Vinyl From The Vault

New Order “Sub-culture”

sfilzen — Wed, 07 Oct 2026 17:27:49 +0000

New Order “Sub-culture” 1985. 12″ single, Factory Records. The plain black sleeve was how it was released – I doctored up the image a bit so there was some idea as to what the song is. The track was the second, and final, single from New Order’s 1985 LP Low-Life. It went to #63 on the UK single chart but all the way to #1 on the UK dance chart. In the US “Sub-culture” went to #35 on the club/dance chart. This US-release of the 12″ single has three mixes: Side A the very long Remix; Side B the even longer “Subvulture” as well as the radio-friendly length “Sub-culture” (Remix Edit).” All remixed by John Robie whose versions took a turn from the album version into a very club, 80’s electronic dance direction (I personally prefer the album version to all of the remixes). The UK release’s b-side has just one remix, “Dub-vulture,” an instrumental.

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Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark “Archive Vol. 1 (1981-1990)”

sfilzen — Tue, 06 Oct 2026 16:44:08 +0000

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark “Archive Vol. 1 (1981-1990)” limited edition Record Store Day 2026 double-LP release. The highly reflective mirrored cover utterly impossible to photograph (on first attempts it was basically a picture of me taking a selfie). The comp was initially curated as part of the Grammy-nominated 2019 souvenir boxed set and features rarities & b-sides, demos, and alternative mixes from the band’s 1981–1990 era which, according to their Fandom Wiki had until a few years ago been residing “in a vault near Heathrow.” For whatever reason I wasn’t really that into OMD in the 80’s beyond their hits (“If You Leave,” “Enola Gay,” neither of which are on this collection), which is really strange as I was (and still am) gaga for all things 80’s British synthpop and OMD were/are considered one of the best of the genre: they were Britain’s first performing two-piece synthesizer band and have been described as the “original synth-pop duo.” (Wiki). I really did miss out back in the day! The entire album is an excellent representation of the early years of electronic experimentation but my top picks from the first disc include “Dumbomb,” an unreleased song from 1986; “Weekend” from 1985 and the excellently quirky “Cajun Moon” (’86). From the second disc my favorites include the hard-driving, industrial-dance inspired “Guitar Thrash” (a demo recorded in 1982 during the Dazzle Ships sessions); the majestic Kraftwerky “American Venus” (from 1990; from Wiki Fandom “The date would suggest that it was recorded by Andy McCluskey only, after he had split with Paul Humphreys. Since the title refers to an American movie starring Louise Brookes, and part of the treated – and mostly incomprehensible – lyrics mention “Born in Kansas”, the demo can be considered as a very early idea which would lead to the finished track ‘Pandora’s Box.’ In the notes to the Souvenir box set which featured the ‘unreleased archive’ disc, McCluskey states he had no recollection of making the demo”) and the spunky “Dynamo Children” from 1985.

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The Illusion “The Illusion”

sfilzen — Mon, 05 Oct 2026 18:09:27 +0000

The Illusion “The Illusion” 1969. Steed Records. Hard psychedelic rock from Long Island. The Illusion was the band’s debut LP and went to no. 69 in the US. They had one hit single from the album, “Did You See Her Eyes” which went to #32; while most of the record was written by the band members that track is from their producer (and owner of Steed Records) Jeff Barry, known for co-writing other 60’s hits like “Do Wah Diddy Diddy,” “Leader of the Pack,” and “River Deep-Mountain High.” That Illusion hit is one of the strongest tracks on the record but the LP is an overall good 60’s rocker: the band toured with other 60’s heavies like The Who and Jimi Hendrix as well as funksters like Sly and the Family Stone. Besides the swirly acid-psych there is also a fair amount of funk and soul on songs like “Talkin’ Sweet Talkin’ Soul” and parts of “Medley: “Run, Run, Run” / “Willy Gee (Miss Holy Lady).” There’s also some poppy 60’s sunny vibes: “Alone” and parts of “Medley: “Why, Tell Me Why” / “The Real Thing,” the former also has some exotic trippy elements that are quite good. However, I really don’t get the whole medley thing that seemed pretty popular around this time, maybe it had something to do with the radio market but I don’t think either of these medleys were released as singles. The Illusion lasted another couple of years, releasing two more records, before splitting up.

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Lambrini Girls “God’s Country”

sfilzen — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 18:22:01 +0000

Lambrini Girls “God’s Country” 2024. City Slang records, purple vinyl. We saw Lambrini Girls last night at the Vic Theatre in Chicago and it was just as feral and insane as expected. The mosh pit not only was tolerated but was actively encouraged – and sometimes orchestrated – by singer/guitarist Phoebe Lunny. Body passing and pogo’ing abounded. Lambrini Girls (the name I finally made an effort just now to understand: they took their name from Lambrini, a brand of pear wine described by a British daily as “aimed at the undiscriminating female drinker” and by Phoebe Lunny as “toilet wine for sluts.” (wiki)

The band played “God’s Country” (see my videoclip on Instagram), a single-only release which is backed with “Body of Mine” (which they did not play last night). The rest of their set was a mix of tracks from their 2023 release You’re Welcome including “Mr Lovebomb,” “Help Me I’m Gay” and “Craig David.” From Who Let the Dogs Out (2025) album they performed “Bad Apple,” “Company Culture, “Y0u’re Not From Around Here,” “Cuntology 101” (as a singalong!) and for their last song of the night the always epically awesome “Big Dick Energy.”

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Gino & the Goons and Chinese Junk “Talk Trash With…”

sfilzen — Tue, 29 Sep 2026 16:17:46 +0000

Gino & the Goons and Chinese Junk “Talk Trash With…” 2025. Big Neck Records, red & white marbled vinyl. Split EP of upbeat, snotty garage/punk. Gino & the Goons are from South Carolina and it looks like they’ve been around and releasing albums and singles since 2013. Their side of the split (the Goon Side) is sloppy lo-fi perfection with my top picks the ass-shaking “Nothing At All” and the psychobilly tinged breakneck “Mess You Up.” Chinese Junk is a three-piece from the UK and a bit newer (though definitely not younger: both vocalist/bassist Ben Nuthink and guitarist/vocalist Steve Legend were formerly in Griswalds from the 90’s) with single releases starting in 2020 and one full-length LP in 2023. Tighter and more 70’s/80’s punk than garage slop, their side (the Junk Side) has hard-driving, chugga chugga guitar riffs, frenetic drums with a lot of fun subversiveness and snot: “Shut Up About the USA,” “Crimewave” and the sassy, rat-a-tat-tatty “Your Family Are Robots” (“your family are robots, your family is square, your family ain’t real”).

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Ida “I Know About You”

sfilzen — Fri, 25 Sep 2026 20:20:41 +0000

Ida “I Know About You” 1996/2026 30th anniversary edition (lent to me by my pal BJ). We had the extreme pleasure of seeing indie-folks Ida perform at one of our yoga studio locations last week as part of their I Know About You anniversary tour, one of small (micro) non-traditional venues (facilitated by Undertow and another local pal, Jon Duris). Duo (and married couple) Daniel Littleton and Elizabeth Mitchell played a lightly amp’d acoustic set of many IKAY tracks plus a few other Ida songs and one from Elizabeth’s 2006 children’s record You Are My Little Bird. In between songs they had light banter (he is the rambling storyteller, she the long-suffering partner who gently grasps his forearm and says “you can stop talking now”), reminiscences of performing in Milwaukee years ago and other delightful moments. I Know About You is the band’s second album and considered a true gem of the indie folk rock genre. Their voices weave beautifully together both in person last week and on the record: crystal clear and unaffected, just totally honest without being raw or forced. While much more mellow than the majority of the music I listen to, the record has such a sweet melancholy to it and absolutely feels like the mid-90’s (they are just a couple years older than me so I feel/remember those mid-to-late 20-something emotional vibes hard). My top pick is the hardest edged song, the almost-grunge ballad “Requator” but I absolutely appreciate the softer edges too. Sides A-C are the original recording of I Know About You, and Side D is a collection of singles (1995’s “It’s Not Alright” – a jangled indie rocker – and 1997’s “Truxtun Park“) and previously unreleased tracks recorded in ’95 and ’96.

Because they had a local professional recording the show at the yoga studio, I don’t think anyone in the audience was recording video on their phones (I certainly wasn’t as I was sitting on a bolster like 5 feet from Elizabeth’s feet) but here’s a video of them performing a house show last month, the track “August Again” from I Know About You.

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Cairo Jag “Digital Manipulation”

sfilzen — Thu, 24 Sep 2026 18:20:12 +0000

Cairo Jag “Digital Manipulation” 2026. Romanus Records, limited edition Nebula variant. Heavy psych from Indianapolis. Wow, this album is killer! I was unfamiliar with Cairo Jag but because one of my life’s goals is to have a copy of every Romanus release, I obviously nabbed this one when it was came out last month. Hard rocking, super-grooving, hypnotically head-banging sludgy good stuff. They’re a great match for the Romanus brand, reminiscent of Milwaukee’s own heavy psychers Astral Hand (formerly Calliope) who also have releases on the label. Cairo Jag formed in 2017 and features Curt Turner on vocals and guitar, Nolan Schockman on drums and Joe Wise on bass. Digital Manipulation looks to be their first “official” album release, with two other EP + live cassettes that came out in 2019, 2022 and 2023 and a digital-only EP back in 2018. Digital Manipulation includes some tracks from those previous releases. My top tracks are “Rotten Throne,” the ass-shaking “N.R.G.” and the garage rocker “Queen.” “Terminal Existence” is pretty excellent, too, with a space nerd, Devo-esque vibe but filtered through some seriously heavy rock.

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Bananarama “Love in the First Degree”

sfilzen — Tue, 22 Sep 2026 19:55:35 +0000

Bananarama “Love in the First Degree” 1987. 12″ single. Unaware of its release date, I fortuitously scheduled a happy hour meetup last night on its 39th anniversary (September 21st 1987) with a friend that Joe and I have affectionately nicknamed “Bananarama Brian” (his favorite band is, obviously, Bananarama; he’s even flown across the country to see them in concert multiple times). So in the spirit of fun chats, bubbly wine and snacks, I’m spinning the second single from the new wave/synthy dance pop band’s fourth album, Wow! (“Love in the First Degree” was released in 1988 in the US for some reason). It went #3 in the UK and to #48 in the US. Compared to some of their earlier hits, it’s pretty bland late 80’s dance pop: very formulaic for the time though clearly the dance clubs loved it (#2 UK dance chart, #10 US dance and top 10 in many other countries). The song was nominated for British Single of the Year but lost to the ear worm of the decade: Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up.” The 12″ has three versions of the track: the “Eurobeast Style” mix, the 7″ single mix and the “Jailer’s Mix.” Much more fun and interesting is the track that isn’t a version of the single: “Ecstasy (Wild Style)” is a funky synthpop almost-instrumental (there are virtually no vocals).

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M545 “Seven” and “I’ll Kill For Yesterday”

sfilzen — Mon, 21 Sep 2026 17:15:33 +0000

M545 “Seven” and “I’ll Kill For Yesterday” two 45″ singles, 2021 & 2022. Yesterday we went to our first ever Packers Halftime Show at Cactus Club to see M545 play a short and sharp 15 minute set (note the Packers helmet on the wall behind the band, they were finishing their set as the 3rd quarter was starting). M545 are a local (Bay View, Milwaukee) punk band, one of neighborhood favorites. They play great classic-style hardcore punk: fast, tight with neither whining nor growling vocals (I can’t stand either end of that spectrum in the punk canon). We picked up both of these singles at the show and both are great! Each has 3 tracks and my top is “Displaced” (from 2020): it has a very 80’s punk vibe with a menacing bass line. Also great is “Let Go” from the same disc with its barely controlled chaos and pogo-friendly beat. Members Juan (guitar/vocals) and Ted (bass/vocals) traded off singing during yesterday’s set while drummer Scottie (also backup vocals) kept things tight and on track.

Fun fact: when googling M545 is you’ll get a hit for jazz musician Pat Metheny as M545 is the catalog matrix for specific localized printing of the 1993 Turkish cassette edition of the Pat Metheny Group’s The Road To You. I’ve never listened to that album but I’m very confident it has nothing in common with Milwaukee’s M545.

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Laurie Depies “A Loriella Compilation”

sfilzen — Thu, 17 Sep 2026 20:16:01 +0000

Laurie Depies “A Loriella Compilation” circa 1991. Remembering Laurie today, September 17th, which would have been her 55th birthday. She made this mixtape for our friend Jim around 1991 (based on the some of the songs included), around 30 years ago and about a year before her disappearance. Jim gave me this tape that he’s had in his collection a few months ago and I absolutely started crying, so grateful for this made-with-heart gift. In the 80’s and early 90’s me and my friends were all about the mixtape, choosing songs that we were into, both old and new. Laurie’s eclectic tastes are 100% represented on this tape, too, ranging from classic and prog rock to 80’s new wave and goth to late 80’s/early 90’s alternative and most assuredly a glimpse into her mindset when she put it together. And in true Laurie fashion, there’s just a bit extra R.E.M. and Siouxsie.

For some of my memories of Laurie and photos from around that time, please see the post I wrote in 2022 on the 30th anniversary of her disappearance.

Tracklist of “A Loriella Collection”

Side One

The Guess Who “No Time”

King Crimson “Man With an Open Heart”

The Doors “Tell All the People”

Jefferson Airplane “Somebody to Love”

Van Morrison “Moondance”

Paul Simon “Was a Sunny Day”

Talking Heads “Warning Signs”

Yes “It Can Happen”

R.E.M. “1,000,000”