THE BAND OF HOLY JOY " The Big Ship Sails ", 10'' mini-LP, (UK, 1986)

The Big Ship Sails... And it trully did. Just one year later, they will make their first and best LP "More Tales From The City", forerunner of which, is this fine 10'' release (Flim Flam Productions).

Big Ship Sails
(6 tracks, approx 17 min)

BERNARD SZAJNER (FRA)

An introduction to dark synth-pop and cold ambient soundscapes of French-Jew electronic composer BERNARD SZAJNER (born 1944), also designer and player of the "laser harp".

Szajner`s strange, sometimes sonically violent, and not easily full revealed world combines several elements from minimal composers, 70`s electronic prog, Serge Gainsbourg, 80`s cold-wave inclinations....while much of its dark colour derives from the sad palette of his race genocide experience.
As a pioneering musician, Szajner has known both critical acclaim and commercial acknowledgement, but since his mid-80's moving away from music (towards other artistic activities), his work became gradually obscured. He has created though some new works just recently.

tracklist:
01. Ritual (from "Some Deaths Take Forever", LP, 1980)
02. Execute (from "Some Deaths Take Forever", LP, 1980)
03. The Memory (from "Some Deaths Take Forever", LP, 1980)
04. Superficial music 3 (from "Superficial Music", LP, 1981)
05. Without leaving (feat. H. Devoto) (from "Brute Reason", LP, 1983)
06. Saracen Cards (from "Brute Reason", LP, 1983)
07. The Snark (from "Brute Reason", LP, 1983)
08. The Big Scare (from "The Big Scare, EP, 1984)
09. Indecision (from "The Big Scare, EP, 1984)
10. Flash Forward ** (from "Indecent Delit", EP, 1986)

** written by Serge Gainsbourg

Bernard Szanjer
(approx time 45 min)

compiled by La Folie Du Jour

playing the laser harp

TANIT "To Alaska" (FRA, 1984)

Post punk/cold wave "Tanit" in their second appearance, back in 1984, with the 12'' MiniAlbum "To Alaska". About them check out also our previous post: TANIT "Can an actor bleed"

Tracklist:
a1. Lola
a2. Echo und der spiegel
a3. Banshee
b1. Wavel song
b2. Questions,questions
b3. Can an actor bleed?

Can an actor bleed?

*Posted after request.

Update 28/02/10: :Link removed after complaints by the artist.

VORGRUPPE "Das Sehnen Nach Dem Schein" (GER, 1983)

Fine 4-track 12'' EP by avant NDW band VORGRUPPE, following up the very good "Menschenkinder" LP. Posted here by request.

Das Sehnen Nach Dem Schein
(256 kb/s, approx 15min)

GUY KLUCEVSEK "Scenes From A Mirage" (US, 1987)

Σκηνές Από Ένα Αντικατοπτρισμό

Βινυλιακή απαρχή μιας σπουδαίας καλλιτεχνικής διαδρομής που βρίσκει τον κορυφαίο ακκορντεονίστα και συνθέτη GUY KLUCEVSEK να δουλεύει τόσο στο επίπεδο του αβαν-νεωτερισμού όσο και εντός των ορίων της παραδοσιακής φολκ φόρμας, και τελικά να μετασχηματίζει την μεταξύ τους σχέση, με αποκορύφωμα την ομώνυμη σύνθεση του φινάλε όπου μέσα σε ένα σπαρασσόμενο από μεταβολές τοπίο, ο λυρικός ψυχισμός του έργου οδηγείται σε οριακή αναμέτρηση με τα φάσματα.


scenes from a mirage

Δειτε επισης: Guy Klucevsek "Citrus, my love"

THE JAZZ PASSENGERS "Live at Knitting Factory" (1991) / "In Love" (1994)

Live at the Knitting Factory

(1991, Knitting Factory Works)
(10 tracks, 70 min)

The avant-jazz sextet of Roy Nathanson (saxes) & Curtis Fowlkes (trombone) in live action at the legendary Knitting Factory club in Jan 1991. Jazz Passengers blend jazz and non-jazz elements in a free, witty and humourous way.

JAZZ PASSENGERS: Curtis Fowlkes (voice, trombone), Roy Nathanson (soprano, alto, tenor saxes), Jim Nolet (violin), Bill Ware (vibraphone), Brad Jones (bass), E.J. Rodriguez (drums , percussion)

plus: Marcus Rojas (tuba), David Fiuczinski (guitar), Dougie Browne (drums), Yuka Honda (samples)

In Love

(1994, Windham Hill/High Street Rec)

The first major label album and also the first "vocal-added" work of the band. Includes singers from various genres (soul, jazz, world, rock), Jeff Buckley, Freddy Johnston, Deborah Harry, Mavis Staples, Jimmy Scott, Bob Dorough and others. Due to songform approaching, some more loungeness creeps in, but JP`s view is still ironic and, at parts, amusingly lunatic. I have chosen for listening the track: "syncretism". What this word implies is what JAZZ PASSENGERS do quite successfully.



Jazz Passengers - Syncretism

V/A - EINE DEUTSCHE SCHWELLE

"Boshaft wie goldene Rede beginnt diese Nacht."

A GERMAN THRESHOLD

PYROLATOR - it always rains in Wupertal ("Inland", LP, 1979)

MATTHIAS SCHUSTER - Ritual 1 ("Ritual", 12'' EP, 1981)
DIN A TESTBILD - Incorporeal ("Programme 3", LP, 1983)
STRAFE FUR REBELLION - Hochofenballet ("A Soundless Message of Death", LP, 1984)
SERGE BLENNER - Envoutement ("Magazin Frivole", LP, 1981)
VORGRUPPE - Verkannt und Verbissen ("Menschenkinder", LP, 1982)
MANNSCHRECK - Walking in the human mud ("80-8", 7'', 1980)
HOFFNUNG & PSYCHE - Das auto (1981-82)
INDEX SIGN - Machines ("...Entrance", LP, 1981)
INDEX SIGN - Tables & Chairs ("...Entrance", LP, 1981)
ROTZKOTZ - Schlanke Finger ("Lebensfroh & Farbenfroh", LP, 1981)
DER MODERNE MAN - Anakonda ("Unmodern", LP, 1982)
DER MODERNE MAN - Unmodern ("Unmodern", LP, 1982)
DUNKELZIFFER - Strom ("Stil der Neuen Zeit", 12''EP, 1982)
BARCHEN UND DIE MILCHBUBIS - Oh! ("Dann Macht Es Bumm", LP, 1982)
IDEAL - Sex in der wuste ("Der Ernst des Lebens",LP, 1981)
ROTZKOTZ - Auglein zu ("Lebensfroh & Farbenfroh", LP, 1981)
PYROLATOR - Nordatlantik ("Inland", LP, 1979)

compiled by LFDJ

eine deutsche schwelle
(18 tracks, 67 min)

SIMON FISHER TURNER "The Garden" (UK, 1991)

Here it is the soundtrack for Derek Jarman`s debatably interesting movie "The Garden". 31 tracks are credited, the music though, is divided into only nine. Simon Fisher Turner feels the cinematic potentiality of a wide palette of sound combinations and moves from one to the other cleverly. The best though for me comes, when i just read the micro-poetry of some titles:
"Clock Faced Flower Beds", "Altars Of Peace", "Fill The Silence With False Notes", "My Melancholy Stones", "Rushing Forgotten Secrets", "Impatient Youth Of The Sun"....

THE GARDEN
(9 tracks, 64min)

SIMON FISHER TURNER "The Last of England" (UK, 1987)

The soundtrack for Derek Jarman’s 1987 film “The Last of England”. The film* depicts Jarman’s personal vision of descenting into chaos England, a vision both apocalyptic and lyrical, and Turner’s music (with the contribution of several others, including Mayo Thompson, Barry Adamson, Diamanda Galas and Andy Gill) creates the sounds of this vision.

Tracklist:

1. Simon Turner "Tonala" (2:22)
2. Simon Turner "Autumn Leaf" (3:27)
3. Simon Turner "Sketches of Luxembourg" (1:24)
4. Simon Turner "The Last of England" (2:24)
5. Simon Turner "Fina" (1:41)
6. Simon Turner "Persistence of Memory" (3:02)
7. Simon Turner "The Bridge" (2:49)
8. Simon Turner "Hymn for Thatcher" (7:04)
9. Mayo Thompson/Albert Oehlen/Tilda Swinton "Disco Death" (3:25)
10. Brian Gulland "Springback" (1:04)
11. Barry Adamson "Refugee Theme (15 Rounds)" (4:41)
12. Andy Gill "In the Free World" (4:47)
13. Simon Turner "Intro" (00:20)
14. Diamanda Galas "The Thirteen Returns" (5:03)
15. Diamanda Galas "Deliver Me" (7:20)
16. Simon Turner "The Day After Tomorrow" (2:16)
17. Simon Turner "Imprisoned Memories" (1:44)
18. Simon Turner "Jets"/"The Dead Sea" (5:54)
19. Mayo Thompson/El Tito/Simon Turner "Broadway Boy" (1:26)
20. John Dent/Simon Turner "The National Grid" (1:23)

* Named after this painting:

The Last of England

Ford Madox Brown, 1855

Oil-on-panel

*Posted here after request.

The Last of England  Link 1 (57,8 MB, 128 Kbps, approx time 63min)


 LINK 2

PARTY BOYS "Daddyland" (US, 1986)

L.A. outfit with raw, lo-fi garagy sound and unorthodox style. This third (and last) album captures, into unpolished atmosphere, both the originality of their ideas, and the hypnotic psychedelic primitivism of the band.
After PARTY BOYS disbandment, bassist Warnie Webber followed solo songwriting ways, and also involved with several non-music, artistic activities... Recently, she has been playing with Spirit Girls, an all women band.


PARTY BOYS The Spring Street Shuffle

TWO DAUGHTERS "S/T" (1980) & "Kiss The Cloth / Gloria" (1981)

TWO DAUGHTERS was an enigmatic early 80's outfit of someone Nicky Rogers & other uncredited musicians. They had two cassette releases, "Two Daughters" (1980), "Kiss The Cloth / Gloria" (1981)... and a contribution to Cherry Red experimental compilation "Perspectives and Distortion" (1981).
Their music, a strange transcendental trip through archaic ceremonial chants, repetitive forms, hypnotic paths, electronic melancholy and industrial ambience, explores streams of subconscious and reflects a strong dark nostalgia for the unknown, the past, the unexplained.
Quite pioneering for its time and not worse at all than other, very popular stuff of the overestimated United Dairies label.

Two Daughters -"Same Titled", (cassette, 1980)
1.Ladder of Souls / 2.Return call / 3. We are / 4.Sad Horizons / 5.So i / 6.Return Call / 7.Drums / 8.Air / 9.Aaaaaar

Two Daughters -1. Kiss the Cloth (3parts) / 2. Gloria (5 parts), (cassette, 1981)

Sad Horizon

AUTUMNFAIR "Glaciers and Gods" (US, 1991)

an Independent Project Records release

Six-track release from late 80's recordings of Savage Republic's bassist/guitarist THOM FUHRMANN and bassist VAL HALLER (Flying Lizards, Electric Chairs, etc) with additional percussions from Biff Sanders (Fourwaycross) and Jeremy Goff. The band existed the period 1986-89 with various members, participating (along with Marnie, Dark Arts and Soul Brothers), to the Nate Starkman & son compilation "The October Country"(1987). Using some old Savage Republic tricks, being pompous at times, and spoiled by some 4AD-like stylistic atmosphere, GLACIERS AND GODS is, in my opinion, a not so much interesting work. Nevertheless, "Arterial", one of the best tracks, is here:

AUTUMNFAIR - Arterial

KALAHARI SURFERS: The spirit of resistance

"OWN AFFAIRS"

(1st LP, Gross National Products, 1984)

"LIVING IN THE HEART OF THE BEAST"
(2nd LP, Recommended Rec, 1985)

"SLEEP ARMED"
(3rd LP, Recommended Rec, 1987)

"BIGGER THAN JESUS"
(4th LP, ReR Megacorp, 1989)

Avant, strongly political Southafrican project activated in 80`s by WARRICK SONY, HAMISH DAVIDSON and various other musicians, radically opposed the racist regime, rejected by local disc companies and finally released by Chris Cutler`s Recommended Rec. Their first four - still sounding totally great - LPs are outstanding documents of "life and resistance" in South Africa during the hard apartheid days.

Other works: Gross National Product (cass, 1981), Beat About The Bush (EP, 1982), Akasic Record (cd, 2001), a.o.... Still active around Warrick Sony.

Selections from Kalahari Surfers first 4 LPs you can get here:

Kalahari Surfers (12 tracks, approx time 48min)

01. Free State Fence (Own Affairs)
02. Prayer For Civilization(Own Affairs)
03. Hippo In Town (Own Affairs)
04. Europeans (Living in the heart...)
05. 1999 (Living in the heart...)
06. Township Beat (Living in the heart...)
07. Healthy Way Of Life (Sleep Armed)
08. Golden Rendezvous (Sleep Armed)
09. Mafikeng Road (Sleep Armed)
10. Gutted With The Glory (Bigger Than Jesus)
11.Gold Reef City (Bigger Than Jesus)
12. Reconnaissance (Bigger Than Jesus)

compiled by La Folie Du Jour

"Being a white English South African means being schizophrenic. It means not having a firm foot in any culture, but also it means being priviledged to be exposed to many wildly diverse aspects of social life." (from KALAHARI SURFERS site)

SOMBRE SEPTEMBRE "Une Lune En Hiver", 7'', (FRA, 1990)

SOMBRE SEPTEMBRE
Eric Walter - keyboard, vocals
Thierry Jungblut - bass
Faymeria - keyboards, programming

7'' single by french cold wave outfit of Eric Walter, recorded in summer of 1990 and came out from Seagulls Screaming Productions. One more Sombre Septembre single ("Le Nez Rouge"), recorded with different line up, had released the year before from the same label.

Tracks
a. Une lune En Hiver (3:24)
b. Passee la nuit (5:14)

Get it here

THIRD PERSON "The Bends" (US, 1991)

THIRD PERSON was an improvising trio collaboration between cellist TOM CORA (1953-1998, played with Curlew, Skeleton Crew, Nimal, Roof, Zorn, Frith...), percussionist SAMM BENNETT (Semantics, Bosho, solo works) and a different each time guest musician who, as a "third person", joined the project on stage. Two albums, "THE BENDS" (1991) and "LUCKY WATER" (1994) came out of these performances which took place and recorded live at Knitting Factory.

"Third Persons" were: Catherine Jauniaux (voice on tracks 1, 15), Don Byron (clarinet on 3, 9, 11), Zeena Parkins (harp on 7, 19), George Cartwright (sax on 5, 8, 10), Marc Ribot (guitar on 2, 6, 16, 18), Myra Melford (piano on 12), Nic Collins (electronics on 4, 13, 17), Chris Cochrane (guitar on 14).

Saxophonist Kazutoki Umezu was the third person of "Lucky Water".

Tom Cora (photo by Frank Schindelbeck)

THIRD PERSON - "The Bends"
(19 tracks, approx time 73 min)

BO-WEEVILS "The Vortex Took Them" EP, (AUS, 1987)

Melbourne neo-psych outfit formed mid-80's and disbanded late 90's. After a first period of strong garage-punk revival influences, BO-WEEVILS moved to contemporaries psych rock fields, much closer to the sound of DIED PRETTY... and mid-80's "american paisley underground" bands (Dream Syndicate, Green on Red...).

Finest moment and turning point for BO-WEEVILS output was the album "Where Particular People Congregate" (1988). Its predecessor was this 5-track 12'' EP.

tracks:
a1.Have You Been To Mars? / a2.You Know / a3.Wildman
b1.Mr Bo-Weevil / b2.(life on the) Merry-Go-Round

New Link!

BO-WEEVILS - illusions (from "Where Particular People Congregate" LP)