Needle Time

  Kalima - Whispered Word s [FAC 147 UK 1986 24-Bit FLAC] Another single from Manchester's Kalima. Whispered Words was released as a companion to their sophisticated album, Night Time Shadows (new rip coming soon) revealing a new maturity to the band's arrangement and delivery. A1 Whispered Words B1 Sugar And Spice B2 In Time

  Cake - Make Up Your Mind b/w Let Your Body Go [MI-025 NOR 2021 24-Bit FLAC] New York act Cake only ever released one single, the space disco infused soul-funk Make Up Your Mind as a seven inch in 1979. Highly sought after by collectors of the genre, original pressings fetch huge sums. Forty-two years later, along comes Norwegian reissue label, Mutual Intentions, who secured the rights to the original full-length masters and whatever else they find on the reels for a twelve-inch re-release single. A1 Make Up Your Mind A2 Make Up Your Mind (Instrumental) B1 Let Your Body Go B2 Let Your Body Go (Instrumental)

  Minami Deutsch - Minami Deutsch [GGB-005LP NLD 2021 24-Bit FLAC] Japanese psychedelic rock band, Minami Deutsch have been around since 2014, releasing albums, singles and cassettes in very limited quantities. Their self-titled debut originally appeared on the British label Cardinal Fuzz and aptly named Japanese label GuruGuru Brain in 2015. GuruGuru Brain now have their own European division based in Amsterdam, consequently the two Minami Deutsch albums have been made available once more, this time on coloured platters, again in very limited quantities. Basically, Minami Deutsch are four hairy Japanese guys belting out fuzz-pedal psychedelic rock over a Germanic motorik beat. They do it really rather well .....play loud & enjoy! A1 Vocalism Ai - Forever Takemitsu A2 Futsu Ni Ikirenai A3 Terra Recipe B1 Übergleich Part I B2 Sunrise, Sunset B3 Übergleich Part II

  The Stockholm Monsters - Alma Mater [FACT 80 UK 1984 24-Bit FLAC] Coaxed from a well used thirty-seven year old album in glorious higher definition, a full spectral version is also available (this won't be a permanent thing). Here is a brand new rip after an even deeper clean than my last back in December 2018. These days high resolution rip websites are laden with multiple impressions of rock albums from Pink Floyd, Yes, The Beatles etc .....how's about some Stockholm Monsters? Burnage's finest, with a lot of help from Peter Hook, released one of the most important albums of 1984. Those of you in the UK may recall the NME review which slated Alma Mater , whereas Sounds loved it. I too love this record and played it to death for years since release. This new rip reveals more clarity, punch and depth, tracks such as the opening Terror are not so 'toppy' and for me the segue from Life's Two Faces into Your Uniform is a moment of pure joy. Stockholm Monsters ...

  New Order - Movement [FACT 50 UK 1980 24-Bit FLAC] Continuing a run of new rips of classic Factory Records releases, my copy of Movement is the A2 GG Town House pressing on opaque black/brown vinyl complete with the anvil-styled poly-lined inner bag - I guess that makes is the first edition as according to Discogs, there was no A1 pressing. On Movement, he resisted the urge to add his trademark space, delay and depth into the mix, in-turn the band say they hate what he did and this album marked the end of their relationship in the studio. The album took seven months to record, spread out over a number of sessions and it shows.  If you examine the early New Order time line, you will know that the band had sequentially moved on as Everything's Gone Green appeared on the flipside of their second single in September 1981, two months before Movement hit the shops. Temptation (or is that Taboo Number One ?) was being performed live as early as the autumn of 1981. There are sec...

  A Certain Ratio - Sextet [FACT 55 UK 1982 24-Bit FLAC] Back in September 2019, I posted a rip of the 2014 Factory Benelux double vinyl edition of Sextet as my original 1982 Factory Records pressing was showing signs of wear. Keen to get an original Factory pressing ripped, I recently happened upon a very near mint original ....and I just had to hear how it sounded on the new rig. I might even have left the 174.6 kHz files somewhere.... These tracks were first written and performed live from December 1980, they were recorded at Revolution Studios in Cheadle, Manchester in the Spring of 1981, it took Factory over six months to get them pressed up and released to market. Sextet for me is A Certain Ratio at their very best, five young Mancunian chaps in their early twenties return from New York having found the funk to blend into their dark post-punk roots. They also brought back a young American girl to front the group as Simon Topping decided that he did not want to sing anymore...

  Kalima - Four Songs [FAC 127 UK 1985 24-Bit FLAC] Last week, I coaxed a very decent rip out of my copy of the original album by Swamp Children. Augmented by three members of A Certain Ratio, those swampies became Kalima and following a sterling jazz cover of The Smiling Hour returned with this four track EP on Factory Records for the Summer of 1985. A1 Trickery A2 Land Of Dreams B1 Sparkle B2 So Sad

  Kazumi Band - Ganaesia [AW-28002 JPN 1982 24-Bit FLAC] Another in my totally random occasional postings of Japanese jazz obscurities. I've covered Kazumi Watanabe before, the guitarist briefly formed Kazumi Band shortly after ceasing to be part of the YMO live band and a lengthy string of his own solo works. Gathering up several like-minded Japanese musicians, he repositioned to the long hot New York summer of 1982. Ganaesia was the line-up's second album, released on the fledgling Domo Records label following Watanabe's issues with Alfa Records and just before the Better Days label folded.  More rock than jazz, this album experiments with time signatures and the arrangement styles of  seventies complex American jazz-rock - hence the results can be a little over-indulgent, however you will get over that when you appreciate the exceptional skills of the five musicians involved in the recording sessions. Never released in the West, this instrumental album has more t...

  The Anti Group Singles I thought I would end the short run of electronica by revisiting some of the works by The Anti Group, also known as TAGC. These are the three singles in my collection, which I last ripped a good few years back on a ProJect Debut Carbon fitted with a 2M blue. Fast forward to 2021, and I can now present these complex and detailed records in much higher quality, recorded on a Classic SB turntable, Shibata stylus and all the trimmings - for those with ears of a wolf, there are also some 174.6kHz files kicking around. Allegedly the project began back in in 1978 featuring Adi Newton and Steven James Turner from Clock DVA. When Newton split DVA after the Advantage album, literally by just not turning up to the recording sessions for their second Polydor album. The rest of the band decided to record the instrumental tracks without him - I am sure these are already out there hiding away on the net somewhere. Adi rekindled The Anti Group with a live performance in Be...

  Screaming Trees - A Fracture In Time [NTVLP 29 UK 1987 24-Bit FLAC] The original Screaming Trees came from Sheffield in South Yorkshire, this is an important distinction which I needed to get right. I wouldn't want to upset anybody from any other areas of this proud county. The original Screaming Trees also have nothing to do with that other hairy bunch from the Pacific North West who borrowed their name a few years later. Two years before Renegade Soundwave and Meat Beat Manifesto mixed samples and cut-ups with heavy duty beats to great acclaim, Sean Maloney and Mark Swancott released their debut album with a bit of help from Alan Fish and former ABC sax-playing fringe, Stephen Singleton. These indie-funk-industrial-dance pieces are interlaced with pompous orchestral strings, pop & hip-hop samples, film soundtracks, throbbing bass lines, a grand piano, a horn section, James Brown, Beastie Boys, Madonna, Bowie, ACR, John Barry, Ealing comedies, Bogart and Kraftwerk....

  Revolting Cocks - Big Sexy Land   [WAXUK 017 UK 1986 24-Bit FLAC] The original Revolting Cocks were Belgians Luc van Acker and Richard 23 (from Front 242) with Ministry's Al Jourgenson on production duties. The fact that they are now tagged as an industrial metal band with Jourgenson taking stage front has very little bearing on the original line up, after all just compare Ministry's early work with that of Front 242.  If it wasn't for Van Acker, Richard 23 & Adrian Sherwood - agitator in chief on Ministry's March 1986 album Twitch ,  Jourgensen could still have been churning out sub-standard new wave dance/pop. Richard & Al were to fall out before the follow-up album, so the Front 242 man was replaced by Trent Reznor, Chris Connelly & Paul Barker. The pulsating sounds & rhythms generated from the studio could never be reproduced live, however the newer Revolting alternative rock sound was lapped up by audiences on the west side of the Atlantic. Rel...

  Yellow Magic Orchestra - Tighten Up [SP-12036 USA 1980 24-Bit FLAC] Three go wild in Tokyo (with a large cast of extras). Possibly their silliest but most pop orientated single, Tighten Up was originally released in Japan and the USA in 1980, before being unleashed on Europe a year later. The flipside Rydeen clearly had a significant influence on the new breed of European synthpop bands..... A1 Tighten Up (Long Version) B1 Rydeen

  The Jam - Snap! [38MM 0316/7 JPN 2LP+7" 1983 24-Bit FLAC] After the recent rips of the two earliest albums by The Jam, I entertained the thought of re-ripping all their singles. Most of them are originals and have seen a little too much use. In search of the perfect rip, I pulled out my immaculate Japanese pressing of their Snap! double album compilation of singles (with four bonus live tracks on a seven inch) and gave it a first spin in what seemed like decades. I was blown away by the quality of audio pouring through my ripping headphones and enjoyed every minute of the ripping & mastering processes. I don't think I have ever heard these 'greatest hits' in such detail, most of the tracks clock in comfortably below -1db with dynamic response numbers coming between DR14 and DR11. The Foxton Rickenbacker bass and the Buckler kick drum punch powerfully from the centre of the soundstage, the Weller riffs fill the space around your head with clarity and dynamism. As...

  Swamp Children - So Hot [FACT 70 UK 1982 24-Bit FLAC] This evening, we find ourselves back in Manchester where one of the most unlikely of Factory bands, Swamp Children fizzed out urban latin-jazz with a post-punk attitude straight from Manchester's streets. Charming yet naïve at times, this is the sound of kids (they were mostly between 16 & 19 years old) who loved jazz dance, making a jazz dance record whilst learning to play instruments (and a guitarist masquerading as a drummer) borrowed from A Certain Ratio. John Kirkham shows a few classy touches on the guitar, keyboard player Ceri Evans went on to form The Brand New Heavies, original bassist Tony Quigley now plays sax for A Certain Ratio whilst sister Ann Quigley's voice could never stand up to the close scrutiny following Factory's declaration that she was a "torch singer". A1 Samba Zippy (Part One) A2 El Figaro A3 Tender Game A4 Magic A5 Sunny Weather B1 Samba Zippy (Part Two) B2 No S...

  Orgōne - Connection [TPR-001 USA 2021 24-Bit FLAC] Orgōne have been around for a good few years, Connection is their eighth studio album and likely the Los Angeles-based ensemble's very best. Allow me to present ten tracks of widescreen & organic retro-funk to kick start your week, ripped from a white vinyl platter. A1 The Vice Yard A2 Junk Man A3 Love Will See Us Through A4 The Truth A5 This One Time B1 Delightful B2 Jawbone B3 Party People B4 This Space B5 The Way

  Jah Wobble, The Edge, Holger Czukay - Snake Charmer [IMA 1 UK 1983 24-Bit FLAC] Taking his cue from New York dance music, London bass supremo Jah Wobble teamed up with Can's Holger Czukay (Jaki Liebezeit also works the drums on a couple of tracks), U2's The Edge and NYC disc jockey & producer Francois Kevorkian for this mini-album of tribal electro-funk, dub, funk-rock-fusion, afrobeat and soul.  The title track works its way through Material territory in two mixes, but for me it's the sublime soulful disco interpretation of Arthur Russel's excellent  Hold On To Your Dreams which needs your full attention. The Edge steps aside to let long-time Wobble collaborator, Animal riff out on the three minutes forty-seven seconds of funk-rock that is Sleazy . A1 Snake Charmer A2 Hold On To Your Dreams B1 It Was A Camel B2 Sleazy B3 Snake Charmer (Reprise)

  Poppi UK - Makeshift Home Music [SCHEMER 8908 NLD 1989 24-Bit FLAC] Here is the final rip from indie-rockers Poppi UK. I must say that when blog friend Rob sent over these records, I was a little apprehensive but after listening through and mastering my rips of all four releases, however I would now say Poppi UK are an essential indie band who possibly got looked over because they weren't on any of the well known British indie labels. As a follower commented on an earlier post, Poppi UK would have fitted well on a label like Ron Johnson Records, but they initially went alone before releasing this album on Euro-American label Schemer Records with pressing and distribution handled by CBS. The great quality CBS pressing brings Poppi UK's twisted and jagged indie-rock to life and I've left enough in the decibels so that those who like things loud can really crank this album up with no distortion. Enjoy folks ...and thanks again to Rob for contributing these records. A1 Bo...

  The Durutti Column - Keep Breathing [DEMREC744 UK 2020 24-Bit FLAC] We haven't had any Vini Reilly recently, well at least for a few weeks anyway. Originally released in 2006 as a compact disc only, Keep Breathing was The Durutti Column's fifteenth studio album. Reilly was extremely productive during the post-Factory years with a number of albums shared out among the Kooky and Artful labels. Never originally received as his best, these albums did feature some wonderful tracks and the recent Demon Records double vinyl editions have given this fan the chance to reappreciate this period of work. This album does feature the the wonderful Maggie , which is one of my favourite DC tracks of all time and listening to the complete album, I have also had the chance to rediscover and enjoy other works such as Nina and It's Wonderful , the solemn yet melodic Big Hole and then of course there is the rare appearance of the Vini Reilly fuzz pedal on Waiting , which is a damn final c...

  R.E.M. - Reckoning [28AP 2847 JPN 1984 24-Bit FLAC] Once upon a time, my first introduction to R.E.M. was in winter 1983 with their classic single Talk About The Passion (the second version on IRS UK) and it's follow-up, and my personal favourite, So. Central Rain . My appreciation of the band did not last long beyond these singles and their associated singles. Perhaps this young, at the time, indie-fan in Manchester found them to just be too American. Having relied upon compact discs of Reckoning and Murmur since for my occasional doses of R.E.M., I snapped at the chance to pick up an original and near perfect Japanese pressing of Reckoning from one of my usual suppliers of Japanese pressings. I believe this version is highly revered among the RE.M. fan community for the quality of mastering - it certainly packs a bunch and if played at a decent volume, you could almost image the rhythm section were live in your living room.  A1 Harborcoat A2 7 Chinese Bros. A3 So...

  Sketch Show - Loophole [CJT-96034~5 JPN 2021 24-Bit FLAC] For quite some time, between the late eighties and the recent 2010's, very little vinyl came out of Japan. Our nipponic brethren were focused more on digital products such as the compact disc and the format's higher resolution upgrades. These days, roles are beginning to reverse and labels have begun to dig through their vaults seeking out suitable work for analogue re-release. I can be quoted as suggesting that most modern electronica is more suited to digital formats, however these tend to suffer audio distortion as twitchy fingered engineers still cannot resist the urges to compress and over-limit.  Tokyo label Cutting Edge Records, who once focused on licensing Western artists, have pulled out a gem here (well actually make that three gems) and have released analogue vinyl platters of three albums by Sketch Show. The duo will be better known as two-thirds of Yellow Magic Orchestra, Haroumi Hosono and Yukihir...

  Josef K - The Only Fun In Town [TWI 052 UK 2020 24-Bit FLAC] After about ten years of planning to rip my original 1981 Postcard Records pressing of The Only Fun In Town , and each time abandoning my work due to the poor condition of the original. My Postcard edition is flimsy, crackly and quietly pressed ...three factors which do not contribute to a quality rip. I decided to invest in one of the three recent Les Disques Du Crépuscule pressings, all of which come with the same bonus album of early singles and a John Peel radio session. I really do wish labels would abandon their rush for coloured vinyl, especially given the lack of care in audible quality control by many of them, including LDDC. I would be surprised if this album was new to any of you, most of us grew up with Josef K and the other important Scottish bands who were once part of the Postcard Records stable. Their brittle, jagged and radiant post-punk guitar sound was borrowed by nearly all of the C86 generation ban...

  Paul Haig - Big Blue World [TWI 231 BEL 1984 24-Bit FLAC] Denied the hits he deserved by a fickle pop public, Paul Haig has released some of the greatest eighties synthpop singles. With the ear for a great tune, the former Josef K frontman enlisted the help of a former Associate and a Thompson Twin for a debut album contrived by a deal between Island Records and Les Disques Du Crépuscule. The major label later abandoned the deal, leaving Haig to his own devices in Belgium until Virgin Records came calling later in the decade. I think I have ripped nearly all of Haig's solo efforts over the years however I seem to have overlooked the full length version of  Big Blue World (maybe  I did, then erased it from my memory banks). Anyway here is another of Haig's catchy synthpop singles backed with a rocking Suicide cover ...and the excellent Endless Song .  A1 Big Blue World B1 Ghost Rider B2 Endless Song

  Poppi UK - Hip Hop Lobotomy [PD 004 NLD 1990 24-Bit FLAC] This seven inch four track EP was the only single by Nijmegen band Poppi UK. It is very different to their earlier releases as the band hit us with a barrage of indie-funk-rock-rap. You would be forgiven if you thought this lot were a British band ....and this single had emerged five or even ten years previously. This is no drill! A1 Hip Hop Lobotomy A2 This Is No Drill B1 Hitler's Piano B2 Pearl Harbor In Hell

  Minny Pops - The Factory Singles Dolphin's Spurt [FAC 31 UK 1981 24-Bit FLAC] A1 Dolphin's Spurt B1 Goddess Time [FAC BN 11 BEL 1982 24-Bit FLAC] A1   Time B1   Lights Secret Story [FAC 57 UK 1982 24-Bit FLAC] A1   Secret Story B1   Island Just in case anybody needs an antidote to my previous post, Amsterdam electro-wavers Minny Pops released three singles and one album for Manchester's Factory Records. The label even convinced Martin Hannett to produce their very first Dolphin's Spurt in its splendid seventies Philips-style sleeve. Emerging from the dutch-art-wave scene, Wally van Middendorp was a key figure in The Netherlands with his Plurex record label before he released these three singles on the Manchester label. Minny Pops supported the fledgling New Order on many of their European dates, however I would guess their manic & zany electronica was lost on many of the gloomy raincoat brigade who followed New Order at the time.

  ABBA - Arrival [DSP-5102 JPN 1980 24-Bit FLAC] You may have guessed by now that I have a fairly regular open pipeline of Japanese pressings. When one of my 'dealers' offered up a mint copy of the 1980 Japanese tour pressing of the 1976 album,  Arrival for a fiver, I clearly didn't hesitate. I've never been a fan but I know they have now reformed virtually, so this is for all you dancing queens . A1 When I Kissed The Teacher A2 Dancing Queen A3 My Love, My Life A4 Dum Dum Diddle A5 Knowing Me, Knowing You B1 Money, Money, Money B2 That's Me B3 Why Did It Have To Be Me B4 Tiger B5 Arrival

  Gil Scott-Heron And Brian Jackson - Messages [LP SBPJ 26 UK 2006 24-Bit FLAC] As a young man, Gil Scott-Heron's The Bottle was an anthem at the more discerning clubs that I frequented between 1985 & 1987. These were the days were the DJ wasn't the hero, it was thankfully the musician. Back then, you wouldn't be surprised to hear Trouble Funk, Tackhead, A Certain Ratio, Mantronix, Cabaret Voltaire, Death Cult, Sisters Of Mercy, War, The Beginning Of The End, Funkadelic & James Brown mixed around some early house, go-go and hip-hop all in the same set. Back then, a banger was the beat-up motor vehicle you cruised the provincial towns in search of a house party - mixtape in back pocket (always).  I recall forking out a lot of my hard earned cash for an original seven-inch of The Bottle (a 1975 French pressing from memory) and it remained a centre piece of my party mixes until I sold it on to another collector at the end of the eighties. Since then I have built a ...

  Ryuichi Sakamoto - Left Handed Dream (Japanese Edition) [WWSLP33 FRA 2020 24-Bit FLAC] French label WeWantSounds secured the worldwide rights to Sakamoto's Japanese language album, Left Handed Dream recently. Featuring all the usual suspects; Hosono, Takahashi, Ano and Matsutake, this album also features original Sakomoto collaborators Adrian Belew and Robin Scott. Epic Records originally held the worldwide release rights outside Japan and the French label have done sterling work in rereleasing one of Ryuichi's least accessible synthpop recordings.  A1  Boku No Kakera A2  Saru To Yuki To Gomi No Kodo A3  Kacha Kucha Nee A4  The Garden Of Poppies A5  Relâché B1  Tell 'em To Me B2  Living In The Dark B3  Slat Dance B4  Venezia B5  Saru No Ie

  Kazumi Watanabe - Kylyn [COJY-9237 JPN 2007 24-Bit FLAC] Originally released on the Better Days label in Japan in 1979, Kylyn was the eighth solo album by Japanese jazz guitarist Kazumi Watanabe. At the time Watanabe was the tour guitarist with Yellow Magic Orchestra, so he roped a few friends along, so this record is anything but a solo album. Production duties, keyboards and composition (everything except for a cover of Miles Davis' Milestones ) was dealt with by a certain Lyuichi Sakamoto (sic), Sakamoto's wife and fellow YMO'er Akiko Yano helped out on piano and vocals, the amazing Ray Ohara offered up the bass (Harry must have been busy), Jap-reggae guru Pecker played percussion ...oh, and Yukihiro Takahashi plays drums on four of the nine tracks. A1 199X A2 Sonic Boom A3 Water Ways Flow Backward Again A4 Milestones B1 E-Day Project B2 Akasaka Moon B3 Kylyn B4 I'll Be There B5 Mother Terra

  Area - Fragments Of The Morning [CLM 031 USA 1990 24-Bit FLAC] Allow me to provide your weekend listening ....there won't be anymore for a day or so, because I need to walk away from my ripping station following what has been a majorly intensive clean-up of one of the most wonderful albums of the nineties. Fragments Of The Morning was the fifth and final album by Champaign, Illinois duo Area, released on the very important C'est la Mort label in November 1990. It is pressed on flimsy crackly white vinyl which occasionally hides the superb mastering by Trutone Mastering Labs from New York. This copy has sat on my shelves for years & years, as I relied on a CD copy for my listening pleasure.  Often referred to as ethereal, Area's multi-instrumentalist Steve Jones composes & arranges gorgeous indie-rock melodies overlayed with the gentle, sultry voice of Lynn Canfield. American rock music was in the midst of a resurgence at the time and it seemed that everybody over...

  Ultramarine - Signals Into Space [TWI 1236 UK 2019 24-Bit FLAC] In my opinion, the best electronic album of the past few years was Signals Into Space , the seventh long player by Essex nob-twiddlers, Ultramarine.  Since the sheer inventive brilliance of their classic  Every Man And Woman Is A Star and the critical acclaim of their Blanco Y Negro releases in the mid-nineties, Ultramarine has seemed to be just a hobby for Ian Cooper and Paul Hammond. I held a take it or leave it attitude to their subsequent albums, however this one hits the spot for its rich immersive qualities and detail in musical design.  Electronic music has moved on greatly since the nineties, but these guys are pioneers and for me, they never have received the recognition they truly deserve. This double album set should have kindled a new, younger generation of fans, buy unfortunately it remains widely overlooked. The duo should also have been praised for the superb decision to bring the gorg...