Biting Tongues - Don't Heal
Re-ripped from a vinyl album released on Situation Two Records (SITU 01) in 1981 to high resolution 24-bit FLAC audio. Right ....back to the music. Here's a much requested re-post....
Biting Tongues were one the most misunderstood of Manchester's post-punk bands and probably, as a result one of the least successful. The bands original quirky punk-jazz overtones and poetic lyrical ramblings had a limited following and their first albums had a very small audience.
Listening to this work nearly 30 years after their first recordings, you quickly pick up on the power and intensity of Biting Tongues music, and with a more discerning ear, you realise how important they should have been. The early Tongues struck a post-Beefheart funk groove laid over with Ken Hollings poetic and manic meanderings.
The first album, 1981's Don't Heal was recorded in two short sessions, played straight through without a break between tracks. Random tapes were left running throughout both sessions, their accidental intrusions incorporated into the final mix. The Dark Room Skin Transfers took place at Drone Studios in Chorlton in August 1980 and suffers from a very dry sound, thanks to a 1970s studio vogue for dead rooms as the walls were completely clad in denim. It was recorded and mixed in a single afternoon, with very few overdubs, though those with close hearing attention will notice the sounds of the Tardis during the opening few seconds.
The White Valise side recorded in January 1981 benefited from the more upmarket sounds of Pennine studios in Rochdale, even down to the noises made by the coffee machine in the hall, which can be heard at the start of Heart Disease. Don't Heal was the first album released on Situation 2 but sales were fairly modest and few copies were pressed. Tracks have subsequently appeared on compilation CDs, but here again in blogland is the whole vinyl experience in 24 bit audio.
The White Valise
A1 Blue Traces
A2 Dog Face
A3 Heart Disease
A4 Or With Eyes Closed
Darkroom Skin Transfers
B1 Stabbing Soft Ice
B2 You Can Choke Like That
B3 Walkaway
B4 Coil
B5 R.R.O.R.
B6 Give Diamonds / You Can't
