Aural Sculptors - The Stranglers Live

Aural Sculptors - The Stranglers Live 1976 to the Present

Welcome to Aural Sculptors, a blog aimed at bringing the music of The Stranglers to as wide an audience as possible. Whilst all of the various members of the band that have passed through the ranks since 1974 are accomplished studio musicians, it is on stage where the band have for me had their biggest impact.

As a collector of their live recordings for many years I want to share some of the better quality material with other fans. By selecting the higher quality recordings I hope to present The Stranglers in the best possible light for the benefit of those less familiar with their material than the hardcore fan.

Needless to say, this site will steer well clear of any officially released material. As well as live gigs, I will post demos, radio interviews and anything else that I feel may be of interest.

In addition, occasionally I will post material by other bands, related or otherwise, that mean a lot to me.

Your comments and/or contributions are most welcome. Please email me at adrianandrews1@sky.com.

Sunday, 17 September 2017

The Alhambra Dunfermline 10th March 2017

So with the announcement of the 2018 which sees a the band playing three dates again in Scotland, here is a reminder of the last tour when they played the wonderful Alhambra in Dunfermline. Uploaded here in 24/48 bit FLAC format and high quality 320 kbps MP3 format. My thanks as always goes to Chatts and MeAnIe!!

FLAC: https://we.tl/5UqHuAXrEf

MP3: https://we.tl/4TJbvwByeg

Artwork: https://we.tl/iJpPXuZG8t

01. Intro-The Raven

02. Was It You

03. Sometimes

04. Grip

05. 15 Steps

06. Nice-N-Sleazy

07. Never To Look Back

08. Midnight Summer Dream

09. Always The Sun

10. Strange Little Girl

11. Golden Brown

12. Bear Cage

13. Who Wants The World

14. Dagenham Dave

1.5 Freedom Is Insane

16. Peaches

17. Genetix

18. Hanging Around

19. 5 Minutes

20. Down In The Sewer

21. Encore-Relentless

22. Something Better Change

23. Encore-Go Buddy Go

24. No More Heroes

2018 Tour Dates Are In

Tuesday, 5 September 2017

What's my na-aa-aa-aa-me!

The Clash

15cm x 20cm linoprints

Black ink on cream.

Joe

Paul

Topper

Mick

Saturday, 2 September 2017

The Playhouse Theatre Edinburgh 24th February 1981

A classic and much loved bootleg from 'The Men in Black' tour.

FLAC: https://we.tl/gWg9mOmbG3

Top Secret Volume 18 July 1989

Here is the latest installment of the wonderful 'Top Secret', here.

Buzzcocks Reading Festival 25th August 1990

Here is an early festival set from the recently reformed Buzzcocks, that at this point featured ex-Smiths drummer Mike Joyce, John Maher having returned to the States after the reunion tour of the previous year.

FLAC: https://we.tl/KYXErVwpYn

01. What Do I Get?
02. I Don't Mind
03. Love You More
04. Promises
05. Can You Hear Me?
06. Never Gonna Give It Up
07. Autonomy
08. Nothing Left
09. Successful Street
10. Everybody's Happy Nowadays
11. Harmony In My Head
12. Ever Fallen In Love…?
13. I Believe
14. Orgasm Addict
15. Mad Mad Judy
16. Boredom

Thursday, 31 August 2017

The Boring Annual Subscription Appeal

Hi Folks,

Sorry to bore you again with more of the same. I have just received notification that the first of the two We Transfer accounts that I currently maintain for this site is up for annual renewal. I won't repeat what I have said before since this can be seen on one of the permanent posts that can be found on the right hand side of the site.

I appreciate that in 2017 I have not been as prolific with my posts as in the previous six years. This has chiefly been down to the fact that a large proportion of my limited free time has this year been taken up with activities associated with the publication of my book on my Grandfather's wartime service. This became an absolute priority for me, not least because I was determined that the veterans that had so generously helped me with their invaluable memories that progressed my research had the opportunity to read the book. In this I am not being morbid, just practical.

I still really enjoy maintaining this site and giving my own insights into The Stranglers, punk and anything else that floats my boat. I note that the majority of the blog sites that were up and running when I started Aural Sculptors in 2011 have fallen by the wayside. It is not my intention to do so for a while yet..... but it has costs associated with it. Over the years the same people have contributed and to them I am always grateful. To others, if you have ever downloaded anything from the site please consider contributing a pound or two.

All the best!

Adrian.

Running Cost Contributions

Hi there all!

Today, I have renewed the subscription for one of the two We Transfer accounts that support the Aural Sculptors site. In order to ensure that the links to the files that are posted on the site remain live and accessible it is necessary to maintain two We Transfer accounts, meaning that the total running costs of the Aural Sculptors blog totals £210 per year.

We Transfer is not the cheapest file sharing service available, nor does it offer the greatest storage capacity (hence the practical need for two accounts), but it is a reliable platform that does meet the needs of the site. Having been bitten hard on the arse before in years gone by with disastrous reliance on both megaupload and Rapidshare, I am reluctant to move away from the current arrangements to a cheaper option.

Since the site was launched (the catharsis of the birth perhaps) in July 2011, the site has featured 900+ posts (most with associated music files) of which over 450 have been directly associated with The Stranglers, in keeping with the whole rationale of the site.

Those of us of a certain vintage will recall the day when bootlegs recordings were difficult to come by and a tape with a poorly photocopied pastel paper cover would set you back a fiver (the equivalent of 6 or so pints in the mid 80’s!). Now however, it is a doddle for people to obtain a good quality recording of a gig, perhaps the first one that they saw by a given band, I dunno. The point is that it is free, shared in good faith by fans for fans.

Aural Sculptors, with its 800,000+ hits to date is not a massive site but it has a reasonable presence in the hierarchy of Stranglers related websites and that is enough for me to keep it going.

Therefore, I would kindly point out that it is possible to make a small contribution towards the running costs of the site. A donation button is located on the right hand panel of the site. In return I will continue in my efforts to keep the site relevant and interesting to likeminded people such as the regular visitors to the site. Additionally, I will do my best to continue to accommodate requests for specific recordings and/or updates of dead links (as best as I can in the time available to me).

It just remains for me to say, again, a big thank to you for your continued support, to those who have donated, commented or shared with me something that you think will be of interest to others.

Best Wishes for 2017.

Adrian.