Living In Texas - Live Italia Eighty-Five

Continuing the Living In Texas posts, here is their live album, Italia Live Eighty-Five. It contains live renditions of two songs from their first EP ("My End of Heaven," "Julia's Child"), three from their first album ("Here Come the Boat Traders," "The Other Side of Me," "This Blood Religion") a ten-minute version of "Kingdom" (a 12" release), "The Bomb Generation" from the Fastest Men Alive album, and the exclusive "Four Minutes." That's eight songs altogether, plus a spoken introduction in Italian that I have split out into a separate track. One wonders why they chose this particular recording (Genoa, 26 February 1985) to release as a live album: it was recorded in mono on a four-track TEAC. The sound quality is not that great. However, the band does display its range and its rather unusual stylistic potpourri of gothic rock, rockabilly, and proto-grunge. "Kingdom" really is an epic tour-de-force; I don't have the studio version, but I've just put it on my active wishlist. Get the vinyl rip here or here.

Surprize - Complete Discography

It's easy to post a complete discography for a band when they only released eight songs on two records! Italian band Surprize released the four-song The Secret Lies In Rhythm EP on Italian label Base Records in 1982, and another four-song EP, In Movimento, on Factory Benelux in 1984. In Movimento is known primarily for its Manchester connections: it was a "Dojo-BeMusic production," or Donald Johnson of A Certain Ratio (who also contributes bass, Simmons, and backing vocals) and Bernard Sumner of New Order (credited with DMX programming). The main credits are as follows:

• Mirko Virdo Pellati: drums, simmons, backing vocals
• Wud: voice, synthesizer, guiro, cow bells
• Luca Patini: guitars, wood block
• Francisco Garau: vibraphone, balafon, bongos, cow bells, cabasa, talking floor drum, kokiriko, backing vocalsLuciano Graffi: bass, click bass, fretless bass
• Frank Nemola: trumpet, trombone

With an instrumental lineup like that, and an ACR member at the desk, there is a definite ACR feel to the record, most like their To Each... and Sextet period. On the earlier EP, the back cover shows Surprize as a seven-piece band, though the members are not listed. While there is an arty gloss to In Movimento, the The Secret Lies In Rhythm is more lively, with the horns and varied percussion more prominent in the mix; it's more in the vein of Pigbag than ACR, and it's a lot of fun. Unfortunately it's also very short, clocking in at just over 16 minutes. But put it together with the second EP and you've got a whole album's worth of above-average, occasionally brilliant postpunk art-funk. Get them here or here.