The Easybeats "Land of Make Believe"

Initial copies of Veronica Falls' majestic "Waithing For Something To Happen" sold through Monorail came with a cd-r compiled, I think, by James Hoare from the group.  It was almost entirely great but the song which pinned itself to my heart was The Easybeats' "Land of Make Believe".  The Easybeats are one of those 60s acts who I've always vaguely liked but never truly loved.  Sure, I get a little frisson when Brian Matthew plays "Friday On My Mind" on Sounds of the Sixties  and I've danced cheerfully to a few of their other songs over the years but nothing has come close to hitting me as hard as "Land of Make Believe" has.  Its intro and first 2 lines are so plaintive and brilliant:

In the land of make believe you are all mine
In the land of make believe I'm doin' fine

The melody is to die for, too.  Some of the details in the production shouldn't work but do such as the rippling piano, for instance; ordinarily I'd hate that.  The Italian 7" of "The Land of Make Believe" I bought recently features a slightly different arrangement with some dramatic strings added that slightly diminish the impact of the chugging guitar bit towards the end (~2mins 12secs) for me.  It's still a topper but the (album?) version on James Hoare's compilation is somehow the more romantic and hence better version.

Cry

A couple of months ago the unbelievably still improving Veronica Falls asked via Facebook and Twitter for suggestions of songs they should cover.  The Changing Times' "Cry" was Not Unloved's suggestion:

Has there ever been a janglier intro?  I doubt they'll ever record it which is a wee shame as I reckon they'd do a smashing version of it.

("Cry" appears on Texas Flashbacks Volume 4)

Not Unloved's favourite things of 2011

Albums of 2011

1. Amor de Dias "Street of the Love of Days" (Porcini Music)
2. Crystal Stilts "In Love With Oblivion" (Fortuna Pop/Slumberland)
3. Veronica Falls "s/t" (Bella Union/Slumberland)
4. Sea Lions "Everything You Wanted To Know About Sea Lions But Were Afraid To Ask" (Slumberland)
5. The New Lines "All That We See and Seem" (Great Pop Supplement)
6. Motion Sickness of Time Travel "Luminaries and Synastry" (Type)
7. The Bats "Free All The Monsters" (Flying Nun)
8. Girls Names "Dead To Me" (Tough Love)
9. Sea Pinks "Dead Seas" (C/F) / Former Bullies "Golden Chains" (C/F)
10. Sweet Bulbs "s/t" (Blackburn)
11. Dum Dum Girls "Only In Dreams" (Sub Pop)
12. Comet Gain "The Howl of the Lonely Crowd" (Fortuna Pop)
13. Real Estate "Days" (Domino)
14. Still Corners "Creatures of an Hour" (Sub Pop)
15. Big Troubles "Romantic Comedy" (Slumberland)
16. The Garbage and The Flowers "Stoned Rehearsal" (Quemada)
17. PJ Harvey "Let England Shake" (Island)
18. Hong Kong in the 60s "My Fantoms" (Proper Songs)
19. The Babies "s/t" (Shrimper)
20. Chain and The Gang "Music's Not For Everyone" (K)

(There are a few lps on my Christmas list that I'm sure would've made the 20 but since I haven't heard them yet,they're not included!)

Singles of 2011

1. Veronica Falls "Bad Feeling" (Bella Union/Slumberland)
2. Golden Grrrls "New Pop" (Night School)
3. Terry Malts "Something About You" (Slumberland)
4. Real Estate "Green Aisles" (Domino)
5. On Fell "Untitled" (the first one!) (Moteer)
6. The Motifs / The Zebras "split" (Knock Yr Socks Off)
7. The New Lines "Please Fall In Love" (self-released)
8. Snails "She'd Like An Hour" (Great Pop Supplement)
9. Bleached "Carter" (Art Fag)
10. Wax Idols "All Too Human" (HoZac)

(e.p.s/12"s of the year may follow soon!)

Reissue of 2011

Penny and The Quarters "You and Me" (7", Numero)

Gigs of 2011

1. The Pastels at The Platform (Eastern Promise 2011)
2. Hollie Cook at Glasgow Afro Caribbean Centre
3. Korallreven at Nice'n'Sleazy
4. The Hobbes Fanclub at Heavenly (Glasgow Popfest 2011)
5. Tyvek/The Pheromoans at The Captain's Rest
6. Ducktails/Big Troubles/Julian Lynch at The Captain's Rest

The Pastels' performance at The Platform really was something incredibly special.  I tried to write a review of it for Not Unloved at the time but somehow the right words didn't come in the right order and I couldn't do it justice.  But then, how do you express in words that feeling in your heart when Stephen Pastel nonchalantly swigged his beer then used his bottle as a slide before casually turning his amp to blissful on "Baby Honey"?  The whole group was together and you could see from their smiles and the looks they exchanged afterwards that they, too, knew they'd been part of something memorable and way beyond the ordinary.