Eight-X (29)

Hello, Eight-X calling a connected trio, first Martin Rev his debut solo album recorded between the Suicide albums I and II is followed by the first solo album of his Suicide partner Alan Vega, which was released in 81 after Suicide II which had a much more polished sound than their first effort, in a way his solo album a lot of original Suicide in it.... Alan Vega was available when Eldritch
asked him to do a quick studio project to record/release an album for a bandname Sisterhood , this to prevent third parties to take it. As these unpretencious and uncomplicated sessions can go...it worked out pretty well, the result was a true percurser of what would follow 2 years later as Sisters of Mercy's Floodland.

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Martin Rev - Martin Rev (80 flac 359mb)

Martin Rev might have seemed in the shade compared to the exubérance of Alan Vega (especially as he used to refuge behind unspeakable-ski-sunglasses). He even acknowledged that with Suicide, he was playing only with one hand, using the second to protect himself from the stuff launched against the band. But, obviously, you should not minimize his role in Suicide: it is him who was in charge of the wall of sound, and Alan Vega and him always remained very close; their own solo career having each one their own logic. Besides Alan Vega had always affirmed that Suicide had never splitted : no split = no reformation. Martin Rev, as solo performer, plays it cooler, a music kind of minimalistic, electronic but not techno, much more eccentric than noisy.

01 Mari 4:25
02 Baby Oh Baby 4:47
03 Nineteen 86 4:35
04 Temptation 7:18
05 Jomo 4:40
06 Asia 4:00
07 Coal Train 5:28
08 Marvel 12:50
09 5 To 5 2:00
10 Wes 4:16
11 Daydreams 5:22

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Alan Vega - Alan Vega (81, flac 179mb)

One half of the seminal electronic duo Suicide, Alan Vega was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1948. He began his career as a visual artist, gaining notoriety for his "light sculptures; " eventually Vega opened his own lower Manhattan gallery space, which he dubbed the Project of Living Artists. The Project served as a stomping grounds for the likes of the New York Dolls, Television and Blondie as well as the 15-piece jazz group Reverend B., which featured a musician named Martin Rev on electric piano. Soon, Vega and Rev formed Suicide, whose minimalist, aggressive music — a fusion of Rev's ominous, repetitive keyboards and Vega's rockabilly snarl — helped paved the direction for the electronic artists of the future.
Suicide disbanded in 1980, and both Vega and Rev undertook solo careers. Vega's self-titled 1981 debut and his later that year second effort Collision Drive continued to explore the fractured rockabilly identity he had established in his earlier work. 1983's Saturn Strip, produced by longtime fan Ric Ocasek, marked Vega's debut for Elektra Records; corporate relations soured during production for 1985's Just a Million Dreams, however, and at one point the label even attempted to remove the singer from his own studio sessions.

Alan Vega used to say that as beeing basically a sculptor, music was secondary for him. Was that just another provocation? Alan Vega is anyway a true legend (a romantic hero or a deamer for some), joining for any kinds of obscure or more visible projects. He actually induces what Legs McNeil calls the astonishment, a mixture of fascination, made of repulsion and admiration: otherwise, how can one continue to adulate somebody who is ok with just a 30 minutes act (sometimes less, sometimes more) without any communication with the assitance? He's probably one of the original punks actors of the CBGB (New York Dolls, Ramones, Richard Hell, Wayne County, etc... see the compilation Songs of the Naked City) and someone which remains the most homogeneous and with the most credible attitude. His latest release is Station (2007)



1 - Jukebox Babe (4:45)
2 - Fireball (3:49)
3 - Kung Foo Cowboy (3:22)
4 - Love Cry (4:39)

5 - Speedway (2:30)
6 - Ice Drummer (4:23)
7 - Bye Bye Bayou (8:30)
8 - Lonely (2:39)


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Sisterhood, The - Gift (86 ^ 223mb)

Eldritch's parting words were "Thank You ... and Goodbye", heralding Eldritch's retirement from live performance, it was to be five years before the Sisters would perform again. Eldritch got fed up with his local starstatus and moved to Hamburg. Dis putes over a number of songs for the new album, lyrically caused Adams and Hussey to leave.The split soon turned nasty as Adams and Hussey joined forces to form a new band, which they called the Sisterhood. The obvious trading on the Sisters of Mercy's name, by two former members of the band who had left of their own volition, was not appreciated by Eldritch, particularly as Eldritch was by this time the only person carrying the Sisters' debt to WEA.

A second version of the Sisterhood was swiftly formed, comprising James Ray, former Motorhead drummer Lucas Fox, Suicide's Alan Vega and Gun Club's Patricia Morrison, with Eldritch overseeing the project as producer, but critically, not as a performing artist ( constrained by the WEA contract). This allowed the Eldritch Sisterhood to release records via Merciful Release, The Giving Ground single was quickly released; as the first version of the Sisterhood to release a record, this gave Eldritch the rights to the name. And the Hussey Sisterhood were forced to rename as the Mission. It's easy to dismiss Gift as a spoiler album, but this would ignore the musical innovation present on the album. Keyboards and industrial/dance rhythms were used to considerable effect, particularly on the opening Jihad.

Following Gift, Eldritch seems to have been unsure of where to take his career, but in Autumn 1987 Eldritch re-emerged leading a re-activated Sisters of Mercy, now stripped down to Eldritch and Patricia Morrison. This Corrosion was a huge hit, and Floodland was an undisputed success.




1 - Jihad (8:17)
2 - Colours (8:03)
3 - Giving Ground (7:31)
4 - Finland Red, Egypt White (8:17)
5 - Rain From Heaven (6:44)

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