The Flies - No Flies On Us (1968)

The Rebs formed in the early 1960's, and was made up of Robin Hunt on lead vocals, Ian Baldwin on bass, Brian Gill on lead guitar, John Da Costa on rhythm guitar and  keyboards, and Peter Dunton on drums. In 1966 the band recorded a British Invasion-exploitation album on RCA Records under the name of the In-Sect, titled 'Introducing The In-Sect Direct from London', with all but one of the tracks being cover versions of contemporary pop hits. Later in the year the band changed their name to No Flies on Us and auditioned for Decca Records, by presenting demos of a couple of songs, a cover of Paul Revere and the Raiders' '(I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone' and their own 'Just Won't Do'. Decca negotiated a record deal with the band, on the agreement that they would shorten their name to The Flies. In October 1966 the band re-recorded a psychedelic pop-oriented cover of '(I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone', along with the new composition 'Talk to Me' for their debut single, and the record became a regional hit, peaking at number 11 on the Wonderful Radio London Fab 40 charts. With a substantial following circulating around them, the group was picked up as the opening live act for popular English bands such as the Move, the Who, and the Moody Blues, and in addition they held a prominent slot alongside The Jimi Hendrix Experience at the popular club, the Roundhouse, in February 1967. The Flies became notorious for their sometimes outrageous stage acts, particularly their April 1967 appearance at the 14-Hour Technicolor Dream psychedelic festival, where the group arranged for hundreds of bags of flour to explode and consequently cover the unsuspecting audience. A follow-up single in mid-1967 included the heavy rocker 'House Of Love' and the pop standard 'It Had To Be You', which was so unlike their other acid-laced garage rockers that it drew comparisons to The New Vaudeville Band. At the same time, Hunt was working on a solo project called Alexander Bell, and issued the single 'Alexander Bell Believes', which featured guest musician Jimmy Page. The Flies recorded one final single in 1968, with 'The Magic Train' appearing on RCA Records, but it went largely unnoticed, and although the group was beginning to experiment with an ethereal organ-driven sound, they had disbanded by the end of the year. By 1968 the band had recorded an album's worth of music, spread over their three singles and various demos, and so by collecting them all together, along with the b-side to the Alexander Bell single and the one self-composed track from the In-Sect album, we can hear an approximation of what a 1968 debut album from the band could have sounded like.    

Track listing

01 The Magic Train
02 House Of Love
03 Talk To Me
04 Turning Back The Page
05 A Hymn With Love
06 (I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone
07 Gently As You Feel
08 The Dancer
09 There Ain't No Woman
10 Where
11 Just Won't Do
12 Winter Afternoon
13 Sincerely Yours

JJ72 - Alabaster Ocean (2002)

 JJ72 was formed in 1996 by lead singer and songwriter Mark Greaney and drummer Fergal Matthews, while studying at Belvedere College, and the name JJ72 derives from a window at the College made from 72 jam jars. After auditioning several bassists they recruited their schoolmate Garvin Smith in 1996, but after a few early gigs Smith left, and Greaney and Matthews once again set about auditions for a new bassist. Before the could recruit a new member of the band, Greaney and Matthews entered the studio as a duo in 1997 to record their first demo, which they sent to local record companies and media, but with little response. In 1998 they started university courses, but shortly after starting they decided to concentrate on the band, and after a concert at Behan's pub in Dublin, backed by a string quartet, and an appearance on local television, they recruited Hilary Woods, who Greaney had known for several years, to play bass, despite having only picked up the instrument recently. In 999 they recorded a second demo and targeted the UK, playing several gigs there and getting a write-up in Select, which led to interest from the Dublin-based Sony sub-label Lakota Records, who signed the band in mid-1999. Debut single 'October Swimmer' was released in November that year, and was named 'Single of the Week' by BBC Radio 1 DJ Mark Radcliffe. They were given support slots with The Dandy Warhols and My Vitriol, and the band had their first hit with 'Long Way South' in May 2000, which peaked at number 68 in the UK Charts. They released their eponymously titled debut album in Summer 2000, and it was a critical and commercial success, selling in excess of 500,000 copies in the band's native Ireland and in the UK, where it reached number 16 on the UK Albums Chart. 

Five singles were released from the record, and 'Oxygen' gave the band their first top 30 single in the UK, leading them to perform on Top of the Pops. After touring with Coldplay and Embrace, they set out on their own headline tour in 2001, and then supported Muse on a tour of Europe. The band's second album 'I To Sky' followed in October 2002, containing the singles 'Formulae' and 'Always And Forever', and it reached the Top 5 of the Irish album charts and the Top 20 of the UK Albums Chart. In February 2003, Woods left the band, and Greaney and Matthews recruited Canadian-born bassist Sarah Fox as her replacement. The band played sporadic shows throughout 2003, and began recording new material with producer Ken Thomas in August that year, for a release expected in January 2004, but by December it was reported that recording for the band's third album had been completed at Parkgate Studios, and a Spring 2005 release was tentatively announced. A download and 7"-only single 'She's Gone' was released in 2005, followed by second single, 'Coming Home' in August, but an ongoing dispute with their record labels Lakota Records/Sony held up the release of the album, and after an October 2005 release date failed to materialise the album was abandoned. On 22 June 2006, JJ72 issued a press release announcing they were to split up after 10 years together, citing their struggle with their record label as their main reason for the split. During their decade together JJ72 produced some fine music, with much of it being hidden away on the flips of their singles, and this collection gathers it all together to remind ourselves what an under-rated band they were.  

Track listing

01 Gherkin (b-side of 'October Swimmer' 1999)
02 Fresh Water (b-side of 'Snow' 2000)
03 Earthly Delights (b-side of 'Long Way South' 2000)
04 Desertion (b-side of 'Oxygen' 2000)
05 Astoria (b-side of 'Oxygen' 2000)
06 It's A Sin (b-side of 'Algeria' 2000)
07 Guidance (b-side of 'October Swimmer' re-issue 2000)
08 Black Eyed Dog (b-side of 'October Swimmer' re-issue 2000)
09 Blood Tests (b-side of 'October Swimmer' re-issue 2000)
10 Wounded (b-side of 'Snow' re-issue 2001)
11 Dream'd In A Dream (b-side of 'Formulae' 2002)
12 Alabaster Ocean (b-side of 'Formulae' 2002)
13 Higher Than Gods (b-side of 'Formulae' 2002)
14 Dog (demo) (b-side of 'Always And Forever' 2002)
15 Wicked Game (b-side of 'Always And Forever' 2002)

Monkey House - The Future Is Almost Gone - The Best Of Monkey House (2025)

Monkey House formed in 1992, performing songs that Don Breithaupt had written that seemed too jazzy or different for other bands to cover, with a major influence of his being Steely Dan. The band makes melodic pop with a sophisticated, jazzy twist, some with horn arrangements. Their debut album 'Welcome To The Club' was released in 1992 on the Aquarius label, and it included a cover of a song written by Donald Fagen of Steely Dan called 'Lazy Nina", which was covered by Greg Phillinganes in 1984, but never recorded by Fagen himself. Their second album 'True Winter', appeared on the Marigold label in 1998, and found Breithaupt collaborating with Little Feat's Richie Hayward and David Blamires of the Pat Metheny Group. The project fell mostly dormant during the 2000's, with a 2005 compilation, 'Big Money: Singles Remasters Rarities 1992-2005', serving as their lone release of the decade. In the meantime, Breithaupt continued to work as a songwriter, session man, and with his brother, fellow songwriter Jeff. When Breithaupt revived Monkey House in 2012, it was with plenty of vigour and energy as he and bandmates Pat Kilbride (bass) and Mark Kelso (drums) enlisted a full horn section and a colorful cast of guests including Rik Emmett (Triumph), Drew Zingg (Steely Dan, Boz Scaggs), and Michael Leonhart (Steely Dan) to help out on their third album. Titled 'Headquarters', it was their first outing for Universal Music Group's Alma Records imprint, and Monkey House began to work more steadily, earning a more widespread international following with subsequent releases like 2016's 'Left' and 2019's 'Friday'. The title of 'Left' was a reference to the fact that Breithaupt packed up and moved from Toronto to the west coast, or "left coast", arriving in the Los Angeles area by February 2013. The album debuted at number 9 on the iTunes U.S. Jazz chart, number 2 on the iTunes Canada jazz chart, and peaked at Number 24 on the Billboard Jazz Albums Chart, despite it really being a pop music album. In 2022, the band marked their 30th Anniversary with the release of 'Remember The Audio', and , it featured contributions by trumpeter Randy Brecker and others. Monkey House returned in May 2025 with 'Crashbox', featuring the single 'Someplace On Madison', which marked the group's last album with Zingg, who died in April, 2025, at age 68. If you don't know the band but have a fondness for the work of Steely Dan then it is definitely worth checking out this sampler of some of their best material.  

Shortly after posting this album I received an email from Don Breithaupt thanking me for taking the time to put this together, and bringing his band to the attention of a wider audience. He is currently writing the next Monkey House album right now.   

Track listing

01 North (from 'True Winter' 1999) 
02 10,000 Hours (from 'Friday' 2019)
03 Where's Mantis Evar (from 'Headquarters' 2011)
04 Good To Live (from 'Left' 2016)
05 Remember The Audio (from 'Remember The Audio' 2022)
06 Road Movie (from 'True Winter' 1999)
07 Welcome To The Rest Of The World (from 'Friday' 2019)
08 The Future Is Almost Gone (from 'Remember The Audio' 2022)
09 Someplace On Madison (from 'Crashbox' 2025)
10 It's Already Dark In New York' (from 'Left' 2016)
11 Island Off The Coast Of America (from 'Friday' 2019)
12 New York Owes You Nothing (from 'Remember The Audio' 2022)
13 Faith In The Middle (from 'Headquarters' 2011)
14 North (Reprise) (from 'True Winter' 1999) 

Cotton Mather - Thee Early Sermons (2016)

As mentioned in the previous post from Cotton Mather, the band started out as an experimental duo consisting of guitarist Robert Harrison and cellist Nat Shelton, and with the addition of friends Owen and Wendy they recorded a number of their compositions, and compiled them onto a cassette in 1990. They called this tape 'Thee Early Sermons', carrying on the preaching theme of their 17th Century namesake, and they also self-released three of the songs on a single-sided cassette EP. Other out-takes and rarities have since surfaced, when Harrison released the 'Buffalo Nickels (Rarities And Shoebox Classics)' compilation in 2019, but only a couple of tracks from 'Thee Early Sermons' were included, so here is the full cassette album, plus a few choice singles, b-sides and out-takes to make up the running time. If anything, this collection just shows that the superb song-writing was in place from the very beginning, as none of the tracks from 'Thee Early Sermons' does the band any disservice.   

Track listing

01 Railroad Days (from 'Thee Early Sermons' cassette 1990)
02 Acteon And Diana (from 'Thee Early Sermons' cassette 1990)
03 Pedestrian (from 'Thee Early Sermons' cassette 1990)
04 Pill Box Hat Made Of Love (from 'Thee Early Sermons' cassette 1990)
05 Coat Of Many Colors (from 'Thee Early Sermons' cassette 1990)
06 Bull In A Data Closet (from 'Thee Early Sermons' cassette 1990)
07 Cycle Down (from 'Thee Early Sermons' cassette 1990)
08 Asterisk Man (from the 'Cotton Is King' promo version 1994)
09 Flying (from the Badfinger tribute album 'Come And Get It' 1996)
10 Heaven's Helping (b-side of '40 Watt Solution' 2001)
11 Little Star ('The Big Picture' out-take 2001)
12 I'll Be Gone (7" single 2012)
13 Animal Show (b-side of 'I'll Be Gone')
14 Call Me The Witch ('Death Of The Cool' out-take 2016)
15 Fading ('Death Of The Cool' out-take 2016)
16 Girl Friday ('Death Of The Cool' out-take 2016)

Ween - The Popular Stylings Of Ween (2007)

Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo met in a junior high school typing class in 1984, and despite not really liking each other they sat next to each other in typing class and both realized we were into music. The decided to form a band and called themselves Ween, which was a made-up word by combining the words wuss and penis. Their earliest home recordings were drug-fuelled and free-spirited, and deliberately designed to be obnoxious. From 1984 until 1994, Ween's live line-up consisted of Freeman on lead vocals and occasional rhythm guitar, Melchiondo on lead guitar and backing vocals, and a Digital Audio Tape (DAT) machine providing the pre-recorded backing tracks. They self-released several cassettes in the late eighties including 'Mrs. Slack' (1984), 'Erica Peterson's Flaming Crib Death' (1986), 'The Crucial Squeegie Lip' (1987), 'Axis: Bold as Boognish' (1988), and 'Prime 5' (1988). In the late 80's, Dave Ayers, working in A&R for Minneapolis-based record label Twin/Tone, went to see a live performance by alt-rock band Skunk, whose friends Ween were opening for them, and Ayers signed Ween to Twin/Tone that night, and would soon become the band's manager. Ween's debut album for Twin/Tone, 'GodWeenSatan: The Oneness', was released on in November 1990, and consisted of 26 tracks that were written during their first six years, and can be thought of as a "best of" this era. 

The band released their second full-length album, 'The Pod', in 1991 on the Shimmy-Disc label, which was recorded on a four-track cassette recorder from January to October 1990. The album borrows its title from the Solebury Township, Pennsylvania apartment in which it was recorded. The duo's use of drum machines, pitch-shifted guitars/vocals and drug-laced humour became a trademark part of their sound, while the cover of 'The Pod' was a parody of the cover of the 1975 Leonard Cohen album, The Best of Leonard Cohen, but with the head of Chris "Mean Ween" Williams (who played bass on the Pod track 'Alone') in place of Cohen's. Following the release of 'The Pod', Ween embarked on their first extensive U.S. tour, as well as a week-long U.K. tour that included a recording with John Peel in the BBC studio. In 1992 Ween signed with Elektra Records and released their major label debut 'Pure Guava' in November. This included their highest charting single, 'Push Th' Little Daisies', which gained them media and MTV attention, as the video was a highlighted target on MTV's Beavis and Butt-Head. Following the release of 'Pure Guava', Ween began to expand their live and studio line-up, providing both a crisper production sound in the studio and an easier live setup. Claude Coleman Jr. officially joined the band as drummer in March 1994, while Ween's long-time producer Andrew Weiss picked up the bass duties. 

The Weiss-produced 'Chocolate And Cheese' was released in 1994, featuring tracks influenced by '70s pop/rock and soul, such as 'Voodoo Lady', which also appeared on the 'Road Trip' and 'Dude, Where's My Car?' soundtracks. In 1995 Ween turned to Nashville studio musicians and producer Ben Vaughn for the November recording of '12 Golden Country Greats', which was released the following year, and which contained only ten tracks. There are two theories regarding the title of the album; that it refers to the dozen veteran musicians, known as The Shit Creek Boys, who played on the album, or that the band did record twelve songs during the sessions for the album, but chose not to use 'I Got No Darkside' and 'So Long, Jerry', but kept the album title. The nautically themed album 'The Mollusk' followed in 1997, and was another eclectic set showing Ween's penchant for satire, deconstruction, and pastiche, including 1960s Brit-pop, sea shanties, Broadway show tunes, and especially progressive rock. Following the release of 'The Mollusk', Ween contributed two songs to two different Trey Parker/Matt Stone projects, with 'Love' appearing in the film 'Orgazmo' in September 1997, and 'The Rainbow', as well as Freeman and Melchiondo themselves, featuring in a season 2 episode of South Park, titled 'Chef Aid', in October 1998. Their final soundtrack project of 1998 was contributing 'Beacon Light' to 'The X-Files: The Album', which was also released as a split single with Foo Fighters. 

Ween's sixth studio album, 2000's 'White Pepper', was the band's final studio release for Elektra, and was a pop-themed, Lennon-McCartney–inspired album, which produced two singles: 'Even If You Don't' and 'Stay Forever'. 'White Pepper' is the only Ween album that I own, and I can't even remember why I bought it, as all I knew about the band was that they made lo-fi music about sex, drugs and bodily functions, although they toned this down for their 1983 John Peel session. Having recently heard that session again, I wondered if they'd recorded any more songs that were more mainstream pop-orientated, and it turns out that they did slip the odd pop song onto their albums now and then. This collection is therefore Ween's 'pop' album, including two tracks from the Peel session - 'What Deaner What Talkin' About' and 'Buckingham Green' - as well as the '12 Golden Country Greats' reject 'So Long, Jerry', which is a heartfelt tribute to the recently departed Jerry Garcia. If you don't already know the band and find that you like this album, then do be warned that most of their other stuff can be something of an acquired taste.  

Track listing

01 What Deaner Was Talkin' About
02 Even If You Don't
03 Tried And True
04 So Long, Jerry
05 The Argus
06 Buckingham Green
07 A Tear For Eddie
08 Chocolate Town
09 It's Gonna Be (Alright)
10 Beacon Light
11 Don't Want It
12 If You Could Save Yourself (You'd Save Us All)
13 Slow Down Boy

The Beat - What's Your Best Thing? (1982)

The Beat were formed in Birmingham, England, in 1978, by Dave Wakeling on vocals and guitar, Ranking Roger on vocals, Andy Cox on guitar, David Steele on bass, Everett Morton on drums. and Saxa a.k.a. Lionel Augustus Martin on saxophone. Ranking Roger added a Jamaican vocal flavour to the band's sound with his toasting style, and veteran Jamaican saxophonist Saxa had played with Prince Buster, Laurel Aitken, and Desmond Dekker in the first wave of ska. He joined The Beat to record their first single, a cover of Smokey Robinson and the Miracles' 'Tears Of A Clown', which was released on The Specials' Two Tone label in 1979. The single went Top Ten in the U.K., leading to a deal with Arista to distribute their own Go Feet label, and their debut album. 1980's 'I Just Can't Stop It' went gold in the UK on the strength of the single 'Mirror In The Bathroom', alongside the band's ferocious performances and clever blend of personal and political lyrics. After a disappointing sophomore effort with 1981's 'Wha'ppen?', the band came roaring back with 1982's 'Special Beat Service', a more pop-oriented set that gave them a wider U.S. audience thanks to MTV's embrace of the singles 'I Confess' and 'Save It For Later'. Although the band's main fan base was in the UK, they were also popular in Australia, partly due to exposure on the radio station Triple J and the TV show 'Countdown'. They also had a sizable following in the US and Canada, where the band were known as The English Beat for legal reasons, to avoid confusion with the American power-pop band The Beat. 

They toured the world with well-known artists including David Bowie, the Clash, the Police, the Pretenders, R.E.M., the Specials and Talking Heads, and during their early career, the band were associated with Birmingham-based cartoonist Hunt Emerson, who designed their 'Beat Girl' icon and painted the mural that was used on the cover of 'Wha'ppen?'. The band split at the end of 1983, and after the break-up Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger went on to form General Public, who had a couple of hit singles in the US and Canada, including 'Tenderness', while Andy Cox and David Steele formed Fine Young Cannibals with vocalist Roland Gift from the ska band Akrylykz. Ranking Roger also briefly joined Mick Jones' post-Clash band Big Audio Dynamite, as they already had a connection after Roger was asked to toast on 'Rock The Casbah' from The Clash's aborted album 'Rat Patrol From Fort Bragg' in 1981. The Beat didn't leave behind a huge amount of rare cuts, as they tended to record previously released material on their radio sessions, although one exception was when they recorded two new tracks for a Kid Jensen session in 1982. They also performed a cover of Laurel Aitken's 'Pussy Price' in their live sets, and one of their gigs was captured on the German TV show 'Rockpalast'. As I bought the original albums when they were released here in the UK, I was missing a number of their non-album singles, so this compilation includes everything that was not on the original UK releases of their three long-players.

Track listing

01 Tears Of A Clown (single 1979)
02 Ranking Full Stop (b-side of 'Tears Of A Clown)
03 Stand Down Margaret (Dub) (b-side of 'Best Friend' 1980)
04 Too Nice To Talk To (single 1980)
05 Psychedelic Rockers (b-side of 'Too Nice To Talk To')
06 Pussy Price (live on the German TV show 'Rockpalast' 1980)
07 Hit It (single 1981) 
08 Which Side Of The Bed...? (b-side of 'Hit It')
09 Rock The Casbah feat. Ranking Roger (from 'Rat Patrol From Fort Bragg' by The Clash 1981)
10 What's Your Best Thing? (b-side of 'Save It For Later' 1982)
11 March Of The Swivelheads (b-side of 'Jeanette' 1982)
12 Night And Day (Kid Jensen session 1982)
13 It Makes Me Rock (Kid Jensen session 1982)
14 Cool Entertainer (b-side of 'Pato & Roger (Ago Talk)' 1982)

John's Children - Orgasm (1970)

When I first discovered the MVSEP app, which could split out stems from music audio, and even remove crowd noise from a live recording, one of the first albums that I wanted to run through it was 'Orgasm' by John's Children. The story of this album is fairly well-known, and is one of the many gimmicks instigated by legendary manager Simon Napier-Bell. After witnessing the band live, and commenting that they were positively the worst group that he'd ever seen, he nevertheless offered to manage them, changing their name in the process from The Silence to John's Children. A group of session musicians then went into the studio and recorded John's Children's first single, 'The Love I Thought I'd Found' b/w 'Strange Affair', which was released in 1966. The original title of the A-side was 'Smashed Blocked', but a name change was necessitated at home because it was deemed offensive. For some reason the single found a receptive audience in Florida and California, where it was released under its original title, and so in 1967, John’s Children released their second single, 'Just What You Want – Just What You’ll Get' b/w 'But You’re Mine', which was also recorded by session musicians, and which features a guitar solo by Jeff Beck on the flip. This single fared better than its predecessor, and after the cancellation of a third single, 'Not The Sort Of Girl (You’d Like To Take To Bed)', their American label, White Whale Records, requested a full-length album. Napier-Bell presented them with 'Orgasm', which kicks off with the shrill screams of young female fans, and after someone pleads with the audience to stop screaming, the band launch into 'Killer Ben', which only elicits louder screaming. 

The album was, in fact, recorded in a studio, and the audience screams were borrowed from the soundtrack to The Beatles' 'A Hard Day’s Night'. Napier-Bell's idea was to present a live album to show the US just how popular the band were in the UK, but he over-did the addition of the fake crowd, and most of the music is buried under a cacophony of noise. Somehow the Daughters of the American Revolution, a patriotic US women's group, heard about the planned release of the record, and objected to its title, delaying its release until 1970. My first attempt at removing the crowd noise was not a success, as it was so deeply embedded into the music, but by splitting out the original stems, some of the crowd was left behind, and so I could then piece it back together and actually hear what the songs sounded like. Having now heard the best versions that we'll find of the music of John's Children, I can only agree with Napier-Bell's original assessment of them, as this is a very ordinary album, with nothing really original on display, and the vocals do let it down. The best tracks were remakes of some of the songs that they released as singles, and the original recordings do show them in a much better light, and so I would say that the 'Strange Affair' album that I posted a while ago is a much better representation of the group. There is one one really interesting song on here, however, and that is 'Let Me Know', which is The Clash's 'Should I Stay Or Should I Go' recorded 15 years before they wrote it.      

Track listing

01 Killer Ben
02 Jagged Time Lapse
03 Smashed Blocked
04 You're A Nothing
05 Not The Sort Of Girl
06 Cold On Me
07 Leave Me Alone
08 Let Me Know
09 Just What You Want
10 Why Do You Lie

Having listened to my 'Strange Affair' post while editing this one, I realised how out of place 'Hippy Gumbo' sounded, being Marc Bolan's only lead vocal on the album, and so as it was long enough to stand some editing I've decided to remove that song from the track listing. If you've already downloaded it then do the same and see what you think. 

Rell - Long Time Coming (2005)

When his debut album for Roc-A-Fella Records, 'The Remedy', was cancelled, Wilbur Gerrell Gaddis, better known as Rell, renegotiated terms with label boss Jay-Z and started retooling the album for a future release on the label. However, when this too was later cancelled, he scrapped the work that he had done, and in 2004 started working on a new project, to be called 'Long Time Coming'. With a scheduled release date of May 2006, the buzz single 'Real Love' was released, but before long disagreements about lack of promotion from the label ended up with Rell's second album also being shelved, resulting in him leaving Roc-A-Fella Records. If you tried 'The Remedy' from the previous post and were intrigued enough to want to hear more, then here are the best the tracks that he recorded for his second abandoned album, which I've trimmed down from a rather unwieldy 70 minutes to a more concise 48-minute version of the unreleased 'Long Time Coming'.

Track listing

01 Back from Hiatus 
02 Don't Take It Away 
03 Real Love (Part 2) (feat. Kanye West & Consequence)
04 Saturday Love (duet with Nicole Wray)
05 Tear It Down
06 What's It All For... 
07 The Bizness
08 Real Love (Part 1) 
09 Last Ride
10 One Night (feat. Geda K. the Co-D)
11 Let Me Show U (feat. Nicole Wray)
12 U Ain't Let Me Down Yet 
13 Somehow, Someway
14 No Better Love (Remix) (feat. Young Gunz)

Cotton Mather - Homefront Cameo - The Best Of Cotton Mather (2017)

Cotton Mather, named after the 17th century Puritan preacher and author, started as an experimental art rock collaboration between guitarist Robert Harrison and cellist Nat Shelton, but they soon shifted away from avant-garde music towards a more traditional rock sound, particularly after Shelton moved from Austin in 1991. With Harrison on guitar and vocals, Whit Williams on guitar, Matt Hovis on bass, and Greg Thibeaux on drums, the group recorded some of their songs and self-released them as 'The Crafty Flower Arranger' album in 1992, before signing to the short-lived ELM Records label, who released their second album, 'Cotton Is King', in 1994. After the commercial failure of that album, Hovis and Thibeaux left the group, and Harrison and Williams, occasionally aided by bassist George Reiff and drummers Dana Myzer and Darin Murphy, began writing and recording what would become their third album. 'Kontiki' was recorded primarily on 4-track cassette and ADAT, and included elements of found sound and psychedelic experimentation, and while the bulk of the album was recorded piece-by-piece via overdubbing, Harrison refers to the three tracks recorded by the live band to be "the spine of the record", showcasing their rock and roll sound. Nashville musician Brad Jones helped to mix and compile the album, and while unsuccessful upon release in America in 1997, it was reissued in 1999 in the UK on the Rainbow Quartz label, and championed by Noel and Liam Gallagher of Oasis, among others.

The recording of the band's fourth album began in 1998, with Brad Jones producing, but when 'Kontiki' was reissued in England and became a success, and with the sessions for 'The Big Picture' almost done, Harrison held off on releasing it, and instead the group recorded the EP 'Hotel Baltimore', which consisted of a re-recording of 'Lost My Motto' from 'Cotton Is King', three outtakes from 'Kontiki', and three new songs. This was intended to consolidate the success of 'Kontiki', and introduce new fans to fresh material before the release of their next full-length studio album, and the David Fridmann-produced 'The Big Picture' was released by Rainbow Quartz in October 2001. However, the release of the album was not a success, and numerous personal setbacks and issues with the label caused the band to go on hiatus in 2003. After this, the various members went on to pursue their own projects, with Reiff remaining active in the music scene as a performer and producer, working with Chris Robinson, Court Yard Hounds, Dixie Chicks, Jakob Dylan, and Bruce Robison, among others, while Josh Gravelin went on to work with Ian Moore, Alejandro Escovedo, Guy Forsyth, Sparkwood, and Beaver Nelson. 

Whit Williams and Dana Myzer joined Ron Flynt as the group Stockton, who released an album in 2007, and Harrison founded The Star Apple Kingdom in 2007, a name under which he categorizes all of his work as a producer and artist, and the first release on the label was the eponymous debut by Future Clouds And Radar, released in 2007, which was essentially a Robert Harrison solo project. During Cotton Mather's hiatus, the group still retained a degree of success, as 'Lily Dreams On' from 'Kontiki' appeared on the soundtrack of the television show 'Veronica Mars', and 'Lost My Motto' from 'Hotel Baltimore' was included on Steven Van Zandt's compilation 'The Coolest Songs In The World', and as the reputation of 'Kontiki' began to grow in underground music circles, Harrison organized an expanded reissue of the album in 2011. 'Kontiki Deluxe Edition' was released in the spring of 2012 and featured a bonus CD of outtakes from the album's sessions. The group played several live shows in 2012, and also released a 7" single containing two tracks recorded during the sessions for 'The Big Picture', which had not been previously released, featuring Ian McLagan on organ. 

The reunited group played several shows in support of the 'Kontiki' reissue, and although the shows were meant to be one-off performances, the group eventually began performing and recording again as a functioning band, but as by this time, Myzer and Gravelin were no longer readily available, the line-up generally centered around Harrison, Williams, Reiff, and Murphy. In 2016, 'Death Of The Cool' was released on the Star Apple Kingdom label, and it was met with much critical acclaim, so three more songs from the project, featuring singer Nicole Atkins, were released as a single at the end of the year. 2017 saw two more releases from the project: the full-length album 'Wild Kingdom', and the six-song 'Young Life' EP. Long-time bassist and producer George Reiff fell ill toward the end of 2016, during the compilation and release of these albums and EPs, and died from lung cancer in May 2017. During 2018, the group did not release any new material. but did attempt to raise money for a new record through PledgeMusic, although they fell short of their goal, and so the project was abandoned. Harrison later stated that he took most of the year off to recuperate from the loss of Reiff, and other changes in his personal life, and to date no new music has appeared from the band. For anyone who has not yet discovered Cotton Mather, then this collection will show what a criminally under-rated band they were, and with the out-takes and rarities that I found while compiling this album, rest assured that there will be more to come from them. 

Track listing

01 Camp Hill Rail Operator (from 'Kontiki' 1997)
02 Girl With A Blue Guitar (from 'Wild Kingdom' 2017)
03 Lily Dreams On (from 'Kontiki' 1997)
04 Eleanor Plunge (from the 'Young Life' EP 2017
05 40 Watt Solution (from 'THe Big Picture' 2001)
06 The Middle Of Nowhere (from 'Death Of The Cool' 2016)
07 Better Than A Hit (from 'Wild Kingdom' 2017)
08 Vegetable Row (from 'Kontiki' 1997)
09 Queen Of Swords (from 'Death Of The Cool' 2016)
10 Payday (from 'Cotton Is King' 1994)
11 Ship Shape (from 'The Crafty Flower Arranger' 1992)
12 Homefront Cameo (from 'Kontiki' 1997)
13 Dutch Light (from the 'Young Life' EP 2017
14 The Book Of Too Late Changes (from 'Death Of The Cool' 2016)

Rapid Eye Movement - Paradoxical Sleep (1980)

Rapid Eye Movement was put together in 1980 by Jakko Jakszyk, Dave Stewart, Rick Biddulph, and Pip Pyle, following the demise of Jakszyk's previous band 64 Spoons. Jakszyk had been in various groups since around 1975, at which time he was leading an eccentric jazz-rock band called Soon After. His self-confessed "dictatorial tendencies" reduced a bigger line-up to a trio of "two screaming lead guitars and a trumpet", but despite this the band reached the finals of the 1975 Melody Maker National Rock/Folk competition, finishing third. When Soon After split up, Jakszyk toured with "a strange little band" which supported Camel, Stackridge, and Judas Priest, then briefly joined a Tring-based group called Synthesis which played progressive rock in the Canterbury-scene vein. His first significant band was the afore-mentioned 64 Spoons, which he joined as guitarist and lead singer in 1976, co-writing much of the band's material. Between 1976 and 1980, 64 Spoons wrote and performed a blend of pop, progressive rock, jazz, and comedy, typified by their single 'Ladies Don't Have Willies', and boosted by an exuberant and funny live show, they proved popular with audiences. However, despite this acclaim from the public, they failed to gain an effective record deal or media breakthrough, and they split up in 1980, with their only album, 'Landing On A Rat Column', eventually being released in 1992, many years after it was recorded. 

64 Spoons' work did, however, lead to friendships with several of the musicians who had inspired the band, notably keyboard player Dave Stewart, and following the split of 64 Spoons, Jakszyk joined Stewart, Rick Biddulph, and Pip Pyle in the band Rapid Eye Movement, with Jakszyk contributing several songs to the band's repertoire, as well as co-writing material with Stewart. Between August 1980 and June 1981 Rapid Eye Movement toured Spain, France, and the UK and recorded some material, but they split up due to Stewart's desire to concentrate on studio work, most notably his successful collaborations with Colin Blunstone and Barbara Gaskin. Although Rapid Eye Movement never released a studio album during their short lifetime, some of their gigs were recorded, and so we do have a record of the original material composed by Jakszyk and Stewart. The live recordings are very good audio quality, and so I've taken the best tracks from their French concert from October 1980, removed the crowd noise and boosted the vocals where they were too low in the mix, kept the running order fairly true to the gig, and added a cover. We now have a debut "studio" album from this obscure Canterbury-influenced band, performing original material that has otherwise yet to see the light of day. 

Track listing

01 One More Time
02 Hat Of Truth
03 Seven Sisters

04 Foetal Fandango
05 Matching Green
06 Dear Clare
07 Bismark City
08 One More Time (Reprise)

Many thanks yo geofmcm for bringing this band to my attention, and also for supplying the live recordings that make up this album. 

Soulseek update - Good News

It looks like I've finally got my head around Port Forwarding, and according to Soulseek the listening port in now open. Can anyone who has been having trouble accessing my albums over the past few months give it a try now, and let me know in the comments if you can now see the aiwe albums again. 

Fingers crossed. 

pj 

Aphex Twin - Music From The Merch Desk (2016-2023) (2024)

Exactly a year ago, with no prior announcement, Richard James, as Aphex Twin, released 'Music From The Merch Desk (2016–2023)' through Warp Records, where it was made available to listen through various streaming services. It was a compilation of 38 tracks released only on vinyl at his concerts, and the album's artwork came from a bootleg T-shirt, which was later resold as official merchandise. The first release that would make up 'Music From The Merch Desk' came from an Aphex Twin concert at Day For Night in Houston, where he performed on 17 December 2016. A 12-inch vinyl record with white artwork, Aphex Twin and Warp Records logos, and the text 'Houston, TX 12.17.16', was sold as merchandise at the concert. The record had two tracks, and while originally untitled, they were later named as 'no stillson 6 cirk' and 'no stillson 6 cirk mix2'. On 3 June 2017 James headlined at Field Day 2017, and another 12-inch vinyl record was sold at the concert, which came in a green unmarked sleeve in an Aphex Twin branded bag, and it contained 11 tracks. The record had sold out by 2pm. An official webstore that hosted James' music was opened on 20 July 2017, and in addition to releasing 'London 03.06.17' and other bonus tracks from the release, a digital 4-track EP titled 'Orphans' was made available. In 2019 James was announced to be performing at Printworks on 14 September, and another vinyl record was sold at the concert, containing songs from 'Orphans' and a new track titled 'Soundlab20', and when he later performed at The Warehouse Project a week later, a four-track vinyl record was made available as merchandise. On 16 June 2023, James performed during the Sónar festival in Barcelona, and a 10-inch vinyl record with two tracks was released at the festival, containing 'rfc pt8' and 'afxfm e'. Finally, on 19 September, he performed at 2023's Field Day festival, and a limited five-track 12-inch in a pink record sleeve was sold as merchandise. As 'Music From The Merch Desk' sneaked out with little publicity, and was only available to stream, it might have been missed by fans, and so here it is to fill that gap in your collection.

Track listing

01 no stillson 6 cirk [Houston, TX 12.17.16]

02 no stillson 6 cirk mix2 [Houston, TX 12.17.16]

03 42DIMENSIT3 e3 [London 03.06.17]

04 MT1T1 bedroom microtune [London 03.06.17]

05 T18A pole1 [London 03.06.17]

06 T03 delta t [London 03.06.17]

07 em2500 M253X [London 03.06.17]

08 T23 441 [London 03.06.17]

09 42DIMENSIT10 [London 03.06.17]

10 T20A ede 441 [London 03.06.17]

11 MT1T2 olpedroom [London 03.06.17]

12 T47 smodge [London 03.06.17]

13 sk8 littletune HS-PC202 [London 03.06.17]

14 T13 Quadraverbia N+3 [London 03.06.17]

15 T16.5 MADMA with nastya [London 03.06.17]

16 T17 Phase out +3 [London 03.06.17]

17 15T63 neotek 2h949 +3 [bonus beats] [London 03.06.17]

18 T08 dx1+5 [London 03.06.17]

19 T69T07 stasspa+3 [London 03.06.17]

20 T05 tx16w marion MT***,e [sketches] [London 03.06.17]

21 T46 se70 rinseout2 [sketches] [London 03.06.17]

22 ZT01 [sketch1] [London 03.06.17]

23 21TXT1+4 ds8 flngchrods[sketch0.1b] [London 03.06.17]

24 Spiral Staircase (AFX Remix) [London 14.09.2019]

25 4x Atlantis Take 1 [London 14.09.2019]

26 Nightmail [London 14.09.2019]

27 Soundlab20 [London 14.09.2019]

28 pretend analog extmix 2b,e2,ru [Manchester 20.09.2019]

29 rozzboxv2mam+4 [Manchester 20.09.2019]

30 umil 25-01[a] [Manchester 20.09.2019]

31 midi pipe2c edit, +3 [Manchester 20.09.2019]

32 rfc pt8 [Barcelona 16.06.2023]

33 afxfm e [Barcelona 16.06.2023]

34 korg funk5 [London 19.09.2023]

35 korg 1b ru,ec,e [London 19.09.2023]

36 SOOG e [London 19.09.2023]

37 body pads [London 19.09.2023]

38 dgitne tst1e [London 19.09.2023]

Mouse And The Traps - Look At The Sun (1968)

Ronald Lon "Mouse" Weiss and Dave Stanley were members of a local band named Jerry Vee and the Catalinas (or simply the Catalinas) in 1964, and Weiss had also performed on the regional hit single 'Lucky Lips' by Steve Wright and The Catalinas, that was later released nationally by Dot Records. Weiss and Stanley met Bugs Henderson, lead guitarist for local instrumental band The Sensors, and Knox Henderson (no relation to Bugs), and the co-wrote 'A Public Execution' and brought the song to Robin Hood Brians, who managed Robin Hood Studios. This song – which strongly resembles Bob Dylan's music in the mid-1960s – was released as the band's first single in 1966 under the name Mouse, and shortly afterwards Jerry Howell and Ken (Nardo) Murray joined the group, with most of their remaining music was released under the name Mouse And The Traps. 'A Public Execution' has been described as more Dylan-esque than any of their later music, and reached No. 121 on Billboard Bubbling Under the Hot 100 chart, but although their second single 'Maid Of Sugar, Maid Of Spice' was much punkier, it didn't repeat their earlier chart success. Their next single was a novelty song that went in a completely different direction, with 'Would You Believe' being a take-off on the running gag of that name by Don Adams on the television sitcom 'Get Smart', but this record was actually only credited to Mouse rather than the group. 

After releasing several singles on the Fraternity Records label, Mouse and the Traps also recorded two singles for Bell Records that were produced by Dale Hawkins, and they also performed on two of Hawkins' singles, and contributed toward his 1966 album on the label, 'L.A., Memphis and Tyler, Texas'. By 1966, the members of Mouse And The Traps – along with Robin Hood Brians and Doug Rhone – were working with singer Jimmy Rabbitt, who was attempting to launch a band under the name Positively 13 O'Clock. Continuing their Dylan connection, the name is an obvious play on Dylan's hit in the same time period, 'Positively 4th Street', and a Los Angeles studio session at Hanna-Barbera Records in September 1966 resulted in their only recorded single, a frantic version of Count Five's 'Psychotic Reaction', with a planned album by the band never materializing. By 1968 Mouse And The Traps had recorded enough material for an album under their own name, and so if they'd managed to get a label interested then it could have sounded very much like this. As this is a Mouse And The Traps album, I'm not including the singles released by Mouse on his own, which is actually a wise decision as the Dylan-esque vibes of 'A Public Execution' and 'Do The Best You Can' don't really sit that well alongside their more psychedelic/R&B offerings. 

Track listing

01 You Don't Love Me (You Don't Care)
02 Cryin' Inside
03 Maid Of Sugar, Maid Of Spice
04 L.O.V.E. Love
05 I'm A Man
06 Lie, Beg, Borrow And Steal
07 Sometimes You Just Can't Win
08 I Am The One
09 I Satisfy
10 Requiem For Sarah
11 Look At The Sun

12 Like I Know You Do

13 Good Times
14 Mohair Sam