Back in 1990 Ultramarine found themselves, newly a duo, in Brussels with some new equipment- a sampler mainly- and made a track called Stella which came out on an offshoot of Belgian label Le Discques Du Crepescule (the Benelux home of many Factory acts). The Ultramarine pair, Paul Hammond and Ian Cooper, had some assistance in the studio from Dutch DJ Eddy de Clerc and Colin James (from Meat Beat Manifesto) and it paid off in a sparkling, bright eyed song, one that is completely part of the spirit of the times. Funky Soul II Soul drums, lovely synth melodies, an acoustic guitar chord and a pumping bassline, all topped off with a sampled vocal by dancer/ therapist Gabrielle Roth, talking about dancing as sacred, as a way to 'connect to the deepest part of the self'.
Stella came out on 12" in various versions on Brainiak. A year later Ultramarine released an album- Every Man And Woman Is A Star- again with mixing and studio assistance from Colin James, the recording split between London and Brussels. They took inspiration from folk music (although those influences were more obviously to fore on United Kingdoms a couple of years later) but also from bleep techno and hip hop and the anything goes spirit of 1990/1991. The pastoral/ ambient house/ Balearica of the album fits right in with the rest and the best of that year. The 1991 version of Stella, Stella Connects, is longer, running at nine minutes.
At record label LTM's Bandcamp page there's an expanded and companion version of Every Man And Woman Is A Star, different versions and remixes (by Sweet Exorcist, Spooky, Coco Steel and Lovebomb), a live track from Glastonbury in 1993, a US version of Bunnmyen sampling Weird Gear and an edit of Stella Connects plus various other companion pieces. You can listen and buy here. Many thanks to reader Blureu for the tip off. Highly recommended.
