Saint Germain - Easy To Remember (F Communications, 1995)

Majestic deep house.

From the amazing 'Boulevard' series of 12"s, 'Easy To Remember' is ten minutes for sumptuous jazzy deep house.

It mixes gorgeous organic touches with chugging machine beats. It begins with a locked piano and brushed drum loop, throwing in ride cymbal, Detroit techno clicks, a lonesome Miles Davis-esque muted trumpet and a double bass run building, building, building before hitting a delicious groove propelled by a sweet, cubic four-to-the-floor beat.

There's lots going on but it's all masterfully arranged to leave loads of smoky space and allow the groove to ebb and flow as the track progresses.

Awesome.

Download Saint Germain 'Easy To Remember' (Deep House mp3, Jazz) (Divshare)

Laika - If You Miss (Laika Virgin Mix) (1995)

Burbling, dubbed out dub indie.

This remix version of 'If You Miss' from Laika's debut album, throbs will sampled tones creating a woozy setting for Margaret Fiedler's hazy vocals.

Download Laika 'If You Miss (Laika Virgin Mix)' (Too Pure, Post-Rock, Dub, mp3) (Divshare)

The Chemical Brothers - Life Is Sweet (Daft Punk Mix) (Freestyle Dust, 1995)

Tasty slammer, made more slamming.

Daft Punk give Tim Burgess' vocal the heave and turn the twisty synthetic funk of the original into a straightforward juggernaut.

Download The Chemical Brothers 'Life Is Sweet (Daft Punk Mix)' (House, Big Beat, mp3) (Mediafire)

Ruffneck ft Yavahn - Everybody Be Somebody (Peppermint Jam Extended) (MAW, 1995)

Wonderfully brash thumping House track.

As is the case with most great music, it's hard to fathom how the such simple elements have been combined to create magic.

There's not much to this track but it creates a unique feel, winding itself up into a frenzy. Simple, effective, almost punky House.

Download Ruffneck ft Yavahn 'Everybody Be Somebody' (House mp3) (Rapidshare)

Butterfly Child 'Passion Is The Only Fruit' (Dedicated, 1995)

Giddy, ethereal alternative pop from the singular vision of Joe Cassidy aka Butterfly Child.

Butterfly Child released a brace of divine, rococo alternative pop albums in the early nineties - 'Onomatopoeia' and 'The Honeymoon Suite'. They were collections of gossamer-fragile songs, decorated with ornate melodies, swooning vocal arcs and a restless beauty.

Each album was a bucolic fantasia that, whilst reflecting the Shoegazing and whimsical nature of Slowdive et al, seemed to reject modernity and artifice whilst using drum machines and sequencer lines alongside guitars and strings. Instead the songs conjured images of angels and architecture, poets and dreamers, all drunk on love. Stuff like that.

Belfast-born Joe Cassidy seems to have disappeared and there hasn't been anything by Butterfly Child since 1998. His music has a kinship to the likes of the ethereal esperanto of Cocteau Twins, arch, progressive songsmiths Spoonfed Hybrid, dreampop orchestrators AR Kane and maybe Tim Buckley but is the work of a true original.

These albums are long-deleted but well worth hunting down.

Download Butterfly Child 'Passion Is The Only Fruit' (indie, alternative, mp3) (Mediafire)

Tortoise 'As You Said (Joy Division cover)' (Hut, 1995) (mp3)

Respectfully spartan and metronomic Joy Division tribute by the Tortoise 'lads'.

A lo-fi guitar opens with a puttering, drum machine marking out a steady pace before evolving into a more recognisably Tortoise-ish burble and glitch. It's the Tortoise of 'Djed' and Luke Vibert remixes rather than the melifluous, deep brown stuff. The vibe is kept instrumental and mysterious.

Post-Punk meets Post-Rock.

Download Tortoise 'As You Said' (mp3) (Mediafire)

Codeine 'Atmosphere (Joy Division cover)' (Hut, 1995)

Stately, austere Post Rock cover of Joy Division's stately, austere Post Punk classic.

Codeine dealt in the slowest of the slow in Post Rock terms, releasing a handful of records in the early 1990s on Sub Pop. (NB. For me, the 'Barely Real' EP is a must-have.) Their songs oozed across the vinyl, catching you out with their almost hesitant poise.

The idea of Codeine covering one of Joy Division's most funereal moments makes you think that the track is going to reach a kind of absolute zero musical state, its atoms ceasing to oscillate. They don't play it like that though, instead it's a processional but respectful reading that stands alongside Low's version of 'Transmission' from the same cover album.

It's a much more skeletal version than the original's warm, comforting wash, finding a respectful but alternative angle which occasionally pauses, as if to reflect on the words' portents. Some bare, gently over-driven guitar wraps it up.

Download Codeine 'Atmosphere' (mp3) (Mediafire)

Powder 'Afrodisiac' (Parkway, 1995) (mp3)

Short-lived Britpoppers deliver catchy guitar-led single shock.

Powder were signed to Britpop publicists Savidge and Best's Parkway label. Savidge and Best were the PRs who represented Suede, Pulp, The Auteurs and Menswear amongst others, which casts a slight air of suspicion over Powder but this is a cracking track.

Powder released a trio of singles but Pearl Lowe is now better known for endeavours outside the band and being mother of Daisy Lowe.

'Afrodisiac' was their second single and it's a firey, wirey mini-blitzkrieg with a machine gun chorus. Lyrics are total bollocks but that's part of the fun. Produced by Paul Tipler who also put the finishing touches on Midway Still's best indie rock stuff.

Knowing bandnames, publicists and the diminishing returns of Britpop aside, I still think this is a tasty single.

Download: Powder 'Afrodisiac' (mp3) (Rapidshare)

Listen: https://youtu.be/Q_R6vsX9sL4

The Ballistic Brothers 'Peckings' (Junior Boys Own, 1995) (mp3)

Frantic ska homage from one of the true classic London albums.

'London Hooligan Soul' is a superb, superb album. It captures perfectly the simmering meld of influences at play on London's music scene (of the time, there's no grime here).

Helmed by the multi-talented Ashley Beedle, it's a mix of downtempo sounds, soul, Saint Etienne/Foxbase Alpha-style dialogue snippets, Latin, House, Latin House, some Drum'n'Bass, a sprinkle of Progressive House, lots more soul and a bit of Ska.

Which brings us nicely to 'Peckings' which is the penultimate track. A descending, insidiously catchy guitar skank, circular bass motif, a sunrise of a horn riff, echo-laden percussion cracks, the crackle of old vinyl... Not much to it, but it is just beautiful and a ray of sunshine whatever the weather.

Download The Ballistic Brothers 'Peckings' (mp3) (Mediafire)

Low 'Transmission (Joy Division Cover)' (Hut, 1995)

Low turn the aggression and energy of Joy Division's 'Transmission' into a reverent hymn to the power of radio.

Released on the 'Means To An End' compilation - which also featured contributions from Codeine, Tortoise, Moby and Girls Against Boys - Low apply their slow-pass filter which gives the song air and eerie resonance. This approach gives the bass, guitar and drums chance to breath and reflect. The bass and guitar, especially, can ring out through the air, a strangely appropriate tribute to the effect of broadcast sound.

Low's treatment is starkly different to the original but it works perfectly. Especially in the quiet hours of a Sunday morning.

Download Low 'Transmission' (mp3) (Mediafire)

Paperclip People 'The Climax' (Planet E, 1995)

'The Climax' is perhaps the most perfect combination of elegant techno poise and dancefloor thump I've ever heard.

Carl Craig (aka Paperclip People aka 69 aka Innerzone Orchestra aka Psyche etc etc) is well-renowned as a ground-breaking genius and for good reason. 'The Climax' takes in a host of movements, all gliding unrelentingly towards... well, actually, a twinkly fade-out.

Covered recently by LCD Soundsystem, 'The Climax' open with moody stabs, joined by burbling synth lines and then a harsh, driving beat. A twinkly synth section see the motion get more lateral and funky before it builds again and finally breaks down to repose with the twinkly synths alone.

Download Paperclip People 'The Climax' (mp3) (Mediafire)

Long Fin Killie 'A Man Ray' (Too Pure, 1995) (mp3)

More magic from Too Pure's 'imperial' phase.

Long Fin Killie were a Scottish band who fused a post-rock sound of the same ilk as Ganger, Tortoise and Laika with the narrative genius of songwriter Luke Sutherland who has since contributed to a number of Mogwai records.

'A Man Ray' rides on an immense raft of dubby bass with gentle cymbal percussion. Damped guitar harmonics form the melodic framework for the gently intoned vocals to sit amongst with just an occasional drift of sodium-light trumpet adding a little smear of extra colour.

It's a warm and enticing soundscape and the low-key vocal style - it's like someone talking quietly in your ear at a gig - draws you in to the lyric.

Download Long Fin Killie 'A Man Ray' (mp3) (Mediafire)

Red Snapper 'Hot Flush (Sabres Of Paradise Remix)' (Flaw 1995)

Lord Andrew Weatherall turns in a deconstruction of Red Snapper's double drum/double bass-driven jazzy rhythm monster. He moves the bass to the fore and moves the tune from peak-time rockabilly dancehall to late night chill out zone, sliding in between The Ballistic Brothers' 'London Hooligan Soul' and the Sabres' own 'Smokebelch'.

The squawking horn riff is replaced by a haunting refraining and spooky synth motif (like on of those motion-sensitive electronic ghosts you get in cheap, tacky gift shops) and the beat is a martial stutter but the double bass is retained and emphasised.

Very lovely. Original's well worth a listen too.

Download Red Snapper 'Hot Flush (Sabres Of Paradise Remix)' (mp3) (Rapidshare)