In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve been upping the number of posts I do here. I have a feeling my complete lack of posting had me loose a large portion of my audience. So if you’re still reading this stuff and digging the tunes let me know, and maybe shoot me some recommendations too!

White Stripes – You’ve Been Striped
I picked this up at The Leech Pit, and I know nothing about it. It’s a remix of ‘Seven Nation Army’ done up all techno and big-beat. For some reason the vinyl is labeled as ‘You’ve Been Striped.’ Also, it has a Trojan logo on it. I think it would’ve been awesome if it came in a GIANT condom wrapper, but alas that was not the case. Its the only track on the LP (it’s one-sided) and there is not copyright info on it at all. I’m at a total loss on this one.

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Mr. You’re On Fire
This is a B-side to at least two singles I have by them. It’s a pretty cool tune, but definitely B-side material.

Foo Fighters – FFL
This song is fucking ANGRY. I’ve always like The Foos when they go balls out heavy, but I think this is the heaviest they’ve ever been. It also has a quick reference to Queen’s ‘Fat Bottomed Girls’, which automatically makes it awesome. I’d love to hear them record a full album at this tempo. That might make people’s heads explode.

Korn – Here To Stay (Mindless Self Indulgence Remix)
I’m not a big Korn fan. I liked them for about 20 minutes in junior high, because it was required by law for junior high school students in the mid-90s to have at least one Korn or Offspring CD (I had both, I don’t know why.) Anyways, this is a remix of one of their better tunes, done by the amazing Mindless Self Indulgence. If you’ve never heard MSI and you like hardcore music you have to check them out, they are one of the most exciting bands in the scene. Their remix of this song basically turns it into an MSI song, which is probably why I like it so much.

Public Image Ltd. – Commercial Zone
When someone leaves a band over ‘creative differences’ the fans usually don’t get to find out why, but that wasn’t the case with Keith Levene and PiL. When he quit the band he took what they recorded with him. So when John Lydon and the rest of the band re-recorded much of it and released it as This Is What You Want…This Is What You Get he went ahead and put out his version of it, and called it Commercial Zone. It’s technically a bootleg and much of it has never been available to the general public. It’s pretty barren compared to This Is What You Want… and in my opinion not as good, but judge for yourself. It does feature some songs that have never been released in any form by PiL, so it’s essential for the die-hard fans. The file above is a zip that contains the entire album.

Timelords
Doctorin’ The Tardis
Doctorin’ The Tardis (Minimal)
Doctorin’ The Tardis (Club Mix)
I’ve already discussed The Timelords/KLF in depth and I really don’t want to again. If you’re really interested Wikipedia has a page on them describing the insanity in full. When I first posted about them I couldn’t find a copy of Doctorin’ The Timelords so I had to settle with the video. Well, since then I’ve managed to track down the 12′ single of the song, which also featured two additional mixes of the Dr. Who/Gary Glitter mash-up. Enjoy.

B.A.D.
C’mon Every Beatbox (Extended Vocal Version)
Beatbox’s At Dawn
It’s a scientific fact that Mick Jones is the coolest motherfucker ever to sport a Stetson hat. Big Audio Dynamite (or B.A.D.) was his band that followed The Clash and was one of the first rock acts to fully embrace dance beats and extensive sampling, which are both evident and this extended mix of one of their best songs. The B-Side, ‘Beatbox’s At Dawn’ is a remix of that song.

Terry Reid
Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)
My first exposure to Terry Reid was on the soundtrack to Rob Zombie’s The Devil’s Rejects, I had never heard of him before. When I found out that he was Jimmy Page’s original choice for the lead singer of The New Yardbirds (the band that became Led Zeppelin) I was more than a little floored. I also read somewhere else that he turned down a spot in Deep Purple as well. Talk about your unfortunate career moves. This cover of the Sonny Bono-written classic (wow, never thought I’d say that) is the opening track to his debut album Bang Bang, You’re Terry Reid, which is out-of-print in America. The quality ain’t perfect, but the LP I got if from was really ‘Bang Bang’-ed up….man, that joke was bad even for me.

‘Bang Bang’ has been recorded by so many artists that it’s hard to figure out just who did it first. Sonny And Cher released their version in 1966, but so did Stevie Wonder. Since then it’s been covered by artists as diverse as Frank Sinatra, Petula Clark and Coil. The very that is most famous, and the one that was heard during the opening credits of Kill Bill, is sung by Nancy Sinatra.

Snakes On A Plane is awesome. Go see it.

Now on to the music.

Alphaville
Forever Young (Extended Mix)
Big In Japan (Extended Vocal Remix ’88)
Two synth-pop classics. There’s nothing I can say about these songs that hasn’t already been said. I feel the same way about Forever Young that I do about George Clinton’s ‘Atomic Dog’, I could listen to it forever. These are taken of an Alphaville Singles EP I bought, although they are available on tons of different Alphaville collections that are on CD.

Editors
Orange Crush (REM Cover)
I’m still in shock over how amazing Editors were at Lollapalooza. I was on the fence about them but they really convinced me they were the real deal and not another Joy Division knock off. This is another cover off of that Q: Best Of 86/06 CD.

Interpol
Not Even Jail (Daniel Kesser Remix)
Public Pervert (Carlos D Remix)
When I bought Interpol’s Antics I was battling a nasty sleep disorder that required me to sleep at the hospital for observation on several occasions. When you do a sleep study at the hospital they have you go to sleep at 10:00 and wake you at 4:00, and each time I made the trip Antics was in my car for some reason. It’s beautiful music to drive to, especially at 4:00 AM, when no one is on the road and the sidewalks are empty – it gives the entire world an ethereal out-of-this-world feeling. Of course, so does not sleeping for two days, but whatever. These are two remixes off that album that I found on a four-record set.

Oy. I’ve been busy as shit. First I had a Gary Numan concert in Detroit (which as totally fucking awesome) and then I was off to Chicago for Lollapalooza. Lollapalooza was a great show and I got to see some amazing bands (check out my photos here.)

Some highlights:
The lead singer of Be Your Own Pet headbanging so much she puked.
This chick.
This dude.
This sign.
Gnarls Barkley (’nuff said).
Meeting the dude from She Wants Revenge (I’m on the right…duh.)

So yea, busy couple of weeks. But I return with bitchin’ tunes from Chicago. I wanted to make this an all Lolla-related post, but I just got too much good shit to share. I’m going to try to make up for lost time and post a lot of stuff this week. Here’s some stuff for starters. I’m going to have to get a new turntable or turntable needle before I record any other vinyl though, it’s sucking up a storm.

Muse – Crying Shame
Muse – Plug In Baby (Live)
I had some misgivings about Muse’s new album since the single ‘Supermassive Black Hole’ was so much unlike anything I’ve ever heard them do. My doubts were put to rest when the album came out a few weeks ago – because it’s typical amazing Muse. I don’t know how Matt Belamy makes his guitar generate the noises it does, but when he does it right it sounds downright godly. ‘Crying Shame’ is the B-side to the picture-disc single of ‘Supermassive Black Hole’ and the live version of ‘Plug In Baby’ is off of the Symmetry Singles Box Set (which was never released here in America.) The original version of ‘Plug In Baby’ appeared on the album Origin Of Symmetry, which was released in 2001 in every country but America, where it didn’t appear until AFTER the follow-up Absolution proved to be a big hit. Plug In Baby is undoubtedly one of the best singles of all time, and it features one of the best guitar riffs ever recorded in the history of rock music. Had it been promoted and released in America I’m sure it would’ve skyrocketed up the charts and made the record company buckets of dough. And the RIAA wonders why record sales are down…

The New Pornographers – Your Daddy Don’t Know
This is off the soundtrack to a movie called FUBAR. I know nothing about the movie, but I sure as hell dig The New Pornographers. They were at Lollapalooza and even though they were lacking a Neko Case they still put on an incredible show. They closed with ‘Sing Me Spanish Techno’ which caused half of the audience (including me) to start one huge dance-train. It was one of the best concert experiences of my life. This song is a cover of someone, but I don’t know who.

Sex Pistols – God Save The Queen (Dance Mix)
The idea of a dance mix of one of the most influential and important punk songs of all time may be a little off-putting, but if give it a chance and you just might like it. This is off of the two-disc version of John Lydon’s Greatest Hits, which I scored this at the Virgin Megastore in Chicago, which is an awesome place if you love imports because they have an entire floor of them. If you know a lot about Lydon and his post Pistols work, this remix shouldn’t be much of a surprise. He did after all form the revolutionary post-punk dance group Public Image Limited in the late 70s, he collaborated with Afrika Bambaataa for the Time Zone project, and he has also worked with the dance music production team known as Leftfield on more than occasion. This remix is as minimalistic as a dance song can get and still have a beat, and gives you an idea of what The Sex Pistols’ catalog might have sounded like if recorded by Public Image Limited.

The Hardsonic Bottoms 3 – Do It Anyway You Wanna
I have no idea as to what this is. I picked it up a Jerry’s a while ago on a whim (it was only three bucks) and haven’t been able to find any information on it since. It’s some sort of bizarre dance song, probably from the mid-80s. It ain’t half bad (it ain’t half good either ) if anyone knows anything about it, let me know.

To the owner of Earth Pig Music,

Not all of the record stores I visited in Colorado were good, in fact some were downright bad – but yours is the only one that pissed me off enough for me to rant about it here.

Your store is a shit store. It’s such a shit store that I’m not going even to link to its site or mention what city its in (any poor unfortunate soul that wants to find it can use Google) The prices are shit, the locked-down display cases are shit and the you act like a shit bastard who always whines to his customers about his shit luck.

If I were to believe the shit that comes forth from your shit mouth, nobody buys records anymore and you can only stay afloat buy selling pot paraphernalia. Maybe if you didn’t cater your business to potheads you might be able to trust your customers, and not have to keep so much of your inventory under lock-and-key. You also say that you can’t have turntables for people to sample used records before they buy them because ‘people break them and they cost me $600.’ I don’t know where you are buying turntables, but if I ever spend that much money on one it better be able to blow me.

The most frustrating thing about your shit store is that it has the potential to be pretty good. Your selection isn’t completely awful, and you have a pretty good location from what I could gather – it’s your own stupidity holding you back. Your prices are so embarrassingly high it’s almost sad. Everything you sell is overpriced, from the new DVDS to the used records. Of course, if you let people sample the records before buying them (like every other record store in the world does) people might bite the bullet and shill out the extra dough, but since you’re convinced turntables cost $600 (what part of your ass did you pull that out of?) you’ll probably never give your customers that luxury.

And by the way, whining about how much your ‘Korean landlady’ screws you just isn’t professional at all. It makes you look like a seventh grader bitching about their parents not letting them smoke. The shit tales you spun about her were so tall (she ‘made you’ throw away half your inventory? Really? If that’s true then she’s not a bitch…you’re a fucking moron) I expected Paul Bunion and Babe the Ox to be involved.

Oh, and don’t brag about how much Pink Floyd stuff you sold after Syd Barrett died, that’s just tacky.

In despite of all these things you did have one record I had to buy, a BBC recording of a Joe Jackson concert. Lucky for you I’m a sucker for old-school Joe Jackson. I’m pissed that I ended up giving you some money, but the fact that I can rant about you shit store here, and save some other sucker 20 bucks by putting the album up for free, makes up for it.

sincerely,
The Lost Turntable

Joe Jackson – Live
Look Sharp
Cancer
Real Man
Friday
Breaking Us In Two
Chinatown
Target
T.V. Age
It’s Different For Girls
Steppin’ Out

Echo And The Bunnymen – Rollercoaster
Gene Loves Jezebel – Love Splice
I was recently in Colorado Springs visiting some family and gettin’ high (altitudes) and whenever I’m there I make sure to visit this bitchin’ store called The Leech Pit, a store that offers ‘Trend-Free Music, Clothing and Entertainment.’ While I’m sure their second-hand retro clothing selection is impressive (being both big and tall I don’t even bother looking at the clothes) I mainly go there to browse their totally radical LP collection.

A prime example of quality over quantity, The Leech Pit only has a few rows of records, but almost all of them are winners. If you dig punk, 80s rock, techno, soundtracks or anything unusual or obscure, you should totally check them out if you’re ever anywhere near Colorado Springs. I’ve picked up some amazing stuff there in the past, most of which has already been on this site or will be in the near future.

anyways, during this trip I scored big time. In addition to picking up an ultra-rare Woody Allen stand-up album and the soundtrack to a Japanese anime (Macross) I also bought a very unusual box set featuring three 12-inch singles by Echo & The Bunnymen, New Order and Gene Loves Jezebel. From what I can gather, it was only sold during their 1987 US tour and is unusual for a few reasons. Firstly, the Gene Loves Jezebel and Echo & The Bunnymen LPs have the exact same song on both the A and B sides (suspicion’ and ‘New Direction’, respectively) while the New Order differs from the other two and has two different versions of their song ‘True Faith’ (the radio edit and the LP version). Also, since each band was on different labels on the time, each record was produced by a different record label, which is something you almost never see (usually you one label produces the product and the disclaimer ‘blah blah appears courtesy of blah blah records’).

While all that is well and good, I wouldn’t have bought it if those were the only things that made it special. I mean, I like Echo & The Bunnymen and all, but I ain’t made of money. Fortunately, it also contained a bonus record, a floppy 10 inch (…woah, did that come out wrong…) with three songs, one by each band. The New Order song included on this little bonus record is ‘Shame Of The Nation’ and since that’s easily available on Substance I’m not including it here. However, the Echo & The Bunnymen track ‘Rollercoaster’ is only available on their box set The Crystal Years 1979-1999 and the Gene Loves Jezebel song ‘Fresh Slice’ isn’t available anywhere as far as I can tell. So for both of you Gene Love Jezebel fans out there, this is your lucky day!

As I said before, this bonus record was a 10 inch floppy (hehe..sorry, I’m a sucker for unintentional dick jokes) and it doesn’t really sound all that great. I did my best to clean it up, but the audio is still a little murky, so if anyone has any ideas on how to improve these tracks please let me know.

Jane’s Addiction – Been Caught Stealing (12-inch Remix)
Jane’s Addiction – Had A Dad (Demo Version)
I’m whipping out my big 12-inch record to compensate for my floppy little 10-incher. This version of ‘Been Caught Stealing’ is a little odd, with some silly break beats and random hoots and hollers thrown in the beginning of it for no good reason. The demo version of ‘Had A Dad’ is the B-side and it sounds a hell of a lot better than the version that was on Nothing’s Shocking, with much more energy and feeling behind it.

I’m not dead, I’m just in Colorado visiting my mom. I planned on updating the blog from here, but her main computer died and I’m using my stepdad’s which…well…sucks balls. Expect an update Sunday or Monday night. It’ll be a good one too, I picked up some swank shit in Bolder!

Two posts in one week!? I’m suddenly prolific!

Big Country – Wonderland (Extended Mix)
Big Country – Giant
I created this blog because of bands like Big Country. Anyone who’s only heard their sole American hit ‘In A Big Country’ and nothing else is really missing out on some of the best music of the ’80s. Big Country’s 1983 debut The Crossing is one of the defining albums of the New Wave movement – and it still holds up as an amazing record to this day. Their later stuff wasn’t as strong, but it was still better than a lot of the shit being shilled out by retards with too much Aquanet at the time. Despite the lackluster sales and mediocre recordings, they stuck together and in the 90s they released some really good live albums and a few critically-acclaimed studio ones too. Unfortunately, depression over the lack of sales and a longtime problem with alcohol caught up with lead singer/songwriter Stuart Adamson, and he killed himself in 2001, which puts ‘In A Big Country’ right up there with Badfinger’s ‘No Matter What’ as one of the most upbeat songs ever written by a dude that offed himself.

If that wasn’t enough of a downer, those dickless emo fuckers Dashboard Confessional recently recorded a cover of ‘In A Big Country’ (if you don’t value your ears you can check it out for yourself at Sessions@AOL.) I guess that whiney pussy-ass bitch got sick of butchering his own songs and decided to branch out and destroy someone else’s.

The version of Wonderland I’m putting up is twice as long as the original (which you can pick up on Big Country’s greatest hits collection) and I found it on the import version of the single, which was clear vinyl to boot. The B-side ‘Giant’ is a solid instrumental tune that’s never been released in the states in any form.

Down By Law – In A Big Country
I wasn’t going to post this, but fuck it, Dashboard Confessional really pissed me off. If you want a good cover of ‘In A Big Country’ check this one out by this L.A. punk band. This is off their greatest hits.

Pete Townshend – Pinball Wizard (Live)
Pete Townshend & John Williams – We Won’t Get Fooled Again (Live)
I don’t need to go off on how awesome Pete Townshend is, you already know. These songs were performed live for an Amnesty International benefit called The Secret Policeman’s Ball. I normally wouldn’t post tracks from a charity album, but it’s been out of print for a while.

It’s a bird…it’s a plane…it’s my shameless attempt at being relevant in order to get more hits!

Superman Returns is finally in theatres and I thought I’d capitalize….er, I mean celebrate with this quick post showcasing two of my favorite Superman-related songs.

Vinyl Syndicate – Man Of Steal
A drum and bass mix of the main Superman theme. It’s taken from Aphrodite’s 1999 mix album Urban Jungle. Not much to say about this one, other than it’s really cool and I dig it. I had an idea for a music video for this song the first time I heard it. It involved flying ravers and a lot of glowsticks. And before you ask, no I wasn’t on ecstasy at the time.

I was on ketamine.

Meco -Themes From Superman
I have to respect a guy like Meco. Not because of his artistic ability (I don’t even think Disco Stu could do that) but because of his amazing ability to cash in on other people’s success. This is the dude that recorded a disco version of the Star Wars theme just months after the movie came out – and scored a massive hit (and the admiration of John Williams!!) in the process. Riding high off that success (and another John Williams soundtrack to a hit movie) Meco recorded Superman And Other Galactic Heroes the following year. Sadly, Meco wasn’t able to have lightning strike twice, and the album wasn’t nearly as successful as his smash-hit take on Star Wars.

Much like his Star Wars music, Meco’s ‘Themes From Superman’ isn’t really ‘good’ in the traditional sense, but more interesting in a ‘what the fuck is going on?!?!’ kind of way. I have a bizarre fascination with the music of Meco, and have nearly all of his albums. I might post some more of his stuff later.

WARNING: This is a long track (15 minutes) and a big file.
ADDITIONAL WARNING: Prolonged exposure to the music of Meco has been known to cause paralysis, mental instability and in some rare cases, death. Listen at your own risk.