Sheila B. Devotion 'Spacer (12" Extended Version)' (Carrere, 1979)

Moody disco magic from the Chic Organisation.

I've always loved this record, even before it seemed acceptable to profess a love for disco, and certainly before I was aware of the full majesty of Chic. I loved it all the more since I noticed that New Order's 'Subculture' bears - to my ears, anyway - a distinct resemblence. Maybe it's just in the same key or something.

'Spacer' also brings to mind the minor key disco pop of Phoenix's 'If I Ever Feel Better', the best of the Italians Do It Better stable or the Class Actress track I posted last week.

The song opens with a spiraling minor key piano figure, building to the entry of the familiar, tight-tight-tight bass and drums that are the hallmark of a Chic production - machine-tooled precision but wholly warm and human. It begins with the chorus setting the mood, strings sweeping and groove chugging, somehow creating a track that is equal parts floorfiller and nightdrive soundtrack.

The breakdown at 3'58" enhances the moodiness of the track further, dubbing up Nile Rodgers' guitar chops and paring the track back to the minor key bones. The mood is subtly lightened as organ and piano are mixed back in, Bernard Edwards getting chance to throw-in a few slaps.

Genius.

Download Sheila B. Devotion 'Spacer (12" Extended Version)' (mp3) (Mediafire)

LFO 'LFO' (Warp, 1990)

'Shock of the new' moment of discontinuity from Leeds' LFO and Warp Records.

Hearing 'LFO' for the first time was one of those moments where the track doesn't make sense the first time you hear it. It sounds wrong because it breaks with what you think music is supposed to sound like. Moonshake's 'Beautiful Pigeon' and New Order's 'Blue Monday' were similarly discontinuities in my musical eduction.

I can't remember where I heard it first but I think it would have been Radio Leeds' indie/alternative radio show on a Monday night. The bleeps rang through the medium wave okay but the bass just sounded like gaps in the track, meaning that when I then heard it properly it blew my mind all over again.

LFO went on to deliver some more sublime records - 'Freak' and 'Tied Up' for starters - but nothing matches this for its sheer 'shock of the new' magic.

Enjoy.

Download LFO 'LFO' (mp3 download) (Mediafire)

Moonshake Peel Session (22/11/1992)

The Mark I version of Moonshake has to be one of my favourite bands of all time. The dynamic, creative tension between songwriters Dave Callaghan and Margaret Fiedler sadly meant the band couldn't last beyond a handful of EPs, a mini-album and the legendary (in my house) 'Eva Luna' album. However, while artistic gravity was able to keep that version of the band together, they were able to produce some stunning live shows and amazing records.

This Peel Session from 1992 was recorded just as the album was coming out and they were starting to tour the new songs. It shows a handful of tracks as work-in-progress live versions - almost formed but still to be completely refined and honed into their final, live incarnations.

'Sweet Heart', 'Mugshot Heroine' and 'Beautiful Pigeon' all have slightly different arrangements, with a sample/loop missing or a slightly different choice of sample, which gives a real insight into the process the band went through from song/idea to their hybrid of organic and inorganic elements. The other track is 'Coming' from their debut EP on Creation which, having been recorded and fully road-tested, is very close to the recorded version.

Download Moonshake Peel Session 22/11/1992 (Moonshake mp3)

Read a great article about Moonshake and Eva Luna.

My Bloody Valentine 'To Here Knows When' (Creation Records, 1991)

Ah, the smeared, disorientating melodic magma of 'To Here Knows When'. It heralded the release of the what might be the best album ever made - 'Loveless' of course - moving My Bloody Valentine's sound away from the pummelling beats of 'Soon' and towards the murky soundworld of that trademark album.

By this stage Kevin Shields - MBV's genius in chief - was locked into a spiral of tinnitus-inducing recording and escalating studio costs, losing himself in his quest for the perfect drone. The bankrupting of Creation and all that is well documented elsewhere (and in the new Creation Records film) but 'To Here Knows When' best represents the quest to create a sound that serves to immerse and blanket the listener.

Encountering the track for the first time, the smudged waves of guitar and highly treated vocals wash over an enwrap you, shifting focus and confusing your mind-ears. At first it doesn't make sense - in much the same way as listening to 'Bitches Brew' for the first time is incomprehensible - but through repeated exposure it all begins to make beautiful sense.



Unofficial My Bloody Valentine website

Upside Down: The Creation Records story - film website

MJ Cole - Sincere (Metrix/A&M, 1998)

On first encountering this record, it sounded like it came from another dimension. The rolling breakbeats rendered alien by the lack of treble, before bursting into full-spectrum life.

I'm not sure where I first heard it (it certainly wasn't in a club), but it made me stop, double-take and desperately try to process/understand the sound I was hearing.

I love records that don't make sense when you first hear them - LFO by LFO, Blue Monday, Beautiful Pigeon by Moonshake, lots of Autechre's stuff, for example. With 'Sincere', classically-trained Matthew (J Cole), crafted a deeply soulful tune with enough subtle tweaks and twists to engage brain and body. Every element is utterly processed and treated but retains a yearning, authentic passion, riding on top of irresistable groove.

Sumptuous.



MJ Cole page at Prolific Recordings

Moonshake - Beautiful Pigeon (Too Pure, 1992)

Simply one of those records that is so good - and such a discontinuity with what you've heard before - that it sounds wrong the first time you hear it.

A cacophany of guitars and scree gives way to a monumental, Bonham of a drum break. Margaret Fiedler's coo-ing vocals entice you in and the most sumptuous dub of bass weaves its way into your brain.

The chorus is an awesome release of noise and melody and track has a sumptuous ebb and flow to it.

I remember listening in awe to the drummer and bassist sound-checking when they supported The Wedding Present around the time this came out. A most beautiful, powerful noise.

Stunning stuff. The whole Eva Luna LP is amazing too, as is the 1992 Moonshake Peel Session that featured a number of the tracks in development mode (full Peel Session available below).



Moonshake 1992 Peel Session (mp3 download)

Moonshake Wikipedia page