If you're still seeing this

and you haven't got this: Frankie Knuckles - Ministry of Sound 1991

N-Joi - Live in Manchester

N-Joi - Live in Manchester (1992)

This and an album tonight. Half-hour non-stop live set from N-Joi circa 1992, all the hits in great quality.

bonus link: jackpot!

VA - United Stance of Techno

Various Artists - United Stance of Techno (1993)

Probably one of the best hardcore compilations I've ever found. Picked up the tape version from a thrift store a couple of subway stops north of me, was so blown away by the tracklist that I picked up the CD for next to nothing on ebay just to share here! Energy Flash, Sesame's Treet, House is Mine, Trip II the Moon, just a grip of absolute classics from my favorite era for rave. Only complaint is that they used the c.j. bolland mix of NRG's I Need Your Lovin, when the original is much better if you ask me.

That said, get a load of this shit:







I'll never get tired of the intro to this track, rest of it's kind of crap in comparison.

I love the 909

But I felt the 808 would fit my sound needs better. So I bought one. It's everything I'd dreamed it would be. The xoxbox arrives later this week.

That said, here's to the 909 I couldn't afford to go with her. the hats... the hats... oh god the hats...

VA - Balearic Beats Vol. 1

VA - Balearic Beats Vol. 1 (1988)

This one is courtesy of the once magnificent, now defunct audio.out blog. So much great music lost to the void (that I hadn't gotten hold of yet...) when he went offline. This is probably up someplace else, but since I've been mentioning it to friends so much and it fits SRO's style such as it does I'm tossing it up here just for simplicity's sake. Cover blurb:

balearic beats by farley

"wot shall i file this BALEARIC BEATS under?" so young joe public, y.t.s., go-getter at yo-price megastore hits his first problem in pigeon-holeing the black vinyl. now seeing that the only "MATEY" joe's "EVER GOT RIGHT ON" is the rubbery balloon type his guv'nor sells, i think we should explain this happy, happy, groove a little more.

now while it's true that the balearic beat was born in IBIZAN clubs, such as AMNESIA and PASHA, it's breeding took place in a small, sweaty, strobby, smokey south london club called ..... THE SHOOM. the hardcore original shoomers, along with another london club THE FUTURE, had discovered the JOY'S of balearic beats, during several previous "summers of love" (sic), and had brought the music and the attitude back to london with them. the kinectic style of dancing now associated with balearics ugly brother, ACID HOUSE, is pure ibizan in origin. The loudest screams at SPECTRUM are always reserved for NITZER EBB and the RESIDENTS while hearing ENZO AVITABILE booming through the smoke at JOY is an ecstatic experience one step away, (some say forward) from sex.

THE FINI TRIBE and MANDY SMITH have become anthems all over clubland, whilst my personal faves are the fast euro-rhythms of CODE 61 and the post-punk thrashing of THE WOODENTOPS. every track of this album will fill floors and put smiles on faces, Throughout the balearic underground. look, i wonder if poor joe's getting the gist of all this, for joe and the yet uninitiated, balearic is the following and much, much more.....

.....loads of hugs and kisses ... smiley t-shirts and happy faces.... feeling saucey instead of sauced......eating fruits on the dance floor....bashed up converse trainers.....lovely girls with blinding accents.....ice pops.....hedionism....sparklers at the future....indian belly dancers at the shoom....almost everyone finally realising that "only love can conquer hate"....watching the sun set at the café del mar....watching the sun rise on primrose hill....the karma collective....poncho's pony tails and body paint....dj alfredo....new friendships....loads more hugs and kisses....just let this piece of warm anglo-ibizan club culture rush over you, enjoy it mateys!!!

loves & respects to OAKEY, THE RAMPLINGS, GARY HAISMAN, JOHNNY WALKER, STEVE PROCTOR, NANCY NOISE, and to all those out there who truly "shoooom!!!"

xxx hugs and kisses xxx - farley.
BOYS OWN FANZINE

God, don't you just love that knackered proto-raver writing style. This one's even better than the Technorave thing from last month. Anyway, this comp was released by the Boy's Own crew and stands as the defining first-generation balearic collection. Toss it on the monitors and play like you're Rampling at Shoom. Check this out too, I keep forgetting to buy this damn thing and I'm sure by the time I have the spare cash around it'll be sold out and worth a few hundo on ebay or something. Grab the 44-page pdf preview, only a tenth of the full book. Epic shit.

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)

Ellis Dee - EOE Set @ Fantazia NYE 12-31-92

here's a bit for the breakbeat hardcore heads out there (easily my weakest posting constituency). nicked from the its all about old skool forums (hit that up if you're down with the sound). Homework assignment: lay down someting interesting.

Ellis Dee - End of Event Set @ Fantazia NYE 1993 (12-31-92)

Adamski - LiveAndDirect and Doctor Adamski's Musical Pharmacy

Got two classic full albums from the heyday for you tonight, Adamski's first two full-lengths. Classic tracks in high quality, sounds a bit dated but fun nonetheless.



Adamski - LiveAndDirect (1989)

Can sound horribly dated to the uninitiated now, but when I first heard this back in 1990 amongst other tunes, it was a revelatory experience. If only I had been maybe a few years older than my then 16 years, perhaps I would have been able to attend one of the orbital raves where these tracks were recorded but that didnt stop me appreciating the energy and enthusiasm of both Adamski and the crowds you can hear whistling and yelling in the background.

With N-R-G crashing into the UK charts in that same year, bringing the bleeps and beats to the ears of older generations who derided its cheap and cheerful sound; it became a bit like a beacon to people like myself, representing Our music precisely because older people didnt understand it. With the worldwide hit of Killer later that year (with Seal on vocals), Adamski became one of the first sort of dance pop stars. Unfortunately the follow-up lp to LiveAndDirect was a disappointment and very much over-hyped. Still, this lp stands as testament to what one guy with a sampler, keyboard and computer can do live.

Respect. The Bassline Changed My Life.



Adamski - Doctor Adamski's Musical Pharmacy (1990)

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! ->)

Nightwatch - Looks

Nightwatch - Looks (2006)

These guys were friends of mine a few years ago, haven't heard from them in ages though. I heard they broke up in '07. If I recall, this was a private press on their own dime done up in Russia. Psychedelic 4-track tape stuff done mostly with found gear. Live shows raged a lot more than this, which tends to be fairly laid back. One of my forgotten favorites. Stoned saturday afternoon music. Enjoy.

Merzbow - Pornoise

I think this is in the Merzbox but here's my copy of the 5 C60 book set of Merzbow's epic 1984 masterpiece Pornoise. You can still get this from RRR, runs $25 and you should buy it because RRRon is a great guy and deserves your money for continuing to provide not only this but so many other amazing releases (like: a ton of United Diaries cassettes, a book set of the absolutely necessary Rising from the Red Sand comp series, cdrs of p16.d4, etc). Here in five parts, ripped in utterly unnecessary v0, is five hours of cassette noise from the master himself during (imo) his best period. I've got a few other things I might post tonight but who knows what I'll get uploaded.

Personal favorite side is #9, A-side of the last cassette, "Toy 69". Rhythmic noise blasts, either from an overdriven drum machine or a machine gun on a tape loop, a lot of freaked out shortwave & synth noise and a woman being tortured to top it all off. If you haven't got an RS account, get that one.

done in single tape zips, open 'em all to a folder.



A Penis Art Is Microphone
B Loop Fuck / Obituary
C Night Noise White
D New Karhma
E Neon Swarm
F International Velvet
G Dynamite Don Don
H De-Filement Of His Nubile Young Wife
I Toy 69
J UFO Vs British Army

VA - Universe: Mind, Body + Soul

i spent most of tonight working on a big surprise for tomorrow night, but here's something i tossed in to clear my mind of what i was hearing for about three hours. two hours left to go on that...

for now, here's a bunch of early live dnb/hardcore rave mixes from '92. Not my links, thanks to whoever put them up.


CARL COX part 1
CARL COX part 2
DJ DIE
ELLIS DEE
MICKY FINN
SEDUCTION

Musicworks 23 - Music of the Inuit

I'm back! Not set up for vinyl rips yet so I'll be doing some cassettes from the stack. Still only about half unpacked, need to toss some things too and gotta ship out a ton of bits of equipment I unloaded on ebay.

Today's rip is one I'd been meaning to do for a while. Sorry I haven't got a proper scan, I'll try to get things properly set up by next week.



MUSICWORKS 23 - Music of the Inuit (1983)

From the j-card:

MUSICWORKS, 1087 Queen Street West,
Toronto, Canada, M6J 1H3 (416) 533-0192

Compiled by Tina Pearson and John Oswald.
Edited and Manufactured by John Oswald.

ⓒ UNAUTHORIZED REPRODUCTION OF THIS MATERIAL IS PROBABLY INEVITABLE.

SIDE A

• FM and Shortwave Radio of the North, 1982, from the collection of Marvin Green.
  Includes excerpt of a hymn sung by Joase and Susie Onalik.
  
• Donald Suluk speaking at Inuktitut Music Workshop.*
  Donald and Alice Suluk sing Once in Awhile (Pisiq)
  Courtesy Canadian Ethnology Service
  
• Katajaiit : Alice Alasuak and Nellie Nunguak from Povungnituk, Quebec. *
  
• Katajaiit : Timanginak Petalaussie and Haunak Mikkigak from Cape Dorset, Northwest Territories.*
  
• Canti Illuminati 1982 (LP Excerpt) by Alvin Curran. Shiphorns, A.C.'s voice and synthesizer. (FORE 80/SEVEN, Italy) cross fade to....
  
• Aerosons, 1982 (opening section) by Leo Küpper, computer and vocal synthesis. From Music Gallery's Electronic Music Festival concert.
  
• Young Love from In Vitro, 1978. Tina Pearson, with Paul Hodge, clarinet.
  

SIDE B

• more FM and Shortwave Radio of the North 1982.
  
• Aftersounds, Gordon Monahan's illustration for Faraway Sounds. 1983
  
• Kissing Jesus In the Dark (excerpt) 1981, by Miguel Frasconi and John Oswald.
  
• Inflexions Vocales, 1982, (ending) by Leo Küpper. Anna Maria Keiffer, mezzo-soprano, Leo Küpper, computer and vocal synthesis.
  
• Ur Sonate, 1922-32 by Kurt Schwitters. Excerpt from Christopher Butterfield's performance at Mercer Union, Toronto, 1982.
  
• Amazing Grace in Inuktitut sing and played by the participants in the Inuktitut Music Workshop: Raddi Kuitchak (song), Frank Cockney (fiddle), Steve Kikoak (guitar) from Tuktoyaktuk, NWT. Donald Suluk (song & drum), Alice Suluk (song and drum), Charlie Panaguniak (song and guitar) from Eskimo Point, NWT. Emile Immaroitok (song and drum), Michael Qupak (song and drum), from Igloolik, NWT. Johnny Keeyootuk (accordian), from Broughton Island, NWT. Norman Ichaluktuk (song and guitar, Susie Onalik (song) from Frobisher Bay, NWT. Charlie Adams (song and guitar) from Baker Lake, NWT. Nellie Nunguak and Alasie Alasuak (throatsong) from Povungnituk, Quebec. Timanginak Petalaussie and Haunak Mikkigak (throatsong) Elelu Etedlui (guitar) from Cape Dorset, NWT. Joase and Sue Onalik (song and guitar) from Makkovik, Labrador.

* Inuktitut Music Workshop, Igloolik, NWT, 1982.
Recordings by Marvin Green

Connecting voices are Inuit radio announcer, Anne Skinner and Leo Küpper.

You may still be able to pick up a copy here, I didn't get mine there though so I can't vouch for them.

enjoy.

Frankie Knuckles - Live @ Ministry of Sound 1991

Frankie Knuckles - MoS '91 mix

Last post before the move (maybe, we'll see what I do before I tear down the rig tomorrow. got one more singles thing in mind.), among my favorite mixtapes and one of the biggest factors that lead me into house music. Absolute fucking deck wizardry. I was going to put this up on zshare for active listening but it failed twice, so here are two klf videos and a dl instead. Enjoy.





Knuckles analog classic: Your Love

also, check

Series 2: Acid Singles

Well, not all acid, but for the most part.

Series 2 #4: Acid Singles

First up is a lesser-known single from one of my favorite pop stars who jumped on the acid bandwagon early on, Enzo Avitabile. You've probably heard his much bigger single 'Blackout' on the Baelaric Beats comp or just around, it was a Shoom fave back in the heyday of the Second Summer of Love and one of my favorite acid tracks. I'm not even sure it was intended to be an acid track originally, but this one certainly was. Alta Tensione, with the great cover art and the perfect "I know what acid is!" opening line, takes the Blackout vibe one step deeper into acid house with Enzo's trademark wild sax and guttural vocal delivery. Hell of a lot of fun. Dropped in '88 for those concerned with authentic 2nd SSOL anthems. Always looking for Enzo LPs by the way.

Next, one of my favorite thing finds. Mitsou - Bye Bye Mon Cowboy, french language acid house sung by a japanese woman in a cowboy hat and a miniskirt. The tracks here are the Shep Pettibone remix and are lightyears better than the original pop version (included as last track). I love the stereo effects (especially on the second and third tracks, the House mix and dub versions) and the singing is top notch, turns out Mitsou was Québécoise. This was a major Canadian hit at the time. The things we learn from Wikipedia! This one's way uptempo, by the way, former owner's sticker lists it as 133 which was high for the time ('89 is what the cover says, I don't trust wikipedia on their '92 assessment and discogs says '88 but frankly who gives a shit).


Third, a favorite of mine (becoming a pattern) and one of the few solid justifications for the existence of belgian New Beat if you ask me. Zazou-Bikaye was the collaborative project between belgian popster Hector Zazou and african bandleader Bony Bikaye, who happened to be putting out an album just as acid hit big in '88. Presumably they wanted to gin up some hype for it, so they handed over the tapes on Na Kenda to a belgian producer by the name of Mr. Big Mouse for a b-side. This produced one of the earliest instances of the collision between african music and acid house that was later found on No Smoke's incredible International Smoke Signals LP (still searching for a copy of that myself...) and would appear here and there throughout the last twenty years (such as on MAW's incredible deep house remix of Expensive Shit, which I'll be trying to rip tonight) until today when Kwaito and African House are getting recognition and honest respect i.e. Township Funk single on Warp. Anyway, the good bit here's the Afro-Acid b-side, which is a jittery bit of 303 & 808 laden techno acid house that just works perfectly. A side is fun too, don't get me wrong. I've got a New Beat comp someplace, where I found this single which has several other Mr Big Mouse productions, so I'll toss that onto the rips list once I get settled at the new place. Looking for the LP on this too.




Up next we have another neat thing find, a really left-field acid single from the Groove Robbers by the name of 'How Far Can We Go?'. Caribbean-tinged sampladelic hip-house, bits ranging from Sparks and Talking Heads to Jimi Hendrix and Star Trek. Arthur Brown in there somewhere too.

Finally, to bring us home from our late-80's global tour and fill out the list is a single that isn't quite acid, really. A friend of mine heard this and was very interested in getting a rip, so here we are. Blue Clocks Green, a late 80's alternative-synthpop band from upstate new york, apparently toured a bit in support of this Hemingway single and had a small college radio hit with it back when that still meant something. There's an uptempo (138bpm) club mix here (best of them if you ask me) so it's still sticking with the theme. Wonderfully dour lyrics about misogyny and suicide, certainly the happiest song featuring a chorus about blowing one's brains out I've heard. At one point you could still buy copies of it from the artist, but I believe he's had trouble with a flood which ruined his remaining stock. If this isn't the case, please support him by buying up one of the few remaining copies of this awesome single.


This is probably the greatest acid post I'm ever going to be able to make, if you get any of my house posts GET THIS.

Turning Shrines - Cinnabar & Porcelain

Turning Shrines - Cinnabar & Porcelain (1988)

Turning Shrines was the name of Fred Giannelli's home recording experiments up until he joined Psychic TV. The album contains three songs and four tracks (one of which is side-long) of sampler experimentation. The sampler stuff isn't of much interest, coming off like a very low rent tape collage (which, twenty years on, we now know to be what it always sounds like anytime someone without much idea what he's doing sits down behind a sampler). Forgiven of course because sampler use hadn't been much refined by that early date and he clearly found his footing in very little time. The proper songs are a bit more interesting. Are You Experienced? was redone as an acid single with Carese P-Orridge's vocals to good effect. The version here is an early 4-track instrumental. Mystification and Iron Nights are both good-if-a-bit-amateurish sequenced synth tracks, great inspiration to me in my own amateurish sequencing attempts. I'd guess this is all FM synth and sampler, but there could be an analog in there somewhere. Wish I had access to his sample library from the time.