VARIOUS: Pebbles Vol. 5 (LP, BFD BFD 5022,…
This record popping up as a random choice for discussion acts as a useful reminder: I need to continue building out my collection of Pebbles albums. I've got quite a number of them, but there are…
MARRS: Pump Up The Volume (12″, 4AD BAD…
This may be the first 4AD release I've mentioned on here, and I'm pleased it's come about, as 4AD is a label with almost invariably good artwork. As the spine of this 12" proudly states:…
SONIC YOUTH: Helen Lundeberg (7″, SY-0001)
This is the first 7" record that my random number generator – the website I use to decide which record from my collection to write about – has pointed me towards. That's a little intentional, as until…
VERVE: She’s A Superstar (12″, Hut HUTT 16,…
That's Verve, of course, not The Verve, as they became, slightly later in their career. I can't quite remember why they changed their name, but it may have been to do with potential mixups with the Verve…
THE SMITHS: I Started Something I Couldn’t Finish…
The Smiths are, for me, an odd band. I've got a few of their records, but I'd never really describe myself as a fan. Whenever I hear any of the vast majority of their songs,…
UNCLE WIGGLY: Non-Stuff (LP, Hemiola HEM 7, ?)
The lot of a small-time reviewer is an odd one. I reached merely moderate levels of coverage and/or influence with a series of fanzines – and an associated cassette tape label – back in the early/mid…
HOOD: Silent ’88 (LP, Slumberland SLR 59, 1996)
Hood always felt very much like an English band – specifically, Northern English. Their songs had a gritty, blurred, romantic, hopeful and bleak combination of things going on. For a while, it seemed like they…
VARIOUS: Impact: The Breakthrough To The Exciting World…
I have quite a number of these 'demonstration'-type records, no end of them were released through the 1960s and 1970s to show off the worlds/galaxies/spectra/etc of new stereophonic (or, in some cases quadraphonic) capabilities of,…
CHARLES HAYWARD: Anonymous Bash (LP, Samarbeta SBR001, 2014)
Charles Hayward was a founding member of This Heat, who released some of the best and most inventive records of the late 1970s and early 1980s – which is saying something, as there was a lot of…
THURSTON MOORE AND MARGARIDA GARCIA: The Rust Within…
Thurston Moore isn't backwards in coming forwards when it comes to releasing records. As a die-hard Sonic Youth fan, I do what I can to keep up with the ever-expanding circle of music that surrounds…