Short Cuts, the longer version NICK DRAKE - Tantworth in Arden 1967/68 18 rare home recordings There hasn't been an artist who's career was more tragic than Nick Drake's. At an early age he discovered he was gifted at playing guitar and making absolutely beautiful songs. Some recognized that in him too, so he made his first records on the Island label. Although these records got very positive reviews, his music stayed virtually unknown and totally unappreciated back in the late sixties and early seventies. Maybe because of this lack of recognition he got into a depression and made just one last record Pink Moon, his most beautiful. Then two years later in november 1974 he died on an overdose of anti depressives. This record contains 18 songs he recorded back home, a year before he got a record deal, many covers of old blues songs and of people he admired, but his own songs are the best and always will be. (Anthology) [JV] COME - Gently Down The Stream Come has been around for years and has been consistingly releasing great rock records without worrying about any trend or fashion. Thalia Zedek's songs are soaking with sorrow and pain, thick smoke, cheap whisky, blood, tears and vomit. She and Chris Brokaw spit out their guts while the band thunders and moans around them. Come's music is never comforting, but still uplifting in the strong way they describe their dark worldview. This music is so black and blue the blues should be renamed to blue-ish. (Domino) [JV] BIKE - Take In The Sun It took eight months before I got my hands on this record. Was it worth the wait? Hell yes! Main biker Andrew Brough was once the guitarist in Straitjacket Fits, one of the best (but completely unappreciated) pop bands from New Zealand. His input was not appreciated in Straitjacket Fits, so he started his own band. Bike make blistering sugarcoated popsongs delivered as wall of radiating guitarsound, in that way somewhat sounding like their New Zealand colleagues Jean Paul Sartre Experience. This is the kind of music that could and should be played more often on radio, because the quality of the songs is convincing enough for anyone to appreciate the music. You don't know what the hell I'm talking about? Well listen for yourself! (Flying Nun) [JV] VOICE STEALER - The All Electric House I've heard of electronic music from Detroit, Germany and Holland. But never before have I heard something like this come from the UK. In the UK they make d'n'b not electro. How wrong could I be. Voice Stealer is a collective from Leeds making stark and bare electro with vocoded vocals, and some songs even contain some close harmony singing. This double LP is a varied collection of songs about the superiority of electric equipment. In that it is very funny but also completely convincing, because it sounds so damn perfect. (Subvert) [JV] VARIOUS - From Beyond Volume 4/4 Last in the series of twelve inches presenting us the future of music. And the future is electronic! In the course of releasing four volumes some of the names have become household names like I-f, Le Car and Phoenicia. Others like the four on this last one: Shake, Uni, Synapse and Keith Tucker are still virtually unknown. All have given us a wide range of electronicaly experimental tracks all packaged beautifully under Ecotomorph personal supervision and that means: lots of endless loops, tracks that run from the inside out, colored vinyl and beautiful rough brown packaging. I hope this series will get many spin-offs in the future. (Interdimensional Transmissions) [JV] I-F - Space Invaders Are Smoking Grass Back by popular demand. Inter-ference' track on the first From Beyond volume blows the mind of anybody who hears it. Especially in Germany where this song has become a clubhit, many people searched far and wide to get a copy of it, sadly there were only two thousand copies of the first From Beyond volume, so Interdimensional Transmissions decided to release an extended version. And now Ferenc, a music buff from Den Haag is becoming very famous indeed. And rightly so, because Space Invaders is a sure hit, a 303 stomper with an absolutely catchy vocoded lyric about somebody who is trying to save his house from Space Invaders. This is going to be big. I'm looking forward to his album on Disko-B. (Interdimensional Transmissions) [JV] IMPULSE - Wall Of Pressure The label who gave us one of the nicest compilations of electronic music last year Vinyl 2000 is now back with a twelve-inch featuring an elecronic duo who combine very funky electronic melodies with a gospel vocal track. The original of Wall of Pressure is so catchy the remixes by Third Electric and Artificial Material (who both have made some amazing records on Ersatz Audio) are a bit of a let down. (Stud!o K7) [JV]