Curve – The Way of Curve

A double CD tribute to the late great Curve. It is a catalogue of their best moments a retrospective without being the ‘Best of’. The first disc is all the singles in chronological order, which naturally starts off with Ten Little Girls. Why, oh why, did they let MC JC001 loose on a couple of verses.

The second disc features rarities' from the Superblaster EP that was only available in Germany, and a new single for the album Disguise. There are covers of Ian Dury’s What a Waste, the Kevin Shields remix of Coming Up Roses and Donna Summer’s I Feel Love. It does not have my own personal favourite Curve b-side, the cathartic No Escape from Heaven, which was featured on the The Blindfold EP.

The whole album is very polished from start to finish. I am a very much a fan of the early nineties output, up until Doppelganger, but this has manager to stretch my interest beyond the nineties

Curve : The Way of Curve (Disc 1)
http://www.mediafire.com/?embu4f1ryap5bjm
Ten Little Girls
Coast is Clear'
Clipped
Die Like a Dog
Horror Head
Faît Accompli
Missing Link
Superblaster
Pink Girl with the Blues
Recovery
Chinese Burn
Coming Up Roses
Hell Above Water
Want More Need Less
Perish
Nice and Easy

Curve : The Way of Curve (Disc 2 Rare and Unreleased)
http://www.mediafire.com/?i5r67c817wvxzwc

On the Wheel
Triumph
Arms Out
Sigh
Mission from God
Today is Not the Day
Low and Behold
'Nothing Without Me
What a Waste (with Ian Dury)
Falling Free (Aphex Twin mix)
Chinese Burn (Lunatic Calm mix)
Coming Up Roses (Kevin Shields mix)
I Feel Love
In Disguise
Sinner

Eugenius – Oomalama

Eugenius’s gem of a debut album, Oomalama. A catchy, grungy, noisy and very happy go lucky album. Eugenius create a sound that is entirely their own. While others have said that they a akin to Teenage Fanclub, I think that they are entirely on their own .

It starts with the song Oomalama which is a hysterical heart racing ride. Down on Me is a the track that is most like a ballad but it is still quite upbeat. There is a whole bevy of catchy pop songs like I'm the Sun, while Flame On is spiteful, and Buttermilk is tender, they ultimately come across as catchy pop songs. The album’s finale is a version of Beat Happening's Indian Summer. I have to admit that I thought that this was a Sonic Boom/Spectrum cover and never realised where the original came from.

You can understand why Kurt Cobain was influenced by Eugenius. Their influence should have really been more widespread.

Eugenius : Oomalama
http://www.mediafire.com/?p3f7q7a820on7cd

See See Rider – Dust Rocks and Flakes

The unfinished and unreleased album that See See Rider were working on when Lazy Records folded in 1991. They were then snapped up by Elektra Records, and there was hope that this album might see the light of day. Unfortunately an onstage bust up, that included a brawl, ended everything. Drummer Pete Tweedie left and the band split up. Bassist Phil King joined Lush and was a touring bassist with the Jesus and Marychain.

It’s a shame that this album was left on the shelf. This shows the potential of a greatly underrated band. It is a bit Birdland and The Primitives (Tweedie used to be in The Primitives). It sounds raw and rough, that might be to do with it being unfinished. I like to think that the later work of See See Rider would be a bit more caustic.

See See Rider : Dust Rocks and Flakes
http://www.mediafire.com/?twr769bpcn4r4mj

Birds
Crystal Springs
She Sings Alone
Sucking Fruit

Do Rider
White Flake Elite

Easy Love

Three Whale Trip

Even Cowgirls

Stolen Heart

Lush – Spooky

The first proper release from Lush. It was produced by Cocteau Twin, Robin Guthrie. Much of the debate about this album is did Guthrie’s sonic enhancements contribute to the album or did it detract from Lush’s creative talent. It has been criticised for burying vocals and drumming under walls of sound and flanging. I will leave that for you to decide, it has some beautiful harmonies and some groovy hip swaying hum along songs such as Nothing Natural. Infectious and catchy songs such as Superblast! Its just a shame that you can’t really singalong to the song as the vocals are unintelligible. The pick of the bunch is the last song Monochrome which is the definitive Lush masterpiece.

I saw Lush on tour in 1992, on their Spooky tour and I can’t really remember that much about it. Except they were supported by Spitfire.

Lush : Spooky
http://www.mediafire.com/?a96jzajgo3j6g6i

The Fall – The Frenz Experiment

I saw The Fall this week and something that John Peel said about The Fall came to me, "they are always different, they are always the same." This is true despite the ever changing lineups the whole experience is the same. Mark E. Smith looked liked he had lived the three decades of rock and roll to the full. When he appeared onstage, I at once felt relieved that I had given up smoking. The rest of the band looked slightly worried around Smith, as he adjusted their speakers and monitors while they played.

I first saw The Fall just over 18 years ago, which is recent in their 30+ year history, it was at Glastonbury. Between every song people were shouting, “Hit the North”. This was their most famous song and was made popular by Mark Radcliffe’s BBC Radio 5 programme of the same name.

Hit the North is on the album The Frenz Experiment which contains most of The Fall’s commercial songs such as There's A Ghost In My House and a cover of the Kinks’ Victoria. Yet other songs such as Frenz are completely uncommercial, held together very loosely by Smith’s vocals. Guest Informant is one of the all time classic Fall moments, it’s paranoid and quirky at the same time. A song about a hotel that becomes a deranged scene from Cluedo,

The miserable Scottish hotel,
Resembled a Genesis or Marillion, 1973 LP cover

Each different format of the album has different songs on it.

The Fall : The Frenz Experiment (CD Version)
http://www.mediafire.com/?8boqba414j48iej

Frenz
Carry Bag Man
Get a Hotel
Victoria
Athlete Cured
In These Times
The Steak Place
Bremen Nacht Alternative
Guest Informant excerpt
Oswald Defence Lawyer
Tuff Life Booogie
Guest Informant
Twister
There's a Ghost in My House
Hit the North