Birdie

title:: Reverb Deluxe
label:: Apricot Records

Reverb Deluxe, a collection of singles and B sides from 2000, is a good look at Birdie’s post Some Dusty (their first album) releases. It’s a fine introduction to Birdie, because you can hear how they have evolved, especially in their love of 60s Hammond organ and 70s Wurlitzer organ sounds.

Few singers can carry the torch for breezy flower power pop from a few decades ago better than Debsey Wylkes.

Chicks On Speed

title:: We Don't Play Guitars
label:: Chick On Speed Records

We Don't Play Guitars may have been my least favorite track from the band's '99 Cents' LP, but the 'We Don't Play Guitars' 12inch is quite fine.

Chicks On Speed did something very fine for this single - they made the CD and vinyl versions completely different, with no overlaps. For this 12inch Chicken Lips contributed the 'Chicken Lips Play Dub Version' of We Don't Play Guitars. It is a jewel, filled with fat bass licks and deep grooves.

Ludzie

title:: Sopot Surround
label:: post_post

Ludzie is an experimental jazzy band from Poland that will appeal to fans of The Dave Pike Set, !!!, This Heat, Sand and Laddio Bolocko. All their songs are instrumentals.

I can picture seeing this band in Krakow, in klub Jaszczury, the smoky student club in Market Square, or a cavernous stone basement cafe. There, jazzy songs like Sopot Surround or D. would breathe and become alive.

New Deutsch

various artists
label:: International DeeJay Gigolo Records

Like last years cd compilations Teutonik Disaster Volumes 1 & 2 on Gomma Records, Gigolo's New Deutsch digs into the vaults of Germany in the late 70s and early 80s, and comes up with a goldmine. Where Gomma centered their attention on funk new wave, Gigolo is looking more towards the electronic pop. I think Gigolo's release is way more consistent, and comes up with a much more classic sound than the Gomma compilations, which were great but often sounded dated (and the 2nd volume was much too short for the cd age).