unpopular

Introducing Quimper

Quimper sent a short note suggesting I listen to their tunes and watch their video. So I did. And it's all rather fine, especially the video which strikes me as being rather a cross between glitchy psychedelic lantern shows and Joseph Cornell assemblages. It’s just the thing with Halloween looming on the horizon. Grab their tunes on their Bandcamp and expect something to crop up on the next fabulous installment of the 2012 Unpopular Mix series.

 

 

Living In A Village

The Abject - Cave Cat (Bandcamp)
Sleeping Song - Evans The Death (Bandcamp)
Ocean III: Below - Young Circles (Bandcamp)
Firecracker - Parasol (Bandcamp)
There It Go - Troubled Sleep (Bandcamp)
In Memory of Satan - The Mountain Goats (from Transcendental Youth)
Another Faux Pas - The Sugargliders (from A Nest With A View)
Living in a Village - The Jazz Butcher (YouTube)
Diamond Look - TOPS (Bandcamp)
Lucky Star - Madonna (YouTube)
Green Eyed - September Girls (Soundcloud)
A Ghosts Broken Heart - French for rabbits (Bandcamp)
XOXO (Goodbye) - Beach Pigs (Soundcloud)
Little Man - R. Stevie Moore (Bandcamp)
Eden’s Island - Top Sound (Bandcamp)
Ticket Machine (Johan Hedberg remix) - Making Marks (Soundcloud)
Arp/A.R.P. - Advance Base (from 'Instrumentals #1')
Yo La Tenia - Hacia Dos Veranos (Bandcamp)

life's full of chances

Cycling is a beautiful sport. Don't let the cheats convince you otherwise

I was going to write something about cycling and Lance Armstrong and doping. Then I wasn’t. Then I was. Then I wasn’t... and, well, you get the picture. In the end though it pretty much boils down to this:

• From what I saw on the telly and read in magazines at the time (‘the time’ being the ‘90s through to, uh, well now really), I decided that I never much liked Lance Armstrong as a rider or as a person. Time has not changed my opinion.
• Why do we expect individuals (in any sphere of life) who are clearly driven by an overpowering need to win to be morally incorruptible?
• That said, although every professional cyclist wants to win, not every professional cyclist is, was or will be a cheating, lying ego-maniac.
• Why do we think that there are not also cheats in other sports? Especially ones with more money involved?
• Why do corporations think its okay to walk away from individuals and teams without acknowledging their own duplicity? Why do they not accept responsibility for leading positive change?

And finally, fundamentally, cycling is a beautiful sport. You don’t need (false) heroes to know that to be true. You just need a bike.

 

But hey, if you did need a hero, you could do a lot worse than choose Fiorenzo Magni, who died recently aged 92. 

Cave Cat in the Memory Motel

Here’s a couple of new arrivals of the 7” vinyl variety. First up is the debut physical release by Gothenburg’s fine Cave Cat. I first heard of them back in February of this year, when their ‘Coral Reef’ graced one of my Unpopular mixes. Digital follow-up flipside ‘Recursive’ graced another mix a month later after which point it all went a wee bit quiet. I was with great delighted then that I discovered this delicious clear vinyl single had crept out into the autumnal air thanks to the very fine people at the Luxury and Dufflecoat labels. Yes, the very same folks who brought us those other Gothenburg angels Alpaca Sports. Such poise and taste.

I wrote in the forthcoming issue of Chickfactor that they make “the kind of minor chord melancholia fans of East Village and The Windmills ought to be clutching to their tatty bruised hearts.” That pretty much says it all, doesn’t it?

The swirly coloured vinyl single meanwhile came to me all the way from Reno, and it’s the debut from Memory Motel. Yes, as in the Rolling Stones song! If you were to try and make some kind of sonic connection to The Stones however it would most likely be back to their aural adventures of the late ‘60s, for these youngsters are certainly ploughing the furrow of meandering, blissed-out contemporary psychedelia. You might have picked up on the excellent lead track ‘Wasted Days’ on my ‘Crazy Love’ mix, but if not, check it out on their Bandcamp. And whilst you’re there, treat yourself to the crazy, mixed-up multi-coloured vinyl edition. It's yummy.

TOPS of the Pops

Lovely new arrivals today from Montreal's TOPS. I didn't manage to grab the red vinyl pressing of 'Tender Opposites', but methinks the delicious snow white 7" makes up for it.

 

Crazy Love

Single Girl, Married Girl - Advance Base (Soundcloud)
I Don't Give A Shit About You - Pete Fij & Terry Bickers (Soundcloud)
Stick A Toe In - Dinosaur Jr (YouTube)
The Bus - Buffalo Tom (YouTube)
Farewell - Sun Stains (Bandcamp)
Wasted Days - Memory Motel (Bandcamp)
Still - Indoor Voices (Bandcamp)
Alchemy - Fever Dream (on Underused Records)
Sick Scott - Aggi Doom (from split tape)
In The Shake - Palms (from split tape)
Everyday - Paperfangs (Soundcloud)
Frost - Blanche As A Name (Bandcamp)
Like Spinning - Making Marks (Soundcloud)
Crazy Love - Cape Canaveral (Soundcloud)
Golden Age - Allo Darlin' (Soundcloud)
MBV - Tender Trap (from 'Ten Songs About Girls')
Drag - Ringo Deathstarr (YouTube)
Junebouvier - Whirr (Bandcamp)
Deception - CAVE CAT (Bandcamp)
Me And My Lady - Hello Skinny (from 'Hello Skinny')

he wears his fringe just like Edwyn Collins