kiss me a lot

and a last one for today

Morrissey - world peace is none of your business DLP - 2014 Harvest 378165-7

I religiously bought every one of his releases until he decided to join in the RSD madness and put out stupid picture vinyl for too much money. But a new Morrissey LP is still a new Morrissey LP so I had to buy it.
I love the title, the layout is really beautiful and my copy comes on good old black wax. 3 hits out of 4 so far. So let's get to the 4th. The most important aspect of the new Album. The songs. I don't know what happened but at first I was very disappointed in the whole record. Of course I gave it another try. Listening more closely to each of the songs. Still. Almost all of the tracks don't hit home. Only "Kiss me a lot" is a truly good song. The rest is pretty mediocre. Not totally bad just nothing special. Not a record that will get of the shelf again any time soon. Let's pray for a 7" release of "Kiss me a lot". Then I wouldn't have to break out these 24 inches ever again. The truth hurts. I know.

Cover this

By now you should know I love everything she does...

Anna Calvi - strange weather 12" - 2014 Domino ‎– RUG600T

This ep is another example of how great she is.

Every song on here is a cover version which usually I find pretty boring but not when a musical genius like Anna puts out her own version of Suicide's 'Ghost Rider'. I love that track and was very interested in hearing her interpretation. Of course she didn't disappoint. What she does with the song is as close to being better than the original as possible. As close to being better because nothing will ever be better than an original recording. Not in any case.
Next to this track on the B-Side she also pays tribute to Marianne Faithfull (strange weather, which is actually on the only MF album I own), and David Bowie (lady grinning soul).
Side A features cover tunes of FKA Twigs' "Papi Pacify" and Connan Mockasin's "I'm The Man That Will Find You". Thus shedding light on contemporary Artists she likes, who I had never heard of before and yet have to check out.
With these recordings she combines the past and the future. Showcasing the history of music that helped form her sound and highlighting contemporaries who carry on as she sees fit. Who else does that? There are millions of tribute records out there dedicated to accomplished and recognised Artists but is there anyone besides Anna Calvi directing our attention towards Performers who are not (yet) well established in the way she does here? I can't think of one.

Great minds don't fear competition they feed off it.

Unfortunately my copy comes with a pressing error that causes the needle to vibrate and therefore make a pretty disturbing noise most recognisable during the 1st song on each side. I guess I have to get another copy. You should definitely be aware of that when purchasing your copy. Testplay the vinyl!!!

not killing the music industry

Let's start today....
...with something totally different from yesterday.

Warpaint - s/t - 2014 Rough Trade RTRADLPX680, Rough Trade RTRADLP680

I can't remember when it was that I downloaded the bands debut 12" and who pointed me in their direction but I instantly loved what I heard. Unfortunately I always considered that record overpriced so I never got me a copy.

Fastforward to earlier this year while recordshopping I found this, their latest release, a double 12" with an etched 4th side (see picture below), for a really good price so I couldn't resist.
See. Downloading music is not killing the music industry or harming the bands. It leads to more sales. If I'd never downloaded their music I would probably have forgotten about that one recommendation I got and never picked this up.

Anyway. This is one hell of a dreamy indie pop record. I'm not too familiar with that genre but I guess you would call this Shoegaze. But whatever category you would want to force it into doesn't really matter. If you're into a wide range of music and appreciate a good record regardless of the label people slap on it you should check this out.