Missive 71
31-05-2005
Singled Out

Missive 71

Dedicated as always to Kelly and Mark – missing you so much.

‘Singled Out – putting you in tune with your hi-fi’

Welcome to the near daily high jinxing of the crooked but well formed mutterings from the inside of the Singled Out listening shed.

Your erstwhile scribe is still trying to peel himself from the ceiling following laying witness to the tremendous fight of Liverpool FC at the hands of AC Milan, those thinking football is boring and hey Arsenal fans check this out, think again – several heart attacks later, much gnashing of teeth one minute and untold jubilance the next – this feast of see sawing football at its finest (*yes Chelsea fans – finest) and most infective, a roller coaster ride of emotion that lasted over 2 hours – eat your heart out (and your letting Everton in next season?). My only complaint – Harry Kewell – pardon the French but what a fucking waste of space – perhaps the worst player ever to wear the Red liver bird crested shirt of LFC, this man ought to be ashamed, he came to Anfield with expectation but obviously left his talent bag back in Leeds – the man has no desire, ambition or passion – and after the Champions League final appearance – I for one certainly hope it’s the last time he gets to wear the Red of Pool. Because of this fop a player who has surprised everyone all season with his colossal appearances in the campaign has missed out – that man Igor Biscan – top dude. As to Liverpool – a season that saw the deaths of Emlyn ‘Crazy Horse’ Hughes and of course lifelong Red John Peel – they’d be well proud lads. Altogether now after three – one, two, three - a quick burst of Pete Wylie’s ‘A heart as big as Liverpool’ –

As to the records – well albums – well we are under massive siege at the mo – ha ha – so what’s new – we have about 15 albums half completed which will be up shortly – currently having us go wow / fucking hell what’s that / yes yes yes / are they married (delete where applicable – or in the case of Tuco all except the last unless they quickly recruit a few ladies – ho ho –)

Taco – the Shrinking Process – second best album we’ve heard this month – think Traffic, early Porcupine Tree and some slinky 70’s pop moves being left in a tumble dryer and tripping out all soft, tingling and mmmm warm.

Meredith Bragg – Volume 1
Querelle – Querelle – best album we’ve heard this month – London’s answer to Sonic Youth without the squiggly bits.

Wilderness – Wilderness
Andi Camp – Magnetic
Phosphorescent – Aw come aw wry
Smashing Orange – 1991
Poptones – The cassette played poptones – features Glitterati, Pure Reason Revolution and Soho Dolls – nuff said.

Tears of Abraham – Sacrificing the Text

Current viewing habits – Moog – A film by Hans Fjellestad – about you guessed it Bob Moog with cameos from Stereolab, Money Mark, Rick Wakeman with a 70’s Open University feel right down to the clothes and er – music. Good but a fashion accident all the same. And as we mentioned Stereolab can one of you two readers please ask the Stereolab press people for a copy of their super duper triple CD type thing – what you want more plugs – Stereolab, Stereolab, Stereolab, Stereolab – is that okay. Do you think if we say White Stripes three times the same thing will happen – okay here goes White Stripes, White Stripes, White Stripes – shit Jack White just appeared on my shoulder holding a Stereolab album - where’s that fookin salt when you need it? Next time send the delectable Meg – cor!

Better bang a few records on r’ kid…..

Yellow Stripe Nine ‘One Look (it’s love)’ (Self Released). Heck we’ve lost the press release on this one but hey no matter as their previous outing ‘Trouble with Girls’ still rings loudly in our ears. ‘One love’ is another sure fire cocktail of rampant infectious pop drama all distilled into a neat little three minute package, dry cured with the very finest essences drawn from the Sparks / Associates back catalogue and brazenly underpinned by a steely eyed beach party twanging groove – so vampishly cool. Flip over for the seductive snake charm like pull of ‘the Greatest Game’ all at once regal and crushing this cutie swoons amid Arabic annotations to smoulder charismatically like an exotically miniature epic operetta. And just when you are trying hard to pick up your jaw from the floor along comes ‘I’ll sing with all my heart’ to round up the set superbly, 80’s inspired, suave and tenderly soulful in the same sophisticated way as ABC and mid career Scritti Politti, curvaceous arrangements, acappela intros and softly alluring keys all combine to make this a pretty arresting majestic after hours slow burner. Very tasty if you ask me. www.yellowstripenine.com

The Elvis Suicide ‘The Demo’ (Self Released). Last missive we had Warren Suicide this time ready yourself for the Elvis Suicide – is there a trend going on we ask – Art Brut Suicide, Coldplay Suicide or maybe even Tony Christie Suicide – not a request just a thought. First thing – The Elvis Suicide – killer name for a band – agreed? Course it is - conjures up all sorts of images mostly cool and the band don’t disappoint. Formed to a certain extent out of the ashes of the Devotions who in their short spell appeared with a few ensembles you may or may not have heard of such as the scorching Glitterati, the quiet of late Parkinsons and er – Keane (who they?), a little tinkering with the line up and a name change later we have the Glaswegian quartet The Elvis Suicide (damn it’s a cool name). This pretty smart three track demo opens with the up and at ya ‘A New Version’ a three chord romp (the best three chords there is to be had mind) very much tailored in the spirit of 79 / 80, angular, riotous and boasting more sharp edges than a trolley load of broken bottles curdling in a wired spasmodic grind more befitting an potently charged Joy Division and yet coming across very much like a less daunting Dead Kennedy’s that yanks you by the throat and swings you happily pogoing frantically around the listening room. ‘Better than This’ perhaps the EP’s best cut is very much under the influence of the Albini drilled ‘Seamonsters’ era Wedding Present, a throbbing mean arsed bastard of a cut replete with harrowing heavy hearted jarring riffs that slowly but surely builds in intensity to crush the living day lights out of you. The raging sounds of ‘The Imposition’ brings up the rear, a classic slice of early career pre ‘Holy Bible’ Manic Street Preachers from a time when they were still considered relevant in some quarters and merely cool in others. Absolutely recommended. www.theelvissuicide.com

This is the Way the World Ends ‘No exit no goodbye’ (Self Released). In need of something melodically muscular then may we recommend this mighty fine three-track debut release from Nottingham’s This is the Way the World Ends (from herein referred to as TITWTWE). Describing yourself as ‘Radiohead’s older brothers doing ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ covers’ might be considered by many as either a touch tongue in cheek or an exercise in optimistic sloganeering in order to gain a foot in the door of a reviewers listening space but then after hearing the epic though detached complexity of ‘Theme from Asthma’ you’d be right to nod in agreement and agree to their way of thinking. A track that transcends both progressive and math rock notions – (though it embraces both all the same), ‘Theme from Asthma’ is a truly trouncing affair, interlocking riffs that twist this way and that with the kind of unstable and volatile ambition as to suggest the wearing of a neck brace might be a good idea for fear of whiplash, factor in dynamics that constantly shift and evolve without warning and overall you have something that makes for a disorientating yet absorbing affair, one minute an apocalyptic doom infected drama the next a soaring without abandon freewheeling epic of sorts that literally lays to waste everything in its path like a sonic equivalent of a fleet of Sherman tanks. ‘Vertigo’ is even less forgiving yet more rudimentary in definition, brutal rhythms rain down with the ferocity of a sledgehammer to the back off the head interspersed by moments of tranquil calm, which to be honest even by most people’s standards is still on the verge of white knuckle mania. If at this point the speakers are still holding out then ‘Fritz’ blazes out with intermittent injections of rasping hi frequency squalls to test its ardour lulling it into a false sense of security before hitting the 2.20 mark and morphing into something truly head melting. ‘Serotonin’ a live favourite and why not completes the set in a truly spastic style, a crunching slice of searing sonic pyrotechnics that nails your head to the floor and so intense that those of you with balls will swear they’ve retreated in fear, a curdling maelstrom of metal riffs raging against dislocated rhythmic arrangements is all you need to know. Tag on the inclusion of a hidden track at the end – a pretty neat exercise in blister inducing stoner dub and you have yourself a pretty ferocious debut package that alerts to a bright future ahead. www.thisisthewaytheworldends.co.uk
Roy Moller ‘Ferme la Bouche’ (Pickled Egg). Blimey and how long has it been since we had a 7” release from those cool dudes over at Pickled Egg, like ages I seem to recall and look what happens two at once. Wasn’t it only a few missives ago that we reviewed with an air of awe like wonder more common with children an ultra limited release (50 copies) by Roy Moller (‘Second City Firsts’) for the esteemed (and much loved here) Heliotone Records? Former Meth OD man returns with a goodie bag of newly penned classically tinged pop and sees him teaming up with Rob Smith (ex sparring partner from his Meth OD days) and Ulric and Dannie (of Catalysts / Mixers / DHK fame). ‘Ferme la Bouche’ features three sublime master class cuts of drifting wide-eyed West Coast shimmer pop that opens with the exquisitely crafted ‘First you fall in love’ that hazily beams with an alarmingly hip swinging British pop psychedelia mentality rather than the usual West Coast vibe that seems to be the happening thing these days and blessed with a catchy as hell late 60’s summer tang a la Traffic / Spencer Davis Group (‘Here we go round the Mulberry Bush’) and replete with enough sultry sun baked keys as to have the most ardent retro aficionado cooing in delight. Flip the disc for the ultra cool ‘Leave it well alone’ – softly baked to such a point that its not until its over that its charms hit you straight in the face as though some kind of delayed reaction is at force. And well ‘Speak when I’m spoken to’ what can I say, by far the best of the pack, if this doesn’t suck you in and have you falling head over heels in love then by rights you shouldn’t own a record player, remember the Busy Signals kaleidoscopic psyche pop being teased and tousled by elements of softly stirring top drawer lounge as found on ‘Baby’s first beats’ well magnify that ten fold, add in an army of serenading strings, melting arrangements and the euphoric pop brain of Pete ‘look I know how create a memorable epic to floor the listener’ Wylie and you have a cut so irresistibly fetching and sun dazed you swear the wax its cut into is melting. Deputy single of the missive. www.pickled-egg.co.uk

Mittens on Strings ‘ Pushing Buttons’ (Pickled Egg). More fine and dandy or should that be dainty life affirming pop from the Pickled Egg factory of musical dreams comes courtesy of Indiana / Kentucky ensemble Mittens on Strings. Limited to just 300 pressings – so skates on now pop kids because this is quite gem like. ‘Pushing Buttons’ features four cutely crafted cuts of gently ambling folky pop that opens with the brittle melancholic strains of the Red House Painters like ‘La talking box’. Borne of a lilting melody that prickles and picks deep into the rich heritage of heart warming song writing it deceives with its soft and nimble surface structure that’s cast with a soured underpin to give it an absorbing bitter sweet affliction to make most swoon. Then there’s the wonky wheels almost falling off country tinged ‘Party’ which features much to our joy a didgeridoo a fact alone that ensures our seal of approval apart from the small detail that its an ear candy lesson of sorts in the intricacies of shuffle like drifting soft pop. Elsewhere there’s the strangely skewiff and admittedly best track here ‘Down Payment’ which after periods of confused uncertainty (just check out bits where it seems like the players have just been introduced to their instruments for the first time) suddenly as though the clouds have cleared pops its head up and magically turns everything on its head for a brief celebratory instant recalling for a second Mary Hopkins of all people, not that that is a bad thing no siree. Rounding up the set with ‘It fell to me’ which at times is very Leonard Cohen on prozac with subtle shades of Dylan mooching in the shadows albeit detouring from the highway to find a tranquil spot in bluegrass country to idle away the late afternoon sipping home made lemonade while rocking gentle on the porch. Damn good we say. www.pickled-egg.co.uk

And talking of old friends re-emerging now that the sun is out to play, Static Caravan weigh in with enough releases to make our heads spin in an Exorcist stylee fashion type thing – a couple of corking, (albeit in Inch Time’s case slightly strange), releases from BRONNT Industries Kapital and a rather exquisitely packaged ultra limited mini album from Davenport / James Blackshaw – in addition to a brace of essential vinyl releases from Dollboy / Tunng and a second welcomed release from these chaps –

My Electric Love Affair ‘Infinite Mass’ (Static Caravan). Sure to sell out fast so its one of those get your arse into gear and order now warnings given that there are only 400 of these babies kicking around (well 399 now that I have one in me mits). Those Static dudes do us proud as Edinburgh’s finest space cadets get the awesome bug big time and follow up last years cosmically grooved ‘As if I get confused’ debut (reviewed here at Missive 46), which kids, as if you needed telling - all decent record collections should have. ‘Infinite Mass’/ ‘(So) I’m alone’ is a record of two halves, and could easily be two bands, the lead cut sounds like the fruits of a session the day after a wild night before when everyone’s feeling fragile and wasted, yet that said for all the media obsessing and autopsy like fervour surrounding the ‘where did they go wrong’ careers of Stone Roses and more latterly Oasis (of all people) it takes a wee listen of ‘Infinite Mass’ to see exactly which direction would have suited both ensembles natural evolution from pristine mass friendly pop into the world of out there psychedelia. All at once lazy and hypnotic ‘Infinite Mass’ you’d gather would be suitable listening apparel for those dieting on exotic substances, bludgeoning stoner psyche with wig flipping tendencies that insidiously mainlines into your psyche to reduce your senses to rubble, repetitive riffs as though on auto pilot and a vocal that veers callously between the extremes of blissed out and washed out – nevertheless still trashes the competition. ‘(So) I’m alone’ on the flip side is one of those records that the expression ‘dogs’ and ‘bollocks’ was dreamed up for. A brutal cacophony of layered feedback squalls and fuzz-laden opulence augmented by head melting mantras, white hot sonic grooves and the kind of mind bending demeanour as would suggest it was the bastard offspring resulting from a quick fumble between ‘The Perfect Prescription’ era Spacemen 3 and ‘Loveless’ era My Bloody Valentine, best viewed with shades to enhance the cool JMC aspect, lifetime membership to the Velvets fan club optional. By a country mile and several spliffs attaining the dubious honour of their second Single of the Missive – so now are you convinced. www.staticcaravan.org

Tunng vs. Dollboy vs. Dollboy vs. Tunng ‘Remixes’ (Static Caravan / Different Drummer). This kids is ultra limited (okay we lie – 1000 copies but bet your backside it’ll sell out in an instant) and features Tunng who as you know are this years the Earlies who themselves where the last years Polyphonic Spree – is this making sense? How fickle you kids are. One immense album under their belt (‘This is Tunng : Mother’s daughter and other songs’), Tunng for the more than casual viewers of Singled Out should be no strangers having littered these very pages with a small but select flurry of divinely crafted melodic treats. This particular release sees them musically mutated with Dollboy (home to ex members of Cooler who during the 90’s remixed everybody worthwhile remixing while finding time to release a plethora of critically acclaimed singles, as Dollboy they have released ‘Plans for a modern city’ to the collective swoon of the ambient cognoscenti). Okay so what you get is Tunng remixing Dollboy and Dollboy returning the favour by re-grooving Tunng, simple innit. First under the microscope is ‘People Folk’ from the aforementioned Tunng album now re-titled ‘The Rushey Green Morris Mix’ (don’t ask) which finds the trademark ‘Wicker Man’ vibes we love and cherish so much put on the back burner and in their place an absolutely magical cortege of exotic Eastern back drops and hazily head tripping wobbly lullaby-esque rhythms taking centre stage to flood your consciousness and take you unbeknownst on an astral boat ride, sort of a musical Lewis Carroll with stronger weed. Flip over for Dollboy’s ‘Cymbaline and Celeste’ now recast as ‘The Dollbeast Mix’ and being playfully twiddled and tinkered with by Tunng to something approaching near pastoral perfection. Originally found appearing on the aforementioned ‘Plans for a modern city’ full length (that’s two mentions now) Tunng strip the original to the core and supplant the blueprint coda with their fragile doey eyed leftfield acoustic glitch pop sensibilities, the result – a twinkling gem that strangely sounds like Robert Wyatt if truth be told. You must own this. Nuff said our kid. www.staticcaravan.org

Forest Giants ‘UFO Stories’ (Breaking Down). Much to our horror and ineptitude we must hold our hands up in shame and admit to having had this for a fair few weeks now, our only excuse in defence is that it got way laid under the mountain of CD’s currently sulking for attention in the corner of the Losing Today listening room. Forest Giants are a super group of sorts featuring ex members of the much-missed pop terrorists Beatnik Filmstars, Girl Boy Girl and the Blue Aeroplanes. Following their debut outing last year with ‘In Sequence’, ‘UFO Stories’ sees them pooling their resources for something that’s simply arresting albeit slow to catch light, featuring 8 tracks including two mystery tracks that once initial pressings are sold out won’t feature thereon in – this really is one of those oh so rare releases that offers something different with every repeated listen. ‘UFO Stories’ deploys an awesome array of softly caressing glacial pop signatures that at times are blissful crushing on one hand and starry eyed the other, not a million miles from Beatnik Filmstars just less wilful and more focused. ‘Beards’ with its seductively lined dreamy backdrops of hazy feedback is an unadulterated treat of arcing atmos – pop that crosses the divide where ‘A Catholic Education’ era Teenage Fanclub meets early career Flying Saucer Attack. One thing that becomes apparent almost immediately is their at ease ability to tweak moods, the sapping ‘Late night in the Park’ is tragically beautifully and spars perfectly with the lo fi acoustic tribute to Elliott Smith on ‘Peculiar Feeling’ where the mix of torturous longing and sadness is lifted by the memories of what’s gone before and peppered throughout by Paula Knight’s majestically melancholic violin arrangements which hit you hard. At the other extreme the celestially charged ‘Oh No’ is drenched in feedback washes reminiscent of early Moose and Telescopes and packs a rather nifty though punishing hip grooving punch as it flickers into action. ‘Sunrise’ replete with hymnal keys has a sublime Velvet-esque edge about it bled through by celebratory heart hurting riffs as big as skyscrapers. ‘UFO Stories’ is your basic spacey jam with spoken word story telling over the top in this case a UFO incident in Australia c. 1976 - very Elemental / Rooney in feel (and eeriness). Equally strange is ‘Interlude’ which is basically a sub 2-minute routine in oscillating drones scapes that begs the question where the band abducted at this point. Best cut of the set though is ‘World goes Round’ which as mentioned earlier may or may not appear on your copy depending whether or not you have the first pressing or otherwise which to be honest is a shame because this is a gem, spectral with the feedback left on the back burner and delicate ethereal touches taking their place to create something that’s pretty much on par in terms of soft sheen psych cool of JMC at their most breathtaking. Essential as if it needed saying. www.forestgiants.co.uk

Next up an absolutely essential must have release for any would be cool record collection –

Swell Maps ‘5x7” box set’ (Munster). Is as it says on the tin so to speak, a box set featuring 5 7” singles all lovingly re-produced in their original sleeves, well four of them at least one being an aborted at the time 5th. A priceless must have and beautifully packaged relic from the past and in an era where the sound of punk / post punk has never been so relevant or for that matter sourced for inspiration today it is for Munster a pretty shrewd market move to say the least. Limited to 1000 sets each individually numbered (though mine isn’t – does that make it a super duper rarity?), Swell Maps are part of a select few ensembles who seem to forever sit outside the ever changing in crowd of acts touted from the era, though their legacy is secured for all time they have never really reaped the kudos lavished upon bands that came in their wake. I remember Swell Maps well from my formative years, punks but not punks if you get my drift, there always seemed to be more to them than the one dimensional illusion that punk offered to all and sundry even though they did wane precariously between ineptitude and genius. The real story though is that the onset of punk allowed for anyone vaguely looking like being in a band let alone a punk band actually getting studio time, legend has it that the Swell Maps couldn’t play other people’s songs because they didn’t know how to and so begins the sharp learning curve as provided by the first three singles featured here, a band whose experiences revolved around Gerry Anderson and krautrock – namely Can and Neu! Formed in the early 70’s by brothers Epic Soundtracks (Kevin Godfrey) and Nikki Sudden (Nicholas Godfrey) apparently Marc Bolan wannabes they finally settled into the classic Swell Maps line up of Phones, Earl, Jowe, Sudden and Epic in 1976, a year later releasing their debut self financed seven inch ‘Read about Seymour’. Picked up and play listed by the late John Peel the band never looked back and into the bargain attained a cult following. Several singles followed culminating in the gem like ‘A Trip to Marineville’ which admittedly at the time divided opinion, it was a brave full length that omitted the inclusion of the three previous singles and saw the bands diverse musical tastes rise to the fore much to the puzzlement one suspects, of the public it was aimed at – an album that cut between out there craftsmanship to plain weird absurdity (and that was just on any one given track). Another album followed within a year ‘Jane from the Occupied Europe’ and then that was it, parting to go their separate ways (some to Crime and the City Solution, some to the Television Personalities etc…..) after an ill-fated tour of Italy in 1980 and depending on which story you choose to believe not before returning to the studio post split to finish recording the second album. If there is a criticism to be had here, well not really a criticism as such, but to experience the true free for all mentality of the ‘Maps it is advised to check out both the aforementioned albums (re-released last year via those rather nice people at Secretly Canadian no less Stateside and soon to be released on Munster in Europe – huzzah we say). Swell Maps took the whole punk politik literally, a true anything goes as long as it can go attitude was maintained throughout, the way they laced and wrapped their influences was at times akin to the mangled remains of a head on car collision take the bombastic debut ‘Read about Seymour’ – three tracks each rallying in at less than two minutes with the lead barely tipping the 90 second mark, a frantically caustic two chord punk romp, in fact if truth be told the weakest cut of the catalogue it was almost a punk by numbers outing, shrouded in an amateurish spontaneity as if doing what’s expected rather than doing what they wanted. Likewise to the flip tracks ‘Ripped and Torn’ is a spitting pub rock Status Quo like slice of action while ‘Black Velvet’ arguably sounds suspiciously like the Modern Lovers ‘She cracked’. It’s from ‘Dresden Style’ onwards that the group began to settle into their own stylings refraining from not only thankfully being the punk band your Nan would most likely like but also from adopting any kind of idealised notion of verse / chorus / verse let alone hook lines within their song structures – instead this was an amalgamation of prog and punk done as jams. Crude as it maybe, ‘Dresden Style’ is a snotty snarling tight as a gnat’s arse bastard of a cut that punches above its weight and for note takers isn’t a million miles away from the Buzzcocks at their most raw, listening to flip sides proto experimentalist ‘Ammunition Train’ sounds like a sparkier Fall in the room while the tomfoolery of ‘Full Moon’ is surely inspired by the Trashmen’s ‘Surfin’ Bird’ and strangely enough manages to out Cramps the Cramps’ ‘Human Fly’ with much gusto which lets be honest don’t happen to often. By the time of ‘Real Shocks’ in mid ’79 the group had already amassed a considerable catalogue of tunes to the can, released one month ahead of their debut full length it maintained the bands inability to be pigeon holed into any defined generic rack, arty maybe in so far as it shared an affinity with Wire and little else, punk – well punk was over, new wave perhaps, deadpan out of tune vocals – now a permanent trademark, a wonky though melancholic piano break and viewed overall as sounding as if its about to fall apart at any second – it is Swell Maps finest hour at this point all said and done. Flip side (in my discs case) features ‘New York’ and ‘Avalanche’ as opposed to ‘An English Verse’ and ‘Monologues’ which without my originals to hand (they’re in a loft the other end of the country would you believe) I can’t say for certain whether it’s a legitimate pressing plant cock up or what. For now though ‘New York’ has to be heard, a fraught up yours nod to the CBGB’s scene of three years gone while ‘Avalanche ‘ nee ‘Monologues’ is more of your dicking about in the studio showing up your so called more arty peers. And so to what is technically the ensembles last and best single ‘Let’s build a car’ which apparently inspired Sonic Youth, well Thurston Moore at least, a wig flipping scuzzy swamp like garage rocker replete with wired angular riffs doomy keys and amps cranked to an ear shredding maximum. And for those of you who love your Sunburned Hand of the Man (as we here do) you might want to check out the disorientating krautrock jam that is ‘Big Maz in the Country’ or the macabre ‘…then Poland’ and find that even way back in that golden year of 1980 there were people walking around with heads that weren’t quite on the same frequency setting as the rest of us. And wrapping up things with the much tooted unreleased seven inch – ‘Secret Island’ taken from ‘Jane from Occupied Europe’ is Wire by any other name and as with ‘Real Shocks’ gives much evidence that the bands clearest comrades in arms where Messrs Gotobed, Gilbert, Lewis and Newman as well as Mark E Smith, repetitive to the point of droney its borne of the same bleak landscapes as informed the period while revealing a maturity in terms of melodic progression dipping cleverly into the less animated and more absorbing moments of ‘The Correct use of Soap’ era Magazine underpinned with the most subtle of 999 accents. T’other side of vinyl features the obscure to absurd ‘Sheep Dip’ which would belatedly appear on the bands home recordings set ‘Whatever happens next….’ A worrying slice of typically off the wall impish no rock / no boundaries / art rock antics pretty much in a Henry Cow type stylee while the eerie ‘Texas’ dates from a time between PIL’s ‘Metal Box and ‘Flowers of Romance’ sessions and proves beyond doubt that they weren’t as far off the mark as many first assumed. Sadly Epic Soundtracks died in 1997. This lavish box set comes replete with a poster as if you needed any further prods to haul your backside to your local trusted record emporium. And as it’s the only box set featured in this missive – Box set of the Missive. www.munster-records.com

‘Singled Out – tomorrows heroes today’

Next time out – in about a week or so – we’ll feature all the records we promised to feature but didn’t feature this time around – if that makes sense – you know what I mean. Heartfelt thanks goes out to all those who have made these musings a reality. We can be contacted at mark@losingtoday.com or by snail mail at 105 Shaldon Drive, Morden, Surrey, SM4 4BQ, UK – yes we have changed address – about 6 months ago now so gear to old address is now lost.

Anyhow take care of yourselves and don’t be afraid to drop me a line if only to say hello – I don’t bite – as per usual death threats, marriage offers, donations of decent record collections and blank cheques always accepted.

Have fun –

The Singled Out tuck shop is now closed for business.

Mark
x

Singled Out –pure free indulgence- untouched by hype ,ego, advertising, sponsorship and flying in the face of wankers who ought to know better but really haven’t got a clue’.

Singled Out is best served chilled with a speciality side erder all lovingly tendered on a slow bake.
**Singled Out is a fat free product tested on Hi-Fi’s in controlled conditions. Repeated dosages may cause infrequent bouts of exuberance and wig flipping – if side effects continue – desist from all activities retire to a darkened room and repeat experience at maximum volume.

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