Needle Time

  400 Blows - Groove Jumping [ILL 48812 UK 1984 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Take a hard electro-beat-box rhythm, tie it down with a heavy funk slap bassline, then overlay samples and tape loops. That's pretty easy these days without even picking up a musical instrument or entering a studio. However, this was 1984 and Groove Jumping is one of the hardest & funkiest tracks to come out of the UK's alternative dance scene. Released only as a twelve inch single on Illuminated Records and only ever aired on John Peel's radio show, it never received the recognition deserved. It's a classic. A1 Groove Jumping B1 Strangeways (Revisited)

  400 Blows - Declaration Of Intent [ILL 3012 UK 1984 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] As early pioneers of the indie dance music scene, nobody came close to what Rob Taylor, Tony Thorpe, Alex Fraser and Andrew Edward Beer were doing in the studio in 1984 (except perhaps for those nice 23 Skidoo chaps). Throw in some over-dubs & effects by the Mad Professor and you get the hardest of indie-funk tracks in three mixes. In case there is any interest in other early 400 Blows singles, I have put up new links for my rips of Beat The Devil , Pressure and the very early EP by Concrete,  Ghoulish Practices . A1 Declaration Of Intent B1 Black And White Mix Up B2 Perspective 1

  400 Blows - The Return Of The Dog [ILL 2712 UK 1983 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] I started blogging my vinyl rips back in around early 2009, and one of my very first posts was a compilation of my rips of singles by 400 Blows. They were a two piece industrial experimental outfit from London, whose he first single Beat The Devil was self-released on their Concrete Productions label in 1982 and was very much a stripped down minimalist affair which owed much to Cabaret Voltaire and the Sheffield sound.  Bassist Tony Thorpe joined in 1983 when the band also signed to Illuminated Records. The more percussion and bass driven The Return of the Dog was a minor indie hit which clearly leans more into a dance sound, very similar to the early releases by Manchester's A Certain Ratio.  Ripped from ultrasonically cleaned, near mint heavyweight vinyl, this moody post-punk-funk workout jumps of the platter and bites you hard with gruff treated vocals, funky bass lines punch you firmly in t...

  400 Blows - Pressure [ILL 3412 UK 1984 24-Bit FLAC] On old favourite from those heady indie-dance days is this electro-dub-funk stomper from London's 400 Blows. I last ripped this back in February 2015 for ESWA - after an intensive deep clean, I was keen to hear how much better it would sound on a better set-up. A1 Radio Pressure A2 Dubbing Pressure B1 Club Pressure B2 Perspective 2

  400 Blows - Look [AMA 27 UK 1987 24-Bit FLAC] London experimental, industrial dance pioneers 400 Blows released three albums. here is a brand new rip of their second which positions the trio into more commercial territory where they almost had a huge hit with their cover of Brass Construction's Movin '. The track topped the airplay charts on London radio stations over the summer of 1985, however failed to generate the physical sales nationally they deserved - back in a time when physical product sales actually mattered. Look was released on the back of  Movin' which appears here as the six minute "club mix" version. The album was also a vehicle for the band's more commercial singles, though the main single from the album, Let The Music Play (another cover) flopped. The over-plundered and weak Breakdown and a poor, pointless note-for-note cover of Rockwell's Runaway  were also singles but never charted. Movin' aside, Riots Over London and the su...

  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...

400 Blows - Beat The Devil [CPROD 002 1982 24-Bit FLAC] A old ESWA blog favourite which really needed a decent re-rip. Here is my 2020 rip in 24-bits of the rare debut single by London industrial mixologists 400 Blows. The original line up of Beer, Taylor and Fraser run down their Summer 1982 playlist (a mix-tape of jazz-funk, reggae, rap and Throbbing Gristle) on the inner folds of the cover, and then feed us a fine mix of dubby electronic beats and samples. Fraser's treated " keep on fighting, keep on fighting " vocals are reminiscent of Stephen Mallinder on mid-period Cabs. It was only in later years with the addition of bassist Tony Thorpe did the Blows truly find the funk. A1  Beat The Devil B1  The Beat Continues

400 Blows - Play Like A Human [WRR12 012 UK 1991 24-Bit FLAC] Following on from 23 Skidoo, if you've been following my rips from the earliest days then you should have most of label mates 400 Blows back catelogue. Here is one that I only ever posted to ESWA 2.0 so it should be new to most. Messrs Beer, Thorpe & Taylor sample Charles Manson over a nineties-era techno breakbeat in three mixes before the vanished and became The Moody Boys. Let The Drummers Speak has more of an old school cut-up DJ groove. A1 Play Like A Human (Wah Wah Mix) A2 Play Like A Human (Club Mix) B1 Let The Drums Speak (Live Mix) B2 Play Like A Human (Ambient Mix)

Concrete - Ghoulish Practices [CON 001 UK 1981 24-Bit FLAC] Concrete were Andrew E. Beer, Robert Taylor and Ian Crowe, they self-released just one EP on their own Concrete Productions label in 1981 before Crowe left, and they then became indie-funk pioneers 400 Blows. Ghoulish Practices is a four track 7" EP of twisted, horn driven, post-punk funk intermingled with tape loops, percussion and inane lyrical prose.  A1 Farming Today A2 Mass 2 B1 Steven Judy B2 Uranium Plant