Category: Compilation albums

Posted on

Bauhaus – ‘4AD’ UK Mini-Album (4AD, BAD 312, 1983)

Having worked away steadily and with increasing pressure since 1979, Bauhaus finally arrived into the upper ends of the UK charts with the double impact of the ‘Ziggy Stardust’ single (top 20) and ‘The Sky’s Gone Out’ album (top 5) in late 1982. The early months of 1983 would see two more singles and further success, a major tour and then the belated release of ‘Burning From The Inside’ following the band’s implosion in the summer of 1983 and split. It all seemed premature and left a void, such that the pent up demand for their work would see numerous digs into the archive over the next couple of years and beyond – undead, the maschine rolled on, starting with this ‘4AD’ mini-album in September of 1983…

Bauhaus - '4AD' UK Mini-Album front cover design
^ Bauhaus – ‘4AD’ UK Mini-Album front cover design

Continue reading “Bauhaus – ‘4AD’ UK Mini-Album (4AD, BAD 312, 1983)”

Posted on

Side by side: Brian Eno – Music for Films Volume 2 (1983) and More Music For Films (2005)

Having already taken a deep dive into the complexities and version craziness of Brian Eno’s ‘Music For Films’, we are by no means done here. There is plenty left in the tank with the variations of the belated follow-up volume – with a particular focus on how you might piece together a digital version. (The answer is, not completely…)

Brian Eno - 'Music For Films Volume 2' 1983 front cover
^ Brian Eno – ‘Music For Films Volume 2’ 1983 front cover

Continue reading “Side by side: Brian Eno – Music for Films Volume 2 (1983) and More Music For Films (2005)”

Posted on

Brian Eno – ‘The Drop’ and ‘Iced World’ version craziness

A simple joy of physical format products – the ability to pinpoint precise times and places associated with them. For me, Brian Eno’s 1997 album release ‘The Drop’, (All Saints, ASCD32), always takes me back to a summer morning on the ground floor of HMV’s flagship London Store on Oxford Street, on a brief city break, where I was loaded up with a shopping list of records to look out for across the many and varied record shops of the great city. New and exotic, second-hand and scarce – the list was long. This album had only just come out and was on that list…

Brian Eno - 'The Drop' - 1997 Japanese 2 x CD edition
^ Brian Eno – ‘The Drop’ – 1997 Japanese 2 x CD edition

Continue reading “Brian Eno – ‘The Drop’ and ‘Iced World’ version craziness”

Posted on

A Tourist’s Guide to ‘Life In Tokyo’ – Part 4

So, now that the long anticipated super deluxe re-issue of ‘Quiet Life’ and its accompanying supplementary extra ‘Life In Tokyo’ CD EP, has finally been released, time for a final instalment in this series and take stock of what’s new and what’s what.

Japan 'Life In Tokyo' CD EP 2021 front cover
^ Japan ‘Life In Tokyo’ CD EP 2021 front cover

Even more version craziness!

In a maddening example of baffling record company thinking, putting together a whole CD EP that was (seemingly) intended to gather up all official mixes of ‘Life In Tokyo’ into one place manages to come undone from the off by the inclusion only on the ‘A Quieter Life’ CD of the super deluxe box set edition of a newly unearthed version – and leave it off of the CD EP! Continue reading “A Tourist’s Guide to ‘Life In Tokyo’ – Part 4”

Posted on

A Tourist’s Guide to ‘Life In Tokyo’ – Part 3

1989

‘Life In Tokyo’ ‘Souvenir From Japan’ compilation version (4’02”)

‘Life In Tokyo’ ‘Souvenir From Japan’ compilation version (4’02”)

Another Hansa label compilation and yet another variation of ‘Life In Tokyo’ sees light of day, least when you might expect it. By 1989, Japan were a long time gone and this compilation appeared out of the blue, bang in the middle of all things Madchester, Acid House and the like. No ‘Assemblage’-like sales here, sadly, an all too easily missed release. Nevertheless, I first bought this on cassette (there was never a vinyl release) and later on CD.

The 1989 Japan compilation CD 'Souvenir From Japan'
^ The 1989 Japan compilation CD ‘Souvenir From Japan’

Continue reading “A Tourist’s Guide to ‘Life In Tokyo’ – Part 3”