While I download most of my music these days, I still enjoy hunting out and collecting physical media for my favourite artists. After all, it’s nice to have something to actually hold for your money and more importantly, singles and EP’s tend to contain exclusive mixes or B-Sides that aren’t always available on places like Youtube. I still haven’t seen the Talvin Singh mix of Blondie’s ‘Maria’ on Youtube for example.
Anyway, I’ve recently been getting into old-school 90’s Trance, Dance and Electronic music and discovering more types of sounds in general that I absolutely cannot get enough of. The added bonus of buying used CD’s in 2018 is that nobody wants them and so there are some scandalous bargains to be had that represent insane value for money. My recent pick-ups for instance.
Chicane – Saltwater | CD Single (1999) | Price Paid: £3.99
Tracklist (* = standout track):
- Original Radio Edit
- Original Mix*
- Mothership Mix
Maire Brennan (of Clannad) really makes this track with her beautiful, haunting vocals but it’s also an outstanding Trance track in general, the kind that takes you on a bit of a journey.
Chicane – Offshore | CD Single (1996) | Price Paid: £1.69
Tracklist (* = standout track):
- Disco Citizens Edit
- Original Version
- Disco Citizens Remix*
Another classic, old-school Trance anthem. The Disco Citizens Remix is fantastic.
Way Out West – Ajare | CD Single (1997) | Price Paid: £2-3
Track List (* = standout track):
- Radio Edit
- Way Out West remix
- Brothers in Rhythm club mix
- Original Version*
- Matthew Roberts Cloud 10 mix
Sometimes you find or re-discover old tracks through the strangest means. For example, I was watching some old ITV Formula 1 highlights videos on Youtube and they’d used ‘Ajare’ as the backing track for the end-of-season footage montage back in the day. The ‘original’ version is my pick but all of the mixes are worth sampling. Also, a reminder of the fantastic value we used to get back in 90’s with CD singles such as this that have five tracks. 99p for a single track today is still nothing to complain about but we certainly were spoilt with singles, especially factoring in manufacturing/distribution costs.
Apollo Four Forty – Gettin’ High On Your Own Supply | CD Album (1999) | Price Paid: £2.50
Track List (* = standout track):
- Are we a rock band or what?
- Stop the Rock
- Crazee Horse
- Cold Rock the Mic
- Lost in Space (Theme)
- For Forty Days
- Heart Go Boom
- The Machine in the Ghost
- Blackbeat*
- Stadium Parking Lot
- Yo! Future
- High on Your Own Supply
- The Perfect Crime
Electronic music is another genre I have been getting into recently and Apollo Four Forty is one of those seemingly forgotten groups that produced some great stuff in the 90’s. £2.49 for this thirteen-track album was a steal and there is quite a lot of variety in the ‘sound’ of Gettin’ High On Your Own Supply. ‘Blackbeat’ is my favourite track from the album but there are several big hitters on here such as ‘Stop the Rock’ and the theme from the movie, Lost in Space. I will definitely be looking out for more Apollo Four Forty albums.
Mortal Kombat Original Motion Picture Soundtrack | CD Album (1995) | Price Paid: £2-3
Track List (* = standout track):
- A Taste of things to come
- Goodbye (by Gravity Kills)
- Juke-Joint Jezebel [Giorgio Moroder Metropolis Mix] (by KMFDM)
- Unlearn [Josh Wink’s Live Mix] (by Psykosonic)
- Control [Juno Reactor Instrumental] (by Traci Lords)
- Halcyon + On + On (by Orbital)*
- Utah Saints Take On The Theme From Mortal Kombat (by Utah Saints)
- The Invisible (by G//Z/R)
- Zero Signal (by Fear Factory)
- Burn (by Sister Machine Gun)
- Blood & Fire [Out of the Ashes Mix] (by Type O Negative)
- I Reject (by Bile)
- Twist the Knife [Slowly] (by Napalm Death)
- What U See/We All Bleed Red (by Mutha’s Day Out)
- Techno Syndrome [7″ Mix] (by The Immortals)
- Goro VS Art
- Demon Warriors/Final Kombat
I have to admit that I bought this CD purely for Orbital’s ‘Halcyon + On +On’ which is an amazing track that takes you on a journey and is very absorbing. I haven’t listened to the rest of the album yet but I have been assured that there is some “heavy shit” in there. For the price I paid for a seventeen-track CD, I had to buy it rather than just download Orbital’s track.
Unfiltered Opinion 