Acid Brass - Let's Get Brutal (Blast First, 1997)

Classic early House given a roughing up in West Yorkshire.

Oh, now this is special.

There's probably a whole dissertation online somewhere about the parallels between urban dance music pioneers in the 1980s and colliery employees in the 1930s. Or maybe not...

Whatever, the fusion works perfectly on the 'Acid Brass' album and rocks particularly hard on Nitro Deluxe's 'Let's Get Brutal'.

It breaks into life, low and brooding, with real, live handclaps that are a revelation of effective simplicity. Rolling toms and xylophone mark out a twilight zone where majorettes march out of t'pit, grime smeared across their faces, uniforms dirtied and torn. Then the melody comes in crisp and clear and you reach for the fluorescent lights.

NB. Please note that this post was published at 8:08 as a tribute to the pioneers of Acid House.

Download Acid Brass 'Let's Get Brutal' (Brass Band, Acid House, mp3) (Rapidshare)

Pale Saints - A Thousand Stars Burst Open (Brass Band Version) (4AD, 1992)

Brassed Off treatment suits Shoegaze masterpiece.

Across two awesome albums, Pale Saints were genius, marrying proggy time signatures with skyscraping, yearning guitar pyrotechnics and angelic vocals. One of my absolute favourite bands ever.

This track was given away as a 7" with initial copies of 'In Ribbons' and just works perfectly.

Layers of gorgeous brass recreate the soundwash of the original, creating a wide open, In The Bleak Midwinter vibe that rouses to a joyful crescendo.

Stunning.

Download Pale Saints 'A Thousand Stars Burst Open (Brass Band Version)' (Brass Band, Shoegaze, 4AD mp3) (Rapidshare)