Top compilations now to close out this "best of" set of mixes. These are so good I had a very hard time selecting just one track to represent the whole. The first selection is from the "Red Hot" series, this one a bit of an homage to Beatniks and their lifestyle, I think, and its an AIDS benefit. Way too many great artists to list on this, and a couple highlights are the ambient stylings of My Bloody Valentine, several interludes from Skylab and Christian McBride, a wacky track from Meat Beat (featured here), and ending the album with Moby performing "republican party" which is just a baby crying and people laughing - quite the powerful message. Moving on to "Macro Dub Infection Vol 1" presented by Kevin Martin "The Bug." This was not traditional roots dub from Jamacia, but a great overview of many interpretations of that style by electronic artists. I believe most of the tracks are exclusive, and they are all great. I probably picked the least representative track here, though its such a good remix I couldn't pass it up and I'm pretty sure I've featured several other tracks in previous mixes. The two compilations "Paradigm Shift" and "Wild Planet" showcase Skinny Puppy in all their guises and some close friends' projects. Both are great, but Paradigm Shift wins as the best of the two because of the exclusive Tear Garden tracks.
I remember Jhon Balance (Geoff Rushton) having very public struggles with alcoholism amongst all the other drugs, and "Foxtrot" was released to help raise money for his rehabilitation. Yeah, in hindsight I should have known that any proceeds would've gone to his habits not his help, but I remained an oblivious teenager and felt I was being supportive. This compilation has some great material from everyone involved, and I think one of the first solo tracks from Sleazy. I remember special ordering "Friespiel" from a local record store and the clerk gave me a hard time saying she'd only hand over the CD if I could pronounce the name. A Faust remix album could have gone so very wrong, but this works well. High caliber remixers and I know I've featured the excellent Dead Voices on Air remix here previously, and thus went with the surprising Residents remix. I still break this out and enjoy every track, nothing is generic or expected and the style changes completely from track to track.
Next up is the Cold Meat Industry sampler "The Absolute Supper." I mentioned this in my last post with In Slaughter Natives being the big call out. I chose The Protagonist as the representative track here, who I liken to the aforementioned band but a bit more subdued. This compilation was how I got into Raison D'Etre, Mz.412, and Brighter Death Now, and many other dark ambient artists on the label roster. Sure its not for everyone, but when the mood hits there is nothing else quite like the Cold Meat Industry catalog. This is followed by the "Interiors" compilation on Sentrax label. There are a lot of aliases on this albums artist list, but all should be well known in the industrial and dark music realms. John Everall appears in a few places which is to be expected since its his label. Supposedly this was to introduce these artists that were eventually releasing music on Sentrex, which obviously didn't happen.
Moving towards more accessible music I suppose, I chose "A Tribute to Spacemen 3" for the next offering. Solid slate of modern psychedelic and alternative bands here paying homage to the greats. This is probably where I first heard Bowery Electric and Arab Strap. The Accelera Deck track is a mystery to me, this sounds nothing like the electronic/glitchy group that I had on vinyl, and at the time was a cover of a Spacemen 3 song I'd never heard. The next selection comes from the absolutely required listening of the Volume series of compilations from the 90s. I loved those so much with their books of liner notes and heavy handed selections of exclusive material. "Wasted" pulls together some of the best bits, given that most volumes of "Volume" have some material I didn't care for as much. This best of the best was nearly all bangers, and though it continued the very diverse slate of artists it actually works very well as a whole. This unique track from Orbital took one of their early pieces, slightly edited and reworked it, then added vocals. I found a couple edits online that trim the fat and make this more of a electronic pop song that fits better in short mixes. On a related note, the next selection is from "Trance Europe Express vol 1," which was produced by the same team as the Volume/Wasted compilations. This was so fresh to my ears in the early 90s when it came out, and features some of the best tracks from the artists included and in my opinion it still holds up 30 years later. I've already included several tracks in other mixes, so I went with the one I know I hadn't used before; Billie Ray Martin and Spooky doing a cover of Throbbing Gristle. This version is nice and chill and ambient, but if you like it seek out the single which has several more beat oriented versions that don't disappoint.
The next compilation I chose is "Whore: Various Artists Play Wire." I'd been a rabid fan of Pink Flag for a few years, and just couldn't get my punk friends to give them a chance (they all eventually came around). I was elated when I saw this tribute album come out, as I loved more than half the groups featured on it. I knew some of the artists were aliases, and liked it even more when I deciphered those bands' members. The track from Petty Tyrants is actually a Skinny Puppy/Ministry offshoot. Lush, Godflesh, My Bloody Valentine, aMiniature, Bark Psychosis, Laika, Polar Bear, Main, Mike Watt... seriously so many great covers here but what would you expect from a tribute to the great Wire. Lastly, I end this mix with some neo-folk from "The Pact...Of The Gods." Likely came across this when I was chasing down compilations that featured Der Blutharsch. I found so much more than I anticipated with this release, and Forseti was one of the big highlights. I really liked the Pagan folk of Changes (a good side note their collaboration with black metal outfit Cadaverous Conditions is quite a treat) and found many artists to investigate further from this album, and its companion "The Pact: Flying in the Face."
00:00 Meat Beat Manifesto - I Control (Audio Collage #2) (Offbeat - A Red Hot Sound Trip)
05:11 Laika - If You Miss (Laika Virgin Mix) (Macro Dub Infection Vol 1)
09:54 The Tear Garden - Georgie The Parasite (Paradigm Shift)
13:42 Nurse With Wound - Think Jazz, Think Punk Attitude (Foxtrot)
17:25 Faust - T-Electronique (The Death of Komarov remix by The Residents) (Friespiel)
21:42 The Protagonist - Zordaster (The Absolute Supper)
27:50 Screwtape - Tongs (Interiors)
31:16 Accelera Deck - I Believe It (A Tribute to Spacemen 3)
34:34 Orbital - Belfast / Wasted (Wasted The Best of Volume)
41:27 Billie Ray Martin + Spooky - Persuasion (Throbbing Gristle) (Trance Europe Express)
47:38 Petty Tyrants - Our Swimmer (Whore: Various Artists Play Wire)
51:17 Changes - Waiting for the Fall (The Pact...Of The Gods)
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photo credit: a found sign, that I just don't understand
