Happy birthday brother Seconds!

This post is to wish my little brother a happy birthday for September 8th.

Enjoy, our kid, here is some class, weird and wondeful electronic music...

BBC Radiophonic Workshop -'Doctor Who (Original Theme).' mp3

Human League -'Being Boiled.' mp3

The Normal -'Warm Leatherette.' mp3

Happy Birthday from a wet and cold scotland where Autumn is here. Hope it's better with you...

1977-1982

If I had to pick a favourite era for music, it would be 1977-1982.

Of course, I was too young to know what it meant at the time, but it's the era that I have spent time tracking down the most sounds from.

There was just so much great stuff: The original UK punks finally getting the chance to make records, Roots reggae from Jamaica, the beginning of Hip-Hop, Bowie's Berlin period, the beginning of indie, Post-punk, New Wave, No Wave, Disco, New Romantics (before it got silly), Marvin Gaye's 'Sexual Healing', Siouxsie, the arrival of Madonna, Michael Jackson's Off The Walland Thriller.

OK, so i'm sure people could write long lists about all the crap they had to live through musically, socially and personally and they'd be right too.

But -and it's hard to do it justice -my view of six great tracks from the period.

Human League -'Being Boiled.' mp3

Scritti politti -'Skank Bloc Bologna.' mp3

James Chance -'Contort Yourself.' mp3

The Cramps -'Human Fly.' mp3

Wire -'Three girl Rhumba.' mp3

The Fall -'Bingo Master's Breakout!' mp3

as always, if you like what you hear, support the artists involved!

Six seminal sounds

It's been a good weekend, and I've got lots of stuff done.

However, I figured it was time for something a bit different on this blog.

Adapted from a couple of CD-Rs that I made up a couple of years ago, Seminal Sounds CD-R 1 and er, Seminal Sounds CD-R 2, here are six tracks that I figure did a hell of a lot to change the face of music.

A Guy Called Gerald -'Voodoo Ray.' mp3

The Human League -'Being Boiled.' mp3

BBC Radiophonic Workshop -'Doctor Who(Original Theme).' mp3

Missy Elliott-'Get Ur Freak On.' mp3

Aphex Twin-'Windowlicker.' mp3

Billie Holiday-'Strange Fruit.' mp3

I shouldn't need to post long justifications about these. Let's just say, the first three tracks are milestones for electronic music, the Human League being one of the coldest things I have ever heard, whilst -in a completely different way, the Doctor Who theme is one of the warmest. Missy Elliott and Aphex Twin uped the ante, and deservedly got NME writers singles of the year for their tracks, whilst the Billie Holiday is haunting beyond belief, in a way that leaves Suicide, Nico and The Doors way, way behind.

If you like what you hear -and I believe you should -go check them out, via Amazon or iTunes, or better still, an independent shop.

These mp3s will be up for a week. Enjoy.