As many of you have undoubtedly heard, whether from FACTMAG.com, AJournalofMusicalThings, eTeknix, or WeAreTheMusicMakers, Archive.org has delivered yet another windfall of lost music. Hot on the heels of Attention K-Mart Shoppers, Mark Davis’ personal collection of KMart muzak cassettes, another user has uploaded a massive archive of independently released obscuro cassettes from the 1980s.
The tapes were originally digitized by noise-arch.net and donated by former CKLN-FM radio host Myke Dyer in August 2009 and includes cassettes ranging from “tape experimentation, industrial, avant-garde, indie, rock, DIY, subvertainment and auto-hypnotic materials”.
Jump on this 30GB treasure trove – it’s what all the hip vaporwave kids will be sampling in the weeks ahead.
Greetings friends! It’s been a crazy month but I’m finally moved into my new Lair (which you can check out here). I apologize for neglecting the blog but I’m back with the last 25 LPs I’ve picked up.
One of the first people I met at the new apartments is close personal friends with Mark Burgess of the Chameleons, and we went out to the first goth night at a club in town. She turned me on to proto-industrial, post punk and minimal wave music and so I assembled a collection of 319 essential albums from artists like Cabaret Voltaire, the Chameleons, Einstürzende Neubauten, Fad Gadget, Muslimgauze, the Residents, Solid Space, Suicide, Television, The Normal, Throbbing Gristle and others.
As luck would have it, I stumbled upon two NM Chameleons singles at a flea market two days later!
Just before the move, I found a little hole-in-the-wall used record shop which had sprung up in town. I was delighted to find a few LPs I’d had on my list for some time, and I traded a small pile of duplicates and got them all free!
I have his Moog LP and this was a wonderful addition to my library.
St. Elmo’s Fire – filed beside my copy of The Breakfast Club Soundtrack
Best of BBC Themes 2LP (feat. the original Doctor Who Theme)
Jimmy Castor Bunch – Supersound. Funky!
But THIS was the Castor EP I’d been after! “The Bertha Butt Boogie!”
The next two record stores I visited each had a few Miles Davis LPs I had been looking for, and I picked up each for no more than $4 apiece. I am trying to assemble the complete Columbia recordings on vinyl.
The week of the move I visited my old home town to pick up my items from storage and happened upon still another new record shop. I was blown away to find a mint original press of Portishead – Portishead, Tom Waits’ Big Time (one of the few discs I was missing), and, believe it or not, The Black Rider!
This is an absolutely essential Trip Hop / Downtempo disc of the 90s and was a proud addition to my collection.
Here’s the biggest hit from the album, “Only You” performed live in NYC.
I don’t know how I’d gone this long without ordering a copy of Big Time. What a great disc!
I had to pass on the copy of The Black Rider, however as it was stickered at $100 and I needed to pay for the U-Haul that day. Next time, Gadget. Next time.
I received a few Discogs alerts for classic singles I’d always wanted from Underworld (I have over 250 of their releases between vinyl, CD and FLAC.) Not passing up another opportunity I grabbed them both.
The first to arrive was the limited white vinyl edition of “Rez”/”Cowgirl”, two of their best-known songs. This copy was still in its original shrink.
Here is the best-ever live performance of the two tracks, from the Everything Everything Live DVD.
But the real treasure came two days ago – an original first pressing of JBO29 – the first single featuring “Born Slippy.nuxx”.
If the title of this floor-stomping anthem isn’t familiar, you might know it better as “that song from Trainspotting.”
Next I visited my favorite antique market and didn’t hesitate when I found Steve Reich’s Desert Music. I have a huge thing for 20th century minimalism and the next box set I buy will be Philip Glass’ Einstein on the Beach.
I did make it to a record show just before the move and didn’t get a chance to post the one item from my list which I was able to find. I’ve been on a HUGE experimental German music kick and felt like a kid at Christmas when I found Amon Düül II’s Phallus Dei on vinyl.
File under “creepy German psych shit.”
Also in the mail last week was a milestone recording – Nick Drake’s Pink Moon. I had recently purchased a mint pressing from the late 2000s but flipped it for cash to order this elusive pink wax pressing as soon as I saw it post to discogs.
Speaking of colored vinyl I also sold off my mint sealed Spiritualized Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space 2LP and quickly snatched up a copy of the same album on blue vinyl, a Record Store Day release from 2010.
This is my all-time favorite shoegaze record. There is also a fantastic 3CD expanded edition which I highly recommend.
In my recent travels I’ve also been looking for Ken Nordine’s Colors and Word Jazz LPs. So far I’ve only found Son of Word Jazz, but rest assured, I will find the others.
The interest in Ken Nordine was rekindled when I heard his guest vocals on DJ Food’s Kaleidoscope, an early release on Ninja Tune which I couldn’t resist ordering.
Here’s the track feat. Ken Nordine – “Aging Young Rebel.”
Still on the Ninja Tune kick I ordered an original pressing of Cinematic Orchestra’s Remixes LP as well as the pressed-to-order reissue of their greatest album – Motion.
And finally, I received another discogs alert when a seller posted the first two limited edition mint Black Swan drone music LPs for a total of only $15 including shipping! The first, In 8 Movements was limited to 300 copies worldwide, and the second (my favorite) – The Quiet Divide was pressed on red vinyl and limited to 100 copies. What a steal!
If you’re into drone this is some killer music.
Special thanks to The_Dig for kicking me in the butt to get blogging again. So sorry I’ve been gone so long, but thanks for sticking with me!
The Innerspace Connection 