Thursday 31 August 2017

Joy Division - "Electric Ballroom, London. 31-08-1979." (Bootleg)


Bloody hell, this is 38years old today!
Joy Division play to their largest crowd to date of 1200.
A slightly subdued performance,but still twice as powerful than any of their peers at the time or since.If "Day of the Lords" and "Shadowplay" played in tandem fails to send shivers down your spine then you're already dead.

Tracklist:

01. The Sound Of Music
02. Wilderness
03. Colony
04. Day Of The Lords
05. Shadowplay
06. Transmission
07. Interzone
08. Disorder
09. She's Lost Control
10. Insight.


Wednesday 30 August 2017

Joy Division - "27th August 1979: Leigh Open Air Festival, also known as "Zoo Meets Factory Half Way" (Bootleg)



Well worth two quid was the August bank Holiday line-up for the Leigh Pop Festival in 1979.
The Joy Division set was, as usual, intense .Luckily most of it was recorded over the soundboard,and has a very immediate 'live' quality about it,with clunky bass and slightly distorted vocals.
The last couple of tracks are taken from an inferior audience recording of the same concert.
As ever,profoundly exciting.

Tracklist:

01. Leaders Of Men
02. Colony
03. Insight
04. Digital
05. Dead Souls
06. Shadowplay
07. She's Lost Control

08. Transmission
09. Interzone
10. The Sound Of Music (incomplete)


Tuesday 29 August 2017

Joy Division - "Eric's, Liverpool 11/08/1979" (Bootleg)


This one is the matinee performance for the 'kids' that Eric's kindly put on for the under 15's.
Apparently Ian Curtis had an epileptic fit during the evening performance, which probably would have traumatised some of the afternoon audience.Like a true 'pro' ,he only missed two numbers,and like true pro's, the band played on instrumentally until Ian could return to the stage, post-fit.
The bootleg is a good quality audience recording, and features our boys doing a rare version of Factory stablemates, Section 25's, "Dirty Disco".

Tracklist:


01. Transmission
02. Dirty Disco
03. Disorder
04. New Dawn Fades
05. Glass
06. Shadowplay
07. Colony
08. Interzone
09. Ice Age (Incomplete)


Monday 28 August 2017

Joy Division - "YMCA, Prince Of Wales Conference Centre (02/08/1979)" (Bootleg)



Mmmmm, a rather good line-up at this festival? Joy Division got lumped in on the 'commercial night' with The Teardrop Explodes and Echo and the Bunnymen.
The Throbbing Gristle performance can be found earlier on this blog as part of the "24 Hours Of TG" post.
Rema Rema, Essential Logic, Prag Vec, Clock DVA, Scritti Politti , Good Missionaries, Red Crayola, and Cabaret Voltaire, can all also be found on this blog...just click on their names.

I'll leave it to Adrian Thrills to review the Joy Division performance for me:

"If I had a flair for understatement, I could say that Joy Division were good too. The truth is they were phenomenal - the most physical hard rock group I've seen since Gang Of Four. This Manchester band have been allowed to grow at their own pace, uncramped by commercial pressures. The result is that they've created a totally distinctive, cohesive sound over the last two years...They have the spirit and the feeling." - Adrian Thrills, NME review 11th August 1979.

Interesting use of the term 'Hard Rock', which I don't think is too inappropriate.I can imagine most of JD's tunes could easily be metalized by any of these modern day Doom Metal groups;unlike The Gang Of Four's funky canon,which was responsible for motivating such horrors as he red Hot Chilli Wankers?!

Tracklist:


01. Dead Souls
02. Disorder
03. Wilderness
04. Auto-Suggestion
05. Transmission
06. Day Of The Lords
07. She's Lost Control
08. Shadowplay
09. Atrocity Exhibition
10. Insight.


Sunday 27 August 2017

Joy Division - "The Factory,Manchester(13/07/1979)" (Bootleg)


Most of this gig at The Factory/Russell Club is available as a soundboard recording on the Heart and Soul box set.This high quality audience recording has the whole set for your perusal of Joy Division at the height of their considerable collective powers.


Tracklist:

01. Dead Souls
02. The Only Mistake
03. Insight
04. Candidate
05. Wilderness
06. She's Lost Control
07. Shadowplay
08. Disorder
09. Interzone
10. Atrocity Exhibition
11. Novelty
12. Transmission


Saturday 26 August 2017

Joy Division - "Roots Club, Leeds. 11/07/1979" (Bootleg)


A decent audience recording featuring a rare performance of "Candidate", and the obligatory near field audience chatter to make one feel that one was actually there.
Joy Division were nearing there peak of live performance around this time.....dunno about you but I prefer Live Joy Division to Studio Joy Division,far more powerful and intense;unlike the watered down 'visionary' glacial landscapes as created by so-called 'Mad Genius' Martin 'Zero' Hannett at Strawberry Studio's.

Tracklist:

01. Dead Souls
02. Shadowplay
03. She's Lost Control
04. Candidate
05. These Days
06. Disorder
07. Interzone
08. Glass
09. Transmission
10. Atrocity Exhibition
11. No Love Lost.


Thursday 24 August 2017

Joy Division ‎– "Bowdon Vale Youth Club, Altringham 14.3.79" (Bootleg)


This well documented concert appearance was performed in what looked like, according the photographs, someone's living room. Bowden Vale Youth Club's wallpaper backdrop,seemed to suit the urban chic of Joy Division's music as much as the smog covered post-industrial wasteland that was nineteen seventies Manchester. Factory records and the IRA were to change that image,hopefully forever.

The boys were on top form on this occasion,and ,thankfully,were recorded in decent quality for posterity.
I wish my local yoof club put on gigs like this....but apparently it wasn't actually a Youth Club, but a social club organised by a local record shop owner bloke,who also put on gigs by The Red Krayola and Scritti polliti.
Joy Divisions sound was clearly designed and destined for large auditoriums,but it also suits any of size venue; what cannot be contained within any size room is the passion and intensity this group naturally put forth into this world.It's a poorer place without them.It pierces walls and taps into some kind of universal consciousness that touches us all.

Tracklist:

1 She's Lost Control
2 Shadowplay
3 Leaders Of Men
4 Insight
5 Disorder
6 Glass
7 Digital
8 Ice Age
9 Warsaw
10 Transmission
11 I Remember Nothing
12 No Love Lost


Wednesday 23 August 2017

Joy Division - " The Band On The Wall, Manchester, 13/03/1979" (Bootleg)

By 1979,as I have nothing from 1978, Joy Division were fully formed. This is the earliest evidence I have of that,hidden within the static. It's a very ropy recording from one of the Manchester Musicians' Collective nights at The Band on the Wall pub.
They stood out like a sore thumb alongside the other DIY bands,that played on these evenings,many of which are featured earlier on this blog .Joy Division were a unique and powerful unit,who played with a rare intensity and focus that was generally lacking among their peers.
Even on this atrocious recording one can detect that something rare and special was brewing.


Tracklist:

01. Walked In Line
02. She's Lost Control
03. Shadowplay
04. New Dawn Fades
05. Day Of The Lords
06. Insight
07. Disorder
08. The Only Mistake
09. I Remember Nothing
10. Sister Ray.

Tuesday 22 August 2017

Joy Division (Warsaw) - "Live at the Rock Garden, Middlesbrough 14/09/1977" (Bootleg)


As my mind is addled due to recent tragic events, I'll do something unimaginative, and a trifle self-indulgent, by posting the thirty-odd Joy Division Live Bootlegs I have at my disposal. Starting, very logically with the only one I have from 1977......which was in fact a high quality soundboard recording of a 'Warsaw' gig in the incredibly grim city of Middlesbrough.
I first heard Joy Division on the "Live at the Electric Circus" compilation in early 1978.They performed as 'Warsaw' on the night,but were listed as Joy Division, and despite the rudimentary 'Punk' sound I was intrigued enough to buy the re-released version of "An Ideal For Living" ep, with the scaffolding sleeve.There was definitely some hidden intelligence behind the stupid 'Punk' facade,and potentially something unique. This was confirmed by the time they appeared on Fast Products' "Earcom 2" compilation in 1979.
Listening to them as Warsaw is like looking for the missing link between hominids and Homo Erectus. Somehow they evolved from  crawling on all fours ,in musical terms, to standing erect without any noticeable curve of transition. They just seemed to become Joy Division almost overnight.
Hearing Ian Curtis shouting like a Football Hooligan is laughable knowing now what an erudite and sensitive soul he was. It's hard to believe that this band would evolve during their short lifespan into something that would adorn the t-shirts of many vacuous celebrities in the 21st century,and still be a confirmed favourite of all doom laden teenagers everywhere.

Tracklist:

1. Reaction
2. Inside The Line
3. Leaders Of Men
4. Novelty
5. At A Later Date
6. Tension
7. Kill
8. Lost


Saturday 19 August 2017

Joy Division - "Futurama Sci-Fi Festival, Leeds 8th september, 1979" (Bootleg)


Allegedly the show-stealers on the first night of the Futurama festival were Joy Division.

This pretty decent audience recording seems to provide some evidence to that fact.
This bootleg has 'Futurama 2' emblazoned on the cover, but this is from the first Sci-Fi festival.A slight faux-pas on behalf of the bootleggers there.Tut Tut Tut!
The Lovely Dexter dressed as a 'Dead Soul' for Halloween 2016
As some fucker ran over and killed my wonderful dog Dexter yesterday,this will have to serve as a tribute to his (Dexter's) short life! Having previously survived a near fatal car accident with my daughter and me in 2015,and being poisoned as a puppy; it seems that the Dead Souls were indeed calling him!? What's also very appropriate is the fact that Dexter was originally called 'Ian' at the rescue centre we acquired him from.So i dedicate the classic "Dead Souls" by Joy Division at the 1979 Sci-Fi Festival to the memory of Dexter.

Tracklist:

01. I Remember Nothing
02. Wilderness
03. Transmission
04. Colony
05. Disorder
06. Insight
07. Shadowplay
08. She's Lost Control
09. Atrocity Exhibition
10. Dead Souls.


Thursday 17 August 2017

Public Image Ltd. - "Futurama Sci-Fi Festival, Leeds 8th september, 1979" (Bootleg)


Post-punk's 'woodstock' was the 1979 Futurama Festival in Leeds,and the opening night was headlined by PiL, above such luminaries as Joy Division ,Cabaret Voltaire and a raft of nearly every other hip band of 1979.......it even had Hawkwind, despite them being more science fantasy in their outlook than science fiction.
PiL's performance had mixed reviews from brilliant to terrible,with Lydon spending most of the gig with his back to the audience.A stance I've always approved of. 
Wobble's outfit was an all white combination of socks, sandals and shorts,as if he was drafted in from Wham!'s 'Club Tropicana' video.
This band had a fantastically terrible attitude that matched the brilliance of their groundbreaking music. They had every right to put on a terrible performance; that's why they(PiL 1978-80) were always brilliant no matter what they did.

Tracklist:

1.Chant
2.Annalisa
3.Memories
4.Lowlife
5.Public Image
6.Attack
7.Death disco
8.Another
9.No Birds Do Sing

DOWNLOAD the ghost of future past HERE!

Monday 14 August 2017

Public Image Ltd. ‎– "Metal Box - (Super Deluxe Edition)" (Virgin ‎– 570 149-1) 2016/1979





In the history books of rock'n'pop'n'roll there are few records that deserve their place in the annals as one of the most strikingly original and inspired pieces of genius as much as PiL's "Metal Box".
Maybe "Trout Mask Replica", "Are You Experienced", "Revolver", "Pet Sounds" (I hate pet sounds by the way,JZ), "Highway 61","Unknown Pleasures",.....the list is short,and admittedly incomplete,but this album from outer space is on there......even though I prefer the first album,which i have now decided is actually called "First issue"......the ultimate 'bad attitude' album or what?
After this classic conceptual piece of progressive post-punk, Lydon finally surrendered to his ego and not so much burned out,as fizzled out; turning into the publicity seeking media whore he is today(His Public Image is no longer 'Limited'!).
PiL ceased to exist as soon as Wobble was 'sacked', by a goofy tin-pot rock star and a disappearing smack head....you can guess who they are. As it is with many artists,the more difficult and untenable the circumstances the greater the product.These conditions could never have continued to produce a Metal Box 2,and nor should they.The saddest thing is that Lydon was allowed to carry on as 'PiL', soiling the brand name,even to this day, with the circus act that is the new PiL.
So,here we are with the bottom of the Metal Barrel thoroughly scraped for every last shard of related material to satisfy the public, who, in classic showbiz terms, were left wanting MORE!....which is what we all get of everything these days....in fact too much......and the crowd screamed for LESS!

Tracklist:

The Metal Box - (Remastered)


1-1 Albatross 10:35
1-2 Memories 5:05
1-3 Swan Lake (AKA Death Disco) 4:12
1-4 Poptones 7:46
1-5 Careering 4:31
1-6 No Birds (Do Sing) 4:41
1-7 Graveyard 3:08
1-8 The Suit 3:29
1-9 Bad Baby 4:29
1-10 Socialist 3:09
1-11 Chant 5:00
1-12 Radio 4 4:27

B-sides, Mixes & BBC Sessions

2-1 Death Disco (7” Edit) 4:17
2-2 Death Disco (12”) 6:43
2-3 Half Mix / Megga Mix 6:52
2-4 Death Disco [Drums – Richard Dudanski] 2:27
2-5 Memories (7/12”) 4:52
2-6 Another 3:51
2-7 Poptones [Drums – Martin Atkins] 4:32
2-8 Careering [Drums – Martin Atkins] 7:32
2-9 Chant [Drums – Martin Atkins] 5:16
2-10 Poptones [Drums – Martin Atkins] 3:44]
2-11 Careering [Drums – Martin Atkins] 5:03
2-12 Pied Piper
[Featuring – John Lydon, Keith Levene, Steve New] 1:51

Rare & Unreleased Mixes:

3-1 Poptones (Version 3) 6:36
3-2 Swan Lake (Monitor Mix) 9:24
3-3 Albatross (Monitor Mix) 10:24
3-4 Swan Lake ("Master") 7:42
3-5 Unknown Instrumental Jam 1 ("Chant") 6:30
3-6 Unknown Jam 2 ("Megachant") 5:02
3-7 Music From An Oven (AKA Memories) 4:42
3-8 Radio 4 ("Symphony Suite") 7:19
3-9 Home Is Where The Heart Is (Original Mix)
Featuring, Bass – Jah Wobble 6:39
3-10 Unknown Instrumental 2 5:53

Live At Manchester, The Russell Club (The Factory) 18/6/79:

4-1 Chant 7:51
4-2 Swan Lake (AKA Death Disco) 7:39
4-3 Memories 7:54
4-4 Public Image 8:48
4-5 Annalisa 5:49
4-6 No Birds (Do Sing) 6:51

"B-sides, Mixes & BBC Sessions"
2-1: A-side of 'Death Disco' 7" single.
2-2: A-side of 'Death Disco' 12" single.
2-3: B-side of 'Death Disco' 12" single. Re-recorded and renamed version of 'Fodderstompf' from the debut PiL album 'First Issue'.
2-4: BBC TV, Top Of The Pops July 12/7/79 [Misprinted as "12/7/72"]. Audio recording of live TV appearance.
2-5: A-side of 'Memories' 7" and 12" singles. Alternative mix to the 'Metal Box' version.
2-6: B-side of the 'Memories' 7" and 12" singles. Vocal version of the instrumental track 'Graveyard' from 'Metal Box'.
2-7 to 2-9: BBC Radio 1, John Peel Session 17/12/79. PiL's one and only John Peel radio session. Three songs recorded at BBC Maida Vale Studios, London.
2-10, 2-11: BBC TV, Old Grey Whistle Test 5/2/80. Audio recording of live TV appearance.
2-12: Rare post-'Metal Box' track from budget 1980 Virgin compilation LP 'Machines'. [...] recorded at the Manor Studios, Oxfordshire.

"Rare & Unreleased Mixes"
3-1: Alternative mix. Recorded at the Manor Studios, Oxfordshire, 1979. Previously unreleased.
3-2: Original monitor mix. Previously only released as limited edition Record Store Day 12" single in 2014, and as an audio extra on the 2005 John Lydon 'Best of British £1 Notes' compilation DVD. Recorded at The Townhouse, London, March 21st 1979.
3-3: Original monitor mix. Previously released as an audio extra on the 2005 John Lydon 'Best of British £1 Notes' compilation DVD. Recorded at The Townhouse, London, March 21st 1979.
3-4: Alternative mix of 'Death Disco' / 'Swan Lake'. Recorded at The Townhouse, London, May 3rd 1979. Previously unreleased.
3-5: Alternative early mix of 'Chant'. Recorded at The Townhouse, London, May 21st 1979. Previously unreleased.
3-6: Experimental jam of what would become 'Chant'. Recorded at The Townhouse, London, May 21st 1979. Previously unreleased.
3-7: Early mix of 'Memories'. Recorded at The Townhouse, London, August 13th 1979. Previously unreleased.
3-8: Extended alternative mix of 'Radio 4'. Recorded at The Townhouse, London, October 13th 1979. Previously unreleased.
3-9: Original mix of track that later appeared as the B-side of the 'Flowers of Romance' 12" single. This version [...] was recorded at The Townhouse, London, March 11th 1980. Previously unreleased.
3-10: Post-'Metal Box' instrumental from same sessions as 'Home is Where The Heart Is'. Recorded at The Townhouse, London, March 11th 1980. Previously unreleased.


Sunday 13 August 2017

"Tommy Vance Show, Capital Radio July 16th 1977 - "Johnny Rotten, The Punk and His Music"


Ok, here's the infamous Tommy Vance show, when Johnny Rotten exposed himself as a prog/folk/reggae fan. No New York Dolls on this show, and i'm sure Malcolm Maclaren was fuming.Serves him right for breaking the first rule in Pop svengali-ism.....Don't Pick anyone with a brain for your living art project!
It's amusing to listen to Lydon trying not to alienate his street cred whilst at the same time audibly loving Tommy Vance's naked sycophancy. 
"What turned me on to you was that here's someone who reaaallllly knows what he's talking about", said Tommy (from memory so don't pull me up about any errors please!?).
"I phfink I do" says Johnny, who's hideous Ego-trip was just about to go into first gear around this time in 1977.
He always gave me the impression that he didn't know what he was talking about,constantly making contradictory and confused statements, whilst banging on about being " 'Onest.".
But nevertheless, he was in two of the greatest groups of all time, had great stage and media charisma, and wore good clothes. Of course, as it was (almost)written in Neil Youngs tune from "Rust Never Sleeps", he burnt out, but then insisted on fading away into the cuddly TV chat show guest that he's turned into today.
Oh Yeah, he's a fucking Brexiter as well; the final nail in the coffin of my teenage idolatry......but Pil 1.1 and 1.2 are immortal in their shear brilliance,so I forgive him. And he likes Captain Beefheart, Van der Graaf, and Gary Glitter, so he ain't all bad.
To counteract Vance's sickening sycophancy, there's always the vintage radio adverts, which are probably more entertaining than listening to Rotten's 'I'm working claahs' monologues between questions.  

Tracklist:

1.Tim Buckley - Sweet Surrender
2.The Creation - Life Is Just Beginning
3.David Bowie - Rebel Rebel
4. Unknown Artist - Drowsy Maggie
5.Augustus Pablo - King Tubby Meets The Rockers Uptown
6.Gary Glitter - Doing Alright With The Boys
7.Fred Locks - Walls
8.Vivian Jackson and the Prophets - Fire in a Kingston
9.Culture - I'm Not Ashamed
10.Dr Alimantado & The Rebels - Born For A Purpose
11.Bobby Byrd - Back From The Dead
12.Bobby Byrd - Back From The Dead

13.Neil Young - Revolution Blues Neil Young - Revolution Blues
14.Lou Reed - Men Of Good Fortune
15.Kevin Coyne - Eastbourne Ladies
16.Peter Hammill - The Institute Of Mental Health is Burning
17.Peter Hammill - Nobody's Business
18.Makka Bees - Nation Fiddler / Fire!

19.Captain Beefheart - The Blimp
20.Nico - Janitor Of Lunacy
21.Let's Get It On Ken Boothe - Is It Because I'm Black
22.John Cale - Legs Larry At Television Centre
23.Third Ear Band - Fleance
24.Can - Halleluhwah

Thursday 10 August 2017

Peter Hammill ‎– "Nadir's Big Chance" (Charisma ‎– CAS 1099) 1975


1975 is often cited as the Nadir of popular music,but it contained quite a few overlooked influential classics.An often cited influence on the punk rock explosion is Hammill's "Nadir's Big Chance" album.For its anger, short aggressive tunes, and lack of showy musicianship. Also as John Lydon played a track from it on his infamous Capital radio show. That says less about this record than it does about Mr. Rotten's musical roots. He liked Folk,Prog,and Captain Beefheart, much more to do with the music after punk than during. Which explains the music he got involved with immediately after the Pistols, who really were the 'Last' rock band...time to move on. 
This is one of Peter Hammills top three albums in my opinion, alonside "Over", and "The Silent Cornser and the Empty Stage".......again he's back by his old mates from Van Der Graaf Generator, so it can sound at times like a basic version of his more celebrated group persona rather than a purely 'solo' record.

Tracklist:

Nadir's Big Chance 3:27
The Institute Of Mental Health is Burning 3:50
Open Your Eyes 5:10
Nobody's Business 4:15
Been Alone So Long 4:20
Pompeii 4:50
Shingle Song 4:10
Airport 3:02
People You Were Going To 5:10
Birthday Special 3:40
Two Or Three Spectres 6:20


Peter Hammill ‎– "pH7" (Charisma ‎– CAS 1146) 1979


PH7 is a good litmus test for the way I feel about a lot of Hammill solo works.Lyrically, of course, they are brilliant;But he struggles to get away from that Bad experimental Musical comparison.
The cover looks like this record must be part of a dystopian future of pop, but it could as easily have come from the dystopian past of pop too. There are a fair number of concept album filler ballads littered among a few tunes that post-punk kids might like;"Porton Down" for instance.And "Careering" may well have had its title lifted by John. Q Rotten for his "Metal Box" concept album later that same year.
One of his better albums, but ultimately his wordy lyrics, and stagy delivery tend to reduce the opportunity for the music to breath.Sometimes while listening to this LP, you just want ex-choirboy Peter to just SHUT UP! Maybe even Neutralised,like the backing has been?

Tracklist:

My Favourite 2:50
Careering (Don't Ask Me) 4:00
Porton Down 3:35
Mirror Images 3:50
Handicap And Equality 4:00
Not For Keith 2:25
The Old School Tie 4:50
Time For A Change
Imperial Walls 5:00
Mr X (Gets Tense) 4:45
Faculty X 4:10


Wednesday 9 August 2017

Peter Hammill ‎– "Patience" - (Naive Records ‎– NAVL 3) 1983


Surprise surprise, here's a few Peter Hammill solo albums from his vast canon.This one, Patience, is the one I like the best from his post-punk period.
It still sounds like VDGG with different drumming, keyboards and less Saxes;all replaced by a minimal rock group backing in a prog/post punk stylee.....which is surprising,or not, as everyone from VDGG are in the backing band.Oh, they're sooooo versatile those progressive rockers aren't they? 
The lack of mournful ballads like refugees from a Steven Sondheim  off-broadway musical is a major plus.

Tracklist:

Labour Of Love 5:50
Film Noir 4:13
Just Good Friends 4:20
Jeunesse d'Orée 4:45
Traintime 4:23
Now More Than Ever 5:36
Comfortable? 4:52
Patient 6:11


Tuesday 8 August 2017

Van Der Graaf Generator - "BBC Sessions (1968-1977)"


Ok, you've all obviously got every one of VDGG's brilliant albums?....yes?.... so here's their peel sessions for the BBC.
Apart from a couple of psych tinged tracks from a 1968 'Top Gear' session, there's plenty of sublimely dark prog on offer here.....all without a single electric guitar to be heard.It's also genuinely progressive music, rather than the 'regressive' rock of Yes and ELP,who looked back to classical music rather than try to move to the future. This is what I hope the young Lydon heard in this fantastic group.

Tracklist:

1. People You Were Going To (Top Gear)
2. Afterwards (Top Gear)
3. Necromancer (Top Gear)
4. Darkness (Top Gear)
5. After The Flood (Top Gear)
6. Refugees (Peel Session)
7. Darkness (Peel session)
8. Scorched Earth (Peel session)
9. Sleepwalkers (Peel session)
10. Still Life (Peel Session)
11. La Rossa (Peel Session)
12. When She Comes (Peel Session
13. Masks (Peel Session)
14. Theme 1 (BBC Session)
15. Cat's Eye/Yellow Fever (Peel Session)
16. The Sphinx In The Face (Peel Session)

DOWNLOAD vdgg at the bbc HERE!

Monday 7 August 2017

Van Der Graaf ‎– "The Quiet Zone / The Pleasure Dome (Charisma ‎– CAS 1131) 1977



Another Prog combo who had a large influence on the Post-Punk era were dark-proggers Van Der Graaf Generator. Having been name-checked by Johnny Rotten on his shockingly 'hippie' stained Capital radio Show with Tommy Vance in 1977, "Johnny Rotten,The Punk and His Music', were imeadiately labeled as acceptable by the more intelligent 'punks'; as was Peter Hammill, of whom Lydon admitted to Vance that...' (he) stole a lot from dat geezer,yeah'. 
Possibly, some of the Lyrical ideas were appropriated for 'Metal Box', but beyond that I can't see anything else in common; especially not in his terrible lyrics for the Sex Pistols .
That radio show was a key moment for the next wave to move away from the tired Ramones format with shouty tunes about dole queues and boredom.
Arguably the earliest 'punk' to jump ship was Howard Devoto, who basically formed a more sneery version of Van Der Graaf Generator, called Magazine, who were prog in drainpipes with short haircuts.
Always open to moving forward, Van Der Graaf Generator, unlike most of Prog's leading lights, chose to absorb the message from the 'Punk' phenomenon, and made a more straight forward record in 1977. Shorter songs, no long suites, less showing off, and they shortened their name to just 'Van der Graaf'.
This album is still undoubtedly a 'Prog' record in its concept, but also an attempt to distance themselves from the previous musical epoch of wizards, symphony orchestras, and classical pretensions. This could easily have been a 'Magazine' album if Devoto was the singer,and Hammill could have comfortably slotted in on Magazine's "Real Life"........even if his vocal style does remind one of some singer in a bad rock opera like 'Godspell'......I suppose VDGG did do their own answer to that particular atrocity with the excellent "Godbluff" album back in '75.

Tracklist
The Quiet Zone:

A1 Lizard Play 4:28
A2 The Habit Of The Broken Heart 4:34
A3 The Siren Song 6:01
A4 Last Frame 6:12

The Pleasure Dome:

B1 The Wave 3:12
B2 Cat's Eye / Yellow Fever (Running) 5:20
B3 The Sphinx In The Face 5:58
B4 Chemical World 6:10
B5 The Sphinx Returns 1:12

Sunday 6 August 2017

Harmonia ‎– "Documents 1975" (Grönland Records ‎– CDGRON152) 2016





Long lost and forgotten recordings of Harmonia in actionin 1975,as archived by Berlin School electronicist Asmus Tietchens, who provides the liner notes.
He mentions, Beckett's play "Krapps Last Tape", which is appropriate, not as a reference to using recorded sound as memories, but as a testament, or a document, to the fact that this tape isn't Krap, with one 'P'. In fact its some of the best Harmonia on record,and some thanks for this goes to Mani Neumeier(drums)of Guru Guru who adds some much needed looseness to the proceedings, and therefore,strays somewhat from basic 'Motorik' principles.
As always with Moebius and Roedelius, some of the keyboard sounds remind one of the presets on a Casiotone, as a juxtaposition between muzak and the avant-garde; always an interesting place to inhabit.

Tracklist:

Tiki-Taka At Harmonia Studio In Forst 6:28
Live At Onkel Pö In Hamburg 9:12
Proto-Deluxe At Harmonia Studio In Forst 4:30
Live At Fabrik In Hamburg 11:38

1: Tiki-Taka at Harmonia Studio in Forst (1975)
2: Live at Onkel Pö in Hamburg (1975)
3: Proto-Deluxe at Harmonia Studio in Forst (1975)
4: Live at Fabrik in Hamburg (1975)

2+4: Culled from the tape archives of Asmus Tietchens.
1+3: Culled from the M.R. tape archives in Forst.

Saturday 5 August 2017

Harmonia & Eno (Harmonia 76) - "Tracks and Traces" (1976/1997)


Most so-called 'Krautrock' was utter rubbish of course,mainly concerning a bunker full of hippified jam sessions and synthesiser knob twiddling.For every 'CAN' you had a hundred Amon Duul 1's.Other exceptions included the main players like Cluster (both with and without the 'K' or with or without Konrad Schnitzler),Faust,Early Ash Ra Temple,Guru Guru,and maybe even Tangerine Dream?

Notice I never mentioned 'Neu', who one really had to be there at the time to appreciate their impact. I heard 'Negativland'(The tune not the band) in about 1981, and thought 'wow what a group' So I sought out "Neu 1" and "Neu 2",which apart from that one track were utter shite, especially "Neu 2", which involved one of the tracks played at three different speeds!?....I did However appreciate the monotonous drumming, if not that flaccidly dull drum sound.But for the time they would have been a refreshing, almost 'Punk' style of no-nonsense simplicity, and a rejection of the endless guitar solo's and technical expertise that had given Rock'n'Roll a near lethal injection since 1968. 
Michael Rother, of Neu, was also in Kraftwerk when they were krap too!....but the boy done good when hooking up with Cluster to form Harmonia, who were a fair to middling ambient motorik combo, much hyped by cool muso's everywhere.
Of course, Brian Eno had to get involved at some point, and here's the posthumously released (1997) tapes of those sessions in 1976.
Very soft and bubbly ambient rock they are too.Something to drift off to sleep to of an evening;and I don't mean that it's boring, just some type of musical heroin, but a lot less addictive. You can play Harmonia once and don't feel the need to go back immediately for more,unlike that opium plant bi-product for chavs and rock fantasists everywhere.

Tracklist:
1 Welcome
2 Atmosphere
3 Vamos Companeros
4 By The Riverside
5 Luneburg Heath
6 Sometimes In Autumn
7 Weird Dream
8 Almost
9 Les Demoiselles
10 When Shade Was Born
11 Trace
12 Aubade


THEE AETHYR " Event Horizon " (Year Zero records YEAR 005) 2010


Yes, ENO was 'inspired' by Cluster, and ENO 'inspired' a flood of similar wanna be ENO's.If I was to be any musician in the pop universe, i would probably choose to be a Non-Musician, like our Brian. didn't wanna be left out, so here's my (j.Zchivago's)solitary attempt to make an 'Ambient record as Thee Aethyr, on Year Zero Records.
What's a blog for if you can't plug your own records to an unforgiving public/

Tracklist:

1. A Martyr's Prayer
2. I.G.Farben
3. An Exorcism
4. Event Horizon
5. Thee Last Days
6. Waiting For last Year
7. The Stockholm Syndrome
8. We Are Not Here
9. We Can remember It For You
10.Thee Eternal

DOWNLOAD from the aethyr HERE!

Thursday 3 August 2017

Cluster & Eno ‎– "Cluster & Eno" (Sky Records ‎– sky 010) 1977


It wasn't until the eighties that I realised that Brian was Eno's christian name and not 'And'......of course I jest hahahaha! But the suffix ...'and Eno' was even popular in Germany it seems. All relevant acts were very keen to get an Eno collaboration going so this association with the former Glam Icon would raise their very very low profile on the world stage somewhat.
'Cluster' were another German act I couldn't find in the Euro Rock section of Revolver Records in Leicester......this was long before Leicester became the Kosmiche,Progressive music, Krautrock mecca of Britain, thanks to the Freeman Brothers now defunct, 'Ultima Thule' shop, and Audion Magazine.....all now decamped to an office somewhere doing mail order only.
If you wondered where Brian got his idea for his 'Ambient' series from, look no further than Cluster, and a bunch of similar Krautrock electronic minimalists from the early seventies.
Fittingly Eno gave their profile a boost by collaborating with them, and that's how I first heard of this very innovative and prolific duo of Moebius and Roedelius......peculiar names aren't they?
ENO's genius was to produce music like this just at the time when the public had a taste for violent and basic rock music.
Always the Oblique Strategist, this all seemed like stubbornly wading against the tide of popularism. However, there are a lot of similarities between this and the 'Punk' manifesto. For a start Eno couldn't really play any instruments, described himself as a 'Non-Musician', and frankly ,anyone could do this. This stuff launched an underground wave of ambient electronicists on the cassette underground, most famously on Colin Potter's ICR label.
Punk without the Funk and, thank your god, without the Punk as well.How more 'Punk' can one get? The answer is 'None....None more Punk.

Tracklist:

Ho Renomo 5:10
Schöne Hände 3:00
Steinsame 4:20
Wehrmut 5:00
Mit Simaen 1:30
Selange 3:30
Die Bunge 3:50
One 6:00
Für Luise 3:50


Wednesday 2 August 2017

CAN ‎– "The Lost Tapes (1968-75)" (Spoon Records ‎– CDSPOON55) 2012


Back in 1980, I'd heard a lot of persons in the music biz name dropping CAN, and how good "Tago Mago" was.So,impressionable young man that I was, I made my way to the 'European Rock' section of 'Revolver Records' in Leicester market place, opposite Lineker's Fruit and Veg stall; to seek out the aforementioned "Tago Mago"....of course it wasn't there....long deleted.Just a couple of late period albums,one of which was "Soon Over Babaluma"....I liked the cover so i stumped up the cash, and took it home eagerly.Played it, and it was a bit Shit!.....I didn't give up, as everyone said that Can were fucking brilliant, and found a copy of "Ege Bamyasi", which I now know to be better than "Tago Mago", and heard a well proper example of the art of drumming for the first time.The funky drummers of the Post-Punk period were a pretty clumsy bunch.Yes, Can were indeed 'Fucking Brilliant'!?
Now back to explaining where Eno nicked all his idea's from.....If for some weird and unexplainable reason you didn't know, Holger Czukay , he of ethnic tape fusion innovation fame via the 1969 album 'Canaxis'; was the bass player in this incredibly influential post punk bands pre-punk band.....namely, CAN.
They gave the world endless repetition, funky drumming Germans,and basically how to make a groove interesting. The influence on PiL and The Fall are obvious, and their echo is heard in many of those groups from 1978 onwards.
Basically,CAN relied greatly on Drummer Jaki Libezeit and to lesser extent on the two vocalists Malcolm Mooney and Damo Suzuki. Irmin Schmidt(keyboards) and Michael Karoli(weedy guitar) added the noodles to the dish, and frankly, like noodles, would not have been missed if they never turned up. Czukay was important only in his post-production work in the tape splicing room;....But Libezeit's busy metronomic but loose skin work could well be the best of all rock'n'roll time?
So everyone knows CAN's classic string of albums from the early seventies don't you?.....so here's the stuff that never made it onto those records.All now rescued and tarted up for the CAN fan.
There's some great stuff on these three cd's, including the very impressive lyrics to "Waiting For The Streetcar", where Mooney manages to chant the song title 170 times!?...(don't worry, I didn't count 'em, but some other sado did!)
There are a few proto versions of Can classics, for instance - Vitamin C (Dead Pigeon Suite) and Mother Sky (On the Way To....), and some superior live stuff, and plenty of unreleased jams that escaped the razor blade of Czukay.Quality control had to be paramount back in the days of the forty minute LP.
I wouldn't say this was better than "Tago Mago" or "Ege Bamyasi", but its certainly better than "Future Days","Soundtracks" and "Monster Movie".....and pisses completely over anything after 1974 that they ever did!.....including the Suzuki and Mooney-less "Soon Over Babaluma"(1974).

Tracklist:

Millionenspiel 5:49
Waiting For The Streetcar 10:08
Evening All Day 6:58
Deadly Doris 3:10
Graublau 16:47
When Darkness Comes 3:48
Blind Mirror Surf 8:39
Oscura Primavera 3:19
Bubble Rap 9:24
Your Friendly Neighbourhood Whore 3:43
True Story 4:30
The Agreement 0:37
Midnight Sky 2:44
Desert 3:20
Spoon - Live 16:47
Dead Pigeon Suite 11:47
Abra Cada Braxas 10:12
A Swan Is Born 3:00
The Loop 2:33
Godzilla Fragment 1:59
On The Way To Mother Sky 4:35
Midnight Men 7:35
Networks Of Foam 12:36
Messer, Scissors, Fork And Light 8:24
Barnacles 7:46
E.F.S. 108 2:07
Private Nocturnal 6:49
Alice 1:56
Mushroom - Live 8:18
One More Saturday Night - Live 6:34


Tuesday 1 August 2017

Holger Czukay / Rolf Dammers ‎– "Canaxis" (Spoon Records ‎– SPOON 015 1969/1982


Eno was never one for passing over a chance to be 'inspired' by other artists work. Most of his 'innovations' were directly lifted from the German electronic underground of the early seventies.
One piece of work that stood out as an obvious influence for Eno's ethno-based collaborations was this early album from CAN's erstwhile bassist and tape editor, Holger Czukay, assisted by electronic composition chum Rolf Dammers.
The technique involves using chopped up field recordings of unknown traditional music and singing from the third world and asia.
Here's what it said on the cover of this re-issued version:

"A few month after the foundation of Can Holger Czukay recorded his first solo album Canaxis. The music has its origins in different parts of the world. It was arranged with the intuition of exploring and preserving the geniune character and beauty in an ambient context. Here for the first time Czukay explored the idea of 'sampling'."


Every octogenarian nowadays tries to claim to be the first one to have used 'sampling', which is crap.This was tape collage/splicing, as taught by Stockhausen to his students....including Czukay.
Hell there were shit-loads of novelty records in the fifties and sixties that used the same techniques long before Czukay, or even Stockhausen.Not forgetting the innovative work of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.
'Sampling' was something completely different, involving a machine that could play any captured sound at different pitches, like the Mellotron did with tape loops...but that is never mentioned in the who did it first stand-offs.
No, Czukay didn't invent sampling, but he did get there first with the 'white man makes western Ethnic culture clash crossover collage' thing, that Eno nabbed for himself later on with the excellent 'My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts'.

Tracklist:

1 Boat-Woman-Song 17:39
2 Canaxis 20:20
3 Mellow Out 2:12


David Byrne and Brian Eno ‎– "My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts" (EG ‎– EGLP 48) 1981



The most famous Eno collaboration was a less subtle Third World rip-off, with trendy(for 1980) Talking Head, David Byrne. Here he leaves the Herky Jerky college boy funk behind a tad, to indulge Eno in his misappropriation of Holger Czukay's ethnological forgery techniques from the late sixties.
Again he manages to avoid the patronizing qualities of most western 'world' music atrocities, and creates something rather reflective of the culture clash between the technological landfill site that is the so-called 'west' and the poverty stricken financial hostages of the third world.A bit like what Philip Glass and Godfrey Reggio achieved in the movie "Koyaanisquatsi" around the same time.....there was a lot of it about in the early eighties apparently!?
I don't like to use the word 'samples' before sampling, but this is a case of using 'Found Dialogue' rather than syncing in digital recreations of field recordings of Algerian muslims, lunatic preachers, and traditional african singing.
The track "Qu'Ran" was withdrawn from the cd version due to complaints from.....you guessed it.....muslims. Which is strange because its not normally very easy to offend a Muslim now is it? 
They only whip out the odd death threat every now and again, if someone writes a book,or accidentally samples an Islamic prayer and puts it on a pop record. Ahhhh, bless 'em.
But us here on Die or DIY? aren't so easily offended, and therefore it's back in, and all you fun lovin' muslims out there, get your women's faces out and lets move to some rich intellectual pop stars version of Ambient tribal funk music.
The record that launched a thousand Muslimgauze albums.

Tracklist:

America Is Waiting 3:36
Mea Culpa 3:35
Regiment 3:56
Help Me Somebody 4:18
The Jezebel Spirit 4:55

Very,Very Hungry
Moonlight In Glory 4:19
The Carrier 3:30
A Secret Life 2:30
Come With Us 2:38
Mountain Of Needles 2:35
Qu'Ran 3:46