Mustard On The Beat Hoe

Mustard on the beat (at) ho(me) non stop. After Reynolds recent posts on all things Ratchet & B I'm on a Mustard bender. Love this one a lot it's got such a great pop chorus with a harp I think. Maybe not for mainstream radio with those lyrics but fuck me it's pop-tastic.

How bout this one?! It sounds like there's a sample of Laika circa Sound Of Satellites in there. Well it's the same keyboard sound/model anyway, last heard in a section of a Peaking Lights track. It wouldn't surprise me if Dijon was fan of either group. They've got more in common than you might think.

Wow DJ Mustard's even made J-Lo sound good. I'm sure she's had other good trax though, none come to mind at this moment.

This is sweet and yet so filthy. "Gettin faded till we trip." Lovin Schoolboy Q's guest spot on this. Best tune of 2014?

Speaking of best tunes of 2014 maybe this has pipped Tinashe at the post. The sound of being wasted/loved up science fiction stylee. Mustard not on this beat hoe.

Aural Splendour....and well I could keep posting Mustard trax all nite because there's way more.

VHS Head

A new VHS Head album Persistence Of Vision is on its way and I'm looking forward to its release. His first record Trademark Ribbons Of Gold was released in 2010 just before I started my blog. I couldn't believe it wasn't all over the Internet and in end of year lists. I guess it didn't fit anywhere in particular. It was 2010 and it didn't fit into its genres of the time like dubstep or whatever else was hip at the time. Its a frantic and experimental album. I understand it was made from samples and snippets of his 80s VHS video collection. In particular VHS Head was fond of the video company logo tunes or as they call them in the biz idents The effect was a bit like having the history of 80s video culture condensed into 64 minutes then thrust at you like an aural assault weapon with barely any time to think. This be not for the faint of heart. It's not unlike something Jon Oswald might get up to but much cooler. It's kinda funky and has an 80s disco vibe with a 2010 flava and I reckon some tunes could even get played out (on the dancefloor). While the sounds aren't arranged in an orderly pastiche 80s fashion, they are meticulously arranged. God knows how long Trademark Ribbons Of Gold took to make but it may be some indication that it's taken VHS Head nearly 5 years to release a new LP. It's A rush for sure and you might recognise bits and pieces here and there, particularly if you loved your 80s VHS trash. Sounds don't really hang around long enough they just fly past you. It does have a nostalgic vibe though. Probably the closest relation to it in current music is the music released on GhostBox (theoretically more than anything). Its retro but its also presented in a futuristic audio blaze. It has become one of my favourite records of the 10s, the 2010s or whatever no one has bothered to name this decade.

I Know nothing about Persistence Of Vision but let's hope
 its just as compelling as Trademark Ribbons Of Gold.

Illmatic - Nas

HIP HOP I IGNORED - PART 1

Illmatic was released in 1994, a particularly fertile year for new music. This is the year two classic trip hop LPs were released Portishead's Dummy and Massive Attack's Protection. Then there were so many UK jungle trax, too numerous to mention. There was also a shitload of British experimental (dare I say Post-Rock before it became a term of derision for American noodling turds) rock happening Laika, Disco Inferno, Bark Psychosis, Stereolab, Pram, Scorn, Flying Saucer Attack, Main and O'rang. Then there was electronic and ambient music Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works Vol 2, the Virgin comp Isolationism, Mouse On Mars, Orbital, Autechre, Global Communication's 76.14, Paul Schutze and the list goes on. Nick Cave, Pulp, Boredoms, Peter Jefferies, Polvo, Kristen Hersh and Burzum all released classic records. Then there were the reissues on Blood & Fire Records and Esquival's Space Age Bachelor Pad Music. Plus way way more. Geez that was a good year for music. The two hip hop albums that did get my attention were The Beastie Boys Ill Communication and Snoop's Doggystyle. Along with Illmatic, I also missed Warren G's Regulate.., Jeru The Damaaja's The Sun Rises In The East, Ice Cube, PE and whoever else.

I had already heard Nas albeit without my knowledge on Live At The BBQ, a track from Main Source's classic LP from 91 Breaking Atoms. By the time of Illmatic's release in 94 he was 20 so he'd been a bit of a child prodigy. The line up of producers here was the cream of the 1994 crop. Main Source's Large Prof, Pete Rock, Q-Tip, DJ Premier and LES all had a twiddle of the knobs. This was a new era with the classic old school of PE, NWA etc. and the daisy age fading away and the beginning of Wu Tang Clan's stranglehold in the east and G funks commercial dominance. Nas's timing couldn't have been better, making the LP old school, of its time and somehow timeless all at the same time.

The album begins with the splendid trippy funk beats of The Genesis and Nas is introduced and then it's quickly into the creepin intensity of NY State Of Mind. This tune travels the decay of the NewYork underbelly with drugs, guns, crime and violence. This journey through urban hell is state of the art 94 hip hop where "The city never sleeps, it full of villains and creeps.". Life's a Bitch is a glorious ode to hedonism that features AZ guesting on vocals. This backing track is so fucking smooth with its Gap Band sample and a trumpet comin on like something from Miles Davis's Big Fun. The World Is Yours features, apart from the the usual peerless rhymes, some awesome scratching. Halftime closes side one with its mentions of Jackson 5 and watching Chips (hey I used to love that show, even had Chips pyjamas). His rhymes are astonishing as is the backing trak with its dubby horn samples floating in and out of the mix like puffs of smoke.

Side two or 41st Side South starts with Memory Lane and it's a Premier production containing a Rueben Wilson sample of We're In Love. Choice turntablism blends perfectly with this sweet soul jazz jam. One Love be a daisy age throwback and that ain't no bad thing here. This is a message to his incarcerated bros that's grasping for optimism amongst the darkness and the rhymes keep flowing like nothing before. Large Prof gives One Time 4 Your Mind  a sweet minimal mellow vibe to show off Nas's def rhymes. Represent is another snapshot of a day in the life in the projects of New York, the every day crime and casual violence of it all. Premier gives this track hypnotic psych beats that you'd be happy to keep listening to for an hour. This is the trippiest of hop. It ain't Hard To Tell closes out the album with MJ and Kool & The Gang samples. The dub inflected beatz are a heavenly haze.

At one stage on Illmatic Nas claims he has so many rhymes and its hard to disagree, they just flow and wash over you. You catch new snippets each time you listen. You could listen to this album a hundred times and still not know all the words. This is part of its charm, longevity and timelessness I guess. Illmatic only goes for 40 minutes thus there is no time to really get sick of it. Other artists at the time should have taken note of his quality control. Cds gave rise to too much wasted time and filler. Ironman by Ghostface Killah is a favourite of mine but a minute or two of editing may have had everyone thinking that was the best rap LP of all time but Illmatic is the one most often quoted as that. With a few more listens I might be sayin the same thing but probably not. He's just not mad, smooth, funny or charismatic enough for me. I would however love to hear an instrumental or dub version of Illmatic, that'd be wicked. I haven't heard other Nas records but I feel Illmatic maybe similar to Tricky's Maxinquaye. They were both debuts and both considered masterpieces. So how do you top that? Retire after your first record? Then tour it live 20 years later? That would have been cool. Rappers gotta eat though and apparently he's put out some other good records but Illmatic was always there to haunt him. Luckily now he can tour it for the 20th anniversary and probably make a small fortune. Nobody back then would have dreamt of this concept, let alone it being quite viable and even almost credible.

Sonic Youth - Gila Monster Jamboree

Just discovered this on the youtubes, how excitement! Wicked soundz & Visionz from Sonic Youth in the Mojave Desert in 1985. Bad Moon Rising tunes. Bob Bert on drums. Lee wears orange jumper and sings Death Valley 69. Intense Kim with Michael Jackson Sticker on her bass guitar. Thurston reads one track's lyrics from a notebook! 40 minutes of glorious cacophonous sonic sculpture man. The sound of the late 20th century. Check it out!

Hip Hop I Ignored - An Introduction

Hip Hop goes retromania.

I've decided to do a little feature series along the lines of my Glaring Omissions series that I did about classic Australian albums that didn't make it into the greatest Australian albums book or The Age Newspaper's 50 best Australian albums list. This is going to be a bit different though. I once heard of a feature where they gave a bunch of rap guys a bunch of classic country albums to review or was it vice versa? It's a great concept either way. So with rap & hip hop never never being my main source of listening it should make this series slightly interesting. Being a bit of a dilettante sometimes leads you, due to financial and time constraints, to miss certain things and sometimes even massive pop cultural events. You can't be into everything.  So I'm gonna do 5 legendary, classic or canonical  Hip Hop LPs that I missed. There ain't gonna be any Wu Tang, PE, Beasties, Snoop, Diamond & The Psychotic Neurotics, De La Soul, Showbiz & AG, Tribe, Ice-T, Missy, Main Source, NWA, Pete Rock & CL Smooth etc. here as I caught them at the time. But there will be some massive surprises that I missed. I never got into Tupac & Biggie and really thought hip hop had run its course by the turn of the millennium despite now diggin some occasional current shit by Dj Mustard, Kanye, Raven Felix, Kendrick Lamar and Schoolboy Q. Is this shit a last gasp or a Renaissance? I do think there is some future life in that interzone between rap and R&B and all the micro-genres inbetween. Time will tell I guess. There will be no Aussie hip hop either as I'd rather listen to Andre Reiu than that shit! I guess this whole concept started to ferment inside my brain after watching Jimmy Fallon the other night where he introduced Nas who is now doing 20th anniversary concerts of his apparent classic Illmatic from 1994. So he's going to be first. Some consider this record the best rap has to offer. So I'm rather looking forward to it. I'm not even sure I know any of the tunes....I'll get back to you soon with the first instalment of Hip Hop I Ignored.

Schoolboy Q's 2014 track Studio is the biz.

Gira & Cyrus

I listened to the Swans new 2 hour epic album last week To Be Kind. Initial response is its not as good as The Seer their previous 2 hour opus but still plenty of laughs to be had. Some epic journeys into sound ie the 34 minute Bring The Sun/Toussaint l'ouverture really brings the noise and is worth the price of admission alone. I even thought a bit of (proto)grunge was creepin in on one or two tracks, you know, like Helmet-esque riffs and Scratch Acid type of cacophony. Sure those groups were probably influenced by the Swans. Anyway those particular trax just didn't seem as classy as Swans of old. Actually in my wife's car the other day Wrecking Ball by Miley Cyrus came on the radio and gave me the same kind of sonic pummelling thrills I expect of Swans. Does this render Gira and crew redundant? Strange days indeed!

Pseudo Echo

Pseudo Echo have joined in the retromania and have a new album out. Will I listen to it? Probably not. I only ever had that first LP Autumnal Park taped off someone. There weren't that many memorable tracks really. I wonder if it's a return to their more electronic/new romantic days or their later more rockified funk sound that gave them their transglobal hit, their cover version of, Funky Town?

I always liked this tune Don't Go from 1985. Had the 7" I do believe. Still sounds alright I reckon. They were a bit more talented and original than say I dunno Geisha. I remember seeing one them at Melbourne's Queen Vic Market in like 86 and thinking that was something but also thinking he's just a guy in the street like the rest of us.

Liked the goth/post punk type guitar in this one from 84 and those keyboards ofcourse. Funny 80s videos eh?

More Soundtrack Gold

Shogun Assassin OST (1980) - Mark Lindsay & W Michael Lewis
Came across this on the interweb and thought 'What's that something to do with Quentin Tarrantino...yeah maybe...no Liquid Swords!' Of course Liquid Swords is the Genius/GZA hip hop masterpiece from 1995 that I've discussed before on this here blog. It's possibly the greatest hip hop LP of them all in my book. A big part of Liquid Swords appeal is the twisted music's strange one of a kind vibe as well as the brilliant lyrics, phrasing, beats etc. And a big part of Liquid Swords eerie vibe is the sampling of this Shogun Assassin soundtrack. I'm not usually a tracker of samples, you know a trainspotter, but sometimes sampled songs end up in your collection via different routes. Curtis Mayfield & Liquid Liquid turned up many years later (after being sampled by Ice-T and Grandmaster Flash respectively) when I discovered those artists records. I do have The Winstons version of Amen, Brother on a compilation from whence the Amen break was torn out and I often think 'Why these few seconds of drummage?' Anyway listening to Lindsay & Lewis's soundtrack it's impossible not to think of Liquid Swords. This is the sample stain right? Was that a derogatory term though? I can't remember. Whatever, this soundtrack will always be tied to Genius/GZA in my brain & eardrums. Having said that Shogun Assassin is excellent and I am fairly certain I would love it if I'd not heard or even disliked Liquid Swords. Who are Lindsay an Lewis?? They don't sound particularly Japanese do they? I believe they must be Western ring ins for the dubbed/re-soundtracked English speaking version of this film. They've created some synthy goodness on this record and some unique atmospheres not attained by anyone previously or since. This OST will appeal to 70s analogue synth fiends and the electronic soundtrack headz out there (aren't they one and the same?). One wonders whether the eastern motifs used on a couple of tracks would be considered cheesy, crass or even offensive by the Japanese. Who knows? Who cares? This is the biz.

Un'Ombra Nell'Ombra OST (1979) - Stelvio Cipriani
Still in the field of electronic soundtracks from the late 70s early 80s. I just can't seem to get enough of this stuff. Never seen the film but this is one hell of a soundtrack that I've recently tracked down in digital form. This is the 7th Cipriani soundtrack to cross my path. There's only something like another 200 to go, shit I better not get too obsessed with him. Some of Cipriani's classics include Whirlpool, Gli Orrori Del Castello Di Norimberga and his collaboration with Goblin that seems to be very underrated Solamente Nero but this tops all of those. This is a horror score and all I can find out about it is that it was composed by Cipriani and Goblin's Claudio Simonetti plays synthesiser on it. This isn't as funky, beat driven, easy or symphonic as other Cipriani OSTs. It's a minimal synth prog record with suspenseful bass along with some added clanks and textures. It turns out this was recorded in 1977 but the movie remained unreleased until 79. This places the recording around the same time as the Goblin classic soundtrack to Suspiria and I've gotta say it has a similar vibe but way more stripped back. Un'Ombra Nell'Ombra is one of the best records Claudio Simonetti has played on.  This is another Goblin missing link along with Solamente Nero that may have passed many of you by. Now I'm wondering if Cipriani did any other recordings with Goblin members because if they're anything like this we have to hear them.

Don't Touch That Stereo Part I

Millie & Andrea - Drop The Vowels (2014)
This is one of the dudes from Demdike Stare and some other bloke. For some reason I'm really enjoying this record which I didn't really expect to. I don't think anything much new is happening here. There a bit of post dubstep, some gamelan vibes, isolationist type ambience, a dose of Basic Channel, hardcore continuum styles, drum & bass pops its head up, tech-house (that was a thing wasn't it for a minute there in the 90s?) and I dunno it's all a bit zombie rave (that should so be a genre). Not really hands up in the air more like your arms fall off as you try to raise them above your waste. Is it undeconstructed or reconstuctured deconstruction or constructed unreconstruction? More to the point does anyone give a shit at this point? More nails in the coffin for rave in the best possible sense.

Clouds - Ghost System Rave (2013)
A bit late on this one. Ghost System Rave was only hipped to me in early January by Reynolds via Energy Flash. This is far and away the best album I missed last year, the only other contender being Holden's The Inheritors. It most certainly would have made my top 9. As far as album titles that describe their contents go this is perfection. Whilst the ingredients suggest the 90s, something pulls this away from mere retro-activity. Perhaps Future 1 is the only exception to that rule here as it soundz like an obscure 91 grimey 'ardcore gem that Blog To The Old Skool might have dug up. Ghost System Rave is not just techno micro-genres revisited. Its like you're hearing an early 90s rave through a ghost's ears. You feel like you've heard it before but you haven't, not like this. This is a delightfully askew musical experience. It sounds/feels like you've already dropped the drugs and you're occupying an inbetween dimension. This is an incredible musical achievement. Rave from the otherside. We just had Zombie Rave and now this is Ghost Rave.

True Detective - Part One

Smokin Rust

I think I've just watched the TV event of 2014. True Detective sounded boring to me and the poster was hardly sellin it to me either. It was only after watching Dallas Buyers Club (inspirational renegade movie in the vein of Milk & Erin Brockovich where Matthew McConaughey put in a sterling performance), that I became sufficiently motivated to finally watch True Detective. This show is pretty much a philosophical debate thinly disguised as a Cop Buddy/Southern Gothic Horror drama.

There's a fair bit of "I'm Marlon Brando!" "No, I'm Marlon Brando!" where the two leads McConaughey and Woody Harrelson try to out mumble one another. Talk about actors pushing each other to new heights; they both put in outstanding, career-best performances. The script is dense, funny, thought provoking and unlike anything I've seen or heard on TV recently. There's a definite southern Twin Peaks vibe happening here as the show opens with a dead girl in the middle of nowhere, followed by the ensuing murder investigation. Not to mention diaries and esoteric/occult themes. The academics and theorists must be loving it, as I can see a million essays on what the true meaning of all the chit chat between the two leads really means. Which philosophy wins and who do you side with, etc. Nihilism, existentialism, religion, atheism, some cosmic supernatural shit and everything inbetween all get a look in. I'm still getting my head around the flurry of concepts thrust at me during the eight, hour long, episodes. Oh and apart from all that, it's a really bloody intense, scary and thrilling show.

Watching Breaking Bad you could basically ignore any subtext and just dig on the propulsive, event-laden, minimal plot - which I think I did. That show for me was ultimately pure visceral entertainment in excellis possibly never to be rivalled. True detective sets out to make you think from the minute it starts but this doesn't detract from the unfolding dramatic plot. For those of you feeling bereft after the conclusion of Breaking Bad you will be able to find some solace here in True Detective, particularly around episodes three, four and five where it rivals the predecessor's edge of your seat thrills. Other parallels can be drawn here particularly with Bryan Cranston and Matthew McConaughey both transforming themselves into actors beyond what we could have ever imagined them becoming. Sure, now I look back at Malcolm In The Middle and realise that maybe Hal was genius too but I don't think I'll be going back to How to Lose a Guy In 10 Days and thinking similar things of McConaughey's performance. Then again I've been reliably told he has been building up to this since 2011 with his previous six films. This is all a moot point, as they are now the two best actors of their generation and seemingly peerless.

Horror Movie Soundtracks Need No Transformation

I've only just noticed this article from late last year where it is claimed that perhaps soundtracks are mere memorabilia and the vinyl reissue boom of horror soundtracks is not necessarily based in "the music's stand alone appeal." It is also claimed that the vinyl resurgence of OSTs of horror may have led to the live revival of certain acts.

Using me as an example lets have a look at these claims. DRG Records had this series of cds in the mid 90s Classic Italian Soundtracks. I have the first two volumes of the Goblin compilations, one on  Ennio Morricone's  trilogy of soundtracks for Dario Argento and 4 volumes of  of the Spaghetti Westerns compilations. Of the 17 soundtracks featured on those 2 Goblin comps I'd seen one of the films, Patrick, at the time. Since the mid 90s I have collected 9 individual scores by Goblin and even a couple from the solo Claudio Simmonetti. Now over 15 years later I've only seen one more of the movies that they scored Suspiria and I'm not even sure if that's worth watching. Three of my all time favourite Morricone scores (sure, I like a few others too) are the 3 he scored for Argento The Bird With Crystal Plumage, The Cat O Nine Tails and Four Flies On Grey Velvet. I've never viewed the movies and probably never will. But this music is some of the all time great music of the Twentieth century.

Now I will pick 10 of my favourite horror soundtracks off the top of my head not including any of the aforementioned.

• Christine - John Carpenter & Alan Howarth
• Maniac - Jay Chataway
• Zombie Holocaust - Nico Fidenco
• Porno Holocaust - Nico Fidenco
• Halloween - John Carpenter
• A Lizard In A Woman's Skin - Ennio Morricone
• Chopping Mall - Chuck Cirino
• La Coda Dello Scorpione - Bruno Nicolai
• The Wicker Man - Paul Giovanni
• Eraserhead - Alan Splet & David Lynch

These ten soundtracks I have listened to a zillion times (but only seen three of the films) and think the music is fantastic just as much as any other genre of LP I would listen to. In fact surely there is a case for John Carpenter to be considered one of 20th centuries great composers. I don't need some deluxe reissue for this terrific music to be transformed beyond memorabilia, do I Mr Reed? Perhaps your attitude to movie music needs to transform more than anything. I often think a lot of movies don't deserve the brilliant music they get to soundtrack their films. This all fits in with my 'music is a much more successful cultural artform than film' argument that has been mentioned previously on my blog. Sure you might think I'm just a music guy, so of course I'm going to say that. Once upon a time however I was a definite film guy and was going to go into professional movie reviewing.

For how serious and intense people are about soundtracks and sound design you may want to check out the three volumes published from Philip Brophy's Cinesonic conferences in 1998, 1999 & 2000 by The Australian Film TV and Radio School. Brophy also published the excellent 100 Modern Soundtracks which was part of the BFI Screen Guides series in 2004. Perhaps someone should publish (er... maybe me) a book on soundtracks that stand alone as musical artefacts considering I've just come up with 25 of them in this short article.

The live return of people like Alan Howarth, Fabio Frizzi, Goblin (Goblin have always been around in one form or another as far as I can tell) and another Goblin was inevitable as their cults grew bigger and bigger by the day. More than likely the internet has served as the main reason for these artists' growth in popularity. Having said that, if someone was cluey and cashed up enough in the 90s to promote these artists live I'm sure they would have sold out shows in capital cities across the world.

Don't get me wrong, beautiful new shiny packaging, special artwork and the fetishization of vinyl are all fine things but it's still all about the music innit? I mean Blue Jasmine is an excellent film but I'm not about to rush and buy that OST if its released with a bunch of extra bells and whistles on chunky vinyl am I?

Love the soundtrack & the poster.
I wonder what the film's like?

More On Soundtracks

I've only just realised there was a 1983 sequel to 1980s The Boogey Man and it is possible Tim Krog was responsible for the soundtrack to that as well as the original but information is thin on the ground. By the looks of things the soundtrack to Revenge of the Boogey Man aka Boogey Man II has never seen the light of day. Now that would be a coup if a record company could get a hold of both of these scores. Although perhaps the original score was just reused. If anyone has any information and can confirm or deny such rumours leave a comment.
                                                                                                                                                           

I've also discovered this brilliant mixtape of 70s and 80s horror soundtracks at SoundCloud called Give Me Convenience Or Give Me Death from RFLX. Its got all your favourite composers Frizzi, Chattaway, Lynch and Splet, Shore, Fidenco, Korzynski etc. I know 95% of this music but it's mixed in such an exciting and propulsive manner that its a joy to listen to despite its familiarity. This is the biz.

Horror Movie Right There On Me Stereo

It's been a daily bonanza in the last few years for lovers of soundtracks with a vinyl fetish. Before that we already had the Trunk and Finders Keepers record labels releasing soundtrack esoterica for over ten years. More recently a bunch of new record labels have popped up to satiate your cult film score needs mainly in the vinyl format. Odd, obscure, cult and classic soundtracks are all getting the reissue treatment. What's incredible is how much of it is great stuff. Horror and electronic scores are getting some much deserved attention from labels such as Death Waltz, Waxwork and the new Belgian label One Way Static. These labels have definitely found a niche market for horror buffs who also love their vinyl. Bloggers (Inferno Music Vault, Digital Meltdown, Sleazy Listening, and, well the list goes on & on) are probably most responsible for the rise in interest in these sounds. Such blogs have been passionate about bringing classic and little heard, some even unreleased, horror scores into the public spotlight for many years. Of course many of these links are now dead as these new small labels are now reissuing the music. These labels are set up with a ready made audience wanting their product thanks to the enthusiasm and effort put in by the blogging fraternity. The ongoing cults of Morricone, Goblin and Carpenter have led to a trickle down effect for other lesser known but equally excellent film composers Bruno Nicolai, Giuliano Sorgini, Riz Ortolani, Nico Fidenco, Fabio Frizzi, Richard Band etc. The OSTs to Argento and Carpenter directed films have been exhaustively reissued. Its now the time for another bunch of directors films to get a look in: Fulci, Lenzi, Girolami, Ferrara, Deodato, Craven etc.

I've been searching for the Day Of The Dead (1985) soundtrack ever since I re-watched it 5 or 6 years ago. I couldn't find it in mp3 form, let alone a physical copy. Waxwork re-released it and I bloody missed out but now I think the MP3 is on sale so I guess I'll have to make do with John Harrison's classic 80s synth zombie score in diminished audio. If they get around to releasing Harrison's masterpiece Creepshow I will not be missing out on that! Waxwork were also responsible for one one of my favourite reissues of the 2013, Re-Animator by Richard Band from 1985 as well as the perennially creepy Rosemary's Baby by Krzysztof Komeda.

Death Waltz have covered the obvious ie Goblin and many titles from John Carpenter and Alan Howarth. But new or recent (read post '80's) scores aren't out of the question for their catalogue. Donnie Darko and Room 237 have been issued. Remake scores get a look in as well. Who even knew they remade Maniac or Evil Dead let alone had soundtracks worthy enough to be issued by such a quality label? A reissue of the scores to the original movies of those two wouldn't be unwelcome either. Death Waltz's three most exciting reissues for me have been House By The Cemetery by Walter Rizzati, The Living Dead At The Manchester Morgue by Giuliano Sorgini and De Masi's New York Ripper. Now they are set to reissue two of my all time favourite unheralded scores. I only have a crappy mp3 of Ralph Jones' soundtrack to Slumber Party Massacre so I'm looking forward to hearing this in its original glory. This is an exceptional score of melodic pulsating synthy creepiness and minimal mayhem. The other is possibly the cultiest soundtrack item of them all Susan Justin's electronic score to Forbidden World. This has been unavailable since its original release in 1982. Never seen the film (possibly not even strictly a horror flick) but love the soundtrack. '80's new wave synth disco, space age tones, squeaks, squelches, eerie melodies and even mini slices of power electronics make this one of the most unique and best soundtracks of the '80's if not the best. Some of it sounds like it was recorded yesterday and released on Spectrum Spools.

80s Masterpiece

One Way Static have twigged my interest with the imminent release of Roberto Donati's OST to Cannibal Ferox from 1981 although this was only released less than 2 years ago in digital. This is a classic funky disco psych gem with swathes of intense horror synth. One of Italy's great soundtracks. One Way Static's other releases have been two seventies Wes Craven titles, The Last House On The Left with a soundtrack from David Alexander Hess and Don Peak's score to The Hills Have Eyes.

On the more arthouse tip was last years sublime synthesiser score from Eduard Artemiev for the 1972 Andrei Tarkovsky film Solaris, which made it into my reissues of 2013 list. This was released on Superior Viaduct not really a Soundtrack label but worth a mention as Artimiev's scores have never been released for the western market before. This year the label plan on releasing two more of Artemiev's Tarkovsky soundtracks, the scores to the 1979 Russian cult movie Stalker and The Mirror (1975) will get a release. I recall Stalker having some of the most extraordinary and haunting drones I'd ever heard on celluloid.

There is so much happening in this little sector of the music world I don't know if I can keep up. I'm assuming somewhere along the line Wayne Bell & Tobe Hooper's experimental score to 1974's Texas Chainsaw Massacre will get a release as well as Joe Delia's bizarre soundtrack to Abel Ferarra's Driller Killer (Delia's score to Ferarra's Ms.45 was issued by Death Waltz recently). My wish list would include 3 horror soundtracks I've never been able to track down before. Madeleine-Anitomia Di Un Incubo (1974) composed by Maurizio Vandetti, Chopping Mall (1986) by Chuck Cirino and 1980's Roberto Donati score for Umberto Lenzi's Mangiati Vivi! (Eaten Alive). Oh and what about Tim Krog's fabulous Boogey Man score last issued in its year of release 1980? Finally, surely there is a bidding war going on now to see who gets the vinyl release for the (un)holy grail of Italian horror soundtracks Cannibal Holocaust. I've got that on cd though, so who cares?! What do you think I am, some kind of vinyl snob?

This was released on California's other SST label in 1980.

*Previous post here on Slumber Party Massacre and one here on The Living Dead At The Manchester Morgue.

Skrillex & Time

Had a very brief listen to the Skrillex album Recess and for all its atemporality it sounded very much 2011 to me, the best bits anyway. This had me thinking that perhaps time hasn't completely collapsed. Is there still hope that time will get back on track? Or is it just now we have different versions of the atemporal. Perhaps Skrillex just doesn't have the latest old influences. To be more now/not now (atemporal in 2014) i dunno maybe he needs a bit of disco, EBM, Gabba or_________(insert latest old trend) thrown in the mix. Then will that just date him to now though. Whichever way you look at it, it's still all dated. But it's more complicated than you think. Watch this space.....

Lamborghini Crystal's Better Than The New Stuff

After really diggin Helm's Silencer from last year I have to say Impasse their new reissue from 2008 is pretty disappointing. It just drones on in a very unoriginal manner. Where's the beats? Generic drone is happening now, well then and that was a while ago. Why? Who really cares? Clay Rendering's new 12" Waters Above The Firmament was described as recalling The Cocteau Twins, Cranes and Sonic Youth. Was this supposed to entice me or make me wanna throw up. How many more bloody bands are gonna sound like The Cocteaus or Sonic Youth? I think if I read an artist was influenced by Paul Young I'd be more likely to check that out. Hey I loved early Cranes, do I wanna hear someone rippin them off over 20 years later?

Is that JC Peavey in the corner?

I came across a couple of Lamborghini Crystal tapes I had not heard today. It's pretty easy to write off James Ferraro's work as ephemeral due to its abundance and his post Far Side Virtual slide into crapness. However there was once a time when it was very exciting to hear what his latest 5 albums were like. The releases from Lamborghini Crystal I already had 1992 Cool Runnings,  Alien Microwave, Draco Shop Bop Volume 1, Dial 747 Creepozoid and Roach Motel are all top notch. These were peaks in his ridiculous career that were the foretaste of his classic, probably greatest solo outing Night Dolls With Hairspray. Lamborghini Crystal was a duo though that also contained JC Peavey although he could very well be fictitious. Would I dig these two seven year old tapes now that his moment had passed and his reputation was dwindling? Fuck yeah because they're the biz.

Clock Tower Acid could have almost been released on GhostBox. Half of it sounds like early Belbury Poly crossed with later Advisory Circle. It's got a real Euro-library feel. Come to think of it, it might not even be him at all. It could be just some wholesale appropriation of a 70s synth artist. Anyway the other half is like a malfunctioning Ariel Pink robot attempting cartoon noise rock. To top it off it's all recorded on the world's most decrepit tape.

Smoking Out His Majesties UFO is an album that sounds like it was made by a band that only appeared on Z grade soundtracks of straight to video movies from the 80s.  This is a trip that is very not quite right, sounding like they'd dropped acid and recorded it in an amusement arcade. Side 1 is a particularly splendid slice of chopped up baby gonzoid electro space psych.

I am pleased to read on discogs there's 3 more tapes and that I'm still yet to hear. How long will it take to track these down?

Smoking Out His
Majesties UFO
(2007)

Ekoplekz - Unfidelity

It's always a good week when Nick Edwards aka Ekoplekz puts out a new LP or tape. This is probably Ekoplekz's most accessible record to date. His usual eerie electronic dub cluster-fuck is more restrained here, with a lot more space. His solo double LP Plezatoinz was perhaps the foretaste of this expansive direction but where those tracks were like 15 minutes long Unfidelity's are a third of the size and a lot more compact. His unpredictable clanky echoes and synth smears are mighty on this album. Melody is even lurking within some of these tracks. Atmospheres and tension are built to unprecedented soundtrack-like levels. It's still undoubtedly Ekoplekz though and his music is in no way diminished. In fact it is quite possibly more powerful. Wow you could even maybe dance to some of these tunes. Ekoplekz is still the sound of the wintry demise of capitalism, industry and time. Or is it just the sound of a man trying to manipulate his wayward machines? Analogue Twitch and the humidity of Coalpit Heath are pointing toward the day when Ekoplekz will make the perfect dystopian summer album. Unfidelity is the album of the year and it's only March.

It's Glam Party Time II....With Suzi Quatro

To be quite honest I don't recall this one from childhood. Maybe it wasn't a hit in Australia however I was only a toddler at the time. Actually it got to no. 4 here but the other 3 here were number ones. I think she was bigger in Australia than anywhere else, having hits long after this little run of gold.

To me these are the 4 classics that were released in succession. The next couple I didn't like so much (but others rate them). That's 4 classics though. The Buggles only managed one.

Mr & Mrs Z

I am so sick of having to desire Beyonce. Yeah Beyonce we know you're beautiful. Yep you've got a rockin bod there Beyonce. Very nice booty Beyonce. Yep junk, yep trunk, yep jelly. I see Beyonce's body more than I see my own wife's for Christ's sake. Maybe I won't have to desire her for much longer as her narcissism is starting to cloud my judgement of her external beauty. I pity her poor kids when they're older and they have to hear that Jay Z rap about movin Beyonce's knickers... sorry I should say panties to the side and something about her box. Come on Mr & Mrs Z your kids are gonna be in for a rough time if you keep this shit up. No matter how beautiful you are it doesn't matter you're someone's parents and hey that's gross.

Also Beyonce post Destiny's Child a little overrated? Yes.

Those Jay Z lyrics in full from Drunk In Love (Beyonce doesn't really strike me as a party girl. I can't really imagine her pissed)

[Verse 3: Jay-Z]
(I'm nice right now)
Hold up
That D'USSÉ is the shit if I do say so myself
If I do say so myself, if I do say so myself
Hold up,
Stumbled all in the house time to back up all of that mouth
That you had all in the car, talking 'bout you the baddest bitch thus far
Talking 'bout you be repping that third, I wanna see all the shit that I heard
Know I sling Clint Eastwood, hope you can handle this curve
Foreplay in the foyer, fucked up my Warhol
Slip the panties right to the side
Ain't got the time to take draws off, on site
Catch a charge I might, beat the box up like Mike
In '97 I bite, I'm Ike, Turner, turn up
Baby no I don't play, now eat the cake, Anna Mae
Said, "Eat the cake, Anna Mae!"
I'm nice, for y'all to reach these heights you gonna need G3
4, 5, 6 flights, sleep tight
We sex again in the morning, your breastases is my breakfast
We going in, we be all night

*Taken from AZLyrics.com

Child Z -  "Dad what did you have for brekky?"

Jay Z -  "I had yer mum's breastases."

Child Z -  "Of course you did dad."

Its Party Time With........Gary Glitter

This was originally a B-side dub!

The sound and vision here combine for a pop art masterpiece. The cameraman and director are unusually sympathetic to Glitter's art here.

What a run of hit singles. These were all released in a row starting in 1972 through to 73. What a nut job! Did people notice this at the time or just in retrospect? What about his hair? His dancing was fabulous. He comes across as very aggressive and quite unhinged really. I dunno if Gary was a laugh or   if people were scared of him. What more do you need from pop though? Fascinating. Outfuckingrageous! Gold!

*Up yours Sting.

I Like The Old Stuff Better Than The New Stuff

So far this year there's been 3 releases that have arrived but I hardly want to play them at all. Before I started my blog I had a renewed interest in all things current in music from like 2008 to pretty much the start of last year. The only things from the recent past still getting an airing are that Gesaffelstein album Aleph, which I just can't get enough of (the best album of 2013 I reckon) and the Logos album Cold Mission. My most played music of last year wasn't new at all it was Steely Dan in fact. This year its been T-Rex, post-Eno Roxy Music, 70s Bowie (is there any other?), Suzi Quatro singles, New York Dolls, The Runaways and The Dictators. Who can explain where your head is gonna go? Youtube is probably the most influential catalyst for my listening, not radio, tv or print media. In fact I haven't listened to the radio or bought a music magazine for six months. The occasional blog or website might put me on a path but its mainly my own brain that leads the way. Listening to Ultravox, Tubeway Army and the subsequent solo outings from John Foxx and Gary Numan makes sense. I can thank Genesis P Orridge for a renewed interest in The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter by The Incredible String Band and the discovery of Dr Strangely Strange's Kip Of The Serenes. He mentioned liking those recently on the interweb.

It's not lookin good for these 3 new records. I've skipped through Sun Araw's Belomancie and it seemed a little annoying so I dunno if I'll return to it? Sun Araw's Beach Head, Heavy Deeds, On Patrol and Ancient Romans are some of my favourite recordings of last few years. Cameron Stallones last LP under the guise of Sun Araw The Inner Treaty didn't really appeal but his collaboration with M Geddes Gengres and The Congos Icon Give Thank from 2012 was great.

I got a little excited by the arrival of Pye Corner Audio's Black Mill Tapes 3 & 4.  I dug the previous Volumes 1 & 2, Sleep Games and The House In The Woods (his side Project) LP Bucolica, but I don't even think I've played this new one all the way through yet and I've had it for over a month.

After these two underwhelming releases I wasn't expecting much from Kemper Norton's album Carn. Maybe there was no life left in the farmer in the city, gumboot industrial, rustic bunny blah blah but thankfully it sounds bloody great (after one listen) and this one I will be returning to right after listening to The Groundhogs Hogwash, Gary Glitter and DJ Extreme's Tom & Jerry Mix  of course....

Mommy Mommy Where's My Brain

Someone telling Nick Cave to shut-up, priceless. Who's this Johnny Public? I can't find anything about him, but I like his low fi Suicide-esque shtick. That AC/DC thing's good too. 

Toni, Alannis, Robin and Guy Chadwick

Where are they Now?

So it turns out Guy Chadwick can be added to the club that Toni Halliday (see previous post) belonged to. Guy was apparently some kind of failed new romantic before he gained credibility (whatever that means?) during the House Of Love's heady rise and quick demise in the late 80s/early 90s. I reckon Creation Records who the House Of Love were signed to probably tried to hush this up at the time.  I only heard about it the other day after watching that doco on Creation Records. This turned out to be mainly about Alan McGee. But I think one on Guy & Terry would be classic. Chadwick was terrible at drinking and drugs according to himself. One facet they failed to address in the film was all the unsuccessful artists (artistically and financially) McGee signed. That would make a very long list. Slowdive didn't even get a mention, I mean Noel Gallagher had to tell us one more time about all the drugs he's done and how awesome he is so what did you expect? Did anyone ever notice that Oasis were like a third rate version of the fabulous 60s band The Creation and that's what the label was named after? 

Here they are.

Shoegazers II - The Pale Saints

When I said in that shoegaze post that the Pale Saints had their moments that seemed a bit dismissive. I meant they had some superlative moments. The Pale Saints energy and dynamics were harvested to great affect on their recordings. Something about them was different from the Thames Valley bands. There was more to them than floppy fringes and stripe-y T-Shirts. They seemed just as informed by MOR and Wire as they were by My Bloody Valentine and The Jesus & Mary Chain. They had a vibe that was effortless and assured. Maybe they were just more talented than the rest and you felt like they could be stars because they were like real artists.

Hair Shoes with it's startling intensity, still sounds astonishing to this day. This is from their second album In Ribbons.

Sometime in my preteens I got my first tape recorder. It was a mono portable Panasonic thing. The first blank tape I ever bought was given to a friend and he recorded a handful Devo songs on it. I vaguely remember a live version of Freedom Of Choice. This may be it, I dunno. When I first heard The Pixies their guitar sound put me in mind of Devo and this tune in particular.

*PS (2 hours later)
It seems after some research that the tunes put to that tape must have been from the DEV-O Live EP. This had six tracks recorded in 1980 and released in 81. It spent 3 weeks at the top of the Australian singles charts.

These Boots Are Made For Walkin'

Ooh la la Nancy, at your age!