The Aragorn Ballroom Orcestra

Boogie... Beyond Your Imagination! A bonkers disco version of Leonard Rosenman's Main Theme & Helm's Deep cues from the score of Ralph Bakshi's animated version of The Lord Of The Rings. Well, it was 1978 after all...

dl

Georges Vert

Lush nu-disco synth grooves arriving June 25th from Georges Vert on Cafe Kaput.

Brian Bennett - Voyage 7"

I vaguely remember reading an article one time (in the Idler maybe or the now long defunct Easy Magazine) about the joys of charity shop vinyl digging. It was there I learned the diggers golden rule that you should never pass over anything with a spaceship on the cover. I never have and I've rarely been disappointed with what I took home with me. The album this particular 45 is taken from is the library music classic, Brian Bennett's - Fantasia (Bruton BRI 10), which is actually a re-package of the Voyage album proper with all the tracks given new titles. Well worth tracking down if you can find it. 

In the meantime why not go ahead and programme your Ro-Butler 3000 to mix you that second pan galactic gargle blaster, turn off the artificial gravity and enjoy this exciting, luxurious, if brief trip into discoid funk. You've earned it space cadet.

dl

Stereo Test Record mix

This superb mix comes from 2007 (I assume) but is new to me and comes courtesy of The Horse Drawn Zeppelin. I know nothing of God's Boyfriend and Go Away Records seems to have gone away for good, but they left this sonic gem behind for us all to enjoy. I'm not going to list all the 150 odd tracks included in this mix, instead, please peruse the image below:

"STEREO TEST RECORD provides a means for the demanding listener to check audio reproduction equipment without the need for expensive and complicated instruments. The sounds on this record are the final products of years of research and development of stereophonic recording techniques by 73 artists contributing over 150 compositions. 

# Test your stereo band levels with John Carpenter

# Check the channel orientation with Giorgio Moroder and BBC Radiophonic Workshop alumni

# Perform a phasing test with Eddie Warner, Klaus Schulze and Alan Hawkshaw 

# Envelope yourself in the sound of Raymond Scott's newly designed and manufactured electronic music devices and systems

All of the tests within are inter-dependent, and it is therefore suggested that it be played through once completely before attempting to interpret the results which may be obtained from it. 

This record is sponsored by Dübreq, makers of the Stylophone, a revolution in electronic music performance, introduced here by Rolf Harris.

These DYNAMIC DIRECTIONAL STEREO recordings are capable of bringing to you the most realistic width and depth plus the altogether thrilling addition of the actual movement of musical sounds in space - DIRECTIONAL STEREO EFFECTS.

Please download responsibly.

dl

Denton & Cook - Tomorrow's World 7"

TW Looks To The 80's: An Illustrated Guide.

Richard Denton & Martin Cook - Tomorrow's World b/w Inside Story (1980). The sound of your future yesterday. An early electro/space disco masterpiece. The b-side could not be more different, a lovely reflective pastoral piece for flute and acoustic guitar, akin to the music often used to introduce Programmes for Schools and Colleges around that time.

dl

A rather tastefully done white label edit of the TW Theme:

Space Invaded

A sort of sister lp to BBC Records and Tapes' Space Themes, sharing a couple of tracks and  more sleeve notes from Mat Irvine. This album features one of the all time greatest sig tunes of all time - Tomorrow's World by Richard Denton and Martin Cook. Plenty of other good stuff too.

mmmm... brain planet

dl

Ichisan and Nakova - Space 1999

Nostromo - Alien

One of my favourite charity shop finds is this 1979 12" disco re-working of Jerry Goldsmith's theme from Alien. It brings back happy memories of reading the paperback, poring over the colour movie stills in the middle, long before I was old enough to actually be allowed to watch the film itself. The B-side is pretty groovy too, the sort of tune that would play well on the jukebox in any seedy space ranger's bar. 

dl