PIL - The Slab/Order Of Death

 

PIL - THE SLAB

The Slab is the original recorded version of the below tune The Order Of Death. Keith Levene stole these 1982/83 demos that Lydon was disappointed with and released the bootleg called Commercial Zone.  Many of these tracks would be re-recorded without Levene for PIL's 1984 LP This Is What You Want...This Is What You Get.

PIL - ORDER OF DEATH

Welcome to your dystopia where everything is now flipped. The authoritarianism is now emanating from the extreme but mainstream left.

"Stay in your houses. You must comply with what we say. We have decided you can no longer think for yourselves so we have revoked your privileges and liberties. You don't want autonomy anyway we have decided. We will not tolerate dissent, you will be in trouble from MIS, DIS & MAL. We have decided you cannot see your family until further notice. There will be no fraternising with others either. We will be monitoring your online conversations to make sure you are conforming to what we have decided is correct thinking. Not calling certain men women will result in hate crime charges. Your freedom depends upon how willing you are to acquiesce to our demands."

TIME ZONE - WORLD DESTRUCTION

PIL - THIS IS NOT A LOVE SONG

This is another Commercial Zone version. I assume that's Pete Jones on bass.

*** I've gotta say John Lydon aka Johnny Rotten seems like a diamond geezer. The fact that he adopted Ari Up's kids, still recognises his working class roots (unlike the British labour party), is not on board with the bullshit new Sex Pistols tv show, likes common sense and spends most of his time looking after his wife of 41 years who has Alzheimer's is all pretty endearing. 

Recently, lame middle class leftie elitists, stuck in their illiberal bubble, have tried to smear him as a deplorable but John gets what has transpired politically (over the last 40 years) and is still getting the goat of the people who deserve it. He will not blindly toe an orthodox party line.

The Screamers - Vertigo

DREXCIYA - NEPTUNE'S LAIR

I know I've skipped ahead chronologically in the career of Drexciya but I was in a Neptune's Lair kinda mood. So we've gone from 1993 in the last post to the sound of Drexciya in 1999. I think we all thought they'd broken up at this point as they hadn't released any records for a coupla years but as if to say we're gonna really make a fucking indelible stamp on 90s music now they issued this surprise epic masterpiece in the nick of time during November of 1999, just before we were all gonna die from Y2K. I've said it before, this was the last great LP of the 90s. It's also the strangest, most enigmatic and ambitious music of Drexciya's esteemed 10 year saga.

When I first heard this album I thought it was some kind of secret mystic missive from a hidden sacred zone. It sounded like nothing else at the time and still holds a mesmerising hold of my brain when the needle hits the record/lazer hits the reflective metallic plastic today. 

They basically eschewed the harsher elements of their music to concentrate on the sweeter side of Drexciya, that was always a part of their dna but never quite at the forefront. The thing is this wasn't just the lovely side of the duo, it was an entire leap into unprecedented sumptuous sonic waters. The charm of Neptune's Lair resides in its refined attention to peculiar but splendid melodic detail. Epic opulent washes of sound, rippling low frequencies, sub-aquatic funk, fizzy kaleidoscopic jams, waterlogged bass lines and bubbling atmospheric waves conjuring weird underwater activity is what it's all about. We still get electro bangers where the funky robot sound of the gritty futuristic metropolis is relocated to the bottom of the ocean.

You can't really write about Drexciya without mentioning the fantastical mythology that surrounds the duo's music and its themes. On early records the artwork, song titles and aural textures hinted at this underwater-world known as Drexciya. By the time of their mammoth 2cd career spanning compilation The Quest in 1997 the mythology became overt with text and maps etc. It's hard to know if this mythos of an Afro-futurist utopia was originally just vague abstract ideas later retro engineered into something more coherent or was thought through from the start or was somebody else's poetic interpretation of the hints they'd been given. 

Anyway Drexciya is a mythic world that is inhabited by underwater sea-breathing, hastily evolved humanoids known as Drexciyans descended from pregnant mothers thrown off slave ships in the 17th century. Depending on your point of view this can either enhance ("wow man deep") or hinder ("nerds!") your enjoyment of Neptune's Lair. It all kinda puts me in mind of the top 70s Frog-proggers Magma who had a fictional planet Kobaïa and even invented a language Kobaïan. 

To me this record belongs thematically at least in the tradition of deep sea/aquatic/underwater records that were recorded in the 70s & 80s and released on library record labels. Records such as Fabio Fabor's Aquarium, Walt Rockman's Underwater, Armanda Sciascia's Sea Fantasy and Egisto Machi's Fauna Marina. Since discovering this delightful sub genre of music in the early 00s I have always wondered if James Stinson or Gerald Donald were across these LPs. I have to think they had probably come across one or two whilst digging in the crates if not being aficionados of these much coveted artefacts. 

Drexciya: 1992 - 1993

DREXCIYA - Deep Sea Dweller (1992) [Shockwave Records]

An incredibly consummate debut EP from the mysterious and much mythologised Drexciya. However the Detroit duo of James Stinson and Gerald Donald had released an EP on Hardwax Balance Of Terror in 1992 under the alias L.A.M. 

The four tracks here are..... is it futile to talk about Drexciya? I mean a lot of previously written words..., what's the point? Top tunes: Yep: Innovation: Yep: Nerdy prog-rock mythos type vibes: Yep: Absurdly influential for 30 years now: Yep. Deep Sea Dweller is an All killer/No filler EP of the highest regard: An auspicious beginning: Yep. Start of a ten year reign as master maestros of Detroit electro-techno of the sublime and idiosyncratic variety: Yep. Still tops: Yep.

DREXCIYA - Bubble Metropolis (1993) [Underground Resistance]

It's funny how much Mouse On Mars were influenced by Drexciya. I didn't realise it at the time. You think it's all contemporaneous whilst you are in the moment but when you look back you can hear the truth plus Drexciya were releasing records a couple of years prior to their existence. Throughout the Drexciya catalogue you can hear future blueprints for the likes of Boards Of Canada, Rustie etc. as well helping shape future sound of genres like electroclash, maybe some dubstep and even hauntology.

Sometimes talking about what a musical entity influenced is dumb and quite lazy. It definitely isn't necessarily a compliment but it wasn't Drexciya's fault a bunch of electroclash knob heads ripped them off in a superficial manner. Nobody could recreate their strange mystic aura though. I assume they influenced a whole lot more of the 21st century's club music and its adjacent scenes but hey I'm blissfully unaware of most of that music. It's also easy to forget there was a hell of a lot of techno in their music too. 

DREXCIYA - MOLECULAR ENCHANTMENT (1993) [Rephlex] 

They continued their odyssey with their twisted variant on electro and tekno Detroit stylee on Drexciya III - Molecular Enchantment. This seems a bit harder than previous releases and was released on the Aphex Twin owned Rephlex imprint no-less. I mean this has got the terrific Hydro Cubes on it, that is a landmark 90s electro tune innit. You gotta love intense noise couched in exquisite lovely-ness. 

Moritz Von Oswald & Mark Emestus: Main Street Records 1993 - 1999

Round Two - New Day (Dub) 1994

Round Two are Mark Emestus and Moritz Von Oswald who were also the legendary Basic Channel as well as Cyrus, Quadrant, Maurizio and Rhythm & Sound. While I have records and cds by all of those aforementioned groups I'm not really au fait with this moniker. I'm glad I looked into it today.

Round Three - Acting Crazy (Instrumental) 1995

Unmistakable Basic Channel-y sounds. 

Round Four - Found A Way 1998

Pure dub-tech gold! How do they do this trick? It almost dissipates into nothing right before your very ears and yet it still holds a rhythm albeit a rather mirage-like one. 

Round Five - Na Fe Throw Version 1999

Thick vibe man. I just noticed people arguing in the comments whether this should be played at 33 or 45. So I'm guessing all these side Bs are like all Basic Channel 12"ers which you can play at either speed depending on your mood.

3MB Feat Eddie Fowlkes - Illuminism Range 1-5 (1992)

3MB Featuring Eddie Fowlkes - Illuminism Range 1-5 (1992)

3MB are Thomas Fehlmann (Palais Schaumburg) and Moritz Von Oswald (Basic Channel). This track is featuring Eddie Fowlkes the Detroit techno dude. There was like a 5 minute edit of this on a early 90s Tresor cd I had but this is the full 20 minutes of glorious Berlin-Detroit techno goodness.

The Chosen Few - The Joke Is On Us 1978

The Chosen Few - The Joke Is On Us EP (1978)

You gotta love a group that consisted of a teacher and three of his year 12 students from Mornington High (60 Km south of Melbourne cbd) who used to rehearse & drink beer on a farm in Moorooduc.

The Chosen Few played Aussie style brutal yob punk rock inspired by the likes of Radio Birdman but I guess they were a lot more neanderthal.

The Chosen Few used to support Nick Cave’s Boys Next Door at The Tiger Lounge in Swan Street Richmond. They also played The Crystal Ballroom in St Kilda & had a residency at The Champion Hotel in Fitzroy. However they were outsiders because they weren’t inner city trendies, didn’t conform to punk’s orthodoxy and actively hated everyone else on the scene.

They only released one EP while they were together. THE JOKE’S ON US! from 1978 was a six song 7” issued on A FEW PRODUCTION. The original pressing of the single is now going for 1500 Aussie dollars on discogs.

The Chosen Few have become a little bit legendary over the years since their breakup in 1979. Iain the singer walked in front of a train & died in 1995. Cal the drummer played with The Olympic Sideburns, Spencer P Jones, The Saints, The Clip Clop Club etc.

Bored featuring Bohdan X & Eddy Current Suppression Ring have both recorded a cover of The Chosen Few’s THERE’S A LOT OF IT GOING AROUND ensuring them immortality as a seminal influence amongst the underground Australian rock scene.

THE DARKSIDE OF RAVE IV

DARKSIDE GOLD: HITS & MEMORIES

MEGA CITY 2 -DARKER SIDE OF EVIL (1992)

Mega City 2 had at least three tunes I can think of with DARK in the title. This is probably the best. It's swathed in Hellraiser samples and horror soundtrack atmosphere amongst the frantic beats, urgent technoid elements and a peculiar sinister bass hook. 

RUFIGE KRU - DARKRIDER (1992)

Classic piano led 'ardcore with fabulous synth/string stabs then darkness descends with sinister movie dialogue, mentasms and unmistakably massive Reinforced rave riffage, all put through a dub echo chamber.

BAY B KANE - HELLO DARKNESS (1992)

Pitch-shifted Simon & Garfunkel sample begins this low key yet insidiously uncanny tune which is one of a kind in darkside jungle. Absolute!

TANGO & RATTY - TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE (1993)

One of the most iconic basslines in hardcore kicks this off at 0.12. Then Rakim gets the chipmunk treatment along with massive rave riffage, dubwize soundz and general frenzy.

DJ SOLO - DARKAGE (1993)

An Amen belter. Often in an Amen sampled jungle tune you'll get the Think break too. Chipmunks take over along with a trippy reggae trumpet sample making this a unique specimen of hardcore rave.

BOOGIE TIMES TRIBE - THE DARK STRANGER (ORIGIN UNKNOWN REMIX) (1993)

Each time I kept adding a choon here I thought "This is the best ever!" so that makes this an All Killer No Filler post and The Dark Stranger must be the best of the lot. More horror soundtrack vibes and deep voiced thespian dialogue snatches from Sir Anthony Hopkins & Gazza Oldman, we get a soul diva, Origin Unknown's mysteriously psychedelic touches, a weird step-y drumbeat for the hook and more. 

BLAME & JUSTICE: MOVING SHADOW 1994

BLAME & JUSTICE - NEMESIS (1994) 

Pinging pinball bass, scattershot 52 pick up snare spillage and an intense creepy time stretched vocal sample all add to the anarchic bliss of Nemesis. Peak disorientating jungle goodness. Mind-bending.

BLAME & JUSTICE - ESSENCE (THE JAZZ TESTAMENT) (1994)

Ambient-Jungle with some dissonant saxamophone. Apparently it was Goldie's favourite tune from 1994. 

BLAME & JUSTICE - ANTHEMIA (HEAVEN) (1994)

Lovely kaleidoscopic ambient-jungle weirdness. 

BLAME & JUSTICE - NOCTURNAL (1994)

Disembodied diva vocals set free into a floating hallucinatory dubby vortex with random drummage. Totally artcore!

BLAME & JUSTICE - NIGHTVISION (1994)

Splattering snares, a dubbed out diva, ambient lulls, bleeps in the echo chamber, melodic octopus drummage with menacing minimal bass. Night-visionary!

BLAME & JUSTICE - SECRET PARADISE (1994)

Bleeps amongst the choppage and dubbed out waves of sound. Loop-y psychedelic jungle.  

ICONS - EMOTIONS WITH INTELLECT

ICONS - ELECTRIC SOUL

First things first Emotions With Intellect is a fucking awful and totally unappealing title so it's no wonder that many jungalists avoided this record upon release back in the 90s. 

Icons are Anthony Bowes and Conrad Shafie aka Blame & Justice who had two big 12"s on Moving Shadow in 1994 (See future post and coincidentally Simon's post here). Anyway the Icons LP didn't come out until 96 despite apparently being recorded in 94/95 (?). It's not like there is an absurd wealth of information on jungle/dnb on the interweb, like there is with rock music, so I haven't been able to confirm as to why this album stayed on the shelf for a couple of years. Like many punters I missed this record at the time and really only became aware of it seven or eight years ago when it was included as FACT's 17th best album of the 90s, beating out Omni Trio, Goldie, 4Hero & Photek to come in as Jungle/dnb's runner up LP behind A Guy Called Gerald's Black Secret Technology which came in at number four. 

ICONS - SALSA FLAVOUR

This does what it says on the tin ie. it's dnb with a salsa flava. It rolls along nicely with its percussive bliss, jungle soundz and humid atmosphere. Choice.

*Fabio's review from Eternity Magazine June 1995.

ICONS - FUTURE ASPECTS

"It was about the ghost notes" 

Blame aka Conrad Shafie.

*Fabio's review from Eternity Magazine May 1995

ICONS - EMOTIONS WITH INTELLECT (1996)

As the kids say this was slept on.