Foreign Press- Downpour 7'' & Climbing 12''

Some classic post-punk on the slab this afternoon, half of this post which comes as a generous donation from Jeffo!, a good chum, stellar dj, and otherwise obscure expert here in the heart of New York City. He'll be spinning a set at this week's weekly Wierd Records night, if anyone's in town.

That said, today's band is Foreign Press, a UK based post-punk act originally formed in 1978 umder the name Emergency. Within a year, the band shifted their sound from a more standard punk aesthetic to incorporate more post-punk leanings, inspired by the likes of Joy Division, Magazine, and several of the Factory Records bands. The band would even bring Joy Division's devoted manager, Rob Gretton, in for production on their first 7'', uploaded below.

Foreign Press would release four singles before their demise in the mid-1980s, exploring a more commercial, yet no less gloom-ridden direction over time. For your listening pleasure, I've uploaded their first two singles, both their 1979 debut 7'' (Downpour), as well as their excellent 1982 follow up, Climbing. Let's get down to the nitty gritty, shall we?



Foreign Press- Downpour 7''
1. Downpour
2. Crossfire
3. Behind the Glass



Foreign Press- Climbing 12''
1. Climbing
2. Remember You
3. Open Secret

*download both here*

Naturally, these two records are long out of print, but there seems to be a copy of the Climbing 12'' on Ebay right this very second. If you're hip to it, happy bidding!

Otherwise, no new reuploads just yet- haven't been able to devote enough time to the blog's backlog. Hopefully this week I can get all the old posts back up and running, so please continue to be patient in the interim. Keep your eyes peeled, however, for several posts to follow this week...

Foreign Press- Downpour 7'' & Climbing 12''

Some classic post-punk on the slab this afternoon, half of this post which comes as a generous donation from Jeffo!, a good chum, stellar dj, and otherwise obscure expert here in the heart of New York City. He'll be spinning a set at this week's weekly Wierd Records night, if anyone's in town.

That said, today's band is Foreign Press, a UK based post-punk act originally formed in 1978 umder the name Emergency. Within a year, the band shifted their sound from a more standard punk aesthetic to incorporate more post-punk leanings, inspired by the likes of Joy Division, Magazine, and several of the Factory Records bands. The band would even bring Joy Division's devoted manager, Rob Gretton, in for production on their first 7'', uploaded below.

Foreign Press would release four singles before their demise in the mid-1980s, exploring a more commercial, yet no less gloom-ridden direction over time. For your listening pleasure, I've uploaded their first two singles, both their 1979 debut 7'' (Downpour), as well as their excellent 1982 follow up, Climbing. Let's get down to the nitty gritty, shall we?



Foreign Press- Downpour 7''
1. Downpour
2. Crossfire
3. Behind the Glass



Foreign Press- Climbing 12''
1. Climbing
2. Remember You
3. Open Secret

*download both here*

Naturally, these two records are long out of print, but there seems to be a copy of the Climbing 12'' on Ebay right this very second. If you're hip to it, happy bidding!

Otherwise, no new reuploads just yet- haven't been able to devote enough time to the blog's backlog. Hopefully this week I can get all the old posts back up and running, so please continue to be patient in the interim. Keep your eyes peeled, however, for several posts to follow this week...

7'' grab bag no. 2

Sorry for the delay here, folks...but to make up for it, here's another one of those 7'' grab bag posts, in which i've zipped up four singles for your listening pleasure, including one request from an Australian chum. Here's the information and a quick blurb about each 7''.



SPK- No More 7'' (1979)
1. No More
2. Contact
3. Germanik

This is the very first release by Australian industrial collective SPK, and certainly one of their most primitive and direct. This one was a limited run of 200 copies, and the a-side has yet to appear on a proper CD release, though both 'Contact' and 'Germanik' are featured on their Auto-Da-Fé LP.



Metal Urbain- Panik 7'' (1977)
1. Panik
2. Lady Coca Cola

One of the very first synthpunk bands...French origins. This is their first 7'' single, but most of their earlier work has since been collected on the Anarchy In Paris compilation.



Lars Falk- TV Eye 7'' (1985)
1. TV Eye
2. Doors

Lars Falk is one of the ex-contributing members of Swedish coldwave act Twice a Man, who's previously featured here. Though it shares the name with the Stooges classic, the a-side is an original number.



Where's Lisse?- Talk Takes Too Long 7'' (1981)
1. Talk Takes Too Long
2. You Stole My Gun

There's something charming about this otherwise rickety and rough record from this British four piece. This is one of two releases (they followed this with an equally scarce 12'' single), and is chock full of early post-punk energy. EDIT: cover scan provied by Rudeboy Noah! Thanks a ton!

*download all four here*

Pink Military- 'Blood & Lipstick' 12'' / 'Did You See Her?' 7''

Today's band rose from the ashes of short lived and seminal anarcho-punk band Big In Japan. Following their breakup in 1978, vocalist Jayne Casey formed post-punk outfit Pink Military.

Originally named Pink Military Stand Alone, the outfit focused on dance rhythms under a somewhat thrashy and hypnotic post-punk aesthetic. The band's output consists of a few lone 12'' releases and one full length record, 1980's Do Animals Believe in God?. Though the core members of the group were Jayne Casey and guitar/keyboardist Nicky Cool, the band would revolve through a few different lineups before disbanding shortly after their full length saw the light of day. Jayne would continue on with another string of collaborators under the name Pink Industry.

For your listening pleasure, I've uploaded two single releases...Both the 1979 Blood & Lipstick 12'' and the slightly later Did You See Her? 7''.

Details:

Blood & Lipstick 12'': 1979
1. Spellbound
2. Blood and Lipstick
3. Clowntown
4. I Cry

*download it here*



Did You See Her? 7'': 1980
1. Did You See Her?
2. Every Day

*download it here*