AKA's second single. They initially gained attention through a great debut single which came out of nowhere on a new label run by Boy George. For me this single does it though. I like the song better than the first single, and the B-side 'acoustic version' is not what you would think of. Instead of a stripped down guitar/vocal demo type recording the B-side is maybe better than the A, sounding like a Badly Drawn Boy to the A-sides Regular Fries. Lots of things are blended into the sound. On the A-side the bass reminds me of The Jam. The B-side really does sound like Badly Drawn Boy (an that can only be a good, make that great thing). The vocal harmony on both sides recalls The Steve Miller Band on such early (1974) songs as 'The Joker'.

The second Ma Cherie For Painting 7" (Earworm #24). This is impossible to find. I remember passing on it when it DID come through Newbury Comics. I found it at Phase 4 Records, the new store which took over the spot The Mystery Train (another record store) had in Harvard Square before Mystery Train closed down. Heavy on the bass action, strung with guitar and key bending and twisting tones to the loose beat, tied together in a nice title wrap. I've always thought of Ma Cherie For {Painting as a singles band, and the omission of this single in the gullbuy was a great gap smartly corrected!

2xCD / /

Double CD retrospective of this Newcastle band which pioneered a sound which has led to what we now call 'easypop'. Since their very first single "Lions In My Garden" from 1984 they had their sound down pat. Their second single "The Devil Has All The Best Songs" let it be known to all early fans that this band was no fluke. Paddy McAloon writes, sings, and plays guitar to great effect, with bassist Wendy Smith doubling his words but adding much more than that. Their debut LP 'Swoon' still sounds fresh. What made this band radical in a time of Echo, The Furs, Teardrop, and the Postcard bands was the way Prefab Sprout made cool come to them: their sound didn't go to it. Paddy wrote lyrics that told stories that could be explored, explored, and explored without ever becoming trite or tiresome. Their sound was very square and they weren't afraid to make well produced songs with all the techniques traditionally employed by the mainstream. The thing that always separated them were the great lyrics and the strong delivery. I didn't really listen to them as their career went on (with the expeption of the great "Faron Young" 7" I still play to this day) so I welcome this set to bring me up to speed on a band with one of the coolest names out there, still around today and never sold out for fame.

Here is a short bio of Sam & Valley in their own words, "DK who is active in the punk band "THE KAZUYUCHY", met SAM in Tokyo,1995. SAM was an amateur of computer program, composed songs very cheap. Nobody need SAM as artist, but ADK was strong interested in her works. ADK asked SAM for standing new unit which has a new world. We made some tracks, mixed our different sense, at last, but also simple mind, with short time, we established the band which has original style, named "SAM & VALLEY". Mention specially, we don't have common taste / interest / hobby at all. Moreover we always say each other "Yes, I'm right!!" or "You had to say sorry...." Well that about says it all. Sam & Valley are not linear of easy to understand in the path from their muse to our ears. But there is a reward for giving them a try. They are now much less cutesy and cuddly than on their "My Favorite Clinic" LP. Many of the tracks here are Aphex Twin styled instrumentals. But some have vocals, and are just unparallelled in their complete package sound. An interesting, not for everyone sound far off to the left field.

The first full length by Richard Dorfmeister and rupert Huber (Tosca) before the new popular 'Suzuki' CD. As half of Kruder & Dorfmeister Richard could expect people to respect his side project as we love Kruder's other incarnation, The Peace Orhestra. Fact is that this disc far surpasses side project status and is a strong set of songs at least as good as 'Suzuki'. Tosca are playing the same field as Kid Loco, The Thievery Corporation or the Brinkman project Soul Center (who now had 2 great CD's out). That is, downtempo. Tosca seem to play it truly intuitively, not going for a groove caused by an instrument, but by a set of samples, snatch of dialog, or the combo of a few musical elements. Very free sounding, as well as urban and sophisticated. The bass on "Worksong" sounds like a cross between Bowie's 'Fashion' and 'Breaking Glass' if played by Kreidler.

The labels slogan is "Music like they used to make it way back in the day". All the songs are written & produced by Union Kid, who are Sean (Git./Voc.), Dot (bass), and Mark (drums). They are a young band from Braintree Essex England. They remind me on "Here Comes Chunk" of early Husker Du with guitar breaks like The Only Ones. The song really kicks. The second on that side ("Pacific Bell") is like mellower The Replacements. The lyric "It's always something" on top of acoustic is it in the song. It sounds good though. On the other side "Soda Jerka" is quite great: just as good as the A-sides first song. These two songs are the beauts of this single. 'Soda Jerka' reminds me of Ultravox's "Young Savage" (their rockingest moment?) mixed with The New York Dolls. Tall indeed. High energy, tweaked all the way. The EP ends out with "Nowhere DC", a song that starts with soft vocals, goes wild then calms down quickly before launching into the climax.