Sinking Ships: Dream 7"

Here is the rare second 7" from Lincoln, England's Sinking Ships. The band released only a handful of recordings in their brief existence - two 7"s and a couple compilation tracks - so their songwriting never really had a chance to evolve. It's a shame, because each song touches upon a different style. Their first 7", Cinema Clock - which can be found over at Systems of Romance with a brand new, high-quality rip - featured a Wire-esque post punk banger and a more anthemic pub-punk song.

This record features a questionable choice for a B-side: a long live dirge that changes little over its six minutes and could have benefitted from a studio recording and could have been shortened by a few minutes. It renders the B-side rather low in sound quality since it's spread so thin - and it's already a rather cheap pressing.  The A side, Dream, is my favorite song of theirs along with Cinema Clock. It takes the arty atmospherics of early MOdern English, throws in sax a la Psychedelic Furs (perhaps a result of having opened for the Furs on their early tours); the result is a brief, dark DIY post-punk song that could have been a classic.

Sinking Ships: Dream 7"
1980, Recession Records
A: Dream
B: After the Rain (live)

Click here to listen!

Famous Rays: Ending Beginning LP

The first time I saw this LP, I knew it had to be by a New York band. Anyone who has been to NYC can be easily confused by the similarly-named-but-not-at-all related pizza places called "Famous Ray's" "Original Ray's", "Famous Original Ray's", or (as Kramer discovered), simply "Ray's Pizza". As it turns out, the band was from the UK originally, but moved to NYC in the late 80s to seek better opportunities.
Famous Rays released this record in 1990, and from what I can find, this is the only thing they ever released.
By most standards, 1990 is a rather late year for a DIY post punk album to be released. You probably know the kind of record I mean - the kind that combines relentless experimentation, amateurishness, and variety of non-punk instruments (synths and sax being especially common). Bands as diverse as 48 Chairs, Beyond the Impload, Vice Versa, Androids of Mu, Desperate Bicycles, and countless thousands others all fell into this "genre". Well, Famous Rays can be counted as a VERY late addition to that DIY group (and indeed, an earlier incarnation of the band, Romford Stompers, was part of the fertile UK DIY scene). Famous Rays carried the lo-fi, avant-garde, synthpop-meets-post-punk-meets-jazzy-noise-meets-goth of their forebears into the neon years of the early 90s.
As with pretty much all of these records, there's a combination of strong and weak tracks. After a brief spoken-word intro the songs start off with the lyrics "I am looking through a synthesizer" on Hard Times. With a somewhat bouncy beat, it's a nice 100% minimal synth track that sounds 10 years too late. The next couple songs on the syn-drums and throw a wall of cascading, noisy guitars into the mix. Then there's a slow dark ambient synth interlude before delving into No Recognition, probably the most poppy song on the album. The song is musically similar to early Cure, but with the keyboards and arty weirdness of early Modern English (it's not as good as either of those bands, of course, but had it been released in 1980 I can guarantee it would have been on many "UK DIY Top Ten" lists.)
The following songs range from sax-and-synth skronk (Deception Island) to dark synth noise with spoken word (Wealthy Not Healthy) to almost deathrock sounding (Move By Dance), which combines syn-drums, heavy and noisy guitars, and sax similar to Ipso Facto. Overall, it's a highly unique album that (at the moment) is readily available very cheaply online. Perhaps others will like what they hear here and decide to pick up a copy. Or perhaps the late release date of this record will turn off people and the album will toil in the cheap bargain bins of obscurity, relegated to a few crackly mp3s that forever float in the aether of the Internet.

Famous Rays: Ending Beginning LP
1990, Blue Dot Records

1 The Sky Belongs To The Sun
2 Hard Times
3 Agents Of Change
4 Absolute Zero
5 Uphill
6 No Recognition
7 Deception Island
8 Black Dress
9 Wealthy Not Healthy
10 Release - For Bitten
11 Blue World
12 Move By Dance
13 The Great Discovery

Note: Many of these songs are only a few seconds long, or blend indistinguishably into one another, so I've combined several songs together in the rip.

Click here to listen!

The French: The Model 7”

The French were a band from England (um...  where else?) in the early 80s who released a couple 7”s on their own label and then disappeared. Like many bands at the time they were a post punk band featuring angular guitars and stabs of synths and plucky basslines and even the occasional sax. While it’s not the most original style, it’s the type of sound that I love, and I’m willing to bet that many of you appreciate it as well. It’s always nice to unearth another nugget of post-punk gold.

Their first 7” features a cover of Kraftwerk’s “The Model”. It’s a bit of an odd choice – the song had come out only a few years prior – but they actually make it sound pretty great. In fact, it’s one of the best covers that I’ve heard in a long time, as it sounds very different from the original but still captures a raw urgency that seems to be lacking from the many rote covers that abound. The song is built upon a tinny syn-drum and slices of guitar and bass. The strangest part of the song are the synths that randomly are thrown on top of the entire affair – they are loud, haphazard, and sound almost exactly like the sound Pac-Man makes when he’s caught by a ghost.

The band’s other songs are originals. Set Me On Fire is a great (if thin-sounding) track with simplistic synth pulses and flourishes of sax on top of great guitar lines and vocals. It’s certainly a favorite in the house of Goutroy.

I’ve also included the A-side of their second single, The River Flows East. It’s also a pretty good song, trading in the angular and arty sound for a more groove-oriented sound in the style of bands like APB. Unfortunately my copy is currently in storage and I don’t have a rip of the B side, but from what I remember it sucked. So I’m sparing you a song that you’d just end up deleting anyway.

Click here to listen!

Real Macabre: Emotion 12”

Here is a mysterious record from 1985, from a UK band called Real Macabre. There are absolutely no credits or band members listed. The cover is just a white textured sleeve with a sticker on the front that says “This is Emotion”. The band seemed to go out of their way to NOT attract any attention.

It’s unfortunate, because this could easily have been a big club hit in the 80s Surely this band’s noisy-yet-tuneful brand of dark (but quite poppy) goth rock has widespread appeal. Fans of Look Back in Anger, Asmodi Bizaar, and Siouxsie and the Banshees will certainly enjoy both mixes of Emotion. While the tracks on this 12” may not be terribly original, they are well-written. With slightly sassy vocals and buzzsaw guitars, the extended mix of Emotion is a pretty great "lost" single, and is guaranteed to have you tapping your feet by the time the chorus arrives and the song kicks into overdrive.

Sadly, fate has found this band receiving little or no recognition. I’m sure the record was simply not distributed well enough for it to gain a wide audience. At least the age of mp3s can rectify this. I have no idea if this band ever released anything else (or, as mentioned earler, WHO the band members were). If anyone out there has any information, share it!

Real Macabre: Emotion 12”

1985, Push Records

A1 Emotion (extended)

B1 Emotion

B2 The Dance

Click here to listen!

Mock: Skyryder EP

With all the recent synth and post punk and new wave records I have been posting as of late, I thought that maybe it would be a nice idea to completely digress musically for a day. The above-mentioned genres are just some of my favorite; but sometimes I just love to put on a shoegaze album and bliss out to a warm blanket of hazy sound. I know there are a lot of others who love post punk and shoegaze with equal fervor - maybe it's because of the atmosphere and mood that the two genres create, maybe it's because both genres are the perfect blend of rebellion against the greater music world and embracing of fringe elements of pop sensibility.

This record - a completely unknown gem from a UK band called Mock - is one of my current favorites. In only four (long) songs, they pack an entire album's worth of reverbed beauty. They take their cues from the best of the shoegaze set - especially Slowdive and My Bloody Valentine. In fact, the song Diving sounds so much like it's off of Souvlaki that I sometimes have to take a look at what record I have on just to verify. The song is an epic of sloooow, deliberate percussion, dense washes of guitar noise and bass fuzz and vocals that are reverbed to the point of abstraction. The title track features stabs and plucks of warm guitars on top of a thick wall of sound, with dual vocals that simultaneously sound male, female, and androgenous. The first song, Poppy, and the final song, the wonderfully titled Vertigo Melt, are the real rock songs on the album; Vertigo Melt in particular sounds like it could have come from pre-Loveless MBV.

I cannot recommend this highly enough. If you have a passing interest in shoegaze, you'd do well to take a listen to this. What it may lack in originality, it more than makes up for in ear-piercing euphony.

Mock: Skyryder EP

1994, Bites Back! Records

A1 Poppy

A2 Diving

B1 Skyryder

B2 Vertigo Melt

Click here to listen!

Kan Kan!

As before, I also want to bring to peoples' attention an old post that may have been forgotten, neglected, or simply not discovered yet by the legions of newcomers to the music blog world. This week, I suggest going to the wonderful Phoenix Hairpins blog (which, in along with the Mutant Sounds blog, was my inspiration to begin ripping and posting my own records) and download everything that Curious Guy has posted in the past three-and-a-half years... starting with the complete discography of Kan Kan, the brainchild of one Patrick Dineen. From the humble minimalist post punk beginnings of his self-released debut 7" to the two later 12"s, his three records are pure darkwave perfection, full of synths and pianos and somber vocals.

TEMPER! TEMPER: The Switch 12"

This record here is a 12" from the UK, presumably self-released on the Sheer Bravadol label, by a band called Temper! Temper. This trio recorded this 12" and a 7" (of the same songs), and then disappeared. The record received some distribution by the Cartel, but it still remains a pretty obscure and unknown 12". Their blend of synthpop, goth, and new wave is infectious - The Switch could have been a huge club hit, similar to bands like New Order and Information Society, or a poppy version of Sisters of Mercy. There's a bit of cheese factor in the vocals and guitars (this was the late-80s, after all), but the songs handily escape the late-80s dreck by avoiding slick production and bad balladry. Body Blows is a particularly beautiful song, with simple guitars, warm lush synthesizers, and (depsite being called an instrumental) ethereal female vocals in the background. This is pretty sought-after these days, so I thought I would share it for all to hear!

Temper! Temper: The Switch 12"
1989, Sheer Bravadol Music

A1 The Switch (12")
A2 The Switch (7")
B1 Let's Switch
B2 Body Blows (Instrumental)

Click here to download this EP!

SING AS WE GO! (something old is new)

This week I have chosen to post two obscurities from the late 80s - that oft-neglected (for good reason!) mini-era of polished commercial pop, sax solos, hair metal, and AOR. But the records that I have here - from 1988 and 1989 - buck that trend quite well.
I am also going to start linking to old posts from other blogs that I am rediscovering, or that I think deserve another listen. I'm trying to focus on old posts from at least 2 years ago, which newcomers to the ever-expanding blogosphere can download and enjoy. First up is one of my all-time favorite compilations, Sing As We Go. Released in 1982 in the UK on the Little Sister Enterprises label (the same label that released the similar 1983 compilation Not Waving But Drowning) and receiving virtually no distribution outside Europe, this compilation is chock-full of minimal synth, post punk, new wave, and more. Particularly great is the Glass Actors song, an incredible early minimal electro song with KR-55 drum machine overload! In perfect DIY fashion, it comes with a thick xeroxed booklet (one page per band), with great graphics and artwork! This was uploaded on the Mutant Sounds blog almost three years ago. Enjoy!

THIS PARADE: Erotica (Love in an Original Way)

After I posted the Rumponia LP last week, I figured that I would also post this excellent 12" on the same label, Rumpo Records - especially since it was requested. This Parade was a group that featured future Spiritualized, Slipstream, and Spacemen 3 guitarist Mark Refoy. The music is a great mix of indiepop with darker post punk - it's a very loud, full sound for only 3 members. It's always astounding how many incredible records came out of the UK in the 80s, and how many are lost in time. Hopefully unearthing this gem will get it the exposure that it deserves, as it is an excellent release. My copy has a pressing defect on side B that causes some considerable surface noise during the first part of the track 1 - I chalk that up to the cheapo pressing that riddled a lot of privately pressed and tiny independent records from the era. Still, it's well worth listening to.

This Parade: Erotica (Love in an Original Way) 12"
1985, Rumpo Records
A Erotica (Love In An Original Way)
B1 Sing & Dance
B2 Heartfelt

Click here to download this record!

VARIOUS ARTISTS: Rumponia - An Answer Within LP

Here is an obscure UK compilation from the tiny Northampton label Rumpo Records. Aside from a couple comps and singles (including one from This Parade, which featured future Spiritualized/Spacemen 3 member Mark Refoy ), Rumpo Records did not leave much of a legacy, which is sad, since the few releases I've heard from the label are excellent! This compilation features 10 minimal synth, new wave, post punk, and indie bands. Insekt Flak is pure analog electronic bliss, Exit Girls is silly deranged synthy art-punk, and Skating for Cover (who also released an excellent tape which can be found on the Mutant Sounds blog ) are a perfect mix of indiepop and darkwave. Unfortunately, my copy was a kinda beat-up dollar bin find, and there is some pretty noticeable noise on parts of side A that I couldn't easily remove. Still, the best songs sound good. Check this one out!

Various Artists: Rumponia: An Answer Within LP
1982, Rumpo Records
A1 Insect Flak - Theme From Flesh
A2 Cellar 16 - Slartybartfast
A3 Bullets For Silver - Let Me Throught
A4 Damyata - Rosemary Is Broken
A5 Workshop - Love Serenade
B1 Groovy Underwear - Windmills
B2 Armpit Orchestra - Snow Shoes & High Heels
B3 Syndromes - Over My Head
B4 Exit Girls - Mr. Brown
B5 Skating For Cover - Le Cortege


Click here to download this record!

Pinkie Maclure - Unman LP & Bite The Hand that Feeds You 12"

This week I have decided to share two releases by the British chantreuse Pinkie Maclure. She has been continually releasing albums since 1985. Here are two of her very first releases: a 12" with David Harrow (who released a VERY highly recommended solo album) and her album "Unman". She combines the feminism and political lyrics of her Ink Records labelmate Anne Clark, with the gloom of Danielle Dax and the raw experimental instrumentation of Diamanda Galas or Mona Mur (among many others) and rolled them all into a ball of dark, melancholy darkwave that was distinct and unique. Her voice is a constant high point - powerful, gothic, ominous and even soulful. I really cannot give enough praise for this album and single. They are strong lyrically, musically, and atmospherically. She is still making music to this day (more in the electro realm, but still great; check out www.pinkiemaclure.com). She is definitely an artist who deserves much more wide recognition - download these records and see why!

Pinkie Maclure: Bite the Hand That Feeds You 12"
1985, Ink Records
A Bite the hand That Feeds You
B Don't You Go

Pinkie Maclure: Unman LP
1986, Ink Records
A1 Blue Chevrolet
A2 Subliminal Seduction
A3 Voice of the Silent Majority
B1 The Habit
B2 Different World
B3 Poem
B4 Red Tape

Download both of them here!

BLUENOSE B: Forever Passing Trains 12"

There seems to be an endless supply of long-forgotten UK bands who are rediscovered on music blogs these days. I don't know what made the UK such fertile ground for great new wave, indie, and post punk music. Bluenose B are one of those bands that fall somewhere in between indiepop, goth, and new wave, with big, BIG guitars and somewhat dark vocals. The song Forever Passing Trains is features loud, driving guitars and loud, pounding drums, and loud, perfectly gloomy singing, and is, well... LOUD. Burning Up is quite a good track as well, and a bit more melodic. This band released this EP and another EP called My Diary (does anyone have this???), and I think they released a song on a regional UK comp as well. It's time they get rediscovered... download this gem and enjoy!

Bluenose B: Forever Passing Trains 12"
1985, Bluenose Records
Forever Passing Trains
Burning Up
Maybe

Click here to download this record!

Paul Nova: Trees Without Leaves LP, Fantasy & Feeling 12", Julie Ann 7"

Since it's been a while since I posted, and since this may be my only post for June, I'll include a nice "bonus" upload here. I think that a lot of people are very curious about this mysterious UK solo act, after seeing his stuff fetch hundreds on eBay. I know I was, and finally got these songs from a very generous member of minimal-wave.org. As one-half of the underground synth duo Bizarre Unit, Paul Nova was making minimal electro-pop for his entire short career. His later singles (especially Fantasy and Feeling) had a more commercial synthpop sound, but were still excellent releases. This is basically his entire discography (he had a 7" with Famous Boys/Trees Without Leaves, but both those songs appear on his LP.) If anybody has the Bizarre Unit stuff to share, I would be very happy!

Paul Nova: Julie Ann 7"
1982, Echibit One Records
A Julie-Ann
B Video Age

Paul Nova: Trees Without Leaves LP
1984, Exhibit One Records
A1 Lovers In Paris
A2 You Could Be Good
A3 Home Sweet Home
A4 Trees Without Leaves
B1 You Are
B2 Famous Boys
B3 Love You Madly
B4 Broken Rose

Paul Nova: Fantasy and Feeling 12" EP
1985, Exhibit One Records
A1 Fantasy
A2 Letter Of Love
B1 The Feeling
B2 Summer Breeze

Download everything here!

SOUL ON ICE: Underwater 12"

Here is the only 12" from a schizophrenic band called Soul on Ice. They also had a song on the "Your Secret's Safe With Us" compilation. They didn't really have a specific style: "Underwater" is a midtempo post-punk song that has influences of The Sound and Echo and the Bunnymen; Breahless sounds like the intro to an early U2 song with dub guitars, and Splintered Lens sounds exactly like early Shriekback. It's worth it for the latter for me, since I love that style of bass-driven post-punk and lazily mumbled vocals. Good stuff!

Soul on Ice: Underwater 12"
1982, Red Rhino Records
A Underwater
B1 Splintered Lens
B2 Breathless

Click here to download this record!

Voice of America: I Will Tell 12"

Here's a bonus 12" since I haven't uploaded anything new for a little while. This is a mysterious and extremely rare 12" EP from a UK band called Voice of America. There is almost no information about these guys anywhere, aside from the fact that it was produced by Captain Sensible. This should have been a new wave classic, but instead only a few were pressed, and not too well distributed.

Voice of America: I Will Tell 12"
1986, An Ammunition Communication

A		I Will Tell
B1		Story Of Love
B2		V.O.A.

Download the record here!

Where's Lisse?: Tutorial EP

What ever happened to Ascii art? Remember in the 80s, when making drawings of people and places with letters and punctuation seemed like the height of computer nerd-dom? Where's Lisse? must remember, since the cover of this EP is made entirely of these characters. This was the band's second and final release. The first, a 7", can be found on Systems of Romance here.
In a more fair world, the track "Tutorial" would have been a huge goth club hit. With load scratchy guitars, simple drumming, and gloomy, commanding vocals, this would have fit perfectly in any club between She's in Parties and I Walk the Line. Enough talk. You really need to get this.

Where's Lisse?: Tutorial EP
1982, Glass Records
1. Tutorial
2. I'll THink of Something
3. Red Light
4. Call It That! (You'll need to rename this... I realize I named it the same as track 2).

Click here to download this record!

TWO: Deaming Spires LP

Well, Phoenix Hairpins just uploaded the final 12" from this band, and I've been meaning to share this LP for quite a while, so what better time than now? I found this years ago in the $1 bin at Amoeba in SF, filed in the "D" section (for "Dreaming Spires" I suppose), and it's been a consistent favorite. There are some pops as clearance records sometimes have, but it's not bad. This was a male-female synth duo (Gill and Iain - who, I might add, are both quite attractive and hip-looking. I mean, Gill looks like pretty much half the girls I've dated in the past 5 years, and Iain looks like a skinny hip SF Mission District kid. How's that for useless information?) They were from a small town near London. This LP is pretty experimental, especially on the 15-minute "It Won't Work". This was released on Future Records, the new wave/synthpop/post punk offshoot of the punk label No Future. I think this record uses almost all electronics and bass, which is always a great combination that makes for some dark, dark music. Anyway... enjoy!

TWO: Dreaming Spires
1983 Future Records, FL 3
1. Picture Frame
2. Waiting
3. Regime
4. Architecture
5. Pale Yellow
6. End
7. It Won't Work

Click here to download the album!

Various Artists: Music Biz Showcase '83 LP

Here is an obscure compilation from the UK called Music Biz Showcase '83. Appropriately, it was released in 1983. It features nine songs by nine very different bands. I believe they were from London, as a few songs were recorded live at "The Fridge", which was a London venue. As far as I know, most bands never released anything else. Some of the highlights include "Vegetarians Don't Eat Meat", a minimalist female-sung post punk/new wave song in the vein of Au Pairs or perhaps The Raincoats; "Cut a Dash" by Academy, a very lo-fi synthpop song; "Eleanor Rigby" by Jeddah, a 100% earnest NWOBHM take on the Beatles classic; my favorite by far, however, is "Touch the Sky" by Life, a minimal electropop dancefloor killer. I played the song for my friend and he thought it sounded like a very early version of futurepop bands like VNV Nation, Beborn Beton, or Wolfsheim. So is it proto-futurepop? It's a great track, whatever it is. I don't know if this is the same "Life" that Andy Robinson (who would later become New Order's manager) was in, and who released a few singles on Factory Benelux. Can anyone compare the two "Life"s to give an answer?...

Various Artists: Music Biz Showcase LP
1983 Showcase Records
Tracks:
1. Cainers: Balloons
2. Football Results: Prophet of hate
3. Life: Touch the Sky
4. Bravura: Vegetarians Don't Eat Meat
5. Stolen Property: Imagination
6. Academy: Cut a Dash
7. Quiet Zone: Fragile Lives
8. Eclipse: An Obscure Love Song
9. Jeddah: Eleanor Rigby

Click here to download the album!

European Toys - Nine Men Applauding LP

This week I have a couple obscurities. This one is an LP from a band from the UK called European Toys. It was released in 1985 on Backs Records. It was one of the earliest releases on the label, which also released material by bands like Venus in Furs, Gee Mr Tracy, Perfect Vision, and loads of other criminally underrated post punk and synth bands. European Toys played melodic, gloomy post punk. I hear similarities to groups like Echo and the Bunnymen, Teardrop Explodes, Sad Lovers and Giants, English Subtitles, and Mecano among others, as well as trace elements of jazz and prog. Songs like "Child Inside" and "Good Times", and "The Room" are quite excellent dark new wave. Give this a download, you may very well like it!


European Toys: Nine Men Applauding LP
1985, Backs Records (NCHLP 4)
1. The Sad Party Story
2. Child Inside
3. Scarlet O Hara Part 1
4. Scarlet O hara Part 2
5. Nine Men Applauding
6. Good Times
7. So Look At Me Now
8. The Room
9. The Travelling Man
10. Flip Side of Life (please note: I did not include this song, since it's just 3 minutes of silence.)

Click here to download it!