Trying to stay more active these days, for my sanity as well as for your ears’ sake. Up on the slab are 5 (FIVE) 12”s by late 80s dream pop/indie pop band The Heart Throbs. This band has been a forever favorite since I first saw the video for “Dreamtime” back in the early 2000s. That song kills me in every which way. But before that blissful melody was recorded and the band got traction via One Little Indian, the band cut their teeth on a slew of successful 12” singles, each one as good as the last. Some of the tracks were remixed for inclusion on their underrated debut record, Cleopatra Grip, which came out in 1990.
I reckon a lot of folks are already familiar with this band, but if not, best touchstones are bands like Kitchens of Distinction, Darling Buds, Lush, The Primitives, early Throwing Muses, The Sundays, and so on. Rough Trade ahoy!
The Heart Throbs- Toy 12” (1987)
1. Toy
2. I, the Jury
3. Make My Day
The Heart Throbs- Bang 12” (1987)
1. Bang
2. Sick At Heart
3. Naked Bang
The Heart Throbs- Too Many Shadows 12” (1988)
1. Too Many Shadows
2. I See Danger
3. Things That Linger
The Heart Throbs- Here I Hide 12” (1988)
1. Here I Hide (Extended Version)
2. Pale Fire
3. Come (First Version)
The Heart Throbs- Blood From a Stone 12” (1988)
1. Blood From a Stone
2. Cry Hard Cry Fast
3. Smothered
It’s no small secret that I tend to go wild for things on the more ethereal/dream pop side of the spectrum, especially now more than ever before. With that in mind, today’s post was originally recommended by Goutroy and has become a fast favorite these last few weeks. Here we have the first 12” by The Telling a band from California. The band, consisting primarily of Don and Sheri Swanson, released this debut single in 1986 and followed it up with two albums in 1990 and 1998, respectively. I’ve heard a bit of the first record, which mixes in some more folk influences, via YouTube and immediately ordered a CD copy, but I haven’t heard much of the second record just yet.
This debut 12” features two vocal tracks and two dreamy, instrumental passages. While it may be easy to pick out the usual 4AD influences on this single, I also hear the playful art-pop influence of Kate Bush throughout, especially on closing track “Heaven Never End.” Other natural touchstones include latter-era Japan/early Sylvian solo works, and of course, the highly underrated Bel Canto, who were operating around the same time with their own blend of ethereal, atmospheric synth pop.
Hope you all enjoy!
The Telling- The Telling 12”
1. Ghost of Tokyo
2. Cocoon
3. Sand Mass
4. Heaven Never End
Just spotted a photo of one of these LPs come up in a recent memories post, as I picked up a copy of this based on the cover art alone during my last trip to Boston a year or so ago. Here we have both vinyl releases by Emerald Vein, aka the solo project of Boston-based musician Robert Young. Previous bands of Robert’s included alternative band Uzi and post-punk band A Scanner Darkly, whose 1988 LP This Is the Way serves as a solid Sisters of Mercy-esque guitar record.
As for Emerald Vein, Young took things in a more ethereal direction, mixing a few post-punk tracks in with neoclassical and dream pop influences. Kind of my sweet spot for when the air has a bit of a chill in it still. Both of these LPs are unique listens, calling the likes of In the Nursery, Into a Circle, Breathless, Mark Renner, Eden, Black Tape For a Blue Girl, and maybe even a little Gilmour-era Pink Floyd to mind here and there. Land of the Living has a track or two with some co-harmonies from Colleen Nichole Jacobucci, and has an overall more experimental touch but is still very much in the vein of the first LP. Terence Donahue, drummer of A Scanner Darkly, also performs on a handful of tracks across both releases. Donahue was also involved with IPR stalwarts Deception Bay.
Here’s the details for both LPs. Note: will be taking better quality album photos shortly, please stand by!
Emerald Vein- Existence LP (1989)
1. Worship
2. Existence
3. Completely Nothing
4. The Messiah
5. Promise
6. Out Of My Head
7. Take Hold
8. In His World
Emerald Vein- Land of the Living LP (1991)
1. Land Of The Living
2. The Difference
3. The Living End
4. Memory Inside My Head
5. Breath
6. Father Of Lies
7. Light
8. My Maker
9. Bury This Void
10. Colors
Robert has also made a digital download of his favorite cuts from both albums available here, if you’d like to upgrade some of the tracks from vinyl rips to crystal clear digital copies. Definitely worth grabbing the link above for the full discography, and even though Robert’s Bandcampo is pay-what-you-want, I deeply encourage purchasing the tracks and supporting Young’s work.
For the last post of the year, I’d love to share two excellent CD-only collections of exclusive dream pop, ethereal, and shoegaze tracks from Bedazzled, released in 1994 and 1995, respectfully. I can’t help but get nostalgic during this time of year, and listening to these comps make me miss Bedazzled and the centralized US/Canadian dream pop scene that thrived in the late 80s and early 90s.
With that in mind, these compilations showcase the majority of the acts on the label, and include rare or otherwise exclusive tracks across the board. Most notable are repeat SOR-offenders An April March, as well as tracks from Mistle Thrush, Viola Peacock, Underflowers, The Curtain Society, Ultracherry Violet, This Ascension, and of course, Monica Richard’s pre-Faith and the Muse project Strange Boutique. Kindred Spirits extends a little further past the immediate Bedazzled family and includes tracks from Switchblade Symphony, Purple Ivy Shadows, and extremely underrated band The Garden, who are worth price of admission alone.
Of course, let’s get to the listening! Thanks for an excellent year, y’all!
Various Artists- Kindred Spirits CD (1994)
1. This Charm- Strange Boutique
2. Clown- Switchblade Symphony
3. Adrenaline- The Curtain Society
4. Pontus- Siddal
5. Falling in Love- Ultracherry Violet
6. Whispers- Mistle Thrush
7. Pocketful (Remix)- Big Hat
8. As I Hit the Floor- Twelve Tone Failure
9. Shave Your Head- Viola Peacock
10. Blackwell Road- Opium Den
11. Admire- This Ascension
12. Blithe Spirit- The Garden
13. Carry Nation for the First Time- Purple Ivy Shadows
Various Artists- Woke Up Smiling CD (1995)
1. She Is A Flower- Mistle Thrush
2. Cradle- The Curtain Society
3. In The Lonely Trees- Strange Boutique
4. Sense Of Skin- Where I Wake Warm
5. An Angel A Week- Viola Peacock
6. In Galleons Lap- Feast Of Saints
7. As Far As Forever- Johanna’s House Of Glamour
8. Shindo- Chainsuck
9. Wayve- Ultracherry Violet
10. Halo- Blueshift Signal
11. A Glendale Melody- Siddal
12. Delirium- An April March
13. Psalm To The Sun- Underflowers
14. Falling- Lanterna
Got an email request for the early material of A Primary Industry, an incredibly underrated UK band who walked a fine line between the avant ghetto of SPK, 23 Skidoo, and A Certain Ratio and the ethereal textures of Cocteau Twins and Operating Theatre. While their lone LP Ultramarine was released in 1986, there are quite a few tracks that point heavily towards the shoegaze genre that was barely a glimmer across a pedalboard at the time.
That all said, A Primary Industry released most of their material on Sweatbox, an excellent label also responsible for the like-minded In the Nursery during their earlier and more experimental phase. The label also released a handful of Meat Beat Manifesto records, so you get an idea of some of the wildly oscillating moods and textures that can be found across all three bands. Otherwise, once A Primary Industry ran its course, the band morphed into Ultramarine (sharing the name with API’s lone LP), who released a series of more electronic/downtempo records in the 90s, and one in 2013. While Ian Cooper and Paul Hammond stayed on board for both projects, vocalist Jemma Mellerio left after Ultramarine’s first LP, Folk.
A Primary Industry’s work has been shared before, but at low bitrates that have since been scrubbed from the internet blogosphere. As their work is some of my very favorite, it was due time to dust off my copies of these records and share them across the board. Thanks also to Jeffo! for supplying a great rip of the band’s first 7”. I’ve uploaded the band’s four main singles and excellent LP from fresh rips, but have also included a handful of compilation tracks. I can’t take credit in any way for the lower bitrate comp rips, with the exception of the exclusive track from Bark, an excellent compilation from the Sweatbox label that also features The Anti Group, Perennial Divide, Meat Beat Manifesto, and In the Nursery. Just wanted to include the other comp tracks (minus Life at the Top, as the version of “Perversion” is identical to the 7” b-side, as is the mix of “Heart of Glass” from Bark) to complete the discography, more or less.
That said, if anyone has the elusive Real Time 6 compilation (or the exclusive track “Under Western Eyes”) I’d love to hear it, as that’s all we’re really missing here… Otherwise, enjoy!
A Primary Industry- At Gunpoint 7” (1984)
1. At Gunpoint
2. Perversion
Various Artists- Heures Sans Soleil LP (1985)
11. From This Prospect
A Primary Industry- 7 Hertz 12” (1986)
1. Cicatrice
2. Obeah
3. Biting Back
4. Bled Dry
A Primary Industry- Ultramarine (1986)
1. Body Blow
2. Beacon Hill
3. Shear
4. Sans Orange
5. Cicatrice
6. Watchword Weal
7. Gush
8. Raw Umber
9. Silesia
10. Rose Madder
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Various Artists- Suck (A Soundtrack For Everyday Living) LP (1986)
5. Rose Madder (Edit)
When’s the last time we had a video here?! With that in mind, there’s a video for “Cicatrice” (the first track of theirs I heard, and the winner among winners). Enjoy!
I’ve been meaning to share this one for some time, and it’s certainly the season for some dreamy, jangly guitars. Here we have the lone tape by The Whittingtons, a band from Canada who would become An April March, shared previously here. I’d like to thank Danella, vocalist of both bands, who sent over a copy of this tape a few months back.
This particular cassette was released in 1989 and features the original lineup of An April March (including original drummer Joe Walsh, who would play on a handful of tracks on Impatiens). The six songs here are all exclusives, and a few of them, such as opening track “Sylvian,” and closing track “When the Sky Falls” especially point to the lush dream pop sound that An April March would encapsulate just a few years later. Others, like “Beatrice” and “Craving Wakes” are more firmly rooted in the jangle/indie/C86 sound, with a little bit of the folk vibes of bands like The Innocence Mission.
However, we all know the lines can get a bit blurred between shoegaze, dream pop, and indie pop, so hopefully there’s plenty to enjoy here for everyone. With that in mind, here’s the details:
The Whittingtons- The Whittingtons K7
1. Sylvian
2. Antiguos Muros (Sylvian Part II)
3. Beatrice
4. Craving Wakes
5. When the Sky Falls
I remember the first time hearing Canadian dreampop band An April March. I was deep in my shoegaze phase in my freshman year of college, overdosing on Slowdive for the most part, posting on forums everywhere. I caught wind of this band and remember seeking out a lone mp3 of “Lava,” one of the bands early singles, on Audiogalaxy of all places… It was love at first listen. Just a few weeks later, I was digging in my college town’s record bins casually when I came across a gorgeous looking gothic cover. Sure enough, it was the Lava single, a red colored slab of perfection sitting there for a dollar, discarded among a bunch of sleeveless pop singles. I believe I posted the single in the very first year of this blog, as the obsession still ran deep.
Since then I’ve obtained all of their discography in various forms, with the exception of the elusive Scarlett Bliss demo tape from 1991, which I’ve always had my eye on. However, a kind collector by the name of Paul Evans offered to rip it for me, and included a bonus- a never before logged demo tape from 1990 called Memory Gardens, the band’s first official release. Funny enough, this is the real treat here, as the Scarlett Bliss tape features very similar (if not the same) recordings of these three tracks that would appear on 1993’s Impatiens, the band’s debut album.
However, the songs on Memory Gardens showcase a band just getting their feet wet, though the band’s trademark dark dreampop sound is still in full effect. Mostly I’m pleasantly surprised by the ample use of saxophone on this tape, a sound they abandoned after release, apparently. Saxophone player Ian would go on to play with The Dervishes, who I haven’t heard but sound like a more soul/funk band according to their discogs page.
Anywho, four of the six tracks on this cassette are exclusives, while “Gates Within Us” and “Of Leaves And Sweetness” are early versions that have since changed drastically in subsequent recordings.
Thanks again to Paul for ripping these! Hope you all enjoy them as much as I do:
An April March- Memory Gardens K7 (1990)
1. Justine
2. Misunderstanding
3. Of Leaves and Sweetness
4. Memory Gardens
5. Gates Within Us
6. Hollow House
An April March- Scarlett Bliss K7 (1991)
1. Scarlett Bliss
2. This Silence
3. Stains
We’ve discussed UK post-punk band Breathless here before in the past, and I can’t overstate their importance enough. They are, by and far, one of my all-time favorite bands- such beauty, brilliant songs, and one of the best male vocalists of all time. Also, unlike most of our artists here, they are still active, releasing the incredibleGreen to Blue LP in 2012.
Most of their catalog has since been reissued digitally for download/streaming. That said, a few of their earliest singles have yet to be compiled, perhaps a tape sourcing issue or oversight. Most absent from their digital catalog (outside of the cathartic “Bad Blood”) is their debut 7”, Waterland from 1984. With that in mind, I’ve finally picked up a copy and made a passable rip for you all to enjoy. A few words of warning- the pressing on this 7” was a bit dodgy, but a little cleanup went a long way with this one. More importantly, while the ingredients that make them such a compelling band are still on display here, these two tracks are more primitive- darker, heavier, much more intense than some of the material that would follow. There is heavy dub-inspired bass and buzzy synths on the excellent “Second Heaven”- the real standout for me on this single, though the powerful ending of “Waterland” is nothing to shake a stick at either. Either way, perfect sounds to kick off your Autumn. Enjoy!
Breathless- Waterland 7”
1. Waterland
2. Second Heaven
While I haven’t posted much shoegaze here, I’ve been a fan of the genre as long as I can remember… Aside from the classics, I’ve also grown to love more modern bands such as Ashrae Fax, Stella Luna, Tamaryn, The Autumns, the Claire Records bands, and of course, Bethany Curve. With that in mind, I’ve been looking for a copy of this cassette for ages, pretty much a holy grail for me for many years, so it’s proof that good things come to those who wait. This came to me as an anonymous donation at first but many thanks to the original collector who spent a lot of effort and time to track this down.
Bethany Curve formed in Santa Cruz, CA in 1994, taking their name from a local street sign. The band released four albums and one EP, going on hiatus in 2004 after the release of Flaxen. Though they haven’t released anything since, the band played some shows in 2010, and their site hints at a new record, Murder, whose release date is still TBA. There’s also talk of this tape being reissued with remastered sound, so this download will be obviously be removed once it’s available for sale.
As for the band’s sound, Bethany Curve often explored darker territories than most of their peers, citing Dead Can Dance and Depeche Mode as influences alongside Cocteau Twins, Slowdive, and the like . The influence is most apparent on this tape, released in 1995 as a demo. There are a few experimental synth moments here as well, serving as interludes between the remaining tracks. Either way, if you’ve been looking for this tape as long as I have, you’ve already skipped this text and have gone straight to the download, so let’s cut straight to the chase:
Bethany Curve- Mee-Eaux K7
1. Sequence
2. Satellite
3. Mar
4. Walk In
5. 2 Minutes of Hate
6. Jalap
7. Sunned
8. Reversion
9. Out of the Clear
10. Me Voy
Hope you’ll all indulge me for a little two-for-one post here. While these two records are generally unrelated, they sound incredibly complementary and it’s no stretch that if you love one, you’ll probably love the other. Also, both LPs have been posted by other blogs in the past. I only double dip today to offer fresh rips and hopefully to turn you guys on to two excellent, if but vastly under-appreciated post-punk masterpieces from the mid-80s.
First up is the debut LP from The Wild Flowers, which you may have heard via Curious Guy’s excellent post from 2006. There, he mentions that the band was the original outlet of guitarist David Newton, who left soon after to form the also excellent Mighty Lemon Drops. I’m on my second copy of this LP, between DJing and home listening, so that should speak highly of this particular record, which calls the lush majesty of bands like The Chameleons, Icicle Works, The Lucy Show, Breathless, The Sound, and of course, Echo & the Bunnymen’s Heaven Up Here to mind. You can grab their first two 7”s here. I do have the third LP, 1988’s Sometime Soon. It’s been a while since I’ve heard it so I don’t remember how it stacks up, but I’m very interested in hearing 1987’s Dust.
The second LP is the one and only release by Blue Hollow, who rose from the ashes of Gluons, a darker and more dissonant band from Massachusetts. Stealing a Whisper, which was released three years later, would shed much of the cacophony and offer up a record that sits comfortably alongside The Wild Flowers on sheer strength of songwriting. Equally lush and romantic songs and catchy hooks, clearly pulling from the same set of influences and delivering a similarly striking album…
It’s a shame that neither of these records are more well known, even in these circles, so hopefully this post brings them to a wider audience. Enjoy!
The Wild Flowers- The Joy of it All (1984)
1. Melt Like Ice
2. Beggar Man
3. The Promised Land
4. After All These Years
5. Dark Times
6. The Joy of it All
7. Bamboo
8. Hold the Torch
9. Things Have Changed
10. From the Sky
Blue Hollow- Stealing a Whisper (1986)
1. Color of Night
2. Inhale
3. Running Down
4. Blue Hollow
5. We Fall
6. Hearts Hang Souls
7. Wildskin
8. Stranger
Thanks for indulging me here today… For those who are looking for something new and unheard, hang tight- as the next few posts will feature very rare cassettes, demos, and more! Thanks to all who have sent things over in the past few weeks- it’s always appreciated!
Systems of Romance was created in mid-2007 to serve as a dumping grounds for all great things coldwave, minimal synth, post-punk, synthpunk, industrial, synthpop, and various other combinations of these styles. Feel free to make requests, noodle around, and discuss all you like...
Otherwise, this blog is dedicated to showcasing material that has long since been out of print. If you are aware of any of these items being readily available from the artist or label, or take issue with these tracks being uploaded, please let me know so I can amend the post or remove the links.
