Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Solar Enemy - Dirty vs Universe


Here's another album from Gary Levermore's Third Mind label, which you may have already realized is a Fantod Favorite. Portion Control, longtime purveyors of "hard, rhythmic electronics", greatly expanded their pallette on their 1987 album Psycho-Bod Saves the World (even recording a ballad, "H.O.T. Matter"), and then disappeared. They regrouped in 1990 as Solar Enemy, a "side project" that just happened to contain only members of Portion Control and sound just like Portion Control. Solar Enemy released an EP in 1990 (Techno Divinity), an album in 1991 (Dirty vs Universe), and one more in 1993 (Proceed to Beyond--Rape of Europa). Offered here is Dirty vs Universe, unfortunately just the 10-track US version and not the German version with several extra tracks. Still, if you like the danceable Portion Control of "The Great Divide" (let's hear it for punchy sequencers!), then these ten tracks will be sure to please you. They are:
  1. Universe
  2. Welcome To Hell
  3. Inca Pisco
  4. Burm-Up
  5. Dark Angel
  6. Massive Radiation
  7. Carcajou
  8. Trojan
  9. Rotator
  10. Sundown

Get the CD rip here or here. Portion Control reactivated and began releasing new material, and new packages of old material, in 2004. Their latest album, Slug, was released earlier this year; you can sample it (and buy it!) here.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Fantod, I love this LP, and it's still on heavy rotation in my house.
Do you know of any copies of the follow up - Proceed To Beyond (The Rape Of Europa)? I've never seen it, even though I know it exists.

Fantod said...

Glad you like it! I've never seen Proceed To Beyond either, but I keep looking for it. And if I find it, I'll share it.

Fantod

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much! I've been looking for this for years. I used to own the extended version of this CD (17 tracks if I remember correctly) but I foolishly sold it.

I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but could you upload it at 320Kbps? It makes a huge difference to the sound quality, and also lower quality mp3s (128Kbps/196Kbps) cause hearing fatigue.

Anyway, thank you again! There is some great music on this blog that would otherwise be impossible to find since it is long out of print.

Fantod said...

You're welcome! I've settled on 192Kpbs as a happy medium between three opposing forces:

1. My own convenience: my wonky internet connection leads to lots of dropped uploads that I have to restart from the beginning. Higher bitrate = larger files = more time to upload = more drops & restarts.

2. Listeners' preferences: 192 is better than 128, at least. In cases where I've uploaded 128Kbps rips, I made them years ago and that's all I still have.

3. Copyright holders' rights: these archive files are not meant to be replacements for legitimate releases. I also do not want to drain away the potential market for high-quality reissues by the copyright holders.

I hope everyone will understand and respect these self-imposed limitations on the quality of my shared archives. Happy listening!

Anonymous said...

Ok Mr Fantod,
although I would still love 320Kbps I understand and respect your decision. And 192Kbps is definately better than nothing at all! Without your site I wouldn't have been able to hear this album again, it is impossible to find these days. So thanks for sharing this rare music, it's much appreciated.

Zer0_II said...

Hello Fantod. I wanted to let you know that I've added your fabulous blog to the New Wave/Post-Punk category of my music blogroll/directory @ http://music-bloggers.blogspot.com

I'm trying to put together the most comprehensive list of music blogs which feature out of print or otherwise unavailable music, as well as those which share podcasts, or sample mp3 files. I've categorized them so that you can easily find exactly what you are looking for.

If you would like to help me out, you can do so by linking back to my blog. Although it isn't required in order to be listed, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks for all the hard work and time that goes into maintaining this blog, and especially for the fantastic music you share. Take care.

Zer0_II

Fantod said...

Nice blog, thanks for the link! I've added you in the "All the Music Blogs" section.

F

Anonymous said...

As requested, here is a link to the “German?” 17-track version of Dirty vs Universe. These tracks were ripped by Exact Audio Copy as lame variable bit rate mp3s.

http://rapidshare.com/files/182083717/Solar_Enemy_-_Dirty_Vs_Universe.zip.html

If anyone shows any interest, I will also post Proceed to Beyond (The Rape of Europa).

Cheers
onionjack

Fantod said...

Thank you, onionjack!!! I for one am definitely interested in Proceed to Beyond, could I get some readers to chime in as well?

Cheers!

Anonymous said...

Hi Fantod, definitely interested is fine.

Here is a link to Proceed to Beyond (The Rape of Europa). Again, these tracks were ripped by Exact Audio Copy as lame variable bit rate mp3s.

http://rapidshare.com/files/185588497/Solar_Enemy_-_Proceed_to_Beyond__The_Rape_of_Europa_.zip

Enjoy
onionjack

Fantod said...

Sweet!!! Thanks once again, OJ!

F

Anonymous said...

Damn, well I didn't read through the comments all the way and see that someone beat me to it. Oh well.

http://www.astropope.com/2009/01/proceed-to-beyond-the-rape-of-europa/

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Eden 263 said...

Hi Fantod, thanks to OJ for the link to Proceed To Beyond - quality is exceptional. Anybody got N:Euro by Federal State on Concrete Productions?

That is another 'missing gem' of electronica.