The Last Beat of My Heart by Siouxsie and the Banshees was released 33 years ago!
The Last Beat of My Heart by Siouxsie and the Banshees was released on 21st November 1988 by Polydor / Wonderland as the third and final single from the band's ninth studio album, Peepshow.
The song is a ballad with strings and accordion. Sioux's vocals addressed a lover who is leaving a relationship, as she asked for him to return to her. She declared her desire to be "close to you til the last beat of my heart".
"The Last Beat of My Heart" reached number 44 in the UK Singles Chart in December 1988. Upon its inclusion on the 1992 compilation album Twice Upon a Time: The Singles, a live recording of the song from 1991 replaced the single version.
The Last Beat of My Heart (7"/12"/CDS)
| 1 | The Last Beat Of My Heart | 4:27 |
| 2 | El Dia De Los Muertos | 3:33 |
| 3 | Sunless (12" + CDS only) | 4:21 |
| 4 | El Dia De Los Muertos (Espiritu Mix) (CDS only) | 5:36 |
The Last Beat of My Heart (Lyrics)
In the sharp gust of love my memory stirred
When time wreathed a rose a garland of shame
It's thorn my only delight war torn
Afraid to speak, we dare to breathe
Majestic, imperial a bridge of sighs
Solitude sails in a wave of forgiveness
On angels wings
Reach out your hands, don't turn your back
Don't walk away
How in the world, can I wish for this?
Never to be torn apart
Close to you 'till the last beat of my heart
At the close of day the sunset cloaks
These words in shadow play
Here and now, long and loud
My heart cries out
And the naked bone of an echo says
Don't walk away
Reach out your hands I'm just a step away
How in the world can I wish for this?
Never to be torn apart
Close to you till the last beat of my heart
How in the world can I wish for this?
Never to be torn apart till the last beat
Till the last fleeting beat of my heart
Songwriters: Budgie / Steven Severin / Susan Ballion
Although the band had several releases since 1985, Isn't Anything is often considerd as the real debut studio album by My Bloody Valentine. It was released on 21 November 1988 by Creation Records. Its innovative instrumental and production techniques consolidated the experimentation of the band's preceding EPs and would make it a pioneering work of the subgenre known as shoegazing.
Upon its release, the album received rave critical reviews and reached number one in the UK Independent Album Chart. A 1988 year-end roundup of the year's top albums in Melody Maker ranked Isn't Anything third of the year and called it “a raving nymphomania and out-of-body experience establishes them as absent-minded rulers of this daydream nation."
Isn't Anything has subsequently become regarded as one of the greatest albums of the 1980s. The album has been included in The Guardian's list of "1000 Albums to Hear Before You Die" and ranked as number 16 in their "Alternative Top 100 Albums" list.
The NME ranked the album at 187 in its list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time while Pitchfork selected the album as the 4th best shoegaze album of all time.
Isn't Anything (tracklist)
Soft As Snow (But Warm Inside)
Lose My Breath
Cupid Come
(When You Wake) You're Still In A Dream
No More Sorry
All I Need
Feed Me With Your Kiss
Sueisfine
Several Girls Galore
You Never Should
Nothing Much To Lose
I Can See It (But I Can't Feel It)
Bonus tracks (Originally included as bonus 7" with the album)
Instrumental A
Instrumental B
Mark Sousa, the mastermind behind futurepop act VOICECOIL has just dropped the debut EP for his project GRAVITY CORPS.
"Gravity Corps is a different angle to what I do artistically. It's a more aggressive, angrier side of my mind. It's a more simplistic and raw presentation in its themes." - Mark Sousa.
Zero Grav plays on various varied themes from track to track. “Thankful For Another Day” is a simple statement of the same titled track. Tracks like ”Selling Sorrow” and “Cold And Elegant” focus heavily on themes of artistic integrity and dissociation respectively. “Scarred To Death” (the first piece written for the project) was inspired by dark science fiction.
Zero Grav is available NOW as a digital download via Bandcamp.
For fans of: industrial, ebm & dark pop
On this day, 41 years ago, British Post-punk band The Fall released their third studio album Grotesque (After The Gramme) - 17 November 1980. It was their first studio album released by the Rough Trade Records label.
The album was preceded by two acclaimed singles, "How I Wrote 'Elastic Man'" and "Totally Wired", which did not appear on the original pressing but were subsequently included on CD reissues of the album.
The Fall's music at the time was described as "Mancabilly", and by singer Smith himself as "Country 'n' Northern".
The album was generally well received and highly acclaimed by the music press, rating it with four to five out of the five star ratings.
The album reached number one on the UK Independent Album Chart for 3 sequential weeks, spending 29 weeks on the chart in total.
Grotesque (After The Gramme) (ROUGH 18 - LP)
| A1 | Pay Your Rates | |
| A2 | English Scheme | |
| A3 | New Face In Hell | |
| A4 | C'n'C-S Mithering | |
| A5 | The Container Drivers | |
| B1 | Impression Of J. Temperance | |
| B2 | In The Park | |
| B3 | W.M.C. - Blob 59 | |
| B4 | Gramme Friday | |
| B5 | The N.W.R.A. |
Electro-Industrial Act SPANKTHENUN Goes Dark And Diverse With 'The Bunker Tapes Volume II'
Dark electro-industrial act SPANKTHENUN picks up where The Bunker Tapes Vol. I and the closing track, "Dominate" left us.
Now, The Bunker Tapes Vol. II continues the journey of mid 90s-influenced industrial beats and moves into a more dark electro territory, then finally to a pure EBM vision with tracks like "Industrial Beats" and "Lockdown". Like the previous album, Vol. II includes original tracks and remixes of the fan favourites like the face-ripping "Off Beatings", the introspective "I Self Me" and "Right Father".
Indeed the album is more substantial than its feel of late 90s dark electro. "The Smoking Gun" is a stark reflection of the political nightmare that turned a deadly disease into a worldwide pandemic, once only thought possible in sci-fi films. "Lockdown" takes the EBM vibe down a darker path in its idea that "we are part of the broken machine."
But the stylistic diversity of SPANKTHENUN is expressed with the fun and quirky vibe of "I Am The Fire" juxtaposed with the aforementioned tracks that maintain a more conceptual seriousness.
The physical CD carries an additional track from The Bunker Tapes Vol I - "Fight and Breed" with a special dual remix from Upon Eventual Collapse and Leaether Strip, bringing an unexpected new vibe to the track... only on the CD.
