New Romantic Rules was a website I used to visit in the early 2010's which at the time was hosted on Blogger that specialized in things from acts noted for their 1980's hits although there would be entries from decades either side of it.
Controversially, it via server allowed downloads free of charge on the basis of 'research' before being shut down in that form around 2014.
I have been redoing from legal sources a couple of albums I had originally on tape that i got from that site.
1985's Crush album saw OMD continuing in much the same vein as their earliest albums outside Dazzle Ships with the hits Secret, Le femme accident and guitar driven 88 Seconds in Greensboro
1986's The Pacific Age did better for them aided by the smooth Forever Live and Die and We Love You issued in early 1987 while notable track Southern had samples of Dr Luther King's speeches included.
Some of those early downloads used a primitive Mp3 encoder which could sound mushy and lacking in depth while my new versions use Lame which is the best Mp3 encoder out there.
The current version of the site, worth reading for its write ups on artists can be found Here
One certainty is that every few years or so on this blog there will be a Beatles related post even if I don't go into buying boxes of remixed celebratory reissues of albums or singles which been coming out in the last few years.
This as any beatle fan knows was the last issued Studio album although it was recorded before Abbey Road and tied into the film of the same name that originally was supposed to show a band recording in a studio recording new songs but ended up documenting the fractures within the band that lead to their breakup in 1970. That's probably why the original film isn't allowed out on dvd and blu ray - too painful for all still around.
I've been on the look out ever since getting the SHM cd in 2015 of getting a really good original all analogue cut record and recently obtained a copy.
That first sentence was a laugh, new phase-more like last album really but when you have Allan Klein as manager and Phil Spector brought on to make it more commercial you can expect such claims.
One clue for it's original is on the back namely this is a British cut and pressed record from nineteen eighy-one where that green Apple logo changed from red to green, backed in April.
American copies had a red apple logo but this has the "Granny Smith" apple in light green and for those who care has the stamper matrix numbers of YEX 773-3U and YEX 774-4 being cut by one Harry T Moss at Abbey Road.
This copy apart from minor wear to the jacket which to be honest may well of happened to it had I bought it around then, is in excellent plus condition with no wear and dead quiet when the music stops.
It can join my 1979 British Abbey Road for preferred stereo only releases as I generally like the older albums in mono having the complete all analogue mono reissues from 2014.
In June we talked about a bunch of Super Audio cds that had come out including a couple by the Canadian blues rock band, the Guess Who.
They were not the only releases in this format issued by Vocalian Dutton of Watford, England for they had issued the eighth and ninth albums by the group released in 1973 and 4 respectively on stereo and quadraphonic lp and tape.
They feature Clap For The Wolfman from 1974 and 1973's Glamour Boy singles.
This last week in a bunch of releases it was announced another pair of albums were to be issued.
Issued in 1970, the third and forth albums, American Woman and Share The Land were the most popular by the group containing both hit singles of the same titles amongst others and are musically their strongest release full of invention.
Originally these two albums whilst issued in stereo were only issued on quadraphonic tape with its technical restrictions so this issue marks the first time the quad version comes out in full quality apart from all four albums quad digital debuts some fourty odd years after being last issued.
The week I think was characterized by the heroic activities of the emergency services fighting to prevent the town of Whalley Bridge, Derbyshire from being wiped off the map by flood waters, not that some places near here faced risks in individual areas.
Here, we saw an influx of various Butterflies, such as about seven on one bunch of lilacs locally when I was out walking earlier on in the week and it has kept up like that to the point I counted a good number only last night in our front garden.
The combination of warm and rain has also lead to the blackberry bushes here growing to the point they are intruding on the pavements, well covered in fruit.
I have been remaking a couple of Mp3 albums I originally downloaded in late 2012 from various 'hush hush' sites which didn't sound so good while listening to my collection of OMD albums on my personal digital music player.
Dazzle Ships wasn't well received upon release in April 1983 as it mixed use of sound effects such as radio identification tunes and had rather less vocal harmonies than its predecessor and featured the single Genetic Engineering.
Well, I'm back and while the 'Littles' part of being away should be on the next edition of said blog, on this blog we just acknowledge its existence and move on to the extent to which I have fully developed adult side which isn't generally the case.
With some concerns, I did pack the 'big camera' and a couple of Zoom lenses with me carefully sandwiched between the clothes because one thing that crosses both sides of me is photography in a more high school plus level and 'picture taking' on the other and a camera that affords more control and range within the focal lengths allows for more creative pictures apart from higher optical quality.
That meant I was able to take pictures like this with the advantages of image stabilization where I normally struggle with 'long lenses' and even against the light that I feel show the kind of tranquil feeling I had while out exploring on foot.
Deliberately using a longer focal length and a wider aperture just softens the background sufficient while leaving enough information for you to take in.
