Swell Maps- Jane from Occupied Europe (1980) MP3 & FLAC

"And the door's been bricked up, and the room is a mess, and we'd exchanged salvos even before we met."

In many ways, the early Post-Punk movement was a reaction to the overly simplified aesthetic (as well as ideology) of a UK Punk scene that had quickly become a caricature of itself by the end of the seventies. While the term "Post-Punk" has, over the years, become synonymous with the moody, scratchy, cerebral approach of bands such as Gang of Four, the movement was/is actually quite diverse. This is best exemplified by Swell Maps, who integrated the original Punk D.Y.I. aggression with more "arty" influences such as Can, and did so while casting a thick layer of cheeky irony over everything. While their debut, A Trip to Marineville, wasn't always able to integrate these different sonic palettes together seamlessly, their follow-up and swansong, Jane from Occupied Europe, stands as one of the most singular-sounding albums of "The New Wave." From the first few seconds of "Robot Factory," the lead track, it is clear that we have entered uncharted territory. With eerie psych organ, strange clicking effects, and distant mumbled voices, the song sets the tone for what's to come. Standout track "Cake Shop Girl," with its combination of guitar crunch and Kraftwerk-style synth-lines practically writes the book on integrating Punk and pop, a book bands like The Meat Puppets would be memorizing soon enough. Jane from Occupied Europe is, without a doubt, an essential document of Post-Punk's first wave.

Jane from Occupied Europe (2004 Remastered Edition)
 1. Robot Factory  (2:25)
 2. Let's Buy a Bridge  (1:54)
 3. Border Country  (2:12)
 4. Cake Shop Girl  (2:27)
 5. The Helicopter Spies  (4:16)
 6. Big Maz in the Desert  (5:07)
 7. Big Empty Field  (3:44)
 8. Mining Villages  (1:04)
 9. Collision with a Frogman  (3:40)
10. ...Vs. the Mangrove Delta Plan  (4:23)
11. Secret Island  (4:33)
12. What Happens Next...  (3:00)
13. Blenheim Shots  (3:40)
14. A Raincoat's Room  (1:43)
-Bonus Tracks-
15. The Stairs Are Like an Avalanche  (3:43)
16. New York  (3:20)

MU: Lossy (MP3@320) 

MU: Lossless (FLAC)