Needle Time

  New Order - Blue Monday [FAC 73 UK 1983 24-Bit FLAC] Just in case you also feel damaged by that last post .....this is for you! I still remember hearing Blue Monday for the very first time on Peel and subsequently buying a copy on the morning of release. This is that very copy, cleaned up and represented here in full glorious high resolution. A1  Blue Monday B1  The Beach For your amusement, here is a YouTube influencer with hundreds of thousands of followers, hearing the track for the very first time, just a few weeks back!

  New Order - Blue Monday 1988 [0-20869 USA 1988 24-Bit FLAC] The latest Stephen Morris book ( a highly recommended read) gives us an insight as to why New Order felt the need to screw about with Blue Monday - I am no fan of this version, I dislike the guitar, the samples and the general messiness of the whole concept. I'd bet the bearded one wasn't too happy that his distinctive basslines were pushed right back in the mix as well. Anyway, this American pressing is saved by the two mixes of   Touched By The Hand Of God which adorn the b-side. This single has sat ignored and unloved in the penguinflight boxes for nearly five years now, so here you are ....if you need to hear it again. A1 Blue Monday 1988 A2 Blue Monday 1988 (Dub) B1 Touched By The Hand Of God (Remix) B2 Touched By The Hand Of God (Dub)

  The Home Current - Not Our Kind Of Vertigo [PY85 UK 2021 24-Bit FLAC] More modular manipulation from the Polytechnic Youth label, the second album from The Home Current in a matter of months sold out very quickly when released a few weeks back. A grabbed a copy (of course) and despite the light noise from clear vinyl, it ripped really well. This album is inspired by a love of private pressing electronic LPs from the seventies. Not Our Kind Of Vertigo  represents eight immersive and up-tempo compositions - chilly yet absorbing, with icy synths and even cold dark waves stretched out over a range of sooth & seductive rhythms. The title track could well be the best new thing that you heard today. A1 A Triffid Ritual A2 Way Out Cinnamon A3 Due Another Soul A4 Slang Guilt B1 Bleeding Buildings B2 Sounds Like Something Flirty B3 From Here We Go Spinning B4 Not Our Kind Of Vertigo

  Cabaret Voltaire - The Crackdown [CV 1/DV 1 UK 1983 24-Bit FLAC] Now seems a good time to visit the finest hour of Cabaret Voltaire with a new rip - naming a particular album as an artist's best is purely subjective, so I will comfortably suggest that the albums which followed were just not as important.  The Crackdown  represented a shift in direction as The Cabs left Rough Trade for a licensed deal with Some Bizzare, bringing in Dave Ball (from Soft Cell) and Alan Fish (from Hula) as extra musicians. Pounding sequenced electronica replaced multi-textured distortion and experimentation, Mal's voice needed less treatment, as did his bass guitar. This was a stripped back almost danceable soundtrack to post-industrialism, where Cabaret Voltaire left all their peers in their wake. Ask me to name a favourite track and it would likely be Animation where the Cabs find a groove, but the title track and the morphed-disco of Just Fascination will find favour with many as well. ...

  A Certain Ratio - ACR:MCR [397 057-1 UK 1990 24-Bit FLAC] ACR won a lot of new fans with this album back in the early nineties, as an ACR fan who has been buying their records since late 1981, I've never considered this as a proper ACR album, instead I've always thought of it as a compilation to re-establish the band after the poppier Good Together album. After failing to find much deserved success with the gorgeous The Big E single and the impressive Bernard Sumner re-work,  Won't Stop Loving You , A&M Records made the fatal mistake when they released the band's most dance-nineties-current track Good Together as a seven-inch only. It was also part of a separate EP release, however the damage was done. All the tracks on this compilation, except possibly Funky Heaven could be found elsewhere, either as singles, CD extra tracks ...or on the Four From The Floor EP. That makes this a compilation doesn't it? My copy has a bit of wear in places (headphone users...

  Toby Glider - Novelty [CBR-006 USA 2020 24-Bit FLAC] Something new, by somebody under forty for a change. Toby Glider is actually Los Angeles based, Oakland-born multi-instrumentalist Joshua S. Lundquist who also records under the Liquid Pegasus brand. This modern funk album came out during the back end of 2020, released in very limited quantities for the Japanese (hence the Obi) and USA markets. A few have snuck across to this side of the planet, so I snapped one up. Discogs says there were only 140 pressed worldwide - I think that might have just been the quantity for each market. I have been playing around with a Pro-Ject Tube Box S2 and after a few issues with my old Pro-Ject RCA cables picking up a local AM Radio station (not a rare problem it seems!), I swapped over to more balanced connections and hooked up this fabulously minuscule phono valve amp...it certainly packs a punch given its size. Modern day funk/jazz-boogie (the genre term can be misleading) & vaporw...

  Natural Ites & The Realistics - Picture On The Wall [CSLP 18 UK 1985 24-Bit FLAC] I tend to default to the On-U Sound label for my reggae posts, however today I will defer and talk about a British reggae act who achieved the verges of mainstream crossover without commercialising their sound, with a little bit of extra help from a couple of BBC radio DJs. The Natural Ites came from Nottingham, releasing their debut single  Picture On The Wall in 1983. The single was preceded by a session for John Peel who championed the band and the single on his show. This album was recorded over a number of sessions with a variety of producers and eventually released  in 1985. The band re-recorded the bass parts of the debut single and re-released it in a new sharper mix as a single, which with Peel and Janice Long's help reached the fringes of the UK mainstream charts. This new found success earned the band a slot on Channel's popular The Tube music tv show. This was a definitive...

  Big Star - #1 Record [LILP 4.00263J DEU 1986 24-Bit FLAC] Originally released as a vinyl album on Ardent Records in the USA in 1972, the debut album by Big Star had no chance of ever reaching #1, as the label just couldn't get them out to record stores due to issues at Stax Records there distributor. It never saw a release outside the US for many years and I have memories of selling bucket loads of the eventual UK rerelease courtesy of Big Beat Records at my provincial home counties chain store in 1986. I had a copy of that repress, however it is long gone, so imagine my delight when I found a copy of this German pressing on white vinyl a few years back. This version is a Teldec release, mastered by Christian Stegmaier which should make it a DMM pressing, although this is not mentioned anywhere on the product. The white vinyl makes it impossible to recognise the tell tale signs of DMM contours, and there is still a little noise audible on the quieter sections and gaps betwe...

  Japan ‎- Adolescent Sex 果てしなき反抗 [VIP-6564 JPN 1978 24-Bit FLAC] It is time for some hair rock! Okay, post-glam, Roxy-Bowie, New York Dolls-inspired hairy rock disco beasts Japan and their debut album, ripped here from my Japanese (where else?) pressing of Adolescent Sex . It didn't take long for Sylvian, Karn, Barbieri, Dean and Jansen to tidy themselves up, buy some better suits, slap on some more blusher and rework themselves into the complex alternative art-rock band they eventually became, with some success. I know that the band members look back on their fledgling days with some embarrassment, but they did reveal their skill as excellent musicians, especially Messrs Karn and Barbieri.  The band's look was very 1975, but this was 1978 and punk had already happened, so there was little appetite in the UK for Japan's hairy glam, further worsened by their decision to announce themselves with a cover of  Don't Rain On My Parade as a debut single.  Regardless, thi...

  Yellow Magic Orchestra (イエロー・マジック・オーケストラ) ‎- Solid State Survivor (ソリッド・ステイト・サヴァイヴァー)                          [ALR-6022 JPN 1979 24-Bit FLAC] Hopefully this is an album which should need little introduction to most, however if you don't know Solid State Survivor then you are in for a treat. My copy is a 1979 Japanese original on Alfa Records which despite its years, shows very little evidence of wear so it was a pleasure to rip.  This was the trio's second album and the showroom dummies (dressed to resemble guest band members Hideki Matsutake and Akiko Yano) on the sleeve are a strong hint that the electronic musical baton was being passed from Germany to Japan. This album was eons ahead of anything coming out of Europe at the time, Kraftwerk had likely peaked by 1978 and they were never going to record anything as catchy as  Technopolis , Ryden or the excellent  Behind The Mask . It was to be anot...

  400 Blows - "…If I Kissed Her I'd Have To Kill Her First…" [JAMS 42 UK 1984 24-Bit FLAC] The first album by London's 400 Blows gets a 24/88.2 sized upgrade on my old 16/44 needle drop with a new 2021 rip. "… If I Kissed Her I'd Have To Kill Her First …" represents a sublime mix of alternative-techno-funk, dub, industrial noise loops, samples and gamelan percussion.  The most obscure track is six minute interview with Charles Manson, For Jackie M , set to a calming atmosphere of nature and ornis twittering. The highlights for me (and many others) are the superb hard electro-funk of Groove Jumping and a reworked version of their  Declaration Of Intent single, a track which A Certain Ratio would have been proud of. The country bumpkin beat of Them Thar Hills  sits very much out of place, however it is only a deliberate ploy to confuse and distract. Released at about the same time on the same record label, this record sits perfectly alongside 23 Skidoo...

  U2 - War (闘) [25S-156 JPN 1983 24-Bit FLAC] Some of you may surprised to know that I own a couple of U2 albums, including two copies of War . The first was bought around the time of release, off the back of the New Year's Day single. I kinda like the album but the production by Steve 'Muddy' Lilywhite really lets it down, exaggerated by a shoddy & flimsy pressing by Carlton for Island Records in Eire. I assume the band were happy at the time with what Lilywhite did with their sound, however it is notable that they moved to the more dynamic pairing of Brian Eno & Daniel Lanois for the next few albums.  My near mint condition original Japanese pressing on Polystar is a remarkable audible improvement on the original European release (the gatefold packaging is also excellent) however Larry Mullen still sounds like he is bashing a couple of tin buckets at the end of a cladded tunnel and The Edge guitar lacks the attention to audio detail his skills deserve.  It is ...

  Cocteau Twins - Tiny Dynamine [BAD 510 UK 1985 24-Bit FLAC] From likely their most productive period, the Cocteaus released two twelve inch EPs in November 1985 before commencing the sessions for Victorialand and their collaboration with Harold Budd in 1986. Here is one of those EP's, Tiny Dynamine . A1 Pink Orange Red A2 Ribbed And Veined B1 Plain Tiger B2 Sultitan Itan

  Cocteau Twins - Aikea-Guinea [BAD 501 UK 1985 24-Bit FLAC] One of the Cocteau Twins' most gorgeous singles ripped lovingly from a 36 year old slab of vinyl, kindly donated by long-time blog follower penguinflight .  A1 Aikea-Guinea A2 Kookaburra B1 Quisquose B2 Rococo

  Cocteau Twins - Peppermint Pig [BAD 303 UK 1983 24-Bit FLAC] Likely the single which marked the end of the Cocteau Twins early stages with Will Heggie and not named after a popular candy sweet or the book by Nina Bawden. The Cocteaus kicked off their journey through a world of intricate alliteration in song titles, personally I prefer my pigs to taste of bacon. A1 Peppermint Pig B1 Laugh Lines B2 Hazel

  Cocteau Twins - Lullabies [BAD 213 UK 1982 24-Bit FLAC] I'd thought I re-up a few of my old Cocteau Twins rips before I move on to today's mainstream event. Here is their debut single ripped from penguinflight 's original vinyl, back in September 2016 with my old Ortofon 2M Blue cartridge, I've cleaned it up a bit since my original post on ESWA. A1 Feathers-Oar-Blades A2 Alas Dies Laughing B1 It's All But An Ark Lark

  David Bowie (デビッド・ボウイー) -  The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars (ジギー・スターダスト)   [RPL- 2102 JPN 1982 24-Bit FLAC] Originally released as a vinyl album worldwide in 1972, here is the immaculate Japanese reissue from 1982, nicely pressed up by the RCA Victor Company. I guess everybody has a copy of this album in some format somewhere, some of you may have an original, I like most, initially made do with the UK RCA mid-price pressing on cheap vinyl. A few years back, I spent some time in Japan where my evening occupation was food & record stores, here is one of the souvenirs of that trip ripped to lush high resolution flac, at a comfortable level for both headphone listeners and home system streamers. Expect a high level of detail, space and enough warmth to heat up the cockles of your hearts. This is all purely to make up for ripping & posting that abysmal new Parlophone Records pressing of Low . A1 Five Years 5年間 A2 Soul Love 魂の愛 A3 ...

  The Box - Old Style Drop Down [VFM 3 UK 1983 24-Bit FLAC] I last ripped the debut single from The Box back on 2009 for ESWA - I think it is about time that old file had a serious upgrade, so here you are. The band were essentially Clock DVA without Adi Newton and they picked off were DVA's Thirst left off, after Newton abandoned them for a commercial deal with Polydor. After a brief flirtation with Cabaret Voltaire's Mal on vocals, The Box settled with the manic, Beefheartian style of Peter Hope. A1 Old Style Drop Down (Extended Remix) B1 Old Style Drop Down B2 Momentum

  Dormannu - The Dread [ILL 5012 UK 1984 24-Bit FLAC] Needle Time returns with a brief volley of very different rips, kicking off with gothic/industrial/disco act Dormannu and their third and final single, The Dread in two long mixes. I've covered Dormannu in the past, however never ripped this single which features Paul Weller's mate Dizzy Heights on rap. The track is a heavy goth-disco groove led by a deep bassline which had me checking if Killing Joke's Youth was involved ....he wasn't! One day I may around to seeing if I can improve on my old rips of the remainder of Dormannu's back catelogue. A1 The Dread B1 The Dread

 Cocteau Twins - Treasure [CAD 412 UK 1984 24-Bit FLAC] Ask me to pick one Cocteau Twins' album and I will pick two! My personal appreciation of the Grangemouth trio began in earnest with Head Over Heels , however I regularly flip between their second and third albums as a personal favourite. I've gone with Treasure today for many reasons, so here is a new 2021 rip of this old classic. I know many highlight Heaven Or Las Vegas these days, but for me this album evokes a particular period in my life, and a time where Cocteau Twins consistently broke new ground. The record builds up beautifully through the tracks, each lush and intricate track is wrapped up in its own little space, each one evoking the memory of listening to them for the first time back in 1984. Maybe it's an middle age thing, perhaps if I was in my mid-fifties back in 1984 I would have heard Treasure differently. Many will be tempted to dive straight into the majestic  Donimo , or maybe Ivo is your thing ...

  Polypores - Chaos Blooms [PY108 UK 2021 24-Bit FLAC] An album of modular synthsesis, dreamy environments and ambient drones from Lancashire lad, Stephen James Buckley as Polypores - Chaos Blooms is his fourth full long player, which is being well received by all electronic aficionados, no more so than in the current Electronic Sound publication. Buckley says.... Chaos Blooms is an exploration of chaotic and random elements within composition, performed on modular synthesizer. As with random occurrences in nature, sometimes something beautiful emerges. Sometimes not. Chaos can be frightening as well as beautiful. When you think about the movement of water or flame, they can go both ways. Fire can burn a city to the ground, but also provide warmth. It's also very pretty to look at, there's never the same pattern twice. It's the same with water. I wanted to make an album that explored that, using randomly generated voltages to control various aspects of the composition,...

  Fad Gadget - Collapsing New People [12 MUTE 030 UK 1984 24-Bit FLAC] A1 Collapsing New People (London Mix) B1 Collapsing New People (Berlin Mix) B2 Spoil The Child Fad Gadget - One Man's Meat [12 MUTE 033 UK 1984 24-Bit FLAC] A1 One Man's Meat (Remix) B1 Sleep (Electro-Induced Original) B2 Ricky's Hand (Live) As were are in classic Mute mode - here are two old rips reproduced just for the hell of it.

  I Start Counting - My Translucent Hands [STUMM 30 UK 1986 24-Bit FLAC] You have to feel sorry for I Start Counting as they were forever in the shadows of Depeche Mode and Erasure on Mute - your blogger thinks they offered a bit more more than their two successful label mates. The choice of Catch That Look as a single was clearly pitched at the DM audience, whereas if the radio friendly You And I had ever been allowed a single release in its own right, then perhaps a wider audience would have appreciated the band which was eventually to become Fortran 5. Thanks as always to blog follower Penguinflight for his donation of this fine mini album. Pay No More Than £3.99, this is a re-working of my original April 2016 blog post. A1 Introduction A2 My Translucent Hands A3 Catch That Look A4 You And I B1 Lose Him B2 Keep The Sun Away B3 Cranley Gardens B4 Which Way Is Home?

  Ryuichi Sakamoto - B-2 Unit [MHJL 101 JPN 2019 24-Bit FLAC] Sakamoto's second solo album preceded the better known Left Handed Dream by about a year when it was released by Alfa Records in Japan during 1980 and then on Island Records in the UK in 1981. This album of experimental dub-electronica has been much over-looked in the years since, and we have had to wait 26 years for a repress. This is the 2019 Great Tracks rerelease, mastered in Japan and then plated up by Bernie Grundman. Perhaps if it was more widely known that Dennis Bovell, Steve Nye and Andy Partridge were among the collaborators, then it would likely have been better appreciated. The album was recorded in London and Tokyo and when you consider that this was 1980, it becomes easier to appreciate how important the Japanese keyboard maestro genuinely is.  File under significant. A1 Differencia A2 Thatness And Thereness A3 Participation Mystique A4 E-3A B1 Iconic Storage B2 Riot In Lagos B3 Not Th...

  Hologram Teen ‎- Géométries Insensibles [PY115 UK 2021 24-Bit FLAC] Hologram Teen is actually Morgane Lhote (once of Stereolab and likely not a teenager), who has been releasing the occasional album and single for a variety of labels since 2015. Again, showing my appreciation for the Polytechnic Youth, this limited pink vinyl seven-inch EP was released with minimal fuss a few weeks ago. Only three hundred copies have been pressed and as a consequence of this post-Brexit world, not many of those are going to go global.  A1 Halogéne Menthol A2 Robot Moses B1 Espoir Et Endorphines B2 Amour Fission

  Steven Wilson - Limited Edition Coloured Vinyl Seven-Inch Single By Steven Wilson [ESS773 UK 2021 24-Bit FLAC] The year long campaign of marketing and subtle hype is over, The Future Bites was released a week ago, we can all now go back to our regular lives. Wilson's blatant attempt to get a number one album in the UK has been in our faces and on our billboards & TV since January. I hope he gets it but it's likely that some teen starlet will trump him (can I say that these days) with some formulaic Spotify stream.  I really like the album, it is very different to anything previously from Wilson and it should win him a wider audience. This single features with this month's Electronic Sound magazine in a limited pressing on red vinyl. The first playback sounded like a flexi-disc as the pressing is fairly rough & dirty - I've cleaned up my copy as best I can. It was worth it just to hear more of that Chapman-funk bassline on Eminent Sleaze . A1 King Ghost (E...

    The Mystery Kindaichi Band - The Adventures Of Kosuke Kindaichi [WWSLP 31 FRA 2020 24-Bit FLAC] Originally released on King Records (SKA-187) in Japan in 1977. Here's another one of those rare Japanese albums given a fresh lease of life for the modern western listener. The Mystery Kindaichi Band were Hiroshi Takada, Kentaro Haneda & Yutaka Narita, who released this amazing album of unadulterated disco-funk in 1977 as the imaginary soundtrack to a cult Japanese vampire detective comic book series. The album was plundered throughout the eighties by DJs and samplers, however nobody could ever find a copy - you may recognise a few of the stolen samples. I regularly praise the quality of Japanese vinyl pressings, this album is on a French-based record label, pressed by small plant in Great Dunmow, Essex ...and the quality of the pressing is outstanding. Hopefully I've just livened up your dull lockdown Thursday night! A1 金田一耕助のテーマ A2 八つ墓村 A3 仮面舞踏会...

  The Jam - Setting Sons [POLD 5028 UK 1979 24-Bit FLAC] I grew up with The Jam, they were my first love in music.  Setting Sons was my first album purchase, that copy is a bit worn these days, so after a reinvestment in a near mint original copy, I present a new 2021 rip of this wonderful ...and very British album. I am forever tweaking & improving my ripping set-up and this rip is powerful and dynamic - surface noise is hardly audible and you can almost hear Bruce Foxton's plectrum pluck those Rickenbacker bass strings.  Don't ask me to pick a favourite track, well okay then - The Eton Rifles will always stand out, as the young Weller's angry observations on the British class system ring true to this day. The only Bruce Foxton composition, Smithers- Jones predicts a future world where jobs & careers are discarded without remorse at the behest of market economics, and comes a close second. This album is almost faultless, I'll even forgive that cover of Heat...

  The Durutti Column - Another Setting [FBN 30 UK RSD2018 24-Bit FLAC] Allegedly in a limited edition of just 800 pressings, here is my rip from the double LP release for Record Store Day 2018. The main album (which is just as quietly mastered as the original) is pressed on standard black vinyl whereas the second live album is on clear vinyl. The live tracks were recorded at Pandora's Box Festival in Rotterdam on 4 September 1983. Not all the tracks from the set feature when compared to the bootleg cassettes in circulation from the VPRO radio broadcast of the gig. Here's what I had to say about the original album back on the old blog... Everybody should have their favourite Durutti Column album. I choose Another Setting . For me it is Reilly's most diverse and complex, it is ever so slightly pretentious with it's arty template sleeve design and ID magazine-style credits (Perfume by Jovan, and Clothes by Lucinda Byre), and because of the way Vini intertwines what is jus...

  Various Artists - Virtual Dreams [MFM 050 NLD 2020 24-Bit FLAC] Subtitled :  Ambient Explorations In The House & Techno Age, 1993-1997 It's unusual to pick up a copy of a record which sold out in days back in December and didn't make it to the shelves of  most virtual or conventional music retailers. Whilst the world still awaits a repress of this gorgeously packaged triple album set from Dutch ambient master-label Music From Memory, here is my rip. The reseller market went silly just before Christmas with copies changing hands for double the original value. These are digital recordings and most of the originals were mastered for the compact disc market. A peak at the spectrogram provides a big clue to some of their provenance. Perhaps vinyl isn't the right medium for this genre, however it does provide the warmth and detail which the compact disc misses. Everything else that you need to know is in the subtitle. Enjoy! A1 MLO - Birds And Flutes A2 Pulusha - Iso...

  Various Artists - New York [MHJL 152 JPN 2020 24-Bit FLAC] Originally released as a hard-to-find vinyl album by Sony Japan in 1978 (that should be a clue as to what you are getting here). You just knew it wouldn't be long before I pulled out another Japanese lounge-fusion masterpiece ...and another Great Tracks release, gorgeously mastered by Bernie Grundman (again). This isn't actually a compilation album, it represents eight New York City inspired compositions by Kazumasa Akiyama, Kenji Ohmura, Shigeru Suzuki, Kazuo Takeda, Tsunehide Matsuki, Masaki Matsubara, Kimio Mizutani, & Masaru Yajima with each of them writing one track, which is then performed by the full ensemble. Expect oodles of jazz-infused rock and funk fusion gleamed from their perceptions of the great city, possibly inspired from many a seventies American TV theme, and likely a bit of Steely Dan. Robert Wagner unfortunately does not appear! A1  Kennedy Airport ケネディー・エアポート A2  Hard Times...

  Echo And The Bunnymen ‎– The Cutter [KOW 26T UK 1983 24-Bit FLAC] A1 The Cutter B1 Way Out And Up We Go B2 Zimbo (With The Royal Burundi Drummers - Live At Womad 1982) Echo And The Bunnymen ‎– The Killing Moon [KOW 32T UK 1984 24-Bit FLAC] A1 The Killing Moon (All Night Version) B1 The Killing Moon B2 Do It Clean (Live) Echo And The Bunnymen ‎– Bring On The Dancing Horses [KOW 43T UK 1985 24-Bit FLAC] A1 Bring On The Dancing Horses (Extended Mix) B1 Bedbugs & Ballyhoo B2 Over Your Shoulder