Two years ago, I shared a Keith Levene compilation here called
Beyond Pil. I recently realized that Levene didn't actually play on some of the songs. A new comp is in order, both to rectify my mistakes and to bring us up to date with Keith's newest music. He has been busy during these past two years creating music, film, paintings, and books.
The guitar playing that sounded like Levene to my ears on Playgroup's Epic Sound Battles was mostly the work of Sean "Hogg" Oliver (e.g., "Hoggs Might Fly" and "Machine Gun Hogg"). The late Sean Oliver was a member of Rip Rig & Panic, Float Up CP, and Crucial. Crucial backed Judy Nylon on her Pal Judy album. Crucial members included "Crucial Tony" Phillips, George Oban, and Nick Plytas (all of whom were in Playgroup with Sean Oliver).
Sean Oliver was a great guitarist, and he cowrote Terence Trent D'Arby's hit "Wishing Well". Kendall Ernest and the Pop Group's John Waddington also played guitar on Playgroup's two LP's, but (as with many On-U productions) it's not really clear who did what.
"Recording with Creation Rebel down at The Manor was nothing short of surreal sometimes, pure madness," Levene recalled in an interview. "The credits on the sleeves were often wrong as well -- quite a few of the tunes I played on and worked on I wasn't credited for on the sleeve notes."
Levene definitely played guitar on the On-U albums Threat To Creation and War Of Words, and he played keyboards on Tunes from The Missing Channel and End of the Century Party. Though he wasn't on Epic Sound Battles, Levene borrowed a drum track from Playgroup for his song "Back Too Black".
This new collection only includes songs where Keef is credited. With the addition of more recent tracks, it spans 35 years of recordings. Levene has released two albums in the past two years: Search for Absolute Zero and the crowdfunded CZ2014. He has also written two books about his punk years, I Was A Teenage Guitarist For The Clash and Meeting Joe.
Levene has a youtube channel called Teenageguitarist76 with videos about his books, his film "London 1976" and his ambitious (but unrealized) plans for a young artists' education program called the London 1976 Institute. Levene remains to this day an innovative and visionary multi-instrumentalist who never abandoned his ideals to achieve mainstream success, and whose guitar style has influenced innumerable players during the past four decades.
tracklist –
Cowboys International - Wish
Positive Noise - Darkness Visible (edit)
Vivien Goldman - Launderette
New Age Steppers - Nuclear Zulu (edit)
Creation Rebel/New Age Steppers - Last Sane Dream
Creation Rebel/New Age Steppers - Chemical Specialist
Jah Wobble - Not Another
Public Image Ltd. - Chant
Public Image Ltd. - Go Back
Public Image Ltd. - Lou Reed, Pt. 2
Keith Levene - Back Too Black
Keith Levene's Murder Global - Aztek Dubd
Jah Wobble & Keith Levene - Back On The Block
Jah Wobble & Julie Campbell - Phantasms Rise
Mark Stewart feat. Keith Levene - Stereotype
bentcousin feat. Keith Levene - Widening The Vision
Keith Levene - Call It A Day
Keith Levene - Til Dawn Then Another Area
Keith Levene - Original Flow
Keith Levene - Bits Of Prague
Widening your vision,
Jonder
