Foreign World - Trying To Escape

Label : Foreign Records - F.R.001

Country : Canada

Year : 1984

Format : LP

Escapism, or at least an attempt. Less an excursion into a fictional world and more of a desperate following of uncertain paths out of it. Case in point:

A far cry from what I was given in elementary school. Anyway,

onto the music.

That's what has brought us together today.

I've been at this for so long, and I've never really stopped to think about my methods. No, not those methods. "Ripping" yes, but for plastic platters. I have taken a concerted effort of observing other intrepid givers in the community, be they on trackers or on their own blog, and what equipment they use. It seems obvious to me that my rips have been of a fairly lower quality, with noticeable hums, outdated tech, unnecessary parts of a chain, etc... This one isn't so bad given the "slightly warped" as described nature of the record and my lack of a Gritty Doctor 500 or whatever. I'll be lookin' at tomorrow (Welfare) 

Oh yeah, this is some interesting stuff. A sort of ambient electro-folk improvised. A friend pointed out that it reminded him of number stations broadcasts, an eerie unsettler. I like to think some of the vinyl scraping gives it a character all on its own.

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XX Century Zorro - La Volpe Du XX Siècle

Label : Old Europa Cafe - OECD 140

Country : Italy

Year : 2011 (1983 orig)

Format : CD

Not to blaspheme the blasphemers, but in the face of the revolutionary MonSter sound system I have shirked the original intentions by doubling the tracks on each channel into one for every song. In its original form, the album has different tracks going on at the same time in the stereo space, perfect for equalizers... But I intend to give it a bit more accessibility if at all.

Warped cabaret tunes and postpunk industrialism in a collage of madness.

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Five Or Six - A Thriving And Happy Land

Label : Frizz Bee - Frizzbee 2

Country : Netherlands

Year : 1982

Format : LP

Like Durutti Column, except in place of pastoral melancholy there exists an aggressive undercurrent of urban spiral. Like a hellish construction site, but also a bit heavenly. I'm surprised these guys haven't gotten the full-on Cherry Red reissue treatment, having just a Greatest Hits (hm) CD to their name. That's all well and good in this thriving and happy land but it's missing some key tracks. Some of the implied tracks appear here, and on the early retrospective "Cántame Esa Canción Que Dice, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah" that today still sit on their respective plastic platters. Five or six years from now, maybe.

Here

Iva Bittová & Pavel Fajt - Bittová & Fajt

Label : Bonton - 71 0535-2

Country : Czech Republic

Year : 1997 (1988 orig)

Format : CD

Is there a more dynamic duo in the field of avantgarde reimaginings of cultural folklore? I think not. Truly some beautiful and soulful music, much less of an academic look into this particular world than some takes from their contemporaries; A homely offering.

That isn't to say that the vaguely generalized label I attributed to their so-called "contemporaries" (whom I probably couldn't name in the moment despite being sure of myself) is meant to diminish them in comparison. Tons of great music came from this arena of the avant music scene circa 80s.

You might recall the mesmerizing "Morning Song" from Fred Frith's encapsulating "Step Across The Border" verite film... It's in here!

I apologize a bit for the lack of activity for the past month or so, I got more stuff to post in time.

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