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"

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'.

Timesplitters

A fast-paced first person shooter with levels based in strange settings like Egyptian Pyramids, I played this a lot when I first got my PS2.

When it was stolen along with my original unit, I played the replacement copy rather less (possibly still smarting from having my saved games stolen).

Time to split...

Vinyl Revival: The Stairs and Asphalt Ribbons

Found a "great lost album" I'd never listened to: Mexican R 'n' B by The Stairs, which sounds like early Stones and late 60s West Coast psychedelia - right up there with The Las in terms of "how didn't they make it?" There are some great Stairs clips on YouTube, including the single Weed Bus:



I've got a couple of their 12"s as well, so I might pick up the missing one... which isn't why supposed to be I'm doing this. Happily I've identified 44 12" singles I don't need...

...although two of them are Asphalt Ribbons' album Old Horse, so might have to make that 42 (one's a white label). This is the least rare - and therefore valuable - of all their output which also included three 12" EPs before they became Tindersticks. I never made it along to the gig listed on the accompanying bumf as I wasn't all that impressed. Live and learn...

Maybe that's why I never made it in the music biz.

Vinyl Revival: Seven Singles Deep by Icicle Works

Maybe I should've kept my mouth shut about my new turntable and USB phono stage. After mentioning it at the pub last night, I received my first request: "Do you have that Icicle Works compilation with all the 12" versions on it?"

It so happens I do and I proudly recalled listening to it only last week. Net result: agreement to produce a digital copies for my turntable-less friends.

The Icicle Works are one of my favourite bands and this album collects the extended versions of their singles, from their biggest hit "Love Is A Wonderful Colour" through the singles off their first two albums, to my personal favourite "When It All Comes Down".

I only saw the group perform twice - at The Marquee, Wardour Street and Camden Palace - but they were fantastic both times and Chris Sharrock remains one of my favourite drummers. He plays for Robbie Williams these days, but I did manage to see him play with both The Las and The Lightning Seeds in the intervening years.

As for the digital copy, the capture was straightforward and my friends were most appreciative.

Rega Planar 3 turntable

I've finally taken the plunge and upgraded my turntable.

After months, maybe years, of pondering over the Linn LP12, I noticed a Rega Planar 2 in my local secondhand shop. Because I wasn't quick off the mark, it was soon gone. When likewise missed out on a nice-looking wooden Dual deck, I realised I'd have to get more serious.


Online reading led me to conclude the LP12 was a bit overpriced for my requirements. Watching eBay for several months I saw plenty of secondhand Regas around. The Planar 3 began to look like a good deal, particularly when combined with the Rega RB300 tonearm. With the original packaging, the going rate is around £200.

After a couple of disappointments, I held my nerve and secured one for four pounds over my target price (couldn't let another one escape for the sake of such a paltry sum).

A major upgrade to my previous unit, I decided the only "weakness" I read about - "it's a deck for rock fans" - probably counted in its favour for me. A replacement Rega R100 stylus from Musonic and I'm listening to vinyl as I've never heard it before on my own system. And this from a 25 year old turntable. I'm happy.

Vinyl Revival: 50 More All-Time Children's Favourites by Wally Whyton

One Christmas my sister and I both received LPs from my parents. I was given "Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet", featuring edited audio highlights of an episode of each television series, the former with additional storytelling from Scott Tracey himself, Shane Rimmer.



My sister was given 50-More-All-Time-Childrens-Favourites by Wally Whyton. As a fan of Gerry Anderson I felt I'd got the better deal, but it was Wally's folk style nursery rhymes which made a more lasting impression. With my own daughter approaching two years of age, I'm looking around at musical CDs for small children. These seem to come in two types: overly sickly Disney collections or R'n'B pop interpretations by over-earnest X-Factor losers.



Listening back to this album now, I'm surprised how much I recall. The assertive female of "Where Are You Going To My Pretty Maid" who rejects the advances of a gold-digging male is impressive. Wally's unaccompanied singing on "Rain, Rain Go Away" is less so, dropping as it does several semitones towards the end (presumably studio time was at a premium in those days.)

But the biggest shock caused me to nearly drop my tea: side 1, band 2, song 2: "Taffy Was A Welshman", an anti-Welsh song I don't recall hearing in the thirty-plus years since this album was last played. I think we'll have to leave that off the compilation I'm making for my daughter.

I've now found the first volume on eBay. Slightly worried about "Ten Little Indians"...

Vinyl Revival: Pro-Ject Phono Box II USB

"Record all your vynils to hard disk or CD ROM."

It really does say that on the box.

But that's just nitpicking. The Pro-Ject Phono Box II USB plugs into a PC so I can make WAV format recordings off my turntable.

I've over 100 albums and 600 singles, so I'm looking forward to the next few months.

Intergalactic Sonic 7"s: The Best of Ash by Ash

I quite like Ash, but I couldn't say I was a fan. Twice I saw them support U2 in Dublin on the Popmart Tour in 1997, but I only really got interested once they'd released an album their record company was dubious about and the band funded itself - got to respect that.

I actually bought this as a Christmas present for an ex-girlfriend and since I didn't see her that Christmas, it's been knocking around for a while, bonus disc and all.

Regrets? Sometimes.

His 'n' Hers by Pulp

This is a great album, featuring the glorious "Do You Remember The First Time?" which stood out so prominently at Pulp's Glastonbury performance. Unfortunately, I was late to the party and hardly listened to it as a result. Who needed to when the singles had become so ingrained from hearing them on the radio.

Chris Morris played "Babies" a lot on his Radio One show, which I'd listen to in the car with a friend as we travelled down to Hampshire to visit his girlfriend.

I haven't seen her lately and I don't know that I remember the first time either.

Pulped by Pulp

Bought cheaply from a colleague who learned his lesson about acquiring CDs far sooner than I, this was never going to fetch the slightly ridiculous thirty quid Amazon apparently thought was the going rate.

Sad to say, I've never actually got around to listening to it, which is nothing to do with the quality of the work and all to do with the amount of music I own and the time it takes to listen to it.

No, I don't want you any more.

Encyclopedia of Albums - 1000 best ever albums by Paul Du Noyer

Another selection of writing on albums which is long on personal opinion, short on facts.

Perfect for someone who knows nothing about music, tedious for anyone who does.

Fixed by Nine Inch Nails

A friend was downsizing his collection so I bought this off him. It's of relatively minor interest to me, but perhaps I should've paid more attention - flicking through "Fixed" now it sounds great..!

I really don't anticipate listening to it a great deal though. Throw this away? Not quite...

Ill Communication by The Beastie Boys

This CD doesn't belong to me... it belonged to Jim who left it in the office prior to departing for Thailand... no, that can't be right - I left the company several years before that. So I must've picked it up at some point to listen to.

A surprisingly good album, but I really don't play it at all. Another album I really just wanted to hear rather than own, so it's got to go.

Do it.

The It Girl by Sleeper

Sleeper first caught my attention with their "Inbetweener" single, a clever, hummable song about living in suburban Essex. Sadly, the rest of the album didn't quite measure up.

This follow up featured a four great singles which soundtracked the summer of 1996 and were hardly off the radio... and that's probably how I'll remember them. I certainly don't play this much any more.

What Do I Do Now?

Click... off... gone.

String 'a' Beads by Rose of Avalanche

Another biz-era freebie, though I knew well enough who Rose of Avalanche were. My best mate had been a fan since their first EP, "L.A. Rain", in 1985. When we formed a band, their flanger-drenched psychedelic sound became a template for our own sonic experimentations. Later, around the time of Never Another Sunset, we saw them at ULU supported by Claytown Troupe.

This album was more forward-looking. Goth was no longer flavour of the month, being supplanted by indie-dance Madchester and bands who experimented with samplers, like Pop Will Eat Itself, Jesus Jones and EMF. This album was an attempt to respond, and even includes a remix by Hacienda DJ Jon Dasilva.

What's going down? This CD's going to a better place...

R.E.M.: Automatic for the People, Monster, Reveal

I've just read "Fiction", David Buckley's biography of R.E.M., and was reminded there are several of their albums I don't own for various reasons.

"Automatic For The People" I never got around to buying because my sister bought it and I taped it off her. I listened to it a fair bit, though not as much as the previous albums. This resulted in me not buying "Monster", although I still appreciated the singles when I heard them on the radio.

I was in Chicago the week "Reveal" was released and regret not buying it then. I later downloaded it and listened to it a lot when I met my partner. A superb return to form.

There are other gaps. I'd better clear some more space...

Live - Under A Blood Red Sky (Remastered) by U2

While it's great to see the full concert on DVD at last, to a hypercritical U2 obsessive, this seems like another missed opportunity.

Sadly there was a camera malfunction during "I Fall Down", so that track is missing from the concert footage, but wouldn't it have been worth including the audio as an easter egg?

Both CD and DVD feature horrendous edits during "The Electric Co." due to Bono dropping in a snippet of the tune of "Send In The Clowns". Isn't remastering an opportunity to fix these things? How much was Stephen Sondheim asking for?

Otherwise, the package is nice enough - a slipcase, a booklet with plenty of photos, some wallpaper for your computer and a dodgy old screensaver.

I'm going to dig out my original vinyl copy...

Regatta de Blanc by The Police

I couldn't listen to this album enough when I was younger. I'd first noticed The Police when "Can't Stand Losing You" was a hit second time around and I remember being excited to hear "Message In A Bottle" one afternoon in the car on the way home from school. I finally borrowed the album from a friend a year or two later and taped it, listening to it almost nightly.

It was one of the first albums I picked up on CD, but it's now been surpassed by the boxed set and there's little point hanging on to it.

Sorry Sting, I can easily stand losing this.

Easy Rider

I learned an important lesson when video cassettes were nearing the end of their lifespan. The deluge of cheap merchandise hitting the bargain bins indicates the passing of the format, not an opportunity to fill your boots. Do not repeat the mistake with DVDs - sell them now!

My dad was a bit down on this film when he saw it. I thought it was great. It's about time I watched it again. I think I'd enjoy it...

But the tape is heading out on the highway.