Tag Archives: Handful of Snowdrops

Monsieur Seb’s Daily Music Suggestion: As the Phoenix…

LotD_Full

Legendary 80’s band Handful of Snowdrops make a surprise comeback!

It’s true! It’s confirmed! To mark its 20th anniversary, Handful of Snowdrops have launched the expanded and remastered reissue of their legendary first album Land of the Damned, just over 16 years after their eloquent final release, Mort en Direct.

In addition to its superior sound quality, the album has been expanded with the track Gabrielle MMIX, a totally new version of their seminal smash hit, Gabrielle.

This reissue will be available in a deluxe package that will see the CD arrive to your door accompanied by a T-Shirt and 11″x17″ poster.

But furthermore, each CD copy — deluxe or regular — of this very limited reissue will allow collectors to download a compilation of 12 early demos titled Groundwork for Fundamentals Vol. 1, literally a sonic history of the band’s formative years, from 1984 to 1986.

“For years, I thought that Land of the Damned went practically unheard of, especially outside Canada and the U.S.

“And then, along came the Internet: I began getting tons of emails from people around the world — especially Mexico and South America — telling me how much they loved that record.

“Still, it took me many, many years to be able to accept such praise and to finally come to terms with the fact that a 20th anniversary re-edition would not be such a bad idea, after all.”

That’s how Jean-Pierre Mercier, founder and leader of the band, recalls the genesis of this project — which most fans had given up on.

Yet, the band’s MySpace player has garnered over 26 000 plays in just over a year, digits that have no doubt helped convinced Jean-Pierre that this project was well worthwhile!

Land of the Damned (Expanded & Remastered) will only available online from HOS’ website (handfulofsnowdrops.com) and on their MySpace profile (myspace.com/handfulofsnowdrops) but exceptionally and for a very limited time, it will be availble from these two retailers:

Platine
155, chemin Ste-Foy
Québec, QC, Canada
G1R 1T1
Tél.: 418.529.4222

and

Mecanica
Av. Insurgentes Sur # 277 – 2
Col. Roma, Mexico DF
Tel. 91499967
mecanica.com.mx

Click here for the complete press kit (French and English press release and album cover art)

Monsieur Seb turns 80

Here it is, after many months in the making: my mix of 80’s favourites!

Do not expect to hear your ordinary 80’s electro-pop fodder here. I had to make hard decisions in choosing which tracks to include on this mix, but they represent a very essential selection of artists and especially tracks that were key to my musical upbringing in that decade. Even as I write this I realize I forgot some, but since I obviously couldn’t include everyone of them, I guess it forecasts a volume 2!

I truly hope you enjoy this and give it time to grow on you, because at 47 tracks and 3 hours and 15 minutes long, it’s no processed cheese; this is the music equivalent of a room temperature Époisses!

You can stream or download Monsieur Seb Turns 80 and your donations are welcome to help me pay for the file hosting!

P.S.: This mix is dedicated to Serge Brunelle and Daniel Rochette, Masters of the Old School, my mentors.

TRACKLISTING

Monsieur Seb Turns 80 — Recorded Live May 2009

Title. Artist. Album

1. Time Zones. Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. Dazzle Ships
2. Homer Hossa. Yello. Claro Que Si
3. Rue St-Denis. Carmel. The Drum is Everything
4. Rythm. Anna Domino. Rythm
5. African Reggae. Nina Hagen. Nina Hagen Band EP
6. I’ll Come Up with Something/Move. Keith LeBlanc. Major Malfunction
7. Awful Day. The Neon Judgement. Mafu Cage
8. Walking Through Heaven. Chris & Cosey. Songs of Love & Lust
9. Garlands. Cocteau Twins. Garlands
10. Close (To The Edit). Art of Noise. Beat Box / Close (To The Edit)
11. Do Right. Cabaret Voltaire. Micro-Phonies
12. Warsaw Ghetto. Nitzer Ebb. Warsaw Ghetto
13. Los Ninos del Parque. Liaisons Dangereuses. Los Ninos del Parque
14. Looking from a Hilltop (megamix). Section 25. Looking from a Hilltop
15. It’s More Fun to Compute. Kraftwerk. Computer World
16. Al-Naafyish (The Soul). Hashim. Al-Naafyish (The Soul)
17. Headhunter. Front 242. Front by Front
18. Love Like Blood. Killing Joke. Love Like Blood
19. Voices in the Night. Handful of Snowdrops. Dans l’Oeil de la Tempte
20. Killed by Poetry. Dr. Calculus. Designer Beatnik
21. Stereotypes/Stereotypes part 2. The Specials. More Specials
22. Our Darkness. Anne Clark. Our Darkness
23. Dead Eyes Opened. Severed Heads. Dead Eyes Opened
24. I Travel. Simple Minds. Empires and Dance
25. Quiet Life (7″ version). Japan. Quiet Life
26. Hurt (7″ version). New Order. Temptation/Hurt
27. Cookie Puss. Beastie Boys. Cooky Puss
28. London Calling. The Clash. London Calling
29. Logical Animals. Trisomie 21. Le repos des enfants heureux
30. Don’t Fall. The Chameleons. Script of the Bridge
31. What Difference Does It Make?. The Smiths. The Smiths
32. Never Stop (Discotheque). Echo & The Bunnymen. Never Stop
33. Happiness. Tones on Tail. Pop
34. Nova Heart. Spoons. Nova Heart
35. Alice. Sisters of Mercy. Alice
36. This Damn Nation. The Godfathers. Hit by Hit
37. Assimilate. Skinny Puppy. Bites
38. Stranger (Remix). Clan of Xymox. A Day/Stranger
39. Heaven is Waiting. The Danse Society. Heaven is Waiting
40. Spellbound. Siouxsie & The Banshees. Juju
41. Bela Lugosi’s Dead. Bauhaus. Bela Lugosi’s Dead
42. 2nd Thought. Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. Oaganisation
43. The Brain Collapses. Psyche. Insomnia Theater
44. Der Mussolini. Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft. Der Mussolini
45. Love Is (Sweet Romance). Joolz. Love Is (Sweet Romance)
46. Katherine Clark. Kissing the Pink. Rare b-side
47. This is the Day. The The. Soul Mining