unpopular

Silvery lathe-cut goodness

This little beauty arrived in the mail this week, and I guess it must be one of the rarest records I own. Limited to 88 copies, it's a lathe cut single on mirrored acrylic with a hand screened sleeve on off-cut drum-covering. It was created by those fascinating folks at People In A Position To Know, from whom you can still pick up the digital download for 99 cents...

We used to go to Barbarellas

Just been watching the old BBC adaptation of 'The Rotters Club'. I missed it first time around and having loved the book I was really looking forward to seeing it. It hasn’t disappointed.

Here are two songs it sent me scurrying to listen to again. Neither are from 1974.

 

 

Kissing just for fun

 

There is something so seductive about English spoken and sung by Swedes. It is difficult to pin down exactly what it is except to say that there is often a hard boiled sweetness; a subtly shifting cadence that knowingly winks; the glint of northern lights in bright blue eyes. I am sure that linguists could explain it all, but in so doing I am sure too they would destroy the magic in the same way musicologists strip the mystery from music.  

So listening to Alpaca Sports I am obviously seduced. I am reminded of those lost days of delirium when I first heard the likes of Tough Alliance and Montt Mardie. Fibi Frap and Hello Saferide. Shade Tree, Damn The Lion and Boat Club. I could go on for hours.

Like those last three, Alpaca Sports hail from Gothenburg. If I were still running my playful little record label I would be desperate to release a collectable hand stamped 3” CD to make it four for four. Thankfully the Luxxury label seem to think the same as me and will be sneaking two tracks out on a 7” imminently. It has made me scurry back and catch up with their catalogue (which includes the aforementioned Boat Club) where I spot a My Darling YOU! 10” from last year which passed me by and which I must pick up.

Meanwhile, if you do not care for vinyl clogging up your bedroom you can snag both sides of the Alpaca Sports single from their Soundcloud presence right now. And frankly you’d be crazy not to.

There All The Time Without You

See, I told you it wasn’t a resolution. Neither to write about every track on my mixes nor to stick religiously to two sides of an imaginary C60. If it had been a resolution it would simply have been another one to throw on the fire midway through January. Better by far to simply shrug it off and adapt. 

So here is my second January mix. To be fair I think I have written in some way about many of the inclusions here over the past few weeks. And you could just about make a cut between The Medusa Snare and Rose Elinor and almost fit the second half on a side of the C60. But not quite.

Perhaps this will become the new model. Perhaps not. Only time and the pressures of the world will tell. None know what tomorrow will bring after all. Apart from the fact that this download will no longer be available...

There All The Time Without You - Kestrels (Bandcamp)
Whirlaway The Horse - Advance Base (Soundcloud)
Secret Weapon - Cousins (Bandcamp)
Rosemary's Song - Red Horses of the Snow (Bandcamp)
Blackout - Former Babies (Bandcamp)
I Know What Girls Like - Mrs. Magician (Soundcloud)
Impossible Princess - Chocolate Robots (Bandcamp)
You Don't Want a Boyfriend - Gold-Bears (from Oddbox singles club)
A Rotten Bond - Ketamines (from Oddbox singles club)
I Saw You Look The Other Way - The Medusa Snare (from Oddbox singles club)
The Night - Rose Elinor Dougall (Bandcamp)
Thanks A Lot - Sea-Ders (YouTube)
Every Day Another Hair Turns Grey - Manfred Mann (from Mighty Garvey!)
Therese - The Pinefox (Soundcloud)
While We Laughed - Galway (Bandcamp)
This Is It - Obedient Wives Club (Bandcamp)
Ammo - Termites (Soundcloud)
Summer Junction - Tear Talk (Bandcamp)
Streets of Philadelphia - Casiotone for the Painfully Alone and Concern (PIAPTK records)

Kissin' Cousins

Cousins - Secret Weapon from vince vining on Vimeo.

I picked up on Cousins following a lead from Kestrels. Both have had records out on the Noyes label of Halifax with Cousins’ ‘Secret Weapon’ / ‘Speech’ debut vinyl 7” being a part of the label’s Subscription Series. Listening to their back-catalogue of recordings on Bandcamp it’s clear to see that they’ve made a huge leap forward from 2009’s ‘Out On Town’ collection. If I were them I would wipe that merely mildly diverting indierock attempt from their history and rewrite their Year Zero with the raw and racier ‘Khyber’ cut of one year ago. That cut sets Cousins firmly in the garage, a place they set on fire with ‘Secret Weapon’. I’m looking forward to warming my hands on the blaze they create in 2012.

 

Oh and yeah, the reference to The Saints in the title of the post is entirely appropriate. But you already figured that, right? Alright, alright, alright.

Everyone is digging Black Tambourine

 

Just what is this apparent obsession with ‘90s fuzz/dreampop all about? Everywhere I turn there seems to be a new group getting in on the act, dusting off their parents' collections of old Shop Assistants and Ride records. But such is life. If you look elsewhere you will discover others indulging in new readings of old Portishead solutions; themselves post-modern collages of previous reference points cut and pasted to create new meaning. Everything and nothing is new under the sun and therein lies the pleasure (do we really need to tread this ground again?).

I came across Kestrels because they had recorded a version of ‘Throw Aggi Off The Bridge’ by Black Tambourine. The original has long been one of my all time favourite records, one of those tunes I would spin almost without fail at any opportunity. Kestrels just about do it justice too, with a very faithful reproduction. Well, as faithful as you can be without the pearl of Pam Berry and the awesome fuzz, buzz and thump of Brian Nelson, Archie Moore and Mike Schulman.

It is probably unfair for someone of my generation to compare Kestrels to Black Tambourine though. We cannot help but bring our own context, our own impossible to shake, deeply ingrained love for the original texts and their own largely contemporaneous influences (Meat Whiplash, Shop Assistants, Pastels). But just as our own previous generations could not resist telling us how pale an imitation those groups were of their own older influences (Ramones, Spector etc) so I shall resist saying the same about Kestrels. For to say so would be to miss the point. After all the idea of the past only works these days as an industry anyway, so let us instead paint Kestrels' screwed-up Pop cacophony as a diverting moment of action painting over grainy black and white street photography, sliced and hacked in Photoshop.

 

Liverpool’s Tear Talk also reference Black Tambourine in the promotional text for their beguiling six track digital EP for Bleeding Gold records. It’s through the lens of Sarah records that their sound is most obviously focused however, with definite echoes of the likes of Field Mice and Sweetest Ache threaded inside their awkwardly melancholic sound. I particularly like the nods to The Wake in the likes of ‘Summer Junction’ and ‘Laughing At Clouds’ although the voluminous reverberation of the spaces takes Tear Talk into murkier depths and that’s no bad thing. Last month we marvelled at the long-lost pearls made by This Scarlet Train. I know that Tear Talk will appeal to the same audience, but let us hope their story proves to be lengthier and gives us many more treasures to cherish. This collection is certainly a wonderful opening chapter.

And finally, that original Black tambourine text. Still so thrilling and electric:

 

Springsteen covers and matchbook sleeves

Yeah yeah, so yesterday I was whining about not wanting to find space for more things in my life and today I’m posting a photo of, uh, more things recently acquired. Well the contradictions in our lives are what makes us all fascinating creatures, no?

I have said in the recent past that I no longer care too much about having the physical product of records in my possession, but I admit I have been seduced by a few things these last few weeks. One of these is the People In A Position To Know label. PIAPTK specialise in “limited edition vinyl recordings” and they do make some gorgeous artefacts. Two that arrived for me last week were the matchbook packaged split 7” by Advance Base / Hello Shark and a 8” square vinyl disc of Springsteen covers by Casiotone For The Painfully Alone & Concern.

The Springsteen covers single is the first 8” record I have ever owned, but looking through the PIAPTK catalogue I’m guessing it won’t be the last. It confirms my view that Springsteen is a great songwriter (well duh...) but that I overwhelmingly prefer his songs when performed by others. I have written in the murky past how it was Ballboy’s take on ‘Born In The USA’ that made me realise what a wonderfully subversive song that actually was/is, and I reckon this doom-laden synth led and vocoder version by brothers Owen and Gordon Ashworth is as strange and fine a version as you will hear. Their take on ‘Streets Of Philadelphia’ in contrast is beautifully sparse, pared back and vulnerable. You can pickup the vinyl (500 tan and 500 brown marble) for a cent under seven bucks, or download the tracks for a dollar thirty nine. Bargain.

The matchbook sleeved 7” is even better. Advance Base is the aforementioned Owen Ashworth on a solo tip, and his lead cut ‘Whirlaway The Horse’ is a sheer delight. It’s one of my most played tracks of January; a vacuum of drum machine and keys with Ashworth recounting a tale of, well, Whirlaway The Horse. It’s a gem of spacious electro-folk bliss.

Hello Shark meanwhile turn in a couple of short and jagged numbers that shamble and tumble in a manner that recalls the magic of Esiotrot. Exploration of their ‘Break Arms’ set for the Burst & Bloom label cements that impression in impressive manner, throwing in alongside that reference ones maybe to Pavement, Jeffrey Lewis or back to the original psychedelic folksters Holy Modal Rounders. Well worth investigating, as are the other releases on Burst & Bloom (look out in particular for the Guy Capecelatro III ‘Ten Miles Out’ set - a fine modern psych-folk collection from the former Unbunny member). 

The PIAPTK split 7” will shake you down $4.99 on its own, or $10.99 if you snag it with the square 8” mentioned above. Double bargain!

The green sleeved 7” in the picture meanwhile is from the Grizzly stable and features two tracks by Mrs Magician. The San Diego based band turn in a fine Shins meets Beach Boys meets blissed-out basement fuzzpop. Both cuts check out in under two minutes but the pick of the two for me is ‘I Know What Girls Like’ - sadly not a cover of the wonderful Waitresses classic but nevertheless a swift blast of bittersweet Pop candy. Yum.

And the big, grown up 12” vinyl album in the background of the shot? It’s the new record by Red Horses Of The Snow; nine tracks by duo Mark Burgess and Chris Hawtin that collectively come over as celebrations of fine avenues of inspiration from the likes of Talk Talk, Ride, Bark Psychosis and Red House Painters. Of course these references to records of times past are easy pathways of least resistance for writers and listeners alike, but they do provide hooks upon which to rest our preferences and we cannot, after all, deny the roots and routes of our personal contexts. So if I had never heard (of) any of those other groups, what would Red Horses Of The Snow sound like? Well fittingly they would sound just like their name; like scudding rain-laden clouds across platinum winter skies pierced on occasion by a blinding flash of unexpected sunlight. Really rather wonderful.

You can pick up the numbered limited edition (500) vinyl or CD for £12 or £7 respectively from their Bandcamp page. Digital download also available for £7.

Liquid Summer

 
You are probably way ahead of me on this, but I just recently stumbled upon Diamond Messages. The Portisheadesque one-off 'Let's Make A Vow' hooked me in, but I admit it was this video montage of shots from 'A Swedish Love Story' (recently re-issued on DVD - at last! - ) for 'Liquid Summer' from the 'Smoke & Mirrors' EP that really did for me. 

Just give me the protein. (or Why I Love My Kindle)

Robin Tomens had an entertaining dig at the Kindle on his 'Include Me Out' blog the other day. I have always been extremely fond of Robin and his work. It is always good to know that, as grumpy and truculent as I might get, there will always be someone who is grumpier still. Plus he is such a marvellous source of intriguing old book covers, magazine adverts and the like. A rambling amateur media archaeologist if you will. The best kind.

Of course I don't always agree with what he says. I certainly don't on the matter of the Kindle. 

I have loved the Kindle app on my iPad for some time. There is something so splendid about having a library available wherever I am and without the need to carry something else around with me. It was a godsend when I was in Scotland over the festive period for example.

Just recently though I have also picked up a Kindle device. In this respect I plead guilty to the crime of wanting to have just one more electronic toy. It is lovely though, even if I still occasionally wonder why the page doesn't turn when I touch the screen. Like a real book it removes the temptation to multi-task. No temptation to check twitter or respond to a work email. Just the ticket.

Yes, I do miss having a lovely book cover to show off how erudite and cool I am in my reading material. Then again I am not sure how many people would be impressed that I might be reading a Richard Yates number. And much as I am thoroughly enjoying another L.C. Tyler title I am not entirely certain I am ready to show that fact off to the populace of, say, The Boston Tea Party. I rather suspect they would all have much more important things to wonder about after all.

So although I wholeheartedly agree with what Robin says about the importance of book design, when it comes down to it, it's the words that really matter, yes? And I find that as I get older the weight (in all it's guises) of physical product is so much less important/appealing. Who would I be trying to impress with my collection, after all? C already knows how cool I am, and vice versa. 

I often don't want to have to find more space for things. It’s like Martin Blank says about his 'nada' egg white omelette: "I don't want to get into a battle of semantics, I just want the protein, dammit." 

Kindle gives me the protein of words. I’m more than happy with that.

Because 'The Night'....

The first time I saw Rose Elinor Dougall she was walking through a crowded bar in Brighton carrying a blue pom-pom. Along with rest of an incendiary, fledgling Pipettes she proceeded to sing about loving boys and girls in school uniform. Seldom have a I grinned as much 

Those first years of The Pipettes were like the first moments of a momentous crush. Giddy. Emotionally exhausting. Bewilderingly beguiling. 

Now I do not want to belittle what The Pipettes went on to become for I have loved all they have done in almost equal measure. Nevertheless there is something about those first eyelash flutters that retain a place in my heart that can never be eclipsed. Such is the nature of Pop.

Those Pipettes were such a great group. A real gang, or so it seemed. ‘Constructed’, yes, but what gang is not? There is no such thing as ‘authentic’ in Pop anyway. The Pipettes were Banarama, The Shangri-las, The Bay City Rollers. Everyone had a favourite.

It is no secret that Rose was always mine.

As such it always pained me slightly that I could not quite fall in love with her first solo records. Yes, ‘Another Version Of Pop Song’ was a shimmering, shimmying delight; ‘Start/Stop/Synchro’ a baroque-tinged beauty that charmed autumnal clouds. And whilst the subsequent ‘Without Why’ set was similarly diverting enough it left me wanting more. More edge. More toughness against which to frame Rose’s exquisite, charmingly just-this-side-of-cracking voice 

So with the release of last week’s free-to-download ‘The Distractions’ EP I was not sure what to expect. That the three tracks have so effortlessly established themselves as immovable fixtures on the kitchen iPod is, I think, proof that I have once again fallen head over heels. ‘Hanging Round’ cuts eloquently in staccato stilettos whilst ‘I’ve Always Known’ is a bona-fide massive Pop classic, all captivating choruses and salacious nods and winks. 

‘The Night’ is the real key for me though, with Rose sounding for all the world like a young Julie London doing Siouxsie Sioux impersonations whilst behind her guitars squall and burst like wildfire. Or at least like John McGeoch’s finest Banshee wails. There is about the backing tracks too a spirit of the likes of Kitchens Of Distinction or Ride; a dreampopping shiver and dive. Some of you will swoon like me to such references.

And you know, talking about being ‘head over heels’ is so apt because there is too something of those early Cocteau Twins records here. That same spectacle of a honeyed vocal magic juxtaposed with sandpaper sounds of claustrophobic darkness. 

With such genuinely great music being given away free one can only wonder at what other gems remain to be unveiled on the forthcoming album. I know that I for one am eager for the opportunity to give Rose my well earned money as well as my undying love.