since my recent ‘trip hop’ outing, it has been interesting to see the ego massage stats for the site.<\/p>\n
and, against all expectation, the demand on the regular fries<\/strong> track has easily outdone anything else i have posted in recent times.<\/p>\n so could it be that after years of randomness, i have found the real wants and desires of the ireallylovemusic subscribers ?<\/p>\n 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<\/strong> track or two.<\/p>\n despite only having a handful of releases, skylab<\/strong> are becoming one of my all time favourite bands.<\/p>\n a collective that incorporated howie b<\/strong>, the mo’wax<\/u> associated production team, major force west<\/strong>, with the whole thing being steered through the galaxy by uk based dj matt ducasse<\/strong> and vocalist deborah sanders. <\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n even in ’94 the music sounded majestic, timeless and organic, and i easily succumbed to the debut album, #1<\/font>.<\/p>\n yes, indulgent, meandering, and lacking in focus, but that was the whole point.<\/p>\n this was music to just let yourself loose and drift off too.<\/p>\n the album was followed up by an ep, oh!<\/font> featuring remixes (sabres of paradise<\/strong> being one notable example) and extra loveliness.<\/p>\n and there the story stopped.<\/p>\n i remember reading a scathing review of the bands follow up album, only for the album to remain unfound for years to come.<\/p>\n well that was the case until a couple of years ago.<\/p>\n randomly digging through the bargain bin cast offs i spotted a clear jewel case with skylab<\/strong> printed onto the plastic, a pink cardboard inlay, and a pink cd with skylab 2<\/strong> printed onto the cd.<\/p>\n joy joy joy.<\/p>\n 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:<\/font> trippy, out there, and rather special, sitting perfectly alongside releases by amorphous androgynous.<\/strong><\/p>\n 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 !<\/p>\n time for closure.<\/p>\n i sourced the full release and all has become clear(er).<\/p>\n 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<\/font>.<\/p>\n so, without further ado, here is that track in all its glory – unscratched.<\/p>\n 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<\/strong>, 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.<\/p>\n