Novocaine for the Soul...TV

Parts of the Process...Quantum Entanglement

 

I don't know if anyone has a real idea what goes on in my twisted mind as I dole out tuneage here. I don't know if anyone really gives a care. But following rule #1: "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law", I'ma tell ya anyhew.

I've been at this blog thing for way too long now. Over that time I've followed many a strange path. I've gradually laid myself bare through the words I've spewed & the music I've shared. Some time back I realised that the best plan was "NO PLAN".

Afterall, I'se Nothin', afterall.

No plan works wonders for me. Things just happen, songs get heard, I get busy, hopefully we get jiggy.

The problems arise when I decide I have "a plan". Tomorrow is February 1. Several years ago I "decided" to dedicate February, our shortest month, to a particular theme. It began with the apparent irony of February being Black History Month, as if Black History & History are seperate things. Last year was the Fems of Feb.

As February approached, I was stressing out. I had several vague ideas for themes, but nothing had really jelled. So began the Parts that led to this rambling.

I had a folder labeled "Glasgow noise" that I thought might yield up at least 14 bands that I could post up every other day throughout February,  bands like Stretchhead, Dog Faced Hermans, Dawson, Josef K, or Scars.

Also I had seen a list of National Holidays for February. I though maybe I could feature something each day that tied in to the Holiday.

I decided that the variety of bands in the Glasgow folder deserved a more in-depth working, so I moved it to "Ideas on Hold / failed Feb" & tackled the National Holidays idea. It started off really well & then hit a wall.

February 1st is National Dark Chocolate Day. I started off with Hot Chocolate - More Greatest Hits. 

Musical note: Hot Chocolate released their first record, Love is Life in 1970. It reached number 6 in the UK charts. This was the start of a fifteen year career for the group. They amassed a total of over 30 hits. They are the only group in the UK to have a hit for fifteen consecutive years. Great first day.

February 2nd is of course Groundhog Day. That was another no-brainer. "Ground Hog" is one of my top Spirit songs. I have it on the 2xCD Time Circle (1968-1972), so another good step.

Day 3 - National Bubblegum Day - The Archies self-titled first from 1968                                                  & - National Missing Persons Day - Missing Persons - self-titled first 7" 1980

Day 4 - National Hemp Day - 10 Ft. Ganja Plant - Hillside Airstrip 2001

Day 5 - National Weatherperson Day - The Weather Prophets - Mayflower 1987

Day 6 - National Chopsticks Day - Chopstick Killer - What R U Waiting For?! 2019

then Day 7 - either National Periodic Table Day or National Fettuccine Alfredo Day. No clue for Fettuccine but I figured there might be some elements I might feature: Qiucksilver, Andrew Gold, Freddy Mercury, Nickleback...but let's face it. I'm really reaching & this is only a quarter of the journey. Into the "Ideas on Hold / failed Feb" folder with idea #2.

I breifly tip-toed around the Glasgow noise idea in passing but resisted the futility.

I realized I could just dump the whole theme/February trip & proceed as usual, but my Taurus bull-headedness reigned & I stumbled through my feverish brain searching for a solution.

The ole quantum entanglement came through when I stopped searching for a moment. I saw a blurb about February 2023 being National Pop Music Month. I also saw another write-up that said "Take your animal to class" which I in haste mis-read as "turn your animal to glass".That crashed head-first into my evening's listening.

I'll finish this story tomorrow, when...

So starting tomorrow, be warned. February is National 21st Century Pop Month done the NØ-NSS way. Calling it Top of the Pops. This may be the most diabolical I have ever been

Enjoy,
Natas Nothin'

Suggested by Rev.B...This One's for You, Brother

 

Before I get too lost in the upcoming February insanity, I need to present the first (second!!!) installment of S-EXY (Selected from EXY) Listener's Digest. The first go-round was a two disc set of HIGH / NRG that I posted up as The Kernels of Goodness on the Prompted by Other Blogs, Part 6 post November last. That was before this actual project had hatched.

At the time, NSS regular rev.b commented:
     “There's so much new-to-me stuff on Exy, it's hard to know what to try. The reviews don't help much because I don't know how much I can trust them. None of these artists are familiar, so I really appreciate these two 'listener's digests'. They're bound to be very useful and I imagine I'll go back and grab anything that sounds interesting. If you wanted to make a habit of posting these every few months, that'd be great. Either way, thanks for these.”

Well, I'm always one for picking up another new bad habit. This is what I've gleaned since November. 

 

Various - S-EXY Listener's Digest Vol. 2 (really 1), NØ Comp., 2023. 

S-EXY: NEW FACES -
I Got the Moves - Habibi
Leak at the Disco - Baxter Dury
Runaway - Starcrawler
Vanishing Shadows - Liela Moss
Low Profile - Shapeshifter
Sweetest Talk - Habibi
Tunnel - Lotus Eater (Lucy & Rrose)
Rhodes - Monaural
Welcome to It - Liela Moss
Tomboy - Habibi
Jetblack - Starcrawler
Cocaine Man - Baxter Dury
Let Me In - Habibi

S-EXY: OLD FRIENDS -
Massa - Tiken Jah Fakoly
Curious Guy - The Legendary Pink Dots
Charming Every Cupid - Essential Logic
Alpha (Adrian Sherwood mix) - Mark Stweart
Leftfield - This is What We Do
Rider Roots - Boris Gardner
Braquage de Pouvoir - Tiken Jah Fokoly
Apocalypse Then - The Legendary Pin Dots
Serious - Essential Logic
Cast No Shadow (Leather Strip mix) - Mark Stewart
Alien Boys - Essential Logic
Come on - Leftfield
Où est-ce que tu vas - Tiken Jah Fakoly
Love Dub - Boris Gardner

'Til next time,
NØ

DownUnder Band for DownUnderground...by Request

A month ago I posted Horizontal Life by Pray TV.  

Viacomclosedmedown on youtube commented:
     “Wow more from Pray TV, thank you”.

Trying to fulfill all requests before February. 

 

Swingers Paradise is Pray TVs 1994 album, produced by singer/songwriter Ed Kuepper from Oz punk band The Saints.

Here Pray TV is: Aidan Halloran - vocals; Martin Kennedy - guitar; Russell Baricevic - bass; & Joseph Kennedy - drums & percussion. 

 

Pray TV - Swingers Paradise, Concubine Records album005, 1994.
decryption code in comments

Sucker Punch
72
A Western Scene
The Wading Pool
Knife
I Got Mine
Run Me Ragged
Long Gone
Free at Last
All the Way
Where Do I Get Of

Enjoy,
NØ

Sheer Bliss...by Request

We've heard her in Groove Armada. We've heard her in Zero 7. We've heard her & we want more. Sophie...Sophie...Sophie!!!

Singer/songwriter Sophie Barker first blipped on the musical radar around the time she left University College, London after two years to become a full-time singer. She teamed up with singer Kate Holmes taking the name Sirenes. They released three singles before splitting up at the end of 1997.

Then Sophie's singing/songwriting skills were heard on the final two tracks of English house band Groove Armada's 1999 sophomore album Vertigo.

Next she co-wrote & sang three songs on the 2001 Zero 7 album Simple Things, including their biggest hit, "Destiny". She also contributed to the follow-up 2004 Zero 7 album When It Falls.

Sophie has also worked with The Egg ("Walking Away"), electronica artists Grooverider ("Time & Space"), & many others. Barker was featured in a 2006 British Airways UK television campaign, singing a cover version of John Denver's "Leaving on a Jet Plane".

Examples of all these collaborations are in the first offering. 

 

Sophie Barker & - Exposing Sophie, NØ Comp., 2023.

Sun Don’t Shine - Sirenes
Your Song - Groove Armada
Inside My Mind (Blue Skies) - Groove Armada
Destiny single - Zero 7
     a. Destiny (radio edit)
     b. Destiny (Photek remix)
In the Waiting Line single - Zero 7
     a. In the Waiting Line (radio edit)
     b. In the Waiting Line (Dorfmeister con Madrid de Los Austrias dub)
     c. In the Waiting Line (Aquanote's naked adaption)
Spinning - Zero 7
Passing By - Zero 7
In Time - Zero 7
Walking Away EP - The Egg
     a. Walking Away (original 7'' edit)
     b. Walking Away (Kiki remix)
Time & Space - Grooverider
Imagination - Grooverider
     a. Part 1
     b. Part 3
Leaving on a Jet Plane - Sophie Baker 

Barker also featured as a guest singer on 2003s Quiet Letters by Bliss. 2009 saw her joining the group as collaborator/songwriter & vocalist for their album entitled No One Built This Moment. 

Bliss - No One Built This Moment, Music for Dreams zzzcd0044, 2009.
any decryption codes needed are in comments

People Among Us
Calling (featuring Sophie Barker)
Trust in Your Love (featuring Ane Brun)
Overture (featuring Sophie Barker & Merethe Sveistrup)
So Still (featuring Sophie Barker)
American Heart (featuring Boy George & Alexandra Hamnede)
Mivahetsek (featuring Lisbeth Scott)
Bascar Azad (featuring Lisbeth Scott)
Stop Me (featuring Sophie Barker)
Light to Your Life (featuring Sophie Barker)
The Hope (featuring Sophie Barker, Lisbeth Scott, & Merethe Sveistrup)

 

 

 

As well as all this, Sophie has released numerous solo releases. Emperor Records released her debut album Earthbound in May 2005. It is a collection of eight songs recorded over the previous few years, some written & produced with Robin Guthrie. With more acoustic songs, it is quite a departure from her previous work with Zero 7. Give it a listen. You'll get why we're spending time with Sophie.

Sophie Barker - Earthbound, Emperor EMPCD001, 2005.

Secret
Stop Me
Dreamlife
Wintertime
On My Way Home
Start Me
Angel
Stumble

 

 

 

 

 

Sophie Barker - Break the Habit, Disco Gecko GKOCD023, 2017.

Break the Habit
Start Me
I Do it to Myself
3 Things
Road 66
Gold Dust Woman
Dont Give It Away
Breathe Me In
Let's Start Again 

Finally we have the second of two remix versions of Break the Habit (the other being 2017s LSA). This one is deep house. 

Sophie Barker - Neon Lines, DeepDownDirty DDDD002SBA, 2019.

Break the Habit (BL.CK remix)
Start Me (Black Chapel remix)
I Do it to Myself (Paul Sawyer & Simon Sinfield remix)
3 Things (Cruster remix)
Road 66 (Lee Ogdon remix)
Gold Dust Woman (Audiofetish edit)
Don't Give it Away (Ali Bakhtiar remix)
Breathe Me In (Doppelstern remix)
Let's Start Again (Demah remix)

Away from her music, Sophie has helped to set up the Rainbow Collection Children’s Foundation; a charity that helps to build schools in Kenya.  A percentage of the profit from Sophie’s Rainbow Collection children’s albums goes to the fund which will then be allocated to different educational projects & causes around the world.

Enjoy,
NØ

Musick as Drug

I've posted up various other music releases that were created to alter one's reality, to be aurally psychoactive. Here's another dose. 

 

Yoshifumi Kawahara was born in 1961 in Fukuoka, Japan.  He died in Cambodia in 2012.  He has been called 'the Jon Hassell of Japan'.

Taking the stage name Henry, Kawahara was a composer of avant-garde music that was an eclectic blend of experimental electronics, exotica, & new age music.  He referred to his music as "cyber-occult".  He was active in the Japanese cyber-occult underground of the 1990s, a scene linked with technologies such as 3D (binaural) recordings, brain machines, sound chairs, computer graphics, & digital compact discs. 

 

These tracks, produced 1990-95, include a series of recordings described as "Parallel Data Sounds" & "Sound LSD", a 'new language system that speaks directly to the cerebrum' using 'frequency components that are not perceived by the conscious mind', reflecting Kawahara's interest in concepts such as astrology, love mantras, & astral projection.

Also here are two pieces featuring dolphin sounds & human brainwave feedback, as well as pieces from a recording unit called H Music De-perception (HMD) & a group called Xiaoyun.

This 3-CD set includes a special bonus CD. 

I have included a .pdf of the Koki Emura booklet. 

 

Henry Kawahara - Cybernetic Defiance & Orgasm 2: Other Sides of...,
EM Records EM1205TCD, 2022.
all decryption codes in comments

Disc-1: Music for Multimedia -
Feel Strange
Beyond Armageddon
69 with B-Dog
Love Moonlight
The Old Man at the Goagajan Woods
St. Valentine Day
Love Dance
Mercury Power

Disc-2: Co-Producton Works -
enDOLPHIN (Water Sonic version)
Sleeping Besides the Beast
Minami-kaze #4
Start on a Journey
Sim Sex
Morning
Neuro Dancer
Sweet Dreams
Still Life
Synethesia
Dolphin Dreams (Deep Relax mix)
Dolphinic Meditation (enDOLPHIN)

Disc-3: Special Bonus Disc -
Dance of Electronic Neuron Circuits (Third mix)
Destination of Endorphins)
Yorokobi-No-Koe
Nicea 'N Bark
Children in the Museum
Nanp ū (first 1992 version)
[Java] Dance #2. "Relaxed"
Sing an Anklungs (edit)
Eco-Location (Stargazer version)
Sound LSD #.Ss05/7.83hz (for radio mix)
Start on a Journey)
Primitive Love (Genshi No Ai delayed version)
In My Relationship with You, I Think About Myself on the Bed) (Panpot version)

Tripping,
NØ

Musick is My Magick

MU 6-6-6 ... the Numbers of the Beats

Music for a utopian lifestyle.

Magic & mysticism. Brothers & Sisters. Union & communion. The necessary duality. Will & power. Scenarios, territories, songs that explore sensations & possibilities for transmitting symbols. Escape routes & seduction, cosmic & suggestive science: earth, air, fire, aquatic forms. Magical Brothers & Mystic Sisters who express themselves through psychedelia beyond intuition.

Magick Brother & Mystic Sister is: Eva Muntada - piano, synthesizers, organ, mellotron & vocals: Xavi Sandoval - bass & guitars; Maya Fernández - flute; & Marc Tena - drums & vocals.

 

 

Magick Brother & Mystic Sister - self-titled, Sound Effect Records SERC084, 2020.
decryption code in comments

Utopia
Waterforms
The First Light
Yogi Tea
Arroyo del Búho
Echoes from the Clouds
Movement 2
Love Scene
Instructions for Judgment Visions
Les Vampires

Enjoy,
NØ

Remembering You...13 Yrs to the Day of His Passing

I was going to start off the New Year down Jamaica way, but the Oogum Boogum grabbed me. Then one thing led to another. So before January gets too much older, I'm heading back to the Island. 

 

Yabby You (born Vivian Jackson) was a Jamaican vocalist & producer who worked in the mid-to late 70s.  Being a non-Rasta Christian, Yabby had an up-hill battle to fame. He was ridiculed as Jesus Dread, but he claimed the title proudly. His legacy grew greatly after his death in 2010 (January 12th). The release of this 3CD box set really vaulted his music to a massive audience.

Disc One features signature roots numbers like "Conquering Lion" & Big Youth's DJ version "Yabby You" along with lesser-known 12" mixes.

Disc Two presents "The Many Moods of Yabby You" with tracks with the likes of Trinity, King Tubby, & Jah Stitch, bringing Yabby the producer into focus. The moods include DJ, Dub, & early dancehall.

Disc Three is the unheard holy grail. Previously undiscovered tapes left to Yabby's widow make their first appearance here. Exclusive dubplates recorded for Jamaica's touring sound systems are collected along with lost tapes for Yabby's album Unification.

The box set comes with a 28-page booklet filled with rare photographs & enlightening essays. 

 

Yabby You - Dread Prophecy (The Strange & Wonderful Story of Yabby You) 3xCD box set,   Shanachie 45072, 2015. (includes booklet)

CD1: The Classics -

Deliver Me from My Enemies - Vivian Jackson & the Prophets
Conquering Lion - Vivian Jackson & the Ralph Brothers
Yabby You - Big Youth
Anti-Christ - Vivian Jackson & the Prophets
Carnal Mind - Vivian Jackson & the Prophets
Run Come Rally - Vivian Jackson & the Prophets
Jah Vengeance (12" mix) - Yabby You & the Prophets
Tubby's Vengeance - Yabby You with King Tubby
One Love One Heart - Vivian Jackson & the Prophets
Pound Get a Blow - Vivian Jackson & the Prophets
Fire in Kingston - Vivian Jackson & the Prophets
Fire Dub - King Tubby
Chant Down Babylon Kingdom (12" mix) - The Prophets with Trinity
Beware Dub - Yabby You & the Prophets
Give Thanks & Praise (12" mix) - The Prophets with Trinity
Man of the Living (12" mix) - Wayne Wade
Free Africa (12" mix) - Yabby You withTrinity
Live Trap (12" mix) - Tommy McCook
Love Thy Neighbor - Vivian Jackson & The Defenders 

CD2: The Many Moods of Yabby You -

Love & Unity/Mash Down Rome (12" mix) - Michael Prophet
Babylone a Fall (12" mix) - The Prophets
This Economical Crisis - Yabby You
Praise Jahoviah - Yabby You
Fire Deh a Mus Mus Tail - Yabby You
Fleeing from the City - Yabby You
Love in Zimba (Zambia) - Prophets All-Stars
Gwaan & Lef Me (12" mix) - Yabby You with Trinity
Rock Man Soul - Jah Stitch
Love of a Woman Dub (previously unreleased) - King Tubby
Get Lost Babylon (12" mix) - Yabby You
How Long - Pat Kelly
Stop Your Gang War - The Melodians
Blessed are the Poor - The Prophets
Peace - Yabby You with the Prophets)
Jah Mercies - Yabby You with King Tubby
Dreadlocks Man (7" single mix) - Yabby You 

 

CD3: Rarities -

Daughter of Zion - Willi Williams
What a Sufferation (previously unreleased) - Patrick Andy
I Must Achieve What is Mine - Junior Brown
Words of the Prophets - The Prophets
Freedom of Life - Bro Joe & the Rightful Bros.
We Want Our Liberty - Lenroy Swaby
Beyond the Hills - Cleopatra Williams with Yabby You
Mercy & Truth (previously unreleased) - Yabby You with the Gladiators
Black Star Liner (12" mix) - Yabby You
King of Kings (previously unreleased) - Yabby You
Education for Free (previously unreleased) _ Prince Pompado
Reggae Mek Ya Feel Alright (previously unreleased) - Yabby You
Natty Roots Man (previously unreleased) - U Brown
Unknown Title (previously unreleased) - Half Pint
Oh City Of Zion + Zion Dub (Dub Plate) - King Tubby
Hail the Children - Bro. Joe & the Rightful Bros.
Warn the Nation Dub (Dub Plate) - Alrick Forbes & Willi Williams
Jah Vengeance Dub (Dub Plate) - King Tubby
Black is Our Colour Dub (Dub Plate) - Wayne Wade
Run Come Raw Dub (Dub Plate) - King Tubby

Enjoy,
NØ

The Bird has Left the Yard

Jeff Beck - I Ain't Superstitious (1968).

Prompted by Other Blogs, Part 7

I'm always cruising around the interweb, looking for interesting music. I'll see or hear something out there that sets me on a path. 

 

I've followed Die or DIY blog for more than a decade.  Jonny Zchivago is an Agent Provocateur for musickal madness. He loves to rile things up. He also has some of the deepest insights into the world of crazy music. I don't get a great deal of material from his blog, as it seems the music always falls into three categories for me: 1] Not really interested; 2] Already have it (weird but enjoyable); & 3] Shit. But ever so often something grabs me & I grab it right back.

 

Recently after a short absence (“A prolonged absence may have been noted by your faithful scribe,but i have been an unwilling victim of a Co-Vid variant!”) Jonny posted one by Lemon Kittens (Live 1980 / 81). Even if you're no interested in Lemon Kittens, go read Jonny's screed. You'll surely get a kick out of it. I could relate in several ways. I too suffered through a bout with the Evil Covid & also suffered from the malaise of brain fog that was its calling card. Lemon Kittens were always one of the WEIRD bands that I enjoyed (always a Danielle Dax fan - see Lemon Kitten Pariah post here from last years Fems of Feb. series). So here are a couple early ones - Spoonfed with Dani Dax cover art & Cake Beast with Dax vocals & their second full lenght Those that bite the hand that feeds them sooner or later must meet...The Big Dentist.

 

Lemon Kittens - Spoonfed & Writhing 7", Step-Forward Records SF 10, 1979.

Side 1 -
Shakin ' All Over
This Kind of Dying
Morbotalk
Bookburner

Side 2 -
Whom Do I Have to Ask
Chalet d’Amour
.....Not a Mirror

bonus tracks -
Paper-thin Religion
Go with the Flow
Part of Hettie’s Tradition 

  

Lemon Kittens - Cake Beast 12" single, United Dairies UD 07, 1981.

Kites Side -
Kites
Only a Rose

Popsykle Side -
Popsykle

 

 

 

 

Lemon Kittens - The Big Dentist, Illuminated Records JAMS 131, 1982.

Side 1 -
They are Both Dirty
The Hospital Hurts the Girl
Mylmus

Side 2 -
No Night not Shared
The Log & the Pin
Nudies
Oath
An Untimely End

Enjoy,
NØ

Holy Shoot (in Dub)

Recently I've been giving a lot of airplay to the new release of Mark Stewart - VS.  I'm always right there for Mark Stewart's brand of hooligan politics & especially when Adrian Sherwood pitches in at the controls. As I listened to VS I was driven to search out some Nun Gun & share it here.

Nun Gun is a collabrative effort of Atlanta, GA based experimental group Algiers consisting of Lee Tesche, Ryan Mahan, & Matt Tong along with visual artist Brad Feuerhelm. Stealth Empire in Dub is the companion release to Nun Gun's 2021 Mondo Decay. For SEiD, Nun Gun is joined by Mark Stewart (tracks 1-4, 9) with Adrian Sherwood slipping in a remix version ("Outlaw Empire"). 

 

Nun Gun - Stealth Empire in Dub, Algiers self released, 2021.
decryption code in comments

Side A -
Stealth Empire
Super Dub
Outlaw Empire (Adrian Sherwood mix)
A4 ####### (Mallarmé read by Mark)
On Neurath's Bass

Side B -
On Neurath's Boat (featuring Farbod Kokabi & Mourning [A] BLKstar)
Stealth Dub    
Sankara Speaks    
The Supermen (Bowie cover)

bonus tracks    
B ####### (Blake Speaks)
On Neurath's Stomp (AstroBLK mix)
Gold Dub (ONO mix)

Enjoy,
NØ

Hamish Revisited

I had a busy December so I feel I kinda gave slight to the passing of Hamish Kilgour. 

I posted up one of his solo outings so all could remember a fine musickian.

I just feel I need to touch on some (not even all) of the projects Hamish was involved in during his incredible career: The Clean; Bailter Space; The Moles; Coloring Book; The Great Unwashed; The Mad Scene; Tall Dwarfs; Yo La Tengo; Dean Wareham & many more. 

 

Hamish Kilgour - Trout, NØ Comp., 2023.

Fish - The Clean
The "W" Song - Bailter Space
Little Did I Know - Tiny Ruins & Hamish Kilgour
Thin Air - The Sundae Painters
Bobzilla - The Jessels
Sister Silver - Samara Lubelski
Born in the Wrong Time - The Great Unwashed
The Crasher - The Moles
Allergic Reaction - Roya
Walking Distance - Coloring Book
Quickstep - The Clean
Choose - The Mad Scene
Nutshell of Love - Bill Direen & Friends
One More Reason - Bailter Space
Anesthesia - Dean Wareham
Aversion - The Sundae Painters
End Times - Roya
At the Bottom- The Clean
20th Century Boy - Yo La Tengo
The Runout Groove - Tall Dwarfs

Enjoy,
NØ

Hope You Have a Oogum Boogum NØØ Year

Boogie, oogie. Gimme some kinda sign. 

 

Brenton Wood - Oogum Boogum, Double Shot Records DSS-5002, 1967.

Side One -
I Think You've Got Your Fools Mixed Up
A Little Bit of Love
Best Thing I Ever Had
Runnin' Wild
Take a Chance
The Oogum Boogum Song

Side Two -
Gimme Little Sign
Psychotic Reaction
I'm the One Who Knows
Come Here Girl
Birdman
I Like the Way You Love Me

Año nuevo oscilante,
NØ