Eight-X (35)

Hello, another Eight-X, so whats cooking..well two new names to the blog, starter Echo & The Bunnymen has passed the Eight-X gate 3 months ago with ther debut album and today with their third, Porcupine ..im not sure if they felt besieged by predators, or reviewers after their second album fell somewhat thru the cracks, whatever with Porcupine they established themselves...Second a Dutch band Nasmak who had been lauded (but not payed) the years before and when they put in all they had learned music-technically they were shunned by the (arty farty)avantgarde, still Silhoutte is a good album, Japan folded as they couldnt follow up on 81 Tin Drum, Nasmak here lacks David Sylvian.....Finally, the Tin Tin Twin detectives they had a string of hits in the early/mid eighties with surprisng unassuming music but with in general good percussive work. Five million people got Into The Gap, this overcrowding caused main man Tom Bailey a nervous breakdown when he was working on the follow up ("will it fit ?, will it fit ?) And yet, The Thompson Twins made their mark and went their own way ....

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Echo And The Bunnymen - Porcupine (83 ^ 521mb)

The Bunnymen grew out of the Crucial Three, a late-'70s trio featuring vocalist Ian McCulloch, Pete Wylie, and Julian Cope. Cope and Wylie left the group by the end of 1977, forming the Teardrop Explodes and Wah!, respectively. McCulloch met guitarist Will Sergeant in the summer of 1978 and the pair began recording demos with a drum machine that the duo called "Echo." Adding bassist Les Pattinson, the band made its live debut at the Liverpool club Eric's at the end of 1978, calling itself Echo & the Bunnymen. In March of 1979, the group released its first single, "Pictures on My Wall"/"Read It in Books," on the local Zoo record label. The single and their popular live performances led to a contract with Korova. After signing the contract, the group discarded the drum machine, adding drummer Pete de Freitas.

Their debut album, Crocodile, was produced by The Chameleons and Ian Broudie. Echo's brilliant, often harrowing debut album beginning with the dramatic, building climb of "Going Up," at once showcases four individual players sure of their own gifts and their ability to bring it all together to make things more than the sum of their parts. Will Sergeant in particular is a revelation -- plays the electric guitar as just that, electric not acoustic, dedicated to finding out what can be done with it while never using it as an excuse to bend frets.

The group's third album, Porcupine, is a solid outing, a noticeably better listen than its predecessor, Heaven Up Here. Songs are intriguing and elaborate, often featuring swooping, howling melodic lines. Arrangements here owe a lot to 1960s psychedelia and feature lots of reverb, washed textures, intricate production touches, and altered guitar sounds. Ian McCulloch's vocals are yearning, soaring, and hyper-expressive here, almost to the point of being histrionic, most notably on "Clay," "Ripeness," and the title track. Driving bass and drums lend the songs urgency and keep the music from collapsing into self-indulgence.

With their 4th album Ocean Rain came not only critical succeess and sales , it started off a rut, big trouble with Warner(label)when they finally did come together again Pete de Freitas had left the band, but later returned and everything was rerecorded. in the end the epynomous album had taken 3 years. It was unsurprisingly not that well recieved, by now it was 1987. A year later McCulloch quit the band in 1988 and de Freitas was killed in a motorcycle accident in mid-1989. The remaining members werent really able to resurrect the band... In 1994 McCulloch and Sergeant began working together again under the name Electrafixion; in 1997 Pattinson rejoined the duo, meaning the three surviving members of the original Bunnymen lineup were now working together again. Rather than continue as Electrafixion, the trio resurrected the Echo & the Bunnymen name and released the album Evergreen (1997) and since What Are You Going to Do with Your Life? (1999), Flowers (2001) and Siberia (2005). Ian McCulloch has announced The Fountain as the title of the new Echo & the Bunnyman album due in 2008.



01 - The Cutter (3:50)
02 - Back Of Love (3:13)
03 - My White Devil (4:38)
04 - Clay (4:08)
05 - Porcupine (5:46)

06 - Heads Will Roll (3:29)
07 - Ripeness (4:42)
08 - Higher Hell (4:57)
09 - Gods Will Be Gods (5:21)
10 - In Bluer Skies (4:16)
Bonus
11 - Fuel 4:05
12 - The Cutter (Alternate Version) 4:08
13 - My White Devil (Alternate Version) 5:03
14 - Porcupine (Alternate Version) 4:04
15 - Ripeness (Alternate Version) 4:42
16 - Gods Will Be Gods (Alternate Version) 5:31
17 - Never Stop (Discotheque) 4:45


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Nasmak - Silhouette (83 ^ 216mb)

Nasmak and friends were from the South of the country Nuenen,near Philips's researchlabs and headquarters (at the time) they were interested in repetitive structures, but their music was less harsh and mechanical, more fluid and danceable. Initially in 78 they sang in dutch and were called Nasmaak (after taste) They dropped the dutch and an a and so Nasmak came about. Their first record (on Plurex) Nasmak Plus Instruments/Instruments Plus Nasmak(1980), was hailed by John Peel as the best continental record of the year. Nasmak was the first Dutch band to do a Peel session. They combined traditional gitar/bass/drums with Truus de Groot, playing the unpredictable 'crackling box' noise(s)and tapes, yes bit of an art band..from the provence no less...Well their efforts were well recieved national aswell as international. All members had their own side-projects, such as + Instruments (Truus de Groot with varying personnel including Lee Ranaldo from Sonic Youth)

In 81 Truus de Groot leaves for New York, where she, together with drummer David Linton en gitarist Lee Renaldo , further develops her band + Instruments. Nasmak goes on and they release two double cassettes Indecent Exposure 1 & 2 (Music For Brass, Woodwinds, Drums & Violins) en Indecent Exposure 3 & 4 (The Smell Remains). In 82 they release 4ourclicks, an original and hypnotic album which gets rave reviews.

Their third album, Duel (83) is more melodic and less well recieved, Joop van Brakel (gitar) left shortly before the release. On their fourth and final album, Silhoutte, Nasmak tried a more smoother sound, the end result was certainly not bad. it dissapointed their hard core fans who had them down as avant garde..but that dont pay any bills. It's true certainly looking back that the influence of Talking Heads and specially Japan loomed large over this album, but hey so what! They had come a long way in just 6 years and after the promotour in 84 it was all over for Nasmak. ..Were it not for the internet..hefty prices are payed for their rareties like this 81 Flexi



01 - Visions (3:34)
02 - Walk Away (3:35)
03 - Air (4:35)
04 - Disturbance (3:48)
05 - Silhouette (3:59)

06 - Crystal Clear (3:45)
07 - Don't Be Anxious (4:02)
08 - Below (3:41)
09 - Believe In Woman (4:09)
10 - Womb (3:39)

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Thompson Twins - Into The Gap   (84 ^ 472mb)

The Thompson Twins was formed 1977 in Sheffield, England by three friends - Tom Bailey (bass), Pete Dodd (vocals and guitar) and John Roog (guitar). The name came from the twin detecives in Hergé's comic book series "Adventures of Tintin". In 1979 they moved to London with very little money, they lived as squatters in Lillieshall Road, London. Future Thompson Twins' member Alannah Currie lived in another squat in the same street — which is how she met Bailey.Drummer Chris Bell replaced "Pod" Podgorski who had decided to stay in the north. Early 1980 Tom Bailey took over lead vocals from Pete Dodd. .
By 1981, the line-up was Bailey, Dodd, Roog and three new members: Chris Bell on drums, Joe Leeway on congas and percussion, and Jane Shorter on saxophone. This line-up recorded the first Thompson Twins album A Product of ... (Participation). Currie, who had been hanging out with the band for a few years, played and sang on the first album, but was not yet a full member.

March 1982 they released the album ''Set'' - produced by Steve Lillywhite - and the single ''In The Name Of Love''. Which becomes one of the biggest US dance songs of the decade, spending five weeks topping the Billboard charts. Now as a three-piece, the new Thompson Twins released their first album in February 1983. ''Quick Step And Side Kick'' (''Side Kicks'' in North America) - produced by Alex Sadkin. They release "Lies" and "Love On Your Side", which became the band's first UK Top 10 single, followed with "We Are Detective" (another Top 10 UK hit) and "Watching".

At the end of 1983, a new single, "Hold Me Now", was released. A simple love song with gentle guitar lines, it marked a clear break from the Thompson Twins' previously dance-oriented sound. The song was an international chart success, peaking at number three in the US and becoming their biggest American hit, and also hitting number four in their native UK. In January 1984 they released their second album as a threesome, ''Into The Gap'', which produced the additional hits ''Doctor! Doctor!'', ''You Take Me Up'' and ''Sister Of Mercy''. By the end of 1984 ''Into The Gap'' sold over 5,000,000 copies worldwide.

Tom collapses from nervous exhaustion producing the follow-up LP and the album and tour is post-poned and Nile Rodgers is brought in to help finish the job. September 1985 finally sees the release of ''Here's To Future Days''. It contains the hits ''Don't Mess With Doctor Dream'', ''Lay Your Hands On Me'' and ''King For A Day''. Upon finishing the world tour in early 1986, Joe Leeway leaves the Thompson Twins to pursue a solo career. Thompson Twins now became the duo their name had always implied. After doing the title track to the movie sountrack for ''Nothing In Common'', The Thompson Twins release their first album as a duo in 1987, ''Close To The Bone''. The single ''Get That Love'' was a top 40 hit.

Bailey and Currie had been romantically involved since 1980, and had their first child eight years later. The Twins signed a record deal with Warner Bros and in October 1989 the fruits of this labour produce the album ''Big Trash'' with the hit ''Sugar Daddy''. In September 1991, Tom Bailey and Alannah Currie released an album titled ''Queer''. Masquerading as ''Feedback Max'' in the U.K., the first single ''Come Inside'' reached #1 in the Dance Charts before people discovered that ''Feedback Max'' was actually the Twins in disguise. In 1993 the Twins finally formally disbanded, and Bailey and Currie teamed up with engineer Keith Fernley to forge a new musical direction under the name of ''Babble''. Babble's first album, entitled ''The Stone'', is a mixture of tribal, trance and ambient music. Then they also released a second album named ''Ether''.

In 1999, Bailey produced and played keyboards on the hit album "Mix" by the New Zealand band Stellar, and won the "producer of the year" award at the New Zealand equivalent of the Grammys. He has also arranged soundtracks and has provided instrumental music for several films. In the mid 1990s, Currie gave up the music business to set up her own glass-casting studio in Auckland. After her sister died of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, Currie founded a group in New Zealand called "Mothers Against Genetic-Engineering in Food and the Environment" (also known as MADGE) which soon had thousands of members. Bailey and Currie split up in 2003, and are now divorced. They both left New Zealand and live separately in Britain, but are still close friends.



01 - Doctor! Doctor! (4:33)
02- You Take Me Up (4:20)
03 - Day After Day (3:43)
04 - Sister Of Mercy (5:00)
05 - No Peace For The Wicked (4:00)
06 - The Gap (4:39)
07 - Hold Me Now (4:40)
08 - Storm On The Sea (5:22)
09 - Who Can Stop The Rain (5:36)
The Cassette Remixes
10 - Leopard Ray 3:19
11 - Doctor! Doctor !7:50
12 - Panic Station (Day After Day) 4:43
13 - Down Tools 4:23
14 - Hold Me Now 9:45
15 - Funeral Dance (No Peace For The Wicked) 3:14

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