Needle Time

  Blancmange - Living On The Ceiling [BLANX 3 UK 1983 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Two classic Blancmange twelves pulled from the penguinflight boxes of donated vinyl. Starting wit their best known track Living On The Ceiling in its extended format, complete with all the tablas and sitars which made the track so unique at the time. Blancmange turned out some fine pop songs (with great sleeves) after turning their backs on their experimental roots. The superb b-sides, Running Thin and I Would are from a 1982 Peel Session recorded in February 1982 and are presented here as significant upgrade from my old C60 taped from the radio at the time. A1 Living On The Ceiling B1 I Would B2 Running Thin Blancmange - Don't Tell Me [BLAPX 7 UK 1984 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Those tablas and sitars are back from the incredibly infectious Don't Tell Me . The track is from their second album Mange Tout (rip coming in a few weeks) and came as this twelve inch with extra large label. A1 Don'...

  Blancmange - Happy Families [SH 8552 UK 1982 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Fueled by the Lancashire wit of front man Neil Arthur and eighties electronic arrangements from Stephen Luscombe, Blancmange were an important part of the British synthpop phenomena. Always seemingly playing second fiddle to bigger acts such as Depeche Mode, Yazoo and Soft Cell, their career was filled with hits, near misses and the occasional flop, however their first two albums remain essential synthpop artifacts. This forty year old album was an easy rip, it hasn't been played for almost 35 years and cleaned up really well with an ultrasonic cleaner after a short surfactant dip. Laden with synthpop earworms and huge hits like Living On The Ceiling , for me the over-dramatic Waves (despite the tacky synthetic waves intro) remains one of my favourite synthpop singles from the period.  A1 I Can't Explain A2 Feel Me A3 I've Seen The Word A4 Wasted A5 Living On The Ceiling B1 Waves B2 Kind ...

Blancmange - Irene & Mavis [7" SELF 1980 UK 24-Bit FLAC] Before they were famous, Blancmange were an experimental electronic duo, who in 1980 released this obscure (and rather rare) six (or is it seven) track 7" EP. Very confusingly, the instructions on the sleeve tell you that tracks 1, 4 and 5 are very interesting if played at 45rpm, whereas the remainder plays at 33rpm. I've decided that the 33rpm is the best speed. It should be worth mentioning that this is not Blancmange in synth-pop mode, but in more of an experimental noise mode with bonus crackle ....plenty of bonus self-released seven inch single crackle. Have a great weekend everybody! A1 Disco-A-Bomb-Bomb A2 Holiday Camp A3 Overspreading Art Genius B1 Concentration Baby B2 Just Another Spectre B3 Modichy In Aneration