Needle Time

Sudden Sway - Singsong [NEG18T UK 1986 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] I last ripped the twelve inch version of Sudden Sway's wonderful  Singsong single back in January 2014 and it was only available online for two weeks. This week I decided to dig out the vinyl, give it a few spins in the HumminGuru and create a whole new high resolution rip. After a short career of indie singles, Peterborough's experimental indie-pop band Sudden Sway found themselves with deal on Geoff Travis's Blanco Y Negro label and a sizable marketing budget funded by Warners and boy did they milk it. Of course the relationship was a brief one and a few years later they were independent once more with Rough Trade Records. Singsong was their moment - although I'm confident it was only a few die-hards fans who bought into the concept of 8 separate versions of a single, plus this 12" edition. The 12" A-side is an extended version of the eighth version (my favourite), and should now be regarded as a...

  Sudden Sway - Spacemate [BYN 8B UK 1986 FLAC] I have been promising a new rip of Spacemate for a number of years. This obscure double album by Peterborough's Sudden Sway had featured on my ESWA blog in a number of guises over the last ten years, or so. Never in this quality, so here you are. I must at first offer my sincere thanks to blog follower, penguinflight who carefully packaged up this copy of Spacemate complete and shipped it over, so that it could be ripped and shared to all in a high resolution lossless format. Cheers fella! The most striking aspect of this double vinyl boxed set is Jon Wozencroft's (of Touch cassettes fame) amazingly complex artwork and accompanying graphics. Inside what is basically a cereal box of delights are two vinyl records plus collection of instruction pamphlets, booklets, stickers and wall charts. All that's missing is a tacky badge. Scans of all the contents are included in the archive for your perusal and confusion. To the music:...

  Sudden Sway - Fine Pro (Past Present Future) [SAM 284 UK 1986 24-Bit FLAC] Okay, so who hasn't grabbed my rips of all eight versions of Sudden Sway's Sing Song single. This 12" white label was distributed as a marketing tool for those singles and is most certainly designed to confuse, however seems self-explanatory if you listen all the way through the eight versions and all twenty minutes of this release. If you are totally confused by now, my very next post will take your confusion to the next level..... A1 Media B1 Retail

Sudden Sway - To You, With ReGard [ ESJP 9692 UK 1981 24-Bit FLAC] To You With Regard is a chirpy and fun four track 12" released back in 1981 when the band were total unknowns. Like many, I have always failed to describe Sudden Sway's music, their unusual and eccentric take on what is essentially indie-pop is refreshing and interesting - I always feel as if I want to hear more. I'm sure they had a whole box full of unreleased stuff, I just wish somebody would track them down and get Sudden Sway product available again. A new rip of Spacemate may follow....soon! This is a new 2020 rip just in case anybody needed to ask ...and I think it sounds great! A1 Alleluia! The Psychic Sons A2 Pretty People Again B1 Dance Of Joy B2 Tales Of Talking Town

Sudden Sway - The Traffic Tax Scheme [SRTS 82 UK 1982 24-Bit FLAC] I have been busy preparing many new rips during my down time, but first of all I wanted to post a new 2020 re-rip of this unusual and relatively rare single. Sudden Sway's third release comes in a wide card envelope sleeve (a right bugger to keep in good nick) containing the seven inch record with a pamphlet and a chart which allegedly is linked to a computer program for the ZX Spectrum computer cut into the grooves representing the final track. To say this is odd would be an understatement, but that is what Sudden Sway do so well, they totally baffle the listener with sheer, brilliant gobbledy-gook. The songs themselves are equally as baffling. Starting with the song titles, they could be HumSing and HumHear on first examination, however I've played safe and agreed with the titles stated on Discogs. The lyrics indicate a fascination with culture, consumerism and mass marketing. The Traffic Tax Sch...

A Sudden Sway - Jane's Third Party [CHANT 1A UK 1980 24-Bit FLAC] I began ripping vinyl back in January 2009 and a compendium of the entire recorded works of Sudden Sway was one of my very first posts as a blogger. Back then I was learning my way and only ripping to mp3 on what was a substandard deck, over the years I have worked hard to hone my skills and am pleased to say that I am now quite competent in the art, choosing that 24-bit/48kHz FLAC was the way to go.  A few of my original works have to be revisited (this is the first of a few I have for you) and Jane's Third Party proved to be one of my biggest challenges. This self released debut by A Sudden Sway is not a great pressing, add to that the glue which joined the two halves of the sleeve also bonded itself to the run ins of the vinyl, becoming audibly evident on both tracks. After a great deal of work and investment, I am confident enough to share this new 24-bit rip with you. Most of the original crack...

Sudden Sway - Sing Song [NEG 18 V1-8 UK 1985 24-Bit FLAC] Back in 1986, this art-pop duo signed to Geoff Travis managed Warners imprint Blanco Y Negro for their first major release. Having previously teased us with hard to find independent releases and a couple of Peel sessions, Sudden Sway decided to completely confuse the world by releasing 8 different versions, recordings and interpretations of the same song. Each version came in what appeared to be the same sleeve, and each was only discernable from subtle catelogue number differences ie. NEG18V1 - NEG18V8. The A side of each 7" was colour coded to indicate each version and the buyer had to revert to the colour chart on the sleeve to decypher it! This was no major label marketing ploy as Blanco Y Negro ensured that the singles were not evenly distributed and quite difficult to track down. Some of us were stupid enough to collect all eight! The b-side was the same on each, the truly bizarre and funny, Creative M...