For the very first time this Would-Be-Goods album is being released on Richmond Records, even though it was recorded in 1993. Jessica Arah's lyrics and music, with the Monochrome Set acting as backing musicians, make the Would-Be-Goods one of El's most popular artists. There are 5 songs on this disc which justify owning it. They are Ecuador Days, Casanova 92, Lisbon Beat, Trinidad Affair, and Angel Square. If you find that you agree with me on loving these songs, you really must find thjeir first record, 'The Camera Loves Me'. 'Mondo' came out in Japan on Polystar Records in 1993, but was not released in Europe at all. Unfortunately, I have not seen 'The Camera Loves Me' since I bought it for myself. If you like bands such as Eggstone, or just well done music with thought behind it, you should check out this disc. In an email sent to the gullbuy on April 27, 2001 Jessica herself said "A new Would-be-goods album will soon be coming out, all new songs". Can't wait!

There are 12 instrumental songs on this 10", which came out before their "Romance" CD. Daily Planet are cousins to Felt and The Durutti Column, without the vocals or the melancholy. This is not to say that their songs are fluff. I can picture them being played very seriously. It's just that they are filled with air and abandonment, like the wind through your hair on a scooter riding to the clear blue beach with your companion on back, fresh baguette and picnicware under arm. Basic Guitar, bass, and drums in a way most instrumental combos never thought to use them.

6 song 10inch which really shows them at their best. This 10" is a companion piece to their "Oh My Bag" LP. That record and this 10" show the growth that Stock, Hausen, & Walkman have made, from a art joke to a really innovative project with listenable slabs of wax. Of course you've probably seen (and maybe heard) the dozens of S,H,&M remixes on so many artists records, but you've got to understand that their own stuff is where they are making it happen. I DO enjoy their remix on the Peter Thomas "Warp Back To Earth" double CD though. There are no domestic releases of S,H,&M, and there are many older releases which can confuse you and make buying any of these high priced artifacts unlikely, but you can trust me that you will enjoy the Empty Box 10" and the Oh My Bag LP if you shell for them. What are they like? They are like the 2 Mr. Quark 12"s that I've been playing on my show (both on Paris's Orgasm Records). They are like Kid 606 but less beat driven, like Matmos but less artful and with a shorter attention span. In short, they are you and I - the common man with a sampler and an adventurous grasp of technology tempered by a sense of humour and a sense of the ridiculous.

Add this to the 10" we added from him on July 13, 1999 (see Gull Buy archives). Kid 606 is a young marvel from San Diego with his finger firmly on the "now" switch, and his feet in as many different places as they can reach. His music can be grouped with the new brweakout of US elctron artists like our own local Hrvatski and SF's Matmos, who Kid 606 interviewed in the last issue of Sound Collector.

Pop like Majestic, Sushi, or The Crooner. The A-side has male vocals and co-ed wordless vocal "ba ba ba's", while the B-side smokes and saunters with a female vocal, flanged guitar, and a weaving bass.

I first heard of Life With Nixon on the Neptunes compilation "Looking at the earth from Neptune, and it was good" which came out in July of '96, and was best remembered as the first place I heard about Mathew Fletcher's (of Heavenly) death by suicide from a hastily done sticker put on the cover. Once past that sad bit of news, the compilation had lots of great tracks by Scottish and Irish bands, some which I knew and some which I did not. Life With Nixon fell in with the ladder half, but their song was one of the standouts from that record. I had never seen or heard of any other releases from them until seeing this 7" posted with the tag line "sounds like Gene". Well, I don't like Gene, but I loved Life with Nixon's earlier song ("Gonesville"), so here is the single for you to play and judge afresh.

This from the always great Boa Fanzine "The Shining Hour appears to be the brainchild of Mark Cohen, a man not afraid of committing romantic visions to an 8 track in Worthing. Apricot records is a label based in Wiesbaden, Germany. Yet my over-riding impression is of Postcard Records and "The Sound of Young Scotland" (TM) circa early 80s. "I Won't Be Home" opens this ep with a big sweeping synth-string sound and a song in parts early Aztec Camera amalgamated with the Go-Betweens. as if the Postcard references weren't strong enough, "Five O'Clock Rise" has the tones of dear old Edwyn Collins creeping through. The two songs on the flip side are jangly, insistent numbers and "Determined" has nice harmonies. There's a slightly autumnal windwept quality to these tunes ... perhaps I'm just imagining that seafront at Worthing when the wind is blowing and the tourists have left town! In case you need further persuasion, it's on pale orange vinyl." (John)

About a year ago I added a CD which gathered together tapes and stuff from the 1977 San Francisco punk band Crime. That CD had a great sleeve and a couple of strong songs, but it did not have the signature song that Crime are most known for. That would be "Hot Wire My Heart", which most people know through the Sonic Youth version. Listening to this single now you have to remember that when it was first released in 1976 bands like Crime could not get a killer sound in the studio because they went against everything the music biz represented, and had no allies to tweak the knobs to reflect their vision. That's right, I'm saying that the recording is a shambles, but then history often comes off that way, and this single is history.