since my recent ‘trip hop’ outing, it has been interesting to see the ego massage stats for the site.
and, against all expectation, the demand on the regular fries track has easily outdone anything else i have posted in recent times.
so could it be that after years of randomness, i have found the real wants and desires of the ireallylovemusic subscribers ?
so, with that in mind, and possibly an indication as to the current playlist that’s dominating my world, i decided to dust down a skylab track or two.
despite only having a handful of releases, skylab are becoming one of my all time favourite bands.
a collective that incorporated howie b, the mo’wax associated production team, major force west, with the whole thing being steered through the galaxy by uk based dj matt ducasse and vocalist deborah sanders.
the whole band was always a puzzle to me, and to be honest, seeing as they existed in pre-internet days i never really understood what/why/where the whole deal was all about, but with hindsight the music often sounds like the various members involved just met up in a studio, jammed for a few hours using whatever was lying around at the time, and then edited/remixed various components into the final form.
even in ’94 the music sounded majestic, timeless and organic, and i easily succumbed to the debut album, #1.
yes, indulgent, meandering, and lacking in focus, but that was the whole point.
this was music to just let yourself loose and drift off too.
the album was followed up by an ep, oh! featuring remixes (sabres of paradise being one notable example) and extra loveliness.
and there the story stopped.
i remember reading a scathing review of the bands follow up album, only for the album to remain unfound for years to come.
well that was the case until a couple of years ago.
randomly digging through the bargain bin cast offs i spotted a clear jewel case with skylab printed onto the plastic, a pink cardboard inlay, and a pink cd with skylab 2 printed onto the cd.
joy joy joy.
i searched for details, but couldn’t find anything so just kicked back and wallowed in my good fortune. as to be expected, the music was a continuation of #1: trippy, out there, and rather special, sitting perfectly alongside releases by amorphous androgynous.
then discussions with another interested party indicated that actually the album proper was released and even available, but with more tracks than the promo version !
time for closure.
i sourced the full release and all has become clear(er).
it seems that the promo edition i found was actually a cd version of the vinyl edition with a different sequence, slightly revised versions of tracks, and in one case, an exclusive track that never featured on the final cd version, bunny castle.
so, without further ado, here is that track in all its glory – unscratched.
for 7 minutes, i suggest you take the phone off the hook, disconnect any gadgets of distraction and just succumb to the psych beauty of skylab, where serene vocals, spaced out atmospherics, and even a misplaced angry rock guitar solo all make for a perfect antidote to the pressures of the modern world.
mp3 : bunny castle