Sun Dial - Plains Of Nazca: The Best Of Sun Dial (2016)

Gary Ramon's first band was Modern Art, and after releasing a number of cassette albums (I still my copy of 'Oriental Towers') and their first album in 1987, 'Stereoland', was limited to a run of 300 copies in a hand-painted sleeve. It contained jangly '60s-influenced pop originals in line with contemporaries like the Bachelor Pad, and was followed the next year by a German edition of 500 copies of 'All Aboard The Mind Train', which marked the real start of Ramon's journey. Reeking of lysergic consumption, the album contained original songs, plus a cover of the Monkees' 'Circle Sky', and in 1994 the album was remixed, remastered and re-pressed in an edition of 500 for his own Acme label. Modern Art then became Sun Dial at the start of the new decade, and as a trio they recorded 'Other Way Out', which conjured up memories of Pink Floyd's 'Piper At The Gates Of Dawn' and The Nice's 'Thoughts Of Emerlist Davjack'. When I first got this album I thought it was the best recreation of the psychedelic sound of the late '60s by a modern band that I'd ever heard, and I stand by that today. It was followed in 1993 by 'Return Journey', featuring tracks that were was also recorded in 1990, and it included exploratory waves of effect-filled guitar solos, plus a cover of 'Magic Potion', a 1969 nugget by the Open Mind.  'Reflecter' and 'Libertine' were career sidesteps, and were both self-produced as a quartet with guitarist Chris Dalley, bassist Nigel Carpenter and drummer John Pelech. 'Reflecter' takes a contemporary Manchester detour, accenting the loudly textured guitar drones and echoey vocals, in songs like 'I Don’t Mind' and 'Easy For You', with a brisk and modern dance-influenced tone. 

If 'Reflecter' was a minor breach of stylistic faith, though, 'Libertine' was a gimmicky sounding big-budget studio affair with electronics taking a place of honour right behind the guitars, and it attempted a more radical revamp, nodding toward shoegazer rock and ambient techno, with precious little of what distinguished Ramon's previous work. 'Acid Yantra', however, was a fine return to form, as Ramon cast off contemporary musical life for a ride on a hallucinogenic magic carpet. With 'Libertine' drummer Craig Adrienne and new bassist Jake Honeywill in tow, Ramon returned to the organic simplicity of analogue 8-track recording, and at times his fluid, acid-drenched guitar recalls Funkadelic’s Eddie Hazel in his 'Maggot Brain' glory. Their next release was a live album recorded in London at the band's only live show of 1995, and 'Live Drug' consists of songs from 'Acid Yantra' as well as such earlier items as 'Slow Motion', 'Fireball' and 'Exploding In Your Mind'. After a long gap the band returned in 2003 with another great album in 'Zen For Sale', but for 2010's 'Sun Dial' they ditched the psyche and recorded a metal album, which lost them quite a few fans along the way. Perhaps realising that those fans preferred his early work, Sun Dial returned in 2012 with 'Mind Control', which was Ramon's second career highlight, after 'Other Way Out'. Starting with the great opener 'Mountain Of Fire And Miracles', this is followed by 'Radiation' which heads towards Germany and enters the mysterious land of early 70's Kosmische, with flute laden mellotron and trance inducing drums, and then back for some motorik action with sitar on the title track. Following that return to form the band have released new albums every few years, with their most recent studio recording being 'Message From The Mothership' in 2023. Fans of late 60's psyche and prog should already know about Sun Dial, but if you don't then this career retrospective should introduce you to one of the best modern psyche bands around. The 'Reflector' and 'Libertine' albums are not without their moments, and so they have one track apiece, but I've concentrated on the psychedelic side of their output, as that is by far my personal preference.

Track listing

01 Plains Of Nazca (from 'Other Way Out' 1990)
02 Never Fade (from 'Reflecter' 1992)
03 Believer (from 'Libertine' 1993)
04 You're Still Wondering (from 'Zen For Sale' 2003)
05 Autopilot (from 'Made In The Machine' 2016)
06 Magic Potion (from 'Return Journey' 1993)
07 Mountain Of Fire And Miracles (from 'Mind Control' 2012)
08 Rollercoaster (from 'Acid Yantra' 1995)
09 Exploding In Your Mind (from 'Other Way Out' 1990)
10 North Eastern (from 'Return Journey' 1993)
11 Let It Go (from the 'Fazer' EP 1992)
12 Reflections (from 'Zen For Sale' 2003)
13 Regenerator (from 'Made In The Machine' 2016)
14 Yantra Jam (from 'Acid Yantra' 1995)

You Slosh - Up In The Slosh (1991)

You Slosh formed in December 1986, and consisted of Duncan Rayson and Martin Howe on keyboards, Michael Gill on fiddle and bouzouki, Mike Harvey on bass, Pat Walker on drums, and multi-instrumentalist Troy Donockley on uilleann pipes, bouzouki, electric guitar and occassional vocals. Based around the pipes and whistles of Donockley, they played a mix of Celtic folk and prog rock, and were well-known around the York area in the late 1980's. Donockley composed long, involved pieces for guitars and ethnic instruments, while the sound made by the other members of the band was big and exciting. They were an immensely popular college group, but in late 1991 they mysteriously disbanded, just when they were starting to receive national attention. Donockley went on to join Iona and also play with Barbara Dickson, the Enid, Maddy Prior, Midge Ure, and Adrian Edmundson's Bad Shepherds, and is currently a member of Finnish symphonic heavy metallers Nightwish. In 1989 You Slosh released their debut album on the On Them label, which was a live recording captured at the Tivoli in Buckley the same year, but many of the tracks featured on it had previously been recorded onto demo cassettes, which were often sold at their gigs, and so this album is made up of two of those demo tapes, essentially making it a studio version of that live album. 

Track listing

01 The Break
02 Up In The Slosh
03 Above Leaves
04 Dust
05 Larl Boy In The Slammer
06 Time To Laugh
07 Hearthquake
08 The Ivy Leaf

Thanks to geofmcm for bringing this band to my attention, and for the music.

Robin Trower - Earth Below Blues (1974)

After Robin Trower finished up the UK dates in mid-August 1974 tour in support his 'Bridge Of Sighs' album, fired drummer Reg Isidore, and he and bassist/vocalist James Dewar flew to Los Angeles to audition new drummers. Trower had decided he wanted an American drummer with a distinctively American feel, and after auditioning several applicants, Trower got a call from Bill Lordan, formerly of Sly Stone's band. Trower later told an interviewer that Lordan phoned him up and boasted that he was the best man for the job and to look no further, and he more than backed up this bold claim during his audition, and immediately clinched the gig. In September 1974, Trower, Dewar, Lordan, and producer Matthew Fisher (keyboardist in Trower's old band Procol Harum) assembled in London and rented a church to rehearse in and jam. The London rehearsals were designed to work out a new sound for the band, to help the new line-up gel, and to firm up ideas for their third album, 'For Earth Below', which Fisher was producing. The church wasn't abandoned, but it wasn't being used for services, and it had a great acoustical sound, so after rehearsing for a few weeks they returned to Los Angeles to start recording the album at The Record Plant in Hollywood, with Matthew Fisher producing. The record was laid down very quickly, and Trower was out on tour by early November, with the album being released in February 1975. A lot of the rehearsals were taped for later analysis, and three of the jams feature Fisher on keyboards, so as they are all excellent recordings I've compiled them into a 50-minute instrumental album from Trower and the band, enjoying themselves and getting to know each other in 1974. 

Track listing

01 Earth Below Blues
02 Substrata Jam
03 The Realm Beneath

Raye - Dark Dance Songs (2021)

Rachel Agatha Keen (professionally known as Raye) was born on 24 October 1997 in Tooting, London, to a Ghanaian-Swiss mother and an English father from Yorkshire. Surrounded by music, Raye first showed interest in becoming a recording artist at the age of eight, and she wrote her first song for a concert in Year 6, performing it at the Southwark Cathedral. At age 14, she was chosen to enter the BRIT School, where she studied for two years before dropping out due to feeling "confined". She spent most of her teenage years learning how to write songs professionally in studio sessions on the weekends. In November 2014, at the age of 17, Raye independently uploaded her debut EP, 'Welcome To The Winter', to SoundCloud, writing, recording, and co-producing the seven tracks. Olly Alexander, the then-lead singer of the UK band Years & Years, discovered her song 'Hotbox' through Hype Machine, and sent it to his record label, resulting in Raye subsequently signing a contract with Polydor Records. In 2015, she released the single 'Alien', featuring Avelino, and covered the Years & Years song 'Shine', later opening for the band's show at Shepherd's Bush Empire. Raye's following EP, 'Second', was released in August 2016 through Polydor, but she struggled to get the label to release an album by her, even though she constantly presented then with completed records throughout the seven years that she was signed to them. 

She kept up her profile by performing concerts, and appearing as a guest on other artist's recordings, such as Charli XCX's 'After The Afterparty', and she appeared on the 'VIP' remix to the song with Rita Ora and the rapper Stefflon Don. She also starred in the music video for the Stormzy song 'Big For Your Boots', and featured on the track 'Dreamer' from Charli XCX's collaborative project 'Number 1 Angel' in 2017. She released her own singles 'The Line' and 'Decline' in 2017, and her third EP 'Side Tape', premiered in 2018, following the release of the single 'Cigarette', in collaboration with the singers Mabel and Don. In June 2021 Raye publicly spoke up on X (formerly Twitter) about unfair treatment from her then-label, Polydor Records, revealing that they had been blocking the release of multiple albums made by her over the course of seven years. It got quite messy in the end, and she hit a breaking point, where she was so angry and frustrated that in protest, on 30 June 2021, she went live on Instagram to share some of the songs the label refused to release, which included 'Fantastic' and the demo for 'The Thrill Is Gone'. 

One of the last records that she presented to Polydor was to be a dance album, where she needed to hand in songs which were 115 BPM or above, and as far as her constraints allowed, she set out to make an album that was going to be called 'Dark Dance Songs'. The closest thing she had as a guide was the song 'Black Mascara', which later appeared on her official debut album. When she finally extricated herself from her Polydor contract she signed to Human Re Sources Records and finally released her debut full length album 'My 21st Century Blues', which was met with instant acclaim, and was nominated for the 2023 Mercury Prize. As well as releasing some of her songs on Instagram, 200 of her tracks leaked online, allowing us to hear the contents of the many rejected albums that she'd tried to release through Polydor. In the start of what could be a long-running series, here is the unreleased 'Dark Dance Songs' album from 2021, including the demo version of 'The Thrill Has Gone', which includes a Kylie Minogue sample which had to be removed from the official version which later appeared on 'My 21st Century Blues'.

Track listing

01 Uncomfortable (Intro)
02 Walk Away
03 Dark Nights
04 Down
05 The Thrill Has Gone
06 Young & Naive
07 Black Mascara
08 Your Loss (Silly Man)
09 California Dreamin'
10 When You Say It Like That
11 Many A Man
12 No Man
13 Fantastic

The Band - Return To Jericho (1993)

In 1985, the Band went into the studio for the first time since 1977 with the intent of recording tracks for an eventual album, as Richard Manuel had recently expressed interest in writing new material for the group, and had written 'Breaking New Ground' with Gerry Goffin and Carole King. However, on 4 March 1986 Manuel died by his own hand, and the Band abandoned efforts to make an album for several years. In 1990, Sony offered the group a recording contract, and they hired fellow Hawks member Stan Szelest to replace Manuel on keyboards, and proceeded to record new material with songwriter Jules Shear, but these recordings were rejected by Sony, who suggested the group take submissions from various songwriters. However, bad luck dogged the group again, when Szelest died of a heart attack while sessions were ongoing. The Band then requested release from Sony and found a new contract with Great Pyramid Records, and without Manuel or Robbie Robertson as songwriters, the group relied mostly on outside sources, such as Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Bruce Springsteen, and their friends Bob Dylan and Artie Traum, and a few sessions also involved Champion Jack Dupree. 'Country Boy', a song from the 1985 sessions with Manuel on vocals, was also selected for inclusion on the album, and John Simon, who had produced the Band's first two albums, was again brought in to produce along with Aaron L. Hurwitz. The album was finally completed in 1993, with new members Richard Bell on keyboards, Randy Ciarlante on second drums, and Jim Weider on lead guitar. 

Among the material are four new originals written by the group: 'Remedy', written by Weider and producer John Simon, 'The Caves Of Jericho', co-written by Helm and Bell with Simon, 'Too Soon Gone', co-written by Szelest with Jules Shear, and 'Move To Japan, written by Helm, Szelest, and Weider with Simon and Joe Flood. Two contributions came from outside songwriters, with Artie Traum's 'Amazon (River Of Dreams)', and 'Shine A Light', composed by Marty Grebb and Daniel Moore, and the rest of the album consists of covers of Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, and The Delmore Brothers. The record was generally well-received, with critic Mark Deming writing that while Robertson's strong song-writing and stinging lead guitar were sorely missed, the remaining musicians and guests performed well, and 'Jericho' did unexpectedly prove that the Band could function very well without Robertson. Some time after the release of the album, a selection of alternate versions and outtakes appeared, although none of them are final mixes, and there seems to be little overdubbing and backing voices, so they might be classed more as rehearsals. There rarely seem to be two drummers, and Garth Hudson plays a lot of accordion throughout the first half, while a number of them feature a horn section. These previously unheard tracks have been examined by theband.hiof.no website, and their comments are as follows: 

The Bruce Hornsby cover 'Night On The Town' has a lead vocal by Ciarlante, but this version takes too many directions and is ultimately too messy to get anywhere, although there's a great bit of wild organ from Hudson. 'Circle Of Time' is a loping mid-sixties style soul influenced song. Rick Danko sings lead, supported (I think) by a female singer. The prominent instruments are bass, drums and guitar with less piano and a touch of synth with a horns sound. Jim Weider bends some very un-Band like guitar sounds. If this had made it through to 'Jericho' it would definitely have been one of the best tracks on the album. 'The Tide Will Rise' is another Bruce Hornsby cover, with a lead vocal from Levon Helm, and is a song to Hornsby's ancestors, the watermen of Virginia. With words like 'they say we're a dying breed, they say we're gonna disappear' it reminds me of 'Cahoots', complete with tinkling orientalish synth and guitar sounds. They've put out worse than this in the past - most of 'Islands' and 'Cahoots' for starters. 'Nobody Sings 'Em Like Ray' was co-written by Jim Rooney, and is a jazzy tribute to Ray Charles, with Hudson performing powerfully on horns. Three voices share equal honours, Helm, Danko and probably Ciarlante. It's very catchy, and has great lyrics, and it's incomprehensible that it wasn't used. 'Keep The Home Fires Burning' opens with a jaunty sax lead, and vocals are shared, with a C&W feel on the chorus. 'Stuff You Gotta Watch' is the only alternate take that I've included, as it opens in Sgt Pepper style with a voice announcing 'the triumphant return of the Kenny Wayne Orchestra!' then goes into a very live sounding big band pastiche of 'Stuff You Gotta Watch', which is faster and better than the album cut. 

Lastly we have 'Soul Deep', which is a cover of the classic Box Tops' song, and I've also included live versions of 'Remedy' and 'Blind Willie McTell', which were issued on a rare promotional 7" single to publicise the album. 

Track listing

01 Night On The Town
02 Circle Of Time
03 The Tide Will Rise
04 Remedy (live)
05 Keep The Home Fires Burning
06 Nobody Sings 'Em Like Ray
07 Stuff You Gotta Watch
08 Blind Willie McTell (live)
09 Soul Deep

All About Eve - Silver Songs (1992)

Julianne Regan, a former journalist, played bass in an early line-up of the gothic rock group Gene Loves Jezebel, before leaving to form The Swarm with Manuela Zwingmann of Xmal Deutschland. This partnership was the precursor to All About Eve, who were named after the 1950 film starring Bette Davis, and the line-up was completed with the addition of former Aemotti Crii guitarist Bricheno and bassist Gus Ferguson. In 1985 the band released their debut single , 'D For Desire' on the Eden label, but shortly afterwards Zwingmann and Ferguson left, with the latter joining Test Department. Bricheno suggested Andy Cousin as a replacement for Ferguson, and so as a three-piece plus a drum machine, they released the singles 'In The Clouds' in 1986) and 'Flowers In Our Hair' in 1987, with the music on showing an ethereal gothic sound, sometimes compared to the music of the Cocteau Twins and Siouxsie and the Banshees. After Regan sang backing vocals for The Mission's 'God's Own Medicine' album, she suddenly started to receive greater attention and the band were signed to Phonogram. A real drummer was added at this time, with Mark Price taking the role, and their self-titled debut album, which was produced by Paul Samwell-Smith, was released in 1988. As well as 'In The Clouds', it included four more UK hit singles, in the form of 'Wild-Hearted Woman', 'Every Angel', 'Martha's Harbour', and 'What Kind Of Fool'. The album itself reached No. 7 on the UK Albums Chart, with much of its lyrical material drawing from hippie ideals, white magic and dreamlike fairy tales. 

The following year their second top 10 album, 'Scarlet And Other Stories', was released, and the band toured around the UK to promote it. In 1990 Bricheno left the group, and was replaced by The Church's Marty Willson-Piper, and this line-up recorded their third album 'Touched by Jesus' in 1991, featuring a guest performance from David Gilmour on two tracks. Following a change of label to MCA Records, the group released 'Ultraviolet' in 1992, and then continued working on new material for a prospective fifth album, but Regan soon left, and although remaining members continued for a couple more months without Regan's input, they disbanded in early 1993. The album they had been working on was subsequently released under the group name Seeing Stars. Regan went on to form Mice, and to work with Bernard Butler, and Cousin joined a reformed Mission, touring extensively and contributing to their albums 'Neverland' and 'Blue', before the band split up again. In 2002 Regan and Cousin released their first studio recordings in a decade, with the EP 'Iceland', which was a collection of 'winter songs', including reworkings of 'December', and cover versions of Wham!'s 'Last Christmas', Queen's 'A Winter's Tale', and 'Walking in the Air'. However, it is the late 80's version of the band that fans revere, and so this collection of non-album singles, b-sides and rarities should take them back to the heyday of their favourite group.  

Track listing 

Disc I - 1985-1987
01 D For Desire (single 1985)
02 Don't Follow Me (March Hare) (b-side of 'D For Desire')
03 Suppertime (demo 1986)
04 Our Summer (single 1987)
05 Lady Moonlight (b-side of 'Our Summer')
06 Set Sail (demo 1987)
07 Devil Woman (b-side of 'Flowers In Our Hair' 1987)
08 Paradise (b-side of 'Flowers In Our Hair' 1987)
09 End Of The Day (b-side of 'In The Clouds' 1987)
10 Love Leads Nowhere (b-side of 'In The Clouds' 1987)
11 Calling Your Name (b-side of 'In The Clouds' 1987)

Disc II  - 1988-1991            
01 Wild Flowers (b-side of 'Every Angel' 1988)
02 Candy Tree (b-side of 'Every Angel' 1988)
03 More Than This Hour (b-side of 'Every Angel' 1988)
04 Another Door (b-side of 'Martha's Harbour' 1988)
05 The Garden Of Jane Delawney (b-side of 'What Kind Of Fool?' 1988)
06 Drowning (b-side of 'December' 1989) 
07 The Witches Promise (b-side of 'December' 1989)
08 Elizabeth Of Glass (b-side of 'Farewell Mr. Sorrow' 1991)
09 All The Rings 'Round Saturn (b-side of 'Farewell Mr. Sorrow' 1991)
10 Silver Song (b-side of 'Farewell Mr. Sorrow' 1991)

Disc III - 1991-1992
01 Drawn To Earth (b-side of 'Strange Way' 1991)
02 Nothing Without You (b-side of 'Strange Way' 1991)
03 Light As A Feather (b-side of 'Strange Way' 1991)
04 If I Had You (previously unreleased 1991) 
05 Different Sky (previously unreleased 1991)
06 Frida Of Blood And Gold (b-side of 'The Dreamer' 1991)
07 Road To Damascus (b-side of 'The Dreamer' 1991)
08 Ascent/Descent (from the 'Phased' EP 1992)
09 Moodswing (b-side of 'Some Finer Day' 1992)
10 Dive In (b-side of 'Some Finer Day' 1992)

DeeGees - Hail Satin (2021)

It will be Record Store Day here in the UK in a couple of weeks, and so for this post I'm going back to 2021, and an album that was released as part of that year's Record Store Day. 'Hail Satin' was an album by the DeeGees, a side project of the rock band Foo Fighters. It consists of five cover versions of songs originally written and recorded by members of the Gibb family (four from the Bee Gees and one Andy Gibb solo record) and five songs from the Foo Fighters' 2021 album 'Medicine At Midnight' on the flip of the vinyl, recorded live at Studio 606. The name DeeGees is a play on both the Bee Gees and Dave Grohl's initials, and the album title is also a play on satin (a common fabric of the disco era) and the phrase "hail Satan". Foo Fighters had already performed Andy Gibb's 'Shadow Dancing' during Linda Perry's Rock 'n' Relief livestream, and they also played 'You Should Be Dancing' on Jo Whiley's Sofa Session show on BBC Radio 2, so covering Bee Gees songs wasn't unprecedented. Dave Grohl said that while recording 'You Should Be Dancing' he had never, ever in his life sung like that, but it was the easiest song he had ever sung in his entire life, and that he should have been singing like that for the last 25 years. The covers are played straight and with reverence, and Grohl tackles the vocals in the style of the Gibbs, while drummer Taylor Hawkins provides the lead vocals on 'Shadow Dancing'. The end result is a dancey romp showing off the dynamic potential of this unique blend of alt-rock and disco sensibilities. Original copies are extremely hard to come by, and go for around £150 when they are offered for sale, so here is an easier way to hear this intriguing set of Bee Gees covers. 

Track listing

01 You Should Be Dancing
02 Night Fever
03 Tragedy
04 Shadow Dancing
05 More Than A Woman
06 Making A Fire 
07 Shame Shame
08 Waiting On A War 
09 No Son Of Mine
10 Cloudspotter

The Alchemysts - A Surreal Meal: The Best Of The Alchemysts (2000)

The Alchemysts were a Bridgewater power trio, who formed in the late 80's, and released a three-track cassette in 1991, which contained some superb neo-psyche, and which I still own. By 1995 they has signed a deal with Behemoth Records, who released their debut album 'One Eyed Again', and which included the three tracks from the 1991 cassette. It introduced the Alchemysts to the world as a grunge-tinged nineties update on the previous decade's British neo-psych scene. Trading in spacey tones for muscular crunch, leader Paul Simmons digs hard into the riffs and solos, like he's trying to blend Jimi Hendrix with Ron Asheton. Bassist Jon Guard and drummer Mat Love nimbly keep the propulsion going without ever lumbering. 'Swarm', 'A Road' and 'Blind Side' could have come just as easily out of Seattle in 1991 as the U.K. four years later, and the highlight of the records is the fuzz 'n' feedback epic 'Stoned In Jerusalem'. In 1998 they moved to the Australian psyche label Camera Obscura and released 'Over And Out', which carried on in much the same vein. 'Forget About It' throws in sitars and backwards guitars for a surprisingly sensual opening cut, but then all bets are off. 'Harhowaloy' pounds its hard rock mercilessly, while 'Alpha Centauri' practically overloads on acidic effects. '25th Of July' moves from seething acid folk to explosive power rock, while 'Big Black Beetles' adds swathes of noisy Aussie postpunk to the proceedings, When Bevis Frond leader Nick Saloman's label Woronzow entered into a partnership with NYC's Rubric Records, the heavy psych outfit released a pair of stellar records on Rubric/Woronzow: 'Simeon & the Alchemysts', a strange and oft-stunning collaboration with Simeon of Silver Apples, and 'Zero Zen', a trippy powerhouse that ended up being the band's last, with guitarist Paul Simmons going on to join the Frond. Although the band only released four albums during their lifetime, they are one of my favourite neo-psyche outfits, alongside The Bevis Frond and Sun Dial, and hopefully this collection of some of their best work will introduce them to a new audience.  

Track listing

01 Stoned in Jerusalem (from 'One Eyed Again' 1995)
02 Big Black Beetles (from 'Over And Out' 1998)
03 Magellanic (from 'Simeon & The Alchemysts' 2000)
04 Glass Cars (from 'Zero Zen' 2000)
05 Drop Out! (from 'For The Dead In Space Volume 1' compilation 1987)
06 Bloody Mary (from 'One Eyed Again' 1995) 
07 A Surreal Meal (from 'Over And Out' 1998) 
08 Hydrophobic (from 'Simeon & The Alchemysts' 2000)
09 Thee Head Chemyst (from 'Over And Out' 1998)
10 DMT Blues (from 'Zero Zen' 2000)

A gift from PowerPopTom - Part 9

PowerPop Tom has been busy again, and has sent me nearly three dozen new CD covers should you decide to burn any of these albums to disc. This batch includes some of my recent favourites, such as the Grateful Dead's 'Jack Straw', U2's 'Salome' and 'Songs Of Ascent', and Eric Clapton's 'Higher Power', and many of then also have inserts for the clear plastic disc holder, so dive in if you want ready-made covers for your CDs. 

This batch includes

B52's - Mesopotamia
Bernie Marsden - ...and on guitar
Big Star - Thank You Friends
Blue Aeroplanes - Staring At The Future
Dylan & The Dead - Dead Man, Dead Man
Earth - Warning
Elton John - The Hitmakers Sing
Eric Clapton - ...and on guitar Vol. 1
Eric Clarton - ...and on guitar Vol. 2
Eric Clapton - Higher Power
Frank Zappa - Chalk Pie
GTR - Nerotrend
John Lennon - Ambrosia
Kate Bush - Alchemy
Kate Bush - Under The Ivy
Morrisey - Bonfire Of Teenagers
Pink Floyd - It's All Dark
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
Rapid Eye Movement - Paradoxical Sleep
Rod Stewart - ...featuring
Screaming Lord Sutch - Jack The Ripper
Steve Morse - ...and on guitar
Television - Double Exposure
The Beatles - Rubber Soul (Mike's Mix)
The Firm - Full Circle
The Jam - Session
The Smoke - Jack's Back
Three Friends - Three Friends
U2 - Songs Of Ascent
U2 - Salome
XYZ - Telephone Secrets
Yes - Live Tales

Ramones - Rock 'n' Roll High School (1980) **UPGRADE**

I recently found an interesting clip on Youtube which prompted me to revisit my creation of a Phil Spector-less version of the Ramones' 1980 album 'End Of The Century'. When I first put it together I replaced a few of the tracks with demo versions, one other with a film soundtrack take, removed one track completely, and used the album versions of the other five. It wasn't ideal, and I did try to improve it a couple of times without success, so left it as it was. What never occurred to me at the time was that if I wanted the songs with no Spector production then I could have just used live recordings, as they would have been played exactly how the band wanted. I've therefore replaced 'Let's Go', 'I Can't Make It On Time', 'The Ain't Havana', and 'All The Way' with live takes, and for the demos of 'Danny Says' and 'Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio', and also the soundtrack version of 'Rock 'n' Roll High School', I've fixed some vocal drop-outs and boosted the guitar, as I never noticed before just how low in the mix it was. I've only kept the album versions of 'Chinese Rock', 'The Return Of Jackie And Judy', 'High Risk Insurance' and 'I'm Affected' now, but I've stripped them right back to just guitar, bass, drums and vocals. I've also tweaked things where needed, such as toning down the timpani effect on the drums on 'I'm Affected', and speeding it up slightly so that it now sounds more like how the band played it live. As I'd renamed the album 'Rock 'n' Roll High School' then I feel justified in adding 'I Want You Around', as it was included on the soundtrack of the film of the same name, but this is a live electric version to match the rest of the album. Lastly, we have that Youtube track that prompted this whole revamp, and that is a Ramones-ified 'Baby, I Love You', which for once isn't by AI, but by a real person, who has taken the original vocals and sped them up, used the drums from the demo of 'All The Way' which fitted pretty neatly, and then added guitar and bass to give a fine approximation of how the Ramones would have played the song in concert. I'm much happier with this re-working of the album, short though it is, so see if you agree that it's an improvement on my original revamp of the Spector version of 'End Of The Century'.  

Track listing       

01 Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio?   
02 I'm Affected   
03 Danny Says  
04 Chinese Rock
05 The Return Of Jackie And Judy   
06 Let's Go
07 Baby, I Love You    
08 I Can't Make It On Time  
09 This Ain't Havana
10 Rock 'n' Roll High School 
11 All The Way

12 I Want You Around  
13 High Risk Insurance  

Van Der Graaf Generator - Forsaken Gardens (1974)

After the release of their 'H To He, Who Am The Only One' album in 1970, Van Der Graaf Generator spent the early part of 1971 on what was known as the 'Six Bob Tour', alongside fellow Charisma labelmates Genesis and Lindisfarne. Despite the complexity of their music, the band were well received on the tour, with Hammill noting that at nearly all the gigs, most of the audience recognised most of the their songs. While on tour, the band started working out compositions between gigs for their next album, which would become 'Pawn Hearts'. The intention was to release a double album, and although the band recorded enough material, for economic reasons the released recording was a single album containing just three tracks. The album was released in October 1971 and was not a success in the U.K, but proved highly successful in Italy, topping the chart there for 12 weeks. Following that commercial success in Italy, the band did a six-week tour there at the start of 1972, and expecting to be playing to half empty venues, they were all shocked by the sheer volume of the crowds that came to see them. By June, they had completed their third Italian tour, and wanted to start recording new material, but the combination of working for too long without a break, combined with a lack of support from Tony Stratton Smith and Charisma, plus continued financial difficulties, caused the band to implode, and Hammill left to pursue a solo career in mid-1972. Songs that were intended for Van der Graaf Generator now ended up on his solo albums, notably 'Black Room' (on 'Chameleon In The Shadow Of The Night') and 'A Louse Is Not A Home' (on 'The Silent Corner And The Empty Stage'), and for the majority of both his solo songs and the band's recordings he is now credited as the sole songwriter. Some of his solo albums featured all the members of Van der Graaf Generator backing him on certain tracks, and so if Hammill hadn't left the band in 1972 and had brought his songs to the sessions for their next album, then Van Der Graaf Generator's fifth record could have sounded very much like this. All these tracks feature all four band members of the group, and so it probably wouldn't have sounded much different to this version anyway. 

Track listing

01 Red Shift
02 Rock And Role
03 Forsaken Gardens
04 (In The) Black Room / The Tower
05 A Louse Is Not A Home

Thanks to progarchives.com contributors BaldFriede and BaldJean for having the idea and putting this album together.

The Monochrome Set - Kleine Symphonies (1995)

The Monochrome Set was formed in London in 1978 from the remnants of a college group called The B-Sides, whose members had included Stuart Goddard, later known as Adam Ant. The original line-up consisted of Indian-born lead singer and principal songwriter Bid (real name Ganesh Seshadri), Canadian guitarist Lester Square (real name Thomas W.B. Hardy), drummer John D. Haney (formerly of The Art Attacks) and bass guitarist Charlie X. The band had two more bassists, Jeremy Harrington and Simon Croft, before Andy Warren of the Ants, a childhood friend of Bid, joined in late 1979. Experimental filmmaker Tony Potts began collaborating with the band the same year, designing lighting and stage sets with film projections for their live appearances, and the band's early persona was defined by the shadowy, uncertain stage images created by the films, to such an extent he is often described as being the band's "fifth member". Their music was a witty, urbane take on post-punk that owed a debt to swinging '60s pop and twangy surf music, steered by the darkly clever songs of Bid and the crisp playing of the band. Their first four singles for Rough Trade were smart and offbeat, covering obscure lyrical territory while also delivering snappy hooks. In 1980 they released their debut studio album, 'Strange Boutique', produced by Bob Sargeant for Virgin Records' imprint DinDisc in 1980, which peaked at No. 62 in the UK Albums Chart. Their follow-up effort, the more accessible 'Love Zombies', was produced by Alvin Clark and the band later that same year, after which Haney left the band and was replaced by Lexington Crane. In 1982 the band switched labels to Cherry Red to release their third album, 'Eligible Bachelors', produced by Tim Hart, and Square and Crane left soon afterwards, being replaced by keyboardist Carrie Booth and drummer Nicholas Weslowski. 

This line-up recorded a 1982 single, 'Cast A Long Shadow', for Cherry Red, before Booth was in turn replaced by new lead guitarist James 'Foz' Foster. Following the departure of Square, the Monochrome Set veered even closer to light pop fare on singles like 1985's 'Jacob's Ladder', and the sound subsequently crystallized on the nostalgically themed album 'The Lost Weekend'. When the record met with a dismal commercial response, the group disbanded, although the members did reconvene to serve as Jessica Griffin's backing band on the first album by the Would-Be-Goods, 'The Camera Loves Me' in 1988. This led to them re-forming in 1989 around the nucleus of Bid, Square, and Warren, along with new keyboardist Orson Presence. The 1990 album 'Dante's Casino' did little to raise the band's chart visibility, but they soldiered on, releasing 'Charade' in 1993, 'Misere' in 1994, and 'Trinity Road' in 1995. They broke up in 1998 while Bid formed a new band, Scarlet's Well, but in 2011, members of the Well joined a reunited Monochrome Set, which again featured Bid, Square, and Warren, and they signed to the Disquo Bleu label. This new line-up released 'Platinum Coils' in 2012 and 'Super Plastic City' in 2013, but 2015's 'Spaces Everywhere' found them on their new home of Tapete Records. The group stuck with Tapete for its next studio album, 2016's 'Cosmonaut', which featured Bid playing all the guitars due to Square's departure, although the band had welcomed John Paul Moran and Mike Urban back on keyboards and drums, respectively. This same line-up recorded another album for Tapete, 'Maisieworld', which was released in early 2018 as the band celebrated its 40th year of existence. I still have all their early singles, and the b-sides are universally as good as the A-sides, and so this post collects all of their non-album recordings, including singles, b-sides and John Peel session tracks, into a superbly enjoyable double-disc set from their first two incarnations between 1978 and 1995.    

Track listing

Disc I - 1978-1980
01 He's Frank (single 1978)
02 Alphaville (b-side of 'He's Frank')
03 Eine Symphonie Des Grauens (single 1979)
04 Lester Leaps In (b-side of 'Eine Symphonie Des Grauens')
05 The Monochrome Set (single edit 1979)
06 Mr. Bizarro (b-side of 'The Monochrome Set')
07 Fat Fun (John Peel session 1979)
08 He's Frank (Slight Return) (single 1979)
09 Silicon Carne (b-side of 'He's Frank (Slight Return)')
10 Viva Death Row (John Peel Session 1979)
11 Fallout (b-side of 'He's Frank (Slight Return)')
12 Surfing SW12 (b-side of 'The Strange Boutique' 1980)
13 Fiasco Bongo (b-side of 'Apocalypso' 1980)

Disc II - 1981-1995
01 Ten Don'ts For Honeymooners (single 1981)
02 Straits Of Malacca (b-side of 'Ten Don'ts For Honeymooners')
03 J.D.H.A.N.E.Y. (b-side of 'The Mating Game' 1982)
04 Cast A Long Shadow (single 1982)
05 The Bridge (b-side of 'Cast A Long Shadow')
06 Love Goes Down The Drain (b-side of 'The Jet Set Junta' 1983)
07 Noise (Eine Kleine Symphonie) (b-side of 'The Jet Set Junta' 1983)
08 Andiamo (b-side of 'Jacob's Ladder' 1984)
09 Big Ben Bongo (b-side of 'Wallflower' 1985)
10 Hurting You (b-side of 'Forever Young' 1993)
11 Closing Time (b-side of 'I Love Lambeth' 1995)

Kurupt FM - Kuruption (2021)

Kurupt FM were a UK garage and drum & bass collective formed in 2014, and led by rapper and frontman, MC Grindah, with DJ Beats as the group's main DJ. They were joined by DJ Steves and DJ Decoy, and they juggled broadcasting their music on their pirate radio station, attending live events, and attempting to break into the mainstream music industry. They achieved a small moment of progress with some of their club gigs, but never managed to get much recognition outside of their London base. MC Grindah had big plans for the group, and regarded himself as a visionary MC destined for stardom, and although his best friend DJ Beats was more mild-mannered, he too shared the belief in Kurupt FM's success, although despite their ambitions they just couldn't seem to break into the mainstream. DJ Decoy was producer and technical backbone of the group, and was responsible for most of the music on their self-recorded album, which featured some intricate and catchy beats, and MC Grindah’s charismatic and unique delivery. Despite being a relatively unknown group they managed to rope in some big names for their collaborations, with Craig David, Big Narstie and JayKae & Mist all making an appearance on the record. The production across the board was light and fun, and the  biggest surprise was 'Letter To Grindah', a track from DJ Beats that speaks volumes of the two men's relationship. You might not have heard of this group, but if you're a fan of drum & bass, hip-hop or rap then it's worth a listen. 

 
Track listing

01 Kuruptfminnit
02 Neva Bin
03 Ooze Dat
04 Summertime (feat.Craig David)
05 Blaze It (feat. Big Narstie)
06 Get Out The Way
07 Letter To Grindah
08 Dreaming (feat. JayKae & Mist)
09 Heart Monitor Riddim
10 A Million
11 Suttin' Like Dat
12 Inside (feat. MC Creed & D Double E)
13 A Dis One
14 Original Rudeboyz (feat. General Levy)