BBC Radio 1 FM broadcast
'Lamacq Live' / 'Evening Session' programme.BBC Maida Vale Studios, London.
Broadcast on 20 March 2000
Only 'Blood Money' and Mani's track, 'Keep Your Dreams' are missing from this explosive live set. A promotional appearance for the forthcoming Xtrmntr tour, it was recorded in front of a small audience at the BBC's renowned Maida Vale studios in London.
I heard this when it was initially broadcast in March 2000 and bought a ticket for the tour, the following month. My lasting memories of the show were of the green lights that swathed the stage and the hammering thundering drums of 'Kowalski' as Bobby Gillespie leaned on his vocal stand, John Lydon style and screamed "Kowalski in Vanishing Point, Vanishing Point, Vanishing Point". (pardon the pun and don't forget to see the movie)
The album and single 'Accelerator' were Creation Records final releases, Xtrmntr the first classic album of the new millenium. Once you've heard 'Kowalski' and 'Burning Wheel', you will also be looking for the 'Vanishing Point' album released in 1997.
This BBC Radio 1 FM broadcast is as fine an example existing of how they sounded live. You really do need to 'Turn It Up' when listening to this one. It could not be more different than my last two posts. A real raging, controlled blast of aggression, year 2K style and entirely relevant in 2017.
Xtrmntr drew strong reviews, like the following:
"XTRMNTR is a biting condemnation of
government, capitalism, and complacency filled with both damning lyrics and
beautiful noise. "Insecticide shots for criminal cops/All jails are
concentration camps, all judges are bought," rails Gillespie on the
fiercely funk title track.
Such diatribes are expressed over throbbing
electro-funk rhythms, computerized firestorms, and impulsive stabs of free jazz
-- imagine Rage Against the Machine as a techno band.
In contrast to Primal
Scream's best-loved album, the definitive Madchester rave-rock platter
'Scramadelica' the angry XTRMNTR builds upon the urgency and claustrophobia of
the band's 1997 album, 'Vanishing Point'.
"Blood Money" is a stealthy, horn-embellished instrumental that
would have made the perfect soundtrack to a William Burroughs spy film.
"Swastika Eyes" is a pulsing, industrial-disco barrage, and "Accelerator"
sounds like the Stooges crossed with My Bloody Valentine -- in fact, MBV front
man Kevin Shields provides production assistance on several tracks (as do the
Chemical Brothers and the Automator), including the droning, mesmeric
"Shoot Speed/Kill Light. Rarely have political albums sounded this
disorientingly wonderful."
Setlist:
01. Swastika Eyes
02. Shoot Speed, Kill Light
03. Pills
04. Burning Wheel
05. If They Move Kill 'Em
06. Insect Royalty
07. Kill All Hippies
08. Exterminator
09. Kowalski
10. Accelerator
Time: 45 minute 16s
Lineage: BBC Radio 1 FM > ?? > Traded CD-R > EAC > WAV > CoolEdit (manual removal of gaps) > WAV > TLH (SBE fix) > WAV > TLH > FLAC 8 & .ffp
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