Monday, November 24, 2008

V/A-SUBTERRANEAN MODERN, LP, 1979, USA




Where exactly has this been your whole life? How one of the cornerstone post punk documents of the entire era (every bit the West Coast equivalent of No New York) could have remained out of print for so long is certainly a mystery, and it's absence from the sharity blogosphere is every bit as baffling. Happily, we can now remedy this historical oversight and reintroduce the world to this masterpiece, housed in a suitably eye-popping sleeve by the legendary Gary Panter. From Chrome to The Residents and from MX-80 Sound to Tuxedomoon, none of the parties involved in this epochal Ralph Records compendium should require much in the way of introductions here. Suffice it to say that each contributes exclusive material and that in most cases (excluding perhaps The Residents) said exclusive material remains among the finest extant in each of these maverick unit's respective discographies. Let that sink in.

Track listing:

Chrome-Anti-Fade
Chrome-In San Francisco
Chrome-Meet You In The Subway
MX-80 Sound-Lady In Pain
MX-80 Sound-In San Francisco
MX-80 Sound-Possessed
The Residents-In San Francisco
The Residents-Dumbo, The Clown (Who Loved Christmas)
The Residents-Is He Really Bringing Roses (The Replacement)
The Residents-Time's Up
Tuxedomoon-In San Francisco
Tuxedomoon-Everything You Want
Tuxedomoon-Waterfront Seat

Get it via Sharebee Here

Get it via Rapidshare Here

***NOTE: THERE'S A MIRRORED MEDIAFIRE LINK IN THE COMMENT FIELD*** 

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, as much as I love this record and as much as I appreciate your blog: This could be found at several other places, eg at autoescuela.blogia.com (since January 2007).

vdoandsound said...

oldskool-try googling it and see what pops up for you. You may indeed have run across it somewhere in your travels through various blogs, but unless a casual google search turns it up, it's not really out there for the taking, is it?

Anonymous said...

OK, a casual google search will not find it -- except yours now :)

frumious bandersnatch said...

Well I had this LP long ago & it's been a very important record to me : I kinda grew up to music listening to this, as it was on heavy rotation on my turntable when I was in my twenties. I've lost it long ago, and it's gonna be a strange trip backward to listen to this again.
Many thanks !!

M— said...

Whatever the discussion about how visible the other recent shares of this one might be, you're spot on the money when you say that for almost all the four bands this is really their definitive moment. The Chrome tracks, particularly, stand right at the cusp between the Half Machine freakouts and the more synth-rock pleasantries of later records. Great share, spread this one far and wide.

BTW, Chrome made a video for Meet You In the Subway: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNjCugzVPqA
... and it looks like Helios is still doing it live: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5tTChVaAPA

Stefan M— @ friendsound.wordpress.com

Tony Renner said...

wow. i had this record back in the day but haven't thought about it in years....

-- tony

Anonymous said...

Well, of course this is landmark "rock" history, and one its best compilations ever made, and a summarize of the SF underground (and its related scenes) of the era.

If anyone don't know about this classic then "you don't know you're Bible" or maybe you're iliterate. If you're new to it then this is your eye opener.

Great to see the pic of the back cover. I used to have this album with two different covers. There was a later edition (not the first one(s), depicted here) made with adjusted colors (it probably had another label color too, if I recall right).

Would be splendid if someone who had the said version of the album could share images.

Anonymous said...

Justement j'ai leur album au mur, la vie vraiment...

Merci et bonne continuation.

Anonymous said...

Oh come now, you heartless bastard. "[E]xcluding perhaps The Residents"? The solo on Time's Up (I think it was) is one of my favorite guitar solos EVER! (so you'd think I'd remember which song it's on).

WaqiKan said...

Thanks for posting this. My copy, still in my record collection, has seen better days. I saw an ad for it when I was in high school in a copy of Bomp! and thought, what the hell? I'll order that. Never regretted the decision, but do wish the album was in better shape today.

Steve Engler said...

Looking forward to hearing this again, thanks much!

Anonymous said...

I've owned the vinyl since 1982 but look forward to the download.

In fact...I remember being in basement used record store, pushing through the used "compilations" section", thinking, is Subterranean Modern in here? And there it was. I happily pulled it out, paying the $3 price. The clerk told me, "Nobody's ever taken that record seriously before."

Chris said...

I agree it was considered a sampler at the time I got it around 82. It was a way for Residents fans not in SF to hear some of the SF sound. One of my favorite records.

al66 said...

Mediafire link for this album:

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?nx4eiu5h6yh12te

JRAC said...

Is there any possibility that you reupload this jewel?
I would appreciate.

Sincerely

JRAC

Wolfgang said...

I don't think so as this wonderful blog is way too long dead now. But I just found out you can find that album (one of my all-time faves) here: http://stahlfabrik.blogspot.com/2018/06/various-subterranean-modern-ralph.html

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