Disco Inferno: please help me out

Ian Crause IS Barbara Woodhouse in Ol' Yeller

What really still intrigues/amazes me is that we're almost ten years on from DI Go Pop and the associated records and that while all the equipment that the band so painstakingly used and the potential sounds and approaches they came up with can now be collected and duplicated on a laptop without a worry, I have yet to hear the band that really approaches their style and sound outside of the Avalanches. I think the sense of limitations turning into a forcing of themselves to try something different/more may well mean that DI will end up being unique, but we'll see.

Also, cheers to everyone who has contacted me about the EPs. :-) I am always happy to share and have already burned a slew of copies, and will be responding in e-mail shortly. This is something I just always end up doing on a regular basis because there doesn't seem to be any other resource for them or interest in rereleasing them -- the Aus/NZ crew who I met last year will remember me slinging around copies like there was no tomorrow!

I guess it's nice in one respect - maybe someone will yet do this - the Lord knows music could do with an injection of excitement at the moment.

Ned - I will force feed myself "DI go pop" all week. I had it on this morning and started to like the last couple of tracks.

Every time I listen to the extended instrumental beginning I am convinced I am hearing the most beautiful music in the world. And that just makes what Crause is singing all the more amazing.

1. where did i go wrong (mix 1)
2. drowned out
3. untitled
4. keep it together
5. swing
6. where did i go wrong (mix 2)

they do sound like outtakes, i.e. perhaps not entirely finished, and the sound quality isn't great. sadly i don't have enough web space to host the 6 songs, but i can upload 2 at the time.

i hope this works (limited bandwidth) -

http://homepage.mac.com/san_micho/Drowned_Out.mp3
http://homepage.mac.com/san_micho/Where_Did_I_Go_Wrong.mp3

(many thanks to rf, who i hope won't mind i post these.)

It's possible to get all of their stuff off Soulseek, and I recommend the early 'In Debt' era stuff as well, though it's no indication of the amazing stuff that was to come. I would buy all their stuff if I could ever find it.

stuff is the word of the day.

I am evil, EVIL! ;-)

The Five EPs:

1. Summer's Last Sound
2. Love Stepping Out
3. From the Devil to the Deep Blue Sea
4. A Rock to Cling To
5. The Last Dance
6. DI Go Pop
7. The Long Dance
8. Scattered Showers
9. Second Language
10. The Atheist's Burden
11. At the End of the Line
12. A Little Something
13. It's a Kid's World
14. A Night on the Tiles
15. Lost in Fog

Oh, Cozen, and if you've got a spare copy of that laying around, ya know, we can probably arrange something...

I cannot understand why this band hasn't been canonized. Is it just a case of wrong place/wrong time? Are people really that cloth-eared? Their records gush genius, almost flauntingly.

Well also keep in mind they were barely PUBLICIZED. The only reason I heard about them at all was strictly the UK press, specifically Melody Maker thanks to Simon Price, Simon Reynolds and David Stubbs (and Neil Kulkarni now that I think about it -- gave "Second Language" single of the week). In Debt fell out of print in the UK after Che collapsed and only half emerged in the States on the Coctails' label of all things, DI Go Pop did get a near simultaneous release sorta on Bar-None in 1994 here and that's how I ended up interviewing Crause (and WHY THE FUCK CAN'T I FIND THE TAPE DAMMIT but that's another story), but that was about it, they never toured and didn't make much of a splash. You really had to know who they were by digging, and they just missed out of a potential net buzz by a few years when the technology to share music got suitably entrenched.

Are you SURE that's not the wrong way around?

"far defter" though?

It's an excerpt from a longer, unpublished piece, so I think context might explain the ending (I'd have to go back and check). Still, there's the idea that they found what one of their sources of inspiration could not, that they made it actually work.

That was a cool article. I'm delighted when anyone appreciates Sparkle In The Rain as well.

Does anyone have any idea how I might get in touch with Ian Crause? I can't find an offical myspace page. Does one exist? There's something I need to tell him. Please.

At LONG last I have finally found the interview I did with Ian Crause back in 1994. Seriously, this tape had been eluding me forever. I'll be digitizing it and figuring out how best to share in as part of a larger project; more details soon.

he said 4 months ago...

He said indeed. The larger project is forthcoming.

Does anyone know where I could get the five e.p.s in v0? Been looking for years..

what is v0? i can send you flacs or something if you want.

what is v0?

I'm desperately after the 'Last Dance' and 'Second Language' EP's in lossless if anyone can help. I have 'Second Language' on vinyl and I gave up the hope of ever finding an original copy of the 'Last Dance' EP a while back. Any help would be eternally appreciated.

did the person who was getting their logo tattood on themselves ever show any pictorial eveidence?

i vaguely remember seeing a pic?

Now I have the compilation I am selling my original CDs of the five EPs. If you're interested they're here:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/njsouthall/m.html?_trksid=p4340.l2562

Bump. A couple of people are watching these; I've just dropped the Buy It Now prices.

A gentle bump.

Zero bids still!

Couple of watchers though. I will post to the US for an ILXor, btw.

alright.. which ilxor outbidded me?

^_____^

Holy crap those EPs have plummeted in value. I remember Last Dance would set you back like 80 bucks.

Sorry ilxor. I'm the guilty party. Don't hold it against me.

I heard DI for the first time about 4 or 5 years ago. In my search for the EP's I was initially lucky in finding the 'Second Language' new on vinyl from a Amazon marketplace seller for about £8 new. Not long after that I was fortunate enough to stumble upon what must have been warehouse finds of 'Summers Last Sound' and 'In Debt' for dirt cheap on CD via eBay. I then found a copy of 'A Rock to Cling To' pretty cheap on Amazon second hand. After that I managed to get a copy of 'It's a Kids World' on wax for about £10. 'The Last Dance' was by far the most difficult to track down. I searched high and low for years to no avail. If it wasn't for the formal release of the 5 Eps compilation and Sick Mouthy's decision to sell his EP's I doubt I'd ever have found it. Does any one have any idea of what kind of quantity was pressed of the EP's in the first place? It really can't have been much.

I did manage to score myself a copies of 'Open Doors, Closed Windows', the 'Science' EP and 'D.I go Pop' on vinyl on the way along. The latter in particular seems to be neigh on impossible to find.

I then bought a copy of the '5 EP's' on release date and felt a bit silly for all my desperate efforts. Still, part of me felt committed to the cause.

^^ sounds like you're far more committed to the cause than i am. props for beating me by $1 or so per disc! ..... i too stumbled across summer's last sound and a rock to cling to CDs for something ridiculous, like $3 apiece some cheap local undervalued pricing... snapped those up quick. i'll get the rest someday. cheers!

I just love that they're all back now in some form. Out of my hands completely, at last.

maybe i should eBay my Ned Raggett-penned CDr copy..... what's it worth, i wonder? ;D

Great recent interview and feature on The Quietus: http://thequietus.com/articles/07144-disco-inferno-interview

http://www.factmag.com/2012/10/29/fact-mix-354-disco-inferno/

Feeling chuffed and perhaps a little smug to have picked up 12"s in good condition of A Rock To Cling To, The Last Dance and It's A Kid's World for £2.50 each from the usually very sharp local second hand dealer.

Fantastic score! If he's usually very sharp there's no need to feel smug imo. No one's perfect.

Indeed. Meantime, check another thread revival shortly...

wow, I've never even seen these on vinyl.

D.I. Go Pop on vinyl. Please. Please. Please.

Yeah I was just going to post that. Would love to own D.I. Go Pop and Technicolour on vinyl.

A quick note that Rocket Girl are rereleasing In Debt, with a formerly unreleased cut:

https://rocketgirl.co.uk/label/release/rgirl114

https://rocketgirl.co.uk/label/release/rgirl114LP

I like the new cover art!

Yeah that's a neat way to acknowledge the past while doing something different. Same sleeve designer as well.

more of a collector's item

tho emigre is in my top 10 disco songs

yeah looking forward to this even though I have it on cd and everything else.

yes but you don't have "in the cold" because it's an unreleased track! unless it's on youtube or something. I haven't checked.

In Debt is their best album.

https://www.mixcloud.com/neilkulkarni5/a-new-nineties-1994-uk-edition-volume-1/

^ A nice mix. Slight shame all the jungle tracks are from the same compilation I believe, rather than a bit more varied. https://www.discogs.com/Various-Drum-Bass-Selection-2/release/97952

I'll stop my DJ snarking now ;)

I did enjoy that mix ... I have to confess it inspired me to make my own compilation from the same era (Insides, Disco Inferno, Spoonfed Hybrid, Acacia etc).

Snarking is okay.

Not sure if this has been posted anywhere else already. I just came across pre-orders on Amazon for vinyl reissues of DI Goes Pop (out on Jan 26) and Technicolor (out on Feb 23). Looking on the One Little Indian, they seem to have slightly different release dates but they are confirmed as coming soon. Amazing news!

dope

Excellent news!

Ordered DI Goes Pop it from One Little Indian as soon as I saw the post, and it has just arrived.

Wow! It still says the vinyl will be dispatched in February on the site. I wish I could get a copy here in America that quickly.

Have you played it yet? Interested to know how it sounds. Hope they've done a good job with these.

I saw this post Ned shared on FB about OLI fucking over A.R. Kane, and that the vinyl re-issue of '69' is ripped from a CD. Does anyone know about D.I's relationship with OLI, or the provenance of the vinyl re-ish?

https://www.facebook.com/arkaneuk/posts/1575310215879208

@olirecords claim to have purchased our entire catalog from @RoughTradeRecs for a few pennies, in perpetuity, w'out our consent knowledge - they refuse to let the rights revert to the band - not so much #MeToo more #MyArtToo #ArtisticSlavery U ever had a powerful label rip u off?

— A.R.Kane (@InfoKane) January 2, 2018

Ugh about A.R.Kane and OLI.

I've not had the time to listen to the LP yet, on the weekend perhaps.

OLI seemingly bought up the rights to a job lot of rough trade stuff some years back