Music

Frankie’s ‘Two Tribes’ 30 years old today

Frankie Goes To Hollywood‘s ‘Two Tribes’ – one of the greatest pop singles of the 80’s and certainly one of the greatest 12″ mixes of all time – was released 30 years ago today. June 4th saw a 7″ and 12″ finally burst the bubble of expectation that ‘Relax’ had inflated after its 5 week run at the no.1 spot despite a BBC ban.

Six days later on June 10th ‘Two Tribes’ was also sitting at no.1 and would remain bedded in for another nine weeks with ‘Relax’ returning to the no.2 spot for a couple of those too. The 7″ and 12″ would be joined by three further 12″s, all sporting remixes of the title track or its B side, a cover of Edwin Starr‘s ‘War’, as well as 7″ and 12″ picture discs and a cassette compiling excerpts from all.

Add to that the phenomenon of the ‘Frankie Say’ T-shirts that swept the nation that summer and you had a roller coaster of pop product that no one could have predicted. Over on my ArtofZTT blog I’ve been adding sleeves, posters, adverts and picture discs daily to celebrate along with various quotes and info about the releases.

The ‘Inside The Pleasuredome’ box set I helped design is looking good at 83% funded over on Pledge Music and I’m waiting on the go ahead to post more photos from it. Over on his Failed Muso blog Rob Puricelli has written a great piece about the anniversary of ‘Two Tribes‘ and how it impacted on him as a teen in the 80’s, so much of it rings true to my experience too but he puts it so much better.

Posted in Design, Event, Music. | 1 Comment | Tags: , , , ,

The Herbaliser – There Were Seven Remixes

TW7Remixes coverThe Herbaliser finally release the remix companion album to their ‘There Were Seven’ LP with a cover remix by yours truly. ‘There Were Seven Remixes’ actually contains 16 of the buggers and a host of instrumentals if you get the digital version.

Unfortunately the original idea of having seven 7″s in a box has gone by the wayside because there is so much material and now they have a handy catch-all CD coming out on June 30th via their Dept. H label.

Remixes come courtesy of Gigabeatz Bonson, Coleman Brothers, Soundsci, Jenome and more. Pick of the bunch for me are the 2econd Class Citizen, No Sleep Nigel and the excellent Lopez remix, the latter of which you can hear below after the T-Power mix.

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FGTH ‘Inside The Pleasuredome’ deluxe box set

This is what the last post was all about, a project I’ve been working on for the last few months but feels like I’ve been working towards for over a decade. 10 years ago I actively started contacting and interviewing the people involved in the creation of the ZTT label’s artwork, starting with Paul Morley who I collaborated with on ‘Raiding the 20th Century’. Through the years after I met designers, illustrators and photographers who had all had hands in the late 80’s output of the label whilst collecting promo posters, magazine ads and in some cases original artwork and photos.

After starting my ArtofZTT site early last year and having been in contact with Ian Peel, responsible for the ongoing reissue series at the label, I was asked to collaborate with resident designer Philip Marshall on what would become the 30th anniversary of Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s ‘Welcome To The Pleasuredome’.

Now re-titled ‘Inside The Pleasuredome’ this deluxe box set is available to pre-order via Pledge Music and will be released on the anniversary later this year at the end of October. The set will contain:
Re-mastered and redesigned original LP,
3 x 10″s of remixes, demos and alt. takes
a hardback Art of FGTH book with sleeve art, adverts, ultra rare promo posters, LP prelims and making of interviews
a cassette of multiple ‘Relax’ remixes with new artwork inside a card slipcase
a DVD with videos plus 5.1 audio from various singles and album tracks
3 x Prints of the original Lo Cole album artwork (with uncensored back cover image)
a digital only EP of instrumentals
a Pleasuredome TV ad flick book
a Tumbometer (fans will know what this is)
6 x cards with download codes for the remastered LP, the 3 10″s, the cassette and the digital EP

I’ll be sharing photos here during the pledge period of 65 days, I’d love to post it all now but there will be a slow roll out as items are unveiled to people who pre-order . Once the order / pledge period is up no more orders will be taken and once /if the target it reached that will be the extent of the number of sets made. Of the 10 ‘elements’ contained inside the box, half of them will be exclusive including the art book and 10″ featuring ‘Slave…’ It has already made a quarter of the target less than a day after going online but there’s still a way to go. You can pre-order here but once that window is closed that will be your only chance, the box set won’t be sold in shops.

Posted in Music, Openmind designs, Packaging, Records. | 5 Comments | Tags: , , , ,

Giallos Flame & Ganzfeld on Rotary Tower

In case you missed it a new label has sprung up with three releases in swift succession in the last 5 months. Rotary Tower‘s first offerings are two EPs from the archives of Ron Graham aka Giallos Flame. Ron had various releases out a few years back, most notably of DC Recordings and then promptly disappeared.

Now he’s back with Archivio Giallo Vols 1 & 2 (plus a third is planned apparently for an August release). As you would expect if you knew his work of old they lean heavily towards the soundtrack and library medium, mostly on the horror, blackploitation and action genres. Heavy drums and analogue synths abound with plenty of homages to famous scores along the way.

The third release (actually no.002 here in the green cover) is by Ganzfeld – Temas Spatiale Vol.1 – which is the debut of a duo and leans more towards jazz than anything else but includes electronics and modern classical elements too. There are plenty of sound clips available to check out over on the new site, neatly divided by colour per artist. The label also acts as a licensing hub for the music, being that it’s so well suited to soundtracking other media.

Posted in Music. | 1 Comment |

The Dandelion Set – 3 Imaginary EPs

I’ve been listening to The Dandelion Set‘s music for a while now and it slowly worms its way inside your head after repeated listens. It’s very much of that hauntology, library, Brit folk, children’s TV theme ilk but maybe without the horror / witchcraft elements.

The brainchild of Glyn Bush (aka Bigga Bush, Magic Drum Orchestra, Lightning Head) and PK Chown, they sent me a digital compilation of their work distilled into ‘3 Imaginary EPs’ showcasing the Set’s music so far. Although only one EP is available at the moment it looks like these will form the basis of an album later this year.

There’s also a free new EP, ‘Theme From Gameplan’ – their take on an imaginary 1970s spy thriller, complete with harpsichords, contrapuntal moogs, jazzy beats and timeless melodies. The EP then puts this version through the blender to come up with a variety of alternative versions.
Hear/download for free:

They also have a growing archive of Dandy Hour mixes on Mixcloud.

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The Soundcarriers LP on Ghost Box pre-order


Absolutely love this, both sound and vision. The Soundcarriers are a new signing to Ghost Box although they’ve released several albums before, some featuring the songs here but in different forms.
You can order the LP here and marvel at yet another Julian House created video for the track ‘Boiling Point’ above. More info here and more soundclips here too, sounds like they’re moving towards a pure 60’s/70’s West Coast Sunshine Pop mood, reminds me of The Free Design or The Hellers‘ records on Command with a bit more edge. Previous LPs ‘Harmonium’, ‘Celeste’ and ‘The Other World Of…’ are highly recommended. Check ‘This is Normal’ from their last LP, featuring the dulcet tones on none other than Elijah Wood!

Posted in Film, Music, Records. | No Comments |

Is this what KLF is about?

I can’t say too much about these because they’re not legit, but they are very good and make for an indepth journey into the back catalogue of the evergreen JAMMs / KLF etc. Collections of remasters and remixes, obscurities and hits mix with reworkings so sensitive to the originals that it’s hard to tell what’s ‘real’ and what’s not.

This is particularly excellent, extending Jimmy Cauty‘s ‘Space’ to over 72 minutes. If you do some research and a bit of digging around you can find out about and hear some of this material but you won’t find it in any shops.

Posted in Design, Music. | 2 Comments |

‘Moon Rock’ comp on Throne of Blood

This compilation comes out at the end of April on the Throne of Blood label, a collection of ‘outer reaches of electronic ambiance, Kosmische vibrations, and crystalline acoustics’. If dark instrumental synth workouts and sci-fi ambiance with spooky vocals is your thing then check this out.

Featuring: Juju & Jordash, DAMH, Simian Mobile Disco, Jokers of the Scene, Naum Gabo, Professor Genius, Pittsburgh Track Authority, Auf Togo, Lexx, Steve Moore, RL/VL, and Evan Stalker on 2xLP and digital. Some roughly strung together soundclips are here.

Posted in Music. | 1 Comment |

The The ‘Soul Mining’ deluxe box set + ‘GIANT’ 12″

I’m finally allowed to shout about this. A remastered, deluxe box set of The The‘s seminal debut LP, ‘Soul Mining’. A classic to many and one of my all time top 5 albums as well as the source of the track ‘GIANT’ that I covered with Matt Johnson on my LP, ‘The Search Engine’.

I posted a photo of myself with Matt back in January when we met up at Abbey Road studios to re-cut ‘GIANT’ for a double A sided 12″ due out on April 19th for Record Store Day. At the same time he was making the final tweaks to the bonus disc of remixes and B sides that accompanies the original album in this set.

Re-mastered by Matt from the original master tapes and packaged in a lavish 12” box, this vinyl only release includes an authentic reproduction of the 1983 release on 180g vinyl, plus an extra 12” gatefold vinyl of alternative versions and remixes.

The tracklist for the second disc is :
LP 2 – SOUL MINING RECOLLECTED

1. Uncertain Smile (New York 12” version)
2. Perfect (New York 12” version)
3. This Is The Day (12” version)
4. Fruit Of The Heart
5. Perfect (London 12” version)
6. I’ve Been Waitin’ For Tomorrow (All My Life) (12” mix)

For those who like their mp3’s the re-mastered audio has also then been dubbed from the new vinyl test pressings played on Matt’s original 1982 Thorens TD-147 gramophone for a new analogue to digital experience, obtainable via a download code contained within the box set. The set also includes a unique ‘news-poster’ containing extensive notes written by Matt detailing the making of the album including his decision not to include the cassette only tracks that were on the original release.

I’m very honored to have played a tiny part in this release by providing artwork from my archive of adverts from this period for the poster. But I’m even more honored to be part of the ‘GIANT2FACED12 INCH’ for Record Store Day next week, including providing the back cover art for my side of the single. This 12″ has been designed to fit inside the ‘Soul Mining’ box to add to the collection. Of course this won’t be available until April 19th (I haven’t even got a copy myself yet aside from a test pressing) but the box set is available to pre-order now and due on June 30th..

Posted in DJ Food, Music, Records. | 2 Comments |

iVCS3 by Jonny Trunk

01+02Well this is extremely cool – Jonny Trunk has dipped his toe into the app world and come up with an official EMS VCS3 emulator for the iPad! And it looks fantastic, well it would because it has the interface of a VSC3 (or a bastardised multi-screen version). More info here or you can buy it here.

In Jonny’s own words: “A few years ago I thought the idea of a VCS3 app was a good one. So I got permission to get one made. It’s taken ages. Here it is. It’s awesome, extraordinarily deep too, and with features form the suitcase Synthi too. And hopefully updates will be available with Radiophonic patches etc created by original Radiophonic superstars. Dead exciting.”

03 + 04

Longer tour and review here

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10 tracks whilst studying at Camberwell College of Art

Arts London Music Magazine asked me to name 10 influential tracks to kick off their Rewind series. These are specifically songs that took me through my three year BA degree course at Camberwell College of Art in London during the years 1990-93. I wrote a little piece about each including design inspirations as well as a couple of old pieces of college work that I did in response to music-related briefs whilst on the course, unseen for 21 years pieces. To cap it all off I gave them a mix I made for a college reunion in 2012 that features many of the songs plus plenty more and runs for nearly 2 hours. Full track list and info in the link above.

ALM Mix 01: DJ FOOD – Citrus ’12 by Arts_London_Music_Magazine on Mixcloud

Below are some more detailed shots of the ‘Little Fluffy Clouds’ piece I made. It takes the Ricki Lee Jones interview that’s heavily sampled on the track and twists it typographically using hot metal and wood block printing on tissue paper (in itself a very difficult thing to achieve without ripping the paper). That was then mounted on clear acetate and meant to be hung away from the wall so that light could pass through it to reflect the cloud-like nature of the piece (student thinking huh?).

Posted in Art, Design, DJ Food, Mixes/Solid Steel, Music. | No Comments |