12 September 2009

The B-52's - Mesopotamia (David Byrne Mixes)




















In an earlier post, we noted the dilemma many New Wave groups faced as the days of skinny ties and twitchy pop began to give way to the grey overcoats and angular, funk -inspired dance music of Post Punk. Like Lene Lovich, the B-52's had epitomized the retro dayglo orange fun of the late seventies scene. On songs such as "Rock Lobster" and "Planet Claire" they had mixed twangy guitar lines, kooky organs and beehive hairdos into a sweet and frothy confection, filling college dorm dance floors and even making inroads onto mainstream radio. But as the eighties dawned, they too went looking for ways to expand their musical range, and assert their willingness to take artistic risks without abandoning their abiding commitment to the groove that moves.

To help them make the transition from New Wave to Post Punk, from the college dorm to the local art gallery, they enlisted the help of David Byrne, hoping he might do for the five-piece from Athens, Georgia what Brian Eno had done for The Talking Heads, secure their place as critical darlings while paving the way for further commercial success. By the time that Byrne came to work with the band in 1982, he had fully absorbed Eno's interest in African polyrythms and analogue synthesizers, and was already beginning work on his first solo effort, a score for Twyla Tharp's dance company that he would call, The Catherine Wheel. He soon stripped the B-52's' sound down to a dancey, primitive beat, the kitschy Secret Agent Man style guitar lines losing out to sleek synthesized bass lines, brass arrangements, and inventive percussion effects of the kind that were beginning to emerge from the nascent hip hop scene in New York. The resulting sound was considerably darker and more atonal than the band's earlier efforts, full of angular, abstract grooves that stood in stark contrast to the increasingly earthy and distinctly southern sensuality of Kate Pierson's and Cindy Wilson's vocals. It was adventurous, challenging music, but perhaps more reflective of Byrne's private preoccupations of the time than the interests of the band or its record company. At some point, the band and its producer fell out with one another and the sessions were abandoned. To recoup some of the costs, six of the most fully developed tracks were released as an ep, called Mesopotamia, a name which captured the sense of a band reaching deep into the past for the sound of the future.

Mesopotamia has always had its defenders. I certainly remember liking it a great deal more than their first two albums at the time of its release, but in general it has been regarded as a misstep by the band's fans. When it came for a cd reissue, it was completely remixed so as to efface any sign of Bryne's involvement, and it is this sanitized version which is today most readily available. But back in 1982, by some fortuitous accident, initial copies of the ep were released on the Island Record label in the UK and parts of Europe that included Byrne's longer, dubbier, and altogether more interesting mixes of several tracks, offering a brief glimpse of what The B-52's' third album might well have sounded like had Bryne been allowed to complete the project.

The version of Mesopotamia presented here is ripped from an early release UK copy on Island Records, complete with the black inner sleeve. The first side includes the extended mix of "Loveland," while the b-side offers versions of "Cake" and "Throw That Beat In The Garbage Can" that are far superior to those released subsequently. Thanks to VanceMan for the tracks from side two!

--Crash The Driver

download

The B-52's - Mesopotamia

01 Loveland
02 Deep Sleep
03 Mesopotamia
04 Cake
05 Throw That Beat In The Garbage Can
06 Nip It In The Bud

UK EP Island [ISSP 4006] 1982

35 comments:

  1. Thanks - looking forward to hearing these...

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  2. On the version of the UK release I have, "Cake" is indeed much longer and poly-rhythmic with lots of overlapping voices during the spoken sections, and "Throw That Beat in the Garbage Can" is also remixed. I've posted these two mixes plus the complete 2006 "Mesopotamia" remix EP by Manhattan Clique (which also includes new "Cake" and "Loveland" remixes).

    Files are at http://rapidshare.com/files/280685765/MesopotamiaMixes.zip. No password.

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  3. ...and thanks to you too, Vanceman...

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  4. Thank you all guys, you made me such a favour. I remember listening for hours to this 12" (which I still own), back in '82 when I was 16. A mind-expanding experience and an irresistible groove, Loveland especially.
    I've been waiting for years for a digital copy of those tracks. The remixed versions are also valuable. Sometimes remixes are just gimmicks with no comparison with the originals. This is not the case, however.

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  5. Bummer! The Download link in the original post seems to be dead (though the link from VanceMan works- though only has tracks 1,4,5).

    Great stuff! looking fwd to listening to the rest

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  6. The "original" link has been deleted, but the new one, which features all the remixed tracks works fine. Here it is:

    http://rapidshare.com/files/285278789/B-52_s_-_Mesopotamia__David_Byrne_Mixes__Updated.zip

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  7. thanx for sharing!

    these sessions have always been curious to me. what happened? it should have been a marriage from heaven. but yeah, i guess they had 2 totally different visions.

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  8. Thanks so much for posting! I've been looking everywhere for the original mixes. I appreciate your hard work.

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  9. Thanks for posting have been looking for these for awhile. It seems that Deep Sleep, and Nip it in the Bud are the same tracks eventually released in CD form (as well as Mesopotamia) but Mesopotamia seems to have gotten a remix/remaster for the Best of Comp "Time Capsule" that I think I prefer.

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  10. I believe there's the 'original' (on warner), the 'alternate original' (on island) and the 1990 remix (as found on the mesopotamia/party mix CD and also on the time capsule compilation).

    The island records CD release (with a tracklisting error on the label) is the Warner 'original' mixes.

    confusing huh?

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  11. Thanks for this, I'm looking for the Byrne's mixes for a long time... I've just have the original Warner US for this record.
    I've see in Wiki that they are 4 outtakes: Queen of Las Vegas (in Nude on the Moon compilation), Adios Desconocida (a ballad from Fred Schneider), Butterbean and Big Bird.
    Any chance to have this ?
    Sorry for my doddgie English....
    Thanks for your work,
    Bernard

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  12. Absolutely fantastic! Had been looking everywhere for this version. Had it on vinyl in the 80ths and found this everywhere 5 min version a dull copy of the "original". Thanks!

    Musiclover

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  13. The Mesopotamia album, especially when considered within the larger context of the B-52's recordings, seems to me to have a dream-like quality. This is in large part due to the production, of course, but also the way in which the album in general and the individual songs specifically have a meandering, stream-of-consciousness, not-fully-realized, disconnected, otherworldly vibe. Add to this the fact that it's an EP. It's as if the band woke up in the middle of the dream.

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  14. I CAN'T BELIEVE! I finally downloading this!
    I tought I would die without listen to this! Thanks!

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  15. thanx a lot for the original cake and loveland versions!

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  16. Great! Super pleased to hear this because it's different than what I expected.

    I thought it was going to be the cassette version that I had way back then – which is also different than the D. Byrne version AND the CD version!!! Confusing!

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  17. You're mentioning this being an 'EP'... Isn't this original 'Mesopotamia' supposed to be the third (or so) LP by the band? I have a then-released Yugoslavian version of it.

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  18. Thank you so much for this. I loved this EP back "in the day."

    I'm going to use these 3 tracks to make another trio of "remixes" for my Party Mix CD.

    If you have the original Mesopotamia (the song-from the vinyl EP) I'd love to see you post that. After years of searching I've only been able to locate that horrible "sanitized" remix, and nothing compares to the original. Thank you again.

    J

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  19. I'm sorry. I thought the second file was just a re-up of the first. You DID post the whole original vinyl already. Thank you for sharing.

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  20. Thanks very much.Mike

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  21. oh thank you thank you thank you

    it's really that sort of restrained funk that was lost in the remix

    tight! LOVING IT

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  22. (haven't heard since my english cassette broke at least 15 years ago (full album on both sides)- it's wonderful to still know every nuance, thanks again!)

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  23. the original Byrne production of Cake is far superior to the re-issued version. i understand the band were unhappy with his radical departure from their previous sound and thought it a step too far. the irony is that the original versions are much more exciting and therefore, in their own way, compliment the band's former reputation for experimentation!

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  24. http://www.4shared.com/audio/C8NASONd/The_B-52s_-_Adios_Desconocida.html

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  25. This is heavenly. Or maybe devil's food cake!

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  26. Wow, thanks for sharing this! I had the cassette version way back then and loved it. Love this, too! I feel like making a cake.

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  27. I think the original EP was very good, very experimental, I did not know about these recordings that ended David Byrne, I think are great. I've always thought the first two albums were amazing, the next Mesopotamia, was disappointing for some fans who wanted to keep hearing the same thing like the first 2 lps, but I found it very interesting, while with Whammy, were at the other end trying to recapture its early but with a Synth pop sound more in keeping with the times, this album has its accomplishments, but does not reach the first two,,,,,, and then the rest of what they did, just liked certain songs, but I was not impressed, achieved the mass of their music, but ceased to be a unique band,,greetings from Perú

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  28. As of February 19, 2012, all the links have been broken and a release under the "Island Masters" series, with "Lava" listed but not included, is out.
    David Byrne is still listed as Producer. It all sounds very disco to me. The quest for the funk continues.

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  29. Our link is fine. Just click the vinyl record icon in the upper right hand corner of the track listing box.

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  30. Thank you very much ! This original mix is really awesome.

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  31. esse album é bom d+ é super , ultra , hiper alternativo !!!

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  32. sweet! muchos gracias! x

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  33. I've taken this share in the past from here. Fantastic! A deluxe version should be issued. After doing some research on this album there are three versions including the USA 1991 release 'Party mix' / 'Mesopotamia' which (Mesopotamia) is a new 1991 remix version remixed by Tom Durack. I have also found another outtake the Fred ballad 'Adios Desconocida'. It's on 4shared. Hope this helps y'all till the deluxe drops on the 12th of never. Neil Kelly (U.K.), 07-Apr-2013

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  34. Thank you so much for this. I've loved Mesopotamia since my cassette of Party Mix. Never heard these mostly superior versions before.

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