"Stakker Humanoid" by Humanoid B-side: "Stakker Humanoid (The Omen Mix)" Released: 1988, 1992, 2001, 2007 Format: CD, 12" Vinyl Recorded: Dance Studios, Ealing London Genre: Electronica, House, Techno, IDM, Braindance Label: Westside Records, Rephlex Writer(s): Brian Dougans Producer: Brian Dougans, John Laker Associated Act: The Future Sound of London (FSOL)
A top Acid House record heard at venues like Hacienda in Manchester during an era before the case ofBetamax prevented users from remembering their dance nights, "Stakker Humanoid" charted number 17 in the UK, 1988 November, and number 1 on the UK Dance portion.
"Stakker Humanoid" was the initiative of video artists Mark McClean and Colin Scott from Stakker graphics company, a leftfield team that specialized in providing bless-edly ASSAULTing visuals for climbers and freaks. Looking to soundtrack their latest patchwork of neon disease, acid galaxy (soul, funk, boogie and jazz promoter Morgan Khan thought the video was stupid, too,) the two commissioned Glasgow programming and circuit wizard and fellow 'seeker' Brian Dougans to create and destroy speaker feedz, the track was fitting, glorious.
Boyfights and stuff. . . Stakker and Dougans severed their relations and Morgan Khan went on to release the record on its own merit anyway.
The single would see revivals in 1992, 2001, and 2007, featuring remixes by Krafty Kuts ('01) and Feadz (duoh-7.)
Humanoid's follow up single, Slam, was less popular, only charting at a yucktastic number 54. With a flat hip-house rap edit on the flipside, who knows why. .
Both tracks were contained on Humanoid's debut album, Global.
Dougans used vocals on several of the ten Global tracks, which sparked further business between other '88 Madchester studio scenesters. Tapping into the chart success of by-now holy acid house grail "Stakker Humanoid," Dougans continued to use Gary "Gaz" Cobain, this dude who was probably just like you or I, going to dance parties, doing his dance thing, dancing, being in bands, arguing with snappy ladies at Speakers Corner in Hyde Park, London about God, smoking and going to bars and bringing salty babies into our wicked world of fun and food and fashion and music, etc.
Gaz and Dougans bonded and the Acid House combo became an ambient techno street team and The Future Sound of London WAS and is and continues to be.
The end.
I bring you the Future, the Future the Future, and an upcoming post about Noise Factory.
"Lift Boys Lift Boyz 12" Lift Boys is Eye Yamataka's (Boredoms) solo project, and this 4-song 12" was released on the occasion of his solo art show, "Ongaloo," at Gavin Brown's Passerby Gallery in New York, November 2005. 12" vinyl record, Brown Sounds, 2005."
I don't haven't any Lift Boys clips available but I did see the Boredoms & Eye conduct a 7-necked guitar @ 9:30 club in DC, March 2008. Or February. . . I think it was March, though.
I went by myself. I was supposed to send my review to my editor at Blender, which . . . is another story.
I did take a bunch of footage. The clips have been sitting in my video editor for a year and the result will be more interesting when I edit all 40 minutes. Someday. Here is a 48 second excerpt/teaser:
The Boredoms asked for policy: no camera, so I had to wear trench, be discreet, Spy vs. Spy, thus back of heads and the boy hoodies.
"Rational Youth was produced by Pat Desario who was best known for his work with the Bombers and other Canadian Disco acts. His work with Rational Youth was very different as it was more dark Euro synth and alternative sounding.
This Dutch single features two very good songs that are highly recommended to anyone who enjoyed the 80s New Wave and post-punk and early NRG scene."
Factory was an independent music magazine based in Spain; non-associate of that Madchester label, Andy, nor THIS kind of thing.
Factory was the sister publication of major Spanish music magazine 'Rockdelux' and credited by fans as the NME and Melody Maker of Spain.
My former-Cyanide-sucking lover Beck on the cover. Clearly a 90s publication.
To accompany their issues, Factory regularly included a CD of artists on the current of the 90s pop underground. The 25th Issue Anniversary edition offered a comp of 24 stellar tracks from late-breaking Spanish, British, American, and French bands.
1.Penelope Trip- 2.Kristin Hersh & Michael Stipe (REM)- Your Ghost 3.Corn Flakes - 4.El Molino Comunista - 5.Afraid to Speak in Public - 6.Manta Ray - 7.Pavement - No Life Signed Her 8.Le Mans (not this auto movie) 9.Negu Goriak - 10.Mercromina 11.Australian Blonde - 12.The Halo Benders - 13.Napalm Death - Cursed to Crawl 14.Diabologum - 15.Françoiz Breut & Dominique A.- 16.Alan Vega / Alex Chilton / Ben Vaughn - The Werewolf 17.Alma - 18.Steve Wynn - How's my Little Girl 19.The Delta 72 - 20.Polar - 21.E.Chiparro 22.Céleste - 23.Jeff McDonald (Redd Kross)- Standing in the Wrong Line 24.Pascal Comelade -
Unfortunately, "stellar" is a product of my developed romance for these kinds of things because a majority of the tracks are unnaccounted for BUT I can vouch for "Your Ghost;" a FINE duet. It was the closing track on my very own 2003 Acoustic Mix, vol. III also featuring . . . probably Ani and dum-punx band RX Bandits. Whoomp. What's Your Dirty Answer?
Comp 10; SurcoSound on Surco Records, Spain 1996; promoted surf rock band, Surfin' Lungs. Uh, no Beach Boys. but not total bombs. They've got a Bow Wow Wow thing happening. But they're no BowWowWow neither, eh. Old guys in Hawaiians now, huh. . . Where's Jackie, we need to exchange major analysis over this band.
Anyway as with most magazine-exclusive releases, tracking down these Factory elite Mix CDs are more than difficult and impossible, and don't ask your local record store geek (or do and innocently (truly) stump him have him pining over you forever cuz his girlfriend is some benign chick that works at stupid Urban anyway, whatever WHATEVER over it, anyway) because most were limited pressings and are now out of print. Bands like Insta were included on The Pastry Heroes: The Unheard Pleasures of Inane Cd (Inane/Spain) along with sound-a-likes Adventures in Stereo, Eggstone, The Mopeds, Acid House Kings, and The Pale Fountains.
Insta says: "Since the cd came with the magazine, finding this release is really tough. These are so hard to find that we don't even have a real copy (a fan in Spain sent us a CDR of it with a color copied cover!)"
The Factory magazine offices did not cater to the artists it would elect in in-depth articles--bands like Insta and sr.chinarro. There was no in-house record production facility, so each comp that came with the publication was released by a different independent record label.
One year prior to the 25th CD edition, Factory magazine included a breathy comp of international pop trax in 1995 called Elefant Juice on Elefant records.
Elefant Juice 01. Le Mans - Perezosa y Tonta 02. Spring - L´indifference 03. Family - Viaje a Los Sueños Polares 04. Guedeon Della - Proud 05. Eggplant - Played For and Got 06. Nothing - Far 07. Hébridas - Remembering 08. Sult! - Quite Sad 09. Evergreen Dazed - Time 10. Flow - It Must Be Love 11. Usura - This One 12. The Village - Messidor II 13. Silvania - En Líneas Sin Fin 14. Automatics - Fraguel Rock 15. Eliminator Jr - Orgasmo 16. The Mikeas - Jump 17. Orange Cake Mix - You See Too 18. Soap - Nothing To Do With It (demo) 19. Heavenly - Cool Guitar Boy 20. Phantom Dog - Bullet
Elephant Juice was also an unrated film circa 1999 that follows the big city love lives of four British couples. The romantic dramedy explores business, sex, and celebrity, and there's probably like a lot of nudity and love scenes peppered with dumb one-liners. British. Scandelicious.
Okay, right, I've never seen Elephant Juice but the recaps I've read all sound like that airplane movie Love, Actually; also British. I thoroughly hate(d) that film, the romances and plot wrap-ups were all bad for me to watch.
Elephant Juice, directed by Sam Miller Running Time: 86 mins
Elefant Records
There is little public-available backlog on Spanish label Elefant Records. --at least on North American-based internet service providers, browsers, libraries, HARdly mainstream bookstores.
Considering the aforementioned bands, other reputable Elefant groups include Camera Obscura ("Teenager"), Les Tres Bien Ensemble ("En Attendant Rascolnikov"), Pío pío ("Single") and, of course,
Spring.
Most of Spring's press was local to the label, thus printed en Español.
As far as I can find, Spring released 2 LPs, 1 six-song mini-LP, 2 CD singles and 2 7-inches, as well as over 10 official mixes and compilations, including a song on a tribute disc to Felt.
I (want to make) love (to) that song.
As legend and compilation-featured cover song has it, so did Spring want to physically express love to Lawrence.
[Shit, speaking of my recent obsession with all things Tom Verlaine solo-project, hello next profile subject.]
So, the French Pop Quartet united over their love affair with Felt and surely covered Felt's song, the to-die-for titled "Whirlpool Vision/My Face is on Fire," released in 1995 on the eponymous “My Face Is On Fire: A Tribute to Felt."
Spring happened in 1993.
Alex of Spring. Indie iconoclast and dreamgirl wall poster, doll, whatever etc.
Known by Spring bandmates as Alex, Madrid-born French transplant Alexandra Pavlou fit well in the heart of Versaille's music community. Her first band, Rosa Luxembourg, was a casual collective with no official record releases.
Formed in 1987 with a few friends, Rosa Luxembourg finished first in the city's "Battle of the Bands" competition. The group notably defeated pre-Air band Orange.
[The name AIR is a backronym for Amour, Imagination, Rêve which translates to Love, Imagination, Dream.]
Though Rosa Luxembourg's win captured the attention of the city and several of its premier musicians, Alex put her collaborative efforts on hold to finish university in Versailles and would not return to music until 1993.
Spring happened in 1993.
I suggest reading Spring's official bio: http://www.elefant.com/bands/spring/biography It is more thorough than I might further retell their story. Also, the biographer writes cute like the playful adult entendre of Spring songs; seductive, giggly, breathy, smokey, cool Parisian.
Spring's classy pop sound got them gigs with Moose and Lush, and in 1995 they supported Pulp on tour. Spring headlined their own tour in Spain, and disbanded in December 1998.
With the help of a Casio and a walkman, Alex continued to develop her sound and songwriting skillz after the members of Spring parted ways.
Suburbia is the name of the side project of ex-Spring vocalist, Alexandra Pavlou, and Marc Collin, of Nouvelle Vague fame. The first and only album, “We Are From…” was recorded ca. 1999-2000 and released in 2002 on Kwaidan Records. It was re-released in 2003 by Pioneer Japan. Olivier Libaux also has ties to this project.
subUrbia is also the name of a Scottish rock band, best known for the fact that their song "Always" was included on the soundtrack of the EA game "Fifa 2004."
There is also a rock/pop band from Gothenburg, Sweden, called Suburbia. They were active in the late 90’s and early 00’s.
Objective: To create an inclusive forum that welcomes creative expression and performance by musicians of all brand and non-brand including band and solo act, novice and established alike.
