In our kitchen a new addition. It’s 10/300. Guess I must have leaped quicker than I thought.

-Loving Raga, the singing, the trumpet, the synth, the groove and the structure of the song. The rest? -Hmm, no, I would have liked to, but I can`t find anything in the same league as Raga.

Hipsters,
Bonne annee a tous !
Comme toute le monde, W2 has been thoroughly engrossed by ‘ Deluxe’ and is currently enjoying a listening in front of a roaring log fire with a nice Talisker.
Two things encourage him to dial into this hallowed cyber hall :
D’abord there are a couple of very interesting cuts. Namely ‘Raga’ and ‘Mother Of Pearl’.
Windswept thinks ‘Raga’ actually deserved a place on the original album. The horns are fantastic and the whole thing is very dreamy.‘
‘Mother Of Pearl’ on the other hand is really funky and has both great vocals ( lead and backing) and fabulous horns . W2 assumes this was the version that our hero put together for the movie ‘Basic Instinct’s’ disco scene. A cut that was subsequently rejected by Paul Verhoeven in favour of ‘Blue’ by La Tour. Windswept can only conclude that Verhoeven has a hearing problem because our hero’s take would have fitted this otherwise excellent movie brilliantly.
Deuxiemement W2 thinks the album offers a great insight into our hero’s process.
This is best illustrated by following the evolution of ‘The Only Face’ from the instrumental first draft thru’ the different versions on this album and onto every evolution since. It really shows a perfectionist at work.
Great stuff.
Salutations a tous meme les gens do South Hylton Club.
Windswept.

A few random observations about the Mamouna deluxe edition, which I’ve been listening to on-and-off over the past few months:

Has anyone else noticed the running order of the deluxe edition of Mamouna on Spotify is incorrect as track 8 is Gemini Moon and track 9 is Wildcat Days? Quite annoying really as the best bit of Gemini Moon is the way it segues seamlessly into Chain Reaction. I do own the CD release btw but I tend to listen to my music on the road these days and Spotify is handy for that.

Mamouna is my fave BF album with barely a duff track and I completely agree that it’s best thought of as a concept album. I just wish there had been the option of a more expensive Super Deluxe edition, including a Blu-Ray of the albums promo videos, TV appearances (including a remastered version of the gig filmed in Buenos Aires), the Electronic Press Kit documentary and maybe a reproduction of the tour programme that collectively would have highlighted the concept in all its glory. Fingers crossed something like this gets released one day.

The Sketches CD is fascinating. Highlights are the various versions of Your Painted Smile, particularly the stripped down acoustic version, which definitely has enhanced my appreciation of this track. Also lovely to finally have the full acoustic version of The Only Face after all these years of having to do with the edited version.

I do wonder if the lack of promotional interviews for the deluxe edition was intentional to allow the music to talk for itself this time round. BF talked plenty about it to the press on its original release after all but to little avail as they seemed more intent on writing about his private life. If it was intentional then it appears to have worked as it definitely has attracted more appreciation this time round.

TV was one aspect of the albums promotion that was lacking back in 1994. This was pretty much limited to The Danny Baker Show here in the UK (there was also apparently a Big Breakfast interview that I’ve not seen) and the Letterman Show in the U.S. (only one of the three songs performed on these shows came from the actual album but the performances of Jealous Guy and Love Is the Drug were at least excellent). The Electronic Press Kit also made a few appearances in the ITV schedules but this tended to be in the insomniacs slot so wouldn’t have done much for sales. Perhaps it’s no surprise that the album sold so badly under those circumstances despite the accompanying tour, a glut of print interviews and the various promo videos

Speaking of the promo video’s, there are now three promos for the title track. BF seems keen to disown the original video, perhaps due to his portrayal of women, which has attracted a lot of criticism. A much duller alternate promo was also released back in 1994 and a further version now appears to have been released along with the Deluxe edition. All a bit strange but probably just a sign of a man who is keen to avoid tarnishing his reputation at this late stage in his career.

Totally agree with Stabbs that Horoscope is a much less satisfying hodge podge of unfinished tracks but surely BF never had any serious intent of releasing it in that form and it was instead just a ploy to convince the record company to give him more time to finish it off properly.