Archive for the ‘Pop Will Eat Itself’ Category

Heat Up With Pop Will Eat Itself

Sunday, January 28th, 2018

Things. I wrote them.

First up, a guide to buying city pop in Tokyo. I know I said I’m not the world’s biggest fan of city pop, but I am the world’s biggest fan of Tokyo record stores, so I think that should be enough to be of help to people looking for this stuff.

Second, I went to a dope Space Invaders exhibition and wrote about it for Retronauts! So go read that!

Pop Will Eat Itself
92° (Boilerhouse ‘The Birth, The Death’ Mix)
The Incredible PWEI Vs Dirty Harry
92° (Boilerhouse ‘The Birth’ Mix)
Finding a 12″ single of a song I don’t own by a band I like is a rare event in Tokyo. That has less to do with the fact that 12″ singles aren’t really that big here and more to do with the fact that I own a fuckton of 12″ singles. This is a track off of Wise Up Suckers, and I had totally forgotten about it entirely until I listened to these remixes. Wise Up Suckers isn’t the greatest PWEI album, that award obviously goes to “This Is The Day…” but it’s still a damn fine listen and a great time capsule of the era from which it came. These remixes (and the B-side in between) great, can you dig them?

Also my copy was signed? So that’s weird.

EPO
恋はハイ・タッチ-ハイ・テック (Hi-Touch Hi-Tech)
I’m not going to lie and say that I know a shitload about this artist. They could be a lost legend of the 80s Japanese synthpop scene, although I doubt it. I’m just going to say that I really like this cheesy as hell dance tune and I thought that yinz might like it too. It’s not like, great, or anything. I feel like I found the Japanese equivalent of Pretty Poison of something, but it’s a good jam for happy times.

Posted in EPO, Pop Will Eat Itself, remixes | 3 Comments »

Bad English and PWEI

Monday, July 21st, 2014

It was a three-day holiday weekend here in Japan – which means extra work for me. Yeah, I know it’s counter-intuitive, just roll with it okay?

As such, I’m beat, and I really don’t have a lot to say about tonight’s music other than that I like it, you should like it, and I hope you enjoy it. So instead, here’s a collection of bad English I’ve heard from students since I started working as an English instructor in January

  • “My daughter loved school, she pleasured herself.”
  • “I find pleasure in your lesson.”
  • “How long are you?” (I HEAR THIS EVERYDAY AND IT’S ALWAYS FUNNY)
  • “How much height do you have? I don’t have much height.”
  • “I am a trick!”
  • “I like to watch football, the play is very HOT!”
  • “I potato dinner.”
  • “I like black music!”

And the best things I’ve heard:

  • “You are big like Totoro, you are big and soft.” (AW FUCK THAT’S SOME CUTE SHIT)
  • “You are so great!” (He meant tall, but I didn’t stop him)
  • “I want to hear what you say about all music.”
  • “I need you to tell me what these Meat Loaf song titles mean.”

That last one was from a 68 year old woman by the way. Wagnerian rock lives in Japan.

Pop Will Eat Itself
Wise Up! Sucker (7″ Version)
Orgyone Stimulator
Can U Dig It (Riffsmix)
I can dig it. These come from the 12″ single to Wise Up! Sucker. The 12″ mix is on that, but you can get that on just about every digital music store, so grab it there instead.

New Order
New Order Megamix
Off a bootleg 12″ single. Don’t remember any of the details sorry.

Posted in B-sides, New Order, Pop Will Eat Itself, remixes | 2 Comments »

Pop Will Eat Prodigy

Monday, September 5th, 2011

I recently did something I swore I would never do, and that’s buy a cassette tape deck.

I am not a fan of cassettes. I hate the hiss. I hate how they get worn down and you can start to hear the track on the other side in reverse. But more than anything else, I hate the shitty artwork. I guess size matters for me when it comes to a physical release, I want to see the artwork and linear notes in all their glory, I practically need a magnifying glass to read cassette linear notes.

Anyways, I got one because I promised a friend I’d record some mixtapes out of her own collection. So now it’s hooked up to my soundsystem, junking up the joint. I figured I’d make the most of it though and ask you all, are there any cassette-only releases/remixes/B-sides from 80s/90s artists that you know of? Or any special cassette mixes of albums that are worth listening to? I know there’s a Polyrock album that was released on cassette only, but that thing is near-impossible to find.

Well, enough about a horrible antiquated format that sounds like shit. Here are some tracks taken from CDs.

Yes, that was an intentional little joke on my part.

Pop Will Eat Itself
Get The Girl! Kill The Baddies!
Can U Dig It?
Urban Futuristic
Wise Up! Sucker
Like many American teens at the time, I discovered PWEI in 1996, when their songs were featured on the PS1 game Loaded. That game was an orgy of violence and death, so PWEI’s tracks “RSVP” and “Kick To Kill” fit perfectly on it. I remember being so impressed with their tracks on the soundtrack that I sought out a copy of their only album that I could find in American stores, Dos Dedos Mis Amigos.

I didn’t discover their earlier stuff until I started buying vinyl, and I still can’t believe all these releases are by the same band. Their early Box Frenzy-era stuff is kind of hideous white-boy rap that’s barely listenable today. But This Is The Day…This Is The Hour…This Is This! is actually more than little bit brilliant. It holds up better than anything the band did before or after, with amazing tracks like “Can U Dig It?” still sounding fresh some 20 years later.

PWEI (kinda) got back together recently, and most of their albums are getting the 2CD deluxe treatment to celebrate the event. Even though I have most of the non-album rarities on vinyl, I’ll definitely be picking up the deluxe version of This Is The Day… when it comes out, and I suggest you do the same.

Oddly enough, none of the re-issues feature these live tracks, which are from the Get The Girl! Kill The Baddies! EP that came out in 1992. I think that speaks less of the deluxe editions, however, and more to the fact that there were so many B-sides and live tracks from this era that something had to get cut.

The re-issue of Now For a Feast will have their cover of “Love Missle F1-11” though, which is good enough a reason to buy it.

The Prodigy
Out Of Space (Underworld’s Millennium Mix)
Out Of Space (Celestial Bodies Mix)
Jericho (Live Version)
There are two variations of the CD single for “Out Of Space.” One is a four-track version with the single edit and “Techno Underworld Remix” versions of the title track, as well as “Ruff In The Jungle Bizness (Uplifting Vibes Remix)” and a live version of “Music Reach (1,2,3,4).”

The other is a six-track version, which includes the previously mentioned remixes and a live version of “Jericho.” The live version of “Music Reach (1,2,3,4)” is not included. The four-track version is on Amazon’s MP3 store, but the tracks exclusive to the six-track version are not. So that’s why I only included those tracks, which are out of print, and not the others, which are easily available.

Goddamn import singles make everyone’s life more difficult.

Posted in live, Pop Will Eat Itself, remixes, The Prodigy | 7 Comments »

Never Rub Another Man’s Aphex Twin Song Title

Monday, February 28th, 2011

For the second year in a row I avoided the Oscars. The bullshit nature of award shows depresses me.

So what did I watch instead?

Dancer In the Dark.

Shit.

Seriously. SHIT. I had never seen that movie before. And while yes, it is beautiful and incredibly moving, it’s also probably the most depressing film I have ever seen.

I had to watch the “Dance Magic Dance” scene in Labyrinth three times just to foster enough positive vibes to get me out of my chair. I knew I didn’t see it when it came out for a reason. Yikes. I need to go look at some LOLcats or something before I go to bed. But until then, stupid dance music!

The Shamen
LSI (Love Sex Intelligence) (Ed Richards 12″ Mix)
LSI (Love Sex Intelligence) (Beatmasters 12″ Mix)
LSI (Love Sex Intelligence) (Shamen Alternative Vocal)
LSI (Love Sex Intelligence) (Frank De Wulf Dub Rave)
LSI (Love Sex Intelligence) (Shamen Deep Dub)
LSI (Love Sex Intelligence) (Well Hung Parliament Dub)
Spoiler! This song is about me.

ZING.

More by The Shamen, I know you’re all horribly surprised. I got one more of these in me, then I will have exhausted my entire supply of The Shamen. At least until I buy more.

Humate
Love Stimulation (Blank & Jones Remix)
Love Stimulation (Paul Van Dyk Love Club Mix)
I’m keeping it up. The love theme that is, with this excellent trance track. What this song has to do with love is a mystery, however, as it has no lyrics. It could have been called “Cheese Stimulation.”

Mmmm…cheese.

Oh, where was I? Oh yeah, these mixes are from a 12″ single. Now excuse me while I go eat some cheese.

Pop Will Eat Itself
Another Man’s Rhubarb (12″ Mix)
Another Man’s Rhubarb (7″ Mix)
Another Man’s Rhubarb (Chaotic Mix)
Leave it to PWEI to fuck my love-dovey/cheese theme all to hell. This song is…quite stupid, but in the best possible way. It starts with that very bizarre quote from the 1989 Batman movie, and then it segues into a whole “We Are the People” rant? Huh? What? Oh, Clint Mansell, you so crazy!

That’s right kids, don’t forget that Clint Mansell, Oscar-nominated film composer for films like Requiem For a Dream, The Wrestler and Moon, was the lead singer for Pop Will Eatself. That means that the man who brought us the classic theme from Requiem For A Dream also brought us “Beaver Patrol.”

Because, y’know, he’s classy.

Posted in Humate, Pop Will Eat Itself, remixes, The Shamen | 6 Comments »

I Just Dug It (Reposts Day 3)

Wednesday, March 11th, 2009

Three posts in three days, that has to be some kind of record for me. I hope everyone is enjoying the reposts, if anyone else has requests you have until THIS FRIDAY to ask, then the requst lines are closed. If you already made a request please don’t make another. There’s no way for me to know if you have or not if you post anonymously…or is there?

Actually, no, there isn’t; so please be honest.

The Clash
Do It Now
Sex Mad Roar
Cut The Crap is supposed to suck right? It was the final album by The Clash, and they made it after Joe Strummer sacked Mick Jones. Well, it may suck, but these two b-sides to the single “This Is England” are pretty damn good. “This Is England” is a great song in its own right by the way, and is the only song from the album to grace various greatest hits compilations. Both of these tracks are requested reposts.

Big Audio Dynamite
James Brown (Remix)
Sightsee M.C.! (Radio Cut)
Sightsee M.C.! (East London)
Another One Rides The Bus
See how I transition from The Clash to Big Audio Dynamite, Mick Jones’ third band after The Clash (and London SS)? Goddamn I’m a smooth mother. The remix of “James Brown” is a repost, but the rest of these are all new. “Sightsee M.C.” has a sound effect in it that is incredibly familar, if anyone can name that sample I’d appreciate it. “Another One Rides The Bus” is not a cover of the Weird Al spoof of “Another One Bites The Dust” (that would be weird) but a dub mix of “Sightsee M.C.!” All three are from the 12” single to the song.

Pop Will Eat Itself
Can U Dig It? (Justin Strauss 12” Vocal Mix)
Can U Dig It? (Justin Strauss 12” House Mix)
There Is No Love Between Us Anymore (Specially Extended 12” Mix)
Picnic In The Sky
“…On The Razor’s Edge…”
Kiss That Girl
Smoothness revoked, I have no way to connect B.A.D. to PWEI, aside from both groups’ tendancies to pillage TV, radio and anything else they could get their hands on for wacky audio samples. “Can You Dig It” is a repost, and is also an awesome song. Unfortunately I recorded it a bit (okay a lot) too loud the first time around, so prep your speakers accordingly. I was going to re-record it but I can’t find that 12” right now. Interesting side note: “Can You Dig It?” is the only song ever to namecheck Watchmen writer Alan Moore…as far as I know. The rest of the tracks are new, and taken from the 12” single to “There Is No Love Between Us.” Some of them are also avaiable on the reissued editions of various PWEI albums.

Posted in B-sides, Big Audio Dynamite, Pop Will Eat Itself, remixes, The Clash | 4 Comments »