Aha, the first Sonic Youth record that I’ve written about on here. I’m sure that there will be many more. Sonic Youth are the number one band for me – a mid-level obsession that has been in my life since the very early 1990s. A friend of the younger of my two sisters made me […]
Author: simonminter
MAKITA: Rover (7″, The Great Pop Supplement GPS03, ?)
Another release on the always-beautiful Great Pop Supplement label: this one looks particularly fine, with its tracing paper wraparound sleeve, hand-finished with a stamp and a comic strip cut from what looks to be an old Dandy or Beano. This is one of GPS’ earlier releases, back when every one came as a limited run […]
SONIC BOOM: (I Love You) To The Moon And Back (7″, Silvertone SONIC 2, 1991)
I can’t remember where it was that I picked up this record. It’s a promo-only 33 1/3 rpm single that marks the point at which Sonic Boom began using the Spectrum name for his music. Whilst the labels state Sonic Boom as the writer of the two tracks here, it’s difficult to miss out on […]
FREE: The Free Story (2LP, Island ISLD 4, 1973)
Wow: this two-album compilation is a line drawn in the sands of self-belief. You won’t find many bands that a mere five years after their inception merit a collection of such perceived importance and value as this one. Gatefold sleeve; numbered (“The Free Story is released in a limited edition”, state the huffy liner notes); […]
EARTH: Extra-Capsular Extraction (LP, Sub Pop SP 123, 1991)
Well, what are the chances. Out of the huge range of random-number-generator-driven possibilities that were available for this post, it’s another Earth album. I’ve already written about Earth 2 on here in the past. I bought this at the same time as that. This is their first album, featuring some dude named Kurt Kobain (sic) […]
THE GO-BETWEENS: Streets Of Your Town (7″, Beggars Banquet BEG 232, 1989)
I’m not normally much of a ‘multi-formatter’ – I don’t tend to buy the same release on every format that a record company feels the need to issue. I’ve never reached the level of fanboy obession that’s driven many to covet the same songs on 7″, 12″, CD1, CD2, tape, eight track, flexi, wax cylinder […]
RODAN: Rusty (LP, Quarterstick QS 24, 1994)
Back in the early ’90s I remember picking up on a musical thread that often seemed to pop up, almost in passing, in many of the fanzines I was reading at the time. I kept reading the phrase ‘post-rock’, without really giving much thought to what it meant, beyond being another handy yet meaningless hook […]
AVOCADO BABY: Queenboy And The King Girl (7″, Slampt 10, ?)
Good old Slampt, possibly one the UK labels closest to the ideals and dynamics of those legendarily inclusive US independents like K, Kill Rock Stars, Dischord and so on. I was led into their world through my tangential involvement in Riot Grrl; moving quickly from receiving a mixtape from a friend containing a Huggy Bear […]
GANG OF FOUR: Solid Gold (LP, EMI 1 C 064-07 460, 1981)
I can never quite get my head around the catalogue numbering systems used by major record labels. Look at the example here: 1 C 064-07 460. What does that mean? There must be some rationale behind the five components that make up that catalogue number, but it’s lost on me. Even comparing numbers from different […]
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 […]