Off the Beaten Path Post Punk Thread

[hoddyman]

Comsat Angels first three albums Also, Davis, California bands, like True West, Dream Syndicate, Game Theory.

[shadowplay]

Thank the forest deities for the most AMAZING and welcome archive release.

Demdike Stare have gotten hold of an unrealised record by Orior, who are a bit of a best kept secret among serious post punk cognoscenti. Relatively unknown but far from unheralded, their one EP is a hidden gem in the the weeds.

Ordinarily I'd wait until I actually have the record in my mitts before posting but I couldn't resist the download that activates when you buy the thing and it's fucking amazing. I'm also posting because there's time pressures because these beautifully packaged records will be gone in a flash.

Blurb


Reissue of incredible ‘lost’ post-punk recordings c.1979-1983 from the mysterious Orior, a huge influence on Demdike Stare. Original tape masters baked and restored by Andy Popplewell, mastered and Cut by Matt Colton.

DDS keep everyone on their toes with Orior’s previously unheard and revelatory batch of bleak and brooding post-punk experiments, recorded in London and recently salvaged from an attic somewhere in the South East.

Orior’s sole 7” release, the Elevation EP (1979) for the obscure Crystal Groove label, was the root of a mutual obsession for Demdike’s Miles Whittaker and Sean Canty, whose hunter/collector instincts were piqued by rumours of an unreleased LP by this little known artist.

Taking a punt, they sent a letter to an old address supplied by Frank Maier - whose V-o-D label issued an Orior track on the Snatch Paste compilation - and received a reply from a very surprised but helpful Jeff Sharp, who was credited as “Clip” on the original 7”. To cut a story short, Jeff supplied some pretty knackered tapes dug from his attic, that were subsequently baked by Andy Popplewell (who does a lot of the Finders Keepers bits), who told Miles there was “pure gold” on them there tapes.

And he wasn’t wrong, the material is indeed breathtaking, in some respects typical of the era - lots of experimental drum machine experiments and so on, but also possessed of a totally unexpected character: there are moments that recall the dense atmospheric pieces of Angelo Badalamenti or Lynch’s Eraserhead OST, at other times it sounds like Vangelis at his most evocative or like prototypes for a Coil record (who wouldn’t emerge until at least a few years later), as much as the studio-as-instrument emissions of Bruce Gilbert and co’s Dome studio, or even some darkside version of Hassell & Eno’s 4th World ambience.

It never ceases to amaze us how much great music lies beyond the periphery, in the margins, and Strange Beauty should be considered a prime example of that unknown realm. It’s a revelatory set of recordings that, were it not for some resourcefulness and an awful lot of good fortune, would have just rotted away in an attic somewhere in England. Lucky for us, we can now hear it in all its expansive glory, spread across two meticulously curated LP’s on this wonderful label.

What's so remarkable about this record is how it foreshadows so much music that is literally my sonic DNA. A beautifully desolate and elegiac album.

You can sample shop excerpts and buy the physical or file here.

No archive release will top it this year, mark my words.

D

[Jaguar018]

I can see the tears of joy welling in your eyes as you whisper to yourself "you had me at 'Coil prototype.'"

[shadowplay]

^^^

To be honest they had me at Orior and DDS releases fantastic stuff anyway so I'd have bought it even if I didn't know the band.

D

[shadowplay]

^^^

Btw Demdike Stare got a hold of 140 original NOS Orior 7's from 1979. I managed to get in quick on the click but they are all sold out now at Boomkat but you never know, some might wash up elsewhere.

it's an incredibly somnolent and beautiful record, simultaneously soul piercingly mournful and uplifting. It's also astonishingly modern sounding, like a missive from the future and it's super cool to see it getting some appreciation.

orior - elevation the link is to the whole EP.

D

[shinealight]

Surprised nobody has said:

La Düsseldorf

or

Einstürzende Neubauten

[sammynb]

^^^Probably because they're not off the beaten track but on the autobahn of post punk.

I posted a link to Ascetic's latest release the other day in the song of the day thread but their first release, Self-Initiation is also great.

[shadowplay]

If anyone is a fan of Caroline K's incredibly immersive mid 80's elpee 'Now Wait for Last Year' they might be interested to know that Blackest Ever Black have won the rights to re-press it. It's great to grasp a new copy in my sweaty paws.

If you don't know it, check it out.

This link is to the full thing on Klang Galerie's Bandcamp since they released the digital a few year ago (btw only the first 5 tracks are on the black format version)

Caroline K - Now Wait for Last Year

Caroline was one of the partners in Sterile Records, who were best known for some releases by Lustmord and S.P.K and she was also in the band Nocturnal Emissions and if you were unfortunate enough to have me play records to you in a Glasgow church hall in the early 80's you probably sat on your arse and didn't dance to Suffering Stinks. If you like stuff like Portion Control and Clock DVA it's worth checking out Nocturnal Emissions album Viral Shedding which had better distribution than the Sterile releases.

D

[shadowplay]

Visitors were a band from Edinburgh and while I have their three singles it was really great to get to buy the compilation (Poet's End - Telephone Explosion Records) that came out a few months ago because the sevens are pretty skanky after all these years and also because the unreleased stuff is great.

I saw them live when I was a pup (one time supporting New Order) and they have just the right balance of limber white light guitar and fractured dystopian shadowspace. Very much post Joy Division and perhaps file alongside Modern Eon, In Camera, The Mob and early Modern English.

Pattern

Our Glass

D

[FrankRay]

Just remembered a band, around 1990 I suppose, who you might not have heard of, although they might be too heavy for you. A band from Bath I used to know who toured Belgium a lot called zygote. They were coming out of the killing joke end of post punk and were what we used to call grebos. Anyway, they released an album that can be found on YouTube I think. Don't have access to it at the moment cos I've just moved.

[shadowplay]

although they might be too heavy for you

A bit close to the Motorhead line for me but thanks for posting.

I'd like to think anyone into this end of things might be quite excited about the Nagamatzu albums Dark Entries are issuing on vinyl (previously only; C·30 C·60 C·90 Go). I only ever had one 12' and it's magic to get this stuff.

Great instrumental eyeliner music which flits between early New Order, Dif Juz, Cocteau Twins, Chris & Cosey, Severed Heads, Cabaret Voltaire, The Cure, Trisomie 21 ... It's lo-fi (recorded on very rudimentary gear at home) but it's got the sound and stands up well IMO.

Some odd songs from a very limited youtube selection

Ionesco

Muslin

Deliberation

Faith

Watch and Waste

Strain

Legion

Shop samples of the lot at Dark Entries.

D

[whisperit]

so, much loved Night School now have a more (relevant) retro-oriented sister label called School Daze.
The first release there is the vinyl edition of RPM compilation, Sharon Signs To Cherry Red showcasing the UK's post-punk scene through the prism of its female participants. Most of the tracks are from rare 7"s or from compilations, the first pressing is an edition of 300, so if you would like to have in on vinyl pre-orders are up on bandcamp and on Rough Trade.

Rexy – (Don’t) Turn Me Away
Vivien Goldman - Launderette
Marine Girls - Hate The Girl
The Avocados – I Never Knew
Dolly Mixture – How Come You’re Such A Hit With The Boys, Jane?

[shadowplay]

It's odd seeing them going for Dorothy - I Confess (which is admittedly iconic) when the bee Softness is the Killer. Most of that is good, some is a bit proto twee* but still worth getting if you aren't aged and have much of it already.

I'm pretty hyped about the coming Strawberry Switchblade demo seven they have coming out. I actually depart from some of the prevailing view in that I liked it when they went electronik but I still want it. Michael told me he's also reissuing Under The Yew Possessed by Sorrow/Rose McDowallfor the first time on vinyl which I'd dance naked through the streets for.

D

*or I'm just a bit Goth

[whisperit]

It's odd seeing them going for Dorothy - I Confess (which is admittedly iconic) when the bee Softness is the Killer. Most of that is good, some is a bit proto twee* but still worth getting if you aren't aged and have much of it already.

I'm pretty hyped about the coming Strawberry Switchblade demo seven they have coming out. I actually depart from some of the prevailing view in that I liked it when they went electronik but I still want it. Michael told me he's also reissuing Under The Yew Possessed by Sorrow/Rose McDowallfor the first time on vinyl which I'd dance naked through the streets for.

Yes, I agree it's post-punk mostly time frame-wise, still it's good to have them all on a single LP.

Posted about Strawberry Switchblade seven in the Song of the Day thread and yes, I remember reading about that Sorrow release, it is still not announced though... hopefully, next year.

[ifallalot]

This is the thread I couldn't find. Thanks for bumping