Bailter Space - John Peel Sessions

 

Ok who knew this existed? 

I didn't until very recently when out of the blue, an English NZ music enthusiast sent me a load of files and this was among them.... seriously a treat for those of us who love this band. Great recording and the band just smash it. Four songs here and also included, an unreleased song called 'Place'.

During the 90's I was lucky enough to be living in Christchurch (Bailter home turf) so saw them play numerous times & every gig was amazing. I think I even saw them three times in a week once? Canty Uni plus some other shows in the city? Durham Arms.... an outdoor gig at the Dux..... that rings a bell.

I think the first time I saw them was the old Subway in 1990 or 1991. Mostly stuff from 'Thermos' on the menu from memory so that makes sense time wise. The Canterbury Uni Ballroom was always a bit hit and miss for sound but when Bailter Space played there it always seemed to work somehow. Just a massive wall of droning noise in this cavernous barn of a room where everyone was shitfaced on cheap jugs (of whatever spewed from the taps in that place) and there would be condensation dripping from the ceiling into your jug too if it was a packed house.... yum yum gimme that ceiling dew.....! At some point Canty uni started shutting the bar early after various complaints about drunken revelry after shows and I recall a Bailter Space gig where this was the case and a friend of mine (John) kept yelling out 'Open the bar!' in between songs which was pretty funny. Eventually one of the band members actually went out and got him a can of beer from their rider and threw it to him in the audience. Hilarious. Everyone was cracking up.... not yr typical BS show. Something tells me that out of the hundreds of shows those guys have done, they will remember that one. 

Anyway, enough with the stories. Merry Xmas and enjoy the download. 

Wav

Mp3

And if you like this stuff, support the band & buy something on Bandcamp!

Human - Things that make you go......

Now that it's nearly Christmas time, here's something suitably blasphemous for your stereo. 

Humans' first cassette release from 1993. 

Heavy as fuck and funny as shit 'Monty Python Death Metal' (as I believe the band used to refer to themselves as) good enough to scare the shit out of your neighbours with. Those of you who come here for the jangly guitar noodlings of Flying Nun's uglier cast offs might want to ignore this one. Those who dig heavy sounds, jump right in.... it's warm in here! Napalm Death / Entombed fans rejoice......:)

Even this first cassette release shows a band in fine form. I saw them play live several times over the years and they were always formidably well rehearsed. I think they were practising three times a week even when Vaughn was in the Panthers, so they were no slouches! This release also features Matt Alien on Vocal duties. A bit of history; later in the 90's I was approached by Matt who thought we should get together & have a jam. Vaughn (Human bassist) also showed up for that session and that was the beginning of The Black Panthers. So we were essentially half of this lineup. Vaughn gave the Panthers a much heavier bottom end with his top string being tuned to a B. Changed the band dynamic considerably.

If you dig this stuff then check out their back catalogue. Quite a few recordings there. Here's a live vid for your perusal..... What you see is what you get! 

Downloads in either Mp3 or WAV.....

Human Mp3

Human WAV

Hi Vaughn!

Amen Brother......

 

I don't usually post stuff that's legit but in this instance, I'm going to. 

It's hard to get an original piece of this here Krautrock and in my opinion, it's a necessity for anyone's foray into such mentioned vein of German musical history. 

Lately I've been thrashing the Can / Faust / Neu! / Kraftwerk but it's nothing new on the platter. Bought my first 'Can' record in the 80's (Landed) but since having digested Neu! and Faust more recently, it's bought all this stuff back to the fore and then this album came on the radar. I've been aware of it for aeons but never given it a decent listen so henceforth, I started searching for an original vinyl copy but they are so intimidating in the wallet department that I would probably have had to burgle half of my suburb to be able to afford one. Thankfully Lynton came to the rescue and loaned me this nice 1978 German reissue on the 'Strand' label which sounds darn fabulous so I ripped it using my practically brand new Ortofon Red stylus. This combined with a tidy, scratch free disc, has left us with something download worthy.

Loaded up here as separate WAV and MP3 downloads. 

Way ahead of its time......... 

Beyond the ridiculous....

On another  level.........

Fucking amazing.

An ode to Music World's 80's punk pressings.

 

During the early 80’s (‘82 to ‘83 respectively), Christchurch’s 'Music World' label published two dozen or so hardcore punk oddities on cassette & vinyl which is pretty bizarre considering their general (and considerable) output mostly consisted of run-of-the-mill acts the likes of Suzanne Prentice, Shakin’ Stevens, Conway Twitty and piles of compilation albums covering everything from religion (‘Jesus Loves Me’ - 20 Sunday School Favourites) to sex (‘Double Sexy - 30 Naughty Favourites’ )- complete with a nude cover pic & enticing ‘Adults Only’ sticker ). 

So it’s a strange juxtaposition to see things like ‘Chaotic Dischord’ and the ‘UK Subs’ suddenly appear in their repertoire in the early 80’s alongside the Sunday School faves & Conway Twitty's.....      Slightly different audience.....! Those Sunday School kids would lose their shit if they heard (or saw) this lot.

I’ve managed to find quite a few of these releases over the years. Some of them I wouldn’t bother with but there’s some that are dear to my heart. The first two Punk & Disorderly comps are good value in my opinion. No volume three though sadly (maybe the Nazi flags on the front cover were a discouragement?). The 7” singles are a real oddity and are the hardest to find. Music World generally focused on LP’s and Cassette’s and only a handful of 7” releases exist throughout their entire back catalogue. I’ve got two of the three ‘No Future’ singles they released. Still looking for the Peter & the Test Tube Babies one. Often these records don’t state made in NZ either but are identified by the distinctive labels and catalogue numbers. Unique South Pacific Island Punk Pressings….!

Here’s a definitive (could be a few missing) list of the Punk vinyl they released under licence from other labels. Not necessarily in chronological order. 

Attak - Murder in the Subway 7"

Blitz – Warriors 7”

Peter and the test tube babies – Run like hell 7”

Peter and the Test tube Babies - Pissed & Proud (LP & Cassette)

Punk and Disorderly, Vol. 1 (LP)

Punk and Disorderly, Vol. 2 (LP)

UK Subs - Recorded 79 – 81 (LP)

Punk Revival (Punk Now) – LP Comp (An NZ only release).

Blitz - Voice of a generation (LP & Cassette)

Blitz - Second Empire Justice (LP & Cassette)

Abrasive Wheels – When the punks go marching in (LP & Cassette)

Riotous Assembly – LP Comp.

The Vibrators – Guilty (LP)

The Ejected – A touch of Class (LP)

Dead Kennedy’s – Too drunk to fuck (EP 12”)

Angelic Upstarts – Reason Why (LP)

The Partisans – (ST / LP & Cassette)

Attila the Stockbroker – Ranting at the Nation (LP)

Attak - Zombies (LP)

One Way System – All Systems Go (LP)

Chaos UK – (ST / LP)

Chaotic Dischord – Fuck Religion etc. (LP)

The Varukers – Bloodsuckers (LP)

One Way System – Writing on the wall (LP)

Motorhead – Live (LP)

Vice Squad – Last Rockers / Resurrection (12" EP).

Alien Sex Fiend – Who’s been sleeping in my brain? (LP)

No Idea - Wotsoever

I grabbed this download off some NZ punk blog years ago but now that seems to have disappeared so I've thrown it back up because it's one of those lost beauties that deserves to be spread about liberally like peanut butter & tomato sauce on toast, salt on chips, or even a nasty contagion on the loose (how topical).

I don't actually own this tape but do own the elusive 12" EP they put out in 1985 which is also a great listen. They don't really put a foot wrong this band. All their songs are great & the band are a tight unit with a rhythm section that just smash it. Wish I'd seen them back in the day as it would have been a formidable live concert no doubt.

They also featured on NZ's infamous 'Radio with Pictures' at least once. May have been the first time I came across them come to think of it. From memory the video was for the song 'Wotever' and the footage was all taken from a live show. I've searched for it on Youtube but can't see it anywhere. Someone should upload that if they have it in their archives (along with the fabulous Henchmen's 'Bitch Goddess' video which is also missing in action). Go digging in those dusty VHS tapes people! There's gold in there!

There's plenty of angst and anger in here along with much political commentary on the state of the country (most of which still seems pretty relevant today) but also heartfelt songs like 'Josephine' which defy the general punk politiking and could be either a love song or a social statement..... or both.....

I'm also including the two tracks that featured on the compilation 'The Harder The Edge The Rocka The Roll' as a bonus. Great comp if you can find it. 

Here's a bit about the band from the 'Up the Punks' wiki page.

Download Here.