EP-iphanies: “Village Fire: Five Offerings From James” [French 12″]

As you probably know by now, The Analog Kid lives for b-sides and non-album cuts. In this continuing series, I will share some of my favorite EPs and 12″ singles from over the years in their entirety. And since it’s digital, you don’t have to worry about correctly setting the turntable speed to 33⅓ or 45!

Regular readers of the Analog Kid Blog know all about my love for James. My wife often refers to the band as “Jim,” as if they are all good friends of mine and should therefore be addressed in a less formal manner. Imagine my surprise when I recently discovered that the very first James 45 was, in fact, entitled Jimone.

“Jim!”

Jimone was released way back in 1983, meaning James have been releasing music for over thirty years now. That first single contained three songs that would eventually appear on the 1985 Village Fire EP: “Whats The World,” “Folk Lore,” and “Fire So Close.” The other two songs on Village Fire come from James II, the band’s second single (also released in 1985). One of those is “Hymn From A Village,” a song the band still occasionally performs live whenever they feel like driving the crowd into a true frenzy.

My copy of Village Fire was one of the first records I ripped to mp3 back when I first acquired a USB turntable about four or five years ago. My skills at digital transference have improved significantly over the years, so I recently decided to let ‘er rip on Village Fire once again. The results can be heard below, and they are pretty spectacular. I can’t take all of the credit, though– I have to thank my good friend (and Analog Kid Blog benefactor) John for providing me with such wonderful equipment. The high-end gear makes it so easy to rip vinyl that a child could do it…

“A child could do it!!”

James: Village Fire (Five Offerings From James)

Factory Records, 1985

320 kbps vinyl rip courtesy of the Analog Kid

1. “Whats The World” (James)

Whats The World

2. “Folk Lore” (James)

Folk Lore

3. “Fire So Close” (James)

Fire So Close

4. “If Things Were Perfect” (James)

If Things Were Perfect

5. “Hymn From A Village” (James)

Hymn From A Village

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Bonus Tracks!

The first rule of The Analog Kid blog is that if you write about a song on the Analog Kid blog, you share the song on the Analog Kid blog.

James: “Hymn From A Village” [Live From Manchester] (James)

From the U.K. CD Single How Was It For You?

Fontana Records, 1990

Hymn From a Village [Live]

The Smiths: “What’s The World” (James)

From the U.K. cassette single I Started Something I Couldn’t Finish

Rough Trade, 1987

What’s The World? [Live]

“Brain and brain…what is brain?”