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magazine reviews
amazon.co.uk
"Originally conceived as a mod club, London nightspot Blow Up spearheaded
pop's brief flirtation with mod at the beginning of the Nineties that
spawned bands like Menswear and inspired Blur's Parklife. However, as
well as resurrecting old classics from the likes of The Who and the Creation,
it also managed to forge a unique sound all of it's own, mixing easy listening
into the trademark brew of mod and pop. One of the most important achievements
by DJs Paul Tunkin, Andy Lewis and the Karminsky Experience was the rediscovery
of rare Sixties library music. This album is packed with such rare and
previously unheard music from the likes of easy listening masters as Keith
Mansfield and Alan Hawkshaw of The Mohawks, as well as plenty of funky
instrumental numbers and sitar grooves. If this doesn't make you want
to don your sharpest Sixties garb and shimmy with the best of them, then
nothing will."
Amber Cowan
(average. customer rating 5/5)
the
big issue
"Chipper weekly London club night Blow Up, hip home to Sixties sounds,
Britpop beats, mod chic, film soundtracks and easy listening vibes, presents
its first ever compilation. Assembled by club founder and resident DJ
Paul Tunkin, Exclusive Blend concentrates on the easy listening side of
Blow Up's eclectic nature. Plundering the vaults of KPM - purveyors of
the finest theme tunes and incidental music - master Tunkin has plucked
16 prime instrumental cuts from the slavering jaws of obscurity. Recorded
y session musicians between '68 and '70, these cool grooves, laden with
cheesy Hammond, robust basslines, fat bras and funky licks, are sure to
get even the most tired of tassled loafers shuffling onto the dancefloor"
19/08/96 #195
jazid
"Do you wear cords? Do you have a Roger McGuinn haircut? Do you yearn
for flats in Pimlico, cappuccino bars and Ben Sherman Shirts that cost
15s/6d? Are you Paolo Hewlitt? Answer yes to any of these questions, and
you'll know that Blow Up is the missing link in all that Smashing/Yes
Jude/Karminsky/Easy groove business that's been spinning on its own WC1
axis for the last few years, totally oblivious to things like drum'n'bass,
samplers and the passage of time. Probably. Yes it's retro but there's
nothing wrong with that at all if it swings like a cat in a very large
room. File between James Last and your paisley cravat."
09/96 #5
NME
"This album is the sound of Tony Hatch, Burt Bacharach, Peter Wyngarde,
Patrick McGoohan, Mike Flowers and The James Taylor licking each other
to orgasm inside a lava lamp." (7)
17/08/96 Roger Morton
raise
"…you may experience the sudden, inexplicable and irresistible desire
to fix yourself a cocktail and shimmy around your living room. …despite
the current profusion of easy-listening compilations, Exclusive Blend
still sounds fresh, and has all the energy and god humour of the Blow
Up club itself. These recordings are, as described succinctly on the sleeve,
"brisk, strident and tuneful" - and will no doubt please the pants off
anyone with a predilection for Hammond organs. This is silly music to
take seriously. So if you're thirsting for that cocktail, go ahead. Make
it a double - and drink it with a straw."
11/96 #1
melody
maker
"Melody Maker August 10 1996 What I like is the sense of taking your brain
to another dimension. David Lindup's "|Zodiac" inspiring images of old
TV series with car chases in the title sequences. Cheesier than a pack
of Cheesy Wotsits, and just as nice."
10/08/96 Kirsty Barker
select
"…esteemed clubnight Blow Up assemble 16 tracks from the KPM 'music for
adverts' library. Unintended for public sale, they see jobbing composers
like Keith Mansfield wigging out with organ-heavy beat music that's a
touch incidental but all swinging '60s Carnaby St vibes and a genuine
enticement to wearing swimming goggles in a darkened club."
09/96 Ian Harrison
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