Tuesday 3 September 2019

The Prime Mover "When You Made Love To Me"

A hot contender for the Best Record Purchased By Not Unloved In 2019 garland is The Prime Mover's "When You Made Love To Me" (Sock-o, 1967):


Just listen to that arrangement - it has everything: glockenspiel (shouldn't every song?), groovy bassline, driving guitars, wonky guitars, soft, echo-ey voices, tempo changes. If yr band is only going gonna cut one 7"and disappear for good, might as well throw everything at it, eh?

Electric Looking Glass "Death of a Season" (Hypnotic Bridge)

Although I've never had the gumption to go whole hog on the 60s throwback clothing (my unfortunately chunky thighs put paid to all hopes of looking good in that gear), I've always had a sneaky admiration for those who do. After all, there's not much in life that's better than being in a roomful of people in brightly patterned, flammable garb frugging extravagantly to sweet 60s garage/psych sounds. On the evidence of the video below, LA's Electric Looking Glass don't share my retro clothing reticence. Their music, too, has all the familiar elements of mid-60s soft psych but in "Death of a Season" they have produced a song so surprisingly soulful that it renders any accusations of past-aping meaningless. It's no faded facsimile, that's for sure. Without doubt it features one of my favourite vocal melodies/performances of 1967...sorry, 2019.


The flip is a perkier but equally adorable number with a great arrangement and more cheerful hooks than lesser groups manage in their entire career:


If you've ever enjoyed an issue of Shindig! magazine, you NEED this 7" now!

Doug Tuttle "Twilight"

It's got to the stage where it's almost 100% certain that any record that bears the name Doug Tuttle will find a happy home at Not Unloved. Unusually for 2019, I don't even bother sampling them online before buying. I know - crazy! His latest lp, "Dream Road", came out at the very end of May on Burger Records but only recently showed up in Glasgow. "Twilight" from it has a really beautiful video that perfectly suits the softly psychedelic music. Interestingly, "Twilight" never quite builds to the expected singalong chorus and the more predictable fuzz guitar solo is eschewed in favour of a more subtle flute-like backwards guitar interlude; it's all the more memorable for such thoughtfulness. It may have come out in late spring but on this dark, damp evening, autumn seems like just the right season during which to get to know "Dream Road" better.