What a Motherfucking Feeling

June 19th, 2012

Tonight’s songs are defiant pleasures.

That’s right, DEFIANT pleasures. Not guilty pleasures. I hate that term. To paraphrase Chuck Klosterman, a song cannot be a guilty pleasure. It doesn’t actually cause you any harm. Now, cocaine, that’s a guilty pleasure.

Defiant pleasures. You like them in spite of what everyone else may think of them, or what they may think of you for liking them. Stand tall in your adoration for upbeat pop songs you can dance to. Upbeat pop songs you can dance to make the world go ’round. Download these songs, put them in your iPod and rock out to them loudly. Then, when some hipster wanker gives you shit for them. Jump up and just dance in their face until they scoff and walk away.

And when their back is turned, that’s when you kick them in the head.

Y’know, out of defiance.

Irene Cara
Flashdance (What A Feeling) (Remix)
I first found out about this extended version of the theme to Flashdance about three years ago, and have been desperately seeking out the tune ever since. Thank you Vinylpalooza! I got this gem for just a buck, and I would have easily paid 10x that for the privilege of hearing this amazing seven-minute version of one of my favorite tracks of the early 80s. If you hate this song that doesn’t mean you’re a bad person, but you are just a little bit dead inside. I hope you know that.

 

Kylie Minogue
The Loco-Motion (The Kohaku Mix)
The Loco-Motion (Sankie Mix)
My knowledge of Kylie Minogue’s singing career is spotty at best. I know this song, then there’s about a 12 year gap, and then everything from “Love At First Sight” on. I guess you could call that an American view of the singer, since she was pretty much a nobody here during the entirety of the 90s. What stuff from the 90s is her best? I’ve heard mixed things about Impossible Princess. Does it hold up still?

You know what still does hold up? This great cover of The Loco-Motion (that’s how it’s spelled on the sleeve). I need more mixes of this one. I might have to start buying some of Kylie’s many remix collections. If for no other reason than to support that trend. More artists need to compile and release their mixes. I think one of these might be commercially available in the states, but whatever. Do the locomotion.

Posted in Irene Cara, Kylie Minogue, remixes | 5 Comments »

Every Band Has A Shonen Knife Who Loves Them

June 14th, 2012

If you put a gun to my head and made me pick a favorite, all-female Japanese rock band, I’d probably have to choose Cibo Mato. Also, I’d probably tell you that you’re really violent about demanding declarative decisions in regards to my personal preferences of which international rock bands I enjoy the most.

That being said, I really like and respect Shonen Knife, even if I don’t know that much about the group. I recall them kind of being a minor thing in the states during the mid-90s. Kurt Cobain said he liked them, an endorsement of so much clout  for the time that pretty much guaranteed any act who got it  at least an early afternoon slot at Lollapalooza.

But Shonen Knife had developed a pretty rabid following in the states even before Kurt was talking about them in the press. By 1989 the group was popular enough for inide label Giant Records to compile Every Band Has A Shonen Knife Who Loves Them, a collection featuring American bands covering their favorite songs by the Japanese rockers.

Even as someone who doesn’t know a lot about Shonen Knife, I think this album pretty much kicks all kinds of ass. Just look at some of the acts who grace this record: Sonic Youth, Reverb Motherfuckers, The Mr. T Experience, Babes In Toyland, L7, Red Kross! It’s like a who’s-who of noise, indie and riot-grrl.

At times though the album is less of a “who’s who” and more of a “who’s that?” Sadly, many bands on this compilation went nowhere, some aren’t even credited on Discogs for any release aside from this record. And there are four bands on the album (Project Jenny & Teen Steem, Ella Ohne Die Schwarzen, Dem Choclodytes and The Maynards) whose only appearance on any release ever is on the 2LP edition of the album, their songs aren’t on the single LP version or even the CD edition of the record. How’s that for your obscure randomness?

Even more obscure than those songs though is the cover of “Cycling is Fun” by Pandoras. It’s on the tracklisting for the 2LP edition but it’s actually nowhere to be found on the record itself. It only exists as a concept! Now that’s some underground shit.

I’m only offering this is as a complete album download, because I really don’t want to set up 32 separate download links. Nor do I want to comment on each song/band individually, as I hardly know any of the bands on this record and I really don’t feel like researching 20+ bands. Sorry! If you have any interesting tidbits to share about some of the more obscure acts on this album, please feel free to share them in the comments though.

In case you’re wondering, here is the complete tracklisting:

Record One
1. Kappa Ex – Redd Kross
2. Summertime Boogie – The Freaks
3. Insect Collector – The Three O’Clock*
4. Public Baths – Frightwig
5. Dali’s Sunflower – Government Issue
6. Baggs – L7
7. Froot Loop Dreams – White Flag
8. Twist Barbie – The Pussywillows*
9. Making Plans For Bison – Big Dipper
10. Ice Cream City – Christmas
11. Lazy Bones – Pat Ruthensmear (AKA Pat Smear)
12. Elmer Elevator – Krave
13. Devil House – Chemical People
14. Burning Farm – Sonic Youth

Record Two
1. Antonio Baka Guy – Lunachicks
2. Flying Jelly Attack – The Mr. T Experience*
3. Miracle Woman – Project Jenny & Teen Steem*
4. Parrot Polynesia – Ultra Violet Eye*
5. Angel Has Come – Angels Of Epistemology*
6. Parallel Woman – Masters Of The Obvious*
7. Blue Oyster Cult – Ella Without The Blacks*
8. Tortise Brand Pot Scrubbing Cleaner’s Theme-Bye Bye – Disco Dave Landry
9. Elephant Pao Pao – Reverb Motherfuckers
10. Redd Kross – Death Of Samantha
11. Watching Girl – Babes In Toyland*
12. Riding On The Rocket – Das Damen
13. I Like Choco Bars – Dem Choclodytes*
14. Animal Song – The Maynards*
15. Ah Singapore – Wendy Horowitz
16. One Day At The Factory Preface – Phil Blumel
17. One Day At The Factory – Pippi Eats Cherries*
18. Cannibal Papaya – Smokin’ Gas Truck*

* 2LP Edition Exclusive Tracks

Oh, and the records are pink and white.


Have a good weekend, and if you live near Pittsburgh, don’t forget to check out Vinylpalooza! Click here for details.

Posted in Complete Albums, Shonen Knife | 7 Comments »

Feminism, Record Sales and Janet Jackson

June 13th, 2012

A few quick things that have nothing to do with much of anything.

First, if you at all follow video game news then you probably know that Anita Sarkeesian (the woman behind the amazing website Feminist Frequency) recently launched a Kickstarter to help fund her project about the portrayal of women in video games. You also probably know that her announcement of said project set forth a tidal wave of misogyny, threats and hatred toward her. Want to piss of a misogynist? Donate to her Kickstarter and fight the good fight. By the way, if you have anything negative to say about her, that project or feminism in general, please take your stupid little thoughts elsewhere, like off a cliff.

Okay, on to happier news! This weekend (June 15th, 16th and 17th) Jerry’s Records is putting together a massive vinyl convention dubbed Vinylpalooza. Detailed information about the event can be found here. If you are at all anywhere near the Pittsburgh area, I suggest you check it out. It should be awesome.

Finally, if you are one of the eight people who visited my other blog, Random Record Reviews, I have bad news for you. I deleted it. I think my goal of reviewing a randomly chosen album every week was crazy, and I just didn’t have the drive to keep it going. However, I can promise you that you have not seen the last of that feature, I plan on taking it elsewhere. I have some big plans coming this year, and if it all pans out right then you will all hopefully be seeing a lot more writing from me.

I really hope it all works out right. Until then, let’s listen to some Janet Jackson. Yeah, another Janet Jackson post. Don’t like it? Well, what have you done for me lately?

Ooh ooh ooh yeah.

Janet Jackson
Control (Extended Version)
Control (Dub Version)
Control (Acappella)
Nasty (Cool Summer Mix Part I)
Nasty (Cool Summer Mix Part II)
The Pleasure Principle (Long Vocal)
The Pleasure Principle (Acappella)
The Pleasure Principle (12″ Dub)
The Pleasure Principle (The Shep Pettibone Mix)
I think I posted most of these before, although I can’t be sure. Some of my oldest posts are MIA, lost during my migration from Blogger to my own site. However, even if I did share these songs before, these are brand spankin’ new rips, and sound way better than my old ones. So you should download them regardless. I should have a post of all-new music (well, newly posted here) either tomorrow or early next week.

 

Posted in Janet Jackson, remixes | 5 Comments »

Jesus And Tori Amos walk into a dance club…

June 12th, 2012

’90s Music y’all.

MC 900 Ft. Jesus
Regression Session
MC 900 Ft. Jesus is pretty much known for only two things. One is the video for his 1994 semi-hit “If I Only Had A Brain,” which was directed by Spike Jones. The other is that his name is MC 900 Ft. Jesus. I sure as heck don’t know much else about the dude. So anything I’d say here would just be a retread of his wiki. So go read that if you want to know more about him.

As far as this song, it’s the b-side to “If I Only Had A Brain,” and sounds absolutely nothing like it. It’s not a rap jam, it’s not a dance tune, it’s literally what the title says it is; a regression therapy session (with a free jazz musical backdrop). Those who are easily open to suggestion may not want to listen to the tune whilst driving, lest they regress to toddlerdom.

Tori Amos
In The Springtime Of His Voodoo (Hasbrouck Heights Club Mix)
In The Springtime Of His Voodoo (Quiet Mix)
In The Springtime Of His Voodoo (Sugar Dub)
In The Springtime Of His Voodoo (Hasbrouck Heights Single Mix)
I really wish someone in Tori Amos’ camp would put together a remix collection featuring just some of the amazing mixes from her singles of the 90s and early 2000s. A lot of her best tracks from the era were remixed amazingly into surprisingly great dance tracks. I particularly remember that the remixes to “Raspberry Swirl” were great, and I also enjoyed the mixes of “Jackie’s Strength” and “Professional Widow.” Why can’t Tori fans (if any remain) buy them? The Tori fans of the 90s were pretty hardcore and needed to get everything. I’m sure that Tori released a box set, or even just a digital-only collection, of these mixes, it would sell to that crowd still.

But hey, until then enjoy the downloads.

Posted in remixes, Tori Amos | 5 Comments »

Amon Tobin Box Set: Unscrewed

June 10th, 2012

So I got this in the mail last week.

 

For those who may not recognize it, this is the new Amon Tobin box set from Ninja Tune. Amon Tobin is an electronic musician from Brazil, whose body of work is an impressive collection that touches upon a variety of genres, including IDM, drum and bass, hip-hop and even ambient. He’s diverse.

He’s also apparently incredibly productive. This box set, which is comprised almost entirely of unreleased material, features seven CDs, 2 DVDs, and 6 10″ LPs of content. In addition to that, the download code for the LPs also includes several bonus tracks and remixes that they couldn’t squeeze into the box. Not including the DVDs, that’s 160 tracks of music, 10 hours of stuff. And at $120 bucks, that’s one hell of a deal.

But I don’t really want to talk about the music (it’s all pretty great) what I want to show-off here is the box set itself, because it’s nuts. In case you couldn’t tell from that first pic, the entire thing is set up like some sort of industrial press (why Trent Reznor didn’t think of this first is beyond me).  So, instead of simply opening the box set like any other super deluxe edition, you have to unscrew it.

Sure, it may not be practical or make sense, but it looks dope.

 

As you can tell from that pic, thankfully the box set has butterfly washers, so you don’t need any special wrench or screwdriver to pry it open (although how awesome would that have been!) The screws don’t need to held in that tight, so the washers come off with minimal effort.

 

How much would is suck to lose one of these?

 

The presentation remains pretty stellar even after the screws are removed and the box opened. Lying right on top is a folded poster. Which is cool, but not the best, the major creases really take away from it as a piece.

 

Not really framing material.

 

It picks up though. From there we get to the real meat of the content, the seven CDs and two DVDs. They’re presented on three carboard platters, which are way more sturdy than they look.

Do your best to ignore the reflection of the Foo Fighters poster.

 

On the back of each platter/base/whatever are tracklistings for each disc.

 

Simple and minimalist, like everything else in the box.

 

The packaging for the LPs is similar, the only difference is that the sleeves are black.

 

The records themselves are typical, 10" records. No need to focus on them.

 

At the very bottom of the box are four more pieces of art, all of which are way more interesting than the larger, folded poster that is at the top of the set.

 

The vague sci-fi motifs are common in most of Amon Tobin's work.

In all my years of record collecting, I’ve never seen a package as unique and interesting as this one. I think there are a few left on Ninja Tune’s site, so if you got the bucks, I recommend picking it up.

Posted in Amon Tobin, No music | 2 Comments »

I’m Still Gonna Git You Sucka

June 8th, 2012

When I posted excerpts from the I’m Gonna Git You Sucka soundtrack a few weeks ago (which can be found here) there were a few comments about the singles from the album, and the remixes they contained. I didn’t even know such singles existed! So I thank those who mentioned them. The Discogs merchants from whom I bought them from probably thank you as well. And now all the readers should thank you too, because here are some remixes from the said singles.

Boogie Down Productions
Jack Of Spades (Extended Remix)
Jack Of Spades (Instrumental)
I’m Still #1 (Extended Remix)
I’m Still #1 (Numero Uno Re-Recording)
How bad-ass is KRS-One? So bad-ass that he sounds like a mean motherfucker even when he’s rapping about a character in a Wayans Brothers comedy. That’s pretty damn mean. “Jack Of Spades” is pretty much just a rap re-telling of Jack’s story arc in I’m Gonna Git You Sucka, so I guess the song should feature a spoiler warning if you’re still interested in seeing the movie.

“I’m Still #1″ wasn’t on the I’m Gonna Git You Sucka” soundtrack, so instead of being about how awesome Jack Spade is, it’s about how awesome KRS-One and crew are. His argument is pretty convincing.

K-9 Posse
This Beat Is Military (Hard Corps Version)
This Beat Is Military (Hard Corps Radio Edit)
This Beat Is Military (Hard Corps Dub)
This Beat Is Military (Basic Training Version)
Turn That Down
When I previously talked about this tune I described it as one of the most brilliantly stupid rap songs of all time, and I still love it for its unwillingness to veer away from the “I’m as hardcore as a major military force” metaphor. As for these alternate versions, the “Hard Corps Version” is pretty similar to the original aside from some added beats, while the dub and radio edits speak for themselves. The “Basic Training Version” is radically different though, no A-Team opening (sadly) and the hard-pounding military-inspired beats are cut and replacesdwith some really out-of-place keyboard loops. It also puts a really big emphasis on the line “Def Jam? What’s that? Are we cut?” I sense a beef there. Finally there’s “Turn That Down,” and while that may sound like a different song, it’s really just an instrumental/dub version of the “Basic Training Version.” They keep in an opening Def Jam dis though.

Man, I really want to know what went down between the K-9 Posse and Def Jam, they seemed pissed.

Now for some non-I’m Gonna Git You Sucka hip-hop that I’ve been hanging on to for a bit.

Run-D.M.C.
30 Days (Instrumental)
Sure, this probably appeals to about five people. But I got it, so here it is, a seven-and-a-half minute instrumental version of a Run-D.M.C. song. Enjoy

Mantronix
Bassline (Club Version)
Bassline (Instrumental)
Bassline (Radio Version)
Technically this isn’t hip-hop, it’s electro, but whatever.

Posted in Boogie Down Productions, K-9 Posse, Mantronix, remixes, Run DMC | 5 Comments »

(A) (Post) (With) (Excessive) (Parenthesis) Featuring Dead Or Alive and Coil (And Telex)

June 6th, 2012

I’m going ahead and I’m writing The Lost Turntable Guide to Buying Vinyl. So if you have any questions or topics you want covered, let me know! I think it’s going to be a pretty cool piece. So far I’m covering the following topics:

  • What to look for when buying new/used/collectible records
  • Audiophile vinyl terms
  • Where to buy records
  • Tips for buying records online
  • The perils of download cards

Anything I’m missing? Let me know! Until then, here’s an incredibly random assortment of music.

Telex
Moskow Diskow
Is this disco? Is it synthpop? Who cares! It’s awesome! I never heard of these guys until I bought this single, and now I think I’m falling in love. I think that if Kraftwerk and YMO had a baby, and that baby was raised by Sparks (in Belgium), it would sound like Telex. Really goofy, but still incredibly well-done, dance music with a slick sense of humor. I’m loving it and want to hear more.

This version of “Moskow Diskow” is taken from a 12″ single, and is not the same version as the one that can be found on their first album.

Coil
Windowpane (Astral Paddington Mix)
I know nothing about Coil aside from the fact that most of their releases are crazy rare, weird and hard-to-find. This single to “Windowpane” is actually the first Coil release I’ve ever seen in a record store, which is why I bought it. The original version is pretty good. This incredibly bizarre remix is…something else, especially for 1990. Trent Reznor is a fan right? I could see that.

Dead Or Alive
That’s The Way (I Like It) (Dance Version)
Keep That Body Strong (That’s The Way I Like It)
I have to imagine that Dead Or Alive’s take on this KC & The Sunshine Band “classic” is one of the few synthpop covers of a disco tune. I don’t remember much of the early 80s, (as I was born in 1979), but I do recall that there was a strong disco backlash that continued pretty much until the mid-90s. Of course when your lead singer is an androgynous gay man who enjoys dressing up as a woman, I guess all bets are off.

Both of these mixes are from a 12″ single. They’re available on some versions of Dead Or Alive’s first LP, Sophisticated Boom Boom (wow, that title) but not the one that’s easily available in America, so I’m sharing them.

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Posted in Dead Or Alive, remixes | 5 Comments »

Exotic Birds – Cleveland Synthpop (featuring some dude named Trent Reznor)

June 6th, 2012

Exotic Birds
Dancing On The Airwaves
Have You Heard The News
The Meaning Of Love
This Must Be Heaven
Nothing Lasts Forever
Fighting Fire With Fire 

So who the hell are the Exotic Birds and why the hell should you care about them?

I’ll just cut to the chase, lest you skip this post completely from lack of interest. The Exotic Birds were one of the many bands that Trent Reznor was a member of before he decided to strike out on his own with Nine Inch Nails. And when you hear about the Exotic Birds today on blogs and on YouTube, it’s usually because of that fact. While that’s an interesting bit of trivia, I think that does a disservice to the rest of the band. Trent Reznor was barely in Exotic Birds after all, he only played keyboards on one EP (L’oiseau – the album I’m featuring tonight) and he wrote none of the songs.

The Exotic Birds was barely more than a for-hire gig for Reznor, the real man behind the group was Andy Kubiszewski. On L’oiseau he not only plays keyboards and sings, but he is credited as a guitarist, programmer, percussionist and even xylophone player in the linear notes. He’s the sole writer on four of the album’s tracks, with drummer Tom Freer getting a sole writing credit on one tune and a co-writing credit with Andrew on another. While the line-up to Exotic Birds changed a lot during its short time, Andrew remained in the group until he broke it up for good sometime in the early 90s.

But that was only the beginning of Andrew’s musical career. After he was done with the Exotic Birds he briefly joined The The as a drummer, before rejoining with Trent Reznor in 1994. This time he was the backing member in Reznor’s musical endeavor, playing drums with Nine Inch Nails on their album The Downward Spiral. Maybe working with Reznor’s industrial group gave Andy a taste for the harder-edged music, because just a couple years later he was with Stabbing Westward, the NIN-derivative act who gave us the uber-downer alt-rock hits “What Do I Have To Do” and “Shame” and “Save Yourself.” After Stabbing Westward decided to mope their separate ways in 2002, Andy went on to work with a few other bands before turning to production/songwriting work in 2005, oddly contributing music to t.A.T.u’s sophomore album Dangerous And Moving (which, by the way, isn’t that bad!) among other things. Today, Kubiszewski mostly does television work, composing music for Discovery shows like The Colony, Axmen and Monster Garage.

I said before that I’ve always thought that the lesser-known, more workmanlike musicians have more interesting careers and trajectories than the superstars and one-hit wonders, and I really think the Andrew Kubiszewski’s path of synthpop frontman to British alt-rock drummer to industrial drummer to eurodance songwriter to TV composer really proves that point.

All that and I never even really mentioned how the Exotic Birds sounded! Well, they weren’t bad. They definitely sound like a band that really doesn’t know what it’s doing, going after trends in music instead of trying to forge its own way. Some tracks are incredibly radio friendly pop numbers, while others have a slightly harder edge that might have played well on college radio at the time, kind of  Eurthymics meets The Cure meets InSoc (although not as good as any of those bands). It’s dated as hell, that’s for sure, but if I was Andy Kubiszewski I would be less embarrassed about “Nothing Last Forever” (which has a really great instrumental breakdown) than this.

Okay, that was kind of mean. Stabbing Westward had some good tunes too. “Shame” holds up alright, even if it takes miserablism and self-loathing to levels that NIN could only dream of. I mean, “I only see myself reflected in your eyes”? Pathetic perfection.

Posted in Complete Albums | 1 Comment »

Lou Reed Singing about Motorcycles

May 30th, 2012

Just one song tonight, but it’s a doozy.

The Beachnuts
Cycle Annie 

I’m browsing through some crates at Jerry’s today when Jerry pulls out this record.

He recently bought it in a bulk sale. He gives it to me and tells me to give the last track a listen.  The song is something called “Cycle Annie” by a group calling themselves The Beachnuts.

As I drop the needle on the record I’m thinking to myself, “Why the hell does Jerry want me to listen to this?” I go to Jerry’s a lot, he knows my musical tastes. If it doesn’t have a synthesizer on it or if it isn’t by a 90s rock band, I’m usually not interested. So why the hell does he want me to hear some silly surf-rock song from the late 60s?

As the song starts I quickly realize why, it’s because “The Beachnuts” are really Lou Reed. This is a pre-Velvet Underground Lou Reed recording. Jerry said he’d knew I like it because I like “weird shit like this.”

He knows me well.

Needless to say, I bought the record (for five bucks) and immediately dove into the Internet to find out more about the song. Turns out that this wasn’t the first record that “Cycle Annie” made an appearance on. While Out Of Sight! originally came out in 1967, most of the songs on it were originally on another album called Soundsville, which was released two years earlier in 1965.  That entire album was co-written by Reed, and featured another song with him on vocals, “You’re Driving Me Insane.”

It’s crazy how much both “Cycle Annie” and “You’re Driving Me Insane” sound like other Lou Reed songs from that era, even if they are a little more polished and “pop.” If the lyrics to “Cycle Annie” were changed to be about a junkie rather than a biker, it would have totally fit on a Velvet Underground record. I’d give anything to ask Lou about this song now, but given what a dick he is to interviewers who ask him legit questions, I’m sure he wouldn’t take kindly to that. Of course, that kind of makes me want to do it even more. How could he be ashamed/embarrassed by this song?

I mean shit, It’s better than Lulu.

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Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments »

Blackest Cats

May 30th, 2012

Did everyone have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend (and for my international readers, did everyone have a lovely…um…regular weekend)? Mine was a mixed bag. The family stuff was less than stellar, but I did get to spend my Saturday at Movement in Detroit watching Public Enemy (with Ice-T!!!) tear shit up. That was pretty damn rad.

When I wasn’t at Movement or trying desperately not to swallow my own tongue as a means to avoid my brother, I visited a few record stores in my decrepit hometown of Toledo, Ohio, a city that still has a surprising number of quality independent record stores. I’ll be posting some highlights from that shopping outing in a few days. Until then, some Janet.

Janet Jackson
Black Cat (Funky 12″)
Black Cat (Funky 7″)
Black Cat (Video Mix Short Solo)
Black Cat (3 Snaps Up 12″)
Black Cat (3 Snaps Up 7″)
Black Cat (3 Snaps Up Dub)
I posted a couple of these remixes ages ago, and at the time the equipment I had was so sub-standard that I wasn’t able to record the other tracks in a way that I thought would be worth sharing. The times have changed! Now here are all the remixes from the amazing 12″ single to this classic Janet Jackson tune.

I am also using this opportunity to beg for some more remixes to this song. Specifically, I am looking for the following:

  • Edit Version
  • Video Mix / Long Solo
  • Featuring Vernon Reid
  • “The 1814 Megamix” (Full Version)

If anyone can help me locate these mixes I’ll totally be your best friend forever. I know I’ve said that before, but this time I really…am saying it again. Seriously though, if you can help me out I’ll hook you up with some mixes as well. Leave a comment if you can! Hey, leave a comment if you can’t too. I like comments.

Posted in Janet Jackson, remixes | 6 Comments »

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