SAMANTHA MUMBA - BODY II BODY

"Body to body, funk to funky - we know how to rock your party!"
Was quite literally stunned when this single was released in 2000. Bowie was pretty cool in allowing his introspective masterpiece "Ashes To Ashes" to be sampled for a light piece of r&b-dance-pop such as this. "Body II Body" is a great single, seeing as it borrows heavily off the original Bowie track. Whilst the original had mama saying "to get things done you better not mess with Major Tom", Mumba's version has mama saying "to get things done, you gotta go to school - ain't gonna have no fun!". Priceless! Three tracks altogether - the other two being dance remixes c/o Robbie Rivera and Tall Paul - neither of which use any of the Bowie music.


SAMANTHA MUMBA - BODY II BODY
2000
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22 mb


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NINGS AND ROUNDABOUTS - 20 KICKINGS OF THE CORPORATE ARSE

Sampler of 7" inchers from indie label Fierce Panda. 20 tracks altogether. Worth picking up for China Drum's cover of "Wuthering Heights", Pullover's cover of "Last Christmas" and an early version of Placebo's "Bruise Pristine", amongst many other obscure pearls.

NINGS AND ROUNDABOUTS - 20 KICKINGS OF THE CORPORATE ARSE

1999

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92 mb

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MONEYBROTHER - TO DIE ALONE

Absolutely superb album from Swedish rocker Anders Wendin which performed well in his native Sweden (#1) and Germany (#37). Highlight is undoubtedly the rocking disco-soul stormer "They're Building Walls Around Us" which, in my opinion, is one of THE best songs/singles I've heard in the last decade (I'd go as far as to say it's a classic) and, yet sadly, barely anyone has heard of either Moneybrother or Anders outside of a few European countries. Treat yourself and download this superb album and hear what you and everyone outside Sweden and Germany have been missing!

MONEYBROTHER - TO DIE ALONE

2005

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53 mb

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THE BEST OF AUF WIEDERSEHEN PET

Superb collection of music - a whopping 29 tracks - used in the various series of British tv classic Auf Wiedersehen Pet including incidental music and all the excellent hit songs recorded by Joe Fagin for the show such as "That's Livin' Alright" and "Back With The Boys Again".

THE BEST OF AUF WIEDERSEHEN PET

2002

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74 mb

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LOVING THE ALIEN - ATHENS GEORGIA SALUTES DAVID BOWIE

Being a lifetime Bowie fanatic, I'm forever a sucker for Bowie tribute albums! I purchased this some years back when there seemed to be a whole load of Bowie tribute albums coming out at once (I bought them all, of course!). This one is definitely one of the better ones featuring as it does a great batch of unknown bands/artists all hailing from the great Athens, Georgia. Featuring 10 tracks and not one of them actually being "Loving The Alien"(!), Loving The Alien flows very nicely from start to finish. The decidedly REM-ish Robert Lurie Collective do a brilliant cover of Bowie's obscure classic "I Can't Read", The Quiet Men superbly rendition "Big Brother" (although sadly don't end it with "Chant of the Ever Circling Skeletal Family" so the song feels a bit sudden when it reaches the end), Mime has a refreshingly unique take (which might not be everyone's cup of tea!) on one of my all time fave Bowie songs - the Bowie standard "John, I'm Only Dancing", Ceiling Fan do a superb, grungy and ever-so-faithful version of "Hang Onto Yourself" (one of my favourite tracks on this abum) and the same goes for Slackdaddy's excellent version of "Starman". Don't Analyse really does something (I'm not sure what but I like it!) to the Low instrumental "A New Career In A New Town". Ultimate fave track on here though is Simultaneous Discs' unique, epic, downbeat take on Bowie's upbeat pop classic "Modern Love". What makes Loving The Alien a winner is the way each artist has covered the song with an obvious passion for the material but injecting it with something fresh/different without taking away what made the original what it was in the first place. In other words, they haven't ruined a good song - they've just added another flavour to it. A must own for Bowie fans.

LOVING THE ALIEN - ATHENS GEORGIA SALUTES DAVID BOWIE

1999

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64 mb

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JOHN SHUTTLEWORTH - THE YAMAHA YEARS

Back around the mid-late 80s, ex-"Jilted John" Graham Fellows regenerated into one of my favourite comedy characters: the self "styled singer songwriter from Sheffield, South Yorkshire" and "ex-security guard for a sweet manufacturer in the Rotherham area (which he can't mention for security reasons!)": John Shuttleworth. I first discovered the character when he appeared semi-regularly on Channel 4's Saturday Zoo in the early 90s in which he performed - on his Yamaha PSS portable keyboard - some of the self-penned comedy song classics that have been compilated on this must-own album called The Yamaha Years. Shuttleworth's uniquely British brand of comedy and music is always guaranteed to put a smile on my face. Fave tracks: "The Christmas Orphan", "My Wife Died In 1970", "Up And Down Like A Bride's Nightie" and, of course, the anthemic Eurovision entry wannabe "Pigeons In Flight".

JOHN SHUTTLEWORTH - THE YAMAHA YEARS

1999

192 kbps

63 mb

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MICHAEL NYMAN - A ZED AND TWO NOUGHTS

My all-time favourite movie score (besides Danny Elfman's score for Tim Burton's 1989 masterpiece Batman) for, likewise, one of my all-time favourite movies: Peter Greenaway's surreal, avant-garde masterpiece A Zed And Two Noughts. The entire score has remained constantly in my head ever since the movie was first shown on Channel 4 back in 1985. Favourite tracks: "Car Crash", "Prawn Watching" and the sublime "L'Escargot". Sublime is the word I would use to describe both the movie and the entire score.


MICHAEL NYMAN - A ZED AND TWO NOUGHTS
1985
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59 mb


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DECONSTRUCTING BECK

Deconstructing Beck was an oddity I picked up in the late 90s buried deep on a bottom shelf of an independent record store (the kind of anti-corporate music retailer that's becoming a rarity nowadays). The first time I heard it - I thought there was something wrong with the cd or maybe I had put it in the wrong side up (as there was no label/info on the actual disc whatsoever)! But no, the tracks are supposed to sound that way. If you're as big a Beck fan as I was in the 90s, then you're no doubt familiar with his early sublime off-kilter low-fi recordings and the hidden bonus experimental tracks that would appear buried at the end of his albums. Deconstructing Beck is most obviously influenced by that particular type of sound. This collection comprises of unauthorised and totally avant-garde non-commercial remixes of Beck's music by unknown/underground artists. We're talking very much the weird and wonderful world of sound collages, scratched vinyl, experimental hokum and what-not. Difficult to pick a favourite track but I'm quite partial to Huk Don Phun's "Killer Control Enters Blackhole" and Steve Hise's "Stuck Together, Falling Apart". All I can say is if you're extremely open minded (like me!) you'll probably find some entertainment value in this album and maybe, even, influential. If you're not, then I'm pretty sure you'll hate it. But give it a try anyway!


DECONSTRUCTING BECK
1998
192 kbps
70 mb


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GARY NUMAN - THE MIX

During the mid-late 90s and the early 2000s, there seemed to be a Numan renaissance. Tons of new (or nu!) Numan product were released: new albums, re-issues, remastered editions, tribute albums and remixes. The latter is where Numan's comeback really kicked in with a whole host of djs from around the world started tinkering with the Numan back catalogue (although often it was still usually "Cars"!). 1998's The Mix is one such collection but with a difference. This collection - aimed at the US market - mainly seems to rehash the vocals Numan provided for the earlier Techno Army album. It's no bad thing. Most of the tracks on here are excellent with two really great techno remixes of "We Are Glass" along with "I Die You Die", "We Are So Fragile", "A Question Of Faith" and "She's Got Claws", amongst others. Oh, yes, and of course the collection wouldn't be complete without numerous versions of "Cars" and "Are Friends Electric?"...! The Mix is a must-own for fellow Numanoids.


GARY NUMAN - THE MIX
1998
320 kbps
129 mb


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DAVID BOWIE - LONDON BYE TA-TA

Excellent early boot of a Bowie performance recorded - not really in Paris (don't be fooled by the title!) - but for The Sunday Show at Paris Cinema Studios, London, February 5th 1970. A lot of people seem to complain about the sound quality. In my opinion, the quality is entirely listenable given the archive nature and rarity of this particular performance. Capturing Bowie mid-phase between his folky Space Oddity era and the far heavier, darker and rockier The Man Who Sold The World era, Paris Bye Ta-Ta is a total must-own. The 13-track playlist is a great mix of mid-late 60s Deram-era gems and early 70s Bowie classics and obscurities that include "London Bye Ta-Ta", "Fill Your Heart" (later recorded for Hunky Dory), "Karma Man", "The Prettiest Star" (originally released as a single in 1970 but magnificently flopped then re-recorded for 1973's glam rock classic Aladdin Sane), "Buzz The Fuzz", "Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud", "Unwashed And Somewhat Slightly Dazed" and the roaring rocker "Width Of A Circle", amongst others.


DAVID BOWIE - LONDON BYE TA-TA
1990
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93 mb


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TERRE THAEMLITZ - REPLICAS RUBATO

Experimental piano versions of Gary Numan songs by the unique Terre Thaemlitz. Includes "Cars", "Down In The Park", "Cry The Clock Said", "Praying To The Aliens", "Please Push No More" and many others. Great thing about this tribute album, besides the fact that it's brilliant, is the fact that it focuses more on the obscure Numan album tracks than the more popular hits everybody knows.


TERRE THAEMLITZ - REPLICAS RUBATO
1999
320 kbps
105 mb


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DARKNESS AND DISGRACE - DES DE MOOR & RUSSELL CHURNEY PERFORM THE SONGS OF DAVID BOWIE

Superb and uniquely different approach to the songs of David Bowie from cabaret theatre artists Des De Moor and Russell Churney. Beautiful stuff and way beyond the constant and ever lacklustre compilations of Bowie cover versions by bands who usually lack imagination, it has been appraised by the "Thin White Duke" himself. Adapted from their critically acclaimed theatre show of the same name, Darkness And Disgrace is no Stars In Their Eyes tribute show (as someone quite rightly put it) and beams new and refreshing light into the legendary Bowie's back catalogue. Thankfully, many of the song choices are the more obscure and exceptionally brilliant and classic songs that Bowie fanatics like myself know inside out and non-Bowie fans should really hear such as "All The Madmen", "The Bewlay Brothers", "Look Back In Anger", "Always Crashing In The Same Car", "Station To Station" and "I Have Not Been To Oxford Town".


DARKNESS AND DISGRACE - DES DE MOOR & RUSSELL CHURNEY PERFORM THE SONGS OF DAVID BOWIE
2003
320 kbps
140 mb


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SWANS WAY - THE BEST OF SWANS WAY

Swans Way (or Swansway - whatever the preference) were an excellent but very short-lived Brummie trio from the early 80s with their own distinctive sound comprising of dance, lounge, synth-pop with a slight twist of avant-garde Art Of Noise/Propaganda-esque off-kilter experimentalist pop. This 1997 "best of" album is basically their one and only album The Fugitive Kind from 1984 - boosted up with some bonus tracks. Their best song and biggest hit "Soul Train" - featured here in album and extended 12" versions is, in my opinion, a one-of-a-kind masterpiece and worth getting for that alone (but the rest of the album is also rather good). After the band split in 1984, two of the members - Rick P. Jones and Maggie De Monde - went on to form the equally excellent Scarlet Fantastic (who released the classic and often-played radio fave "No Memory" - remember?).


SWANS WAY - THE BEST OF SWANS WAY
1997
320 kbps
126 mb


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LINIENTREU - STERNENKINDER (PROMO)

Linientreu are - or were - an obscure German electro-pop band from the early 2000s who I predicted were going to be "the next big thing" but instead seemed to go nowhere. They released two excellent singles which garnered much radio play at the time and one great album which barely anyone took notice of. Those two singles are on this album: The storming "Wir Leben Für Immer" and "Sind Freunde Elektrisch?" - a very good German language cover of the Gary Numan classic "Are Friends Electric?". This album I'm sharing is a very rare non-retail 10-track promo edition from 2000 called Sternenkinder. For reasons unknown to myself, the retail version was released the following year with the title changed to Sind Freunde Elektrisch?.


LINIENTREU - STERNENKINDER (PROMO)
2000
320 kbps
106 mb


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KALEEF - 53RD STATE OF MIND

Kaleef (formerly Kaliphz) released this entertaining Pete Waterman-produced hip-hoppy pop album in 1997. Stand-out track is undoubtably the rapped up cover-stroke-remix hit single of The Stranglers' "Golden Brown". Pete Waterman was most likely to blame for the god-awful and ill-advised idea/attempt at doing a rap cover of Petula Clark's "Down Town" (steer clear of that one)!


KALEEF - 53RD STATE OF MIND
1997
320 kbps
142 mb


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AN EVENING WITH DAVID BOWIE

Superb bootleg release of a BBC Radio broadcast from 2002 featuring Bowie at his best with a stunning selection of tracks including "Look Back In Anger", "Alabama Song" and "Survive", amongst others. Bowie's Hunky Dory surreal masterpiece "The Bewlay Brothers" gets it's first ever live performance. A must-own for Bowie fans. Bonus tracks including "Life On Mars", "Fashion" and "Ziggy Stardust" taken from the British tv shows The Michael Parkinson Show and Friday Night With Jonathan Ross.


AN EVENING WITH DAVID BOWIE
2002
320 kbps
198 mb


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THE WEBB BROTHERS - BEYOND THE BIOSPHERE

Chicago rockers The Webb Brothers - the sons of the legendary songwriter Jimmy Webb - released this superb and tragically obscure "demo" album in 1999 featuring the awesome single - and one of my favourite tracks of all-time - "I'm Over And I Know It".


THE WEBB BROTHERS - BEYOND THE BIOSPHERE
1999
320 kbps
62 mb


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COVER CLASSICS [volume two]

Excellent compilation of rather good and unique cover versions of classic pop tracks including Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" from Distain!, Gary Numan's "Down In The Park" from Girls Under Glass, the ever nutty Laibach with their unique twist on "Jesus Christ Superstar", Desireless' "Voyage Voyage" from La Floa Maldita and Erasure's hit ABBA cover "Lay All Your Love On Me", plus many more.


COVER CLASSICS [volume two]
2000
320 kbps
147 mb


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TECHNO ARMY featuring GARY NUMAN

Decent remakes of classic Numan tracks including "Cars", "We Are Glass", "I Die You Die", "She's Got Claws" and "Are Friends Electric?" courtesy of little known Techno Army with the legendary Numan himself providing the vocals. Also includes two excellent bonus techno remixes of "Cars". 


TECHNO ARMY featuring GARY NUMAN
1996
320 kbps
122 mb


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