Josef K- The Only Fun in Town (1981) / Sorry for Laughing (1990) / Young and Stupid (1987) MP3 & FLAC

"So I'll disappear through the crack in the wall, and the memories I leave
will be nothing at all."

Despite Josef K's brief existence (they decided to disband after releasing only one album), they proved to be one of the more influential bands of their era, which only serves to remind what a dynamic and utterly unpredictable time Post-Punk's early years actually were. Staunchly unconventional, the band formed in 1979 and almost immediately became a charter member of the burgeoning Scottish Post-Punk scene, especially after signing with Postcard records, a legendary Scottish indie label run by Alan Horne who also issued Orange Juice's early singles. Josef K frontman Paul Haig: "Alan Horne was desperate to become Scotland's answer to Andy Warhol, and Postcard Records was more conceptual than corporate. Really, Alan kept a few papers in a top drawer in his flat- that was Postcard [....] There was some pushiness from him to be more accessible, like Orange Juice. He really didn't like our trebly guitars and our noisiness." Despite Horne's reservations about the commercial viability of the band's sound, Josef K released several critically-lauded singles before recording their debut album, Sorry for Laughing, in late 1980; however, on the eve of the album's release the following year, the band decided to scrap it, claiming the album sounded too polished. In actuality, Sorry for Laughing, though not representative of Josef K's live sound at the time, did seem to open up a number of new sonic vistas for the band, as it tempered their trademark abrasiveness a bit in the service of a slightly more arty and fully-formed sound. On the title track, the band comes across as something like a version of Joy Division with grander pop inclinations, and on the stunning, "Endless Soul," Josef K edges into territories unknown as they carve out an abrasively poppy sound that proves to be a heady counterpoint to Haig's nervy croon. Now without an album to release, the band returned to the studio and hammered out The Only Fun in Town in less than a week. Haig: "When we recorded The Only Fun in Town, we wanted to keep our live sound as much as possible. We thrashed it out in a really short time- it only took six days- and on purpose we mixed the album low because we wanted to keep that live feel, which again in hindsight was pretty stupid. Afterwards we made things slightly more polished, but the album was still pretty abrasive." Whereas Sorry for Laughing suggested a band edging toward a slightly more open, approachable sound, The Only Fun in Town is a torrid and uncompromising blast of trebly alienation. On lead track "Fun 'n Frenzy," a spidery Television-inspired lead guitar figure is counter-balanced with some dissonant chording from the rhythm guitar, setting up a strange, almost surf-rock feel for Haig's razor's edge croon. One of the re-recorded songs that benefits greatly from the less-polished approach of The Only Fun in Town is "Sorry for Laughing," which, while certainly sounding more shambolic, contains one of Haig's best vocal performances- he is far more convincing here than on the earlier version. Ironically, after having gone to the trouble of recording a new debut album because the original, according to Haig, sounded "flat and disinfected," the new album was roundly panned by the critics, with NME actually claiming, "Josef K have cheapened themselves and cheated the world." The band dissolved soon thereafter, but in another ironic twist worthy of their name, twenty years later they became one of the most influential bands of the original Post-Punk era. Haig: "Josef K were the ultimate band for me. It was so intense, a way of life, a very special thing. And that's proved by the fact people are still interested in what we did."

Josef K- "Sorry for Laughing" (1981) Live TV Appearance, Belgium

The greatest "one and done" band of the original Post-Punk era. Ah, I remember my Kafka/ Hamsun / Dostoyevsky period quite well...

Edwyn Collins- Hope and Despair (1989) MP3 & FLAC -For Dave-

"Well he's speaking in riddles, he's speaking in tongues, whilst he plays through a fuzz-box to an audience of one."

Following the rapid demise of his influential Scottish Post-Punk band Orange Juice, Edwyn Collins struggled mightily, as he became something of an outcast garnering no record label interest due to his prevailing (and fairly accurate) reputation for being difficult to work with and having little or no inclination to chase commercial success. Despite a brief stay at a subsidiary of Creation Records, which produced two forgettable singles, Collins' real chance to launch his solo career only came with the help of Roddy Frame of Aztec Camera and some fans of Orange Juice who ran a small studio; the resulting LP, Hope and Despair, while not the masterpiece many believed Collins had in him, is a worthy, if not understated, successor to Collins' legendary earlier work. What becomes immediately clear while listening to Collins' solo debut is that his penchant for exploring the dark side of love is still very much intact; in other words, in terms of lyrical themes, there is more despair on tap than hope (something that was never a natural fit for Collins' brand of clever pessimism). What is also intact is Collins' unique (and sometimes quirky) song-writing ability as evidenced by "50 Shades of Blue," which contains one of the more upbeat arrangements on the album, though lyrically, it is full of Collins' trademark dourness. Backing his unsteady croon with flanged guitars (with help from Frame) and a cheesy Casio melody, in a different universe, the song might have given Collins a taste of the chart success that would continue to elude him until "A Girl Like You" five years later. Perhaps the album's best moment, "Ghost of a Chance," is one quite reminiscent of later-period Orange Juice, as Collins dresses the song in the raiment of sixties-era Soul and delivers one of the album's best vocal performances. Hope and Despair was ultimately a successful venture for Collins, becoming, at the time, Demon Records' best-selling release; however, after Collins' follow-up, the decidedly less impressive Hellbent on Compromise, he was dropped from the label and wallowed in obscurity until his biggest brush with commercial success arrived four years later.

Orange Juice- Coals to Newcastle (2010) Box Set (6 Discs) MP3 & FLAC -For pixiesfan-

"The difference between you and me is that the world owes you a living, and you always tow the party line in your loving and your giving."

It is hard to overestimate the influence of the Scottish Post-Punk band Orange Juice on what we refer to now, thirty years, later as "indie music." Progenitors of a sound firmly grounded in the Punk and Post-Punk movements of the late seventies, Orange Juice also turned many of the conventions of these genres on their heads with their off-kilter melodic tendencies and Edwyn Collins' twee vocal style (which laid the groundwork for everything from Haircut 100 to Belle and Sebastian). This was a band equally inspired by The Velvet Underground, Al Green, The Buzzcocks, and Lee "Scratch" Perry, which should give some indication of just how singular they sounded. In general, Orange Juice's early Postcard singles are held in highest esteem in terms of the band's legacy, and one listen to a song such as "Blue Boy" on the first disc, The Glasgow School, should leave no doubt as to why. With the runaway train percussion, chiming guitars, and Collins' fractured vocals all wedded to a great melodic hook, the song, in one way or another, anticipates every major trope of today's indie music scene. Orange Juice didn't issue a proper LP until 1982's You Can't Hide Your Love Forever, and by this time, many of the rough edges of their sound had been polished away, allowing Collins' love for Soul and Reggae to weigh in more insistently. Despite this, flashes of the same dark, shambolic brilliance of the earlier sides can be found in the later work; for example, one of the album's singles, Al Green's "L.O.V.E. Love," sounds like a Soul song that has wandered its way onto The Velvet Underground's Loaded. Perhaps Orange Juice's most commercial moment is found on their second LP, Rip It Up, with its infectious title track (Orange Juice's sole hit) that stands as a nearly perfect example of early-eighties Brit-Pop; however, digging a little further into the album reveals a pronounced Reggae and Afro-Beat influence, which ranges from awkward ("Hokoyo") to thoroughly compelling ("Breakfast Time"). Simply put, there just isn't another band that sounds remotely like Orange Juice; nevertheless, as is the case with one of their guiding influences, The Velvet Underground, one can hear their influence everywhere. Soulful, quirky and privilegers of randomness over polish, Orange Juice's relative obscurity betrays their uncompromising brilliance.

Orange Juice- "Rip It Up" Video (1982)

just a taster in advance of an avalanche