Archive for the ‘Revenge’ Category

I survived America, here’s synthpop and Robert Wyatt

Thursday, September 12th, 2019

Yeah, sorry.

I really, really wanted to keep updating the site when I was in the states. I had some posts half-written, had songs picked out, the works.

But, like always, between the jet lag, family time, seeing friends, going shopping, traveling from state-to-state, taking the boyfriend sightseeing, and suffering the occasional nervous breakdown due to the combination of all those things, I just couldn’t squeeze in the time.

But I’m back now bitches! Let’s celebrate with some random remixes from a near-forgotten 80s synthpop band and some weird shit that no one has ever heard of.

Revenge
Slave (Extended Mix)
Slave (Remix Edit)
Slave (Instrumental)
Slave (LP Version Edit)

This is my third post featuring remixes of Revenge tunes, yet I still have not bought their album proper. Because I’m stupid like that.

Revenge was one of Peter Hook’s side-projects. They released a single albumin 1990 but petered (hah PUN INTENDED) out before they could do much else.

In the lexicon of failed New Order side projects, I’m not sure where they rank. As I already said, I don’t have their album so I can’t really judge them fairly. I’m going to go out on a limb though and say that they definitely rank below Electronic and The Other Two (who are both great) and above Bad Lieutenant (which was awful).

This song, and the remixes, are good. I definitely pick up a strong New Order vibe with the bassline, although the song as a whole has a slightly more industrial/aggressive vibe than what New Order was doing at the time.

The 12″ single from which I pulled these also included a “Bonus Beats” track but I’m not including that as it was featured on the easily available re-issue of the group’s sole album, One True Passion. Why they chose to include that minute and a half bit of filler and none of the other, longer, better, more interesting remixes is beyond me.

(The artwork above is from the CD single and I snagged it from Discogs. Sorry, my back hurts far too much for me to dig through my records to properly photograph the 12″.)

 

Robert Wyatt & Bertrand Burgalat
This Summer Night (Hot Chip Mix)
I haven’t talked about it all that much, but I will (hopefully) be starting a podcast soon, in which I, Jeremy Parish of Retronauts fame, and our friend Elliot will be discussing progressive rock. So keep an eye on that.

In the first episode of said podcast, I discussed Soft Machine, which gave me the excuse to dig into original member Robert Wyatt’s discography a bit. I have to say that I dig his stuff (especially his early stuff) far more than anything Soft Machine did after their second album. From that point on, they went full jazz-fusion. And I’m sorry, I just can’t with jazz fusion. I’ve tried my best several times.

Robert Wyatt is an interesting guy, with a deep discography that can be intimidating at times. But if you’re looking to jump in, I recommend the EP’s compilation which, surprise, collects the EPs that he put out early in his solo career. It features fantastic covers of “I’m A Believer,” “Yesterday Man,” and “Biko.” It also includes the Soft Machine classic “Memories,” which was later made somewhat famous by Material’s version that featured a very young Whitney Houston on vocals.

Odd trivia, the members of Material were originally a Gong offshoot by Daevid Allen called New York Gong. When he split, they continued on as Material. Of course, before Allen was in Gong, he was a founding member of…Soft Machine. I assume that’s how the members of Material became aware of “Memories” and decided to cover it.

Anyways, back to this song. The original version of this track was originally including on the Bertrand Burgalat album Cheri B. B., which came out in 2007. I know nothing about him so don’t ask me. I grabbed this remix from a 12″ single of said song.

And if you listen to this song and thing “boy, this Wyatt guy sounds really weird, I wonder his voice was always like that,” the answer is yes. He has sounded like a frail old man on the verge of death since 1968.

 

 

Oh no you Diggerididn’t!

Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010

You can blame the current lack of updates on work, personal bullshit and Super Mario Galaxy 2.

Jamiroquai
When You Gonna Learn? (Digeridoo)
When You Gonna Learn? (Digeridon’t)
When You Gonna Learn? (J.K. Mix)
When You Gonna Learn? (Cante Hondo Mix)
When You Gonna Learn? (Original Demo)
When You Gonna Learn? (Didj. Instrumental)

Yes, I will admit I bought this 12” solely because there’s a remix on it called “Digeridon’t” and I’m a sucker for puns that involve aboriginal instruments. I’m a simple man. Of course, the didgeridoo-lacking mix is the worst one of the bunch. Because if Richard D. James taught us anything, it’s that didgeridoo’s make dance music better.

Oh, and Jamiroquai’s name is just as hard to spell sober as it is drunk.

Revenge
State Of Shock (L’Pool Edit)
State Of Shock (Paralized Mix)
Little Pig (Extended Mix)

If you do a search for “Peter Hook” and “Revenge” you get about 31,000 results. Add “maligned” to that and you get 455 hits. That means one out of 6.8 sites on the web that are talking about Revenge mention how much they suck. That’s harsh. Well, I’m not going to jump on that bandwagon, but I will say that State Of Shock is a pretty blah song. The remixes help though.

What The Hell Does Pineapple Face Mean?

Wednesday, January 6th, 2010

Did everyone have a wonderfully fantastic and incredible New Year? I didn’t end up in the hospital or with a serious injury. So I’m calling it a success for me. Allow me to ring in the fourth year of The Lost Turntable (holy shit!) with what I do best, a random collection of songs of varying quality.

Suzanne Vega
Tom’s Diner (12” Version)
Did you know that Tom’s Diner was the song in which the creator of the MP3 used to make sure the compression of the audio wasn’t overly affecting sound quality? It’s true! Did you know that it’s the song I used recently to see how much FM interference I had coming from my turntable? That’s true too! The answer is a lot. That’s why some tracks of mine has noticeable hums and such. I’m getting some equipment to help counter this measure however. This 12” remix is not on any Suzanne Vega album and is about a minute and a half longer than the original version. I haven’t checked but I’m betting much of the added length comes from extra “da da da da.”

Revenge
Pineapple Face’s Big Day (Remix)
Pineapple Face Calls It A Day

Revenge is one of Peter Hook’s (of New Order) side projects, and apparently they suck? That seemed to be the overall critical and popular consensus at the time. This was in 1990, I was barely aware of New Order at the time, let alone their side projects so I had no opinion. My knowledge of the group is this song, which I think is pretty good. The synth-line is catchy as hell, and I love Peter Hook’s voice. If he sung the phone book I’d probably check it out. Anyways, these are from a 12” single. Give them a listen and see if this group sucks as much as everyone in the world seemed to think at the time.

Missy
Gossip Folk (Fatboy Slim Remix)
Okay, sometimes I’m kind of stupid. Example: I bought this single today and was quite excited. I like Missy Elliott, I like Fatboy Slim – seemed like a good combo. I buy the record and get in my car, putting my recently bought pizza on top of the record. Not surprisingly, the hot pizza didn’t treat Missy with the respect she deserved and the record got wicked warped. Shockingly though, the damn thing still plays! The needle looks like it’s on a roller coaster however. This remix is a radio edit, so sorry about that.

Tears For Fears
Everybody Wants To Rule The World (Extended Version)
Speak for yourself guys, I don’t want to rule my own head sometimes.