Needle Time

  Modern English - Stop Start [925 343-1 UK 1986 24-Bit FLAC] After yesterday's ACR post, here is another band who made the leap from indie fandom to seek out pop stardom with a major label. I love nearly all of Modern English's 4AD repertoire, but could never really get into Stop Start , perhaps now would be a good time to reassess.... The only connection to 4AD Records is the 23 Envelope sleeve, as this is very much a pop-rock album, polished and glossy bright but not quite as refreshing as what went before. It is clear the major deal was based on a new found enthusiasm for their work in the USA after a certain song featured on a certain film, and perhaps Stop Start did a lot better across the pond as a consequence than it did in the band's domestic market with its original fan base. The record is sprinkled with enjoyable moments, Robbie Grey's voice is as recognisable as ever, there are plenty of uplifting choruses and rousing riffs, but this is a record of its tim...

  Propaganda - Duel (Bitter-Sweet) [12ZTAS 8 UK 1985 24-Bit FLAC] Name the best synthpop single of the eighties ...there were so many! This one came out tops for me, Claudia had the voice (and the nose), Susanna had the looks, Trevor Horn did virtually everything else! Paul Morley just bored us to death with his intellectual journo babble. I am sure that the rest of the band did something, but in my opinion, not one of the ZTT bands would have achieved what they did without the skillful assistance of Horn, Dudley, Langan and Jeczalik. A1 Duel (Bitter Sweet) B1 Jewel (Cut Rough)

  A Certain Ratio - Good Together [AMA 9008 UK 1989 24-Bit FLAC] This end of year post was going to be the triple vinyl edition of A Certain Ratio's  Loco Remezclada remix album, however despite three deep cleans of an original 'mint' copy, I cannot get a clean enough rip from the sparkly clear & violet vinyl chosen for this release. Instead, I have gone back in time and pulled out the band's most overlooked album release for a brand new clean rip in a choice of resolutions. The rumour at the time was that ACR got a big pile of cash for signing to Herb Alpert's A&M Records. I'm sure it wasn't a fortune, but it was enough for the band to set up their own Soundstation recording studio. Ask a band member these days and they'll always say that this era in their history is best forgotten, so the chances of Good Together getting a reissue, until recently ...were zilch. That changed after ACR's recent deal with Mute Records, however it should be ...

  Osiris - O-Zone [MAR-2234 USA 1979 24-Bit FLAC] O-Zone was the second album by Washington DC funk outfit Osiris, fronted by Osiris Marsh, aided & abetted by right-hand man Maceo Bond on keyboards and Fred Wesley on horns. Since its release back in 1979, it had never been reissued until a Japanese import CD appeared in 2020 closely followed by a seven-inch single of the wonderful  Prelude (Is It Clear) , again in Japan only.  The other two heavy funk workouts from side one formed two great singles back in the US back during the seventies, however did little to attract the market to Osiris at time of release, however interest in the band was to grow when their 1981 album, Osiris The Band! album was repacked for the UK as the splendid War On The Bullshit . I picked up this album back in 1988, when there was a growing market for cut-out US dance imports among specialist (mostly) London retailers. I am pretty sure it came out of a box from the back of a transit van ful...

  Brian Bennett ‎- Voyage (A Journey Into Discoid Funk) [ISLELP 001 AUS 2017 24-Bit FLAC] Originally released as a very rare album on DJM Records in 1978, it's just a pity that excellent Australian label Isle Of Jura Records couldn't replicate the original gatefold sleeve. I last posted this back in September 2019, ripped with my old cartridge but I was never happy with the results ....I wonder how much better it will sound using my little Japanese diamond? Here is that new rip. Not a lot of people will realise that former Cliff Richard and The Shadows drummer Brian Bennett also released an album of high quality space age disco in the late seventies. Put aside your fears of what may be lurking in these grooves, after all Bennett did also write quite a few dodgy TV themes in the eighties, this album of electronic disco-funk is superb. If like me you used to collect cassette tapes of sci-fi themes and soundtracks in the late seventies, Voyage  (A Journey Into Discoid Funk) will ...

  Jorge Lopez Ruiz - El Grito (Suite Para Orquesta De Jazz) [BEWITH078LP UK 2021 24-Bit FLAC] Originally released on CBS Records in Argentina in 1967, subsequently most copies were destroyed by agents of the Onganía dictatorship. However Manchester's Be With Record label have pulled out a major plum with this wonderfully mastered repress from the original masters of Jorge Lopez Ruiz's big band jazz masterpiece, doubling as a protest record. This album has earnt the right to be played loudly. Roll on 54 years to 2021, and it has been one of the very best for rarity reissues, with so many obscurely wonderful records getting the chance to be enjoyed by new audiences, mainly due to the hard work of the many new labels who dig through the crates of the world, seeking out genuine works of musical art. If you got or gave the Adele album for Christmas, then I am sorry! All you have done is contribute to the woes of small record labels doing their damned best to release proper mu...

  Minoru Muraoka - Bamboo [MRBLP195 UK 2019 24-Bit FLAC] If you thought I was going to hit you with a run of Christmas themed posts, then you might be wrong, I am going totally off-piste .....starting with this total gem. Japanese funky-flute-folk-jazz with a bunch of obscure break beats, anybody? Originally released on United Artists Japan in 1970, Bamboo is an album by Japanese shakuhachi player, Minoru Muraoka, which includes his rather unique interpretations of one or two standards. You know you want this! A1 Take Five A2 Mogamigawa Funauta A3 The Positive And The Negative A4 And I Love Her B1 The House Of The Rising Sun B2 Do You Know The Way To San Jose B3 Soul Bamboo B4 Call Me B5 Scarborough Fair

  The Beloved - A Hundred Words [HARP 2T UK 1986 24-Bit FLAC] The other day, I decided to pull out all my original Flam Flam singles by The Beloved. After a dash of surfactant and a good wash, here are the results..... early Beloved at 176.4kHz, anybody? The Beloved sounded like a Factory Records band, but The Beloved were from London, so went their own way. This debut single seemed to take an eternity to get released and we all had to make do with home made tapes of the two Peel Sessions for what seemed like years, before we could buy The Beloved product. Mix melancholy with melody and you get a delightful bass driven indie-rock much like early New Order, The Wake and The Cure (before they went silly). I always thought Jon Marsh's vocal style was very similar to Caesar from The Wake, and those gentle plucked guitar melodies are wonderfully alike. I know they went onto significant commercial success as the original line up disintegrated before Warner's steered them from indie-...

  Steven Wilson - Last Day Of June [MOVATM335 UK 2021 24-Bit FLAC] On the subject of all things SWilson, Last Day Of June snuck out in 2017 as a download only as the soundtrack of a PS4 game of the same title. The game itself revolves around the life of animated characters developed by Jess Cope for Wilson's Drive Home video, the music is an assemblage of Wilson's work between 2004 and 2016, focusing on sections from his more melodic compositions with Porcupine Tree, his solo work and the drone alter-ego, Bass Communion - all mixed, edited and sequenced into new pieces. This is a gorgeous piece of work, revealing the man's talent as a composer of almost classical music, broken up by occasional uptempo melodic rock. The purists will turn their noses up at the lack of a long Guthrie Govan guitar solo on Driving Home , everybody else will find something to love. This could also be the ideal introduction to those not so familiar with the man's work. Surprisingly, this rel...

  Ultravox - Vienna (Steven Wilson Stereo Mix) [CHRX1296 UK 2021 24-Bit FLAC] Like many of you, I grew up with Ultravox's best-selling  Vienna album. I've had copies in various formats over the years, so save for a little bit of unnecessary vinyl noise in the quiet bits on this new pressing for RSD2021, I have never heard it this good.  To me, the original sounded rather flat and a little two dimensional, lacking clarity, detail and depth in places, everything seemed wrapped up in a foggy hue. These issues were likely part of the album's original charm, but it could have sounded better (imho) - nothing against Connie Plank's original mix - I am assuming that is how they wanted Vienna to sound in 1980. Consequently,  the original sounds incredibly dated - this version brings Vienna bang right up-to-date without overworking the mix, or adding additional instrumentation. Back in 2020, Steven Wilson was drafted in to produce a new mix using the original masters, fres...

  Alan Hawkshaw & Brian Bennett - Full Circle [BEWITH051LP UK 2018 24-Bit FLAC] More from Hawkshaw & Bennett, and another delightful Be With Records pressing in association with lauded British house of library, KPM Music. Twelve instrumental workouts, ranging from orchestral soundtrack through rock, funk and jazz - recorded in the seventies, Full Circle is a damn fine record - which may well  have been sampled to death by many a rapper or bedroom DJ since. A1 Reignited A2 Hole In One A3 Flying A4 Straight Up A5 Serengeti A6 Open Road B1 In The Clouds B2 Corcovado B3 On The Nile B4 Marrakech B5 Oasis B6 Midnight Jazz

  Clock DVA - Horology 3 [VOD154 DEU 2019 24-Bit FLAC] Subtitled: Tape, Reel - Recordings & Art 1978 - 1980 I first ripped this set back in the early summer of 2019, however I was never happy with the results so returned to it in April of this year - these files have sat on my hard drive since. I used an Ortofon Quintet Red MC cartridge hooked up through a Project Tube Box to 24/96 and the results were better. I guess some of the source material for this four album (with book) boxset may have come low fidelity sources, it does have the feel of an out-takes collection when compared to the superior Horology 1 set, however I am sure that some of you will be all over this. Some of the tracks are reel-to-reel sourced and as the spectrogram image below reveals, are in stunning detail & quality, I've left the tracks almost 'raw' with minimal de-clicking purely to add to that authentic vinyl experience. Perhaps one day, I will contemplate letting the Hana Shibata loose on...