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Punch The Monkey! Lupin The 3rd Remixes, Part 2!

Thursday, February 28th, 2013

More Lupin remixes! I hope someone likes these. I feel like I’m going super specific here.

These are all taken from Punch That Monkey 2! The second of a three-part series that came out in 1999 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Lupin The 3rd, the popular anime/manga series. I wrote about the series already, so I’m just going to cut to the chase this time.

And in case anyone was wondering, the albums are called Punch The Monkey because the creator of Lupin goes by the pen name of Monkey Punch.

I have no idea why.

Yuji Ohno
Lupin The 3rd ’78 (Afro Rock Theme~Douchatta No Lupin Mix)
Yuji Ohno was the composer for the second Lupin series, which first aired on Japanese television in 1977. He also did the music for the Miyazaki-directed Lupin film The Castle of Cagliostro, an excellent animated flick if there ever was one. This remix is by Yoshihiro Sawasaki, who has been releasing music in Japan since 1994, either under his own name or under various others, my favorite being Doctor YS & The Cosmic Drunkards. His music seems to run the gamut from acid breaks to minimal to straight-up dance, and everything I’ve heard I’ve dug. I really have to start getting into more Japanese electronic music…

Kazuya Senka/Yuji Ohno
Theme From Lupin The 3rd~Theme From Lupin “E” (Vocal Version)
A full vocal mix of the original theme music, with some light jazzy instrumental instrumentation thrown in for good measure. Nearly all the guitars are removed, and replaced with some incredibly laid-back keyboard work. I have no idea who Kazuya Senka is, so if anyone wants to fill me in, please do.

This remix is by ECD, a hip-hop act who I believe is Yoshinori Ishida, or Ishida with another person. Judging from the quantity of stuff he has on YouTube, it would appear he’s still going strong, and has quite the following. also Japanese hip-hop is crazy.

Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra
Lupin The 3rd ’78
Great name for a band, and very accurate, as they are massive ska group with over 10 members. These guys have been around for over 20 years now, and continue to release new music. If their Wikipedia is any indication, they also tend to go through members like Def Leppard and Lynyrd skynyrd combined, unfortunately.

Takeo Yamashita
Theme From Lupin The 3rd II (Readymade All That Jazz Mix)
Theme From Lupin The 3rd 3
Theme From Lupin The 3rd (Akakage’s Happy Set)
Takeo Yamashita was a composer of various live-action and anime shows throughout the 1960s and 1970s. He composed the original Lupin The 3rd theme song for the original series, and he also wrote the music for Giant Robo, the live-action version of the series that Americans know as Gigangtor. (He didn’t, however, write the awesome Gigantor song.)

All three of these remixes are by different people. The first is by Yasuharu Konishi of Pizzacato Five fame (he contributed a mix to the other Lupin compilation I put up). It’s crazy, and I love every minute of it, even if it barely resembles the original song.

The second track has no remix name, but it is indeed a remix, and was done by someone from the Japanese group Polysics. They’ve been described by others a Japanese Devo, and that’s pretty accurate. So, imagine the Lupin theme remixed by Devo, that’s what this sounds like. In other words, it sounds pretty rad. It actually sounds strikingly similar to Devo’s cover of “Working In A Coal Mine” in some parts, I don’t know if that was intentional or not. I hope it was.

The last mix is by an act called Akakage. According to Discogs, it used to be a duo, but most of their later stuff was credited only to a single person; Yoichiro Ito. From what I’ve heard of him, he really really likes Fatboy Slim. But hey, I really really like Fatboy Slim, so I’m not going to knock him for it.

Yoshihiko Katori Jazz Orchestra
Lupin The 3rd ’78 Theme (Melting Version)
I have no idea who these people are. Sorry.

Kanaho Maki/Yuji Ohno
Love Squall (Pansasa Love Anthem Mix)
Love Squall -M&M Bossa Bass Space
I know nothing about Kanaho Maki, tried my best, couldn’t find anything. Ditto for Pandart Sasanooha,  who is credited  for the “Pansasa Love Anthem Mix.”

The second mix is by Monday Michiru, an artist I had actually heard of before buying this compilation. Her music goes all over the place, from jazz and electronic to R&B and pop. Apparently she’s a big deal in Japan. As you might have been able to guess from the remix title, this mix has a strong bassa nova vibe to it.

The Ventures
Lupin The 3rd ’78
Yes, The Ventures. Yes, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, best-selling instrumental rock group of all time Ventures. How did this happen?

Well, apparently The Ventures are HUGE in Japan. Seriously, at their peak popularity in Japan they allegedly outsold The Beatles. I honestly think the phrase “big in Japan” was created in part because of their massive success there. Shit, they should totally cover that Alphaville song. This is a straight-up cover of the original theme, no remixing, no electronic add-ons, and no vocals (it is The Ventures after all). It’s really, really good. They should have totally rocked this at the Rock And Roll Hallf Of Fame induction concert and blown everyone’s mind.

 

Posted in Anime, Complete Albums, remixes, soundtrack | 2 Comments »

Punch The Monkey! Lupin The 3rd Remixes, Part 1

Thursday, February 14th, 2013

Now for some real Japanese stuff.

022

It seems to me that most anime/manga is fleeting. Many shows and books have intentionally short runs and are more like mini-series than full-fledged shows. But when a show or book takes off in Japan, it really takes off. Titles like Gundam, Macross, Dragonball, those aren’t just TV shows or comic books in Japan, they’re freaking institutions, multi-generational cultural milestones that seem to go on forever and ever.

While I find the enduring popularity of those series to be utterly fascinating, I can never seem to get into them myself.  Gundam and Macross are too complicated and self-serious for me to enjoy, while series like Naruto, Dragonball and One-Piece are about as aesthetically and thematically pleasing to me as an 18th century Russian novel or an British soap opera. There’s nothing wrong with them, they’re just not my thing.

The only long-running Japanese series that I have ever been able to get into at all is Lupin The 3rd, which started as a comic in 1967 before branching out into a TV series in 1971 and even a film series starting in 1978. That’s a lot of Lupin, and while my overall exposure to the the various forms of Lupin-related media have been relatively slim in comparison, I’ve loved just about everything I’ve been able to get my hands on.

I think the main reason that I like Lupin more than those other series is that it’s relatively self-contained. You can pop in any Lupin movie or TV series and figure out the basic gist within minutes, and as a whole it’s pretty light entertainment. While I’m sure Lupin has had his serious moments of the years, most of what I’ve seen has been incredibly easy-going and wacky, just the kind of thing I want to watch when I feel the need to escape for a bit. I also love the style of the series, and how its managed to maintain its 1960s aesthetic in one way or another to this day. (Of course, given my limited exposure to Lupin as a whole, I could just be talking out of my ass, but this is what I’ve noticed from the stuff I’ve seen.)

And it’s music is really dope. In the pantheon of anime soundtracks, the Lupin The 3rd main theme takes my second place spot as greatest of all time, right behind the jazzy perfection of Cowboy Bebop. Just like the series itself, I love its retro style, and how it’s managed to evolve over time to incorporate more modern musical movements. It’s a blast to listen to, and apparently I’m not the only person who thinks so, because holy shit there are a ton of remix compilations of the Lupin The 3rd theme music in Japan. I bought a couple of them (as well as some other Lupin-related vinyl) and I’ll be sharing them over the course of the next few days.

Up tonight are the tracks from the 1998 2LP set Punch The Monkey! Lupin The 3rd; The 30th Anniversary Remixes. I was going to do an artist by artist breakdown of the compilation, but I can hardly find anything about any of the people who worked on this record. When I do, it’s typically in Japanese, so that’s not much of a help. The record does have one name I recognize though, and that’s Yasuharu Konishi; the founder of Readymade Records and original member of Pizzicato Five, one of the only Japanese acts ever to make any kind of headway in the American music scene. His remix is pretty great, but then again, nearly all of these remixes are great. But if I had to pick a favorite, I would probably choose Escalator Team’s “Club Escape Mix” of the ’78 Theme, if for only its completely random sample from Mortal Kombat. How the hell did that happen?

Toshio Matsuura
Lupin The 3rd ’78 Theme From Lupin III (Walther P99 Mix)

Masanori Ikeda
Lupin The 3rd ’80 Theme From Lupin III (Latin Calcutta Mix)

Comoesta Yaegashi
Afro Rock Theme (Afro Rock Mix)

Escalator Team
Lupin The 3rd ’78 Theme From Lupin III (Club Escape Mix)

Fuzita Blender
Funny Walk In Old Fashion (Mori No Blend Mix)

Fantastic Plastic Machine
Theme From Lupin The 3rd (F.P.M.’s Reconstruction Mix)

Yasuharu Konishi
Theme From Lupin The 3rd 3 (The Readymade Yangu Oh! Oh! Mix)

Fantastic Explosion
Toward The Patrol Line (You & Fantastic Explosion Mix)

Sunaga T Experience
Lupin The 3rd ’80 (Sunaga T Experience 9849 Mix)

Jun Sasaki
Love Squall (Fujiko’s Love Mix)

Izuru Utsumi
Theme From Lupin The 3rd II (Bossa ’98 Mix)

 

Posted in Anime, Complete Albums, remixes, soundtrack | 1 Comment »

Vib-Ribbon! Make me happy and tendentious!!!!!!!!

Monday, January 28th, 2013

Scan

I wanted to stock up on game music when I went to Japan, but little did I know that the greatest game music I would find while there wouldn’t be on a soundtrack, but on the actual game itself. Thank you PS1 games with Redbook audio!

Laugh And Peace - Music From Vib Ribbon
Polaroid
Sunny Day
Laugh And Beats
Universal Dance
Overflowing Emotions
Roll Along
Vib Ribbon Blues
When it came to shopping in Japan, I was definitely focused on music more than anything else. However, I’d be remiss if I didn’t spend at least a little bit of time in Tokyo going after some vintage Japanese games and systems. The classic games that I was after ended up costing way more than the albums I wanted though, so my gaming purchases were rather limited. I did, however, pick up a few nice items, among them being an original Famicon Twin system, the Japanese version of Contra, and a game for the PS1 by the name of Vib Ribbon.

Vib Ribbon is an early rhythm game that was originally released in Japan in 1999. It was released in PAL territories the following year, but it never made its way to the states for some reason. I have no idea why, because it’s the dopest shit ever.

In Vib Ribbon you’re tasked with guiding a rabbit by the name of Vibri across a simple one-dimensional plane (or ribbon) that is filled with obstacles that are roughly based on the rhythm of the game’s music. Each obstacle can only be cleared by pressing the correct button (or button combination) at the exact right time. It starts out easy, but it gets crazy hard as you progress.

One of the most noteworthy things about the game is that you can remove the game disc and put any audio CD in the Playstation and play each song on the CD as its own “stage,” basically giving you as many stages as you have CDs. It’s a cute idea, and while I’ve done plenty of that in my time with the game, I’ve actually spent more time sticking to the game’s built-in soundtrack, because it’s incredible.

I had decided about twenty seconds into the first time I heard the adorable “Polaroid” that it was my new favorite song of all time of the month, only to have it immediately usurped by the even more adorable, beautiful and lovely “Sunny Day,” a song as bright and uplifting as its title. It’s so good. So good! I had to walk away from my computer before writing this post. It’s so good, I had to calm down, or tonight’s post would have been just something like “OMG YOU GUYS! THIS MUSIC! IT’S SO….AAAAAAAGRHGHRRDHRATERHEHEHGERHAE THERE’S NO TIME HURRY UP EVERYTHING’S SO FANTASTIC!”

And that’s just unprofessional.

But yes, you need to listen to this music especially the first three tracks, they are perfection, so happy it hurts.

As far as I know, all of these songs are by a Japanese group called Laugh And Peace. They are best known for…this. They released one album in 2006, but it was never released in the states (of course). You can stream it on their MySpace page though. I have no idea what the members are up to now, so if anyone does please let me know!

Listen. Be happy. (That’s an important part). And I’ll see you all later in the week with more awesome music, although to be honest I doubt it will be as awesome as this. It’s awesome.

Awesome.

Posted in Complete Albums, Game Music, Laugh And Peace, soundtrack | 7 Comments »

Beep! Magazine video-game flexi-discs!

Tuesday, September 4th, 2012

In recent years I have developed quite a fascination with video game soundtracks that have been released on vinyl. Unfortunately, these are pretty rare in the states, with only a few marquee titles like Halo and some cult hits like Sword & Sworcery getting the vinyl treatment.

However, in Japan things are different. There, video game music gets the respect it deserves. Back in the 80s, nearly every game that was worth a damn had a soundtrack release, either in its original form or as an arranged (remixed/reproduced) version. Either they were given an album of their own, or highlights were included on compilation LPs that featured a selection of video game music from a particular game company such as Namco or Sega.

Some were even given away for free in flexi-disc form as bonuses to readers of Japanese video game magazines like Beep!, a popular magazine from the 80s that stuck around in some form or another until this year.

I know this because I have a very awesome friend named Anna Hegedus. And she got me two of these amazing discs for my birthday! So let’s take a look at them, shall we?

 

Wai Wai GAME MUSIC (March 1988)
Music From Ninja Warriors
Che!
Are you Lady? (Kunoichi’s Theme)
Name Entry

Namco x-Mas Charity Concert Live
Berabo-man
Toy Pop
Member Introduction 

According to VGMdb, this flexi was a supplement for the March, 1988 issue of the magazine. Side A is a collection of original music from the Taito arcade game Ninja Warriors, a uniqe beat-em-up that used three monitors to create a widescreen-style experience. (You can find out more about the game at this site). I never played any incarnation of this game from what I can remember, but this music is great, an excellent example of the kind of diverse and shockingly complex tunes that games of the time were able to produce.

On side B we find three more tracks, but instead of music taken directly from a game, they are live reproductions that were performed at a special Namco charity Christmas concert! I don’t know anything about this concert, or what charity it was supporting, so if anyone out there who does know anything about it is reading this, please let me know!

As far as the songs themselves go, the first is the theme music to Berabo-man, an arcade shooter that never made its way out to the states. Judging from the sound of this recording, it sounds like the live version still used a fair bit of synthesizers and drum machines, but I think I hear some live strings and other instruments in there as well. The second track is for another Japanese exclusive title, Toy Pop, and it’s a purely piano arrangement of that game’s theme music. It’s cute. The final track features the MC announcing the concert’s performers (each of whom perform their own quick little solos).  All very interesting stuff and something I bet most gaming fans have never heard before!

SUPER ARRANGE GAME MUSIC (November 1988)
Chase H.Q. – Stand By (Arrange)/Los Angeles (Arrange)
Syvalion – Round Start Arrange)/Main Theme (Arrange)
Assault – BGM 1 (Arrange)
Marchen Maze – Round 1 (Arrange) 
Next up we have this flexi disc, which was originally included with the November 1988 issue. Unlike the Ninja Warrior tunes from the previous disc, these songs are arranged (remixed/re-recorded) versions that sound substantially more complex and intricate than the original game versions.

The disc really starts things off with a showstopper, both in terms of music quality and in game reputation, with an amazing arrangement of music from the car pursuit classic Chase HQ. I don’t know if the bassline in this version is real or the work of a synthesizer, but if it is legit, then Squarepusher and Les Claypool could learn something from whomever is responsible for it, as it’s freaking unbelievable.

Paling in comparison but still worthwhile is the theme to the Japanese-only Syvalion, which has a great sci-fi feel that fits its space shooter genre very well. After that there’s an arranged version of the background music (BGM) for the generically titled Namco game Assault, another title that never saw a US release from what I can gather. It’s probably the second-best track on the disc, thanks in large part to its awesome synth guitar solo. MIDI shredding is the best shredding.

Finally there’s the stage one music for Marchen Maze, an isometric platformer based on Alice In Wonderland. As you may have guessed considering its source material, the music is rather jaunty.

All in all this is excellent stuff, and a peek into the era. If you like it, remember you have Anna to thank for it, and if you want to make her happy, follow her on Twitter and visit her website, where she often posts crazy technical videos that are so awesome they make my brain hurt.

And I’ll be back later this week with another Japanese-themed post! Until then, enjoy this 8/16-bit goodness!

Posted in live, remixes, soundtrack, video game music | 2 Comments »

Crazy for Dance Craze

Friday, July 27th, 2012

Dance Craze (Complete Album Download)

I love ska!

Okay, that was a lie. I just lied to you, and I apologize.

The truth is, I’ve never loved ska, no matter how much I try. I blame The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. Seriously, it’s all their fault.

Like most stupid Americans, I never heard of ska until the mid-90s, when barely-ska acts like the Bosstones, Reel Big Fish and No Doubt broke the sound through to the mainstream. And, let’s be honest, those bands and others like them were at their best slightly better than horrible. The Mighty Mighty Bosstones remain one of my most-hated bands of all time, right next to Creed and The Nixons (I have my reasons, okay?). I’ve done my best to forget about Reel Big Fish completely, and I only grew to tolerate No Doubt when the abandoned their ska roots for a more electronic sound.

So it’s all their fault, they’re why I hate ska. But I’ve been trying my best to educate myself, broaden my horizons. In doing so I’ve discovered that I actually like early ska! I know, I was shocked too, but the  2 tone (second wave ska) stuff out of England, I’m really beginning to dig that stuff. And this album is a big reason for that.

Dance Craze is like a Ska Urgh, a great compilation of early 80s tracks by artists both big (Bad Manners, The Beat, Madness) and small (The Bodysnatchers, The Selecter). It’s actually the soundtrack to a movie that came out in 1981, although it’s never been released on any format since, aside from VHS and that was only in England. (Although you can watch it on YouTube). The movie has 27 great performances, but the LP soundtrack cut that down to a slim 16 songs, which is a drag, especially considering amazing tracks like Madness’ “The Prince” and “Too Much Too Young” by The Specials were among those cut.

But that doesn’t mean the album was left with nothing but the dregs. The radical “Three Minute Hero” by The Selector is here, as well as an excellent version of The (English) Beat’s “Mirror In The Bathroom.” Thankfully we’re also gifted with a rocking jam of “One Step Beyond” by Madness AKA the greatest ska song of all time ever in the history of anything ever (don’t you dare try to correct me.)

Download and enjoy, and tell me about other 2-tone artists that you think I might dig.

Just don’t try to sell me on the Bosstones okay? Many have tried, and I have destroyed all of them.

And in case you’re wondering, here’s the complete tracklisting:

Side One

  1. “Concrete Jungle” – The Specials
  2. “Mirror In The Bathroom” – The Beat
  3. “Lip Up Fatty” – Bad Manners
  4. “Razor Blade Alley” – Madness
  5. “Three Minute Hero” – The Selecter
  6. “Easy Life” – The Bodysnatchers
  7. “Big Shot” – The Beat
  8. “One Step Beyond” – Madness

Side Two

  1. “Ranking Full Stop” – The Beat
  2. “Man At C&A” – The Specials
  3. “Missing Words” – The Selecter
  4. “Inner London Violence” – Bad Manners
  5. “Night Boat To Cairo” – Madness
  6. “Too Much Pressure” – The Selecter
  7. “Nite Klub” – The Specials

Also, a note to longtime readers of The Lost Turntable. I posted this soundtrack eons ago, but you should still download it again (if you like it). This rip is much better.

And one more thing. I was serious when I said I don’t care if you like the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Reel Big Fish or any other of those shit bands. If you leave me a comment about how my taste sucks I’ll just delete it, so don’t bother.

Posted in Complete Albums, soundtrack | 12 Comments »

I’m Gonna Git You Sucka – Original Soundtrack Album (Yes, This Blog Is That Awesome)

Thursday, April 26th, 2012

 

When I was a little kid, I’m Gonna Git You Sucka was one of my favorite movies of all-time.

That’s right, the R-rated spoof of blaxploitation films was the favorite movie of nine-year-old me.

Allow me to explain how something like this happens.

My father opened a video store in 1983, when I was just four years old. For much of the 80s my parents were divorced, and it came time for me to visit my dad I would spend much of the dayin the store watching movies, from when I got there until when I left. Then I would go home with my dad and watch movies in his apartment with him until I fell asleep. When I woke up in the morning, I would watch more movies before we went back to the video store where I would watch even more movies. And if we weren’t doing that we were probably going to the the movie theater.

So yeah, lots of movies.

And it’s worth noting that my dad was a terrible censor when it came to choosing appropriate films for a small child to watch. Sometimes this was a bad thing. I saw the The Terminator when I was six and it gave nightmares about killer robots for a week, and after seeing the opening of The Thing  when I was still in kindergarten I was scared of my neighbor’s dog for I don’t know how long.

But other times it was a good thing (at least in my opinion). I saw Beverly Hills Cop when I was six years old, so when I started first grade not only did I know almost all the swear words, but I knew how to use them too. So when some asshole called me a “poopbreath” during recess, I was able to counter with “you stupid fucking cocksucker.”

That’s the kind of stuff that gets you some serious cred on the playground.

At the same time, however, I was still just a kid. As much as I loved violent action movies, vulgar comedies and the occasional  horror film, I still found equal enjoyment watching cartoons and goofy family-friendly comedies.

And when you keep all that in mind, then it totally makes sense that for a short time in the late 80s, I’m Gonna Git You Sucka was my favorite movie of all-time. It’s the ideal movie for someone with the comedic sensibilities of a pre-teen, and the foul-mouthed vocabulary of a hardened inmate. I mean, who the hell else would love a movie that had both incredibly vulgar sex jokes as well as a scene where an armed midget hides out in a pimp’s over-sized hat?

For those of you who have not seen I’m Gonna Git You Sucka, it’s a spoof of classic 70s  Blaxploitations flicks written and directed by Keenan Ivory Wayans (the talented Wayans), who also stars in the picture as Jack Spade, an army boy who returns home to get revenge for his brother’s death, who died from an overdose of…gold (he O.G’d). Unable to take down the gold-dealing gangsters on his own, he recruits the help of some local heroes, who happen to be blaxploitation legends Jim Brown, Bernie Casey and Isaac Hayes.

In case you couldn’t tell, it’s goofy as shit, very much in the vein of Naked Gun and Airplane, just not nearly as funny.  I was sad to discover with a recent viewing that the film just doesn’t hold up that well, and as an adult, much of the vulgar humor I loved as a  kid was just stupid.  There was still parts of the movie I loved, and I could appreciate it for what it was trying to do, there were weren’t enough films that spoofed blaxploitation, but at the end of the day, it’s just not a very good movie.

I still loved the soundtrack though! So I was stoked to find a perfect, sealed vinyl copy on Amazon last week. I planned on sharing the whole thing here, but the Four Tops’ ballad “If Ever A Love There Was,” “KRS-One’s amazing “Jack Of Spades,” and the classic funk track “Grazing In The Grass” by The Friends of Distinction are all available legally, so I can’t post them here I can’t even share the album version of the title track by The Gap Band! What a bummer.

However, I found a way around that problem that I believe is more than satisfactory…but first, the rest of the soundtrack to I’m Gonna Git You Sucka!

Jermaine Jackson
Clean Up Your Act
Is Jermaine the second most successful Jackson sibling? He did actually kind of have a semi-successful solo career for a bit in the 80s didn’t he? I know that he has a kid that he named Jermajesty, and if that’s not a measure of extreme success then I don’t know what the hell is. This song is some cute, “Just Say No” 80s fun.

Jennifer Holliday
Magic Man
My knowledge of Jennifer Holliday begins and ends with “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” so I got nothing to say here.

Curtis Mayfield With Fishbone
He’s a Flyguy
I think this track proves that Mayfield had an amazing sense of humor, since it’s basically just a spoof of Mayfield’s own track “Superfly.” The song itself is in praise of Flyguy, but if you’ve seen the film then you know that the movie itself didn’t hold nearly as much esteem for the character. I don’t know what Fishbone does in this track, since the instrumentation is rather sparse aside from the guitar, which I know Mayfield could play. Whoever does play the guitar on this song totally shreds it. Great tune.

K-9 Posse
This Beat Is Military
This song starts with a sample of the A-Team opening. Therefore, it is one of the greatest rap songs of all time. Actually, it’s kind of stupid, but I love the idea of a rapper boasting by comparing himself to a military outfit as opposed to a gangster or drug dealer, even if he does kind of strain the metaphor at times, I think the lines about nuclear determent take the bit a little too far.

Too Nice
Two Can Play The Game
The basic theme of “Two Can Play The Game” is “hey dudes, don’t cheat on your girlfriend because if you do then they’ll probably cheat on you too.” Kind of an odd way to preach against infidelity, but whatever. The best thing about the track is that it samples the chorus to Johnie Taylor’s excellent “Who’s Making Love,” a song that featured Isaac Hayes’ on keyboards! Since the sample isn’t credited in the linear notes, that means that the producers of I’m Gonna Git You Sucka managed to illegally sample Isaac Hayes for a movie that Isaac Hayes was in. That’s pretty impressive.

The Gap Band
You’re So Cute
Yeah, this song is great, but it’s not the song by The Gap Band that you want to hear, is it? No, you want “I’m Gonna Git You Sucka.” Like I said before, that song is available on MP3 and CD all over the world, so I can’t share it here. Sorry.

But I can totally share the remixes! Boom!

The Gap Band
I’m Gonna Git You Sucka (Extended Edit)
 I’m Gonna Git You Sucka (Extended Version)
I’m Gonna Git You Sucka (Sugar Shack Version)
 I’m Gonna Git You Sucka (Tripped Out Dub Version)
Here at The Lost Turntable, I totally believe in being thorough, so when I found out that there was a 12″ single to the theme song from “I’m Gonna Git You Sucka,” I had to have that too. I actually had a copy of this ages ago, but that version was scratched all to hell and would only play the extended cut and nothing else. Thankfully, I found this near-flawless copy at Jerry’s Records, and I can share it all with you now.

If you’re wondering how all the versions are different, the “Extended Version” just stretches out every instrumental part of the song out a bit, while the “Extended Edit” is a variation of the original version that eliminates the slow intro and adds some more instrumental stuff throughout. The “Sugar Shack Version” is a version that’s chock-full of bonus bass, while the “Tripped Out Dub Version” is totally a…trippy dub version. I always appreciate truth in remix titles.

One thing that all versions have in common though? They’re all fucking awesome.

 

Posted in Curtis Mayfield, Fishbone, Jennifer Holliday, Jermaine Jackson, K-9 Posse, soundtrack, The Gap Band, Too Nice | 8 Comments »

Tony Banks’ Soundtracks – Featuring Toyah Wilcox and that dude from Marillion

Monday, April 23rd, 2012

Tony Banks is the keyboardist for Genesis, and being a keyboardist in a rock band is usually a pretty thankless job. No matter how good their licks may be, most fans, members of the media, and groupies are more interested in the singer, guitarist, drummer and even the bass player than the keyboardist. That’s because, quite frankly, there’s no way anyone can make playing the keyboards look cool.

But back in the 70s and 80s Banks probably had it even rougher than most keyboardists when  it came to making a name for himself. First Peter Gabriel leaves the group to embark on a wildly successful solo career, and then Phil Collins starts his own solo career and proceeds to release some of biggest albums of the 80s. Even Mike Rutherford was able to get in on the action, finding inexplicable sucess with his side-project Mike + The Mechanics.

Tony Banks’ bids as a popular solo artists were less successful than his bandmates’. He released the concept album A Curious Feeling in 1979, and it quickly vanished from the charts without a trace. In 1983 he released two albums. One was The Fugitive, which he sang on. It didn’t sell. That same year he contributed to half of the soundtrack to The Wicked Lady, a swashbuckling adventure flick. Its never been released on CD, so I’m going to guess it didn’t set the world ablaze either.

But that wasn’t the last soundtrack that Banks’ would contribute to. In 1984 he composed the score for a low-budget sci-fi flick called Lorca And The Outlaws (it was released as Starship on VHS). In addition to the score, he also composed the original songs, “You Call This Victory” featuring vocalist Jim Diamond and “Lion of Symmetry” featuring vocals by the amazing Toyah Wilcox. Lorca And The Outlaws was not well-received commercially (it’s on a a few ‘worst movies of the 80s’ lists) and it never got an official soundtrack release.

In 1986 Banks would contribute the score to Quicksilver, a Kevin Bacon picture about a stock broker who is forced to leave the trading floor and become a bike messenger (sounds…exciting). But he wasn’t the sole contributor to that soundtrack. In addition to Banks’ work, the film also featured new songs by Giorgio Moroder (with Roger Daltrey), Peter Frampton and Ray Parker, Jr., to name a few. That soundtrack got a commercial release, but because of all the pop songs on it, Banks’ score was only included in a truncated form.

Well, it would appear that Banks found a way to solve both that problem and the lack of a release for his work on the Lorca And The Outlaws score with the release of Soundtracks, a single LP that features his music from Quicksilver on the first side, and his work from Lorca And The Outlaws on the second side.

How’s the music? Let’s start with the first side, the Quicksilver stuff.

Quicksilver
Shortcut To Somewhere (featuring Fish of Marillion)
Smilin’ Jack Casey
Quicksilver Suite: Rebirth
Quicksilver Suite: Gypsy
Quicksilver Suite: Final Charge
I’ve never seen Quicksilver (being neither a fan of Kevin Bacon nor bicycle messengers), so I can’t say how well this music fits into the film. I can image that that the fast-paced instrumental pieces probably worked well with montages of Kevin Bacon decked out in spandex, plowing through the streets of San Francisco like an asshole on a mission. And if you’re looking for a mix to fit your own cycling workout, they might be good for that as well. The slower instrumental pieces are little more uneven, and are certainly dated, but they have their own charm as well.

What does not have charm, however, is “Shorcut To Somewhere” the sole pop song that Banks’ contributed to the soundtrack. The vocals are by Marillion singer Fish, and while he does have one hell of a set of pipes, no singer, no matter how talented, could make the drivel he’s belting out sound interesting or catchy. The upbeat synths of the song really go for a “you can do it” feeling ala your favorite training montage from an 80s film, but they’re so oppressively upbeat that they’re just annoying. I imagine that this song may have been catchy and fun in 1986, but now it just sounds dated and boring. But like I said, the rest of the stuff is worth a listen if you enjoy instrumental synthesizer stuff.

Lorca and the Outlaws (also known as Starship)
You Call This Victory (featuring Jim Diamond)
Lion of Symmetry (featuring Toyah Wilcox)
Redwing Suite: Redwing
Redwing Suite: Lorca
Redwing Suite: Kid and Detective Droid
Redwing Suite: Lift Off
Redwing Suite: Death of Abby
 As bad as “Shortcut To Somewhere” is, it’s actually not the worst track on Soundtracks. No, that dubious honor goes to “You Call This Victory,” an absolutely wretched number featuring the over-emotional whiny vocals of Jim Diamond. Musically, the song isn’t that bad, but Diamond’s vocals are just so god awful that they kill any charm or positive aspects the song may have had.

Thankfully, the rest of the Lorca and the Outlaws soundtrack fairs a bit better. The instrumental “Redwing Suite” actually holds up pretty well as a score, and is very reminiscent of the stuff that Tangerine Dream was doing at the time. It’s nothing great, but it’s certainly not bad. But what is great is the song “Lion of Symmetry,” which features this incomparable Toyah Wilcox. Toyah (who was featured in Urgh!) is one of my favorite signers of the new wave era, so to discover this track was a real treat. It’s seven minutes of pure Toyah weirdness, and is a must hear.

Posted in Complete Albums, Fish, Jim Diamond, soundtrack, Tony Banks, Toyah | 2 Comments »

One Remix Leads To Another

Monday, April 9th, 2012

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!

Posted in B-sides, remixes, soundtrack, The Art Of Noise, The Fixx, Wang Chung | 6 Comments »

Here’s to Six More Years of Obscurity

Tuesday, March 27th, 2012

Okay, let’s try this again.

I wrote a thing for Nerve. You should read it.

After you do that, come back here. I have music for you. And if you’re visiting here for the first time because of Nerve, well then welcome! Want to listen to the soundtrack to Urgh!? If so, you might find this post of some interest.

David Bowie
When The Wind Blows (Extended Mix)
When The Wind Blows (Instrumental)
I posted those mixes to “When The Wind Blows” before, but if you say you remember that then you’re damn liar. That’s because they were on my very first post ever, which I am nearly 100% certain no one ever read until about six months after I took the files down.

That post was six years ago this month! That’s crazy. I can’t believe I’ve kept this blog going that long, but I’m so glad I did.

A lot of people ask me why I do this. I make no money on this blog (in fact, I lose money on it) and it’s a lot of work. Well, as much as I would like to say that I do it for you, the people who are looking for rare and hard to find music, the truth is that I really do it just as much for me as for anyone else.

By keeping up this blog, I kind of force myself to make adventurous musical purchases, and seek out rare and hard-to-find records with the hopes that I might find something interesting to write about it. During the times when the fun freelance writing work dries up (which is more often than I would like ) this blog literally keeps me sane, especially when it’s my only outlet for writing about music. And getting comments and tweets about how awesome I am certainly has done wonders for my self-esteem when things have gotten rough.

Basically, what I’m saying is that I’d like to thank everyone for sticking with me on what is essentially an entirely selfish endeavor that benefits my own ego. I’m glad you enjoy it, and I hope to keep doing it as long as I can type sarcastic bullshit with a healthy side of snark.

But enough of my humblebragging, I have David Bowie songs for you!

As I mentioned in my original post about these songs back in 2006, “When The Wind Blows” is the title song to a 1986 animated film about an elderly British couple struggling, and failing, to survive the horrors of a world in the aftermath of a nuclear war. It’s not a cheery flick. In fact, that’s an understatement, When The Wind Blows is a soul-sucking succubus of a film that will leave you depressed and without hope.

But the theme song is great! And six years later this extended version and the instrumental version (which is an entirely different recording, not just a studio cut with the vocals removed) remain out of print digitally! So enjoy them, and try to think happy thoughts. If you can’t then the next songs will probably help out with that.

The B-52′s
Roam (Extended Mix)
Roam (Instrumental)
Roam (12″ Mix)
“Roam” was released as a single in 1990, a year after R.E.M. released “Stand” as a single. Because of this I will forever assume that “Roam” is a diss track to R.E.M., in which The B-52′s shred R.E.M.’s promotion of a sedentary lifestyle in favor of a more exploratory state of being. That’s my theory and I’m sticking to it.

Stan Ridgway
Salesman (Extended Mix)
Stan Ridgway was the lead singer of the epic Wall of Voodoo before he left the group in the mid-80s to embark on a solo career that most people probably don’t know about, and that’s a damn shame. While I can’t make any claims about his output from the 90s and beyond, his solo records from the 80s were amazing. If you have not, I highly suggest you pick up his debut The Big Heat and his excellent sophomore follow-up Mosquitos.

The best song on The Big Heat is “Camouflage” an excellent yarn about a marine in Vietnam who may or may not have been saved by the ghost of a super-solider. Since The Big Heat is in print and easily available on Amazon (where you should buy it), I can’t post that track. However, I can post this extended remix of “Salesman” which is the B-side to the “Camouflage” single. It’s not as great a track as “Camouflage,” but it’s incredibly catchy and still a solid tune.

Posted in B-52s, David Bowie, remixes, soundtrack, Stan Ridgway | 5 Comments »

Selections From Wipeout 2097 – The Soundtrack (With A Quick Mass Effect 3 Rant)

Wednesday, March 21st, 2012

I’ve been annoyed by something over the past few weeks, and I’ve continually debated with myself if it’s something I wanted to bring up on this blog. But since I’m posting a video game soundtrack tonight, I figure that’s enough of an excuse for me to go on a video game related rant of sorts.

Fucking Mass Effect 3.

If you follow gaming news at all, you know what I’m going to talk about now. If not, a quick summary.

Mass Effect 3 is a video game made by BioWare and distributed by Electronic Arts. As a whole, the Mass Effect series has been widely acclaimed for its amazing story. The characters are nuanced and detailed (with the women actually being characters and not sex objects to be ogled), the conflicts between alien races are fascinating, and the overall themes the games touch on are grand and bold, with some of the greatest dialogue ever to grace video games holding it all together.

The series is also lauded for its high degree of interactivity when it comes to the story. You can choose how to interact with people, how to solve quests, and in some cases who lives and who dies. What’s even more impressive is that the choices you make in one game carry over to the next. So the people and situations I experience in ME3 will vary widely from those experienced by another player depending on how they played the other games in the series.

So you can see how gamers would develop an attachment to the world of the game and its characters, which made playing through the third game all the more painful for them (and me).

Long story short, BioWare fucked up in some pretty major ways when the time came to make ME3, the biggest of which being the ending. Simply put, almost nothing you did actually ends up mattering. The characters you saved/killed, the choices you made, the alliances you forged, none of it really matters. With rare exception, the only difference between the game’s endings is what color explosions you see.

Needless to say, fans were pissed, and since the game’s release, more and more have been sending angry tweets to developers, organizing protests and even filing complaints with the FTC over false advertising. The overall theme of their efforts has been constant: “fix the ending.”

Well, today it paid off when BioWare announced they will be releasing upcoming DLC (downloadable content) that will help to provide “more clarity for those seeking further closure to their journey.”

That’s good right? I sure thought so! The fans spoke out and the developers listened!

But I guess it’s bad? I mean, that’s if the gaming media is to be believed.

I follow a lot of gaming journalists on Twitter, and their overwhelming reaction has been one of extreme displeasure. Their basic argument is that BioWare “caved” to fan pressure, and that they’re compromising their “artistic vision” in order to offer what many consider to be fan service and nothing more. Some have even gone as far to claim that this not only sets a dangerous precedent for storytelling in games, but that it also shows that games are somehow a “lesser” form of art.

While some writers have been able to express their distaste in BioWare’s decision with a modicum of class and respect to the gamers who are so passionate about the game, many have simply responded with whiny troll comments, insulting Mass Effect fans’ intelligence. Because we all know that the best way to get someone to agree with you is to insult and belittle them.

Furthermore, I find it curious that the games media is against BioWare for modifying (not CHANGING) the ending of the game, but they seem to have almost no problem with BioWare stripping out content to make overpriced day-one DLC or the fact that you almost need to play multiplayer to get the experience needed to earn the game’s “best” ending.

So, decisions that sour the storytelling experience so BioWare can make more money, those don’t invalidate games as art, but somehow listening to your fans and responding accordingly does? How does that make sense?

As for this setting a “dangerous precedent,” people are giving this instance way too much credit, as if it’s never happened before. Games have had their endings changed with DLC before, Bethesda did it with Fallout 3, and I’m pretty sure that BioWare’s even done it with their games in the past.

Shit, it’s not even unique to video games. Fan reaction often changes the narrative of fiction. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle only “resurrected” Sherlock Holmes after his fans complained to him. Dallas made an entire season of their show a dream to undo the damage they caused (and they retconned the series finale with reunion specials). The makers of the anime Neon Genesis: Evangelion even released an alternate ending to the series to help answer the fans’ questions regarding the show’s bizarre climax. Musicians regularly compromise their artistic vision to sell more records. You can’t just ignore these examples and insist this is something new. Well, I guess you can, but then that just makes you a dick, which is kind of my point.

I wish someone in the gaming press would actually talk about the positive aspects of this, and the positive trends that I hope it might help spread, such as the idea that BioWare and every other video game developer out there should care more about their story and less about figuring out how to squeak out more money from the players. And that when you cut out parts of your story for DLC and skim on the narrative to make us play a boring multiplayer mode, we’re going to take notice and we’re going to call out on it. And when you make bold claims that turn out to be boldfaced lies, we’re going to call you out on that too. You can’t just go around and make shit up and expect it to be okay anymore.

But hey, whatever. It’s just a video game, and I’m sure even the most condescending of people I’ve been arguing with on Twitter aren’t bad people, they just like to get a reaction out of people, and that’s something I’ve certainly been guilty of in the past.

But you know what games don’t need stories? Racing games. Let’s talk about an awesome one of those.

Wipeout XL/2097 – The Album (Selections)


The first Wipeout was released in 1995 for the Sony Playstation, with Saturn and PC ports coming soon after. It’s a futuristic racing game where racers drive not cars, but high speed ships that hover just inches off the ground. It was one of the first games for the PS1 that I played, and I remember it blowing my 16-year-old mind away. It was just so fast! Holy crap! Looking at it now, it seems quaint, but at the time I was just in awe of it.

Wipeout XL (Wipeout 2097 in other Europe) was released a year later. This sequel took everything that was great about the first game and ramped it up to eleven, including the speed. This game was flippin’ fast. Your vehicle would shoot across the track at such high speeds that I remember it was hard to even focus on what was going on sometimes.

In addition to the amazing sense of speed and it’s awesome sleek, futuristic look, each game in the series is also known for it’s excellent electronic soundtrack. Prodigy, The Future Sound of London, Photek, The Propellerheads and many other amazing electronic artists of the era were featuring in Wipeout games, and served for me as an excellent introduction to electronic music past what I was hearing on MTV.

Now that I come to think of it, I think a good deal of my musical tastes were shaped by the soundtracks to the Wipeout games. Without them I certainly would not have discovered electronic music when I did, meaning they probably saved me from a life of late-90s post grunge and indie bullshit. So I was very happy to find a vinyl copy of the soundtrack last week. Since most of the songs on the Wipeout XL/2097 soundtrack were liscened tracks, many of them are available today on CD and digital download. I’m only featuring the ones that are not, enjoy.

Prodigy
Firestarter (Instrumental) 
Don’t worry, it still has the “Hey hey hey!” part.

Future Sound of London
We Have Explosive (Herd Killing)
I never heard of FSOL before Wipeout, and I associate them (and this song) with the game so much that I can never think about one without immediately thinking about the other. I’ve been waiting for a chance to put up a version of “We Have Explosive” for years now, but every other version I own has seen a digital release on Amazon or iTunes. This “Herd Killing” variation, however, has never been released outside of the Wipeout soundtracks from what I can tell. And if it has, any album/single that has it is long out of print.

Orbital
Petrol
A different version of the song than the one that’s included on Orbital’s In Sides album.

The Chemical Brothers
Leave Home (Underworld Mix I) (Edit)
Another alternate version that’s exclusive to this soundtrack, this one clocks in at about three minutes shorter than the one on the leave home single. Great tune, Underworld really put their stamp on it with this remix.

Photek
Titan
The Third Sequence
I could be wrong (I’m wrong a lot after all) but I’m fairly certain that these two tracks by Photek were made exclusively for Wipeout XL. Aside from a 12″ single, I don’t think they ever got any other official release. That’s especially odd considering that “Titan” doesn’t even appear in the game itself, just the soundtrack CD. If you like 90s DnB then you should seriously dig on these tunes, they’re great.

Source Direct
2097
Another track that’s on the CD/LP but not actually in the game itself.  A great tune none the less, very reminiscent of Photek.

Fluke
Atom Bomb
V Six
Hey, two songs that were actually in the game! This version of “Atom Bomb” clocks in at a whopping eight minutes, and is different than the version that would later appear on a Fluke album. “V Six” is a straight up exclusive to this soundtrack, and never saw a release on any Fluke record as far as I know. It’s not as great as “Atom Bomb” (few things are) but it’s a great hard-driving electronic tune, the kind of thing you want to listen to while driving a hovership at 200 miles per hour.

Leftfield
Afro Ride
I want to ride on a giant afro. That would be awesome. This was also the b-side to “Afro Left.”

Posted in Fluke, Future Sound Of London, Leftfield, Orbital, Photek, Prodigy, soundtrack, The Chemical Brothers | 9 Comments »

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