Needle Time

  Modern English - Stop Start [925 343-1 UK 1986 24-Bit FLAC] After yesterday's ACR post, here is another band who made the leap from indie fandom to seek out pop stardom with a major label. I love nearly all of Modern English's 4AD repertoire, but could never really get into Stop Start , perhaps now would be a good time to reassess.... The only connection to 4AD Records is the 23 Envelope sleeve, as this is very much a pop-rock album, polished and glossy bright but not quite as refreshing as what went before. It is clear the major deal was based on a new found enthusiasm for their work in the USA after a certain song featured on a certain film, and perhaps Stop Start did a lot better across the pond as a consequence than it did in the band's domestic market with its original fan base. The record is sprinkled with enjoyable moments, Robbie Grey's voice is as recognisable as ever, there are plenty of uplifting choruses and rousing riffs, but this is a record of its tim...

  Propaganda - Duel (Bitter-Sweet) [12ZTAS 8 UK 1985 24-Bit FLAC] Name the best synthpop single of the eighties ...there were so many! This one came out tops for me, Claudia had the voice (and the nose), Susanna had the looks, Trevor Horn did virtually everything else! Paul Morley just bored us to death with his intellectual journo babble. I am sure that the rest of the band did something, but in my opinion, not one of the ZTT bands would have achieved what they did without the skillful assistance of Horn, Dudley, Langan and Jeczalik. A1 Duel (Bitter Sweet) B1 Jewel (Cut Rough)

  A Certain Ratio - Good Together [AMA 9008 UK 1989 24-Bit FLAC] This end of year post was going to be the triple vinyl edition of A Certain Ratio's  Loco Remezclada remix album, however despite three deep cleans of an original 'mint' copy, I cannot get a clean enough rip from the sparkly clear & violet vinyl chosen for this release. Instead, I have gone back in time and pulled out the band's most overlooked album release for a brand new clean rip in a choice of resolutions. The rumour at the time was that ACR got a big pile of cash for signing to Herb Alpert's A&M Records. I'm sure it wasn't a fortune, but it was enough for the band to set up their own Soundstation recording studio. Ask a band member these days and they'll always say that this era in their history is best forgotten, so the chances of Good Together getting a reissue, until recently ...were zilch. That changed after ACR's recent deal with Mute Records, however it should be ...

  Osiris - O-Zone [MAR-2234 USA 1979 24-Bit FLAC] O-Zone was the second album by Washington DC funk outfit Osiris, fronted by Osiris Marsh, aided & abetted by right-hand man Maceo Bond on keyboards and Fred Wesley on horns. Since its release back in 1979, it had never been reissued until a Japanese import CD appeared in 2020 closely followed by a seven-inch single of the wonderful  Prelude (Is It Clear) , again in Japan only.  The other two heavy funk workouts from side one formed two great singles back in the US back during the seventies, however did little to attract the market to Osiris at time of release, however interest in the band was to grow when their 1981 album, Osiris The Band! album was repacked for the UK as the splendid War On The Bullshit . I picked up this album back in 1988, when there was a growing market for cut-out US dance imports among specialist (mostly) London retailers. I am pretty sure it came out of a box from the back of a transit van ful...

  Brian Bennett ‎- Voyage (A Journey Into Discoid Funk) [ISLELP 001 AUS 2017 24-Bit FLAC] Originally released as a very rare album on DJM Records in 1978, it's just a pity that excellent Australian label Isle Of Jura Records couldn't replicate the original gatefold sleeve. I last posted this back in September 2019, ripped with my old cartridge but I was never happy with the results ....I wonder how much better it will sound using my little Japanese diamond? Here is that new rip. Not a lot of people will realise that former Cliff Richard and The Shadows drummer Brian Bennett also released an album of high quality space age disco in the late seventies. Put aside your fears of what may be lurking in these grooves, after all Bennett did also write quite a few dodgy TV themes in the eighties, this album of electronic disco-funk is superb. If like me you used to collect cassette tapes of sci-fi themes and soundtracks in the late seventies, Voyage  (A Journey Into Discoid Funk) will ...

  Jorge Lopez Ruiz - El Grito (Suite Para Orquesta De Jazz) [BEWITH078LP UK 2021 24-Bit FLAC] Originally released on CBS Records in Argentina in 1967, subsequently most copies were destroyed by agents of the Onganía dictatorship. However Manchester's Be With Record label have pulled out a major plum with this wonderfully mastered repress from the original masters of Jorge Lopez Ruiz's big band jazz masterpiece, doubling as a protest record. This album has earnt the right to be played loudly. Roll on 54 years to 2021, and it has been one of the very best for rarity reissues, with so many obscurely wonderful records getting the chance to be enjoyed by new audiences, mainly due to the hard work of the many new labels who dig through the crates of the world, seeking out genuine works of musical art. If you got or gave the Adele album for Christmas, then I am sorry! All you have done is contribute to the woes of small record labels doing their damned best to release proper mu...

  Minoru Muraoka - Bamboo [MRBLP195 UK 2019 24-Bit FLAC] If you thought I was going to hit you with a run of Christmas themed posts, then you might be wrong, I am going totally off-piste .....starting with this total gem. Japanese funky-flute-folk-jazz with a bunch of obscure break beats, anybody? Originally released on United Artists Japan in 1970, Bamboo is an album by Japanese shakuhachi player, Minoru Muraoka, which includes his rather unique interpretations of one or two standards. You know you want this! A1 Take Five A2 Mogamigawa Funauta A3 The Positive And The Negative A4 And I Love Her B1 The House Of The Rising Sun B2 Do You Know The Way To San Jose B3 Soul Bamboo B4 Call Me B5 Scarborough Fair

  The Beloved - A Hundred Words [HARP 2T UK 1986 24-Bit FLAC] The other day, I decided to pull out all my original Flam Flam singles by The Beloved. After a dash of surfactant and a good wash, here are the results..... early Beloved at 176.4kHz, anybody? The Beloved sounded like a Factory Records band, but The Beloved were from London, so went their own way. This debut single seemed to take an eternity to get released and we all had to make do with home made tapes of the two Peel Sessions for what seemed like years, before we could buy The Beloved product. Mix melancholy with melody and you get a delightful bass driven indie-rock much like early New Order, The Wake and The Cure (before they went silly). I always thought Jon Marsh's vocal style was very similar to Caesar from The Wake, and those gentle plucked guitar melodies are wonderfully alike. I know they went onto significant commercial success as the original line up disintegrated before Warner's steered them from indie-...

  Steven Wilson - Last Day Of June [MOVATM335 UK 2021 24-Bit FLAC] On the subject of all things SWilson, Last Day Of June snuck out in 2017 as a download only as the soundtrack of a PS4 game of the same title. The game itself revolves around the life of animated characters developed by Jess Cope for Wilson's Drive Home video, the music is an assemblage of Wilson's work between 2004 and 2016, focusing on sections from his more melodic compositions with Porcupine Tree, his solo work and the drone alter-ego, Bass Communion - all mixed, edited and sequenced into new pieces. This is a gorgeous piece of work, revealing the man's talent as a composer of almost classical music, broken up by occasional uptempo melodic rock. The purists will turn their noses up at the lack of a long Guthrie Govan guitar solo on Driving Home , everybody else will find something to love. This could also be the ideal introduction to those not so familiar with the man's work. Surprisingly, this rel...

  Ultravox - Vienna (Steven Wilson Stereo Mix) [CHRX1296 UK 2021 24-Bit FLAC] Like many of you, I grew up with Ultravox's best-selling  Vienna album. I've had copies in various formats over the years, so save for a little bit of unnecessary vinyl noise in the quiet bits on this new pressing for RSD2021, I have never heard it this good.  To me, the original sounded rather flat and a little two dimensional, lacking clarity, detail and depth in places, everything seemed wrapped up in a foggy hue. These issues were likely part of the album's original charm, but it could have sounded better (imho) - nothing against Connie Plank's original mix - I am assuming that is how they wanted Vienna to sound in 1980. Consequently,  the original sounds incredibly dated - this version brings Vienna bang right up-to-date without overworking the mix, or adding additional instrumentation. Back in 2020, Steven Wilson was drafted in to produce a new mix using the original masters, fres...

  Alan Hawkshaw & Brian Bennett - Full Circle [BEWITH051LP UK 2018 24-Bit FLAC] More from Hawkshaw & Bennett, and another delightful Be With Records pressing in association with lauded British house of library, KPM Music. Twelve instrumental workouts, ranging from orchestral soundtrack through rock, funk and jazz - recorded in the seventies, Full Circle is a damn fine record - which may well  have been sampled to death by many a rapper or bedroom DJ since. A1 Reignited A2 Hole In One A3 Flying A4 Straight Up A5 Serengeti A6 Open Road B1 In The Clouds B2 Corcovado B3 On The Nile B4 Marrakech B5 Oasis B6 Midnight Jazz

  Clock DVA - Horology 3 [VOD154 DEU 2019 24-Bit FLAC] Subtitled: Tape, Reel - Recordings & Art 1978 - 1980 I first ripped this set back in the early summer of 2019, however I was never happy with the results so returned to it in April of this year - these files have sat on my hard drive since. I used an Ortofon Quintet Red MC cartridge hooked up through a Project Tube Box to 24/96 and the results were better. I guess some of the source material for this four album (with book) boxset may have come low fidelity sources, it does have the feel of an out-takes collection when compared to the superior Horology 1 set, however I am sure that some of you will be all over this. Some of the tracks are reel-to-reel sourced and as the spectrogram image below reveals, are in stunning detail & quality, I've left the tracks almost 'raw' with minimal de-clicking purely to add to that authentic vinyl experience. Perhaps one day, I will contemplate letting the Hana Shibata loose on...

  Everything But The Girl - Eden [BYN 2 UK 1984 24-Bit FLAC] From the student bedsits of Kingston-Upon-Hull, via the indie-pop charm of the original Cherry Red Records and a friend in Weller, Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt's Everything But The Girl developed from a one-off Cole Porter cover into sophisti-pop stardom with a big leg-up from Geoff Travis and his Blanco Y Negro major label spin-off. Eden was their well received debut album, which spawned the  Each And Every One single, however it would be a few more years before the riches were to materialise. With a lush production by Robin Millar, drums from Charles Hayward, additional guitars from Weekend's Simon Booth and percussion from Joao Bosco De Oliveira, Eden is a delicate album, rich and diverse as it swoons between guitar-pop, smooth jazz and latino rhythm. Enjoy. A1 Each And Every One A2 Bittersweet A3 Tender Blue A4 Another Bridge A5 The Spice Of Life A6 The Dustbowl B1 Crabwalk B2 Even ...

  Coastlines - Coastlines [BEWITH080LP UK 2020 24-Bit FLAC] A highly unlikely post for any December evening, Coastlines was the debut album by Japanese duo Masanori Ikeda & Takumi Kaneko, originally released on Flower Records in Japan during November 2019. The album got its UK release on Manchester's Be With Records just as the world's borders were closing tightly in April 2020. This double album set is a journey through a world of modern electronica, jazz & lounge with tinges of chill-out latino beach bar music, all set in widescreen balaerica. Just perfect for a cold winter evening in the week before Christmas! A1 Sunset Reflection A2 East Dry River A3 Coastline B1 Drifting Ice B2 My Fire B3 Woods And My Guitar C1 Half Moon Shadow C2 Last Summer In Rio D1 Maracas Bay D2 Down Town

  Sylvester - You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) (Soulwax For Despacio Remix) [SWRMXSYL UK 2021 24-Bit FLAC] Belgian indie-rockers turned remix specialists Soulwax clashed head on with this old Sylvester disco classic earlier this year for this full-on discofantasmagoria version of You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) . The track was recorded for playback on a 50,000 watt, state-of- the-art, vinyl only sound system known as Despacio. I don't have one of those ...and I suspect none of you lot do either, so just play loudly at home and make your neighbours think you've gone pure disco. A1  You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) (Soulwax For Despacio Remix) B1  You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) (Soulwax For Despacio Instrumental)

  Brian Eno - Before And After Science [ENOLP 4 UK 2017 24-Bit FLAC] Originally released in 1977, Eno's fourth album carried on from where Another Green World left off, with his characteristic of creative art-rock and experimental meanderings. Essentially his last before he went fully ambient, guest musicians included Phil Collins, Jaki Liebezeit, Fred Frith,  Phil Manzanera,  Möbi Moebius & Achim Roedelius. Eno spent a lot of time in Germany at the time, his most acclaimed work was with David Bowie on Low & Heroes and the electronic Cluster which culminated in the excellent  After The Heat long player. This album ended Eno's 'Winkies' phase putting to bed the pub-rock meets art-rock period of his work, however he still revealed a skill with regular songwriting on tracks such as Here He Comes . A1 No One Receiving A2 Backwater A3 Kurt's Rejoinder A4 Energy Fools The Magician A5 King's Lead Hat B1 Here He Comes B2 Julie Wit...

  Alan Hawkshaw & Brian Bennett - Synthesizer And Percussion [BEWITH050LP UK 2018 24-Bit FLAC] Alan Hawkshaw & Brian Bennett are best known for their TV and film soundtrack work, however dig deeper and you will come across a whole bunch of albums for UK library labels KPM and Themes International stretching back to the sixties. Current favourite UK reissue label Be With Records have secured access to the long deleted catalogues of KPM and Themes. Here is the duo's  Synthesizer And Percussion album, originally released back in 1974, composed & performed on an old ARP back in the day - actually it was likely seen as cutting edge during the mid-seventies. Mostly works in and around the peripherals of G-Funk with jazzy loops - just to prove how ground breaking they were, you can hear Hawkshaw & Bennett's experiments with frequency modulation to produce that squelchy electronic sound later associated with acid house. Library music seems especially popular with DJs...

  Daniel Lanois - Acadie [925 969-1 UK 1989 24-Bit FLAC] Back in the past, I may have mentioned that I began to fall out of love with 'indie' music in the late eighties. As a consequence I began to seek out music from the sixties and seventies which caught my ear, subsequently my taste and appreciation of other styles grew exponentially. In brief, I'd suggest that my taste 'grew up' a little as I began to enjoy artists and genres which in my youth I may well have mocked. Around the same time there were three or four very grown up albums released by artists who I would never previously allowed to bother my ears. I may these in fuure posts - for now, Daniel Lanois' epic Acadie is a good place to start. The Canadian producer shot to fame for his work with Brian Eno on U2's important Joshua Tree album and a subsequent deal with Opal Records permitted him to record and release his debut long player with the help of Brian and Roger Eno, a couple of Neville Brothe...

  Cabaret Voltaire - Sensoria [CVS 312 UK 1984 24-Bit FLAC] This regular crowd pleaser and old college party floor filler, gets dusted down, a drop of surfactant and now made available in a choice of resolutions. Let this one boom from your speakers and everything will feel right again. This is likely my best effort at a rip so far. Do right! A1   Sensoria B1   Cut The Damn Camera

  Crispy Ambulance - Live On A Hot August Night [FAC BN 4 BEL 1981 24-Bit FLAC] Disguised in a wonderfully suggestive Benoît Hennebert sleeve, the third single by Manchester's Crispy Ambulance was recorded on a cold January night at Cargo Studios, Rochdale in 1981 with Martin Hannett at the controls. Factory Records then decided to farm the release out to their Benelux cousins who released it in June 1981. There has been much confusion since as to which track is the a-side. For me, The Presence has always been the a-side - running at over thirteen minutes, the track kicks off with Hannett's simple electronic rhythm before the band's chopping and grinding guitar underpinned by a simple but tight drum beat and bassline. Alan Hempsall's vocals are filled with anxiety and melancholy, bringing a sense of solemn procession to the proceedings, but it is wonderful!  Concorde Square is more of a standard post-punk track before it descends into six minutes of ghostly drone ...

  The Durutti Column - The Guitar And Other Machines [FACT 204 UK 1987 24-Bit FLAC] You can quote me on my opinion that Another Setting is the best of a great bunch of early albums by The Durutti Column. If only the production standard was as high as later achievements, then I believe it would have been Vini Reilly's masterpiece. Four years later Reilly made friends with Stephen Street prior to their sessions for Morrissey's debut album, Viva Hate .  The Guitar And Other Machines was the first of three final albums for Factory Records, produced by Street at Strawberry Studios in Stockport and Peter Hook's Suite Sixteen in Rochdale, financed by Tony Wilson's cheque book ....and promoted by other marketing devices. The structure of this album follows much of that of Another Setting , where Reilly takes the listener of a journey through a wide variety of styles from the rock riffs of  Arpeggiator , a million miles from Prayer I should say, to gentle & atmospheric mel...

  Sketch Show - Audio Sponge [CTJR-96031/2 JPN 2021 24-Bit FLAC] It became an expensive vinyl summer when Japanese label, Cutting Edge Records decided to release the Sketch Show albums on lusciously packaged vinyl for the very first time ever. These two masters of electronica (you should know their faces by now ...I would hope) began their careers in psychedelic rock, city pop and eventually evolutionarily electronics as two-thirds of Yellow Magic Orchestra. You shouldn't be surprised to know that the other third contributes on various tracks with keyboards and gets a writing credit. So does that make this a YMO album ....almost, I guess? I posted the more organic, second album Loophole back in October, here is their first Audio Sponge in full-resolutionary quality to blow your minds. The duo's use of crackle & pops as percussion is evident throughout and does more than enough to help your ripper while away a few more hours making comparison references to his original 200...

  Miles Davis - Live-Evil [19439900841 USA 2021 24-Bit FLAC] So what is it with all these huge 176.4kHz rips?  I know that I certainly never held the desire or the hearing ability to fully appreciate music at this resolution, however it seems that a few of you feel the need, so where possible I will continue my little experiment with them. I always rip at this resolution and usually down-sample to 88.2kHz, all it takes is a little more time and I can package some files up in the higher quality. Therefore, if you have a spare 3.5gb of file space, then this one for all those who love things to the max. Live-Evil was originally released on Columbia Records in 1971, a mixture of compositions recorded live on stage at at The Cellar Door, Washington, DC  in December 1970 and in Columbia Studio B, New York, NY in May the same year. With a really impressive line-up of musical talent, the live mix feels as if you are actually sitting in the middle of the performance ons...

  Clock DVA - 4 Hours [DVR 18 UK 1985 24-Bit FLAC] I promise this is my last Clock DVA post ....for a bit! Originally a seven inch only single on the Fetish Records label in 1981, Cabaret Voltaire's Doublevision label reissued Clock DVA's finest moment as a twelve inch in 1985. I last ripped this carelessly back in 2014, time now to get that upgraded in full resolution to sit alongside the last four DVA singles.  I have the original seven, however it will never sound as aurally pleasing as this pressing with its wider grooves and better quality vinyl. In fact, after a good clean, I believe this sounds amazing - but I would say that wouldn't I? Judge for yourselves..... A1 4 Hours B1 Sensorium

  Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - Maid Of Orleans [DIN 40-12 UK 1982 24-Bit FLAC] I was never one for tucking my jumper in my trousers and dancing without moving my feet, but I do have a sneaky admiration for early OMD - and this single plus of course, Souvenir have to be two of the finest synth-pop records of all time.  OMD were originally 'discovered' by Tony Wilson's wife, so they were initially snapped up by Factory Records before being donated to the Branson empire in a moment of praxis by the late Granada TV presenter. Things went a bit tame & limp starting with 1984's Junk Culture album, however since their reformation in 2010, OMD have begun to release great music once again. This rip resulted from a ripping session where I was understanding the use of surfactants in my record cleaning process. All the twelve inch singles used were not in the greatest of condition, however I was pleasingly surprised with the results. A1 Maid Of Orleans (The Waltz Jo...

  Brian Eno - Another Green World [ENOLP3 UK 2017 24-Bit FLAC] Widely appreciated as his best, Another Green World was released way back in 1975, there was likely nothing like it at the time, unless of course you had already discovered albums by various German musicians - let's be honest, not too many of us were listening to experimental and ambient music back in 1975 - okay, maybe a regular follower in Liverpool was? Nick? Another Green World was a stepping stone between the glam/art-rock and ambient sequences of Eno's life and there are references to both throughout. Discreet Music was also released the same year, but it would be a little while longer before Music For Films ....and Airports . Eno hadn't yet mixed with Cluster/Moebius & Roedelius, he had not yet hung out with Bowie in Berlin to conspire for that second side of Low. It would not be until around 1977 that Eno returned to art-rock with  Before And After Science . This is a remarkable album which should...

  Hizuru - Hizuru [MLV-007 JPN 2020 24-Bit FLAC] Japanese nine-piece Hizuru, released their debut album of ambient jazz blended into traditional gagaku music late last year. I thought as 2021 rolls out, this would make a fine Friday night post of ambient music for those who prefer things a little more gentile. My copy is the white vinyl edition which has a little surface noise in places, however it ripped well to deliver seven works of melodic ambience with fringes of jazz, composed & performed on the shamisen, the shakuhachi flute and a koto, as well as the more western, bass, drum, piano and sax.  A very enjoyable listen at the end of a stressful week A1 飛鶴 A2 牛若丸 A3 浮花 B1 銀朱 B2 空蝉 B3 花魁 B4 夕空晴れて

  Clock DVA - Breakdown (Remix) [POSPX 627 UK 1983 24-Bit FLAC] By 1983, during those Polydor years, Clock DVA had come a million miles from Thirst and even further from those experimental tape textures of those earliest recordings. Breakdown was their most commercial single, dark industrial pop-funk with a horn section hook and female backing vocals was not their usual style, however I believe it worked and suited the leather clad Newton growl very well.  They mucked about a bit with the original album version for this twelve inch remix, but all the elements are their for this huge stab at a hit. That hit was never to come unfortunately for this immense sounding single, so Adi lost interest and eventually disbanded this line-up by simply not turning up to the recording sessions for their third album at Strawberry Studios. We have been promised that Mute Records have done a deal to reissue much from Clock DVA's output between 1980 and 1983, however a release schedule is yet...

  Clock DVA - Resistance [POSPX 578 UK 1983 24-Bit FLAC] Resistance was the first of two singles lifted from Clock DVA's major label album, Advantage . Here is the twelve inch mix ripped from my original single in a choice of resolutions. After a deep clean with a dilution of Tergikleen brand surfactant, followed by a dip in an isopropyl/distilled water mix, I can hear so much more clarity & depth than on my previous rip back in February 2015. A1 Resistance B1 The Secret Life Of The Big Black Suit (Instrumental) The Suit Walks On (Size 12)