Biting Tongues ‎– Don't Heal [LP] (1981, Situation Two)

This Manchester, England-based unit was formed by Graham Massey and Howard Walmsley in 1980, ostensibly to provide soundtracks for the latter’s live film screenings. Fusing jazz, punk and dance music influences, Biting Tongues went on to release four albums over the 80s, the last of which saw them move to influential Manchester independent Factory Records. Strictly speaking Biting Tongues don't sing -they just talk to their music recounting stories. 'Don't Heal' is highly experimental and full of unusual harmonies. The unhinged and quirky saxophone works wonders all through the album literally transferring the music into some different dimension. [SOURCE: RATE YOUR MUSIC] 

Label: Situation Two ‎– SITU 1 

Format: Vinyl, LP 

Country: UK 

Released: 1981 

Style: Industrial, Experimental, Avantgarde, Post-Punk, Experimental Rock, Funk

Tracklist:

Face Up - The White Valise 

A1 Blue Traces 4:38 

A2 Dog Face 5:50 

A3 Heart Disease 4:20 

A4 Or With Eyes Closed 5:56 

Face Down - Darkroom Skin Transfers 

B1 Stabbing Soft Ice 5:06 

B2 You Can Choke Like That 3:51 

B3 Walkaway 1:59 

B4 Coil 4:40 

B5 R.R.O.R. 1:48 

B6 Give Diamonds / You Can't 6:40 

Notes:

Side A recorded 23, 24 January 1981 

Side B recorded 17 August 1980 

DOWNLOAD HERE

Afghan Whigs ‎– Big Top Halloween [LP] (1988, Ultrasuede)

Too often, Midwestern rock bands cannot escape being labeled Replacements clones, but The Afghan Whigs, although vocalist Greg Dulli was originally called a rougher Paul Westerberg, show on their extremely rare debut release that Midwestern rock doesn't necessarily have to overwhelm with its country influences. Although 'Big Top Halloween' is sometimes too cluttered in its mix, the album delivers bits of beauty and evidence of the band's future brilliance. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC] 

Label: Ultrasuede ‎– Ultrasuede 001 

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album 

Country: US 

Released: 1988 

Style: Alternative Rock, Indie Rock, Grunge, Hard Rock

Tracklist:

A1 Here Comes Jesus 3:32 

A2 In My Town 2:55 

A3 Priscilla's Wedding Day 3:32 

A4 Push 2:53 

A5 Scream 3:20 

A6 But Listen 5:50 

B1 Big Top Halloween 3:24 

B2 Life In A Day 2:06 

B3 Sammy 3:16 

B4 Doughball 2:13 

B5 Back O' The Line 2:45 

B6 Greek Is Extra 2:44 

Notes:

Recorded, engineered and mixed at Group Effort Studios, Crescent Springs, Ky. between April & September of 1987. 

DOWNLOAD HERE

400 Blows ‎– …If I Kissed Her I'd Have To Kill Her First… [LP] (1984, Illuminated Records)

400 Blows was something of an avant funk band from England that followed in the steps of groups like 23 Skidoo and A Certain Ratio. Like those earlier groups, 400 Blows was rhythmically dense with little concern for melody or basic rock song structures. '…If I Kissed Her I'd Have To Kill Her First…' is an early NewWave / Industrial / Disco / Noise album with three funky electronic tracks, and a lot of somewhat ambient noise-tracks with spoken document or very tribal. The good thing is that the whole album works very good at all, and the disco-tracks are very danceable and a little weird. [SOURCE: DISCOGS] 

Label: Illuminated Records ‎– JAMS 42 

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album 

Country: UK, Spain, Japan 

Released: 1984 

Style: Dub, Funk, Electro, Industrial, Experimental, Post-Punk, Dance-Punk

Tracklist:

A1 Groove Jumping 4:51 

A2 Declaration Of Intent (Re-Mixed) 4:42 

A3 Them Thar Hills 4:25 

A4 Love 3:06 

A5 Introduction 0:50 

B1 Conscience 4:52 

B2 For Jackie M 6:16 

B3 Lapwing Chant 3:25 

B4 Men Of Divine Wind (The Kamikaze) 4:10 

B5 Perspective 3 0:40 

DOWNLOAD HERE

Various ‎– The Last Nightingale [12''] (1984, Rē Records)

Plays like what it is (a fundraising effort produced by multiple artists). The first two tracks are great -spacious woodwindy RIO tunes with vocals from Robert Wyatt. They're as good if not better than most of his contemporary contributions to News From Babel. The Henry Cow song is just the remixed version of the opener to 'Unrest'. The other two tracks are intriguing spoken word pieces, conspicuous only because they're on a disc that also includes music. It is a curiosity with some substance, but mainly for aficionados. [SOURCE: RATE YOUR MUSIC] 

Label: Rē Records ‎– Rē 1984, Rē Records ‎– Re 1984 

Format: Vinyl, 12", 45 RPM, Limited Edition 

Country: UK 

Released: 1984 

Style: Political, Avantgarde, Prog Rock, Spoken Word, Avant-Prog, Poetry

Tracklist:

A1 – Lindsay Cooper, Chris Cutler, Bill Gilonis, Tim Hodgkinson & Robert Wyatt Moments Of Delight 

A2 – Lindsay Cooper, Chris Cutler, Bill Gilonis, Tim Hodgkinson & Robert Wyatt In The Dark Year 

B1 – Adrian Mitchell Back In The Playground Blues 

B2 – Henry Cow Bittern Storm Revisited 

B3 – Adrian Mitchell On The Beach At Cambridge 

DOWNLOAD HERE

Xiro ‎– Half The Profits [Cass] (1980, Not On Label)

Xero (also styled as Zero or Xiro) were an Australian punk rock and new wave band formed in Brisbane in 1977, and among a number of significant gigs, opened for The Cure in support of that group's second album, 'Seventeen Seconds'. The Go-Betweens Robert Forster was an occasional guest. Xiro issued two different four-track extended plays, 'Half the Profits' and 'Religious Wars', on audio cassette in mid-1980. They supported The Cure again in 1981. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA] 

Label: Not On Label (Xiro Self-released) ‎– none 

Format: Cassette 

Country: Australia 

Released: 1980 

Style: New Wave, Synth-pop, Minimal 

Tracklist:

A1 Just A Nite At Another Party 

A2 O.D 

B1 D.K 

B2 2,4-D Pelaco 

DOWNLOAD HERE

Werkbund ‎– Rungholt [LP] (1989, Abraum)

Enigmatic industrial / experimental band from Hamburg, Germany. The sound deals mainly with marine tales and myths from Northern Germany. So far it is not known who the artists are. It has been guessed that Felix Kubin and Uli Rehberg and other artists from Hamburg might be involved. Some people speculate that both Werkbund and Mechthild Von Leusch involve the collaboration of Asmus Tietchens and Uli Rehberg, though Asmus Tietchens has repeatedly denied any participation in the band. 'Rungholt' is weird and trippy in a way that on the first side is compelling and slightly ambient, the second side interesting. Expect metallic sounds / samples and experimental riffs with little melody or no melody at all. Cool, freaky, loopy stuff that reaches both ear-screeching and almost inaudible levels. [SOURCE: RATE YOUR MUSIC] 

Label: Abraum ‎– ABRAUM 01 

Format: Vinyl, LP, Limited Edition 

Country: Germany 

Released: 1989 

Style: Ambient, Experimental, Industrial, Noise, Dark Ambient

Tracklist:

A1 Im Watt 2:27 

A2 Brunock Und Ilgrof 4:34 

A3 Die Seefahrer 8:48 

A4 Letzte Weissagung 2:39 

B1 Marcellusflut 18:11 

B2 Rungholt 2:24 

DOWNLOAD HERE

Voice Farm ‎– The World We Live In [LP] (1982, Optional Records)

It's hard to listen to Voice Farm's debut without drawing comparisons to their contemporaries in the field of cerebral, synthesizer-based pop. Their precisely structured, heavily sequenced instrumentals often recall Gary Numan -not that there's anything wrong with that. On the vocal tracks, they resemble a left-coast Devo, casting a jaundiced eye on suburbia, voyeurism, and therapy. At times their sound intersects with the cold tones of early OMD; but Voice Farm takes themselves far less seriously. None of this is meant to imply that they were imitating these other artists. 'The World We Live In' displays a lot of creativity, but lacks cohesion and is hard to get a grip on. It has some quite memorable moments, including the catchy, funny putdown "Beatnik" and the album-closing "Over and Over," which masterfully blends a lyrical theme of obsession with relentless, ominous bass tones. The rest of the album is at least entertaining, except for a couple of songs that seem to have been intentionally designed to annoy: "Cheeno" and "Mama Made Me Do It" (it's interesting to note that the latter also appears on the 'Voice Farm' LP, drastically reconfigured into a strangely sweet pop tune). [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC] 

Label: Optional Records ‎– 004 

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album 

Country: US 

Released: 1982 

Style: Synth-pop, New Wave, Electropop

Tracklist:

A1 A.M. City 2:51 

A2 Lost Adults 4:08 

A3 Beatnik 3:23 

A4 Davy's Big Battle 2:52 

A5 Mama Made Me Do It 1:31 

B1 Sally Go Round The Roses 3:47 

B2 Double Garage 3:10 

B3 Follow Me Home 2:28 

B4 Voyeur 2:57 

B5 Cheeno 0:52 

B6 Over And Over 3:26 

DOWNLOAD HERE

Un Département ‎– Je Serai Clément En Tant Que Dictateur [7''] (1981, Un Département Production)

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’). 

Label: Un Département Production ‎– 021 081 

Format: Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM 

Country: France 

Released: 1981 

Style: Experimental, No Wave, Industrial

Tracklist:

A Je Serai Clément En Tant Que Dictateur 

B1 Louise Labbé 

B2 La Poupée Au Doigt De La Fille 

DOWNLOAD HERE

Toiling Midgets ‎– Dead Beats [LP] (1985, Thermidor)

The Toiling Midgets were formed in 1979 by drummer Tim Mooney, of The Sleepers and Negative Trend, and guitarist Craig Gray also of the local San Francisco band Negative Trend, guitarist Paul Hood from Seattle's Punk bands Meyce and The Enemy, and bassist Nosmo King (aka Johnathan Henrickson). Paul Hood had previously been a bassist in Seattle but picked up the guitar in the hopes of playing in a rock band (like his hero, Mick Ronson). The band added singer Ricky Williams to its lineup in 1981. The Midgets released their first album, 'Sea of Unrest' about this time, before Williams insisted that Nosmo King leave the band, leaving the band without a bass player. At the end of 1982 bassist Aaron Gregory joined the group, and Annie Ungar (Gun Club) joined as a third guitarist. The formation of the band released 'Dead Beats' on Joe Carducci's Thermidor label, which represented a return to the all-instrumental approach with which the Toiling Midgets has initially been formed. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA] 

Label: Thermidor ‎– T 18 

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album 

Country: US 

Released: 1985 

Style: Post-Punk, Art Rock, Punk 

Tracklist:

A1 Caverns 3:07 

A2 Incendiary 2:28 

A3 Dollhouse Bricks 1:28 

A4 Funk Song 2:51 

A5 Desperation 2:50 

A6 Before Trust 2:57 

B1 Black Idol 2:39 

B2 She's Fun 2:16 

B3 California 2:29 

B4 Preludes 6:23 

DOWNLOAD HERE

Shake – Shake [10''] (1979, Sire)

Three members of the recently defunct Rezillos (Jo Callis, Simon Templar, Angel Paterson) stayed on Sire and carried on as Shake (or S.H.A.K.E. if you looked at record labels), releasing an unrecorded (in the studio anyway) Rezillos tune "Culture Shock" as the main song on their debut 10" EP, a four song affair that nobody really bothered with. Two songs from the EP, "Culture Shock" and "Dream On" were extracted for a single which did nothing either, although Smash Hits seemed to love them. [SOURCE: PUNKY GIBBON]

Label: Sire ‎– SIR 4016 

Format: Vinyl, 10", 45 RPM, EP 

Country: UK 

Released: Jul 1979 

Style: Punk 

Tracklist:

A1 Culture Shock 

A2 Glass House 

B1 Dream On 

B2 (But) Not Mine 

DOWNLOAD HERE