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 adrianandrews@myyahoo.com.


Sunday 22 March 2015

10 From '87 (8) Newcastle Polytechnic 21st March 1987


From the second 'Dreamtime' leg, here's the band in Newcastle.

FLAC: http://we.tl/SBeRoitUz0

Artwork: http://we.tl/7PtEBkGwfV

01. Introduction
02. No More Heroes
03. Was It You?
04. Down In The Sewer
05. Nice In Nice
06. Punch & Judy
07. Souls
08. Always The Sun
09. Strange Little Girl
10. Golden Brown
11. North Winds
12. Nice 'N' Sleazy
13. Who Wants The World
14. (Get A) Grip (On Yourself)
15. Bring On The Nubiles
16. Shakin' Like A Leaf
17. Uptown
18. Tank
19. Toiler On The Sea
20. Spain
21. Hanging Around
22. London Lady


Adam and the Ants Electric Ballroom 29th September 1979


Adam Ant has recently announced that he is taking his 'Dirk Wears White Sox' gigs outside of the capital for the first time since redoing that brilliant debut album. I had a ticket for the first gig at the Hammersmith Apollo (or whatever the hell it is named now) but as this collided with the Wonky Bus dates I forfeited the gig and it wasn't until last year that I saw him do it in Islington. That gig was brilliant, but here is a 'Dirk' set from the first time. Not brilliant quality, but I would have given my right arm to have been there!

FLAC: http://we.tl/YQTPqXWhYD

Artwork: http://we.tl/f38akj0uGI

01. Cartrouble (Part 1)
02. Cartrouble (Part 2)
03. Day I Met God
04. Animals & Men
05. Nine Plan Failed
06. Family Of Noise
07. The Idea
08. Never Trust A Man
09. Catholic Day
10. Physical
11. Digital Tenderness
12. Cleopatra
13. Zerox
14. Tabletalk
15. Juanito The Bandito
16. It Doesn't Matter




New Musical Express 8th November 1980


A short piece reporting the uninsured equipment mishap in New York..... 'Whatcha mean 'There's no paperwork!'

Saturday 21 March 2015

Chipping Norton Studios 1991 The Demos


Here's a reposted demos collection from 1991, tracks that eventually formed the 'In The Night' album. I must thank Eric2Vini for permission to post his excellent work on this site from time to time.

FLAC: http://we.tl/TwRQHSL753

Artwork: http://we.tl/LoihOV3szz

01. Heaven Or Hell
02. Wet Afternoon
03. So Uncool
04. Brainbox (Mix 1)
05. My Time Will Come
06. Time To Die
07. Be Seeing You
08. Brainbox (Mix 2)
09. Southern Mountains (Instrumental)
10. What Makes The World Go Round (Lost Days) (Instrumental)
11. Goodbye Mister Big (Instrumental)


Sunday 15 March 2015

NEW LINK Stiff Little Fingers The Assembly Leamington Spa 27th March 2012

New activated link added here.

Spectrum Montreal Quebec 9th April 1983


Here is a newly circulated (to the best of my knowledge) recording that has surfaced from the North American leg of the mammoth Feline tour. Many thanks to the original Dime uploader (boyerlaurier) to putting this up. This being a gig in French speaking territory 'La Folie' made a welcome return into the set.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-9vk2E0EcOq

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-Ezkx3G9QPm

01. Intro
02. Nuclear Device
03. Toiler On The Sea
04. Ships That Pass In The Night
05. It's A Small World
06. Just Like Nothing On Earth
07. No More Heroes
08. Who Wants The World?
09. Never Say Goodbye
10. Baroque Bordello
11. Golden Brown
12. Princess Of The Street
13. Midnight Summer Dream
14. European Female
15. Tramp
16. The Raven
17. Duchess
18. London Lady
19. La Folie


Sunday 8 March 2015

Siouxsie and the Banshees Mark Radcliffe Radio Session 1994


Here's a great session from the Banshees recorded shortly before the release of 1995's 'The Rapture' album.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-ZCVz1qIGv0

01. Studio Chat
02. O Baby
03. The Double Life
04. Studio Chat
05. Falling Down
06. B Side Ourselves


Stiff Little Fingers The Assembly Leamington Spa 9th March 2010


March sees not one, but two great bands touring the land. Stiff Little Fingers are coming to a town near you.

Here's one they did earlier back in 2010 in Leamington Spa.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-uvzCoIHVMr

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-RO3KA0Mk6m

01. Intro
02. Wasted Life
03. Strummerville
04. Roots, Radicals, Rockers And Reggae
05. Hits And Misses
06. At The Edge
07. Guitar And Drum
08. Silver Lining
09. Who Died And Made You Elvis
10. Doesn’t Make It Alright
11. Liar’s Club
12. Barbed Wire Love
13. Bits Of Kids

01. Fade Away
02. Listen
03. Fly The Flag
04. Nobody’s Hero
05. Tin Soldiers
06. Suspect Device
07. Encore Break
08. Johnny Was
09. Alternative Ulster


Saturday 7 March 2015

Identity Parade - Can you help?

I am researching my late Grandfather's military history. He enlisted with the North Staffordshire Regiment in January 1940 before serving with 5th Battalion South Staffordshire Regiment and 11th Battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers in North West Europe between June 1944 and March 1946.

I have a couple of photographs, one showing a soldier known to be a friend of my Grandfather during his period of training and home defence.

The question is a simple one:

Are the two men depicted in these pictures one and the same person? You can click on the image to enlarge if that helps.



If you can spare 2 minutes in which to study these two photographic close ups I'd be extremely grateful. If you could respond with a straight forward yes or no (either via the comments section or via my email (adrianandrews1@sky.com).

Thanks for your help.

Adrian.


Monday 2 March 2015

The Brighton Train It Goes Real Soon.......



Once more onto the breach, a king once said. The rat hits the road once more tomorrow in my near home town of Brighton.

Here's hoping that there will be a few pleasant surprises in the set to excite the regulars.

As a taster of the kick off tomorrow, here's the Brighton date from the 2010 tour. Again, the band played the wonderful Dome venue. For those who have not had the pleasure of seeing the band (or any band for that matter) in this historic building..... well you must. The Dome once served as the stables to the Pavilion, the exotic brainchild of The Prince Regent, George IV in waiting.

It will be a good gig!

FLAC: http://we.tl/U572QyA1Ei

Artwork: On its way!

01. Time To Die
02. Go Buddy Go
03. (Get A) Grip (On Yourself)
04. Curfew
05. Norfolk Coast
06. Skin Deep
07. Always The Sun
08. Strange Little Girl
09. Golden Brown
10. Lost Control
11. Retro Rockets
12. Genetix
13. Nice 'N' Sleazy
14. Peaches
15. Spectre Of Love
16. Walk On By
17. Nuclear Device
18. Duchess
19. Down In The Sewer

01. 5 Minutes
02. Something Better Change
03. Hanging Around
04. No More Heroes

Sunday 1 March 2015

10 From '87(7) Peter And The Test Tube Babies C.C.O. Lyon-Villeurbonne 19th November 1987


Back in the day, Peter and the Test Tube Babies were our local heroes, they played pretty frequently in Brighton then and musically they were on great form, 1985's 'Rotting In The Fart Sack' had given us the excellent 'Spirit Of Keith Moon' and 'Soberphobia' released the following year was a worthy follow up to 'The Mating Sounds Of South American Frogs' (which remains there finest moment).

I remember seeing them for the first time in early '85. A I recall it was a Sunday lunchtime gig upstairs at the Richmond Hotel and it cost the princely sum of 50p to get in. I would not yet have been 16 so getting into pub gigs presented a bit of a challenge (especially for a baby faced short arse such as myself!). Sometimes a journey to Brighton would be a complete waste of time if the bouncers would not let you in. I remember seeing them at the Old Vic in The Lanes too and there, whilst sometimes it was difficult to get in, once you had got through the door the landlord was more concerned to ensure that every punter was putting money over his bar, under age or not!

When the Test Tubes weren't playing it was possible to see various members of the band in other guises, The Masked Raiders and Walnut and The Wankers! Just punching the latter band into google and this crops up, featuring some old faces at the front, including my good mate Adam (some people just won't move on...... not like me!!)

'Pick Your Nose And Eat It'
Walnut and The Wankers
Glastonwick 2011

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-VmhKSpVUsL

01 Keys To The City
02 Keep Britain Untidy
03 Boozanza
04 Every Second Counts
05 Spirit Of Keith Moon
06 Guest List
07 The Jinx
08 Goodbye Forever
09 Blown Out Again
10 He's On The Whiskey (Watch Out)
11 Louise Wouldn't Like It
12 Ghost In My Bedsit
13 Maniac
14 Banned From The Pubs
15 Elvis Is Dead
16 September
17 Moped Lads
18 Disco
19 Vicars Wank Too


'The Jinx'
Peter And The Test Tube Babies