With the band’s Virgin albums and singles distributed Stateside by the label’s US dance-based offshoot Astralwerks, by 1996, the only notable FSOL releases unavailable in America were the Jumpin’ & Pumpin’ album Accelerator and their most famous single, ‘Papua New Guinea‘. And so a deal was struck with US independent label Hypnotic to license both releases from J&P. While the release went largely without hitch and allowed American fans to pick up these records without forking out for huge import costs, Hypnotic did insist on new artwork, the 1991 cover likely seeming a touch out of date by the second half of the decade. To be fair to the label, they came up with the somewhat novel idea of using a lenticular jewel case, ridged to give the impression of moving 3D objects on the cover. A head in a square spins as the case is tilted.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t the first time the two releases had been released with artwork not given the band’s approval, with R&S Records doing much the same with the “ethno bollox” sleeves in 1992. The Hypnotic design is somewhat tasteful, and the designed at least attempted to use a similar font to the now typical microgramma, but Garry has since mentioned his general dislike for the design, partially because it simply didn’t come from the band or Buggy and thus has no reflection on the music contained within. The EBV logo is at least present. Two variations exist, one with orange coloured disc art, and one with gold. The credits mistake the Jagz Kooner and Gary Burns additional keys reference in the Weatherall remix as them being additional musicians throughout the release, amusingly.
There are no musical differences to the 1992 UK CD single.
Release date: 19th March 1996.
Other releases:
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (1992)
Papua New Guinea 2001
Papua New Guinea Translations
Papua New Guinea (Marco V Mix)
Papua New Guinea (2007)
Papua New Guinea (Original) / Murmurations
Papua New Guinea / Stolen Documents
Tracklist
CD (CLP 9743-2)
1. Papua New Guinea (7″ Original)
2. Papua New Guinea (Andrew Weatherall Mix) [CD edit]
3. Papua New Guinea (Dub Mix)
4. Papua New Guinea (Journey to Pyramid)
5. Papua New Guinea (Graham Massey Mix)
6. Papua New Guinea (Dumb Child of Q Mix)
7. Papua New Guinea (12″ Original)
8. Papua New Guinea (Hamish McDonald Mix)
Credits
Composed by Brian Dougans & Garry Cobain.
Produced by The Future Sound of London.
Recorded at Earthbeat Studios 1992.
Engineered by Yage.
‘Andrew Weatherall Mix’ additional production & remix by Andrew Weatherall at the Workhouse.
Tracks 1, 3, 4, 6, 7: Additional keyboard and programming by Jagz & Gary Burns.
‘Graham Massey Mix’ additional production & remix by Graham Massey at Fom Studios.
‘Hamish McDonald Mix’ additional production & remix by Hamish McDonald.
Graphic design by Eunah Lee.
Published by Skratch Music Publishing.
Fractional Difference 