Infected by Records

Zerobudget Records-9784/1985 - i didn't have very high expectations putting this one the table. it dates mid-eighties and the three piece all are sporting mullets and OP-ish gear on the cover. it has a charm about it though, with its sporty plucked new wave keyboards and high pitched guitar overlays. there are anthemic choruses, and it reminds you in some ways of Midnight Oil or first album Talk Talk. The title song is strong as is "tokyo waits", but on side 1, the rest of the songs are pretty standard faire. side two starts decently with 'oh no'. the chorus is repeated often, but this is the charm. 'whispering walls' is another strong track that reminds me of Robert Hazard & the Heroes. on several tracks, the music sounds pretty much straight out of miami vice opening theme with programmed synths and breaking glass noises, or unfortunately some cheese like Night Ranger.

Speaking of cheese, the trio is from wisconsin, but they made it down to the big city of Chicago to record this LP. i can't find anything about them on allmusic, but on musicstack the price ranges from 10- to 60-. my price was 3-, craig moerer has it for 12-, so that's probably about right for this gatefold. it seems they are trying to find a sound on this LP, and they never really get there, as they are copying too many others from years previous. my overall grade is B/i would listen again/search for the best song for a mix/but the dated sound is for synth and new wave specialists only.

Labels: New Wave Finds

EMI Pathe 14498/1977 - French guitarist pop singer whose soothing but bland French songs lilt over piano and string arrangements. imagine parts of nick drake's bryter later sung by someone with one quarter as interesting of a voice, but then every word is in French. that's the good songs. the bad ones sound like something from a cafe in Paris that you'd see on a Bugs Bunny cartoon. the cover shows Duteil with button down shirt halfway open, feathered hair, holding a guitar in a meadow. i've had enough success with some of these to keep on trying, but this one falls short considering its all in French and its only so-so as far as quality of songs. some of the strings are very nice, however, and this might interest someone out there. my price was 5-/overall grade B-/doesn't suit me enough to play it again, and i probably will get rid of it.

Labels: Foreign Born

Capitol Records ST 11925/1979 - MOR rock band which that has a cover featuring the four piece outfit in skinny tie/tight pants/chuck taylors/mod haircuts/pink v-necks etc and postured to possibly be a PPop/PPunk outfit. instead, this sounds like something from the rainbow catalog. allmusic lists their style as similar to rory gallagher, and thats bad enough for me. i couldn't listen to both sides of this one, it was too boring of a listen to bother uncovering a gem moment. my price was 2-/overall grade C/ lack of originality and interesting performance style. won't be keeping this one.

Bell Records 6058/1973-1975? - another mediocre mellow jazz guitarist playing cover songs. produced by Bob Mersey, covers of Bacharach, Beatles, Stevie Wonder, yawn. Oregon based musician, on the back cover says his style is similar to Howard Roberts, Barney Kessel, or a piano-style guitar like Art Tatum. My price was 3-/overall grade C+/nothing will cause me to ever play it again.

All the Madmen/Rough Trade/1986 - straight ahead punk rock, mid-80s style. not my cup of tea, but not too bad. my price was 2- for two songs/similar value/grade C+ for unmemorable and non-essential filler power pop/punk.

Island Records/1983 - features Bernie Worrell on keys and Anton Fier on drums. has a minor flair of Ministry 'with sympathy', in that the dance beats sound canned, 'whipped' and super produced. the voice of paul haig is forced and monotone, but overall its mediocre but pleasant synth rock without any unusual twist turns that would classify it as pre-industrial or anything other than fluff new wave. paul haig is the front man of Josef K. this is the mini LP with 5 songs from the first solo album after he split from the Scottish band. Produced by Alex Sadkin, who also worked with Duran Duran and Thompson Twins. The cover has a cheesy gay sailor look, as Haig stands there in his Gopher from Love Boat suit. Price was 1-/value was similar/overall grade is C+/not worth another listen/nothing to mention in terms of a great find/nothing to run from either.

Midnight Music/Dong 22/1986 - rather bland piece of 8-piece British reggae with a funk/pseudo-political/jah bent. song 'johnny' is marked as the key song for the radio station copy this is. it is a stray cat strut style reggae funk. 4 songs in all, non-descript cover marked up with call letters of WLVR which is Lehigh Valley or better known from the campus of Lehigh University. i got this one for a buck. overall grade B-/nothing special/maybe a song could make it to a mix/nothing to seek out or remember for any specifics.

Alfa Records/1981. - Japanese new wave featuring Sandii and Makoto Kubota. a rhythmic tugging beat on several tracks, with pulsing bass and keyboards. the high voice is slightly irritating, but also comes across in a siouxsie sioux, debbie harry or missing persons sort of way. on ebay, this LP is currently not for sale, but the japanese reissue cd exists reissued in 2006 and sells for about $25. my Lp was priced at 2-. i assume the record should be $5-10 if offered. the lead singer here guest appears on YMO's multiples album and has many singing credits. now she is a hula dancer and has a website about it. the album cover is interesting, a heat/infrared image of a geyser or volcano. some of the songs are in Japanese, but this doesn't affect the overall appeal of this catchy little record. note a plethora of 'whipping' synths. overall grade B/needs more listens to find best tracks/most songs are effective and stand alone.

note: posted a few hours later: i listened to this one in full three more times this evening, and each time as background this album continued to mesmerize me. it started to sound very akin to siouxsie and the banshees japanese type songs, which is just fine by me. i would upgrade the album to B+ i will search it out on cd and make sure to tell a friend. good silky new wave with a twist.

here is an article from nippop:

http://nippop.com/artist/artist_id-27/artist_name-sandii___the_sunsetz/

Urbanoid Music/1981 - Reggae rock fusion with thick basslines, rock-steady rhythm, and an easy going Oakland feel. this is a four song 45 rpm 12" record with a tattoo style front cover, kind of in the vein of Osibisa in black & white. on first listen, the guitar lines in the song titled 'sometimes' remind me of Roger Waters in 'animals' mode. this changes to upbeat ska/rock-steady with multiple singers on 'synthetic breakdown', with lots of congas to spare. the bass gets to solo often, its a nice listen for many purposes. the second song 'amandla' is a reggae rocker with much to like, almost like a strong bob marley song with santana style guitar weaving among the lyrics. i also sense a Cymande/Osibisa/Pharoahs feel here. recorded in San Fran. i noticed on allmusic that they have a cd put out on cdbaby from 1995 which claims it as their debut. on the cover of that, they look 15 years older than depicted on the vinyl cover. there were five copies on ebay ranging from 4.50 to 19.99 as flat sales. mine was stickered 10-, but got it for about half that. this is a piece of cool. grade A-/more listens for sure to come/all 4 songs usable in any format.

Hardpeace Records/undated/approx. 1983-85. overall, a mediocre attempt at heartfelt 80's anthem rock. there are some decent guitar runs, but it sounds at times like a watered down Smash Palace, U2, the Toll, Big Country or something even more obscene. band is from Birmingham, Michigan. cover shows a building about to come down, has a cool logo, and there is no information about this band on either allmusic or ebay. i got it for a buck. that's about what its worth in terms of value. grade C/no originality/does not deserve a second listen.

Polycan Records/1981-1983/Canada. Fairly tight three piece post punk with pronounced bass. Vocals are fair, but the downtempo bassline and chunky guitar riffs are the focal point. There are bands who do it better, however, and this one might only offer the deep PP collector something of mild interest. cost me three bucks. good cover with 4 blot ink drawings looking something similar to Edvard Munch "scream" characters. bands lead is Paul Wootton. overall first grade is B/deserves another listen and some possible entries onto a singles list.

link to information found here:

http://londonpunkrock.kicks-ass.org/scarchives/spiralscratch/spiral_scratch.htm

Muffin Records/1981. this piece of crap grabbed my attention due to its 1981 dating and overall cheesy appearance. on the cover "DJ Piper" is in her leotard on her back, sunglasses on, black and white cover, and a few digitzed Pac-Man's float around in space above her. if that's not enough, she wears a headband in two different mug-shots on the back cover and tries to put on a convincing '80's cool-chick' look, showing off her obvious attraction and curry-favor towards one Miss Benatar. This is the sound being attempted, but in all attempts, in all songs, not even the cheese tastes good. Fans of bad pop music would still throw this one out. Grade D-/no further listens/not recommended for anything/voice and songs are horrendous.

Carmen - Fandangos in Space (ABC Records/1974). This one is a borderline recommend due to its varied nature of world/dance beats, but overall it just ends up being another over produced ABC mid-70's disco project. There are moments of fiery instrumentation and plenty to dance to back in 1974, but it doesn't start any alarms going off by any means. There are a fair amount of Mellotrons, synths, and vibes throughout. it makes a great listen if you like dramatic disco, similar in some ways to Azymuth perhaps. for me, an overall grade of C+, as it might earn a second listen. someday.

Boys Life - self titled 6 track LP on SECO records from Malden, MA. As always, the Boston area bands don't let you down. I had heard of this band previously on a 45 in which they are sitting on a stoop, and that song has a rawness i wouldn't soon forget. Found this LP among my stacks. The band is straight DIY power pop with a smattering of saxophone. The sax player is Neal Sugarman which sounds familiar, but i can't place it without research. The singer is fair, without much range, but as a whole, its a tight power/punk without any screaming and a nice flow. Grade B.

The Cambridge Concept of Timothy Clover: A Harvard Square Affair - the Bean Town Sound. Could there be a longer title for an LP? This gem on Tower st 5114 is a charming pop-psych piece. can't find much about it anywhere to speak of, and on ebay it goes fairly cheap if ever. his voice wavered like Arthur Lee in a pop haze, which is to say that many of you who read these type of things would like it. Catchy, without the cheese.