Marden Hill - Hijacked + Extras

HIJACK
163 MB
320 CBR LAME mp3
CD rip from Stepping Stone 71202
Scans from Discogs.com





EXTRAS
93.5 MB
192+ CBR /256+ VBR LAME mp3
CD & vinyl rips from various sources
Hijacked video from YouTube


Chris Bemand - Producer, Mixing
Mark Daniels - Producer, Mixing
Pete Moss - Producer, Mixing
Ashley Beedle - Producer, Remixing


Bob Boykin - Guitar
Colin Smith - Piano (Electric)
Scott Garland - Saxophone
Simon George - Flute
Matt Lipsey - Flute, Saxophone
Charlie Phillips - Flute, Saxophone
Tony Walter - Trumpet, Saxophone
Gary Hammond - Percussion
Michael McDermott - Bass, Vocals (bckgr)
JC-001 & D-Zire - Vocals
Tony McDermott - Vocals (bckgr)
Andrea Oliver - Vocals
Kevin Saunders - Vocals (Hijack, Get Some In, Uptown Theme)
Vivian Stanshall - Vocals (Bombed On Heavy)


Another seminal acid jazz/trip hop treat from the vaults of Soundological and again with a heavy Ashley Beedle relation. This time we're checkin' Marden Hill and if some of the tracks look familiar on their 1996 debut Hijacked, it's because they had been floating around for years as singles and in the case of "Blacker" showed up on the Ballistic Brothers vs Eccentric Afros Vol 2 as the "Sweet Green Jam Mix." You'll also note the track "Come On" shares a few chord progs with a song by the same name on the Ballistics' first full-length. The connection doesn't quite end there as Chris Bemand, the main thrust behind Marden Hill, contributes bass and keyboards to Rude System and is a member of Black Jazz Chronicles with Beedle and Marc Woolford (you can hear a wicked mix of Beedle tunes covering all of these projects over at Play Jazz Loud).

However, that wasn't really the impetus behind throwing this up. It was actually the result of a great post over at avocado kid's blog 'Lectric Diaspora where he covered some history on one of my favourite acid jazz outfits Corduroy. He wrote they were "the first band that I’m aware of to do the "retro soundtrack to a fake kitschy blaxsploitation/spy movie" thing" which is very true. However, it just further highlights how Marden Hill got lost in the shuffle since the UK combo were critically acclaimed for their preternatural take on the subject much earlier. They were on alternative indie pop imprint Él records (who shared aesthetic similarities with Creation and other boutique labels of the genre) and counted ur-emo artist Momus among their labelmates. As the AMG review says of Cadaquéz (reissued a couple years ago by Universal):

Imagine a wild assortment of '60s incidental soundtrack music thrown into a stew, then played back again on somewhat more modern equipment. That's what Marden Hill did on their 1988 album Cadaquez, several years ahead of when such lounge/jazz/Morricone/surf blends started to come back into fashion.

You can hear a sample of this era over at the Dirk Wears White Sox blog. Although this stuff is more on the late-50s to mid-60s tip, soon the Carnaby Street/Mod/KPM/DeWolfe sound would creep in, which would lead to the 70s soundtrack styles. As the blurb on their record co.'s website says without hyperbole, "in the wake of Marden Hill followed the James Taylor Quartet, Combustible Edison, Air and ultimately Austin Powers for whose films they really really should have written the soundtrack." Right about the time Cadaquéz was put out, Acid House hit the UK and it seems Bemand got with the times, ditched the orchestra chamber pop set-up, took up with a bunch of acid jazz/house DJs/pioneers and then moved into a more electronic production style.

Corduroy come from the same lineage and neighbourhood. They weren't big trailblazers, they just got out there in the public eye earlier with their take on the movement. If you ask me their biggest contribution was being the first of the scene to really give props to Paul Weller and bring back the energy of latter day The Jam and early Style Council sides. That alone is worth oceans of respect and, mixed with their talent and good songwriting, I think that's what propelled them to the next level and a huge reason why I still check them as one of the fathers of the 90s jazz and funk revival.

All of this to illustrate the fact Bemand has a purebred pedigree going way beyond a few singles which found their way onto almost every comp series in the day. It also a reason why this LP might sound dated - most of the songs reach back to 3 years or so earlier. In fact, a good portion of these tracks appeared on a full-length Japanese-only realease called Sixty Minute Man in 1993 and their LP on Delancey Street from the previous year, Blown Away!, is the same assortment of tracks lacking a few from Hijack but with the addition of "Uptown Theme." That track is included in the Extras file, along with a couple remixes and B-sides plus the tracks I had handy credited to his other alias Beamish of Beamish & Fly (Kevin Saunders).

This one definitely stands the test of time. No scans because I donated it last fall to my mate, master Andy Williams who's been putting it to "good" use, having played Harlem River Drive on The Goods Radio a few weeks ago. If you've enjoyed the Ballastic Brothers or Mo' Wax material we've posted previously, Soundological highly recommends you avail yourself of these classic sounds.


Hijack
1 Come On (Ashley Beedle Remix)
2 Hijack
3 Shag
4 Honey Dipped
5 Bombed On Heavy
6 Harlem River Drive
7 Theolonius (Ashley Beedle Remix)
8 Get Some In
9 Evolution
10 Into The Future
11 Up In Smoke
12 Melt On
13 Blacker
14 The End

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Extras
9 Lazy 9 - Train (Marden Hill Remix)
Beamish & Fly - Dozy Fuckers
Beamish & Fly - NY Shakedown
Beamish & Fly - Spin On It (Spun Out Mix)
Beamish & Fly - Stoaked
Brand New Heavies - Spend Some Time (Sweeny Club Mix)
Marden Hill - Bardot
Marden Hill - Dub Melt
Marden Hill - Sugarplums
Marden Hill - Uptown Theme (Michael McDermott Remix)

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Video for "Hijack"