Gavin Friday & Dave Ball / Thomas Brinkmann / Alan Vega - Ghostrider / Diamonds, Furcoats, Champagne / Puss On Tha Time Warp

Latest instalment of the 10" Suicide covers series. Definitely a favourite so far.

Here we go again...

Soft Cell used to do Ghost Rider regularly, so Dave Ball wouldn't have had too much of a job to learn his part again. Mr Virgin Prune delivers a great vocal so a good start to this one. A bit of a Suicide standard, covered by many a cunt over the years so difficult to make a version stand out. Hats off, Gav & Dave.

As a long-time Primal Scream fan, I can honestly say that Thomas Brinkmann's version of DFC beats theirs by a country mile. That's the only 10" I've not posted as I've had a couple of Primals posts pulled and didn't wanna take that chance again. This has a great dirty electronic pulse throughout it which sounds fuckin magic.

An oddly-titled Vega ditty on B1, which I thought was "Fog On The Tyne" the first time I clocked it. That would be something, eh? While on the subject of Suicide, you MUST go and watch the clip of MIA with Martin Rev on the Letterman Show from the other night - it is genuinely AMAZING.

Shit - I've got Fog On The Tyne going through my head now...



Gavin Friday & Dave Ball / Thomas Brinkmann / Alan Vega - Ghostrider / Diamonds, Furcoats, Champagne / Puss On Tha Time Warp
A - Gavin Friday & Dave Ball - Ghost Rider
B1 - Thomas Brinkmann - Diamonds, Furcoats, Champagne
B2 - Alan Vega - Puss On Tha Time

Buy it here

Peaches / Effi Briest / Alan Vega - Jonny / Universe / No Tomorrow

10" released on Blast First Petite from a wee while ago.

Another fine release in the Suicide covers series, which I've been posting since starting the blog as they're limited to fuck and I don't think that posting this will put anyone off buying it.

Peaches nails Jonny on the A side, and Effi Briest takes on Universe from the 1992 'cheesy pop' album Why Be Blue on B1. Mr Vega, as always, contributes an unreleased gem on B2. I can't get enough of these, there's another one sitting here ready to go up as well, and I can't wait for the promised Spiritualized, Julian Cope and Mogwai ones to appear.

Oh aye, the sleeve? A nice big stiff cock with jizz covering the hairy balls - cheers for that. I was one of those people who couldn't resist drawing cock'n'balls insignias on various textbooks at school, and I still have to (usually) resist the temptation of drawing them with a finger on the inside of bus windows. The A-side label has a circle of cocks as well, so it's value for money on the cock front as well as for the three tunes...



Peaches / Effi Briest / Alan Vega - Jonny / Universe / No Tomorrow
A - Peaches - Jonny
B1 - Effi Briest - Universe
B2 - Alan Vega - No Tomorrow

Buy it here

Suicide - Hammersmith Apollo - 3 May 2010

Crowd recording from the night after I saw them a couple of weeks ago. Quality = pretty good.

Well, you can't have everything. I held out for a recording of the previous night, when we were down, but it hasn't materialised so this will have to do.

FUCK ME - this is one of the best live shows I have ever witnessed. No shit - at one point I had tears streaming down my face.When I first saw the tracklisting for this night, I was like "no way - they did Frankie Teardrop" (they hadn't done it the night I was there), but the more I think about it aye they did. Just in this fucked up version. I have memories coming back of Alan Vega screaming "Frankie Frankie" that have slowly crept back into my consciousness bit by bit after the event.

In the unlikey scenario that I live to the age of 71 I would like to have a fraction of the energy that Alan Vega displayed that night. Insane. Check Martin Rev's purple neon specs as well. Cool as fuck.

One of these shows that I've been waiting for for ever but didn't think I'd see in a million years. There was no was Iggy could follow it for me but he gave it a good shot...



Suicide - Hammersmith Apollo - 3 May 2010
1 - Ghost Rider
2 - Rocket USA
3 - Cheree
4 - Johnny
5 - Girl
6 - Frankie Teardrop
7 - Che

Buy Suicide-related nonsense here

Suicide - Ghost Riders

Tenth Anniversary gig, recorded at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis in Sept 1981.

For no other reason than I'm feeling pretty darn excited about seeing this pair in a few weeks down at the Hammersmith Apollo, here's a rip of a nicely packaged vinyl reissue that popped out in 1998.

I would have loved to have been at this gig - it sounds completely fucking mental. Mind you, any gigs I've heard by them are completely fucking mental (esp this one).

As I type this, I am hearing via 6 Music that Liam Gallagher is indeed the best frontman of all time, so before I go and slash my wrists please take the time to download and listen to this wee gem. If any of you are heading to the Stooges/Suicide gig on Sunday 2nd May, lemme know and I'll happily buy you a pint to say 'thanks' for following this blog.

ALAN VEGA IS GOD...



Suicide - Ghost Riders
A1 - Rocket USA
A2 - Rock n' Roll (Is Killing My Life)
A3 - Ghost Rider
A4 - Dream Baby Dream
B1 - Sweet White Lady
B2 - Harlem
B3 - 96 Tears

Buy it here

Andrew Hung / Fuck Buttons - Vessel Guest Mix

Came across this just there and figured it might go down well on here.

This was originally posted on the Vessel Music site, and features a few Ripped In Glasgow favourites in the mix (click the labels below for more of the same).

The Fuck Buttons are heading out on tour soon, and I've got tickets for their Glasgow show at the Arches on 24 April supported by my new favourite band, Factory Floor. The rest of their dates are here, and I'd recommend you check them out as they were pretty fucking amazing when I was them last year.

Aye, listening to this just now and it's certainly clearing out the remnants of the Friday night cobwebs...



Andrew Hung / Fuck Buttons - Vessel Guest Mix <-- direct link
1 - Growing – Innit
2 - Basic Channel – Enforcement
3 - Koenig Cylinders – Carousel
4 - D’Arcangelo – Diagram VII (80’s Mix)
5 - Fourtet – Love Cry
6 - V.V.V. – Red Light Down
7 - DJ Koze – All the Time
8 - Lemon Interrupt – Eclipse
9 - Supermayer – Two of Us
10 - Wishmountain – Radio
11 - Richie Hawtin – Minus Orange
12 - The Knife – Silent Shout

Buy Fuck Buttons stuff here

The Klaxons / Alan Vega / No Bra - Sweetheart (Suicide Covers Series)

*EDIT* FUCKS SAKE - I'VE JUST BEEN TOLD THIS WAS UP AS THE KLAZONS - SPELLING MISTAKE NO.1 = NOT ACCEPTABLE - APOLS ALL ROUND***********

Sixth release in the Suicide covers series, which started around a year ago.

Not one for uploading current/recent releases but these are very limited and always sell out so I should be OK with this one. I've put them all up apart from the Primal Scream one as I thought it would get pulled, but will put it up at some point as the coast seems to be clear on this lot.

This bridges nicely between the ATP malarkey at the weekend (full review here if anyone's interested) and the traditional Ripped In Glasgow fayre. Never thought I'd see the day when I bought a Klaxons record but there you go - this year's new year's resolution #1 was to buy all the Suicide 10"s, and #2 was to to this blog so I'm doing no bad...

This one follows the usual format of well-known band doing Suicide cover on the A-side, an Alan Vega rarity on B1 then a lesser known act doing a Suicide tune on B2. All very good, and an odd pick there from No Bra - that only appeared on reissues of the second album. Folk seem to be shying away from the first album, understandable I guess as it's such a classic. According to the website, the current releases in production are from Peaches, Mogwai and Glasvegas - they're all 'First Album' tracks so I guess that's that theory oot the windae...



The Klazons / Alan Vega / No Bra - Sweetheart (Suicide Covers Series)
A - The Klaxons - Sweetheart
B2 - Alan Vega - Speedway
B2 - No Bra - Super Subway Comedian

Buy it here

The Sisterhood - Gift

A lost classic 'gothtro' album from 1986.

This was a "fuck you" to Wayne Hussey for daring to call his post-Sisters band The Sisterhood, as Andrew Eldritch rushed this out just as Wayne & co were embarking on a UK tour as The Sisterhood circa 1986. I used to actually have a bootleg of the night where he went, "we're not gonna be called The Sisterhood any more, we're called The Mission", in amongst way too many other goth-related bootleg tapes.

The whole album is littered with references to the lawsuits with The Mission and the record company at the time.

This, on the other hand, features Andrew Eldritch, Lucas Fox from Motorhead, Patricia Morrison from The Gun Club and Alan Vega from R-i-G favourites, Suicide. Fuck me - I never knew Vega was involved until this week when I had a rummage for info about it. I'd completely forgotten about this whole 'project' until my friend Borg posted a video for Giving Ground on Facebook the other day and I tried to find this album. Didn't have any luck but managed to acquire it off the internet and that's what you're getting, albeit with better tags and cover art.

I got this back in the day and listened to it a few times but then it got put to the side. What was I thinking? It's magnificent - you can see what the likes of Ministry must've been listening to at this point. It still sounds fairly up to date I reckon, it's certainly aged better than any Sisters Of Mercy or Mission stuff has. Electronic music fans - you'd be foolish not to give this a bash - fits in nicely with all the dark Corridor-style electronics I've been posting lately.

For a completely WTF?!?! reference, check out the last paragraph of the Wikipedia article regarding an episode of UK tv show, Spooks...



The Sisterhood - Gift
1 - Jihad
2 - Colours
3 - Giving Ground
4 - Finland Red, Egypt White
5 - Rain From Heaven

Buy it here

DJ Omegamale - Erection Section Selection

Regular viewers may remember that I started 'banging' on about the Bang Bang Club back in August.

I DJ'ed in there during one of their nights during the Edinburgh Festival. It's been all quiet since then, until now. This weekend sees the relaunch of the Bang Bang Club at the Electric Circus in Edinburgh on Saturday night. It's an amazing venue, and this time round they're gonna be split between typical Bang Bang nonsense and yer actual dance tunes. Kris Wasabi from Wasabi Disco will be helping out with spinning the tunes for the (re)launch night so things should be bouncing along nicely.

BUT - this new club has a second room, The Erection Section, where they're gonna be playing less likely (but still killer) tracks. Check out this mix from DJ Omegamale for an idea of what's in store for this part of the club.

The Fringe club got rave reviews, and the special guests were outstanding (one in particular springs to mind) - it's certainly got the debauched atmosphere down to a tee. Check out the manifesto for the relaunch here.

Shameless promotion for pals I know, but you could do a lot worse than getting the fuck down here on Saturday. Feel free to buy me a pint (or a Kiss Kiss Bang Bang cocktail) if you do...



DJ Omegamale - Erection Section Selection
1 - The Girl With The Sun In Her Hair - John Barry
2 - Paper Bag - Goldfrapp
3 - The Rip - Portishead
4 - How Do (Willow's Song) - Sneaker Pimps
5 - Oh Yeah, Oh No - Add N To (X)
6 - Girl - Suicide
7 - I Can't See Your Face In My Mind - The Doors
8 - This Is Hardcore - Pulp
9 - The Ghost Of Love - David Lynch
10 - I'll Never Fall In Love Again - Tom Jones
11 - Ballad De Melody Nelson - Serge Gainsbourg & Jane Birkin
12 - Vingt A Trente Mille Jours - Francoiz Breut
13 - Sweet Harmony - The Beloved
14 - I'm Comin' Down - Primal Scream
15 - Memory Of A Free Festival - David Bowie

Check out their Myspazz here

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

The Stooges are playing Raw Power complete with James Williamson and they're gonna be suported by Suicide playing their debut album. 2&3 May 2010.

Two of the best albums ever put to vinyl.

Full details here. Tickets onsale at 10am Friday 18 September.

Ripped In Glasgow Heaven...



Iggy & The Stooges - Raw Power --> on Spotify
Search and Destroy
Gimme Danger
Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell
Penetration
Raw Power
I Need Somebody
Shake Appeal
Death Trip



Suicide - Suicide--> on Spotify
Ghost Rider
Rocket U.S.A.
Cheree
Johnny
Girl
Frankie Teardrop
Che
Cheree (Remix)
I Remember
Keep Your Dreams

Buy 'em here

Sunn O))) & Pan Sonic / Alan Vega / Stephen Burroughs - Che (Suicide Covers Series)

Here's the latest installment in the not-very-prolific Suicide covers 10" series. I kinda like that though, they keep changing their minds about what's coming up next. The latest one was supposed to be the Peaches one, or so I thought.

Another nod to the Bang Bang Club here - the perfect place to hear a Suicide tune or two (played by me tomorrow night). Tonight's club features volume 2/4 of Steven Severin's soundtracks to The Trials of Dr Caligari. Get yourself down if you're in the area - it kicks off at 12:30am and goes on till 5am - get home just in time for a nice brekkie...

The A-side sees US doom/drone merchants Sunn O))) team up with Finnish minimal electronic duo Pan Sonic to do one of my favourite Suicide tracks, Che. I remember seeing Pan Sonic back when they were Panasonic at a Pure/Optimo related thing and they were loud as hell. This track is drone-tastic and does the original proud.

B1 has the 70 year old(!) man himself recorded live only last year with the vocals as good as ever. Electronics are provided by a lady called Liz Lamere.

B2's an acoustic number by Stephen Burroughs from Head Of David - a cover of the Vega solo track "Goodbye Darling".

All in all a no bad 10", but I'm still hanging on for Mogwai, Julian Cope & Spiritualized's efforts.

The release has completely sold out so you can have it at the full 320kbps. Mine's a white vinyl btw...



Sunn O))) & Pan Sonic / Alan Vega / Stephen Burroughs - Che
A - Sunn O))) & Pan Sonic - Che
B1 - Alan Vega - 13 X Live
B2 - Stephen Burroughs - Goodbye Darling

Buy it here

Suicide - 23 Minutes In Brussels

I guess not every Belgian is as musically adventurous as Telex from yesterday.

As infamous gigs go, this is up there with The Stooges' Metallic KO in the madness stakes. Suicide were supporting Elvis Costello (!) in 1978, and the crowd was not happy at having to wait to hear their 'hero'. Ghost Rider to start off with and it's all downhill from there. They get booed to fuck afterwards but that's just the beginning...

You get an "Elvis! Elvis!" chant after Rocket USA, booing and whistling throughout the fourth track, Dance. By the time they get to Frankie Teardrop, things are getting ugly. Someone in the audience steals the microphone, forcing the promoter to come out and demand it back or the show will be cancelled. Alan Vega subsequently begins to tell the crowd (or one person in particular) to "shut the fuck up - this is about Frankie!" and as the tape cuts, a full-fledged riot has broken out. Vega gets his nose broken, the club is torn up and the Suicide legend begins. Magnificent!

Now when the fuck is Peaches' cover of Jonny coming out?



Suicide - 23 Minutes In Brussels
Ghost Rider
Rocket USA
Cheree
Dance
Frankie Teardrop

Buy it here

Jack Of Swords - Vegagod

The partner release to last week's Velvet Underground effort, this sees Jack Of Swords paying tribute to Ripped In Glasgow favourites, Suicide. No actual track sample this time, the A-side features an interview with Alan Vega cut up over a fast-moving dubby electronic track. The B-side does away with the vocal and sticks with the spoken 'Vegagod' sample, over a much more dancey "Cool As Ice" mix.



A - Vegagod (Harlem Mix)
B - Vegagod (Cool As Ice Mix)
(separate links)

Buy it here

Lydia Lunch/Suicide - Frankie Teardrop (Suicide Covers series)

Here's a nice wee feelgood track to stick on if you're ever feeling down in the dumps. Ho ho ho...

"I would be humiliated if I found out that anything I did actually became a commercial success, and so far, so good."

No need to worry here, hen. What to say about Lydia Lunch? She was in with Suicide back in the day, and has worked with a whole host of other alternative types since then. Not to mention her movie career and spoken word antics. Aye, an autobiography worth reading, I'd reckon.

On the flipside is a rare 1976 demo, entitled Frankie Teardrop, The Detective Meets The Space Alien. It's an epic 13 minutes long, so you could stick it on while relaxing in a hot bath maybe, just hide the razor blades.

Here's the lyrics in case you fancy singing along...



Lydia Lunch - Frankie Teardrop
Suicide - Frankie Teardrop, The Detective Meets The Space Alien

Zipped on ZShare

Buy it here

The Horrors - Shadazz (Suicide Covers series)

When I stuck this record on I was expecting some kinda poor-man's-Cramps meets Towers Of London, piss-poor, novelty nonsense by a bunch of wannabes modelling new-urchin-chic. Dunno how I got that opinion. Didn't one of them shag Peaches Geldof or something?

Anyways... this is NOT what I was expecting - it sounds like it could have escaped from Andrew Weatherall's Haunted Dancehall-era arse. Only better.

I've only listened to the 2nd Suicide album a fraction of the times of the classic debut, but this is sounding good. Backed by a live cut of Radiation by the band themselves and an excellent take on Rocket U.S.A. by Nic Void, this is another great release in the series.

Now when's the Julian Cope one coming out...?



The Horrors - Shadazz
Suicide - Radiation
Nic Void - Rocket U.S.A.

Zipped on ZShare

Buy it here

Bruce Springsteen - Dream Baby Dream (Suicide Covers series)

I've managed to survive 36 years on this planet without ever feeling the need to buy a Bruce Springsteen record. This changed recently when I found out about the Alan Vega 70th(!) birthday series on Blast First Petite. I'm a sucker for 10"s (insert your own joke here) and couldn't resist getting as many as I can...

Here's your starter for 10:



A: Bruce Springsteen - Dream Baby Dream
B1: Suicide - Dream Baby Dream (previously unreleased version)
B2: Beat The Devil - Mr Ray

The rest to follow in due course...

Buy it here