Tone Set - He's Got A Little Dog

Tone Set - He's Got A Little Dog (1982)

Dystopian electro from Arizona in the early 80s. The synth tone they set here is very good. Perfectly recorded analogue synthetic goodness containing a good fun rhythmic sensibility.

 

Tone Set - Cal's Ranch (1982)

The tape the above tune came from. Cal's Ranch mainly consists of synths, drum machines and reel to reel tapes of radio and telly dialogue. Who made better home recordings in 1982?

*The Mutant Sounds Blog really changed our lives (well mine at least). A lot of stuff we'd only mythologically heard of finally got to be heard. And stuff we'd also never heard of. It all happened in a very short space of time and our computers and minds were at full capacity. In their peak year 2007 they uploaded two thousand files of seminal and hard to find records. I mean they were the reason I ever bought a hard drive. There are blogs out there now pretending they have awesome collections of tapes and records but we all know they're just re-uploading Mutant Sounds files. And even vinyl on demand based the catalogue of their entire absurd rip off of a reissue record label on Mutant Sounds posts.   

Ed Kuepper - Honey Steals Gold/Friday's Blue Cheer Libertines Of Oxley

Speaking of the early and mid 90s what I love about Kuepper here is that he really is untethered to any international or local trend. He riffs on a Bo Diddley riff and salutes Blue Cheer here but it is in no way retro vomit. He's creating innovative music and this is a peak in an astounding purple patch of creativity.

  

I'm pretty sure this is some kind of new music that somehow became beloved by Australian radio and public alike in 1991. I mean what actually is going on here? How is this mammoth atmosphere achieved. What is propelling this drone? I always assumed there was some kind of cello or string instrument making that all encompassing reverberation. Ex-Laughing Clowns and Necks keyboardist Chris Abrahams is in the band for this record and I'd say he's probably responsible for the surreal air on this tune. He's credited as contributing piano and organ. But I'm still none the wiser as to what the origins of that mysterious chugging ambient sound are or am I just bad at identifying instruments. 

Early 90s Australiana innit.

Kim Salmon - You Know Me Better Than That

Kim Salmon with STM - You Know Me Better Than That (1994)

Totally forgot about this tune and the Hey Believer LP it came from. Speaking of mid 90s rock performers in Australia I mean Kim Salmon (ex-Scientists) was killing it, well he was in Melbourne anyway. Kim Salmon & The Surrealists shows were reaching levels of delirium circa 93/94/95. I recall a couple of great packed ones at The Club and one at the Punters where his pants were so low we thought they were gonna fall off. It was magic how they stayed up.

The band he had for this particular song and half of the album though was STM which contained legends Warren Ellis, Jim White and that dude from King Idiot on bass who if I recall correctly later died of an overdose. They used to play at the Great Britain a lot then later I recall attending a week-night residency many times in probably 93 at the Punters. I'm not sure the band was advertised as STM. Actually I always thought they were called The Body Electric like they were when they backed Charlie Marshall. It might have just been promoted as Kim Salmon solo actually. A lot of the live stuff didn't make it to this cd or anywhere actually. You forget that bands and artists have entire periods and phases that go undocumented.

Anyway this shit right here is peak performance from Kim. The entire group though is absolutely cooking. I'm saying this could be the finest track Warren ever collaborated on. I mean it's scintillating with its sort of Shaft-esque infectious energy. I dunno what Warren's doing here - some sort of picking at the violin. And Jim is effervescent on the skins once again. Whatever's going on with this fusion of lounge, symphonic soul, disco and swamp rock somehow they make it fresh and not particularly resembling any of those influences. The tense fluxion here makes this irresistibly pop and irresistible pop. 

You probably had to be there.

The Go-Betweens - Finding you

The Go-Betweens - Finding You (2005)

What a great tune. I ignored this era of The Go-Betweens. God knows why (well because I think band reformations are lame and they usually are). They were on a hell of a comeback roll. They used to play at a joint that was literally just around the corner from my place in the 00s. I regret not seeing them. My friends went. What was I thinking? This tune is right up there with the Grant greats Cattle And Cane, Dusty In Here, Bachelor Kisses, Streets Of Your Town, Bye Bye Pride, Providence etc. My lord Finding You is so good. There's something about this key that cuts straight to the heart. It's so emotionally devastating it's almost unbearable.

Ed Kuepper - Finding You (2007)

Who better to do a cover than our main man Ed in all his bittersweet and sour glory.

Ed Kuepper - Sea Air (1986)

Haven't heard this one since the 90s. Nobody finds despondency in happiness like Ed or is it the other way round? Or is it just life...ya know ying and yang and ups and downs and highs and lows and such. 

Ed Kuepper - Electrical Storm (1985)

The early and mid 90s in Australia really belonged to Kuepper didn't they. On the radio, on cd and in live music venues across the nation. I still think that concert he did on the St Kilda foreshore in maybe 95 is one of the best shows I ever saw. The storm clouds rolled in off the beach as he struck the opening chords of Electrical Storm and the rain threatened to shut down the entire show because danger. You can't buy moments like that. 

Blind Test: 1990-1993 UK Hardcore

Some legends doing the guessing here. I gotta say though how good does this dude Joe Nebula aka J Shotter from Nebula II look. Also just his general air is such a good vibe, something to aspire to. 

This guessing game is good fun. If you've not come across Blind Test before there's a bunch of old episodes worth watching on jungle, drum n bass, UKG, gabber, ebm and electro. 

Listening to this through a computer makes these tunes sound pretty crap. You have to listen to the hardcore breakbeats on a good system or through good headphones at maximum volume otherwise you just ain't gonna get it.

Nebula II - Seance (1991)

tune

Nebula II - Atheama (1991)

Even in this profound dysphoric mood I can still see that this tune is so fucking great. Perhaps this is the ultimate test as to whether music is frivolous or not. Maybe it's the fact that euphoria is a baked in element to a rave track such as this. Hardcore might just save your life. Sounds as fresh as Joe looks.

*Probably not the best idea to get to the end of your tether just to test out whether a hardcore tune is still relevant though. Don't try this at home.

 

Nebula II - Flatliners (1992)

Classic. 

The House Crew - Keep The Fires Burning (1991)

Spoiler alert this is the first track in the test. Wasn't Acen in The House Crew at the time? I wish they had let him elaborate or comment further about this track...anyway...The House Crew were the in-house group for the Production House label. 

DJ Biz - Losing Track Of Time (1992)

Spoiler alert part two...This is the one that nobody knew. I reckon maybe I've heard it in a dj mix before but never previously ID-ed it. Losing Track Of Time is the sort of rare lo-fi tune that would have turned up at Blog To The Old School fifteen years ago. Gotta love that it's on a label that had just five releases. Although I suspect No Limit records may have had another five releases that aren't listed on Discogs yet as the catalogue numbers jump from NL-1 to NL-7. Then again anomalies like this aren't uncommon.

DJ Biz - Losing Track Of Time (LTJ Bukem Remix) (1992)

Bukem did a remix.

Jonzun Crew - Space is the Place

Jonzun Crew - Space Is The Place (1983)

The best phonkay electro jam. The futuristic atmosphere on this still electrifies today. 

Jonzun Crew weren't just a a sequenced synthetic studio concept though, they liked to intermingle their technology with live playing making them perhaps a precursor to the original intentions of post-rock or maybe more accurately cyborg-rock. This term which never really took off was meant to categorise bands who mixed hands on real time playing with computerised and programmed technology, a man-machine music. Something about Jonzun Crew's electro funk is definitely different to most electro 12"s of the time giving them more of a timeless, swinging and expansive sound linking them to contemporaneous live funk groups like Gap Band, Zapp and Midnight Star.

*You gotta think INXS were fans as those instrumental sections in that break from 3:20 onwards bear an uncanny resemblance to a couple of tunes off their 1984 LP The Swing namely Melting In The Sun and Burn For You.     

**Space is the place now more than ever (in our fantasies) as the abolition of liberty continues in the de-civilisation of the west era here on earth. If an autistic child being arrested in her own home for wrongthink doesn't alarm you to the horrors of our dystopia what more can I say. 

Twilight 22 - Siberian Nights

Peak electro. 

Anti-nuke lyrics, industrial-style metal bashing, middle eastern synth breaks, a vocoder chorus and a prime electro beat. 1984 giving you more.  

*Breakdancing, roller skating and the possibility of nuclear annihilation. Now one of these things is back in fashion when really what the world needs more of is roller skating and breakdancing. 

Alex Cima - Disconcerto

For a start this is Disconcerto the opening track from the 1979 LP Cosmic Connection and not the title track. It's a synth-pop number done in the space-disco style with classic vocoderized vocals. Plenty of nods to the future here as well as many of its time traits. For synth history nerds, proto-house heads and those cataloguing every tune to ever use vocodered vocals. What a vibe, good stuff.

Yoshida Minako - Tornado

Yoshida Minako - Tornado (1980)
That synthetic bass hook sound so beloved in tunes previously posted like Yarbrough & Peoples Don't Stop The Music, SOS Band's Just Be Good To Me and  Chaka Khan's Ain't Nobody rears its funky head here.

This is disco slowed to such a crawl that it's barely even boogie. Whatever it is, it's one of the great R&B tracks of 1980. The amazing thing is, it has gone unheard outside of Japan for thirty years until probably the mid-2010s when ye olde funky Japanese disco started getting western attention. 

The synthetic bass is slowed to a veritable creak, you can hear the tape's been manipulated and decelerated filling Tornado with eeriness and dread. This slow jam is also notable for its exquisite vibraphone usage....oh and not to forget Minako's impeccable vocal arrangement executed immaculately. 

Masayoshi Takanaka - Oh! Tengo Suerte

Masayoshi Takanaka - Oh! Tengo Suerte (1976)

I mean this!

The Congas!!

Irresistible. 

It needs to become the theme tune. 

This is life. 

This vibe says freedom and being a 70s baby it matches my wrapped in an Hawaiian shirt forever soul. 

Masayoshi Takanaka - Tokyo Reggie (1976)

Hang on this needs to be the theme tune for our daily battles against the poisonous nonsense they are selling. I will be demoralised no further because samba jazz funk fusion. Remember when the government and media didn't demonise you for having normal boring viewpoints. 

Masayoshi Takanaka - サヨナラ…FUJIさん (1976)

Bless Masayoshi's soul.

Breeze-y with nonchalant cowbell goodness!

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly."

Fuck the humourless anti-human death cult, live life in abundance.

Anyway Masayoshi Takanaka's debut solo LP Seychelles (1976) which contains the above three tunes was reissued a couple of months ago. Once again however if you missed out it's already going for silly prices. Although unlike Tatsuro Yamashita you can find many Takanaka records on Spotify and youtube.

I first heard this guy seven or eight years ago on that Nippon Funk compilation. He's since become a bit of a cult figure on the internet because his tune An Insatiable High (1977) went viral.