A few good times in my life
Another find during the last days was Flying Moon In Space a band based in Leipzig, Germany. Known as a live band with sprawling improvisations it seems that they squeezed their music in more strictly forms. Their references spread from Can to Neu! and from Brian Eno to Godspeed You! Black Emperor and they create a new psychedelic and spacey sound. I am enthused about it and looking forward to the release of their album
This week I don't spent time in office because in my last holidays a few weeks ago I got sick and my company told me to reduce my holiday entitlements for this year. I have nothing planned for vacation only to visit a few areas around my hometown once again. So I am sure that I will find some time to check my inbox from commercials accumulated during the last months. Most of them can be deleted but a few are worth to be checked out. One of them was the announcement that Reykjavik's psych-rockers Singapore Sling release their new album Good Sick Fun. Checking the playlist I was astonished to see that they covered Eddie Cochran's Summertime Blues. I expected nothing because I listened to many cover versions before. But this one is different to all. They reduced the speed of the original to a minimum, added some psychedelic guitars and the lyrics were almost spoken in a tempered mood. That is the way a cover version should be. The other songs are also not bad in their reduced psych mood but all in all the repeat the same pattern too often.
Underworld made a series about new releases where they experimented with new sounds and forms. I loved them when they came out during the last year. Now I found a song from this series when they played it live in Amsterdam . After 30 years developing new electronic sound Underworld still sounds fresh and innovating. It is a soft flowing electronic gem only interrupted by spoken words.
Turkuaz is a New York based funk band that is active since a couple of years. A few days ago they released a new song developed from a collaboration with Jerry Harrison and Adrian Belew. And it sounds like Talking Heads in the mid 80's with it's dominating bass and funky guitar licks. A song that is great and filled with positive vibes. Not too bad in these dark times.
All of you that there are songs you will remember different parts of your life when you listen to them once again. This happened to me when a song by Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle appeared on my mobile phone a few days ago. The first time I heard this song was when me and a couple of friends drove to Turkey for a good friends wedding. Murat played football with us for a long time and once he told us that he has to move back to Turkey because his parents arranged a wedding with a woman he didn't even saw before. So we decided to take four weeks off, pack a car and drive thousands of miles to this event. I traveled many times but never had a more funny trip with more adventures in different countries. We also prepared a lot of mixtapes for the road and on one of them were a couple of songs by F.S.K. a band formed in the post-punk years and told us that it wasn't impossible to combine new sounds with folk and country. The band had less success although they were favorites by John Peel.
F.S.K. - I Wish I Could Sprechen Sie Deutsch
F.S.K. -(I've Got To Get Over) The Wall
Kruder & Dorfmeister got famous as producers and DJ's in the late 90's. Their album DJ-Kicks were on heavy rotation in many pubs and coffee-shops at this time. The Vienna duo made their trip-hop sound compatible for many people and I have to admit that this record is still on rotation at my place since then. The more I was surprised that they are going to release a new album at the end of October. But it isn't really a new album. It is more the release of an forgotten album. It was made in 1995, three years before the release of DJ-Kicks. The album was produced and neatly archived as a DAT tape and now rediscovered on stage during a move. Restored and released on today's technical standard the song shows downtempo and trip-hop at it's peak. A beautiful release that makes me looking forward to the new album.
Many of you told about problems to embed a bandcamp track on New Blogger. I have also my problems with this new version that went back into stone age for me. I am really thinking about moving to wordpress but this means to spent a lot of time until this new page will be enough for my claims. So I tried to embed Drew's yesterday's track and one more by Michael Rother in this post.
And I have to say it worked like in former times. I just clicked on share/embed on bandcamp, choose the track and selected the style. After then I copied the code choose standard and past into this post. Now I see a symbol - not the preview in the text I used to but going to the preview symbol on the upper right side it seems ok. I am going now to release this post and will see what happens.
Today's track was running round my brain since a few days since I listened to it after a long time. Cabaret Voltaire were an Sheffield based post-punk band that set some milestones in electronic music in the mid 80's where many people expected guitar based music. CV were one of those industrial bands that brought post-punk, pop and dancefloor together. A classic for me.
Cabaret Voltaire - Sensoria
During the last days I listened a lot to Jeff Buckley's extended version of his early EP Live at Sin-é. It is a superb document about his abilities to write and especially how to reinterpret songs he grown up with. Only Jeff's voice reaching over several octaves and his electric guitar makes this two discs special. Seldom a live recording was intimate like this. And sadly he died much too early.
Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah (Live at Sin-é)
After a short period of sickness I feel ready to take a short trip to visit Dresden. To my shame I have to admit that I wasn't able to visit former East-Germany since the wall broke down. Many people told me that this must be a beautiful town and a lovely area around. So I think It's Immaterial's song from 1986 might be the best to start the trip. It's Immaterial was formed by members of pub rock veterans The Yachts and made a superb mixture of new wave, country, folk, blues and synth pop.
It's Immaterial - Driving Away From Home (Full 12 inch version)
I had to take a short break, because I was stung by a wasp and the stings have been roused and made me spent several days spend with fever in bed. Now I am feeling better to offer you a track from 2012 that was re-released these days by L.I.E.S records. Produced by label boss Ron Morelli and Jason Letkiewic as Two Dogs In A House they made a Chicago influenced track with sci-fi synths and rasping drums. A trippy adventure for more than 14 minutes.
Two Dogs In A House - Eliminator
As I grubbed in the depth of my hard drive a few days ago I found some songs I didn't listen for a long time and it made me smile to listen to them once again. Once of them was by Galaxie 500 an American alternative band existing four years from 1989 on. It was the time when American alternative music sounded fresh and new. I really like their sound guitar dominated sounds inspired by The Velvets and Spaceman 3. Sadly they didn't got the recognition they should have because their first two albums should be named as one of the best guitar albums of this decade. This song is from a Peel session in the late 80's.
Galaxie 500 - Don't Let Our Youth Go To Waste
During the last days I mostly listened to electronic music. I can't tell the reason why but it is the kind of music that inspires me most at these days. The resurrected record label Mighty Force released a record with different mixes from Sidewinder a song British DJ and producer Matthew Herbert and Mark Darby wrote back in 1993. Originally a classic downtempo house track is remixed to various great songs. You can find more here.
Logan Fisher aka Haules Baules is a London based DJ, producer, remixer, visual artist and owner of the label with the same name. A few month ago he released an EP called Creeper with the song in two great versions of Walk The Night. Bleeping synths and a steady motorik beat makes them different to others and I really can't decide which version is better. This a short description I found in the internet that fits to the music:
