The more eagle-eyed browsers of this portal will have noticed that CAKE has mutated into NORTH FORK SOUND. However, I know there are sleepier, less alert individuals out there that may not have gotten the memo, so here's another honk on the horn. A more diversely solid playlist is virtually impossible to find. Expertly curated, it's an encyclopedic journey through the entire history of all good music, irrespective of alleged pigeonhole. And there's also the NOFO blog to dig into while you're groovin'. With this and So Many Records... you folks are being spoiled but hey - you're worth it, right?

Suicide’s Alan Vega 70 This Year
Limited Edition EP Series - 4th Aug
Live Box Set - 4th Aug

Uncompromising solo artist and legendary front man of the band Suicide, Alan Vega celebrates his 70th birthday this year. To mark this occasion, blastfirstpetite is conducting a yearlong series of monthly limited edition releases.

Each release includes:
• an established recording artist paying tribute to Alan by covering one of his songs,
• a previously unreleased Suicide/Vega rarity from the archives, and
• proving that Vega's work even now continues to inspire, a cover version by a young up and coming band.

Major artistes will include Bruce Springsteen, Primal Scream, Peaches, Grinderman, Spiritualised, The Horrors, Klaxons, Sunn 0)) + Pansonic, Julian Cope, Lydia Lunch,Vincent Gallo and Liars . Upcoming bands include Beat The Devil/Shilpa Ray, No Bra, HTRK, X-Vectors, Nik Void (ex-Kaito), Effi Briest, S.C.U.M., and Stephen Burroughs (ex-Head Of David).
The sleeve images are all by contemporary visual artists who have been inspired by Vega, including Edward Mapplethorpe, Alex Rose, Cary Kwok, and Colter Jacobsen.

The series kicks off on 23rd July with two editions of 4000 each (catalog number PTYT 017), in both 10" vinyl & a limited download. Featured on the A-side is Bruce Springsteen’s cover of "Dream Baby Dream" (a live recording from The Boss's 2005 "Devils & Dust" solo tour). The sleeve is by Edward Mapplethorpe.

Any of series can be pre-ordered via links at blastfirstpetite.com and alanvega.com. Physical distribution is by Cargo (UK), Forced Exposure (USA), and digital distribution by State5.

Suicide Box Set Live 1977 – 1978
Out Aug 4th

Blastfirstpetite have released a six CD 3000 limited edition box set featuring thirteen live Suicide sets from the early New York performances and their legendary first European tour supporting The Clash & Elvis Costello. Entitled Live 1977-1978, the recordings are culled from the archives of Howard Thompson, the man who originally signed Suicide to Bronze/EMI outside of the USA.

Howard Thompson's archive, of which this box set largely comprises, consists of recordings made by himself and others who shared tapes so as to keep up with Suicide’s latest live adventures, and was originally intended purely for personal use. Captured on small handheld non-professional cassette machines of the era, tapes run out mid-performance and all the clunks, clicks, chatter and blather of amateur recording are captured fully intact, an audio-verité of Suicide performing in the flesh in clubs and halls of the time.

The gigs are presented in the order in which they happened, all the better to hear how the Suicide live experience evolved, to glean which audiences failed to grasp the implicit freedoms of Punk and which small bands of hardy souls rallied to Suicide’s brave new vision.

This set of recordings is not for the faint hearted. Nor is it the ideal starting place for uninitiated listeners seeking an easy introduction to Alan Vega & Marty Rev's dark and decidedly queasy proto-futuristic, low-tech sci-fi music, first unleashed on a mostly uncaring world under the banner Suicide many years ago.

Paul Smith
Blastfirstpetite (2008)