Saturday, September 26, 2009


RIP - Benny Mahan

(My condolences to his friends and family out there in Springfield. I never knew or met him but I believe that he inspired some people that mean a lot to me.)

"Souvenirs – Little Gems of Pop" is the latest release on "Wall of Noise", a division of the Sound Asleep imprint and I haven’t heard such an effin’ effervescent collection of prime power pop in a long time. Pound for pound this pounds any overpriced retread into the dirt. I’m not saying this couldn’t have happened without those exponents, i’m just telling you that – in my opinion – this is better.

In addition to their being 21 great tunes on this bay, it’s also dedicated to the memory of our pal – Lennart Persson and also Duane Jarvis. I haven’t heard Flying Color or Manual Scan in forever and this reminds me how good they were. I’d never heard Choo Choo Train or The Explosives before at all and that’s been my loss. “A Girl like You” by the latter might be my sprightliest discovery since The Shivvers “Teenline”. The original version of “Not The Trembling Kind” by The Decoys is also here, the little number that would eventually be tackled by Ms Laura Cantrell. Todd Newman & The Leatherwoods “To Win You Back” is very “Too Busy Thinking ‘bout My Baby”-like and none the worse for it.

If you need something that’ll hit the spot like Dwight Twilley, Phil Seymour , The Shoes or top-flight Teenage Fanclub then this baby is a must have. Good to hear Philly greats, The Wishniaks again too (Shout out to Mr Snyder!). Whoever curated this deserves a commendation... Jerker – This means you! Bruce Bodeen’s liners are excellent too. The whole thing has put me in the mood to dig out my Guadalcanal Diary albums. That’s what cool music should do, make you feel like you don’t want it to stop. These little gems are right bobby dazzlers! This is a limited edition so don’t hang about.

On the subject of LP, in the Swedish town of UmeĆ„ – there’s a monthly happening by the name of Klubb Lennart. It pays tribute to the fine, fine music that the man wrote about and dug, a very worthy undertaking to be sure. The next instalment will include a very cool dj who I’m not at liberty to divulge, incase it’s meant to be a secret.

It’ll be an excellent night though, you can be sure of that!

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in Golden Gate Park, SF - next weekend!

Quite a line-up!!

(Thanks to Art Fein for the heads up)

The A&R Report is online, there goes the rest of the day...

Finally looked at these Mojos and the numbers up for grabs are as follows. I’ve added cover info where I think anybody might care and would like as many of these as possible to go to a good home or homes. If you want any, all it requires is the postage to be covered. So here goes;

9 (Clash cover), 10 (Neil Young cover), 11, 14, 18, 19, 25,26, 28, 29 (Iggy cover), 30, 31, 38, 39 (Nick Drake cover), 40, 45,47 (Glam – Bowie/Ronson cover), 48, 61, 62, 63 (Blondie cover), 69, 75 (Velvets cover), 78 (Iggy cover – there are 2 copies of this), 81 (2 copies), 82, 84, 88, 91 (2 copies), 92, 93 (2 copies), 94 (New Order cover), 95 (100 Punk Scorchers – 2 copies), 96, 97, 98, 100 (2 copies), 101 (2 copies), 104, 105 (2 copies), 106 (2 copies), 107, 108, 110, 114, 115, 116, 119, 120, 138 (Marc Bolan cover), 152, 154, 155, 157, 158, 160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 166, 169, 170, 171, 174, 175, 177, 178, 179, 181, 182, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190.

There are no cds with them but maybe they could be found if it was really necessary. Some of these things have Beatles covers and all that other crap that allegedly makes them collectible. No? Me neither...

Also Mojo Collections magazine... issues 1,3, 4, 5

In addition, Record Collector magazines...
49,69, 72, 78, 88, 90, 95, 96, 97, 99, 111, 114, 116, 125, 149, 153, 166, 181, 184, 208, 225, 240, 243

So let’s see how we go with these. If there are no takers then they’re going in the big blue bin.

Thanks to Jari via facebook for finding this... and ahead of the Mott shows that will take place over the coming week...


monorail film club is back...

Interiors (15)
Sunday 27 September (7.30)

In Woody Allen’s first serious feature, three grown up sisters struggle to cope with the influence of their unstable mother, Eve. When their estranged father announces his decision to remarry, confusion and tragedy follow, along with an uncertain hope that the characters may find some kind of peace.

Selected and introduced by Caroline Gardiner, film club member/session cellist.
Click here for tickets

October Screening:

American Movie (15)
Sunday 25 October (7.00)

A tribute to a beer-guzzling Mid-western filmmaker and indie spirit this documentary is an ambitious, wildly funny chronicle by Chris Smith that celebrates the do-or-die lifestyle of redneck auteur Mark Borchardt.

The film is preceded by short film Heavy Metal Jr by Chris Waitt (24 minutes)

The screening will be introduced by Stuart Braithwaite from Mogwai.
Click here for tickets

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I'm not around for "American Movie" but if you've never seen it then it's a must. Definitely a top tenner for me. Who can forget the night Mark and Mike came to Edinburgh? Nobody who was there - that's for sure...