Feel up to trying out something a bit obscure? This is a great opportunity to check out 2 rather obscure garage rock bands from the 1960s, Monks and The Kitchen Cinq. Both are compilations and give you a great cross section of their music. Get both cd's brand new and factory sealed for $15 and FREE shipping! Offer is for orders shipping within the United States only. View my seller feedback - More deals to come. Stay tuned! Get both CD's new and factory sealed plus FREE shipping for $15.
Here's an offer for you and you'll only find it on this blog. Get 2 new and factory sealed CD albums by Sixto Rogriquez for one low price of $20 plus FREE shipping. Offer is for orders shipping within the United States only. You can also visit my Discogs store and browse lots more music! Cold Fact and Coming From Reality both for $20 plus free shipping. View my seller feedback - More deals to come. Stay tuned!
Debut release from The Psychedelic Furs. 7 March 1980.
Now this is a true gem from the era. When this first dropped in 1980, I put it on and it's been a regular spinner (vinyl, cd, and mp3) at our house ever since!
This is no soap commercial, no, it's a brilliant release of truly original sounding, non pop, material produced by one of the master producers, Steve Lillywhite.
In my opinion The Furs never reached this point again in their career. Don't get me wrong, they had other 5 star releases (Forever Now, etc) but never again achieved the look, sound and feel of their debut release.
A very overlooked group indeed! The bands lineup included Jerry Harrison who moved on to Talking Heads and David Robinson who moved over to The Cars... and Jonathan Richman is always interesting to listen to!
Many years ago when I first head this song, I was sure this came out of the late 1970's punk movement. Wrong! 1972! Talk about being ahead of the times... just a great song all around. David Bowie also covered it on his Reality album, although his version is quite singular in a very "Bowie" way.
I finally got a copy of this fantastic Japan album from 1981.
The final Japan album (if you don't count Rain Tree Crow) is a masterpiece and came at a time which found the band at their creative peak, very similar to Roxy Music's final album Avalon which (in my opinion) is their best.
The half speed mastering and cutting process (by the techs at Abbey Road Studios) speeds things up so you now have 2 vinyl discs where there was only 1 originally. The discs are played at 45rpm not 33. This greatly improves the high frequencies and makes for an awesome listening experience. I plan on spinning this during the coming weekend on my vintage JVC turntable. (update: I took it for a spin. See below)
2 vinyl discs in anti-static sleeves and a gatefold cover. Includes download code.
Tracks
Side A
1 Art of Parties
2 Talking Drum
Side B
1 Ghosts
2 Canton
Side C
1 Still Life
2 Visions of China
Side D
1 Sons of Pioneers
2 Cantonese Boy
Spin test of this half speed master:
Quiet! This is a very quiet record. Being vinyl, you always expect some pops and ticks and there are a few but if you're not listening for them you won't notice. The big pop/tick test of course is on the track Ghosts which being a softer track, they will show up.
One thing very noticeable straight away was the warmth. It seems a lot of the 1980's music re-issued on cd was a bit on the sharp side, at lease on the original cd issues before remastering. There is a definite warmth to this vinyl version. Another noticeable point is the frequency range. Bass is nice and bassy, not boomy. Trebles are crystal clear but don't make your ears bleed.
Bonus: the packaging is wonderful!
Overall a 5 star release. Put it on and especially with a good set of headphones, you will hear nuances in the music you did not hear before.
Perfection. I loved this album immediately upon its release back in 1980 and still do just as much today. Also highly recommended is their Return to Eden concert from 2010.
