Spacemen 3 - Vol 1.1 1984-1985

 

Self made compilation 2021

01 T.V. Eye [1984 Rehearsal]

02 Blow My Top/Funhouse [1984 Rehearsal]

03 By The River [1984 Rehearsal]

04 Things'll Never Be The Same [1984 Demo]

05 2.35 [1984 Demo]

06 Walkin' With Jesus [1984 Demo]

07 Fixin' To Die  [1984 Demo]

08 T.V. Catastrophe [1984 Demo]

09 Things'll Never Be The Same [1984 Demo - Alternate Mix]

10 Walkin' With Jesus [1984 Demo - Alternate Mix]

11 These Things Have Got To Be [Rehearsal 02-08-85]

12 Mary-Anne [Rehearsal 02-08-85]

13 Things'll Never Be The Same [Rehearsal 02-08-85]

14 Hey Man [Live at the Mercia Park Leisure Center, Coventry, 11/85]

15 Things'll Never Be The Same [Live at the Mercia Park Leisure Center, Coventry, 11/85]

Throughout the second half of 2020, I was compiling information on Spacemen 3 records and releases via a request on an S3 fan group / forum. Their discography is such a nightmare and the list was exhausting to make. Now it's done, it has informed a set of compilations; essentially, tracks that do not appear on the original four albums or the original run of singles and E.P.'s, assembled chronologically.

This includes all tracks that appeared on miscellaneous releases and various artist compilations during their lifetime, as well as tracks that have appeared on the many posthumous albums.

I'll be posting these volume compilations as I complete them.

If you're a fan, you'll enjoy.

Tracks 1-3, 14-15 released on 'How The Blues Should've Turned Out' (Sonic Boom self released 2005).

Tracks 4-10 self made 1984 demo tape. Later released as 'For All The Fucked Up Children In The World We Give You Spacemen 3' (Sympathy for the Record Industry 1995).

Tracks 11-13 released on the bootleg 'Out of it Sessions'.

The Electric Prunes - Release Of An Oath

 

Reprise Records 1968

01 Kol Nidre

02 Holy Are You

03 General Confessional

04 Individual Confessional

05 Our Father, Our King

06 The Adoration

07 Closing Hymn

The forth and final Electric Prunes album and this time it really is in name only. David Axelrod once again composed the music here, making it very much a follow up to 'Mass in F Minor'. However, the original Prunes were ousted in favour of  Colorado group Climax and even they didn't get to play much on the final album.

Session musicians were once again brought in to realise Axelrod's vision. Not sounding to dissimilar to it's predecessor, its another L.P. of religious chanting psyche, including all time classic 'Holy Are You'.

Brocken Spectre - Live Bootleg Cassette

 

TOR078. Released January 2021.

01 Drive-by Election

02 Beyond Nostalgia

03 Corkscrew

04 Stockholm Cancelled

05 We Vs. The Bastards

06 Art Defacer

07 Out Of Range

08 Unwound

09 UYA

10 Terror

11 Feature Length

12 Downtown Abstractions

13 Moscow

14 I Am Your Fuel

15 Colour Fucker

16 Ended Here

17 Fireworks Thrower

When Brocken Spectre reformed in April 2017 with Steve Orchiton on drums, we began rehearsing for live gigs immediately. In its previous incarnation, the band had only rehearsed to record, not once venturing out to play in front of a crowd.

We made our live debut a few months later, at a party for my birthday. Shortly after this, we were offered our first gig in front of a paying audience. Those first few gigs were nerve wracking affairs; getting used to a crowd, the variable on stage sound and the obligatory stage fright.

By mid 2018, we had several live performances under our collective belt and we received more offers on a regular basis, including festival appearances.

Our sound had really begun to develop too, songs with psychedelic touches or with melody at the forefront were swapped out for newer material featuring the live sound we now had; a band driven, violent, brutal sound. All members were contributing to the compositions and the dynamics and it was this sound that became our identity.

We enjoyed playing live and we were surprised to find how comfortable we had became on stage. It now felt like the natural home for the band.

We played our final gig (to date) on the 7th of December 2019, before the pandemic quashed our plans for more festival appearances and the offer of gigs around the country.

During the various lockdown periods of 2020, we managed a few rehearsals and even recorded a single ('Interference Overhead/Fireworks Thrower', which can be found here). However, we look forward to a time when we can play live again.

The concept behind this release was a stop gap until live music can resume again. It also provides a home to songs that have went unrecorded and other songs that rarely got an outing. It documents a period of the band that we all got a lot out of and hopefully gets across some of our visceral live sound. 

The material was recorded on a variety of devices and is of a distinctly lo-fi quality, this is reflected in the artwork, which is a homage to the live bootlegs so loved by myself and Marc. We would purchase bootlegs of our favourite artists from record fairs, markets and from the back pages of music publications. - Ste.

The line up for this album was Stephen Benson (Guitars, Vocals), Marc Gillen (Vocals, Guitars), Steve Orchiton (Drums) and Jill Wallace (Bass). The locations for the recordings were; The Brickyard, The Source, Warwick Bazaar, Fell Bar Penrith, Fell Bar Kendal, Solfest, Wild on the Wall Festival, Kendal Calling and The Fisher Street Festival.