[…continued from last post]

EPS OF THE YEAR

1. Deena: This Is The Time
2. Thalie Némésis: Catarsi Apotropaica
3. Larsovitch: Normal’No
4. Sparks: Madder!
5. Head Noise: Working On A Laptop
6. Ultravox: Love’s Great Adventure Blank+Jones so80s Reconstruction
7. Cult Of Venus: Algorithm

There is always a joy in EPs beyond their modest length of playback. As the late 70s and the calcification of radio in the US brought the EPs to this shore as a practical means to get new bands into the hands of teens, I will always have a fondness for the form. They are [usually] separate from 12″ singles by the fact that none of the songs will be different versions of the A-side. Technically, an EP lacks A-sides! A 12″ single may have five songs – a perfect EP length, but you are likely to have most of the songs be variants on a single tune in that case. Hence the distinction that separates the formats in my mind.

This year had a good bounty of material with all of them being rather strong. But the top slot just had to go to Deena Shoshkes of The Cucumbers and her three track EP “This Is The Time.” The politics of the now figure in many of these selections, but Deena has realized that the most political challenge possible in these times is to call for love, in all of its forms. Love is a radical affront to that which seeks to destroy us. Her three songs each fill my heart with joy and the sound of her voice is very comforting in these dark times.

Thalie Némésis and Larsovitch come from a European perspective and theirs is a far spikier take on the fascism which is already lapping at our ankles. Sparks have rounded up off-cuts that didn’t quite fit the fabric of their “Mad!” album and have made their first EP as a result. They could have reissued the “Mad!” album with bonus tracks a year later, but giving these songs a discrete home of their own is a wiser policy. And keeps “Mad!” from losing focus with overbloat.

Aberdare’s Head Noise gave us a succinct three tracker with a re-jigged cover of a DEVO cover! Very meta! With a B-side and a live track is might have been a 12″ single [from 1980] but I argue that it’s in the EP mode; hence its appearance on the list. The EP tossed us a few tasty crumbs [streusel, perhaps?] as we await the next full opus from Head Noise.

Old timers Ultravox didn’t really have new material but they managed to give their masters to Blank + Jones to finally give us a great remix of “Love’s Great Adventure” and rounded out an EP worth of alternative versions of familiar material. Only the “All Stood Still” 12″ remix failed to convince.

And finally, I saw Cult Of Venus live and enjoyed their performance enough to have bought their DL only EP afterward and I must review it one day soon. It’s very interesting, albeit with a few reservations I would enumerate at that time.

REISSUES OF THE YEAR

1. Henry Badowski: Life’s A Grand
2. Various: Disco Discharge Presents More Sin – Box Of Sin Volume 2 (Full-Length Gay Clubbing 1980-1989)
3. Propaganda: A Secret Wish DLX – SDE Surround Series
4. Simple Minds: New Gold Dream [81, 82, 83, 84] DLX – SDE Surround Series
5. The Metamorph: Memories Of The Space Age
6. Simple Minds: Sparkle In The Rain DLX– SDE Surround Series
7. lluminati: Thunder Among The Lillies
8. Pulp: 40 Odd Years (Live. Rare. Unreleased. 1982-2025)
9. Various: Infamous-Post-Punk 1978-81 Mix

The big news in reissues this year was defined by an absence! This was the year where I did not put down three figures to buy the 2025 Ultravox ultrabox. Sure, sure. I love ’em and could totally justify the hundreds of dollars I threw into having big boxes of “Vienna,” “Rage In Eden,” “Quartet,” and especially “Lament.” When the decision was made to turn the greatest hits album “The Collection” into a box, I had to get off the bus. Leaving the EP of “Love’s Great Adventure” [see above] as my sole investment into this phase.

The one reissue that sits atop this list is the one that I was the happiest to see this year. “Life’s A Grand…” by Henry Badowoski.An album I wanted ever since it was released, but hadn’t gotten for one reason or another. It was a pure delight to finally hear it! I had been plotting to but the LP and make my own CD-R for many years and as usual, was very happy that it didn’t have to come to that.

The More Sin – Box Of Sin Vol. 2 is a collection that I’m still soaking up. It’s five curated discs of underground Gay Disco highlights that take the totality of that scene; which interrelated so tightly to the Post-Punk scene in the 80s that at least two of the discs fall completely into that box. As any clubbers knew, you paid attention in the 80s to what was happening musically on the gay dancefloor! There was enormous cross pollination going on in the vibrant period covered here.

PPM heavy hitters Simple Minds and Propaganda had SDE Blu-Rays with multiple mixes/streams in surround and 2.0 alternate mixes. As I never have the time to listen in 5.1 I frankly bought these to make CD-Rs of the alternate 2.0 versions here for convenient playing. I need to review these, ideally, but I don’t know when that might happen. It’s very rewarding having Bob Clearmountain/Steven Wilson/Steve Lillywhite mixes of “Sparkle In The Rain” on a single disc in 2.0/5.1! I was surprised at how much I liked the Clearmountain mix!

The Metamorph wasn’t always that! He had roots as Logan 5 with his early work dating back almost 30 years. His penchant for Science Fiction themes with kitsch samples almost marks his music here as adjacent to the geeky Surf Rock of Man Or ASTROman; albeit from a Synthpop perspective. Or perhaps a more apt comparison would be Bill Nelson’s Orchestra Arcana projects? This well-curated trawl through his history will take you back to the heady days before rampant CGI made Science Fiction dishwater dull.

I had missed the earlier 2002 CD-R issue of The Illuminauti; one of Barry Andrews projects undertaken when Shriekback were on low simmer on the proverbial back burner. It’s a very different prospect with some interesting players we like contributing. I need to get this reviewed but it arrived during a busy year.

And finally Pulp had a curated CD of odds and ends courtesy of MOJO magazine that gave us, among other delights, the original Jarvis sung demo for the great “Sliding Through Life On Charm” track written for Marianne Faithfull.

As usual, my goal in 2026 is to buy less and enjoy what I have more, but I’ve already bought DLs and and getting ready for my first CD purchase tomorrow. The subject of which will be our next post. Until then, “keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars!”

-30-