Dreams and Desires - Pleasantly Surprised 006

I can't remember where I got this but I must be allowed some lapses over 30 years. It's the sort of thing I'd find in a record shop on an excursion from school somewhere, and its origin suggests that it might have been when I went on a university visit to Stirling in early 1985 before putting paid to my dreams of media studies with a mediocre set of A-level results. It would have appealed at the time because it includes a bunch of tracks from 4AD bands, plus Artery, Pink Industry and Ambrose among others. for all that, I don't think I listened to it a lot as the 4AD tracks are all demos or instrumentals of existing tracks and the tape quality really isn't good. In retrospect it's like most independent compilation tapes, a snapshot of the time in what can only be described as a gothy corner of the universe. The Ambrose track is perhaps the most interesting as Ambrose Fletcher, the instrumental half of Pink Industry, made one LP, 'Greatest Hits' a combination of bass, electronics and drum machine over verite recordings of famous assassinations and killings from US history, and this one featured Martin Luther King.

Pleasantly Surprised was a cassette label from Glasgow. Inevitably there's someone who knows more about it than I do here.

Side 1:

1. Intro
2. Nervous Choir - Richard Killing
3. Artery - Diamonds in the Mine (Live)
4. Vazz - Silver
5. Colourbox - Sex Gun (Demo)
6. Wolfgang Press - Ecstasy (Instrumental)
7. Pink Industry - Pain of Pride
8. Band of Holy Joy - A Glorious Morning in Orton Street
9. Outro

Side 2:

1. Intro
2. Clair Obscur - Pilgrims Progrees (Instrumental)
3. Dead Can Dance - The Arcane (Demo)
4. David J - Can't Get Used to Losing You
5. Illegitimate Sons of Christ - In One Move
6. Cocteau Twins - Pearly Dewdrops Drops (Demo)
7. In the Nursery - Iskra
8. Ambrose (featuring Martin Luther King) - Free At Last
9. Andrew Gray - Illustrated
10. Virginia Astley - Tree Top Club (Demo)
11. Patrik Fitzgerald - Smile
12. Outro

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