Dec 28, 2011

RhoDeo 1152 Aetix

Hello, Aetix is on the move today, to get rid of some of those Xmas calories. Then there's the preperation for the new years parties, no sampler of Aetix hits this time but what turned to to become one of the biggest selling dancepop acts of the eighties with one of the silliest names ever concocted, the Pet Shop Boys. Now one of their strenghts was their remixing and as such they have rereleased their remastered albums this past decade, accompanied by a remix disc titled Further Listening..hmm Dancing Dust ( rhymes with lust) would be a more appropiate title then the passive listening. Whatever, what you get here today are the remix addendums to the first 3 highly succesful Pet Shop Boys albums, Please, Actually & Introspective. Party away..

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Pet Shop Boys established themselves among the most commercially and critically successful groups of their era with cheeky, smart, and utterly danceable music. Always remaining one step ahead of their contemporaries, the British duo navigated the constantly shifting landscape of modern dance-pop with rare grace and intelligence, moving easily from disco to house to techno with their own distinctive image remaining completely intact.

Pet Shop Boys have sold over 100 million records worldwide, and are listed as the most successful duo in UK music history by The Guinness Book of Records. Three-time Brit Award winners and six-time Grammy nominees, since 1986 they have achieved 42 Top 30 singles and 22 Top 10 hits in the UK Singles Chart, including four Number Ones

Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe met in an electronics shop on Kings Road in Chelsea, London in August 1981. Recognising a mutual interest in dance music they began to work on material together, first in Tennant's flat in Chelsea and from 1982, in a small studio in Camden Town. Starting out the two called themselves West End, because of their love of London's West End, but later they came up with the name Pet Shop Boys, derived from friends of theirs who worked in a pet shop in Ealing.Their big break came in August 1983, when Tennant was assigned by Smash Hits to interview The Police in New York. The duo were obsessed with a stream of Hi-NRG records, made by New York producer Bobby Orlando, simply known as Bobby 'O'. He suggested making a record with the Pet Shop Boys, after hearing a demo tape that Tennant had taken with him. In April 1984, the Orlando-produced "West End Girls" was released, becoming a club hit in Los Angeles and San Francisco as well as a minor clubhit in the Netherlands, Belgium and France. They were on their way.....

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Pet Shop Boys' 2001 expanded-edition reissue campaign is a model example of how to execute deluxe reissues, and the very first in the six-disc series, their debut album Please, is perhaps the finest example of why. In addition to the remastered album on the first disc, there's a second disc of rare material -- or further listening, as its called here -- including non-LP B-sides, extended mixes, previously unreleased mixes, and three cuts that never have appeared on CD before.

On top of the music, there are the wonderful liner notes, which not only include an overview of the record but also have track-by-track commentary by Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, plus rare photos.


Pet Shop Boys - Further Listening 1984-1986 (Please) (flac 541mb)

201 A Man Could Get Arrested (12" B-Side) 4:11
202 Opportunities (Let's Make Lots Of Money) (Full Length Original 7") 4:36
203 In The Night 4:51
204 Opportunities (Let's Make Lots Of Money) (Original 12" Mix) 7:00
205 Why Don't We Live Together? (Original New York Mix) 5:14
206 West End Girls (Dance Mix) 6:39
207 A Man Could Get Arrested (7" B-Side) 4:51
208 Love Comes Quickly (Dance Mix) 6:50
209 That's My Impression (Disco Mix) 5:19
210 Was That What It Was? 5:17
211 Suburbia (The Full Horror) 8:58
212 Jack The Lad 4:32
213 Paninaro (Italian Mix) 8:38

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Of the 14 tracks on the second disc of the two-disc expanded reissue of Actually, Pet Shop Boys' second album, there are three previously unreleased mixes, highlighted by Shep Pettibone's version of "Heart" and two versions of "Always on My Mind" that never made it to CD prior to this release. Of the mixes that populate much of the rest of the disc, the disco mix of "It's a Sin" is terrific, as are extended mixes of "Always on My Mind" and "What Have I Done to Deserve This." But at the true heart of this disc are songs like "You Know Where You Went Wrong," "A New Life," "I Want a Dog," and "Do I Have To?," all terrific songs (especially "I Want a Dog") that could have comfortably fit on the actual album. It may not have every released mix, but it has the best of them.


Pet Shop Boys - Further Listening 1987-1988 (Actually) ( flac 531mb)

201 I Want To Wake Up (Breakdown Mix) 6:00
202 Heart (Shep Pettibone Version) 4:13
203 You Know Where You Went Wrong 5:52
204 One More Chance (7'' Mix) 3:49
205 It's A Sin (Disco Mix) 7:42
206 What Have I Done To Deserve This? (Extended Mix) 6:50
207 Heart (Disco Mix) 8:40
208 A New Life 4:57
209 Always On My Mind (Demo Version) 4:04
210 Rent (7'' Mix) 3:36
211 I Want A Dog 5:00
212 Always On My Mind (Extended Dance Mix) 8:13
213 Do I Have To? 5:17
214 Always On My Mind (Dub Mix) 2:04

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This is where things start to get interesting in Pet Shop Boys' reissue campaign, the bonus disc is fascinating. Not that tilted toward mixes, though there are still a bunch of mixes here, all of them quite good, but there are also several non-LP songs -- including "Don Juan," "Losing My Mind," "What Keeps Mankind Alive?," "The Sound of the Atom Splitting," the Chris Lowe-sung "One of the Crowd," and the terrific "Your Funny Uncle" -- and, best of all, previously unreleased demos recorded for Dusty Springfield ("Nothing Has Been Proved") and Liza Minnelli ("So Sorry, I Said"), along with demos of "Don Juan" and "Domino Dancing." Springfield and Minnelli did record these songs, but it's fascinating to hear PSB's versions.


Pet Shop Boys - Further Listening 1988-1989 (Introspective) (flac 493mb)

201 I Get Excited (You Get Excited Too) 5:36
202 Don Juan (Demo Version) 4:22
203 Domino Dancing (Demo Version) 4:48
204 Domino Dancing (Alternate Version) 4:53
205 The Sound Of The Atom Splitting 5:13
206 What Keeps Mankind Alive? 3:26
207 Don Juan (Disco Mix) 7:35
208 Losing My Mind (Disco Mix) 6:09
209 Nothing Has Been Proved (Demo For Dusty) 4:52
210 So Sorry, I Said (Demo For Liza) 3:26
211 Left To My Own Devices (Seven-Inch Mix) 4:48
212 It's Alright (Ten-Inch Version) 4:47
213 One Of The Crowd 3:56
214 It's Alright (Seven-Inch Version) 4:21
215 Your Funny Uncle 2:18

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Rho, could you please re-post the Pet Shop Boys when you get the time? Many thanks!

GianniZ said...

Greetings
Further Listening 1987-1988 (Actually)is having problems.
Thank you for your hard work.