Saturday 12 December 2020

Spacemen 3 - Hypnotized 12"


I see Jason Pierce started with the American spelling early on, before Spiritualized, based on this title. Really good tune, though! You can hear loads of what was to come on here, just sounds like early Spiritualized, even got some brass going on in there. You can also, I think, hear why he was the one who made it bigger post-Spacemen, although Pete Kember (Sonic Boom) did a lot of production work on stuff I like.

B-sides are OK, way more minimal than Hypnotized. The first is better than the second, which is I guess why it makes the cover. Some slightly painful rhyming-dictionary work to enjoy on track three, too.

1. Hypnotized
2. Just To See You Smile (Honey Pt. 2)
3. The World Is Dying

Dying/crying/sighing/flying here.

Monday 22 June 2020

Tricky - Ponderosa 12"


More Bristol, naturally. This one I remember buying, the very next morning after hearing it on my little bedside radio on Mark and Lard's Radio 1 show. I used to listen to that show avidly, it's responsible for a decent chunk of my record collection.

There once was a record shop in Bristol (in a really scabby underpass by the bus station) called Replay. I went there weekly, if not more, and it was amazing. I'm sure if you Google it you'll find lots of nostalgia. At one point in the 90s they had four shops, one on a posher hill in Bristol, and three by the bus station; Replay, Replay Dance and Replay T-Shirts.

I only ever went in Replay (indie/metal), but they didn't stock Tricky, so I had to go to Replay Dance in my baggy jumper and DMs, get confused and disorientated by all the cool people and weird noises, and ask at the counter for this. It had blown my mind to the extent that I bought two and gave one to my friend Dave, whose HiFi had such loud bass that the floor shook on one of the b-sides.

Happy memories. I hope you enjoy it.

1. Original Version
2. Dobie's Rub Part 1
3. Ultramagnetic Terrorist's Power Club Mix
4. Original Instrumental
5. Dobie's Rub Part 1 (Tricky's Confusion)

Bristol.


Wednesday 10 June 2020

Beatnik Filmstars - Supremer Queener 7"


Another huge gap between posts, but I am going to do better, promise.

More Bristol stuff, but Mobstar not Planet, back to the Beatniks. Remember I said I had one of their 7"s wrapped in wallpaper? Well, this is it. Those were the days, plastic sleeve printed with the band's name, then wallpaper inside, then white vinyl in its own plastic sleeve... It probably cost them as much to make as it cost me to buy.

But they saved on production costs with the music, as ever. Although actually these tracks aren't as unusually produced as most of their songs of this era, and along with this being probably my favourite of their EPs, they sound good too. Supremer Queener is a proper pop song, and should have been a massive hit. Possibly. All the rest are variously noisy and quiet, and genuinely this is a really, really good record. I hope you agree.

1. Supremer Queener
2. I Am A Pioneer
3. Seventies Flick
4. A Crazy Exploding

Wallpaper here.




Saturday 11 April 2020

Crescent - Sun 7"


I think I've posted this before, but I am posting it (possibly) again for two reasons. One is that I have a new turntable, so it should sound better than it did last time. The second is that I've been on a bit of a Bristol 90s nostalgia trip recently, maybe for a simpler time, and this was part of it, Planet Records and all.

The main reason it's here is that it is one of my all-time favourite 7"s. Seriously. There are a lot that I love, but this one is really very high up the list. There's definitely an element of nostalgia in there, but it's just a great, great song, and I hope you like it too. The b-side is also really good, different style, bass mixed super-loud.

Also note the saxophone on the b-side, because it was possibly played by the same person who played saxophone for Movietone (given that everyone seemed to be in most Planet bands, one way or another).

1. Sun
2. They Are Rebuilding The City

Noise lives here.



Sunday 22 March 2020

Constantines & Feist - Islands In The Stream 7"


Weird times, huh? Kenny Rogers dead. And some other stuff going down, but here's not the place for all that. Suffice to say that if you're not allowed out of your house for the next six months I will try to keep you entertained, two tracks at a time.

In honour of Kenny, here's a break from the normal 90s stuff, and a quick jump to 2008. Not available other than on this 7" (I don't think), which my wife bought me as a present, this is a great cover of one of my favourite songs, by one of my favourite bands of the time.

Hope you like it. Apologies for the amount of crackle, but maybe it's a brown vinyl thing.

1. Islands In The Stream
2. Trans Canada

Gibbs bros is here.



Sunday 23 February 2020

Catatonia - Gyda Gwen very limited single-sided 7"


So, there I was, looking through my LPs, and realised I hadn't listened to Way Beyond Blue in ages. So I did, and had forgotten how much I liked it. Also, I had forgotten that my copy has a very limited 7" with it, with this track on one side, and nowt on the other.

It's all in Welsh, and it's really good. I'm sure it's available in other places, but I was excited to find it, so here it is. The "e" of Gwen has an accent on it, but I don't know where this is on the keyboard.

1. Gyda Gwen

Cerys before 6music is here.

Thursday 6 February 2020

Beatnik Filmstars - Lap Dog Kiss 7" EP


More from the alternative alternative alternative Bristol crowd of the mid-90s. This one also comes highly recommended, and not only because it came out on coloured vinyl of a frankly lovely colour, although this might explain its slightly crackly sound.

This EP starts tuneful, then gets noisier and less tuneful, and then takes a turn from there. And then another turn. But in a good way. You'll see.

Somewhere I think I have one of their singles wrapped in wallpaper, and if I can find it I will give it a spin and it might end up here.

1. Charlie Batman
2. Ill Book No. 3
3. Totally Lost Control Completely
4. 8 Sq. Ft. Six

I'm Batman.