This was a charity shop purchase at some point during the 1990s. Thee Hypnotics weren’t (indeed, aren’t) a band I felt particularly desperate to hear, but at the time my thinking would have been influenced by two factors: This was a record released on Situation Two. That label also released the early output of The […]
Category: 12″
BATTLES: Atlas (12″, Warp WAP219, 2007)
I really liked the first couple of Battles EPs, as they were totally weird, chilly alien post-rock music of a kind I had never heard before. As the band signed to Warp and started introducing vocals to their instrumentation, I began to find them slightly less compellingly odd. I didn’t not understand them any more […]
14 ICED BEARS: Hold On (12″, Borderline BORD 12 001, 1991)
This 12″ is from the latter days of 14 Iced Bears, who first (I think) released a couple of 7″ singles on Sarah in the late eighties. Despite sounding as shambling and perky as many an indie-pop band of that time, they always seemed to be slightly edgier, with one foot in strange neo-psychedelic territory. […]
OL’ DIRTY BASTARD: Got Your Money (12″, Elektra E7077T, 2000)
Occasionally I’ll hear some piece of music from the mainstream that totally sticks in my head and obsesses me to the point where I ultimately end up in HMV buying it whilst trying to maintain an air of independent coolness that will convince the person behind the till that although I’m buying something that’s been […]
CUD: Purple Love Balloon (12″, A&M AMY 0024, 1992)
So here’s the second Cud record I’ve written about on here thus far: I think they’re the first band to achieve this dubious honour. It’s not particularly a surprise, as I have a lot of Cud records. I’m sure that more will be mentioned here. In fact, I even have two formats of this release […]
THE TELESCOPES: Celeste (12″, Creation CRE 103T, 1991)
I bought this in 1991 when I was a cash-strapped teenager, saving up my meagre part-time work pay in order to regularly pop into Langland Records – generally to browse, sometimes to buy. Langland Records was something of a legendary record shop when I was growing up in Telford, if for no other reason than […]
THE WEATHER PROPHETS: She Comes From The Rain (12″, Elevation ACID 1TX, 1987)
This is a 12″ packaged in one of those thin sleeves without a spine. I never much liked this kind of sleeve, it always seemed too insubstantial for a record of this size, as if it wasn’t giving enough kudos to its contents, or something. Give me a 12″ with a spine and I’m predisposed […]
LUSCIOUS JACKSON: Deep Shag (12″, Capitol/Grand Royal SPRO-79482/79499, 1994)
Another record bought after hearing an band’s work on home-recorded tapes made for me by friends. ‘Home taping is killing music’? Not for me, bub! Home taping expanded my listening horizons and still contributes to my ongoing collectification of records and CDs. Two tapes from the past helped to generate my interest in and enjoyment […]
THE EDMUND FITZGERALD/BILGE PUMP: Noisestar Sessions #05/#06 (12″, Noisestar NOISESTAR-003, 2004)
Ah, 2004, just a few short years ago. The Edmund Fitzgerald were putting out records on little labels like this one and Vacuous Pop. Who’d have thought at the time that some of them would go on to form Foals, who stormed the world of music through 2008 to become proper famous music stars? Oxford […]
CHA-CHA COHEN: Spook On The High Lawn (12″, Chemikal Underground CHEM014, 1997)
Back in the early-to-mid nineties I used to write a fanzine called Circle Sky, named after the marvellous, wonderful Monkees song featured on their Head soundtrack. The Head soundtrack as mentioned in the Pooh Sticks’ ‘On Tape’. A variety of record labels and PR companies used to send me records, tapes and CDs to review. […]