Free Noise #10

Artist: Blyth Power
Album: A Little Touch Of Harry In The Night
Source: Tape
Bit rate: 192 kbs
Running time (h:m:s): 00:46:22
Size (mb): 63.7
Label: 96 Tapes
Year: 1986
Notes: Original rip downloaded from Punktorrents. It's from tape, so it's a bit flat and hissy!

Here's the last bit of the Blyth Power four-parter, their one and only tape. I'll let someone else give you the lowdown on this:

Thirteen hurtling songs, wrapped in a crew manual for a class 56 locomotive. What goes on here? Blyth Power has answers of sorts: 'Just as Revlon killed the rabbits in laboratory tests / Surely we shall die of Sony Walkman video cassettes...'

In songs like the classic 'Some of Shelley's Hangups' and 'Under The Seawind' Blyth Power's slyly wise words ring as sharp and abrasive as their guitarist.

But elsewhere, well, many nights may well be spent in good-spirited debate centred around these strangely phrased tales of trains, mythology, history, cricket and metaphysics. And soon it may well make sense...

As we recall the guitar chopped, jagged rush of early ATV/Wire, we can also note just as often the small but vital debt owed to folk balladry by their jerky, midpaced gallops and Josef's peculiarly English voice.

Blyth Power - raw and uniquely exciting - are as good as riding bikes, dancing until stupid, baking bread, or taking drugs, whatever is your kick. Or near enough at least.

Robin Gibson, Sounds, 02.02.85 (taken from BP's website)

Just about says it all really.

The sound quality is OK given its heritage, but sound levels are quite low. You could always try running it through Audacity if you want to have a go at perking it up some more (try using the compressor). Alternatively, the equaliser in Foobar2000 is pretty effective at rebalancing the frequencies, particularly if you reduce the high end. The ReplayGain option may also work too.

There's a 128 kbs rip that you might want to try available over at Kill Your Pet Puppy (louder, maybe less muddy but hissier), where you'll also find a load more 96 Tapes rips and other classic punk ephemera. It's also where I nicked the above cover image from.

OP's opinion:

Download music