Needle Time

  Cabaret Voltaire - Eddies Out [RT 096 UK 1981 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Another new rip of an old favourite... The listener is going to be challenged by the Sheffield trio's complex intertwining of electronic knob twiddly soundscapes, treated guitars, distorted vocals and operatic samples on the full ten minutes plus of Eddies Out . The hit parade was not to beckon for our industrious heroes, however I will suggest that the more upbeat Walls Of Jericho evidences some of the earliest forms of electro-squelching so popular in later years in acid house.  A1   Eddie's Out B1   Walls Of Jericho

  In The Nursery - Sonority [BAD VC55 UK 1985 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Vinyl On Demand are working on a boxed set of In The Nursery recordings with what could well be an essential purchase. In the meantime, here is a brand new rip of one of their earliest works. The Sonority tracks were choral, symphonic and dramatic ....at times, gothic. Not everybody's cup of tea I am sure. Released on Death In June's New European Recordings, In The Nursery were in danger of obtaining a neo-folk tag and the consequential allegations of extreme-right-wing fixations, but thankfully they quickly moved on, however this release was symbolic as it marked the move from their very early post-punk industrial compositions into their cinematic stage. Enjoy ...if you dare. A1 Deus Ex Machina B1 Lost Prayer B2 And Your Eyes

  The The - Perfect [A13-3119 UK 1983 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] In times when you feel that you are outside looking in on what are difficult times in our history, a little irony goes a long way, and there is no better in the field that the early works of Matt Johnson. Here is a brand new rip of the original UK twelve inch version of Perfect , which is very different to the recording on the bonus single with Soul Mining . Back in 1983, we possibly thought that Perfect was an ironic look at the world back then, however these days it should be considered as a look into Johnson's head space, maybe this is really a song about where his mental health was, in an ironic sort of way. Just perfect, well okay ...not in a perfect place. A1   Perfect B1   The Nature Of Virtue (Version 2)

  Bruce Springsteen - Nebraska [VMP-E118 USA 2022 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Older readers may remember that up to and including this album, the New Musical Express worshiped everything Bruce Springsteen recorded and released. That was soon to end with his blue collar-rock album  Born In The USA , but to many Nebraska remains a classic. Remarkably, I once owned this album on an original cassette tape, but that's another story. Nebraska was the album which placed Springsteen up there with Bob Dylan & Neil Young as one of the great North American songwriters. Recorded as just demos on a home four-track, Bruce decided to release the tracks as was, without any backing band, although rumours have persisted since that full band recordings do exist. This album was recently reissued as part of the Vinyl Me Please Essential series. Cut from a digital transfer of the master tape by Barry Grint at Alchemy, pressed onto noisy black/grey smoked vinyl at GZ, and wrapped in a very high qual...

  Herbie Hancock - The Prisoner [BST 84321 USA 2020 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Originally released in 1969 on Blue Note Records in the USA & Japan. Herbie Hancock's final album for Blue Note Records was a dedication to the late Martin Luther King, described by the pianist as a social statement written in music without words. Recorded over three days in April 1969 at Rudy Van Gelder's studio in Hackensack, NJ with Joe Henderson on sax, Hubert Laws on flute, Tootie Heath on drums, Garnett Brown on trombone, Jerome Richardson on bass clarinet, Johhny Coles on flugelhorn and Buster Williams on bass. This edition was part of the 2020 batch of the Blue Note Tone Poet Series, cut by Kevin Grey from the original master tapes.  A1 I Have A Dream A2 The Prisoner B1 Firewater B2 He Who Lives In Fear B3 Promise Of The Sun

  Sauveur Mallia - Spatial & Co Vol. 2 [BEWITH 122 LP UK 2023 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Originally released on Tele Music Records in France in 1979, and never re-released until this year, here is the second edition (of two) of cosmic-funk by French librarian and bass supremo Sauveur Mallia.  A little more disco than Volume One , this well mastered pressing by Record Industry sounds amazing, full of squelchy synths, space electronics, disco beats, and layers of percussion - all held together by Mallia's masterful & funky bass guitar. You would have to pay well over 100 quid for an original (and likely well worn) 1979 copy of this record, thank you once more to Be With Records for sourcing the tapes for these immaculate reissues. A1 Discomax A2 Space People A3 Bass Power B1 Holidays Morning B2 Electric Maneges B3 Loving Discovery B4 Exotic Guide

  Trouble Funk - Drop The Bomb [SHL 140 UK 1985 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Go-Go from Washington DC went almost as soon as it had arrived in the UK, maybe that's because white boy disco in mid-eighties middle England was late on the scene, and before we knew it house music from Chicago IL had taken over. In truth the original US scene developed alongside rap and the earliest singles were released in 1980. By 1988, Go-Go had all but gone from the British music scene, though its pleasing to know that it still survives today in the US. I was lucky enough to see Trouble Funk live (Sheffield Leadmill from memory) and they were immense, such a pity they fractured and tried to diversify into the R&B mainstream as part of an Island Records deal, oh and then of course, there was that tepid movie, Good To Go -  which was best avoided. I did once own literally their entire back catelogue on vinyl (including all those early import singles), however these days only this classic single com...

  Grandmaster Flash & Melle Mel - White Lines (Don't Don't Do It) (U.S. Street Mix) [SHL 130 UK 1984 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] The so-called 'US Street Mix' isn't the best known version of this classic hip-hop 'say no to drugs' single, to these ears it is a little more subdued, which possibly helps get the message across. The more punchier original is on the flip-side so this makes for a worthy rip - it sounds pretty damn good all the same. With a borrowed bassline from Liquid Liquid's now immortal Cavern single, White Lines was, and still is one of the most important hip-hop recordings of all time, presented here in 176.4kHz of FLAC. A1 White Lines (Don't Don't Do It) (U.S. Street Mix) B1   White Lines (Don’t Don’t Do It) (Instrumental) B2   White Lines (Don't Don't Do It)

  New Order - Bizarre Love Triangle [FAC 163 UK 1986 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] The Mancunian four-piece seemed to initially struggle for ideas in the post- Low Life years with a couple of weak singles, including a badly conceived remix of Subculture . However,as a live band, I would suggest they were at their very best. Bizarre Love Triangle was a return to form in November 1986, remixed and extended from the version on the Brotherhood album by Shep Pettibone and The Latin Rascals, this single is an uplifting twelve inch slab of Mancunian synthpop which remains a live favourite all these decades later. Remarkably it never sold well and only peaked at number 56 in the UK charts.  Here is a brand new presentation (I think I last ripped the single in February 2015), lovingly extracted from my original UK vinyl pressing. A1 Bizarre Love Triangle B1 Bizarre Dub Triangle

  The Durutti Column - Treatise On The Steppenwolf [FBN 63 UK RSD2023 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Treatise On The Steppenwolf was a performance piece adapted by Gerard McInulty - better known as Caesar from former Factory Records band The Wake, from Hermann Hesse's original book. The event was staged over three nights by The 12 Stars Theatre Company at The Tramway in Glasgow in 2003 and also featured The Wake's Carolyn Allen in the lead role (That's her on the cover). Vini Reilly's The Durutti Column provided a live soundtrack each evening, this double album features studio versions of those tracks, with the bonus of Human Avatars - three compositions for a 2005 art installation in Manchester of the same name. If performance art isn't your thing, fear not, this limited 1000 pressing for RSD2023 is all about the music, and it is some of Reilly's very best. In fact, these fifteen tracks shimmer beautifully in that unique Reilly-style and are filled with gorgeous famil...

  Jesus Couldn't Drum - Er, ...Something About Cows [LMLP 004 UK 1986 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Before I disappear for a week, I thought I would unleash a brand new rip of this old ESWA favourite upon an unsuspecting wider audience. Last ripped in 2014 with vastly insufficient equipment and available for just two weeks back then, it's now time to journey back to the bizarre & zany world of Jesus Couldn't Drum in considerably higher quality. Most of you will have have never heard of them, but I'd guess those who have will be rather chuffed to see them here. Any band with a 'song' titled Tedium Of Lettuce must be worth a listen! The best place to start is the flexi-disc (which is how I discovered them). These were given away by indie music retailers in 1985 with a magazine as a promotional tool for this album, though none of the tracks on the flexi feature on the LP. I picked it up in orange and also have a black copy with my album. The two catchy synthpop ditti...

  Sauveur Mallia - Spatial & Co [BEWITH 121 LP UK 2023 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Originally released in 1979 on the Tele Music label in France, and now a highly sought after and somewhat expensive record. British boutique label, Be With Records have pulled yet another gem out of obscurity with the first of two reissues by French multi-instrumentalist Sauveur Mallia. I will post the second album when I return from vacation, so here to whet your appetite is the first. Mixing seventies electronica and French cosmic funk, this album of what is essentially library music for TV and films is a sophisticated synth-drizzled funky-break work of art. Laden with killer basslines and funky grooves, Mallia proves himself to be the thinking man/woman's Jean-Michel Jarre, although he rarely found an audience outside the French market, more especially when he was a member of French disco-funk outfit Voyage. A1 Future Vision A2 Cosmic News A3 Baby Bass A4 Star Odyssey A5 Meteor One A6 B...

  The The - Uncertain Smile [EPC A13-2787 UK 1982 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] To compliment last week's Soul Mining post, I thought now would be a good time to get some of the associated singles re-ripped, these versions are very different to the eventual album tracks having been  recorded with other musicians a year earlier, and the rawer/experimental edge to these singles reveals more about Matt Johnson's transition from Burning Blue Soul to Soul Mining . This stripped back version of Uncertain Smile kicks off with some treated vibes (& some deliberate wow & flutter) before that unforgettably familiar melody kicks in. I've always felt that lyrically this song is Johnson's finest -  the track actually began forming as a part of The The's second single, Cold Spell Ahead in 1981. This version runs very close to ten minutes in length. The The purists will be all over the two flipside tracks as well. A1 Uncertain Smile B1 Three Orange Kisses From Kazan B2 W...

  Prefab Sprout - Swoon [KWLP 1 UK 1984 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Last ripped in 2014 and featured on ESWA for just two weeks, I thought now would be a good time to revisit this album, there have also been one or two re-rip requests, so this is for all those who requested a re-rip. I bought Swoon on the back of a couple of the early singles in 1983 & 1984 and have loved it ever since. Prefab Sprout's debut LP has been much overlooked since the fame which followed the hit album's Steve McQueen and From Langley Park To Memphis , but I still believe it's their finest work.  Swoon is a charming collection of clever semi-acoustic pop songs underpinned by two McAloon classics Cruel and Couldn't Bear To Be Special , the opening single Don't Sing is pretty fine as well and sets the scene well for the Sprouts' early incarnation of twee indie-pop.  This is a very well recorded & produced album by Paddy McAloon & David Brewis, this is an original UK pressing o...

  Baker-Pepper Sextet - Picture Of Heath [PJ-18 USA 2022 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Originally released in 1958 on World Pacific Records as Chet Baker & Art Pepper's Playboys long player with a sleeve mimicking a certain magazine cover. Hugh Heffner objected to this and the album was re-released as Picture Of Heath in 1961 - five of the seven tracks were written by big band leader Jimmy Heath. This Blue Note Tone Poet reissue was cut from the original session tape by Kevin Grey and pressed at RTI. I may have mentioned before about how old recordings were mastered considerately for vinyl in the day making allowances for the low specification turntable of the fifties and sixties.  The new mastering brings out the full range of frequencies without any reduction around the low end.  What you now hear is how the tape sounds today and it has been cut rather hot - although in mono, there is a remarkable depth to the music, the double bass hits the speakers firmly and the ...

  Funkadelic - One Nation Under A Groove [CHLP3209C 2LP UK 2023 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Originally released on Warner Brothers Records in 1978. I'm guessing many of you will be all over this! Charly Records have held the license for most of the Funkadelic albums since the nineties and this most recent release is a double 33rpm edition, newly remastered from tape to digital by Peter Reynolds and then cut by Barry Grint at Air Mastering. The tracks originally on a bonus seven-inch single are now on a 33rpm second album, backed with the rarer disco mix of  One Nation Under A Groove . I've owned many copies of this record over the years and this is easily the best sounding. Barry Grint is quickly gaining a great reputation these days as one of the best vinyl lacquer cutters - it is somewhat pleasing to see a British engineer proving that it is not just about Bernie Grundman, Ryan Smith & Kevin Grey, when it comes to quality vinyl product.  This release is lushly packaged i...

  Grand Master Flash & The Furious Five - The Message [SHL 117 UK 1982 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Continuing my occasional series of rap classics ripped to high resolution from original pressings. This single should need no introduction to anybody, they call it 'conscious hip-hop' these days, we just called it ground-breaking back then. A1 The Message B1 The Message (Instrumental)

  Marcel King - Reach For Love [FBN 47 UK RSD2023 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Sucked in by Record Store Day once more, I handed over my hard earned dosh for a couple of limited releases, of which this compilation was one. My vinyl copy of The Durutti Column's  Treatise On The Steppenwolf + Human Avatars  would have featured earlier this week but for a frustrating pressing (or possibly mastering) flaw on side three. Except for that flaw, the Durutti release is one of the best sounding Factory Benelux releases for many a year ....I'll keep you posted soon if I can find a fix to the problem. Marcel King was one of the voices behind Sweet Sensation's mega-selling Sad Sweet Dreamer single in 1974 who found himself on Factory Records to release the splendid Reach For Love single in 1984.  Reach For Love  was one of those dance records which will last in the mind forever. It was never a hit (it should have been huge) but that simple TB-303 bass hook concocted by Bernard S...

  The The - Soul Mining [LP+12" LTD EPC 25525/XPR 1250 UK 1983 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Matthew Johnson spills all his fears, anger and occasional hopes over two faces of polyvinyl chloride (plus a bonus 12 inches of course). In October this year, Soul Mining will be forty years old, here is a brand new rip at 176.4kHz. I don't think that I will ever get this much loved album sounding any better. Soul Mining by The The was, in my opinion, one of the finest pop albums of the early-mid 80's. Matt Johnson was very much a solo artist and occasionally played live in pubs and small clubs with just backing tapes. His debut LP, Burning Blue Soul on 4AD was very experimental and had a very limited audience at the time. He then sat down to write proper pop songs and roped in other musicians to add their elements to the The The sound. Johnson was still effectively (just) a solo artist at the time of Soul Mining and my vague recollection of the history of its inception involves aband...

  Miles Davis - Jack Johnson (Original Soundtrack Recording) [MFSL 1-440 USA 2015 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Originally released on Columbia Records in 1971, ripped here from a Mobile Fidelity 'Original Master Recording' pressed from a DSD64 transfer of the original analogue master tape and cut using an analogue console to the lathe. Firstly I know it is only a Wednesday, but this isn't strictly a jazz album, plus of course it gives me the opportunity to post something else in the usual Sunday jazz slot.  Written for the soundtrack to a documentary about the life of boxer Jack Johnson, this album was recorded in 1970 with John McLaughlin on guitar, Herbie Hancock on keyboards, Michael Henderson on bass guitar, Steve Grossman on sax and Billy Cobham on drums.  This is very much a rock album, recorded by jazz musicians. Both tracks run over twenty-five minutes; the boogie-groove of Right Off is easily the standout composition, just wait until you hear that guitar, in...

  Age Of Chance - The Twilight World Of Sonic Disco [BIBLE 001 UK 1986 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Do you feel damaged by yesterday's mainstream post? Well then, this is just for you. File that John Mayer post away and stare longingly back to a time before girlfriends/wives/husbands/partners influenced your listening choices ...and then play this loudly. The sonically challenged Age Of Chance came from a post-Gang Of Four/Mekons Yorkshire and long before The Arctic Monkeys were a twinkle in their fathers' eyes. They defined the Yorkshire indie sound of the mid-eighties and released two very raucous singles on their own Riot Bible label before signing to Sheffield's Fon Records and ultimately Virgin. Who could forget their parody of Prince's Kiss in a multitude of formats. Age Of Chance tried to convince themselves that they had reinvented dance music, history tells us otherwise! Here is a full compendium of those two indie singles on one twelve inch EP. A1 Motorcity A2 ...

  John Mayer - Continuum [VMP-E091 USA 2022 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] It has been a while since we have had a 'Mainstream Tuesday' post, to some John Mayer's third long player Continuum is pure mainstream, however I sit firmly in the camp which believes this double album of bluesy soulful AOR is an essential listen, hence this rip of my copy from the Vinyl Me Please Essentials series. The original multi-platinum selling album was released on Columbia Records in 2006 on digital formats, with only a limited quantity on vinyl for the US market only.Original US vinyl copies go for silly money these days and the first European vinyl release was a Music On Vinyl pressing from 2010. In 2020, Vinyl Me Please licensed the album and handed the compressed digital masters to Ryan K. Smith at Sterling Sound for a new vinyl release and as one of the top five mastering engineers on the planet, Smith turned those files into a fine representation of Mayer's album for analogue listening, w...

  Kirsten Edkins - Shapes & Sound [CR-AV-2201 USA 2023 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Some of you may have heard of this record, the more serious jazz lovers may already desire/own a copy. It was very difficult to find on my side of the planet and it took a while to track down a copy at a regular price. Kirsten Edkins is a young composer and saxophonist out of Los Angeles, California. Shapes & Sound is her second album and the first release on mastering engineer Kevin Gray's record label Cohearant Records. Gray recorded the album with Edkins and her band at his home studio, 'Hackensack West' in Los Angeles (in tribute to the great Rudy Van Gelder's home studio in Hackensack, NJ) using an all-analogue all-valve (vacuum tube) recording system - all the way from the cloned vintage microphones through to the final cutting head. Gray's intention was to capture that 'in the room' sound for which Van Gelder was famous for on his original recordings for Blue Note ...

  David Axelrod - Heavy Axe [CR00521 USA 2023 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Recently reissued as part of Craft Recording Jazz Dispensary Top Shelf Series, band leader David Axelrod's funky fusion classic Heavy Axe was originally released on Fantasy Records in 1974. This release is cut from the original master tapes by Kevin Gray and pressed at RTI. Mixed & produced by Cannonball Adderley and featuring George Duke on keyboards, this album has been heavily sampled by hip-hop artists over the decades which has driven up prices on the secondary market. Featuring funky covers of diverse artists such as Carly Simon & Stevie Wonder, the modern day discerning listener will find much to enjoy among these grooves, especially the seventies porn-funk of  Mucho Chupar and the moog-funk of  Everything Counts. A1 Get Up Off Your Knees A2 Cast Your Fate To The Wind A3 You're So Vain A4 My Family B1 Mucho Chupar B2 Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing B3 It Ain't For You B...

  John Lee Hooker - Burnin' [CR00544 EU 2023 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] In my middle-aged desire to find the best sounding versions of classic album reissues, the name & reputation of the mastering engineer has become a key indicator of how a record might sound when compared to another pressing. Kevin Gray's name is proudly displayed on the hype sticker on this beautifully packaged 2023 release of John Lee Hooker's Burnin' .  Gray has been responsible for many of the great sounding re-releases of the past few years.  Record companies know that informed buyers will seek out releases cut by Gray, the only issue is that the European version wasn't cut by Kevin Gray. Craft/Concord used a different cut (possibly using Gray's studio & equipment) by Matthew Lutthans. This may be an insignificant detail to most, but I think that it is important that record labels do get their marketing information correct. Usually Craft Recordings use RTI or QRP for their high quali...

  Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five - The Adventures Of Grandmaster Flash On The Wheels Of Steel  [SHL 557 UK 1981 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] My last rip of this classic old school hip-hop single was back in 2009, I say a new rip is well due! A1 The Adventures Of Grandmaster Flash On The Wheels Of Steel B1 The Birthday Party (Instrumental)

  Mighty Ballistics High Power - Here Come The Blues [CRI MLP 131 UK 1986 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] This is a brand new rip of this mighty fine mini album by the patron saints of dub-punk, Mighty Ballistics Hi-Power. This is a record which would likely have passed most by unless you listened to the late night BBC Radio shows hosted by John Peel & Andy Kershaw. It isn't a particularly well recorded or pressed album, but that doesn't matter on this occasion. The dub-punk influence of The Clash will be very evident, but this is hard hitting stuff, mixing agit-pop, old English protest folk, heavy dub reggae and punk, wrapped up in a great Simon Templar-style sleeve. MBHP were not around for long with just one album and one single in 1986 (plus an Andy Kershaw radio session), however they used that tiny window of opportunity to clearly make their point. A1 Here Come The Blues A2 4 Million On The Dole A3 No Justice For The Poor B1 Privilege B2 Francos Fleet Street B3 New...

  Soft Cell - Non-Stop Ecstatic Dancing [1-23694 USA 1982 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Soft Cell reworked parts of their debut album for the dance floor, adding a new track What! for this mini album in the summer of 1982. Originally recorded with Donald Fagen, a contractual dispute meant that Mike Thorne oversaw final production duties. Much more uptempo that the original album recordings, this version is the US release which included  Insecure...Me? , which replaced  Chips On My Shoulder on the UK version.  A1 Memorabilia A2 Where Did Our Love Go A3 What! B1 A Man Could Get Lost B2 Insecure...Me? B3 Sex Dwarf

  Santana - Santana III [MOFI 1-039 USA 2013 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Originally released on Columbia Records in 1971. Santana's classic second album Abraxas must have been a very difficult album to follow, but I think Santana III hits the mark. More psychedelic, more funky (& horny) and a little bit more latin than it's predecessor, this record often gets overlooked on the spiritual journey towards  Caravanserai. This Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab pressing was released as part of their Silver Label Series about ten years ago and easily tears a strip off my crackly old original UK pressing. I don't think that MoFi have fessed up about their sourcing for this release, however the analogue sources for the Silver Label Series seem to be from second generation safety reels. A1 Batuka A2 No One To Depend On A3 Taboo A4 Toussaint L'Overture B1 Everybody's Everything B2 Guajira B3 Jungle Strut B4 Everything's Coming Our Way B5 Para Los Rumberos