So last week I said that my next post would be either fluffy 80s pop or hardcore industrial depending on my mood.

Well, I just put $600 in my car, got a bad grade on an assignment and was blacklisted from something for reasons I can’t get into. So that means no Spandau Ballet today. Well, not everything tonight is industrial, but it’s all shit I can listen to when I want to punch a hole in the wall (which I really shouldn’t do now that I’m a homeowner).

Revolting Cocks
No Devotion
Attack Ships…
…On Fire
I think 80 billion people have worked with Ministry’s Al Jourgensen and his side-project Revolting Cocks. The list includes Jello Biafra, Robin Zander (yes, the guy from Cheap Trick), Rick Nielson (yes, the other guy from Cheap Trick), Billy Gibbons (from ZZ Top), Chris Connelly, Luc Van Acker and countless others. These 12” remixes are from the single for ‘No Devotion’ which was the very first release under the Revolting Cocks name. They’re also available on the CD re-issue of their first album Big Sexy Land.

Pig
My Favourite Car
Never For Fun
Hildelinde
You gotta appreciate a name as simple as Pig. In actuality he’s Raymond Watts, an early member of the industrial outfit KMFDM. So, you can assume he’s a happy fellow with an upbeat look on life. Just kidding, he probably wants to fuck the world. These are really early industrial tunes (circa 88) so they aren’t as aggressive and menacing as other examples from the genre. I still dig them though. These tracks are all on Pig’s debut record, which is out of print in the states. By the way, ‘Hildenlinde’ is a traditional German folk song or something.

Cyberaktif
Temper (Ext. Mix)
Meltdown (Parody)
Dream Needle
I must say that Cyberaktif is the most retarded alternative spelling of a word for a band name this side of Puddle of Mudd. Still, they rocked out some great industrial stuff during their short existence (they only released one LP and a few singles). Cyberaktif consisted of members for Front Line Assembly and Skinny Puppy, two of the earliest contributors to the industrial genre. These tracks are from the ‘Temper’ 12” single.

Skinny Puppy
Chainsaw
Assimilate (R 23 Mix)
Cage
Stairs And Flowers (Def Wish Mix)
Stairs And Flowers (Too Far Gone Mix)
Speaking of Skinny Puppy, here are some remixes from the uber-influential industrial pioneers. I’ve never been hugely into Skinny Puppy before, but now that getting more and more into industrial music I’m getting more curious about them. Anyone have any recommendations?

Alec Empire & El-P
Shards Of Pol Pottery (Hard Mix)
Shards Of Pol Pottery (No Wave Mix)
I love me some Digital Hardcore insanity. As you may or may not know (depending on your level of awesomeness) Alecc Empire was the creative force behind Atari Teenage Riot and nearly singlehandedly created the digital hardcore genre. I like to describe digital hardcore as a combination of punk, electronic music and punching a dude in the face. The craziest stuff by ATR and Alec Empire is ideal for people who think Slayer is easy-listening. Especially adventurous souls should check out their Live At Brixton Academy album, which is nothing more than 26 minutes of ear-bleeding noise. After one listen of that record you’ll think Metal Machine Music is for fucking pussies. Anyways, these two remixes of this collaboration with El-P are not nearly as caustic and abrasive as anything off of Alec’s other CDs, but are still pretty intense.

Argh. The weeks get ahead of me and the next thing I know it’s been eight days since I last updated my blog. Very annoying since I enjoy writing my ramblings at this site more than anything else I’m being forced to write right now thanks to school. To make up for my lack of updates I’m putting up some pop-favorites tonight. My next post will either continue that trend or consist of nothing but hardcore industrial techno. I haven’t decided yet. Probably depends on how pissed I am at the time.

Baltimora
Tarzan Boy (Extended Dance Mix)
I always assumed that Baltimora was the name of the dude singing. I had no idea that Baltimora was actually a band (or “music project”) created by some Italian producers. Gotta love that manufactured pop music. This is a retarded extended mix of the retarded hit that will get stuck in your head for weeks on end. You have been warned.

Cameo
Word Up! (12” Remix)
Little known fact; Cameo was not fronted by Larry Blackmon, but was in fact led by his codpiece. The codpiece also wrote, produced and performed all of the songs as well. Much like Nine Inch Nails, the band behind him is only used for live performances.

Animotion
Obsession (Remix)
Engineer (Remix)
“Who do you want me to be/To make you sleep with me?” Is this what pickup lines were like in the 80s pre-AIDS awareness? Subtlety was for suckers I guess. I remember rocking out to this song when I was seven years old, which I’m sure my mom loved. ‘Engineer’ is not nearly as catchy as that ode to semi-casual fucking, but it’s not bad. Both of these remixes are extended versions off of a promo 12”.

Men At Work

Does anyone have an extended remix of Men At Work’s ‘Overkill’? Either the acoustic or original version would suffice. I’ve always loved this song by them but I’m in love with ‘Overkill’ so any help would be appreciated.

Peter Gabriel
Don’t Break This Rhythm
Biko (12” Extended Version)
I Have The Touch (’85 Remix)
I got a build of Peter Gabriel that I plan on unleashing throughout the next week or so, starting with this stuff from a 12” single of ‘Sledgehammer’ (the best song about hard fucking ever). ‘Don’t Break This Rhythm’ is a B-side that has never appeared on an album proper, which is pretty amazing considering that it’s a great song and would fit great on any Gabriel album. ‘Biko’ is an odd song to turn into a 12” dance mix, considering its incredibly serious message and theme, but it surprisingly works and makes the song an even more powerful anthem then it was previously. I read somewhere that this tribute to the slain civil rights leader was the inspiration for Steven Van Zandt to write ‘Sun City’ one in a long line of awful-but-well-meaning collaborative efforts from the 80s. Finally there’s ‘I Have The Touch (’85 Remix)’ which is different from the ’82 version and different from the version that’s in that awful fucking John Travolta movie Phenomenon.

Okay, it’s been two weeks since my last post. I should come clean and tell you all why. The truth is that I’ve spent the past 14 days in a detox rehab facility undergoing….just bullshitting you, the horribly uninteresting truth is that I’ve just been busy as all hell with school and settling in to my new house. The fact that Halo 3 came out had absolutely nothing to do with the lack of updates at all…nope, not one bit.

Incidentally, if anyone out there wants to play co-op campaign on Halo 3 with me send me a message or email and we’ll hook up sometime. I suck hardcore and I need help on Heroic difficulty. My suck knows no bounds.

Anyways, I hope to update a lot this week to make up for lost time. I shall make no promises though since every time I do I break them. I will make up for the lapse in posts by making this one honkin’ huge though. I think this might be my biggest non-Urgh! post ever.

U2
Holy crapoly this is a lot of U2. I’m going to separate these by single, it’ll be easier that way.

Unchained Melody
Everlasting Love
These two covers are from the 12” single for ‘All I Want Is You’, which is from Rattle & Hum. Both are actually quite good and actually make both the chronically overplayed songs listenable and fun. Both of these also appear on the B-sides disc to the band’s first greatest hits collection.

The Three Sunrises
A Sort Of Homecoming
Love Comes Tumbling
Bass Trap
All four of these tracks are on the single for ‘The Unforgettable Fire’. This version of ‘A Sort Of Homecoming’ is different than the mix that appears on the EP Wide Awake In America and on the greatest hits B-side disc. This version of ‘Bass Trap’ is significantly different than the one that appeared on the B-side disc as well, being much longer. The version of ‘Love Comes Tumbling’ is the same one from the B-side disc though, and not the version from Wide Awake In America.

On a side-note, ‘Bass Trap’ minus one-letter is has to be the title to a porno.

Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses (Temple Bar Remix)
Paint It Black
Fortunate Son
These are from the 12” for ‘Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses.’ None of these are available anywhere else (except for that ridiculous “virtual box set” on iTunes). Unlike the covers on the ‘All I Want Is You’ single these aren’t that great. Although their take on ‘Paint It Black ‘isn’t the worst I’ve ever heard. It’s definitely better than Gob’s awful version. My money for the best cover of the Stones’ classic still goes to Echo And The Bunnymen though.

Even Better Than The Real Thing (The Perfecto Mix)
Even Better Than The Real Thing (Appollo 440 Stealth Sonic Remix)
Even Better Than The Real Thing (V16 Exit Wound Remix)
Mysterious Ways (Solar Plexus Extended Club Mix)
Mysterious Ways (Apollo 440 Magic Hour Remix)
Mysterious Ways (Tabla Motown Remix)
Finally, these assorted remixes are off of their respected 12” singles. The Perfecto and V16 remixes are by Paul Oakenfold in case you are wondering.

Devo
Peek-A-Boo (Dance Velocity)
The dominance of U2 over Devo in this post has nothing to do with my personal preference of either band, there just happened to be an assload of U2 singles at the record store last week. I like this Devo song more than any of the U2 tunes to be honest.

ZZ Top
Legs (Special Dance Mix)
I previously posted a “Special Dance Mix” of ‘Legs’ before. This is not the same one, it is in fact twice as long as previously said mix. This mix should’ve been named “The Long Legs Mix”. I wonder if I could get a job naming remixes for artists? I think I have enough experience! Hey, if the dudes that name Erasure remixes are reading this, hook me up.

Moving totally sucks and blows at the same time. Right now all my records are in boxes in the corner of my room, taunting me with their need to be organized and shelved. That can’t happen until I go to Ikea and buy shelves by the gross though. Until then here are some tunes that were already on my computer.

Sigue Sigue Sputnik
Sex Bomb Boogie (Magic Flute) (12” single version)
Sex Bomb Dance
Last week I put up Yello’s ‘Oh Yeah’ which was famously featured during the end credits of the seminal 80s pic Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Sigue Sigue Sputnik also graced that movie with their lone US hit ‘Love Missle F-11.’ I knew nothing of the band until I picked up this single a few months ago, and had no idea that they were formed by a dude from Generation X (the Billy Idol band). After listening to a few of their tunes I’d have to say that their shit has aged amazingly well, far better than much more popular synth-driven stuff from the same time period. Much like Public Image Ltd., Devo, Big Audio Dynamite and other electronic-influenced post-punk bands I think their influence and lasting appeal is highly underrated.

Anyways, ‘Sex Bomb Boogie’ is totally awesome. I love it because it’s about five steps away from complete chaos but still manages to make you want to dance. The first version is off of the 12” single and is a little longer than the one that appeared on their album. The ‘Sex Bomb Dance’ is some insane dub/stereo mindfuck remix of the remix that fades in and out and back and forth between the left and right speaker. Listening to it with headphones on will make your head implode like those kids in Halloween III.

Freddie Mercury
Love Kills (Extended Version)
The best thing to come out of the horrid 80s remixing of the 1920 classic silent film Metropolis was this track by Freddie Mercury. Like a lot of his solo stuff, it surprisingly sounds nothing like Queen. This extended version is off of the Japanese 12” single.

Giorgio Moroder
Rotwang’s Party (Robot Dance)
The B-side to ‘Love Kills’. This is one of the songs that made up the score to the 880s version of Metropolis, but for some reason it was not included on the soundtrack. I don’t know if this was ever released on CD actually. Pretty good instrumental synth track.

Kraftwerk
Tour De France (French Version)
Tour De France (Remix)
These are remixes of the original Tour De France song, which was released as a single in 1983. Kraftwerk also released an album called Tour De France Soundtracks. These aren’t from that. I hope everyone is sufficiently confused now.

Syntech
Byt&e
Reaction
Syntech is the work of Edwin van der Laag, who was in some group called Laserdance in the 80s. According to this site, they were an influential eurodisco group. I have no idea about that. But if you like corny, spacey techno to listen to while playing Halo 3 or reading the latest Orson Scott Card book then you should especially enjoy it.