Thirdorgan ‎– "The Pornography Of Despair" (SSS Productions ‎– SSS45) 1993

Well I never!?....how rude?
How downright inappropriate is that artwork? However,despite being literally ,too,appropriate in accordance with the title, it very appropriately appeals to the labido of your average Harsh Noise consumer locked away in their bedroom at Mum and Dads house. Mainly because they can masturbate with their fist organ (they have no girlfriends normally) while looking at the artwork in conjunction with listening to the relentless scraping of the abused electronic nightmare served up for us by Akihiro Shimizu.
Of course us Bloggers have no need for Pornography because we have a steady stream of modern womanhood and/or finely honed young gay gentlemen kicking our doors down just to bathe in our light for 5 minutes. Then they can all just fuck off and leave us alone, because our self-asteem is so secure we don't really need anything so vulgar in our superior lives.......now thats clear, where's that ladies underwear catalog?....Phwoooooaaaar! Knickers Knackers Knockers Missus!

Tracklisting:

The Pornography Of Despair
A1 Part I. Dedicated To M.C. 22:49
A2 Part II. Dedicated To S.M. 21:42
Metabolism
B1 Part I 22:55
B2 Part II 21:36

DOWNLOAD for a satisfactory unloading HERE!

Thirdorgan ‎– "Mirrorman" (Betley Welcomes Careful Drivers ‎– CRASH 007) 1996

Also on Phil Todd's (mr Ashtray Navigations) 'Betly Welcomes Careful drivers' label, one can find plenty of obscure Japnoise.A fine example being Akihiro Shimizu, otherwise known as 'Thirdorgan'.
If you had any paint left to strip from your walls, this should finish it off for you.
Mirrorman,FYI, is one of those Japanese super-heroes frequently seen saving Tokyo from some deranged monster.Check picture above.
So if you think the Japanese aren't weird???Check out Mirrorman in action against something called Darkron (click Here)...or is that Dark Ron? Dark Ron describes one of my dodgier uncles exactly.

Oh yeah!....This tape was Part of the 'Are You Sane Enough To Drive?' series.
Includes ,Reflective covers,foldout insert and Mirrorman paper mask.

Tracklisting:

A1 Untitled 10:20
A2 Untitled 12:51
B1 Untitled 17:18
B2 Untitled 2:07

DOWNLOAD then take a long look at yourself in the mirror...man HERE!

Ashtray Navigations ‎– "The Black Clock" (Matching Head ‎– Matching Head 44) 1996

A black clock is alright as long you've got alternatively coloured hands, white for example.Unless the Black Clock is a metaphor for the inexorable tick-tocking of the countdown to ones inevitable demise. In which case this dark ambient, glitchy, smear of a recording would be the soundtrack. The difference being the Black Clock runs backwards,but cassette players normally only play forwards.An interesting juxtaposition yes? Therefore each should theoretically cancel the other out, and time will stand still.We will escape death but be forever stuck in a limbo of our own creation.....and bored shitless!
But, at least we could listen to this Ashtray Navigations tape for eternity. Its good, but even an eternity of listening to something good, great even, would have the most bulletproof constitution screaming out for Aquas "Barbie Girl" (a terrible number one hit from the nineties that thought it was being 'ironic')."Com'on Barbie, Let's Go party"!? If these scandinavians were actually warbling about Klaus Barbie, the 'Butcher of Lyon', rather than the kitch childrens dolly and gay icon,then this would be a supreme example of the art of Irony. Leaving the notion of Partying with a Nazi war criminal very much to the darker side of ones imagination. Maybe this is the description of Hell that the Bible failed to include, if so i'm gonna start praying and grovelling for redemption from any God that will listen.

Tracklisting:

1. Black Clock part 1 (22:38)
2. Black Clock part 2 (22:21)

DOWNLOAD a clock that is black HERE!

Jandek ‎– "Athens Saturday" (Corwood Industries ‎– Corwood 0812) 2013

What destroyed Nick Drakes first two albums?.....fucking string arrangements.I hate String arrangements, almost as much as I hate Brass sections, and backing singers! 
Jandek is yet to use the latter two abominations.
So when i saw Violin and Cello listed in Jandeks backing band for this double CD, I was nervous.
Wait, I thought.An inappropriate spark of positivity flashed across my frontal lobe briefly. This could be like a Nico's 'Marble Index' moment.One of the rare times when trad classical instrumentation actually married well with natural music.
Well....you know what i'm gonna say?....It does so right here.
Any work called "Waiting To Die" has to be good, right?
"How 'bout a round of Golf", our depressed representative whines as the Bass Clarinet kicks in.
"When is this Shit going to end?" is his retort to that woodwind interjection.
There will be a lot of pseudo composeurs (sic) saying the same phrase as their ears spontaeneously implode after the first few non-notes dance forth from their listening devices.
Jandek, narrating more than singing, on improv piano, is at his literal best with the words.It all makes sense for once.Christ on a Stick(!).....I even Identified with them!!!!????.......now i'm worried that I urgently need to see a shrink!!!
Even the classically trained parts of the backing musicians have that rare instinct among such creatures, namely an ability to improvise.They're usually lost without notation written down for them,like children waiting for instructions and an mad professor in a penguin suit waving a baton at them to keep time etc. Forget about metronomic time keeping in the world of Jandek.Its a place where time doesn't exist; except when it does rarely raise its ugly repressive head, it passes at crawling pace, like a slug slithering over a sheet of coarse grained sandpaper.
This hourand forty minutes long tune excretes possibly even more hopelessness and shameless nihilism than even 'The Marble Index' did?
Never thought I'd say this about latter day Jandek, but I wanna play this again!?

Tracklisting:

1.1 Waiting to die (part 1) (52:08)
2.1 Waiting to Die (part 2) (50:08)

DOWNLOAD without waiting too long HERE!

Ashtray Navigations ‎– "Drain'd" (Betley Welcomes Careful Drivers) 1996

Another one of those microphone without wind shield in a gale noise cop outs. We've all done it, and thought we were very clever didn't we? This was Ashtray Navigations attempt at being clever.
There's only so many time one can listen to frying circuitry, and I passed my quota a looooong time ago.
But, there'll be someone out there who will dig this crazy single sided cassette fuzz-out as if it was the first time again.I suppose Noise is a bit like Sex I guess?

Tracklisting:

1. Drain'd (46:21)

DOWNLOAD from the drainage system of world culture HERE!

Ashtray Navigations ‎– "Bicycle Glue Blues" (E.F. Tapes ‎– Echo Fixation #11) 1994

As i'm getting a bit bored with posting minimal synth albums, maybe its time to go into the chill out area and absorb some strange noise.......from the 'Nineties'!!!???
Yes, Color Disc wasn't the only means of escape from the mind mushing beat of Club culture and the bowel-flushing absurdity of Britpop in the UK. Look hard enough and there were a hardcore of creative non- musicians who probably didn't even realise that the world had moved on. Just like back in 1977 when the Prog groups returned from the padded cell of the United States of Awful, to discover that they were now roundly hated. However, in my school there was always a clique who still donned denim jackets, shoulder length hair, with Genesis written in biro on their adidas bags.......I now envy them. Like most Punks, I was always a secret Progger, and was secretly relieved when Rotten came out as a Van Der Graaf Generator fan, and Howard Devoto's new group was basically Progressive Rock with sneery vocals.
The same happened in the mid-Nineties, as one was deeply interested in Jungle and Drum'n'Bass, but in the chill out room, one could rediscover Krautrock , Italian Prog, and Van Der Graaf again. Never really looked back from there. These were traditional 'No-Go' areas for a long time.
While Oasis and Blur (Whoops,I'll admit to seeing Blur in a packed pub in Leicester....missed Oasis at the same venue thankfully,-only five people there apparently?), were making themselves out to be another new Beatles and Kinks, Phil Todd from Cheshire, was creating a world of his own on his "Betley Welcomes careful Drivers" cassette label. Like a Gary Ramon of the nineties,except the emphasis was more on the noisey rather than melodic, or pop, avenue.
This early cassette, is a demonstration of how to make a recording with no musical ability or technique whatsoever. Just get a load of cheapo instruments and budget effects,twist knobs press go, and just do it.A lazy way to explain this music is "Experimental"....other people, the normals...the ones who like Blur and Oasis, would describe it equally lazily as "Crap".....one begs to differ.

DOWNLOAD this bicycle repair kit addiction HERE!

Various Artists ‎– "Color Supplement" (Color Disc ‎– colors 4) 1988

Its 1988, we're all E'd up, shaking maraccas, and white man-dancing like idiots;but there were small oasis's of sanity to be found.One of those places of solace was Color Tapes, and probably the most well known Color Disc/Tapes compilation is dis (sic).
It's got the usual array of Gary Ramon,Lives Of Angels collaborations, and the usual mix-up of Neo-Psych and minimal synth tracks. There are few tracks that i haven't already featured elsewhere on the Blog, but it makes a fine introdustion to one of the founding father labels of British Independent music culture.

Tracklisting:
A1 –Modern Art - Golden Legend
A2 –Modern Art - Forbidden Universe
A3 –Modern Art - Cutting Water
A4 –Mystery Plane - Snakebite
A5 –Mystery Plane - Burning Desire
A6 –Mystery Plane - Crazy Bombs
B1 –Lives Of Angels - Look Out Kid
B2 –Lives Of Angels - Red Suit
B3 –Lives Of Angels - After Dark (Intended Version)
B4 –WeR7 - Bread
B5 –WeR7 - Caped Crusader
B6 –WeR7 - Now Wash Your Hands

DOWNLOAD in full glossy color HERE!

Mystery Plane ‎– "Curse Of The Bodysnatchers - Tape Recordings 1980-86" (Vinyl-on-demand ‎– VOD115.11) 2013

Remember when all those 'Indie bands', like The Beloved, Primal Scream,Soup Dragons, Mock Turtles, and shit like that, turned Electro-Disco,or, 'Rave', overnight in 1988?...well the Color Tapes roster were doing that in the year of C86 (1986). Bands that were previously neo-psych VU wannabes, were now churning out minimal cold wave synth numbers. Mystery Plane were not excluded from this phase, as is evident on this retrospective compilation of their work up to 1986.
In fact when all those Madchester idiots were rattling their Tambourines, most of the Color Tape crew reverted to guitar based neo-psych, best represented by The Sun Dial's rather excellent output from 1989 onwards. Always do the antithesis of the accepted norms....and be careful what drugs you take.

Tracklisting:

A1 Fractured
A2 Curse Of The Body Snatcher
A3 Snakebite
A4 That Will Be The Day
A5 Crying Again
A6 Vampire
A7 Death Rattle
A8 Weird Science
B1 These Cities
B2 Evil Eye
B3 Find Some Body
B4 Zero Curse Missile
B5 The Curse

DOWNLOAD the curse of the mystery plane HERE!

Mystery Plane ‎– "Still Life" (Color Disc ‎– COLOR LP 04) 1981/2016

This record was originally a demo cassette made in 1981 that was hawked around record labels with a view for release. Color Tapes later released a 100 copies edition.......it says.

Mystery Plane was basically a Modern Art/ Lives Of Angels color Tapes sooper groop, plus a new singer who sounds not unlike an young English Stan Ridgeway at times,american inflections and all.

Singer aside, what we're served with is an electronic neo-psych indie pop musical tapas which trys, reasonably hard, to make foot tapping pop tunes for the disenfranchised student type.

Tracklisting:

A1 Telephone
A2 This Is Your Life
A3 Something To Prove
A4 Tightrope
A5 Someone Else
A6 Poor John
B1 Crying Again
B2 Death Sentence
B3 (Do The) Shah Of Iran (Twist)
B4 Still Life
B5 Silence After Midnight

DOWNLOAD if you're still alive HERE!

Jandek ‎– "Houston Saturday" (Corwood Industries ‎– CORWOOD 0813) 2013

So you think you're alive do you? Listen to too much Jandek and you'll wish you weren't.
Although, this improvised avant-rock outing in his home town is one of his best later period Jandek recordings. The representative really gets into his vocals,bordering on the 'rocking-out'.He even sounds a bit drunk??? However, my personal fantasy Jandek has to be an abstainer from alcohol,so i'll imagine he's just venting his recluses angst.....yep that works for me.
As unconnected as the song titles seem to be with the music,just reading the words has you asking uncomfortable questions about life,the universe and everything.....'42', right?...thats as good an answer as anything.
How do you know you're alive? How do you know you're not gonna be switched off at any second by an alien's claw when the programme has terminated? Is it all just a lucid dream in the mind of an indeterminate entity that some of the dumber parts of the dream call 'God'?
But Jandek 'Knows', and in the midst of this nebulous reality, so do we.
The answer was fleshed out at the Free Press Summer Fest, Houston, Texas, June 1, 2013 by jandek and uncredited rhythm section.
The answer is that there IS NO ANSWER! In fact the actual question is a bit vague,so stop searching and get on with the delusion that you actually exist.

Tracklisting:

1. I Know I'm Alive (35:18)

DOWNLOAD if you think you're alive HERE!

WeR7 ‎– "Rock'n'Roll is the Most" (Music For Midgets ) 1983

Basically WeR7 was a classic UK DIY project based around Gary Ramon and Antony Clough of Modern Art(etc).

It has all the hallmarks of original DIY, such as fuzzy sound quality, no songs, cheap drum box,experimentalism to replace ability,tapes of dialogue,no ambition....you name it it's here.

They were later to go minimal synth on us.....sucessfully I may add.

What it says on the tape insert:
Jo Change was recorded on 4-track and previously released on the compilation bearing the same name. Don't Surrender was featured on the cassette Dance To This which has been deleted.
...
Recorded by Conventional Tapes, 1 Atkinson Court, 2 Kings Close, London E10. Available from Music For Midgets, 40 Thompson Road, Langley Green, West Midlands.

Members of WeR7 can be found on tapes by The Ordinary, The Casual Labourers, The Door And The window, The Modern art, New 7th Music and Mystery Plane.

Tracklisting:

A1 She's My Baby
A2 A Tribute To Jo Change
A3 Last George
A4 "...Snakes Sang"
A5 Let Freedom Reign
A6 A Place Of My Own
B1 Radio Dromedary
B2 Promised Land
B3 Haunted House
B4 "Obviously Nigger Music"
B5 Jo Change (2)
B7 Yesterday
B8 Lard

DOWNLOAD rock'n'roll at its leastest HERE!

Lives Of Angels ‎– "Hole In The Sky" (Dark Entries ‎– DE-172) 2017

Lives of Angels ,after disappearing through a hole in the sky,have now qualified for a career spanning retrospective on Dark Entries. Including tunes from 1983 to 1989,and a few unreleased tracks thrown in for good measure.
Better quality versions of tracks from those Color Tapes compilations, and from their previous cassette albums can now be heard with almost crystal clarity. Now a new generation can thrill to the O'Connell's proto-indie sound of neo-psychedelic guitar jangle mixed with minimal synth pop analogness. Imagine Spacemen 3, Felt, 3rd album VU,and Depeche Mode in the same concrete mixer with added strawberry flavoured Angel Delight,resulting in a rather pleasent fluffy blancmange and you've got Lives of Angels.....or, Lives Of Angels Delight?

Notes:
Lives of Angels are Catherine O'Connell and Gerald O'Connell
All songs previously unreleased except:
A3,A6 originally released on ‘Elevator To Eden’ cassette by Color Disc, 1983
B2 originally released on ‘An Hour Of Color Vol. 2’ cassette by Color Disc, 1985
B5 originally released on ‘Color Pop Explosion’ cassette by Color Disc, 1989
Tracklisting:

A1 Call Moscow
A2 I Know About You
A3 Nothing Yet
A4 She Turns Aside
A5 Popular Violence
A6 Heartland
B1 Somebody Else
B2 Threatened
B3 Look Out Kid
B4 After Dark
B5 The Infinite Corridor

DOWNLOAD through a hole on the interweb HERE!

Lives Of Angels ‎– "Alternative Programming" (Color Disc ‎– Color 17) 1987

Lives of Angels,husband and wife duo Gerald and Caterine O'Connell, were responsible for the first release on Color Tapes, back in '83;...so they took the intervening four years to 1987 to do another one. That being this 60 minute cassette, also on Color Tapes, called "Alternative Programming".
Husband and Wife endeavours are seldom a good idea, but for these two it seems to work,as well as being a bit quaint.It's in a similar style to the debut,a hybrid of jangly Doug Yule-era Velvets indie-psych and minimal synth-pop which is very effective neo-psych-lite for the fringe wearing student. Its an experience akin to playing a Yazoo record at the same time as Felt's "Crumbling The Antiseptic Beauty" album. The Dichotomy,however unlikely, seems to work as a softly psychedelic experience with lashings of naiveté dripped onto one tiny sugarlump.

Tracklisting:

A1 Expert System
A2 Heartland (remix)
A3 Green On Black
B1 Samba School 1
B2 Artificial Intelligence 3
B3 Samba School 2
B4 Ruby In The Dust

DOWNLOAD alternatively HERE!

Modern Art ‎– "Stereoland" (Color Disc ‎– Colors 3) 1987

Modern Art was basically Gary Ramon only on this platter from 1987.
A return to the Neo-Psychedelia of earlier cassette releases,reather than the cold wave synth pop that made up the majority of Modern Arts output up to 1985, when Midi and digital synths squeezed the humanity out of wave music. The only way to go was backwards to move forwards,and Ramon promptly formed The Sun Dial, to crank the Psychedelia up a notch or two.
This one is rammed,if ten tracks qualifies as such, with jangly indie-tinged psych pop with hints of Cleaners From Venus,but missing the expert melodiousness of said group.....only just however.
Scheesh!
I apologise,as my write-ups are becoming extremely boring of late.Kinda losing my mojo.Not sure I even like music anymore!? Which is basically dead anyway is it not? Whats the point of this tedious drooling nostalgia for a past thats long gone, in a world where music is disposable background toilet roll for charity adverts,and Joy Division are heard playing at the rear of a current affairs programme on TV....which is dead also.
Sorry again.....i think my world view has been stained by waking up at 4:30 am in a room full of smoke and my bed was on fire!...not joking. I had left my electric blanket on full and it had started smouldering,complete with glowing embers,scorching my lickle tootsies and my sheets and duvet!.....it still smells of acrid fumes in here! Another near death experience that should give me a renewed vigour for existence, but alas....not.Its just made me MORE pissed off....if thats possible?
Third apology....I am english after all.....well,in fact keep that quiet too.After watching several hours of UK TV with British Politicians arguing with each other about leaving a fucking free trade organisation.Not one mention was made of the effect this Brexit shite will have on the ordinary person....which may surprise you,but I include myself in the category of 'Ordinary'; and the difficulties that would arise for me and my family from the absurd Empire Nostalgia and pure bigotory that has arisen from the blocked toilets of the great unwasheds collective minds.
Fouth Apology....sorry if this narrative has affected your own happiness levels,but I had to liven up this post somehow.....anyway I enjoyed writing it.Call it therapy.

Tracklisting:

A1 Golden Legend 3:03
A2 The Great Exit 2:42
A3 Dynamite City 3:30
A4 Blue Stone 3:21
A5 Nowhere Parade 4:28
B1 The Crashing Sea 3:47
B2 Red Tornado 4:01
B3 Patterned Silence 3:52
B4 Martha In Stereo 1:59
B5 Peruvia 1:52

DOWNLOAD from stereo interleved mp3 land HERE!

Modern Art ‎– "Sonic Dimensions 1982-1985" (Vinyl-on-demand ‎– VOD112) 2013

Here's one of those DIY for rich men compilation/career overviews on Vinyl On Demand. This time on Color Tapes stalwarts Modern Art, who were basically Gary Ramon plus mates.
Mostly released on cassette, Modern Arts sound balanced between a neo-psych indie jangle and minimal synth driven cold wave.
A rather high quality but prolific output for such an ignored group.Rightfully given a chance to be heard in hi-fi quality.
\if you prefer the smoggy cassette versions of a few of these songs a couple of early tapes can be found earlier in this blogs tenure.

Tracklisting:

Previously-Released Tape Recordings 1982-1985
A1 (Trying To Find) The Hidden World 4:02
A2 Hello/Goodbye 6:45
A3 Landscape From A Dream 4:01
A4 Sad Delusion 3:46
A5 Confrontation 3:45
A6 Oriental Towers 4:56
B1 Dreaming Again 4:00
B2 Still Life 3:28
B3 Fatal Crash Immersed The Start 8:13
B4 Search For A Soul 7:53
B5 Beach On The Horizon 4:02
Publisher Demos 1985
C1 Forbidden Universe 4:45
C2 Hello/Goodbye 5:34
C3 Confrontation 5:04
C4 Red Tornado 5:46
C5 Breakdown 6:32
D1 (Trying To Find) The Hidden World 3:56
D2 Dreams To Live 3:38
D3 Age Of Lights 6:18
D4 Sight And Sound 6:44
D5 Early Warning 6:16
Previously-Released Tape Recordings 1983-1986
E1 Stars (Dreaming Again) (Instrumental Version) 3:58
E2 Clear Light 5:29
E3 Driftwood (Publisher Demo) 5:16
E4 Dimensions Of Noise Soundtrack (Part 4) 5:22
E5 Barriers 4:53
E6 Beach On The Horizon (Publisher Demo) 3:03
F1 Forbidden Universe 3:41
F2 Harmony In Red 3:04
F3 Figure Of Eight 3:22
F4 Black Into White 2:56
F5 Vertikal Parallel 3:30
F6 Passing Days 2:45
F7 Vision 3:15
F8 Dimension (Edit) 1:51
F9 Calico Shadows 3:23

DOWNLOAD  a sonic dimension HERE!

Jandek ‎– "Houston Saturday 2011" (Corwood Industries ‎– CORWOOD 0815) 2014

'Tis "Jandek Monday" again!
Here we find the Bard of tone deaf Whining,...er... whining, on home territory again from December 17th 2011.Thankfully without proper musicians making him sound like someone else.This the is raw and naked Jandek that we know and love, solo, with out of tune acoustic guitar.
We even get treated to a spoken word piece to open the set.
You lucky people.

Tracklisting:

1 The Door And The Red Tree 5:22
2 Johnny Dupree 8:42
3 Day Of The Afternoon 5:37
4 Down And Out 3:53
5 All About You 3:37
6 You Stole Me 3:38
7 I Die 4:10
8 The Present 4:00
9 My Home 5:06
10 How I Know You 5:20

DOWNLOAD the nightmare before christmas 2011 HERE!

Various ‎Artists – "Purple Twilight" (Color Disc ‎– Colors 2) 1985

Despite 'Color' being a glaring spelling error, (The american spelling!), there are very few errors on any of their compilations.
Purple Twilight being one of them.Although the title would suggest that it may have been one of those Bam Caruso Brit-psych/Freakbeat compilations, if one didn't know better.
There are some Neo-Psych tracks within however, but scattered among the Minimal Synth, proto-Indie tchoons, and Cold wave classics.The Duke Of Disrespect also makes another, but welcome, appearance with the samplerdeclic non-hit hit, "You Tell Lies".
Experimental improv combo,'New 7th Music', featuring Paul Keldays brother ,Phil, also makes a very rare outing on vinyl.
A smogasbord of excellence.

Tracklisting:

A1 –Mystery Plane - Red Slime Creepers
A2 –Eye See - Evenings
A3 –Space Brothers - Sixteenth Avenue Atmosphere
A4 –The Duke Of Disrespect - You Tell Lies (Banging Away)
A5 –The Teamtones - Build A House And Marry, Tom
A6 –WeR7 - Revolve Her
A7 –Timothy London And The Soho Sisters - Hold Me Down
B1 –Modern Art - Death Wish
B2 –New 7th Music - Hibakusha
B3 –Omming For Works - Change Of Intention/The Punished Animal
B4 –Face In The Crowd - How Much Do You Know?
B5 –Andy Boot Quartet - Is That Close Enough?
B6 –The Ordinary - Wessex Tales

DOWNLOAD into the purple daylight HERE!

Various Artists ‎– "An Hour Of Color Vol. 3" (Color Disc ‎– Color 13) 1986

The incredibly high standard of stuff from Color Tapes continues with volume 3 of the 'An Hour Of Color' series of compilations.I've said it all before, you know what you're gonna get, so get on with it.....its good.

Tracklisting:

A1 –Space Brothers - Lost Civilisation
A2 –Modern Art - Monument Of Heaven
A3 –Lives Of Angels - Lives Of Angels
A4 –WeR7 - The Hearts Outstanding
A5 –Kata Kolbert - Poor Poor Thing
A6 –Cleaners From Venus - Ilya Kuryakin Looked At Me
A7 –Moisten Before Use - Where To Now
A8 –Bill Pritchard - Fact Or Fiction
B1 –Space Brothers - Purple Twilight
B2 –Modern Art - She Cannot Yet Be Seen
B3 –Lives Of Angels - Green On Black
B4 –Kata Kolbert - Marriage Of Inconvenience
B5 –Shadow Of Light - Play Your Joker
B6 –Cleaners From Venus - Follow The Plough
B7 –3D5 - Special Fx
B8 –Face In The Crowd - Somewhere, Sometimes
B9 –Mystery Plane - Madame Sin

DOWNLOAD the color from c86 HERE!

Various ‎Artists – "An Hour Of Color Vol. 2" (Color Disc ‎– Color 10) 1985

Another one of the many compilations released on cassette by Color Tapes in the eighties, this one is from 1985....not a vintage year elsewhere, but on the Color label, it was as if the 'New Romantics' had never happened.
We are treated to two melodic classix from the cruelly ignored 'Cleaners From Venus', worth the admission money all by themselves.This is countered by the truly awful 'That It', with some over-clever lounge jazz for the discerning pseudo intellectual.
The rest is populated by the usual Color crew, normally involving Gary Ramon somewhere in the mix of Minimal Synth, Cold Wave, and Proto-Indie ditties...really rather marvellous.

Tracklisting:

A1 –Cleaners From Venus - Soul Monday
A2 –Lives Of Angels - Red Suit
A3 –Take-It - Fallen Out
A4 –Modern Art - Confrontation
A5 –Berserk In A Hayfield - Pulse
A6 –WeR7 - I Was Not A Jew
A7 –Space Brothers - Lodore
B1 –Cleaners From Venus - Julie Profumo
B2 –Take-It - I'd Like To Talk To You
B3 –Berserk In A Hayfield - Fear
B4 –Mystery Plane - Dungeon Blues
B5 –Timothy London - Mission Impossible
B6 –The Teamtones - She Says No
B7 –Lives Of Angels - Threatened
B8 –Andy Boot Quartet - Perfectly Perfunctory
B9 –WeR7 - I Pray To A Moving God

DOWNLOAD a full 52 minutes of color HERE!

Various ‎Artists – "Cold Waves Of Color Volume 5" (Color Disc ‎– COLOR LP 08) 2018

The standard of these Color Tapes compilations are unsurpassed in the murky world of reissued pop from the past.
Amid all the excellent Synthwave, there even lurks a forgotten Good Missionaries tune, which has undergone the aural modernising process of remastering....not that it makes much difference to the very Lo-Fi missionaries sound.
Plenty here to satisfy electro-junkies, as well as a splash of proto-indie from Lives of Angels to remind us of Color's other strengths.
I'd struggle to pick out which was the best volume from this series.....at the moment i'd go for Volume 4,tomorrow may have a different answer.
Faultless.

Tracklisting:

A1 –Void - Isotope
A2 –Echophase - Silent Sky
A3 –Berserk In A Hayfield - Berserk
A4 –Silicon Valley - Transit 6
A5 –The Lord - Production Line
A6 –The Good Missionairies - Bending A Border (Dub Version)
B1 –Berserk In A Hayfield - August Haze
B2 –Echophase - Continental Shift
B3 –Lives Of Angels - Golden Age
B4 –Modern Art - Colliding World
B5 –Lives Of Angels - Pavillion

DOWNLOAD a fifth of color HERE!

Various ‎Artists – "Cold Waves Of Color Volume 4" (Color Disc ‎– COLOR LP 06) 2016

Yet more minimal synth cold wave classics from Color Tapes' classic early eighties period. All the usual suspects are here again.....most of them involving Gary Ramon (latterly of The SunDial). All previously available only on the medium of cassette, and have now been expertly remastered from the original masters to appear sparkly and as crisp as newly born babe. Its almost incomprehensible that these babes are now approaching forty years old; but they are!

Tracklisting:

A1 –Beatmixer - Danse Electrique
A2 –Silicon Valley - Going Out
A3 –Berserk In A Hayfield - Start Of Something
A4 –Disintegrators - Transmissions Unknown
A5 –Silicon Valley - ZX
A6 –WeR7 - Word Perfect
B1 –Mystery Plane - I'll Get You For This
B2 –Echophase - Train
B3 –Berserk In A Hayfield - Optical
B4 –Lives Of Angels - Gateway
B5 –Beatmixer - The Beatmixer

DOWNLOAD and surf the cold wave HERE!

Various Artists ‎– "Cold Waves Of Color Volume 3(1979-85)" (Color Disc ‎– COLOR CD 03)

A third volume of lost or forgotten classics of the minimal electronic genre from the Color Disc archives.
Starts off with the sample fest classic of "You Tell Lies" by the mysterious Duke of Disrespect...or in other words Gary Ramon who'd just bought an Ensoniq Mirage.Then it gets even better from there.

Tracklisting:

1 –Duke Of Disrespect - You Tell Lies (Banging Away) 3:10
2 –Silicon Valley - X-Cell 4:00
3 –The Lord - Universe 3:30
4 –Disintegrators - Oscillations 4:00
5 –Lives Of Angels - Green On Black 3:09
6 –Silicon Valley - Holborn Station 3 am 3rd January 1982 1:50
7 –Stereo Machines & Kinesis - Excerpt From Cassette No.7 2:24
8 –Disintegrators - Filter Reactor 3:39
9 –Berserk In A Hayfield - Club Paris 3:29
10 –Echophase - Destination 4:29
11 –Mystery Plane - When The Money Runs Out 3:31
12 –Lives Of Angels - Red Suit 5:20
13 –Modern Art - Opaque 4:28
14 –Stereo Machines & Kinesis - Excerpt From Cassette No.6 2:54
15 –Disintegrators - Disintegrate (Edit) 7:09

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Various ‎Artists – "Cold Waves Of Color Volume 2 (1982-85)" (Color Disc ‎– COLOR LP 02) 2015

Color Disc, previously Color Tapes, was once a vehicle for a bunch of Neo-Psych and Proto Indie bands from 1980 onwards, and it was mainly these same groups of musicians who also produced some of the best underground minimal synth of the early eighties. Electronic music is, in my opinion, a superior form of Psych, both in classic and Neo versions, so the leap in style is not as great as it would first seem. A form which would eventually haunt us all as 'Acid House', which then evolved into that bloody awful 'club culture' when the proletariat wrestled  it from the grasp us elitist types.It always happens,mass acceptance leading to a generic indolence of a particularly unattractive kind.
The gorgeous analogue beauty of these timeless pieces of minimal electro-psych in that short window of time from 1980-85 when synthpop, or synth wave was almost impossible to do badly.Just look at that equipment list, perfect.

Tracklisting:

A1 –Disintegrators - Elixir Vapor 3:31
A2 –Void - Transvision 3:06
A3 –The Lord - Out Of Space & Out Of Time 6:15
A4 –Body Electric - Undercurrents 3:17
A5 –Space Brothers - Lodore (Purple Twilight remix) 3:30
B1 –Void - Radio 3:44
B2 –Berserk In A Hayfield - Pulse 5:11
B3 –WeR7 - Masterful Of Ceremonies 5:13
B4 –Lives Of Angels - Experiment 1 2:29
B5 –Mystery Plane - Find Some Body 3:53
B6 –Lives Of Angels - Experiment 2 2:44

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Various Artists ‎– "Cold Waves Of Color (1981-85)" (Color Disc ‎– COLOR LP 01) 2014

A recent series of compilations of UK electronic cold wave and minimal synth from the legendary Color tapes label. Featuring many previously neo-psych bands, mostly including DIY legend Gary Ramon as a member. All of these tracks were previously only available on cassette, either/or previously unreleased. They could have been recorded yesterday such is the quality and future leaning inventiveness of all of these tracks.

Tracklisting:

1 –Berserk In A Hayfield - Tease
2 –Modern Art - Alternative Universe (Edit)
3 –Lives Of Angels - Lives Of Angels
4 –The Lord - Winds Of Space
5 –Berserk In A Hayfield - Code
6 –WeR7 - Don't Surrender
7 –Mystery Plane - Pigsty Cafe
8 –Stereo Machines And Kinesis - Excerpt From Cassette Number 10
9 –WeR7 - Volt Air
10 –The Lord - Space Is The Bass
11 –Disintegrators - Beyond Reason Beyond Time
12 –Lives Of Angels - Threatened
13 –Modern Art - Age Of Lights (Instrumental Version)

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Jandek ‎– "London Tuesday" (Corwood Industries ‎– CORWOOD 0793) 2008

Jandek Monday from a Tuesday in the UK,13 years hence.

Recorded live at St. Giles in the Fields,London,October 18, 2005.A church in the southern part of Camden, where we get a proper solo performance from the Corwood Representative; naked and raw in the  evening,with acoustic guitar and no proper musicians to flesh it out.The song "Part Three" is of particular interest, as it makes a number of direct references to the characters and themes of "Naked in the Afternoon", the first song from "Ready for the House".
The cover features our man from Corwood standing against a backdrop of the city of Bath (UK),which to my rudimentary knowledge,isn't London?.

Tracklisting:

No Mind Was A Good Mind
1 Part One 9:25
2 Part Two 7:19
3 Part Three 6:59
4 Part Four 8:05
5 Part Five 7:25
6 Part Six 7:19
7 Part Seven 9:35
8 Part Eight 11:04

if you have a good mind to DOWNLOAD something, do it HERE!

Naked Lunch ‎– "From Another Time (Demos & Singles 1979-84)" (Evolve Or Die ‎– EODSUBCD 172) 2015

Another 'Stevo Band', he behind Some Bizarre, was Naked Lunch.Although never releasing hardly anything in their lifetime, they seemed to always be featured in the music press. It helps they had a shameless publicist as a manager one supposes?
Naming your group after a William Burroughs experimental novel was supposed to have the effect of making you seem immeadiately more intelligent that your audience,a bad case of Intellectual Posing.They could have chosen a more obscure reference if they actually were more intelligent than you are. The excellent 'Dead Fingers Talk' were another example, but they came across as just enlightened rockers from Kingston-upon-Hull, where you were libel for a good kicking if you even hinted that you read books.....also they were mates with Mick Ronson, so they're exempt.
I may be playing the role of the 'Talking Asshole'....(note clever Burroughsian reference)....but,Naked Lunch aimed themselves at the growing industrial electronic niche.Their earlier tracks hinted at at the rubber clad synth pop direction later owned by those Depeche Mode puffs, but then started dressing like goths towards the end of their first incarnation....what was that all about?
Nonetheless, I always admire groups who never release any records, so, well done you crazy kats; albeit katz with obscure Brion Gysin pamphlets dangling visibly from their raincoat pockets.....purely for your benefit of course.

NB...Oh yeah, apparently they've reformed and touring???...why not every other fucker is doing it?

Tracklisting:

Rabies (Demo) 3:11
La Femme 5:17
Rabies 4:55
Slipping Again 3:57
Fade Away 3:26
So Frantic (Demo) 3:32
You Tie Me Down 3:26
Laugh Your Mind Away 3:32
Make Believe 3:35
Breathe 3:40
Weekend Behaviour 2:53
I Believe In Lies (Song Writing Demo) 3:45
Now Only Sighs (Song Writing Demo) 3:45
Captain Black (Minus Captain Scarlet Samples) 4:05
Destroy 10:07
The Mourning After 10:07

DOWNLOAD from another time to this time HERE!

Soft Cell ‎– "Demo Non Stop" (Some Bizzare ‎– SBZ059) 2006

They done demo's in proper studios too, as well as in Davids Bedsit y'know?
Dunno if any of these made it onto any official albums other than 'Say Hello Wave Goodbye', but I much prefer Almond before he got tainted and vocally ambitious with his annoying white boy mascara soul.Like a gay sibling singing in the bathroom as he applied his make-up before hitting the clubs.Kraftwerk may have invented the minimal synth tune, but it took some effeminate Brits to give it some 'soul' to make the android a bit more humanoid,or,make the Android more androgynous?....for good or bad, it was popular.
I did actually, accidently, attend an AIDS benefit concert by Almond, in Leicester Cathedral in feb 2000;on the spot where King Richard the Third is now entombed....he'd be turning in his sepulchre if it wasn't for his scoliosis. 'Twas pretty awful,with the Almond busting a bloodvessel crooning out a splurge of Scott Walker, Jacques Brel classics, and many more works by other over-dramatic songsmiths that he murdered on the night. The highlight was the moment Jesus cut the power supply....but....he kept caterwauling in the dark....ever the consummate professional....horrific!
He was much better in 1978,when he knew his limits.I won't spoil it by listening to the official LPs. 
Ah,the tragedy that being 'Discovered' does to a person!

Tracklisting:

1 Frustration 3:30
2 Facility Girl 1:34
3 Secret Life 3:38
4 A Man Can Get Lost 2:52
5 Persuasion 3:09
6 Cleansing Fanatic 2:38
7 Tupperware Party 2:13
8 Babes In Consumerland 2:01
9 As Advertised 2:30
10 When We Go Marching 2:39
11 Say Hello, Wave Goodbye 4:51

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Soft Cell ‎– "The Bedsit Tapes" (Some Bizzare ‎– SBZ046) 2006

Not that I had anything to do with Soft Cell when they were around back in the day, but, in hindsight this pair of  beta males were partly, if not wholy, responsible for unleashing the flood of synthgeek with effeminate bloke duo's onto this planet.
The 'synth' gave those of us who were alienated by the resurrection of butch cock-rock that Punk had become, a chance to express themselves,add a touch of eyeliner and sing about something more interesting than not having a job. This could all be done at the same time as fucking off your mates and parents. My dad could sit through The Pistols and Sham 69 on Top of the Pops,he even seemed to enjoy it, but nothing got his goat more than an effeminate bloke leering into the camera. Forget Bowie putting his arm around Mick Ronson during 'Life On Mars'.For my Father it was the bass player from The Sweet, wearing a long black dress (probably with a swastika armband?),Kaiser Bill helmet ,hitler moustache with black lipstick and full eye makeup, camping it up during 'Blockbuster', with a fey gayness as he leered in dad's(and my) direction to mime (badly) the words to the line "we haven't got a clue what to do"........at this point my paternal parent grunted "Bloody 'ell", and left the living room. Only Jimmy Saville got a more violent reaction from him......now we all know why...even my lovely daddy knew what the BBC didn't. Bowie, Glitter, and Bolan left him unmoved, but the Sweet always got a reaction. This, of course is where The New York Dolls nicked their ideas from.
In the eighties Gender-Bending became a national pastime, and several of these acts made it big across the pond. So much so that in the mind of every marginalised redneck youth, every Brit,had questionable sexuality, was pale and thin and wore eyeliner and lipstick to go down the pub. Which is not far from the truth.
A reputation that was mainly the fault of Boy George and Depeche Mode.However,Soft cell were, i'm sure, very capable of challenging everyones sexuality on their own Top of the Pops appearances, just as The Sweet did; but these pale boys from Leeds Polytechnic meant it.
They also started in classic DIY fashion by recording in Dave's bedsit in Leeds, and Stevo had the good grace to release these underproduced recordings in 2006. The best stuff they ever did.

Tracklisting:
1 Potential 3:28
2 L.O.V.E. Feeling 3:26
3 Metro Mr X 2:08
4 Bleak Is My Favourite Cliché 2:15
5 Occupational Hazard 3:32
6 Mix 4:19
7 Factory Fun 3:20
8 Science Fiction Stories 3:15
9 Purely Functional 2:10
10 A Cut Above The Rest 2:09
11 Paranoid 2:25
12 Excretory Eat Anorexia Nervosa 4:37
13 Cleansing Fanatic 2:34
14 Walking Make Up Counter 2:54
15 Pyrex My Cuisine 1:07
16 Tupperware Party 2:04

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Oppenheimer Analysis ‎– "New Mexico" (Andie Oppenheimer Self-released) ‎– 1982

First came The Silver Apples, then Suicide,which gave us Soft Cell followed in the UK by a stampede of synth and singer duo's; the singer invariably being androgynous in appearence and behaviour.
One of the superior versions of this template being Oppenheimer Analysis, fronted by the very female voiced Andie Oppenheimer.
The analogue perfection of the synths on this tape is quite something to behold.Best heard on the classic Minimal Wave hit "Devils Dancers".
What's Andie doing now?....are you ready for this?....Andy Oppenheimer AIExpE MIABTI is a UK-based expert and consultant in counter-terrorism and CBRNE (chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear weapons and explosives)......crikey!?....and you thought he'd be on benefits somewhere near Southend on sea?
Apparently he's no relation to the father of the A-Bomb J. Robert Oppenheimer.....but having compared the photo's I suspect he is.
If only J. Robert had spent his time making androgynous minimal synth pop maybe the world would be a safer place?.....probably not?If the two Oppenheimers had swapped places we'd be living in a Nazi super state now, and we wouldn't have ever heard "Devils Dancers"!....if that isn't an argument for Nuclear Weapons I don't know what is.....I'm sure Andy has his views on the subject,especially as he's an expert in such matters?

Andy

J.Robert

Tracklisting:
1 Don't Be Seen With Me 3:16
2 Scorpions 2:43
3 Radiance 4:45
4 Men In White Coats 5:04
5 Modern Wonder 5:04
6 Subterranean Desire 4:17
7 Martyr 5:05
8 The Devil's Dancers 3:07
9 New Mexico 7:53
10 Security Risk 3:11
11 Behind The Shades 6:15
12 Cold War 5:43

DOWNLOAD analogue radiation from the nuclear family HERE!