Shriekback S & D

If anyone needs any particular rarities, ILXmail me.

to answer : yes the new remaster is better.
still a vinyl rip, but the sound is a lot clearer than the cd-rs. small print reveals the remastering has been done professionally.
however, that's not the real issue here.
the big surprise for me are the so called demos.
they are f*ckin' fantastic.
not shoddy x-gen tape recordings, but tracks that fit in with the flow of jam science.
yes, a couple of them use the same drum loop as tracks on jam science, but i care not, they are great.
also, i had never heard the adrian sherwood remixes of "my hand on my heart" : game over, money well spent.
no idea re the live set yet.
negative : the sleevenotes are skinny.
i would like to think that barry and martyn could write a lot more re this era of the band, but they clearly hold back.
summary : easily worth a tenner, even if you have the cd-r that was sold before.

question :
reissue has no barcode, no release detail etc.
is this basically a semi-official bootleg ?
unlike the 'oil and gold' reissue in cherry red.
does the fact it's another vinyl rip, mean there are still issues re the whole rights of the arista era of this band ?

I think that is what it means, yeah. Your qc report is most welcome: where do I order this again?

if needed then get a move on.
word is that supplies are short : shriekback.com

Ok, so here's the deal. Previously, 6 of the 10 album tracks were available on comps: "Achtung" on "Priests & Kanibals", "Mercy Dash", "Midnight Maps", "My Careful Hands", "Newhome" and "Under The Lights" on "Evolution". And frankly you're better off with those versions as there's some pops and clicks on this version ("Achtung" around 4:00 and at least one other track that I can't recall) that aren't on those. Also, the original LP has a minor crossfade from "Suck" to "Hubris" which is lost on this new remaster.

"Nerve" sounds like it's been re-eq'd or something, much clearer.
"Cloud Of Nails" is very pop-and-click whereas the version on "Priests And Kanibals" is flawless.
The live album sounds much fuller than the bootleg I've got.

So overall, I'm still very happy to have this, I just can't understand why they used flawed tracks when better versions were available.

OK I'm just going to say it. I know I am going to sound ungrateful. I AM VERY DISAPPOINTED WITH THIS JAM SCIENCE REISSUE! It's one of my very favorite records ever. I was hoping for a nice crisp not overcompressed remaster, is that too much to ask? I am really undone by the scratchy, direct-from-crappy-vinyl Hand on My Heart remixes- this is the best we could hope for, really? The bonus tracks are nice, but all have been available around the internet and from the self-released comps from a few years ago. The live cd sounds a tiny bit better than the self-released CDR.

How likely do you think it is that we will ever hear a properly remastered version of this splendid, 30-year-old album? soon we'll all be dead

Yours in mourning, Joe Ofalt

The tapes may not even exist anymore-- there are other masters of similar vintage by other bands which are already MIA. Or it could just be rights. I can't imagine that the cleanest obtainable vinyl of JS wouldn't sound pretty decent though.

i get the disappointment as i would love a proper remastered digital edition, but, as jon says, i think this is looking to be no longer possible making me suspect that this edition is as good as its going to get, (and my cd-rs were beginning to look rather worn out).
re the HOMH/AMS remixes : yeah, not a brilliant vinyl copy, but as i had never heard these remixes, i was just glad to have them.
AMS was doing nasty/scratched to f*ck styled remixes in the early 80s, so i originally assumed at the low volume i listened, that this was part of the sonic chaos, however, a wall shaking level does indeed reveal this is a pretty scratched 12".
also, i had never trawled the wire for demos etc, so to have these era relevant extras actually pleased me ..
sorry you are not happy re the reissue.
have you contacted the powers that be and asked for a refund ?
i'm sure they would oblige.

xp search the German pressing:

http://www.discogs.com/Shriekback-Jam-Science/release/1823948

?

sorry, missing the point re the german pressing.

Best sounding one is it?

ok .. done a back to back at wall shaking levels of MHOMH..

you are correct re the compression.

the cd-r version sounds quieter, but with more space in the mix.

then again, neither sound as good as my german pressing (just checked)

- still not sure of the difference re it being a german pressing -

I have both US and German pressings and the German one is noticeably better

ahhh !

hurray.

no wonder i have loved this album so much then.

so, was the recent 'oil and gold' reissue on cherry red a remaster that sounded better than the cd-r edition ?

i never got it, as there was little on the extras that interested me.

however, i have got the bit between my teeth, so need to check.

and, ohhhhh for a expanded remaster/reissue of 'big night music'

Were there big night music b-sides?

no idea.

i got the album, and i felt good.

but surely there has to be stuff for an expanded reissue of that album ?

i mean it was a major label release, so, there has to have been some extras made ..

also, if ever an album would benefit from a proper beatles-styled remaster, this would be one ?

yeah it's a record with loads and loads of great detail. I suppose it's their 'Skylarking' in a weird way (then again I bought them on the same day when both were new so that might be just me). 'Pretty Little Things' goes on my 'Jon Lewis' 50 Perfect Recordings' list if I ever become the New Yorker's pop critic.

feels weird.
you : nyc.
me : middle of nowhere yorkshire dales.
connection : album by a bunch of hopefuls.
and yes, despite bh hating all of their prior weirdo pop-funk thing, 'big night music' was an album that she loved, and so became a lot more special to us.

sorry you are not happy re the reissue.
have you contacted the powers that be and asked for a refund ?
i'm sure they would oblige.

― mark e, Thursday, 9 October 2014 18:11

No, I greatly appreciate the effort and I try to offer $upport for all Shriekback things, I would never ask for a refund! Also I just bought the 'Life In The Loading Bay' CD which seems to be available again in limited quantities - I had already purchased the download when it came out. I do love the HoMH remixes, and they are new to me. All that money that was thrown around in the eighties and no one made extra copies of the master (I clearly don't know how that was done, legal intricacies, etc.)?

BNM and Skylarking were big deal records that year among my group of high school friends in Minnesota. I was the tastemaker that time. Was not able to put the Blue Nile over to the same extent with those guys though.

The tapes may not even exist anymore-- there are other masters of similar vintage by other bands which are already MIA. Or it could just be rights. I can't imagine that the cleanest obtainable vinyl of JS wouldn't sound pretty decent though.

answer why the recent reissues were vinyl rips provided here :

http://shriekbackmusic.tumblr.com/

my reissued CARE release arrived today.

never had this album properly, so, chuffed to have it at last, and to be putting money directly into the gangs pocket.

Oh man, great link. I'm reading the new track by track notes for Care. I love these guys so much.

New record done in a proper studio and engineered by the Care guy? Yes pls.

yeah I skimmed that up to the track-by-track and thought "I'm gonna save this to read when I get home"

you get the track by track in the care booklet ..
and more !
saving it for the weekend and a proper listening session

and dug out cormorant for first time in years
sounded great .. so yes please to new material recorded on proper studio !

on = in

I keep forgetting whether it was cormorant or glory bumps that I dug. One was great, the other kinda shriek by numbers. Still don't have loading bay!

Btw, Sacred City has become available from digital vendors now. Yes, it's the album right after Go Bang. No, it does not suck.

Shriek by numbers (probably Glory Bumps) is still pretty good.

I passed on the new edition of Care - I'm one of the lucky sods who has the Australian CD that was released in the early 90s, and whatever's missing is on the excellent "Y Years" compilation. All pop and crackle free.

I passed on the new edition of Care - I'm one of the lucky sods who has the Australian CD that was released in the early 90s, and whatever's missing is on the excellent "Y Years" compilation. All pop and crackle free.

did not know there was a cd edition.
which therefore raises the question as to why they didn't use this as the source and remaster this edition for the rerelease.
i mean, if they did not have a copy of the cd themselves, i'm sure if they put out an appeal a fan would have lent a copy to them.

Certainly a question I always have when artists master from vinyl. Even for Jam Science, most of the tracks are on compilation CDs and clean fan rips have circulated for years. A Facebook appeal would bring tons of options and great results.

The upcoming album, "Without Real String Or Fish", is due in March. It got me thinking that there hasn't been a Shriekback compilation covering their last 29 years (!!). Towards that end, here's my proposal for a Barry Andrews/Shriekback anthology:

Exquisite Corpse, the music of Barry Andrews and Shriekback

Disc 1:
Super-Tuff - XTC
Rossmore Road (NW1) - Barry Andrews
Sexthinkone (from Tench)
Accretions (from Tench)
My Spine Is The Bassline (non LP)
Lined Up (from Care)
Cleartrails (from Care)
Working On The Ground (non LP)
Hand On My Heart (from Jam Science)
Partyline (from Jam Science)
Mercy Dash (from Jam Science)
Nemesis (from Oil & Gold)
Fish Below The Ice (from Oil & Gold)
Faded Flowers (from Oil & Gold)
Black Light Trap (from Big Night Music)
Gunning For The Buddha (from Big Night Music)
Sticky Jazz (from Big Night Music)
Shark Walk (from Go Bang!)
White Out (non LP)

Disc 2:
Signs (from Sacred City)
Exquisite Corpse (from Sacred City)
Beatles Zebra Crossing (from Sacred City)
Pond Life (from Naked Apes And Pond Life)
Invisible Rays (from Naked Apes And Pond Life)
Berlin (from Naked Apes And Pond Life)
Captain Cook (non LP)
More Heat Than Light (from Having A Moment)
God's Gardenias (from Having A Moment)
Sea Theory (from Cormorant)
Reason With The Beast (from Cormorant)
Voiled Karletus (from Cormorant)
Hooray For Everything (from Glory Bumps)
Mahalia (from Glory Bumps)
Squanderer (from Glory Bumps)
Semidelicious (from Life In The Loading Bay)
Running With The Mothmen (from Life In The Loading Bay)
The Flowers Of Angst (from Life In The Loading Bay)
No Fool Boletus - Anaxaton6

Your antho is rather short on tiny-sticks mode shriekback I dunno if I can trust you!

Just trying to get a good sampling across their entire body of work. By all means, suggest improvements!

Mainly I'd exchange running on the rocks and sticky jazz for reptiles & I and underwaterboys. Otherwise a pretty good playlist!

Thanks, I took your advice and removed the 3 non-Shriekback tracks and one of the Glory Bumps tracks. I replaced the Big Night Music tracks with the two you mentioned, added "Sway", "A King Of Fascination", "Everything That Rises Must Converge" and "My Vast Behavior", a track from the last albums bonus disc. Definitely stronger for it! I do enjoy making these sort of compilations.

I am strongly of the opinion that "Sticky Jazz" should be there over "Reptiles & I" and slightly less strongly of the opinion that "Running on the Rocks" belongs regardless of what other BNM tracks are selected.

"Big Night Music" is a tough one to pick highlights from, frankly, as it's very consistent. I could make an argument for "Cradle Song" and "The Shining Path", too. But for me it's got to have "Black Light Trap" and "Underwaterboys", plus one more. I always felt that "Running On The Rocks" was a retread of stuff on "Oil & Gold".

My "Reptiles" advocacy is slightly personal (I adore everything about the arrangement & production of that track) but also a bit objective I hope -- it was the first appearance of that smaller-frame semi-acoustic-but-still-with-wacky-noises mode of theirs. I feel like the "big" tracks on BNM are family enough that only one of them needs to be on an overview comp.

(however, by choosing "Reptiles" over "Pretty Little Things" for the small-shriek slot, we still don't have an example of the important "tiny sticks" technique do we? Which track on Oil & Gold had tiny sticks on it? I can't remember)

"Faded Flowers"

oh right! We're good then.

this is an impossible task.
there are some albums that are complete and cannot be broken up.
jam science/oil and gold/big night music are examples of this.

^^^ and, I have to say based on my first full listen to it in over a decade, Sacred City!

It's true, those albums are all fantastic pieces unto themselves. But it's great to have a cross-section of an artists entire work, that's why I love well-chosen anthologies and singles comps. And there's been NOTHING covering these lads over most of their career. And I like the challenge of picking a limited-but-excellent number of tracks, it makes you really consider an artists best work.

I don't know what I'd take out to get "Malaria" in, but "Malaria" is one of my favorite songs of all time so I want that one. Maybe "Gunning for the Buddha" which has a nice sound but never really did the job for me

I'd lose "Shark Walk". In fact, I like to pretend that Go Bang! never happened.

I considered that, but that's always the question when compiling - to ignore an artists nadir or not. Even the latest Killing Joke singles comp included stuff from "Outside The Gate"!

Ok, I took a bunch of your suggestions and also remembered the excellent closing track on "Go Bang" - "Dust And A Shadow". Here's my revised anthology - I just gave it a listen and it's 2.5 hours of smiles!

Disc 1:
Sexthinkone (from Tench)
A Kind Of Fascination (from Tench)
Accretions (from Tench)
My Spine Is The Bassline (non LP)
Lined Up (from Care)
Cleartrails (from Care)
Sway (from Care)
Working On The Ground (non LP)
Hand On My Heart (from Jam Science)
Partyline (from Jam Science)
Mercy Dash (from Jam Science)
Everything That Rises Must Converge (from Oil & Gold)
Fish Below The Ice (from Oil & Gold)
Faded Flowers (from Oil & Gold)
Nemesis (from Oil & Gold)
Black Light Trap (from Big Night Music)
Underwaterboys (from Big Night Music)
The Reptiles And I (from Big Night Music)
Dust And A Shadow (from Go Bang!)

Disc 2:
White Out (non LP)
Signs (from Sacred City)
Exquisite Corpse (from Sacred City)
Beatles Zebra Crossing (from Sacred City)
Pond Life (from Naked Apes And Pond Life)
Invisible Rays (from Naked Apes And Pond Life)
Berlin (from Naked Apes And Pond Life)
Captain Cook (non LP)
More Heat Than Light (from Having A Moment)
God's Gardenias (from Having A Moment)
Sea Theory (from Cormorant)
Reason With The Beast (from Cormorant)
Voiled Karletus (from Cormorant)
Hooray For Everything (from Glory Bumps)
Mahalia (from Glory Bumps)
Semidelicious (from Life In The Loading Bay)
Running With The Mothmen (from Life In The Loading Bay)
The Flowers Of Angst (from Life In The Loading Bay)
My Vast Behaviour (from Life In The Loading Bay bonus disc)

jam science is a fucking brilliant album.