DROP 14

You should already know about Snowbirds from SPLASH 2, and if you've looked them up, "Beautiful Morning" ought to have caught your eye - or ear. It's one of their best, and the perfect twee song. Fast and sweet like a sugar rush. Here it is, but by another one of my favourite twee groups: Bella Vista, Mark's pre-Pipas band. They did the third ever release on Matinée Recordings: the sold out Was the Last EP, as well as another single and one split. I'm a bit confused as to where this cover comes from though. On the split, The Best Wishes do a cover of it, but this recording definitely sounds like Bella Vista. Have to ask Mark! The Bella Vista version is slow and jangling. Being almost twice as long as the original, I hardly recognised it at first! They've also done an (incredibly enough) superior version of The Carousel's "My Boy and His Motorbike". They deserve to remembered, if not only for that.

DROP 14

Bella Vista - Beautiful Morning

One Good Autumn

These have been busy days. I've had a visit from my friend Marie and spent the weekend doing as many things as we possibly could. We went to see the fascinating exhibition Doves & Dreams at the Hunterian, displaying the much too rarely seen work of the "other two" of The Four: James Herbert McNair and his wife Frances Macdonald. We strolled out East to The Barras Market and Glasgow Green with its humid Winter Garden, via the cathedral and the Necropolis (a suitable place for Sinister picnics indeed!). We popped in at the Art School and the CCA, and came back in the evening to honour Andrew Symington's club Divine! with our presence. Undaunted by the rain (propelled by strong gusts of wind) we satisfied our cravings for antiques and second hand goods through a string of shops, ending up at Mono, where our more physical hunger was stilled. We rode buses, subway cars and trains, and learned to appreciate the importance of comfortable foot-wear. And finally, my girlfriend arrives today, with only a suitcase-full of essentials due to new restrictions on baggage weight. Tomorrow I will have to get busy writing an essay in musical philosphy. And don't even start me talking about Thursday. Blast it, I'll go ahead and do it anyway. First of all I'm missing Sounds of Sweden, featuring Hello Saferide. I had planned to go and see a rare Fassbinder film at the CCA, for the small sum of £1.50. Now those plans have been ditched as well. But for a very happy reason, I should say. This week Matinée finally revealed the identity of their new act: The Hermit Crabs. Suitably, they are from Glasgow, although they're completely new to me. Well not ultimately, because two of the members were previously in Camera Obscura off-shoot California Snow Story, who with the help of Shelflife gave the world a beautiful EP called One Good Summer five summers ago. Such great news, and finally I get to live in the same city as a Matinée band! Even the those who remember Remember Fun didn't have that much fun. But what about Thursday? Well, it just so happens that The Hermit Crabs are playing a show in a tea shop not beyond walking distance from here, that very day! What's more, California Snow Story apparently reformed (or formed again, differently) early this year and are also playing on that very same night! And they have an ALBUM coming out next year. I'm overwhelmed with good news all at once! Maybe it will come out on Shelflife, because it doesn't stop there. It seems the esteemed label in stirring in its sleep and will soon be out and about once more! I just heard from Rebecca that they plan to release the A Smile and a Ribbon debut album in January. And that is simply unbelievable.

SPLASH 2

I still have high hopes for a radio show, and Subcity is going to interview me soon, but I found out that broadcasting will not start until December. I think it's strange that they wait so long from the beginning of the semester – back in Lund the new shows started already in September. Obviously, I don't want you to wait that long. I've decided to give you the show I had planned to do as my second as a podcast instead. The radio shows will all have titles and catalogue numbers, starting with SPLASH 1. SPLASH 1 was going to be an introduction to the whole series of shows, so I will save that for the first show proper. Instead, here is Raining In My Heart, SPLASH 2! It is based on the autumn-themed mixtape I made earlier. As I wrote then, the title is a well-known song and also an EP by British 60's group The Pretty Things. I also chose this one for the podcast, because a few people have been asking me to upload the mix. It doesn't have any talking, I just couldn't be bothered. You can just read what I have to say instead:

The Cat's Miaow – Autumn
What better way is there to start any indiepop endeavour than with a Cat's Miaow song? Australia have given us many fine bands, but this just might be the best. You can find this song, and about 70 more if you pick up the two comps that Library put out three years ago. "Autumn" is of the average Cat's Miaow length so 70 songs isn't really that much! Halloween was earlier this week, so a bit late maybe, but here's a song about pumpkins and drinking gin:
The Pines – October Gin Again
Bart from Cat's Miaow was also in The Shapiros with Pam Berry, as you may know. That band was around for about three weeks, but the most enduring of Pam's projects has turned out to be The Pines. "October Gin Again" was on the Please Don’t Get Married EP (issued by Becalmed in 2001) and is likely to be included on the upcoming Pines full-length on Matinée. It's not really an album, but a collection of EPs and compilation tracks.
Brighter – Summer Becomes Winter Again
Indeed summer becomes winter… again. Another Matinée compilation, that you couldn't have missed by this time, is the magnificent Out to Sea with Brighter. This song was originally on their only album Laurel.
The Clientele – The Evening In Your Eyes
Oh there's nothing that encapsulates a city dressed in autumn leaves the way The Clientele does! We haven't heard anything from them this year, but last autumn was to a large extent soundtracked by Strange Geometry. More overlooked was their other release at the end of the year: It's Art Dad, a compilation of demos 1991-1997. This is one of many stunning tracks on that record.
The Jean-Paul Sartre Experience – Shadows
A song that reminds me of The Clientele quite a lot, and they definitely share the 60's psych influence. This New Zealand band was one of the best Flying Nun could boast in the 80's. It's on The Size of Food from 1988.
The Sea Urchins – Please Rain Fall
Another band that wore their 60's influence on their sleeves. You probably know everything about these Sarah darlings already, so I won't bore you. As you may have noticed, not all the songs here are actually ABOUT the autumn. It's much easier to find songs about rain, so here's another one:
The June Brides – In the Rain
From one indiepop classic to another – the first single from The June Brides. Phil Wilson finished his set at the ICA with this one. If you haven't picked up the Cherry Red retropective yet, bad luck, it's sold out! You've probably heard "In the Rain" already and wasn't sure whether to choose the Lovejoy cover instead, but I wanted to play June Brides. The cover is really good though, recorded for the tribute cd, but now also included on the latest Lovejoy EP: England Made Me.
The Desert Wolves – November
Another song from a sold out retrospective and this one actually about the current month! After including "Mexico" on The Sound of Leamington Spa Volume 1, Firestation (then Firestation Tower) released one of my favourite cds ever: Pontification, with nine amazing songs by one of the most criminally overlooked band there are. Still, you may have more luck finding that than the original singles.
The Go-Betweens – The Sound of Rain
Something in memory of Grant McLennan then. One of the songs recorded in Australia for a would-be album. I think there are several cds compiling these early tracks. God bless him!
Glo-Worm – One Million Rainy Days
Another Pam Berry band, I confess that I can't get enough of them! This might be my favourite though. It's light as cotton and sweet as cotton candy. Still available on the K Records Glimmer comp, I think. Or hope.
Harper Lee – Autumn
I sincerely hope Harper Lee aren't really calling it a day. Their new ep is SO good. And their last album, that "Autumn" is on, seemed so promising! Harper Lee meant more to me than I can describe that autumn two years ago. I was hopeful when one day I listened to "I Could Be There For You", the next day it made me cry my eyes out. But especially Go Back to Bed, where all the lyrics reflected my life at time so well it was scary. Keris must have been in exactly the same situation when he wrote those songs. All Things Can Be Mended was equally bleak, but this song was a streak of hope right in the middle.
The Castaway Stones – Autumn II
The last band Pam Berry was in before she moved to London. Sometimes they are my favourite too! If I'm not mistaken Castaway Stones shared members with Slumberlanders The Ropers and The Saturday People. This song is from their 1998 album Make Love to You, a Shelflife classic and obviously sold out.
The Budgies – Summer Come Back!
The reason The Budgies are italicised is not because the are exceptionally good, which they are of course, but because they are this week's Swedish Band. There will be one for every show and we start out with the best of the best – at least they were before Days turned up. One thing's for sure, The Budgies is the only proper tweepop band that is still around in Sweden! This song was meant for a compilation, don't know if it is out yet. If you like The Budgies you should invest in the new live cd, which you can get cheap from here. If anyone can bring the summer back – it's The Budgies!
Snowbirds – Rainy Day Boy
Snowbirds is probably my favourite "twee" band. They took their name from "Snowbirds Don't Fly" by Razorcuts and the girl was dating The Legend!. Their sound takes all the juicy bits from Razorcuts, Talulah Gosh, The Rosehips and mix them all into one sweet twee milkshake. This is from their demo, that you can find on the Waaah! site.
Sandra Phillips – World Without Sunshine
Twee certainly has a few things in common with northern soul and 60's fashion in general. This is this week's Northern Soul Hit, hence the italics, and it will work in the same way as the Swedish theme. As you know, there are not many northern songs about autumn, they're all about love, but this one has a suitable title at least. It's from 1966.
The Watermelon Men – Autumn Girl
The 60's revival spawned its equivalents in Sweden too. Swedish pop band Watermelon Men can be seen as such, indeed they are included on last year's The Children of Nuggets box, which I only just found out about. I got this song thanks to Little Hits and it's from their 1985 album Past, Present, and Future.
Love Parade – Autumn
My collection of Love Parade songs is growing slowly. There's one on Indiepages just now. Graeme Elston has been in a host bands: Astronaut, Luna, Pure and most recently Slipslide. But as usual the first is the best. "Autumn" was on their first release from 1990.
East Village – Black Autumn
Justly viewed as the best band in the world by many indiepop fans, East Village is also in my top ten. This is my favourite track off of their only album, Drop Out. What was once the Most Expensive Indiepop Record, the Hot Rod Hotel singles comp, is now available as part of the new reissue of Drop Out. A welcomed gift to the world from Japanese Excellent Records, from earlier this year. You haven't missed THAT, have you?

SPLASH 2
Raining In My Heart

(To avoid upsetting any of the bands, this will only be available until the next show. Let me know if the link stops functioning before then.)

DROP 13

If Belle & Sebastian hadn't been such an important part of my life and helped me survive school, Brighter would have been my favourite band. In 2004 I spent many a summer day listening to the jangling guitars of songs like "I Don't Think It Matters" and somehow, the world seemed so beautiful. I wrote many songs that summer, one of them was "Cinderella's Boots". I was really let down when my naive view of the world later came to pieces. But sometimes when I listen to Brighter these days, I experience that feeling again. Such as today, when the autumn chill makes me think back on summer days in Sweden. Of being in love, not knowing what do to about it. Brighter told me what to do and what to think. Not long ago a gave a mixtape to girl which had "Never Ever" at the end. Discovering new Brighter songs is a pleasure that is hard to match. A few weeks ago Tom gave us some demos he had found. Some of them had no name and suffered from an abysmal sound quality. Keris gave me the titles and I tried to improve the sound. Now I'm giving you "Sunburst" back. It was on the first demos Keris sent to Sarah Records. If you feel old today, this song will make you cheer up.

Life is love and summer days

DROP 13
Brighter - Sunburst

Psychedelic Halloween

This morning, walking to school, I saw Stuart in Ashton Lane. Wonder what he'd been doing yesterday night? Halloween wasn't yesterday, but the day before yesterday you know. I was in town around midnight and Sauchiehall street was just packed with people, dressed in bad excuses for scary costumes, queuing to get into some club or other. Well I was just leaving a club, Capitol, that had four bands playing that night. I mainly went to see my friends All My Friends, who do a really good take on psych pop with equal parts Brian Wilson, Elephant6 and sixties psychedelia. I also got to see The Get Set Go, whose drummer is playing with AMF too. They went on when there was virtually no-one in the club, but I quite liked them. Then there was a rubbish band before Only Joe Kane was on. Joe played guitar on a few songs for AMF, but unfortunately I didn't get to see his own band because I had to go home. AMF friends are only just getting a full band together, so hopefully, I'll get to play some guitar for them!

DROP 12

The Pines are on the cards, not only because of their forthcoming album - which is actually a collection of old material, so the Castaway Stones album is still the only full-length by any of Pam Berry's bands. But they have also been on my mind a lot lately, as I was hoping to meet Pam a few days ago. I was listening again to all her records, with Black Tambourine/Glo-Worm/Shapiros/Castaway Stones/Belmondo/Seashell Sea, formulating my thoughts into questions. The questions are still there on the piece of paper, demanding their answers. In many ways, The Pines is the best of her countless projects. But if you'd ask me out of the blue, I'd probably go for Glo-Worm. But really, everytime I listen to one those bands I think "this is the best one". A friend of mine recently gave me "If She Doesn't Smile (It'll Rain)" by 80's Greek band Fantastic Something. I then realised that I had already had that song sitting on my computer for a few months, but as an mp3 of The Pines playing it live sometime, somewhere. I didn't know it was a cover and I still don't know where it comes from. So although it's quite true to the original, I still think it sounds like a Pines song when I hear the Fantastic Something version. This is dedicated to Pam and her family. I hope they are well!

DROP 12
The Pines - If She Doesn't Smile (It'll Rain)

'86 In '06

Yesterday I came home from an eventful and exhausting trip to London. It was quite busy, what with the weekend and all, so it's nice to be back here in the West End! I was there for two days and I think I managed to get lots of things done. I arrived in Belgravia at 7 am and almost the first street I came on to was were Lawrence lives. One of the fun things about walking around London was that all the names of streets and places makes you think of pop songs, like "A-Bomb In Wardour Street, "Wells Street", "Elephant & Castle" and so on. There's probably a song about each and every one of the tube stations! Aye, it was busy - apart from Crystal Palace that is. I quite liked it as I was walking around in the chilly morning sunlight. Then I went record shopping on Berwick Street in Soho and found some stuff by The Popguns, The Primitives and The Railway Children. Content and tired, I sat down in Starbucks to read for a few hours. I've never actually been to Starbucks before (not even sure we have them in Sweden) but they make you feel really displaced with the music they play. It kind of damaged me and as I went out again I had to tell myself "alright, you're not in 1940's Manhattan, you're in London stupid!". I was going to Kentish Town to meet up with Alice and Ian, so I stopped off in Camden to get some new boots because I'd just noticed mine were about to give in on me. We went to see The Bobby McGees in the evening, who were playing this weird folk/anti-folk/hardcore night in a bar called The Pleasure Unit. Everything else was crap, but the BMs were great as usual. They have a tendency to win the crowd over, I mean, how could you not be charmed?

On Saturday me and Ian went to Camden to do some more record shopping - I found the second Close Lobsters album quite cheap. After some hastily eaten food I went down to the ICA, as I was supposed to be there early for the interviews. It's really an impressive venue, housed in one of those monumental buildings on The Mall. I ended up arriving just as doors opened, so I found myself constantly on the move, meeting people, talking to the artists, watching the shows that started just half an hour after opening and that only had 15-minute breaks between them. And during the breaks they showed clips from Hungry Beat, which seems really promising - I hope it will be available on dvd next year. Anyway, I felt I couldn't talk to anyone as much as I wanted to and I don't even remember any of the songs Stephen and Katrina played. I met so many legendary and nice people and it was all for such a short time! Most of them I'll probably never see again, but I guess it's much better than not to have met them at all. Apart from Stephen Pastel and the artists playing, I met Ian and Alice's friend Andrew from the States who had been in a band with the guitarist from Black Tambourine (who later started Slumberland). And I finally met Alistair Fitchett who was kind enough to give me a copy of his book Young and Foolish. I'll read it soon as I have the time, and then I'll let anyone who wants to borrow it! I met Harvey Williams, formerly of Another Sunny Day, and Bob Stanley from Saint Etienne, who was responsible for arranging these nights at the ICA. I even bumped into Andres Lokko who lives in London now. What feels most unreal though, is that I met Johnny Johnson. I didn't think I was ever going to meet her! She still looks just as beautiful. As I was telling her how much I loved The Siddeleys and she said, like most people do, that it was such a long time ago it finally dawned on me how people who were around in 1986 must feel about this. I was just one year old at that time, so I don't have any concept of the music as part of the time to which belonged. Most the bands I've only discovered one or two years ago, so on an unconscious level it's all fairly recent to me. It seems to me that SO much has happened in just the last three years. How much then, will I remember of 2006 when I'm 40, if I'm even alive then? It's a staggering thought. Maybe artists can't really relate to what they did twenty years ago. But at the same time, things that I went through two years ago sometimes feel like just yesterday... I'll leave it there, because I have to tell you that I finally got meet Lawrence too! He was nothing like I had pictured him, and I don't mean that in either a negative or positive sense. He was just different, but he was friendly and didn't seem to mind talking to me. He said that he was planning a more extensive tour of the UK after the coming album, so I guess I will get to see him play after all. About the gigs then.

The Wolfhounds were on first, at 8 pm, and they did an amazing set. They haven't written any new music since they split up, which is good for one reason, namely that we got to hear all our favourites. Highlights that I recall were "Me", "Skyscrapers", "The Anti-Midas Touch", "Blown Away" and "Rule of Thumb". They certainly had more energy and feeling than many new indie bands have these days. I did get to interview Dave Callahan and Dave Oliver at the end of the evening but they really wanted to go home and I didn't want to keep them, so it might not be one of the best interviews I've done, plus I just recorded it on my mp3-player which didn't really give it a professional sound quality. But maybe that merely goes with the spirit of the evening. I don't know if Dave was just tired, but he seemed more than a bit cynical about music today, and life in general. But maybe that is what drives him. Hopefully, you'll get to hear it soon.

It was just a joy watching Phi Wilson play - he really seemed to enjoy it! He had Big John playing the trumpet and he played guitar through this tiny, cheap Peavey amp. He had the other instruments recorded as a backtrack on an mp3-player, complete with tinny drum machine and all. It was fascinating to hear "Sunday to Saturday" played in this fashion. Me and Ian sat listening to that song earlier, thinking "he's never going to play that". I thought it would just be him playing guitar and singing his solo songs. But he was tumbling around on stage like he was still twenty, missing notes here and there. I think it all conveyed rather well what music was really about for bands like The June Brides. It is perhaps best captured in one of the lines in "Better Days", which was one of his solo songs that he played. It's a line I've thought about before, but that night it really stood out for me: "A song of hope and rapture, I hoped to capture - these days it's worth it just to try." That neatly encapsulates the way I feel and have felt for quite some time now. And oh, he did a version of "Lee Remick" as well, in memory of Grant McLennan. Then he allegedly he got drunk and had to go home. As he said, The June Brides weren't twee - they were punk! So much for that interview.

Phil's performance was greatly contrasted by Roddy Frame's, which was not only twice as long but from another universe completely, professionally seen. His voice was still amazing and he's as brilliant a guitarist as ever. He had four acoustic guitars on the stage beside him, and I was just waiting for him to pick up the twelve-string! He started out with some of the not-so-old Aztec Camera material and I didn't recognise much if this, but it sounded better in these acoustic versions than what I remember the later albums doing. He then played some Orange Juice stuff and got sentimental about Postcard. There was clearly a sentimental air to the whole arrangement and most of the people there were probably in their thirties or forties. The climax of Roddy's gig was when he had worked his way up to the twelve-string and played "We Could Send Letters", "The Boy Wonders" and "Oblivious" from High Land, Hard Rain, which were aided by some audience participation. And I think he did three songs for the encore!

After I had done my one interview I went back to Ian's flat to get some sleep before catching the bus early next morning. Even though setting the clocks back gave me an extra hour, I barely made it to the coach station in time becuase of some maintenance work on the Victoria line. Thanks a lot to Alice and Ian who put me up! You can expect the favour returned when you come to Glasgow. If you live in London you must go their club Spiral Scratch Saturday next week. And next Tuesday they're arranging some c86 style gigs with Bobby McGees, post-Rosehips band Horowitz and indiepop supergroup The Cut-Outs! Good-night, if you've not already fallen asleep.

Who Said Budgies Don't Fly?

It may be that snowbirds don't fly, but these Swedish birds sure will go far! So, yesterday I handed out the last of the 96 flyers and it's about time I told you just how to get your hands on that Budgies live record. Basically, all you have to do is to send the flyer back, in an envelope together with you name, address and email. The first five who do this will find a copy of the cd in their mailboxes sooner than you'd think! The address you send them to is:

The Rain Fell Down
1/1, 37 Athole Gardens
Glasgow
G12 9BQ
UK

This goes for everyone in possesion of a flyer, whether you got in London yesterday or in Emmaboda two months ago! To read more about this intriguing record, go to this old post. To give sweets to budgies, go here. Best of luck!

You're Not Real and I Can't Talk to You

So, another line from "If Only Words" - seems like I can't get all those violins out of my head. Just a quick one today, to let you know I'm taking the the Boring Night Bus to London this evening. I was going to meet Pam Berry at Crystal Palace the next morning for some coffe and an interview, but that's been cancelled as she's in hospital giving birth to her second indie baby! Friday evening I'm off downtown to meet my friend Alice and go and see The Bobby McGees. Then on Saturday a walk down The Mall to the respectable ICA. Still Doing It For Fun no 2. On Friday they will have Magic Numbers, Subway Sect and Go-Kart Mozart (I'm missing him again!) playing. That was night no 1. I'm going to see Roddy Frame, Phil Wilson and The Wolfhounds! Hopefully I can interview the latter two. It's supposed to be a celebration of the original c86 week at the ICA in 1986 and they will show clips from Bob Stanley's forthcoming Hungry Beat documentary. I hope to meet Alistair Fitchett, Martijn Grooten, and Stephen Pastel of course, who is playing some records together with Katrina. I don't know how they'll recognise me, but if they - or you - want to have a chat I shall be wearing a dotted black shirt and a red tartan tie. And I'll be giving out the last flyers for the blog, so we can finally get the competition underway!

DROP 11

Here's something to make up for the missing bands on CD86. "You crushed my bones, but I've got thousands." That's a line from one of my favourite 1000 Violins songs, namely "If Only Words". That's not the song I'm giving you today though. This is one I've fallen for more recently, as I just got hold of a copy of Like One Thousand Violins (thanks to Jimmy Tassos!), the singles compilation Vinyl Japan put out in 2000. This is as good an example as any of their quirky song titles, which are sometimes brilliant, but sometimes just TOO long. "Let Me Charm the Pants Off Your World" is probably the best! "If I Were a Bullet..." was from their fourth (or third, or fifth - hard to find information on these matters!) single, released by Report in 1987, and it is one of the most gloriously jangly songs of the decade. 1000 Violins could have been really big you know, if they'd only stayed together longer. They deserve being as big as The Stone Roses, at least! Well, there's a lot to say about this band but it's all in the music, so if you look up their records you can find out on your own. Good luck!

DROP 11
1000 Violins - If I Were a Bullet (Then For Sure I'd Find a Way to Your Heart)

Painted Into Corners

I help you paint the floor of your room
But it’s not the paint that makes me swoon
You know I’m afraid to get my hands dirty
So you think you’ve got me where you want me
When you go out leaving me marooned
But I don’t care if my feet get maroon

Hip Hip Hurrah(!)

If you're throwing a party for our twenty year old birthday boy (or perhaps girl is more appropriate?) C. Eighty-Six, you've just a soundtrack for it! Against my expectations, Fopp actually had CD86 in the racks already on the day of release! It's a stunning collection of indiepop hits - I got 15 great tracks I hadn't before. No one can listen to this and say: "This is no good! I'll stick with Oasis, thank you." What satisfies me the most is the inclusion of "Around and Around" by Hurrah!, my favourite Hurrah!-song - which is to say a lot. That's easily the best track on the double cd. But woe! They forgot the exclamation mark that goes with Hurrah and This Poison...! And the "i" in Chesterfields is the wrong way round. But no matter. The first nine tracks pretty much conform with the best nine bands of the period, in my opinion. Other selections that makes me nod my head in ecstatic approval are "Just Too Bloody Stupid" by The Close Lobsters and "Sign On the Line" by The Fizzbombs.

But I do have some objections to the selection (of course): 1. Either they should have done a complete reissue of NME C86, or chosen only tracks that are not on it. (It doesn't reflect the tape anyway as only Big Flame are included from the "shambling bands".) 2. They should have chosen other tracks by artists who were also on the two year old Rough Trade comp. (Why can't anyone see that The Clouds' "Tranquil" is several dimensions better than "Get Out of My Dream"?) 3. And lastly I would have had a slighty different set of bands on it if I'd compiled it. The omissions that most make me cringe are: 1000 Violins, Jesse Garon & the Desperadoes, St. Christopher and James Dean Driving Experience. Also they've got a few songs released by Sarah Records though I see Sarah as following on "the birth of indiepop". Then why not include Brighter, The Orchids, The Springfields and The Field Mice and other late eighties bands on other labels too? I guess many an indie aficionado will propose their own tracklisting to this comp, so here my suggestion:

I would keep all the bands, except: JAMC (who everyone knows anyway, I mean, they haven't included The Smiths or Housemartins), BMX Bandits (early Bandits were nowhere near as good as they got later), TVPs (who are as much associated with other "scenes" and are considerably older than the other bands on the comp), Pop Will Eat Itself, Laugh, Weather Prophets, Jasmine Minks, Boy Hairdressers, The Raw Herbs, Half Man Half Biscuit, Meat Whiplash, Age of Chance, The Bachelor Pad, Revovling Paint Dream, Soup Dragons, Mighty Lemon Drops, Groove Farm, The Dentists, The Bodines, The Pooh Sticks, and even The Flatmates and The Shop Assistants. Of course I love most of these bands, but they just can't compete with the bands that I would have replace them:

Jesse Garon & the Desperadoes, James Dean Driving Experience, 1000 Violins, Emily, The Mayfields, The Springfields, St. Christopher, Brighter, Even As We Speak, The Orchids, Friends, Hey Paulette, The Desert Wolves, The Brilliant Corners, The Visitors, Remember Fun, The Church Grims, Reserve, Rodney Allen, Love Parade, Fat Tulips and Bubblegum Splash!.

But that all depends on your taste, I guess. The compilers certainly haven't stuck to "the most important bands". In that case they would've had The Smiths on it - the only band people Actually Listened To.

I Tried to Write an Opera For Us

This Saturday I went to the opera to see Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss. It's part of our Opera course and we only had to pay seven quid, instead of I-don't-know-how-much. So it was agreeable although he's not one of my favourite composers. It was a nice experience still, don't think I've ever seen a live opera before... But it was hard to concentrate for three and a half hours, even though I'd brought a good deal of chocolate. Especially since we all knew exactly what was going to happen! The view was amazing though, we were on the top balcony more than ten meters above the stage. And the balcony was quite steep, so you felt a bit dizzy getting to your seat. Apparently you're not allowed to take pictures at an opera performance (why?) but I managed to get a few off before it started. It really is a nice opera house!

Oh! I forgot to tell you, when I came home from Sounds of Sweden the other night a saw a fox strolling down my street as I looked out the window. I've only ever seen a fox once before, if you don't count the zoo (not sure they have foxes at the zoo though...) and that was in a city as well. Maybe they've jumped on the urbanisation bandwagon too? Anyway, I was inside so I didn't get a chance to talk to him, or her. I've always wanted a fox! Not to own it mind you, just as a friend. I didn't have time to capture it on film, but it seemed almost like a magical moment, not meant to documented. And then two nights ago I spotted the fox again! This time scurrying along, as if it had a really pressing appointment. I assume it is the same one. Maybe he, or her, lives in our garden?! I should leave a cup-cake or something and then come back to check if someone's eaten it. I wonder was a fox's favourite meal is? Apart from rabbits - I couldn't kill such cuddly creatures, not even for my fox.

In My Secret Garden

Hello everyone! I've been doing some interesting things these last days, including venturing into the Private Garden for the first time. My street encircles a sizable garden, complete with imposing fence and robust iron gates to keep the common man out. Not really. Everyone who lives in this street's supposed to have a key, but there are only two keys for us at no 37. So now I finally got hold of my neighbour across from me and got to borrow the key. But having gone to all this trouble I went down to the gate, proudly brandishing my key, only to find someone had left the gate slightly open anyway. It reminds of of those great lines in "Raincoat" by Melodie Group: "Unfortunately no one is home, but fortunately I have got my key. Unfortunately someone's changed the lock, and no one took the trouble to tell me." Anyways, I walked around as the sun was peering through the clouds, listening to The Tidy Ups and The Haywains and basically just took a lot of photographs. Some of them turned out quite nice actually, might use them for something later.

I also sent in my application for a new show at Subcity Radio, so keep your fingers crossed! And yesterday I went to my second Sounds of Sweden, this time with Blood Music and Fine Arts Showcase. I don't really like these bands, but I went just as well to support the cause. I had a good time though - Blood Music was much better on his own than with the full band and I had a nice chat with Stephen Pastel. He and Katrina will be dj:ing at the second of the c86 nights at the ICA in London next weekend. I planning on going that night, to see Roddy Frame, Phil Wilson and The Wolfhounds. You may have noticed the CD86 compilation that's coming out on Monday. It's got one of the best tracklistings for an indiepop compilation since the early 90's!

DROP 10

When I wrote about my favourite Sarah bands earlier, I forgot to mention St. Christopher and Another Sunny Day of course and... The Springfields! It's been hard to find an adequate follow-up to DROP 7, but if there is one it has got to be The Springfields, and especially their first single "Sunflower" which was attributed the tenth number (what a coincidence...) in the Sarah catalogue. With it's three guitars sounding as immaculate as any musical instruments ever has and its tranquil sixties melodies, it's sheer pop perfection. As you can see from the picture there were apparently more than one The Springfields. As I found out from Nixon-Roger's blog, this was the band Dusty Springfield was originally in. It's a nice cover though, don't you think?

DROP 10
The Springfields - Sunflower

Such a Simple Plan

Yet it results in such a beautiful work of art. The world has been waiting to see what the Math & Physics Club could actually achieve, after lapping up their first two eps, each with its own classic title track. What was underneath those white lab coats we asked ourselves? Was it more than a worn Moz shirt? We've gotten to know MAPC as the group with the reverby, delayed lead guitar and the singer who's listened too much to The Smiths. "Weekends Away" and "Movie Ending Romance" were the group at their upbeat, jangling best. We loved the slower, violin-accompanied pieces as well though and the way they reminded us of oldskool Belle & Sebastian. Their eponymous debut album, out now, is full of the former kind. "I Know What I Want" has some of the most delicate guitar-picking you'll hear this autumn. "La La La Lisa" has a Tullycraft-flavoured lyric, but without the name-dropping. "April Showers" has a great ba-ba-ba chorus and is one of my new favorites. Their countryesque streak shows in "Darling, Please Come Home" with its brushy drumming, in the languid "Holidays and Saturdays" where they sing about "croquet on the lawn", and in the skipping "Last Dance". A small minus for the artwork though, which is nice, but not as nice as for the eps. It seems more as a standardized Matinée cover. You're not starting to design the covers in your sleep, are you Jimmy? You should regard the Lovejoy cover as a challenge! Now, watch as MAPC take off their coats to reveal their brand new shirts - with their own band name on them. You don't need comparisons anymore! With their album, MAPC shows they are themselves enough.

DROP 9

Scotland's number one group today might be Bubblegum Lemonade, but 40 years ago The Poets where the kings of the turf. A five-piece beat (soon to be freakbeat) group dressed in black suits and white frill shirts. What was unusual about them was they they relied solely on material penned by their own members, and to fantastic results. Nuggets-owners are probably familiar with the mind-blowing b-side of their second single, "That's the Way It's Got to Be", but that was only one of six singles released. "Call Again" was the fourth, also released in 1965, and is more of a classic 12-string jangler. As to this date there is still a not a proper compilation of The Poets' recordings, as Decca won't let their stuff go. I got this track from the Scotland's No. 1 Group bootleg that is full of demos but most of which suffer from crap sound quality. Still worth acquiring though, if you come across it.

DROP 9
The Poets - Call Again

Journey's End

I feel the need to say a word or two about Out to Sea, the new Brighter compilation on Matinée. It ties to together the remaining loose ends, just as Keris tells me he's ready to tie the knot also with his current project Harper Lee. Because it feels like like I've come full circle in my love affair with Brighter, who have been among the handful of bands I've held closest to my heart for several years now, and that will certainly remain there forever. Obviously, the cd is first of all a reissue of the band's only album: Laurel. If you like Brighter you've probably heard it already, so I won't go on about that. The title of the comp is from Laurel's sixth track, apparently a favourite for some. Mine is "Maybe" however, which has one of the most poignant lyrics according to my book. But there are also a wealth of songs from flexis, demos and an old compilation LP called Becket House - which I saw not long ago in a record store in Stockholm, despite Jimmy Tassos' frequent mentioning of its rarity. Ever since I heard "Wallflower" on the Matinée site this Spring, I've been longing for this release! That is without a doubt one of the best Brighter songs there are. Listening to this record I'm pleasantly surprised by the quality of these previously unreleased songs that Keris seem to regard as inferior or rather naive. As if there was something wrong with naivety! "If I Could See" can easily rival "Wallflower" and there are several quite upbeat songs, which we weren't spoiled with in the previously released material. There's is nothing to rival a fast Brighter song, you know. All those layers of jangling guitar-figures and simple yet ingenious guitar-lines that sounds so majestic and moving in the slow songs just makes me go through the roof when played at the pace of classics like "Does Love Last Forever?". As you may have noticed Tom posted some Brighter demos on the Indie MP3 blog not long ago, and some of those tracks are to be found on Out to Sea, remastered and in their full glory. I'm very grateful for the cleaned-up version of "Nothing At All", which was the one I liked best among the demos posted! Among them was also "I Wish I'd Never Said That", which devoted fans would recognise as a track from the Election Day EP Keris released under the Hal moniker post-Brighter. That sets you to wondering if maybe other songs, even with Harper Lee, where perhaps written long ago? The only song on the record that makes you understand Keris' concern with the quality of the songwriting is "Airhead". But although it might not be a full-fledged Brighter composition, you can't help but be charmed. Just as with the singing on "Next Summer", where Keris sounds like he's about twelve. Beautiful! There must have been many requests for the reissue of Laruel (not the least from me) and we can only lift our hats for Jimmy Tassos, who's finally made it happen. To sum it up and make for a nice quote for Jimmy: Out to Sea is a double victory for Keris, Alex, Alison, and Matinée - finally the magnificence of Laurel is once again available for all to behold, and for the rabid fans a completely new universe is opened with these extra tracks that show us Brighter are even more deserving of our love and worship than we had thought! So, I was right in my prediction that this would be the record of the year.

Pop Love Will Save the World!

For a while now I've been plotting to extend our business here at The Rain Fell Down to the more established medium of radio broadcasting. Those who know me may know that I was one of several people behind the Tandem Pop programme on Radio AF in Sweden. It got its name from the fact that it was a twin programme, it's twin Tandem Modern went to its death prematurely however. Now it's about to get a new twin, hopefully, on Subcity Radio here in Glasgow. For better or worse, I've decided to post our manifesto here. It's not at all certain that it's going to happen, but this is what I'm going to send to Subcity, and they can't turn this down can they? And if they do, you'll be sure to fill their mailbox with letters of complaint, right? So here it is:

Pop music is not about creating perfect records - it's about creating perfect moments. So said Tim Vass. The Rain Fell Down is a radio show solely dedicated to pop music. And when we say pop music... we don't mean pop music! We mean POP! music, in the sense that Tim was trying to get at. Pop music was born in the sixties. Already then it was all about moments, the frivolous and the throwaway. Its medium was the 45 and it came in three-minute burst into which all your frustration, hate, ecstasy and hope was concentrated, canalised. That moment, when you had written that song and you knew that this was It, it was never going to get any better. That moment, when you heard a song and it made you feel alive for the first time. That moment that, though never experienced in the same way ever again, would always stay in your heart. It was about being young and foolish, when every day had its perfect moments. Some people stay young, even when they get old. Pop music is still young, even though it has 40 years weighing on its shoulders. It has always been there, whether it was The Subway Sect in 1976 or Primal Scream in 1986 or Belle & Sebastian in 1996 or maybe Your band in 2006. It may have gone from chiming Rickenbackers to sparkling laptops, from flexis to mp3s, from fanzines to blogs but it's still the same. So, The Rain Fell Down is about pop music, and all that comes with it. It's about staying independent. You've got advice for Us? We Don't Want To Hear It! We will make our own records, our own ideas, our own haircuts, our own perfect moments. It's not about being Different. It's not about being Superior. It's about being Ourselves. It's about politics in the same way Sarah Records was about politics. It's about putting a Chelsea boot to the fat behind of the establishment. It's about fashion and style in the same way Mike Alway's él records was about fashion and style. It's about getting stared at when you walk down the street. It's about making art and destroying art. It's not about pretensions, but ambitions - like The Creation saying their music is red with purple splashes. It's about joy and empathy. It's about wearing a badge to show your delight. It's about making the world more loveable. Anything bad can be made in to a song. Every week The Rain Fell Down will bring you perfect moments. From the past, from today, for the future. Perhaps a band, like The Clouds, only recorded one single and that was their perfect moment. That might be the song that changes your life, your perfect moment. Some of them might be gone forever, but We like discovering them, blowing off the dust and giving them to You. Have you heard "Deeper Than the Ocean" by The Mayfields? Yes? Then you understand what we're trying to say. No? Then you've missed something, but we will see to that. Some of these moments may be happening right now, getting lost in today's overload of information. We will pass you the word on what we come across, and we trust you to do the same. Have you heard Bubblegum Lemonade? We will play them for you. Maybe you would like to play something for us? The Rain Fell Down is about making something pretty while you can. If we're lucky, it might inspire You to do the same. Stay happy, be friends, and be our friends!

Montague Terrace (In Purple)

Just put together a new comp. I did have a certain person in mind, but again, if anyone of my friends want one, I'll be happy to oblige. The title this time is taken from the song by Mayfair Charm School (which was In Blue). Cover photo: Linnview Avenue in Simshill, 1955. A popular Sunday afternoon walk, they say. Again taken by the Partick Camera Club. I've strayed from the usual jangly style often permeating my mix-tapes, to a slightly more elegant and él-infused air (what do think of "él-egant"?). Indeed, several tracks were él singles. Others are from the stylish decade commonly known to contemporary man as "the sixties". Tracklisting:

Marden Hill – Oh Constance
Aztec Camera – Pillar to Post
The King of Luxembourg – Valleri
Ken Williams – Come Back
Bad Dream Fancy Dress – Curry Crazy
35 Summers – Really Down
James Dean Driving Experience – Sean Connery
The Orange – What’s In a Name?
The Seven Souls – I Still Love You
Francoise Hardy – Je veux qu’il revienne
The Cat’s Miaow – Peut-être que rien jamais
Louis Phillipe – Like Nobody Do
Anthony Adverse – Our Fairy Tale
Three Berry Icecream – A Towering Cloud In the Summer
Majestic – Overcoat
The Sunny Street – Morton and Claude
Days – Echo of Last Summer
St. Christopher – If I Could Capture
The Mayfields – Deeper Than the Ocean
The Hoodwinks – Once Again
The Inspirations – Touch Me, Hold Me, Kiss Me
The Action – Baby You’ve Got It
Felt – Apple Boutique
Always – Thames Valley Leather Club
The Lighthouse Keepers – Springtime
The Go-Betweens – You Can’t Say No Forever
The Wallflowers – Blushing Girl, Nervous Smile