I'd like to announce the formal release of _The Five EPs_ by Disco Inferno

There's other news but I'll save that for later.

I'd like to think this involves the esteemed Mr. Raggett writing the liner notes for a compilation he basically willed into existence. It would certainly gel with the timeline of his being contacted ~5 months before the release.

But, I suspect we'll know more when the time's right.

finally be able to replace that low quality cd-r rip some guy burned for me ;)

Thanks all -- first, just to clear up a quick point that's weighed on my mind a bit since reading some of the initial reactions, I had no role at all in the plans for a formal release! I had heard some rumblings here and there over the last couple of years but Ian's note to me yesterday was the first formal confirmation. So I'm sorry for any confusion that may have resulted.

To answer ilxor's post just upthread -- sleevenotes will not be included with the collection, per Ian's wish, but I will receive a credit in the liner notes, which I'm more than fine with. Good friend/ILX veteran donut b., who helped in the initial creation of the project, will also get a much deserved credit. I've been lucky enough to be in a number of liner note mentions here and there over time -- Jennifer Gentle, Bobb Trimble, among others -- but this is the pinnacle so far.

I am however planning some sort of story or something to appear concurrently with the release and will be talking to a couple of folks this weekend at EMP about it. At the very least, being the person doing this for a decade is a story in and of itself.

Speaking of which -- as you might guess, this also means the end of the CDR burning project, which I'm more than happy to stop now that this is occurring. There are a couple of folks who have outstanding requests for a copy out -- I hope nobody minds if I ask them to be patient at this point for the formal release. This is a task that I was glad to have done all these years and which I am even gladder is no longer necessary. The work will stand for itself.

Ned, just curious -- approx. how many CDr copies do you think you burned/distributed over the last decade?

^^^ DMCA STOOGE

Dude don't blow my cover!!

I retreat from lurkerdom more or less once every 5 years, so this time I'd like to say: thanks Ned :-)

In response to the DCMA stooge oh wait -- not sure. I certainly wasn't burning them every day or even every month.

And you're all welcome, of course!

Could I ask which of the following 6 releases does not count as one of the '5 EPs'?

Science
Summer's Last Sound
A Rock To Climg To
The Last Dance
It's A Kid's World
Second Language

I own the first four of the above on 12" vinyl and then I sort of lost interest in DI at around 1993 (for some crazy reason). So I'd be interested in getting the final 2 releases in a physical format.

Science, right?

http://rateyourmusic.com/release/unauth/disco_inferno/the_5_e_p_s/

#6 unauthorized/bootleg release of all time

OK, thanks. I never know how to define these things, to be honest. Science has 4 tracks and ~20mins running time, A Rock To Cling To has only 2 tracks and ~12 mins running time, but none of that probably means anything!

xpost

Yeah Science is the one out, it got reprinted on In Debt anyway.

This is fantastic news. I'll definitely be picking this up, as I hope everyone who Ned sent a copy to will as well.

Good, in that case I'll be picking this up -- be great to get Kid's World and Second Language.

As Vinnie noted, _Science_ was the missing one -- being on _In Debt_, it was more readily available, though aesthetically I do consider it of a piece with the other five (the continuing impact of "Waking Up" and "Fallen Down the Wire," for example). To a large extent, Disco Inferno 'started' there, though the earlier recordings were key in them finding their feet (and there's a slew of beautiful songs to choose from like "Emigre.")

http://globalhermit.com/lptj/nedstamp.jpg

I'll join in the joy! Many years ago sent me a cd of the 5 EPs which is so valuable to me I keep the cd in a small drawer that contains the few items I won't hesitate to grab in an emergency (house fire, earthquake (unlikely in DC)). I will buy the official version several times (gifts for friends). Thank you, Ned!

Many years ago *Ned* sent me a cd

ned sent me one too, and these guys are great!

thx again ned

I uh borrowed this off the internet and it is my favourite DI thing, excited for a real release - pretty great news

Hope that Ned will send me a cdr of the album when it comes out tbh.

Very good news.

Now if only Hamilton Bohannon weren't almost entirely O.O.P, which is even more nuts than the DI EPs having been ; )

this i'm gonna buy

Hey guys, I've been lurking this message board for quite a bit, and this recent news made me incredibly crazy and happy.

Also, I noticed Raggett mentioned about "other news" being released soon. Might that be related to these quotes of his (from another thread)?:

"At LONG last I have finally found the interview I did with Ian Crause back in 1994. Seriously, this tape had been eluding me forever. I'll be digitizing it and figuring out how best to share in as part of a larger project; more details soon."

"He said indeed. The larger project is forthcoming."

...maybe.

(But it would be separate from this reissue. Ian does know about the tape and was interested to learn about it.)

Just saw this news - way to go, Ned! Do you happen to know if they plan on releasing a vinyl version?

I've been asked that -- at present, no idea.

Playing "Love Stepping Out" just now reminds me why I did this all in the first place. It's rare for me to say that music can literally give me chills, and yet.

I only recently discovered the earlier stuff ("In Debt" is on emusic) and man alive I love "Falling Down the Wire".

Ok, 6 - 7 years of lurking and I somehow missed Ned's DI evangelism. Just checked out a few songs on youtube, and need to get my hands on The 5 EPs. I'll be coughing up the money in September, but want to be able to listen in the meantime... Anyone willing to help me get a copy?

Damn, I was hoping the interview would be included with the Five Eps reissue.

Well, can you at least give out a basic idea of what the interviews consists of?

It was done around the American release of D.I. Go Pop, so pretty much that era.

"love stepping out" is so beautiful.

reminds me of durutti column.

i would submit this band's name did them zero favors.

Posted this in "I'd buy that for a dollar!" Great purchases for a buck or less, but hey:

Not exactly $1 on these, but I've been looking for these damn things for so long that it's worth sharing... I found two of the five legendary Disco Inferno EPs (Summer's Last Sound and A Rock to Cling To) for $3.99 each. Two down... three to go.

Of course, all five are being reissued in a few months, per Ned's thread. But I couldn't pass these up in good conscience.

― I just wish he hadn't adopted the "ilxor" moniker (ilxor), Saturday, May 8, 2010 10:15 PM (3 days ago)

I've had a chance to see a rough design of the artwork for the collection, and it's a keeper.

nice!

hey ned i know i should just search and all but i love 5EPs, what to get next by DI?

Well there's not much of a catalog to search for (which is both good and bad, obviously):

In Debt, which is the collection of their first single, album and EP in one place. It starts in full on Joy Division/Durutti Column worship mode but by the final tracks is something else entirely, you can sense the transition happening.

DI Go Pop, which was released in the middle of the EP releases, as it were. Tim Finney put it best when he said that its 'deliberate rejection of beauty' acts in excellent contrast to the EPs, but it is often equally beautiful and wonderful.

Technicolour, which was the final release while they were a going concern. Recorded after the horrific instrument theft and is more of a 'straightforward' rock album than anything else, but still worth the listening.

There's also the Mixing It EP taken from a radio session, plus a variety of unreleased demos from Technicolour that surfaced. And that's pretty much it.

I should also say that DI Go Pop and Technicolour were both reissued by One Little Indian a few years back but I don't know about their in-print status now; similarly In Debt has resurfaced from time to time. Oddly enough the first American issue of In Debt was by the Coctails on their own label!

DI Go Pop and Technicolour were both reissued by One Little Indian a few years back but I don't know about their in-print status now

These reissues can still be had new for $12 apiece on Amazon... looks in-print to me!

And what a bargain!

Also, looking upthread a bit, you can get both Technicolour and In Debt via eMusic:

http://www.emusic.com/artist/Disco-Inferno-MP3-Download/11580018.html

Guys, Technicolour is excellent. Don't sleep on it just because it's not as "experimental" as DI Go Pop or the preceding EPs.

Just sayin'!

That'll do, Ned. That'll do.

I've no doubt.

Everybody I know is getting a copy of this for Christmas. Even my aunt.

Is this CD only or will there by vinyl?

yeah wondering this also

i'm probably one of the few who prefers di go pop over the collected eps, still excited obv

My understanding is that there will not be a vinyl release at this point.

That's a shame, but understandable! Will probably buy a flac release if that is happening?

M@rk R. reflects on DI in today's Resonant Frequency (complete with ILX/Ned Raggett reference!): http://pitchfork.com/features/resonant-frequency/7821-resonant-frequency-71

It's funny, though-- even though the conversations around music are so important to me, they are not everything. There's something wonderful about revisiting music that seems to have been forgotten, and having it be a private pleasure that you carry around like a secret. It's a feeling most music obsessives can probably relate to: You're listening to something and you've never really talked about it with anyone and you're not even sure if you're hearing it "right" or where it might fit or what it might mean. For example, I never knew anything about the English band Disco Inferno while they were active, but someone on a message board burned me a copy of the group's out-of-print EPs years ago, and I was shocked by how much good music was on it. And there's one song in particular that has haunted me ever since, and the way I've experienced it represents how much works for me at one end of this continuum.

Some days, Disco Inferno's "Love Stepping Out"-- with its simple repetitive sequencer, half-spoken lyrics that weirdly mix an expression of romantic longing with violent imagery, and sampled crowd noises that seem to come from an amusement park-- is one of the most beautiful songs ever written. But after all this time, I'm not sure I've ever heard it with anyone else in the room, and I've never written about it or discussed it with anyone in any depth. It's something I listen to and think about and am moved by, but there's no record anywhere of my enjoyment of it, and it's not something I've really talked about. I know almost nothing of the conversations around it. And there's something nice about this feeling, too, to commune with this sound with very little context. Music that could, from another perspective, seem dead because it's not being shared turns into something intimate that sparkles with a very specific kind of life. Sometimes I listen to "Love Stepping Out", and it feels like I have the only copy of it in the world, and it ceases to exist whenever I put it back on the shelf.

"someone" on "a message board"

And in case you were wondering about "More Earthly Concerns" from earlier in the year:

MECs was a track posted for people to hear that I was still alive and in full charge of my musical faculties after so long away and when I still had the expectation a record label would be interested in me, which they’re not. I have also been working on structurally (though not sonically) more conventional songs which I had intended would make up an album. Now I’m thinking to just release them as individual tracks. But this track mentioned above is probably the best statement of intent, musically speaking. The other track you mentioned was free to listen to but it will be released properly in time. My guess is that this first release will be followed by a selection of the other tracks I’ve been recording, which are generally pretty political, and the second Phaethon track will follow them.

All that from

https://www.facebook.com/discoinfernouk/posts/384163368326234

he's an interesting cat

I somehow missed the first run of this on vinyl, but I found a copy yesterday (did they repress it I wonder?). It sounds absolutely magnificent, probably one of the best sounding new pieces of vinyl I've ever bought. Whoever mastered this thing should win an award.

It's chills-all-over good. I've always been in love with the texture of the bass on their records, and that intro to "From the Devil to the Deep Blue Sky" just almost melted me.

Was that booklet reprint of my Pitchfork piece in your copy?

Sadly, no!

glad I snagged that vinyl when I did.

"From the Devil to the Deep Blue Sky" sure sucks.

no

What he said.

Damn. Fuck. We're fucked. I've been listening to 5 eps / Go Pop / Technicolour pretty much non-stop on a random loop today. It's incredible music but it seems to make so much sense now in this prejudiced ill unenlightened country. I'm sick and I've drunk too much. What has happened?

Heard the "Last Dance" on the radio recently