Category: Compilation albums

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‘From Brussels With Love’ compilation cassette (Les Disques Du Crépuscule, TWI 007)

Where does one start on ‘From Brussels With Love’? Something of a who’s who of low-key, left-field acts, mostly contributing original, unreleased material, from the minimal synth jingles of John Foxx that bookend proceedings through a demo version of Thomas Dolby’s lush ‘Airwaves’, a healthy outing for Factory acts including A Certain Ratio, Kevin Hewick (with New Order backing him on this outing), Durutti Column and even Factory’s resident producer, Martin Hannett, contributing a piece. Harold Budd, Gavin Bryars and Michael Nyman feature too, along with an interview with Brian Eno himself, whose ‘Obscure Records’ label unite all three in some form.

There have also been numerous re-issues over the years on LP and CD, with variations in tracklisting and sleeve designs – further info on those on the discogs.com website entry. The most recent re-issue, a CD from 2007 on LTM Publishing (Les Temps Modernes) LTMCD 2479, is the most faithful to the original cassette release.

I’ll let the pictures do the talking on the cassette packaging. This is my own copy, I believe there were variations to the original cassette release, such as including a badge.

'From Brussels With Love' cassette package front cover design
^ ‘From Brussels With Love’ cassette package front cover design
'From Brussels With Love' cassette package back cover design and cassette
^ ‘From Brussels With Love’ cassette package back cover design and cassette

Continue reading “‘From Brussels With Love’ compilation cassette (Les Disques Du Crépuscule, TWI 007)”

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‘Machines’ UK compilation LP (Virgin, V2177, 1980)

‘Machines’ was a compilation album from late 1980 that showcased a few of the Virgin records/DinDisc roster, while also including a smattering of established names (Gary Numan/Tubeway Army, John Foxx, Human League, Fad Gadget, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark) and up-‘n’-coming names too (Henry Badowski/Karel Fialka/Silicon Teens/Thomas Leer). The Virgin records contingent was a mite biased perhaps, with two names in particular seemingly odd bedfellows for such an obviously ‘synth’ themed compilation, namely XTC and PiL.

'Machines' compilation album front cover design
^ ‘Machines’ compilation album front cover design

‘The Somnambulist’ by XTC first appeared on the double-pack 7″ single for their ‘Generals and Majors’ single from earlier in 1980. It drifts along nicely and is in stark contrast to the abrasively jangly guitar-packed and drum-propelled stuff that the rest of the ‘Black Sea’ album was hewn from. At the time, the main point of interest for the compilation was the previously unreleased ‘Pied Piper’ by Public Image Limited (PiL) – a short, fairly noisy piece that probably fits closer to the ‘The Flowers of Romance’ style (which was of the compilation’s period, though not released until the Spring of 1981), the one and only piece recorded with the late Steve New as part of a short-lived dalliance with PiL. (See the Flowers of Romance Wikipedia entry.) This track eventually resurfaced in the late ’90s on PiL’s ‘Plastic Box’ compilation of CDs. Continue reading “‘Machines’ UK compilation LP (Virgin, V2177, 1980)”

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‘Dreams and Desires’ tape (Pleasantly Surprised, PS006, 1984)

‘Dreams and Desires’ was one the ‘Pleasantly Surprised’ series of various artist cassette compilations that appeared throughout the first half of the ’80s, this particular example hailing from late 1984. The sleeve design clearly has a nod and a wink to the Joy Division feel of ‘Closer’, while musically the selection is something of a feast for fans of the 4AD label, with demo/instrumental versions to be found from several of the then current 4AD stable.

Cassette - 'Dreams' side
^ Cassette – ‘Dreams’ side
Cassette - 'Desires' side
^ Cassette – ‘Desires’ side

Continue reading “‘Dreams and Desires’ tape (Pleasantly Surprised, PS006, 1984)”

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John Foxx ‘Burning Car’ Japanese ‘Pic Label’ series 12″ single (Virgin, VIP-5903, 1981))

A companion release from the same series as the Flying Lizards ‘Move On ‘Up’ 12″ documented in a previous post. Taking the usual cavalier attitude to track selection and sleeve design that many Japanese releases of this period had, this little beauty gathers together a selection of tracks from three of John Foxx’s 1980 singles (‘Miles Away’, ‘Burning Car’ and the extra single from the ‘No-One’s Driving’ double-pack 7 inch) in a sleeve/label design unlike any other Foxx release.

John Foxx 'Burning Car' Japanese 12 inch mini-LP
^ John Foxx ‘Burning Car’ Japanese 12 inch mini-LP

Along the way, it has also managed to include a different mix of ‘Miles Away’, the same one as used in the promo video for the single, I believe. (This mix finally made it on to CD with the late-2008 2-disc re-issue of ‘The Garden’.) Continue reading “John Foxx ‘Burning Car’ Japanese ‘Pic Label’ series 12″ single (Virgin, VIP-5903, 1981))”

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Rema-Rema, ‘Wheel In The Roses’ CD EP (4AD, BAD 5CD) / Various artists: ‘Natures Mortes’ (4AD CAD 117CD)

The original release of the ‘Wheel In The Roses’ EP was one of the earliest 4AD releases, coming after the initial batch of four singles that had gone under the label’s original name of ‘Axis’. It was the only release from Rema-Rema, a short-lived band but from whom the seeds of a good few other acts would evolve or intersect, including Wolfgang Press, Renegade Soundwave, Psychic TV and of course most famously Marco Pirroni’s saddle-up with Adam Ant.

'Wheel In The Roses' CD EP - front cover, inner sleeve (front), insert (front) and CD label
^ ‘ Wheel In The Roses’ CD EP – front cover, inner sleeve (front), insert (front) and CD label

What I love about this small object of desire is that despite it being so wilfully obscure and the band’s only proper release (two other songs did appear as live recordings on a tape-only compilation, ‘The Men With the Deadly Dreams’) (the songs from which can be heard on the Rema Rema MySpace site), 4AD saw fit to lovingly reproduce it in CD form. Perhaps it could be down to the fact that despite it’s obscurity, two of the songs had been covered subsequently – ‘Fond Affections’ appearing on the first This Mortal Coil album, ‘It’ll End In Tears’, with Big Black taking on ‘Rema-Rema’ itself. Continue reading “Rema-Rema, ‘Wheel In The Roses’ CD EP (4AD, BAD 5CD) / Various artists: ‘Natures Mortes’ (4AD CAD 117CD)”