missive 120
17-04-2007
Singled Out
Missive 120

For Kelly and Mark

Singled Out ‘High grade Hi-Fi haberdashery’

Did you miss us - I suspect not, more of the usual play - listen - write type stuff that we here in the losing today shed of dreams miraculously weave with the aid of several sprinkles of magic dust procured on mail order via a friendly though somewhat over anxious South American by the name of Emilio the (we assume) Enforcer (and not as we first thought - difficult to read this red smudged ink - Enfarter) into what is the beautifully bouncing, highly informative (well we have to say - have trumpet will blow) and utterly incomprehensible Singled Out.

So how are you then me dears….how was your Easter break….ooh that bad is it….you can get pills for it - make it easier - will do wonders….oh I see didn’t realise….they do cream dear.

My space gubbins -
http://www.myspace.com/therealstevenwilson - spectral epicness from porcupine tree mainman - rip ’vapour trail lullaby’
http://www.myspace.com/purereasonrevolution - rip ’voices in winter’
http://www.myspace.com/mermaidrockpromotions - rip wired desire’s black halos like ’dirty’
http://www.myspace.com/loversintransit - rip the aloof 80’s styled AOR of ’she wore black’
http://www.myspace.com/alcopopinmyblood - tasty new label - check out their latest little taster - Nathaniel Green’s ’old folks / young folk’
http://www.myspace.com/thedurells - dark but curiously desirable minimal drone electronics - rip ’krell music’
http://www.myspace.com/sunosismusic - consuming dreamy eyed lunar electronica - rip the curvaceous ’leap’
http://www.myspace.com/screamingforemily - lost and found dreamists from the late 80’s - rip the march violets via bolshoi ballet via gene love jezebel via danse society ’the love’ - frankly shoe gazers / dream pop / etherealists and goth heads would be stupid not to check this out…..
http://www.myspace.com/elgranchufle - uber cool laid back Link inspired twang from the Cocoa Islans - rip ‘el gran chufle theme’
http://www.myspace.com/jacquesclinte - jagged side winding funky blues - rip ’itchy fingers’
http://www.myspace.com/alexmonk - literally just been sent a quite superb 6 track demo by London based musician Alex - so expect a review in these very pages shortly - for now - as if to be awkward a cut not featured on said EP - rip ’untitled three’
http://www.myspace.com/mordantmusic - frankly needs checking out sharpishly - rip the rather sexy ‘fallen faces’
http://www.myspace.com/wizardstelllies - yes I am aware that we’ve previously featured this link in these pages and will continue to do so long as a) the tracks are this good and b) you all start checking them out and ranting and raving to friends and family alike as though you’ve just hit upon the cure for measles (bugger there is a cure for measles isn’t there - oh well you get the general idea). New cut ’ACC’s bad weekend’ provides more hex’d hocus pocus happenings from the mysterious lair of the Wizardy ones, doomed folk drone which aside appealing to fans of Sunburned Hand of the Man, SunnO))) and current loves of the trendy tent decor of the Sunday Experience hatch - Fursaxa - is we suspect tailor made for your lovers of all things ATP and Rise Above. Word has it Static Caravan are much smitten.
http://www.myspace.com/echomeastronaut - a dark, distracted and dislocated half cousin of Placebo fed on a lifetime of Captain Beefheart vinyl….rip ’stay where you are’
http://www.myspace.com/hohodzaband - really does rekindle memories of the late Peelie playing stuff by the likes of the Four Brothers, Diblo Dibala, Papa Wembe, Zimbabwe Cha Cha Kings and more besides sandwiched splendidly between the latest ultra obscure ear drum disintegrating jap-core guitar pyrotechnics and whatever strange home grown native sound he’d stumbled across from the outer reaches of former Soviet regions with un-pronounceable names. Those indeed where the days. Hohodza band hail from Manchester and craft a wonderfully uplifting cocktail of sun shining carnival-esque calypso that frankly fills your listening space with an itch you can’t scratch - rip (well all of them really but make your first port of call) ’Ko Chii Chanetsa’ - a certain Mr Kershaw will love it to bits.
http://www.myspace.com/sunshinecalifornia - those of you whose lives appear somewhat empty in the absence of some truly raucous sonic terrorism festering on the hi-fi may well find suitable solace in the magnificently terrifying ’other detours’ which should at the very least lull troublesome neighbours and scare the shit out of small furry animals.
http://www.myspace.com/ebbloona - scarily beautifully crafted romanticised electronica from the top table of chic pop - alluring, beguiling and wistfully lost in it’s own divine splendour - rip ’I’m all made of music’

If there is only one my space site you visit out of these recommendations then make it this one - you will not go unrewarded - http://www.myspace.com/timespacerepeat - in all honesty their free to download album available within entitled ’early transmissions’ is as perfect an album as I’ve heard in a long while - okay then at least since those sneak previews of the Shady Bard debut - think glacial widescreen backdrops scored by early career Sigur Ros, mind altering chemically enhanced moving shapes supplied by spacemen 3 / spiritualised and production by the home made pre major label era Earlies - check out ’joy’ and ’the fear’

The singles then……..

LECUBE ‘Lady Pornograph’ (Megaphone Music). Taking time out from his day duties with Hyperclean and Paul Stuart and the Sweet Powerpack, this is the second of three promised 7” releases from Julien Barbagallo AKA LECUBE that will be collected together and released at some point in the year as an album. ‘Lady Pornograph’ is backed by two flip cuts and provides three more gems of the same type that played home to his ‘Shoot the Nanny’ outing released at the tail end of last year (see missive 106). ‘Lady pornograph’ is a tingling and delicate summer parade of softly glinting lazy eyed pop, sun soaked drifting melodies that slyly smoulder liltingly awash with the simple breeze like fair of fellow French compatriots Le bleu and Gulliver both of whom you may recall turned in some irresistible and finite pop treasures for the esteemed Pickled Egg imprint before fading into the memory banks and sadly into obscurity. Freckled with disarming pining slide guitars and a middle section deliciously decorated in dreamy jangles - this slow to burn gem sounds for all its worth like a particularly chilled out J Xaverre recalibrating old Barrett classics - all we need now is the summers sun to make this a rather perfect musical moment. The brief but beautiful ‘If’ is flightier still, naked acoustics moulded to a spectral but bracing southern state hue - just check out the to die for harmonica breaks - make this something of a treat for fans of the late Elliott Smith. The old Lennon and McCartney ditty ‘I’ve just seen a face’ wraps up the set - originally featuring, if memory serves me right, on the ‘Help’ soundtrack - left in the safe trust of LECUBE he strips the original to it bare bones and implants a rather catchy and desirable skiffle beat pop effect a la Lonnie Donnegan as though meeting Simon and Garfunkel on the way to ‘Scarborough Fare’ - tasty indeed. Hello@megaphone-music.com

Stained Glass Heroes ‘Stationary’ (Genepool). Been way too long since we had a spot of tumeage from the multi national Stained Glass Heroes with which to vogue and look mysteriously aloof to while standing next to the hi-fi re-acquainting ourselves with some crucial albeit it rusty overcoat wearing, fringe flopping ’oh what’s the point in it all’ forlorn poses. These days the fringe has sadly gone, the overcoat a thing of photographs and the forlorn posing - every third Thursday. Last time the mighty SGH featured in these pages it was for the much loved ‘Rodeo’ debut (see singled out missive 30 - Ed) since then the work shy fops have been steadily building a fan base through word of mouth and the occasional rollicking live set. Limited to 500 7” copies and each housed in a uniquely designed sleeve featuring artwork / doodlings / scribble provided for by a carefully selected audience ’Stationary’ is a bit of a killer thing. Slick and stripped of the usual fashion house labelling that most bands these days seem more than happy to see saw between depending on the climate and the seasons in sound, ’Stationary’ is a scarred slice of dysfunctional angular pop that taps superbly into the whole Magazine / Gang of Four mindset, fingering restlessly as though undertaking a scab picking exercise - built upon a backdrop of whirring electronics spidery riffs parade with rigid regimental zeal to usher in a veritable blankly despondent post punk edge that erupts at will to manifest into a tensely potent and perfect brew of emotionally austere uber pop of the highest order - think upon it as a less friction based pop template of the Playwrights. Flip over for the equally reticent ’Invader Paul’ - icy, fraught and undeniable sparse this slice of dislocated Dadaist disco is in simple terms a rather tasty updated refit of the Human League’s ’empire state human’ and on that note rounds up what is quite possibly the most crucially cool thing this season. Joint deputy single of the missive. www.genepoolrecords.com

Clone Quartet ’Carousel’ (Tigertrap). Bollocks - we’ve lost the press release that came attached to this which now doubt served to impart to me to pass to you all manner of revelations and useful goings on in the Clone Quartet world. What e do know is they number in four, hail from Belfast and may (or may not as the case may / or may not be) have lain down a sizeable chunk of recordings that will surface in a month or two as their debut album tentatively titled ’10 Lies’. ’Carousel’ caught our ear on a recent label sampler CD that those nice folks over at Tigertrap sent over our way - a crookedly alluring portion of schizoid electro candy pop built upon a floor pumping post punk disco beat that provides for a rather nifty and dare we say a warped Wurlitzer freewheeling succulent slices of summer sound. If we didn’t know better we’d say it was the by product of a weird ’now that’s what I call music’ compilation from the 80’s that’s been subjected to copious amounts of high grade acid, tinkered by a latter career A Certain Ratio indelibly remixed by the collaborative mindset of the Busy Signals and Ariel Pink who upon said affair has cast his now trademark soft focused trippily wired psychedelised west coast pop motifs leaving Electronic to divvy about however they see fit with what emerges. In marked contrast the bass heavy and everything including the kitchen sink ’played to death’ over on the flip is where the mindsets of the Pixies refined ’Trompe le Monde’ sound meets their early petulant selves a la ’Doolittle’ with subtle side servings of New Order thrown in for good measure. Classy stuff. www.tigertraprecords.co.uk

Hafdis Huld ‘Diamonds on my belly’ (Red Grape). Proof indeed, as though you really needed any, that cheekily cute kooky cuts of dinky pop are not strictly the domain of Lily Allen well not if the delectable Hafdis Huld is allowed to have any say in the matter. Last seen in these pages charming not only the pants but various other items of clothing with the irresistible ’Tomoko’, ’Diamonds on my belly’ sees the return of the former Gus Gus starlet much to the delight of well informed hi-fi’s across the nation. Culled from her recent ’Dirty paper cup’ set - which somewhat sadly passed us by (darn) ’Diamonds on my belly’ is your sumptuous quasi trippy psyche meets crooked campfire filleted with snake charm arabesque accents affair that’s all at once dizzy, demurring and decidedly delightful - a hazy mirage of ice cream vans, lolloping lazy eyed banjos and restlessly seductive candour - kind of Monsoon’s ’Ever so lonely’ sprinkled with far out lysergic ally treated space dust. Flip side features the fractured drum ’n’ bass’d up ’Dekko’ refit of the same cut which in its minimalist zeal though removing the original’s child like aura instead imparts a rather tasty and dare we say satisfying glacial sheen to the proceedings. Resist at your own peril. www.hafdishuld.com

Soft Hearted Scientists ’Siberia’ (My Kung Fu). Last time out (which in truth was a long, long, long time ago - ‘Singled Out Missive 46 to be precise’ - Ed ) these young chaps sung weirdly wonderful wayfaring songs about mythological beasts. These days the deeply dull TV show ’Supernatural’ has, well, made mythological beasts deeply dull leaving our Soft Hearted heroes to turn their attention to more worrying matters closer to home - that being failed love. This slice of lazy eyed loveliness is culled from the ensembles long overdue ‘take time to wonder in a whirling world’ full length (due shortly), ‘Siberia’ sees this trio of travelling minstrels assuming the air of a pastoral James covering the Carpenters ‘Calling occupants of interplanetary craft’ whilst chilling out on a hazy cocktail of sounds provided for by Freed Unit’s ‘Gigglegoo’ and the Murmurs of Irma (whatever happened to them?). Be-suited with a regency like glaze ‘Siberia’ provides for a dizzying kaleidoscopic treat - a myriad of acoustics, harpsichords and wonky keys pickled with lashings of dozy albeit crooked candour the type of which you’ve come to love and cherish from Cardiff’s premier soft psyche folkster cadets. An uplifting celebration of heartbreak whose lyrical sentiment a la ‘somebody soon will melt it away’ we suspect in our case might well involve said lady arming herself with a nuclear powered blow torch. ‘Siberia’ ticks more boxes than a ‘comeback’ single should feasibly be allowed to do as it magically mushrooms into an epic feast of smouldering village green rustically charmed psychedelics that’s so good that one suspects they ought to consider putting the cork back in for fear of everyone wanting some. Flip side is your tune minus words type instrumental version of the same cut perfect for those wishing to partake in a rousing hearty blast of the chorus - are you ready then - one - two - three - four- ‘hey there lonely boy’….Genius. Joint deputy single of the missive. www.my-kung-fu.com

The Duloks ‘(I’m gonna follow your) Star Trail’ (Art Goes Pop). In a word - priceless. We don’t mind admitting that we’ve somehow managed to wear an additional hole into our copy of the mighty fine debut release by East London all girl trio The Duloks through, I hasten to add, repeat plays and not out of some form of strange and nasty nocturnal deviance. Seven minutes in length with four tracks on offer, the Duloks describe themselves via their my space site as indie / new wave / comedy, between you and me they could very well be the epitome of the DIY spiked electro candy pop minimalism aesthetic featuring as they do just drums, keys and vocals. There’s an almost satisfyingly naive appeal about this threesome as though somehow they’ve literally only just been introduced to their instruments within the last 10 minutes. Partly out of focus, delicious unrefined and raw you suspect that the Duloks rather than aspiring to the hope that you the punter will like them rather more dare and goad reaction. Amid their sparsely dissected melodic appreciation and edgy exterior pockets of pristine pop crackle and fizz below the surface. Reference wise the Duloks can draw in spirit a curiously crooked lineage back to the likes of Raincoats and the Slits yet ostensibly it’s the Shaggs and the Native Hipsters (especially on the deliciously odd ‘red wizard needs food…badly’ replete with Bananarama harmonies no less) who are readily recalled - the former particularly so on the superb lead out cut ’(I’m gonna follow) your star trail’ a tale of doomed love whereupon the staple diet of Spector arranged 60’s girl pop meets head on an updated and re-branded street wise and savvy take on an early career Belle Stars as though under the ever watchful wing of a ‘Buffalo Girls’ era McLaren. Playing home to one of the most audaciously catchy chorus’ so far this year this twisted slice of bubblegum pop comes across like stripped to the bone Go Team treat without all the 70’s inspired baggage. The dislocated ‘Boom Boom’ cleverly taps into the late 70’s underground electronic scene mainlining perfectly into the same mindset of early Some Bizarre / Mute back catalogue notably the Normal. While trace elements of the Naughtiest girl was a monitor rear their head on the set closing and highly fried ‘Bad vegetarian’ albeit on this occasion sounding like they’ve hooked up with a rather frazzled early career Devo - well warped and to those with a meek disposition quite possibly unsettling. Single of the Missive - could it really be anything else? More and soon. www.myspace.com/artgoespop

The Ripps ‘Holiday’ (Catskills). Featured in these very pages to much affection with the arrival of their debut release ‘Vandals’ (singled out missive 101) - since then they’ve managed to squeeze out a follow up in the shape of ‘Loco’ not to mention a full length (‘Long live the Ripps’ which annoyingly passed us by somewhat) worth of gems from which this little cutie is pulled. Ah the great British bank holiday, caravans, car sickness, traffic congestion, sea side shopping parades that looked out of date in the 60’s, kiss me quick hats, endless naff ness, cheap novelty kitsch, beaches over populated by pink faced patrons whose dress sense seems to have been inspired by a Carry On film and worst of all - having to deal with other people’s rudeness. No wonder Europe and beyond hate us so. Thankfully the Ripps are on the radio. These young rascals who number in three and hail from Coventry hone perfectly that quintessential Brit pop passion tailored by Blur as their own from an antecedent legacy procured, crafted and tinkered to musical hall precision by the likes of Ian Dury, Jam, Kinks, Small Faces and er….Tommy Steele. ‘Holiday’ takes it’s cue from Blur’s ‘Park life’ - a cheekily chirpy spot of knotted hankie wearing tongue in cheek impishness it is to with Four Seasons meets Beach Boys harmonies supplied by Supergrass as 60’s keys fanfare throughout a deliciously upbeat ska / skiffle hybrid braided superbly by some sassy Mott / Cockney Rebel moments - infectious to a point where prescribed treatments are still being sought. Flip over for the corking ‘Sandinista’ like morning after the night before dub re-drill of self same cut while the additional exclusive track tagged to the end - ‘Black Eye’ is a viciously cool sub three minute romp of wired razor sharp rumbling mayhem replete with playground shenanigans and a momentary spot of dumbed up goofiness - think ‘Nasty’ era Damned meets prime time Buzcocks with lashings of the Cardiacs thrown in for good measure. Stunning. www.catskillsrecords.com

They came from the stars, I saw them ‘the unstoppable kite’ (thisisnotanexit). Another for whom it has to be said have been away from our hi-fi for so long that the poor mite has been endlessly pining and suffering withdrawal symptoms. Last time featuring in these pages - ooh ages ago was for that superb split 12” with the Sonic Catering Band. Since then and now these young pups have it seems released a plethora of releases all seemingly passing beneath our usual well honed radar which aside being just cause for a spot of teeth gnashing has to put it bluntly upset us somewhat. This strictly limited 12” release (incidentally also available as a download type thing) sees what will be a hectic time for the star crossed cadets as it quickly follows their acclaimed ‘It’s time’ release from a few months ago (again missed here - like they are rubbing it in now and that’s before we even had a chance to mention the ultra limited Xmas only single) while hushed tones speak of a possible full length earmarked with a summer time arrival date. Four tracks feature within - with not one but two versions of ‘the unstoppable kite’ - the free from wobbly wandering radio edit and the full blown panoramic Technicolor version which in all its wholesome glory weighs in at a staggering 14 minutes. It’s possibly true to say that no-one is quite on the same wave length as TCFTSIST - they occupy realms that exist between the unseen cracks found loosely holding together overlapping genres, in their time they’ve freewheeled between psychedelic, space rock and the just plain weird possessing an unusual grasp / talent for the odd, unhinged and avant garde extremes of their chosen sonic experimentation - perhaps only Animal Collective veer anywhere near their orbital sphere in terms of being somewhere else and other worldly. ‘The unstoppable kite’ is a fringe re-arranging inner mind voyage, a spiked melodic mirage on a grand scale beset with subtle shades of softly toned pastoral folk accents dissolving lovingly into dissipating hazes of freeform kraut jazz vibes and psychedelic trippiness; alluringly chilled it pops, fizzes and radiates at intervals into sugar dipped warmth filled moments of fluffy off centred dreamscapes particularly at the latter sequences where the melting array of celestial harps and sound effects supplied by the 80’s tea time torture TV show - Family Fortunes sumptuously intertwine as though serving as a backdrop for some acid flashback replay of ’Fantasia’. Elsewhere ’Livin on an island’ is a gloriously warped hybrid of trippy space jazz and psychedelic funk cosmic groove that recalls a speed induced early career Heaven 17 braided sublimely with loosely limbering lazily out of it brass arrangements. ’It’s always boom time (part 2)’ with its kookily fried mantras and skewed part noire-ish part dream opera velour subtly nods in the direction of both Sun Ra and Bablicon while paying special affection for Soft Machine. Essential in a word. www.thisisnotanexit.net

Alex Monk ‘Exchanging Chairs’ (Self released). This colossal 6 track 41 minute set from London based musician Alex Monk should by rights appeal to fans of not only Brian Eno, Pimmon, Stockhausen and EAR (especially on the mind melting ‘Soyuz 1’) but Moondog, Roy Montgomery and other fringe psychedelicists operating in outer realms of concrete ambience. Some time member of Arch slider (who we now feel restless to seek out and sample) Monk crafts monolithic drone scapes by way of sound manipulations extricated via guitars, laptop and found sounds. The set opens with the 11.12 in duration ‘exchanging chairs’, a humungous sloth like slab of glacial ambience reminiscent of Sadar Bazaar and Windy and Carl and yet swept through with a maligned void less elegance more associated with Yellow 6. This impenetrable slice of bleakly cathedral like stateliness is pierced through by ominous swathes of regal swells that exact an unsettling edge to the proceedings yet strangely sound if truth be known like a despondent half cousin of Laurie Anderson’s ’Oh Superman’. ’Neutrino’ with it’s flurry of chime charming softly strummed chords could easily assume a place on Montgomery and Heaphy’s ’True’ set without a so much as a batting of the eye lid though on this occasion sounding as though both Roy Budd in collaboration with Gnac had wrestled with the recording giving it a curious rain swept noire-ish appeal. The abstract sounding ‘The Advocate on the other hand is something that Ochre records would have welcomed with arms wide a few years back given their love of all things inspired by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop while the daintily frail lunar-esque suite ‘MG’ brings the set to a lulling close - think early career ISAN meets Raymond Scott, a shyly beguiling slice of chilled out spectral galactic pop or rather more a binary coded lovelorn epitaph to a fading memory. However all said and done the sets crowning glory is the heavenly apparition like ’Przykrosc’. A beautifully realised symphonic score that’s filtered through with layer upon layer of reverential swathes of unworldly celestial grace, shimmers and twinkles achingly with a sense of monastic majesty brought to heel by the appearance of Madam Butterfly like operatics which all at once evoke polar mood swings that veer between tearful tragedy and euphoric ecstasy. Quite perfect if you ask me. www.myspace.com/alexmonk

Beangrowers ‘I like you’ (Series 8). Apologies time in the Singled Out shed of embarrassment and I suspect for the first time this missive (count ‘em and see if we are wrong). Not only did we manage to lose the CD and its accompanying press release but also a rather splendid review that we crafted through toil, labour and sheer bloody minded to complete. Alas they’re gone though on the up side the CD re-emerged via a swift search and destroy sweep through the record mountain. Much loved in these parts is this Malta based trio. Culled from their recently released full length ’Dance Dance Baby’ which I’ll be buggered we haven’t sighted let alone heard yet, ’I like you’ sees the Beenies bearing their teeth somewhat and getting down and dirty with it - spidery riffs, stop / start jarring dynamics, zig zagging chords, staccato percussions, twanging riffs, buzz sawing wiring edge, simmering frenzied tension and a more than overtly obvious nod in the direction of PJ Harvey’s ’Dress’ - hell what is there not to like - better still perfect for practicising your slinky dance floor moves to sadly not us though - well not since the neighbourhood watch got together a petition - ho hum. Flip side cut the bleakly brooding but beautiful ’the Priest’ is, it has to be said, our favoured track. Belying a bass heavy jazz coda this baby mooches restlessly with a simmering passion sparking up at intervals upping the ante in terms of tension to come across like a loosely realised prog rock re-drill of the Cure’s ‘10:15 Saturday night’ while all the time undeterred Alison works her soft seduction - classy. www.series8recordings.co.uk

Brittany Shane ‘S/T’ (Self released). Exquisitely produced intimate pop that sublimely marinates emotions and experiences set to poetry to be liberated and gently caressed by a tender cortege of sweetly swept touching musicianship. San Franciscan based Brittany Shane has been plying her trade for nigh on six years now, from her humble beginnings entertaining the most clued in coffee houses she has it seems blossomed into one of the key players of the Bay area scene. Her debut long player ’Decked Out’ won her acclaim from writers fortunate enough to stumble and catch on to the buzz filtering throughout the scene and since then by way of gathering together a group of crafted guest musicians (whose collective cv reads like an A list industry portfolio) Shane has happily realised the sounds and moods in her minds eye onto CD by way of this delectable 5 track EP. Reminiscent in the main of a young Kirsten Hersh, Shane crafts captivating yarns both memorable and lingering ’Better’ opens the set, perfect for those who’ve ever had their hearts dashed, this sparkling gem seductively shimmers softly basking upon breezy waves of uplifting splendour. ’Pretty Sky’ is slenderly bathed in cotton rich pining steel guitars that radiate fulsomely atop lazy eyed roving chord chimes. The aching and partly haunting ’Move into light’ is as tender as it gets, this slow burning beauty is shrink wrapped in romance, initially spectral in design it soon unfurls tenderly reaching through you to pluck your heartstrings. All said and done though nothing quite matches the parting ’Sunsets in Bloom’ in terms of elegance, artistry and enchantment. This smoking baby delicately swoons, swerves and caresses in equal measures, through bliss laden hazes threaded by countrified soft psyche accents succulent arrangements weave a milky allure that recall a particularly laid back Lush shimmying up to Mazzy Star to smoulder their way past your defences. An absolute treasure of a release. www.brittanyshane.com

Play Music (Get Involved) #6. If your sharp about it and get your backsides into gear you should still be able to nail a copy of April’s Play Music (the one with Maximo Park on the cover)where in you’ll be (depending on how you view these things) treated to the now obligatory cover mount freebie CD which on this occasion features 12 tracks from the crème of the unsigned crop currently doing the rounds. Selected picks of the pack - the Heathers ’Heartache and Hairdye’ provides for a smouldering softly driven slice of west coast vibed power pop which for the best part comes across like the Cars with World Party add ons welded on to their chassis - disappointing goes a bit Spin Doctors towards the end - a lapse that frankly we can forgive them for. Birmingham based octet 360 stump up ’this time’ - an energetic foot tapping ska punk funk crossover that to these ears called to mind the much missed Parkinsons setting the club floors alight in a true classic Two Tone stylee with Pigbag providing the frantic and finger licking brass boogie. Elsewhere New York based Scnester (apparently pronounced Skuh-nester - mmm - of course the mmm was mean not part of the band name - stands to reason doesn’t otherwise they’d be called Scnestermmm which is plain daft which only marginally dafter than - is that the time where we….) - ’trapped in the armoire pt1’ is a cutesy cute homely tingling twee electronic thing the like of which best heard while laying down in the park on a summers day staring at the sky re-arranging the clouds into a fuzzy montage while simultaneously letting the outside world slip away - think Tony Mansfield’s New Musik lulling Swimmer One with pristinely shy eyed pop motifs - adorable in a word. Those of you who find solace and weep waterfalls while listening to emotionally crippled young men strumming heartfelt acoustic guitars while singing lyrics swiped straight from the pages of a school diary aged 11 may well be more than enamoured with Afterview whose ’Top of the World’ is a whole heap of wrist slitting pop magnificence for those fans of lighter in the night waving heroes Keane and Snow Patrol - those of you not so taken by it all can form an orderly queue and draw lots to see who pushes them off. Edging it by some distance as the CD’s best moment are Doll’s House a London based four piece whose ’Don’t be afraid’ provides for a stunningly eerie spectacle, immense, turbulent and beautifully dark, this blistered and bruised epic beauty drags you by the hair roots kicking and screaming as though the collaborative by product of a summit meeting between Shakespeare’s Sister, Hazel O’Connor and Kate Bush with Camilla’s lead vocals sounding so acutely scary and excitably frenzied that you suspect the band only invite her around for rehearsals during the daytime and even then superglue all the cutlery draws.

Gunning for Goliath ’Anaemia’ (un-mastered demo). A stunning four track EP it has to be said and again you won‘t be to surprised to hear another release whose informative press release attachment has somehow managed to AWOL - ho hum. Rising from the ashes of Defenestration, Gunning for Goliath have over the course of the last 18 months been building a steady fan base as well as some note worthy plaudits from their peers with crucial support slots for the likes of Raging Speedhorn, Shaped by Fate and Penknifelovelife. With an album nearly in the can under the working title ’How to lose it all in a heartbeat’ Gunning for Goliath may well provide a more melodic alternative to the brutally pummelling onslaught of the take no prisoners bludgeoning stance of Mendeed et al while simultaneously retaining the self same intensity, venom and ferocity - none more so is this apparent than on the slow burning parting centrepiece ‘Long lost December‘. Opens to the sound of thunder which if our failing memory serves us right the last time we heard such an track opening was on New Model Army’s epic ’Green and Grey’ . Colossal in a word, this blistered baby simmers ominously revealing the bands tender side which at times gets a little too Coverdale for comfort yet equips itself with brief erupting flashes of sonic pyrotechnics and choking white hot tempestuousness. Crushing stuff. Elsewhere the doomed romance of ’Hollywood lies bleeding’ is a speed licking furious charge of honed to full tilt all out rock ’n’ roll white out boogie replete with skull splitting vein straining adrenalin pumping serrated riffmanship. ’Murder and Paradise’ manages to sublimely wire together the polar extremes of Iron Maiden and latter day Killing Joke into a curdling symphonic rage of lacerating riffs and doom laden apocalyptic theatrics while ‘Anaemia’ harnesses the elements into a storm ravaged spectacle of brutally beautiful charnel house scorched wasteland. Essential. www.myspace.com/gunningforgoliath

Battles ‘Atlas’ (Warp). Like a juiced up juggernaut on an unstoppable road cruise this rampantly humungous dance floor beast will soon be laying all the coolest clubs to waste. This head pounding hypnotic 7 minute bouncing bomb of a baby is a curdling mutated hybrid of load bearing glam vibes mullered and dented black and blue by a locked down psyche groove within whose DNA houses elements of Front 242’s ‘Masterhit’ as though re-drilled and rewired by a particularly stoned and edgy meeting of minds made up of Killing Joke’s Geordie and Youth unlikely pairing with Yello who for reasons unknown seem to have invited a rather pissed Pinky and Perky along for the ride. Flipside features the same cut undergoing a wig flipping make over at the hands of DJ Koze and sounding deliciously detached as though the result of some Fantastic Voyage styled journey to the core of a PC processor splintered at various points with some strangely abstract funk moves and brief moments of chilled out lullaby-esque kindergarten down tempo bliss. A debut album entitled ’Mirrored’ is apparently doing the rounds out there somewhere which we will be endeavouring to nail as our own - we suggest you do to. www.warprecords.com

Lavender Diamond ’Open your heart’ (Rough Trade). Sadly (but ooh I don’t know) not the old nugget from the Human League that launched briefly in the early 80’s the wonderfully sparkly and shiny new hand held Casio highlighting and the resulting lop sided hairdos you’d get as a result of playing such. They where the days weren’t day - or so my recurring nightmares delight in telling me. Lavender Diamond last time out had us all a swooning amid the bijou confines of the Singled Out record shed with their ’Cavalry of Light’ EP (see missive 113). ’Open your Heart’ just sizzles with infectious delight, a delectable slice of candy pop the kind of which that used to be at one time the given remit of Sarah records. Slick, melodic and replete with swirling strings, hand claps, catchy as hell chorus and the lightly honey toned vocals of a certain Becky Stark sprinkling the liberal icing of summery shimmers to the pop feast - what more could you want - frankly kissable. Flipside features the Decembrists’ Colin Meloy doing a heartfelt acoustic take of the bands ’Oh No’ - not a lot to say really - acoustic guitar, strums, sings and ends. Rounding up the set a cover of ’Chiquitita’ which as everyone who ever turned on a radio knows was originally done by Abba - two blokes, two girls, funny haircuts, from Sweden, blokes looked like extras from a 70’s soft porn film, they made annoyingly catchy records about heartbreak, heartache and toothache and got dangerously dark (’the day before you came’ anyone) just before they split (in a band sense as they had courted each other, married and divorced by this point) and lest we forget they ruddy well hogged the number one spot pretty much everywhere in the globe (with ears) from 1975 right through to 1980 - ah you remember them. Nt a lot more I can say - if you like Abba you’ll die for this if you don’t you’ll probably wanna die - only joking of course we love them here all together now ’long ago, high on a mountain in mexico., lived a young shepherd boy, Angelo’ - bollocks that wasn’t Abba - blimey my guilty secret is out now…….www.lavenderdiamond.com

The Low Miffs ‘Earl Grey’ (Art Goes Pop). More simply essential head phone ware from the Art Goes Pop stable. We featured this little cutie in passing when both sides of this release featured on the superb 8 track ‘This is the New’ label sampler (see missive 103) way back October last year. ‘Earl Grey’ is the second outing for the Glaswegian based quartet following their acclaimed (and dare we say Fall-esque meets Half Man Half Biscuit titled) ‘Also Sprach Shareholder’ debut. A darkly set angular opera of sorts, spiked and awkward this frantically splintered slice of obtuse art pop and bent out of shape razored white funk refuses to keep still and adhere to any recognised and defined time signature as it erupts resplendently into schizoid follies amid the liberal smattering of gear changing lulls that to these ears recalls in the main the woefully underrated Playwrights. Flipside features ’This is the New’ - in truth our favoured cut given it’s a perfect distillation of all things late 70’s new wave - in the main prime time Television meets early Modern Lovers - deceptively catchy and a must for all well ordered record collections. www.myspace.com/thelowmiffs

Buen Chico ‘Gold from Lead’ (Faith and Hope). You know I can feely ears burning already. Welcome to cock up corner, Buen Chico are really going to hate us. As though not being bad enough losing their debut release ’Giving your gifts’ (which incidentally we did get to finally review belatedly - long after said release - we suspect - sold out) by way of recompense and to stop the pangs of guilt we promised to act sharpish and get our collective backsides into gear and write wonderful things about their impending follow up. Low and behold (and true to form) we made a bit of a bollocks about it all. Okay that’s the several side servings of humble pie done with. ’Gold from Lead’ as you are no doubt aware of by now is the Leeds based trios second release and a little belter it is to. A toe tapping loveably jaunty summer hued jabbing jangle pop gem that’s been brushed with a sweet homely countrified tinge that succulently plays host to deliriously airy sunshiny sugar coated bubblegum harmonies that frankly does it for us. Flip side is better still, the bluesy Beefheartian meets Pretty Things ‘La la la (I can’t hear you)’ just has to be heard to be believed. Fractured and fried this little honey mooches about with a stuttering take of the loose throwaway riff from Wings’ ’Band on the Run’ though here regurgitated at varying speeds and shifts gear awkwardly and unexpectedly erupting into combustible spurts of wig flipping speed freakin grandeur reminiscent of a bare knuckle fist fight between prime time Supergrass and early career Ash - damn it’s good - buy on sight. www.faithandhope.co.uk

Attica State ’Comes and Goes’ (Rebellion). Where will it all end we ask ourselves. Another blinding debut to add to add to the record buying most wanted list. Attica State formed nearly two years ago and in that time are already causing something of a stir of the local scene, the lust fuelled ’Comes and Goes’ is the ensembles debut release for the fledging Rebellion imprint and a horny as f**k beaut it is. A brutal and sublime sonic symbiosis of cool as f**k strutting swagger and supercharged grinding power pop melodies pristinely toned and beefed up as were by a viciously intense rippling six pack workout. Think of the perfect bittersweet pop fusion of the Knack’s ’My Sharona’ and ’I got you’ by Split Enz playfully pulverised into submission by an at the top of their game lean, mean and dirty Black Sabbath - throw in some crunching hooks and a melody that pings around your headspace like a demented pinball and wrap it all up in a dynamic that serves to purr and punish in equal measures and you have yourself a locked groove juggernaut of some calibre. Flip over for ’you don’t need it’ - needling hooks, more fuzzy Sabbath heads down grinding boogie that to these ears sounds not unlike ’Nevermind’ era Nirvana shimmying up to Mudhoney / ‘Bottle up and go’ era Monkey Wrench to create the super group to end all super groups. Essential type thing. www.rebellionrecords.co.uk

Stuart Masters ’White Noise’ (Self released). I’m sitting in the garden (well I say garden - it’s predominantly green, overgrown and one imagines home to some long lost tribe of pygmies), the sun is out, and the early morning dawn chorus rings in the crisp warm air much to the disapproval of our cat who lies in full view in a clearance now doubt thinking himself out of view from the ever watchful attention of the birds who chatter excitedly. Frankly he’d have been less inconspicuous had he sat there with a beacon light shining from his head accompanied by an 18 strong brass band. On the hi-fi a four track CD plays - all at once gentle and drifting, it’s idyllic charm frames perfectly the moment. As with the Alex Monk release mentioned elsewhere here Stuart Masters is another becoming talent that we managed to unearth via my space, a London based singer / songwriiter (don‘t you just hate that description now that Little Britain have reduced it to a schoolyard catchphrase with their lil’ Dennis skit), Masters crafts romanticised acoustically drawn pastoral folk pop thats countered and deliciously bathed in a rich soulful vibrancy. Part spectral these softly teased melodies pirouette daintily with unassuming grace like some kind of distant cousin to Nick Drake (none more so is this the case than on the magical almost breezily Gallic ‘Final Song‘ with its subtle juxtaposition of spring fumed charms and winter laced melodies), laced longingly with a violin accompaniment what sets Masters aside from his peers is his voice - almost feminine at times his richly honey toned delivery compliments and adds an extra dimension to the proceedings. Unguarded and exposed Masters’ song craft offers a tranquil sanctuary from life’s hustle and bustle, the melodies lilt and glint softly bathed in a rich colourful tapestry - ’White Noise’ opens the set, embracing a haunting beauty this slender softly trod gem is braided with sweetly souring strings and undulating swells that cast an intoxicating spell like enchantment. Elsewhere the bewitchingly flirtatious ’Colour’ courts with a sparsely hypnotic warmth that suggests elements of John Fahey in ’Wicker Man’ moods transfixed and lulled spellbound by humid eastern like charms while ’this open road’ sumptuously wraps up the set with a spot of lazily spun rustic blues. Those wanting more and we suspect you will should go to his my space site and check out the superbly ‘Wicker Man‘ / Gaelic rustics of ‘Time after time‘. www.stuartmasters.co.uk

Swoop Swoop ’It’s spring’ (Metal Postcard). Much to our annoyance we somehow managed to miss out on Swoop Swoop’s (formerly Streaky Jane) debut full length from last year and we do suspect that having heard this sprightly little two track offering we won’t rest easy until we have it in our mits and piping sweetly from our hi-fi speakers. ’It’s spring’ is a beautifully steeped soured romance of sorts - acoustically drawn, spectral and haunting as though Bruce Springsteen c. ’the ghost of tom joad’ had been magically invested with the numbingly mercurial mindset of June Panic. The melodies that chill throughout this bleakly beautiful and fragile gem superbly mirror the desolate and barren sting of the winter laced lyrics only to crisply flower and unfurl at the finales passage of spring into a brief sugar burst of euphoria. That said the preferred cut can be found over on the flip. ’Tomorrow we triumph’ comes across like a lost 60’s folk troubadour and discovers Swoop Swoop finding the dusty bottle containing the mercurial essence of Donovan’s wayward but beguiling song craft only to ever so gently unscrew the cork to release the genii within. The result a tenderly braided parched pastoral prettiness that gently breezes into your headspace like a lovelorn spectre to woo and romance you into undying submission. Quite perfect if you ask me. www.myspace.com/metalpostcard

Shit Disco ‘Okay’ (Fierce Panda). Culled from their imminent ‘Kingdom of Fear’ debut full length - which we have to grumble when we say we’ve yet to hear, ‘Okay’ is the latest barnstorming boogie from the much respected Shit Disco enterprises. Frankly a party within a party and to these ears it sounds like they’re having a better party than both me and you. Shit Disco = Shit Record - ha ha only joking - been dying to say that for ages - though I suppose those wits at the N*E have already copyrighted its use ready for it to be sprung into action the minute the tide changes and the band fall from affection in which case the disco shitting ones will all load up into Darren’s caravan and head to London to dance on said scribes head. Where were we - ah yes ‘ ‘Okay’ think Gang of 4 shimmying up to the Associates Billy Mackenzie (who on this occasion has been barred from his usual falsetto fancies) and rounding up on a mutant take that’s made up of Blondie’s ‘Heart of Glass’ and Dona Summer’s ‘I feel love’ and bleaching the originals into an unrelenting floorshow of bludgeoning beats, jagged riffs and austere atmospherics - in other words - crucial. www.fiercepanda.co.uk


Just when you thought it was safe to come from behind the sofa - more MYSPACE GUBBINS -

http://www.myspace.com/nextstopvertigo - for fans of Spock’s Beard, Goblin and Porcupine Tree - crafted cerebral pop from Germany - rip the quite tasty ’vertigo’
http://www.myspace.com/tapefly - rip the hazily fizzy 60’s psyche shimmer pop ’ball and chain’ or the kaleidoscopic Green Pyjamas like ‘embryo’
http://www.myspace.com/wearehappyeggs - wonderfully distressed fuzzed up power pop - rip ’don’t waste my time’
http://www.myspace.com/popoffthetops - rip the sharp suited ‘shoot to kill’
http://www.myspace.com/thearray - amorphous atmospheric ambience from Dublin - rip the eerily trippy ’into the heat’
http://www.myspace.com/timothysklugh - hauntingly enchanting classical pop - rip the quite divine heart ripping cosmic carousel ‘celestial lullaby’ and see if you can get to the end without tears welling
http://www.myspace.com/cactished - label no less - rip the playing fields ‘nonesuch nameless’ from their debut full length….
http://www.myspace.com/thesonichearts - wonderfully breezy drifting 70’s styled Americana all the way from God’s Country (which is Liverpool non believers) - ‘Catherine Wheel’ will blow you away through the sheer force of its mastery alone….post jangle pop Byrds meet ‘Harvest’ era Neil Young
http://www.myspace.com/michaelhalaas - sublime classically set hi art drama driven symphonies - rip the silken splendour like ’passing ships’
http://www.myspace.com/browneyesblueus - putting the finishing touches to their debut album ‘two stories of a city on fire’ this Daytona based duo craft sumptuous slices of shy eyed drifting pop rip the fading beauty ’shapeless start’ with its ’durable dream’ Moviola era pop prowess or the breathtaking ’of light speed’
http://www.myspace.com/musicofthemachine - swirling electro odysseys - rip the Propaganda meets Goblin ’Brian Jones’


And its last single time for this particular missive……

The Black Angels ‘Better off alone’ (Light in the Attic). To be found currently doing their stuff on the superb 2 disc ‘Psychedelica’ via Northern Star, ‘better off alone’ is culled from the Texans awesome debut full length ‘Passover’. Shimmering shades and leather drone psyche blues bliss is the order of the day, emerging like some hell bound preacher man brooding ominously at the same dusty crossroads that legend has Robert Johnson swapping his soul for in exchange for the devil’s muse having just stepped off Ken Kasey’s Magic Bus. Mesmerising lysergic grove that takes its cue from the Brian Jonestown Massacre to sit somewhere between post ‘Psychocandy’ JMC and Spacemen 3. Flip side features a exclusive live cut of the previously unreleased ‘Yesterday always knows’ - fractured, frazzled and frayed around the edges - think shit faced and wired version of the Doors with Morrison weaving a hypnotic spectral mantra. Stunning. www.theblackangels.com


And with that we’re off into the night for several scoops of homemade Jack Daniels and ice cream with hundreds and thousands sprinkled on top, back by the weekend with more indecipherable mutterings from the Hi Fi tool shed - which will feature in no particular order - Specialten, king kayak, falling out of cars, fall out boy, switches, lowstar, dusty not digital, popular workshop, rosemary and whatever other tasty tunes we can grab a hold of. Irregular updates via the colourised www.myspace.com/thesundayexperience - till then thanks for taking the time to drop by and take good care of yourselves.

Ta-ra

Mark
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