His Name Is Alive

Artist: His Name Is Alive

LP: The Dirt Eaters EP

Song: "The Dirt Eaters"

[ listen ]

Have you heard about the new compilation the British-based 4AD label is releasing later this year? It features all the artists that are currently signed to the label doing a cover of a song that was released by 4AD sometime in the past 41 years, after the label first launched in 1980. 

One of my favorite bands on 4AD now (and then) is The Breeders. They've chosen to cover "The Dirt Eaters," from the 1992 His Name Is Alive EP of the same name. His Name Is Alive is another of my favorite 4AD bands (they were booted from the label in the early 2000s after an at-the-time-seemingly-4AD-incompatible foray into R&B) so I have to keep pinching myself to make sure I'm not dreaming. My arm is covered in bruises, but the LP and CD will be available in July!

 

[ His Name Is Alive ]

Harold Budd [1936-2020]

Artist: Harold Budd . Elizabeth Fraser . Robin Guthrie . Simon Raymonde

LP: The Moon and the Melodies

Song: "Sea, Swallow Me"

[ listen ]

Song: "Why Do You Love Me?"

[ listen ]

 

Ambient composer and musician Harold Budd has died from COVID-19. I first heard Harold's music when he joined forces with Cocteau Twins for "The Moon and the Melodies," released toward the end of 1986, right after I'd started working at Budget Tapes & Records in Yakima, WA. Budd went on to collaborate with Cocteau Twins guitarist Robin Guthrie for other albums after the Twins were separated in 1996, and I've been reminding myself that I must hear these. The latest one, "Another Flower," was released just earlier this year. 

 

In my senior year of high school, I had a highly unpleasant alarm clock that would begin buzzing faintly at first, but then the sound would grow in intensity until it seemed like I was about to be set upon by a flock of murder hornets. My solution was to queue up "Sea, Swallow Me" on the turntable across the room, and then slightly unplug my record player at the outlet next to my bed. (There was only one electrical outlet in my entire bedroom in that old farmhouse, and, fortunately, it happened to be right beside my bed.) Then, when the alarm began its light buzzing in the morning, I'd slap it down to stop it before it got any louder, and then I'd reach down to plug in my record player and slowly awaken for the day while listening to side one of "The Moon and the Melodies." It's a blissful memory, and I'd like to thank Harold Budd for getting me going each day in such a lovely way during my formative high school years. (I still don't see why class leadership chose Bon Jovi's "Livin' On a Prayer" as our graduation theme song, instead of "Sea, Swallow Me," as I suggested.) If God has even a shred of good taste (it's debatable; look around), Harold's own compositions surely were wafting through the clouds as he ascended to heaven yesterday.

 

Harold Budd

[ May 24, 1936 — December 8, 2020 ]

We will miss you, Harold.

The Mountain Goats

Artist: The Mountain Goats

LP: 7" single

Song: "See America Right"
[ listen ]

Like everyone else, when I'm not working I'm stuck at home with nothing to do but order things online—things that I don't really need. I already collected all the 4AD releases from the label's first ten years last year when I was depressed, so now that I'm bored, I'm filling in some of the gaps from the ten years after that.

 

The Mountain Goats weren't initially one of my favorite 4AD bands, but I still bought each of their CDs when they were released. Their music has kinda' grown on me, so now they are also growing in my collection. My copy of this 2002 single arrived last week from The Netherlands. Its artwork was designed by 23 Envelope's Vaughan Oliver, recently deceased.

 

[ The Mountain Goats ]

The Wolfgang Press

Artist: The Wolfgang Press

LP: Scarecrow EP

Song: "Ecstasy"
[ listen ]

Beacon Cinema in the Columbia City neighborhood of Seattle assembled a tribute to my favorite record label—4AD! The 100-minute program, which screened last night at 7pm, included music videos by iconic groups that were on the label (Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance, Clan of Xymox, etc.), along with interview clips and concert footage. (The show was sold out; I barely squeaked in! They're showing it again at 8:30pm on Sunday, February 16.) The tribute begins with clips of Bauhaus and The Birthday Party, who were on 4AD shortly after it was started in 1980, and covers roughly up to the early '90s, with bits from Pixies, Lush, Spirea-X, Pale Saints, His Name Is Alive, and Red House Painters from around that time. 

Of course they couldn't include EVERY band on the label, or the film would have been 500 minutes instead...but still there were three groups in particular that I'd like to have seen featured, perhaps instead of Pale Saints, Dif Juz, and Spirea-X. Two of them are Modern English and Colourbox. They barely got a mention, though both were prolific on the 4AD label in the formative years. The third is The Wolfgang Press, whose members were parts of other 4AD bands before starting The Wolfgang Press and releasing their first LP, "The Burden of Mules," on the label in 1983. They became progressively more danceable over the years, and released their final LP, "Funky Little Demons," on 4AD in 1995. More than any other, The Wolfgang Press represent the label's transition from their post-punk goth roster of the early '80s to the more accessible dancefloor-friendly sound the label moved toward on into the 1990s. ("Pump Up the Volume," anyone?)

The Wolfgang Press 3-track "Scarecrow" EP, released in 1984, was already out of print by the time I learned about it from the listing in the 4AD catalog on the inner sleeve of the 1987 label compilation album "Lonely Is An Eyesore." On the lookout for all things 4AD, I remember being ecstatic when I found my copy of "Scarecrow" at Randy's Records in Salt Lake City in the spring of 1988, after taking the bus up from Provo, Utah to record hunt in the big city for the day. (I didn't have a car...or a job...or any friends.) On the bus on the way home that night, the woman sitting next to me saw my bags and asked me what I'd bought. I excitedly showed her, and she began ranting about how my music was Satanic and I was going to go to Hell. I changed seats, but it still made for an awkward and longs bus-ride home.

Anyway, thanks to The Beacon Cinema for putting this tribute together. It brought back lots of memories, as the music of 4AD was basically the soundtrack of my life between ages 16 and 24.

[ The Wolfgang Press ]

Scott Walker [1943-2019]

Artist: Scott Walker

LP: Scott 3
Song: "Lights of Cincinnati"
[ listen ]

A sad and fond farewell to one of my favorite voices, and to one of the most fascinating and enigmatic 'pop' stars ever to be set upon by a throng of screaming teens. Born in 1943 in Hamilton, Ohio (it really IS close to Cincinnati!), Scott found fame in England with his adopted Walker Brothers, then eventually set out on his own and had several more hits from his first three solo albums. This one, as you may have already guessed, is his third, released in 1969. 

Most crooners tend to mellow as they get older, swept aside by the tide of change, struggling to keep an audience. Scott, on the other hand, became more tuned in, seemingly less concerned about the commercial popularity of his music with each passing decade. His output dwindled in the '80s and '90s as his creations became more experimental. In the mid-2000s he signed with the British 4AD label (my favorite, you know) and began producing stuff like this. It's brilliant, but about as far from the lights of Cincinnati as one could possibly get. 

You can read all about Scott Walker's career on Wikipedia here, and go here to read his obituary in The Guardian. There's also a 2006 documentary called "Scott Walker: 30th Century Man" that I highly recommend if you'd like to learn more.

Scott Walker

[ January 9, 1943 — March 22, 2019 ]

We will miss you, Scott.

Throwing Muses

Artist: Throwing Muses

EP: Firepile (Part Two)

Song: "Jak"
[ listen ]

I went on another online 4AD shopping spree, this time picking up a few things to fill gaps in the collection of some of my favorite lady-lead bands. I got a Tom Tom Club single (ok, not 4AD), along with two EPs by The Breeders and the two "Firepile" EPs by Throwing Muses, which I already have on CD. I'd never even seen them on vinyl before. The b-sides of these EPs offer some neat covers, like "Jak," which was originally recorded by Volcano Suns.

[ Throwing Muses circa 1992 ]

Bauhaus

Artist: Bauhaus

LP: 12" single

Song: "Telegram Sam"
[ listen ]

With the arrival in my mailbox yesterday of this 1980 Bauhaus 12" single from my new friend Philippe in Poitiers, France, my early-4AD catalog collection is complete! Originally a popular single released in 1972 by T-Rex, this Bauhaus version—catalogue no. AD 17(T)—was very popular with the people of New Zealand, going all the way to #12 on their charts.

[ Bauhaus ]

The Past Seven Days

Artist: The Past Seven Days

LP: 7" single

Song: "Raindance"
[ listen ]

As I've probably mentioned before, in 1986, after first hearing This Mortal Coil's "It'll End In Tears" LP, released in 1984 and featuring a bunch of musicians recording on 4AD at the time, I became obsessed with the label and its music and began collecting every 4AD release I could get my hands on. Their 1987 "Lonely Is An Eyesore" compilation LP included a list of all label releases up to that point, indicating which ones had already gone out of print.

I've found quite a few of them over the years, even some of the hard-to-find out-of-print ones from 1980 and 1981, when the label was first getting started. It's always exciting to be thumbing through a bin of 45s when my eyes, like lasers, suddenly zero in on a rare 4AD release that they've never gazed upon before! 

But after over 30 years of hunting and collecting, there are still about 20 out-of-print 4AD releases from 1980-1983 that I've simply never come across in all my rummaging. So I've decided to employ the miracle of the internet to obtain copies of these missing pieces, one by one, from around the world and have them delivered to my doorstep. I am determined to complete my 1980-1988 4AD vinyl collection before being placed, contently, in my grave. 

This 1981 single by The Past Seven Days (not to be confused with the current Seven Days) was the first of the 4AD rarities to arrive. It had evidently been lurking in the dusty bins at Yesterday and Today Records in Olney, Maryland (I assume dusty based on their web design.) The copy arrived in great shape and plays just fine on my real turntable, but the needle got stuck twice on the rinky-dink USB turntable I use to make a digital copy, so when that happened I had to give a bit of a nudge. On the bright side, it made the song last longer.

The Past Seven Days never made any other records, and their All Music biography says it's uncertain who was even actually in the group. But as we can all tell from reading below, it was Trevor Dooley, Colin Gaynor, John Hanlon, and Max...with remix duties handled by Kevin Bacon!

[ The Past Seven Days ]