VOLUME THREE (1992)

The first in a series of posts celebrating the pioneering FreeEP format, the Volume CD magazine - a CD with a 192 page booklet complete with interviews and facts about the artists contained on the CD. A haven for rare tracks, 17 Volumes were issued in total plus a wealth of spin offs. As well as some of the biggest names in indie contributing tracks and remixes to the format, the magazine also celebrated new and upcoming acts, some of which really did come up and others disappeared as we shall see...

We kick of with Volume Three.

1. I Feel Insane (Live) - Daisy Chainsaw

Breaking through at the beginning of 1992 with the Lovesick Pleasure EP, featuring the pop thrash of Love Your Money, Daisy Chainsaw's profile soon waned. Thanks to coverage on The Chart Show the EP hit #26 but follow up singles and album, Eleventeen fared less well. Famed for her manic stage appearances singer Katy Jane Gartside quit the band in 1993 and disappeared for  6 years until she re-emerged with Queen Adreena. I Feel Insane is featured on Daisy Chainsaw's sole album, this live version exclusive to Volume.

2. Innocent X (Remix) - Therapy?

Originally featured on Therapy?'s debut (mini) album. Babyteeth, this remix remained exclusive to this release for three years. In 1995, at the height of the band's commercial success, Volume released an EP of their own compilation highlights  and chose this as the lead track along with a remix of Orbital's Belfast. The EP hit #53 in the charts making it Volume's only chart appearance.

3. Daughters Of Darkness - Depth Charge

DJ Jonathan Saul Kane, under the names Depth Charge and Octagon Man, has released a wealth of 12" singles influencing a generation of electro and trip hop artists along the way. Credited  with pioneering the big beat and trip-hop movements with his dark sample based tracks, Kane released his first 12", the eponymous Depth Charge in 1989. This track was exclusive to this release until inclusion on his 1994 compilation Nine Deadly Venoms.

4. California Uber Alles - The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy

Before forming Spearhead in 1994, Michael Franti fronted DHoH specialising in socially aware, politically charged rap. The band's one and only album, the classic Hypocrisy Is The Greatest Luxury hit #40 in the UK featuring the single Television Is The Drug Of The Nation which reached #43. The album also featured this cover of the notorious Dead Kennedys track updated to mention then current Governor of California, Pete Wilson.

5. Cloud Shine - Levitation

Exclusive 2 minute track from this progressive psychedelic band fronted by the eccentric Terry Bickers, ex-House Of Love. The band released a number of singles, EPs and a chart album (Need For Not - #45) between 1991 and 1994 and were plagued by touring troubles, kicked off support slots by both Transvision Vamp and The Fall allegedly for their excessive stage demands. Bickers quit in 1993and the band stumbled on with little impact until their demise the following year.

6. Over Rising (Instrumental) - The Charlatans

A huge rarity, this is the only place you can legitimately find this track so it's a must for all Charlatans collectors. In between their debut album, the #1 Some Friendly and the less successful but underrated follow-up Between 10th & 11th, the band released two singles in 1991. The original version of this track, Over Rising, was the first and hit a respectable #15 to good reviews. The second single, Me In Time, is perhaps the Charlatans' least known and least favourite of their three-dozen singles and has never been reissued on any official album or compilation despite it being the first to feature long term guitarist Mark Collins. The track's lowly #28 placing signalled the beginning of an early sales lull for the band - however, they'd steadily turn it round....

7. Jesus Timeshare Experience - Psychotropic Vibration

Another exclusive - and this CD contains the full Psychotropic Vibration discography in one fell swoop, the band releasing this track and nothing else. It was formed by singer/guitarist Neil Parfitt who originally formed The Perfect Disaster and released four albums between 1985 and 1991. Before forming PV, Parfitt worked with both halves of Spacemen 3 and after, formed Oedipussy whose 1995 featured the aforementioned Terry Bickers (see below)

8. Safari (Remix) - The Breeders

We all know about Kim Deal, her sister Kelley and Tanya Donnelly but what of other Breeder Josephine Wiggs? She was also in The Perfect Disaster with Neil Parfitt and it was that band supporting Pixies that brought Jo to Deal's attention. Although Wiggs wasn't a member of The Breeders' late 2000s incarnation, she has played with the band on several occasions. Back to Safari, this was the title track from their 1992 EP which hit #69 in April 1992.

9. Let's Sail Away - Honey Tongue

A short lived band who released one album in 1992, Nude Nudes, which featured this track. Honey Tongue consisted of percussionist Jon Mattock, who has performed with Massive Attack, Spiritualized.....and The Perfect Disater with Josephine Wiggs....who just so happenes to be the other half of Honey Tongue. Anyone sense a theme here?

10. My House (Remix) - Terrorvision

Without a doubt containing no-one from Perfect Disaster within their ranks, Terrorvision still remain Bradford's (and nearby Keighley's) number 1 music export despite, reunion shows every once in a while aside, splitting up as a working band over a decade ago. This is an exclusive remix of the band's debut single from 1992 which preceded their first album, Formaldehyde, in 1993. My House also gave the band their big break when the track was re-released in 1994 hitting #29- complete with their cover version of Men At Work's Down Under. Several Top 30 hits and a certain track about a certain alcoholic drink later, Terrorvision were (kind of) no more. Is it too late to get Tony Wright back on Never Mind The Buzzcocks?

11. Criminal (Remix) - Public Image Ltd

An exclusive remix from a track previously only available on 1991's Point Break soundtrack, this is a genuine collector's item for all Lydon collectors. The early 90s weren't kind to PiL. 1990 saw the release of their Greatest Hits Album only for Lydon and Virgin to come to blows over the tracklisting and the label's alleged decision to stop supply of the record to shops once the initial run had sold out. The album only scraped the Top 20 and the title Greatest Hits...So Far proved to be a misnomer. Only one single, Cruel, and one album, That What Is Not, followed, both missing the Top 40. The band split but Lydon's career carried on regardless via his collaboration with Leftfield, a Sex Pistols reunion, calling the British public "cunts" on live television in the jungle, those butter ads and PiL's eventual reunion in 2009.

12. Sisterfy - Sweet Jesus

B-side to short-lived Rough Trade signings' debut single Honey Loving Honey. Several singles followed until the band morphed into Venus with little success.

13. Belfast/Wasted (Vocal Mix) - Orbital

Eventually released as a single in its own right with Innocent X by Therapy?, this was an exclusive vocal remix of Belfast from Phil and Paul Hartnoll's eponymous debut album with vocals courtesy of regular collaborator Grant Fulton. Orbital scored 2 Top 40 hits in 1992 with the Mutations and Radiccio EPs, the latter featuring the classic Halcyon which would appear in remixed form on their second eponymous album in 1993. A slew of classic albums and epic live performances continued for the next decade until the duo's break-up. The brothers Hartnoll reconvened in 2009 for more live dates and a AA side single featuring Don't Stop Me and The Gun Is Good, the former sampling Buggles' Video Killed The Radio Star. A new album is due in 2012.

14. Go (Subliminal Mix) - Moby

One of batch of remixes to complement the release of Moby's debut UK single, Twin Peaks theme sampling Go. The single initially stalled at #46 in the UK in July 1991 before being reactivated three months later, this time hitting the Top 10. Some commercial success followed over the following five years, Moby scoring 6 UK Top 40 electronic/dance singles. An aggressive punk rock album and his take on the James Bond theme followed (his second Top 10 hit) before his commercial breakthrough in 1999 with the ubiquitous Play album.

15. Find Our Direction (Remix) - Natural Life

Big on the festival circuit in the early 90s, Natural Life, a band that described themselves terrifyingly as a Bohemian rock collective, never broke through into the mainstream despite heavy airplay on radio and TV. Eponymous single, Natural Life got as far as #47 in March 1992 but the also eponymous album failed to make a mark and the band, sorry, collective, went their separate ways. Percussionist Shovell went on to greater success as a member of Mike Pickering's dance collective - M People.

16. Slow Down Speedy - LFO

Warp Records' LFO were one of the pioneers of acid-house, techno and IDM in the late 80s whose own eponymous debut single gatecrashed the Top 20 in 1990. The duo released two albums and a clutch of 12" singles until 1996 when members Gaz Varley and Mark Bell went their separate ways. However, their place in history is assured as one of the most influential techno acts of the last two decades. In 2003, the duo's other half, Mark Bell, resurrected LFO but not before finding time to produce albums for, amongst others, Bjork and Depeche Mode. This track is exclusive to this release.

17. Motorbike (Remix) - Sheep On Drugs

Insane techno from once mildly controversial dance punks. Motorbike became the band's second single in 1992 followed by their debut album, the ironically titled Greatest Hits, which hit #55 in 1993. The album produced two Top 50 singles including From A To H And Back Again which cracked the Top 40. The band's second album ...On Drugs, despite producing another Top 50 single in Let The Good Times Roll tanked and the band knocked it on the head until the inevitable reunion in 2010.

18. Overload (Live) - Interference

A mega rarity for all followers of Tim Simenon - better known as the man behind Bomb The Bass. Interference was - it's that word again - collective founded by Simenon and drummer Keith LeBlanc involving musicians as diverse as Skip McDonald, Bim Sherman and Doug Wimbish to play gigs embracing dance, dub, reggae and jazz. The band played a number of gigs and released on single Global Game in 1994 which featured a remix by Adrian Sherwood. The short-lived project made another appearance in 1998 remixing Simple Minds' classic 1981 hit The American.

Q ESSENTIAL DANCE (2001)

Don't normally include stuff from this era on TheFreeEPs but this one's an exception....there's some massively rare stuff on this one so it makes the grade.

1. Woke Up This Morning (Chosen One Mix) - Alabama 3

Or as Alabama 3's compilation, Hits & Exit Wounds, called it - The Sopranos Mix. Despite never being a proper hit - it reached #80 both on its original release AND reissue - this is one of the most heard songs of the new millennium after HBO chose this as the theme tune to their phenomenonly successful series The Sopranos. The blues-gospel-rock troupe, actually from Brixton, are still going but this will be the one that keeps paying the bills.

2. Connected - Stereo MCs

Let's draw a veil under those blasted phone adverts and remember this a 90s electronic hip hop classic. Already leaders of the UK hip hop scene, this was their commercial breakthrough hitting #18, its parent album spawning a further 3 Top 20 hits. They still sound the same 20 years later but it's sofisticated.

3. Voodoo Ray - A Guy Called Gerald

Acid house pioneer Gerald Simpson's all time classic. The 'Voodoo Ray' sample is actually a sample of Peter Cook delivering the phrase 'Voodoo Rage' which was cut short due to the lack of memory in Gerald's recording equipment.

4. Even Better Than The Real Thing (Perfecto Mix) - U2

The original version of this track hit #12 back in 1992; just weeks later Paul Oakenfold's remix went Top 10 becoming a dancefloor smash. Oakenfold, along with Steve Osborne, was the most in demand dance producer and remixer of the 90s, producing amongst others Happy Mondays' Pills Thrills N Bellyaches and transforming rock songs like this, and later U2's Lemon, into club hits. His massive hit rate with the Perfecto imprint continued for the next decade. Don't mention Shifty Shellshock.

5. True Faith (Morel's Pink Noise Edit) - New Order

Rare remix of New Order's 1987 classic. Morel's remixes appeared on a 2001 US promotional 12 inch - this was an exclusive edit of the Club Mix making this CD an instant collector's item for New Order fans. The remix is still rare though it did reappear on the bonus fifth CD of New Order's 2002 boxset Retro.

6. Go - Moby

Moby's Twin Peaks sampling rave classic breakthrough from 1991 is still his greatest single. The track originally peaked at #46 but hit the Top 10 a few months later. The song also samples Jocelyn Brown's 'Love's Gonna Get You'.

7. Retox - Fatboy Slim

From the album Halfway Between The Gutter And The Stars. This track features vocals from Ashley Slater who was also the lead singer in Freakpower, the brainchild of Norman Cook. That's Norman Cook from the Mighty Dub Katz and Pizzaman who used to be in Beats International and The Housemartins. But who is this mysterious Fatboy Slim?

8. Jacques Your Body (Make Me Sweat) - Les Rhythmes Digitales

Originally released in 1997 to critical but minimal commercial success, Les Rhythmes Digitales aka Stuart Price, fared a little better in 1999 when it hit #60. It wasn't until 2005 that Jacques Your Body finally hit it big - its use on a Citroen advert ensured it finally hit the Top 10 nearly a decade after its initial release. Price is now a massively in demand producer and songwriter collaborating with The Killers, Kylie, Take That, Madonna. Oh, and Keane.

9. Pearl's Girl (Edit) - Underworld

The truncated, but no less awesome, single edit of this Underworld classic. Originally from their masterpiece Second Toughest In The Infants, this was a Top 30 hit twice reaching #24 in 1995 and #22 on the back of Born Slippy. Underworld fans should check out the US Pearl's Girl EP, almost an album in its own right.

10. The Time Is Now - Moloko

Not even endless use on Sky Sports alters the fact that this is one of the classiest #2 hits of all time. When they weren't producing luscious dance pop, Moloko were tripping balls, their debut album Do You Like My Tight Sweater named after Roisin Murphy's chat up line to partner and collaborator Mark Brydon. Sadly, Murphy split from Brydon and the world is sadly far saner without them. Murphy has since recorded two solo albums to critical acclaim.

11. So Hard (David Morales Remix) - Pet Shop Boys

OR NOT. A Q cock up but a collector's dream. The David Morales Red Zone remix is an absolute beast and personally chosen for inclusion on PSB's Pop Art Remix collection in 2003. Chris Lowe waxed lyrical about this gargantuan mix in the pages of Q that month. Only, the remix here isn't the original David Morales Red Zone Remix but the David Morales Radio Edit, not bad but a shorter, slightly watered-down and more radio friendly version of the mix losing the power of the original. Seeing as this hadn't been released in the UK - it had appeared on a German remix single - this actually made this Q release a whole lot more collectable for completists of one of the world's most collectable groups. Needless to say, Q apologised for the mess up in the following issue with Chris Lowe stating that his comments in the previous issue should in no way be attributed to the remix that actually appeared on the CD. Oops.

12. World In My Eyes - Depeche Mode

A DM classic from the dark synthpop masterpiece Violator. The band's seventh was their most successful critically and commercially, selling 13.8 million copies worldwide. This single was relased in the UK as the album's last single hitting #17. DM's Andy Fletcher has also cited this as his favourite Depeche Mode song.

13. Take California - Propellerheads

Big beat duo who released their one and only album Decksanddrumsandrockandroll in 1998. It was one half of the duo, Will White's, ill health that cut short their career which had got off to a flyer with their remake of On Her Majesty's Secret Service and their ubiquitous collaboration with Shirley Bassey, History Repeating. This was the duo's debut Top 75 single from their Top 10 album.

14. Devil In Sports Casual - Midfield General

The epitome of the big beat boom of the late 90s. Not surprising really - Midfield General was in reality Damian Harris, owner of Brighton's big beat label Skint. Harris would soon be sponsoring more midfield generals when the label became the long term sponsor of Brighton & Hove Albion FC.

15. Once More - The Orb

The Orb's 2001 album Cydonia, featuring this #38 single, was a sidestep for Alex Paterson et al featuring vocals and traditional song structures. The album did contain The Orb's usual ambience though and refreshingly contained a track called A Mile Long Lump Of Lard.

16. Pacific 707 - 808 State.

Pacific 707 is actually the single version of the house classic Pacific State. The original version appeared on their debut album Quadrastate and was remixed a year later to become their debut Top 10 hit. The acid house pioneers - yes, more of them - released a clutch of albums over the next decade and a half collaborating with, amongst others, James Dean Bradfield, Bernard Sumner and Bjork.

17. Tension (Live From The Q Awards) - Orbital

We end with an exclusive live version of this Orbital track from their album The Altogether; another reason to get hold of this CD - it doesn't get much better than Orbital live does it? Of course, the techno duo reformed last year and are back on stage. Their new AA side Don't Stop Me/The Gun Is Good even survives a Buggles sample.

SELECT: THE DEEP END (2000)

1. Natural Blues (Mike D Remix) - Moby

Beastie Boy's remix of Moby's Top 20 hit from the Play album. This full length version hadn't been commercially released in the UK, though an edited version appeared on the Natural Blues CD single.

2. Ymaelodi A'r Ymylon - Super Furry Animals

From the best selling Welsh languge album ever, Mwng, this, one of the album's highights was released on this CD before the album release. The title translates as 'Joining The Periphery'.

3. T-Spot - Bentley Rhythm Ace

BRA's second album For Your Ears Only was ignored on release and more or less signalled the end of the big beat duo. This track was, again, released on the CD before the album. It turned up later on a Nik-Naks advert which probably earned them more royalties than the album itself...

4. Swastika Eyes (David Holmes Mix) - Primal Scream

Awesome Holmes remix of prime Scream Team from the classic XTRMNTR. Inexplicably only released on 12" promo, this is still the only official place to find this remix.

5. Everybody's Stalking (Demo Version) - Badly Drawn Boy

Another coup for Select. Back when BDB was the ultimate name-drop artist after a slew of EP releases, this rough cut preceded the album version on his Mercury Music Prize winning debut The Hour Of Bewilderbeast. It's still only available here.

6. The Sound Of Fear - Eels

Taken from E's third, Daisies Of The Galaxy.

7. Second Foot Stomp - Clinic

Another album trailer, this one preceding Clinic's debut Internal Wrangler.

8. Holy Calamity (Bear Witness II) - Handsome Boy Modeling School

A collaboration between De La Soul producer Prince Paul and Dan The Automator, this was lifted from the album So...How's Your Girl?

9. A Tribute To - The For Carnation

Post-rock from former Slint member Brian McMahan. This is taken from 2000's self titled second album.

10. The Distance From Her To There - Lambchop

A straight lift from the critics' favourite, 'Nixon'.

11. New Paths To Helicon (Part 1) - Mogwai

Rare Radio 1 Evening Session version of Mogwai's 1997 single recorded on March 10th 1999. Formerly exclusive to this release, it has since appeared on the BBC Sessions compilation Government Commissions.

12. Happiness - Elliott Smith

Another preview track - this time for Smith's album Figure 8.

But that's not all: this one is also a CD rom and contains the videos to Stereophonics' Hurry Up And Wait and Slipknot's Spit It Out UNCENSORED!! Woooh! NEXT.....