Needle Time

The Wild Swans - Bringing Home The Ashes [925 697-1 USA 1988 24-Bit FLAC] Let's make up for that last dodgy Zoo Records rip with a new super clean 24-bit image taken from the US vinyl pressing of Bringing Home The Ashes on Sire Records, released to launch the second coming of The Wild Swans in 1988.  The band's original recordings were from the early eighties before Simpson formed Care with Ian Broudie and were much more post-punk than the late eighties lush indie-pop version of the band on Sire Records. Indie purists will likely struggle with Simpson's more commercial sound, but I really like this record and listening to it after all these years is like finding an old friend again. Young Manhood and Bible Dreams were singles, but it is the latter which is clearly the stand out track. Think of the catchy hooks of New Order's Regret recorded five years before the argumentative Manc pioneers and you'll be in the right kind of place. It's highly...

The Wild Swans - Revolutionary Spirit [12 CAGE 009 UK 1982 24-Bit FLAC] Following on from my recent Care post, here is the only single from the first coming of The Wild Swans. They managed a Peel Session before splitting shortly afterwards and lead singer Paul Simpson became the voice of Care before reforming The Wild Swans with a reduced line up when he fell out with Ian Broudie.  Here is a crackly (just at the beginning) Revolutionary Spirit . Both tracks are bloody wonderful, even if they sound as if they were recorded in one take on a tape deck in a rehearsal room. A1 Revolutionary Spirit B1 God Forbid