Monday, December 27, 2010

Minks "By the Hedge" and The Beets "Stay Home" special editions now available.




Go and get them here: http://capturedtracks.com/releases.php

Zarjaz "Inter Block Rock" 12" EP. 1986.



Ziro Baby is/was the man/kid behind Tronics and Zarjaz, as well as anything "Freakapuss" related. Probably one of the most interesting and strange characters to come out of the Punk/New Wave era, especially by constantly reinventing himself into whatever he felt like doing. After Tronics, he began Zarjaz as an exercise in "Baroqueabilly," which sounded a lot like Wendy Carlos' Bach recordings on A Clockwork Orange. Then, out of nowhere, Zarjaz releases this "Inter Block Rock" EP which is a DiY noise-pop record. Maybe just to prove that he can do it as good as anyone else at the time? One of these songs ("TV On In Bed") is a revved up version of the Tronics track on "Love Backed By Force."

There's a good chance of all Tronics/Zarjaz material being reissued on a friend's label. Exciting news, I'll update when that happens.

A great interview here: http://everetttrue5.wordpress.com/2009/07/21/plan-b-the-archives-18-the-tronicsles-zarjaz/

Link to EP: http://www.mediafire.com/?1mld6xlbbkz65qr

Video greeting from Ziro.

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Lektion "Ställ Dig På Knä Bakom Mig" 7" 1981.



The first and only 7" by Swedish post-punk/synth act Lektion. Some nice noises on here. The b-side is an instrumental.

Link: http://www.mediafire.com/?a799858k89cip9e

Saturday, December 25, 2010

The Production Club "Excitement" 7" 1982.



Another Boston post-punk band, this 7" came in a pretty non-descript sleeve with basic labels and pretty much no information. The tracks are a nice American take on "Movement" era Joy Division, maybe a little "rockier" with guitar playing not unlike John McGeoch's work in the Banshees.

Link: http://www.mediafire.com/?u1gw96be5de7vpt

Orange Disaster "Something's Got To Give" EP 7". 1980.



Orange Disaster (named after an Andy Warhol piece) was the first incarnation of The Perfect Disaster, who wound up on the great Fire Records label by the mid-80's. Phil Parfitt, the songwriter, was also nebulously involved in Spacemen 3/Spectrum recordings later on in the 80's and 90's. All 3 tracks on this 7" are great, with sparse drum machine, cutting guitars, restrained vocals and tasteful (don't be scared) saxophone. The last two tracks are definitely "psychedelic" in the repetitive Suicide/Spacemen/Seeds way.

Link: http://www.sendspace.com/file/a7bob7

Article 58 "Event to Come" 7" EP. 1981.



I'm sure this has been on a Messthetics or "Kilt By Death" but I don't think the entire 7" was on either. Excellent proto-indiepop DiY from Edinburgh, Scotland. Sharing a bit of the Scottish sound you hear on early Orange Juice, Skids and Josef K records. All three songs are great. I wonder what happened to these guys and if there's more material out there. "Event To Come" is particularly fantastic.

Link: http://www.sendspace.com/file/ruyc6j

Friday, December 24, 2010

Raymond "First Love/Our Downtown" 7". 1984.





I can't help but gush about this record. A perfect indie record, from Houston, TX in 1984. Perfect pop in vein of Television Personalities (or current bands like Art Museums), except with a drum machine. It even comes with a perfectly weird illustrated 7" (dinosaurs, line drawings of buildings in Chinatown?) Even the name of the custom record label, Pastelle Records, is perfect. It's 5-years behind and 15 years ahead of it's time, and from Texas no less. Featuring bass guitar from Jeffrey Walton of the (fantastic) Judy's. "Our Downtown" features great lyrics like "You'll never meet a hooker under 6'1" in Our Downtown" and a xylophone doubling the great/fey vocal melody. The other side, "First Love" is an equally great post-apocalyptic love song. Raymond Carpenter (or anyone who knows him) please find us, we'd love to put this back out!

Link: http://www.sendspace.com/file/7j8ir3

UKW "EP" 7". 1981.



Here's our first NDW posting. Apparently, there were at least 3 bands called UKW since the 80's, and this was the first, according to the NDW Wiki.(http://www.ndw-wiki.org/index.php?title=UKW_%281%29) Maybe some day a nice German will translate that site to English... Anyway, two of the tracks on this EP, "Stumpf" and "Heiss" are pretty rhythmic post-punk with repetitive basslines and a propulsive beat, not unlike Palais Schaumburg. Fans of that band will love those two cuts. The other track, "Oslo Kai" is almost like a weird pop song set to a drum-machine. Way more playful than most underground NDW, and for me, that's why it sticks out.

Link: http://www.sendspace.com/file/tlrofd

The Steves "Making Time" 7" 1980.



Here's a great 7" from Boston by The Steves. The A-Side is a scorching synthpunk track that sounds like a mix between DEVO and Futurisk. Clocking in at 1:36 and never looking back, I have no idea why this record isn't on Popsike, meaning it's never sold for over $30. Go track it down! The B-side, "Mechanical Man," is a lot more sedate, even proggy? Almost like a John Foxx-era Ultravox! song.

Link: http://www.sendspace.com/file/128ydx

Four Gods "Enchanted House" 7". 1981.



Go-Betweens fans, make sure you grab this. From 1981 on the legendary Able Label (where the GB's first singles appeared) came this fantastic post-punk/pop 7". On drums is none other than Lindy Morrison. No need to tell you who that is if you are a fan. The production/bass/guitar all sound very much like the first 2 Go-Betweens LP's. Beautiful silkscreen sleeve, too. I wish I could upload the texture, maybe one day, this will be possible...

Link: http://www.sendspace.com/file/v8crkn

Life With Patrick "Nothing in Your Heart" 12" 1990.



Here's a great 12" from what I assume is a Northern English band on the Manchester "In Tape" Label from 1990. "Nothing In Your Heart" is reminiscent of the first Stone Roses single, one foot in shoegaze and the other in the aggressive indie vein. The B-Side "Favour" starts with a piano bit before turning into a rolicking Smiths-y C86 thing. There's a 3rd song, an instro I left off called "Something From Nothing." There's virtually no info on this band I can find, they don't even have a Discogs page. I have their other (earlier) 12" EP on Tiger Lily which I'll upload if you guys like this enough.

Link: http://www.mediafire.com/?n5mdempsg30tupg