Bit of a quiet record-buying weekend. The RideLondon cycle event curtailed my monthly trip to Portobello, and the Guildford Record Fair was crap compared to previous visits. Nevertheless did manage to pick up:
78/100. Picked up direct from Damaged Goods mail order for only a tenner. Got Radio Hits 3 at the same time, which has my all-time fave Helen Love moment (Long Live The UK Music Scene). Kind of makes up for the fact I lost out on an original copy of It's Only Right and Natural by The Frogs last night - mind you, I wasn't going to pay $80 for the privilege...
And picked up the other day from the rather fantastic Elephant Records in the heart of Winchester:
In which husband and wife Kim (sugar-sweet vocals sounding like a cross between Belinda Butcher, Victoria Legrand and Beth from Best Coast if she'd dropped too much acid and floated away on a cloud made of cotton wool) and Jarod (everything else by the looks of it) perform woozy, sun-drenched indie/dream-pop vignettes and allow them to drift away in the breeze like confetti at some heavenly wedding of a girl called Andrea (who wears a polka-dot dress and little colourful paper anklets) and a boy called Terence (who doesn't) that you've gatecrashed, but only because you were sort of on the guest list but didn't originally accept but then had a last minute change of heart when your inter-railing holiday to Timbuktu got cancelled due to leaves on the line at Euston.
Naff analogies aside this is a beautiful record - just the shoegazy side of twee-pop to tickle my fancy without any pretentiousness (unlike Beach House, who I've personally always found a bit naff. In fact it's got more of a late-era Field Mice vibe truth be told (for some reason Landmark pops into my head on hearing a lot of the tracks), but with the vocals mired deep below candy floss and the room spinning around like you've done a couple too many Babyshams). Perfect for driving around the countryside with the windows wound down and your best girl/boy by your side in the front seat with their feet on the dashboard making you a daisy chain. I somehow missed out on Tape Waves first time round and haven't even heard their debut yet, but if it's anything like this (their second LP) then it'll be a corker. It's pretty derivative... but who gives a stuff when it's this terrific, eh?
Most of this site's users apart from a select few beautiful souls do my head in so I'll only recommend this to my BEA pals with a penchant for this kind of merriment - that'd be Pa, Suede (maybe), Gowi (possibly), LittleM (definitely), and naturally my twee sibling Lady G. Might be up Patman's and Brandon's street too. Mind you no-one else fucking reads these things anyway. Their loss.
Stream the whole delicious thing by clicking the link above, and let me know what you think you loonies.
After spending the last week acquiring both a chest infection and some more bloody records (too many to list - and potentially a couple of original Autechre LPs to come if I can persuade someone to part with them), I've been continuing my recent love affair with Bridget St. John and spending time with her debut LP:
Regular readers will know how fond I am of Songs For The Gentle Man (an original of which I've just picked up via eBay), so it was only natural that I'd get round to listening to this at some point. For the uninitiated, this was a British folk singer that John Peel signed to his own Dandelion Records label in the late 60s, releasing 3 of her albums before she made one more and disappeared without trace. Which was a shame, as she has an absolutely beautiful voice, very similar in many ways to Nico (in fact if you're a fan of Chelsea Girl I'd wholeheartedly recommend grabbing this).
Unlike the aforementioned ...Gentle Man, Ask Me No Questions is essentially just a vocal and acoustic guitar affair, save for some birdsong and church bells appearing on the title (and closing) track and the odd bongo beat here and there. And suffice it to say it is absolutely beautiful - a true English folkie delight, raw with emotion and beautiful finger-picked arrangements somewhere between Bert Jansch and Nick Drake. I can't believe it's taken me so long to finally get round to listening to it, but next time I go treading o'er New Forest bracken then I'll have it merrily ringing in my ears.
Picks? The whole bloody thing, frankly. "Ask Me No Questions" is sublime. "Curious Crystals of Unusual Purity" is the closest you'll ever get to a Nico / Nick Drake duet. "Many Happy Returns" is a delightful twangfest. Just listen to it and fall in love. It's divine. _________________ 'Reggae' & t'ing Folk 'n Stuff SHAMELESS RECORD DEALER PLUG
Jimmy DreadOld skool like Happy ShopperModeratorProfile 555 Dub Street
Still trying to recover from this rubbish chest infection so took the opportunity with some spare time on my hands to update my 60s chart which amazingly still has a place for Mrs. Miller in it.
A quick mention for this too, which I've just added to the database/80s chart and I bought when I met up with the ever-so-lovely Suedeswede up in Nottingham a few months back. It's one of the blokes from This Heat who went off and made a dubby post-punk LP which was derided at the time but after repeated listens has nestled rather neatly on my record shelf and got a fair few plays at Dread Towers, despite the repress being on the most putrid coloured wax (looks like an exploded apple).
Now given my love of Factory Floor's first LP I've been anticipating this dropping for some time, especially after "Dial Me In" and "Ya" made their way onto Soundcloud. And thankfully I'm not disappointed - it's Throbbing Gristle meets LCD Soundsystem in some dingy club in an abandoned warehouse in Deptford where paint is peeling off the ceiling and the bass makes the roof girders vibrate. Saw this morning that P4K had given this LP a 6 which is frankly ridiculous, although it will hopefully leave those little twerps who base their lives around what a website has to say to retire to their grotty hovel and spin whatever pressed-from-a-CD-vinyl-repress Mummy bought them on their Crosley Cruiser record player rather than getting anywhere near this. Idiots.
Unsurprisingly. it's a relentless ride from start to finish, with only the constant thud of the title track not really going anywhere. On the rest of the record tracks build, fade, grow, decay, vocals cut in and out and drift off in some industrial smoke cloud - it's all terribly exciting and guaranteed to make your limbs contort in all sorts of novel ways if you let it. In fact parts of "Wave" sound like a 21st Century remake of Lil' Louis' French Kiss without all the groaning (and one would assume the cleaning up that results afterwards). Recommended to anyone with funky bones, especially velvet bananas.
It's been a while since a 2016 release has done anything for me, so Jah bless for this piece of modern rocksteady genius, which regrettably comes with a very touching backstory:
I first heard The Frightnrs when they released a cover of I'd Rather Go Blind on Daptone (Charles Bradley's label) last year. It was immense - authentic rocksteady/soul vibes a la Delroy Wilson, Leroy Sibbles and Alton Ellis from a New York band with a ska-punk lead singer who thankfully saw the light and decided he wasn't up for plying his trade in a 10th rate incarnation of the 10th rate Reel Big Fish. Anyway, after going into the studio to lay down the tracks that make this album (recorded in Mono - talk about creating the right vibe) lead singer Dan Klein contracted ALS and unfortunately passed away a couple of months before this was released. A terrible loss as he had perhaps one of the most smooth, soulful voices to sing inna Rocksteady style since the Studio One greats.
Given the anachronistic musical stylings that permeate the whole thing this album will likely sink without trace, which would be a real shame as it is killer from start to finish. The production's tip-top, the Mittoo-esque keyboards add to the vibe and the vocal performance given by an ailing Klein (he's the one on his haunches on the cover) is nigh-on perfect. With the lyrics to tracks like "Purple" ("my life is passing me by much faster") and "Gonna Take Time" becoming poignant given the tragic circumstances surrounding the band, there's real emotion behind the sentiment in Klein's delivery, but let's not take anything away from the music which is not only tight as, but could just as easily be from a late 60s dance on Orange Street, Kingston as from a club in Queens in 2016 New York. Anyone into The Heptones or 60s rocksteady in general should really give it a go, as well as those with a predilection for 60s JA revivalism or indeed those who from the first time they heard Charles Bradley wish he'd been shipped off to Jamaica to record a live album in Montego Bay. So Gowi, Norm, Pa, Gabe - get on it. Hope anyone else reading loves it too - it's a beautiful record, and definitely after a few listens already in my Top 3 for the year.
Great recs Jim...both now in my top 10 for this year. Really enjoyed The Hairs album, in fact I liked it so much it's straight in at number 3 in my chart for 2016!!!
Thanks for the nod
Jimmy DreadOld skool like Happy ShopperModeratorProfile 555 Dub Street
Crikey it's been a wee while since I put anything in here, so here with their second top ranking release of 2016 comes Canadian dub merchants Seekersinternational. And whilst their last LP grated after a couple of listens (in fact so much so it's totally dropped out of my 2016 reckoning altogether), this cassette-only EP more than likely won't. Reason? It's FIRE...
Unlike the aforementioned LoversDedicationStation which was a woozy mash-up of 21st century lovers rock mixed with alien pirate radio broadcasts this mixtape is firmly aimed at the dancefloor. It twists and turns all over the place - there's ragga, jungle and even a bit of footwork in there. It's a potentially quite beguiling listen in the first instance given how styles blend at often breakneck speed, but it's a lot more exciting than eating Reggae Reggae Sauce for the first time for it. It kinda reminds me of the first Major Lazer LP (especially the track "ForwardTheBass") but don't let that dissuade you. Seriously mi brethren, get on this (especially Skinny and Gabe, who should both dig it). There's a Soundcloud link to a 10-minute sample if you click the link above, but it shouldn't be hard to find the whole thing if you've got 20-odd minutes skanking time going spare (nodata have got a link). Killer. _________________ 'Reggae' & t'ing Folk 'n Stuff SHAMELESS RECORD DEALER PLUG
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Jimmy Dread
