Rare daytime post!
Art Of Noise
Art Of Love (Extended Mix)
Ambience Of Love
Heart Of Love
So how the hell didn’t I know about this?
In 1990, Art Of Noise released “The Ambient Collection.” As its name suggests, it is a collection of Art Of Noise tunes reworked as a continuous ambient mix. That alone sounds pretty rad. What makes it even more rad (I’m totally bringing “rad” back, by the way) is that the album was compiled and remixed by Youth from Killing Joke, with an added assist by Alex Paterson of The Orb.
So…that’s pretty awesome. What strikes me the most about these mixes (aside from their overall greatness) is how similar in sound they are to Metallic Spheres, the 2010 album by The Orb that featured Paterson again working with Youth (as well as David Gilmour). Hard to fault them for not updating their sound though, this shit sounded great in 1990, and that Metallic Spheres proved that it still sounded good some 20 years later.
In case you can’t tell, I’m really digging on these mixes at the moment. They’re probably the best thing I’ve put up on this blog in months.
The Fixx
One thing Leads To Another (Live Version)
Saved By Zero (Live Version)
I was surprised to find these live cuts, were are the B-sides to a 12″ promo single for “The Sign Of Fire.” I’ve dived through countless Fixx records before, and this was the first I ever found that had songs that, to the best of my knowledge, aren’t on CD. Neither of these live versions really expand or diverge upon the original versions that much, but they do so that The Fixx was a pretty great live band back in the day.
And this version of “Saved By Zero” is certainly better than the version that was in that fucking Toyota ad.
Wang  Chung
Fire In The  Twilight (Specially Remixed Version)
Dreaming In The Hills Of Heaven
I honestly didn’t think I would ever find more rare Wang Chung to post but leave it to Jerry’s Records for me to discover some weird import 12″ single, this one for the song that Wang Chung contributed to The Breakfast Club. I don’t own the soundtrack to the Breakfast Club (because even my nostalgia has some limits), so I can’t compare this “Specially Remixed Version” with the original. I bet it’s not that different. It’s certainly not an “extended” mix, since it’s still less than four minutes long. However, I love the track, and I like just having an excuse to post it.
I love love this B-side, “Dreaming In The Hills Of Heaven.” It’s apparently an honest-to-goodness Wang Chung rarity. It only appeared on this 12″ single and has never been released on CD. It’s very reminiscent of the group’s work on the To Live And Die In L.A. soundtrack, with an atmospheric, somewhat tense, quality to it. The vocals sound a little muddled, but that’s not the fault of my rip, I think this is recording is a demo. It doesn’t detract too much from the quality of the track, however. If you love Wang Chung (and you damn well should) then check this song out. And if you don’t like Wang Chung, then I don’t want you to read my blog.
Okay, you can still read my blog, but give Wang Chung a chance, okay? They were an underrated act!
Hey, man, thanks for the Art of Noise!
Thanks for your tireless, peerless work! Might you have (or even have already posted) Wang Chung’s “Ornamental Elephant”? It was the B-side to the 7″ of Dance Hall Days… Cheers!
Thanks for the Fixx tracks! They still are an excellent live band. Still going strong.
The one thing that’s so weird about the Art of Noise is trying to track down a song of theirs and find the right version. I have a tape of their song Legs, and have been trying to run down the CD – but oddly I can’t remember which version of the thing I like, and turns out there are multiple versions. Ah well. Can never hurt to have more Art of Noise, right? And now you’ve reminded me I never did get any of the Ambient stuff!
Great tracks – I always found it fascinating that Youth was engaged for those AON remixes. The Wang Chung track “Fire In The Twilight” is a great driving tune – never heard it and thanks for sharing.
As always, thanks for the cool stuff. The Wang Chung tunes are great. Re. The Fixx, have you ever heard React (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/React_%28The_Fixx_album%29)?