Eight-X, (09-86)

Hello Eight-X stops over in 1986 today, the year when the cd broke thru the vinyl format and bands had to consider what to do with the old 40 min album format. It was not good for the punk/wave bands that suddenly became retro when unable to deal with it. Some bands successfully expanded..the Cure, U2 and Depeche Mode (always had plenty of remixes at hand), but many of the smaller didnt adapt well, CD's were twice as expensive and many ignored the format, but the press (that dont pay shit) lost sight of them aswell, and besides after almost a decade the momentum was gone. It's ironic that todays indie releases are again in the 40-45 min bracket, a strange retro, but i suppose some marketeer has found out that 10 tracks hold the optimum attention span.

Looking at myself, i bought my first cd player that year..with hindsight rather expensive (600$) and as mentioned the CD's were twice as expensive, so budgetairy constraints caused a major dip in the number of titles I bought that year. Looking back, luckily..it was a rather poor year.
In January Phil Lynnot died, so did Ron Hubbard (the scientology nut) before Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrated 73 seconds after launch , it inspired Keith Leblanc to release major malfunction, a month later popular swedish premier Olav Palme was assasinated. Bombs go off around the world and in May Chernobyl tops all that. In Africa Lake Nyos farts, killing nearly 2,000 people. More Terrorist hi jackings..In Washington the Iran Contra scandal exposes some of the dirty machinations behind US politics. And befitting such a disatrous year News Corp launches Fox. 1986 a year to remember. Some good old days were much worse than others.

Todays music starts of with Carmel, the opening track is pure trip hop, 10 years early and there are more connections to that genre. Carmel literally stormed on the music scene, yet didnt find too many favors on their homeground they were much more appreciated on the 'more cultured' continent. By 92 they got sucked up in that scene and have occasionaly resurfaced and are still in the music biz. That can not be said of my next band this defacto was their swan song and although the reception was mixed, i think it was a pity as i felt they really found a Voice with this album. Lastly another band that don't exist anymore though there biggest success was still to come after this album Express, which to me really is one of the musical highlights of 1986..maybe thats why you get to chose two bitrates...

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Carmel - The Falling ( 86 ^ 91mb)

When Carmel McCourt and Jim Parris, two students from Manchester , got together with drummer Gerry Darby (Parris' cousin) Carmel was born. Their debut single, "Storm" reached No. 1 in the UK independent chart and they signed immediately to London Records. Their first full album The Drum is Everything (produced by Mike Thorne) drew some praise. Parris and Darby conjured the effect of a full ensemble backing to McCourt's vocals, and alternated between soulful ballads, gospel, blues and jazz. The resulting singles "Bad Day" and "More, More, More" both went Top 25 in the UK Singles Chart. With the following album, The Falling (produced by Brian Eno, Hugh Jones and David Motion) Carmel scored in France, achieving gold disc status, as well as charting in Belgium, Germany and Holland. With the critical and commercial success awarded both The Falling and the next album Everybody's Got A Little Soul.

Live performance has always been central to Carmel's work and they are successful on the European touring circuit, and has sometimes found greater appreciation on the continent than it has done in the UK. The French christened McCourt the new Edith Piaff, and in Italy she won the accolade of Best Jazz vocalist at the Messina Festival. 1989 saw the release of Set Me Free, with Brian Eno and Pete Wingfield adding their touches to the material. A five star review in Q describing the album as "incendiary" 1990's 'best of' compilation, Collected, put the band's career into perspective. 1992's Good News saw Carmel moving to East West Records with Parris producing.

During much of the 1990s the band members were living between Barcelona, Paris and Manchester, and it was hard for them to work together, so they pursued other musical projects. Parris created the band Nzi Dada with Paris based multi media artist Xumo Nounjio, and Carmel worked on various projects as a singer, writer and teacher. In 1997 Ronnie Scotts provided the venue to record their last album, Live at Ronnie Scotts, which was a collection of their work and some previously unreleased material.

The start of the millennium saw them all back in their adopted hometown of Manchester, but Darby decided he no longer wanted to continue. In 2002 Parris and McCourt undertook a tour playing the old material with a nine piece band. Later they worked on material for a new album with drummer Brice Wassy. McCourt and Parris are currently working on new pieces, one written alongside poet Sonia Hughes. They intend to perform them as a duo with some sound treatments by new collaborator Jaydev Mistry, plus filmwork by Adrian Ball.



1 - I'm Not Afraid Of You (5:45)
2 - Let Me Know (4:15)
3 - Tok (3:57)
4 - The Falling (4:04)
5 - Mama Told Me Not To Come (4:33)
6 - Mercy (5:07)
7 - Easy For You (3:57)
8 - Sticks & Stones (4:59)
9 - Sally (3:51)

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Hula - Voice (86 ^99mb)

Hula was formed in Sheffield, England by guitarist and tape experimenter Ron Wright; various other members passed in and out of the ranks, with bassist John Avery the only constant. Hula's music was highly influenced by Cabaret Voltaire and other electronic/ambient artists, but Hula added a more industrial edge and a schizophrenically experimental approach to their albums, which were often far less accessible than the dark, aggressive techno-funk of their singles. The band's concerts often took the form of multimedia barrages, using twelve or more film projectors to enhance the already disorienting music.
Hula's first single was produced by Cabaret Voltaire's Stephen Mallinder ; its debut album, Cut From Inside, was released in 1983 and followed a year later by Murmur. The group began to indulge its artiest tendencies on 1986's 1,000 Hours, a half-live, half-studio double album; its follow-up, Shadowland, consisted of improvised music used as accompaniment to an art exhibit. Voice (1986) was Hula's last full-length release of new material, discounting the Threshold singles compilation; Red Rhino, the label the group had signed to, went bankrupt in 1988, and Hula's only further release was an EP centered around a dance version of Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Chile."



01 - Give Me Money (Till It's Crawling Out Of My Face) (4:38)
02 - See You Tomorrow (5:01)
03 - Cut Me Loose (5:19)
04 - Bush #2 (5:05)
05 - Cold Stare (4:26)
06 - Clear Water (4:26)
07 - Torn Silk (4:20)
08 - Seven Sleepers (4:29)
09 - Poison (5:11)

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Love and Rockets - Express (86 * 99mb)

After Peter Murphy, had embarked on a solo career former Bauhaus members Daniel Ash (guitars, saxophone, and vocals), David J (bass and vocals) and Kevin Haskins (drums, synthesizers). Finally came together as Love and Rockets, despite their previous band's status as gothic rock icons, L & R moved away from that genre, as demonstrated by their first minor hit being a cover of the Motown classic "Ball of Confusion," .Their first album release, Seventh Dream of Teenage Heaven (1985), leaned more towards psychedelic music and Beatle-esque pop. Rich in sonic detail, the neo-psychedelic Express offers a listening experience like no other album -- guitars spiral to dizzying heights from beds of sound, arrangements swirl, songs change and mutate. John A. Rivers (who also co-produced Love and Rockets' first album) outdoes himself with the sound on this disc, offering a huge, unique canvas for the band to paint its sound on: crystalline acoustic guitars cut through thick, distorted tones, and the bass is an equal player to the guitars and drums.The 1987 follow up Earth, Sun, Moon had a folkier sound and spawned the minor hit "No New Tale to Tell."

In 1989 the band released a self-titled album that presented a more AOR sound. The second single from the album was the T. Rex-inspired song "So Alive." It became a surprise hit, reaching No. 3 on the American singles chart, After a grueling tour schedule in support of their big hit, Love and Rockets took a few years off concentrating on solo projects before returning to the studio together. The result was a move into a much more electronic sound. Their label, RCA Records, unaware of the UK contemporairy sound, dropped them. L & R signed with Rick Rubin's American Recordings to release Hot Trip To Heaven (1994), followed in 1996 by Sweet F.A.. The albums didn't prove a commercial success, and when Lift came out in 1998 on Red Ant Records it was their last, and the band disbanded in 1999.They did reunite with Murphy and reformed Bauhaus for some shows and have released two live albums since, Gotham and Los Angeles, CA 10.30.05.



01 - Angels And Devils (6:09)
02 - It Could Be Sunshine (5:00)
03 - Kundalini Express (5:47)
04 - All In My Mind (4:44)
05 - Life In Laralay (3:32)
06 - Ball Of Confusion (6:17)
07 - Holiday On The Moon (6:08)
08 - Yin And Yang The Flower Pot Man (Remix) (5:30)
09 - Love Me (3:49)
10 - All In My Mind (Acoustic Version) (5:07)
11 - An American Dream (6:07)

Want a higher bitrate ?

Love and Rockets - Express (86 ^ 138mb)

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All downloads are in * ogg-7 (224k) or ^ ogg-9(320k), artwork is included , if in need get the nifty ogg encoder/decoder here !