Category: Missing in action

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The Durutti Column – ‘Lips That Would Kiss (Form Prayers To Broken Stone)’ Belgian CD (Factory Benelux, FBN 2 CD, 1991)

From the vantage point of 2026 and the myriad of Durutti Column re-releases that we have been fortunate to have available this century, you might wonder why it’s worth dwelling on a compilation from 1991, ‘Lips That Would Kiss (Form Prayers To Broken Stone)’. And well you might, since everything on this CD is readily available nowadays. But… this was one of those very early CD purchases of mine once I had finally decided to adopt the format and was quite something at the time with its combination of familiar single releases, compilation album odds and ends, all gathered up along with previously unreleased tracks of the same early period from an abandoned album that made way for 1984’s ‘Without Mercy’ instead.

The Durutti Column - 'Lips That Would Kiss (Form Prayers To Broken Stone)' 1991 Factory Benelux compilation CD front cover design
^ The Durutti Column – ‘Lips That Would Kiss (Form Prayers To Broken Stone)’ 1991 Factory Benelux compilation CD front cover design

Originally released in 1991, this was a vital CD purchase at the time and was basically drawn from the following sources that were released throughout the 1980s, though recorded between 1980 through 1984;

  • Single releases
  • Various artists compilation album tracks
  • The abandoned ‘Short Stories For Pauline’ album.

These original sources are examined in much greater detail below… and the tracklist notes those tracks which have multiple titles from their different releases.
Continue reading “The Durutti Column – ‘Lips That Would Kiss (Form Prayers To Broken Stone)’ Belgian CD (Factory Benelux, FBN 2 CD, 1991)”

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Athletico Spizz 80 – ‘Central Park’ UK 7″ (A&M Records, AMS 7566, 1980)

‘Central Park’ was initially a non-album 7″ single release by Athletico Spizz 80 in late 1980. if you are not familiar with Atheltico Spizz 80 then you almost certainly be familiar with Spizzenergi and their single ‘Where’s Captain Kirk?’, as it was just about everywhere at one point – famously the very first chart topper of the indie charts, when launched in early 1980 (though that single’s release hailed from 1979).

Athletico Spizz 80 - 'Central Park' UK 7" front cover design
^ Athletico Spizz 80 – ‘Central Park’ UK 7″ front cover design

Continue reading “Athletico Spizz 80 – ‘Central Park’ UK 7″ (A&M Records, AMS 7566, 1980)”

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The Sisterhood – ‘Gift’ UK re-issue CD (Cadiz Music, CADIZCD248, 2023)

A previous post looked at the opening salvo from The Sisterhood, the ‘Giving Ground’ single released in early 1986. That same year the full on attack in the form of ‘Gift’ was released in the summer months. It has now returned to active duty with a long-promised re-release on CD, after many, many years in the wilderness.

The Sisterhood – ‘Gift’ UK re-issue CD (Cadiz Music, CADIZCD248, 2023) - front cover design
^ The Sisterhood – ‘Gift’ UK re-issue CD (Cadiz Music, CADIZCD248, 2023) – front cover design

Continue reading “The Sisterhood – ‘Gift’ UK re-issue CD (Cadiz Music, CADIZCD248, 2023)”

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Side by side: The Sun And The Moon ‘Alive Not Dead’ French/UK EP (Midnight Music DONG 44 / DONG 44CD, 1989)

The last release by the short-lived The Sun And The Moon while they remained a working entity, ‘Alive: Not Dead’ is a wonderful four track EP that pointed in a positive direction for the quality of the band’s future work, only for that future to fail.

The Sun And The Moon - 'Alive: Not Dead' 12" EP and CD front cover designs
^ The Sun And The Moon – ‘Alive: Not Dead’ 12″ EP and CD front cover designs

By this stage of the band’s arc they had left the Geffen label and found a home for this EP on the indie label Midnight Music, licensed from Glass Pyramid. Released in 12” and CD single formats, four quality tracks, one of which is the band’s spirited take on Alice Cooper’s ‘Elected’, complete with short dialogue snippet from an episode of ‘The Prisoner’ television series. Continue reading “Side by side: The Sun And The Moon ‘Alive Not Dead’ French/UK EP (Midnight Music DONG 44 / DONG 44CD, 1989)”

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Robert Fripp – ‘1999 (Soundscapes – Live In Argentina)’ UK CD (Discipline Global Mobile, DGM 9402 2, 1994)

‘1999 (Soundscapes – Live In Argentina)’ is a selection of recordings documenting Robert Fripp’s return to active service (after an 11 year gap) of performing live, improvisational, sonically challenging yet ultimately rewarding instrumental pieces that evolve and build over the construction of initial loops. This technique of Fripp’s that had been used and documented on earlier live performances (and releases) went by the name of ‘Frippertronics’. From this release onwards, they would use the new description of ‘Soundscapes’, acknowledging the advance in the sonic capabilities that the new technical set up these pieces were structured with would afford.

Robert Fripp '1999 (Soundscapes - Live In Argentina)' UK CD front cover design
^ Robert Fripp ‘1999 (Soundscapes – Live In Argentina)’ UK CD front cover design

When I say sonically challenging, I mean it. Over the next few years and beyond, a steady series of ‘soundscapes’ releases would appear, some are gentler and contemplative mood, some foreboding, unsettling, bleak, some veering off into digital signal processing dial twiddling randomness. ‘1999’ (both the album as a whole and title track in particular) started off in an abrasive and dark a manner as any of those to follow – pieces may begin in an almost silent, minimal fashion but gradually build and loop into a towering aural embodiment of turmoil brought to life. Continue reading “Robert Fripp – ‘1999 (Soundscapes – Live In Argentina)’ UK CD (Discipline Global Mobile, DGM 9402 2, 1994)”