MWA HA HA HA HA

From a great (and sadly out of print) compilation on The Viper Label. Boo!
Round Robin - I'm the Wolfman
Gary "Spider" Webb - The Cave (part one)
Kip Tyler - She's My Witch
The Frantics - Werewolf

Noisy(ish) femme pop week (part three): The Fizzbombs

Two from the Surfin' Winter EP. I remember buying this at a little record shop in Romford, the same place I got the Vaselines "Dying for It" 12" (and the Sewer Zombies album, come to that). I used to make long(ish) journeys from Grays in search of vinyl, then queue at the bus stop with my records tucked under my arm afterwards, flushed with success and getting increasingly soggy (my memory has overlaid a veil of drizzle over all my record-hunting expeditions, although I'm prepared to entertain the possibility that it may not have rained every single time).

Record shops seemed like arcane and wonderful places then, and required some legwork to find. I was just discovering that there were delights beyond the scope of Woolworths music section; sometimes Woolies would surprise me, though, and a Mary Chain single would appear amidst the usual chart fodder, like some migratory bird with glossy black plumage newly arrived from stranger climes.

Anyway. The Fizzbombs. Various members of Jesse Garon and the Desperadoes were involved, though I couldn't have told you that at the time: I probably bought it based on the cover and song titles. I lucked out; sometimes I think it's my favourite EP ever. "Test Pilot" is one of the few songs to feature my name (though more for the sake of lyrical expedience than any inherent glamour, I think: not many male names rhyme with "day").

The Fizzbombs - Beach Party
The Fizzbombs - Test Pilot

Noisy(ish) femme pop week (part two): Bubblegum Splash

This is Side A of their "Splashdown" EP. I love her flat, artless vocals. Is that a slight speech impediment, or just part of her accent? There have been some great speech impediments in music, of course: Claudine Longet had one. So did Nikki Sudden. Coincidentally (or not), various Bubblegum Splashers became Jane from Occupied Europe, and you can download all their records here . I haven't (yet).

I like the idea of one-shot artists. More bands should split up after one single.

Bubblegum Splash - Plastic Smile + Just Walked Away

Noisy(ish) femme pop week (part one): The Fat Tulips + The Rosehips

Floral frenzy: the Fat Tulips and the Rosehips on Sweet William. It's a flexi, if you hadn't guessed. The Fat Tulips song is pre-Sheggi, and it's rather lovely. The Rosehips' gleeful desecration of "Ask Johnny Dee" sounds as if it was recorded by someone waving a dictaphone in the vague direction of their practice room, and is none the worse for that. If it was released today, it would doubtless be labelled "sh*tg*ze", and then we'd all be sorry.

The Fat Tulips / The Rosehips - You Opened Up My Eyes + Ask Johnny Dee

Magick Heads

Autumn makes me listen to The Bats: both evoke a kind of crisp, comforting melancholy. The best record Robert Scott has been associated with is, I think, the Back of her Hand single by The Magick Heads. The A side is available on the Where In The World Is Wendy Broccoli? compilation, so I shan't post that; here's both songs from the B side instead.

PS There's a new (well, new old) Bats single on the way from Slumberland, of course.

The Magick Heads - Don't Worry Son + Hear From You

Cristina

It's raining in LA.

Cristina - Ticket to the Tropics

Crayon Fields, Marmoset

I am in Michigan, the roads are dark and carpeted with flattened wildlife. The air is muggy and there are many shades of green, though leaves are beginning to blush.

I ordered the Crayon Fields album from Japan (extra songs), it's rather lovely. Singer blokey must be in love, he addresses "you" so often that it's almost blush-worthy. This song is a little Moose-esque, don't you think? A little.

The new Marmoset is good, too. They're a mysterious and curious-looking bunch.

The Crayon Fields - Disappear
Marmoset - You, Blueberry Muffin

Thank You, Friends

If the forthcoming Big Star box set strikes you as a bit pricey, maybe this compilation on Ace/Big Beat will tide you over 'til you can scrape together the readies? It's full of good stuff, from oddball one-offs (stately/eerie instrumental "The Batarang") to early Chris Bell projects (Icewater) and implausibly neglected power pop (the Hot Dogs); the first disc plays somewhat like a garage/psych comp with crisp, clear, inventive production (anathema to some garage fans, I suppose), while the second is devoted to Big Star and their fellow-travelers.

The Avengers - Batarang
Icewater - Feeling High
The Hot Dogs - Let Me Look at the Sun

Two girls...

...one shadowy, one missing.

Gentle Despite were on Sarah Records; beyond this, I know very little about them. I picked up their "Torment To Me" EP at the Matinee sale. The A side is nothing to write home about, but the B side is a piece of slow-burning loveliness.

A.C. Marias was (is?) Angela Conway, a video director associated with Wire; Bruce Gilbert was also involved in their album. It's minimal stuff - tick-tocking drum machines, effects-laden guitar loops, ghostly choirgirl vocals - and sometimes a little too somnolescent for its own good. There's some loveliness here, though.

Gentle Despite - Shadow of a Girl
A.C. Marias - One Of Our Girls Has Gone Missing

PS: while searching for an appropriate image for this post, I stumbled across this site, which appears to be the work of, um, invisible woman fetishists...

Shameless self-promotion

I entered a travel writing contest (theme: "oasis" - not the late, unlamented Mancunians) and I'm through to the second round. To get to the finals, I need a bunch of votes in the next week or so. You can, if you're feeling implausibly altruistic, sign up for an account here and vote for me.

They just need a name and email, not your detailed family history, so it's a fairly swift and painless process.

Then you can click here and click the green "add to wishlist" button beneath the photo to vote for me.

Here are the links to cut and paste if you'd rather do it that way:

http://www.trazzler.com/signup

http://www.trazzler.com/trips/tate-modern-in-camberwell-greater-london-se1-9-gb

Pimping over, back to the usual, increasingly sporadic posting.

Daisy Hill Puppy Farm

Perhaps I'll sell the new Legends album. I didn't like their debut record at first; too manicured, too polite. Eventually, I came to appreciate it for those qualities: it's like a bonsai garden version of a noisepop album, every squeal of feedback and "Be My Baby" drumbeat carefully positioned. ProToolsCandy.

Public Radio was pretty "meh". Without the peppiness of the debut, the sense of references being ticked off a list became oppressive: a Cure bassline here, a recycled Joy Division melody there, grey wipe-clean surfaces everywhere. The new one, Over and Over has a higher average bpm, but leaves me just as cold. Does Johan Angergård feel compelled to make this stuff, or is it just a stylistic exercise? Does that matter? I grew up listening to indiepop that sounded like it was recorded in a shed (and often was): ramshackle; borderline chaotic; bashed out with enthusiasm compensating for ability. Even something as feedback-swathed as "Seconds Away" on the Legends album sounds...flat packed, somehow. Assembled by tight-lipped Swedish androids with meticulously-organized record collections.

Which is all by way of an elaborate build up to some old skool noisy Scands: Daisy Hill Puppy Farm. The band hailed from the bleak wastes of Iceland (or the cosy suburbs of Iceland, for all I know) and were active in the mid-to-late 80s . I first heard their Mary Chain-esque desecration of "Heart of Glass" on Peel: pastiche of a sort, too, but done right. I've been looking for their 7" since then, and finally picked it up on ebay last month (though sadly without the Debbie Harry poster insert pictured above). I see that their management was based in Station Parade, Barking, Essex: maybe 20 minutes from my hometown. I could probably have nabbed a copy back in the day without too much effort.

Daisy Hill Puppy Farm - Rocket Boy + Heartbreak Soup
Daisy Hill Puppy Farm - Speedball + Heart of Glass

PS: I finally discovered the "gain" knob on my USB turntable. Are these loud enough? Do let me know.

Londinium

I've been listening to the reissue of Foxbase Alpha a lot recently and tripping over nostalgia. The album takes place in a utopian, pick'n'mix version of London, of course; my real experience of London was probably more akin to this:

The Members - Solitary Confinement

A tiny box in Finchley, six feet by fifteen, sink and stove at one end, shower at the other. Enough floor space to lie down, or to pace back and forth three steps each way. Fuses that popped when I tried to turn on more than one electrical device at a time (a workman eventually confirmed that all the electrics were hooked up in some mysterious way to the shower). Scaffolding bars outside the window, in a piece of symbolism that would be rejected by the most vulgar film director as far, far too obvious.

So, for all the things I miss (the Photographers Gallery, the Rothko room at Tate Modern, the ICA, Hampstead Heath, good curry, seeing The Clientele play in a succession of tiny venues), I should be happy in LA.

Je Suis Animal

I don't really care for most modern indiepop; the kind that gets lauded on blogs, anyway. Je Suis Animal are rather wonderful, though. This is from their new(ish) single on Cloudberry, which you can buy here. It's easier to get their album now it's available in the UK, too.

Je Suis Animal - Photograph

*NB: I've re-posted all the vinyl rips in slightly louder form after Weesee complained that I'd taken Jonathan Richman's "music shouldn't hurt a baby's ears" dictum to silly extremes...

The Mountain Movers

Daniel Greene's other band (one of them, anyway). There's an interview with him here.You can buy the new album from Safety Meeting. Mine was two hundred and fiftysomething out of an edition of three hundred, so don't hang about. It sounds great: warm, clearly separated tones, not compressed within an inch of its life.

The Mountain Movers - Let's Open Up the Chest
The Mountain Movers - You Know Who I Speak Of

Outrageous Cherry / Sportique

As promised, a couple of 7" single sides. Can you spot the subtle thematic link?

There's a new Outrageous Cherry album imminent. As for what Gregory Webster is up to, who knows. Something, hopefully. You can buy the Sportique single here.

Outrageous Cherry - I've Been Obsessed
Sportique - Obsessive

Butterflies of Love (slight return)

After the super soaraway success of Butterflies of Love week (four downloads), here's both sides of their second single. Long out of print, so I've broken my self-imposed restriction on posting whole records here. If you feel consumed by guilt at downloading it, consider buying the new Fortuna Pop compilation here, a snip at $somethingquitecheap.

I just bought a new USB turntable, so more vinyl in the weeks to come, probably. Excuse the crackles.

The Butterflies of Love - It's Different Now
The Butterflies of Love - I'll Never Be Long Gone

The Room

From The Apartments to The Room. This isn't just thrown together, you know...

The Room - Whirlpool
The Room - New Dreams for Old (single version)

The Apartments

The Apartments - All You Wanted
The Apartments - The Shyest Time