Archive for the ‘Peter Gabriel’ Category

The Strangest Of Days

Friday, November 18th, 2016

Sigh.

A few weeks/months ago I said on Twitter that if Trump won I might quit writing this blog. Just because I didn’t know if I’d have the motivation to keep it going, living in a world that would readily elect a fascist conman to the world’s most powerful position really puts a damper on my desire to write about music.

Well, I guess the good news is that I’m reneging on that thought. In times of extreme strife, writing is one of the only things that keeps me remotely sane. So unless I want to plunge headfirst into depression and/or insanity, I best keep this thing going.

Right now a lot of people are talking about the importance of diversions and distractions. Even in the harshest of times, people need to escape with something that gives them joy. For example, I was exceptionally happy that the Giant Bomb guys avoided politics with their podcast this week. I needed some stupid laughs about video games.

But, I don’t know if I can do that. As long time readers of this blog know, I write what I feel, especially when what I feel makes me angry. This was especially true a few years back, when this blog could’ve been more accurately titled “Angry Ramblings and Synthpop.” But those were stupid little posts about how much I hate the VMAs or the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame. Rambling off a few hundred words about a pop culture event that makes you angry isn’t exactly the same as crafting an in-depth and well-researched essay on the dangers of fascism.

What I’m basically saying is that I don’t know what the fuck I’m going to do right now. Probably a little bit of everything. So if you were hoping this blog would be a respite away from the horrible world we find ourselves in, sorry that’s not going to happen. And at the same time, if you wanted me to rebrand this site as an anarcho-punk blog showcasing protest music and anti-fascist action, sorry that probably won’t happen either.

If for nothing other than the fact that most anarcho-punk sucks.

Here are some songs from a movie about a future I wish we had.

Peter Gabriel and Deep Forest
While The Earth Sleeps (Album Version)
While The Earth Sleeps (Long Version)
The “album” from which the album version comes from is the soundtrack to the film Strange Days, an absolute masterpiece of 90s cinema that is 100% required viewing in the world we live in today. Want to see a movie that predicts by about 20 years the Black Lives Matter movement, smartphone video culture, and the struggles of living in a thinly veiled fascist society? Check out Strange Days. You also get to see Angela Bassett beat the fucking shit out of people. And that’s just cool.

Anyways I was browsing a record store in Yokohama today and I came across a single for said song, which also includes the long version. I had no idea there was a long version of this song, so hey, nice surprise. The long version is basically just an extra two minutes of vocalizing by Peter Gabriel, but there are worse ways to make a song longer so I’m not really going to complain about it. But I really bought the single for the next track.

Juliette Lewis
Rid Of Me
Strange Days is a sci-fi neo-noir, and you can’t have a noir with a femme fatale. In the case of Strange Days, the femme fatale is played by Juliette Lewis, who plays an indie-rocker named Eve. For some reason, all the songs Eve sings are PJ Harvey cover tunes. I guess someone involved in the production of the film really dug PJ Harvey. The soundtrack has Lewis’ cover of “Hardly Wait,” which is featured prominently in the film. The other PJ Harvey cover is this tune, which didn’t make it onto the soundtrack proper. I always figured it wasn’t even recorded in full so imagine my surprise when I discovered it today. It’s a really great cover of a fantastic song.

And if you’re chuckling at the idea of Juliette Lewis singing, stop it, her voice has an angry intensity that serves the PJ Harvey track well. Listen to her actual albums of original material sometime, they’re not bad.

 

Posted in Peter Gabriel, soundtrack | 4 Comments »

This is a lot of Peter Gabriel

Wednesday, August 8th, 2012

 

Peter Gabriel
Big Time (Dance Mix)
Biko (Remixed Version)
Biko (Twelve Inch Extended Version)
Don’t Break This Rhythm
GA-GA (I Go Swimming Instrumental)
I Have The Touch (85 Remix)
In Your Eyes (Special Mix)
In Your Eyes (12″ Remix)
Jetzt Kommt Die Flut (Here Comes The Flood)
Sledgehammer (Extended Mix)
Sledgehammer (Dance Mix)
Shosholoza
Soft Dog

My god that’s a lot of Peter Gabriel isn’t it? I better get right into explaining what I got here. Keep in mind, this is a lot of music, so if I get my details as to how each mix sounds different than the original versions, please forgive me. One man can only memorize so many 12″ singles.

The “Big Time” mix is from the 12″ single, and expands on the original by about a minute and a half, most of which comes from an extended opening. Once you get past that there isn’t that much of a difference between the two versions, although they are mixed slightly different. Doesn’t matter, both are awesome.

Both mixes of “Biko” are longer than the album version, which is really saying something considering how long that track is. The “Remixed” version is actually longer than the “Extended” cut, with some added African chants thrown in the end. A powerful track made more powerful with their addition, in my opinion.

“Don’t Break This Rhythm” is a b-side to “Sledgehammer” and a kick ass one at that. I’m surprised it didn’t make it onto So. Not only is it better than some of the tunes on that album, but it could have held its own as a single. Great tune.

Also from the “Sledgehammer” single is the remix of “I Have The Touch,” a song that originally appeared on Gabriel’s 1982 self-titled album (aka  Security). How is a song from 1982 remixed for 1985? If you guessed “more synthesizers and drum machines!” you’d be correct. It’s mostly only really noticeable in the intro though.

Now for the really important stuff, the remixes of “In Your Eyes” aka (One Of) The Greatest Love Songs Ever Recorded. The 12″ Remix isn’t that different than the album cut, it’s about 45 seconds longer and most of that goes into extending the breakdowns. The Special Mix, on the other hand, is a drastic reworking of the song, with a much greater African influence. If you’ve seen Peter Gabriel live before, this version should sound familar. I like it, but Lloyd Dobler was right in using the album version.

“Jetzt Kommt Die Flut” is literally a German version of “Here Comes The Flood.” Same song, different language. Gabriel must have had a pretty big following in Germany, as he did this for quite a few of his early albums. Like “Here Comes The Flood?” Speak German? This track’s for you.

The instrumental version of “I Go Swimming” is for some reason called “GA GA” and is from the 12″ single to “Red Rain.” Makes sense that a single that strange would get an even weirder B-side. I have no idea if Lady Gaga listened to this growing up. Probably not, as it’s actually good.

“Sledgehammer,” the cutest, sweetest song about doing it that has ever been recorded, is presented here in two very different mixes. The “extended mix” is actually the shorter of the two, and is pretty much the album version with a tacked on intro. The “Dance Mix” is the real find, a full seven-and-half minute mix of the song with extended instrumental sections, more horns and lots more of Peter Gabriel yelling “Sledgehammer.” It’s rad.

Finally we have “Shosholoza” and “Soft Dog.” The former is a looped African chant, and the other is a near-instrumental ambient piece. Both are b-sides from Security-era singles.

Posted in B-sides, Peter Gabriel, remixes | 10 Comments »

Happy Decemeber

Wednesday, December 21st, 2011

Happy holidaze everyone.

I’ll (sadly) be out of town all week, which makes recording and posting music hard. My plan is to have two most posts this week though. One will be without music, focusing on my favorite (and least favorite) albums of the year. The other will have awesome dance tracks. Let’s hope that all pans out.

Tonight: 80s pop! What’s a better way to celebrate whatever holiday you pretend to care about in order to get gifts?

Art Of Noise
Moments In Love (Long Version)
Moments In Love (Short Version)
Beat Box
Love Beat
These are from a weird single. First of all, the artist is credited as “Trevor Horn, Paul Morley, With The Art Of Noise.”

That’s weird because Trevor Horn and Paul Morley were in The Art of Noise, not only that, they were kind of the driving forces behind the group. That would be like crediting Dark Side of The Moon to “David Gilmour and Roger Waters with Pink Floyd,” or crediting a Wham! song to “George Michael and Wham!” Oh wait, that actually happened.

Secondly, the year on the single is “1983,” however, it’s also credited as being in the soundtrack to Pumping Iron II, which did not come out until 1985. If this single did actually come out in 1983, that would make it The Art Of Noise’s first release, but I’m more willing to believe that the actual release date was closer to 1985.

The versions of the songs are not labeled either. I added the “Short Version” and “Long Version” qualifiers, both tracks are simply labeled “Moments In love” on the single. I do not know which versions of these tracks these mixes are. If you do, please inform me.

Regardless of all that confusion, all these songs are great 80s electro and worth your time and then some. The Art Of Noise kicks ass.

Tina Turner
What’s Love Got To Do With It? (Extended Mix)
When I was eight-years-old I thought Tina Turner was the shit. Okay, maybe I was a weird kid. But I was still right, Tina Turner is the shit. Did you know she covered Massive Attack’s “Unfinished Sympathy?” She knocked it out of the park too. Tina can knock any track out of the park though. I bet she could cover a Radiohead track and turn that shit into a diva anthem. She’s that awesome. I wish this mix was just two more minutes of her going “Woah Oh Oh!” but it’s still good.

Ultravox
Dancing With Tears In My Eyes (Special remix)
When did I buy this single? I have no idea. But it was sitting in the back of my crate full of albums, languishing between some stupid soundtracks for who knows how long. I am so sorry that withheld this great mix from you all for so long. Word to the wise though, if you’re going to crydance, do it to a ballad. Sobmoshing looks dumber than shit.

Peter Gabriel
Soft Dog
This is a b-side to to the 12″ single of “Shock The Monkey.” I bought it months ago, recorded it, filed the record away, then discovered that my recording skipped. Once records reach my shelf (a feat in itself) I hate pulling them out, hence the massive delay in actually re-recording this right.

This is a quiet, but beautiful song, full of late-70s Peter Gabriel art-rock goodness. Most of it is instrumental, Peter only chimes in at the end with a brief chant of the title. Has this ever been issued on CD? I can’t believe it hasn’t. It’s quite good.

Siouxsie & The Banshees
Peek-A-Boo (Stockhausen & Waterphone Mix Instrumental)
I own two different “Peek-A-Boo” singles, one on CD and one on vinyl. The CD version tracks are on Amazon, and I suggest you pick them up. The “Silver Dollar Mix” is incredible. This instrumental is basically a modified version of that mix, and I believe it was exclusive to the vinyl version. Still a great track, even without Siouxsie’s voice.

Sometime this week, my best of/worst of lists! It’ll piss everyone off!

Posted in Peter Gabriel, remixes, Siouxsie and The Banshees, The Art Of Noise, Tina Turner, Ultravox | 5 Comments »

Literally a Virtuosity of a Soundtrack

Sunday, October 2nd, 2011

This blog has gotten more hits in the past two days than it usually does in two weeks. I guess sometimes even someone like me can write something that can really connect with what people are thinking and be relevant with current trends and topics.

Other times I share out-of-print songs from obscure soundtracks that no one cares about. Tonight’s post is the latter.

Selections From the Virtuosity Original Motion Picture Soundtrack


For those of you who don’t remember/successfully forgot, Virtuosity was a mid-90s action/sci-fi flick starring Denzel Washington as an ex-cop who is released from prison to hunt down a robotic serial killer played by Russell Crowe. The movie also stars Kelly Lynch (proving that you can go downhill from Roadhouse) and William Fichtner, because he’s in one out of ten movies ever made.

It was directed by Brett Leonard, the only director I can think of who is from my hometown of Toledo, Ohio. Leonard’s other directorial efforts include The Lawnmower Man, Hideway and Man-Thing. He also directed Highlander: The Source, which many consider to be even worse than Highlander II: The Quickening. That’s a fucking accomplishment.

He also directed Feed, a horror movie about a serial-killer who gets off on feeding his victims to death. It’s set in Toledo, Ohio and sounds like the most accurate depiction of my hometown that has ever been committed to film.

Anyways, while Virtuosity is a slightly-below mediocre film, it does have a slightly-above mediocre soundtrack that is now out-of-print. You can get some of the songs on albums by the artists, but most of the tracks remain hard-to-find and rare, and those are the ones I’ll be featuring tonight. If you like mid-90s dance/alt-rock then you might find some tracks here you’ll like.

A quick little disclaimer/cop-out: I know very little about all of the bands featured tonight. So if I make any mistakes, glaring omissions of facts that should be mentioned, I apologize. I’m battling a pretty wicked cold at the moment and I’m really too damn tired to research that much right now.

The Heads (Featuring Deborah Harry)
No Talking Just Head
The Heads are everyone in Talking Heads except David Byrne, created when they wanted to reunite but Byrne refused. They only released one album, and this is the title track from it. Other vocalists contributed to the album, including Richard Hell, Gordon Gano and Andy Partridge. I heard the album sucked, but I do love this track. Any of you heard it and want to share? It’s out of print at the moment.

The Worldbeaters and Peter Gabriel
Party Man
I have absolutely no freakin’ clue as to who The Worldbeaters are. If anyone can shed some light on them for me I would appreciate it. Since they apparently never released anything other than this song, I suspect they do not exist and that it is a pseudonym of Peter Gabriel and whomever he was working with while he recorded this song (which may be Tori Amos, she co-wrote this tune). This is one of the best tracks on the soundtrack, although cool, the mellow vibe totally does not fit in with the rest of the album.

Dig
Hu Hu Hu (Danny Saber Remix)
Dig was an also-ran alt-rock band from the mid-90s. I didn’t remember them at all until I did my research for this article and re-discovered their sole kinda-hit “Believe.” According to Discogs this remix is by Danny Saber (the linear notes for this soundtrack are annoyingly vague and don’t even list that most of the tracks are remixes). That makes sense, because it sounds like nothing else I looked up by the band. Not bad, extremely 90s sounding.

Live
White, Discussion (Sam Sever Remix)
Hey Live! Remember Live? Yeah, I almost forget them too. I blame Secret Samadhi, goddamn that album was dogshit. This very odd remix is not as good as the original version but it is interesting in a “hey let’s just add some beats and a rap to a rock song and call it a remix” kind of way.

Fatima Mansions
The Loyaliser (Juno Reactor Remix)
Okay, I had never heard of this band until about five minutes ago, when I looked up their Wikipedia page and discovered the following:

  • They made the UK Top 10 with a reworked cover of “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You.”
  • They opened for U2 but were almost booed off stage for insulting the pope.
  • John Peel loved them.

Judging from what I’ve found on YouTube, they appear to have been absolutely fucking nuts. I think I just discovered another band to obsess over, like I needed another one of those. Oh well, I’m assuming I can get their stuff fairly cheap used.

Also, if you like this remix, check out the original version. It’s even better.

Traci Lords
Fallen Angel (Paul Oakenfold Remix)
Traci Lords is an amazing singer and her album 1,000 Fires is a great example of mid-90s Hi-NRG dance music. It’s a shame she never put out another record. Not only that, it’s out of print too! Looks like I might need to feature it sometime.

Londonbeat
Build It With Love
If right now you are wondering “Who the fuck are Londonbeat?” then click here.

That song will probably be stuck in your head for the next few hours/days/weeks. Sorry about that.

I have no idea how much this remix differs from the original version, even in its remixed form it’s incredibly dated and silly. I bet it was a banger in the gay clubs at the time though.

India and Masters At Work
I Can’t Get No Sleep
India (the woman singing on this track – not the country) has an amazing voice, but that can’t save this track from being so forgettable an elephant would have a hard time remembering it. In fact, whenever I see the that song title I get “Insomnia” by Faithless stuck in my head instead. It’s more upbeat 90s dance, and fine for what it is. Just not my style at all.

That’s it for this one. In case you were wondering, the in-print tracks from this soundtrack are:
Black Grape – A Big Day In The North
Tricky – Abbaon Fat Tracks
William Orbit – Into The Paradise
Samurai – Juno Reactor (AWESOME track, buy it)
Lords Of Acid – Young Boys

I might get another post out on Monday, and expect my full report on the Nevermind 4LP set this Tuesday night!

Oh, and if you’re one of my new readers and want constant updates about my stupid life/listening habits, be sure to follow me on Twitter.

Posted in Dig, Fatima Mansions, Live (The Band), Masters At Work, Peter Gabriel, soundtrack, The Heads, Tori Amos, Traci Lords | 3 Comments »

Willkommen auf der Drehscheibe Verloren

Tuesday, June 16th, 2009

I saw Nine Inch Nails last week. Good shit. Want to know how to make me go nuts? Perform a cover of a Gary Numan song. Trent did, rocking out an epic version of “Metal” that had everyone but me bored to tears. I want to start a Gary Numan tribute band. I bet I could get Gary Numan to join.

Anyways, I recorded some of the opening act, which is the Street Sweeper Social Club. It’s Tom Morello’s new band and they were much fun live. I’m reviewing their CD right now and I’m sad to report that the fun didn’t make it to the studio. I’ll give a link to that review in a few days. If you want to check their cover of MIA’s “Paper Planes” go here. The camera work is less-than-good I know.

Speaking of links to reviews…

Hell – Teufelswerk: I very rarely give 5 star reviews (I think) and I don’t toss around phrases like “best album ever” a lot, so take my word for it when I say that Teufelswerk just might be the best electronic album of the decade. This record blew my mind 8 times over, it’s just fucking amazing. This is the best electronic album I’ve heard in a decade, and probably the best since The Orb’s Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld, Aphex Twin’s Richard D. James album or The KLF’s White Room. Yes it is that damn good. I don’t know why more people aren’t talking about this album, it will change what you think house music can do.

Now for some stupid b-sides and remixes

The Pretenders
In The Sticks
This is an instrumental jam, recorded I don’t know when and written by I don’t know who. I grabbed it off of a compilation called “Attack of the Killer B’s” which features B-sides by a ton of popular artists, the next four songs are also from this same compilation. If anyone can give me any information about this tune I would greatly appreciate it.

The Blasters
What Will Lucy Do?
I know this is a cover of a Frankie Lee Sims song because I looked this one up. I knew it wasn’t a Blasters original because it sounds nothing like them. This song is older than your parents. It’s fairly awesome. A live version appears on a Blasters greatest hits compilation, but I think this is a studio cut.

John Hiatt
Take Time To Know Her
John Hiatt is most famous for writing songs that made other people famous, such as “Thing Called Love,” which Bonnie Raitt covered to massive success in 1989. This is uber-80s adult contemporary pop/blues. Dated but fun.

Peter Gabriel
Shock Den Affen
German version of Shock the Monkey. That’s the only way this song could be made weirder. Peter Gabriel actually released several of his albums in German, sadly they are all out of print in America. I wanna hear “Games Without Frontiers” in German.

The Time
Grace
Morris Day has a female reporter stroke his…ego in this silly skit. I think Morris Day is the only Prince protege that has a bigger ego than Prince. It’s kind of sad considering that The Time is best known nowadays for their cameo in Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back

Thomas Dolby
The Devil is an Englishman (Extended Version)
An extended remix of the theme song to Gothic, a horrible movie that no one has ever seen. I’ve already written more than anyone else ever has about that soundtrack, which you can read (and download) here.

Jesus & The Mary Chain
Surfin’ USA (Summer Mix)
How the fuck did this happen? They did a lot of drugs right? That’s the only explanation. From a 12” single I think, it’s been a while since I recorded this one.

Posted in B-sides, Jesus and The Mary Chain, John Hiatt, Peter Gabriel, remixes, The Blasters, The Pretenders, The Time, Thomas Dolby | 8 Comments »