Needle Time

  Various Artists ‎- Merry Christmas [TWI 450 BEL 1984 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] I really wanted to create a new rip of this rare & obscure compilation album last posted at Christmas 2018, so no time like the present. If you know your Crépuscule compilations. you'll know that most have re-released in a variety of differing guises with different tracks in differing sleeves for different territories. One that has never reappeared is Merry Christmas . This mini album, in a classic Belgian bande dessinée sleeve, has never surfaced again since it's limited run out in Belgium in 1984.  Whilst many of you alternatively obscure chaps will be attracted to the very rare Current 93 track, for me it's all about the full version of Soft Verdict's gorgeously choral delight  The Fosse which runs at nearly eight minutes. The track is wonderfully simple & atmospheric, and whilst the obligatory sleigh bells are missing, I can think of nothing more charming to welcome in this dark ...

  Various Artists - A Different Kind Of Tension [PRLP 1 UK 1986 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] From the C86 world, and released around the same time as, or maybe just before, the iconic NME cassette tape comes the much more audio-dynamic A Different Kind Of Tension compilation - released on the one-off  Pressure Of The Real World Records. Many of these bands went onto bigger things as the decade developed, some with a substantial change in direction, however this compilation reminds us that The Mighty Lemon Drops once sounded a lot like The Doors and The Soup Dragons were once the bastard sons of The Buzzcocks. This album also shames us all for ignoring Blackpool's Vee VV back then, plus it reminds us just how good the original line-up of The Beloved were, and then of course there is also the mighty Stump!  We should all know the June Brides & Wedding Present tracks as these were both among their very best singles. Re-Enjoy! A1 The Mighty Lemon Drops - Like An Angel A2 T...

  Various Artists - If You Can't Please Yourself You Can't, Please Your Soul [TAPE 1 UK 1985 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Here is today's second iconic label compilation, if time allows I promise something very (very) different tomorrow. A somewhat bizarre mix of those who seek to entertain and others doing their very best to appall. For the uninitiated this is not a soul compilation album, however I would hope that the cover will give that away. It is mid-eighties Some Bizzare at its best with 10 mostly exclusive tracks from the label's randomly bizarre repertoire. The Test Department, Neubauten,  Cabaret Voltaire and The The tracks are worth the purchase price on their own - I bought this for the new Cabs track and Matt Johnson's first available recordings since Soul Mining - I wasn't disappointed.  Coil and Psychic TV will appeal to a few out there, in total contrast the sweetest mind of Virginia Astley is the perfect antidote to Jim Thirwell's somewhat ungod...

  Various Artists - Lonely Is An Eyesore [CAD 703 UK 1987 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] The 4AD Records roster of artists was forever evolving - some moved quickly on to greater things like Bauhaus, The Birthday Party & The The, others like Cocteau Twins and Modern English hung around for a bit longer before moving to major labels, some were not around long before disappearing without a trace - Dance Chapter, Mass, The Past Seven Days, My Captains etc. Other bands like The Wolfgang Press showed loyalty & longevity by sticking with the label for their entire careers. 1987 was a very important year for the label, it was about to hit the big time with the Pump Up The Volume single by MARRS, it was also about to discover America when the first of a long string of American acts, Throwing Muses joined the label. Lonely Is An Eyesore is a fine summary of the label's eclectic music in 1987, in fact the compilation title came from the Throwing Muses track. Nearly all tracks were previous...

  Various Artists - A Factory Quartet [FACT 24 UK 1980 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Time now for a brand new rip of an old ESWA favourite.... The second Factory Records sampler was originally planned as a double 10" set, but thankfully the label settled on this beautifully packaged double album with an embossed polaroid-style Garrod & Lofthouse sleeve.  Like the first 7" sampler, each artist gets one side of vinyl to introduce themselves, though The Durutti Column had already appeared on the label, this was Vini Reilly with a different line-up. The diversity of the chosen artists is huge, ranging from the ethereal beauty of The Durutti Column, through the distorted jazz-rock of Blurt, to scouser dirge noise terrorists The Royal Family And The Poor. Kevin Hewick supplies a difficult mix of live sets, where perhaps his 1980 Graveyard sessions would have fitted better, but as history says, he never got to finish five songs (with New Order), Hewick has dined out on Haystack for ye...

  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...

  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,...

  Various Artists - Abstract Magazine Issue 6 (Audio Visual) [SAM 006 UK 1986 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC The week kicks off with a brand new rip of Volume 6 from Rob Deacon's Abstract Magazine albums, my first since the ESWA post in 2015, and a significant improvement on that effort.  Once you get over the dramatic post-Holst drama of  In The Nursery, this set features the Sheffield industrial funk trio of Hula, Workforce and Chakk, an unreleased Tim Oliver remix of A Certain Ratio's Sounds Like Something Dirty , Dutch electro-goths Clan Of Xymox, Adi Netwon's Anti-Group, Ted Milton's nutty post-Beefheart sounds of Blurt and Parisian cold-wave band Clair Obscur. Essex post-punk funksters A Primary Industry close the whole thing out. A1   In The Nursery - Breach Birth (Blockade Mix)  A2   Workforce - Skin Scraped Back (Remix)  A3   Xymox - Muscoviet Musquito (Remix)  A4   Blurt - Gravespit (Live)  A5   Clair ...

  Various Artists - Abstract Magazine Volume 5 [SAM 005 UK 1985 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Last ripped back in March 2015, and then only available for two weeks, I thought I would have a go at re-ripping my two Abstract Magazine compilation albums after giving them a good few cycles in the ultrasonic. The results should speak for themselves. The late Rob Deacon's Abstract Magazine collected interviews, articles and unreleased tracks from his favourite bands, initially on Third Mind Records, he formed his own Sweatbox label on which volumes 5 & 6 were released - the first three volumes did not come with a vinyl record. After closing down Sweatbox Records in 1989, Deacon went onto release the more successful Volume book & CD series. Volume 5 will make for uneasy and difficult listening for the uninitiated, that's probably what makes this collection so essential. Hackney & New Cross metalworkers Test Department kick things off complete with a Scottish pipe band and a str...

  Various Artists - Factory Records Four Pack [UK 1987 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Four twelve inch white labels packed in their own printed PVC outer distributed as a marketing tool in 1987, most of which seem to have fallen into the hands of collectors (like me). Oddly, the label overlooked allocating a unique FAC number to the whole package. FAC 169 Pleasure Crew - I Could Be So Good For You A1  So Good  B1  So Bad  B2  So Good (Airwave Mix) The sound of young Manchester in 1987 ...not quite. Probably the poppiest single ever released by the label, boy-band type street soul with a strong song-a-long chorus - but never a hit. Pleasure Crew were Noel, Himat and ...err 'Def'. This 12" single was produced by Mike Pickering of Hacienda/Quando Quango & M People fame and was accompanied by a vague attempt at a Factory Records music press promotional campaign. Which clearly failed as shortly after release, Pleasure Crew were never to be heard of again. FAC 1...

  Various Artists - Young, Popular And Sexy [FACT US 17 USA 1987 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] A new rip of a favourite old compilation, last posted in February 2015 on my old ESWA blog, this will be a considerable upgrade. Firstly, a little bit of technical stuff... Some may have noticed that I am now using an Audio-Technica AT33EV cartridge, rather than the Hana Shibata, both have very similar stats however the AT33EV has a much improved frequency response, better separation and the mids sound a little fuller to my ears.  The battle against extraneous noise is a constant one with hum and rumble being the biggest issue - to combat the the latter, I have begun trialing the very simple Aptitlig isolation platform solution (the butcher's block from IKEA) and the early results are pleasing. New Audioquest Red River phono RCA cables are also helping keep noise out of my rips. Earlier this year, I bought a Hexmat Eclispe platter mat, it is hands down the best on the market, howe...

  Various Artists - The Industrial Records Story [JAMS 39 UK 1984 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Here is a brand new rip of one of the first albums to feature on Needle Time back in November 2018. It is a diverse collection of material from Throbbing Gristle's Industrial Records label. The label existed between 1976 & 1982, releasing a large array of cassettes, singles and albums by artists on the very outer fringes of popular music. Illuminated Records released this compilation in tribute in 1984, which now seems to be rather difficult to track down. Here's the back story to my purchase of this record.... I moved to the peace & tranquility of rural Surrey over the Summer of 1984 from the cold harsh post-industrial north. Finding a good source for my music purchases proved difficult at first, however tucked away in a little back street in the small town of Godalming was Record Corner.  The store was tiny, split into two and run by a father & son team. Dad ran the front of ...

  Various Artists - Gate That Snare! [12 PDS 85 UK 1985 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Here's the final illuminating rip for now.... Very much like it's contemporary, Factory Records, the Illuminated Records label turned towards the promotion of dance music in the mid-80s. House music & rap imports were flooding over from the USA, and the label's mainstay 400 Blows had a minor dance hit with Movin'  ...and then 23 Skidoo began to flirt with rap. This five track EP was released in 1985, aimed at the promotional market and the many DJs who had now begun to influence music purchases & chart positions from the dance floor. None of the subsequent singles made any impact in reality and it was to sound the death bell of what was once a truly influential and ground breaking record label. The record beholds two very worthy stand-outs. The street-soulful Traitor by Elevation is superb and should have broken through and found chart success - it still manages to stand up well ove...

  Various Artists - Breaking The Back Of Love [SDLP 1 FRA/UK 1985 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] From memory, last ripped nearly ten years ago, time to dust of an old compilation of fabulous tunes from the era of independent alternative dance music. Regulars will know that I am a bit of a labelcentric and have been known to purchase records based upon the release record label before actually hearing the music. In 1985, Illuminated Records made a sharp turn chasing commercial success following 400 Blows dent on the hit parade but this was to eventually be their downfall and the label folded shortly after.  French affiliate label Saderal Records had begun licensing some releases until their collapse. One of the few items to be released in the UK was this interesting compilation of mostly Illuminated related bands. Most of the acts have featured around my blogs before, except for the ital-disco-pop of Colour Me Pop, the post-goth hi-energy of Lilly AK (featuring Killing Joke's Youth on b...

  Various Artists - Heisei No Oto [MFM053 NLD 2021 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Subtitled:  Japanese Left-Field Pop From The CD Age, 1989-1996 This double album compilation of Japanese electronica came out a year or so ago on eclectic Dutch label, Music From Memory. Sixteen artists, you have likely never hear of, from a time when Japan seemed to go compact disc only, arranged onto vinyl for the very first time. The styles vary from expansive ambiance through to electro-city-pop-dance, with the occasional traditional intervention. This is an album to chillax , pour yourself a glass of something nice, dim the lights, put your feet up... ...and enjoy! A1 Jun Sato - Lorang A2 Fumihiro Murakami - Miko A3 Love, Peace & Trance - Yeelen A4 Tadahiko Yokogawa - Stop Me B1 Ichiko Hashimoto - L'Ete B2 Yosui Inoue - Pi Po Pa B3 Eiki Nonaka - Phlanged Vortex B4 Kina Tomoko - Ink C1 Adi - Co-Cu-U C2 Xácara - Night In Aracaju C3 Poison Girl Friend - Nobody C4 Dream Dolph...

  Various Artists - Meanwhile Back At The Ranch Big Dan Is Fightin' For His Life [MARX 075 UK 1987 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] The Bam Caruso label were responsible for diverse & rare re-releases such as Jan & Dean Meet Batman , The Prisoner OST, early lost albums by John's Children, The Walker Brothers, The Seeds, The Pretty Things, The Left Banke and the very first Nirvana. Meanwhile Back At The Ranch... was a low priced compilation aimed at launching the career of many of the labels eighties acts. There were quite a few low-priced label compilations in the eighties, some such as Pillows & Prayers are highly revered these days, this one has been overlooked for too long, plus it is possibly in the best mid-price sleeve design of all time. The Palace Of Light were essentially latter day Felts - but did it rather well - their only album Beginning Here & Travelling Outward remains a long-time personal favourite. The Wild Kitchen were groovy post-punk monks akin to C...

  Various Artists - From The House Of Lords (Rubble Nine) [KIRI 065 UK 1987 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] It is time for more grrroovy stuff from the Bam Caruso label and volume nine of their Rubble series of psych compilations. Most of the artists you see before you, or is that hear before you, have never actually committed anything else to vinyl, except maybe for Steve Nieve's The Attractions and British goth-folk-psyche legend Paul Roland. The Doctor is he of the infamous Medics, the remainder of the acts are virtually unknown and unleash themselves from the depths of the eighties psyche revival. A few names in the credits are familiar; Nick Haeffner, Richard Norris, Robyn Hitchcock and Bam Caruso supremo Phil Smee all feature on this wonderful collection of psychedelic rock and garage rock. There are a good few cover versions included, but if you really need to have your mind blown, then look no further than The Fading Dreams's eleven minute interpretation of The Strawbs'  Fa...

  Various Artists - The Clouds Have Groovy Faces (Rubble Six) [KIRI 049 UK 1986 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] I've been threatening to dig into my collection of Rubbles from eccentric British label, Bam Caruso Records for a number of years. Well, here is one of them, rather than begin at the beginning, I've opted for number six today. I have been known to be a bit of a label collector and Bam Caruso is one of the most collectible labels from the eighties - specialising in obscure psyche reissues, eighties paisley revival pop & eclectic baroque rock, their catelogue is quite significant in size - if you've been following my rips over the past 10+ years, you may already have quite a few scattered amongst your drives. Curated from the Decca archives by label supremo Phil Smee, most of these sixteen fuzzy sixties pop numbers are monaural but that's the way they did things back then. Given the production rawness of these tracks, I am rather pleased with how this rip came out. ...

  Various - Somewhere Between [LITA 183 FRA/USA 2021 24-Bit FLAC] Subtitled as  Mutant Pop, Electronic Minimalism & Shadow Sounds Of Japan 1980-1988 The subtitle should reveal exactly what to expect on this splendid double 45rpm set, released about a year back as part of Seattle label Light In The Attic's Japan Archival Series. My copy is a clear vinyl version from a French distributor, pressed in the Czech Republic.  The compilation style is very similar to those Les Disques Du Crépuscule releases from the early-mid eighties, however with highly nipponic leanings. The majority of artists will be relatively unknown to western ears, however I do recall the elegant Sonoko whose vocal style is close to Liz Fraser and her excellent  La Débutante album found its way onto Crammed Discs in 1987. A1 Noriko Miyamoto - Arrows & Eyes A2 Mishio Ogawa - Hikari No Ito Kin No Ito A3 Yoshio Ojima - Days Man B1 Mkwaju Ensemble - Tira-Rin B2 R.N.A-Organis...