Half Alive
(ROIR - 8264) Used CD $10.00 (Out-of-stock)
2000 reissue of all twelve original tracks recorded live at various venues and studios between 1974 and 1979 with three bonus tracks from 1989 recorded live in the UK (“All Night Long,” “Sweetheart,” and “Scream And Shout”). Includes liner notes by Lester Bangs.
Suicide
(Ze - ILPS7007) Used LP $35.00 (Out-of-stock)
Produced by Ric Ocasek, the second album by Martin Rev and Alan Vega retains the monotonous urgency that defined Suicide as a pacesetter two years prior, though Rev's thrift-store electronics bear the somewhat slicker imprimatur of pop production. Vega's madcap vocal performances blast street atmosphere into the mix. A starry-eyed fascination with fame and riches is evident here, which is strangely in line with the band's blighted vision -- the daydreams of a rotter gone sour, a haunting and ultra-sedated exploration of self-defeat. UK pressing from 1980.