Ski Patrol-"Extinguish" Remix (1980s/2014)

I just read Simon Reynolds' Rip it up and start again, a history of British post-punk from 1978-1984. Through Reynolds' coy, slightly overwrought prose, it's clear that the UK spawned hundreds, if not thousands, of weird, resolutely avant-garde bands during the period. Ski Patrol is a good example of the sound and scene: dark, elliptical, and fixated on pushing the boundaries of rock-by-the-book. Borrowing heavily from the echo-space of dub, this track is a sprawling shower of guitar reverb and synth gloom. As the rest of the band drops in and out, the singer intones about, uh, some sort of apocalyptic scenario. Ski Patrol is, of course, noisier than their Rasta bred'ren, as were most white post-punk groups.

In any case, if you've played your Bauhaus records to death and need something new in the eerie-and-melancholic department, check out Ski Patrol. You can check it out on Soundcloud, and get physical copies of Ski Patrol's collected, re-mastered discography on Dark Entries Records.

Quicksails Mix (in Russian!)

Hey hey, it's mid-May and here I am. Segueing back into regular posting, here's a post that Ben from Quicksails/Tiger Hatchery/Druids of Huge put together for a Russian site. It's a lot more sedate than most of the aural atrocities featured on here, but hell, even drug punks need to chill out sometimes.

Check it out here!

Happy May Day!

As many of you know, today's May Day, otherwise known as International Workers' Day. Here's a mix to mark the occasion; it's a combination of Italian partisan songs and leftist anthems from around the world (including Leadbelly's contribution to the anti-fascist cause, "Mr. Hitler"). The picture to the left is of Communist partisans during World War II, from L'Unita', the Italian CP's newspaper. Enjoy (or not)! I pulled a lot of these tracks off youtube, so forgive me for not having an artist designation. Do the research yourself if it bothers ya.....

*EDIT, 5.24.14: I re'up'd the file, it should work now. Get it here !*

...and the last fight let us face....

1. The Ex-No Pasaran
2. Bandiera Rossa (pre-1922 anthem of the Italian Socialist Party, and covered by Angelic Upstarts, among others)
3. Bella Ciao (unofficial anthem of the Italian partisans during World War II)
4. Fischia il vento (another partisan song)
5. Per i morti di Reggio Emilia (commemorates a massacre carried out by the Nazis during the occupation of Italy, in retaliation for partisan attacks on Nazi & Fascist troops)
6. Paolo Pietrangeli-Contessa (see below for a video)
7. Joe Fallisi-Ballata dell'anarchico Pinelli (commemorates an Anarchist train worker framed by the police for a bombing carried out by Fascists in 1969, and suicided by the police)
8. L'Internazionle (Do I really need to explain this one?)
9. Chumbawumba-The Chartist Anthem (the Chartists were a radical democratic English group in the first half of the 19th century)
10. La ballata di Franco Seratini (Seratini was another Italian anarchist murdered by the police, in the early 1970s)
11. Come out and Fight (traditional anti-British/Black & Tans song)
12. Leadbelly-Mr. Hitler
13. Pete Seeger-Solidarity Forever
14. Woody Guthrie-I Ain't Got No Home
15. Rino Gaetano-Nun te reggae piu' (Communist beach music, try it!)