The Midnight Choir - Gideon Turtle And The Midnight Choir 12"

Second release of The Midnight Choir after the 'Kiss' 12". This one sounds quite different than the 1st 12". Less postpunk, more rock. So they went for another direction. Never heard the later releases on Probe Plus and Native Records.
The songs were recorded live in the studio without overdubs hence the sound.
Produced by Simon Hinkler of Artery and released on Artery's A Golden Dawn label.

Vocals - Dave Loukes
Guitar - Mark Jackson
Bass - Simon Gillman
Drums - Magnus Doyle

Gideon Turtle And The Midnight Choir E.P. (A Golden Dawn-G.D. 1202-1984)
1. Wizard
2. I Can Reach You
3. I Thought The Path Of My Heart Was Far Away When I Was Sad
4. Today I'm A Snake
5. Go

Gideon Turtle (new link)

Lives Of Angels - Elevator To Eden LP

A great contribution by Ximo of Spain. Always wanted to hear this album and I'm glad that Ximo wanted to digitize this one.
I don't know alot about Lives Of Angels. It's actually a two-person effort. This album was recorded at home on 4-track by Gerald and Catherine O'Connell. They also appear on the 'Color Supplement' comp. album on Color Disc (Modern Art label). The 'Elevator Of Eden' LP is sometimes referred to as a minimal synth cold wave classic but there's also some psyche influence as well.
There's a Lives Of Angels MySpace page.
The 'Color Supplement' LP can be found on Mutant Sounds as well as a tape of Modern Art (pre-Sun Dial).

Elevator To Eden LP (Fire Records-FIRE LP 2-1986)
1. Pavilion
2. Ascension
3. Artificial Intelligence I
4. The Rock Drill
5. Imperial Motors
6. In The Image Of Youth
7. Cold Expression
8. Artificial Intelligence II
9. Golden Age
10. Meltdown

Lives Of Angels (new link)

Nervous Gender/Beelzebub Youth - Music From Hell LP

Excellent early Subterranean release. Beelzebub Youth were a mystery to me but is in fact Nervous Gender in disguise. Synthpunk should be the best description for Nervous Gender, although the Beelzebub Youth tracks sound darker and less punky. Before this release, they appeared on the 'Live At Target' comp. album. Nervous Gender started in 1978 and had different line-ups including Don Bolles of the Germs and Paul Roessler of The Screamers. Original member Gerardo Velasquez died in 1993 at the age of 33 and so ends the story of Nervous Gender.
for more info on Nervous Gender:
official Nervous Gender website
unofficial Nervous Gender website

Note: Titles to 2 & 5 are listed incorrectly on the sleeve. Correct tracklisting below. And I deliberately took the sleeve scans from one of the sites. Call me lazy.

Music From Hell LP (Subterranean-SUB 666-1981)
Nervous Gender
1. Monsters
2. Alien Point Of View
3. Cardinal Newman
4. Fat Cow
5. Nothing To Hide
6. People Like You
7. Regress For You
Beelzebub Youth
8. Christian Lovers
9. Exorcism
10. Bathroom Sluts
11. Pie On A Ledge
12. Push, Push, Push
13. Alice's Song

Music From Hell

Trisomie 21 - Wait & Dance 12"

My last post on Trisomie 21. Also the last record of the band in their early style.
Has a reworked version of 'Relapse'.
Released on Belgian label Scarface.




Wait & Dance 12" (Scarface-SCAR 17T-1985)
1. Waiting For
2. Crying Wolf
3. Relapse 2
4. Shadows Of Time
5. Son Of Time

320

FLAC

Sturm Und Drang 12"s

A lot of bands were influenced by The Birthday Party back in the 80's. Think about Bone Orchard, Inca Babies,... Well there's also a band from The Netherlands who took the same influence to create their own sound.
Sturm Und Drang released 3 records as far as I know, these two 12"s and the 'Wild Style Cries' LP.
The first 12" is a decent effort but on the later records, singer René was replaced by a new one, Steef De Man. His vocals fit more to the sound of Sturm Und Drang.


Sturm Und Drang 12" (Gunmen Shots-SD 16661-1984)
1. Say Cheese
2. Bay-Bee
3. Talk Of Food
4. C.C. Video
5. T.I.T.S.


River 12" (Torso-TORSO 12012-1985)
1. River
2. Money
3. Going Places

Sturm Und Drang

Flowers For Agatha - 7" & 12"s

Someone asked for some Leeds Independent releases and here are the only ones I have. The best known band on that label is Rose Of Avalanche but here's another brilliant band, unfortunately not so wellknown.
The origins of Flowers For Agatha are already from 1980 when the band was called Bleeding Hearts. Later they changed name and started recording tracks in 1985 for the 'The Thickest Head' 7" and 'The Freedom Curse' 12". Last release is the 'Foolish Young Old And Stupid' 12". The band folded around 1986-1987.
There are demo recordings too so there's plenty of material that could make a reissue on CD as the vinyl is quite hard to find these days.
There's a Flowers For Agatha fanpage on MySpace here.


The Thickest Head 7" (Off Beat Records-OB 10-1985)
1. Presentation
2. The Thickest Head


Freedom Curse 12" (Leeds Independent-12 LIL 3-1985)
1. The Freedom Curse
2. The Common Enemy
3. GoldThief


Young Foolish Old And Stupid 12" (Leeds Independent-12 LIL 8-1986)
1. Through The Ceiling
2. Never The One You Want
3. To The Bitter End
4. Chasing Money Again

Flowers For Agatha

Trisomie 21 - The First Songs Vol. I LP

Here's the Belgian reissue of Trisomie 21's second release; the 'Passions Divisées' LP. Originally released in 1984, also on Stechak Product.
Back in the day, Trisomie 21 was one of the very few cold wave bands that got some recognition outside of France. They played many concerts in Belgium and Holland.
There were a lot of cold wave bands from France but don't know many of them. A lot of those records are collector's items now.

The First Songs Vol. I LP (LD Records-LD 8813-1988)
1. See The Devil In Me
2. Relapse
3. Djakarta
4. Moving By You
5. Is Anybody Home? (Part 1)
6. Fête Triste
7. No Way
8. Love For A Life

320

FLAC-A

FLAC-B

Trisomie 21 - The First Songs Vol. II MLP

Excellent cold wave with an experimental touch from the North of France. The title is a bit misleading as this is the 1987 reissue of their debut 'Le Repos Des Enfants Heureux'. Originally released in 1983 on Stechak Product (Guerre Froide, Norma Loy).
Other interesting records( which I could post later) are 'The First Songs Vol. I' LP and the 'Wait & Dance' 12". Never cared too much for the records released after these.
First Songs I & II were also released as a CD but sadly out of print.
Visit the Trisomie 21 website here.
For those who shouldn't know, Trisomie 21 stands for the defective chromosome that causes Down Syndrome.

First Songs Vol. II MLP (LD Records-LD 8814-1988)
1. Il Se Noie
2. There's Something Strange Tonight
3. Logical Animals
4. Coming From Darkness
5. Breaking Down

320

FLAC

Rote Kapelle - 7"s

Here are the three 7"s that Edinburgh band Rote Kapelle released. The 'Big Smell Dinosaur' 7" is the first one and was self released. The other two released on In Tape.
Got a comment from ex-bassplayer Malk who was surprized to see people still interested in Rote Kapelle. And he makes no objections to making their music available for download.



Big Smell Dinosaur E.P. (Big Smell Dinosaur Records-SMELLY 1-198?)
1. King Mob
2. Evolution
3. Fergus! The Sheep!
4. A Gasfire



These Animals Are Dangeroos 7" (In Tape-IT 037-1986)
1. These Animals Are Dangeroos
2. Sunday



Fire Escape 7" (In Tape-IT 051-1988)
1. Fire Escape
2. Big Hole Heart

Rote Kapelle

Soul Merchants - Gates Of Heaven LP

Very interesting postpunk band from Denver, Colorado. They mix the gloomy side of postpunk with 60's rock influences. The band only existed for 2 years but they made a hell of a lot of songs. Prior to this vinyl release, Soul Merchants released 2 cassette albums, 'God’s Hand Touched Him, And He Slept' and 'Before The Gates'. After the album they recorded the 'Let It Brood' cassette but this one was never officially released, probably because the band was falling apart.
I found out about Soul Merchants not so long ago, while reading the reviews in old Maximum Rock'n Roll editions,. You can find these on the Operation Phoenix Records site. Some reviews caught my attention and the 'Gates Of Heaven' LP was one of them. I went looking for a copy and came across their MySpace page. I was immediately impressed and asked Noinim and Fritz Die Spinne for more info. Fritz sent me MP3's of the cassette albums, which were originally digitized by Noinim as he knows one of the ex-members very well. And I managed to find a copy of the vinyl album on eBay recently.
One of the reasons that I post the album is that it's quite rare and hard-to-find. The other reason is to announce the release of the double CD set 'Black Boots And Sideburns' which contains almost all of the songs released on the 3 cassette albums. 5 songs didn't make it (of which 2 are drawn out psychedelic tunes). This release can now be obtained through Smooch Records. I really recommend you to do so. I already ordered mine and, being from Europe, asked for shipping charges but there are none. Talk about cheap!

Note: sorry for the purple-ish colour in the scan of the frontsleeve. Blame my scanner!

Gates Of Heaven LP (Iron Gate Records-IG 003-1986)
1. Phases Of The Moon
2. Within This Place
3. Marriage Hearse
4. Black Rain
5. When I Smile
6. Staircase
7. Country Lane
8. Frame House
9. Blue On Blue
10. Just One More Favour

New link!
Soul Merchants

Ghost Dance - Word To The Wise 12"

Ghost Dance is best known for having Gary Marx (ex-Sisters Of Mercy) and Annemarie (ex-Skeletal Family) in the band. Both left their previous bands and got in contact with eachother to form Ghost Dance. Other well known members of the Bradford/Leeds scene were contacted like Aky (ex-Southern Death Cult) to form this 'supergroup'. Well you can read the whole history on their official website.
I was planning to rip the 'Gathering Dust' LP, a compilation of the early 7"/12" tracks. But it is recently reissued and you can order it from the Ghost Dance website.
'Word To The Wise' is the last release on indie Karbon before they signed to major Chrysalis. Never heard their later releases. The 'Gathering Dust' album is great although I always skip the cover songs.

Word To The Wise 12" (Karbon-KAR 608T-1987)
1. When I Call
2. Fools Gold
3. Cruel Light
4. Holding On

Word To The Wise

Party Day, The Tempest, Moskow

Here's another batch of 7" singles kindly donated by Lo Spettro Di Se Stesso.
Gonna begin with the band I know best.


Party Day
Here is the second 7" released by Barnsley band Party Day. It seems that the sleeve was filled with confetti.

The Spider 7" (Party Day Records-FX 302-1984)
1. The Spider
2. Flies

The Spider


The Tempest
I must admit that I don't know alot about The Tempest. I think this is their first release. They also released the 'Montezuma' 12" and '5 Against The House' LP on Anagram. Any extra info welcome.

Lady Left This 7" (Glass Records-Glass 029-1984)
1. Lady Left This
2. Attic

The Tempest


Moskow
here's the most obscure of the bunch. UK band, maybe the same who released the 'Man From Uncle' 7"? Couldn't find any info.

Heat House 7" (Rygel-RYG 6-1982)
1. Heat House
2. Robot

Moskow

Ausweis - s/t MLP

Very first release of this French band. Ausweis play great postpunk influenced by Killing Joke. The quite short and more uptempo 'Gangsters United' show their punk roots.
Ausweis stirred some interest in the UK as the following records were released on UK labels: the 'Victimes' 12" on Chainsaw (label of Living In Texas) and 'Jours De Haine' 12" is the first release on Ediesta Records. For a complete discography, check the French New Wave site.
You can also watch some TV appearances on their MySpace page.
There is a discography CD in the works but that's already more than a year I guess. I hope it will be issued as their records are scarce and/or pricey these days.
This mini-album was released on cult label L'Invitation Au Suicide and contains a lyric sheet/small poster and a big poster.

Ausweis MLP (L'Invitation Au Suicide-ID 6-1984)
1. Eva
2. Berlin
3. Gangsters United
4. Ella Choice
5. Mecaniks
6. 1984
7. Phase Fatale
8. Murnaü

Ausweis

The Shrubs - Take Me Aside For A Midnight Harangue LP

Another generous gift from Phil Long. Saves me from ripping this stunning album of The Shrubs.
Check my previous entry on The Shrubs for more info. I've posted both 12"s on Ron Johnson a while ago.
'Take Me Aside For A Midnight Harangue' was recorded at Emma's Koeienverhuurbedrijf in Amsterdam and produced by Dolf.
This one was also posted on the very short-lived Asparagus Tea blog. For those who missed it, here's a chance to listen to it.

Take Me Aside For A Midnight Harangue LP
(Ron Johnson-Z Ron 23-1987)
1. Mysterious Places
2. Luke
3. Fashion Show
4. Middle Men
5. Claykiln Mouth
6. Blackmailer's Heartache
7. Rivers Of Toads Flow Forever
8. Sinister Missions
9. John Corpse
10. Hail Chauffeurs
11. Serial Revelry
12. Farmers
13. Faith
14. Albert Ross

Shrubs

Rebel Christening - Tribal Eye 12"

Another obscure goth band from the UK. Absolutely no info to be found on the net. Although released on a quite wellknown indie label, this 12" is hard to come by. Clay Records mostly released punk stuff (Discharge) but also released some goth acts like Play Dead and The Veil.


Tribal Eye 12" (Clay Records-12 Clay 44-1985)
1. Tribal Eye
2. Desire And Glory
3. Go Forth (Brave Heart)


Tribal Eye (320)

Tribal Eye (FLAC)

The Batfish Boys - Head LP

Got this one in since this morning. Phil Long is spoiling us!
'Head' is the second album of The Batfish Boys. Less postpunk, more straight forward rock. Some people prefer this album than the first one and vice versa. Here's your chance to decide for yourself.
Track 11 'Amoeba Rock' is not featured on the album but is the B-side of the 'Justine' 7".

Head LP (Batfish Inc.-USS 106-1986)
1. The Whiskey Priest
2. Justine
3. The Gods Hate Kansas
4. Growlers
5. Fat Tuesday
6. Head
7. Love Pig
8. East West Turnaround
9. Gila Girl
10. (I Don't Wanna Be Your) Dinosaur (Baby)
11. Amoeba Rock

Head