The essential purchase for weeks 18 and 19 I'm at a loss with. I've been so dam busy that I haven't had time to even think about buying music. You should go and buy the Big Pink 7" VELVET though which I've recently discovered as it's a sublime piece of music from a band that are rather hyped by the NME etcetera but we'll forgive them that as they can't help it. So connected it hurts. Check it out on their myspace page or have a listen on spotify as both tracks on the 7" are on that crazy piece of music free-ness.

http://www.myspace.com/musicfromthebigpink

In regards to week 20 well there are two things you should be getting your pay cheque out for.


The new album from the Manic Street Preachers was released this week entitled JOURNAL FOR PLAGUE LOVERS. I wouldn't normally give a Manic Street Preachers album a second look these days as after Richey disappeared the band mutated from one of the greatest, visceral, intelligent and challenging bands of the 90s into, well, safe middle of the road indie / rock.

BUT this is the album where they have gone back to Richey's last notebook that he gave the band before disappearing and made an album from his words. Plus they got Steve Albini in to press record. And they've got Jenny Saville to the art a la The Holy Bible. I even bought the NME this week to get a better understanding of what the band thought Richey was writing about here I was that excited. And for the first time in a long time I went out and bought an album on the day of release.

I headed straight for the limited edition book edition so I could get my hands on the Richey Edwards lyrics and imagery plus 2 x cds - one of the finished album and one of the demos. Bizarrely the secret track BAG LADY that features on the standard issue cd doesn't feature on the limited edition version. VERY STRANGE!

Anyways for those that go out and get the book edition and want to hear the secret track I've posted it here for download along with the lyrics. Nice, eh.

I am not dead
I demand I know my rights
I know my rights
You cover illness with flowers
And flowers die
And flowers die

Waking I feel
I follow mirrors that
Make sense to me
Make sense to me
Never let yourself out, I did
It ruined me
It ruined me

To be morally good
Are we ready to love?
A devil pretending to be a god
Love's written on paper,
and paper burns
Eternity is not sunrise

Waking I feel
I follow mirrors that
Make sense to me,
Make sense to me
Never let your self out, I did
It ruined me
It ruined me

To be morally good
Are we ready to love?
A devil pretending to be a god
Love's written on paper
and paper burns
Eternity is not a sunrise

http://www.sendspace.com/file/8wud4h

Anyways the album is worth your hard earned in a major way. There are also a few remixes of key tracks floating around too. Journal For Plague Lovers (An Optimo Espacio Mix) is an absolute killer remix and the Horrors mix available from NME.com is worth a listen. There's an Andrew Weatherall Mix of Peeled Apples which I haven't heard yet but I'm definitely keen to hear.

Speaking of Andrew Weatherall we got his remix of Detachments H.A.L. back last week and it's absolutely HUGE. Watch out for that later in the year as we may put the remix out as a limited promo at somepoint....


The other big release this week is from the magnificent new band PARALLELS. Their debut 3 track EP Ultralight is out on 12" this week on Thisisnotanexit and we are incredibly excited about this band - they feature Cam Findlay who was in Crystal Castles, the wonderful Holly Dodson on vocals, and Joey Kehoe and hail from Toronto in Canada.

They’ve shared billing with established bands like Glass Candy, Fan Death and Sebastien Tellier (Mod Club) and performed for a capacity crowd at The Toronto Fashion Week Closing Finale.

They also of course remixed Detachments The Flowers That Fell which will be out on vinyl in a few weeks time.

Anyways the Ultralight EP is out on 500 only 12" this week available from the usual independent stores around the world. Apart from Piccadilly Records in Manchester who didn't like it. To say they stock Crystal Castles, Kate Bush, Madonna and various 80s italo records - as well as being an independent store apparently supporting independent music and labels - well this does strike me as rather odd but such is life. My favourite store Phonica also refused to stock it as well. So they're no longer my favourite store. I will now be taking my custom to Rough Trade and Juno. I advise you to do the same. If you can't find a 12" then just drop us a line and we'll sort you out.

Enough moaning - here's a mix that Parallels did for us that really does want me to get the Delorean out of the garage and go for a spin down to some 80s sci fi discos.


Parallels - Mix for Thisisnotanexit Records

1. Tangerine Dream - Astral Voyager
2. Roni Griffith - Spies
3. Parallels - Midnight Voices
4. Padded Cell - Far Beneath London
5. Gino Soccio - Remember
6. Ladies Choice - American Man
7. George McCrae - Don’t You Feel My Love (12 Inch Version)
8. Magenes - Back to Singapore
9. Severed Heads - Petrol
10. Parallels - Ultralight
11. Tuxedomask - Illuminati
12. Kate Bush - Watching You Without Me

Get it here:

http://www.divshare.com/download/7458767-45d

Next up on Thisisnotanexit is the promo remix 12" of Detachments The Flowers That Fell which features Parallels, Capracara, Thee Four Horsemen and Max Moreau Quartet. Only 200 have been pressed so they'll literally come and go just like that.

If you're in Germany or Switzerland then check your local paper (or probably more easier Detachments myspace) as the band are currently out there in a van touring around playing shows before finishing their debut album over the summer.

We have the next release from Spectral Empire in June time called LIFE AFTER FUTURE. It features exclusive DJ tool KM-50 Spectral Assault Mix and the absolutely huge cosmic disco waltz through the mirrors INNERFEARENCE CHATEAU FLIGHT REMIX. So huge it hurts. You can watch the video for Life After Future here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJjhBHMG87M

This is just the beginning people.

If you're in London town then They Came From The Stars I Saw Them will be debuting some new songs on Saturday night at Cargo in Shoreditch in support of disco disco disco FAZE ACTION. Get your groove on - and there are literally the last few copies of the Moon Song 2 x 12s available in the shops at the moment - the warehouse is now empty of these so grab one quickly. We have literally less than 5 of each and then they're gone forever.

Finally here's some myspace free music to soundtrack your weekend to:

http://www.myspace.com/houndsofhate

http://www.myspace.com/trailertrashtracys

http://www.myspace.com/theconqueringsociety

Oh and watch out for a mix from Spectral Empire that we'll post up in the next week or so. In this day and age of mixes being ten a penny this really is one for the spotters as I couldn't name a single track on it when I heard it.

Oh and honest this is the final thing. We have some limited edition Detachments t-shirts available. Only 50 printed and then we're going to do a different colour and design. Check the thisisnotanexit shop. They're a design classic.

http://www.thisisnotanexit.net/shop.htm

Adios.

Simon A. Carr featured in this weeks London Lite

Simon A. Carr DJ Set

Tonight I'll be Djing at 93 Feet East at the Signals From The Cosmos party in support of the release of the new Thisisnotanexit release from PARALLELS - the Ultralight EP!! It comes out in the UK next week but we'll have some exclusive copies to give away and sell this evening.

I've cut down on the DJing over the past year or so as became rather disillusioned by the London crowds and promoters just expecting the same old stuff. So it was nice to be asked by the guys behind Signals From The Cosmos to pop down and play some music and most importantly whatever ther hell I wanted to play with no worry about the latest edits and trends and what not.

Tonight should therefore be a bit of a blast as I'll be playing stuff from the farthest reaches of my record collection from Boyd Rice and early Mute stuff, to factory b-sides, to 60s psychadelia, to new stuff coming out on Thisisnotanexit.

Free entry. 93 Feet East. Music from myself and the Signals From The Cosmos Residents. Come and have a drink. What else are you going to do tonight?

PARALLELS - ULTRALIGHT OUT ON MAY 11TH!

Juno Chart

I've made a chart of music you might want to consider buying.

Check it here:

http://www.juno.co.uk/charts/dj/502667-This_is_Not_An_Exit/258571-Chart/

The Essential Purchase - A catch up...

The Essential Purchase Roundup of 2009 so far...

1/ Nite Jewel (Italians Do It Better) LP
2/ Factory Records 4 x cd boxset
3/ Salem Water EP (Merok) 7"
4/ House of House - Rushing To Paradise (Whatever We Want) 12"
5/ The Niallist - The Hots (Dissident) 12"
6/ Big Ned - Bad Angel (Optimo Music) 7"
7/ COMBI - Keep A Burning (COMBI) 12"
8/ Sonic Assassins - Show Up & Be Counted (Flashback) 12"
9/ Florence & The Machine - Dog Days (Optimo Remixes) Promo 12"
10/ Alexandra Parade - Barney's Bubbles (Autodiscotheque) 12"
11/ Stoned Green Apples - Sugar K (Crue-l) 12" & Discosession - TV Scene (Crue-l) 12"
12/ Fever Ray LP
13/ Den Haan - Release The Beast (Optimo Music) 12"
14/ Martyn - Great Lengths (3024) LP
15/ Precious System - This Is The Voice Of Love (Innervisions / Running Back) 12"
16/ Salem - Ohk (Big Love) 7"

For week 17 there was only one contender this week.

Burial & Four Tet - Moth / Wolf Club (Text) 12"

Out of nowhere comes an incredibly exciting collaboration in the form of Kieren Hebden and Burial. The first new material from Burial in ages and the big question is DOES THIS LIVE UP TO EXPECTATIONS?

It's a resounding yes.

Moth on the A-side takes Kieren's trademark electronic fx (sounding like the Ringer doublepack he released last year) but with Burials trademark broken dubstep beats treatment. A break 2/3 of the way through the track brings in some mournful female sighs and then a final flourish until the end. Totally beautiful and total head music.

The flip side Wolf Club is very different with a traditional 4/4 arrangement but sounding like Villalobos has been hanging out on the night buses of London than your standard 4/4 beats. Incredibly mournful and wistful it had the goosebumps up as soon as the fractured female vocal elements swayed into the mix. An absolute stunner!!!

This has sold out in about 5 seconds everywhere so if you see one snap it up.

Audio samples here:

http://www.phonicarecords.co.uk/detail.aspx?ID=36075

I'm currently working on a new mix for the thisisnotanexit site and I may well include both of these tracks they're THAT good.

A record that reinforces my belief in the power of music.

And here's some free music.

The man Henry Rollins has his own show on KCRW in the USA and on Saturday 25th April he spent the 2 hours of his show playing records of the post punk era inspired by Simon Reynolds rather marvellous Rip It Up And Start Again (not read it? shame on you! go buy it! it's ace!). Anyways here's a link to listen to the show as well as a tracklist.

http://www.kcrw.com/music/programs/hr/hr090425kcrw_broadcast_8

01. Neu! - Super / Neu! 2
02. David Bowie - Art Decade / Low
03. Iggy Pop - Funtime / The Idiot
04. Public Image Ltd. – Careering / Second Edition
05. Magazine – Recoil / Real Life
06. DEVO - Mechanical Man (Booji Boy Version) / Greatest Misses
07. Pere Ubu - Nonalignment Pact / The Modern Dance
08. The Normal - Warm Leatherette / single
09. Gang Of Four - Damaged Goods / Entertainment!
10. The Slits - Typical Girls / Cut
11. The Pop Group - Words Disobey Me / Y
12. Joy Division – Interzone / Unknown Pleasures
13. The Fall - Bingo Masters Break-Out / The Fall Box Set CD #01.
14. Glaxo Babies - Who Killed Bruce Lee / Dreams Interrupted
15. This Heat – Sleep / Deceit
16. Wire - Being Sucked In Again / Chairs Missing
17. Cabaret Voltaire - Do the Mussolini (Head Kick) / The Original Sound Of Sheffield
18. Young Marble Giants - Music For Evenings / Colossal Youth
19. The Swell Maps - Steven Does / A Trip To Marineville
20. Spizz - Cold City / Where's Captain Kirk?
21. Family Fodder - Savoir Faire / Savoir Faire: The Best Of
22. Passage – Fear / Pindrop
23. Dum Dum Dum - Dum Dum Dum / Messthetics Greatest Hits
24. Ludus – My Cherry Is In Sherry / The Seduction
25. Crisis – Frustration / Holocaust Hymns
26. Scritti Politti – Bibbly-O-Tek / Early
27. The Cravats – Precinct / Land Of The Giants
28. The Pseudo Existors - Beyond The Zone / Stamp Out Normality
29. Desperate Bicycles – Handlebars / single
30. The Sound – Skeletons / From The Lion’s Mouth
31. Suicide - Ghost Rider / Suicide

Have a great bank holiday. And thanks to everyone who came down on Tuesday for the Detachments show (especially the guy who said hi, wanted a Flowers That Fell 7" and reads the blog and said to keep doing "The Essential Purchase" - I can't remember your name unfortunately as I'd had a few lager tops!! But anyways a big shout out to you and your girlfriend).

For those around in London this weekend Detachments are headlining the Proud Galleries in Camden this evening. Should be a big one.

http://be-at.co.uk/2nd-may-be-proud/