With January a dry month for releases, the New Year seems a good time to catch up on some left-field singles that have shamefully slipped through the net over in this old-fashioned vinyl-only special.
Edinburgh’s Wee Black Skelf is the most unsung but quietly adventurous of lo-fi labels, as a trio of exemplary releases testify to. CA Celestial & Bill Wells’ ‘Somewhere Under A Rainbow’ (Wee Black Skelf - 4 stars ) finds singer/harpist Cari Anderson form a low-key pastoral alliance with the most ubiquitous of sidemen.
Lucky Luke’s ‘Reynardine’/’Hori Horo’ (Wee Black Skelf - 4 stars) is two slices of trad folkadelic balladry trailing the band’s follow-up to their ‘Patrick The Survivor’ debut.
Cover artist for Lucky Luke is Nalle’s Hanna Tuulikki, who appears with her band-mates as part of Phosphene And Friends on ‘See A Sign Defined’/’Ask Me No Questions’ (Pickled Egg - 4 stars) Brain-child of pop boffin John Cavanagh, one side has Isobel Campbell and that man Wells again backing folk legend Bridget St John, while the flip features a St John song covered by Tuulikki and co.
Daniel Patrick Quinn’s ‘West To The Irish Sea’ (Wee Black Skelf - 3 stars ) is a six-track 10” EP culled from albums released on Quinn’s East Lothian based label, Suilven. A fine introduction to Quinn’s geologically inclined excursions before checking out his new combo, One More Grain.
Released as part of a series of limited run on clear 8” lathe-cut vinyl, Tight Meat Duo’s ‘Creaming The Gutterpunk’/’Nobody Loves The Hulk’ (alt.vinyl - 3 stars) is ex Lucky Luke drummer Alex Neilson and sax player David Keenan’s authentic approximation of 1960s Free Jazz.
Hamburg Scot-Pop specialists Aufgeladen & Bereit offload a slew of coloured vinyl 7”s by Future Pilot AKA, Found and Tibi Lubin. Best of the bunch is ‘Merrie England’ (Aufgeladen & Bereit - 4 stars), the second single by The Sexual Objects, the latest guise of Fire Engines/Win/The Nectarine No 9 front-man Davy Henderson. It’s a glorious glam-racket stomp that marries Mark Bolan to Subway Sect then hangs out to boogie. On dirty brown vinyl, beg, steal or borrow a copy now.
The List, January 2008
ends
Edinburgh’s Wee Black Skelf is the most unsung but quietly adventurous of lo-fi labels, as a trio of exemplary releases testify to. CA Celestial & Bill Wells’ ‘Somewhere Under A Rainbow’ (Wee Black Skelf - 4 stars ) finds singer/harpist Cari Anderson form a low-key pastoral alliance with the most ubiquitous of sidemen.
Lucky Luke’s ‘Reynardine’/’Hori Horo’ (Wee Black Skelf - 4 stars) is two slices of trad folkadelic balladry trailing the band’s follow-up to their ‘Patrick The Survivor’ debut.
Cover artist for Lucky Luke is Nalle’s Hanna Tuulikki, who appears with her band-mates as part of Phosphene And Friends on ‘See A Sign Defined’/’Ask Me No Questions’ (Pickled Egg - 4 stars) Brain-child of pop boffin John Cavanagh, one side has Isobel Campbell and that man Wells again backing folk legend Bridget St John, while the flip features a St John song covered by Tuulikki and co.
Daniel Patrick Quinn’s ‘West To The Irish Sea’ (Wee Black Skelf - 3 stars ) is a six-track 10” EP culled from albums released on Quinn’s East Lothian based label, Suilven. A fine introduction to Quinn’s geologically inclined excursions before checking out his new combo, One More Grain.
Released as part of a series of limited run on clear 8” lathe-cut vinyl, Tight Meat Duo’s ‘Creaming The Gutterpunk’/’Nobody Loves The Hulk’ (alt.vinyl - 3 stars) is ex Lucky Luke drummer Alex Neilson and sax player David Keenan’s authentic approximation of 1960s Free Jazz.
Hamburg Scot-Pop specialists Aufgeladen & Bereit offload a slew of coloured vinyl 7”s by Future Pilot AKA, Found and Tibi Lubin. Best of the bunch is ‘Merrie England’ (Aufgeladen & Bereit - 4 stars), the second single by The Sexual Objects, the latest guise of Fire Engines/Win/The Nectarine No 9 front-man Davy Henderson. It’s a glorious glam-racket stomp that marries Mark Bolan to Subway Sect then hangs out to boogie. On dirty brown vinyl, beg, steal or borrow a copy now.
The List, January 2008
ends
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