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Onderstroom

GLORIOUS DIN - Closely Watched Trains

Onderstroom present a reissue of Glorious Dins Closely Watched Trains, originally released in 1987. How a boy from the Sri Lankan jungle formed the greatest post-punk band youve never heard. Fronted by an intense singer with an oblique songbook and a mysterious past, Glorious Din was unlike any other group to emerge from San Franciscos 80s underground. With singer Eric Cope, the chosen persona of a Joy Division-obsessed Sri Lankan boy who travelled halfway around the world to follow his punk dream. The multifaceted nature of the 80s scene -- encompassing everything from three-chord thrash punk to garage-band pop, experimental art rock, and atonal noise -- can seem baffling to outsiders. Glorious Din mesmerizing sound instantly gets under your skin via their non-standard drum patterns, Eastern-sounding guitar melodies, a melodic bass in pole position, and a dissociative singer. The enigmatic group helped total unknowns gain recognition and were the uncommon glue linking Faith No More, the Dead Kennedys, and Michael Franti, as well as R.E.M. and the Cocteau Twins. Glorious Dins appeal was their mysteriousness: a quartet of mismatched musicians not necessarily playing their chosen instruments, with the obscure lyrics of their intense frontman near impossible to decipher. The group imploded after only three years, but their cult appeal has lasted far longer through their two albums and related material. Glorious Dins second album, Closely Watched Trains, had a very different sound from its predecessor. Eric was listening to a lot of Nick Drake, so they mixed the vocals and guitar much louder than the other instruments. Nevertheless, the album showed a growth and maturity on the bands part. Paget plays a metal dobro on some numbers, which adds a sheen of folk to the post-punk proceedings, as heard on the opener Stilt Walkers". "1651 Map" has Cope seemingly recounting a colonial uprising or an industrial dispute over a sparse rhythm led by Pagets minimal guitar, and early number "Voices Everywhere" is here reprised as a joyous blast, the lyrics speaking of a pending arrival. Paget is well-represented with "Red Dirt", which has fantastic modulated bass from Heeschen, "Circle Star", another freedom track, and the melodious "Blood". Now exactly 30 years later, Closely Watched Trains is still a more than rewarding listen and a vivid document of the times. Cover reconstruction by Jeroen Wille. Includes booklet with interview and liner notes. Remastered by Equus. 180 gram vinyl; Edition of 1000." - Onderstroom.

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After nearly a decade of false starts, multiple game plans veering off the rails, and a handful of shattered hopes and/or dreams, the odyssey is finally complete—the new Fusetron site is here.

This is the first phase of a multipart rollout that will span the next few months: the currently browsable stock includes miscellaneous new releases from the past 8+ months (we have a lot of catching up to do), plus approximately a third of our backstock. Note that we’ve reduced/slashed prices on many titles and will continue to do so in order to make room for new stock. We’ll also be expanding / tweaking / improving / debugging the site itself (for example, we still have work to do on the automated international postage system, not to mention the inevitable inventory discrepancies that come with transferring an ancient and massive database to a new system).

Over the next few months, as we take inventory, clean house, and delve into our storage, we will be uploading thousands of additional items, gradually, on a near-daily basis. This will include the majority of the LPs, as well as many titles, in all formats, once thought long-gone. Many currently “sold out” items are likely to resurface.

Finally, once our general backstock is up (probably in the next two or three months) we’ll begin making our extensive stockpile of rarities available online for the first time: tons of random out-of-print titles, "deadstock," warehouse finds, secondhand collectibles, etc., accumulated over the past few decades.

Frequent/returning customers will be getting early access to these items. Details to follow on how this will work (a priority mailing list? a 'frequent flyer'-like program?), but it will not be based on dollars spent. We want to reward those who consistently support us, especially in the discogs marketplace era (to those who show up trying to poach five copies of a one-off rarity, and nothing else, ever… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ).

So—we suggest you take some time to dig through the site—even we’ve been surprised by what’s been turning up, and there’s much more to come.
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