The Enablers + Bedford Falls - Split

 

I bought this record because Hugh was gushing about how the Bedford Falls songs were two of their very best and I needed a copy. I had the two albums they’d released at the time and seen them a good handful of times, both in my Cardiff days and beyond. It was the only time I visited Ghost Town Records in Cardiff, what I assume was a fairly short-lived venture between Damaged Records and whatever Welly is doing now. It was a good haul - this 7” for £2, the first Onsind album on cd for £1 and an Underground Railroad to Candyland record for £7.50; I was very pleased with my haul. If I remember correctly, it pissed it down in the afternoon, so we had a token drink in the Christmas market and went to the cinema, mostly to keep dry. 

Anyway, Hugh was right (but don’t let him know I said that), these are two of the best Bedford Falls songs - both great, standalone songs, which is what you want from a 7” - two songs that are deserving of being on a bit of vinyl all to themselves. The Sweetest Science is particularly good. I know people love The Enablers, but I’ve never really gotten on with them. They’re fine, but don’t do much for me.

Format: 7"

Tracks: 4

Cost: £2 second hand

Bought: Ghost Town Records, Cardiff

When: 24/11/12

Colour: Black

Etching: none

mp3s: no

Fugazi - 3 Songs

A little while ago I realised I was within striking distance of completing my Fugazi collection - I had all the albums on some format and was just missing Margin Walker. When I picked that up from Specialist Subject, I also picked up The Argument and Instrument on vinyl, meaning the only outstanding release was the 3 Songs 7". Of course, I'd had the three songs themselves since 2005, tacked onto the end of the Repeater cd, an album I loved so much I got the cd two years after buying the vinyl just so I could listen to it on my mp3 player. So I know these three songs very well.

Still, in October 2019, just after the package arrived from Specialist Subject I went on eBay and bought the first reasonably priced copy of this I saw (at £4.50, it's not far off the £6 I spent on my vinyl copy of Repeater). The internet has made record collecting far less exciting for sure, but it's still nice to put that final piece of the puzzle in. These three songs are deserving of their own 7" (something that isn't universally true) - Song Number One is huge, and would easily fit on a best-of Fugazi, if such a thing existed (which it does in my car, and indeed is on there). The bass at the start of Joe Number One sounds amazing, as does the piano. I've never really had much time for it on the end of Repeater, but when you sit down and properly listen to it, it’s great. And finally Break In is just frantic. In just seven-and-a-half minutes, you have a perfect slice of Fugazi.

Format: 7", picture sleeve, insert
Tracks: 3
Cost: £4.50 second hand
Bought: eBay
When: 16/10/19
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: no

Will Oldham - Songs of Love and Horror

On one hand, I've probably not given this record the time it deserves, but on the other, I think if I enjoyed it more I would give it more time. And thinking about it, I have played it quite a lot in various attempts to get into it, but I still consider it one of those records I haven't played enough.

It didn't come with mp3s, so the odds were stacked against it from the off. The other factor that didn't help is that it's not the first album I have of Will Oldham re-recording his own songs, and that album was a huge disappointment (so, much like so many others, this story goes back long before this record even came out). I bought Bonnie "Prince" Billy's Sings Palace's Greatest Hits quite soon after getting into his music - he'd released so many albums and they were all so readily available I figured a compilation of sorts would be a great way to sample a bunch of his songs. But on that album he re-recorded some of his earlier songs in a country-style and the results are not what I came to his music to hear. I've not listened to that cd in many, many years (although I'm now wondering if I should give it another chance). I'd heard New Partner on the excellent Is It the Sea? live album, but the version on Sings Palace's Greatest Hits was not my cup of tea in the slightest. (This version feels very casual in the verses, but suitably solemn in the chorus.) That cd made me tread with caution through the rest of his back-catalogue and I've not been so care-free since.

So when I saw this album was coming out, I decided not to buy it. But then, just after Christmas in 2018, I was in Banquet on what is now an increasingly rare trip and fancied buying a lot of new vinyl. I saw this one in the racks and it was an easy sell when I was already dropping a lot of money. I figured he wouldn't pull the same trick twice (country covers) and it started with I See a Darkness, a song that I think everyone agrees is not only one of his finest songs, but one of the finest songs full stop. I also spotted New Partner on the tracklisting, but that was the extent of the songs I knew by title. I actually have half of these songs in my collection in their original forms, but that's mostly because The Letting Go spawned three of the songs here. One of those, The Way, is a highlight here, but still not as good as the original.

All of which brings me to I See a Darkness itself. I'd go so far as to say that there's not been a bad cover of that song because I've only ever heard good ones. I'm no huge fan of Johnny Cash, nor do I have the American albums that he recorded towards the end of his life, but I've heard a lot of the covers he did of more recent songs, and his cover of I See a Darkness is up there with Hurt in terms of the most hauntingly appropriate songs for him to sing. With that in mind, I'd go so far as to say this isn't even the best cover of the song. It's really nice, don't get me wrong, but it doesn't add anything. That said, it's always nice to hear any version of it because it's such a beautiful song.

Format: 12", picture sleeve
Tracks: 12
Cost: £18 new
Bought: Banquet Records, Kingston
When: 27/12/18
Colour: Black
Etching: None
mp3s: None

Tim Kasher - Adult Film

I've probably written about this before, but here we go again: I once saw Tim Kasher play a set at Fest on Halloween and he was absolutely battered. He came on stage just after midnight wearing a wedding dress and make-up, and the set veered between train-wreck and brilliance in ways it's hard to describe. On one hand, you couldn't take your eyes off it in a he's-going-to-regret-this-in-the-morning way, but on the other, he played the songs perfectly and there were some that sounded truly amazing. I can't remember too well which Cursive songs he played (I wasn't entirely sober myself, but in a far better state than Tim), but I remember one from The Ugly Organ sounding absolutely wonderful.

That was 2013, and early in 2014 he released his new solo album, Adult Film. He toured the album in May and we went to see him in The Windmill, with Garrett Klahn from Texas is the Reason and a guy called Karl Larsson who is apparently from a Swedish band called Last Days of April supporting. It was a nice show - hearing some Texas is the Reason songs is always nice - but we knew it was unlikely to touch that Fest show; Tim didn't come onstage drunk in fancy dress, and it was much more about the songs than wondering if it was going to descend into a crime scene. After the show I bought the new album.

Between Cursive and The Good Life, it's hard to understand the distinction between the bands and a solo album. If you told me this was a Good Life album, I'd believe you - there's not much in common with Cursive, but this could sit quite happily in the Good Life back-catalogue - it's poppy in places (in a good way) but I guess relies a bit more on organs and synths to drive the songs. I'd be lying if I said that was my thing, but I can enjoy it for what it is.

The first half has three great songs (American Lit, Truly Freaking Out and The Willing Cuckold), one easily forgettable song (Where's Your Heart Lie) and the obligatory track I can't stand - I've definitely written about this before - how Tim Kasher-related album in the last 10 (15?) years seems to have one song that has a thoroughly annoying chorus that makes me want to skip it every time. Life and Limbo is that song here. Painfully annoying stuff. The second side has fewer high, but A Raincloud is a Raincloud is nice, as is the closer.

Format: 12", insert
Tracks: 11
Cost: £12 new
Bought: Gig
When: 03/05/14
Colour: Black
Etching: None
mp3s: Download code