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There's actually nothing new about this Monochrome Set 12", as Bid pointed out. Yes, of course the songs are old, but they have been released before (check out the Black & White Minstrels comp on Cherry Red). But vinyl lovers as they are, Captured Tracks decided these songs deserved to be pressed onto black plastic. All seven tracks were recorded prior to the band's first single "Eine Symphonie des Grauens". While the first side shows an overbearing influence from Lou Reed, on "We Are Zarbie" they are making what is definitely their own kind of noise.
If people are smart, they will buy this record so that Bid, who's still recovering from a stroke (without side effects luckily!), can comfort himself with an icecream. The Monochrome Set reunion is not far off now, starting off at London Popfest in February. It wasn't that long since the last reunion (for Cherry Red's 30th anniversary in 2008), and you can hear what Bid and Lester Square had to say back then. They'd only reform if someone offered them a lot of money or if it was something really special apparently, like playing the Hermitage in St. Petersburg. Which begs the question, what was it this time?
Hopefully, the reunion will also bring some attention to the extensive MS back catalogue, and Cherry Red would do right to get the 90s albums Misère, Trinity Road and Dante's Casino back in stock. Perhaps a reissue of Jack (on Honeymoon, 1991) would also be in order?
I'll leave you with this great video for "Fat Fun", one of their best songs in my opinion.
Chris of Knight School (and now The Bright Lights too!) teams up with Jed of My Teenage Stride to record a cover of caUSE co-MOTION!'s first single "Only Fades Away", making it sound like a lost Dennis & the Times acetate. Best unreleased song of the year? He made this video too.
The last track of the second podcast for Slumberland that I just finished is the amazing "Please Stay With Me" by Charlotte & Emily from 1965. I haven't found any information about the artists except that they were from New York and released this one single for New Voice, the sister label to Bob Crewe's Dynovoice. Both sides of this fantastic release have been compiled (for example on the Lost Jukebox series and The Dynovoice Story 1965-68) and I recently heard the a-side, the haunting "Love Not Have I", and you simply must hear it. And look out for the new Slumberland podcast - if you're subscribed to the HIAYH feed you will already have got it!
CLOUD 119 Charlotte & Emily - Love Not Have I
It's been more than a year since I last made any promotion for Don't Die On My Doorstep on here, so I thought this might be a good occasion to mention it. See, we've got the brilliant British band The Cavalcade to play for us next month!
The Cavalcade caught an ear or two when their first ep Meet You In the Rain came out last year. The Edition 59 ep For You followed suit, and by that time it wasn't enough to just compare them to The Clientele anymore. Perhaps The Shining Hour? Pebble Records just released their first full-length Many Moons, which includes four songs from the eps as well as seven completely new tracks - probably enough to make them the other half of a comparative pair. With its release, The Cavalcade grabbed the opportunity to embark on an ambitious European tour, covering Greece and Spain as well as Sweden. You can watch a video for the upcoming single "I'm Like a Ship Trapped Inside a Bottle" here, and all the detail about the gig in Malmö are here.
Support comes from Swedish group The Lost Homeboys who, like The Cavalcade, have released an ep on Cloudberry. On Rainy Days however, the band consisted only of Jimmi and Gustaf (of The Electric Pop Group and Tellus About the Moon) but they've now expanded to a fourpiece and have some new songs. They rarely play live, so we're very happy to have them come to Malmö.
There is no guest DJ this month, so to make up for it we've compiled a playlist for Spotify that you can play before you head out.
In Berlin I got to spend a few hours in the great shop Bis Auf's Messer in Friedrichshain, and I remember thinking they had most of the records I've wanted to buy this year. There was even a section marked Sacred Bones / Captured Tracks / HoZac / Goner etc... One of the things I picked up was a tape by Brown Recluse that I didn't even know about. The tape section was quite big, and items reasonably priced. This tape was the band's second release, while they still carried the "...sings" bit of their name. It's got 11 songs on it, all of them basic, early versions of tracks meant for their first LP. The Evening Tapestry should hopefully be out this year on Slumberland, and though this tape is naturally far from what the full arrangements will sound like, one can still tell that there is enough songwriting quality in there to make for a magnificent album.
In the meantime you should pick up the excellent Zombies-flavoured The Soft Skin 12" on Slumberland. Apart from this tape and the brilliant new Flips 7" (even better than the Bankcroft one!) I also picked up the first single from Chicago's Outer Minds. The cover of this HoZac release is unfortunately too hideous to show here, but the three songs are the best garage I've heard since Dead Ghosts, sometimes not a far cry from Count Five. I have yet to acquire a copy of their tape, which is out now on Plustapes, but I should. There are mp3s of two tracks off of the single floating around already, so I will direct you to their myspace, and instead present you with a Brown Recluse tape rip.
CLOUD 118 Brown Recluse Sings - Monday Moon
There's actually nothing new about this Monochrome Set 12", as Bid pointed out. Yes, of course the songs are old, but they have been released before (check out the Black & White Minstrels comp on Cherry Red). But vinyl lovers as they are, Captured Tracks decided these songs deserved to be pressed onto black plastic. All seven tracks were recorded prior to the band's first single "Eine Symphonie des Grauens". While the first side shows an overbearing influence from Lou Reed, on "We Are Zarbie" they are making what is definitely their own kind of noise.
