This is a cover of a Young Marble Giants song found on the B-side of the Why I Cry 7″. I’m excited to see YMG perform all of Colossal Youth when I go to ATP in May.

Listen to The Magnetic Fields – The Man Amplifier.mp3

This Magnetic Fields 7″ is long out of print but you can get the original version of the song here.

Listen to Jens Lekman – I’m Leaving You Because I Don’t Love You (Spoolwork Remix).mp3

Spoolwork needs friends on Facebook.

I made a reference to the Creation band Pacific the other day and I received an e-mail asking who they were. Unfortunately there’s not a lot written about Pacific on the web. The band is a bit of a mystery, just crediting the song writing to Denniss. They released two singles “Sea Of Sand” (1988) and “Shrift” (1989) and the album “Inference” (1990) compiling those singles. They’re also on the very rare “Sugar” flexi with My Bloody Valentine. All Pacific stuff is highly recommended and worth seeking out. Their 12″ sleeves are really gorgeous. I think they were done by Chromatic Design which has designed most of my favorite Creation sleeve artwork.

Here’s the excellent “Shift” off the “Shrift” 12″ (Creation, CRE 064). It was recorded in November 1988 at Woodbine St., Leamington Spa and produced by John A. Rivers (who worked with Felt, Talulah Gosh, Close Lobsters, Mighty Mighty, The Pastels, Love and Rockets, etc.)

Listen to Pacific – Shrift

I just received my copy of Tim and Sam’s Tim and Sam Band with Tim and Sam’s (what a band name) “Put Your Slippers On” EP! I like it so far. It’s like if The Album Leaf were on Sarah Records with maybe a little Go! Team thrown in. Laura Watling says “that’s an accurate description and I even still like it!” So there you go!

Watch the video for “Join The Dots”:

Listen to Tim and Sam – The Badger Set

Buy the “Put Your Slippers On” EP here!

www.timandsam.com

We still have a few copies left of the fantastic debut 3 track 7″ single from The Castaway Stones (including members of Black Tambourine, The Pines, Glo-worm, The Saturday People, The Ropers, and The Shapiros). “Sunday Came and Went” is a classic Shelflife track! Get a copy while you still can!

$3.00 + shipping (sold out!)

Listen to The Castaway Stones – Sunday Came and Went

Indiecater is a new label in Dublin dedicated to releasing lost pop albums. They just re-released The Brilliant Trees album “Friday Night” (1996) as a digital-only download. The band had moderate success in Ireland and a top ten hit in the Irish charts. Sadly the rest of the world never took notice when this brand of “britpop” became a heavily over-saturated genre in the late 90s (Thousand Yard Stare anyone?). It’s great to see this release finally get the attention it deserves.

My favorite track on the album is “Don’t Believe The Right” which sounds like a mix of James (their finer 90s moments), Adorable, and maybe a more jangly Family Cat. The 58 second intro in this song also reminds me of something the Creation Record’s band Pacific would do (albeit a bit shorter). All and all well worth the 3,50 euro asking price for the album download. Special thanks to Kevin for writing and cluing me in to this release.

Listen to The Brilliant Trees – Don’t Believe The Right

Buy and download The Brilliant Trees from Indiecater Records

myspace.com/brillianttrees

I don’t know a lot about this band, other than that they call themselves “A Nottingham based Dadaist rock band,” which is pretty funny. I came across this release when I started collecting the Monsters in Orbit label catalog. With a name like “One Million Fuzz-Tone Guitars” I was intrigued.

“Risk of Love” is my favorite track on the “Twenty Six” LP (Monsters In Orbit, 1983). It reminds me at times of the English power pop band The Records. I can’t get enough of that guitar sound!

Listen to One Million Fuzz-Tone Guitars – Risk of Love

www.onemillionfuzztoneguitars.co.uk