Music Swap Shop – this is a little something the mighty Alan put together to facilitate the offload of duff CDs, of which I suspect I have many. A quick trawl through a single shelf (the ‘indie’ bit of my now genre-ised collection) produced the following turkeys, all of which are up for trade though frankly you’d be mental to want them (what a salesman I am!). I can’t understand the mindset of people who never get rid of CDs – cleanse and purify, say I.
SPEARMINT – Oklahoma! – conceptual follow-up to the ultra-indie (though likeable) A Week Away. I was hoping for more post-adolescent confessionals – yes, I know – and instead got a bunch of social vignettes and no tunes. I got it very cheaply but I won’t say how cheaply in case someone wants to buy it.
SOUL COUGHING – Ruby Vroom – one remarkable song (“Screenwriter’s Blues”) led me to take a punt on this, only to bang my head in irritation as it turned out to be a finger-snapping 45 minutes of hepcat beatnik drawl, like the Blue Aeroplanes but much much less humble.
FRANK BLACK AND THE CATHOLICS – Dog In The Sand – “It’s a return to form” should not be used lightly when ‘form’ means “Debaser”, “Motorway To Roswell” and “Los Angeles”. What the critics actually meant – “It’s a bit better than The Cult of Ray“. True, but not enough.
BABY BIRD – There’s Something Going On – In the half-hour window when I decided Baby Bird was alright I also bought a second-hand CD of his. It has “Bad Old Man” on it, which is good, but I’ve got the single of that.
TEENAGE FANCLUB – Howdy! – an aura of shambolic likeability still clings, but these songs are actually less memorable and less affecting than those of Travis.
HEFNER – We’re In The City – I was drunk when I bought this. Has “The Day That Thatcher Died” on it which might be the absolute nadir for UK indie pop.
If you want any of these ‘gems’ get to the link above! And get there anyway to sign up and browse other people’s swaps lists.