in electronic music all over the globe. Kraftwerk often sit atop the electronic music pyramid, however it was YMO who took the genre further, blending real drums and bass guitar into their magical mix of electronica. No more is this evident of the excellent jazzadelic  Cosmic Surfin' and the nipponic techno-bot beats of Firecracker and the disco inferno that is Tong Poo. Did I mention how good...

  Cabaret Voltaire - The Covenant, The Sword And The Arm Of The Lord [CV 3 UK 1985 24-Bit FLAC] A new 2021 rip of this popular Cabaret Voltaire long player and their last for the Some Bizzare/Virgin Records alliance. Recorded during the most productive period in their career, the album divides fans due to its loud production and over-sampling. This was my opportunity to rip it with a better deck and share the consequences. The distortion and loudness is deliberately injection by the band during the production process, I suggest any recent remasters could sound worse.  Micro-Phonies and The Crackdown were tough acts to follow and I suggest that The Covenant, The Sword And The Arm Of The Lord couldn't live up to its predecessors. Its not a poor album by any standard, its just to these ears the ideas were beginning to run thin and the production always seemed very flat and two-dimensional, lacking definition and space, replacing them with volume distortion and too many dub ef...

 The Wake - Harmony [FACT 60 UK 1982 24-Bit FLAC] The melancholic debut album by The Wake will always be a personal favourite as it evokes great memories of my youth discovering new and different music, plus I always preferred the sadder songs. I am certainly not a down type of person however Caesar McNulty's voice seems to be such a gentile and unique fit to these sombre, yet tender moments. Testament and An Immaculate Conception remain two of the finest tracks recorded on to a Factory Record. This was the album recorded with Bobby Gillespie (yes, him) on bass before he got the boot, in favour of Alex MacPherson, who was considerably more skilled in using all four bass strings.  Recorded at Strawberry Studios with Martin Hannett's right hand man, Chris Nagle assuming desk duties, presumably instructed by Rob Gretton to give the album an air of Movement . I have decided to give this album a run out using my new set-up and improved mastering skills. It is presented here...

  Mikado De Paris - Par Hasard [TWI 104 JPN 1984 24-Bit FLAC] Pascale Borel wrote the lyrics and sang; instrumentalist Gregori Czerkinsky composed, programmed the synths and beat the percussion, together they were chic French minimalist wave act Mikado, or for this release they were Mikado De Paris. The duo were quite popular in Japan, hence the alteration for this release ..more popular, in fact than their native France.  This is stripped back micro-moog simplistic chic, wrapped with an unusual corner piece obi. Smart! A1 Par Hasard B1 Mikado B2 Ce Garçon Là

  Ryuichi Sakamoto & The Kakutougi Session - Summer Nerves [MHJL 155 JPN 2020 24-Bit FLAC] Originally released on Sony Japan's Master Sound 76 imprint (25AH 507) in 1979, and never released outside of Japan. I've been saving this one up for a few weeks ....this is not Sakamoto as we know him, this he in full jap-pop-lounge-disco-reggae mode ....seriously! Gathering up a band of other Japanese talent, including Yukihiro Takahashi, Akiko Yano and Pecker, Sakamoto delivers his most mainstream work. The weakest track is unfortunately the title track, however just wait until you hear his fabulous vocoder version of Sister Sledge's  You're A Friend To Me . I'm sure Niles said it was okay to do this and royalties were paid.  I know it is not summer in the northern hemisphere - let alone Japan, but what the hell, it must be summer somewhere. Let's talk about the pressing and mastering - the quality restores my faith in modern vinyl mastering and it should be no sur...

  Vitamin Z - Sharp Stone Rain [838 847-1 UK 1989 24-Bit FLAC] Everybody is allowed to own and love just one pompous eighties pop-rock album - this was mine. Vitamin Z were from Sheffield, a city more celebrated on these pages for its industrial musical heritage than growing long hair, tucking its stone-wash jeans into its boots and waving a bono-like white flag over its audience. In fact, if you didn't know differently, you would swear that the bandana'd one is chopping some 'edgy' riffs on a couple of tracks. Vitamin Z's first album was Rites Of Passage which strolled around in Tears For Fears' footprints and produced a minor hit Burning Flame on both sides of the Atlantic in 1984. This the delayed follow-up was laden with catchy eighties rock hooks and would have faired better if it had been released a few years earlier.  Cast aside your prejudices, there isn't one duff track on this record, however it is let down by the common issue of using five diffe...

  Neu! - Neu! '86 [LPGRON 4 DEU 2010 24-Bit FLAC] The history of Neu! is rapped with disputes, fall-outs and general contractual disobedience. The fact that their important first three albums remained out-of-print for most of the late seventies and eighties was testament to this, and very much a travesty. The story behind their mid-eighties comeback album (originally Neu! 4 ) continues in that vein. I get the feeling Klaus Dinger was just a difficult guy for some, including for Michael Rother, to get along with. When Dinger died in 2008, in tribute to the former Kraftwerk, Neu!, La Neu! & La Düsseldorf  etc. drummer, Rother finished this album, which should have been released back in 1986. After all, Dinger was the man who seemingly the motorik style of drumming, which so many bands have borrowed since. His style is evident throughout this album, no more so than on the very-Neu! Drive - a track which wouldn't sound out of place on Neu! '75 . The track easily stands o...

  New Order - Low-Life [FACT 100 UK 1985 24-Bit FLAC] Do you still remember what you were doing on Monday 13th May 1985?  I do ...and I imagine many others will do as well. I was late for college that day, I needed to be somewhere first, my first lecture was at 9:30am and the small independent record shop in the town opened at 9:00am. New Order's third album, Low-Life was released that day, along with their shiny new silver-bound twelve inch single, The Perfect Kiss . These were the times when you had no clue what the sleeve would look like, thankfully the album in it's clever onion-skin wrap around sleeve jumped out of the racks, however the single was a little more difficult to identify. Within minutes, a week's worth of lunch/fag money had been blown. I still have both, now a little worn in places, so a top notch condition second-hand copy of the original album pressing was secured for the purposes of this post. Low-Life is almost flawless, there are very few flawless...

  Hiroshi Sato - Orient [WWSLP 12 FRA 2020 24-Bit FLAC] Originally released during 1979 on Kitty Records (MKF-1047) in Japan only, We Want Sounds have licensed this classic album of breezy Japanese synth-exotica (the sleeve is a clue) - my copy is from a limited edition of 100 blue vinyl pressings. If you've been following my recent run of Japanese bits (there is plenty more to come) you need this, if you have been ignoring my jap-obsession, then you need to start listening now. A1 カリンバナイト A2  孫悟空 A3  月の子の名前はレオ A4 ドンカマ B1 浄土 B2 空飛ぶじゅうたん B3 ピクニック B4 ひかる風

  Vorderhaus - Lights And Faces, Faces And Lights [PY 124 UK 2020 24-Bit FLAC] More retrospective electronics from the important Polytechnic Youth label.  Lights And Faces, Faces And Lights is the newest single from Berlin based Mark Vorderhaus, released in a limited pressing of 250 late last year. Catchy, yet simplistic synthpop - this single harks back to the days of the original synth pioneers and some of you may actually feel like dancing to the excellent flipside. A1 Lights And Faces, Faces And Lights B1 Tanz Tanz Tanz Oder Ich Bin Verloren

  I ron Curtain - Desertion [PYLON 012 USA 2LP 2008 24-Bit FLAC] Iron Curtain were a dark new-wave outfit from Santa Barbara who were heavily influenced by post-punk bands from the UK and the minimal sounds from Europe in the early eighties. Based around lead vocalist Steven Fields, an ever changing line up managed just 3 singles and a 4 track EP between 1983 and 1987. They had built up a keen local following but their product rarely found a market outside of California. Interest & demand grew significantly enough in the last fifteen years for Pylon Records to put together a very limited reissue of the Tarantula Scream EP on vinyl, and a remastered CD compilation in 2007.  I managed to acquire a lovely red/black vinyl package of their deleted  Desertion compilation album released in 2008. This is my original rip from November 2013 which has been cleaned up and resampled. Pylon have finally reworked this package and it can be sourced here if you'd like your own cop...

  Sex Pistols - Never Mind The Bollocks Here's The Sex Pistols [OVED 136 UK 1987 24-Bit FLAC] So, who made the most money of the back of the Sex Pistols and their first (and only proper) album? I would hazard a bet that the winner wears a beard & a suntan and owns a small island in the Caribbean. Here is my rip from penguinflight 's tenth anniversary mint condition mid-price repress, supposedly pressed from new plates although this copy still has the original Virgin catelogue number etched in the run-off. This is the version which gets the track names wrong on the sleeve reverse, inadvertently listing Belsen Was A Gas . I was never a punk, I was nine when this album was released, but I do remember the hype and controversy among those unusual sleeves and fanzines at Sleeves Records in the small town where I spent my earliest years. It all seems so distant now, especially when considering the punk phenomenon imploded the following year and everything which followed punk...