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Various Artists

The Bristol Goth Explosion - The 80s

    Bristol Archive present an album of the cream of Bristol's 1980s 'Goth' scene. With sleeve notes from Pete Webb; a member of one of Bristol's earliest Goth bands; Necromancy, quotes from Jon Klein of Specimen and in beautiful trans red vinyl. This is another hugely valuable document of the music and scene in Bristol and the Southwest.

    The Bristol Goth Explosion was a key part of the growth of the whole scene in the UK in many ways. Two bands on this compilation were formed in 1981: Specimen and Necromancy. Specimen made the move to London in 1982 and started the Batcave club now synonymous with the Goth story. The other; Necromancy stayed in Bristol and played and partied at the Bastille Club, a similar club to the Batcave, but a hidden and less known transgressive den for the emerging Gothic Punk scene. The Bastille was infamous; you saw Quentin Crisp partying there, Friar Tuck locked in a dancer's cage, Stan the Man a guy in yellow speedos on roller skates gliding around the dance floor and a 70-year-old regular flashing her knickers whilst doing the Can-Can! Members of The Cure, Bauhaus and Echo and the Bunnymen passed through the club and Bristol's beautifully preened punks waltzed to the Blue Danube by Strauss one minute and Bauhaus the next.

    The Bastille run by David Darling was a meeting point, party scene and the one part of the musical glue that tied these bands together. This album features Specimen, Claytown Troupe, Fear of Darkness, Necromancy, Temple, Exit Stance and The Long March many of whom frequented the Bastille. It is an album that represents the darker side of Punk and Post Punk and then the scene that became known as Goth, but it represents the variety of musical influences and styles that were involved in those scenes.

    The album is dedicated to the key people, clubs and venues that contributed to its flourishing; the Bastille and its founder David Darling, music journalist Dave Massey (NME, Sounds) who supported and wrote about this scene in the mainstream and local music press at the time, the members of these bands and the people who went to the gigs and the clubs and who travelled the country looking and dressing in an incredible way. Another project instigated by Mike Darby and the wonderful Bristol Archive Records.

    TRACK LISTING

    Side A
    1. Specimen - Stand Up Stand Out
    2. Fear Of Darkness - Lay Me Down
    3. Temple - Book Of Dreams
    4. Temple - Spine
    5. Exit Stance - Conspiracy Of Silence

    Side B
    1. Claytown Troupe - Prayer
    2. The Long March - Weakness
    3. Necromancy - Waltzing
    4. Necromancy - Save Your Praise
    5. Exit Stance - Esthetics

    Gary Bartz (alto & soprano sax, vocals) - Charles Mims (piano, syntheziser) - Curtis Robertson (electric bass, back vocals) - Howard King (drums). A fantastic live recorded in Bremen on 8th November 1975 set from reedman Gary Bartz – captured here with his ultra-hip NTU group – who you might know from their classic albums on Milestone in the 70s! 1 hour and 46 minutes of free and spiritual jazz.

    TRACK LISTING

    1. Nation Time (Live)
    2. Ju Ju Man (Live)
    3. Medley: Rise / Celestial Blues / The Sounding Song / Incident / Uhuru Saga (Live)
    4. Peace And Love (Live)
    5. Sifa Zote (Live)
    6. I've Known Rivers (Live)
    7. Sweet Tooth

    Various Artists

    The Bristol Post-Punk Explosion Vol 2 (1979-1986)

      Bristol is a city that has managed to not only surprise the wider world with its output but has managed to do the same to the citizens of the place. The 1980's was a decade that personified that aspect to music making out west and the second volume of the Bristol Post-Punk Explosion has managed to capture the vibe to perfection. Feat tracks from Electric Guitars, Essential Bop, Art Objects, Moskow and more.

      The Cardiacs

      Archive

        Archive is a compilation album composed of early tracks by the band recorded from 1977 to 1979. The tracks were compiled from Cardiacs' demo albums The Obvious Identity (1980) and Toy World (1981), as well as three pieces recorded by Tim Smith and Dominic Luckman for a side project The album was originally released on cassette in 1989 exclusively available to the Cardiacs Yousletter Family and was reissued on CD in 1995. Cardiacs are an English rock band formed in Kingston upon Thames by Tim Smith (guitar and lead vocals) and his brother Jim (bass, backing vocals) in 1977 under the name Cardiac Arrest. One of Britain's leading cult rock bands, Cardiacs' sound folded in genres including art rock, progressive rock, art punk, post-punk, jazz, psychedelia and heavy metal (as well as elements of circus, baroque pop, medieval music, nursery rhymes and sea shanties), all of which was topped by Smith's anarchic vocals and impressionistic lyrics. Their bizarre sound and image made them unpopular with the press, but they amassed a devoted following Tim Smith was the primary lyricist, noted for his complex and innovative compositional style. He and his brother were the only constant members in the band's regularly changing lineup. The band created their own indie label, the Alphabet Business Concern, in 1984 and found mainstream exposure with the single "Is This the Life?" from their debut album A Little Man and a House and the Whole World Window (1988). Their second album, On Land and in the Sea (1989), was followed by Heaven Born and Ever Bright (1992), which displayed a harder edged, metal-leaning sound retained in the subsequent albums Sing to God (1996) and Guns (1999). Tim Smith was hospitalised with dystonia resulting from a cardiac arrest in 2008, which brought increased and belated critical recognition to Cardiacs, with several music outlets calling Sing to God a masterpiece.

        TRACK LISTING

        1. Aukamacic
        2. Icky Qualms
        3. Piffol Four Times
        4. Scratching Crawling Scrawling
        5. As Cold As Can Be In An English Sea
        6. T.V.T.V.
        7. My Trade Mark
        8. The Obvious Identity
        9. Piffol One Time
        10. A Game For Bertie's Party
        11. Piffol Three Times
        12. Rock Around The Clock

        Thin Air

        The Source Of Dreams 1982-84

          When punk rock started to fizzle out many of the UK's disaffected youths had already moved sideways into Modernism and fell in love with The Jam. Inspired by Paul Weller's song writing skills Thin Air started out life as Out of Order and supported The Jam at the Bristol Locarno in 1980 (on the day of John Lennon's death), Thin Air were never an authentic Mod band appealing to a strictly Mod audience, they were a Jam influenced, power pop outfit concentrating on writing edgy yet commercial, catchy pop rock music. Enjoy the sound of the underground 42 years later than you should have.

          Iganda

          Mark Of Slavery / Slow Down - 2024 Reissue

            It's fair to say that the inclusion of Iganda's sole 7" single "Mark Of Slavery" / "Slow Down" spread across the first two volumes of the "Midlands roots explosion" series, has not only greatly raised the profile of the band, but also sent the price of the original release through the roof.

            TRACK LISTING

            Mark Of Slavery
            Slow Down

            Various Artists

            The Bristol Post-Punk Explosion (1978-1982)

              The post punk explosion of the late 1970s/early 1980s is regarded as one of the most exciting periods of music making explorations in Bristol. Half a century later (gulp!) the period is now being revisited, seen as being even more relevant as there is the 2020s surge of new acts reviving and mining the seam of the genre. Many of the original Bristol bands in question had either been featured on or been rocket fuelled inspired by the success of a local label's 1980 compilation album of bands from the city on 'Avon Calling', that was lauded, championed and played to death by John Peel. He rated the compilation of Bristol bands above those from Manchester and Liverpool, stating on air "this really is the standard by which others should be judged in the future. It really is superb with not a bad track on it."

              That local label releasing it was Heartbeat Records, run by Simon Edwards (who also ran Riot City). Heartbeat was part of a coterie of Bristol indie's, such as Fried Egg, Wavelength and Recreational (the latter operating out of another central destination for music lovers, the Revolver record shop). The emergent labels were tapping into the range of musical talent responding to the challenges of a new decade, the Thatcher government tearing down hard fought for certainties and securities, allied to the impact of punk that had shifted the shape of the musical landscape so dramatically. The quasi-psychedelic, archly poetic Essential Bop even got as far as being praised to the skies in the NME by Paul Morley. Art Objects 'a beat combo fronted by a poet' became the better-known Blue Aeroplanes, and Electric Guitars somewhat incongruously signed to Stiff and - sadly - stiffed. Latif Gardez from Gardez Darkx signed with EMI and later Virgin. He would release two albums under the name Mystery Slang. Tim Norfolk from the artful, wacky and tight-fitting Shoes For Industry went on to become a member of The Insects and worked with Massive Attack.

              What cannot be ignored all this time on when listening to so much of the Explosion album is the quality - the sheer attack of Art Objects, the angular extremities of Electric Guitars along with the caustic sneer of Fishfood. Then there is the more hipster Danceteria driven, percussive and horny frenetic grooves of Animal Magic, in marked variance to the loose-limbed, guitarless Scream & Dance. This is all contrasting with more electronic vox ultra uber cool mensch and darker elements of Europeans (featuring later Specimen and Siouxsie and the Banshees guitarist, John Klein), Creature Beat and Colortapes (who had Mike Fewins, ex of The Cortinas, in their line-up).

              Much can be found in the sheer lyricism of so many of the songs and groups. Glaxo Babies even recently performed in Bristol in their current iteration, Dan Catsis being the sole original member. The Objects/Aeroplanes main man Gerard Langley regarded the band in their heyday as the 'cornerstone of the Bristol scene' placing them above The Pop Group (usually ranked as being top dogs by national media, though Essential Bop regarded them as 'beatnik fascists') in that status. For Langley the Glaxos were 'both sophisticated and primitive, they were basically pre-post-punk punk. They were real man, and I loved them'. The Explosion album is the tip of the iceberg of the treasure trove of goodies from the era. Archive label owner Mike Darby, who compiled it, makes that plain: "There's easily enough for a great volume two.''

              TRACK LISTING

              1. Art Objects - Hard Objects
              2. Glaxo Babies - Christine Keeler
              3. Animal Magic - Standard Man
              4. Electric Guitars - Beat Me Hollow (Demo)
              5. Creature Beat - She Won't Dance
              6. Shoes For Industry - Jerusalem
              7. Europeans - Europeans
              8. Essential Bop - Croaked
              9. Gardez Darkx - Bliss
              10. Fishfood - Modern Dance Craze
              11. Colortapes - Cold Anger
              12. Scream & Dance - In Rhythm

              Various Artists

              The Bristol Punk Explosion Vol. 2 (1977-1981)

                We are delighted to bring you the follow up to the successful 'The Bristol Punk Explosion (1977-1979) album released in November 2023 - a twelve-track compilation entitled 'The Bristol Punk Explosion Vol 2 (1977-1981).'The sleeve notes are written by Tim Williams author of the 1977 Loaded Fanzine. Tim talks about the transition from Soul to Punk, the demise of Prog Rock and the fashion culture that sat seamlessly alongside the music. There are three previously unreleased tracks never before available on vinyl.

                The Cortinas were the first. They played the Roxy Club, released two singles on Mark Perry and Miles Copeland's Step Forward label, graced the front cover of Sniffin' Glue and recorded a Peel Session. Taking their cue, bands like Social Security (the first band on Heartbeat Records), The Pigs (whose 'Youthanasia' single was released by Miles Copeland's New Bristol Records), The Media, 48 Hours and Private Dicks gave Bristol one of the strongest provincial early punk scenes.

                The area of Barton Hill gave us The X-Certs, who by 1978 could already pull audiences of five hundred into Trinity Hall. Though we did not realise it at the time, they effectively bridged the gap between the late 70s Bristol scene and what our American cousins like to term the UK82 bands.

                In time bands from the suburbs of Bristol started to appear on the scene, Misdemeanor (who were managed by the late Dennis Sheehan U2's tour manager for thirty plus years), Apartment from Downend (whose photo adorns the front cover) and Noiz Boiz from Weston Super Mare, the seaside town just down the road.

                This compilation is designed to give all fans of Punk a snapshot of what Bristol Punk was all about during that period. We close side Two of the album with The X-Certs Clash infused /reggae single 'Together' and follow it with one of Bristol finest Roots reggae bands Talisman and their single 'Wicked Dem'. The punky/reggae party had truly started as we move into the 80's Bristol Stylee! Bristol Boys Make More Noise! 

                TRACK LISTING

                Side A
                1. The Cortinas - Fascist Dictator
                2. The Media - Wanna Be A Number
                3. The Pigs - Psychopath
                4. Private Dicks - She Said Go
                5. Misdemeanor - Radio Radio
                6. The X-Certs - Queen And Country

                Side 2
                1. Apartment - The Car
                2. 48 Hours - Train To Brighton
                3. Noiz Boiz - Noiz Boiz
                4. Social Security - Stella's Got A Fella
                5. The X-Certs - Together
                6. Talisman - Wicked Dem

                Matmos

                Return To Archive

                  From the ' Sounds of North American Frogs' to ' Speech After the Removal of the Larynx' , Folkways documented the audible nooks and crannies of existence on hundreds of LPs produced by field recordists, scientists, and experimentalists probing the margins of the human soundscape. Seventy- five years later, electronic music duo Matmos have diced, looped, stretched, and recontextualized these recordings on their new album ' Return to Archive' , which was assembled entirely from the so-called non-musical sounds released on Folkways. On just the album's first track, dolphins, beetles, telephones, humans stretching the limits of their vocal cords, a shortwave radio, and metal balers co-mingle in a fantasia of sound both everyday and extraordinary. Each track on Return to Archive morphs its source material into something completely unexpected, honoring and expanding on Folkways' legacy of sonic exploration. Featuring Evicshen and Aaron Dilloway.

                  TRACK LISTING

                  1. Good Morning Electronics
                  2. Injection Basic Sound
                  3. Mud- Dauber Wasp
                  4. Music Or Noise?
                  5. Why?
                  6. Lend Me Your Ears
                  7. Return To Archive
                  8. The Way Japanese Beetles Sound To A Rose
                  9. Going To Sleep

                  Various Artists

                  The Bristol Mod Explosion 1979-1987

                    This album covers the period 1979 to 1987 and features 14 tracks.

                    When punk rock started to fizzle out and Squat Punks started to appear on the streets, many of the UK's disaffected youths had already moved sideways into Modernism and fell in love with bands like The Jam, Secret Affair, The Purple Hearts, The Lambrettas and The Chords but lets also remember our love for The Beat, Madness and The Specials.

                    The West Country embraced the scene and produced its own authentic Mod bands like The Reaction, Mayfair and The Newbeats. Alo features The Rimshots, The Review and more

                    Basil Kirchin

                    Assignment Kirchin - Two Unreleased Scores From The Kirchin Tape Archive

                      So here we are. The next Trunk / Kirchin assignment. Basically some more unreleased music from the unpredictable and slightly chaotic Kirchin Tape Archive.


                      These tapes were labelled up as follows:
                      Assignment K (with lots of pencil scribbles everywhere). The Strange Affair (with lots of pen scribbles everywhere).

                      As usual with Basil tapes / things there is little else to go on, no tracklist, no list of musicians, no singer names, no dates or anything. I have actually tried to establish the name of the singer on the song from Side One (we have called it “Love Is To Walk Away “ as it is unnamed) but having played it to a handful of knowledgeable collectors and enthusiasts who I would count as experts in this field, no one has a clue who it might be. If you think you know please get in touch. We know who it isn’t.

                      We can tell you that Assignment K dates from 1968, was a film about a toy maker who has a double life as an international spy. It was directed by Val Guest, who’d just finished trying to rescue the cinematic hotchpotch that was Casino Royale - he had been brought in by the Bond producers after Peter Sellers had walked off the movie. We imagine Assignment K may have been a slightly less stressful few months of shooting. As for the Kirchin score that we have here, we can tell you very little indeed, apart from the fact that the bass player was Ron Prentice (an ex blacksmith turned musician and craftsman) who worked on several Bond scores, but we know little else. And we only know this because it says so in the academic tome “Jazz On The Screen” by David Meeker.

                      The Strange Affair is also from 1968, and was not only controversial but also a reasonably unsuccessful movie. Directed by David Greene who also directed, amongst other films, I Start Counting and the quite brilliant Sebastian. In this rather grubby flick a policeman called Peter Strange (played by Michael York) falls for an underage girl (played by Susan George), finds himself compromised by a pair of pornographers and gets lured into an errand for a smack gang. We can tell you little else because I have no more information about it all.

                      But we do know that this music has all the classic Kirchin mid-period sonic hallmarks that have always set him apart.


                      TRACK LISTING

                      Side One:
                      1 AK 1
                      2 AK 2
                      3 AK 3
                      4 AK 4
                      5 AK 5
                      6 AK 6
                      7 Love Is To Walk Away
                      8 AK 8
                      9 AK 9
                      10 AK 10
                      Side Two:
                      The Strange Affair
                      1 SA 1
                      2 SA 2
                      3 SA 3
                      4 SA 4
                      5 SA 5
                      6 SA 6
                      7 SA 7
                      8 SA 8
                      9 SA 9

                      Whatitdo Archive Group

                      Palace Of A Thousand Sounds

                      From the instrumental cinematic-soul outfit behind 2021's critically acclaimed The Black Stone Affair comes Whatitdo Archive Group's most recent foray into the realms of the esoteric and arcane, and their most adventurous album to date.

                      After The Black Stone Affair enthralled record collectors by traversing the cinematic landscape of an imagined 1970s Spaghetti Western, Palace Of A Thousand Sounds finds Whatitdo Archive Group entrenched deeper in the worlds of mid-century exotica and library music—from the Tropicalia-steeped Amazon to the minor key tonalities of the far-out Near East.

                      When the dust finally settled from their debut album, composer and tireless sound scientist Alexander Korostinsky set out to discover the band's new direction, with the ultimate goal to breathe new life into the mid-century era sound with the compass of modernity as his guide.

                      From its conception in 2021, Palace has sought to carry on a legacy set in motion by the likes of Martin Denny, Les Baxter and Juan García Esquivel. Korostinsky, guitarist Mark Sexton, and drummer Aaron Chiazza recorded the album in marathon sessions from Korostinsky's Studio "A," in Reno, Nevada—a mysterious sonic laboratory where the year 1970 has yet to happen, and vintage analog equipment interfaces with modern musical perspectives and experimental recording techniques to produce era-defining sounds.

                      Not content to appeal to the sensibilities of armchair anthropologists, Palace Of A Thousand Sounds finds the band interrogating the genre itself while making studious tributes to the real places and times it draws from. It's in this tension between here and there, fantasy and reality, that Whatitdo Archive Group find their groove.

                      Drawing from a century of pop and folk sounds from around the world the way only 21st-century crate-diggers can, Palace is rooted in an undercurrent of heavy funk that is decidedly here and now. Whatitdo Archive Group showcase the breadth of their influences with disarming confidence, equally at home behind sweeping harp, loungey vibraphone or Turkish bağlama saz. A lush seventeen-piece orchestra commanded by award-winning composer Louis King (Janelle Monáe, Monophonics) completes the instrumental mélange, enticing listeners to imagine a borderless planet unified by melody and rhythm.

                      The album is unafraid to explore the strange and uncomfortable in pursuit of an authentic musical identity, subverting expectations in pursuit of forwarding the genre while paying homage to its past. Fans will appreciate the architectural complexity of the record accessible only through multiple listens—each visit to the palace yielding new details to marvel at, curiosities to ponder, grand mysteries to explore.

                      Once the needle drops, W.A.G carefully guides you from room to room, sound to sound within the walls of the album's sonic palace. Listening becomes an aural journey providing glimpses into different worlds both real and imagined; you are everywhere and nowhere all at once—a guest in the grand halls and hanging gardens of time and sound.

                      STAFF COMMENTS

                      Matt says: Cinematic and engrossing arrangements which drift between stylistic boundaries. This Milanese group should be on the radar of lovers of global grooves and esoteric exotica.

                      TRACK LISTING

                      1. Enter The Palace
                      2. Beyond The Crimson Veil
                      3. Astral-Desia
                      4. Delirium
                      5. Exotique
                      6. Sun Harp
                      7. The Cashmere Chamber
                      8. Iron Tusk
                      9. Secrets In The Sand
                      10. Mirage
                      11. Ritual Of Gods
                      12. The Second Moon
                      13. Forbidden Cove

                      Various Artists

                      Earl's Closet: The Lost Archive Of Earl McGrath 1970-1980

                        Earl McGrath was the ultimate ’70s jet setter, an art collector and comic bon vivant who stumbled into the record business between legendary parties in New York and LA and discovered Daryl Hall and John Oates and then Jim Carroll. Atlantic founder Ahmet Ertegun gave Earl his own label, Clean Records, in 1970; Mick Jagger hired him to run Rolling Stones Records in 1977.

                        Friend to Joan Didion, Andy Warhol, and a galaxy of luminaries, Earl was an inveterate tastemaker. Actor Harrison Ford, who before Star Wars fame was Earl’s handyman and pot dealer, called him “the last of a breed, one of the last great gentlemen and bohemians.”

                        After Earl died in 2016, journalist Joe Hagan, author of the critically-acclaimed Sticky Fingers, the biography of Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner, discovered a trove of rare and unheard tapes in Earl’s apartment in New York—literally inside his closet. “I asked for a step ladder and the first box I pulled off the shelf was a master tape of Some Girls, the Stones album,” says Hagan.

                        Now Light in the Attic Records proudly presents Earl’s Closet, a double album of the treasures discovered inside, including unheard music by Daryl Hall and John Oates, David Johansen, Terry Allen, Delbert McClinton, Warhol “Superstar” Ultra Violet, Detroit sax legend Norma Jean Bell, Jim Carroll and an eclectic cast of undiscovered artists who once vied for fame and glory—folk, rock, country, funk and R&B gems that virtually no one has heard in decades. Whether it’s the almost-famous power pop of Shadow from Detroit, or the Delfonics-style soul of the Blood Brothers Six, Earl’s Closet retraces the dreams of artists who once sent demos to Earl McGrath. Longtime Light in the Attic-affiliated reissue producer Pat Thomas assisted Hagan in tracking down the artists and finalizing the paperwork.

                        At once an archival mixtape, a secret history and a journey into the heart of an era, Earl’s Closet features a deep booklet of documents, images and ephemera from Earl’s archive, expansive liner notes by Joe Hagan, who tracked down and interviewed the artists, and astonishing photographs by Earl’s late wife, the Italian countess Camilla Pecci-Blunt McGrath.


                        TRACK LISTING

                        Two More Bottles Of Wine – Delbert & Glen
                        Baby Come Closer – Daryl Hall And John Oates
                        Gonna California – Terry Allen
                        Only Yourself To Lose - Kazoo Singers
                        Christopher – Michael Mccarty
                        Dixie Darling – Jim Hurt
                        California – Mark Rodney
                        Killer - Country (fondiler & Snow)
                        Dry In The Sun – Daryl Hall And John Oates
                        Oh La La - Shadow
                        Cocaine Cowboy – Terry Allen
                        How Do You Do (children Of The Most High) – Ultra Violet
                        Invisible Lady – Johnny Angel (johnny Angelino)
                        I See My Days Go By - Shadow
                        Where Have All The Flowers Gone? – Blood Brothers Six
                        Salt Showers – Len And Betsy Greene
                        Holy Commotion – Paul Potash
                        Sail Away - Jabor
                        Funky But Chic – David Johansen
                        Just Look-ah What You'll Be Missing – Norma Jean Bell
                        Tension – The Jim Carroll Band
                        Waiting For Me – Little Whisper And The Rumors

                        Ben Salisbury & Geoff Barrow

                        Archive 81 (Soundtrack From The Netflix Series)

                          Ben Salisbury and Geoff Barrow are known for their scores for the Ivor Novello Award winning ‘Ex Machina’ and ‘Devs’, along with their work on ‘Annihilation’, ‘Free Fire’, ‘HANNA’ and more.

                          Inspired by the popular podcast of the same name, ‘Archive 81’ depicts the life of a man who comes across videotapes full of a mysterious woman’s adventures in an even more mysterious apartment building. What seemed to be an ordinary job turns into a nightmare as the strange creature that took the woman’s life in the past seems to have found a way back to him 25 years in the future.

                          TRACK LISTING

                          CD
                          Archive 81 - Titles
                          The Visser Ritual
                          Tape Cleaning
                          Losing Track Of Time
                          Jess Opens Up
                          Journey To The Compound
                          Seizure
                          Ghost Story / Cracking The Code
                          Otherside
                          Mold
                          Someone In There
                          Séance
                          Cameras
                          The Greenstone Totem
                          Dan’s Theme
                          I’m A Spirit Receiver
                          Church Seizure / The Compound
                          The Cult Of Kaelego
                          A Connection Through Time
                          Tamara’s Opera
                          Dan’s First Lucid Dream
                          I Need To Find Her
                          Pep Talk
                          Going Rogue
                          Fucking Smothering Me
                          The Ritual Space Recreated
                          Song Of The Otherworld
                          What Are You Playing?
                          Stay Out
                          Archive 81 - Credits

                          LP
                          Archive 81 - Titles
                          The Visser Ritual
                          Tape Cleaning
                          Losing Track Of Time
                          Jess Opens Up
                          Journey To The Compound
                          The Greenstone Totem
                          Dan’s First Lucid Dream
                          Otherside
                          Song Of The Otherworld
                          Someone In There
                          Séance
                          Cameras
                          Dan’s Theme
                          Tamara’s Opera
                          I Need To Find Her
                          The Ritual Space Recreated
                          Stay Out
                          Archive 81 - Credits

                          Silverbacks

                          Archive Material

                            In years from now, anyone seeking to make sense of what life was like during a global pandemic should extend their research beyond the newspaper clippings and dive into the art produced during the period. Archive Material - the aptly-titled second album by Dublin-based art-rock quintet Silverbacks - will make for a particularly illuminating listen on the subject. Capturing the absurd mixture of monotony and creeping disquiet experienced by many of us this past 18 months, it’s simultaneously sobering and wickedly droll.

                            Spend more than five minutes in the company of brothers/band founders Daniel and Kilian O’Kelly and you’ll quickly realise this playfulness is hardwired. Reminiscing about their upbringing in Brussels, they gently rib one another about their early creative abilities. “When Kilian started writing music, around the age of 14/15, it was like, oh shit, that's better than what I've been doing - maybe I should latch on to him a bit,” older brother and lead singer Daniel chuckles. “And that’s still the case,” guitarist/vocalist Kilian bats back, grinning.

                            They laugh too recalling how - prior to the existence of streaming services - they used their dad’s extensive record collection as a lending library, much to his disapproval. “The rule in the house was [you could borrow] just one CD at a time,” Daniel explains. “It was like borrowing a book: you’d check it out for a night and then the next day he'd be immediately chasing up on the CD asking, ‘Where is it?’ And then he’d fine us.”

                            It was via these limited loans that the pair first discovered the work of Frank Zappa, the Beatles and Miles Davis, as well as some of the records and bands that would go on to inspire their output in Silverbacks specifically. “Television’s Marquee Moon was a big one,” Daniel recalls. “Pavement’s Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain was another. And then Sonic Youth generally.”

                            The siblings’ songwriting partnership only began in earnest when Daniel moved to Kildare to study music in 2008, with the pair swapping ideas over email under the band name Mighty Good Leaders. Two years later, Kilian joined Daniel at college in Maynooth and - after changing their name to Silverbacks - they expanded the line-up, recruiting course mates Peadar Kearney on guitar and Emma Hanlon on bass, alongside a revolving cast of drummers. This arrangement continued until 2014, when Peadar left Ireland to live in France and the band reverted back to being a bedroom project. The current incarnation of Silverbacks officially began two years later, upon Peadar’s return to Dublin, with drummer Gary Wickham completing the line-up.

                            The five-piece’s first release together - ‘Just For A Better View’ - arrived in 2017, instantly picking up praise from an array of blogs. 2018-single, the BBC 6 Music playlisted ‘Dunkirk’ extended their audience even further, showcasing Daniel’s sardonic lyrical style as he played a man having a mid-life crisis on the site of the former battleground. As a result of the single’s success, they gigged solidly for the next two years, touring Ireland extensively, and playing shows across the UK and Europe with Girl Band, in-between working on their full-length debut, Fad.

                            Recorded with Girl Band-bassist Daniel Fox - who the band had initially admired for his production work with Paddy Hanna - its release was initially scheduled for November 2019, before being put back to March 2020 for logistical reasons. When the music industry was derailed by the pandemic, its release was postponed indefinitely. Frustrated, the band took control and opted to put it out in July 2020, against the advice of their label. Daniel explains, “We knew it was a risk, but just for our own sanity, we just needed to get it out there and move on to the next thing.

                            It was a leap of faith that paid off, with the Irish Times declaring the 13-track collection “seriously exciting”, DIY Magazine calling it “an excellent example of how a debut should be done” and it getting nominated for the RTE Choice Music Prize Irish Album of the Year. Not that the band hung around to revel in the acclaim: they were already hard at work on the follow-up.

                            Archive Material only cements Silverbacks’ status as one of Ireland’s most fascinating bands. Recorded at Dublin’s Sonic Studios in November 2020, with Daniel Fox undertaking production duties once more, it finds the band leaning into their early influences, delivering idiosyncratic indie-rock packed with intricate, Tom Verlaine-esque “guitarmony”. Other reference points for the record included Neil Young, Weyes Blood and - on ‘Wear My Medals’ in particular - Bradford Cox and Cate Le Bon’s collaborative record Myths 004.

                            Where Fad found Silverbacks focused on recapturing the live experience rather than reveling in studio experimentation, Archive Material skillfully traverses the line between the two. As a unit, they replicate that irrepressible live energy via complex arrangements incorporating everything from wistful Rhodes (‘Carshade’) to congas and Gang Of Four-style bass (‘Different Kind Of Holiday’).

                            Thematically, the record is every bit as rich, displaying an anthropological approach as exemplified by the album’s artwork. The initial premise for ‘They Were Never Our People’ came from a YouTube comment, portraying the decline of a town that has lost its footfall as the result of a bypass. Meanwhile, ‘Central Tones’ is an empathetic character study of someone seemingly content to trade off former glories, but secretly deeply unhappy.

                            On several songs, the pandemic functions as a particularly effective prism through which to examine ideas of community. ‘A Job Worth Something’ finds Daniel reflecting on his real-life experiences working in insurance while his sister treated patients on a COVID ward, and the feelings of futility and guilt he felt at the time. ‘Different Kind Of Holiday’ was inspired by the ways in which previously uncommunicative neighbours bonded with each other during periods of enforced confinement. Throughout, his observations arrived drenched in the same surreal strain of gallow’s humour that many of us were forced to adopt to lighten the toughest moments of the lockdown.

                            Daniel explains, “I can't remember who it was, but I saw a musician who said that they'd be keeping away from writing anything about the pandemic, because who wants to hear about that? But I’d much rather hear about an event via someone who actually lived through it, rather than someone writing about it retrospectively.”

                            Keenly observed and vividly rendered, Archive Material is an eye-witness account of human resilience as much as it is a compelling indie-rock record. Future historians take note.


                            TRACK LISTING

                            Archive Material
                            A Job Worth Something
                            Wear My Medals
                            They Were Never Our People
                            Rolodex City
                            Different Kind Of Holiday
                            Carshade
                            Central Tones
                            Recycle Culture
                            Econymo
                            Nothing To Write Home About
                            I’m Wild

                            Iron & Wine

                            Archive Series Volume No. 5: Tallahassee Recordings

                              Archive Series Volume No. 5: Tallahassee is the lost-in-time debut album from Iron & Wine. A collection of songs recorded three years prior to his official Sub Pop debut, The Creek Drank the Cradle (2002). A period before the concept of Iron & Wine existed and principal songwriter Sam Beam was studying at Florida State University with the intent of pursuing a career in film. Tallahassee documents the very first steps on a journey that would lead to a career as one of America’s most original and distinctive singer-songwriters.

                              Creek arrived like a thief in the night with its lo-fi, hushed vocals and intimate nature, while almost inversely Tallahassee comes with a strange sense of confidence. Perhaps an almost youthful discretion that likely comes from being too young to know better and too naïve to give a shit. The recordings themselves are more polished than Creek and give a peak into what a studio version of that record might have offered up.

                              Tallahassee was recorded over the course of 1998-1999 when Beam and future bandmate EJ Holowicki moved into a house together. Beam had not been performing publicly, however he was known for playing an original song or two in the early morning glow of a long night. Holowicki also in the film program and who would go onto a career as a sound designer at Skywalker Sound, had a mobile recording device and after some prodding convinced his friend to record these late-night meditations.

                              Together they would record close to twenty-four songs, ideas and sketches, with EJ on bass and Sam on vocals, guitar, harmonica and drums. The recordings – all captured in the house where they lived – have a “live in the room” feel akin to say Neil Young’s Harvest or Nick Drake’s Five Leaves Left, rather than the homespun lo-fi 4-track home recording experiment taking place at the time.

                              These recordings, minus one track, have never been made available and were instead left preserved on a hard drive for the last twenty years. The one track that floated out there, called “In Your Own Time” was shared without a title to childhood friend Ben Bridwell (Band of Horses) at some point. The song became known as the “Fuck Like A Dog” song and Ben shared it with more than a few folks during the golden era of mix cd’s. Two of those folks were Jonathan Poneman from Sub Pop and journalist Mike McGonigal, who included it on his best songs of 2001 mix cd, passed out to friends and acquaintances. And for many that is where the Iron & Wine story begins, until now…

                              Tallahassee is the foreword to your favorite book that you’ve somehow skipped over time and time again. It’s an alternative history mixed with some revisionist history told over the course of eleven songs. It’s also the debut record by Iron & Wine some twenty years after the fact. 

                              TRACK LISTING

                              Why Hate The Winter
                              This Solemn Day
                              Loaning Me Secrets
                              John's Glass Eye
                              Calm On The Valley
                              Ex-Lover Lucy Jones
                              Elizabeth
                              Show Him The Ground
                              Straight And Tall
                              Cold Town
                              Valentine

                              Sis Jendayi

                              Feel It

                                Recorded in 1982 but never released "Feel It" is a moving slice of digital reggae. In addition to the vocal there are three dub mixes which are perhaps the earliest available examples of Rob Smith productions. These recordings may be seen as the start of Rob's illustrious career which includes Smith & Mighty, Three Stripe, More Rockers and RSD. The dub mixes in particular with their sparse instrumentation and use of a drum machine's programmed beats foreshadow the UK digi-dub scene pioneered by artists such as Nick Manasseh and The Disciples as well as labels including Conscious Sounds and Riz. Released via the impeccable Reggae Archive, this 10" pressing sound super clean and should be a welcome addition to any reggae collectors box... Recommended!

                                TRACK LISTING

                                A1. Feel It
                                A2. Feel It (Dub Version 1)
                                B1. Feel It (Dub Version 2)
                                B2. Feel It (Dub Version 3)

                                Archive

                                The False Foundation

                                  Speaking about the self-produced new album, founding member Darius Keeler said “I think just knowing that we were working on our tenth album made this one feel like a landmark record. Our history as a collective has been a mad journey, we’ve trodden such a strange path to arrive at where we are today, and I think in a way that informed the new record and emboldened us to make what is probably the Archive album that I’m most proud of to date”.

                                  Talking about the genesis of the album title Keeler says; “People are going to read in to who or what The False Foundation is I guess, but they’re going to have to draw their own conclusions. I have my own take on it, let’s just say there are a lot of potential candidates out there in the world today.”

                                  TRACK LISTING

                                  1 Blue Faces
                                  2 Driving In Nails
                                  3 The Pull Out
                                  4 The False Foundation
                                  5 Bright Lights
                                  6 A Thousand Thoughts
                                  7 Splinters
                                  8 Sell Out
                                  9 Stay Tribal
                                  10 The Weight Of The World

                                  Various Artists

                                  The Midlands Roots Explosion Volume Two

                                    "The Midlands Roots Explosion Volume One", saw the culmination of many years work spent tracking down artists and tapes to shine a light on one of England's greatest, yet most overlooked musical scenes; the home grown take on reggae that briefly flourished from the mid-seventies and had almost disappeared little more than a decade later. Mixing themes of struggle, resistance, justice, equality, identity and Rastafari played and sung from the heart with both conviction and skill, our first volume received a rapturous reception from critics and purchasers alike. Now Reggae Archive return with more of the same, but if anything they've surpassed Volume One with an even stronger selection.

                                    Volume Two starts off in exactly the same way as its predecessor with Handsworth's biggest musical exports, the legendary Steel Pulse and "Bun Dem produced by Dennis Bovell. Natural Mystique are next with their 1982 single "Generals". Then there are A and B sides from some of the most popular artists included last time, with Iganda's "Mark Of Slavery", Carnastoan's "Sweet Melody" and yet another "Generals", this one from Musical Youth. "Africans" from Bass Dance featuring a second appearance from former Steel Pulse guitarist / vocalist Basil Gabbidon, is the first of four previously unreleased tracks. The other three that we've managed to track down on long forgotten tapes, are Leicester's Groundation with "Rebel", "Cannot Take It Away"; another lost gem from Handsworth's Mystic Foundation and "Equalisation" another lost slice of early eighties roots from Wolverhampton's Capital Letters. The late Linton Haughton is another new name with his scarce Shield label 12" cut "Hustling Man".

                                    Also making their first appearances, are Afrikan Star with "Run And Hide" originally issued in 1980 on Black Vinyl Records and from the Crucial Music stable, Sledge Hammer with "Ruled By The Stone" released as a 7" single on the Crucial Music Inc. label. The remaining three tracks are provided by label favourites and key players in the Birmingham scene, Black Symbol, Sceptre and Eclipse and showcase songs from the individual albums we've previously released by each band.



                                    Waylon Jennings / Sanford Clark

                                    Zia Records Presents : Audio Recorders Archive Vol.1

                                      THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2014 EXCLUSIVE, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

                                      Zia Records, a fixture for music fans in Arizona since 1980, is proud to present the first installment of the Audio Recorders Archive, a series of split 45s that explore the history of famed Phoenix studio Audio Archive.
                                      The first installment in the series features country king Waylon Jennings and rockabilly legend Sanford Clark, recordings that have not been available on vinyl since their original release on Ramco Records in 1967. In the 1950s and ‘60s, Audio Recorders was one of the premier studios in the southwest. With roots in owner Floyd Ramsey’s Ramsey’s Radio Repair on 7th and Weldon, the studio became the hub of the nascent Phoenix music scene, and the studio welcomed a who’s who of the Southwestern country, pop, roots, and rock & roll performers: Duane Eddy, Lee Hazlewood, Waylon Jennings, Al Casey, Wayne Netwon, Sanford Clark, and more.
                                      With his own Ramco Records imprint, Ramsey issued records that would go on to regional and national success. Future Audio Recorders releases from Zia Records will explore soul, R&B, and garage rock, but the first volume focuses on Jennings’ dust-caked ode to a tough woman, and Clark’s gun shot-boasting murder ballad. Both make good use of the vaunted Audio Recorders reverb silo.

                                      TRACK LISTING

                                      A1. Waylon Jennings, “My Baby Walks All Over Me”
                                      B1. Sanford Clark, “It’s Nothing To Me”


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