Langsung ke konten utama

Digital resuscitations of three smashing vinyl EPs: Matt Barrett, Richard X. Heyman & Home.

Well, I don't have a string of 7" vinyl queued up for this Chanukah, but how would three records in a slightly lengthier format grab you?  It dawned on me as a I set to type this out that I don't think I've mentioned any of the three following acts on this site before, so you're truly getting something original for a change.  Please make your acquaintance below.

Matt Barrett - The Ruse ep (1980, Moonlight)

Matt Barrett's back story is quite literally strewn on the rear album cover of The Ruse.  Since I've included a fairly legible jpeg in the folder I'll try not to overlap with it too much.  In 1978, two up and coming scenesters in Chapel Hill, NC, vocalist/guitarist Barrett and accompanying guitar slinger chum Rick Miller had some songs sans a full fledged band.  You know how just about every batch of these annual Chanukah uploads somehow involves Mitch Easter to one extent or another?  Well here he comes into focus again, as Barrett and Miller hooked up with Mitch (and frequent collaborator Don Dixon) to fill on drums and bass respectively for a one-off recording session in 1978 yielding two songs for an intended single.  Intended is just how it stayed due to lack of resources to usher them to market.  Fast forward to 1980 for the recording of two newer cuts concocted by the Barrett/Miller axis, this time with a less renown rhythm section. The Ruse collects all four recordings...and it's something of a mixed bag.  Regarding the Mitch Easter/Dixon cuts, "My Baby's M-M-Makin' Me Dance" is a rootsy stomper wielding a bit of a Rockpile angle.  No foreshadowing of anything approaching the likes of Let's Active, but fun.  The remaining cut from this session, "Restless" is a sluggish classic rock jam, accomplishing nothing in it's four tired minutes.  The two newer songs on side two are exponentially better by comparison, veering in the vicinity of radio-friendly power pop.  Both "Six Pack" and "How Could I Have Known?" are wholly sturdy and respectable.

01. My Baby's M-M-Makin' Me Dance
02. Restless
03. Six Pack
04. How Could I Have Known?

MP3  or  FLAC

Richard X. Heyman - Actual Size ep (1986, NR World Records) 

When Actual Size fell into the laps of a none-too-assuming public in 1986, it was more than just another power pop record, rather the dawn of singer/songwriter Richard X. Heyman marking his first solo venture.  He made a bigger splash a few years later, landing on Sire Records for '91s excellent Hey Man!, and has been releasing records independently ever since.  In spite of everything he's come up with since this little homegrown EP, it's probably the most arresting thing I have yet to hear from him.  Touching on everyone from '80s Tom Petty to Marshall Crenshaw and Tommy Keene, the six-slice Actual Size is a transcendent pie of ringing, snyth-enhanced pop, that doesn't succumb to the gaudier recording and performance techniques of it's otherwise superficial era.  "Hoosier" alone is time capsule worthy.  A front to back winner.  Heyman re-recorded the entire record and some of his other early songwriting ventures for 2007's Actual Sighs.  Well worth picking up if this makes any impression on you.

01. I'm That Kind of Man
02. Hoosier
03. When Giants Fall
04. The Gallery
05. Masquerader Man
06. Special Love

MP3  or  FLAC

Home - Dirt ep (Homestijl, 1987)

I know for a fact there have been numerous bands monikered Home, but perhaps none more clandestine and intriguing than the one which set up shop in the environs of Albany, NY circa the mid-80s.  The brainchild of lo-fi  home-recordist Bob Lukomski, Home bore some austere, noir affectations, just not the brooding or navel-gazing variations thereof.  Dare I say they had an affection for what Peter Murphy was up to around the same period?  Intelligent, tuneful post-punk rock nibbling on the same edges as contemporaries For Against is how I would typify Home and this thoroughly wonderful four-song record.  They played out frequently from what I recall, but despite originating from their neck of the woods, Lukomksi and Co. were a posthumous discovery for me.  Some additional Home material is available on Bandcamp along with some of Lukomski's other endeavors.

01. Mona
02. Heaven
03. Mexican Sunset
04. Tick Tock

MP3  or   FLAC

Komentar

Posting Komentar

Postingan populer dari blog ini

Sorry - Imaginary Friend (1984, radiobeat)

Remember when I took to task Sorry's '86 platter The Way it Is and blabbed something about their earlier "rough and tumble" hardcore years?  Well, you're about to hear what Sorry's nascent era was all about it, by way of Imaginary Friend .  In the form of eighteen cuts to be exact, many of which clock in at under ninety seconds, but if you're expecting fearsome, symmetrical slammers all cut from the same cloth think again.  Boston born and bred, this quartet weren't really along the lines of their hometown's more renown SS Decontrol or Gang Green.  Even back in '84, Sorry were picking up on the vibes of relative newcomers Mission of Burma, Volcano Suns, and early Husker Du - albeit not as effective, and definitely not as consistent.  They had a penchant for sloppiness and spouted an array of dissonant affectations that were a hell of lot more chaotic than calculated.  Most of IF's more notable moments reside on side one, entailing "...
Posting Komentar
Baca selengkapnya

The Woodies - Train Wreck ep (1989, Pop)

Here's another dose of "lost" '80s pop, this time hailing from Tampa, FL.  Train Wreck was the co-ed Woodies second record and if anything else, it's pretty much impossible not to tout the album's duo of driving, propulsive rockers that bookend this six song affair, "Part of My Act" and "Penelope Says."  Two primo numbers that would've sounded perfectly at home on any left-of-the-dial outlet of the era, not to mention the kind of splendid tuneage Wilfully Obscure has staked it's reputation on.  The four remaining songs plucked from the Woodie's Wreckage vary, with pleasing flourishes like some well-placed mandolin in "My Muslim Wife," while the bouncy, simpleton tact of "Pretty Brown Eyes" flirts with, you guessed it, power pop. 01. Part of My Act 02. My Muslim Wife 03. The Doctor 04. Stuck in Purgatory 05. Pretty Brown Eyes 06. Penelope Says 07. untitled instrumental https://www56.zippyshare.com/v/JNiX2...
Posting Komentar
Baca selengkapnya

Breeding Ground - Tales of Adventure (1986, Fringe)

Got a decent Canadian export for ya'll here.  Spectacular in spots, even but will get to that in a moment.  Having a mouthpiece ( John Shirreff ) who often sounded like Peter Murphy must have gotten Breeding Ground bullied with darkwave/goth accusations aplenty.  Things weren't quite that convenient however, as BG's sonic tapestry was more attuned to the likes of The Fixx, Cactus World News, and even country-mates Frozen Ghost.  And like many of the aforementioned these guys had a propensity for depth and echoing guitars, without ever getting too heady or pious (perhaps with the exception of Tales' anomalous "Happy Now I Know," which centers on Shirreff's apparent Christian leanings).  And regarding those rather spectacular songs I mention in my opening - "Turn to Dust," the title piece, and the unlisted "Reunion," all typify what was so rewarding in the often nebulous realm of 'modern rock' in the '80s.  Enjoy. 01. This T...
Posting Komentar
Baca selengkapnya