A box set of rarities by somebody you've never heard of? Oh yes. That market is well catered for by Record Store Day. Here is a small collection of suggestions from somebody with a rather wider musical taste than the average RSD grockle. I'm not fussy on formats - vinyl, CD, cassette, minidisc, just get the music out there.
Culture Beat - Obsession (Eurodance)
The top of my wish list is Culture Beat's lost final album, Obsession. According to my memory (which may well be wrong, it often is), the old CultureBeat.com website listed this as having been recorded (circa 2002-3?). How true that is, i suspect we'll never know. In this era, Culture Beat were in something of a state of flux following the relative flop of their rather bland fourth album Metamorphosis which had failed to make any major impact commercially. A change of vocalist had seen Jacky Sangster replace Kim Sanders (who went on to work on several Schiller albums) and the group were unsure of their direction. Later releases Can't Go On (2004) and Your Love (2008) showed further changes of direction which the Obsession album may make more sense of.
Utah Saints - Wired World (Dance)
Now here is something which definitely does exist. Following the success of their first eponymous album, Utah Saints recorded their second fairly shortly afterwards and released the lead single Ohio. I'm not really sure as to why it was never released, although there is the suggestion that the duo didn't want to get on a treadmill of churning out music. Low quality bootleg copies were leaked and their other two studio albums are sufficiently interesting to suggest that this would have been worth listening to.
Chicane - Easy to Assemble (2003, Dance / Trance)
Chicane's third album was scheduled for release on WEA. Huge internet piracy of promo copies and a souring of relations between Nick Bracegirdle and the label saw the release get delayed several times (thus fuelling further piracy) and eventually cancelled altogether. Although promo CD copies are available, it would be interesting to know if these were the finished product.
PKA (Dance / Rave)
Phil Kelsey, aka PKA was responsible for one of my favourite singles of all time - 1992's Powergen (Only Your Love). This song is part of my long standing suspicion that most dance genres will have a definitively brilliant record released right at the end of the lifespan which will be criminally ignored. As the rave scene fell apart and what would become the 1994 Criminal Justice Act specifically targetted dance music, PKA released this complex, catchy and euphoric rave anthem. I'd love to hear anything else that Kelsey was working on at the time.
A Brand - 45 RPM / Hammerhead (2004, 2006: Art Rock / Belpop)
Dead Man Ray - Berchen / Trap / Marginal (1998, 2000, 2001: Indie / Belpop)
These early releases from the Flemish indie scene which reached a peak towards the end of the Noughties are now very difficult to find any trace of.
Dead Man Ray have retained something of a cult following having contributed a member to dEUS (Rudy Trouve) and kickstarted the solo career of Daan Stuyven who has since had considerable success in Belgium, releasing some seven studio albums and further compilations reworking earlier songs. The band had a distinctive yet variable sound which combined electronica, lo-fi rock, indie, trip hop and most things in between. Unlike many bands who fused these genres, the result was still catchy and rarely self indulgent.
Artrockers A Brand have continued on to release some superb albums (Judas, Future You) with nods to everything from disco to punk whilst retaining a spite and a sharp edge to keep the sound interesting. Their first two longplayers are now very difficult to locate.
Ryu (Ryutaro Nakahara) - Rainbow Drop / AI (2003, J-Trance)
This debut 12" from Ryu showcased his background as a games music designer and demonstrated his versatility with a hyperactive and joyous pair of dance tracks with the most phenomenal builds and melodies.
Scatman John - Pripri Scat / Super Kirei (Eurodance / J-Pop)
The myth of various artists being "huge in Japan" is often banded around with little regard for reality, but in the case of Scatman John Larkin, it was true. Two songs were recorded in Japan as tie-ins with advertising campaigns. Super Kirei going on to become his biggest hit in the territory and was backed with a reminder of Larkin's jazz background - a cover of Elvis Presley's Love Me Tender. If this isn't cool enough for RSD, then perhaps Larkin's long forgotten eponymous debut LP from 1985 might be considered for a reissue?
Various Artists - Studio Brussel Switch 1 (Electronica)
For twelve years from 2001 to 2013, Belgian radio station Studio Brussel's Switch series compiled a history of contemporary electronica. Each release ran to around 25 tracks of current dance, club and leftfield hits focusing on emerging trends and provides a time capsule of dance music of the period with a degree of honesty rarely seen amongst compilations in the UK. If you listen back to radio shows from five or ten years ago, it is amazing the number of songs which were on heavy rotation at the time but haven't been heard since. Sadly it looks as if 2013's Switch 22 was the final instalment in the series, as Studio Brussel have been gradually phasing out the Switch brand which at its peak ran all night programming on Friday and Saturday. This first edition of the series is the only one which is not widely available and also the only to be released on EMI. Editions 2-9 were released by 541 and 10 onwards on La Musique Fait La Force.
Bent van Looy - Little Star (Pop)
The lead performer of Das Pop, Bent van Looy released his debut solo LP Round The Bend in 2013. This song appeared online during a session for the Dutch Onder Invloed project and later as part of the LoFiDogma series. It has since become a regular part of van Looy's live show along with I Don't Believe in Miracles, which also forms part of the Onder Invloed session. I think the two would make an excellent 7"...
I'm sure i'll think of more at some point, but perhaps this'll give the nosebleeders who collate the RSD material some ideas away from the usual collection of rock, folk and obscura.
Sunday 19 April 2015
Saturday 18 April 2015
Some thoughts on Record Store Day...
This might end up a bit freeform, i apologise in advance in case this gets a bit meandering.
Saturday 18th April 2015 is the first Record Store Day for a few years that i haven't partaken of. It isn't especially down to a lack of enthusiasm, more the fact that i was working my 33rd consecutive Saturday. But moaning about your work patterns doesn't make for an interesting music blog, so i'll air a few concerns i have about the event.
There have been a few voices who have aired irritations with RSD as a concept. The spectre of the buyers who purchase only for instant resale (generally for the most commercial or marketable acts) are of huge irritation to many bloggers and Twitter users. I can't say i approve of the actions of those who buy only to resell, but the capitalist society we live in dictates that people will exploit a market. Personally, i lay more blame at the door of those who buy from eBay and the like at massively inflated prices. It is the same argument as those who declare irritation at the high cost resale of gig tickets. I can understand the urge to attend a gig, but less so to own something that it is probably possible to own on another format at a fraction of the cost.
Part of the hysteria is generated by the ridiculously limited runs of some titles which will obviously be huge sellers and the blame for this has to be laid at the door of the major labels. As an example Tony's Muziekhuis (probably Belgium's largest independent record shop - https://www.facebook.com/TonysMuziekhuis) posted on Facebook in the week preceding RSD15 that they were not expecting to receive any copies of the Foo Fighters 10" EP and that there were only 25 copies being made available to the whole of Belgium. This is a state of affairs which benefits (at most) 25 people, whilst leaving hundreds disappointed. But how can this be seen as A Good Thing by anybody? Surely leaving the market to cope with a fraction of the product it needs to meet demand is just crap business. It isn't as if RSD products should be making anybody a loss - given the high retail prices, there should easily be enough value in there for everyone along the food chain to take their cut. Three or four times as much product of a highly desirable title means three or four times more people get to enjoy it, the retailers take more money, the distributors, record companies and bands make more money. Unless i'm very much mistaken, everyone would be a winner. So why the bullshit just to create hysteria?
Another factor that irritates me is the sheer mass of releases which are aimed squarely at the 6 Music audience. Don't get me wrong, i think 6 Music has its place, but a huge majority of the RSD releases over recent years have been aimed at squarely at middle aged white men who always wanted a job on the NME to sneer at anything they didn't think was cool enough. Dance, most electronica and pop all get squarely ignored because they are deemed unworthy by the illuminati who like all the cool music that you should like. The sort of thing you should like (and therefore buy on RSD) is a one sided 7" reissue of a b-side which features one of Husker Du belching.
I have been quite underwhelmed with some of the releases i've purchased on previous RSDs. I'd like to think that if somebody is going to go to the trouble of repressing something that it would be worth listening to and a banal remix of something isn't worth shelling out bordering on a tenner for a 7". By far the best release i've bought was the Bis LP from 2014 (Data Panik Etcetera), which is a solid album and i didn't resent spending £20 on it.
Thanks to the likes of Last Shop Standing, i am frequently told that new record shops are opening regularly. Sadly this isn't the case in the West of England. We have lost Head in Weston-super-Mare and Acorn Music in Yeovil over the past year and to my knowledge no new shops have opened in their place.
Of course, these gripes also sidestep the sheer hell of how normal British values of personal space and queueing disappear for the morning of RSD as we flick through boxes full of obscure reissues that just might be obscure for a reason.
Well done for reading this far. I had originally intended to write a list of RSD issues i'd like to see, but i'll add that to another post.
Saturday 18th April 2015 is the first Record Store Day for a few years that i haven't partaken of. It isn't especially down to a lack of enthusiasm, more the fact that i was working my 33rd consecutive Saturday. But moaning about your work patterns doesn't make for an interesting music blog, so i'll air a few concerns i have about the event.
There have been a few voices who have aired irritations with RSD as a concept. The spectre of the buyers who purchase only for instant resale (generally for the most commercial or marketable acts) are of huge irritation to many bloggers and Twitter users. I can't say i approve of the actions of those who buy only to resell, but the capitalist society we live in dictates that people will exploit a market. Personally, i lay more blame at the door of those who buy from eBay and the like at massively inflated prices. It is the same argument as those who declare irritation at the high cost resale of gig tickets. I can understand the urge to attend a gig, but less so to own something that it is probably possible to own on another format at a fraction of the cost.
Part of the hysteria is generated by the ridiculously limited runs of some titles which will obviously be huge sellers and the blame for this has to be laid at the door of the major labels. As an example Tony's Muziekhuis (probably Belgium's largest independent record shop - https://www.facebook.com/TonysMuziekhuis) posted on Facebook in the week preceding RSD15 that they were not expecting to receive any copies of the Foo Fighters 10" EP and that there were only 25 copies being made available to the whole of Belgium. This is a state of affairs which benefits (at most) 25 people, whilst leaving hundreds disappointed. But how can this be seen as A Good Thing by anybody? Surely leaving the market to cope with a fraction of the product it needs to meet demand is just crap business. It isn't as if RSD products should be making anybody a loss - given the high retail prices, there should easily be enough value in there for everyone along the food chain to take their cut. Three or four times as much product of a highly desirable title means three or four times more people get to enjoy it, the retailers take more money, the distributors, record companies and bands make more money. Unless i'm very much mistaken, everyone would be a winner. So why the bullshit just to create hysteria?
Another factor that irritates me is the sheer mass of releases which are aimed squarely at the 6 Music audience. Don't get me wrong, i think 6 Music has its place, but a huge majority of the RSD releases over recent years have been aimed at squarely at middle aged white men who always wanted a job on the NME to sneer at anything they didn't think was cool enough. Dance, most electronica and pop all get squarely ignored because they are deemed unworthy by the illuminati who like all the cool music that you should like. The sort of thing you should like (and therefore buy on RSD) is a one sided 7" reissue of a b-side which features one of Husker Du belching.
I have been quite underwhelmed with some of the releases i've purchased on previous RSDs. I'd like to think that if somebody is going to go to the trouble of repressing something that it would be worth listening to and a banal remix of something isn't worth shelling out bordering on a tenner for a 7". By far the best release i've bought was the Bis LP from 2014 (Data Panik Etcetera), which is a solid album and i didn't resent spending £20 on it.
Thanks to the likes of Last Shop Standing, i am frequently told that new record shops are opening regularly. Sadly this isn't the case in the West of England. We have lost Head in Weston-super-Mare and Acorn Music in Yeovil over the past year and to my knowledge no new shops have opened in their place.
Of course, these gripes also sidestep the sheer hell of how normal British values of personal space and queueing disappear for the morning of RSD as we flick through boxes full of obscure reissues that just might be obscure for a reason.
Well done for reading this far. I had originally intended to write a list of RSD issues i'd like to see, but i'll add that to another post.
Wednesday 15 April 2015
Listening List 02: BBC Local Bank Holiday Specials
The Easter weekend provided us with a number of documentaries made by BBC local radio on a wide variety of topics which were pebbledashed around the schedule.
Radio: Tiswas Remebered (BBC Coventry & Warwickshire)
Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02n273s
Hosted by Chris Tarrant, this hour long show documents the conception, rise and fall of Saturday Morning children's TV favourite Tiswas. Tarrant's enduring love of the show is still as vibrant as ever and it sounds as if he enjoyed making this programme and reminiscing about the era with various on and off screen staff. The enduring popularity of the show amongst the online community means there was little which would have been new to enthusiasts, but the story was eloquently and warmly told with well planned guests musing on each stage of the tale.
Radio: Life After Coal (BBC Radio Sheffield)
Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02mb5qw
In a very different tone, BBC Radio Sheffield mark the anniversary of the end of the Miners' Strike with this documentary regarding the decline of the coal mining industry in South Yorkshire and the effect that it continues to have. The wide scope of the programme covers interviews with former miners and their families, and the many projects which still exist to try and rebuild the communities which effectively had their livelihood removed overnight. Some rather shocking facts emerge amongst the personal stories; the huge cost of social support and welfare which now dwarfs the subsidies paid to the coal industry, the huge drug problems and the misdirected attempts to attract new big businesses, but these are not sensationalised. This is not a story dwelling on the past, but recognising the challenges which continues to face the area and those who have overcome the adversity to improve their lot. The most disturbing section of the programme for me was the final section which focuses on a current major employer, reliant on minimum wage and zero hour contracts whilst effectively punishing staff for taking sick days and imposing lengthy queues for security checks entering and leaving work. The unions may have been partly responsible for the decline of the coal mining industry, but their influence is now needed to expose exploitative employers taking advantage of their staff.
Radio: Liberation 70 (BBC Radio Devon)
Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02mqwhk
Bergerac himself, John Nettles writes and narrates this epic tale of the occupation of the Channel Islands during World War II. The production reminds me of the soundtrack of a museum diorama, evoking the atmosphere using recreations and archive material. The use of effects and background paints impressive sound pictures to illustrate the story. The production values for this are considerably higher than i was expecting, more akin to the style of Radio 4's drama output. The use of a wide range of voices, personal recollections and records from the period added considerable depth and gravity to the story without straying in to jingoistic territory often stirred up by wartime stories.
Radio: Tiswas Remebered (BBC Coventry & Warwickshire)
Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02n273s
Hosted by Chris Tarrant, this hour long show documents the conception, rise and fall of Saturday Morning children's TV favourite Tiswas. Tarrant's enduring love of the show is still as vibrant as ever and it sounds as if he enjoyed making this programme and reminiscing about the era with various on and off screen staff. The enduring popularity of the show amongst the online community means there was little which would have been new to enthusiasts, but the story was eloquently and warmly told with well planned guests musing on each stage of the tale.
Radio: Life After Coal (BBC Radio Sheffield)
Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02mb5qw
In a very different tone, BBC Radio Sheffield mark the anniversary of the end of the Miners' Strike with this documentary regarding the decline of the coal mining industry in South Yorkshire and the effect that it continues to have. The wide scope of the programme covers interviews with former miners and their families, and the many projects which still exist to try and rebuild the communities which effectively had their livelihood removed overnight. Some rather shocking facts emerge amongst the personal stories; the huge cost of social support and welfare which now dwarfs the subsidies paid to the coal industry, the huge drug problems and the misdirected attempts to attract new big businesses, but these are not sensationalised. This is not a story dwelling on the past, but recognising the challenges which continues to face the area and those who have overcome the adversity to improve their lot. The most disturbing section of the programme for me was the final section which focuses on a current major employer, reliant on minimum wage and zero hour contracts whilst effectively punishing staff for taking sick days and imposing lengthy queues for security checks entering and leaving work. The unions may have been partly responsible for the decline of the coal mining industry, but their influence is now needed to expose exploitative employers taking advantage of their staff.
Radio: Liberation 70 (BBC Radio Devon)
Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02mqwhk
Bergerac himself, John Nettles writes and narrates this epic tale of the occupation of the Channel Islands during World War II. The production reminds me of the soundtrack of a museum diorama, evoking the atmosphere using recreations and archive material. The use of effects and background paints impressive sound pictures to illustrate the story. The production values for this are considerably higher than i was expecting, more akin to the style of Radio 4's drama output. The use of a wide range of voices, personal recollections and records from the period added considerable depth and gravity to the story without straying in to jingoistic territory often stirred up by wartime stories.
Listening List 01: An introduction
In order to inspire me to write more on here, i've decided to try a new format which may evolve in the future.
Listening List is (as the title suggests) stuff i've been listening to recently. At the moment, i'm spending far more time with speech radio and podcasts than i am listening to music radio, so this is a logical direction for me to take.
Podcast: Toby Foster at Breakfast (BBC Radio Sheffield, weekdays)
Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/toby
Toby Foster's Breakfast podcast draws together all the lighter parts of the show. The team have recently started putting more effort in to the production value of the podcast and it is paying dividends. Supported by Amy Nagy and Andy Giddings, Toby presides over a broad church of topics with a steady and even hand. My favourite recent topic was "Are you called Gary?"....
Radio: Archive on 4: Malled, 60 Years of Undercover Shopping (BBC Radio 4)
Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0532chv
Will Self has developed a superb radio style. Calm, positive, authoritative and often quietly anarchistic. This programme from the former Archive Hour features British and American material regarding out of town shopping and the Malls which have pebbledashed the suburbs either side of the Atlantic. We hear from a wide range of people; customers, workers, merchandisers and retail psychologists all offer a view of the rise (and in some cases fall) of the consumerist ideal. The variety of voices is brilliantly balanced, ranging from those who despite the Malls which to those who are obsessed with them. These excerpts are all brought together with Self's wry commentary and journey from Bluewater in Kent to Lakeside in Essex. As a fan of commentaries on modern consumerist society, this is an excellent listen.
Radio: Tales from the Ring Road (BBC Radio 4)
Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/ringroad
Note: Although this review refers to the broadcast version, i believe the podcast version linked above is the same.
I'm sure this was supposed to be an atmospheric, ethereal collection of stories linked around the ring roads which encircle Coventry, Wolverhampton and Bedford. The production of the programmes is excellent, sounding like a slower paced version of Josie Long's Short Cuts. The content is more variable. The stories found almost entirely revolve around loss - accidents, fire, demolition and a murder stick particularly in the mind, but those stories which are supposed to represent the new hopes rising from the ashes sometimes miss the target. The story of hope from the Coventry episode revolves around the "regeneration" of a part of the city, which involves razing the whole area to the ground and building something more fashionable, which will probably be demolished itself within 30 years. I find it difficult to see that as progress. But i digress, the programme is an interesting collection of stories which would otherwise have remained untold and for that reason deserves a listen.
Listening List is (as the title suggests) stuff i've been listening to recently. At the moment, i'm spending far more time with speech radio and podcasts than i am listening to music radio, so this is a logical direction for me to take.
Podcast: Toby Foster at Breakfast (BBC Radio Sheffield, weekdays)
Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/toby
Toby Foster's Breakfast podcast draws together all the lighter parts of the show. The team have recently started putting more effort in to the production value of the podcast and it is paying dividends. Supported by Amy Nagy and Andy Giddings, Toby presides over a broad church of topics with a steady and even hand. My favourite recent topic was "Are you called Gary?"....
Radio: Archive on 4: Malled, 60 Years of Undercover Shopping (BBC Radio 4)
Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0532chv
Will Self has developed a superb radio style. Calm, positive, authoritative and often quietly anarchistic. This programme from the former Archive Hour features British and American material regarding out of town shopping and the Malls which have pebbledashed the suburbs either side of the Atlantic. We hear from a wide range of people; customers, workers, merchandisers and retail psychologists all offer a view of the rise (and in some cases fall) of the consumerist ideal. The variety of voices is brilliantly balanced, ranging from those who despite the Malls which to those who are obsessed with them. These excerpts are all brought together with Self's wry commentary and journey from Bluewater in Kent to Lakeside in Essex. As a fan of commentaries on modern consumerist society, this is an excellent listen.
Radio: Tales from the Ring Road (BBC Radio 4)
Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/ringroad
Note: Although this review refers to the broadcast version, i believe the podcast version linked above is the same.
I'm sure this was supposed to be an atmospheric, ethereal collection of stories linked around the ring roads which encircle Coventry, Wolverhampton and Bedford. The production of the programmes is excellent, sounding like a slower paced version of Josie Long's Short Cuts. The content is more variable. The stories found almost entirely revolve around loss - accidents, fire, demolition and a murder stick particularly in the mind, but those stories which are supposed to represent the new hopes rising from the ashes sometimes miss the target. The story of hope from the Coventry episode revolves around the "regeneration" of a part of the city, which involves razing the whole area to the ground and building something more fashionable, which will probably be demolished itself within 30 years. I find it difficult to see that as progress. But i digress, the programme is an interesting collection of stories which would otherwise have remained untold and for that reason deserves a listen.
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