New album The Fire and the Flame

My new album The Fire and the Flame is arriving on all streaming services on June 22. In advance, you can stream the album on Bandcamp and I have a live listening party tomorrow (Saturday 14 June at 2pm Central).

https://mineforlife.bandcamp.com/merch/the-fire-and-the-flame-listening-party

The album took about 9 months to put together and offers 12 very diverse tracks influenced by artists like New Order, Pet Shop Boys, Depeche Mode, Chris Rea, Suzanne Vega and many others.

Secret Sounds - An Epitaph

I've been meaning to blog about Dutch new wave band Secret Sounds for a while, and recently I found out that Wilmer Wolf, lead singer and songwriter, passed away almost a year ago in May 2024. I first discovered the band in a very roundabout way which is par for the course if you are passionate about music that is outside the mainstream. 

I was in Jersey, Channel Islands, for a weekend in 2022 and got to spend about an hour in a record shop in St Helier. At that time I was very interested in collecting local music so I picked a few albums, and also found they had a decent selection of more unusual 80's singles so I also bought a handful of those.

One of the singles was called "Love And I" by the curiously named Jeanny's Wild Obsession. Without looking too closely it looked like a stereotypical single from maybe 1987 or 1988. However, when I researched the single back at home and got ready to make a digital archive recording, I found that it was actually from 1993 and had Dutch origins. Not a big deal maybe but when you collect singles from certain countries and years little things can matter, more than they should. Moreover I didn't really like the song on first hearing so I left it alone and did not think about it too much.

But then, because I did not label my recording, it kept popping up on my thumb drive and I would have to play it to remember what it was. After the second or third time I found more to like and got interested. I found out that the singer was Angeline Bonette and when I googled her I found a YouTube video from 2014. After a bit of confusion I understood that this was a one-off reunion gig by a Dutch band called Secret Sounds, and the song in the video was the curiously named "Johnny and The Rites of Sin". Angeline did not sing on their early records but both her and drummer Jean Monsou had been in a later incarnation around 1987 or 1988. So now we were back in my musical wheelhouse, and boy, did I like that song. I played it a lot. 

I then found the band on Bandcamp. The aforementioned song is a key cut on their 1984 album Wasteland and was also a B-Side on a single with the shorter title of "Johnny". I noticed immediately that, considering the band only released a few singles and one album (on their own independent label), they recorded a lot of material between 1981 and 1988 and that their lead contributor Wilmer Wolf was a very gifted songwriter and producer. In 2014 he remastered all their material and released it as a limited edition box set of 11 CD's. The quality was very high throughout. I began by buying the albums digitally on Bandcamp one at a time, and then eventually, after I was back in the USA in 2023, found a copy of the box set and had it sent from the Netherlands.

There is so much to dig into with this band, I can only recommend that you take a listen and explore. I knew that Wilmer by his own admission had some health issues and some personal demons. In interviews he is candid and thoughtful. He released a solo album a few years ago before his health declined. I had hoped that by buying the albums on Bandcamp he would know that someone was interested in his music, but it's a shame I did not have the chance to tell him more personally how much I enjoyed his work. That's life I guess.

The first Mine For Life release is now available

After a long period of silence, I can confirm that I am finally releasing my own music. I've spent almost seventeen years focused on collecting and celebrating other artists, but now it's my turn!

I've been writing lyrics for nearly 30 years without much context, this year I resolved to complete enough songs for an album and to share this music with a wider audience.

My first release, All Aboard (Good Vibes) is now up on Bandcamp, Spotify, iTunes, etc. I'm planning my second release for next month.

Bandcamp Friday

 Hey everyone

It's Bandcamp Friday so I just wanted to mention a couple of links. There are some great deals today with all profits going direct to the artists.

First, Handful of Snowdrops is offering their whole discography at 90% off which is a great deal. Fantastic music ranging from demos in 1984 to contemporary releases in the last few years such as Noir and Blanc, and also a remastered version of their classic 90's album Land of the Damned.

https://handfulofsnowdrops.bandcamp.com/album/dans-loeil-de-la-temp-te-30th-anniversary

Next is a new find for me, Tenek which has some thumping tracks. I looked them up based on an old 1990 press release for a compilation.

https://tenek.bandcamp.com/album/smoke-mirrors

Brian from Color Theory is always worth a listen and this is a new release.

colortheory.bandcamp.com/album/the-skeletons-closet

And finally today is a great day to support my label, Base Ten Records.

https://basetenrecords.bandcamp.com/

Much love,

Alan

New release: Other Bright Colors - Endlessly Rocks The Cradle

I'm excited to announce the next release by Base Ten Records! This time we are making available the superb debut album by Other Bright Colors. Featuring 12 tracks of quality jangle pop with a distinct Reckoning era sound, mixed by the legendary Don Dixon and (lightly) remixed for the digital era by yours truly. Much thanks to Joe Jaworski for making this possible. 

Second Language - Youth Is Not For Pleasure

If you enjoy, as I do, discovering previously unreleased music from the mid eighties let me direct you to Second Language, who released a 16 track CD and a 10 track download last year called Youth Is Not For Pleasure which dates from 1985. Also available on Bandcamp, there is also the promise of more unreleased music to come. Check them out.

Bandcamp Down Under

I've been getting a lot of downloads of my Camras In Paris single which is good, after focusing mostly on UK and US bands over the last few years I've finally gotten around to buying a few Aussie singles and so this month I've decided to try and highlight a few good bands I've come across.

To help with this endeavor (finding Australian pop/new wave music is like looking for US made TVs in China I've decided) I have combined two of my music sources, the excellent Aussie blog - currently on hiatus perhaps - Side Room Singles which I'm sure I've mentioned before, and my current music download site of choice, Bandcamp.

If you've looked at Bandcamp at all you might notice that it's freakily difficult to find specific things unless you have the exact name. I found a private new wave release on there a few years ago, forgot to wishlist it, and could never find it again. This is because the description/search tags are provided by the artists themselves and you can only search one at a time. So I can look up "new wave", or "80's" or even "80's new wave" but I can't combine the tags to look for both together. The work around is to use multiple tags in a Google search. It also doesn't help that the release date might be the original release date or the date it became available on Bandcamp so sometimes putting in a year itself doesn't help. 

Anyways, my point is there is a lot of music on the site if you dig around for it, so I will be posting a bunch of links throughout the month. My username on there is fiftypercent so you can check out what I have wishlisted or have in my collection.

Side Room (Bruce Dale) has a great collection perhaps slightly more leaning towards the indie pop/twee area and going back further than I usually do, to the late 70's even. But I've been listening to the playlists in the car and found a lot of good stuff.

Send me any recommendations chaps!

Random 80's Wednesday

Here's the second part of my La Folie Du Jour tribute.

Other Voices - Another Tuesday (7" Single, 1983)

22 Beaches - Dust (from the compilation cassette Another Spark, 1984)

The Another Spark compilation, an independent release, also included rare music by Microdisney, In Embrace, 1000 Mexicans, Perfect Vision, and many others.

Steve Lake - Life Of Riley (12" Single, 1987)

This is my second post of a Steve Lake track lately. Clearly an overlooked talent. His website is at www.stevelake.co.uk

Datblygu - Tu Allan (from Fi Du, 1984)

I couldn't find the track from the Datblygu single referenced on LFDJ, so here's a track from a very limited cassette released a couple of years earlier.

Captain Sensible - The Ballad Of Mark And Shula (from the "Come On Down" 12" Single, 1985)

My own find, this. A typically bizarre B-Side from the Captain, containing bits of his hit "It's Hard To Believe I'm Not" and what appears to be some factory boss bemoaning the fundamentally lazy British workers who clock in and read newspapers in the loo.

Frontier Scouts tracks can be found at the Chapter Music page on Bandcamp.

Random 80's Wednesday

Hello and thanks for stopping by today. Something a bit different this week, and moving forwards also. I've been meaning to comment on the slow pace of updates recently. My fiancee and I recently took on the full time care of two boys, one aged 8 and the other just a year. With my daily commute, three dogs, and living in a small house, it's been difficult to find the time and space to set up and use my turntable. For one thing, everything has to be kept out of baby's reach! So, like the Imajinca single I just posted, I'll do a few here and there but for the time being I'm largely restricted to music I've already recorded or obtained digitally elsewhere. So bear with me.

I was researching an album I saw on Discogs.com when I came across a very interesting, but old blog, namely La Folie Du Jour. It's been inactive for four years but the breadth of music showcased was quite impressive. Anyone who puts a Screen 3 B-Side in a compilation is o.k. with me! Sadly all the links were expired, but it did inspire me to go look for some of the music mentioned, so I'll be posting some here as a tribute to a great blog. I'll also try to comment on the bands as I go.

Yeah Jazz - Julie And The Sealions (7" Single, 1984)

Yeah Jazz were from Uttoxeter and released a handful of cassettes and albums. You can buy some of them at Smalltown Records.

The Turquoise Swimming Pools - Burst Balloons (from the Zoo compilation To The Shores of Lake Placid, 1982)

The sort-of supergroup TSP were Troy Tate and David Balfe from Teardrop Explodes, and producer/engineer Hugh Jones.

Bamboo Zoo - Submarine (from Look! Listen! Consume!, 1981)

Bamboo Zoo were a Manchester post punk band. They have a Facebook page. They have also posted new music on Reverbnation.

What To Wear - The Robbery (from Casual But Smart EP, 1980)

The Procession - Secret Love For Dinosaurs (from Haunted By Memories, 1987)

In addition, several of the tracks I saw posted are now available through legal channels:

Shiny Two Shiny, a Liverpool synth band, had the bulk of their material reissued on the compilation When The Rain Stops, in 2014.

Eton Crop have their own Bandcamp page.

Matthew Young also has a Bandcamp page.

New Zealand band Front Lawn also have a Bandcamp page.

The Brotherhood of Lizards album Lizardland, with bonus tracks, is also available at Bandcamp. English pop whimsy at it's finest.

More From Bandcamp

More Bandcamp discoveries worth your time...

Last week I bought the debut album by Cry No More, a band I had not heard of before but put out two major label albums in the late 80's. Good songs and a wonderful sense of humor, evidently.

https://crynomore.bandcamp.com/

Yesterday I held off buying an album on vinyl by Naked Prey on Frontier records. Timely, as they are also available through Bandcamp.

https://frontierrecords-nakedprey.bandcamp.com/

Lastly I have to recommend a recent release by 80's synth guru Thomas Leer. As you might expect, his album 1982 is a collection of tracks he produced around that time that did not get released. Not sure why, as the material was very strong. He was label hopping a bit if I recall before his major label debut LP Scale of Ten in 1985.

https://futurehistoric.bandcamp.com/album/1982

Bandcamp Update

One of the more exciting developments I have been seeing lately is the number of lesser known 80's bands now making their catalogue available through Bandcamp, often including extra demos and other curiosities. I'm going to try to make this a more regular feature.

First up, if you enjoyed the Social Security track I posted a little while ago, they have made all their albums, plus extras, available.

https://socialsecurity.bandcamp.com/

I can't remember if I have mentioned Martin Ansell's brilliant 1986 album An Englishman Abroad before, but it's definitely worth a listen. Previously, Martin released two great new wave singles, one under the moniker of The Quarks and then as President President. You can find both those singles, his solo albums, and other demo tracks here:

https://martinansell.bandcamp.com/

Big Sur - Dancing On The High Wire

12" Single, released in 1987

Please Stay

Dancing On The High Wire

Catch Me I'm Falling

[Update - August 2016] Happy to report that main man Andy Thornton has made Big Sur's entire recorded output available through Bandcamp. Great stuff, Andy!