Best of 2017 lists for Monorail Music

Most years, there's nothing I like better than to be asked what my favourite records have been. This year, however, it was a little tricky as, although I bought a lot of (okay, way too many) records, I didn't always find the time to listen and absorb them so a lot of what I listened to was whatever made it onto my phone which is a bit silly when virtually everything I bought was on vinyl. Enough excuses, though; here are the lists I submitted when Monorail Music kindly asked for my thoughts a few weeks ago. There are some shameful local omissions e.g. AMOR's two 12"s for Night School or Golden Teacher's self-released lp. That's what happens when you use the first thought=best thought approach to compiling these lists, I guess.

LPs:

1. The Clientele "Music For the Age of Miracles" (Tapete)
2. Kelly Lee Owens "s/t" (Smalltown Supersound)
3. The Luxembourg Signal "Blue Field" (Shelflife/Kleine Untergrund Schallplatten)
4. A Certain Smile "Fits and Starts" (My Lil Underground)
5. Mope Grooves "Joy" (See My Friends)
6. Sacred Paws "Strike A Match" (Rock Action)
7. Spinning Coin "Permo" (Geographic)
8. Rat Columns "Candle Power" (Upset The Rhythm)
9. The BVs "Speaking From A Distance" (Kleine Untergrund Schallplatten)
10. Ekin Fil "Ghosts Inside" (Helen Scarsdale Agency)

Singles:

1. Spinning Coin "Raining On Hope Street" (Geographic)
2. Corner Boys "Just Don't Care" (Drunken Sailor)
3. The Luxembourg Signal "Laura Palmer" (Shelflife)
4. Wallflower "Nowhere" (Fastcut)
5. The Flying Stars of Brooklyn NY "My God Has A Telephone" (Colemine)
6. UV-TV "Go Away e.p." (Emotional Response)
7. Mick Trouble "It's The Mick Trouble e.p." (Emotional Response)
8. The Love-Birds "Filled With Hate" (Empty Cellar)
9. Omar S feat. Nite Jewel "I Confess To U" (FXHE)
10. Davy Kehoe "Short Passing Game" (Wah Wah Wino)

Reissues:

1. Dion "Kickin' Child: The Lost Album 1965" (Norton)
2. Look Blue Go Purple "Still Bewitched" (Captured Tracks)
3. William C Beeley "Gallivantin'" (Tompkins Square)
4. Jackie Shane "Any Other Way" (Numero Group)
5. 14 Iced Bears "s/t" (Optic Nerve)

Compilation:

"I Won't Have To Think About You: Compiled by Bayu and Moopie" (A Colourful Storm)

^^^ BUY THIS NOW.

The Clientele @ Islington Assembly Hall (23/10/2015)

(Walking down Essex Road, London towards Islington Assembly Hall to see The Clientele a few weeks ago)

J: Do you think you'll cry?
Me : Nah.  I'm too much of a hard man for that!

I could tell J didn't believe me.  She was right not to.  About halfway through, the group was joined by their string arranger, Louis Phillippe, who read Alasdair MacLean's wonderfully evocative short story, 'Losing Haringey'; a song which has never failed to make me shiver since the first time I played 'Strange Geometry'.  Philippe then took his place at the grand piano and from the moment Alasdair sang "Goodnight my angel of the dark" the shivers gave way to tears.  I just hadn't steeled myself for  'Dreams of Leaving':

After that they went straight into 'Summer Trail' from their fabulous Hangover Lounge split with Birdie.  It was majestic but didn't aid in my vain attempts to regain some sort of composure.  In retrospect, it's just as well they didn't then play '6 a.m. Morningside' or 'Never Anyone But You' .  I have too much history layered on top of those songs to be just a casual listener.  Even the guy to my right who picked his nose (and ate his pickings) for the first 20 minutes or the irritating couple (what kind of selfish dud wears a massive hat with a 4 inch brim on the back of their head at a concert?) who snogged and shouted for songs but didn't applaud the group once and who stood in front of me the very second the group took to the stage couldn't take the shine off a beautiful evening.  Any show that ends with the purchase of a new mug is one to savour, for sure.

Screen Prints

In recent weeks it's been thrilling to read such positive reviews of The Clientele's "Suburban Light" (Merge Records) reissue.  That record and the singles from which it was compiled are nigh on untouchable in terms of music released in the 1990s.  Coincidentally, another group who also touched perfection at around the same time has seen its music restored to print recently: Manchester's brilliant Screen Prints.

Fastcut Records of Japan have done the honours with their collection "Hum and Hiss" and it's an utter joy from start to finish.  "Missed" still has the power to make your heart swell and your eyes moist with its sweet, Gerard Love-like vocals (I wonder if they ever played with Teenage Fanclub; they seem such kindred spirits) and crisp, delightful melody:

What an arrangement! The hesitant intro, the distant drums, the glockenspiels, the cooing backing vocals, the changes in pace, that crystalline little guitar line; it breaks my heart that it's all so beautiful.  When they use strings as on "Her Name I Don't Remember" they soar to Michael Head and The Strands levels of majesty. There isn't a track on "Hum and Hiss" that doesn't deserve to be cherished.  If anything, Screen Prints sound better now than they did at the time and there's something about the fidelity of the recordings - home recorded, anything but anodyne - that adds to the poignancy.  Listening to "Hum and Hiss" is like going through a shoebox full of old Polaroids remembering and at once feeling happy and sad.  I hope desperately that it isn't overlooked and is clutched to the heart by a legion of romantic melody lovers.

There's talk of new Screen Prints recordings being made.  I, for one, will be waiting impatiently to hear them!

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Note the Shop Assistants record at the front of the picture accompanying this (Japanese) interview - evidence of impeccable taste!

The Rose Garden

Everybody needs friends, right?  Friends do nice things for each other don't they? Recently, a friend (thanks Krister, I owe you one!) did me a real favour by recommending this majestic song:

Listen to that opening section - it's like early Clientele in its infinite, dreamy softness!  From then on it just gets all emotional and rushes on a Dillard & Clark run with little vocal touches that spark thoughts of how Glasgow's The Orchids frequently manage to hit heights of pure feeling that few other groups could ever hope to reach.  These days, when I hear a new 60s song, a quick check of ebay usually reveals that I'll need to part with a small fortune to buy  it on original vinyl.  This time, however, original copies don't cost too much and are pretty easy to come by.  My 'unplayed' DJ copy cost a mere 8 US dollars plus postage.   When it arrives  there's absolutely no chance that it won't be the highlight of that day and most likely the week.

Amor de Dias "Dream (Dead Hands)"

As of today the debut album from Amor de Dias is streaming on the Merge Records site.  I tend not to listen to records ahead of their release date as it diminishes the thrill of walking home from the record shop wishing and hoping but I couldn't wait to hear "Street of the Love of Days" so an exception was made.  So far I've made it to the seventh song and, well, haven't been able to move to the eighth yet.  "Dream (Dead Hands)" is without doubt the prettiest 3 minutes and 47 seconds of new music I've heard since 2010 gave way to 2011.  It's as intimate and as beautifully clear-voiced as Chuck and Mary Perrin at their "Violets of Dawn" best.  It's as delicate and moving as Blueboy at their "If Wishes Were Horses"/"Unisex" best.  I'm sure I've written of this phenomenon before (ain't nothing new under the sun, sonny!), but I know when I truly love a song because when it plays I can't really decipher the words, can't focus on them.  My guess is that so much of my head is taken up trying to appreciate the sheer beauty of the music and the voices and the arrangement that higher brain functions like language just have to take a back seat for a while until it's all processed and understood and its place in the pantheon of my favourite music established.  This inability to fully grasp the song, however, means I'm compelled to play it over and over again to the point where I get a bit over-emotional and all fizzing with the need to evangelise about it.  It happened when I first heard The Field Mice, it happened when I first heard Alasdair from Amor de Dias's other group The Clientele and it's happening now with "Dream (Dead Hands)".  Just the other day I was lamenting the fact that I hadn't heard too many genuinely brilliant albums so far this year.  If the remaining 8 tracks are as majestic as the first 7, "Street of the Love of Days" will be one of the few.  Excitingly, it's only 7 days - 17th May - until the vinyl and cd hit the record shops.