From the Top Drawer XIII - Children Of The Bong

Moving forward to the '90s once again, here's the 1994 demo tape from Children Of The Bong, presumably the one mentioned in this bio on the Planet Dog Records site, and the one that got them signed to that label. Most of the tracks here were re-worked for their 1995 album 'Sirius Sounds' with the aid of ace engineers Andy Guthrie and Matthew Denny, except for 'Ultrascope' which appeared on the compilation 'Quadruped V.1', and 'U.V.F.' which seems to be exclusive to this tape (ooh, one for the completists then...).

With beats rooted more in electro, hiphop and dub rather than in 4/4 techno or trance, the two Children cooked up a tasty and full-on funky stew of electronica dominated by their use of original well-programmed sounds with the lead parts played by a trusty analogue synth called the Korg MS20. As a previous owner of one of these somewhat cantankerous machines, I admired their capacity to reign in its eccentricities and tuning drifts to get it to work successfully over MIDI, no mean task. Live performances were very much in yer face/ears and hugely enjoyable, Rob on the keyboards and Daniel on the mixing desk - I remember a particularly good one at the Basement club in Brighton, the old student union bar, after which I bored Rob no end talking about the workings of the Korg! Unfortunately I had to sell mine a few years later when I was short of cash, bah...
Highly recommended.

Ripped @320kbps as two side long tracks

Download HERE

Mashed

Unapologetically lifted from The Daily Mash

NOTORIOUS rave organisers Spiral Tribe are to stage an extended, royal wedding street party until everyone collapses.

The '90s traveller party crew hopes that the event, in a leafy Buckinghamshire cul-de-sac to be confirmed on the day, will attract around 30,000 well-wishers from around Europe, mostly arriving in large rusty Bedford trucks with no tax or MOT, for around a week of relentless, sweaty celebration.

Spiral Tribe spokeshuman Winnit said: "There will be all the classic street party ingredients, like bunting and lukewarm orange squash, but with the addition of facial tattoos, recreational horse tranquilisers and a sound system the size of Beaconsfield.

"Also there may be a few dozen roaming, semi-feral brindle dogs called Spike."

He added: "If anyone has a problem with any of this, they clearly hate Britain, the Queen and the concept of marriage."

Drug dealer Bill McKay said: "Possibly there may also be pills stamped with the Union Jack. What better way to reclaim the flag from the far right?

"Union Jack users will experience an intense rush of national pride that plateaus out into a warm sensation of patriotism lasting up to 12 hours at a time.

"Make sure you drink plenty of tea to avoid dehydration."

Householder Nikki Ellis said: "Given that royal wedding fun is compulsory, what I like about this idea is that it will be too loud to hear my neighbour's excruciating small talk.

"That alone is worth getting burgled for."

From the Top Drawer XII - Treatment

'Need more anaesthetic...' ??
Here's another offering from the weird, wild and wacky London-based Treatment. It's their 1986 release called 'The World Of Treatment (Twenty All Time Greats)' which came complete with a cover parody of those old Decca LPs you can always see clogging up record boxes in charity shops and boot fairs these days (The World Of Val Doonican/The Bachelors/Rolf Harris/Harry Secombe etc).

I reckon that this is their best collection of songs, mainly studio recordings but some live, ranging from mutated pop like 'Restless' all the way through to ska and dub in 'Russian Reggae', with most tracks featuring caustic lyrics concerned with social critiques or reflections/refractions of psychedelic minds trapped in self-created turmoil. Musically very trippy and well performed with a swirling full-on sound production. An hour of tunes for that special state of mind...

Ripped from an original cassette @320 kbps as two side-long tracks, get it HERE

There's a Treatment website which seems to be under construction here
http://www.nothinghead.com/fstreatment.html
as well as this page
http://video.moglik.com/v/k-9kEv-sebw/TreaTmenT-Restless.htm

The Searl Effect

The John Searl Story (2008)

(may take a while to load)

UPDATE - bah! the video's been pulled...

'John Searl claims he has the solution to our global energy crisis. What's more, he says he's had it for over 60 years. Regarded by many as The Godfather of free energy science, John Searl believes his magnetic generator, the Searl Effect Generator, can save our planet from environmental disaster. So, what if he's telling the truth? The John Searl Story explores this question, as we chronicle the life of arguably the most controversial inventor of the last hundred years. From the childhood dreams that led to his theorem The Law of the Squares, to the mystery tests of his UFO-like levity discs. We analyze Searl Effect technology, hear from believers and from the skeptics, and investigate today's effort to reconstruct John Searl's contentious generator. So, is he telling the truth? You decide.'

If the player doesn't work or it takes too long to buffer, you can download the film in several different formats from http://www.archive.org/details/JohnSearlStory

For musical accompaniment to John's words check out Inverse Gravity Vehicle featuring Deborah Knights and Joie Hinton
http://www.inversegravityvehicle.com/

Wisdom of the Elders

Unrepentant

Noam Chomsky has described Kevin Annett as being 'more deserving of the Nobel Peace Prize than many who have received it in the past' (that certainly means you, warmonger Barry O'Bomber). Kevin's a Canadian and a former minister of the United Church of Canada, a man who was stripped of his ministry after clashing with church authorities over their plans to sell off aboriginal lands which they held in trust. His work now continues with Native peoples who are demanding justice for themselves and their relatives who suffered at the hands of church-run 'residential' schools in the 20th Century. Kevin has travelled extensively to publicize the campaign for recognition, compensation, and apology for the crimes committed by the British Crown, Catholic Church, United Church of Canada & Anglican Church, including visiting the Vatican. He has been beaten, harassed and had his family life destroyed because of what he stands for and particularly because of what he stands against. I don't think that it would be patronising to call him a modern day hero for his dedication to this cause.

If you've seen the film 'The Magdalene Sisters' about similar establishments in Ireland then you'll have some idea of what goes on in these places, but the story of the schools in Canada goes much deeper and much darker. Many people were abducted by the RMCP (the 'Mounties'), murdered in these establishments and their deaths covered up by the authorities. Sexual and physical abuse was widespread, forced sterilization was carried out and many were victims of medical experimentation without their consent. It's reckoned that 50% of those in the schools died or went missing as a result, possibly totalling 50,000. Sounds like the Nazis, doesn't it? Except that this was carried out in Canada before, during and after World War II and continues in kind even now.

Please watch the award-winning 2006 documentary 'Unrepentant' for more information.
'This documentary reveals Canada's darkest secret - the deliberate extermination of indigenous (Native American) peoples and the theft of their land under the guise of religion. This never before told history as seen through the eyes of this former minister (Kevin Annett) who blew the whistle on his own church, after he learned of thousands of murders in its Indian Residential Schools.'

Only available in its entirety on Google Video
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6637396204037343133#

Kevin and the Truth Commission into Genocide in Canada's website can be found at http://www.hiddenfromhistory.org/

From the Top Drawer XI - Webcore

Here we have the second cassette release by Webcore, called 'The Great Unfolding' which came out on the A Real Kavoom label in 1986. Second time around their sound became more accessible and dynamic than on the 'Cinematography' tape and more danceable, although the ambient and poetry interludes remained. Gigs often now featured a drummer as opposed to the drum tapes they had formerly used, sax replaced violin, and backing singers had joined. 'Captain's Table' from the first tape appeared again in an overhauled version, as did the superb full band reworking of 'Nothing Can Stop Us Now' from Eden's 'Flipside' album.

Live at Club Dog, Wood Green 23.01.87 with occasional Suzi Quatro drummer Colin

One of those wonderful flyers of the time

 

Side One - Nothing Can Stop Us Now / A Pocket Full Of Posies / The Great Unfolding / Captain's Table

Side Two - Just Can't Tell Him / Backseat Driver / In The Mood? / 6+7=10

ripped from an original cassette @320kbps as two side long tracks - 

fill yer boots HERE

Live at Club Dog, Wood Green 15.05.87 with Tig (Nick van Gelder) on drums

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Interview with keyboard player Paul Chousmer in January 2000
http://www.aural-innovations.com/issues/issue9/chousmr1.html