Boards Of Canada – "Old Tunes Vol. 2" (Music70 – CANCAS003) 1996

Wow!? this Duo must have invented everything chill room infesting and bedroom festering one could care to imagine, it says 1985 to '96 here!? Not that it sounds like it was recorded on one of those cassette four track portastudios which I assume they must have used, with a noise reduction system that can only have been left behind by fleeing Aliens.

Just listening to this stuff makes me smug enough to lie about how many O-Levels i got in 1983,or is that a Dostoevsky in your pocket or do you like Intelligent Dance Music?

What these Scottish chum bums were doing making music like this in the mid-eighties has ones middle finger resting firmly on the 'dubious' button and another finger up each others arses.

As Pre-post-Club as this may seem, fill in the blank space,(_______).It is this partially inflated,dryly punchline shy, self-indulgent and occasionally clever-clever, attempt to be the Pet shop boys without any Pet Shop boys, does massage ones own 'I was there first' Dorsal vein enough to claim to have been listening to 'Intelligent Dance Music' before Aphex Twin was even born.

I used to say these things about The Fall,but have now cut it down to just preferring the 'Early Stuff'? Which is no doubt what Autechre fans say about Boards Of Canada.

Track List:


A1 We've Started Up 5:39
A2 Jimbo Rehearsing 0:35
A3 Staircase Whip 2:14
A4 Statue Of Liberty 1:52
A5 Dave (I'm A Real Traditionalist) 1:50
A6 Peace/Tony/Devil 0:18
A7 To The Wind 2:30
A8 Iraq Says 0:38
A9 Nine-Rubber Wisdom 1:20
A10 On A Rolling Sea 1:34
A11 Iced Cooly Beatnik 0:36
A12 David Came To Mahana'im 4:39
A13 Sir Prancelot Brainfire 2:51
A14 North Sea Arbeit 1:12
A15 Mushyz 0:35
A16 Heysanna Hosanna 0:59
A17 Fly In The Pool 0:51
A18 Mukinabaht 5:05
A19 It's A Whole 'Nother Year 2:00
B1 Kiteracer 2 2:29
B2 BMX Track 5:05
B3 Hiscores 3:38
B4 Geometric Piss 0:51
B5 Zander Two 3:59
B6 Magic Teens 3:00
B7 Apparatus 0:33
B8 Music For Pylons 1:12
B9 Alpha Rainbow 1:12
B10 Northern Plastics 1:55
B11 Buckie High 5:16
B12 I Love My New Shears 3:11
B13 Solarium 0:22
B14 Breaking Nehushtan 2:41
B15 Orange Hexagon Sun 2:22
B16 Lick 2:39
B17 Powerline Misfortune 1:15

DOWNLOAD bored in scotland HERE!

Boards Of Canada – "A Few Old Tunes" (Music70) 1996

 

Hands Up anyone who thought Boards of Canada were from Canada?

Ah......only me it seems!?

Two smart-arsed Scottish brothers....no not Black Scottish, they were actually proper brothers,as in genetically brothers from the same mother.

Well that's as Funky as it gets i'm afraid, as we are gently lulled to sleep by a myriad of rejected downtempo leftfield LP fillers recorded from 1991 to 1995. If you made it through this without going into a coma, then I shall hold back on the Bored of Canada quips.

Nah, i'm just being rude, its the perfect background accompaniment for a bored game such as Dungeons and Dragons,which boasts a twenty sided dice,while side two has a two sided cassette of fifteen tracks a side.

And like D&D, it is played and listened to by home dwelling geeks nerds and further education technophiles, who have an undiagnosed need to be thought of as Intelligent.Hence this disdainful post club glitch-fest and its even more Disdainful genre, laughably monikered IDM, or, Intelligent Dance Music......not that Geeks and Nerds, or anybody, actually Dances to this awkward Electronica,by Bored of Scotland.

The stoopider sections of society can in fact dance to anything,aided by the stoopid person's super-power.....a total lack of self-awareness, or get off yer Tits on drugs.

However, good to see those Aphex-a-like kids still embracing the freedom of DIY to put out yer own material on cassette,and photocoping up a hand scribbled insert,without the need of no record company man.

Tracklist:

A1 Spectrum 2:19
A2 Light, Clear Hair 0:41
A3 P.C. 0:48
A4 Trapped 3:52
A5 Rodox Video 1:19
A6 Happy Cycling 1:49
A7 House Of Abin'adab 1:55
A8 Finity 5:00
A9 Forest Moon 6:35
A10 Skimming Stones 2:12
A11 Carcan 1:50
A12 Devil 0:14
A13 Mansel 5:36
A14 She Is P 1:42
A15 Davie Addison 1:15
B1 Sac 1:23
B2 Blockbusters 0:40
B3 I Will Get It Tattooed 1:37
B4 The Way You Show 2:56
B5 I Love U 1:41
B6 King Of Carnival 4:18
B7 M9 3:32
B8 Original Nlogax 1:11
B9 Sequoia 4:49
B10 Boqurant 1:43
B11 5.9.78 4:14
B12 Wendy Miller 0:32
B13 Paul Russell's Piece 0:53
B14 Up The March Bank 3:24
B15 Nova Scotia Robots 1:47

DOWNLOAD almost intelligently HERE!

The Grey Wolves – "Catholic Priests Fuck Children" (Open Wound CD-r) (1996)

 

Oooooh Controversial!I do like a bad taste album title I do. Anything from the Never Mind The Bollox school of potential litigation,such as Flux Of Pink Indians' "The Fucking Cunts Treat Us Like Pricks" and the whole general area of being offensive for the sake of it and stuff.

Yeah Catholic Priests fuck kids, but they do get the rough end of the stick in shouldering the majority of the blame,Basically anyone,mostly male, in a position of responsibility involving children should be under surveillance 24-7.....or maybe 24-6,it is the Holy Day after all,give the kids and the priests the day off from all that unadulterated shagging. No sucking cocks on a Sunday said Moses as he descended the mountain hiding an erection.We'll leave that for the Jews and Muslims on Saturday.But of course, for us Secularists, Saturday is a traditional Holy day also, as its the pre-Sky TV window of opportunity to attend the Football match,sandwiched between visits to the Public House. Then cometh the middle to upper classes demographic who stole the working man's only means to entertain themselves before the Rock'n'Roll years popped up, leaving the Peasants with nothing else to do but a bit of saturday sodomy with the kids. Football has a lot to answer for,especially in failing to point out the many cases of sexual abuse perpetrated by football caches that have surfaced over the years.

So, nah all Priests ain't pedophiles,just most of them.

Breath deeply and relax to the mellow fuzzy Industrial Ambient noise and questionable politics of the Grey Wolves and feel grateful that you were never born into a Catholic household,and as a result of this good fortune were never fucked up,or Fucked up the Arse!....although knowing you lot,this is likely an attractive proposition.

Tracklist:

1 New Luddites 5:44
2 Beyond Hypocrisy 5:36
3 Turning The Tide 4:30
4 Breach Of Faith 5:17
5 Nothing Sacred 4:23
6 Skin Tight Orbit 4:00
7 State Of Siege 5:54
8 Deconstruction 5:17

DOWNLOAD bloggers don't fuck anybody HERE!

Ascension ‎– 'Broadcast' (Shock ‎– SX030CD) 1996

Two more catchy foot-tappers from Tony and Stefan.

I can see a day when there will be a dance craze based around this kind of music,all socially distanced of course,but by then the remanants of the Human experiment will have become used to new virus's and immune to 99.9% of them. All the useless appendages of the unhealthy, fat, and decrepit have been cleansed from the planet;which also included the ill-educated;mainly because there is now (I speak in the future present tense,rather like Footballers speak in the past/present tense)....there is now enough space to actually learn something that expands the mind rather than shit to get you a shit job. The labour force is fully automated, with strict controls on Artificial Intelligence,profits are shared amongst the citizens so the slimmed down populous of the world can indulge themselves in more pleasural persuits....something Nietzche was very keen on I gather? Embrace the Virus as our next stage in evolution.Granny,Grandad and Fatboy died so you could enjoy it.

Now get down that Free Music Disco and dance to an evening of Ascension, AMM, Harry Pussy,Derek Bailey, Fushitsusha,Nihilist Spasm Band and lashings of Coltrance,Shepp,Coleman,and Sanders and many many more....not available in shops.....especially as there won't be any.Also you won't have money to spend in them even if there were shops.It's all gonna be FREEEEEEEEEE....just like Die or DIY? is.

DOWNLOAD and broadcast the good news HERE!

Various Artists ‎– "Electronic Evocations A Tribute To The Silver Apples" (Enraptured ‎– RAPTCD02) 1996

This is the album that restarted it all. Simeon Coxe was flicking through the CD's in Tower records and came across this tribute to his former band in the various electronic section.Refreshingly not getting upset that someone was releasing versions of his tunes without asking him.He contacted Enraptured and congratulated them,and expressed a desire to get back into music again.
In fact, unknown to Coxe, a german label had been selling bootleg copies of the first two Silver Apples albums for years,helping grow the legend.No spiteful where's the money gone rants,just gratitude that someone had taken the time to spread the appreciation of the Apples work far and wide......some other 'Artists',and money driven bourgois reissue labels should show the same appreciative qualities when comes to the Music Blogs, who have done a Silver Apples for many a rediscovered musician,or buried record labels (eg Vanity records).
Here we have the cream of 1990's UK Indie neo-psych drone meisters,plus Windy and Carl,and Outrageous Cherry,whom i saw in New York and the female bass player was playing unplugged for at least two songs before someone else in the band noticed. Of note is that Scouts of Uzbekistan member, Mark Carolan, is drumming and programming for Alphastone's version of "You're Not Foolin' Me".
Ahaaa, Alphastone, as led by the 'other one' from Spaceman 3,I suppose, Spoaceman number 3, Pete Bassman,which had one of those extraneous members in the group, like Bez,or Chas Smash, who appeared to do nothing.They alway had to have a silly name too, and this one was called 'Digger'...he played some inaudible Conga's,but clearly thought he was Mozart.The only thing he had in common with Mozart however, was that he was an arsehole too. Naturally, constantly stoned off his face like he thought a proper musician should be, Digger had a problem with me and my entourage invading the backstage area to meet Simeon,and drink all the beer;Alphastone were supporting the Xian Hawkins era Apples,who weren't very good. Upon referring to their 'new' drummer, who had replaced the Scouts' Mark Carolan on the drum stool, as 'The New Drummer','Digger' insisted on saying 'Thee Drummer' with increasing aggression until everyone realised that he was indeed 'Superfluous', like the Paul Rutherford of UK neo-psych that he was.Couldn't hear his bongo's for love nor money,and i suspect he had a digeridoo stashed somewhere on his person too. The Silver Apples were better at their next Leicester gig a year later(where I posed as an Observer rock critic),with the original Dan Taylor on skins....now he was 'Thee Drummer', and thankfully, No Digger in sight.I think Windy and Carl supported this time...a vast improvement.
This compilation, However, is brilliant....maybe even better than the Silver Apples' records?...or is that blasphemy?


Tracklist:

1 –Windy & Carl- Program 4:24
2 –Scaredycat- You And I 5:08
3 –Third Eye Foundation- I Have Known Love 4:49
4 –Flowchart- Lovefingers 4:29
5 –Sabine- Dancing Gods 6:06
6 –Outrageous Cherry- Misty Mountain 2:34
7 –Alphastone- You're Not Foolin' Me 6:32
8 –Lorelei - Oscillations 4:08
9 –Monitor - A Pox On You 3:25
10–Amp - Seagreen Serenades 3:28
11–Tranquil - Ruby 4:36

DOWNLOAD evocativly HERE!

Ivor Cutler - "Jelly Mountain" (BBC radio Drama) 1996

Another short series of 15 minute long voyages down the rabbit hole into an Ivor Cutler wonderland of nonsense.

Tracklist:

1. Episode 1 : Ivor Cutler's unique views on language, justice and scratching people's backs.
2. Episode 2 :Ivor Cutler's unique views on how to promote a child's growth.
3. Episode 3 : A visit to the circus heralds arcane amusements.
4. Episode 4 : Musing on old cuppas and paying with Fool's Gold.
5. Episode 5 : Musings on a footkerchief and a forest full of girls.

DOWNLOAD something wibbley and wobbley HERE!

Patrik Fitzgerald ‎– "Room Service" (Beat Bedsit ‎– BASE03) 1996

For some reason, the beyond great Patrik Fitzgerald was always referred to as a..."Punk Poet",by the media!? But,although his lyrics stand up on their own as some kind of depressing street poetry,he has more in common with Folky singer song writers and protest singers than any poet.A Punk Woody Guthrie.
No-one has the knack to reveal the bleak horrors of life through its mundanities like parenthood,paying bills, and the general banality of existence.......wow, I bet you can't wait to listen to this?
Indeed, his lyrics certainly have a rather pessimistic bent,but sometimes,in fact all the time, realism is often mistaken for pessimism.
Unlike his Punk cohorts, Patrik didn't think that getting a job,'a future' was the answer to all our woes,the very opposite in fact.He could make even the most exciting career sound like the highway to the most uninspiring hell AC/DC never squarked about.
Welcome to a world of routine relationships, unhappy childhoods, debt slavery, petty theft, mindless violence, unwanted children,the disappointment of love, tedious careers, and many many more mundane horrors of just, being here.
This rare mid-nineties cd-r, captures Patrik in his natural habitat,in a bedroom,alone,with his acoustic guitar,recording his bleak songs for a minuscule audience of dedicated fans.
As it used to say on those adverts for 100 Country Rock Classics......'Not available in shops'.

DOWNLOAD to feel down HERE!

Eugene Chadbourne ‎– "Boogie With The Hook" (Leo Records ‎– CD LR 242) 1996

If there's one thing that Eugene Chadbourne managed to avoid is music with Hooks, in fact music that boogies too. So one assumes,once again, that this cheeky little monkey is being Ironic?
We got a bunch of duets with masters of the improvisation arts, like that man Derek Bailey again,along with his Dutch drummy mate Hans Bennink, and Eugenes old jazzbo chum John Zorn. Also making a posthumous appearance, is Free Jazz legend Charles Tyler. Posthumous as he died four years before this was released.....he's on track five.
An anti-matter version of 'Duelling Banjos' makes up track 6 with some Dutch Banjo player called Volcmar Verkerk.One Would have liked to have seen this banjo duel replacing the original version in John Boorman's (no relation to Martin I am told....shame) movie classic "Deliverance", along with Burt Reynolds getting the severe bumming from the Hillbilly.I'm sure that version would have won the razzie for worst film,or even worse, the Oscar for best film.
I remember watching that film on the Monday night movie slot with my parents in the mid-seventies,but cannot recall the male rape scene at all! I'm sure there would have been one of those awkward silences which occur when families witness sex acts on TV, but times ten.So i reckon it was censored.The BBC taking care of our hearts and minds again.....thank you Auntie Beeb.
Alas,no,sadly it wasn't Burt who received the brutal buggering, but the fat one who was not unlike Eugene Chadbourne in appearence,minus the glasses.I'm not certain, but I have a misty recollection that the other Hillbilly looked like an unshaven Derek Bailey....again, sans lunettes!?
The Buggering was the Hook.......see wot I did there?

Tracklist:

1 Whisky And Women 8:15
2 In Search Of Carl La Fong 8:05

3 Raking A Chance On Love 1:47
4 Untitled 5:13
5 In Between Comme C And Come Saw 13:18
6 The Banjo Duet 14:37
7 Red Lightning Part one 17:16

DOWNLOAD der bugger man and get hooked and fucked HERE!

Neil Campbell ‎– "Is Not Here" (Union Pole ‎– #53) 1996

Indeed, noise experimentalist Neil Campbell appears not to be here.Instead he's been replaced by one of those pain in the arses who whips out the acoustic guitar at parties and other social gatherings.Oblivious to the fact that he's shit (its always a 'He'), and incapable of knowing when to stop.Churning out a painful array of hits from the sixties and seventies, surrounded by adoring women.
If there's one song that makes me wanna smash something up, primarily any acoustic fucking guitar within my personal aura, It's "American fucking Pie"!!!!
It is, however, more than acceptable, if this excuse for self-immolation is played sardonically by someone like Neil Campbell, bristling with subtle irony,and lashings of stealthy intelligence. 
The most amusing tracks have to be his versions of  Syd Barratts "Astronomy Domine", and the demolishing of FM radio anthem to boredom, Led Zep's thoroughly atrocious "Stairway To Heaven"; otherwise known as the down escalator to some horrific rock'n'roll purgatory where this track plays in an eternal loop while you're straped into a chair.....no wait a minute,this exists already...its called American FM Radio.
I'd love to hear Neil having a go at doing a  "12 Crass Songs" thing like the Jeffery Lewis album of the same name."U2 Crass Songs" this time Maybe?

Tracklisting:

A1 American Pie
A2 If
A3 Green Is The Colour
A4 Fat Old Sun
A5 Stairway To Heaven
A6 Scarborough Fair
A7 Imagine
A8 Astronomy Domine
B1 Blowin' In The Wind
B2 The Times They Are A-Changing
B3 Let It Be
B4 Eleanor Rigby
B5 Penny Lane

B6 Unknown Title

the DOWNLOAD is not HERE!

Prick Decay & Neil Campbell ‎– "Rate Of CHB Is In" (Union Pole ‎– UP55) 1996

Breathe easy.....Prick Decay also did collaborations with unknowns with no ambitions to be a corporate whore of any description. One of them being Neil Campbell, the prolific sound abstracter from Yorkshire who's manin claim to fame is that he used to be in the Vibracathedral Orchestra.
These two sonic rebrobates, rather than sonic youths, manage to create a sound that is not unlike what your self charging radio would sound like after Russia and America have tested their new intermediate range nuclear missiles on your expendable social housing estate.
Naturally the poor and lower stratas of the middle class will be vaporised first, but the inevitable second wave of long range warheads will wipe out all communications centres, and, regretabbly BBC Braodcasting House will be, i'm sorry to say, nothing more than rubble. Don't those fuckers realise that was a grade one listed building!?.....whatever happened to the fabled Neutron Bomb that just zapps people rather than damaging our heritage and infastructure!
Who would you let into your fallout shelter?
And if you force your way into your neighbours because you haven't got one, be pretty sure that its not a false alarm before you start behaving like a cornered animal.That's a side of our personalities that should never be exposed in public.
One does have the comforting thought that all those celebrities and politicians that will survive in their own luxurious bunkers, will all die horribly when they finally leave their shelter when the water runs out.And, further comfort yourselves with the thought that they are all completely useless at anything real, like farming, basic DIY or building stuff,like theatres for those actors succumbing to Radiation Sickness.All the real people were left to die a quick death so that these important people can live on for another month or so.
The cover of this cassette doesn't look like a mushroom cloud for nothing y'know?

Tracklisting:

A Am Closing In On Skint
B Jerks And Shirts

DOWNLOAD at a rate of n k/ps HERE!

Prick Decay & Thurston Moore ‎– "Electricity Vs Insects" (Chocolate Monk ‎– CHOC-070) 1996

Name dropping never harms record sales.So the inclusion of Alt Rock dinosaur, Moore of Sonic Youth, would have guaranteed this limited run of vinyl sold out, once those legions of lumberjack shirted and converse bedecked forty somethings got wind of this collaboration with Prick Decay.
He's 'Experimental' y'know is Thurston, and an avid obscuro music bore....rather like me I admit,but I ain't famous so fuck you. Nothing would delight him so as to align himself with DIY noise experimentalist Dylan Nyoukis aka Prick Decay, for a stimulating experiment-off.
This serves to further enhance Thurtons thirst for "I'm experimental me" credibility, and relaxes his fear of being the 'Corporate Rock Whore' (Cobain 1990-ish). Anyone who would sign a contract with David Geffen deserves to be labelled so.
It may not sound like it, but i do actually like Sonic Youths records up to about the cusp of the nineties, especially the first few, so I also giggled in expectation as to what this sounded like.
The news is, it sounds like a Prick Decay record.No signs of any 'experimental' tunings to be found?Was the legendary mr Moore even on this at all? If he appears not, then its a triumph of conceptual experimentation.I like it. Maybe I'll steal the idea for one of my own unreleased avant-garde 'I'm clever I am' noise workouts, and bill it as "Jonny Zchivago and Lydia Lunch do Lunch"......but really the lovely Lydia isn't on it......thats a goer I think.
Inspiration NOT appropriation.

Tracklisting

A1 Log Teeth
A2 Spirit Of Vulva
A3 Teeth Like Logs
B1 Slight Gut Wrenchings
B2 Hemoglobins Affinity
B3 Syrup Of Ipecac

DOWNLOAD thurston moore gets experimental and...oh yeah....Prick Decay is on this, HERE!

Dogliveroil ‎– "Amp Tamper Rampant Pecker" (Union Pole ‎– UP37) 1996

What was the worst most intense pain I ever had in my sad little life? Was it my Kidney Stones?...Nah!....My broken ribs and collapsed Lung....Nah!......yup, you guessed it, it was Toothache at the weekend when no dentist was available, and the drugs from the Pharmacy weren't strong enough.Basically the only thing that could have worked would have been morphine,and me being straight edge would have no access to illegal suppies of such a substance...unlike you lot I guess?
It was around the time of the second Gulf war, the Shock'n'Awe thing.During my sleepless stupor i could take my mind off the arcing electric cable in my dying tooth by watching some live war on the 24 hour news feed.Unbeliveable. The seige of Basra by the British Army was live throughout the night......this doesn't happen anymore.Its bad for morale and lessens support for illegal wars,and no government wants that do they?
Dogliveroil...er..did I say Phil Todd of Ashtray Navigations is in this fab combo?.....manage to capture the sheer hell of toothache very accurately in two 15 minute parts. This is the sound of having nowhere to hide from unstoppable pain.
Don't forget to brush your teeth kids.

The classic Ren and Stimpy Cartoon 'Rens Toothache' kinda sums up both the experience of listening to Dogliveroil, and my Toofache episode very adequately....click here to experience this landmark piece of television... hopefully?

Its new Dog(liveroil).... from Blammo!
.....yeah ok, i'm a shameless Ren and Stimpy fan,frankly the best thing ever made for television.

Tracklisting:

A Toothache Comes In Spring Part One 14:57
B Toothache Comes In Spring Part Two 14:39

DOWNLOAD some health destroying oil in appropriately super low resolution 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!

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!

Wire ‎– "Turns And Strokes" (WMO records WMO4) 1996

This Odds and Sods compilation finally let us hear the band go through a slightly insipid version of "12XU" which was cruelly omitted from the Electric Ballroom sides of  'Document and Eyewitness' except for a fragment.Which along with , "Inventory", "Ritual View" ,"Part Of Our History" and 'Document and Eyewitness'itself, finally represent the complete performance at the Electric Ballroom on the 29th of February1980.
The never previously heard track "A Panamanian Craze?", was recorded in rehearsal in Stoke Newington in 1979, which is typically a Graham Lewis composition, and a tad self-indulgent,bless him.
The rest are repeats from the gigs at Notre dame Hall, and  The Janet Cochrane Theatre, that were posted previously.
Interesting, but strictly for completists only.

Tracklist:

1 Safe 1:38
2 Lorries 4:08
3 A Panamanian Craze? 16:15
4 Remove For Improvement 1:56
5 The Spare One 2:58
6 Over My Head 4:10
7 12XU 2:07
8 Inventory 3:03
9 Ritual View 2:36
10 Part Of Our History 6:02

DOWNLOAD the missing live wire HERE!

Sun Ra ‎– "The Singles" (Evidence ‎– ECD 22164-2) 1996

Space definitely is the place if you wanna escape this fucked up planet,and there's no greater vehicle to leave Earth with than Sun Ra and his chums.
If you wanna be 'Hip' these days you gotta drop Sun Ra into your 'ain't i weird' public speaking convo's, sitting cosily alongside Captain Beefheart and Coltrane. Its coffee table royalty for the pretentious who slip a recently purchased copy of "Atlantis" on the stereo when expecting visitors.But that's better than taking drugs to be 'hip' I suppose.
A lesser discussed fact about Sun Ra, is his place at the head of the pantheon of DIY artists. No, DIY didn't start with the Desperate Bicycles, as Sun (can I call him Sun?),was doing it in the mid-fifties. Releasing bizarre Doo Wop, Lounge Jazz,and Fifties Pop singles on his own Saturn label,sometimes in incredibly shorts runs of 10 to 50. Therefore these singles are impossible to find except on this fabulous double CD.
Among the foggy Doo Wop and Christmas Singles,which have their own charm,there is inevitably some crazy stuff indeed. Who was Yochanon, The Sun man.....a total nutter? Then there's Lacy Gibson's "I'm Gonna Unmask the Batman",which is pretty out-there.Some Sun Ra classic's,notably "Love In Outer Space" with its wavering time signature,and the sing-a-long "Rocket # 9",which talks about leaving for Venus years before Europe did in "The Final Countdown"(admittedly a classic in its own right,but for different reasons).Although as Venus has a surface temperature of 400 degrees plus,has a runaway Greenhouse effect,and rains concentrated sulphuric acid;I don't recommend that anyone gets on Rocket # 9 for real.
There are even a few edited versions of Ra's later free synth finger moving avant jazz,and a seven inch version of Disco 3000.So the coffee table avant-gardists won't be disappointed; even though this would be the only Sun Ra record they ever play in private.

TRACKLIST:

Disc: 1
1. A Foggy Day - The Nu Sounds
2. Daddy's Gonna Tell You No Lie - The Cosmic Rays
3. Dreaming - The Cosmic Rays
4. Daddy's Gonna Tell You No Lie - The Cosmic Rays
5. Bye Bye - The Cosmic Rays
6. Somebody's In Love - The Cosmic Rays
7. Medicine For A Nightmare - Arkestra
8. Saturn - Arkestra
9. Supersonic Jazz - Arkestra
10. Happy New Year To You - The Qualities
11. It's Christmas Time - The Qualities
12. Muck Muck - Yochanan
13. Hot Skillet Mama - Yochanan
14. Great Balls Of Fire - Arkestra
15. Hours After - Arkestra
16. Teenager's Letter Of Promises - Juanita Rodgers
17. I'm So Glad You Love Me - Juanita Rodgers
18. The Sun One - Yochanan
19. The Sun Man Speaks - Yochanan(mp3 sample track)
20. The Sun Man Speaks - Yochanan
21. October - Sun Ra
22. Adventure In Space - Sun Ra
23. Message To Earthman - Yochanan
24. Message To Earthman - Yochanan & Sun Ra And Arkestra
25. State Street - Sun Ra
Disc: 2
1. The Blue Set - Sun Ra
2. Big City Blues - Sun Ra
3. Tell Her To Come On Home - Little Mack
4. I'm Making Believe - Little Mack
5. The Bridge - Sun Ra
6. Rocket # 9 - Sun Ra(mp3 sample)
7. Blues On Planet Mars - Sun Ra
8. Saturn Moon - Sun Ra
9. The Sky Is Crying - Lacy Gibson
10. She's My Baby - Lacy Gibson
11. I Am Gonna Unmask The Batman - Lacy Gibson
12. I Want An Easy Woman - Lacy Gibson
13. I'm Gonna Unmask The Batman - Sun Ra
14. The Perfect Man - Sun Ra
15. Journey To Saturn - Sun Ra
16. Enlightenment - Sun Ra
17. Love In Outer Space - Sun Ra (mp3 sample)
18. Mayan Temple - Sun Ra
19. Disco 2100 - Sun Ra
20. Sky Blues - Sun Ra
21. Rough House Blues - Sun Ra
22. Cosmo-Extensions - Sun Ra
23. Quest - Sun Ra
24. Outer Space Plateau - Sun Ra

DOWNLOAD Disc one HERE!

+The missing two tracks from disc one HERE!

DOWNLOAD Disc two HERE!

Bodycocktail - "Many See Lies" (ZH27 - Bodycocktail #23) 1996

Hoffman's dysfunctional journey into the realm of 'Pop' takes the form of his Bodycocktail project.Described by the man himself as "bent-out-of-shape proto new wave",since 1993 he has released close to 200 Bodycocktail releases;and continues to play many live shows all over the civilised world,in several languages.
The music on "Many See Lies",the 23rd Bodycocktail release, has wonderful drifting time signatures that make it impossible to dance to in a conventionally funky way. Full of human inconsistencies with no attempt to 'tidy' them up to the modern standards of machine music....this is how it was entered on the computer.
Zan's voice reminds one of the kind of singer you'd hear in a Futurist/New Romantic group around 1981,like Classix Nouveaux,but obviously devoid of any pretentiousness
I was playing this the other day and my girlfriend asked me,"Doesn't this get on your fucking nerves?".
I didn't answer,but it probably outstayed its welcome after about twenty minutes.....but then again nearly everything does.That's why Teenage Jesus and The Jerks never played longer than 20 minutes; a natural timespan for the art of 'Pop'.

Tracklist :

1	Woman Looking At A Vase Of Flowers
2	Picking Up Poochies
3	Neversink
4	(Time To Say) Bye Bye
5	Loopy Zinnerhyme
6	Music Uplifted (Muted)
7	Collect All 23

DOWNLOAD this unfunky cocktail HERE!

This Heat ‎– "Made Available: John Peel Sessions" (These records - These 10) 1996/1977

Incredibly, the group got to do two Peel sessions in 1977,when all peel played was wall to wall Punk Rock and reggae. They stalked the BBC Radio One DJ and insisted he played their demo tape,”Reference”(which will appear soon on this blog kids!). ¨Peel kind of admired their persistence,and relented. Upon hearing this uncategorisable music (file under 'Other'),he was suitably impressed enough to give them a session. It must have gone down well with the punters, because he gave them a second session later in the year,but his time featuring more improvised ambient pieces,that I doubt were appreciated by Peels rock orientated audience at that time,who just wanted to hear more Ramones tracks. Therefore no more sessions were booked for This Heat at the Beeb.

What we get on this historic document is the only proper recording of early Heat classic “Rimp Romp Ramp”, which was inexplicably dropped from their repertoire before the first album. It is easily the equal of “Horizontal Hold”,and would have improved the nearly flawless début even more. Maybe they felt it was too similar and didn't want to be predictable,which is a noble reason by most musicians standards. The other end of the spectrum are people like Van Morrison, who made a career by repeating the same song endlessly; sort of an avant garde experiment in its own right,albeit an accidental one.

Great versions of “Makeshift Swahili”,”Horizontal Hold” and other standards,are mixed in with some improvised experimental numbers,that only appear here!

Recorded for the John Peel Show at BBC Maida Vale Studios, London.
Tracks 1-3 recorded: 28 March 1977. First transmission date: 22 April 1977.
Tracks 4-8 recorded: 26 October 1977. First transmission date: 24 November 1977. 

Tracklist: 

1 Horizontal Hold 8:26
2 Not Waving 8:11
3 The Fall Of Saigon 6:04
4 Rimp Romp Ramp 6:42
5 Makeshift Swahili 6:18
6 Sitting 2:22
7 Basement Boy 2:13
8 Slither 2:14

DOWNLOAD these available sessions at the beeb HERE!

Derek Bailey ‎– "Guitar, Drums 'n' Bass" (Avant ‎– AVAN 060) 1996

Predictably,this is my favourite Derek Bailey record. Even though the Jungle backing track, by some brummie d'n'b producer called DJ Ninj(who?), is incredibly unremarkable,verging on the bland. This only helps to emphasize Bailey's nutty guitar improvisations, laid over the top of a DAT mix of Ninj's drum'n'bass by numbers, in Laswells studio in New York; after an aborted session in, ex-Napalm Death drummer, Mick Harris's studio in the west midlands.When ,apparently Mick had no idea what he was doing, and seemingly, was not too displeased when Derek suggested that they call it a day, after three full takes failed to be recorded properly, or even at all!
The discipline of the programmed beats, focus's DB's trademark fret abuse to the edge of accessibility.
Bailey freely admits that this record would have been A LOT better if he'd been able to release an album of improvisations with the folks on his local jungle-list pirate stations.; but that may have either eclipsed the guitar work, or created an electrically charged duel between two differing musical cultures,the like of which,we will never hear again?
Ninj, of course, was never heard from again.

Tracklist:

1 N/Jz/Bm (Re Mix) 3:33
2 Re-Re-Re (Up Mix) 1:35
3 Dnjbb (Cake Mix) 13:46
4 Concrete (Cement Mix) 7:02
5 Ninj (De Mix) 11:29
6 Pie (Amatosis Mix) 1:38

DOWNLOAD ninj'n'bailey HERE!