Record Store Day releases i'd like to see

A box set of rarities by somebody you've never heard of? Oh yes. That market is well catered for by Record Store Day. Here is a small collection of suggestions from somebody with a rather wider musical taste than the average RSD grockle. I'm not fussy on formats - vinyl, CD, cassette, minidisc, just get the music out there.


Culture Beat - Obsession (Eurodance)
The top of my wish list is Culture Beat's lost final album, Obsession. According to my memory (which may well be wrong, it often is), the old CultureBeat.com website listed this as having been recorded (circa 2002-3?). How true that is, i suspect we'll never know. In this era, Culture Beat were in something of a state of flux following the relative flop of their rather bland fourth album Metamorphosis which had failed to make any major impact commercially. A change of vocalist had seen Jacky Sangster replace Kim Sanders (who went on to work on several Schiller albums) and the group were unsure of their direction. Later releases Can't Go On (2004) and Your Love (2008) showed further changes of direction which the Obsession album may make more sense of.

Utah Saints - Wired World (Dance)
Now here is something which definitely does exist. Following the success of their first eponymous album, Utah Saints recorded their second fairly shortly afterwards and released the lead single Ohio. I'm not really sure as to why it was never released, although there is the suggestion that the duo didn't want to get on a treadmill of churning out music. Low quality bootleg copies were leaked and their other two studio albums are sufficiently interesting to suggest that this would have been worth listening to.








Chicane - Easy to Assemble (2003, Dance / Trance)
Chicane's third album was scheduled for release on WEA. Huge internet piracy of promo copies and a souring of relations between Nick Bracegirdle and the label saw the release get delayed several times (thus fuelling further piracy) and eventually cancelled altogether. Although promo CD copies are available, it would be interesting to know if these were the finished product.

PKA (Dance / Rave)
Phil Kelsey, aka PKA was responsible for one of my favourite singles of all time - 1992's Powergen (Only Your Love). This song is part of my long standing suspicion that most dance genres will have a definitively brilliant record released right at the end of the lifespan which will be criminally ignored. As the rave scene fell apart and what would become the 1994 Criminal Justice Act specifically targetted dance music, PKA released this complex, catchy and euphoric rave anthem. I'd love to hear anything else that Kelsey was working on at the time.

A Brand - 45 RPM / Hammerhead (2004, 2006: Art Rock / Belpop)
Dead Man Ray - Berchen / Trap / Marginal (1998, 2000, 2001: Indie / Belpop)
These early releases from the Flemish indie scene which reached a peak towards the end of the Noughties are now very difficult to find any trace of. 

Dead Man Ray have retained something of a cult following having contributed a member to dEUS (Rudy Trouve) and kickstarted the solo career of Daan Stuyven who has since had considerable success in Belgium, releasing some seven studio albums and further compilations reworking earlier songs. The band had a distinctive yet variable sound which combined electronica, lo-fi rock, indie, trip hop and most things in between. Unlike many bands who fused these genres, the result was still catchy and rarely self indulgent.
Artrockers A Brand have continued on to release some superb albums (Judas, Future You) with nods to everything from disco to punk whilst retaining a spite and a sharp edge to keep the sound interesting. Their first two longplayers are now very difficult to locate.


Ryu (Ryutaro Nakahara) - Rainbow Drop / AI (2003, J-Trance)
This debut 12" from Ryu showcased his background as a games music designer and demonstrated his versatility with a hyperactive and joyous pair of dance tracks with the most phenomenal builds and melodies.

Scatman John - Pripri Scat / Super Kirei (Eurodance / J-Pop)
The myth of various artists being "huge in Japan" is often banded around with little regard for reality, but in the case of Scatman John Larkin, it was true. Two songs were recorded in Japan as tie-ins with advertising campaigns. Super Kirei going on to become his biggest hit in the territory and was backed with a reminder of Larkin's jazz background - a cover of Elvis Presley's Love Me Tender. If this isn't cool enough for RSD, then perhaps Larkin's long forgotten eponymous debut LP from 1985 might be considered for a reissue?

Various Artists - Studio Brussel Switch 1 (Electronica)
For twelve years from 2001 to 2013, Belgian radio station Studio Brussel's Switch series compiled a history of contemporary electronica. Each release ran to around 25 tracks of current dance, club and leftfield hits focusing on emerging trends and provides a time capsule of dance music of the period with a degree of honesty rarely seen amongst compilations in the UK. If you listen back to radio shows from five or ten years ago, it is amazing the number of songs which were on heavy rotation at the time but haven't been heard since. Sadly it looks as if 2013's Switch 22 was the final instalment in the series, as Studio Brussel have been gradually phasing out the Switch brand which at its peak ran all night programming on Friday and Saturday. This first edition of the series is the only one which is not widely available and also the only to be released on EMI. Editions 2-9 were released by 541 and 10 onwards on La Musique Fait La Force.

Bent van Looy - Little Star (Pop)
The lead performer of Das Pop, Bent van Looy released his debut solo LP Round The Bend in 2013. This song appeared online during a session for the Dutch Onder Invloed project and later as part of the LoFiDogma series. It has since become a regular part of van Looy's live show along with I Don't Believe in Miracles, which also forms part of the Onder Invloed session. I think the two would make an excellent 7"...

I'm sure i'll think of more at some point, but perhaps this'll give the nosebleeders who collate the RSD material some ideas away from the usual collection of rock, folk and obscura.