Needle Time

  Lou Reed - Transformer [LSP-4807 DEU 2020 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Originally released on RCA Records in 1972. When I ripped my flimsy 1982 European pressing of Lou Reed's classic Transformer album in 2020, I expressed my concerns over what modern day mastering would do to recent reissues. Unknown to me then was that Speakers Corner Records were about to release a AAA pressing from the original master tapes on super flat virgin vinyl pressed at Pallas, reproducing all that was on the original tape. Here is that pressing. I've ready many comments elsewhere since about this release, and like the recent high quality jazz reissues, Speakers Corner have left the recording as is, and just ensured that they reproduce how the original recording sounded. Our modern day digitally tuned ears on lower end hardware could struggle with what they hear when compared to the cheap eighties mid-price pressings, however rip this record on some reasonably decent equipment and it becomes a whole ne...

  The Durutti Column - Lips That Would Kiss [FACBN 2-005 BEL 1980 24-Bit FLAC] The first single by The Durutti Column needed a re-rip & upgrade from my 2019 post on these very pages. Despite its age, this Belgian pressing ripped really well, I've resisted upping the volume to the brittle levels of recent remasters and maintained the aural experience of the original. Vini Reilly on guitars, Eric Random on beatbox & Martin Hannett on production present to you the gorgeous sounds of early Durutti Column. Written & recorded in the spring of 1980 at Cargo Studios in Rochdale, then mixed at Strawberry Studios in Stockport. Pressed in the low countries and released on Factory Benelux in 1980. A1   Lips That Would Kiss (Form Prayers To Broken Stone) B1   Madeleine

  Todd Russell & The Dangerous Coats - Playa Larga [BEWITH021 TWELVE UK 2023 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Something new (ish) & quite different. I first heard this in a London record store a few weeks back and after pausing my browsing to hear the complete track, parted with some cash. Only 500 copies of this twelve inch single have been pressed by Manchester's Be With Records. There is no person named Todd Russell, and certainly he does not have any dangerous coats - this track was recorded by Long Beach musician Scotty Coats back in 2008 and is a detailed construction of layers of guitar over a mix of drum machine and acoustic drums. Playa Larga is a blend of smokey seventies west-coast relaxed rock and nineties Mediterranean chilldown.  1900 Ocean Ave is more electronic, taking its cue from seventies German electronic music pioneers, pinned down by a simple beat wrapped in washes of atmospheric synthesizers. Enjoy. A1 Playa Larga B1 1900 Ocean Ave

  Soft Cell - Tainted Love [BZS 212 UK 1981 24-Bit FLAC] Totally random, almost mint condition 12" single ripped from the penguinflight archive..... This is the French pressing with the black injection SBL labels of a single which should need no introduction whatsoever. This is a brand new rip and a significant improvement on my earlier work. A1  Tainted Love / Where Did Our Love Go B1  Tainted Dub (Incorporating Where Did Our Love Go)

  Mark Stewart - As The Veneer Of Democracy Starts To Fade [STUMM 24 UK 1985 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Are you sitting comfortably? You won't be comfortable for long. it is time for an intense audio experience. Lovingly ripped from an original vinyl album in 24 bits of FLAC. Once more text is as adapted from the excellent In The Area website (with additions & amendments by Blogmeister): By the time 1985's second album,  As The Veneer Of Democracy Starts To Fade was released, Mark Stewart's Maffia had mutated out of dub reggae into dub electronica. Though Stewart had been aware of Doug Wimbish, Keith LeBlanc and Skip McDonald and their work as The Sugarhill Gang, it was Adrian Sherwood who first brought them to the UK and started working with them on a largely experimental but ground-breaking project called Fats Comet. Stewart heard them play at the Language Lab in the mid-eighties, It was this tape they'd done with like rockets going off and drums that sounded like st...

  Ultravox - Vienna  [CHS 12 2481 UK 1981 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] After recent issues with noisy, dirty & somewhat expensive electricity to my set-up, I've invested in a power conditioner in an attempt to overcome the associated issues. I upgraded the turntable a few years ago with the excellent but bulky Shooster BOTW power supply, however Pro-Ject Audio continue to ship their £600 phono amps with cheap & nasty 18v power supplies which do little to combat dirty home electricity. I last ripped this twelve inch pressing of the Ultravox classic Vienna back during August 2020, I thought it would be perfect to test out the benefits of cleaner power to my set-up. Oh my word, I shall just let the results speak for themselves..... A1 Vienna B1 Passionate Reply B2 Herr X

  Elvis Presley - From Elvis In Memphis [LSP-4155 DEU 2022 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Well it is a Tuesday........ I've been doing some digging amonst the Speaker Corner back catelogue of high quality reissue albums. Cut from the 'original' analogue master tape (likely a German master reel) and pressed at those careful chaps at Schallplattenfabrik Pallas GmbH on to nice & quiet vinyl. There was a Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab double 45rpm One Step 'Super Vinyl' set earlier this year, which included the extra track, Suspicious Minds , however all those who know about these things say this is their go-to pressing.  Elvis in warm, dynamic and punchy detail, with a thick but not dominating bass....let the greatest voice in rock & roll (with all that reverb) fill your ears & your speakers, live in your living room tonight. In The Ghetto still makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. A1 Wearin' That Loved On Look A2 Only The Strong Survive A3 I...

  Various Artists - One Pound Ninety-Nine [BBB 1 UK 1985 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Subtitled - A Musical Sampler Of   The State Of Things Beggars Banquest were in a position to offer up a more credible A&R catelogue of artists than many other major distributed labels in 1985. Technically still independent, the label was promoted & distributed as part of the vast Warners/WEA empire. Sub-label Situation Two Records were still wholly independent and used the Rough Trade network for their distribution. One Pound Ninety-Nine was their land-fill compilation album and did a better job than many others, and certainly was more worthy of the cheap cover price. The Icicle Works had their moments and built a reasonable following off the back of a couple a good albums, Peter Murphy roped in John McGeogh & Steve Young (from Colourbox) for his worthy Magazine cover, produced by Ivo Watts-Russell.  I've covered Welsh goth-rockers Gene Loves Jezebel over on Digitalia and strongl...

  Various Artists - Beat Runs Wild [WILD 1 UK 1986 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Beat Runs Wild was a £1.99 land-fill compilation from Mercury Records label of who they believed were there most credible upcoming artists back in 1986. For a few the rest was history, for the majority, the bargain bins awaited. Scottish soul-quiffs, Love And Money should have done better - their debut single was the excellent riff-heavy Candybar Express , but it took a gentle pop soul track Strange Kind Of Love to break the charts before they vanished. I struggle with the guy who sang Marquee Moon trying to do sophistipop - he just ends up sounding like Lloyd Cole, the classy electro soul of Swing Out Sister went huge for about a year before they became a cabaret act for the last few decades. Hipsway just couldn't buy a hit, but they were responsible for a few cracking singles. Zerra One were an Irish new wave band who wanted to sound like 1985 Simple Minds, so the less said about them the better. The Bra...

  Pharoah Sanders - Pharoah [LB 0090 / LB 5051 BOX  2023 USA 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Today is the first anniversary of Pharoah Sanders death at the age of 81. Rather fittingly, David Byrne's Luaka Bop Records have recently reissued Sander's impossible to find 1977 album Pharoah as a double album gatefold boxset, mastered by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering. This set evolves around the twenty-minute track, Harvest Time and the soulful R&B track  Love Will Find A Way . There are also two differing live interpretations of Harvest Time recorded in Belgium & Germany in 1978 which breathe a whole new life into the track. The boxed set also includes a large booklet of interviews, photographs & essays on Sanders, along with a whole bunch of related ephemera. Best known for his work with John Coltrane, Sun Ra, Alice Coltrane & Lonnie Liston Smith, Sanders was also to work with Jah Wobble & Bill Laswell in his later years, culminating in his 2020 albu...

  Defunkt - Defunkt [HNBL 1301 UK 1980 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Now it's time for a truly great sounding album, ripped here for my original UK pressing.  Joe Bowie's Defunkt were a remarkable act, taking funk & jazz to the New York new-wave masses and beyond. Here is their self-titled debut album - a stunning audio experience recorded with a ten piece big band line-up featuring the very talented Melvin Gibbs on bass, all fronted of course by the Bowie trombone. Frustrated by lack of recognition beyond the underground scene, Bowie broke the band up after their second album, however returned in the late eighties to tour and record until 2015. This album is where it all started and remains to this day an important album and a genuinely entertaining listen. A1 Make Them Dance A2 Strangling Me With Your Love A3 In The Good Times A4 Blues B1 Defunkt B2 Thermonuclear Sweat B3 Melvin's Tune B4 We All Dance Together

  X-O-DUS - English Black Boys [FBN 101 UK 2021 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] X-O-Dus, originally named Exodus, were a Manchester roots reggae band with members from Hulme and Moss Side. They initially formed in mid 1975 by Honey, Leddy, Trevor Bell, and shortly after, Dave Reid. They were joined in 1978 by Ricky Jones, Johnny Caton and Gayle Reid. They changed the name to avoid confusion with a London reggae band. Their aim was to give a new, young British sound to reggae. They recorded just one 12" on Factory Records, this FAC 11. A planned follow up single and LP failed to materialise.... ...In 2012, LTM guru James Nice reached out to former frontman Wesley Ricketts who found a tape of part of the album sessions. These were released as a compact disc that year, in 2021 the five key tracks for that album plus the band's only single for Factory were released as a vinyl album in a limited run of 500 pressings. This is a nicely packaged album, complete with full liner notes on the inn...

  Deception Bay - Fortune Days [IP034 USA 1991 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Bruce Licher's Independent Project Records are one of the most collectible American labels from the eighties and nineties. Very few of their releases ever found their way across to this side of the pond, here is one rather special release which did. Deception Bay were a post-punk/coldwave band from New York who ultimately moved to California and found a home on IPR. Fortune Days was a ten inch album comprising their earliest recordings in 1984 and 1985. Their stripped back, post-punk sound comprising solemn bass lines, thumping drums and guitar drone is very reminiscent of early Section 25. IPR's attention to detail with packaging is another attraction to this important imprint. This particular release comes wrapped in embossed carbon paper, sealed with a label detail, numbered letter-press die-cut inner cover & insert. It is literally impossible to access the vinyl without inflicting some sort of damage...

  Depeche Mode - A Broken Frame [STUMM 9 UK 1982 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Anybody here from Basildon? You may prefer to look away now - I'm sorry, I feel for you. Whilst you don't have to be from Basildon to be a Depeche Mode fan, it possibly helps. I know that the band have zillions of fans across the world, more especially these days in Europe and the USA, but likely only a few in Basildon. I've never been much of a fan of the band, only a few singles ever entered my collection and their first two albums are in  penguinflight 's collection so generously donated to ESWA back in 2016. From that collection, comes my rip of an original UK pressing of A Broken Frame - the first post-Vince Clarke album and a move away from the innocent blue-eyed Essex Boy synthpop of Speak & Spell into a darker world straight from the mind of Martin Gore. Alan Wilder had joined the live band at the time however was not invited to take part in the album sessions. What strikes me straight...

  The Anti-Group - The Delivery [ST 3006 DEU 1985 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] In late 1983, Clock DVA returned to the studio to record their second album for Polydor, however front man Adi Newton failed to turn up, so the band recorded part of the unreleased album without him. Newton's mind was elsewhere - he had other plans. He resurfaced a year later with a new project, The Anti-Group with a new line-up of Sheffield based musicians. The Delivery was the first release by The Anti-Group, recorded live at the Berlin Atonal Festival at the Ballhaus Tiergarten in Berlin on the 18th February 1985. With Mark Holmes on guitar, Barry Harden on bass, Oskar M on percussion & rhythms, David Heppenstall on keyboards, Darrel D'Silva n saxophone and the freshly re-titled Adolphus Newton (real name Gary Coates) on voice & everything else, the band performed a set of industrial free-jazz. Fellow appreciators of Sheffield experimental music will note that the electronics are kept to ...

  Bauhaus - Burning From The Inside [VIL-6061 JPN 1983 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] During my 2018 self-guided vinyl record store tour of Tokyo, I went in search of the illusive Japanese pressings of Bauhaus albums, the only one that I came home with was Burning From The Inside . Whilst not their best work (I'll explain my feelings further on), this is easily the best pressing of any album by the band. Cut and pressed by the anonymous salary men in white coats at the Victor Company of Japan, this rip unleashes many of the sonic improvements found with high quality Japanese vinyl compared to the British & European pressings, which for this album were made at Record Service in Alsdorf, Germany back in 1983.  The title of this album is very apt as this is a band on self-destruct, with Pete Murphy mostly AWOL recovering from one ailment, affliction, addiction or another, it was mostly up to Daniel Ash and David J to write & construct most of the record. However it is also ironic...

  T. Rex - Electric Warrior [MFSL 2-490 USA 2X45 2020 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Originally released on Fly Records in 1971 in the UK, and Reprise Records in the USA. Cut by Krieg Wunderlich from a quarter inch, 15 IPS analogue tape copy, plated and pressed onto two 45rpm platters at Record Technology Incorporated, here is Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs recent limited edition of T.Rex's second album Electric Warrior . There are a wide range of opinions on this release, firstly it wasn't an original master recording, but MoFi don't claim so - some say it is the best version available of this classic glam rock album, others prefer the Kevin Gray cut a few years previous, some say Wunderlich has been heavy-handed around the bottom end. I don't have an OG for comparison purposes, and it is very hard to find a nice clean original these days - plus remember they used to roll off the bass frequencies back in the day to accommodate cheap home hi-fi. I've played this rip back throug...

  Mark Stewart & The Maffia - Learning To Cope With Cowardice [ON-U LP24 UK 1983 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] I promised a new rip of this classic On-U Sound album back in April following Mark Stewart's sad passing. Back in 2012, this record was one of my first attempts at a 24/96 rip, now here it is in glorious 24/176.4kHz, ripped on much better hardware and cleaned up with much improved processes. I now feel that I've been able to do justice with one of the most important albums of its era. Performed by the former Pop Group frontman, backed by various members of the On-U Sound house band, including Eskimo Fox, George Oban and Sly Scott, Learning To Cope With Cowardice is a dub heavy poke at life in Britain in the early eighties. The album was preceded in 1982 by Stewart's unpatriotic interpretation of William Blake's Jerusalem . As with all On-U Sound releases, label head Adrian Sherwood deals with production duties, adding sampled cut-ups & overdubs, distortion an...

  Various Artists - Respond : Love The Reason [RRL 501 UK 1983 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Paul Weller started his Respond Records label whilst still leading The Jam, starting with singles by all-girl post-punk band Dolly Mixture. After he split The Jam, Weller piled a lot of his time (and cash) into the label, through a distribution deal with Polydor. Love The Reason was a low-price, cheaply pressed promotional tool for the label to accompany a UK tour by many of the featured artists. Scottish pop/soul band The Questions just couldn't find the answer and couldn't buy a hit no matter what promotional cash the label threw at them. Tracie! was the Essex girl-next-door who did find some pop stardom after first appearing with The Style Council. The charming horn driven indie-pop of A Craze deserved to find popularity, however they disappeared after just one single.  There is much internet speculation about who ND Moffat actually was, with some suggesting it was actually Weller himself,...

  23 Skidoo - Seven Songs [LTMLP 2528 UK 2LP 2012 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] It seems appropriate to follow yesterday's Stephen Mallinder post with this album. 23 Skidoo's 1982 reference work Seven Songs has been reissued a few times since the original Fetish Records release - I've decided to use the 2012 Les Temps Modernes double vinyl edition, mastered at SST Brüggemann GmbH and pressed at MPO. This release features the bonus LP featuring new cuts of the The Gospel Comes To New Guinea / Last Words 12" and the previously unreleased John Peel BBC Radio session from September 1981. I know that I have questioned the provenance of some LTM releases over the years, however this version of the main album does sound better than my 1982 UK original, the new cut of  The Gospel Comes To New Guinea also sounds better than my UK 12". On the contrary, I find the original pressing of Last Words sounds much better than this pressing and I continue to doubt the sources used for...

  Stephen Mallinder - Pow-Wow [FM2010 UK 1982 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Ripped from my original UK pressing on Fetish Records, here is the debut solo album from Cabaret Voltaire voice & bass, Stephen Mallinder. Based around five key compositions of warped dub-funk in the Cabaret Voltaire style dispersed with short industrial works recorded with Last Few Days, this album has seen a recent reissue, however to these ears the original still sounds the best. A1 The Devil In Me A2 0-58 A3 Pow-Wow A4 Three Piece Swing A5 1-20 B1 1-37 B2 In Smoke B3 1-59 B4 Length Of Time B5 1-34

  Dorothy Ashby - The Rubaiyat Of Dorothy Ashby [LPS-841 USA 2023 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Originally released on Cadet Records in 1970. I passed on the opportunity to buy the Vinyl Me Please pressing a while back knowing that it would eventually re-appear as part of the Verve By Request series. Both versions have been cut AAA by Ryan K. Smith at Sterling Sound. Once a holy (and very expensive) grail of an album, The Rubáiyát Of Dorothy Ashby represents a journey through spiritual jazz, late sixties exotica & lounge, soul and funk-jazz. There is quite possibly no other album in the jazz world quite like it. Ashby had previously worked with such luminaries as Jimmy Cobb, Louis Armstrong, Woody Herman, Art Taylor and Stan Getz. This album has challenged jazz purists since release back in 1970, those with a more open mind may find it less challenging. Enjoy. A1 Myself When Young A2 For Some We Loved A3 Wax And Wane A4 Drink A5 Wine B1 Dust B2 Joyful Grass And Grap...

  Dalis Car - The Waking Hour [DPRLP64 USA 2017 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] As a lad at school, I was told I had an artistic gift however I decided to mock the idea that I had a creative side as I chose instead to appreciate the creative works of others. I naively believed that I could spot the important difference between creative genius and pretentious wank. There is one creative genius on this record ...there is also quite a bit of pretentious wank. Back in 2017, I ripped the 1984 UK original pressing of this album for ESWA, it wasn't a great rip from a cheaply pressed album, so I traded that copy in for the new & limited Drastic Plastic Records pressing made at Pallas in Germany, mastered & cut by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio.  There can  be no doubting the creative fretless genius of the late Mick Karn and The Waking Hour is a fine tribute to his ability, especially when you consider he plays all the instruments. If anything, this is a record created to make you...

  A Certain Ratio - Life's A Scream [FAC 112 UK 1984 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] We haven't had any ACR in a while, so here is their 1984 come-back single, Life's A Scream . Having endured a few comings & goings since 1982, the band settled on a solid line-up of Jez Kerr on vocals and bass, Martin Moscrop on guitar, Andy Connell on keyboards and Donald Johnson on drums & percussion.  Quite different to what had come before, the single proved a more maturing sound which was to eventually result in their well received Force album. It also marked Kerr's debut on vocals, a position he has maintained ever since.  A1 Lifes A Scream B1 There's Only This

  Colourbox - The Official Colourbox World Cup Theme [BAD 605 UK 1986 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Colourbox were responsible for one of the most energetic & uplifting works of electronic music ever recorded.  The Official Colourbox World Cup Theme should have been used by the BBC for their coverage of España '86, they didn't and it remains unclear if the track was ever offered for World Cup 1986. If my memory serves me correctly both this and Baby I Love you So were released on the same day in a bizarre plot to diminish the finances of any poor student fan at the the time.  I don't think I have ever ripped this single from vinyl before, so brought to you with the magical help of Turgikleen surfactant and many rinses in the ultrasonic record cleaner is likely one of the best football themes ever recorded. You need this ...almost as much as Manchester United need the international break! A1 The Official Colourbox World Cup Theme B1 Philip Glass B2 The Official C...

  Dole - The Speed Of Hope [LP BIAS 27 BEL 1986 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] I've been working on rather a lot of re-rips recently, last posted in February 2019, there was much room for improvement with an album which has become a favourite over the years. Belgium's Dole had a little more longevity than many of the other bands to have featured here. Here is their excellent and only long player, produced by Adrian Borland of The Sound. If you didn't know, you would expect Dole to have been an English band because their sounds, their melodies and their sentiments are very British. In fact, if you could possibly imagine an album by a band somewhere in the realms of The Sound, The Chameleons & The Teardrop Explodes produced by Adrian Borland ...then that should be enough to interest the majority of you.  Almost faultless. Enjoy. A1   Slumberland A2   The Dream A3   Maybe Tomorrow A4   I Say B1   Rumroad B2   A Day B3  ...

  The Beatles - Abbey Road [MFSL 1-023 USA 1980 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Originally released on Apple Records in 1969. Cut at half-speed from allegedly an EQ'd American safety copy by Stan Ricker, the Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab Beatles reissues have proved to be somewhat controversial. I won't go into a lot of detail because this version of The Beatles eleventh studio album is wrapped in veil of forgetfulness and denial. After all, how can an American safety copy of the original master be deemed as an Original Master Recording. There was a very expensive MOFI boxed set a few years later which was 'allegedly' cut from the original UK masters. I was intrigued by the story (and its many versions) but what we do know is that this pressing was made in Japan onto super quiet JVC opaque vinyl. Stan Ricker's MOFI remaster is not just EQ'd, I understand he also applied some compression.The playback when I ripped this album a few days ago was incredibly quiet, so after apply...

  Cocteau Twins - Tiny Dynamine [BAD 510 UK 1985 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] I last posted this EP back in February 2021, using the rip made for ESWA in November 2016. This needed a new rip, and oh boy....it sounds fantastic. 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

  Dead Can Dance - Garden Of The Arcane Delights [BAD 408 UK 1984 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] There have been quite a few tears on social media media recently when it slipped out that Dead Can Dance were no more (again), so for all those who don't feel damaged by the fact that Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry will never perform together again, it is time to re-appreciate one of their finest early works, and let them enjoy their musical retirement in peace. An old price sticker which I removed from the sleeve and placed on the inner bag carbon dates my purchase to late summer 1984 at my old vinyl haunt, Record Corner in leafy Surrey. This really is an old gem from my college days which I likely heard for the first time on Peel. This is their only single (more an EP) which snuck out shortly after the debut album and bridges the gap, like the missing link between Joy Division & The Cocteau Twins, from the old to the new, more wordly Dead Can Dance. There is no doubt that both Perry and G...

  Colourbox - Breakdown (Second Version) [BAD 304 UK 1983 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] I know that I need to re-rip all those Colourbox twelves at some point, but for now this is the first of three new rips which were among the most requested by blog donators in recent weeks. I thought all three deserved a new rip with my improved set-up. The original version of Breakdown , released in November 1982 was a subdued dubby meander around new-wave synthpop with original vocalist Debbian Currie. Jump forward just a few months and get everybody back in the studio, without Currie but instead with the sweet soul voice of Lorita Grahame and you get a completely new song. This eight minutes of catchy electro-disco-pop was unlike anything else on 4AD ...and that only serves to make it that bit more special. From those days long ago of fantastic b-sides, we get the majestic Tarantula in its finest form. Reworked well a few years later by This Mortal Coil and then recently 'plagiarised' by Beck, ...

  Clan Of Xymox - Clan Of Xymox [CAD 503 UK 1985 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] I last ripped & posted this album back in 2021, however I felt I had ripped it too loud and didn't really do the record justice. Here is a brand new 176.4kHz rip which really allows the listener t crank up as loud as they like. If alternative/indie music was your thing during the luminescent 4AD period then you would likely know this album. Dutch bands weren't the flavour of the moment between 1983 & 1985, John Peel helped greatly with a session for Clan Of Xymox.  Then Ivo did his very best with this young band from Nijmegen, he helped them update their sound & gave them a deal then co-produced their first proper album for the label, with assistance from John Fryer. Taking the basics of gloomy gothica & distorted guitars with the addition of electronics and pounding beats gave us the mighty A Day / Stranger double A-side single. The inclusion of simple hooks & lush synth-strings took t...