Summer Dreams Ripped At The Seams

Summer loving had me a blast
Summer loving happened so fast
Well-a, well-a, well-a, huh
Tell me more, tell me more
Did you get many LPs?
Tell me more, tell me more

I am sure it will shock you to learn that I may have obtained more than one LP over the summer period* so I thought I would crave your indulgence and draw your attention to a few of them here which are not chosen for any overriding reason.

The Revenge Of Alice Cooper

Ever wondered why they keep the old folk locked away in homes? this LP would suggest that its so they don’t run around murdering folks, having ill-advised one night stands and putting poisonous snakes in your bed for a laugh. I love that this LP exists, the cover and graphics are brilliant but I would have halved the material to make it a much stronger and leaner beast. At its slithery leathery best this is a real treat and Dennis Dunaway is still a superbly lyrical bass player.

Pig Pen Mental Madness

Picked this up on whim and may I just state for the record, ‘All hail that whim!‘. I liked the cover and the fact that this is pure, focused, angry Canadian hardcore punk/metal. I now know that the singer, Matty Matheson, is a celebrity chef type of chap too as well as being quite excellent here. This is a brilliantly heavy LP that delivers 10 tracks in less than 30 minutes, just the way I like it; it really acts as a head cleaner.

The Sorcerers Other Worlds And Habitats

I confess a bias because my friend Richard plays in them and I am wearing one of their T-shirts as I type this, but this is by far the best Leeds-based cosmic jazz LP I have purchased in months. There is a definite touch of Ethiopian jazz influence here to my ignorant ears that lends this a funky, occasionally reggae adjacent groove. This is a brilliantly confident, listenable album with some great ensemble playing on it. Plus every track title sounds like a lost Hawkwind LP idea.

2 Many DJs As Heard On Radio Soulwax pt.2

A chum at work hipped me to the fact that this was (barely) available on vinyl again, which is interesting given the semi-official nature of the original release. This is a great version way louder and more striking than my muted CD version from way back when. Still an incredibly innovative and witty listen, superb to dance to mostly.

Peaches The Teaches Of Peaches

… which reminded me I had never got around to buying this cradle of filth. There’s something dry and harshly assertive in the sound of this LP that I respond to, ‘AA XXX’ and the opening track particularly. Not one to play when your vicar pops around for afternoon tea perhaps.

Jimi Hendrix Blues

You probably haven’t heard of him before but I’m hip. I’m wary of Hendrix comps but this is a very good record indeed. The fact that it contains the bits of ‘Voodoo Child’ not used on Electric Ladyland was a main selling point but this has lots of other great moments too both of a resigned and an incendiary nature.

Harmonia Deluxe

The bollocks cover had put me off buying this for years, much as I love their debut. It is a more polished, mostly easier LP than its predecessor but possessed of some great moments in ‘Walky Talky’ and the oddly new wave ‘Monza (Rauf Und Runter)’.

Thin Lizzy Chinatown

Chinatown kinda completes my collection of all the Thin Lizzy I can be arsed with**. Ironically given what was monkeying with Phil’s back this isn’t grade A material, but its still damn good; ‘Killer On The Loose’ and the title track are excellent. Plus I do love stroking an embossed LP cover.

Saint Etienne The Night

A rather gorgeous late night album that came to my attention somehow. I loved the melancholy cover and while it does touch on tweeness in a couple of places (lay off the spoken word interludes guys!), it is a really atmospheric piece. It contains a really beautiful moving song about a child leaving home^ called ‘Preflyte’.

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So in order to keep things manageable I have skimmed past and neglected all manner of other goodies here, including some great Dr Feelgood, Nova Twins, Black Sabbath Tyr, Alison Goldfrapp, the Chameleons, Tad, Theatre of Hate and my discovery of the Deftones. Hey – they’ll all keep for blog posts later.

I noticed yesterday that the year 2029 is the year of the robot apocalypse Armageddon end times that the Terminator was sent back from. Looks to me like they may have called it a couple of years too late.

On which cheery note etc. etc.

1292 Down (still).

*for the purposes of Operation: Stay Married forgive me for not revealing the exact number of albums that have taken refuge in my shelf-based safari park.

**there are a couple of peripheral ones I’d pick up if spotted at the right price.

^or at least that’s how I’ve interpreted it. Mrs 1537 is a registered Saint-Etienne-a-phobic and she liked it a lot too.