Archived treasure

Way back in 1991, Hyprtonia World Enterprises in Norway issued a cassette compilation in a shiny red plastic case and a startlingly bright yellow double-sided sleeve that folded out into an A4 sized poster: It contained two tracks from the first The Speed Of Sound release - from when we were known as The Blood Oranges - and has just (yesterday) been digitally archived with free download here: https://tapeattack.blogspot.com/2023/04/va-fire-engine-201.html. 

The 29 track album with 21 artists was a bestseller for HWE and a constant feature in their catalogue, you can pick up the digital copy for free in the link above.

Ours were recorded on 24 track reel to reel Ampex tape, at Real To Reel in Macclesfield. 

Ancient history!

Thanks to Tape Attack for archiving it.

 

We're going to take you through the looking glass...

The video for Checkered Land:

Filmed by Music Videos Manchester, mixing live footage with John Tenniel illustrations from Alice Through The Looking Glass plus additional images by Natalie Paddick of NPME Style.
We had a lot of fun making this, MVM 'got' what we wanted to do and had some cool input too, but they still indulged us by sticking to the precise frame image placement instructions we gave them. Natalie's photographs look spectacular anyway so it was fabulous to have them to play with, I thought the 'on the table' shot would work but ...wow. Thanks to MVM and NPME. Teamwork rocks.
Watch, enjoy and spread the word. Thank you!

sneak-peek at the new video

Happy new calendar year and if you had seasonal festivities we hope they went well. We're getting 2015 underway with some editing; it's a change for us as its the first video we haven't done ourselves, our own technology didn't let us do what we wanted on this, so we had a chat with Music Videos Manchester, and Alistair has been very helpful. Today was the second editing session and we expect it'll be all wrapped in another one or two bursts. It's exciting to be working with Natalie Paddick from NMPE Style on this too her photographic images are really dynamic and fit superbly.
(See her website)
Here's a sneak-peek image taken this afternoon:

Live in session

The Speed Of Sound live in session on Caroline Boyd ALLFM 96.9

Acoustic live radio session and plenty of chitchat with The Speed Of Sound and Caroline Boyd on a hot Tuesday Evening in July. Technical gremlins meant the session was only archived for listen-again today. Give it a go. 

What 'influence tracks' did John, Kevin and Pete pick? 

What makes them tick? 

With live versions of Checkered Land and Love.

We are on from 10'30" til 50'00"

Listen here

there are some session photos here: Link to post from 15th July

"We're going to take you through the looking glass"

The Speed Of Sound playing Checkered Land - Live

"We're, going to take you through the looking glass..." the Rickenbacker 12-string chimes and sparks the notes from A-minor as the trip begins, hurtling through the mirror, into Lewis Carroll and John Tenniel's superbly imagined Looking Glass World. 

Aside from the absence of The Cheshire Cat; Alice Through The Looking Glass and What She Found There beats its more famous sister Wonderland. It's far darker and creepier. Written on a Hofner Senator six string (the same type of guitar that Jeff Beck trashes when the amp buzzes too much in Antonioni's 60's classic Blow Up), the chess board fields gave the title to this homage to Looking Glass World. Checkered Land was first released on the 1989 EP and has always been in the live set. This version was recorded in 2013. 
Click here to listen.

Checkered Land:

Step through the mirror in your living room

And enter the gardens that you can not leave

those rooted voices are calling your name

Will you ever see your little Dinah again

Will you ever come to understand

You've cried those tears before but they're made of sand

Now you see in red and white

You shall be queen before the fall of night

As you pass from square to square and as you move from here to there 

You hear of a man who is in the cells

You will find out you have met him before

He's guilty now but he has done no wrong

You could join him there before too long

You could be the one who is judging him 

What is this place that you are in

And where's the queen has she changed to you?

Don't you think you'll be changing too?

As you pass from square to square and as you move from here to there

From the narrow wall things are explained

Now its your move so its off to war

The feuding mascots drum you away

:Like the leaders of the day

You were taken prisoner on your way

The white night came and rode away

You take the queen, you shake and shake

She purrs so loud until you awake

As you pass from square to square and as you move from here to there

As you pass from square to square and as you move from here to there

Armstrong/Foster April 1987

The lyric on this one was co-written with Steve Foster, lead singer in The Droogs (1987-1988)

Hi Steve; wherever you are, not seen you since early 1989...