Archive for the ‘The Cure’ Category

Music for Unicorns

Thursday, July 5th, 2012

I celebrated American Independence Day by watching clips of The Day After on YouTube. Actually, my roommates did more to celebrate the holiday and they’re both Chinese immigrants. I fail at being American.

But I totally rule at sharing 80s music, so let’s do this.

Bryan Ferry
Is Your Love Strong Enough (Extended Version)
Man, that’s one stone cold stare.

When Ridley Scott finished his Tom Cruise frolics with unicorns fantasy epic that is Legend, the studio was not happy with his final cut. Not only did they strip his original 113 minute version down to 96 minutes for European audiences, they also went ahead and cut the American version even more, down to a scant 89 minutes. But that wasn’t the only change they made to the film when bringing it to American shores.

No, in addition to randomly slicing out seven minutes of pesky plot , they also completely removed Jerry Goldsmith’s fully symphonic score and replaced it with a synthesized score by Tangerine Dream, with additional contributions by Jon Anderson of Yes and Bryan Ferry. From what I’ve read it was because they wanted the film to have a broader appeal, but I think it was just because someone at Universal Studios thought Firestarter was dope.

It’s such an odd thing to do if you think about it. Did the executives at Universal really thing that an electronic soundtrack would really help to bring in the kids and families? Why even bother? Why eat the costs of Jerry Goldsmith’s score? Just seems totally random to me.

Besides, it didn’t help. The movie was a bomb and critical dud. Ironically today, you can find Goldmith’s original score on iTunes and Amazon relatively easily, but Tangerine Dream’s soundtrack has long been out of print. The soundtrack version of this song (which features guitar work by David Gilmour) is on a few Ferry compilations, but this 12″ version has never seen the light of day digitally.

The Cure
Kyoto Song (Live)
A Night Like This (Live)
I was going to put a picture of Robert Smith up, but I think one freaky looking British dude is enough for one post.

These two live tracks are from the 12″ single to “Catch” and originally appeared in The Cure’s 1987 concert film The Cure In Orange. (In case you’re wondering, the Orange in question is the Theatre antique d’Orange, located in the Principality of Orange, France.) The movie was released on tape and laserdisc, but it still has never seen a DVD or Blu-Ray release, something that no doubt makes fans of The Cure even more depressed than they already are. Mopey bastards.

 

Posted in Bryan Ferry/Roxy Music, live, remixes, The Cure | 2 Comments »

Proof that England is Better than America

Friday, September 23rd, 2011

Tonight’s post is fucking awesome. More awesome than me even, and I’m pretty fucking awesome.

The Cure
Lullaby (Remix)
Primary (Red Mix)  
I’m consistently amazed/befuddled as to what previously rare and hard-to-find tracks get a digital re-release and which don’t. For example, damn near everything associated with Disintigration (“THE BEST ALBUM EVER!” – Kyle from South Park) has been remastered and re-released a dozen times over by now, but as far as I can tell this remix remains a bit harder to find. It’s a shame too, because I think it’s actually better than the original. It removes a lot of the instrumentation, stripping most of it down to nothing more than bass, drums and a very sparse guitar riff. It fits the ethereal delivery of the vocals by Robert Smith so much more than the original. I found it on a 12″ promo only release.

I am far too uninformed to make such a statement regarding “Primary (Red Mix),” though. I don’t own Faith, the album from which the original version is from (look, I can’t own everything…yet). I do know that it is not the 12″ version however. That version is only five and a half minutes long, this one is over seven minutes in length. I got it from the CD single for “Close To Me.”

Visage
Fade To Grey (Dance Mix)
There are some songs that I can just listen to overa nd over again everyday and not get sick of them. Midge Ure was at least partially responsible for at least two of them, this amazing track from Visage’s first album, and Ultravox’s “Vienna.”

Finding this extended dance mix has been a little tricky. There are many, many remixes of “Fade To Grey” but as far as I can tell this is the only official extended mix ever to be released. It has been released on CD on various versions of the band’s self-titled debut, but that’s not where I got it. I found it on a 12″ EP that was also self-titled. It also featured an amazingly ridiculous cover. Dude looks like he was about to rock a pirate party, but got sidetracked in the land of The Neverending Story.

Erasure
Run To The Sun (Beatmasters Outergalactic Mix)
Run To The Sun (Beatmasters Galactic Mix)
Run To The Sun (The Simon & Diamond Bhangra Remix)
Run To The Sun (The Diss-Cuss Mix)
The last bit of Erasure that I’ll probably feature in quite some time. I’m actually running out of rare Erasure to share, thanks to the recent re-availability of their singles collections.

I love this damn song, and these remixes are just fab. The “Beatmasters Galactic Mix” especially just makes me want to dance like a spastic monkey for hours on end.

The Blur
There’s No Other Way (Red Sleeve mix)
There’s No Other Way (Rock Mix)
Explain
So in tonight’s post I’ve proven I don’t own at least one seminal album by The Cure and I also barely know anything about Visage. I might as well make it a hat trick and confess that I don’t own any Blur before Parklife. Shut up. It’s not my fault I was born in America. I’ll get there one day I promise.

I love these mixes of “There’s No Other Way” the Red Sleeve one especially, it spaces out the track even more, so much that it almost resembles something off the first Stone Roses album. Baggy indeed. “Explain” is a solid B-side as well. I got all of these off of the 12″ single.

Posted in B-sides, Blur, Erasure, remixes, The Cure, Visage | 4 Comments »

A-ha! It’s The Cure! Also Bunnymen and rap.

Thursday, September 17th, 2009

This post is a little light on content but I believe the quality makes up for the quantity. It also gives me a chance to explain something.

I started this blog to highlight rare and hard-to-find recordings, primarily music you can’t find on CD. When I started this blog a few years ago the pool from which to get tracks from was huge, but it’s getting harder and harder to fulfill my original mission statement. Everything seems to be on CD (or iTunes/Amazon MP3 store) now! It’s annoying! That is one of the reason why updates have slowed down recently (that and a booze-filled bender). Last week I bought 12” singles by Depeche Mode, Simple Minds, Book Of Love and New Order – all of the tracks are on iTunes and CD now. This is all great for the artists, who deserve to have these tracks available, but it makes my job a little harder.

Now, as people have pointed out in the comment section, sometimes I put up stuff that is in-print/easily available. That’s usually do to general ignorance on my part, or because it’s not in print in the states, which is what really matters to me (and judging by my statcounter most of my visitors). Also sometimes I just let my rules be dammed because I feel like it, but that usually just applies to Depeche Mode. I’m careful though, I don’t need another cease and desist from Steve Winwood.

My point is that you’re probably going to start to see some lesser-known acts on The Lost Turntable. However, if I start to get into a good groove and find some interesting shit you’ll also get more music. So it evens out.

And its all free for you anyways, so what do you care?

a-ha
The Sun Always Shines on T.V. (Extended Mix)
Driftwood
I was ecstatic that these tracks weren’t on iTunes or any American-released compilation. I won’t profess to being a huge a-ha fan (I only own a greatest hits) but “The Sun Always Shines On TV” is probably my favorite track of theirs that I have heard, yes even more than “Take On Me.” It’s a beautiful track and this extra-long version is even better. “Driftwood” is a good b-side as well, the lead singer is rocking a Bowie vibe a bit and it works for him.

Echo & The Bunnymen
Bring On The Dancing Horses (Extended Mix)
Yay extended Bunnymen singing about horses! Wow, when I say it like that I sound like a seven-year-old girl. Anyways, this is from a 12” single.

The Cure
Why Can’t I Be You? (12” Version)
My favorite song by The Cure? Maybe, definitely my favorite Cure song that doesn’t bring up painful memories of failed relationships. Seriously, how many people can’t listen to “Lovesong” anymore? I’m not the only one I know it. This is from a 12” single, which makes sense because it’s the 12” version.

J.J. Fad
Supersonic (Remix)
And now for something completely different. The first person who says that this track sounds like a Fergie song will get punched in the face. I will find you. This is from a 12” single.

Posted in A-ha, B-sides, Echo and the Bunnymen, J.J. Fad, remixes, The Cure | 2 Comments »