Blue Milk

So I was browsing through Deerhunter/Atlas Sound/Lotus Plaza's blog the other day and came across a post by Bradford Cox ("An Appreciation for Stereolab's "Blue Milk") where he basically praises the infamous 12 minute minimalist piece form "Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night". I have to agree with the guy. The "Cobra and Phases" record is one of my favourite Stereolab albums and I think that "Blue Milk" is a bold statement and an interesting proposition from the "Groop".
So in his post, Bradford mentions that in a conversation with Tim Gaine, Gaine told him that the track was originally a 40 minute piece that was later edited to 12 minutes for the album. Cox then tells us that the LP version contains the track as a longer, fuller 20 minute edit in a dedicated side on the double LP set. [SUPPORT VINYL!!]
He requested that if anyone has a copy on vinyl, could they rip the track and upload for him to download and so he "can space out to it on repeat for hours in the van. I WILL BE ETERNALLY GRATEFUL."
So here's your lucky day Brad! I've got a copy of the album on vinyl and I've ripped the full version so you can trip to it. Hey, I certainly did while I was ripping it. It was like high school times all over again!

The Peth: Golden Mile

No, this is not my record of the week by any means. I just had to comment on the incredible art work. I mean, check this shit out. Take a minute to take it all in. So we've got some bloke getting sucked off by some bird in a toilet. You can see his bum cheeks, except his bum cheeks are actually a pair of man-boobs. The fellator (is that a word?) is wearing a blouse with a raccoon smoking a spliff. This is probably the best part, i mean, who doesn't love a raccoon with a spliff. and he's wearing a bandana! Cute as fuck. I need a t-shirt like hers.
Remember that scruffy Welsh dude in Notting Hill? Yes, that dreadful movie with Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts. I actually watched that shit. Probably with my mum. Anyway that geezer is Rhys Ifans, and this is his space rock band that he and a couple of his Supper Furry mates do as a pisstake. Or at least I hope it's a pisstake, I mean the album has got a track called "69 Fanny Street".
So yeah, it's done in shockingly bad taste, and it's a bit overwhelming.

Records of the Week: Inner Space, Vainica Doble (Wah Wah Records)

Last week I got two newies from Barcelona's ever-reliable Wah Wah Records (cheers for that Paul!). Usually I'd just post my Record of the Week, but this week there were two of them. Both of these pretty much made my week. I won't upload vinyl rips of these as both are still in print (they've just come out, in fact). So support a great label by purchasing them. I urge you to check them out.


AGILOK & BLUBBO - The Inner Space


This is the first time this music has ever been released, so extra points to Wah Wah Spain for sorting it out. It was originally the score to the German film of the same name (circa 1968) composed by the dudes who would later go on to become the seminal Kraut band, Can (at this time ex-students of Karlheinz Stockhausen having a go at the emerging acid rock scene). This bad boy has got it all: Jazzy work-outs, spacey freak-outs, German chants, fuzz guitars, some brilliant flute work, and ethnic music influences. A must for any Can completist.


Vainica Doble - (S.T.)

This is the self-titled 1972 debut of Spanish pop duo Vainica Doble. Carmen Santonja and Gloria Van Aerssen met while at art school and went on to write songs and jingles for film and Spanish telly. They made a name for themselves and eventually recorded this album with Spanish rock band Tickets as their backing band and a children's choir. It's a very dreamy and pastoral psych-folk record. By this time Santonja and Aerssen started getting heavilly influenced by prog-rock and the Mothers of Invention. The lyrics are whimsical and surrealist at times, albeit with a "head in the clouds, feet on the ground" sort of attitude (themes are often about the mundane and the ordinary, which would in turn influence pretty much any of the Spanish indie pop bands of late 90's Elefant Records). Another recurring theme is dreams, and the music and lush arrangements certainly gives it that quality. It's nostalgic and reminds one of another time and place, one that we've only experienced in dreams. It's got other hippie-isms such as themes of astrology, escapism and child-like fantasies. I wonder if Juana Molina is aware of this record...
You can stream one of the album highlights here.

Wah Wah Records website.

The Lost Experimental Recordings: 1970 ~ Twink

John Charles Alder (born 29 November 1944), better known as Twink, is an English drummer, singer and song writer who was a central figure in the English psychedelic movement, and an actor. [Wikipedia]


His solo debut, "Think Pink" is a great record which I thoroughly recommend. These are some far-out recordings he did shortly after in an experimental session at his mate's studio. They were never released at the time until a few years ago, when Get Back got a hold of the tapes and contacted Twink himself to remind of him of their existence. He had completely forgotten about these sessions and was quite pleased with the recordings when he heard them after all those years, so they finally saw the light of day.

I've made a rip from my vinyl copy. It's not tracked, but I think it plays quite well as a whole, not really knowing where a track ends and another starts. Expect a lot of synth noodling and some very meaty, fuzzed out rockers. The only potential turn off would probably be some of the J.R.R. Tolkien references, but it's well worth a listen.
Note: this record is out of print, as far as I'm aware. This is why I've taken the liberty of posting it (with the only purpose of sharing it with you). If you really dig it, getting a used copy should be fairly easy to do on ebay or discogs.

Blog of the Week: Amateur Athletics

My mate Paul maintains this blog. Paul is my merchant of psych, among other things. He always sorts me out with the good shit (I mean records, not illegal substances) and I can always count on him to turn me on to new (for me, anyway) shizzle. I thought of uploading his excellent mixes on here, but everything in the blog is worth checking out, really, so i'll just post the link up here. there's all sorts of goodies and mixes by other good people. leave him a nice comment. and buy records off of him (y'all still buy records, i hope?). you can always rely on the man's impecable taste, so ask him to recommend something from his shop.
check it: http://amateurathletics.blogspot.com/

Trip Mosaic 1

Here's the first installment in what will be a series of mixes that I do called "Trip Mosaics". These are a different kettle of fish altogether from the dance mixes. These take a much freer approach and anything goes: from psych to jazz to ambient to noise, through to electronic, hip hop, folk, funk, world and classical, and some pop - an hour and a half freak out that shoots in all directions, essentially. More of these to come. Hope you enjoy it.
Get in!!!

[lovely artwork by the lovely akkia.neko]

Dance Mix no. 1

Here's the first installment of what will be a series of "Dance Mixes" that i post up here. It does what it says in the tin, basically. These mixes consist of me getting back from work with some new records in my bag, pouring myself a drink, and spinning said records on the er, decks (duh), to wind down from another draining day. They basically go through some techno, disco and deep-tech house grooves with bits of noise, ambient and a few classics thrown in for good measure. I do hope you enjoy these. and by the way, if you are the rightful owner of any of the recordings i post up here, and would rather not have his/her shit up on some blog for free, contact me and i will remove it with immediate effect (even though i physically distribute these records in this country). i'm not making any money off these mixes in any way, i'm just spreading the love, because i enjoy these records and would like to share them with other people who would enjoy them as well. that's the whole point. i mean, i myself am giving my own music away for free here as well. it's all about sharing good music, to me anyway.
http://www.mediafire.com/file/omyid31zwnm/dance mix 1.mp3
anyway, expect more of these to come. hopefully they keep getting better with each installment. i'll also be posting a different series of mixes i do. i've called these "Trip Mosaics", and well, just look out for them in the very near future. No need to tell you what those are about now...