touch yello

Heartbreaking track of the day.
TOUCH YELLOW - YOU BETTER HIDE

new york-manchester-belgium

It's quite impossible for me not yield to the temptation of posting quite more than enough stuff related in one or more ways with the Factory label.Playgroup were a new York electro group that produced only this single produced by the infamous Latin Rascals.Well the connection to Factory records is that Euphoria got to be released on the Benelux branch of the label.Sounding like an overseas version of New Order,Euphoria just stunning.The pic is from a great site called Cerysmatic Factory which is probably the best resource on the web for info,pictures,news and memorabilia from the Factory label.

PLAYGROUP - EUPHORIA DUB

colourbox

This could have easily been a ''northern anthem'' if only Colourbox were a band that hailed from manchester.In any case Colourbox were a band that was never associated with the manchester scene in any kind of way but i just thought this track would fit in the mood of our northern special that i have been focusing lately.Nevertheless they were a phenomenal group that tempered with the boundaries of genres to an extent that didn't allow anyone to put a tag under their sound.From the electro funk triumph which is the first version of ''Breakdown'' to the heavy dub style of ''Baby I love You So'' and the crooner anthem ''Say You'',Colourbox were more than your typical new wave band.

COLOURBOX - FAST DUMP

Angels

looking life through the pouring rain

Continuing on out ''north'' documentary,which in fact tends to be a Factory records special,this is another piece of mancunian melancholy.This time it's Crispy Ambulance,a post punk outfit that recorded some great stuff on Factory. took this picture in a great bookstore near Euston square last Wednesday.This is a limited signed copy of Kevin Cummins photographic archive of the Manchester scene.If you haven't checked out his work do so.You can find cheaper copies of this book(this one in particular cost 250 euro) at Amazon,and make your self or your friends a nice christmas present.

CRISPY AMBULANCE - PRESENCE

for k

This pic was taken on my latest trip to Scotland.Sometimes trees carry this certain feel of serenity about them,it almost feels as they gonna be standing there forever without moving a bit even if the world around them is turning,even if we if we get born and die everyday.This track is by band that recorded for the Creation label.Their LP called Inference is a masterpiece of electronics,symphonic pop,folk and ambient noises.This is a record that sounds really balearic to my ears.This is Mineral,a weightless little piece of music that goes nicely with the image of the ''immortal'' trees of the Scottish highlands.

PACIFIC - MINERAL

algerian factory

Either you believe it or not this oriental tune that should appeal to hardcore balearic fans,was released on Factory records.Perhaps the weirdest record to be released of the manchester label,maybe as an attempt to lure audiences that were into ethnic world music.The single flopped without selling a single copy at the time.

Must Be Built

Hacienda is a Spanish word for an estate.
Some haciendas were plantations, mines,
or even business factories.
Manchester's estate
ATAHUALPA - LA FURIA Y EL CONDOR (furia mix)
Atahualpa - La Furia Y eL Condor (furia mix)

you can stay

Future sunset classic from the 2nd L.P.
called ''Power'' by Barrabas.
Dreamy downtempo Balearic funk.

Barrabas - time to love

A B C (Another Balearic Classic)

Favorite Balearic track of the month

"You are now looking at the second A.B.C.
recording. The A side is a song called "Poison
Arrow" torn from the events of my personal life
away from the glare of publicity. Many of you out
there may think standing in the spotlight brings
many rewards. But let me tell you, the fruits of fame
can be sour and I too have my private moments.
However it is my duty and privilege to share some
of these experiences with you.
Love's Ammunition, A Poison Arrow or the pain
received at the hands of Cupid. But then again - a
love affair without a broken heart? Like making an
omelette without breaking an egg.
The flip-side houses "Theme from Man Trap," the
result of a late night spent with my producer Trevor
Horn and piano accompanist.
Our first disc registered strongly in the
popularity charts but none of this woould have been
possible without you, the discerning customer.
I hope you enjoy this record as much as we
enjoyed making it. Be young. Be foolish. Be
alphabetical.
Yours sincerely,
Martin Fry"

ABC - Poison Arrow (Lounge mix)

anyway that you want me

Straying a bit off the track of the ''northern'' special i have been chatting all about lately,this a usual Monday afternoon post which usually is a bit more hazy ''blue''.The early recordings of Jason Pierce with Spiritualized have a certain feel that was never captured again in his long and really amazing career.Pierce is a personal hero for me from his early Spacemen 3 days but probably his first Spiritualized singles and especially the epic 13 minute single "Feel So Sad'' and the Laser Guided Melodies LP are top picks.This is a cover of the Troggs classic that adds a whole new dimension to the original recording.This is a remix from the 12'' version with some eerie radio voices in the background.

SPIRITUALISED - ANYWAY THAT YOU WANT ME (REMIX)

amore

music to cleanse your mind

The loved-up rave scene was a fertile climate
for the proliferation of New Agey ideas.
Between 1988 and 1990 ,there was a subtle
modulation -from music to lose yourself in (acieed)
to find yourself in (ambient house)

S'EXPRESS - MANTRA FOR A STATE OF MIND (ELEVATION MIX)

INNOCENCE - NATURAL THING

Jon Hassell vs 808State - Voiceprint (808 Mix1)

gorgeous 90's magic realism

''The original idea behind 808 State's ''Pacific''
was an attempt at modern equivalent of fifties
'exotica' :Graham Massey was a big fun of Martin Denny,
who's tiki music (quasi-Polynesian mood-music for suburban
cocktail parties)often featured tropical bird-calls.

On the album 90,'Sunrise' was a far superior take on the same idea.
tendrils of flute,mist-swirls of spectral sample-texture and lambent
synth-horizons conjure up a Polynesian dawnscape.

On this track and the earlier 'State Ritual' (which sounded like
aborigines trying to make Acid House using flutes and wooden
gourds),808 State are denizens of the 'Fourth World'(Jon Hassell's
term for a future fusion that melded Western hi-tech and traditional
ethnic musics as sketched on albums like Dream Theory In Malaya)''
words Simon Reynolds (Energy Flash)
808 STATE - SUNRISE

fac

Keeping my promise to deal with the northern special i had promised some time ago,this is part of a Factory records tribute with some tracks,memorabilia and videos.I guess you can't make a proper ''northern'' documentation without spending a great deal of time to focus on the label that turned Manchester to the european capital of contemporary dance music.The releases,the esthetic,the design,the influence of the city it's self,everything of this and more rate Factory as my favourite label ever.This is a small treat with loads of stuff to follow.This is Cath Carroll with Moves Like You.

CATH CARROL - MOVES LIKE YOU (REMIX)

the north ''invasion'' to paradise

Great video about the early days of the Balearic scene in Ibiza.Great footage of the island before it became a chartered flight shithole for low quality alcoholic tourism.Terry Farley,locals and loads of early clubbers talk about the reasons that Ibiza became the Mediterranean equivalent to Manchester,the music,the drugs,the way the balearic scene differed from the scene back in the UK,how it feels having to talk to people on the beach after ''coming down'' from last night's raving.

It's Love.It's Life.It's mental!

Candy Flip were a band that had a minor hit in the baggy scene with the cover of the Beatles classic Strawberry Fields.I remembered i used to love that tune back then.Well this track isn't the reason that this short lived band that emerged out out of the baggy ''craze'' ,surfaced in our blog.The reason is another of their efforts, the single Love Is Life.Straying far away from their downtempo balearic baggy releases this is a true rave anthem.For me the best mix on the 12'' is the O Zone Friendly Mix that sounds like it was intended to be a hit in the Belgian new beat scene.It's Love.It's Life.It's mental!

CANDY FLIP - LOVE IS LIFE -O ZONE FRIENDLY MIX

new order play at home part 1

This is great documentary on Factory records and their darlings.New Order,Martin Hannet,Saville,Mike Pickering,A Certain Ratio.It's all here plus some rare footage of Tony Wilson's ''willy''.Some really funny stuff going on in here like Gillian Gilbert sharing a bathtub with Tony Wilson and Hooky riding on a cross motorbike.Check out you tube for the rest of the parts as i never found any copy of this.

late november mix

A collection of songs and music i have been listening lately in the solitude of my room,mixed together for your listening pleasure.Memories of sleepy night bus rides to Streatham with "I",my apartment's radiators working while it's 19 degrees outside and November is coming to a n end,last minute thinking before going to sleep,''the north London book of dead'',listening to Perpetuum Mobile while stuck in traffic and thinking life is wonderful,''Imperfect List'',drunken fridays,the ''Sound Of the North'',my Lacoste windbreaker,autumn leaves,Sad Rob's Tokyo To Kissa mix,watching "Fallen Angels'',missing you.All of the these and more are somewhere in here.Listen and make your list.

Late November Mix