With a lineup of Kevin Smith (songwriter, lead singer and rhythm guitar), Colin Garrett (lead guitar), Mark Morris (bass) and Gary Cotter (drums), Staffordshire band Bleeding Hearts released what turned out to be their only single in October 1980. Issued by Hednesford-based independent Crazy Plane, 'This Is The Way...OK' received Radio One airplay from the likes of John Peel and daytime DJ Peter Powell. After the single, drummer Cotter was replaced by Mark Morris's brother Des. With the addition of a third sibling, guitarist/keyboardist Jim, the Morris Brothers broke away to become Balaam And The Angel, who signed to Virgin in the mid-Eighties. [SOURCE: DISCOGS]
Agrimensor K was a Spanish darkwave band founded in the first 80s by Nacho Goberna (vocals, guitar), Ignacio Valencia (bass), Juan José Mourlanch (keyboards) and José Manuel Gandásegui (drums). They just released two singles: 'Principio y Fin' and '¿Juegas al Escondite?'. Goberna and Valencia later would create La Dama Se Esconde. [SOURCE: DISCOGS]
All female Christchurch band 25 Cents were part of a vibrant, early 1980s Gladstone Tavern scene that also included The Pin Group, The Newtones, The Playthings and The Androidss. Their sole release in 1982 was one of the early Flying Nun singles and just 305 copies were pressed. Complete with violin, the A-side "Don’t Deceive Me" was a rare original for a band that specialised more in 60s and 70s garage and punk covers ranging from The Velvet Underground to Pere Ubu. But it’s their helter skelter version of The Sonics’ garage classic "The Witch" on the flip side that has been anthologised over the years. [SOURCE: AUDIOCULTURE]
'The Elephant Table Album' and 'Three Minute Symphony' were put out by music journalist Dave Henderson on his label X Tract, the only two releases he ever did. Henderson was well known at the time for writing about some of the more difficult music of the early 1980s, an era rife with electro-experimentation and open to a certain level of arty weirdness, and that’s reflected by the artists he involved in his two projects. The premise of 'Three Minute Symphony' adds an extra level of difficulty for the artists, as each was asked to submit a piece of roughly three minutes in length. For some that may have been stretching their normal song length, but for others the idea of something as short as a radio-friendly three minutes was probably a challenge.
Some tracks like Kill Ugly Pop’s “Let’s Get Real Gone” aren’t that far out there, though follow that with Ptose’s “Waiting For My Soul” and you might start to re-evaluate your own mental stability. This is one of those records you could break down track-by-track, because there’s something unique and different waiting for you around each and every corner. If there’s a common thread here it’s simply the lack of mainstream-ism in general -even the songs with more typical structures, for example Human Flesh’s “L’Ultima Storia”, have their own unique strangeness, that intangible quality guaranteed to keep them as far off the charts as humanly possible.
Perhaps the songs aren’t as “out there” as those on other comps, but more likely the short track durations (the longest song is 3:52, the shortest 1:58) keeps engaged even when faced with the daunting prospect of DDAA’s “Your Mother With A Cake”. Definitely a worth-while pick-up if you find it and want to explore some of the weirder corners of the early 1980s. Unfortunately unlike it’s predecessor 'Elephant Table' this one never go the CD re-release treatment, so vinyl (or an online rip) is the only way to hear it. [SOURCE: LIFE IN THE VINYL LANE]
Zona Industriale was an industrial duo from Cosenza composed by Michele Pingitore and Pino Iannelli and formed in 1983. That year they released their first album entitled 'IZ', initially self-produced and then reissued in 1996 and 2003 by Slaughter Productions. The album, which involved a compositional reassembly of sounds recorded from everyday life, was composed of radio speeches interspersed with radio frequencies, recordings taken from as hairdryers, railway stations or crackling doors and wood, as well as samples taken from special effects records, translating into music the sounds of routine and boredom of everyday life, and totally excluding the usual musical instruments. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]
Label:
Slaughter Productions – SPT78
Format:
Cassette, Compilation, Limited Edition
Country:
Italy
Released:
1997
Style:
Industrial
Tracklist:
A1 L'Inizio 3:20
A2 Metamorfosi (Part 1 & 2) 3:40
A3 Les Silences Des La Voix 1:55
A4 Alla Ricerca Dell'Ignoto 3:20
B5 Il Tempio Delle Tenebre 6:31
B6 Inside 3:02
B7 Essere E Tempo 5:34
Notes:
Some tracks are taken from various compilation (1985/87) + unreleased tracks. Limited to 100 copies.
Yximalloo is Naofumi Ishimaru alone, but he drafts a loose ensemble of players, including the core of Shigeo Ootake and Takashi Korgo (who appear on all discs), as collaborator-executors. All of his releases are on his own label, and none have seen a distributor yet (which is why you very rarely find his CDs in stores). Ishimaru works like a Japanese Jandek without the angst, like the Boredoms minus the bombast. Spiritual kin to early artpunk and especially the LAFMS, he revels in mock-ethnic music and nonsense. Lo-fi, sweet and primitive, he uses ancient drum machines, hand percussion, and electronic droplet noises, sometimes set to melodies gathered from some imaginary South Sea island where the traditional instrument is seemingly an old '80s synth. Handclaps and chanting abound, but Yximalloo has also been painted as a Japanese Half Japanese -Jad Fair himself has collaborated with Ishimaru and draws the covers several releases (gorgeous dayglo and glow-in-the-dark covers in iridescent plastic cases). [SOURCE: YXIMALLOO]
Miss Sox (Fabio Zigante) formed XX Century Zorro around 1981, after leaving The Great Complotto scene of Pordenone. Created using tapes, recorders and minimal instruments and verging on a lo-fi, avant-garde (dada) oriented new wave, their first and only LP is 1983's 'La Volpe du XX Siécle'. The vinyl was recorded through a sound system called Monster System that Miss Sox himself patented. [SOURCE: RATE YOUR MUSIC]
The Wirtschaftswunder was a German band consisting of musicians Angelo Galizia (vocals, Italy), Tom Dokoupil (guitar, Czechoslovakia), Mark Pfurtschneller (keyboards, Canada) and Jürgen Beuth (drums, Germany). They were part of the so-called Neue Deutsche Welle that emerged as part of the English new wave/post-punk movement in the early 1980s and included bands such as D.A.F., Malaria!, or ZK (predecessor of Die Toten Hosen). Their most characteristic feature was Angelo Galizia's singing with a heavy Italian accent. After their 4th album 'Pop Adenauer' in the same year and their final single in 1984 they dissolved. [SOURCE: DISCOGS]
Label:
Ariola – 206 092, Ariola – 206 092-620
Format:
Vinyl, LP, Album
Country:
Europe
Released:
1984
Style:
Disco, Leftfield, Synth-pop, Neue Deutsche Welle
VS was the very first all girl punk band in California. Formed in early 1978, VS was the brainchild of bassist Olga DeVolga, fresh from The Offs; the other original members were Anny Unger, guitar (later to go on to The Gun Club) and Jane Weems (Insane Jane), drums (from The Maggots), as well as a few nameless guitarists. In their brief early history, VS included Carola Anderson (Rosenthal), first on sax, then later on some vocal duties. VS were in the orbit on the very early punk scene of San Francisco. They played the very first "Off Broadway" show with The Avengers and The Dils, and were the very first band to ever step onstage to play the historic 1839 Geary Temple Beautiful venue.
After recording an early demo, they disintegrated, breaking off into other bands. Later incarnation of VS were to include a constant succession of other members, including men, but the first original line-up proved to be the most visually true & powerful to the original concept of Olga's. [SOURCE: DISCOGS]
Un Département was a French Minimal Wave and Experimental Rock trio formed in 1980 in Orléans and disbanded in 1985. Members were Marcel Kanche (saxophone, vocals), Phil Gaz (bass, drums, guitar, and keyboards) and Bruno Tollard. They released one 7” and one 12” 1981, one tape in 1984 and one LP in 1985 (‘Le Album’). After Un Département disbanded Marcel Kanche was in various punk bands that allowed him share stage with, among others, Les Rita Mitsouko, Pere Ubu, Alan Vega or The Cure.
Label:
Illusion Production – IP 019
Format:
Vinyl, LP
Country:
France
Released:
1985
Style:
Experimental, Avantgarde, New Wave. Minimal Wave, Industrial, Art Rock
Total was the side project of Skullflower guitarist Matthew Bower, and actually predates his more well-known band (Total sprang into existence in 1982). It was originally the group that evolved out of Pure, with much of the early Skullflower's same lineup. Somewhere between 1985-1987, Total mutated into Skullflower, and Total subsequently became Matthew Bower's solo project. At that point it served as a more "ambient" counterpart to Skullflower's wall-of-noise approach; in recent years, however, the dynamic reversed itself until Total's releases were often considerably noisier and more chaotic than Skullflower's. [SOURCE: KORPERSCHWACHE.COM]
Label:
Majora – LP-5755
Format:
Vinyl, LP
Country:
US
Released:
1993
Style:
Noise, Experimental, Death Industrial, Drone
London (Ontario)'s reputation as a sort of stolid, whitebread wasteland was never really fair musically -hell, any city giving birth to and then actually managing to keep the likes of the Nihilist Spasm Band would always have an undercurrent of creative cool. Similarly, for its size that burg spawned a thriving late-seventies/early-eighties punk and post-punk scene with bands like The Demics, Mettle, The Zealots and Sheep Look Up keeping the hipsters entertained.
Sheep Look Up of course took their name from John Brunner's 1972 dystopian novel. Though the band trace their origins to 1982, their line-up really started to crystalize a year later, when new guitarist Gilbert Smith entered the fold. He would be joined by singer Will Power (ne Matt Owen), drummer Greg Moore, bassist Mark Deroux, pianist/saxophonist John Francom and (sometimes) Lisa Patterson on sax and keyboards.
In 1986, with a U-Know award for Best Non-Recording Artist under their belts and songs on the 'Animals Fight Back' (1984) and 'CHRW - London Underground' comps, Sheep Look Up released this self-titled 12" EP, which charted on numerous college stations, as well as drawing attention from as far away as Bath (UK) and Milan. Sheep Look Up is fairly typical of the time, melding gothic gloom, pained vocals, and cavernous production, an effect which dredges up the ghosts of early Joy Division or pre-MTV Modern English. "Falasha" features some rather intense sax, an underrated feat for such an abused instrument, while the twangy guitar licks on "Spaghetti Western" -the finest track here- are curiously more John Barry than Ennio Morricone. [SOURCE: CANUCKISTAN MUSIC]
Room Nine represented a different look to the '80s Seattle music scene. Formed in the early '80s, Room Nine's moody psychedelia didn't garner the press or radio attention that the city's post-punk acts eventually did. Comprised of Ron Rudzitis (vocals), Michael Laton (guitar), Scott Boggan (bass), and Shawn Allen (drums), Room Nine was an integral part of Seattle underground rock. During Room Nine's early days, Rudzitis' home was called the Room Nine House, a place where local musicians socialized after gigs. Rudzitis shared the home with Feast drummer Dan Peters and renowned Seattle photographer Charles Peterson. Rudzitis changed his name to Ron Nine, and Allen was replaced by Scott Vanderpool. In 1988, Room Nine released the critically acclaimed LP 'Voices...On a Summer's Day' on C'est La Mort Records. The track "Sea Without a Shore" was a hit on college-radio stations, and the band even took second place on one of MTV's Basement Tapes contests. After Room Nine broke up in the late '80s, Nine formed Love Battery with Peters, former Green River and Mother Love Bone bassist Bruce Fairweather, and ex-Crisis Party guitarist Kevin Witworth. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Label:
C'est La Mort – CLMLP 002
Format:
Vinyl, LP, Album
Country:
US
Released:
1987
Style:
New Wave, Indie Rock, Post-Punk, Neo-Psychedelia, Dream Pop, Goth Rock, Jangle Pop
Pel Mel were an Australian post-punk music band, which formed in Newcastle in mid-1979 and moved to Sydney in late 1980. They issued two studio albums, 'Out of Reason' (1982) and 'Persuasion' (1983). They toured until the end of 1984 and then disbanded. Pel Mel's first single, 'No Word From China', was originally recorded at the Double Jay radio station and gathered so much interest that it was rush released on the band's own label, Primate Records, in January 1981. The band performed the song on the nationally broadcast music show, "Countdown". It's catchy but not silly, it's romantic but not dull, it's simple but not straight. It was subsequently re-mastered and re-released through GAP Records in June 1981.
[SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]
Considering when this was released, this is almost a pre-take on pop punk in a way, with a bunch of ska influences to it. In general rather soft and melodic material, with nice basslines and very tight fast drumming. Although the tempo is quite high in the tracks, it feels like the tracks are slightly longer than normal punk tracks. Good production and a rather good take on the punk in general, as this spews out attitude, yet is very melodic and rather smooth to the style. [SOURCE: RATE YOUR MUSIC]
Fantastically fun The Homosexuals related tracks. Funk, reggae, punk, and jazz are all cannibalized and regurgitated into essential new creations. Absolutely creative in its childlike exploration. [SOURCE: RATE YOUR MUSIC]
Mieses Gegonge
was an alternate name used by H.N.A.S.
While creating name for their band (around 1983), members had two choices left: H.N.A.S. (Hirsche Nicht Aufs Sofa) and Mieses Gegonge, and as P. Li Khan says "as we couldn't agree on one name for the then-imminent 'Abwassermusik' LP, we choose both, leaving the listener alone with the guesses who Mieses Gegone were" [SOURCE: DISCOGS]
An excellent compilation that gathers this short-lived group's output. The Loft never quite got the attention they deserved as a guitar pop band. The fact that they were on Creation Records and later turned into The Weather Prophets seemed to often overshadow the band's music. The complete, stumbling, perfect imperfections of "Why Did the Rain" highlight the group's strong points, with distinct, melodic guitar leads over a jangling rhythm section. Tracks like this one helped set the stage for the direction of indie pop over the next 20 years. The warm production emphasizes a classic structure that draws from The Velvet Underground, Television, and The Byrds. A crisper production follows on the rest of the tracks, but this short collection never falters in song quality. "Skeleton Staircase" lightly drones and jangles as Pete Astor croons is his faltering, song-speak way. Andy Strickland's clean guitar work balances out the uneven moments. "Winter" is another fine track, with the vocals and guitar raised to the very front of the track as the muffled drums carry the back. It could easily be mistaken for something off of the Flying Nun roster. "Up the Hill and Down the Slope" is the group's swan song -endemic of their entire output- a seemingly tangled mess of guitars and crooked melodies, but structured to perfection. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Label:
Creation Records – CRELP 047
Format:
Vinyl, LP, Compilation
Country:
UK
Released:
1989
Style:
Indie Rock, Indie Pop, Jangle Pop
Tracklist:
A1 Why Does The Rain 3:38
A2 Skeleton Staircase 2:36
A3 Lonely Street 3:04
A4 Your Door Shines Like Gold 3:11
A5 Time 2:52
B1 Winter 3:05
B2 Like 2:34
B3 On A Tuesday 3:04
B4 The Canal And The Big Red Town 2:54
B5 Up The Hill And Down The Slope 4:16
Notes:
Title from the spine. Front sleeve ommits the time-frame while the rear only reads "The Loft 1982 - 1985".
Tracks A1, B1, B2 recorded in 1984.
Tracks A4, A5, B5 recorded in 1985.
Tracks A2, A3, B3, B4 recorded for a BBC Radio One session January 1985.
Heir to the existential angst of such late-'70s luminaries as John Lydon and Tom Verlaine, England's Ian Lowery (whose first recorded musical strivings were with a late-'70s punk band, The Wall) talk-sings in that wonderfully curdled sneer we've heard a million times before. But few do it as well.
Going out on his own under the King Blank moniker, Lowery continued his wicked ways on the three-track 'Mouth Off', featuring the input of Screaming Blue Messiahs honcho Bill Carter, who produced and played on one song and co-wrote two. With the Messiahs backing him on the title track, Lowery seems newly dangerous, even throwing in a good imitation of a shivering fit.
Lowery then assembled some sympathetic sidemen and turned King Blank into a real band. Mimicking Dylan's 'Bringing It All Back Home' on the cover of 'The Real Dirt', Lowery broadened his range without any reduction in arrogance. Thanks to his versatile sidemen, he's able to touch on rockabilly, woozy ballads, vicious boogie, a chugging throwback to The Velvet Underground ("Uptight"), even bogus country music ("Bulletproof t", as in crucifix). Nasty and delectable. [SOURCE: TROUSER PRESS)
Most known for being one of the first bands on Alan McGee's Creation label, The Jasmine Minks were formed in early-'80s London. Initially a trio centered around singer Jim Shepard, the band went through numerous lineup shuffles throughout their lengthy, bumpy, and ultimately resilient history. The band's diverse musical interests, which ranged from the punk end of the Buzzcocks and Subway Sect to the more experimental likes of Cabaret Voltaire and DAF and to the more classic likes of Motown and Love, prevented them from being a simple pop band.
Alan McGee signed the band on the strength of witnessing a lengthy rehearsal at the band's Waterloo hideout and picked the songs that would become the band's first single. With organ and production help from Joe Foster and Dave Musker from Television Personalities, the 'Think!' single was released in 1984. After another single, the '1234567 All Good Preachers Go to Heaven' EP was released, felt by many to be their finest moment. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Label:
Creation Records – CRE LP 003, Creation Records – CRE LP 3
Format:
Vinyl, LP, Mini-Album
Country:
UK
Released:
1984
Style:
Lo-Fi, Indie Rock, Indie Pop, Jangle Pop
Tracklist:
A1 The Thirty Second Set Up
A2 What's Gone Wrong
A3 Somers Town
B1 Ghost Of A Young Man
B2 Mr. Magic
B3 Where The Traffic Goes
Notes:
There are at least two different sleeve colour pressings of this. The yellow/black shown here, and a red/black one.
