Met Martin from Brideshead last Wednesday, and as you remember he also runs the superb Apricot Records (we should do an interview!). So I got many many records, and enjoyed some beers. Then at some point Elisabeth from the lovely Leaving Mornington Crescent joined us. It was a small little indiepop reunion, talking about all sorts of things. I had a very nice time. I wonder why many friends from abroad are coming during this month to New York! Who will be next? Get in touch as I’d love to grab a beer with you!

Here are some new finds for this coming weekend!

Río Arga: I really like this Pamplona band. They are going to release an album sometime soon on Caballito Records and Mondo Canapé and so they are letting us preview the song “No Quieres Verme”. The song has a promo clip which I urge you all to check out. I missed their 10″ that was released by Caballito (I thought I was going to get it from the label and well, waited a long time and of course now it is sold out), so this time around I’ll just order it, because I don’t want to miss it!

Bedflowers: the Manchester band from the late 80s have put up on Bandcamp what was supposed to be released as a 12″, the “Little Deaths” EP. I wrote about the band many years ago, I think it might even be among my earliest posts. Sadly I still haven’t being able to interview the band. I hope that happens soon. But here you can listen to 4 amazing songs, “Address”, “Making Out in Public Places”, “Pillow Talk” and “Little Death”.

The Catherines: the Hamburg band is back with two wonderful songs, “I Can’t Believe You Leaev Me for That Dumbo” and “Fumbleknob”. The band is calling these songs as the “two sides” of the band, one being a piano ballad and another one being a punkpop track.

The Blue Herons: after two months the Lucerne, Switzerland, project by Andy Jossi is back. This is good news, as before this they made us wait a year! I hope they become more prolific as they really make lovely songs. This time around they are presenting us this new track called “The Way You Look at Me” which features Krissy Vanderwoude on vocals.

Happypills: the lovely indiepop project from Fukuoka is also back with a summer single called “Summersong”. It is very short, clocking under 2 minutes, but it is a sweet lo-fi poppy song worth including in your own summer mix!

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Many many years ago, I interviewed The Grooveyard. That time I asked Perry from The Grooveyard about a flexi they were part of. They had the first song on it, “Summer”, while the second song was by a band called Ever. It is time to go back to that flexi and find out any information about Ever because they contributed to this flexi a most wonderful song, “Sleepyhead”.

The flexi I am talking about was released by Playroom Discs (PLAYFLEX 1) in 1988. This label was started in the late 1980s by Gordon Kaye and Sean Sullivan and they were based in Brighton. They also ran the weekly club night Sunshine Playroom in the Escape Club. A top label. All bands they put out have been already featured here like Whirl, The Morrisons, The Grooveyard, and now Ever.

At the time of the flexi Ever were Lyndon Dempsey on vocals, Colin Ray on bass and Peter Whittick on guitars. There is a photo of the band on the inner sleeve of the flexi but it shows a four-man band and not a three one. I wonder who is the fourth in this photo. The drummer? It says that a drumbox was programmed by Nick Odle for the song.

We also know that “Sleepyhead” was recorded on a 16-track at Cherry Studios in Croydon and was produced by Andy Dalby and the band.

The band was to sign to the Midnight Music label that Nick Ralph used to run back then. With this label they were to release in 1991 an EP on 12″ vinyl and CD called “Virginize” (DONG 72). The 12″ had two songs on each side. The A side had “Virgin Eyes”and “Svg”. The B side had two remixed, “Schizo Virgin Girl” and “Interstate”, both remixed by Kevin Harris. Harris had also been the engineer in these recordings. The producers were Fluffy Bunny for “Svg” and Genesis P-Orridge from Throbbing Gristle for the rest of tracks. The recordings were done by Malcolm Page at The Twilight Zone in Berry Street, London though “Svg” was recorded at 124 Studio. The CDEP had the same running order.

The art for this EP was created by Malcolm. Then other credits include breaks, beats and management by Gordon Kaye. The songs were written by Dempsey, Whittick, Prosser, Steele and Kenny. I notice there is no more Colin Ray mentioned. Maybe the band lineup had changed.

“Sleepyhead”, as it is such a wonderful song, was included in the classic tape “Uncle Arthurs Pop Parlour” that our friend Dave Driscoll released in 1987.

In 1991 they had the song “Really Tired” on the compilation “Forever Changing” that was released on vinyl LP and CD by Beechwood Music (EVER 001). This compilation includes many great bands like The Impossibles, The Clouds and more. It even has a track by Blur.

Then in 1997 the band had their song “Virgin Eyes” on “Nocturnal – The Best of Midnight Music” that was released by Cherry Red (CDMRED). I suppose at this point Cherry Red already owned all recordings that Midnight Music had put out. This means of course that it will prove quite impossible to see a re-release of these tracks as Cherry Red is a complicated label. Unless of course Cherry Red puts a retrospective out themselves.

On Youtube, you can find a 1988 unreleased EP that the band was supposed to release with Playroom Records. It was to be called “Carousel” and it seems it already had artwork. What happened to it? Three songs were included, “Wednesday“, “Quicksand” and “Carousel“. How wonderful they sound! I would totally release them as a retrospective if I could!

On this same channel on Youtube we find a demo version of “Quicksand” from 1988. But that’s not all. This channel which I’ve explored extensively in the past on posts about The Friendly Fires and Bobby Scarlet, has more Ever tracks. For example there is “We Run and Hide“, “France Falls“, “Paper Tiger“, “Colour Scheme” and “Velvet“, all demos from 1984. Then there is a demo from 1987 of the superb “Wednesday“.

There’s a trove of tracks here indeed. There are two more demos from 1985, “The Winter of Love” and “Velvet“.

I found two more videos even for the band. The first is “Really Tired” which sounds BRILLIANT. The second is for “Interstate“.

I can’t find much more information about the band. I do believe Lyndon Dempsey has been involved in a band called Poppy Tea Room after he was in Ever. But there is not much more online about them. A shame as their songs are amazing. I am pretty sure too that they hailed from Crawley, so I am hoping people from the area remember them and can give me some details!

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Listen
Ever – Sleepyhead

It was very nice meeting with Martin from Baby Lemonade last Saturday for some beers. Talked lots about music, about the Glasgow scene mostly. It was great to hear so many anecdotes about those late 80s and early 90s. For those wondering about the retrospective album I hope the CDs will be ready next month, I’ll keep you all updated.

There has been a few more bits of music I’ve stumbled upon the last few days. So of course I will share with you all.

Blanco: last Friday I shared you the new video by the Tokyo band. Now I will share you the whole EP which is titled “Slice of Life”. It is a great record and I can’t wait for it to be released on CD on June 23rd! Definitely check it out, they even have a gig coming that same day if you are in Tokyo!

The Lousy Pop Group: it is a bit early for Christmas, right? But it doesn’t matter for the Depok, Indonesia, band as they are treating us to their latest digital single called “When Santa Got Stuck Up the Chimney”! It is pretty nice, so let’s save it for our holiday mix CDs later this year.

Flowerbed: now onto some superb shoegazy sounds by the Dallas band Flowerbed! I had featured them a few months ago and I am happy to do so again as this time there are 5 songs on their self-titled EP. The band formed by Steven, Andrew, Bailey and Nathan, have some terrific songs, all titled with flower names.

Kissamatic Lovebubbles ft. The Twelve Hour Foundation: the new Athens label Old Bad Habits are releasing two songs by the classic Greek band. They are not the old recordings but reworked versions with the cooperation with the electronic Bristol duo The Twelve Hour Foundation. Iit is being released on the 22nd as a 7″ and will include two songs, “Endless” and “Me”.

Herbario: this Santiago, Chile, band sounds terrific. It is the solo project of Ricardo Valdés and from what I understand his latest song called “Movimientos” will be part of the debut album he is working on. Lots of jangle here, lots of pop fun!

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The Crimpolene Explosion is one of those obscure bands that I am way too curious about. You see, I only know one song by them, “Souvenir”, which is absolutely fantastic. A rush of shambolic pop, ramshackling guitars and a foot-stomping rhythm that I am always left wondering if there are any more songs by them.

It has been years since I’ve been fixated with this song. Not sure why it has taken me this long to post about them. Maybe because I am in the mood of finding bands that would be great to put out? Well, that one song I know, called “Souvenir”, I would totally release it. It is strange that it wasn’t back in the 80s. That they didn’t get a single. Or a flexi.

The song did appear on a legendary compilation, the “Uncle Arthurs Pop Parlour” tape. We know a bit about this tape. We know it was our friend Dave Driscoll who was in The Aurbisons who put out this tape in 1987. Also I’ve featured a few of the band son this tape like The Grooveyard, The Doris Days, Bluetrain And Some Other Day. The tape, whicha acme in a clear plastic bag with a 20 page fanzine with presentations of all the bands. I’ve never seen a copy of this zine. I am hoping someone still owns it and could tell me what information appears for The Crimpolene Explosion. Any names? Where were they based? Any other songs?

I don’t know what a crimpolene is. I did find what “crimplene” is. Maybe there was a typo? Crimplene was created in 1950 by the British chemical company Imperial Chemicals Industries.  It is a thick polyester yarn. The yarn can be woven, but was most usually seen in a double knit. Crimplene fabric is heavy, wrinkle-resistant, wash-and-wear and easy to sew. It may have been named after the Crimple Valley which is near the ICI Laboratory where the fiber was developed.

Something interesting is that there is another band (or is it not another band?) that was formed in 2010 by members of the Birmingham band The Noseflutes. This is something I wonder as The Noseflutes were around the time the Uncle Arthurs Pop Parlour tape was released. Maybe they recorded a few songs under this name then and in 2010 decided to use it back? It is just a supposition. I couldn’t say.

There is absolutely nothing on the web about them. So either someone remembers them, or someone owns the fanzine that came with the compilation tape and can give me any details. I would love to know (and listen) more.

EDIT June 12 2019: Uwe from Firestation Records just pointed me to a post on the blog Indie Through the Looking Glass that our friend Jo from Bluetrain and Go Service runs. The post dates from a few months ago, April, and it is about a band called The New Tennessee Waltz. At first I didn’t know what was the connection until I played the songs that were available, “My Sin”, “Precious Days”, “My Town” and “Souvenirs”. When I played “Souvenirs” I knew it was the same song as “Souvenir” by The Crimpolene Explosion! I start to wonder then why did they release songs under two different names? There is some info about the band too, mentioning that the band was based in Fleet, Hampshire, and that they played many times at The Buzz Club, the club Jo ran back in the 80s. She describes the band as a semi-acoustic combo that wore great clothes. For example I know that they played at the club alongside the BMX Bandits and The House Hunters.
Their lead singer was called Gary, and they recorded at least one demo tape with 4 songs in 1986. These four songs are the ones available on Spotify now. Of course, I can’t support Spotify because it doesn’t share any of the indie ideals but, it is the only place right now to listen to these tracks. And the songs are so so good that I have to listen to them. I just wish they were released physically.

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Listen
The Crimpolene Explosion – Souvenir

Finds from last weekend!

Blanco: I like this Japanese band a lot. I have featured them in the past too. Well, today I found a promo video they have made for the song “Lazy” that will be included in their new EP “Slice of Life” that is going to be released on June 16th!

Drims: first time I’m listening to this Nuevo León, Mexico, band and it is through the video for their song “Casa”. It turns out it is not exactly a new song, it is actually part of their “Demos” from 2016 and 2017. The video is new though.

Ampersand: quite surprised to see the Ampersand EP titled “<<<<<<<<” on Bandcamp. I like this record that was released on 7″ back in the year 2000 on the lovely Fantastic Pop records. I have a copy of it myself. So I thought, if you are not aware of it, here is a chance to have a listen to this jangly record from the San Francisco band.

My Darling You!: really? the band is joining Matinée Recordings? That is quite a surprise! I never thought the sound of the band would be something that would fit in the label! But that is great news in any case. I love this band! It was many many years ago when I was in touch with them, even releasing a collection of their recordings. I didn’t even know they were around still. The two new songs that Matinée is releasing are “Thanks for Letting Me Stay” and “Spring”. Digitally for now. I am hoping a physical release!

Llojd: I found about this band through my friend David from Barcelona. He had shared the song “Drömmare och Visionär” which sounded great! I don’t know much about the band but the Soundcloud has many tracks by the Stockholm based outfit. Worth checking them out for sure.

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A 7″ I don’t own. An incomplete discography. No surprise here. That’s the case with many of the records and bands I feature, as these are bands I want to know their story, their background.

Wall of Orchids was Lane Steinberg. He wrote and performed all the songs the band released. The first two which were released in 1993’s 7″ with “Life Must Go On” on the A side and “Come Back to Me” in the B side. The label that put it out was Pop Look & Listen (POP-1) which seems to have been a self-release as there are no other releases listed on this label.

There is some more information on the sleeve. We know that the photo on the front was taken by Jamie Gordon and the one in the back by Adene Mechanic. Both songs were recorded by James MacMillan, John Siket and John Rosenber at Water Music Recorders in Hoboken, New Jersey.

Interestingly enough this record was reissued 10 years later, in 2003, by EM Records (EM7015EP) from Japan. Aside from the two songs that were included in the original release, it was expanded, with “I Could Have Told You” on the A side and “Great Blue” on the B side. We know that “Great Blue” was recorded at Wild Feed Studios in 1996 while “I Could Have Told You” was recorded at the same studio but in 1999. This song also had the help of Steven Katz. The record was mastered by Koichi HAra at Free People Studios in Osaka, Japan, while the art was designed by Yasuhiro Morimoto for Cloudy, Later Fine. Something interesting in this release is that it mentions that the songs are taken from the album “Late Steinberg Collection 1984-2000”.

The band did release another record under the name Wall of Orchids. It was a CD EP that the legendary label Bus Stop put out in 2001 (BUS058). This EP included 5 tracks, “Great Blue”, “If Not Now, When?”, “No One is Looking at the Rain”, “Come Back to Me” and “Life Must Go On”. All songs were written and performed by Lane. It is said that these songs were recorded wile Lane was managing a recording studio in New York, and when he wasn’t working he would take advantage of the studio’s equipment to record his songs.

There are also three compilation appearances. The first dates from 1996 on the Japanese CD compilation “New One” that was put out by Escalator Records (ESCD001). The band appears with the song “How High is Up?” and is accompanied in this compilation by great bands such as Charlots, Super or Lester Noel.

The other compilation mentioned is the one I was talking about before, the “Lane Steinberg Collection 1984-2000” that EM Records put out (EM1015CD). On this record we see some of his solo work, tracks by the bands Noel Coward’s Ghost, Tan Sleeve and The Wind. Wall of Orchids appears here too with the songs “Life Must Go On”, “I Could Have Told You” (written by VanHeusen and Cahn), “Come Back to Me”, “Give the Devil Has Due”, “Great Blue” and “If Not Now, When?”. It would be interesting too find a copy of this record as it is said it comes with a booklet with information about these recordings.

Lastly, two years ago, in 2017, the label Sugarbush Records put out the vinyl compilation “A Spoonful of Sugarbush” (SB027) where Wall of Orchids was included with the track “Come Back to Me”.

Aside from all this we know too that Lane has been involved with other bands like 8×8 and Cracked Latin.

Aside from that we don’t know much more about Wall of Orchids. Was it just a recording project? Did he ever play live these songs? Why weren’t there more releases especially in the 90s? Are there any more songs? I wonder. Who knows? Who remembers them?

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Listen
Wall of Orchids – Life Must Go On

Friday! That’s all I have to say today!

If you want some new music for the weekend, here you go:

Tennis Club: I’ve recommended the Joplin, Missouri, band many times now. Well, this might not be the last time, but this time I have to say that there are 9 songs to listen and a 10″ to buy from the band’s Bandcamp. “Pink” is the name of this mini-album that boasts a bunch of great songs, most of them very short, leaving you hoping for more.

Pictured Resort: the Japanese band is back on Sailyard Records preparing to release their second album on July 3rd. The album is self-titled and will include 12 songs and will be available digitally and on vinyl. You can preview one of the tracks, “Someday”, on Soundcloud. Sounds very good!

Real Numbers: the latest by the Minneapolis band is a 7 song compilation of live performances and radio sessions, including tracks from WFMU, a cover of The Golden Dawn and a live gig at the venue Secret Service. There are some nice jangly songs here.

The Silent Boys: I’ve always being a fan of the band formed by Wallace Dietz in Virginia. They have been making quality indiepop for three decades now. Their latest release is a 9 song album titled “By the Light of the Moon”. I would totally recommend it if you like classic indiepop, jangly guitars and fine melodies!

Espíritusanto: there are two digital singles available to preview while we wait for the new album “Exfuturo” that will be released on June 14th on Jabalina Discos from Spain. The Madrid based band is back with “La Clausura” and “El Rayo que no Cesa”, two terrific and catchy popsongs!

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The blue tit, Cyanistes caeruleus, is a passerine songbird in the family Paridae. It is 10.5 to 12 cm (4.2 to 4.8 inches) long. The blue tit is a widespread and common resident breeder. It lives throughout temperate and subarctic Europe and western Asia in deciduous or mixed woodlands. It is a resident bird; most do not migrate.

Dawn Chorus and the Blue Tits. You know who was behind this band? Liz Kershaw. Who? Elizabeth Marguerita Mary Kershaw from Littleborough, Lancashire, England. She, who goes by Liz, a pretty well known English radio broadcaster. Actually the third longest serving female radio DJ after Annie Nightingale and Janice Long. She celebrated 25 years as a DJ on BBC radio in 2012.

But she hasn’t only been a DJ. She has made music. And there are some great tracks she has been involved with of course.

The first Dawn Chorus & the Blue Tits release was a 7″ on Stiff Records (DAWN 1) in 1985. It had two songs, a cover of The Undertones’ classic “Teenage Kicks” on the A side and “Dream Lover” on the B side which I know as a song by Bobby Darin. The record came with a fold-out poster.

Something I do wonder about this project of hers was if all songs were covers. It may as well be. Let’s continue checking out her releases.

“I’m Going Down”, a cover of Bruce Springsteen, was her second A side. This 7″ was also released by Stiff Records (DAWN 2) in 1985. It included a B side, one that was actually written by Dawn Chorus, “What’s Wrong With Me”. Both songs were produced by Neil Ferguson who has been part of Chumbawamba, Sportchestral and The Donkeys.

The last release was came in two different formats, 7″ and 12″. Both had “When You Walk in the Room” as the A side and “Lonely Lips” on the B side. the first song being a cover of Jackie De Shannon while the 2nd I know from The Chordettes. Both songs were once again produced by Neil Ferguson.

The band appeared also in three compilations, but much much later than when they were around in the 80s. In 2006 the band contributed “I’m Going Down” to a tribute of Bruce Springsteen CD called “If I Were the Boss – The Songs of Bruce Springsteen” that Castle Music released. Then in 2016 the band contributed “Teenage Kicks” to the all-female vocalist CD boxset “Sharon Signs to Cherry Red” that RPM Records put out on CD and later, in 2017, School Daze on vinyl.

What else we know about the band? We know for example that Liz Kershaw is not the only DJ in the family, her brother Andy is also a DJ for BBC. The other two members in the band were Lindsay Forrest and Carol Vonderman who was already a TV presenter on the show Countdown until 2008. We know too that the band did a Peel Session in 1985 but only Liz Kershaw was present and not the other two girls. Why? I don’t know. Her brother Andy and backing musicians were part of the recording. For the session that was first broadcast on March 4th 1985 the band had recorded on February 24th of the same year the songs “Teenage Kicks”, “Photographs”, “Lovely Lips” and “That Silver-Haired Daddy of Mine”.

Sadly I can’t find if the band played live at all. Or if there are any other recordings by the band. Of course there are many hits when it comes to Liz and Carol on the web, but not about her involvement with the band but with their more famous careers, DJ and TV presenter.

I do find something worth reading though, an article written by Liz on the Daily Mail from September 2010. Here she talks a bit how the band formed and her friendship with Carol. On it we learn that Liz stage name was Dawn Chorus, Carol’s was May Bank Holiday and Lindsay was April Showers.

Anyone remembers them?

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Listen
Dawn Chorus and the Blue Tits – What’s Wrong With Me?

I wonder if this was a good challenge, going through all the alphabet. I like these sort of things as it makes me dig deeper. I wonder what other sort of “challenges” one can don. I know at the Janglepophub they do themes for songs. Maybe that is an idea. Would love some suggestions so I can find out more music that way.

It feels too like sometime this summer I may revive the Cloudberry podcast. There is the possibility that I will get help with the “production” part. When my friend Toni couldn’t help anymore with that a few years ago, the podcast was over. But there’s some interest now though I’ve been told interviews have to be much shorter!!

New finds? Bien sur!

Friedrich Sunlight: Tapete Records will be releasing the new album “Sagt es Erst Morgen” on June 28th. To promote the album the label and the band have put together a video for the title song and what can I tell you other than it sounds great!! It was so cool by the way to see Ronny from Kleine Schallplatten and Fred from The BV’s in the video!

Tennis Club: another video, this time from the US band that has just released a 10″ on Elefant Records. The name of the song is “Vodkas” and it is a catchy one.

Lisasinson: went to check other new sounds on the Madrid based label Elefant Records. This band is totally new to me. None of my friends have mentioned or linked to them. From what I know it is a trio from Valencia formed by Miriam, Mar and María. The band has a new video for the track “Barakaldo” which is being released as a mini-LP though not sure in what format it will be released. Sounds fun!

Girl from Mars: I feel transported back to the early/mid 2000s where lots of lo-fi bedroom pop bands appeared. Everyone was recording at home. That’s the effect the Los Angeles based Girl from Mars made on me. She has a new 4 song EP called “Mousy” which is worth the listen. Fragile, cute, and very personal.

Blue-Very Pavilion: the Japanese label run by our friend Kei is turning 20 years! For this occasion the label has put together a tape compilation that features lots of great Japanese bands like Sloppy Joe, Thee Windless Gates, 101 Dalmatians, Johnny Dee, Alvysinger and more! Great release!

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The last letter of the challenge, letter Z. I made it! The turn now for letter Z is for the German band Zirf Gum Gum Baddel!

I can say I do own their “Poppin’ Pies in Flowerland” 7″ that was released in 1991 by the Love Lane label. I bought it many years ago, can’t remember where. Might have been on eBay. If my memory serves me right I saw their name in the Twee.net website and without knowing how they sounded like I just bought their record. A good idea, right?

This 7″ had not 2, not 3, but 5 songs on it. A good deal you might say. The A side included 2 songs, “Dentalmania” and “Potato Pie” while the B side had “Let Me Go”, “Simplicity” and “Fisherman”. All songs were recorded and mixed at Soundgarden Tonstudio in Hamburg between August 27 and 28 in 1991. Does this mean the band was Hamburg based? The answer is yes.

I love Hamburg. What can I say. It has been many years since I visited though. I hope I can remedy that next year. See all my good friends that live there. And had some good German food. Labskaus anyone?

The record was recorded by Vijay Sapre who had been in a band called The Gift which I’m curious about now as Discogs lists their album as an indiepop record.

Now, the band members. We know Zirf Gum Gum Baddel was formed by:
Jörn Tietgen – drums, tambourine, bass and vocals
Martin Dobkowitz – guitar, bass and vocals
Gregor Hartz – guitar, bass, vocals, drums and keyboards

Interestingly no compilation appearances are listed on Discogs. But there is a tape that the band release in 1993 that I was totally unaware it existed. This tape titled “The Abstract Happiness!” was probably sort of a promo tape with their latest songs. I don’t know how many copies were made but there are a few details that we do know. For example that it was recorded over a weekend in autumn 1993 on an 8-track recorder. There were four songs, two on each side, “Dirty” and “Scared” on the A side while “Come Inside” and “Like Spiders” on the B side. Now I notice that the band had lost Gregor Hartz at this point. Frank Andersohn was playing bass while Mathias Geisler played guitar and vocals on “Scared”. Also at this point the band was calling themselves just Zirf!

I see if any other bands are listed for the band members. Gregor Hartz actually went to be in Liedertafel Margot Honecker, Tulip and Die Singende Tulpe. He is the only one on Discogs that appears to have been involved in other groups.

I do find though that Jörn might be a book writer. I found three related Hamburg books that he might have published, “Das große Hamburg-Erklär-Buch” (2016), “St. Pauli & Schanzenbuch” (2014) and “Altona & Ottensenbuch” (2002).

I keep googling and it seems to be that Martin Dobkowitz is a media planner in Hamburg.

Not sure about the rest. But that sounds like worthy information I found. I do wonder though if this was their first band ever? Did they have more recordings? If they appeared on any compilation? Why no more releases? When did they split? I hope my Hamburg friends remember them and can point me in the right direction!

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Listen
Zirf Gum Gum Baddel – Let Me Go

About to wrap this “challenge” of bands with names starting with each letter of the alphabet. After this one, just one more to go.

The weekend was busy with friends visiting town and the Champions League final, but one always has to find some time to write about indiepop, isn’t that right?

Kinoue64: who is Kinoue64? It looks like it is a single person’s project from Japan. But other than that I can’t figure out any other details. The band have 3 superb jangly songs on their Bandcamp though they are instrumental. I wish they had vocals though! Maybe they will be added later?

Kidsmoke: the Wrexham, UK, band is back with a new brand song called “She Takes You Under” which shimmers! This song is the third single to promote the upcoming debut album the band will release this summer. So let’s wait for that!

The Slow Summits: this new band from Linkoping in Sweden has just uploaded 4 great indiepop songs on their Bandcamp. It says it is released by Hundred and Thousand Records, the question is, is there a physical version? Something pretty cool too is that our heroine Amelia Fletcher sings backing vocals on the opening track “The Spirit of the Lyrics” and also on “Regrets”. This is so good! Can’t wait to hear more! And please if someone knows if there is a CD or vinyl version of this let me know.

Horsebeach: a true blog favourite. I have featured the Manchester band so many times. The band is working on a new album these days which will be called “The Unforgiving Current” and the band has already started promoting it with the song “Dreaming”. They even have a video for it!

Seaside Stars: remember this band from Wieden, Germany? They released their album “The Magic of Stereo” in 2001, on Firestation Records. If you do that’s great, if you don’t that is great too. This is a great opportunity to check it out, the band formed by Hans Forster and Andi Schuwirth has made the album available digitally on Bandcamp now.

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This probably will be a short post. The letter Y is for The Yesterday Sky. Our challenge is almost over.

Only one song was released by them. It was a special occasion. But first we need to understand who were behind the band. It was illustrious people. Important names in the indiepop world. Two nice people from London: Annemari Davies and Robert Wratten who used to be in a band called The Field Mice. Yes, I assume you know who The Field Mice is, right? One of the best indiepop bands ever. They were around from 1988 to 1991 and released a bunch of records on Sarah. All classic records.

Now I remember I met once Bobby Wratten at a London Popfest. That was really awesome. I got a fan photo with him at The Lexington. Annemari I haven’t met but I love the way she sings. Together they would release records as Northern Picture Library and also later in Trembling Blue Stars. The thing is, between The Field Mice and Northern Picture Library they were called The Yesterday Sky.

They only released one song, “A Winter’s Dawn”, on the legendary compilation 7″ “International Pop” that was released by Mind The Gap (SEAGAP ONE) and Season Records (SEAGAP ONE). Mind The Gap being the label of Peter Hahndorf from Twee.net. Peter gave me a copy of this record many years ago when I visited him in Bremen. A record I cherish because it has songs by Red Sleeping Beauty, The Sugargliders, The Legendary Bang and The Yesterday Sky. All top tracks. Season Records was based in Australia of course. There was the intention of releasing more compilation 7″s by both labels afterwards but it seems they never happened.

According to the insert that came with the 7″ The Yesterday Sky only existed for this one song. I assume then that no other songs were recorded for this project? Or who knows? Maybe there were a few more in the same recording session? I would love to think that happened. Maybe in a parallel universe. The insert also mentions that the label was to release the Northern Picture Library albums on the French label Danceteria. As far as I know that didn’t happen. The label went bust and the band signed to Vinyl Japan. But that’s another story.

I find a blog called A Goldfish Called Regret that dedicated a post to The Yesterday Sky and other Bobby Wratten projects. Here the author describes with detail the song, how much it made an impression to him. Even though it doesn’t add any details or information about the Yesterday Sky, reading it inspired me. I love posts like this, where the love of music is number 1.

There is not much more written about this band or this song. Perhaps it was just a demo song. I don’t know. I just feel I would love to hear more. It probably won’t happen. But I do wonder why this project only lasted the one song?

EDIT: Peter from Twee.net just gave me an interesting tidbit on Twitter: there is a different, original version of Winter’s Dawn, but I never heard of any other songs, they moved on to NPL quickly.

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Listen
The Yesterday Sky – A Winter’s Dawn

So yeah, Mexico City. I was there for just 4 days and it was great. The food was delicious (as always). Went to a couple of archaeological sites (Tlatelolco and Malinalco) and visited the Secretariat of Education (which was amazing, lots and lots of Diego Rivera’s murals). When it comes to indiepop I was lucky to see Okama Flannel Boy last Saturday playing a gig at a venue called Terminal Juárez which was great as it had food available as well as drinks, and not just one option but many different cuisines. The gig was lovely as well. It is the 2nd time I see the chilango band and their set is even longer than last year. They have some new songs that are among their best and which I hope end up on a record sometime. Then I met some indiepop friends after the gig and talked about music quite a bit! That was fun! This doesn’t happen much at NYC events, every gig has a very different crowd here and I don’t see any friends here anymore at gigs! This made me think we really need NYC Popfest back!  Anyways, a great weekend and I hope to go back to that great city soon. Next year probably!

Some finds for the coming weekend? Of course!

White Spaces: from Toronto, Canada, comes this four piece formed by Colleen, Jackson, Jon and Jeff. They have a six song EP called “Vacation Days” now available on their Bandcamp. I got hooked after my friend David shared the song “Island” which is pretty great!

Moon Racer: my friend Autumn has a lovely new song of lo-fi bedroom pop called “You Can Feel Bad”. If you are not familiar with the Durham, North Carolina, solo project there are a couple of other releases and even better Moon Racer is touring the East Coast in June!

Top Sound: “YSL” is the newest track of the Stockholm based band formed by Katarina, Johan, Tobias and Einar and what a beauty it is! I need this on vinyl! I hope there are plans for that, if not get in touch with this humble servant. It has been quite some time since I listen a song that sounds like this.

Dream, Ivory: the Lake Elsinore, California, band is back with the 2nd single from their upcoming album “Lost Dog”. The new single is called “Wedding Crasher”, but it does make me wonder when will the album be released? No information for that. Maybe later this year? We should keep an eye on them then!

Hatchie: the ex-Go Violets is releasing “Keepsake” the debut album by Hatchie on June 21st on Double Double Whammy, Heavenly Recordings and Ivy League. Yup! Three labels to put it out. To promote the album there is a new video for the song “Obsessed” which is a terrific song and including tons of footage of Hatchie’s US tour from last year I believe. Can’t wait for the album!

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I must say it has become the hardest to find an indiepop band with a name that starts with an X to complete this challenge. It has definitely been the most challenging. Though in due honesty I was very well aware of X-ing School as I have two friends that were part of the band. And also they are not that old you know. Short-lived yes, but not too old that it would be lost to obscurity. They even have a Bandcamp and Facebook. I could probably ask them to do an interview too.

But I’ll write this post as I want to complete this challenge of featuring 26 bands, each starting with a different letter of the alphabet. So as a completist, here is the wonderful X-ing School from Malmö.

Of course we know that their name come from the ubiquitous signs that we see in the roads here in the US. Sure, the way to read them would be School X-ing (crossing), but if you are literal about them, you see X-ing on top and school below.  So a smart way to name their band, don’t you think?

The band was formed by three girls and a boy. Anna Harysson was on bass and vocals, Antonia Pehrson on guitar and vocals, Kajsa Tretow on guitar and vocals and Henrik on drums. I know Antonia and Kajsa. Antonia as she was part of Komon, Anthronica, Taggarna Ut and also A Smile and a Ribbon.  Kajsa was also in Smile and a Ribbon but has also been in the wonderful band The Budgies, Cosines and had her solo project The Plutification Table that deserved a proper release.

The band as I said was short-lived and I was lucky to see them live at the Windmill in Brixton as part of the 2011 London Popfest. What days were those! Such nostalgia. I remember the huge dog that was on the roof of the venue and the creepy lady that was in charge of the venue. Good times!

They only self-released a CD EP that was titled “89 Attending” that was released in 2011. I believe it was mostly a digital release but copies were made to be sold at Popfest and at their gigs. I always hoped to see a proper release you know. I think they were looking for a label at some point. I remember asking what was their intention with the very fine four songs they had in their EP, “Deep Ortography”, “89 Attending”, “Modern Lovers” and “Lazy Babies”. I am pretty sure I was interested in working together. Oh well, it’s been a long time now!

That was all they put out. Not sure if they recorded any other songs (I think they had a song called “Devil’s Mountain” but not sure if it was recorded?) but I do know they didn’t even appear on any compilations. We do know that the band played quite a few gigs. From what I understand their first gig was on August 23rd, 2010 at the Don’t Die on My Doorstep club that Krister used to run in På Besök in Malmö. The band supported the NYC band The Depreciation Guild.

Another gig was at Debaser Malmö on the 10th of September of the same year. Then on September 17th they played at Smålands Nation in Lund. And I believe that was their last ever gig?

Not much more info about the band online. But I suppose we’ll find soon about any interesting facts about them. I hope so. I remember with nostalgia that night at London Popfest when I saw them as they were great, a bit shambolic and all, just how I like my indiepop bands. I wonder these days that I have lost touch if they are still making music…

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Listen
X-ing School – Lazy Babies

I am exhausted! I just got back from Mexico City and I am looking for 5 new finds right away so I can prepare today, Tuesday, this post for tomorrow Wednesday, to get back on schedule! I promise to tell you more about my trip on Friday’s post.

Hurry: this three-piece from Philadelphia have released a digital single with two tracks last April: “Frustrate You” and “An Element of Surprise”. They sound pretty good to me, jangly and dreamy. The band seems to have been around since at least 2012… shame I am only discovering them now.

Noah: Haruki Sato, Ryota Tsuji, Yota Takatsu, Naoya Kamojima and Sachi Nagame are Noah, from Japan. Their latest release is an 8 song album called “Fluctuate”. You can listen to all the tracks on their Bandcamp and enjoy their shoegaze sounds!

Soft Blue Shimmer: the Boston based label Disposable America is releasing a limited run of 50 cassettes of “Nothing Happens Here”, the 5 track EP by this Boston band! “Fruitcake” and “Chamoy” are the two tracks available to preview and I’m really liking them!

Elna Rae: now let’s head to San Francisco, that’s where the label Blind Love Tapes is based. They have a new release on 12″ lathe cut by Elna Rae, the “Dexter” EP! 4 songs of lo-fi guitar both catchy and fun!

Wake in June: is Enrico Pastore, from Padua, Italy. He has just released on the Slovakian label Z Tapes a 10 song album called “Lavender Pink” which will be available digitally and on tape. For me to find jangly Italian pop is always a surprise, it is not a common thing. A little treasure awaits everyone here.

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Turn for the letter W. And here I am with another band that I discovered through the wonderful The Sound of Leamington Spa compilation series, Wake Up Afrika.

Wake Up Afrika came together beneath the toxic clouds of the industrial north west town of Widnes in the early 80s. Despite their grim surroundings, they soon built up a reputation for serving up bouncy, melodic and memorable pop. Always at their best playing live, their infectious tunes, filled with three-part harmonies, and swirling flute and sax went against the trend of the current music scene, and Wake Up Afrika became known as the band that got people up dancing wherever they went. Support slots to bands like The Farm and Hothouse Flowers, together with a commitment to a punishing schedule of gigs exposed them to an enthusiastic and ever-growing following and several major labels took an interest but it was eventually local indie label, Red River Records, who released the band’s one and only single “Simple Words”. “Walking Blind” was a live favourite and came from the pens of the band’s principal songwriters. Duncan Lomax and David Pichilingi. In the face of growing apathy from the major labels, the pair eventually disbanded Wake Up Afrika to form 35 Summers where they eventually found the major record deal that had eluded them with Wake Up Afrika.

That’s how the booklet of the 4th volume of The Leamington Spa introduces us to the band. This compilation of course was released in 2003 by the German label Firestation Records (FST060). This was how I discovered the band and perhaps how many other people did too. The year after, 2004, the band also contributed a song called “The Breadvan” to the Japanese label Excellent. Records compilation “Pop Renaissance” (excd014), a 3 CD comp that showcased superb tracks that were contemporary then but also classic sounds from the 80s. I’d love to have a copy of this record.

But let’s go back in time, when the band was active, the mid 80s. The first time we hear from them is on a compilation called “Elegance, Charm and Deadly Danger” that was released by Push Records (PUSH001) in 1985. On this compilation that included The La’s, the band appears with the song “Love Died in the Road”. From what I gather this compilation featured bands hailed from in and around St. Helens, Merseyside, UK. Also it is worth noting that Push was actually an acronym for Promotional Umbrella for St Helens.

In 1989 the band released their one and only record, “Simple Words”. It was released by Red River Records (MRC96) on 12″ vinyl. Three songs were included, the title song on the A side and “God Only Knows” and “Animal” on the B side. The engineer for the track was Adrian Sleigh for “Simple Words” and “Animal” while Phil Ault engineered the remaining one. The band produced the songs but one, D. Lewis produced “God Only Knows”.

Discogs lists a reissue of this 12″ with a different artwork. The tracklist is the same. From what I understand this re-release was put out in Japan in 1996.

But even more interesting is that the band also put together a CDR with the art of the reissue at some point. This CDR included 5 tracks! “Walking Blind” which is the song that appears on the Leamington Spa comp, “Animal”, “She Said”, “Shine” and “Sunday Afternoon”. Was this sold somewhere?

Of course that’s not all, there was a video for “Simple Words” that was filmed in Players night club and amongst the big bridges and smelly factories of downtown Widnes.

Widnes is an industrial town in Halton, Cheshire, Northwest England. In 2011, it had a population of 61,464. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the northern bank of the River Mersey where the estuary narrows to form the Runcorn Gap. Directly to the south across the Mersey is the town of Runcorn. Upstream and 13 km to the east is the town of Warrington, and downstream to the west is Speke, part of the city of Liverpool.

Of course we know Duncan Lomax was also in 35 Summers who were on RCA as well as David Fenlon (later Pichilingi). But was it just them two in Wake up Afrika? Were there any other members? The photo on the booklet of the Leamington Spa comp shows more band members!

Well I start digging following these clues. I stumble upon a band called Perfect, an early 80s band where Duncan Lomax was involved playing guitar and vocals. On this band we also find Andy Frizell who would later be in Wake Up Afrika, Vernons, Absent Black Cat, Royal Family and Wizards of Twiddly. But that’s not all. I find that Dave Pichilingi was also on a band called Utopia Dream. And that Lomax had been in Hal.

Then I find the other members. Ian Donohue played guitar, Ste Holian bass and Andy Hignett drums. At some point Andy was replaced on sax by John Lyons.

The band mostly played around Liverpool, for example at the Uni and Poly, Mardi Gras, supporting China Crisis and The Farm. At some point in  November 1987 the band changed their name to Giant Smiles. Then they went back to Wake Up Afrika.

That’s really all I could find about them. Of course there is much more written and more information about their later incarnation, 35 Summers. I like them too of course. But right now I’m curious about Wake up Afrika. Why the name? What about that CDR? Are there more recordings by them? Any information will be appreciated!

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Listen
Wake Up Afrika – Simple Words

Okay! Tomorrow I head to Mexico City and won’t be back to blogging until Wednesday. It is a short trip. I’ll be attending an Okama Flannel Boy gig tomorrow as I mentioned on my previous post, so hopefully see you there! Until we see each other again here are 5 new pop finds from around the web!

Slow Pulp: I feel I’ve been finding more and more Wisconsin bands in the last few months. Maybe there is an exciting scene there now? Slow Pulp hails from Wisconsin and their latest work is a 4 song EP titled “Big Day” which sounds great! The band is also touring soon and will even cross the border to Canada. And I hope to catch them at the Bowery Ballroom in June though I must say I don’t like much the other bands playing that gig…. argh! Oh well, check them out!

Pin Ups: “Spinning” is the latest track by the Brazilian band formed by Ale Briganti, Ze Antonio Algodoal, Adriano Cintra and Flavio Cavicholi. It is out now as a digital single on the one and only Midsummer Madness label. I hear a lot of Velocity Girl on this track and of course that is a good, very good thing!

Torrey: now we head to San Francisco where Ryann, Kelly, Eric and Chase have jut put up on Bandcamp their first 6 songs. “Sister” is the name of this sweet jangly EP. I see them tagging themselves as Swedish Pop, not sure if anyone of them is a swede, but the music itself could pass by a late 90s girl fronted Swedish indiepop band, easy!

Manic Sheep: all the way from Taiwan, this cool sounding shoegaze band! Their latest work are two songs, “Deep Dusk” and “Sedona” which sound terrific! The band has been going on for a while, but this is the first time I stumble upon their music. They do seem to have quite a following in China as I notice they are touring it extensively!

Ogikubo Station: who are these people? Who is behind this band? The one track I can listen on the Asian Man Records Bandcamp sounds amazing! It is called “Would I Break My Heart Enough For You” and I don’t know what sort of release this will be. It is slated for June 14th but doesn’t say if it will be in physical or just digital formats. It does sound very promising!

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Almost at the end of this challenge. Today is the turn for the letter V. It is the turn of Viola Crayfish!

This is a great band that I discovered through the 1989 compilation “Diamonds and Porcupines” that was released by the superb German label Beat All the Tambourines (TAMBEAT 3) who had released Most Wanted Men and The Bachelor Pad 7″s as well as the great “Beat All the Tambourines” comp that I have mentioned on the blog in the past as it included the amazing band Love Set. On that comp the band had contributed the song “Love is More than Weather”.

This compilation featured lots of top bands from the time like The Wedding Present, The McTells, Pale Saints, St. Christopher among others. This 12″ comp was originally compiled by two German fanzines, “Run! Mr. Diamond” from the city of Lüdenscheid and “Hedgehogs & Porcupines” from Emden.

It would take many years for me to listen another song of theirs. It was thanks to the best German label of our time, Firestation Records. This year they released the compilation “The Sound of Leamington Spa – German Edition” (FST 165) and in there they included the track “Besser Scheitern”. And that’s not all, the booklet included some important information about the band.

For starters we know the band had two lineups. The 1988 one featured Stefan Klauner, Folker Eckebrecht, Bernd Vogel and Lars Vogel. The 1992 one had Frank Klimek instead of Stefan Klauner who sadly passed away that same year.

The small bio tells us a few interesting bits too:
“The band was formed in 1987 by Stefan Klauner, Folker Eckebrectht, Bernd Vogel and Lars Vogel in the hinterland south of Bremen in the north-west of Germany. The main influence might have been The Velvet Underground, the Postcard “Sound of Young Scotland” – and of course all kinds of other music. But always in order to write another – and hopefully better – popsong as the one before. Which sometimes went quite well and other times not as good. All was done under the DIY concept with great amounts of not knowing too much but getting better all the time. There were local performances, some home-recorded tapes, some releases on samplers, a studio recording which we never considered to release, a play by John Peel  on Bremen 4, the idea of singing German, some new band members and all finally stopped in 1993, but not really.”

The band appeared not only on those two compilations. They first appeared on the 1988 tape compilation “Bremen-Tape ’88” released by Strange Ways Records (Tape Nr. 2) with the track “June Field”. I must say I don’t know any of the other bands on this tape, so if there are any other indiepop tracks on it, please let me know so I can investigate!

Then in 1990 they appeared on 3 compilations. The first was “Let’s Have a Picnic and Barbecue Some Corrupt Not Self-Programming Dee-Jays” double LP comp released by Noet Lachten Records (NOET 10). The band would contribute the song “Sweet Soul Decay” and appear alongside bands from Holland, Belgium, Germany and England. The second was the first ever release by Blam-A-Bit Records, the cassette compilation “Instants of Pleasure” (BLAM 001). The band would contribute the track “June Field”. The third was on the “Hat Das Schaf Die Blume Gefressen Oder Nicht?” a tape comp released by Blam-A-Bit (BLAM 003) too. On this one the band contributed the song “Sweet Soul Decay”. This is a superb tape by the way, would love to listen to it completely someday.

But there is something that is nagging me. There is listed on Discogs a 2011 CD called “Far Out”. This 8-track CD included the songs “Reset/Recicyle2”, “Far Out Café”, “Life Hack”, “Love is More than Weather”, “June Field”, “Best Before”, “Schaum (L’Ècume de Jours)” and “Sommer Endlos”. I am guessing this was a posthumous release of old songs, but can’t say. Maybe they were re-recordings?  It is not a retrospective either as many of their songs are not included. Well the fact is you can stream the whole thing on Bandcamp.

Then I find a website for the band. Here I see that the band has been playing on and off. After the 1992 lineup I see that between 1993 and 2000 the band was just Folker Eckebrecht and Lars Vogel. In 2013 they added Marco Ahrens on drums.

Then I stumble upon a Soundcloud for Lars Vogel. Here there are some more Viola Crayfish songs like “Meteor”, “Magic Roundabout”, “Ein Tag Für 10 EURO” which I believe remain unreleased.

I also look on Youtube. I see a song called “Revelation” from 1988 and it looks that it was part of a demo tape called “Viola Crayfish”. What other songs were on it?

Then two videos of live footage! Here we see the band playing at the Polyester in Oldenburg on April 12 of 2008. There are videos for the songs “June Field / Love is More than Weather” and “Schaum (L’Ecume de Jours)“.

And finally I found more about that 1988 tape on a blog called Tape Attack. Here I see that the tape was called “Nordsee” and included “June Field”, “The Outside-Inn” and “Wear that Tupper” on the A side and “Postcard”, “Revelation” and “Velocity Days” on the B side.

Fantastic finds! Now, was that the only demo tape the band put together or were there more? Will Firestation release a retrospective compilation? Were the band members involved in any other bands? Would be great to know more about this Oldenburg band. Who remembers them?

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Listen
Viola Crayfish – Love is More than Weather

Tomorrow is The Undertones gig here in New York! Pretty excited about that. And then on Saturday I get to see Okama Flannel Boy in Mexico City. It does sound like a good week, right?

Now here are some finds of course!

Kung-Fu Girl:I can’t wait to get a copy of the Japanese band’s brand new album. My excitement grows and grows. Especially now that the band have released a video for their song “Anorak” which is lots of fun! The album is out now on Testcard Records. Don’t miss it!

Hideki Kaji: the Japanese master is back with a new album called “Goth Romance” which will be released by Space Shower Music on CD and digital formats. There is also a version that includes a fanzine. So that’s the way to go. To hear a preview do check the superb song “Spray and Fanfare” which even has its own video!

The Trees: I look at more releases by the Space Shower Music and I stumble upon The Trees. They have a superb song and video for their track “Breakfast Club”. Don’t know much about them, but it does sound great!

Trillion: we leave Japan and head to Sydney, Australia, because that’s where these shoegazers are from. The band has just released a 6-track EP called “When I Wake” which is available on CD. First time listening to them and first impression is that I really enjoy the vocals, especially on the title track! Good stuff!

акульи слёзы: from the city of Uta, Russia, comes this dreamy pop band. Yes, I’ve featured Shark’s Tears before on the blog (I think their name translates to that? At least that’s what shows in the url!) and I’m happy to do so again as they have released their 7 song mini-album “Experience of the Charm” a week ago. I hope access to the Russian pop bands becomes easier to everyone, especially if there are physical records as lots of great stuff is coming from there!

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Time for the letter U. This was definitely one of the hardest. There aren’t that many bands that start with the letter U. But I thought of this Japanese band that sadly didn’t release any records but did appear on a few compilations. I know very little about Unknown Readymade but this will be a good time to find any interesting details about them.

It seems that under the name Unknown Readymade was a guy called Kumiko Ishikawa. And as far as I know, thanks to Discogs, there were two times when the band appeared on compilations. All of them in Japan.

The first compilation I was aware of the band was the 2002 “Pop Comes Up! Bluebadge Compilation Vol. 2” which has been mentioned before on the blog. On this CD released by the Bluebadge Label (BBCD-002) the band contributes the song “With My Favorite Camera”.

That same year, 2002, the band appears with the song “By Cycle” on the compilation “Good Compi (abcdefg*record)” that was released by abcdefg*record (a-g010). This compilation has also been mentioned on the blog when I wrote about the super Pitcher56 many months ago.

There is also a record where Kumiko is involved with. He sings on the third track, “粉雪”, on the album “崩壊アンプリファー” by the band Asian Kung-Fu Generation that was originally released by the great Under Flower Records (Flower-047) in 2002. There are actually three reissues of it too, a 2003 CD EP, just like the original, on Ki/oon, and later in 2017 another CD EP by the same label. The third reissue is a 12″vinyl released by Spectrum Management Co. Ltd. Seems this Asian Kung-Fu Generation was a much more famous band than Unknown Readymade.

I found too that Kumiko sang on Panic Pop’s “Baby P” song which seems to be an original by the great Japanese band Plus-Tech Squeeze Box.

And that seems to be it for Unknown Readymade. There is barely any information about the band on the web. It seems Kumiko was always up for working with other people from the Japanese pop scene. It also looks like Unknown Readymade was his band, his own band. Sadly we don’t know if he recorded more songs or why he never put anything out, just the two compilation appearances. I hope to find out more about him. Would be great!

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Listen
Unknown Readymade – With My Favorite Camera