Les Disques Du Crépuscule En Sept Sélections Pour Sept, er, Quid

Legendary label Les Disques Du Crépuscule have been steadily making their back catalogue available for sale via Bandcamp, including several classic albums with bonus tracks at a bargain price of £7.00 for a digital download. Many are also available on shiny disc.

Too many to mention in one post really, so I've selected seven as a sampler, namely

 

Clinker (+ 4 bonus remixes): Julie Campbell / Stephen Mallinder / Benge (2021)

Sorry For Laughing: Josef K (1981) (this is the shelved version; The Only Fun In Town is also available) 

Rhythm Of Life + New York Remix mini-album: Paul Haig (1983/1984)

Nice Mover (+ 6 bonus remixes): Gina X Performance (1979)

Nue Au Soleil (Complètement: Ludus (2024) (compilation previously released as an 11-track vinyl in 1987 and a 28-track 2CD in 2017; the digital version contains all 18 tracks from CD1 and the 4-song John Peel session from CD2)

Fidelity (+ 2 bonus tracks): The Durutti Column (1996) (The New Fidelity was originally issued on a Portuguese compilation in 1992) 

Moving Soundtracks: Various Artists (1983) (this appears to be the 2008 rejigged reissue, originally 20 tracks, here minus 2 songs by Be Music and Alan Rankine; I picked The Pale Fountains for today's selection)

 

Seminal compilation From Brussels With Love, the debut release on Les Disques Du Crépuscule in 1980 and featured in the headline photo, is also available as a digital download. That'll cost you a tenner but for 28 tracks a bargain. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cut The Night

Twelve inches of indie(ish) pop pleasure for the weekend, with a selection of well-known and lesser known songs, spanning the upper and the nether regions of the UK singles chart. 

Troubling the Top 30 with their selected songs back in the day were Echo & The Bunnymen (#30), Gary Numan (#19) and The Beat (#9). Bringing up the rear were Kirsty MacColl (#80) and Win (#63). Having trouble getting the car started were Flesh For Lulu, Paul Haig and INXS, who didn't make the Top 100 and where's the justice in that?

 

As it's Friday, the forty-five minute/C90-friendly rule be damned, here's a full-fat, forty-eight minutes of goodies to usher in the weekend. 

1) Silver (Tidal Wave): Echo & The Bunnymen (1984)

2) Every Little Word (Remix): Flesh For Lulu (1989)

3) Big Blue World (12" Version): Paul Haig (1984)

4) Music For Chameleons (Album Version): Gary Numan (1982)

5) The One Thing (Extended Version): INXS (1983)

6) Hands Off... She's Mine (12" Version): The Beat (1980)

7) Innocence (The Guilt Mix): Kirsty MacColl (1989)

8) Super Popoid Groove (12 Inches For Love God): Win (1987)

 

Cut The Night (48:25) (Box) (Mega)

Can You Believe Everything I See?

Celebrating Alan Rankine, 17th May 1958 to 3rd January 2023.

 

Another loss, another shock. I can't find the words* but I was struck by Alan Rankine from the first moment I saw Associates in the pages of Smash Hits and on TV with Top Of The Pops. I mean, Billy MacKenzie looked fabulous and had a voice unlike any I'd ever heard before, but I found Alan equally compelling. Those cheekbones, the black hair and widow's peak, that piercing stare. And the music was just astonishing. My starting point was Sulk, though I was drawn back to The Affectionate Punch and the Fourth Drawer Down compilation to discover more brilliance.

 

Whilst the combination of Alan and Billy was something unique and arguably neither could quite recreate that magic apart, Alan released three albums in the 1980s each containing some gems whilst also producing great music for other artists throughout the same decade, returning to the controls for Belle & Sebastian's debut album Tigermilk in 1996 (drummer Richard Colburn was on a Music Business course at Stow College in Glasgow, taught by Rankine).

 

There will be lots of tributes out there that attempt to capture how much Alan Rankine contributed, as a musician, a producer, a teacher and a passionate advocate for the wonder of making music. Ironically, during the tail end of lockdown I discovered some wonderful interviews with Alan by Grant McPhee, giving the backstory to the recording of the Associates' album. I've included a link to Grant's YouTube page, you won't be disappointed. I also want to give a nod to Post Punk Monk's tribute to Alan, one of the earliest to appear in the blogosphere but an excellent overview of the man and his music.

This is inevitably another hastily cobbled together selection. Thinking that there will be lots of focus elsewhere on Alan's work with Billy MacKenzie as Associates, I've tried to take a slightly broader view, taking in Alan's production and solo material. It's a dozen songs in a smidge over one hour, but I think it just about does Alan justice.

Rest easy, Alan.

 

1) Can You Believe Everything I See? (Part 3): Alan Rankine (1987)

2) Be Thankful For What You've Got (Single Version) (Cover of William DeVaughn): Sunset Gun (1984)

3) We Rule The School: Belle & Sebastian (1996)

4) The Sandman (Remix): Alan Rankine (1987)

5) Glory To The Take And The Killing: Alan Rankine (1989)

6) Mona Property Girl (Single Version): Associates (1979)

7) Hazel (Single Version): Cocteau Twins (1983)

8) Something Good (Extended Version): Paul Haig (1989)

9) Summer (Single Version): Anna Domino (1986)

10) Skipping (Album Version): Associates (1982)

11) Can You Believe Everything I See? (Parts 1 & 2): Alan Rankine (1987)

12) Love In Adversity: Alan Rankine (1986)

 

1979: Boys Keep Swinging EP: 6

1982: Sulk: 10

1983: Peppermint Pig EP: 7

1984: Be Thankful For What You've Got EP: 2

1986: Summer EP: 9 

1986: The World Begins To Look Her Age: 12 

1987: The Sandman EP: 1, 4

1987: The World Begins To Look Her Age EP: 11

1989: Something Good EP: 8

1989: The Big Picture Sucks: 5

1996: Tigermilk: 3

 

Can You Believe Everything I See? (1:00:02) (Box) (Mega)

* I appreciate the irony of saying that "I can't find the words" and then rambling on for several paragraphs...!