Before leaving to UK last month I bought many records on eBay and sent them to my friend Jennifer’s place. You know, to save some postage. Among those records was the “Nothing in Your Heart” 12″ by Life With Patrick. I believe I paid 1.99 pounds and funny enough I would later find it, some days after arriving in UK,  in ‘Love Music’ in Glasgow for around the same price . Upon picking it up from the box, I told Krister to buy it for himself  but he didn’t trust me. “I haven’t heard this band yet” he told me. So Krister, have a listen now, and feel a bit of remorse for letting this one go 🙂

Before continuing this important investigation, let me have a little break here to see what I’ve been listening on CD this week:
1. Vitesse – You Win Again Gravity (Hidden Agenda)
2. Lovejoy – Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (Matinee)
3. Lovejoy – Songs in the Key of… (Matinee)

My favourite Patrick song is Kirsty Maccoll’s “Patrick” of course. I wonder where the name of this band comes from? Patrick Swayze? Who knows.

Today while listening to the record on the turntable I remembered how Patrik Lindgren saved the day. It was Indietracks time, Saturday, and I arrived around 1pm to catch the 1:15 acoustic set by Remi on the train. First things first, I headed to the bar where I met Cristóbal. He couldn’t handle the heat inside the carriage of the steam train and said he would pass watching Remi and would stay at the Indietracks grounds. Understandable. I grabbed a Newcastle can and head to the platform.

You could see some people already waiting but no sign of Remi. Ian and Emma seemed worried. The steam train just arrived and I saw Patrik coming down the carriage with his guitar (he was playing later with The Garlands), and his amazing green backpack-chair. It was nice to see him again because I knew he would like to see Remi play too. I asked him if he had seen him at the station, but he hadn’t. Thing was that on this same steam train the gig was going to happen. We were just waiting and I was joking with him, asking him to play a Hormones in Abundance impromptu gig. Ian finally got in touch with Remi on the mobile and he found out that Monsieur Parson was in Butterley station. So we all thought that by riding the train we would go back to Butterley, pick him up and start the gig. That was the plan. The train driver had a totally different idea. He went the other way.

So the train headed the other way. And finally stopped. I guess the driver thought someone was performing. Patrik, Gustaf and me, were chatting close to the bar on the second carriage, not because we were thirsty, but because there was a big window right there, in between carriages. The heat inside these wooden wagons was unbearable. You could see the people chit-chatting, and wondering what was going on. Suddenly Patrik grabbed his guitar and headed to the front carriage. We thought he was going to try to find a better space, maybe a place to sit down. To my surprise, he went all the way to the front, opened  the guitar case, and started tuning his guitar. “I’m going to play some of my songs” he said. And there he was, Pata Lindgren, with his short sleeve shirt, bleached jeans and basketball shoes, playing some Ring Snuten for all of us. And it was really good! Patrik catches me cold, “Roque, do you have any requests?”. I shouted “Only Fun in Town!”. And that was just way too brilliant.

Patrik played around 7 songs before arriving back to Indietracks. The people were really appreciative, he had played for us just for the sake of it. I asked him later why did he do it, if he was nervous. He said a bit at first, but he said that it seemed the right thing to do at the moment. And I agree with him, there was a crowd there waiting for some great pop tuns. And Patrik delivered that to them. And everyone left the wagon later with a big smile on their face. I feel, that what happened right there, that camaraderie, that love and respect for the community, is what indiepop ‘means’. There is A LOT in your heart Patrik. You were our hero that day.

Back to Life with Patrick. This 12″ wasn’t their first release. There was another 12″ on the Tiger Lily label. Sadly I haven’t been able to get my hands on this one. Not sure which tracks are on this one. Could it be the “Swing on Revival” listed on Last.fm? In any case there is also another release on Tiger Lily. It’s a split 7″ shared with the Asphalt Ribbons. The track by Life With Patrick is “Wrong”. Just for the curious, these Asphalt Ribbons would later become the Tindersticks. Haven’t heard this one.

Now to what I have had the chance to hear. First I suggest checking the downloadable demos available on Last.fm. There you can download the tracks “Madonna”, Wrecking Crew”, “So Far Gone” and “About Time”. I can only wonder who uploaded these. Must have been someone from the band. How I wish this same person would have added some biography of the band or even some photos. Because honestly, there’s nothing online about them!

Now onto the blueish, greenish, 12″ I know. On the cover it reads big, “Nothing in Your Heart” (which probably is about one of those girls we sensible guys like falling in love with), and there’s a painted black heart. This artwork was done by Karen Sherridan and the record was released on Manchester’s In Tape Label. The catalog number is IT 070. Some of their labelmates were The June Brides, Rote Kapelle and Yeah Yeah Noh. The record includes three songs, the aforementioned “Nothing in Your Heart” on the A side, “Favour” and the instrumental “Something From Nothing” on the B Side.

I love and enjoy lots the B-side “Favour”. It has that galloping C-86-ish guitar I always die for. Great vocals, catchy lyrics, and upbeat drumming. Just exactly what I like on a pop song! For that song this record is worth buying. Have a listen and judge yourself. Anyhow…

The only other important information on the sleeve are the band members. David Jenkins on drums, Patrick Nicholson on vocals, guitars, John Conner on bass and Paul Foreman on guitar. That led me to a small paragraph on the Benny Profane’s biography page on LTM Records:

In February 1989 we did a one-month tour of Poland and The Soviet Union, including gigs in Warsaw, Vilnius, Riga and Leningrad. We just took guitars and travelled by coach and sleeper train – snow, forests, vodka and more vodka. Totally Glasnosted. Our good friends Patrick Nicholson (Life with Patrick, ROC) and Sue Digby organised the whole thing and it was a marvellous experience. We even appeared on Soviet TV for 60 seconds on a programme called 60 Seconds. The Leningrad promoter, a former circus ringmaster, stopped us mid-gig so we could watch ourselves before continuing.

So, Patrick Nicholson was also on a band called ROC. A little bit of googling takes me to this myspace where no one has logged in since mid-2010. It must be the same Patrick Nicholson because on this same band it lists Karen Sherridan, who was the one who did the artwork for the Life of Patrick 12″!

And that’s about it what I’ve gathered about this great lost band. If you happen to have the tracks of the first 12″, or a spare copy, if you know anything else about this band, want to share memories, please do. Would love to hear more about this great band!

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Listen
Life With Patrick – Favour

To my new job I walk around 8 blocks everyday. It’s quite close. Long gone are the days of taking the bus. Still, I still dream of taking the subway to work. There’s something about taking trains that I love. I don’t know if it’s the galloping sound, the shaky wagons, watching people coming in and out, looking around if there’s a cute girl to make eye contact, observing people, their clothes, their newspapers, their books. I’m always curious at what people are reading. Watching their hands, their shoes. I always watch also if people are balding, I will one day I’m sure, I am a bit obsessed with that. Anyhow, I don’t get to be in a subway that often. Maybe once or twice a year when I’m in New York, and then I usually take it lots of time very late at night, after a gig or going out, when it goes almost empty or with people so drunk that they fall asleep and miss their stop. And the other times I’m lucky enough to take my favourite mean of transport is when I’m in London. I must say that I’ve taken the subway also in Glasgow (which is a joke), in Berlin, Hamburg, Chicago and Stockholm. But none can compare to the network of rails under the ground of Londinium.

These days I’m very familiar with the London Underground even though I’ve never lived there. I don’t get lost, I don’t miss my stops, and I’ve even given directions to people. There have been times I’ve had to take the Overground, from Walthamstow or Brockley, but most of the time I’ve been taking the Jubilee Line, the Northern Line, the Central Line, the Victoria Line, and more. My memory is still fresh, it was just 11 days since I took the underground for the last time, taking the Piccadilly Line all the way to Heathrow terminal 4. It was the last day of a great trip around the UK, though I left very early that day from my friend’s Jennifer house, deep south in Lewisham, so I won’t count this day as a full day. But the rest of days, my memories of going up and down the escalators, with friends, by myself, listening to the handful of songs I’ve managed to put on the iPhone years ago, and saying goodbye to friends just as the paths fork towards different line platforms, are still very fresh in me.

Before continuing, let me have a little break here to see what I’ve been listening on CD this week:
1. Mo-Dettes – The Story So Far (Cherry Red)
2. Seapony – Go With Me (Hardly Art)
3. Brian – Bring Trouble (Setanta)

Just 3 CDs! I know, been quite slow, but I’ll start catching up soon!

“You are shaking my world, my subway girl”

The needle dances over this fantastic slab of black vinyl. I get a bit sentimental with the great lyrics of this song. I wonder if I have ever had any subway girl, or any girl that I could associate to my underground travels. I remember the one who I bought my first ‘remsa’ in Stockholm and rode with me the tunnelbana from Gullmarsplan to Hammarby, the same girl who later  would take me around in my first visit to London and not letting me get lost in that tangled network of little dots and lines of different colours that is the underground system. I remember clearly her red coat and silly hat, and her white tennis. The funny day when her and another friend invited the “air band” to the train’s crowd surprise, when they played the air guitar and the air bass. And then the trumpets come in, and the needle is reaching the end of the record. I play it again, it’s such a wonderful song. It’s Hellvyvelln’s “Subway”. And I know absolutely nothing about them.

As I recall my trips on different subway systems, with different friends, I remember the first time I took it. In New York City, in 2007, with my friend José. We took it from Penn Station to somewhere in Harlem that I can’t remember. We had met some friends and we needed to burn some time while we waited for the guy that was going to give us the key to the apartment we were staying in Brooklyn during the weekend. We were going to NYC Popfest that weekend. I remember we went to the apartment of Caitlin’s friend. If I remember correctly he played in the Alsace Lorraine band and was good friend’s with Isol, that Argentine muse that sang in Entre Ríos. He was an undertaker. At the time it resulted me shocking that an undertaker may like indiepop. Anyhow, my friend José, as a true Peruvian, asked if he could shower at his place. Nice.

Later that day we picked up some 75 cents carnitas from a Mexican place just next to the station, and rode the train, dripping salsa all over the train floor. Good times. I could go and on with stories about the subway that make my heart jump, but let’s go to the weekly obscure band.

I was introduced to Hellvyvelln by the great Peter Hahndorf when I was in Bremen with Nana, I remember he handed us a CD-R copy of a project he was working at the time called The Sound of Glen Waverly, a two CD compilation of Australian bands from the late 80s, early 90s. Included on the first CD was this fantastic track, Subway, by Hellvyveln. Some months after, I was able to track down this single on eBay. I think I paid very cheap for it, I think it was too obscure for even the indiepop collectors. It might be the case, if you google about this band, there is absolutely nothing aside from the obvious Twee.net entry (Peter’s page!).

The B side is “Elvis”, which is also a very nice track. But I’m obsessed with the A side, with “Subway”. It reminds me to many great bands and songs from the C86 era, from The Hepburns to The Chalk Giants or A Riot or Colour and more.  The record was released on Polyester Records, that was based in Fitzroy, Victoria, in Australia, and the catalog was LUV 13. This same label also released some stuff by Ripe and the great Little Murders. The record was recorded in August 1989 in Silkwood Studios, in Melbourne and released later that same year. It was produced by the band and Dane Simpson. Simpson also engineered it.

Hellvyveln were Jeremy, Nick and Andrew. No last names provided. The arrangements on “Elvis” were courtesy of Ben Grant whereas the trumpets on “Subway” were thanks to Stephen Grant. Where they brothers? Also Michael Kennedy helped on trumpets on this track. The horn arrangements on it came by the way of Dave Hannon.

Then the only other piece of info on the 7″ back cover are the thank you notes, but I can’t really recognize any of the people here. The band’s address shows that they lived in Brighton, Australia. There’s a Brighton every where, isn’t it? I was at the UK one, which I assume is the original, not so long ago either. Looked a bit like Miami, but with brown sand, and hills.

And that’s all there is about this fantastic, and elusive band. If you know anything else about them, what does the name Hellvyvelln means, who is the girl they sing about on “Subway”, if they had more releases, or even more songs, please get in touch! It would shake my world to know a bit more about these guys that penned such a beautiful song.

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Listen
Hellvyvelln – Subway

Hip flask: A hip flask is a thin flask for holding a distilled beverage; its size and shape are suited to a trouser pocket. Last time I saw one, was Leonardo’s at the Comet Gain gig a couple of weeks ago. Smart man, the beer at the venue was so expensive and bringing some vodka and juice makes so much sense. That’s my friend!

Hi there! Back from Indietracks and of course as everyone that attended I’ve been having the post-indietracks blues. That means that I’ll try to recover this week and next weekend have an extensive post about Indietracks and more. At this moment I can’t write much as everything in my head is quite messy! On top of it all I’ve been trying to catch up with emails, orders, and work, after being out of town for a week and a half.

But don’t think I’m moody, just tired. I was hoping that tropical storm Emily would hit us this weekend so I had the perfect excuse to stay in. Well, it didn’t happen, though we had some heavy rain today. I did go out and did groceries and some other errands. I should have rested. It’s hard to rest when you have a pile of stuff to do. Anyhow, the fanzine is out and the Very Truly Yours 7″ is out. This week I start working on the next release, the Youngfuck 7″. Keep your eyes peeled for that. Also this weekend I booked a ticket to Toronto to spend the long weekend of Thanksgiving. I will probably freeze. I would love to go see Niagara Falls.

I did want to blog again starting this week, after two weekends without obscure bands. I will skip the “CDs I’ve been listening to” section this week though as I really haven’t had time to listen anything really. So I’ll save that for next week. This week I want to introduce a band that the great Graeme Elston introduced me some days ago: Hipflasks.

It was such a pleasure to meet Graeme in London first and then at Indietracks. His set on the train, playing many of his classic songs, from Pure to Love Parade, was among my highlights. I will definitely cover that on my blog soon. We’ll actually make some interviews I believe! But for now, let’s review this fantastic band from his hometown, Newcastle.

Just after arriving from UK back to Miami, Graeme sent me a very nice email, linking me to many songs from this enigmatic band. “They were one of my favourites at the time, but as far as I know they never had anything released.. maybe a track or two on a compilation. Of all the bands from that period who’ve been reissued, none of them have songs as good as Hipflasks in my opinion. Witty. Clearly there’s a lot of Edwyn in his delivery, but I love his doleful voice too.“ He told me. He also mentioned me that they were featured on the first Woosh fanzine. So I ran into my fanzine box, unearthed that fantastic piece of indiepop that is that fanzine and this is what I found out:

“Following a recent Sonata at Newcastle’s ‘Riverside’, I managed to pin down the enigmatic Hipflasks, for brief exchange:

Woosh: There seems to have been quite a few changes to the band over the last couple of months, Tom, what are you up to?

Hipflasks: Well we’ve introduced the accordion playing skills of Miss Zoe Lambert, things were getting in a rut, and the one guitar wasn’t always enough to keep a full sound. Not that we’re sounding anything like the Chieftains….

Woosh: Indeed not, the accordion sounds great and gives the band something extra live and recorded, that most of the hoards of guitar bands lack.

If you’ve yet to hear anything of, or by the Hipflasks (which is likely, due to their deliberately ‘low profile’ approach. The band says “We want o either come from nowhere, or never have existed at all…”) then you have something to look forward to. Some classic songs, with melodies more instant than Birds Dreamtopping, with lyrics of subtle irony/humour on the ‘general dirt under the fingernails of life’.

Apart from some serious record label interest, meetings with A&R persons and the usual gigging, what’s happening Phil? “We’ve been working on new songs, they’re getting shorter, tighter and even better, in fact we’ve  about 40 or so to choose from live now”.

And how have the gigs been going? “Apart from one or two, very well, although we’re having a break to record a few more songs. We’ll keep you posted. Oh! and please come to our gigs”.

It also lists the band members: Tom Partridge (guitar, vocals), Andy Huscroft (bass), Phil Hayes (drums), and Zoe Lambert (accordion). Husky, the bassist went on to be in The Gravy Train (who released couple of 7″s on A Turntable Friend, Dolphin, Elefant and who hopefully we’ll cover in the blog) and Zoe was part of Friends of Harry and later became an Emmerdale Farm actress.

Their headlining appearance at the Riverside was on October 28th 1987. Graeme tells me: “The Riverside was a pretty big venue so if they headlined they must have had some kind of following.” I wouldn’t be surprised as all the songs I got are really nice! These are the songs that I’ve got the chance to listen: “All the Time in the World”, “Goodbye You Bastard”, “Let’s Pretend”, “A Year and a Day”, “Dorothy”, “Jellyfish”, “No One Should Live Here” and “Lovely Scar”. Great jangly pop! Because of the quality of these tracks one can only wonder why the hell there were no proper releases by this great Newcastle-Upon-Tyne band. From what we gather from the Woosh text, there was interest…

So why did they split? What happened to the other members? Were there more songs? It would be interesting to know the whole story of Hipflasks. If you know anything else about this great band, please share. Would love to hear more from them!

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Listen
Hipflasks – Jellyfish

This is the last post, even though there might be an interview or two published, before I leave to the UK on the 21st for a little vacation. I’ll be back on August 2nd. And hopefully that same day I’ll prepare a post about Indietracks or some adventure I had in the UK. So worry not of the lack of updates.

These coming days are dead busy at Cloudberry HQ. Today the new fanzine is out. And the Very Truly Yours records have just arrived home. I have to cut the 500 inserts during the weekend and hand-number them. I know the release date is July 31st, but the thing is that the records have to been in UK by next week, so my Chicago darlings can sell them in their gigs all around the UK, from London to Glasgow. Also have to send the records to mailorders before I leave to London. So I’m on a very tight deadline. On top of it all my Peru plays Colombia today at 3pm for Copa America quarterfinals and that will take half of my day probably.

At this point I’m not 100% sure that I will sell records at Indietracks. But leave me a note, or an email, and I could bring the records you’d like to the festival. I’m not sure what’s the deal this year for labels at the merch tent. But I don’t have much time to sit down and miss bands I’d love to see. I made some weeks ago a small schedule for what I’d like to see, it goes more or less like this:

Friday
Pocketbooks

Saturday
14:00 Remi Parson
15:00 Graeme Elston
16:00 The Garlands
16:40 Wendy Darlings
17:00 Next Time Passions
17:40 Butcher Boy
18:40 Help Stamp Out Loneliness
20:30 Milky Wimpshake.

Sunday
13:20 Proctors
16:00 Papa Topo
16:40 Sloppy Joe
17:40 Zipper
18:40 Very Truly Yours

Quite exciting!

So what did I listen this week on CD?
1. Chain Letter –  Théâtral Musical (Tulip House)
2. Various Artists – Good Thing Goin’ Pushbike Compilation Vol.4 (Pushbike)
3. BMX Bandits – Bee Stings (P-Vine)
4. Zoey Van Goey – Propeller vs. Wing (Chemikal Underground)

And now onto our obscure band of the week: Jane From Occupied Europe. I would have featured this band a long time ago. I was in touch with the bassist of the band, Dave Todd, some years ago and we agreed on an interview. Sadly I never heard back from him. Anyhow, let’s review this fantastic Salisbury band that had three releases, which I proudly only own 1 of them! I should start tracking the rest.

First stop, Wikipedia:

Jane from Occupied Europe were a band that originated from Salisbury, Wiltshire, England. Band members had appeared previously in other local bands, most notably Bubblegum Splash [Subway Records] and a popular Wiltshire band, Mrs Taylor’s Mad. They were part of what was an interesting scene of music that stemmed from the area around the mid to late 80’s, including bands like The Badgeman (Paperhouse Records), The Mayfields, and Mad Cow Disease. Whilst their sound has been bracketed under the ‘Shoegazing’ mantle, their sound was based around a broad number of styles and influences including psychadaelia, punk, and garage. The band toured around England, supporting bands like Carter USM, Catherine Wheel, Mock Turtles, and the Seeds amongst numerous others.

The band was formed by Jim Harrison, vocals & guitar, Colin O’Keefe, guitar, Dave Todd, bass, David Ware, guitar, keyboards & vocals, and Phil Eason, drums & percussion. On an interview I did with Bubblegum Splash’s Nikki and Marty she told me that it was Jim and Dave who were in Bubblegum Splash and  after some googling I found out that David Ware was in Mrs. Taylor’s Mad. Wonder if Jane From Occupied Europe was the first band Colin, Dave and Phil were on?

So one would assume that they took their name from the second album by Swell Maps and that’s true. They once told the NME: “Swell Maps thought up some really great titles and, er… we just ripped it off.” But then I get curious, and I wonder if that name has any significance. I can’t think of Europe being occupied, or any particular Jane. Maybe it comes from a sci-fi book or something? Anyhow, maybe you know better and can tell me where this enigmatic name comes from. But now onto more about this fantastic band.

I fell in love with them since I bought in 2006 their 7″ “Ocean Runs Dry”, a mix of shoegaze and guitar pop released in 1989 on  7 Per Cent Records (catalog JANE 001). I believe the band run this record label. This record is not very hard to find, and I recommend anyone reading this to get it. I’ve seen it on Discogs for less than 5 bucks. You’ll thank me! The track swaggers with a distorted guitar, another guitar doing arpeggios, and c86 class vocals! On the flip side you find two more great tracks “Annabel Lee” and “Kingdom By The Sea”. So Oceans and seas? I guess Salisbury is not that far from the Atlantic, did they go to the beach often? And what about Annabel Lee? “Annabel Lee” is the last complete poem composed by Edgar Allan Poe.

Onto catalog JANE 002. That was the Little Valley Town 12″ EP, released in 1990. That record included 4 songs: “Little Valley Town”, “Parade”, “Walking Around” and “Horizons in Blue”. This release and the previous one can be downloaded from this blogspot page the band set up. Sadly their last release, JANE 003, their 1991 album “Colorsound”. is not available anymore for free download. But let me promise you that if you get your hands on it you won’t be disappointed. The quality is still there, and only one song is repeated on the album from previous releases: “Parade”. If you happen to find extra copies for these two releases let me know, I’d be interested!

There were two compilation appearances as far as I know and actually one of them was already discussed on this blog on an interview with Krischan! from Frischluft Records. The song ” Just like Holden Caulfield” was included in the compilation “Mit Sonnenschirmen fingen wir den Blütenzauber”. Krischan! remembers: ‘We were writing to the address on the Bubblegum Splash-single trying to obtain a song by them just to learn they were no more. The Bubblegum’s flavour may have been gone, but they didn’t throw it away (as Mighty Mighty once claimed) but re-put it into shape that was Jane From Occupied Europe.”

The second compilation appearance was on the first Heol tape. This is a “legendary” tape that was released in Francein 1991 and was put together by Anne Moyon. I believe she is married these days with the great Philippe Katerine. But that’s a story for another day. The track that Jane From Occupied Europe included in this compilation was just named “Untitled”.

According to the blogspot, after the split of the band, one of the members moved to Bristol and recorded some songs under the name 7% Solution. You should be able to download those from the page as well. I wonder which member was it. It doesn’t specify. Check them out, it has some sort of Spacemen 3 feeling, a bit more poppy maybe.

There is some more info on the a page called Birdpoo. There you’ll be able to find a review of their first 7″, a review of a gig in the Powerhaus (seems every band I like have played here!), and an article that appeared on the NME in 1990. This page is really worth checking out as it also has lots of info in some other worthy bands of the period! Wish it was updated though!

Anyhow, that’s more or less all you need to know about this great but sadly underrated and forgotten band. If you want to add anything, share stories, or fill in some gaps, please get in touch! Now enjoy the super fantastic “Ocean Run Dry”.

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Listen
Jane From Occupied Europe – Ocean Run Dry

Back from Chicago and then a short work week. Can’t complain. Yesterday Peru beat Mexico in Copa America and that made this week even better. Now I’ll rest and take care of the pile of stuff I have to finish before leaving to the UK on the 21st. Also been thinking of flying to Seattle for Labour Day weekend, not sure if I can afford it, but I feel I should try to get the best out of each long weekend now that I’m kind of young. You only live once they say. Anyhow, train tickets are booked for UK and I’ll be joining Very Truly Yours at their gigs in Glasgow on the 25th and Manchester on the 26th. There are also some great gigs to attend while in London like the free show at ROTA on the 23rd where I’ll finally see Amor de Días and then later that same day the return of The Jasmine Minks with their original lineup! Isn’t that fabulous? Next day, the 24th, it’s time to see Comet Gain!! It’s going to be a very busy week in UK, I can see it already!

On Cloudberry side of things, the artwork for Youngfuck is finished (you can preview it on our Facebook page) and we are just missing some guitar re-recordings for the “Black Tulips” track, then we are set and off to the pressing plant. After it, if everything goes right the Nixon 7″ will be out finally! And yeah, next Friday the new fanzine will be out! You can’t miss it! This weekend I’ve been cutting and pasting together the CD sleeves for the “There’s Peace on the Surging Prow” EP that comes with it. Also got the inserts for the Very Truly Yours single, this week I must finish cutting and hand-numbering them. So lots of work, not many news. But wait until next month, I’m sure August will bring lots!

So what did I listen this week on CD?
1. Nixon – Anorak Christmas (Anorak Records)
2. Various Artists – Spring 2011 Sampler (Pebble Records)
3. Sambassadeur – Final Say (Labrador)
4. The Wild Swans – The Coldest Winter for a Hundred Years (Occultation)
5. The Wild Swans – Tracks in Snow (Occultation)

Now onto our obscure band of the week. Let’s go all the way to the Sound of Young Scotland. Kidding. Let’s go to 1985 actually, but this band may as well have been part of that Glasgow scene of the early 80s. Maybe I’m trying to give the credit Edwyn Collins deserves in inspiring bands with a fresh sound during the 80s, I want to be excited of his gig at Indietracks. I’m not really looking forward to it though, not that I dislike him, I like Orange Juice a lot, but I’m a bit doubtful of what kind of show he can put at the main stage. Friends have told me he is excellent. I really hope so. I’m skeptical. Anyhow, let’s get back into track. 1985, and I guess Northampton. That’s when and where Rumpo Records released the one and only 12″ by Love Ambassadeux (catalog 12002).

A black and white sleeve that doesn’t say much but it’s very elegant welcomes us. The sleeve was designed by Simon Andrews. I have never seen it in real life mind you, it’s one of those records that are impossible to find. It seems it showed up once on eBay according to Popsike, and went for over 100 bucks. If anyone have an spare copy and wants to give it to me, I won’t say no. Of course not! Anyhow, how come this record is so rare? How many copies had been pressed? God knows. Rumpo Records released  a couple of records, at least two 12″ compilations and a 12″ by a band called This Parade. The three of them are quite expensive on Discogs. Are they all guitar pop? I wonder…

The Love Ambassadeux were Roger “Carlos” Nisbett on guitar, Steve Harshaw on bass, Steve Beswick on drums, Dave Howard on keyboards, Russ Cooper on percussion, and Bruce Marcus on vocals. Trisha Wiktorska did backing vocals and the engineer for this record was Alec Price. Among other details on the back cover of the sleeve we see that the front photograph was taken by Jon Barnes, and the producer was no other than The Jazz Butcher!! Isn’t that cool? Wonder if they were his protegés.

Some other details are found on the etchings. on the A side it says “YOU HAVE AN ALMIGHTY HAND – USE IT” and on the B side “I LOVE THE SMELL OF NAPALM IN THE MORNING”.

The first time I heard about them was through my friend Jessels great mixes that he used to post on Myspace. I remember he wrote that the drummer Steve Beswick was playing for The Wild Swans. Checking on my new Wild Swans album, for which I paid 30 dollars including postage (ouch!), I can confirm this is true! Wonder if The Love Ambassadeux opened for the Wild Swans at some gig during the 80s…

The 12″ included 3 songs: “Black Mischief”, “Driftwood” and “Oyster Syndrome”. “Black Mischief” on the sleeve is dedicated to the band’s mothers. Not sure why. I do find that “Black Mischief” was Evelyn Waugh’s third novel, published in 1932. The novel chronicles the efforts of the English-educated Emperor Seth, assisted by a fellow Oxford graduate, Basil Seal, to modernize his Empire, the fictional African island of Azania, located in the Indian Ocean off of the eastern coast of Africa. This has been understood as a reference to Abyssinia and Haile Selassie, though the author himself denied the connection. Do you see any mother connection there?

I find curious the name of the B side song “Oyster Syndrome”. From what I gather:

Writers of all descriptions and levels of experience, sooner or later, develop what can be called “The Oyster Syndrome.” Writers, bloggers included, are always trying to improve their work. Constantly honing their craft, expert and novice alike, tolerate in themselves a measure of “artistic dissatisfaction” that drives them to modify, edit and endlessly revise whatever they are working on. This is “The Oyster Syndrome”: A creative compulsion leading to the relentless pursuit of perfection, which, like the oyster’s reaction to an irritating, sharp grain of sand, produces—a pearl; in the writer’s case (hopefully) a polished “pearl” of prose good enough to enlighten the curious, inspire the discouraged, entertain the bored, and amuse the life-hardened cynic.

Searching around I found also a very interesting article that appeared on The Northampton Chronicle on Monday 20 September 2004. I’ll copy/paste the most interesting parts here:

A RECORD made by a Northampton rock band nearly 20 years ago has cropped up on the most-wanted list of a music website…in Croatia Love Ambassadeux, who were a regular fixture on the Northamptonshire live music scene in the early 1980s, are listed for their 12-inch vinyl EP Black Mischief.

The five-piece were made up of music fans in the Northampton area but according to guitarist Roger Nisbett, from Kingsthorpe, there is little chance of a reunion despite the renewed interest in their music. He said: “I couldn’t believe it when I stumbled across this website and saw us listed on there. “It is amazing to think that someone in Croatia knows about us, 20 years after we called it a day, and is trying to get their hands on Black Mischief. “I know a couple of the lads still live in the town and one has moved down to London but I don’t think we will be getting back together.”

The band was assisted by the Northampton Music Collective, which helped to promote local bands and release records. Roger, 43, who works as a computer systems analyst in Milton Keynes, added that he wasn’t tempted to send one of his copies off to Zagreb. “The memories are much more important than the cash so I’ll be keeping the box of records where they are,” he said. “We had a good few years in the band playing at pubs and places like The Roadmender but unfortunately it was not to be.” The group split up in 1985 shortly after Black Mischief was released.

And that’s about all the information there is about this fantastic and sadly forgotten band. If anyone out there knows anything else about them, if they recorded more songs (they must have!), if they are still music, or just if you have any memories of a gig you attended, please share. I’d love to learn more about this band and their one fantastic record.

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Listen
Love Ambassadeux – Black Mischief

I’m writing this post some time ahead. When this gets published I should have already arrived to O’Hare airport in Chicago. Just read that it was named after Edward O’Hare, the U.S. Navy’s first flying ace and Medal of Honor recipient in World War II. Interesting. Sadly it seems I will be missing the first game of Peru in the Copa America, against Uruguay, on the 4th. That troubles me a bit. I’m not used to miss football games I want to watch, especially the ones of my national team. I hope they get a good result, but seems hard as our top stars are all injured and will miss the tournament. But you never know, football is a game of surprises, that’s the beauty of it. I’m crossing my fingers.

I’d like to add a new sort of section to the weekly obscure band post. I’d like to recommend and share the albums I’ve been listening during the week. This week what’s been on ration at Cloudberry hq has been:
1 The Darling Buds – Crawdaddy
2. Various Artists – Unnecessary Niceness
3. The Gymslips – Rockin’ with the Renees
4. Acid House Kings – Music Sounds Better With You
5. Aquadays – Electric Songs

So now onto our obscure band. Let’s go back to the UK after trips to Scotland and Japan. Let’s move to Slough, West London. The first thing that comes to my mind is the Nine Steps to Ugly’s song “Eddie Lopez lives in Slough”. I do know there are very negative connotations with this town. Reading a bit I learn that this borough I learn that Slough has a relatively high crime rate, with figures for all crime statistic categories above the English average and figures for several categories more than double the English average. According to British Crime Survey statistics, Slough has the worst rate of crime amongst the 15 most comparable other areas, and Slough is the least safe Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership area in the whole of the Thames Valley and South East England. Slough has the highest level of reported anti-social behaviour in the Thames Valley Police area. Slough the rough, huh?

It was in Slough that Ala Pana Fuzo was formed in 1985. The original band members and song writers, Ian Miller (guitar/vocals) and Graham Pedder (guitar/vocals) had played together with various line-ups and under the name “Spish” before forming Ala Pana Fuzo. I wonder if there were any recordings of Spish. I had many questions about this band, like what does their strange name mean, and was in touch with Ian Miller actually back in 2009. He was so kind to send me a copy of the 7″. We agreed on doing an interview for the blog. Sadly I never heard back from him after sending the questions. Guess life got in the way.

There’s an interesting bio on last.fm written by Ian Miller himself. Among the many interesting facts written, he mentions that they often played on the same bill with Peter Brickley, from the Telephone Boxes and the more known Wallflowers as he was also from Slough. They were also very close to signing to a major label but it didn’t happen.

The band members of Ala Pana Fuzo were Ian Miller (guitar, vocals), Graham Pedder (guitar, vocals), Steve Sculpher (bass), Ricci Hodgson (keyboards), Terry Bailey (trumpet) and Brian Green (drums). Terry Bailey would later record with Sade and Culture Club and can be heard on the albums Diamond Life and Promise by Sade and Kissing to be Clever and Colour by Numbers by Culture Club.

There was only one release and it was a 7″ in 1986. It included on the A side the great “Friend” and on the B side the slower “Remember Me Now”. The song “Friend” will appear in The Sound of Leamington Spa Vol. 7. Hopefully that will be out soon! I can’t wait any longer. The 7″ was released on their own Dear Old Blighty Records.

In 1986 they released the 7” single “Friend”. The B side was entitled “Remember Me Now”. The record was released on the independent label Dear Old Blighty Records. For the curious, during World War I, “Dear Old Blighty” was a common sentimental reference, suggesting a longing for home by soldiers in the trenches. The term was particularly used by World War I poets such as Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon. During that war, a Blighty wound — a wound serious enough to require recuperation away from the trenches but not serious enough to kill or maim the victim—was hoped for by many, and sometimes self-inflicted. Wonder if that was the reason to name the band?

I know that Ian Miller was later in a band Wildcard, but never had the chance to hear it. Wonder if it sounded anything like Ala Pana Fuzo. But more importantly, I wonder if Ala Pana Fuzo recorded any more songs. Would be great to learn more. So as always if anyone has more information, please share!

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Listen
Ala Pana Fuzo – Friend

I’m thinking I should leave a post ready for next week. What do you say? I’m kind of enjoying posting some news plus an obscure band every weekend. Next weekend I’ll be out of town, in Chicago. Going on a ghost tour on Saturday. Never done that though I don’t expect to see anything supernatural. But should be fun, ghost stories are great.  Everything is all sorted as Kristine has already made a schedule for the weekend. Which reminds me I have to start buying train tickets for my UK trip at the end of July before the prices are higher.

Today has been a good day on eBay even though I lost my attention for a second and lost two great records in the last seconds. I don’t know what I was thinking. Among the great findings that I won today there was a 12″ by The Wilderness Children and a 7″ by The Sedgwicks that I was missing. Happy Friday. Today I also finished the fanzine. Added a new interview to Sarasota darlings Cassolette. Can’t complain. It’s been productive.

Also today the pressing plant sent me an email saying that the test pressings for the Very Truly Yours 7″ single are on the way. They should arrive home on Monday. Perfect. We are on schedule. Now it’s safe to say the record will be released July 31st, the day they play Indietracks! Though of course, the single will be available before if you happen to be at any of their shows during their UK tour.

So let’s talk about some ghosts of the past. Let’s go this time to Ireland. To Dublin. I’m sure that somewhere in that city, someone must have it. On tape probably. If we are lucky on a DAT tape. Someone must have Guernica’s elusive unreleased album.

Not so sure where to start digging on this ghost tour. Usually my first stop is Discogs, see if someone has listed the band’s records there. In this case we are lucky. There’s even a small bio about the band:

Guernica took a heavy New Order/Joy Division influence and mixed it with indie/C86/jangle-pop sounds. They also incorporated lighter, rockabilly touches to fantastic effect. After a debut single on Solid, they signed to Idol Records in London and released one acclaimed single(orange an red – 12″). They appeared on TV several times including MT USA (“Americano”), TV Ga Ga (“Americano”), Anything Goes (“New Boy”), Borderline (“Deep Sea Diving”) and Megamix (“Homing”).

Most importantly there’s a band lineup: Joe Rooney (vocals), Derek Turner (guitar), Ray McCarthy (keyboards), Derek Lee (bass) and Dara Broe (drums). Doing some more digging I found out that the lead vocalist, Joe Rooney is one of Ireland’s top comic actors and one of the Dereks runs the Spirit Store in Dundalk and manages the Flaws.

On that same discogs page there is a broken link that should have taken you here. This page is part of the Irish Punk and New Wave Discography.  I find there the same text that Discogs has as a biography. Also more information that I would copy paste but it seems these Irish guys are very zealous about their information as they have added some javascript scripts to disallow right clicking or selecting the content.  I don’t understand that. I’ve seen many of the stuff here being copy/pasted in several pages, even in Youtube. No big deal. Anyhow, the stuff they have compiled is really interesting, especially the Spain part:

“We were a New Order type band that ended up going rockabilly. We were a depressing soul-searching rockabilly band, if you can imagine that. We came up with a new type of music in fact, but we broke up after that. The keyboard player found God and he started playing keyboards at a Born Again Christian church. The bass player joined the band Sack and then he left us. Another guy has a studio near Dundalk and the drummer just got loads of girls pregnant!”–Joe Rooney, from a 2004 interview in the Galway Observer

Guernica’s records are particularly popular in Spain, where “Red And Orange” has been included on a number of Spanish compilation CDs. Here is Hugo’s explanation for the band’s popularity in Spain:

“During the mid 80’s there was a Belgian DJ called Frank Lenaers that lived in Valencia and played at a very famous club called Spook. He made Orange and Red “very popular” (considering that was a reduced circle of people). He was a true legend on the decks, he developed an unique style of mixing using early EBM’s, electro, house and industrial minimal tunes as a base for Indie pop, brit pop & rock songs like Guernica’s. Those years of good music, memories & “unhealty life” -the explosion of mescalin and xtc- are still present for some of us…”

There have also been Spanish, Italian and Japanese bands named Guernica, the source of some confusion perhaps.

Note there is NO LINK to the late ’90s pop group named Guernica from Buncrana, Co. Donegal who formed in 1997 and released two CD singles (“Surf Buddy” and 1998’s “Sights Are Cool”) before disbanding, the core duo continuing as Palomino.

Joe Rooney is a now a well known TV actor (“Father Ted”) and standup comedian. Derek Lee later in Sack (see Lord John White). Derek Turner (ex Ifter the Shifter) later formed the excellent Honey Thieves.

But of course the connection with Spain is bigger than that. The band’s name probably comes either from the Basque town Guernica or most probably from the Picasso painting of the name. This famous painting was created in response to the bombing of Guernica, Basque Country, by German and Italian warplanes at the behest of the Spanish Nationalist forces, on 26 April 1937, during the Spanish Civil War. The Spanish Republican government commissioned Picasso to create a large mural for the Spanish display at the Paris International Exposition at the 1937 World’s Fair in Paris.

Guernica shows the tragedies of war and the suffering it inflicts upon individuals, particularly innocent civilians. This work has gained a monumental status, becoming a perpetual reminder of the tragedies of war, an anti-war symbol, and an embodiment of peace. On completion Guernica was displayed around the world in a brief tour, becoming famous and widely acclaimed. This tour helped bring the Spanish Civil War to the world’s attention.

But let’s not get carried away. What about the releases of the band?

The first release was the 7″ single “Deep Sea Diving” / “New Boy” released on Solid Records (ROK 707) in 1987. This record has a fantastic sleeve, one that I would have loved to released, where this white and brown dog is jumping over a monotone blue lake. Both songs on this record are great, this by far my favourite release by them. It’s just fantastic guitar pop, no wonder all of their records are so expensive and rare!

Second release is perhaps their most known record. It includes the hit-in-Spain “Orange and Red”, which in an ideal world would have been a hit in the whole world! On the flip side there are another two great slices of pop “The Queen of Our County” and “Missionary”. The odd thing about this record is that it was recorded in December 1985 and August 1986 but only released in March 1987. The record was recorded at Slane Studios and they crossed the  North Channel  to sign for Idol Records (home of the great Last Party) in London and release it as a 12″ Maxi single. Catalog number is 12ID2.

Their third release was again a 12″, this time an EP on a label I’ve never heard before “Miss Pedestal”. I would guess it was self-released but I can’t confirm it. It was catalog 001 and was released in July 1988. On the A side we find “Humming of the Engine” and on the B side “Summerville” and “Veil of Tears”. This may be my least favourite release, as it’s the least poppy one. On the B side you can find the rockabilly that is mentioned on their bio; whereas on the A side, well, that song is quite dark!

They appeared on a couple of compilations:
–  Contraseña  – with the song Orange and Red. This is an Spanish compilation.
–  Remember Collection – again with Orange and Red and released in Spain.
–  Unknown name – with Queen of our Country on Eden Music Records.
– Solid Citizens – a tape on Solid Records where they included Deep Sea Divers

Among other bits and bobs of information I’ve gathered, I found out that they toured with the more known A House (their first ever tour), as a double header bill, through all Ireland, and that Derek Turner had previously been in the band The Handsome Devils. No clue if they had any releases. The Honey Thieves did, but I guess that’s another story. And that’s about it.

The post came out much longer than I thought! That’s good, lots to read! Anyways, if anyone has anything else to add, if anyone has that unreleased album or any unreleased tracks, if anyone have spares of these records, if anyone just wants to share some memories of Guernica, please leave a comment or get in touch. It’s hard to get in touch with a celebrity like Joe Rooney for an interview, but if anyone knows how to get in touch with any band member, please let me know! Would love to learn more about Guernica.

I’m so in love today with “Deep Sea Diving” that I have just made everyone bounce their heads on the turntable.fm thingie. It’s just fabulous!

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Listen
Guernica – Deep Sea Diving

Another week goes by and Indietracks gets closer. And even though I have to admit I’m not excited at all about the lineup this year, I look forward to what Indietracks really is. An indiepop amusement park! Being with friends, riding the train, dancing, meeting new people, and just the great atmosphere in the middle of Derby. I’m thinking that on the weekend before Indietracks, I’d like to go to Canterbury and Brighton, each for a day trip. Any recommendations in these cities?? Then I’ll be joining Very Truly Yours on their tour. I believe I’ll be joining them for their gigs in Glasgow and Manchester. That I look forward a lot!

Also next week in Miami Beach there are some good indiepop news as Sarasota darlings’ Cassolette are coming to play! Just a couple of blocks away from my place. They released “Not Just Anyone” on the Cloudberry compilation CD “Do You Think it Will Snow Tonight?”. A superb track. Nowadays we are working towards a 7″ that hopefully will be out in the near future. It’s really exciting to see Ciera again, I think it’s been a year or maybe two since she was down here. She has had some really cool bands before, Que Possum for example released a fantastic split 7″ with Boyracer, and Sugarbears had a delicious slice of synth-pop on the “Where are the Supremes Tonight?” CD compilation. So something to really look forward next Saturday. Here is the event if anyone wants to join: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=228464947165949

Cloudberry-wise I’m finishing the fanzine this weekend as I got the last interview on the mail at last! I have the CDs ready. I will update the website with the song information as well. Sorry it has taken a bit of time. It will be worth it. Don’t you all want a zine with Christine Garlands on the cover? On other news I got drafts for the artwork from Becca Stadtlander for the coming Youngfuck 7″, it’s looking really great! Isn’t she great?

But now onto serious matter: the weekly obscure band. This week I’d like to feature Future World Moves, from Livingston, Scotland. I was actually in touch some years ago with them through myspace, I even sent them interview questions, but never heard back from them sadly. I guess life came in the way.  They only released one record, one that I’ve been trying to find a copy for myself without luck for a long time, so if you happen to have a spare one, please let me know. Don’t overprice it 🙂

As far as I can tell the name of the band comes from a song by the same name of theirs. There is a bunch of recordings posted on their own Youtube account. Some songs are really lo-fi, but there are many interesting jangle pop slices there as well. The other important fact of information was that the band was comprised by Phil Paterson, Gerry McCart and Alex McTaggart and as I said they were based in Livingston. I’ve been to Scotland this year for the first time, in Glasgow and Edinburgh. I had never heard of Livingston though, though is it possible I passed it on the train in between the other two cities? The name sounds very familiar. I read a bit of Livingston right now:

Livingston (Scottish Gaelic: Baile Dhùn Lèibhe) is a new town in West Lothian, Scotland. It is the fourth post-war new town to be built in Scotland, designated in 1962. It is located approximately 15 miles (25 km) west of Edinburgh and 30 miles (50 km) east of Glasgow. Livingston is also the second largest settlement in the Lothians after Edinburgh. Until 1963 the area surrounding the ancient village of Livingston was open farm land and the ancient village is now called Livingston Village. The name was taken from this village which dates back to 12th Century when a Flemish entrepreneur called De Leving was granted land in the area. He built a fortified tower which is long since gone and the settlement that grew up around it became known as Levingstoun, Layingston and eventually Livingston.

If you still live there, or you visit, I hear that the 3 guys in Future World Moves still make music, well kind of, they still play live in a covers band called “We’re Not Iguanas”. Not sure if their whole set is my cup of tea, but they do play some Buzzcocks and Undertones and that I do like! I’m sure they secretly still make original music though, you can’t just stop!

Anyhow, back to that one record they released. It was a self-released 12″ minilp. Catalog number being FWM001.  Black and white cover, with a band photo in the middle, the same promo photo I posted in this entry. As I have never had the record, or even seen it, I cant assure you, but I believe it had 6 songs. I know that A1 was “Voice of Autumn”, B1 was “Particular Day” and B2 was “Roar of Thunder”. I can hear influences by The Chameleons throughout the tracks. Great 80s guitar pop overall!

The information about them online is very scarce, really a  shame, as they did release a record. So, as always, any info about them will be very welcome. Where are they now? Are there more recordings? Why is their one and only record so hard to find? How many copies were pressed? Would like to know more!

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Listen
Future World Moves – This Particular Day

Not many news this week. It’s been a very quiet one. At least I could finish answering all emails that I had piling and bought a plane ticket to Chicago for the 4th of July weekend. It will be my first time in the Windy City. For sure I’ll visit the Millenium Park and the Art Institute. Would like to see Adler Planetarium and the Navy Pier as well. And it seems I will go onto a ghost tour as well. That sounds quite exciting!

This week I’ve been listening to the new-ish BMX Bandits reissue on Rev-Ola/Poppydisc, the “C86+Star Wars” CD. By doing this on last.fm the Banditos are my top band ever. What would McCarthy say to this! It’s interesting though that Rev-Ola is not part of Cherry Red anymore, I wonder why. Other albums that were on rotation were Vitesse’s “Chelsea 27099”, The Big Dish’s “Swimmer” and Johnny Rasheed’s “Inspiration”. Today was a day for listening to an indiepop compilation called “Working Titles”. This CD that comes in a DVD case has been a great surprise as there are no fillers in it, it’s just good from start to finish. Also it comes with a great booklet, with interviews to every band that appears on the compilation. This was released in Philippines in 2002. Also this week I’ve got the chance to listen all the recordings done by Feverfew, a bunch of rare and unreleased Man of Delmonte tracks and some unreleased Tender Engines.

But now onto the obscure band recommendation for this week: The Philips. As I’ve never done a Japanese lost band, I thought it was time to do so. And I’m quite curious about them as there is absolutely no information about them. There was one release though, a split flexi shared with The Ammonites. So let’s talk about that.

The 7″ flexi was a co-release between A Rare Breed Records and The Boshi Label. I don’t know much about the first label, aside that their first release was another flexi, the Hopscotch flexi by my beloved PO! The Boshi Label on the other hand was Akiko’s first “label” before the much more known Sugarfrost Records. On the Boshi Label there were 5 fanzines,  1 t-shirt, 2 cassette tapes, and 2 flexis. This one, the Ammonites/Philips flexi, was the first of the two, it was released in 1990 and was catalog number RODDY 007. Big fan of Aztec Camera huh?

I’m quite bummed after seeing on Discogs that the flexi came with a picture sleeve. The copy I have has no sleeve. Kind of annoying. I did pay 1 pound for it so I shouldn’t complain much, but still. The Philips song on the flexi is called “Young Love Be Your Monkey Tonight”. The Ammonites one is called “Jennifer”. I do wonder what does the name of the Philips song means. In any case, the song is a really fun one, with a catchy chorus and great melodies. I’d say it sounds like a stripped down Flipper’s Guitar’s tune!

And after listening one more time “Young Love Be Your Monkey Tonight”, I wonder if did they only record 1 song? That doesn’t sound right to me. I’m sure they had more stuff recorded. Was this their only release? Whatever happened to them? I feel there was a great scene in Japan in the early 90s, but it hasn’t been documented properly. Maybe it’s time to do so! So if you have any other information about the band, please share!

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Listen
The Philips – Young Love Be Your Monkey Tonight

At least it didn’t take two weeks this time to update the blog, just one. Not that bad. Maybe four posts a month is not an awful rate, though I wish I had more time to write more often. I think it’s just a matter of adjusting my time and my sleeping patterns. I haven’t told many but I started a new job a couple of weeks ago. My work hours are different now and I’m still getting used to it. It’s quite hard. I wonder how come it’s so easy when I travel to Europe and I feel no sort of jet-lag. But now that I have two wake up three hours before than normal I’m really having a rough time. Everyday it feels as if a truck has ran me over when I wake up. Anyhow, as I said, it will be a matter of adjusting and eventually after work I’ll have the energy to write on the blog as I used to and not having to wait until every Saturday afternoon. It’s just a new, small beginning.

News this week? Not many. There’s a new Nixon compilation CD out on Anorak Records titled “Anorak Christmas” and it includes many of his most known songs. It’s a great thing as many fans have been longing to finally have in their hands his songs on a physical record as his previous records have been sold out for such a long time. I was happy to participate in this CD writing the liner notes.

On Cloudberry news, I’ve just answered an  interview about the label for a Japanese fanzine called Weekend Never Dies that runs the lovely Sayuri Arai, who I met in New York City. She was accompanying Caucus and Smilove. It’s a very nice interview as she asks me very interesting questions, not just the same old “why did you start a label” or “what is in store for the future”. I look forward to see the printed zine. Also by now all the regular mailorders should have the latest releases (Caucus & Persian Rugs) in stock. I just posted the last batch to the great Pebble Records in UK.

Let’s go to our weekly featured obscure band then. On my last blog post I wrote:

I do know that Daniel Bates and Graham Jordan before being in June Recruits were part of a band called Natural Instinct, who I will be covering on the next blog post. Promise. They had some great tunes!

So, here we are, trying to uncover a bit the mysterious halo of Natural Instinct.  Of course the information is very scarce. There is a small text written by someone called Steve Fox on the page I’ve been dissecting lately: Wymondham College Remembered. It says:

“Natural Instinct was the original line-up of the June Recruits before things went a bit pear shaped – I’m not sure how one band led to the other but the tape was entitled ‘Small Beginnings’ and the insert was interestingly made from black and white photographic paper. All these guys were in my year – 1981 to 1986 and – although my memories are a bit sketchy – were Robert Wylie (New Hall) and ‘Gaz’ (New; can’t remember his surname) on vocals, Dan “DOB” Bates (Kett) on lead, Graham Jordan (New) on Bass, Marvin George (Kett) on keyboard and Jim Cook (Kett) on drums. The photowork was done by Andrew Carey (New).”

“Dan Bates was called DOB because they were his initials, which was small comfort for the five years of sniggering he had to endure every time a letter arrived addressed to ‘Master Bates’ – a nice bloke though and I don’t recall a time I ever saw him without a smile. As for Marv George, he was an extremely talented guy who could play a keyboard with incredible skill; I remember being extremely envious listening to him on his synth and he once lent me a keyboard which had a ‘teach yourself’ function where the keys would light up when you were supposed to press them as it played a cheesy backing version of ‘Morningtown Ride.’ I was RUBBISH!”

First thing that attracts my attention is those words in paragraph, Kett & New Hall. I wonder if this is important at all, but perhaps for fellow students of the college it was. These are the names of the Houses were these guys were into. I’m familiar with the house system as I studied in a British school when I was a kid, but for you who don’t know, the house system is a traditional feature of British schools, and schools in ex-British colonies. Historically it was associated with established public schools, where a ‘house’ refers to a boarding house or dormitory of a boarding school. In the case of a day school, however, the word ‘house’ refers only to a grouping of pupils, rather than to a particular building.  Pupils are likely to be divided into a number of houses, which are often named after saints, famous historical alumni or notable regional landmarks (at international schools, for example, houses may be named after famous local people). Other more arbitrary names – animal names or colours, for example – may be used where the house system is adopted by a primary school.

In the case of Wymondham College, a house system was first established in 1953, with house names North, South, East and West. As the College expanded and brick-built accommodation came into use in the early 1960s, the system was revised and the Houses were given names of Cathedral towns and cities:

• Boys: York, Gloucester, Canterbury, Norwich, Durham, Salisbury
• Girls: Wells, Westminster, Worcester, Winchester (with Wakefield and Washington added later)

Later in the early 1970s mixed Houses were introduced and the cathedral House names were scrapped and the Houses adopted the names of the Halls themselves. Lincoln and Peel Halls were converted to Sixth Form boarding houses in 1978, Peel Hall being further converted into a boarding house for Year Sevens in 1995.

The house system is now as follows:

• Year Seven: Peel
• Years Eight to Eleven: Fry, Cavell, Kett, Or New
• Years Twelve to Thirteen: Lincoln

So first mystery of Natural Instinct is solved, they were in between the Years Eight and Eleven. But wouldn’t it have been more “musically cool” if they were in Year Seven and being in “John” Peel House? 😉

Then there was one tape released at least as attested by Steve Fox. This one tape had the songs “Small Beginnings” and “That’s All” but may have had as well more songs. I can’t confirm this. I can’t either say if this was their only demo tape released or not. I wish it wasn’t. It’d like to listen more by them. About the year when these tracks were recorded I would have a wild guess of 1987 a year prior the June Recruits formation.

“Small Beginnings” is the best of the two tracks. It is a really catchy tune that reminds me of the Spinning Wheels or Windy Miller, with an upbeat drum machine that feels everything is falling apart. Really cool! It’s like ramshackle pop without the crashing guitars. There is also a cool keyboard on both songs that feels a bit like The Apple Moths. Very nice poppy atmospheres. It makes me long for more songs by this band. Whatever happened to them?

And this is were we stop. There’s absolutely no more information about the band or the members. For some reason while looking if any of the band members was in the famous ex-pupils I learned that the actor Mark Strong, the bad guy from Kick-Ass, studied here and his real name is actually Marco Giuseppe Salussolia. Not that it is important, but I found it interesting. Anyways, if you have any more information about Natural Instinct please get in touch! I’d love to listen more stuff from them!

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Listen
Natural Instinct – Small Beginnings