CJ Bolland - The 4th Sign

CJ Bolland - The 4th Sign (1992)

Here's CJ Bolland's debut full-length off R&S, lot of classic bits of uptempo house in the dutch post-new-beat vein (Trance before it became "Trance" and people started doing that dour face whenever anyone mentions it). This rip is off the japanese CD re-release from '95. Here's a discogs review:

The 4th Sign, CJ Bolland's full-length debut for R&S, is notably — and refreshingly — free of his previous singles successes for the label. Instead of padding out the LP with a few of the club hits he'd recorded during his four-plus years on R&S, Bolland uses the opportunity to explore new methods and construct an album of tracks that work together as well as apart. True, there's not that much different here musically; it's a nine-track course through much of the same hard techno and pummeling trance he'd been known for. But the effects programming is inventive and just a bit leftfield for the dancefloor (at least circa 1992), and Bolland ranges from sleek trance ("Aquadrive"), to hardcore ("Spring Yard"), to symphonic progressive house ("Camargue"). Though the best tracks ("Nightbreed," "Mantra," "Thrust") come with help from the Advent's Cisco Ferreira (maybe this should've been released as a Space Opera LP instead), The 4th Sign is a near-perfect debut.





and the inevitable tacky 90s techno music vid:


Snag it above.

Also, check out the legowelt site on the 12 July post for some raw 808 beats, goes great with the Willesden Dodgers post from back in January. I just wish he'd included the track BPMs. And if you haven't gotten it already, get the second hour of this Rush Hour Radio podcast for a ton of rare chi-town tracks



haha sampling an alpha juno hoover into an emulator iii. classic.

Stephen Brooks - The Art of Indirect Suggestion

Seems I was wrong about the time required.



Stephen Brooks - The Art of Indirect Suggestion pt. 1
Stephen Brooks - The Art of Indirect Suggestion pt. 2

Tonight I'm putting up a series of lectures about trance induction, hypnosis, and how to use indirect suggestion. Very long, full of possibility for sampling and throwing over some old acid tracks or just purely for entertainment value. Goes quite well with the Yoga record I posted almost a year ago now. This one comes in two parts and contains no less than 8 90~ minute tapes. It's actually a fairly interesting method to approaching language and speech, though I haven't listened to all 12 hours of it yet. Enjoy.

VA - Street Buzz

VA - Street Buzz (1990)

Last one for tonight. Here's the '90 acid/piano/bleep house comp mentioned previously. First half is chock full of cheese house, I'd swear I remember half of them from the yearly dance at my elementary school. Picks up quite well in the second half. I should mention that this comp is actually structured and mixed rather than just being a collection of singles, so it works pretty well all around even if the track selection isn't perfect. That Jet Lag track is killer though (still a sucker for 303), and the pianos on Mary had a little Boy are straight off of "Going Back to my Roots."

List:
1. Love's Calling - Sybil (remix)
2. Independant - Salt 'N Pepa (Brixton remix)
3. Nothing Compares 2 U - MXM (remix)
4. Simba Groove - Hi Power
5. Give In To The Fight - Ready For Reality (remix)
6. Take Back The Love - Samaria
7. Nitro - Ambassadors of Funk (London Symph Bleep House mix)
8. Falling In Love - Sybil (dub) <- picks up here
9. Kick Your Legs In The Air - Adam Ice/Poor Pocket Productions
10. You're No Good For Me - Kelly Charles (previously unreleased)
11. Get Your Thing Together - Urban Rhythm
12. Do You Want Me Baby (Dirty Love) - Lipstick/Lee Marrow
13. Mary Had A Little Boy - Stax (remix)
14. Jet Lag - Northern Lights

Can't find any album art online, but the disc can be had at amazon for about $4. ASIN B000008L7T

VA - Technorave 2: Trance Atlantic

VA - Technorave 2: Trance Atlantic (1992)

Found a nice stack of CDs today, 2 '92 Hardcore comps, a '90 bleep comp and an absolutely classic electro library record I'll be posting later tonight. First, though, is this Network/Next Plateau comp from '92 featuring Altern-8, Forgemasters, and 10 of the best cuts of stripped down bleep-style Hardcore from the year it peaked (and it can be had for pennies over at amazon. Chock full of Mentasm too, have you no doubt. I'll let this bit from the inside cover say the rest:

They call it rave. They call it techno. The fast forward electronic dance music that has dominated UK club culture for the past two years has been named, named and named again. What does it really matter? When the tones begin and the bass kicks, instinct tackes over and the limbs move involuntarily. This aural avalanche is the wave of the future. This post-Dusseldorf hyperactivity starts a new chapter in club culture on both sides of the Atlantic. "trance atlantic" is your passport to the future. Within the space of forty minutes your understanding of this underground phenomenon will be complete. You will then laugh as inferior bleep parodies are presented to you dressed as the real thing. All the artists featured here record for Network Records, based in Birmingham, England. Since the mid-eighties, label owners Dave Barker and Neil Rushton have encouraged the music, releasing classic early techno from Detroit and the then-fledgling English scene. Neil and Dave encouraged Detroit innovators Derrick May, Juan Atkins and Kevin Saunderson without whom this music would be very different. They set up Network in 1990 - a label with a crystal clear identity, sharp from the grooves to the sleevs - to cope with the increasing number of bedroom techno creators whose tapes often found their way to Birmingham before the London majors. Such was the reputation Network was developing, the UK's leading independent. altern 8's "frequency" available previously only as a limited edition white label pressing wastes no time in applying the pressure. You are the brick and this is the mineshaft. Altern 8's "Activ 8" was a Number Three pop hit in the UK which shows just how far things have gone. Altern 8 dresses in nuclear fallout suits and wear bright yellow dust masks. They hail from the UK's own Techno City, Stafford. They like to travel from rave to rave by hot air balloon. Sometimes the underground is a surreal place to be. nexus 21's "sychologic p.s.p." shows a more reflective side of the sound. "rhythmatix" is mathematic in its digital precision. The ghost of Kraftwerk somewhere in the new machine. The forgemasters' "stress" is the sound of Sheffield. Sheffield was once a major industrial centre. Sheffield made metal. Nobody wants metal anymore. Plastic will do. The Forgemasters make music like metal. There's respect to the past with an eye on the future. "stream" is a moment of relaxation. Can't dance forever. xon's "dissonance" fascinates with its twists and turns. In its complexity it reminds of the work of Derrick May who is in there somewhere. "turbo" and "heavyweight apply the pressure, both brutally futuristic electronic dance anthems, both hard, loud, insistent. This music isn't going away. This music is the wave of the future.

- John McCready, London, 1992

There's some seriously hard cuts on this comp, miles better than most of the hardcore I've posted in the past.




Keep an ear out for the samples and post all the lifted bits you recognize in the comments!

Graeme Park & Mike Pickering - Hacienda Live mix 08-1989

This is one I've had on rotation for an age, would almost swear I'd posted it up but a cursory review makes it clear that I have the privilege of posting this now, rather than at a time when I had other bits to provide. This is a DAT bootleg of a latter-era Nude party. Mix is top quality, as you would well expect of this legendary party. Even the boot gives a great sound-image of what the party was: whistle brigade is out in full force and captured here.

Park & Pickering - Hacienda pt 1 pt 2 08-89


ARTEFACT - AGIT'POP (1981)

Unit Moebius - Status

Unit Moebius - Status

Damn, been a busy few weeks! Too many parties, not enough time to kick back. My new preamp is in the mail, just waiting on it to start digging into the stack of records I've had sitting here. (Got a right good dancehall mix lp I can't wait to post) For today, a classic from one of my favorite 90s techno groups: Unit Moebius. Hard fucking lofi acid. The Zipper is one of my all time favorite tracks, along with Biosoft with that UR vibe. Not a bad tune on the album. Acid like a kick in the head.


listen to that 303 scream!

ALTERN-8 IS BACK

And they've dropped a new mix via the absolutely incredible The Acid House blog. >>>>>>>>Check it here<<<<<<<<<<, not even gonna try to quote his article about it, read it there. Click this link. Give him props. This probably the best all around hardcore techno mix I've ever heard, just anthem after anthem and it works so well. I don't know if downloading it there benefits him somehow, but get it there before you get it here. The only reason I'm even posting this is because I tossed it up on zshare to show some friends. Two hours of the best tracks of the era. Top one, Get sorted.

Altern8 LIVE @ The Clarence Sligo 18-4-2009 - ZSHARE LINK DELETED get it off the above links or request a reup if unavailable

(even if you don't hit the link to that post, check out The Acid House on my BIA list to the right! ->)

Manuel Gottsching - E2E4

Manuel Gottsching - E2E4 (1984, recorded 1981)
RS link

The only hour-long krautrock improv to become an Ibiza hit. The only proto-house anthem made by a founding member of Ash Ra Tempel. My favorite record. Nothing more I can add. Enjoy.