I seem to recall a couple of you guys are fans of Comsat Angels. I’m really into their early stuff, but their later material is just ok. I just got my monthly newsletter from Red Sun Records, and four Comsat Angels albums have been re-issued - Fiction, Sleep No More, Time Considered As A Helix Of Semi-Precious Stones, and Waiting For A Miracle. Here’s the link:
http://www.redsunrecords.com/index.php?cPath=10&RSRsid=c364c757cb5e06afa45ffc40f8d9474f
Red Sun is a good site to check out if you’re into bands such as The Chameleons, The Church, New Model Army, Echo, Adrian Borland/The Sound, Kitchens Of Distinction, or bands from Factory and 4AD Records.
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I heard about this too. After looking into the label it’s on, I’m interested in checking out Wild Swans and The Sound as well. Any idea about them?
I don’t know if I’ll get all 4 of those re-issues, but I’ll at least get the BBC and Waiting For a Miracle discs as compensation for picking up that 4-disc bootleg (which is so tasty…)
If you’re into early post-punk new wave, then I highly recommend The Sound. I would say start with the album From The Lion’s Mouth (1981). Their guitarist, Adrian Borland, can craft some memorable guitar licks, and this album is solid from start-to-finish. Nervous vocals, post-punk melodies (live instruments and keyboards), and just dark enough - it’s great stuff. The follow-up from '82, All Fall Down, is also very good.
I don’t know much about the Wild Swans, except I’m very familiar with one of their songs, “Young Manhood”. They were on Sire in the late 80’s, and though they were considered ‘alternative’ at the time, their music is bright, upbeat, and poppy. I had a cassette by them a long time ago, but never bought it on CD. Maybe that’s saying something! I remember thinking they were decent, but nothing special. Download “Young Manhood” (a good song), and decide for yourself.
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Thanks for the tip. Actually, if you can recommend any other stuff from that era with that sound, I’d be totally interested. Lately I’ve been listening to the Comsats, Visage, Siouxsie, Magazine, and (of course) early Ministry.
One band I meant to mention was The Opposition. I bought “Breaking The Silence” from Red Sun, and it’s probably one of the most classic post-punk albums ever, in my opinion. The vocalist actually sounds a lot like mid-late 80’s Jaz Coleman at times. Their music is very dark (well, dark in a new wave sense). Just listen to the three short samples and you can get an idea of what the whole album is like:
http://www.redsunrecords.com/product_info.php?cPath=34&products_id=4&RSRsid=563ebba5c5eb3a4e74def1a7dc95e8f4
Don’t let the samples fool you - there are some mid-to-uptempo songs on the album as well. All Music Guide describes them this way: “The Opposition were a South London-based post-punk band that welded the impassioned urgency of early Killing Joke to the graceful but pained atmospheric flourishes of the Chameleons.”
Another interesting band is Section 25. They’re almost like the proverbial ‘shadow’ of New Order. Their early material borrows heavily from Joy Division and N.O.'s first album Movement. Then, around the time that New Order became more dancy and electronic ('83-84), Section 25 practically followed suit. Their stuff is more hit-and-miss, but there are plenty of good songs in their catalogue.
One more band I just thought of, is Crispy Ambulance. Now, I don’t know how to describe their music, except to say that it’s ‘experimental new wave’. They’re like an ambient, psychedelic, post-punk new wave band. Definitely less accessible than the other bands, but you might dig it.
All of these groups are on Red Sun. Love that site, even if the prices are nothing to write home about.
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