In 1994 the Conservative government attempted to crack down on rave culture by bringing in a piece of legislation making it illegal to hold a gathering of a people listening to music characterised by repetitive beats. That's right- they were looking to outlaw drum patterns when played in public. This led to various protests including a pair of e.p.s by a collective called Retribution (The Drum Club and Steve Hillage mainly, with Sabrettes' Nina Walsh). The track- called Repetitive Beats obviously, released on Sabrettes - was then remixed by a variety of repetitive beat offenders, including Andrew Weatherall, Adrian Sherwood and On U Sound, Secret Knowledge, and Primal Scream (who turned in a somewhat lazy, drug-rock cover version of The Clash's Know Your Rights). Adrian Sherwood's dubbed up remix here features the talents of vocalists Little Axe and Bim Sherman and is probably the pick of the bunch.
Repetitive Beats (Mind And Movement On U Sound)
Man Ray picture- Lee Miller, photographed here in 1930s Paris, who led an extraordinary life. Lee moved from the US to Paris, having modelled for Vogue in the early 20s, becoming a photographer after inventing solarisation with Man Ray (by accident), leaving him to become a fine art and fashion photographer and then becoming Vogue's European war correspondent during World War II, accompanying the US army across France and into Germany after D-Day. She was the only female photographer at the liberation of Dachau and Buchenwald. She also found time before the war to hang about with Picasso and Jean Cocteau. Not your average CV.
Boxnet bandwidth was at 95% last night so will shortly be exceeded I reckon. Get you d/ls quick if you want them.
Bought both 12s at the time, well you had to really, Sabrettes, Sherwood, Primals etc. Played twice filed and forgotten about until now.
ReplyDeleteNot quite as bad as The Big Man and the scream team meet the barmy army uptown, the only reedeming feature of which was the cover.
Yeah that Big Man Scream Team record wasn't good was it. Irvine Welsh's vocal was particularly shite.
ReplyDeleteThe Repetitive Beats eps are both so-so but I thought people might be interested.
People should hear them at least once. I was just disappointed at the time that the end result didn't live up to the sum of its parts.
ReplyDeleteNot many people were that bothered by the Criminal Justice Bill at the time which was scary and anything that brought it to the attention of the masses was worthwhile. Got a really good double album called No Repetitive Beats on the Network label which was similarly released to highlight the Bill