Musick Today Brought to You by the Letter C & the Number 4

Just too damn busy this week-end to post up any musick. Doing this all by my lonesome is kinda a challenge, if I get too busy, then the posts stop coming... oh, shite. Try to make up for my foibles by posting up some weight (or if not weight, then at least number). Hope nobody got too impatient & I hope this satisfies.

The Clash - This is Radio Clash 12“ ep

Another foray into the world of dub after the work on Sandinista!, this is one of the Clash’s most memorable outings in this vein. Timely now perhaps with the upcoming release of the film Pirate Radio, the lyrics here find the band likening their mission of spreading their musickal views to that of a pirate radio station bringing music to the masses, "This is Radio Clash on pirate satellite/orbiting your living room, cashing in on the Bill of Rights." Its combination of wordy lyrics & simple melodic content lends itself nicely to the dub style: Joe Strummer spits out the lyrics machine-gun style over a churning musical backdrop that weaves jazzy saxophone riffs, burbling synthesizer lines, & hip-shaking funk guitar into a poly-rhythmic wall of sound. All these elements add up to an exciting record that offers both dance-friendly rhythms & food for thought. Released in the U.S on November 25, 1981, with various different releases, this one has the standard Epic label.

Year of Release: 1981
Label: Epic 49-02662
Genre: Dub

Tracklist:
Please Save Us Side -
This is Radio Clash
Radio Clash

Not the Whales Side -
Outside Broadcast
Radio Five

Download: The Clash - This is Radio Clash 12“ ep
Download Size: 43.4MB (ripped from vinyl at320Kbps)

Chris & Cosey - Synaesthesia 12“ ep

Chris Carter & Cosey Fanni Tutti formed CHRIS & COSEY out of the ashes of their seminal 70s Industrial band Throbbing Gristle. Throbbing Gristle (& Carter/Tutti) helped start the Industrial music genre. They were some of the first performers to successfully fuse electronic & acoustic instrumentation. Their musical legacy is still very much in evidence today. This ep was the #5 Top40 single in 1991.

Year of Release: 1991
Label: WaxTrax 9153
Genre: Techno

Tracklist:
WaxTrax Side:
Synaesthesia (Daniel Miller Mix)
Synaesthesia (C&C Mix)

Synaesthesia Side:
Synaesthesia (Daniel Miller Instrumental Mix)

Download: Chris & Cosey - Synaesthesia 12“ ep
Download Size: 40.7MB (ripped from vinyl at 320Kbps)

Cathedral Of Tears - self-titled

After TSOL & right before Tender Fury, True Sons vocalist & co-founder Jack Grisham (Jack Greggors in TSOL, here as Jack Loyd) joined up with Mike Patton & some other musickian friends to release the one-off Cathedral of Tears on Enigma.

In Jack’s own words,
“This is one of those mistakes you make that you can’t take back. My dad died, I was going through a lot of shit...I stole the tapes. We had a record...we wrote a bunch of new songs, went in the studio & I stole the tapes. Our record company had said, ‘There's no song here that will get radio play,’ & I was like ‘Bullshit, there is.’ So I stole the tapes from the record company, took it to the radio station, & they were playing our song (“Black Emotion”) while I was driving away. (laughs) & it turned out to be the number four requested song on the station that year. With no record out. & then Enigma finally put it out. They finally put it out, but it was too late. I had already done the damage by the time it came out.“

Cathedral of Tears were: Jack Loyd (Grisham) - vocals; Mark Ford - guitar; Mike Patton - bass; Eddie Sedano - keyboards; & John Guerrero - drums; with additinal help from Mike Borens & Jon St. James - guitars; & Chaz Ramirez - backing vocals.

Year of Release: 1984
Label: Enigma Records E-1045
Genre: Darkwave
Tracklist:
This Side -
Trap
A Situation Of
Calm Storm

The Other Side -
Black Emotion
Ballet
Whisper From The Deadland

Download: Cathedral of Tears - Cathedral of Tears
Download Size: 44.3MB (ripped from vinyl at 320Kbps)

Lloyd Cole & The Commotions - Lost Weekend (extended version) 12“ ep

Although I am not much of a Britpop listener, I do have a bit of Lloyd Cole in my collection. Within a few years of this release, I was listening to Glasgow noise almost exclusively, bands like Dog-Faced Hermans, Dawson, Stretchheads, Whirling Pig Dervish, Badgewearer & more. They were definitely not ‘pop’.

However, Lloyd Cole & the Commotions were a very popular British pop act of the mid 1980s, based in Glasgow, Scotland. They rivaled the Smiths in popularity in the Britpop indie scene. Rattlesnakes, LC&C’s first release, garnered a great deal of attention for the band. So, quickly Polydor beckoned & the band set about recording Easy Pieces. Paul Hardiman, who had produced Rattlesnakes was replaced by Clive Langer & Alan Winstanley, flush from success with Madness. The Commotions were appalled that Hardiman had been sacked, but they felt powerless to do anything about it.

Cole & Co., to a man, disliked Easy Pieces, despite its yielding two top 20 singles & their biggest hit, the Iggy Pop inspired (though Cole insists it ended up sounding like Madness) “Lost Weekend”. Langer & Winstanley wanted Cole to control the vibrato in his voice. Suddenly the singing became more artificial, more self-conscious. Polydor didn’t really care. Their bottom-line was that Easy Pieces sold more in the first two weeks of release than Rattlesnakes had in a year. It contained the bands biggest commercial success, the single "Lost Weekend", which made #17 in the UK charts.

Year of Release: 1985
Label: Polydor COLEX 5
Genre: Britpop

Tracklist:
Side A -
Lost Weekend (Extended Version)

Side B -
Big World
Nevers End
Lost Weekend (7" Version)

Download: Lloyd Cole & the Commotions - Lost Weekend (Extended version) 12“ ep
Download Size: 28MB (ripped from vinyl at 320Kbps)