Time for your final (for now) weekend dose of Melodic Randomiser Unspooled, my semi-regular lucky dip into the musical gems that live in their little plastic boxes under the stairs.
Today’s selection brings together early sampling, rough edged 1970’s pub rock and ’90s dance superstars, all from the UK.
First up, something from the Crew Cuts compilation, a 1984 collection of breakthrough hip hop pioneers which includes this classic cut and paste masterpiece, Beat Box by Trevor Horn’s Art of Noise…
…then we go back to 1978 for an entire album of raw rock and roll from Johnny Kidd‘s former backing band, The Pirates, here’s Skull Wars…
…and we finish up with arguably one of the most important bands from the ’90s dance scene; Underworld and Pearl’s Girl.
Hope you enjoyed that, stick around, there’s another quick bonus post coming up soon…
As I predicted last weekend, a Melodic Randomiser Unspooled post is the easiest way to fulfill my daily blogging duties on a Saturday, so join with me in enjoying some more nostalgic musical treasures from the boxes of cassettes under the stairs.
Today we have another eclectic selection that spans the decade when music was going through a paradigm shift, due to the increasing use of electronically created music. Everyone from prog rock stalwarts to ex-punks were experimenting with the huge range and variety of music that could be achieved using synthesizers, incorporating exciting new textures and sounds into their existing oeuvre, enabling them to stay relevant in this brave new world of musical exploration.
The first of today’s cryptic triptych is from one of those prog bands who narrowly avoided being eclipsed by the new wave of cutting edge electronic bands by embracing new sounds into a back catalogue already rife with elaborate synthesizer noodling; Yes.
Drama was released as the decade began and was the album when production genius and keyboard whiz Trevor Horn came onboard, after founder member Rick Wakeman departed the band, blending their trademark flamboyant style with shinier production and a sleeker, more modern sound.
And here you can enjoy the full album in all its dramatic glory.
Then we have a band who grew from the ashes of proto-goth punks, Bauhaus and honed their sound into a mellower, more melodic style as Love and Rockets and this is their Seventh Dream of Teenage Heaven album, released slap bang in the middle of the ’80s.
Here is The Dog-end of a Day Gone By.
Lastly and not at all leastly, one of the pioneers of UK electronic music in ’80s, Depeche Mode, who were making sparse, bleepy pop when Yes released Drama but by 1990 had matured into an edgy and decidedly darker band, Violator being a massive critical and commercial success for them, beginning a debauched and reckless few years during which frontman Dave Gahan actually died twice.
This is their huge worldwide hit, Enjoy the Silence.
Well I don’t know about you, but that certainly brought back some memories.
Tune in for this month’s final edition of Melodic Randomiser Unspooled next weekend.
There’s a bonus post coming up later, so watch out for that and I’ll see you tomorrow for SoCS and whatever I think of to do on my day off.
Since I’m on the subject of music and as I’m on a posting binge anyway, I thought I’d share a new music recommendation with you.
I downloaded this album ridiculously early this morning whilst working overtime (during a break, obviously, health and safety fans) and have only just finished listening to it now.
If you like a bit of well executed modern space rock, with vocal harmonies, bursts of playful bounciness and a track that could be a distant cousin to Black Sabbath’s Planet Caravan, then this might be for you.
This self-titled release is the first full length outing from Holy Monitor, who hail from Athens in Greece, following two EPs in the last couple of years. If you have even a passing interest in new psychedelic rock, then you’d be doing yourself a disservice if you didn’t check them out, which you can do in full, right here.
I thought it was time to delve once more into the little plastic boxes of nostalgia that make up my vintage cassette collection, just because I haven’t done a Melodic Randomiser post for a while and it seemed like a good idea.
The box I dragged out from under the stairs this time is as eclectic a selection as any of them and this one offered up a fine juxtaposition of styles.
First we have the epitome of ’90s indie pop, Travis, with their debut album, Good Feeling, from which I’ve picked my favourite single, All I Want To Do Is Rock…
….followed by Hey Dude, by hippy rockers Kula Shaker, from their first album, K…
…and completing this most unlikely trio with the full album of the frankly unhinged Captain Lockheed And The Starfighters by bonkers Hawkwind alumni, Robert Calvert:
So there you have it, a playlist you won’t find anywhere else, I hope you find something to enjoy.
Stay tuned for further trips back in time in the not too distant future.
But I’ve been run off my feet today and just haven’t had time to write anything, so I’m going to cheat for today’s A-Z challenge and share some K-related rock tracks from my collection.
One of the most willfully avant garde rock bands of the ’70s, in an era when intellectual pretentiousness, drama and bombast were practically compulsory in the world of prog, King Crimson stood head and shoulders above their less highbrow rivals.
Their continually changing lineup and eclectic mix of styles probably explains their longevity and their wide appeal accounts for the fact that they are still going strong now.
This concert was recorded in Japan in 2003 and if you’re a fan it’s well worth a watch. If you’ve never heard them before, watch it, then go and listen to their back catalogue.
Speaking of less highbrow rock, here’s some that soundtracked much of my teenage headbanging years; the glorious, big-haired, spandex-clad riffage of Swiss metal band, Krokus, with their 1980 album, Metal Rendezvous.
One of my favourite intros to a metal album, too.
A bit more up to date for the next one and a song that starts with a K, from the modern pretender to prog’s crown, Muse and Knights of Cydonia…
…returning to the good old days to end this quartet of classics, with one you may not expect in a list of rock tracks; this is Kraftwerk(yes, those robotic Germans) and a surprisingly punchy moment from early in their career, here is Heavy Metal Kids.
Today’s trio of tapes are all ’90s British classics, starting with Blur and their debut album, Leisure, here for you to enjoy in its entirety…
…followed by Black Grape, the side project of ex-Happy Mondays frontman, Shaun Ryder and their It’s Great When You’re Straight, Yeah album, from which comes this, In The Name Of The Father…
…and finishing off with another Manchester band, Inspiral Carpets and possibly their greatest moment, This Is How It Feels, from the Life album.
It’s been a long day today and since I’m now relaxing with a drink and a few tunes, I thought I’d make this Just Jot It January post the next in my series of cassette-library-plundering Melodic Randomiser Unspooled features.
So here is the first handful of plastic boxes I pulled out of the understair archive…
…starting with metal icon and ex-Scorpions, ex-UFO axe-man, Michael Schenker.
This track is from the Michael Schenker Group album, Armed and Ready.
With my usual obtuse eclecticism, the next tape out of the box was Dazzle Ships by electro-pop pioneers Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark, so here’s Telegraph…
…and just in case you detected any sort of theme, pattern or method in my musical madness, here’s the entire, sprawling, bombastic, camp and overblown experience that is Frankie Goes To Hollywood and their gloriously over the top debut album, Welcome to the Pleasure Dome.
dalecooper57 may or may not necessarily be my real name, although I couldn't swear to it.
An aging hippy living in Devon, I do all this stuff (and I do mean everything - blog, animation, music, photography, the lot) on my lovely smartphone because I started like that, and now I'm too stubborn to get a computer.
I don't have a theme, because I don't see why I'd want to talk about the same thing all the time, so why only write about one thing?
So if you like eclecticism, humour, nonsense, opinionated ranting, and occasionally educational stuff, you've come to the right place.
Any and all feedback is welcome, both positive and negative, on the content, style and overall look of the blog.
You keep following me, I'll keep telling you stuff, ok?
Cheers,
dalecooper57
