Friday 7 August 2009

Vinyl Revival: Six O'Clock Shuffle (1986) and I Said That I Loved You (1989)

Psychedelic acid trash metal group The Acolytes played regularly in and around London from 1987-1991, crossing paths with many interesting groups along the way.

One on occasion at the Fulham Greyhound, they shared the stage with The Wigs, who also coincidentally included a cover of Love's "Seven And Seven Is" in their set.

My mate Kev delighted us with the information that the band were previously known as The Obvious Wigs and had marked the change of name by releasing an album named "The End Of The Obvious".

Though I never tracked down a copy of the album myself, I did locate a copy of their "Six O'Clock Shuffle" 12", as well as buying the "I Said That I Loved You" 7" at the aforementioned gig.

Listening back to them, they sound as exciting as ever - a great example of a band who could capture their live sound on vinyl.

"Six O'Clock Shuffle" 12"
"I Said That I Loved You" 7"

Sunday 2 August 2009

Best Hip Hop Anthems Ever


At the time this was the double CD of hip-hop tunes I'd been looking for. Nearly every track is a classic, from Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five and Sugarhill Gang early 80s experiments, through Public Enemy and NWA to then current stars Coolio and Warren G (although not the version of "Regulate" which features the Michael McDonald sample which Chris Morris used to play - whatever happened to that version?). There was even a new discovery for me, "I Got Five On It" by Luniz.

The only disappointment is sound quality. It's poorly mastered and the tunes seem to fade into each other.

This was almost a perfect compilation, but I'm afraid it has to go... that's how I'm livin'.