Before & after digital synthesisers

So this is new roma(nce)? I know that we talked about them in a recent post about the new italian scene, but they are so great that we absolutely wanna make them bigger than they actually are letting you know better their music. I'm talking about Ancien Regime, the capital band that sounds exactly like Duran Duran & Omitd in their heydays, mixing stunning melodies with cold drum machines in a Kraftwerk style! Now that all their Mannequin records went so soon out of print, you absolutely have to listen to their wonderful 12" vinyl split debut, shared with the american postpunkers Led er est... just 4 tracks but really memorable! Hope they will make more great music soon, but for the moment, please support them and do not miss their future gigs here in Italy or everywhere else... they will be famous soon!!!

http://www.myspace.com/ancienregimeband

from Liverpool to Papua

China Crisis were founded in Liverpool, England by Gary Daly and Eddie Lundon. Eddie and Gary first met at St Kevin’s school in Kirkby. The two started working together in 1979 after leaving school.China Crisis debuted in 1981 with the single "African and White", then followed another single "Scream down at me" in 1982. Both these releases were on a small Liverpool independent label, Inevitable Records (.Inevitable recs – label ran from 4 Rutland Rd & formed in 1978 by Pete Fulwell (who ran Eric's) & Jerry Lewis (Amazon studios). 1st rel was to be Freedom Fighters by Dalek I Love You, but they signed to another label, so Inevitable wasn't officially launched until Dec79. Had numerous Indie & Chart hits with Wah! Heat, Modern Eon, Dead Or Alive, Faction. Pete left in May81 & set up Eternal Recs leaving Jerry to continue.) The band was then signed by Virgin Records who re-released "African and White", which then became a minor UK hit, reaching number 45 in the singles chart.The debut album "Difficult shapes and passive rhythms, Some people think it's fun to entertain" surfaced in late 1982 and hit the number 21 spot in November. times changed so fast and theen they started recordings overproduced tracks following the ghost of success. But I prefer to remember them in their heydays when they recorded also some interesting Peel sessions where you can hear the pure & genuine sound they had in their beginnings, a real pleasure for your ears!

North Marine Drivers

October 1982, from the Mark Sinclair archive, Tracy speaking about the "Distant Shore" mood:

"A Distant Shore' wasn't intended as an LP at all, I sent some songs down from Hull to Cherry red and they decided to put them out. It felt right at that length because all the songs were written in a compact space of time just after I'd gone up to Hull. "I felt it ended there. It sounds corny, but I'd said all I had to say I couldn't have written more songs just to pad it out. I left the songs in chronological order as well so to me it flows really well because I know exactly what each song was about and what was happening. Part of a continuing experience. And then it just ends. It seems really right." "I'm riding on the crest of a wave from the things I've done before. So I suppose the good publicity and chart ratings it has got is due to people thinking 'let's see what Tracey's solo album is like'. "All sorts of strange people like the Marine Girls. We get lots of peculiar letters, We started all those 'sea' connotations and there was nothing meant by it but people asked if we're obsessed by the sea and do we eat fish for breakfast? It's quite annoying actually. We get sent shells. Little kids send up letters about their trips to the seaside." "A distant shore is quite thoughtful I suppose. People say they relax to it but I can't relax to it at all. I play it and it puts me all on edge! The music is relaxing but the lyrics certainly aren't. I'd hate it to be thought of as background music.""Actually my granddad's got this new cassette recorder, he doesn't know how to work it but I send tapes of everything that I do and he jigs about. They're very proud. To them someone they know making a record, let alone someone they're related to, is incredible. They can't believe it. To them, only famous people make records." Those were the days!!!

nervous breakdown - italian wave 81-85

"...At the beginning of the 80s, the “Italian model” boomed as it had never done before: this was true for art and culture, but also for people’s customs and everyday life. After leaving behind the bitterest and most nihilist phase of Punk, at that time and at that moment, a number of musical bands looked for new forms of expression and made their activities known everywhere in Italy: Gaz Nevada, Litfiba, CCCP, Denovo, Diaframma, Neon, Underground Life, Bisca, Pankow, Gang, Violet Eves, Rinf, Moda, Monuments, Art Fleury, Kirlian Camera, Detonazione, Timoria, Frigidaire, Tango, Afterhours and many more. Many of these bands do keep their art alive and kicking, and are still the best representatives of the Italian independent music production (Giovanni Lindo Ferretti, Piero Pelù/Litfiba, Afterhours, Gang, Ustmamò, Bisca, Marlene Kuntz), in the same way as many young people of that generation do play an important role in the artistic launching of new musical bands and the organisation of musical events (Alberto Pirelli, Indipendente Produzioni, Alex Fabbro, etc.). Crollo Nervoso is a compilation cd and a journey based on fragments, thoughts, considerations and stories on the most creative and non-conformist years of the 80s. Federico Guglielmi, the modfather of italian post punk lead you thru this journey that is mainly focused on completely unknown musical bands, but. A kaleidoscopic “trendy” fauna who was able to fill up those years – which seemed to be empty and superficial – with innovative and exciting experiences and contents..." You can find the original cd/dvd edition of Crollo Nervoso on Spittle Records at their site at www.spittlerecords.it or simply listen to my "hypotethical volume 2" made just for yor pleasure!!!

The mile of miracles

The original Harem Scarem slowly emerged from Melbourne's mid-80's indie scene, but, it could be argued, were closer in sound to classic Australian blues-rock from a decade before (Dingoes, Coloured Balls, Chain, Rose Tattoo etc.). Their sound was infused with a heady mix of punk spirit and Stax soul that also made them contemporaries of the likes of The Gun Club and the better known Beasts Of Bourbon. Harem Scarem first appeared on the Melbourne Psychobilly compilation “Asleep at the Wheel”. They soon developed (via the “Dogman” EP and some key line-up changes) into a powerhouse live act, where Christopher Marshall's extraordinary, passionate vocals combined with Charlie Marshall's stonesy guitar. The band were renowned for their dynamic blend of punk, blues and soul and ignited many a local stage in the 1980s. With a loyal following and upward trajectory of critical and popular acclaim they disbanded way too soon in 1987 when the brothers finally stop fighting one against the other. The Melbourne scene of the 80s embraced a wide range of music, but it was rare for a band to actually create their own genre with the panache that Harem Scarem did. Their first album, Pilgrim’s Progress, was originally released in 1986, and is a steaming chunk of urban blues from the Yarra delta. A little too hard blues for me but it surely kicks down the barroom door from the outset, with ‘Last Stand Man’, a bragging boast and challenge to any woman within earshot, followed by ‘Miracle Mile’, a great song, which makes it clear drinks are on the house. Then Harem Scarem pushed theirselves a little too hard, the fragile equilibrium of the brothers gave way, and they finally took our separate paths. But it was not the end, not for me... anyway, Chris the guitarist returned to academia while Charlie kept the name of Harem Scarem and went on to make one more album under that title. And so they reinvented themselves and came out their masterpiece called "Lo & Behold", strongly influenced by the Replacements and the american paisley underground groups. This is Lo & Behold, a strong lean rock album, full of great songs devoted to the americana style and to the the Aussie eighties sound, a bit remind me of Died Pretty and a bit also the boss Bruce, what a mixture!

'Till the last bullet!

It was the 26th of may, in the year 1986... i was there at The Big Club in Turin waiting to see the first italian appearance of the Reid Brothers, aka The Jesus & Marychain, the last british "ready to use" phenomenon in pop music. What a night it was, with tons of dark & goth people with their Robert Smith's t shirts, heavy rimmel & black nails. But me and my friends were not ready for what happened next when suddenly came the ghost of the greatest band on earth, The Clash and gave a fist straight in our white mascara faces! The Gang came on stage that night supporting J&MC and it was incredible, an italian band that sounded exactly like our punk maestros. The band played with a lot of power and anger setting the audience on fire. What a an impact they had on the crowd with their rockabilly haircuts and red bandannas. Based on the excitement of the crowd and the group’s intensity, the Gang did not come across as a mere opening act, they were pure r'n'roll! They came from Marche, one of our reddest land and they know how to fight for their rights and for their music, no matter if someone came before them . They were amazing in their songs and in their Clashist poses and I could'nt believe that they were even better that their original inspiration. Early punk-era cuts like “Night in jails” and obvious concert closer “I Fought the Law” were been honed by the band, with an original garage-born buzz replaced by the wallop of a confident, practiced band. Never seen anything like this in Italy... so they were not just simple clones, time will prove that they could play as an international great band... soon they will leave those White Riot style just to meet an artistic evolution similar to the Strummer-Jones band, close to the real rock and roll and reggae and soul spirit of Sandinista. Then came a collaboration with Billy "MyGod" Bragg and the caribbean reggae echoes, then came the folk ballads and their masterpiece "Le radici e le ali", equally distant from their uk models as from the italian traditional "cantautori style". But I wanna come back to that night at the Big Club just because that was the moment we all understood what really matters in music, the roots and the spirit of 76, not the passing fashions . An attitude or a way of life, not a style. Once again my friends, Libre El Salvador, Libre El Salvador!!!

The child's players

Modern Eon were from Liverpool in the North West of England. They were a part of the "New Liverpool Scene" that sprang up in 1979-1980 around 'Eric's Club'. Their music defies the routine by occasionally adding odd analog electronics and saxophone. The vocals are bathed in reverb and delivered with smooth eloquence, barely intelligible.Definite influences from Joy Division and Echo & the Bunnymen can be heard. Their music is moody, melodic and always leaves a certain mysterious impression. At times a harshness bursts through. "I see our songs as simple reflections, there's no answers there! I'm not pretending I have any answers. I don't think I'm any different from other people, so I make these observations, they might be able to relate to them in the same way. I think it must be said, some of them are doomy though! I just have to write the way the mood takes me and inevitably I sometimes fell down." -said once Alix, their leader/singer/composer…Their records buzzes, hums, and pulsates its way into the listener's dream world - creating a mystical place in your subconscious…Each song is an act of love which climaxes and envelopes itself in the oblivion of ecstasy. -- Record Mirror 1981