Monday 14 October 2019

Beatnik Filmstars - Apathetic English Swine 7"


One of Bristol's unsung heroes of the 90s, this band. In the era of Massive Attack, Portishead and all that (which I also loved), and the Planet Records crowd with Flying Saucer Attack, Crescent and so on, there was also Beatnik Filmstars. They are loud, abrasive, and on many occasions so poorly recorded they are virtually unlistenable. I have one CD by them which I think must be the lousiest production I have ever heard anywhere, and among some of my collection that is quite a claim.

However, this 7" is not poorly produced, it's awesome. The a-side is killer, one b-side starts with the singer having a go at the drummer (and then ends with what sounds like the drummer fighting back), and it's all well worth listening to. Clarinet. I have a feeling they managed to get themselves signed to Merge records at some point, which is surely enough of a recommendation to check them out.

1. Apathetic English Swine
2. Gum
3. Clothes

In Bristol with a pistol.

Monday 22 July 2019

Grandaddy - Summer Here Kids 7"


This is just one of those songs for me, the first time I heard it I just thought it was amazing, and all this time later I feel exactly the same. Grandaddy have a lot of great tunes, particularly off that one LP (you know the one), and the main guy had that good solo record too.

Man, my brain is tired.

Anyway, two b-sides on a 7", always a fan of that. Even if the a-side is 45 rpm and the b-side 33 rpm, I can forgive them (once).

Hope you like the two extra tunes too, the first is a noisy kind of thing, which I very much enjoy, and the second a quiet kind of thing which is very lovely.

There is, somewhere, a Grandaddy song which Stuart Maconie played on the radio about 15 years ago and I heard once, which was amazing. It wasn't on an album, and it was before it was easy to find out what had just been on the radio, so it was lost to me forever. Any suggestions very welcome.

1. Summer Here Kids
2. Levitz (Birdless)
3. My Small Love

Summer here.


Friday 31 May 2019

Tortoise / Stereolab split 7"


So here's something nice. I think I picked this up from a Tortoise show in Bristol a very long time ago, and someone told me it was worth a few bob now. Well, out of sheer generosity of spirit I am making it available for you lucky people to steal for free, right here, right now.

Cool and calming tune from Tortoise, as befits the blue vinyl of the single, and the usual from Stereolab. Hope you like it. My wife hates it.

1. Tortoise - YAUS
2. Stereolab - Speedy Car





Monday 29 April 2019

Sebadoh - Beauty Of The Ride 7"


Yeah, almost two years. You wanna make something of it?

Well look, I'm sorry. To make up for it, here is one of the best singles ever, to celebrate a new Sebadoh LP coming out in the next couple of weeks. If you don't already love this song then you are about to find out what you've been missing all this time.

The b-side is also awesome, a BBC session track, covering a Palace Music song which I've always liked a lot. Good cover, good song, good times. Good old Beeb.

1. Beauty Of The Ride
2. Riding

I'm back. And this time I'm wearing a cap.