Archive for the ‘B-sides’ Category

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It Sounds Better Than “Idaho Bishops” I Guess…

Wednesday, May 25th, 2011

It’s raining.

It can stop anytime.

Stupid rain.

Aztec Camera
Backwards And Forwards (Live)
Jump
The Bugle Sounds Again (Live)
Mattress of Fire (Live)
The Birth Of The Tune (Live)
Do you like Aztec Camera? Do you like the fact that I semi-routinely post rare tracks by them? If so, swing on by to the amazing Anna Hegedus’ website. If it wasn’t for her I would have never heard of them, and I buy most of my Aztec Camera to make her happy.

And yes, that “Jump” you see there is a cover of the Van Halen tune of the same name. It sure is…something.

These were all taken from a 10″ single for “Backwards And Forwards.”

Jimmy Somerville
Heartbeat (Armand Van Helden Mix)
Jimmy Somerville was the lead singer of Bronski Beat, and he’s fabulous. The DJ compilation record in which I found this mix, however, was very much not fabulous. It was scratched to shit, skipped like crazy, and overall just sounded like a pile of ass.

Now, I have previously stated my aversion to audio “clean-up” programs that remove the clicks and pops found on vinyl records. They tend to make the recordings sound compressed and distorted, which is way worse than a couple clicks and pops.

I usually just go through myself and remove all the bad parts if possible, but this recording was a mess. While browsing the Internet for good audio editing software I came across ClickRepair and I thought I’d give it a shot. It seems to do a pretty good job, but I’ll be the first to admit that my ears aren’t always trained for this kind of thing. I used it on this track though, so download it and let me know how it sounds.

I would appreciate any input you all have. If you’re an audio geek and really want to see how the program works then download this zip. Included in it are two copies of a live version of Tom Robinson’s “Glad To Be Gay” (I know it’s an odd test file, but it was the most damaged track I could find that I thought was still salvageable). Listen to both to the “before” and “after” tracks, is there anything wrong with the after track? I don’t notice any significant audio degradation. I really want this program to work, it would make my life so much easier!

Utah Saints
Ohio (DJ Misjah Mix)
On Feburary 24th, 2009, I said the following:

“The Utah Saints were neither from Utah or saints, discuss.”

Commenter Rekanize responded with the following:

“New Orleans, once upon a time, used to have a basketball team known as The New Orleans Jazz… in 1979, they were moved to Utah, then known as the Utah Jazz.

Well, New Orleans’s football team is the Saints…

yeah?”

That was over two years ago and it still blows my fucking mind. Shit’s crazy.

This remix is from the same compilation that the Jimmy Somerville track is from, but the side it was on was in considerably better shape, and required no digital touching up.

And, no, this is not a cover of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young’s “Ohio.” One could only hope. I assume it’s called “Ohio” because it samples “Fire” by the Ohio Players. This track samples something else though right? What is it?

Update 5/25/11: File was removed because it was actually the album version, and not a remix.

 

 

Posted in Aztec Camera, B-sides, covers, live, remixes, Utah Saints | 4 Comments »

Too Tired For a Title – The Sequel

Thursday, February 24th, 2011

Big ups to my Melbourne connection for hooking me up with the elusive Dreamcast vinyl! Dude if you ever need someone whacked, or if you just need someone to get you something off of a high shelf let me know. This giant vinyl/video game nerd is forever in your debt.

If any of my other fans ever want to pay me back for all my years of providing free, bizarre music, I would like to remind you all that I do take checks.

Seriously though, feeling generous? Go click on that link on the right for Planned Parenthood. Donate a few bucks their way. You’d be making me happy, helping low-income families get birth control, and pissing off Republicans all at the same time. Seems like a triple-win to me.

Renegade Soundwave
Thunder II
Manphibian
Mash-Up
I said before I would post more RSW if I found some. And guess what? I did. These are from a 12″ for “Thunder.”

Unrelated note, “Manphibian” totally sounds like a Roger Corman movie that never happened. Maybe a sequel to “Sssssss” (and yes kids, that the name of a real movie). If anyone could tell me what “Manphibian” samples I would appreciate it. It sounds like the song that was used to become the Sex & The City theme, or am I just sleep deprived and half death?

The Shamen
Possible Worlds (Deep Psi)
Possible Worlds (Imaginary)
Possible Worlds (Stick)
Possible Worlds (Reverse)
My Shamen clearance sale continues! These are b-sides to “Make It Mine.” I have more Shamen coming still! Probably two more posts worth. I hope someone is digging this shit, I sure am.

L.L. Cool J
Rock The Bells (Original Version)
Bittersweet Symphony vs. Rock The Bells
And for some musical diversity, its time to rock the motherfucking bells.

The original version of this track is crazy. First of all, it has actual bells. Something that is lacking from the album cut. It’s also seven minutes long, is completely lacking anything resembling a chorus, and has the fidelity of a track that I might record in my closet with an 8-track recorder and a Fischer Price microphone. Although that might have more to do with the quality of the vinyl I ripped it from, which looked like it was taken through a pack of wolverines. I cleaned the hell out of this fucker (both digitally and literally) and I think it sounds pretty good now, I hope you all agree.

Also included as a bonus is the “Bittersweet Symphony/Rock the Bells” mashup mix from the excellent game DJ Hero. I don’t know why, but this mix pumps me up like nothing else. I think it’s the whole “L.L. Cool J. is hard as HELL” bit, which is stretched out a little bit in this mix. I used to have it on my jogging mix, but it pumped me up to such a dangerous degree that I had to remove it in fear of giving myself a heart attack. Same thing happened when I used to have “Red Cape Diver” by Foxy Shazam on my workout mix. Some songs are just too motivational! I should just stick to the classics.

Posted in B-sides, LL Cool J, remixes, Renegade Soundwave, The Shamen | 5 Comments »

Orbtastic? Is that taken?

Monday, February 21st, 2011

I need this record. I need this record. I need this record.

I NEED THIS RECORD.

For those of you who don’t click on random links without knowing what they are. I am referring to a special, limited edition Dreamcast white vinyl record with songs from various Dreamcast games. It’s pretty. And apparently very hard to find. It’s a pre-order bonus in parts of Europe and Australia for the upcoming Dreamcast Collection. If any of my European or Australian readers want to make a deal, send me an email please. Seriously. I will pay money for this. I want that record.

The Shamen
Make It Mine (Manhattan Mix)
Make It Mine (Moby’s Dub Mix)
Make It Mine (Deep Mix)
Make It Mine (Club Vocal)
Make It Mine (V 2.1 Make It Minimal)
Make It Mine (V 2.4 Micro Minimal)
Make It Mine (Pro-Gress I Vox)
Make It Mine (Pro-Gress I Instrumental)
Make It Mine (V 1.1 Lenny D )

I think he wants to make it his.

Okay, I’m going to be honest; I know jackshit about The Shamen. I touched on this last week. I was bored. It was a slow week at the record store, and someone must have recently sold their entire Shamen collection. I bought the records because I noticed some of the remix artists. Now I have three hours and twenty minutes of Shamen remixes on my hard drive. Thank God they’re mostly good! That would have been embarrassing otherwise.  These remixes are from two separate Make It Minesingles. I’ll have even more Shamen later in the week hopefully.

Orbital
Chime (Extended Version)
Chime Crime
Chime (Joey Bel Tram/Program 2 Mix)
Open Mind
Open Mind (Funky Alternatives Mix)
So there’s The Orb, mostly-forgotten late-90s rock band Orbit, William Orbit, and Orbital. Am I missing anyone in the vast variances of Orb-derivative band names? All these bands started around the same time too, you think they would have gotten together and worked out it out. Did any of them ever work together? Anyone have any Orb/ital mash-up? Maybe a mix of “Blue Room” and “Halcyon + On + On?“ That would be dope, and probably like 80 minutes long, but whatever, I’d listen to it.

Anyways, these tracks are from a 12″ promo single I picked up last week. If you’re wondering which track is the best, the answer is all of them.

Posted in B-sides, Orbital, remixes, The Shamen | 7 Comments »

Super Bowled Over

Tuesday, February 8th, 2011

So the dome of protection that protected Pittsburgh from the blizzard was apparently part of some black magic pact that cost the city the Super Bowl. Oh well, at least we don’t have to endure headlines about how Ben Roethlisberger somehow “redeemed’ himself because he won a fucking football game.

But lets not talk about that (alleged) criminal. Instead lets talk about some actual criminals. The Black Eyed Peas.

The halftime show.

Holy.

Shit.

Wow. I mean, I knew the Black Eyed Peas sucked. I’ve written extensively about that very subject. Their shittiness is nothing new to me. But even I was surprised as to just how hideous they were. How does that even happen? Didn’t anyone at the NFL know? Shit. Maybe they should start holding auditions for bands before they take the stage and aurally assault America. Anyone notice how even with the autotune they sounded like a shit sandwhich? That’s because in order for the robo-voice effect to work right you have to be able to hold a note. Sure, when Will.I.Am is in the studio, he can shit out horrible take after horrible take of the opening line to “The Time (Dirty Bit),” because he just needs to deliver one average vocal performance. But when he has to puke out some vocals live he can’t even fulfill the bare minimum vocal requirements in order to make an autotuned performance sound good. Of course, if he just would have rapped without any bullshit vocal modification he would have sounded fine. But no, motherfucker wants to sound like a robot.

As for Fergie. Ugh. I almost kind of sort of defended her the last time I went off on an anti-Black Eyed Peas rant. That was a mistake. There’s no defending her now.

Most people know about how autotune can make people sound like robots, but what some people might not know is that autotune’s primary purpose is to not be noticed, and to fix poor vocal performances in the studio. And what I took away from Fergie trying to sing live is that, well, she can’t. She is a product of studio manipulation. Sure, she can rap/sing-talk fine, but you ask her to hold a note or carry a tune and her true, talentless colors come through bright and clear. Yikes. Well, at least she didn’t piss herself on stage this time. So she has that going for her, which is nice.

Oh, and Slash? Fuck you and your shiny top hat.

Sigh. Remember when Prince did the halftime show? That was awesome. Prince should just do all the halftime shows from now until the day he dies. And then we should just get replays of those.

Gary Numan
My World Storm (12” Mix)
My World Storm (Instrumental)
Could you imagine a Gary Numan halftime show? It would be amazing! He could come out in a little go-cart and rock out some of “Cars” before going into “Are ‘Friends’ Electric?” “Me! I disconnect from you” and close with a bitchin’ version of “Metal.” Sure, only eight people in the world would want to see that, but shit, we’d be stoked! These tracks are from a 12″.

Joan Jett & The Blackhearts
Don’t Surrender (Extended Mix)
Don’t Surrender (The Most Excellent Mix)
Joan Jett’s halftime show would include her in a camouflage bikini top and leather pants. Then she’d beat the shit out of the entire defensive lines of both football teams.

John Foxx
Enter The Angel (Extended Mix)
Stairway
Foxx’s halftime show would…shit…I got nothing. It’s 2am. I should go to bed.

Tags:
Posted in B-sides, Gary Numan, Joan Jett, John Foxx, remixes | 12 Comments »

The Post Before The Ice Storm

Tuesday, February 1st, 2011

I buy a lot of vinyl.

I know, it’s shocking.

But I don’t just buy old out-of-print 12″ singles by synthpop artists, I buy new records too! I try to buy all new music exclusively on vinyl. I like to own something tangible when I buy music, and nothing is more tangible than vinyl.

Thankfully, a lot of labels and artists are picking up on this and releasing their records on vinyl the same day they are released digitally. This is cool of them, and it helps me keep faith that physical media isn’t quite dead yet.

However, they don’t always do it right, in fact sometimes the do it so wrong its just fucking insulting. Here are some of my biggest beefs with new vinyl releases.

No Digital Download
Yes, I buy vinyl partially because I think records sound better than MP3s, however, records sure as hell aren’t as convienent as MP3s. Its nice to have a digital copy of an album. And while I obviously know how to record an LP and convert it to MP3, not everyone does. So when they buy a vinyl copy of an album and it doesn’t come with a digital copy of the record they’re basically either forced to buy the album twice or steal it from a torrent site just to get the ability to play it on their computer or MP3 player. Labels shouldn’t make their customers resort to theft, they should give them the digital copy too. Not only that, if the person is buying the record from the artist or label’s official site, then they should get a link to download the tracks immediately and not have to wait for the physical copy to come in the damn mail. If I’m buying an album the day it comes out I want to listen to it the day it comes out, not wait two to four weeks for delivery.

ID Tags
Even if an artist includes a digital download with their vinyl release they can still find ways to fuck that up. One of the most annoying ways is when they don’t bother to create ID tags for the digital files. Sometimes they aren’t given track numbers, and other times album or even artist info is left blank! That’s just lazy and stupid. And that means that I have to fill that shit in. Is it the end of the world? No, but it’s really annoying. Everyone does this to some degree, but RJD2’s label seems to be particularly bad at it, which is annoying because I love his music and he’s a really nice guy. But seriously, how hard is it to make sure your MP3s are labeled properly?

Audio Quality
One of the reasons why I buy vinyl is because I hate over-compressed CDs that crank up the audio to levels that are far too loud. Vinyl actually can’t be too loud, the grooves can’t go that deep. Vinyl geeks like how vinyl sounds, so the MP3s that come with them should come from a vinyl source. Sadly, this is pretty rare. Most MP3 downloads that come with records are taken from the same digital, over-compressed, too-loud source that are used for the CD and digital release, so more often than not I end up recording my vinyl copy so I have a copy of the record for my iPod that actually sounds good. Is annoying. Of course, if they’re going to give vinyl buyers high quality versions of the songs then they might as well just give everyone those higher-quality versions, and we know that’s never going to happen. Nearly every digital download has this problem, I can only think of one notable exception: Beck’s Modern Guilt, which was actually taken from a master vinyl copy (you even hear the needle drop!) and it sounds amazing.

Extras
You can buy a digital copy of The New Pornographers’ Together at Amazon for $8.99. The CD costs just a scant more at $9.29. The LP costs $16.99, that’s almost like buying two digital copies. I know LPs cost more than CDs or digital copies to produce and distribute, but the consumers who shell out the extra bucks shoulnd’t have to eat all of that cost. Why can’t the labels or artists give us something extra since we paid extra? The added content can come in the way of bonus songs on MP3. Since the album should have a digital download link anyways, they should just throw a few more songs on it. It would cost the label almost nothing and actually encourage the fans to shell out more for the more expensive version. Everyone wins! The vinyl copy of El-P’s Weareallgoingtoburninhellmegamixx3 comes with digital download links to the first two volumes of the series, which is nice. However, those downloads lead me to my final point, which is…

Don’t be fucking lazy
The digital versions of the first two mixes are a great inclusion for fans, but they sound like SHIT. And I don’t mean that they are overcompressed or too loud, I mean that they sound like they were taken from a CD that was dragged through a shredder. Its hard to tell if the audio quality is supposed to be bad on these, I’m sure some of the audio glitches are intentional, but its hard to imagine that all the scratches, clips and other oddball audio effects included on these mixes were intentional. Even worse, both mixes have audio watermarks!

For those of you who don’t know, many times promo copies sent out to reviewers have audio watermarks included, these are usually distorted voices that play over the beginning or end of certain tracks, saying things like “You are listening to ALBUM” followed by a warning or an individualized number. These are included to help discourage leaks. They’re annoying enough on review copies, the fact that Definitive Jux couldn’t be bothered to remove them from a fucking FINAL COPY of a recording that is intended consumer use? Inexcusable! Now, it may be that these horribly annoying audio warnings were meant to be included in the original mixes, and if that’s the case then El-P is a fucking idiot.

You know who else is a fucking idiot? Kanye West. I just bought the deluxe vinyl version of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. And that thing is a fucking mess. No digital download, the audio quality is pretty crappy sounding and the art is censored!

The vinyl version of the album comes with, as Amazon describes “frameable artwork.”

Here’s one piece of the frameable artwork.

In case you were wondering, this is what the art is supposed to look like.

If that wasn’t bad enough, they even censor the art on the actual album.

You can’t even see the art from the outside of the box, so censoring it serves no purpose at all. Doing something like that requires a special kind of stupid. It’s really quite remarkable.

Dipshits.

Foxy Shazam
Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
You know you aren’t dipshits? Foxy Shazam! They’re the opposite of dipshits, they are godlike geniuses who create music so fantasically amazing that if it gets any better it might cure cancer, solve world peace and function as a free energy source. I saw them last week and since then my eyesight has improved and I think my IQ has increased by 100 points. I also think I may have de-aged 10 years overnight and learned how to play every instrument ever known without taking a single lesson. This song, which is amazing and might just change your life strictly by the power of its perfect awesomeness, is from a 7″ single to their equally brilliant song “Oh Lord.”

Nine Inch Nails
Only (Richard X Edit
Only (Richard X Dub)
Only (EL-P Instrumental)
Nine In Nails are also not dipshits, and neither is Richard X, who created two of these great remixes. We’ve already been over the dipshitness of El-P, however. Thes are from a 12″.

Posted in B-sides, Foxy Shazam is the motherfucking real deal, NIN, remixes, Uncategorized | 7 Comments »

A is for Awesome

Wednesday, January 19th, 2011

Tonight’s post is brought to you by the letter “A” because I’m too lazy sometimes to shift through my massive queue of future blog tracks.

The Alarm
Strength (Power Mix)
Absolute Reality ( Inpromptu Acoustic Version)
People have called The Alarm pretentious in the past, and I think that label is total bullshit. A pretentious band thinks highly of themselves while thinking less of those around them. The Alarm probably think very highly of themselves, but if the lyrics to songs like “Strength” are any indication at all, they also think very highly of their audience as well as the general population.

A better word to describe The Alarm would be “earnest.” Songs like “Strength” convey an overwhelming feeling of earnestness; they really want you to believe what they are saying because it’s some important shit! I get the feeling that The Alarm thought that songs like these were Incredibly Important and could change Things. And there’s a certain level of respect that should be given to them because of that.

“Strength” is one bad-ass song. Its the kind of song you listen to help get yourself out of a post-breakup doldrum, or possibly as the soundtrack to a really rough cardio workout. I’m sure it was a contender for a montage song in a Rocky movie at one point. The acoustic version of “Absolute Reality” is less blood-pumpingly good, but it’s still a really great tune. Both of these are from a 12″ single.

Art Of Noise
Dragnet (Arthur Baker Mix)
Acton Art
Dragnet (Art of Noise 12” Mix)
Dragnet (Art of Noise 7” Mix)
The Art of Noise have nothing in common with The Alarm, aside from the fact that both play music and start with the letter “A.” If The Alarm is earnest then these remixes of the Dragnet Theme are most certainly not. What’s the opposite of earnest? Goofy? Yeah, that sums these tracks up pretty damn well. I love the wacky lo-tech sampling of The Art Of Noise, taking a note, sampling it, and then adjusting the pitch to create different “notes” of that sound. There’s something so perfectly 80s about it, like headbands and Alf. So what I’m saying is that The Art of Noise are the Alf of music. Yeah, that makes sense. These are remixes of the theme of the 1980s Dragnet movie, meaning they are the probably the only tracks I will ever feature on this blog that will feature the vocal stylings of Tom Hanks and Dan Aykroyd.

Oh and that’s not a typo, that one track is called “Acton Art” not “Action Art.”

Posted in B-sides, remixes, The Alarm, The Art Of Noise | 1 Comment »

Happy .NUXX Year

Thursday, December 30th, 2010

This will most likely be my only post of the week. By extension this makes it my last post of the year! So lets send off 2010 with a bang and hope that 2011 is better!

Underworld
King Of Snake (Barking Mix)
King Of Snake (Fatboy Slim Remix)
King Of Snake (Slam Remix)
King Of Snake (Straight [Mate] Mix)

Jumbo (Future Shock Worlds Apart Mix)
Jumbo (Jedis Electro Dub Mix)
Jumbo (Jedis Sugar Hit Mix)
Jumbo (Rob Rives & Francois K. Main Dish)
Cups (Salt City Orchestra Vertical Bacon Vocal)

Push Upstairs (Adam Beyer Remix)
Push Upstairs (Darren Price Remix)
Push Upstairs (Roger S. Blue Plastic People Mix)
Please Help Me
Bruce Lee (Dobropet)
Bruce Lee (Short Version)
Bruce Lee (The Micronauts Remix)

Born Slippy .NUXX (Darren Price Remix 2)
Born Slippy .NUXX (Deep Pan)
Born Slippy .NUXX (Nuxx & Darren Price Remix)

Underneath The Radar (12” Remix)

In my research of Underworld while reviewing their excellent new album Barking, I came across this. Now, as Beaucoup Fish is one of my favorite albums of the 1990s, the fact that this existed and I did not know of it came as quite the shock to me. I was obsessed with Beaucoup Fish when it came out, listening to “King Of Snake” at a frequency that no doubt drove my then college roommate absolutely bonkers. My other favorite tracks on the album were “Bruce Lee”, “Jumbo” and “Push Upstairs.” And there was a box set that included remixes of these songs and I didn’t know about it! Man, I’m slipping.

Well, luckily for all of you, my discovery of this set was was so delayed (11 years or so) that by the time I picked it up it was out of print. Since you can’t get it new legally anymore, I feel as if it is my civic duty to share the amazing remixes on that set!

The “King Of Snake” mixes are the best, although the first two do end rather abruptly. The Fatboy Slim mix, like everything that bald bastard was putting out at the time, is freaking brilliant. The Dave Clark mix of the track is also on that disc, but my vinyl rip of it sounds better than the CD one, and you can find that here.

The “Push Upstairs” mixes are all very good, but the highlights from that disc are really the remixes of “Bruce Lee” which take that nonsensical ode to Kung Fu and make it even more epic with throbbing beats and pulsing rhythms ripped straight from an all night rave circa 1997. The B-side “Please Help Me” is also excellent. Take everything I just said and repeat it for all the remixes of “Jumbo,” many of which are better than the original version.

But wait! There’s more! All this Underworld reminiscing got me thinking about their seminal classic “Born Slippy .NUXX.” So I dug some remixes of that banger out of my virtual vault. And just to show how much Underworld has changed over the years, I’m also throwing up a remix of their synthpop-era track “Underneath The Radar,” a superb example of 80s pop and dance that I bet most people don’t know about.

Enjoy the beats and have a safe New Years everyone! Don’t get as drunk as I’m planning to!

Posted in B-sides, remixes, Underworld | 8 Comments »

My Thanksgiving Groping

Friday, November 19th, 2010

I’m flying out to Oregon today to spend Thanksgiving with my mom.  I am stoked for that. What I am NOT stoked for are those lovely new TSA security guidelines. You know, the ones that violate your personal freedom while not actually making your flight safer? Ugh. Is there a bar in the ticket area? If I’m getting felt up by a fat man with a mustache I want someone to buy me a drink first…

Anyways, expect a full, possibly explitive-filled first-hand report of said possible molestation in my next post. Until then, we dance!

Alison Moyet
Whispering Your Name (Extended Mix)
Rock And Roll (Live)
F. O. S.
As you may or may not know, Alison Moyet was the lead singer of Yaz (or Yazoo, for my European listeners). I’m not that familiar with her solo career, but if “Whispering Your Name” is any indication, I can’t understand why she didn’t breakthrough into the mainstream. “F.O.S.” is a B-side and sounds as such, but the live version of Led Zeppelin’s “Rock And Roll” is pretty fucking amazing. All three of these tracks are from a CD single I bought for two bucks.

Chip Chip
 Never Say Goodbye (Extended Vocal Version)
Never Say Goodbye (Instrumental Version)
I have no idea who Chip Chip is. I bought this 12” single because it was on the ZYX label, and I pretty much buy everything ZYX released from the 80s, because almost all of it is crazy synthpop or electro. This is crazy Italo disco, and while that’s not as awesome as some wacky electro, it’s still pretty damn good. If anyone wants to fill me in on who these ladies are, feel free!

Posted in Alison Moyet, B-sides, Chip Chip, remixes | 5 Comments »

A Whale Of a Blog Post

Thursday, October 7th, 2010

Word.

Look, sometimes I don’t have much to say.

Tears For Fears
Pale Shelter (You Don’t Give Me Love) (Extended Version)
Pale Shelter (You Don’t Give Me Love)
Saxophones as Opiates
I never noticed this until now, but between the title track, “Mad World,” “Ideas as Opiates” and “Pale Shelter,” The Hurting is probably one of the most bleak and depressing albums of all time. It’s amazing what you can get away with when you throw some catchy dance beats in there. The Hurting came out when I was all of three years old, so I missed it. I did, however, rock out heavily to Songs From The Big Chair, which came out when I was a much more mature five years old. I seriously have a very vivid memory of three kids in my first grade class running across the playground singing their own version of “Shout” which went “Fart! Fart! Let it all out!” over and over again. I don’t think there’s a better sign of a song permiating the American culture than a bunch of six-year-olds in Ohio creating their own scatological remake of it.

“Pale Shelter” has an odd release history. It was actually the group’s second single (originally released under the longer name you see above), but it failed to catch on in the UK. After “Mad World” blew up the band’s label re-released the song, but in a different mix (and shorter title). That later mix is the version that appears on the album. It too has its own extended mix, which weas included on later editions of the album on CD. No version of this original mix has ever been included on CD as far as I can tell.  To be honest it’s not that different, the biggest difference  in the beginning; the older versions starts off with a  backmasked lyric, while the album version does not. Still, it’s an awesome song, and any mix of it is worth a listen. “Saxophones As Opiates” is a b-side from the “Mad World” single.

In case you’re wondering, the backmasked lyric in the beginning of “Pale Shelter” is  “the sickness in the system is an amplification of the sickness in the individual.” That’s totally deep, yo.

Whale
Crying At Airports (Remix by Shawn J. Period featuring Mos Def)
Crying At Airports (Friend’s Wigga-No-No Remake)
I know next to nothing about this group. I bought the single because it had cool art and Mos Def is on it. It’s groovy little trip-hop/dance tune and worth a listen. I really dig the “Wigga-No-No Remake” with it’s drum-n-bass inspired breakbeats. Curious after hearing the tune, I did some research and found of that Whale had a pretty big hit in Europe with their first single “Hobo Humpin’ Slobo Babe.” I went to YouTube to check out that track and…I think I’m done checking out Whale. Yikes.

Posted in B-sides, remixes, Tears For Fears, Whale | 15 Comments »

Skunked

Tuesday, August 31st, 2010

This post, and the next few, will all be dedicated to my favorite band with a black bisexual skinhead lead singer.

Skunk Anansie got back together and have a new album coming out in just a couple weeks! I am both excited and depressed about this. I am excited because, fuck, it’s new Skunk Anansie! I love them! I discovered them in 1995 when I saw Strange Days in the theater (my mom and I were two of the eight people who actually saw that movie in the theater). Their amazing song “Selling Jesus” is in that film, and Skin shows up briefly in the movie,a white cross painted across her face. It was a fucking amazing image, and the song was brillaint. However, this was before the age of iTunes and MP3s, and it took me a year to find a fucking CD by the band in a CD store. I bought their third (and until recently, final) CD Post Orgasmic Chill on import, paying 30 some bucks for the fucker. I still have the CD, but the case melted in my car during a Radiohead concert. Which was annoying. Anyways, in case you can’t already tell, I’m a pretty big fan of the group, which is why I’m depressed as much as I am stoked.

Let’s be honest with ourselves, the newly reunited Skunk Anansie is never going to play America. Their new single “My Ugly Boy” (which is EXCELLENT) isn’t going to crack American radio. Shit, their new album might not even get a proper physical release here in the states. I really want the vinyl copy because, well, I want vinyl. But I’d have to pay import prices for that, which sucks. Hopefully someone will pick it up for a US release, but it’ll probably happen after the online release, which means I’ll be buying the damn album twice. Oh well, that’s two more than everyone else in America most likely.

Skunk Anansie
All I Want (DVS Mix)
But The Sex Was Good
Fragile
Every Bitch But Me
Punk By Numbers
Black Skinhead Coconut Fight
Skunk Anansie, like every British band in the 90s, released 80 billion different singles, each with their own b-sides, remixes and live cuts.  Over the next few days I’ll be putting some choice cuts from these up. These tracks are all b-sides from the “All I Want” single.

Posted in B-sides, Skunk Anansie | 3 Comments »

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