V/A. Garden Party. Alienor Records.

Some lovely stuff here, particularly the gorgeous Bedflowers who sound like Opal if Amelia Fletcher had joined up after Kendra Smith left. Also, is it just me or does Bulldozer Crash's Changing sound a whole heck of a lot like Just Like Heaven?

Side A

1. Des Garçons Ordinaires - Summer Games
2. Bulldozer Crash - Changing
3. The Spinning Wheels - Don't Get Me Wrong
4. Meek - Beautiful Day
5. The Straw Dogs - My Cherished Lonelyness
6. La Sintesis - September
7. The Bedflowers - My Ex-Lover's Adress
8. Antiseptic Beauty - Shoegaze
9. Les Daffodils - So Easy As You Lie
10. Flame Up - Let The World Smother You
11. Charming Boys - Rain

Side B

1. The Little Rabbits - The Boy Who Never Saw The Light (live)
2. Penelope Trip - Inside The Taxi
3. The Gravy Train - Happy Again
4. Les Chaplinn's - Sunny Day
5. The Prayers - Sister Goodbye
6. The Lovelies - Stupid Habit
7. Kaleidoscope - Dream 2
8. Koma Kino - Weaky Town
9. The Penelopes - A Place Called Home
10. Alival Tiosihteeri - Nasta Kaupunki
11. Mosaic Eyes - Klaus' Eyes
12. Die Time Twisters, Verdammt! - Denn Jetzt Bist Du Da

Garden Party

V/A. Positively Teenage!!?.

1. The Love Parade - Dave Clark 5
2. The Gravy Train - Devil In Your Shoe
3. Lavender Faction - In My Mind
4. The Sunflowers - Sunflower Babies
5. St.James Infirmary - The Sun Don't Shine
6. The Mayfields - Out To Sea
7. Penny Candles - Memory Box
8. Regulators - Southside Johnny
9. Remember Fun - P.S. Elaine
10. Church Grims - Plaster Saint
11. Marc - Clearer, Brighter, Sharper
12. Felicity's - Why Don't You Come Round
13. Crimson Mints - Makes Me Want To
14. Mousefolk - Wishing The Summer Away
15. The Fat Tulips - All That Matters
16. The Love Parade – Eternally
17. The Gravy Train - All Fall Down
18. The Sunflowers - Sunflowers Mum
19. Perfect Kiss - So Many Alike
20. Church Grims - Seen It All
21. Panda Pops – Submarine
22. The Williams - Still Keep Coming
23. St.Christopher – Charmelle
24. The Driscolls - It's Your Daughter
25. The Sohfas – Thorns
26. The Spinning Jenny's - Gardeners Weakly
27. Bulldozer Clarts - Walks Away
28. Librarians - Stripping In The Cemetry
29. Strawberry Story - For The Love Of Billy
30. Hellfire Sermons - Down All The Days
31. Patrick Skelly & The Prescriptions - Land Of Tears

Positively Teenage

V/A. Ideal Guest House.

Songs introduced by Ted Chippington
1. Big Flame - Man Of Few Syllables
2. The Wedding Present - You Should Always Keep In Touch With Your Friends (Version)
3. The Soup Dragons - Fair's Fair
4. The Creepers - Sharper And Wider
5. The Shop Assistants - Home Again (Live)
6. The June Brides - This Town (Acoustic)
7. Rob Grant with Yeah Yeah Noh - Mr. Hammond Has Breakfast In Bed
8. Stump - Kitchen Table
9. The Legend - Everything's Coming Up Roses
10. Pigbros - Barren Land
11. Stitched Back Foot Airman - The Deadly Spore
12. BMX Bandits - Sad
13. Bogshed - Jobless Youngsters
14. Chumbawamba - Kinnochio

Ideal

V/A. Grimsby Fishmarket 4 Norrkoeping 0.

This ridiculously hard to find compilation was originally issued by Swedish pop fanzine Grimsby Fishmarket (I think in 1991). The Orchids track was an exclusive to the tape and never appeared anywhere else. Quite a few bands I'd never heard before, too.

1. Eusebio - Louis Philippe
2. Song About Girls - Bummer Twins
3. Walking Back To You - The Cherry Orchard
4. This Friendship Of Ours - This Perfect Day
5. Chick House - Roof
6. Barriers Of Mine - Are You Mr Riley
7. Silent Sigh City - Happydeadmen
8. Shaunty - Joe Clack
9. She Fakes Apples - My Finest Hour
10. I Fell In Love Last Night - Cerise
11. Kymri - The Apple Moths
12. Jennifer Anywhere - The Kitchen Cynics
13. Room - Bridge
14. Turn Over - Momus
15. Into The Morgue - Mary-Go-Round
16. Next Summer - Brighter
17. New World - Venus Peter
18. Chelsea Guitar - Blueboy
19. Not Unusual - BJ Eagle
20. The Light That Will Cease To Fail - Stereolab
21. High Rise - The Cherry Orchard
22. Windmills And Milestones - Bummer Twins
23. Wood Dust - Joe Clack
24. Ralph De Bricassart - Happydeadmen
25. Time Will Pass - The Rileys
26. And When I Wake Up - The Orchids
27. Birds Of Prey - Marble Hammock

Grimsby

V/A. Wig In a Box.

The Religious Right Can Suck My Left One.

In honor of yesterday's victory for equality in California, here's the incomparable Hedwig and The Origin of Love.



I once spent an entire evening standing next to John Cameron Mitchell at a Breeder's concert thinking, "Hey that guy looks familiar. Do I know him from somewhere?", and then he climbed on stage and they tore through Angry Inch and I felt like a dork, especially since I missed the opportunity to ask him if he autographed body parts.

The Breeders, along with a slew of alternative icons¹ contribute covers and tribute songs to this wonderful little compilation that benefited the Harvey Milk School for LGBTQ youth. And as much as I love the original Origin, I think Rufus Wainwright may have recorded the definitive version. Also, if I ever became president, I would put all my effort into reuniting Sleater-Kinney and possibly getting them to make Fred Schneider at least a semi-permanent member of the band.

OK, all my effort after ensuring that LGBTQ Americans had full equality under the law. The ruling striking down California's bigoted Prop 8 is a great and important victory, but unfortunately it's still only another small step towards truly egalitarian civil rights. The pro-hate crowd will continue to fight this until it ends up in the Supreme Court, where real justice is iffy at this point. You can help by joining with or donating to groups like The Courage Campaign, Freedom to Marry, the Human Rights Campaign, and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

1. Frank Black, Robyn Hitchcock, The Polyphonic Spree, Spoon, Imperial Teen, TMBG, Cyndi Lauper (who absolutely tears the roof off on Midnight Radio), Yo La Tengo, Yoko Ono, etc.

Wig In a Box

V/A. Cambodian Casette Archives. Khmer Folk & Pop.

A wild and wonderful collection of Cambodian pop culled from mostly unidentified tapes found in the Asian Branch of the Oakland Public Library in California. Covering recordings from the 60’s through the 90’s, it’s a

blend of folk and pop stylings - Cha-Cha Psychedelia, Phase-shifting Rock, sultry circle dance standards, pulsing Cambodian new wave, haunted ballads, musical comedy sketches, Easy-Listening numbers and raw instrumental grooves presented in an eclectic variety of production techniques. Male and female vocalists share the spotlight, embellished by roller rink organ solos, raunchy guitar leads and MIDI defying synthesizers.

Despite the wide range, the album plays as a very cohesive whole, and it’s slinky, funky, and fun as hell throughout.

Cassette Archives

V/A. The Rhythm of Rabies.

This was a mix CD I made for my girlfriend a while ago. As much as possible, it’s fantastically unhinged garage bands, heavy on the rawk. I had intended it to be all women or female fronted bands, but I ran out about two thirds of the way through, although I think their contributions still come out on top. Shrag do a wonderfully snotty song about the horrors of pregnancy. The Cosmopolitans sound like a primitive B-52’s with a song about their giant cat. Shitt Hottt were exactly that. Miss Pussycat, of Quintron &…, is possibly my favorite singer, ever. Completely guileless. When, for no apparent reason, they throw in a verse of the Jefferson’s theme song, you’ll either be on your knees in awe, or giving them a standing ovation. If you ever get a chance to see them live, do. Miss Pussycat even puts on a puppet show.

1. Pregnancy Scene - Shrag
2. Bumblebee - The Casual Dots
3. Can’t Explain – The A-Lines
4. Wild Moose Party – The Cosmopolitans
5. Ungawa – Chow Nasty
6. Surfin’ Bird – The Trashmen
7. Bad Girl – The Detroit Cobras
8. Going Outside My Head – Thee Headcoats
9. Your Room – The New Rags
10. 1-2-3-Go! – The Violettes
11. Boxx Damage – Shitt Hottt
12. Cafeteria Rock – The Rondelles
13. Fly Like a Rat – Quintron and Miss Pussycat
14. Rockin’ Date – The Micragirls
15. What’s the Signal? – Fuck-Off Machete
16. Blew My Baby Away – The Tears
17. Jammin’ the Wedge – Bald Eagle
18. Snakebite – Them Wranch
19. All Across the World – The Fuse!
20. Whoyouknow – McLusky
21. Strong Mental Night – Guitar Wolf
22. Heat Lightnin’ – Tuscadero
23. Crackin Up – Moe Tucker
24. Run Cold – Holly Gologhtly
25. Don’t Know Why – Mr. Airplane Man
26. Emulsified – Yo La Tengo
27. Private Idaho – The B-52’s
28. NYC’s Like a Graveyard – The Moldy Peaches (full band electric version)
29. Mr. Chang – Cobra Killer

Rhythm Part 1
Rhythm Part 2

V/A. What's All the Fuzz About.

What Wave magazine cassette compilation.

Disc 1:

01. Dead Moon - Black September
02. The Stand - Sometimes Girl
03. Free Love Society - Cherry Bomb
04. Thee Fourgiven - Me on the Prowl
05. Groot Velours - Hysterical
06. Sporting Bachelors - Chatter
07. Capt. Scarlet & the Mysterons - A Piece of Me
08. Mystic Eyes - Paradise
09. The Shakers - A Shot of Rhythm & Blues
10. Mission Impossible - Let Me Go
11. LI150'S - Destiny
12. Progressive Minstrels - Golden Touch
13. Marshmallow Overcoat - A Single Tear
14. Yard Trauma - Creeps on TV
15. The Cheepskates - Bye Bye Love

Disc 2:

01. The Chessmen - Pretty Girl
02. The Beatpack - I Despise You
03. The Cynics - Blue Train Station
04. The Ultra 5 - Go Baby Go
05. The Evil Hoodoos - Gloria
06. Sanity Assassins - Take Up Thy Stethoscope And Walk
07. Dr. Goldfoot & The Bikini Machine - LA Infatuation
08. Al Perry & The Cattle - Camper's Blues
09. Scuba Divers - Sweet Nothing
10. Lost Patrol - Grow Up Hard
11. Drums Along The Gardiner - Tacoma
12. Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet - Woman Shake
13. The Legend Killers - She Gone Wyld
14. Dispossessed - Swan Song

Disc 1
Disc 2

V/A. Corrupt Postman.

One of the best C-86 twee comps ever.

Disc One:
1. The Fat Tulips - Independence Day
2. The Bollweevils - Turn Your Head
3. St.Christopher - The Summer You Love (Live)
4. Spin Out - Put Your Face To The Ground
5. Mousefolk - End Of The World
6. The Candy Darlings - Station On A Bridge
7. Your Flat Intitled - Pieces Of Meat (Feet)
8. Nine Steps To Ugly - Vaudeville
9. Strawberry Story - This Time Baby
10. Dave Hulston - Julie
11. The Colgates - Depth Of Love
12. Paintbox - Who's Got The Money
13. The Felicitys - Irresistable
14. The Apple Moths - Everything

Disc Two:
1. The Haywains - Shine
2. Emily - Purist
3. The Sedgwicks - Why Now Girl
4. The Driscolls - Circles
5. Remember Fun - Clearly Blurred
6. Killing Time - Perishing Flowers
7. The Applicants - Crush
8. Steamtown - Living & Loving
9. Thrilled Skinny - High Street Conspiracy
10. Emil - Edwin Blaze
11. Feverfew - Crisom Gloom
12. The Wildhouse - Paint The Whole Day Red
13. The Eclairs - Switzerland
14. The Field Mice - I Wish I Meant More To You

Disc 1
Disc 2

V/A. One Last Kiss.

It's not the Courtney Love you're thinking of.

1. Swirlies - Chris R
2. Suddenly, Tammy! - Lamp
3. Lorelei - Mimesis
4. Veronica Lake - Daisy Kiss
5. The Magnetic Fields - 100,000 Fireflies
6. White Town - Hair Like Alain Delon
7. Honeybunch - Arm in Arm
8. Swirl - Helicopter
9. Our American Cousin - One Wish Too Many
10. Tree Fort Angst - You Should've Seen the One That Got Away
11. Crayon - All the Stars
12. Jane Pow - Shutdown
13. Whorl - I Love Her All the Time
14. Small Factory - Hey Lucille
15. Velocity Girl - My Forgotten Favorite
16. Courtney Love - Baseball Bat
17. Lilys - Any Several Sundays
18. Black Tambourine - We Can't Be Friends
19. Wimp Factor 14 - Change of Address Kit

Kiss

V/A. Lets Try Another Ideal Guest House.

1. A.C. Temple - Make Mine Money
2. Bats - Block of Wood
3. Close Lobsters - Let's Make Some Plans
4. Dragsters - Fine Sense of Humour
5. Flatmates - Heaven is Blue
6. Hermit Crabs - Surfin' Vietnam
7. Househunters - Househunting
8. Laugh! - Shed Caved In
9. McTells - It Happens
10. Passmore Sisters - Difficult
11. The Pleasureheads - Something You're Above
12. Stars of Heaven - All About You
13. Talulah Gosh - My Boy Says
14. Television Personalities - Miracles Take Longer
15. A Witness - Faglane Maurice Wind
16. 3-Action - If I Only Had the Guts
17. 14 Iced Bears - Like a Dolphin
18. 1000 Violins - Beautiful Shirt

Guesthouse

V/A. Take 5.

A mixture of "awkward" and indie-pop. Plus Spacemen 3. My favorite part is the way Death By Milkfloat shouts "YOU LOOK WEIRD!".

1. King of the Slums - Spider Psychiatry
2. Cud - Treat Me Bad
3. Yukio Yung - Jean Gabin
4. Dog Faced Hermans - Yellow Girls
5. Death By Milkfloat - Vagrancy
6. Kilgore Trout - Peacock Nose
7. Jackdaw With Crowbar - Lies
8. Bachelor Pad - You'll Be Mine
9. House of Love - Plastic
10. Boy Hairdressers - Assumption as an Elevator
11. Spacemen 3 - Rollercoaster

Take 5

V/A. The Waaaaah! CD.

A fantastic collection of indie and janglepop bands from Bring On Bull Records. The fine folks who ran it have made their entire catalog available for download on their webpage.

1. Kind- The House (A Dream)
2. Dufflecoats- Sunny Tuesday Afternoon
3. Home and Abroad- Wipe Those Tears Away
4. Field Mice- Other Galaxies
5. Strawberry Story- Ashlands Road
6. Fat Tulips- James
7. Dalek Beach Party- Way Out West
8. Haywains- Dusty Springfield
9. They Go Boom- Body
10. Confetti- Warm
11. Confetti- Jenny
12. Bedflowers- My Ex- Lovers Address
13. Cesspit Rebels- Cabbage
14. Cesspit Rebels- Deodorant Face
15. Haywains- Kill Karaoke
16. Music Seen- Friend Of AFriend
17. Red Alarm Clocks- Cobwebs
18. White Town- We'll Always Have Paris
19. Duglasettes- Bellshill's Son
20. Dalek Beach Party- Teddy Boy's Picnic
21. Music Seen- Hairdresser In The Sky
22. Dufflecoats- Uncertain
23. Home And Abroad- Smokey Town
24. Fluff, Fluff, Fluff, Fluff and Cuddleyness- I'm not ashamed
25. Cudgels- Summer Colours

Part 1
Part 2

V/A. Audacious (Lovely Records).

1. Are You Mr. Riley? - I'll Love You Tomorrow
2. Fat Tulips - The Way Things Are
3. Toy Department - Nursery
4. Strawberry Story - Buttercups and Daisies
5. Fat Tulips - Where's Clare Grogan Now (Original Demo)
6. St Christopher - All Of A Tremble (Live)
7. Home And Abroad - Christopher
8. Patrick Skelly And The Prescriptions - Oranges and Lemons
9. The Waiting List - Hide
10. PO - Ever Been Had
11. Those Naughty Corinthians - Butter Mountain
12. The Volunteers - Migraine
13. Jane From Occupied Europe - Little Valley Town
14. The Losers - Bad Day
15. Those Naughty Corinthians - Pie
16. The Keatons - Remain
17. The Moving Jelly Brothers - Girl Moneypleasure Rides Again
18. Megacity Four - Holiday Song
19. Thrilled Skinny - Pop Star Prat
20. Watch You Drown - It's My World
21. Megacity Four - Behind Closed Doors

Audacious

V/A. Sprat and Mackerel Compilation Extravaganza.

Some insanely good contributions by eminently weird bands.

1. Jackdaw with Crowbar - Sailor Soul Survivor
2. The Shrubs - Ballet Gorilla (live)
3. Datblygu - Hen Ysgol Cloff
4. The Noseflutes - Shallow for Deep
5. The Membranes - Electric Storm
6. Sperm Wails - Lady Chatterly's Lover
7. Plant Bach Offnus - Pyrdredd
8. Howl In the Typewriter - Water Yr Plants
9. Howl In the Typewriter - Close
10. The Noseflutes - Girth
11. The Lungs - The Day James Cagney Died

Sprat

V/A. Something's Burning In Paradise Again.

The volume drops off a bit between the Field Mice and the Volunteers, though not to unlistenable levels. It's just a shame because the Field Mice's cover of the Feelies' Loveless Love is wonderful, and I don't think I've ever seen it anywhere else. I looked around, and everybody's copy seems to have this fault. Apparently it was original to the tape.

1. Poke It With A Stick - He's Bloody Happy
2. Throw That Beat In the Garbagecan - Just 16
3. The Wildhouse - Everything I Hate
4. Shrug - Fear & Violence On the Last Bus Home
5. Thrilled Skinny - Pop Star Prat
6. The Locations - I Keep Wondering Why
7. The Vinegar Blossoms - Quality Seems Totally Foreign to Me!
8. Those Naughty Corinthians - Butter Mountain
9. The Keatons - French Bench
10. The Field Mice - Loveless Love
11. Bobby Scarlet - Steppenwolf
12. The Windmills - 360 °
13. Charlotte's Web - The Train for June
14. Apple Moths - Everything
15. The Volunteers - Long Wavy Random Arm (Do It)
16. The Losers - Down at the Bottom Where You Belong
17. The Harbour Pilots - Orchid Sunrise
18. Debonaire - The Distance
19. This Poison! - Driving Skills
20. St. Christopher - Our Secret

Again

V/A. Something's Burning In Paradise.

There's a thesis in here somewhere for anyone who wants to analyze the fetish/artifact nature of releases like these. I have no idea if the sound quality was better in first generation tapes, but something about the xeroxed quality of the (already lo-fi) music makes it seem more authentic and valuable. It's like listening to ancient field recordings of blues musicians on 78s; if you could travel back in time and make fresh, digital copies, it would suck all the life and soul out of it. It's the found quality that makes it feel so special (doubly so, since most of these bands never went on to anything else). I half wonder if any of these tapes were made in the first place. It seems much more likely that each and every one appeared ahistorically in a dusty shoebox underneath a bed in an abandoned flat.

1. The Pilgrims - Chemically Yours
2. Emil - Raining In My Heart
3. Another Sunny Day - I Want You
4. Thrilled Skinny - Love Rut/Knee On Sea
5. Slob - Mister Ugly
6. Mousefolk - Grannies Cake Crisis
7. The Ruth Ellis Swing Band - I Would Have Saved You
8. Remember Fun - Cold Inside
9. The Candy Darlings - Southern Line
10. The Paper Tulips - Not Fair
11. The McTells - This Afternoon (Version)
12. James Dean Driving Experience - Drop Dead Darling
13. The Wilderness Children - 15 Minutes Fame
14. Emily - Really Mad Dogs (Dance Mix I)
15. The Librarians - Irene Handl Knew My Postman
16. The Benjamins - The Way Things Are
17. Buy Off the Bar - There's No Fridge On The Bristol Bridge (Live)
18. Girl of My Best Friend - Throwaway Girl
19. The Driscolls - Groovy Little Town (Acoustic)
20. The Mayfields - Season's Pass
21. St. Christopher - To The Mountain

Paradise

V/A. The Future Sounds of Leamington Spa.

UPDATE: OK, I somehow managed to post this without the rather important download link. I'm going to blame a migraine. Or being lost in a sex fog, fantasising about my girlfriend. Either way, it's fixed now.

I came across this collection years ago on Soulseek. It's not an official Leamington Spa release, nor do I know if it was put together by anyone associated with them, or just an enthusiastic fan of their sound. Regardless, it's just as good as the official compilations with some great tracks I haven't heard elsewhere (the contributions from After This and Rabbit's Wedding were particularly good).

1. A Craze - She Is So
2. A Thousand Miles of Sunshine - Jimmy Highlife
3. After This - Fields
4. Company She Keeps - What A Girl Wants
5. Distant Cousins - Concrete Boxes
6. Exhibit B - It's Hypothetical
7. Fat and Frantic - Last Night Mt Wife Hoovered My Head
8. Graham Fellows - Sorry Samantha
9. Hardyboys - Fifteen
10. I-Lands - Back Before the Pain
11. Rabbit's Wedding - Coming Like Summer
12. Sensation - Yesterday Things Got Worse
13. Sensible Jerseys - Go To Work
14. The Boothill Foot Tappers - Jealousy
15. The Boy Hairdressers - Tidal Wave
16. The Bridge - Shame is a Girl
17. The Frontier Scouts - Out of Your Shell
18. The Frontier Scouts - When Daddy Blows His Top
19. The New Colours - Do You Want to Pray
20. The Future Kings - Bury My Heart
21. Wake Up Afrika - Simple Words

Future Sounds

V/A. The Sound of Leamington Spa. Volume 6.

1. Gradapenda Rosindale - Bad Days Must End
2. Company Of Cowards - Summer Story
3. Rumblefish - Medicine
4. The Candie Maids - Threadbare
5. Who The Hell Does Jane Smith Think She Is - Use Imagination
6. Easter And The Totem - Acid Reign
7. The Decemberists - James Is (Still The Same)
8. The Artisans - All I Ever Wanted
9. The Hyacinth Girls - Sometimes You're Incredible
10. The Sullivans - Standing On
11. Bookemdanno - BJs
12. Yeah Jazz - Julie And The Sealions
13. Plume - Everything I Need
14. Ginger Bottles - Goldfish
15. A Riot Of Colour - House
16. The Applicants - Say Goodbye
17. Mirrors Over Kiev - Different Girl
18. The Jactars - Not Seen, Not Heard
19. Lilac Trumpets - My Heart Bleeds
20. The Potting Sheds - Matches
21. Emily - Merri-Go-Round

Volume 6

The Sound of Leamington Spa info on TweeNet

V/A. The Sound of Leamington Spa. Volume 5.

1. Nine Steps To Ugly - Eddie Lopez Lives In Slough
2. Perfect - Desire
3. A Strange Desire - Promise To Lie
4. On The Waterfront - Mrs. Harrington
5. The Shrew Kings - Losing My Cool
6. The Incredible Blondes - Forever (Swansong)
7. No Flags etc - Rubble
8. This Poison! - Driving Skills
9. Carpenter Joe - The Path Of Most Resistance
10. Kid Sinister - The Cradle Born
11. Almost Charlotte - Frustration
12. Men Of Westenesse - Boating
13. The Honeymooners - Untitled
14. Action Painting! - Boy Meets World (alt version)
15. Black Cillas - Sebastian
16. The Thieves - And Then He Died
17. Ade Moose and Walker - Lounge Around
18. The Wildhouse - Ficca

Volume 5

The Sound of Leamington Spa info on TweeNet