Some Things To Look Forward To

Spinning Coin "Albany" 7"

A year and a bit after I flipped like a giddy teenager for Spinning Coin's adorable "Albany", Geographic Music's 7" version is finally imminent.  Did Not Chart summed it up perfectly here.  It's still a thrill to hear those plaintive opening chimes coming from my radio.  It's great that  BBC 6 Music and BBC Radio Scotland among others have taken note.  Roxanne Clifford's sweet video for "Albany" premieres tomorrow on Clash Music.

DIÄT + Anxiety + New Values @ Nice'n'Sleazy on 23rd March

Last year DIÄT's "Positive Energy" came out of nowhere and bulldozed its way into Not Unloved's affections and landed a coveted (ha!) place in our Top 10 lps of 2015.  They're sure to be blazing live.
Anxiety are a hot-wired monster truck on the rampage.
New Values are another group, and as yet unheard by Not Unloved, to feature the talents of Ruari from Golden Grrrls, Vital Idles etc..  This will be their live debut.  Obviously, they'll be great!

Tickets HERE

Irma Vep + Vital Idles + Anxiety + Baby Lying Square @ The Old Hairdressers's on 29th March

"The Jerk" by Manchester's Irma Vep remains one of the great 45s of the last decade.  This is a rare full-band Glasgow performance.  Unmissable.

Vital Idles are one of the best groups to spring fully formed from birth outta Glasgow's DIY scene in forever.  Much more on them in the very near future!

Anxiety are a runaway streamroller,

Chump tape & launch gig @ The Old Hairdressers on 1st April

Chump have by stealth become contenders.  Their set in support of Trembling Bells the other week was subtle and powerful yet full of warmth and self-deprecating charm.  If this was 20 years ago and Chump were American, Matador and Teen Beat would be arm-wrestling to see who got to sign them.  As dynamic as prime Versus.



Youth of America "Night of the Comet" 7"

Members of the aforementioned Trembling Bells and the fondly remembered Lucky Luke team up for a single on the maverick Great Pop Supplement label (who, coincidentally also released Irma Vep's "The Jerk") which will be released this spring.  It was premiered on Finlay Macdonald's Alternative Folk Show in January and it was added to my shopping list a few seconds later.

Night Of The Comet trailer from Eva on Vimeo.

Additions to the U Section: Unloved & Uranium Club

Thanks to the fizzing recent lps from Uranium Club and Unloved, the U section of Not Unloved's impeccably alphabetised (yeah, right!) record collection has had a much needed injection of new blood. Uranium Club's "Human Exploration" (Static Shock Records) is a jagged, jittery listen that quickens the heartbeat but leaves nails bitten and nerves twisted.  Sonically, it hovers above the thrilling intersection of Diat's immense "Positive Energy" and the bug-eyed Devoisms of The Coneheads' "L.P. 1 a,k.a. 14 Year Old High School PC​-​Fascist Hype Lords Rip Off Devo for the Sake of Extorting $​$​$ from Helpless Impressionable Midwestern Internet Peoplepunks L​.​P​.".  It never flags and if there's any justice in the world, parents around the globe will be knocking on their kids' bedroom doors threatening them with grounding if they don't turn that racket down NOW.

Thanks to the Julian House artwork and the Monorail Music endorsement, Not Unloved was always going to love Unloved and so it transpired.  Like a noir version of Cat's Eyes they evoke a grainy world where cigarette smoke curls upwards and well-groomed sophisticates in polo necks debate the merits of Sartre and Godard.  It's not a new world but it's an attractive one.  A day flicking through old  magazines immersed in the music of Unloved, Broadcast, the aforementioned Cat's Eyes, Death and Vanilla, The New Lines, The United States of America and Candie Payne sounds divine. Let's do it!

Les Mystics "Mon Père Est Millionnaire" (Vedettes)

Sometimes I pity the poor folks around me.  Ever since I heard "Mon Père Est Millionnaire" by Quebec mid-60s dandies Les Mystics yesterday morning, I've wittered on about very little else.  How to find an as close to mint as possible copy of it was the first thing I thought of when I woke up this morning (the copies I've found online so far don't sound quite pristine enough).  It's an obsession, for sure.  Last week,   "Cryptique" by The Karovas Milkshake proved a timely reminder of just how great Francophone pop can be so YouTube couldn't have nudged me in the direction of "Mon Père..." at a better time.

 What a voice! Those 'aaah, aaah, aaah, aaah's, too - sublime.  Thanks YouTube algorithm, you're a pal!

Groovie Records (Lisbon, Portugal)

(apologies for the wonky photo...seems I lost my balance on the cobbled street)

Even in 2016 when record shops are thinner on the ground than they've ever been, it's hard not to judge a city by the quality of its record shops.  It's just as well for Lisbon, therefore, that it has Groovie Records; if there are any other great shops, I didn't find them.  It occupies a small space near the fab Time Out Mercado but has a commendably high density of top garage punk lps and 45s.  Of course Groovie's own output was prominently displayed including the hot new lp from Russian 60s stylists The Karovas Milkshake whose "Cryptique" has to be the best Jacques Dutronc homage/facsimillie since the great man's heyday: 

"Allez les saxophones!"

As well as bagging a few of Groovie's lps (very reasonably priced they were, too!) I took the opportunity to pick up some thumping Get Hip singles including this hyper-ventilating monster from 1988 which was surely recorded at the bottom of a reverb-enhanced garbage can:

All in all a solid Not Unloved thumbs up for Groovie!