Jim Foetus

As you can well imagine, my long suffering family are used to all sorts of squonks, bleeps, whooshes, thuds, booms, thwacks and wibbles emanating from "the den". Playing these singles this week, however, resulted in a mass uprising of wife and children to demand that I "turn that horrible noise off". The last time this happened was years ago, in the car. Heartily sick of some or other nursery rhyme CD, I huffily ejected it and replaced it with the first Tindersticks album. My (then) toddler daughter started to cry floods of shocked and frightened tears while my wife looked on from the rear seat, shaking her head silently, her disapproving stares burning into my face via the rear view mirror. Way to kill the buzz, girls.

Anyway, this legendary troubadour, Jim Thirlwell/Clint Ruin/Foetus etc. etc. was by all accounts a proper drug-crazed, seeker of the dark side who made a string of great/horrible records under many guises some years back. These are indeed horrible, but that's the point. Obviously. Check out "Death Rape 2000" for a full on, pummeling, mong-out of trancen-mental proportions.

You have been warned, Motherfuckers.

Vinyl rips at 320Kbps.

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Ofra Haza - Im Nin' Alu 12"

There's a fascinating Wikipedia entry which tells you everything about this truly great vocalist.

Predictably, this brilliant twelve first came onto my radar via the Coldcut remix of the Eric B and Rakim track, "Paid In Full".

Her greatest international recognition came with the single "Im Nin'Alu", taken from the album Shaday (1988), which won the New Music Award for Best International Album of the Year. The song topped the Eurochart (Europe's equivalent to the American Billboard charts) for two weeks in June that year and was on heavy rotation on MTV channels across the continent. For years to come, this song would be extensively re-released, re-mixed and sampled, for example on Coldcut's remix of Eric B. & Rakim's "Paid in Full"

This is one of those early UK remix 12" singles, but still sounds great for all that.

Vinyl rip at 320 Kbps

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The Futureheads - Area

There's a great interview with The Futureheads here at Dirty Laundry. They seem to be doing good stuff over there, so have a look. This is worth the price of admission for the acapella breakout.

There's also a free MP3 of a track from the new album here.



To celebrate their greatness, here's a previous single, "Area". What a great band they are. Can't wait for more stuff from them.

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Big Audio Dynamite - E=MC2

Probably the best song about the films of Nic Roeg you will ever hear.

I love this so much. The album was a partial let down, but this opening salvo resonates still. I reckon this is Mick Jones' finest hour - including all the Clash stuff. Killer B Side too.

Vinyl rip at 320 Kbps.

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The Creatures - Feast

As a few of you will know, I recently bought a stack of Eighties vinyl from a man in Peterborough. Most of it, it has to be said, is fucking awful and will either go the way of eBay or the local Cancer Research shop. However, I reckon about 20% of the haul was good shit. Amongst the morass was a double album copy of the second Siouxsie And The Banshees greatest hits compilation, "Twice Upon A Time".

I was struck once again by the wonderful energy and individuality of this seminal punk/post punk band and was sent hunting for this lost peach among the vaults. Freshly ripped this afternoon, this is sounding truly great. Always a force of nature, Siouxsie here lets fly. Given the room to breathe, her voice undoubtedly takes centre stage, but then again, it usually does in a full band setting anyway. No wonder there have been so many imitators across the intervening years. And of course, it goes without saying that Budgie was one of the premier percussionists plying his trade professionally at that time.

More context and background adapted from the Wikipedia entry:

The Creatures were a musical act formed in 1981 as a side-project for Siouxsie and the Banshees members Siouxsie Sioux and Budgie. The Times described their music as "adventurous art rock built around Siouxsie's extraordinary voice and drummer Budgie's battery of percussion". In 1983, The Creatures released their first full length album Feast. The band decided where to record the album by randomly placing a pin on a map of the world. The result was Hawaii, which led to the featuring of The Lamalani Hula Academy Hawaiian Chanters on some tracks. In the week of its release, the band was on the front cover of both the Melody Maker and the NME. The Melody Maker described Feast as "an album of filtered brilliance, fertile, sensual and erotic" and the NME accentuated "The humours of Sioux's frosty larynx are nakedly outlined against skins of sometimes fabulous quality". The album reached number 17 in the UK Albums Chart. The hit single "Miss the Girl" took its inspiration from the book Crash by J. G. Ballard.

Vinyl rip at 320 Kbps with full artwork.

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For Stanley

So I found myself in possession of a battered, scratched old copy of the 2001 soundtrack. So then I did this, like, thing with it. What a self indulgent fool I am.

Just my little way of saying "thank you" to a truly great man.

Enjoy/Endure

Listen/Download

Felt - Prinitive Painters 12"

Too late and too tired to write much, but this has been wrecking the iPod since Sunday. Never got tired of this one.

Now then, I'm going to bed with that new Orb/David Gilmour album. My expectations are quite low, so let's hope I'm pleasantly surprised.

Vinyl rip at 320 Kbps.

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Kon Kan - I Beg Your Pardon 12"

A bona fide lost classic (I'm saying!). This clattering New-Order-a-likey emanates across the years from out of Canada. Treading the fine line between ultimate cheeeez and glittering cool, this is brightening up my Sunday like you would not believe. I cannot believe that if this had been played last night, the floor would have full. Anywhere. In the world. Get on board.

Unbelievably, these fuckers had half a career. But come on - this is fucking great.

Vinyl rip at 320 Kbps. All artwork included.

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Cocteau Twins - Tishbite

Yet another CT double pack from the later period. Still wonderful. Still sounding great.

Tishbite is a word used in the Bible to refer to Elijah (1 Kings 17:1, 1 Kings 21:17-28, 2 Kings 1:3-8, 2 Kings 9:36). The phrasing can be reworded as "Elijah the Tishbite of Tishbe in Gilead." The word is sometimes interpreted as "stranger," so that the verse might read "Elijah the stranger from among the strangers in Gilead." This designation is probably given to the prophet as denoting that his birthplace was Tishbe, a place in Upper Galilee (mentioned in the deuterocanonical Book of Tobit, Tobit 1:2). Josephus, the Jewish historian (Ant. 8:13, 2), however, supposes that Tishbe was some place in the land of Gilead. It has been identified by some with el-Ishtib, a place 22 miles due south of the Sea of Galilee, among the mountains of Gilead.

320 Kbps. Full artwork.

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Orbital - Satan Live CDS Set.

What a great live act they were. I saw them so many times at Glastonbury and in London. This brilliant single set has it all. The melodic techno brutalism, the clattering TR909 breakbeats, the twisted vocal sample etherealness. It's all here.

"Satan" wasn't one of their best tunes, but this CDS set has brilliant versions of plenty of other stuff. Long versions of "Chime", "Out There Somewhere" and "Impact".

The second time I saw them at Glasto, I had done two pink microdots. Transcendental.

Have a great Sunday.

320 Kbps. All artwork included.

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Cocteau Twins - Violaine

Written, produced and engineered by Cocteau Twins.

"Alice" was also featured on the motion picture soundtrack of "Stealing Beauty."

An alternate mix of "Circling Girl" was originally released on the compilation CD/magazine Volume 15.

This was the last Cocteau Twins release to appear on Mercury/Fontana (with the exception of the song "Touch Upon Touch," which was released in late 1996 on the compilation Volume 17).

320 Kbps

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Blancmange - Mange Tout

I always thought that Blancmange were a slightly misunderstood band. Lumped in with the "synth duo" crowd, they were always a bit too weird and outre to sustain much of a pop career. The first album is good, but they really hit their stride with this second outing. Neil Arthur was a lanky, awkward Lancastrian with such a great voice and Stephen Luscombe was a genuinely talented musician/arranger/producer who was wonderfully camp.

All three albums have been remastered and expanded and are definitely worth checking out. According to the Wikipedia page, the band have reformed and are recording new material.

This is a DMM vinyl rip at 320 Kbps. All artwork included.

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Everything But The Girl - Love Is Here Where I Live 12"

Pre the dance re-invention, EBTG had kind of lost their way a little bit. The A-Side here is a middling track, lifted from a middling mid-period album. So what do have? The unavailable anywhere else B-sides prove that they could still pull on the heartstrings without trying too hard. And Tracey's voice is such a thing of beauty that I could listen to her reading the phone book. If such a thing existed anymore.

Vinyl rip at 320 Kbps.

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Bernard Sumner - The First Time

This wonderful BBC6 interview features Matt Everitt speaking to Bernard Sumner. The programme includes Bernard's recollections of the early Punk scene in Manchester, his still raw and painful memories of his friend Ian Curtis' suicide, and the genesis of New Order's Blue Monday.

Very moving. Highly recommended.

Download

Neil - Hole In My Shoe 7"

Wikipedia:
In the sitcom The Young Ones, Neil, one of the principal characters, continually sang a recognisable line from "Hole In My Shoe". Eventually, in July 1984, Nigel Planer who played the role, released a cover version of the song, which reached the same #2 peak as the original. He also performed the song as Neil on the BBC show Top of the Pops, where he asked Paul Weller to "listen to the lyrics!". The single won "Best Comedy Single" at the 1985 Brit Awards during the days the event was called "The BPI Awards".

Vinyl rip at 320 Kbps.

Listen to the lyrics, Paul Weller.

BBC Sessions, Anyone?

I'm late already, so I can't hang around. Just wanted to apologise to anyone who got a spam message from me today. It wasn't actually from me, but then you knew that already, right? Anyway, password changed so hopefully crisis averted.

I was keeping this till the weekend, but as I'm here now, here's something a bit special for the Cocteau heads out there. Although these reduced scale BBC versions don't perhaps have the impact of the proper studio stuff, they have a special charm all of their own. Instead of the usual "Cathedrals Of Sound", think "Maisonettes Of Sound".

I kill myself.

EDIT: New Links.
One
Two
Art

Shock 12"

Brand new re-release of rare as rocking horse shit 80's 12" from Rusty Egan and Richard James Burgess (of Landscape/Einstein-A-Go-Go fame). I don't want this to become a retro blog, but this shit is sounding wonderful. Too current. There's a 2010 remix as well (which isn't as good, obv), so that let's me off the hook, right?

Vinyl rip at 320 Kbps.

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The Human League - The Sound Of The Crowd/HardTimes/Love Action 12" Singles

Awesome double of early Human League 12" singles, which as far as I know, have never been re-released anywhere. The Sound Of The Crowd was the first one with 'the girls" on and Hard Times/Love Action was when they started to get really good after the split. Quite, quite brilliant. It's all about the space between the beats for me. Absolutely wonderful production from Martin Rushent, who was as much a member of the band as any of them were. If you've heard the raw demos for "Dare", you will understand what a crucial role he played in shaping this stuff into some sort of enduring genius. I am back in my bedroom at my parents house. Floppy fringe obscuring one eye, alive with possibilities and dreams. This was the soundtrack to my youth. Fucking brilliant.

Vinyl rips at 320Kbps.

Download

The Sundays - Cry

Another rare CDS from the Sundays with some unavailable elsewhere B sides. Jesus, what a great band they were. This also wins special points for being about being lonely on a railway station. I'm a sucker for those train images. As ever, Harriet's lyrics are something to get excited about and when you hear her singing them...

Well, "it makes me cry..."

320 Kbps

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Appaloosa - Intimate 12"

This beauty has been pulling on my heartstrings for a few weeks now. I have no idea what this is. Is it electro/disco/post-modern disco/minimal/synth-core/retro/italio/dark-wave/minimal-wave/slowcore? I have no idea. What I can tell you is that it's such a great song with a brilliant lyric intoned by the (I'm assuming utterly beautiful) Anne-Laure Keib. It reminds me of one of those early Eighties Crepescule/Factory Benelux bands, but with a brilliant production and lots of spangle and twinkle. There are disco mixes from Glass Candy which will get your ass shakin' fo' sho', but for me, it's the low key original mixes which hit the spot. Lookout especially for the "Teardrops and Piano" mix. As it says on the website "Imagine the romantic Human League fronted by Nico covering Stereolab."

It's on the brilliant, seal of quality boutique label "Italians Do It Better". So we know we're in safe hands. Have a look at their shop and buy some shit. It's mostly awesome.

It's good to be alive, right?

Vinyl rip at 320 Kbps.

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Little John and Billy Boyo - What You Want To Be (Disc Jockey)

Absolutely incredible archival re-release from the ever brilliant Dug Out records. From 1982, ruffed up with mad swinging effects and dubbed for the dance. Priceless vibes from the singers on the A-face and a heavyweight version of the original riddim from Professor & Roots Radics on the flip.

Jaw dropping shit.

Vinyl rip at 320 Kbps.

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Conrad Schnitzler - Zug

Extraordinary and essential archival obscurity from kosmische generator Conrad Schnitzler, reissued for the first time on vinyl with reshapes from Pole, and Bornbräber & Strüver. Schnitzler's 20 minute composition 'Zug' was issued on a private tape back in 1974, capturing the innovator in his most alien and transcendental form. The track revolves around a hypnotic and infinitely linear rhythm which Schnitzler gradually develops into glorious astral plumes, increasing with creepy intensity towards some foreboding, unresolved conclusion. The two remixes offer possible solutions to this problem. Firstly, Pole's reshape sounds remarkably similar to the recent MvO Trio experiments, detaching the prickly, metallic hi-end rhythms and arranging them around a swooping subbass momentum with acres of space in between. It's more earthbound than the original, but equally hypnotic and abstract. Further on and Bornbräber & Strüver give another grounded but similarly driving effort loaded with slow pounding kicks and a slowly maturing synth grind.

This is astonishing and wonderful and has been dominating my weekend like you would not believe.

Vinyl rip at 320 Kbps.

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EDIT:

Hello Nolan Micron,
We are really happy you like the stuff we release on our label m=minimal.
We are not happy at all, that you invite other people to download it for free.
You would help us to save work and time removing the download link on your blog by yourself as soon as you read this mail.
This will allow you and us to simply continue enjoying music instead of dealing with stuff nobody of us likes to deal with.
Thank you
m=minimal
>

Hi there.

I'll remove the link as soon as I get home tonight. It's always a difficult balance for bloggers - to draw attention to great music and to give people a taste of what's cool and out there. For the record, I get far more requests to re up music than I do from people who dig the stuff I post (which I always ignore). And I always only keep current releases up for a few days only.

Would it be ok if I printed this mail and a link to your website on the blog?

I'd also be more than happy to link to you if you have any new stuff upcoming that you'd like to promote.

Still friends?

Nolan Micron
>

We are still friends!

Great to be able to work out a problem in such a nice and easy way.

Feel free to post the mail on your blog and yes, please include the link to our site www.m-minimal.com

I'll add your mail to our newsletter, so you'll receive it as soon we release something new.

Peace

Christian,
m=minimal
______________________________
So there we have it. I fully understand Christian's position and have removed the link. It's the Blogger's dilemma. I don't want to deprive anyone of important revenue, least of all super cool and important boutique labels like m=minimal, so I guess the answer is for you to go and buy some stuff released by them. If you do, could you leave a comment to let Christian and I know? Thanks.

Johan Agebjørn and Sally Shapiro - Spacer Woman From Mars EP

In complete contrast, but weirdly, coming from the same place in my life, have a go on this frothy silliness. Sci-Fi disco of the highest order, wrapped in a sheen of knowing kitsch. This also has been a delight and a bit of a prop.

Shapiro features on lead track 'Spacer Woman From Mars', a veritable cosmic disco masterpiece that actually manages to sound liberated from the tedium of irony. Elsewhere, Rude 66 and Elitechnique have a stab at remixing the track, with the former revving up the Italo factor with some textbook synth arpeggiation. The latter increases the tempo and starts off almost exactly like CSS's 'Let's Make Love And Listen To Death From Above' only to climb to an authentically ecstatic disco altitude within the space of just a few bars. Also included is solo Agebjorn effort 'Megaman II' which sounds very much as its title would lead you to believe, with some choice 8 bit action dictating the sound.

Once again, this is available as a DD, so will only be around here for a few days.

320 Kbps.

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Nest - Retold

I've been holding off on posting this one for so long. This is a truly special album which has seen me through a few difficult patches. Sublime and beautiful understated genius. Every single note seems to be perfectly placed. These guys know exactly what they are doing. You're going to love it, I promise you.

Retold is something of a masterpiece within its field. Even on early inspections this record excels on every level as a piece of cinematic, ambient contemporary classical composition. From the writing, performances and sparing arrangements right down to the deeply atmospheric production this is an album that followers of cinematic score-work/modern-classical music will absolutely relish, combining memorable deployments of both melody and texture with a kind of scrupulous minimalism that never overplays its hand. 'Lodge' serves as an apt introduction to the album, setting out with muffled, bell-like piano phrases, pining horns and the gentlest current of strings, but by the time we arrive at 'Marefjellet' the duo have really hit their stride, conjuring suspenseful, filmic passages populated by rhythmic keying figures, deep, bass-heavy harps and vintage-style electronic processing. At times it's as if you're listening to a cross between Biosphere's Insomnia soundtrack and his album, Shenzhou, and in terms of ambient music, that must surely be regarded as a compliment of the highest order. Elsewhere, more abstract pieces arrive with the likes of 'Trans Siberian', where the influence of sound collage takes hold: early outbreaks of wintry drone merge with passing locomotive sounds, before an evocative mixture of coarse, filtered strings, fractured piano and field recordings start to flow. The previously unreleased material on the disc proves to be more than up to the task of following up the earlier EP tracks: 'Wheatstone' is full of immaculately produced, aloof romanticism, while 'The Helwick' takes on a blizzard-like feel with its musty, Deathprod-like approach to engineering. Possibly the most extroverted of all the recordings here is 'Far From Land', a composition that's just achingly beautiful as it builds up to a choral midway point that's guaranteed to make the hairs on the back of your neck stand to attention.

Although the CD is long since sold out, this is available as a DD, so I'm only going to keep it up for a few days. Don't miss out.

320 Kbps.

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The Sundays - Summertime

This Sundays "Summertime" double CD set is probably arriving slightly late for most of us, although we seem to be getting the usual Indian Summer which always happens at this time of year in Bedfordshire.

Perhaps the overseas readers of the blog are at any point in time basking in the soft, warm light of an idyllic balmy Summer evening. You bastards.

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Rejoice!

Stop whatever you are doing.

Acid Ted has started blogging again after his previous site was shut down by Google. The idiots.

Get on board for a faultless selection of grooviness, accompanied by a beautifully informed narrative.

Acid Ted

Virginia Astley - Tender 12"

Lovely extended 12" from the rather brilliant Virginia Astley.

I'm a bit hungover this morning, so this fits the bill very nicely, thank you very much.

Vinyl rip at 320 Kbps.

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Baron Mordant - Ghost Box Study Series Preview

The utterly fantastic Baron Mordant of Mordant Music has uploaded a preview of his track which will be featured on the forthcoming second set of Ghost Box Study Series 7" singles.

And magical it sounds too...



Mordant Music

Ghost Box

XTC - Senses Working Overtime 12"

Classic XTC from 1982's English Settlement album.

The truth is, I have to be in the mood for XTC and while there is no doubting his prolific genius, the fact remains that Andy Partridge's voice is definitely an acquired taste. In fact, I always thought Colin Moulding was way cooler.

Whatever, there's no denying this one, coming as it does fully equipped with a brace of additional tracks which all register highly on the quality-ometer.



Vinyl rip at 320 Kbps.

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Portion Control - ...Step Forward

This 1984 album is interesting, and sounds very current due to the recent Minimal Wave/Dark Wave boom that's been going on round these parts. A quick Google reveals that a reissue program of this stuff is imminent, but why not sample the original warm vinyl?

Here's the Wikipedia entry.

Here's their website.

Rare tape release available at the ever brilliant Mutant Sounds.

I've ripped this in complete side 1/2 as there are some tracks which are mixed together and should probably be heard in sequence.

Vinyl rip at 320 Kbps

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Updates Incoming...

I'm going to try and make the most of a few clear days (it's all relative) and throw some stuff up here this weekend.

Join me, why don't you?

The Triffids - Holy Water 12"

My Mum and Dad are staying with us for a few days. Every time I see them, they seem to get slightly older, less active, less vigour for life.

Pity then, poor David McComb, burning genius who helmed the magnificent Triffids.

Wikipedia: McComb suffered from back pain which worsened over the years. He also struggled with alcoholism, and amphetamine and heroin abuse, which greatly affected his health. He developed cardiomyopathy, a heart condition that, when found in young men, is most commonly caused by alcoholism. In 1996, he underwent a successful heart transplant, but continued his drinking and drug use. In January 1999 he was driving a car which was involved in a collision. He was hospitalised overnight and released with bruising. A few days later he died at home, on 2 February 1999 just before his 37th birthday. In February 2000, after the State Coroner of Victoria finally published his findings, The West Australian newspaper wrote: "Mr Johnstone [the Coroner] said McComb's mental and physical condition had deteriorated after his accident but his death was due to heroin toxicity and mild acute rejection of his 1996 heart transplant."

His ashes were spread under the pines at the family farm (Woodstock) at Jerdacuttup, approximately 22 km north of Hopetoun, Western Australia.

Vinyl rip at 320 Kbps.
Full artwork included.

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Mixmag Live Volume 9 - Dr Alex Paterson vs Mixmaster Morris

This ambient classic was first released as a cassette attached to the cover of still-going dance rag, Mixmag. Public response was so huge that it got an official CD release.

I don't know if the other cassettes got released, but before long the magazine was following the now accepted practice of gumming a CD to the front cover.

This is a brilliant mixtape full of ambient gems both rare and popular. If you can track down the first Mixmaster Morris album, released under the name Irresistible Force, do so. I had it on vinyl and CD. I sold the vinyl when it got a CD release, but the CD succumbed to horrible disk rot and now sadly won't play.

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Orbital - Don't Stop Me 12"

Orbital are back and sounding as good as ever. "Don't Stop Me" can be used as the basis for an exciting game of "Spot The Sample".

Submit your entries in the comments.

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Hello

Hi Kids. I've been away for a few weeks. Hoping to get some posting done today. Thanks for your patience.

For The Irregulars...

The Castles In Space Irregulars might want to have a look at

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which is of course no substitute for the real thing.

Bliss.

Cabaret Voltaire - Drinking Gasoline

I always think of The Cabs as having three distinct phases in their lifespan. There was the early Rough Trade scratchy, shortwave radio stuff, the transitional electronic stuff and the later period slick industrial electro/funk stuff. Personally, I love all of it, but I guess it's this later period material which has remained the most accessible.

This double 12" gatefold package, (their second such affair, the first being the wonderful Neville Brody packaged "2x45" released in 1982) still sounds amazing today. Four longish tracks, one per side, and each one is a killer. Hard to pick a favourite, but "Big Funk" is a super cool melding of their old style with the big drums and loose-but-tight proto-groove of their later stuff. And when Mal comes in at 2:00, it's a startling reminder of what a fantastic singer he was.

The artwork is stunning too, and is of course fully reproduced in the file. They were one of the first bands to see the potential in video and artwork and I had a load of their DoubleVision releases on VHS, all sadly M.I.A. these days.

I wish they were still around today. The last sighting of the Cabaret Voltaire name was this bizarre remix album, which (and I'm being kind here) didn't live up to expectations. Proof positive that you really can't polish a turd.

Anyway, reacquaint yourself with this. It's honky funk of the highest order.

Don't stop.

Vinyl rip at 320 Kbps.

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The Festive Fifty Number Ones: An Illustrated Memoir by Lee Thacker.

In the words of Hubert J. Farnsworth, "Good news, everyone". Remember this?

Of course you do. Over to Lee again:

Well, after the nightmare of receiving 50 books from the printer with all the covers on BACK TO FRONT (!!!!) I finally have two big boxes of books in my living room that I'm about to sign and number. Most of them have been sold already (including a few comp copies) and I'll be posting them out on Wednesday (23rd June).

This means I'll need to order another batch for any future sales (he said hopefully) and I'm really worried the same error might occur again. Let's hope not.

Anyway, the signed and numbered edition of the book can be purchased directly from me for £12 (including p&p;). Contact me at leethacker66@yahoo.co.uk for further details.

Alternatively, you can also get the signed edition on ebay. where you can also purchase the (very) limited edition portfolio.

You can also purchase the unsigned edition direct from my printers.

I've also got a book on Lulu with the lyrics of Robert Lloyd (Prefects, Nightingales) that he's currently selling on the short Nightingales European tour.

Also, you will get the opportunity to win a copy if you vote in this year's Dandelion Radio Festive Fifty

I think that's it. Buy my book. Buy one for a friend. If it does well, I might make another one....