The KLF - Chill Out

As if I haven't given enough love to the KLF already, here is Chill Out. As far as sampling goes, this album, while far simpler, has a similar effect to that of Paul's Boutique, Since I Left You and Endtroducing. The samples add to the mood rather than create it. The steel guitar and ambient sounds add to the majestic vibe and make the album feel like a place rather than a collection of songs. In fact, the original UK pressings of the album were one-track releases making it impossible to skip to later parts of the album. The US release, which is the source of this rip, has multiple tracks, but it's not like you're gonna want to skip through this anyway.

There is so much to say about this album that has already been said, and there is little more I can contribute to it, so here is a link to the wikipedia reference. Yeah, that probably seems lazy, but why mess with perfection?

The KLF - Chill Out

01 Brownsville Turnaround On The Tex-Mex Border
02 Pulling Out Of Ricardo and The Dusk Is Falling Fast
03 Six Hours To Louisiana, Black Coffee Going Cold
04 Dream Time In Lake Jackson
05 Madrugada Eterna
06 Justified and Ancient Seems A Long Time Ago
07 Elvis On The Radio, Steel Guitar In My Soul
08 3am Somewhere Out Of Beaumont
09 Wichita Lineman Was A Song I Once Heard
10 Trancentral Lost In My Mind
11 The Lights Of Baton Rouge Pass By
12 A Melody From A Past Life Keeps Pulling Me Back
13 Rock Radio Into The Nineties and Beyond
14 Alone Again With The Dawn Coming Up


PS-I had planned to post this eventually, but today I got an e-mail from someone I have great respect for. This person said I should post Space, so I figured I would do a quick update and give you the link. This goes well alongside Chill Out, and if you enjoy that you will most likely enjoy this.

Space

The KLF - Deep Shit: A Musical Retrospective, Part Three

I really didn't think I'd be able to get this one online tonight, but sometimes things just happen to work out alright. Also, if you're looking for the post about the delay, I deleted it since it doesn't contain anything terribly informative. But forget all that, on to the important stuff!

The third disc of the compilation deals with rarities and remixes, although remixes get the lions share of the attention. There are some really killer tracks here and many of them are quite rare so, if you've been holding back because you had the more common stuff, this one should please you quite nicely. The files are below with the blow by blow. Oh, and don't forget, there is one more post in this series. Come back tomorrow to Chill Out!

The KLF - Deep Shit: This Is What The KLF Were About
NOTE: You MUST download both parts to extract all files.
Disc Three, Part One
Disc Three, Part Two

01 The Justified Ancients Of Mu Mu - Jerusalem On The Moors
The b-side to It's Grim Up North, this isn't so much a new track as a continuation of the closing theme in Part 1. A dark and stormy entrance into disc three.

02 The Timelords - Doctorin' The Tardis (Club Mix)
Nothing too far out about this remix, but it's a great one nonetheless. In case you hoped it was longer, here's your wish.

03 The KLF - Kylie Said Harder
The Kylie mixes were pretty damn good, but with the single flopping they became scarce quick. Despite the title, this is still a rather minimal remix.

04 The KLF - Kylie In A Trance
The trance thing is rather evident here, making this a really nice one to vibe out to. It's really a shame that this track didn't catch on, if only for the sake of these remixes.

05 The Justified Ancients Of Mu Mu - It's Grim Up North (Club Mix)
This is the original version of Grim which was produced in extremely limited quantity on grey marble vinyl. I guess it could be looked at as a demo or first draft as it's quite a bit simpler than the final version, but it's not all that different. Still though, nice mix that never gained an official release of any sort.

06 The KLF - Madrugada Eterna (Club Mix)
This might be the only track of this entire compilation that is not a sanctioned KLF recording. In a short trailer for the unreleased White Room movie a remix of Madrugada Eterna played in the background. Eventually, a remix was announced but it never appeared which, sadly, is not all that strange a thing when discussing the KLF. This is not the remix from the trailer and is widely assumed to be a bootleg, but since no one has ever confirmed this and it remains a popular enough track, I think it's suitable for this compilation. Even if it isn't legit, it's still a very nice and mellow mix of an already mellow track. This and the next few tracks are meant for chilling out.

07 The KLF - 3 A.M. Eternal (Blue Danube Orbital)
First off, this remix is by THE ORB, not Orbital. That said, this is a beautiful remix from the second 12" for 3 A.M. Eternal that was released in the UK.

08 The KLF - Last Train To Trancentral (Mu D. Vari-Speed Version)
From the KLF Meets The Moody Boys Uptown 12" for Last Train, this is easily the most messed up remix of them all. It sounds like someone slowing down and speeding up the master tapes at random intervals. Yeah, it might sound stupid, but it's incredible! I totally zone-out when this track comes on! Also, the Moody Boys were a kind of electro-dub group that was related to the KLF, but they were NOT the KLF under a different name. They had their own individual releases and are worth seeking out in their own right. One more note, this was also the soundtrack to a short film called This Is Not What The KLF Are About, which featured video being slowed down and messed with alongside the track.

09 The KLF - 3 A.M. Eternal (Klonk Blip Every Trip)
This one is from the Moody Boys Selection CD single for 3 A.M. which makes it another Moody Boys remix. This one is almost a completely new track.

10 The KLF - What Time Is Love? (The Moody Boys vs. The KLF)
Yet another Moody Boys-related remix, this one credits the Children Of The Revolution as additional performers on the track, but who knows what their contributions really were. As for the track, weird, spacey and featuring a Cymande sample. Taken from the Remodelled & Remixed What Time Is Love 12".

11 The KLF - What Time Is Love? (Virtual Reality Mix)
From the same 12" as the last mix, this one holds similarities to the Vari-Speed version of Last Train. God, I love these Moody Boys remixes!

12 The Timelords - Doctorin' The Tardis (Minimal)
Self explanatory.

13 The Justified Ancients Of Mu Mu - It's Grim Up North (Part 2)
As a reminder that the end doesn't mean it's all peace and love, we close with this dark and gloomy instrumental. Yeah, the KLF might sound a little dated, but a lot of this stuff holds up pretty well. Grim is still a pretty mean cut after all this time.

The KLF - Deep Shit: A Musical Retrospective, Part Two

Here is the second disc of my KLF compiliation. The third disc will appear sometime on Tuesday and the fourth Wednesday or Thursday. Sorry if it's a bit slow, but they will be here soon enough with some other goodies too. Anyway, this disc focuses on KLF rarities and album tracks. Enjoy!

The KLF - Deep Shit: This Is What The KLF Were About
NOTE: You MUST download both parts to extract all files.
Disc Two, Part One
Disc Two, Part Two

01 The One World Orchestra - The Magnificent
This is one of the few post-retirement tracks from the KLF. It initially appeared in 1995 on the Help compilation which was a benefit album. It's basically a drum'n'bass version of the theme from the Magnificent Seven.

02 2K - Fuck The Millenium
Reborn in 1997 as 2K, Cauty and Drummond made a single live performance in powered wheel chairs to perform what is essentially a rather long remix of What Time Is Love. At one point there was a phone line opened asking whether the millenium should be fucked or not. Sadly, this was not a huge hit, but how many songs where people repeatedly yell that you should fuck something, and not in a sexual sense, receive such a status?

03 The KLF - Make It Rain
Taken from The White Room, this is a spare and dubby jam. Not much to say, just a good track.

04 The KLF - Last Train To Trancentral (Pure Trance)
This is the original trance version from 1990. Significantly different from the Lost Continent version, the melody was co-opted in Go To Sleep from the original, unreleased version of The White Album. I'll have to post that album here eventually, as it's quite interesting, but if you think any of the tracks posted here sound dated, the unreleased version of The White Room will make you cover your ears in shock.

05 The Justified Ancients Of Mu Mu - Rockman Rock (Parts 2 and 3)
King Boy tells us all how tough the Rockman really is. This is from the 1987 album.

06 The KLF - Build A Fire
Taken from The White Room, the theme from Twin Peaks is mentioned as an inspiration quite often. It does bear a striking similarity to that show's memorable theme, and that's in a good way. Simply, a very beautiful track to chill out to.

07 The KLF - 3 A.M. Eternal (Pure Trance)
The original 1989 trance version of this classic. It's a very peaceful track and earns it's version title quite nicely.

08 The KLF - Madrugada Eterna
Taken from Chill Out, this track takes that instruction quite seriously. If you like this, wait till you hear the rest of Chill Out!

09 K Foundation - K Cera Cera (War Is Over If You Want It)
This came out as a one track CD single in 1993 with vocals from the Red Army Choir. Oh yeah, this only came out in Israel. A rather nice mix of Que Cera Cera and John and Yoko's Christmas classic, this is a surprisingly subtle track from people who were anything but.

10 The Justified Ancients Of Mu Mu - King Boy's Dream
Once again, King Boy tells us how it is. This is probably the best Scottish rap boast you'll ever hear!

11 The KLF - What Time Is Love? (Pure Trance)
My favorite of the Pure Trance originals, this dates back to 1988. Engaging and ominous, this feels like 2 a.m. eternal. An easy classic!

12 The KLF vs. Extreme Noise Terror - 3 A.M. Eternal
This is probably the one track recorded for the Black Album that was completed. The whole story behind this track is far too long to be told in this post, but I might have to post the Black Album sessions eventually along with that tale. A totally insane, metallic version with screamed lyrics and fucked-up everything, this was released as a fan-club exclusive although later vinyl pressings have been seen. The legitimacy of those later pressings remain uncertain.

13 The Justified Ancients Of Mu Mu - The Queen and I
This is the one that sparked the rage of ABBA and is the main reason that all remaining copies of the 1987 album were destroyed. Yes, it's cheesy as hell and rather silly, but this is the kind of stuff people should make more of. Mock the hits and speak your mind!

14 The KLF - The White Room
The end to the second disc, the title cut from The White Room is another slightly dubby, chilled-out dance groove. Like a lot of the album tracks, there isn't necessarily a lot of back-story to tell here, but that doesn't make the track any less enjoyable.

The KLF - Deep Shit: A Musical Retrospective, Part One

There are a lot of artists, bands, collectives, labels and movements that are great and deserve to be absorbed into the public consciousness, but it's usually very difficult to explain why that is within the space of an article or short posting. Sometimes a well-designed website or wikipedia page helps, but sometimes you need a book, if not volumes of books. A movie or documentary can help but they are often rather incomplete and give the wrong ideas or leave important people and their actions out entirely. All in all, it's tough, and it's not something I want to do here, so I won't. That said, I am going to try to lay some groundwork to allow one to start their own research on the following topic at hand, at least musically, because as important as the music is, there was a lot more than just music when it came to the KLF.

The KLF, aka The JAMs, The Justified Ancients Of Mu Mu, The Timelords, 2K, K Foundation and the One World Orchestra among a seemingly endless list of aliases were comprised of Bill Drummond, aka King Boy D, the co-founder of Zoo Records, a member of Big In Japan and manager of Echo and The Bunnymen, and Jimmy Cauty, aka Rockman Rock, a member of Brilliant and a co-founder of The Orb. Starting in 1987, they made some of the least genre-specific music while simultaneously being an extremely powerful force in the dance and pop communities. Between 1987 and 1991, they independently released five full-length albums and numerous singles as well as limited edition remix singles and companion releases. They sampled The Beatles, Elvis Presley, ABBA, Whitney Houston, Samantha Fox, Dave Brubeck, Jimi Hendrix, Sly & The Family Stone, the MC5 and others all without ever clearing a sample, which led to all sorts of legal issues including the destruction of every remaining copy of their 1987 debut album, 1987 (What The Fuck Is Going On?). They collaborated with Tammy Wynette, the country star, and Extreme Noise Terror, a vegan metal group which led to an infamous appearance on British television where fake machine guns were fired into the audience. They made videos where practially nothing and everything could happen, including a road movie based on their album The White Room which was never finished and, despite being widely bootlegged, was screened publicly only once and to an audience of sheep. At various points as a sign their careers were over courtesy only of themselves, they left a dead sheep in the streets with an annoucement that they had left the music industry, they burned a million British Pounds and eventually deleted their entire catalogue and have refused to reissue any item from it since. Over all, you could say they built a mystery and have committed themselves to maintaining it.

Because their releases are unavailable via legal channels, bootlegs of varying quality run rampant and it’s rather difficult to obtain a clear view of what the KLF were really all about. Rather than posting everything they’ve ever done, of which I’m positive I don’t have, I’ve compiled a three disc overview of their career, featuring their singles, album cuts, rarities and remixes. To be honest, while I think this collection does a great job of introducing the KLF, you’ll still have to do a lot of research to find out what they were really all about, but this is a good starting point.

Over the next few days there will be four posts of KLF material, starting today with the first disc of this collection I’ve compiled which I’ve named Deep Shit: This Is What The KLF Were About. The first disc will focus on their singles, while the second will feature rarities and album cuts. The third will feature remixes both created by the KLF themselves as well as additional collaborators and the fourth disc will feature their ambient classic, Chill Out. All of these tracks have been compiled either from my own collection or from extremely high quality lossless copies of their various singles and releases, so while you may hear quality differences from track to track, as some tracks are vinyl sources, these are the best copies available.

I really hope you enjoy this collection and, if you need more KLF goodness, I may be so inclined to make another torrent featuring my collection of lossless rips. Please let me know if anyone is interested in such a thing. Also, if you want to know more about the KLF, especially since this post doesn’t even scrape the surface of their legacy, you should visit the Library Of Mu and the KLF Online archive for starters. There are a number of other sites available but these are fabulous starting points.

The KLF - Deep Shit: This Is What The KLF Were About
NOTE: You MUST download both parts to extract all files.
Disc One, Part One
Disc One, Part Two

01 The Justified Ancients Of Mu Mu - All You Need Is Love (Original Version)
The original version of the debut single from the JAMs which was not reissued due to an unauthorized sample of the Beatles' All You Need Is Love. King Boy D grabs the mic.

02 The KLF - What Time Is Love? (Live At Trancentral)
The second and more popular version of What Time Is Love? This is part of the Stadium House Trilogy and features Isaac Bello on vocals.

03 The Justified Ancients Of Mu Mu - Don't Take Five (Take What You Want)
More rhymes from King Boy D while sampling James Brown and Dave Brubeck. Taken from the 1987 album.

04 J.A.M.s - Whitney Joins The J.A.M.s
The story goes that Cauty and Drummond went to the studio to make a new track but, after hearing Whitney Houston's I Want To Dance With Somebody, decided that it was a better song than anything they would come up with that day and they should just make a track from it. Also includes bits of the Mission: Impossible theme.

05 The Justified Ancients Of Mu Mu - Down Town
King Boy and choir do their thing over the melody from Petula Clark's Downtown. Issued first as a single and then as part of the Shag Times compilation.

06 The KLF - 3 A.M. Eternal (Live At The S.S.L.)
Another part of the Stadium House Trilogy, another revised single and also from The White Room. Ricardo da Force provides the rhymes. In case you were wondering, S.S.L. stands for Solid State Logic, the type of mixing console used for this song.

07 The Timelords - Doctorin' The Tardis
Arguably their biggest hit, this one mashes the Doctor Who theme and Gary Glitter's Rock and Roll Part 2. Some say it's the first mash-up, although you could say that about a lot of the KLF's songs. The record art and video featured an old police cruiser renamed Ford Timelord which noted that "it" made the record.

08 The KLF - Kylie Said To Jason
Meant to be the first single off The White Album, this one bombed pretty bad and led to a complete restructuring of the album. The title refers to Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan, then stars of the Australian soap-opera Neighbours.

09 The Justified Ancients Of Mu Mu - Candyman
Taken from their 1988 sophmore album, Who Killed The JAMs? Funny song about who knows what featuring King Boy rapping.

10 The Justified Ancients Of Mu Mu - It's Grim Up North (Part 1)
Initially meant for the unreleased and unfinished sixth KLF album, The Black Room, this track is supposed to be a form of dark trance. It is indeed dark and rather eerie. For the record, The Black Room would not have sounded anything like this if the stories are true, as it was meant to be a very real metal album. I might eventually have to post the circulating tracks from those sessions.

11 The KLF - Justified & Ancient (Stand By The Jams 12" Version)
The infamous Tammy Wynette single! Technically the third version of this song, this is the definitive version and was a huge hit. This is the slightly longer 12" version.

12 The KLF - Last Train To Trancentral (Live From The Lost Continent)
From the Stadium House Trilogy. This version appears on US versions of The White Room but a different version is on all other editions.

13 The KLF - America: What Time Is Love?
The third version of What Time Is Love? and probably the oddest. It's long, has an orchestra, Isaac Bello takes the mic and it's thorougly unclear what the hell is going on. Lotta fun though.

14 The Justified Ancients Of Mu Mu - Burn The Bastards
Borrowing the melody from Sly Stone's Dance To The Music, this is taken from Who Killed The JAMs and is a party starter/finisher. King Boy raps