Movietone - Mono Valley 7"

More Movietone loveliness now, this time a 1995 single on Planet Records from my hometown of Bristol, in the UK. This is a really chilled one, and fits perfectly with the cover, in some weird way. Really nice. It's quite typical of what I remember of their first LP, quiet, with a mixture of murmured and sung vocals, and some odd noises. The clarinet squalling is notable by its absence from the a-side! It's not missing from the b-side, as you're about to find out, where at times it turns a bit more avant-garde. Still in a chilled way though.

I love this single.

1. Mono Valley
2. Under The 3000 Foot Red Ceiling

They live here.

p.s. Made a mistake in my last Movietone post - it's 'Orange Zero' which is the superb track off their first single (with a different version on the LP).

Drugstore - Injection 7"

Y'all like Drugstore, right? Y'all like the Flaming Lips, right? How about Drugstore plays the Flaming Lips? Don't say I don't do nuffink for you. This is a single from 1995, which I think I'm right in saying (I mean, I think Wikipedia might be right in saying) wasn't on any of their albums. The a-side is good, maybe not one of their best, but a good song - the squeaky noise at the end is good. B-side number one is kind of similar, very like the others of their songs that I'm familiar with.

The cover of "She Don't Use Jelly" is really good, somehow her voice really suits the song. I'd forgotten how much I liked this, even though it was presumably the reason I bought the single. Chorus is ace. Don't know what happened to the acoustic version - any ideas? The remix of "Gravity", the original of which was on their first album, is all orchestral. You might appreciate it more if you know the original.

And it's on clear vinyl. Sweet.

1. Injection
2. Heart Of Honey
3. She Don't Use Jelly (Electric Version)
4. Gravity (Terry Edwards Mix)

Hey ya.

The Delgados - Pull The Wires From The Wall 7"

So here's what I found in the Grandaddy sleeve! If you've checked the comments on the last post then you've had a sneak preview from Andy Silver Rocket (he sings it beautifully).

Funny band, this lot. Never got that into them, to be honest, but I heard this single on John Peel's show one night and went out to buy it the next day. Loved it then, love it now. I'm not even sure what it is about it, but it's just SUCH a good song. I hope you can see why I was pissed off to have lost it - still had the sleeve, but not the record. Now happily reunited.

The b-side's not so much to my taste, although well worth checking out, as I think it's probably more typical of their output. It's not bad at all, and has something of the Pavement about it, but very much of its time, I'd say. The ending's nice. However, this one, for me, is all about the single, like this paragraph is all about the commas.

1. Pull The Wires From The Wall
2. Mauron Chanson

Hear it here.

Grandaddy - Everything Beautiful Is Far Away 7"

This single is notable for two things. One, it's my favourite Grandaddy song, I think. Although that changes quite often. Two, I found the 7" of "Pull The Wires From The Wall" by The Delgados inside the sleeve, along with the Grandaddy single. Weird, huh? I'd been looking for it for ages, and if you want to know why then stay tuned...

Anyway, back to the plot. The a-side of this is a great introduction to Grandaddy, synths, acoustic bits, quiet, got a groove, and the tune! Oh, the tune. It's all about the tune. And this is a good one. The b-side's also well, well worth a listen, kinda lazy-sounding, falsetto-y, smooth. Ah, the adjectives. Maybe you should just listen to them.

1. Everything Beautiful Is Far Away
2. For The Dishwasher

They. Are. Here.

Flying Saucer Attack / GbV / Änglagård - The Polite Cream Tea Corps E.P.

In 1994 this 7" came with the Ptolmeic Terrascope magazine. I knew about it because I was into Flying Saucer Attack, and it includes one of their best tracks; "All About Dreams". It was notable for something else, though, because it was the first time I'd ever heard anything by Guided By Voices, who went on to become one of my favourite bands. You're lucky - this 7" was really warped when I got it on the magazine, and now it's flattened out thanks to years in a box! Today's probably the first time I've heard it without that weird wobble you get on a properly bent record.

So, FSA do their thing, lovely song. GbV do their thing, as only they can. Änglagård I can tell you nothing about at all, sorry! But their track is properly nuts. Some kind of crazy jazz/prog weirdness, with some Zappa and God only knows what else thrown in. How on earth do you write a song like this!? It's like about four songs together. Every minute.

Not much of a photo to look at with this post - there's no cover, and the information is scratched into the centre of the vinyl. There were, apparently, 16 copies of this with hand-made covers by Flying Saucer Attack. I only wish I'd been quicker to get mine... I don't have the magazine any more either, sadly.

1. Flying Saucer Attack - All About Dreams
2. Guided By Voices - Chicken Blows
3. Änglagård - Gånglåt från Knapptibble

Hear y'are.

And here are more pictures I found:

Archers of Loaf / Small - split 7"

By way of apology for yesterday's flexidisc...

The split single. Is it a way to get people to buy the same two songs they've already bought on the albums? Or is it the way to introduce people to new bands through bands they're already into? Or is it just because you can put two songs that are just SO good on one record? Maybe all three. Definitely the last one in this case. Man, this record is great. 1993 was the year, and these were two of the great indie-rock bands coming out of the South Carolina area at the time, playing two of their best songs.

Eric Bachmann of Archers of Loaf is also the main man in Crooked Fingers, and if you're into this song (off their first album) then you have a WORLD of good music opening up in front of you. There are a load of AoL albums, also the best E.P. ever released ("Archers of Loaf vs The Greatest of All Time"), then about five Crooked Fingers records, plus at least one solo album. Great, great, great stuff. Small became Small 23, and they are also well worth checking out if you're into this. Enjoy the sounds of my teenage years!

1. Archers Of Loaf - Wrong
2. Small - True Zero Hook

Hear!

Dinosaur Jr - Just Like Heaven flexidisc

Ah, the flexidisc. At the same time it's one of the coolest inventions I've ever come across (a free record? On a magazine? No problem!) and one of the worst ideas in the history of man. I've spent about fifteen minutes trying to make the Lunachicks track (first on this disc) play, and it won't - too folded I guess. Anyway, I did manage to get the Dinosaur Jr cover of The Cure's "Just Like Heaven" to record, so if you're into the whole LoFi experience then you might like it! It's a good cover, but the sound is... Well. Like a flexidisc.

And then it fades out at the end! Must have been some kind of promo. Nonsense. Sorry. I'll put something proper up tomorrow by way of apology. Come on - it only cost me 20p.

1. Dinosaur Jr - Just Like Heaven

Here it is.

The Family Cat - Remember What It Is That You Love 7"

Ah, now here's something a little bit special for y'all. 1990's second single from the (in my opinion) criminally underrated Family Cat. I saw these guys supporting several bands in Bristol in my youth, and loved 'em every time. The first two albums are proper, proper indie rock, like you only got in the early '90s. Third album goes a bit more rock, but has some killer tunes on it nonetheless. I'm getting all nostalgic now.

Anyway, both tracks on this record are great. I actually bought the 12" the other day, but haven't got round to ripping (is that what you call it off vinyl?) the second b-side, but it's not all that. Good. But not all that. If you want it then drop me a line and I'll stop being so lazy.

Meanwhile, here is what 1990 sounded like. 20 years ago. 20 years ago...

1. Remember What It Is That You Love
2. Push Comes To Shove

There you go.

Gorky's Zygotic Mynci - Diamond Dew 7"

Well, after the popularity of the Super Furry Animals posts, here's some more Welsh craziness! This was a band I always meant to get more into, but somehow never got past a couple of singles. Have to dig around on Spotify and see if I can find some more...

This single is a good one all round. The a-side's really great, with the Jew's harp putting its mark on indie-rock - a sadly under-used instrument, in my opinion. Except by Leonard Cohen, when it's perhaps sadly over-used at times. The couple of b-sides on here (those were the days) are also good, a slightly more rocking one and a slightly less rocking one. Relaxing, that's the word all round really. Somehow this record fits exactly with its cover. You'll understand.

1. Diamond Dew
2. The Queen Of Georgia
3. Tears In Disguise

It's right here.

Movietone - Useless Landscape / Summer 7"

A bit of a break with the indie-rock theme, but very much still indie in the truest sense of the word. Here's a band on Planet Records ("never knowingly understood", which will mean something to those of you in the UK) from Bristol, and one which I had a tenuous social connection to back in the day. The bass player was also in Flying Saucer Attack, and Matt Elliot (Third Eye Foundation) was either in the band or played live with them. Connected, anyway.

Anyway, they brought out a 7" in 1994 with an absolute killer track on it, called "She Smiled Mandarine Like". Sadly I didn't have the foresight to buy it at the time, and I guess it's not around much any more - vinyl only, see. It appeared again on their first LP, but in a different form.

Enough rambling. This is another 7"-only single, this from 1997. The a-side is really chilled, very relaxing, and without the clarinet noise that characterised a lot of their stuff. The b-side has an awful lot of surface noise, so sorry about that. Just pretend you're listening to John Peel at 2am.

1. Useless Landscape
2. Summer

Understand.