Archive for September, 2010

Dystopian Soundtracks of Future Past

Thursday, September 30th, 2010

I’ve been complaining a lot lately (Just lately? Shut up. Shit, I’m talking to myself). so maybe its time to share some good news.

I got a new turntable! And it’s AWESOME.

For those who want the specifics, it’s a Stanton SR-80. It’s a direct-drive model with a bunch of bells and whistles I’ll never use, and a straight-arm as opposed to a curved one. Now, I know straight arms are worse for records, but they also cut down on skipping, so it’s worth it for me. Besides, I usually only listen to a record a couple times at the most before I record it. After that I really never listen to it again unless I find a mistake with the recording.

But most importantly, it sounds AMAZING. No RF interference, no varying speed due to a worn down belt, no motor noise, no hissing, no nothing. Just pure, beautiful music. One of the problems with my last turntable was interference, it was even a problem after I got an external pre-amp. When it wasn’t radio stations busting through my audio signal, it was just annoying white noise, ruining any quiet moments a record had. That’s why I wasn’t able to record this album until now.

Edgar Froese – Kamikaze 1989
I know very little about this album and movie. Let’s get the easy shit out of the way. For those of you who aren’t retarded  New Ave/Ambient fans (and why aren’t you?!?!) Edgar Froese is the sole continuous member of Tangerine Dream, a group that started out as a Krautrock band before slowly morphing into electronic/ambient mellowness, but in the best way possible. You probably know Tangerine Dream like I do, from their soundtracks, because they’ve done a shitload. Near Dark, Legend, Thief, Sorcerer, Risky Business, Firestarter and about a billion other flicks all feature scores by the German keyboard fanatics.

Oddly enough, I’m pretty sure that this is the only soundtrack that Froese created under his own name. Like I said, I know very little about this movie. It is apparently not very good if this incredibly negative review is to be believed and the only thing worth mentioning about it is that it was the last film to feature the legendary German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder, who died the same year it came out. It’s a dystopian sci-fi fantasy that takes place in the far off future of 1989 (it was made in 1982). And since everyone knew in 1982 that the future was synthesizers, it must have made sense to get Froese to do the score.

If the movie does indeed suck that’s a damn shame, because the soundtrack is pretty good as ambient electronic music goes. Sure, there’ s not always a lot to it, but it is supposed to be background music after all. I’ve always had a soft spot for ambient music, I don’t know why. It really goes against everything I usually like in music (fast beats, high energy). Maybe it’s because everything that I do while listening to ambient music sounds incredibly important and mysterious. Right now I’m listening to Tangerine Dreams’ soundtrack to Sorcerer, and it really gives the imprssion that the shit I’m typing is totally fucking epic.

Anyways, if you like Tangerine Dream type stuff you’ll dig this. If not, avoid it.

Posted in Complete Albums, Edgar Froese, soundtrack | 2 Comments »

Orbital and such. Look, It’s 1:30 AM and I had a shitty weekend, I don’t always need to give you a witty title.

Monday, September 27th, 2010

You know what sucks? Many many things.

Oh, you want something specific? Okay, iTunes 10. I had to upgrade to that abomination when I got my new Shuffle, but holy fuck and a half, it’s a disgusting looking resource hog that makes navigating my freakishly huge music collection very difficult. Shit snags all the time. So don’t get that shit unless you have to. And even then, try to avoid it.

Orbital
Nothing Left (Tsunami One Remix)
Nothing Left (Way Out West Remix)
Much Ado About Nothing Left
Nothing Left Out
These four remixes feature Allison Goldfrapp. I interviewed her once for a magazine article – and that’s all I’m going to say about her. These are from a 12” promo single

Band Of The Hand Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Someone who is a glutten for bad Bob Dylan asked for this to be re-upped. Good luck with this one man.

Lori Carson
Fall In The Light
From the soundtrack to Strange Days. Another repost. I’m trying to up my karma. Maybe that’s what I need.

Posted in Orbital, soundtrack | 3 Comments »

I’m not typing any more umlauts unless Lemmy makes me.

Wednesday, September 15th, 2010

Björk
All is Full of Love (Funkstorung Exclusive Mix)
All is Full of Love (Strings)
All Is Full Of Love (Live in Brussels)
Human Behaviour (Close To Human Mix – Speedy J.)
Human Behaviour (Underworld Mix)
Human Behaviour (Dom T. Mix)
Human Behaviour (Bassheads Edit)
Cocoon (Retangled by Ensemble)
It’s In Our Hands (Arcade Mix)
It’s In Our Hands (Soft Pink Truth Mix)
So Broken (Live on Jools Holland)
This is the second all-Björk post by me this month! It’s crazy. Maybe I should add umlauts to the title graphic? No, fuck that, I hate typing those fuckers. I either have to dig out a macro key or find one I already wrote and cut and paste it everytime I want to use it. I don’t know how the Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish bloggers handle it without going insane. I posted a couple of these mixes before, but I still recommend downloding them even if you have those old versions because these are rips from CD singles. As I said before, I think it must be a rule that all Björk vinyl sounds like shit. I have never bought a used copy of a Björk 12-inch that didn’t look like it was handled by someone who had steel wool for hands.

BTW, “rectangle” cannot be made into a verb. I don’ care what Ensemble wants you to think.

Posted in Bjork, remixes | 8 Comments »

The Decline Of Western Civilization Part 1

Monday, September 13th, 2010

I’m tired, so let’s just cut right to the good shit.

The Decline Of Western Civilization Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
The Decline of Western Civilization Part II is one of my favorite movies of all time, but Part 1 is pretty damn good too. Unlike Part II, which is full of unintentional hilarity, Part 1 is a semi-serious look at some seriously damaged individuals and their seriously great bands (um…and The Germs).  The early footage of X and Black Flag is mesmerizing, while the live train wreck that is the Fear show never ceases to amaze. Just like Part II (and the rarely seen Part III), it’s not on DVD, and I don’t believe the “official” website’s claim that anyone is working on those discs at this point. I have a bootleg. You can watch it on YouTube, and you can find it on a bay where pirates hang out. Get it that way. If they can’t be bothered to put the fucking thing out by now then that’s their problem.

Just like the movie itself, the soundtrack to Decline Of Western Civilization is woefully out of print. The copy I’m offering above is from a less-than-stellar vinyl copy I bought last month. It’s a little scratchy in parts, but it kind of adds to the dirt-punk charm of it all. The X songs sound great at least.

In case you’re wondering, here’s the complete tracklisting included in the zip file above:

Black Flag
White Minority
Depression
Revenge

The Germs
Manimal

Catholic Discipline
Underground Babylon

X
Beyond And Back
Johnny Hit and Run Pauline
We’re Desperate

Circle Jerks
Red Tape
Back Against The Wall
I Just Want Some Skank
Bevery Hills

Alice Bag Band
Gluttony

Fear
I Don’t Care About You
I Love Living In The City
Fear Anthem

I separated some of the speaking parts into separate tracks. Basically if it doesn’t have anything to do with the song that’s playing before it I made it a separate track. Otherwise it’s just like the original version.

Oh, and I put up highlights to Part II a while ago, get them too.

Posted in Complete Albums, soundtrack | 6 Comments »

Skunk & Skin

Tuesday, September 7th, 2010

The last of the Skunk Anansie posts, and it’s a big one.

If anyone has a real, legitimate live version of “Selling Jesus” I would be eternally grateful if they shared it with me.

Skunk Anansie
Hedonism (Allegedly Acoustic Mix)
Twisted (Everyday Hurts) (Cake mix)
Pickin On Me (Pick ‘n Mix)
She’s My Heroine (Polyester and Cotton Mix)
Milk is My Sugar (Cement Mix)
Yes It’s Fucking Political (Comix)
Weak (Ackee & Saltfish Mix)
Charity (Clit Pop Mix)
100 Ways To Be A Good Girl (Anti Matter Mix)
Rise Up (Bonhamoon Mix)
You’ll Follow Me Down (Rollo & Sister Bliss [From Faithless] Mix)
You’ll Follow Me Down (Golden Ashes Mix)
Secretly (Optical Vocal Mix)
I always find it odd when rock bands allow their decidedly non-dance friendly tracks to be remixed.  Its an especially odd move for Skunk Anansie, since all their tracks are either emotional ballads about how much love is a motherfucker or aggressive metal about political injustice and racism. I would hate to be Rollo and Sister Bliss when they were handed “You’ll Follow Me Down,” a song about loving a junkie, with the intention of it getting remixed for the clubs. Still, they did a pretty good job.

I would like to know who came up with the idea of a “Clit Pop Mix.” I don’t know if I love or hate that name.

Anyways, these are all from a multitude of CD singles. Thanks to everyone who indulged me in these posts. The next one will have some 80s shit I promise.

Skin
Getting Away With It
From what I can tell Skin’s solo career didn’t exactly take off. That was to be expected in America, but her lack of runaway success in England is kind of a bummer. Both of her solo albums are alright, but are very ballad heavy. Maybe there isn’t a market for a black bald chick singing romantic ballads? It is interesting that she’s is apparently a celebrity of some sorts in non-English speaking Europe, especially in Italy where she had a hit single (“Tear Down These Houses”) on a soundtrack to a hit movie (Parlami d’Amore). Of course, neither are available in America.

Also unavailable in America is Skin’s first solo album, Flesh Wounds; which is a shame because it’s quite good. This beautiful cover of Electronic’s “Getting Away From It” is from that album.

Posted in covers, remixes, Skin, Skunk Anansie | 6 Comments »

Live Skunk

Friday, September 3rd, 2010

This is post number two in my Skunk Anansie love fest. Probably at least one more of these coming next week. I have a shitton of remixes I want to get out there as well. Don’t forget, their new album, Wonderlustre, comes out on September 13th! It doesn’t look like a physical release is coming to America anytime soon, but you will be able to buy in on Amazon!

Disclaimer: None of that was a paid ad. I just enjoy being a whore for bands I like.

Skunk Anansie
I Can Dream (Live)
Punk By Numbers (Live)
Charity (Live)
And Here I Stand (Live)
It Takes Blood & Guts to Be This Cool But I’m Still Just a Cliche (Live)
Intellectualize My Blackness (Live)
Hedonism (Just Because You Feel Good) (Live)
The Skank Heads (Live)
In my last post I mentioned that I was moderately bummed about Skunk Anansie’s reunion announcement, because it didn’t include any North American tour dates.  Whenever I listen to these live tracks (gathered from various singles) I just get more bummed because damn, they sound good live. The best bit is at the end of “I Can Dream” and “And Here I Stand” when the crowd goes nuts and Skin just shrugs it off by saying “Yeah, yeah.”

She knows she’s a bad motherfucker.

Posted in Skunk Anansie | 2 Comments »