The Jackal - Underneath the Arches

I was going to write "Here's another source record from the Heavy Duty Breaks megamix LP," but it actually isn't, and it's not even on the same label (Criminal Damage instead of Illuminated). The Jackal's mix of sampled and electronic breakbeats with sampled vocal fragments and crunchy guitars would fit right in, though, and it came out around the same time (1986), hence my confusion. So if you liked Heavy Duty Breaks, download this small set (just two tracks, "Underneath the Arches" and "Thunder Machine", nine minutes total) here or here. As with my previous post, the artist is a cipher, real identity unknown, any clues supplied in the comments will be appreciated.

Jack-Knife: I Wish You Would (John Wetton)

Jack-Knife was a 1979 one-off recording project of John Wetton (lead vocals, bass, keyboards), Richard Palmer-James (guitars), John Hutcheson (Hammond organ, piano, backing vocals), and Curt Cress (drums and percussion). About the project, Wetton says:

Really, what it was, Jack Knife was an excuse, because I had a record deal, it was an excuse for me to indulge myself and a few friends who had been at school with me, and to do an album of the songs that we used to play when we were at school together. It was never meant to be a serious career move. But in fact it still sells okay, it's not a bad seller. And people I speak to say, oh I hated it when it came out, but I kinda like it now (laughs). I went straight from UK to Jack Knife, and then back to UK again, it was coming out of the sauna getting into an ice bath and then getting back into the sauna again, that's what it was like for me. It was an indulgence to do that record. [Full interview here.]

It's half blues covers and half originals, with some energetic bass playing by Wetton (especially on the title track), some tasty solos by Palmer-James, and several great drum breaks for the groove miners. Additional credits go to Peter Bischof (extra voices), Michael Lohmann (saxophone), and Christian Schultz (Mini Moog).


Vinyl rip, mp3@128, 33.9M.
Get it here.